We're going to be reading in chapter 4, but first of all, we want to read again a few verses in chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, and reading from verse 3. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which ye have to all the saints. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth. as ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow-servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. Now, chapter 4, verse 12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you always laboring fervently for you in prayers that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record that he hath a great zeal for you and them that are in Laodicea and them in Hierapolis. Amen. We're continuing our series of studies tonight in Paul's epistle to the Colossians and we have in recent messages been concentrating our thoughts upon some of those characters who were helpers of Paul in the ministry. Their names are given in Colossians chapter 4. We've already had cause to note as examples of faithfulness in the Lord's service a number of individuals. We talked about the messenger, Tychicus, in verse 7. We spoke then of the member, one who is called a faithful and beloved brother who is one of you, Onesimus, verse number 9. And then we talked about three men all together, Aristarchus, Marcus, and Jesus, which is called Justice. And those three were referred to in verses 10 and 11 as Paul's fellow workers unto the kingdom of God who only had been a comfort unto him, those who were an encouragement to him in the work of God, the missionaries. But from the messenger and the member and the missionaries, we notice that Paul has singled out somebody else in verse 12 and indeed verse 13. And he is one who has already been mentioned previously in the epistle. His name is, of course, Epaphras. He says of him, Colossians 4, verse 12, Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth 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 record that he hath a great zeal for you and them that are in Laodicea and them in Hierapolis. Epaphras is a man of whom I think it would not be an overstatement of the case we should refer to as the mighty man of God. Because there is a whole range of things that are mentioned here in Paul's description of him that would cause me to sum up his life and character in that phrase, a mighty man of God. Epaphras was a preacher of the Word. And Paul had the very highest commendation for this man, not only here in chapter 4 verses 12 and 13, but in the portion that we read earlier from Colossians chapter 1. Because if you look at that first chapter, you'll see there from verse 6 and verse 7, and indeed verse 8, that Epaphras was a key man in Colossae. I really believe that he was the founder of that church under God. In fact, he may also have been the one that God used as the instrument to start churches in Hierapolis and Laodicea as well. He was a mighty preacher of the Word and Paul says of him in verse 6 and verse 7 of chapter 1 that it was because of his ministry that you heard the truth of the gospel and knew the grace of God in truth. He says in verse 7, As ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ. Now Paul had the highest commendation for this man who, like Onesimus, is described as one of you. That's how Paul begins. his description of him in Colossians 4 verse 12. Epaphras, who is one of you, he was from Colossae, a Colossian believer. And it seems, as we read this epistle, that Epaphras had actually come from the town of Colossae to visit the apostle in prison. And he came to tell Paul about the conditions that existed there in Colossae, to tell him all about the threat from false teachers, etc. which actually called forth this letter. That's the reason that Colossians was written. Because Epaphras had come to tell Paul about what was happening in that city. You'll see that in Colossians 1 and verse number 8. He says about Epaphras, who also declared unto us, your love in the Spirit. He was able to tell Paul about the kind of congregation that the Colossians were. He says, these are people who love the Lord. These are people who are wanting to serve the Lord, but they're under threat from false teachers. And so Paul wrote the epistle to the Colossians, to that church that had been founded, it seems, through Epaphras. Now, there's a number of things that we might say about Epaphras under this heading, The Mighty Man of God. He was mighty in a number of areas, and I want to identify those for you tonight. Epaphras was, first of all, a mighty man in preaching. Notice what it says in chapter 1, and we will go there to verses 6 and 7. In fact, verse 5 talks about, at the end of the verse, whereof ye heard before, in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit. The gospel was bringing forth fruit in the town of Colossae. He said, It bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth, as ye also learned of Epaphras. Our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, where did they learn about the truth of the gospel? They learned about it from Epaphras. He was a mighty man in preaching. Paul, therefore, identifies the first mark of this man as a mighty man of God. He was a mighty man in preaching, a faithful preacher of the gospel. Now, I know that there are many things that combine to make one who can be rightly described as a faithful minister. There's a number of things that you would say are essential in one who would be a faithful minister. For example, you would have to say that a faithful minister is a man who studies the Word. In our presbytery, there is an examination of various congregations done periodically, when elders of the churches are asked certain questions about their minister. And one of the questions that's asked of the elders about a minister is this, Is your minister a man of reading and study, faithfully devoted to the duties of his office? That's a very good question. Is your minister a man of reading and study? I think most congregations will be able to spot a man who is not a man of reading and study, at least over a little period of time. Somebody who's not a student of the Word, somebody who doesn't work hard in the Word might get away with it for a time or two, but over a protracted period of time, he will not get away with not studying the Word. You would say a faithful minister, therefore, is a man who studies, who reads, who uses the tools of the trade, who gets into the books, who gets into the best book of all, which is the Bible. That's a faithful minister. There's other things you could say would make up a faithful minister. When people are sick, a faithful minister will visit them. A faithful minister will make sure that his people are spiritually well off. At least he will try his best to ascertain that. There's a lot of things we could say will make up a faithful minister. But it's interesting. And we could talk about unfaithful ministers. Many of them who are in pulpits in our own day. There are many of them. Unfaithful ministers. For a start, men who don't even believe the Bible. So it wouldn't be worth asking their office bearers if he's a man of reading and study, because he doesn't even believe the Bible, let alone preach it. There are unfaithful ministers. But the Bible identifies, especially in relation to Timothy, what it is that constitutes a faithful minister. Now before we go there, let's look at Colossians 1, verses 5 and 6. Paul says of the Colossians, He's thanking God for these things, by the way. "...for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." He said, you knew the grace of God in truth. Verse 7, "...as ye also learned of Epaphras." So, what they learned of Epaphras was the truth. He was a preacher of the truth. Now, compare 1 Timothy chapter 4. We're talking here about what constitutes a faithful minister and a faithful ministry. 1 Timothy chapter 4 and reading from verse 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly. That means very clearly, unambiguously. You can't misunderstand what he's saying. That in the latter times some shall apostatize. That's the word. from which we shall depart from the faith. That's what departure from the faith is. It's apostasy. You call somebody an apostate, you're talking about somebody who has departed from the faith. Someone who once professed the faith and turned away from it. Well, actually, that would exclude a lot of the characters that are out there because they never professed the truth to begin with. They're not apostates. They may be reprobates, but they're not apostates. An apostate is one who has professed the truth who might even have preached it, but who then turns away from the truth and ever afterwards opposes the truth. An apostate. Some shall apostatize. Some shall depart from the faith. Why? Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Somebody that tells you there is no such thing as the devil, they need their head examined. There is a devil. You better believe there is a devil. And notice where the devil is active. He's active in the religious world because there are those who will depart from the faith, who will apostatize because they're giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of devils, doctrines of devils. So there are many doctrines of devils. False doctrine has one origin and one origin alone and that's the pit. That's where it comes from. Doctrines of Devil. Now look at verse 2. Speaking lies in hypocrisy. Having their conscience seared with a hot iron. In other words, they haven't got a conscience. Their conscience has been deadened completely. You know how animals are branded? When they take a hot iron with a brand on it, they put it in the fire, and then on a certain part of the animal's anatomy, and they brand the beast. You know that that part of the animal, if you were to take a pin or some other sharp implement and stick it into that place where the brand is, the animal doesn't flinch because the tissue all around it is deadened. That's what the Bible means when it says having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Their conscience is no longer sensitive. That's why men can say with a straight face some of the most barefaced lies that you could think of and say that it's from God that they're saying it. Because they don't have a conscience. And these are ministers, mind you. These are supposed men of God. That's who Paul is referring to. Now, look at verse 3. What are these doctrines of devils? When my minister would expound this portion, he used to say, take a good sniff at verse 3 and you'll smell potpourri. Forbidding to marry. Now, I know that Paul in particular is referring to the Jewish order, and they had this idea of celibacy. Of course, it's found in the Church of Rome and in other faiths. Forbidding to marry. It's not that they're giving people an option. They're telling you can't be married. If you're going to be a priest, you're going to be a nun, or a friar, or a boiler, or whatever you're going to be, you can't marry. Forbidding to marry. Compulsory celibacy. What is it? It's a doctrine of devils. That's what Paul said. It's from the pit. That's where its origin is. Look at the context. They're giving heed to seducing spirit and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats. When I was a boy, they used to always pander to certain people of a certain faith by giving them fish on Friday. In the public school I went to, we never had meat on Friday. We had fish. You know why? Because it was about half of 1% of the school that didn't go to the parochial Catholic school, came to our school. We don't want to offend people, so you have fish. Fish on Friday. Fenian steaks, we called them, for a particular reason, and I'll explain afterwards if you don't know why that is. Commanding to abstain from meat on fast days and certain feast days and Lent Lent! You know what Lent is? It's potpourri. That's what Lent is. No, it's found in the Church of England. It's found in the Episcopal circles and so on. But that's what it is. It's potpourri. Compulsory abstention from certain things. You're going to give up chocolate. You're going to give up this. You're going to give up that. You're not allowed to eat certain things on certain days. Now, I know some of that has been changed in the Catholic Church, but I want to tell you some of the old diet in the world Roman Catholics still hold to that. They still will not eat meat on Fridays. It's a doctrine of devils. Meat which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. And here's my diet for every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving. I'll eat anything within reason. Because the Lord says it, every creature of God is good, nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God in prayer. But look at verse 6, this is my point. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, what things? The apostasy, the departure from the faith, the doctrines of devils, and by the way this is not a full list of the doctrines of devils, these are just examples that he throws out. This kind of thing, forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from meat, this Jewish ritual, this asceticism and withdrawing yourself from certain things. He says, if I put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. Now, I want to be a good minister of Jesus Christ. In order to be a good minister of Jesus Christ, I have to warn people about the apostasy. Very clear. I have to expose things. There are people who don't like that. People say, well, you know, you don't want to have a negative ministry. No. But did the Lord Jesus have a negative ministry when He said, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites? Did the Lord Jesus have a negative ministry when He went to the temple and they were selling things in the precincts of God's house and he overturned their tables and made a whip of small cords and drove them out of the temple. Was that a negative ministry? Oh, we are to be noted for what we are for. That's true. And if people don't know what we're for, then there's no point in us advertising what we're against. But if you're for certain things, you're going to be against certain things. You're going to, by by virtue of your adherence to God's truth, you're going to be against the doctrines of devils, you're going to be against evil. So whenever Paul said about Epaphras that he was, and I quote, a faithful minister of Christ, there's no question in my mind that Epaphras was one who exposed apostasy. That's why Paul wrote the book of Colossians, and you'll see again Is it not interesting that Epaphras, being a faithful minister, Paul, in writing in Colossians chapter 2, he says in verse 16, Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. You see, the whole reason that 1 Timothy 4 and Colossians chapter 2 is in there is because these who were teaching these things were replacing these things for Christ. You can get to God by the works of your hands. You can get to God by abstaining from this and that and by living a certain type of life. Abstaining from this, abstaining from that, it's works righteousness. That's what Epaphras preached against, for he preached the truth of the gospel. Paul said, Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, is for you a faithful minister of Christ. Now Paul called him a servant of Christ. Go to chapter 4, verse 12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ. That word servant is a word that we've seen before in these studies. It's the word doulos in the Greek. It literally means bond slave. A bond slave of Christ. You know the service of Christ is perfect freedom. It's the kind of slavery that we want to be involved in. We want to be the slave, the servant of Christ. Epaphras was such a man and if you compare the book of Philemon in verse 23 It says, there salute thee, Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. My fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. This was probably, like it was true of Aristarchus, this was probably a voluntary action being with Paul in his confinement. He wanted to be there. It wasn't necessary for him to be in prison. But in order to minister to Paul, he was there. A faithful servant. So that's one of the things that tells me that he was a mighty man of God, because he was a faithful servant. A faithful bond slave of Christ. Look again at chapter 1, verse 7. Our dear fellow servant. A faithful bond slave. Not of Paul, but of Christ. But he was a faithful minister, a faithful servant. of the Apostle Paul, as well as being a faithful minister of Christ. Not only was he a faithful servant, however, he was a fellow-servant. Again, chapter 1, verse 7, our dear fellow-servant. Now, Paul used this word doulos in the spiritual sense, bond-slave. He used it only of himself, of Timothy, and of Epaphras. For instance, we see in Romans chapter 1, verse 1, just to give you this cross-reference, that Paul introduces himself to the church at Rome as Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a bond-slave, a bond-slave of Jesus Christ. I am giving myself freely to be the slave of the Lord Jesus. He used that of himself. He also used it of Timothy. Philippians 1, verse 1, Paul and Timotheus, the servants, bond-slaves of Jesus Christ. And then you have it here of Epaphras. I was reading a commentator, William Hendrickson, who actually gave a wonderful definition of a bond slave of Christ. I want to read it to you. And listen carefully to these words. A servant of Jesus Christ is one who has been bought with a price and is therefore owned by his master, on whom he is completely dependent, to whom He owes undivided allegiance, and to whom he ministers with gladness of heart, in newness of spirit, and in the enjoyment of perfect freedom, receiving from him a glorious reward. Every true Christian is, in a sense, such a servant, the bond slave of Jesus Christ. Notice that he says there, he's one who has been bought with a price and is therefore owned by his master. Do you know that you don't have any right, and I mean that, you don't have any right as a Christian to make any decisions about anything as to the direction of your life without being subject to the will of Christ and finding out what the will of the Lord is on that matter. Listen to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. In fact, you could turn there. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, the last two verses. Paul says, what? Here's a question, what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price." God comes through the preaching of the Word or through a Bible reading or whatever to one of our young people who is truly saved. He says to that young person, I want you to prepare yourself to go to the mission field. to serve the Lord as a missionary. If the Lord shows you that and the Lord tells you that, you haven't got any right to do something else with your life. Do you know that? Now, I know God doesn't call every young person to be a missionary. He doesn't call every young man to be a preacher of the Word. But if the Lord calls you to do that, you haven't got a right to say, I'm not doing it. You don't have that right. Why? Because God says here, ye are not your own. Ye are bought with a price. The Lord has purchased you. Didn't the Lord Jesus say, Can I not do what I will with mine own? Is the Lord not allowed to do what he wants to do with his own possession? We don't have a right to tell the Lord, I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that. I'm not going to do this and I'm not going to do that. We don't have a right to do that. Ye are bought with a price. Therefore, Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. I don't own myself. I am the servant of Jesus Christ. Therefore, as Hendrickson said, I am owned by my Master. I am completely dependent on Him. I owe to Him undivided allegiance, and I minister to Him with gladness of heart, in newness of spirit, and in the enjoyment of perfect freedom. You know, it's not bondage to me to keep the Lord's commandments. That's not bondage. That's freedom. As the hymn puts it, my freedom is thy grand control. That's my freedom. To serve the Lord. Every true Christian should be, and is in fact, like Epaphras, a servant of Christ. Colossians 4 verse 12. Now look at that verse again in Colossians 3 and verse 24. It says it there again, doesn't it? Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. Notice, he doesn't say, you should serve the Lord Christ. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, you should serve the Lord. He says, ye serve the Lord Christ. You are the servant of Christ. That's why he has bought you with a price. That's why he shed his blood for you, to purchase you with his own blood, so that you would become his servant and no longer the devil's servant. was a faithful servant of Christ. He was a fellow servant with Paul in the service of Christ, a born slave of Jesus. But as a mighty preacher of the Word, he was something else. He was a fruitful servant. Look at chapter 1 again. We've looked at verses 6 and 7 a number of times, but let me just emphasize this again. Which is come unto you, that's the truth of the gospel, is come unto you as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit. As it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth, as ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant. Epaphras was the preacher of the word, who most probably founded the church in Colossae, I mean under God. It is the Lord who plants churches. It is the Lord who builds churches, but He uses men to do it. God uses human instruments. You know, churches don't just get started out of thin air. He uses men. He uses people. And He says, I will build my church, but He will build His church through men. You see that from the New Testament clearly illustrated, because Jesus, when He was talking to the disciples. He said, I will build my church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But yet at the end of his ministry, going to heaven, he said, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And we find it in the book of Acts. Paul went to different places and he founded churches. And from the context, we believe that Epaphras had a fruitful ministry in Colossae. They certainly heard the word from his lips and the Lord established a church there. He was involved in the planting of the name of Christ In those several towns which actually, believe it or not, were in a valley called the Lycus Valley. We're in a valley tonight called the Lehi Valley. These three churches, Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea, they're mentioned in chapter 4 and at verse 16. The church of the Laodiceans, verse 16, but also in verse 13 of chapter 4, them that are in Laodicea and them in Hierapolis. These churches of the Lycus Valley were started through the church planting ministry of Epaphras. God blessed his preaching. God used his preaching. It was fruitful. The Lord established works in those places where he went. How that must have encouraged the heart of Epaphras as a minister of Christ. That the gospel that he preached brought forth fruit. That's the phrase that's used in chapter 1 verse 6. It bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it. The gospel was fruitful in that place. I don't know a man who's worth his salt in the ministry who doesn't want to see fruit for his labour. I don't know a man like that. I don't know anybody who's preaching to see nothing happen. I don't know any man who preaches and is content that nothing should happen. And Epaphras wasn't such a man. He wanted to see fruit and the Lord gave him fruit. The Lord used him as a church planter. He was a faithful servant. He was a fellow servant. He was a fruitful servant. But I want you to see something else here. Epaphras was a fervent servant. Chapter 4, verse 12. Epaphras, who is one of you, He's a Colossian, a servant of Christ, he's a born slave of Jesus, saluted you. That means he sends his regards. He's asking about you. He wants to know how you're doing. Always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record that he hath a great zeal for you. and them that are in Laodicea and them in Hierapolis. He hath a great zeal for you. A fervent servant of Christ. This tells me that everything that a pathless did as a minister was done with all his heart. Always laboring fervently How fervent are we in the work of the Lord? How zealous are we in the work of the Lord? I don't know about you, but I know it is true of me that I can be really stirred up one minute and the next minute be as flat as a pancake as far as my zeal for the cause of Christ is concerned. I think it's endemic with us as Christians. You know, you hear a message and it really stirs your heart and you're going to... things are going to be different from now on. It's going to be different. This is a new chapter getting written now. The new leaf is getting turned over. This is it. It's not five minutes. It's like the water that goes down the plug hole. It just all runs away and there's nothing left but dirt. Fervent. A great zeal for you. How we need the Lord to give us zeal. You know, it was said of the Lord Jesus Christ, Let the zeal of God's house eat him up. That's a wonderful statement. You find it in John's gospel. Chapter 2. And it's a good portion because it talks about what I said earlier about the Lord going in. How he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money were sitting. See, if you understand the context of this, the Lord had established that men and women were to bring offerings to the Lord. They were to bring cattle. They were to bring sheep. They were to bring, if they were poor, doves and birds for the sin offerings. And there were those who made money out of the people of God. They sat in the precincts of the temple, and right there they had oxen and sheep and doves. And they were selling them, apparently, according to most reliable sources, they were selling them at exorbitant prices. Kind of like the guys that sell flowers at the entrance to cemeteries, you know, that type of thing. They weren't used to say, well, they were entrepreneurs. Yeah, they were, but they were breaking God's law. The Bible says in John 2, verse 15, and when Jesus had made a scourge of small cords, they talk about this namby-pamby, hippy-type Jesus. That's not the picture given here in the New Testament. No way. He wasn't some kind of a flower child. He made a scourge of small cords. He drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen. Can you imagine all those beasts running? And he poured out the changers' money and overthrew the tables. He made a scene. And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence. Make not my father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house. have eaten me up. And they applied that scripture from Psalm 69 to the Lord Jesus. The zeal of thine house hath consumed me. It's absolutely consumed me. It's eaten me up. The Lord was full of zeal. Full of zeal for what was right. Full of zeal against what was wrong. And that's the kind of man that Epaphras was. He was just like the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a great zeal for the people of God. It tells us that in Colossians 4 and verse 13. What Epaphras did was done with all his heart. Is that true of me? Is that true of you? Always laboring fervently? He hath a great zeal for you. A great zeal for the Colossians. In other words, he had a great zeal for the work of God in that place. He was jealous for it. He wanted the Lord's name to be honored in that place. He wanted to see souls saved. He wanted to see God's people making progress in the things of God. He was a faithful minister of Christ. He was a fruitful servant. He was a fellow servant. He was a faithful servant. He was a fervent servant. That's why I said at the beginning, it would not be wrong, it would not be remiss of us to say he was a mighty man of God. A mighty man in preaching. Our church, the free church that is, has always put a very high premium on preaching. You know, men can be whatever they like, but if they can't preach, they don't really have any place in the ministry of the free church. That's always been the case. I remember one day, in fact, several days this happened, because it happened every year when the new class came in, that our homiletics professor, on our first day, he said, all of the other classes in college you receive the ingredients for the cake. Theology, Biblical Exegesis, languages, all of those things, those are the ingredients of the cake. He said, but men, this is where the cake is baked, in here, where you do the preaching. This is what it's all about. And the church has always put a high premium on preaching. And we need to pray that the free church in North America, and not just North America, but overseas as well, will always be a church like that, that puts a high premium on preaching. That we don't lower the standard and start accepting that men will be in pulpits who can't preach, who don't know how to preach, who can't get from the text to the pulpit to the congregation. We need to pray that the Lord will keep out of our ministry men who are not called of God, Because I really believe that any man who's called of God can preach. Am I in the ministry because I think I can preach? No. Far from it. But I really believe that when God calls a man into the ministry, He equips that man. He equips that man. He gives him the gifts that are needed. And the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. We need to pray that the Lord will give us, in our churches, loads of epaphrases Men who are faithful servants of Christ. Men who are fruitful in their ministries. Men who are fervent servants of the Lord Jesus. We need also to pray that the Lord will give us congregations that are exactly the same for those men to preach to. There's not much point in having a fervent minister if you have a lackadaisical congregation. There's not much point in having a faithful ministry if you have an unfaithful congregation. We need to pray that the Lord will raise up faithful men to preach and faithful people to support those men who preach. Support them with their prayers. For that's the most important way that you can contribute to the ministry of the gospel is to pray for the servants of the Lord. We haven't time tonight to go any further with this. I want to go further with Epaphras. because I want not only to look at him as a mighty man in preaching, but as Paul emphasizes in verse 12, a mighty man in prayer. And also, a mighty man in passion, because I want to develop further this thought of having a great zeal for those in the work of God. May the Lord encourage our hearts from what we've learned of this man tonight, and may God raise up in our own day even in our own churches and indeed in other faithful churches. Mighty men of God in preaching His Word. Let's all pray. Our gracious Father, we thank Thee for the ministry and for the life of Epaphras, Thy servant. Lord, he has been given a place in the New Testament Scripture Because God has given him that place. God has highlighted his ministry for us. He was faithful. Lord, make us faithful. Would you forgive us, Lord, for our unfaithfulness? Lord, he was fervent. Father, wouldst thou forgive us for our lack of zeal and our lack of fervency in thy work? O Lord, how often we go about thy business with a cold heart. I pray that you'll stir us up, that we might serve thee. Lord, I pray that thou would bless all the ministers of our denomination with faithfulness and fervency. May they always remember that they are servants of Christ and not servants of people merely. Lord, I pray for our people that you'll bless them also with faithfulness and with fervency. We thank thee for those that are faithful and who are fervent in their support of the work of God. Lord, I pray you'll raise up many more who will stand for Christ in an evil day. Lord, let us never be afraid to to be thought negative. May we never be afraid, Lord, to be accused of negativity because we're against certain things and we're not afraid to name names and preach against things and preach against false doctrine and false gospelers and false systems and false churches. Lord, let us not be afraid. Let us obey the words of Paul to Timothy. Let us put the brethren in remembrance of these things, so that we shall be good ministers of Jesus Christ. Lord, bless the congregation here. And I pray that pastor and people, we might be all that you would want us to be. O God, fill us with your Spirit. Cause us to go forward in thy work. I pray, Lord, that you will help us, Lord, to do thy will. from the heart, to never look upon thy work as a drudgery, to never look upon the service of Christ as a terrible imposition upon us, or as bondage. Oh, may we look upon it as perfect freedom to be enlisted in thy service. We ask this, giving thanks to thee in Jesus' name. Amen.