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Preacher: Pastor David Ball
Scripture: Colossians 4:2-6
The greatest hindrance to the Gospel mission is insecurity. Out of insecurity, we either act in fear and timidity or pride and self-righteousness. Both present a significant obstacle to the proclamation of the Gospel to a lost world. In this verse, Paul reminds us of our security in Christ and that through prayer and wisdom towards “outsiders,” we are equipped in every way to share the hope, joy, and grace of God through Christ with those who do not know Him as Lord and Savior over their lives.
Transcript
Well we’re getting closer to the end of uh Paul’s letter to the Colossians it’s been I think a very a fun uh series but uh today I need to take us back to the beginning a little bit in order to really put into context uh these verses that we’ve read this morning from uh Paul’s letter uh if you’ll remember the the key issue that Paul was speaking into was that uh there was a group who had come uh that were known as the gnostics the knowit alls who had come and were uh undermining the gospel that Paul had proclaimed and in the process uh leaving uh the people vulnerable uh especially to a sense of insecurity because that’s what the uh the gnostics did was that they had secret words and you had to know all the right stuff and you had to push all the right buttons and know the right people to reach higher levels of uh of Enlightenment uh and so Paul was greatly concerned about the the insecurity that these uh Colossians might have because the and the reason why Paul was so concerned about this insecurity is because there’s nothing that is a greater danger and hindrance to our mission of proclaiming the Gospel uh into the world than insecurity because insecurity does one of two things uh insecurity either leaves us timid and fearful or it has the completely opposite effect uh it makes us prideful and self-righteous uh because we’re just trying to cover up for the insecurity that we have and we need everyone else to know uh how important we are and both of these things uh are are major hindrances to us truly being able to reach a lost world who doesn’t know the love of God and his son Jesus Christ for them and so Paul has spent a great deal of time as we’ve gone through through in Colossians telling them about the supremacy and the sufficiency of Jesus that he’s Superior and that they are fully and completely secure in him alone you know we uh Chuck mentioned it but it’s uh been you know a long uh phrase that’s been used in the church and that is Christ plus uh nothing equals everything that’s what Paul’s been declaring to them that’s the source of our security that we know that we have everything that we need and we are equipped in every way in Christ therefore we’re free we’re free to boldly go out and to share Christ with others which can be an intimidating and and a scary thing and in his work Paul had proclaimed to us that it is Jesus who’s doing the work of rooting Us in him building us up in him and strengthening Us in faith it’s his work in US doesn’t that just give you confidence and and assurity it’s it’s a beautiful thing so in him we’re secure and we are sufficient in every way because he is sufficient over everything and every way we can have confidence and so it’s in confidence that Paul is now returning to that theme of the missional life of what he was truly concerned about with uh with these Colossians that in their insecurity they were going to get derailed uh and the the mission that they were called to to share the gospel and so Paul’s returning to this for the work of the AG the gospel Paul is proclaiming in in these P these verses which we’ll go through in just a minute that there are two things that are absolutely necessary that we be equipped with and those two things are prayer and wisdom prayer that puts us completely in dependence and relies completely on the superiority of Christ his power and his authority over our lives over our own abilities we don’t have the ability to do it on our own we don’t have the words to say to people that are right that are going to suddenly make them uh want to turn their lives to Christ and be convicted of their own rebellion and their own sin we don’t have the right words for that but God does we’re going to talk about that in a minute but so prayer is essential in to be equipped with in the Gospel Mission and the second one is wisdom it’s wisdom in particular it’s wisdom in how we View and interact with the outsiders with The Outsiders as Paul calls them and so let’s dig into these things to see how we can be equipped in these ways and how uh incredibly freeing and uh and and energizing it is that these are the things that Paul says if we’re equipped with we will be able to live fully into the mission and share Christ with others in our lives so I encourage you to open up to the Colossians chap 4 uh verses 2 through6 as we work through these together for just a a few moments here uh this morning Paul declares to them further instruction continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with Thanksgiving continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with Thanksgiving so continue steadfastly meaning devote yourselves to this and so be so uh to endure in prayer that’s what he’s calling to us because you know prayer can be hard it can be hard especially the longer we live and the more we’ve gone to the Lord and maybe not gotten what we thought we needed or what we thought we wanted prayer can be discouraging we can feel disappointed we can feel anger towards God and so Paul’s saying yes keep up though keep steadfastly keep keep enduring in this don’t don’t give up have endurance that prayer isn’t just some easy thing it’s something that we got to work in we got to work hard and we got to fight through and we got to keep on going don’t give up you know Oswald Chambers he didn’t say this exactly but I think this is where I’ve heard this quote uh many times that uh prayer isn’t the preparation for the battle prayer is the battle prayer is the battle I think we we tend to just uh think of it uh as something less than that uh but you know I saw Corey tinboom a quote from her that I thought was really good that is prayer she asked the question is prayer your steering wheel or is it your spare tire I thought that was really good is prayer something you’d only go to an emergency or is prayer the battle is that the place where your beginning is that the place where you’re taking advantage of what uh what God has given us this ability to do Jesus says you have the ability just as I to come before the God of all of creation and to call him father by faith in me I’ve given you that right Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be your name what an Incredible Gift and incredible right that we’ve been given in Christ and it’s ours are we treating it like the spare tire that it’s just there when I need it when everything else blows up or is it truly the place where where we’re called to to enter in it’s the battle it’s the place where God changes hearts and the first thing I guess we have to realize about prayer is that prayer first and foremost it changes us it changes our hearts see yes leis uh he said it this way I pray because I can’t help myself I pray because I’m helpless I pray because the need flows out of me all the time waking and sleeping it doesn’t change God it changes me it changes me God changes our hearts he gives us eyes to see the world in the way that he sees it when we humbly come before him in prayer but Paul specifically says uh he says Be watchful in it Be watchful in prayer that’s what he’s calling us to To Be watchful what does that mean to be alert to be vigilant to be uh to be awake you know it’s a word that’s taken from the the Roman world meaning to stay awake on guard uh the guard who is in charge of standing in the uh the Sentry Tower or in the gate who’s in charge of watching over to see who’s coming and going to protect to protect the city that’s where that word comes from so Be watchful and so what Paul’s telling us is We Are The Watchmen for God that Christ has given us that role that we are to intercede on behalf of the world as Christians we are Guardians and where we enter into that battle is first and foremost in prayer and of course we’re supposed to do it with Thanksgiving with Thanksgiving for the work that God is at work doing in our lives we to show him gratitude well for what for his grace that we can actually approach the throne of Glory who are we to have that right and yet it’s been granted to us when we’re clothed in the righteousness of Christ we’re to be thankful for his provision you know James tells us in James 1:17 every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of Lights who does who does not change like the shifting Shadows
God provides for us not always as we want but he provides for us as we need thirdly we’re to be thankful for His blessings I know you might look around and say well I haven’t gotten all the things I’ve asked for I haven’t gotten all the blessings that I want well Paul proclaims in Ephesians 1 beginning in the third verse blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places and then he goes on in the next verse has to tell us the more things to be grateful for of the blessings that we have received that he’s chosen us before the foundation of the world that he’s made us holy and blameless before him that he’s predestined us for adoption of the son that we know redemption in Christ through his blood that he shed on our behalf we know the Forgiveness of our sins through his grace alone we can all give thanks for that right that’s the kind of thankfulness that is to fill our time of prayer as we watch on behalf of the world entering into the battle the cosmic battle for the souls of men and women Billy Graham said this on prayer he said pray because Christ died to give us access to the father praise because God is worthy of Our Praise pray because we need his forgiveness cleansing guidance and protection pray because others need our prayer prayers and that’s what Paul is getting at here others need us the world needs us we’re the Watchmen we’re the ones to be interceding on behalf of the world where Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father Paul has already he’s already proclaimed in in Colossians 3 and we know from Romans 8 that he’s sitting there and he’s interceding on our behalf and we’ve been given the right to intercede to make our prayers to him Paul then goes on in verses 3 to 4 to give us further insight into the power of prayer and how it’s to be directed he says pray also for us that God may open the door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak so Paul makes something very clear that I think is important for us as we enter into the mission or we continue the mission renewal in Mission or maybe for the first time start in praying uh that that the Lord may use us to reach others for Christ number one Paul reveals only God can open the door of the word of his TR for the word of his truth only God can do that we can’t it doesn’t come with plausible arguments it doesn’t come with everything uh to win over the the intellect only God can open the door for the word of his truth to be proclaimed you know Jesus said it as only uh that no one can come to me unless the father draws him it’s the work of God in our lives that has to penetrate through the sin and through the Rebellion that can even draw us to the Lord and so if there’s someone in our lives if there’s someone in our families if there’s a neighbor if we haven’t begun in prayer and asking the Lord to open the door the door will never be opened only he can do it we need to begin there in prayer and number two only God can give us the words to declare to people about the mysteries of Christ Paul recognized that he recognized I can’t do this on my own I haven’t put together the perfect essay uh that is going to now win the hearts and minds of everyone that I now share this with um or the perfect blog post or the perfect whatever only God can give us the words to say and they’re different for every single person person as every single person is different the words that they need to hear from the Lord through us are different number three only Christ can make it clear to us how we should speak to others about Jesus which brings us to to verse five walk in wisdom towards Outsiders making the best use of the time walk in wisdom towards Outsiders making best use of the time you know I think if we just read this the first the first uh idea that we can get is this is saying be very careful how you walk with Outsiders because they may they may influence you in some way they may uh they may make you unclean they may uh they may somehow influence you to to sin and to walk away from the Lord uh but that’s actually not what Paul’s saying here at all he says in wisdom which means ordering your life according to the revealed will of God not just to know the truth but to live your life according to what Jesus has proclaimed to live our lives in accordance with him uh towards Outsiders is important he says specifically towards Outsiders uh meaning those who are living outside the community of Believers uh and for so let’s look at the context of what he’s talking about here for the Jews uh being an outsider meant that you were unclean uh and so Jews were not supposed to to dine with them or to welcome them into their homes uh those were the Gentiles The Outsiders uh that’s what we see happening with uh with Paul and accusing Peter Peter uh not wanting to go into Gentiles homes because he might make himself unclean because they’re The Outsiders in the Greco Roman World those uh those who were considered Outsiders were those who were outside or excluded from the RO Roman citizenship it’s the uh it’s what they were you know Julius Caesar called them The Barbarians right and it just became like a euphemism for all of those who uh who were seen as being inferior to the superior Romans that’s how they viewed uh Outsiders you know for Romans they were Outsiders were a threat that needed to be put down subdued they were resources to be exploited they were just a means of expanding Roman rule in the Roman Empire but here here under the gospel Paul’s giving us a radically different view of Who The Outsiders are when it comes to Outsiders we are to make the best use of the time now the literal translation of that is making the most of the opportunity that the Lord gives us that’s what Paul’s calling us to he’s not saying stay away he’s not saying you should go ho yourself up in a a monastery somewhere so that you don’t interact with the world at all uh because it’s just going to taint you and it’s just going to make you unclean no Paul’s saying here be be in this make the best use of the time make the most of every opportunity that the Lord gives you that word time is chyos God’s timing meaning and its importance in recognizing and responding that to his Divine appointments that it’s what God is doing in it that God has orchestrated the events of human history according to his Sovereign plan so take action make the best use of these any in in interaction you have with these Outsiders he’s saying is an opportunity take advantage of it don’t let it go I can’t tell you how convicting this is I cannot tell you how many opportunities have come and gone because I was either just too busy uh I was either too afraid I was uh I was just annoyed by the situation
this is convicting but Paul’s declaring and he’s proclaiming that Outsiders aren’t unclean they’re not to be subdued we’re not to we’re not Superior they are god-given opportunities how do you view
Outsiders are they people to be conquered subdued avoided or do you see them as opportunities to be able to proclaim the gospel to foster a relationship where God will give you the words at some point in some way to be able to share the hope and the joy and the grace that you know in Christ because that’s what they are and then in verse six he says let your speech always be gracious seasoned with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each person this is part of the wisdom of knowing how to interact and take advantage of these of these god-appointed opportunities for sharing the gospel to let our speech always be gracious filled with kindness he calls us
to kindness opens people up it makes it makes the gospel appealing to others that’s what the seasoned with salt part means and that’s that’s what we’re called to so that you know how you ought to answer each person that’s interesting that Paul links the the level of our graciousness towards the outsiders those who don’t know uh don’t know the love of God and his son Jesus Christ those living Outside The Fellowship of Believers our ability to know what to say to them with how gracious we’ve acted towards them that’s interesting so to be equipped for the mission as Paul is calling us to today all of us to be equipped for the mission of sharing Christ it’s not complicated it’s not as intricate as we think I know in our timidity we want to hide behind the we just don’t know what to say uh and and you’re right you don’t know what to say and if you can Proclaim you don’t know what to say then you’re in the best spot because the Lord now can show you what to say if you say I know everything to say then you’re probably in a bad spot and you’re not listening to the Lord You’re just listening to yourself and only he can open the door but it’s not complicated it’s just these two things something we all can do it’s something we can all engage in in Earnest prayer and in gracious wisdom that shows kindness and every god-given opportunity that is before us to share our hope in Jesus with other others friends that’s the place to start that’s where he’s calling us let us pray heavenly father thank you that we have the right and the grace to come before you earnestly in prayer to call out to you father because you have adopted us as your sons and daughters through our Savior Jesus Christ thank you that we have been called To Be watchful the Guardians of these Outsiders in this world that we can come to you and pray for them because only you can open the door for the word only you can give us the words to say that we might make that you might make it clear how we ought to speak help us holy spirit that we might walk in wisdom towards Outsiders taking advantage of every opportunity Unity that you put before us Lord help us not to turn away and uh in timidity or in some sense of self-righteousness and pride Lord help us not to turn away because we’re just too busy or because we’re afraid but help us to like take this first step of just allowing our speech to be gracious and seasoned with salt trusting Lord Jesus that you will give us the words that we need to say to these folks who need you so desperately Lord help us to live in mission for you in Jesus name amen
