Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July
5, 2009
Introduction
We’ve seen Paul progress from correct doctrine to correct living.
He started out by teaching us who God is and what He has done for us.
He moved on to talk about how these things work in our hearts to build qualities in us like
compassion, kindness, and humility.
We’ve seen how practical these qualities are as they affect our marriages, parenting, and
our relationships at work.
Paul has a few more things to encourage the Colossians in before he
finishes his letter.
:2 Continue
earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
prayer – proseuche
– prayer
This is prayer that is addressed to God. This is prayer with a sense of devotion
toward God.
Continue earnestly
– proskartereo (“toward” + “to be
strong”) – to adhere to one, to continue all the time in a place; to persevere
and not to faint
The word seems to hint at your priorities, these are the things that you hold on to, the things
that are the foundation of your life.
Illustration
Do you remember
this commercial from last year?
Let’s say it’s
3am, but the phone rings at your house.
The man on the line says he’s from the police, he says there’s been a
terrible fire
heading toward your neighborhood and you have five minutes to evacuate your
house. Besides your family members, what would you stop to pick up before you
head out the door?
Those would be the things that you “proskartereo”,
the things you hold on to.
Illustration
How about your habits?
What are the habits in your life that you find important?
What are the
absolutely necessary things you must do in the morning before you leave the
house?
How many of you have to brush
your teeth? Take a shower?
Put on clean
clothes? Put on a
little makeup? Eat a little breakfast?
What are the things that you must do in order to feel “ready” for the day?
This word is used 10 times in the
New Testament. When you look at
how this word is used in the book of Acts, you see a pattern of what the early
believers thought were important:
(Acts 1:14 NKJV) These all continued with one accord in prayer
and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His
brothers.
(Acts
2:42 NKJV) And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Notice their
habits – Bible study, fellowship, communion, and prayer
(Acts
2:46 NKJV) So continuing daily with one accord in the temple…
We call that
fellowship
(Acts
6:4 NKJV) "but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the
ministry of the word."
The apostles
were committed to praying and the Word.
Lesson
Priority One: Prayer
Paul would suggest that one of the things we would cling to would be the
practice of prayer.
Have you got to the point where you realize that you MUST pray every day? Have you got to the point
where you don’t quite feel ready to leave the house unless you’ve prayed?
Martin Luther
(1483-1546) on prayer:
“It is well to
let prayer be the first employment in the early morning and the last in the
evening. Avoid diligently those false and deceptive thoughts which say, “I will
pray an hour hence; I must first perform this or that.” For with such thoughts
a man quits prayer for business, which lays hold of and entangles him so that
he comes not to pray the whole day long.”
“Prayer is the
most important thing in my life. If I should neglect prayer for a single day, I
should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.”
“I am so busy
now that if I did not spend two or three hours each day in prayer, I would not
get through the day.”
We think we’re too busy to pray.
Luther thought he was too busy NOT to pray.
being
vigilant – gregoreuo – to watch;
from the word (egeiro) to “arise,
wake up; give strict attention to
NASB – “keeping
alert”; NIV – “being
watchful”
Lesson
Staying awake in prayer
I know what it’s like to be talking and having people falling asleep.
Illustration
From July 2006 Reader's Digest:
Recently, a pastor fell asleep
at the wheel and awoke just as he sideswiped a guardrail. When he got home, his
wife peppered him with questions, trying to figure out what had happened. “Were
you sleepy when you started to drive?” she asked. “No” he answered. “Then how
did you fall asleep?” “I’m
not sure,” he said. “There I was, going over my sermon...”
I wonder what God thinks when we fall asleep while we’re talking with Him?
Here are some tips I’ve learned over the years to stay awake while praying.
1. Open/close your eyes
Sometimes the things around us are distracting.
Maybe some of
us are just more ADD than others.
This is why we often teach children to close their eyes and fold their hands when they pray
– to keep them from getting distracted.
Sometimes closing your eyes can be trouble if you’re sleepy, so open your
eyes!
2. Take a walk
Get the blood pumping.
3. Use a list
My mind wanders and I get off track. If I have a list with the things that
are important for me to pray for, I can keep on track.
4. Pray out loud
Hearing the sound of your own voice can help you stay alert and focused.
If you’re self-conscious and taking a walk and you’re worried people will
think you’re crazy talking to yourself, just put your Bluetooth earpiece on and people will think
you’re talking to someone important. You
are.
5. Coffee
Illustration
Start the morning right.
thanksgiving – eucharistia
– thankfulness; the giving of thanks; the grateful acknowledgment of God’s
mercies
Lesson
Thanksgiving and peace
One of the benefits of prayer is the peace that God gives when you
pray.
(Phil
4:6-7 NKJV) Be anxious for nothing, but
in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God; {7} and the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
It seems to me that the key to receiving God’s peace in
prayer is by learning to pray with thanksgiving.
Sometimes when I pray I don’t get less anxious, I get
more anxious. I focus on the problem and
feel even more weighed down than before.
When I learn to put the request into God’s hands and
leave it there, that’s when I experience God’s peace.
I know that I’ve successfully put something into God’s
hands when I can say to God, “Thank you for dealing with this situation in the
way that You feel is best”.
:3 meanwhile
praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak
the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
praying – proseuchomai
– to offer prayers, to pray
meanwhile – hama –
at the same time, at once, together; Paul doesn’t just want them to pray
generally, but to pray also for him.
us – Paul, and those that were with him: Timothy, Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, and Epaphras.
Paul is not the only one who wants to speak about Jesus.
would open – anoigo –
to open
door – thura – a
door; “an open door” is used of the opportunity of doing something
word – logos – word
Lightfoot interprets, “a door of admission for the Word, i.e., an
opportunity of preaching the gospel.”
to speak – laleo –
to utter a voice or emit a sound; to speak
mystery
– musterion – hidden thing, secret
What is the “mystery”?
We’ve seen this before. The “mystery” was that us pig-dog-heathen Gentiles could be saved. This
was something unimaginable to a Jew in Paul’s day.
Paul writes about it to the Ephesians
(Eph
3:6 NKJV) that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and
partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
in chains
– deo – to bind, fasten with chains,
to throw into chains (“Day-oh!!)
Paul was in prison
in Rome, handcuffed to a Roman soldier twenty-four hours a day.
He was in prison because of his ministry with Gentiles.
He was arrested originally in Jerusalem because the Jews thought he was
causing too much trouble around the world talking about Jesus. They accused him of bringing a Gentile into
the Temple in Jerusalem.
:4 that I may
make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
manifest – phaneroo –
to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to
manifest, whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way
I ought – dei –
it is necessary, there is need of, it behooves, is right and proper
from deo – to bind, fasten
with chains, to throw into chains
to speak – laleo –
to utter a voice or emit a sound; to speak
Lesson
Open doesn’t mean easy
We often use the concept of an “open door” as an opportunity in front of us.
When you are looking for a job, and someone actually makes you a job offer,
we call that an “open door”.
This is one of the ways in which
God reveals His will to us, through circumstances.
Let’s say that you
feel that it is God’s will that you marry a girl with green skin. You are
convinced that this is what God’s will is for you. And so you pray every day
for God to bring you a woman with green skin. And you pray. And you pray. But
you never meet anyone with green skin.
Could it be
possible that God doesn’t want you to marry someone with green skin? Could it
be that your “wishes” are simply not what God desires for you, nor is best?
God uses circumstances like this to shape us and direct
us.
But be careful how you view your circumstances.
Not all opportunities are easy. Look at Paul’s “open door”:
(1 Cor 16:8-9 NKJV) But I will tarry in Ephesus
until Pentecost. {9} For a great
and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
Lesson
Difficulty + prayer = fruit
God is very much able to work in our lives, even when our lives are
difficult.
I often use my difficulties as an excuse NOT to do what God wants.
Yet God wants to work in spite of my difficulties.
Paul could have
quit when he wound up being arrested in Jerusalem. But he couldn’t quit.
(Acts
23:11 NKJV) But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of
good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must
also bear witness at Rome."
God still had work for Paul, even as a prisoner.
When Paul ended
up being shipped to Rome, and the ship got hopelessly lost in a storm, he could
have quit, but he didn’t. In fact, Paul was praying for God’s help for all the people on the boat when
an angel appeared to him:
(Acts
27:24 NKJV) "saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before
Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.'
And now that
Paul has been delivered as a prisoner to Rome, did he quit? No.
At the same time that Paul was writing to the Colossians asking for prayer,
he penned a letter to the Philippians:
(Phil
1:12-14 NKJV) But
I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have
actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, {13} so that it has become evident to the
whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; {14} and most of the
brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold
to speak the word without fear.
It seems that there was a constant stream of men assigned
to guard Paul by being chained to him. And it seems that Paul decided to take
the opportunity to share Christ to the men he was chained to. Apparently many
of these guards came to know Christ.
How did Paul do it?
When you add prayer to a difficult time, God brings fruit.
Note that Paul doesn’t ask them to pray that he will endure. He doesn’t ask
for them to pray that his difficulty ends.
He prays that doors of opportunity will open.
:5 Walk in
wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
wisdom – sophia –
wisdom, broad and full of intelligence; devout and proper care in interaction
with men not followers of Christ
walk – peripateo – to
make one’s way, progress; Hebrew for “to live”
outside
– Who are those “outside”? Those who don’t believe in Jesus.
People are watching you. They are looking for reasons not to believe. They
need to see reasons to believe.
Your “walk”
isn’t something people hear. It’s something people see.
time – kairos – a specific measure of time
There are two words in Greek that
can be translated “time”. One means simply “time” in general, this one speaks
of specific, limited times; opportune times.
We’re not to just be redeeming the clocks of the world, we are “redeeming”
specific periods of time, times that present opportunities.
redeeming
– exagorazo – payment of a price to
recover from the power of another
It’s seeing a moment in time
as something that the enemy has kidnapped. You are willing to pay the price to
buy back that moment as an opportunity for God to work.
The price? Not money. We spend ourselves. We spend our reputation.
Esther faced
one of those moments. She was a beautiful Jewish girl who had become the queen
of the empire. She found out that an evil plot had been hatched to wipe out her
entire race. She was
in a unique position to do something, but she hesitated. She might risk her
position. She might even be killed herself. Her cousin Mordecai told her:
(Est
4:14 NKJV) "For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and
deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your
father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as
this?"
Esther “redeemed” the “time” by risking her position and even her life in
exposing the plot and saving her people.
Paul now gives a little insight in how to “redeem” the time.
:6 Let your
speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you
ought to answer each one.
speech – logos –
a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea
grace – charis – grace; that which affords joy,
pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: good will, loving-kindness,
favor
salt – halas – salt
with which food is seasoned and sacrifices are sprinkled; wisdom and grace
exhibited in speech
(Mat
5:13 NKJV) "You are the salt of the
earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then
good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Plutarch uses salt of speech, the wit which flavors speech (cf. Attic
salt).
Our word salacious is this
same word degenerated into vulgarity.
Grace and salt (wit, sense) make an ideal combination.
seasoned – artuo –
to prepare, arrange, with respect to food; to season, make savory
You could
translate this first phrase as, “Let your speech always be seasoned by
grace-salt …”
Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
(Eph
4:29 NKJV) Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for
necessary edification, that
it may impart grace to the hearers.
ought – dei – it is necessary, is right and
proper; from deo – to bind, fasten with chains
In verse 3,
Paul reminded them of his own, real “chains”
In verse 4,
Paul talked about how he “ought” to speak. He was “chained” to speak.
In verse 6, Paul
reminds us that we are “chained” to speak as well. The point comes across
strong considering Paul’s own chains.
to answer
– apokrinomai – to give an answer to
a question proposed, to begin to speak,
but always where something has preceded (either said or done) to which the
remarks refer
People are saying and doing things that need answers.
Lesson
Reaching the Lost
Paul gives us some insight into how to reach lost people.
1. Prayer
Paul set the example by asking for prayer that opportunities would come.
Do you pray for
opportunities to share your faith?
That is a prayer that God is going to answer.
Do you pray
regularly for people you know that don’t know the Lord?
I find that it’s also important that God would give me a heart for lost people.
When I don’t have a “heart” to reach lost people, I become
either annoyed by them or afraid of them.
We can develop a lifestyle where we surround ourselves
with “safe” people, other Christians.
But God hasn’t left us in this world to be “safe”. He’s
left us in this world to reach a lost world.
Does it bother you that people are dying and going to
hell? It ought to bother you.
We’ve got six weeks left until the Harvest Crusade. This is going to be an awesome
opportunity for people you know to come to Christ. But it needs to start with
prayer. Pray for the Crusade. Pray for your friends who need to go to the
Crusade.
2. Wise living
People are watching how you live your life. We need to walk with “wisdom”
Paul writes to the Ephesians:
(Eph 5:15-16 NKJV) See then that you walk
circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, {16} redeeming the time, because the
days are evil.
To “walk circumspectly” is the idea of looking around,
being careful of how you walk.
Illustration
Davida Dalton
writes: It was a busy day in our Costa Mesa, California home. But then, with 10
children and one on the way, every day was a bit hectic. On this particular
day, however, I was having trouble doing even routine chores-all because of one
little boy.
Len, who was
three at the time, was on my heels no matter where I went. Whenever I stopped
to do something and turned back around, I would trip over him. Several times, I
patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied. “Wouldn’t you like to
play on the swing set?” I asked again.
But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said, “Oh, that’s all right,
Mommy. I’d rather be in here with you.” Then he continued to bounce happily
along behind me.
After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose my patience
and insisted that he go outside and play with the other children. When I asked
him why he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eves and
said, “Well, Mommy, in preschool my teacher told me to walk in Jesus’
footsteps. But I can’t see him, so I’m walking in yours.”
Our children
are watching, but so is the rest of the world. Some are looking for reasons to
believe. Others are looking for reasons not to believe. Walk wisely.
3. Gracious words
Sometimes we think that we need snappy, smart comebacks when we talk about
the Lord.
We think
that the person who is quickest with their “gospel-gun”, to quote a Scripture
and tell someone to repent
is how you talk to an unbeliever.
Some of us fall into the trap of thinking that we need to
be smart enough to “win
the argument”.
You might win the argument, but you’ll lose the person.
It is good to know answers to sincere questions. It is
good to know that there ARE answers to difficult questions.
But the way to “answer” is with words seasoned with
“grace”.
Paul wrote to Timothy:
(2 Tim 2:24-26
NKJV) And a
servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach,
patient, {25} in humility
correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them
repentance, so that they may know the truth, {26} and that they may come to their senses and
escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
Sometimes it helps to remember that the unbeliever you
work or live with is not the enemy. But they are held captive by the enemy. They are the hostage
that needs to be rescued.
We need to cultivate gentleness, patience, and humility
along with our gracious words.
Prayer. Wise
living. Gracious Words.