“Christian Living 101”
(Colossians 4:2-6)
Series: The All-Satisfying Christ (Colossians)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
Take your Bibles and join me this morning in Colossians, chapter 4 (page 794; YouVersion).
We are preaching through the Book of Colossians and are now in the last chapter, chapter 4, and in a moment picking up at verse 2.
Next month I look forward to beginning a new series of messages entitled, “Encounters with Christ,” and how an encounter with Jesus Christ changes everything. We’ll be looking at a number of different passages where individuals encounter Jesus, men like Zacchaeus, the wee little man in the tree; and the woman at the well in Samaria, and others, too. Encounters with Christ; how Jesus changes everything.
This morning we find ourselves at a very practical paragraph in Colossians, verses 2 through 6. In my translation, the New King James Version, there is a heading above these verses that reads, “Christian Graces.” Most of the other translations like the ESV or NIV have, “Further Instructions.” My favorite is the JB Phillips paraphrase that has a heading that reads, “Some Simple, Practical Advice.”
I think we’ll find that to be true as we read the passage this morning.
Let me invite you to please stand in honor of the Word of God.
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Pray.
Introduction:
Listen to this statement about a fella who wrote a letter to a friend. He wrote this: “I’ve written you a long letter because I didn’t have time to write a short one.” That was written by Blaise Pascal, the 17th Century French mathematician and Christian philosopher. It comes from a collection of his letters, this one written in 1657. And the statement reminds us of the difficult task of editing.
When I was a journalism major at Georgia State University, one of the more challenging tasks I had to learn was the ability to cut down the number of written words in a news story. News print is all about getting as many words onto a page as possible, so the economy of words and crafting words, or “word-smithing,” is an important part of the writing process.
You write a draft, then you write another draft, and still another, all the while trying to say the same thing each time in as few words as possible. It takes time to write well.
So Pascal refers to the challenge of this meticulous editing process when he writes to his colleague: “I’ve written you a long letter because I didn’t have time to write a short one.” I didn’t have time to cut it down to a more succinct, pleasing, yet thorough letter.
What the Apostle Paul communicates here in verses 2-6 strikes me as a very succinct, yet thorough, statement about Christian living. Paul could have written much more, and indeed he has elsewhere, but here in these five verses Paul provides a short, concise, yet relatively comprehensive statement on what I would call, “Christian Living 101,” or, “The Basics of Christian Living.”
Let’s remember that Paul is addressing believers here, Christians. We note that even in the immediate context in verse 5 where he encouraged Christians to behave in a certain way toward “those who are outside,” those who are not “in,” that is, those who are not Christians.
Let’s remember that as we read this passage. We must always study these letters to the churches through the lens of the Gospel. Because we are “in,” because we are “in Christ,” we live this way, we live out these four basics of Christian living.
In my notes I wrote down these four basics as four participles—praying, sharing, living, speaking—they just came out this way in my study this week. So here is the first basic, the first example of faithful Christian living. The Christian’s life will be marked by a grateful prayer life, grateful praying to the Lord.
**Four Basics of Christian Living:
Grateful Praying (2-4)
Prayer. What most Christians talk about. What few Christians actually do, at least not as much as they would like. Praying. Grateful praying. Verse 2, Paul says:
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
So praying and thanksgiving go hand-in-hand. They go together. There is no meaningful prayer apart from thanksgiving and thanksgiving itself inspires us to talk to God, to thank Him for what He has done.
Grateful praying. And Paul says Christians are to—verse 2—continue “earnestly” in prayer,” continue earnestly, “being vigilant” in it. It calls forth notions of consistency and urgency.
Sam Storms suggests Paul wrote, “Continue earnestly in prayer” because, says Storms, “The easiest thing about praying is quitting.”
Some of us, when we come to passages like this, begin to feel guilt and shame because we feel we do not pray enough.
Of course prayer is given for our good. We must remember that our Lord said to the disciples:
Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation (cf Mark 14:38; Luke 22:40, 46).”
So one of the benefits of prayer is that we avoid falling into temptation. And there are other benefits, like just the whole idea of spending time with the Father! Spending time in communion with the One, True, God!!
I love when I make time for prayer. I really do. I have to make time, to be sure, but I love when I do! I love when I make time for prayer because I feel and sense the Father’s presence when I pray to HIm.
This is one answer to the question, “Why pray if God knows what we need before we speak?” Sometimes Christians ask that. “What’s the point of praying if God already knows what we’re going to say?”
Well first of all, God loves to be asked. Proverbs 15:8 says, “The prayer of the upright is His delight.” He loves to hear His children talk to Him.
But again, what about our experience in prayer? Prayer is a two-way communal time of sharing. We are in His presence. We fellowship with Him in prayer. This to me is the most important aspect of Grateful Praying. The presence of God.
Communing in God’s presence also helps us to think Christianly about so-called “unanswered prayer.” By the way, visit the church Facebook page for seven reasons for unanswered prayer. Why does God seem unwilling to answer every prayer? Here’s one I really like. This again from Sam Storms:
Steadfast endurance in coming again and again to the throne of grace is God’s way of cultivating in us a sense of absolute and utter dependence upon him. We are by nature self-reliant, self-sufficient folk. If God were instantly and at all times to answer our every prayer we would gradually lose our sense of urgency. Truth be told, most of us would soon lose sight of the fact that it is God alone who is the source of all good. By suspending his response, God is saying to each of us: “Just how desperate are you? How conscious are you that I am your only source, your sole and all-sufficient supply?”
Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
Grateful praying. And Paul tells the Colossian Christians specifically how they can pray for him. He writes in verses 3 and 4:
3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
Paul is saying, “Pray for us, pray for me, pray that God would give us receptive hearts—an open door to share the Word of God, to share the Gospel,” which Paul refers to as, “the mystery of Christ,” the unveiling of the glorious plan of God to save sinners through Jesus Christ.
Paul says in verse 4, “Pray that I will make it manifest—or make it clear—as I ought to speak.” In other words, “Pray that I say the right thing when I share the Gospel.”
It’s always wise to ask someone to pray for you specifically when you are sharing the Gospel. You have a family member or a friend and God gives you a unique opportunity to share, you call or text someone: “Pray for me at 3:30. I’m going to be speaking to so and so about Jesus Christ. Pray, “that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”
So here is the second mark of Christian Basics, Christian Living 101—first Grateful Praying, secondly:
Gospel Sharing (3-4)
If we are “in Christ,” we are those who are “inside” the faith, rather than “outside” the faith, then God uses us to share the Good News of Jesus with others. Look again at verse 3 this time from the standpoint of the one who is sharing.
3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
God has called all of us to share the mystery of Christ, the plan of God to save sinners through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We each of us are to look for open doors for the word. This afternoon we look for that open door for the word that we may speak the mystery of Christ, that we may speak the life-giving good news of the Gospel. Today, this very day, we look for God to open to us a door for the word to speak of salvation in Christ Jesus. Today, at lunch. Today, at Sureway. Today, at Wal-Mart. Today!
Paul reminds the Colossians that this is why he is locked-up. This is what Paul is, as he says there in the end of verse 3, “I am also in chains,” for his Gospel-Sharing. Remember that Paul is writing to the church from prison in Rome. He will mention these chains again in among his last words in the last verse of chapter 4: “Remember my chains (verse 18).”
Paul is in prison because he loved Jesus more than he loved his freedom. Here is a reminder that, in His sovereignty, God may allow us to face difficult circumstances even in the context of obedience. He allows His children to go to jail even when they are obeying His will. Think about that for a moment.
That’s no big deal if you love Jesus more than you love being out of jail. Paul loved Gospel-sharing more than comfort-living. He loved the world’s Savior more than he loved the world’s stuff.
Yes, as Christians we may well go through—Romans 8:35,39—tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword, but nothing will separate us from the love of God!
So, “Pray also for us, that God would open to us a door,” not a door to be released from prison,” but rather, “that God would open to us a door for the Word,” the Bible, “to speak the mystery of Christ,” the Gospel, “for which I am also in chains.”
May God open the door, not the prison door so that I may go home and watch Netflix, but may God open a door today for our sharing the Gospel.
And, “that we will make the Gospel manifest,” verse 4, that we will make it manifest, that we will be clear, as we share the Gospel.
Someone said, “The reason some of us say little, is because we’ve little to say.”
Do you have something to say? Have you been saved by grace through faith in Christ? If so, you have something to say! You can say something about Jesus! Sometimes just talking about Him throughout the course of the day is as powerful as a specific witnessing occasion. In other words, sometimes just the way we carry ourselves and the way we go about our daily lives is a powerful witness to those on the outside.
This is the point of verse 5:
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
And this takes us to the third basic mark of Christian living. We have mentioned Grateful Praying, Gospel Sharing, now thirdly:
Godly Living (5)
Holiness. Again, verse 5:
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
In other words, “Practice Godly Living.” Walk wisely, or live wisely, toward those who are outside—toward unbelievers—redeeming the time—which is to say, “Make the most of every opportunity God gives you today to tell others about Jesus.”
Making the most of every opportunity. Redeeming, “Buying up” every opportunity, seizing every chance. Redeeming is a word from the marketplace. Buy up opportunities like you would buy up gifts at the shopping mall when there’s a big sale going on. Getting as much as you can for every penny. Getting as much of Jesus into the lives of others as is possible with every second or minute of time provided.
And much of the way we tell others about Jesus is by way of our Godly living. Holiness. Our actions are preaching and teaching the Gospel all the time.
The great evangelical scholar FF Bruce says, “Non-Christians may not read the Bible or listen to the preaching of the Word of God; but they can see the lives of those who do, and form their judgment accordingly.”
Remember the poem?
You are writing a Gospel, a chapter each day
By the things that you do and the words that you say,
Men read what you write, whether faithless or true,
So what is the gospel according to you?
I know, it’s kind of cheesy, but it makes the point: People are watching our Christian living. And our actions will either draw unbelievers closer to Jesus or will push them further away.
Let’s make sure we behave in such a way as to draw others closer to Jesus. Godly living.
Here’s the fourth and final mark of Christian Living. We’ve mentioned Grateful Praying, Gospel Sharing, Godly Living, number four:
Gracious Speaking (6)
Verse 6 is a good memory verse. If you’re looking for a good verse to memorize this week, let me suggest verse 6:
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
That’s good, isn’t it? Gracious speaking. The New Living Translation puts verse 6 like this:
“Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.”
As Christians the words we use are so important! Both the words we use and the words we don’t use are critical to Christian living.
Listen to the third and fourth paragraphs of our Church Covenant. Beginning in the third paragraph around the second line, we covenant together:
…to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger…
Fourth paragraph:
We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
I like that phrase, “seasoned with salt!” Salt adds zest, flavor, seasoning.
Jesus says Christians are “the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13),” so there out to be something about our speech, our words adding a bit of zest to others.
So don’t be insipid! Don’t be dull!! Tasteless!! You are bearing witness to Jesus Christ!!! There’s something about our lives that should be like shaking salt upon others and creating a thirst for Jesus.
Howard Hendricks was known for modifying the timeless adage: “You can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make him drink,” and he would add, “That’s true, but you can make the horse thirsty by feeding it salt.” You can make the horse thirsty.
So, the way you live, do you make people thirsty for what you have?
Stand for prayer
…Are you among “those who are outside?”…
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