Advancing the Gospel God's Way

Paul's in prison, but he's not praying for his release. He's praying for open doors for the Word. In Colossians 4:2-6, we discover what gospel mission actually looks like: persistent prayer that fuels the work, Word-centered ministry that unleashes God's power, and wise living that backs up our message. This isn't about programs or strategies—it's about trusting God's unchained Word to do what only it can do.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Friends, we live in a culture that conditions us from our birth to prioritize ourselves. We grow up conditioned to prioritize our ease and comfort. We appreciate a microwave culture in which we can fix everything quickly, we can remove pain as quickly as possible. We want to prioritize our personal wealth, our personal happiness and fulfillment and all the rest that comes with that. Imagine if we could all review a transcript of all of our prayers from the last year. I wonder if we looked over that transcript of each encounter before God when we go to Him in prayer, what would be the normative pattern we would see in our prayer lives? Would we lean on one side of the spectrum where we mostly go to God for the things our culture has conditioned us in? Praying to God for our personal comfort, our personal happiness, our personal wealth, fulfillment, and all the rest? Or would our transcript of prayer show that we go to God praying other-centered prayers, praying that God's glory would be exalted among the nations, that the brothers and sisters among our church family would grow spiritually in their walk with Jesus, that we would have opportunities to faithfully proclaim God's word. These are some of the things that Paul is encouraging the church at Colossi in. After unpacking the gospel, after unpacking union with Christ, after giving some gospel indicatives and imperatives, as he's beginning to conclude this epistle, he leaves them with some final words to encourage them to now step out in faith and to essentially do ministry with a other centeredness that marks a Christian. So the main thing I want us to look at in verses two through six, just a few couple of verses, but filled with lots of biblical truth, I want you to see this this morning, friends. Each and every one of you, if you are in Christ and a member of this church, you play a role in advancing the gospel through persistent prayer, through word-centered ministry, and wise living before a watching world. If you're a covenant member of Redeemer Church, welcome to the staff. You play a role in advancing the gospel through persistent prayer, word-centered ministry, and wise living before a watching world. I want us to just walk through these verses. We're going to spend a little bit more time in verses three through four, but I want us to see as members of a church, what role do we play to the glory of God in fulfilling the Great Commission as a body of Christ? Look down at verse two of chapter four. Paul says, devote yourselves to prayer, stay alert in it with thanksgiving. For the gospel to advance through Redeemer Church, it's going to require devoted prayer. I love that word. Do we use that often in our normal vernacular as people? Paul says, devote, this is a command, an exhortation, devote yourselves to prayer. Keep in mind, we tend to read the Bible individualistically, going back to what I said about our culture. We live in a radically individualistic culture. So even when we approach the Bible, sometimes we read these commands as, you know, we isolate. It's all about me. I'm supposed to do this. And yes, that is a byproduct of Paul's exhortation, but keep in mind, contextually, Paul is writing to a church body saying, y'all corporately devote yourselves to prayer. That word devote means unrelenting persistence. He's saying this is to be a consistent, normative pattern and passion of you guys as a corporate body to be devoted and prayer, which obviously means that this isn't some casual, inconsistent prayer. This isn't an occasional prayer when life gets really bad for the Colossian Christians. It's the kind of prayer that marked the early church after Jesus' resurrection. Many of you are familiar with Pentecost and what the church did after Jesus ascended into heaven, where it says that they devoted themselves to prayer, fellowship, and the apostles' teaching. That word devoted shows up again. They committed themselves to these things. It was a steady, consistent, relentless pattern of them being devoted to prayer, fellowship, and the teaching of God's word. But Paul uses this language as well: be watchful in prayer. So he doesn't just say pray. He's not even telling them like how he expects them to pray. Be watchful in your prayer. Stay watchful in prayer. Now, I wonder, I don't know, I don't want to read into the text, but I wonder when Paul said this, if he had in his mind, as someone who would have been familiar with the ministry of Jesus, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Jesus tells his disciples, Peter, James, and John, stay awake and pray so that you won't enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. How many of us can amen that statement? How many Christians would acknowledge, yes, prayer is a gift from God? I have access to him by way of Jesus Christ. I can think about this. As Christians, we can talk to God, the creator of the universe, and he listens. And he actually does stuff in light of our prayers because he's a God who works through means. But if we're honest, we are like Peter, James, and John. When Jesus is at a moment of absolute sorrow and pain and grief, and he just asks, brothers, just be present with me and pray. And they get distracted. I think sometimes that's how we approach prayer. We know it's valuable, we know it's important, we know it's for our spiritual benefit, but the spirit is willing, but the flesh is often weak. Paul is encouraging them to be vigilant prayer guards against spiritual laziness. He's encouraging them, guys, you have a role in the advancement of God's kingdom, and a part of that role includes devoted, consistent prayer. Be vigilant in it. It protects you from temptations that will creep in when you're spiritually asleep. So prayer keeps you alert. So stay alert, stay awake, stay ready. I listened to one pastor who described prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie. I love that. A wartime thing about, you know, someone who's on the battlefield. I love a good war movie or a good war show. But you're on the battlefield and you're overrun by the enemy. What is the thing they always do? Call in the Air Force, right? Call in an airstrike. That is like prayer, a wartime walkie-talkie. But not only does he say, be devoted to prayer and be alert and awake in it, he says, be devote yourselves to prayer, stay alert in it. But notice this with thanksgiving, he says, in your prayers, be thankful to the Lord. As a matter of fact, Thanksgiving saturates this letter. We don't have time to look at all these verses, but in chapter 1, verse 12, chapter 2, verse 7, chapter 3, 15 and 17, Paul is constantly bringing up this posture of heart towards the Lord of being thankful, being grateful to the Lord. And he's saying, let that bleed into your prayer life. Be thankful in prayer, which means gratitude should not be an add-on, so to speak, to our prayers, but rather it should dominate our prayers. It should be something we weave into our prayers. I've shared this before, but the Lord convicted me of this uh in my own walk with him when I struggle with my prayer life and recognizing I often go to God and just ask for stuff. But how often do I go to God and just thank him for all the stuff he has already blessed me with, including my salvation and every other evidence of his grace that I see in my life? So Paul is saying, this is not an add-on. Weave thankfulness into your prayers. So let me ask you this: Is your prayer life dominated by a level of self-centeredness? Now, don't hear what I'm not saying. God is concerned with all the things that concern you, friends. So if you're worried about your health, if you're worried about your children, your marriage, your job, and all these other things, those are things important to God too. But imagine if you had a relationship with a close friend, a spouse, or a family member, and the only time you communicated with them is to ask for stuff. Or that was how that person treated you. The only time you interacted is when they needed something. At some point you would start feeling some sadness, wouldn't you? You would start feeling like, wait a minute, this relationship seems a little lopsided, where I'm only needed when you want something. We should go to God in gratitude and thankfulness, but also recognizing that we should have an outward focus in our hearts and in our prayers. So ask yourself: is your prayer life dominated by a level of self-centeredness focused primarily on the concerns of life that bring you human happiness? Or is there a measure of your prayers that are outward focused, where you are more concerned about thankfulness and outward concerns of those who are in your life that the Lord has placed in your life that you pray on behalf of? Just think about Paul's example, uh, not just even in Colossians, but if you pay careful attention to Paul's recorded prayers in his letters, his prayers are always outward focused. He's praying for things like the church in Ephesus to grow and their understanding of how much God loves them. He prays for the spiritual maturity of the saints, for the flourishing of the church, the churches that he had the privilege of ministering to, for the gospel to continue to blossom from among the churches that he had the privilege of ministering to. His prayers are often in that direction as he is suffering, as he's going through hardship. I mean, Colossians we're studying, he's in jail writing to other Christians to encourage them into in the faith. So he is a great example of having this outward concern for the spiritual health of others. But then he transitions in verses three through four from the content and shape of their prayers to the mission that they are called to in verses three through four. I want us to spend a good amount of time here and see you, friends, help advance the gospel through word-centered ministry. You help advance the gospel through word-centered ministry. Look down at verse three. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door for us to us for the word to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should. As you are going to God, at the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word. I love this. Notice Paul's striking priority. He is in prison. And he is saying, brothers, don't forget us in your prayers, that God may provide us opportunity to continue to proclaim the mysteries of Christ. He could have asked anything. Because again, he's writing to a church from a prison cell. He doesn't ask the Colossians to pray for his release. He doesn't ask for better conditions in jail. He doesn't ask for anything geared towards himself. Rather, he prays, no, no, no, no. Pray for God to give me more opportunities to do what locked me up in the first place. Pray that God would give me a door to share the good news of Jesus. He doesn't say, pray that God would open my prison door so I could walk out. We know those stories, right? No, he says, pray that God would open a door for the word. Or in other words, pray that the word would continue to go forward even from my prison cell. That is the heart we see here in Paul. He his heart is so gripped by the mission of Jesus Christ, the advancement of the gospel, that everything else fades into the background. Don't get me wrong, Paul was human. Like, let's not, you know, make a superhero out of Paul. He breathed the same air you and I breathe. He bled just like you and I. He was indwelt by the same Spirit of God, you have as well. But this brother recognized the grace and mercy that was shown to him, and it just radically changed his life. Where he was more concerned with others coming to faith in Jesus Christ than he was his own personal happiness. As a matter of fact, maybe that let's reverse that. He was concerned with his own personal happiness, but what brought him joy, as we see in Corinthians, was promoting the joy of others as they came to faith in Christ. And notice he doesn't ask them to pray that God would save people, though that certainly was on his heart. His requests, he asked them to pray for opportunities to proclaim the gospel. Paul knows that the gospel advances when God's word goes forth. We see a similar prayer in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 19 through 20. He says, Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should. I don't want to read into Paul's words, but just to humanize him, maybe I'm assuming for him to use that word fear twice, maybe he's just being honest and showing there is some fear at times. Think about it. None of us has ever had to stand in front of civil government, federal government, and be persecuted for our faith and still boldly proclaim the message we believe. This was Paul's every day. He's locked up for proclaiming the good news, and he says, Give, pray on my behalf that God will just give me fearlessness in proclaiming the good news that I've been called to preach. I am an ambassador in chains. I love that language. An ambassador in chains. He's saying, I might be in chains, but the word of God is not. I might be locked up, but the word of God is still free and spreading like wildfire. But Paul identifies in verse 3 the content of his message. He says, Pray for an opportunity for him to do what? To speak the mystery of Christ. To speak the mystery of Christ. Now, this isn't a riddle. This isn't something unknowable. It was a mystery that has now been revealed. Save your spot. But if you turn back to chapter one of Colossians, Colossians chapter one, and look down at verses 26 to 27, Paul says, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints. God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me. So there it is. It's no longer a mystery. God has revealed the mystery in verse 26. It was hidden for ages and generations, but now it has been revealed to his saints. And what is that mystery? It is God the Father reconciling sinners to himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ, his son. And Paul is saying, it is my business to be an ambassador of that message, to make that what once was a mystery, which is now known, to make it known amongst the nations. So proclaiming this gospel, friends, is not gonna win you friends and influence people. I mean, just read the Bible, okay? How's it working out for Paul right now in this book we're studying, right? He is in a prison cell for doing what God called him to do. Proclaiming the gospel freely as Paul and fearlessly, as Paul is requesting here, will invite hostility from others. We just need to accept that as Christians. Think about this. We are entrusted with the most glorious message in human history, and it's also the most offensive. It tells every single person who steps foot on this earth they are not a good person, they are a sinner who is in rebellion against a holy and just God, and that they cannot save themselves. That's the bad news. And that if they don't repent of their sins, that they will spend an eternity under God's wrath, and that will actually bring God glory. That's the bad news. But we also have the most glorious message on earth because it doesn't have to remain bad news, because that's why Paul was willing to be locked up for this gospel, because he knew people like him could be rescued by God's grace. That even though we are born in sin and can't save ourselves, God is so gracious and mercy that he stripped himself of glory and put on flesh, lived for 33 odd years, died on a cross, and rose on the third day, offering salvation to any who will repent and believe in Jesus for their salvation. That is a glorious message and an offensive message. That is a glorious message and a hostile message. Paul understood this. It's not going to win you friends and influence people. But here's what Paul did know. In 2 Timothy 2 9, he says this I am suffering bound with chains as a criminal, but the word of God is not chained. That was his perspective. Paul in chains, but the word of God is not. Now, here's the obligation we bear, because these words in Colossians are an exhortation to a congregation. So we have to read this and understand, okay, corporately as Redeemer Church, how do these exhortations in Colossians apply to us? What are we to do as a church? Well, one of the obligations, the privilege obligations we bear is to proclaim the gospel clearly and faithfully. To proclaim the gospel clearly and faithfully. Paul asked them to pray so that I may make it known, meaning the gospel, as I should. The phrase as I should carries the weight of like Paul felt a divine obligation to faithfully and fearlessly proclaim the gospel. Paul feels the weight of that commission to preach the gospel. But this this doesn't, this isn't just about speaking so people understand the content of the gospel. It's about it's about proclaiming God's word clearly, persuasively, lovingly, and faithfully. Paul is never uh interested in clever rhetoric. He's not focused on oratory skill, charismatic personality, manipulative manipulative tactics to get people to believe. He's focused on God, help me to be faithful, help me to be fearless, and to proclaim as an ambassador your gospel, not my message. I love how Paul puts this in 2 Corinthians. He says, of him and his ministry partners, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth. In other words, he's saying, we're not trying to do nothing to sprinkle our own juju sauce on the gospel. We're not trying to do anything to water down the gospel so it's more uh, you know, people will receive it a little bit better. We're not trying to go overboard and over-emphasize something in the gospel. He's saying, God delivered the gospel to me, and just how I received it, I'm trying to faithfully deliver it to those who will hear. If that is what an apostle would do, that is what every Christian entrusted with the gospel should do. You should have no fear of the message of salvation. If you truly understand the message of the gospel, brothers and sisters, it means those who do not believe will perish for all eternity. So we can't play games with the gospel. We can't try to edit it so it's more palatable to those who are already in opposition to the gospel. We must faithfully proclaim it in love and persuasion, but not add to it, not try to use fancy rhetoric and skill, not that those things can't be helpful. But as Paul said, no, no, no, no. We did nothing deceitful, we did nothing to distort the Word of God. And because of commitments like that, because of our understanding of the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture, the authority of scripture, the inspiration of scripture, which are all just fancy theological terms, that means God wrote the Bible, He's the boss, we can't change it. Okay? This is why we're committed to what some would call expositional preaching here at Redeemer. Though there's a place, I believe, for topical sermons, or I would like to say topositional sermons here and there. I think the normal diet of a church should be moving through books of the Bible. Now, a lot of people might define expository preaching differently. So some might think of expository preaching as, well, it's just someone giving a long theological, boring lecture. It's like, well, no, that's a long, boring theological lecture. That's not expository preaching. Some might think expository preaching is, well, verse by verse, preaching through the Bible. No, not necessarily. That could just be a boring running commentary on the Bible. Some might think, no, expository preaching is just, you know, you're just preaching the Bible, which is very vague, you know, whatever that means. Here's a helpful definition for expository preaching or expositional preaching. Same thing. Expositional preaching is preaching in which the content and intent of the sermon are dictated by the content and intent of a particular passage of scripture. That's it. Let me just say that again. Expositional preaching is preaching in which the content and intent of the sermon is dictated by the content and intent of a particular passage. So fundamentally, preaching is an exposition of God's word. It's when we're trying to bring God's word to God's people and God's people to God's word. And we trust that God's word does not need our improvement, it simply needs our faithful proclamation. Because the word of God, this is so fascinating to me. The word of God creates God's people. So why would we want to do anything else other than be committed to God's word? If you're in Christ this morning, do you know how that happened? Through the ministry of God's word. I don't care if it was in a church setting and you heard a preacher proclaiming the gospel to you, if it was a family member, a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, someone, or if you just read the Bible on your own and came to faith, it was through the means of God's inspired, sufficient, authoritative word. God's word creates God's people, which is why every local church, not just its leaders, but its members, should be committed to the Bible, should be committed in everything they do in understanding how does scripture shape every aspect of our church life. Because the word of God has a beautiful, reverberating effect throughout the life of a congregation. Don't believe me? Let's look at a case study in the Old Testament. Turn over to Nehemiah chapter 8, which, if you're using the Pew Bible, that's page 424. It's right to the left of Psalms in the book of Job and Esther. No shame if you guys look in the table of contents, all right. Nehemiah chapter 8 is a great case study of the power of God's word and the reverberating effect of God's word when the people submit to it. Nehemiah chapter 8, beginning in verse 1. And I'm gonna skip some of these names because I'm not gonna give you the memory of me butchering these names. Nehemiah chapter 8, beginning in verse 1, reads, When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people gathered together at the square in front of the water gate. So this is a corporate gathering. They asked the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses that the Lord had given Israel. On the first day of the seventh month, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding. While he was facing the square in front of the water gate, he read out of it from daybreak until noon before the men, the women, and those who can understand. So don't ever complain about how long I preached, okay? He read out of it from daybreak until noon, before the men, the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively to the book of the law. The scribe Ezra stood on a high platform made for this purpose. Now drop down a little bit. It says, To his left, oh nope, we're skipping that. Verse 5 Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was elevated above everyone. As he opened it, all the people stood up. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and with their hands lifted up, all the people said, Amen, amen. Then they knelt low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Now those names are Levites, and it says, those who are Levites explained the law to the people as they stood in their places. They read out of the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read. Let's stop there. So the word of God is brought forth. The people respond in honor and reverence of God's word. The law is explained. The Levites help people understand it, giving the sense as some of your translations might read. And then so they gave the explanation so people can understand what they read, which is exposition, opening the text so people understand how it applies and understand what God says. But then look at verse 9. Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priests and scribe and the Levites, who were instructing the people, said to all of them, This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep. For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength. And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still, since today is holy, don't grieve. Then all the people began to eat and drink, send portions and have a great celebration, because they had understood the words that were explained to them. Do you see what's happening here? They all were hungry for the word, they were instructed in the word, the word was applied to their lives. Some of them came under conviction because of how the word was explained, but then they go on celebrating because they understood the words that were explained to them. Why? Why did they respond this way? Because they understood the word of God. And as they understood the word of God, it did something in them, didn't it? Well, that's not it. Look at verse 10. I'm sorry, verse 13. On the second day, so this is after church. On the second day, the family, heads of all the people, along with the priests and Levites, assembled before the scribe Ezra to study the words of the law. You see what happened? They were blessed by the word, and they said, We want more. Verse 14. They found written in the law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should dwell in shelters during the festival of the seventh month. So they proclaimed and spread this news throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, Go out to the hill country and bring back, bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make shelters just as it is written. The people went out, brought back branches, and made shelters for themselves on each of the rooftops and courtyards, the court of the house of God, the square by the water gate, and the square by Ephra the Ephraim gate. The whole community that had returned from exile made shelters and lived in them. Drop down to verse 18. Ezra read out of the book of the law of God every day from the first day to the last. The Israelites celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinances. The ordinance. Let's stop there. Now, why am I reading that? Because the word of God does something to the people of God. They sat under the word of God and it changed the whole community. Not just the word being proclaimed, but them understanding the word of God. Them recognizing they have something to do in light of what they heard, which led them to experience brokenness over disobedience, but also rejoicing over the fact that God would give them special revelation. And notice, friends, this is not just the spiritual leaders of Israel, because if you paid attention, after the community understood the word of God, the heads of the households did what the next day? They wanted to learn more, and they went and told everyone God's word and how to live it out. That is the same for us. That is the type of heart posture we should have when we sit under the word of God. The impact should not stop, stop during this Sunday service. When we go out of these walls of this building, we should do the same thing. I can't wait to hear more of God's word. Oh, wait, I have it right here. I can study it every day so that I can tell others in my household and in my community about the things of God. Because God's word creates God's people. It has a life-transforming effect when we unleash God's word. This is why Charles Spurgeon said, friends, as a Christian, we don't have to defend God's word. We don't have to defend the Bible because God's word is like a lion. You don't defend a lion, you just open the cage and let it loose. That is what we should seek to do. This is your role, brothers and sisters, when it comes to word-centered ministry. We are all royal priests, so to speak. You have God's Spirit indwelling you. You have access to God's word, which means you all, as members of this church, play a privileged role in being ministers of the word of God. And that is a privilege. So with that being said, let me just give a few points of application then. If we all have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, the gospel, if we've all been entrusted with God's authoritative and sufficient word, what should we do with that? Well, here's a few things. Number one, like Paul, pray for opportunities for the word to advance. Ask yourself this question. How often do you pray for God to work through the ministry of his word at Redeemer Church? How often do you pray that God will provide opportunities from the Sunday gathering for God to edify his children and to encourage and bring to saving faith those who are lost? How often do you pray for God's word to have a reverberating effect throughout the body of this congregation? Or here's a helpful tool. Scroll through the church directory where you can see names and faces of members of this church and pray as Paul does for other Christians. Pray, God, may you bless this family and help them grow in Christ-likeness through the ministry of your word. Pray for each other's children, pray for each other's marriages, pray for the singles in this church. This is a way to pray for opportunities for the word to advance. Pray for God to give us opportunities to have the door for the gospel to be opened through this congregation. That God would use this church, your ministry of evangelism, to bring people to saving faith so we can dunk them right here in this church. Second, understand your mission as the church gathered and the church scattered. So I would say that every local church has a narrow vision and a broad vision. A mission, I mean. A narrow mission and a broad mission. Narrowly, we gather as a church, primarily on Sunday morning, but we gather in other settings as well, so that we can be equipped through the public and private ministry of the Word to fulfill the Great Commission. So every time when we gather, we are glorifying God through our worship, but we're also being trained for the ministry. That is the role of an elder in Ephesians 4, to equip you, the saints, for the work of the ministry. So our narrow mission is to gather and to be equipped through the public and private ministry of the Word to fulfill the Great Commission. So ask yourself: do you sit on Sunday morning under sermons as an expositional listener? Are you trying to learn how to study God's word so you can live it out and also teach others to do likewise? But broadly, when we scatter Monday through Saturday, you're still on mission in a sense, because we are called to present Christ as our treasure in every sphere of life. So when you walk out of this building, because again, this is just a ad this is just a building. This means nothing. Redeemer gathers in this building. But when you walk out of this physical location, you go back into your sphere of influence, in which you can be used by the Lord as an instrument to make Jesus look like a treasure to the surrounding watching world. So every local church has a narrow mission and a broad mission, and both matter. One is not more important than the other because they both need each other. This is why we're, and again, I know, oh, you're biased because you're a pastor. No, this is just what the Bible teaches. This is why we're always going to make a big eye, a big deal out of the local church and the local church's authority to equip saints for the work of the ministry. This is why it's not healthy to have people running around as autonomous free agents saying, Well, I'm called to be a pastor, I'm called to be a missionary. Okay, praise God. Are you attached to a local church? Is there a local church who has the authority to exercise the keys of the kingdom who is training you, assessing you to make sure you have the godly character to send you to do those things? Instead, I saw recently online there's a big Christian concert happening, and they're sharing pictures of um horse troughs where they plan on baptizing a bunch of people at a Christian concert. Praise God, if people truly come to saving faith through that, through the gospel being proclaimed. But none of those people are gonna be baptized into a local church who has the authority to care for their souls and pastors who will shepherd them. So these things matter. As a church, we have a responsibility narrowly and broadly to fulfill the Great Commission and to be equipped to do those very things. If you want to dive into this a little a little bit better, some helpful books to look at is um Robert Coleman's The Master's Plan of Evangelism is an excellent resource. And a book on God's Word and understanding the authority and sufficiency of God's word is um Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung. Two excellent resources. But friends, even if we are committed to the authority of a local church and fulfilling the Great Commission as members of a local church, we got to be honest and recognize this is often gonna be hard, laborous work. Very hard. Again, just to reemphasize, the author of this letter is writing from a prison cell for doing gospel ministry. But not only that, many of us, maybe by God's grace, will never face persecution as Paul did, but we might face other hardships. Often in ministry, you might minister to someone for years and never see the fruit you're laboring for. Or as one theologian put it, the seed may lay under the earth until you do and then sprout up. Are you okay with that as a Christian? Are you okay with recognizing the only thing you have control over in ministry is simply to be faithful? To just faithfully love and serve and introduce people to the Word of God and entrust the results to Him. I mean, I can give you story after story of people I've poured into for prolonged periods of times and then they just disappear, or people have just walked away from the faith. Do I look at that and say, oh my gosh, like am I a horrible minister? Or it's like, no, it's like God is sovereign over salvation. I'm just scattering seed, just scattering seed and being faithful. The seed may lay under the earth until you do and then sprout up. And if that bothers you, then maybe the Lord is graciously showing you that maybe your understanding of ministry is more about you than about the glory of Jesus Christ. Because I could care less when the Lord chooses to work, because it's up to him. And he should get all the glory, not us. Turn over to First Thessalonians chapter two. I I want I want you to hear from Paul and to see this effect of word-centered ministry and why it matters. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 9 through 13 reminds us why word-centered ministry matters when we look at Paul's example. Beginning in verse 9, it reads 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 9. For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters, working night and day so that we would not burden any of you. We preach God's gospel to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. As you know, like a father with his own children, we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. This is why we constantly thank God, because when we receive the word, when you receive the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it, not as a human message, but as it truly is the word of God, which also works effectively in you who believe. Notice Paul's pattern. He is laboring with everything in him for the sake of others. But he is very clear that it's not his message. We preach God's gospel. Not our gospel, not Paul's gospel, not my version of God's gospel. We preach God's gospel. Why? Because he knew that that was the gospel that calls people into God's kingdom and glory. And that's why he constantly thanks God because he knows that when they received the word of God, not Paul's words, that he heard, that they heard from them, they welcomed it not as a human message, but as God's inspired word. That is the role of any faithful preacher or teacher of God's word. Not many of you will not be called by God to be a pastor preacher in a church or a deacon or anything like that, but every last one of you are mandated to communicate God's word to other people because that's what a disciple is, a follower of Jesus. And a follower of Jesus helps others follow Jesus as they follow Jesus. How do you help people follow Jesus? By obeying everything that he has taught through his word. That is the privilege we have. We don't want anyone to gravitate towards our wisdom and our message. We want them to make much of Jesus, and we are proclaiming his message, not our own. And I love how Paul says this because he recognizes, he's recognizing, man, God calls you into his own kingdom and glory. That is what we are doing. We are calling people or imploring people to be reconciled to God through the ministry of Jesus Christ. That is the privilege we have. We are saved by the gospel, and then you're entrusted with the gospel. Think about that. Like God and his economy has no category for like consumeristic Christians. It's you're no, you're like me, God says. You're gonna be other centered. I saved you through the gospel. Now I entrust you with the gospel to get it out to others so that they also can come into my kingdom and glory. And then you teach them to be entrusted with the gospel and to get it out to others as well. That is the beauty of our salvation. Now, gospel advancement requires devoted prayer, word-centered ministry, which we all play a role in both narrowly and broadly. But there's one more essential that we'll look at in verses five through six, and that is that the gospel advances by displaying wise living among a watching world. When you look down at verse five, I'm sorry, verse four, he says, He's in chains for the gospel, verse four, so that I may make it known as I should, act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. Brothers and sisters, if we want to play a role in advancing the kingdom of God, we need to be reminded that your conduct matters. How you live in front of unbelievers either adorns the gospel of Jesus Christ or it undermines it. It either helps affirm your verbal profession or it causes questions and concerns for those who hear you proclaim to be a Christian, but your conduct doesn't line up. Wisdom means you're intentional, you're thoughtful, and careful about how you represent Christ in daily life to a watching world as an unperfect, sinful human being, right? None of us in here is perfectly displaying the glory of Christ every second of every day because that is impossible. But the goal is to be mindful that when People in the world look at me, they should see something very distinct and peculiar about me. So ask yourself: does the consistent pattern of my life back up my profession? When I say I am a Christian, would unbelievers say, Oh, really? Or would they agree with you? Or do unbelievers see a disconnect between what you say you believe and how you actually live? And I love how Paul gives his exhortation make the most of the time. Every second, every breath is a gift from God. The reason any of you woke up this morning in your right mind and was able to come to church was because God ordained it. That is it. You can eat as healthy as you want, you can exercise as often as you want. You can do whatever you want. Not that those things are unimportant. God has appointed the day by which everyone will stand before Him. Nothing can change that. That shouldn't terrify us, but it should motivate us to recognize we are all on borrowed time. We have no idea how long we will be on this earth, but more importantly, the people that God has providentially placed in your life who don't know the Lord, you have no idea how long they have. So let that just encourage you when you wrestle with that fear of man of like I know I should, I know I should share the gospel with them, but man, like what if they reject me? Like, what if the rate where the relationship gets awkward? What if they are offended by how I share it or what I share? Brothers and sisters, on your way to church this morning, millions of people across the globe died and dropped straight into hell. There is no better time than right now to repent and trust in Christ. This echoes Ephesians 5, 15 through 16 when Paul says, pay careful attention then to how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil. Now praise God that Paul gives some guardrails, so to speak, on how we should make the best use of the time and be persuasive and loving in our communication of the truth. He says, Let your speech sometimes be gracious. He don't say that, does he? Let your speech always be gracious, but not just gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. Brothers and sisters, your words and their delivery matter. We live in a day and age where people make an entire platform out of just being derogatory and calling other people out. As if that's what Jesus would do. No, we are to always be gracious. Our words are to be seasoned with salt. We are to be gracious, kind, winsome, persuasive, charitable, loving, and gracious, but we should also be seasoned with salt, preserving truth, adding flavor, making people thirsty for more, like we saw in Ezra or Nehemiah. We want people to say, I want to hear more. Right? We want to make Jesus a treasure to people. And notice he says, so that you may know how to answer each person, which means you need discernment. Not everyone needs the same answer. Some people need rebuke, some need comfort, some need patience. Wisdom knows what each person needs and how to speak the truth in love. But this is the beauty and the privilege, brothers and sisters, of knowing the Bible. Don't get me wrong, I'm an avid reader. But friends, isn't it more precious if you have confidence of like, I know what Colossians is about? Like, I know what Paul is getting at in 1st and 2nd Corinthians, as opposed to, oh yeah, I've read that book and that book and I know what that author says, and those are all good things. I recommend books all the time. But man, to persuasively share the gospel, to be an ambassador with Christ, you gotta know the content of God's word. You gotta know the scripture so that you can defend the truth. And what Paul's getting at here, friends, uh he's not saying you need to have every answer to every question, right? You need to get the basic content right. Do you understand the message of salvation? Do you understand the doctrine of sin, salvation, justification, sanctification, glorification, the things that connect the gospel? We have to get that right. This is why Peter said, But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. So you don't have to have the answer to every apologetic question. You just have to be able to answer if someone came to you and said, Why are you a Christian? Like what made you a Christian? How did that happen? Can you confidently, lovingly, and persuasively answer that question and tell them about your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Wrapping up here, friends, the gospel advances in three movements. Number one, we as a church are to be devoted to praying persistently for God to open doors for the gospel through our church ministry. Second, we are to trust the word to do its work. This is why Paul said, I'm unashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation. We don't have any power in and of ourselves here in Redeemer. We introduce people to the power of God as found in the gospel. But third, we are to live wisely before the watching world. We should have every person in our life who's an unbeliever think we are absolute weirdos. And that's okay. And hopefully at some point, they get really curious about, but why are you so different? I'm just curious. Like, what why do you live differently? Why are your ethics different from mine? Why are you so other centered? Why are you so committed to this belief that when you die, that you will stand before this deity of yours for eternity? We should be oddly strange to the surrounding world. But notice in all of Paul's exhortations, he makes it very clear where is the power found? In the gospel of Jesus Christ, in God's authoritative and sufficient, and inspired word. Paul doesn't say, hey, church and Colossi, your programs, your strategies are what are going to have all the power in doing this. No, he says devotion to prayer and a commitment to the word of God. Prayer-fueled, word-centered ministry in everyday life is what Paul emphasized. And by his own example, even though he is in chains, the word of God did not stop. So, brothers, last I checked, not a single member of this church is locked up for the gospel. Unless y'all know some I don't know. None of us is locked up for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which means we have all the freedom in the world to get the message out to those who have yet to hear. So let's be committed to pray. Think about this. We can play a role because God works through means, doesn't he? We can all play a role in intentionally praying for God to give this church body, not just when we gather, but even you individually, for God to give us open doors to proclaim the good news of Jesus with boldness and wisdom and love, so that people can come to faith in his Son. Amen. Let's pray.