23. In Missions – Send the Light!

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Hymns: RHC 460 Send the Light! 461 O Zion, Haste 462 We’ve a Story to Tell

Colossians 4:2-18

2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; 3 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: 4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. 

7 All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord: 8 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate, and comfort your hearts; 9With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here. 10 Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;) 11 And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. 12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.13 For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis. 14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. 15 Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. 18The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. <Written from Rome to Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus.>

In Missions – Send the Light!

OUTLINE

In Missions – Send the Light! (Col. 4:2-18)

  • Pray for Open Door (v2-4)
  • Spirit-Led and Urgency (v5)
  • Equipping (v6)
  • Fellow Labourers (v7-18)

INTRODUCTION

The pre-eminence of Christ in the outreach of the church in Gospel Mission is the focus in this final section of our study. 

Let us recap: 

Message 1-2

Introduction – Established as a Church (Col. 1:1-8)

  • By the Truth of the Gospel (v1-5)
  • By the Grace of God (v6)
  • By the Faithful Ministry (v7-8)

Message 3-8

In your Testimony – Jesus Bids Us Shine! (Col. 1:9-23)

  • Glowing For Jesus (v9-14)
  • Grounded in Him (v15-23)

Messages 9

In Your Relationships (1) – What is friendship to you? (Col. 2:1-10)

  • Who are the right friends? (v1-3)
  • Beware of getting the wrong friends! (v4—8)
  • Who is your best Friend? (v9-10)

Message 10-11

In your Church-Life – O Happy Day!

  • Consecrated and Baptised (v11-15)
  • Worldly Influence Creeping Into the Church (v16-22)

Message 12-13

In Your Affection – In Christ, Off the World (Col. 3:1-4)

  • Your New Status with Christ (v1-2)
    • Your New Life with Christ (v3)
    • Your Future Glory with Christ (v4)

Message 14-17

In Your Purity – Take Time to Be Holy (Col. 3:5-13)

     (1) Put Off the Old Man (v5-9)

     (2) Put On the New Man (v10-17) 

Message 18-21

In Your Relationships (2) – Sacred Roles (Col. 3:18-4:1)

  • Familial (v18-21)
    • Wife (v18)
    • Husband (v19)
    • Children (v20)
    • Father (v21)
  • Work (v22-24; Col. 4:1)
    • Servant (v22-24)
    • Master (Col. 4:1)
  • Pray for Open Door (v2-4)

2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; 3 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: 4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

The infant church in Jerusalem were gathered for prayer 10 days before the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit mightily descended to inaugurate the New Testament Church in her outreach.

Recall in our study of the Acts of the Apostles in Acts 1:12-15 – United in Prayer is our message, we saw in Leonard Ravenhill’s classic on Revival entitled “Why Revival Tarries” wrote, “The Cinderella of the church today is the prayer meeting. This handmaid of the Lord unloved and unwooed because she is not dripping with the pearls of intellectualism, nor glamorous with the silks of philosophy; neither is she enchanting with the tiara of psychology. She wears the homespun of sincerity and humility and so is not afraid to kneel!”

He says, “…prayer is conditioned by one thing alone that that is spirituality… no man is greater than his prayer life… the people who are not praying are straying. We have many organizers but few agonizers… the highest ministry of all human offices is open to all is the ministry of prayer. This is a ministry of prayer… But the spiritual adolescents say, “I’ll not go tonight, its only the prayer meeting. Satan from past experiences sting him to rally all his infernal army to ight against God’s people praying.”

We said dear friends, to be much for God we must be much with God. Prayer is to the believer what capital is to the business man. God is not prodigal with His power. Its because we do not seek Him, we have no power, no power to live a victorious Christian life, no vision and no passion! A sinning man will stop praying and a praying man will stop sinning. God wants us to be bankrupt and beggared before Him to plead for His blessing and unction without which we maintain merely a life in the flesh.

The infant church in Jerusalem in her prayer life has much to impart to a local church like ours.

Coming to Pray (Acts 1:12-13a)

12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. 13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room…

Members of the infant church witnessed the ascension of Jesus Christ from the Mount of Olives. It was a spectular event to see our Lord ascending and a cloud received Him out of sight. If you are Christ’s disciples who walked with the Master for 3 ½ years in His ministry on earth, the parting must be hard.

Just like the departure of a parent who has taken care of you since you are a baby. Unable to help yourself. You are nourished with milk from the mother’s breast. You are fed with the formula milk that the father or mother has to prepare every three hours. Singing to you, talking to you, bringing you up to the physical and spiritual stature that you are today. I speak perhaps of a spiritual mentor, someone who has seen to your needs, taught you about life, blessed you with healing physical and spiritual through the power of the gospel. That parting is tearful.

What more, this is the Son of God. The One who imparted eternal life to you. The One who healed you or a member of your family. You recall Jesus always went to Bethany when He goes to Jerusalem. There was the family of Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. Lazarus died. Jesus wept. He was four days late. But when did Jesus do? He came and He cause Lazarus to be resurrected from the dead. If you are Mary and Martha, would you be very grateful to this Man Jesus who did the impossible! He restored the joy in the family when they were filled with sorrow.

Jesus had already before His departure commanded through the Holy Spirit, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem. That are to be assembled together. 

The group met together in an upstairs room of a private home in Jerusalem. Quite a sizable room that could accommodate 120 people. 

It is roughly 10 days between Jesus’ ascension and the Holy Spirit filling the disciples. The disciples devoted themselves to prayer. They met together in a private room where they spend long hours together calling to the Lord.

The disciples were obedient to the Master’s instruction. They could not see why they were called to do what they were doing but they were obedient to the Master’s instruction. I would surmise they were a frightened lot. The Master was treated cruelly as a criminal and crucified by the Roman authorities with the support of the Jewish establishment. 

This is the infant church is its form and structure. We see that this is the foremost activity of the infant church. They came together to prayer. They needed guidance. God has to direct show them the way. As one pastor puts it, “When we work, we work, when we pray God works.”

4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 

Verse 4-5 is a description of the congregation or gathering of the disciples of Christ in Jerusalem for prayer awaiting for the instruction through the guiding energy of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit is received by concerted corporate and personal prayer. The disciples were told to be waiting upo the Lord in believing prayer!

We see here the process of rounding the flock of God and keeping them together. Jesus was in the midst of them. 

The word for the phrase “being assembled together” is the opposite of the word “to scatter”. 

John 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

The Apostles whom Jesus had chosen and trained during His time on earth, met their Lord in His resurrection body, instructed them to gather the sheep together. The “passive” nature of the sheep is conveyed here, they had to be gathered and they had to be instructed not to depart, wander off, but held together by prayer.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, Head of the Church, the Great Shepherd of the sheep gathered the core leadership of His flock at the Mount of Olives to witness His ascension, the nucleus of the infant church, were assembled together, where Jesus presented Himself alove attested to His resurrection life to give them the Great Commission (Acts 1:8).

There was an appointed season of united prayer to receive divine directions from the throne of grace where our Lord is, seated at the right hand of God. Surely, the disciples were at a loss with the ascension of their leader to heaven but their Lord, the Holy One of Israel, did not leave them without instruction for their guidance, they were to wait in prayer, as the prophet Isaiah aptly recorded in

Isaiah 48:14, 17 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear…Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 that “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. This power is mine, Jesus said and I will give you that power by being with you in Matthew 28:20, “and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

So, the co-labouring with God began with prayer. It is the promise taught in Acts 1:4.  

Comrades in Prayer (Acts 1:13b-15)

…where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) 

We see here as one pastor puts it “a beautiful assembly of humble people”. 

The key phrase there is “with one accord”. It is described 6 times in Acts 1:14, 2:1, 44, 46, 4:26, 5:12, 15:25.

There was among these believers’ wonderful unity that bound them together, the kind of unity Christians need today.

Galatians 3:28 (KJV) 28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 133:1-3 (KJV) 1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2  It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3  As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. 

The promise is of God. Our duty is to wait patiently until He comes, like a child for his father to come home when told to do so – “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

This corporate waiting is by united and earnest prayer (supplication). A prayer meeting at which members are inwardly at odds with one another, is powerless. It is electricity short circuited. When it is earnestly pursued with one accord, with one mind and heart, “it availeth much” (James 5:16). “Now the God ofpatience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6). Women play a vital role in prayer as seen in verse 14.

2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; 

The word “continue” is in a command to do continually. The Apostle Paul exhorted the church in Colosse to persevere in prayer. Nothing could be accomplished in spiritual work but by prayer. Watch – to be watchful in, employ the most punctilious care in a thing. It means literally “to arise, arouse”. To watch, to refrain from sleep. It was transferred in meaning from the physical to the moral religious sphere (Matt. 26:38, 40, 41) in Christ’s words to His disciples in Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:38 (KJV) Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

Matthew 26:40-41 (KJV) And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

It denotes attention (Mark 13:34) to God’s revelation or to the knowledge of salvation (1 Thess. 5:6); a mindfulness of threatening dangers which, with conscious earnestness and an alert mind, keeps it from all drowsiness and all slackening in the energy of faith and conduct (Matt. 26:40; Mark 14:34, 37, 38; 1 Thess. 5:6; 1 Pet. 5:8).

Mark 13:32 (KJV) But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

Mark 13:33 (KJV) Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Mark 13:34 (KJV) For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

Mark 13:35-37 (KJV) Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 (KJV) Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

1 Peter 5:8 (KJV) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

It denotes the caution needed against anxiety resulting from the fear of the loss of one’s salvation (1 Cor. 16:13; Col. 4:2; Rev. 16:15); the worry over the salvation and preservation of others (Acts 20:31; Rev. 3:2, 3). 

The general attitude of alertness on the part of the Christian believer, in view of actual or imminent tests of his spiritual life, is inculcated through the verb grēgoréō (Matt. 24:42, 43; 25:13; 26:38, 40, 41; Mark 13:35; 14:34, 37, 38; Luke 12:37, 39). This involves the duty of vigilance combined with prayer in regard either to a certain day or hour when the Son of man shall arrive, or to some actual crisis or trial (especially the agony of Gethsemane), or as a preparation for some impending temptation. 

In Acts 20:31 it is found in the exhortation by Paul to the elders at Miletus in view of the apostasy that has taken place or may be repeated under the influence of “fierce wolves”. The duty of alertness as opposed to a slack or sleepy spirit is proclaimed in 1 Cor. 16:13; Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:6; 1 Pet. 5:8; Rev. 3:2, 3; 16:15. In 1 Thess. 5:6 and 1 Pet. 5:8, the verb “to watch” is combined with nḗphō (G3525), to exercise discretion or to be sober, which in 2 Tim. 4:5 and 1 Pet. 4:7 is translated, “be watchful” or “watch.”

However, nḗphō means to be temperant or sober (originally to avoid intoxication, the abuse [not proper use] of alcohol). It conveys the sense of calmness or coolness prepared for any emergency and arising out of abstinence from what will excite rather than the more general self-control of egkráteia (G1466), continence, and sōphrosúnē (G4997), soberness or sobriety or the limitation of one’s freedom. Watchfulness or watching indicates that the Christian is alert or vigilant in order to defend himself against a spiritual foe. He is properly prepared for any surprise or sudden change in his circumstances, and above all, in order that his fellowship with God in prayer may be undistracted and efficacious.

Deriv.: diagrēgoréō, to be awake.

Syn.: agrupnéō, keep awake; blépō, to take heed, beware; horáō, behold, take heed; proséchō, turn one’s attention to, take heed; epéchō, to give attention to, give heed; skopéō, to watch, look, take heed; phulássō, to guard.

[Complete Word Study of the New Testament] 

3 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: 4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

Withal – at the same time. The Apostle Paul exhorted the church to pray that the Lord may open the door for the gospel work to advance. 

He was in prison, yet he was praying, amidst in carceration for the advancement of the gospel. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry gave Nicodemus in that life-transforming meeting by night the reason for His coming to earth, the reason of His mission, why He had to enter human history when in said in John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  

The mission was single. It was to save a perishing world. The message was simple – believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The means was through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told Nicodemus and I shall quote the old saying to paraphrase Nicodemus’ conversation with Jesus in John chapter 3, “He that is born twice will die once and He that is born once will die twice.” Jesus told Nicodemus “ye must be born again”! Nicodemus said, “How can a born be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus explained to him “no”. A born-again person has not only physical life but also spiritual life. Nicodemus does not understand. Jesus had to explain. He that is born again has not just physical life but spiritual life, life with God. Not just this three-dimensional existence but a spiritual life, spiritually enabled to commune with the God of heaven. He would be able to see and enter the kingdom of God, to become a child of God.

He will not suffer God’s judgment of eternal death in hell fire but will die just the physical death. But he that is born once, only with physical life will die the physical death and what the Bible calls the second death in hell fire. A frightening prospect!

Nicodemus was still puzzled. He asked Jesus what do you mean to be born of water and of the Spirit? He could not understand what is spiritual life.

Jesus illustrated the Holy Spirit by the illustration of the wind. 

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

The wind is invisible but you know that it is there because you could feel its breeze. You can understand if a person has spiritual life when he has the power to overcome sin in his life whereas before he does not have.

The Holy Spirit power came when the good news was preached by our Lord Himself to Nicodemus and he was gloriously saved, this is a picture of the power of God to save a soul to usher them from everlasting torment in hell fire to everlasting life in heaven. Jesus explained this phenomenon of the Holy Spirit as a wind that blows and you can feel its presence in the changed life of a person.

Jesus is now ascended to heaven. Before His ascension, He inaugurated the plan to save this perishing world and He tells them that it will be by the power of the Holy Spirit and He promised them before His ascension that this power will come upon them in a mighty fashion. They are to wait upon Him in prayer and the study of His Word till He would endue them with power.

The infant church in Jerusalem followed our Lord instruction. They were obedient to His call. They were willing to give up all to follow their Master. As we mentioned, Jerusalem is not exactly a safe place given the fact that their Master has just be tried and crucified as a common criminal. Why?

They saw the risen Christ. Jesus died and rose from the dead. He was alive as He said He would conquer death for us! Spiritual death! He that is born with physical life and spiritual life die once, the physical death, but not the spiritual dead or second death in hell fire. Jesus’ rising from the dead tells us that all who die in Christ will be given a new body like Jesus’s resurrected body when He comes again. They saw their Master and they felt Him and even ate with Him and were obedient to His instruction awaiting this promise of power that will come upon them by the Holy Spirit’s filling that will be witnesses for Him from Jerusalem to all the nations of the world.

The time has finally come to inaugurate this plan.

Mighty Movement of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4)

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

The scene is at the Upper Room where the disciples were praying for the last 10 days. It was on the day of Pentecost.

There was a sudden movement, a surprise to everyone in the room. Though the disciples were told to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, when it came it caught them by surprise. There was described a noise, a violent rushing wind.

Mighty Witnessing for the Works of God (Acts 2:5-13) 

5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

The open door came by a rushing mighty wind, the Spirit of God came, Peter preached and 5000 were saved that day. 

To be continued…