In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines Colossians 4:2-4 and the apostle Paul’s exhortation there as to how all Spirit-filled, Word-filled Christians must devote themselves to thanksgiving and prayer, praying especially for the faithful going forth of the saving gospel message of Christ.
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all right this morning we’re looking at Colossians chapter 4 and I want to read verse 4-6 this morning Colossians chapter 4 verse 1-6 Masters Grant to your slaves Justice and fairness knowing that you have a master in heaven devote yourselves to prayer keeping Alert in it with an attitude of Thanksgiving praying at the same time for us as well that God will open up to us a door for the word so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ for which I have also been imprisoned that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak conduct yourselves with wisdom toward Outsiders making the most of the opportunity let your speech always be with Grace as though seasoned with salt so that you will know how you should respond to to each person let’s pray Lord this morning as we come to your word and we thank you Lord for the authority of the word of God we we’re not and we never desire to preach men’s words but your words because this is what we need for our soul this is what we need Lord to know how to live uh to know how to please you to know where we stand with you so we can have confidence and boldness in our life to live the way uh the way it pleases you and and Lord as we do that we know Lord we we maintain our joy and the peace of God that you’ve given us and then we can do the things we have to do even though those things may bring us through trials and persecutions and trouble um Lord we can we can do it in a way where we respond to our circumstances in a way that honors you and not allow our circumstances is to control us so thank you for the word of God teach us this morning and I pray in Christ’s name amen a Spirit-filled word-filled Christian will begin to see the transformational power of the Gospel in each part of their experience as they make this their Journey Through This World and as a Believer as a Believer grows in the knowledge of the word of God and Christ and is led by the Holy Spirit transformation takes place and that’s really a great evidence that you are a Believer now where’re where does that transformation become visible because we do want to see it these foundational truths uh lead to a more practical thing the spirit of God is doing in The Believer and when we become Christian the first thing that takes place is that we are Justified we are pronounced just by God indwelt with the Holy Spirit in which it begins this gradual process of sanctification change in me and you starts to happen when we are really Believers it starts the instant we are Justified but it is not completed until we are received up in into glory and in the presence of God so the holy spirit is cleaning us up he’s making changes in our lives bringing into our lives Conformity to the will of God and this Conformity happens from the inside out we are changed from the inside out also God wants to see your fruit he wants to see the fruit of the spirit and what the spirit is doing inside of of you and you ought to see want to see that too so the goal of the Christian Life is righteousness we are being Sanctified so that we will know what the right thing to do is so behavior is at the center of concern in sanctification Behavior shows what is or is not going on in the inside so the holy spirit is inside of us to produce good fruit now what are the major aspects the spirit uses to change us well there’s several areas he uses to change Us number one repentance he brings repentance a change of mind heart and will that we would see things God’s way that’s even the gospel and then even as we grow in our Christian Life he’s changing our mind we just don’t repent once we repent we repent all the time about what’s going on in our life and we repent of sin and he convicts us of that sin and conviction is about what is wrong and evil in our life and then he convicts us of righteousness that conviction of the knowledge of what is right and good and pleasing in God’s side so we are we are convicted about those things now how can you do what is right and pleasing to God if you have no idea what is right and pleasing to God well that’s where the scriptures come in that the Holy Spirit addresses your mind and informs your understanding with truth the spirit is not only the Holy Spirit he is the spirit of truth that’s what it says in the Gospel of John where when Jesus was before Pilate pilate said to him you say you are a King Jesus answered you say correctly that am a king for this I have been born and for this this I have come into the world to testify to the truth everyone who is of the truth hears my voice so the spirit Bears witness about Christ and not about himself about Christ and of course Romans tells us that we’re transformed by the renewing of your mind so God doesn’t bypass your mind he transforms your mind and then Corinthians tells us Brethren do not be children in your thinking yet in evil be infants but in your thinking be mature so the holy spirit is making this change in us through the truth the word of God in your mind and the word of of the word and the spirit go together they cannot be separated remember it is the spirit of God who’s given us the word of God so they can’t be separated the word word of God transforms us so we develop deep biblical convictions and then when we do that when that happens then our conscience will not allow us to live against those biblical convictions once we’re convinced by the word of God no one can change your mind because you see it in scripture and when that comes there will be a transformation of your your mind so that you will desire to do what is right and you will desire to live in a pleasing manner before the Lord Jesus Christ so the holy spirit is working on our conduct in order for us to to Bear the image of Jesus and bring us out of the baby nursery and baby bottles and diapers and of course move us into self-control and spiritual maturity resulting in a progressive transformation and an increasing christlikeness and then ultimately the gold the glory of God in our own life so there’s a definite result that you may see when the word of when the word of God in the Holy Spirit is working in your life God wants you to see that however the results of the filling of the word of God and the filling of the Holy Spirit may not be what you think or what you have heard because if you heard that the filling of the holy spirit is speaking in tongues or seeing visions or having dreams or having feelings of euphoria where someone loses their self-consciousness and self-control which manifests itself in swooning and chanting and clapping and barking and laughing laugh in and stamping the feet and stuff like these if you have heard these are the things that results from being filled with the spirit of God you would have missed the details of scripture because the scripture records that the results of being filled word filled and spirit filled reveal are revealed in your conduct what does it say in the word of God be like the holy one who called you be holy yourself also in your behavior see that’s where it shows up also you’ll have the mind of Christ you’ll be obedient to the word of God you will be prayerful you will be thankful for everything to God and you will separate yourself from the powers that are in the world so you don’t want to be pressed into the world’s mold old but you want to be separated and dedic a dedicated child of of the Lord Jesus Christ and then also you will be very concerned about souls where they’re going it’s also revealed in your character as Colossians has been teaching us this will be revealed in our appearance in not the way you physically dress but the way you spiritually dress how we dress as Kingdom kids are we putting off sin those sin stained garments are are we putting on new clothing see only the Christian has the capacity to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God and with the ability and will to serve and please God loving God’s word and loving God’s sin will also include hating sin and Desiring to pursue righteousness therefore salvation is not a matter of improvement or Perfection of what has previous exist previously existed in your life it is a matter of comprehensive transformation it is a matter of progress in Christ likeness it’s also revealed in your relationships we saw that in verse number 18 onwards our relationships that we will see it there a result of being word filled and being C controlled by the holy spirit is submitting and that means that that’s the Supreme condition of the filling of the spirit of God is submission to Christ the knowing and the doing of the will of God this is where we see transformation we see it in our everyday walk in our marriages between wives and husbands in families between children and parents and fathers and children we see it in our conduct and our speech we notice it in what we are devoted to in how we use our time and our opportunities and how we see and consider other people it’s also revealed in our response to the world or our in response to circumstances that come into our life once we’re a Believer so this Lord’s Day this morning we will see the transformation of the Gospel in the Christian changes in lifestyle which has to do with Duty and performance and what is very interesting in uh to notice in our text this morning is how the Christian is to continue to grow to spiritual maturity and christlikeness which includes speech how we talk how we communicate as the Christian grows their language is transformed into forms of speech that will be god- centered word focused other focused and needs focused that these forms of speech will edify and build the people in the body of Christ it is how the word filled Spirit-filled believer talks and walks in this world unfortunately unless you are under the control of the Holy Spirit our words will most likely hurt and not heal the Epistle of James informs us of that little member in our body how evil it could be where he says in James 3 for every species of beasts and birds of reptiles and creatures of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by the human race but no one can tame the tongue it is a Restless evil and full of deadly poison with it we bless our Lord and father and with it we curse men men who have been created in the likeness of God from the same mouth comes blessing and cursing my brethren these things ought not to be of course there is someone who can tame the tongue it’s the Holy Spirit and the word of God right so there’s going to be a change in the forms of our speech the first form of transformed speech which I’ll kind of Park on this morning and possibly the highest use of the gift of speech well let’s take a glimpse at verse number two do and here is the first thing under the the major heading is the gospel transformation changes what we are devoted to and notice the first form of transformed speech found in Colossians chapter 4 in verse number two notice what it says devote yourselves to what prayer all right so that is the highest form of speech language because now we are actually talking to God and we know we’re talking to God because now we have entrance into the throne room of God through Jesus Christ so we know that in fact in the Greek it says there the prayers it includes the definite article that speech had has its focus on the character and the person of God it shows that a Believer who is being transformed has a dependence on and a need to communicate with the Living God who Delights to hear from us and he Delights to answer our prayers but this deafen article that is really not mentioned here but it’s assumed it stresses that it stresses something all believers are to be do devoted to this is not just for the pastors and the deacons it’s not just for those who are leading it’s for every single Christian devote yourself to the prayers in other words that means it always means from acts chap 2 verse 42 it also means that we are to pray together we are to be busily engaged the whole body of Believers to be busy busily engaged in prayer together so we Christians are to give a constant attention to prayer we cannot individualize what God is actually meant to be corporate that what people are devoted to that is what they will do now we have to ask ourselves the question this morning as a congregation we do pray here and there we do pray on zoom in different places but are we devoted to prayer all of us it’s this is in all team effort there’s nobody sitting on the bench in this one everybody’s on the field in the game that’s what devotion means if we’re going to win in this spiritual battle if we’re going to do things for God as a body then we must be praying that that is the stress of this passage here that we’re to De we’re devoted to it regular and constant prayer shows where one’s priorities are where one’s concerns are where one’s passions are placed it really implores us to remember prayer is always first and should always be regular always Christians don’t miss out on what this one thing that this is one of God’s greatest gifts he gives us in the use of our tongue is to pray to him and to pray together and really how do you learn how to prayer pray you pray with somebody who knows how to pray right when the disciples came to Jesus says teach us how to pray all right so Jesus did that and how did they how did they learn how to pray he didn’t necessarily have a lesson on this is no he prayed and they listened to him and then they began to pray like he did because Jesus always prayed in the will of God and so prayer together as a church body is the one great gift that God gives us and this is the First Transformation of this speech that he’s given us now I want you to notice in our passage there are two important actions connected with devoted prayer and if you notice it says in verse number two devote yourselves to prayer keeping Alert in it so the first action is to stay alert in it Christians if we are to pray in timely Effectiveness we cannot fall asleep at the switch we cannot fall asleep on our post now anybody who’s in the military if you fall asleep on your post you can get actually executed for that but it’s not a good thing to do because you are the Watchman for the enemy coming and this is how prayer is looked at in the church that we are the Watchmen The Watchmen who are awake and we are diligent in being awake just like Luke 18 chapter 1 reminds us that if we are without prayer if we don’t pray if we don’t stay alert then we’ll faint for it says this now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart so if you don’t pray you will faint and you’ll not be able to fight and not only that you’ll let the enemy into the camp now I did give this illustration uh in the past but I thought it was a good one because one of my professors Dr rasa who’s now with the Lord he wrote a large several volumes said on prayer and he was really big about prayer but he had one illustration about staying alert in his uh his work and he says that early American Cowboy Cowboys who took drastic measures to keep alert and hold fast to their work while guarding cattle at night is was exemplified by this idea that they would rub tobacco juice in their eyes to make them smarter or keep them awake to keep their eyes open and help the writers stay at their post and not grow weary I don’t men you do that uh but it would it just illustrates how important it is for us to stay awake in this area I I sometimes I see that the church is falling asleep here and I don’t I don’t want to be a church that falls asleep in this area because this my my friends this is Frontline warfare prayer is Frontline Ministry we are and why are we to stay alert because we are traveling through enemy territory right we’re aliens in a foreign land we’re not home yet so while we’re walking through this enemy enemy territory we will find that we need to be praying as the sister book of Colossians tells us in Ephesians 6:18 with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the spirit and with this in view be on alert again with all perseverance and petitions for all the saints so we’re on alert praying for one another that we would all stay strong that we wouldn’t walk away from the fa faith that we wouldn’t fall fall and not be able to get up prayer is often found in the context of spiritual warfare because it is Frontline Ministry and you’re needed on the front lines nobody’s in the rear we’re all on the front lines if we don’t get this this is not good we we need to get it and I I believe in the in Colossians he’s Paul kind of saving this for last as he does in Ephesians you know all these chapters in chapter six of spiritual warfare where did that come from Paul’s saying no you need to be serious that when you’re a Christian it is Warfare until the day you die this is not a smooth sailing this is not a Bed of Roses this is warfare that’s why we need to pray we need to be talking to the Lord about what’s going on in our life what we needs to be done and what his will needs to be done while we’re walking through this world as aliens and if you don’t pray you’ll be weak and faint oh yes you’ll get weary in the midst of spiritual battle but you don’t have to be weak and faint being weary is different you’re tired how many how many people have not been tired right life is tiring things that you have to deal with are tiring but it doesn’t mean you faint it doesn’t mean you give up it doesn’t mean that you’re weak and you can’t do anything no it means you’re strong in the Lord and being strong in the Lord Christians can show that they are in touch with Jesus the commander of the troops that Christians are to put on the whole armor of God while maintaining Constant Contact in prayer to God that’s who we are so Christ is is made real to us in prayer and we are not to give up and become discouraged when answers to our prayers are delayed remember that God knows how and when answer prayer our responsibility is to keep on praying and to trust God completely for the answer that will be of course according to his will and in his own time so stay alert so that you’ll be around for the answer too when you do pray so the the first action in devoted prayer is keeping alert now look at the second action in verse number two of Colossians chapter 4 it says there it says keep alert in it with an attitude of Thanksgiving now you know this is like the fourth time he mentions Thanksgiving in just a few verses and I’m thinking to myself when I’m studying this is it that we don’t get it is it that we don’t get this I mean the first time in Colossians 3:15 he says let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom teach teaching and admonishing one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with thanks thankfulness in your heart to God and then in verse three a third time he says giving thanks through him to God the father and now again in the context of prayer he tells us have an attitude of thankfulness When you pray now we do know that believers who are full of gratitude to God for his gracious calling it will they will find it easier to extend to fellow Believers the grace of of the love and the Forgiveness uh of God and be able to put aside Petty issues that might inhibit the expression of Peace within the community we know that and we know that the lord loves to see those who serve in his church to maintain a cheerful and a thankful heart because both are the will of God and I already mentioned it seems like a very easy command and this is a command it’s another imperative to follow be thankful you would think well that’s that’s easy now why is thankfulness so unnatural to us though you may say well answering that question well we live on a planet that is has been corrupted by sin and where there’s too much suffering and evil so it’s hard to be thankful all the time Others May say well we we really don’t know God we we really don’t have a relationship with him we don’t trust him we don’t really like the way he does things so it feels normal to withhold thankfulness especially especially when we do not find much in our life to be thankful for I think that when that happens that we’re not looking very closely to what God is doing in our life but Romans already answered the question on why is it unnatural because in Romans says for they knew God and they did not honor him as God or give thanks why is that because human beings think that they’re wiser than God they listen to Satan’s Temptations to doubt God and to turn away from him of course this is really speaking of a man that is unsaved and unconverted but I do think that it spills over into the Christian’s life too but when someone hears the Gospel of Jesus Christ and turns from their sin and repents and believes in Jesus Christ as their lord Lord and Savior the spirit of God indwells them and begins to transform them and then they find out very quickly the Bible admonishes Believers to often pray coupled with Thanksgiving it’s all over the scripture I mean listen to Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 16 it says Rejoice always pray without ceasing ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you so if you want to do the will of God if you are asking the question what’s God’s will it is God’s will for you to be thankful and be devoted to prayer that’s what’s God’s will is now I can get that practicing it is something else Philippians tells us be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving and let your request be made known to God and then in Colossians chap 2: 6 and 7 we’re to overflow with thankfulness you know that means there’s a cup filled and it just keeps coming out right it keeps coming out that’s how we ought to look before God our thankfulness can’t be stopped you can’t put a lid on it it just keeps coming out and I believe the only way to have that happens is when Doctrine really takes root in your mind and heart and you realize very clearly what God has done for you and that you had nothing to do with it you couldn’t add to it you couldn’t take away from it but he did it and so you feel so humbled and so thankful that he saved you and he put you on a path that’s leading into the kingdom of God there’s not many things that could really divert your kind of you know get rid of your thank thankfulness it’s it just like overflows in every circumstance and relationship of life we have we we’re faced with the choice all the time how are we going to respond to it are we going to move move toward God in thankfulness or are we going to move away from God with ingratitude that that’s the two choices you have and believe me it’s not pretty to see a Believer that’s not thankful it’s not pretty because they’re not getting something or they’re so focused on their circumstance or on the people in that circumstance that they allow them to rob it right from them right and so they’re down in the dumps now because of it and being thankful doesn’t mean that you don’t hurt inside it it doesn’t mean that there’s not trouble in your life and everything’s going fine well in Danny that’s not what it means it means I’m thankful because of Jesus Christ and what he’s done and no one could change that because God doesn’t lie to us he tells us the truth you know I came across this little booklet done by Puritan reformed uh read it and um they had like six things in in that little book that it says as soon as you’re thankful this is going to take place and I thought I’d share those with you this morning uh because it is helpful to kind of like lift up or bolster what it says in our passage that as soon as you are thankful the first thing is you enter into the presence of God you are thankful you remember that you are living your life In God’s Presence he is listening to you and he’s involved in your life secondly as soon as you are thankful you start to see your life differently Through The Eyes Of God you no longer are problem centered but you are god- centered just like it says in Romans 8:28 all things work together for the good to those who love God are call according to his purpose right and then a third thing is as soon as you are thankful you defeat Satan’s efforts to control your interpretation of reality that was an interesting one and what is that Satan always always wants us to doubt God and turn away from him he’s done that in the garden he’s had a lot of training in that and he wants to do it you in your life that’s what he wants to do see be being thankful really AIDS us to trust the Lord in what he says about life just like again in Romans he who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all how will he not also with him freely give us all things see in other words God wants good for you he’s a good God and he wants good for you a fourth thing is as soon as you are thankful you begin to link your life to God’s promises you learn how to see your circumstances through the lenses of God’s word not the lens of your experience which Always dilutes devalues and diminishes God and that’s what happening to too M too much feeling centered stuff going on in our our life today people are hurt too quickly they run away from God because they they’re hurt it it they didn’t it didn’t go their way a fifth thing is as soon as you are thankful you start to see not only your situation but yourself your own heart through God’s eyes so so when you have a thankful heart you affirm that because of Jesus God is up to something really good in your life and you begin to notice that you canit that you’re weak and vulnerable and you still feel safe in God’s plan for you you can confess your sin and be confident that God forgives your sin why can you do that because the Bible actually says if you confess your sins he’s faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from what all our unrighteousness so when we’re confessing the sin that we remember God’s cleaning you up from the things you stopped remembering and then the last thing as soon as you are thankful your Human Relationships get healthier because you are not sh you are shaped by faith you become more dependent on God and less controlled by your relationships with people see the thankfulness will prevent you from being judgmental or demanding of others or fearful of them or easily hurt I don’t have to be easily easily hurt when I’m thankful to God CU I know I don’t deserve what I already have and you know that too and that just keeps me humble thank you Lord for what you’ve given me thank you Lord for not only saving me but all the little things you do in my life every day for my family for my my friends for the the possessions you give me for living in this country all these things I mean the list goes on and on and on get up every day and make a long list of what to be thankful for and you won’t Grumble once in that day see the scripture informs us that if we are going to be devoted to speak to God In Prayer we must do it coupled with the attitude of Thanksgiving and believe me if you don’t have an attitude of Thanksgiving on your prayer who’s going to be the first one who knows about it it’s going to be God right in gratitude in our life is incompatible with genuine gratitude ingratitude should not be the normal default conduct of the genuine believer who is growing in his knowledge and understanding of God’s word giving thanks should be as Paul again in the sister book of Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God even the father so you see rather than being discontented with what we have instead we take pleasure in our God in our home in our family in our church in our possessions in our occupation in our circumstances whether good or bad favorable or unfavorable we’re thankful and if you’re thankful it will rub off on someone else who’s not thankfulness is the key factor in worship and Brethren when we worship God intelligently we know who we are and we know what we are to do and this makes a satisfied happy and joyful people I like I mean if you go to the Psalms all you see is Psalms about thankfulness I like the Psalm 100 verse4 enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise a lot of times praise and thank thankfulness are the word thankful are all interrelated in the Old Testament they kind of like go together so if we use the words Gates and courts it represents the temple of God and where men and women approach God’s presence the heart is engaged as one becomes excited to come into the presence of God with an attitude of Thanksgiving and praise so that’s how we should every time come before God and if we come before God in devoted prayer together and coupled with thankfulness that adds to our worship we’re able to lift up our words to God in worship and in singing that exalts his name and we really mean it and people say wow these people really they’re into this that’s that’s how it ought to be so it’s first Devotion to prayer but back to Colossians chapter 4 verse 3 and 4 that’s the first thing Devotion to prayer there is also to be Direction in prayer Direction in prayer notice what it says in verse number three now before I look at verse number three I must must say that prayer must have a direction to it because prayer is aiming at something if it doesn’t have a direction we’ll never know if we hit the target right we’ll never know if prayer is really answered so what is the direction a prayer at least in our text this morning we’ll see in verse number three praying at the same time for us that’s Paul Timothy and aerus as well all right so the first thing is what is it as well that God will open up to us a door for the word so Paul is saying listen while you’re praying Colossians pray for me all right because where was Paul he was in prison right he was in prison and he wasn’t getting out of prison he was in prison and so praying he says pray at the same time for me so here’s a prayer for something only God can do and what is that open open doors an Open Door stood for an opportunity for speaking the gospel the Apostle Paul is using actually in uh in the the text here a certain word that that produces a mood that he wants to bring forth to the reader and it it is it’s a subjunctive mood and the subjunctive mood indicates the relation of the action to reality it means the action is possible but it depends on certain objective factors now it becomes simple in a minute so viewing the action as possible and what is the action if the Colossians actually follow through on their prayer something will take place all right then God will respond to the prayer now anytime we pray for open doors you know you hear the thing you know when God closes the door he opens the window ah take that off your wall no God God opens doors right he opens doors but an open door doesn’t mean things are uh there’s not going to be trouble or antagonist in fact we find in scripture uh where Paul says in in Corinthians a y door for Effective service has open to me but there are many adversaries so anytime there’s an Open Door there there’s always an adversary there to preent prevent you from either praying for that door to be open or walking through it once it is opened and then of course there are some doors that are open but they’re not God’s open door and we have to be careful about those two in fact there’s an example in scripture of 2 Corinthians chapter 2 where it says I came to traz for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for for me my spirit was not handling it well and so I left there and I went to Macedonia and he knew and he then he says this he says be thank thanks be to God who always leads us in Triumph in the Triumph of Christ so God will always lead us there may be an open door but it’s not God’s Open Door it may be the open door you want so if getting back to this mood that if the Colossians do not pray and the subjunctive mood indicates the reality of this actually taking place open doors depends on some external conditions that the colossian Believers actually follow through praying as Paul requested that is what he’s getting there now for us the question would be and what if we don’t carry out out prayer for God to kick open doors for speaking the gospel what if we don’t pray that what will happen if we don’t pray that you know what will happen nothing will happen if we don’t pray that see the external condition for this actually happening is that we continually follow through in our prayers and if we don’t it won’t happen it was John Piper who said without persistent prayer we have no offense in the battle against evil individually as and as churches we are meant to invade and plunder the strongholds of Satan but no prayer no power so if we’re not Vigilant we will be ins snared by temptation our defense and our offense is an active should be always an active persistent Earnest believing a believing prayer force that comes from the body of Believers and so that’s a direction of of prayer I want to hit this target that Paul is asking uh the Colossians to pray so God would kick open doors for him for the gospel we are to pray that God would kick open doors for us for the gospel that loved one that you are thinking about but maybe not praying for or maybe you gave up praying for them because it’s been a long time and maybe their mind slipped your name slipped out of your mind or we’re going to mall evang evangelism on this weekend and we’re praying Lord kick open a door for us so when we pass out a track or we have a conversation with somebody that they would actually listen sin and that you would allow them to receive the word of God with power and they be saved or at least we can plant the seed water the seed and you bring the increase and so another direction that Paul asks for the Colossians to pray is found in verse number three and four where it says so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ for which I have also been imprisoned that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak and I want you to note in that passage Paul did not ask the Colossians for prayer to get him out of prison but for an open door and Clarity of speech prayer for the purpose of making clear that Christ himself is the mystery and just like Paul’s approach in dealing with the false teachers that we found in Colossians he did it by a positive setting forth of the truth of Christ from the scripture in the power of the Holy Spirit where it says in Colossians 1:28 we Proclaim him that’s what we do we Proclaim him so Paul’s not proclaiming something specul speculative or uncertain or some vague feeling or experience no he is proclaiming he wants to Proclaim clearly the truth about Christ and the truth about Christ from scripture is a very clear message and stated positively the clarity of scripture refers to its accessibility that the knowledge of God contained in the Bible has been revealed in such a way that it actually can be sufficiently understood and of itself and of those who seek it also and this is the content of the message M Jesus whom we preach Colossians 1: 27 to whom God will to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles and what is that mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory Christ in me the hope of glory that’s a mystery that’s now unveiled by God and by the preaching of the Gospel so in other words Christianity is Christ you can’t get away from that he is at the center of it all and your attitude and relationship to this person is sign of significant importance you don’t need an endless list of angels to have to go through to between God and man which the gnostics believed and which Paul was refuting in Colossians you don’t need that no Christ can be bring you to God because he is God I like 2 Corinthians 4:5 it says for we do not preach ourselves but Christ as Lord so it’s all about Jesus his person and the facts concerning him in him is The Treasure of wisdom and knowledge verse three of chapter 2 in whom are hidden all the treasures of w wisdom and knowledge and in him dwells the fullness of God so the Apostle Paul is saying things about Jesus that goes far beyond what people say today about Jesus that he’s a good teacher that he’s a good example that he’s a good man to follow and usually they go no further and even conclude that Jesus is not Divine and even he’s not God he was a good Prophet but he’s not Divine see that’s why we need A Book Like Colossians and that’s why it’s here in the Bible for us because if we didn’t have it we would all conclude that Jesus was an exceptional exceptional human being and that is about as far as we would go and usually go no further but if you look at scripture as I already mentioned in the word of God in Colossians chapter 1 verse1 15- 18 for he is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of all creation for by him all things were created in heaven in the heavens and on Earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created through him and for him he is before all things and in him all things hold together he is also head of the body the church and he is the beginning the firstborn from the dead so he himself will come to have first place in everything that’s who Jesus is but Satan wants to pull us away from that and he wants us to fall away from devoted prayer and prayer filled with thankfulness and a desire to want to pray to God to kick open the door so we can see your hand work in Saving other people and Lord when we do speak allow us to speak with Clarity so Paul wants Clarity in unveiling God’s Gra great secret and what secret is that the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations has now been manifest to his Saints and what is that Revelation it is the revealing of the great Secret Of God was the love and mercy and grace of God that meant that for not meant just for G Jews Al alone but also For All Mankind that the gospel goes to everyone so now Gentiles don’t become Jews nor do Jews become Gentiles but both become one new person when they come to Christ in Repentance and Faith so the the question would be all right if the Colossians prayed this prayer was it answered well I want you to take your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter 28 which we read this morning and I want you to notice something because I can emphatically say yes it was answered and he ends actually the the the epistle the historical book of Acts in this way he says in Acts 28:30 and 31 it says he and he stayed that’s Paul two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him and then verse 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ how with all openness unhindered was the prayer answered yes so it’s it’s always good to stick around for the answer because sometimes that’s why we some people conclude prayer doesn’t work because you’re not long you’re not there long enough to see the answer let me just close with this this morning especially really because the main thing is that the the highest use of speech is prayer there was a man named Jeremiah Lanier it was September 23rd 1857 he came to New York City and he was working in the financial district and it he says it wasn’t very uh it was wasn’t very good to be a Christian at that point wealthy Bankers were uh and real real estate speculators were uh thanking God for their wealth as and and right down the block there was all kinds of uh slums and poverty that was being unaddressed and so Jeremiah uh went there to uh do work in being somebody who’s going to be in Mercantile or you know like a pharmacy or sell all kinds of goods and that’s what he went to school or went to do uh learn there and so he finally uh went there as a nonbeliever and then he heard the gospel he he became a Christian and then he got connected to a church and he started immediately do an Evangelistic work with a lot of the the poor people there and so uh a church found out about him it was actually a Dutch Reformed Church and the Dutch reform used to preach the gospel back then this church was D Reformed Church you know and um so for 168 years in our church we’ve been preaching the gospel so some prayers have been answered there you know that we’re still doing it but this man what he did is that he he said I’m going to go and and so he gets hired by this church he goes out to The Community he’s handing out all these P pamphlets uh tracks and inviting people to church nobody came so he he comes and he says Lord what do you want me to do he prays Lord what do you want me to do and the answer that he got from the Lord is the Lord says I want you to pray so that’s what he did he says how am I going to reach these businessmen that are all over here so he starts a businessman’s lunchtime prayer this is what happened from 12: to 1: in the afternoon you come uh during your lunchtime and you can stay 10 minutes you can stay for the whole hour you can stay a half hour whatever you come and pray we’re going to have some a little bit of a singing we’re going to have uh some exhortation uh if anybody speaks any more than 5 minutes a Bell’s going to ring so we don’t want to waste anybody’s time we want we’re coming here to prayer so the first meeting night or first meeting afternoon uh what happens the first day Jeremiah half hour goes by it’s just him another half hour goes by one person comes at the end of that first day six people actually did show up the following week 20 people showed up the fourth week 100 people showed up then October 18th a financial Panic seized the city New York City this was in collapsing the economy into a deep recession so all these businessmen are are freaking out so what did they do they go to the prayer meeting and um in 6 months 10,000 businessmen came to pray they had to open up police departments and other churches and firehouses all these people wanted to come and pray they had to start a morning prayer because some guys couldn’t come in the afternoon they used still wanted to pray 2 years later it’s reported that it spread all across America reporting that 1 million converts were added to the church in America during that time and it started from one little guy asking God what do you want me to do and he started praying to God and God some of these men came and they weren’t converted but they heard everything was going on they started asking how can I be converted and they came they started coming to Christ and God saved a lot of people for that so I thought that story was very uh applicable to this point that we ought to be devoted to prayer and if we’re not we don’t know what’s going to happen but if we are we look for what’s going to happen and God answers prayer does he not answer prayer matter of fact you’re sitting here this morning because someone prayed for you that you’d be saved you’re sitting here today because someone prayed for you that you’re saved and if you’re here and you’re not saved someone’s praying that you will be saved amen am let’s pray Lord this morning Lord thank you for the word of God it so impresses upon our heart and our soul what is really needful in our life Lord sometimes we’re so concerned about the simplest smallest things and yet Lord the thing that is most important we neglect but I pray Lord that today we would stop neglecting those things and we would pray and I pray Lord that you would make us a people that is devoted to prayer and I pray in our devotion to prayer Lord we would be active in that in that Lord Jesus we would be praying and we would be filled with thankfulness as we are devoted to prayer and we would be alert as soldiers and that Lord as we do that we would be shooting at a target with direct prayers to the throne room of God and know Lord I pray as we do that we will learn how to pray more in your will and for your purpose and for the advancement of theur Church in the kingdom of God that we would have open doors for the gospel and that you would enable us to speak clearly those truths and that Lord we would see the results I ask you for that today in our family I pray in Christ’s name amen amen