I've been assigned a passage to preach today. You know, friends are a good thing. And when you can look at a passage of Scripture that's talking about friends, especially the friends of the Apostle Paul, that's an interesting study. When you turn to Colossians chapter 4 this morning in your Bibles, continuing the series that our pastors and others have been preaching on Sunday mornings, When you look at verse 7 and extending on through verse 15, you'll see a number of different names there. Verse 7 is Tychicus, verse 8 is Onesimus, verse 10 is Aristarchus and Mark, verse 11 is Justice, verse 12 is Epaphras, 14 is Luke and Demas, and 15 is Nymphus. There's not a lot said about a lot of these individual people, but there is one particular friend about which there is more said than the others, who I think is a special focus in this section of Scripture. One man, epiphras, and one topic, epiphrastic intercession. You know, books about prayer are tremendously helpful. They're a great aid to sanctification. All of us, I think, are challenged by this obligation, this responsibility of seeking God, of praying. It's not easy. It does not come naturally. And so books that help us in this are really, really an advantage to us. There's one particular book called The Ministry of Intercession that was written by Andrew Murray, a 19th century Dutch preacher in South Africa, that is one of the most profound books of all the books that I've had occasion to read. It stands really alone. In fact, I think I've read this book three or four times from cover to cover. It's more like the Bible than any other human book that's not inspired that I've ever read. I'm alluding to it because it's a great testimony of how much there is to learn about engaging in this ministry. By taking the teaching of Scripture and allowing the Spirit of the living God to work in us to help us understand how to be intercessors And does that matter? What is Jesus doing right now on the right hand of God the Father? What is His role for you, His role for me? It is to be there, to intercede for us, to be our advocate. And so if we want to be like the Lord Jesus Christ, and I know you do, that's why you're here this morning, you want to be an intercessor. You need to be an intercessor. You know, another book that I had opportunity to read once, a pretty short, slender little book, by a guy named G. Campbell Morgan, who was a preacher in the first part of the 20th century, very well known, and authored a lot of books, commentaries. His little book was called The Practice of Prayer. Right off the bat, the dedication of that book really caught my attention. This is how it reads, listen to it. To Marianne Adlard, one of the hidden workers who endures as seeing him who is invisible, and who in secret labors by intercession with those who preach the word. It wasn't until much later in the book before I began to understand who Marianne Adlard was. She was a member of Campbell Morgan's church. She had been a lifelong invalid, bedridden. whose prayer life, by the time she was a member of Morgan's church, had become legendary, and a very fascinating story was told by her earlier pastor, a man named Lessie in Northern London, about what had happened in answer to her intercessory prayers. Turns out when she was a much younger woman, she was lying in bed and she was reading a magazine that was called The Revivalist. And then it was an article about a guy named D.L. Moody who was preaching all over America and there were great revivals occurring and thousands of people were being converted to Christ. Marianne Adlard couldn't do anything, no active service, but she interceded. And she asked God to send D.L. Moody to her church. in northern London to preach. Well as time went on Moody went across the ocean and came to England to carry out preaching ministry. There'd been no contact with Marianne Adelard or with Pastor Lessie, her pastor. But she prayed. It turned out that Pastor Lessie was at another meeting in another place and actually met Moody. and invited Moody to come to his church, not knowing that Marianne Edlard had been praying for this. Moody accepted the invitation, and he went to this relatively small church in northern London to preach. Over the course of ten days, if you can imagine this, over 400 people were converted to Jesus Christ. in the midst of that meeting. Now that was alarming, not only to Pastor Lessee, but it was alarming to D.L. Moody because it was not a big expansive place, there weren't a lot of people in the church, but people were drawn. And he began asking questions, Moody did, and the questions led him to the bedside of Marian Edlard. And years later, D.L. Moody would say, that he was convinced it was the prayers of Marian Edelard that took him across the ocean to northern London to that church to minister the word of God. Now this happened many years ago, decades ago. But the ministry of the intercessor never goes out of style It is timeless. Listen to what Paul said when he was speaking of the Romans in chapter 1 verse 8. He said, first, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. He said to the Corinthian believers in chapter 1 verse 4 in 1 Corinthians, I thank my God always concerning you by Christ Jesus. He exhorted and encouraged the Galatians in prayer when he said in chapter 6 verse 2, bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. You heard what he said to the Ephesian believers in the letter that he wrote in chapter three as Pastor Ben read it this morning and then prayed it. For this cause I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory that you might be strengthened by his might through the spirit in the inner man. And then he continues and prays that you may be being rooted and grounded in love that you may comprehend what is the length and breadth and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge and be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him who is able to do abundantly above all that we could ask or think by the power that worketh in us. May he be glorified through Christ Jesus in the church forever and ever. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in 1-2, we give thanks to God always for you, making mention of you in our prayers. He prayed or spoke to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 2-1, therefore I exhort first of all that supplications and prayers and intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men. I mentioned the book by Andrew Murray, The Ministry of Intercession. Listen to what he says early in that book. He said, the model intercessor is the model Christian worker. First to get from God and then to give to men what we ourselves secure from day to day is the secret of successful work. between our impotence and God's omnipotence, intercession is the blessed link. The subject of our text today in verse 12 and 13 is a model intercessor. His name is Epiphas. We learn from chapter 1 verse 7 in Colossians that he was in fact a fellow servant of the Apostle Paul. That's how he's described. In Philemon verse 23, Paul describes him as a fellow prisoner. He had experienced imprisonment with Paul. And in Colossians 1.7, again, it says of this man Epaphras, he was a faithful minister of Christ, one for whom Paul prayed, we learn in Colossians 1.19, for he says, we also do not cease to pray for you. Now we have pretty limited information about Epaphras, actually, when you look at these verses. But that's a powerful clue. because by limiting the information we really have an intense burst of biographical light about the ministry of intercession that we each can have. How can we grow in our ministry of intercession? How can this occur? Well, look at verses 12 and 13 with me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you and those who are in Laodicea and those in Heropolis. Short, succinct, to the point, a biographical description, and what dominates? This ministry of intercession dominates, and it dominates to provide us with a model, a human model, modeled after the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and his eternal ministry at the right hand of God, a model that we can follow. We can engage in this intercessory ministry for others, praying for others, by adopting a manner of life that allows for and encourages intercession. What we're looking at here is like the top story of a building. I mean this ministry of intercession. It's preceded by a whole lot else. You know, it's like the final successful close of a many-hour heart surgery. Well, the heart surgeon just didn't walk into that surgical theater one day and just decide, I'm going to do heart surgery. There was a whole lot that went before that event. And that's true with intercession. Because with intercession there must be a manner of life that is the basis or foundation for it. And that manner of life is first a ministry to and spiritual intimacy with other people. Would you notice please the simple little phrase in verse 12, Epaphras, who is one of you. He was a Colossian. He was their pastor. He was one who served them. We know from Colossians 1-7 that he was their faithful minister. Knowledge of others' needs. Physically, spiritually, emotionally, financially. Actually having relationship. Knowledge of our church and its ministry's needs. of our friends, those that we have associations with, brings a godly burden which then compels us to pray. I had the joy at my father's funeral back in January. I was sitting by two nephews both there. Both of them served as pallbearers. I said, well, they were nephews, grandsons of my dad. That would be normal. Yes, but men and women, the years and years of intercessory prayer. that has brought one of those nephews to the point now, after long-term rebellion and wandering from God, military service, which was a wonderful step for him in life, but a life far from God, a life wandering from God, and then even as a believer, still wandering, to know that now today, he is in a church like ours, in that community. Loving God, desiring to serve God, and the other nephew, not as far down that path as we would hope. But God clearly is at work. But it took mom and dad and aunts and uncles and grandparents knowing the needs, understanding what was going on, and crying out to God for transformation, for change, for deliverance. There's something else about the life, the manner of life, that encourages intercession. Look with me would you at verse 13 and the latter part of it. It says that he prayed for and had a great zeal for those in Laodicea and those in Heropolis. Now all these towns were in an area called the Lyceus Valley. This is in modern day Turkey in the southern central part of it. And these two towns were actually located about ten miles west of Colossae. They were about six miles apart from each other. Now that seems like a fairly short distance to us today because of cars. But in that day and time it wasn't that short of a distance. The thing of the primary mode of transportation was going to be an animal if you had the means to do that or perhaps a wagon or a cart. But oftentimes they were walking. These are people not in the church at Colossae. These were people that were not in that town. No, these are neighboring communities. And so think of neighboring communities of believers, neighboring churches. Think of people who are engaged in church planning or missionary activity, other local assemblies, other local leaders. You know, if we have a limited view in how we pray and what we pray for, that will tend to bring us discouragement when we have problems right here. And if we have a limited view and no problems, then that brings oftentimes a lack of zeal and not the kind of prayerfulness that God would be pleased with. In the words of Andrew Murray in his book, it is in the meeting and mastering of difficulties that we reach our highest attainments in intercessory prayer. So we pray for missionaries. We pray for churches. Think for just a moment. Now name for me right now five local assemblies in this community and name their pastoral staffs right now for me. Who are they and how do they serve and how do you pray for them? Or how about a list, just name 10 missionaries you know right now that you're praying for. Fervently, regularly. I'm challenging you to this because this is a great opportunity for ministry. It is something that becomes an incredible expansion of ministry for us as God's people. And it is so Christ-like because it's just what the Lord Jesus is doing for us right now. Crying out to the Father for us. Interceding for us. You know, even more fundamental. to this right manner of life that leads to intercession is total devotion. Verse 12 again says Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, a bondservant of Christ. That's the term for slave. This is a total abnegation of self and self-desire and self-focus. If you go back to chapter one, back to verse seven again, there he's called a fellow servant, a fellow slave. And so you have humble devotion because he's described here as a slave, a bondservant. Then he's described as a fellow slave, which is cooperative devotion. And then in verse seven, he's called a faithful servant who is, engaged in consistent devotion. This is one devoted guy, really devoted. And that is so critical to having a clear conscience when we come and seek God for other people. When we're asking God to work, to change, to transform, to move, to actually give people ministry opportunity and ministry heart and growth spiritually, you know what? If you're praying for that for other people and you're not that, what happens to your conscience while you're praying? What happens to your fervor while you're praying? Can you pray fervently? Can you pray honestly with a clear conscience? It's hard, isn't it? In fact, it's probably impossible to pray without that life of total devotion. Now you know to engage in any kind of activity well for the Lord or even not for the Lord, we really have to have an ideal in mind. And in order to engage in epiphrastic intercession, we really have to have an ideal in mind about the true nature of it. Not just the manner of life behind it, but what's it like. Men and women, I'm calling out to you, I'm encouraging us together as a body of believers, I'm challenging you to a level perhaps of praying that maybe you're somewhat unfamiliar with. Look at what this man did, in verse 12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers. Always, ongoingly. I mean, think of Romans 12, 12, where the apostle Paul says that believers are to continue instant in prayer. Or Colossians 4, 2, just earlier in this chapter, where he says the same thing, continue in prayer. Or Matthew 7, 7, ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For he that asks shall receive, he that seeks shall find, he that knocks it shall be opened unto him. And here's the fascinating fact. Right here in verse 12, as well as in all those other passages I just mentioned, it is an ongoing, continual, fervent asking. It is ongoing. like the widow in Luke chapter 18 verse one, who went to that judge, do you remember it? The parable of the unfortunate widow, who came and asked that unjust judge, please help me, I'm being pressured by my enemy, who's burdening me and afflicting me, and she bothered the judge so much that the judge finally granted her request. And what was the lesson Jesus was teaching? If an unjust judge will do that for a lady that comes and begs Him repeatedly and continually, how much more will your God, your Father, answer your prayers as you come back to Him repeatedly and constantly? What about the friend who came at midnight, as we're taught in Luke 11? and knocked on the door, said, I have friends that have shown up unexpectedly. I have no food in my house. The man says, don't bother me, don't get me out of bed. Everybody in my house is in bed. But he persistently knocks on the door of his friend, and his friend then opens the door, gives him what he needs. And Jesus taught, how much more will your father provide for you what you need if you persistently, continually ask? and the son who comes to a father. Listen, if our sons, our daughters ask us of something that's reasonable and doable, we do what we can to give them what they need. As Jesus said, a child comes to a parent and asks for bread, you don't give them a stone. They ask for a fish to eat, you don't give them a viper or a snake. You readily and willingly, generously give. I saw this modeled very early on in life, even before I became a Christian. My mother was a believer before my dad was by a good 10 years, and I saw my mom pray fervently for my dad, but I saw the church that my mother and my sisters and I would attend pray for my father week after week after week. They would come and visit our house, deacons and others, to try to win my dad to Christ. And oh, I felt so sorry for those guys, because my dad was a hard guy. He was not a welcoming, warm, friendly guy at all. And many times, those dear brothers must have left very discouraged, very unhappy. And of course, he was miserable to everybody in the household after they left, you know. Until one day, my dad walked down an aisle just like that and met that pastor at the front of that church and repented and trusted Jesus Christ. It was seven years, men and women, of persistent praying and persistent pursuing. Ongoing. And I want you to see something else about the nature of this intercession. It was a very intense effort with a specific goal in mind. See it in verse 12? He is one of you, a bondservant of Christ. He greets you always laboring fervently for you in prayers. Always laboring fervently. This sounds like Romans 15 30. where Paul exhorts believers, strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. It sounds like the Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22, 44, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. Again, it's ongoing, it's continual, but men and women, it's intense. All of us have a fantasy here and there in our lives. One of my fantasies is when I watch the Olympics. This really is a fantasy. It's Olympic weightlifting, okay? You know these guys that, you know, go up to the barbell and they just have multiple hundreds of pounds of weight on these barbells. And they lean over the thing and then all of a sudden, you know, they do the clean and jerk, they call it, you know. And, you know, it just looks like, I mean, the bar is literally bent. It's so heavy. and then they throw it up and their arms are shaking and every sinew and vein is popping out of their neck and out of their arms and then they throw it down. That was fun, that was a fantasy right then, okay? Well, guess what? That is exactly what laboring fervently means. Now that's very physical. And I'm not saying that this praying is physical this way, but the level of intensity emotionally in your will, in your desire parallels this. It's a labor that does not stop short of demanding the whole strength and heart of a person. It is fighting, it is straining, it is struggling. It is forcing your mind and your soul before the throne of God. It is forcing yourself to articulate the words. It is compelling yourself over longer periods of time than you normally, naturally would ever do. It's beyond normal, easy praying. It is a new dimension of praying. And yet by sharp contrast to all of that effort, empowered and energized by the Spirit of God, it is complete dependence upon God. You see right there in verse 12 where it says, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, You know, there are a lot of different words in the New Testament that are translated prayer or prayers. I mean the English word prayer or prayers. There's a lot of words in the language of the New Testament, different words. This one, in plural, is the one that especially focuses on who we're praying to, who we are depending on. The object of the prayers is the focus of this terminology. It is God who we are focused on. And ultimately, men and women, really when we get right down to it, it is all about God, isn't it? This is all about God. This is all about Him. becoming active in the affairs of our lives and in the affairs of the lives of those we love and we care about, in the affairs and the life of our church. E.M. Bounds is probably, has probably the author of the most famous book on prayer written in America. It's called Power Through Prayer. It's another little small book. And he makes this statement among many others in this book. Talking to men for God is a great thing. But talking to God for men is greater still. I alluded to Campbell Morgan earlier. He made the little comment in his book that prayer is the method of cooperation with deity. Let me put it in these words from another preacher of the past that I've read. He said, we're expected to be children of an enormous God confidence. We are to be children absolutely assured we are in communion with Christ and are even now receptive of his grace. This is about face to face with God for what really matters to us. for the transformation of people, the transformation of our situation. How can we engage in this kind of intercession? By having a manner of life that is the foundation for it. By understanding the ideal that it is, the nature of it. But then, and very important, by knowing the guiding priority of intercession. What is it we are primarily after? What we're primarily after is spiritual stability. Now look at verse 12 again with me at the end of it. What was he laboring fervently in prayers for them for? That you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, that you may stand, that you may be firm, you may hold your ground, you may stand fast, no sliding back, no stumbling, no collapsing. Think about it, men and women, isn't that really the most devastating thing in spiritual life and experience, the fact that people, and even, and we make progress, but then we slide back, or we stumble, we fail, or we collapse. And when we see that in others, we see that in our children, or we see that in friends, other believers who once were faithful, and stable, and contributing, and serving, and then they weaken, and they they fall back and they collapse. What did he labor fervently for? That they would stand. And more specifically, that they would stand firm in maturity. It says that you may stand perfect Now isn't it interesting that Jesus said in Matthew 5.48, be ye perfect even as your Father which in heaven is perfect. That's one of those curious statements in the New Testament. A theologian back in the 19th century tried to explain this statement this way. He said the Christian is to be perfect as a man as God is perfect as God. and the perfection of man consists in being full of God." I'm not sure that completely clarifies the matter, but I'll tell you what I think this is about. Since we are not God and we are just people, what I think this means is that as we bear His image as Christian people, the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, though flawed We are to see worked out in our life what Hebrews 5, 14 says. And here's what it says. but strong meat belong to them that are of full age, or mature, perfect, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. What is maturity? What is a person who's fully developed in the image of Christ as a human being? And of course there's always progress we will make and must make. We never attain until we're in glory. But a mature Christian is one who's exercised their conscience to discern between good and evil. Everything in their life, all the details of their life, what they say, what they do, what they think, their disposition, everything. And so what's he praying for? He's praying that they would be mature. That they would be these kind of discerning people in attitude and disposition and relationships and actions. Most of you don't know my oldest daughter, Stephanie. A few of you do. Stephanie was here in the fellowship with us for a few years before she graduated from college and got married. She has six kids now, 11 years old down to two, two and a half years old. Four boys, may the Lord help her, two girls. Okay? They're fun. When they come to my house, I call it blessed chaos because that's what it is. They're just a fun, fun bunch. Stephanie trained to be a teacher at Bob Jones, and she went on to teach at a Christian school and then went on to teach for a little bit in a public school, a minority school, which is what her plan was and what she wanted to do. And then she started having kids. And now the three little ankle biters that are the youngest aren't in school yet, but the other three, she teaches at home. Well, that's now. But then there was then. Okay? Now, then was when I was pastoring a church in another community. And Stephanie's a sweetheart and she's a sweet girl, great disposition, a lot of encouragement to us as a family. But there was a little period of time, early on, in her college years when she fell prey to what I call a worshiper. You know what that is? That's a guy who sets his sights on a girl and figures that she is absolutely the quintessential woman of all the universe for him. And she can do no wrong and he will flatter and praise and give gifts and show love and devotion and all the rest And that happened to Stephanie. And the problem was, she couldn't see through it. Because seeing through it, we had a problem. This was a Christian young man, but he was extremely immature spiritually. Many deep and serious problems in his life. And we were desperate. We advised Stephanie, we counseled her, we begged her, we pled with her. And then we were left to what? Intercession. And we didn't know what we were gonna do. Lord, please. I mean, men and women, I'm not trying to be hard on this young guy, and I'm being very general, so you'll never know who this is. You wouldn't know who he is anyway. He's not in this church, okay? He's not in Greenville. All right. But we were desperate because, you know, it's our daughter. And this guy had problems. Serious. So we prayed. And do you know what happened? She went to a family reunion of his family. And he came into that family reunion and he lost his temper in front of the entire family and just carried on. And Stephanie had never seen anything like this in him at all. And a dear, sweet aunt of that young man pulled her aside in a room there in the house and said, I wanna let you know that what you just saw is what he is all the time with his family. Hallelujah. And you know what? God opened her eyes. God gave her discernment. And we didn't say any more to her. It was over. And now she's married to the man she's married to and she has six kids and we're happy. Okay. But listen, this is the solution. This is the answer. It is God's intervention in the lives of those that we love. But there's something else you pray about in this. You pray not only that they'll be mature, but they will be fully assured in all the will of God. In other words, if you look at the verse, it says that they would be perfect and complete in all the will of God. In the few Bibles that you're using and if you have a new King James, complete in all the will of God. What does that mean? Fully assured in all the will of God. Isn't that what you want for your wife, your husband? Isn't that what you want for your kids? Really? that they are just completely in the will of God. They have a thirst for the revealed will of God, the word of God, they are devoted to it, they labor in it, they love it, they memorize it. Don't you want them complete in obedience, which is the will of God? Not just knowing the Bible, but obeying it. Don't you want them complete in the specific will of God for their lives. And what I mean by that is the fulfillment of Ephesians chapter two, verse 10, where the scriptures tell us that we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. that He hath prepared beforehand and ordained for us that we should walk in them, that our children, our husbands, our wives, our friends, our church will in fact come to realize and experience exactly what the will of God is for it with all the abilities and all the opportunities maximized. You and I see all those little kids singing up here this morning. and I see the young men and the young women in the orchestra and others singing in the choir and you know, that just sends you soaring because what you see is you see potential starting to be used and starting to be developed and the thought and the possibility that that will become greater and greater and greater, how? By the working of Jesus Christ. in the lives of people in answer to our fervent, epiphrastic intercession. Now I know what I'm telling you this morning is true. It's in the Bible. But it's true, I've seen it in life. Right now in Orlando, Florida, my mother, who is 91 years old, lies largely silent. from a double stroke she experienced while my father was dying. Much of the time she's in pain. She is unable for all intents and purposes to move physically on her own. But her legacy is one of intercession. Don't pity her. She's a modern day Mary of Bethany. who spent the majority of her adult life, two, three, four hours a day in prayer and in the word. When I rebelled as a boy, she prayed. I submitted. While I wandered, lost in sin, she prayed for my salvation. I was saved. When I trusted Christ, she wasn't satisfied with me being saved. She prayed at the same time I'd be called to the ministry. I was. While I trained, she prayed, and I learned. I attempted to. While I served, and still serve, she prays for strength for me, and I'm strengthened. can be like her. You can be like her by adopting a manner of life that encourages intercession. You can be like her by understanding the nature of ideal intercession. You can be like her by knowing the guiding priority of intercession. You can grow in epiphrastic intercession. And I want to encourage you this morning, following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you resolve. You will do this in a major and specific way. How? Resolve to target time, sufficient time. Resolve to target the right way, as we've been discussing. this morning and resolved to target people. I have a little blue piece of paper here this morning, kind of dog-eared. It's got pictures of 10 people on it. Does that look familiar to you? It says, pray for them that they'll have unity, wisdom, patience, discipline, and endurance. These are the dear brothers and sisters who've been spending hours and hours and hours and hours and hours for months seeking for a shepherd. They need epiphrastic intercession. that they would stand firm, complete, fully assured in all the will of God in what they're doing. They need strength. How are they gonna get it? Can we run the risk of leaving all of this on them? I know we can't, and you know we can't, but these are people we should target to be praying with intense fervency. I had a brother walk up to me before church this morning, a man I love, and he's one of the brothers who's had some severe loss in his life. There are many in our fellowship. Said he'd been struggling. There are dozens like this. Struggling, hurting, needing intercession by us before the throne of God that they may have strength in the inner man to endure and serve as God would have them. You can grow in that prophetic intercession. Let's pray. Father, as we're bowing before you today, We ask that you would, by your Holy Spirit, work in us, work through us, as we pray, as we seek thee, as we live as the Lord Jesus lives every day, every hour for us, interceding for our brothers and sisters in Christ, interceding for our church, Lord. Help us to this end we pray, I ask in Jesus' name.