Verse 1 really more properly belongs at the end of Chapter 3. Remember that chapter breaks are man-made!
(1) Masters, be just and fair to your *slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven.
·
*slaves: Of whom is Onesimus.
·
This would
include the relationship between employers and employees or teachers and
students. A believing master is called upon to be totally impartial in caring
for the needs of his servants, giving to his servants what is just and fair.
What is just is what is right as before God. What is fair is what does not
favor one above another. If the servant is to act in a manner pleasing to God,
the master is to do no less, for he himself is only a servant to the Lord: his
Master is in Heaven. Every believing employer, foreman, supervisor or teacher
must remember this.
(2) *Devote yourselves to
**prayer with an ***alert mind and a ****thankful heart.
· *Devote: Persevere, continue steadfastly. Implies
waiting on Him and for His answer. We are to pray and be expecting His answer.
Habakkuk waited for the answer in the watchtower – Habakkuk 2:1.
Ephesians 6:18: Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Daniel was seeking the Lord in fasting for 21 days, when the angel finally came he declared to Daniel that from the first day that he sought the Lord for understanding, the angel was dispatched with the answer, but he was detained by the powers of darkness that controlled Persia until he was delivered by the great angel Michael. What if Daniel had given up after a few hours?
Ephesians 6:18: Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Daniel was seeking the Lord in fasting for 21 days, when the angel finally came he declared to Daniel that from the first day that he sought the Lord for understanding, the angel was dispatched with the answer, but he was detained by the powers of darkness that controlled Persia until he was delivered by the great angel Michael. What if Daniel had given up after a few hours?
· **prayer:
o In the present, most of us don’t pray, we
worry. When we look at the past, we regret the decisions that we made. Or, we
complain about the decisions others made. When we think toward the future, we
are afraid. We don’t know what might happen, but we don’t think we’ll be able
to handle it. So our natural tendency is to be anxious in the present, complain
about the past and worry about the future. However, being in Christ changes
everything.
o If we’re living our lives “in Christ” then
it’s awkward not to pray. If we’re constantly aware of the presence of God with
us, no matter where we are, then it’s normal to be in a constant conversation
with him. That’s what prayer is: a constant conversation with God. There are
lots of different types of conversations: deep ones, small talk, funny ones,
reminiscing and confrontational. There are all sorts of different kinds of
prayer too. All the hindrances that we think we have that prevent us from
praying evaporate when something severe happens to us or our family. Suddenly
we are able to find time to pray. Suddenly prayer becomes really important.
Otherwise we think we have life in our hands and we are in control and we
completely neglect prayer.
o Luke
18:1: One day Jesus told
his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
o Ephesians
6:18: Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.
Stay alert and be persistent in your
prayers for all believers everywhere.
· ***alert: Don't let other things crowd in and destroy
your ability to concentrate during the time you spend in prayer to God.
· ****thankful: Sometimes it’s hard to be thankful for
God’s answer when it isn’t the answer we want nor what we were expecting. A
thankful prayer expects God's answers – in
advance!
(3) *Pray for us, too, that God will give us many
opportunities to speak about his **mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is
why I am here in chains.
· *Pray
for us:
o If Paul needed the prayers of the
Colossians, do you suppose we need the prayers of our friends? Why would Paul
need their prayers? Notice that it’s “us”, not “me”.
· **mysterious
plan:
o Ephesians
1:9; 3:3,4,9: God has
now revealed to us his mysterious plan
regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure…As I briefly
wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me… As you read what
I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ….I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the
Creator of all things, had kept secret
from the beginning.
o What is the mystery of Christ? It's the
entire gospel and all that it embodies. All those sacred secrets hidden in the
Old Testament revealed in the New. All the truths about Jesus Christ, that He
indwells the believer. That's the mystery of the indwelling Christ in
Colossians 1:26 and 27. That He is God incarnate. That's the mystery of the
incarnation, Colossians 2:2 and 3. The mystery of the Rapture, that Jesus is
going to return for His church, I Corinthians 15:51 and 52. The mystery of the
bride that He's going to unite Himself with us in an eternal way as the bride and
object of His love, Ephesians 5. The mystery of iniquity that He's going to
come and put an end to the fullness of sin, II Thessalonians 2:7. All of those
sacred secrets are revealed in the New Testament in the gospel of Christ. And
the mystery of the one church, Jew and Gentile, one in Him.
(4) Pray that I will
proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
· Acts
4:29: And now, O Lord,
hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.
(5) Live wisely among
those who are *not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.
· *not
believers: Unbelievers care
little about Christian doctrine, but carefully note the words and actions of
those who claim to be Christians. If our
words and lifestyle contradict what a Christian should say and be, we may
prevent unbelievers from coming to Christ, but
just confirm to them that Christians are hypocrites.
(6) Let your conversation
be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for
everyone.
· Remember how Paul spoke to the Athenians on
Mars Hill in Acts 17?
· Ephesians
4:29: Don’t use foul or
abusive language. Let everything you say
be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those
who hear them.
· 1
Peter 3:9: Don’t repay
evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead,
pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he
will bless you for it.
(7) *Tychicus will give
you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful
helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work.
· *Tychicus:
o Ephesians
6:21: To bring you up to date, Tychicus will give you a full report about what I am doing and how
I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper in the Lord’s
work.
o Titus
3:12: I am planning to
send either Artemas or Tychicus to
you. As soon as one of them arrives, do your best to meet me at Nicopolis, for
I have decided to stay there for the winter.
(8) I have sent him to
you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage
you.(9) I am also sending *Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.
· *Onesimus, a run-away slave who was won to Christ by
Paul, is the subject of Paul’s personal short letter to Philemon, the owner of
Onesimus. Onesimus, the slave of Philemon, was accompanying Tychicus. Paul was
at this time sending Onesimus back to his master, probably sending his epistle
to Philemon at the same time. Onesimus had only become "one of" the
Colossian brethren when he had been converted through Paul in the Roman prison;
and Paul commends him as a faithful and beloved brother. Compare also Philemon
10-16.
(10) *Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings,
and so does **Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way.
· *Aristarchus:
o Acts
19:29: Soon the whole
city (Ephesus) was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the
amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus,
who were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.
o Acts
27:2: Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was
also with us. We left on a ship…
· **Mark:
o Acts
15:36-40: After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back
and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see
how the new believers are doing.” Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly,
since John Mark had deserted them in
Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement
was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed
for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to
the Lord’s gracious care.
o 2
Timothy 4:11: Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.
(11) Jesus (the one we
call *Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers
among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And
what a comfort they have been!(12) *Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.
(13) I can assure you that he *prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.
· *prays
hard: Greek agonizomai,
comes from Greek agon – race or contest. Where we get our words
“agony” and “agonize”.
(14) *Luke, the beloved
doctor, sends his greetings, and so does **Demas.
· *Luke stayed with Paul to the very end:
2 Timothy 4:11: Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.
Perhaps Luke was in Rome to deliver a document he recently finished - the Gospel of Like and the Book of Acts, which probably were a "friend of the court" brief, explaining to the Romans why Paul stood before Caesar's court.
2 Timothy 4:11: Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.
Perhaps Luke was in Rome to deliver a document he recently finished - the Gospel of Like and the Book of Acts, which probably were a "friend of the court" brief, explaining to the Romans why Paul stood before Caesar's court.
· **Demas:
2 Timothy 4:10: Demas has deserted me because he loves the
things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica…
No word of praise for Demas.
(15) Please give my
greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church
that meets in her house.No word of praise for Demas.
(16) After you have read this letter, pass it on to the church at *Laodicea so they can read it, too. And you should read the **letter I wrote to them.
· *Laodicea (later mentioned in the scathing rebuke of
Revelation 3:14-22) was a neighboring city of Colosse, along with Hierapolis.
· **letter
I wrote to them: This was
probably the circular letter to Ephesus. Except for Paul’s letter to Philemon,
which was a personal letter, Paul’s letters were meant to be read aloud in each
church.
(17) And say to *Archippus,
“Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.”
· *Archippus:
Philemon 1:2: …to our
fellow soldier Archippus… There was, evidently, doubt in Paul’s mind that
Archippus would fulfill the destiny that God had chosen for him. Is it possible
that you won’t carry out the ministry the Lord gave to you?
(18) Here is my greeting in
my own handwriting—Paul. Remember my chains. May God’s grace be with you.
· As was the custom in that day, Paul
generally dictated his letters, and personally signed a postscript with his own
hand.
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