I invite you to open your Bibles with me this evening to the book of Colossians. The book of Colossians in chapter 1, where you can find that on page 1168 in the Pew Bibles. Colossians chapter 1, and we'll be focusing on verses 9 through 14. However, I want to read beginning with verse 1, and I'll read from 1 to 14. Our text being 9 to 14. Hear now the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae, grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven of this you have heard before in the word of truth the gospel which has come to you as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing as it always does among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy giving thanks to the father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins thus far the reading of God's word. Well, if you were to be asked this evening, or maybe this week, what is a Christian? Or maybe better said, who is a Christian? What is the life of the Christian to be characterized by? Would you be able to answer that question quickly? And if you're answering the question, would you be able to answer the question with an answer that is informed by Scripture? And by God's providence, the message that we heard this morning in very many ways actually informs that question and informs the answer. Many things that we heard, those would be the responses that we would say, that we've heard the truth and we've believed. That's how we would answer that question. But the reason why I press these questions again this evening, the reason why I want to ask these questions is because our passage of Scripture this evening is going to answer those questions for us. The essence or the substance, the core of Christianity is found in our five verses this evening. What's happened here is we've jumped into the middle of Paul's prayer, which is why I wanted to read the entirety of the prayer for us to have this sense of context of what exactly Paul is doing in this prayer. What we know is happening at Colossae is that Paul had not visited Colossae. He was not the one to plant this church in Colossae, but this church is planted by Epiphras, who the text tells us is a fellow worker. He is a faithful minister of the gospel. He's sent by Paul to plant this church in Colossae. And he's now coming back to Paul and he's sharing these things with Paul. He's sharing that the church has been faithful. The church has ran the race well. They have faith in Christ and they have love for the saints. They are loving one another. But we also read, as the book continues, that there's this false teaching that's happening at Colossae. There's a teaching that is not in accord with God's Word. And so Paul is responding with this book, he's responding with this letter, I should say, to address, for one, he's encouraging the saints, he's encouraging them in their faith in Christ that they would continue on walking in this way, but he's also going to offer some correction. And it'll be interesting to see how he does that. Paul reminds the Colossians of the fullness that is within Christ. The fullness that is found in Christ is a theme that we're going to see traced through the book. And it's interesting because that's the false teaching that was happening. Is that it was some sort of syncretism. What that means is it was Christianity plus the folk religion of Colossae. People were believing in Christ, however, they were hedging their bets. They were adding a little bit to the side, just in case Jesus couldn't deliver them from death. Just in case Jesus couldn't deliver them in this certain circumstance, they were adding alongside of Christianity with what they thought could deliver. And that's why Paul is saying there is this fullness in Christ. And we'll see that run through our text this morning. And how similar is that to our day? How similar is that to the cultural context in which we find ourselves? We see that we live in a world where many people are spiritual but not religious. They're finding their truth in this mystical ascent. Or they're adding Jesus to the life that they have just chosen to live. They're living in whatever way they would want to live. and they're tacking Jesus on to the end of it as if Jesus could offer them some sort of security if everything else fails in their life. Jesus is also included, as you know, in a list of gods or religions. He's included in many different ways to heaven. You'll hear that often. There is, I think there's many different ways that you can get to heaven. Yeah, I believe in Jesus. I think he was a great teacher. but the text this evening is telling us much more about Jesus. He is not just one who is added to the pantheon of gods in the name of coexistence, but Jesus Christ is the only way. Paul is clear that Christianity does not leave room for this way of thinking. Jesus cannot be added to the end of your life for the sake of just getting to heaven. He is the only way to the Father, And it is only in and through him that we have life. And Paul is so clear on this point. And this is what I want us to see this evening. That Jesus is the only way. And I want to consider Paul's intercessory. So we've shifted Thanksgiving to intercessory. And I want to look at this portion of Paul's prayer from three different perspectives. Three different points. I want to see the character of Paul's prayer. the content of Paul's prayer, and the certainty of Paul's prayer. So we're going to look at the character, the content, and the certainty of Paul's prayer. So Paul shifts the first eight verses of chapter one. Paul is offering this thanks. He's breaking out in praise. He's thanking the Father for giving the Colossians this faith in Christ, this love for one another. And then here in verse nine, we see this shift. There's a taking of a turn in his prayer, and he begins to pray for the Colossians. He's praying for specific items for the Colossian church. He's asking the Father to do a number of things in this church to continue encouraging them that they would stay on this path, that they would be filled with all wisdom and understanding, and that they would continue to grow. Paul is thankful to the Father because he's heard of the Colossians' faith and their love for one another. He's asked God a series of things because he knows that the Father is already at work in them. Note, this is one of the characteristics of Paul's prayer. It's following a logical progression. What I mean is it's starting with thanksgiving, and then it's moving in to intercession. And I think this is important to consider when we think of the character of our own prayers, how often we're tempted to be lazy in our prayers to lack a desire to pray we often find ourselves being flippant with our prayers and coming to God as if he's a genie in a bottle and just asking him these things apart from offering our thanks and our praise to him we come with a series of wishes forgetting that the creator of the universe has called us into communion with him. He's called us into this relationship with him and we owe him this thanksgiving and this praise that we see Paul offering here. So Paul's giving us a model of prayer that starts with that praise and thanksgiving of who God is. He is thanking the God who is and then he's moving into specific requests. And when we begin to pray with thanksgiving, we reorient ourselves to who it is that we're coming to. You know what I'm talking about. You experience this in the life of your own prayers. That when you begin to pray and you open your mouths and you confess the name of the Lord and you offer your thanks and your praise to Him, you gain a new perspective, right? You begin to see the things in your life in a new light. You see it from a perspective that the Holy Spirit is working in you. And your desires even begin to change. Your requests begin to change. It's because we recognize that apart from the Lord, our life is nothing. It is him alone that holds things together, and when we offer our thanks, it helps us to lay our hearts open before God and express that we recognize who he is, and then we can move into these requests. And you notice that the requests that Paul offers are in accordance with God's will, and it's because of this logical progression that he's thanking the Lord, And then he's offering these requests that would be in accordance with what God is doing in the church of Colossae. Paul knows that their faith and their love is a gift of God alone. He knows that God has been working in them. He trusts that God has been working in them. He knows that when he comes to the Father, it is hearing of their faith, hearing of their love. he knows that's only a direct fruit of the Holy Spirit, the regenerating act of the Holy Spirit that can cause them to do these things. And that is why he's offering the thanks and he's going to be asking for things after that. Notice that it says that Paul started praying for them the day that he heard. From the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, is what it says. So that's another characteristic of Paul's prayer is that it's regular and consistent. This is an example of one who understands, who knows the importance of prayer, the power of prayer, the necessity of prayer. Paul knows and understands that God works through the means of our prayers. He works through the means of our prayers to strengthen fellow believers. Therefore, Paul prays on a consistent basis. So much so that he's able to say we have not ceased to pray for you since the day that we heard. Are you one this evening that believes in prayer? Do you believe that the Lord hears your prayers? Do you believe that your prayers are actually the means by which God accomplishes his will. How does your prayer life reflect that? I mean, this causes us to just stop and marvel and to wonder at our God who, though He can accomplish His will apart from us, He chooses to use our prayers as a means to accomplish His will. And doesn't Paul have a great understanding of that as we look at the text this evening? he recognizes that his prayers are heard and God is using his prayers to then accomplish his will. And I think if we grasp that, if we recognize that to a fuller extent, our prayer lives would look a bit different. So as we consider Paul's prayer, we can take courage in his model for prayer that the Lord hears him the Lord is delivering on these requests and that also gives us encouragement to carve out more time to ask the Lord to give us a greater desire for prayer and that we would have a deep conviction of the importance of prayer so with that first question who is a christian what is a christian well a christian as we see is one who comes to their god on a consistent and a regular basis offering thanks to him for who he is praying for fellow believers amongst us praying for those in our lives who don't believe praying for the world around us the struggles that we see in the world and also for the church as a whole. So a Christian believes in prayer. And what Paul prays brings us to our second point, which is the content. So we've seen a few characteristics of Paul's prayer. Now let's look at the content. What is it that he's praying for? Well, the content of Paul's prayer is revealed when he asked that the Colossian church be, Look with me now. Verse 1, filled, sorry, verse 9, excuse me. Filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. There you see that term filled again. Paul has a deep concern for the Colossian church to continue in this faith and love. And he understands that the continuing is a result in being filled with wisdom and understanding. the knowledge and the understanding leads to or results in this walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. Walking in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord is a direct result of being filled with this spiritual wisdom and understanding. He'll then go on to explain what it is that the Christian should do to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. And this is so great because what Paul is doing here is he's showing the interconnectedness between faith and life, between doctrine and practice, between knowledge and action. The two cannot be separated. He's showing that our knowledge is influencing our life. What you know influences how you live, and this is important for us to grasp because it informs us on how we spend our time. What is it that we know about the Lord and how is it that we then spend our time outside of here? How is it that you've spent your free time recently? Have you spent your free time growing in this spiritual wisdom and understanding through the means by which God has set forth? Or have you spent your time doing things that that have actually contributed to your spiritual malnourishment? Have you spent your time doing things that aren't contributing to your life as a Christian? And Paul picks up this language from verse 6 when he says that, he's asking that the Christian would bear fruit and grow in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God. Well, in verse 6, he says that of the gospel itself. The gospel is increasing and it's growing. And now he prays that for the Christian. Pay attention to what Paul is doing here. We don't want to miss this. He's setting forth a cycle for the Christian life. And this is so helpful for us as we consider how is it that we walk in a manner worthy of the calling. How do we walk in accordance with God's will? That is a big question for Christians. How do we do that? Well, Paul shows us in this series of verses. He says, when you grow in the knowledge of the Lord, you bear fruit in every good work. And when you bear fruit in every good work, you grow in the knowledge of the Lord. These things flow from one another, and they should be considered closely related. And this is so helpful for us when we think about, when we pray about, when we encourage one another to live lives that are pleasing to the Lord. We often want to know how to please Him. What should we do and how should we live? He's given it to us in His Word. He's laid open the Scriptures before us and said, this is who I am, this is who you are, and this is what I've called you to. And when Paul says that you would be filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding that's coming from the Word of God. That's coming from being filled up with the knowledge of the will of God that is found in the Scriptures alone. God has given us His Word. We can know Him through it and we can grow as we continue to come to it, as we meditate on it, as we pray it back, as we hear it preached and we hear it read. But I do need to take a moment now and explain what the text is not saying. And the reason why this is important is because by nature, you and I, we love the law. We love to just be told what to do. Just do this and you'll find your spiritual satisfaction. Do this and you'll find eternal life. And we get our list and we're quick to start checking it off. We're quick to start saying, I've done this, this, and this for you, Lord. Now I'm walking in this manner worthy of the calling and we're inclined to this because it gives us this illusion that we can actually find our own righteousness we're bent into this illusion that we can find our own righteousness and this is why if you ask someone in fact on the street if they're going to heaven more times than not they'll look at you and with a smirk and say I think so I think I've been a pretty good person. My good works have outweighed my sins, at least I think today they have, maybe not yesterday. But Paul is not saying that we walk in a manner worthy in order to earn this status before the Lord. We don't walk in a manner worthy in order to earn a pleasing status before the Lord, but rather we walk in a manner worthy because we've already been given the status. God has qualified us for an inheritance. He has given us this status before him. And therefore, our works are not earning righteousness before him, but they are a fruit that's coming out of the righteousness that he has already given us. It's been done through someone else. The righteousness that has been given to us was accomplished. has been accomplished. Therefore, we cannot manipulate to earn it. So yeah, now we have this exhortation to walk in this manner worthy, to continue on this path, is what he's saying to the Colossians. But we, like the listeners who are initially hearing this, we're faced with our own inabilities, our own inadequacies. We think of that and it feels so burdensome. We think of that and we question, how is it that I can truly walk in a pleasing manner before the Lord? Well, as if Paul anticipates that question from you and from me, from the hearers, he gives us what comes next. And he says that being strengthened with power is what you'll receive. Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy. So notice what Paul is praying now. That the believer who's faced with their own personal inadequacies, their own failures, Paul is praying that they would be strengthened with the power of God himself. And you and I, we have also been strengthened with the power of God. We are now strengthened with the power of His glorious might that we are now able to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, which is why Paul is commanding us in so many places, specifically here, we can think of Ephesians 4 as well, that we would walk in this manner worthy because the Lord Himself has qualified us for this inheritance and He's also empowering us to do it. He's empowering us to walk in step and in line with what he's set before us. The language used, being strengthened with power, endurance, and patience, those things all imply opposition. Paul himself is extremely aware of this reality, that the Christian life brings opposition. You are extremely aware of this reality, That life is not always hum-ho or bliss. But we often face struggles outside of these walls. We often face those things that cause us to be distraught. We're faced with the struggle of sin, pain, and deep distress and hardship so often. But Paul reminds the church that though we face the world, the flesh, and the devil in these things, we're being strengthened to endure. We are being strengthened to walk through what can seem like the chaos of life with patience and endurance, but also with joy. We can find joy in our hardships. We can find joy in our struggles because we have a perspective, a reality check that the Lord has given us to recognize that he's called us into this inheritance. We have joy in the midst of our sufferings because we know that there's more to come. And the term being filled up, as I've alluded to previously, we are to be filled up in the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding. So stick with me for a minute. I'm going to show you a few verses that really bring this together in terms of fullness. And then we'll move into the certainty of Paul's prayer. But in verse 19 of chapter 1, Paul says that the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Christ. And again, in chapter 2, verse 3, we read that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And again, in verse 9 of chapter 2, that in him, in him the fullness of deity dwells bodily. And you have been filled in him. So he's praying to the Lord that they would be filled with all wisdom and understanding. And then he says that all that wisdom and understanding are hidden in Christ. You are in Christ. You are united to Christ, in whom are all the wisdom, the treasures of wisdom and understanding and knowledge. And that union is what Paul is praying for. is that in that union we would find the fullness that is in Christ. We don't have to look outside of Him. It is the power of God that raised Christ from the dead and you now being strengthened with that same power to endure in patience. You've been buried with Him in baptism in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God. And the understanding of that is the fullness of spiritual wisdom and understanding. But Paul prays with such certainty. How is it that he prays with such certainty? And that leads us to our third point. What is it that gives Paul this certainty? Can we have this same certainty that Paul is praying with? Well, it is his trust in the sovereign work of God in the life of the Christians in Colossae. And it's your trust in the sovereign work of God in your lives. In the lives of the believers that are sitting next to you. It is your trust in God's work in them that gives you the certainty in prayer. You trust that the Lord has began a work in them that he will bring about to completion. You trust the Lord who has said he would do these things, and he's doing them. Paul understands that God had accomplished something for these believers. We should have that same understanding this evening, that the Lord has accomplished something for us. He's accomplished salvation for us, and that gives us our certainty. It's not a work of your own doing. But this qualification now allows you to share in the inheritance of the kingdom of God. And this is found in the last section of our passage this evening. Paul begins to say, being thankful to the Lord, who has qualified you, verse 12, to share in this inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We remember at this point, as Paul says these things, as we hear them, that we were also once children of wrath. We were walking in accordance with our own desires, according to our own sinful nature. And this is what Paul is highlighting. He's highlighting this transfer that took place from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of light. We were in absolute rebellion against God. And there may be some here this evening that are still in that state. You're walking in accord with your own will, in accord with your own desires. And you're walking on a path that leads only to death and to destruction and to hell. But it is God who delivered us from this domain of darkness is what our passage says. Not only did he deliver us from the domain of darkness into a neutral state, He didn't bring us into this neutral state so then we can choose good or evil. What does the text say? It says that he transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. He transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. He moved us from this domain, from one domain to the next. The transferring has happened. It has taken place. So you who have not placed your trust in God for your salvation, come now to the foot of the cross. God is faithful to save you. Look away from the course of your own life, the course of your own way that only leads to death. Today is the day your life hangs in the balance, and you have no clue when you'll be transferred from this life to the next. But what our text is promising this evening is that in Christ he has transferred you now into this kingdom of light. We now share in this inheritance that has been set before us. It is only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ whom we have redemption. And what is this redemption? Well, Paul goes on to say that it's the forgiveness of sins. Paul has certainty in prayer because of the redemption, because of the forgiveness of sins of his own life, but also in the lives of the fellow believers in his midst. Those sins that so easily entangle you to this day, the sins that you continually find yourself falling in, that you can't seem to shake, the sins that make you feel, even now as I talk about this inheritance, Those sins that make you feel as if you're unworthy for the inheritance. The scripture this evening is extremely clear in its declaration that those sins have been forgiven. You have been redeemed. And you are in Christ. Your union is with Him. And in him is the fullness of all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And that is Paul's prayer for the church of Colossae. That is his prayer for us this evening. That should be our prayer for one another, that we would be filled up in this spiritual wisdom and understanding, recognizing that that is found in Christ. The scriptures this evening have so clearly set Christ before us. as we cling to him we have our hope we're going to revisit that question again what is a Christian well according to our text a Christian is one who has been filled with this knowledge of understanding they're walking in a manner worthy of the Lord they've been transferred from the domain of darkness into this kingdom of light and their inheritance is kept for them in heaven as 1 Peter says. The Christian is one who is consistently looking forward to the inheritance that one day they will lay hold of because it is kept for them in Christ. In Christ we have the fullness of all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we are thankful for your word this evening. We're thankful that we do not have to look outside of Christ. We're also thankful that we do have to look outside of ourselves. Knowing that it is not in us that the fullness of all spiritual wisdom and understanding resides, but it is in Christ. So we pray now that we would find our hope, that we would find our security, we would find our redemption in Christ and in Him alone. We pray that this word would take a deep root within us and that we would grow in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, knowing that we are united with Him. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.