So if you have your Bibles open to Colossians, then close them or turn your phone over. So let me ask this question to begin with. And this is one of those questions where there is no wrong answer. Because I'm just asking what you're looking for So what are you hoping to get out of these? Tuesday night studies. I think I've asked this again. So in the past so Should already be ready to understand scripture better Knowledge To know him, to know more about him. To be encouraged. And just for everybody, not for myself. I hope that as a body. To learn how to walk as a Christian. Learn how to walk as a Christian. to grow more in the knowledge of the gospel that Christ has done for us, to grow in faith and love in the hope that we have been given. And especially after last week when you pointed out how Christ-centered Colossians is, I would love to have my thoughts fixed upon Christ more and more. other things in this world. So my next question is, what steps are you taking to accomplish what you want? Meditation, prayer, and reading. Being more, being more, I think when I walk by the Spirit, just being more in tune with the Spirit. Let me let me clarify my my question what are you what steps are you taking to accomplish? What you're wanting to get out of this study? I? So what steps are you taking concerning this study to reach what you are hoping to get out of it? This morning we were an hour early and we went down by the water to pray and to read Colossians. In light of, actually I read Corinthians, Lindsay read Colossians. I read all the four chapters of last week. But yeah, she said, we're going over Colossians again this Sunday, which is our fun spot. But just praying over that, reading it, frankly, I saw Jurassic World. Mm-hm. It helped listening to a different translation. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with Jessica. I had the parallel Bible, and I was just like ping-ponging every other word back and forth. And like she said, it really does help. Yeah. Yeah, if you have time to kind of compare translations, I think it's very helpful in kind of getting a clearer, fuller understanding of what's being said. All right. Yeah, going to some of the commentaries, looking at some of them, and comparing the different ones. Again, listening over and over again to the word, reading the word, starting to memorize part of it. I started memorizing parts of the Colossians before the preeminence of God. I think it's 114 through 21, a real good passage to memorize. Just getting more familiar with looking at the outline, which is good. Like you said, reading the headings. Just getting more familiar with it. I know. I'm going to share with you something that Bob Jennings said on how to kind of get more familiar with Scripture that doesn't work for me. But it will work for some people. And he said, read a chapter and then write down in your own words what that chapter is about. Not necessarily like outlining it, but just read the chapter and then just write down in your own words what that chapter was saying, what was being conveyed. And the reason it doesn't work for me is because when I start doing that, when I sit and start writing like that, I start just going deeper and deeper and deeper rather than what the chapter's about. So it's not that I don't profit from it, but But the idea is understanding kind of the bigger picture more by chapters. And when I do things that way, it kind of has the opposite effect on me. But it is helpful for some people. I mean, obviously, it was helpful for him. That's why he suggested it. And I mean, Bob was so knowledgeable of the scripture. So, what is your summary of Colossians 1, 1 through 12? Don't open your Bible. You missed that part. I said if you have your Bibles open, close them. So, we've pretty much gone over the first 12 verses of chapter 1. What do you remember about it? Don't feel bad if you don't remember much. I literally, I literally sometimes can't remember what I preached about the previous Sunday without stopping, thinking about it, opening up, you know, and it's like, okay, things start coming back. He was thankful for the church. Paul, giving thanks for them. To the Lord. walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. That was his prayer for them. Paul was very thankful for the church and that he stirred him up to pray for the church even though he'd never met the church personally. He was very encouraged by the report that he heard from Epaphras and then stirred him up to pray for them all the more. Samir? For God's will like the gospel. It's God's will Like for them to know God's will concerning the gospel towards them. Mm-hmm. Do you remember why? Why he wanted them to know That's okay I'm just trying to, trying to. Their faith was known. Yes. And is it because for them to not to be like the Jewish, I don't know this, but the other beliefs that they were coming to the church, like you need to be circumcised and is it for that, is this the reason why he's really focusing on explaining that this is God's will for you to know the gospel like in a way as it is concerning Jesus Christ? Yeah, we I mean we talked about that in in the studies. We haven't got there That's not it's not in the first 12 verses, but we did we did talk about that a couple times so yeah, that's one of the God making known through Christ the mystery of his will I think just the focus of his prayers is that the Gospel would bear fruit and increase in their lives, and that they would grow in the knowledge of the will of God for them. Alright, well go ahead and open up your Bibles now to Colossians 1. Let's just go ahead and begin in verse 1 and we'll read through the first 12 verses. Yes, still in the ESV. It looks like most people have it All right, paul an apostle of christ jesus by the will of god and timothy our brother To the saints and faithful brothers in christ at colossi grace to you and peace from god our father We always thank god the father of our lord jesus christ when we pray for you since we heard of your faith in christ jesus And of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven Of this you have heard before the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing, as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood or knew the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience With joy giving thanks to the father who has qualified you to share and the inheritance of the Saints in light So that's what we've Gone over so far and I want to kind of back up into the prayer and and kind of before we move on. So his prayer for the Colossians is, from the day we heard about their faith, we haven't ceased to pray for you." And this is the prayer, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And I think it was the last time I gave my argument for why I believe His and His will is referring back to Christ. where He's going back to, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love that you have for all the saints. I think some think it's referring to God and His will, and some may even think, well, I think it's the Spirit, what He just mentioned, because of their love in the Spirit. And we talked about how we might be wrong on the exact technical details of who His is referring to with His will, but how it doesn't really matter much, because the will of the Father, the will of the Son, and the will of the Spirit are in perfect unison and unity, and there is no difference between their will. I'm going to refer to it if I talk about it as Christ's will, but we all know what that is, being filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Remember what, anyone write down or remember how we kind of defined wisdom, how I defined wisdom, just to help us think about what it means. What's the difference between wisdom and knowledge? Yeah, I think wisdom is more the application of knowledge. Skillful use of knowledge is what I wrote down in my margin for wisdom. And then understanding. What does understanding mean? Anyone remember? Remember I gave the gave the example of the kids' books that have the numbers, one, two, three, and you're supposed to connect the dots. Yeah, understanding as you're connecting the dots, how things fit together, how the different aspects of the gospel fit together. Talked about, you know, I think I talked about D.A. Carson talking about the facets of the crown jewels and how The wisdom of God, the knowledge of God is like that. The gospel is like that, multifaceted, which is actually scriptural. There's references in scripture that have to do with the multifaceted wisdom and knowledge of God, the different aspects. So this is Paul's prayer. that they would be filled with the knowledge of His will. They would know what Christ's will for them is. They would know it in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. so that they would correctly apply it, what they know His will for them is. It would be correctly applied to them. They would have skillful use of that knowledge, putting it to use, being able to connect the dots. Why does He want them to do certain things? Why does He want us to trust Him? Well, let's just do a little This rabbit trail here. Why does God not want you to worry about anything? Be anxious for nothing. That's Christ's will for you. Be anxious for nothing. Why? Connect the dots. Because He's sovereign. He controls everything. So why should we worry as children? He's sovereign. I hope we learn how to trust Him, rather than focusing our strengths into doing stuff on our own strength. Because this will lead to worry, if we focus on, I can do that. And so not to worry, because we can trust God. We can know that He can provide. He can do whatever He wants. He's a good father. He's a giver of good gifts. And if we don't trust him, we're saying something about his character. Okay. He gives good gifts to us, so if we worry, then we're saying somehow he's not doing good to us. Or if... Reporting is unproductive and is doubtful. Worrying and doubting, doubting God. Shows unbelief, doubt, we don't believe, we're not exercising faith, we're disobeying Him if we do, because He told us not to do it. And what does that say about Him to those around us? What does we claim to be Christians follower of Christ boasting him and all this and then I don't know what I'm gonna do What does it say to others around us About this all-powerful God that we say that we believe in Yeah, so that's that's Understanding that's kind of connecting the dots. Why shouldn't we worry? Why would he tell us don't worry? I? Well, why does he tell us that in Matthew, of why we shouldn't be anxious? Why did Jesus say we shouldn't do it? Look at the birds, look at the flowers. The birds that they don't work yet, they have food provided for them. The flowers that they... Don't worry about clothing because... Yeah, but why? God values us much more than the birds that He provides. God values us more than the birds that He provides for. Because God loves us. And that should be the reason why we don't become anxious about anything. See, so all the other things we said were right, but yet, what was the reason that Jesus said, don't be anxious? Because God cares for you. Because God loves you. And so, there's no need for us to be anxious when God is the one that loves us and cares for us. This is his prayer. The Colossians would do that. They would be filled with the knowledge of his will. Where do we find Christ's will at? Where do we find Christ's will at? No, not what is his will. Where do we find out what his will is? in the Bible, in Scripture, in God's Word. So in order to be filled with the knowledge of Christ's will for us, where do we have to be looking? In the Word. In Scripture. And that's where we'll... in all spiritual wisdom. So where does this wisdom come from? The wisdom and the understanding is a spiritual wisdom, does that mean that it's just, you know, it's an immaterial wisdom and understanding, it's not part of this material world, it's a spiritual thing and it's just, you know, kind of out there in the ether somewhere. What spiritual, what is the spirit referring to here? Walking in the spirit. Who is the spirit referring to here? If it's spiritual wisdom and understanding, what is the source of wisdom and understanding? The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. It's spiritual. It doesn't come from other spirits. It doesn't come from demons. It doesn't come from ghosts or phantoms or, you know, some energy somewhere. It doesn't come from our spirit. If it's spiritual wisdom and understanding that accords with Christ's will for us, it's the Holy Spirit as the source of the wisdom and the understanding. It's going to come from Him. Romans 8. Oh, there's just so much. I don't think I want to chase this rabbit too far. Verse 26, the Spirit helps in our weakness, do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. When we don't know, the Spirit intercedes for us. He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. The Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies. Turn to 1 Corinthians 2. This may be a better place where it says it a little more simply. Paul talks about when he came to the Corinthians, he didn't come with flowery speech and persuasive words, but in a power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. Verse 5, so that their faith may not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, Although it is not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away, but we impart secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would have not have crucified the Lord of glory, but as it is written, what eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him. These things God has revealed to us through his Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God. accept the Spirit of God. So if we're going to be filled with the knowledge of Christ according to all spiritual wisdom and understanding, then it's the Spirit that does that. It's the Spirit that imparts that and that gives that to us. Verse 12, we have received not the Spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this not in words taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person, the person who doesn't have the Spirit, the natural person does not accept the things that are of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him. He's not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one, for who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. All of that to just drive home the point of the spiritual wisdom and understanding. It's wisdom and understanding from the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit imparts. What's the outcome of this? Why is Paul praying this prayer for them? Verse 10. Colossians, back in Colossians. to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit. The result of being filled with the knowledge of Christ's will for the person who has the Holy Spirit, for the person who is who He's writing to, the faithful in Christ Jesus, those who have faith in Christ Jesus and have love for all the saints. That being filled with the knowledge of Christ's will produces a walk. It produces a lifestyle. so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord." To live in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. In the ESV, the word fully, fully pleasing to Him, and every good work, that's the same word. So the idea is, Knowing when we know the will of Christ, we live in a way that is worthy of the Lord, and we please Him in every way. In other words, it's not just one aspect of our life that pleases Him. It's not just one aspect of our life that is affected, while the rest of our life remains unaffected. So it's not like when we become a Christian, something is added to us. It's that we are changed completely in every way. Like what Paul said, we're in 2 Corinthians. We're a new creation. We're a new creature. We're different. Something has changed in us so that every aspect of our life. When the Lord saved me and He delivered me from drugs and just every drug use, do you think also the way that I talked changed too? The language that I used was probably affected by that. Do you think what I thought about Christ changed also? And how I interacted with people at work probably changed also? And the things that I watched, the movies that I watched change. Every, every aspect changed. That's why it's the fruit of the Spirit. It's defined in many things. Again, it's multifaceted fruit, but it's the fruit of the Spirit. Because the evidence of the Spirit is all of that is added to us. Love, peace, patience, joy, kindness, good. We get all of that. You don't get some of them. All of it is the evidence of the Spirit. What the Spirit produces in the Christian. This is what being filled with the knowledge of Christ's will for us. This is that fruit and increase that the gospel produces. It affects how we live our life. We walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. It's given as a matter of fact. This is what happens. That's why he's praying it for them, so they would live differently. walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, pleasing to Him completely and all in the wholeness of their life, totality of their life, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Any comments on that before we move on? I think the purpose of growing the knowledge of God is to bear fruit. It's just like the Bible says of being just doers of the Word, you know, hearers of the Word. is not worth of the effort, but also that we increase and build up love, and faith, and hope, and all that all is praying and doing things. Just not have knowledge in our head that will go down to our hearts and in our bodies and walk the way that will justify diligently. So he continues on, strengthened with all power, or being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience. That's where the verse should have ended. Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience. So strengthened. Strengthened for what? Patience. Yeah. Where does the power to endure, patiently endure, come from? The spirit. Does it come from you? No, it comes from God. So let's try and connect some dots. What are you facing or experiencing in your life that you simply are not strong enough to overcome? And you don't have to answer out loud. This is more to think about. What are you facing in your life? What are you experiencing going through in your life that you simply don't have the strength to overcome? What are you up against that makes you feel like you can't go on? That you're just, you're just stuck. You're stuck in the mud. You can't make any progress. You're just, you don't have the strength to overcome it. So think about that for a minute. I don't want to rush you on. I want you to think about it. What in your life right now is just more powerful than you? What is it? Whether it's sin, whether it's circumstances, whether it's relationships, whatever it may be. Think about that. What's going on that you don't have the strength to overcome? Now let me ask this question as you're thinking about it. Do those things that come to mind have anything to do with what God's revealed will for your life is? Or how are they related to God's revealed will for your life? Right, so you're faced with something that you're not strong enough to overcome. How does what God's revealed will for your life, how does that relate to that thing that's too strong for you? What do you know the Lord wants you to do, but there's no way you can do it? You don't have the knowledge. You don't have the ability. You don't have the strength. You just can't see any possible way to do what God wants you to do. Now I'm gonna, I'm gonna, come down and sit with you now for the next question. Since when does our ability, our strength, and our power have anything to do with obeying God? Since when does the strength I have have any effect on my trusting God? Zero. Moses, go out, part the Red Sea with a stick in your hand. When the Lord called Moses, think about this for a minute. The Lord was a burning bush. Moses sees a bush. that's on fire, but the bush isn't burning. It's not being consumed. There's just fire in the bush. So he goes to investigate it. Right? Wouldn't you? What's going on? That bush has been burning for five hours. I gotta go check this out. And he walks up, and Moses, take the shoes off your feet. You're on holy ground. I want you to go talk to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, most powerful man in the world. You, a nobody shepherd, I want you to go talk to Pharaoh. First question on my mind is gonna be, how in the world do I get in front of Pharaoh? It's like, you know, Stephen, I want you to go talk to Donald Trump. How you gonna do that? That's what comes to my mind. That's the first thing to come. How am I getting an audience with Pharaoh? Without fear of losing my head because of what I did years ago. Go tell Pharaoh, let my people go. I'm going to deliver him by you. What was his first reaction? I can't talk. Who am I? I can't talk. Send somebody else that can talk. Well, they're going to think I'm crazy. They're going to laugh me out of this palace. Walking in there saying, let all of your slave labor go. That's impossible. That's impossible. He's walking into a death sin. He's walking into an execution. That's all. That's what it looks like on the surface. I mean, just think of all the people in the Bible that God has called to do things that were just, you know, Noah, I want you to go build a big boat. I mean, I wouldn't recommend going to see it. I just remember it from years and years ago when Bill Cosby did a skit. You know, Noah said, OK, Lord, what's a boat? Build a boat. Why? What's a boat? For rain. What's rain? I mean, think about what God has called people to do. And all He wants us to do is go through our life trusting Him. Very few people is He gonna call to go do like the movie we watched last night, go rescue people on the front lines and behind enemy lines in the war in the name of Christ. Very few people is He gonna do that. Very few people is He going to call to to sell everything you have and go live in the jungles in Papua New Guinea. Very few people is he going to call to do that, but he calls every single child to trust him with everything, to give him your life and to live your life pleasing to him. That means where you spend your money, how you spend your money, what you spend your money on, how much do you keep, how much do you give. You don't decide that. And neither does the law. Because tithing is simply not for the church. Take it up with me afterwards if you have issues. But it doesn't. You need to purpose that in your own heart and your conscience before the living God. What should I give? Is it the same every week, every paycheck? Is it going to be different? That's you and the Lord. But what does He want for you? What is it that you can do in faith? Open up our mouths in speaking when we're fearful of what people may say. But what do you think Paul is writing to the Colossians about? Strengthen with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of saints and light. Now, if you haven't been reading in Colossians, you're not gonna be able to really give an educated answer as to what do you think Paul has in mind with the Colossians. But has anyone looked at this? Has anyone thought about what he's talking about specifically related to the Colossians? Any ideas? No, just this specifically strengthen with all power with according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience Do you is there anything that stands out in Colossians? That that he you think he has in mind when he talks about endurance and patience I mean, all the things I've mentioned and talked about, we can put there. There's places in Scripture that talks about endurance, patiently enduring. The one who endures to the end will be saved. The one who continues in the faith. But again, really trying to bring it down into the letter of Colossians. Is there something here in this book that you can go, yes, here in chapter 3 verse, you know, I think this is what he might have in mind. I think one of the things is in chapter 3, verse 12. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. And if anyone has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." I think this bearing with one another, enduring with one another, bearing with one another, putting up with one another, has something to do and fits with the flow of the letter and the things that he's talking about, their relationships with each other. that He gets into. Do you ever think about that as what you need the power of God to endure is with each other? The unity, maintaining the unity of the faith, continuing in love with one another, that that's one of the things we need the power of God to be able to endure, and we need His strength to be able to do that. Because if we try and do it on our own strength, we're going to fail. And it's kind of tied in here joyfully, with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in life. Just one of the things I really wanted to look at tonight is the need for endurance. And I know I've mentioned it before, and I need to hear it. If you don't sit up with me so I can hear it. Too often we pray, Lord, take it away from me. rather than praying, Lord, help me, give me the strength to endure through it and to glorify you and to honor you and to go through it in a way that makes you look good. So Mark, I was thinking of this earlier when you just said, you know, we're reading scripture and we know that If we are being strengthened, is it doubt to come to God and ask Him to strengthen us? That's something that I struggle with a lot. I ask the Lord for strength. And then as soon as I say that, I say, but the Lord has strengthened me. Am I just not using it? So is it doubt? If now we know that we are being strengthened, we have been strengthened, we will be to come to the Lord and ask him to strengthen us or just to believe that he has and he will and that is, because that's kind of what I'm getting out of everything you said, like the Lord's showing me that. I think if we're honest with ourselves there's times when it's not that I'm lacking in strength to do something it's just I'm just not doing it. I'm not even taking a step. I'm just standing or sitting there and you know just kind of using In a way using well, I'm not strong enough. I'm just weak you're gonna have to do it for me But he didn't say that he will do it for us He gives us the strength so that we are able to do it so we do it But in the strength he provides So I don't do it in my strength, but I do it nonetheless I I mean, there's a sense in where Moses parted the Red Sea. He did it with the strength God provided. He did it with what? You know, when Jesus walked up to Lazarus' tomb and said, open it up, and then everyone protested, said, no, no, he's going to stink by not opening the tomb. And then what? With a loud voice where everyone could hear, Lazarus come forth. So that if he didn't come out, he's gonna look like a fool. And remember, he did it in the power of the Holy Spirit. He laid aside his own strength and didn't use what belonged to him so as to walk strengthened by the Holy Spirit. It was his. It was his power to have. He could take it at any time. He willfully laid it aside to walk in the power that the strength provides. And so he called Lazarus forth by the strength of the spirit. Too often, we get to places like that in our life that are much less dramatic, and we don't raise our voice and cry out, we just bow our heads and pray, Lord, strengthen me, give me the strength. Lord, bring Lazarus out of the tomb. Please, Lord, you have to do it. I'm not strong enough to do it. But I told you to tell him to come out. And y'all realize I'm speaking metaphorically, right? So, yeah, I mean, I've said before, I think sometimes we don't really need to pray. We need to do something. Because we already know what we should do. We already know what we should do. And so I don't really need to pray. I need to obey. But as I'm doing it, yeah, Lord, give me strength. Help. Help me. How do you distinguish the Holy Spirit's strength versus your strength? Sometimes I don't know. And do I know from God's Word that something that He would want me to do, it is His will for me to do. Am I doing it for selfish reasons? Am I doing it for others to look at and to see and to, you know, oh, wow, look at him. Oh, yeah, he's such a man of God and come pat you on the back. Or is it just in desperation clinging to the Lord, you know, help me. This is for you. I don't want to do it. I know you want me to do it. I don't want to, though. I'm scared. I don't know if my faith is strong enough. I don't, you know, can ask all those questions, but yet I know this is God's will for me. I mean, you know, it's hard to... It's hard to give examples because they're just as numerous as examples in life. Jim? Sometimes we don't know. We look back in hindsight, we can see. We can see that was of the Lord, and maybe that one wasn't. Yeah, that's kind of what I was trying to get at anyway, is you might not really know, but is it obedience? Is it the Lord's will that I do this? I mean, I've already mentioned money, you know. Is it the Lord's will for me to give? The answer is yes. Without getting into particulars and what-ifs and that, generally speaking, overall, yes, it's the Lord's will that you regularly give. But I can't even pay the bills now. You know, but this, but that. It's His will that I give. So what do you do? I mean, you can sit around and be paralyzed, but why should I do this? Maybe I shouldn't do this. Maybe I need to consider this thing, and maybe I should do this first, and then I can give, all these different things, but one thing I know is that God would have His children give. And again, between you and the Lord. So how much? Talk to the Lord about it. But it's His will that we give, and so you give. Am I going to do that in my strength? Well, we can't do anything in our strength. So if we do it, it's going to be in the strength that He provides. And if I do it in my own strength, if it's something I do to boast about, the Lord's going to correct His children. He's going to point it out to you, and then you'll have the opportunity to repent of it. shameful book plug. What's his name? DeYoung. Kevin DeYoung. Little, tiny, short book. Just do something. Highly recommend it. You don't have to agree with everything in it. It'll be helpful. You know, we can get so paralyzed by what is the Lord's will, what does he want me to do? Do the obvious things. Do what you know. And if you don't know what He wants you to do, and it's not a choice between something sinful and something that isn't sinful, which then you would know His will, then do something. Don't just sit there. The strength that He provides, it's... I'll tell you this, just experientially in my life, I never feel the strength. I feel fear, I feel worry, I feel doubt. Maybe that's how we can tell. Because anytime I do something that I just... I know I should do it, but I just can't see how. And I do the best that I can. It leaves me at a place of weakness. I don't feel... I don't feel energy coursing through my veins and feel the hairs on the back of my neck sticking up because the Holy Spirit is on me. No, I feel weak and scared and timid, but the Lord helps. He gives strength. And remember, the strength is to endure. The strength is to remain. It's to endure with patience. Patient endurance. For all endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He's qualified. Giving thanks, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you. What is that talking about? What's that referring to? Qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in life. What is he talking about? Is it the race? about the race? What race? And other books that talks about, like one photo here was saying, like, to do the race, and at the end, like, buffet your body. So is it related to being qualified? Related to the race in this life? Yeah, I mean, indirectly, But he gives us the answer here. Delivered us from the domain of darkness. Yeah. How has he qualified us? The Father who qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints and light. What does that mean? To share in the inheritance of the saints and light. What's he talking about? Our salvation. Salvation? More specifically. Partake in it. To partake in it. Partake in what? In the sharing. Sharing what? The inheritance. What's the inheritance? Himself. The heaviness. Adoption. Salvation. He gives us the answer in the next verses. in the kingdom of His beloved Son? He's delivered you, rescued you from the domain of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. How did He do that when you're a sinner? When you were dead in your trespasses and sins? You were separated from Him. You were haters of God. You were wicked. You were without Christ in the world. How did He do that? How did He transfer you? How did He qualify you to be fit for the domain of darkness, to now be fit for the Kingdom of the Son of His love? How did He qualify you for that? We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Yeah, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. There's how He qualified us. He forgave our sins. He forgave our sins. That's something to give joyful thanks for. And that is an outcome of knowing the will of Christ. In all spiritual wisdom and understanding, when I understand and I know Christ's will, When I'm walking in a manner worthy of my Lord, walking in wisdom, walking with understanding, understanding what He's done for me, it's going to lead to joyful thanksgiving to the Father who's qualified us to share, qualified us, to share in the inheritance of the saints. The inheritance, it's a lot. Think of Israel going into the land of Canaan, and they're gonna divide the land up, and everyone gets his own share. Everyone gets his own lot. Everyone gets his own inheritance. But the idea is they all, they all get it. He's qualified us to share in the inheritance of the holy ones, the saints in light. And here's the contrast that he brings out. He's delivered us, rescued us from the domain of darkness. The authority of darkness. What is darkness always associated with in Scripture? Sin. Sin. Death. Yeah, it's more than one thing. Slave. Being a slave. Slave to sin. everything dark and evil, everything under the control of the evil one, under the control of the God of this world. Sin and death and wickedness and perversion and doubt, everything that is unrighteous, ungodly. The Father rescued us, delivered us from the authority of darkness and it has to do with a realm, with a kingdom, with having belonged to someone and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. What is a kingdom? Domain. It's a territory ruled and reigned by a king. A territory ruled and reigned by a king. What does it mean to reign? Is that those drops that fall out of the sky? Is it the drops that fall out of the sky? What is reign? Rule. Authority. Dominion. Yeah, authority. All those words go together. Do you believe it? Do you believe it? I'm talking practical, practically speaking. Not theologically. Not, as someone was mentioning other, not up here. Not do you believe it up here. Do you give yourself over to it? Do you entrust yourself to this beloved Son? Do you believe it? That you're no longer under the authority of darkness. You're no longer under the authority of the God of this world. You've been delivered from Egypt. You've been delivered from Pharaoh. Yeah, you're out in the wilderness. but God's with you. The Spirit of God is in the midst of us. And you're no longer a slave to Pharaoh. You're no longer a slave to darkness. Which means sin no longer has dominion, rule, reign over you. What's something that, there's so much to be learned from the first couple books of the Bible. What did, what did the Israelites bring with them out of Egypt? Think about some things they brought with them. Gold. What else? Idols. Ooh. They brought idols with them. But they weren't under the rule and the reign and the dominion of Pharaoh anymore, of Egypt anymore. But they brought idols with them. What happened to them in the wilderness? It was a time of, begins with a T, testing. What happened during that time of testing and tribulation? What happened to those idols? They ended up getting rid of them. They ended up getting rid of the idols. These things happened to them and it was written down for us. Now, Do you believe you've been delivered from the domain of darkness? And get rid of your idols. Seriously, Christians have idols to get rid of. We have idols to get rid of. You have idols to get rid of you don't even know about yet. You got to get rid of some of the ones you know about before he shows you some of the ones you don't know about. but you're not under the authority of darkness, because your sins are forgiven if you're a Christian, because you're redeemed. Christ bought you. God bought you, and he paid the price with his son. and you have been transferred out of the authority, the domain, the dominion of darkness, of the devil, of sin, and transferred in to the inheritance of light. No longer in darkness now you are in light. What is light talking about in scripture? What is light symbolize in scripture? God righteousness truth Freedom God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Everything associated with God is light. You're no longer in darkness, you're now in light. You're now in the kingdom, in the realm, in the rule, in the reign of the son of his love. His beloved son. in whom, in the Son, we have redemption. Purchase. How do we go from one kingdom to the other? We were bought. He purchased us. We have redemption with the forgiveness of sins. Canceling the debt. debt canceled, debt of sin canceled, gone. He's gonna come back to that. He's gonna come around to that. And then he's gonna just, in verse 15, gonna talk about the preeminence of Christ. Comments. Comments, questions, we're stopping here tonight. Going, going. I was just thinking of, man, he says that a lot. The redemption, the forgiveness of sins. I was just thinking, like, isn't that in Ephesians? And I just take it is. Like, the power of that, to believe that. That's the gospel. That's the new covenant. Man, that's, it's strengthening and powering him. Absolutely. I was talking to a brother in Laredo. I was preaching out of Romans and Bacchic on the just shall live by faith and talking about the justification that we have. And I was talking to a brother afterwards. And this is something I hope to, I think I've mentioned it before, and it's something I hope to go to Look up verses that have to do with the return of Christ And see what it produces in the in the saint That can be your homework has nothing to do with really next Next week, but it will be beneficial for you. I promise Look up any verse that you can find use Google use Bible searches and and look up things that have to do with the return of Christ, Christ's return, and what it produces in the Christian, in the church. Jonathan said, hope. It's a motivation. It produces a motivation to do this, to endure, because we're looking We're looking for the fullness of salvation. We're looking for the kingdom of His beloved Son to come fully, tangibly, visibly. The invisible is going to become visible. Christ, who is gone, is going to come back. I don't know. I've thought of that before. I mean, I know what the answer is, but it's like, Christ, the man, a man, not some giant image in the sky, but the man, Christ, Jesus, is coming back. What's that going to look like? Play his final ascent in reverse. best answer I have when he was there with his disciples at the end and axe and you know it was there and he was just taken up out of their sight and they were just sitting there going wow and the angel said what are you doing staring at the sky he's coming back the same way he left the one who bought us, the one who gave his life for us to save us from the domain of darkness, to deliver us, rescue us from the domain of darkness and transfer us into the kingdom of his beloved son. So in the way that we have been translated from the kingdom of darkness and now we are in the kingdom of light, what is the relation to that? Is it synonymous with we are no longer the flesh but we are now the spirit, correct? Yeah, which has to do with realms. Right, right. It has everything to do with this. So, when we were reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, it reminded me about what I read earlier today, and at the beginning of chapter 3, Paul's letting them know, and it's something quick, because I remember Samhita asked this question about two years ago, and I learned something new, because I always thought, okay, well, one minute I'm acting, I did that, and I was out in the flesh. But she's like, no, no, that's not right. You're always spirit. You're in the new realm. And I was like, oh, it blew my mind. So Paul says here in the beginning of chapter 3, and I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. I didn't look at the Greek or anything like that, but do you know why, being that case, the new realm that you're referring to, why he referred to them as fleshly? Behaving in only a human way. Behaving like mere men. like men of this realm, like men of the earth, men still in the domain of darkness. No, they were not. They were not. Yeah. Carnal Christianity is a real thing. There are carnal Christians. There are not Christians that have been, that don't have a new heart. There are no Christians that have not repented and followed Christ and turned to him. But there are disobedient Christians. There are Christians that are still acting like they belong to this earth. That's what he's talking about. Acting like you belong here. Concerned with the things here. And it was evident in them because Well, I'm Paul, I'm of Paulus, I'm of Christ. And they were just, you know, but those three men were in perfect agreement. Peter, Paul, Apollo, where was the discord between them? But somehow They were saying, well, I'm following this person, and I'm following this person. And it brought disunity among them. When they all preached the same gospel, they all taught the same thing. But they were just being prideful. They were acting like people of this earth, in this realm. So yeah, that's what he was saying. Appreciate it. Well, let's pray and be dismissed. Father, we thank you again for your Word. Lord, we thank you for just the ability to come together and gather together like this. Or just talk about Christ. Talk about what You have done. Father, I just want to be biblical and thank You for saving us. For saving me. For taking me out of the rule, the reign, the dominion of this world and living for myself. You transferred me into the Kingdom of Your Son, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Christ. You've forgiven my sins. You've redeemed me, purchased me with the blood, the life of Your Son as You have all the saints here. Lord, we just want to give thanks for that. Lord, help us to live, walk in a manner worthy of our Lord, pleasing Him in every aspect, just in all good deeds. Lord, in all patience and all endurance, Lord, help us to adorn the doctrine of our God. In Jesus' name, amen.