 Okay, we're in Colossians, we're in chapter four. We're gonna be looking at verses two through six, and what I'm gonna do is I'll take verses two, three, and four together, and then we're gonna move into the transition in verse five, and close with verse six. And so today we'll look at Colossians chapter four verses two through six, and I'll read verses two, three, and four, and then I'm gonna give you some background, develop a foundation, and then move into the application of these verses. So let's begin together here in Colossians chapter four verse two. Paul writes, continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Meanwhile, praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. So in the previous verses, Paul had written concerning family and work relationships. He now writes concerning the Christian's personal spiritual priorities, and the reason he speaks concerning the Christian's personal priorities is because without prayer, we will not be able to fulfill the duties that were required of us. Remember, he had just written to wives, and without prayer, wives are not gonna be the kind of wives that they would like to be. So wives are to pray to become better wives, and husbands are to pray to be better husbands. Children are to pray to become godly, and slaves and slave owners, which we also say in terms of today, we'll say, you know, those who are working, and those who are the bosses if you will, are to pray to become godly also. And so what he's doing here is he's speaking concerning prayer because the commands that he's giving to us will not be fulfilled without the power of the spirit, and without us being fervent in prayer. And so he begins in verse two by saying, continue earnestly in prayer, be invigilant in it with thanksgiving. So notice he says continue. That word continue means to devote yourself or stand ready. We are to do certain things. We're to continue earnestly. And he says that we're to pray. We're to pray habitually, earnestly, vigilantly, and thankfully. We need to remember that prayer is one of the earmarks of the early church. In Acts chapter two, verse 42, the Bible says that they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. And we know that prayer in its most basic form is simply conversation with God. But it's a conversation that reveals that we have faith in him, that we believe he hears us, and that he answers our prayers. And the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 11.6 said it like this. He said, without faith it's impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. When Paul was writing to the Philippians in chapter four, verse six, he said be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. So prayer is the habit of a Christian's life. In Romans 12, verse 12, Paul said rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer. I wonder the writers that I appreciate, his name is A.W. Tozer. A.W. Tozer said, a life lived in Christ becomes, in the true sense, a life of unceasing prayers. Prayer is the habit of a Christian. According to 1 Thessalonians 5.17, we are to pray without ceasing. In Psalm 55.17, evening and morning, and at noon I will pray and cry aloud. And he shall hear my voice. In Matthew 7, verse seven, ask, it shall be given you. You shall find, knock, it shall be opened unto you. And when Jesus said, ask, seek and knock in the original language, which is called Koine Greek, in the original language, it is really literally, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. It speaks of persistence. It speaks of continuing in prayer. So we continue in prayer, but notice he says in verse two, we continue earnestly in prayer. The word earnest means to devote or continue yourself in, to be steadfast or strong, to be persistent. We are earnest, we are fervent because prayers that are not felt are seldom heard. In James 5.16, it says confess your trespasses to one another, pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. C.S. Lewis said, I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It does not change God, it changes me. And so we pray, we continue, we continue earnestly, and we are vigilant. The word vigilant means on guard. We're wide awake when we pray. Now there are two reasons to be wide awake or vigilant when we pray. One is the Christian life is filled with spiritual warfare and temptation. We're to watch, we're to stay alert. Why? Because the enemy is constantly on the prowl, seeking whom he may devour. We watch and we pray because the enemy is after us. And he indeed is. And so the Christian life, Christian life is filled with spiritual warfare and temptation. In 1 Peter chapter four, verse seven, the apostle said, the end of all things is at hand, therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. But we're also praying because we want to be on the alert for opportunities for open doors. In verse three, he speaks of that when he says, praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the word. And so we pray one because our life is filled with temptations and trials that we're walking in spiritual minefields all the time. We're praying and on the alert because the enemy is after us, but we also are praying for opportunity. Father, open the door. Help me to preach your word, help me to share about you with people. There's so many needs. There's so many lost. Help me to have eyes to see. You know, I've told my staff before, I've said, you know, the Lord Jesus Christ uses visuals sometimes. You know, one occasion when he's speaking to his men, he says, he says there to look at the fields, he said, for their white for harvest. You have to have eyes to see. Sometimes we ask the Lord, help us that we might see me. May we behold wondrous things from your law. Help us to see what's going on out there, Father, and help us to be ready. And so on the one hand, Lord, I am watching and praying that I enter not into temptation. My spirit indeed is willing, my flesh is weak, but at the same time, I'm looking for opportunity. I'm praying that today you'll give me an opportunity to be a witness for Christ, to share with somebody. And that's what we're supposed to be doing. Ask in the Lord for those opportunities. And so we pray to be alert for opportunities and open doors. But also, the spirit in which we pray is the spirit of thanksgiving. We have thankfulness of heart to God for all he's done and all he's doing for us. You know, I was 30 years old when we planted this church. 30 years old. I was a month shy of 31. We started in a house. It had a handful of people sitting around the front room. And at the end of the very first service we had, I still remember how I closed it. I said, if you want to be back, we'll be here next week. Because I didn't even know if they'd come back the next week, why would they? You can never count on the fact that someone will come back the next week. How can you? So I said, if you want to be back, I'll be here. And so my dad, who was at the Bible study that first morning said, Dave, we know that you love us. But you have a family. You don't have a job. How are you gonna take care of your family? I said, the Lord supplies dad. He says, we want to give an offering. I said, no. I said, dad, we're not even an incorporated church. We're just a Bible study meeting in a house. He says, but David, we know that you love the Lord and love us. What if we want to give? I said, if you want to give, put your offering in that macrame pot, there's a pot being held by that macrame, put it in there. I said, remember, they gave $380. 280 were designated for incorporations. I said, listen, if you want this to go on, we'll incorporate so that you have tax deductible gifts. And anything you think that you'd like to give to us for my family, because I had three kids at that time and all, I said, we'll be grateful for that. So they gave us $100 to live on and $280 to incorporate. Well, my mind goes back there because look what God has done. Look what God has done over 38 years. It just, so how can you, how can I not be grateful? How can I not? How can I not be thankful for what God has done? The blessings that he has poured out in our lives, in my life, in the life of many of our church. How can you not be grateful for all the good that he's done? Started out with Marie, me and three kids and now I've got all these grandchildren and my daughter, Corinne, you know, my daughter, Corinne, I don't think she'll mind. She's 42 and she's pregnant. She's gonna give us another baby before Thanksgiving. I mean, oh boy, I mean, I'm amazed. It is just, it is just, God is, God is so good. God, we have to be thankful. Where would you be today without Jesus Christ? Where would you be? I mean, we just saw, we just saw a man who's been set free from prison. He'd been in prison for nine years, should have been their 60 or more and God was gracious to him. How can we not be thankful to our God? And so we pray with Thanksgiving, we pray with faith, we pray with certainty because our God loves us and he's on the throne and there's nothing that enters into my life that doesn't first pass through his will for me and I know that my God intends good for me. Now I don't know how that will take place, but I know it will and ultimately, I will see him face to face and I am not gonna be questioning him. I'm gonna see him for what he's done and the tears in my eyes will not be of sorrow but of gratitude for the goodness of God and so yeah, we're thankful. We give thanks. In Hebrews 13, 15, by him, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Ephesians 5, 20, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we're going through a trial, it's easy to forget to be thankful but Paul reminds them that they have been incredibly blessed and they should be thankful. In 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, in everything he said, give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. So we pray, continue earnestly in prayer, be vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Verse three, meanwhile, praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in chains. Paul's deepest desire was to be used by God to preach the gospel throughout the world. Jesus had set him free from his self-righteous life. He'd been refreshed in the grace of God and this thankfulness, this love for Christ impaled him to share the gospel wherever he went. In 2 Corinthians 5, 14, he said it like this. He said, the love of Christ compels us. In Romans 15, 20, he said, I've made it my aim to preach the gospel. Now where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation. I wanna go out, he said, and take this message to the world. So he's concerned that he may be faithful and effective in proclaiming the gospel. So to be effective requires people lifting him up in prayer. And one of the things that I like to mention when it's proper is this. He's saying to them, pray for me, pray for us that God would open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ. Well, even right now, some of you know this because some of you men participating in this, but right now, right now, I have men praying for me. They're praying first service, and while I'm preaching, they pray, and then another group comes and prays second service. And then on Wednesdays, they're in here praying for me for the Wednesday night. I am covered by prayer because Paul says it. Paul says, pray for me because I know that without God I am nothing. But with him, all things are possible. And so when we pray, we know that God is able. And so we trust him to give us those words. And Paul's deepest desire was used to be used by God, and he was thankful for what God has done. You see, there's much opposition to the gospel and prayer is necessary if we're gonna minister his word. In 2 Thessalonians 3, 1 and 2, he said, finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified just as it is with you and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for not all have faith. Now he had a similar prayer request when he wrote to the Ephesians in Ephesians 6, verse 19, he said, pray for me. That utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly and make known the mystery of the gospel. He desires opportunity and he needs power. And that's why he asks for the prayers. He says in verse three, pray that God would open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ. Jesus is the one who opens doors of opportunity to share your faith. In 2 Corinthians 2, verse 12, he said, I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel. A door was opened to me by the Lord. In Revelation 3, verse 7, these things says, he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens and no man shuts and shuts and no man opens. So he says, pray, pray that God will open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ. My desire is to speak the mystery. When he speaks of the mystery of Christ, that's the gospel, the word mystery speaks of something that was once hidden but that is now revealed. And so the gospel reveals things that would be hidden if they were not revealed to us. Jesus said in Luke chapter 10, verses 21, 22, Jesus rejoiced in the spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babies. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father and who the Father is except the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him. So we pray, God, that your word would go forth and that you will open the eyes of the blind and stop the ears of the deaf so that they may hear and receive you and be born again. And that's his desire that people would be set free and that he might speak boldly, and courageously, and accurately God's word. But notice how he refers to himself. He refers to himself as being in chains. He's in prison. Although he was in prison, the gospel still was being preached and was having an impact. In 2 Timothy 2, verses 8 through 10, he said it like this. He said, remember that Jesus Christ of the seat of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffered trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. God's word is not chained. Though he at that time was chained, he was able to share with the guards. Somebody once said, I can take a man's liberty, I cannot touch his freedom. In Philippians chapter one, verses 12 and 13, I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. The prison ministry that we have here has fruit. You had an opportunity to hear Joe sharing about how the Lord got hold of him. We were talking in the back as he was robbing me and as we were speaking, we were remembering how that at a retreat several years ago now, he was there at the retreat and I was sitting at the table with some of the guys and he shared with me the situation and how that he had carried a false ID in all and got pulled over and instead of giving his false ID, he gave his true identity knowing that he was gonna go to prison. And we had a conversation and when he went in, we remained as a church, we remained in contact with him and he's done ministry in other facilities and the Lord used him and I was thinking about that as we were speaking in the back, how God used him to do great works and how Hosea has been going with several of you men to different prisons and how the ministry, like he was saying from the California border to the Oregon border, he said that God's word is going forth and it is setting the people free because that's what God's word does and so when we had Joe here today sharing as he did in first and second, in between services, there was a brother who's been attending here since Father's Day who went to the gazebo and spoke to them, a man who has done time himself and he says, I've been going to this church since Father's Day. He says, but I wanna receive Jesus right now and so Hosea and Joe led him to faith in Christ right out there in between service. Why? The word of God is not chained. God's word is free and it still sets the prisoner free in Hebrews 13, verse three, remember the prisoners as if chained with them this message of the gospel sets you free and so he says pray for me in verse four that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. I want it to be known. Pray that I communicate this mystery in an understandable way. You see, I have a great compulsion to preach this message. As a believer it's something that I ought to be doing so pray that I do so faithfully. In 1 Corinthians 9.16 he says, if I preach the gospel I have nothing to boast of for I am under compulsion, woe unto me if I do not preach the gospel. So there's this need in me, this desire in me, pray for me that I might do it in a way to honor God. You see, there is a proper way of proclaiming the message of the gospel. So pray that I communicate it properly, communicate it clearly and wisely, gracefully. Pray that I communicate it and it remains centered on Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter two verses four and five, Paul said my message and my preaching were very plain. I did not use wise and persuasive speeches, but the Holy Spirit was powerful among you. I did this so that you might trust the power of God rather than human wisdom. So he preached the gospel to people and he preached that they needed to repent. They needed to yield their faith to Christ. He wanted to make sure to keep Jesus in salvation the center of the message. You see, the gospel is often presented and presented in various ways and not all the messages actually are presenting the message clearly. There's something I've referred to as experienced centered evangelism. What I mean by that is the presentation revolves around stories and feelings, experiences, testimonies, but the fruit of this is people enjoying the stories but not repenting of their sins. They like what they hear, they claim to be saved, but when difficult times come up, they give up and then there's a kind of preaching that promises to make the person feel better. It promises health and prosperity, popularity and plenty of earthly comfort. But when the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches crowd in, they fall away. In reality it was a man centered gospel. Or we can tailor the message to the audience but fail to give the whole counsel of God. We try to make Jesus acceptable to people instead of making people acceptable to him. And Paul's concern was that he may be faithful in proclaiming the message of the gospel. He was concerned to continue effectively sharing the gospel. He needed the power to do that. You see in 1 Corinthians 1.18 the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it's the power of God. And so he says, pray for me that I might make it manifest as I ought to speak. That I be careful not to dilute it, pollute it, add man's wisdom. Pray for me that I don't get caught up entertaining ears, but tell them the truth, even if they don't like it. In our day, we need to pray for our ministers. All of us should be praying for those who take the gospel out and preach it in pulpits. Because there's a great temptation to flatter the hearer. There's a great temptation to mold the message in such a way that it becomes entertainment and no longer has the cutting edge of truth. We wanna have people in the church. We wanna be known for being wise communicators or eloquent speakers. We wanna be spoken well of. When in fact, I discovered a long time ago that sometimes truth hurts. And sometimes people get upset when you speak the truth, even if you love them when you do it. But a long time ago, somebody shared this with me, I've never forgotten when he said, you throw a rock into a pack of dogs. The one that barks is the one who got hit. And very often, when we're convicted, the first thing we wanna do is kill the messenger instead of looking within to say, is that me? Is that me? Remember when Jesus said, one of you will betray me. Remember how his faithful apostle said, Lord, is it me? Lord, is it me? But there was an unfaithful one by the name of Judas who said, Lord, is it me? Went all along, he knew it was him. And under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we ought to always say, Lord, is it me? And what do you wanna do in me? But when I start saying, Lord, convict him because he or convict her because she. Well, my mom told me a long time ago, you point one finger at them, you got three pointing at yourself, always remember that. And when the Holy Spirit works, it's in order to correct us so that we might be used by him. And Paul said, I want to be used by God. So pray for me that I might communicate this in a proper way, that I might speak as I ought to speak. And so he continues on in verse five in a practical way. And he says, walk in wisdom towards those who are outside, redeeming the time, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. So walk in wisdom. What he does is he encourages believers concerning their conduct because what they live like gives credibility to what they're saying. In Proverbs 20 verse 11, the writer said even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right. So the way I live, our manner of life makes an incredible impact on people. The gospel is not simply something we talk about, it's something we live out. And if we're gonna have an impact for the Lord, how then should we live? And so he tells us, he says in verse five, walk in wisdom towards those who are outside, outside, meaning unbelievers. Walk in wisdom towards those who don't have a relationship with Christ. He's saying, don't live foolishly. He says, live lives that measure up to your message because your life is an evidence of your belief. And if we live wisely, the watching world will see the power of God at work in us. In Titus, he said in verses seven and eight of chapter two, he said in everything, set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching, show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. When I church began, and I had already turned 31, it was probably around November or so of 81, I walked off the pulpit and was standing talking to people and somebody approached me and introduced themselves to me and said to me, I was the assistant pastor in such-and-so Calvary Chapel. And I said, oh really? I'd heard him of the church and all and heard of the senior pastor and all. So I said, oh really? It's nice to meet you. And he said, yeah, I'm visiting here today. I'll never forget this conversation. I was 31 years old. I'll never forget this conversation. He said to me, he said, you gave a good Bible study. He said, but you're so serious. And I looked at him and I said, the gospel is serious. Parenthetic thought, what's it supposed to be entertainment? What's it supposed to be a joke? And when we're talking about heaven and hell, we're talking about loss or gain. We're talking about eternity. What's it supposed to be a show? What am I supposed to do? Ride a unicycle and juggle and sing? Of course I'm sober-minded. As a matter of fact, at the age of 31, that's kind of refreshing because I was living in my parents' basement. I had my own life. I had my own home. I had my own children. I had things going at 31. Why wouldn't I be sober-minded? Why wouldn't I preach a sober-minded message? We're talking about where you're gonna end up for eternity. I appreciate preachers who take it seriously. And that's what the Bible says. Be sober and be serious. Why? Because the stakes are that high. Because it's that high. We don't understand it. Sometimes we think, oh, it's no big deal. It is a big deal. Sometimes we say, well, what are you talking about? I'm talking about life. I'm talking about eternity. What's eternity? I don't know, but I'll tell you this. It's like eternity. How do you define it? I think I said this recently. It's like going to every beach and every desert in the face of the earth, and one by one counting each grain of sand, one by one on the whole planet, and then starting over again. That's eternity. It never ends. It continues and never ends. Either I will be with Jesus Christ for eternity, or I will be suffering in punishment. I want to be sober-minded. We ought to be sober-minded because people's souls matter, and the church ought to care about those things. That's what we're supposed to care about. God sent His Son, Christ, to die, to suffer for me, and I'm not sober-minded about that. I have to be. Does that mean we don't laugh? Oh, I love to laugh. You know that. Believers love to laugh. We laugh amongst ourselves. We tease each other. We enjoy life, of course, but when it comes to the things of the gospel, there is nothing more serious than what Jesus did for us. Nothing more serious than eternity. We need to know that. It needs to be in our hearts. We need to understand that, and we need to preach with that kind of heart, and that's what He's speaking about. We need to walk in wisdom towards those who are outside. We don't live self-righteously, but we do live caring about Christ and other people. People will sometimes say, oh, you think you're better than me. Be ready for that accusation. People don't like sin being exposed. In John chapter three, verse 20, Jesus said, everyone practicing evil hates the light and doesn't come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed. So be careful. Be careful to seek God to help you to become humble and to really care. Micah chapter six, verse eight in the Old Testament says it like this. He has showed you, oh man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God? When we claim to be Christians, but don't live for the Lord, people see that. When we don't truly seek the Lord because we just live lives without Him, people won't listen normally. Non-Christians will reject the gospel because if I'm preaching a gospel that changes lives and my life is unchanged, they see that. And so we need to be careful to seek the Lord that we might be humble and caring. And notice also in verse five, he speaks of redeeming the time. Redeeming is a market term. It means to buy out or to use something completely. So the thought is, buy up those moments others seem to throw away. Use the time you have for the advancement of the kingdom. You see, God set boundaries for our lives and our service is bordered within those boundaries. And Christians must be aware that each moment is a gift. So live redeeming those moments. Like it says in Psalm 39.4, Lord make me to know my end and what is the measure of my days that I may know how frail I am. The Lord needs to make us to know that because when I was young, I had no clue. I had no clue. You know, when you're young and you wake up in the morning and you say, yeah, and you just jump out of bed and you go about your day when you're old, you lay there for a minute saying, I hope I can make it out of bed. It's a different attitude completely. You go look in the mirror and you see something staring at you and it's you and it scares you. Man, when I was young, I didn't have an understanding. So naturally I should pray, Lord help me to understand. Help me to realize that when I'm sowing today, I'll reap tomorrow. Help me to understand that the habits that I am forming now will follow me the rest of my life. Help me to understand that the choices that I'm making are gonna resonate later on. So help me to lay strong foundations because the storms of life ultimately are going to affect me. I don't wanna build a life on sinking sand. I wanna build my life on something that's sure and firm because the storms of life come and will hit me. And if I take time in the morning to pray and to seek you in your word and go about this day pursuing you and I do that tomorrow and I do it the next day, then I can have a path of weeks and months and into the years of faithfully following you, learning your ways and become the person you would have me to be. Or I can waste those days thinking that later on, I'll do that when I have time. When in fact, the only time I have right now is right now. So help me to number my days like the psalmist says. Teach me to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Why must we redeem our time? Well, we redeem our time because according to Ephesians 5.16, the days are evil and the word evil is a word that means filled with labor and hardship, pain and trouble. When the word evil is used in an ethical sense, it is wicked or it's bad. The days are wicked, bad, filled with labor, hardship, pain and trouble. This moment in history is identified as an act of opposition to the message of the gospel. We have little time left and much opposition. At that time, they were being tempted to live like the non-believers surrounding them. So Paul was exhorting them. You need to get away from lying and violence and stealing and profanity, malice and immorality. This is how they at one time lived and the culture was constantly drawing them back. You at one time lived in a certain way and the culture doesn't stop. Listen, the culture we live in today is not making us better people. We know this. We know this, that the culture that we have in every way that can be communicated whether it's in a book, whether it's in a magazine, whether it's on a DVD, whether it's in a movie, whether it's in the songs that are played that we hear going to college or going to school and hearing the lectures of our professors or teachers. The culture is ensnaring constantly, is always giving a message that is always making it appear to be not only true but to be preferred. And they'll say you're supposed to do certain things and feel certain ways and as a Christian I started reading my Bible and I said to myself the way that I've lived in the past is the opposite of what God says I'm to live now like. And so what made me change the way I think I was transformed by the renewing of my mind is by getting into the word and studying and then beginning to understand and grasp and put into practice. Because Jesus said to me, listen, he said if you obey my commands I will manifest myself to you. I'm gonna reveal myself in a deeper way. You're gonna know me not just intellectually but experientially. You're gonna have not just Bible verses that you carry in your carry on Bible that you have and I usually have a small Bible I carry with me. It's not only gonna be in your small Bible it's not only gonna be in this larger one that we have it's gonna be in your heart I'm gonna write these things on the tablet of your heart I'm gonna change the way you think and the way you feel and I'm gonna transform you and I'm gonna conform you into my image and as a result of that the people around you some will admire that and wanna be like that because that's what they're hungry for and the other ones they're gonna oppose you and the whole world is gonna oppose you but listen if it hates you don't forget it hated me long before it hates you they don't like the darkness and you are a flashlight you can be a torch and it exposes them they don't like it so be wise in how you share be wise in how you speak what you do but don't be surprised when you're persecuted that's just the way it is. You know I'm pretty much used to that I've been walking with the Lord for a long time now and I always expected the world I always have known that the world doesn't like the message of the gospel what I had to adjust my way of thinking to was the way the church acts towards the gospel because many people who don't read their word will correct me on Facebook they don't even read their Bibles but they're gonna tell me I shouldn't say this or shouldn't believe this or shouldn't do this and I wanna know what church do you pastor you know how long have you been in ministry and you need the word you need God's word you need it too I need it too everyday don't you my brains are dirty they need a good washing people say you're brainwashed of course I am by the blood of Jesus and by the word of God I need a new life I need that I need that but we're living in times when the people have itching ears and if they don't hear what they wanna hear there's one thing they do they vote with their feet they vote with their feet I don't like that I'm outta here didn't make me feel good not enough stories not enough interesting things I'll tell you what the word of God is very interesting because it changes the way you live and so Paul is once again he's saying walk in wisdom towards those who are outside redeeming the time he goes on and says let your speech always be with grace season with salt that you may know how you ought to answer each one as you walk in wisdom this is how you should speak in general in Ecclesiastes 1012 the words of a wise man's mouth are gracious the way we speak reveals the abundance of our hearts if we're saved our speech should reveal the work of grace in us if you're swearing one moment and preaching the next you undermine the message in Ephesians 5 3 and 4 it says let no sexual immorality impurity or greed let there be no sexual immorality impurity or greed among you such sins have no place among God's people obscene stories foolish talk and dirty jokes these are not for you instead let there be thankfulness to God so the way of life our speech should be seasoned with grace and season with salt and that speaks of the purity salt preserved from corruption salt is an emblem of value and wisdom and we season our food to make the meal more enjoyable while we're to season our speech with the grace of God which makes the conversation healthy and a harsh method of witnessing only serves to repel men from the way of salvation be careful how you share your faith you know me I get caught up in all when I'm preaching when I'm speaking to people you know I've learned that listening to them and trying to answer their questions is a good thing listening carefully you see over time you learn how to answer people with experience you learn how to respond to questions and objections Peter gives us insight in 1 Peter 3 15 he says but in your hearts in your hearts set apart Christ is Lord always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have but do this with gentleness and respect you see if we want to be used by the Lord our heart is first set apart for God and so you listen and you answer when I first began I've been teaching since 1973 and when I first began people would walk up with Bible questions and I didn't how would I have answers I didn't have them yet I had to learn and so very early I learned to to say if somebody had a question I very early learned to say to them you know I don't have an answer for that but give me some time and I'll look it up for you and that's what set me on the road of studying because I'd be sharing and somebody would ask and I would say I really I can't really answer that one but let me look and I still remember I was with Pastor Chuck Smith we were in Israel and I approached him once and I said Pastor I want to ask you a question where is that story about and I gave him a story and I remember Pastor Chuck just looking at me going hmm it was Dave I don't I really at the moment I really can't remember and I said gee thanks pastor and he didn't know why I was excited I thought and he's taught the Bible 10, 15 times the whole book he's taught it several times and he doesn't know that made me feel good if he doesn't know it's okay for me to be a lung kid you know it's okay you know and I learned that I began to learn that fairly early you know if somebody asked you a question guys don't make up an answer something that you think may be true don't do that just say look at give me some time I'll look it up I'll get the answer for you they'll respect you for it and it will help you to learn to study on your own and that's how the Lord did it with me people will come and ask me questions people knocking on doors a Mormon or a Jehovah's Witness very often would knock on a door or I'd speak to somebody who was was part of you know various cults that are out there and they would approach me and they'd say things to me and I'd listen to them and I'd go and research answers and be prepared to share next time I encounter somebody of that persuasion and that's how I did it that's how I still do it to this day to this day I still have people ask me questions that I can't answer and I'll do the same I still do I'll just say let me get back to you and I'll go and I'll look it up and I'll try and find the proper answer for them it helps them but it helps me too and so be prepared to give an answer concerning the hope that lies within you but do it with gentleness we do it with a kindness with a gentle spirit, a meekness about us we're not shoving truth down people's throats we're sharing with them what the truth is and the truth once again will set them free and we need to know that we need to set our heart apart it's like what it says in Proverbs 4.23 keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are all issues of life and so we're to be prepared to give an answer we need to know not only knowing in whom but also in what we believe we need to be ready to give a verbal defense we need to give a reason statement so it takes some time so know what you believe be prepared to share that comes through reading that comes through studying the word that comes through solid Bible teaching and so he finally says in verse 6 in this manner you will be prepared to answer each one so read the word attend studies pray for opportunities and be prepared so that when someone asks you can answer