Putting Your Words on Mission
Supremacy and Identity • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsPaul prepares the Colossians to use their words to further the gospel.
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What strikes me as I read this passage is that words have power and Paul knows it. He wants the Colossians to realize the importance of the power contained in their words. What is the most powerful thing that anyone has ever said to you? Maybe it was when your husband asked you to marry him. Or, maybe for your husbands it was when you wives said “Yes.” Those few words radically changed your life. Those words started a chain of events that could not be turned back. You bought a house, got a mortgage, had a few kids and owed so much money that you got really good at your job.
Words have power. A jury pronounce a judgement and with the words guilty or not guilty radically determines a person’s course in life. A doctor utters the word, “Cancer” and life is altered. Maybe you heard a great teaching or a great speech that God used peak your interest in something that has become a passion or a career. Words have power.
James and Peter were the main teaching pastors at the church in Jerusalem. Look at how James pointed to the power of the tongue.
If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
James 3:3-
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If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
Now when we combine the power of the tongue with the importance of the of the Great Commission that Jesus left us to go make disciples of all nations, we get this question. How should we be using our tongues to direct our lives in gospel purposes?
James 3:3-4
I. Let’s use our words to pray for gospel success. ()
I. Let’s use our words to pray for gospel success. ()
Gospel success really starts in the impact that the gospel has on our own hearts day after day. How should you pray so that the gospel continues to bear fruit in your life?
A. Be faithful with your prayers.
A. Be faithful with your prayers.
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
3 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—
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
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—
Col. 2:
Our prayer lives should be an extension of our worship life, and our lives should be worship. That’s why Paul exhorted them to “Continue steadfastly in prayer.” So prayer is something that we must be faithful in doing. It is something that we must give priority to in our lives. It is something that we can’t stop doing because it is essential to our relationship with God and our purpose to glorify God and enjoy him.
The early church knew this and it is the way they prayed.
14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
+Unfortunately, prayer tends to fall in the category of things that we occasionally do. Kind of like working out for some of us. We know that it’s good for us. We feel good when we do it. But it’s really just something that we do if have time, think about it, and are in the mood.
Crisis can bring us to prayer. We get sick. Someone we love gets hurt. We pray and we ask others to pray. Why do we have to go through crisis to recognize the importance of prayer?
Paul says “continue steadfastly in prayer...” (v.1) partly because everyday is a crisis for everyone. Everyday you need wisdom to live well, raise your family well, to influence others who need you well. When we recognize how much we need Jesus everyday, we will prioritize a quite time and constant communion with God during the day.
Use your words to faithfully pray.
B. Be watchful with your prayers. (Col. 4:2b)
B. Be watchful with your prayers. (Col. 4:2b)
Col. 2
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
*Don’t let the only things you say to Jesus be crises requests.
The Bible tells us to “watch and pray” on several occasions. The first time we see it is when Nehemiah was building the walls around Jerusalem facing enemies who wanted to destroy them.
9 And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
Jesus used the phrase when he talked about the return of Christ and judgment day.
33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.
It is primarily used warning about coming of temptation.
Mark
38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Paul would put it like this.
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
+ What motivates us to pray more than anything else. I think trials do. Algebra tests and loosing a job and family problems. Trials get us to pray. Why? Because we are deeply concerned about ourselves and the people we love. But if we really understood what we should be concerned about. Holiness would be high on that list.
There are a lot of things that capture our thoughts more than a desire for holiness. Spurgeon once said, “Earnest Christian men are not so much afraid of trials as they are of temptations. The great horror of a Christian is sin.”
“Earnest Christian men are not so much afraid of trials as of temptations. The great horror of a Christian is sin.”
1400Earnest Christian men are not so much afraid of trials as of temptations. The great horror of a Christian is sin.—15.653
Paul calls us to watchful because our holiness is at stake. You have an enemy.
Spurgeon, C. H., & Carter, T. (1995). 2,200 quotations : from the writings of Charles H. Spurgeon : arranged topically or textually and indexed by subject, Scripture, and people (Trade pbk. ed., p. 203). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
The goal of your enemy is not to make your life more difficult through trials. His goal is to destroy you through sin.
+So when you wake up in the morning, think to yourself, where is your heart most vulnerable? What sins have you been struggling with? Are you going to encounter someone today that you know has the potential to get under your skin? Be watchful and pray about it then. Are you going to be with people that you are going to be willing to gossip with? Prepare your heart in the morning. Are you dating and you know that you are going to face temptations to let things go a little farther physically than you should? You prepare for that moment before you get there. Be watchful. There is a lion that wants to destroy you.
C. Be thankful with your prayers. ()
C. Be thankful with your prayers. ()
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
One of the best ways to destroy selfishness and to cultivate humility is to strive for a thankful heart. Prayer will lead us to the blessing of God. So we need to be as diligent in thanking God for his blessings and answered prayer as we expect God to be about answering our prayers.
You don’t want to be he guy who is always asking for stuff but never acknowledging it and being thankful when he is blessed. No one likes that guy.
Have you ever met anyone who didn’t feel like they had anything to be thankful for? It’s not because they don’t have anything to be thankful for. It’s usually because one thing that they wanted didn’t go the way they wanted. So, now they are not going to be thankful for anything.
Let me remind you of something. When Paul wrote Colossians, he was a prisoner in Rome. Things were not going exactly like he would have drawn it up. Yet listen to his emphasis on being thankful in this letter.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
Col
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Co
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Col. 3:15
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Col
How could he be so thankful in light of his situation? I think it tells us this: No matter how much we have to complain about, we always have more to be thankful for. So thanksgiving should show up in our prayers and our attitudes.
D. Be purposeful with your prayers. ()
D. Be purposeful with your prayers. ()
3 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—
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Paul is saying pray specifically for us. Use your prayers purposefully. Unfortunately our prayers often way too general. Lord, bless my mom. Bless my kids. Bless the missionaries.
It would be better if we knew what the specific needs were of the people we were praying for and pray for them. The most important thing that we can know to pray purposefully is God’s will.
*Someone once said that the purpose of prayer is not to get man’s will done in heaven, but to get God’s will done on earth. No matter what we ask, God is only going to answer prayer that are according to his will.
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
So when we pray with purpose, we are not telling God what he should do. But, we are asking God what he wants to do according to his will. So we have to know the Word, so we can know his will. Then we can pray in a way that we know God will answer.”
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eleven: Talk Is Not Cheap! (Colossians 4:2–9)
Richard Trench (1807–1886), archbishop of Dublin, said it perfectly: “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance; it is laying hold of His willingness.”
We become prayer warriors when we learn to lay hold of the willingness of God to glorify His name and accomplish his purposes in the world. So, be faithful in your prayers, be watchful in your prayers, be thankful in your prayers, and be purposeful in your prayers.
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II. Let’s use our words to proclaim the truth of the gospel. ()
II. Let’s use our words to proclaim the truth of the gospel. ()
3 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— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
Col. 4:3-4
Paul is a prisoner in Rome and he didn’t ask for the prison doors to be opened, but that the doors of ministry might be opened. Paul was more concerned that he was faithful with the gospel than he was about being free man. When you look at all of Paul’s prayers for prison, he never prayers for some kind of personal safety or to be freed, but he always asks that the gospel go forth because of his position.
Why was Paul in prison to begin with? It was because he was committed to bring the mystery of the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul had been accused of bringing his Gentile friend Trophimus enter a part of the temple reserved for the Jews. He didn’t, but that was what he was accused of. He was devoted to getting the gospel to the Gentiles.
Paul was given a chance to stand before the crowd of Jews to defend his case. They were actually willing to listen to what he had to say until he mentioned that God had called him to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.
21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”
The Jews didn’t want the Gentiles to have the gospel. They saw themselves as superior to the Gentiles because they were God’s chosen people. They wouldn’t stand for it. They would kill Paul. As a result he had to appeal to Caesar a Roman citizen, otherwise he would have lost his life. He wasn’t willing to give up his mission God had placed on him on, even if it cost him his life or meant prison.
+How devoted are you to the Great Commission? How committed to the gospel truth are you. What cost would you be willing to pay to continue to proclaim the truth?
*When John Bunyan was arrested for preaching illegally and put into the prison, he was told that if he would stop preaching Christ he would be released. He responded, “If I am out of prison today, I will preach the Gospel again tomorrow, by the help of God.”
That’s how Paul was. If he was in prison he would witness to the prison guards.
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.
Can you imagine being the Roman guard assigned to Paul. You were getting saved! This allowed the gospel to get into part areas of the Roman government that would have been impossible otherwise. The end of Philippians goes on to say that even Caesar’s family began to be saved.
+We are to use our words to proclaim the truth of the gospel. It may cost you, but it won’t cost you as much as it did Paul or John Bunyan. The cost may be part of God’s will. And, whatever the cost. It is worth the reward.
Let’s use our words to present opportunities to the lost. ()
Let’s use our words to present opportunities to the lost. ()
5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Let’s use our Words to Present opportunities to the lost. ()
Let’s use our Words to Present opportunities to the lost. ()
“Outsiders” here are those that are outside the family of God. Our desire as believers is that people come to Christ and come inside out of the cold. Paul tells us how to influence those outside of the faith.
He tells us to “walk in wisdom toward outsiders.” (v.5) Walk refers to the conduct of our lives. Lost people watch believers. What are they looking for? They are looking to see if there is consistency between what we say we believe and how we live.
So “walking in wisdom” calls us to a few things. First, we don’t need to do anything to make it difficult to share the Gospel. It is why we shouldn’t cuss. It’s tempting when we get around friends or coworkers where its the cultural thing to do. What’s the big deal, it’s not going to send me to hell.” Well, it might not, you are forgiven. But, what if someone around you is watching you. They end up rejecting Christ because of what they see in you. So those cuss words have damning consequences to the.
I like how Paul tells us to walk, “making the best use of the time.” (v.5) In Greek it’s a one word idiom. It literally means “to buy out the time.” It’s a commercial term that Christians are able to see an opportunity and seize it. It’s like a business man who sees a good opportunity to buy up land and then resale it at a profit. Paul is saying that if business people will take advantage of the moment to make a profit, how much more should believers take advantage of every moment to win souls for Christ.
Second, it means that we are good for the society. We work hard. We pay our bills, we keep our promises.
11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
Third, we must share the gospel. But we need to learn to do it without being completely repulsive.
6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
Col. 4:
I’ve known people who share the gospel, but they do it with an attitude that is completely repulsive. They will tell me, “I did my job and they rejected Christ. I can’t control that.” I thought, “They didn’t reject Christ, they rejected you!”
We must share the gospel. But, if we don’t do it in love and show genuine care of them. They really haven’t heard the gospel. Because God love the lost. Let’s make sure the words of believers show that God’s children love the lost too.
Words have power. They have power as we pray to God, proclaim his truth, and present his word. Have you set your words on mission?