Walking in Christ

Colossians 4:2-18 Sermon

Intro

How many of us when we write a letter or are visiting wait to the end to actually get to what we needed to talk about? It’s like oh, we need to wrap this thing up. And by the way, we need to talk about all these things really really fast. Thankfully that is not what we have here as we close out the book of Colossians this morning. We have some reminders built into the closing of this letter, along with some words of encouragement.

Background

In this letter, much has been addressed in regards to an effort to strengthen the Colossians faith and bring them to maturity. Paul has emphasized the Supremacy of Jesus throughout the letter to keep the Colossian believers from putting their hope in anything else. He has reminded them over and over again that their hope is in the gospel, the good news of what Jesus has already done for them. And this morning, we come to the end of this letter to the church of Colossae.

Text

Read Colossians 4:2-18

As we read through this passage, we saw that it was filled with greetings from a variety of different people.

There was the introduction of Tychicus and Onesimus who delivered the letter. Tychicus is described as a slave, servant in the LORD, although he was free. And then Onesiumus is a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of them. And Onesimus was a slave, as we know from Paul’s letter to Philemon.

Then, there were greetings from Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus who is called Justus, the only Jewish believers. And more greetings from Epaphras, Luke, and Demas who all were Gentile believers.

Therefore, in these greetings, we see those from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds encouraging the Church of Colossae. We see those both slaves and free encouraging the Church of Colossae. We see those known and unknown by the Church of Colossae encouraging them.

In other words, here in this seemingly glance over passage, we see those of different backgrounds united together in the gospel of King Jesus. We see the church united together on wanting to see each other stand firm in the faith and to encourage one another along the way.

Also in this short passage, three last commands are given to the church from Paul:

In verse 2, Paul gives the command to continue steadfastly in prayer.

In verse 5, Paul gives the command to walk in wisdom to outsiders.

In verse 18, Paul gives the command to remember his chains.

With all of this going on, here is what I think the main point of this section of text is:

Main Point: Christian, As we strive towards the maturity of faith, we must be devoted to prayer, walk in wisdom towards the outside world, and be united in Christ.

Points

Be Constant in Prayer

Be Walking in Wisdom

Be United in Christ

Point I. - Be Constant in Prayer

The first imperative, that is command, is to continue steadfastly in prayer. In the beginning of this letter, Paul starts with how Timothy and him are praying for the Church of Colossae. He tells them that they are thanking God for them, and praying for them to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Now, Paul is calling for the Colossian believers, and ultimately all believers to be steadfast in prayer.

Devoted to prayer

The idea of continuing steadfastly in prayer means to remain long, consistent in prayer. Or another way of putting it is to busy yourself in prayer. Prayer is to be vital to our Christian lives. It is how we communicate with our Heavenly Father.

I think often we fail to busy ourselves with prayer, because we fail to see what prayer is, namely communicating with our Father who is in heaven. It is a vital tool the Lord has given us to talk with him. It is a confession of our being dependent upon him.

Being Watchful in thanksgiving

Therefore, we are to remain watchful in prayer with thanksgiving. By being watchful in prayer with thanksgiving, our hearts are stirred to recall all that God has done and give thanks to him. When we are watchful in prayer with thanksgiving, it is harder to approach prayer as a means of seeking our own desires and wants. Instead, as our prayers are watchful with thanksgiving, our hearts are turned more towards God and his will. As we pray with thankfulness, our hearts are filled more with worship for who God is and what he has done for us, namely in his beloved Son, King Jesus.

Even as we enter the Advent season awaiting to celebrate Christmas, how much are we going to pray to our Heavenly Father with prayers of thankfulness to what the Lord has given us in the birth of Emmanuel?

It is in busying ourselves with prayer, especially in remaining watchful in it with thanksgiving that will reshape our prayers to be a force against the cosmic powers and rulers and authorities. If our prayers are reshaped in these ways, it will guard us against the temptations and lures of sin. And as we pray in this kind of manner, it will help us grow into the maturity of faith.

Prayer is vital for our Christian life, it is to be seen more of a walkie talkie with a general or as our life support to keep us alive. This is why John Piper in his book Let the Nations be Glad, writes this on prayer, “Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief.”

Instead though, we often treat prayer as if it is a magic lamp and if we just ask enough, we will get what we want. And most of us will probably sit here and think that is not us. But, think for a moment what an inventory of your prayer requests have been? And as you think about that inventory list, how different would your prayer requests be from someone who is not a Christian?

If we see prayer as nothing more than a magic lamp or wishing well, we will continue to fail to busy ourselves with it. Instead, we must see prayer as a means of talking with our Heavenly Father and seeking more of him. And we are helped in that, as we pray with thanksgiving for what God has already done for us.

At the same time, pray also for us

Our prayers are also helped in seeing that our prayer time is not meant just for us, but for others too. And that is where Paul turns in verse 3…

In this there are two requests being made for this prayer. (1) An open door for the gospel and (2) to make the gospel clear.

An open door

First, praying for an open door for the word. The value of prayer is seen by Paul, and he is asking the Colossian Church to join in to echo this request.. Paul’s desire is to declare or proclaim the mystery of Christ, that is the gospel. Paul is eager to continue to share the gospel with the lost world.

Notice there at the end of verse 3, Paul says on account of which I am in prison. This very gospel and making it known is the reason Paul is imprisoned.

And yet, Paul’s main concern is that this gospel is further declared. He wants more open doors and opportunities to make Christ known in the world. Paul seems to have no concerns for his chains. Even as we will see from verse 18 when Paul mentions that they should remember his chains, it wasn’t Paul seeking pity and sympathy, it was him calling them to remember his life laboring to make the gospel known.

Brothers and sisters, how eager are we to pray not only for open doors for the gospel to go out for ourselves, but for others in this church? Or others around the world?

This is why each Sunday morning during the pastoral prayer we are praying for other churches and for our IMB missionaries. We want to be a people praying for open doors for the gospel both here and around the world. We want to see people come to King Jesus and bow in allegiance to him!

Make the gospel clear

But, not only did Paul seek prayer for open doors, his second request is that he would make the gospel clear. He even adds there in verse 4, that this is how he ought to speak.

So what does it mean that Paul wants to make the gospel clear? Is Paul saying that the gospel is confusing and hard to declare? I don’t think so, and 1 Corinthians makes a good case for this in Paul addressing the divisions of teachers in the church.

No, what Paul is addressing in asking for this request is asking to not over complicate the gospel with puffed up knowledge and wisdom.

For example, when I have a gospel conversation, I do not have any desire to try and lay out every detail of justification by faith or the process of sanctification. The goal of the gospel is to show that we need a savior and that savior has come in Jesus!

In fact, my gospel presentation is in its simplest form this…

GIVE A GOSPEL PRESENTATION IN ITS CLEAREST FORM!!!

That’s it.

Brothers and sisters, as we go and proclaim the gospel, we do not need to be clever or have all the answers to declare the gospel to others. And maybe even after hearing my gospel presentation, some of you still have doubts whether you know the gospel.

You Do!

You hear the gospel proclaimed every Sunday that we sit under the preaching of the word. Each Sunday that I preach, the gospel is there. And if it is not there, I know my wife will call me out on it. And I hope many of you will join her in that.

The other thing, you cannot be a Christian without understanding the gospel. To be a Christian is to acknowledge the good news of the gospel of Jesus in believing it and resting in it! Therefore to acknowledge it, we must know it.

Therefore, as we pray, let's pray for open doors and clear gospel presentations both for ourselves and others.

Prayer helps

So, how do we strengthen our prayer life? Here are some basic practical helps:

Leave time to pray during your devotional times. Don’t have 15 minutes and spend all 15 minutes reading. Set time to read, meditate (that is to reflect on what you read), and pray.

Keep good prayer lists of missionaries and other Christians to pray for. I currently have a prayer journal in which all of your names are on a paper clipped to the cover of the journal. This way I can rotate praying through this list. There are also note apps on your phones you can do this or prayer apps.

Pray for different nations using Operation World online or praying for unreached people groups using Joshua Project.

As you pray, pray Scripture back to the Lord, this will help mold and shape your prayers to be more pleasing to the Father.

Pray alternating between prayers of confession and thanksgiving as modeled on Sunday mornings.

Central City Baptist Church, may we busy ourselves with prayer, that we may be continually strengthened in our Christian lives.

Point # II: Be walking in wisdom

Now, turning to Paul’s second command, walk in wisdom towards outsiders there in verse 5. This language of walking is similar language to what Paul used back in Colossians 1:10 when he said, “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

But, here in Colossians 4:5, the call is to walk in wisdom with outsiders. Outsiders simply means those outside the Christian faith. Those who are outside of God’s kingdom.

Generally we are more concerned with how we are viewed and seen by the pastor or other church members. But, how do we act with the outside world? Do we think how to walk in wisdom in their presence? Do we think our actions matter? Absolutely they matter!

To walk in wisdom is then expanded on by Paul with the phrase making the best use of the time. Therefore for Paul, to walk in wisdom towards outsiders is in terms of gospel opportunities and service. To make the best use of the time would have carried an understanding of urgency in reaching the lost.

Gracious speech

This is further echoed in verse 6, with Paul adding...

Paul calls for their speech to always be gracious and seasoned with salt. The idea of being seasoned with salt can mean 1 of 2 different thoughts.

The first being that the saltiness of their speech was to leave them thirsty and wanting the Living Waters of life from God’s word. That is one view.

The second way of understanding this could be seeing seasoned with salt as a preservative in preserving them from death with the gospel.

I’m a little leary of it being the first case. I think the language of salt is more in line with Matthew 5:13’s use of salt and preserving. And I think it fits the idea better of how to answer each person in regards to questions, doubts, fears, or oppositions each person would have to the gospel. I think Paul’s point here is for the Christian to be wise, gracious, and life giving in how we speak during these gospel opportunities as they come, as doors are opened.

I could sit here and argue with someone about the gospel until I am blue in the face. But if I am not gracious, wise, and my speech isn’t seasoned with salt, it is of no value. The aim in us walking in wisdom towards outsiders and being gracious in speech is to point them to Jesus, not turn them away.

If we are to be like Jesus and point them to Jesus, then we need to be as Jesus was with those who misunderstood him. He was patient and gentle and continued to reveal who he was until the end as he was nailed to the cross. And even then, he pleaded with the Father to forgive them.

Brothers and sisters, in our evangelism, in our relationship with outsiders we must be wise and gracious with them or we will have missed the point.

We also need to be wise with the time or as one way of translating it, redeeming the time well. Those around us who are not Christians are dying and heading towards an eternity of hell. Their knowledge of God is enough to damn them to hell. And yet, the gospel is powerful enough to save them.

How can we not redeem the time we have and proclaim this powerful gospel to the lost around us? The very gospel that is powerful to deliver them from the domain of darkness?

What is it going to take for us to take the gospel with urgency to a world in need? We must go and proclaim the gospel! We cannot think those around us have even heard the gospel. Many in our culture have heard about Jesus. But my guess is that many of them couldn’t tell you who Jesus is, and why we even celebrate Christmas.

The very message of Christmas is that the Son of God came and took on human flesh as a baby to live, to die for our sins. This great Christmas gift is worth sharing with those around us this Christmas until all have heard the good news!

Point #III: Be united in Christ

Remembering Paul’s chains

And if that is not compelling enough for us, look down at verse 18. Paul’s third command is to remember his chains. Here we come back to this point. In Paul pointing us to his chains, it is echoing again what was in verse 3, that declaring the mystery of Christ was the same account he was in prison for. Paul’s very life was given for the spread of the gospel, even the chains on him.

Paul was not seeking pity or even asking for prayer to be released, Paul desired for continued prayers in asking for further open doors for him to preach the gospel. By remembering him in prayer, Paul was certain the LORD would grant this request, whether through Paul or others.

Paul was sure as the Colossians remembered his chains, they too would be compelled to walk in Christ, that they would labor faithfully to live out the gospel. And surely he was hoping they would become zealous for the gospel to go forth as well. For he wanted them to all be united about the mission of King Jesus! That is spreading his kingdom!

Even in the greetings from the multitude in Christ, those who were from different backgrounds, Paul was once more uniting them to be of one heart and mind in being united around the gospel.

For regardless of our backgrounds, Jewish or Gentile; regardless of our social status, slave or free; regardless of our sex, male or female; regardless of what nation we came from, all who are in Christ are to be united around the gospel of King Jesus!

Or to put it in different terms for us. To be united around the gospel of King Jesus would mean us having more in common with our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, Iraq, Iran, China, North Korea, Russia, Morocco, Brazil, India, and Vietnam than we do with non-believing Americans, in particular those of our same political party.

Conclusion

The call of the gospel on our lives is to be united in Christ. And as Christians, our call to be in Christ outweighs every other allegiance. And therefore, let us live our lives out walking in Christ, walking in a manner pleasing to the LORD, walking in wisdom towards outsiders, and standing firm until the end as we hold fast to Jesus!

Let us live our lives proclaiming the gospel and watching it increase and bear fruit in the whole world until our King returns in glory and calls us home with him forever and ever!

Let’s pray…