Our sister Irene is sick, and
Dwight is home with her, so Brother Eddie was filling in for him
tonight, leading the singing. And I was gonna call him and
request that song, and I thought, no, whatever the Lord leads him
to do will be fine. I'm glad we just sung that. Turn with me, if you would, back
to Colossians chapter one. Lashon's one. I received a word
of encouragement last week from a dear man and his dear wife. And they were saying that they
were praying for me, which is always so nice to hear. And they
quoted Colossians 1, nine to 12, they said, this is our prayer
for you. I said, we just want you to know
we're praying for you and this is our prayer for you. And it
touched me so much, it made me wanna bring a message from this
chapter to say to them, this is my prayer for them. And to
say to you, this is my prayer for you. This is our prayer for
all of God's people. I want to begin in verse one,
and we'll work our way down to those verses. Verse one says,
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timotheus,
our brother. Whatever we are is by the will
of God. Whatever we are. We are what
we are by the grace of God. according to the will of God.
That's just so it, whatever we are, wherever we are, however
we are, it's a wonderful thing to know that and to really enter
into that. It's peaceful. It's restful. Whatever we are, wherever we
are, however we are, it's all according to the will of God.
This is the will of God concerning us. Good times, bad times, we
have both. Hard times, easy times, blessings,
trials, health, sickness, Whatever it is, whatever we are, wherever
we are, however we are, it's all according to the will of
the Lord concerning us. And we gladly say, we really
do gladly say, not our will, Lord, thine be done. We say that,
don't we? Of his own will begat he us,
to be what he made us to be. And what was that? What have
all of God's people been made to be? Look at verse two. It
says right here, saints and brethren in Christ, to the saints and
faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossae. And he's
also speaking to the brethren in Kingsport. He really is. He's
speaking to All of his brethren, wherever
they may be, wherever the saints and brethren in Christ are. He
called them faithful brethren in Christ. What a, what a title
faithful brethren in Christ. What makes God's people faithful? I know you're not going to answer,
but I'm giving you time to think what makes God's people faithful? the one they are in. Faithful
in Christ. Faithful brethren in Christ. He is faithful. Aren't you so
glad to know that? The message tonight is on knowing
things. And I'm so glad to know that.
He is faithful. And God's people are in him,
therefore they are faithful in him. If he's faithful and they're
in him, they're faithful in him. But it's not their faithfulness,
it's his. It's his faithfulness to his people. So faithful. Verse two says, to the saints
and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossae, Grace
be unto you and peace from God, our father, and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Grace and peace. You hear that
a lot in the scripture, don't you? Grace and peace. Grace and peace. Think about
this. Grace gave us Christ. You said that this morning. Grace
gave us Christ. God's grace gave us Christ. That was his favor to us. That
was his kindness to us. That was his free gift to us.
Grace gave us Christ. Christ gave us peace. Grace gave us Christ and Christ
gave us peace. Look at verse 20 right here in
Colossians chapter one, verse 20 says, And having made peace
through the blood of his cross, peace through the blood, peace
through the blood of his cross. By him to reconcile all things
unto himself by him. I say, I love it. Whenever Paul
speaks like that in the scriptures, I enter into that. He makes a
statement and then he says, let me make sure you got that by
him to reconcile all things unto himself by him. I say. Whether they be things in earth
or things in heaven and you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now have he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you wholly and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. God's grace gave
us Christ. And God's Christ gave us peace.
Look back at verse three. Colossians 1 verse three says,
we give thanks to God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ
Jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints for the
hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof you heard
before in the word of the truth of the gospel. He said, we've
been given thanks to God. Paul said, Timothy and I, we've
been giving thanks to God ever since we heard of your faith
in Christ. And that's what God's people
do. When we find out that someone or a group of people has faith
in Christ, we give thanks to God for that. We give such thanks
to God. He said, we've been giving thanks
to God ever since we heard of your faith in Christ and your
love toward all the saints and the hope that has been laid up
for you ever since you heard of the grace of God in Christ. Faith, hope, and love. That describes
the child of God. That really describes God's saints. They have faith in Christ. They have been given, therefore
they have faith in Christ. They have hope in Christ. They
have an expected anticipation. They have been given and therefore
they have hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. And they have love in
Christ. And the key word there is Christ.
Christ, Christ, Christ. That's the fruit that verse six
is talking about right here. Faith in Christ, hope in Christ,
love in Christ. That is the fruit. Verse six
says, which is come unto you as it is in all the world and
bringeth forth fruit. Faith, hope, love. As it doth
also in you since the day you heard of it and knew the grace
of God in truth, as you also learned of Epaphras, our dear
fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister in Christ. This man Epaphras was their pastor. He was the pastor of the church
in Colossae. And Paul said, you learned these things through
the man that God sent to preach to you. And so did I, I learned
these things through the man that God sent to preach to me.
And I'm thankful for those men, the first one being my very own
father. And I'm thankful. So thankful
for that. Verse eight says, who also declared
unto us. Your love in the spirit, Paul
said, Epaphras, your pastor declared to Timothy and myself, your love. He was telling us about your
love, the love that you have for God, the love that you have
for his gospel, the love that you have for his people. There is nothing that I want
more for this congregation. than for us to have love for
God, love for his gospel, and love for his people, each other. There's nothing that I want more
in myself and for all of us. There's nothing more beautiful
for a child of God to put on and wear than love. Love, true love. It is the character
of God's people. They love. They love God. They really do. They love God, the true and living
God, the God who really is God. They love God. Why? Because he first loved them.
They love the Lord Jesus Christ. They truly do love the Lord Jesus
Christ. Why? Because he was sent to be
the propitiation for their sins. That word means the bloody victim,
the sacrifice for their sins and they love God's people. They really do. They don't try
to divide God's people or interrogate God's people or attack God's
people. Every soul that loves God loves
all those that are begotten of God. How do you know who is begotten
of God? They believe God. They hold to, they cling to the
truth of the word of God. That's what he was saying. Ever
since you heard the truth of it, you believed it. You hoped in it and you loved
it. And God's people, that's what they do. They won't compromise
it to try to make anybody happy or try to create a false peace. That's not really there. They
will look to Christ who is the word of God alone. And they'll
believe Christ who is the word of God alone, Christ alone. Verse eight, Paul said, Epaphras
declared to us your love in the spirit. And therefore verse nine,
he said, 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. This is what Paul prayed for
them. This is what that dear brother
and sister prayed for me. This is what I pray for all of
us. I pray that we might be filled And I mean filled with the knowledge
of His will. Paul said, I pray that you might
be filled with the knowledge of His will. I pray that we might
be filled with it. I pray that we might hear the
will of the Father, what the will of the Father is so much. I honestly pray that we might
hear What the will of the father is so much. We are absolutely
filled with the knowledge of it. I pray that we might be filled
with the knowledge, the wisdom, and the spiritual understanding
of that. Now, let me ask this question. What is the father's
will? Do we know what His will is?
Let's hear it again so we can be filled with it, okay? Turn
with me, if you would, to John 6. May we be absolutely filled with
the knowledge of this. John 6, look with me at verse
38. Our Lord said, for I came down
from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that
sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of Him that sent me. that everyone which
seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life,
and I will raise him up at the last day." I pray that we might
be filled with the knowledge of that. What is the will of God? They all have the same will,
father, son, and spirit. There's one will, one God, and
one will. What is the will of God? It's
this, that every soul that the father gave to Christ, Christ
should do the work of eternally securing that soul, redeeming
that soul, cleansing that soul, washing that soul in his own
blood. making that soul acceptable and
worthy to stand in the presence of God. That's an amazing work
that Christ accomplished who could take a poor, wretched sinner
like this and make that miserable creature worthy to stand in the
presence of God Almighty. What a work. What a work. He said, I'll raise that soul
up with us. in the last day, that's His will. That is His will. Every bit of
it is dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's good to know
that, isn't it? It's good to know that. Paul
said, I pray you might know that. Really know that. Every time
you see the demands of the Father, I pray you might know that Christ
did it. He settled it. It's good to be
filled with that knowledge. Go with me back to Colossians
one, verse nine. He said, 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. that you might walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of God. He said, I pray you might
be filled with the knowledge of his will. And he said, I pray
that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being
fruitful in every good work. What is it to walk worthy of
the Lord? I pray this for us. I pray that
we might walk worthy of the Lord. What is it to walk worthy of
the Lord? Is it to walk in the bondage of the law that nobody's
able to fulfill? Because that's naturally the
first thing you think of. Is it to try to live this life
in a way that when God looks at it, he says, you're worthy
on your own. That's good enough. You're worthy to enter into my
presence on your own. That's not it. Christ came and walked
that walk for us. Christ came and accomplished
that for us because we couldn't do it. What is it to walk worthy
of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good
work, increasing in the knowledge of God. Here it is. Look with
me at second Corinthians five, second Corinthians five, verse seven. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 7 says, for
we walk by faith, not by sight. That is walking in the fruit
of the Spirit. Spirit brings faith to God's
people. Faith, hope, love, that is well-pleasing
in the sight of the Lord. That faith is not of ourselves,
that's the gift of God to us. But we walk in the faith that
He's given to us and we hope in what He has given to us and
we love in what He has given to us. Believing Christ, looking
to Christ, longing for Christ, waiting for and longing for the
Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that we all might walk
through this life that way. I pray that I might walk through
this life that way. If the Lord does not allow me
to, I'm not going to. But I sure do wish he would allow
me to. Looking for, longing for, believing,
hoping in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is exactly how our Lord
instructed us to walk in Matthew 6. If you look with me at Matthew
6, May the Lord really teach us
this. We know this so well, we know
these verses so well, but may the Lord really teach us this.
Matthew 6, look with me at verse 25. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, therefore
I say unto you, Take no thought for your life. Does anybody here take thought
for their life? Do you think about your life
and the decisions you ought to make in life and all those kinds
of things? He said, take no thought for your life. What you shall
eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, which
you shall put on, is not the life more than meat and the body
than raiment. Behold the fowls of the air,
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better
than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto
his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not,
neither do they spend. And yet I say unto you that even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today
is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more
clothe you? O ye of little faith. Therefore, take no thought saying,
what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall
we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek, the unbelievers. For your heavenly father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. Verse 33, he said, but
seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought
for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things
of itself. sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof." That is a well-pleasing walk. Looking to Christ, trusting
Christ, I pray that we all might trust Christ. Whatever he's doing
with us, I pray we might trust him. Lord, just let me trust
you. So go with me back to Colossians
1. I'll be quick. Lashon's 1 verse 9 says, 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,
that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being
fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of
God. Strengthened with all might,
according to his glorious power and to all patients and long
suffering with joyfulness. If we are going to be strengthened,
it is only going to be with his power, not our own. And if we're
going to be strengthened with his power, then we are going
to be made weak with our own power. That's so. That is honestly, so if he is
going to spiritually strengthen us, don't you want to be spiritually
strengthened? Strong in faith, strong in hope,
strong in love. Don't you want to be spiritually
strengthened? We pray that, Lord, increase our faith. And okay. If he is going to spiritually
strengthen us in Christ, then he is going to spiritually weaken
us in ourselves. That's the flip side of it. I pray that for us. I know it's
strange, but I pray that for us. It's not strange to the believer.
I pray that for us. I sincerely pray that God might
give every one of us a heart that cries with John the Baptist.
I must decrease and mean it. I mean, we all know it, but I
mean mean it. He must increase. I must decrease. I must. I pray that for us. I pray that God will give us
a heart that truly says that. Paul said, when we are weak before
God, weak in the flesh, weak in the spirit, weak in the soul,
weak in everything, he said, that's when we're strong in the
Lord. That moment when we realize you're
the only strength I have. I pray that for us. I pray that
the only strength that we have before God is the strength of
His glorious power. Verse 11, Paul said, I pray that
you'll be strengthened with all might according to His glorious
power and all patience and long suffering with joyfulness, giving
thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light." Meet means sufficient. It means qualified. It means
worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light. If we are meet to be a partaker
of that, it's only because he made us to be meet to be a partaker
of that. He made us to be worthy to be
a partaker of the inheritance. And how did he do that? How did
he make us worthy to be a partaker of light? Verse 13, who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness and had translated us
into the kingdom of his dear son. He delivered us and he translated
us. And like Paul repeated it, he
did, who did it? He did it. He did it. He delivered us from the power
of darkness, the power of sin. He has, he has sincerely delivered
us from the, on the cross. He delivered us from the penalty
of sin. And he has delivered us from
the power of sin. The scripture says, sin does
not have dominion over us. One day soon, he'll deliver us
from the presence of sin. We still carry it. We still bear
it. And he's going to do that by
translating us into the kingdom of his dear son. And that means
the son of his love, the kingdom of the son of his love, just
like Enoch was translated into his presence. He was here. Then he was not. He was just
translated into his presence. That's going to be the case for
every child of God. We're going to be here. Then we're going
to be not. translated into his presence.
Paul said, I pray that we all might be filled with this knowledge,
the knowledge of his will. The will is his, the walk is
his, the strength is his, the work is his, the deliverance
is his, the translation is his. All of it belongs to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Verse 14 says, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin.
I pray that we might know that. I pray that God might fill us
with that knowledge and we might know that. We might know his
love for us and know what he's done for us. I'm done, but you've
heard the story so many times of that little girl who lived
with Walter and Betty Groover, our missionaries in Mexico. And
they took her in and she was one of their family. She lived
with him for years. She was one of their children.
And for the longest time, she was never disciplined. Walter
and Betty's kids were disciplined. And she knew that there was a
difference, you know, they'd all get into trouble and Walter
and Betty's kids would go get their spankings and she'd be
left. Well, one day she pitched a fit and Walter said, what are
you doing? And as soon as she realized she
had his attention, she kicked it up a notch. And he said, if
you don't stop that, I'm gonna spank you. So she kept going
and he made his word good. And after it was over, he came
out and told Betty that after he had disciplined her, she crawled
up into his lap and gave him that big old hug. And she said,
now I know you love me. She needed that. So do we. Now I know you love me. I pray for us that we might be
filled with that knowledge of his love for us and what he's
done for us. We read verse 14 that says, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. And that passage is right over
our heads. I pray that we might be filled with a knowledge of
what that means. His love and what it means for
us. All right, may the Lord answer
our prayer. Brother Eddie, you come.