It's not just particular, it's not just what he's saying, but if you would also pay attention to what he's doing and saying these things. So in verse three, he's praying and then four through eight give this section on thankfulness. It's not as if Paul is just simply talking about his prayers. All right. And then he gets to verse 13 and he suddenly decides, oh, I need to be instructing these people. So I'll start into a section of instruction. That's not. Faithful. Who also declared to us your love in the spirit. We know that Paul did not personally Certainly, at the time of this letter, Paul had not personally visited the church. Paul is relying upon a report that is brought to him by this man that he identifies as a papyrus. You'll see in verse seven there. He gets this report, he says, verse eight, who also declared to us your love in the spirit. So the things that Paul knows about this congregation and Colossi, he knows from this report that's been brought to him. Now a papyrus is a gifted man and from the evidence that we can gather from the scripture we can say that he may have been gifted as an evangelist like Timothy. Paul does call a papyrus you'll notice here he calls him a fellow servant and a faithful minister. Well these are also descriptions that Paul had used to describe Timothy. What was wrong with his role was a papyrus is wrong. Well, he may have been functioning as a church planter. We read in verse seven that it is a papyrus who is the one who, I think, founded the church in Colossae. As Paul says, as you speak into the Colossians, you also learn. That is, you learned the gospel. You heard the gospel. You learn from a papyrus our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf. So in verse six when Paul is describing this gospel that they heard and knew. Well how is it they heard this gospel will we see that it is a papyrus it is by his preaching that they heard the gospel. So it may have been a papyrus that founded the church and planted the church there in that in that city. He's a fellow servant and a faithful minister. The Colossians have heard the gospel through his preaching. So what can we say just from this little bit of information? Well, I think we can say this, that Epaphras is an elder qualified man. He is a man who has proven his faithfulness and his giftedness, certainly to the effect that Paul himself is confident. Paul is confident in Epaphras to the point of calling him a fellow servant. The Apostle Paul looks at the ministry, the preaching ministry of Epaphras and says he is a faithful minister of Christ. All right. Now, Epaphras may have been a church planter. He may have been an elder in Colossae, if you look in chapter four. In verse 12, his name appears again here in these final greetings that Paul is giving notice in verse 12, he says, Epaphras, who is one of you. All right, so he may have. What is that reference? Well, he may have just simply come from Colossi, but he may have been working as an elder in Colossi. He is one of you, Paul says, a bondservant of Christ greets you always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you and those who are in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis. So you see that. The the Saints in Colossi are not the only Saints who are familiar with Epaphras. Epaphras sends his greetings, but he also sends his greetings to those in Laodicea and to those in Heropolis. He bears a great zeal for the Saints in this whole region. So he may have been a church planter. He may have been responsible for planting churches in those in those other cities, including Laodicea. That would later get a letter in the Book of Revelation. So Paul is not personally visited this congregation. He may have traveled through Colossi. That's certainly very possible, in fact, very likely, but he himself has not seen their faces. So he receives a report and that's how he that's the information that he's working with. Now, you notice now the things that Paul expresses thankfulness, the things for which he gives thanks. Again, in verse three, we give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. And those are the things that he lists that these are the things that Epaphras has mentioned. Some of the things that he's mentioned, Paul has heard them and he's thankful for hearing a report of these things in this congregation. Verse four, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. Paul's not just simply saying that he's praying for them. He's telling them how he's praying for them and in doing so is instructing them, I believe, on how they are to structure and exercise their own thankfulness, not just listening to Paul and how he prays. He is teaching them and he is reminding them by his own example of how to think about the gospel. He mentions these three things, if you'll notice again, he has heard of their faith. He has heard of their love. And he's heard of their hope. Does that sound familiar? I think you may have read someplace else. He is reminding them of the gospel in this three part summary. Paul is in this expression of thanks he is giving them A reminder of how to think about their own salvation. And the fruits of it, and it's all in the context of humble thankfulness. Notice how he begins his prayer. We give thanks to who for these things that we have heard. We give thanks to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul is saying this. I thank the father. For your faith. Epaphras has brought me a report of how you and Colossae are entrusting yourselves to Christ. And I thank the Father for your faith, for that is where it begins, does it not? Faith in Christ. Paul then says, I thank the Father for your faith producing love. Since we've heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all of the saints, where does this kind of love come from? Is it not proceeding from their faith in Christ? And they're believing His word and His instruction to them. I thank the Father for your faith. And for your faith producing love. For the love that you have to Christ and how that now is producing and welling up in you this love for your brothers and sisters in Christ. And I thank the Father for your faith And love, but notice what Paul here says next, verse five, because. I have heard of these things and I'm very thankful to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ for your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints, these two things they have. They are being exercised in this congregation, Colossi, because of hope, because of what kind of hope? Because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. I thank the Father for your faith. And for the love that proceeds and is nourished by this kind of faith, faith in Christ. I thank the Lord for this hope. This hope that is strengthening and nourishing and sustaining this faith and love that you have this hope that you have in the gospel. Paul has heard a report from a pastor that there is this gospel expectation and Colossi. There is this gospel expectation that all true believers have. There is this assurance that they have in the truth of God's promise. And what does this hope in the things that God has revealed to them? What does this hope produce? What is this hope or rather a better way to put it? What is this hope? sustaining and strengthening and undergirding. Their faith, so they have faith in Christ and their faith may start out weak, but it is strengthened by the promises that God has given them and their assurance in those promises. You see the three things that Paul is thankful for. He is, in the very beginning, reminding them of what the gospel is in short summary form. Now, knowing what you know about the letter to the Colossians and about that congregation, do you think that might be important? But this group of people need from the very beginning, a basic reminder of what is the gospel that they need to be reminded of how to think properly about their salvation. And about the hope that they have and about their love for one another, all three of these things are being attacked. by the influence that's working in this congregation. So you see what Paul's doing, Paul's very, very efficient. Paul's not wasting any time and he's not wasting any words. He's not just simply saying, I'm praying for you, but listen carefully to how Paul prays for them. Listen carefully to the specifics of his thankfulness. Even in that he is instructing them so that they are to Read these words in this letter when it's delivered to them, and the intention is that they stop and think about. How are we thinking about these things? Paul is very thankful for them. What is our response? How are we thinking about these things? So he's reminding them of their own salvation, and by saying this, we give thanks to God. Paul is reminding them in summary form that this gospel that they have heard from the preaching of a path is a gospel of grace. Why is it that they have any faith at all? Why is it? How is it possible that a path can come from this first century city to Rome, bringing a report with him to Paul and say, there are people in this city and they have faith in Christ. How in the world is that even possible? It's a gospel of grace. We give thanks to God. We hear because we have heard of your faith. How is it? How is it possible that there would be love? That there would be anybody in that city. Who would be loving their brother or sister in Christ? As they should be, that there would be hope in the gospel. Confidence in God's promises this gospel expectation of God's faithfulness. How in the world is that possible? It's a gospel of grace. We thank God for these things. Well, given today's weather, I couldn't leave tonight without having a quote about rain. So here's Spurgeon. He makes a comparison. This comes from his Spurgeon's sermon notes, which was compiled by someone else. Here's a comparison that Spurgeon makes between rain and grace. He says the rain gives joy to the seeds and plants in which there is life. Budding life knows of it, the tenderest herb rejoices in it. So is it with those who begin to repent, who feebly believe and thus are just alive. The rain causes development. Grace also perfects grace. Buds of hope grow into strong faith. Buds of feeling expand into love. Buds of desire rise to resolve. Buds of confession come to open a vowel. Buds of usefulness swell into fruit. Grace upon grace, it's all about His grace that we enjoy any of these things. God pouring out His grace even upon certainly would be the condition here in Colossae, even upon feeble believers. So that so that Paul can hear this report and he gives thanks to God. For God has been very generous with these people. God has been very kind. We shouldn't expect this kind of a report from anywhere from anywhere in the world. Is it not amazing to us that Paul can express this kind of things we can learn from Paul? how to shape our own thankfulness by seeing what he is thankful for. When you look at this, you see that Paul has a priority in the thankfulness that he expresses. You see that there's a priority or there's there's things that that he considers very important or very valuable. He is thankful for what of all of the things that Paul could be thankful for. Where does he start? Where does he lead them in this instructive description of his prayer? Paul is thankful for what? for the gospel and he's thankful for the gospel working in them. And the fruits of the gospel being seen in them. The concept of priority, this is an important one for the Christian. Every one of you has a system of value, even if you've never written it down on a piece of paper, every one of you has a system of way or a way of determining what's more valuable than something else. Well, what is it about Paul's system of evaluation that we can learn from how Paul gives thanks? What kind of things have you given thanks for today? It will reveal something about what you think to be most valuable. It can be very revealing. One mark of the Christian is that the one who is a true disciple of Christ has this mark upon his or her character. There is this new system of evaluation. One of the marks of a Christian is that you go out into this field and you find what you find this treasure. And what are you willing to do to have that treasure? You find this pearl of great price, what are you willing to do? What does the kingdom what is the kingdom member willing to do for this treasure, for this pearl of great price and why? There's this new system of evaluation. That is at work in the heart of a believer. You see how Paul has a system of priority or evaluation in his expressions of thankfulness. This is very helpful to us. What kind of things do you spend your day throughout the day giving thanks for? Now, is it OK to be thankful to the Lord for the rain? Absolutely. He sends that to us and he sustains us. Even in his wisdom, he sends What we might think is overwhelming rain, but it's all in his wisdom. All in his perfect wisdom, even in that we can thank God for his wisdom. What kind of things do we thank God for? It's OK to thank God for the rain. I. Was it last night? Yeah, last night I got home a little bit later than usual from a meeting and it was pouring down rain and I pulled into my driveway and I said, thank you, Lord, for getting me home safely. And then I thought, thank you, Lord, for a good roof on my house because it was raining so hard. Is it OK to thank God for smaller things or temporary things? I think that's very appropriate to thank God for all of these things that he's provided for us. But in looking at this kind of list, it probes my own heart and I have to ask myself, is that the extent of my thankfulness? When I do offer thanks to my Lord for his care of me. Is that the extent of it? Is it only does it extend only to these kinds of temporary things? Or is is it true for me that throughout the day I'm I'm taken up in an exercise of thankfulness, not just for my food and for protection from the rain, but I'm taken up with thankfulness for the gospel. Regardless of the circumstances, I'm thankful for the gospel and the fruit of the gospel in my life and the fruit of the gospel in my church. Am I thankful for those kinds of things? Do I think about the love that I see among my brothers and sisters in Christ? Do I think about that? Do I think of examples where someone's been patient with someone else or long suffering? I'm thankful for love. That flows from faith in Christ. So it probes my own heart to think about what is my system of evaluation, what do I think of as the most valuable? Paul reveals what he holds to be truly valuable. Now, this is not a complete discussion of Paul's system of evaluation, but I think it is very revealing of all the things that Paul could express thanks for. To God, he gives thanks for the gospel and for the working of the gospel in their lives. He gives thanks for their faith in Christ, for their love for one another, for the hope that they have in the gospel and founded there. Think about your own gratitude for the graces of God in your life. What is it today that you have expressed thankfulness for? For the for the lesser things, temporary things, that's fine. We ought to do that. Well, is that just the extent of it, though? Have you stopped today to think about how amazing it is that you have faith in Christ? That I believe His Word? Think about how amazing that is and stop and give thanks for that. That there would be any inclination or desire in my heart to love someone else besides myself. Do I see a little bit of that in me? Thank you, Father, for the work that you're doing. Thank you for giving to me, sharing with me of your spirit. Thank you. Is there do I see hope within me? And the gospel. Is that the direction that I'm facing? Thank you, Father. Thank you for the work that you're doing with me. Well. I think we can ask this question next, and why does Paul mention these three specific things? Well, as I have already said, I think Paul is just simply in summary form preaching the gospel to them. That's what's found in this summary. He is summarizing the good news. There are a lot of examples of this what's what some people call this triad of grace. Let me give you a couple of examples. Listen in Romans at the opening of Romans five. Listen for the summary of the gospel using these same terms, just listen for this. Paul says this, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character and character hope. Now, hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts. By the Holy Spirit, who was given to us, did you hear those three faith, love and hope? And again, when Paul writes to the Corinthians, we heard this mentioned this past Lord's Day, Paul will say, and now abide what three things. Now, abide these three faith, hope and love, he'll write to the Thessalonians and he'll say this. This is first Thessalonians one. He says in his introduction to them, he says, we give thanks to God. Always for you all making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope. That is the the endurance of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ and the sight of our God and father. Again, he is giving a summary of the gospel again in First Thessalonians five, therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk or drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. And again, in Ephesians four at the opening of that chapter, Paul were right to them, saying, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. That is, according to the gospel which was preached to you. So he says. With all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace, there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is above all and through all. And you hear those three things again as he gives the summary of what the gospel is. In the summary of the working of the gospel in them. Faith, hope and love. The Colossians need this reminder. These are the very things that are being attacked by the false teaching and the influence that they have come under the Colossians need this reminder, because this is the gospel which was first preached to them by a path for us. That this is what they need to return to in their thinking. Is it possible that now some of these Christians and Colossians are now doubting Epaphras. Is it possible that some of them are now forgetting or straying from the gospel that Epaphras preached to them? The gospel that Epaphras preached is the same gospel that Paul preaches. Paul is giving his endorsement to Epaphras when he says of him, he is our dear fellow servant. Epaphras is a faithful minister of Christ. He is the one who first preached the gospel to you. And what is the Apostle Paul's opinion of the ministry of Epaphras? He's faithful. The gospel that Paul is giving in summary form through his expression of thankfulness is the same gospel that Epaphras preached to them. This is where they need to return to. Paul gives this endorsement of Epaphras for the point of not not puffing up Epaphras. but for the point of redirecting the Colossians to the truth, to the gospel that they have heard preached. That, I think, is one of the reasons why Paul mentions these three things in summary form. But there's two more reasons that I think are working here, as Paul mentions these things. And I think these two other things, given the context of the letter. Of this false teaching, which is beginning to creep into the Colossian congregation, This false teaching, which is challenging the sufficiency of Christ. And if Christ somehow is a little less than sufficient, then there must be some addition that's made right through some sort of regulation. Don't touch, don't taste, don't handle. You've got to make up the lack. So here's another reason why Paul is giving these these basic reminders, that is, the gospel can encourage the discouraged. You think it's possible. That there was a tender hearted Christian in this congregation. And they began to hear some of these these other influences being whispered around and perhaps openly taught in the congregation. And I began to consider how they themselves might be required to add something. There are these regulations that they're hearing about dietary regulations and other things that they were allowed to taste and not taste and other things. But they're tender hearted and they know themselves. And they try their best to engage and to follow these rules. And they still know themselves and they know their sins. And what's the result going to be for that kind of a Christian and Colossians coming under the influence of this teaching? Do you think they're going to be discouraged? They try and try and try and what do they see at the end of the day? All they still see is sin. All they still see and are very sensitive to is their own lack of holiness, despite all their best efforts to keep these new rules. You see how this basic reminder, I thank God for your faith. I thank God, the Father, for your love and for your hope. Do you see how that might be very, very encouraging to a Christian like that? To remember the truth. To meditate upon what is praiseworthy. For a Christian who had been laboring under a false spiritual standard. That would have been most definitely discouraging to the most tender hearted of them. And here is Paul in his instructive explanation of what he's thankful for. And he's thankful for the faith And this love and this hope that's not grounded upon their merit. It's not grounded upon their own ability to work these things up or their own ability to even sustain them. Paul says, I thank God, the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, since we heard of your faith in Christ. That would have been very, very encouraging. That would have been a very well timed reminder of the gospel. So Paul is doing these things when he gives these when he mentions these three things. First, he's he's giving a summary reminder of the gospel. Secondly, he is giving a basic reminder of the gospel to encourage the discouraged if they'll listen to what he's saying. And third, he's giving a basic reminder of the gospel to humble the arrogant. Remember, Paul mentioned these characteristics in the context of thankfulness. And who is Paul thankful to? He's not thankful to the Colossians for these things. He's thankful to the Father. Do you have faith? It's of grace. Is there love for your brethren that flows as expression of your faith? That's from the Father. He's been very kind to you. He's been very generous to you. Is your assurance grounded in the gospel that was preached to you? This is a gospel of grace. It's not the gospel of personal merit. I thank God for these things that I see in you. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has been very, very generous. This is not to your praise. It's all to his praise. Paul expresses in his thankfulness. If they'll but listen to how Paul is thankful, the discouraged will be encouraged and the arrogant will be humbled. Do you think there may have been some Christians who perhaps were not as sensitive to their sins as they should have been? And they heard about these new rules And they thought to themselves, well, I can do that. And they get to the end of the day, I haven't touched and I haven't tasted and I haven't handled them pretty well. And here comes Paul. If we'll just listen to how Paul expresses his thanks, do you think there may have been some Christians in Colossae who were as a result of this kind of legalistic teaching? And this promotion of of the necessity of personal merit. Do you think there were some Christians who began to walk around saying, God, I thank you that I'm not like him. And I thank you that I'm not like that poor soul over there. And here comes Paul expressing his thankfulness in a very different way. I'm thankful to God for these things. It's all of grace, not of personal merit. He's been very generous. These things, We can hear this as Paul expresses his thankfulness, these things that they enjoy their faith and their love and their hope. It's not due to the pouring out of your sweat, it's due to the pouring out of the spirit, it's all of grace. Well, let me give you a few final things to think about. I hope that you will consider how Paul expresses and how Paul is exercising thankfulness, if you will. Listen carefully and take these things to yourself and and give it some good meditation and listen to yourself when you give thanks. And think about the things that you give thanks for. Let me give you a few final things, number one, I mentioned last week with the help of John Owen, that prayer is not only a grace itself that's given to us by the Holy Spirit, That is the desire for it and the ability to do it. Prayer is not only a grace to us, but prayer gives expression to all of the other graces. Now, let me give you a couple of examples of how we might see this working here with Paul's thankfulness. How Paul expresses or exercises his thankfulness is an expression of poverty of spirit. Poverty of spirit is a grace given to us, it is a blessing. There's a working of the Holy Spirit in us, working poverty of spirit in us. And you notice what the entire atmosphere is or the entire environment of Paul's thankfulness. I thank the father. I'm so thankful to the father for this report. I have heard of your faith and I'm thankful to him for that. You see where Paul places his his sense of dependency. I'm thankful. His expression of thanks or the praise that he gives is not praise to Epaphras. And it's not praise to the saints in Colossae. His praise goes to the one and only God that Paul knows that he is completely dependent upon. Do you think that might be helpful for some of the Christians in Colossae to think about this expression that Paul is giving? The expression, this humble expression of dependency upon the grace of God for all of the good things and for the most important things, the most valuable things that we can enjoy in this life. We are completely dependent upon the Father giving them to us. This prayer is an expression of another grace. There's many graces that are being expressed here. I'm just going to give you a couple to think about. What kind of graces are expressed in your expressions of thankfulness? As poverty, as poverty of spirit, does it find voice? In your prayers. When you pray, see if you pray like the Pharisee, God, I thank you, I'm not like him. There's no true thankfulness in that there's no poverty of spirit in that it's an expression of pride and arrogance. You see how Paul expresses it. I'll give you one more one more quote from Spurgeon, since I already invited him here. Spurgeon, at one point, asks this question, he asks, he's at this point, he's talking about the prayers of the religious hypocrite. And he asked this question, he asked, will he referring to the hypocrite, will he continue to pray throughout the whole of life? Well, here's the answer. The hypocrite soon gives up prayer under certain circumstances. If he is in trouble, he will not pray, but will run to human helpers. If he gets out of trouble, he will not pray, but quite forget his vows. If men laugh at him, he will not dare to pray. If men smile on him, he will not care to pray. And then he mentions two possibilities that are at work in this kind of a man's heart. Number one, he grows weary. He can make a he can make a spurt, but he cannot keep it up. Short prayers are sweet to him or two. He grows secure. Things go well and he sees no need of prayer or he's too holy to pray. These are the prayers of the religious hypocrite. What do you what do you see is lacking in this description of the of the praying of the religious hypocrite? There's no poverty of spirit. There's no poverty of spirit, if a man would ever come to the conclusion that he's too holy to pray. You see what Paul is doing, you see the expression of dependence, you see how you have a man, even an apostle. Even an apostle who comes before God with nothing in his hands and in his expressions of thankfulness, all of the praise And all of the honor is due to God and God alone. It is upon him that we are completely dependent upon these most for these most important things that he can provide for us. So there's probably a spirit. What else do you think might what other grace? Might be expressed in Paul's prayer of thankfulness, I'm I know one that I thought of myself. How about the grace of love itself? Is the grace of love being expressed in Paul's thankfulness for them? Now, how would I have responded? To this report from a papyrus. What I have been patient. What I have after hearing of these other things that are going to come up in the letter, what I have is thrown up my hands. What I have said to myself, why don't these people get it? They had the gospel preached to them and now look at them. You know what? Let's just forget about it. Let's move on somewhere else. You see how in Paul's expression of thankfulness there is. I think he's giving voice to the love that he has for them. Despite all of the other things, Paul. Paul can see what is still true in this congregation as weak as it may be. What do we know about love? Are we told in first Corinthians that love bears all things? Is Paul giving voice to that to that kind of love that in all of this, he gives thanks to God for some things that he sees in them. He gives thanks, so he hears a report that is it's it's mixed at best. And where does Paul begin with him? I'm thankful. I'm thankful because I've heard of faith and I'm thankful how encouraging that would have been how how mindful Paul is to be patient with him, to bear long with them, to bear all things, to believe all things, to hope in all things, to endure all things. This this this teaching that he would give to the Corinthians love never fails. So is this not being expressed as Paul expresses his thankfulness, that grace of love that Paul that God has worked in Paul's own heart. There's there's there's there's many things we could we could find here, but just those two for you to think about is does that come out in your expressions of thankfulness, poverty of heart, poverty of spirit? Is that expressed? Is that does that other grace find expression? In your prayers, how about love? How about love? Even with people who disappoint you, Can you pray with thankfulness for people who disappoint you greatly? How about for people who hurt? It's more than just a disappointment. Maybe it was an intentional wound that you have suffered at the hands of another person. How how how do you pray? Can you still pray for them? Find opportunity for thankfulness to God. Some very convicting things, I think, for even for even for my own heart. Well, let's consider this. For what do you express thankfulness? What is your evaluation of faith in Christ? How valuable is that to you? And do you give thanks for that? What is your evaluation of your love for your brothers and sisters in Christ or of the hope based upon the gospel? Are these valuable to you? Are you taken up? During the day with just a simple and profound amazement for the things that God has worked in you. It isn't true that it sets a tone for all the rest of life. Consider what struggles the Colossians are having in their church, and yet Paul remains thankful. Because he's heard the support of their faith. It may be weak faith. But according to the Apostle Paul's evaluation, it is faith in Christ. And despite all of the other things that would have been very disappointing, it would have been very, perhaps frustrating. Paul remains thankful. It sets this it sets this tone for the way Paul thinks about them and the way Paul writes to them. The system of evaluation that Paul has, he's thankful and by his own example. He is instructing the Colossians to remain and to grow in their own thankfulness, in other words, I don't think Paul is suffering from television. He can he can step back from the overall situation of the church and he can find things to be thankful for. He is enduring in his love for them, though he's never met them. Paul is also giving instruction and encouraging reminders when he explains his thankfulness. Now, I'm going to I'm going to call this a side application or a secondary application, I want you to think about. I want you to think about what Paul is doing. Not just the specifics, but what he's doing. He's not just saying that he's praying for them, but he tells them specifically how he's praying for them and specifically how he's thankful for them. Thankful for the things that he sees in them. So I want to encourage you to think about how you tell people that you're praying for them. Now, I can't lay upon you this burden where you need to approach people with apostolic authority and instruct them as Paul does. I'm not I'm not saying that. OK. I would just like to encourage you to think about maybe taking the next step. All right. When you tell someone I'm praying for you, why not look at the example that Paul is setting? For the encouragement and instruction of the Colossians, he's not wasting the opportunity. So maybe we can think about being more encouraging to one another as we tell one another that we're praying for each other. Or telling one another how we're thankful for another. I can't I'm not going to go into details right now, there was a there was an example that I that I read this past week. of a sister in Christ writing to someone else, and she did more than just say, I'm praying for you. But she gave some very good details of how she was praying. For this other young lady, and I read that and I thought that's exactly what I see Paul doing. That this is exactly what I see Paul by his own example, he is He's making me think about how I talk to people. He's he's probing my heart and it makes me wonder, am I taking advantage of these little opportunities to encourage a brother or to encourage a sister in Christ so that I could say more so I could say not just if I'm talking to my brother Glenn here and Glenn's had some things with his eye. Can I take the next step, can I do more than just say, brother, I've been praying for you. What if I took the next step and I said, brother, I've been praying for you and I am thankful for how the Lord has sustained your life through all this. I mean, surgery with a flashlight and all this stuff. This is an amazing story. I'm thankful for the Lord, how the Lord has not only given healing to your eye, But you know what I'm even more thankful for? I'm just thankful to see how your faith has been sustained in this and you've actually grown in your trust of the Lord through an eye surgery. That's been very encouraging to me, brother. Thank you. And I'm thankful to the Lord for how he has sustained you and caused you to grow through that. Now, how hard was that? I've taken this opportunity to try to be of a little more encouragement, so I'm just I'd like you to think about that. And think about what Paul is doing in the expression of his own thankfulness. Paul doesn't just say, I'm thankful. I heard some things in this report and I'm thankful. But he's given some specifics and how those how those specifics were already being. They're designed to be working in the thinking of those that hear them. So maybe we can think about how we tell people that we're praying for them. Maybe we can give a little bit more detail. Maybe we can make it a moment of encouragement. Maybe we can make it a moment of instruction. Sometimes a brother or sister will come up to me on the Lord's Day, and I don't know if they realize they're doing this. Maybe they do. But they'll say something to me like, I've been praying for you in this particular way, and it's so encouraging. And it feeds my soul. So if you've been doing that, I keep it coming, I need it. I need that encouragement. Let's think about how we speak with one another. Paul is being very careful in how he gives. This expression of thanks, let's think about ourselves, let's think about how we ourselves individually and how we corporately are expressing thanks to God and the things that we thank him for and how we share that with one another.