Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Colossians chapter 2, the
chapter that we read, and reading for our text verses 6 and 7. verses 6 and 7. As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and
built up in Him, and established in the faith as ye have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Colossians 2 and
verse 6 and 7. In the previous verses, the Apostle
had told them that though he was absent from them, yet he
had been with them in the Spirit, and he was enjoying and beholding
their order and steadfastness of their faith in Christ. and he really sums that up and
says that they had received Christ Jesus the Lord. He had seen the
evidence of it, the fruit of that, that he could see in them
like Barnabas could go to those at Antioch, and when he saw the
grace of God, that he was glad. And so Paul, he is beholding
these things, and it's good when the people of God are able to
recognize in others the grace of God, and to testify very clearly,
like Paul does here to these Colossians, They have received
Christ Jesus. Now, He has a message further
for them and the Lord's dear people not only have to receive
but they are to proceed, they are to walk and also to advance
in the faith. The Apostle Paul, when he writes
to the Hebrews, he tells them in Hebrews 6, when he's trying
to teach them the doctrines of the high priestly office of our
Lord, and especially in the time of Melchizedek, he says that
they were dull of hearing. He says in verse 12, For when
for the time ye ought to have been teachers, ye have need that
one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles
of God, and are become such as need of milk, and not of strong
meat. For every one that useth milk
is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe,
But strong may belongeth to them that are of full age, even those
who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil. And so the Apostle here is saying
this, that where there is a birth, a new birth, where there is a
receiving of Christ, there's not a stagnating, there's not
just a staying and not advancing in the Christian faith. There
needs to be that. And if there is that, that is
the guard against being led away into evil because they're able
to discern good and evil. Those that are novices or those
are newly come to the faith, they're not so easily able to
discern and can, like the Galatians, be drawn aside and to leave Christ
and to go back to the law and be in bondage again. And so the
idea here with the Apostle writing to the Colossians is that they
are to proceed. They're not to stand in one place.
They are to proceed. They are to walk. And also the
other sense of that is, of course, that our faith is not just in
our head. It is to be walked out. It affects
our life and what we do and how we act as well. And so this is
what the Apostle is setting forth before them here, as ye have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him,
or walk in this faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now one of
the reasons for this direction that he is giving them here,
that shall be used to make them built up and established in the
faith, is because of those that would turn them away from Christ. So often in this chapter we have
verse 4, and this I say, lest any man should beguile you with
enticing words. In verse 8, beware, lest any
man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. And then at the end of the chapter
as well, He's speaking of those that are bringing commandments,
but they're not the commandments of the Lord, they're commandments
and doctrines of men that have a show of will-worship, show
of wisdom even, and humility. and neglecting of the body, not
in any honour satisfying to the flesh. And how many would look
at that and say, well, a way of wisdom, a way of humility,
a way crucifying to the flesh, that must be right, that must
be a good way. And yet all of these are wrong
ways. And one reason why there's a
real caution here is because those that are newly come to
the faith, They are teachable. Their mind is open to really
any teaching. You know, when the Lord first
opened my eyes, and it was actually after Jehovah's Witnesses came
to the door when I was 19 years of age, and at that time I hated
the things of God, I wanted to get away from them, and argued
with my mother about the Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine, And afterwards
the Lord spoke to me and said, you know nothing about what you've
spoken. You're a hypocrite. You hate
the things of God. You don't like to go to the Lord's
house. And this man has come, not on
Lord's Day, but in the week, to tell you about his religion
that you've condemned, because he cares for your soul. and you've
condemned it, you know nothing in your own heart, and the Lord
used that, not to lead me astray to Jehovah's Witnesses, but to
show what a hypocrite I was, and it's so easy, especially
for our young people in our chapels, to know a certain amount in the
head, and there's a lot I didn't know, but not in the heart, and
we can even like to argue and show where others are wrong,
But we're not saved ourselves. We're not converted ourselves. We don't know Christ ourselves. But when the Lord began with
me, then immediately I wanted to go to every service I could.
I wanted to hear all the preaching I could. Anyone that would tell
me of the things of God, I wanted to hear. Two weeks later, the
Mormons came to the door and I let them in. And I wanted to
let them have time to talk to me and to tell me about their
religion. And then when they showed me a picture of an old
man, a young man, a ray of light, these three are God. I said,
there's not three Gods. I threw them out of the house.
And afterwards, I thought, well, there is something about three
in one, the Trinity and the Word of God. That's how ignorant I
was. probably threw them out of the house for the truth. But the point I'm making is a
new believer, one that is first awakened, it's a blessed thing
to have a teachable spirit, but it also leaves them very vulnerable
for everyone who comes along and says, I'll teach you, you
do this and that, or I have more wisdom than that, I can show
you a better way. and Bunyan in his Pilgrim's Progress,
he pictures that. He gets worthy wise men, he directs
him, directs him back to the law and many others, ones that
really want salvation. ones that want to walk right
before the Lord, want to do that which is right, they're really
open to any that is going to tell them, well if you do this,
this is pleasing to the Lord, this is the right way, this is
the thing you should do, and because they do want to please
the Lord, they want to do what is right, then they are wide
open to any errors, and so this is what is set forth here, in
this passage, but the whole secret, especially at the end of verse
8, beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy, vain
deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the
world, and those last words are crucial, and not after Christ. Paul says, he says, be ye followers
of me, as I also am of Christ. And here he is directing all
the time away from man's teaching and after Christ. And we know
the Holy Spirit inspires the Word of God. The Bereans, even
when they heard Paul preach, They went straight back to the
Scriptures, searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were
so. It's a wonderful thing if we
hear one sermon on the Lord's Day and Paul only, he preached
to them just on the Sabbath days. But they searched the Scriptures
every day. I wonder how often it is that
what is preached to us at one preaching occasion then furnishes
a searching of Scriptures for many days and we read because
of that many of them believed. So there's a reason especially
those new come to the faith for the words of our text. The other
thing I mentioned by way of introduction here is that truth received and
our walk and conduct, thinking in this way, they go together,
they go together. If you think of learning to drive
a car, you do a theory test, you've got to know the road rules,
you've got to know the theory that is necessary to drive a
car, what to do. But then you put into practice
what you learnt. You don't learn one thing and
do another thing. You actually have the two matched
together. The teaching you've received
is the same as what you put into practice. When I was in engineering,
it was the same. We used to learn the theory of
engineering we do perhaps bending of a beam and how much weight
you could put on a beam, two supports on the side, a beam
and then a weight hanging in the center, how much weight you'd
put on that, how much the beam would deflect. And we work it
out in theory, according to the formulas, then we'd measure,
we do as a practical experiment, we measure it, And lo and behold,
the theory was correct. It measured with a dial gauge
exactly what we said a calculator would be. And that reinforces
it. So I could design machines with
confidence. And though the machine had never
worked, and it was not by trial and error, it was all done by
theory, but I designed the size of the shafts, the size of that
machine, knowing that I could rely on my calculations and in
practice it would work and in so many things in life there
is a link and so when the apostle says here as you have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him a link between
the receiving and the walking And so I want to think of three
points and especially focused around the walking. So firstly,
a walk based on receiving Christ Jesus the Lord. And then secondly,
a walk that builds up and establishes in the faith. We read in verse
7, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith
as ye have been taught. And then thirdly, a walk abounding
with thanksgiving. The end of verse 7, abounding
therein, in that walk that flows from the receiving, In that walk,
there is abounding therein, in that walk, with thanksgiving. Firstly then, a walk that is
based upon the receiving. How have we received Christ Jesus
the Lord? How do most Most poor sinners
receive Him. Do not they receive Him as a
needy sinner? Is it not to come before Him
as a sinner? God be merciful to me a sinner. Hymn writer says sinners can
say and none but they how precious is the Savior We don't seek after
the Saviour when we feel no need. The Lord said, I am come not
to save the whole or the righteous, but sinners, to call them to
repentance. He is the heavenly physician.
And so those that receive Him, they'd remember how they received
Him first. It was not as a self-righteous
person, it was not as one that had fulfilled the law themselves
and then said to the Lord, now I've done my part, you come and
be my saviour. They received him as sinners.
A needy sinner, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross
I cling. And if we remember that, As ye
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
Him. Walk in Him as a needy sinner. Yes, as Christ fulfills our need, as He satisfies the desires of
the heart, as He fills us, then we're not needy in that sense,
but in ourselves we always will be. And the Apostle says in Romans
7, a wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this
body of death? We remain sinners here below,
but the Gospel is suited to sinners, and where we have received Christ
first in that way, then we are to come before Him always, walking,
not in pride, not in somehow gone past the needy stage. No more really like we were once
when we first received Christ, where we're now grown Christians,
we now can command the Spirit and we can command our own joys. No. We are needy. And the Lord's ordered it that
way, that we must come before Him every time, seeking of His
fullness, desiring that He would open His hands, satisfy the desire
of every living thing. Now the Lord said, and in a natural
way, the sparrows, they don't have storehouse or barn. Your Heavenly Father feedeth
them. We prove it in the ministry.
We go from service to service. We don't have a great stock in
ourselves. We prepare, we study the Word,
but that help must come from the Lord, the blessing must come
from the Lord. And each of us that's here, whether
we're the speaker or not, we are utterly dependent upon the
Holy Spirit to bless. And so if we are to walk in a
right way, don't ever forget how we first received the Lord
Jesus Christ. in what frame, what attitude,
what position we were. We were without strength. In
due time Christ died for the ungodly. I pass by thee when
thou wast in thy blood and when thou wast in thy blood I bid
thee live. Another way that we receive Christ
as the only saviour, the only name given among men whereby
we must be saved. To be absolutely certain on that,
you know when you hear and solemnly our King and others saying, well,
we can have all these other faiths and we can all join together
and somehow each one will help their adherents get to heaven.
What nonsense. What nonsense. There's only one
Saviour, one Redeemer, one who has shed his precious blood,
one Emmanuel, God with us. One God. not multitude of gods. Our Lord said, if you believe
not that I am He, you shall perish in your sins. Now what is being
guarded against here is something that is not after Christ. Leading away from Him, right
through this chapter, How often at the end of verse 6, in Him.
In verse 7, built up, in Him. Verse 9, for in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Verse 10, ye are complete
in Him. And all the time, it's in Christ,
in Christ. And those that receive Him, view
Him, As other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee. And if we receive Christ in that
way, then may all our walk, all our conduct, all what we say
to others, all what we imply to others, bears this same testimony. this same way. I remember years
ago over in Australia going and was after work called to go to
the manager's home. It was a couple of hundred miles
away from where I lived and where they built the machines. And
I would have much rather stayed in my motel than go. But you know, we no sooner got
there and he wanted to know my faith. And when I spoke to him,
he said, well, isn't that rather bigoted to say that Christ is
the only saviour to discount all of these other faiths? I
said, well, what would you think of my faith that said that the
one in whom I trust, the one who said that he was the only
one and who he was, that if I was then to say, well, actually,
I don't believe you, I'm going to be more charitable
than you. And there are others, there are other ways. And when
I put before Him the claims of our Lord, that He was the only
Son of God, the eternal Son of God, and that there was no other
way of salvation, then He could see how inconsistent that would
be if I then turned around and allowed another. But there are
many that do that, and they don't think. How have we received the
Lord? If we receive the Christ of the
Bible, the Word, in all the Scriptures, the things concerning Christ,
then we cannot allow for any other at all. And our walk should
give that same clear message. how often we can be afraid of
man, afraid of man, what man will think, what man will say.
But maybe as we've received the Lord as the only Saviour, we
walk in such a way. But we've received Him also by
faith. You know those on earth when
our Lord was here below, Our Lord could come to the house,
as He did to Simon's house, and they received Him. It could be
like Martha and Mary, they received Him into their house. But how do we receive Him? Do not we receive Him by faith? Whom having not seen, faith is
the evidence of those things not seen. And when we receive
Christ, do not we receive his word? Do not we receive his people? Do not we receive his teaching? Receiving the Lord. Our text
says, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus, how have we received
him? And so then we think, well, how
are we to walk? Is it not to walk by faith? Is
it not to walk by the word of God? Thy word is a lamp unto
my feet, a light unto my path. Is it not to walk as following
his people? Often we find like the Thessalonians,
the word was not in word only, but in demonstration of the spirit
and of power, he became followers of the Lord and of us. That was
the effect of it. Being let go, they went unto
their own company. And that company is different
than what we would be with an unregenerate sinner. Ruth says,
thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. She clave,
clave to the people of God. Now, the Lord says, he that receiveth
you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that
sent me. And that is a vital thing to
remember. The Lord said to Saul of Tarsus,
the apostle Paul, as he met with him on the Damascus road, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? Saul could have said, but Lord,
I'm not persecuting you. I'm persecuting these people.
These people that believe on you, that call on thy name. But
the Lord says, he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine
eye. He's identified with his people
in that way. And so as you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord in this way, that is how we are to continue to
walk and be established and strengthened in that way. What about in prayer? Have we received the Lord in
that way? He that knows the worth of prayer,
that wishes to be oftener there. You think back to your beginnings,
the beginning of the way, the way for me, the way for you.
Was it not a path of prayer? Did we not be constrained to
go in that way, find answers to prayer, helps in prayer? Our
Lord spent whole nights in prayer. And He gives such encouragement
to His people to be importunate in prayer, instant in prayer,
in season, out of season, in everything by prayer and supplication. Make known your requests unto
God. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus, So walk ye in Him, in the spirit of prayer. What
about mercy? What a sense of mercy. Do you
think the publican in the temple, as he beat upon his breast, God
be merciful to me a sinner, would then go and walk and not think
all the time that really he deserved nothing, all was mercy? Or do
you think he wouldn't show mercy to a fellow sinner? Our Lord
spoke of the one who'd been forgiven much and yet couldn't forgive
his fellow servant just a small debt. What we have received,
what we've been taught in the Lord Jesus Christ, is to affect
how we walk, how we act, and really the Gospel according to
us. The world might not read the
Word of God, they might not hear its teachings, but blessed be
God if they see its teachings. And even then if they ask, why
do you do what we don't do? And why do you not do what we
do? And you're able to say because,
I have received the Lord Jesus Christ in this way and this is
why I walk this way. This is how I walk. He has shown
me from the start how I am to go. He set me in this path and
I will walk in this path. What about the Lord's teachings?
Do we start to be taught of God? The beautiful promise, they shall
all be taught of God. But do we get beyond it and say,
well, I know it all now. I don't need teaching. Or do
we go through life and all the time it's, Lord, teach me what
I should do. Teach me how I should walk. Teach
me in this situation. Teach me how to act before the
world, before the church, in providence. Teach me what to
do. And that is our measure of how
to walk. ignorant, yet leaning upon the
Lord. You think of the children of
Israel when the Gibeonites come. They made out they came from
a far country, their shoes were worn out, their water bottles
broken, their bread was all mouldy. Oh, we don't have to ask the
Lord. We don't need His wisdom, we've
got enough. We just take of their victuals.
We don't need to ask of God. What a mistake they made. And we can easily do the same.
We need to think when it is so cut and dry, so easy, so obvious
what we should do, that is the time we should think now we should
pray. We should really make this a
matter of prayer. We should really bring it before
the Lord in prayer. I just put an aside in here as
it comes to mind. You're a small church there at
Northampton. We are here. We were at Melbourne
when I was there. Sometimes when you make church
decisions, you might be tempted to discuss things amongst yourselves
as a family. And the idea is sometimes you
come before in the church meeting just to rub a stamp, just to
put the approval and say it's been done in a church meeting,
we arranged elsewhere. But you know, I proved, I proved
over in Australia, I proved here, even with a husband and wife
in a church. What we may say at home is very
different than what the Lord may decide in a church meeting. knowing what it is, to go to
a church meeting thinking, this is what we'll do. And we get
to the meeting, and we convene the meeting, and we lay it before
the Lord in prayer, and we read his word, we ask for his direction
and guidance, and perhaps one person might just put up a question
that hadn't been thought of before, and suddenly the whole thing
is turned around. And either a decision can't be
made or is made completely opposite than what we thought. And I always
value the actual church meeting. That is where things should be
fully discussed. And that is where the decision's
made, not in a home and not, as it were, in an out-of-order
way. just for a rubber stamp with
the church, no. It is with the Lord's presence,
the Lord's blessing in the church setting. Remember, the Lord has
promised, and it specifically is in the context of a church
meeting, though it applies for worship as well, where two or
three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the midst. You might say we're only two.
No, you're not. You're five. You too, and Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. And we have to remember that
in that situation of the church, we have that promise. I say that
as an encouragement to small church, as we are, and I have
been in other church situations. And when you have received Christ
in In that way, in the gathering of His people, it makes you really
value that gathering, however small. Because we have His promise
that He will be there in the midst, there to guide. And when
prayer is made, asking for His guidance, He will give that guidance. He will not suffer us to make
a mistake. as ye have received Christ Jesus,
trusting solely in His blood, trusting in His righteousness,
not our own. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper
is a constant reminder, given by the Lord, that we are to walk
in that same trust, in that blood, sheltering beneath that blood,
not just at the beginning, all the way along the way, Trusting
in the grace of God, by grace you're saved. And that grace
shall be given all the way. He giveth more grace. He giveth
grace for grace. And all the time there's a continuing
on. in the way the Lord has set us
in. So this is a very good principle. It is a principle to deliver
from those that will come and have men in admiration. We know the scriptures better
than you. We know Greek and Hebrew and I've been longer in the way
than you. But a poor soul that's been set
in the way by the Lord and knows personally those visits and knows
the shepherd's voice, they continue and they walk in that way that
they have received the Lord when their eyes were first opened,
when they were first quickened, when they were first saved. It's
a blessed thing to realise that the Lord has kept us in the way,
in the way He put us in, not to go in some different way. And the way that's set forth
here is in Him, in the way that we have received Him. So walk
ye in Him. I want to then look secondly
at a way that builds up and establishes in the faith. It was said once by someone that's
heard a sermon and was asked how they got on, and they said,
well, he told me nothing new, but he did confirm me. You know,
I've had times that we've had a sermon preached, or I've preached
one, and it's been something that I've known before, heard
before, but unknown to me, in that next week, that very point
was going to be challenged. That very point, unexpectedly,
I would need to have it fresh in my mind and clear what the
Scripture said on that point. And when that's happened, that's
been so confirming. The Lord has knew what was coming
ahead. And He refreshed my mind, made
me strong in that point, established in that point, so we're not tossed
to and fro. We spoke earlier on of the Apostle
Paul and that growth in grace and going from milk to meats. the deepening of those truths
that have already been taught. You know, there's one Sunday
school, and it's actually the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and
Jill Masters, she does a, and has done for many, many years,
a book that they use to teach the young people, not advocating
the metropolitan tabernacle, don't get me wrong there, but
the method of it is to, through that book, it teaches the essential
truths of the gospel and truths of the bible but they use it
in a four-year cycle so they'll get the younger ones firstly
coming through and they'll go through each of the headings
of that book right the way through the book for four years and they
do it as to the level of the young ones so if they're teaching
five or six-year-olds they do it to their level Then after
four years, that four or five year old now is nine, and they
go through the same book, the same points, the same headings,
but now they're going a little bit deeper and learning a bit
more what those things meant. And they do it as if four cycles. So with those same headings,
they can go deeper and deeper. I remember when I was doing my
engineering training, Sometimes we'd say to the teacher, look,
we'd like to know a bit more about that, you know, you've
only just told us a little bit. No, he said, I'm only telling
you what you need for the exam this year, not for what may be
in several years' time. So the Lord says there's many
things that I desire to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
now. He taught them as they were able
to bear it, and it is line upon line and here a little and there
a little. You think of in our schools,
the children in grade one learn maths. The children When they're
18 years old, and in secondary school, they learn maths. Is
it the same? Of course it's not. Same with
English, same with any other subject. But it's greater depth. It's the same principle, it's
the same things, it's building upon what they learned before,
but it's been strengthened in those things. And for the Lord's
people, that is how they are to walk as well. And that is
the guard against error. It's a sad thing today. There
seems to be those that think, well, doctrine doesn't really
matter. We don't need to split hairs
in doctrine. We can just accept one or another,
and not really discerning the difference. And, you know, in
Philpot's time, when they had the controversy with the eternal
sonship, there were those that said, well, does it really matter
whether Christ was eternal or whether he became a son at birth? Of course it matters. It has
great, profound ramifications. He must be the eternal Son of
God, God manifest in the flesh, otherwise His sacrifice is not
effective, is not acceptable. It must fulfil the scriptures,
He must be truly God and truly man. But there's some they couldn't
see the necessity, and so there is today as well. There are those
that will say, well, does it really matter whether faith comes
first or second, whether the new birth is instantaneous gift
from God and then the Lord teaches and instructs us, which is what
we believe. Whereas, is that they say, no,
the Lord gives faith and you've got to exercise that faith to
bring yourself to the new birth. You've got to, this is a duty
faith idea. But it's not found in the Scriptures.
I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. There is a receiving
of Christ, and receiving Him in the new birth, as a new creature
in Christ. And then he is the one that teaches
and builds upon that teaching more and more and establishes
and strengthens that soul in it. And I might say this in a
way of experience. When the word says growing grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord, it's not getting better and better
and better in our own esteem. Grace is the opposite to works,
isn't it? It's not saying that, well, our
works, our lives aren't sanctified and we're not made better. There
is a change, there should be a vital godly change, gracious
change in our lives, but in our own feelings. we seem to even
get worse. John the Baptist, he said, I
must decrease, he must increase. And really, it's a kindness of
the Lord that at the very start, he doesn't show us all what we
are. How sinful, how vile, how corrupt. If he did, he'd just crush us.
But once he's shown us mercy and shown us grace, Then he says,
turn again, thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And
he shows more and more when we're able to bear it and when we know
that there is forgiveness with the Lord in the Saviour's name. And so there is that walk walking
as we have received the word that establishes and strengthens
as we make things a matter of prayer and prayer is answered
and the Lord appears for us that strengthens us. You think of
Psalm 107 All of their path, they fell
down, there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
Down they went again, and that pattern right through that psalm. Sometimes rebelliousness, fools
because of their transgressions. And yet each time, they find
in a path of prayer, The Lord hasn't cast them off. He hasn't
rejected them. He still appears for them. And we read at the end of that
psalm, who so is wise and will observe these things, even they
shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. David said, he says,
my cup runneth over. And I like to think of in life's
journey for the people of God, they've got a cup of salvation.
And in that cup, that is put the experiences of the Lord's
loving kindness and mercy and grace helping that trial and
that trial and that trial and those things we've tried and
we've proved Those things that we know, we don't need to be
told, we know that we're a poor, ill-deserving sinner, but the
Lord is merciful and has appeared for us, and He hasn't cast us
off, and we've proved it, we know it, and those things really
strengthen us. Then we're not tossed to and
fro on every wind of doctrine. There's a reason. Why it says,
regarding those that come for the gospel ministry, not a novice,
or not one newly come to the faith, lest they be led astray
with the error of the wicked. There is a proving, there is
an experiencing of those truths. It's like we gave the example
of a driver with a car. You know, I got my license in
Australia when I was 18. Yes, I'd been driving a year
on learner plates with my parents in the car, but when we first
got a license in Australia, we had to have a red P-plane on
the back of the car for a whole year, I think. Then they made
it two years. So every other road user would
know here is one that is newly qualified. Here is one that is
not very experienced. They might make a mistake. You
watch out for them. You drive carefully around them. Sometimes over here you see a
green pea plate. It doesn't have to legally be
shown. But over in Australia it did.
And what's more, those that were on pea plates, they had to stick
to 50 mile an hour. They couldn't go 60 mile an hour
either. But you could be guaranteed, sure, where you heard some car
screeching down the road and speeding, you'd look and there'd
be a P-plate on it. And there was a reason why they
made them do that. It just highlighted, and really
those that had those P-plates, if they'd made one traffic violation,
their license was void. They had to start again and learn
again. It was a lot harder to get and keep a license in Australia
than here, I must say. But nevertheless, it highlighted,
even in a natural way, that there's great value in experience. It cannot be that you just learn
it and then just launch out and that you're able to cope with
the enemy coming in, all of those that come teaching contrary or
different ones and different things. And I say especially
to the young people, be really wary and mistrust yourself. Trust those that are experienced
Christians. You come against those that bring
in new doctrine, different ways, different ideas. and don't trust
your own wisdom in that. But it's a blessed thing to have
those that you highly esteem for the word's sake and who have
received Christ and who walk according not to this world's
wisdom but according to Christ. We need to be built up. May that
be a prayer of us each. Establish us, build us up, strengthen
us. Then we have thirdly, a walk
abounding with thanksgiving. We mentioned Psalm 107, and of
course through that psalm, as well as falling down and crying
to the Lord in his deliverance, it is, O that man would praise
the Lord for his goodness, O give thanks unto the Lord for he is
good. It seemed to be a thing that
very often was lacking, there wasn't that thanks. But you know,
as we walk the path that the Lord has set us in, there will
be deliverances, there will be answers to prayer, there'll be
those fresh revelations of Christ, that deepening of the work, that
strengthening of our faith. And each time that happens, each
trial that we're brought into and out of, then there'll be
Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, the Lord, he led
them forth by the right way. This is the way, as they have
received Christ, the narrow way. And in that way, this Thanksgiving. I wonder how many of us this
evening have these tokens of being in the right way, and maybe
you've walked in the way for 10, 20, 30, 40 years, And you say, yes, the way I'm
in now is the way the Lord put me in 40 years ago. And in that
way, the Lord has given me times of sweet deliverance, of thanksgivings,
of blessings, in this way. This is how it's set forth here.
Rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as He had been taught,
abounding. They're in with Thanksgiving,
a bounty. Do we say, well, it doesn't seem
like my way, but is it being that we've been like in Psalm
107? We haven't actually been able
to recognize or notice those things. Whoso is wise and will
observe. May we look for those thanksgivings
in all the way that the Lord has led us, noticing his goodness
and mercy, giving praise, giving thanks, let your requests be
known unto God with thanksgiving. And so we have the apostle setting
this path before the Colossians and by the grace of God then
they wouldn't fall like the Galatians to those that would say no you
must be circumcised go back under that yoke. They wouldn't fall
into the traps of those that would spoil you through philosophy,
plain to see. Oh, sad thing. When there have
been those, even in our churches, that have professed faith and
then they've gone to university, they've actually studied philosophy,
and they've lost their faith. They never really had it in the
first place. May the Lord have mercy and begin
to work in that, but you can't lose true faith, but there are
those that through the philosophy of this world, you know, it's
opposite than the faith of God's elect. Don't listen to the reasonings
of the philosophers of this world. Well, may the Lord begin a good
work in us. We have this beautiful promise.
He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it. And to
the day of Jesus Christ, which means that that performing of
it, as we have received the Lord, that is how we will walk. And
in that walk, that is how we'll be built up and strengthened,
not tossed to and fro, and that is where we will give thanksgiving.
and praise. There's one other, just the last
thought, if we're walking in this way, part of that thanksgiving
and praise and part of that walk is in obedience to the Lord,
in obedience in his ordinances, obedience to all of his ways. This do in remembrance of me. May the Lord make us to be obedient
children, continuing walking in the way that we have received
Christ Jesus the Lord. Amen.