The book of Colossians. And I'm going to read in your hearing tonight two separate portions from that book. First, I'm going to read Colossians 1, 1-8, and then Colossians 4, 12-13. And 12-13 is where the bulk of our time is going to be tonight. So Colossians 1, verses 1-8 first, and then Colossians 4, 4-13. Colossians 1, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and Timothy, our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae, grace to you and peace from God, our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing as it also does among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the spirit. And now turn over to chapter four, verses 12 and 13. The apostle continues, Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. That's for the reading of God's word. Well, when I think of the great giants of the faith, I always stand amazed at what they've done and the mark that they have left on the world for Christ. For example, one of my heroes right now, somebody that I'm reading quite a bit, is Abraham Kuyper. And if you don't know about Abraham Kuyper, this guy was a polymath. If you don't know what that means, go look it up. It means somebody who was very adept and adroit at many different topics and subjects. He wore many different hats. He was a theologian, a professor, a president of a university, an author, a journalist, a pastor, and the prime minister of the Netherlands. It would take me 500 lifetimes, I think, to do what that man did for Christ in one lifetime. And in the same way, I think about Paul. He was a scholar, he was a theologian, a missionary, a pastor, and the author of most of the New Testament. He was an apostle, and apart from Jesus, was probably one of the most influential thinkers for Christianity. And that's why when I read his prayers, I'm very deeply impressed by them. I'm encouraged by them. I'm even instructed by them, as I hope you are as well. But at the same time, I think, well, that was the Apostle Paul. And I don't think I could ever pray like that or with such gravitas. Now, of course, we know that's not true. Paul was a man just like you and me, a human like you and me. But Paul's example in prayers almost seemed like an unattainable ideal. And that is why when we come to this obscure figure in the book of Colossians, Epaphras, I think that we find what I'm calling an unsung prayer warrior. He's tucked away in the New Testament, and his name is Epaphras. I want you to notice in verse 12, I'm in chapter four, verse 12. The one phrase that really stuck out to me, really jumped out at me, is in verse 12 where it says, Epaphras, who is one of you. Epaphras, who is one of you. How can he be one of them? Well, he was a pastor in Colossae, and I think he was also a missionary. I think he was the first one to bring them the gospel. And more importantly, he was an average everyday Christian like you and me. And yet his example of prayerfulness and specifically persevering in prayer, which we're going to see in a moment, laboring in prayer, wrestling in prayer, was so great that it caught Paul's attention. Namely because Paul himself, the Apostle Paul, was so impressed by it. And because Paul mentioned Epaphras in his epistle, not only in the book of Colossians, but we also see him mentioned in Philemon, verse 23, we have an ordinary example of diligent prayerfulness that we can consider tonight and hopefully imitate. So tonight and next Lord's Day, Vesper, I want to consider with you some reflections on Epaphras, an ordinary prayer warrior as a model and example for all of us to imitate. So just three things tonight. The first one's going to be very short. What do we know about Epaphras? Well, as we already read, he was probably the first one to bring the gospel to Colossae. And I think historians and theologians have tried to put together, piece together the timeline here, but I think what happened is that he was pastoring in Colossae. Maybe he had other elders, maybe he didn't, but Colossae was starting to fall into some false teaching. So there's some negative things that need to be reported to Paul, but at the same time, Colossae was also doing some wonderful things. So we think, scholars think, that Epaphras made his way to Rome, where Paul was in prison, just to inform Paul about what was going on in Colossae. and maybe get some pastoral and apostolic advice. But while he was there, he got thrown in prison himself. And that's what Philemon verse 23 tells us. Paul tells us that Epaphras was his fellow prisoner. And so we see that he spent some time with Paul, and as he shared what was going on with Paul, I think that he was a source of encouragement to Paul in that jail cell. No doubt he probably prayed with Paul and over Paul and sang hymns with Paul or spiritual songs, psalms, whatever you want to call them. But he was a servant, as it says in 4.12. But he's also, as I said, a prisoner. So that's what we know about him. But secondly, I want you to consider tonight, I want you to consider two relationships, two relationships which forged his prayer life, two relationships which forged his prayer life. A man named Maurice Roberts once said that prayer is circumstantial. That is, God forms and fashions our prayers on the anvil of circumstances in our lives. Have you ever experienced that? And so it is with Epaphras. We see two relationships here. Number one, in verse 12a, as I've already pointed out, he was one of you. He was one of the Colossians. That means that now that he is converted, he's one with the Colossians in spirit. One who is bonded with them. Whether Epaphras was a Colossian or not, whether he was an actual citizen who was there and then he started the church, or whether he was somebody who came from outside, it doesn't matter. His heart was knit together with the Colossians in soul and in mind. He's one with them. He's prepared to give himself over for them. And whatever we give ourselves to is what we're most willing to pray for, isn't it? Whatever we give ourselves over to is what we're most willing to pray for. We cannot separate the reality of our prayer life from the relationships that we have with others. And so I think the question we should ask tonight in the context of a church prayer meeting is, are we bonded to one another the way we ought to be so that our prayers for one another might naturally flow out? Are our hearts so knit together with one another in this place, in this congregation, that we find ourselves, listen, this is important, rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep. I don't know, maybe you're not human, I am, but sometimes I'm tempted not to be happy for people. It's a wicked, wicked thing, isn't it? It's a wicked thing when somebody's reporting how the Lord is doing wonderful things in their life, and you get that temptation to be jealous or whatever. But when you love people in your congregation, when you want the best for them, when you truly are rejoicing with those who rejoice, you celebrate with them. Are we doing that? Is that something that is an ongoing reality here at Grace Covenant Church? When somebody shares a prayer request that is difficult, something that's going on in their life, do you find your heart in pain? Maybe they put forward a request for relief from chronic pain or the salvation of a child. And I think that one of the sentiments that I'm always striving for in a prayer meeting is the sentiment, even though the author to the Hebrews doesn't mention it in Hebrews 13.3, he doesn't mention prayer, is the sentiment that he says in 13.3, remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated since you are also in the body. What is the author saying here? He's saying when you pray for them, you're praying as if you were in their shoes yourself. And I think that this is what we see when we see that Epaphras was one with them. We find ourselves taking on the joys and travails of others, we will more readily take them into our prayer closets with us. So this is how God forges our prayer lives by identifying ourselves with the body and their joys and sorrows. But then there's a second relationship I want you to notice in verse 12. And it's with respect to Christ. He was a servant. of Christ. That's the word doulos, more appropriately rendered slave. He was a servant to Christ. In some sense we are all servants of Christ. Though that is true of all believers, there are some believers who are very noticeable in their service, particularly in their prayer. And Epaphras is clearly one of those notable examples. Willing bondage, willing servanthood. And being a servant of Christ that shapes and molds his prayers, he sees his life as a servant of Christ. A servant is always, listen, a servant is always watching the hand of his master. I think of those in an orchestra, right? They're always watching the hand of the what? The maestro, if you will. The maestro is leading each and every individual. And a little flick of the hand, and that indicates to them, I must do this, I must do that. And so it is with us as Christians, we're always watching the hand of our master. What is your bidding, Lord? What is it that you would have me do? And this is what we see that Epaphras was. Can you say that your one passion in life is to be a servant of Christ? What does that look like, Josh? I don't see Jesus' hand. Well, you see His hands in this Word. You see His heart in this Word. When He gives you a command, when He gives you an exhortation, when He gives you a rebuke, that is the hand of our Lord. And we, as servants of our Lord, want to watch His hand meticulously. When you hear His voice from heaven through the preaching of the Word, what is your response? When you prepare your heart for the table, It's not just a ritualistic and empty service, but it's a heartfelt desire to commune with one who is a friend, but more than a friend, your Savior and your Lord. So those are the two relationships that we see him in that are the circumstances that serve as an anvil upon which his prayer life is pounded out. But now, thirdly, I want you to consider two spiritual needs which kindled and carried his prayer life. Once again, two spiritual needs that kindled and carried his prayer life. Look at verse 12. It says, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. That they would be mature. That they would be mature. That's what he prayed for. This refers to their understanding of the truth and all the subsequent benefits that come from it. That the Colossians would not be easily led astray by false thinking. That they would not easily be deceived by the schemes of the devil. That they would see Christ in all His glory and all His splendor as infinitely more satisfying than anything that co-workers or friends or Facebook or iPhones or families have to offer. Christ was resilient over against all of those things. Do you find yourself praying this kind of prayer for others in this congregation? We pray this kind of prayer for our children, right? Those of you who have children. We pray that they would not be deceived by the world, the flesh, and the devil, because we want their hearts to be pure. Well, so in the same way, we should pray that for our brothers and sisters, that they would be mature, that they would stand mature. And not just so that they would get into heaven, but that they would have a kind of heaven on earth right now in their seeking after holiness. Do you find yourself praying this kind of prayer for others in this congregation? And I know it seems basic, I get it. It seems basic, but it was so noteworthy that Paul included it and commended it in his letter. Why? Paul prays the exact same thing in Ephesians 1. I'm not gonna go there, but if you look at 16 through 25, he prays the same thing that we would be built up into maturity. So that's a first spiritual need that kindles and carries his prayer life, but secondly, I want you to notice, secondly, Second thing he prayed for is that they would be fully assured in the will of God. Fully assured in the will of God. Now this is really getting at two things here. One, what we were looking at this morning, assurance. Assurance in what God has promised to us. But this is what the old Puritans used to call universal obedience. Assured in the will of God is to say, what is it, Lord, that you would have me do in every single area of my life? I wanna be assured in the will of God. There's some things that are not spelled out in scripture, who you're going to marry, what job you're going to take, but as far as your moral conduct, those things are spelled out in scripture, what you are to be to the world, what you are to be to your family, how you are to let loose the gospel in your relationships so that people might be saved. And this is being fully assured in the will of God. And this is one of the things that Epaphras prayed for, for the Colossians. It's not just that they would understand what the will of the Lord is, but more importantly, that they would do it. We often have glitches in our theology. What do I mean by that? I mean that we quote-unquote get or understand, for example, that we are to love others as God has loved us, but when it comes down to it, we think that there is some justifiable exception in our case if we don't want to love somebody else. Maybe the person we're dealing with is just unlovable. But that is a glitch, you see. It was a fierce love with which Christ undertook the gruesome death upon a tree, and so we also should die to self, die to excuses, die to old bad habits in order to love our brothers and sisters fiercely. So Epaphras is asking a great deal. He's not afraid to ask a big deal. He has a great heart for the Colossians. One old divine put it this way. He made the Colossian saints to be perfect and complete in their standing through his kneeling. I love that. He stormed the mercy seat of heaven. He expected great things. They were biblical things. And we saw that Epaphras prays as Paul prayed elsewhere, but it's also true that Epaphras prays as Jesus prays. If you think of the prayers of John chapter 17, what is Jesus primarily praying? He's praying that his church might be kept firm. He's praying that they might have a knowledge of the truth and that the truth would set them free. He's praying that they might know and love the Son and might walk in the way of His commandments. He's praying that they would be in communion with one another and with God as He is in communion with God, that the church would be one. These are the things that are our greatest needs in prayer, dear congregation. They're our greatest needs. If you want to grow in your prayer life, the best thing you could do, I would almost say the only thing you should do, but I wouldn't go that far. The best thing you can do is to look at the prayers of Scriptures and try to imitate the kinds of prayers about the kinds of things that Scripture prays for. And one of the most important things is that we would be mature in the Lord. A true friend is one who prays for what we really and truly need. And so this simple phrase should motivate our petitions as we pray for one another. Now did it strike you, as we end here tonight, did it strike you when you read this prayer that he seems to pray more for believers than for the conversion of unbelievers? Did you notice that there was nothing in Epaphras' prayers that had to do with the conversion of unbelievers? And why is that? I think that Epaphras realized that if the Colossian believers truly grew up spiritually, stopped waffling, stopped wondering from the truth, but grew up into the truth with the desire to do all the will of God, that they would impact others in a winning and winsome way for the Lord. The church's need is to grow up and be mature, and as we do that, we, kind of like what I was saying this morning, become much more appealing to the world. We offer something that is different. We offer something that is counter-cultural. And I think the world is looking for something like that. Horatius Bonar said, if believers are full of the Spirit, full of love for souls, the world sees that they have something that the earth cannot give. And when they show by their joy in Christ that they are satisfied, the world would like to get at their secret. These are, there are far more people made to think by seeing the joy believers and their satisfaction in Christ than by any words that they can speak. Now that doesn't mean that we don't speak words. We should speak words. You can't articulate the gospel without words, but you can also live out the gospel so that you can confirm the things that you are saying. So Paphras also realizes that if God's people don't stand and don't do the will of God, they will be cold, they will be inconsistent, and distant from the Lord, and their lives won't speak, and they themselves will be obstacles to the gospel. So do you know that you can be an obstacle to the gospel when you are not walking strong in the Lord, when you are not walking maturely? among God's people, there should be this striving to walk in a mature manner, this urgent prayer for church ministers and office bearers, for every member that we might stand complete in the will of God. So this is the example of Epaphras, and tonight as we go before our Lord, let us be encouraged and exhorted by his example to take such prayer requests to the Lord. Alright, I have a few requests