The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Colossians 1:9-14primary text for the practical prayer section, praying for knowledge of God's will, walking worthy, bearing fruit, and redemption
9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;
14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins;
believers as God's poiema, workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared beforehand
1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;
3 among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus;
8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, that no one would boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
11 Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision”, (in the flesh, made by hands);
12 that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ.
14 For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition,
15 having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace;
16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby.
17 He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near.
18 For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
20 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;
21 in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
22 in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
two kinds of wisdom contrasted: earthly, natural and demonic versus the wisdom from above that is pure, peaceable and gentle
1 Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.
2 For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.
3 Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body.
4 Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires.
5 So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!
6 And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.
7 For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind;
8 but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God.
10 Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
11 Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?
12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
warning not to be taken captive by philosophy and empty deception according to traditions of men rather than according to Christ
1 For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
2 that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,
3 in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.
4 Now this I say that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech.
5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him,
7 rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.
8 Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily,
10 and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power;
11 in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
15 having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
16 Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,
17 which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.
18 Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshiping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.
20 If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances,
21 “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch”
22 (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men?
23 Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.
referenced as the chapter on how to live out the supremacy of Christ
1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
6 for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
7 You also once walked in those, when you lived in them;
8 but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.
9 Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
14 Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
17 Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
18 Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers, don’t provoke your children, so that they won’t be discouraged.
22 Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.
23 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.
practical closing instructions including masters and slaves, prayer, conduct toward outsiders, and sending of Tychicus and Onesimus
1 Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
3 praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;
4 that I may reveal it as I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
7 All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.
8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts,
9 together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here.
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”),
11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
13 For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.
15 Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house.
16 When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
17 Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”
18 The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This sermon worked through Paul's prison epistles, Colossians and Philemon, looking at what Paul prayed for the churches he could no longer visit in person and at the very personal plea he made to one man about one runaway slave. Pastor Ray connected that prayer and that plea to the household codes he has been walking through in recent weeks, bringing it down finally to how employers and employees are to treat one another under the lordship of Christ.
What was said
Paul wrote Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and the short personal letter to Philemon from prison. The point was made that these are among the most beautiful books in the New Testament precisely because Paul, always on the move, was forced to sit still. What came out of that cell was not bitterness but intercession and instruction.
The prayer in Colossians 1 is where the message started. Paul prays that the church would be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, and the key word is the Greek word for wisdom, related to a word meaning clarity. Pastor Ray drew a contrast from James 3 between an earthly, natural, even demonic clarity that only sees one side of things, and the wisdom from above that is first pure, then peaceable and gentle. Paul's prayer is for that higher clarity.
The point of that prayer, though, is not just knowing. It is walking. The phrase "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord" runs through both Colossians and Ephesians, and Pastor Ray came back to it several times. A seminary professor of his, Rick Higgins, refused to sing the line "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it" not out of pride but because he believed a believer who humbles himself before God in the morning has the power of Christ available to him for that day. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in the church now.
Bearing fruit in every good work is something God produces, not something we manufacture. The role of the believer is to see the good works God has prepared in advance and to do them. A short anonymous poem was shared to make the point: "The nearest thing that should be done that can be done by you" is as good a description of God's will as any.
Colossians 4 and the letter to Philemon were read together because they are parallel documents, sent at the same time, to people in the same community. Onesimus was a runaway slave who ended up in prison with Paul, came to faith there, and Paul is now sending him back to his owner Philemon with this letter. The earnest plea is that Philemon would receive Onesimus back not merely as a slave but as a beloved brother in Christ, and that if Onesimus owes him anything, Paul will cover it himself.
What that story does is bring the household code about masters and slaves to a very specific, human situation. Two men who are legally on opposite ends of the power structure are now brothers under the cross, and Paul appeals to Philemon on the basis of love rather than authority, even though he says plainly he feels he has the authority to simply tell him what to do. The whole letter is a demonstration of everything the prayer at the beginning of Colossians asked for: wisdom, worthiness, fruit, and the knowledge of God's will worked out between two real people.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Ray described his seminary professor Rick Higgins, who refused to sing 'Prone to Wander' because he believed a Christian can choose each morning to humble himself before God and walk in victory. Do you find that idea freeing or unsettling, and why?
The sermon looked at Paul's prayer that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of God's will, not just to know it but to walk it out. Where in your own life do you find the biggest gap between knowing what God wants and actually doing it?
Speaker 1Good morning, everybody. How are you all? Can you hear me? Come on and stand with me. We had a few not in this service.
We had a few technical difficulties and got started a little late in the first one this morning. We're going to sing Love Lifted Me, if you would. Sing along. Here's there are hymnals up front. If you ever want them, you're welcome to them.
I see somebody's got one out there. That's great. Hymn number five zero eight, love lifted me. Welcome. So good.
Y'all sound so good. How about heaven came down and glory filled my soul? Hymn number five ten.
Speaker 2Came down and glory filled my souls. Born of the spirit with life from above into God's family divine. Justified fully through Calvary's love. Oh, what a standing is mine. And the transaction so quickly was made when as a sinner I came, and my night was turned to day.
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul on the last. Now I have a hope that will surely endure after the passing of time. I have a future in heaven for sure. They're in those mansions sublime.
Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements here. Awana is happening tomorrow night. Kids club right here starting out in this room gathered around the the oval. It's an oval now, not a circle.
The big game oval. Starting out about 06:00. Registration starts at 05:45. At six to 07:30 is a game time, teaching time, and scripture memorization time, Awana. There are sign up sheets on the hall wall down there in near the fellowship hall, for connect hour, the time between services.
If you'd like to sign up, you can do that on those sheets or you can call Addy Hair if you want to get ahead of it. It's a women's Bible study on Thursday nights at 06:00. Sisters saved by grace are studying creation in Genesis. And it's a study together, eat together, pray together, and build each other up. The Jackson Hole Women's Community Bible Study is happening Wednesdays in this room right here, ten a.
M. To noon on Wednesdays. Just a couple, three more weeks left of that, I think. So February up through February 21. There is a men's snowmobile trip.
This is if you want to ride a snowmobile, that's great. If you'd like to snowshoe, that's great. If you have cross country skis, that's wonderful. Whatever you want to do, but it's a men's retreat up at Old Faithful Christian Ranch, $100 for adults, 75 for kids. Richard Largie is the organizer and orchestrator of this one this time.
And that's his number, if you want to do that. For Vacation Bible School, it's all the way up in June, but it's nice to get it on the calendar. So the seventeenth through the twentieth, that's a four day Bible school. And hometown Nazareth, where Jesus was a kid is the theme. That ought to be fun.
And I don't think we're going to need to do musical chairs in this service. In the first service, we've been we've been packed to the back walls, and so we're trying to get people to move. And this Sunday was actually Scout Sunday too. So the Boy Scouts have been meeting at Firstbeat. Wherever this building for this group has been over the last ninety years, the Boy Scouts have been there.
And they meet on Wednesdays right now. And if you come in about normal quitting time for the office staff on Wednesday, this place is full of boy scouts and boy scout leaders. Scouting Sunday was this week. We're gonna hit in the scripture day a place for good deeds, good deeds, good deeds. And I never think of the Boy Scouts without thinking about doing your good deed for the day, right?
So I think that's all I have. There was one more in the first service. Men's Alliance. Jackson Hole Men's Alliance meeting is happening on Wednesday at 06:30AM. The slide just didn't make it in there.
Is there something else that I've forgotten? Omissions, deletions, anything? Would you stand up? Suggestions, questions? I'm glad that you're here and we're gonna sing, we will glorify.
Pastor went long in the first service, so I'm trying to get ahead of it in a second. Amen. He just had two verses in his. We have four in ours. How about we sing that last one one more time?
But Judy, change the keys on us. Amen. Thank you. While we are shortening the Lamb of God. Do you all know this song?
I don't think I had ever heard this song before I got here. And there's a lady who comes out sometimes during the summer named Rosemary Ball. She played it and had Paschal sing it when you're near Easter. It has become one of my favorite songs. We don't sing it very often, but pay attention to the ending on the first two says, My Jesus Christ, the lamb of God.
Then the third verse changes over, till I am just a lamb of God. Here we go. Y'all can have a seat. I'll invite the ushers to come forward. Thank you, Ferry and Steve.
God, I I pray right now that you I I just thank you right now, lord, that you have brought these together in your name to listen to your word, to have the the seed of the word of God planted into willing and receptive, humble hearts. Lord, I pray that you would bring the increase for each of these gifts that are given, for each of the hearts associated with these gifts, Lord, I pray a blessing that you would increase the capacity, that you would increase our impact on this community, Lord, that the ripples will be felt on the very other side of the earth. In Jesus' name, I pray that the missionaries that you have connected to this church would be effective, that they would be encouraged, and that they would be able to just keep on putting one foot in front of the other. Steadfast, faithful, loving, and kind. In Jesus' name, I thank you that we can, support the words advance.
Would you do your will in our hearts this morning and in our actions? Would you do your will in your way, Lord? We ask it in your name. Amen. Wow, Judy, was fun.
Fun practicing that one. I had a Tennessee walking horse step in there somewhere. Uh-oh. Preston's. It's not time for communion yet.
You didn't just miss the sermon. Here we are. A practical prayer, and earnest please from Paul's prison epistles. This is an interesting one. I've been doing a relational series, I guess you'd call it, for the past few weeks.
And as I was considering last week, I made a joke in both services, actually. I made a joke that household codes, oh, I'm sorry, we've run out of time. Because it's so hard looking at the wives and the husbands part of that. But really, we covered the masters and slaves portion of it before I said that last week. And it comes down to where the rubber hits the road, the theological base that we have as believers is we have been redeemed in Christ.
We have a foundation of salvation. We have the spirit of God actively at work in our lives. And as we are humble, we can walk it out. So this is kind of imperatives for how to be walking it out. And that's the household codes are the closest because you're always around these people, the people you work with and or the people you live with.
And so that's where it comes down to husbands and wives and children. Also, in the Bible, says masters and slaves. In our day, when I say master and slave, we don't even say that much anymore. In fact, they stopped calling the master bedroom the master bedroom. Have you noticed?
It's now the primary bedroom, really, really. And in auto mechanics, like I'm a mechanic, so the master cylinder and the slave cylinder are no longer called the master and the slave. They don't call them that anymore. Isn't that interesting? It's because it has such a powerful connotation of American slavery in the South before the Civil War, and it's it's upsetting.
So I'm giving you this in the very opening. I'm saying, when we get to masters and slaves, I don't want for you to think of it in the American Southern experience before the Civil War. I want for you to think of it as employees and employers or employers and employees. And we have both in this church in both services all the time, But each of us is instructed how we are to deal with those in authority over us or how to deal with those who are in authority or under our authority. Does that make sense?
Okay. Good. Because you got a while to ramp up to where we get to it at the end of the service. But the prison epistles, think about this. Paul has made his first missionary journey.
At the beginning of his second missionary journey, they decided, you know what? I'm not taking John Mark with me. So, he and Barnabas split. We know what happened with Paul. We don't know so much what happened with Barnabas.
Second journey, third journey, and then we have the prison epistles. He's stuck. He's been rolling and tumbling and planting churches all around this area, and he is now stuck in prison. And we have the prison epistles because he had to just sit still. Paul, the apostle, the one who's always on the go, always on the go, is stuck.
Now people are coming to him and going away from him. He's sending people out sort of like a general might. Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, and Philippians. Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians. My goodness.
Thank God Paul was in prison. These are three of the most beautiful books in the New Testament about how to live out the life. And Philemon is just one guy who has a church that meets in his house in Colossae. And so the Colossians know Philemon. Philemon knows them.
But this is interesting that these three wonderful works are all to the churches that meet in Colossi, Ephesus, and Philippi. But then there's this one other letter to this man. It's only one chapter long, 25 verses long. We're going to look at Colossians one nine through 14, I think it is, which is a practical prayer. But then we're going to look in Colossians four and in Philemon for the earnest please from the apostle Paul from prison.
So, here we go. Starting off Colossians one nine is this, for this reason also, something that Paul had heard. For this reason also, since the day we heard of this difficult situation you're in, we have not ceased praying for you. I, Paul, and my running buddies who are here, some stuck with me, and some of them I'm sending out with this letter. We are all praying for you continually.
We're asking God that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will. Well, how many of y'all wanna be filled with the knowledge of God's will? I do. This is actually whenever I poll the audience like that, I don't get a whole lot of response. When I say, do you want to know the will of God?
Almost every hand goes up. This is what Paul is praying for the church at Colossae, and by extension other churches even including us today, that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. The wisdom here is Sofia. That is the name Sofia means wisdom. This week I was doing a study for a different purpose and I hit the word wisdom in James three.
James three says, the wisdom that is from above. And I was like, let me go back. Wisdom, what is that? It is related to sophes. Sophes means clarity, something that is clear.
And in James three, he talks about there is a wisdom which is earthly and natural and demonic. And it's perfectly clear. Factions in the human life exist. Some people say it's even good for our tribal development to have mores and values that our people act this way. But there is an earthly natural and demonic clarity that we can have where we understand things perfectly from our point of view.
It discounts entirely people who understand things differently. But in James, it says, but the wisdom from above that sees with perfect clarity everything is first pure, then it's peaceable, it's gentle. There are a lot of great things. It's reasonable. Paul's prayer for them is that they would be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
And if you wanna go to another place that says, this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that's a given, and that you are grateful in all circumstances. God's will is that you would be grateful. Oh, what does he say next here? In all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner that is worthy of the Lord. Can we do that?
We can do that. If we're humble before him, he can fill us with the knowledge of his will. He can give us the clarity that we seek. He can allow us the understanding that will allow us to walk it out, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. This so that you will is really good.
He wants us to be filled with God's understanding of his will. He wants us to be filled not just so we can know it, but so that we can walk it out in a manner that's worthy of the Lord. Be walking worthy is a concept not just here in Colossians, but also in Ephesians. To please him in all respects that we'd be walking it out, not just knowing it, but be able to live it out. In Ephesians four, first chapter of Ephesians four, he's made all of the grounding that he needed in Ephesians one two.
Says it's up to the church to declare this mystery which has been held closely guarded. And now for the ages, it's the church's job to spread it out. Therefore, I, Paul, prisoner of the Lord, same cell, same place, same thinking that wrote Colossians. I am urging you to walk in a manner that's worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness. Gentleness is strength under restraint.
With patience, be bearing with one another in love, be being diligent to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. This thinking about walking in a manner worthy we sang, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing in the first service this morning. And there's a line in there that says, Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. When I hear that, I think, Amen, Lord. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.
I had a professor in seminary. Rick Higgins was his name. He taught the foundations of spiritual development. He is a navigator, so he had tons of scripture memorized. He was an Air Force guy.
Had tons of scripture memorized. And he believed that victorious Christian living is absolutely essential. He would not even sing Prone to Wander, Lord, I feel it. And I don't think it was out of pride. He was saying, I have the choice when I wake up in the morning to humble myself before God.
If I humble myself before God, I will not be wandering from him. He is so good. I still feel the prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. He would say, Victorious Christian living, I don't want to give any extra incentive or power to the other side. I want to know that I can be walking in a manner worthy because he has empowered me to do so.
Be bearing fruit in every good work. This is Boy Scouts being here this morning. In every good deed, everything that you commit to the Lord, every thing that you see that you believe he wants for you to do, be bearing fruit in it. It's passive. The be bearing is you can't control that, but you can be doing the good works that you see in advance that God has for you.
You can see them and you can do them. He'll he's the one that brings the fruit. In Ephesians two, same prison, same thinking. We believers, new creations. We are his poiema, his workmanship, craftsmanship, masterpiece, love poem, work of art.
And we were created in Christ Jesus for good deeds, for good works, which God has prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Knowing it is important, but the so that we may walk in a manner that's worthy and be bearing fruit in every good work. I do want to reiterate that bringing forth fruit from your own good works is God's responsibility. He'll show you the things that you are to do. He'll show the steps that you are to step in, but you can't control what happens from there.
He brings the increase. Just be walking it out and be trusting him. So be bearing fruit in every good work and be increasing in the knowledge of God. Now, this is interesting grammatically because it is either middle or passive. Middle voice or passive voice.
Active voice, middle voice, passive voice. The middle and passive is ambiguous in Greek, so it could be either. Are you with me? Did I just throw some of you off the rails? Be being increased is passive voice.
Be being increased in the knowledge of God. Okay. How do I do that? Be open to it. Be humble before him.
God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble. If you will humble yourselves and look, ask, seek, and knock, he will reveal it to you. So I'm praying that you would be being increased in the knowledge of God, Paul says. Or the middle voice, since it's ambiguous, it could be either.
Be increasing yourself in the knowledge of God. We have access by his word to God's thoughts. We have access by God's people to his spirit. So be accessing that. I pray that you would be increasing yourself in the knowledge of God by endeavoring to do his will in humility.
Now this is just the first part of a sentence. Paul's sentences go on and on sometimes, 19 lines long. There, from here, let's let's look at it. Paul's part is to pray for ir we're And going to own. We're do that.
And then our part is walking do it out so that we may be filled with the knowledge of his will. I like this little poem. I don't know who wrote it. If you do know, text me. Call me.
It's it's one that's been around forever. You ask what is the will of God. All of y'all raised your hand when we're saying, who wants to know the will of God? You ask what is the will of God. I'll give you the answer, true.
The nearest thing that should be done that can be done by you. If you're noting that that should be done and you are nearby and you can't do it, maybe, maybe, just maybe, it's God's will. You noticed it. You've got the power to go for it. Go for it.
You ask what is the will of God, I'll give you the answer. True. The nearest thing that should be done that can be done by you. Increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power. Just think about this.
We're gonna celebrate communion here together in a minute. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead. The same power that allowed him to walk out daily and fulfill the law. Victorious Christian living, really. That same power is at work in a believer's life today.
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and well and at work in his church. Strengthen with all power according to his glorious might. It is not about me, Rick Higgins would say. It is about the power of Christ, and there is no end to that. According to his glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness, faithfulness, walking it out, steadfastness and patience.
Now you all know when you pray for patience, what do you get? Stuck in line at Walmart. Traffic jam on Broadway. You chance get to exercise that patience. For the attaining of all steadfastness, God's mighty power to save is still at work in us.
We're saved, but his power is at work in us to create in us a faithfulness and a steadfastness and a patience that we would be seeing what's going on joyously. Joyously giving thanks to the father. This is God's will concerning you in Christ Jesus that you would be grateful. God gives joy. And this is the prayer that Paul has for all of Colossae, and I believe for Philemon too.
He's a part of the church that this letter is addressed to. He wants for him to be able to be walking it out, patiently enduring, joyously with one another, giving thanks to the father who has qualified us. Can you believe it? He's qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints of light. I do not deserve it, lord, but I'm amazed by it and that's wonderful.
And that brings me joy. For he rescued us from the domain of darkness, and he transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. It was his work, not ours, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This is just the first opening foray into the book of Colossians. It's only a few chapters long.
But this is, if you look up Colossians in a Bible handbook, a little concise Bible handbook, this kind of thing, you look it up in one of these and it'll say, Colossians, it's about the supremacy of Christ. It is about the supremacy of Christ, chapter one, chapter two. Chapter three says how to live it out. Chapter four also. It's all about Jesus.
We have to. If we're going to be unified, we come around the center, author, finisher of our faith. So let's focus our attention on him. If we disagree with one another, let's focus our own attention on him. I love the old hymn that says to turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth, which we're all walking through all the time, will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. It's all about Jesus. If we go to Colossians two, this is just a summary verse. It's not what the whole chapter is about, but I like it.
He's praying for them that they'd be filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding. It would be from God who has given them redemption and see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, any one of the traditions of men. According to the elementary principles of this world, this is what James would call worldly wisdom or earthly natural, even demonic wisdom, is the philosophies and empty deception. Just seeing one limited side of things according to the traditions of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. It's all about Jesus.
Whatever we do, anything. Doesn't matter who we are, what our job is. Whether we are master or a slave employer or employee, whether we're at the very bottom or the very top as the earth sees it, whatever we are to do in word or deed, we're supposed to be doing all of it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks to him through God the father. It's all about Jesus.
Chapter one, chapter two and chapter three all say that. So let's focus our attention on him. If we were to go elsewhere, that's where we go. Philemon and Colossians. So Philemon and Colossians parallel each other.
I put the names in green there just to see it from a bird's eye view. The names are in green and the passages, that are in orange are the same passages. It's got almost the same look to it. And Colossians four is after all that, let's turn our eyes on Jesus. And then the practicality in the end of this book is coming down to a situation.
Probably the situation he was praying about at the beginning of the book. And it has to do with power dynamics. It has to do with Philemon, the slave owner, and one particular guy, Onesimus. Onesimus was his slave. So I'm going read through this rather quickly, but I think that there's something here for us.
And I'm way early compared to the first service. Colossians four, who knows what I left out? Masters, employers. And I really I want to go back to what I said at the very beginning. I think if we look at it as masters and slaves, it'll take us out of the because that's not where we live, right?
It'll take us out of the mix. We'll start thinking about things, and it'll get us focused on the wrong thing. In our lives today, the household code, husbands, this is the way you ought to live. Wives, this is way you ought
Speaker 2to live.
Speaker 1Childrens, fathers, mothers, all of that. And then employers and employees. Masters, employers, grant to your employees justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a master in heaven. We are all in the employ of our savior, Jesus. And we want to be acting like he acts.
Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a master in heaven. There is authority over you too, even if you think you're the big boss. Devote yourselves, masters, to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. This is echoing everything he said in that prayer at the beginning. Devote yourselves to prayer.
Lean into the knowledge of God. Be alert about it with an attitude of thanksgiving. Praying at the same time for us as well. That God will open up to us, Paul in prison with his buddies, some of them in jail with him and some of them just hanging around. Pray that God will open up to us a door for the word so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ for which I've also been imprisoned.
The whole reason I'm here is for speaking the truth. That I may make it clear in the way that I ought to speak. Y'all, be conducting yourselves with wisdom towards outsiders. You might end up in here. You get that?
Be careful about how you are towards outsiders. We want to be winsome to those outside. We don't want to cause unnecessary offense. The gospel itself is an offense, but conduct yourself with wisdom towards outsiders. Be making the most of every opportunity.
Let your speech always be with grace. Start off giving unmerited favor. Let your speech always be with grace. Affirm what you can as though seasoned with salt so that you'll know how you should respond to each person. People are individual and they're different and their thinking is different.
And Paul is praying that they would have a sensitivity to how best to connect with people individually. As to all of my affairs this was the orange section just a minute ago. As to all of my affairs, Tychicus is sort of like Paul's secretary. Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant. He's a fellow bond servant in the Lord.
He also is under the employ of Jesus. He's bringing you the information. I'm sending this letter with Tychicus. For I have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know about our circumstances. I want you to know how we're doing.
And that he may encourage your hearts. And with him, I'm sending Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother. Oh my goodness. He's a runaway slave. He ran away from Philemon, a member of this church.
The church met in his house, power broker. With him, I'm sending Onesimus, and he is our faithful beloved brother. He's one of your number. You remember him? He probably moved the chairs.
Right? Set up set up the communion. Y'all remember Onesimus? He's our faithful and beloved brother who is one of your number, and they will inform you about the whole situation here. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, he sends you his greetings too, and also Barnabas' cousin Mark.
Really? Isn't that cool? This was the second missionary journey, the reason he wouldn't let him go. He abandoned us on that first journey. Barnabas' cousin Mark, about whom you received instruction, if he comes to you, welcome him.
I don't have anything against him. I know y'all think I do, but I don't. And also, Jesus who's called justice, these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom who are from the circumcision. Jewish background guys, these are the ones, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me. They're not stuck in jail with me.
They come see me from time to time. Epaphras, Epaphras, who is one of your number. Remember Epaphras? He's a bondslave of Jesus Christ. He sends you his greeting.
He's always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers. So that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. Same echoes, right? Colossians four is echoing what he was praying for him, the knowledge of the will of God. I need to stop right here.
I've got, this is an aside. Y'all remember Florine? Florine, wondrous little Romanian piano player, self checkout guy at Smiths. All of y'all know Florine well. Yesterday, yesterday, I was thinking of Florine and I thought, oh, it's early enough in the day, I can call him.
So I called and when he answered, it was about seven I figured it was about seven there. And so when I called and he said, hello. And I said, oh, brother, did I wake you up? I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
He goes, no. I said, I'm sorry. He goes, no, no, no, no. It's good to hear your voice, brother. You can hear him saying that, can't you?
He goes, no, I'm glad to hear your voice. And then he said, Violetta, it's Raymond. It's Ray. Pastor Ray. And so Violetta was right there with him.
And I said he said, Hold on just a second. And so he said, Okay, I'm so glad to hear your voice. I said, Florina, I'm just calling to check on you. Said, we love you. We don't hear a whole lot, but I just wanted to tell you, the whole church loves you.
We all miss you. People are asking about you all the time. I just wanted to encourage him to work there. How are you? And he said, I'm at my mother's vigil.
His mother had passed the day before, and her funeral was today. So you know, Florine, loves you all. He said, transmit his love. It it sounded exactly like this. It's like he's laboring in the Lord, and he appreciated your prayers and all this sort of stuff, but I caught him just as.
And he said, my mother let me just pray for him. God, was so good to hear Florine and Violetta's voice yesterday. And the blessing for me of him saying his mother died at peace with you, He said that she was like Simeon in the temple when Florine and Violetta and the girls, whom she had never met, returned to Romania. She said, Lord, I can now die in peace, having come to know that my son and his wife and the kids are back and ministering the word here. And so she's been sick for some time, but Lord, I pray a blessing on Florine and on Violetta and on the girls that the ministry that you have given to them, the ripples in the water from there would head their way back here.
And they did yesterday, Lord. So I pray for them and for the continuing advance of your good news. Amen. Amen. Back to the text.
Epaphras, who is one of your number, he can't his hometown is Colossi, bondslave of Jesus Christ. He sends you his greeting also. He's always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers that you may stand perfect and fully assured and all in the will of God. For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis. You know Luke, Luke the doc, Luke the beloved physician, he sends you his greetings, as well as Demas.
Greet the brothers and sisters who are in Laodicea also, and Nymphah and the church that is in her house. When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of Laodicea. And you know what? For your part, read the letter that I sent to Laodicea too. Say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord so that you may fulfill it.
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment, grace be with you. Do you hear how personal the chapter four is? And he's prayed all this stuff in the beginning. He's told them to turn their eyes on Jesus, not to be decept to be deceived by any earthly philosophy or the law of the land even, but to be for a higher purpose.
Everything you do is to be for Christ. Now that's Colossians four. Philemon is a personal letter to one guy at that church, and it's the guy in whom whose house the church met. Here it is. Introduction is virtually the same.
Here I am, a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Timothy's here with me. It's to Philemon, our beloved brother, our fellow worker. I recognize you are valuable. And to Aphia, our sister, probably Philemon's wife.
And to Archippus, fellow soldier. And to the church that meets in your house, grace to you. Always start with grace. Always start off with unmerited favor. If you go in armed, it's probably not gonna go well.
Grace to you and peace from God our father and Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always. I'm making mention of you, Philemon, in my prayers. Because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and towards all the saints. I love you.
And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake. For I have come to have much joy and much comfort in your love. When I think of you, I think warm thoughts. Because of the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother, that church that meets in your house is so amazing, and you've given them the opportunity to gather in Jesus' name. Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, I I know that Paul had led him to Christ.
He says, I know that I could tell you what to do. I feel like I have that kind of authority in our relationship. I'm sort of a mentor to you. I know that I have that, but yet for love's sake, I rather am asking you. I appeal to you since I'm such a person as Paul, the aged, rundown, old prisoner of Christ Jesus.
I'm appealing to you for this one guy, my child, Onesimus. Amen. I agree with you, Connor. He feels such a deep love for this young convert that he calls him his child, much like he did Timothy, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment. Okay, let's think about this for a minute.
Paul was imprisoned. And as he is imprisoned, he meets up with Onesimus. Just imagine, this is sanctified imagination, okay? I can't prove this. But I do know that he came to be a believer in prison with Paul.
He says that much. That can prove. Philemon was someone that Paul had met and introduced to the gospel in Colossae, and a church was meeting in his house. He did feel a connection there. Can you imagine this new prisoner coming in?
He's in. He's a runaway slave. Perhaps he stole something. Who knows? But he gets in.
Now he's in jail with Paul. Oh, great. In jail with Paul. What do you think you're going to hear? The gospel.
Child, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, who formerly was useless to you, the word, the name Onesimus actually means useful. So this is sort of a pun. He says, was formerly not great. He was not a great employee. He's not a great slave for you, bondservant.
I know that, that's even though his name was useful, he's been really useless in the past to you. I think, So Onesimus gets out of jail. And Paul says, I'm sending him back with Tychicus. I'm sending my very heart. I love this guy.
It's so great. When I was there with y'all in Colossae, probably met him, I didn't really know. But when we were in prison together, he comes to know Jesus, and I love this guy. And I I said, you know what? The right thing to do is to go back to him.
So I'm sending you my very heart, whom I wish to keep with me. I really wish he could stay here, but on your behalf so that he might, minister to me in imprisonment for the gospel. But I would not presume to do that without your consent. I didn't wanna do anything so that your goodness would not be in effect by compulsion. What I want is for it to be of your own free will.
Perhaps, perhaps, he was, for this reason, separated for you from you for a while. Perhaps the whole reason he ran away is to come to know Jesus in this jail. That you would have him back and not just have him back under compulsion, but he would be back forever. No longer as a slave. No but more than a slave, more than just an employee, that he would be received as your beloved brother in Christ.
Especially to me, but much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. If if then you regard me as a partner, and I know you do, accept him the same way that you would accept me. If he's wronged you in any way or if he owes you anything, would you charge that to my account? I'll pay you back for that. I recognize that you might be out something, but I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand.
And I will repay it. Not to mention, you do owe me. Right? Isn't that great? He said, you know, just your everlasting salvation I introduced you to, but not to mention that you do owe me to even me, even your own self as well.
But yes, brother, let me let me benefit from you and the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you. Since I know that you'll do even more than what I'm asking or saying. At the same time also, make a space for me.
Prepare for me a lodging. I hope that through your prayers, I will be released from prison and be able to get back to you soon. Make a place for me. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you. So do Mark and Aristarchus and Demus and Luke and my fellow workers.
And then he closes out with, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. You're freed up to do as you feel led in the Lord. What I'm praying is that he would reveal to you in great clarity his understanding, the knowledge of his will, so that you'd be able to walk it out worthily. Do you see how it brings master and slave or employer and employee to equal footing under the cross that they're brothers? They are to be treating each other well.
They're part of the one another's on an equal ground there. I want to go back to this to get to communion. Here we are. And I want to pray this. I'm going to have the ushers come on down, if you would.
And would you pray with me? Lord, I wanna pray this prayer, the one from Colossians one. Lord, I pray that we may be filled with the knowledge of your will. I pray that we would be filled with the knowledge of your will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that we would be able to walk in a manner that's worthy of you in this community, wherever we go, that we'd be able to walk it out to please you in all respects. I pray, Lord, that you would bring about the fruit from each of our good deeds, inspired by you, laid out ahead of time for us to walk in.
I pray that you would bring forth fruit and that you would be increasing us in your knowledge. I pray this, Lord, because you rescued us. You brought us out of the kingdom of darkness. You transferred us into the kingdom of your beloved son. It's in him we have redemption, and we celebrate that right here in the Lord's Supper today.
The forgiveness of sins is what this comes down to. It is all about Jesus, and we want to turn our eyes on him. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. I've asked a blessing on these elements, and they're gonna distribute them.
Judy, would you play something pretty? On the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper, after he had given thanks, he took it and he looked around that table and he said to his disciples, this is my body which is given for you, voluntarily given as a sacrifice. It's given for you. Take this and eat of it and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you walked it out in complete submission to the spirit, the same spirit that is alive and active and at work in your church.
I pray, Lord, that we would follow your good and loving compassionate example. We thank you for the blood that was voluntarily spilled on our behalf. I thank you for the way that you emptied yourself and you prayed for the Father's will. Lord, thank you for the precious blood. We ask that you would bless this representative of it, this little plastic glass of grape juice.
Lord, that you would accompany that, that you would be very present to us as we take this in, that we recognize that we must internalize you. In Jesus' name, we ask for your blessing. Amen. In the same manner that he had taken the bread, he also took the cup and he spoke to them there. And he speaks still to us today.
He said, this is the new covenant that's in my blood. Thank God for the new covenant where it is really all about Jesus. This is the new covenant in my blood. This take it in and do it as often as you will. Drink it in in remembrance of me.
Amen. Paul says, as often as we do that, we declare the Lord's death, Victory over sin until he comes again. Would you stand with me? Can you just give me a g chord? I think we'll sing the doxology.
Speaker 2Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy
Speaker 1Amen. Amy and Matt Litzelman's last official day was today. They may be here next week but their last official day, we kinda celebrated them after the first service. I want to close with may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ fill your soul and express itself to others through you. Amen.
