Walk Worthy of the Lord — Colossians 1

0:02 Morning. Great to be here again and see so many faces here this morning. Glad to see some of our Canadian friends here. I know it's gonna be difficult time for you going back with the quarantine fourteen days. Is that what you said?

0:21 Anyway, looking forward to when that border is completely open and that you can come and go as you please. Let's... I just wanted to refer briefly here to a lion and one of the hymns that was given out this morning. The first meeting was hymn number one, and the second verse just touch my heart today and it's here's the verse. He saw me ruined by the fall yet loved me not withstanding all.

0:54 He saved me from my lost estate, His loving kindness. Oh, how great. That just that touches my heart especially this time of the year. I'm reminded of the fact that it was next week, it'll be fifty one years that the lord since the lord saved me and brought me off the broad road to destruction. I just can't thank him enough.

1:16 You know, that the great redeemer saved me from my lost estate and I know others here would have that same testimony. And we were talking this morning about how unworthy we are. Absolutely, we're unworthy of his his grace. But thank him for it. And he's still working in this world today.

1:35 He's still working. Souls are still being saved. And maybe a few here and there and maybe a large amount at time. But God is still working by his holy spirit drawing. Maybe he's drawing someone here this morning to himself.

1:49 Maybe you've been going on kinda searching and wondering just, you know, where am I gonna end up at? Where am I gonna end up at? Sometimes we we don't stop and think about things like that. But the Lord can allow things to happen in our lives so we realize, you know, things aren't as secure as I thought they were. You know, maybe I need to really get right with God.

2:11 Well, only the Lord can can bring us to that point. And I trust he will still do that and is working even here this morning. What I thought we would look at today and I know we've covered this before somewhat. It was in Colossians chapter one. There's some verses there that that I think you could spend weeks on really.

2:37 There's so much. The verses I had primarily in mind were you know verses 10 to 13. But I'll start reading in the first verse just for the context and we'll read down maybe the first 14 verses of Colossians chapter one. Of course, what did I do with my water? Excuse me one second.

3:00 I have to always have Bob come get my water. Excuse Colossians chapter one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothyus, our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colossae. Grace be unto you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints.

3:45 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, where have you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come unto you as it is in all the world and bring it forth fruit. As it doth also in you since the day you heard of it and knew the grace of God and truth. As you also learned of Epiphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the spirit. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will. In all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

4:27 That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work. And increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthen with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the father which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance and the saints in light who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us in the kingdom, his dear son, whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. That thirteenth verse, I understand, is gonna be one of the memory verses for VBS this week. Who have delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into kingdom of his dear son.

5:55 And their lives were changed. Their lives were transformed because of the gospel message. The good news that Christ died on the cross for our sins. Men even probably were familiar with some of the Old Testament scriptures. They may have known even Isaiah 53 and some of the other things there.

6:18 Example, the Ethiopian eunuch was sitting in his chariot one day reading Isaiah 53. And the lord directed Philip to go talk to him and and talk and explain. Philip asked him, do you understand what you're reading? And the eunuch said, how can I? And then some man guide me and so, you know, you can look this up on your own but Philip began at the same scripture and preached on him Jesus.

6:49 The lord Jesus Christ, that one who was led as a lamb before the slaughter, the one who was called the lamb of god. John the Baptist referred to him and said, behold the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world. That's another example of one whose life was transformed. But it's amazing. You know, Paul was, he would often start off with just rejoicing and thanking the lord for the work that was going on.

7:19 Paul had heard no doubt from Epiphras that the gospel had, you know, lives were changed in Colossi. He says in verse three and four, we give thanks to god and the father of the lord Jesus Christ praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints. That really rejoice Paul heart. And I know we can rejoice too when we hear of a work going on, when we hear of souls being saved. It's something that makes your heart rejoice.

7:57 And so it really it touched Paul because he often referred to himself. He was like a nursing mother. He was like a father admonishing. You know, he just... The saints were on his heart.

8:12 By saints, I mean, who have trusted Christ, not some figurines or something, but saints were believers. And it rejoiced Paul's heart and others there with him since we heard, it says, of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have to all the saints. I know sometimes we read through verses kinda fast and I've done this a number of times before and sometimes need to slow down just a little bit and pick up some more details and I don't think I noticed this much the other day or gave it much thought but says, we give thanks to god and the father of our lord Jesus Christ. So, there are others with Paul And later on, it even says that Epiphras at this time was his fellow prisoner. As I mentioned in Philemon, I think.

9:03 But Epiphras was one who was a dear fellow servant of of Paul's. Excuse me. One sec. And I'm gonna give Don Morris an assignment here. I like to pick on him.

9:21 If you want something, a lot of details. I would like to see a list of Paul's friends and co laborers. Can you do that, Don? It would take a while, but I mean, there are a lot of them. There are a lot of them.

9:36 And he could refer to my fellow laborers and, you know, Philippians, he says, just turn to it. Hold your place here. Turn to Philippians four for just a verse. Philippians four Verse one, therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and long for my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech Ioideus.

10:07 I beseech Syntyche, Antichy, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. I treat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel. With Clement also and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. So he had many fellow laborers, many that came to him just to meet whatever need he had. Sometimes, they came no doubt with their lives in peril.

10:38 They could, you know, they could be arrested by even identifying with with Paul. And so there was there was great danger there, but there was many that the Lord raised up to labor with him. And that's one thing I I like to see about the VBS that we we have here once a year. It seems like so many are laboring together, and it's a fruitful labor. I haven't been among them, but one of these days, I'm gonna do something.

11:43 And we can rejoice that the gospel's going forth. And our brother Christian going down to Edgewater Park, sometimes several times a week. And that's an opportunity. And I don't wanna forget Amy too, the work he's doing in nursing homes. There's also an opportunity for people, many of them that have heard very, very little scripture in their lives.

12:10 They've been raised in a certain denomination where maybe scripture was not referred to much at all. And so it's an open door. So it's it's something we can rejoice in. Wherever we hear of the gospel going forth. And these believers here, they had a love for all the saints, all the saints.

12:31 And not just not just the ones that are in our fellowship, but love for all the saints, all... Every child of God. So we can rejoice when we meet other believers and try to encourage them. But the gospel is the power of God. It's the power of God.

12:49 And and Paul says in Romans one, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it's a power of God and the salvation to everyone that believes. Everyone that believes. I pray and I hope that everyone here has believed the gospel message. This is wonderful to know the Lord, and he wants us all to be saved. He's not willing that any should perish.

13:13 Absolutely not. And this gospel went forth in Colossae and their lives were changed. And he mentions verse six about the gospel which has come unto you as it is in all the world and bring it forth fruit as it does also in you since the day since the day he heard it and knew the grace of god and truth. The gospel changed their lives. It reminds me, you know, in the book of Colossians, there's so many things that seem to bounce back to the book of Ephesians.

13:49 And they're very similar statements a lot of times. I just wanna refer to one verse in Ephesians chapter one. And let's see verses verse I'll read verse twelve and thirteen. We should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ and whom he also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. In whom also after that you believed, After you believe, you're sealed with that holy spirit of promise.

14:25 Seal that shows the ownership. Once we trusted Christ, we no longer belong to ourselves. We belong to the lord and he has purchased us with his precious blood. So after they heard the gospel, the grace of God, and and believed in Colossae here, it says, they... Their lives were changed.

14:47 And he says, verse seven, as he also learned of Epiphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the spirit. Once their lives were changed, they began to love, began to love each other, they began to love others. You know, this the spirit of god transforms our lives and also he's called the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. Sound mind only by the spirit of god using the word of god. We can cast off some of these strange ideas.

16:09 But, you know, God can bring a revival. He can bring a revival, and many are praying for revival. I mentioned this before. It was back in about 1969 or '70. There was a great revival in The US and Canada where many were saved.

16:28 And it was about the time that a lot of young people were just beginning to get experiencing drug abuse and things like that. It just seemed like the Lord came in and brought a revival. And many were saved in those days back then. He could do the same thing today. He really could.

16:49 But we need to pray and and ask the lord wisdom. How can we reach out? It's so easy not to. I gotta say that. You know, we can we need the lord to give us that boldness.

17:02 I think it's harder sometimes to share the gospel with people you know than with people you don't know. You know, for somebody you don't know, well, you say, I'll talk to them about the Lord and they don't like me, whatever. They'll just go on their merry way and so on. But but when you're somebody you begun to be friends with, and I can relate to this on... When I go walking in the morning, sometimes after a while, you get to know certain people.

17:31 And you walk with them for a while, sometimes think I really should share the gospel with them, but but if they don't like me. I I like to walk with them sometimes, and I don't want them to say, oh, here comes Wayne. And, actually, there are some who won't walk with me right now, but I wish I could say it was because of sharing the gospel with them. But they were very anti Trump. And somehow they got the idea that I I wasn't anti Trump as much as them.

17:59 So they're... Don't want everything to do with me there. But it's better to suffer for for Christ's sake for sharing the gospel. And I've had some opportunities, and maybe it's only been giving out a little gospel track here and there, but it's better than nothing. Better than nothing.

18:19 So if we're not out preaching on the street, we can still be praying. We can be... And that's one thing I think all of us can do. All of us can do. All of us can pray more.

18:32 And I know I have a lot more time to pray now since I'm retired than before. But it's still... We can be taken up with so many things. We get so busy that we don't pray like we should. And that's, I believe, a real hindrance to our spiritual growth.

18:53 But we need to pray and even, you know, try to witness to our neighbors. Again, that's another hard one. Talking to your neighbors. Sometimes, it's just a matter of giving them a gospel track. Sometimes, some of us had neighbors that that were hostile.

19:08 Like Don and Cathy's neighbor there is not real open to the gospel but but god can change them. And so as we look here, Epiphras was one who had been faithful in sharing the gospel. And he declared to Paul their love in the spirit. And Paul's reaction was, since the day we heard him, we do not cease to pray for you. To pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with a knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

20:02 What does it look like to be filled with a knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding? It must be possible if they're praying, you know, Paul said that we were praying for you and desiring you might be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Where do we find the knowledge of his will? Obviously, it's in the word of god. We find the knowledge of God's will in the word of God.

20:36 We also have the spirit of God who can impress upon us what God's will is in the situation. Even if we don't have a definite specific scripture for something, we have the spirit of god within us who can bring things before us. It says in Philippians, it's god that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So, maybe not refuse when the lord is working at us to do something. Might be just take one step at a time but that's so important for us to obey the lord.

21:18 That we would be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Wisdom is and I gotta get this right. Devin, do you remember what we were talking about yesterday in the men's bible study? Wisdom is applying knowledge in the right way. Is that what you were bringing up?

21:40 That's a good statement. Wisdom is when we apply the knowledge we have. That we might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. I mean, who here among us wouldn't want that to be true in our own lives? We wanna...

22:01 Not that we could ever be worthy of the Lord, but we wanna walk in a way that would be pleasing to the Lord, that would be speaking to the world around us. Like it says in the gospels, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. May that be true of us that we would walk in a way that that the light of Christ would show forth. And it says here, strengthen with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness. We don't have the strength in ourselves to go on against the the foe, against the enemy, but god can give us the strength.

22:48 He can give us the strength. According to his glorious power. There's no power shortage with god. Unto all patience or endurance and long suffering with joyfulness. The Lord wants us to be joyful.

23:05 And the more we realize how much he loves us, and we were just talking about that this morning. It's just... Should cause a response of love in our hearts toward him. You know, he's done so much for us. He knows everything about us.

23:21 It loves us notwithstanding all. You know? Nothing we have done has surprised the Lord. But what he wants from us is that daily walk with him. Daily walk with him.

23:36 It's one thing to say, okay, from now on, I'm going to, you know, just surrender my life to Lord and every day is gonna be lived wonderfully for him. But it just doesn't seem to work out that way. We've got to... It's gotta be a day by day thing. I know we all know this.

23:52 You know, you could be rejoicing in the Lord one day. You can start off the Lord... With the Lord in the morning. Spend some good time in the word and in prayer, and by evening, you're just, how did they get down to this level? You know, it just...

24:03 It's a normal Christian experience sometimes. But that's why I think gotta be remembered daily, daily, daily. You know, as a young person, there's so many things to distract us. I say us, you, as a young person. I'm so encouraged, though, here to see the young people, the group of young people we have that are so sincere, and it's a nice number of young people.

24:31 And it was a blessing to to Debbie and I when we were young people to to have others we could be around and do fun things with, but do also some spiritual things as well. That's very, very important. But we need the lord's strength and it... We need his help day by day. I know I have a certain list I have to pray every day, not a long list, but just saying, Lord, help me not to do this.

25:16 It's been impressed upon me, I think, by the Lord that need to learn how to make individual decisions. I mean, sometimes we're involved in a group and, you know, the church is doing this. My work group is doing that, whatever. But maybe we don't pray as often and should. Lord, is there something individually you want me to do?

25:37 And I know that we have to all make decisions every day, a multitude of decisions. Sometimes, they're very, you know, unimportant, you know, you know, think of the examples, you know, whatever. Should I take this route to go a certain place or whatever? But even that case could be where the Lord spared you from an accident on another place. It has happened.

26:04 But just to have that that individual trying to discern individually. You know, like, is there some person that I could talk to today that is searching and needs a savior? How do you discern that? How do you discern that? Only, I believe, by the spirit of God impressing it upon us.

26:27 Maybe I should go talk to so and so. It seems like maybe we have that impression for a long time before we get around to talking to the person or maybe we never do. May the Lord help us not to go on in that kind of habit, bad habit can happen. He give us the strength to walk with him day by day. Walk worthy of the lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work.

26:57 Now, what is it to be fruitful in every good work? What are some of the examples that... Where a person is bearing fruit? John chapter 15 talks a lot about abiding in him. If we abide in the Lord, we'll bring forth fruit.

27:19 Another example of bearing fruit is being a giver. Romans fifteen twenty eight. Paul is talking about those in Macedonia. Romans fifteen and twenty eight. Verse...

27:51 I'll read verse 25. But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. And it pleased them verily and their debtors they are for if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. But one other verse here in second Corinthians chapter eight, this always amazes me and I'm in the first verse, second Corinthians chapter eight.

28:41 Moreover, brethren, we do you too. Wit of the grace of god bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. How then in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. It just doesn't seem to go together. The abundance of their joy and their deep poverty.

29:05 You know, we live in a society where we're taught that the more you have, the happier you'll be. Oh, if I just had a million dollars, if I just... I'd like to win the lottery, you know, then I'm sure that I'd like to try it anyway. But that really won't make us happy. But here, what fruit they were bearing because they were givers.

29:26 They were givers. The great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty abounded unto riches. You know, God was pleased with that sacrifice. And he says something very similar to that in Hebrews 13 and verse 16. But to do good and to communicate, that means to distribute, forget not for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.

29:58 To do good and to communicate, forget not for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. Well, those are some things that please the lord. He wants us to be givers. He wants us to be thankful. There's another thing that's clearly word of god, to be thankful.

30:44 Certainly, he wants us in this country to be thankful for all that we have, the freedom we have, and and that is what he wants. Verse 12, giving thanks unto the father back in Colossians one. Giving thanks unto the father which hath made us beat to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. He wants us to be thankful, and there it is. That should be part of our daily walk, and in everything give thanks, says in Thessalonians.

31:22 And then it says here, verse 13, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. That's amazing. Before we trust Christ, we're in darkness. We're in darkness. We don't know where we're going and the enemy is blinded our eyes.

31:47 We're told in John, I just turned back to it for a minute. John chapter three. And about men loving darkness. John chapter three and verse 17. I'll start reading.

32:14 For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. This is the condemnation that light is coming to the world, And men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. But everyone that doeth evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light and his deeds might be made manifest that they're wrought in God.

32:56 Who is the light? The Lord Jesus says, I am the light of the world. I'm the light of the world. We just pray this morning that no one would let darkness hinder them from coming to the savior. He that believeth in him is not condemned.

33:14 Don't let the darkness of this world take over your life. You know, we could go back in the Old Testament. Brother Denzel was referring some of the things in Deuteronomy. And you can see they were on their way to the promised land. On their way to the promised land and when they got in the promised land, they were warned, you know, don't go after the lifestyle of the people that were there.

33:45 I used to think for years, it just seemed kind of unfair. These people who were in this land and they got kicked out and then Israel got moved in there, but it really... It was God's judgment on the people of the land. If you look through the Old Testament, many scriptures that talk about the evil that was going on, it makes a lot of things today that are happening in the world just to... You think that's in the Bible?

34:10 Some of those things? Even to the point of allowing their children to pass through the fire, you know, offering their children a sacrifice. But God does not want us to walk after this world. He's he's brought us out of darkness into light. And just one other verse here that seems to go along with this in first Peter first Peter chapter two verse nine.

34:44 But you're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people that you should show forth the praises of him who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. It's wonderful to know the Lord Jesus. It's all his work to bring us out of darkness into his marvelous light. And he can do it. And he is working.

35:25 Come out of darkness into his marvelous light. Shall we close in prayer? Father, we just thank you for your grace and your love to us. We know that we just touched on a few of these things. Lord, but you're still working in this world today and souls are still being drawn.

35:48 Maybe someone in this room is being drawn by your holy spirit today. May they not refuse but may they trust in you today and not leave here without getting right with you. We pray for our families and loved ones, some still lost, and for our nation, dear Lord. We pray for revival that we would just turn to you, Lord, that you would work in a mighty way. And, we pray for the VBS tomorrow.

36:15 Keep everyone in safety and use it as a way of bringing souls to you, Lord. Give you thanks now in Jesus name. Amen.