And annually, we honor our veterans, and especially
those who have given their lives for the sake
of our nation. We remember that they were willing
to pay the ultimate sacrifice in order that we
might enjoy freedom. A few weeks ago, when a
couple of us were visiting briefly in Washington,
D .C., I visited the Vietnam Memorial for the
first time. It was a very simple memorial, architecturally.
And I suppose one has to be an appreciator of
modern art to really understand what the memorial
is saying. I'm not such an appreciator. But it
is a moving experience nonetheless to go there
and see these tens of thousands of names etched
in marble. Two men, two young men, that I went
to high school with, are represented there. I
looked up their names. and I must confess that
I was moved to tears unexpectedly as I looked
down the column in the row where their name was
located and touched it and remembered them in
their youth and that they were cut off so quickly.
We need to thank God for the liberty that we
enjoy and remember that there are those who have
paid dearly. so that we might enjoy it. And let
us guard it in our own day in the way that we
must so that we have a legacy to pass on to our
own children and grandchildren. As a young boy
on this weekend, we would visit the graves of
those in our family who had died and on Memorial
Day most often would go to our local cemetery
there in Kansas. My father was buried there.
and his grave, like a number of others, had a
flag raised over it. The FW and many cemeteries
places a marker there, a Memorial Day weekend,
and a flag is put there for those who served
our nation. I remember the fun it was to see
relatives on Decoration Day, as we called it.
And we would walk around the cemetery and sometimes
there would be a family get -together afterwards.
But as we walked around the cemetery, you would
hear people talk about this one and that one
who had passed before. And we would read their
names and hear stories about them and note how
long they lived or how short they lived. Collecting
epitaph from cemeteries has been a hobby of mine
for a number of years, although I haven't done
it. very much of late. I was walking through
that same cemetery one time when I was in my
twenties and noted a grave in the older part
of the cemetery of a man who died in 1878. And
there beneath the name and the date was some
sort of paragraph and so I had to get down and
read it and wipe away the moss. And it looked
very hard to see what it said. And here's what
it said. My friend, as you pass by, as you are
now, so once was I. As I am now, soon you must
be. So prepare yourself to follow me. Pretty
significant statement, isn't it? I read about
another one from Arizona Highways. Louis Schaeffer
found this on the tombstone of a horse thief
in Arizona. It said he found a rope and picked
it up and with it walked away. It happened that
to the other end the horse was hit, they say.
They took the rope and tied it up into a hickory
limb. It happened that the other end was somehow
hit to him. You can find all kinds of epitaphs.
I remember one time being in a cemetery in Blanchester,
Ohio. You know, you can go to a cemetery and
be left alone. Did you know that? You want to
meditate and just get away? Go to a cemetery.
Nobody will bother you there. They think only
crazies hang out in cemeteries. They'll leave
you, they'll give you plenty of distance. And
I was preaching in Blanchester in a church, and
I wanted to go and just think a while before
I preach, which is often a good idea. And so
I went to the cemetery and walked around reading
some epithets, and there was one that was on
a gravestone that was brand new. And this is
unusual, because most people don't go to that
expense these days. And what it said on this
beautiful marble tombstone was this. It must
have been a Christian, because it said, and in,
I -N -N, and in for a weary traveler on his way
to the New Jerusalem. I thought, wow, that says
a lot, doesn't it? In fact, the word inn is what
the word cemetery really means in the Greek language.
The Greek word for inn is where we get our word
for cemetery. That person had grasped the meaning
of what cemetery, what a grave is, an inn for
a weary traveler on his way to the New Jerusalem.
Well, this morning, as we read through a list
of names, I would like for us to think of these
people as ones who actually lived on the earth.
People who had a mother and father just like
you and me and some of them had wives and children
and they're dead. We're going to turn to Colossians
chapter 4 and as we read these names I want you
to see what is said about them because as we
work our way through the list in the message
we're going to create an epitaph for each one
of these individuals. Beginning in verse 7 of
Colossians 4, 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. And with him, Onesimus, our faithful
and beloved brother, who is one of your number,
they will inform you about the whole situation
here, that is, in Rome, where Paul was under
house arrest. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner,
sends you his greetings, and also Barnabas' cousin,
Mark. about whom you received instructions, if
he comes to you, welcome him. And also Jesus,
who is called justice. 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. Epiphas, who is one of your number, a
bond slave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings.
Always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers
that you may stand perfect and fully assured
in all the will of God. For I bear him witness
that he has deep concern for you and for those
who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis. Luke, the
beloved physician, sends you his greetings and
also demons. Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea
and also Nympha and the church that is in her
house. And when this letter is read among you,
have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans.
For you and you for your part, read my letter
that is coming from Laodicea. And say to Archippus,
take heed to the ministry which you have received
in the Lord, that you may fulfill it. I, Paul,
write this greeting with my own hand. Remember
my imprisonment. Grace be with you. And so we
have the names of a number of individuals including
that of the Apostle Paul. What I observe here
is that those who faithfully serve God's will
and advance Christ's cause will be forever remembered.
I hope that you and I will determine this morning
that we in our hearts will be men and women worthy
of distinction. such as most of the people on
this list. As we walk along this morning through
this cemetery of names, the first one that we
come to is this man Tichicus. This man joined
Paul's party as he headed back toward Jerusalem
at the end of his third journey. Acts 20 verse
4. About four years had passed since that time.
Titicus was a loyal and trustworthy assistant
of the Apostle Paul. There are three terms that
are used of this brother. He is called a beloved
brother. In other words, Paul looks upon him
as one who is in God's family with him and one
who is deeply appreciated. He is not only a brother
in Christ, he is a beloved. brother. And he calls
him a faithful servant. The word servant here
means deacon. It's one who is willing to serve
in ordinary ways. Pichicus was probably not an
official deacon of the church, but in his mindset,
in his heart, he was one who served. He was not
prominent. But he was faithful. And so Paul calls
him faithful servant and then fellow bond servant.
Here another word, the word servant here means
slave. And so Paul sees this man as joined with
him in the change of slavery to Jesus Christ.
The name Pichicus means fortunate. He was a man
fortunate in that he came to know Christ. and
was fortunate in that he was able to serve with
the greatest apostle of this age, Paul. But Paul
also looked upon himself as fortunate for having
an associate like Titicus. Titicus was going
to deliver this letter that Paul was writing
to the church in Colossae. I believe that the
epitaph that we might write upon his tombstone
is this. Here lies a man you could count on.
And I don't know of an epitaph, my friends, that
would be any more meaningful than that, especially
in the day in which you and I live. If you can
come to the end of your life and look back upon
it and find two hands full of people that you
could count on in life. You indeed are a fortunate
person. Tychicus was that kind of man. Here lies
a man you could count on. The second man whose
name is Onesimus. Onesimus also delivered this
letter along with Tychicus. But under different
circumstances, because Onesimus was going back
home. You see, one of the leaders in the church
in Colossae was a man named Philemon. Paul had
led Philemon to Christ. He was a wealthy man,
and he owned slaves. Onesimus had been one of
them. but apparently he had stolen from his master
and had run. He knew that the punishment could
well be execution, but nonetheless he bolted.
And somehow in the providence of God, Onesimus
met Paul in Rome. We don't know how this happened.
But as Onesimus found Paul, Christ, found Onesimus.
And this thieving runaway slave became a believer.
Now the Apostle Paul is sending Onesimus back
home to his master. Now in his back pocket, if
robes in those days had back pockets, there was
also a letter to Philemon, which is included
in the New Testament. in which he is told to
receive Onesimus as a brother in Christ. And
Paul says, and by the way, if he still owes you
anything, put that on my account. I'll repay
it to you on his behalf. The apostle calls this
new convert a faithful and beloved brother. Here
is a man who has transformed the power of the
Gospel. John MacArthur makes this statement,
Christ makes sure that a man with a past has
a past that is past. I like that. Onesimus had
a past that was past. Jesus Christ is in the
business of transforming lives. And he can take
a man even like Onesimus and turn him around
to make him a new creature in Christ. And when
he does, when he does, you and I who are in the
family of God need to receive those people, just
as Philemon was told to receive this runaway
slave. By the way, there's some indication in
church history, not in the scriptures, but in
church history, that Onesimus became the bishop
of the church in Ephesus later in his life. Quite
a significant comeback, wouldn't you say? I would
put on his grave this epitaph, Onesimus, a slave
of two masters. And then we come to Aristarchus.
Aristarchus was a native of Thessalonica, according
to Acts 20 verse 4. He had been with Paul in
Ephesus, Acts 19 verse 29. where he had been
seized by the mob that was looking for Paul.
He was released and then later went with Paul
to Jerusalem and eventually accompanied Paul
in his chains on his voyage to Rome, according
to Acts 27 verse 2. Now notice what the apostle
calls him, my fellow prisoner. I don't believe
that that means that Aristarchus had been placed
under arrest. It could be, but I don't think
it does. I believe what Paul is saying about
this man is that he had cared so deeply for Paul
that he spent all of his time with him and gave
him his loyal service and so Paul sees him as
though he were also a prisoner. Here is a man
who is so loyal to the one that he followed that
he voluntarily relinquished his right to liberty
for the sake of serving. I wonder if we, like
Aristarchus, are willing to voluntarily give
up our rights in order that we might serve others.
As we observe the tombstone of Aristarchus, Let's
put this epitaph on it. He was a prisoner of
love. Because it was his love for the Apostle
Paul and for the Lord Jesus Christ that caused
him to be willing to give up his liberty to serve
others. He was a prisoner of love. Next we come
to a man named Mark. We know this man. He was
the cousin of Barnabas and the son of a wealthy
and renowned woman in Jerusalem who deserted
Paul and his cousin Barnabas during their first
missionary journey, Acts 13 .13. He had gone
part way with them and then it says that in Pamphylia
he turned around and went back to Jerusalem and
did not go to the work of the journey. Paul was
devastated by this and to some degree held it
against Mark for a period of time. It is thought
that probably Mark was a good friend later, at
least, of the Apostle Peter. and may have gotten
some of his information for the gospel he wrote,
named Mark, from Peter. Peter may have had the
influence in Mark's life that turned him around.
By the way, the contention between Paul and Barnabas
over Mark was so great that the two of them split.
Here they had been fast companions. a part of
the same missionary team. But over the issue
of Mark, they split because Barnabas said, I
want to take Mark again, and Paul said never.
And so they went separate directions. But 12
years have passed. And now Mark has been reclaimed.
He's a different man than he was before. Mark
is a man who might have given up in embarrassment.
After all, when the top guy in the church of
the Lord is ashamed of you, where do you go?
When the Apostle Paul is not willing to trust
you again, you feel disgraced. But he was not
a man who was held down by his own failures.
He proved himself in that by God's grace he made
a comeback. And near the end of Paul's life,
Paul says regarding him as he writes to Timothy,
Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is
useful to me and for the service. God had met
Mark at the point of his need in some way that
we don't know about. It's not written about.
But God had met Mark there. Mark had responded
and had been reclaimed. I think if we pass the
gravestone of Mark, and by the way, notice what
it says here, about whom you received instructions,
colon, these were the instructions to the Colossians
regarding Mark. If he comes to you, welcome him.
What does that suggest to you? Why were those
instructions needed 12 years later? There were
some believers not willing to allow this man's
past to be passed. They held it against him,
and apparently, when he went from place to place,
there were those who would not welcome him because
of his reputation. But Paul makes it clear he
is a man to be embraced. What I would like to
see in his epitaph is this, a man with courage
to turn failure into success. There are some
people who don't have that kind of courage. They
mope and they wallow in their failure for the
rest of their lives. They do not take the grace
that God gives to them at the point of their
need and the result is they waste the years to
come because of past failure. If somehow today
you're one of those people who like Mark, somewhere
along the way has blown it. Then acknowledge
the failure. Confess it to God. Get right with
God. Get as right with others as you can. Mark
testifies that apparently some you can't get
right with. They won't let you. But go on. For
God's sake and for your sake, go on and have
the courage to make success out of that failure
in your past. And then there is Jesus. Jesus
justice. There really is nothing beyond this
text that is known about him, as is true also
of this lady whose name is Nimphah in verse 15.
So we can say a lot about either one of them,
but we can say a little bit about Jesus. How
would you like to bear that name? Now, understand
that Jesus was not an uncommon name. Jesus is
the Greek spelling of the Hebrew name Yeshua,
or Joshua. And there were lots of Jews by that
name. That was a common name. When the angel
said, you shall call his name Yeshua, Joshua,
that was not a brand new name, an unusual name.
It was a particular name. And it's applied particularly
wonderfully in the Lord Jesus Christ. But it
was a common name. And so here is a man whose
name was Joshua, or Greek Jesus. But among the
followers of the Lord Jesus, you can imagine
bearing this name. How would you like to live
up to that name? How well did he do? Was he a
man of integrity? Well apparently so because
his name justice means righteous Which indicates
to us that he lived so as to honor the name he
bore safe You bear the name Christian Which means
little Christ or follower of Christ Are you living?
Who has to honor that name? Epiphas. Epiphas
was probably the founding pastor of the Church
in Colossus. Remember, Paul had never been there.
Epiphas had gone there, had led people to Christ,
and founded the Church, most likely. It was he
who probably brought the word to Paul about the
problems of the heresy that was afflicting the
church in Colossae. He is described here as one
who knew deep concern or literally great pain
in his life. Many people do not understand the
great pain that pastoral ministry brings. The
Apostle Paul In one place in the New Testament
lists all of the sufferings that he had endured.
The shipwrecks, the beatings, etc., etc., etc.
And then he said, and besides all of this, the
care of the churches. Paul was a pastor's pastor
as an apostle. Epiphas knew the load that is
borne by those who are shepherds of God's people.
And Paul says he is a man who has known great
pain. And as a pastor he was one who had labored
in prayer, he agonized with the souls of his
people. He prayed, says the apostle, that they,
the Colossians, might be mature and wise in their
spiritual insight. I remember as a young pastor
in my late twenties going to a cemetery. I had
succeeded a great man who had succeeded, likewise,
a great man. The man who was pastored second
generation before me, which was only, I suppose,
at that point 10 years before me, was a man named
Dr. D .B. Estep. Dr. Eastep had pastored Calvary
Baptist Church for 35 years. It had grown from
a handful of people to a church of 800 or 900,
which in the late 1950s was a huge church in
America, a huge evangelical church. Now he had
his strengths and he had his weaknesses, but
he was a man who bore great pain for the people
he loved. and at 62 or 63 years of age died suddenly
of a coronary, undoubtedly related in part to
the stress of the ministry of the Calvary Baptist
Church. And having become the pastor of that
church, I decided to go find his grave. I know
it's a little weird, but that's all right. And
so I knew what cemetery it was. I had buried
people there, and so I asked... one of his sister
-in -law's sisters -in -law, who was still in
our church, what area it was in, and went out
there and walked around until I found it. It's
a very simple little gravestone. There would
be East Steps with the years of his life on it,
and below that all it said was, Pastor of Calvary
Baptist Church. And I stood there because that
was my title. And I stood there a long time.
And on subsequent occasions I also stood there.
And I thought about this faithful man who had
borne the burden of the ministry of that church.
And I never left there without recommitting myself
to the ministry that God has called me to. Dr.
East Steps and I, and every pastor, we follow
in the steps of a man like Epiphan. And I would
put over his grave on his epitaph, these words,
he was a praying shepherd. And then we come to
Luke. And Paul himself gives us what I think
is the fitting epitaph, the beloved physician.
Paul was a man who experienced a lot of bodily
weakness. He was not a robust individual. In
fact, he had a lot of illness in his first missionary
journey. As he started his second journey, God
provided a doctor to join his team. He picked
him up in Troas, apparently, because Luke who
wrote the book of Acts as well as the gospel
bearing his name, in Acts 16 10 begins to use
we when he describes Paul's party. Up to that
point it's they and he. And then he says we,
which is his signal as the writer, historian,
that now I'm with them. And from then on he largely
traveled with Paul. They became fast friends.
Not all who serve Jesus Christ are ministry professionals.
Here is another kind of professional, a doctor
who dedicated his life to God's work and used
his skills in a particular way. And of course,
he was also a capable historian. And I tell you,
I have met other beloved physicians in my life,
and so have you. Men and women who love God.
and who are using their professional skills to
serve Jesus Christ in special ways. And then
there is this next grave. It is Demas. He's called
a fellow worker by Paul in Philemon 24, but ultimately
he was a man who deserted Paul, 2 Timothy 4 .10.
Having loved this present world, sad beyond words
is the situation when a man or a woman deserts
the will of God and follows the enticement of
the world. What a tragic trade for life Demas
made. And so we stand before this man's grave
and shed a tear as we read his epitaph. A man
who failed his potential. Don't be that kind
of person. There's Archipas. Archipas was not
with Paul. He was in Colossi, apparently, as
was Nimphah. As I think of these two individuals,
I think of... The fact that they both needed
some greeting from Paul and some exhortation,
they had a ministry from God. And I think of
an epitaph here that speaks directly to the reader,
like the one I quoted from the tombstone in Kansas.
My friend as you pass by, as you are now so once
was I, as I am now soon you must be, prepare
yourself to follow me. Some person wrote another
little statement to go with that and it says,
To follow you I'll not consent until I know which
way you went. Which is a wise response. Sometimes
epitaphs speak directly to the reader, and I
think this is one of them. I see on the epitaph
of Archephas these words. He was like you, the
reader. He was a man who had a ministry, and
to him and to us, the apostle Paul says, Take
heed to fulfill the ministry that God has given
you. See your life as an opportunity while you
have it. And use it to the full. What a privilege
to be thought of as was this man as a trusted
and valued partner in battle. a fellow soldier.
By the way, Archiphas may well have been the
son of Philemon, or yes, the son of Philemon,
and therefore was very close to the Apostle Paul.
And Paul's name is the last name. I would not
pretend to be able to give an epitaph for Paul,
except that he gave one to himself, which I will
simply put on the gravestone as we look at it.
And it says, he fought the good fight. He finished
his course. He kept his faith. And so we have
the names of ten or eleven individuals, most
of whom are highly honored and forever remembered
as those who served God's cause and advanced
Christ's will in their generation. By the way,
more than half of the New Testament was authored
by three of the people on this list. The Church
grew and was established because of the commitment
of men and women like this. And dear people,
the Church of Jesus Christ today will only grow
and be established as we who are alive in our
generation commit ourselves as did they to faithful
service. The kind of people that we need to be
in our generation. And I want to close with part
of a poem written by Robertson McQuilkin, who
I think bears the title Chancellor now at the
Columbia Bible College, although it has a new
name that I can't give to you at the moment.
He wrote this poem in 1981 as he was growing
older, and his prayer in the midst of a lot of
friends who failed God. was this. Let me get
home before dark. Listen to his thoughts as we
close. An older man writing this now. It's sundown,
Lord. The shadows of my life stretch back into
the dimness of the years long spent. I fear not
death. For that grim foe betrays himself at last,
thrusting me forever into life, life with you,
unsoiled and free. But I do fear. I fear the
dark specter may come too soon. Or do I mean
too late? That I should end before I finish,
or finish, but not well. That I should stain
your honor, shame your name, grieve your loving
heart. Few, they tell me, finish well. Lord,
let me get home before dark. spirit grown mean
and small. Fruit shriveled on the vine, bitter
to the taste of my companion, burdened to be
borne by those brave few who love me still. No,
Lord, let the fruit grow lush and sweet, a joy
to all who taste. Spirit sign of God at work,
stronger, fuller, brighter to the end. Lord,
let me get home before dark. The darkness of
tattered gifts, rust -locked, half -spent or
ill -spent, a life that was once used of God,
now set aside. Grief for glories gone, or fretting
for a task God never gave. mourning in the hollow
chambers of memory, gazing on the faded banners
of victories long gone. Can I not run well unto
the end? Lord, get me home before dark. Let's
pray. You know it would be a good exercise for
all of us to sit down this afternoon and write
the epitaph that we would like to have put on
our own gravestones if one were to be put there.
It would give us pause that we need. And I pray
today that as we look at the lives of men and
women who actually lived at one time on the earth,
but now have been long gone. And we see how they
lived, and what their character was like, and
what a difference they made, that we in our generation
may so determine to live out God's will for us,
that we will follow their example. And like them,
Lord, may our lives be well lived unto the end.
Let none of us come short. And wherein the Spirit
of God has found us in this list, of people we've
looked at this morning, may our hearts respond
with renewed surrender and commitment to you
to be all that you've called us to be. May we,
like David, serve the will of God in our generation
before we fall asleep in Christ. And Lord, I
pray that you will get all of us home before
dark. In Jesus' name, Amen.