Psalms 87:66The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah. (Psalm 87:6); Colossians 4:7-187All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord: 8Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate, and comfort your hearts; 9With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here. 10Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;) 11And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. 12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 13For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis. 14Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. 15Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. 16And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. 17And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. 18The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. <<Written from Rome to Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus.>> (Colossians 4:7‑18)
Part 1
We are all going to be written up. That process is going on now. In the close of the Epistle to the Colossians we get a little foreshadowing of that kind of thing. The Spirit of God has been pleased in the verses which we read in Colossians to give us a few remarks about some of the brethren. These remarks are the estimate that the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit of God, put upon them. You will notice that no two of these men are characterized alike. Each one has that that is, distinctly his. No two of us are expected to be duplicates. The Spirit of God has been pleased to put these records here that we might pick up a bit of profit from them.
This address is supposed to be to those who are young. If the Lord tarries and you live, some day you will be older than you are now. If you are kept in the path, some day you will be among the older brethren. What kind of a record will God be able to write of you at that time? If the Apostle Paul were going to close one of his epistles and wanted to mention you, what kind of a record would he be able to give?
Tychicus has a nice recommendation. Here is a “beloved brother.” There was something about that man that made him very dear to the heart of Paul. He was a beloved brother. There are some of our brethren whom we can scarcely speak of without using that word. We always think of them as beloved brothers. Perhaps there are others, about whom we would not be so ready to speak in that way. Of course, we are all beloved of the Father, but that is not the side of things that is before us here. It is not what we are in Christ, but what is manifested in our practical everyday life, “A beloved brother, a faithful minister.”
Wouldn’t we all like to be that? I believe our hearts ought to long for that kind of thing. You would like to be that someday, wouldn’t you, dear young Christian? That kind of thing is made up of a lot of very small threads. It is like one of the great hawsers that they use on the ships. They are as big as your arm; but if you were to examine that great rope you would find that it is made up of lesser ropes and these are made up of still lesser ropes, and finally you get down to the fibers.
Our Christian character is like that. Why do you think that Tychicus was a beloved brother and faithful minister, and fellow-servant in the Lord? How could the Spirit of God call him that? His life had been made up of daily faithfulness. Day by day he had been weaving that cord, that rope of testimony and service. Now he is rather mature in his Christian experience, and the Apostle can call him “beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord.” He did not suddenly become that. That was the result of a life of pruning. How nice that he could be spoken of in that way.
Young folks, are you faithful? Are you faithful in the little things God gives you to do for Him? Faithfulness is a great thing. It is a great thing to be faithful to the meetings. Have you a seat at the reading meeting, and are folks disappointed if you are not there? Would they miss you if you were not at the prayer meeting, or would they be surprised if you were there? Faithfulness is made of small obedience. It is woven of individual acts of faithfulness—faithfulness for Christ in the least bit of responsibility that falls across your path.
Perhaps there are some here this afternoon who had some little bit of service you were discharging for Him, and you were happy in it, but you have let it slip. Would the Lord have liked you to give it up, or was it spiritual sloth? Did you become, cold in your soul? O, if there is anyone here like that, go to the Lord about it and ask Him to freshen up your affections. When you go back home, take up that little service for Him. If He has given it to you, it is your individual responsibility—it has your name attached to it. Someone else might step in and do the work but that will not be discharging your responsibility.
Onesimus is another faithful man, another beloved brother. It doesn’t say anything about his being a fellow-servant, but he is a faithful and beloved brother. We read quite a bit about him in the Epistle to Philemon. He had not always been a faithful and beloved brother, he had been a very unfaithful man. He had run away from home, and perhaps helped himself to his master’s funds. He probably thought he had worked hard and got no pay, and was entitled to a little cash. Anyway, he ran away from his master, and arrived in Rome, and got converted there. That man was transformed by the grace of God into a beloved and faithful brother. So it doesn’t make any difference what our past has been, if the grace of God comes into our lives, all the privileges that belong to any children of God lie before us. We can appropriate them. Don’t be discouraged by thinking how bad you have been. Onesimus certainly had a bad name. Probably they said some very harsh things about him, where he came from, but here the Spirit of God is pleased to record,
“Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother.”
His name means “profitable.” He certainly had not lived up to his name in the early part of his life. He had been unprofitable. He had been a liability to his master. Now he goes back—no longer unprofitable, but profitable.
I wonder how the Lord would write you up—as profitable or unprofitable? In one sense we are all unprofitable servants, but we want to distinguish between things that differ. That doesn’t mean that we are to slump down, fold our hands and say, “I am an unprofitable servant,” and stay still. That scripture does not mean that we should not have an earnest desire that we might be enabled to do something to please the Lord, something that He can own as for Himself.
(To Be Continued)