Sermon Tone Analysis

When We Open Our Mouth People Can See Our Heart!

Speech is a very powerful weapon…

a judge can speak a few words and either provide freedom or condemnation…

a doctor can speak a few words and either bring joy and adulation to their patient or they can bring despair

Whether the words are spoken or written or typed on a keyboard…there is great power in our words…

Speech is a very powerful gift from God and it must be used the way He ordains it to be used…

Sadly, like everything else that is good, we have corrupted it…our tongue is such a small organ in our body yet it reveals so much about us!

Listen to what Jesus says to the Pharisees...

The tongue even though it is small, it is difficult to control…it is the truest indicator of our spiritual state…Jesus goes on to say...

It is out of the abundance of heart the mouth speaks…so when we open our mouth people truly can see what is in our hearts!

Look at what the Scripture says about the unredeemed tongue…this is not an exhaustive list but worth a look...

The unredeemed tongue is...

Evil — Prov.

15:28

Deceitful — Jer 9:8

Filled with curses — Ps. 10:7

Lies — Prov.

12:22

Destructive — Prov.

11:11

Vain — 2 Peter 2:18

Foolish — Prov.

15:2

Careless — Matt 12:36

Boastful — Rom.

1:30

Now let’s compare that with what the Bible says about the redeemed tongue…again this is not an exhaustive list, but worth looking at...

The redeemed tongue...

Confesses sin — 1 Jn.

1:9

Confesses Christ — Rom.

10:9-10

Edifies — Eph 4:29

Praises God — Heb.

13:15

Blesses enemies — 1 Peter 3:9

Speaks of God — Ps. 66:16

Speaks wisdom and kindness — Prov.

31:26

Gentle — Prov.

15:1

As we begin to wrap up this series in Colossians we find ourselves looking into the mirror with our mouths wide open… turn to Col 4:2-6…

In Col 4:2-6, Paul continues his exhortation of what the new man in Christ looks like…specifically in the area of speech…how we choose to use our tongue… personal conversations...

Col 3:5-17 — personal characteristics of the new man that must be put on

Col 3:18-4:1 — Personal conduct in our every day life will be impacted, both in our homes and in our jobs...

The world is constantly looking at us to determine if they want what we have…they especially take notice of how we talk to and about each other as well as to and about them… not just what we say, but how we say it…

Let’s remember the key verse of Col…Col 1:18

If that is our heart this morning then we ought to want to grow in the use of our tongue…remember what James says about our tongue

Read Col 4:2-6

Paul is going to appeal to his readers and us that the outside world needs to see us walking and talking carefully!

Your Speech Must Honor Your Savior

Let’s examine three characteristics of speech that shows Jesus has first place in our life...

We Have A Tongue that Prays Faithfully

How is prayer described in verses 2-3?

A. Devoted

proskartereo – kartereo – “to be steadfast, to endure” … with the preposition that intensifies it’s meaning – “to be courageously persistent, to hold fast and not let go.”

Does this describe your prayer life?…is it devoted

too many of us pray only occasionally…when we feel like it or when there is a crisis… God’s command to us is to pray without ceasing…1 Thess 5:17… this means we are to be constantly in fellowship with God so that prayer is as normal as breathing...

This is not something done out of raw duty…it is to be connected to everything you know and learn about Christ and your position in Him… go back and read the entire book of Colossians in one setting… circle or highlight everything Paul says about Jesus...

If you and I truly believe all that, then we would be more devoted to using our tongues to pray… not because you have to, but because you get to!

B. Alert

the word here means to be fully awake!

We need to be awake to our own needs and those of our family, our church, our nation, our world…

not just physical needs, but spiritual and emotional needs...

We need to be awake to the dangers that threaten the Christian community… the world wants Christians to compromise everything they believe to be true and stop calling sin sin…

just recently read an article where a mainline denominational pastor (I say that reluctantly) along with her organization, National Abortion Federation, gave gas cards to women seeking abortions because the distance they had to drive to abortion clinics often created financial hardships on them… she calls abortion a blessing and our work is not done...

Why is this happening… one reason is because believers are asleep in their prayers

We need to be awake to the blessings both received and promised

We need to be awake to the will of God...

C. Thankful

If all we ever do is ask and never show gratitude then we are selfish…we have so much to be thankful for...

this is the fifth time Paul has mentioned thankfulness in this short book…

Colossians 3:17 - Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

And then did you see the transition in verse 3…[read – v. 3 – through “word”]…

D. Purposeful

Colossians 4:3 - praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word…

So often we pray in generalities…how much better our prayers would be, how much more they could accomplish if we would take the time to really show concern for one another by asking for specific ways in which we can pray and then actually PRAY...

We pray not that man’s will be done in heaven, but that God’s will be done on earth!

Praying is asking what God wants done here, not what we want done here…it is to be in accordance with His will, not ours...

now, let me ask you to pause and think about the way you tend to pray...

what we read in this passage is about using our tongues to pray in ways that are devoted, and alert, and thankful, and purposeful…

that’s the way people who want Jesus to have first place in everything pray…

Implications...

Is the regular habit of your life to be faithful in your prayers, or do you only pray when there is a crisis?

Is the regular habit of your life to pray specifically for others because you are awake to the spiritual battles they currently face, or do you quickly criticize them in their struggles?

Is the regular habit of your life to be thankful for the blessings you have already recieved and those you know are coming, or are you more concerned about what you don’t have?

Is the regular habit of your life to pray with God’s purposes in mind, or yours?

One of the ways we show that Jesus Christ has first place in everything is by cultivating a prayer life that shows how much we treasure the privilege of coming into His presence.

did you notice the “tongue transition” in verse 3…because Paul begins talking about the way he speaks…

which when you think about it is absolutely fascinating…if there’s any example of a man who faithfully gave his life to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, it was the apostle Paul – and yet here he is humbly requesting prayer from these dear believers to be sure that his witness is faithful and true…so not just a tongue that prays faithfully, but also…

We Have A Tongue that Proclaims Clearly

please glance down over verses 3-4 and look for ways that Paul describes how we should speak for Christ…

A. Looking for open doors

Paul didn’t pray that God would open up the prison door, but he did pray God open up the ministry door!

He didn’t look at his circumstances as a detriment…he wanted to minister in the midst of his circumstances....

It was more important to him that he was a faithful minister of the word instead of a free man…his concern was for spiritual character and blessing, not personal safety and material help...

But doesn’t that seem to be the bulk of our prayer time?

we lay out for God this laundry list of things we want Him to do for us…or to give us…

What we see here is that our prayer list ought to be driven by God giving us ways to minister His Word to others…pray Lord help me make a difference in someone!

When was the last time you prayed for that?

When was the last time you looked for that?

So instead of praying Lord, change my co-workers, change my spouse, change my children, change my ________, stop for a moment and consider there might be an open door of ministry as you respond well to people who may never change!

Lord, thank you for the flaws of my co-workers and the excellent open doors of ministry those opportunities afford me…

Lord, thank you for the flaws of my spouse, my children, my _____________ and the excellent open doors of ministry those opportunities afford me...

There may be people here today who who can honestly say – I do that all the time…Lord, please help me to see and seize any ministry opportunities you make available today...

Yet there are others might have to say – I never even consider that on a daily basis…I am so caught up in my earthly work and pursuits, that I don’t stop long enough to consider who God wants me to minister to today...

B. So we will speak forth the mystery

What does that mean?

Paul already used this term earlier in the book, when he said…

in this case we’re talking about the content of the gospel…which involved God’s purpose for the Gentiles in relation to Israel…in the church, Jews and Gentiles are one…