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CHRIST THE ROCK CONGREGATION
SUNDAY MAY 19, 2019
Sermon by Pasteur Marc E Simeon
Conduisez-vous avec sagesse envers ceux du dehors
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside
Colossiens 4 : 5-6
Col 4:5 ¶ Conduisez-vous avec sagesse envers ceux du dehors, et rachetez le temps.
6 Que votre parole soit toujours accompagnée de grâce, assaisonnée de sel, afin que vous sachiez comment il faut répondre à chacun.
Col 4:5 ¶ Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
BE CAREFUL IN YOUR CONDUCT
In Colossians 4:5 Paul advised the Christians to imply wisdom in the way they live their lives in front of the non-Christians.
- Non Christians want Christians to be Christians.
- They get very agitated when Christians try to mimic them.
- Christianity remains as an escape plan for them when they get ready to fix their lives.
- Most unconverted people think of salvation more often than we would imagine.
- They are timid to make the steps toward Jesus for many reasons.
- Some fear failure. They are afraid that they not be able to hold the faith.
- Some fear the lost of their freedom.
- Some fear the sacrifices involved
- Some fear the cross that is tagged to being a Christian.
- Some are trying to clean up their lives first before coming to Christ.
- To most unsaved people, the Christian faith is like a shot that one is advised to take for health benefit, but they are afraid of the needle piercing their bodies.
- Christians must be watchful in their conducts in front of the unsaved because they are the only open Bibles some will ever read.
- Non-Christians have many misconceptions about Christianity that can only be counteracted by an exhibition of authentic Christian living.
- Non-Christians have a load of expectations on professed Christians. We fail them a great deal when our behaviors contradict the faith we profess.
- For the benefits of the unsaved, Christians may find it wise to be restrictive in the usage of our Christian freedom fearing casting confusion to prospect to the faith.
- A Non-Christian won’t mind viewing a certain Christian as the standard for righteousness; based on how close he gets to replicate the Christian’s behavior, the closer he will feel to be with God.
- Because of the unbelievers:
- There are certain clothes the Christian cannot wear
- Certain positions you cannot hold in your job.
- Certain reactions you cannot make
- Certain words you cannot use
- Certain movies you cannot watch with them
- Certain activities you cannot take part of
- Certain jokes you cannot give
- Certain information you cannot share with them
- Certain insecurities you cannot express
- Certain grey areas you have to avoid
- Extra precautions you have to take in all your endeavors in order to foster faith in them.
- Unbelievers and baby Christians require the same care.
II. CHRISTIANS ARE TO BE CAREFUL ON HOW THEY RELATE THEMSELVES TO THE UNBELIEVERS
- The worst a Christian can do is to display a better than thou attitude to those in the world.
- The unconverted people are not subs of Christians; they are all candidates for salvation just as all Christians were formerly.
- They do not act like Christians neither should they, because they are not Christians.
- They cannot match a Christian’s piety because they do not yet have the grace to do so.
- They are enslaved to sin because they don’t yet have the Holy Spirit of God lording over their lives.
- They do not discern the things of God because the bible says that the natural man cannot discern the things of God even if they try hard.
- Remember that we were all dead in our trespasses. (Col 2:13)
CHRISTIANS NEED A MEASURE OF EMPATHY IN RELATING TO UNBELIEVERS
- Christians need to show empathy toward unbelievers so that we can show them that they are redeemable just like we were.
- Every sinner should know that the grace of God abounds exceedingly the level of their iniquity. (Rom 5:20)
- Every sinner should know about the inexhaustible love of God toward mankind.
- Christians ought to engrave the message of John 3:16 in the hearts of all unbelievers by stressing on the “love” and the “whosoever” parts of it.
CHRISTIANS NEED A MEASURE OF SYMPATHY IN RELATING TO UNBELIEVERS
- We need to have sympathy toward the unbelievers because, if, God forbid, they should die before making peace with God, their souls will surely go to hell.
- Christians should have sincere concerns about any soul that is nearing hell.
- Christians should make all sorts of desperate pleas in the attempt to reroute a soul who is presently destined to hell.
- The love, the care, the concern, and the reaching out to the unsaved must all be genuine.
- Christians ought to keep the line of communication open to sinners and seize all opportunities to usher them the grace of God.
Col 4:5 ¶ Conduisez-vous avec sagesse envers ceux du dehors, et rachetez le temps.
Col 4:5 ¶ Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
RACHETEZ LE TEMPS / REDEEMING THE TIME
- Make the best use of the time you get left
- Make the best use of the opportunities as they avail themselves
- Make the best use of your time to amass treasures for heaven.
- Make the best investment of your time with eternity in mind
- Be discriminative of your time so that you can invest it in what profits the most.
- Think of time as a student taking a long exam in a limited time frame.
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- Answer the questions that are for maximum points
- Answer the questions that you know for certain
- Answer the easy questions
- Take on the hard questions
- Take time to answer the not sure questions
- Guest the rest
- Return the paper before the time expires.
- Christians ought to make good economy of their time, aiming to make the most of it.
- The past is gone and cannot be retrieved of edited
- The future is not certain
- The present is only ours for a glimpse until it evaporates to the past.
- Christians ought to use their time with the perspectives of eternity just like the ant is so mindful of winter in the summer time.
Colossiens 4 :6 Que votre parole soit toujours accompagnée de grâce, assaisonnée de sel, afin que vous sachiez comment il faut répondre à chacun.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
GRACE IS REQUIRED IN THE SPEECHES OF THE BELIEVER
- Speeches are echoes of the heart.
- The speeches of the believer ought to be lubricated with grace.
- Believers ought to watch their mouth.
- Watch what comes out of your mouth
- Watch in what tonality you speak to people
- Watch the quality of your speech
- Watch the content of your speech
- Watch the intent of your speech
- Watch the impact of your speech
- Watch how you say the truth
- Watch even the reason why you say the truth
- Watch to see if your speech is edifying, confusing or condemning its recipients.
- Watch how much love is conveyed in your speeches.
THE SPEECHES OF THE BELIEVER TO BE SEASONNED WITH SALT
- Until salt is added, some food appears tasteless; same wise for human conversation, when it lacks a proper measure of dignity, the words seems tasteless.
- Salt is used to improve the taste of food
- Salt is used for preservation purposes
- Add salt in your speeches to inspire greatness
- Add salt in your speeches to inspire courage
- Add salt in your speeches to inspire joy
- Add salt in your speeches to inspire faith and hope
- Add salt in your speeches to inspire freedom from the dominion of sin
- Add salt in your speeches to lure people to Christ
- Add salt in your speeches to make this world a better place to live.
THE SALT MUST BE MEASURED
- Too much or too little salt always have negative results.
- Too little salt in your speeches gives room to question the genuineness of one’s heart.
- Too little salt in your speeches makes you a pragmatic person with lack of conviction.
- Too much salt is a double negative
- Too much salt in the speech shows that one cares more about the taste of the salt than the food it was suppose to season.
- Don’t ever preach because the word of God must be preach, but preach to attract people to God.
- Too much salt in the speeches signals the presence of an overzealous and irrational fanatic.
Colossiens 4 :6 Que votre parole soit toujours accompagnée de grâce, assaisonnée de sel, afin que vous sachiez comment il faut répondre à chacun.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
COMMENT REPONDRE A CHACUN / HOW TO APPOPRIATE YOUR ANSWER TO EACH INDIVIDUAL.
- There is no “one size fits all” in conversation.
- A child, an adult, a superior, a brother, a friend, a business partner, a co-worker require each a different rule of engagement.
- The Christian is indebted to oil all his conversations with grace and season them with salt.
- Grace stands for kindness, tenderness, caring, loving, mercy, etc.
- Salt stands for truth, principle, righteousness, justice, piety, common sense, etc.
- With the help of God, he must adjust to each individual while seeking to administer the correct dosage and the correct mixture.
- Paul made himself all to all in order to same all.
RECAP
Col 4:5 ¶ Conduisez-vous avec sagesse envers ceux du dehors, et rachetez le temps. 6 Que votre parole soit toujours accompagnée de grâce, assaisonnée de sel, afin que vous sachiez comment il faut répondre à chacun.
Col 4:5 ¶ Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
- In recap, let us remember the manifold of blessings that contain these two verses in Colossians 4 verses 5 and 6.
- Christians to be watchful and mindful toward the non Christians, for we are their first impressions of God.
- Time a most precious commodity must be used with wisdom
- Our conversation to be lubricated with grace and season with salt
- In order to enhance our communication of the Gospel
- May God help us to do a retrospect in our own lives in order to discover how we have influenced the unbelievers thus far.
- Let us ask God to give us more grace in our speeches
- And more boldness to stand for righteousness and virtue in all our conversations.
- And finally the wisdom on how to appropriate to each individual in our presentation or in our defense of the gospel.
- May God add His Grace to His Word.
Amen!
Pasteur Marc Simeon 