In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines and explains the apostle Paul’s teaching in Colossians 1:24-29. Having clearly established the supremacy of Christ and Christ’s gospel, Paul next teaches how Christians should respond by laboring for Christ. Paul gives four requirements in order to labor for Christ’s supremacy:
1. Laboring for Christ’s Supremacy Requires Suffering (v. 24)
2. Laboring for Christ’s Supremacy Requires God as the Source (v. 25a)
3. Laboring for Christ’s Supremacy Requires Speaking for the One in Power (vv. 25b-28)
4. Laboring for Christ’s Supremacy Requires Striving (vv. 28b-29)
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okay let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Colossians chapter one we’re looking at verses 24 through 29 Colossians chapter 1 29.
let me pray Lord this morning as we come before you as your people give us listening ears give us Minds that think through your word that your word may transform Us in the mind so Lord that all of us may come to know your good and you’re acceptable and your perfect will I pray this for us today and every day as we are living in this age with his many difficulties with the dump of information that we receive constantly that causes levels of anxiety and confusion Lord let us come to your word and let us see the exalted Christ and what he has done it on behalf of his people that we can see clearly through all the confusion what is true and what is right that we may give you the praise and the glory and the honor that is constantly do your name and I asked in Christ amen Colossians chapter 1 looking at this morning laboring for Christ’s Supremacy now from last time once you have become a Christian and have purposed in your heart that you are going to hold fast to this hope that has been given to you in Christ Jesus and that you are determined to continue in it and that you have been convinced by scripture that you should not move away from the hope of the Gospel no matter what that’s where we all should be thinking like that no matter what no matter what I’m not going anywhere I’m going to stay right here with the truth but now what now you’re there now what well I tell you that you are not called to be saved merely to become a church a tender and Pew warmer every Christian is called by God to use his and her god-given gifts and opportunities to serve God in his unfinished work for what reason we labor for Christ’s Supremacy to advance the gospel in the world so that we as God’s children the church will fulfill our part of the unfinished work of God and what is our part to include well in verse number 28 of chapter 1 it says we Proclaim him admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ now the we there in verse 28 is probably including everybody that Paul mentions in this epistle to the Colossians Paul Timothy Papyrus take a kiss erostar kiss mark onesimus Luke Demas nympha archipus and then of course the church at laodicea and heropolis so there’s a lot of people that’s included in the we but we are also included in the we see we are to labor for the Lord that means work there’s always work involved in the Christian faith not work to add something to be help God save you you’re already saved it’s after you get saved now God gives you something to do we’re not there just to twiddle our thumbs or just see sit down and do nothing we are there there to do something there was a missionary in Africa who was teaching his congregation and telling his native students how Christians as an expression of their Joy gave each other presence on Christ’s birthday on Christmas morning one of the natives brought the missionary a seashell of lustrous Beauty when asked where he had discovered such an extraordinary shell the natives said he had walked many many many miles to a certain Bay the only spot where such shells could be found and he said I I think it is it’s wonderful of you to travel so far to get this lovely gift from me the teacher explained to his student his eyes brightened and the native replied Long Walk part of the gift labor is often part of serving each other in Christ so Colossians chapter 1 verse 24 to 29 gives us a general view of the nature and objective of ministry and then chapter 2 verse one through five a more specific view of the nature and objective of ministry so today contemplate with me for requirements necessary in order to labor for Christ’s Supremacy and the first one is this laboring for Christ’s Supremacy requires suffering requires suffering verse number 24 it says this now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake this suffering is not a misuse or a mistreatment of the body like the false teachers were advocating and if you look at chapter 2 verse 23 where the false teachers were teaching that you are to do uh commits severe treatment of the body and self-abasement that’s what they were teaching and so these false teachers mistreated the body to show that they were at a higher level of spiritual maturity than others Satan wants suffering to harm the believer but instead it usually frustrates them because God uses suffering for our good and His glory suffering means in scripture progress it means moving events along to the return of Christ and why so the gospel can be Advanced so the kingdom of God can spread and so the church can grow suffering and God’s program is necessary in fact Paul said to the Philippians for to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake so we must be reminded that it is never easy to be a Christian it was William Barkley who said the Christian life brings its own loneliness its own unpopularity its own problems its own sacrifices its own persecutions and why because the Christian brings this exclusive message of the Gospel that has come into their life that is bearing before the world a transformed life because the holy spirit is making them holy and the Christian brings to the world the standard of Jesus Christ which is clearly different from the persons of the world so then the Christian is the kind of conscience to any society in which it exists the world and its system does not like when the conscience is pricked by truth especially when it goes against their world view and their agenda and the Christian faith always goes against the world view of its day and the agenda of its Day always we’re always swimming Upstream so that means the Christian life is not an easy thing to do a matter of fact you cannot do it on your own your own power your own will it cannot be done like that there must be Supernatural help through the Christian Life just as it is to get saved so it is to live every day if not we go back to the flesh we revert right back to where we were if we’re not being helped by God every single second of every day so to carry out this labor a particular attitude is to be displayed in our lives and Paul is saying he learned this attitude and what is that in verse number 24 he says this now I rejoice in my sufferings now Brethren I don’t know about you when I read suffering and rejoicing together it doesn’t seem to go it’s like water and oil it just doesn’t seem to go and of course remember God in suffering we are not called to be moaning or Grump grumbling or complaining but the text says we are to Rejoice Paul says I rejoice in my suffering and later on in scripture says and we are to rejoice in our sufferings for the Christian to Prevail in persecution is to respond correctly to suffering with the proper attitude and the proper conduct and why is that well the Epistle of First Peter gives us two important reasons to maintain an attitude of rejoicing he says the Apostle Peter said there in his text in chapter 4 verse number 13 no need to turn there just listen he says Rejoice because of your connection to Jesus Christ he says this but to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ keep on rejoicing so it says that also at the revelation of his glory you may Rejoice with exaltation meaning that this suffering we’re going through is present and if we rejoice in it presently we will really rejoice in being in God present as we drop off these Earthly bodies and as we drop off the suffering and now we’re in the presence of God but it took that to get us there so the response into suffering is to rejoice present rejoicing will give us all what we need for future rejoicing and then also Peter mentions too to Rejoice because of your connection to the Holy Spirit at the Holy Spirit now indwells you so the believer is to hedge against discouragement and yes even depression by Holy Spirit rejoicing whether you are involved in a lesser or greater degree of suffering be rejoicing the result of this suffering is that God is near you for present blessing and this is what Peter says in chapter 4 of First Peter if you are reviled for the name of Christ you are blessed and here’s the reason why Believers are blessed when reviled for the name of Christ it says you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you so here’s the in the great encouragement and suffering you are not on your own with only dark hopelessness and despair before you God is with you with his help and with his comfort and with his support and with his presence and with his church in the middle of life’s problems and trials God is with you I will never leave or forsake you that is an emphatic statement given to us by God before he left to go back to heaven so there is such a thing as emotional and psychological suffering but there is also physical suffering now when you read through scripture you’ll find that the Apostle Paul was quite familiar with all kinds of suffering but he highlighted his physical suffering where he says in the book of Acts he says that listen the chief magistrates tore their robes and they proceeded to beat us with rods and when they struck us with many blows they’ve stuck Us in prison and they would what did Paul and Silas do in prison well the Bible says they were praying and singing hymns of praise to God now how do you get beaten with rods and end up and not only that they put him in the deepest prison and they put stocks on them so they couldn’t do anything and they’re praying and seeing hymns and praises to God and the prisoners were listening and what happens the prisoners probably sat there said we just beat these guys to almost death and they’re singing This is not this is not right this is there’s something strange about this and yet they ended up hearing the gospel the text says and they then started praising God for what has happened and the Bible tells us that these particular individuals Rejoice greatly having believed in God these are these are the soldiers and their household believed in God why these two guys that were suffering for Christ had rejoiced and the rejoicing caught their attention and they ended up getting saved and then another passage I’d like you to turn to this one second Corinthians chapter 11 verse 23 to 28.
the Apostle Paul has had many more days bad days and experiences than you and I will ever encounter for in second Corinthians chapter 11 verse number 23 it says this are they Servants of Christ that’s a question I speak as if insane I more so in Far More labors and far more imprisonments beaten times without number often in danger of death verse 24 five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes three times I was beaten with Rod once I was stoned three times I was Shipwrecked at night and a day I spent in the Deep I have been on frequent Journeys and dangers from Rivers dangers from robbers dangers from my countrymen dangers from the Gentiles dangers in the city dangers in the wilderness dangers on the sea dangers amongst false Brethren I have been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst often without food in cold and exposure apart from such external things there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches so he had the external suffering but there the daily pressure of the concern for the church is the internal suffering both things going on Jesus suffered more than Paul Paul suffered more than us but he surely suffered for our sake in fact later in the beginning of the book of Acts the Bible tells us that the apostles were flogged and then the council released them and they rejoiced that they had been considered worthy to suffer for his name so for us suffering may not take the form of losing our life or being beaten with rods at least not yet the form of suffering for us may be just a loss of prestige or ridicule or snarky comments or being made fun fun of because we’re a Christian or we’d be the butt of jokes or slander or not be included in a group or feeling tolerated at family functions or being left out of the family will it could be a loss of a job being overlooked for a promotion or being treated like a second rate president a person excuse me or when a loved one is pulled away from death there’s a certain amount of suffering that goes with that we feel the enemy taking someone from us seldom might a believer in our day in our country be burned at the stake or suffer some kind of martyrdom as do others in other countries or have in the past we may suffer over and over again self-denial self-sacrifice and heartbreak but we must be ready all of us must be ready to carry our load in this regard yet whatever level of suffering that will be our lot given to us by God rejoicing must be included in our suffering or it’s not the suffering that God calls called us to and like I said that is not an easy thing that’s whatsoever but again Philippians the Apostle says but even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon this upon the sacrifice and service of your faith I rejoice and share my joy with you and then he says to us and you too I urge you rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me So This Joy is is back and forth with each other as one person may be suffering at one point and the other person not and then you rejoice together and that may flip back and forth so suffering that precedes the final consummation of God’s salvation amongst God’s people that means that this suffering that Paul was part of was not yet filled up Paul’s suffering fulfills the quota for us thus hastening the Fulfillment of God’s work in history benefiting those Paul never met including us and so that leads to the focus group of his suffering and if you look back at Colossians chapter 1 verse 24 he says there suffering is for the sake of the church he says I rejoice in my suffering for your sake and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of his body which is the church see Paul did not rejoice in suffering he did not rejoice in suffering for the for suffering’s sake he was no in other words this was no self-inflicted Penance or pain to gain acceptance with God but this is the suffering that came because of his stand for Christ because of his care for the church that others may be saved so here what the scripture is referring to in this particular phrase at the end of verse 24 he says this in fulfilling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions Paul is filling up in his suffering what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions now that means it could mean to fill up for someone else it couldn’t mean making up for a lack in the community of Believers something that was lacking it could also mean describing a deficiency in something but for sure it does not refer to any lack of completion regarding the atonement for our sins that work was finished and completed by Jesus Christ but it refers to the unfinished work of Christ’s Earthly life and Ministry in other words what is lacking is the unfinished advancement of the Gospel this was left to Christ’s disciples this was left to the church when Jesus left and went back to Heaven he gave the Great Commission to the church he said go therefore and Make Disciples of all Nations baptizing them in the name of the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I command to you and lo I Am With You Always even to the End of the Age so laboring to finish the work of evangelizing the lost and building up the church this task will meet with much resistance with many dangers as Paul said dangers from the Jews dangers from the Gentiles dangers among false Brethren dangers from spiritual wickedness and high placers dangers from the world system in which we live in and as we see from our passage the Apostle Paul was the tip of the spear he will be the one that will fulfill what is lacking in the full unveiling of the mystery that was part of it that the gospel will go to all people groups not just the Jews but to the Gentiles and so laboring first of all for Christ’s Supremacy requires that we suffer secondly laboring for Christ’s Supremacy requires God is the source of it all in verse number 25 he says this in scripture of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed upon me for your benefit so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God so at one time the Apostle Paul could have been considered a self-made man but after he met Christ remember his name back then was Saul Saul’s plans for wiping out the church off the face of the Earth was essentially done God put a kabash on his plan and Paul himself or Saul at that point was undone also his whole life was turned upside down because he met Christ the very church that Saul was determined to destroy became now Paul’s responsibility to serve to protect and to love so it was God who called Paul and notice what it says in verse 25 of this church I was made a minister all was made a minister means his ministry was ordained of God and was not something whimsically chosen you know in reality you don’t choose your own Ministry you don’t choose the gifts that God gives you God chooses it and then you either obey what he chose for you or you disobey there’s no other place to go with that in fact later on in scripture we see it or we see in second Corinthians actually where the Apostle says not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything that’s coming from ourselves but our adequacy is from God who also made us adequate as Servants of a new covenant see God is the one who makes us adequate to do the work again the work is impossible the Christian life’s impossible and the work is impossible that’s what that’s why we need the whole church and so God is the one who calls and God is the one who bestows in verse number 25 it what did what was this this uh bestowed upon Paul it says the stewardship was given to him from God for our benefit so Paul is a servant of the gospel and he was given to stewardship as an apostle to further the plan of God’s administration of Salvation and the term stewardship really literally means a task of a household administrator that the apostolic office that God gave Paul was for his Redemptive work which indicated a responsibility which gave an authority and which laid upon him an obligation he was in other words a household slave in God’s economy and charged with carrying out the management of the house that’s who Paul was Paul was called to be a committed servant of another person’s property and the property is The Souls of men and women in the Church of God that was now given to Paul tell me that’s not a heavy responsibility it is it was God who conferred it upon the Apostle and that is a stewardship for the benefit of the church to fully carry out the Christian message the gospel to finish something that had already started to grow and to bear fruit in the world in other words he was given a stewardship of God’s Plan of Salvation and all Christians are given a Ministry by God in which they are to be good stewards faithful in the stewardship of god-given gifts now just quickly turn over to First Peter chapter 4 verse number 10 because I just want you to see that not only did God give Paul a stewardship but he gives us a stewardship all Christians have a stewardship given by God not only are they called by God to salvation but they are called by God to do something to labor and do something in the Church of God in First Peter 4 10 he says this as each one has received a special gift employed in serving one another as good stewards there’s that word of the manifolds manifold grace of God so not just the elders and deacons but Church Ministries depend on God’s distribution of spiritual gifts rather than natural abilities God bestows these gifts and the measure and the manner in which they are to be used in the church and so in a sense God gives us a stewardship and we are to manage that stewardship as slaves within his household economy for what for building up the church because you notice every time you see this word it says for one another that we’re building the church up we’re using our gifts for the other person and the other person is using their gift for me so we are all building each other up by the particular gift and the measure of that gift that God has given you in the list of spiritual gifts in the places of scripture so you have to find out what is your spiritual gift and then use that gift you labor for Christ’s Supremacy by using that gift so we might Define spiritual gifts as an ability given to an individual Believer by God in order that the believer might serve God in some particular way that Christians are given spiritual gifts and they are to be good stewards in the use of those gifts to advance the grand plan of God to save sinners so discovery of your gift is important so you can use it to labor for Christ and to build his church that’s how God designed it and God has given it to you and then thirdly laboring for Christ’s Supremacy requires speaking for the one in power and who’s the one in power well at this point because of what is read and referred to in Colossians chapter one we see that the the description of God here of Jesus Christ is such a incredible description that the surprise the supremacy laboring for the supremacy of Christ requires us to speak for the for him for the one in power and not for us and how do we do that in verse number 25 it says we speak the word of God it says so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God now Paul is saying this and seeing saying that this is his responsibility but that word fully is that he’s giving this task to fill up what is undone yet the work of God and throughout the past ages people did not have full Revelation from God it was hidden in a in really the complex rituals of the Tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple worship which were types of the coming Lamb of God all the Old Testament shadows and types were pointing to the coming Lamb of God and now there emerges from the clear revelation of God the Lamb of God who did come and whose message is now given to all the saints and this hidden truth was not given to Earthly Kings presidents Prime Ministers prominent political figures philosophers or people in important religious positions no they were given to the Saints of God’s Church that’s who they were given to because if you look in verse 26 it says that is the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations but now but has now been manifest to his Saints so God held certain Revelation back but there was a day that he called the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Paul’s responsibility was to unveil which God kept hidden and so that’s why when you’re reading through Colossians you’ll find words like fully carry out and every man and all wisdom and all wealth and full assurance and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge he is carrying out something that has been kept Secret so a second thing we speak is we speak the mystery of God in verse 26 and that this that is the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations but now has been manifest to his Saints Now what is what was the Revelation that was hidden the mystery that was hidden from other Generations but given to the Apostle Paul well remember the meaning for of a mystery was an unveiling or a disclosing of something that had been previously hidden by God himself so revealing the revealing of the great Secret Of God was the love and the mercy and the grace of God Were Meant not for the Jews alone but for all mankind before the cross Gentiles would have to become Jews if they wanted to be part of God’s people even Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 6 says to be specific that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus Through The Gospel whereas now the Gentiles as that passage says Gentiles do not become Jews nor Jews become Gentiles but both become one new person when they come to Christ in Repentance in faith now this information today doesn’t seem to be a secret for us anymore right because we read it in scripture but believe me when you’re reading a passage like John 3 16 the most familiar passage probably in all the Bible right for God so loved the world who is he talking to he was talking to Nicodemus a teacher and a religious leader of Israel but Nicodemus wasn’t getting it and God was using words that he wasn’t used to because Nicodemus would think well the world to me is the Jews not the Gentiles the Gentiles were dogs they were the outcasts but Jesus was meaning in the term World both Jews and Gentiles that’s what threw him off that’s what makes that passage of scripture so different when you look at the whole context see Nicodemus had to be explained by the Lord himself what it meant for God’s message of Salvation to go out that it was not just for the Jews anymore it was for every person everyone can hear the message of the gospel and be saved so the fact is nothing was discovered by human Ingenuity and study and that means that Paul was not the originator of the knowledge of the mystery he was only the recipient of it he was the conduit by which the mystery was unveiled and this mystery points to the powerful work of God in the death of Christ that brings down ethnic barriers in creation the creation of one people actually the Greek term Gentile is the word ethnos which we get the word Nation people groups it’s it’s used to designate non-jews so so why should the Lord give such an administration of revealing God’s plan to someone like Saul who hated the name of Jesus Christ and his followers who hated the Gentiles even Paul called himself the chief of Sinners for that very reason in fact when he was giving a testimony of his life this is what he said in Acts 22 and I said Lord they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in you and when the blood of your witnessed Stephen was being shed I also was standing by approving and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him and he said to me after Paul communicated this think about what he understood he did he said that Jesus said to me go and I will send you far away to the Gentiles see Paul it’s always ironic when you see God do stuff like this giving something to someone that they completely hate it these people and now they are he is ministering to them and ministering to them rejoicing ministering to them having a heart of love for them ministering to them wanting them to be saved and be part of understanding the revelation of God so they can Rejoice with him see that’s that’s somebody who’s changed that’s somebody who’s different so you see that from even a passage of scripture like this the Lord wipes out any kind of ethnic differences between people any kind of race differences between people he wipes it way completely out so we actually can have genuine love for people and maybe love for people we once hate it because of the color of their skin or because of their culture or because of a particular group they were part of God wipes that out that’s what he does so this message is manifest in the people that God Saves and how is it manifest well if you turn back to Colossians chapter 1 you’ll notice in verse 27 it says to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles and what is that is Christ in you the hope of glory see up to now the emphasis of the book of Colossians has been has been that Saints are in Christ but now you have the counterpart here Christ is now in them Christ is in US and here it is this is the message Christ in you the hope of glory that the gospel changes from a Jewish sect to a worldwide opportunity and all the barriers are down so that Jew and Gentile Saints alike are fellow heirs with Christ because he is in them and if you did not know a gentile is anyone who is not a Jew so that’s the amazing plan of God and if you notice in the verse God willed it to include Jews and Gentiles Christ is given freely to the Gentiles in this mystery and the Mystery is not simply that Christ simply Christ himself but Christ in you on the Unbound Christ in you whom all creation dwells that all creation is held together takes up his dwelling in US see the exalted Christ now resides in you that is a staggering thought that is a staggering thought it is a breathtaking point of theology the personal experience and experience and presence of Christ in the individual life of the believer the into it the indwelling of Christ in the heart the indwelling of the of the exalted Christ in individual Believers is their Assurance of coming glory for he says Christ in you the hope of glory that means it signifies the certainty that we will experience final Glory because it is God’s plan if the spirit of God is in you you are a believer if the spirit of God is in you you are a believer and if the spirit of God is in you and you are a Believer you will be different you will not be the same person you used to be you will not want to go back to your old life in your old ways and your old friends you will not you will you are different why the spirit of Christ is in you it’s all over scripture where it tells us in First Corinthians 6 19 or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you and you have whom you have from God and you are not your own and remember this that the spirit of Christ the spirit of God the holy spirit is the spirit of holiness for again in First Corinthians 3 it says do you not know that you are temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you so that means once the Holy Spirit indwells you he must start cleaning house he gets in your heart and he starts cleaning you up that’s what he does he’s a Holy Spirit right he’s going to separate you right from your heart unto God that’s a big process so the holy spirit is is cleaning us up he’s making changes in our lives bringing us in Conformity to the will of God and this Conformity happens from the inside out not the outside in we are changed from the inside out also God wants us to see the fruit of what the spirit of God is doing on the inside so the goal of the Christian Life is righteousness we are being Sanctified so that we will do what is right we will do what honors God righteousness Holiness fruit bearing is most evident in our Behavior as first Peter communicates to us but the holy one who called you behold of yourselves in all your behavior because it is written you shall be holy for I am Holy so that means that the holy spirit is making this change in us through the truth through the word of God and he’s doing it in your mind he’s transforming your mind he’s driving out what is wrong he’s driving out those sinful thoughts he’s driving out those lustful thoughts and behaviors and he’s putting in new things things that honor Christ the word and the spirit go together and should not be separated the word of God transforms us so that we develop deep biblical convictions and then our conscience will not allow us to live against those convictions our conscience will scream when we think we want to go back to the old way and do the old things and when our conscience screams we’ll understand that our mind is being transformed so we desire to do what is right and live in a manner pleasing before the Lord Jesus Christ in all our Behavior see behavior is at the center of concern and sanctification Behavior shows what is and is not going on on the inside now can somebody fake Behavior yes but the Bible calls them hypocrites see no internal transformation May mean a professor or somebody who understands some things can masquerade around with righteous Behavior but with no internal change so they’re not the same in private as they are in public they are not the same a real Christian is the same in private alone with themselves in the shower as they are in public around other people and they are very aware of what they say they are very aware of what they think and what they are thinking they are very aware of their relationships with people they are very sensitive to those things why the spirit of God is in them and the spirit of God is changing you every day if you’re a real believer but I tell you what if you are here today and you have no change you are not a believer if you profess Christ and that as far as it goes you are not a believer a real believer is someone yes who professes Christ but who lives the Christian Life not perfectly but the direction of their life is always to honor the Lord and why is that because the spirit of God dwells in you see so this is the great mystery that the spirit of God dwells in both Jews who come to Christ and Gentiles who come to Christ and God’s plan is going to be consummated at the end so that was the great mystery and now it’s revealed to us so this morning I’m going to end right there this morning we have the Lord’s table I do want to say this and just bring come back to it next week is that in verse number 29 you say well you know what I’m not that strong to be able to do these things the project and the Christian life seems too daunting for me but rest assured I want you to notice that’s why we have to depend on God verse number 29 notice what it says it says this for this purpose also I labor striving according to his power which mightily Works Within Me so God gives us a power that comes from Heaven a power to live the Christian Life and do his work that comes from him and has been given to us by him and the promise of God’s presence in suffering is that God will be with you and make you ready for his eternal glory see God works in you and that’s another way you know you’re a believer that the things that are taking place in you are Beyond you you’re cooperating with them but they’re beyond you God is doing things in your life that you could never do and he gives you the power to do it so you and I are called to labor for Christ Supremacy that requires suffering with rejoicing it requires knowing that God is the source he gives the Ministries he gives the giftedness he gives the measure of those gifts we are to be faithful stewards like Paul of those things he also it also requires speaking for the one in power that’s speaking for the Lord we use his word not our own words we speak his the mystery revealed which is the word of God’s going to everyone no matter who they are and that the ultimate thing is that Christ in you is the hope of glory that is really the greatest truth of all and then it requires we’ll look at next time striving God’s power that works within us we strive for that and we work with God for that we are always laboring as Christians we’re never really at rest until God takes us to our Eternal rest let’s pray Lord thank you this morning somewhat of a more difficult passage Lord and I pray Lord that you would just weld it upon our mind that this wonderful glorious Plan of Salvation that you have given to us and the work that is now still unfinished has been given to us that we may continue to Proclaim and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ use our gifts to build your church so that Lord we’re part of laboring for your Supremacy because we know Lord you are the only way the only truth the only life no one can go to the father but by you and let us be a church who understands that and I thank you Lord this morning asking you Lord to make us people who not only profess Christ but live Christ and I pray in Christ’s name