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Colossians 1:9-14 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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  Please take your copy of God's Word, turn to Paul's letter to the Colossians, chapter 1.
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  I've looked around the room a bit this morning and just been with the children down front.
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  ! I think we have some guests with kids that have been here with us before, so this is not a massive surprise.
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  But just for the sake of everybody, I wanted to remind us in brief why we like to have the children
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  in the service with us. And I'm going to do so by reading from that opening paragraph on the bulletin,
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  which is there every single Sunday. And maybe you're tired of it, but I would encourage you to
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  not be and maybe even read it every single Sunday. About halfway down, it says we place high value on
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  the health of families and our corporate meetings are multi-generational in that children remain
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  together with families in the meetings to allow and encourage families to function and grow together.
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  There's a great deal of value in children getting to see what's important to their parents,
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  to sit and learn to be church people. We believe that each Christian, young and old,
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  has a distinct role in promoting the spiritual maturity of others. And on that note, just to say
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  to you parents, I know it adds some stress. I've been there sitting with the young ones,
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  thumping them on the head, not hearing a lot of what's going on.
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  But let me just encourage you to not be stressed. It's good for people. It's good for us to love kids
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  and to not be so easily distracted, to sit and focus our attention on what really matters.
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  Beloved, if you're engaging your mind in what we're doing together, little outcries from the
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  kids should not be a problem. I preach. I preach through a lot of that kind of stuff. And to be frank,
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  I don't even hear it sometimes. Sometimes Sam will say, boy, the kids were rough today. And I go,
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  really? I didn't even hear that. Let it be part of our normal gathering together, that we're a faith
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  family and that our family includes little ones, right? This is precious to me right now, okay?
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  If it gets hard for you, we do have some practical helps, a space across the hall where we're piping
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  video and sound over there. We have a nursing room. It's that door. You'll see it in the hallway with the
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  opaque window in it. And there's a key in that little drawer as you go out the door that gets
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  you in there if you'd like some privacy to nurse. But just please don't be stressed about it because
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  we certainly are not. Our text for this morning is Colossians 1 verses 9 through 14. Please follow
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  along as I read.
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  thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
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  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved
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  Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This is God's word to us. It was written
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  for his glory and our good. We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises
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  and obey its commands. Now this morning I'd like to invite you to make four observations with me from
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  this morning's text. And this is a quite a big bite to chew off here. I really probably
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  this text I could see the the clear potential for four sermons coming out of it. I will tell you that
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  my notes are quite a bit longer than they typically are so I'm going to try to move quite a bit faster
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  than I do. Let me encourage you to be an active listener this morning. I think it's very very
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  difficult to listen if you're not taking notes. A pen in hand certainly helps. So let me encourage you
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  to try to stay engaged with me. If you're like me you like to read the old dead guys. They typically
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  have so much more to say in their books particularly the Puritan writers and they like to make lists
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  within lists within lists and it's incredibly easy to get lost on where you even are. You're on like
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  Roman numeral number seven underneath subheading number two for the main point they're trying to
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  make and you have to back back up and do that and I'm going to do that to you a bit this morning. So
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  four observations from this text is the main thing but I also have three lists within the major list
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  so notes may help you this morning. Be warned. Four observations. Observation number one.
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  Paul and Timothy's example of intercession. Paul and Timothy's example of intercession. Notice this.
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  Look at it. Observe it with me together. And so from the day we heard. Heard what? It is made known to us
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  your love in the Spirit. Verse 8. Epaphras has come to them and said these people love one another
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  in the Spirit. So from this day we have not ceased to pray for you. This is intercessory prayer. We're
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  noting Paul and Timothy's example of intercession. Intercessory prayer simply put is the act of praying
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  on behalf of others. It's the act of praying on behalf of others and it is a bold act of love. To go before
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  the Father on behalf of someone else is a great great expression of love for them. James 5 16. James exhorts us
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  to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another intercede for one another that you may be
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  be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Now we are found,
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  if we are in Christ, we are found as righteous in Him. We have the ability, we have the capacity to
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  approach the throne because our sins have been forgiven in Christ and we have been given, we have
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  been, it has been imputed to us His righteousness. As we're saying, in the beloved, right? When God looks at
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  us, He sees Jesus Christ and the prayers of the intercessor are based in the redemption of Christ
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  as He is our intercessor and the great example on our behalf of intercession. Romans 8 33 and 34,
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  Paul writes, who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies, who is to condemn.
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  Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised, who's at the right hand of God,
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  who indeed is interceding for us. He sits at the right hand of the Father and He says, when I come to God,
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  this is Nathan. I died for him. I paid the penalty for his sin. He has been given my righteousness.
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  Listen to His request. There's much intercessory prayer in the Bible. A few examples. Job prayed for his
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  friends. Job 42 10. Moses prayed for Aaron. Deuteronomy 9 20. David prayed for Israel. 2 Samuel 24 17. So did
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  Isaiah and Daniel and Ezekiel. Get those references from me later if you'd like. Nehemiah did the same.
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  Chapter 1 verse 4 through 11 of Nehemiah. Jesus prayed for the apostles and the rest of those
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  who would and will follow him as his disciples. John 17 9-24. Epaphras prayed for the Colossians.
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  You see this in Colossians 4.12. Just a page over from where we are. And here we see that Paul and
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  Timothy also prayed for the Colossian church, even though they did not know them personally.
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  In verse 8, they had heard from Epaphras of their love for one another in the Spirit.
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  They knew that we would know Jesus' disciples by their love for one another. So they had been given
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  evidence that the Colossians were their brothers. They had been adopted into the same family and
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  therefore they loved them, even though they did not know them. They did not establish the church there.
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  It's likely that Epaphras, the beginner of the church, had heard the gospel in Ephesus where Paul
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  was preaching. And the text states that they prayed for them continually. We have not ceased to pray for you.
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  God has accomplished mighty things for his people using the prayers of his people on their behalf.
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  Charles Spurgeon, on the presence of examples of intercessory prayer in the Scripture, said this,
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  Intercessory prayer is exceedingly prevalent. What wonders it has wrought. The Word of God
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  teems with its marvelous deeds. Believer, thou hast a mighty engine in thy hand. Use it well. Use it
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  constantly. Use it with faith. And thou shalt surely be a benefactor to thy brethren.
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  Intercessory prayer, because it is the way in which God chooses so often to act in the lives of others,
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  has great power. And so you have a ministry in our church. As a congregant of Christ Family Church,
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  whether you're a member or just a regular attender, as a person sitting here today, you have a ministry.
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  Pray for one another. Second observation. So that was the first one. Paul and Timothy's example of
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  intercession. We ought to intercede for one another. Secondly, let's look at Paul and Timothy's actual
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  intercession. The last half of nine. Asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in
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  all spiritual wisdom and understanding. So they make a request that they be filled with knowledge.
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  Filled with it in a controlling way is what Paul is driving at here. That they so know something
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  that they be moved by it and controlled by it. The Greek word here is epi-gnosis. Gnosis meaning knowledge
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  and an added preposition to the front of that, epi-gnosis, heightens the veracity of the noun. It means a deep
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  and thorough knowledge. Epi-gnosis. A deep and thorough knowledge. A knowledge that fills to the point of
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  controlling and changing who they are. There's a great error in the church today. It certainly exists in ours,
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  and that is the error of mysticism. I hear way too much talk about feelings giving us direction. I feel like
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  this is the way I ought to go. I feel called to a particular vocation or particular activity or particular
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  city. This is not the language of the Bible. Our heads are never meant to be divorced.
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  From our hearts. They don't function separate from one another. In fact, they're like,
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  I'm connected by a conduit. Right? I get to you in preaching through your head.
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  Rightly, I get to you through your head. Right? I speak the truth to you, and you take it in,
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  and you consider it, you think about it, and you give it application to your being.
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  Is this who I am? Do I hold up to this truth? Do I rejoice in the truth of the gospel? This is the way in
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  which we work. Some preaching these days simply appeals to the heart. Moves you in some way. There
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  are many speakers who we would classify. I would bow to their speaking prowess. They move people,
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  but they say very little. You feel something, but what do you do with that something? You have some
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  bit of revelatory joy, and then it fades away because it has no basis in knowledge. Our heads are never
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  meant to be divorced from our hearts. Proverbs 19.2 warns that it is not good to be without knowledge.
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  Isaiah 5.13 states that it was for lack of knowledge that the Israelites were led into exile. They did not
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  know God and how to worship Him. Therefore, they were punished severely, led into exile. Knowledge is a
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  major theme in the scriptures, and certainly, and especially, I would say, in Paul's writing. Let me show
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  you a few examples. 1 Corinthians 1.5. He writes that in every way you were enriched in Him and
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  all speech and all knowledge. He prayed in Ephesians 1.17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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  the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
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  In Philippians 1.9, he states, and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge
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  and all discernment. Most of his letters lay a doctrinal foundation before giving any practical
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  exhortation. Right? He roots the very activity of our lives in who God is and what He has done on our
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  behalf. Romans, there's 11 chapters of doctrine before the five chapters of exhortation. Now, in light of
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  all these things, so therefore, because of everything I've told you to be true about the gospel of Jesus
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  Christ, live this way. Galatians, the first four chapters are doctrine. The last two, exhortation. Ephesians,
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  it's split evenly, three and three. Philippians and Colossians follow this pattern. Doctrine first, then
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  exhortation. Knowledge and then applied knowledge. So he prays that they would have knowledge, but knowledge of
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  what? Not just general knowledge, not knowledge of psychology or biology, but knowledge of God's will.
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  Knowledge of God's will. And here they are not referring to God's will for your life in a specific way,
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  in a concealed way. Who you should marry, where you should go to school, what type of job you should
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  take. John MacArthur calls this dot theology, that we have this idea that there's some perfect will in
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  which we're meant to channel it. We got to get in there just perfect and thread it just right for God
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  to be pleased with us, right? People get so consumed with that. College students, you especially, in the
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  stage in your life where many things are being laid out before you, and there are a lot of opportunities
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  and options. The largest part of my counseling as a pastor is counseling people on what decisions they
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  should make. And so often there is no clear answer. I go, that's a good decision, and so is that one.
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  This is not the God's will he was referring to here. He's referring to the God's will as revealed
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  in the Scripture. The revealed will of God. Those things that we are meant to be practicing.
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  John MacArthur organizes these well, and I appreciate he's got a wonderful sermon on this you can go
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  search for, where he summarizes that if you will practice the revealed will of God, after that,
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  do whatever you want. If you can say to yourself honestly, I'm practicing the revealed will of God
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  as shown in the Scriptures, then it'll be obvious to you where you should live and who you should marry
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  and what job you should take. John MacArthur organized it this way, six things God wills for your life.
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  Here's your second list. I'm going to run through it fast with no Scripture proofs at all, because it's
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  not the thrust of today. One, that you be saved. That you come to saving faith in Christ. That your
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  eternity be secure in Him. Second, that you be Spirit-filled. That you walk by the Spirit.
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  Third, that you be sanctified. That you are set apart for God's purposes, and you are about this
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  activity, this synergistic activity of becoming perfect day by day, pursuing holiness, putting off sin,
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  putting on righteousness. Fourthly, that you be submissive to authority. Varying authorities.
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  Governmental authority. Authority in the church. Wives with husbands. That you be submissive to authority.
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  Fifthly, that you suffer. The will of God. That you suffer. That you suffer for His name's sake.
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  And sixthly, that you be satisfied. Now, MacArthur actually says thankful, which expresses it better,
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  but it just drives me crazy that He used all S's except for that one. So, that you be satisfied,
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  by which I mean thankful. That whatever circumstance you walk through, you recognize the sovereignty of
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  God in all things, and that you give Him, ascribe to Him proper thanks for whatever it is that you're
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  going through. And that if you're practicing these six things, and these are general and summary
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  for the Christian life, then you just do whatever you want.
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  C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity said,
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  God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers.
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  If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something which is going
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  to take the whole of you, brains and all. You heard a believer say that they don't enjoy theology,
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  or that they don't want to be theological. If you're going to speak of Christ, you're being theological.
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  And you better be sure that you're getting it right.
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  So, Paul and Timothy's prayer is not just that they be filled with the knowledge of His will,
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  but Paul adds, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
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  Here's a sermon in and of itself. Wisdom and understanding taken together, this is my definition,
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  is the ability to discern the truth and give proper application to said truth. The ability to discern
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  the truth and give proper application to the truth. But their prayer is that they would do this in all
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  spiritual wisdom and understanding, which states the source of the wisdom and understanding. Not human
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  wisdom and understanding, but spiritual. The Spirit of God bringing to us revelation as we read God's Word.
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  Douglas J. Moo, which you'll I'm sure hear me quote a number of times as we study through Colossians,
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  because I have a wonderful commentary by him on the book, said,
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  The Spirit is the source of the wisdom and understanding that the Colossians were acquired
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  as they negotiated their way through the maze of first century worldview options. They needed the
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  Spirit of God to help them understand the way in which they were to go, what they were to believe. And this
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  is equally true of us. Heresy abounds in our day. There is much to be warned.
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  But let me just do so in a general way, in the way in which we're meant to be working together
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  by having you turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Mark Colossians in some way, your finger or your handy ribbon.
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  In Ephesians 4 verse 11, Paul talks about the varying roles in the church that have been given to the church.
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  In verse 12, for the work of equipping the saints for the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ.
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  So the leadership in a church, those particular positions in a church are meant to equip the saints
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  for the work of ministry, which is the building up of the body of Christ. This is the work of ministry
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  that has been given to all of us. We all have this activity that we are to be about.
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  And then starting in verse 13, if you'll follow along with me.
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  Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
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  There's that knowledge again.
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  To mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
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  So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves,
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  and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
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  There's much blowing around out there.
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  And we must be founded in the truth of the gospel so that we won't be tossed to and fro.
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  Now the connection for you is that back in verse 4,
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  Paul writes there is one body and one spirit.
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  And how did Christ give the gifts at work in verse 11?
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  He gave them by the Spirit.
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  He is the very source for this giftedness.
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  And he is the strength and the ability to carry out this work.
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  And so as Paul is praying, Paul joined with Timothy.
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  It's what we assume with the plural pronouns there.
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  That as he's praying this, he's not disconnecting it from activity in the church.
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  Right?
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  He's praying that we will attain this type of knowledge that we'll be working together with spiritual wisdom and understanding.
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  That there will be an activity about that.
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  Again, you have a ministry in our church.
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  Helping someone else along.
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  I know that you don't feel like you've arrived yet.
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  Neither do I.
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  I tremble sometimes at the things I have to teach.
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  I tremble when somebody comes to me with a question that is so far outside my scope.
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  But we have the Scripture.
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  We've been given the Word of God.
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  And we've been given the Spirit of God to give application for it.
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  Dive into that.
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  You have a ministry in our church.
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  He or she may be sitting to your right or your left.
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  Across the room.
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  Begin to identify people.
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  I can tell you now that if you come to me and ask for something to do, what can I do to help out around here?
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  Be ready because I'm probably going to go see him.
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  No one's talking to him right now.
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  This is your ministry today.
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  Go get busy doing that.
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  And see if there's anything you can do to invest in that person's life.
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  I will make you busy.
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  Imagine a community of faith that is constantly in a big complex web just preaching the gospel to each other all the time.
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  In all the varying ways.
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  And we do this in a high degree as a church already.
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  It needs to happen more.
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  You have a ministry in our church.
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  We observe Paul and Timothy's example of intercession.
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  Paul and Timothy's intercession itself.
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  What was it that they were praying for?
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  However, thirdly, let's observe the aim of Paul and Timothy's intercession.
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  So they make this intercession on behalf of the Colossian church.
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  And this information is now passed on to us that we may be filled with the knowledge of God's will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
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  But there's an aim for that.
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  Not just that we know things.
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  That we have this big fat head full of information.
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  But that we're able to work that out.
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  And Paul is not shy in giving to us the way in which that should be working out.
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  So the intercession is aimed at five things.
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  Five things.
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  Number one.
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  Here's your second list within your list.
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  A worthy walk.
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  Number one.
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  A worthy walk.
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  Now he is not communicating that our walk is what makes us worthy.
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  This is not what he's saying.
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  What he's saying is that because we are found worthy,
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  we will walk in a particular way.
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  A walk refers to the daily pattern of life and includes those activities seen and unseen.
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  It includes the way you think, the way you feel, the way you act and speak.
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  As I said, we are found worthy.
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  We are only found worthy in this absolute sense in Christ.
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  And because we're worthy, we should walk in a way that is pleasing to God.
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  We have been redeemed.
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  This is the monergistic work of God.
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  God Himself worked that change in us.
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  We have been changed.
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  We have been made His.
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  Now we are being sanctified synergistically.
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  We have an activity and a part to play in that.
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  Galatians 2.20, Paul writes,
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  I have been crucified with Christ.
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  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
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  And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
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  So even as we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling,
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  we do so by the power and strength of God in us.
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  There's a wonderful hymn that doesn't really match our musical style,
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  although maybe Wes could pull it off for us sometime.
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  Written by Martin Luther called,
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  A Mighty Fortress is Our God.
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  And the second verse reads like this.
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  I really debated singing this, but I'm not going to.
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  It's hard to get the tune out of your head though once it's in there.
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  Just listen to the words.
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  Did we in our own strength confide,
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  our striving would be losing.
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  We're not the right man on our side,
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  the man of God's own choosing.
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  Dost ask who that may be?
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  Christ Jesus, it is He.
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  Lord, sabay off His name from age to age the same,
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  and He must win the battle.
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  And He will for sure.
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  Lord, sabay off means God of the universe,
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  which is where Paul heads next in the text.
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  I'm so excited about next Sunday,
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  in the text for us next Sunday.
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  Okay, so this is the first aim.
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  A worthy walk.
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  Secondly, a fruitful life.
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  The last half of verse 10.
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  Bearing fruit in every good work.
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  In every good work,
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  and all of the activity that is set before a Christian,
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  that we would bear fruit.
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  That we would reproduce ourselves.
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  My mind is drawn to the parable of the sower in Mark 4,
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  which we just completed preaching through.
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  Jesus' explanation in Mark 4.20 says,
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  This is the mark of the good soil.
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  The one who has received the Word,
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  and accepted the Word,
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  placed faith in the Word,
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  had the Word change them,
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  had the Word set them about an activity,
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  bear fruit in varying degree.
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  Don't compare yourself to another,
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  but is your life bearing fruit?
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  This is one of the aims of Paul's prayer
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  for the Colossian church and for us.
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  The third aim,
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  growth in knowledge.
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  This has been already a prayer
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  that there would be a filling of knowledge,
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  a changing of their direction,
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  God's will,
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  but now he's asking for a growth in it,
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  an increase in the knowledge of God.
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  The writer of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 5.12,
• 29:22
  For though by this time you ought to be teachers,
• 29:25
  you need someone to teach you again
• 29:28
  the basic principles of the oracles of God.
• 29:32
  You need milk, not solid food.
• 29:35
  The writer of Hebrews is saying,
• 29:36
  you are babies still in the faith.
• 29:39
  We are meant to grow in our knowledge of God.
• 29:44
  We can certainly know the Gospel.
• 29:46
  We must know it.
• 29:47
  We must have it preached to us
• 29:48
  in order to place our faith in it.
• 29:50
  But we also must grow in our Gospel knowledge.
• 29:54
  Learn it.
• 29:55
  Understand it.
• 29:56
  Turn it over.
• 29:57
  It's so beautiful.
• 29:58
  And look at it from all of its varying perspectives
• 30:01
  that you might have a deeper understanding
• 30:03
  of who God is,
• 30:04
  a greater understanding of who you are,
• 30:07
  which will do nothing but cause you to exalt
• 30:10
  in the personal work of Jesus Christ.
• 30:14
  We must grow in the knowledge of God.
• 30:17
  I hope that you can join in with the psalmist
• 30:19
  in Psalm 119.97
• 30:21
  and say,
• 30:23
  Oh, how I love your law.
• 30:26
  It is my meditation all the day.
• 30:29
  We cherish it.
• 30:31
  That it is precious to us.
• 30:33
  That we be a people of the Word.
• 30:37
  So many of us are biblically illiterate.
• 30:40
  And we wonder why we have problems in our life.
• 30:44
  Fourthly,
• 30:45
  fourth aim,
• 30:47
  spiritual strength.
• 30:50
  First part of verse 11.
• 30:52
  May you be strengthened with all power
• 30:55
  according to His glorious might.
• 30:58
  Now the word strengthened in Greek
• 31:00
  is a present participle,
• 31:01
  which means it's an ongoing activity.
• 31:03
  Not like God charges us up with strength,
• 31:06
  but that He's constantly providing strength.
• 31:10
  According to His glorious might,
• 31:13
  the strength of all power
• 31:14
  according to His glorious might,
• 31:16
  which means that the power available to us
• 31:18
  is the limitless power of God Himself.
• 31:24
  Paul prayed in Ephesians 3.16
• 31:26
  that according to the riches of His glory,
• 31:29
  He may grant you to be strengthened with power
• 31:32
  through His Spirit in your inner being.
• 31:36
  We have been given this
• 31:37
  if we are found in Christ.
• 31:40
  Strengthened with all power
• 31:41
  according to His glorious might.
• 31:45
  And the last aim,
• 31:46
  fifthly,
• 31:47
  endurance with thankfulness.
• 31:50
  Last part of verse 11.
• 31:51
  For all endurance and patience with joy.
• 31:54
  Now endurance and patience are closely related.
• 31:57
  If there is a distinction to be made,
• 31:59
  endurance deals with circumstance
• 32:00
  while patience deals with people.
• 32:04
  Both are concerned with trials of various kinds.
• 32:08
  So endurance and patience.
• 32:11
  We are to endure not merely as stoics,
• 32:15
  gritting our teeth,
• 32:17
  bearing down.
• 32:19
  Think that this is a particular challenge
• 32:22
  and problem for American men.
• 32:24
  We've kind of ingrained in us
• 32:25
  a culture of the cowboy, right?
• 32:28
  Grin and bear.
• 32:30
  We're not to do it as stoics,
• 32:32
  but with joy.
• 32:34
  For all endurance and patience.
• 32:39
  With joy.
• 32:41
  And then we're said,
• 32:42
  in the beginning of verse 12,
• 32:43
  giving thanks to the Father.
• 32:47
  Joy overflowing into thanks.
• 32:50
  Look at a wonderful example of this
• 32:52
  in Acts chapter 5.
• 32:54
  After the apostles had been on trial,
• 32:56
  verse 40 and 42.
• 33:00
  And when they had called in the apostles,
• 33:02
  excuse me,
• 33:03
  this is the council.
• 33:04
  When they had called in the apostles,
• 33:06
  they beat them
• 33:07
  and charged them
• 33:08
  not to speak in the name of Jesus
• 33:10
  and let them go.
• 33:12
  So they are strictly warned
• 33:14
  with a beating
• 33:15
  to not speak in the name of Jesus.
• 33:16
  Then they left the presence of the council,
• 33:18
  rejoicing that they were counted
• 33:20
  worthy to suffer dishonor
• 33:22
  for the name.
• 33:23
  Right?
• 33:24
  Giving thanks
• 33:25
  that they were allowed to suffer
• 33:27
  for the name of Jesus Christ.
• 33:29
  And the verse 42 says,
• 33:30
  and every day in the temple,
• 33:32
  so in a public place,
• 33:33
  and from house to house,
• 33:34
  they did not cease teaching or preaching
• 33:36
  that the Christ is Jesus.
• 33:40
  Enduring with patience
• 33:42
  and joy and thanksgiving.
• 33:44
  Back to our main list.
• 33:48
  So we've got observations.
• 33:50
  Firstly, Paul and Timothy's example
• 33:51
  of intercession.
• 33:52
  Second, Paul and Timothy's intercession.
• 33:55
  Thirdly, the aim of Paul and Timothy's intercession.
• 33:58
  And then fourthly,
• 34:00
  the confidence of Paul and Timothy's intercession.
• 34:04
  The confidence of Paul and Timothy's intercession.
• 34:07
  Last part of 12
• 34:08
  through the end of our text.
• 34:10
  Now, note with me four reasons
• 34:26
  for their confidence.
• 34:27
  Last list.
• 34:28
  Four reasons for their confidence.
• 34:31
  You can see why I could have done
• 34:32
  four sermons on all of this.
• 34:33
  Now, by confidence of their intercession,
• 34:39
  I do not mean what makes them confident
• 34:42
  to intercede,
• 34:43
  although that's still true of them here.
• 34:46
  Previously stated,
• 34:47
  it is because Christ is our great intercessor
• 34:50
  that we have the confidence to intercede.
• 34:52
  But what I mean when I say
• 34:53
  four reasons for their confidence,
• 34:55
  I'm talking about what makes them confident
• 34:57
  that God will answer in kind
• 34:59
  to their requests.
• 35:01
  That He is favorable to these things.
• 35:03
  That they can pray these things in His name.
• 35:07
  And that He will, in fact,
• 35:09
  deliver on those requests.
• 35:11
  So, reason for their confidence,
• 35:13
  number one.
• 35:15
  The inheritance given to the saints.
• 35:20
  Last half of 12.
• 35:22
  We have been qualified to share
• 35:24
  in the inheritance of the saints
• 35:26
  in light.
• 35:29
  We are unqualified apart from the grace of God.
• 35:36
  Totally cut off.
• 35:38
  Nothing we could possibly do.
• 35:40
  This is the great lesson of the moral law.
• 35:43
  That you cannot keep the moral law.
• 35:45
  That God's requirement of us
• 35:46
  as sin-stained being is too high.
• 35:50
  It's impossible for us to do
• 35:52
  apart from the grace of God.
• 35:54
  There's strong language in the Scripture about this.
• 35:57
  Paul writes in Ephesians 2, 1-3,
• 35:59
  and you were dead in the trespasses
• 36:01
  and sins in which you once walked,
• 36:03
  following the course of this world,
• 36:05
  following the prince of the power of the air,
• 36:09
  the spirit that is now at work
• 36:10
  in the sons of disobedience,
• 36:12
  among whom we all once lived
• 36:14
  in the passions of our flesh,
• 36:16
  carrying out the desires of the body
• 36:17
  and the mind,
• 36:18
  and were by nature children of wrath
• 36:20
  like the rest of mankind.
• 36:22
  This is who we once were,
• 36:25
  and this is who you are
• 36:26
  if you're not found in Christ.
• 36:29
  We are ensnared.
• 36:30
  We are trapped by.
• 36:31
  We are being lorded over by
• 36:33
  the prince of the power of the air.
• 36:38
  Praise God.
• 36:40
  Because of His deliverance in Christ,
• 36:42
  this has changed for us.
• 36:44
  We are now His.
• 36:47
  Romans 8.14 says,
• 36:48
  For all who are led by the Spirit of God
• 36:51
  are sons of God.
• 36:54
  Now ladies,
• 36:55
  when you see that language
• 36:56
  in the Scriptures,
• 36:58
  please don't think
• 37:00
  that the Scripture is being translated
• 37:02
  in an outdated way.
• 37:04
  That it's important for the translators
• 37:05
  to go back and use
• 37:07
  some gender-neutral language in that way.
• 37:09
  If they were to do so,
• 37:10
  they would neuter the text.
• 37:12
  It's making a very strong point.
• 37:16
  The fault is not in the translation.
• 37:17
  The fault is in your understanding
• 37:19
  of who these letters
• 37:21
  were originally written to.
• 37:24
  A very patriarchal society,
• 37:26
  to be sure.
• 37:28
  In which only sons
• 37:30
  received any inheritance.
• 37:33
  The way in which a lady,
• 37:36
  a sister,
• 37:37
  was to gain an inheritance
• 37:38
  was to be married.
• 37:40
  This is the way that wealth
• 37:41
  was passed along.
• 37:43
  So ladies,
• 37:44
  you want to be sons of God.
• 37:46
  What that language communicates.
• 37:50
  But I do appreciate,
• 37:52
  in verse 17,
• 37:53
  Paul goes on to say,
• 37:54
  and if children,
• 37:55
  then heirs.
• 37:57
  Heirs of God
• 37:58
  and fellow heirs
• 37:59
  with Christ.
• 38:01
  We are all
• 38:02
  full family members.
• 38:04
  No distinction is made
• 38:05
  between us
• 38:07
  if we are found
• 38:08
  in Christ.
• 38:10
  We have been
• 38:10
  qualified now
• 38:12
  to share
• 38:13
  in the inheritance
• 38:14
  of the saints
• 38:15
  in light.
• 38:17
  I think John's writing
• 38:19
  helps expound
• 38:20
  on that idea
• 38:21
  of the inheritance
• 38:22
  of the saints
• 38:23
  in light
• 38:23
  a bit for us.
• 38:25
  1 John 1,
• 38:26
  verse 5,
• 38:27
  this is the message
• 38:28
  we have heard from him
• 38:29
  and proclaim to you
• 38:31
  that God is light
• 38:33
  and in him
• 38:34
  is no darkness
• 38:36
  at all.
• 38:38
  If we say
• 38:38
  we have fellowship
• 38:39
  with him
• 38:39
  while we walk
• 38:40
  in darkness,
• 38:41
  we lie
• 38:41
  and do not practice
• 38:42
  the truth.
• 38:43
  But if we walk
• 38:44
  in the light
• 38:45
  as he is in the light,
• 38:46
  we have fellowship
• 38:47
  with one another
• 38:47
  and the blood
• 38:48
  of Jesus' Son
• 38:49
  cleanses us
• 38:51
  from all sin.
• 38:52
  Of course,
• 38:53
  1 John being the great
• 38:54
  test of our faith,
• 38:56
  but we can certainly say
• 38:57
  that if we pursue
• 38:58
  righteousness,
• 38:59
  if we're hating
• 39:01
  the world
• 39:01
  and we're loving
• 39:02
  the things of God,
• 39:03
  we're walking
• 39:04
  in the light.
• 39:05
  God is light.
• 39:06
  In him there is
• 39:07
  no darkness
• 39:08
  at all.
• 39:09
  We have been
• 39:10
  granted,
• 39:11
  qualified,
• 39:12
  to share in the
• 39:13
  inheritance
• 39:13
  of the saints
• 39:14
  in light.
• 39:18
  Now, I know
• 39:19
  that many people
• 39:20
  struggle with this.
• 39:23
  The great aim
• 39:24
  of pastoral counseling
• 39:25
  is to draw
• 39:26
  people's minds
• 39:27
  back to the Gospel.
• 39:30
  To unravel
• 39:31
  all of their thought
• 39:33
  and all of their emotion
• 39:33
  and get them back
• 39:34
  to the place
• 39:35
  to see who
• 39:36
  they are
• 39:38
  because of God's work
• 39:39
  on their behalf.
• 39:41
  I know that many
• 39:42
  of you struggle
• 39:42
  with besetting sin.
• 39:45
  Habitual type
• 39:46
  of sin.
• 39:47
  And while we see
• 39:48
  much evidence
• 39:48
  of the pursuit
• 39:50
  of righteousness
• 39:50
  in your life,
• 39:51
  there are things
• 39:51
  that cause you
• 39:52
  to fall
• 39:53
  again and again
• 39:54
  and again.
• 39:57
  I know that many
• 39:57
  of you walk around
• 39:58
  with a great deal
• 39:59
  of guilt
• 40:00
  and feelings
• 40:02
  of inadequacy.
• 40:04
  Let me draw
• 40:05
  your mind
• 40:05
  back to the Gospel.
• 40:07
  This is what
• 40:08
  Paul is doing.
• 40:09
  He's rooting
• 40:09
  the very foundation
• 40:10
  for his request.
• 40:12
  All of these
• 40:12
  good things
• 40:13
  he desires
• 40:14
  to see happen
• 40:14
  in the life
• 40:15
  of the Colossian
• 40:15
  believers
• 40:16
  in the Gospel
• 40:17
  truth.
• 40:19
  A pastor
• 40:20
  named Sam Storms
• 40:21
  in a book
• 40:22
  he wrote
• 40:22
  called The Hope
• 40:23
  of Glory,
• 40:24
  which are meditations
• 40:25
  on Colossians,
• 40:26
  wrote,
• 40:26
  whatever feelings
• 40:28
  of inadequacy
• 40:29
  or sense of shame
• 40:30
  or depths of despair
• 40:32
  may have crippled
• 40:32
  you till now.
• 40:34
  God has qualified
• 40:35
  you to share
• 40:36
  in the inheritance
• 40:37
  of the saints
• 40:38
  of light.
• 40:40
  If you find yourself
• 40:41
  saying,
• 40:42
  I'm not up to the task,
• 40:43
  I'm a miserable failure,
• 40:45
  I'm a hell-deserving wretch,
• 40:47
  I don't deserve
• 40:48
  to stand in God's presence,
• 40:50
  the only thing
• 40:51
  I should inherit
• 40:51
  is death.
• 40:53
  God now says
• 40:54
  to those who are
• 40:55
  in Christ
• 40:56
  qualified,
• 40:58
  forgiven,
• 41:00
  adequate in Jesus,
• 41:03
  righteous in my Son,
• 41:05
  come and receive
• 41:07
  and enjoy
• 41:08
  your inheritance
• 41:08
  together with
• 41:09
  all the saints
• 41:10
  in the life-giving,
• 41:12
  soul-cleansing light
• 41:13
  of my kingdom.
• 41:17
  Praise God
• 41:18
  that we have
• 41:19
  an inheritance.
• 41:21
  Reason two
• 41:21
  for Paul and Timothy's
• 41:23
  confidence
• 41:23
  delivers
• 41:25
  verse 13
• 41:26
  says He has delivered
• 41:29
  us from the domain
• 41:30
  of darkness.
• 41:31
  We've been brought
• 41:32
  to the domain
• 41:34
  of light,
• 41:34
  the kingdom of light.
• 41:35
  He's delivered us
• 41:36
  from the domain
• 41:38
  of darkness.
• 41:39
  We have been rescued
• 41:40
  from the power
• 41:41
  of evil.
• 41:43
  It has no ultimate
• 41:44
  sway
• 41:45
  over our lives.
• 41:48
  Do you believe
• 41:49
  that you've been
• 41:50
  set free
• 41:51
  from sin?
• 41:52
  many of you
• 41:53
  act as if
• 41:54
  that's not
• 41:54
  the case.
• 41:55
  You've been set
• 41:56
  free from it.
• 41:57
  It no longer
• 41:58
  has dominion
• 42:00
  over you.
• 42:02
  John writes
• 42:03
  in 1 John 4
• 42:04
  4,
• 42:05
  He who is in you
• 42:06
  is greater
• 42:06
  than he
• 42:07
  who is in the world.
• 42:11
  So the second
• 42:12
  reason for their
• 42:12
  confidence
• 42:13
  is our deliverance.
• 42:15
  Third reason
• 42:16
  for our confidence
• 42:16
  is the Colossians
• 42:19
  in our
• 42:20
  transference.
• 42:23
  We've been
• 42:24
  transferred.
• 42:25
  We've transferred
• 42:26
  us to the
• 42:27
  kingdom
• 42:27
  of His
• 42:29
  beloved
• 42:29
  Son.
• 42:31
  We're no longer
• 42:32
  citizens of the
• 42:33
  world.
• 42:33
  We're now citizens
• 42:34
  of the kingdom
• 42:34
  of God.
• 42:36
  We do not differ
• 42:37
  in degree.
• 42:39
  We do not differ
• 42:40
  in degree.
• 42:40
  We're not a little
• 42:41
  better than we
• 42:42
  once were.
• 42:43
  We are different
• 42:44
  than who we
• 42:45
  once were.
• 42:46
  We don't differ
• 42:47
  in degree,
• 42:47
  but we differ
• 42:48
  in type.
• 42:51
  1 Peter 2.10
• 42:52
  Peter cites
• 42:54
  from Hosea,
• 42:55
  Once you were
• 42:56
  not a people,
• 42:57
  but now you
• 42:58
  are God's people.
• 42:59
  Once you had
• 43:00
  not received
• 43:00
  mercy,
• 43:01
  but now you
• 43:03
  have received
• 43:04
  mercy.
• 43:07
  And on what
• 43:07
  basis are we
• 43:08
  citizens of
• 43:08
  God's kingdom?
• 43:10
  On the basis
• 43:10
  of righteousness.
• 43:11
  This is our
• 43:12
  key to the city.
• 43:13
  This is what
• 43:14
  grants us
• 43:15
  access to
• 43:16
  God's kingdom.
• 43:18
  But not ours.
• 43:20
  Christ.
• 43:21
  Again,
• 43:22
  Christ has
• 43:22
  imputed to us
• 43:23
  His righteousness.
• 43:25
  The reason Christ
• 43:26
  had to come and
• 43:27
  live a perfect life
• 43:28
  was so that
• 43:29
  He fulfilled
• 43:30
  the law.
• 43:31
  So that He came
• 43:32
  and lived it
• 43:32
  perfectly.
• 43:33
  And He therefore
• 43:34
  had an account
• 43:35
  to credit
• 43:36
  to us.
• 43:38
  Righteousness
• 43:38
  to give
• 43:39
  to us.
• 43:40
  Christ.
• 43:41
  There's a
• 43:42
  double imputation
• 43:43
  of Christ
• 43:44
  in redemption.
• 43:45
  We're given
• 43:45
  Christ's
• 43:46
  righteousness.
• 43:47
  And fourthly,
• 43:49
  the fourth reason
• 43:50
  for their confidence,
• 43:51
  we're given
• 43:51
  forgiveness.
• 43:53
  Our sins have
• 43:54
  been forgiven.
• 43:55
  Verse 14,
• 43:56
  in whom we have
• 43:57
  redemption,
• 43:59
  the forgiveness
• 44:00
  of sins.
• 44:02
  Because God is
• 44:03
  perfectly just,
• 44:04
  God could not
• 44:04
  simply dismiss
• 44:05
  sin.
• 44:06
  That would not
• 44:06
  be justice.
• 44:07
  He has to
• 44:07
  punish sin.
• 44:09
  It is infinitely
• 44:10
  offensive to Him,
• 44:11
  so He punished
• 44:12
  infinitely in
• 44:13
  Christ our
• 44:15
  sin.
• 44:16
  We are imputed
• 44:17
  the suffering
• 44:18
  of Christ.
• 44:19
  That has been
• 44:21
  forgiven us.
• 44:22
  Our sin has been
• 44:23
  wiped clean because
• 44:24
  it has been punished
• 44:25
  in Christ.
• 44:28
  I'm going to
• 44:29
  read it to us
• 44:30
  at the closing
• 44:31
  of the Lord's
• 44:31
  Supper for the
• 44:33
  benefit of our
• 44:33
  souls.
• 44:35
  This is what
• 44:36
  causes Paul to
• 44:37
  launch into a
• 44:38
  cosmic,
• 44:40
  Christological
• 44:40
  hymn in
• 44:41
  verses 15-20.
• 44:43
  This kingdom
• 44:45
  in which we
• 44:46
  have been
• 44:46
  delivered to,
• 44:47
  the forgiveness
• 44:48
  of our sins
• 44:49
  in Christ,
• 44:50
  is what causes
• 44:50
  Him to go on
• 44:51
  to say these
• 44:53
  magnificent
• 44:53
  things about
• 44:55
  who He is,
• 44:57
  was,
• 44:58
  and now is
• 44:58
  to us
• 44:59
  in this day.
• 45:01
  Praise God
• 45:02
  forevermore
• 45:03
  for the person
• 45:04
  and work
• 45:05
  of Jesus Christ.
• 45:07
  Because of who
• 45:09
  the Colossians
• 45:09
  were,
• 45:10
  and because of
• 45:11
  who we are,
• 45:12
  if we are in
• 45:13
  Christ,
• 45:14
  we only have
• 45:15
  two choices.
• 45:18
  Be obedient
• 45:19
  or make
• 45:21
  excuses.
• 45:23
  You have been
• 45:24
  delivered.
• 45:24
  You have been
• 45:25
  set free.
• 45:26
  You have been
• 45:26
  given all the
• 45:27
  power you need
• 45:28
  to live for
• 45:29
  God.
• 45:30
  So be obedient
• 45:30
  or make excuses.
• 45:32
  It's the only
• 45:33
  two choices
• 45:33
  you have.
• 45:35
  because of
• 45:36
  who the
• 45:37
  Colossians
• 45:37
  were,
• 45:38
  and because
• 45:39
  of who we
• 45:39
  are,
• 45:39
  if we are
• 45:40
  in Christ,
• 45:41
  Paul and
• 45:42
  Timothy can
• 45:42
  confidently ask
• 45:43
  and know
• 45:44
  that their
• 45:44
  prayers will be
• 45:45
  answered,
• 45:46
  and we can
• 45:47
  pray in the
• 45:47
  same way for
• 45:48
  one another
• 45:49
  and have the
• 45:49
  same confidence
• 45:50
  before God.
• 45:52
  And I hope
• 45:52
  that you will
• 45:53
  begin to do
• 45:54
  so if you're
• 45:55
  not already.
• 45:58
  In closing,
• 45:59
  let me read
• 45:59
  the text to you
• 46:01
  one more time.
• 46:01
  And so from
• 46:03
  the day we
• 46:04
  heard,
• 46:05
  we have not
• 46:06
  ceased to
• 46:06
  pray for you,
• 46:08
  asking that you
• 46:08
  may be filled
• 46:09
  with the knowledge
• 46:09
  of his will
• 46:10
  and all spiritual
• 46:11
  wisdom and
• 46:12
  understanding,
• 46:13
  so as to walk
• 46:14
  in a manner
• 46:14
  worthy of the
• 46:15
  Lord,
• 46:15
  fully pleasing
• 46:16
  to him,
• 46:17
  bearing fruit
• 46:18
  in every good
• 46:18
  work and
• 46:19
  increasing in
• 46:20
  the knowledge
• 46:20
  of God.
• 46:21
  May you be
• 46:22
  strengthened with
• 46:23
  all power
• 46:24
  according to
• 46:24
  his glorious
• 46:25
  might for all
• 46:26
  endurance and
• 46:27
  patience with
• 46:27
  joy,
• 46:28
  giving thanks to
• 46:29
  the Father who
• 46:29
  has qualified you
• 46:30
  to share in
• 46:31
  the inheritance
• 46:31
  of the saints
• 46:32
  in light.
• 46:34
  He has delivered
• 46:35
  us from the
• 46:35
  domain of
• 46:36
  darkness and
• 46:36
  transferred us
• 46:37
  to the kingdom
• 46:38
  of his beloved
• 46:38
  Son in whom
• 46:39
  we have redemption,
• 46:41
  the forgiveness
• 46:42
  of sins.
• 46:43
  Let's pray
• 46:44
  together.