What Would The Bible Say About You?

​Col 4:7-11 - Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. 8 For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts;…
 
9 and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.
 
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas's cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him);
 
11 and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me.
 
Col 4:12 - Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers,…
 
Col 4:14 -  Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings…  NASU

• The New Testament Wall Of Fame

The names above are just a few mentioned in the New Testament that aided the apostle Paul in his ministry of spreading the gospel in the first century. What caught my attention were the adjectives that Paul used to describe his companions.
 
Tychicus was described as a beloved brother, faithful servant and fellow bond-servant.
 
When you dig into the words a little we find "beloved" comes from "agapao" and this is the love that God has for His Son Jesus: John 3:35 - "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand."
 
Tychicus was loved by Paul and the Colossian Christians with the same type of love God had for Jesus. As Christians, we are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ with this same type of love. This basically means we are to help them in any way that we can.
 
It was also said the he was a faithful servant. We find this can also be translated "faithful minister". The Greek word for minister is "diakonos" and this is where our English word "deacon" comes from and it means "to be a waiter or one who runs errands".
 
You get the picture that Tychicus was interested in one thing and that was helping or serving in anyway possible. He ministered to the needs of his brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Paul is writing this letter while in Rome under house arrest. Tychicus is going to deliver this letter to them from Paul. Tychicus would be able to encourage them by letting them know about Paul's situation and life condition.
 
I have listed below some of the other names mentioned in Colossians.
 
Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother: he was the run away slave we read about in the book of Philemon. He is here called "faithful" and "beloved brother".

In some way Onesimus lived his faith and the apostle lets us know he is seen as "faithful" to the Word of God and because of how he lived he was "loved" with the same type of love God had for Jesus.
 
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner: was a traveling companion of Paul. In Acts 19 the angry mob drag him out of the theater with Gaius. In Acts 20 we see him traveling with Paul to Macedonia.

In Acts 27 we see him board the ship with Paul that is headed to Rome where Paul will stand trial before Caesar. This ship will encounter a catastrophic storm and be destroyed.

This will leave Paul and his traveling companions, Aristarchus being one of them, stranded on an island. When Paul arrives in Rome Aristarchus will be with him.
 
One can see it was dangerous being an associate of the apostle Paul's.
 
Jesus who is called Justus; fellow worker: he would have helped Paul in spreading the gospel.
 
Epaphras, a bondslave of Jesus Christ: he saw himself as one who was owned by Jesus Christ and he lived according to this belief. He saw himself alive to serve Jesus.
 
Luke, the beloved physician: it would be my opinion that Luke used his medical skill's to help many people as he traveled with Paul.

In Philemon Luke is also called a fellow-worker, but most importantly in 2 Timothy Paul says everyone has departed to other areas of the world with the exception of Luke who is still with him while he is being held as a prisoner (house arrest) in Rome.

• If We Had A Wall Of Fame Today

Have you ever wondered if the New Testament were being written today what adjectives would follow your name?
 
Would we be called a faithful servant, fellow worker, bond servant of Jesus Christ, fellow prisoner, beloved physician, nurse, accountant, mechanic, or whatever your occupation is or was?
 
There is a saying in the sporting arena and it goes like this: It doesn't matter how you start. It matters how you finish.
 
Let me encourage you to finish strong. If you started strong and have slacked off put that behind you and finish strong.
 
Think About These:
 
The man who really wants to do something finds a way; the other man finds an excuse.
 
If you have an excuse, don't use it.
 
Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word