Sharpening Our Focus: Continue & Walk
Notes
Transcript
Continue in Prayer and Walk in Wisdom
Continue in Prayer and Walk in Wisdom
We are called to prayer and wisdom.
We are called to prayer and wisdom.
In chapter 3, Paul spoke of being raised with Christ, seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, setting your minds on things above, not things on earth, putting to death what is earthly in us, and putting those evil ways away. Then he speaks of relationships, and what they should look like in the church. he writes of compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, how we need to bear with one another. And above all of that we are to put on love, that binds everything together in perfect harmony. importantly, he gives the command to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching, admonishing in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God, and doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. After writing about putting on the new self, Paul next addresses relationships in the family, which we discussed last week. husbands and wives, parents and children, servant and master.
Now Paul moves into some final words of encouragement for the church:
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.
Continue Steadfastly In Prayer
Continue Steadfastly In Prayer
The word we see here translated “steadfastly”, means to “adhere to” or “persist in”. It is a word that came to be used of a boat that always stands ready for someone, or an activity that one was devoted to or busily engaged in . It is the same word used in Mark3.9 “And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him,” . Just as a boat owner wants his boat to be ready for when it is time to use it, we are to be ready, to persist in, to be steadfast, in prayer. Now, I’ve never owned a boat, but I have a car, and I want it to be ready to go. I want to get in, to have it start, to be able to travel down the road. You may be able to go a while without doing anything to your car to keep it ready to move. But if you don’t keep the tank filled, it won’t go. If you don’t do the maintenance, it will break down. We are to continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
There is a close parallel to what Paul writes here in Ephesians, the other prison epistle that bears many resemblances to Colossians, and it is good for us to look at that so that we can see how much of an emphasis Paul puts on this, how important he considers it.
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, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
steadfast in prayer, praying at all times in the Spirit, keep alert with perseverance, pray for all the saints, and Paul asks for prayer for himself, but not selfishly, but because he wants to see the kingdom work he is going about doing have success that will result in the salvation of many lost people.
As one would expect from 1:3ff., these instructions focus on fundamentals: Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. It is possible that ‘watchful’ refers obliquely to the church’s ‘watching’ for the Lord’s return; more likely that, as in Matthew 26:41, it means ‘stay awake’, ‘keep alert’.
Wright, N. T. Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 12. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986. Print. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries.
We see again and again throughout the new testament especially, but in the Old Testament it is clear as well, that living for God, and Paul writes specifically, living for Christ, is a battle of endurance. Certainly our lives involve times of great challenge, where we must fight a fierce spiritual battle, but most of life is more like small skirmishes, you need to make it through one skirmish at a time. You need to press on, you need to look forward to the prize. So we see words like persevere, persist, be steadfast. No motivational posters will really capture what this is about, but for the believer, the understanding gets clearer with each experience, with each passing year, as our faith is refined as though through fire.
So our prayers are to be watchful and thankful. And beyond praying ourselves through the daily battles of life, Paul says pray for us. He and his fellow workers, pray that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ. What missionaries and evangelists and pastors often ask for is prayer. Effective ministry is supported not primarily by money, but by prayer. So many people sit in their church and wonder why the church leadership isn't doing more to grow the church. If the people of the church pray for the ministry of the church, and pray for their pastors and leaders, that will have more positive implications than all the programs and marketing we could do.
We can have nice websites, and a great facility, and every modern gimmick, but if the church is not praying, then it is all empty. This is the job of everyone in the church. Certainly some seem to have a greater gift of prayer, but it is everyone’s privilege to pray for the church.
Be motivated by prayer, he says, “being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (4:2). To be bound with persons in prayer secures a relationship, keeps it whole and growing, in a way nothing else can. When I pray for another from whom I may be estranged, I cannot remain the same in my feelings and in my separation from that person. When I pray for another person about whom I genuinely care, or even for a person I may not know, the power of love and caring is so generated within me that it flows out into the life of the other, or is “passed on” to the other in ways I may not even recognize.
Pastors often hear about people in the church who aren’t getting along. whatever the beef is that you may have with a fellow believer, have you tried praying for them? See what happens when you do! In fact, I challenge you to try this. If someone in the church is on your nerves, or you’ve had sharp words, pray for them! Even if their attitude does not change towards you, your attitude will change towards them! And this is your Christian duty. How much tension in your relationships would be relieved if you would just pray for each other as much as you gripe about each other. You may be amazed.
The Bible Exposition Commentary (Chapter Eleven: Talk Is Not Cheap! (Colossians 4:2–9))
There is always so much to be thankful for! We have already noted the emphasis in Paul’s Letter to the Colossians on thanksgiving (Col. 1:3, 12; 2:7; 3:15, 17; 4:2). When we recall that Paul was a prisoner when he wrote this letter, it makes this emphasis even more wonderful.
Walk in Wisdom
Walk in Wisdom
Along with prayer, we are to Walk in wisdom. Col4.5-6 “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.”
Who are outsiders? Those outside the church. People who have different beliefs. If they don’t believe Christ, they are lost, no matter how nice they may seem. They need Jesus. And we can be wise about our demeanor towards them. Sadly, there are many stories out there of a church member acting in an offensive way, and later someone else tries to talk with someone and they say, “Oh, you go to that church? That’s where so and so goes, he is such a jerk! I saw him yelling at a store clerk just the other day.”
We need to walk in wisdom toward outsiders. That means our way of living ought to impress them. People should notice something different about us. We should not be irritable. We should not be gossips. We should not be the ones at work complaining constantly about the management. To this thought of walking in wisdom Paul connects making the best use of the time, or some translations will say redeeming the time.
If you ever watch a congressional hearing, you see them often interrupting each other, and someone will start yelling “Redeeming my time! Redeeming my time! And what they mean by this is that since they only had an allotted time, and someone interrupted them, they want their time back. the senator or congressman will say something like, “I have five minutes to ask questions, and I was interrupted, I am redeeming my time!”
And we often feel cheated of our time. Maybe you caught every red light on the way and you redeemed your time by speeding. That is an incorrect way to redeem your time. We hate it when our time is wasted by someone else, but we are quite satisfied so long as we are wasting our own time. When Paul says make the best use of your time, he is pointing out that time spent with outsiders who desperately need Jesus, if our time with them is spent on trivial things, we are wasting that time.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eleven: Talk Is Not Cheap! (Colossians 4:2–9)
It also means we must be alert to use the opportunities God gives us for personal witnessing. “Redeeming the time” means buying up the opportunity (Eph. 5:16). This is a commercial term and pictures the Christian as a faithful steward who knows an opportunity when he sees one. Just as a merchant seizes a bargain when he finds one, so a Christian seizes the opportunity to win a soul to Christ.
Part of making the best use of the time is that our speech should be gracious, or grace-filled. All of our words should be this way. What is gracious speech? speech that offers grace to the ones listening. grace is not assuming the worst about someone. Grace is understanding that difference people have different outlooks. I will give as an example what I hear almost daily about vaccines. And frankly, much of the language used for this topic is not very gracious. There are people who truly believe the vaccines were produced too quickly, and they are concerned that we do not yet know all the possible long term side effects, because most vaccines take much longer to produce and have many years of testing. Others believe the science behind the vaccines is solid, and they think whatever risk the vaccines may pose are far outweighed by the benefits. I believe both sides have intelligent reasons why they take the position they do. There are valid concerns on both sides. There is valid science on both sides. And it is a new thing that our country has come to, where people want to know what medical decision you made, and why.
Someone dies from covid, or is hospitalized, and if they were vaccinated, the ones who are skeptical of the vaccines say “AHA!” and if they were not vaccinated, the ones who believe in the vaccine say “AHA!”. Is that the kind of world you want to be a part of, where you focus less on the sad loss of a loved one and more on whether or not they were in your camp or thinking? We need to stop that! Why would you allow such a thing to divide you? I really appreciate the concerns of everyone. I have people dear to me on both sides of the vaccination arguments. But here is what makes me very sad. On each side, I have heard people say something like “How can those other people be so stupid?”. This breaks my heart, because I have heard many Christians make such statements. Is that what we do? If someone doesn’t come to the same conclusion we do, we call them stupid?
When I was a teen, I had a Chevy truck and so there was this natural division between the guys in my high school who had pickups, the ford guys and the chevy guys and the dodge guys. And we all thought the camp we were in was the best. and we would argue, and race to see who was fastest, or go down a muddy road to see who got through the best. No one faults teenagers too much on that. But if we saw two adults insulting each other because they had a different brand of vehicle, we would say that is silly. They are acting childish. Is it not childish as well to judge someone over their personal medical decision? To say those people are stupid, or idiots? In the end, vaccinations are not a gospel issue. No one is going to lose their salvation over a vaccination decision.
And let us not forget the context here. Col4.5-6 “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.” gracious speech, seasoned with salt
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eleven: Talk Is Not Cheap! (Colossians 4:2–9)
We should never say to anyone, “Now, take this with a grain of salt.” We must put the salt into our speech to make sure it is pure and properly seasoned. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth” (Eph. 4:29). Our speech must be pure.
Salt was also added to the sacrifices (Lev. 2:13). Perhaps Paul was suggesting that we look on our words as sacrifices offered to God, just as our words of praise are spiritual sacrifices (Heb. 13:15). It would no doubt help us to say the right things in the right manner if we remembered that our words are looked on as sacrifices to God.
Scripture says a ton about our speech. It is one of the areas of greatest challenge to serve the Lord with, so it is no surprise that scripture is filled with both warnings and encouragements to us about how we are to speak.
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.
Lying and anger should not mark the believer, nor the church. We are to be honest both in the congregation and outside.
There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
I love the contrasts in the proverbs, here is a pro and con so to speak. rash words are like sword thrusts. Sword thrusts wound, draw blood. When do sword thrusts happen? during a fight. We should not weaponize our speech, to cause wounds to others by what we say. Instead, we should be wise. The tongue of the wise brings healing.
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Be doers of the word is often a phrase people like to use for all kinds of things, sometimes even to manipulate others to do something. But remember that context is king. The context of being doers of the word is found when we look at the whole passage. quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. And here is a verse that has been a great check on my spirit time and again as I work out my faith. James 1:20 “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
Christians love to pretend their own anger is righteous. While it is possible to have righteous anger, most of the anger we feel is not righteous. Most of it is unrighteous. This is such an important point, it may need to sink in, so I will say it again: Christians love to pretend their own anger is righteous. While it is possible to have righteous anger, most of the anger we feel is not righteous. Most of it is unrighteous. James1:20 “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.
Another great metaphor from Proverbs. When we have no self-control, we are vulnerable to being plundered. No self control at costco may result in you being plundered of your savings. No self control at work may mean you get plundered of your pay raise or promotion. No self control at home means you family is more vulnerable to attacks from outside. And no self control in the church may result in all kinds of bad teachings and doctrines tearing down the foundations of our faith.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Sadly, in the world and often in the church, it is more like this: If your brother sins against you, go to someone else to talk about it. But that is not the way our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ taught us.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
What a great promise! If you are tempted to mouth off, either out loud, or whispering, or even in your mind you are finding yourself tempted to judge others, remember this temptation is not without an escape route.
Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
Yes,
Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
We are called to prayer and wisdom.
We are called to prayer and wisdom.
Col4.2-6 “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.”