''In Closing...'' - Colossians 4:2-18

We've said we're kind of at the point in Colossians where Paul is giving his final exhortations here, his final instructions.

And what I'm going to do is I'm going to read verses 2 through 6.

We'll actually preach all the way through 18.

But as you'll see, verses 7 through 18 kind of illustrates some of these verses here in 2 through 6.

So I'll read verses 2 through 6 of chapter 4 in Colossians, and then I'll pray, and then we'll take a look at what Paul has to say.

Colossians 4, verse 2.

Colossians 4:2

Paul writes,

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which Paul says, I am in chains.

Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders.

Make the most of every opportunity.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the Apostle Paul who took the time while in chains to write this letter to a church in Colossae.

Lord, would you help us not to take for granted those who have gone before us, who have continued to pass along your holy scriptures to us?

Would you not take it for granted those who have proclaimed the gospel before us and to us?

Would you help us now as we strive to understand the truth of your word?

Would the seeds of your gospel be so deeply in our hearts that they would sprout forth life and fruit and season?

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Well, Paul's closing exhortations here are much alike if you've had a child that you've sent somewhere, maybe to camp or you're getting ready to go to a holiday or something like that.

You get them to start packing up and you say the same thing a few times, don't you?

I know for ours it's call us or text us when you get there.

Make sure you wash every night.

I have a young boy, so we have to say that one a few times.

Make sure you wash and brush your teeth every night and obey.

Maybe we'll say that again.

Call us when you get there.

Wash every night and obey.

And then you say it a few times, don't you?

Especially with the younger ones.

And then right before they get in the car, what do you do?

You say it again.

And you pick the most important things that you've said a few times and you say them one more time.

And that's kind of what Paul's doing here.

He's said all these things before, actually.

He's given these instructions all throughout this letter to this church in Colossae.

And now that they're getting ready to go to camp, as it were, that he's getting ready to send his child out,

he says one more time the three most important things, according to him.

So it's important to note that in Paul's mind, these three things are of the utmost importance for this church in Colossae.

Be watchful in prayer.

He says be globally aware.

We'll look at that.

And be God's people right there in Colossae.

We'll see that again.

Be watchful in prayer.

Be globally aware.

And then we'll say for us here to be God's people right here.

So first to be watchful in prayer, Paul says in verse 2, Colossians 4.2, he says,

devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

And we say, well, what is prayer?

As Connor alluded to earlier, prayer is more than just words.

It's not just a vain repetition of words.

Prayer is desires expressed to God.

It's the desires of our heart being expressed to God Almighty.

And Paul says to express our desires in words, which we call prayer.

With that, he says, devote yourselves to prayer.

Persist in it.

Continue to be engaged in prayer.

We saw this last week when Alex led us off with Acts 2.42,

that the early church, the same word here,

devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship

and to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

They regularly persisted in and continued to be busily engaged in what had been started,

namely the life of the church there.

And Paul says part of that life is to continue to be engaged in prayer.

To be devoted to prayer.

Then he adds another element here.

He says being watchful in prayer.

Now it's interesting to note,

any prayer is not a bad prayer.

The most elementary basic prayer you could ever utter is a good prayer.

But there is a difference between praying,

being thoughtful in prayer,

and being watchful in prayer.

Paul says we're to be watchful in prayer,

which goes a step further.

It's to be forward thinking.

It's to be proactive.

It's to be on the alert as we pray.

I learned this as a young sailor in the U.S. Navy.

My first post was to be a lookout.

They put me on the USS Hopper as a destroyer in the Pacific Ocean.

And my first job was literally to stand there.

And they said, now look out.

And I thought, that's the dumbest thing anybody's ever told me.

I have all kinds of education,

and I'm this highly qualified United States sailor,

and you want me to stare at the ocean?

What kind of nonsense is that?

And I remember for the first watch, six hours,

I stared at the ocean.

I thought, this is pointless.

This is absolutely useless.

And I went down, and of course,

we say a complaining sailor is a happy sailor in the U.S. Navy.

And so I was complaining to the others,

that's the dumbest thing I've ever done.

They said, well, what did you do?

I just stared at the ocean.

They said, well, no wonder.

It's not what you're supposed to do.

So you're supposed to go kind of sector by sector and look.

So the next time I went up there,

I kind of look here for a bit.

Nothing.

And I look there for a bit.

Nothing.

And I look around.

Nothing.

Okay, well, I'll try to get nothing.

And it was boring again.

I thought, well, I've been thoughtful in it.

I've gone sector by sector.

It's still boring.

This is pointless.

So I complained again.

And then a very humble, helpful captain stood next to me,

and firm and stern captain.

And he said, you're supposed to be watchful as a lookout.

He said, you need to not just look at each area,

but you need to kind of know what could happen in that area.

And take that into account.

And so he helped me as we went out to sea.

And I'd stand there and he'd say, look, there's a merchant ship right there.

Okay, I see it.

He said, it's getting ready to come out, isn't it?

It looks like it.

But there's no pilot.

It needs a tug.

Look, the tug comes from here.

And he'd point me there.

And before I knew it, the whole ocean had come alive.

And there was all these possibilities, these things that could happen.

And then I started to realize, I need to tell them this.

Hey, the tug could come from here, this merchant ship.

Before I knew it, I was being watchful as a lookout,

which was very different than just staring at the ocean.

Paul says, be watchful in prayer.

He says in verse 12 of Colossians 4, he notes that Epaphras,

Epaphras, he says in verse 12, is one of them and a servant of Christ Jesus.

He says, he is wrestling in prayer for you.

That you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.

And the language there is gladiator language.

Epaphras is like a gladiator in the arena, struggling and contending and fighting for you in prayer.

And our ultimate illustration, of course, is Christ at the Last Supper,

where he says to Peter, he says,

Peter, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat,

but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

When you turn back, strengthen your brothers.

Christ looked ahead and he was alert and he was watchful and he saw what was coming for Peter.

And he said, I pray for you.

Epaphras wrestled for them.

All of it is forward looking, opposition expecting reality in the prayer.

We aren't just praying, but we are watchful in prayer.

Now, sometimes that idea can make us a bit anxious or trouble us.

That's maybe a fearful endeavor to be on that much alert.

Which is why Paul adds to be thankful.

Not just watchful in prayer, but thankful in prayer.

We say, well, what do we have to be thankful for while we pray?

I would say, first, we're praying to God Almighty.

We have the privilege of praying to God Almighty.

The Creator of heaven and earth.

The God who is able to do far more than we ever ask.

Far more than we even think.

The God who is always and ever on His throne.

The God who goes before us.

The God who has ultimately already won the battle.

On our behalf and for His glory.

And so with thankfulness, we recognize that we have the privilege of praying to God Almighty.

And prayer reminds us not only that we pray to God Almighty, but that God listens.

God listens to us when we pray.

Sometimes it's worth just pausing and thinking about that.

Isaiah 30 verse 19 says,

Isaiah 30:19

God is gracious and when you cry for help, He will answer you as soon as He hears.

There's no cue to talk to God.

Have you ever thought about that?

And we waited an hour to kiss the Blarney Stone so that I could be a better preacher.

And yet with God, there's no hour-long wait.

It's instantaneous access to the throne of the most almighty being in all of the universe.

We can go right to Him.

Know that He's listening.

And that He's capable.

See, God could have ordained that all His will be accomplished independently of our participation, but He didn't.

He saw it good for us to pray to Him.

John Calvin writes that praying with thankfulness turns the human soul toward heaven and away from ourselves.

Thankfulness.

Thankfulness by its very nature, he says, requires that we fix our focus on God.

He says it is theocentric.

It is God-centered.

And so Paul says we are to be a people of prayer, devoted to prayer, watchful in prayer, thankful in prayer.

So how do we do this?

How do we actually accomplish this?

I have a little acronym that I use personally.

I'll share with you.

It's called ACT, PLEASE.

And in California, we spell please P-L-Z because we're just cool like that.

We say, dude, please.

And that's exactly how we spell it.

So maybe for you, you say A-C-T-S, acts.

That's another way.

I'm not smart enough to really understand the S, so I just say please.

But it stands for adore, confess, thank, and then supplication.

That's why I went with P-L-Z.

You can see that's a big word.

Supplication means please for other people in my dictionary.

And so how do we do that?

We adore, we confess, we thank, and then we supplicate on others' behalf.

For example, I could pray and adore God for the beautiful creation here in Ireland.

Absolutely, stunningly beautiful land here.

And as I'm adoring God for what He made that I've gotten to see over the last few months,

I can confess right away that I have failed miserably in considering Ireland in my prayers

during my Christian life.

I've just kind of assumed everybody was a Christian.

And I've just kind of assumed that Ireland didn't really need my prayers or need missionaries here.

And I can confess, Lord, I have not been on the alert for Ireland.

But then I can thank God right away because He's been at work here, hasn't He?

I can thank God for being at work through Cork Baptist Church

and sending Philip to plant a church in Cairagline

and the members and Johnny for continuing to pastor

and the elders and the deacons and everything that's gone on.

Despite my lack of attention, despite my lack of thought and prayer for Ireland,

clearly God's been at work and I can thank Him for that.

And then I can go to please and I can say,

please, Lord, continue to help the church in Ireland.

It will be hard to not be here and to just see the updates on WhatsApp.

But I can continue to pray and be watchful and alert and say,

Lord, please keep that church.

Keep it going strong.

As they enter this next season with other preachers coming and ministries starting up,

would you keep them united?

And I can supplicate.

You see how that's happening?

And then it usually leads me into another round

where I can even just recognize how God takes care of His churches.

And I can adore Him for that.

I can confess my shortcomings as a church member.

I can say, boy, I haven't always been a perfect church member.

I've caused struggles and strife at times.

And yet again, I can thank God because the gates of hell will not prevail against His church.

And then I can immediately go into supplication again.

Please help the churches and pastors who are facing trials,

who have difficulties within the body.

And you see I'm kind of forward-looking and spiraling through this ACTS or act, please, way of praying.

And one thing just leads me to another.

And before I know it, time's flown by.

And I've been devoted and watchful and thankful in prayer.

What Paul says is as we're devoted to and watchful and thankful in prayer,

he says we will also become globally aware.

That's our next point.

As we adore God and we confess and we thank Him and we pray for others,

he says we will become globally aware.

Paul expresses this in verses 3-4.

He says,

Pray for us too,

that God may open a door for our message,

so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in chains.

Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should.

And so it's interesting to note,

Paul says it's not just enough to be devoted and watchful and thankful in prayer,

but we must have a global mindset when it comes to the Kingdom of God.

He says that this praying with a global mindset,

or to be globally aware,

consists of praying both that doors would be opened

and that the Gospel would be clearly proclaimed.

Which connects us back to the idea of being watchful, doesn't it?

That doors would be opened.

That's forward-thinking.

That the Gospel would be clearly proclaimed.

That's forward-thinking.

I'll never forget about five years ago,

I was in Albania,

which sounds like a weird place to be.

No, I wasn't filming the movie Taken.

I was there to meet some pastors

and to meet the Christians there.

And I'll never forget,

this was 2014,

and I was walking along the coast in Albania,

and I was just enjoying listening to a John Piper sermon.

Just walking along,

enjoying listening to a podcast,

and I had to stop dead in my tracks

because in the John Piper sermon from 1986,

he said boldly and loudly,

God will be glorified in Albania.

And I paused and said,

whoa, I'm right here in Albania.

But the weird thing about that was in 1986,

there were not any Christians in Albania.

At least not publicly.

Because it was a forced,

communist,

atheist country,

and Christians were not allowed

to say they were Christians,

or to gather as Christians,

or to receive the teaching of the Word of God

as Christians,

until 1991.

And so I was struck by the fact

that five years before

communism fell in Albania,

here's John Piper

saying and proclaiming

and praying that God would be glorified

in a closed off communist,

atheistic country.

He was watchful in prayer,

and he was globally aware.

And then I started to think,

how come the moment the borders were opened

in that country,

how come the moment they were opened,

there were Christian missionaries coming in,

speaking Albanian,

ready to share the Gospel with these people,

it's because they had been globally aware.

They had been waiting for those borders to open.

They had been waiting for the door to be opened.

That they may go in

and clearly proclaim

the good news of Jesus Christ.

Where else are the doors not opened right now?

Where else can we not send missionaries

with the good news of Jesus Christ right now?

Do we pray for those countries?

Do we even think about those countries?

Do we look down upon those countries?

They're so terrible and evil.

Of course they are.

The doors haven't been opened

for the Gospel message

to be proclaimed there yet.

Christianity is a globally aware people.

It's the heartbeat of the Christian church.

And Christians are called to be globally minded.

And we were called to be globally minded

far before humanity was ever globally connected.

And I want you to look with me

in verses 7-16

and think about this.

This is 65 A.D.

And look how in 65 A.D.

before there was internet,

before there was mass communication,

look how globally minded

the church already was.

In verse 7, Paul says,

Tychicus will tell you

all the news about me.

He is a dear brother

and a faithful minister in the Lord.

And Tychicus is going to be leaving Rome

to go to Colossae

to tell the Colossians

about Paul and Rome.

And that's interesting to know

because that's a one month journey

through a very dangerous world.

And interestingly enough,

Paul says in verse 9,

he's coming with Onesimus.

Onesimus is a slave

who ran away from Colossae.

Who's going back to the place

that he escaped from

to share what God's doing in Rome.

In verse 10, Paul says,

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus

sends you his greetings.

And it's interesting to note,

Aristarchus is from Thessalonica,

which is in Greece.

He's gone from Greece

and traveled with Paul

and proclaimed the Gospel

in other countries

all the way to the point

where he is a prisoner in Rome

with Paul.

He says,

So does Mark,

the cousin of Barnabas.

And we know Mark is from Jerusalem,

which is a six month journey

from Rome.

Verse 12,

we saw Epaphras,

who is one of you.

That is, he's one of the Colossians.

Paul says in verse 13,

I vouch for him,

for he is working hard for you

and for those at Laodicea

and Hierapolis.

Okay, and that kind of made up

this region called the Lycus Valley,

which would be like a county,

maybe, in Ireland.

So they say,

Epaphras is not just praying

and struggling

and working on behalf

of one city here in this county,

but many of them here in the county.

And then verse 14,

he says,

Our dear friend Luke,

the doctor,

and Demas send greetings.

And we know Luke is from Antioch

and he's traveled all over the world

with Paul,

recording what God's been doing.

And from his hand

and the work of the Holy Spirit,

we get the Gospel of Luke

and the book of Acts.

You see the global awareness there.

And then in verse 15,

give my greetings

to the brothers and sisters

in Laodicea and Nympha

and the church in her house.

And then in verse 16,

after this letter has been read to you,

see that it is read

in the church of Laodiceans.

And that you in turn

read the letter from Laodicea.

You see the global awareness here,

don't you?

They're all over the place.

God's people are going back and forth

from city to city

and they're moving God's Word around

as they go.

It's important to note

that this is God's intention.

Every tribe, every tongue,

every nation would hear

the good news of Jesus Christ.

Lest we forget,

each of us first heard this good news

because somebody proclaimed it clearly.

Somebody clearly told us

the good news of salvation in Christ.

I find it fascinating

that Paul would say to pray for Him.

If there's anybody we would think

could clearly proclaim the Gospel

around the world,

it'd be the Apostle Paul.

And yet he asks for prayer

that he could clearly proclaim the Gospel.

Paul refuses to rely on his own eloquence

or his own skill

or his own theological knowledge alone.

He says,

pray for me

that I may clearly proclaim the Gospel.

People are Christians for,

or not Christians,

I would say,

for one of three reasons here.

If someone says,

I'm not a Christian,

I would say either

they have not heard the message of the Gospel,

or secondly,

they heard it,

but they did not understand it,

or thirdly,

maybe having heard

and understood the Gospel,

they don't believe it.

Paul says,

let's not have number one and two

be the reason

why people aren't Christians.

He says,

pray that they hear the Gospel.

Pray that it's clear

that they can understand the Gospel.

And the third one is between them and God.

But we are called to number one and two.

So again,

maybe some practical application.

How can we be globally aware?

How can we be praying

that doors would be open

that are closed now,

that the Gospel would be clearly proclaimed?

A few ideas for you.

Here's the church mission bulletin.

I think it's just right there in the back.

You can take this,

tuck it in your Bible,

and every once in a while

just flip through it

and pray for the missionaries in here.

Think about what's going on.

We've had the Grindys here.

We've had people from Radstock

coming in and out.

I know there's several missionaries.

You have people coming

from Munster Bible College.

You have people coming in and out

of this church

from all over the world.

It's amazing.

It's beautiful.

You pray for these people.

Reach out to them.

Send them a letter.

I think the Grindys said

the children send cards

to their children.

What a blessing.

Go and visit them.

Another one I do.

This sounds funny.

I know.

I look at what I eat,

which is weird.

I don't mean it in a health sense.

I mean it in a prayerful sense.

I bought olives from Spain

the other day in Little.

I'm thinking that's funny.

I'm in Ireland

buying olives from Spain.

And then I start thinking,

I don't know any Christians in Spain.

Maybe you do.

I start thinking,

I wonder what is going on in Spain.

And we have this great advantage.

We can get on the internet

and start looking for missionaries in Spain.

And what is going on?

And we can just pray through.

While you're sitting there

eating your silly olives,

you can be praying

for Christians in Spain.

And then read and watch the news.

Most of us are probably somewhat aware

of what's going on in the world.

But don't just read the news.

Don't just watch the news to be informed.

But let it sink in

that these are real people

all around the globe

that really need Jesus.

I don't know if you saw

our president,

President Trump,

is trying to buy Greenland.

I didn't even know this was possible.

But I've been watching,

oh, we're going to buy Greenland.

This is news to me.

Apparently I go home

and there's going to be

a 51st state potentially.

It doesn't look like we'll get it.

But I started reading about that

and I started looking

and did you know

that suicide rates in Greenland

are through the roof?

Alcoholism is enormous in Greenland.

There's a hurting people there.

And while we can read about it

and kind of chuckle it,

what is President Trump doing?

It's not a real estate transaction.

These are real people

and as Christians we can go,

oh, they really are hurting there.

Imagine living in a country

where people are talking about buying you.

Where you're struggling.

Where you're hurting.

Are there Christians there?

Can we be praying for them?

So Paul says,

be watchful in prayer

and be globally aware.

Now, the trap here,

the problem here

is sometimes we start to think

that means every single Christian

must go somewhere else.

Okay?

That kind of becomes a natural thought.

I've got to leave

and I've got to go somewhere else.

Now, I want you to notice

he hasn't said that.

Look with me at verses 5-6.

He says,

be wise in the way

you act toward outsiders.

Make the most of every opportunity.

Let your conversation

be always full of grace,

seasoned with salt,

so that you may know

how to answer everyone.

Nowhere has Paul said

you must leave Colossae.

Has he?

We've read through

the entire letter

for 12 weeks.

There's no command

that says Colossian Christians leave.

It's not there.

In fact, he said the opposite.

He said,

live life right here

where you are.

I draw your attention

to that word

outsiders.

Be wise in the way

you act toward outsiders.

Paul clearly established

early on in this letter

that as Christians

we are inside

the kingdom of light.

He says that in Colossians 1.13.

We are inside

the kingdom of light.

And the problem

for us here

is that

in here,

in this room,

we feel like

we are God's holy people

and we are in the kingdom.

And that's true.

It's easy to feel

that way in here

because we're all

in here together.

And the problem

becomes

when we go out of here.

Right?

When we go out of here

we're tempted to feel

like we're no longer

in here.

We're out there

and maybe we're not

in

with other people.

Paul says

even though you go

out of here

we're still

in the kingdom

of light.

And those who are

not in the kingdom

of light

are indeed

the outsiders.

It's very important

to understand

this distinction.

We go out

into the world

being people

who are people

in

a kingdom of light.

And even though

we feel like

an outsider

we're not.

It's those

who have not

come to faith

in Jesus Christ

who are on the

outside.

And so what

should we do

about that?

Should we

boast about

our status

in the kingdom

of light?

Should we

walk out of here

and go stand

out in the park

and say

I'm in the

kingdom of light?

Sorry guys.

You're not.

No.

That's not what

Paul says.

Should we go out

here and take it

for granted

and say I can

do whatever I want.

I'm a Christian.

I live in the

kingdom of light.

No.

Paul says

we don't do that.

He says

we are to be

wise

gracious

salty people

who make the

most of every

opportunity to

proclaim the

gospel.

Note the

connection between

verse 3 and

verse 6.

Verse 3

Paul says

that God

may open

a door for

our message

is how they

should pray

for him.

And as Alex

predicted I'll

use a little

bit of Greek

the word is

just logos.

that God

may open

the door

for us

to proclaim

the word

of Christ.

And in

verse 6

he uses

the same

word.

Let your

logos,

let your

proclamation

of the

word of

Christ

be full

of grace.

What did

he just say?

He says

the Colossians

they proclaim

the same

message

that Paul

was proclaiming.

Which means

that we

2,000 years

later

we still

proclaim

the same

message

Paul

proclaimed.

The same

message

the Colossians

proclaimed.

Christianity

is an

ancient

message

that is

held true

across

the sands

of time.

And you

don't have

to go

anywhere

special

to proclaim

the truth

of the

gospel.

We saw

last week

we can

proclaim

it at

home,

we can

proclaim

it at

work,

and you

can especially

proclaim it

right here

where God's

got you.

So here's

the deal,

I'm not

called to

your home,

but you

are.

I'm not

called to

your workplace

this week,

but you

are.

For this

next season

of life,

I'm not

even called

to Ireland

anymore,

but ye

are,

aren't

you?

Ye are.

you dudes

got to

stay,

because the

gospel still

needs to be

proclaimed,

right here

in Carigoline,

in County

Cork.

So Paul

would say

to you,

as he said

to the

Colossians,

he would

say,

be wise

in the way

you act

toward the

non-Christians

here in

Carigoline.

Make the

most of

every opportunity

that God

brings your

way this

year,

through every

relationship

you have

right here.

Let your

conversation

with your

family,

with your

friends,

with your

co-workers,

with those

who come

to Polo,

and come

to Rooted,

and come

to the

Rock,

and come

to the

Bible

studies,

let them

be full

of grace

and seasoned

with salt.

Go into

your homes

and let

your conversations

be full

of grace

and seasoned

with salt.

Go to

work and

be a

gracious,

godly

people of

light.

Right here,

right now,

right where

he has

you.

And Paul

closes out

the letter

in verse

18.

He signs

it by saying,

I,

Paul,

write this

greeting in

my own

hands.

Remember my

chains.

Grace be

with you.

And you see,

we get the

dramatic turn of

the table,

as it were,

because we find

out it's not

Paul sending

the Colossians

off to

holiday or

camp,

is it?

It's Paul

that's headed

out.

It's Paul

that's headed

towards the

Roman guillotine

for Christ's

sake.

It's Paul

saying,

follow him

as he

follows Christ,

not to the

ends of the

world,

but to

heaven.

And he's

saying,

as he does

his work

right there

in Rome,

in chains,

he's telling

them,

and he's

telling you

here in

Kerrigaline,

follow him

as he

follows Christ

onward and

upward,

but do it

right here,

right where

God's got you,

being watchful

in prayer,

being globally

aware,

and being

God's people

right here.

Let's pray.