What is Biblical Repentance?

Repentance is no more a meritorious work than its counterpart, faith. It is an inward response. Genuine repentance pleads with the Lord to forgive and deliver from the burden of sin and the fear of judgment and hell. It is the attitude of the publican who, fearful of even looking toward heaven, smote his breast and cried, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!" (Luke 18:13). Repentance is not merely behavior reform. But because true repentance involves a change of heart and purpose, it inevitably results in a change of behavior.

Like faith, repentance has intellectual, emotional, and volitional ramifications. Berkhof describes the intellectual element of repentance as "a change of view, a recognition of sin as involving personal guilt, defilement, and helplessness." The emotional element is "a change of feeling, manifesting itself in sorrow for sin committed against a holy God." The volitional element is "a change of purpose, an inward turning away from sin, and a disposition to seek pardon and cleansing." (Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 486) Each of those three elements is deficient apart from the others. Repentance is a response of the total person; therefore some speak of it as total surrender.

It is true that sorrow from sin is not repentance. Judas felt remorse, but he didn't repent (Matt. 27:3). Repentance is not just a resolve to do better; everyone who has ever made New Year's resolutions knows how easily human determination can be broken. Repentance certainly is not penance, an activity performed to try to atone for one's own sins.

But neither is repentance a solely intellectual issue. Surely even Judas changed his mind; what he didn't do was turn from his sin and throw himself on the Lord for mercy. Repentance is not just a change of mind; it is a change of heart. It is a spiritual turning, a total about-face. Repentance in the context of the new birth means turning from sin to the Savior. It is an inward response, not external activity, but its fruit will be evident in the true believer's behavior (Luke 3:8).

It has often been said that repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin. That coin is called conversion. Repentance turns from sin to Christ, and faith embraces Him as the only hope of salvation and righteousness. That is what conversion means in simple terms.

Faith and repentance are distinct concepts, but they cannot occur independently of each other. Genuine repentance is always the flip side of faith; and true faith accompanies repentance. As Berkhof stated in his Systematic Theology, "The two cannot be separated" (p. 487).

Isaiah 55:1-13, the classic Old Testament call to conversion, shows both sides of the coin. Faith is called for in several ways: "Come to the waters ... buy wine and milk without money and without cost" (v. 1 ). "Eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance" (v. 2 ). "Listen, that you may live" (v. 3 ). "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near" (v. 6 ).

But the passage also enjoins repentance: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord" (v. 7 ).

As that verse demonstrates, the issue in repentance is moral, not merely intellectual. What repentance calls for is not only a "change of mind" but a turning away from the love of sin. A leading New Testament dictionary emphasizes that the New Testament concept of repentance is not predominately intellectual. "Rather the decision by the whole man to turn around is stressed. It is clear that we are concerned neither with a purely outward turning nor with a merely intellectual change of ideas." (NIDNT, 1:358) Another principal theological dictionary defines repentance as:

radical conversion, a transformation of nature, a definitive turning from evil, a resolute turning to God in total obedience (Mk. 1:15 ; Mt. 4:17 ; 18:3).... This conversion is once-for-all. There can be no going back, only advance in responsible movement along the way now taken. It affects the whole man, first and basically the centre of personal life, then logically his conduct at all times and in all situations, his thoughts, words and acts ( Mt. 12:33 ff. par.; 23:26 ; Mk. 7:15 par.). The whole proclamation of Jesus ... is a proclamation of unconditional turning to God, of unconditional turning from all that is against God, not merely that which is downright evil, but that which in a given case makes total turning to God impossible.... It is addressed to all without distinction and presented with unmitigated severity in order to indicate the only way of salvation there is. It calls for total surrender, total commitment to the will of God. ... It embraces the whole walk of the new man who is claimed by the divine lordship. It carries with it the founding of a new personal relation of man to God.... It awakens joyous obedience for a life according to God's will. (Kittel, TDNT, 4:1002-3)

"With a Little Help From My Friends" (Colossians 4:7-18)

This sermon was first preached on Sunday, July 23rd. You can listen to it here.

When God promises to meet the needs of His children, we may safely assume that He includes our need for meaningful friendships.

In his book To China With Love, missionary Hudson Taylor told of being in Shanghai and feeling the Lord wanted him to enter a dangerous region of China and do ministry there. But Taylor didn’t want to go, for he didn’t want to leave his mentor, the minister William Burns, on whose friendship Taylor depended for his spiritual and emotional well-being. He and Burns had become very close, and their friendship was dear to Taylor.

Then one day while taking afternoon tea in Shanghai, a missionary sang a hymn entitled, “The Missionary Call.” The words spoke of being willing to give up friends and “every tie that binds the heart” for the sake of the Kingdom. Taylor was deeply affected by the hymn, and that evening he invited his friend William Burns for a talk. Of that talk, Hudson writes…

“With many tears I told him how the Lord had been leading me, and how rebellious I had been and unwilling to leave him for this new sphere of labor. Well, my friend listened with a strange look of surprise, and of pleasure rather than pain; and answered that he had determined that very night to tell me that he had heard the Lord’s call to the same region, and that his one regret had been the prospect of severance of our happy fellowship. We went together; and thus we recommenced missionary work in that part of China, which in later years has been so abundantly blessed.”

Dear friends, my prayer is that you would have the kind of spiritual friendship that Taylor and Burns had. This morning’s message is the final one in our Colossians’ series, and I’ve titled it “With a Little Help From My Friends.” Here in Colossians 4:7-18, we will see how the Apostle Paul had a great capacity for people and for spiritual friendships.

In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul reveals something of his own heart. The personal references tell you that this church is more to Paul than simply some body of people. He's concerned about them individually. Paul knows what it is to be a spiritual friend. So let’s look together at four principles from this closing passage from Colossians, and consider how we can we can be better spiritual friends and ministers here in Christ’s body at Plymouth.

I. The fulfilled Christian has a genuine concern for people.

Now, the first principle is this: The fulfilled Christian has a genuine concern for people. Note that Paul not only remembers the names of these folks, he is genuinely concerned with them. Now there are many ways that I could demonstrate that to you, just from this passage, but let me just choose one way. Notice why he says he is sending Tychicus and Onesimus. Look with me briefly at verse eight, “I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.” He repeats that idea again in verse nine, where he says when Tychicus and Onesimus arrive, “They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.”

Now remember, Paul is in prison as he writes this letter. But Paul is not telling this church about his situation in prison because he wants them to have sympathy for him. Paul wants to tell them something about what is going on because he knows that these people are desperately interested in what his condition is. And Paul, even though in a letter where he is going to minister the majestic truth of our Lord and Savior, he addresses the human concerns that they had for him and that is why he sends word back giving specific details about himself.

Friends, Paul knew how to talk both about the great truths of scripture AND those things that concern us as human beings created in the image of God. Notice in verse eight that Paul sends them this servant Tychicus because he wants to comfort and strengthen them. He says, “that he may encourage your hearts.” Think of this. Paul in his bondage, desiring to encourage those who were free.

Do we have that same kind of concern for people? If we did, my friends, as we ought to do, this city would not be able to stop its tongue in speaking of how the love of Christ is manifested at the Plymouth Church of Christ. I know that God will do great things in your hearts as He expands your concern for one another, and in so doing there's a witness to the world for Christ.

My friends, when I came to Christ, I discovered an amazing new kinship with other believers, who were now my brothers and sisters by Biblical definition. My heart not only was drawn freely up to God, but outwardly towards other Christians. They loved the same things I loved. They wanted to talk about the same things I wanted to talk about. They understood. I was experiencing, of course, the fellowship, the Biblical koinonia, which every believer experiences as an outgrowth of knowing Christ. The shared mystery of Christ has been the basis for my relationship with my wife, Rachel, as well. In him our hearts beat together. She is not only my wife, but my best friend, my confidante, my counselor and joy. You see, in Christ, we have developed mutual soul friendships with others which are among our dearest treasures. Indeed our regular prayers focus on them. Christian fellowship, and as a result friendship, is one of the principal blessings of knowing Christ.

II. The fulfilled Christian shares his ministry

Notice, secondly, in this passage, we learn that the fulfilled Christian shares his ministry. Paul willingly shares his ministry, and he acknowledges those who work with him, notice “fellow servants” in verse seven, “fellow prisoners” verse ten, and “fellow workers” verse eleven. The apostle Paul is no lone ranger. Yes, he is gifted by God, in an extraordinary way, supernaturally by the Holy Spirit, so that he brings the very revelation of God. But notice that his ministry, as he sees it, is to be a corporate ministry. He is not off on his own. Perhaps we need to be inspired by Paul? Do you ever have a tendency to sort of protect your turf in your area of ministry? You've got something that you do well for the Lord and you don't want anybody else in on it. You're going to do it yourself. Well, Paul is not like that. Paul is always sharing the ministry that he does, and acknowledging those who are involved in the ministry, acknowledging them with the glorious titles of fellow servants and fellow prisoners and fellow workers.

III. The fulfilled Christian appreciates and supports his co-workers

Finally, notice also, that in this passage we learn that the fulfilled Christian appreciates and supports his co-workers. We see that in how Paul is sincere in his compliments to those who are working with him in the gospel. First in verse seven he speaks of Tychicus as his beloved brother, his faithful servant, his fellow slave. What beautiful words of appreciation of his character and his service.

Notice his words about Mark and Jesus Justus, two Jewish Christians who were serving with Paul. Of them, he says, “these were the only fellow workers from the circumcision.” In other words, he says, everywhere I've gone, I have upset the Jews. They have gotten upset with the message that I'm preaching, but these Jewish Christians encouraged me and they worked along side me and I'm thankful to God for them.

Notice in verse twelve his words about Epaphras. He says that Epaphras is a servant of Christ. And he furthermore says that this man Epaphras is always faithfully laboring in prayers. Think of being called a faithful servant of the Lord and a man of prayer by Paul. What a compliment. How encouraging, how supportive, how appreciative was Paul as he labored.

Look again in verse fourteen, where Paul's even going to mention his doctor. In his greetings he speaks of his beloved physician. We perhaps don't always think of our physicians in that way, do we? But Paul speaks of his beloved friend and physician, Luke.

And notice his exhortations in verse ten and in verse thirteen. He tells the congregation, ‘welcome Mark,’ and he tells the congregation, I want you to know about how deeply concerned Epaphras is for you. Can you imagine the pressure of these two young ministers, going into a congregation where Paul had served? Think of the pressure, and Paul says, ‘Well I know, but I want you to welcome this young man, Mark, if he comes, and I want you to know what a faithful man and how deeply concerned for you Epaphras is. These are men worthy of your esteem.” Paul is encouraging of all those who work with them. What a generous spirit he has. He doesn't have to hoard the glory to himself. He isn't trying to build up his own name. He's desirous of encouraging those who work with him. Do we encourage one another in well doing that way? Are words of appreciation and encouragement frequently on our lips? Do we build up the saints by those types of words of encouragement? Paul did. And so ought we.

CONCLUSION As Paul closes Colossians, he encloses with his letter a kind of verbal group photograph. He includes in it a number of those who helped him in his ministry while he was imprisoned at Rome. He gives recognition to some of the unsung heroes of the New Testament, and by so doing uses them as an encouragement to those of us who read this letter. To Paul, these people were indispensable assets to his ministry. He knew well that he could not do it alone; no one can. In the end, what Paul teaches us is that the key to the quality of our earthly fellowship is the quality of our fellowship with God. Those with the richest fellowship with God have the richest fellowship with each other. 

Mr. Sam Rayburn was Speaker of the United States House of Representatives longer than any other man in our history. There is a story about him that reveals the kind of man he really was. The teenage daughter of a friend of his died suddenly one night. Early the next morning the man heard a knock on his door, and, when he opened it, there was Mr. Rayburn standing outside.

The Speaker said, “I just came by to see what I could do to help.”

The father replied in his deep grief, “I don’t think there is anything you can do, Mr. Speaker. We are making all the arrangements.”

“Well,” Mr. Rayburn said, “have you had your coffee this morning?”

The man replied that they had not taken time for breakfast. So Mr. Rayburn said that he could at least make coffee for them. While he was working in the kitchen, the man came in and said, “Mr. Speaker, I thought you were supposed to be having breakfast at the White House this morning.”

“Well, I was,” Mr. Rayburn said, “but I called the President and told him I had a friend who was in trouble, and I couldn’t come.”

My friends, let us have a genuine concern for other people, let us share our ministries, and let us support our co-workers in the faith. Above all, let us have a rich fellowship with God so we can have a rich fellowship with each other. As we do so, not only will we be like the Apostle Paul, but we will be like our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Our Reasonable Faith

Allan Bloom begins his book The Closing of the American Mind with the assertion that the vast majority of students enter American universities with a prior commitment to philosophical relativism. This relativity eschews any form of fixed objective values or truth. Its simplistic creed is that “there are no absolutes.”

While Christians bemoan this cultural slide into moral anarchy, we meet the crisis by throwing gasoline on the fire. I doubt if there is any sector of modern culture that fuels the spirit of relativism more than the evangelical church.

The evangelical world is marked more and more by an anti-rational spirit. Reason itself is viewed as the ogre that brought about secularism in the first place. Therefore, reason is to be abandoned to make room for faith. Yet an unreasoned faith, or an irrational faith, is but one more form of relativism.

Some years ago in a debate at a major evangelical seminary, one debator, a New Testament professor, remarked that people can come to contradictory interpretations of the Bible, concluding, “That’s all right.” He declared that the Bible cannot be limited by logic or reason and that God’s truth may be revealed through contradictions.

Somehow it has become a mark of piety to believe that God’s Word is cloaked in contradictions. No matter that a heresy couldn’t even be identified as a heresy without the rudimentary use of reason to distinguish error from truth.

Reason, as a function of the mind, is an impartial judge. It carries no brief for paganism nor any case for Christianity. Reason itself has no content. It is merely a means to judge the consistency and coherency of propositions.

Again and again Christianity has been attacked in the name of reason. Those who reject revelation have wanted to substitute “natural reason” as the ultimate source of knowledge. Here the mind is closed to content that comes from God via revelation.

As Christians we insist that we have knowledge from special, supernatural revelation that goes far beyond what can be learned by the marked speculation of reason. But, that revelation is not irrational. Christianity is indeed more than reason. It is not less than reason.

Reason is the ally, not the enemy of the Christian. We assert this because God himself is rational. God is consistent and coherent. The truth he perceives and reveals is objective. It admits of no contradictions.

God’s Word is intelligible. It is given to us for our understanding. The faith or trust we live by is not sub-rational or irrational. It is an eminently reasonable faith. We trust with our hearts what we understand with our minds to be true.

A Voice from Church History: Thomas Watson

It was tough being an evangelical pastor in 17th century England. As the government see-sawed between Catholic and Protestant-leaning monarchs, the Puritans and Dissenters were hounded, hunted down, and harried out of the land. In 1662, a series of Parliamentary acts further plagued the Puritans. The Act of Uniformity, for example, required all English ministers to either use the government-sanctioned Book of Common Prayer in their services or leave their pulpits. As a result, on August 17, 1662, two thousand ministers preached their farewell sermons and were expelled from their churches. Among them was Thomas Watson.

I wish we knew more about Watson, for he is among the most readable and quotable of the Puritans. His writings brim with practical, biblical truth. He could grasp doctrine like J. I. Packer, craft a sermon like John Stott, and turn a phrase like Vance Havner.

"Discontent is an ungrateful sin, because we have more 

mercies than afflictions; and it is an irrational sin, because 

afflictions work for good. . . . The devil blows the coals of 

passion and discontent, and then warms himself at the fire.”

--THOMAS WATSON

His date and place of birth are unknown to us, and little information has survived about his upbringing. We know that in 1646, following his training at Cambridge, he married a minister’s daughter and the two of them moved to the city of London, where Thomas became rector of the parish of St. Stephen’s, Walbrook.

There the popularity of his sermons was excelled only by the renown of his deeply moving, extemporaneous prayers. Crowds came, souls were converted, and his influence spread through London and across England. His ministry at St. Stephens continued, with brief interruptions (he was once thrown into the Tower of London for his political views), until the aforementioned Act of Uniformity in 1662.

Ejected but not dejected, he continued teaching and preaching in barns, homes, kitchens, and wooded groves, quietly and always at risk. After the Declaration of Indulgence restored his freedom to minister in 1672, he publicly resumed preaching in the great hall of a friend’s mansion.

His failing health finally forced his removal to the village of Barnston, where he died in 1686 while engaged in prayer.

If you’ve never read any of the Puritans, Gleanings from Thomas Watson is an excellent starting place. It’s an assortment of irresistible, pithy truths culled from Watson’s writings, first compiled and published in 1915 by Central Bible Truth Depot in London. It has recently been reprinted by Soli Deo Gloria Publishers. Here are some samples from my own underlined and dog-eared copy:

• “True grace holds out in the winter season. That is a precious faith, which, like the star, shines brightest in the darkest night.”
• “Other physicians can only cure them that are sick, but Christ cures them that are dead. He doth not only cure them but crown them. Christ doth not only raise from the bed, but to the throne. He gives the sick man not only health but heaven.” 
• “The world is fading not filling.” 
• “If God be our God, He will give us peace in trouble. When there is a storm without, He will make peace within. The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble.” 
• “Who would have thought to have found adultery in David, and drunkenness in Noah, and cursing in Job? If God leave a man to himself, how suddenly and scandalously may sin break forth in the holiest men of the earth! ‘I say unto all, Watch.’ A wandering heart needs a watchful eye.” 
• “Prayer delights God’s ear, it melts His heart, it opens His hand: God cannot deny a praying soul.” 
• “The world is but a great inn, where we are to stay a night or two, and be gone; what madness is it so to set our heart upon our inn, as to forget our home.”

Charles Spurgeon called Watson “one of the most concise, racy, illustrative, and suggestive” of those who made the Puritan age the “Augustan period of evangelical literature.” I wouldn’t call Watson “racy”—he was, after all, a Puritan—but he has certainly become one of my favorite authors. I hope you’ll make his acquaintance, too. 

Christian Speech (Colossians 4:2-6)

This message was first preached on Sunday, July 16th. You can listen to it here.

A man working in the produce department was asked by a lady if she could buy half a head of lettuce. He replied, "Half a head? Are you serious? God grows these in whole heads and that's how we sell them!" 

"You mean," she persisted, "that after all the years I've shopped here, you won't sell me half-a-head of lettuce?”

"Look," he said, "If you like I'll ask the manager." 

Well, she indicated that would be appreciated, so the young man marched to the front of the store. "You won't believe this,” he said, “but there's a lame-braided space-cadet of a lady back there who wants to know if she can buy half-a-head of lettuce." 

He noticed the manager gesturing, and turned around to see the lady standing behind him, obviously having followed him to the front of the store. So the man continued smiling “…and this nice lady was wondering if she could buy the other half" he concluded. 

Later in the day the manager cornered the young man and said, "That was the finest example of thinking on your feet I've ever seen! Where did you learn that?" 

"I grew up in Grand Rapids,” the man said,  “….and if you know anything about Grand Rapids, you know that it's known for its great hockey teams and its ugly women.”

The manager's face flushed, and he interrupted, "My wife is from Grand Rapids!" “Oh is that right?” the man said. “And which hockey team did she play for?"

Well, one truth that Christians understand is that our tongues are “US” in a unique kind of way. For you see, the tongue is a tattletale that tells on the heart and discloses the real person. Not only that, but misuse of the tongue is perhaps the easiest way to sin. In fact, there are no limits to what one can say. In Scripture, the tongue is variously described as wicked, deceitful, perverse, filthy, corrupt, flattering, slanderous, gossiping, blasphemous, foolish, boasting, complaining, cursing, contentious, sensual, and vile. And that list is not exhaustive. No wonder God put the tongue in a cage behind the teeth, walled in by the mouth! 

This morning, in Colossians 4:2-6, in a message I’ve titled “Christian Speech”, Paul calls us to Christlikeness in communication with God, and to Christlikeness in communicating with the world. In his discussion of our Christian speech, Paul puts the emphasis on four areas: the speech of prayer, the speech of proclamation, the speech of performance, and the speech of perfection. Let’s jump in, shall we?

1. OUR CHRISTIAN SPEECH IN…PRAYER.

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2; ESV)

Paul begins by telling us that the very heart of our Christian speech must be full devotion to prayer. And it is fitting that Paul begins with prayer, because it is the most important kind of Christian speech we can utter. As you know, prayer is the strength of our fellowship with the Lord and the source of our against Satan and his angels. 

Through prayer, we confess our sins to God, we offer praises to God, and we call on their sympathetic High Priest, Jesus Christ. We also intercede and pray for one another. It is perhaps for these reason and more that Paul say you must pray with perseverance. Paul writes, “continue STEADFASTLY in prayer…” In other words, in our prayers we must be “courageously persistent.” In our prayers we must “hold fast and never let go.” Now, how is this possible? Are we always to be carrying on a constant verbal dialogue, whatever we are doing? Well no…they have places for people who do that sort of thing, and the doors are locked from the outside! 

There cannot be unbroken verbal communication with God, otherwise we would never be really “there” for anything we did. But Paul here is addressing not so much the speaking of words, as the posture of your heart. Paul is suggesting that you and I need to have a kind of God consciousness that relates every experience in life to our Father in heaven. The delightful medieval monk Brother Lawrence wrote about the practice of continual God-consciousness in his classic book The Practice of the Presence of God:

The time of business does not differ with me from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were on my knees.

Now, in addition to persistence, true prayer also involves keeping alert and pray ing with an attitude of thanksgiving. This means that you and I should be on the alert and look for those things about which we ought to be praying. But not only that, we pray with that most important of elements: gratitude. My friends, we need to be a praying people. I believe in the old proverb which says, “A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to come unraveled.”

2. OUR CHRISTIAN SPEECH IN…COMMUNICATING THE GOSPEL

“At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” (Colossians 4:3-4; ESV)

Paul asked first for prayer to aid his own communication with the world. This is a look at Paul’s heart for the lost. We ought to have such hearts too! Paul did not seem to care whether he was in prison or not—he just wanted more opportunity to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ to those in need! 

A recent study suggests that an average person spends one-fifth of their life talking. If all of our words were put into print, the result would be this: a single day's words would fill a 50-page book, while in a year's time the average person's words would fill 132 books of 200 pages each!

If that date are true, that’s pretty impressive! The thing I wonder about though…is how many of those words we generate are being used to tell others about the Gospel?

For Paul, he clearly was using a large number of his words for proclaiming the gospel. In fact, it was for the sake of the gospel that Paul was imprisoned! Paul’s imprisonment did not spell the end of his ministry though. It was during his time in prison that he wrote Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. He also evangelized nearly everyone he came into contact with. Paul’s activity during his imprisonment in Rome is summed up in Acts 28:30–31: 

“He stayed two full years in his own rented quarters, and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.” (Acts 28:30-31)

For Paul, there were no devastating circumstances, only unique opportunities. Paul wanted people to pray that he would speak as he ought to speak, as God wanted him to speak. Paul acknowledged that prayer makes all the difference in communicating the gospel. 

There’s a great story that comes from the life of Hudson Taylor. There was a mission station that was particularly blessed in the China Inland Mission, far above the others. There seemed to be no accounting for this, because others were equal in devotion and in ability. Hudson Taylor was traveling and speaking in England, and after a meeting a man came up and began to ask him about that particular station. Then he began to ask many personal questions. It turned out that the man had been the college roommate of the missionary at that station many years earlier, and he had committed himself to daily praying for the work there. Hudson Taylor said, “Then I knew the answer…the gospel succeeded in that place due to prayer.”

That should be our prayer too, that we would be prepared to proclaim Christ and that our mission here at Plymouth would succeed beyond our wildest imagination.

3. OUR CHRISTIAN SPEECH SHOULD BE WISE AND GRACIOUS

“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.” (Colossians 4:5-6; ESV)

As we come to the end of the main body of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, it is interesting that his last words are about our Christian conduct towards ‘outsiders’, by which he means people outside the Christian fellowship, people outside of Christ.

The first specific piece of advice about our conduct towards unbelievers is: Walk in wisdom towards outsiders. In other words, in your dealings with outsiders, there will always be pressures to conform, to fit in, and be thought well of. You will need wisdom to live out your Christian walk. It will take wisdom to walk in a manner fully pleasing to him. The point is that the wisdom we seek is not the wisdom to please unbelievers, or to make ourselves look good, or any of the other kinds of wisdom we may easily find ourselves. We need wisdom to please the Lord in our conduct towards outsiders.

This will mean of course, making the best use of the time. Paul suggests that time is in short supply and, like a bargain hunter in a sale, you and I need to snap up what time we find. It’s like the old proverb which says: ’Only one life, it will soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.’ 

Moses prayed in Psalm 90:12, “Teach us LORD to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.” In other words, opportunity is fleeting. Life is short, and every day more people die without Christ. Our Lord may return at any moment. The time is now for us as believers to speak for Christ with our lives!

How best can we let Christ speak through out lives? Easy: let your speech always be gracious. Let your word always be in grace.’ Wisdom is to shape our behavior; grace is to shape our speech. Your speech, then, to outsiders must always be shaped by that grace.

Next, as though to underline that point, he says that your words should always be seasoned with salt. Speech that is flavored with your knowledge of God’s grace will be salty. You know, salt can sting when rubbed into a wound but it also prevents corruption. Our speech to outsiders should act as a purifying influence, rescuing conversation from the filth that so often engulfs it.

Finally, we must how we ought to answer each person. We must know how to say the right thing at the right time. In Peter’s words, they must be “ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15).

CONCLUSION:

Dear friends, our Christian speech is vitally important. Unlike the ungodly, who say “Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?” (Ps. 12:4), we as believers should echo the prayer of the psalmist in Psalm 141:3: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

Don't Skip Sunday School!

Josh Buice wrote the following post over at Delivered by Grace. I reproduce it here but encourage you to read the whole thing over at DBG.

One of the things that happens in the evangelical church world that mirrors the culture is that local churches often engage in the trends of the day.  For instance, if community churches are in vogue, it’s a common thing to see many local churches named “________ Community Church.”  If it’s multi-site church growth models, it’s common to see a church described as “one church in six locations.”  In short, many church leaders want to be ever progressing to avoid the image of age and to dodge the title of “old fashioned.”  Perhaps this is why Sunday school has fallen on hard times in many circles.  It just sounds old and outdated so it must not be profitable—right?

Wrong. To judge the Sunday school book by its cover would be to make a grievous error.  Just because one church down the road calls it “life groups” or “connection groups” and your church still refers to the Sunday morning gathering as “Sunday school” doesn’t mean that your church is behind the times.  Have you considered the many reasons why you should stop skipping Sunday school?

You Need to be Taught

Far more important than your ability to network in a local church with certain friends is the ability to learn the Word of God.  How serious do you take the study of the Bible?  Is it merely a hobby that you engage in every so often or is it at the core of who you are as a person?  Every child of God needs to be taught the Word of God, and without such teaching the individual Christian will dry up spiritually.  Sunday school is a place for Christians to learn.  God desires for us to know him and make him known.

The central aim of the local church is the teaching and preaching of the the doctrines of God’s Word.  The central agenda of pastors is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” and this is accomplished through the right handling of God’s Word (Eph. 4:12; Col. 1:28).  Are you bored with the Bible?  Do you believe God to be boring? J.I. Packer, in his excellent book, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life, once said, “Doctrinal preaching certainly bores the hypocrites; but it is only doctrinal preaching that will save Christ’s sheep.” 

Teaching and preaching overlap considerably, but the teaching atmosphere in the small group Sunday school setting is invaluable for the growth of the Christian.  There is a certain dynamic that happens in that gathering that doesn’t happen in the sermon. For instance, the ability to ask question immediately and to engage in the process of iron sharpening iron is extremely helpful and something that we should regularly engage in.

You Need a Close Community

Many churches have tried to help modernize Sunday school in the eyes of a younger population by renaming it something catchy like, “Connexion Pointe” or “Cross Groups” or “Impact Groups.”  While that may be a certain trend that many churches employ to appear to be relevant, let’s be honest—the name really doesn’t matter.  What matters is that the group actually develops into a meaningful community.  The Sunday school ministry of your local church is a place where you can know and be known by others.  Real friendships that last for a lifetime are often birthed and nurtured in these groups.

Last week I wrote an article that critiqued Mark Zuckerberg’s comments about Facebook bridging the gap of failing church membership by offering a meaningful community group through Facebook.  While Zuckerberg is correct that people feel more whole and fulfilled as they are connected in a meaningful community, he misses the mark by believing that Facebook is capable of solving the problem of falling church membership.

Facebook may serve as a tool for the local church to strengthen their community efforts, it will never replace real biblical churches.  Why not?  Because real community cannot happen through the click of a mouse or engagement in a social networking website.  For real meaningful community to take place, people must spend time in the same room, hear one another speak, show interest and care for one another, share one another’s burdens, and serve with one another at some level for an important cause.  The place where Christians can accomplish this type of genuine community is within small groups—even if it’s named “Sunday school.”  Far too often people who become disconnected and disappear from your local church disappear from Sunday school first.

You Need to Serve

One of the latest trends among the millennial population is the need to support a company that promotes, supports, or serves in some charitable way in their local community or perhaps a third world nation.  This is not a Christian thing—this is a millennial trend.  The latest trends demonstrate that many younger people are interested in buying from a company if they know that that particular company is giving back a percentage of their profits to fund some humanitarian cause.

We enjoy doing for others, and as Christians, we should enjoy serving the church and the community together for the glory of Christ.  The overall vision of the church can often be set by the pastors and that agenda often is heard from the pulpit.  However, it’s through the Sunday school (or small group) of the local church that the vision is carried out.  Often the local and foreign mission work is pushed through the local church’s Sunday school gathering by natural conversations, intentional praying, and planning means of involvement.

If you aren’t involved in a Sunday school class in your local church it’s very likely that you aren’t serving in your church or beyond the borders of your church campus beneath the banner of the gospel.  Consider your need to serve and how opportunities will arise through your Sunday school group in your church.  Get involved and start serving.

If you don’t like the name “Sunday school” — that’s fine, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Immerse yourself into a class and seek to know God more through the study of the Bible.  If you’re resistant to making new friends and opening up, that’s understandable—but know that you need real friends who will know you (the real you that you don’t put on Facebook), and you need people to be honest with you.  You don’t have to air out your dirty laundry each week in your Sunday school class, but a measure of openness and intimacy is necessary.  You may already know that God has gifted you for a reason, and you need to engage in serving the Lord through your local church.  What better way to do so than through a meaningful and healthy Sunday school class.

You need Sunday school and your church’s Sunday school needs you.

Serving the Lord at Work (Colossians 3:22-4:1)

The following message was first preached on Sunday, July 9th. You can listen to it here.

In January, 1995, J. Robert Ashcroft had fewer than forty-eight hours to live, but he was holding on to life, hoping to see his son, John Ashcroft, sworn into the U.S. Senate the following day. As family and friends gathered in Washington for a small reception, J. Robert Ashcroft asked his son to play the piano while everyone sang, “We Are Standing on Holy Ground.”

After the song, the frail old man spoke some powerful words: “John, I want you to know that even Washington can be holy ground. Wherever you hear the voice of God, that ground is sanctified. It’s a place where God can call you to the highest and best.”

Mr. Ashcroft’s words acknowledge a truth that Christians readily affirm: that is, that God has called us to work in this world. And wherever we are in our vocation, if Jesus is Lord of our lives, that place is a holy place of service for him.

Now, I realize that for a great many people in the world, “work” is a four-letter word. It’s something they don’t like at all. And when it comes to your work, perhaps you’re here this morning and are feeling a bit fogged in at the moment. It could be that your work has you simply living for the weekend. Or maybe you are looking for some clearer direction about your work, and you need some timely wisdom to guide you. Whether you really like your present work or you are stoically enduring your job, Paul has something to say to you this morning.

Please turn in your Bibles to Colossians 3, where we continue our study in Paul's great letter. Throughout we have said that believers are complete in Christ and we have seen Paul applying the principle of the Lordship of Christ in a variety of our relationships: our relationship to one another in the congregation, and our home and family life. And now Paul is going to apply the principle of the Lordship of Christ to how we live and operate in our work relationships. Paul begins in this way…

“Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” (Colossians 3:22; ESV)

Now, before we jump deeper into the text, I think I need to make a brief comment about Paul and and the topic of slavery. The reason why is Paul has come under criticism in this passage and others for not condemning the Roman practice of slavery. Those who are proponents of social change usually rail against Paul, saying, ‘Paul, you are simply reinforcing the evil status-quo. You are actually endorsing a system in society which exploits people.”

Now, is that what Paul is doing? Not at all. Even though Paul does not attack the institution of slavery directly, Paul is discussing the implications of the rule of Christ and Christian liberty for slavery. And it’s as if the Apostle Paul says, ‘I want you to understand, that even in a reprehensible social institution like slavery, Jesus Christ is Lord.’ And for Paul in this passage, that means at least three things…

First of all, Paul tells us Christ has Lordship over our work relations. He says to masters and slaves, ‘Christ is Lord over your work and Christ is Lord over your management of those who work for you.’ What a radical assertion, to those who lived in a society where slaves had very, very, very few rights and masters could exploit those under them.’

Secondly, notice also that Paul treats slaves as persons. Under Greco-Roman law, slaves would have been possessions, things to own. But Paul speaks to them as thinking, feeling, living, breathing Christian human beings here. He gives them instructions as persons.

Thirdly, notice that Paul sets forth a principle that masters must be concerned about those whom they employ, and those who labor must be concerned about the needs of the masters. He expects Christians who are employers and employees to take care of one another. 

So, having said all that, we can be sure that Paul’s teaching here was ultimately revolutionary, because in time it brought the downfall of slavery as an institution. But it was also immediately revolutionary in that it brought fullness to the Christian’s life, whether slave or master. Or in our day we say that Christ brings fullness to our work, whether we are employees or CEOs. So let’s dive into the text, and see what Paul has to say about “Serving the Lord at Work.”

1. INSTRUCTIONS TO EMPLOYEES and BONDSERVANTS 

“Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.” (Colossians 3:22-25; ESV)

 To begin in this passage, Paul discourages work that is only done when the boss is looking. We all know what that’s like, right? Back in the day, in gym class, when the coach was watching…there were perfect pushups. But when coach looked away…well… “eye service” [as Paul calls it] resulted in half-done jobs.” It’s the equivalent of sweeping the room, but sweeping the dirt under the carpet.

This is not the way it is supposed to be. Rather, Paul says, our work is to be done “with sincerity of heart.” In other words, holding God and His will in high regard is the right motive as we work. With that motive, we are to work heartily, putting our whole inner person into the effort, working for the Lord as our ultimate boss, rather than for men. In fact, Paul says, we are to serve our earthly masters, our bosses, as we would the Lord Himself.

Unfortunately, there are a great many unhappy workers today who are Christians,  and we need this word from the scripture because it reminds us of our responsibilities as employees. This message helps us re-appreciate what we do when we work. 

Remember, work first came to the world as a gift. In Genesis 2:15, Moses writes “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” Now make a note of this: in the garden of Eden, before the Fall, man was assigned work. Work, therefore, is not a result of the curse, but of God’s creative design for the fulfillment of our lives. Of course, work did become more painful and difficult after the Fall. And yet here in Colossians, Paul is reminding us that no matter your vocation, you are to do it as if it is being done for the Lord. That is why Paul writes, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (vv. 23, 24). 

Dear friends, I know it may seem as if some of us work “nothing” jobs. Nevertheless, the truth is we are serving God as we work. And this truth transformed the lot of the Christian slave in the ancient world. A slave’s “nothing” tasks actually became noble when done for Christ. The truth is, working hard at our tasks from the heart brings glory to God and ennobles us as we work too.

Of course, the opposite truth is sobering! When we are lazy, rebellious, and slothful employees, we dishonor God. And Paul says in verse 25, the one who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done. In other words, the warning is that the Lord will discipline without partiality in cases of disobedience and laziness at work. The Christian servant is not to presume on his Christianity to justify disobedience. Even if we are God’s children, we will reap what we sow, because God is impartial. 

I say all that to say that a significant and often overlooked way that we serve God is in our everyday tasks. Martin Luther understood this when he wrote, 

"The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays. Not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps, but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”

In his book The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis once wrote…

“The work of a Beethoven, and the work of a cleaning lady, become spiritual on precisely the same condition: that the work is being offered to God, it is being done humbly "as to the Lord." This does not, of course, mean that it is for anyone a mere toss-up whether he should sweep rooms or compose symphonies. A mole must dig to the glory of God and a rooster must crow.“

In other words, whatever it is God has given us to do, let us do it with our best ability. My friends, as Christian employees, we ought to be the best in attitude, the best in dependability, and the best in integrity. All of us who must be faithful, hard workers. Most of all, we must realize that there is intrinsic nobility in our work because ultimately it is being done for our Father in heaven. Our lives will be full when we do our very best at our work.

2. INSTRUCTIONS TO MASTERS and EMPLOYERS 

“Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.” (Colossians 4:1; ESV)

Paul's say that on the other side of the relationship, masters are to treat their slaves with the justice and fairness they would expect to receive from their Master in heaven. Remember, under Roman law, slaves had no rights at all. So these words had a strange and radical sound to them. Also, given the social conditions of the times, this command may have been more difficult to carry out than what was asked of the slaves. The master who attempted to provide his slaves with “what is right and fair” ran a deep risk of ostracism from his fellow slave owners, much like Christians today.

Nonetheless, as Paul says, the guiding reality for you as an employer is that both you and your employees have the same Lord. Employers, if you truly realize that you must answer to God for the way you conduct yourself with your employees, you will care about what happens to them. You will be concerned that they are paid properly. You will be concerned about their illnesses, their spouses, their children, and their education. You should treat your employees like you desire to be treated by the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, in doing so, you may have more problems — you may have to make more sacrifices. But dear friend, you will also have the fullness of Christ and you will bring glory to your Father in heaven.

Conclusion

Dear friends, whether you are an employer or an employee, one thing is for sure: disregard the apostle’s advice and you will never know fullness in your professional life, no matter how well you succeed. Disregard his advice and something will always be missing. Most especially, you will never honor God fully as you ought to do.

Jesus, who is the fullness of the universe, wants us to be full in our marital relationships, our family relationships, and our professional relationships. Moreover, he desires that this fullness overflow to the world. As people “do business” with us, may our fullness become their fullness and may our light shine before all men! In the end, our social and economic status as slaves, or masters, or employers or employees…has no eternal relevance. All such roles pass away with the world, so what we focus on is what is eternal. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul writes,

“Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. … The form of this world is passing away.” (1 Cor. 7:21–22, 31b)

Let us then, in all things related to work, live by that ancient Christian principle which has inspired believers for many generations: Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be the Glory). In your jobs, whatever your role, give God by your witness all the glory, soli Deo gloria. And in doing so, show the world that the grace of Jesus Christ has transformed your life.