Colossians 04 Round Two: Don’t Give Up

Paul is in prison, but his biggest request isn’t comfort or an early release. He asks for something far harder: a clear voice for Christ when the door opens. Colossians 4 ends with prayer, workplace integrity, and a blueprint for everyday Christian witness and it’s a needed reset if you’ve been stuck, tired, or quietly losing heart.

I walk through Paul’s call to devote ourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart, then we sit with his challenge to live wisely among those who don’t believe. That means making the most of opportunities, keeping our words gracious, and aiming for clarity instead of trying to sound impressive. We also touch the practical side of faith, including how leaders and employees both live under God’s authority and why that should shape how we treat people at work.

Then the chapter gets personal. Paul lists names, friendships, and church connections, showing how ministry is rarely solo and how God uses ordinary people to strengthen the church. He even points to the early practice of sharing letters between churches, a reminder of how Scripture was carefully preserved. Finally, Paul pauses for one direct line to Archippus: “Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.” If pain, church hurt, or a hard season has made you want to quit serving, that sentence is for you.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Welcome And How To Connect

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Well, hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Colossians chapter four. And we're going to be finishing it up today with a wonderful verse that I can't wait to share with you. But the title is Don't Give Up. We're going to get into that in just a moment. But as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe and comment to the YouTube videos. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. And then as always, where we all gather together, the Bible breakdown discussion. And man, the more we dig, the more we find. Also, you can go to brandoncannon.com and subscribe to a weekly newsletter, email newsletter that I send out. And it is just my breakdown of the week, my favorite devotion of the week. Things I'm finding in my journey as I'm just trying to become a Christ follower myself. And I'd love to share them with you at the Bible, excuse me, not the Bible breakdown, BrandonCannon.com. We'll get there

Why Colossians Still Matters

SPEAKER_00 1:08

eventually. Speaking of that, if you want to open up your Bibles to Colossians chapter four, we are going to finish up Colossians today. And that's interesting, right? When we're going through one of those long Old Testament books, it takes us weeks. This one, just four chapters. But in it has been just a powerful, amazing group of just amazing text. Because if you remember, this was written to the church at Colossae under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit because there have been some false teachings that come through about Jesus. And the Apostle Paul is just letting us know that, man, Jesus is Lord of all. He's the visible representation of the invisible God. And I love just this idea of God is for us in more ways than we can imagine. And as we're finishing up this letter, we're going to see how Paul is just an encouraging, he's encouraging them and asking them to pray for one another and to pray for him. And I love a verse that's tucked in here at the very end. And it's almost like Paul just kind of has a moment where he talks to one guy in particular. And I wonder if it will bless your heart the way it does mine. So let's read this together and we're going to finish up. He's going to start off with a verse where he's finishing off from yesterday. And if you remember, at the end of yesterday's text, he was talking about how about slaves, which today we would call them employees. You know, be be good to those you work for, and remember that you you're working for the Lord, not just for them. But then today he's going to finish off with saying, hey, you employers, you don't get off easy either. Then he's going to

Prayer That Opens Gospel Doors

SPEAKER_00 2:40

go from there. So verse one says this masters just or be just fair. Let me try that again. Masters, be just and fair to your slaves, your employees. Remember that you also have a master in heaven. So the answer for that is, hey, listen, don't take advantage of your employees just because they're Christians. Don't do that. But rather realize that just like they're working for the Lord, you're working for the Lord as well. All right, verse two, devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. I pray that or pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity, and let your conversations be gracious and attractive, so that you will have the right response for everyone. I want to pause for a moment and say, first of all, notice how Paul is in, he's in prison. And you know what he doesn't say? He doesn't say, pray that they will let me out of the slammer as fast as possible. I'm so sick of these people. That's not what he's saying. Instead, he's saying, pray that when I have an opportunity, that I'll speak well of Christ, that I will be as clear as possible. I love that. He's saying, hey, this is where God has me. So while he has me here, help me to make the most of it. Can I say that if if I'm your pastor, I would ask you to pray this for me. I don't feel like I'm in prison. Don't go there with that. I'm saying I love this prayer. And I think this is the prayer of every pastor. Verse 4 says, pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Every time I get up on stage on Sunday morning, or if I'm talking to someone in a coffee shop or whatever, my prayer is always, God help me be clear. I never want to try to be impressive. I never want to try to, you know, be edgy, none of that kind of stuff. I just want to paint a picture of Christ that's so very simple and clear that you may not choose to follow Christ, but you're going to know who he is by the time we're finished talking. So can I ask you, when you pray today, pray for me. Pray for Pastor Brandon, that God will always help me to be clear. That's what I want. So let's move on

Paul’s Team And Church Relationships

SPEAKER_00 4:53

from here. Verse 7 says this Ticicus, which, by the way, if you're expecting a child soon, um, there's a Bible name for you. Ticicus. Let's let's have that happen. Let's bring that name back, right? Ticicus, I just wanted to say it three times in a row, will give you a full report of how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord's work. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, to let you know how I am doing and to encourage you. I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He Antichicus will tell you everything that's happening here. Aristicus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greeting, and so does Mark Barnabas' cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. By the way, this is possibly the very same Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark. So isn't that cool how that kind of works together? Number 11, Jesus, the one who we call justice, also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my co-workers, and they are working with me here for the kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been. Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship, and also probably the pastor and the church planter. So Epap, Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. And what I love about this, by the way, is this is most likely also the guy who is reading this letter, because these were all, these letters written by Paul, they were written in order to be read in front of the congregation. So I can see him, you know, reading this and then going, What's up? So he sends you his greetings. Hi. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hermopolis. Luke, the beloved doctor, by the way, also the guy who wrote the Gospel of Luke, he was also a traveling companion of Paul's, which makes a lot of sense because he was a doctor. And poor Paul always needed a doctor because Joker getting beat half to death everywhere he goes. Verse 14, Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas. Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea and Nympha and the church that meets in her house. After you have read this letter, pass it to the church at Laodicea so they can read it too. And you should read the letter that I wrote to them.

How Early Churches Shared Letters

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Pause. As you know, there were different letters that Paul wrote, but not all of them were inspired of the Holy Spirit. Only the select few we have now, and so they're lost to time. But what I love about what they would do is what they would do is the church at Colossae would send these letters to then Laodicea, and they would write a copy of it and send it back, and they would write a copy of it. Because that's what they would do. And what the genius of God is that also ensured that we wouldn't lose God's word. Because every time it would go to someone else's hands, they would take a few days and they would write it out again, write it out again. And so it didn't matter if this copy or that copy was lost. Almost instantly you had several copies that would then survive and thrive. That's why we have like 5,500 copies of the Greek New Testament all the way back from the earliest times because they were copied so many times so often. It ensured that we would have God's word. Turns out God's knows what he's doing, right? Here's the verse I wanted to read to you today.

Archippus Gets A Personal Charge

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Verse 17. And say this to Archipus. Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. We'll come back to that in a moment. Verse 18, here is my greeting in my own handwriting, Paul. Remember my chains. May God, God's peace be with you. Now, two things. Verse 18, if you're if you're looking at your Bible while we're reading this together, notice that in many translations it'll have in all caps. Here is my greeting with my own handwriting, Paul. There's a couple of reasons why Paul would do this. Number one is Paul would often have, because he's in prison, right? In many of these prisons, it's dark in there. It's not like we have today. It's almost like a cave they would build. There'd be a lot of times just one window that would see outside, and that's where Paul would likely be yelling out to these people that were writing this down. And so what he would have to do is kind of stick his hand out the window or do whatever and just write his name so he had what they would call an aminuensis. Someone who would dictate, as he's dictating, they're writing it down. And so Paul would then write his name so that they knew, okay, this is from Paul because that's his, that's his handwriting, that's his signature, because that's the only time he would get to that and be able, or the only way he could get to that and write that part of it. So that's the reason why he would do that. Second thing is, as we finish our time, is notice how he's shouting out these different people and whatever, but then he stops and has a specific message to this guy named Archipus, and he says, Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. That's powerful. I don't know what happened in Archipis' life. We don't we don't know anything about him other than maybe some legends, but we have no way of knowing. But the Holy Spirit made sure to stop Paul as he's about to say goodbye. He he's almost done. It's like pause. Paul say this. Hey, Archipus, I still see you, I still know you. And just before we end, hey, be sure to carry out the ministry that the Lord gave you. And my imagination just goes crazy when I read this because I wonder what happened in Archipas' life. Oh, Arch, what happened? Why did he need to be reminded to not give up on the ministry that the Lord

Don’t Quit Serving In This Season

SPEAKER_00 10:45

had given him? So I want to break this down. Be sure to carry out the ministry that the Lord gave you. Be sure. Hey, Arch, don't don't forget. Don't don't give up. Keep going. What does he need to keep going and keep doing? Don't give up. Be sure to carry out the ministry. Well, what is ministry? Ministry is anytime we serve God by serving others. So hey, Arch, don't give up serving others. Why? Because the Lord gave you. Be sure to carry out the ministry that the Lord gave you. Arch, don't give up serving others because God has given you that opportunity. How many of us need to be reminded about that from time to time? As I was preparing this, I felt really, really strongly that I wanted to just pause on it to be sure to carry out the ministry that the Lord gave you. You know, there's many, many reasons why we need to be reminded to not give up. But not to give up on just anything. There's a lot of things to not give up on, but to not give up on serving the Lord by serving others. One of the reasons why is because of pain. We get hurt. There's nothing like the hurt that happens in church. We have this idea that church people are supposed to be better than everybody else because they're supposed to know Jesus. They're supposed to be growing. But remember, everybody's on a different growth rate, and hurting people hurt people, even in church. And so sometimes we get hurt. And because we get hurt, we just say, you know what, I'm going to love Jesus, but I'm not going to love his people because we're hurt. And that's okay that we're hurt, but you know what God's word is to us? Be sure to not give up, but to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. Another reason is because of seasons of life. In seasons of life, our ministries change. When you're a mom with small kids, you know what your primary ministry is? To raise your kids, to remember that you are still somebody. Your identity is not the nose wiper or the diaper changer. Your ministry, your identity is still a precious princess in the eyes of God, and you're doing the most amazing ministry ever. You have no idea what God's going to cause your kids to do and to become. And you know why they're going to do and become those wonderful things is because the investment you're making right now. And so that may be your ministry right now. Dad, your ministry may be to work that second job so you can support your family. Your job might be to work at a or your ministry may be to work at that job you don't want right now, but because there's people there that God trusts that you will tell about him, he's got you there. Not because you need that job, but because he needs you at that job for that season. Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. I could tell you stories of younger in my life when I would work in places I didn't want to be at. But when somebody else would would remind me of that, I would plug myself in and try to do the best I could to honor God. And after I'd honored God and shared Christ with people, God would move me to another place. I'm telling you about stuff I know. What about ministering to elderly family members? Ministering to people that don't love you back, you know, all these different things. Always be sure to carry out the ministry, if I can say it like this, that God has given you in this season of life. It may not be where you want to be, but it's where God has you right now. And I can tell you, there's one thing that's constant about this life, and that is that seasons change. So if you're in a season you don't like, it's okay. Serve God faithfully where you are right now because your seasons will change. And if you're exactly where you want to be right now, enjoy it. Soak it up. Take every moment out of it you can because your season will change. And it will go through, you'll go through difficult seasons again, but you'll go other good seasons again because all of those things have value. And just trust the Lord. So I want to say this too as we get in our time together. Be sure, just like arch need to be reminded, to carry out the ministry the Lord has given you in this season. Because God has purpose for you right now. Let's

Prayer And Closing Encouragement

SPEAKER_00 15:07

pray together. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that you're with us more than we can imagine. And God, as we finish our time in Colossians, we're so sorry and sad to see it go. But we know you have many more adventures planned for us. But I pray that you will continue your work that you've begun. And Lord, I just speak this over everybody who's listening to this when it comes out. But then for who knows how long that this will be out there, help us, Lord, to be sure to carry out the ministry that you've given us in this season. Thank you, God, for always being in control and for always being for us in every way. We celebrate you today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And amen. Well, man, I'm gonna be so sad to see Colossians go, but I can't wait to get into the next one. But one more time, Colossians 3, verse 1 says, Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for First Chronicles, chapter one.