“Striving For You In His Prayers” (Col 4:12)

“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” (vs12)

God hears the prayer of His people.  We have been born of God by Christ’s death for us at the cross.  He lives evermore, and we live in His power now.  We are of God, His elect, His choice, and thus He hears our prayer.  We have the privilege, power, pleasure, and appeal of prayer in this verse.

1. The privilege of prayer is the access unto God.  We are sinful, and He has died for us in Christ, so that the sins are gone, and we are able to call Him Beloved, Father, King of kings.  We are sons of God, and He hasn’t made all men this way.  We are loved and blessed, and He delights in our prayers, exhorting us continually.

2.  The power of prayer is that God works by our words and does good to others.

Let those who use election to deny prayer still your tongue.  Let God rule in His word, and let us obey the bible.  He says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17).  He says here that Epaphras is commended by, “striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God“ (vs12).  He says “pray” because He answers prayers and uses them.  He saves people by the Spirit who works in you, and He keeps people by the same means.  He exhorts us to pray, so we can involve ourselves in His passion, His Spirit, and His will for us, for He meets us here with power.

3.  The pleasure of prayer is the enjoyment of God’s will.  There is no higher pleasure than obedience… when the Spirit subdues the sin, the flesh is made subject to the inner man, and we labor for God’s glory in His business.  We humble and present ourselves as slaves and willful servants of Christ (Rom 12:1).  This joy of doing something for God’s glory and my neighbor’s good is the safe joy of Jesus Christ, the thrill that’s from God. It is the wealth of obedience, not the bickering, fault finding, and self-glorification of the flesh.  The glory is God‘s, and the praise is man‘s.  

4.  The appeal of prayer is before us.  Epaphras, a human, actually obtained power to pray for people fervently, and it actually encouraged a church and changed others by his example.  This is our job; exemplify Christ.  Be a fall-ower, that falling makes you resilient to surrender more, but never to pull back from obedience because of sin.

“Striving According to His Working” (Col 1:20-29)

“To this end I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily” (vs29)

The work of the apostle Paul is the work of every child of God; it is manifesting the Lord Jesus, using our gifts to serve God’s elect, His church, and His gospel in this world, giving glory to King Jesus.

The Son of God REDEEMED us by taking our place at the cross, and now we live for Him, justified, clean, and without blemish, “yet now has he reconciled [you] in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreproveable in his sight“, “according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame“, right now, “before him in love“ (Col 1:21-22; Eph 1:4). 

The sins have been paid, and we PRESS ON to know the Lord, using salvation for His purpose, serving Christ continually.  We are not selfishly living for self, but we live for our Redeemer, agreeing that God’s Son is worthy of praise, as revealed to us , “Even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints“ (Col 1:26).  We so love and adore Him, that we WILLINGLY suffer for His church, living that OTHERS are benefited by our gifts, “Of which [church] I am made a minister, according to the ordering of God, which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God” (Col 1:25).

This is the church’s mission: we are not hearers only but DOERS of the word (James 1:22). We don’t say “Christ is all”, and then live selfishly, using gifts to magnify self, or living in sin because I’m saved.  We walk by faith, obeying the commands of God, continuing in the same gospel that we have heard - “If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister“ (Col 1:23).

God revealed Christ to us as Lord, and we bowed to Him for the forgiveness of sins and for power to overcome, and, as promised, He gives it to us.  Now, we LABOR and strive to do good, living that others know Christ, repenting and subduing sin - “[preaching Christ], warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”, obedient to God (Col 1:28).

Paul’s gospel isn’t Paul’s alone; he got it from Jesus, and he got involved in Christ’s mission, as you and I have that believe.  He said, “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is remaining of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church” (vs24). I don’t, therefore, call you to salvation, except you come to be made whole, to be FORGIVEN and given life to serve His gospel, to serve His church, and to live that His name be glorified, “For it pleased the Father that in the [Son] should all fullness dwell“ (vs19).  It isn’t enough to say, “He is Preeminent”, God’s gospel makes you live it, too.