Wednesday, December 6, 2017

December 6, 2017; Wednesday Night

Final Comments To Faithful Christians!
Colossians 4:7-18

As we come to the close of our study of the book of Colossians the apostle Paul does not offer pithy epitaphs, or catchy cliches.  He offers his own, personal final comments to a group of faithful Christians.  If the book of Colossians were a journal, these verses would constitute the last page.  This would be the final entry before the book was closed, the latchet clasped, and laid upon a shelf.

1…The WALK that DEFINES Our Life!
Verse 5
deals with our walk, or our behavior as Christians.  We are to:

A…There is a Responsibility to be Exercised!
The "walk" of which Paul speaks is directed in a very specific way, to a very specific group. 
The responsibility spoken of here is not just a responsibility to the Lord, but to the lost.  We not only have a responsibility to those that are saved, but to those that are unsaved.

We are to live in light of the fact that what we do, and how we do it makes an impact on an unsaved person.  What we say, and how we say it cast a great impression on those who do not know the Lord Jesus.


B…There is an Opportunity to be Maximized!
Verse 5 not only includes a responsibility we are to exercise, but an opportunity we are to maximize.  We maximize every God-given opportunity by:  “...redeeming the time."

In modern terminology, when one redeems the time, we would say, 'they are making the most of it.'  The idea is that as Christians we are to take advantage of every opportunity that God places in front of us. 


2…The TALK that DESCRIBES Our Life!

Much of the Christian life is not only measured in how we walk, but in how we talk.  In fact, what we say does much to describe the type of life that we live.  Jesus said, in Matthew 12:34,  
"...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

Verse 6
The word "grace" speaks of "pleasantness, attractiveness, or charm." The believers' interaction with others is to be based upon pleasant speech.  This not only includes what we say, but how we say it.  We are never to speak with the motive to tear someone down, but we should seek to build someone up. 



B…The Purpose of Graceful Reaction!
Our speech often identifies where we are from, it also identifies who we are.  It is an index of ones character.  One's vocabulary is often an indication of one's spirituality.  Therefore, one's interaction, and reaction carries a divine purpose, mentioned in the last part of verse 6:

"Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."

If you would allow me to paraphrase the Apostle Paul's words, he seems to say:
"It all comes down to this one thing, in a nutshell. You need to know what to say, and how to say it to every individual."


3…The CHALK that DIRECTS Our Life!

As we come to the final section of this letter, it is almost as if the apostle Paul takes a piece of chalk and draws out a guide, and a goal to direct our lives as believers.  He does that reminding us of:

A…The Expectation of a Faithful Life!

Verse 12 describes what God expects from us as His people.
"...that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God."


B…The Explanation of a Fruitful Life!

Verses 7-18

Tychicus:        Committed One
Onesimus:       Converted One  
Aristarchus
Marcus                        These 3 were the Comforted Ones
Justus
Epaphras:        Crowned One
Luke                Concerned One
Nymphas         Congratulated One

Archippus:      Challenged One

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