Colossians 4 verse 2 through 6. Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving, with all praying also for us that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in bonds, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Let's just pray and ask the Lord to illumine our hearts as we hear his word. Father in heaven, as we now turn to your word, I ask that your spirit would come, that your spirit would prepare us till the soil of our hearts. Would you give me utterance to speak, Lord, an effective word? Would you sustain my voice and may be a great word that you would speak to us. In Jesus' name, Amen. So this morning I want to deal with verse 5, where Paul says, So we're in the middle of a series of closing exhortations that Paul has given to the church at Colossae. We've seen Paul work his way here, because in chapter 1, he just dealt with the supremacy of Christ Jesus. And to see Him, to see Him in all His excellency and all His worth, and don't go to exhortations of how the church ought to live without first seeing who we serve and seeing the greatness of Christ. And so I just encourage you, if you're losing sight of what it means to be exhorted unto holiness, Feed yourself on Christ. Have a high Christology. And from there, go into the exhortations. That was 1 and 2. And chapter 3, bringing that all together, our high Christ. And then chapter 3, talking about our union with that Christ. chapter 3 opening up with, if ye be then risen with Christ, seek those things that are above, set your affection or your mind on things above, and then talk about how we are dead, and our lives are hid with Christ in God. Those are tremendous fighter verses when you go through doubt. When you go through adversity, remember, believer, that we are dead to this world. We are dead in Christ. And our lives are hid in Christ. So just take encouragement again in chapter 3. Chapter 4, as we go through these exhortations, 4 verse 2, we saw Paul appealing us to pray, to be steadfast in prayer. We saw in chapter 4 verse 4 or 3. Sorry that he starts to deal with witness And that's where we're at Paul's heart for witness. He's very aware of the need to witness and he is very deliberate in witness, but The apostle Paul doesn't just say witnessing is for him. It's not just for the clergy. It's not just for the elder it's It's not for the minister alone. The need to witness is for all of us. Every one of us ought to witness who Jesus is. We saw that last time when we were in Revelation, where we saw Paul exhorting the church, or Jesus, sorry, exhorting the church of Ephesus to be a lampstand, to remember where they were. Jesus said to his disciples that all power in heaven and on earth had been given to him and to go into all the earth and make disciples of all nations. And that commission began with the apostles, but it continues for us to be a witness. We're here in our community. We may go out beyond our community, wherever we are, but we need to be witnesses. And that's what Paul calls us to do. Now, maybe some of us have gotten too used to interacting with unbelievers. And I think we all do. And whether it's in our work or in our day-to-day affairs, we just become so mechanical in how we interact with them. We're not deliberate anymore. Yeah, we're nice to them. We might even tell them we're Christians. Jesus means the world to us. We're saved, but we're not purposeful in how we witness His name. We just kind of say it, we just kind of do it, but are we deliberate? Now Paul is eager to see us be very purposeful in witness. And that's what we're dealing with this morning. Walk in wisdom, he says, towards them that are without. Now, he's a clear distinction there. He's not dealing here with the gathered church this morning. He's dealing with the world out there. He's dealing with Pinocchio, the people at work that don't know Christ. Now, he doesn't expect Christians to isolate themselves. He doesn't promote isolated communes. But rather he expects Christians to be very much part of society, to be in there, to be interacting. be very purposeful. Now, just on a side note, that makes me wonder as I was writing this, it really made me wonder to what extent we should be having Christian everything, you know, Christian schools, Christian organizations, Christian unions, Christian political parties, etc., etc. Not that all these things are necessarily wrong, but they should not cause us to be isolated. And that's a danger. I was really thinking about that. Wow, you know how quickly we can just form our little huddles and that's all we do is just stay in our isolated groups and we don't interact anymore. You see, most unbelievers are never going to listen to a sermon and never read a Bible. Never! So we are the Bible that they will read our lives. will testify the sermon. Our lives will testify Jesus Christ. Now notice that the first phrase here says, it's not about our words, but it's about conduct, walk in wisdom. The idea of walk is how we act, what we do. And he says the entirety of our lives should be a walk of wisdom. Like, yeah, okay, that's pretty straightforward, you know. But it seems easy, but in reality, the opposite is often the case, isn't it? It's foolish conduct. And that's what Paul says in the kind of the twin letter to the Ephesians. He says this, see that you walk circumspectly. And the word means carefully, prudently. Being aware of what you're doing. Don't just do. And then he says this, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time for the days are evil. It isn't hard to follow along with the foolishness and vanity of our world. You know, we can chase after the careers of the world as if money is happiness. That's not hard to do. Just put it in cruise control, hit the button, and that's what you'll do. If you stop being deliberate, you're going to start chasing after that stuff. Pursuing a bigger house, a fancier car, status, the praise of men, that's just, gravity wants to draw us there. And shouldn't the words of Jesus Christ concerning the rich fool then just hit us again? It should ring in our ears where Jesus said, in this parable, he said to the rich man, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Whose shall be those things which you have provided? Then he says this, so is he that lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God. You know, we know that passage, but as believers, and I look at myself here too, is it evidence that I believe what Jesus said of that rich man? It's foolish. Now is that evidence in my life? You know, when I take inventory, when you guys take inventory right now, your life, what would others say of your pursuits? Now, what about other examples? You know, what about when we celebrate? How should Christians celebrate, you know, birthdays, anniversaries and so on? Are they godly celebrations? Or is there no difference with this world? Is there the same amount of drunkenness or drunkenness at all? Is there foul language, coarse joking, immodest dressing? Conduct, conduct at celebrations is an enormous testimony that we are different. Because that's usually when people feel free to do whatever they like and to just throw it all out there. You know those are words those are actions of foolishness You know then the words of John Calvin are so timely because Calvin said this that we should walk wisely. He says lest The unbeliever is driven from bad to worse Through our imprudence Ours not be when we're not wise and their minds are wounded wounded so that they hold religion and more and more in abhorrence. They'll start to hate it even more. Is the foolishness of our lives driving people to hate Christianity? You know, you say, well, that's not me. But you know what? The funny thing is, how many of us have heard this? Oh, they call themselves Christians. Well, if that's what Christians do, I want nothing of it. A bunch of pious hypocrites in church on Sunday, but no different the rest of the week. Every one of us has heard that, I'm sure. Something like that. Walk in wisdom, Paul says. So if at all costs we should do away with foolishness and walk in wisdom, where do we go? And all wisdom starts with God. He is the God of all wisdom. And in Jesus Christ, we saw in chapter 2, verse 8, it says that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So walking wisely means knowing Christ. Really knowing Him. You see, if our Christianity is nothing more than church attendance and a prayer before meals, and there's no heart that knows Christ intimately, you're missing Him. We need to cultivate a knowledge of Jesus Christ. We need to study the Master. Study the life of Christ. Look at His love. Know His humility demonstrated to the lost. Learned from his prayer life. I read in Henry Skougel and it gripped me. He said, Jesus went out nights to pray. He had no sin to confess. He had no earthly needs he really cared about. But he spent a whole night in prayer. Man, that's the walk of our Christ. Look at his prayer life. Recognize his warnings towards hypocrisy. Desire his tenderness. Know his dependence upon the Father, especially when this week and you're dealing around unbelievers and adversity strikes. You're going to be like Jesus, depending on the Father. Learn from His obedience. Study the wisdom of Christ, people of God, in word and in deed. But beyond the Gospels, study all of Scripture, because Jesus says they all testify of Him. You see, we can't expect to be a witness for Christ and do an end run around knowing Christ. We've got to know Him. We've got to know Him. And as we take inventory of our lives, if we realize, you know what? You know, when I look at my life, I need to know Jesus. Knowing Him will change my walk. So don't start on the walk. Start on the knowledge of Christ. And let that impact your walk. Paul then says, redeeming the time. Now that word for redeeming is only used four times in all of the New Testament. It's a rare word. It means to buy up from the possession of anyone or to buy out. The word comes from the ancient marketplace where people would buy up some goods and take them to themselves. Now this word here in Colossians 4 is intensive buying up. It's got a preposition in front of it. a prefix, to buy up so as to exhaust all the possibilities available. A good example of that was, I think, two or three weeks ago we were in Holland and just before we come back we always make a little detour to the grocery store to buy our Dutch goods, Hagelslag, which I like to eat, and there we were, grocery cart, and we get to the Hagel section and the entire shelf just kind of ended up in our cart. We bought up all that hageslach. But in the same way, Paul says, buy up intensely, buy it all up, time. Now for Paul, time is something of a season. Christians live in the time, he knows, and he keeps this in mind, between the already and the not yet. Christ has already come. The Kingdom is already here. He rules. But he's not yet here in fullness. So sandwiched between this first and second coming, Paul says, buy up the time. We see that in verse 2 as well when he says, continue in prayer and watch in it. We saw how watching there is being very aware that our Lord is coming again and His coming is imminent. 1 Corinthians 7.29 says this, Paul says, the time is short. And so to redeem it, begins with a strong persuasion that the coming of the Lord is imminent. This morning when we were singing the songs, I couldn't help but look out in the hallway and see the dark door over there. And somehow my mind went there. I thought, man, that's eternity. You know, eternity, it's not dark for Christians, but it's light. But death's dark door, as it were, is close. It's just a few steps away. The coming of Christ, the day of His judgment, and the day of it taking up the church is coming soon. And we don't bear that in mind often enough. I don't. I just think I got tomorrow. And the next day. And next year I'll do this. I'm going to build this barn. I'm going to do this. I'm going to get that education. But Paul says, you walk in wisdom and buy up the time precisely because we as Christians, we know differently. And we need to remind each other, each one of us, it is short. Think of people who have passed on in your life. You knew them, they walked with you, they ate with you, they talked with you. Gone. Entered eternity. The time is short, buy it up. And so for Paul to buy up the time means to make the most of every opportunity we have in this short time between Christ's first and second coming. And so therefore, wisdom in that is very much related to the big picture. True wisdom in time. reflects on God's wisdom before time. It accounts for God's plans and purposes in Christ. You see how time relates to eternity. There's a link, isn't there? Now, Moses knew this. In Psalm 90, he says this. He says, teach us to number our days. And then he says this. that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. You know, when we stop numbering our days, I think a wise walk starts to go out the door with it. You know, are we eager to buy up the opportunities we have? Are we eager? Am I eager to do that? So often we hear, well, you know, God has to open the door. I'm waiting for an open door. And we know he does open doors, but it's funny that the open door we saw in verse 3, the verse right before it, that's an effective door. That's a door of the Word landing in hearts. That's an open door in the sense of Colossians here. But that doesn't take away Paul's exhortation. to walk wisely. He says, within your commitment to pray for open doors, within your understanding of the sovereignty of God, He does call us to make the most of our time. In a meeting with your boss this week, make the most of it with respectful wisdom. Now, if you're going to school tomorrow, take the opportunities you have to be wise. You know, children, show kindness. Show kindness. to lonely classmates. They are there and they are lonely. Be patient when people bug you and return evil with good. Are you going to be in a store tomorrow, ladies or men? Are you meeting with friends? Are you working with unbelievers? Take the opportunities to be deliberate, to buy up those opportunities for Him. You know, this is super practical. Wisdom, and as I scoured the commentaries, the most common word I saw was integrity. Wisdom is acting with integrity and honesty because we know we bear the name of our Lord. People know you go to church. People know what you do on Sundays. So they're watching you the rest of the week. How often don't we bend the truth just a little bit to get an edge? And, you know, if others found out, it would look very self-serving. You know, we need to be, as Christians, the most timely with paying our bills, the most honest with our hours, the most diligent at our schoolwork. Why? Because we bear His name. You know, I thought about this. I'm thinking, well, unbelievers do this too. They're nice. Sometimes way nicer than believers are. So what's the difference? It's got to be more than being kind and smart, doesn't it? We don't cheat because dishonesty might backfire or because it gives us a good feeling. That's not the end of walking wisely. We don't have a foul mouth because, well, what are people going to think of us? You know why we do it? Because we want to honor Jesus. He's at the goal. He's at the end. He's the reason we redeem the time. Holiness is then not a burden, but a delight. because we want to honor Him. I know that doesn't always resonate with me, but I think it's because I've lost sight of the beauty of holiness. In Scripture, so often, holiness is called beautiful. We're looking away from Christ to some idol in our hearts. That's when we start to walk in foolishness. We're chasing after stuff. And what do we do when we start chasing after stuff? Look at your life this past week. Have we been doing that? What do we do when we have been doing that? I know I have I must repent Of the idols of my heart and turn again to the eternal son and then we receive a gracious pardon And his love will flow into our hearts afresh. He said jesus loves his children and Walking wisely can only result if we've received grace. Have we known grace? Do we walk in grace? You know, and when I've messed up, do I repent and turn to the Lord and receive more grace? Grace upon grace, as it says in John. When we experience that, not just knowing, it's nice to nod your head and say, oh yeah, that's right. But experiencing that grace, that changes our lives. So much more than knowing people. So much more. Please turn to 1 Peter 2 verse 12. I just want to, in closing, reflect upon what Peter writes here. 1 Peter 2 verse 12 where where Peter writes this, I'll start at verse 11. He says, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Isn't that the first part of remembering we're pilgrims? That's where wisdom, again, that eternality, remembering where we are in respect of time. But then he says this, having your conversation, which means your conduct, honest among the Gentiles, that's the nations, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. You know, it's an interesting passage, this one, because it says that the Gentiles, unbelievers, they're going to speak against you as evildoers. Oh, and they do that. They can be suspicious of our Christianity, can't they be? You know, they call us narrow-minded, unloving, because of our stance maybe on abortion or homosexuality and gay marriage. You're not going to be popular, and they're going to be suspicious if you don't go to the same movies, if you don't attend the same events, or if you don't have the same coarse jokes as your colleagues or classmates. That's exactly what Peter said. They're going to speak to you as evildoers. But then look what he says. They may buy your good works which they shall behold. Just pause there. When we have an honest walk, they'll see that. They'll say, yeah, they stand for something. But look at them. They're different. They're going to see that. And then upon this closer inspection, if we demonstrate love to the outcast when the church is patient and with their accusers, when particularly kindness is returned for evil, Yeah, that's that's not normal to return kindness for evil the best We want to do is maybe just ignore but returning kindness That's something else, isn't it? And then he said they see that and then They see we're different but now I love this this is amazing look at this that they shall Behold and glorify God in the day of visitation. What's that? What's this day of visitation? That's when God comes And He pours out His Spirit to draw unbelievers to them. He visits them with His arms of love and changes their hearts. And what happens? They glorify God. The glory of God is the end, is the goal of everything, isn't it? And what you see here is that us walking wisely, the world sees it. And when God brings faith, He gets glorified. That's why we do it. He gets the glory because they see their changed lives. Our changed lives was a God work. He did that. You know, and as you think of that, therefore, that any of our good works that just end up being covers for getting the praise of men doesn't work. That's not really a good work, is it? And if the glory of God is the greatest of everything, then again, cultivate the knowledge of that glory. Now we can listen to this sermon this morning as a call for you to dig in deeper, to try harder, And hopefully God is pleased with us. You can do that, but it's not there. Or you can walk in the freedom of Christ. Resting in Christ. Resting in His righteousness. That He is my life. That I am not my own. Knowing Him. Pleasing Him. I want to leave you with this thought. Redeeming the time does something. It's not a waste. It matters how we act. It matters how we speak. It matters how honest we are. Paul doesn't say, do that and it won't bear fruit. No, he says, do that and by the grace of God, it will bear much fruit. God does something with everything. Maybe you're here this morning and you haven't given any of this much thought. Maybe you're content secretly with building your homes, with raising a family, with hanging out with your friends, and maybe even going to church. Maybe you're content with that. But you never think about time and eternity. Oh, that you would just stop right now and think and face the terror of eternity without God. I was thinking about it this morning. I thought, what if this is my last sermon? What if the Lord takes me home after this? He says, Paul, you're done. You've preached your last. What do you want to leave people with? their need of Christ. You need Him. He's a great Savior for great sinners. Please remember, every one of you, you cannot go into eternity without Christ, for you will face the wrath of the Lamb. You need Him. Repent of your sins, if you have not done it, and turn to Him. Maybe you're here as a believer, though, and you've got a load of guilt. There's no rest within you. And the prosperity of eternity still scares you, and you're not sure. Because you know. You think, I'm not going to fare well on the Day of Judgment. Hear this from Corinthians. Paul says this, Behold, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. We are living in that time. I remember when I first came to Christ, that verse was so precious to me. Now is the accepted time. Don't wait till tomorrow. Christian, don't say, well, I'll get better next week or I hope I have a better week. Right now, in your heart, yield again to Christ. He is altogether lovely. He is the only haven of rest. He's the only ark that will carry you through the floods. Right now, today, you need Him. Now is the accepted time. It is a day of grace. This week, believer, when you begin your day every morning, maybe just remember these words from James 3.17, where James says this about wisdom. He says, The wisdom that is from above, God's wisdom, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits. without partiality and without hypocrisy. And then ask yourself at the end of the day, did I redeem the time today with that kind of wisdom? You know, it's an easy thing to do. Start your day, James 3, 17, pray. At the end of the day, take inventory and just, Lord, did I do that? And then pray for more grace. So witness that the next day. What a challenge that is for us to redeem the time. Amen. Let's pray. Oh Lord, would you fill our lives with your grace? Would You stamp eternity upon us, Lord, that we would see it for what it is? Lord, help us not to be as the five foolish virgins who fell asleep and the oil ran out, but help us to be as the wise virgins. Lord, help us to see Jesus again freshly this morning, Lord, because We need Him. We need Him. Every hour. Lord, time is so short. Would You just give us more grace? Help us to see that You are a great Savior for great sinners. And to rejoice in You this morning. That we would have lives of praise to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.