Winter Springs, Florida Lesson
24
Colossians 4:5,6
INTRODUCTION
How can we be effective witnesses? How can we communicate Christ to a world that doesnÕt want
to listen? How can we have an
impact upon this world for Christ?
How can we experience the power of Christ and be obedient to Christ and
yet not have a judgmental attitude towards those who are not Christians? Colossians 4:5,6 goes a long way to answer many of these questions for us.
Last message we talked about prayer and the world. Today we talk about witnessing to the
unbelieving world all around us.
One thing the Bible teaches us is that all the early Christians were
active witnesses for Christ, and they wanted to know how they could be more
effective in their evangelistic witness.
WALKING IN WISDOM 4:5
Walking Wisely (5a): Be
wise in the way you act towards outsiders;
Literally this verse says, ÒWalk in wisdom towards those who
are on the outside.Ó Our walk is
that way we behave; our conduct before men. Christians are to have discreet
behavior towards unbelievers. They
are to deal with non-Christians with tact. The early church was often slandered by outsiders. Christians were called atheists
because they served no visible gods.
They were charged with being unpatriotic because they would not
burn incense to or worship the Emperor as God. They were dubbed as immoral because of persecution which forced them to meet behind closed
doors. They were even called cannibals
because they partook of the body and blood of Christ. Christians were slandered and had to live in an unfriendly
world. Pagans did everything
possible to malign the reputation of the followers of Christ; therefore, they
were to conduct themselves wisely and not foolishly. The Christians were to avoid any unnecessary antagonizing
and alienation of their unsaved neighbors. Christians were to live in such a positive way that
unbelievers would be impressed, attracted to and even convicted by the way they
lived. Christians knew they were
going to be persecuted for declaring the good news of Christ but there was no
need to unnecessarily antagonize. ÒIn
fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted...Ó (II
Tim. 3:12).
Every Christian must be a witness for Christ, but he also
must do it with tact, knowing when and when not to speak to others about
Christ. As a witness for Christ,
the Christian must not give an air of superiority, or have a holier-than-thou
attitude or be censorious or judgmental.
Few people are ever argued into Christianity. The Christian must remember that it is not so much by his
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words as by his life that he will attract
people to, or repel them from, Christianity. Every Christian, then, is a witness by life as well as by
lips. ÒAnd so you became a
model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The LordÕs message rang out from you not only in Macedonia
and Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere.Ó (I Thess. 1:7,8).
The poet said it well, ÒThe only Bible which most unbelievers will ever read; Is the Christ they will see in you and me.Ó
Walking Caringly (5b): Make
the most of every opportunity. -- Literally this says,
ÒRedeeming the time.Ó It is using
or buying up every opportunity for Christ. The wise man takes advantage of every opportunity Christ
gives him to witness before the world.
The word ÒredeemÓ means to buy up ones time by paying a price, so to use
oneÕs time wisely means we must pay a price. Sometimes in order to use our time wisely, we must be
willing to turn off the TV or give up some pleasure, or forsake something good
in order to further the cause of Christ.
We are all stewards of our monies, talents and time, and to squander any
of these things is to rob ourselves of becoming the best for God. The man who learns to use time and not abuse it will be a success in whatever
he does.
There is a little saying on time which goes something like this: ÒI have only just a minute. Only sixty seconds is in it; Forced upon me - canÕt refuse it. DidnÕt seek it, didnÕt choose it. But itÕs up to me to use it - Give account if I abuse it; Just a tiny little minute - BUT ETERNITY IS IN IT!Ó
Opportunity To Do Good.
To make the most of every opportunity certainly means to do good to all
men whenever possible. ÒTherefore,
as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who
belong to the family of believers.Ó (Gal. 6:10).
The thought in ÒtimeÓ is opportunity so the NIV has the
correct translation. Time provides
Christians with certain opportunities which will soon pass away. What opportunities is Paul primarily
talking about? The
opportunities to witness to the world about Christ. Each of us daily has opportunities to
speak up for Christ. Do we take
advantage of these or let them pass by?
Think about these facts in terms of
opportunity:
1. Half the people who ever lived on
the face of the earth are alive today.
There are now over 5 billion people,
and 2 1/2 billion have never heard the
name of Christ.
2. Because of affluence, population and
the mass media this is the greatest time to really evangelize the whole world.
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3. Yet there are some sad facts as
well: One hundred and twenty five years
ago 25% of the worldÕs population was
Protestant but today it is less than 3%.
4. Also for every person who is
converted to true Christianity, two are converted to Roman Catholicism, five to
Islam, and nine to communism.
5. Communists spend 3 1/2 billion dollars every year to promote literature to
propagandize for their MarxistÕs cause.
The Vatican and Jehovah Witness spend multiple millions on
literature. The Seventh Day
Adventists spend 15 million a year on
literature. However, of the 38 most prominent evangelical missionary
societies today, all together they spend less than 5 million dollars on Christian literature.
According to Ephesians 5:16,
we are to take advantage of every opportunity because the days are evil: ÒMaking
the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.Ó How is it that evil days are to
motivate the Christian to careful living?
First, we are told that the world system is controlled by the
devil who works through evil men and
institutions. Satan has set many
traps and snares for the Christian so as to get him to fall into sin and lose
his testimony before the world.
Just as a soldier in battle must watch where he walks because the
battlefield is filled with mines and boobie traps,
the Christian must be very careful in an evil world run by Satan so as not to
be lured away or destroyed by the fiery darts of the evil one. The Christian life is no field day or
Sunday school picnic but a life and death struggle between the forces of God
and Satan, between good and evil, between light and darkness. Satan is seeking to swallow up whatever
Christians he can. ÒBe
self-controlled and alert. Your
enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him...Ó (I Pet. 5:8,9a). Satan sets before us all kinds of
options as to how to use our time.
Never in the history of the world has man had more leisure than he has
right now. Never before have
Christians had more time but are we using it to reach the world for Christ or
abusing it by indulging ourselves?
Are Christians spending more time reading the Bible and praying than
they did a hundred years ago?
Satan has devised all kinds of possibilities to lure the Christian away
from using his time to glorify God.
Second, on a more positive
note, evil days present great opportunities for Christ. Instead of seeing evil days as an
obstacle to the gospel and defeating to dynamic Christianity, they actually
present wonderful opportunities to share Christ with others. Evil days cause men to have pressures,
fears and frustrations about life in general. Even the evil days of materialism leaves a hollowness and
emptiness in people which only Christ can fill. Evil days cause men to go into despair and they begin to
look for some answers to life, and Christ is the answer. Evil days for the
Christian gives opportunity for Christians to demonstrate the reality of
Christianity. If we had no
pressure, how could we demonstrate to the world the sufficiency of Christ in
all things.
If we never had tension, how could we show to the world the supernatural
life of faith? God allows
difficulties not to set us back but to advance us so we can prove that Christ
is real. Third, evil days mean ChristÕs second advent is not
too far distant. When Christ
comes, then we will give an account at the Judgment Seat of Christ for the
opportunities we used, abused or lost.
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A little over a year ago now the space
shuttle Challenger blew up in mid-air.
Seven of Americas best were blasted into eternity. These astronauts were the finest
America could offer and it was a sad day for America and for the space
program. I thought to myself, ÒHow
many of these people were Christians?
Did they have the opportunity to hear the gospel?Ó The Catholics, the Buddhists, Jessie
Jackson and even President Reagan indicated they were all safely in the hands
of God, but were they? The Bible
says, ÒSalvation is found in no one else (Christ), for there is no other
name under heaven given to men by which we must be
savedÓ (Acts 4:12). Whatever opportunity those seven brave
men and women had is now passed and they face either a God of wrath or a God of
love, depending on what they did with Christ in this world.
WITNESSING IN WORD 4:6
Sharing Graciously (6a): Let
your conversation be always full of grace... - When
The Christian is sharing Christ, there is to be a pleasantness, a charm, an
attractiveness and a winsomeness about him. Summed up it means the Christian is to have a gracious
spirit. Any judgmental attitude
kills the spirit of Christ. Any
negative feelings stifle GodÕs working.
Any critical spirit quenches the power of the Holy Spirit. An argumentative manner may turn off a
person. It is possible to win an
argument and lose a soul.
We have all had the experience of engaging a person in talk
about Christ which ends up in an argument, and we have said things as a
Christian to the unsaved person we wished we had never spoken. We went from that witnessing
opportunity feeling miserable because we failed. We need to confess our sin, learn from the experience and
work on being a more winsome witness.
Sharing Excitedly (6b): Seasoned
with salt, - Salt is what gives zest, zing and flavor to
food. When Sharing Christ, we are
to be excited about it because this is the most thrilling thing we could ever
tell another person. Our witness
is to be lively and upbeat. The
greatest crime on earth is to bore men, women, boys and girls with the gospel. If we are not excited about Christ, we
can never expect the unbeliever to get excited.
Sharing Cleverly (6c): So that you may know how to answer
everyone. - Literally this says, ÒSo that you will now how to
answer each one.Ó We give the same
gospel truth to each person but we adjust how we say it and when we say it to
each individual personality. We
must adapt our witness to each person.
No two witnessing situations are ever alike because no two persons are
alike. To some degree we adjust
even the content of the gospel to the individual. With some folks we need to stress
judgment, with others forgiveness, with others election, with others grace and
with others love. A wise witness
is a clever witness.
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CONCLUSION
Christians must remember that every contact with a person is
a divinely appointed situation. We
are either to encourage them as brothers or sisters or talk to them about
Christ, who gives forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe. As Christians we must remember: ÒThis
life will soon be past; only what is done for Christ will last.Ó
If you are without Christ, today is your day of
opportunity. This is your day to
become a Christian. You may never
have another chance. The Bible
says, ÒNow is the time of GodÕs favor, now
is the day of salvationÓ (II Cor. 6:2).
How do you get salvation? The Bible says, ÒBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ and
you shall he savedÓ (Acts 16:31).