A Word in Season: Proven Zeal (Colossians 4:12–13)

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I don't know what kind of reputation you have, or what kind of reputation you might like.

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I don't know what kind of reputation your pastors might have. I don't know the reputation of the men and the women in your church.

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But I suggest to you that at least the kind of reputation we ought to be willing to receive and eager to have is that of Epaphras in Colossians chapter 4 and verse 12 and 13.

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Here the Apostle Paul speaks of this man as a bond slave of Christ Jesus and one of the

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Colossians. He is a part of this congregation and he is a servant of Christ among them.

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It may even be that he is an elder in the church in Colossae, an under -shepherd of the flock.

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And he's gone to the Apostle Paul and he's spent some time with him. And as Paul writes his letter back to the church, this man is standing there with him and he says, don't forget to tell them how much

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I care for them and love them. And so Paul says he greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

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For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you and those who are in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis.

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That's Paul's testimony about this man. He is always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

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That doesn't mean that he's praying 24 -7, pleading with God for these blessings upon them.

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But it does mean that it is characteristic of his life that he prays and characteristic of his prayers that he prays in this way.

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He works in his prayers. You would have heard it in his voice. You would have seen it on his brow.

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If his eyes were open, it would have been clear. If his eyes were screwed shut, you'd have seen that this is a man who is giving himself to intercession.

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He is pouring out his heart before the God of heaven that the people of God may stand perfect, mature and complete in all the will of God, that they might so take to heart all that God has spoken to them, all that he has commanded them, all that he has called them to be and to do, that those things would bear fruit in their lives and they would become these full orbed, healthily balanced, properly proportionate

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Christians who have received the word of God and are doing the will of God.

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And Paul says, I'm bearing witness to him. This is his reputation with me and should be with you, that he has a great zeal for you.

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He's characterized by a holy jealousy. He only wants what is best for you.

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He wants to see you defended. He wants to see you protected. He wants to see you advanced.

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He wants what is best for you. He wants you to be knit in your hearts to the

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Lord Jesus Christ. He wants you to be a church that is pure and growing in your likeness to the

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Lord Jesus Christ and in your fruitfulness in your service to him. And he's not restricted in his affections to you, but others nearby

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Laodicea, Hierapolis. This is a man who has a large heart. Yes, he's devoted to the people of God that he knows best, but he's concerned for the glory of God in the kingdom of God more widely.

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Now, what kind of reputation do we have? What kind of reputation do your elders have?

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What kind of reputation do the men and the women in your congregation have? If someone could watch our lives, at least for a few days, would they say it's characteristic of us that we pray?

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And if they could hear us praying, if either we spoke aloud so that they could hear or they could read the transcript in our minds, would they say that not only is prayer characteristic, but it is characteristic that they labor in prayer, that the people of God may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God?

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Is that our testimony? Is that the witness that others have of us?

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A proven zeal demonstrated in our praying and in our laboring that God would be glorified among his people as they grow up in all things into him who is the head, even

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Jesus Christ. Let's make that our aim. Even if it's not known, let's so live and so pray.

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And if anyone should happen to hear us, let them be able to say, I know their zeal,