Colossians tonight will be in
Colossians chapter one, in verse three tonight. I'd like
to read the first five verses so we can read it in context.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, And we saw in the first message
that our salvation is by the will of God, and that Paul was
an apostle by the will of God. And to Metheus, our brother,
to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossus,
grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. We give thanks to God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. That's
our text tonight. And we tie in verse four and
five. 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, wherever you have heard before
in the word of the truth of the gospel, Our text tonight will
be found in verse three. We give thanks to God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. The name of the message is give
thanks, give thanks. Last Wednesday night, the phrase
that we focused on was in Christ. Every believer is in Christ.
And I hit on this a little bit on Sunday morning, but I'd like
to overview it again. Let's take a quick look at being
in Christ. We are not just in Christ when
we gather together. We're not just in Christ when
we gather together, but let us think on this for comfort, that
we are in Christ as we live each day, Every minute of our lives,
every second of our lives upon this earth, the believer is in
Christ. We are in Christ at home. We
are in Christ when we are sorrowful. We are in Christ when we're full
of joy. We're in Christ when we work
and we're in Christ when we sleep. We are in Christ when we're with
neighbors, or family, or friends. This is a state that the believer's
in, in Christ. And God will never remove the
believer from that state. They're in Christ. We're put
in, God the Father chose a people in Christ. It's marvelous. As we move and breathe, we're
in Christ. He is our strong city. He is
a city that can never be taken. He is an ever reigning king who will never abdicate his throne, who will never be overthrown. He is our refuge. We have no
other refuge but Christ. No other refuge but Him. Other
refuge have I none. And He's our strength. When we're
weak, He's strong. He's strong. So for the believer, They're
in Christ always. Always. And he'll never be taken
out of that state. Never. And then one day, we'll see him
face to face. Oh, it'll be amazing. Glorious. My sheep hear my voice. And I
know them. And they follow me. And think of this as we're looking
at the state of in Christ, being in Christ. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish.
Never. Never. This is the king, the
one who will never abdicate his throne. The one who rules. No one can
ever overthrow him. And he says, I give unto them
eternal life. He gives it to us. It's a gift.
And they shall never perish. This is John 10, verses 27 to
28. They shall never perish because they're in him. They're
in Christ. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me,
Ephesians 1, 4, is greater than all, greater
than all. And no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. Doubly held in Christ and in
the Father. Oh, what security the believer
has. What words of comfort then for the believer. In Christ.
In Christ. And tonight's message will tie
right into that. It'll tie right into that. Because we are in Christ, we
pray. Because we're in Christ, we give
thanks. We give thanks. And we praise
his mighty name for what he's done, for what he has done. So let's look at our text. We
give thanks to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you. We give thanks. God's people
are thankful people. They're thankful. Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalm 69. Why are they thankful? Well,
they remember that all things come from God. All their spiritual
blessings come from God. And with that thought and that
spirit, it'll produce in us a thankful spirit. When you're grateful for something,
you're thankful. You're thankful. When you realize
the pit you've been dragged out of, you're thankful. Psalm 69 verses 30 and 31, I
will praise the name of God with a song. It will magnify him with
thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord
better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. I will praise the name of God
with a song. It will magnify him with thanksgiving. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
103. We have many, many things to
be thankful for. Many things. Scripture says we're
daily loaded down with benefits. There's things that we don't
even realize. We're pressed down and overflowing
every single day. Psalm 103, verses 1 to 5. We're
thankful for our redemption in Christ, his believers. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within
me. Bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not, oh, forget not all his benefits. May we never forget all the benefits,
all the blessings that he has bestowed on us in Christ. It would do me good if I get
down or if I start to just focus on all the goodness of God in
Christ to me. Oh, he's so good. Look at verse three. Good news
for sinners. who forgiveth all thine iniquities,
that little word, A-L-L, all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases,
who redeemeth thy life from destruction, has he not redeemed us from destruction,
those of us who believe? Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness
and tender mercies, God is so merciful to us in Christ,
so merciful. We don't get, we often say this,
we don't get what we deserve, and we don't as believers. Oh,
he's so merciful, full of mercy. Who satisfy thy mouth with good
things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. We are thankful for our redemption
in Christ, Heaven's forgiven us all our trespasses and sins. And think of this. We're thankful
that God included us in this plan. Because it's surely not
based on anything in us, is it? But oh, don't you marvel when
you think that He chose you? Isn't it a marvel? For me, it's
a marvel. Knowing who I am, and how I used
to be, and who I am now today. And you're just like, my goodness.
I am what I am. I'm the grace of God. It's marvelous. Wonderful. And think of this, too. We have
all spiritual blessings in Christ. All of them, not just some, but
all our spiritual blessings come from Him. Come from Him. It's amazing. John 3.27 says this, John answered
and said, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. We're not graceful on our own,
are we? No. But God gives us grace. We usually love those who are
our own. But in Christ, we love the brethren.
We love others. It's amazing. That all comes
from the Father. We're thankful. And think of
this. Were you thankful before for
preachers before the Lord saved you? I wasn't. Now I'm thankful
for God's preachers of grace. I love them. When I hear of other
believers, Brother Tim, I remember when we first met and you and
I had the same experience that I've had with a lot of believers.
You get talking with them and you feel like you've known them
for 40 years. How is that? Only in Christ. Only in Christ. It's not like that when I meet
other people. When I meet my brethren and I start to talk
to them, we start to talk about the wondrous things that God
has done for us. Oh, there's that kinship. We
have the same father. Oh, it's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. So we're thankful for faithful
brethren who preach the gospel of God's free grace in Christ. Turn with me, if you would, to
2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 13 and 14. Before we were saved, we had
hardly any thoughts of God at all, like we've often talked
about. Except maybe when we were in trouble, we'd cry out to him
and definitely weren't thankful. I wasn't thankful before the
Lord saved me. Not in the thoughts that I have now. I thank God
for all He does in our lives here as a church, and in individual
lives, and how He moves, and how He saves. But those thoughts
never entered my mind before the Lord saved me. It's foreign. Look at what 2 Thessalonians
2.13. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. If you're
one of God's children, you're beloved of the Lord. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. Wherein you are called by our
gospel, Each one of us is called by the
gospel of God's free grace, our gospel, to the attaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are thankful for God, the
Holy Spirit, that he regenerates. He regenerates us, and he draws
us, and he points us to Christ, our Redeemer. We're also thankful that we have
an advocate now. We have an advocate between us and the Father, which
is Christ Jesus our Lord. We give thanks to God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, for they are one in nature and
in purpose. We are thankful for our brothers
and sisters in Christ. We're thankful for our families, for our jobs. And we could spend
all night just talking about what we're thankful for. We really
could. It's amazing. So God's people. God's people are thankful people. And if we really thought about
all the things that we have to be thankful for, we're sinners,
we're feeble sinners, we are. But if we really thought about
all the things we would have to be thankful for, we'd be thankful
all the time. But the flesh gets in the way,
doesn't it? I know it does for me. I remember hearing a preacher talk
about a brother who was always, always thankful and always, always
giving the glory to the Lord. And I can't remember. Something
happened. He got injured. And he came to church that night.
I think it was Spurgeon and one of the men that came there. And
they were all thinking, OK, what's he going to say about this, right?
He says, well, praise God I didn't get cut off. He saw the thankfulness
in the injury. He saw the thankfulness in the
injury. So this man was always given praise and glory and thanks
to God in that sense. And they all just chuckled. They
all just chuckled. Think of this, too. Our thanks
is to God and him alone. Our thanks is to God and him
alone. Look at Colossians 1.3. Paul was grateful to God for
the saints at Coloss. He was grateful for them. We give thanks to God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Now this
is a prison epistle. Paul's in prison, and he's writing
this. And before we go any further,
I'd like to point out the little word, we, in the verse. We. Notice Paul didn't say I, but
he said we. This shows us the unity that
believers have in praying one for another and giving thanks
to God for one another. We give thanks. Not only did
Paul and Timothy thank God separately, Timothy was with Paul. Not only
did they thank God separately, but they also thank God together
for the saints at cross. And this is a good reminder for
us a good reminder for us to pray one for another and pray
for other believers in other places. But let us never forget to pray.
Pray for one another amongst the congregation. We need to
pray for each other. And also let us notice to whom
did they give thanks to? God and the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. They give thanks for the brethren
and for their faith. We'll see that next week even
more. In Christ Jesus and their love for one another. As I said,
we'll look at that in verse four and five. But think of this. They trace the source right back
to the fountainhead. The grace of God. The grace of
God. Grace is only found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He gives the gift of faith to
his people. He causes us to love one another. And in him are all spiritual
blessings, all of them. But unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith when he ascended
up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men,
Ephesians 4, verses 7 and 8. Unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. So we
trace all these gifts, faith, repentance, love for the brethren,
hope of eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to God
the Father. And again, we see the divine
union that we looked at on Sunday. We see again the divine union between the Father and the Son.
And in our thanksgiving and in our praise, we remember the goodness
of God towards us and towards our brethren. Not only did he have mercy upon
me, but he had mercy on you who believe. And we give him praise
and glory and honor for it. Oh, it's marvelous. So the blessings come to us from
God the Father through Christ. through Christ and are given
by the Holy Spirit. And then think of this, we return
the praise and the thanksgiving back to the giver. It's amazing. Did we praise them before we
were saved? Not at all. Did we think about praising them
before we saved? Not at all. Now that we're saved,
praise his mighty name. What a change. Who made you to
differ? God. God made you to differ. What a wonderful God we have.
What a wonderful God. And here also, we see Paul striking
a blow at the Gnostic system, which among many things believed
that God had nothing to do with anything material. He believed he was a creator
who was distant and set it all in motion and left it all alone.
That's not what our text says, though. We give thanks to God
and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. All the blessings come
from him, through Christ, to us, and back to him in praise
and thanksgiving. So Gnosticism believes that he's
at a distance and does not concern himself with sinful men. Aren't
you thankful that's not true? We'd all be hopeless then. But
see, they believe that they can obtain a higher knowledge and
advance themselves up. You don't know God unless he
reveals himself to you. And we see that God is very active. He's very active. And that he
works all things in our world, in our life, for our good and
for his glory. And we also see that the Thanksgiving
of Paul is also an argument of inspired authority against
this heresy. We give thanks to God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. We give thanks that he's active,
that he moves. He moves and he does his will. Turn with me, if you would, to
2 Peter chapter 1, verse 20 and 21. This scripture is inspired by
God. God had Paul write this to the
Colossians. to show us that God is active.
He's not far off. He's active. Knowing this first, 2 Peter 1,
verse 20 and 21, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the
scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. These errors in heresy didn't
catch God by surprise. So these scriptures themselves
combat the Gnostic heresy. God is active. He moves in the
lives of his people. He moves in the lives of his
universe. He's sovereign. He's a king.
He does whatever he pleases. Notice in our text it says, God
and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. One commentator said
this, God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the gospel
name of God. The name is founded in the very
deity, God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the
name under which he has revealed himself to us. as the partner
of sins, he goes on to say, and the savior of sinners. I like
that, the partner of sins. And it's all in Christ. And the
savior of sinners. Oh, that's... He so loved sinners, he so loved
his elect, his people, that he gave to Christ, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. Paul is here given thanks to
God as the great pardoner of sins. to every believer in Christ.
And it says, God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
think of this, for those of us who believe, he's our father
by adoption. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. He's our father by adoption.
As we read a familiar passage, keep that in mind. This came
alive as I was studying this this week. I've read this passage
many, many times. But he's our father by adoption.
Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 to 5. Blessed be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the same statement. Who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
There we see it again, in Christ. according as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame. I always marvel at that. Sinners,
holy and without blame, only in Christ. Before him in love, heaven predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, to
himself. according to the good pleasure
of His will. That's why He gets all the praise.
And that's why He gets all the glory. According to the good pleasure
of His will. And Romans says this, I'll read
this first, Romans 8, 15, for ye have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We didn't cry that before
the Lord saved us. Abba, Father. Oh, it's marvelous. So our praise and thanksgiving
is to God, our Father. And we give thanks and praise
to him in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. And Paul teaches us by his example
that we are to, with grateful hearts, acknowledge these gifts
which God gives to others and God has given to us who believe.
Faith, repentance, love for the brethren, and they're all given to those
who believe in Christ Jesus. And we'll just look at the latter
part of the verse now. We give thanks to God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Look
at this, praying always for you. Paul prayed for other believers
often, often. And remember, prayer, you can
be driving down the road praying. You can be working at home praying.
These folks that have to say, oh, I have to go pray now. I
remember doing that when I was in New York. Vicki, I got to
go pray now. No, but it was real pious-like, but it wasn't pious
at all. I was so full of self-righteousness
that it wasn't funny. But that's how it was. I didn't
know grace. But Paul here, he prays for others
often. John Trapp said this about this
little portion here, and I really like this. He said, prayer and
thanks are like the double motion of the lungs. Like the double
motion of the lungs. The air that is sucked in by
prayer is breathed out again by thanks. It's beautiful. So we give thanks for God's people,
and at the same time, we pray for them. Aren't you thankful
when you hear someone that the Lord saved someone? I remember
hearing, I remember when Jake told me that the Lord saved Brother
Tim James' daughter. I don't hardly even know her,
but we were all rejoicing. You give thanks, don't you? You
give him praise. Oh, he's Satan. Another one of
his sheep has come to the fold. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. So we give thanks
for God's people, and at the same time, we pray for them.
And notice, too, that the Apostle Paul, he loved God's saints.
He loved God's people. He loved those who he was personally
acquainted with, and he also loved those that he had never
met. If he heard about God's people,
he rejoiced. He rejoiced. And here in our
letter to Colossus, he has not seen the saints, but we see Paul
giving thanks and praying for them. Ephesians 6.18 says this, praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. It's a pattern
that Paul continually does. And look at the latter part again,
praying always for you. Notice the unselfishness of Paul's
prayer here. the unselfishness of his prayer,
praying always for you. What love he has for the saints
of God. He's grateful to God for their
love and faith, and he is thankful for them, praying always for
you. One preacher said this, and I'd
agree with this. He said, we spend more time in
prayer for others than we do ourselves. I was talking to Vicki
about that last night. And it's true. Think about it.
You pray for your family members, your friends, and other people.
And oftentimes, we pray more for others than we do for ourselves. But oh, oh, we're grateful for
our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we pray for them. So let
us keep one another in prayer. Pray for me, please. Pray for
me. I need prayer. I need prayer. Let us keep one another in prayer. And let us keep others we know
who are believers in prayer. Let us keep other congregations
in prayer, and other preachers in prayer. If a believer has wronged you
without a cause, pray for them. Pray for them. Lift them up in
prayer. Give thanks to God for them. As an old preacher has often
said, you can't be angry at someone you're praying for. It's true. I've tried it a few times. It's
true. Oh, goodness. Praying always.
Well, next week we'll look at the reasons for Paul giving thanks
to God for the saints at Colossus, which will be found in the next
verses. Actually, verse 4 and 5. We'll look at that. or see
why he was thankful. Why he was thankful. I'll see
you when it's time.