Please take your Bibles and turn to the book of Colossians, New Testament, the book of Colossians. And we are reading today from chapter 4. Colossians chapter 4. And we are going to read just a few verses at this point. The verses are found in chapter 4 verses 2 to 9. Colossians 4 verses 2 to 9. Let me read the passage first of all. And we seek to make the connection from what have been already set before us prior to this point. Shaul, Paul is writing to the Colossians and he says in verse 2: "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving, without praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of peace, a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Mashiach, for which I am also in bonds, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak.

Walk in wisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. all my estate. All my estate shall, took it course, declare unto you, who is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and fellow servants in the Lord, whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose that he might know your estate and comfort your hearts with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here." And I stop with the reading at this point.

The reason that I stop with the reading at this point is because this little section of Colossians chapter 4 kind of linked together in connection, of course, with the passages that we have read before. Now remember, beloved brothers and sisters, we are dealing with a letter that had been written by Shaul, by Paul, to a company of believers at Colossae. He had never seen these believers, he had heard a lot about them, and he knew that there was a danger situation that existed in Colossae. A danger to be influenced by philosophy, a danger to be influenced like we have in chapter 2, human opinion. A danger with all kinds of things that could be very well crept into the congregation, the assembly at Colossae.

Philosophy, vain deceit, tradition of men, rudiments of this world. There was a danger that this group of believers, this local assembly, local church, local congregation, were in danger. So Paul writing to them. First of all, he wrote to them and he gave them doctrine. He told them, listen, Messiah, Mashiach is the center, he is the theme, he is the one that God set his heart upon that person. In him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. Then when he finished the two chapters for us, in chapter 3 and chapter 4, he leads them into practical walk with the Lord. There ought to be a change in the behavior of the believer.

When a person becomes a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, change comes into the life of that person. All of a sudden, he or she loves the things of God. All of a sudden, they ought to seek, as it says, if he then had been risen with the Messiah. Think of those things which belong to him, where the Messiah is. Think above where the Lord Jesus, the Messiah is. Yeshua is no longer on earth. He is in heaven. So he's telling them, there gotta be a change in the behavior of the believer. And he's reminding them that they are to put on and to put off.

Their old nature has to be put off. Their new nature has to be put on. Every day, there gotta be a walk with the Lord. He told them, you remember, you need to put on things that are beloved, as holy as the bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering. You gotta put it on. Every day, like we dress in the morning, and we go out to meet our responsibility. We have to put our clothes and we go out to meet our responsibility in the world. We have to put on the garments of the believer. Every day. To put on again and again and again.

And of course, to put off that which is of the old nature. And you remember, he said, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication. Put it off. Take it out of your life. Don't have it controlling your life. Because now, you belong to another person. To another man. Then you remember, he went very close to the relationship with husbands and wives. Family relationship. Wives submit to your husband. Husband. Husband, love your wives. Children, obey your parents. Fathers, don't provoke your children to anger. Servants, don't do your service only because of somebody looking at you. Do your services unto the Lord. And masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal.

Why? Because you have also a master in heaven. You see how he is very practical. Paul, Shaul. He does not only give teaching, something for the head. But he gives something for the heart and for the conscience. And for the believer to practice every day of his and her life. And now, beloved, in these few verses. Verses 2 that we read. In chapter 4, verse 2. All the way to verse 9. He begins to speak about, he's getting a little closer. And he's talking about the gift of speaking and the tongue that God had given to us. You know that God had given us the mouth, the tongue, to use it.

You know what the Bible teaches us? That out of the heart, the mouth speaks. You know how do we know about the person? We do not know him or her heart by looking at them. But you know how we know a person? By the way that he or she use their tongue, their mouth. It is very easy to discover what a person thinks when we listen to what they say. And in these verses, beloved, verses 2 of chapter 4. To verse 9 of chapter 4. He's challenging the Colossians. And he says, listen. How do you use your tongue? How do you use your mouth? How do you use the communication, the ability to communicate?

How do you use it? What do you do? How do you speak? You know, God has given us the ability to speak. To use words. You know what James said about the tongues? Turn to the book of James for a second. I just want you to read a verse with me in James chapter 3. James also was dealing with believers. James, Yaakov in Hebrew, his name is Yaakov. Yaakov was writing, by the way, to believers who were scattered. Hebrew believers. Yaakov was writing to the Hebrew Christians. Messianic Jewish people. And he was writing to them and he says, My brethren in chapter 3. Be not many masters or teachers knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

For in many things we offend all, if any man offend not in word. He, the same, is a perfect or mature man. And he is able to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horse's mouth that they may obey us and we turn their whole body about. Behold also a ship, which though they be so great or is so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm. And then it says in verse 5 of James 3. Even so the tongue is a little member and is boasting great things. Behold how great a matter, a little fire candle, he says in verse 5.

"And the tongue is a fire, and a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts and birds, and of serpents and of things in the sea are tame, and has been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." I'll pause here, I'll stop here with the reading in James. I mean, James telling the Hebrew believers of the first century, he says, "Watch it! Watch it! How do you use your tongue?

Use your tongue because the tongue is like little fire. You start a fire with a match, and it becomes a big fire that can cause a lot of havoc, a lot of problem." Now Paul is coming, and he's writing to the Colossians. I'm back now in Colossians chapter 4. And he's giving the Colossians instruction concerning the gift of speech that they have. How do you use your tongue? How do you use your tongue? How are you going to use it? Are you using it for the benefit of the people of God, and for the honor and glory of Yeshua the Messiah? Now let me just begin here in our chapter, Colossians 4.

In verses 2 and 3a, he's challenging the Colossians. And he said to them, "Use your mouth, your tongue for prayer." You notice he says that? He's saying in verse 2a, first of all, "Continue in prayer, watch in the same, that in much in prayer, with thanksgiving, with all," he said in verse 3a, "praying also for us." And I pause here. You see, Paul, first of all, he's saying to the believers at Colossi, you know, he's saying Colossian believers, he says to them, "You know what? We have already talked about the relationship between husband and wife, between children and parents, between masters and servants. But now I want you, Colossians, to understand that God had given you the ability to speak and to communicate with Him.

Use your tongue, your mouth to pray for each other." To pray for one another. You notice he says, "Continue in prayer." By the way, there are three points here in those verses. "Continue in prayer, watching the same with thanksgiving and praying also for us." You see, he's saying to them, first of all, "Continue in prayer." He's giving them the necessity of diligence in prayer. You know, I can tell you, if there is anything that we must confess before the Lord that we have a problem with, is the problem of taking the time and going to the closet and talk to our Father in Heaven. I don't know if you have this problem.

We have a lot of time to watch television. We have a lot of time to make phone calls. We have a lot of time to listen to the radio. We have a lot of time to do many things, but if you're honest with me, we have very little time that we are continuing on an ongoing basis, coming into the presence of God and praying. It takes spiritual energy to do so. It takes self-discipline to do so. You watch yourself and you will tell me honestly, I mean, don't tell me, but just yourself as before the Lord. In your leisure, in your time, every day of your life, how much time do you give to prayer?

How much time do you really spend, take aside, away from people, away from your husband, your wife, your children, and just yourself before the Lord? Pray. I have to ask the same question myself. How much time do we do that? When we get up in the morning, the first thing that we get up in the morning, what do you do? Do you go on your knees? Do you bow before the Lord and say, Lord, I thank you for the good night rest you have given to me. I thank you for my home, for my bed, for the warm blankets. I thank you for what you have provided for me.

Lord, I am going to start a new day. I need your help. I pray for my children, I pray for my wife, my husband. Lord, I am going to begin a new day. Lord, I thank you for the night and I beg you to help me for this coming day that is ahead of me. If we are honest, we sometimes don't even take that time to begin the day by prayer. Oh yes, we got to get up, oh, we got to make it to work, we got to make it to school, we got to make it somewhere. We don't have the time to do, to stop and to just say, Lord, I need you to bless me, to help me today, to lead me on.

Paul is saying, be diligent. Notice he used the word continue. What does that mean to continue? See, you only continue something you have started. If you haven't started, you don't need to continue, you need to start. And perhaps today is the first day that you can start. But if you have already started, and sometimes the hustle and the bustle of the business of life hinder us from taking the time to pray, I challenge you, Paul challenge us. And he says, pray. You know, the Bible tells us in various passages, of course, in the New Testament, just some passages. You don't even need to turn to those passages.

But in Romans chapter 12 and verse 12, Paul, Shaul is saying, continue instant in prayer. Romans 12 and verse 12. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 18, Paul is saying to the believer, praying always, not sometimes, always. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 17, he says, pray without stop, without ceasing. That means that all the time, an attitude of prayer, to continue on an ongoing basis, to take the initiative and to pray. You see, beloved, this is using our mouth and our tongue to talk to the Lord. There is a song that we sometimes sing. He walked with me and he talked with me along the narrow way. See, God delighted to talk with his people.

He delighted to talk with them. And he wants us to speak to him and to tell him the things that we have on our hearts. And that's why we read in this passage, continue in prayer. This is suggest to us, beloved, diligence. Be diligent in praying. It's a lot of work. And you know, sometimes, you know what we need to do with each other? When we talk with each other sometime after the meeting, before the meeting. When we are perhaps on the phone. Perhaps when we are sitting for a cup of coffee in a restaurant. You know what we need to do with each other?

What we need to do? He says, Brother Saul, you know, let's just stop for a moment and let's pray for a moment. You told me your issues, your problems. Let's just talk with the Lord for a moment. Years ago, a brother from Israel came and I took him to synagogue. And I took him to see Niagara Falls. And I think I told you that. He was standing over the falls. And we look at the Niagara Falls and the awesomeness of the water that's coming down. And his brother just hugged me. He says, Gidon, he says, let's just pause for a moment and let's give thanks.

Let's praise God for what he provided. Look at that sight. He was overwhelmed when he saw the force, the power of God, the greatness of God. And it's just humbling. And it does so good to the heart to just say, Lord, I thank you for what you have done. Look at what is existing here. It's your creation. Don't stop to pray, Paul's saying to the Colossians. Continue on. Be diligent in prayer. Notice, he's continuing now. In the same verse 2, not only continue in prayer. Be diligent. He says, now watch also in the same. You know this expression in verse 2. To watch in the same. The same means in prayer.

Watch in prayer. In other words, don't only be diligent, but be alert. In other words, when you pray, be diligent, but also watch in the same. In other words, be specific. Watch. You remember, the Lord said to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane before he went in anticipation of his death on the tree. You remember, he went there and he said, Peter, James, and John, and he said to them, you know what, I'm leaving you here. I'm going a little bit ahead. Watch in prayer. Let you come into temptation. So he went. And he said, Father, if it is possible, take this cup away from me.

While he was in agony, he comes back. And guess what? They are all sleeping. Like you and I, beloved. He is in agony anticipating the death that he is going to die, the payment, the price that he was going to pay for the sin and sins of this world. But the disciples are sleeping. To watch. Not only to be diligent, but to be vigilance, to have alertness as we are praying. And you notice, thirdly, in the second verse, in verse 3a, he says also, praying also for us. You notice that? I mean, if I would have been the Apostle Paul or Shaul, I would say, who needs to pray for me?

I'm the great Apostle Paul. You see, I don't need anybody's prayer. I am the one that has received that revelation from the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, the glorified Messiah. What do I need people praying for me? But Paul said, you know what? Pray also for us. Let me tell you that. I'll tell you that. Pray also for me. Don't stop from praying for me. And I trust that I, by the grace of God, I will not stop to pray for you. You notice that it's not only to be diligent, to be alert, but to have what you call a personal prayer, specifically mentioning the needs of the individual.

You know, sometimes we say, God bless all the missionaries. I say that. Well, but there is a specific need in some mission field. There is a person that served the Lord. His name is so and so. And we need to specifically, Paul is saying, pray also for us. That is me and those that are with me in the ministry of the Lord. Pray for us and present us before God. Use your tongue. Use your mouth. The gift of speech that God has given to you to commit the people of God to the Lord. That's what we need, beloved. And you know, if the people of God will pray for each other, they are also going to be much more united.

The attack of the enemy will be somehow blocked by the prayers of the saints. But if the people of God, using their tongues and their mouths to criticize each other, they are a great vessel for the enemy to cause havoc among the people of God. That's what he's saying. You see, they were in danger. They were to beware, as we read in chapter 2, beware lest any man spoil you. Well, how are we going to beware of somebody spoiling me? Well, I got to turn my heart, my affection towards my Messiah. And I got to tell him that I need him. A Bible teacher I remember on the radio said once, every morning when I leave my house, I pray that God will keep me from those who are trying to harm the ministry of the Lord.

He doesn't leave the house before he's praying, Lord, protect me from those. As Paul says, beware lest any man will spoil you. How are you going to beware? You're going to talk to the Lord and you're going to pray. That's the only way. And so, beloved, the first thing that we learn in our chapter, in Colossians 4, verse 2 and 3a, is the necessity to use our tongue, our speech, by communicating with Abba, with the Father, and with the Son concerning the needs that exist. He's praying diligently, praying alertly, praying personally, specifically for the needs that exist among the people of God. Secondly, now let's move down.

We are in chapter 4 of Colossians. And we are now in verse 3b and verse 4. How do we use our tongue? Use our tongue for the proclamation of the Word of God. See, Paul wanted the believers at Colossians praying that he will use the mouth that God had given him, the tongue, the speech that he had given him, to proclaim the Word of God. You see what he's saying? In verse 3b, he was praying, he was asking that an open door will come to him, that he will be able to preach the Word of God. You see, he says that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak.

Again, notice, he's using the words to speak. That God will give us, he will open the door of utterance to speak the mystery of Messiah, which I am also in bounds for. Verse 4, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. Again, he's using the word to speak. Well, beloved, listen. There is time that we need to speak about certain things, like the car, the house, the job. Many other things, we need to speak about those, because we are living here in this world. But to ask for God, that he will open the door. You notice that Paul does not ask that God will open the door of prison and let me go out loose.

I would ask perhaps for that, you know. He's in jail, uncomfortable situation, he doesn't ask for that. But you know what he asks? By the Colossians' prayer for him and for them there. That God would open unto us a door, not the door of the prison. And not that it's wrong for him to ask for that, but the doors of utterance to speak. What do you want to speak about, Paul? That I will speak concerning the mystery of the Messiah, for which I am also in bonds. You see, he was in bonds. But he wanted to speak the word of God. Do you know that the word of God is the only way that we can get edified and encouraged?

You know the word of God, thy word, the psalmist says, Have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against thee. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, the psalmist have said. You see how the apostle, desiring to preach the word of God faithfully, because he wanted to preach to present the mystery of the Messiah, the mystery of Christ. You know what is that mystery? We have it in Ephesians chapter 3. We actually even have it in the book of Colossians here, as well in chapter 1. If you just go back to Colossians 1, Colossians 1, this same book that we are studying, this expression of the mystery is also mentioned here.

Colossians chapter 1, notice he's speaking about the gospel. It says, chapter 1, I'll read just verse 5 says, For the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. You notice he's using the hope of the gospel. In other words, when the beloved brethren there have heard, Now go back, go to chapter 1, verse 26, again using it there. He said, For the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to the saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles, which is Messiah in you, the hope of glory.

You know what he wanted to reveal as he present the word of God? He wanted to preach about that mystery. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Mashiach in us, the hope of glory. That is an amazing truth to understand. Christ, the Messiah in the believer, the hope of glory. Well, that's what happened. When the world got astray, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, God had to do something. And he sent his son. And it is an amazing mystery that God became a man, was born in Beit Lechem into the virgin Miriam, the Hebrew virgin. And there as men walked in this world for 33 years until he went to the place where he suffered death on the tree.

And when he died, he had brought together a company of believers, both from among the Jewish people and among the Gentiles and united them in the body of Messiah. That's a mystery. And now, when he had gone to heaven, he had the Spirit of God indwelling every believer. And this is an amazing truth to understand. Messiah in us, the hope of glory. You see, that's what he wanted to preach. He wanted to preach the Word of God. There is no better thing to do than to preach the simplicity of the Word of God. Years ago, one brother told me, Brother Gideon, if you have an opportunity to preach the Word of God, he says, make much of the Messiah of Christ.

He is the one that we can lift. He is the one that we can elevate, that we can worship and adore. And that's what we want to do even today as we speak about him. God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak. What he wanted to speak of the mystery of the Messiah, for which I am also in part. He was a slave to the preaching of the mystery of the Messiah. Amazing. You know, you and I can do the same in a little corner that God had placed us. Again, to use our mouth and our tongue to pray for each other, to pray for the need of each other, to be diligent, to be vigilant, and to be specific in our prayer.

But now also to present the Word of God. Faithfully to present the Word of God. To speak of the mystery of the Messiah, Yeshua, and the believers together. That's great, beloved brothers and sisters. Remember, faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the Word of God. That's how people get saved. That's how you got saved. That's how I got saved. I heard the message of the Gospel. Somebody told me about the Word of God, and I opened my eyes. God used His Word. In the power of the Spirit of God, being presented and faithfully taught, and God's Word will not return unto Him void. That's what he's saying here in this particular chapter.

So, beloved, Colossians is saying to them, I'm giving you practical things that you need to do if you are going to live a victorious life. How are you going to use your tongue? Are you using it to pray? And he's challenging them to pray diligently. Number two, are you using your tongue to present the Word of God to others? Because through the Word of God, you can elevate the person of the Messiah and present to speak the mystery of Christ, of Mashiach. That's what we want to present as we are speaking with people about the Word of God. Now, thirdly, I'm going down. In verses 2 and 3a, we have the use your tongue for prayer.

In verse 3b and verse 4 is use your tongue for the proclamation of the Word of God. Now, here's the next thought that we have here. In verses 5 and 6, use your tongue to witness to them that are without. Notice, he says now in verse 5, walk in wisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech, again, he's using, many times you notice in this text he's using the word to speak, speech, utterances, prayer. He's again and again bringing the tongue, the mouth here. He says, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Here's the third thing that he says about the tongue in this text that we have here in Colossians 4. He's saying to them, first of all, in verse 5, walk in wisdom towards them that are without. You know, the word them that are without in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. Those that are without, those are unbelieving individuals. See, we are in Messiah, we are in. We are in the body of Messiah. We are part of the family of God. But there are people that are outside that watch us. Do you know how people watch the believer carefully? You and I are like a book. The way we walk, the things we say, we are like a book.

They look at us and you say to a Christian, look at the way you speak, look at what you say, look at the way you behave. You belong to Jesus. And we scratch our head and say, yeah, you know, Jesus loves you. You know, we want to tell people about the Lord, but the way we speak sometimes, beloved, it's awful. Somebody watch us and look at us and listen to us. He or she might say, listen, I don't want you, Jesus. I don't want you, Yeshua, the way you speak. And so that's why he says walk in wisdom. You know, walk is what we do here on this earth, to walk in wisdom, to be wise in our walk, the pathway that we take to be wise in this.

Many times in the Bible, he's using the word walk. Let me show you. I marked myself some verses in the scripture concerning the walking. Turn to Ephesians 4. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1. The Apostle Paul is saying, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. To walk worthy of the vocation with which we are called. The vocation that we have been called to walk in a special way because we belong to Yeshua, the Messiah. Ephesians 5 and verse 2. He's saying, walk in love as the Messiah also had loved us and had given himself for us. The believer is to walk in love.

The believer is to walk in love. And this is very important also. And that's why it is essential for us in a practical way to walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Chapter 5 and verse 8. Walk even in the darkness. We can walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Well, we continue now quickly. Ephesians 5 and verse 8. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. You see, beloved, how important it is. Again and again, the apostle tells us to walk in a different way. We are no longer to walk the way we used to walk before.

And that's why he's saying to the believers at Colossae, he's saying to them to walk in wisdom in our chapter, chapter 4. To walk in wisdom. To walk in wisdom. And as he's telling them to walk in wisdom in chapter 4 and verse 5. Notice in verse 6 he says, "Let your speech be always seasoned with grace." You know, how important it is the way we speak with each other and with the people without. You know, we need grace. We cannot just walk hammering people in the way we communicate with people. They're walking in grace. In speaking in grace. In a gracious way. It's appealing. Season with salt. You know, salt, we're using it in our food in order to give us some taste.

We have salt in the past to use it to preserve food. Salt makes a difference. You know, if somebody listened to us. What does he or she hear? Are our speeches seasoned with salt? Are our speeches always presented in grace? Don't you think that, do you remember when the Lord appealed to us? The grace of God that drew us after himself. What made us so attractive to the person of the Lord? The way he spoke with us through his word. He spoke in grace towards us. And he drew our hearts. It brought us closer to him. We wanted to learn some more. Lord, what do you have more to teach me?

What more can I learn? And that's the way the Lord wants us to communicate as well with each other. And from those that are without the unregenerated world. If they will hear us speak. They are to hear us having our speech always with grace and seasoned with salt. That we may know how we are to answer every man. People will ask questions. People will have things that they would like to know about the person of the Lord. We need to know how to use our mouth. To use our tongue in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. And so we talked about the using of the tongue for prayer.

We talked about the using of the tongue to proclaim the word. We also talked about the using of the tongue to share with outsiders, those that are without, in a proper way, in grace, in season with salt, in a proper way that people will hear what we have to say. And finally, in verses 7, 8, and 9, to use our tongue to tell others about the burdens and the concern that we have in our lives. And look at this. And look at this. In verse 7, he says, All my state shall declare unto you, who is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord, whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate and comfort your hearts.

With Onesimus, a faithful and a beloved brother, who is one of you, they, here notice this point, here's the speaking. They shall make known unto you all the things which are done here. You notice here, Paul is now speaking about two individuals, one by the name of Tychicus, the other one by the name Onesimus. These two individuals have been very faithful servants. Tychicus was with the Apostle Paul when he was preaching already in Ephesus. In Acts chapter 20, you see, Tychicus is one of those faithful ministers, servants, who had been with the Apostle Paul. Onesimus was a runaway slave. He ran away from Philemon. You read it in the story, in the letter to Philemon.

He was running away from Philemon. He perhaps stole something from Philemon. He ran all the way to Rome. He met the Apostle Paul. And the Apostle Paul led him to the Messiah. That's why he's called my son, also. Son of the Apostle Paul in the faith. And he led him to the Messiah. And now he became a servant of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And now what the Apostle Paul is doing, he's using these two brethren, he's using Tychicus and Onesimus to bring the word to the local assembly at Colossae. And he's telling them, you know what? They're going to tell you what's going on in our area.

They will make known unto you all that being done right here with us. You know, brothers and sisters, it is so important for us also to share with each other some things that we are concerned about. You know, there are many needs. It doesn't mean that we need to make everything public and to talk about every problem that we have. But it's good to share with some of our brethren and to tell the brothers and sisters, you know what? I have a situation. I have a problem there. I need you to pray for me. I want to report to you some of the things that are going on here.

So to share, to use the mouth, to use the tongue, to share the burdens, the concerns, the loads that we have upon our backs, upon our hearts, so we can, others can take it and bring it before the Lord in prayer. That's what we need to learn to do. Using our tongue to share with our brothers and sisters how things are going on in a certain situation. And that's why reports are sometimes important. You know, I have to sometimes accept reports from people who I have responsibility over. So they send me reports what's going on in the mission field, how things are going there. Now, sometimes people don't like to give a report.

They say, oh, boy, you know. But if you serve the Lord and you minister, it's important so others will hear about it and pray for you. And bring you before the throne of grace and seek to pray for you, to assist you in one way or another. Mycicus and Onesimus brought a report to the Colossian assembly about the things that are being done at the area where the Apostle Paul was serving. And so, beloved, the challenge that we have from these verses is to use our mouth, our tongue, to benefit others, to glorify the Lord, to glorify the Lord, and to be used in such a way that others will be edified.

Now, I'm going to close with just this verse, which we have read in our reading time. David said to God in Psalm 141 and verse 2, Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. David said that. Melech Israel, the king of Israel, said that years ago, before the church was born, as a leader of the nation of Israel, he says, God, set a watch before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. So I will be able to speak that which is honoring unto you. And with this, I'm going to close this afternoon. This thought, may the Lord help us all to use our mouth and our tongues for the glory of God and the blessing of God's people.