Colossians 1.1, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timotheus, our brother,
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. 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 truth
of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is in all the
world, and bringeth forth fruit as it does 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 of Christ, who also declared
unto us your love in the Spirit. 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." Now listen to these The next
few verses here. I'm going to repeat that last
part. The title of the message tonight is Paul's Desire and
Prayer for the Colossians. Listen to it. We cease not, verse
9, to pray for you and to desire this. This is what we're praying
for. 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, unto all patience and
longsuffering with joyfulness." What a prayer! What a prayer! In the book of Acts chapter 28,
The book of Acts ends with the Apostle Paul imprisoned at Rome,
and it's from there that he writes this epistle to the Colossians.
Paul, as we read there in chapter 28 of Acts, was allowed in the
gracious providence of God, who will have his elect hear the
gospel of Christ and believe it. He was allowed to have free
access to visitors. They came and went as they pleased,
and Paul preached to them. And one of the visitors that
came to see Paul during that time was Epaphras, that he mentions
in this passage. Epaphras tells Paul of a church
in Colossae, which is, by his report, a faithful and loving
and gracious group of believers. But it was a group which had
its trials, as no doubt all of the churches in those days did
and do now. Many various trials were common
to Christ's church then as now, but the one that Paul mentions
here is the most insidious and most prominent. Physical persecution
was hot at times upon the churches in those days. Not now. We don't
have soldiers busting in here and trying to arrest us or persecute
us in any way, but they did then. They had that. Many were killed
and tortured. imprisoned for their faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Great poverty came upon many
in the church during that time because of the confiscation of
goods and because of the evil influence of the enemies of Christ
against those in the church. The thing Paul addresses most
prominently to these believers, however, as I said, is the most
insidious, the most universal, and the most ageless and common
of all trials that come upon God's church. Paul describes
it in this way in chapter 2, 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. That is the trial that every
church has to face of any age, of any time. Paul exhorts these
saints regarding many things in this chapter, in this book
of Colossians. He exhorts them regarding their
relationship to one another. He exhorts them regarding their
relationship to their spouses and to their superiors at work.
But the first thing he addresses specifically in this book is
the introduction of Antichrist into the church. And what I'm
calling Antichrist is anything that raises itself up in opposition
to Christ and as a replacement. As he mentioned, the doctrines
of men, the rudiments of the world, that's Antichrist. And the very specific way in
which he addresses those things in this book, he mentions particular
heresies, in particular, tactics of the enemies of Christ. And
he does so at great length. He spends quite a bit of time
addressing those things. And all of that seems to indicate
that this was a problem that faced these believers right then,
and not just one he was warning them against to watch for in
the future. Every church of God must always
heed this warning from Paul. Don't miss that word, beware. Beware. Error concerning Christ
and His gospel cannot be tolerated. It can't be compromised with.
It can't even be flirted with. It can't be allowed to creep
in for a moment. It's got to be slain when and
where it springs up. How can error be confronted and
dealt with by God's people? Of course, from the pulpit, error
is exposed often. But when error creeps up, a lot
of times it's done in a corner, isn't it? It's done off on the
back pew maybe or in secret somewhere that the pastor doesn't necessarily
know about. How can it be confronted and dealt with by the people
of God? By you and I and all of us being rooted and grounded
in the truth of Christ as it is in the gospel. Look at verses
6 and 7 of chapter 2. in the context in which Paul
says, Beware, in verse 8. In chapter 2, verse 8, he says,
Beware, lest any man spoil you. I just read that. Look at the
context of it, verse 6. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Rooted and built up
in Him. And established in the faith.
That doesn't mean just coming to church on Sunday and Wednesday
and saying that was a nice sermon. Oh, look at that. Why does God
give pastors and teachers? That you might be edified and
built up into Christ. That you might be rooted in the
faith, established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. Do you enjoy the Gospel and that's
it? Or do you abound in it? Are you
rooted and established in it? You see what I'm saying? And
then He says, And that's how you beware. That's how you're
prepared for resisting, avoiding, and exposing error in the church
of God. Walk rooted and built up in Him,
established in the faith, and beware. Those two things. Now,
Paul begins this epistle in much his usual way, saluting these
believers by introduction of himself and Timothy, in this
case, who was with him when he wrote this. And he does it with
an expressed desire for the blessings of God in Christ upon them. Look
at verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, and Timotheus, our brother, 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." Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of
God. No man should ever be heeded
with regard to the things of God who is not preaching by the
will of God. By the will of God. Now how do
you know that that's true of me? We talked about this the
other day. the other night, I think last
Wednesday night. But let me confirm this again, because this came
up again in this study, and I believe that the Lord would have us understand
this clearly. Many denied the Apostle Paul,
his apostleship, as we saw in 1 Corinthians there, and he defended
it this way in 9.2. Let me remind you of it in 1
Corinthians 9.2. He said, if I be not an apostle
unto others, and he wasn't. They accused him of not being,
and we told why, because Christ had already left this earth before
Paul learned the gospel. And so in their human reasoning,
they said, well, he can't be an apostle. And because Paul
wasn't one of the original 12, that they denied his apostleship. He said, I may not be an apostle
to others, but yea, doubtless I am to you. I am to you. For
the seal of my apostleship are you in the Lord." Now what did
he mean by that? Paul could not prove that Christ
had personally called him on the road to Damascus. Even the
ones that were there with him when it happened, Paul said,
they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. Even they could
not positively say, Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ. He could
not prove it. So why then would folks listen
to the Apostle Paul? Here's why. Acts 17.2. Let me
read it to you. And Paul, as his manner was,
went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them
out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, expounding, opening
the Word of God and setting it before them, that Christ must
needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead, and that
this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. You see, it wasn't
that they believed the Apostle Paul. It is that they believed
the Word that he preached. That's the seal of Paul's apostleship. He preached the Scriptures. He preached the Word of God.
They didn't believe him. It didn't matter if Paul says,
I'm an apostle, you believe him or don't believe him. But when
he preached, you either believed him or you denied the God of
the Bible, one of the two. That's the seal. of Paul's apostleship,
and that's the seal of all who preach the gospel. How do you
know that the Lord Jesus Christ called one of these men that
we respect and love to preach? Here's how. Isaiah said in 820,
to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, it's because there's no light in them. There's no
light in them. If they do speak according to
the word of God, it's because of the light of God. is in them
by his grace he's revealed his truth to them and given it to
them to preach to his people Jeremiah 14 14 then the Lord
said unto me the prophets prophesy lies in my name I sent them not
neither have I commanded them neither spake unto them how do
you know how do how do we know that they prophesy unto you a
false vision and divination and a thing of naught What they preach
to you is vanity. It's a thing of naught. The so-called
gospel of this religious age, it's a thing of naught. Come
down this aisle and do this, this, and this, and God will
save you? That's a thing of naught. God doesn't save people because
of that. That's not salvation. And they
preach from the deceit of their heart. If you hear somebody like
that now, God didn't send him. Paul, Paul's manner was he reasoned
with him out of the scriptures and opened and alleged that Christ
must need to suffer. And every man that does that
is sin of God. Go down and listen to the fellow that's preaching
down at the Methodist church here in town and come back and
tell me if he's preaching, as Paul said, by the will of God. You should be able to answer
that question after about 10 minutes of listening to him.
Though false preachers are not outside of God's universal will,
His will is accomplished even in their heresy. But they are
not sin of God in the sense that they are not His ministers. He
said, I sent them not. Because they're preaching lies.
And that's how you know, right there. It's either according
to this book or it's not. God's preachers today are not
apostles. But the apostles' primary business,
like ours, was to preach the gospel. That's what Paul was.
He was a preacher. And they only were empowered
to do the miracles that they did, which was one of the marks
of an apostle. They had powers to do miraculous
things. Why? In confirmation of the gospel
that they preached. That was the only reason. And
they were given divine inspiration to write what they wrote. Why? That the gospel might be preached. That was their primary business,
and God's preachers today have that as their primary business. Now, he said, to the saints and
faithful brethren in Christ. It's always important for us
to remember that, that the Word of God in its entirety, this
epistle and all of God's Word is written to the people of God. Think about this now. I know
that there are those who will read this book who are not God's
sheep, but it's like they were reading somebody else's mail.
It's not addressed to them. It's addressed to God's people.
Oh, wait a minute now. No. What about those that haven't
believed yet? They've got to hear the Word
of God. We should encourage them to read the Word of God. And
they're not saints. Oh, yes, they are. They just don't know
it yet. This book is written to the saints
of God, period. There's nothing in it for the
reprobate except a confirmation of their reprobation and damnation. and a sealing of their doom in
hell under the judgment of God Almighty. We are sanctified in
Christ Jesus from eternity. Whether you know it yet or not,
you may not know you're a saint, and you may very well be one.
This book is to you. The gospel coming to you. This
epistle is God's word to the saints, regenerate and unregenerate.
We have some saints here that know they're saints by God's
grace tonight, and maybe some that don't. This book is to you. It's to you. What does gospel mean? It means
good news. Is it then addressed to the reprobate?
If it is, we'll have to change the name of it to bad news. The
gospel is good news, and it's only good news to God's sheep,
those that Christ has redeemed. from all their iniquities by
His precious blood." The good news is that Christ has come
and has redeemed His people. But that's only good news to
His people, you see. We preach it to every creature,
but it's for the sheep. It's for the sheep. We're looking
for sheep. The gospel to the reprobate is the savor, Paul
said, of death unto death. They're not good news for you.
If you hate the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul said, let you be anathema
maranatha, accursed when the Lord comes. That's not good news. That's not good news. And the
Gospel is the savor of death unto death to those that hate
Christ, and it serves to confirm them in their rebellion and seal
their everlasting destruction under the just wrath of God Almighty. So this word of good news and
good cheer, and this is an encouraging word. This book of Colossians. Oh, the glory of the things that
Paul addresses in this book. I pray that God will bless me
to deliver it to you because I'm not up to it. I'm not up
to it. These are things that are way
beyond me. But if God will bless it to our
hearts, we'll rejoice together in Christ. But only the saints
can rejoice. So it's to the saints, the faithful.
And he says this to them. Grace be unto you. Have you bowed
to Christ? Have you fallen at His feet and
owned Him as your sin offering before God and your righteousness,
your only righteousness before God? Grace be unto you. And peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul desires from God what only
God can give. Grace and peace. Men cannot bestow
grace on one another, nor give peace. I can speak those things
which concern grace and peace, but unless God gives them to
you, you won't have them. So I pray grace be unto you and
peace from God. That's the peace I'm wanting
for you. Not the peace of a salved conscience. That was a good sermon. And I
came to church today, so I've got a good marking by my name
in heaven. No, no, I don't want that peace
for you. I want the kind of peace that God gives through the Lord
Jesus Christ where you come and hear the gospel and say, that
Christ is mine. He's mine. Peace unto you. Peace unto you. God's people
desire sincerely and honestly the best for one another. And
it doesn't get any better than grace and peace from God. It
just doesn't get any better than that. Grace is God's favor. And peace comes from knowing
God's favor. They're so joined together. Paul
is praying that not only God be gracious unto them in Christ,
but that He give them a sense of this. That they might fully
rest in Christ. That's where your peace is right
there. God ought to throw me in hell, but Christ is all. Christ
has availed for me. His blood has availed for me.
There's peace right there. I can lay down my head at night
thinking of Him that redeemed me, Him that washed me from my
sins in His precious blood. Grace and peace be unto you.
Grace is God putting you in Christ. Peace is the knowledge that we
are in Christ and trusting Him completely. That's true contentment
and happiness. He's wishing for you true contentment
and happiness and the grace that makes that a reality. He desires
both for you. And I do for you. I do for you. Verse 3, 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. You heard about that hope that's
laid up for you in heaven. Notice these three words in the
text. Faith, verse 4, heard of your faith in Christ. The end
of verse 4, love, the love which you have to all the saints. And
then in verse 5, the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.
Faith, hope, and love. Does that remind you of a verse
of scripture? Paul said, And now abideth these three, faith,
hope, and love. But the greatest of these is
love. And God is the giver of all these
things, so He is to be thanked for them. And Paul does. We give
thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father is thanked for
them, and Christ is thanked for them. Because as God, Christ
is also the giver of all these things. And as man, Christ is
thanked because it's through Him as the man, as the second
Adam, as our mediator, as our representative. It's through
Him that we have these things from the Father. You see that?
It's through Him, through Christ. All of God's blessings to the
sinner are in, through, and by Christ Jesus. So we thank Him
too. God and the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Notice the phrasing of each of
these. Faith is mentioned, but not just faith as some arbitrary
thing. Faith in Christ Jesus. That's
different from the faith that this world talks about. You know,
that's a pretty good definition of faith, if you think about
it. It's in Christ Jesus. That's what faith is. Faith is a word that's horribly
misused by religion. They speak about faith as believing
that God will grant all manner of specific and worldly desires
of men. If you believe it strongly enough,
God will grant it to you. That's not faith. Faith is believing
God. Not that He will do things for
you that you ask Him to do. but believing His Word. And particularly
and specifically believing the record that God hath given concerning
His Son, John said. We believe the record that He's
given concerning His Son. So faith in Christ Jesus. And then love. And then notice
how the phrasing of the word love there, the love which you
have to all the saints. Oh, boy. By nature, we don't
have much love for anybody, do we, but ourselves. But not by
God's grace. It's not that way. John 13.35,
Christ said, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples.
This will be the distinguishing mark of my sheep. The love that they have for one
another. Is our love like that? Is it
so strong and conspicuous that the world can identify us by
it? as the people of God. It is if we are. This is called
by Paul the greatest of all of the bestowed graces of God. Faith,
hope, and love. But the greatest is love. Faith will end in sight. We won't
need faith in glory, will we? Because we'll see Him face to
face. And we won't need hope because hope will be turned into
experience. Everything that we've hoped for
will be ours. But love abideth throughout eternity. The gift that God has given us
to love one another and to love Him by His grace. Peter, do you
love Me? Lord, You know all things. You
know I love You. That will never cease. It will
only become more pure and strong and glorious when God makes us
like His Son. But it will be that same love.
It won't look the same. It won't feel the same. It won't
be the same in strength, in character, in a lot of ways. But we're going
to love Him just like we do now, only perfectly. If you don't
love Him now, you won't love Him in eternity. Is that right? That's right. Love. And then he speaks of that hope.
When he talks about hope, what does he say? That hope which
is laid up for you in heaven. Notice two words in that. For
you. Your hope is characterized by
those two words. Your hope is not in yourself,
your perseverance, or anything of this earth. It's laid up for
you in heaven. You know what that means? It's
in Christ. We're seated together in heavenly
places already in Him. My hope is there already. It's
laid up for me in heaven. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. He went to the cross and did that. And he said, if
I go and do that, and he did, I'll come again and receive you.
What's your hope? My hope is waiting in heaven
on me. He's waiting to come back and
get me and bring me to himself forever. For you. These two words show that our
hope is that which is done all together by another on our behalf. Oh, for us. We could preach all
night on those two words. For us. He died for us. He rose again for us. He lives
for us. He reigns for us. He's coming
for us. It's all together outside. It's
done for you. It's waiting on you in heaven. But you heard about it when the
gospel was preached to you. You see that in the context there? Which you heard. about when the
gospel, the gospel. Thank God for the gospel. Thank God for the good news of
Christ and what He did for a worm like me. This gospel is the power
of God unto salvation, Paul said in Romans 1.16. This gospel is
the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, Paul said in 1 Timothy
1.11. I'm interested in that. It's
the gospel of God, Romans 15, 16. It's the gospel of Christ,
Romans 15, 19. And Paul said in Romans 2, 16,
it's my gospel too. It's His. It's God the Father's
gospel. He sent the Son. He's the one
that sent. There wouldn't be any good news without the Father.
And there wouldn't be any good news without the Son. It's the
gospel of Christ. It concerns Him in every aspect. It concerns
Him from the start of this book to the end of it. It concerns
Christ Jesus. Paul said, it's my gospel. I
don't have any other hope but this gospel of God, the gospel
of Christ. It's mine. I own it. It's my
hope before God and I preach it by His grace without apology
and without compromise. It's my gospel. You see that?
Verse 6, which is come unto you. Aren't you glad for that? You
take that for granted? Think of how many places and
people that that's not true of. It didn't come unto them. The
psalmist said in Psalm 147, I believe, you've revealed Your Word, you've
given Your Word unto Jacob, a worm like Jacob, and you haven't done
that for anybody else. You talk about mercy. You talk
about distinguishing grace. The Gospel came to you. To you. as it is in all the world. It's
gone out everywhere, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also
in you, since the day you heard of it, and knew the grace of
God in truth." Ah, isn't that beautiful language? It came by
God's grace to me. It came to me. The prophet said,
how beautiful are the feet of them that preach it. And Paul
quoted that verse in Romans 10, 15, how beautiful are the feet
of them that preach the gospel that bring glad tidings of good
things. I don't know if I've ever seen
the feet of any of the preachers that have come here and preached
to us that I know and love. I don't remember seeing any of
their feet, but I know they're beautiful. You know how I know? Because what makes them beautiful
is because they come in my way with the gospel. They bring glad
tidings of good things. That's what's beautiful about
them. Oh, it came to me. This Gospel came to me. And notice here, he doesn't say,
well, I'm glad the Gospel's bringing forth fruit in you. That's good
to hear. He was glad that it brought forth fruit in you. But
it's clear here from the language that the Gospel, everywhere it
is heard and received in all the world, it always brings forth
fruit. It always does. It accomplishes
the thing whereunto God sent it. And Paul said that God has
ordained us unto good works. The One that ordained you unto
salvation ordained that you bring forth fruit to His glory. And
you shall. And you do. And Paul said these
folks did. And everywhere the Gospel, the
fruit of the Gospel, it's the fruit of the Holy Spirit that
taught us the Gospel. You know what the fruit of the
Gospel is? Read them in Galatians 5.22. That's the fruit of the
Gospel because that's the fruit of the Spirit that reveals the
Gospel and regenerates us by the preaching of the Gospel.
Love, joy, peace, and all of the graces that God gives when
He gives life to a sinner. An example of the fruit brought
forth by the Gospel preached to these Colossians is given
in verse 8. He said, "...who also declared
unto us your love in the Spirit." The fruit of the Spirit is what?
All of the fruit of the Spirit is the fruit of Christ's Gospel. Verse 7, As ye also learned of
Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister
of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
Paul commends Epaphras. And Epaphras had commended the
saints to Paul. He told Paul about their love
and their faith. You see that? Paul is commending
Epaphras. He said, he's my dear fellow
servant in the gospel. And Epaphras had commended those
saints to Paul. And due thanks is given to God
for all of his graces. And faithful men are also commended
by God's design and direction for their faithfulness. We know
why men are faithful, don't we? And we praise God for it. But
we're also directed by God to encourage one another, to edify
one another, to give honor to whom honor is due. And that's
what took place here. That's what happened here. He's
not bragging on men. He'd been thanking God all through
this for all of those graces that he gave. And then he just
told the truth. Epaphras, he's a dear fellow
servant. And Epaphras told the truth about
them. Their love and faith is worth
talking about. Isn't that great? I've spoken
often and to many about the grace of God that I see in you here,
and I delight to do that. I've declared your love in the
Spirit, like Paul did, like Epaphras did to Paul, to the saints in
other places. Epaphras did that here. It's
enjoyable to do that, but you know, it's also practical. Epaphras
declaring unto Paul the good things concerning the saints
at Colossae, it had two direct results. In verse 9, Paul said,
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, we don't
cease to pray for you. You see that? When I talk to
other people about you, I doubt not at all that it causes them
to thank God for you and to pray for you. Don't you reckon? That God would continue to bless
us and have mercy on us in the love of Christ. And then verse
12, it had another effect. We won't get to verse 12 tonight,
but let's look at it in this context. "...giving thanks unto
the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light." It caused Paul to pray for them, and it
caused him to praise God for His goodness, for making us what
we're not by nature. Isn't that great? And I thought
about that when I'm talking to other people. I see and I hear
them praising God. They say, thank God for His grace. You know, that's so wonderful.
And God is glorified in that. It's not to puff you up or me
or anybody else, but God. Verse 9, and we'll have to be
through. 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 unto all patience and longsuffering
with joyfulness." Wow! I'm out of breath, but it was
worth it. What a glorious, wonderful prayer. We're praying for you that you
might be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding. That's more than just a book
knowledge of doctrine. Although I recommend that you
read and study to show yourself approved unto God and to be ready
to give an answer to all that ask you, a reason for the hope
that lies within you. There's nothing wrong with reading
books, but this goes beyond just being able to answer questions,
you see, and have book knowledge. A spiritual understanding in
the knowledge of God's will, in wisdom. My goodness. The reason that the natural man
cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 2.14, is because they have no spiritual understanding. They're spiritually discerned.
Paul prays for spiritual discernment for those that he is writing
to. We have, generally speaking,
a spiritual discernment by God's grace, don't we? Paul says in
1 Corinthians 2.15, he that is spiritual discerneth all things,
all things pertaining to life. We have discernment from God,
but Paul is also praying for the wisdom to be guided and confirmed
in and to act upon that discernment. Look at the next verse there,
that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. being
fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of
God. Don't just know the things of God and rejoice in them and
be filled with knowledge and wisdom and spiritual understanding,
but insomuch that it has infiltrated your heart and affects all that
you do and say. He said in another place, let
your speech be seasoned with grace. Everything you say and
do and all of your thoughts, don't you think a godless thought
Acknowledge Him in everything in your life. If it doesn't glorify
Him, find another way to do it. This is the kind of understanding
and wisdom that's not just, as I said, a book, a head knowledge
of things, but it's life. It's who we are. It's who we
are by His grace. If you're a child of God, you
know the truth. Do you always act like it? That's
why Paul prays here for a filling of knowledge and wisdom and spiritual
understanding that we might walk worthy. What is God's will? He prays for a knowledge of His
will. God's will is revealed in His
Word. There's that secret will of God
that can't be known until it's done. God's will, as we said
a while ago, is accomplished even in the false preaching of
those that hate Christ. His will is accomplished in that.
There's no question about that. Nothing happens without Him in
His world. But the secret will of God, we
don't know that. Paul's not praying for an understanding
of that. It wouldn't be secret if we knew
it. God has a secret will. The things that are secret, they
belong unto the Lord. The revealed things belong to
us. You see, the book says. But this will of God here is
His revealed will in His Word. It's most particularly God's
will toward us that we're to be interested in and grateful
for. We don't have time to look at this, but jot down Ephesians
1, 6-12 and read that concerning the will of God as it's revealed
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen to John 6, 39, And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing. Oh, that you might be
filled with all knowledge of that will. The redemptive will
of God in His Son towards sinners like us. I want to be filled
with knowledge of that. Lord, fill me and those that
I love with the knowledge of all that's contained in that,
that of all those that the Father hath given, Christ will lose
nothing. He'll redeem them. He'll secure them. He'll save
them in every sense of the word. And then he said, being fruitful
in every good work. And that has to do with the same
thing. Every good work is a work wrought upon Christ. Did you
know that? Turn to Matthew 26. We'll be
through. Matthew 26. Now when Jesus was in Bethany
in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having
an alabaster box of very precious ointment and poured it on his
head as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it,
they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
For this ointment might have been sold for much and given
to the poor. And when Jesus understood it,
he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought
a good work upon me." You see, that's what defines a good work.
It's wrought upon Christ. For ye have the poor always with
you, but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this
ointment on my body, She did it for my burial. This is a good
work. It has to do with the gospel.
It has to do with the Lord Jesus and His redemptive work for sinners. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever
this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall
also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of
her. And that's fulfilled right now
tonight. A good work is a work wrought upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And every good work is a work
of faith. Hebrews 6.11.6 says that without faith it's impossible
to please God. It's a faith work, a good work
is. And even those simple things
that God's people do for one another are called good works. You remember there in Acts chapter
6, probably not. It's been a good while since
we studied that far back in the book of Acts. But in Acts 36-39,
there's a woman told of there And she's commended for all of
her good works. And there's one example given
of what she did. 936. Now there was at Joppa a
certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called
Dorcas. This woman was full of good works
and alms deeds which she did. And it came to pass in those
days that she was sick and died, whom when they had washed, they
laid her in an upper chamber, And forasmuch as Leta was not
at Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they
sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to
come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was
come, they brought him into the upper chamber, and all the widows
stood by him, weeping, and showing the coats and garments which
Dorcas made while she was with them." She was full of good works,
and one example is given. She made coats for her sisters
in the faith. Isn't that such a simple, small
thing? A small thing? The Lord Jesus
Christ said, when you've done it to the least of one of these,
my brethren, you've done it to me. That's why it's a good work,
because it's wrought upon Christ. When it's wrought upon His people.
The people of God are His body. You've done it to me, He said.
That's a good work right there. When it's wrought upon Christ
in faith and by faith in Him. So good works. Good works. Not what religion talks about,
is it? Strengthened with all might according to His glorious
power unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. What kind of
might does Paul pray for? Strengthened with all might.
Might to do great works, renowned works, build churches, build
buildings, and win many souls to cry. Paul never prays for
that kind of thing. Never. Those are the kind of
things that religion talks about. Empty, vain, man-centered, free
will religion talks about mighty works in that sense. We are to
be diligent in the work of promoting and preaching the gospel. There's
no question about that. But that's not accomplished as
religion talks about in the building of a visible empire. That's not
the will and work of God. Paul prays for might to simply
remain. to stay. That's what you need
the strength of God for, to stay right where you are in Christ.
The word he uses there, notice that he says, might unto, strengthen
with all might according to his glorious power unto. Here's what
this might that I pray for you from God will be used for. All patience and longsuffering
with joy. The word patience there is steadfastness. Just to stand right there in
Christ and don't be moved. Not an inch. Steadfastness, constancy,
endurance. That's what Job had. They talk
about the patience of Job. James says you've heard of the
patience of Job. It's this same word right here.
Job wasn't all that patient in the sense that he just waited
on God without complaint. That's what we usually think
of That's patience. The word patience is steadfastness.
Though he slay me, I'll trust in him. That's patience. That's
what he's praying for them. That they'd have all my... You
know what that took for Job to be able to say that? The very
power of God in his soul. Just to stay put. Just to stay
put. The word longsuffering is patience,
endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance. The Lord Jesus
Christ preserves us. We're kept by the power of God.
In John 10, 28 and 29, He said, they're in my hand and nobody's
taking them out. And they're in my Father's hand
and nobody will pluck them out of His hand. But it will be with
all effort on your part that you stand fast in Christ. It
doesn't depend on our effort. It depends on His keeping. But
He will have us to strive and endeavor and to stand fast. You look those words up in the
New Testament. Strive. Endeavor. Stand fast. And he prays for
the power of God for you that you might be able to do it. That
you might stand firm in Christ. One foundation, no other foundation
can any man lay than that which is laid which is Christ Jesus. Stand on the rock and don't be
moved. It'll take everything in you
and it'll take the power of God. That's what Paul is dealing with
now in Ephesians 6, 10-18. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made you free. And then you jot that one down
too. I don't have time to read that either. But Ephesians 6,
10-18. Having done all, stand. What Paul is saying here, I pray
God will give you strength and power according to His glorious
power. It ain't going to be your power
that accomplishes it. To stand fast in Christ with
all perseverance and steadfastness, and while you're doing it, rejoice
with all joyfulness. Do this with all joyfulness.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. God is witness that I desire
these things for you, as Paul did for these saints. And I pray
to God for you, that He would grant you all these good graces
according to His riches in Christ Jesus.