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Okay, you can turn in your Bibles
to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. I had to
go see the surgeon today in Vancouver. I didn't get back till 2, so
I didn't want to just try to throw together 2 Samuel 7, so
I thought we'd look at Colossians 1. Surgeon said everything was
great by the way, looked at my x-ray and said it was doing well
and so that was encouraging to hear. Colossians chapter 1, our focus
is going to be on verses 10 to 14. A couple weeks ago when we're
in 2 Timothy 4, when Paul tells Timothy to preach the word, I
had mentioned that that was the 11th hour for Paul. It was the
last letter that Paul had written And that's the last formal command
that he gives to Timothy, and thus the church, preach the word. I made the note that we ought
to pay attention to a man who speaks in the eleventh hour.
We ought to hear what's heavy on his heart, what is important
to him, and I think that's a good thing as we go to 2 Timothy.
As well, I think we ought to listen to what's important to
the Apostle Paul when he prays. And that's what's in view here
specifically in verses 10 to 14. We learn a lot from the apostle
Paul at the throne of grace. And tonight we'll look at his
prayer specifically and see what is important to him for the people
of God. But I'll begin reading in chapter
1 at verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother. To the saints and
faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae, grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We
give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus
and of your love for all the saints, because of the hope which
is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in
the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you,
as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit,
as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the
grace of God in truth. As you also learn from Epaphras,
our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ
on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease
to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge
of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That
you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful
in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. strengthened
with all might according to his glorious power, for all patience
and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to the Father who
has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in the light. He has delivered us from the
power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son
of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before
all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Amen. Well, Paul, as I said, prays. And we're gonna look specifically
at verses 10 to 14, but if you go back to chapter, or back in
chapter one at verse three, he begins there. And that's a good
study. If you ever want to sort of,
Bring some freshness to your own prayer life. Study the prayers
of the Apostle Paul. Learn to pray the way that Paul
does. The things that were of concern
with Paul at the throne of grace are good helps to us and things
that we ought to be concerned with at the throne of grace.
We see him here lay before God his petitions on behalf of these
people. Note, in verse 9, the occasion
of his prayer. He mentions that he's heard from
Epaphras concerning their love in the Spirit. In other words,
Epaphras was a messenger. He comes to Paul. He tells Paul
what's happening in Colossae. And in verse 9, Paul says, for
this reason we also, since the day we heard it. In other words,
when we heard that you had, by the grace of God, come out of
darkness into marvelous light, had been formed as a local church,
we put you on our prayer list. You were certainly near and dear
to our hearts. It's good for us to value the
people of God. It's good for us to value the
church of God. It's good for us to pray for
them. He goes on to indicate the frequency of prayer on behalf
of the Colossians. He says, we do not cease to pray
for you. Now when you read things like
that in the Bible, it probably doesn't mean that all Paul ever
did all the time was pray for the Colossians. No, we know that
Paul ate and Paul drank water and Paul built tents and Paul
went to other churches. The idea is, is that when we
pray, we think of you. When we pray, we pray for you.
Such that we can say, we do not cease to pray for you. You're
always near and dear to our hearts. You are in our minds when we
come to the throne of grace and we lay these petitions before
you. And then he goes on to say specifically
what the content of his prayer is on behalf of the Colossians. We do not cease to pray for you. Now notice, and to ask that you
may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding. That in and of itself is a blessed
thing. How many times do you and I pray
for each other that we may be filled with the knowledge of
God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding? It's
good for us to pray for pregnant ladies. It's good for us to pray
for unhealthy persons. It's good for us to pray for
the various situations that confront the local church. But it's also
good to pray in these sort of abstract kind of ways. that we would be filled with
the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Now notice, that's the petition. Paul says, for the Colossians,
I want you to be filled with the knowledge of His will in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Now note the reason for this
or the purpose for this petition. That's found in verse 10a. That you may walk worthy of the
Lord, fully pleasing Him. So Paul wants the Colossians
to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. How are the Colossians
going to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him? Well, it's
going to be because they're filled with the knowledge of His will
and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. You see that?
When we know what the will of God is, through prayer and through
the study of Scripture to be sure, it's in that state or in
that sphere that we then may walk worthy of the Lord, fully
pleasing Him. This whole idea of walking worthy
means to walk in a manner that is consistent with the will and
the mind of God. This idea of walk, or as the
old King James has it, let our conversation, it means the totality
of our lives, it means the orientation of our lives. Paul uses the language
in Ephesians 4.1, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. So
you see, at least in two instances, in two separate churches, in
two separate locations, Paul wants the people of God to walk
worthy of the calling with which they were called. He wants them
to walk faithfully before the Lord God. Philippians 1.27, a
similar thing. He says, only let your conduct
be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see
you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand
fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the
faith of the gospel. And again in 1 Thessalonians
2 and verse 12. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse
12, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His
own kingdom and glory. So you see it is consistent with
Paul that he would pray for the people of God who have been saved
by the Lord to then walk consistently with the Lord, to walk in a manner
that is worthy of the Lord. So back in Colossians. He asks
that they would be filled with the knowledge of His will in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding with the specific goal that they
may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. That ought
to be our goal. That ought to be the prayer we
offer up for the people we love. That ought to be our prayer for
the church. that we would walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing
Him. Not just pleasing Him, you know,
once a week. Not just pleasing Him when we
come together on the Lord's Day to worship in the morning and
evening, but fully pleasing Him. Whether it's a Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, we ought to be conscious
of the fact that the people for whom we pray, those who have
been redeemed by sovereign grace, ought to strive to be fully pleasing
to the Lord God Most High. Now, I think this introduces
a question. What does this look like? What
does it look like to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him? Have you ever asked the question?
If you've ever asked the question, that's good. We should ask the
question. And thankfully, Paul answers
the question. So we see, the petition, be filled
with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. The purpose for the petition,
that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. And
now by the means of using four participles, or four descriptive
phrases, Paul will flash out what a worthy walk looks like.
So these are the sorts of things we pray for one another. These
are the sorts of things we pray for our wives, or our husbands,
or our children, or our parents, or our fellow churchmen. This is what we pray for other
churches. We pray that they would be filled.
We pray that they would walk worthy, and that that worthy
walk would look like this. Note in the first place that
they would be fruitful in every good work. This is a worthy walk
before the Lord. It is to be engaged in good works. It is to be engaged in those
things that are pleasing to God. The reality is that we are justified
by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
We'll never enter into heaven because of our good works. We'll
enter into heaven because of Christ's good works. because
of his active obedience to the law of God, to his passive obedience
in his death at Calvary. It is based solely and alone
upon what Jesus Christ has done that any sinner will ever enter
into heaven. We all agree and we all affirm
that as faithful Protestant believers, as those who love Scripture and
those who have been set free by the grace of God. However,
we realize that there are good works that follow that faith
in Jesus Christ. They are not a condition of our
salvation, they are not a cause of our salvation, but they are
a consequence. Because we have been saved by
grace through faith in Christ Jesus, we will do good works. And Paul says that a worthy walk
before the Lord that is fully pleasing to Him will mean fruitfulness
in every good work. Our confession describes it this
way. It says that faith thus receiving
and resting on Christ and His righteousness is the alone instrument
of justification. Can't be any clearer than that.
It is the alone instrument of justification, yet it is not
alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with
all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh
by love. This is James' emphasis. James
is not teaching a contrary method of salvation to the Apostle Paul. James affirms sovereign grace,
James 1.18. of his own will, he brought us
forth by the word of truth. James affirms the same salvation
by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. James,
however, is dealing with a bunch of deadbeat professors that never
engage in good works. And so James says that faith
without works is dead. He's not saying faith plus works
in order to be saved, but he says that a genuine faith will
always issue forth in good works, like our confession says. Yet
it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied
with all other saving graces. But you know, Paul emphasizes
good works as well. Notice in Ephesians chapter 2,
a passage that celebrates the grace of God, a passage that
celebrates the reality that we're saved by grace alone, through
faith alone, in Christ alone, nevertheless emphasizes that
as a result of that faith, there will be good works. Notice in
Ephesians 2.8. For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of
God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Now notice, for
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
So even the good works, God predetermined. Even the good works, God predestined. God is the one who is sovereign
over these things, as Paul tells us in Philippians 2. Notice in
Philippians 2.12, we are told, to work out our own salvation
with fear and trembling. He's not saying work for your
salvation with fear and trembling. Work out. We can only work out
what God has sovereignly put in. But work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both
to will and to do for His good pleasure. So in our good works,
God still gets the glory, God still gets the praise, God still
gets the honor, but we are indeed engaged in that particular activity. One final passage in a Pauline
epistle, look at Titus. It's always intrigued me that
in the space of three short chapters, three times good works are emphasized
in Titus, and I've often wondered if that's because of the type
of people that Cretans were. Notice in Titus chapter 1 verse
12, one of them, a prophet of their own said, Cretans are always
liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. And then Paul says this testimony
is true. Paul didn't respect their safe
space. Paul, we're Cretans. How could you dare agree with
that? It was a general characteristic. If I say that San Francisco is
a sodomite city, it doesn't mean that everybody in the town is
a sodomite, but that is the prevailing sin in San Francisco. Well, the same sort of thing
is true in Crete. One of their own said, Cretans
are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. So, it is intriguing
to me that thrice in this epistle that they are pressed to engage
in good works. Probably they had to lose that
old Cretan flavor as they had become Christian believers. Notice
in Titus 2.14, well, verse 11, for the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope
and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every
lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people." Note,
zealous for good works. Chapter 3, verse 8, this is a
faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly,
that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain
good works. Notice in 3.14, and let our people
also learn to maintain good works. to meet urgent needs that they
may not be unfruitful. Brethren, the doctrine of justification
by faith alone was never calculated to produce an antinomian, lawless,
hyper-Calvinistic people that don't do things that are pleasing
to God. The doctrine of justification
by faith alone is the only means by which genuine good works are
possible, because what God has done in us through the power
of the Christian gospel then produces in us and through us
those good things that He has created before that we should
walk in them. And back to Colossians, this
is an interesting contrast with the former conduct of the Colossians. They were to be fruitful in every
good work. Notice what he says in 121, and
you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works. Yet now he has reconciled. So
this is what characterized them before they were Christians.
They were enemies in their minds by wicked works. Notice as well
in chapter 3 at verse 7. He says, in which you yourselves
once walked when you lived in them. So you see, for the new
man in Christ Jesus, they are to be fruitful in every good
work. So if we ask the question, what is a worthy walk of the
Lord, fully pleasing Him, look like? In the first place, it
means to be fruitful in every good work. Notice in the second
place, they were to be increasing in the knowledge of God. Brethren,
if we are stagnant, we are not being what God called us to be.
Again, this reflects what Paul wants for the people for whom
he prays. I think this is something that
ought to characterize all of God's people, increasing in the
knowledge of God. That doesn't mean you're going
to be Jim Renahan. It doesn't mean you're going
to be C.H. Spurgeon. It doesn't mean you're going
to be John Calvin or John Gill. It doesn't mean you're going
to be John Owen. In fact, I think we can all rest
assured we're probably not ever going to be John Owen. But that
doesn't mean we ought not to be increasing in the knowledge
of God. Go back to Hosea the prophet and see how God indicts
the people of Israel in this particular time. Hosea the prophet,
chapter 4, his specific charge against Israel. He highlights
sins concerning them. Notice in verse 1 of Hosea 4. Hear the word of the Lord, you
children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants
of the land. This charge is a legal term. It is what a prosecuting attorney
does in the courtroom. So, Hosea is functioning as the
prosecuting attorney for God, and he brings this to bear upon
the nation of Israel. Notice, there is no truth or
mercy or knowledge of God in the land. And then notice in
verse 6, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because
you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being
priest for me. Because you have forgotten the
law of your God, I also will forget your children. There's
a similar indictment in the prophet Malachi, specifically with reference
to the priesthood. In Malachi chapter 2, verse 7. Malachi 2.7, for the lips of
a priest should keep knowledge. It's the function of the priest.
It is to keep knowledge, it is to teach the people, similar
to what we're seeing in 2 Timothy 4. Paul tells Timothy, preach
the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince,
rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. We're going to
consider the reasons this Sunday night, for the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine. Well, the priest is
to maintain sound doctrine, the people are to receive it. In
Paul's context, Timothy is to preach sound doctrine, the church
is to receive sound doctrine. So in Malachi 2.7, for the lips
of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law
from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
But you have departed from the way. You have caused many to
stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant
of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. Therefore, I also have made you
contemptible and base before all the people because you have
not kept my ways but have shown partiality in the law. So back to Colossians 2, what
does a pleasing walk look like? Now, we would say being fruitful
in every good work. It's the person that visits widows
and he visits orphans and he, you know, sees them in their
distress. That's right. But he also reads his Bible.
and he reads Burkhoff's Systematic Theology, and he reads his Confession
of Faith, and he does read Calvin, and he does read Owen. I'm not
saying, you know, you all have to read that. But you see what
Paul is saying? To walk worthy of the Lord, fully
pleasing Him, certainly means the practical aspects of do-goodery. But it's also the abstract, theoretical
growth in knowledge, learning more about God, expanding your
understanding of who God is. There is a necessity to increase
in the knowledge of God. And I think the reason for that
is because the Bible links this together. The more we know of
God, the more we love God. And the more that we love God,
the more we'll go about those things like doing good works
and doing those things that are pleasing in His sight. Brethren,
we need to increase in the knowledge of God. This is what He says
we are to do. Remember in the high priestly
prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus says, sanctify them by
thy truth. Thy word is truth. Again, do
you know how paradoxical that is in the modern mindset? We
think of sanctification as being not sinning. We think of sanctification
as not doing bad things, and we think of sanctification as
doing good things, and that's part of it. But Jesus prays,
sanctify them by thy truth. Jesus says that the truth of
God in the heart and mind of a man, which incidentally are
synonymous in the Bible, It's not like we really understand
who God is with the mind, and then we respond to Him with the
heart. Mind and heart are synonymous in the Bible. Mind and heart
is the glob of what can't be seen about a man. It thinks,
it wills, it loves, it emotes, it does all that thing. The Bible
uses heart and mind synonymously. But we are to understand, we
are to know, we are to grow, we are to increase in knowledge.
It is by the truth that God sanctifies His people. And then as well
in 2 Peter 3.18, Peter says to do what? He says grow in the
grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I've thought this and I've probably
said this before. If we knew there was a Christian
who was watching internet porn and he would or would not repent
or she would not repent, we would discipline them. And yet there's
probably a whole host of Christians that are not increasing in the
knowledge of God. They don't read their Bibles,
they don't read their confessions, they miss church frequently,
they are stagnant, they are even going backwards at times. Now,
I realize there's an ebb and a flow, there's seasons where
you're extra busy in life and, you know, you get a few verses
in, praise God, but if the general tenor of your life is not to
increase in the knowledge of God, that's bad. You see, we
are so set on internet porn bad, not increasing in the knowledge
of God, eh, not so bad. Now I'm not saying engage in
internet porn. Stop, it's wicked, repent from
it, but stop and repent because it's wicked to not increase in
the knowledge of God. Paul the Apostle highlights that
what a worthy walk looks like, fully pleasing Him, is robust
in good works, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing
in the knowledge of God. Notice he goes on thirdly. He
says, in this worthy walk, you will be, verse 11, strengthened
with all might according to his glorious power for all patience
and longsuffering with joy. So Paul realizes that if we are
going to walk a worthy walk, fully pleasing him, the Lord
is certainly at work in us. It is the Lord who is strengthening
us. It is the Lord who is strengthening
us with all might according to His glorious power. He sustains
us, He keeps us, He enables us to press onward. You see, this
walk worthy, fully pleasing Him isn't something, you know, we're
just great at good works and we're just great at increasing
in the knowledge of God. No, behind the scenes he is strengthening
us with all might according to his glorious power, but note
the specific focus for all patience and long-suffering with joy.
Paul understands that the Christian life typically isn't going to
be a life that is unmolested. Paul realizes, as did Jesus before
him, the Christian life is going to be tough. You're going to
have hardship. You're going to have opposition.
There's going to be resistance to you. So Paul knows and Paul
prays and Paul wants for the Colossians to be strengthened
with all might according to the glorious power of God so that
they'll have patience and long-suffering with joy. Some attach the with
joy to the thanksgiving that follows, but I think the with
joy goes here specifically with the patience and long-suffering. So you see Paul's emphasis. You
need to be fruitful in every good work, you need to increase
in the knowledge of God, and you need to be strengthened with
might in the inner man according to the glorious power of God,
so that you'll have patience and long-suffering with joy.
What is patience? Patience is resolute endurance
under difficult circumstances. This probably speaks more to
our disposition before God, right? We need that resolute endurance
and patience before God. Have you ever gone through a
season of trial and difficulty? What is one of the biggest challenges?
It's not to complain against who? God, right? Because we're
Calvinists, we're Reformed. We know that the Lord is sovereign.
We know that whatever comes, comes from the hand of God. We
sing, number 94, whatever my God ordains is right. We sing,
number 21, God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform.
Well, we don't always associate him moving in a mysterious way
when everything is going our way. We have to acknowledge he
moves in a mysterious way when everything seems to be going
against us. So when there are afflictions and trials in the
Christian life, Paul wants his hearers, he wants the Colossians,
and by extension us, to have that patience so that we don't
get upset with God. So that we'll faithfully endure
under God. We will not complain and murmur. But as well, long-suffering. This is probably man-word. Paul
doesn't want you to go buy a gun and shoot your enemies. Paul
wants you to have a faithful endurance and a perseverance
without a retaliatory spirit against those who give you grief. So patience with reference to
God and long-suffering with reference to men. And in order to do that,
you must have God strengthen you with all might according
to His glorious power. You see, in order to walk worthy
of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, you not only need to be fruitful
in good works and increase in knowledge, but you need to be
patient under the chastening hand of God, and you need to
have long-suffering toward those in your life who really bug you,
who really press you, who really distress you. And that long-suffering
and patience is to be surrounded or packaged with joy. You see,
it's a patience and a long-suffering that doesn't look like you're
just, you know, bearing it out. No, you're happy under the hand
of God. You are cheerful under the discipline
of your Father. Now, I know it's hard to laugh
when you're in the midst of trial and affliction. We don't sit
there and say, thank you, Lord, keep bringing it on me. But there's
a joy, there's a contentedness, there is an ability in the believer
because he has been strengthened with all might according to God's
glorious power that in the midst of trial he's able to be patient
a joyfully patient before his God and joyfully long-suffering
toward his neighbor that's trying him and vexing him. You see,
if I'm long-suffering toward you and I let you know it, that's
really not long-suffering, is it? If I tell you what a meathead
you are and how difficult it is, but I'm really going to go
the extra mile and be long, that's not long-suffering, brethren. It must be with joy so that the
person you're being long-suffering to doesn't know the great lengths
of distress you are going through in dealing with this particular
person. You see, if I'm long-suffering
with you and I make sure you know it, that's not being long-suffering. But if I'm joyfully long-suffering,
I'm going to grin, I'm going to be happy, I'm going to make
sure that you know that I love you and that I'm resolved to
deal with your meat-headery. That would be a Cam-ism. Shout-out
to Cam. Do you see this worthy walk? It's multi-faceted, isn't it?
See, we think, well, you know, I'm doing good over here. I'm
engaged in the good works. I visited old people today. Check
that off for the worthy what? But you need to increase in the
knowledge of God. And you also need to be patient
toward God when you're in suffering. And you certainly need to be
long-suffering and patient with others, and you need to do so
with joy when they are vexing you, and trying you, and testing
you, and bringing distress to you. Now, if they're that bad,
rebuke them. Be a biblical Christian. Deal
with them and tell them, brother, sister, what you're doing is
wrong and you're not supposed to do that. But if it's something
that you're not going to rebuke them for, it's something that's,
you know, it's not that, you know, that big of a deal, then
be long-suffering toward them with joy. And then note the fourth
thing that sort of rounds out this view of what a worthy walk
of the Lord is, fully pleasing Him. It is to be giving thanks
to the Father. It's thankful. What does a worthy
walk look like? It looks like thankfulness. We
need to be a thankful people. It's intriguing to me how many
times thankfulness comes out in this short letter to the Colossians.
Notice in 1.3, we give thanks to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. So you see, Paul practices
what he preaches. He doesn't just pray that the
Colossians will give thanks to the Father, but Paul himself
gives thanks to the Father. We have it here in our text,
verse 12. Notice in chapter 2, verse 6,
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith,
as you have been taught, abounding in it with what? with thanksgiving. Have you ever noticed how many
times the Bible sets forth as a characteristic of the people
of God that they are thankful? Do you know that thankfulness
is so consistent with a grace-based salvation? Because thankfulness
recognizes that it is a grace-based salvation. Unthankfulness toward
God seems to indicate that we are okay in and of ourselves,
but a thankfulness towards God recognizes His grace, His mercy,
His kindness, and His gifts given to us. Notice in chapter 3, verse
15. and let the peace of God rule
in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body,
and be thankful. Notice in verse 17, and whatever
you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Notice in chapter
4 at verse 2, continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in
it with Thanksgiving. We see it in Ephesians 5. We
see it elsewhere throughout the Pauline corpus. We see this emphasis
upon thankfulness. What does a faithful Christian
or a worthy walking Christian look like? Yes, he's engaged
in good works. Yes, he's increasing in the knowledge
of God. Yes, he's strengthened with all
might so that he can patiently and with long-suffering and joy
bear up under the trials and difficulties. But he's a thankful
man or woman. It's not just Thanksgiving one
time a year. And then if we ask the question,
and I think we should, what should we thank God for? Well, Paul
answers that. Isn't Paul wonderful? Paul just
keeps going. He keeps telling us. The structure
of his prayer is really, if you like outlining and stuff, Paul
can be outlined in his prayer closet. Notice the reasons why
we ought to give thanks. You ever had that? You know,
you go around the Thanksgiving table. We do this at our home
if we're going to have a meal together. You know, tell us something
that you're thankful for. And typically it goes around
and everybody says something they're thankful for. That's
a good thing. Have you ever seen somebody,
and I don't really know what to say. What do I say? What don't you have to thank
God for? I mean, you just start in the
morning, keep going all night. You've got plenty to thank God
for. Well, Paul highlights here specifics, giving thanks to the
Father, notice, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints and the light. Thank God that he has destined
you for glory. Thank God that heaven is your
future. Thank God that you are in route
to Emmanuel's land. Thank God that he has qualified
you. It wasn't your work, It wasn't
your merit, it wasn't your law keeping, it was the Father who
qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
and the light. That means that one day, either
when I die or when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, we will enter
into that place where there is no more sorrow, there is no more
pain, there is no more death, there's no more suffering, there's
no more hunger, there's no more thirst. I often think that the
people in the third world get more benefit out of those passages
that promise no more hunger, no more thirst. I mean, brethren,
we really can't relate to that. But if we were in the Sudan and
we were a believer and we heard that, we would probably just
be thrilled at the concept that we will go to a place one day
where there'll be no more hunger, no more thirst. We won't have
to look at our little babies who are starving. Or when you
get these reports from Haiti and people are eating dirt to
try and get sustenance. We are heading to that place
because the Father has qualified us. Notice, secondly, God delivered
us from the power of darkness. He's made us to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Why? Verse 13,
He has delivered us from the power of darkness. We're no longer
steeped in darkness. We're no longer in that bondage. We're no longer in that place
of utter depravity and utter helplessness. We are now qualified
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. The
light of the world has come, and because he has come, we are
going to be blessed as partakers in that light. The Father has
delivered us from the power of darkness, the spiritual darkness,
its control over us. Notice in Acts 26, Paul uses
this image, and it's beautiful. Acts 26, beginning in verse,
we'll get right to it, in verse 16. But rise and stand on your
feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make
you a minister and a witness, both of the things which you
have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will
deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles,
to whom I now send you, to open their eyes in order to turn them
from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that
they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among
those who are sanctified by faith in Me. So you see those same
sorts of concepts that Paul sets forth in there. He prays, he
wants, he desires that the Colossians walk in this worthy manner, fully
pleasing God, being fruitful in good works, increasing in
the knowledge of God, being strengthened so that they may suffer with
joy, and that they may be a thankful people to the Father who has
qualified them for this great inheritance. And who has delivered
them from the power of darkness? I mean, that's a great thing
to thank God for, isn't it? Do you ever struggle? Thank you,
Lord, for my food. Thank you, Lord, for my wife.
Thank you, Lord, for this house. And thank you that I'm not in
hell. We can get a little more creative and start to think about
the spiritual benefits that we have received. Thank you, Lord,
that I see now. Thank you, Lord, that because
of the light of the world, the light that has come into this
world, thank you that I have now had my eyes open and I understand
what the truth says. Thank you that you have set me
free from that bondage of darkness. Notice, we ought to be thankful
that God transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Verse 13b, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and
He has conveyed us or He has translated us into the kingdom
of the Son of His love. We are now kingdom citizens.
John Eady says plainly, that kingdom which has Christ for
its head and founder, which is partially developed on earth
and shall be finally perfected in heaven. He goes on to say,
the word used here by Paul was often used to signify the deportation
of a body of men or the removal of them to form a colony. That's
what this conveyment meant or this transfer or translation
meant. It was to deport them to another
place and that's what's in view. Murray Harris says, the imagery
of verses 12 and 13 suggests that believers have been rescued
from the gloomy domain and tyrannical rule of Satan by being transplanted
as free colonists into the kingdom and peaceable sovereignty of
Christ to become citizens in the realm of light. I mean, just
ponder these things, and they ought to cause us to thank the
Lord that He has delivered us from this gloomy tyranny under
Satan. I mean, just think back to when
you were unconverted. What was it that got your attention? What was it that got your money?
What was it that got your time? And now thank the Lord God Almighty
that you are no longer stuck to and engaged in that, and you've
been translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love. And we
don't serve Him as we ought, we don't serve Him as we should,
but we certainly serve Him like we did in that. And we can praise
God for that. And then he goes on, notice.
Be thankful that He has indeed redeemed us from bondage. In
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins. Now Paul does something interesting here. Prayer is giving
way to instruction in theology. Grammatically, these verses are
still attached to Paul's prayer, but Paul now goes into instruction. So you see, thank God for this,
for this, for this, and then he mentions the kingdom of the
son of his love. He highlights something specific
concerning the son of his love in verse 14, in whom, that's
the son of his love, We have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sin. Certainly thank God for that,
but now He'll theologize. Now He'll engage in some Christology. Now He develops in verses 15
to 20 how it is that Christ gives us that redemption through His
blood. So we move from prayer to theology,
and thus ends Paul's prayer. So in summary, the Apostle prays
that we would be filled with all wisdom or in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding so that we would walk worthy. Walking
worthy of the Lord, brethren, that is our goal. That is what's
in view. That's how you ought to pray
for your spouse. That's how you ought to pray for your children.
That's how you ought to pray for parents. That's how you ought
to pray for one another. Now, that doesn't mean every
morning, every time you say the same thing. I think Christians,
we do this. We hear a message on prayer,
you know, the Lord's Prayer, for instance, and then we, you
know, for a week, we'll pray through that Lord's Prayer, and
then we fizzle out, and we kind of, you can be, you know, movement,
you can have movement through Scripture, pray through the Lord's
Prayer, pray through the commandments. pray through the Psalms, pray
through the prayers of Paul, but keep these concepts in your
head. Yes, we ought to pray for the
downtrodden and poor. Yes, we ought to pray for the
hurting amongst us. I'm not saying never do that,
but I am suggesting that there's a spiritual dimension that we
need to pray for as well. I heard a good sermon today that
just really impacted me. It was Dale Ralph Davis, and
he mentioned... The text was in 1 Kings 11, when
it deals with Solomon's downfall. And it was when Solomon was old.
And Dr. Davis really pressed this. We spend a lot of time on dealing
with youth. We spend a lot of time on young
people in Sunday school, and then the youth... We don't spend
a lot of time on old people. And he says Solomon was old when
he fell. Solomon was old when he had his
heart turned away from him. What do the old people in our
church need prayer for? Yes, for new hips, and yes for
new knees, and yes for, you know, all that stuff. But that they
would be what Paul says here. That they would be fruitful in
every good work. That they would be increasing
in the knowledge of God. that they would be strengthened,
that they would have joyful patience and long suffering, and that
they would be a thankful people. You know, that is important for
the old people in our church, for the middle-aged people, for
the young people. This is a sort of prayer that
we ought to be offering up on behalf of the people of God as
the Apostle does here. And then we ought to just ask
ourselves in terms of a real practical approach to a passage
like this. Does my life look like that?
I mean, not me praying. Do I pray like this? But am I
the sort of person that Paul prays that I would be? You see
the difference there? Yes, there's instruction on Paul
at the throne of grace. We ought to be like Paul and
pray these sorts of things. But we also ought to ask the
question, are we the kind of people that Paul prays we would
be? Are we walking worthy of the
Lord? Are we fully pleasing Him? Are
we doing good works? I mean, in the reformed world,
we need to constantly be encouraged. It's justification by faith alone,
but you need to live consistently with that profession of faith.
You see this. You have, on the one hand, people
that are social justice warriors, good works. They do all these
good works. They don't always have a robust
doctrine of justification by faith, which is a bit scary.
But then you get into the Reformed Church, we have a robust doctrine
of justification by faith, but not so many good works. See,
we need the emphasis of James and we need the emphasis of Paul.
We need to have justification by faith alone. But we need to
recognize it's not a faith that remains or that is alone, but
it's accompanied by all these other traces. And of course,
are we increasing in the knowledge of God? Would Paul say, hey,
I prayed for you and I'm asking you, are you increasing in the
knowledge of God? Could you imagine that if you
were one of the saints in Colossae and Paul came to visit and you're
in the back of the church? Good sermon, Paul. And he says,
are you increasing in the knowledge of God? He'd probably want to
say, yeah, are you growing in your understanding of who God
is? Brethren, there is no better venture, there's no better pursuit
as a Christian than the knowledge of God. This is it. This is what we were created
for. This is what Jesus defines as eternal life. This is eternal
life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent. That's the essence of eternal
life, John 17, 3. Certainly that ought to be our
pursuit. And are we the sorts of people
that are being strengthened with all might according to His glorious
power so that we're patient toward God under His afflicting hand,
and that we're long-suffering toward others, and that we are
such with joy? And are we thankful? So we say,
Paul, you're a great preacher. Are you a thankful person? Well,
yeah, I think so. I thank God for my turkey once
a year. Now, are you thanking God who
has qualified us to be partakers of this inheritance with the
saints and the light? Are you thankful to this God
who has brought you out of darkness, who has transferred you into
the kingdom of the Son of His love? Are you thankful to this
God who sent His Son that through Him we have redemption even through
His blood? So it's one thing, and yes, we
ought to pray like Paul, but we ought to be the sort of people
that Paul prays we would be. Well, let us close in prayer.
Father, certainly there are many things that we have considered
tonight. Help us to take these things to heart. Help us to pray
through these things in our own lives. And God, help us to be
mindful of the spiritual dimension, that we are not just bodies,
that we are souls, that we are spiritual men and women and people
in our church, whether young whether old, whether in between,
all have spiritual needs, and I pray that you would cause us,
as we pray, as we intercede for one another, to take these things
to the throne of grace on their behalf. Go with us now, we pray,
and bring us together on the Lord's Day, bring us together
even on Saturday to rejoice in the wedding of Steele and Rebecca,
and we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
