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welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God for our call to worship tonight you can turn to Psalm 10 107 Psalm 107 our brother read this morning from verses 1 to9 I thought it would be fitting to read the next section verses 10-6 psalm 107 beginning in verse 10 those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death Bound in Affliction and irons because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the most high therefore he brought down their heart with labor they fell down and there was none to help then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses he brought them out of darkness in the shadow of death and broke their chains in pieces oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful Works to the children of men for he has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron into amen well please turn with me to Psalm 99 Psalm 99a as in Alpha we'll stand as we sing together [Music] and all the he s CH all I not his all the praise His and awesome the [Music] holy [Music] Mighty you love ising [Music] rightous the and worship [Music] Him is the holy fores his and [Music] was [Music] his [Music] the and his word Lord Our God you oh God you were for all the before his [Music] mountain and worship for he is for the [Music] holy let us pray our gracious God and Father we thank you for the privilege to gather again on your lord today we acknowledge the Lord most high that you are a glorious and gracious god father son andly Spirit we acknowledge your your blessedness your majesty we acknowledge your handworth and created order we praise you for your government over all your creatures and all their actions and we bless you for so great a Salvation in and through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ as well God we bless you for the privilege that is ours tonight as the body of Christ to proclaim the Lord's death until he comes we know that this is a means of Grace it isn't uh intended to enage and strengthen us and build us up in our in our faith and God we pray that you would indeed be merciful to us we ask that you would bless this local church that you would help us to Endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and help us God to be faithful unto you and faithful toward one another we ask that you would forgive us for all of our sin and transgression cleanse Us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as we consider that that that Chief blessing of our salvation we truly do Rejoice Lord God it is such a blessing to have a a conscience uh void of offense toward God and men and knowing that you have have undertaken on behalf of all of your guilty ones to wash Us in that precious blood and even now Lord God cleanse us from our remaining corruption and as well may you conform us ever under the image of your beloved Son and help us to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight help us to let our conduct be worthy of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus and to that end may you supply the Holy Spirit to each and every one of us in a full measure and as well God we pray for any and all here that have not come to the Lord Jesus in faith we ask God that you would work through your spirit by the power of the word and bring them forth and cause them as we read in the psalm to come out of that Darkness Into The Marvelous Light that you grant to the sons of God we pray for your blessing upon the church and Suri we thank you for them we thank you for your Grace upon them we pray that tonight as they again receive the word from Pastor agalo that it would be an encouraging time for them as well we pray for the Saints and Armstrong and thank you for that work and pray for pastor Ryan that you would continue to use him for your glory and the shepherding of the flock there please be with Dan and Josh and the Brethren there in in dren we thank you for their desire and for their uh a heartfelt uh intention to plan to see and see a good church take root in that community and father we pray that you would Aid them and guide them and direct them as well we pray for John and Melena we know that she has this problem with her back we pray that you would heal her that you would give Grace to them as they serve in their church and bless those churches in siga toek and may you use them to extend that Gospel of Jesus Christ in that part of the world and God tonight our hearts go out to the situation in the Middle East we pray for Israel we pray for the nation that is and and such uh an upheaval tonight and God we don't know all the ins and outs we don't know all the particulars and the details but we do see the Carnage and we see the lawlessness and we pray God in your wrath remember mercy and may you restore to that place some degree of peace and order as well we pray for the Ukraine we pray for Myanmar we pray for these War torned Nations that you would be merciful and that father their the the the government leaders would broker peace and seek diplomatic solutions for these these kinds of things and in our own country we thank you for the Blessed privilege that we have to gather freely tonight we thank you that there aren't bombs dropping we thank you that there are manifold blessings that we receive from you we do pray for our governing authorities that they would govern in such a way that the church could uh lead a Peaceable and a quiet life in all godliness and we pray that in this land because there is that context of common Grace you would bless the preaching of the Gospel for the Salvation of a multitude in this land and may Christ have dominion from sea to Sea in this nation and yay God throughout the Earth and we pray for your blessing upon that word as it goes forth to advance the cause of Jesus Christ on this on this Earth Lord continue with us now again forgive us for our sins fill us with your spirit and receive our worship as we come to the father through the mediation of our great high priest the Lord Jesus Christ and we do so in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit and we pray in jesus' name amen you can turn with me again in your hym books to number 43 43 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] city of our God for his on theck sh Sal [Music] all the of living sing from [Music] etal son and and [Music] all the to [Music] of see the and fire of for Glory and the Lord ising sh [Music] sing the wory by your I will glory in th is the world all we can turn in your Bibles to the book of Colossians Colossians chapter one as we continue the theme we began this morning with reference to thankfulness to God the Apostle in his prayer expresses the need to express thankfulness to God so we'll read chapter one and then our Focus will be specifically on verses 10 to 14 so beginning in chapter 1 verse one 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 colasse 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 world 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 learned from apaas 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 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 longsuffering 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 for it pleased the father that in him all the fullness should dwell and by him to reconcile all things to himself by him whether things on earth or things in heaven having made peace through the blood of his cross and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by Wicked Works yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach and in his sight if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you heard which was preached to every creature under Heaven of which I Paul became a minister I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body which is the Church of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from Generations but now has been revealed to his Saints to them God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory him we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus to this end I also labor striving according to his working which works in me mightily amen well let us pray Our Father we thank you again for the WR written word of the living and the true God we know it's profitable for Doctrine reproof correction and instruction and righteousness and God as we consider your word tonight may your holy spirit guide us and lead us and direct us into all truth may we see the glory of Jesus Christ in the gospel of our Salvation the blessedness of God the Father the power of the Holy Spirit May our hearts be thrilled at what the Triune God has done for us and may we respond with gratitude with than thankfulness knowing that your goodness is is so profuse we ask again for the Forgiveness of all of our sin and we pray now through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well when you read the Epistles of the Apostle Paul you'll notice at times that he shares what he prays for with reference to the churches that he writes to and that can be very instructive for us as the people of God sometimes people say I'm not really sure how I ought to pray well take up scripture and follow the apostles example take up scripture and see how Paul prays and what things Paul prays for and I think we have a specimen sample here in the passage before us specifically in verses 9 to4 we notice in the first place just by way of an overview the occasion of his prayer in verse 9A notice for this reason we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you in other words since he had heard of their reception of the Gospel since he had known of their walking in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ they made it onto his prayer list in other words he saw that work of God in the church here in colasse and as a result he goes to God on their behalf and again notice the emphasis we do not cease to pray for you so he commences when he hears of the Colossians and then he engages in this frequently he doesn't cease notice then the content of his prayer and we see that in vers 9B to 14 so after saying we do not cease to pray for you he goes on to say and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding in other words we want you to have that reception of the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit we want you to have that knowledge of his will we want you to have all wisdom and we want you to have all spiritual understanding so that you're fit and equipped and ready and able to live the Christian Life in a manner that is consistent with the God who called you out of Darkness into Marvelous Light we have seen this emphasis in our study through Ephesians the Apostle Paul tells us to let our conduct be worthy of the Gospel walk in such a way as is fitting to him who called you to himself by grace through faith and then notice specifically what he says in verse 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord now remember brethren we are not saved because of our worthy walk we engage in a worthy walk because we have been saved this isn't the cause of our Salvation it is rather the consequence or the effect of our Salvation we are Justified freely by God's grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ so that we may now walk in a manner that is consistent with his calling so that you may walk worthy of the Lord then he goes on to say in verse 10 fully pleasing him now the substance of the ser is on what follows here in verses 10B to 14 I think that what Paul does in verses 10B to 14 is explain for us or flesh out for us what this walk looks like what does it look like that you may walk worthy of the Lord what does it look like that you may fully please him well again he doesn't leave us to wonder he doesn't leave us to sort of figure it out he doesn't leave us to try and understand what the mind and the will of God is aart apart from special Revelation no the Apostle fleshes It Out by means of four participles four sort of action uh uh nouns that function as verbs and he does that in four ways notice he speaks concerning the place of Good Works in verse 10B second the knowledge of God in verse 10 C the provision of God's strength or strength in verse 11 and then finally the importance of thankfulness in verses 12 to 14 so let's look first at the place of good works so that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him then notice being fruitful in every good work being fruitful in every good work again we're justified by faith alone we're not justified by a mixture of our faith plus Works we're not Roman Catholics we're not New Perspective on Paul we're not Federal Vision we don't collapse the distinction of justification and sanctification we are Justified freely by God's grace through faith in Christ Jesus now once that obtains by God's grace we then enter into the life of sanctification and in this life of sanctification we engage in good works or at least we seek to engage in Good Works second London Confession chap 11 paragraph 2 says faith thus receiving and resting on Christ in his righteousness 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 love so that emphasis that we find in the Bible we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them so we're not saved by works but we are saved unto Works look at one other passage notice in Ephesians 1 Ephesians chapter 1 specifically at verse 4 it says just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and Without Blame blame he didn't chose or choose us because we were holy and without blame but he chose us in order that we may become holy and Without Blame so the Apostle highlights or underscores justification by faith alone but on the heels of that or in connection with that there is good works and so this is a contrast with their former conduct this is a contrast with their former ways drop down to verse 21 notice and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by Wicked works so he's dealing with a people that understood All Too Well bad Works they understood All Too Well wickedness and and evil and godlessness so now that they're Justified freely by God's grace now that he has called upon or called upon God in terms of prayer that they may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him it goes on to say being fruitful in every good work and again notice in chapter 3 at verse 7 what they had been and what they by God's grace are now well look at 35 therefore put to death your members which are on the earth fornication uncleanness passion evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them so they had this former conduct and Paul now calls upon them to engage in a present conduct one that is consistent with their calling in the Lord Jesus Christ now notice secondly he wants them to increase in the knowledge of God he wants them to grow in their understanding of the Christian system of Truth he wants them to understand justification by faith alone but in the life of sanctification he wants them to achieve more knowledge he wants them to have more understanding the Apostle knows that it's the knowledge of God that studies the saint it's the knowledge of God that encourages the saint it's the knowledge of God that Comforts The Saint if you are in the dold drums or you are down and depressed and melancholic or you've got many challeng is what is it that lifts you out of the pit is it a view of yourself is it a view of how good you are no it's a view of how good Christ is and what a gracious God is and when you start to ca uh uh conduct yourself the way David does in Psalm 103 bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name when you talk to yourself about the goodness of God and you increase in the knowledge of God that's what Paul says me is involved in that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him other words God wants you in the language of second Peter 3:18 to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ he wants you to experience what Jesus says in John 17:3 and this is eternal life that they may Know Thee the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou has sent when you look at the Old Testament prophets often times they were upgraded because they were stagnant because they didn't increase because they didn't all uh know God or they had some sort of an external confession of God there was no experiential enjoyment of him by experiential enjoyment I'm not suggesting a part from the word I'm not suggesting a part from Revelation I'm not suggesting we tune out and tune in with God no it's through scripture study it's through meditation and contemplation upon the word it's through increasing in the knowledge of God that we walk pleasing to the Lord in other words it's love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength our minds are to be engaged in the pursuit of Theology and Paul commends that in this particular area now notice thirdly he wants us to be strengthened so again this is prayer that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God and then notice in verse 11 strengthened with all might according to his glorious power for all patience and longsuffering with joy before we proceed does Paul's prayers look like our prayers or better yet do our prayers look like Paul's prayers is this the kind of stuff that you and I are praying for relative to our children relative to our spouses yeah bless them with good health that's a an a perfectly good petition but it's a perfectly good petition that they would indeed increase in the knowledge of God that they would increase in the production of good works that they would have the strength of God Almighty to enable them to deal with the various afflictions and hardships and trials that that Prevail Upon Us in this world other words are we praying for one another in such a way that we sound like the Apostle Paul have we ever prayed for for another church in this particular manner it's a good thing for us to follow these examples and to pray relative to the the apostles methodology here but notice this provision of strength he says strengthened with all might according to his glorious power for all patience and longsuffering with joy so this is the Divine provision he's not praying you know I just want you guys to get stronger no I want God to strengthen you I want God who has this power this exceeding great power to meet it out to you I want him to fill you I want him to enable you I want him to to to help you in terms of compliance notice the specific focus with reference to this power according to his glorious power for all patience and longsuffering huh we need power in order to be patient in longsuffering try to be patient longsuffering without Divine Aid how does that work brethren we need God's Aid we need his assistance we need his provision in order to live in a manner that is consistent with this wor worthy walk pleasing him if we don't have divine power if we don't have that strength if we don't have that ability we're not going to be patient with one another we're not going to have longsuffering and it's certainly not going to be attended by Joy we're going to be short fused we're going to be irritated and irritable and notice the the specific strength and view is to Aid in the Twin Graces of patience and longsuffering what's the difference here I think one has well explained it patience is Resolute endurance under difficult circumstances Resolute endurance under difficult circumstances in other words don't necessarily pray for the removal of the burden pray that God would strengthen your shoulders so that you can carry the burden I think that's the patience that is in view Resolute endurance under difficult circumstances I think this is God word there are things that happen in the believer's life there are trials that come to the people of God there are afflictions associated with life in a in a present evil age so what do we need in terms of that we need the patience that doesn't that doesn't call God into question the patience that doesn't murmur against him the patience that doesn't Grumble against him the patience that is content with his Divine government and that strength that he affords to us as we Traverse this lower world but then the longsuffering is patient endurance that does not retaliate against others so in other words this is the manw effect God word we have patience we don't uh murmur or Grumble under his government but in terms of this longsuffering we're gracious in the context of the church we don't have that Spirit of uh of Vengeance we don't have that Spirit of intolerance we don't have that Spirit of of trying to get back at everybody so the Apostle know that these things are not native to the hearts of of people they're not even native to the hearts of God's people postre regeneration so he prays specifically that they would have this strength from onai that they would be able to engage in life with all patience and longsuffering and to do so with joy to do so with joy some attach the with joy to the Thanksgiving mentioned in verse 12 I think that the The Joy with joy go go with the strength and should characterize the patience and longsuffering that strength is to Aid with in other words this patience and longsuffering isn't just a grin and Barett it's not just a stoic approach to things but there's a joy involved run with endurance the race that is set before you in a joyful manner you're not supposed to just do it but you're supposed to do it as the Blood Bought children of God with joy and with happiness and with a contentedness and again Brethren these aren't Lessons Learned in one sermon or in one brief read over Colossians chapter 1 we need by God's grace to cultivate these things to be able to deal with the various hardships that we face and to do so in a manner that is consistent with his calling upon us remember Paul is praying for the Colossians that they would achieve a degree of what he is specifying here verse 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord for fully pleasing him and what does that look like being fruitful in every good work what does that look like increasing in the knowledge of God what does that look like strengthen with all might according to his glorious power for all patience and longsuffering with joy and what does that look like fourthly giving thanks to the father giving thanks to the father so you see Joy will be expressed in a thankful attitude Joy will be expressed in this attitude of gratitude that that expresses its its Delight in the god of Heaven and Earth and when Paul gives us this particular emphasis again this is not something that is unique to Colossians 1:12 look back at Colossians 1:3 we give thanks to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you Paul thanked God for the colossian church here verse 12 but then notice in Chapter 2 at verse 7 well 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 Thanksgiving notice in chapter 3 specifically at 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 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with Grace in your hearts to the Lord 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 chapter 4 verse 2 continue earnestly in prayer being vigilant in it with Thanksgiving go back to Ephesians chapter 5 you'll see that emphasis in verse 20 we'll just back up for a moment notice in verse 17 this is is the passage we're coming to in our studies in Ephesians therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is and do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation but be filled with the with the spirit the parallel in Colossians says let the word of Christ dwell richly in you what does it mean to have the word of Christ dwelling richly in you well it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit it means to let the word of Christ dwell in you cu in both instances when they're filled with the Holy Spirit according to Ephesians 5 and when they let the word of Christ dwell in their hearts according to Colossians 3 what then takes place teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs in other words The Filling of the spirit is the understanding of Christ's word the understanding of Christ's word is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and the response is speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs making Melody uh singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord giving thanks always for all things to God the father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ submitting to one another in the fear of God so Paul does a similar thing in verse or chapter 5 of Ephesians what does it look like to be filled with the spirit it looks like this you'll speak to one another this way you'll sing and make melody in your hearts this way you'll give thanks to God this way and you'll submit to one another in the fear of the Lord in other words you can quantify the various things that the Apostle is saying we ought to appreciate that in terms of the Bible God doesn't say I want you to just figure out sanctification I just want you to you know do it the best you know do do the best you can no he specifies for us what these worthy walks look like he specifies for us what engagement in terms of growth in Grace looks like now back to Philippians if we were to ask the question what are we thankful for I I hope we don't have to ask that question but let's just assume for the sake of argument that we did or we had to Paul doesn't leave us W uh wondering Paul specifies specifically what he wants us to be thankful for in verses 12b to 14 in the first place he wants us to be thankful that God the father has qualified US to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in the light why do you think he says in the light because we've been called out of Darkness the psalm that we read tonight it says those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death Bound in Affliction and irons because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the most high therefore he brought down their heart with labor they fell down there was none to help then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses he brought them out of darkness in the shadow of death and broke their chains in pieces oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful Works to the children of men for he has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron and two Paul picks up on an old M Motif as he communicates these truths to the people of God he wants us to be thankful to the father who has qualified US to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light you know what that means just briefly means we're going to heaven he has qualified US by his grace so that when this Veil of Tears gives way we enter into emanuel's land he has qualified US for this inheritance we didn't qualify ourselves we didn't put us in that place of inheritor it is God's grace that did this it is God's grace in adoption bringing us into the family of God and as adoptees as those blast as those joint or coars with the Lord Jesus Christ we receive what he has received he received exaltation at the right hand of of God we're not going to get that in terms of the right hand of God and that position of majesty and Prestige but we go to be in heaven where are blessed god father Son and Holy Spirit are that's what Paul says we ought to be thankful for I wonder and I'm not inditing you I know for me I don't always think about heaven I think I should think about heaven more if I'm at least a little bit representative of the people of God do we think about heav a lot do we think about this qualification for this inheritance that one day we're going to enter into emanuel's land that one day there will be no more sorrow No More Pain No More Death no more hunger no more thirst no more bad things that affect us in this lower World brethren we have a glorious future in our in our future we have a glorious being or belonging with God the Lord we are to be thankful for the qualification by God's grace for this inheritance but then notice secondly he says we are to be thankful for the Deliverance by God's grace from the kingdom of darkness and this language again is suggestive of bondage go back to the Book of Exodus specifically Exodus chapter 6 where I think we see some background to Paul's language here notice in Exodus chapter 6 specifically at verse 6 therefore say to the children of Israel I am the Lord I will bring you out from under your B under the burdens of the Egyptians I will rescue you from their bondage and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments I will take you as my people and I will be your God then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and I will give it to you as a Heritage I am the Lord he qualified the children of Israel to be inheritance for this inheritance in the promised land how does he make good on that he brings them out of bondage he brings them out of Darkness he brings them out of that which enslaved them and the Apostle picks up the same theme Here we give thanks to the father who has qualified US to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints and the light not Earthly Canaan not Earthly Promised Land but but the New Jerusalem that's our inheritance so how does God make good on this well he does it according to verse 13 He has delivered us from the power of Darkness what we once were entrenched in what's once what we once were in bondage in he broke the back of the captor he broke the back of back uh back of our bondage he brought us out of that Darkness turn to the book of Acts acts chap 26 Acts 26 Paul has this language owing to our blessed savior notice specifically Acts 26 at verse 11 I'm sorry verse 17 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 these two things go hand in hand we're we're we're brought out of Darkness we're now qualified for this inheritance by God's grace by God's kindness by God's mercy and then thirdly because that's not the only part of the story we're qualified for the inheritance we are because God delivered us from the power of Darkness but the rest of the story goes on in verse 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us or transferred us into the kingdom of the son of his love this is how we're qualified for the inheritance he's brought us out of Darkness he has put us in the Kingdom of the son of his love he has delivered us in such a way that one what we once loved we no longer love what we once hated we now love there is this breach with sin there is this breach in terms of the power of sin there is this breach with reference to what has been our desire God in saving us from our sins transfers us from one state to another and in this transfer into the state of the kingdom of the son of his love we have blessedness and we have cause for thankfulness remember this is the context you're to be thankful for the inheritance you're to be thankful for the Deliverance you're to be thankful for this conveyance into the kingdom of the son of God's love John Ed makes the observation plainly that Kingdom which has Christ for its head and founder which is partially developed on Earth and shall be finally perfected in heaven it's already done we're out of Darkness into the into the kingdom of the son of his love but it isn't fully yet what it's going to be theologians talk about the the already and the not yet we've already received great blessing but we've not yet entered into the fullness of that inheritance we already have tasted the powers of the age to come but we haven't fully entered into that glorious state so there's that tension in the Christian Life we know where we're going we know where we've been and in all of this we are to be thankful and express that gratitude to our blessed God that he does this through through his power through his grace through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ Ed goes on to say the word used here by Paul was often used to signify deportation of a body of men or the removal of them to form a colony you've been conveyed into the kingdom of the son of his love our citizenship Paul will say in Philippians chapter 3 is is in heaven right we we are passing through this lower world we are sojourners now on the one hand we're citizens of Canada and we should be responsible citizens and all that sort of thing but in terms of our our our our our actual blessed citizenship it's in heaven another man 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 we need to be thankful for this we need to be thankful that he is transferred us he has taken us from the kingdom of darkness and put us into the kingdom of the son of his love and again notice the emphasis we didn't do this we didn't one day stumble onto the fact wellow we've been in this kingdom of darkness I you know I'm going to choose for this Kingdom of Light I'm going to choose for this Kingdom of the son of his love we don't do that it's God it is God's grace it is God's will it is God's purpose in our lives and in our hearts to convey us into this present possession and then notice finally this is all predicated upon the work of the Lord Jesus Christ notice after having said 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 this comes as a result of the Son of God this comes as a result of the word of God who became flesh and dwelt Among Us the word of God who lived a life of perfect obedience the word of God who died a sacrificial death as our substitute on Calvary the the word of God who was raised again the third day it is the reality that what Christ has accomplished secures for us this inheritance secures for us this having been delivered from the power of Darkness secures for us this conveyance into the kingdom the son of God's love it is all predicated upon the Glorious work of the Savior and in that the Apostle says give thanks when you Ponder this when you contemplate this when you consider this the right response is gratitude the right response is bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name bless the Lord all my soul and forget not all his benefits go to Psalm 103 and rehearse the benefits of God go to Colossians 1: 12-4 and rehearse the benefits of God and then this last statement in verse 14 is somewhat of a transition statement he moves from prayer to theology or christology he moves from prayer to a an explanation of the glory of the god man who lived and died and raised again notice verse 15 he is the image of the invisible God the firstborn overall creation firstborn there does not mean creature firstborn there means preeminent firstborn there means the the the Regal the the the the Royal the the Glorious one but notice for by him by this Christ 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 so for Paul prayer lends itself to this theology this Theology of who Jesus is and what he's accomplished on behalf of his people and the high point or rather the sort of main point is there in verse 14 in whom we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins Brethren there is matter here for constant praise and adoration and thankfulness and gratitude may God most high move our hearts in such a way that it's not one Monday in the uh uh calendar year that we take time to thank God hopefully our prayer closets hear us if we could talk to the walls what do you hear well I hear this brother I don't know that they'd call us brother but they I I hear him thanking God I hear thanking God that's a good pattern for the believer Psalm 103 and David's emphasis on blessing the Lord Colossians 1 and Paul's emphasis on giving thanks this is what it looks like to walk in a pleasing manner to the Lord most high we're not supposed to be grumbling and murmuring and whining and complaining all the time that's not supposed to characterize the children of God we were in darkness we now belong in the Kingdom of the son of his love whatever may come our way whatever hardship we may face whatever Affliction this world may throw at us we have an inheritance with the Saints in the light we have heaven in our future may that encourage us to walk in a manner that is consistent with our High Calling in the Lord God most high well Brethren hopefully this will stir us up to a gratitude and a thankfulness to the Lord and may He indeed bless us and help us to be a faithful people that look something like what Paul prayed for in terms of the churches in his day well let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father we thank you for your word we thank you for the clarity here in Colossians 1 and what we find the apostle praying for the Saints in colasse God I pray that you would help us as the church or as a church here in chilak to manifest such characteristics help us Lord God to be fruitful in Good Works help us to be increasing in the knowledge of our blessed God help us to be strengthened with might for patience and longsuffering with joy and God may it be the case that we are characterized by a thankful heart a thankful disposition a disposition filled with gratitude as you have been gracious to us us we pray that you would be glorified in our lives as individuals as families and as the Church of Jesus Christ and may it be the case all over this world may it be that the people of God manifest that thankfulness to God and we Rejoice that you have qualified US for this inheritance we Rejoice that in the future we will be where Jesus Christ is these eyes will lay hold of that that blessed one who live who loved us and who gave himself for us and we pray in his most wonderful name amen well you can turn with me to Matthew chapter 26 Matthew chapter 26 as we transition into the Lord's Supper I just want to remind us of a few things first the ordinance is for believers the ordinance is not a a converting ordinance we don't give it to unbelievers such that they'll become Believers but rather it is for the people of God we believe the gospel we're baptized as that sort of initiatory ordinance or Sacrament and added to the church and then we participate in the supper as God blesses he he says as as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes there is blessing attendant upon this so it is for believers secondly the ordinance is for believers who uh ordinance is for believers who are dealing with their sin we learned that from a parallel passage in 1 Corinthians 11 when the Apostle comes to deal with the church at Corinth he says and and and rebukes them whatever it is you're doing it's not eating the supper because they they were excluding one another when it came to a common meal they were uh reveling in things the the good creature of God and yet to the neglect of the the poorer brethren in their midst so we learn or glean from that that the ordinances for believers who are dealing with their sin not the absolute elimination of sin or else we'd never take the supper it's for those who are seeking to maintain a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men as well the ordinance is a means of Grace but the the elements are not changed we don't move from Bread and Wine to the actual body and blood of Jesus Jesus is speaking metaphorically when he says this is my body this is my blood we learned the last time we were in The Book of Leviticus specifically in chapter 17 the sanctity of blood the the the Israelites knew you were not to ingest blood so when Jesus says to his disciples this is my body this is my blood take eat and drink they did not think for a moment they were actually ingesting his bodily fluid it is a metaphor much like when he says I am the True Vine he says I am the door he uses metaphor to convey spiritual truth and this is my body does not mean literally again we move the bread and the wine into sacred use from profane but it does not become something other and then finally the ordinance should point us to Christ yes if you need to confess your sin confess your sin there is for forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared don't forget that when we come to occasions like this but don't be occupied with yourself because we do this in remembrance of Christ well I'm going to ask the brothers to pass out the bread while the brothers pass out the bread we will sit and sing 338 and after the song concludes we'll read the appropriate section in Matthew's gospel I'll pray and then we'll take the sprad together so number [Music] 338 [Music] glor all my [Music] glr [Music] all [Music] to his [Music] his [Music] for [Music] in Matthew 26 at verse 26 we read and as they were in Jesus Took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body well let us pray our gracious God and Father we thank you that you are so merciful to us and so gracious as we consider the gospel uh the gospel records Matthew Mark Luke and John we would just stand in awe at what Christ undertook on our behalf we thank you for the the willingness of the Son of God the resolution to set set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem to be tried at the hands of Godless men to be delivered up to a Godless magistrate and ultimately crucified we bless you that it was for us men and for our salvation and we pray now that you would strengthen and sanctify and build us up in our faith and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll take together we may turn to 400 58 again please remain seated if you are inclined to take juice it's in the outer ring the wine is in the inner ring juice in the outer and wine in the inner ring will sit and sing [Music] 458 [Music] for PR he we you for the GL [Music] glor you we of rightous [Music] God your was for all your all [Music] you [Music] in you continue reading in verse 27 then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from all of you for this is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung a him they went out to the Mount of Olives let us pray Our God we know that the old Covenant was ratified with blood the blood of bows and goats that could never take away the sin of the world but we thank you that it prefigured it was typical it pointed forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world we thank you for his shed blood on behalf of guilty Sinners as we saw in the text tonight we see that in him we have Redemption through his blood even the Forgiveness of sins and we rejoice in that blessing Lord God and we pray pray that you'd help us to to live in a manner that is consistent with your gospel but God when we fall may we indeed confess that forsake that and find Mercy from you and may a whole host of Sinners all throughout this world from every tribe and tongue and people and Nation come to understand the significance of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his Most Blessed name amen we'll take together well you can turn in your himym books to 352 hymn 352 will'll stand as we sing [Music] together for the Son of God who came ruing sers to hallelu what aing shame anding R in my place my with what hallelujah what [Music] a hel L of God can be hallelu what [Music] aor was he to die his was his exed hallelu what our glorious all his rans to this song will sing hallelu what [Music] a now may the God of Peace who brought up our lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen thank you our father for this day thank you for your Amazing Grace we pray that you would go with us now that you would be at work in our hearts both to Will and to do according to your good pleasure we bless you we praise you and we thank you for so great a Salvation and we thank you for the Saints of Christ and the privilege to gather together on the the Lord's day to worship you in spirit and in truth go with us now we pray in jesus' name amen well please please be seated for a brief time of meditation