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December 20 Edification, Unity, Perfection!
The Burden of Epaphras for Today
“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you,
always labouring 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.” (Colossians 4:12, 13).
Paul writes to his Colossian brethren: “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. [Not an
unsanctified love of the smartness, ability, or oratory of the preacher,
but a love born of the Spirit of God, which His servant represented in
his words and character]” (Colossians 1:7, 8). 48
Much excellent labor was bestowed upon the Laodicean church.
To them was given the exhortation, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as
your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). But the
church did not follow up the work begun by God’s messengers. They
heard, but they failed to appropriate the truth to themselves, and to
carry out the instruction given them. The result that followed is the
result always sure to follow the rejection of the Lord’s warnings and
entreaties. 49
We are in continual danger of getting above the simplicity of the
gospel. There is an intense desire on the part of many to startle the
world with something original, that shall lift the people into a state of
spiritual ecstasy, and change the present order of experience. There is
certainly great need of a change in the present order of experience; for
the sacredness of present truth is not realized as it should be, but the
change we need is a change of heart, and can only be obtained by
seeking God individually for His blessing, by pleading with Him for
His power, by fervently praying that His grace may come upon us,
and that our characters may be transformed. This is the change we
need today, and for the attainment of this experience we should exercise
persevering energy and manifest heartfelt earnestness. We
should ask with true sincerity, “What shall I do to be saved?” We
should know just what steps we are taking heavenward. 50
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