Pray for and Live the Gospel

Colossians 4:2-6

We have come nearly to the end of our study on Colossians. Paul was concerned for the Colossian Christians. They had been saved, they were growing in Christ - but some people said their faith was insufficient. If you remember there were 2 groups of people. The Gnostics said Christ was good, but not enough - you need a secret mystical connection to God to be truly spiritual. The legalists said Christ was good, but you still need to keep certain Old Testament laws - don’t touch this, don’t eat that, don’t wear this. But Paul taught that real spirituality was firstly an inward holiness that would affect outward behavior. You’re not spiritual because you have some charismatic experience or because you don’t smoke or drink. You’re spiritual because your affections are heavenly which leads to putting off the old man - you’re putting off lying, anger, malice, bitterness - you’re putting on truth, humbleness of mind, meekness, patience.

True spirituality and obedience break down mysticism by insisting on a practical Christianity - it’s better to speak 5 words of instruction rather than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. And true spirituality and obedience break down legalism by insisting on the heart - you’re not holy when you’re a harsh moral policeman, but when you’re merciful and patient. This is the character of Christ - who transforms us from bad vines to fruitful ones. And this especially affects our immediate relationships as well as our relationship with the world. People will see Christ in us; how we talk, what we say - people will hear Christ from our lips. This is what we want to see today.

In Colossians 4:2 onwards, Paul wrote his parting words. And he made an appeal. He asked for prayer for the work of the gospel and appealed to them to do the work of the gospel. His appeal was two-fold. Firstly, pray for the work of the gospel. Secondly, live out the gospel.

Firstly, pray for the work of the gospel. Verses 2-4 say, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” Paul was asking them to pray for his ministry - that doors would open so that he could preach. And here, he told them how to pray in 2 ways.

The first way was to pray earnestly. Verse 2 says, “continue in prayer.” The word “continue” means to continue earnestly. Or it can be translated as continue steadfastly. Like the early disciples in Acts 2:42 - “… they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread, in prayers.” Same word. Christ was their all - their families had kicked them out, the leaders were persecuting them - all for following Christ. So they worshiped him with earnestness. They saw the change in their lives. And those who have been changed must pray earnestly.

Essentially, this is a call to place a high priority on the gospel. Brethren, what’s our calling here on earth? It is to glorify God. It’s to believe the gospel - to have it change our lives, to prepare us to live in heaven forever. And if that’s the priority, then let’s pray for the work of the ministry. That’s the emphasis. Pray for souls to be saved; pray the Word preached would grow all of us - that we would love Christ more. And it’s an important emphasis - because we can forget it.

Those of us who have served long enough know that when a need is brought up or a problem is identified, we often want to respond immediately by tackling the issue with plans. We come together, plan, organize, and determine how to execute. That’s a common modus operandi. Planning is not wrong, but what is most needed first is urgent, continual, and earnest prayer for God to work. A. C. Dixon, one of Spurgeon’s successors once said about prayer - “When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do, when we rely upon education, we get what education can do; when we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do; and so on. I am not disposed to undervalue any of these things in their proper place. But when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do.”

One of the greatest lacks in the modern church is prayer. Everyone knows this. People are always willing and ready to start new ministries, to fill this or that gap. Doing something for the Lord is good - but has he led in this way? And one can’t discern this unless one prays earnestly. And we may have burdens and concerns, but how much do we pray? We’re quick to move and to do. EM Bounds wrote - “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use - men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.”

The second way was to pray with alertness. “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” “Watch” literally means to stay awake; in other words, we are to be alert and vigilant in prayer. But what does it mean? And what does it mean to be alert in prayer with thanksgiving? What does it look like? I believe this speaks about the attitude and urgency of prayer. We are to be alert about what to pray for. You and I know, sometimes when we get together in prayer, we pray for the same things, right? Day after day, week after week, we pray for the same things. But what about the things that are happening around you? Are you alert to pray for those things?

Paul demonstrated this in the beginning of his letter. In Colossians 1, he gave thanks to God, praying always for them - he had heard of their faith, their love to all saints, their hope in heaven; how they bore fruit. But he also prayed for them - that they would not be confused by the legalists and the Gnostics. That they would grow in true holiness. He knew of their situation, he prayed earnestly for them. We are to be alert to pray for things God is leading us to pray. And often, it depends what we are concerned about. If you are frequently only praying for your own life and troubles, there may not be alertness. And sin makes us dull in prayer. When we get sucked into our own lives and troubles, we won’t be alert. John Bunyan said - “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” That’s why we should come together often to pray, yes, for one another, our troubles, but also for the kingdom. To pray earnestly and alertly with thanksgiving for the kingdom.

And this is seen in verses 3-4. Not only does Paul tell them how to pray, but he tells them specifically what to pray for - “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”

Here he was asking them to pray for the witness of the Gospel. His call for prayer was for “us” meaning his co-laborers. We should be praying for missionaries, missions, and ourselves. That there would be a door of utterance - meaning, opportunity to speak the gospel. Paul may have been in prison, and he couldn’t move around freely, but the gospel was not imprisoned. His first desire was not to be released, but that the gospel would go forth. It is to look for God-sized opportunities. That’s what we pray for - that God would give us opportunity to live and speak the gospel.

Dearly beloved, we pray for kingdom, others, and self in that order. Perhaps we are weighed down by our struggles - and that’s all we pray for. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Try it - when you pray for the kingdom, your trials will seem much smaller. Often, they become less important. And I have heard this testimony again and again. When COVID happened, the church was alert to pray for those affect and when we heard of a need - that foreigners were affected by the lockdown - 5+2 was proposed. The church prayed, the church reached out. And I heard how Christ injected joy, vitality, and excitement into your hearts. Some of you continue to reach out to these precious souls. And this leads to a spirit of thanksgiving. Our trials, become so much smaller.

Remember Paul’s situation? He could’ve prayed and lamented for his own life - for his sores and pain. Now, personal items are not unimportant. But we must pray for God’s kingdom. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Paul constantly prayed. And Paul saw the answers. The gospel was preached in prison - Onesimus came to Christ - and now he returned him to the Colossian church. What a potential for development. Paul asked them to pray the gospel be preached clearly. Verse 4 says, “That I may make it manifest (or clear), as I ought to speak.” And if this is what we pray, this is also how we live. We will be concerned with living and speaking the gospel.

That’s the second point - live out the gospel. Verses 5-6 says, “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”vYou can’t pray for the work of the ministry, if you’re not living the gospel. This was the point of Paul’s letter - the legalists are teaching you a false way of obedience; the mystics are teaching you a false way of spirituality. So you need to live the right way to those close to you. And verse 5 reminds us to conduct ourselves wisely towards unbelievers. And wisdom in Scripture has to do with obedience. Be holy. have right motives. Do what’s right. That’s wisdom. The chicken rice aunty returns you more change than you should get back, the wise thing is to return it. The worldly wise will keep it. If you can siam work and kheng your way out, they will do it in the world. But not you. How do your colleagues, classmates, neighbors, or that NTUC cashier look at you? Put off the old, put on the new.

They’ll know Christ is true, not by the beautiful church building, or fun church programs, or groovy church music - but the lives of Christians. Witness for Christ. Use every opportunity to do so. That’s what “redeem the time” means. The word “redeem” means to buy. Time is precious. Treasure it. Use every opportunity to shine for Christ. How do you respond to unbelievers or even believers? Do you respond in ways that characterize the old man or the new man? Are you looking for opportunities to cheat or bless? Are you a suspicious person or without malice in thought? Are you an angry or gentle person? It all matters. Are you a contrarian - always having issues? If we are not holy in our deeds, living the gospel, how shall we witness by our words?

Verse 6 says, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Let our words be gracious - seasoned with salt. Now, what does this mean? Some say that our words should be pleasing to God. In the Old Testament, salt was sprinkled on the sacrifices and mixed into incense. Ezekiel 43:24 says, “And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD.” Maybe. Others say, that our words should be holy - just salt is a preservative, what we say should promote holiness. That we would transform the conversations around us. Maybe.

But I think the meaning is this. Salt is flavorful. So let your words be gracious - your speech flavorful - not bitter or acerbic, vituperative or caustic. We would say “sweet” in English. And such gracious and sweet speech does glorify God and transforms the conversations around us. So let us know when to hold our tongue, when to speak out. When to restrain our fast retorts online and on our chat app. While we may disagree with them, it matters how you speak about our government or against their policies. It matters how you speak. Even talking about doctrine or church. You can be passionate, but please, some of you are too old to be cage staged Calvinists.

You’re a new man, speak like one. Colossians 3:8 says, “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.” If you’re saved, your speech must show it. That your speech would be an influence - to witness to others. And it must be intentionally so. The end of verse 6 says, “that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

There are 2 things to note here. Firstly, there is an obligation to give an answer. The word “ought” shows a duty to answer questions you are posed. “Why don’t you just keep the change from the chicken rice aunty?” “Why are you such a goody two shoes?” “Do you think you’re better than we are?” “Why do you go to church?” “What kind of God do you worship?” “Why do you keep talking about Jesus?”

But secondly, how you do it matters - that you may know how you ought to give an answer. Do you know, that if you’re careful and mindful of how you speak - that your speech is holy - if affects how you share the gospel. In fact, you will share it more willingly. If you have been a terrible colleague, complaining all the time - gossiping, you will be ashamed to speak the gospel. And perhaps we are not comfortable sharing the gospel because of the way we live. Could that be so?

Let us ask ourselves some questions as we come to the close of this message. What are the evidences of your Christian growth? Is it doctrinal knowledge and church service? Those are good. But what Paul speaks about here is a changed character. And character witnesses to others. How are you in your Christian witness? In your praying for and using of opportunity? In your speech? In your deeds? What are the evidences that you are a changed person? Seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.