11/10/02 - T 24 INI Col. 4:2-6

In the name of Jesus, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

I hope we were thinking about the words of the hymn we just sang. What is it that makes a person a witness to others concerning Christ? Is it the ability to speak well in front of people, or the ability to debate teachings of the Christian faith with someone? Is seminary training needed. What makes a missionary? We should give some serious thought to this question, since the words of the prophet Isaiah were put into our mouths. We sang: "Here am I! Send me! Send me!" Are you serious?

Isaiah responded to the Lord's call after the Lord had revealed Himself in that spectacular vision of the temple filled with smoke. After the prophet confessed his sins with fear and trembling; after the angelic seraphs touched the lips of Isaiah with the hot coal saying: "Behold this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged." After all this Isaiah responded to the Lord's call, saying, "Here am I. Send me!"

Now what do you suppose the great evangelical prophet of the Old Testament would say to us about sharing the gospel of Christ where we live. I believe he would say something like this: "Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the one thing about that wonderful vision I received, which made my poor heart soar to heaven and accept the Lord's call was this: He forgave me and cleanse me from all my sins! Now the Spirit of God has not only touched your lips; He has filled your hearts with the assurance that your sins are forgiven because the promised Savior HAS COME! Surely you too should answer our Lord:

Paul encourages the Christians in the congregation of Colossae to tell others of their Savior. He did not encourage them because they were great teachers and debaters. Instead, Paul reminded them that they had been "delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (1:13-14) Then he reminded them that "in Christ dwells all the fulness of God, and in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! And we are "complete in Him who is the Head of all principality and power."

Many of your neighbors are floating aimlessly on the sea of human philosophy. The shifting winds of human theories about life, peace, and happiness send them this way and that way. Nothing is absolutely true for them. But you have "the mind of Christ," the rock of ages from eternity. You are able to judge all things according to the truth revealed to you in the gospel of your Savior.

Many of your neighbors are seeking salvation in the desert of legalism. The harder they try to gain acceptance before the Holy God by their own religious works and experiences, the deeper they dig themselves into the sands of legalism. They become frustrated and exhausted and the burning wrath of God still beats upon them.

But you have received the perfect merits of Jesus Christ by faith. You know the eternal blessedness of the "one to whom the Lord does not count sin." Through the gospel of forgiveness your Savior has shaded you from the wrath of God and applied the refreshing, life-giving waters of His grace!

Again, many of your neighbors are setting their minds on the things of this perishing earth. Like the moles that spend their lives digging in the earth, people are blind to the Light of Life which is Jesus Christ. They are busy filling up the desires of their flesh. Sooner or later their self-indulgence takes its toll on their bodies, and their family relationships. You see it happening! You know the cause, and you know the solution: The truth about sin and Christ, the Savior of sinners, the way to heaven and the help of heaven!

The mind of Christ, the grace of Christ, and the truth about life in this world and the world to come -- What great treasure we have to give our friends and neighbors! But such weak vessels we are who bear this treasure! That's why we are encouraged in our text to hold fast to prayer.

When our children need our help with a school project, they may have all the general knowledge of how to get it done. Still, they need our help. Children hold fast to that assurance they have received from us in the past -- the assurance that we will come to their aid.

So, you and I possess the truth of Christ through the gospel of forgiveness. You know the way to eternal life. Do you feel as if you are unable to express this truth to others? Do you lack the love and patience necessary, or is your spirit timid? Then hold fast to prayer! Remember our Lord's promise: "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. . . . If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

Holding fast to prayer we will also pray for the progress of the Gospel. Paul writes from Rome where he has been under arrest because of the Gospel of Christ. Still, with a thankful heart, Paul holds fast to prayer. He prays that God would open to him and his fellow-workers a door for the word. He wants to be able to speak the mystery of Christ once again -- that is, to reveal the wonderful gospel to others -- as he ought to speak it. Notice that the Colossian Christians are to pray for the same thing.

From 1981-1984 our congregation in St. Louis broadcasted the gospel over the radio. We reached thousands of homes with the good news concerning Jesus. Some were brought to faith in their Savior through that Radio ministry. But we did not open any doors. The same was the case for a year and a half in Okabena, Minnesota. Some were brought to faith or strengthened in the faith through the radio ministry. But only God opens the doors of the hearts of men so that His message of grace may be heard and received in humble faith. That's why we all must pray regularly that we all may receive everything that is necessary from the Spirit of God to reveal the gospel as we ought.

You know your Lord has sent you in His name as a witness to the world. You are giving unconscious testimony every day of what the Gospel of Christ has done and is doing in you. Does it make you nervous to think of yourselves as standing in the display windows of your community with everyone watching you? On the

other hand, you don't run and hide your light under a bushel basket! Rather you want to shine by making the most of your time!

The unbelieving world is looking, waiting, even expecting us to curse our God and complain against Him for our suffering. The world waits with its tongue hanging out, hoping that we will misuse our freedom in Christ by filling up the desires of our flesh, because, oh well, we are forgiven anyway! Many are looking at your lives and your speech very carefully to find a reason to deny the goodness of our God and the saving truth we proclaim.

But may we make the most of every opportunity. Let us regard the time in which we are standing before the world as most precious. God's glory and the salvation of our friends and neighbors are at stake! Let' do nothing that would bring criticism upon our Savior and His Word, or offend those whom He has purchased with His own blood. But let us do all that would lead poor sinners to trust in their Savior.

Toward this end, Paul writes in the last verse of our text: "Let your speech be always with grace, or pleasantness, seasoned with salt so that you know how to answer every one." Our speech at all times should be courteous, kind, and sincere. At the same time our speech should be "seasoned with salt." This does not mean salty language in the form of foul words to get someone's attention. Not salt in the sense of rubbing salt into a wound; but salt in the sense of properly seasoned and good -- salt worth eating!

This is the salt of an energetic, yet humbly-presented confession of Christ as Savior of the world, Comforter of the despairing, the Light and Life of the Dead! By using wisdom and clothing it in grace and pleasantness, and giving it a pinch of salt from the gospel, we will soon get to know how to respond to people who need the Savior. In this way we will make the most of our opportunities.

Yes! Even you are fit to be sent. YOU know what you have to give because eternal life and peace in Christ has already been freely given to you. So hold fast to prayer, pray for the progress of the gospel in this area, and make the most of your time! May our Lord richly bless your every effort in His name! Amen.