According to His working
Colossians 1:27-29 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Whereunto I also labor, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.”
Paul is saying that his ministry is to make known Christ Jesus….in His riches and glory, which was a mystery before, to the Gentiles. To preach and teach in the wisdom that God gives him….so that he may…
….”present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”. To complete the work of bringing them to Christ, by their salvation….and the knowledge of sanctification.
But then….(and I love this!) Paul says about himself: that he is not perfect…he is still growing up into Christ…so he labors…
….”striving according to His working”…Christ’s grace and correction and mercy and peace….
…”which worketh in me mightily”.
Paul yielded himself to the inward workings of the Holy Spirit….which are mighty. That is the labor…to yield.
“Striving according to His working”….striving here means to compete for a prize, to contend with an adversary, to endeavor to accomplish something!
Really, all the things that we need to have and do, to have sanctification of the Spirit in our everyday life!
But thank God, it is “according to His working which worketh in me”….”mightily”.
Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
Paul knew the reality of this….and wanted to pass it on to other Christians.
Paul said, “…woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16)…not because he was afraid of what God would do to him, if he stopped preaching…
….but because God’s Word was in him like a fire….which could not be contained. He had to preach about Christ Jesus…he had to make His Word known!
This is to know God’s command and calling in the depth of our soul, and to be so impelled of God…that we can not stop preaching, teaching….and speaking of the Lord…wherever He wants.
God works in us by His Spirit mightily….as we yield (strive is the word Paul uses to describe this yielding)…
……for it is to yield, when circumstances seem bleak…
….when we are weary and worn…
….when we are being shown our sin, and faults…
….and when we need to forgive others who have hurt us……then the Holy Spirit “worketh in me mightily”
Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
(In the Gideon Bible, Paul says….”…forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead.”
When I read this, it reminded me of when I was a child….and I wanted something Mom had set out on the counter. I would go over and try and reach it….no, too short. Then with all my might, I would stand on my tip-toes to try and reach it. If that failed, I would cry to my Mom to please give me some. How eagerly my hands went out if she gave it to me!
“Straining forward”….to get what the Lord had for Paul….
…and we should be the same, for what the Lord has for us. Really wanting it….seeking it…crying out for all the help the Holy Spirit has for us….and using it!)
Philippians 2:12 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
This “work out” is to strive…to strain forward to what lies ahead. This is not just to strain forward to do HIs Will…..but to be His Will, wherever we are. To obtain the “riches” of Christ, by the Holy Spirit within our lives…
…for it is Christ in you the hope of glory. And hope is the confident expectation that God will do what He says.
That is what our sanctification is based on: His Word, that He will bring us through…will guide us…will give us the grace needed to finish our course….that in fact, He will perfect (complete) us…in Christ Jesus.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 