Colossians 4:10-11

Colossians, once again, Chapter 4. Colossians chapter 4, I want to look at verses 10 and 11. Colossians Chapter 4 verses 10 and 11. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, salute of you. And Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, touching whom he received commandments, if he come unto you, receive him. and Jesus, which is called justice, who are of the circumcision, these only are my fellow workers under the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. May God bless to us, His sacred and holy word this morning. It was the famous humorist Mark Twain, who said, Few of us can stand prosperity, another man’s, I mean. The world is usually envious of the prosperity of their neighbor. It makes them resentful. It makes them bitter. However, for you as a Christian, it should be just the opposite. We should rejoice in the prosperity of others. This is especially true when it regards a brother. or sister in Christ. We should be genuinely happy to see another believer prospering, whether it is materially or whether it is spiritually. We need to have the Apostle John’s attitude that we read in 2, or 3rd John, verse 2. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul. prosperous. Biblical salutations are more than just greetings. It is a seeking, as we shall see, of God’s blessing upon the one we salute. Salutations that end epistles are often not given much attention. But the Holy Spirit has provided these salutations for us and expects us to profit in some fashion from them. And so we want to take time to look at this. So I want to look at lessons from biblical salutations. This will be part one. As we have many things that are said here in the latter part of this book of Colossians. Let me begin by talking about your Christian duty to salute other believers. Notice in verse 10, he talks about, our aristarchus, my fellow prisoners, salute a few, and then he adds Marcus and justice also as saluting here then. Historically in ancient Israel, a salutation or greeting was more than just saying, hi, how are you today? Or good morning. It included a pronouncement of God’s blessing or peace as well. upon the individual. It’s sort of like a request for every kind of spiritual material well-being to be granted. We almost could call it almost like a public prayer, in a sense. A short statement, may the Lord provide you with health and happiness as we salute a person. If you would, look with me at Man. Matthew chapter four, a moment. And verse 47, I’m sorry, Matthew chapter 5, and verse 47. Matthew chapter 5, verse 47. Jesus says here, if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the public and so. Remember, he’s talking here about saluting. Now, go back to verse 44. you’ll notice this is not just a bare greeting. When he says salute here, he’s not just thinking, you say good morning to those who are your brother. Notice how he puts it here in verse 44. But I say unto you, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good under them that hate you. Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. When he mentions bless them here, that is connected with the salutation, you see. When you make a salutation, even to your enemy, there is a sense in which we can bless them. He said, don’t be like, you know, the publicans here and others who would only bless those who are their friends. Now notice chapter 10, also the book of Matthew in verses 12 and 13. Jesus says here, and when you come into a house, salute it. and if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it. If it not be worthy, let your peace return to you. So the salutation is a pronouncement of peace here upon the house. So when Paul opens this letter to the Colossians with a salutation, grace be unto you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, in verse 2 of chapter 1, those who salute at the end are adding their agreement to this. They are basically saying, yes, let peace be with you, and let God’s grace be on to you. These types of salutations where you wish a divine blessing upon another believer are common in scripture. are commendable. It’s right and proper that you should desire such things for fellow believers in Christ. So you should desire God to bless and prosper fellow believers. Now, you shouldn’t neglect this Christian duty. The example of our Lord on several occasions, when he greeted the disciples, what did he say to them? Peace be with you. Peace be unto you. Look at the example of Paul in almost all his epistles. He pronounces a blessing upon the recipients of the letter. Such acts are pleasing to God. Sadly, salutations of this kind or rather rare in Christian circles. We don’t commonly do this, but isn’t this the way we should do it? Isn’t this something we should be thinking about? Perhaps if you’re not. we thought more spiritually it would be more commonplace. If you’re like me, you often pray privately for God’s blessing upon individuals. We rarely actually say, you know, when we agree someone, do we say peace be unto you, brother, or something like that. We rarely say those kinds of things. And perhaps we should be incorporating that kind of approach. Now, at the end of the church service, I do pronounce a benediction. I’m pronounced. I’m pronounced a blessing on the people of God. There. But it appears that all of us could be more frequent in our publicly stating, hey, we wish God’s blessing to be upon you. I like it in the book of Ruth. When Boas greets the workers and he salutes them, he says, The Lord be with you, and they answer, the Lord bless thee. That’s how they, that’s their response. That’s how they greet one another. would that be great if we could incorporate those kinds of thinking, that kind of thinking in our own salutation. So your duty to salute other believers. And I mentioned this because I think it’s something we should work on doing as believers. It seems that this is the biblical approach. Secondly, what you may learn, those sending the salutations here. There are three people that are sending salutations. Now what can we learn from these three people? The first is Aristarchus, who is called in verse 10, my fellow prisoner. Aristarchus was a Jew from Macedonia, as we read in the book of Acts chapter 19. He was born originally at Thessalonica. He was a constant companion of Paul’s. and accompanied him. He’s one of his fellow laborers, according to Philemon, verse 24. He traveled together with the apostle through Macedonia, Greece, Asia Minor, and accompanied him even to Rome, because he’s at Rome with Paul at this particular time. He is called Paul’s companion in travel, Acts 1929. Aristarchus, is Paul’s fellow prisoner, according to this text, here in Colossians, which indicates to us that he’s in prison arrested, no doubt, for preaching the gospel too. And he’s with Paul here at Rome at this time. And so here’s another person who was preaching, and now he is limited in. in some capacity as a fellow prisoner. Now, there’s nothing more glorious to a faithful Christian than to suffer for the cause of Christ persecution. So Paul is not ashamed of being, as he puts it, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. And by way of honor, he classifies Aristarchus here as my fellow prisoner. He’s right here alongside me. scripture tells us in Hebrews 133, remember them that are in bonds as bound with them, suffering adversity with them, as being yourselves also in bond. As if you were in the same situation, put yourself in their shoes. That’s what he says. Where Aristarchus is actually there, he can really sympathize with Paul. But the principle was, we. should sympathize with those in adverse circumstances. Weep with those who weep. Show sympathy to those in a time of suffering. In this manner, you will endure yourself to a brother or sister of Christ just as much as Aristarchus did to Paul here in our text of Scripture. Many years ago, in England, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas Court, Charles Pratt went to visit a friend in Essex. And as he visited his friend there, he took a walk with a man who was rather absent-minded and focused upon reading a book while they were walking. Well, they came to a village. And outside this village, he found some stocks. They were public stocks. And the chief justice placed himself in them with the idea of learning what it would be like to be in stocks. What that punishment was like. Well, his companion latched him in, and then absent-mindedly went on reading his book and walked away. And here he was stuck. The chief justice is stuck in these stocks. And it took some time before someone came along who could free him. Now, afterwards, the judge presided at a trial, at which the magistrate was charged, was falsely, imprisoning a man and placing him in stocks. And the counsel for the magistrate made light of the punishments. It was no big deal. You know, it was not that much to, you know, effect upon this innocent man, as if being in stocks was a light thing and not really a punishment at all. The Chief Justice rose from his seat, leaned over the bench, and asked, have you ever been in stocks? To which the counsel replied, really, my Lord? Never. He said, well, I have, and I can tell you it’s no light punishment. A little experience of the real thing made him sympathetic to the man who had been falsely accused and put in stocks. Well, the Lord would have us put ourselves in the shoes of those who are, suffering. So Aristarchus here gives us a, if you would, a picture of a companion in suffering. We ought to be a companion of people in suffering, and he gives us a good example of that. The second person who has mentioned here is John Marcus, or John Mark, as we call. Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, touching whom you have received commandments if he come unto you, receive him. Now, Marcus’ mother’s name was Mary, and our text tells us that Mary was the sister of Barnabas, as we read in Acts Chapter 12. So this is John Mark that we’re speaking of here. The home of Mark was Jerusalem, according to Acts Chapter 12, and it appears that he was brought to salvation by Peter, because Peter calls him Marcus, my son, in 1. Peter 5.13. This is the mark that deserted Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, remember? As they were going about the journey, he returned to Jerusalem. And therefore, Paul refused to take him on the second missionary journey, remember? And he got into a dispute with Barnabas over John Mark. And finally, it got so he did that Barnabas said, okay, I’ll take John Mark with me. and they went to the island of Cyprus, whereas Paul took Silas with him and went to Asia Minor. However, Mark subsequently proved himself and was reconciled to Paul, and thus we find Mark with Paul at Rome here in his imprisonment, and he sends his greeting. and if he comes, we’re told here that you are to receive him. As if he wants to make sure that they realize that even though in the past, Paul had trouble with this man, he is indicating that all is fine. Don’t treat him in any disrespectful way. Now, what do we find here? Well, don’t we find here a great thing. story about Christian service. Don’t we find a great story about how God gives second chances to people? Paul, realizing that people are aware of Mark’s past failure, gives a special command. Don’t forget, receive him. He’s one of my fellow workers. He gets a second chance. Most of you know well, the story of Jonah, we’ve been studying it in the Bible study. But when commanded to preach God’s message to he that nenevae refused to do so. And when he gets in the flees Israel and gets in the ship to go to Tarsus and so forth, God thwarts his plans. He gets thrown overboard, so the storm will stop, and he gets gobbled up by this giant fish. And while he’s into fish, God brings him to repentance. And then the fish vomits him up. He ends up on the shore. Now here he is. he’s been spared regarding his life, but his ministry has been completely ruined. Would he ever again speak as God’s spokesman? Be used as God’s spokesman? Is he finished as a prophet of the Lord? And what happens? We read in scripture, and the word of the Lord came onto Jonah the second time. Go to Nineveh and cry against it. You get a second chance. Go back. preach the Word of God. So Jonah gives, this has a second chance. This is an indication to us of how God often operates. Need I talk about Peter this morning? How he denies the Lord. And yet upon repentance, he finds Jesus telling him in the last chapter of John, feed my sheep. I want you back you. Go back to work for. Second chance. Sincere believers, when divine protection is withdrawn from us and we’re left to ourselves, may engage in quite disgraceful and disobedient acts. But thankfully, God is a God of grace. Is he not a God of second chances? Look at John Mark. Look at Jonah. Look at Peter. And we see that that is the case. So when we read here about John Mark, let that be an encouragement to you, when you have failed to serve God in some capacity, when you have fallen on your face, repentant of your sin, and realize God can give you a second chance. So when I look at John Mark, I think of restoration to service. And here, that’s a thought we can gain, I think, from this text of scripture. The third person we read about here is the man justice in verse 11. it. And Jesus, which is called justice, who are of the circumcision? And I’ll stop there for a second. Now, you’ll notice that he says, who are of the circumstances? It’s the plural are there indicating all three men are Jews. It’s likely that the man, justice, was the person who allowed Paul to use his home to preach in the book in the book of Acts when he was at Corinth. Let’s look at Acts 18. 1 to 7, if you would. This seems like the man that we’re focusing on here. Acts chapter 18, beginning with verse 1, after these things, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth, and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife, Priscilla, because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome and came under them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought for, by their occupation, they were tentmakers. Excuse me, he abode with them and wrought or worked with them, for by their occupation, they were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and Greeks, and when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, your blood be upon your own heads, I am clean, from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house named just one that worshiped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. It would seem here that Paul went to the House of Justice not to live there because he stayed with Aquila and Priscilla, but he went there because it was a large enough house that people could gather there for worship, and he could preach and teach there. So Paul continues to stay with Aquila and Priscilla, it seems, but because he’s rejected by the majority of Jews, he goes, I couldn’t use the synagogue anymore. He goes next door to the synagogue to this man, Justice’s house. Very convenient because it was right next to the synagogue. And he continues his work. Now our text indicates that justice, in Colossians there, was of the circumcision. He was a Jew. But some believe that justice, according to the… Acts 18 was a Gentile because it says he worshipped God. Now, this phrase is used sometimes of Gentile proselytes, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be so. Only five Greek, there are five Greek words that are used for worship. This one, Sebomi, indicates a devout worshipper. It could simply mean that justice worshiped God according to the teaching of Paul, while the rest of the Jews at Corinth did not. And I’m taking it in this way. In other words, he was a devout Jew when many of the people of his own nation rejected the gospel. Our text indicates his birth name was Jesus. But he went by the surname here of justice. He may have been called the just one, because as a devoted follower of Christ, he was righteous or holy in life. But the name Jesus is a Hebrew-derived name. In other words, Jesus is not a name given at that time to Greeks. John Owen in his book on Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 8, he says, Jesus is of no significance at all in the Greek tongue. They didn’t really use that word. It being only their manner of pronunciation of Jesus, Joshua, which means Savior. So Joshua is called Jesus in Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 8, because that is the Greek characteristic of Joshua, the Greek phraseology. Alimus, the Jewish false prophet and sorcerer, is called Bar Jesus. He’s the son of Jesus, or the son of Joshua, is the Acts 136 indicates. The fact that Jesus, Justice’s house was joined hard to the synagogue, indicates to me that he was a Jew. Because you can imagine, you know, Jews avoided any contact with Gentiles. They wouldn’t want a house that a Gentile and have a synagogue next door. I mean, that just does incongruence with their thinking. But if he was a Jew, it makes perfect sense. So the great lesson about justice here is his refusal to take his birth name. of Jesus. He would not take that name. He takes the name justice. Jesus is a sacred name. It means savior. It means deliverer. Remember when Jesus was about to be born, now shall call his name Jesus, Matthew’s Gospel says, for he shall save his people from their sins. You know, when I was growing up, the Alew brothers all played baseball. I used to collect baseball cards and there were three Alu brothers. There was Maddie O’Loo who played for the Pirates. Jayaloo would pray for the Braves, but there was another one. His name was Jesus Alu. I think he also played for the Braves. Even as a young boy, I always thought, who would have the audacity to name his child Jesus? I thought that was blasphemous, even when I was younger. But you see the humility here of justice. He’s not going to call himself by the name Jesus because there’s only one Jesus. There’s only one true Savior. I can’t use that name. I’ll go by the word justice. Instead, the son of the Virgin Mary is the only true Jesus. God himself manifested in the flesh. The only true Savior. All others before him who have the name, even if we use Joshua, were but best shadows and types of the Christ that was coming. The Bible says neither is salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saying, Acts 412. And so justice says here, I can’t take that name. I’m not going to use it. Out of respect for Christ. Christians hold Christ in such high esteem that none dare take such a name. It would detract from the glory of Christ. So justice here shows humility of heart, doesn’t he? I’m, you know, I’m not at the same level as Jesus. I’m not a savior. I can’t use that name. Now, all three men are mentioned here in the second part of verse 11 of our text. And this is what he says, Paul says about. These only are my fellow workers under the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort under me. Now what do we learn from this phrase or this sentence? Notice here, it’s not always safe in religion to follow the majority of people of your own nation. If you looked at most of the Jews, the vast majority of them, were men who did not believe the gospel. He says, I only have three Jewish companions at this point that are of the circumcision that you can trust. Remember, Judaizers are going around trying to undermine the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says, these are the only ones that are advancing the kingdom of God. Listen to these guys. The majority of the circumcision opposed Christ to the Judaizers who are attempting to undermine the truth. This is a warning to only accept the teaching of Aristarchus, Marcus, and justice. who forsook the errors of their own people. You can’t simply follow the majority of people around you. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. And so we see here he’s saying, these few are really the brands plucked from the burn. These are the guys you can trust. A second thought we see is this. That godly men persevere in propagating the gospel in order to advance the kingdom of God. These men were involved in advancing the kingdom of God. Jesus went all about Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom, scripture tells us. Many draw back from preaching the apostolic gospel, but without it, the kingdom of God cannot advance on this earth. It cannot grow. Opposition and persecution. will not deter faithful men from proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Aristarchus is in jail. Paul is in jail. Marcus, it seems, is still loose, and so is justice. If Marcus comes, receive him, accept his teaching. I think nothing can be more frustrating, the enemies of the kingdom of God. Then the extraordinary determination of God. of godly men to preach the gospel no matter how much persecution they have to endure. You can throw them in jail. You can deter them in many ways. You can scourge them, whip them, whatever punishment you give them. Somehow or other, they just keep preaching. That has to be discouraging to the enemies of the gospel of Christ. God can advance his kingdom by a few good men. He doesn’t have to have many, but he has a few. power is manifested in weakness by God. His power is manifested. It’s by the Holy Spirit that the work is done, not by how many people are actually doing. And so he uses these men to continue to propagate the message of the gospel. Godly men persevere in propagating the gospel in order to advance the kingdom of God. My third thought is this. The best of men meet comfort. comfort in times of suffering. He said, which have been a comfort unto me? These three men have been a comfort to me, Paul says. During his imprisonment, a time of suffering, Paul found comfort in the efforts of these men to advance the kingdom of God. These men visit with Paul, conferred with him, prayed with him, communicating with him about the churches, laboring to fill the void caused by his absence, whoever was able to do so. And when good men are hindered in some way from participating in advancing the kingdom of God, it’s good to know that there are other people who step up to the plate, so to speak, who are willing to continue to carry on the work in the absence of those who are sideline. So the best of men need comfort in times of suffering. So what you may learn from those sending these salutations. One, there’s a lesson to be learned from Aristarchus, Marcus, and Justice, and we see that all three men also provide for us a little lesson. There are several lessons as well. Well, Mark Twain said few of us can stand prosperity. Another man’s, I mean. The world is envious of the prosperity of the prosperity of their neighbor. But you and I should be those who pronounce blessing upon our fellow believers in Christ. We want them to prosper, both physically with regard to their health, with regard to the material, or things of life with regard to their spiritual well-being. So biblical salutations are more than greetings. They are a pronouncement of blessing. And you can see that there is something to be learned from them, as you look at these texts of scripture, I hope that you won’t just fly over them and think, well, you know, I don’t have to read them. You know, it’s just a bunch of names. There is something beneficial and profitable to be learned. Let us close.