← ArchiveColossiansSunday, November 27, 2016DateNovember 27, 2016Speaker—TextColossians 4Passages in this sermonColossians 40:04Colossians 4:2–69:52Colossians 3:1621:50Acts 1735:57Romans 1038:21TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00You've been with us for the past couple weeks, you know we've been in Colossians, and today I'm going to close up that series, and we're going to be in Colossians chapter 4, and we're going to specifically concentrate on verses 2 through 6, so if you would go ahead and turn there with me to Colossians chapter 4, chapter 4, verses 2 through 6. As we close up this particular series in Colossians, there's a reoccurring theme that Paul is using, and he's addressing the church at Colossae, and the church at Colossians, there's followers0:29of Christ who are becoming more secular in their beliefs. As a matter of fact, they're becoming more Roman. They started to kind of pull away from their basic tenets of the Christian faith, and they started to become more secular in the way they believed, in the way they did things. And the less Christians they actually became.0:59So the letter to Colossians was an attempt to straighten them out, so to speak. And so through the entire book, and as we have gone through this particular series, here's some things that we have covered through this entire book. The priority of prayer, the supremacy of Christ, reconciliation, unity, accountability, and a righteous living is what we covered last week. Today, as we look at chapter 4, verses 2 through 6, from time to time in the life of the church,1:27there needs to be a wake-up call. From time to time in the life of the church, there needs to be a wake-up call. And I think as we close this chapter, this book out, this letter out, one of the themes is that Christianity is a converting religion. It's evangelistic by nature. It's persuasive. It's missional. It grows. It's never intended to stay within the walls and the confines of a building.1:56Would we agree with that? And so Christianity is an expanding movement. It always has been. From time to time in church history, though, it has become inward. It doesn't expand, and it starts to decrease. And so what happens is God raises up people. It raises up evangelists. It raises up individuals. And it raises up groups to wake up the church. And I pray that we are possibly in that mode, but I'm fearful.2:25As a youth pastor and as someone that has studied youth and the millennial generation, I am concerned. I am concerned. That we are slipping back. And there's some good things to say about that. We're going to kind of pick up on some of those. So Christianity is a convertion. It's evangelistic. It grows.2:55It grows. It is not forced by the sword. It is not forced on people by manipulation or by brainwashing. We're not going to brainwash anybody here today. But it does proclaim. It does persuade. It does plead. And it does pray. And where this is not believed and practiced, Christianity ceases to be Christianity and becomes something else. And that's where they were in Colossians. And some may say that's where we are today. There's some research that are out there.3:26You can look this up. If you want it, you can email me. But there's some research from the Pew Research Center. And by the way, some of these places you get all this research from, you kind of got to take it with a grain of salt because you don't know which way they're leaning. And so you got to read through some of the mess through it. The name on this particular research paper is this. Is the American public becoming less religious? Is the American public becoming less religious? And the answer to that question, of course, they say yes,3:54at least by some measures of what it means to be a religious person. And here's some of the things that they talked about. There is a group of people called the nuns. The nuns, N-O-N-E-S. They're not affiliated with a religious group. As a matter of fact, when they're filling out an application or whatever, if it asks for what religion you believe in, they will pick none of the above. It is the fastest growing group in this country.4:24Consists of 26% of the entire American population. And it's growing at a very fast pace. And so that's what this article basically is about. A growing share of Americans are religiously unaffiliated, including some who self-identify as atheists and agnostic, as well as many who describe themselves as nothing in particular. Altogether, the religious unaffiliated, also called the nuns, now account for 23% of the adult population.4:53That's 36.1 million people in this country that identify themselves as nuns. They're not affiliated. Now, when I read this, I kind of get a little excited. Because here's what they've done. They've identified themselves. We ain't got to go looking for them. So, strategically, I'm going, where are they at?5:23I want to know where they hang out. Are they going to start forming their own community centers? Because, man, I want to go there. And start reaching out to those people. See, that is the premise of what Christianity is supposed to be like. We reach out, we reach out, we pray, and we find ways to reach people. So, for the first time, this article, for the first time in recent history, the number of Americans who consider themselves as Protestant has dropped below 50% for the first time in the history of this country.5:50That happened in 2014. So, this is a little behind. These reports should not surprise us, but they should alarm us. They should awaken us. They should tell us that we need to get straightened out, and we need to start reaching people for Christ. So, if you go through all this data, here's what, basically, it kind of sums up.6:17People that are unaffiliated with religion will most likely not wander into this church service by themselves. They're not going to drive by this building and go, man, look what a pretty building that is. I think I'm going to go to church this morning. They're not going to do that. Especially the younger generation. They're just not going to do that. But here's what they will do. They are most likely to come to a church service like this if they're invited by someone that they know.6:46As a matter of fact, there's an 85% chance that they will. They want someone to invite them to a church service. Because they're very open to learning. They're very open to getting to know what this stuff is all about. And so, the opportunity is wide open to reach this generation.7:15To reach the younger generation. And so, they want to know who cares. We need to be reminded that Jesus is still in the business of saving people. We need to be reminded of that. Jesus is still in the business of saving that which is lost. But He uses us. He uses those of us that are followers of Christ.7:43He uses those of us that are followers of Christ.7:53And this is what we do. It's almost incredible how inactive and how engaged we can become while calling ourselves believers. Little by little, our whole direction can become inward. Even our programming can become inward. We do things that are inward that are for us. And we do things that are Christian. And we do things that have these names that the general population don't even know what they are. And so, we become dull. We become spiritually callous.8:22That we don't even ask if we believe in prayer, the supremacy of Christ, reconciliation, and the basic commands of Jesus. And so often, in church life, everybody has to pretend they're okay. Everybody comes in and we say amen at the right times. And we do our thing. And we leave. And we come back the next Sunday. So, engaging people is something that we've got to do better at on an individual level.8:51So, my question to you this morning, are you engaging people? Do you want to rock the boat a little bit? Because that's what you've got to do to engage people. You've got to get in their face. You've got to get to know them. You've got to get in their space. So, we often don't want to rock the boat or engage those that do not believe like we do.9:20And here's what we'll say. It's not my cup of tea. Evangelism is not my thing. Sharing my faith is not my thing. It's not my cup of tea. I just want to do my thing and I'm going to be okay. Here's a problem with that. The problem with that is the Bible that you probably are holding in your hand. There's the problem with that thought. And so, Colossians chapter 4, verse 2 through 6.9:52Y'all okay? Got real quiet in here all of a sudden. Verse 2. Continue steadfastly in prayer. Being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Continue steadfastly in prayer. Being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Here's three things I want to key on in this one verse. Continue steadfastly in prayer. Prayer is the foundation. It is the rock of our faith.10:23If you ain't praying, it ain't happening. Amen? If you're not praying, it's not going to happen. And so, it says we got to steadfastly. That means be persistent. It means be persistent when prayer. Prayer is not like your cell phone battery. Prayer is not like your cell phone battery. The more you use your phone to talk on your phone, the power starts to drain and the percentage of the power starts to become less.10:46When you're not using your phone, you have it usually plugged up. And guess what? The power goes up. The more you pray, the more power. The more you pray persistently, the more power. If you hang it up, no power. That's just kind of how it is. And so, have you been praying for those people that are not like you?11:15That you hang out with, that you kind of rub shoulders with? Have you been praying for the lost? Have you been praying that in this service, people would come and know Jesus? By the way, if you're a guest here this morning, you have been prayed for. We don't make no mistake about it. We want you to be saved. We want you to be saved. So, you've been prayed for this morning. The second thing we see is being watchful.11:45We're going to be watchful in prayer. That means that the enemy knows the danger and the importance of prayer. He doesn't want you to pray. Satan does not want you to pray. He has a goal. It's a three-point goal. If you're a student, you've heard this from Sammy all the time. Kill, steal, destroy. That is his goal. And if he can keep the Christian off their knees, he knows that he's won that battle. Because prayer is the communication that we have with our Father.12:12So, if he can disrupt the communication lines, guess what? He's won the battle. So, we wonder sometimes, why isn't things working in my life? You ain't praying. You're probably not praying. You say, well, Brad, I am praying. It's just not getting past the ceiling. Well, you might want to evaluate. Well, you might want to evaluate. Repent. Get in your word.12:41And find out what's going on in your life. You may be going through a trial so he can teach you some things. Because bad things happen don't mean you've done some bad things. It just means that you may be going through a trial. So, be watchful in prayer. Be persistent. Be watchful in prayer. And the last thing we say is with thanksgiving. In verse 2, with thanksgiving. We are to be thankful in prayer. When Paul says that our praying is to be done with thanksgiving,13:10he means that we should keep our eyes on the victory that we've already had. We've won the battle. We just got to act like it and proclaim it. We've won the battle. So, we need to be thankful. We don't fight as losers. We fight as victors. Some of us are walking around going, man, I'm just defeated. I just don't know what I'm going to do.13:39And Jesus is continually calling on us. To go after those which are lost. If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and I'll forgive their sin and heal their land.14:07Oh, I wish and I pray it would happen. When a follower of Jesus prays, stuff starts to happen. When a group of people get together and pray, stuff starts to happen. There's opportunities that take place in this church. 6.30 on Wednesdays, there's a prayer meeting that takes place. In the mornings, Monday morning right here, 6 o'clock, a little early for me,14:35there's a group of men that get together and they pray. And let me tell you something, stuff happens. Even in that group, stuff happens. Individually, are you praying? Are you taking time to pray individually? Do you have a list of people that you're praying for? I call it my hit list. I've got people from my yearbook, 1994, that's still on that list.15:06I'm praying for them. And then there's praying for them, then we've got to move to action. We've got to move to action. Verse 3 says, 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, an account of which I'm in prison. In other words, God will create opportunities for the gospel to be heard15:34in response to prayer. You see how this works? So you pray, and God opens up opportunities because of the prayer. And so my question is, are you been praying? Have you been praying for those? Have you been praying for opportunities? I mean, I pray for opportunities all the time. If you hang out with me long enough, you'll find that really quick. I mean, there's just some weird things that happen when you hang out with me.16:03People will just show up for some reason, knock on my door. It's not because I'm special. It's not because I'm ordained and a minister of the gospel. Because there's something about prayer. We've got to pray.16:33Doors will open when God's people pray. An illustration, while crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner, F.B. Meyer was an evangelist. He was asked to address the first class passengers. At the captain's request, he spoke unanswered prayer. An agnostic who was present at the service was asked by his friends, what did you think of Meyer's sermon? And he answers, I don't believe a word of it. That afternoon, Meyer went to speak to the fourth class passengers.17:00Many of the listeners at his morning address went along with him, including the agnostic, who claimed he just wanted to hear what the Bible had to say. Before starting the service, the agnostic put two oranges in his pocket. On his way, he passed an elderly woman sitting in her chair, and she was fast asleep. Her hands were open. In the spirit of fun, the agnostic put two oranges in her outreached palms.17:28After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pieces of the fruit. And he walked up to her and he said this. You seem to be enjoying that orange, he remarked with a smile. Yes, sir, she replied. My father is very good to me. He said, your father? Surely your father still can't be alive. Praise God, she replied. He's very much alive.17:57And he pressed. What do you mean? She explained, I'll tell you, sir, I have been seasick for days. And I was praying and asking God somehow to send me an orange. I suppose I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found he had not only given me one orange, but two. The agnostic man was speechless. He later came to Christ.18:26So, reaching your family, your neighbors, people at work, your friends at school, all hinges on whether or not you've been praying for them. Have you been praying? Verse 4. Very short verse here. Verse 4 says, That I make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. That I make it clear how I ought to speak.18:52This is a concern almost everybody has ever tried to witness to someone and share their faith. Speaking clearly. And here's what I got to say about speaking clearly. It comes along with prayer. A very good friend of mine often said, Brad, how long have you prepared for your sermon?19:18And the guy said, I'm going to be honest. When you ask my wife, I spend hours. I have to. She's not that smart. So, I have to spend hours and hours and hours in preparation. And then he asked me this. Because he knew how many hours I had spent. Did you spend as much time praying as you prepared? And I went. Taught me a lesson. And so, this is what I do.19:49As I prepare, I pray. So, as I'm preparing, I'm praying over the verses. I'm praying over the people. I'm praying over the thoughts that I have. Lord, what about this right here? How am I going to share this right here? Guys, it's the same thing as when you encounter someone individually. If you pray enough, you won't have to prepare. And guess what? I'm getting ahead of myself here. If you share Christ enough with people,20:18you also won't have to prepare for that either. Because it becomes part of your life. It becomes what you do. Because that's what believers are supposed to do. So, preach. This is what someone told me. Scott Dawson, a really good friend of mine, told me this recently. He said, Preach like it's your child's last time they will hear the gospel.20:43Preach like it's your child's last time they will hear the gospel. That I'll make it clear which is how I ought to speak. Verse 5. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders. And this is going to be the main topic of what we're going to really hit on here. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best of the time.21:12He's saying since you and I are going to engage those who do not believe like we do. We do not walk like fools. We walk in wisdom. We walk in wisdom toward outsiders. This verse means that we are to have some kind of dialogue with people that don't believe like we believe.21:39Colossians 3.16 says this. You don't have to turn there. It says, Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching, admonishing one another. Wisdom comes from letting the word of Christ dwell richly within you. So you may ask the question, where do you get wisdom? God's word. So there's prayer, and now they're studying God's word.22:09This is basic Christianity. There's prayer, and they're studying God's word. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders. The Christian life really comes down to this. Prayer and extended meditation on the word of God. And with that comes evangelism. With that becomes getting out. Because guess what? You can't keep this inside.22:38If you've got a good dose of what most of us in here got, you can't keep it to yourself very long. You'll bust. And so if it's commonplace for you to not share Christ, there's a problem. There's a problem. There needs to be a wake-up call. Verses 3 and 4, Paul pleads in prayer and shows us that,23:07that doors will open and resources rise in answered prayers. In verse 4, he says that we walk in wisdom toward outsiders. The goal is to win their souls. So are you asking the Lord to open doors? Family doors. Doors at work.23:38Are you letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly? And you start to think the way he thinks. And you start to respond in a situation because you've pondered his reactions on what he would do, what Jesus would do. Let me just say this about people that this verse calls outsiders. You know who they're talking about?24:07They're talking about people that don't look like you and I. They don't act like we do. They're talking about people that are the nuns. They have no religious affiliation. They're talking about lost people that don't know Jesus. And so when you start to engage your life and you start to reach out to people like that,24:34guess what happens? Your friends change. The people you hang out with, it looks different. Your lunch you have with people looks different. People that you gather around, they look different. Went to lunch with a friend of mine.25:09He's an evangelist and we're studying at Ruby Tuesdays. And a group of guys walked in. I recognized them. And they were friends. And I walked over there and started talking with them. And I went back and sat down. He goes, man, who in the world were those folks? I'm like, well, they're just, they're friends.25:38Went to school with some of them. Oh, okay. And it just kind of dawned on me. I'm like, you know, I wonder if I'm going to invite them over here. I said, what would you think if I'd invite them over here to eat with us? And you think they would? I said, yeah, probably so. Maybe. I don't know. And so just engaging people. That was an opportunity.26:08And so we need to seize those opportunities. Verse 6 says, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Your mouth reveals something about your mouth, your mouth reveals something about your heart. It does. When you're squeezed, when you're pressured, what comes out of your mouth?26:34Because that says something about your heart. Here's my question. Does your mouth reveal that you walk in anger and contempt toward others? Are you constantly pointing out what's wrong with everyone and everything around you, completely unaware of what's wrong with you? Do your friends that you have turn over on a consistent basis? Do you have friends?27:04And I'm not asking if you know people, because you knowing people and having friends are two different things. Do you have a contemptuous heart? Are you always critical and complaining? And remember, you don't never see statues and awards given out to people that complain and criticize people all the time. You just don't. And so if that's you, according to verse 6, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.27:32So let me just sum this up for you. If you're hateful, you're probably not going to reach anybody for Jesus. It's probably not going to happen. And if you call yourself a believer, and you're in contempt, and you're always complaining, and you're hateful all the time, there's a big question of what's in your heart. Just being real today. That's just who I am. Students, you know.28:02Those of you that, this is maybe your first time hearing me. If you have any complaints, btollison at buffernet.com. Seasoned with salt. What does that mean? Most of us in this room have probably ate a lot of food this week. Now, I've got to be real careful here, because I've got my in-laws over here. Got my aunt sitting right here. And my wife over here. I've ate at all three of their places this week.28:32And the food was awesome, y'all. Man, it was good. Man, it was good. But there are some times when you get a hold of some food, it just ain't seasoned. You know what I'm talking about? And what do you say? Where is the salt? Where is the salt? If it's bland, and let me just say this. I hate, hate's a strong word, dislike, green beans that don't have any flavor.28:57Because if you don't put anything in them green beans, there's just something wrong. So guess what? If there's green beans, I'm going to salt them things, if they're bland. That's just what we do. If food is bland, we salt it. It's the same thing with our words. You say, but how does that work? How do you figure that? Well, here's the thing.29:27Our speech about Jesus is not supposed to be boring and bland. John Phillips, an evangelist friend of mine, I asked him, before he passed away, I asked him, I said, John, what is the main thing that you think is missing? In the pulpit among Christians today. And you know what he said? I thought he was going to say something like theology. That's just missing. Nuh-uh. This is what he said. It's a sin when people bore other people with God's word.29:56He said, we need to be excited about what Jesus has done in our life. He said, there's way too many people that are walking out acting like they were never lost. He said, once before. He said, so when you talk to people, season them with salt. Your words need to be something that is powerful to them.30:24Not contemptuous. Not rude. Not talking others down. And by the way, if you're in a group of people and someone leaves the room and they start talking about them, correct it. There's been people I've been hanging out with that I'm like, man, I'm afraid to leave the room. Because they just tore him down. I'm going to hang out for a while. So if I'm in the room with you and I hang out until late, you might go, what are you doing, Brad? I'm afraid to leave the room. When people can see and hear the excitement you have about Jesus in your life, they may ask you to pass the salt.30:57Pass the salt. Is there evidence of God's grace in your life that you understand that grace and mercy of God? Are you extending forgiveness because you've been forgiven? Are you extending mercy because you've been extended to mercy? Do you have the ability to be gracious because you've been treated graciously by God?31:24Because we all deserve death. We all deserve death. But he's given us life. So seasoned with salt means you have joy because you were once lost. But you've been found. The last part of this verse, and we're going to close this down. So that you may know how you want to answer each person. The problem at the end of the day with sharing the gospel individually with people is that there's no one that is the same.31:54Everybody's different. If everybody was the same, it would be pretty easy to share your faith. Because guess what? Everybody's the same. They have different world views. They have different things and ideas about what the church is about. They have different ideas about who Christ is. And so you have to have different angles about how you approach folks. You just do. I'll never forget. There's a place in downtown Birmingham when I worked downtown.32:24One of those pita stock places. I love Mediterranean food, by the way. So if you guys ever want to give me a gift card. Anyway, there's a place downtown. One of those pita places. And I got to know some of the people that work there. And they were from Lebanon. And they're Middle Eastern Lebanese. And a guy I was working with, my partner, said, you know, I wonder if they're Muslim.32:49And I said, probably so. And I said, you know, I'm going to form a relationship with these folks. And I'm going to start praying. I'm going to share the Christ with them. And so I had the day marked out. And Richard, they still talk about this. My partner, they still talk about this to this day. And I had it marked out when I was going to go. And I went by myself.33:20And I'm sitting there. And I start a conversation with the owner of the business, the restaurant. And as I'm talking with him, he catches something. And this is what he says. He says, do you think we're Muslim? And I went, well, gosh. Yeah. And he stopped.33:50And he kind of grinned. And he goes, and he starts talking in their language to the cooks and the waitresses. And there's people, places packed. And I went, I am in big trouble. And they all smiled and they kind of laughed. And he goes, we're Christians. I went, you're kidding. He goes, no. He said, we're believers.34:20And he says, you've given me joy today. Lunch is on us. Because you have shared Christ. Lunch is on us. You're a brother. He said, thank you so much. And then he starts sharing the story of where he's from. He's from Lebanon. I didn't know this, but Lebanon used to be a Christian nation. Radical Islam came in and started destroying the place. He said, we had to leave.34:49We were chased. Some of my family members were killed. One of the cooks, probably still there, his fingers are cut off. And he looked at me and he goes, this is what Shri Allah does. And he says, you know, Brad, Christianity has an opportunity to grow. Vastly grow. But it's going to take more people sharing Christ with those of us that look different.35:21Oh, church. We've got to get outside of our religion. We've got to get outside of ourselves. And realize the opportunity that we have in this nation. Don't let us slip away. Don't let us slip away.35:53Acts 17, we're going to close with this. From one man he made all the nations. That they should inhabit the whole earth. And he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him. And perhaps reach out for him and find him. Though he is not far from any one of us.36:22So your job. Your neighborhood. Your hobby. Those people that you meet on your kids team. The scriptures are saying that God has uniquely placed you in that place. So that people might see him. So that people might see him. And find him because he's not far off. And you may ask, how is he not far off?36:51Because you're there. We carry the banner of reconciliation, ladies and gentlemen. There is no plan B. We're it. So my question to you this morning. Is are you praying for opportunities? Are you speaking wisdom? By letting your mouth be gracious and seasoned with salt. By knowing. And knowing who Jesus is.37:23And looking for opportunities. By genuinely caring for those that are lost. Maybe you're here this morning and you've grown up in this place.37:45And you look back and you say, you know, Brad, I haven't really shared Christ like I should. Man, there's an opportunity for you. Maybe you're here this morning and you're a guest. Someone invited you here. Probably because they care. Probably because they love you. And they wanted you to hear the gospel this morning. Here's the gospel. Christ died for you. We were born sinners.38:16He died for you. Romans 10 and 9 says that if you confess with your mouth, Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that Christ raised him from the dead, it says you will be saved. Romans 10, 13 says this. All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So how about you? Sir? Ma'am, how about you? Do you know Jesus?38:47Call upon him today. Call upon him today. Let's pray.← Previous in ColossiansSunday, November 13, 2016More sermons on Colossians →
