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We've had a smiley.
Gloria the person is presented in a full away Philosophy 1.
Maybe.
Feels the Lord to look into that.
#9 on chapter one thing.
Colossians Chapter One.
For all the Father of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timotheus, our brother to the Saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at colossi, 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. Pray and always for you, since we heard your faith in Christ Jesus.
I know the law of what you have for all the Saints, for the whole which is laid up for you in heaven, where all ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.
But just fall under you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit as it got also in you, since the day you heard of it, and knew the grace of God. And truth, as you also learned of. Epifras, are here fellow servants with for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love and the Spirit for this 'cause we also, since the day we heard yes, do not cease to pray for you.
And to desire that he might be filled with the knowledge of his will and 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 patients, and long-suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks under the Father, which has made us meet to be part acres of the inheritance of the Saints in life, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated off into the Kingdom of his dear Son, and whom we have redemption through His blood.
Even the forgiveness of sins with the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature.
But by Him we're 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 invite him, all the things consist, and He is the head of the body, the church.
With the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things you might have the preeminence.
Or it pleased the Father, that in him should all fullness dwell, and having 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 there were some time alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked words. Yet now has he reconciled.
In the body of His flesh through death, to present you wholly and unblameable and unreprovable in His fight, if you continue in the faith, grounds, and spells, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you have heard.
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Which was preached to every creature which is under heaven whereof I fall, and made a minister, who now rejoice in my suffering. For you fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his body 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 has been hid from ages and from generations, but now it's made manifest to the Saints to whom God had made known. What is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, what we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man.
Perfect in Christ Jesus, where unto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
Book of Ephesians takes us to the highest place in the Bible with this first chapter of Colossians gives us the highest picture of glory in the whole Bible.
In Ephesians we have what the church is through Christ, the fullness of Him that fill us All in all. In Colossians we have what Christ is to church has been sent. You can write over Colossians his statement. Christ endured the hope of glory.
By his dwelling in the believer, the glory is assured to the believer and what a glorious person he is.
And that is especially, I believe, what hopefully will be coming before us in these meetings, this wonderful person who is our head, with whom we are now in resurrection, united. That wasn't possible before his death and resurrection, but it is not possible as a result of the work of Calvin's trust.
Each and each book in the Bible has a particular burden to it or purpose of it and.
In Colossians 2, I think we see the concern of the apostle in writing to the Colossians and verse 18, he says.
Let no man beguile you of your reward, in a voluntary humility, and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly popped up in his fleshly mind.
And so when the Lord Jesus is presented in our chapter.
As the creator, we notice the emphasis is really on what isn't seen to the natural eye, though it says in.
Our verse where he made all things.
Verse 16 For by him were 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 and for him. And so the Apostle is going to show the Colossians Saints the high supremacy of Christ as the one who created these invisible beings, the angelic beings included.
About apparently some were seeking eternity, Colossians aside to the worshipping of angels. And it's a similar thing like in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the Lord in His supremacy over all other things is brought forth. And so here we find that He created these invisible beings and He should be held supreme.
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In our hearts and minds.
It seems that the theme of the whole book is regarding the head.
Not in the second chapter of 19. First of not holding again. And here's the first chapter of holding the head. And so the head is Christ. And that's my brother mentioned earlier, the theme of the book of Christ, Christ and glory and Christ in us, the hope of God.
And its occupation with the man in the glory that will really draw our hearts out, isn't it, brethren? And I'm thankful to take up a chapter like this, because hopefully, as the spirit of God ministers Christ to us, our hearts will go out more to him, and we'll set our mind on things above us. We're exhorted later on in this epistle. It's wonderful to consider what we mean to Christ, but brethren, to consider who Christ is and the fact that he is head of the body.
And what Christ is to the church, I believe there's nothing will draw our hearts out more to him than that. And as we go down these verses, I would suggest that rather than it just being that which is doctrinal accuracy, as we want to be doctrinally accurate, of course. But brethren, to seek Christ in these scriptures and to get a fresh glimpse of the man in the glory. You know, we so often sing a little prayer, and I can only speak for myself. I sing it so often in meeting that I don't always.
Consider the full import of it, but just to consider that little prayer that we sometimes sing.
Fix our earnest gaze so holy Lord on thee, that with thy beauty occupied we elsewhere none may see. How many times have you sung that a good many. I have no doubt most of us here a son that many, many times. But just to consider that and consider that little prayer in light of this chapter, I believe then we'll receive a blessing for taking it up.
And it has to interest us, brethren.
Because we're going to be united person for all eternity. We all really are really. But we are learning here in this world, lessons of the glory of His person that we will not be able to learn up there. So it is likely to have this person, before I say, and more and more convinced of it, brother, that what we need is attraction to the person of Christ. It's not that.
Of the expectation against worldliness that we can do, we'll have little effect.
And when we think and.
We'll see in these versions of glorious a person our head is. What an insult to want to have a man in that position.
Yes, we have to come to see who the head of the Church is. Then we come to see the insult to put a failing human being in that position. Why would we want to have a failing, turning mortal to be in that position when we have such a glorious head as Christ?
When we come to the position of.
That job came to, he could say, I have heard of the of the hearing of the ear, but not my nice.
I trust each of us to see Christ and as we go through this.
Not that we should overemphasize this, but unfortunately in this first chapter in.
In the King James Version there are misrepresentations, bad renderings, and if you read Mr. Darby's translation you get help. Some of these mistakes are not that period, but just to point some of them out. I hope we don't dwell too long on this, but in verse nine that speaks of the full knowledge of his will.
The tendency is that we as Christians concentrate on some part of this world instead of having the desire to know the full knowledge of Israel. And then?
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In verse 10 there is a word added by Mr. Darby the true knowledge of God. We know God different in Christianity than any St. at any previous time. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew him as God on my TV finding Exodus.
Six. But he reveals himself as Jehovah to Moses, clearly indicating that he got a fuller revelation of God.
In revealing Himself to Moses so we have partial revelations of God in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, when the Lord Jesus comes, God manifested in the flesh. We have the true knowledge of God, and He has revealed God as Father. As nobody ever knew him before, we by the Spirit can now call him ABBA.
Then verse 13.
The Kingdom of the Son of his love.
Much better reservation. We have been introduced into a sphere that at one time could only be enjoyed by the Lord Jesus. But we now know that Savior have been introduced into that sphere and can enjoy the love that at one time only the Lord Jesus could enjoy.
And then?
The verse 15.
The Jehovah Witnesses used the King James translation to say, you see, he's the first preacher, first born of every preacher, first born of all creation when he enters his own creation.
Coming as a man of necessity, he has to have the place of the first born, because verse 16 gives us the reason.
Why he has to have the position of the first one? Because he's the creator and then in verse 19.
Has pleased the Father that in him should call fullness dwell. That's also false. The correct rendering is that the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell in the main Christ Jesus. Yes, it is the sun that becomes man, but when he becomes man.
God is manifested in the flesh that try your God was pleased to reveal himself in that way and in verse nine of chapter 2. It helps us understand that in Him the fullness of the God has dwelled bodies. So I just thought I'd point these things out to show where there can be an improvement on what we have in the King James translation, and some of these renderings are outright misleading.
But how thankful we can be for more accurate translation that has given us a better understanding of the test.
It is that by the knowledge of God that we are brought into here, and as it's been expressed, full knowledge of God and John 17 and verse 3. The Lord Jesus said this is eternal life, that he might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ through ascent. So when the Apostle John writes in chapter one of his first epistle, we are called into the fellowship.
Of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the God our Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of the apostles. So it is the knowledge of God and into which we have been brought and.
Into a way in which it was never done before. Isaiah could say in his 40th chapter that I had not seen or heard, neither had entered into the heart of man what God had prepared for them and loved him.
But he goes on, then the Apostle, by the Spirit of God, to say, But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit. And the Spirit searches of depths of God. So with the full knowledge of God has been brought from the sun. He has expressed image of God, the importance of the glory shining out in that blessed man. And it is into his knowledge that we have been brought.
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We ought not to skip over these first few verses because they're introductory to what we have are disposed from verse 9 on. And I think there's something very precious and practical for us to consider in the opening verses of this chapter. And one of the things is that they have grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there are many brethren here today, no doubt, who are going through real trials.
We have some of those situations mentioned for prayer at the beginning of this conference. The beginning of the prayer meeting. Isn't it a wonderful thing, Brethren? We're not home yet. Yes, we're connected to our glorified head by the Spirit of God. We have that resource. But we're not home yet. We're still here in this world. And isn't it wonderful that we have those two things, Grace and peace. Grace meets our present need of all we received of His fullness and grace upon grace.
He said. I don't know how much more I can take of the trial the Lord has allowed in my life. He giveth more grace. There's no limit to that grace for every situation. Are you feeling discouraged, brother or sister? Just turn to the Lord and seek that supply and resource of of grace.
Says my grace is sufficient for thee. Paul had trials himself, but he learned to rely on the grace of God. And then there's peace. Oh brother, this is the same peace that the Lord Jesus left with his disciples, the peace that the Lord Jesus experienced as he walked through this life, and who had more trials and ups and downs in his pathway than the Lord Jesus, who was more misunderstood and physically abused and felt reproached and so on. But the Lord Jesus walked through this world.
In perfect peace with his God.
It's the peace of God that passes all understanding, and you and I can experience this, but not that we become hardened or callous to the trials. We feel them, and we feel them very keenly. We ought to. Lord Jesus could weep at the grave of Lazarus, but he had perfect peace through the situation because he walked in communion and fellowship with His God and Father O'Brien. And these two resources are available for us today, just as they were for the Lord Jesus as a man, just as they were for the Colossians Saints, the resource that we have in Christ this morning.
Is no less than it was back then. We might just read the end of Ephesians to go along with this.
In the end of Occasion 6.
23 and four, we see what God in his relationship to desires for us, and what the Lord Jesus Christ desires. It's very simple to read Peace be to the bread.
He speeches the bread.
And love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. So if there's not peace amongst us, we know that God is not the author of that.
Not the author of confusion. He wants peace.
And love with faith and He's our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ is one with him in them.
There isn't only love for those with whom we are in practical fellowship.
Paul for having love to all the sense.
We tend to sometimes be sectarian in that we think that we only have an obligation to allow those with whom we practically watch.
There are things that we cannot accept. We cannot walk with Christians because of what they are identified with. But I hope we always will rejoice when we have an opportunity to meet another place of God.
And to meet one and then to tell us, even that night I met another family member, you know, we ought to dislodge them all. And even if we cannot walk with them and have to point out where they are wrong from a Scripture point of view, I hope that his love that comes up to do so.
Instead of looking at them from.
Elevated position.
Or try the position of pride. Love all the things.
And there are many of them. A lot of pleasure is to meet one.
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These things would correct.
What I think is an attack of the enemy upon the brethren as such.
By the Raven Dr. Let's read 2 verses out of Matthew 6, Matthew five. I think these are unusual because of the attack of the enemy at this time upon the President as such.
And it's timely to have this brought out.
Matthews 5 verses.
46.
Seven and we read 8.
For if you love them, which love you?
What reward have you?
Do not even the publicans the same?
And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others Do? Not even the public? And so?
Well, those two verses would corrupt that situation, but maybe somebody don't know about, but it's an awful thing. And then he says be therefore perfect. Even as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect, we are to be like our Father. It's simple to get verses like this to correct some things that come amongst it.
In Ephesians 6, that's perfectly.
Right clamp and an Ephesians 6 and verse 18 and 19. It says praying, supplication, prayer for all men.
All things for all things. And then another ship to their apostle Paul said, Do good unto all men.
Especially unto the household of faith. And the household of faith is all Christians, isn't it? Not just those sitting in this room today. It's all Christian.
That is broadened in First Timothy Chapter 2, where it says in Pray for all men was brought to my attention a little over a year ago. Delightfully, brother said to a man to whom he was given opportunity to witness. I prayed for you this morning.
Well, if we pray for all men, we can in true say to a man that God, or a woman that God brings us into contact with. I prayed for you today. So that goes beyond our own selves and our circle of fellowship, to include all the Saints and all men.
This is what is he Paul brings out in our chapter as we go on because not only do we have grace and peace as our resource, but then he speaks of praying for the Saints. When Paul prayed for the Saints, it's interesting that often he didn't just pray for them in connection with troubles, but he gave thanks for them as well. Go through the epistles of Paul and notice that how thankful he was for his brethren. And I just suggest if we got down on our knees in our room and gave thanks for our brethren, wouldn't it make a difference when we got up off our knees and we rubbed shoulders one with another in our relationships together?
You can't really get into your closet. And truly, before God pray for your brother or sister and thank God for that brother or sister and speak behind their back or say something to their face that maybe is unkind and not call for. No, I believe rather that this is a wonderful resource that we have.
Not just to pray for one another in trouble, but to pray for one another when we're going, when the Saints are going on well. And I'd like to point that out too, in connection with the times that Paul mentions praying for his brother specifically. In fact, it's usually at a time when they were going on well in Philippi things were going on. I know there was a little problem coming in, but there was a testimony in the gospel. It was their their testimony was going out and others have heard of it, Paul said. I seek not to pray for you night and day.
Here he prays for the Saints in Ephesus. He prayed for the Saints when they were going on well, because Paul understood very clearly that Saints who were going on in the love of the truth and for one another were Satan that were a particular target of the enemy.
Brethren, if we would use prayer as a preventative measure, it would save us from many things. Why is it I wait to pray for someone until they get in trouble or they drifted away from the assembly? They're not coming to the meetings. Maybe some action has had to been taken because of something that has been allowed, and so they're excommunicated from the Lord's table or whatever it might be. Why do I wait to pray for that brother or sister to that point? Brandon, if we would pray for one another in the way that it suggested here, I say I believe it would spare us from many things.
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And it would cause our love to abound more and more, one for another.
Not only praying when they're going on well, read these prayers of the past falling Ephesians one. And in Ephesians 2 and here that isn't so much that he is concerned about the physical and material well-being. He is concerned that they might come to a fuller understanding and enjoyment of the things that they have in Christ. How many times do our prayers?
Concentrate on that.
Most of the time we're praying for the sick end, for problems and this kind of a thing. Well, it is good, beloved brethren to reach these prayers and see what the Apostle Paul exercise was. Should we not have cut an exercise? We have many young men and girls, young ladies among us. It would be nice to see an exercise, individual exercise, to get into these things of God.
Comfort, the enjoyment of it and then you can walk intelligently for the Lord because you know what you're placing. Position is so. These are the things I believe that need to be emphasized because we tend to concentrate and be occupied, overly occupied with physical and material things. There's nothing wrong with being occupied for those who go through difficult times and even John in the letter.
Providing to Gaius, he's concerned that he will be going on well spiritually and physically.
So there's nothing wrong with that, but most of the prayers that we read about in the New Testament have to do with spiritual concerns, and I believe you love it better and I hope you're not taking it wrong. General scriptural understanding, amongst the other things, is diminishing.
And there has to be more of an exercise to get into these things into the scriptures.
To come through an enjoyment of these things, it will also help us to understand what is expected to of us collectively. There's a beautiful prayer in Colossians 4, verse 12 which I want to read.
Ethioprats, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluted you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete.
In all the will of God, wonderful prayer that we can pray for our brethren. And I want to balance some of the comments that have been made by reading some verses in Second Timothy chapter 4.
In Second Timothy 4 verse one I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who should judge the quick and the dead.
And disappearing in his Kingdom.
Preach the Word.
The instant in season, out of season.
We prove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own must shall they heap to themselves teachers.
Having itching areas, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
The the state of Christendom today is so pathetically low that.
Verses like this need to be brought before us. Let's not get the idea of that this what this being promoted in Christendom, It's it's a pseudo, it's a false love.
It's a human love. It's not divine love at all. It's it's to just tolerate all kinds of things that are unscriptural and that of course, we don't want to give anyone the idea that when he speaks about love to all the Saints that it's that kind of love. It's love which wants to see the Saints going on in the truth and loving one another in the truth and not to.
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Not to embrace all the error that's out there. And that's what's being done by the leaders in Christendom. They're throwing their arms around those that are Antichrist. See them. And that ought to be revealed. And so we have to balance these things, don't we? Are we not in danger of being affected by that? Oh, yeah. Tell me, Chuck, can you give us a definition of what a table is?
Of Fable. It's a it's a story that is not founded on truth. It's it's not the truth at all. It's just something that someone has come up with and it has no substance to it.
He had a danger among us that somebody gives ministry on a scripture, reading something into that scripture that isn't at all there. It's a playbook. It's a producing production of the human mind.
There are being into these things, yes, We have to be careful that these things will come in among us, Paul says in Colossians.
That the coherence? No second, Timothy.
Forecast, the form of sound works. That's the opposite to the message. And we are affected or in danger of being affected by what's going on. Somebody might have such sweet words.
But what he's reading is not expounding the scriptures. He's reading something into it that isn't there at all. Let's be careful of it. We are made-up of the same stuff as our fellow believers out there and are exposed to that all the time. That are to where?
An unconditional law is telling is not for God. You cannot throw up your arms around somebody that goes on in sin. That's amazing. Sometimes. Our president principles change when there are changes in their own families. Just be careful. The scripture is warning us not to have any fellowship with those who go on and sin. Unconditional love is the true love of God. It is unconditional.
But it's not. Embrace me there, That's what you're that's what I'm saying. It's what we have in the first chapter of Colossians there. Notice the apostle Paul. What that was to all the things like him to do verse 28 and 29, whom we preach warning everything, not just the system group of everybody teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfectly. Christ Jesus.
Where do I also labor? Striving according to his working which worketh in the mining. So it is loving and unconditional way, yes, but it is not embracing. There I think I get you embrace and it's being faithful in presenting the truth too. We never help a fellow believer by watering down the truth or being wishy washy when we talked about believers Now we always want to present the truth in a way that the spirit of God.
Can take it and use it for blessing to that soul. And we don't want to be contentious when it what comes to the truth. We want to earnestly contend for the faith, but we don't want to be contentious, and we don't want to try to press a point. But we do need to be faithful, as Paul was in presenting the truth to whoever it was. Paul never tried to walk the middle of the road, no matter who he was presenting the truth to, whether it was the truth of the gospel, whether it was to philosophers, whether it was believers, whoever it was.
He presented the truth. I would just say it could illustrate what our brother Chuck brought out, because I think it's very needful and helpful that with the Lord Jesus himself, in Revelation one you find that the paths which make of the affections they were restrained gird about with a golden girdle. And I think that's what you're saying. The affections there are there. He loves, He loves everyone. We ought to have a love for all brothers, but the manifestation of that love may sometimes be restrained.
By that golden girdle which would perhaps speak to us of divine righteousness, you just let me make another comment, because Chuck mentioned about epiprax in the 4th chapter and I was thinking of it in connection which is mentioned here in the first chapter. You know God is gracious in giving us illustrations of real people.
Who lived and practiced the truth in a very real way. We've been talking about praying for the Saints, ministering to our brethren, loving our brothers, and then the spirit of God gives us an example of a man named Democrats. But notice Chuck pointed out that he was praying for the Saints in the in the 4th chapter. And brother do we know what it is the labor and prayer for one another.
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I don't mean do I and I can only speak again to my own heart. I don't mean do I just mention my brother's name and passing. But Epifras knew what it was to labor.
In prayer for his brother. Do I know what it is to get into my closet and really labor in prayer?
Specifically for that brother, for that sister, again, I think it would spare us with how many things if we learned to do this in a practical way. But notice that for Frost in this chapter, verse 7, as he also learned Now if you notice Mr. Darby's translation, it's not so much of epiphros but.
From Ephraim, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ. What did the Saint hear from Epafrass? They heard the truth of God. Now notice it isn't just that he was a faithful minister of the word. That was no doubt true. But he was a faithful minister of Christ. As we said earlier, brethren, that's what's going to draw the heart out. That's what's going to open up things to us. And if we seek in our relationship one to another. And I don't mean just in a setting like this or at the local assembly meetings for ministry.
But if we would learn, brothers and sisters, the truth of this to minister Christ one to another, not just the word, but Christ. This is what the what Epiprax did when he spoke to the Saint, he ministered Christ. But now notice something else. What about when he spoke of the faith? That's first aid. Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit when he spoke to the things he ministered Christ, when he spoke of the Saints to others?
Spoke of what? Of Christ in the Saints, What he saw of Christ manifest in the faith, What was for encouragement and blessing? A gun? Brothers, isn't this something we all need to take heart to? Especially myself? When I speak of my brethren with somebody, sometimes, I don't often say some very nice things. But when Epifra spoke up the Saints to others, he spoke of what he saw of Christ and the practical manifestation of Christianity in those things. Well, when we speak to one another, let's minister Christ when we speak of one another.
Let's speak of what we see of Christ in those fellow believers. Yes, but there are times when we have to mention people by name. As Paul says that Timothy, second Timothy. He mentioned them by name, Thankfully, he and Colossi. The condition was good. He didn't have to caution them about certain individuals that were teaching false doctors.
And were.
Departing from Paul and so on. But whenever such situations arise, I hope it's genuine spiritual concern holding people and for the well-being of the Saints that need to be warned. That is our motion. But I also like to say this.
We can be fellow servants without saying anything.
I of the time am impressed when brother helped us so that we can travel to Africa and other places.
They are fellow servants in shopping and praying for us. Every one of us can be a fellow service or who we might never have in ministry in the assessment and but how wonderful it is to be supported in prayer those who have a more public place and greater responsibility in that way, and to feel the prayer of the things behind us.
Where we are in a place like.
It's really very encouraging. We can be an encouragement like hypertrophy. It seems to me. I check for a brethren and this because it appears that.
Spoken to Paul about the Colossians believers and I'm sure he had concerns for them. What else? Because there is warnings in the second chapter that Paul morning to from what you learned from Epigram. But to see that Epiprat was the one in chapter 4 who labored fervently in prayer.
00:45:15
And to me, that's a lesson. It might be easy to talk of our brother.
Some of the good things, and sometimes we find it fairly easy to talk about some of the defects.
If that happens, Brendan.
Let's try to make it practice kneeling down and praying for those spreading we've got They are God's people. For as much as we may be erroneous in something of their doctrine or their actions, if they are the Lord's people, God loves them. And I can think of Elijah, who is the only Satan to mention.
In the mentioned in the New Testament as.
Finish. And it was because he prayed against God. People, and God in fact told him Elijah.
Annoying Elijah to be prophets in your room, he said. I can't have.
I love my people and I'm going to have to replace you if you take that kind of a thing. So let's see the Lords people, erroneous as they may be, through the Lords eyes, big posture and precious love. He loves them and we need to pray earnestly for them as a convention. Labor, Ferguson, privacy is worse.
It's not easy. It's not just getting down on your knees and saying something to the Lord. It's labor. There's another word that you conscription, Supplication. What does that mean? It's not just really that. It's intense.
Pleading with God.
Do we know anything about that? I have to construct revenue that I don't know, it's not about, but that's what you're talking about?
Interesting in contrast to Elijah. Elijah that when the people of God failed in Samuels day, he prayed all night. Not remarkable and brought you to Samuel in a very wonderful, wonderful way for the people of God in his day. But he prayed all night not against the people of God, but the God would come in in his mercy and in his grace. That sometimes said too, there's a fine line between gossip and godly concerns.
God the concern is good, and as our brother Heinz said, sometimes and in Scripture, warnings are given. John and his epistle gave warning and mentioned an individual specifically by name. Apparently. If we could just discern more of that line between gossip and godly concern, that might help us. Just in contrast to Epifras. Go over to the last chapter of Colossians again and the second last verse.
Epifrost was a faithful servant of Christ. He labored for the Saints.
Minister Christ to them. Pray for them. But here's someone else mentioned in verse 17.
And say to archivist, take heed to the ministry which thou hast received of the Lord, that thou fulfill it. Epocrates with fulfilling his ministry. But our Kip is wasn't and Paul said that Archippus needed to be stirred up. We're not told what it was that what ministry it was that Archibald was given for the blessing of the Saints at Colossi. But he pulled the stir it up and to use it, because no doubt the apostle Paul felt of the Saints of at philosophy were suffering a lack. And sometimes I feel there are assemblies that suffer a lack because there are brothers and sisters in that assembly.
Who do not carry out the little ministry and function that God has given them in that assembly. And so we can't just point at somebody like Esther Pratt, who no doubt took part in the assembly meetings and so on. No, this is something for each one of us to consider when you go back home on Monday if the Lord leaves us here.
Brother and sister, young person, you have a service for Christ, some little ministry to fulfilling the local assembly that no one else can fulfill quite as well as you can because God has finished you for that little service. Don't cause the assembly to suffer a lot because you don't fulfill and stir up that gift or that old service or ministry that God has given you to fulfill.
00:50:06
I like to feed a bird the first Thessalonians.
Chapter 5, verse 14, which helped us to understand that we cannot deal with everyone in the same way.
Paul.
Here gives very good instruction.
And he says, we exported, but we exhorted brethren and money to disorderly the unruly comfort the same target.
Sustained the weak be patient towards all. We will all define saying that fit in one of these categories in the assessment and we cannot deal with everybody in the same way.
And so it's good to remember that even when we meet Christians who don't understand the truth of gathering.
We do well to remember that.
If the Lord has given us an understanding that they don't have yet.
Let's be careful how we deal with them and maybe sometimes we try to overwhelm them and give them much more than they can take in and so we all fail Engine, my wife sometimes they told me you tend to give people too much at what traffic, you know, we have to learn to.
Discern the state of the individual in their private hospital.
And they're not all willfully disobeying the word of God. Many of them don't understand it. And maybe the Lord thinks them into our lives if we can help them. But that is even true among those gathered to the name of the Lord. There are those that the Lord table that don't understand the place of separation. Hopefully it will come to that if we handle them in a spiritual way.
Wisdom of personal understanding is because that what Christ is to ensure is better than anything else there is around revenue.
I think of the case of growth when she was leaning.
Was that because he wanted to be restricted? No, it was because he wanted to give her handfuls of purpose and we can improve.
This time or anytime on behalf of the lower kids before I.
And that's the reason we need to have that 54.
Would you say, Doug, that boy, this field was like the scripture is to us?
That's wherever to glean.
This book.
I would do not go further, brother. There where his authority is acknowledged or is a picture of the Lord. And it was in Boston tears where she was encouraged to glean. In other words, where his authority, the Lord authority is only that's the safest place. That's where we have learned the truth, have we not you know? And so yes, I am the truth, he says yes.
That's where we get it. In His presence, the Spirit is true. My word is truth.
That's the piece.
But the professional place where his truth is ministered and his long and Bruce was in.
Boaz field. He could command the service to leave the manual for purpose, but he was in the place where he is authorized and where they they submitted to that.
His place as owner of the field and of the richness that he has. So that's why it was better for her to be there. Doesn't mean that he had to get proper weeks after year necessarily, but she was in a place where he could command them. And yeah, but so it's so good for us to be where the Lord Desert is on, because then he can give us exactly what we need.
00:55:09
And that's what we have in this first nine, I think. It is so beautiful. There's three words between the end of verse 9.
The full knowledge as well there's knowledge.
And wisdom and spiritual understanding. Where do you get from the word of God? And where the Spirit of God has liberty to hold them? Restrictions and use whom he will that there is this. Oh brethren, the Lord help us. There is no walking properly in this world like we have in verse 10 talking about the watching unless there is.
The knowledge of his will and wisdom and spiritual understanding. Knowledge is good. The knowledge in itself is not all. There is wisdom and that comes through prayer and lack wisdom. Let him ask of God to get knowledge from reading the word and then prayer with wisdom and that leads to.
Understanding.
What a wonderful thing it is to have this book open for us. Very good, Bob. And that doesn't all come in one day, doesn't it? It's interesting that in the book of Roots, she came back in the time of Barley Hunter and says she continued on until the end of the week. And so she didn't get all of everything that Boaz was right the first day. It was over a period of time.
And Ice was saying, don't belt the whole load on them at once. Well, God doesn't do that to us. And He takes us step by step, precept by precept, and leads us in the past and how thankful we are that He does otherwise. None of us should be here. James makes some wonderful remarks about this second thing. Wisdom.
If any of you lack wisdom, where are you going to get it? Let him ask of God.
Who gives to all men, liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. There's where to get it.
And spiritual understanding, hear and understand, the Lord said. When he was here, he was talking.
Mr. His word and understand it.
Ruth got the barley first of all.
And she got some weed.
And she was diligent.
Boy was impressed with her diligence. And she was not only gathering for herself, she was gathering for her mother-in-law. You know, those are the characteristics that should be found in us. We cannot benefit or expect to grow just by sitting under good ministry. I've often said you can sit all your life under the ministry.
If you don't have a personal exercise to certain things out, you make very little progress. There has to be distiligent characteristic of us in order to benefit, and I hope that will be more and more, especially on thinking of the young. But even the older ones at times need to be encouraged to be more diligent in searching things out, you know, sometimes it's a little.
Being offered in the assessment.
Because brethren haven't done their homework, you know, let's be honest, you know, And sometimes, perhaps there's more being offered by a faithful man in a wrong position in the system than amongst us, because they haven't done their own for. So let's be exercise that we play hold of things first of all for ourselves, and then that we can give it on, pass it on to other than last. That has to fight close into fissures.
They were prepared for his own needs, not at all thinking that the Lord would use us to beat the multitude. I believe that is the way our trooping in our lives, that we are exercised, that we have nourished and improved for ourselves.
And then the Lord might use that at a given time for the blessing to us. I've gone back to Ruth for a moment because she beat out.
01:00:00
And winnow is what you get, and the Lord speaks of the animals that you've cut.
Can we do that?
What do you mean?
Think upon consider it.
Turn it over and over in your mind and so it gets down into your heart, meditates upon these things. That's chewing the cut.
It's a very interesting fact of mathematics relative to what Ruth did.
When Boaz gave her.
A portion from the threshing floor. It was exactly twice the amount that she beat out. That can be deserved from the weight measure scale in the G Morris table of Weights and Measures. But Boaz gave her exactly twice what she beat up. To whom much, much, much. Who has much too much shall be given more. Shall we give them? Yes, more. I want to be careful in making this comment.
Because I know nothing about farming, but I suggest that gleaning was a very orderly process.
I sometimes, in visiting in the Midwest here, had opportunity to ride along on a tractor during harvest. And I noticed that when the brothers wheeled that tractor around the field, he doesn't just crisscross the field and haphazardly run the tractor through the cross. Now it's a very orderly process.
I just suggest, especially for those who are younger, because it was helpful for me to get ahold of this from my older brother when I was younger. And that is orderly, consistent reading of the word of God. That's really what gleaning is. Now. There may be times when we trace the subject through the word of God, and certainly the truth is woven in that way, so we have to search it out. But I don't believe young people. You'll never really have an understanding or an outline of the purposes and counsels of God unless you get this book and every day orderly and consistently.
Read it. You might not understand everything you read, but get the overall picture and see what each writer is ringing out. And it's not hard to figure out what Pauls ministry is, what James brings before us. Peter. The Old Testament writers, there's always a theme or a line to their ministry and get that overall picture. Don't just read haphazardly here and there. Discipline yourself to spend some time every day gleaning in the field. And I see Ruth walking down those roads very orderly and consistently.
And diligently. Well, I just suggest that is that with a house to me, you remind me of the Irishman statement. You'll never find anything but where it is it's going to be in that field.
We can go back to route that she worked long hours leaning and if she's never cleaned you wouldn't have found the handful of the purpose. And so I believe when we get into the description we'd rather speak about our homework. Well that's that's the school of whale doing it. I never liked school work without my but you're trying to get into the scriptures that the Lord forgives you and has a total purpose and.
I think we do need a word with villages about fleeing from the scriptures before meetings that we might have to give. The Lord will give us a handful of purpose which you can pass on to others. Maybe I can make this suggestion too before we pass on, just to sum up what's been said.
It's been said that we need to privately read the word of God for ourselves. That's true every day. We need to read it rather than we need to, and it's not enough in itself, but we need to, to avail ourselves with ministry in the assembly. Very important. And you get it through the act where there was oral ministry and the Saints came together for that purpose. And I'm saddened. Sometimes a brother would use that expression. You're not going to get it if you're not there. You're not going to hear the ministry of the word if you're not where the spirit of God is given liberty.
And Christ's authority is owned and the word is ministered. You're not going to get it sitting at home. You're not going to get it going out somewhere else for the evening. I'm speaking very plainly. I'm saddened sometimes when Wednesday night comes or Thursday night comes and there's just a handful of Saints at the local assembly meeting for ministry.
Going to get the proof that way and then I would just make this one further suggestion. I believe, brethren, that God has raised up men in the past. To bring out those things in a Christ exalting way proves that they have gleaned from the word of God themselves and God has caused them to write those things down and go to yourself. Some of you young people have parents that have a wealth of ministry in their library. Go to that.
01:05:02
Library, pull out some of those book posts. Maybe at first you don't really have an appetite for it. And you say, I don't. Pretty deep. I don't really understand what these men are bringing out. But read it. Learn to appreciate it. Get a little here and there. It'll be a great help. So we need those three things.
Personal reading of the Word of God, ministry in the assembly, and then what God has caused men to write and ministry. And of course we need the word of God from the family circle as well. I've always said I'm glad for a father who opened the word of God every day and consistently read it to his family.
Into that gym.
I'm thinking of one brother in particular whose name will not be Nick mentioned.
I I asked him a question and he said just a minute, can you go to his library and cross away? I said I know what Darby teaches. I know what Kelly teaches. I don't want that. I want to know what you say on this verse. You have an exercise problem because he just goes to the, you know, to the writer and read that. So I can do that myself.
So that's the other side of that coin.
I'd like to say a word, and I believe there's a process that perhaps some in town are not familiar with, but in the cleaning, you know.
It wasn't the kernels that were on the ground with the headphones because the kernels would be forever trying to find a turn, but it was a brain that the straws the strawberry mist, and it was not in the bundle that delays falling on the ground or laid on purpose.
So she picks up these straws with the heads on.
She took those home. She shredded those, took the grain out of the head.
And then she had to mill that head that way before she was even said the process. Then I think what you're talking about with the meditation, with the words, it isn't just picking it up. There's much more involved so that we're going to get a good that grade. We have to follow that process. We have to take it home. We have to take it out of the spot, out of the hall.
We have to mail it and then we're going to make it and then we're going to. And she didn't want any to perish. Had she not pleased and would have remained on the field, that would have terrorism. What did the Lord say after she kept them on the truth? Get off the fragment. She didn't want anything to be lost. So let me also say this.
I believe that we have to be exercised.
And encourage the younger ones to learn to pitch in. And not only encourage them to clean, but if they have cleaned then they also have an opportunity to share. Not that they take over, but share what they have cleaned. One of our responsibilities as older brethren is that we help our younger presidents to learn to fit in, and so that might take some patience.
But it is necessary because it's a lot doesn't come present.
Who's going to carry on?
You know, we won't be here forever.
You know, the Lord testimony has to be that carried on and there has to be brethren that are willing to carry on. So maybe that is something that we should consider not just be satisfied to have an audience, but to help others to learn to fit in and function in the example.
M212.
Fall from love all.
Right.