Tonight, Colossians chapter 4 verses 2 to 6. If you remember, last summer we looked at Colossians chapter 3, under the general heading of the Christian's conduct, based on the fact that God has saved us by His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, we are to live in a specific way. So we went from chapter 3, verse 1, all the way to chapter 4, verse 1, but we never went through verses 2 to 6. I always kind of knew I'd need a message for a night like this.
I did something wise. So Colossians chapter 4, verses 2 to 6, basically the elements of effective prayer and the elements of faithful witness. That's what the apostle is dealing with in that brief section. But I'll pick up reading in chapter 3, verse 1, just to remind us of the larger context.
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge According to the image of him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, the Christ is all and in all.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body.
And be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged. Bond-servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart. fearing God.
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it, with thanksgiving. Meanwhile, praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the Word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Amen.
Introduction: Context in Colossians
So the main doctrinal section in the Book of Colossians is in chapters 1 and 2. Specifically, there is a caution in chapter 2 given by Paul to the saints in Colossae that they are to avoid heresy. They are to be on their guard. they are to watch out for false doctrine or false teaching. And then after stating gospel truth and principles necessary to combat heresy, having dealt with the place of the cross, with reference to our salvation by God's grace through faith in Jesus, as you see chapters 3 and 4 take up very practical concerns.
And what we find is that the new man in Christ Jesus, that's the Christian, the old man is dead, the new man is to set his mind on things above. Chapter 3, verses 1 to 4. In other words, you're to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. You are to think on him, you are to meditate on him, you are to contemplate him.
That means ultimately you are to be a student of His Word. How do we focus on Christ? We know the Scriptures, we know Genesis to Revelation, we are in the Bible, we know the Bible, and that is the way or primary means by which we are to set our mind upon the things of Christ. Secondly, the new man is to put off vice, verses 5 to 11.
He is to put to death those wicked deeds that are unholy and unrighteous and ungodly. Not only is he to put off vice, he is to put on virtue, verses 12 to 17. As Christians, we are to live in a very specific way. And then we are to conduct ourselves biblically in relationships according to chapter 3, verse 18, all the way to chapter 4, verse 1.
He deals with husband-wife relationship, he deals with parent-child relationship, he deals with employer-employee relationship. So having said all that, he then ends this section in terms of conduct in the Christian life with an emphasis upon prayer and witness. In other words, how we ought to talk to God in prayer and how we ought to talk to one another or those outside of the local church. He's already dealt with the way we ought to conduct ourselves toward one another in the local church.
He has that there in verses 12 to 17. But here, when he's dealing with this idea of walking in wisdom toward those who are outside, The Christian has a responsibility to live in such a way as to bear an effective testimony and witness to our Lord Jesus. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean he stands on the street and he yells to people that they need to repent or perish. It just means that he has to conduct himself as a Christian man or woman in the manner that Paul sets forth here.
So the elements of effective prayer and the elements of faithful witness is what verses 2 to 6 deal with.
Elements of Effective Prayer
First of all, look at the elements of effective prayer. And by effective, I don't mean if you pray this, you get what you want. I mean biblical, the way God sanctions prayer. the way God wants us to pray. It's very intriguing to me that the way God says to pray is very oftentimes not the way we think we ought to pray, and we ought oftentimes measure successful or effective prayer in ways that are not given here.
In other words, we just simply need to obey what God says and pray the way He says to and leave the results and leave all the other things to Him. We have this idea that if we don't get what we want in the space that we say it, or in the space that we demand, then God hasn't answered, or God isn't hearing our prayers, or God isn't concerned about my particular needs. No, our task is to pray to God, which is a means of worship, a means of showing our dependence upon Him, and realize that He will answer in his timing and in the manner that he sees fit, not according to our desires necessarily, not according to our wants necessarily, but as God has determined. In Romans 8, we know that God purposes all things to work for good to those who love him to the called according to his purpose.
So the first element or the first thing that we see here is persistence in prayer. Persistence.
Persistence in Prayer
He says, continue earnestly in prayer. And the word means to adhere to, to persist in, to busy oneself with, to busily engage in, to be devoted to. Now again, that doesn't mean that every waking hour you're repeating the same thing. God, save my daughter, save my son. and you just sort of rehearse this all day long.
The idea is that you keep to it, you keep with it, you be faithful over the long haul. If God sees fit to delay a response in a particular area, what we find is that earnestness or vigilance or rather persistence in prayer for the long haul is a blessing. Just a couple of illustrations of this in Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11, we'll be looking at these things as we look at these elements, we'll look at other portions of Scripture to shed some light on what we mean by persistence.
After the giving of the Lord's Prayer in Luke chapter 11, in verses 2 to 4, Jesus then deals with this element of persistence. In other words, we have this model prayer, now what? Well, you use it and you keep using it and you don't stop using it. And that's what he says in verse 5.
He said to them, which of you shall have a friend and go to him at midnight and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him. And he will answer from within and say, Do not trouble me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed.
I cannot rise and give to you. I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs." Isn't that beautiful? Persistence. Again, the idea isn't that that's all you do.
You quit your job. You don't go shopping. You don't do yard work. All you do is pray for this same thing.
That's what persistence means. No, not necessarily. But it means to be continuing in it. To be that persistent widow that we find in chapter 18 of Luke's Gospel.
You may have heard her referred to as the importunate widow. In Luke 18, beginning in verse 1, then Jesus spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. Now, you need to understand, the opposite of losing heart is praying, right? Look at the antidote to not losing heart.
It is prayer. Be anxious for nothing, Paul says, in Philippians, but in everything with prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Now, notice this particular emphasis on persistence or being an importunate widow. Jesus said there was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
Now there was a widow in that city and she came to him saying, get justice for me from my adversary. And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, though I do not fear God nor regard man, Don't you wish judges were that honest? Though I do not fear God nor regard man. At least we've got to give this guy a big A in terms of understanding his place in life.
Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming, She weary me. You see this woman wanted a specific verdict and she wasn't going to stop until the judge rendered that verdict. That's importunate prayer. God have mercy on our children.
Don't stop. Be a gyrus. come to the Lord Jesus Christ, exercise faith, lay hold of him, and say to him, Lord, please render this verdict. Jesus draws this implication off that parable in verse 6. Then the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge said.
And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears wrong with them? Look at that blessed implication. If this unjust judge who doesn't regard man, or who doesn't fear God and doesn't regard man, gives the proper verdict, shall not God avenge His own elect who cry to Him day and night? Of course He will.
In other words, keep on in your prayer life. Very often as Christians we have that consumer mindset, you know, I tried praying for that and nothing happened. It's not waving a holy horseshoe. It's not a rabbit's foot on your keychain.
It's not a four-leaf clover. You keep coming to the Lord as a means of worship, as an act of dependence upon Him, and as the realization that God is our Father, that He knows what's best for us, and He will provide those things in His timing, according to His good pleasure for our well-being. Persistence. This is commanded by Paul in his epistles.
In Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. He says, rejoicing in hope in verse 12, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer. You ever met a Christian who said, yeah, I did try praying about that, but nothing happened?
That is the magical view of prayer. That's like putting your quarter in the slot machine and pulling back the arm, and nothing came out, so you moved on. Christians treat prayer that way. It isn't a magical rite.
It isn't hocus pocus. It is a means by which we humble ourselves before the living and the true God. So I think you see, Paul repeats this in Ephesians 6.18 and in 1 Thessalonians 5.17 in terms of persistence in prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5.17, he says, pray without ceasing. Again, I don't think Paul wants you to quit your job or not go to college or not mow your lawn because he wants you on your knees at your bed.
The idea is that there's this persistence, there's this importunate nature, there is within the life of the Christian constancy in prayer. It isn't a tack-on, it isn't an additional element, it isn't something that, oh yeah, I forgot, I should pray this week. It is part of the fabric of the Christian life. Just like your child talks to the parent, just like the parent talks to the child.
So you assume there's going to be conversation within the parent-child relationship in terms of our relationship with God. So Paul says, continue earnestly in prayer.
Vigilance in Prayer
The second element in Colossians 4, is vigilance. He says being vigilant in it. And the idea here is to be awake, to stay awake, to be watchful, and to be vigilant. I don't know that that means just, you know, you get down on your knees next to your bed at night, So you've got to pinch yourself to stay awake to finish your prayer.
Certainly that's an application of it. But again, the idea seems to be that as part of your Christian life, vigilance in prayer is something that you need to be about. You need to be like the sons of Issachar. You know how they were described?
They knew the day in which they lived. They understood the various issues and the trials of their day. And probably they prayed accordingly. We need to be vigilant in prayer.
Gordon Clark says this. Verse 2 urges the Colossians to pray persistently. They are to keep awake. This latter verb does not require midnight vigils in monasteries.
That's nonsense to take this verse and say we're going to stay up all night because God will hear our prayers then. That's not the emphasis. Jesus told us not to engage in vain repetition or an abundance of words like the heathen do who think that they'll be heard as a result of that. Clark says it does not even mean don't fall asleep on your knees, but rather, so it appears, it urges alertness to the needs of the time.
Alertness to the situation that you face. Alertness to the reality of the day in which we live. We ought to be thinking about what's going on in terms of abortion, or terrorist bombings, or those sorts of things. We ought to have a mindset as to where people are in our generation.
We ought to be prayerful. We ought to continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in prayer. The church will often engage in general prayers, but there are times when there are specific prayers as well. The verb used is one that in many contexts is a call for Christians to be alert or watchful in light of the coming of Jesus Christ.
So it's this alertness. It is what he says there. Be vigilant in it. I know Mr.
Proctor understands that verb because he served in the forces. You don't serve in the military and not be vigilant. You don't fall asleep on your post. If you sit there and you fall asleep with an M16 in your lap, you're going to get disciplined.
You have to be vigilant. Your job is to maintain observation of a fence line or of a resource or whatever it is. You need to be on your alert. Whether nothing may happen or not, you need to be vigilant in it.
And that's the emphasis here. As Christians in the spiritual warfare, in the combat zone, we can't just wander around acting like everything is hunky-dory. We need to be people who pray. We need to be people who understand the things that are going on around us.
So he says persistence, vigilance.
Thanksgiving in Prayer
Thirdly, he says being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Paul emphasizes thanksgiving in Colossians several times. Notice in Colossians 1.12. Well, let's just back up for a moment to verse 9.
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you. Now does that mean that Paul never did anything but pray for the Colossians? No. That's not what it means.
It means that Paul prayed for the Colossians. Continuously. Persistently. Does that mean he did it every single day?
Does that mean he did it every single Thursday? We don't know. But this much we know that they continued in prayer for the church in Colossae. And then he says, we do not cease to pray for you.
And here's the specific requests and to ask. What? That you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. You want to pray for this church?
This is a great prayer. Pray that this church would be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. You want to know what else to pray for this church? Verse 10.
That you may walk worthy of the Lord. God bless this church so that we'll know your will and we'll walk worthy of the Lord. See, it's not rocket science, is it? You go through the prayers of Paul as a model, and you'll learn how to pray for the church, and you'll learn how to pray for people.
And notice what this worthy walk looks like in verse 10. Not only says that you may walk worthy of the Lord, but he's going to illustrate what that looks like. Fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. There's the argument that theology matters.
You see, today we hear that doctrine divides, and let's just love Jesus, and that study of theology will only lead you to this sort of cold and heartless approach to the Bible and to the Church. No! The Christian is to be increasing in the knowledge of God. That's the emphasis that Paul says in how he prays.
Notice what he goes on to say in verse 11. giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. So as he prays these things for the Colossians, he then says, thank you, Lord, that you have made us partakers in this inheritance. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of being kingdom citizens. Notice in Colossians chapter 2, verse 6, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.
Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with what? Thanksgiving. You see, the Christian isn't supposed to observe Thanksgiving one day out of the year. In America, it's in November.
In Canada, it's in October. For the Christian ought to be every day. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that I'm not in hell.
Thank you, Lord, that I've got pardon for sin. Thank you, Lord, that I've got food on my plate. We ought to be a thankful people. Colossians 3, verse 15, conduct of the new man.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body. and be thankful. Colossians 3.17. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. You see how many times he emphasizes thankfulness in this particular letter.
So that when he comes to calling on us on prayer, giving us elements of prayer, it ought not to surprise us that thankfulness is one of the means or one of the elements by which we pray. Philippians chapter 4 verse 6, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, here it is, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Wrap your prayers with the bow and the ribbon of thanksgiving and present that unto your heavenly Father. So going back to Colossians, he says we ought to be persistent, we ought to be vigilant, we ought to be thankful.
Petition in Prayer
And then fourthly, in terms of elements of effective prayer, he says we ought to ask for things, petition. petition. That means to call upon God and ask Him for something. In other words, when we pray, we adore, we praise, we worship, we glorify. That's the first statement in the Lord's Prayer.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." We ponder for a moment who it is we're praying to. We ponder for a moment His glory, His sovereignty, His majesty. We ponder Revelation 19.6. That's the verse I mentioned to you today.
The Lord God Omnipotent reigns. You think through that. And then we confess our sins, then we thank the Lord for whatever blessings He's given us, and then we ask Him for things. It's not wrong to ask God for things.
We ought to ask God for things. Now, not, you know... Restored 1964, four galaxies. I mean, not a summer home or something like that.
I'm not saying that's always a wicked thing, but prayer with reference to God's will. Now notice specifically the two things that Paul highlights in terms of petition here in Colossians 4. He says, pray. that we would have opportunities to preach the gospel. Notice in verse 3, meanwhile praying also for us.
Here's petition. Yes, pray for you. What's that? Oh, OK.
Pray for the needs in the church in Colossae. Now he says, pray for us. This is intercession, by the way. You don't intercede for people.
You're probably very selfish. In other words, your prayer life ought to be marked not just by my needs, not just by what I want. You ought to pray for others. How many times in the Bible do you see that emphasis?
Pray for others. It's a great way to wean oneself from selfishness. To look out at the needs of others. And here he says, praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the Word.
Gospel opportunities. the opportunity to go and preach the truth as it is in Jesus. Again, Gordon Clark says the phrase, open a door for the word is usually taken metaphorically, an opportunity to preach. That's true. He says, but there may be here a latent literal sense, the opening of the door of the prison so that Paul could walk out.
He's in prison at this particular time. Pray that I'll get out of the pokey so that I can go preach the gospel. Pray for those particular needs to further advance the cause of Jesus Christ in this world. So pray for us that God would open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ.
Mystery there means something that has been revealed or let me just get the specifics here. Mystery refers to something rather that was hidden before but is now revealed. It's not like the mystery religions. It's something that in the progress of revelation comes to full bloom.
And that's what he is speaking about here specifically. The mystery of God or the mystery of Christ for which I am also in chains that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak." So Paul prays for opportunities to preach the gospel, and he prays for boldness and clarity in preaching the gospel. This is crucial. You know, if you're like me, you read about Paul and you say, what a great man, and I hope we all do.
Paul said, pray for me that I'll speak the gospel with boldness. What does that indicate? that it didn't come naturally, right? You see this in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 4, an apostolic prayer meeting. In fact, let's look at that.
If you don't pray for people who preach, you really should start. If you don't pray for evangelists and missionaries, let me encourage you, please start. In the book of Acts, in chapter 4, we see an apostolic prayer meeting. Verse 23, and being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, you are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by the mouth of your servant David have said, why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. That's an amazing passage in and of itself.
But notice their request. Verse 29. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word. What does that indicate?
This was not natural for them. It was not the case that these untrained men, these non-seminarians, these fishermen, this motley crew that the Lord Jesus assembled, the early disciples that were being added to them, it was not intrinsic. They weren't orators. They weren't gifted speakers.
They didn't go to the schools of their day. So they call upon God and say, Lord, please look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word. And then notice in verse 31, And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now our dear Charismatic and Pentecostal brothers will read that and say, Lord, shake this place.
No, grant us the grace to speak boldly. I'd much rather have a gospel preacher who boldly speaks than a shaking building. Right? It is not natural to stand before fellow sinners and tell them about their iniquity and about the wrath and fury of God and their need to flee to Jesus.
I mean, this is not the way that we come out of the womb, right? So if people aren't praying and saying, Lord God, send the Spirit upon those who preach, on those who serve in the mission field, what are we supposed to expect? We ought to be an earnest people. praying specifically for open doors and that boldness and clarity be given to men so that they may speak the truth. In Ephesians 6, a parallel to what we find here in Colossians chapter 4, notice the way Paul puts it in Ephesians 6.18.
He says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints and for me, he says. Paul says, don't forget to pray for me. Now, Paul is in prison at the time. Notice that he doesn't say, pray for me that I'll get food.
Pray for me that I'll get comfort. Pray for me that they'll turn the heat on. Pray for me that somebody will write me. Pray for me that somebody will bring me a coat.
No, that's not what was primary with Paul. Not that he was against those things. If you look at the book of Philippians, another prison epistle, Paul thanks the church there for their gift. They sent a gift to the Apostle via Epaphroditus.
Epaphroditus goes from Philippi to the Apostle and brings him a gift. Probably not a gold watch, probably not a new iPod, but probably food. Maybe a cloak. Maybe something to alleviate the suffering that he would have in a prison.
Now, in that imprisonment, it wasn't as severe as his second. But the idea being is that Paul would receive it. Paul commended the church in Philippi for having sent him that gift. But when he asked specifically, what can you pray for me?
Verse 19, pray for me that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. I wonder if Paul was one of those types of men that could stand before a great number of people and preach and yet struggle with somebody standing right next to him. I'm not sure that was the case. No matter what the issue was, he says, pray for me that I would have boldness.
You've got to realize some people are gifted in one-on-one settings. Other people are gifted in public settings. That doesn't necessarily mean the two transpose, right? You might have the ability to witness privately to someone and they say, hey, you've got an opportunity to address 5,000 people.
Well, are you kidding me? You get somebody else who could address 5,000 people but gets scared to talk to one. It's the way it is. So what do we do?
We pray for boldness, for the person who can speak to the one and not the 5,000. Pray, God help them if they get that opportunity. I hope anybody with any sense, if they had opportunity to share the gospel with 5,000 sinners, would find the grit and determination in that. but pray for boldness. That's what the Apostle is saying.
This petition is not unique. This petition is similar to how Paul prays for them. Notice in Colossians 1, verse 3. We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. as you also learn from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit." And then in 9 to 14, that's where he prays specifically, that they would increase, that they would be fruitful, that they would get these things out to others.
Paul prayed for the Colossians, not only to be faithful within the context of the local church, but to get the gospel out to others. That is a means by which we all participate in evangelism, in the missionary enterprise, in the getting of the gospel going forth. Calvin says, consider to, at the same time, Paul's amazing ardor of zeal. He is not solicitous as to his own safety.
This is back in Colossians. Colossians 4, he says, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. Calvin says he is not solicitous as to his own safety. He does not ask that prayers may be poured forth by the churches on his behalf, that he may be delivered from danger of death.
He is contented with this one thing, that he may, unconquered and undaunted, persevere in a confession of the gospel. No more, he fearlessly makes his own life a secondary matter, as compared with the glory of Christ and the spread of the gospel. That's what was important. Pray persistently.
Pray with vigilance. Pray with thanksgiving. And pray specifically. Yes, pray for the needs, the physical trials and challenges in the church.
Those are legit. That's the petition. Give us this day, our daily bread. That is the petition for things temporal.
See, we do err. Some people say, well, we should only emphasize the spiritual, only pray for the advancement of the gospel. Well, what do you do with that petition, give us this day our daily bread? It's real.
Aunt Bessie broke her toe. It's not sin to pray for her, right? It's not sin to pray for healthy births of healthy children. But if all we do is pray for that, we don't pray for the advancement of the gospel.
We don't pray for the glory of God's name. We don't pray for the advancement of His kingdom. We don't pray for the coming of His will, or of His kingdom, rather. You see, we can get off kilter.
This is what happens. We so emphasize God, and we should always emphasize God, I'm not suggesting otherwise, that we never pray for Aunt Betsy. Or we only pray for Aunt Bessie, and we never pray for the gospel and its increase and its advancement. You see, we're a people that oftentimes get imbalanced.
That's why the Lord's Prayer serves as such a wonderful model. It wasn't just to be recited holding beads like the papist thing. Rather, those headings and those points and that outline, God comes first. And then comes our needs.
Keep that in your head and in your heart, and it will serve you well in all the days of your life with reference to prayer. You should never wonder, what is there to pray for? Has anybody ever said that? I don't know what to pray for.
Really? You don't know what to pray for? I mean, come on, there's plenty to pray for. Pray for your own holiness.
That'll keep you busy for the rest of your life. Pray for your own wisdom. So that's some elements of effective prayer. And again, by effective, I don't mean drop the quarter in the slot and out come your blessings.
Persistence, vigilance, thanksgiving, petition. That's the way we are to talk to God.
Faithful Witness to Outsiders
Now notice he goes on with reference to our witness toward those outside, verses 5 and 6. He's already dealt with the way we conduct ourselves within the context of the local church. Going back, say, to verse 14 in chapter 3. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you also were called, here it is, in one body. This is church ethics. This is conduct within the covenant community. This is the way we are to express ourselves.
We're to be thankful. Verse 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. You see, what we do in the context of the local church, there is an ethic for the new man for the way that he lives among his brethren. But there is an ethic for the new man in the way that he conducts himself outside of the church.
We are outside of the church probably a lot more than we are inside of the church. At least all of you are. If we're talking buildings, I'm here. I'm here more than I am out there.
Much to the chagrin of my wife. No, I'm kidding. I do balance things. I'd probably make it sound like I'm a terrible man.
I am a terrible man, so let's just keep going here. That's why Jesus came. Jesus loves me, and this I know for the Bible tells me so. But notice two primary emphases here.
Conduct and Conversation
He deals with conduct. He deals with conversation. Conduct and conversation. Notice in terms of conduct. He says,
Walking in Wisdom
walk in wisdom toward those who are outside. Douglas Moo has a good observation here. Paul does not want his warnings about avoiding false teachers to lead the Colossian Christians to distance themselves from non-Christians generally. In other words, in Colossians 2, he says, beware of false teachers, beware of false prophets.
What do some well-intentioned Christians do? They remove themselves from everybody, except for people that think just like they do. They oftentimes cite that passage in 2 Corinthians 6, where Warfield makes the beautiful observation. It is not association with the world.
It is compromise with the worldly that God is at war with. We are in the world. We're not of it, but we're in it. And if we conduct ourselves the way that Jesus Christ calls us to, we are doing His will.
You see, we can't go hide in a monastery. We can't go hide on the top of Mount Shem. So what Moose says here is appropriate. Paul does not want his warnings about avoiding false teachers to lead the Colossian Christians to distance themselves from non-Christians generally.
He says they must resist the false teachers, but they must also continue to reach out to their fellow citizens. Right? We all know this. John Eady says, but they were not to go out of the world because it was bad, they were to remain in it for the purpose of making it better.
It's a very good statement there. And the specific duty in the context of conduct, walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Redeeming the time. Make the most of every opportunity.
There's a parallel in Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5.16. We'll look at verse 15. See then, that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.
You see, as Christians, we need to be wise men and women. We need to understand. We need to be long-suffering. We need to be forebearing.
We need to be those who seize opportunities and who do things in a God-honoring way. And then he says in verse 16, redeeming the time because the days are evil. So I think there is the twin concept, redeem the time because the days are evil. Redeem the time because you live in an evil age, go out, sow the truth, promote the gospel, and seek by the grace of God to win sinners to the Lord Jesus.
But redeem the time because the days are evil and you need to guard your own heart. If you're not redeeming the time, buying up the opportunities, using your time in a wise way, the way God would call you to, you're going to get sucked into this world system and you're going to end up compromised. So the idea here is to use our time wisely, to walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, to make the most of every opportunity that we have with people. And again, that doesn't mean Every single moment of every single day we're harping on our fellow worker about his sin and about the hell that awaits him.
No, be his friend. You know, that oftentimes is the best means. I'm sure you've all heard me refer to the gospel blimp. Some of you are new, you've not heard of that.
The Gospel Blimp is a DVD. Somebody gave it to me. It's loaned out. I don't know where it is.
But it starts off with this group of people that want to witness for Jesus. And they're sitting in their backyard and next backyard they look over the wall and they say, hey, there's Herm. He's not a Christian. Herman over there.
How do we reach a guy like Herman? So they think and they strategize and they figure out they'll buy a blimp. Okay? Well, buy a blimp.
So they buy a blimp and they've got the banner streaming off it, repent or you're going to hell. And then they're dropping tracks all over the city. You know, guys mowing his lawn and tracks fall right in his path. And, you know, he raises his fist at the blimp driver and the blimp driver just waves like this.
And all this stuff. And then one of the guys in this operation goes over to Herm's house and says, hey, you want to go bowling? The point of the story is you don't need to buy a blimp and drop tracks on people and make them angry. Be their friend.
Go fishing. You know, oh, that'll compromise. No, it won't. Be a friend to someone.
Don't compromise if they're going to go bowling and look at porn. Don't do that, obviously. She can be a friend in order to shine as a light in a crooked and perverse generation and hold forth the word of truth. That is Paul's twofold strategy with reference to evangelism.
You are to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation. You're to be upright. Not perfect, because we're not. But be godly.
Pursue those things which are above. And when given opportunity, hold forth that word of truth. Tell them about the Lord of glory. So conduct is crucial.
And then with reference to witness, conversation.
Gracious and Salted Speech
Verse 6, let your speech always be with grace. The new man is to speak graciously with people. The new man should not be caustic, rude, abrasive, and angry. And if he is, repent.
Sometimes there's evangelism in that. Please forgive me, neighbor. I was a jerk. Please forgive me for my sin.
Most of the times they'll go, what? What are you talking about? I'm a Christian. I shouldn't have said what I said.
I was wrong. Please forgive me. Clark says the sentence of explanation must be given with grace. not graceful or elegant literary style, but with a godly spirit appropriate to the total situation. Let your speech always be with grace.
Notice he then says, seasoned with salt. Outside of the New Testament, in the Greco-Roman literature, this meant to be winsome or witty. It's also used in Matthew 5 and in Mark. The use of salt does not correspond to the modern salty language that is marked by cynicism, rudeness, and sharpness.
You've heard of that. Oh, he's just an old salty guy. He's abrasive. He's cynical.
He's got issues. The idea is that Paul is calling on Christians to speak with their unbelieving neighbors and friends with gracious, warm, and winsome words, all with the purpose of being able to answer unbelievers. It's really not rocket science. You just be faithful to your Lord, and you do what He says, and God gives opportunities.
People will come into your life. You'll get to talk to them. You'll get to know them. They might say, oh wow, I've got this issue going on.
My kid this. Well, I'll pray for your kid. A lot of unbelievers don't ever hear that sort of thing. They come into contact with a Christian who says, I'll pray for you on that.
What? Nobody's ever said that to me before. Right? That's the day and age we're living in.
We're increasingly more in a post-evangelical world. Right? People don't know the gospel. We think we've got to send missionaries to China.
And I'm not saying we don't. We've got to send missionaries. We've got to send missionaries right downtown into Chilliwack. People don't have a clue what the Christian message is anymore.
And then the last element that Paul says, season with salt that you may know how you ought to answer each one. This idea, again, of wisdom. The ability to answer various people on matters concerning Christianity and the gospel requires wisdom, requires a body of knowledge. You need to know the scripture.
You need to have wisdom on how to put that into practice. You know, sometimes bad things happen to people. You know, my son died. Well, that was the eternal decree of God.
He was predestined to die at three. Your unbelieving workmate may not be ready for that blast of Calvinism. He may not have a clue what you're talking about. I'll pray for your family at this time.
Is there a meal we can bring over to you? How can we help you? That might be the first leg, the first level. You need wisdom on how to approach that.
Somebody's about to do something horrible. Yeah, give them both barrels of the gospel. Pray to God for the wisdom, how to speak the truth. I'm not suggesting I have all this down.
But I think this is what the track is, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. The way that you're going to talk to the God-hating, atheistic PhD may differ a little bit from Sophie the Wash Woman. You're going to say the same things to both of them. You're going to say the same content to both of them.
But the way that you address the God-hating PhD might differ from the way that you address Sophie. That isn't the contextualizing or the sorts of things that were being told in the modern church. It is simply an application of this principle of wisdom. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
And I can stand here or sit here before you as one who has blown this many, many, many times. I remember when I first got converted. Boy, it was like I found, I was that pearl merchant, found the pearl at greatest price. What do I do?
I drive 90 miles to my mother and I blow her away. It took so long for me to get any degree of relationship back with her. She didn't need to hear that the Pope was the Antichrist. I mean, she is, and I'm not going to deny that.
But she needed to hear something other than that. You see in our zeal sometimes, we get a bee in our bonnet, and we think that's everything. The gospel is not the Pope is the Antichrist. The gospel is about Jesus who lived, who died, and who rose again.
That is what we as believers want to present to the unbeliever. So brethren, those are some thoughts with reference to prayer, with reference to witness, that does seem a fitting conclusion, or is a fitting conclusion, to this particular context in Colossians 3, conduct of the new man. He puts off, he puts on, he is subject to others, and he is watchful and prayerful and faithfully witnesses to the world around him. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father in heaven, we thank you for your word and we thank you for its clarity and for all of the great illustrations that we find in the Gospels. We thank you for our Lord's teaching. We thank you for this emphasis on persistence and being importunate at the throne of grace. God, help us to see these things, help us to put them into practice, and do grant us great wisdom and grace as we go about our days in this world.
Help us to let our speech be gracious and be salted in the right sense and to have wisdom so that we may know how to present the truth of your gospel to sinners that we come into contact with. We just pray now that you would watch over us, grant us grace and help, And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.