So the Lord has dealt with our heart about this text, and I've tried to get my mind in another direction, and so I don't know that I've ever done this before. And so we have been, back in the fall, we started, early fall, we started preaching out of the book of Colossians with a theme that I wanna address tonight with the Lord's help. But then I'm gonna try to get to just one point of the message. But to do that, I need to kind of run through these chapters just to give you the heading of them. And I've never done this before, so this could be catastrophic, amen, in just a moment, but we'll try to obey the Lord. And as I was thinking about it, I don't know if this is a sermon or a saga, but anyway, we're going to try to give you what the Lord has given to us and be mindful of the evening and the time. So we're in the book of Colossians in chapter number one. We're going to end up in chapter number four as quick as we possibly can. And I'm gonna give you an outline of each chapter, not an outline, but a heading or a theme of each chapter that deals with the subject that we want to address. And I would agree with you that the ones that I will mention in chapter one, chapter two and chapter three probably in our mind would be superior to the one that I feel like the Lord has dealt with our heart about addressing this evening, but that's just the burden of my heart. I promise you, I have tried to focus in another direction, but this is just where the Lord has us for a reason, I believe, tonight. So we are in First Colossians, or we are not in First Colossians, we are in Colossians, there's only one. Let's stand to our feet. We'll read these verses together and pray. Let you be seated. Thank you again for letting me be here again for the good singing. Thank the Lord for this, the atmosphere and the spirit of the service tonight. And thank you again, preacher, for the great message. Colossians 1 verse 9. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will and all the wisdom and spiritual understanding. that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. Father, we thank you for the Word of God. We ask that you would further, Lord, invoke your blessing upon the reading of it, and Lord, the thoughts that you have given us, Lord, to deliver to these folk tonight. I stand where I cannot stand alone. Lord, we plead for your help tonight, your guidance, your direction. I pray that you would feed our hearts and our soul from your Word, that you'd instruct us in righteousness tonight, that we might be thoroughly furnished unto all good works tonight to the glory of God. I pray, Father, that you'd hide us behind the cross, make us a vessel sanctified, meet for the master's use, that we might be pliable in thy hand tonight for this evening's message, and I pray you'd touch us with your power, give us the unction that we need from above, and give us what we need, Lord, for our souls to be strengthened and, Father, established in these days. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You can be seated. I want to try to preach, I guess if I could give this a title tonight, I would just title it, The Preacher's Prayer for God's People. And as we look at these three verses, we see the desire and the heartbeat of the Apostle Paul for these Colossian believers. And so there's a three-fold theme that I want to look at in these three verses, and then we're going to look at each chapter to kind of emphasize the accomplishment or the protocol that this theme can be fulfilled that Paul is praying for these believers. In verse number 9, He says, for this cause also since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will. So I'm interested in that word filled in verse number nine. And then in verse number 10, he says, And I'm interested in that word, walk. And then in verse 11, he says, And I'm interested tonight in that word, strengthen. And so these three words that Paul is praying in the emphasis of his prayer, the desire or the passion of the preacher to see fulfilled in the lives of these believers revolves around them being filled. them walking and them being strengthened. And so I want to give you these three words to outline those three verses and try to give you a little bit of an introduction and try to run to chapter number four with the Lord's help. I believe Paul is praying and Paul's desire for the Colossian believers is that they would be filled, filled with His Spirit. If you're going to be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, you're gonna have to be filled with the Spirit of God. And then he says, follow, or he says, walk worthy of the Lord. If you're going to walk worthy of the Lord, I believe it is imperative, amen, that you follow in his steps. As John tells us, set forth the example, amen, every aspect of the Lord's life, laid out a path and a pattern for you and I to walk. I believe in my experience in reading the Bible and my life experiences as just an individual, I believe everything I've ever faced in life, Somewhere I could find in the way the Lord conducted his life an example, amen, that I should follow in. And then in verse number 11 he says, strengthened with all might. And so I think that the Apostle Paul is praying and the Apostle Paul's desire was that these Colossian believers be fit. be fit for the service of God. So that's the prayer, that's the prayer of the preacher. I believe that every godly man of God, every genuine man of God, has that desire for the people of God. You may wonder why he preaches the way he preaches. Why he says the things he says about certain things that are going on in our world, the course of this world, the direction the world is going. You may, Maybe seem a little bit confused at times because of how heavy he may address a subject, amen, that the world seems to emphasize. And the reason being is he sees the end result. He sees the effect that those things that that are carnally driven in our world and how they will affect your life, whether you're young or whether you're old. And the end result of that preaching, the end result of that desire is that you would be filled, filled with His Spirit, that you would follow in His steps and that you would be fit for his service. So each one of these attributes, I believe, can be attained. I believe if we look at these chapters, what Paul writes after he explains his prayer, and I realize there's a lot of themes that we could draw from the book of Colossians. You may have a different one, but this is just where the Lord has centered my thoughts. and burdened my heart this evening. And so that threefold theme, I believe, is what this book revolves around, that prayer that Paul is praying. Field, follow, fit. And so I believe that when we look at that, we can see in these chapters just exactly what needs to be emphasized in our life, what we need to focus on, what we need to think about if we're truly going to be the fulfillment of the man of God's prayer. Now, he talks about being filled. We could say a lot about that. I don't have time tonight to expound upon the introduction, but he talks about the knowledge of his will, so I believe God wants us to be filled with his will, the knowledge of his will. I believe that he wants us to be filled with wisdom. That word is mentioned in our text in all And so I understand that if we are going to be filled with the knowledge of His will, we need to know something about the grace of God's will. Amen. We need to know something about the guidance of God's will, the globe of God. There's so much that could be said about the will of God. There's not enough preaching in the world that can express found every intricate avenue about the will of God. But each one of us, amen, as the people of God, we should be desiring, we should be thirsting and hungering for knowledge concerning the will of God for our life. And we should want it with wisdom. What is wisdom? Well, simply this, wisdom is just the ability to put knowledge into productivity. You can know a lot of things, but if you can't take that knowledge and accomplish anything, you don't have much wisdom. And so it goes a step further in our text, and it deals with spiritual wisdom. Amen. We can know a lot about cars, a lot about, we were talking to a gentleman about woodworking here just a little while ago. We can talk about all the different vocations that Maybe a representative in this building tonight and you could unveil to me the knowledge that you have about whatever that may be, that focus of your vocation. But we're talking about spiritual wisdom. knowing something about the things of God. That's what we need to be filled with. We can read a lot of verses and we can talk about being filled with God's way, knowing that this spiritual understanding that he's dealing with, and all of this is in these verses, this spiritual understanding is coming to a place in our life where we just simply realize that his ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are beyond our thoughts tonight. And we'll never go far with the Lord in this life if we try to use human logic and common sense when it comes to how we affect and how we allow our life to be lived because we know that God's ways are simply not our ways. We need to allow that to work in our life. We need to be filled with that. God desires that. So the preacher's desire tonight, and you say, well, we're interested in God's desire, but if he's a genuine preacher, he wants you in the will of God. And so that's what the man of God is praying for these believers, that they would be filled with his spirit. That's his desire. And then he prays that they would follow, that they would follow in his steps, that you might walk worthy of the Lord in verse 10. And so we understand that the righteous shall go before him and shall set us in the ways of his steps. Do you walk with God? Do we have a walk with God tonight? Enoch walked with God. Men in this Bible walked with God. Men like Noah living in a generation where every imagination of man's heart was only evil continually, yet here is a man, Noah, that walked with God. You young men, do you walk with God? Do you have a spiritual walk with the Lord? Amen. Not just a walk, but is that walk worthy? He talks about that in these verses, walking worthy of the Lord. And so we understand that the man of God has a desire that we would follow, that we would be worthy, that we would be worth something. Now, everybody should have a spirit of humility, and I understand that tonight. And we would stand, we're just old sinners saved by the grace of God. But I'm gonna tell you, if you are saved by the grace of God, even though we are not worthy, God has counted us worthy. God has made us, amen, a part of his body, and we should desire to honor him and be of value to the work of God. And all that we say and all that we do, our thoughts, our actions, our words, our insinuations, amen, they should please God and they should honor the Lord in our life. And then he talks about work, so we follow him as we walk and in our work, everything that we do, amen. We do it with this wisdom and we do it with this spiritual understanding as we walk with God. And that's the driving force of every real man of God and that is his prayer for the people of God. Then he talks about strength and with all might. Talks about being fit. Amen, being fit for the things of God. And that's an interesting word as we close out the old year and step into the new. Everybody wants to get fit, but you'd be amazed at how many people already have their clothes hung on their treadmill. Just that quick. Amen. But, you know, we want to be fit. We want to be strengthened. That word means established and made strong to do the will of God for our life. And we do it with might, amen, a capable power, an eccentric power, a core, fundamental, basic, essential, a deep-rooted strength and might to do the will of God. Amen. He talks about power in these verses concerning this strength in verse number 11. He talks about patience. He talks about long-suffering. He talks about joyfulness. And that's what the preacher talked about tonight, being grateful, being thankful. That is a result of joy. And we understand that the joy of the Lord is our strength. So here's the preacher's prayer, I hope you got it. The preacher's prayer, and this may sound Sunday schoolish, I don't know, but I'm just doing what the Lord told me to do tonight. But what the man of God is saying is be filled with his spirit, follow in his steps, be fit for his service. How is that prayer answered in my life, preacher? What do I do? What decisions do I make? What priorities do I set in order for my life to exemplify that pattern? Paul unveils that, I believe, in these four chapters. I wanna mention those three and then focus, Lord willing, on the last chapter for just a moment. Again, that prayer to be filled, follow, and fit. Now, as I already said, I realize that some of these could be prioritized, I understand that, but I believe they dovetail together for us to fulfill what God desires in our life. So chapter one deals with the preeminence of Christ. Amen. In Colossians 1 verse 16, for by Him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible, invisible. You're right there, you can look at it. Verse 17, and He is before all things. By Him all things consist. He's the head of the body of the church. In the latter part of verse 18, that He might have the preeminence. So my thought is this, if you're going to be filled, If you're going to follow, if you're going to be fit, He has to be first. Is He? I can't answer that question for you tonight, only you can. But is he first in your life? You look, look in verse 14, in whom? Look in verse 15, who is? Verse 16, for by him. Verse 17, and he is. And verse 18, amen, he says, and he is again. Verse 19, in him. Verse 20, by him and on. I know I'm talking fast, but I gotta get somewhere. Amen, and so in these verses, he is indicating to us that he must be everything. So to be filled and to be follow and to be fit, Jesus must be the focal point of our life, is he? It's easy to get distracted. The devil is a master deceiver, and we preach that, a master at destruction. He is a devourer, we understand that. But I'm gonna tell you something, he's also a distractor. He can get your focus in a different direction. He can let priorities and things in our life get misconstrued and inside out and upside down, and by doing that, amen, we lose sight of who this thing is all about. Amen. So is Christ preeminent in chapter one? Paul emphasizes that he is preeminent in the word of creation, amen, and in the worship of the church. You can preach all that. In the will of the child of God, amen. David said, for in him we live and move and have our being. Is that the reality of our life? I mean, in him, is it all about him? In him, our life and all that we are, is it revolving around the Lordship, the reality of who Christ is. Amen. So chapter one deals with Him being the focal point of all that we are. Is He tonight? Then chapter two deals with the power of salvation. In verse two, or chapter, verse six of chapter two, look at that verse, the Bible said, and ye therefore receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Amen, have you received him? That's imperative. In chapter two, verse nine, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. That completeness is a result of the work of the grace of God in your life, amen, through salvation. Verse 11, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. In verse 10, or in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, in verse 10, you don't have to turn there, he said, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. That is staggering to me. It is overwhelming to think in my mind, Brother Finney, that the life of the Lord Jesus, His life could be manifest in what you are looking at tonight. That's mind boggling. That's overwhelming for my finite mind to comprehend. but the power of salvation that is manifested through the divine nature that God has put within us at the point of repentance and faith and the work of salvation that takes place in the life of the believer enables him, amen, to display the character of a sovereign and a holy God to a world that we're living in. That's a big thing. Peter put it this way. He said, he has given us all things. By that divine nature, we possess all things that pertain unto life and godliness through Jesus. So we don't have any excuse to be worldly. Are we worldly? Sure, all of us have problems with the flesh and the world and temptation, but none of us have any excuse. If we're saved, because dwelling within every born-again believer tonight is a power that can be sourced. There's a strength, amen, that can be utilized to be godly, to be holy. I'm not talking about just a position of holiness in the mind of God because of what Christ, I'm talking about the practicality of living in holy and a godly life. within every born again child of God. The life of Jesus. God dwells within us. God in you. The Spirit of God. The Scriptures written on our heart. I mean, everything that is essential for us to possess, to live godly and holy, and to follow, and to be fit, whatever order you want to put it in, to be filled, amen, to follow the Lord, and to be fit for the work of God. God, amen, it's not you, it's God's power that's working in you. Amen. Then chapter three, we get, and there's so much that could be said. So much, amen, that could be expounded upon. But in chapter number three, he deals with personal sanctification. So if you're gonna fulfill the answer, be the answer to the preacher's prayer, and he should be praying for you, and you should have a desire, if his desires are right, to experience these biblical truths and realities as you live your life in this world. So with that being said tonight, man, you have to make Him preeminent. You have to understand that this life cannot be lived without the source of power that God grants in salvation. Well, I'd get saved if I thought I could live it. You'll never get saved. Because you're not gonna live it until you get saved. Because it's impossible to manifest the life of the Lord Jesus outside of the saving grace of God. And Paul made that clear. He said that Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. And that power enables us, amen, to express the life of the Lord Jesus. Then he talks about, in chapter three, personal sanctification. Now, That can get pretty tough in this world that we're living in. Not much ever said about that. That word's not used much. You didn't use it today, I'm sure. In your vocabulary, as you talk to folk throughout the day, doubt you used that word, sanctification. But it's a Bible word. Very important Bible word. In chapter three, amen, that's what is addressed. And the motivation for that sanctification, the motivation, you know what it means? Do we even have an idea of what this word sanctification means? It means set apart. That's not all it means. It means set apart for a purpose. You see, we preach a lot about separation. That's a good Bible doctrine. Amen. But that's not what sanctification is, even though it involves separation. It's not completely what it means. See, you can be separated and not be spiritual. Amen? You see, you may not do a lot of things, you may not have a lot of things, and you may not go a lot of places, and you might have a good, godly, biblical reason for that to be a practice or not a practice in your life. That's not gonna make you spiritual. Just gonna keep you from being carnal. But not being carnal doesn't mean you're spiritual. I mean, we could march up, we could march an Islamic individual in here, and I guarantee nobody, no woman in this building is as separated as they are. But you wouldn't say they're spiritual. Would you? I'm surrounded by Amish where I live. I mean, two different groups. One group, they can't even have a covered buggy. They're so separated. They can't even have rubber on the tires. Now, the crowd that lives around me, they got gas lights and drive skid steers and have drones and all kind of stuff. Now, they can't have pockets on their pants. One of my men was one of them on the side of the road, because they got another bishop in there. He was on the side of the road, had an army shell on the side. This looks weird. On the side of the road with a box cutter, cutting the pockets off the back of his pants, so the bishop wouldn't see it. They're not spiritual. Independent Baptist sometimes have made a God out of separation. And I believe in separation. I believe in living for God. Amen. I ain't had a television in 40 years. That don't make me spiritual. Keeps me from being a little bit carnival. Now we carry one in our pocket. I don't have mine. My wife's got mine. But we carry them in our pocket now. Don't get... Amen. Don't die on me. But that's not gonna... Listen, I don't care what you believe God wants you to do or what God wants you to stay away from. That's all good. Make sure it has a spiritual purpose. And I'm not preaching on sanctification. I could easily get hung up here, and we truly would turn this into a saga if I got hung up here tonight. But he says in verse 5 of Colossians 3, mortified therefore your members which are upon the earth. And he starts listing all these sins. I've preached them at Pleasantview, and I'm not preaching all those things tonight. The preacher takes care of that. But there's a motivating phrase that we see in this chapter that is opening up to us about personal sanctification. this, if ye then be risen with Christ. That's the key. You have to be risen with Christ. And when we are risen with Christ, we have a thirst and a hunger and a desire to deal with the carnality in our life, but we deal with it because we want to be sanctified and we want to have our life in such an order that we would be filled with the knowledge of His will, that we would walk worthy of the Lord and that we would be strengthened with all might. THAT WE WOULD BE FILLED AND THAT WE WOULD FOLLOW AND THAT WE WOULD BE FIT. THAT'S WHAT MY DESIRE IS. IS THAT YOUR HEART TONIGHT? THAT HEART'S NOT THERE. IF IT'S ALL ABOUT RULE, WELL, BROTHER, THE LORD'S ALWAYS HARPING ABOUT THIS. WHY IS HE HARPING ABOUT THIS? AND WHY IS HE ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES IN OUR LIVES AND IN OUR FAMILY'S LIVES? IF YE THEN BE RISEN WITH CHRIST. That's a key. There's some words about this, I'll just mention them and then we'll go on. They can be preached, verse one. If you're gonna, if you're gonna, let me just say this about personal sanctification, and here's where we have a problem. We have an attitude that God has to do everything for us. You know when, that's a wilderness life. Depending on God to do everything for you. See, in the wilderness, they didn't have, food was provided in the wilderness. Manna fell out of heaven, right? They didn't have to worry about clothes. God took care, it was a welfare religion in the wilderness. That's right. Food, stamps, cheese, the whole nine yards in the wilderness life. That's how they lived. But there was something missing. All they were doing in the wilderness were walking in circles looking for a place to die. That's a pathetic way to live. But when they crossed, as far as I know, you correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know, Brother Finney, you may know, but I haven't found a battle they lost in the wilderness. I don't know of one. But when they crossed that river, they got whipped. The food chain, all the stamps and the checks quit. But they had something that they didn't have in the wilderness and that was a purpose to be alive. They had a reason to live. They just wasn't walking in circles looking for a place to lay down and die. They had something, amen, to live for. God had given them something. That's a message within itself. but personal sanctification is a responsibility that we embrace and that we hold, amen, as we add to our faith, amen. We have to nurture and work and labor, amen, to strengthen our faith, and we just don't lay all that on the Lord. He says, mortify, that's your responsibility. So here's how he says to do it, and I'm not preaching this, I don't think, amen. He says, verse one, seek. Verse one of chapter three, are you with me? Seek those things which are above. That word means to look after, to strive, to find, to search. You looking for anything that has a heavenly nature? Amen, he says, seek those things which, and this, I don't have time to get tied up here, but he says, seek those things, amen, which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. There's a lot connected to what's on the right hand of God. Amen, I could preach about that. Amen, are you seeking what's on the right hand of God? You know what's on the right hand of God? The rule of God is, he's the Lord. Are you seeking his Lordship? You know what's on the right hand of God? You can go to the book of Acts, you'll find out that the word repentance in the book of Acts is connected with the fact that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. You got the ability. If you come in this building tonight with sin in your life, Unconfess it. The only way you can get right with God is knowing that you have an intercessor that is seated at the right hand of God. And you can be right with God. You can find a place and a position of living your life in this world, amen, righteous in the sight of God through the imputed righteousness of Christ simply because, are you seeking that? Personal sanctification's result Then in verse two, the word set is used. Set your affections on things above. That word is an interesting word. Has various and diverse ways of looking at it. A precious stone is set in a piece of jewelry. A story is set or happens in a particular place. The setting of this story. A table is set. You ladies do that for a meal that's provided. Lyrics, lyrics are set to music. A ship sets sail. There's just so many ways to look at that word that apply spiritually, amen, to this thing of sanctification, to think or to have a mindset or to have an active representation of this word. It involves the will and the affections. Is your will, are you setting your will and your desires on things above? We've got real earthly. And we have gotten really worldly minded in this generation. I'm not preaching about that. But, man, personal sanctification is a key factor. It's imperative. If we're going to be filled, if we're going to follow, and if we're going to be fit. Then the last one is verse three in chapter three, and you can preach this. He says, it's not the last one, but in verse three, he says, for you're dead and your life is hid with Christ and God. So you got seek, you got set, verse three, you got stop. Just stop, just quit, don't do it no more. What's so complicated about that? How many times has pastors sat down with people, I'm facing, you know, I'm having a problem with this sin. And we try to be, you know, biblical and scriptural and compassionate and talking with people about different issues and situations that they're dealing with concerning sin. What's the matter with this sin? Stop, just quit, don't do it no more. You're dead, dead people don't do nothing. They ain't talking, they ain't saying nothing bad, they ain't going to the honky-tonks. Dead people are dead. And we are dead, the carnality of our life, amen, when we are personally responsible for this thing of sanctification from a biblical perspective, practically speaking, we are dead and our life is wrapped up in the life of the resurrected Savior. Just stop. Just stop. The way you emphasize that further is just see in verse four, when Christ who is our life shall appear. You see, folks that look for him, live for him. This is probably, in our mind and in my mind as a preacher would be, the most insignificant of the three, all of them very significant, this is very significant, but if you were going to prioritize these thoughts, chapter four that I'm gonna look at, and part of chapter three, just for a few more minutes, would probably be, would probably be the, I guess the lesser of the four. So here's what we see. If you're going to fulfill this prayer that Paul is praying, and maybe this should be a series of sorts, I don't know, but you know, Jesus has got to be preeminent in you young folks' lives and adults, but you young people, you need to make him a priority. Amen, and then in chapter number two, you need to understand you can't do this in and of yourself. You have to tap into the power of salvation that is manifested in your life through the grace of God that you experienced when you were saved. Then in chapter number three, you have to understand that you have a responsibility personally concerning this thing of sanctification. We know there's a position of sanctification in what God does for us when he saves us. He is conforming us to the image of the Lord Jesus, and that is a predestinated plan that no child of God is going to escape one way or the other, for sure. But then in chapter four, Paul introduces to, and the latter part of chapter number three, Paul starts talking about people, people, a lot of people, a lot of names, a lot of positions and places that those people are involved in. And so if you're going to be filled, if you're going to follow, if you're going to be fit, You young men, young ladies need to hear this especially. You need to make sure that the people that occupy your time and manipulate much of your life need to be people that are serving. Who is around you? Who occupies a measure of your time? You think about that for a moment. And then ask yourself this question, does that person or that individual or group of individuals, do they aid me, help me, guide me, direct me to be filled, to follow, to be fit? Flip that around. Do you as an individual. Aid those people that you are around. Help them and nurture them and guide them down the path for them to be filled, to follow, and to be fed. People that serve. You see, the church is a group of believers. The Bible calls it a body, a building, a brotherhood, soldiers. We're a temple, a priesthood. All those metaphors and representations that is described to us in the scripture that unveils to us different aspects of the church and its existence in our world has one common thing, unity, oneness. We are just simply together. By that, the people we are around can aid us and help us. or they can be a detriment. Remember that Paul said evil communications corrupt good manners. This verse is sobering. It's a reminder that people closest to you are either helping you out with Christ, or they are slowly pulling you away from Him. What you constantly hear, what you laugh at, what you agree with, will eventually shape what you love, what you excuse, and what you do. I don't know why I'm preaching this. It don't sound like a Jubilee message to me at all. But I promise you, if we want to see the power of God move in this day, we're going to have to get empty of some things and get filled with what's relevant. We're gonna have to quit following the course of this world. I heard your preacher preach here just listening over the last few weeks, and he made mention that I may not have, I think he made it this way, and I've said this, I don't know how many times, may not have a Bible verse that says something about, what was it, skinny jeans or something? I think you said that. I'm not saying that worldwide internet, he said it. I've said it, but you'll have to look at mine to find out. Not a verse in the Bible about that. It's the course of the world. is the direction the world's going. And everybody in the building is affected by that. Nobody come in here with vague old wide lapels. I mean, I used to wear, we people used to wear ties. I could make a pair of pants out of that. We're not, we're all manipulated by things in this world to some degree, but you better be careful, all of us. You see, what entertains you and your friends will soon be tolerated in your life. Amen. There's a glass of water at the church the other night when I was preaching this thought, and I said, I pulled out a pen, and I said, that glass of water's clear, you know, it looks pure. I said, you take one drop out of this ink pen and put it in that full glass of water, and that water does not purify that drop of ink. That drop of ink is going to corrupt and discolor all of that water. Just a little leaven's all it takes to leaven the lump. So you need to understand how relevant that is. So I'm gonna give you these quickly. And I'm not gonna preach them, I'm just gonna let you think about them, all right? So people in our lives, the first category of people is found in chapter three and verse number 18. people that are in their place. I'm just gonna give you these. This is the message, but I think you can add two and two to that spiritually, biblically. He said in verse five, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. The first category of people that's going to aid you and that you are going to aid, to be filled, to follow, and to be fit are people that are in their place. Now, we could probably sing a verse of Silent Night on verse 18. Most people don't wanna hear that, right? But it's fit. You understand, you ladies understand your demeanor, who you are and what you are in the home. It is either aiding your husband or aiding your children to fulfill the prayer of the Apostle Paul, or it is a great hindrance. It revolves around your submissive spirit. Fit. When I preach these thoughts, I had kind of a redneck outline. The first one was Don't be a blister. Things that don't fit rub blisters. Think about that for a while. Then verse 19 says, husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them. Don't be a blister, don't be bitter. Husbands, love your wives. Do you love your wife? Do you really love your wife? I could probably get it real quiet in here. Do you really love your wife? Do you love her as Christ loved the church? He became rich, or he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich. Boy, that unlocked starch out of a meeting. You love her that much? Christ became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich. If I went up to you and I asked you about your wife, you said, my wife's good to me, preacher. She cooks my breakfast, she irons my clothes, she takes care of us, she's been good, a good mother to our children and she loves me and she does a lot for me. I'm telling you, she is an amazing woman. I said, why does she do all that stuff? Why in the world would she, you know, wash your dirty clothes and iron them and make sure you're fed properly and clean? Why does she do all that? Well, preacher, she just loves me. That sounds good, just ain't biblical. Because you see, the love of Christ constraineth us. Not our love for Him, because our love for Him, it gets, man, it gets in trouble quick. But His love for us at the end of a day of falling into temptation and being another failure in fulfilling the will of God, amen, we'll get off by ourselves sometimes and all of a sudden in our backslidden carnal state we'll realize what the Lord done for us, amen. And all of a sudden we'll get grateful and thankful because of His love for us. Amen. We'll start doing what we're supposed to be doing for Him. You men listening to me? If you're in your place, I mean, can she pray? Does she have a heart to live for God and to serve the Lord and to honor God with her life simply because of the husband you are? People in their place, That's not all it's children. Obey your parents in the Lord. You kids listening? For this is well pleasing unto the Lord. So don't be a blister. Don't be bitter. Don't be a brat. Do you realize, you little ones right here on the front row, the way you conduct yourself in the home The way you act, the way you obey, the spirit that you young men have towards your mom and your dad affects them and their ability to serve the Lord. You give an account for that as a child. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. That in the Lord's in there for a reason because it affects the entire lordship and the spiritual life of a parent. So there ain't nobody exempt in this building, amen. Every woman, every man, every child, when they are in their place, it aids the entire body and gives it the ability, amen, to be filled and to follow and to be fit. That's what we're longing for. People in their place. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger. Another place, provoke them not to provoke them. Boy, this eats me alive right here, because I had a construction company. My son worked with me. Amen. I was pretty rough. My boy and my son-in-law owns that company now, and they built, and they had a boy in the church working for them, and Travis is, you know, he's telling them what to do, and he's just a little guy and very quiet. You wouldn't think of that, but he's kind of, he's rough. Let's put it that way. One of them said, man, I just don't have no respect for you. He said, do you have respect for my daddy? He said, why sure I do. He said, you wouldn't if you worked for him. So it's real easy to get that masculine attitude and that demanding spirit. And if we're not careful, we'll start saying, just do it cause I said to. Well, that might be okay every now and again, but they need to be able to discern and establish a reason for it. Or you'll start provoking, agitating, and you will hinder your child from being what they ought to be for the Lord. People in their place. Amen. Servants, verse 22, chapter, servants obey in all things your masters. It's not slavery. It's talking about, amen, if it was slavery, verse one of chapter four would be out of the picture, masters give unto your servants that which is just and equal. So it's not slavery, as we know it. He's talking about, amen, people that are laboring and that are working in a vocational setting. He said servants obey. So here's my outline, my little redneck outline, if I can call it that. Don't be a blister, don't be bitter, don't be a brat, amen, and don't be just belligerent, and don't be a bum. Servants. Obey. You work for somebody? They should be thrilled to pay you at the end of the week for what you've accomplished. That man may be saved, he may not be saved, but how you work for him is going to determine what kind of man he is if he is saved. It will have an effect on him. Then he talks about the fairness of the masters in verse 1. and I'm not going to preach about all that. I'm just saying tonight that if you're going to let this reality become a reality in your life and you're going to aid that, make sure you let the majority of the people in your life that manipulate your time be people that are in their place. Now, the question is, are you in your place? Because this works, this dovetails together. So not only people in their place, and I'm just gonna give you this and go. Verse two and four of chapter four, people that pray. Are you around people that genuinely pray? When I say anything about prayer, I always say it this way, three questions. Do you pray? That's a good question. Do you pray? The next question is, when do you pray? Only you can answer that question. Are you answering it in your mind? Do you pray? When do you pray? Then the third question is, where do you pray? All those are biblical. Do you pray? Pray without ceasing. When do you pray? David said morning, evening, and noon. Well, I pray and cry aloud. Where do you pray? Enter into your closet. Now, here's what we've done, and I'm not being critical. You can pray anywhere. You can be sinking in the ocean, just like Peter was, and cry out to God. But Abraham had an altar. We've lost ours in this generation. Well, preacher, I'm gonna pray while I'm on the treadmill. And you can pray on the treadmill. Well, preacher, I do my praying while I'm driving to work. You can pray when you're driving to work. No question about it. Well, I pray while I'm doing this. It's getting quiet in here. I pray when I do that. I pray when this. I pray, I pray, I pray when. I pray when I do. I pray when I do. I pray when I do. Whatever happened to when we just pray? I got ladies in my church that I can bring in this building, and they remember distinctly walking in the parking lot of the old building at Pleasure View Baptist Church when they had a prophet's chamber down there in the fellowship hall. I've sat and heard them talk about hearing Miss Loretta praying along with God in that old building, calling on the Lord. We've lost that altar. We need to get it back tonight. People that pray. I can talk about prayer. He says, pray always. Verse 2, pray alert. Watch and pray. Amen, pray alert, understanding temptation and time. Pray appreciative, the preacher's already preached about that. Pray in accord, pray in agreement. Have some people that you agree with and pray in verse three and five for availing, have an availing, have a fervent prayer life. Do you pray? Your prayer life is aiding someone else. And people that you are around, that you have confidence, I have people come and say, I've been praying for you. Brother Johnny Jones, one of my friends, we hunt together every year, him and Brother Terry Norris, we go out west every year. And Brother Johnny can use that to manipulate you, praying. He prays, he gets up about four o'clock in the morning, sitting in a chair in there and he's just, he's praying. And he called me and said, here's how he answers the phone, Jesus saves. I need you to come and preach for me. I want you to start on Sunday. I can't start on Sunday. I've got to pastor a church. I pray for you every day. What do you say to a man that says that? I'll be there on Sunday. Do you pray? I'm going to tell you what will transform your life and transform the lives of the people you're around is if y'all will learn to pray together. Verse five, people on a path, walk in wisdom. I'm not gonna get through all this, I'm just gonna quit. Amen, you should live filled, following and fit because of the path that those around you are traveling in verse five. They are without in verse five. And those people that are without need somebody filled, they need somebody following. They need somebody fit. So you walk in wisdom toward them. They're without the grace and the goodness of God. You need to redeem the time. So much could be said. Then he begins to list a group of names in these verses. Tychicus in verse 7. Are you there? You see it? Tychicus in verse 7. That word means, that name means plain spoken or pointed. You need people like that in your life. that will just tell you the truth and not worry about your feelings. They'll help you. He trusted, if you look in verse 7 and following, he trusted him to tell the truth and not add his own ideas or twist it about what he was doing. Onesimus people that are profitable. That's what his name means. You know that. You preach it. I'm sure men means profitable or useful. Onesimus, we know, was a runaway slave, but he ended up being... You need people around you that are profitable to your walk with God. Verse 9, he talks about Onesimus. In verse 10, he talks about Aristarchus. That means ruler. He was a best ruler. He was a person that was persistent. He had leadership abilities, which is a key factor in choosing your friend. Have some people that just, they know what they're doing and they know where they're going and they have, they're not indecisive. They have some leadership qualities that all this could be said. I'm just trying to give it to you to kind of just help us understand the kind of people that we need in our lives. He was alongside Paul there in the storm. All the time you see Paul, you see this man, don't know much about him. He just was a leader. Marcus, his name means a defense. I mean, you need some people that are protective in your life. Preacher needs that. Now, he said, I can take care of myself. But I'm just telling you, out in this world, you need to learn what it means to defend the right. Mark, or then Justice, Jesus Justice, he was a man, his name means comfort. And so I call this man a man with a purpose, he had a commission, he was comforting to the work of God, to the apostle Paul. On and on and on, these names. Verse 12, his name means passionate. Verse 14, we see Luke, his name means light giving. Have some people around you that have some spiritual perception, leadership. I'm saying all this just to say, people bring something to the table of your spiritual life. Don't forget that. But understand that while people bring something to the table of your spiritual life, you bring a dish as well. What are you bringing? Iron sharpeneth iron. So I know this has been a smorgasbord to say the least, and I hope it's come across in the right way. The Lord maybe has helped us. But that's the prayer of the Apostle Paul. Should be the desire of every person in the building. to be filled, to be followed, to fit. People affect you. I'm done. Preacher's gonna come. We were reminiscing at the dinner table with Ms. Loretta, Ms. Kim. We were talking about people that's just simply been a part of our life. We can laugh about things that happen. But Miss Loretta, the reality of it is, is we reminisce about them and laugh about them because of the impact they had in our lives spiritually. Brother Finney, it's been 40 years ago, but I remember it sitting in the chapel. What do these feeble Jews? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they go up on that wall and come down? Will they build a wall? Brother Phoenix said, yes, they will. I don't know if you remember it, but I remember it. He preached his graduation sermon. I never have forgot that. I'm saying people affect us. And you affect people. And the preacher has a desire, and it's a godly desire. It's a biblical desire. And I trust we all have a desire to see that fulfilled.