The Walk of Maturity
Colossians 4:2-13
In this last section of this wonderful book of Colossians we have the Apostle Paul’s final words to this church. This section speaks of the importance of spiritual maturity by giving us the two areas of our lives where spiritual maturity are evident, praying and speech.
Nothing signifies where we are with God then our prayer life and what we say about others and ourselves coincides with the effectiveness of our walk with God. Spiritual maturity is measured in how we talk to God and what we say about others.
Never underestimate the power of speech.
A judge says a few words, and a man’s life is saved or condemned. A doctor speaks a few words, and a patient either rejoices or gives up in despair. Whether the communication is oral or written, there is great power in words. I am told that for every word in Adolph Hitler’s book Mein Kampf, 125 persons lost their lives in World War II.
The power of speech is a gift from God, and it must be used the way God ordains. In the Book of James chapter 3, the tongue is compared to a bridle and a rudder, a fire and a poisonous animal, and a fruitful tree and a fountain. These three pairs of pictures teach us that the tongue has the power to direct, the power to destroy, and the power to delight. The tongue is but a little member in our bodies, but it can accomplish great things for good or for evil.
So Paul ends this wonderful letter with the walk of maturity. He gives an outline on prayer and how we talk about others. I believe that prayer focuses our actions and reactions toward other people. In other words prayer keeps us filled with the Spirit , it keeps us patient, and kind to deal with people who aren’t filled with the Spirit.
So let’s look at these two marks of maturity in our walk with God.
I. How to Pray (v.2-4)
Paul was not ashamed to ask his friends to pray for him. Even though he was an apostle, he needed prayer support for himself and his ministry. If a great Christian like Paul felt the need for prayer support, how much more do you and I need this kind of spiritual help!
Paul uses 4 words that describe a satisfying prayer life:
A. Faithful—(v.2) “continue in prayer” The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing—don’t quit on prayer. God loves to answer the prayers of His people. We should not just pray when something bad happens or pray more because we want God to do a particular thing for us.
Our prayer life should be as normal as breathing. We see prayers answered on a continual basis. We don’t just say wow look God answered that—our prayer lives should be of course it was answered because God answers prayer. He is faithful so we must be in prayer.
B. Watchful—(v.2) “watch” the word means to be cautious, give attention and to be on guard so not to be suddenly overtaken. Whenever I know I have a serious conversation coming this is my fast one sentence prayer—keep me on guard, and guard my tongue.
We must be awake and alert as we pray. The phrase “Watch and pray!” is used often in the Bible. It had its beginning in Bible history when Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem:
The Bible says in Nehemiah 4:9, “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them [the enemy] day and night”. Jesus used the phrase (Mark 13:33; 14:38); Paul used it too (Eph. 6:18).
C. Thankful—(v.2) “with thanksgiving” Thanksgiving is an important ingredient in successful praying (Phil. 4:6). If all we do is ask, and never thank God for His gifts, we are selfish. Sincere gratitude to God is one of the best ways to put fire into our praying.
Young people if all you ever do is ask and ask and ask to go somewhere or to do something and you never thank your parents don’t expect them to always say yes.
Just as we like to be thanked for what we do God deserves to be thanked for all He has done for us. The truth is we need to practice being thankful so we can be thankful when trouble comes.
Two men were walking through a field one day when they spotted an enraged bull. Instantly they darted toward the nearest fence. The storming bull followed in hot pursuit, and it was soon apparent they wouldn’t make it. Terrified, the one shouted to the other, "Put up a prayer, John. We’re in for it!" John answered, "I can’t. I’ve never made a public prayer in my life." "But you must!" "The bull is catching up to us." "All right," panted John, "I’ll say the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat at the table: ’O Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.’"
Can we be thankful for blessings even when something doesn’t go our way. Remember Paul is writing this from prison.
D. Purposeful—(v.3-4) “praying also for us”
Too often prayers are vague and general like be with the missionaries and feed the hungry. We should be honest enough with each other to be able to share real prayer needs. The Apostle Paul was not ashamed to ask God’s people to pray for him.
He asks that opportunities become available to preach and share the Gospel. He also asks that he can make it manifest or make it known to all.
A visitor at Spurgeon’s Tabernacle in London was being shown around the building by the pastor, Charles Spurgeon.
Spurgeon asked, as he showed the man into a lower auditorium. “Would you like to see the powerhouse of this ministry?”
“It is here that we get our power, for while I am preaching upstairs, hundreds of my people are in this room praying.” Is it any wonder that God blessed Spurgeon’s preaching of the Word?
Folks this pastor covets your prayers. I need you praying for me in sermon preparation, in leading and the enemy would be bound as the Bible says “no weapon formed against me would prosper.” (Isaiah 54:17)
I. How to Pray
II. What to Say (v.5-18)
V.5-6 are speaking to our walk and talk. Our walk should demonstrate to a lost world that what we say we believe is lived out in front of them. Redeeming the time means to be ready to seize an opportunity to witness. Too few witness because their filled with the flesh more than the spirit—they are not ready when the time comes.
Warren Weirsbe in his commentary said it this way, “The Christian’s walk and talk must be in harmony with each other. Nothing will silence the lips like a careless life. When character, conduct, and conversation are all working together, it makes for a powerful witness.”
Nothing shows the lack of spiritual maturity like an unbridled tongue. That speaks harshly about others or judges what someone has done or said without knowing why the person did what they did.
So the Bible says our speech should be just right. We should be able to speak without tearing down another person. It is with grace that we remember the other person is someone that God loves too. Our words carry power and that power should be used to express feelings without hurting another.
Paul deals with the two main areas of speech.
A. Sharing Burdens—(v.8) speaks to comfort your hearts. Paul lists very practical burdens in ministry that the church needed to be aware of.
If we learn not to be loose with our tongues when things are going good then we’ll be able to tame our tongues when something upsets us.
So let me make some defining statements about sharing burdens. Sharing burdens is not putting you are mad or disgusted or hurt on facebook or myspace.
It’s not telling 4 or 5 friends you are upset with someone. It’s telling your spouse and a close friend that will not share it with others.
When someone shares a burden a friend is to bear the burden with them. When someone shares something with me most of the time I just have to bear it with them. I don’t have the luxury of telling someone else. I even tell our staff you have to be careful who you talk to and what you talk about because folks not everyone can handle bearing the burden they like to share your burden with others.
Sometimes folks will talk about someone and then say we’re not gossiping we’re just “sharing”. Be careful that your speech is filled with grace toward others, seasoned with salt.
B. Showing Encouragement—When someone does something wrong and they are hurting the best thing we can do is encourage. They might have done this thing we didn’t like but avoid jumping on the tattletale train.
Paul calls Tychius a beloved brother, and ?a faithful minister and ??fellow-servant in the Lord. He calls Onesimus a faithful and beloved brother.
He could have not even mentioned these guys because he sent them and he was the main man. The greatest thing you and I can do for others is to let God use them even if we take a back seat.
There is always a tendency to want all the attention and accolades but walking in maturity means mentoring others to be used by God.
I think the problem we have with this is we take others or ourselves for granted...I saw this story that illustrates this….
There once was a woman who really felt she had nothing to share with or give to God and his people. During the services she would sit, sing softly to herself, pray to herself, engage in little small talk afterward. On Sunday the preacher gave a message on Expressions of Gratitude. When she went home, she thought about the message, she decided to call the preacher and tell him how the message moved her and she wanted to thank him for being her friend. After that conversation, she thought, well that song that David sang, how beautiful was his voice, she decided to call him and tell him how much she appreciated his singing and how much that song meant to her. Later, she thought about the piano player and how beautifully she played, she decided to write her a note thanking her for playing every Sunday. As she was writing that note, she thought about the Sunday School teacher and decided to write her, then the Children’s church teacher, and on and on the list went on as she wrote these notes of encouragement. Finally she realized she did have something to give, encouragement, and she would give it totally. She saw this as her talent for God.
When is the last time you wrote a note, made a phone call or spoke a word of encouragement to someone?
Conclusion: This is why Paul ends this letter with the marks of maturity so that Jesus’ church can grow and glow to a lost world. Nothing damages the church or us more than words we fail to speak or shouldn’t speak toward another.
The Bible says that the power of life and death is in the tongue.
That may sound a bit extreme to you; a bit exaggerated. How could mere words kill anyone? But consider this. You’re probably familiar with Karen Carpenter, the popular singer from the seventies who died in 1983 of heart failure. Most people know that her heart attack was caused by anorexia.
Basically, she starved herself to death. But what started it all? According to a 1988 CBS television movie, the "Karen Carpenter Story," her "fatal obsession with weight" began when a reviewer called her Richard’s "chubby sister".
That little phrase was all it took to start her on a tragic journey of self-destruction. The author of that article had no intention of causing her harm. Nevertheless, those few words had a profound affect on her life. Reference: USA Today, December 30, 1988,
The same tongue we can talk to God with we talk to people with. May we realize this power as we walk in Maturity.
PRAY
