◄ Colossians 4:10 ►
My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you greetings, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. You have already received instructions about him: If he comes to you, welcome him.
Study Bible
My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you greetings
Aristarchus was a Macedonian from Thessalonica and a faithful companion of Paul. He is mentioned in Acts 19:29 as being seized during the riot in Ephesus, showing his dedication to the ministry. His presence with Paul in prison indicates his willingness to suffer for the Gospel. This phrase highlights the close bonds formed through shared trials and the importance of fellowship among believers. Aristarchus's role as a "fellow prisoner" suggests he was either imprisoned with Paul or voluntarily stayed with him to provide support, reflecting the early Christian commitment to community and mutual support.

as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas
Mark, also known as John Mark, is a significant figure in the New Testament. He is the author of the Gospel of Mark and was initially a companion of Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journeys (Acts 12:25). However, he left them during the first journey, leading to a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:37-39). This mention in Colossians indicates a reconciliation between Paul and Mark, demonstrating the power of forgiveness and restoration in Christian relationships. Mark's connection to Barnabas, a prominent leader in the early church known for his encouragement (Acts 4:36), underscores the importance of family ties and mentorship in ministry.

You have already received instructions about him
This phrase suggests that the Colossian church had prior communication regarding Mark. It implies that Paul had given specific guidance on how to interact with him, possibly addressing any lingering concerns from his earlier departure. This reflects the structured nature of early church leadership and the importance of following apostolic guidance. It also highlights the need for clear communication and the resolution of past conflicts within the church community.

If he comes to you, welcome him
Paul's instruction to welcome Mark emphasizes the theme of hospitality and acceptance within the Christian community. It serves as a directive to the Colossians to embrace Mark despite any past issues, reinforcing the message of grace and reconciliation. This aligns with the broader biblical teaching on welcoming one another as Christ has welcomed us (Romans 15:7). The instruction also reflects the itinerant nature of early Christian ministry, where leaders and teachers often traveled between churches, relying on the hospitality of fellow believers.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Aristarchus
A fellow prisoner with Paul, Aristarchus was a Macedonian from Thessalonica who accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys. He is noted for his loyalty and willingness to suffer alongside Paul for the sake of the Gospel.

2. Mark
Also known as John Mark, he is the cousin of Barnabas. Mark is significant for his earlier departure from Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey, which led to a temporary rift between Paul and Barnabas. However, he later became a valuable companion to Paul.

3. Barnabas
A prominent leader in the early church, known for his encouragement and support of others, including Paul and Mark. His relationship with Mark highlights themes of reconciliation and restoration.

4. Paul
The apostle who wrote the letter to the Colossians while imprisoned. His mention of these individuals reflects his deep connections and the collaborative nature of early Christian ministry.

5. Colossae
The city to which the letter is addressed, located in Asia Minor. The church in Colossae was dealing with various theological challenges, and Paul's letter aims to address these issues and encourage the believers.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Reconciliation
The mention of Mark, who had previously parted ways with Paul, underscores the power of reconciliation and forgiveness in Christian relationships. Believers are encouraged to seek restoration and unity.

Faithfulness in Ministry
Aristarchus's example of enduring hardship alongside Paul highlights the call to faithfulness and perseverance in ministry, even in difficult circumstances.

Welcoming Fellow Believers
Paul's instruction to welcome Mark reflects the importance of hospitality and acceptance within the Christian community. Believers are called to embrace and support one another.

The Role of Encouragement
Barnabas's influence on Mark and Paul illustrates the vital role of encouragement in nurturing faith and ministry. Christians are encouraged to be sources of encouragement to others.

Collaboration in the Gospel
The interconnectedness of these individuals in Paul's ministry demonstrates the importance of collaboration and partnership in advancing the Gospel.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the reconciliation between Paul and Mark challenge us to address conflicts and seek restoration in our own relationships?

2. In what ways can we demonstrate faithfulness and perseverance in our ministry or service, even when faced with challenges?

3. How can we practice hospitality and acceptance towards fellow believers, especially those who may have had past disagreements with us?

4. What role does encouragement play in your spiritual journey, and how can you be an encourager to others in your community?

5. How can we foster a spirit of collaboration and partnership in our efforts to share the Gospel and serve others?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Acts 19:29
Aristarchus is mentioned as being seized during a riot in Ephesus, demonstrating his close association with Paul and his willingness to face danger for the Gospel.

Acts 15:36-41
This passage describes the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over Mark, highlighting the theme of reconciliation as Mark is later commended by Paul.

2 Timothy 4:11
Paul refers to Mark as useful to him in ministry, showing the restoration of their relationship and Mark's growth in his role.

Philemon 1:23-24
Aristarchus is listed among Paul's fellow workers, emphasizing the collaborative nature of early Christian ministry.
Sermons
Christian Commendations and SalutationsJ. Spence, D. D.Colossians 4:7-11
Side Lights on Church Life in the Early TimesG. Barlow.Colossians 4:7-11
The Sympathetic SpiritColossians 4:7-11
TychicusBp. Lightfoot.Colossians 4:7-11
Tychicus and Onesimus, the Letter BearersA. Maclaren, D. D.Colossians 4:7-11
Value of a ComforterBp. Taylor.Colossians 4:7-11
Christian GreetingU.R. Thomas Colossians 4:7-18
Personal Salutations and Pastoral CaresE.S. Prout Colossians 4:7-18
The Apostle's EntourageR.M.e Colossians 4:7-18
The PersonalR. Findlayson Colossians 4:7-18
AristarchusA. Maclaren, D. D.Colossians 4:10-11
Co-Operation in Work for ChristC. H. Spurgeon.Colossians 4:10-11
Greetings from Three Loyal Friends of the ApostleT. Croskery Colossians 4:10, 11
How Christians May Comfort OthersH. W. Beecher. Colossians 4:10-11
Jesus Which is Called JustusA. Maclaren, D. D.)Colossians 4:10-11
MarcusJ. Spence, D. D.Colossians 4:10-11
The Power of CombinationScientific IllustrationsColossians 4:10-11
The SalutationsBishop Davenant.Colossians 4:10-11
Valise of a Faithful FriendColossians 4:10-11
Who are of the CircumcisionC. H. Spurgeon.)Colossians 4:10-11
People
Archippus, Aristarchus, Barnabas, Christians, Colossians, Demas, Epaphras, Justus, Luke, Marcus, Mark, Onesimus, Paul, Tychicus
Places
Colossae, Hierapolis, Laodicea
Topics
Aristarchus, Aristar'chus, Barnabas, Barnabas's, Brother-prisoner, Commandments, Commands, Cousin, Fellow, Fellow-captive, Fellowprisoner, Fellow-prisoner, Greeting, Greetings, Greets, Instructions, Kind, Love, Marcus, Mark, Nephew, Orders, Prisoner, Receive, Received, Relation, Salute, Salutes, Saluteth, Sends, Sister's, Touching, Welcome
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Colossians 4:10

     5461   prisoners
     5673   cousins
     7025   church, unity
     8446   hospitality, duty of

Colossians 4:7-14

     5594   tribute

Colossians 4:10-18

     5328   greeting

Library
Without and Within
'Them that are without.'--COL. iv. 5. That is, of course, an expression for the non-Christian world; the outsiders who are beyond the pale of the Church. There was a very broad line of distinction between it and the surrounding world in the early Christian days, and the handful of Christians in a heathen country felt a great gulf between them and the society in which they lived. That distinction varies in form, and varies somewhat in apparent magnitude according as Christianity has been rooted in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Thirtieth Day for the Holy Spirit with the Word of God
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Holy Spirit with the Word of God "Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance."--1 THESS. i. 5. "Those who preached unto you the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent forth from heaven."--1 PET. i. 12. What numbers of Bibles are being circulated. What numbers of sermons on the Bible are being preached. What numbers of Bibles are being read in home and school. How little blessing when it comes "in word" only; what …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Marcus, My Son
'... So doth Marcus, my son.'--1 Peter v. 13. The outlines of Mark's life, so far as recorded in Scripture, are familiar. He was the son of Mary, a woman of some wealth and position, as is implied by the fact that her house was large enough to accommodate the 'many' who were gathered together to pray for Peter's release. He was a relative, probably a cousin (Col. iv. 10, Revised Version), of Barnabas, and possibly, like him, a native of Cyprus. The designation of him by Peter as 'my son' naturally …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Name Above Every Name
'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.'--ACTS ii. 36. It is no part of my purpose at this time to consider the special circumstances under which these words were spoken, nor even to enter upon an exposition of their whole scope. I select them for one reason, the occurrence in them of the three names by which we designate our Saviour--Jesus, Lord, Christ. To us they are very little more than three proper …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Conflict and Comfort.
"For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts may be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ."--COL. ii. 1, 2. Although he was in prison the Apostle was constantly at work for his Master, and not least of all at the work of prayer. If ever the words …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

Prayer and Fervency
"St. Teresa rose off her deathbed to finish her work. She inspected, with all her quickness of eye and love of order the whole of the house in which she had been carried to die. She saw everything put into its proper place, and every one answering to their proper order, after which she attended the divine offices of the day. She then went back to her bed, summoned her daughters around her . . . and, with the most penitential of David's penitential prayers upon her tongue, Teresa of Jesus went forth …
Edward M. Bounds—The Necessity of Prayer

Twenty-Eighth Day that all God's People May Know the Holy Spirit
WHAT TO PRAY.--That all God's People may know the Holy Spirit "The Spirit of truth, whom the world knoweth not; but ye know Him; for He abideth with you, and shall be in you."--JOHN xiv. 17. "Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost?"--1 COR. vi. 19. The Holy Spirit is the power of God for the salvation of men. He only works as He dwells in the Church. He is given to enable believers to live wholly as God would have them live, in the full experience and witness of Him who saves …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Author's Introduction,
In Which the Sources of This History Are Principally Treated A history of the "Origin of Christianity" ought to embrace all the obscure, and, if one might so speak, subterranean periods which extend from the first beginnings of this religion up to the moment when its existence became a public fact, notorious and evident to the eyes of all. Such a history would consist of four books. The first, which I now present to the public, treats of the particular fact which has served as the starting-point …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

We Shall not be Curious in the Ranking of the Duties in which Christian Love...
We shall not be curious in the ranking of the duties in which Christian love should exercise itself. All the commandments of the second table are but branches of it: they might be reduced all to the works of righteousness and of mercy. But truly these are interwoven through other. Though mercy uses to be restricted to the showing of compassion upon men in misery, yet there is a righteousness in that mercy, and there is mercy in the most part of the acts of righteousness, as in not judging rashly, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

From John Yeardley's Conversion to the Commencement of his Public Ministry.
1803--1815. John Yeardley was born on the 3rd of the First Month, 1786, at a small farm-house beside Orgreave Hall, in the valley of the Rother, four miles south of Rotherham. His parents, Joel and Frances Yeardley, farmed some land, chiefly pasture, and his mother is said to have been famous for her cream-cheeses, which she carried herself to Sheffield market. She was a pious and industrious woman; but, through the misconduct of her husband, was sometimes reduced to such straits as scarcely to have …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

"And Watch unto Prayer. "
1 Pet. iv. 7.--"And watch unto prayer." "Watch." A Christian should watch. A Christian is a watchman by office. This duty of watchfulness is frequently commanded and commended in scripture, Matt. xxiv. 42, Mark xiii. 33, 1 Cor. xvi. 13, Eph. vi. 18, 1 Pet. v. 8, Col. iv. 2; Luke xii. 37. David did wait as they that did watch for the morning light. The ministers of the gospel are styled watchmen in scripture and every Christian should be to himself as a minister is to his flock, he should watch over …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Epistle xxxii. To Anastasius, Presbyter .
To Anastasius, Presbyter [1714] . Gregory to Anastasius, &c. That a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things (Matth. xii. 35; Luke vi. 45), this thy Charity has shewn, both in thy habitual life and lately also in thy epistle; wherein I find two persons at issue with regard to virtues; that is to say, thyself contending for charity, and another for fear and humility. And, though occupied with many things, though ignorant of the Greek language, I have nevertheless sat …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Exhortations to Christians as they are Children of God
1 There is a bill of indictment against those who declare to the world they are not the children of God: all profane persons. These have damnation written upon their forehead. Scoffers at religion. It were blasphemy to call these the children of God. Will a true child jeer at his Father's picture? Drunkards, who drown reason and stupefy conscience. These declare their sin as Sodom. They are children indeed, but cursed children' (2 Peter 2:14). 2 Exhortation, which consists of two branches. (i) Let …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Mental Prayer.
"Pray without ceasing."--1 Thess. v. 17. There are two modes of praying mentioned in Scripture; the one is prayer at set times and places, and in set forms; the other is what the text speaks of,--continual or habitual prayer. The former of these is what is commonly called prayer, whether it be public or private. The other kind of praying may also be called holding communion with God, or living in God's sight, and this may be done all through the day, wherever we are, and is commanded us as the …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Meditations of the True Manner of Practising Piety on the Sabbath-Day.
Almighty God will have himself worshipped, not only in a private manner by private persons and families, but also in a more public sort, of all the godly joined together in a visible church; that by this means he may be known not only to be the God and Lord of every Singular person, but also of the creatures of the whole universal world. Question--But why do not we Christians under the New, keep the Sabbath on the same seventh day on which it was kept under the Old Testament? I answer--Because our …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

How the Gospels came to be Written
[Illustration: (drop cap B) Early Christian Lamp] But how did the story of the Saviour's life on earth come to be written? We have seen that many years passed before any one thought of writing it down at all. The men and women who had really seen Him, who had listened to His voice, looked into His face, and who knew that He had conquered death and sin for evermore, could not sit down to write, for their hearts were all on fire to speak. But as the years passed, the number of those who had seen Christ …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Of the Words Themselves in General.
We come now to the words themselves, wherein Christ asserts that he is, 1, "the way;" 2, "the truth;" 3, "the life;" and, 4, "that no man cometh to the Father but by him." In them we learn these two things in general. First, The misery of wretched man by nature. This cannot be in a few words expressed. These words will point out those particulars thereof, which we will but mention. 1. That he is born an enemy to, and living at a distance from God, by virtue of the curse of the broken covenant of …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Gen. xxxi. 11
Of no less importance and significance is the passage Gen. xxxi. 11 seq. According to ver. 11, the Angel of God, [Hebrew: mlaK halhiM] appears toJacob in a dream. In ver. 13, the same person calls himself the God of Bethel, with reference to the event recorded in chap. xxviii. 11-22. It cannot be supposed that in chap xxviii. the mediation of a common angel took place, who, however, had not been expressly mentioned; for Jehovah is there contrasted with the angels. In ver. 12, we read: "And behold …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

"Be Ye Therefore Sober, and Watch unto Prayer. "
1 Pet. iv. 7.--"Be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." We now come to consider the coherence and connexion these duties have one to another. First, Prayer is the principal part of the Christian's employment, and sobriety and watchfulness are subordinate to it. "Be sober, and watch unto prayer." (1.) Prayer is such a tender thing that there is necessity of dieting the spirit unto it. That prayer may be in good health, a man must keep a diet and be sober, sobriety conduces so much to its …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Parables Exemplified in the Early History of the Church.
"To Him shall prayer unceasing And daily vows ascend; His Kingdom still increasing, A Kingdom without end." We have seen that our Lord described in His Parables the general character and nature of "The Kingdom of Heaven." Consequently, if the Church established by the Apostles under the guidance of the Holy Ghost is "The Kingdom of Heaven," it will necessarily be found to agree with the description thus given. Let us therefore now consider how far the history of the Church, in the Acts of the Apostles …
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it?

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