Let's take our Bibles now and turn to the book of Colossians, and we're going to read chapter four. Colossians chapter four, reading from verse two to verse four. Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving, meanwhile praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the Word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. Amen. Let us turn to the Lord in prayer. We come to you, O Lord, and ask for your help now as we study your word. We know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So help us now to feed upon this word and pray that you would strengthen our faith. So we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Some years ago, I had an interesting experience. I was back in Norwich in England. It's the city where I grew up. And I was in a store there talking to the assistant at the cash desk. And as I handed over the money, she said to me, I like your accent. Where are you from? And I said, oh, well, actually, I'm from here. But I've been living in the United States for some time now, so I suppose my accent must have changed a bit over time. And that's what can happen when you move to a new country or big country like this, a different part of the country. After a while, you begin to talk like and sound like the other people that live there. And it's the kind of thing that in the spiritual realm Paul says happens when we become Christians, when we're joined to Jesus Christ, when we become new men and women in Christ, when we become citizens of heaven. One of the things that happens is our speech and the way we talk, the things we talk about, should begin to change so that we should more and more start to sound like those in the kingdom to which we now belong. And that's what Paul has been saying in these verses. He's been talking about the effects of spiritual union with Christ, how it impacts our relationships in marriage and in the family and in the workplace. And now in these verses two through six, he wants to show how it impacts the words that we speak. And in two ways, primarily, we become people of prayer and we become people of proclamation and witness. Or to put that another way, we become people who talk to God about others. That's verses 2 through 4. And also we see in verses 5 through 6 that we become people who talk to others about God. That's really the essence of what we have here in this section. We're going to divide it up into two parts, two messages. Verses 2 through 4 today, looking at the subject of prayer and talking to God about others. And next time, God willing, we'll look at witness and verses 5 through 6 and talking to others about God. So that's the way we're going to approach this. Let's begin then by looking at verses 2 through 4 this afternoon. Talking to God about others there in verse 2. Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Let's just remind ourselves a little bit about the background to this. It's been a while since we've been in the Book of Colossians. You remember Paul is writing to the church there in Colossae because he's been hearing a report from his friend Epaphras who's come to visit him there in Rome and has told him about the influence of these false teachers who've come into the church with various forms of teaching, Gnostic teaching largely, emphasizing the need to have something more, basically. That's what they've been saying. You need something extra. Faith in Christ is good. Yes, you need that, but you need more. You need a special kind of knowledge, special insight that only we can give you. You need some elements of human philosophy that we can help you with. Plus, some were saying some elements of the ceremonial mosaic law that you need to hang on to all of this kind of thing it was basically was a Jesus plus message yes faith in Christ is good but it's not enough you need something more you need something extra and so what Paul is doing in this letter is writing to them to remind them as believers they don't need anything else that in Christ they have all that they could ever possibly need. And so in chapter 1 he underscores for them the supremacy of Christ, that he is, as he says in chapter 1, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, and by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, leading then to that great climactic statement that you have in chapter 2 where he emphasizes not only his supremacy but also the absolute sufficiency of Christ as well. Chapter 2 verses 9 and 10, in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in him. He is all you will need for time and for eternity. You have everything you need for this life and the next, all found in Him. That's really the argument of the whole book, in fact, but summed up there in those first two chapters, and then leading into chapter three, where He goes to show the practical outworking of this, and what it actually means in our lives to have this sufficiency in Christ, what that looks like. what kind of a life we ought to be living because, as Paul says in chapter 3, there's a new lifestyle, there's new behavior patterns that this brings. We spoke about a new wardrobe, didn't we? That just as there are old lifestyle behavior patterns that we are to take off, So there are now different behaviour patterns and traits that you are actively to put on, and that you are to demonstrate in a variety of relationships, in a variety of places and settings. In the home, first of all, because this union we have with Christ affects marriage, and the way that a husband relates to his wife, and a wife relates to her husband, and the way that children relate to their parents, and in the workplace as well. the way that an employee works for his or her employer, and the way that an employer treats and rewards his employees. All of these things will be impacted by a believer's vital union with Christ and the new nature and the new behavior patterns that we have through Christ. And so now we move into chapter 4 verses 2 through 6 and we see Paul here is talking about speech and the way that as believers we use our mouths and the words that we speak. And the first thing he shows us here is that we become people of prayer. Because a line of communication now has been opened up between us and the Lord. We now become praying people. The new birth we've experienced now gives rise to a new kind of speech that we engage in. Spiritual conversion leads to a new type of spiritual communication between us and heaven. just like Paul or Saul as he was known has that dramatic conversion experience on the Damascus Road and then goes to the house of Judas and Ananias is commissioned to go and get Saul or Paul as he becomes known but remember Ananias is a little bit apprehensive about that he's heard about Paul he's heard some unnerving reports about him he's not sure about this but the Lord says to him arise and go to the street called straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for behold look look he's praying he's praying once he was a persecuting man now he's become a praying man once he was an angry man on his way to kill now he's a humble man he's on his knees in prayer and that's what happens when we become members of the heavenly kingdom we start to speak like other members of that kingdom and we're not not so much here talking about an accent that we have, as more about the access that we now have, and the way that we start to avail ourselves of that access by coming to God in prayer. That's the theme here that Paul is dealing with in these verses two through four. It's the theme of our vertical communication. The horizontal communication, he's going to come on to that, us talking to others about God, That'll be next time God winning, but here he's talking about a vertical communication, us talking to God about others. And there are four things that Paul tells us here that characterize this communication. And the first is constancy. Continue earnestly in prayer or devote yourselves to prayer. Some translations have that. And the word in Greek means to be always about something, to be about something continually or always ready to do something. It can mean that the word in Greek literature could refer to a boat, ship that was docked up at a jetty, tied up and always ready, always reserved for the owner's use, always ready to launch out. And so it means something that is devoted, set aside for a particular task. And that's what Paul is saying here about the believer and prayer. It's something that we are to be devoted to. It's used in Acts chapter six, for example, where you have the apostles and in the early church, there was a little bit of a dispute arose amongst the widows there about the distribution of food. And so the apostles set aside seven men there to take care of that issue because they said, we, we will devote ourselves give ourselves to prayer. Acts chapter 2 verse 42 it says there as well, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. So that's what it means. It's perseverance, it's dedication, it's constancy in prayer. Remember the words of our Lord Jesus? He said, men ought always to pray and not to lose heart. And to underscore that, he then told a couple of parables. And you remember that we looked at this a few weeks back. The widow there who suffers a sort of an injustice in her life and so she takes it to the judge and he doesn't really want to hear her but she is importunate. She just keeps coming back and bugging the judge day after day and in the end he says this woman is wearing me out. give her what she wants. Or then there was the man who had a friend who turned up at his house late at night and he had no food to give his friend and so what was he going to do? He went down the street to his neighbor, his friend who lived down the road and started calling to him late at night. The man didn't want to get up and help him because he and his wife and kids were all tucked up in bed. He didn't want to get up but he did because the man outside kept on shouting and calling to him and so in the end he went to the kitchen and he got him some bread or whatever it was and went and gave it to his friend. Why? Because he was his friend? Well actually no. Jesus says no, it's because he kept bugging him. That was why? Because of his importunity, Jesus said. He will rise and give him as much as he needs. And then after that, Jesus says, ask and it will be given. Seek and you'll find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Be persistent. Keep knocking, he says. Be constant, persistent in prayer. That's what Paul is saying here. Devote yourself. Continue earnestly, steadfastly in prayer. Don't give up. Don't pack it in. Don't throw in the towel. Don't say it's too hard. Because it is hard, it's hard to keep on praying. Andrew Boni in a sermon on prayer once said this, real prayer, earnest prayer is hard work. There are so many interruptions, so many excuses for not persevering that suggest themselves to the mind. A believing man, listen to this, a believing man is more ready to work than to pray. That's how it can be sometimes. Even seasoned, experienced saints can sometimes feel like that. I'd rather actually go and give myself to work than I would have to pray. I remember reading a prayer letter from Paul Washer and acknowledging his own struggle in this regard. This was a letter he sent out after he'd had that massive heart attack. It was a few years ago and he just collapsed on the floor in his kitchen at his home and he came round five days later in a hospital ward and the doctor told him in those intervening five days his heart had stopped three times. They'd had to revive him, three separate occasions. Thankfully, he was spared. And so, during this time of recovering and recuperation, he was reflecting upon all of this and asking, what if I had died? What would have been my regrets and what should I change now that God has extended my life, as it were? Well, one thing he said, I'd spend more time with my kids. And the second thing he said was intercessory prayer. This is what he said in the prayer letter. The day after my return from the hospital, I studied and wrote for several hours. Indeed, I've spent most of this last year alone in my study. In fact, it requires more discipline for me personally to deny myself the joy of studying than it does to force myself to study. God's excellencies provoke the regenerated heart to draw near to him and to think much of him. In contrast, intercessory prayer is work for me. More pointedly, it is war. It is war with my flesh, with the clock, with the devil. How my flesh hates intercessory prayer, fastings and night watches. How many times my flesh has won out over my better understanding, drawing me back to bed or to the table or even to my study. Yes, my flesh will choose even Bible study over intercessory prayer. And so here you can see this great man of God himself is acknowledging his own struggles in this area, the battle it can be just to bring himself to prayer. I'd rather study than pray, he says. But listen to what he goes on to say. But it is in the prayer closet and in the night watches that the darkness is beaten back, that Christ gains ground in the heart, that souls are redeemed and the battles are won. The prayers of God's saints ascend from the earth When the incense of heaven is added to them, they return to the earth with the power of thunder, lightning, and earthquakes. Why then do I not rush to the closet, to the night vigil, to the time of separation? May God help me and you to spend our days on earth in believing, persevering, and prevailing intercessory prayer. This is why it's so vital. This is why it's so important because there is power, real power in prayer. The kingdom advances through prayer. Perishing souls are snatched from hell through prayer. The church makes impact on the community through prayer. God's people are strengthened in faith, emboldened for witness through prayer. So powerful. That's why Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress calls it a weapon. He calls it the weapon of all prayer. It's a mighty weapon in our spiritual armor when God's people give themselves to fervent, earnest, ongoing prayer. And that's why Paul says here, devote yourself, continue earnestly, steadfastly in prayer, as he himself did, remember, Paul? He practiced what he preached. He said to the elders in Ephesus there as he said goodbye to them, I have not ceased to pray for you day and night with tears for the space of three years. Continue diligently in prayer, he said to the Romans. Pray without ceasing, he said to the Thessalonians. Or, you know, we could go further back. Think about Jacob, who becomes Israel. Israel means to strive with God. Why was he called that? Because of that night he spent wrestling, wrestling with the Lord in prayer. And he said, I will not, I will not let you go unless you bless me. And that's the kind of thing Paul is talking about here. He's talking to God about others. There needs to be this first element, constancy. Secondly, there needs to be vigilance. Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. And you know, the word vigilant there means literally, it means to stay awake. means to stay alert and so when we think about it like that of course our minds go to that scene there in the garden on the eve of our Lord's crucifixion when Jesus took with him Peter James and John and he was going to go on a little way to pray but as he did so he said to them my soul is sorrowful even unto death He said, stay awake, stay alert. And yet when he came back, what did he find? They were all asleep. And so he says, could you not watch with me not one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. These two things go together, prayerfulness and watchfulness. When we pray we need to be watchful because obviously we have an enemy out there. That's one of the reasons, isn't it? An enemy who will attack us. Peter knew that from personal experience, didn't he? Because Peter fell asleep and what happened? The devil attacked him and of course he fell, didn't he, in the courtyard sometime after that when he denied his Lord. even with curses. And that's why Peter later on in his first letter says this, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. So there's a spiritual vigilance that's required because of the strategies and schemes of the devil who's always looking for opportunities to hinder us and ultimately to pull us down. But there's another thing that Peter says in that first letter that also relates to this as well. Chapter 4, verse 7, he says, but the end of all things is at hand. Be sober-minded and watch unto prayer. You've got that same phrase, watch unto prayer. And the meaning there has to do with looking and watching and being vigilant so as to look for things that you ought to be praying for. People and concerns that need to be taken up in prayer. That's an important aspect, a very important aspect to effective prayer, that when we pray we don't just pray in sort of bland generalities. Lord, bless the church. Lord, bless preaching everywhere today. Lord, bless the gospel. You know, I once heard of a bishop in the Church of England and he came into his study one day and there's a big pile of prayer letters and newsletters and magazines and all these kind of things. A huge pile had stacked up on his desk and he picked them up and he went over to the rubbish bin and he dropped them in and said, Lord bless them all. And I suppose you can sympathize in some way, can't you? Because we do. Many of us, we do get inundated with these kind of things. Prayer letters and newsletters, all this kind of thing. You can't brave them all. You just haven't got time. But we should aim to be specific. Rather than just offering up bland, generalized prayers for everyone, better to have a specific about so that when we come to pray we can pray for them intelligently and with a good deal of specificity. That's what being watchful here means. It means being watchful and vigilant so as to find out the kind of things that need to be prayed for. John MacArthur tells of his days in Grace Community Church early on, and a man came to him one day and said, I'd like to pray for you. And John said, great, yes, I'd really appreciate that. And so the man said, could you tell me four things that I can pray about for you? And John MacArthur said, yeah, certainly. And he told him these things. And the man pulled out a spiral-bound notebook, and he began to write these down on one side of the page, and he left the other half blank. Well, he didn't see him for a couple of weeks, and then he saw the fellow in church one Sunday, and the man said to him, I've been praying for those things that you told me to, and he said, can you tell me what's happened? And so John told him, and then the man opened his notebook and wrote the answers to these prayers down on the other half of that page that he had. And so he had a record of the requests on one side and the answers to the prayer down the other. And in fact, John MacArthur said that he eventually went to that man's home some months later and he was looking at his bookcase there and he noticed he had 13 of these spiral-bound notepads. full with dates of prayer requests and answers to those prayers. That man was watching, you see, watching unto prayer. John MacArthur says, you'll never be persistent with God about something you're not concerned about, and you'll never get concerned about something until you know what something needs to be concerned about. And so, this is our subject this afternoon. We're thinking about talking to God about others. The nature of that kind of prayer requires constancy, vigilance, thirdly, gratitude. Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. That's such a big theme in Colossians, isn't it? That's actually the sixth time that he's mentioned Chapter 1 verse 3, we always thank God the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. Chapter 1 verse 12, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Chapter 2 verse 7, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness. Chapter 3, verses 15 to 17. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you are called to peace and be... dwelling you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." So you've got three times in three verses there, he mentions thankfulness. It's something that should really permeate our Christian lives. We should be people who overflow with thanksgiving. Because, of course, we have so much to be thankful for, for the Gospel, the fact that God has given to us His beloved Son, and for the cross of Jesus Christ, that He's paid for our sins. And today, of course, for the empty tomb, that He was raised again, and that through Him, Satan and sin and the power of sin has been defeated in our lives, that we have new hearts and new minds. Now, through Him, and new privileges of prayer, you and of service and of fellowship with God's people in His kingdom. Provision as well, His bountiful provision. We give thanks daily for our daily bread. We thank Him for His providence and for His protection and for His presence in our lives and His promises as well that He will do that for us, that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We could go on and on with these things, couldn't we? Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. And so shouldn't we then live in a continual spirit of thankfulness and gratitude to God? Shouldn't we regularly want to show that and express that? I was having a FaceTime conversation with my mum in Taunton in England just this past week, and during the conversation she said, oh we have to go in a minute, we're going to go and stand outside and we're going to clap. I said, why are you going to do that? And she said, oh, we're going to clap for the NHS workers. All those healthcare staff have been working so hard in the hospitals. We're going to show our appreciation. It's a wonderful thing to do. And shouldn't we also want to do that for God? I'm not saying that we necessarily have to go outside and clap, but inwardly in our hearts, Shouldn't we want to continue to express our thankfulness in prayer and in songs of praise, expressing gratitude to Him for what He's done? From the oldest to the youngest can do that. I remember reading Charles Hodge, the great Princeton professor of theology. He remembered as a young boy and how he had this spirit about him. At a tender age, he said, as far back as I can remember, I had the habit of thanking God for everything I received and asking him for everything I wanted. If I lost a book or any of my playthings, I prayed I might find it. I prayed walking along the streets, in school and out of school, whether playing or studying. I did not do this in obedience to any prescribed rule. It seemed to me the natural thing to do." This overflowing of thankfulness. I had the habit of thanking God for everything I received. And that's what Paul is saying here. This is an essential part of prayer. Constancy, vigilance, and thanksgiving. And then a final thing, fourthly, concern as well. Evangelistic concern. Look at verse 3, and pray for us too that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in chains. Now it's helpful for us here just to remind ourselves of the context. Remember where Paul is when he's writing this letter. He's under house arrest in Rome. How did that happen? Well you have to go to the book of Acts chapter 21. Eventually he comes to Jerusalem with that gift. that he's so eager to pass on from the Gentile churches to the poor, needy, converted Jewish believers in Jerusalem. When he gets there, there's an uproar amongst the unconverted Jews, and Paul is arrested, and he's thrown into prison. Eventually, he's transferred to Caesarea for his own safety, and from there, he makes appeal to Caesar, and he's transferred from Caesarea to Rome, gets shipwrecked on the way there, eventually makes it to Rome. This is Acts chapter 28, verse 16. And it says there that he was permitted to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him under house arrest, basically, in a rented house where he was kept as prisoner and he was shackled every day to a soldier or soldiers because they would change shift every five or six hours. And also there were others who came. Verse 30 of that chapter says, Paul stayed there two whole years in his hired house and received all that came to him. You need to plug that in here. This is the situation, the context out of which Paul is writing. He's actually almost two years into his term when he's writing this to the Colossians. And his imprisonment in that home has given him tremendous opportunities for praying, for writing these letters, and also, of course, for witness, for evangelism, for sharing the gospel with all of these soldiers who were chained to him. They were basically a captive audience. One of the commentators I read, he put it this way, he said, Paul wasn't chained to them, they were chained to him. They couldn't get away from him, the greatest preacher and evangelist in the early church. And Paul is speaking to them and to many other people who are coming to his home. And so you need to keep that in mind then when we think about this request that he makes here in verse 3. What's he asking for here? He's asking for the three things. Firstly, opportunity that God may open a door door for the word, a door for the message. That's what he wants here, an opening. He's not praying for saying, I need prayer, or pray that God will get me out of this, pray that they would improve the terrible food they serve me in this place. He's not praying anything like that. He's praying for openings, for gospel opportunity. An open door is what he wants, and that's a phrase that simply means an opening or an opportunity to teach, or to preach, or to share the gospel. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 9, a great door for effective work. 2 Corinthians 2 verse 12, I went to Trieste to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me. One more, Revelation 3 verse 8, see I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. So that's what we're to pray for, we're to pray for an open door for the message. I sent out David Vaughan's prayer letter this week. I love to receive his prayer letters, not only because he writes so well, but also you see so many answers to prayer in his letters. As he goes about his ministry there, you hear about the students that he's met, and ladies that his wife has come into contact with in the course of her work, people that she's bumped into in the supermarket. There was even, you remember, the visit to the chiropractor when he'd hurt his shoulder, And he was there and he had his first meeting and the chiropractor was sort of checking him out and talking to him and he asked him, what you do? And David said, I'm a pastor. And he said, really? That's interesting. I've been investigating Eastern religions for the past 30 years and still I have no peace. In fact, just recently, I was thinking about Protestantism. Maybe I should look into it. David said, sure. When can we start? And it was through that that eventually this man was brought to faith. Because a door, a door was opened there for Him. And that's what we pray for, for ourselves and for missionaries and the churches that we support. That's one thing, opportunity. Then also secondly, consider this, accuracy. That God may open a door for the Word to declare the mystery of Christ. What's the mystery of Christ? Well, back in chapter one, verse 26, he tells us, it's the good news of Jesus Christ, hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints. So a mystery in biblical terms is something we couldn't know ourselves, but which God has been pleased to reveal to us. And that's what he's done in the person of his son. It's the way of salvation, in and through, and only through the person of Jesus Christ. That's what Paul is talking about here. It's all about Him. That's all my business now, Paul says. It's to make Him known. So pray for me. Pray for me in that regard that I may stay on message, that I won't get sidetracked, that I won't start going off down bunny trails, that I won't start majoring on minors and all of that. Pray that I may seek to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is what we're to pray for. Opportunity and accuracy. And one final thing, clarity. Pray for gospel clarity. Verse four, that I may make it clear as I ought to speak. Pray for clarity. What do we mean by clarity? Once heard this defined as precision wedded to simplicity. That's a good definition. Precision wedded to simplicity. not making things overly and unnecessarily complex, presenting vital spiritual truth in a way that can be readily and easily understood. My former pastor in Holland, Mark Chansky, who's very good at this by the way, he once related to me something his father told him when he was a young preacher, and his father said to him, Mark, you need to put it on the bottom shelf where everyone can get it. That's a helpful way to put it, isn't it? Don't put it on the top shelf, you know, like a cookie tin. You put it on the very top shelf so only the oldest member of the family can get it. No, the good stuff, in spiritual terms at least, the good stuff you need to put it on the bottom shelf, where everyone, even the youngest, can get it. J.C. Rahr, he once wrote a paper on this subject, very helpful for preachers and teachers to read, it was about simplicity in preaching and teaching, and he references an example of this, Spurgeon. And he said of Spurgeon, I often read the sermons of Mr. Spurgeon. Now when you read Mr. Spurgeon's sermons, note how clearly and perspicuously he divides a sermon and fills each division with beautiful and simple ideas. How easily you grasp his meaning, how thoroughly he brings before you certain great truths that hang to you like hooks of steel and which once planted in your memory you never forget. So he's giving Spurgeon as an example of this. And of course J.C. Ryle himself was a master of this. There's an interesting account of J.C. Ryle when he was an older man. He was the Bishop of Liverpool and there was one time an elderly lady in Liverpool wanted to go and hear him just because she wanted to hear a bishop preach. And so she went to hear J.C. Ryle, and afterwards she said to her friend who took her, I never heard a bishop. I thought I'd hear something great. He's no bishop. I could understand every word he said. And apparently J.C. Ryle took that as a compliment. And I think probably the Apostle Paul would too, because that's what he's asking for prayer for. Opportunity, accuracy, and clarity. that I may make it clear as I ought to speak. And so isn't that something we should pray to God for here? These things that we've been mentioning this afternoon, that God would open a door for us here in New Haven, for me and for those who teach and preach in this place, that we would be faithful and that we would be accurate and clear, and all of us would have opportunities. We move amongst our friends and family and co-workers, especially at this time of widespread fear and anxiety and uncertainty. that so many people feel that we would have open doors for witness. And for those who can't get out at this time, maybe housebound, shut in, quarantined, maybe, how can you use your time? In this way, talking to God about others, praying perseveringly that God would swing open doors for us to speak, and that we would do so with simplicity, with accuracy, and with clarity. talking to God about others. Next time, God willing, we're going to think about talking to others about God. Amen.