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Collierville First Baptist Church
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What are you going to do with the time, the talent, and the treasure that God has given to you? That was a question we posed last week in our sermon out of Matthew chapter 25 concerning the parable of the talents.
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One day in the future, trust me, Jesus is going to come.
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And when He comes, there will be a day of accountability for every born again believer as they stand before the bemeceat judgment.
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And Jesus judges us to determine the level of our rewards and responsibilities in the kingdom of heaven.
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Now I want you to know that you will not be judged to determine whether you go to heaven or hell. That's already been determined when you repented of your sin and you placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
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Now this morning I want to build on what we talked about last week about serving the Lord with gladness. Remember that was our key point last week.
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Well this week I want you to grab your Bible, go ahead at your home, grab your Bible, and turn to the little epistle of Colossians, one of my favorite epistles in the New Testament. It features the twin themes of the supremacy and the sufficiency of Christ. Paul wrote this letter not from a Hilton, not from a Hampton Inn. He wrote this letter from prison.
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And that makes the words, the Spirit anointed words of this epistle so much more powerful and meaningful.
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Now keep in mind that the Lord Jesus had called Paul to the ministry of sharing the gospel and building up the body of Christ.
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In Acts chapter 26 verses 16 through 18, the Bible says that Jesus said to Paul there on the road to Damascus, "But get up and stand on your feet for this purpose I've appeared to you to appoint you a minister and a witness,
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not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things which I will appear to you, rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles to whom I'm sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me." What a powerful truth that is. Do you realize that you have the call of God on your life?
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That's right. Every born again believer has the call of God on their lives. The resurrected and reigning Lord has appointed you to have a viable and victorious ministry.
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Serving Jesus is not optional for us. With that thought in mind, I'd like to take our text today right out of Colossians chapter 1 verses 24 to 29,
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and I'd like to share with you what it means to serve Jesus, to truly serve Jesus. The first thing you'll notice in verse 24 is the price you must pay.
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There's a price you must pay if you're going to actively and aggressively serve the Lord Jesus. Look at verse 24.
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Paul wrote, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of his body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions."
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Suffering.
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The Word sends a cold chill down our spine, does it not?
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However, it is a reality for any blood-bought believer who takes seriously his or her commitment to the Lord Jesus.
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He told us to expect suffering.
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He said in John's gospel, "They've persecuted me, they'll persecute you. They've hated me, they'll hate you." In Matthew chapter 5 verses 11 and 12, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." As I studied this to get ready for the sermon this morning,
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I thought about the city's church there in Minneapolis.
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I thought about how this group of radicals came into the middle of a worship service and abused the believers there, criticized the believers, and made fun of the believers.
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And I'll tell you, that's a part of what it means to follow Christ. I honestly believe that what we saw there in that church in Minneapolis, we're going to see more and more of it in the future.
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Now, Paul suffered because of his commitment to the Lord Jesus, to the Word of God, and to the gospel.
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In spite of this suffering, notice what he did. The Bible says he rejoiced. Can you rejoice in suffering?
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I believe many of those believers at city's church in Minneapolis are rejoicing in their suffering,
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praying that God would take what the enemy meant for evil and to turn it into something good that will ultimately bring glory and honor to Christ alone.
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Now, let's get something straight here as we look. Paul said, "I rejoice in my suffering and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of his body," which is the church, "in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions."
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Now, in no way is Paul suggesting that our suffering is needed to supplement the efficiency of the gospel, of the atoning death of Jesus on the cross.
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Jesus suffered when he provided the gospel.
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We suffer when we proclaim the gospel.
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Here's the thought I want you to grasp this morning.
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Here it is. Serving Jesus is a joy and privilege. I tell you it is. It is a joy and privilege to drive through the snow this morning and to come here and to stand before a few folks and knowing that I'm speaking to most of the church on live stream. What a joy and privilege it is to preach the gospel this morning.
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So first, what does it mean to serve them? It means there's a price to pay. Secondly, there's a ministry you must manage.
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In verse 25 of Colossians 1, Paul wrote, "Of this church I was made a minister."
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The word means a servant according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God.
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The Lord Jesus gave Paul a stewardship over the gospel and the word of God, look at this, for the benefit of the church, for the benefit of the church.
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Now there were false teachers who had infiltrated the body of Christ there in Colossae. They were self-appointed heretics who were committed to spewing forth their hellish message in an effort to demean the Lord Jesus and to impugn the gospel.
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Paul elaborated further in the next verse, verse 26, where he said that is the mystery. Let me read verse 25 and 26 to connect it.
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"Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God." Verse 26, that is the mystery which has been hidden from past ages and generations but has now been manifested to his saints. The word mystery is a truth that would have remained hidden had the Lord Jesus, had he not chosen to reveal it to the church.
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Now with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the glorious gospel has been manifested for all the world to see. So the mystery is a mystery no more. Every believer has a ministry that has been given to them as a stewardship.
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You've been blessed with a spiritual gift or gifts to build up the body of Christ and to expand his kingdom. We talked about that last week as we looked at the parable of the talents. But it's very applicable to what we're sharing this morning. Listen to the word of God in 1 Peter 4.10 where Peter wrote, "As each one has received a special gift." Hey, do you realize this?
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You as a born again believer have received a special gift.
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A gift from the Lord Jesus, a gift for you not to hoard, but a gift for you to use for his glory and the advancement of his kingdom and the building up of the body of Christ. So he says in 1 Peter 4.10, "As each one has received a special gift, employ it, use it, use your gift in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."
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I want you to hear me, you are accountable to Jesus for the use of your gift or your gifts.
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Manage your ministry to the optimum glory of the Lord Jesus. Okay? What does it mean to serve Jesus? Well, number one, we've discovered the price you must pay.
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Secondly, we've discovered the ministry you must manage. And thirdly, there is the truth you must treasure.
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I love verse 27.
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Paul wrote, "To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." You ought to underline that in your Bible twice.
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Christ in you, the hope of glory.
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Now in this verse, Paul gives a precise description of the mystery. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
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What did Paul mean by this?
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Well, to get the full understanding of this, I'd like to share with you Ephesians chapter 3 verses 1 through 7, where Paul wrote these words, "For this reason I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you." Notice how over and over Paul refers to this stewardship. It's a stewardship. It's a ministry he had to manage. It is a ministry that you have to manage as you use your spiritual gifts for the building of the body of Christ and the expansion of the kingdom of God.
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And then he says, "Indeed, if you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you." Verse 3, "That by revelation there was made known to me the mystery as I wrote before in brief." Verse 4, "By referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, Christ in you, the hope of glory,
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which in other generations was not made..." Verse 5, "Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and the prophets in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit." Verse 6, "To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
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Of which I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of his power."
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Now I want you to get this. Don't miss what I'm about to share.
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All of the glorious riches, all of the glorious power of the resurrected Christ is available to you through the Holy Spirit.
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You as a believer, all his power, all the spiritual riches of Christ is available to you as you use your spiritual giftedness in stewardship to him.
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Now that's a truth to treasure, is it not?
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Hey, let me ask you, shouldn't things be different in our lives as a result of us knowing that we have at our disposal all of Christ's glorious riches of power? Shouldn't things be different in our lives? If you and I really embraced that truth, that truth to treasure, if we really embraced it, would we be discouraged like we were last week?
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Would we get angry like we got angry last week?
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Would we be depressed like we were depressed last week if we really understood this and treasured this truth?
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Would you have said some of the things you said to your spouse or your kids last week if you really understood all the glorious riches and power of the resurrected Christ was available to you? Would you have entertained some of the thoughts that filled your mind?
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Would you have wasted your time on the frivolous things of this world if you really treasured that truth?
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Christ in you, the hope of glory is a truth to treasure. I'll tell you, serving Jesus is a joy and a privilege. I hope and pray that as you manage and use your spiritual gifts that God has given you,
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that you will say increasingly that it is a joy and privilege to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
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So what does it mean to serve Him?
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It means that there is a price you must pay, there is a ministry you must manage, there is the truth you must treasure. And then number four, number four, there is the charge you must complete.
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Colossians 1.28, Paul wrote these words,
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"We proclaim Him," I add this church, "We proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ.
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We believe that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but through Him.
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We believe that Jesus is the hope for the entire world.
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We proclaim Him admonishing every man," Paul said, "and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ."
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Paul was charged with the responsibility of exalting Jesus as the one who is preeminent over creation and the church and Christians.
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He was also charged with the assignment of presenting every man complete in Christ.
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I want you to pay close attention to the present tense verbs that he uses in this verse. He uses the word "proclaim," and that focuses on declaring the gospel and the truth of the Bible with boldness and confidence.
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And then he uses the verb "admonishing," and it means to confront and it emphasizes repentance and correction. And he uses the verb "teaching."
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It's an orderly presentation of Christian truth for the converts so that they may know how to grow spiritually and become all that God intends for them to be.
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The church, the Caravo I Baptist Church and all churches
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must ensure that all of God's truth gets to all of God's people so that all can become spiritually mature in their faith. That's our responsibility. That's the charge we've been given by our King, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now, you might be thinking, "Pastor, that was Paul's charge. What's that got to do with me?"
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Well, every believer has been charged with the explicit responsibility to use the Word of God effectively as you disciple your kids, as you disciple your grandkids, as you counsel those who come to you for wisdom, and as you share the gospel with the lost, and as you teach in the church and outside the church. It is our responsibility to make sure that we understand that the Bible is our final source for faith and practice. I know that when you go to work, that there are people who come to you and they have problems in their lives.
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They've seen that you live differently than they live. And when there's a problem in their lives, they don't run to the yahoos who are living a life that does not honor God. They run to you because they know you've got something they don't have.
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And when they come to you and they ask you for your wisdom, what do you share with them? I would encourage you to make sure that when God opens that door for you, that you take the precious truths of the Word of God and you open your Bible and you read to them out of the Bible. I know what I do sometimes. When I'm counseling people, I take my Bible and I point to the verses that I want to point out to them and I give my Bible to them and I have them to read it out of my Bible.
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I tell you, there's something in a counseling situation.
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You can say these things, you can read it to them, but when they read it from them, they see it with their eyes, they hear it because it comes out of their mouth as they read it. I tell you, it gets deeper into their heart.
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Let me tell you, always, always, always take advantage of using the Bible to help people get spiritually mature in Christ. I love what it says in Colossians 3 16.
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"Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you and with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual psalms, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." You realize that's not just to pastors. That's not just to connect group teachers.
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That is to every believer to take the Word of God and with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual psalms,
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serving Jesus. I'm telling you what, it is a joy and privilege to be serving Jesus. I was saved when I was 20 and I've been serving Jesus now for 51 years, about to be 52, and I wouldn't take a million dollars. There's nothing this world has to offer me that comes remotely close to the joy and privilege I have in serving Jesus.
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So what does it mean to serve Jesus? Well, let's just make sure we remember this. There's a price you must pay.
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There is the ministry you must manage. There is the truth you must treasure. And there is the charge you must complete.
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And number five, final one, there is the effort you must exert. Colossians 1, 29, look at it, "For this purpose," Paul wrote,
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"Also I labor," you're going to underline that word labor.
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"Striving," you're going to underline that word striving,
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"according to His power, which mightily works within me," through who? Through the Holy Spirit who indwells you as a believer.
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How is it possible for Paul to accomplish so much in such a short period of time? We find the answer here in this verse. Notice these two words, labor and striving. They were used to describe, in the Greek world, they were used to describe backbreaking manual work.
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And they were used to describe the effort that athletes put forth as they passionately pursued athletic glory.
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Paul was a tireless worker for Jesus. Listen to his explanation in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24 to 27.
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Paul wrote, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?"
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See, there was no consolation prizes. Today our children receive participation trophies. There's no participation trophies here. Only one receives the prize in the games that Paul was referring to that was a part of that time in the world.
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He says in the last part of verse 24, "Run in such a way that you may win." I like that.
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Hey, I'm an old coach. I've never coached a game hoping to lose. I coached every game I coached hoping to win, giving everything I could to help the players win. Verse 25, "Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating air.
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But I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I preach to others, I myself will not be disqualified."
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Hey, I'm not going to lie to you. Serving Jesus is not easy. By the way, he never said it was easy.
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But he calls every born again believer to serve him with all they have.
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The Lord Jesus has made his supernatural energy and his supernatural power available to you and to me through the Holy Spirit of God who indwells us.
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I want to close by letting you listen. Listen to me as I read what Jesus said about serving him in John 12, verses 25 and 26. I love these verses.
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He said, "He who loves his life loses it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal."
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I love verse 26. "If anyone serves me..." Now remember these are the words of the Lord Jesus. "If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."
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Let that sink in. Serving Jesus is a joy and privilege, yes. And there is a price to pay. There's a ministry to manage. There's a truth to treasure, a charge to complete, and an effort to exert.
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When you realize what Jesus says here in John 12, that if we serve him, the Father will honor us. He just don't get any better than that.
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I pray with all my heart that if you're born again believer sitting there in your living room, that you will devote yourself the rest of your life to serving Jesus. Now you may have wasted a lot of time. That's in the past. Don't live the rest of your life looking in a rear view mirror and beating yourself up over what you didn't do in the past.
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You look out that front windshield. You know this, that if you serve Jesus, the Father will honor you.
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And I encourage you that from this moment until the day the Lord Jesus comes or you die, that you serve him with everything you got and you find that serving Jesus is a joy and a privilege.
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I encourage you to devote yourself to serving Jesus with all your heart. One day in the future, I don't know when it is, one day in the future, you will stand before Jesus and give an account for your service to him.
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Listen to what Paul wrote in Colossians 3, 23 and 24. He said, "Whatever you do, do your work hardly as for the Lord rather than for men.
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Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve."
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So this morning, right there in your living room, I want to encourage you to get down to your knees here in just a moment.
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I'm going to pray and Joshua is going to come and we're going to have an invitational song and this is your time to get on your knees right there at the couch, right there at your chair.
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And say the Lord Jesus, "Lord, forgive me. Forgive me that I've not served you as faithfully and as passionately as I should have.
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But Lord Jesus, with the remaining time that you allow me to have in my life, I want to serve you with everything I've got. I know that you've made available to me, Lord Jesus, your power and all the spiritual riches in the heavenly places.
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And Lord, help me to tap into that. Help me to realize that I can't do it in my power, but I have to depend upon your spirit that indwells me.
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And Lord, help me to live my life and to serve you in the power of the Holy Spirit."
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And then you pray that here in just a moment. Now you may be sitting at home. I want to remind you of this.
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You can't serve Jesus until you're saved by Jesus. Maybe you're there and you're not saved.
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You've never repented of your sin and placed your faith in Jesus as your Savior and your Lord.
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I want to encourage you, as we sing here in just a moment, I encourage you to bow on your knees before Jesus. Confess to him that you're a sinner in desperate need of a Savior.
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And ask him to forgive you. Ask him to change your life, to move you, like Paul said here in the letter to the Galatians, to move you from darkness to light, from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God.
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I tell you, he loves you. He died on a cross for your sin. He was raised from the dead so that you might be justified before the Father.
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And in your heart, if you really mean it, and you pray and you invite him to change your life, you receive him as your Savior and your Lord, today can be a hallelujah day for you. Oh, I encourage you to give your heart to Jesus.