Come to wonder, Lord, I feel
it, Come to me, God of love. Here's my heart, O take and seal
it, Seal it for the courts of love. I'll go back to Colossians with
me. Colossians chapter 1. Some of
you have told me you've started reading through this book, and
I'm glad. It's rich, isn't it? So rich. I'm glad we started it also.
We started it Wednesday night. I couldn't help it. I wanted
to look at it again this morning. So rich, as is all of God's Word. Oh, the depth and the riches,
both of the wisdom and the knowledge of our God. How unsearchable
are His judgments. His ways are past finding out,
but maybe he'll open it to our understanding this morning. Paul
thanked God for the church at Colossae, the people, as I do
you, as I do you. And he said, verses 3 through
7, we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
pray and always for you. Paul always thanked God for the
people, not vice versa. Paul thanked God for making them
his people. And we give him all the thanks, don't
we? That's what God's people do. And he went on to say, I
thank God for the faith He's given you, for the love He's
given you, for the hope laid up for you in heaven. that you
heard in the word of the truth of the gospel? How shall they
hear this gospel without a preacher, and how shall they preach except
they be sent? God sends His preachers to His sheep, and they hear His
voice. Thanks be unto God. Thanks be
unto God. We thank the Lord for those who preach it, like
Epaphras, our dear fellow servant. this man and other men who preach
at this man. Faithful ministers of Christ.
They preach Christ. Then he prays for the church. And this is his prayer for them
and my prayer for you and my prayer for me. It begins in verse
9. He said, For this cause, that
is, all that God hath done for us in Christ, And since we heard
of your faith, we do not cease to pray for you. We do not cease
to pray for you and desire. This is our heart's desire, he
said. My desire, Timothy's desire,
and it's my desire. Here it is. Here's his prayer.
That ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will. filled with the knowledge of
God's will. God's will. Let's look at that
a minute. What does that mean, God's will?
First of all, he said that you might be filled. That means not
just your head, but your heart. Filled with this knowledge. You
know, if you're filled with something, if you're full, there's no room
for anything else. Have you ever been full of food? You say, I can't hold any more.
We were that way last night when we went to the home place in
Catawba. You know, all the food you can
eat. And I did. About eight pieces of chicken. I was full. There was no room
for anything else. That's what he's saying. That
you might be filled with a knowledge of God's will, so there's no
room for doubt, no room for fear. This knowledge
of God's will will cast out a knowledge of His love, perfect love cast
out. There's no room for fear. It's a good desire to feel the
knowledge of His will. There'll be no room for boasting,
no room for pride, no room for self-will. Thank God. God's will, what is it? That's
twofold. All right? And all the old writers
will tell you this, and it's not original. It wasn't original
then. God has His essential will. His
essential will. A purpose for all things. A reason for all things. Everybody's looking for the reason
for life, the meaning of life, I'm going to tell you. It's God's
will. And then there's God's revealed
will. God's revealed will for us, alright? Go over to Ephesians 1. Here's the essential will of
God, the purpose. God's will, the purpose for all
things is The meaning of life is God created everything for His
glory, for His Son's glory. Everything is for His glory. And this thing of salvation is
all to the praise of the glory of His grace. This thing of salvation
reveals God as nothing else. Look at it. Ephesians 1, oh my,
it's going to be hard not to get hung up here. But he said,
Praise God, blessed be the God, verse 3, and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ who has blessed us He's talking to the saints,
those in Christ. Bless us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places according as He has chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. That we should be holy
and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will. This is His will. to the praise
of the glory of his grace, wherein, that is, in Christ he has made
us accepted, or that is, in his glory he has made us accepted
in the Beloved, in Christ, in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace. And in all this, he said, this
great salvation abounded toward us, his people, in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery. of his will. That's what we're talking about.
And I'm wanting, I'm hoping, I'm praying right now that God
will fill us, at least right now, with the knowledge of this
will. And here it is. What is it? This
will. It's according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in
himself. This was God's will. That in the dispensation of the
fullness of time, when it's all over, He's going to gather together
in one all things in Christ, both in heaven and in earth,
even in him, in whom we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to
the praise of his glory." The first Christ is in Christ. To
be filled with the knowledge of God's will. Christ is the fullness of God.
The fullness of God. In Him are hid, and that's in
our Colossians, the book of Colossians. And in Him are all treasures.
The fullness. In Him all fullness should dwell.
The fullness of the Godhead bodily. And on and on it goes. Go to John chapter 6. John 6. What Paul was saying there in
Ephesians 1 is that God, before the world began, God the Father,
Son, Holy Spirit, purpose to have a kingdom, purpose to have
a people, purpose to have a family. Byron
used to say he loved his son so much he purposed to have a
bunch of children just like him. If I could have had a large A
large family, I would have. I believe I would have. Large
families are a blessing. A blessing to be a part of it,
isn't it, Hannah? You had three siblings. I had three. It's wonderful,
isn't it? It's wonderful. I'm thankful
for the one I got. I got the equivalent of four
good ones. But a large family is wonderful. Enjoy things together,
don't you? purposed his will to have this
large kingdom of people, of family, of bride, all like Christ. And that's a good illustration,
isn't it, Barnabas, of what it used to be. Loved his son so
much. And if I could have a bunch of
them, I'd make them just like her. I love her. And God behold,
Christ is the altogether lovely Son of God. And this was of God's
purpose. Have a people predestinated into
the image of His Son, just like Him. And you want to be a part of
that? Can you imagine being forever with people like Christ? That's what His kingdom is like.
That's what this place is like. Well, He purposed a kingdom,
a people, a family just like Christ to the praise of His glory,
for the eternal happiness of these people, for the enjoyment
of His people. John 6. And He did this by Jesus
Christ. This kingdom, this purpose, this
will of God to save a people, to bring in this everlasting
righteousness and kingdom. Who did this? Who did this will
of God? God's will had to be done. God's
people had to be saved. God's people had to be made righteous.
God's people had to be rescued, redeemed, regenerated, reconciled.
God's people had their loss, their doom. Who did this? Who
did this will of God? Look at it. John chapter 6, verse
37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." And
this is the will. This is the Father's will which
has sent me. Here it is. Here's God's will. Oh, may we be filled with it.
That of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but
raise it up again at the last day. Raise up beggars from the
dung heap, and set them among princes. Go find every lost sheep
and bring them into the fold. Christ said, that's why I'm come.
Call His name Jesus. He'll save His people from their
sins. Read on. And this is the will
of Him that sent me, verse 40, that of everyone that seeth the
Son and believeth on Him. You see that? Everyone that looks
to the Son, everyone that sees His glory, sees their need of
pride, everyone, be it a self-righteous Pharisee or be it a thief on
a cross, everyone, whosoever, everyone that believeth on him,
sees his glory, sees his need, and believeth on him," that's
it, believe on him, "...may have everlasting life, and I will
raise him up at the last day." God purposed this thing called
salvation. God willed it. Christ the Son
came and He did it. Hanging on a cross, He said,
I've done it. Fulfilled the will of God. Brought in an everlasting
righteousness. Brought them out of darkness
in the marvelous light. The Holy Spirit has to come in
time and do this work of regeneration. But Christ did it. Now, go back
to the text. Colossians 1. to be filled with
this knowledge, that is, that God Almighty made
everything for this purpose, to bring a people into His kingdom. And you don't have to do it.
You don't take part in this. It's done. Christ did it. Just look to Him. And in the
end, He's going to gather all things together in one, even
in Christ, to the praise of His glory, for their eternal bliss. Joy unspeakable. I'd like to
speak about it, but I can't. He says it's unspeakable. Full
of glory. We just every now and then get
a little glimpse. But if we're filled with this,
that it's all according to His will, It's all for our good. And it's all going to be good,
so good you can't even imagine how good it is. It's all working
together. People are stammering their lips. Adam is working according to
this will of God. Everything. be it good or evil,
is working out this will to bring his people to this wonderful
final end for their eternal enjoyment of God, of life, of peace, of
happiness, of comfort, of health, no more sin, no more pain, no
more tears, no more anything. Eternal rest. To be filled with that. That
your mind and your heart, there's no room for worry. No room for
fear. To be filled with the knowledge
that God put His will in the hands of Jesus Christ. His last
will and testament. Here, bring in this righteous. Here is my people. Save them,
John. Christ took it and said, I'll
do it. To be filled with that knowledge. No room for unbelief. No room
for doubt. No room for worry. You see that? No field with the knowledge of
Israel. No room for boasting, we say.
No room for boasting. We would want to. Of Him, through
Him, to Him, for Him, by Him. And we would say, as he told
us, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.
This is the all-wise, good, and perfect will of God. You're going
to see. You will see. Just hold on. This is what he
goes on to say, under all patience. You know, little children don't
know what we're doing. They don't know what we're doing.
Half the time. They never can fully understand
what we're doing. We try to make them, but they
can't. But if they could, they wouldn't have any worries with
it. They shouldn't have any. Same with us. But God has made
known unto us His will. He has. He's abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us this
mystery of the will. Not the world. The world is... He's working all things after
His will. We say, Thy will be done. When our Lord told us to
pray that way, He's not saying that we sure hope your will will
be done. Oh, it is. It is. He's telling us to pray that
way so we'll be conscious of it. Telling us to pray that way
so that we will bow to it. So that we'll submit to it. So
that we'll have peace in submission. You with me? You understand?
Who's with me? So that we'll believe, yes, this
is God's will and Christ Jesus concerning me. Thank the Lord.
Paul was filled with that. When was he writing this? He's
in prison. And I remind you of Paul and
Silas when the Lord put them in prison, you know. The Lord
filled them. Paul said, I believe the Lord
sent me. I know he did with the gospel. And he has the people
here. And why did he put me in jail?
I don't know. Silas said, I don't know either.
Well, he must have a reason. And so what are we going to do?
Just cry? Here's what we'll do, Silas.
Let's start singing. Let's start singing. And they did. And the chains
fell off. And the doors flew open. And
lo and behold, a man walked in, trembling, a jailer. And he said,
What must I do to be saved? Oh, now I see. We're in here
for the glory of God and to save this man. That's not the way
we would have done it. Are you with me? In everything. So Paul said,
I've learned in whatsoever state I am to be content. How? It's
filled with the knowledge of this will. Have I got any of that across
here? Filled with the knowledge of this will. God's revealed
will is His Word. Okay? You have it in your hand. All
that we need to know. God has given us many precious
promises. Many. He's given us all things
necessary for life and Godliness. Where does it come from? Right
here. The revealed will of God. What would God have me to do?
Right here. Isn't it, Pastor? This is it. God has not left His children
in the dark. The world is in darkness, not
us. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path. We're not walking in darkness
even as it is. God has revealed unto us his will. What would
God have me to do? Read it. This is the way? Walk in it. Do you instruct your
children? I'm sure you do if you love them.
They'll all be taught of God. They'll all be taught of God. His will, his mind, his mind
is right here. Listen to Romans 12. You can't
believe how many verses speak of his will, but Romans 12 says,
Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God. The will of God. 1 Thessalonians 4 says, this
is the will of God, your sanctification. Your sanctification. You know
what that word means. Set apart. How God sets apart
his people from the world. How? Right here. How does God transform his people?
Right here. How does God create his people?
Right here. Doesn't it? It's the word of
his power. This is what separates him, transforms him, makes him
a new creature and sets us apart. His truth, the truth as it is
in Christ Jesus. You see, looking to Christ. We
look to Christ and we're born again. Salvation. Salvation by
looking to Christ. We look to Christ for strength,
for power, for wisdom. He's made unto us wisdom. Righteousness,
sanctification, redemption. Okay? We look to Christ and we
observe Christ. We look on Him as to how to walk,
to talk, to act, to know Him. That's how we learn. As the old
saying is, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well, if we
love our Lord, we're going to be just like Him. How do you
conform to His image? How? It's not by striving. No, no. By looking at Him. By watching Him. By observing
Him. Husbands, love your wives. Okay, I'm going to try. I can't. Ask Christ, love the Church.
You look at how he loved us, that's how you love. Right? That's the only way. The
only way. Look into him. You see, it's
all, he is the Word made flesh. It's the Word, it's all written
down here, but the Word was made flesh. He revealed the will of
God. Brother Gabe, in his life, in
everything he did and said, this is the way. Christ said, I'm
the way. Not only the way to the Father,
but this is the way to walk. Isn't it? This is the way. Paths of righteousness. This
is the right way. What do we do? What did he do? How did he act? He said, here's
the way. Turn to the other cheek. Here's the way. When you revile,
revile not again. Here's the way. Commit yourself
like I did. Here's the way. And without Him,
we can't do that. We look to Him. He's all. We look to Him. We look at Him. This is the way. Follow me, He
said. Follow me. Follow me. You know,
God's Word and His will, that is, every command, every precept
is good. It's right. It's just. It's true.
It's good. It's for our good. Everything
he says is for our good. It's for our good. Look at verse
10 in our text. It says that we might be filled
with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual
understanding. I act like a fool too much. Do
you know that? Do you? I want to be a wise son. Christ was wise. Christ is. He's made unto us wisdom. By
that I mean, he says he knew everything that was to be known
by his knowledge. He was justifying it. He was
wise unto God. Knew the law. I don't. He did. He kept it for me. He made unto
me wisdom. He has also made unto me wisdom.
If I want to be wise, look to him. Look to Him. Does that make sense?
Look to Him. Wisdom, righteousness, peace.
He is our peace. Did He have peace? Perfect peace. Cast out fear. Pray to no man but Him. In all wisdom and understanding.
And verse 10 says that we might walk worthy of the Lord unto
all pleasing. of the Lord, and to all please
Him. My, my. Not fools, foolish sons,
but wise sons. Not ignorant sons, but understanding.
All pleasing. Now, are we to try and please
God? What son doesn't want to please
his parent? Absolutely. He's talking to the
church here. Not trying to be saved. Not trying
to do anything to earn heaven. Oh, no, no. But out of love,
as obedient children, Peter said, not fashioning yourself according
to the former lust, but as obedient children, trying to please the
Father. Our children try to please us,
don't they? They love us, pleasing God. unto
all pleasing, as loving son, not trying to earn his favor,
earn heaven, but with a desire to be an obedient child. An obedient child is a happy
child. Right? An obedient child is a
happy child. The way of the transgressor's
heart. The prodigal son, where is he? Where did he end up if
he had just listened to his Father? Right? That's it. That's it. Our God said of His Son, this
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Well pleased. And David said, I'll be satisfied
when I wake of His likeness. Mold me, shape me, conform me
to His image. I want to be just like that Son.
That's what every son said to the praise of His Heavenly Father. And the Holy Spirit is the one
that is sent to do that work. We don't do that. We don't do
that conforming. We can't conform ourselves. Oh,
no. But as a mirror, we're turned
into His image, the Scripture says. Turned into His image as
we look at Him. And don't recognize it. Right
there sits Joe Parks in the flesh. He even has his name. Does he
look like his dad and his granddad? Well, sure he does. So do his
people. And we don't see it in ourselves,
but others see it. Pleasing. Read on. He says that
we might be fruitful in every good work. Fruitful. Increasing in the knowledge of
God. Will you turn to the book of Genesis with me? Genesis chapter
1. Genesis chapter 1. What is a good work? Fruitful
in every good work. They asked the Lord that this
one time, didn't they? What must we do to work the works
of God? Remember that? We want to do good works. They
wanted to do it to earn heaven. Those Pharisees. And our Lord said, this is the
work of God. This is it. That you believe
His Son. You believe Christ. Good work.
When that woman came with that alabaster box of ointment, had
been saving that up for years, you know, she was going to spend
it on herself. But when she fell in love with the Lord Jesus Christ,
and that was all her earthly possessions, She thought, nothing is too good
for my Lord. She came in and she broke that
alabaster box and anointed His head and His feet and so forth.
And our Lord said she had done a good work. It's for me. Out of thanks and
love to me and honor to me. That's a good work. What we're
doing right now is a good work. Yes, it is. It's a good work.
evil workers, it doesn't matter if they're doing humanitarian
efforts, if they're not worshiping God, it's not a good work. You understand? Even the plowing of the wicked
is evil. This is a good work. This is a good work. Worshiping
God. Following Him. Good works. Walk like Him. Serve him. How do you serve him? Serve others. How did he serve? He said, I was one among you
that serveth. He didn't serve himself, he served us. That's
a good work. That's the work we've been called unto. And Genesis
1. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. Why? Why did he create it? We've already said it. For his
glory. For his glory. But also for his enjoyment. Revelation 4 says, "...for thy
pleasure they are and were created." When God created the garden,
Colossians 1 says, Christ, by Him, all things were created.
You're talking about God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit,
God. These three are one. They're all created. Christ created
them. When God created the garden,
He created a garden. A garden. He walked in it. And it created a tree, an apple
tree. And I'm just certain of it. I
know He was there. But He walked in it and picked
an apple. Fruit! Why? For His enjoyment. For His
glory. Isn't the creation of our Lord
fruit especially? Oh, fruit is wonderful, isn't
it? Beautiful. creation of God. All the different colored fruit
and taste. Mom gave us some peaches. Where
did they come from? Georgia? Or Rocky Mountain, Farmer's
Market? It doesn't matter. Oh, wonderful. Isabella and I were just eating
them until they were just running down our clothes. Peaches, oranges,
apples, fruit. Our Lord Jesus Christ came. Oh,
beautiful. I did that. That's why we give
thanks to His glory. God did that. Thank you. Oh, it's wonderful. Christ ate
that fruit, okay? He partook of that fruit. Be
fruitful, He said. Created animals, said, be fruitful.
What for? My glory. My enjoyment. Alright? Here's what He said
to man. Verse 26. God said, let us make man in
our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the
fish of the air, the sea and the fowl of the air, over the
cattle, over all the earth, every creeping thing that creepeth
on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the
image of God created he him, male and female, created he them.
And God blessed them and God said unto them, Be fruitful. And multiply. It's not the same
thing. And multiply. Be fruitful. Be for my glory. Give me pleasure. Give me pleasure. That's why
I created them. Can God get pleasure in me? Huh? Do you take pleasure in your
children? Sure you do. Sure you do. My, my, be fruitfully
said. What is the fruit of the Spirit,
then? What is the fruit of the Spirit?
What gives God pleasure? Love. Joy. Peace. Longsuffering. Gentleness. Goodness. Faith. Neatness. Temperance. Isn't it? Can you
produce that? It's the fruit of the Spirit. He does that. Yeah, he does.
He does it in all his people. If you don't have the Spirit
of God, no fruit. No fruit can't please him. That's all of the Lord, isn't
it? The Holy Spirit, this new creature of joy. That's where
it comes from. Where does it all come from?
What's the source of all his fruits? Is it divine? Divine? We're the branches in Him. We're going to look at that next
Sunday. Of Him, through Him, to Him,
by Him, for Him. That's in chapter 1. He's the
vine. He's the firstborn among many
brethren, new creature, fruit, pleasing to God. Oh, my. All
right, look at our text. Go back to our text. So that's
why. Give me a few more minutes. I haven't been too long. I've
been 30, 34 minutes. Verse 11 says, Verse 11 says,
strengthened with all might. Verse 10, increasing in the knowledge
of God. Oh my, that He is God. Increasing,
growing in grace in the knowledge that Christ is God. Our Lord
and our God and our Savior. And his prayer goes on to say
that you might be strengthened with all might. What is God's
might? What strengthens us? Christ is
the power of God. Be strong in the Lord and the
power of His might. Look into Him that you may be
strengthened. Look into Him in all things with
His glorious power unto all patients. We need that more than anything.
Patients. What's that? Waiting. Hardest
thing in the world for a child to do is wait. I mean, a little
child at five minutes seems like an eternity if there's something
they're waiting on done. Well, what about us? It's no
different, much, much different, is it? These years are flying
by. In a few short years, the Scripture
says, in a few short years, we'll all go that way. It's just, he
said, it's just days. Days are a thousand years, the
Lord. A thousand years is a day. Be filled with that knowledge.
Be not forgetful. Remember. Be not ignorant. A thousand years, one day, it's
almost over. It's tomorrow. In the morning,
Brother Donnie was talking about, we were talking about in the
morning, that one of his men, Brother Floyd Boyd, the last thing he said to him
was, I'll see you in the morning. And what he meant was, in that
bright eternal morning, it's going to be morning all eternity. Oh my, unto all patience and
longsuffering and with joyfulness, verse 11, with joyfulness. Oh
my. Joy brings glory to our Lord.
You know that? It does. It brings joy. A morose
and melancholy and unhappy, like an unhappy child. An unhappy
child doesn't bring you joy, does it, Hannah? Oh, my. And
if they really don't have too much to cry about, it makes you
angry. Joyfulness. Joyfulness. Joyfulness. Giving thanks. Verse 12. Here's
my prayer, Paul says, that God will make you a thankful people. It all goes together. This understanding,
this knowledge of His will, this trying to please Him, this good
work, He said, I know my thoughts towards you, thoughts of peace.
They ought to give us patience and long-suffering and joy and
giving thanks that God may make us a thankful people. Romans
1, it talks about the people of this world. It talks about
the people of this world, says they knew God, it's clearly seen,
but they glorified him not as God. Man does not give God glory
for anything. He takes it all. He takes the
credit for it. And it says, neither were they
thankful. They weren't thankful. God made a people for His glory
to thank Him. to thank Him. Listen to David.
He said in Psalm 122, oh, I love this, he said, I was glad when
they said unto me, let's go unto the house of the Lord. Our feet,
Jerusalem, shall stand in thy gates. Jerusalem is built as
a city together where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,
the people of the Lord, under the testimony of Israel, to give
thanks unto the Lord in the name of the Lord. He's gathered the
people together. Made them a thankful people and
brought them here, brought them wherever they meet to give thanks.
That's why we're here. Not here to hear me. We're here
to give thanks unto the Lord. Give thanks. Give thanks. Give Him all the honor and glory.
All the credit. And it says in our text, lastly,
we give thanks unto the God who hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. My, my. And I can't
rightly talk about that because I haven't seen it. But we're
going to look into it. We are here to thank God for
this will of His in making us His people, this purpose, this
grand design of God Almighty, which He accomplished in Jesus
Christ. We are here to give thanks unto God's Son for coming down
here and doing His good and perfect will. We are here to give thanks
unto the Holy Spirit who comes and tells us that, who renews
us and regenerates us and reveals unto us this will. And we keep
asking Him, fill us with that. Fill us with that. Don't leave
me empty. Fill me. Then I may have patience
and wisdom. Help me. Help me. And I might be joyful. Make me
thankful. Make me thankful. You know, Thanksgiving
will root out murmuring and complaining. I talked about Paul and Silas
singing, and we read that. At your son's gravesite, Psalm
42, it says that he was cast down because he had real troubles. He didn't really understand,
but God brought him into the sanctuary and made him to understand. And he said, God will command
his lovingkindness in the morning. Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy will come in the morning. And we're going to read over
here in Colossians where he says, speaking to one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual psalms, making melody unto the Lord,
rejoicing. Rejoice, I say, in the Lord. It's all good. What
seems to be the worst thing that could happen? The will of God. And you're going to sin. If you're
in Christ, you're going to sin. And you're going to be screaming.
You're going to be singing. at the top of your lung, the
top of your lung.