Last Tuesday we spoke upon the
previous three verses and the ninth verse speaks to us about
the desire that the Apostle Paul had and clearly Timotheus as
well that they ceased not to pray for the people at Colossae
because we're told for this cause we also since the day we heard
it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might
be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding." Well, it's a great blessing indeed
for us if we know something of the truth of these words that
the Lord comes and gives us and fills us with the knowledge of
His will in all wisdom, that wisdom from God. Remember, we're
told the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So it's
a great blessing if we're granted the fear of the Lord and spiritual
understanding. We all have a natural understanding. It's a great blessing when God
gives us a spiritual understanding. When we read the Bible and we
read verses and we see there a great depth, as it were, a
wonderful truth. in this spiritual understanding. And he goes on in his prayer
to this 10th verse and joins with it saying this, that ye
might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. Well, what
a blessing that will be if it's our desire to be found walking
worthily before our God. and to all pleasing. That means
to do those things which are pleasing in God's sight. Not to do those things which
are against God, against the Word of God, against His truth,
but to hear the great truth of His Word, that He would indeed
be with us and that He would bless us and give us therefore
that grace to truly walk in this way, this way of realising His
wonderful favour and wonderful blessing that we walk worthy
of the Lord. The Lord is worthy of our praise
and adoration, and that's one of the things wherein we should
walk. which has set a good and right
and profitable example by acknowledging the love and goodness of God
to us and desiring to praise his name for what he has indeed
done for us. And therefore, it says, unto
all pleasing be fruitful. in every good work where the
Lord gives us things to do in our life. We're all directed
to do things and we should desire therefore to be fruitful in that
work. And again, the fruitfulness in
that work means walking before the Lord in the light of His
countenance, showing forth His wonderful love to unworthy sinners,
obeying His gracious instruction, and being guided by His Word. All these things are being fruitful
in every good work. And of course, not only fruitful,
and we're told in the Word of God, it's by their fruit she
shall be known. So if we are unfruitful, if we
don't profess the truth of God, if we don't walk before him and
show forth his praise, we are really being unfruitful. And in that condition, that is
not God-honouring. It doesn't bring honour and glory
to our great and glorious God. But what a mercy, then, if we
are fruitful. And in that fruitfulness, as
the Apostle prays for the Colossians and also prays, of course, for
the whole Church of God, that we might be found increasing,
increasing in the knowledge of God. Well, how wonderful that
is. And as we read together in the
last verse in that second chapter, the third chapter in the second
epistle of Peter, as he says that we might grow in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Increasing in the knowledge of
God. Surely that should be our desire. that we don't stagnate we don't
remain in the same position but as we journey on in our spiritual
life just like it is in our natural life in our natural life we're
born and we grow we grow naturally and so it is in a spiritual life
when we're born again in the Spirit of God we grow and we
grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. At one time, things that we now
understand and now see, we never did. We never really had any
idea. but it's a wonderful evidence
of God's favour toward us when we see in our hearts and in our
own being that increasing knowledge of God. It is a wonderful and
it is a great blessing. When the Apostle Paul wrote to
the Ephesians, And in the third chapter, we read, and from verses
16 to 19, he says this. So Ephesians 3, verse 16 to 19,
that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, remember
with our God, all things are possible. To be strengthened,
which comes in really the next verse, strengthened with might
by His Spirit in the inner man. That means the life of God within
us. To be strengthened in our soul
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith Faith is the
gift of God, and as God gives us faith to believe, then it
is that we enjoy the favour of Christ toward us, and fellowship
with Him, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that
ye, being rooted and grounded in love. See, every natural plant
has a root. Otherwise it will not grow, it
will not receive nourishment, and it will very soon perish. And therefore, the Christians
need to be rooted and grounded. And it tells us here in love. And really that is the love of
Christ toward us, which is so wonderful and so amazing to think
that Almighty God should have loved us. And yet, you see, that
is a wonderful strength and it roots us, roots us in Christ
and grounded in love. And with that knowledge, he goes
on to say, then we may be able to comprehend, we may be able
to understand with all the saints. This is common ground. with the
saints of God. What is the breadth and length
and depth and height, that really is a comprehensive statement,
as broad and as long and as wide as it can be, and to know the
love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled
with all the fullness of God. Well, the love of Christ is amazing. And we're told here, which passeth
knowledge. Really, we cannot comprehend
it with our own mind. We receive it, we benefit from
it, we enjoy it, but to actually be able to fathom the reason
for it is just beyond our natural comprehension. We have to conclude
It was the Father's will that we should be loved, therefore
with an everlasting love. And what a wonderful blessing
it is. And as he says then, that we
might be filled with all the fullness of God. This is a tremendous
statement, isn't it, if you ponder it and think of this. And this
is really the true desire of the born-again Christian to be
found healthy in our souls, and therefore to be filled with the
knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. And then he says, that ye might
walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful
unto every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened
with all might, strengthened with all might, according to
His glorious power, until all patience and long-suffering with
joyfulness." This again is the evidence, the wonderful outworking
of the life of God in our souls. We are strengthened by Christ,
strengthened through what He does. Not because of our own
ability, but we're strengthened with all might, and that means
the Lord gives us that power to resist the devil, that he
may flee from us. The devil's very powerful, but
bless God, the Saviour is more powerful. Yes, we might think
the devil's a prince, but my friends, Christ is the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. And so what a mercy then for
us tonight to be strengthened with all might, because all might
belongs to our God. He is all-powerful in everything. Natural things, we know. He spoke
the world into being in all spiritual things. He brings life to a dead
soul. He gives strength with all might,
and it's according to His glorious power, and that glorious power
is to show forth His glory in the life of unworthy sinners,
so that His name is indeed honored and glorified, and to give us
patience and long-suffering. The Christian life is not easy,
never has been, never will be, and we continually need patience,
and we continually need long-suffering to continue in our journey of
life, but to realize that as the Lord may grant us these blessings,
then to realize the joyfulness, the joyfulness of knowing that
we are born again by the Spirit of God, the joyfulness of knowing
that we are one of those whom God has loved with an everlasting
love, the joyfulness of knowing that one day, by His grace, we
shall be with Him in glory. These are all wonderful things
to make us truly happy and joyful as we travel through this world,
this dark world really, this sinful world, and yet to be looking
forward to that inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth
not away. Well, may God bless these few
words for our soul's profit.