Shake and Shine! – Part 1

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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Now if you are really becoming like Christ, you understand that God did not leave you here on earth to build a big net worth that is not God's purpose for your life. God's reason for leaving you here rather than taking you to heaven the moment you were saved was so that you could seek and save as many lost people as possible with your life. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffers. You know everyone has an overarching goal that directs their life.

Some people set their sights on getting rich or famous, but for those who follow Jesus, there really is a much bigger and better goal. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffers reminds us of our primary purpose in life: a mission of spiritual search and rescue.

Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message. Dr. Jeffers. Thanks David and welcome to this Tuesday edition of Pathway to Victory.

Now just before we hear today's message, I'm eager to remind you that Pathway to Victory is midway through an exciting salt and light matching challenge. And while there's still time, we want you to participate in this powerful opportunity to expand our impact for God's kingdom all across America and around the world. Because of the million-dollar matching challenge, we're in a position to realize a total of $2 million. That may sound like an audacious, unreachable target, but in faith, we're trusting God to provide through His people. When all of us band together with gifts big and small, we believe we can reach and even exceed the goal.

So, because of this wonderful matching challenge, your generous gift of, say, $100 becomes $200. A gift of $500 becomes $1,000. If you gave $5,000, that gift would be matched by some friends of our ministry until it became $10,000. Whatever amount you give between now and July 6th will have twice the impact. As a token of my thanks for your gift today, I'd like to send you my new book called Shine the Light.

This is a hopeful call to courage, kindness, and faith that speaks louder than the noise around us. Politics cannot transform America. Our only hope is Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

So, would you join us in this all-out effort to shine His light into the dark corners of our nation? David and I will share more details just after my message. But right now, let's open our Bibles to the book of Colossians. I titled today's message, Shake and Shine.

Sometimes atheists have a better understanding of Christianity. than most Christians. You may remember a few months ago I was on a national television program with noted atheist Penn Gillette.

Now recently, Pinjillette made an astounding comment. About Christians who refuse to share their faith with other people, or as he calls it, proselytizing.

Now you would think that an atheist would be all for Christians keeping their faith to themselves, wouldn't you? Not Pin Jillette. Listen to this insightful comment Penn Jillette made recently. He said, quote, I've always said that I don't respect people who don't proselytize. I don't respect them at all.

If you believe there's a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not having eternal life or whatever, and you think it's really not worth telling them this because it would be socially awkward, what kind of person does that make you? An atheist may think you shouldn't proselytize. Just leave me alone. Keep your religion to yourself. But how much do you have to hate somebody not to proselytize?

How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible? and then not tell them that. I mean, if I believed beyond the shadow of a doubt that a truck was going to hit you and you didn't believe it, even though the truck was bearing down on you, There's a certain point. Where I tackle you. And this is even more important than that.

Isn't that an astounding comment? From an atheist. And that atheist was only echoing the words of the Apostle Paul. in the passage we're going to look at today. Paul says if Jesus Christ is really central in your life.

Then you're going to devote your life to attracting people to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have your Bibles, turn to Colossians chapter 4. Colossians chapter 4. Look at what Paul says in verses 3 and 4. He says, Look at my own life.

You know, Paul said, Be imitators of me, even as I am an imitator of Christ.

So if you want to see that priority illustrated, look at the Apostle Paul.

Now, remember, he just finished talking about the importance of prayer. And he said in verse 3, he says, By the way, speaking of prayer, here's how I want you to pray for me specifically. Look at verse 3. Praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ. For which I have been also imprisoned, that I might make it clear in the way that I ought to speak.

Now, let me remind you of Paul's situation when he wrote these words. It'll help you appreciate the verses even more. Remember back in Acts chapter 21, Paul was in Jerusalem and he was accused by the Jews of some trumped-up charges that he had brought a Gentile named Tropimus into the inner court of the temple there in Jerusalem.

Now to the Jews, that was the crime of all crimes. It was deserving of the death sentence. And so the Jews trumped up this charge. It didn't really happen, but they said it did in order to silence Paul, whom they hated for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only problem was the Jews didn't have the authority to execute the death sentence.

Only the Romans who ruled over them could do that.

So they went to the Roman officials and they said, Paul has sinned against the Jews by doing this.

Now we want you to execute him.

Well, that put the Romans in a difficult situation. On one hand, they wanted to keep a good relationship with the Jews over whom they ruled. But on the other hand, Paul was not only a Jew, he was a Roman citizen, and they had to respect his rights as a Roman citizen.

So Paul found himself caught up in the Jewish Roman legal system for a period of years from Acts 21 to Acts 28. And he kept making appeals to different Roman authorities. And finally, he said, I have a right as a Roman citizen to take my case before Caesar in Rome. And so Paul got on a boat, left Caesarea, remember, he went to Rome. In the middle of that trip, he had a shipwreck, but eventually he made it to Rome.

And when we come to Acts 28, Paul is in Rome awaiting his trial before Caesar. He spent two years in Rome waiting for that trial. And while he was in Rome, he was under house arrest. He was able to have his own apartment, but he had to have a Roman guard there to whom he was chained 24 hours a day, a different guard each eight hours. And while Paul was under house arrest, he was able to receive guests.

He was also able to write letters, including those letters we know as the prison epistles. Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon. Mm. And the book we're looking at, Colossians. Paul wasn't in some deep, dark hole in the ground when he wrote these prison epistles.

He was in his apartment, chained to a Roman guard. Writing these letters to encourage the churches and us as well.

Now, he spent two years under house arrest. Guess what? His accusers never showed up.

So he was freed. He was able to make another missionary journey. He was arrested once again. Under this second arrest, he wrote what we call the pastoral epistles, Timothy and Titus, and then he was beheaded.

Now, that's a brief overview of Paul.

Now, when Paul is writing Colossians, he's under house arrest in Rome. And notice again what he prays in verses 3 and 4. He says, and this was his request, Paul's request in verse 3. He said, Colossians, while I'm under arrest, pray. For us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we might speak forth the mystery of Christ for which I have been in prison.

Paul did not write, Colossians pray that the doors of justice might be opened so that I can be freed. No, Paul prayed that the door of opportunity to preach the gospel would be opened. You see, more important to Paul than being free was being faithful.

Now, let me say a word about this concept of opening doors and shutting doors. Have you ever heard that expression before? You know, well, I'm praying God opens a door for me to get this job, or I'm praying that God will shut this door, open this door for me to be able to date this person or marry this person. You know, we talk about open and shut doors, but in the Bible, the only concept, the only time open doors and shut doors is used. is in regard to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with other people.

That's the only time you find this phrase used: opening a door for ministry. That was Paul's priority, and that should be our priority as well. He said, Look, my whole reason for existing is in order to share Jesus Christ with as many people as possible. And that's why he wrote to the Philippians, the sister letter, written at the same time. He said in Philippians 1 about his imprisonment.

He said, Now I want you to know, brothers, that my imprisonment. has turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. That's not why I'm upset. I'm happy. Rejoice in the Lord always again, I say rejoice.

He said, this is great. I'm having a chance to spread the gospel and the word of Jesus Christ is getting out through all of Caesar's household and all through Rome. It's spreading throughout all the Praetorium Guard, the secret service agents of Caesar. Just think about it. You know, every eight hours I get a new Roman guard I'm chained to.

Talk about a captive audience. I'm having a chance every eight hours to preach the gospel to a new Roman guard and that Roman guard is sharing it with somebody else and somebody else and it's made its way all the way up to Caesar's household. If your goal in life is the goal of most people, including Christians. Peace, prosperity, pleasure, the avoidance of pain. that when tragedy comes into your life, it truly is a disaster.

It's a detour from your life's purpose. But when you have a purpose that is bigger than yourself, the purpose for which you were created as a Christian, the purpose Paul had, and that is to share Christ with as many people as possible, that even what some people think of as a tragedy can be a marvelous opportunity to spread the message of Christ to others. That was Paul's perspective.

Now, are you starting to get the picture? Jesus said, My whole reason for coming was to fulfill God's agenda. to seek and save those who are lost. Paul said, My whole reason for being here is to share Jesus with as many people as possible. Paul is saying, if Christ is central in your life, you will be intoxicated, driven by that same purpose as well.

Paul says, Pray for me that a door of opportunity might be opened to share the gospel, to speak forth. Notice here the phrase, the mystery of Christ. for which I've been in prison.

Now that phrase, mystery of Christ. It can refer to the gospel in general, the good news of Jesus' death for our sins. But in Scripture, the mystery of Christ specifically refers to the mystery that Paul revealed, and that is, that salvation is available not just to Jews, but to Jews and Gentiles alike. It was that mystery, by the way, that so irritated the Jews that they had him falsely arrested and thrown into prison in order to kill him. The Jews hated that idea that Gentiles like you and I could be saved.

Paul said, but God has called me to speak forth this mystery. He said, pray for me that I can have the opportunity to speak and preach this irritating message to as many people as possible. Because that's the essence of the gospel. And he said, by the way, not only pray for me that I would have opportunity, pray that when I get the opportunity, I could witness clearly. Look at verse 4.

Pray that I might make it clear in the way I ought to speak. I like what the great preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon said one time. He said, Jesus said, feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. But most preachers put the food so high on the top shelf that neither the sheep nor the lambs can reach it.

It is as if they had read the verse, feed my giraffes. You know, preachers like that, they make everything so complicated, nobody can understand it.

Somebody told me after the first service, said, That their grandchild listens to us on Pathway to Victory, and their 10-year-old said, Granddad, I can understand that guy. I can understand that preacher. You know, that is the greatest compliment I could ever receive. to hear that a 10-year-old can understand what I'm saying. The Bible says we're not to make things complex.

We're not to try to impress people with our intellect. We need to speak clearly. Paul said, Pray for clarity when I speak.

Now, beginning in verse 5, Paul makes the application to us. He says, Now, just as I'm asking you to pray for opportunities and clarity for me, I'm praying the same thing for you. God doesn't just want those of us who are apostles and pastors and evangelists to share the gospel. This is something that we're all to be doing. And he makes that pivot in verses 5 and 6 of personal application to the Colossians.

Now remember their situation. The Colossians were living in a hostile world toward the things of Christ. That was 60 AD. Nothing has changed in the last 2,000 years. Do you realize, ladies and gentlemen, we are still living in a world where Christians, true Christians, are in a distinct minority?

We are living in a world that is hostile to the message of Jesus Christ. 40 years ago, Francis Schaefer wrote about Christians living in a post-Christian era. He said, 40 years ago, we are living in a post-Christian era. What was true 40 years ago is even more true today. Who would have ever thought?

That we in America Would live to see the day when the courts would order a cross at the Mojave Desert, at a war memorial, would shroud it so nobody could see it. Who would think we would have lived in America to see the day? when school children would be threatened with jail time. for handing out a pencil to a grade school child that said God on it. Who would think that high school students would be threatened with imprisonment?

If they dare mention the name of Jesus, God, or prayer in a high school graduation. Such a thing would have been unthinkable in our country 150 years ago or even just 50 years ago.

Now, have you ever stopped to ask yourself? What has changed in the last 50 years? Why is it these things that once were permissible and a part of our way of life as Americans, why is it suddenly not permissible to share Christ, to speak the name of God, to hand out a pencil with the name God on it? What has changed? Has the Constitution changed in the last 50 years?

Has the First Amendment changed in the last 50 years? Why is it what was acceptable is now unacceptable? Have these judges we now have, do they have some brand new, brilliant insight into the First Amendment that their predecessors never had? What's changed is not the Constitution. What's changed is not the First Amendment.

These judges don't have any fresh new insight. What has changed is the culture in which we live. This culture has become hostile and hateful toward the things of Jesus Christ. That's what's changed. And the same environment these Colossians were called to share Christ in, you and I are sharing Christ in.

Now, here's the good news. Even though we are to stand up, as I've said before, we're to push back against this tide of godlessness that is sweeping our country, we are to elect godly leaders. When the godly rule, the people rejoice, the Bible says, Yes, we're to try to stop this or delay it as long as we can, but we don't have to become despondent. The fact is, Christianity thrives during times of hostility. Do you understand that?

It's not during times of prosperity, it's during times of persecution that the gospel of Jesus Christ spreads rapidly. It was that way in the first century. Just think about it. Here are 12 followers of Christ. One of them was a washout and had to be replaced.

12 followers of Christ were so intent on sharing this message that they multiplied and multiplied and multiplied and within 300 years this tiny band of 12 peoples so multiplied that they ended up toppling the entire Roman Empire. How do you explain that? That is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now we're living in that same kind of environment where Christians are being persecuted. Did you know in the 20th century there were more martyrs for Christ?

than there were in all the other centuries, including the first century combined. People are being slaughtered around the world right now for their faith in Jesus Christ. And I believe the time is coming when we, who are true believers, will be persecuted in this country as well. I believe the time is coming more quickly than any of us can imagine when churches like First Baptist Church Dallas that preach the gospel of Jesus Christ are going to be persecuted. The good news is when the church is pressed, it expands.

Tertullian said, It is the blood of Christians that is the seed of Christianity. We need to get ready. And instead of being despairing about it and despondent, and woe is us, what is going to happen? We need to be ready. We need to be ready to share the gospel of Christ.

Because guess what? As this country becomes more and more hopeless. the hope of the gospel shines that much more brightly. We're in the same situation as these Colossians. Paul said, Be ready now to share your faith.

How do you share your faith? Notice what he says here. He says, You do it in two ways. First of all, through your conduct. Look at what he says in verse 5: Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.

That word conduct is translated walk in the King James Version. He's talking about the way you live your life. He says, conduct your relationships, conduct your work, conduct your own moral life in wisdom when it comes to outsiders.

Now, who are the outsiders?

Well, outsiders are unbelievers. See, the Bible says... We're not all God's children. We're not all headed toward heaven.

Some people are saved, some are lost.

Some are children of God, some are enemies of God. We're not all on one road headed to the same place. In fact, Jesus made that very clear in Matthew 7, verses 13 to 14. Jesus never taught, we're all on the road to. Heaven.

He didn't teach that we're all on different roads that are all leading up the mountain of truth to God. No, Jesus said there are two roads that lead to two very different destinies. Look at verses 13 and 14. Jesus said, enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. Most people in the world are headed on the road that leads to hell, Jesus said.

Verse 14, but the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Relatively few people will ever be saved, Jesus said.

Now for those of us who are on the narrow road leading to heaven, what's to be our attitude? Are we to be prideful and say, well, we're on the inside and you're on the outside, too bad for you? Is that the attitude? That was the Jewish attitude. The Jews were glad that they were on the inside, they thought.

And everybody else, Gentiles, were on the outside. They thought they were on the inside because they were physically related to Abraham. And they thought everybody else was on the outside because they weren't related to Abraham. Paul said, no. Paul said it's not our physical relationship to Abraham, it is our spiritual relationship by faith in Christ that relates us to God.

And Paul said, unlike the Jews, and he himself was a Jew, he said, unlike the Jews, our attitude ought to be we want to make as many outsiders as insiders as possible. That's our goal as Christians. And so he says, when you live your life, think about outsiders. Think about is your lifestyle attracting people to the gospel or repelling people from the gospel? In other words, We ought to live our lives in such a way in our own families that when people see our relationship to our mate or with our children or to our parents, that people say who aren't Christians, boy, I want what you have.

Makes them attracted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, not repulsed by it. We ought to be the best employees we can possibly be at work, working with the highest degree of integrity, with persistence, with diligence, so that when that non-Christian employee or that fellow employee looks at us, says, What is it that makes you so energetic? Why do you live your life this way? It attracts people to the gospel. Students You ought to live your life at school in such a way that Your morality isn't the morality of non-Christians, but you live in such a righteous way, a different way, that people are attracted to the gospel.

They see the joy you have by keeping God's laws, and they want to know more about faith in Christ. Paul said, conduct yourself with wisdom when it comes to outsiders. By now, you probably understand why I chose the title for today's message, Shake and Shine. Paul's outspoken love and devotion to Christ cost him his freedom. Imprisoned for his faith, we hear his clarion call today.

He said, conduct yourself with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.

So, what's your next step?

Well, let me invite you to participate in the Salt and Light matching challenge that's active right now. This remarkable gift was put together by a group of visionary friends of Pathway to Victory, and it's intentionally designed to motivate others like you to join this movement of God. They've set a goal of $1 million, hoping to reach the total amount of $2 million with your help.

So every dollar you give between now and July 6th will be automatically matched by our friends until it becomes twice the size. When we're all in, when we're really totally devoted to the cause of Christ, it's going to shake things up. And we need to seize the moment and shine as bright lights for Christ's glory. Plus, when you give today, not only does your gift have twice the impact, but I'll say thanks by sending the book I've written called Shine the Light. This is the book that complements our current series, and it'll help you You cut through all the chaos so that you can focus on what's most important.

Look, some of us feel like we're on a never-ending treadmill, chasing after accomplishments we can't possibly reach. In my book, I'll explain God's refreshing alternative.

So, this is an excellent time to leverage your gift, doubling its size while also receiving a copy of my book, Shine the Light. Here's David with all the details. Thanks Dr. Jeffress. When you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory, you're invited to request a copy of the brand new book by Dr.

Jeffress, Shine the Light. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. And when you give $100 or more, we'll also send you the complete collection of audio and video discs for the Shine the Light teaching series. And remember, because of our salt and light matching challenge, your gift to Pathway to Victory will be matched and therefore doubled in impact.

So be sure to get in touch with us today. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or online, go to ptv.org. You could send your donation by mail right to PO Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. Again, that's PO Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J.

Mullins. Join us Wednesday for part two of the message, Shake and Shine. Here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. And right now, your ministry gift will be matched and therefore doubled in impact thanks to the Salt and Light Matching Challenge. Take advantage of this opportunity to double your impact before the deadline on July 6th. To give toward the matching challenge, go to ptv.org/slash donate or follow the link in our show notes.

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