April 16, 2025 • 41 mins
Why do so many Christians seem to treat prayer so casually? Could it be that we have forgotten that we are in a spiritual battle and that the stakes are eternal? In this message from Colossians 4:2–18, we’re reminded that prayer is not simply a means of asking God to give us the things we want. It’s a privilege we have of asking God to carry out his will amid a spiritual battle for the souls of men. Find out what it means to use prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie.
Explore more content from Radical.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a
weekly podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
If you have a Bible and I hopeyou or somebody around you does
that you can look on with.
Let me invite you to open withme to Colossians, chapter 4.
I want to put a picture in yourmind.
Today, I have in my hand awalkie-talkie from World War II,
(00:25):
so that's when walkie-talkieswere invented.
This mechanism obviouslytechnology has come a long way
You're not putting this in yourpocket but invented for the
first time for troops on theground, but invented for the
first time for troops on theground to be able to communicate
(00:46):
with their commander general'sheadquarters, and it was
revolutionary, when it came tobattle, to be able to
communicate in that way.
Now I wanna be super carefulfrom the very beginning when
using wartime imagery.
I in no way wanna communicatethat we as Christians are
(01:07):
supposed to be militant in aphysical way or even in terms of
a culture war, but the Bibleclearly teaches that we are all
engaged in our lives, inspiritual battle, and this
applies whether you're aChristian or not.
There is an adversary, the devil, who is actively working to
(01:30):
destroy your life and yourfamily and your future.
The Bible teaches we have allturned from God and his ways to
ourselves and our own ways.
The Bible calls that sin anddescribes all of us as held
captive to sin that leads todeath.
(01:51):
And if we die in this state ofcaptivity to sin apart from God,
we will experience eternaldeath and suffering.
And Satan, the devil, wants allof us to experience everlasting
suffering.
But the good news of the Bibleis that God loves us and has
(02:14):
made a way for us to be forgivenof our sin and freed from
captivity to experience eternallife in Jesus, now and forever.
What this all means is that welive every day on the front
lines of spiritual battle, andthis plays out in all of our
lives, even as followers ofJesus, with temptations to sin,
(02:38):
with battles to believe thatwhich is true and not lies or
deceptions from the enemy.
And it also plays out inspiritual battles that involve
others' lives, people who are atthis moment still separated
from God and don't know Jesusand are on a road that leads to
(02:59):
everlasting suffering.
So obviously not in a militantway, but with love and
compassion and with the gospelthe greatest news in the world
of freedom from sin toexperience eternal life.
We give our lives on the frontlines of battle to making this
gospel known, and God has givenus a method of communication.
(03:21):
So now make the connection amethod of communication on the
ground to be in contact with himat all times as our commander.
And that method ofcommunication is called what
Prayer.
So John Piper is the firstperson I ever heard use this
illustration of prayer as awartime walkie-talkie.
So I'm going to quote here fromhis book Let the Nations Be
(03:45):
Glad.
I would highly recommend it onmission in the Christian life.
And he writes probably thenumber one reason prayer
malfunctions in the hands ofbelievers is that we try to turn
a wartime walkie-talkie into adomestic intercom.
Prayer, he writes, is for theaccomplishment of a wartime
mission.
It's as though the fieldcommander, jesus, called in the
(04:08):
troops, gave them a crucialmission go and make disciples of
all the nations, handed each ofthem a personal transmitter
coded to the frequency of thegeneral's headquarters and said
comrades, the general has amission for you.
He aims to see it, and then hewrites advice.
(04:47):
And to send air cover when youneed it.
And then he writes.
But what have millions ofChristians done.
We've stopped believing that weare in a war.
No urgency, no watching, novigilance, no strategic planning
, just easy peace and prosperity.
And what did we do with thewalkie talkie?
We tried to rig it up as anintercom in our houses and
cabins and boats and cars, notto call in firepower for
(05:10):
conflict with a mortal enemy,but to ask for more comforts in
the den.
And today I wanna show you inGod's word that this is what
prayer is for, in a way that Ihope will totally transform your
understanding of prayer, andthat this week we're gonna put
(05:33):
it into practice with love forpeople around us, realizing we
are in a spiritual battle andthe stakes are infinitely high.
So so one more quote from PiperMost people show by their
priorities and their casualapproach to spiritual things
(05:54):
that they believe we are inpeacetime, not wartime.
Very few people think that we'rein a war that is greater than
World War II or than anyimaginable nuclear war.
Few reckon that Satan is a muchworse enemy than any earthly
foe, or realize that theconflict is not restricted to
any one global theater, but isin every town and city in the
(06:15):
world.
Who considers that thecasualties of this war do not
merely lose an arm or an eye oran earthly life, but lose
everything, even their own souls, and enter a hell of
everlasting torment.
Until we feel the force of this, we will not pray as we ought.
We will not even know whatprayer is.
(06:37):
Is that true that we won't evenknow what prayer is if we're
not using it like a wartimewalkie-talkie?
Well, let's look at God's word,colossians, chapter four, verse
two Continue steadfastly inprayer, being watchful in it,
(06:59):
with thanksgiving At the sametime.
Pray also for us that God mayopen to us a door for the word
to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in
prison, that I may make it clearwhich is how I ought to speak.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the
(07:20):
time.
Let your speech always begracious, seasoned with salt, so
that you may know how you oughtto answer each person.
So did you see that there aretwo imperative verbs in the
verses?
We just read two commands thatGod gives us here, through Paul,
who is writing, by the way,from prison where he has been
(07:42):
chained for spreading the gospel, and he gives two commands
Continues steadfastly in prayer,pray.
So that's the first command,and then the second one is walk
in wisdom toward outsiders asyou speak to them.
So pray as you walk, walk andtalk Walkie-talkie Colossians,
(08:12):
chapter 4.
So here's how I would put it.
If you're taking notes, hearwhat God's Word is saying to us
today.
Two commands, so.
One is this, just to make itsimple Talk to God about people
(08:33):
Constantly.
That's the picture here.
Continue conversation with Godall the time you don't turn off
a walkie-talkie, you don't sayCaptain, not gonna be talking to
you anymore.
It's always, always there.
You're always in communication,being watchful what a great
(08:54):
description of prayer.
Looking around you, talkingwith God about it.
God, I see this, I'm praying.
I see that I'm praying.
I see this person Praying forthem.
See that person praying forthem.
That person doesn't know Jesuspraying for them.
That person's walking throughthis.
I'm praying for them.
It's continual calling out toGod.
God, I don't understand what'shappening around me right now.
Help me to see through youreyes, not my own eyes.
(09:14):
Being watchful withthanksgiving, I love it, always
looking for evidences of God'sgrace around you.
Oh Lord, god, general, I seeyour goodness there.
Praise you for that.
Thank you for being near to me,not leaving me alone in that
battle.
Thank you Paul's writing, evenin prison, helping me in every
(09:36):
way I need, which then leadsinto the next two verses.
At the same time, pray also forus.
Paul says mean those who arewith me that God may open to us
a door for the Word to declarethe mystery of Christ, on
account of which I am in prison,that I may make it clear which
is how I ought to speak.
This is amazing.
Make sure you understand.
See what is happening here.
(09:58):
God.
Paul is saying pray that Godwill open a door.
So this is language the Bibleuses elsewhere to describe God
making a way, in particularplaces or people's hearts, for
the word of God to go.
So he says pray for an opendoor for the word to spread
(10:20):
specifically the mystery ofChrist.
You're like, what does thatmean?
Mystery of Christ?
Well, many of you havememorized this over the course
of Christ.
You're like, what does thatmean?
Mystery of Christ?
Well, many of you havememorized this over the course
of this series.
So this is the final exam.
Colossians, chapter one, verses15 through 20.
I'm gonna put it up here on thescreen.
I wanna invite everybody toread it out loud together and if
you've memorized it over thecourse of this series.
(10:40):
Then keep your eyes closed.
All right, here we go talkingabout Jesus.
This of this series.
Then keep your eyes closed.
All right, here we go Talkingabout Jesus.
This is the mystery of Christ,who he is.
What does the Bible say?
Let's read it out loud together.
He is the image of theinvisible God, the firstborn of
all creation, for by him allthings were created, in heaven
(11:01):
and on earth, visible andinvisible, whether thrones or
dominions or rulers orauthorities.
All things were created throughhim and for him.
And he is before all things andin him all things hold together
(11:21):
, and he is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, thefirstborn from the dead, that in
everything he might bepreeminent, for in him all the
fullness of God was pleased todwell and through him, to
(11:41):
reconcile to himself all things,whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of hiscross.
Well done, get the mystery.
Jesus is God in the flesh who'scome to this world at war.
To bring.
What?
Peace with God?
(12:05):
Through his death on the crossfor sin and spoiler alert from
next week his resurrection fromthe grave, jesus has conquered
the cosmic powers of sin anddarkness and death, so that
captives to sin anywhere,everywhere, no matter who you
are, no matter what you've done,you can be reconciled to God.
(12:27):
So then, what is prayer for?
Prayer is a wartimewalkie-talkie for God to open
doors for that word, thatmystery, to spread.
And Paul is here in prison, inenemy territory.
He sneaks out a letter to someof his fellow troops and he says
(12:48):
I need you over in Colossae toask God to blow open the doors
for the good news of Jesus to beclear here.
This is incredible, don't missit.
An open door that the wordabout Jesus is spreading through
in a Roman prison was dependenton people in Colossae praying
(13:10):
for that.
Do you see that the spread ofthe gospel through Paul in a
Roman prison was dependent onbrothers and sisters in Christ
praying in Colossae?
Do you realize the implicationsof this, what this means?
Just think in this gatheringright now, think about brothers
(13:31):
and sisters who used to sit inthis room or other rooms where
we're gathered right now, whohave been sent out from among us
to go to places like Turkey orIndia or Thailand.
They're on the front lines ofspreading the gospel in hard
places and they need uscontinually calling out to God
for his grace, his power.
(13:53):
Open doors for them to spreadthe gospel clearly in Turkey and
India and Thailand.
The spread of the gospel inTurkey and India and Thailand
through our brothers and sistersis dependent on our wartime
walkie-talkie.
Praying in Metro DC.
That's the clear implication ofthis text.
And then now think closer tohome.
So this next week, think nextSunday, all five of our
(14:15):
locations, five differentpastors, are gonna preach Jesus.
So what do we need to be doingthis week?
All of us, get on thewalkie-talkie.
Pray for open doors to invitepeople.
Spread the gospel to people.
Pray for people's hearts to bepeople.
Spread the gospel to people.
Pray for people's hearts to beopen to hear the gospel.
Pray for every single pastorwho's gonna be preaching Jesus.
(14:36):
Pray that we will make it clearand do all of this knowing that
the mystery of Jesus spreadingthis week is actually dependent
on you using this walkie-talkie.
This week, prayer actuallymatters.
Now let me tell you a storySome of you may have heard me
share this, one of my favoritestories from one of my favorite
(14:57):
preachers in church history, dlMoody.
So God used DL Moody, hisproclamation of the gospel, to
lead countless people to faithin Jesus.
When he had been traveling,preaching in a variety of
different places in the UnitedStates and God was just blessing
his proclamation of the gospelto lead many people to Christ,
he had just started preachingover in England and he was
preaching this one church on aSunday morning and he preached
(15:21):
the gospel, invited people torespond, and the way he
described it later it was likenobody was listening and nobody
responded.
And it's just to speak fromexperience.
It is not an awesome feelingwhen you're standing up in front
of and it's just like ah, isany, is this thing on?
Like I don't even know ifanybody's here.
And so it was one of thoseSunday mornings for him and he
(15:43):
came back that night to preachto the same group of people and
he was not looking forward to it.
But when he got back that nighthe said the atmosphere, spirit
in the room was totallydifferent.
It was like people were sittingon the edge of their seats.
And he got to the end and heinvited people to put their
faith in Jesus and he said ifyou want to trust in Jesus, I
want to invite you to stand up.
And nobody responded in themorning.
This time people stood up allover the room and he was so
(16:05):
confused he's like what happened?
So then he thought well, maybethey didn't understand, maybe
they're confused.
So he said why don't you sitback down?
And he shares the gospel onemore time.
And he says now, if you reallywant to trust in Jesus, now
stand up.
Well, more people stood up thesecond time than did the first
time, but he still was notconvinced.
So, true story, moody told themto sit back down.
(16:26):
He said I want to share withyou the gospel one more time,
like the cost of following Jesus.
And if you really want tofollow Jesus, we're going to
dismiss and the pastor and I aregoing to meet in a side room
for anybody who wants to comeand talk more there.
And so he dismisses the service, goes into the side room, he
and the pastor.
Well, before long that room isstanding room, only it's packed
with people.
Moody, still not convinced,said I'm gonna share it one more
(16:49):
time and if you really wannatrust in Jesus, I wanna invite
you to come back tomorrow nightand meet with the pastor here.
He's gonna dismiss them.
Moody was headed out of townthe next morning.
He was like I'm just gonnaleave this with the pastor to
figure out.
So he shares the gospel onemore time, says come back
tomorrow night if you reallywanna trust in Jesus.
They dismiss, he leaves thenext morning.
(17:10):
A few days later he gets atelegram that's how they
communicated back then from thispastor saying you need to get
back here.
More people showed up on Sunday,on Monday night, than were here
on Sunday night.
God's doing something here.
He comes back, he preaches forweeks.
It was one of those storieswhere just revival breaks out
and spiritual awakening and allthese people coming to know
Jesus all across the city.
So Moody was super inquisitive,wanted to find out what was the
(17:30):
difference between Sundaymorning and Sunday night.
So he starts doing someresearch and he finds out about
this bedridden woman who was notat church that morning because
of her illness and her sister,who was at church, came that
afternoon, brought her lunch.
And when her sister brought herlunch she asked, asked, hey,
how did church go this morning?
Her sister said ah, it wasn'tthat great.
(17:52):
There was a guy named dl moodywho preached.
Immediately the breadwinnerwoman's eyes lit up.
She said I've heard about howgod has been using that man in
the united states.
I've actually prayed that godwould bring him to england.
Set my food aside, I'm going tofast and pray the rest of this
afternoon that many people wouldcome to know Christ in our town
through his preaching of thegospel.
Same group of people, samepreacher, same word, totally
(18:19):
different power.
Why?
Because people got on.
One woman got on thewalkie-talkie, said God, do what
only you can do.
And it happened.
So don't miss the point of whatGod's saying in this text.
Prayer is the human key thatunlocks the power of God and the
spread of gospel in the world.
(18:39):
Are you hearing this?
Prayer is the human key thatyou have in your hand to unlock
the power of God and the spreadof the gospel in the world.
So let's use it like that.
Let's steward this gift we'vebeen given.
(19:00):
Prayer is not just for morecomforts in our lives.
Prayer is for theaccomplishment of a mission in
the world and the saving ofpeople's lives for all of
eternity.
So talk to God about peopleconstantly and then so
walkie-talkie Talk, walk, thenwalk in wisdom.
(19:21):
So the way I'm gonna put ithere is to then talk to people
about God wisely.
That's the second command here.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, so that's a reference to
people who don't know Jesus.
(19:42):
And then the language here.
Look at this Making the bestuse of the time.
This is so good.
The word that Paul uses fortime there isn't just time in
general, that would be chronos,which we might get like
chronology.
Instead, paul uses this word,kairos, which you might be
familiar with, like a kairosmoment, a particular moment
(20:03):
that's set aside for aparticular purpose.
And basically this verse issaying this that the time you
have with people who don't knowJesus isn't just accidental,
it's purposeful.
God ordains moments, time withyou and people who don't know
Jesus for a reason, and I wantyou to just think about how this
(20:26):
infuses meaning into your everyinteraction with someone who
doesn't know Jesus.
It is not an accident that theyare in your family, or that
they're your friend, or that youwork with them, that you're in
the cubicle next to them, or youwalk the halls of school with
them, sit next to them in thatclass, or that you play on that
(20:48):
team with them or live next tothem, or you walk the halls of
school with them, sit next tothem in that class, or that you
play on that team with them orlive next to them or will just
so happen to meet them, run intothem this week or be in an Uber
with them and all these things.
Make the most of the moments,that time that God has purposely
given you for people who are ona road that leads to eternal
(21:12):
suffering, that he loves anddesires to have eternal life.
And here's what you do.
God says let your speech,always, always, and whether
you're in a good mood or a badmood, always your speech, always
be gracious and just drippingwith the love and the grace of
God, and everything you say toothers and everything you say
(21:36):
about others.
Let your speech be gracious andseasoned with salt.
We talked about this in Matthew, chapter 5 salt and light in a
decaying world.
Let your speech be different,in a way that is beneficial and
helpful to others.
So that purpose, so you mayknow how you ought to answer
(21:58):
each person, and the picturehere is clearly focused on
sharing the gospel with eachperson you interact with, which
obviously doesn't mean it's theonly thing you talk about, but
it is the one thing youinevitably talk about with
everyone.
So just think, based on thistext, about your interactions
(22:20):
with people who don't know Jesusand ask is your speech gracious
In a way that draws people toGod's grace through the way you
talk?
Is it seasoned with salt in abeneficial, helpful way?
That's different from thisworld?
And have you at any point sharedthe gospel with each person
(22:43):
that you normally interact with?
And if the answer to thatquestion is no, I would just
encourage you to consider whynot.
Why, if Jesus is your life andyou know Jesus is the only way
for them to have, why have younot shared him with them?
(23:08):
And I ask the same question topeople I interact with.
And if we're not careful, wecan talk all day long with
people about work and school andthe weather and food and sports
and politics and current eventsand circumstances, and
obviously it's not wrong to talkabout these things, but none of
(23:28):
those things are gonna lastforever.
At some point let's speak aboutwhat lasts forever.
Let's make the most of thelittle bit of time we have here
to speak to each person aboutwhat matters for all of eternity
.
And I know one of the reasonsthat many of us don't talk this
(23:52):
way and I say this from personalexperience why we don't talk
about God or the gospel witheach person, is because we're
afraid or we feel like it mightbe awkward.
We're just not sure what to say.
This is where I wanna encourageyou in a couple of ways.
Very practically.
(24:12):
We could dive into a ton here,but I wrote a little book that
you can download for free onlinecalled Gospel Threads.
That's the overflow of meprocessing this in my own life.
How do I share the gospel inthe fabric of everyday
interactions?
Just weaving threads of thegospel into the fabric of my
interactions with others.
Weaving threads of the gospelinto the fabric of my
interactions with others.
So you can that's just apractical resource that I wrote
(24:34):
to try to be helpful along theselines.
Just search gospel threads andthen two, this text is telling
us this is what thewalkie-talkie's for.
It's what prayer is for to askthe commander for help.
It's what prayer is for to askthe commander for help.
We all need help.
This is paul.
This is the greatest missionaryin the history of christianity
(24:56):
said I need somebody to pray forme to make the gospel clear if
he needed help.
You need help and I need help.
We all need help.
And the whole point of thepassage is god wants to the help
, and prayer is the means bywhich we get the help.
So pray for this in our livesand pray for this in each
other's lives.
(25:16):
This is how we help each other.
In the church, we've all gotwalkie-talkies to ask our
commander to help us and helpeach other.
It's what the church doestogether, not just get together
and prayer requests for morecomforts in the den.
We get together and we call outfor God's help for each other
to spread this good news in thiscity.
(25:37):
God, open doors and help us toclearly speak the mystery of
Christ as we ought to speak.
Which then leads to this list ofall these names at the end of
Colossians, which, when you reada list like this and you're
doing your Bible reading,oftentimes you're just kind of
like read through this and I'mnot really sure what this has to
do with my life.
(25:57):
Oh, these verses are so good,with so many takeaways for our
lives, we just let's read them.
Then let's think about it.
So verse seven, paul writesTychicus, will tell you all
about my activities.
He, verse seven, paul writesTychicus, will tell you all
about my activities.
He's a beloved brother andfaithful minister and fellow
servant of the Lord.
I've sent him to you for thisvery purpose, that you may know
(26:19):
how we are, that he mayencourage your hearts, and with
him I'm just going to circle thedifferent people.
Onesimus, our faithful andbeloved brother, who's one of
you.
They will tell you ofeverything that's taken place
here.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the
cousin of Barnabas, concerningwhom you have received
instructions.
If he comes to you, welcome him.
And Jesus, who is calledJustice.
These are the only men of thecircumcision Jewish men among my
(26:45):
fellow workers for the kingdomof God, and they've been a
comfort to me.
Epaphras, who is one of you, aservant of Christ Jesus, greets
you, always struggling on yourbehalf in his prayers that you
may stand mature and fullyassured in all the will of God,
for I bear him witness that hehas worked hard for you and for
those in Laodicea and inHierapolis.
Luke, the beloved physician,greets you, as does Demas.
Give my greetings to thebrothers at Laodicea and to
(27:08):
Nympha and the church in herhouse, and when this letter has
been read among you, have italso read in the church of the
Laodiceans, and so that you alsoread from the letter of
Laodicea and say to Archippussee that you fulfill the
ministry that you have receivedin the Lord.
Oh, there's so much here, somany different takeaways for our
lives just flowing from thislist of names.
(27:28):
I'll just mention a few of themhere.
One Jesus removes barriersbetween us.
This list includes Jews, greeks, men, women, slave and free,
and it's all a reminder of thebeauty of the body of Christ.
It's one of the things I lovemost whenever I'm in another
setting around the world, likein Bangladesh a few weeks ago,
(27:50):
where this group of 518 to30-year-olds just crammed into
this room and we don't speak thesame language.
We have so many differences inour background and just so many
different things, and yetinstantly I'm with family.
These are brothers and sistersin Christ.
And then I think about thatjust in this room and all the
(28:11):
rooms where we're gathered rightnow as a church family.
So many of us from differentethnicities, cultural
backgrounds, perspectives, andyet we are closer than even
physical family, like spiritualfamily.
We have the same bloodlineforever.
Jesus removes barriers betweenus and follow this.
Jesus heals brokenness betweenus.
(28:33):
Did you see Mark mentioned inverses 10 and 11?
That's the same Mark who Acts15 tells us Paul who's writing
this, and Barnabas had a sharpdisagreement over Mark because
of something Mark had done toPaul, and Paul said I don't want
Mark to go along with us.
And they ended up splitting andgoing different ways.
(28:54):
And yet by this time, inColossians 4, god has reconciled
that relationship to the pointwhere Mark he says welcome him,
because he has been a comfort tome.
Do you believe that?
That God has power to healbrokenness between brothers and
(29:14):
sisters in Christ?
Ask God, our Father, to do thatin any relationship where
there's brokenness with abrother or sister in Christ.
And the third takeaway we allneed brothers and sisters like
this in our lives.
You just look at thedescription.
These are beloved people.
They love Paul.
They're servants of Jesusalongside Paul.
They're the kind of people whoencourage your heart.
(29:37):
Don't we all want and needpeople in our lives who
encourage our hearts?
They're fellow workers for thekingdom alongside Paul, like
none of us can follow Jesus andmake him known in the world on
our own and I love the phrase.
They've literally proved acomfort to me.
Aren't you thankful for people?
(29:58):
Don't you need people in yourlife who prove to be a comfort
to you?
And then check this out.
Look at Epaphras.
He is always struggling on yourbehalf in his prayers.
Don't you want people like thatin your life, who are
struggling for you in theirprayers what a phrase so that
(30:22):
you may stand mature and fullyassured in the will of God and
look at this he has worked hardfor you.
Oh, we want, we need people whowork hard for our good.
This is where I just, I want toencourage you.
If you're not a part of a churchgroup where you have brothers
and sisters who are caring foryou in these ways, struggling in
(30:43):
prayer for you in these ways,encouraging your heart in these
ways, get connected to a churchgroup and, at the same time,
realize, okay, we need brothersand sisters like this in our
lives and we all need to bebrothers and sisters like this
in others' lives.
And who are you comforting,encouraging, loving, working
alongside in the kingdom, whoyou're struggling in prayer for,
(31:05):
who you're working hard for and, to the extent you're doing
those things, hear God'saffirmation keep doing it.
He's pleased in your strugglesin prayer for that person and
you're working hard for theirgood.
We all need to be brothers andsisters like this in others'
lives, knowing that.
So here's two more takeawaysKnowing that every person
matters in God's kingdom.
(31:26):
I love this.
We talk about Paul, we even nameour kids after him.
This incredible missionary,church leader who wrote this
letter, but nobody talks about,and very few people, if any,
name their kids Tychicus.
Is there anybody named Tychicustoday?
(31:48):
I didn't think so.
Okay, but let's just point outthe obvious.
So Tychicus is the one who tookthe letter to the church at
Colossae.
Paul wrote it, but if Tychicusdidn't get the letter to them,
dropped it along the way.
There's no chance we're readingit 2,000 years later.
(32:09):
Everybody matters and we canmiss this because this world
trains us to see the prominentpeople, which is not how God
sees.
Let me do a little test, alittle audience participation.
So trivia.
What is the name of the currentcommander's quarterback who was
(32:31):
recently named NFL Rookie ofthe Year and almost led
Washington to the Super Bowl?
What's his name?
Okay, say it loud if you knowit.
All right, jaden Daniels.
Okay, that's a lot of people.
Now let me ask this question.
Now let me ask this question.
What is the name of the centerwho snapped the ball to Jaden
(32:52):
Daniels 941 times this last year?
All right, in this room I'm nothearing anybody.
So the answer is Tyler Biotish.
I think that's how you say hisname.
We can hardly pronounce hisname when we see it, much less
(33:13):
remember it.
But if I could just point outthe obvious, if he did not get
the ball to Jaden Daniels, therewas no chance Jaden Daniels was
winning Rookie of the Year andno chance the commanders were
going to the NFC Championship.
I don't miss this In the end ofColossians.
Here God is reminding us mykingdom is not just about people
(33:37):
on a stage or in this or thatposition.
My kingdom is about thebedridden woman praying and
fasting.
That's where the power is, andevery single person in between,
every single student, teenager,young adult, up to every single
senior adult, every singleperson in the body of Christ
matters for the kingdom ofChrist.
(33:57):
Don't sell God short of whatGod's made you to do.
Don't think, well, I'm not thisperson or that person.
No, do not sell God short theHoly Spirit of God in you, to
give you a part to play in hiskingdom.
I love this.
I love what we read about withArchippus, there at the end of
(34:21):
verse 17,.
Say to Archippus see that youfulfill the ministry you have
received in the Lord.
Notice not the ministry thatsomebody else received in the
Lord, you.
So it's not about comparingyourself with this or that
person, thinking well, they dothat or they do that Like no.
You do the ministry that you'vereceived from the Lord and do
it with joy and contentment,with all your heart and trust.
(34:44):
As you play your part, thisperson plays their part.
We're all playing a part in hiskingdom.
I think about today, on thisstage, with palm branches, with
a bunch of kids and childrenwith special needs, and I just
looking in the faces of thebuddies who, every single Sunday
, come serve alongside one childwith special needs.
(35:06):
That is glorious in the kingdomof God and it is just as
important as standing hereproclaiming the word.
Everybody plan our parts.
Every single person matters inthe kingdom.
And then so follow this.
One more takeaway Every singlemoment has the potential to
(35:27):
bring about everlasting fruit.
So think about the Kairos momentwe talked about earlier.
You look at this different listof people, like one carrying a
letter, sending greetings,providing comfort, fulfilling a
ministry.
I just think this infusesmeaning into every moment.
You just think about this week.
Okay, you could have aconversation with a coworker or
(35:51):
a classmate or somebody you justhappen to meet at the grocery
store in line.
That leads you to invite themto church next Sunday, that
leads them to hear the good newsof God's love for them, that
leads them to believe andexperience eternal life in Jesus
.
And your conversation at thewater cooler or in the hall of
(36:16):
your school or at the groceryline this week may lead to
someone praising and enjoyingJesus 10 trillion years from now
.
That's amazing.
Like what anticipation shouldwe have going into this week and
every day, with the momentsthat anyone can lead to
(36:38):
everlasting fruit?
So what do you do with that?
Here's what you do with that.
You get on the walkie talkie atthe very beginning of the day
and you say, god, I wanna livetoday for what's gonna matter
forever.
I wanna talk today in a waythat's gonna matter forever.
I want to talk today in a waythat's going to matter forever
To you about people and topeople about you.
So you talk to God about people, constantly, watchfully,
thankfully.
Open a door there, open heartsto hear Kind of pray for this
(37:04):
person, that person they're heldcaptive to sin and pray for
their freedom from sin.
You get wounded along the way.
God brings you through.
Say God, thank you for bringingme through.
Thank you for helping me getthrough that.
Just like you always do.
As you talk to God about peopleconstantly, then you talk to
people about God wisely.
I guarantee you you do boththose things and your moments in
(37:29):
prayer and in walking, walkingand talking will bear fruit
forever.
So Paul closes all this bysaying I, paul, write this
greeting with my own hand.
Remember my chains, grace bewith you.
Oh, that's so good.
Dramatic even Like Paul haslikely dictated this letter
through a scribe, but now, withchains around his wrists, he
(37:53):
takes the papyrus in his hands,holds the brush between his
fingers and he writes I'mwriting this with my own hand.
And he looks down at thosehands with chains around them,
because he's given his life tothis battle.
And he says what many brothersand sisters of ours hands with
chains around them, because he'sgiven his life to this battle.
And he says what many brothersand sisters of ours would say
(38:14):
today from North Korean laborcamps to Iranian prisons
remember my chains, don't forget.
We got brothers and sisters whothis week will have
opportunities to point people toJesus, and it could cost them
their lives.
And we live in a land wherewe're free to do that.
All the more so we should bebold.
(38:35):
He says remember my chains,pray that I'll speak it clearly.
Implication I'll pray thatyou'll speak it clearly.
And then he says the exact samething.
He started at the beginning ofthe letter.
He says grace, be with you.
Ah, grace, I don't, don't liveto spread this gospel spiritual
(38:56):
battle because of guilt, becauseyou feel bad.
I guess I'm supposed to do thisobligation.
No, because you're sooverwhelmed by the grace and
love of god.
What if you read psalm 103 thismorning?
The benefits God, the steadfastlove, the grace.
The Lord is gracious andmerciful, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love, hislove in your heart.
So live to spread it.
(39:19):
And he sets it down, rolls itup.
He says, tychicus, it's allyours now.
So, church, let's do thistogether, every one of us
playing our parts, let's get on.
Let's stay on the.
Every one of us playing ourparts, let's get on.
Let's stay on the walkie-talkieall the time.
I hope you view prayer totallydifferent as a result of
Colossians, chapter four, andespecially this week.
(39:41):
Let's pray for each other.
Let's pray for open doors toinvite people, knowing you're
gonna have opportunities toinvite people that I won't have.
I'll have opportunities toinvite people that you won't
have and maybe nobody else willhave.
Like, let's pray for open doors, let's walk through them and
let's pray.
Could I invite you even to fastat some point this week, from a
meal for a day more, just forpower next Sunday, for every one
(40:05):
of our pastors who arepreaching the gospel.
They need, we need you prayingand fasting for power to make
the gospel clear and don't stopthere.
Pray for pastors all across ourcity who are preaching the
gospel and pray for our brothersand sisters who are spreading
the gospel all over the world.
Let's press in and pray that Godwould bring countless people
over the next week from bondageto sin and death to everlasting
(40:29):
life in him.
Pray that god would liberatecaptives this week.
So I want to lead us into amoment of prayer and reflection
before god.
You and the walkie talkie andif, if you're not a follower of
jesus, I know I hope that you'venot gotten too lost in this
(40:50):
wartime imagery, but the pictureis in sin, all of us in sin,
separated from God.
God has made a way for us to beforgiven of sin, restored a
relationship with him If you'venever put your faith in Jesus to
be forgiven of sin and freedfrom captivity, to experience
relationship with God.
I invite you to trust in Jesus,to be forgiven of sin and freed
(41:10):
from captivity, to experiencerelationship with God.
I invite you to trust in Jesustoday and when you do, and for
all who have.
Look at a world where so manypeople around us are separated
from God on a road that leads toeverlasting suffering.
Get on the walkie-talkie andlet's ask.
So here's what I want you toreflect on specifically over the
(41:33):
next couple of moments One whocan you invite to come next
Sunday?
Who doesn't know Jesus?
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a
weekly podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
If you have a Bible and I hopeyou or somebody around you does
that you can look on with.
Let me invite you to open withme to Colossians, chapter 4.
I want to put a picture in yourmind.
Today, I have in my hand awalkie-talkie from World War II,
(00:25):
so that's when walkie-talkieswere invented.
This mechanism obviouslytechnology has come a long way
You're not putting this in yourpocket but invented for the
first time for troops on theground, but invented for the
first time for troops on theground to be able to communicate
(00:46):
with their commander general'sheadquarters, and it was
revolutionary, when it came tobattle, to be able to
communicate in that way.
Now I wanna be super carefulfrom the very beginning when
using wartime imagery.
I in no way wanna communicatethat we as Christians are
(01:07):
supposed to be militant in aphysical way or even in terms of
a culture war, but the Bibleclearly teaches that we are all
engaged in our lives, inspiritual battle, and this
applies whether you're aChristian or not.
There is an adversary, the devil, who is actively working to
(01:30):
destroy your life and yourfamily and your future.
The Bible teaches we have allturned from God and his ways to
ourselves and our own ways.
The Bible calls that sin anddescribes all of us as held
captive to sin that leads todeath.
(01:51):
And if we die in this state ofcaptivity to sin apart from God,
we will experience eternaldeath and suffering.
And Satan, the devil, wants allof us to experience everlasting
suffering.
But the good news of the Bibleis that God loves us and has
(02:14):
made a way for us to be forgivenof our sin and freed from
captivity to experience eternallife in Jesus, now and forever.
What this all means is that welive every day on the front
lines of spiritual battle, andthis plays out in all of our
lives, even as followers ofJesus, with temptations to sin,
(02:38):
with battles to believe thatwhich is true and not lies or
deceptions from the enemy.
And it also plays out inspiritual battles that involve
others' lives, people who are atthis moment still separated
from God and don't know Jesusand are on a road that leads to
(02:59):
everlasting suffering.
So obviously not in a militantway, but with love and
compassion and with the gospelthe greatest news in the world
of freedom from sin toexperience eternal life.
We give our lives on the frontlines of battle to making this
gospel known, and God has givenus a method of communication.
(03:21):
So now make the connection amethod of communication on the
ground to be in contact with himat all times as our commander.
And that method ofcommunication is called what
Prayer.
So John Piper is the firstperson I ever heard use this
illustration of prayer as awartime walkie-talkie.
So I'm going to quote here fromhis book Let the Nations Be
(03:45):
Glad.
I would highly recommend it onmission in the Christian life.
And he writes probably thenumber one reason prayer
malfunctions in the hands ofbelievers is that we try to turn
a wartime walkie-talkie into adomestic intercom.
Prayer, he writes, is for theaccomplishment of a wartime
mission.
It's as though the fieldcommander, jesus, called in the
(04:08):
troops, gave them a crucialmission go and make disciples of
all the nations, handed each ofthem a personal transmitter
coded to the frequency of thegeneral's headquarters and said
comrades, the general has amission for you.
He aims to see it, and then hewrites advice.
(04:47):
And to send air cover when youneed it.
And then he writes.
But what have millions ofChristians done.
We've stopped believing that weare in a war.
No urgency, no watching, novigilance, no strategic planning
, just easy peace and prosperity.
And what did we do with thewalkie talkie?
We tried to rig it up as anintercom in our houses and
cabins and boats and cars, notto call in firepower for
(05:10):
conflict with a mortal enemy,but to ask for more comforts in
the den.
And today I wanna show you inGod's word that this is what
prayer is for, in a way that Ihope will totally transform your
understanding of prayer, andthat this week we're gonna put
(05:33):
it into practice with love forpeople around us, realizing we
are in a spiritual battle andthe stakes are infinitely high.
So so one more quote from PiperMost people show by their
priorities and their casualapproach to spiritual things
(05:54):
that they believe we are inpeacetime, not wartime.
Very few people think that we'rein a war that is greater than
World War II or than anyimaginable nuclear war.
Few reckon that Satan is a muchworse enemy than any earthly
foe, or realize that theconflict is not restricted to
any one global theater, but isin every town and city in the
(06:15):
world.
Who considers that thecasualties of this war do not
merely lose an arm or an eye oran earthly life, but lose
everything, even their own souls, and enter a hell of
everlasting torment.
Until we feel the force of this, we will not pray as we ought.
We will not even know whatprayer is.
(06:37):
Is that true that we won't evenknow what prayer is if we're
not using it like a wartimewalkie-talkie?
Well, let's look at God's word,colossians, chapter four, verse
two Continue steadfastly inprayer, being watchful in it,
(06:59):
with thanksgiving At the sametime.
Pray also for us that God mayopen to us a door for the word
to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in
prison, that I may make it clearwhich is how I ought to speak.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the
(07:20):
time.
Let your speech always begracious, seasoned with salt, so
that you may know how you oughtto answer each person.
So did you see that there aretwo imperative verbs in the
verses?
We just read two commands thatGod gives us here, through Paul,
who is writing, by the way,from prison where he has been
(07:42):
chained for spreading the gospel, and he gives two commands
Continues steadfastly in prayer,pray.
So that's the first command,and then the second one is walk
in wisdom toward outsiders asyou speak to them.
So pray as you walk, walk andtalk Walkie-talkie Colossians,
(08:12):
chapter 4.
So here's how I would put it.
If you're taking notes, hearwhat God's Word is saying to us
today.
Two commands, so.
One is this, just to make itsimple Talk to God about people
(08:33):
Constantly.
That's the picture here.
Continue conversation with Godall the time you don't turn off
a walkie-talkie, you don't sayCaptain, not gonna be talking to
you anymore.
It's always, always there.
You're always in communication,being watchful what a great
(08:54):
description of prayer.
Looking around you, talkingwith God about it.
God, I see this, I'm praying.
I see that I'm praying.
I see this person Praying forthem.
See that person praying forthem.
That person doesn't know Jesuspraying for them.
That person's walking throughthis.
I'm praying for them.
It's continual calling out toGod.
God, I don't understand what'shappening around me right now.
Help me to see through youreyes, not my own eyes.
(09:14):
Being watchful withthanksgiving, I love it, always
looking for evidences of God'sgrace around you.
Oh Lord, god, general, I seeyour goodness there.
Praise you for that.
Thank you for being near to me,not leaving me alone in that
battle.
Thank you Paul's writing, evenin prison, helping me in every
(09:36):
way I need, which then leadsinto the next two verses.
At the same time, pray also forus.
Paul says mean those who arewith me that God may open to us
a door for the Word to declarethe mystery of Christ, on
account of which I am in prison,that I may make it clear which
is how I ought to speak.
This is amazing.
Make sure you understand.
See what is happening here.
(09:58):
God.
Paul is saying pray that Godwill open a door.
So this is language the Bibleuses elsewhere to describe God
making a way, in particularplaces or people's hearts, for
the word of God to go.
So he says pray for an opendoor for the word to spread
(10:20):
specifically the mystery ofChrist.
You're like, what does thatmean?
Mystery of Christ?
Well, many of you havememorized this over the course
of Christ.
You're like, what does thatmean?
Mystery of Christ?
Well, many of you havememorized this over the course
of this series.
So this is the final exam.
Colossians, chapter one, verses15 through 20.
I'm gonna put it up here on thescreen.
I wanna invite everybody toread it out loud together and if
you've memorized it over thecourse of this series.
(10:40):
Then keep your eyes closed.
All right, here we go talkingabout Jesus.
This of this series.
Then keep your eyes closed.
All right, here we go Talkingabout Jesus.
This is the mystery of Christ,who he is.
What does the Bible say?
Let's read it out loud together.
He is the image of theinvisible God, the firstborn of
all creation, for by him allthings were created, in heaven
(11:01):
and on earth, visible andinvisible, whether thrones or
dominions or rulers orauthorities.
All things were created throughhim and for him.
And he is before all things andin him all things hold together
(11:21):
, and he is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, thefirstborn from the dead, that in
everything he might bepreeminent, for in him all the
fullness of God was pleased todwell and through him, to
(11:41):
reconcile to himself all things,whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of hiscross.
Well done, get the mystery.
Jesus is God in the flesh who'scome to this world at war.
To bring.
What?
Peace with God?
(12:05):
Through his death on the crossfor sin and spoiler alert from
next week his resurrection fromthe grave, jesus has conquered
the cosmic powers of sin anddarkness and death, so that
captives to sin anywhere,everywhere, no matter who you
are, no matter what you've done,you can be reconciled to God.
(12:27):
So then, what is prayer for?
Prayer is a wartimewalkie-talkie for God to open
doors for that word, thatmystery, to spread.
And Paul is here in prison, inenemy territory.
He sneaks out a letter to someof his fellow troops and he says
(12:48):
I need you over in Colossae toask God to blow open the doors
for the good news of Jesus to beclear here.
This is incredible, don't missit.
An open door that the wordabout Jesus is spreading through
in a Roman prison was dependenton people in Colossae praying
(13:10):
for that.
Do you see that the spread ofthe gospel through Paul in a
Roman prison was dependent onbrothers and sisters in Christ
praying in Colossae?
Do you realize the implicationsof this, what this means?
Just think in this gatheringright now, think about brothers
(13:31):
and sisters who used to sit inthis room or other rooms where
we're gathered right now, whohave been sent out from among us
to go to places like Turkey orIndia or Thailand.
They're on the front lines ofspreading the gospel in hard
places and they need uscontinually calling out to God
for his grace, his power.
(13:53):
Open doors for them to spreadthe gospel clearly in Turkey and
India and Thailand.
The spread of the gospel inTurkey and India and Thailand
through our brothers and sistersis dependent on our wartime
walkie-talkie.
Praying in Metro DC.
That's the clear implication ofthis text.
And then now think closer tohome.
So this next week, think nextSunday, all five of our
(14:15):
locations, five differentpastors, are gonna preach Jesus.
So what do we need to be doingthis week?
All of us, get on thewalkie-talkie.
Pray for open doors to invitepeople.
Spread the gospel to people.
Pray for people's hearts to bepeople.
Spread the gospel to people.
Pray for people's hearts to beopen to hear the gospel.
Pray for every single pastorwho's gonna be preaching Jesus.
(14:36):
Pray that we will make it clearand do all of this knowing that
the mystery of Jesus spreadingthis week is actually dependent
on you using this walkie-talkie.
This week, prayer actuallymatters.
Now let me tell you a storySome of you may have heard me
share this, one of my favoritestories from one of my favorite
(14:57):
preachers in church history, dlMoody.
So God used DL Moody, hisproclamation of the gospel, to
lead countless people to faithin Jesus.
When he had been traveling,preaching in a variety of
different places in the UnitedStates and God was just blessing
his proclamation of the gospelto lead many people to Christ,
he had just started preachingover in England and he was
preaching this one church on aSunday morning and he preached
(15:21):
the gospel, invited people torespond, and the way he
described it later it was likenobody was listening and nobody
responded.
And it's just to speak fromexperience.
It is not an awesome feelingwhen you're standing up in front
of and it's just like ah, isany, is this thing on?
Like I don't even know ifanybody's here.
And so it was one of thoseSunday mornings for him and he
(15:43):
came back that night to preachto the same group of people and
he was not looking forward to it.
But when he got back that nighthe said the atmosphere, spirit
in the room was totallydifferent.
It was like people were sittingon the edge of their seats.
And he got to the end and heinvited people to put their
faith in Jesus and he said ifyou want to trust in Jesus, I
want to invite you to stand up.
And nobody responded in themorning.
This time people stood up allover the room and he was so
(16:05):
confused he's like what happened?
So then he thought well, maybethey didn't understand, maybe
they're confused.
So he said why don't you sitback down?
And he shares the gospel onemore time.
And he says now, if you reallywant to trust in Jesus, now
stand up.
Well, more people stood up thesecond time than did the first
time, but he still was notconvinced.
So, true story, moody told themto sit back down.
(16:26):
He said I want to share withyou the gospel one more time,
like the cost of following Jesus.
And if you really want tofollow Jesus, we're going to
dismiss and the pastor and I aregoing to meet in a side room
for anybody who wants to comeand talk more there.
And so he dismisses the service, goes into the side room, he
and the pastor.
Well, before long that room isstanding room, only it's packed
with people.
Moody, still not convinced,said I'm gonna share it one more
(16:49):
time and if you really wannatrust in Jesus, I wanna invite
you to come back tomorrow nightand meet with the pastor here.
He's gonna dismiss them.
Moody was headed out of townthe next morning.
He was like I'm just gonnaleave this with the pastor to
figure out.
So he shares the gospel onemore time, says come back
tomorrow night if you reallywanna trust in Jesus.
They dismiss, he leaves thenext morning.
(17:10):
A few days later he gets atelegram that's how they
communicated back then from thispastor saying you need to get
back here.
More people showed up on Sunday,on Monday night, than were here
on Sunday night.
God's doing something here.
He comes back, he preaches forweeks.
It was one of those storieswhere just revival breaks out
and spiritual awakening and allthese people coming to know
Jesus all across the city.
So Moody was super inquisitive,wanted to find out what was the
(17:30):
difference between Sundaymorning and Sunday night.
So he starts doing someresearch and he finds out about
this bedridden woman who was notat church that morning because
of her illness and her sister,who was at church, came that
afternoon, brought her lunch.
And when her sister brought herlunch she asked, asked, hey,
how did church go this morning?
Her sister said ah, it wasn'tthat great.
(17:52):
There was a guy named dl moodywho preached.
Immediately the breadwinnerwoman's eyes lit up.
She said I've heard about howgod has been using that man in
the united states.
I've actually prayed that godwould bring him to england.
Set my food aside, I'm going tofast and pray the rest of this
afternoon that many people wouldcome to know Christ in our town
through his preaching of thegospel.
Same group of people, samepreacher, same word, totally
(18:19):
different power.
Why?
Because people got on.
One woman got on thewalkie-talkie, said God, do what
only you can do.
And it happened.
So don't miss the point of whatGod's saying in this text.
Prayer is the human key thatunlocks the power of God and the
spread of gospel in the world.
(18:39):
Are you hearing this?
Prayer is the human key thatyou have in your hand to unlock
the power of God and the spreadof the gospel in the world.
So let's use it like that.
Let's steward this gift we'vebeen given.
(19:00):
Prayer is not just for morecomforts in our lives.
Prayer is for theaccomplishment of a mission in
the world and the saving ofpeople's lives for all of
eternity.
So talk to God about peopleconstantly and then so
walkie-talkie Talk, walk, thenwalk in wisdom.
(19:21):
So the way I'm gonna put ithere is to then talk to people
about God wisely.
That's the second command here.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, so that's a reference to
people who don't know Jesus.
(19:42):
And then the language here.
Look at this Making the bestuse of the time.
This is so good.
The word that Paul uses fortime there isn't just time in
general, that would be chronos,which we might get like
chronology.
Instead, paul uses this word,kairos, which you might be
familiar with, like a kairosmoment, a particular moment
(20:03):
that's set aside for aparticular purpose.
And basically this verse issaying this that the time you
have with people who don't knowJesus isn't just accidental,
it's purposeful.
God ordains moments, time withyou and people who don't know
Jesus for a reason, and I wantyou to just think about how this
(20:26):
infuses meaning into your everyinteraction with someone who
doesn't know Jesus.
It is not an accident that theyare in your family, or that
they're your friend, or that youwork with them, that you're in
the cubicle next to them, or youwalk the halls of school with
them, sit next to them in thatclass, or that you play on that
(20:48):
team with them or live next tothem, or you walk the halls of
school with them, sit next tothem in that class, or that you
play on that team with them orlive next to them or will just
so happen to meet them, run intothem this week or be in an Uber
with them and all these things.
Make the most of the moments,that time that God has purposely
given you for people who are ona road that leads to eternal
(21:12):
suffering, that he loves anddesires to have eternal life.
And here's what you do.
God says let your speech,always, always, and whether
you're in a good mood or a badmood, always your speech, always
be gracious and just drippingwith the love and the grace of
God, and everything you say toothers and everything you say
(21:36):
about others.
Let your speech be gracious andseasoned with salt.
We talked about this in Matthew, chapter 5 salt and light in a
decaying world.
Let your speech be different,in a way that is beneficial and
helpful to others.
So that purpose, so you mayknow how you ought to answer
(21:58):
each person, and the picturehere is clearly focused on
sharing the gospel with eachperson you interact with, which
obviously doesn't mean it's theonly thing you talk about, but
it is the one thing youinevitably talk about with
everyone.
So just think, based on thistext, about your interactions
(22:20):
with people who don't know Jesusand ask is your speech gracious
In a way that draws people toGod's grace through the way you
talk?
Is it seasoned with salt in abeneficial, helpful way?
That's different from thisworld?
And have you at any point sharedthe gospel with each person
(22:43):
that you normally interact with?
And if the answer to thatquestion is no, I would just
encourage you to consider whynot.
Why, if Jesus is your life andyou know Jesus is the only way
for them to have, why have younot shared him with them?
(23:08):
And I ask the same question topeople I interact with.
And if we're not careful, wecan talk all day long with
people about work and school andthe weather and food and sports
and politics and current eventsand circumstances, and
obviously it's not wrong to talkabout these things, but none of
(23:28):
those things are gonna lastforever.
At some point let's speak aboutwhat lasts forever.
Let's make the most of thelittle bit of time we have here
to speak to each person aboutwhat matters for all of eternity
.
And I know one of the reasonsthat many of us don't talk this
(23:52):
way and I say this from personalexperience why we don't talk
about God or the gospel witheach person, is because we're
afraid or we feel like it mightbe awkward.
We're just not sure what to say.
This is where I wanna encourageyou in a couple of ways.
Very practically.
(24:12):
We could dive into a ton here,but I wrote a little book that
you can download for free onlinecalled Gospel Threads.
That's the overflow of meprocessing this in my own life.
How do I share the gospel inthe fabric of everyday
interactions?
Just weaving threads of thegospel into the fabric of my
interactions with others.
Weaving threads of the gospelinto the fabric of my
interactions with others.
So you can that's just apractical resource that I wrote
(24:34):
to try to be helpful along theselines.
Just search gospel threads andthen two, this text is telling
us this is what thewalkie-talkie's for.
It's what prayer is for to askthe commander for help.
It's what prayer is for to askthe commander for help.
We all need help.
This is paul.
This is the greatest missionaryin the history of christianity
(24:56):
said I need somebody to pray forme to make the gospel clear if
he needed help.
You need help and I need help.
We all need help.
And the whole point of thepassage is god wants to the help
, and prayer is the means bywhich we get the help.
So pray for this in our livesand pray for this in each
other's lives.
(25:16):
This is how we help each other.
In the church, we've all gotwalkie-talkies to ask our
commander to help us and helpeach other.
It's what the church doestogether, not just get together
and prayer requests for morecomforts in the den.
We get together and we call outfor God's help for each other
to spread this good news in thiscity.
(25:37):
God, open doors and help us toclearly speak the mystery of
Christ as we ought to speak.
Which then leads to this list ofall these names at the end of
Colossians, which, when you reada list like this and you're
doing your Bible reading,oftentimes you're just kind of
like read through this and I'mnot really sure what this has to
do with my life.
(25:57):
Oh, these verses are so good,with so many takeaways for our
lives, we just let's read them.
Then let's think about it.
So verse seven, paul writesTychicus, will tell you all
about my activities.
He, verse seven, paul writesTychicus, will tell you all
about my activities.
He's a beloved brother andfaithful minister and fellow
servant of the Lord.
I've sent him to you for thisvery purpose, that you may know
(26:19):
how we are, that he mayencourage your hearts, and with
him I'm just going to circle thedifferent people.
Onesimus, our faithful andbeloved brother, who's one of
you.
They will tell you ofeverything that's taken place
here.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the
cousin of Barnabas, concerningwhom you have received
instructions.
If he comes to you, welcome him.
And Jesus, who is calledJustice.
These are the only men of thecircumcision Jewish men among my
(26:45):
fellow workers for the kingdomof God, and they've been a
comfort to me.
Epaphras, who is one of you, aservant of Christ Jesus, greets
you, always struggling on yourbehalf in his prayers that you
may stand mature and fullyassured in all the will of God,
for I bear him witness that hehas worked hard for you and for
those in Laodicea and inHierapolis.
Luke, the beloved physician,greets you, as does Demas.
Give my greetings to thebrothers at Laodicea and to
(27:08):
Nympha and the church in herhouse, and when this letter has
been read among you, have italso read in the church of the
Laodiceans, and so that you alsoread from the letter of
Laodicea and say to Archippussee that you fulfill the
ministry that you have receivedin the Lord.
Oh, there's so much here, somany different takeaways for our
lives just flowing from thislist of names.
(27:28):
I'll just mention a few of themhere.
One Jesus removes barriersbetween us.
This list includes Jews, greeks, men, women, slave and free,
and it's all a reminder of thebeauty of the body of Christ.
It's one of the things I lovemost whenever I'm in another
setting around the world, likein Bangladesh a few weeks ago,
(27:50):
where this group of 518 to30-year-olds just crammed into
this room and we don't speak thesame language.
We have so many differences inour background and just so many
different things, and yetinstantly I'm with family.
These are brothers and sistersin Christ.
And then I think about thatjust in this room and all the
(28:11):
rooms where we're gathered rightnow as a church family.
So many of us from differentethnicities, cultural
backgrounds, perspectives, andyet we are closer than even
physical family, like spiritualfamily.
We have the same bloodlineforever.
Jesus removes barriers betweenus and follow this.
Jesus heals brokenness betweenus.
(28:33):
Did you see Mark mentioned inverses 10 and 11?
That's the same Mark who Acts15 tells us Paul who's writing
this, and Barnabas had a sharpdisagreement over Mark because
of something Mark had done toPaul, and Paul said I don't want
Mark to go along with us.
And they ended up splitting andgoing different ways.
(28:54):
And yet by this time, inColossians 4, god has reconciled
that relationship to the pointwhere Mark he says welcome him,
because he has been a comfort tome.
Do you believe that?
That God has power to healbrokenness between brothers and
(29:14):
sisters in Christ?
Ask God, our Father, to do thatin any relationship where
there's brokenness with abrother or sister in Christ.
And the third takeaway we allneed brothers and sisters like
this in our lives.
You just look at thedescription.
These are beloved people.
They love Paul.
They're servants of Jesusalongside Paul.
They're the kind of people whoencourage your heart.
(29:37):
Don't we all want and needpeople in our lives who
encourage our hearts?
They're fellow workers for thekingdom alongside Paul, like
none of us can follow Jesus andmake him known in the world on
our own and I love the phrase.
They've literally proved acomfort to me.
Aren't you thankful for people?
(29:58):
Don't you need people in yourlife who prove to be a comfort
to you?
And then check this out.
Look at Epaphras.
He is always struggling on yourbehalf in his prayers.
Don't you want people like thatin your life, who are
struggling for you in theirprayers what a phrase so that
(30:22):
you may stand mature and fullyassured in the will of God and
look at this he has worked hardfor you.
Oh, we want, we need people whowork hard for our good.
This is where I just, I want toencourage you.
If you're not a part of a churchgroup where you have brothers
and sisters who are caring foryou in these ways, struggling in
(30:43):
prayer for you in these ways,encouraging your heart in these
ways, get connected to a churchgroup and, at the same time,
realize, okay, we need brothersand sisters like this in our
lives and we all need to bebrothers and sisters like this
in others' lives.
And who are you comforting,encouraging, loving, working
alongside in the kingdom, whoyou're struggling in prayer for,
(31:05):
who you're working hard for and, to the extent you're doing
those things, hear God'saffirmation keep doing it.
He's pleased in your strugglesin prayer for that person and
you're working hard for theirgood.
We all need to be brothers andsisters like this in others'
lives, knowing that.
So here's two more takeawaysKnowing that every person
matters in God's kingdom.
(31:26):
I love this.
We talk about Paul, we even nameour kids after him.
This incredible missionary,church leader who wrote this
letter, but nobody talks about,and very few people, if any,
name their kids Tychicus.
Is there anybody named Tychicustoday?
(31:48):
I didn't think so.
Okay, but let's just point outthe obvious.
So Tychicus is the one who tookthe letter to the church at
Colossae.
Paul wrote it, but if Tychicusdidn't get the letter to them,
dropped it along the way.
There's no chance we're readingit 2,000 years later.
(32:09):
Everybody matters and we canmiss this because this world
trains us to see the prominentpeople, which is not how God
sees.
Let me do a little test, alittle audience participation.
So trivia.
What is the name of the currentcommander's quarterback who was
(32:31):
recently named NFL Rookie ofthe Year and almost led
Washington to the Super Bowl?
What's his name?
Okay, say it loud if you knowit.
All right, jaden Daniels.
Okay, that's a lot of people.
Now let me ask this question.
Now let me ask this question.
What is the name of the centerwho snapped the ball to Jaden
(32:52):
Daniels 941 times this last year?
All right, in this room I'm nothearing anybody.
So the answer is Tyler Biotish.
I think that's how you say hisname.
We can hardly pronounce hisname when we see it, much less
(33:13):
remember it.
But if I could just point outthe obvious, if he did not get
the ball to Jaden Daniels, therewas no chance Jaden Daniels was
winning Rookie of the Year andno chance the commanders were
going to the NFC Championship.
I don't miss this In the end ofColossians.
Here God is reminding us mykingdom is not just about people
(33:37):
on a stage or in this or thatposition.
My kingdom is about thebedridden woman praying and
fasting.
That's where the power is, andevery single person in between,
every single student, teenager,young adult, up to every single
senior adult, every singleperson in the body of Christ
matters for the kingdom ofChrist.
(33:57):
Don't sell God short of whatGod's made you to do.
Don't think, well, I'm not thisperson or that person.
No, do not sell God short theHoly Spirit of God in you, to
give you a part to play in hiskingdom.
I love this.
I love what we read about withArchippus, there at the end of
(34:21):
verse 17,.
Say to Archippus see that youfulfill the ministry you have
received in the Lord.
Notice not the ministry thatsomebody else received in the
Lord, you.
So it's not about comparingyourself with this or that
person, thinking well, they dothat or they do that Like no.
You do the ministry that you'vereceived from the Lord and do
it with joy and contentment,with all your heart and trust.
(34:44):
As you play your part, thisperson plays their part.
We're all playing a part in hiskingdom.
I think about today, on thisstage, with palm branches, with
a bunch of kids and childrenwith special needs, and I just
looking in the faces of thebuddies who, every single Sunday
, come serve alongside one childwith special needs.
(35:06):
That is glorious in the kingdomof God and it is just as
important as standing hereproclaiming the word.
Everybody plan our parts.
Every single person matters inthe kingdom.
And then so follow this.
One more takeaway Every singlemoment has the potential to
(35:27):
bring about everlasting fruit.
So think about the Kairos momentwe talked about earlier.
You look at this different listof people, like one carrying a
letter, sending greetings,providing comfort, fulfilling a
ministry.
I just think this infusesmeaning into every moment.
You just think about this week.
Okay, you could have aconversation with a coworker or
(35:51):
a classmate or somebody you justhappen to meet at the grocery
store in line.
That leads you to invite themto church next Sunday, that
leads them to hear the good newsof God's love for them, that
leads them to believe andexperience eternal life in Jesus
.
And your conversation at thewater cooler or in the hall of
(36:16):
your school or at the groceryline this week may lead to
someone praising and enjoyingJesus 10 trillion years from now
.
That's amazing.
Like what anticipation shouldwe have going into this week and
every day, with the momentsthat anyone can lead to
(36:38):
everlasting fruit?
So what do you do with that?
Here's what you do with that.
You get on the walkie talkie atthe very beginning of the day
and you say, god, I wanna livetoday for what's gonna matter
forever.
I wanna talk today in a waythat's gonna matter forever.
I want to talk today in a waythat's going to matter forever
To you about people and topeople about you.
So you talk to God about people, constantly, watchfully,
thankfully.
Open a door there, open heartsto hear Kind of pray for this
(37:04):
person, that person they're heldcaptive to sin and pray for
their freedom from sin.
You get wounded along the way.
God brings you through.
Say God, thank you for bringingme through.
Thank you for helping me getthrough that.
Just like you always do.
As you talk to God about peopleconstantly, then you talk to
people about God wisely.
I guarantee you you do boththose things and your moments in
(37:29):
prayer and in walking, walkingand talking will bear fruit
forever.
So Paul closes all this bysaying I, paul, write this
greeting with my own hand.
Remember my chains, grace bewith you.
Oh, that's so good.
Dramatic even Like Paul haslikely dictated this letter
through a scribe, but now, withchains around his wrists, he
(37:53):
takes the papyrus in his hands,holds the brush between his
fingers and he writes I'mwriting this with my own hand.
And he looks down at thosehands with chains around them,
because he's given his life tothis battle.
And he says what many brothersand sisters of ours hands with
chains around them, because he'sgiven his life to this battle.
And he says what many brothersand sisters of ours would say
(38:14):
today from North Korean laborcamps to Iranian prisons
remember my chains, don't forget.
We got brothers and sisters whothis week will have
opportunities to point people toJesus, and it could cost them
their lives.
And we live in a land wherewe're free to do that.
All the more so we should bebold.
(38:35):
He says remember my chains,pray that I'll speak it clearly.
Implication I'll pray thatyou'll speak it clearly.
And then he says the exact samething.
He started at the beginning ofthe letter.
He says grace, be with you.
Ah, grace, I don't, don't liveto spread this gospel spiritual
(38:56):
battle because of guilt, becauseyou feel bad.
I guess I'm supposed to do thisobligation.
No, because you're sooverwhelmed by the grace and
love of god.
What if you read psalm 103 thismorning?
The benefits God, the steadfastlove, the grace.
The Lord is gracious andmerciful, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love, hislove in your heart.
So live to spread it.
(39:19):
And he sets it down, rolls itup.
He says, tychicus, it's allyours now.
So, church, let's do thistogether, every one of us
playing our parts, let's get on.
Let's stay on the.
Every one of us playing ourparts, let's get on.
Let's stay on the walkie-talkieall the time.
I hope you view prayer totallydifferent as a result of
Colossians, chapter four, andespecially this week.
(39:41):
Let's pray for each other.
Let's pray for open doors toinvite people, knowing you're
gonna have opportunities toinvite people that I won't have.
I'll have opportunities toinvite people that you won't
have and maybe nobody else willhave.
Like, let's pray for open doors, let's walk through them and
let's pray.
Could I invite you even to fastat some point this week, from a
meal for a day more, just forpower next Sunday, for every one
(40:05):
of our pastors who arepreaching the gospel.
They need, we need you prayingand fasting for power to make
the gospel clear and don't stopthere.
Pray for pastors all across ourcity who are preaching the
gospel and pray for our brothersand sisters who are spreading
the gospel all over the world.
Let's press in and pray that Godwould bring countless people
over the next week from bondageto sin and death to everlasting
(40:29):
life in him.
Pray that god would liberatecaptives this week.
So I want to lead us into amoment of prayer and reflection
before god.
You and the walkie talkie andif, if you're not a follower of
jesus, I know I hope that you'venot gotten too lost in this
(40:50):
wartime imagery, but the pictureis in sin, all of us in sin,
separated from God.
God has made a way for us to beforgiven of sin, restored a
relationship with him If you'venever put your faith in Jesus to
be forgiven of sin and freedfrom captivity, to experience
relationship with God.
I invite you to trust in Jesus,to be forgiven of sin and freed
(41:10):
from captivity, to experiencerelationship with God.
I invite you to trust in Jesustoday and when you do, and for
all who have.
Look at a world where so manypeople around us are separated
from God on a road that leads toeverlasting suffering.
Get on the walkie-talkie andlet's ask.
So here's what I want you toreflect on specifically over the
(41:33):
next couple of moments One whocan you invite to come next
Sunday?
Who doesn't know Jesus?
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!