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See about the ninth verse.
Colossians chapter one beginning at verse 9.
For this 'cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all, pleasing being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.
Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in life, who have delivered us from the power of darkness, and have translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sin, Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature. For by Him where all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be Thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence or please the Father, that in Him should all fullness dwell in heaven, made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.
And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked work, yet yet now has he reconciled.
In the body of this flesh through death, to present you wholly and unblameable and unreprovable in its sight. If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven. Whereof I Paul, and made a minister.
Who now rejoice in My sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for His body's sake, which is the Church, whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the Word of God. Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His Saints, to whom God would make known. What is the riches of the glory of His of this mystery among the Gentiles, Which is Christ in you, the Hulk of glory whom we preach?
Warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
I believe it was the burden in the heart of the apostle that the dearest Saints, that colossi, and not only David ourselves too, would see what Christianity really is and that we would see that we are a heavenly people. We're not here to make things better in this world at all, but we are here to walk in the enjoyment of the the loveliness and worthiness of Christ, to see him at the center of all God's counsel, to see that we are a heavenly people.
And to walk worthy of that vocation wherewith we are called. We know that much of Christendom is very busily occupied with trying to set up institutions and set things right in this world. And his desire was that the things that colossi and not only David ourselves would have the full knowledge of his will and walk here as heavenly men in the enjoyment of the place that we have been brought into all through the glorious work that the Lord Jesus.
Accomplished.
There's an order in that prayer too, because.
We cannot really walk.
Worthy worthily of the Lord. We don't know his will. And uh.
00:05:01
It's the communication of His will to us that forms the basis for our walking. Now, one without the other is not good either. Uh, that is to say that we could, uh, have the full knowledge of His will and not walk in it. That wouldn't please the Lord at all. But it's interesting that the prayer progresses first. He laid the foundation. They might know the full knowledge of His will and all.
Wisdom and spiritual understanding so as to.
In order that you might walk worthily of the Lord unto all. Well, pleasing. And it's, uh, it's don't, don't think about pleasing the Lord if you don't know his will, because that is the foundation for walking to please the Lord is to know what his will is. In other words, if I don't know that the Lord's will isn't to paint the ship, then I'm going to get involved in painting the ship. And I'm not gonna be the sinking ship and I'm not going to be.
Pleasing him in what I do, Uh.
Uh, that doesn't mean that those people who are painting the ship don't love the Lord, does it? Some of them have more fervent devotion to the Lord than you and I have, but He wants it to be based upon a knowledge of His will.
Not at the end. Ambassador from Canada was down here trying to set this country along the lines of what they thought was right. They would immediately acknowledge that he was entirely out of his place because he's not intended to do that, just to represent Canada in this country. And if we see our position as heavenly man, the hope which is laid up for us in heaven, that where our citizenship is in heaven, that we're ambassadors in this world.
Why, it sets us, shall we say, our right line of things to know what our responsibilities are. But if this ambassador from Canada to behave very badly, that would be a very poor testimony for his country. I only speak of this to illustrate, if we know his will, and know what our position is in this world, it lays a basis for our whole conduct of walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.
What a privilege, what a responsibility.
That's why the epistle begins when we start standing and what's positioning place with him? Because we can't act properly unless we know where the Lord is placed looking. So my wife is sitting next to me, but if I don't know whether she's my wife or my sister or my mother or my daughter, how can I act in a right relationship to her? And so many believers take up the doctrine of the church and these things, and they seek to go on and these things that they don't really know what the church is and what our relationship to Christ is. And so they can't walk right. It's not as if they're not affectionate there.
Is it dead? But it really is what governs the practical side of things which come out later in the epistle.
There's something else in connection with this. You mentioned the order, but we may know what the will of God is, but we it says here.
In wisdom and spiritual understanding, and I believe that Jacob knew what the will of God was, that he would get the blessing of the first born, but he went about it entirely the wrong way. And it was God's desire that he gets the blessing. And at the end of his life it was happier than at the beginning. He had a very happy ending. He worship leaning on his staff and he learned the ways of God. When he blessed Joseph's sons, he crossed his hands and he gave the blessing of the first born.
The younger one, and we may want to see our children gathered, we may want to see our children saved, and that is the will of God. But we need the wisdom of God as to how to walk in connection with these things. And just as often what brings us into strife and into difficulty is that we know what the will of God is, but we don't have the wisdom of God. And spiritual understanding is how He will bring these things about.
The large ship of Christ is brought in here, isn't it? I was thinking of it says that, uh.
That she might want worthy of the Lord unto all places over in the First Thessalonians lungs or two. You don't need to turn to it, but I'm just thinking in verse 12 he says that she would walk worthy of God. Why the difference? I suppose maybe in other translations may be the same, but I believe it's because these Thessalonians have turned.
00:10:05
From to God, from idol turn to God from idols. So God was the supreme there. Wasn't he walked worthy of God whereas here?
It's more holding the head, recognizing the lordship of Christ, so he says that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all, pleasing and so on. I was thinking too about.
His his desire is he says that the verse 10 that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing not so much and more by the true knowledge of God. You know, there are a lot of people have some great knowledge and we think fire really, umm great people, they have a lot of knowledge. Well, is it the true knowledge of God? That's that's the key here to me is increasing by the true knowledge of God.
Not by something that I've conjured up or by some great, uh, theologian that has given me something. I wanna know what the word of God says. And that's Paul's prayer, wasn't it?
I think of two men who said to God, I knew thee, at least in tight. There's one in the Gospels.
Who hides the talent? And he says, I knew these are the most fear man.
Did he really know?
Then there's one who says, I knew you, I knew these, that was pardon this people if I preach to them. And that's Jonah, of course, I believe he knew him, didn't he? He really knew the heart of God. And I think it's important for us to know God in that way and to be in communion with him in regards to not only our ministry, but to all those about us too. So that increasing by the true knowledge of God, growing by the true knowledge of God is, is a wonderful way to grow.
Now in, in the second Peter one where we were looking at those things that Ed brought before us earlier about having your faith, uh, such and such, uh, goes on and made a series of things. It goes on to say these things being in you that you should neither be barren nor unfruitful. And, uh, I think I saw Mr. Garvey Gibson Baron nor unfruitful.
You see, it's one thing to.
I oh, I don't run truthfully, what is that? The King James and starring are unfruitful.
You see, there's a lot of activity that doesn't really produce fruit, does it? It's just motion, a lot of motion without fruit. And then we're at about fruit. I think sometimes we can find fruit to the number of souls that get saved. That's an important part of it, isn't it? But it isn't all there's a.
Fruitfulness for the Lord, I think. What was it? Who was it, you, Charles, that gave us a definition of that this morning?
Apprehension of the Person of Christ.
Umm, everything forward from that, doesn't it? By occupation of Christ.
What you were saying this afternoon, Brother ****? Uh, Second Timothy, chapter 2 and verse 14 the way, at least in the, uh, new translation.
Just like to read it as it is in the new translation, Mr. Garvey.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in praise, and make us manifest the odor of His knowledge through us in every place, for we are under God, a sweet odor of Christ.
Uh, not an odor of praise to God in the saved, and then those that perish. And he looked upon me proclamation of the gospel as the March of triumph through these, even the heathen cities.
Here they were in slavery, and he said, We're carrying on a March of triumph, just as when a Roman general had won a great victory. Then there was a March of triumph held in Rome. Everyone could see that a victory had been won, and all the displays of that victory were before the people. They might hear or they might blame, but at least there was a March of triumph. They knew that a victory had been won. It isn't a wonderful brethren, especially the brother who tells of the Gospel this evening.
00:15:07
It's gonna hold a March of trial. He's gonna tell to this world that a victory has been won by which everyone may profit, because the gospel is for every preacher which is under heaven, and all they know and enjoy the results of that victory that has been won. To the one, that's the Savior of life unto life. To the other, the Savior of death unto death. But there is a March of triumph. And isn't it lovely that that's what we Christians are doing? We're holding a March of triumph. We're telling there was a V1 of Calvary in which every man and woman and child in this whole world.
You can share on the fruit and blessedness of it. If they receive it, they'll share on it. If they reject it, it's to their eternal loss.
Then the last thing that he prays for is that they might be strengthened.
Uh, with all power.
According to the glory with almighty, according to the glory, his glorious power in order to cast out demons and, and, uh, cure people and, and do all sorts of marvelous exploits. No so.
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power unto all patience.
And long-suffering with joyfulness.
Blood of that's a wonderful aspect of the power of God.
I have to say a little about.
What did I do more? Well, I think it flows from these other things that he prays for not knowing his will and walking worthy of them, being fruitful, growing by the knowledge of God and then strengthened with all.
Might or power?
According to his glorious power.
Unto.
For all patients.
And long-suffering.
Many years ago, brother told me when I was young, before I was gathered, he, he told me that I didn't say that word right. I clipped it off and it says it's secret to, to, uh, putting it into practice is to say it right. And so he sat with me a little while and taught me to say.
Long-suffering, not long-suffering. We we said real quickly, don't we? long-suffering. Well, I've done that now, but.
The power of God, beloved, is not so much manifested in exploits for the Lord as it is in patient bearing with things and with people. What is the result at the end of that verse? I'm just noticing that.
If you do this, that's the will of the large person.
07 Truly, the signs in the past that were bothering me in all patients, we wouldn't have expected that either. We would have thought that the signs of an apostle were all those great things that he did, that God had called him to do. But it was his patient spirit in which he met all kinds of situations, both from the world and even among the people of God. And he went on and the spirit that he showed toward those.
Who even had, you know, feelings toward him was most beautiful the writing as as he did to those in Corinth and so on. There was long-suffering of joy from this, wasn't it?
Extent too which God took him and if you turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter one, I just want to point this I believe this is important accepting that Corinthians chapter 2 and chapter one rather 2nd and fiscal spring.
00:20:04
I'll pick it up here from birthday.
So we would not, brother, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were cracked out of measure above strength in so much as we despaired even of life, But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raises the dead.
And and, and so on. It was right to the point where you could say we were oppressed beyond measure. You know, these are these are the, the great victories that were won.
In connection with the apostle and those days, you know, we have a, a movement of what today where people actually claim, you know, that they're apostles.
We lost a sister in one of the meetings up home, you know, to this so-called Vineyard fellowship. You know, said when you stop and think about it, I didn't think that the glamour, you know, somehow they think was connected with apostleship. When you take a look at this and you realize what the Apostle Paul went through, the suffering that that he passed through and so on, and yet it was done with joyfulness. What victories were won in the early church in those in those early days?
It seems that as if the word that I'm just noticing that Dandy's translation there says that we were impressed excessively pressed beyond our power, beyond our power, not beyond measure in the sense that God doesn't measure everything that's needed that's given to us. He measures it all. But it's as if God says, I'm going to get you just to the point where you can no longer trust in yourself.
Beyond your power.
Then I'm gonna show you who I am. And you know, that's a wonderful experience in our lives because we love to be the masters of things. And it hurts us sometimes when the Lord brings us to the point where we're pressed beyond our power and where there's nothing we can do whatsoever. There's nothing We're absolutely.
Uh, at a point where we often call it which end corner.
And yet it's a great place to be at which Angora corner, because then we stop relying on ourselves and we start relying on the one and the God who raises the dead, and that changes everything. Then it turns despair into.
Tramp to be trusted in the one who raises the dead. So he says that we should not trust in ourselves in verse 9, but in the God who raises the dead.
That's a great lesson. It's one that I, I struggle with. I have trouble dealing with it in my mind because I'd like to be able to, to deal with things that come across my path. And all of a sudden the Lord says, I'm gonna put you where you can't deal with anything. And especially dealing with some of these deer fellows in the jail. You know, I, I come to a point where I said, Lord, there's nothing more to tell them. There's nothing to teach them. There's nothing that.
No convenient, convenient paper I can give them, giving them everything I can give them that might help them. And here they are still right back in the in trouble again. Divorce is I want you to trust in me, not in intelligence, not in yourselves, but in the God who raises the dead, and that changes everything there.
I'm thinking right now you're speaking to him there. I'm thinking of a brother that I know and I.
He is afflicted with three things. He's an hemophiliac, he has rheumatoid arthritis and now because of the blood supply in Canada, he also has aches three things and yet he loves the Lord and those things that have you know, you look at you look at a person like that and you say well, what? And yet when you look at these verses you say why not when you think of.
The ways of God and the way in which God works through his people and so on. It's absolutely refreshing to be in His presence because of what he's gone through, because of what he suffers because he's gone through.
You look at it and you say insurmountable mountains, but God's opportunity, it's just refreshing to be in his presence and as you hold his hand and talk to him and just listen to the Spirit of God, sometimes he speaks through.
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Umm and uh, one of the men in there was, we used ice cream and uh, there was a man in there. His name was Carl West.
And if you ever saw anyone that was crippled with whatever it was, he was warped to no end in terrible, terrible pain. He had. He had bulges on his neck like this and his hands and his arms were just twice in size and his knees. He was in a wheelchair. And we'd go in to visit him.
How are you today, Brother Carl? Well, I've got a lot of things to do tomorrow for me. Pain. His pain was greater than anything I could ever bear. He did it off. That dear man knew nothing of the proof that we know. And he was the happiest suffering man I believe I ever saw. I thought of that first time. That was it. Many times. He was just. He was rejoicing in the margin office.
Charles, don't you think maybe he do secrets that we don't know anything about?
I mean, it's one thing that they didn't know the truth of gathering, which is what I think you read right in our heavenly calling. But some of those people have secrets that I wish I knew.
Good. No. Good. No. No question of soaring knowledge. It's not what we know. It's whom we know. Oh, that's that's.
What follows here isn't it yet giving thanks for the four things that we have that can't be taken away through sickness or trial or mouth of man or anything. There's four blessed things. Giving thank you hath made us meet. He has delivered us in the power of darkness, and He has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.
And we have redemption through his blood. How wonderful. That's what he was rejoicing and not the, uh, trials that he was going through, but what he had as his portion. And until we enjoy that portion, we're not able to bear all the difficulties away. But when we enjoy that portion, what we already have, we know there's a lot more or less in the future, but what we already have right now, every believer is entitled to enjoy these four things forever given to us because of Christ. Glorious work.
Seems to be, Gordon, that your father used to have an expression that all the light of God's glory will never discover anything, that the blood of Christ is not fully, uh, cleansed.
A problem. And that's really the secret of this little expression here. Umm, who has made us meet to be partakers, or as grandly says, fit for sharing the portion of the Saints in life? If I had a dirty shirt and I was supposed to get up and make a speech, I hope the lighting was poor in the place, wouldn't I? But as I look forward to the portion of the Saints in life.
I don't have to fear anything.
Because all has been.
Suitably and forever removed from the presence of God. I used to think, uh.
Chuck Hendricks was down in Woodbridge a few years ago and talked about, uh, that God.
Will not remember. And I said wow I never thought of that before.
All in my life I thought that God forgot our sins. But if you do something against me.
I might forget about it, but then again, something may jog my memory and I'll remember.
God is not a forgetter, is he?
It cast them behind his back.
Is fully removed, all of it in a righteous basis, and he chooses not to ever remember him again. I can choose not to remember something that someone did against me. I can make that choice.
But, uh, God is not a forgetter. He's a chooser not to remember.
00:30:03
150 years ago, he perfects everything he touches. And you think of the cross of Calvary and what that has done and how the work of Christ has glorified God when a Sinner is brought into that blessed relationship of sins, forgiven and born again by the Spirit of God and so on. Uh, it's a work of grace and the work of power And it, it, well, it's, it's like, it's, it's been stated a piece of work is a signature of the person who did it. When we look at the work of Christ.
All we can do is stand back with our mouth open and see how wonderful, how glorious it really is to perfect everything he touches.
This is an expression giving thanks unto the Father, because the heart of God is the source of it all. His blessing. Son came to and did do His will and do it perfectly, but the heart of God not as you were saying, an austere man, but he's seeking the blessing of man. And man as we often see a little Him. God be teaching and refusing to be made forever glad, so giving science unto the Father.
Which has made us neat or fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in life. We'll never be more fit than we are right now. We have Christ as our Savior and our sins put away in his precious blood.
In the 13th verse, the expression who had delivered us from the power of darkness.
I think we need to understand that there are two words that are translated power in our Bibles. One has the sense of capability.
It's connected with our word.
Dynamite.
The other one has to do with the card.
Now, darkness has both over us when we're unsafe, it has power over us, and it has authority over us. But it's wonderful here that I think the thought is that we've delivered and delivered from the authority of darkness. Darkness has no more authority over us. God has made us fit for the portion of the Saints in life. He's brought us out of darkness into his marvelous light.
And he's delivered us from the authority of darkness. To me, that's wonderful and triumphant that darkness has no power in that sense over us now. Uh, we know that there's darkness such as maybe felt around this today. And there is a certain power in the sense of, of, uh, capability or dynamics in connection with how that power without authority.
But.
As to our position before God, we have been.
Totally, completely delivered from the authority of darkness in our lives. And to me, that's a wonderful statement.
What we've been saying is we're waiting for the timeline to deliver from the presence of something.
Of Ephesians 5 there.
Verse 8 beginning at verse 8. For ye were sometimes darkness.
Uh, this, this verse to me digs pretty deep.
It just doesn't say that we're in the darkness we were darkness itself darken our souls toward God as it says sometimes darkness. But now are you light in the Lord and he brings in the responsibilities walk as children of men. He puts us in the position first then he says now the only way you're gonna enjoy it is to walk in and so I think it's so beautiful to see that because then later we're told that just in verse nine for the.
Proof. I think I understand. It's the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and fruit proving what is acceptable.
Under the Lord, how do you prove it? By walking in it, by walking in that marvelous light, as I thought of the verses here where he says who hath delivered us? That's past, isn't it? That's a in past tense. Have to look at us from the power gardens.
Translated us into the Kingdom of the son of his love. Well, and that brings before a stand responsibility, doesn't it? In order to enjoy that and enjoy the position that he's brought me into. Now he wants me to walk into not be caught as we find in Ephesians, uh, caught in sleep or being in a sleepy condition like the rest of the world.
00:35:19
The latest Good for us to realize that there are two powers that are superior to man.
The power of God and the power of Satan. Satan's power is inferior, of course. God's power is the greater. Man likes to think he's a free moral agent. He can do as he chooses. So he talks that way. He acts that way as if he had absolute freedom, that he could do as he liked. But if you want to do something, if there's a power superior to yours that's holding you from doing it, then you're not free. And man is not free. He needs to be set free.
And that's what the gospel does. It's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe us. And so I believe it's important to realize this because man likes to think this. And sad to say, even many Christians don't realize the power of Satan. They like to think they're free just to make any choice. But unless the sun makes us free, we're not free indeed. But He has set us free from the power of darkness. He not only saved our souls and made us fit for heaven, brethren.
But there is a path through this world, as Mr. Darby put it. There is there is a path through this world where Satan cannot touch us. That is the path where the Lord Jesus walks. And it says in Psalm 17, By the word of thy lips have I kept me from the path of the destroyer. If you and I think that we can step out of the path of obedience and be preserved from Satan's power, we're mistaken. There is only one path through this world where we're safe from the power of Satan.
That is an obedience to the word of God and the Lord Jesus was a perfect example of that. He could say, I do always those things which pleased him, and he could say the Prince of this world cometh and asked nothing in me, nothing for me. Bless the deliverance because he's delivered us and he's given us a new life, a very life of Christ. Christ himself is a believer's life and His word is the instruction for our pathway.
You see that when I say the cancer, though, I don't get so read it. It's coded that verse in the Psalm. So to, uh, keeping him in his way. It's just that part out. Maybe we should just look at that Matthew 4.
How much is 406?
There's five. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy mountain, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and step on to him. It shall be the Son of God. Cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over the concerning thee. He leaves the part out here, and then he says, and in their hands they shall bear thee. Uplift at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone, for the part that he left out was to keep thee in my way.
And it's, uh, Lordy, kept in the way that God had appointed for him.
And, uh, outside of that path, we were in danger.
About darkness, it speaks of the unbeliever as being dark, and I never realized that until recently. That be in darkness, you know, that means that you know that there is no light. What we have as believers that you know, is really come to us by way of revelation.
You know, it's been revealed to us and.
You know how we need to value that and then to think that, you know, we walk in a pathway in this world like we have in the book of Jehovah path, which no, you know, the vultures I have not seen because it didn't even the key misperception of of human ability of human wisdom or reason cannot trace this fast. It's only the pathway of faith and it's it's the only way in which, you know, in which it can be walked. They mentioned this morning, you know, about experience and we're here in this, you know, a lot of Christians remember someone saying to a brother in Christ one time, I'm not interested in the word of God. All I want is experience for the pathway. This is what this young man said.
00:40:01
Well, if that's true, he better go back and read the life of Eliphaz, the team. And I did Joe, because he steps before US1 who was acquainted with experience. I had a spirit stand at my bed at night, and it set all my bones to shaking, he said, and so on. What's the Lord has to say about that? He said very simply, Thou hast not spoken that which is right concerning me as my servant. Joel half now he'll pray for thee, and he'll offer these sacrifices. Let I deal with thee and thy friend according to thy folly. God calls that thing folly.
Because there's only one pathway.
It's the pathway of saying obedience, admissions of the Word of God. And as the brother among us said, we don't learn by experience, We learn by the Word of God. That's how we learn.
It said that in fact a riot if they came back and he said it did not belong to the proper state. Take hold of you. And we think we learn by experience, but we don't really have it. We learn by experience and come back and say, well, I made a mistake because we wound up in the wrong path. And once we come back to the point of really acknowledging the point of departure that the word of God said this and I departed from that and we don't we may think we've gone back into the past and what we've really not made a full recovery.
We simply learn things by experience.
People are very determined on that point too. Where?
It's been exasperating sometimes to try to deal with souls who claim they've had this experience or that one and, and, uh, I've stopped trying to prove that they did or didn't have it. I don't really think it matters very much whether they have the experience or not. I think the real issue is what's up the scriptures and.
We need to bring all our experiences to God's Word and judge them by God's Word. Otherwise we get into my decision.
And that's what's sweeping over evangelical Christians, Christendom today is, is a form of mysticism. And if there's no arguing, you guys, you can't say anything because they don't accept the basis. And the basis is what does God say about it? Uh, I use an example. It's perhaps a very obvious one, but, uh, you, uh, say, well, it isn't right for a woman to speak in assembly and ecclesia. And, uh, they say, yeah, but I got a blessing from that sister that was speaking, you know, and, and she spoke with power.
And uh.
Prophesied. And, and so you go back and you say, but here's what God's word says about it. Yeah, but what about my experience in, in listening to that? And, uh, you know, you just, you just shake your head, you wonder how can you ever get through? Well, you can. The only way is God's word that can, can Vanquish that sort of thing. Uh, the strongholds that are pulled down are the imaginations of man's heart reasoning.
A man's heart and what pulls them down.
It's God's work, God's work.
And I think we have an answer to that. Deuteronomy 13.
If there arise among you a profit or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, for I'll be spake unto thee, Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Thou shalt not hearken unto that the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God prove with you to know whether he loved the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. And ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice.
And you shall serve him, and came unto him. The great test was not whether the thing happened, but whether it was according to the word of God. That was what was to settle it. Because I say again, Satan has more power than man, and he is a great imitator. In deceiver tells us that he's an Angel of light. And so whenever you hear these things, always test them not by whether it came to pass they could.
Create, create some limitations like you did with the, uh, the, uh, ones in Egypt, you know, the, uh, the, uh, false prophets in Egypt, but here it says you're detested the Lord your God. Prove with you to know whether you would love the Lord your God with all your heart. He shall walk after the Lord your God and keep his commandments, while may the Lord grant that we will test things by the word of God.
00:45:07
Mother and Tyrol and are in the Middle East. Year old neighbor St. Her daughter and her daughter said that she was going to Our Lady of Lourdes and our friend's mother made this comment. She said if the devil can turn himself into a serpent, he can turn himself into a woman.
And, uh, the devil appears as an Angel of light and deceive. And so if we're looking for experiences and things, we're going to be deceived.
I love the expression that says in verse 13 at the end.
He had translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, or the Son of His love.
I marvel at that because it really is the same.
I think he was at one moment he was here on earth, and the next moment he was translated into the presence of the Lord. And I like to think of that sometimes we tell the fellows in the jail, you can pass from this moment, from Satan's Kingdom into the Kingdom of the Son of Islam by a simple act of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by receiving God's salvation offer and obeying the gods.
Modern obedience isn't it obeying the gospel, and in that moment that person is translated.
Into.
Kingdom of the son of his life and they they no longer have many loyalty, allegiance or connections with that old team. They've been taken out.
Remember Gilbert Christensen little thoughts on this trans translation and thought he spoke it put it this way. He said I will turn to the scriptures, but he said if we're occupied with the one who was transfigured.
Which was priced, we're going to be transformed.
And eventually we're gonna be translating.
Entertainment of the son of his love. So he used that. He went over that with us quite quite a little bit occupied with the one who was transfigured were then transformed and we're going to be translated.
Is that future or something that's already been done?
Well, we know we're still here.
The purpose of God is there, isn't it?
We haven't been in spirit. We're already translated. I mean, that's God's purpose, but as to its reality, we're still here.
As we know it says he was translated that he should not see death, but I believe here is our rather saying if the present thing we're already in the Kingdom of the son of his love to enjoy it, we're going to have the same thing as happened to translate it into.
The license of Christ that is coming. But here is something that we can enjoy. The word half and half are brought in here, something that we presently know, the Son of his love. It's a wonderful thing when we think of this because.
Lord Jesus said iniquity and accept a man be born again. He cannot see the Kingdom of God. There is no fixing up of the first man, no change made in the first man that was just born of the flesh is flesh, but God has brought us.
And brought, brought us by new earth into an entirely new position. And every believer, brethren, here has a very life of Christ, tells us in this very epistle, when Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. And we have the life of Christ, we have the Spirit of God as power for that life. This is a present thing. So this man that you were talking about it all these physical things.
That were so hard for him to bear. By a natural sense. He was enjoying these four things that we have and that's what will lead us to be happy Christian. God may take us out of difficulties or He may leave us in them, but we can always enjoy these four things, brethren, Maybe enjoy them more than our presence portion.
00:50:08
I was thinking of the Romans, to whom Paul wrote. They were under the most despotic government of all.
And then he could say government started any thought and so there.
Relationship to the government entirely changed because they were translated out of the authority of darkness to the authority of the under the authority of the Son of his love. And so a completely different set of motives. The government didn't change, but they're the one who they were seeking to please now have changed. And so we gave them the power to walk in a very difficult situation. And we often think that we're going to show the character of Christ when there's great answers to prayer and people like to get their testimony. And it is a wonderful thing when the Lord answers the prayer. He finds exactly the right car or gets us a job or something like that.
But I really believe that the Lord really shows his power, umm, in this long-suffering and all patients with long and long-suffering with joyfulness. I think that's what we see in Paul and Silas are singing in the prison is that there was a real deliverance there. And I wonder if that's not what touched the conscience of the jailers. I think even a Moses coming down and seeing the people that he was really grieved and inspired by what he saw. But it says he whisked not that his face shone and so on the difficulty that we need.
The Lord can give real, perhaps more powerful testimony than we think.
When we're getting great answers to prayer and great deliverance. Is that brother there that you're referring to showing far more, I think of the character of Christ and perhaps we do when we think or he's answered a great prayer. We've seen sold things and this kind of thing that that we see that in in in this way.
The power of God is much more shown, I believe today, and faithfulness to go on in a day of weakness than it was a Pentecost. I believe we're living in more privileged days than they were in Pentecost. It was easy to go on with 3000, breaking bread from house to house.
And so on. And it's a much more difficult thing to go on in weakness where there's just perhaps two or three and just a faithfulness to the Lord and having the Lord sanction of that, if that takes really more power than it did to go on in a day when there were great numbers being saved and great encouragement in that way.
When I was first gathered not long after.
The Lord raised up the testimony in Lima, Peru, and there was.
Umm, wonderful blessing in that little company down there became a rather large company and I remember that the Lord allowed that.
Some charismatic influence came in in the assembly.
And I'll never forget a letter we got from Brother Valderrama.
The Lord had cleared things and shown them a lot.
He said the power of God in that in, in, uh, today is manifested not so much in signs and wonders as it is in resisting evil doctrine and carrying on the truth. And I thought what a wonderful lesson for them to learn at the beginning of their and for me to learn at the beginning of our experience with walking with those gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Because the natural heart wants to see all these demonstrations, but the power of the spirit and energy of the Spirit of God is put forth in resisting evil.
And resisting evil often has a doctrinal sense, doesn't it? We recognize more quickly morally. You see that in judges. They were already what an infamous deed is done here. We're going to rise up and we're going to deal with Benjamin. We're going to.
Deal with and that wasn't that wasn't as quickly discerned in the case of the, uh, the the man who had a House of gods wasn't.
Uh, so we we very much more quickly recognize morally, but the Spirit of God raises up a voice against doctrine of evil. More subtle, isn't it? Far more subtle and more.
I'm thinking of Roman 12 and verse two in the next month. Umm, do not confirm to this world that we transformed by the renewing of their mind that you may approve whether that's good and acceptable and perfect will have gone well. The mind is occupied because it seems to be Speaking of there and bringing in that which is not a part of the truth of God and the thing that may appeal to the mind, but it's pretty sure about the renewing and why.
00:55:11
And back to Christ and His Word.
But I see our time is about one, but maybe further, Gordon, can you tell us why in Ephesians, the expression that we have in verse six, uh 14 is umm in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins for as I believe it doesn't belong here in Colossians.
Yes, and Mr. Darby translation is left out. It isn't entirely omitted from the chapter, as we see from the 20th 1St, it's properly there.
Having made peace through the blood of his cross. But the emphasis here is on the person that did it, not on what it cost him. Because I sometimes illustrated by a great depth and I say it's paid and you say who paid it? I say, well, Henry Ford paid it. It wouldn't be how he paid it, but it was the man that paid it that that he was actually that interested in me to pay a debt for me. And that is the point in Colossians. The Spirit of God is occupying us with Christ in fact.
We might have already noticed that there's no mention of the Spirit in this whole book except the one love in the Spirit, because the Spirit is occupying us with Christ. That is his word. He, he said, when he has come, he shall glorify me. And so it, it threw his blood, certainly as the 21St show. But when it's talking about the great deliverance, who did it? The Son of God's love, the one who was the delight of his heart, is the one that loved me enough to pay my debt, put away my sins by his glorious work at Calvary.
Thank you.