SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/17/2017
10:34 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Man With A Single Passion”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Colossians
4:12-13
Message of the
verses: “12 Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave
of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in
his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of
God. 13 For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those
who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.”
If we go way back to when we began the study of
Colossians we may remember that Epaphras was actually the founder of the
Colossian church and it is likely that he was the current pastor. It was Epaphras who came to Rome to talk to
Paul about all of the problems that were going on in this church. We see the word Paul described for Epaphras
and it is “bond-slave,” and we have mentioned that the Greek word is doulos which means slave, and we
mentioned that in Philippians 2 that Jesus was considered a “slave of God.” I also mentioned that every translation of
the word doulos should be slave, and in most every English translation of the
Bible this is not the case.
Epaphras ministered to the churches in the Lycus Valley
by his consistent prayers for them “always laboring earnestly for them in his
prayers. MacArthur writes “Laboring
earnestly is from agonizomai, from
which our English word agonize is
derived. It is used in 1 Corinthians
9:25 to speak of the grueling completion endured by athletes in the games. In John 18:36 it is translated, ‘fight.’ Related words appear in Romans 15:30, to speak
of fighting in prayer, and Luke 22:44, in reference to Jesus’ agony in
Gethsemane. Epaphras was a living
example of Paul’s command to the Colossians in 4:2 to ‘devote yourselves to
prayer.’”
We see what the goals of Epaphras’ prayers are as we read
“stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” The word “perfect” actually means complete or
it can been “fully developed.” MacArthur
adds “Fully assured is from plerophoreo
and could be translated, ‘persuaded,’ or satisfied fully.’” It was the goal of both Paul and Epaphras
that the Colossians would become mature and satisfied “in all the will of God.” The ones who live in obedience to God’s will
can grow to fullness of Christ thus becoming content.
MacArthur concludes “Having observed Epaphras firsthand,
Paul could ‘bear witness’ to his ‘deep concern for the Colossians, and those at
nearby ‘Laodicea and Hierapolis.’ His
fervent, agonizing prayers and his single-minded passion for his people’s
maturity, must have greatly encouraged Paul and his co-workers.”
6/17/2017 10:53 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment