October 5 Col 4:2-6 "Prayer and Evangelism: the Result of the Christ-Centered Life"



Paul's closing concerns in Colossians are prayer and evangelism.



These, you might say,

are the results of the Christ-centered life.

If you have died with Christ,

and been raised to newness of life in him;

And if your life is now hidden with Christ in God,

then prayer and gracious speech should follow.



I'd have to say that prayer and evangelism are two of the hardest things about the Xn life.

Wouldn't you agree?

Do you find it difficult to pray?

Perhaps you can make it through a minute or two,

but then other thoughts intrude, and soon you've lost all concentration.

And evangelism!!

How do you even get started?

Between the fear of rejection and being unsure of what to say,

it almost never happens, does it?



Why do have such difficulty with prayer and evangelism?

Perhaps it is because we are missing the central focus of both.



Prayer and evangelism are the natural response of one who has been gripped by the gospel.

First I would like to address a common misunderstanding about prayer and evangelism

Then we will turn to the substance of verses 2-6.



Before we look at verses 2-6,

let's take a peak at the conclusion of the book.

Paul's own example may help correct a common misunderstanding of prayer and evangelism.



There are three categories of people that Paul introduces:

First, Paul talks about the messengers of the letter (7-9):

Tychicus--one of Paul's students, the bearer of the letter to Ephesus as well

Onesimus--see Philemon/bishop of Ephesus at end of 1st century?

Second, Paul sends greetings from the "circumcision" (10-11):

Aristarchus--from Thessalonica, travelling companion

Mark--apparently the rift was healed (Acts 15:36-39)

Jesus, called Justus--few Xns would ever name their children Jesus again

These are of the "circumcision"

--Jewish Christians who still practiced circumcision

Some Jewish Christians--like Paul--were not of the "circumcision"

When Paul was with Jewish Xns

he would respect the OT customs and commands, as optional

But when Paul was with Gentiles

he would point out that such things were not for Gentiles.

But Paul travelled with these three members of the circumcision,

and probably they would have evangelized the Jewish communities,

while Paul & others preached the gospel to the Gentiles

And Third, Paul sends greetings from his Gentile companions (12-14):

Epaphras--the pastor who had first preached in Colossae

note on the pastor's calling to pray for his flock

Luke--best known for gospel and acts

Demas--later betrayed Paul (II Tim. 4:10)



Then Paul mentions the connections between the several local churches in that region. (15-16)

Colossae, Laodicea and the church in Nympha's house

appear to have been a sort of presbytery.

There appear to be several churches in Colossae

--in 1:2 Paul addresses "the saints and faithful brethren in Colossae"

--Philemon is addressed to Philemon, his wife,

Pastor Archippus, and the church that meets in Philemon's house

--not to all the Colossian Christians,

but to the particular group of them that meets in this one location.



v17--Archippus, the current pastor in Colossae

--probably was the pastor who was over all the churches in Colossae

Paul is still training Epaphras and will probably send him back

once his training is complete (note his zeal for that region)

cf. Philemon 1--which is address to both men

--the business of Onesimus was considered church business.



How does this help us understand how prayer and evangelism

are to fit into the Christian life?

Notice first of all that the Apostle Paul is not an individualist.

His missionary team consists of at least eight people--including himself

--and several others (like Timothy, Titus, Tychicus, etc.)

who travel around delivering letters, carrying messages, etc.

When Paul does evangelism, he does it in a group.

Why?

Because Paul believed his own teaching!

If the church is one body,

and each member needs the others,

then there is no place for Lone Ranger evangelists wandering the countryside.

This is something that often gets losts in our individualistic age.

We often get tunnel vision,

and think that evangelism means "me against the world"

No! It means "US against the world!"

But evangelism is not an individualistic enterprise.

Sure, there will be times when you are the only Christian around;

but there were times when Paul was alone (Athens-Acts 17).

It's not as though we can't do evangelism by ourselves,

it's rather that evangelism is something which the body does

and we need to support and encourage each other in it.

But these concluding verses of Colossians also tell us something about prayer.

Notice verse 12.

How does Paul know that Epaphras labors for the Colossians in his prayers?

Is Paul there when Epaphras is praying?

Yes!! He is.

It appears that Paul's missionary team prayed together regularly

Not only is Paul not individualistic in his evangelism,

He is not individualistic in his prayer life!

You and I both know how difficult it is to pray alone.

But have you ever noticed how easy it is to pray together?

Maybe you haven't found that to be true;

maybe you tend to be self-conscious when you pray in front of others;

but once you fix you heart on the fact that you are in the presence of Almighty God,

the fact that you are in the presence of us wimpy humans

shouldn't bother you anymore!

But it appears from these concluding verses that Paul and his missionary team

prayed together regularly.



So the concluding verses of chapter four suggests

that both evangelism and prayer were primarily corporate things for Paul.

Certainly they can be (and should be) done individually as well,

but they are tasks for the body, which should be done together.



So now we are ready to look at verses 2-6:



First let's look at prayer:

1. Who is to pray?

2. What should you pray for?



Paul says in verse 2: (read)

Who is to pray?

You. And the you is plural here.

Paul wants to see the Colossian Christians praying together.

I have noticed that my personal prayer life improves,

as I pray more with others.

Now Paul realizes that this is not easy,

which is why he adds, "being vigilant in it with thanksgiving".

Actually the literal meaning of the word "be vigilant" is "keep awake"!

Because we have this odd habit of closing our eyes during prayer,

this may be especially applicable to us!

But Paul is making a different reference.

You remember Peter, James, and John in the Garden?

As Jesus is pouring out his soul to the Father,

these three disciples are fast asleep.

They did not demonstrate vigilance in prayer.

Be watchful in prayer.

But how are we to be vigilant?

How are we to be watchful?

With thanksgiving, Paul says.

Do you sometimes feel like prayer is a burden?

a difficult task?

Paul says that our prayer is to be characterized by thanksgiving.

This gets us into our second point about prayer:

what should you pray for?

What DO you pray for?

What is the content of your prayers?

I know that early in my Christian walk,

my prayers were almost entirely self-centered.

Lord, help me with this, help me with that;

do this for me, do that for me.

I need this, I need that.

Is that what prayer should be?

Look at the prayers of the Bible.

Read the Psalms, read the prayers of the prophets,

of the apostles, of our Lord Jesus.

What is prayer for them?

There are times when the Psalmist gets wrapped up in himself,

but he never fails to recenter himself on God.

You see, prayer may start out self-centered,

but if we are praying to the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords,

then eventually, our prayer should wind up centered on him.

After all,

If you have been united with Christ,

so that you have died with him, and been given new life in him,

then the center of your life--as Paul says in 3:3-4--is Christ.

And so before long,

your prayers should be so focused on HIM,

that you cannot help but rejoice and give thanks for all that he has done

Something that has been very valuable for me,

has been praying the Psalms, and praying the prayers of other Christians.

My own prayers had become so self-centered,

that I needed others to teach me how to pray.

Some of those people include my professor, Sinclair Ferguson at WTS (story).

But if the church of Jesus Christ is truly one body,

then we can also learn from those who have gone before us.

I have collected a few prayers from various eras of church history.

I have used them as guides and teachers--as models-

which have formed the foundation for my prayer life

-both in my family and in the church.

These prayers have wonderful balance,

and they are marvelously Christ-centered.



Paul does not here specify everything that we should pray for;

he assumes that the Colossians know that.

But there is one thing which he specifically asks for:

v3--and pray for the spread of the gospel, especially in his own ministry.

--that the mystery of Christ would be boldly proclaimed

(Christ in you the hope of glory; the gospel to the gentiles)

v4--Pray that I would make it clear/manifest

Christ has called me to proclaim his gospel here.

He has entrusted me with the feeding of your souls.

You need to pray that Christ will make me faithful;

that the Holy Spirit will empower me

for the glory of God and your salvation!

I am but a feeble vessel,

but by the grace of God, he has given me to you.

I need your prayers; just as you need mine.

Notice, that our prayers are mutually needed.

in v4 Paul says that pastors need the prayers of Christ's people;

in v12, through the example of Epaphras,

he says that Christ's people need the prayers of their pastors.



And finally, Evangelism:

1. the way you walk should be characterized by wisdom

walk in wisdom--redeeming the time

[reflect on chapter 1/proverbs]

is your life characterized by peace, patience, kindness, humility (ch3)?

are you being conformed to the image of Christ,

who is the wisdom of God?

2. the way you talk should be characterized by grace

grace-filled speech--that you may know how to answer

what is grace? how does it get in your speech

It means simply reflecting Christ in how you talk.

It means being like him,

because He IS your life!



Notice how Paul's approach to prayer and evangelism

flows out of his treatment of who we are in Christ.

Paul does not use guilt as a motive,

he does not demand that the Colossians spend thirty minutes a day in prayer,

or insist that they evangelize two people per week;

rather he points out that prayer and evangelism are a part of who we are in Christ.

It reminds me of the debate between the sun and the wind as to which one was stronger.

They decided to settle their debate with a test:

which one could get a man to take off his coat.

The wind blew and blew,

gusting with all his might to try to blow the man's coat off;

but the man just wrapped his coat all the more tightly.

Finally, exhausted,

the wind said, now you try.

The sun came out from behind a cloud and shone brilliantly;

soon it got quite hot, and the man took off his coat.



That is how Paul approaches prayer and evangelism:

Paul he shines the warmth of the grace of God on our hearts,

and shows us what our lives ought to look like.

It is as Luther once said:

The Law says, "Do this! and it is never done;"

The Gospel says, "Believe this! and it is done already."

The Law cannot force us to pray and evangelize;

The grace of God recreates us in the image of Christ,

and prayer and evangelism spontaneously pour forth

because of who we are in him.









I would like to conclude with some reflections on how Colossians applies to this church.



Colossians is all about who Christ is, what he has done for our salvation,

who we are in Christ,

and how our union with Christ is to affect our relationships with one another.

I chose to preach on Colossians because as I looked at the body,

I saw a lot of relationships which were not what Christ desires them to be.

I'm not just talking to one or two families here.

I'm talking to all of you.

I have had the privilege of getting to know most of you

--being in your homes,

learning about who you are.

And over the months that I've been here,

I've seen some wonderful things.

You are a body that is growing,

that is learning,

that is seeking to follow Christ.

But I have also seen some things that concern me.

I've seen a lack of communication,

a lack of genuine community.

One of the themes which I've emphasized many times

is the importance of the body living like a body.

We need each other.

And here, perhaps is our greatest weakness.

We are not living as a body.

We are too individualistic.



The answer is not in creating new programs.

The answer will only be found when you actually believe

that you have been made one body in Christ.

I can get up here and preach until I'm blue in the face.

I can visit every Sunday and encourage you to get involved in each others lives.

But I can't change you.

That is something that only the grace of God can accomplish.



Remember what you once were!

Remember what Christ has saved you from!

You are no longer slaves to sin and death.

So stop living like one!

Have you forgotten what God has done in the last year.

Have you forgotten the things that Rob Gates taught you

about the grace and sovereignty of God?

Has God been unfaithful!?

Has God failed to lead you through the wilderness of the last year?

NO!!

Most new congregations take several years to get their own building,

and many take a year or two to find a pastor.

Yet for you God provided both within eight months.



Look at what God has done--in Christ, and in you.

And then ask,

out of gratitude to God,

"how can I serve my brothers and sisters?"

How can you show forth the love of Christ to each other?

Beware of the tongue.

It is too easy to use the same tongue to praise our God,

and to speak ill of one another.

Brothers and sisters, this ought not be.



You ARE one body in Christ.

This means that you need each other.

Now you must believe that you need each other,

and start to live like it.

But this can only happen if you actually spend time with each other.



Ladies, call each other up during the week and help each other with your kids.

Ask how you can serve--how you can help.

Look for ways that you can be of assistance to others.

You may think that you don't have time,

or you may think that you need more help than others,

but if we are too busy to follow Christ's command to love one another,

then maybe our priorities are in the wrong place.

Same goes for you, guys:

there are men in this church who have major construction projects going on;

how can you help?

Or,

go out for breakfast some morning with somebody you don't see too often;

ask if there is some way that you can help the guy sitting across the aisle this morning

look for ways in which you can serve each other.



You need each other.

God gave us the body

that "the members should have the same care for one another." (I Cor 12)



Now don't do this out of guilt.

Do it out of love for Christ,

Do it because you have been raised with Christ,

and it is your great joy to serve him,

as Paul says, "whatever you do in word or deed,

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through Him."