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Watch in Prayer

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; withal 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.”
(Colossians 4:2-3)

This strong command is composed of the Greek term gregoreuo, meaning “vigilant” or “alert.” A similar emphasis is at the end of the classic passage identifying the armor of God: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching [agrupneo, “be awake”] thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

Our watching must also be with a conscious attitude of thanksgiving during “every remembrance” of each other (Philippians 1:3), particularly since the intercessory request should be focused on asking our Lord Jesus to provide an open door (Revelation 3:8). The Lord is indeed the One who opens the door, but the process for obtaining His action is recorded in Luke 11:9-11. We must ask for the gift of the open door, seek to find the door that He is opening, and then knock once we are at the door that He is ready to open for us.

However, as Paul notes, when the Lord opens a “door of utterance,” the spoken Word of God conveys the power of God, and that message and its power will bring the attention of the enemy. “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9).

Any fear that might lurk in our minds should be overridden by the necessity to be spokespeople for this wonderful “mystery of Christ.” There is no “salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). HMM III

To Be or Not to Be

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

“To be” verbs, in their various forms and tenses, enjoy wide usage throughout Scripture. Verses employing them, as they relate to us, contain many of the greatest and most precious truths. Consider the following sampling.

Past tense: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God” (v. 10). “You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). “You, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” (Colossians 1:21).

Present tense: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven” (Romans 4:7). “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation” (1 Peter 1:5). “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10). “Beloved, now are we the sons of God” (1 John 3:2). “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him” (Colossians 2:9-10). Note also our text verse.

Future tense: “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads...and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-5). JDM

Drawn to Jesus

“Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

Picture the scene. Jesus hangs on a cross between two criminals—all three aware they are dying. One scoffs, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us” (Luke 23:39). The other thief counters, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly…but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (vv. 40-43). The scoffing thief wanted an earthly miracle—the second sought a heavenly miracle.

Jesus didn’t try to convert the second thief but waited for the man to turn to Him. No one explained the gospel to the thief; he was simply drawn to Jesus. The man knew Jesus had committed no crime. He hung there for another reason. Jesus was more than a miracle-working rabbi; He was a king and had a kingdom. And despite the man’s great sin, Jesus heard his cry and fully accepted him. The worst thing that had ever happened to the thief became the best thing—a great reversal!

As Jesus hung there dying for countless people, He specifically cared for one particular person at that moment—the thief beside him. We are like him, condemned and dying. May we also be drawn to the Son of God. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).

Jesus waits for us to turn to Him as He sits enthroned next to His Father. “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God” (Romans 8:34). Jesus’ love draws us to Him. “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance” (Romans 2:4), and He will never reject His children! MJS

Maker and Owner

“I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.” (Jeremiah 27:5)

“The earth, the man and the beast” are the three entities that God is said to have “created” (Hebrew bara—note Genesis 1:1, 21, 27) in the Genesis account of creation. However, they are also said in Genesis to have been “made” (Hebrew asah—note Genesis 1:25-26; 2:4), and that is the emphasis in our text above. Of course, both aspects were accomplished in the six days of the creation week, after which God “rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:3). This statement makes it abundantly plain that the present processes of nature do not “create” (call into existence out of nothing) or “make” (build up into more complex forms) anything, as our modern theistic evolutionists and evangelical uniformitarians allege. God has rested from both of these works, except in occasional miraculous intervention in the present laws and processes of nature.

Because God created and made all things, He also “owns” all things. “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). “The LORD hath made all things for himself” (Proverbs 16:4).

Therefore, all that we possess—as individuals or as nations—has simply been entrusted to us as God’s stewards, and “every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). Without a doubt this accounting will be of our handling of our goods, minds, and opportunities, among other things, for “it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). Let us be thankful, not covetous, and industrious, not slothful, in everything He has entrusted to us. HMM

The Sleeper

“Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” (Ephesians 5:14)

The message in our text provides an attention-getting warning to those who claim to be Christians but indulge in or even allow the evil practices of Ephesians 5:3-7. A Christian does not, and indeed cannot, live a life of fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, or jesting (vv. 3-4), for no such person “hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God...for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (vv. 5-6). Those who practice such things are “fools” (v. 15).

While we as Christians must always be willing to bring the saving message of God’s grace to the sinner, we must not be “partakers with them” (v. 7) in their sins and indeed must “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” (v. 11). Instead, we must “reprove them” (v. 11), pointing out the consequences of their actions and focusing their attention on Christ, who “hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (v. 2) in payment for their penalty. All that must be done is to accept this forgiveness. In doing so, we who are “light in the Lord” (v. 8) will shed light in their darkness, for “all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light” (v. 13).

As children of the light (v. 8), our lives must exhibit the “fruit of the Spirit...goodness and righteousness and truth” (v. 9). We must prove “what is acceptable unto the Lord” (v. 10), “walk[ing] circumspectly,...wise[ly]” (v. 15), “redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (v. 16). The sleeper in our text, whether he be an unbeliever or a professing Christian, is asleep—locked in moral insensibility. “Awake, sleeper!” Paul would say, “and accept the God-given remedy for your plight!” JDM

Continue in the Faith

“If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” (Colossians 1:23)

In our text, “the faith” insists on a particular body of doctrine that defines the Christian life. For instance, as Paul and Barnabas were returning from their initial missionary effort, they went back to each area “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith” (Acts 14:22).

There are nearly 50 occurrences in the New Testament where “the faith” is used in this way. These references always speak of obedience to specific teachings that embrace the core of the godly lifestyle that represents holiness and the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Thus, one who is “grounded and settled” in the faith will be both knowledgeable and stable in his Christian testimony and ministry.

It is necessary, of course, to build on the foundation of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:11), but only the “gold, silver, precious stones” have any lasting value (1 Corinthians 3:12-15) —hence the requirement in Jude: “It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).

Furthermore, those who continue in the faith will not be “moved away from the hope of the gospel.” That hope acts as “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19) and is the drive that motivates us to maintain a pure lifestyle (1 John 3:3). “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). HMM III

Reconciled

“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.” (Colossians 1:21-22)

The reconciliation act abolishes one condition and establishes another. We were “aliens...from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Our “understanding [was] darkened” due to our hearts’ blindness (Ephesians 4:18). We were enemies whose “friendship of the world” made us at “enmity with God” (James 4:4).

We are reconciled now. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Indeed, we are also “saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:10-11), and are to be presented as a “chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). Both individually and collectively, we are “being built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5) who will “shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

We can be absolutely sure that once we are reconciled— our alien state abolished and adoption secured—our Lord Jesus remains the “merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). Reconciliation ensures that the Lord Jesus Himself will “stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11). HMM III

The Good Fight

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

The beautiful World War II Memorial in the nation’s capital was dedicated in 2004, honoring the more than 400,000 who gave their lives in that conflict (including this writer’s younger brother). This particular holiday, of course, originally known as Armistice Day, had been established many years before to commemorate the end of World War I and to honor the veterans of that war.

There have been many other wars in our nation’s history and many who have served and many who have died. They all “have fought a good fight” and “kept the faith” of our nation’s commitment to establish “liberty and justice for all” and to maintain this ideal in every generation. They fully merit our honor and heartfelt gratitude.

There is another good fight going on, of course, every day in the life of each believing Christian. The apostle Paul never served as a soldier in any human army, but he was often called on to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3). As a matter of fact, each of us must remember that “unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29).

That suffering may be actual persecution or even injury or death on a battlefield, but it could also be poverty or sickness or some other “messenger of Satan” (2 Corinthians 12:7) sent to test and alienate us from the Lord. But then we can hear the Lord say, as with Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Whatever comes, may God help us to be able to say in that day, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” HMM

Four Marks of Life Done Well

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” (John 17:4)

Our Lord Jesus describes in John 17 four summaries of how He stewarded His life before His crucifixion. Each one offers an example for us.

First, He glorified the Father. Do we give God the Father glory, or credit, throughout the day, out loud, and even in our hearts? After all, He made us and loves us.

Second, Jesus finished the work that the Father had given Him to do. One of the main works Jesus did was to love His disciples until the end. He made them the pillars of the church. Praise the Father that He gave His Son that work to do! Praise the Son who finished it so that we could hear the gospel in order to be saved from our sins and so we could have fellowship with other believers! Are we faithfully finishing the work He has given us?

Third, Jesus said, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world” (v. 6). “Manifest” here is translated from phaneróo. It means to make visible or real. Jesus made His Father’s name visible to His disciples by obeying the Father every moment. Do we manifest His name by submitting our time, talent, and desires to the Father?

Last, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me” (v. 8). “Words” here does not necessarily mean Bible verses but words fitly spoken (aloud) for His disciples’ growth. For example, “let your speech be always with grace” (Colossians 4:6). May it be said of us who prayerfully glorify the Father, finish His work, manifest His name, and speak His words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). BDT

Wrap Yourself in Godliness

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another.” (Colossians 3:12-13)

The verb choice in this portion of the command is different from those used earlier. Here the word is enduo, which describes “sinking down” into a garment. It is most often used of a robe or seamless cloak that covers the whole body (Mark 1:6; Matthew 27:31; John 19:23).

There are several passages that allude to this total change of behavior—like enveloping oneself in a body-covering cloak.

    “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14).
    “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
    “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

Perhaps an even more precise picture is what happens to us when we are brought into the resurrected and eternal condition that is “like” the Lord Jesus (1 John 3:2). Then we will “put on incorruption” and “put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54).

The character traits of God cannot coexist with the “members” of flesh, which must be “mortified” (Colossians 3:5). Neither can godliness control our minds when evil thoughts dominate. They must be put off. Yet, for us to put on the character of God, we must “glue” the character traits identified in today’s text together by charity (love) and let God’s peace rule in our hearts. Even then, the word of Christ must dwell in our lives richly, so much so that whatsoever we do “in word or deed” is done in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:14-17). HMM III