A Wise Walk | Colossians 4:2–6
Notes
Transcript
Music team and Ricky thank you. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, go ahead and grab them and head on to Colossians 4. We’re going to jump ahead this week just a little bit and study Colossians 4:2-6. We will go back starting next week and look at what are known as the “Household codes”. Yes, I won’t lie, I was and still am nervous about v18 - “wives submit to your husbands.” I know some of you men are excited for that one, which if that’s you we need to talk. But ladies, don’t worry, I’m coming for the men the next week. We will come back to those things, but today I want to look at the beginning of the end of this book.
Let’s read Colossians 4:2-6. We’ll pray and then seek to understand these verses.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a 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.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
This is God’s Word, thanks be to God. Let’s pray.
I think it was last summer that there was a tv mini series that came out on John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Lincoln. I’ve never been much of a history buff, but I found that show fascinating. No clue how close it is to the actual history of the events.
But one of the things the show does is causes you to do, or at least it caused me to do was love Lincoln. You couldn’t help but admire the man for how he led. I remember there was a certain scene in which the situation was somber, but the way in which Lincoln replied towards those in his cabinet lightened the mood in such a way that they could hear what he needed to say afterwards. He wisely walked towards others. The way he spoke, when he spoke, was not just impactful to those that he was directly working alongside, but it was influential in leading an entire nation.
MPS: Wisely walk towards others.
We can watch the show or we can read books about Lincoln and be inspired. And what’s interesting about this text is that that is exactly what Paul was calling the church in Colossae and this church today to do: not be inspired, but to wisely walk towards others. Remember, Paul has argued against the false teachers. And ours and the Colossian churches inclination can be when we encounter people who are a threat to our worldview or our way of life is to stiff arm them, to hold them at arms length. But as one commentator says, “While resisting the wrong kind of outside influence, the Colossian Christians nevertheless need to stay engaged with their fellow citizens and seek to win them to Christ.” But in order to do so, they must live wisely. Paul doesn’t just give you the call do to that though; he actually gives us some practical steps on how to walk wisely towards others. There’s three ways from these verses Paul gives us to walk wisely. Here’s our first:
Pray
Pray
If you want to walk wisely towards others the first thing you must do is pray. TO not pray is to trust in your own abilities, your own wit, or your own knowledge. All of which in the complicated situations of life are found lacking. So what do we do? We pray. But he doesn’t just say pray; he actually tells us how to pray. There’s 5 ways Paul instructs us to pray.
First, we pray continuously. Now depending on what translation you use your version might say “Devote yourselves to prayer.” To pray continuously literally means to persevere devotedly. The book of Acts gives us several pictures of what this looks like. Acts 1:14
All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Jesus had just ascended into heaven and the disciples were left standing on the ground. So they return to Jerusalem and what do they do? They devote themselves to prayer. Then in the book of Acts the Spirit of God descends on them and they speak in tongues by preaching the Word to people in language that they didn’t know. God uses the Word to save people and thousands repent and believe. But prayer doesn’t stop there. Acts 2:42
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
A few verses later it says they were doing this day by day. Daily prayer is what sustained and grew the early church. Now I think it’s important to note that here in Acts it doesn’t describe the intensity of their prayers, but it does describe the frequency. That tells us that to pray continuously or steadfastly means to pray habitually and with perseverance.
Isn’t Jesus our model for this? He was constantly in prayer. He’d withdraw to pray. He’d wake up early to pray. HE’d stay up late to pray. He saw the regular communication and communion with the Father as essential to accomplishing his mission here on earth. If that’s true of the God man, then how much more true of us?
To not pray continuously is to be unwise. It’s to say God, I don’t need you. I can function on my own. So, if you’re aim is to walk wisely through life, how will you develop a habit to pray daily? How will you persevere in the really hard or if your like me, the really good times?
First, we pray continuously, and then second, we pray watchfully. I did a word study on that word “watchful.” I wanted to see all the ways in which it’s used in the NT. Do you know the most prominent way watchful is used in the NT?
Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
The most prominent way it’s used in the NT is to refer to Christ’s second coming. What you need to be watchful for is Christ’s return. Peter addresses this in 1 Pet. 4:7
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
We’re watchful when we pray because Christ is coming back. When we studied 1 Pet back a year ago we talked about this. Think about how your prayers would be affected if you knew Christ would return tomorrow? Would your concerns be what they are now? Would you pray like you did last time you prayed? We pray watchfully because Christ is coming back.
But we also pray watchfully because Satan is prowling. 1 Pet. 5:8
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
How many people in here have read C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters? Wonderful book that I’d recommend. It is a book that portrays two characters who are conversing back-and-forth to one another through letters. These characters are demons “assigned” to a human to cause them to stumble in the walk with the Lord. Screwtape is the senior demon writing to his nephew Wormwood the underling who’s job is to keep a person away from God. He fails. But there’s some revealing things in this that I think challenge us. Screwtape instructs his nephew that since this human has submitted to the Lordship of Jesus and repented that now his job is to keep him from growing in Christlikeness (my terms, not Lewis’.)
One of the ways Screwtape instructs Wormood to sway and distract the human is by trying to affect his prayers. He instructs him to try and turn his gaze away from God and instead towards himself by getting him to concentrate on how he feels.
Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling; and never let them suspect how much success or failure of that kind depends on whether they are well or ill, fresh or tired, at the moment.”
C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Satan would invade the sacred space of even our prayers to try and destroy us, so we must pray watchfully.
But then there’s another reason we must pray watchfully. Do you remember Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane? He takes his disciples with him and asks them to pray. He takes his three closest a little further and ask them to pray. Then he goes on by himself only to come back and find them sleeping. Then what does he say? Mk. 14:38
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Church we must pray watchfully because temptation awaits and our flesh is weak. How often do you find that when you sit down to pray your mind wonders? Mine does ALL the time. The flesh is weak. My mind is weak. Satan would seek to distract me and destroy me. So pray watchfully. Pray continuously.
Third, pray thankfully. Thankfulness has been an major theme in this book. Paul instructs them often: be thankful. But why? Why would the Colossian church have reason to be thankful? Why do we? Why would an underlying motive of a follower of Jesus be thankfulness? I mean, Paul was in chains writing this; thankfulness doesn’t necessarily sound like it’d be on the top of my list.
You could look at the tangible blessing of life and find reason enough to be thankful—even in the midst of hardship. I think all of us would agree on that front, however, what Paul I think is doing is trying to get the Colossian church to recall al l that he’s just written them.
If we were to go back to the beginning of this book we’d see that Paul thanks God because this church has heard and understood the grace of God. That grace came to them and they received it. That’s not true for everyone. Some reject the grace of God. Some don’t see Jesus as Lord or think that they really need Him to be the preeminent one in their life, but they did. And in their receiving of this grace, what did Jesus do? 1:12-14 he qualified them for an inheritance, he delivered them from darkness, he transferred them to a new kingdom, and he forgave them. Now they have a hope laid up for them in heaven—that Christ is keeping safe for them and when he returns that all wrongs will be made right. But not just that, we’ll be made new. This new kingdom isn’t one of darkness but one of light in which a new King rules over a new people—the church.
Formerly we walked in darkness that has lead to death, but not because of Jesus our record of debt that stood against us that called for death has been dealt with. Our sin that separated us from God and one another has been nailed to the cross. The accuser who continues to try and destroy us has been overthrown. Satan doesn’t rule any more. Death is not the end and won’t have victory because we’ve been made alive with Christ. In being made alive, we’re being made new, with a new character. The new man in Christ, who has an eternal hope, an eternal inheritance, and an eternal king though has something that others don’t. He has access. Access to the Father. AS the writer of Hebrews states
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Because of Jesus and in Jesus you have access to the throne of grace. You may receive mercy and find the grace you need because of the preeminent Jesus; the one who stands above all things, and in all things. You can draw near confidently knowing that you’ll find the grace and mercy you need. All of it. He won’t be just a little gracious and understanding with you. He won’t show just some mercy to you. It’s a THRONE of grace that the Heavenly Father sits on. Your deepest needs he covers, and he fills. That’s why you can be thankful. That’s why thankfulness is an underlying motive of the Christian. Yes, count your blessings and name them one by one. We should do that. But the blessings we tend to count are temporal. Best case scenario they last 60-70 years. But the grace of Jesus towards you is eternal. The mercy of God—love moving towards you in kindness—will never end. Regardless of how hard or awesome your circumstances are, in Jesus you have much to be thankful for.
So there’s a few more ways to pray that we’re going to look at, but before we do I think we need to pause here and just ask the question: have you received the grace of God in Jesus? Have you seen that the sin in your life has led to death and that on your own you’ll never make it? If not, then the call for you today is to repent and believe. Look to Jesus and find grace and mercy. Look to Jesus and find hope and future. If you cry out to him he will save you. If you confess your sins to him he will forgive them. There’s nothing to deep or dirty or dark that he can’t cover. Don’t be afraid to tell him. He already knows! So repent and believe. And then, pray.
Pray continuously. Pray watchfully. Pray thankfully. Then fourth, Pray outwardly. V2 Paul is addressing the prayers that the Colossians are already praying and giving instruction for them. But then he adds v3. Don’t forget us!
At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—
There’s a level of reciprocity here. If you go back to the beginning of the book guess what Paul says? Col. 1:9
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
Now here at the end Paul is saying, hey, just as much as I know you need to understand and believe and apply the gospel, so do I. Just as much as you need help living in a world full of distractions and competing worldviews, so do I. Please pray for me. Me and Timothy.
This is actually why we take part of our service and spend time dedicated to praying for those who we partner with or directly support in ministry. We want to remember those who labor with us and even in some ways for us.
But Paul doesn’t just say pray for us and then move on. He actually gives some specific prayer we requests and these are important for us to see. Look back to the verse: “That God may open to us a door for the word.” Note what he didn’t ask for. He didn’t say, Pray that God will save the lost. No, there’s actually an underlying expectation that God will save the lost. But how does he do it? Faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word! He saves the lost by their hearing of the word. So pray then that God will open a door to declare the word! There’s no other means by which salvation will come.
And here’s the thing…guess what God was doing with that prayer request Paul was asking? He was answering it. There is some irony to the phrase “open to us a door” because where was Paul sitting? He was under house arrest in Rome. He was in jail. So you read that phrase and go, yeah, Paul wanted out so he could go about the mission God gave him on the road to Damascus. God, open a door. What does God do? Yes, Paul. Here, be in jail. Now the doors open.
We’re not God, so we don’t know, but I wonder if the prison epistles—Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, Philippians—would’ve ever been written if Paul hadn’t been put in jail. Paul’s mission was to preach the mystery of Christ to the Gentiles and his aim was the Roman Emperor. How did God do it? Jail. I’d have picked the youtube channel and popularity and a platform, not stoned, shipwrecked, snakebit, and house arrest.
But you have to understand, the door that God may be using for you to see and believe the word or speak the word to others so that they may see and believe is jail.
So when we pray for those other churches every Sunday morning, or when you pray for your lost family members or coworkers or children, pray that God would open a door for the Word to be spoke to them. The Word saves.
Pray outwardly—for those whom Christ has redeemed—to have an open door to declare the word, but to do so with clarity. Paul asks that they’d pray he would “declare the mystery of Christ…that I may make it clear.”
A good friend of mine says, “the gospel is simple.” And he’s right. There is a simplicity to the good news that You were made to walk with God, but because of your sin you’re separated from him. Christ died for that sin and when you put your faith in him that relationship is fully reconciled and restored. Simple. Yet at the same time, it’s mysteriously complex. There’s layers. It’s a mystery. It’s a mystery that now because of Christ we can live. We can live free and alive with God. It’s a mystery that God would include Gentiles, those outside of God’s chosen people to be a part of His chosen people. It’s a mystery that once God chooses you he calls you and equips you and empowers you to be how he will accomplish His plans here on earth. It’s not a mystery that can’t be understood, like I need Scooby Doo to come solve this. No, it’s a mystery that God would do such a miraculous work. And we need the power of God to help explain that clearly. So pray outwardly that God would open doors and that when he does that we, Paul, Timothy, and you and I would step into them with clarity.
The final way we pray is expectantly. Look back at v3. Who opens the door? God does. If you’re like me you can tend to have this view that God sits in heaven and he’s concerned with ethereal type of things. He’s game planning for the final battle. He’s looking at macro level type stuff. And we’re down here “doing the Lord’s work.” We do our part. God does His part, so that when the end comes we’ve got a place to go. God does sit in heaven and reign over all things, but he’s also actively working in the minutiae of our lives. He is a God who opens doors for us. He is a God who moves on our behalf. Since he is that God, we should have a genuine since of expectation. We should ask with a sense of expectation that God will move.
So church, pray. Pray continuously, watchfully, thankfully, outwardly, and expectantly. Pray because if you’re going to engage in the mission of God you need his help. Pray because if you’re going to be around other people, you need his help. Pray because to do so would be unwise. So the first instruction Paul gives us for a wise walk towards others is to pray.
Redeem Time
Redeem Time
The second way to walk wisely is to redeem time. Now, for the sake of time I’m going to move quickly and briefly across these last two points. Look back with me to v5. “Making the best use of the time.” We need to understand that phrase. Different translations interpret this phrase a little differently trying to capture the meaning of it. To make the best use is to redeem like a slaves freedom would be purchased.
Time is understood two different ways in the NT. There’s Kronos time which is linear time. It’s often how we think of it, and that is not the word used here. The word used here is kairos and that is better understood as a season of time.
So one commentary put it this way: “As God in Christ has bought humans out from their slavery to sin, so Christians need to “buy” time “out of” its captivity to sin and Satan”
Now that’s all great, but what does that mean? Is it simply that we shouldn’t binge watch Netflix or doom scroll on TikTok? You shouldn’t do those things, but look at the context of these verses. What is Paul ultimately looking at? Is it inwardly? Ehh. Only to the extent about how we engage with others. These are ultimately outwardly facing verses. Paul is saying, don’t be come some holier than thou society. He’s saying engage in the rest of society wisely and to do that you must redeem the time.
Here’s the thing, regardless of the job you do, selling tractors, raising watermelons, or raising kiddos, you’re living in proximity to people. You relate to people all day long, but the people you relate to now, aren’t the people you’re going to relate to in 20 years. Maybe in 2 years. Maybe in 2 weeks. God has placed you in their life during this season of your life for a specific reason. To walk wisely then in this season of life means that you buy time with a level of intentionality knowing that Christ is coming, and outside of him these people you’re with are damned. Satan is prowling, he is seeking to destroy them in the most painful and tragic of ways. And temptation is prevalent. It’s satan’s way of pulling our eyes off of the one whom we were created for.
SO how then do we redeem time? We have to recognize first that God has placed us somewhere for a time. What does Ecclesiastes say? There’s seasons when we plant and seasons when we harvest. There’s season when we kill and seasons when we heal. There’s seasons when we break down and seasons when we build up. So what season are you in? But then, the second part of that is who has God placed in your orbit during this season?
Let’s be honest. It might not be who you really want, but you don’t decide that, God did. He’s actually opened a door for you by placing you with them. Or you could look at it the other way, he’s opened a door for them by placing you with them. How will you redeem your time with them? Will you have casual conversation? Will you endure? Or will you give them something that last? Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
So whomever God has placed in your circle for this season, don’t waste time with them. I’m telling you, the door God has opened is for you to be with them now. So make the best use of it. Ask for God to give you eyes to see that the door is open and then the courage to speak. But how you speak matters.
That’s actually the third way we wisely walk towards others:
Speak Graciously
Speak Graciously
Now there’s some difference of opinion as to what constitutes gracious speech. So how then do we understand what it means? We let Scripture interpret and give us a lens as to what it means. Remember what we’ve studied the past few weeks. All of these instructions flow out of putting to death and putting on the character of Christ. So at the heart of speaking graciously is to let your words embody the compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience of Christ towards you. It’s to let the way you speak display and convey the grace that you have received. Speech like that attracts people to the gospel. It heals. It corrects in a way that doesn’t destroy. It forgives.
Husbands, you want a real challenge today? After the service ask your wives if the way you talk to her is full of grace. Ask her if the way you speak to your kids is gracious. If you’re feeling really gutsy, ask your kids. Then, you might be in a place where you’re like, I don’t know how to speak graciously. Receive the grace of God by asking your wife how to do that. If you’re not married, ask a close friend. Ask a mentor. Ask a coworker. It’s risky, but it might open a door to explain what grace is. So gracious speech embodies the characteristics we’ve looked at. But it also salts.
Now, this doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to be a little salty when we talk with others. That wouldn’t embody the characteristics we’ve already studied.
This reminds me of Jesus’ statement to his disciples at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Remember what he said? “You are the salt of the earth.”
Now what does salt do? What was it used for? It was used to preserve, but in this context our speaking of the word to others isn’t to preserve who they are, it’s to see them transformed. So it can’t be that.
Salt also purifies. That’s something the Word of Christ does. It cuts like a scalpel out the parts of us that dead or that will lead to death. It points out to us the things that are an affront to a Holy God, it allows us to repent and it grants us faith to believe what what God calls to and has for us is better than anything else this world has to offer. So salty speech then purifies and it also flavors.
I love watermelons. But I also love a really good steak. When I season my steaks I put salt and pepper. That’s it. Just needs a little bit to bring out God’s natural flavor that he put in it. When you allow your speech to be seasoned with the Word of God what comes alive in other people is the fullness of what was intended, because that’s what the Word does. It helps people to see the fullness of what God intended. It produces faith. It gives hope. That’s speech seasoned with salt that’s full of grace.
So here’s my question for you: Are you walking wisely? Can you? Do you know the source of all wisdom and do you walk close with him? IF you don’t know Jesus, you might be able to live in a way that looks good and even is perceived as wise because you know how the world works. But true wisdom isn’t just knowledge rightly applied. It’s know, walking, and living with Jesus. If you don’t know him, then what are you waiting on?
If you do know him are you walking wisely towards others? How do you know? Well, is your life marked by steadfast prayer? Do you waste time with those you’re around or Redeem it by giving them the Word? Do you speak graciously to others? Who God has saved you and made you to be isn’t just for you, but for others. SO will you walk wisely toward them? Or will you live selfishly alongside them?
