the scripture I want us to consider
tonight is to be found in that portion that we read in Colossians
chapter 4 and taking for a text the words that we find in verse
5 Colossians 4 5 walk in wisdom toward them that
are without redeeming the time walk in wisdom to them that are
without redeeming the time. I want to speak then on the subject
of walking in wisdom, the Christian's behavior in this world. And here
in the context we see something of the importance of prayer in
relation to our various duties in life. In the previous verses
you will observe how Paul very particularly exhorts these Colossians
to the duty of prayer. Verse 2, continuing prayer, and
watching the same with thanksgiving, with all praying also for us.
that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the mystery
of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, that I may make it
manifest as I ought to speak." And then we come to the words
of the text. He has clearly then reminded
them of the great importance of prayer. But when we consider
the context here more generally, we see previously at verse 1
of this fourth chapter, but going right back really to the end
of chapter 3, he speaks of the different relationships that
we sustain in our lives, and so he is giving very specific
instruction and direction to wives, to husbands, children,
to fathers, to servants, or more particularly to bond slaves,
not hired servants, but those who were the possessions of their
masters. And then, at the beginning of
verse 4, of course, he gives some instruction to the masters
themselves. And when we think of how he then
goes on at verse 2 of this chapter to speak of prayer, does it not
remind us of the importance of our praying to God with regards
to any of the roles that we sustain in this life, any of the duties
that we're under, how we need to be a people who are much in
prayer to God that He would help us, that we might fulfill those
various tasks, those duties as we ought, as those who profess
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot do these things of
ourselves without the Lord's gracious help and enabling, so
we need to continue in prayer, and we need to watch in the same
with thanksgiving, and how much those who have that responsibility
of ministering the Word of God are also totally dependent upon
Him for His gracious help. And so he goes on at verse 3,
with all. We might render it with it at
the same time, simultaneously. as you're continuing in prayer
over these various duties that you have in your different relationships. Well, he says, at the same time,
pray also for us that God would open unto us a door of utterance
to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in bonds
that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak Now the minister
needs those prayers because what is to be the subject matter of
his ministry, what are the truths that he is to proclaim in his
preaching, it's the mystery. The mystery of Christ, that is
the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That great
mystery of godliness that Paul speaks of when he writes to Timothy,
without controversy, he says, great is the mystery of godliness,
that is the mystery of religion, real religion. God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
on the world, received up into glory. Well, that is the mystery
that has to be proclaimed. It centers in the person of Jesus
of Nazareth. who, as we were reminded this
morning, is the Son of Man, the Son of God, who is the Promised
One, the Messiah, the many names that are given to the Lord Jesus
Christ, revealing to us something of the mystery of that remarkable
personage, the God-Man, who came to save sinners. It's interesting
how when Paul writes to the Ephesians and speaks of the various parts
of the believer's armour there at the end of Ephesians chapter
6. After speaking of those different parts he again speaks of the
importance of prayer. Verse 18 he says, praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." They had to
pray for one another. And then he says, "...and for
me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel." There we have
the mystery of the gospel, and here we have the mystery of Christ. Now, The word mystery, it reminds
us of those deep things of God. As I've already said, they concern
the Lord Jesus, who He is, His person, His work. But also, both to the Ephesians
and the Colossians, Paul speaks of that mystery of the calling
of the Gentiles. This is another mystery that
is revealed with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
have it there, of course, in the opening verses of Ephesians
chapter 3. That mystery that was written,
that was hidden, that has now been manifested. That salvation is not just for
the Jew, but the gospel is to be proclaimed to the ends of
the earth. The light is to come even upon
the Gentile nations. But that mystery is not only
spoken of to the Ephesians, we also have it here in this epistle
to the church at Colossae, here in chapter 1 and verse 25. He speaks of his ministry, verse
25, whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation
of God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of
God, even the mystery, we have the word again, even the mystery
which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now
is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you. the hope of glory whom we preach
warning every man teaching every man in all wisdom that we may
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus the mystery of the
calling of the Gentiles salvation coming Christ even in the Gentiles
Christ in you the hope of glory he says and of course Wasn't
that Paul's own experience? He knew something of that revelation,
that inward revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ coming
into his soul, he knew the great blessing of union, spiritual
union with the Lord Jesus. How he reminds the Galatians
of his call, his call by grace, his call to the ministry, when
he pleads God. who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me," he
says. Oh, he knew that inward revelation.
He knew what it was then to have the blessing of union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. And where there is that inward
experience of the grace of God, then he must come into the soul
of the sinner. That's really the very knob, is it not, of
real religion, union. union with the Lord Jesus Christ,
that we're one with Him and He's one with us. And where there
is that inward experience of the grace of God, there will
be an outward practice of godliness. The Lord says, by their fruits
ye shall know them. And think of the language that
we find in the epistle of James, when he says, I will show thee
my faith by my work. by their fruits, or the fruits
of saving faith, the graces of the Holy Spirit, there will be
then that that is manifest in the outward lives of those who
are one with the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we have their walk, it's
spoken of here in our text, walk in wisdom. Walk in wisdom. toward them that are without,
redeeming the time. The Christian's behavior then
is what I want to say something with regards to tonight, this
walking in wisdom. First of all, it is walking in
wisdom in an evil world, in a world that is under the curse because
of man's sin or the consequences of Adam and Eve's transgression
there is a consequence to sins and we see it all around us in
this wicked world in which we have to live our lives it's an
evil world and here in the text we read of them that are without
walking wisdom toward them that are without. Who are those who
are without? Well, they're outside of the
church. That's the basic meaning of what he is saying. He's speaking
of the people of the world. Now, here we are reminded, in
some ways, of the true doctrine of the church. There is really
no such thing as a territorial church. There is no such thing,
in other words, as a Christian nation. I know in this nation,
of course, we do have an established church, the Church of England.
And you know how that church is organized. There are two provinces. In the south we have Canterbury,
in the north there's York, there's two archbishops. But then there
are also dioceses throughout the country, north and south.
and each diocese has its own bishop here in Portsmouth there's
a bishop of Portsmouth there's a bishop of Winchester and then
each diocese is organized in separate parishes so every area
would have its own parish church and it's as if the whole nation
is a Christian nation and that's of course matters have proceeded really
through the centuries and there was a time you see when those
who would not conform to that pattern of things were persecuted
we're non-conformist we don't conform to that pattern we say
that's not a biblical understanding of what the doctrine of the church
is and so we don't conform we're non-conformist in that sense
we dissent from the established church. Dissenter is another
word that would be used in reference to those who are of our own particular
persuasion. There was a time when there was
persecution, when it was forbidden for dissenters to hold gatherings,
and of course it was as a result of those The prohibitions that
John Bunyan was locked in Bedford Jail those years when he was
writing The Pilgrim's Progress. You've only got to go back 400
years, you see. But we say that all of that is
contrary to the teaching of Scripture. Here in the Bible we read of
those that are without. Out with what? Outside what?
Well, outside the church. because the scriptural doctrine
of the Church is that it is made up of those who are called out.
The very basic meaning of the word that we have in the New
Testament is an assembly, a congregation really. And as I'm sure you're
aware, in his version, Tindale uses the word congregation when
he translates the word that is usually rendered as church in
our authorized version. And the basic meaning of that
word is from a verb that means to call out, the congregation,
they're called out of the world. all of them are called out and
we see we see that truth time and again in 1st Thessalonians 4 verse
12 that ye walk honestly toward them that are without and that
ye may have no offense there are those without, there are
those within It's the same truth as we have here in our text this
evening. Walk in wisdom toward them that
are without. There are those who are believers,
they are the household of faith. And they are gathered in local
churches, local congregations. And they are not to forsake the
assembling of themselves together, they gather together to worship
God. And that's what we have here.
They who are within are the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
members in particular, says Paul. They are members in particular.
But they are to live their lives in this world. And how are they
to conduct themselves in relation to those who are round about
them, those who are not in the church, those who have not been
called out by the grace of God? How are we to behave towards
those who are destitute of grace? Those who are unregenerate, those
who are still in unbelief, those who are without Christ, those
who are spoken of as being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world. How are we to behave towards
these people? This is the matter that the apostle
is addressing, you see, in the words of this text. We have a
certain responsibility to conduct ourselves in a certain fashion.
All the world lies in the wicked one. What a strange place it
is for the believer to be living his life in. And we're told,
love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is
of the world and the world passes away. And the lust thereof. How can we relate to these people
then who are so immersed in this fallen world? and all their interests
and their desires are bound up with the things of time and of
sense. I know we are told in the epistle of Jude that we are
to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered
unto the saints. But how can we do that? What
are we to do? How are we to behave ourselves?
Well again, remember the context here. We are reminded of our
complete and utter dependence upon the Lord God. It's all set
in this context of prayer, continuing prayer. We need to be first and
foremost then in this world of praying people. We're to pray
without ceasing. And as we live our lives then,
we're to look to God for His instruction, His direction. All
we need the Lord God Himself to grant us, that's necessary
wisdom. The Lord Jesus says, Be ye therefore
wise as serpents, harmless as doves. That has to do with the
way in which we are to live our lives and conduct ourselves. We need heavenly wisdom. But
we have every encouragement, you see, to come and ask God
that he would grant us these things. Prayer. Prayer is so
vital to our testimony in these fallen worlds. And James says,
if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to
all men liberally and that breaketh not. But let him ask in faith. Nothing wavering, for he that
wavereth like a wave of the sea driven of the winds, and tossed,
let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the
Lord. Always to pray in faith that the Lord would grant us
wisdom. And what is that wisdom that we need with regards to
the manner of our conduct? Well again, James tells us of
the wisdom that is from God. The wisdom that is from above,
he says, is first pure, and then peaceable gentle, easy to be
entreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, without
hypocrisy or the Texas walking wisdom and that is the wisdom
that we need and that wisdom is first pure how important you
see is the purity of our living then in this sinful world First
pure, then peaceable. It's not peace at any cost. We're
not to be those who would say, well, let's seek to live at peace
with our neighbor, let's not offend them. No, we must first
of all attend to that purity that is set before us here in
the Word of God, here in the precepts of the Gospel of Christ.
First pure, then peaceable. Gentle, yes. Easy to be entreated. Full of mercy, full of good fruits. without partiality, without hypocrisy. Well, surely we would recognize
that none of us by nature are in possession of any wisdom like
that. Oh no, what are we by nature? Well, we lived as others. Isn't
that what Paul says previously? In chapter 3 and verse 7 he says,
"...into which ye also walked sometime when ye lived in them."
You see, what is he saying there? He speaks of the wrath of God
coming on the children of disobedience. We were at one stage in that
condition, disobedient, unbelievers, living that sort of a life. That's
what we are by nature. And we therefore need the grace
of God, we need that wisdom that comes from above which is really
alien to our fallen nature. Oh God is the one who must work within us if we're going
to be the men and women that we should be according to the
precepts of the gospel here in this very chapter. Look at the
next verse, verse 6. Let your speech be always with
grace, seasoned with salt, that she may know how ye ought to
answer every man. Always to be ready to give an
answer to every man who asks, a reason of the hope that is
within us. Doesn't mean we need to go around button-holding people,
forcing our religion upon them, but ready to give an answer to
every man. And I often think to myself,
why is it that people don't ask me? I don't find people coming
up and saying to me, why is it that you're so different? Why
is it that you're so different to everybody
else I've ever met? Is it because I conform too much
to the ways of this modern world? We're not to follow the fashions
of the world. What is the exhortation again
of Paul in Romans 12? Be not conformed to this world,
he says, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God. All the Christian's calling is
to be someone who is separated, separated from the world and
the ways of the world, not conforming to the ways of the world. I'm
sure we're all familiar with the language that we have there
at the end of 2 Corinthians 6. Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers, says Paul. What fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? What communion hath light with
darkness? What concord hath Christ with
Belial? What part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? What agreement hath the temple
of God with idol? Well, Paul, you see, he really
told these questions. Ye are the temple of the living
God, he says, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk
in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you,
and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.
saith the Lord Almighty. Why is it that people don't ask
me the reason of the hope that's within me? Is it because, alas,
I am not transformed by the renewing of the mind, but I much too much
conform to the ways of this wicked world? And you know, it's interesting,
isn't it, how that When we come to read this practical part of
the Pauline epistles we find that Paul is giving the same
instruction to all the churches really. I mean what we have there
in a sense is paralyzed by what we find in Ephesians chapter
5. It's really the same sort of
exhortation that he's giving to that church. Ephesians 5 And
verse 15 he says, See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as
fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are
evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will
of the Lord is. Here is the important thing,
we have to understand what the Lord's will is. And where do
we discover what the Lord's will is? When we come to His Word
and we are to be partial in His Word. Or we love the promises,
those exceeding great and precious promises, the shalls, the wills
of the covenant of grace. And it's not improper that we
love those things, what a comfort they are to our souls. The sureness,
the certainty of that salvation that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But let us not overlook the fact that there are also many gospel
precepts as well as gospel promises. And we're not to be partial,
we're to love it all. We're to love the exhortation,
the imperative, the commandments, as well as loving all those great
promises of the Gospel. Here then we have the instruction
of the Apostle. Walk in wisdom toward them that
are without. Now, what of those who are within? I know there he's speaking of
those who are without, on the outside as he were, those that
we're rubbing shoulders with. But he has said something previously
about our relationships within the body of the church, within
the congregation as it were. And we have it all in that chapter,
that third chapter that we read. Verse 13 there. Forbearing one
another. and forgiving one another. If
any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye. And above all these things put
on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace
of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called
in one body. And be ye thankful. Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom. Again, he speaks
of this heavenly wisdom, sir. And I love this, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you
do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God and the Father by Him. And then we come to the
specific and particular relationships, wives, husbands, children, fathers,
and so forth. But you see, even when we come
to sing the praises of God, yes, we're to sing with grace in our
hearts to the Lord, but we're also addressing one another.
In our psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, we're teaching one another.
We're admonishing one another. The body, in that sense, is ministering
to itself. In all our relationships then
we need this wisdom, but thinking in light of what it says in the
text, it's particularly to them who are without, those on the
outside, in an evil world, the wicked world, the world that
lies in the wicked one himself, how are we to conduct ourselves.
But then also he goes on really to indicate it's not only the world about us. It's the
times. It's the times in which we're
living. So what does he say at the end
of the text, redeeming the time? They're evil times, you see.
They're evil times. And what are we to do? We're
to redeem the time. We're to buy up the time, as
it were. to redeem is to pay the ransom
price, to buy it. We're to buy up that seasonable
opportunity that will come our way in a wicked day. There will
be opportunities. And as I say, we have a very
similar word there in Ephesians 5.16, redeeming the time because
the days are evil. Iniquity abounds. or there is
much wickedness and we're not to be those who are just waiting
to do good but we're to be those who are looking out for it looking
out for the opportunity and when the opportunity comes we're to
be those who are seizing it that's the force of the language that
is being used woe to them that are at ease in Zion we're not
to be at ease We're involved in a spiritual
conflict, a spiritual warfare. As we said recently, we're to
be those who are alarmed and those who are also provided with an armour. We're alive and we're armed because
there's a conflict and we're to seize every opportunity. Again,
look at the language of 1 Peter 3.11. He says, Estuida. Do good. Seek peace and ensue it or follow
it. That's what we're to do. Redeeming
the time. Now, there are two particular
words that we find in the New Testament that are rendered by
our English word time. There's that word that has the
idea of time in the sense of duration. A succession of moments,
as it were. And we can divide time like that.
Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years. And the
English word chronometer, which is really a measuring machine,
a clock, Well that word chronometer is derived from a particular
Greek word that is used many times in the New Testament for
time. And we have that word, that Greek
word, not only in our English word chronometer, a clock, but
also a chronology. We think of a register of events
set out in time. We have two books of the Old
Testament, of course, that are chronicles, 1st and 2nd Chronicles. Well, that's one particular word
that's oftentimes used. It's actually the word chronos,
and it has that idea of time in the sense of duration, events
following one after the other over a period. maybe over a period
of many, many years. But then there's another word
that's used, and it's the second word that we have here. And it's
a word that has the idea of a particular point in time. Not a chronology, but seasonable
time. That moment of time, that's here
and then gone. That's the word that's used here.
We have the idea in what Peter says writing in 1 Peter 1.6,
now for a season, if need be. You are in heaviness through
manifold temptation. We've often referred to that.
How he speaks of the temptation as being just now. At this point
in time, for a moment, a little season. And that's the word that we have
here. Redeeming the time, the opportune moment. Redeeming the
opportune moment. That that the Lord has granted
to us. As He comes, we're to be alert to it, and we're to
buy it up, as it were. How important that is. Behold,
says the Apostle, now is the accepted time. Behold now is
the day of salvation. You see when it comes to the
concerns of our never-dying souls we're to recognize that there's
no place for procrastination. We're not to put things off.
We're to deal with the matters of our souls with some urgency.
That's what he's saying. And what we have here of course
in this verse is an exhortation. It's all in the imperative mood. It's all
commandment. When he says walk in wisdom toward
them that are without redeeming the time, he's telling us just
what we should do. It's command. Not something to
be debated. It's what the Lord God himself
requires, required of these Colossians. Here is Paul addressing the church
of Colossae, but it's part of the Word of God. It's a word
that's addressed to all the churches of Christ, addressed to all the
people of God. It's not something we're to debate. We're to bow to the authority
of the Lord's command. and see how urgent the time is
in which we're living. I think of a little couplet.
When I was at college there were some who were very zealous, very
zealous. There were those who wanted to
be missionaries. There was a little couplet that some of them liked
to often quote. You're probably familiar with
it. Only one life, it will soon be part, As it goes, only one
life will soon be past, only what's done for Jesus will last. Only one life will soon be past,
only what's done for Jesus will last. And that was their motto,
as it were. You've got to be living your
life in the present moment, as it were, and living it all the
time in the light of the Gospel of the grace of God given to
us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let your light so shine before
me. that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Isn't the Christians
calling in a sense to show the world just how Christians live? There's a hymn of Charles Wesley,
I wonder whether we might have sung it tonight, 955, watched by the world with jealous
eye, that vain would see our sin and shame, as servants of
the Lord Most High, as zealous for His glorious name. May we
in all His footsteps move with holy fear and humble love. That wisdom, Lord, on us bestow
from every evil to depart, to stop the mouth of every foe by
upright walk and lowly heart. The proofs of godly fear to give
and show the world our Christians live. That's the believer's calling,
that's the believer's behavior, or should be. Walk in wisdom
toward them that are without redeeming the time. As we come
to a conclusion tonight, to go back to those opening words,
walk in wisdom. What is it to walk in wisdom,
ultimately? Well, it is wisdom. Who is wisdom? Isn't that one of the names of
the Lord Jesus Christ? That One who is the Eternal Son
of God, He's spoken of, and we've said this many a time, He's spoken
of there in Proverbs 8 as the wisdom of God. I, wisdom, He
says. When there were no depths, I
was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water before the mountains were settled before
the hills was I brought forth. eternally begotten, eternally
begotten of the Father, the eternal Son of the Father. Then I was
by Him as one brought up with Him. He says I was daily His
delight. And there's that other verse
that we have at the end of Proverbs, in Proverbs chapter 30. In verse 4, "...who hath ascended
up into heaven, or descended, who hath gathered the wind in
his fist, who hath bound the waters in a garment, who hath
established all the ends of the earth, what is his name? And
what is his Son's name, if thou canst tell?" Well, what is God's
Son's name? He is wisdom. He is wisdom. Who of God is made unto us? Wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. that as it is
written he that glorious let him glory in the Lord. Oh it is Christ who is the wisdom
of God by faith in Christ I walk with God that we just sang in
our second hymn and here we have you see the Lord Jesus Christ
the wisdom of God remember verse 3 the mystery of Christ The mystery
of Christ, he says, for which also I am in bonds. That mystery, He
is the Son of God, He is the Son of Man. Those two natures,
divine, human, in the one person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
again, we sang it of course in In our opening praise, a lovely
hymn of Watts 1095, the language that we find the
hymn writer using there, at the end of that hymn he says, while
some of their own works rely, And some of wisdom, their own
wisdom, boast, I love the incarnate mystery, and there I fix my trust."
How are we to walk in wisdom? It's as we're trusting in the
Lord Jesus Christ. As we're putting all our faith
and all our confidence in Him and in Him alone. This is how
we're to walk then. In complete and utter dependence.
upon Christ walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming
the time what a blessing it is when we are able as it were for
a season sometimes even for a little while to turn aside and to seek
to commune with the Lord Jesus Christ and to know the blessing
of that fellowship that's with the Father and with His Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. May the Lord help us to heed God's Word through His servant
of old, the Apostle, as he writes these things under the gracious
influence and inspiration of the Holy Ghost Himself. Walk
in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time,
Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that
ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. May the Lord bless
to us His Word.