Father, thank you for your grace to us. Father, thank you for the salvation that you have given to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, I ask that as we come to your word this morning, that you would give us wisdom and understanding. Father, that you would fill our minds with the truth of who you are, what you have done, and who you have called us to be as your people. And Father, I ask that you would be at work in our hearts and our souls by the power of your Spirit, bringing transformation, bringing change that would glorify your name. And Father, if there be any here who have not come to know you savingly, I ask that through the Lord Jesus, in repentance and faith in him, that you would bring them to yourself for eternal salvation, to your eternal glory and praise. And to the name of Jesus I pray, amen. This morning we come to a passage of the Word of God in Colossians chapter 4 that is challenging to us to both live and to speak with wisdom. This is a charge that is given to the church in Colossae by the Apostle Paul, and since it is the divinely inspired Word of God, it is a charge from Christ himself to his body. His body of all ages. What does it mean to live with wisdom? What does it look like to spend your time wisely and to be someone who has the ability to speak wisely to others in the midst of difficult circumstances and situations that they find themselves in in their life? How are we equipped to live and speak with wisdom according to the truth of the Word of God through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well this passage in Colossians chapter 4 comes in and helps us to learn what it looks like for the body to be equipped to live and speak well for the praise of Jesus. And foundational to that is understanding wisdom, biblically defined, is the skillful application of divine truth. That's what wisdom is. Wisdom is the skillful application of divine truth. And of course, you and I, you hear that wisdom, that definition of wisdom, right? Wisdom is a skillful application of divine truth. And we can look at areas of our life immediately where we go, I'm not so skillful there, right? I need to be built up, I need to be grown, I need to be matured. And so who is it, ultimately, that is the embodiment of divine wisdom? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to see a life of wisdom, look at Christ himself. Go to the gospel, soak in his glorious wisdom as he lives on earth. Go look and see how he always perfectly uses his days. He always has the perfect word to speak for the person in front of them, to challenge them, to confront them, to encourage them. He always knows how to minister to the crowd in front of him. He always shows up right on time, doesn't he? Even if that's different than our timing. He's never early, he's never late, he's always in submission to the Father's will. Each and every time his disciples have a question, he always knows how to guide them as the good shepherd. In fact, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 24 and verse 30 say Jesus is the wisdom from God. Jesus is the wisdom from God. So not only did Jesus live wisely during his time on earth, that's gloriously true, but it's also gloriously true. Jesus is he is divine wisdom. And so here's the good news for us. Whenever we come to Colossians chapter four and we see the call to live and speak wisely, this is not something that we're doing in and of our own strength. This is not something that we are pursuing in our own power. We are not our own Jesus Christ, who is wisdom. Jesus, who is the wonderful counselor. He is working in the life of his church to give us wisdom. And to let us live, empower us to live out divine truth skillfully. Right, so before we go to our passage this morning, look back with me at Colossians chapter one. Look at Colossians chapter one in verse nine. This is Paul's prayer for the church. And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. This is Paul's active request and this is the Lord's active work in the lives of his people, right? Colossians chapter two, verse three, in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this matters as we prepare to enter this passage today because Jesus is wisdom. Jesus is also the Lord of wisdom who is empowering you and empowering me according to his word through his spirit to live for the glory of his name in every single situation that we find ourselves in in life. And how is he doing that? Through what we saw in Colossians 3, the renewing of the mind. the growth and transformation, the sanctification, dying to our flesh and learning to walk in the Lord. And that is the glorious truth that we have as we enter this passage. That as we study these things and we pursue them, we have the wonderful work of the Lord, who is wisdom, working to bring them about in our lives. And so let's stand together as we read this text today. Colossians 4, verses 5 and 6. Colossians 4, verses 5 and 6. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. You may be seated. So point number one this morning, we see that Paul calls on us to walk wisely. in the first part of verse five. He calls on us to walk wisely. What Paul says in the first three words of verse five set the understanding. Walk in wisdom. Because what we see here is that wisdom impacts our walk. Wisdom is seen in how you live every single day. Wisdom is seen, or it is not seen, right, in how you spend every single moment of your life, how you engage in conversations with others, what you say to other people, how you live. Our walk is what shows us where, by the grace of God, we are living according to true wisdom, or where we see our need for growth. And so, as we unpack this reality of wisdom, don't think of wisdom that is simply something in your head. Wisdom that is simply something that is between your ears. Wisdom is biblical knowledge lived out in your walk before the Lord every single day. Right? Look back. We see this. Paul addressed this earlier. Again, Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7. Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7. He says, Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Same point, right? You've received grace, you've received mercy, you've been saved by the power of the gospel. Now go live that out. Now go live out faith in the Lord Jesus. Now go live out submission to Christ as your king. Now seek to bring him praise because as Brother Doug said, he is worthy as the Lord. And so whenever we turn to this subject of wisdom, It is something that we now walk differently because we know and have received Christ, who is wisdom. This is fundamentally what is happening, is that this change that has been brought about in salvation is now leading to the change of our walk. What does that look like practically? Well, look at what he says underneath this point. He says, walk in wisdom toward outsiders, right? So the first point that he wants us to understand here is that this is a powerful source for Christian testimony to the unbelieving world. That as you walk wisely, as you come to the Word of God, and you soak in its truth, and your mind is being renewed, where now you're being corrected, you're dying to the false ways of the flesh, and you're learning to think and live rightly, being equipped by the knowledge of the Word of God, now that's changing how you actually live, what do those outside of the faith who know you see? They see something entirely different about your life. They see something that has happened that is changing your walk, that is changing the choices that you make, that is changing what used to be true about you. that Christian marriages and homes and families stand out as having a love and a forgiveness and a grace that is different from those who do not know the Lord. Why? Because of what we're seeing here, having received the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians in their workplace demonstrate character and integrity and work ethic that is different from the watching world around them. And what is it that's motivating that? the change that the Lord Jesus Christ has brought about by the power of the gospel. Okay, I want you to look with me at James chapter three. James chapter three, this is gonna be familiar to those of you who are in Sunday school, we're going through the book of James. And so this is gonna be somewhat familiar to some of you. James chapter three, verses 13 through 18. James 3, 13 through 18. This helps us to see the difference that the Lord Jesus has brought about in our lives. James 3, 13 through 18. Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there will be disorder in every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere, and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. What we see here is that we're unpacking this reality of wisdom, is you have two very different points going on here in James chapter 3, don't you? You have one, which is true wisdom, right? The true wisdom of God, the wisdom from above, that has its genuine marks that are pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. But then you have something else altogether, don't you? You have something else altogether, and it is that which professes to be wisdom, but is in fact earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. It is what the world would call wisdom. It is what our sinful flesh would rise up and profess to be wise, but is actually foolish before the sight of God. And these two different sources lead to two different fruits over the course of our life. And you say, how does that connect to what we're seeing in Colossians chapter 4? Well, if the foundation of living wisely is receiving the Lord Jesus Christ so that now you've had a heart change, you've had a change of desires, and now you're seeking to honor the Lord in how you live, there's been a change in the source of wisdom that you're living according to. Because every single one of us, prior to coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ through saving faith, we lived according to the wisdom of the world. We live according to the path of the flesh. We live according to selfish ambition and jealousy. This is the path that we were on before we came to know the Lord and the Lord changed our walk. And so now that we've come to know Jesus. Now that we've been saved. Living out divine wisdom towards those who are outside of the faith is an opportunity to testify to the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ that has brought about that change. It's an opportunity for those who know us, those lost family members and friends and lost co-workers, to see there is a different foundation for your life that has taken root. There's a different source that you're making your decisions on. There's a different reason why you're making the choices that you do. It's like that marriage, that I knew that was in a tough spot, these two people are now saying that they love the Lord Jesus Christ and they've been saved and now they're learning to live out selfless sacrificial love to the praise of Jesus and they look different and I can't explain that. Or here's another one, this coworker over here who I used to know to be the laziest bum in the organization, All of a sudden, they're coming to work, and they're on fire, and they're passionate about what they're doing, and they're telling me it's because they want to do everything with excellence in the name of the Lord. And it's because the Gospel has changed their heart, and now they're living out a different walk. They're living out a different walk, and it's a testimony And it's an opportunity for you and I as Christians not to say, yeah, you're right, look at me, I've really learned a lot. But to say that is all Jesus working, that is all the gospel message, that is the Lord at work bringing transformation. And you too can experience the same thing through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when Paul calls on us in Colossians chapter 4, walk in wisdom toward outsiders. He's wanting us to see this opportunity that we have through this different source of wisdom to be a testimony. Now, it's important to be said, as you live out this different kind of wisdom as a testimony, that doesn't mean that everybody's gonna thank your wives in doing so, right? Lost people are lost, and they are sinners. And so we pray that through that testimony, the Lord would bring about the work of the gospel and the change of salvation in their heart, but sometimes that's not gonna be what's gonna happen in that moment. that they're gonna see you living out something totally different, and they're gonna say, man, you're weird, and I don't like you, and I hate you, I hate the God you serve, and I hate the scripture you claim to cling to, right? That sometimes that's gonna be their reaction. And when that's the case, we entrust all things to the Lord Jesus Christ. and we plant the seed he's called us to plant, and we trust him to grow it according to his will. According to his will. So that's the first point, Ernie, of walking in wisdom. We walk in wisdom towards outsiders. Secondly, in verse four, we are to walk in wisdom, making the best use of the time. Right, so this is the second practical application that Paul gives on living wisely. Intentionality. Purpose. Purpose that we are called to live with as believers. And this is the call where Paul is pressing in on us to see the need that we have to honor the Lord not just with okay uses of our time, not with good uses of our time, but to push in and to challenge us to continually make the best use of our time every single day for the glory of Jesus. Time is very precious. And as you grow in wisdom as a Christian, you begin to realize how precious it is. Amen? We all have a limited number of days on earth. That is a reality that you do not need to ignore. Wisdom does not encourage you to ignore or to think lightly of your death. Wisdom also does not encourage you to be morbid, okay? So don't fall prey to that ditch either. Wisdom does encourage us to realize we will die one day. We do have a limit on how long we will be on this planet, and therefore we need to spend our time intentionally stirring it well to the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ. And, you know, what's amazing is that as you study the full counsel of the Word of God, you see that it actually equips us to understand that with balance and to see who it is that God has created us to be. You know, we have passages like Colossians 3.23 that encourage us to work heartily, be diligent about what the Lord says before us, right? So that's one application of making the best use of the time is work hard. Work hard at what the Lord sets before you. But then you have other texts, like we talked about in Colossians 3, 18 through 21, that talks about the home and talks about the family. And kind of one of the undergirding principles of that is like, if you're going to lead your wife well, you kind of got to spend time with her, right? If you're going to submit to your husband, that means that you actually have time to kind of know what your husband needs and come alongside of him. Right? These things are in the context there. Deuteronomy 6, a priority on families investing intentionally in one another. But then we also see another theme throughout the Word of God about the use of our time, and it's that we're finite, limited individuals who need to sleep every single night. We need rest. We're given the Lord's Day for a reason, to worship God and to rest to the praise and the glory of his name. And so you see this text talking about making the best use of the time, and then you begin to fill it in with these other biblical categories, which we should do if we're going to be good students of scripture. And you see that we indeed need wisdom to balance working hard, investing in our family, pouring in to our neighbors and those who are lost, who need the gospel and seeking to rest all to the praise of Jesus. We need wisdom here. And we need the Lord to equip us to know how to live rightly, because if you ignore any part of that, your life's going to get bent out of shape. your life's gonna get bent out of shape. And so we come before the Lord with a heart of humility, seeking to pray to him, seeking to immerse ourselves in the scripture so that we would steward our time well. And to put that practically, brothers and sisters, that's gonna mean some days you need more rest than others. Some days you need to go and you need to work harder and longer hours than other days. Some days you need to invest in your family because they're going through something and they need your leadership and they need your time and attention and care and direction back to the Word of God. Some days this conversation with this lost person's gonna take about an hour more than you thought it would, but you need to invest in them. And as souls soaked in the Word of God, Right? We come before Him with hearts of humility that we would make good decisions. And this is a testimony to the reality that you and I have to be soaked in the Scripture to make those decisions. We have to be soaked in the Scripture to make those decisions. Because it is the Word of God. that rebukes our flesh. It is the word of God that confronts our sin. It is the word of God that reframes our thinking so that now instead of using time selfishly or using time sinfully or wasting it, we're equipped to know how to spend it for the Lord. Psalm 90 verse 12, so teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 139.16 says that He wrote down every one of your days before you were even born. before you were ever born, right? Every day, from your birth to your death, every day has already been planned out. And so realizing that we submit to the will of the Lord, we rejoice in the gift of every single day, and the Christian that is growing in wisdom grows in understanding what a precious gift every day is. And therefore we should seek to steward it wisely. Now this brings me to point number two, Point number two, where wisdom is not only impacting how we spend our time, wisdom is not only impacting how we invest towards outsiders, wisdom is also impacting our speech. It's impacting our speech. Point number two, speaking wisely. Look at verse six. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Why does the Christian speak with wisdom? Why is this a fundamental calling of the church? See, what Paul's getting at here is very nitty gritty, isn't it? It's very practical, it's very rubber meets the road type of details. The reality of how you spend your time, the reality of how you speak towards others, these are, and I want us to see this, these are outflows of the condition of your heart. Right? Look with me at Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6, verses 43 through 45. Luke 6, 43 through 45. Such a critical passage of scripture when we're talking about these pivotal things. For no good tree bears bad fruit. Nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruits. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble brush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good. And the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. Why are these nitty gritty, how you use your time, how you speak to others, why are they so important? Because they show you the condition of your soul. and they show me the condition of my soul. The choices that you make every day and how you use your time shows your priorities. The words that you use, how you speak to others, what comes out of your mouth shows the reality of your heart. And brothers and sisters, before we begin to unpack What godly speech is, the reality that it flows out of our heart shows us the need that we have for the gospel. It shows us the need that we have for grace, because again, we're all born in James chapter three. We're all born following the course of the flesh, following the course of the wisdom of the world, and we need a heart change. We need the Lord to make us new. We need to come before him realizing we are a sinner. We are a wretch. We are not, are you kidding me? I'm not writing my heart, much less my speech, right? Much less the use of my time. And I can't just look at the use of my time and the use of my speech and say, well, if I just get a planner, I'm gonna do better next year. It's a heart issue. It's a heart issue, and until you drill down and you see your need of the gospel to remove the self-centeredness, to remove the sin, to remove the prideful heart, and to change us at the level of our soul by the power of the Spirit of God making us a new creation, you've missed the point. And that's what Jesus wants us to understand. That first of all, if you're reading this text and you don't know the Lord, you don't just need to see your need to number your days, you need to see your need of Christ for redemption. And you need to come to him in repentance and faith that you might be saved, that you might be given a new heart, that you might know Jesus for all of eternity. And he's faithful and just, good news for you today, He's faithful and just to forgive you if you will come to him in repentance and faith. And to make you new. And that is the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. But if you're here today as a Christian, right? And you're being convicted of, man, I've been using my time selfishly. Or, wow, in this conversation the other day, I spoke out of a heart of anger. I didn't speak gracious words. I didn't speak seasoned with salt. I didn't speak biblical wisdom. I spoke out of the heart of the flesh. We need to see the reality of the gospel that we need to. And we need to see the work of the transformation that we need by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back with me at Colossians chapter three. If you're a believer, if you're being convicted of some of these things, I'm just going to be honest in this passage, I don't know how you couldn't not be convicted of something. Colossians chapter 3, look at verse 9. Do not lie to one another saying that you have put off the old self of its practices. Verse 10. and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." This is the work that the Lord's doing. He's convicting His people and showing you this is where you've been using your time sinfully. And this is where I call you to be a better steward. This is where you're speaking out of a heart motivation to make yourself look good or to condemn somebody else out of a heart of anger instead of coming to them out of a heart of love. And what he's doing is he's renewing our mind so that we would think and then live rightly. So what does it mean to use your speech wisely as a part of that putting on the Lord Jesus Christ? First point in verse six, chapter four. Our speech is to be gracious, gracious. You and I have been shown grace as believers. We have been lavished blessing for all of eternity that we are wholly unworthy of. Wholly unworthy of. And so now our speech is to be marked by that same grace. To have a kindness, to have a favor that is marked by the reality that we are recipients of what we do not deserve. And of course, we realize immediately that when life squeezes in, when the pressures of the world or the desires of the flesh squeeze in, we're tempted to go the other way. We're tempted to do anything but speak graciously. When the day is hard at work, when the trials of the body start to hit and you're tired, you're fatigued, you're worn out, grace does not mark speech so often. But you realize that Paul is in chains and he is in prison for his faith as he's saying this. And his letter to the Colossians is actually a testimony of what it looks like to speak with grace. That's an encouragement to us. That even in those hard moments, because it is the Lord Jesus Christ who strengthens you and equips you, you can even have grace then. And don't misunderstand me, there are certainly instances where even in being gracious, our speech has to be firm. Our speech has to communicate in a very upfront and direct way with other people. Jesus welcomed the little children tenderly and he also drove the money changers out of the temple with a whip. Amen. Right, he did both. But as a whole, our speech is to be characterized by grace. And if it isn't, it's a hard issue. It's a hard issue. Because even in those moments of confrontation, what's driving you? What's motivating you? It's hard to see the other person come to know Christ, or to grow in Christ, and that God might be glorified. So grace is the key. So the probing question, are you marked by grace in how you speak? Not just in public, in front of all your friends, but in private with your wife and your kids. In truthfulness, if you want to get down to the heart on this, ask your spouse, right? Ask your kids. Ask the people who live with you and who are close to you, am I marked by graciousness in how I speak? And where am I tempted to the flesh? The next point on this, our speech is to be seasoned with salt if we are to speak wisely. That's a rich illustration. I love that metaphor. That salt is such an interesting part of God's creation. It really is. It has both the ability to be incredible in terms of the taste on food, and it can be very healing and painful on wounds at the same time, right? So, if you're reading this passage and you're like, well, my speech, it's kind of salty, like it kind of stings, right? You're taking away the wrong thing. That's not what Paul has in mind. How do I know? He doesn't say healing like salt or stinging like salt. He says seasoned with salt. So Paul has in mind the analogy, not of you putting salt on an open wound so that somebody else feels the pain. He has in mind the analogy of seasoning on a meal, seasoning on a will. Let me give you an illustration of this. I love to eat eggs for breakfast. Stephanie and I eat four eggs plus toast and sausage and peppers for breakfast pretty much every day. Now, if you're wondering, my wonderful wife does cook breakfast most of the time. Okay, if you're wondering that. But I do enjoy cooking breakfast too in a skillet, like putting a skillet together and all that. One time back several months ago, I decided to do this and it didn't end up so well. It didn't end up so well. I had all the ingredients. I had the eggs. I had the peppers. I had the sausage. I had them put all together and it looked great. And then I turned the salt shaker over. And it all came out in a clump. It was like it clumped together and so I turned it over and it just, bam, right? The salt just came pouring out on the meal. Do you think those eggs taste very good at that point? It didn't matter how good the sausage was and that I had done all the right basil and the oregano. like made the flavors pop and everything, I over-seasoned the salt, and it didn't matter that you had the right ingredients on the rest of it, because you ruined the whole meal with that part of the seasoning. Brothers and sisters, what you say might be technically right in terms of some of the right ingredients, but if you mess up the seasoning, you ruin the whole meal. You catch what I mean? You catch what I mean? The goal of what we say in our speech as believers is that it would be right and true according to the word of God with the right heart, said in the right way, with the goal of the good of that soul and the glory of God. And we're aiming for all of that. Not just one part, we're aiming for all of that. We're not aiming to say true things, but to say them out of a heart of anger. And we're not aiming to say something that's false and momentarily makes somebody feel happy with a tender tone. or to say something that is true with a wrong motivation. We are aiming to speak the truth in love with a heart that is motivated for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the good of that soul that is fitting to the situation that they're walking in. That's what we're seeking, right? Look at how verse six ends. So that you may know how you ought to answer each person. This is a hallmark of biblical, godly wisdom. That it gives us understanding. It equips us to be able to speak into the hearts and souls of others regardless of the situation. And what I want you to notice is that this is not addressed to the pastors. Do you notice that? This is addressed to the church. This is addressed to the church. Yes and amen, pastors and elders and teachers of the Word of God should lead the way in getting into difficult situations and speaking wisdom. Right? Amen. Pastors should lead the way in that. And hear me as your pastor. If you're going through something difficult, I have a heart. I want to walk with you in that. And I pray that there would be wisdom in that. And that where there's not, there's other people in the body who can say, brother, I think you spoke wrongly on that issue. But what I want you to see is that Paul doesn't just have in mind pastors and elders and teachers who know how to give wise answers to souls and know how to counsel others. He has in mind entire church bodies growing in the Lord Jesus Christ, growing in wisdom, so that not just the pastors and elders in the church, but the entire body is building up one another by speaking wisely into all the different situations of life. Do you see the difference in the two? Do you see that in this text? That the call belongs to the church as a whole. No doubt with the pastors and elders seeking to lead the way But Christ, the head of the church, is not just at work in the lives of the pastors. He's at work in the whole church body, building us up to speak wisely in these situations. And I want you to take that as the church, and to be encouraged by that. Why? because you have everything that you need in the gospel and the word of God to speak wisely and well to other souls regardless of the situation. It is sufficient to equip us to this end. And it's not like you either have the pastor investing in the needs of souls or you have the church investing in the needs of souls. The call of this passage is for both to be involved in speaking wisdom. And what good news it is to us that in these situations where, man, this person's coming to me and they're bringing their suffering, or they're bringing their complex questions, or they're bringing this trial that they're walking through, and they're looking for wisdom. What good news it is that we don't have to come up with the answers on our own. but we have the sufficient source of the gospel and the word of God, and it is sufficient not just to equip pastors, but to equip every member of his bride to speak well unto the lives of those he has placed in their life. That is good news for us. That is good news for us. But this concept of speaking, brothers and sisters, this is a key part. If you're gonna speak well, you have to listen well. And that means, as we talked about on Psalm 119 on Wednesday, you can't speak well if you're not first listening to God's word well. You can't do it. That's included in this. You have to be soaking it in. And then Proverbs 29 20, do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There's more hope for a fool than for him. You need to listen, not just to the Word of God, you need to listen to the soul He's put right in front of you. To get to know their situation so that then you know how to speak the Word to them in a way that meets exactly what they're walking through. To speak the Gospel well, to speak the truth of the Word of God skillfully to them. And we are equipped by His Word to fulfill this path. And I thank God that in the life of this church body, there are many souls who are able to do that. And there are many souls who care to seek to love others by coming into the hard situations with a heart that is equipped by the Word of God and a mind that has been sharpened by the Word of God. to speak not their own ideas, not their own opinions, not their own little traditions, right? But the truth of the scripture. The truth of the scripture from a heart of love. And I pray that God would grow us in the Lord Jesus. That he would grow us up in the knowledge of his word, that everything that we studied about the renewal of our minds in Colossians chapter three. would spill out into a life that spends time well and sees the gift of every day. And not only that, but sees the gift of every opportunity that we have to interact with another image bearer of God and to point them to the gospel and to point them to the word and to minister Christ to them. If there's anything that you need to talk about this morning, if there's anything that you need prayer for, or that you need to share, it'd be my privilege to visit with you or to pray for you about whatever you may have on your heart or your soul today. I'm gonna ask Brother Doug, if he would, to come and lead us in our closing hymn this morning. Let's bow together in a word of prayer. Father, we see this call to live wisely. And Father, we're reminded of the glory of Christ, who is wisdom. And Father, we're reminded of our need for Christ, for we know that all too often, we fall prey to the foolishness and the sinfulness of our flesh, instead of living according to the wisdom of your word. And Father, that's why we need grace, that's why we need the gospel. And Father, I just ask that you would bring change in our hearts, change in our souls, that you would let us see more of the glory of Jesus, that you would renew our minds through the power of your word. and that you would equip us to live and to speak well for the praise of your name, and that you would build us up in these things. And Father, if there be any here who through your word has come to a conviction of their sin and a realization of their need for Christ, Father, bring them to yourself today. And let them know the salvation that only comes through the Lord Jesus in faith. And it's in his name I pray, amen.