 All right, we've come to the last session and we're going to be looking at That's what I feel. Yeah Looking at being a woman who pleases the Lord by proclaiming the gospel Proclaiming the gospel if you would turn with me to Colossians chapter 4 Colossians chapter 4 Did you know according to recent statistics that only 2% of churchgoers actively share their faith with others? Did you get that 2%? That is tragic, isn't it? I Think of all the people who have tried to make a difference. I think of James Kennedy who developed Evangelism explosion MacArthur's church. I took that program. We were out there Discipleship evangelism Recently way of the master. That's another one that is out there with Kurt Cameron Ray Comfort and Todd Freel and Yet with all the you know the helps that are out there evangelism explosion discipleship evangelism way of the master Even a book that I really like called tell the truth by will Metzger Which is a wonderful book to teach you not not only how to share your faith, but how to turn every day Conversation into spiritual conversation and yet with all the training programs and the books out there on evangelism Most of us in this room. Well, I take that back because most of you in this room are doing this But most Christians are not obeying the Great Commission They are not going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature that is under heaven Which were Christ last words in Matthew 28? And will Metzger's book to tell the truth he tells us why You know why most of us never witness Why we don't share the gospel Because we don't start We never start we don't open our mouths We don't take the initiative Maybe we we worry about what other people will think of us and we're fearful that we might lose family members Or we might lose friends or I hear in the reform circles if God is sovereign in salvation Then why should I share the gospel? That's a big one Oh, you know Susan if I share the gospel then I'm gonna lose my job I'm gonna lose my job Ladies you can come up with your own excuses, but whatever excuses you can come up with it's hard to get away from the Great Commission, isn't it? We are to pray we are to go and we are to speak and we're gonna clearly see these three elements in Colossians Chapter four verse two to six. So let's look at this together Continuing prayer watching the same with Thanksgiving praying for us that God would open a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ For which I'm in bonds that I might make it manifest as I ought to speak Walk in wisdom toward those that are outside redeeming the time let your speech be always with grace season with salt That you may know how you should answer every man Now you have an outline there before you we're gonna see how we should pray for the lost How we should reach the lost and how we should speak to the lost Paul says we he begins Excuse me in verse two by saying continue in prayer and watching the same with Thanksgiving now ladies look at the context, okay? The context is how we are to look at those that are outside Those that are without Christ the context is the lost and the gospel and the idea is that we pray and we watch for opportunities to share with lost people and We do that coupled with Thanksgiving Paul says for the opportunities to share the gospel You know, it's a blessing that God would use any of us To share the gospel of Jesus Christ in fact We know that's the context of what he's saying in verse two because look at verse three He now gives a prayer request regarding the gospel Here he says he actually it's a prayer request for he and Timothy here it is This is our first principle in evangelism and that is prayer. We must pray He says pray also for us he and Timothy That God would open to them a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am in bonds Ladies I find it very refreshing That the Apostle Paul did not think he was above asking for prayer You know, I really like that. In fact You know sometimes my husband I get in trouble for being too transparent, but that's okay I'm not gonna you know, I don't want to cloak or hide anything I want to be transparent with people and here we see Paul being transparent. I Need you guys I need the church at class a to pray for me and Pray for me not that you know pray for me that I'll get you know Unchained from this Roman soldier I'm chained to or pray for me that I'll have a decent meal while I'm in prison or pray that my bleeding wounds will Get treated he done he didn't ask him to pray for that He says pray for me that I will have an opportunity to share the gospel while I'm here in prison Pray for me Ladies we need to be praying for one that we need to be praying for each other that we will have opportunities for the gospel And we need to get above the earthly prayer requests to the heavenly prayer requests And isn't it interesting that Paul asks that God would open the door for the gospel? Do you know it's God that opens the door and you know what happens to most of well a lot most but some of us We shut the door he opens the door Here's an opportunity Susan to share the gospel and I slam it But ladies we need to pray that God will open opportunities for the gospel And I believe that's why we need to be praying continually about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ Lord you want me to talk to this person Lord open this door I love Lord bring someone into my life today that I can share the gospel with Now there were some obstacles standing in the way of the door being opened And so Paul wants these removed he says pray for me that a door went open and he calls it a door of utterance What does that mean? well a door of admission for the word an Opportunity to preach the gospel pray for me that a door would be open So I will have an opportunity to preach the gospel. In fact, you know, there's another time that Paul was in prison and He wrote to the church at Philippi and he says you know Don't worry about me in here. These things have happened to me for the furtherance of the gospel Don't worry about me in here in prison I'm having opportunities to share even with some in Caesar's palace Caesar's household And you know, we come to the end of Philippians, you know what he says greet all the saints We do those in Christ Jesus even those of Caesar's household Evidently while Paul was there in prison when he was writing at the church at Philippi He shared the gospel of Jesus Christ You know, that's what landed him in prison in the first place was sharing the gospel And he wanted to share the gospel more and guess what some of them came to faith in Christ and at the end of the letter He greets them and so he says don't worry about that Ladies he says pray for me that a door of veterans would would open so I could speak the mystery. What's the mystery? Well, a mystery is a truth, which was once hidden, but is now revealed It's just the mystery of the gospel Paul mentions this many times in Ephesians He talks about the mystery, which is the gospel the truth of the gospel Now ladies before we go on. Let me ask you a question Do you ever have a burden for someone's soul? Of course you do. I have burned for a lot of people. I pray for all seven of my grandkids You know, they will all come to faith in Jesus Christ I have seven brothers and sisters and there's only two of us that know Christ I pray for my brothers and my sisters that they will come to faith in Christ We all have people that we pray But ladies when you have that burden for them We need to ask God to open the door of opportunity to share with them or or pray that they will come in contact with someone else Not outside of family that can share the gospel with them And I know many times I have seen God open doors for me and then as I have mentioned I've shut it to my own shame Paul was obviously very bold in his sharing of the gospel so bold He wound up in jail because Paul says I'm in jail. This is why I'm in bonds Pray for me that God would open a door of others to speak the mystery of Christ. That's why I'm here That's why I'm in jail because I shared the gospel Ladies remember Paul was very closely watched and guarded by a Roman guard and handcuffed to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day You know, he didn't have TV and internet and couldn't go outside and work out like they do in prison now Nothing like that He's in jail and yet he's not concerned about getting out He's concerned about getting the message of Jesus Christ out, but he's not concerned about getting himself out In fact in 2nd Timothy 2 9 he says this for which I suffer trouble as an evil doer even under bonds But the word of God is not bound even though I'm bound up The word of God didn't bound up I can still share the gospel with this Roman soldier and anyone else that comes in here and that's you know I saw my dad He had been very sick many years ago He had 48 blood transfusions and he was in the hospital I don't know how many times and you know what every time that someone would come and put a new Pine of blood in my dad's arm and he would say do you know the life of the flesh is in the blood? And then he would start to you know, do you know Jesus Christ as your person is on he would witness I mean there he isn't in the hospital bed. They don't know if he's gonna live or die This was many many years ago, and I did not see one doctor or one nurse that didn't come into my dad's room He did not share the gospel with he found a way to share the gospel. That's what Paul saying Though I'm bound up in here. I'm not bound to share the gospel. I can still share the gospel whoever comes boy I'm gonna tell them about the gospel Ladies this is a rebuke to our comfortable Christianity We're fearful of sharing the gospel because we might be ridiculed we might not be liked or we maybe we don't Maybe we think we'll mess up the message, you know But what if we faced imprisonment for sharing our faith, which by the way could happen Could happen it has happened already, you know debbie not going to India next week and the last time I went it was a little It was a little bit unnerving than the time before there's a lot more persecution among Christians, and I felt a little more ill at ease and But you know in this country we haven't had to face imprisonment yet because of being a Christian, but does that mean it won't happen? Good How many of us would went out, you know, how many of us would fail to tell the message if we thought we were gonna end up in prison? And how many of us in this room if we did wind up in prison? Would continue to share the gospel while we are in prison Paul had a burning and a soul to share his faith ladies We should pray and ask God to give us that same burning that Paul had to share the gospel This is the great commission that Jesus left us. It is not an option for us Well, Paul further elaborates on his prayer requests in verse 4. He says so that I can make it manifest as I ought to speak What's he talking about? He says I want to make known the mystery the gospel I Want to make it known, but he also says I want to make it manifest as I ought to speak What does he mean when he says as I ought to speak? Paul not only is wanting to share the gospel, but he wants to present it clearly as He ought to speak ladies a good message presented in a bad way can do more harm than good We have a great message Christ died for the ungodly we have a great message, but you can present that message in a bad way In fact Paul asked for a clear message and a bold message in Ephesians. He asked for the same thing I want to present the message clearly Paul says in Romans 1 16 I'm not ashamed of the power of the gospel of Christ But as the power of God into salvation to everyone that believe it to the Jew first and also to the Greek Paul says in another place if I preach the gospel I have nothing to boast on Both stuff for I am under compulsion. What was me if I do not preach the gospel? Ladies we should know how to share our faith in a clear and a precise way And then Paul reminds them of how they should live and act towards the loss that they're trying to win to Christ This is huge. It's important How do we reach the lost well Paul gives the answer in verse 5 Walk in wisdom towards those that are outside. What does this mean to walk in wisdom? Well walking would include our behavior right we looked at that last night Walking in wisdom means properly evaluating our circumstances and making godly decisions that we looked at last night Contrasting the foolish woman and the wise woman One man says behave wisely towards outsiders always bearing in mind that though few men read the sacred scrolls all men read you ladies You can share the gospel of Jesus Christ all you want with all the people you want But if you don't live it out you might as well hang it up You might as well hang it up. I remember going to a lady's house one time for discipleship and I got there and her kids were It was bad Disrespectful not a bang and I said is this what kind of goes on she goes. Yeah, I didn't want you to come today Because she usually came to my house for a discipling but this time I came to her house and saw and the kids were there And I said you know I said you can go out and share the gospel all you want with all the people you want But if you're not raising your kids in the way that God wants you to you're going to totally undo all The gospel sharing you're supposed to be doing if your kids are right. She was I know you're right I repent and she did you know she did and she started raising her kids God's way So now she not only shares the gospel, but she also raises her kids right. She's walking in wisdom Towards those that are outside In fact outside just means that's a reference to unbelievers Paul says in 1st less Holians 412 walk honestly towards those that are outside So you can have lack of nothing ladies We must be careful how we conduct ourselves that we do not blaspheme the word of God and make it unattractive There are enough Christians today doing that. I mean every day it seems like I hear about another Christian Who's you know committed adultery or who's swindled money from people and you know It's it's in the newspapers and we're blaspheming the word of God and making it unattractive who wants Christianity You know the biggest thing I hear people I should be a Christian. They're all hypocrites And I said well, yeah, that's true, but not all hypocrites, but they're not real Christians if they're hypocrites, right? We have a challenge today ladies because Christianity to many has become a lot laughing stock To the unbelieving world and we need to reclaim our testimony by walking in wisdom Towards those who are outside to the lost and Paul says we also reach the lost by notice What else he says redeeming the time? What does that mean? We looked at that last night, but to buy off the off buy up the opportunity to rescue the time Recover the time from being wasteful Believers are to buy time like determined bargain hunters. You've ever seen those women at the garage sales They're like crazy, you know, you're supposed to have a garage sale at eight and they show up at seven or six o'clock They would you got I mean they're determined bargain hunters. They want to buy up the opportunity, you know They want to get the good bargains They're serious You know Nikki she's this coupon person now. She's a bargain hunter That's what Paul says how we should be when we're around the loss being tent on redeeming the time buy up the Opportunity to share the lost. Oh, here's an opportunity for me to share the gospel with this person. Here's a great bargain great opportunity Ladies the time that God gives us with the loss. Don't waste it. Don't waste it make the most of every opportunity Don't just sit and wait for the opportunity to fall in your lap It's not going to just like those good bargains aren't gonna fall in your lap In fact Paul says in Ephesians 5 15 and 16 see the Ewoks circumspectly not as fools But as wise redeeming the time as we looked at last night So we've seen how we're to pray for the loss were to pray for open opportunities a door of utterance to be open We're to reach the loss by conducting ourselves wisely buying up the time with them And finally Paul tells us how we're to speak to him. There's a certain way we're to speak Let your speech be always with grace season with salt that you can know how to answer every man Now what does it mean that our speech should be always with grace? Our speech towards the unbeliever should be gracious and Joyful Do you know even when our Lord stood up there in the temple in Luke chapter 4? You know he was reading the scroll and when it's when he sat down it said wow His words were gracious He was gracious Ladies our speech should only be gracious it be it should be seasoned with salt Which is interesting because not far from Colossae. This is the church that Paul is writing to there was a salt lake And so they would understand this imagery of having our speech seasoned with salt now What does it mean? What does this mean having our speech season with salt? Well, it actually reads this way having been seasoned indicating that our speech Should already have been seasoned and should continue to be seasoned and season means to prepare with Stimulating condiments salt has flavor right in fact I don't know about you, but that chicken salad was good But it needed some salt minded or something and needed You know salt had it stimulates the flavor it brings out the flavor of food Our speech should be thought-provoking it should be worthwhile it should be stimulating it shouldn't be a waste of time It should be attractive. It should be have spiritual charm. My husband's always saying we should be winsome We should be winsome with the lost Ladies our saltiness will prevent us from being ignored as irrelevant boars You know, I have met some Christians and so have you quite frankly that if I were an unbeliever I would not be attracted to them just because of their speech. I Mean, I've called some of them on the phone. They go, hello. Who do you want? I'm like, whoa, sorry. I called you. I Mean seriously, I have you know Calling Christian women to ask something and excuse me. I'm sorry. I called or I mean that's not an appropriate way to Talk as a Christian Or you know you they have these sour faces and negative looks on their face Who would it be attractive to that? Ladies we must remember what Jesus said you're the salt of the earth But if the salt has lost its savory with what shall it be salted it is therefore good for nothing be trodden down and cast out I mean who wants that? Have salt in yourselves. He said have peace with one another now I'm gonna give you some bad examples of unsalted speech towards the unbeliever. Do you know you're going to hell? You know, are you saved? You know, I mean Don't you know there's only one way to heaven? I mean that's really attractive, isn't it? Does that win you towards me? Those are not salty approaches. Maybe hot pepper, but not salty Yeah, you could say something like You know a fact last night one guy came in there Debbie and I were in the book room And he was sharing his faith about his faith and how he came to Christ And he was telling us what a lie what a mess his life what a mess his life was before Christ And I thought wow, that's a great opening to you know You know since I gave my life over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ has been given such me I just got to tell you about this what God's done for me. That's a great way That's a salty approach or you know, you seem to be struggling. Could I help you? I've often thought of that when I see women those out of control kids Except I'm afraid they might take their clock out of their purse and kill me since now everyone carries a weapon But I guess that'd be being perceived being a martyr for Jesus and my husband has always hoped that we have a one of a Martyr in our family, so I guess I'd be the first one but You know, I I see those moms and their kids are out of control and I just want to go up and say can I please help you? You know and but I'm afraid that I don't know how that would go But pray for me and don't pray for me too hard because that might happen in the Orlando Airport here in just a minute but You know you could say things like that or You know, what is your religion? I'm just curious. You know, what is your religious black background or who do you believe? Do you believe in Jesus? Do you who do you believe Jesus is or one time? I asked a woman I said do you believe in God and she said well I believe in a God and I was like well, which God is that you know? So I mean there's all kinds of ways and there's like I say the will mesker book tell the truth Yes, some good openings for that how to take turn every day conversation into spiritual conversation I think I told you probably several years ago. I was Putting gas in my car and I was on my way home from something and I Went in to pay it was at a time I wasn't using my credit card and I walked in and the guy goes that boy you sure are happy today. What's the key? And you know I didn't say anything To my shame and I thought oh, I've got 15 minutes supposed to be home to cook dugs at dinner And I like my husband would really be upset if I was late because I was sharing the gospel You know and I blew and you know those opportunities never reclaim themselves They never reclaim themselves. I miss the open door, and I didn't buy up the opportunity that God gave me Lady salt has a two-fold purpose. It gives flavor and it preserves from corruption As far as flavor goes our speech should be joyful witty In fact, that's what it means in classical Greek. It should not be boring. It should be stimulating It doesn't always have to be religious, but it should be properly seasoned. It should be gracious seasoned with salt Witty amusing clever humorous, but not you know foolish jesting and course talking nothing like that But our speech should also preserve unbelievers from corruption. We looked at this already let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth We're not to be using that form of speech one man said this Foolish remarks ungracious surly cutting retort saltless talk is Vapid and from which the hearer's mind turns away because it is not worth considering It never does the Christian cause any good ladies Paul wanted to say the right thing at the right time So that he would not damage the gospel message in any way and then Paul gives the reason why we should have gracious speech Why we should have seasoned speech notice what he says So that we can know how to answer every man That man in the gas station that said you would you know, why are you so happy about you're so happy? What's the key? Ladies each is to be answered appropriately to his question and the spirit in which he asks Peter says in another place Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you of the reason of the Hope that is within you So our speech is to be gracious seasoned with salt so we can answer these people that say what makes you so different You know in fact I've heard from several of you this weekend and the people that you knew before Christ They're like who are you who are you now? You are so weird. I'm what has happened to you. You know, you're so different Ladies we should speak the right word the right time to the right person so we can know how to answer each individual You know think of Philip in the Ethiopian and you remember when the spirit said go join yourself to that chariot And the Ethiopian unique was reading out of Isaiah and Philip said you understand what you're reading and he goes no How can I accept some man guide me? What if Philip had said you know what I can't help you either sorry about that bud I mean, you know, let me go home and look at the John MacArthur commentary. I'll be back and help you He knew Philip knew the word of God so well that he could hop up in that chariot and explain to the Ethiopian Unique what he was reading out of Isaiah so much So that says they went a little bit further and the Ethiopian Unique said here is water What hinders me to be baptized Philip said nothing they stopped the charity baptizing and Philip went on his way and the Uniquin away rejoicing He didn't see Philip anymore, but hey, he had salvation Philip knew how to share the gospel with him. He knew what Isaiah meant there That's what Paul's saying be ready be ready Well, how do we pray for the lost we pray that doors would be open and we would present the message clearly How do we reach the lost by conducting ourselves with wisdom? How do we speak to the lost with gracious and salty words? Ladies if you do not know how to share your faith I would encourage you to find someone who does and learn from them or Go through some of those programs some are better than others make sure you go through a program that Really teaches you the real gospel. Okay, not the false gospel the real gospel not a cheap grace gospel the real gospel But you must do something In fact, there are six things you must do according to the passage here and I want to leave these with you Okay, when we think about the gospel number one You must pray You must pray pray for opportunities to share the gospel Pray for God to give you the words to give to that person If you don't know how to share the gospel pray for someone that can help you You know, I've gone out to the park with others and even some of the women that I disciple They they say, you know, I don't know how to share the gospel. I said, well, let's hook up with Maggie the evangelist I'll go out. She's a good trainer You know, and if that's a good opportunity or to the park or someone they they feel awkward They don't know how to share the gospel. So just let them hang out with you number two You must buy up the time you must buy up the time Paul says redeem the time there must be a sense of urgency. We have no sense of urgency You know what we say well, I'll share with that neighbor next year I'll tell my brother next year about the gospel or I'll I'll do this next year tomorrow One man said if Christians felt the same urgency to reach others with the with the gospel as they do about securing their own welfare In this world our churches would see amazing results Number three we must act wisely We must walk in wisdom our walk must be in Accordance with our belief we must live out our faith you can do more damage to the gospel message by living a life of hypocrisy Nobody's gonna want what you have if you don't live out what you preach Number four you must be gracious you must be gracious now. Don't be so gracious that you never open your mouth Okay, don't do that But you must be gracious with your speech You must use Things that are you know have salt within themselves and so that they're attractive to the unbeliever Number five you must be lively season with salt your gospel presentation should not be dull It should not be boring. It should be lively. It should be exciting Ladies the gospel of Jesus Christ is truly an amazing and exciting story Now this doesn't mean you leave out repentance Don't leave out repentance Don't leave out the Lordship of Christ, but you know what those things are exciting too. They're very exciting I know because when I'm one of the things that happened to me when I embraced the Lord at the age of 30 all of a sudden all this The stuff I've been carrying back here in my neck and my back all the guilt of my sin You know that went away, and I finally started sleeping at night I mean forgiveness and repentance was huge in my life huge I mean letting now God and the Lord Jesus Christ be the master of my life instead of me trying to do everything my way In fact, I think I told you before Christ my husband used to say Susan I'm gonna put on your tombstone. She did it her way and You know that's an indictment on my life before Christ Number six we must be well-grounded we must be well-grounded Paul says we need to know how to answer every man Now I would not have a canned gospel even though I think you should learn the basic facts But you must be able to answer questions like What makes Christianity different from other religions? How can I know for sure I have eternal life? How do you know Jesus is the Son of God and on and on the questions that people will ask you now It doesn't believe it doesn't mean that necessarily you have have to have the Bible mastered But ladies you should be pursuing a knowledge of the scriptures You should be growing in your understanding of the Bible and the gospel You cannot afford to have status quo when it comes to your walk with Christ Ladies we have to buy up opportunities to share our faith. I fear we're gonna stand before God someday and be ashamed That we did not buy up the opportunities for the gospel Will you pray will you go and will you speak? Will you be a woman who pleases the Lord by proclaiming the gospel a? Woman who pleases the Lord is personally devoted to Christ. Are you in the ways we looked at last night a? Woman who pleases the Lord is pure Are you a Woman who pleases the Lord parents God's way Are you parenting God's way or the world's way a? Woman who pleases the Lord it puts her spiritual gifts to use Are you using your spiritual gifts for the glory of God and? Lastly a woman who pleases the Lord proclaims the gospel Let's pray Father, thank you so much for this time. I pray that my hurried words have not Fallen on deaf ears. I pray that you will take the things that I have said that are true and Impressed those things upon the hearts and the minds of these women I pray that you will take anything that I have said in a careless moment and not impress it upon their minds and hearts But Lord that they would each of them take away Precious principles and truths from your word and your word only I Pray, oh God that you would help us to be women who please you and everything we do And Lord we know that your word says that by keeping your commandments This pleases you and it shows our love to you and I know Lord this weekend There is no way that I could cover everything that your word says that we should be doing But we certainly have enough for food for thought and so I pray oh Lord that we would leave here being Not just hearers of what has been said but doers of your word Give us grace give us help from your spirit Give us the ability to ask each other how we're doing and how we are carrying out the things that we have learned Father we do all this not for ourselves, but for the glory of Christ. We want him to be exalted We want him to be known and we want him to be Glorified and so we give it to you for Christ's sake