Sermon-9/3/06-A Battle Plan for Advancing the Gospel
Intro.-We are in a spiritual battle-
Read Eph. 6:10-19-This is reality, we are in a spiritual battle whether we realize it or not. To often we approach life the same way most citizens in the US did before we became involved in WW II. Watch this:
Clip from Pearl harbor-
Are we building refrigerators or are we ready to engage the enemy in battle?
In col. 4 Paul lays out a battle plan for advancing the gospel.
Pray
I. Prayer Support (4:2-4)
4:2-4 “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.” (ESV)
Prayer support requires that we have a proper view of prayer and why we need to pray.
John Piper "I have often said that one of the reasons we feel so weak in our prayer lives is that we have tried to make a domestic intercom out of a wartime walkie talkie. Prayer is not designed as an intercom between us and God to serve the domestic comforts of the saints. It’s designed as a walkie talkie for spiritual battlefields. It’s the link between active soldiers and their command headquarters, with its unlimited fire-power and air cover and strategic wisdom."
That’s what prayer is for, our link to the power of God to His support as we engage in the spiritual battle.
How do we avail ourselves of this support in our spiritual battle? First we must,
A. Always remember to pray
Paul starts w/ a present tense command to calling for a continual devotion to prayer. Devote yourselves
If there is one thing that is crystal clear from this passage it is that it is God’s will that we pray to him. Sometimes we struggle to know the will of God for our lives. But there are some things that you do not have to struggle to know. One of them is that God’s will is that you pray to him. The text says, "Devote yourselves to prayer." God wills for you to pray to him.
I Thes. 5:17 “Pray continually” “Pray without ceasing”
-Paul is exhorting the Colossian saints (and us) to pray often and regularly. -Don’t take the privilege of prayer for granted or forget about it, it is an essential part of our spiritual life and walk w/ God.
Piper Quote
"...prayer is not some small thing. It is not some marginal thing. It is not some incidental thing in the Christian life. Prayer is at the heart of why God created the universe…. the center of the created universe is man created in the image of God. And the meaning of man in the image of God is to display God’s glory. And the way God delights to display His glory in man is by being depended on through prayer." (Devote Yourselves to Prayer, a sermon by John Piper)
It is God’s will, that we always remember to pray. Secondly, we are to...
B. Lift up others in prayer
Paul request for prayer is not for himself, for any personal benefit, but he is asking them to pray that he might fulfill his calling to spread the gospel.
What does he ask them to pray for?
give them open doors
-Think of the people that Paul proclaimed the gospel to even through his imprisonment –Felix, the governor of Judea (acts 24), Festus, the next governor of judea & King Agrippa (Acts 25), possibly Nero (the emperor), his guards, others in the royal palace, and countless people through his letters.
Even in prison, in chains for the gospel, Paul was faithful to boldly proclaim the truth of the Gospel.
2. Give them the words to say
Paul knew that even after years of ministry and sharing the gospel, he still needed the Holy spirit to fill his heart and give him the words to speak. He still needed the prayer support of God’s people
After these verses on prayer, and our need to be in prayer for ourselves and each other in this battle, Paul shifts his attention to our conduct in the battle, how we behave around those who do not yet know X.
Paul give us...
II. A Plan of Action (4:5-6)
4:5-6 “Conduct yourselves wisely 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.”
This first step in this plan of action is that we will be wise in our conduct.
Wise in conduct
How we behave in our daily interactions with those who do not know X can have a tremendous impact their interest in hearing the truth of the gospel.
“Conduct” literally means to go here and there in walking, to walk all around and usually used in the NT to figuratively refer your conduct in life ("the Christian walk"), how you live, In (Col 1:10) Paul had prayed that the saints at Colossae would
"walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." col. 1:10
In other words, where ever you go, whatever you do, live wisely, so that you will not hinder your ability to share the gospel, be a witness for X.
Couple of examples
-a woman who wants to see her husband saved, but constantly nags him because of some of the things he does, where he goes and because he won’t go to church.
-or an employee who wants to see his boss or a co-worker saved, but slacks off on the job, pads his expense account, loses his temper and occasionally swears.
Paul-has been watching me for the past 6 months.
Think about your conduct how you live, how it reflects X to the world around you. Second he says we are to be...
B. Gracious in speech
In the same way that our actions should reflect our relationship w/ X, what we say should also reflect that relationship.
“To speak w/ grace means to say what is spiritual, wholesome, fitting, kind, sensitive, purposeful, complementary, gentle, truthful, loving and thoughtful.”-MacArthur
Eph. 4:29 “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
Final part of the plan of action-
C. Have an answer
Need to know what we believe and why. I Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts set apart X as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness & respect.”
No one was ever argued into the kingdom, speak the truth in love, but speak the truth.
Finally,
III. No Lone Rangers
We can’t do it alone, none of us can, Paul couldn’t
Look at this list of those who helped him:
Tychicus-faithful brother/fellow minister/fellow servant
Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus called Justus-fellow workers for the kingdom, a comfort to Paul
Epaphras-a servant of X/fellow servant & faithful minister (ch. 1)
Also mentions Luke & Demas
Archippus-see that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.
IV. Application-3 points 3 applications.
-God has placed us here, Lifegate is not at this location by accident, Melea and I are not here by accident, none of you are here by accident, Each of us have been place here by God so that His church here locally could have an impact on our community, our neighborhood, so that each of you might impact your oikos for Him. He wants to use each of us, use this church in His plan to bring about the Kingdom of heaven here on earth.
Three ways you can be a part of that in response to this mornings message.
-Prayer teams-every thing we do as a church must be supported through prayer. We need prayer warriors who will faithfully pray for me, for our leaders, for all of our ministries. I know that we already have a number of our members who can no longer attend regularly who pray for us consistently, and if that is your gift, if you are an intercessor, let me or your deacon know so that we can be sure to let you know when we have special needs or events that are coming up that we would like you to pray for. Please continue to pray for me & your deacons as we seek God’s will for our church as we move into the future.
-oikos evangelism-identify your oikos-those 8-15 people in your sphere of influence who do not know X, live out your faith, let your speech be seasoned w/ grace, always be ready to give an answer, begin to build those relationships w/ them so that you can plant seeds of truth, so that when they begin to have questions they will know that they can come to you.
-Get involved-we are all in this together-Find your place in the body, for us as a church to accomplish what God has called us to do, it will take every member of the body, discovering their SHAPE and plugging into an area of ministry. Less programs, more time to build relationship and serve, use your gifts.
