Walking in Christ

In Colossians chapter 2, Paul emphasizes the importance of ministry and suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ and His church. He encourages believers to fulfill their ministry with joy, even in the face of challenges. Paul also warns about the dangers of false doctrines and the need for love and unity within the church. He emphasizes that ministry is not about personal gain, but about following and obeying Jesus Christ. The chapter ends with the command to walk in Christ, showing obedience and faithfulness to Him. Paul expresses his desire for the hearts of believers to be transformed and united in love, and for them to have a deep understanding of God and His wisdom. chapter 2, Colossians chapter 2. We've finally moved out of chapter 1. And you remember last week we talked about the presentation of members. And we find that we have a ministry. We're not just here to be taking up space. We're not just here to be going through motions that each and every one of us has a ministry. And that ministry has come from God. And Paul tells us that He is the source of that ministry. And so therefore, we are to be doing ministry with joy in our hearts. But that joy does lead to suffering. In ministry, you're going to suffer. Not all things are going to work out the way that you want it to do. But yet, God says there's a purpose and there's a plan. And so all things work together for good to them that are called according to His purpose and His plan. And so we are to fulfill that purpose and that plan within our life. And so why do we suffer? We suffer for Jesus Christ and for His church that He shed and gave His blood for. And so as we are doing this ministry and living in this ministry, the whole ministry is focused around Jesus Christ who is in us. And so we are in Christ and we are told in Philippians that we are to now have the mind of Christ and we are to live like Christ. And so how do we do this ministry? How do we accomplish this ministry? Well, we do it through preaching. Through preaching. And not preaching from behind the pulpit like what I'm doing, but proclaiming what Jesus Christ has done for you. Just simply telling people what Jesus Christ has done for you. And as we do that, then we are going to grow in maturity. And as we mature, Jesus Christ is going to strengthen us. He is going to build our faith. And we are going to be able to disciple others. And through this process, we are going to be able to grow and mature. It tells us in Colossians 1 and verse 29, after Paul explained this ministry, he says, "...Wherefore, I also labor, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily." It's not easy. Ministry is not easy. Ministry is hard. Sometimes you have to make tough choices. You have to discipline yourself and do the things that need to be done. In Colossians 1, he starts out in this chapter then, and he says, "...For I would that you knew." Something in his own Paul's heart. He wants them to know something. What is it that he wants them to know? He wants them to know what great conflict I have for you. Paul has a conflict. Now when we look at that, that kind of seems strange, right? Here's Paul who is a missionary, who is a man of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ who's going to preach the Gospel, and he writes to them and he says, guess what, I have a conflict with you. That doesn't sound right, right? I have a problem with you. But that's not what this word conflict means. What conflict means here and what Paul is talking about is Paul has a struggle that has taken place. Paul has a burden upon his heart. And notice what he says. He says, I have this conflict, this struggle, this burden for you, and for them at Laodicea, which was a church in an area right down the road from Colossae, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. And so what is this conflict? What is this burden? What is this battle that he is talking about? What is it over? Well, if you go back to chapter 1, you remember why is Paul writing the church at Colossae to begin with? He is writing because he has heard from their pastor Epaphras. You remember Epaphras has told Paul while he was in prison that there are some problems that are starting to happen in the church. There are some false doctrines that are coming in. And so when Paul heard this, then all of a sudden, it begins to burden Paul's heart. It begins to be a conflict. And he says, I have not even seen you, but I understand the destructive nature of false doctrines. I understand what this can do for your faith and for the ministry that I just laid out for you. And so when we talk about a successful ministry, we have to understand that the success of the ministry is dependent upon the love of Jesus Christ and the love of His church. That's why we suffer doing ministry. Folks, we are not on an island. We need Christ and we need the church. We are to represent Christ and we are to represent the church. You cannot live life without Christ and you cannot live life without the church. They are simultaneously together. And our world and our society needs to understand that this morning. In Colossians 1 and verse 24, if you remember back, Paul said, 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. Paul says, I have not met most of you. Most of you have never seen my face. All you have done is heard about me. But he says, I am locked up in prison. I am serving this time because of Christ and because of you. I am doing this for you because we are all in this ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so, Ephesians chapter 5, if you remember when we studied back there, Paul said the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it. We cannot have salvation without Jesus Christ. Amen? Jesus Christ is the provider of salvation. He is the Savior. And so therefore, if He is the one that has given us life, and life more abundantly, then it makes sense that guess what? We should be following Him. We should be listening to Him. We should be. And so when it comes down to ministry, ministry has to do with maturity. Why do we do ministry? An immature person does it to get the praise and allocates of man, right? They do ministry so that people will notice, so that people will recognize. A mature individual does it because it needs to be done. Because Jesus Christ has commanded us to do ministry. It doesn't matter what it costs. It doesn't matter what happens. You know, that's kind of like being a parent. You don't get to just check out of being a parent, right? You are a parent, and so it's time to grow up and take care of your children. You've got to provide for them. You've got to cook for them. Whether you're well, whether you feel like it or not, they have to have needs that are met. And that's the same way when it comes to ministry in Jesus Christ. We just have to grow up. And Paul said, man, I strive. I work hard. I'm laboring in this ministry. Jesus put it this way in Luke 9, verse 23. He said, "...if any man will come after Me, let him..." what? "...deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Ministry is not about me. Ministry is not about Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church. Ministry is about Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ lived that example. He said it's not about me. It's about the Father, right? And so He always pointed them. Jesus told His disciples, He said, I am the Good Shepherd, and the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. The number one issue today with ministry or the lack of ministry in many of our churches is for the love of Jesus Christ and the love of the people of the church do not exist. We are living in a society where we're selfish. We only want what we want. We only care about what we want. You look at all of the church arguments and splits and everything else that's going on in our society today and the divisions in our church. It's always because somebody wants their way. Somebody don't like the way everybody else is doing it or the way that it's being done. That's immaturity. God says if we're going to be mature, then we need to give up some things. We need to be willing to die for the sheep. We need to give up our rights and our things. In 1 John 5 and verse 1, John said, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And then notice, so we believe in Jesus Christ. That's how we are saved. We believe in Jesus Christ. But then He says, Everyone that loveth Him, that begot, loveth Him also that is begotten of Him. In other words, if Jesus Christ saved us and we love Him, then don't it make sense that we ought to love the others that Jesus Christ has died for? That's right, because if He gave His life for them, then we ought to love them the same way that Christ loves us. And so Paul starts this chapter. And then he comes down to verse 6. And verse 6 is the imperative. Verse 6 is the thrust of what Paul is trying to say. He says, As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, in other words, if you are saved, if you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, then here is the imperative. Here is the command. Walk you in Him. You can't be saved and follow Jesus Christ and not walk with Him, not obey Him, not do what He wants you to do. And so that's what Paul is saying. And that is the command that we walk in Him. And so notice this conflict in Paul's life, this great desire that he has. Notice what he says in v. 1-3. Paul says, For I would that you know what great conflict, this desire I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be conformed, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledging of the mystery of God and of the Father and of the Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If you really love someone, then you will have a certain anticipation. You will have a certain desire that they will amount to something. I love my kids. And because I love my kids, I have big dreams for my kids. I have big ideas for my kids. I have things that I want them to accomplish. You know, it makes my heart good when my daughter is standing up here singing for Jesus Christ and to know that guess what? I didn't make her come this morning. I didn't bring her kicking and screaming. She made the choice to come. She made the choice to serve God. And that's what Paul is saying to us here, that if we really love someone, there's certain expectations that we have of them. And Paul says, man, I have not even seen you at Colossae. I haven't seen you at Laodicea. You haven't even seen me. But because you are a Christian, because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, I have some expectations of you. I will have some things for you. And he says the expectation is summed up in verse 6 when he says, walk in the Lord. And so with this love, all of a sudden we get this glimpse into the heart of Paul, this pastor's heart. We desire for you to be practically everything that God has made you positionally. Now what are we talking about when we talk about made you positionally? We're talking about, notice what Paul says. He says you are comforted in heart. Comforted in heart. His great desire is that your heart will be comforted. He says there in verse 2 that their hearts might be comforted. Now, comforted is the verb. It's an action. This is what's happening. So Paul says I am praying for you that you will be comforted. But I'm not talking about being comforted with a blanket. I'm not talking about being comforted with your 401k. I'm not talking about being comforted through the love of someone or what else. What's he talking about? He says I want your heart to be comforted. I want your heart to be encouraged. To be exhorted. This word comforted is the exact same word that Jesus Christ used when He said I am going to send a comforter of another kind. If I go, I'm going to bring a comforter. In other words, what is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus Christ to come alongside of us to encourage us, right? To equip us. To strengthen us. To be able to live the ministry. To be able to do the ministry. And so Paul says I am praying that your strength, that your exhortation, that your encouragement comes in your heart. Now, when the Bible speaks of the heart, I want to clarify this more. And it's not talking about that thing that's pumping in your chest. That's not what we mean by the heart. He doesn't want your heart to be comforted. And so this is not what he is referring to, but rather what he's referring to is that inner being of who you are. That mind and intellect of who you are. In other words, it all comes down to your mind. It comes down to what you know and who you know. And it all starts here. Because do you realize the very first thing Satan wants to attack is your mind? He wants to attack your mind. Do you realize that Satan cannot get to your body unless he goes through your mind? And so Paul says, man, I want you to be comforted in your heart. 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 1. And this is what he's talking about. And he mentions it several times and we'll look at a couple of Scriptures. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry... Remember, there's that word again. Ministry. What is our ministry? Our ministry is proclaiming Jesus Christ, right? We saw that in Colossians. And so that is our ministry. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry as have received mercy, we faint not. We faint not. In other words, have you ever lost heart? That's what he's talking about. He's talking about losing heart. We have this ministry, but sometimes, and even though we have received mercy, we don't deserve it, that if we're not very careful, we will lose heart. We'll faint that's there. He also says in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 16, for which cause we faint not. We faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed wind. Day by day. Paul said, man, I may be outside and they may be stoning me right now. They may be putting this mortal body to death. They may be beating me with a whip. They may be punishing me. But he says, guess what? My inner self, my mind, my will, my heart is being renewed every single day. Why? Because Paul understood that his sufferings was because of the ministry. Jesus Christ said, if you do ministry, what? You will suffer. He said, if I suffered, guess what? You are going to suffer. And so Paul is praying, man, we need to get our mind wrapped around this idea. We need to be comforted in our heart. We need to be strengthened and encouraged and know that guess what? Suffering is going to happen when we do ministry. Another verse in Galatians 6.9. He says, let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Peter said in the last days, there will be scoffers that come that will say where is the coming of this Jesus? Where is this second coming that's been spoke of? What's happening? People are giving up. People are losing their mind. This mind is so vitally important to the Christian life. In Romans 12 and verse 2, and I quote it all the time, he says, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may what? Prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. What is the good, perfect, acceptable will of God? It is ministry. It is that we go proclaiming that Christ can live in you. That all of us are sinners. All of us have made mistakes. All of us have done bad things. We've felt bad things. But guess what? Christ can live in you. Christ can take you sinner that is evil, that is wicked, that does not seek after God, and He came to you that He might dwell within you. Now that's exciting, folks, and that's what we need to wrap our mind. Listen, I can promise you, ministry is not going to get any easier. There's not a magical politician that we're going to elect that all of a sudden is going to walk in and they're going to walk in the White House and all of a sudden Christianity is going to become easy in America. It's not going to happen. We're well past all of that. And so Paul is saying this morning what we need to understand is we need to get our mind wrapped around this ministry of Jesus Christ. Paul wants to save people. Jesus wants to live within people. In Romans 12 and verse 1, how do we do that? Once we get our mind wrapped around that, we beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter. He's our Strengthener. He is our Encourager. He is our Exhorter. And Jesus gave us this Holy Spirit so that you don't lose heart. So that you don't faint. So that you don't give up or quit. Quit looking at the things around us and look to Jesus Christ. Do you remember Peter? And he was on the boat and all of a sudden all of the storms and everything was happening, right? And Jesus comes walking to them and what is the first thing they thought? This is a ghost, right? This is a ghost, man. And all of a sudden, Jesus speaks to them. And Peter said, Lord, if it's You, bid me come. And Jesus said, come on, Peter. And Peter jumps out of the boat and starts walking on the water. And what happens? He does good until he takes his eyes off Jesus Christ. And then all of a sudden, he starts to go down. But did Jesus let him drown? No, it says that Jesus stuck His hand out and lifted Peter back up and put him back up on the safety of the boat. And He went with them. He comforted them. See, we have that Holy Spirit now that when we get weak, when we get down, the Holy Spirit is there to encourage us, to exhort us, to help us. He tells us in Colossians 2, look, not only that our hearts might be comforted, but the next verse that He uses there is being knit together. Being knit together in love. Being knit together in love. And so, not only does He want our hearts comforted, but He wants our love consolidated. That's what knit together means. He wants all of us to come together in love. And guess what? That love is not brotherly love. It's not about fellowshipping with each other when life is good. It's not about hanging out with each other and enjoying what so many people say today, this living life together, right? This idea of doing life together. No, this is the word agape. This is a sacrificial love. This is a love that loves even your enemies. So, we're dying to ourself and we're loving each other. He says, I want you to be knit together in this word agape, this selfless, sacrificial love. I want you to be comforted in your heart, consolidated in love. The heartbeat of Christianity is love. The glove chapter in 1 Corinthians 13, you remember that chapter? In verse 1, Paul said, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love... what? He said, I am become a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. How many of you have ever heard a cymbal? You got that in your mind for just a minute? How many of you have ever heard just a sounding brass, a tuba, just letting it rip, right? By themselves, a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal doesn't mean anything. You can take that cymbal and you can hit it all day long. You can put it in rhythm all day long. But guess what? If all you're doing is banging that cymbal, then guess what? You will never know the tune of the song that you're doing. You can't name that tune with just a cymbal. Because why? It's the same pitch. It's the same redundancy. But what happens? When you put that cymbal all of a sudden into a group, into an orchestra, then what happens? All of a sudden that cymbal is pretty cool when all of a sudden you hear the cymbal amongst all the other instruments. Because you can recognize the tune. And it adds a depth to the music that you're listening to. And so Paul is telling them, he says if I don't have love, it doesn't matter what gift I have, what spiritual gift, how great I'm being seen, because guess what? I may be being seen and I may be being heard, but I'm not being recognized for the ministry that I'm performing. See, the cymbal all by itself doesn't give you the song or the composure. And so that's what he's talking. And then look what he says in the next verse. He says, and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries... Man, if Paul could come and explain all these mysteries to me, right? He says, man, even if I knew all of this and all knowledge, and even if I had faith, we cannot be saved without faith. And Paul says, if I had faith the size that could remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing. What good is it to move a mountain, to impress people with your abilities about God if you don't love them? That's what he's saying. Now look at the next verse. He says, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and look, though I give my body to be burned... In other words, what he's talking about is back in the Roman days, in this day and time, they would take people and literally put them up on a pole, soak them in kerosene, and light them on fire so that it would produce light when other people walked down the street. Paul said, even if I give up my body so that you can see to walk around in the dark, and he says, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. I'm not going to gain anything out of it. Because why? My body's going to be burned up. It's going to be consumed. And guess what? I'm going to be gone. But if we have love. If we have love. In Colossians 2, verse 19, he's going to deal with this. He uses this same word knit together. He said, not holding the head, from which all body by joints and bands have a nourishment minister, and knit together increaseth with the increase of God. Paul and the idea that he is giving us under the inspiration of God, he wants all of us who are parts, all of us that are individuals, whether we're a sounding brass, whether we're a tinkling cymbal, whether you are a woodwind, no matter what you are, no matter what level of your faith, no matter what level of your giving that you give, whether you give up all of your items to help somebody out, or you literally give up your body to help somebody out. He says no matter where you are in all of this, we are all knit together for a purpose. It's not personal identity. We're pointing to one Person, Jesus Christ. We want Him to be honored and glorified and magnified. Have any of you ever seen, and I know this is kind of a rhetorical question, have any of you seen quilts, right? We've got several quilt makers here in church, right? Have you ever looked at quilts and just focused in on maybe one piece of fabric? And I've seen a lot of quilts, and we have a lot of quilts. And I look at that fabric and I say, that is like the ugliest pattern that I have ever seen, right? That is the ugliest color. You must have got that on clearance, right? You look at that and you say, how is this going to work? And all of a sudden, they put all of these pieces together, right? And all of a sudden, that atrocious piece of material gets lost in the big quilt, right? And all of a sudden, you're not looking at that one piece, that one color, or that one pattern. You're seeing the whole. And all of a sudden, the whole looks good, right? And that piece disappears. That's what he's talking about by being knit together in love. I don't want to be noticed. You don't need to be noticed. But when we all get together, when somebody walks into Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church, they say, man, these people love each other. These people love people. And love is the thing that binds us together. It pulls us together that is there. Why? Because, number one, we are positionally united. He just spent all of chapter 1 telling us what? That you have been reconciled. Do you realize that you were saved if you are saved the same exact way that I was saved? We all had to accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. We had to apply it to our life. And guess what? Whosoever will, Christ will save. Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Every one of us is saved exactly the same way. I'm not any greater for God than what you are. I'm not any more special to Jesus Christ than what you are. We are all saved the same way. We all had to come in the same way. That's what it talks about being positionally united. I am a sinner saved by grace. Amen? Are you a sinner saved by grace? Amen. So we are all in the same position, right? When God looks at us, He sees a sinner saved by grace. And so positionally, we have the same exact thing. Every one of you has been adopted into the family of God. You are either a son or a daughter of God. Guess what? I am too. We're positionally together. We have all been reconciled. We have all been redeemed. That's what He's talking about by positionally united. We all have eternal life in common. But then, He says in Galatians 3.26, for you are all, all the children of God by what faith in Christ Jesus. That's how we got there. We got there by faith. He says in Galatians 3.28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. So positionally, we are all united. He goes on in Romans 10.12, and He says there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. The Jews must have gotten special people. Wasn't they? They were chosen. They are His nation. They are His people. But guess what? A Jew still has to believe by faith to have salvation. And so we're all the same. We're all in this together. We're all rich together. That's positionally united. But there's also that we are knit together in love because we are practically united. If we all came to salvation the same way, notice what Ephesians 4.3 says. How do we stay together? If we're all positionally united, how do we stay practically united? Paul says, endeavoring, working, striving to what? Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Do you realize, and this is what I think a lot of people misunderstand today, we cannot create unity. Did you know that? And that's what we're trying to do in the world today, right? We're trying to make the world united, right? But guess what? We cannot create unity. We will never create unity in America. We will never create unity in the church. What Paul tells us and what God tells us over and over in the Bible is not to create unity, but to guard and protect unity. See, the only unity is what we have all been placed in in Jesus Christ positionally, right? And so we are all there. We are all one in Jesus Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond or free. Now it's our job to make sure that we guard that. It's our job to make sure that we keep it. How do we do that? Well, let's look ahead just a little bit. Look what he's going to tell us in chapter 3, verse 12 of Colossians. He says, "...put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another..." And then look at this phrase. "...if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you." If any man has a quarrel against you. Did we have a quarrel against Jesus Christ? We sure did. We didn't love Christ. We were yet sinners. Christ died for us, right? Did Christ forgive us? He sure did. And so he says, man, here's how you keep unity. Quit worrying about the argument and start loving and forgiving. In Colossians 3.14, look, he says, here's how you do this. "...and above all these things, put on charity." Agape love, which is the bond of what? Perfectness. You know what that means? Maturity. You want to be grown up? I was talking to a couple this weekend, this last weekend, that's had some problems in some relationships with their daughter. And they were struggling and going through. And for the last year, they have been completely separated. They haven't spoke to each other. And they haven't done anything. And as I was talking to them, I said, do you love them? Well, yeah, we love them. We love them. Well, then guess what? You're going to have to forgive them. You're going to have to work on that relationship. You're going to have to guard. Because it's not just going to happen. It's not going to happen. And that's what he's talking about. Love is the bond of maturity. Sometimes, we just have to forgive somebody and move on if we want to have a relationship. If we want to make things work. We can't sit back and hold grudges. We can't sit back and be mad. That's not love. Love is to be the mature person. Jesus Christ said, how do we become the mature person? He said, well, if somebody walks up and slaps you in the face, what do you do? The mature person turns the other cheek, right? If someone says for you to go a mile and carry all of their stuff for them, what did He say? He said, you be the big person and carry it two miles, right? Don't just keep walking in that mile and say, man, you've only got me for 100 more feet and I'm rid of this stuff and you can't make me do nothing else. He said, no, just keep your mouth shut. Keep your head down and just go ahead and walk another mile until He finally stops you. Hey, you've done enough. You've done enough. See, this is maturity and that's what we find that is so lacking in churches today. We have so many children that are what? Tossed to and fro, that are immature. They want their way. They want their desires. Why? Because there is no love. There is no unselfishness that is there. Philippians 2, verse 1. He says, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows of mercy, fulfill you My joy. Paul, how can we fulfill your joy? Be like-minded. How do we be like-minded? Well, having the same love. Being of one accord and one mind. Let nothing be done through what? Strife or vain glory. It's not about me. It's not about what I'm accomplishing. It's not about what I am suffering. He says, let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Not covetousness. Don't look at everything your neighbor has that you're wanting it. But be respectful. Their stuff is just as important as your stuff. And then look what he says. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. And he gives us an example. Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He wasn't losing anything. He wasn't being stolen from. Well, you're the one that's got to go die. What about the Holy Spirit? Can't He go and die, right? Why do I have to be the one? No, he didn't say. He said he thought it not robbery. His Father wasn't against him or the Spirit. He said it was His job. It was His opportunity. And so He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He did what? He humbled Himself. If He hasn't humbled Himself enough by not saying, hey, I am God, can you imagine the night that He was born and here He was born in a stable and He is the God of the universe that created everything? He could have said, I'm not being born there, right? And so He's already taken on humility, but then He says He takes it to another step. He even humbled Himself more. And He became obedient under what? Death. The death of the cross. See, we are immature because we want what we want. We want what we desire. Jesus personified love and humility. When was the last time you actually sacrificed something for someone else? When was the last time you sacrificed? You gave up something you wanted to do in order to help somebody else out. That's what He's talking about. And we ought to be seeing this in the church. We ought to be knocking each other over saying, hey, don't you worry, I've got this, right? I'll take care of it. You don't worry about this. We ought to be trying to serve and love one another. When we're comforted in our heart, when we're consolidated in love, it's going to lead to the third thing. Notice the third thing. You're going to be settled in your understanding. Settled in your understanding. What do I mean by settled in your understanding? Notice again the sequence of Paul. He starts out that what? Your heart may be comforted. You may be strengthened. Not to faint. Not to give up. Not to quit. Not to turn back. Knit together in love. Doing what? Going to all riches of the full assurance of understanding. When you know the truth in your heart, in other words, your mind is right, you're focusing on the right thing or the right person, Jesus Christ, instead of everything else, then what's going to happen? You are going to act a certain way. Your deeds are going to turn into love. You're going to do it out of love, not out of obligation. And then what's going to happen? You're going to have a preposition of direction. Look at what that word unto is a preposition of direction. He says when your heart's settled and your mind is made up and you are loving people, then guess what? He says unto what? Unto all riches. You're going to become rich. You want to know why most Christians don't feel rich in Jesus Christ? Because they're worried about themselves. They're trying to lift themselves up or trying to build a church or trying to build a ministry. But look, He says you will be rich. Wait, you'll be rich of what? Rich in money? I don't have a lot of money. No, He says it's not about money. It's not about things on this earth. He says you will be rich in what? Understanding. Paul knew why he was in prison. And so therefore, he faced it with joy. Jesus knew why he was going to die on the cross. And so He did what? For the joy that was set before Him, He did what? Despised the shame and endured the cross and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Notice number one. How's this going to affect us? This understanding. It's going to give you confidence. It's going to give you confidence. Folks, we need Christians that are confident in the ministry of God. Look at what He says there in v. 2. "...unto all riches and the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of our Christ." He uses the word the full assurance. That's confidence. How many of you are confident in the ministry of Jesus Christ? How many of you are confident that Jesus Christ can save anyone? How many of you are confident that Jesus Christ came into the world to save everyone? See, we need that full assurance. We need that confidence. And when you understand Christianity intellectually, when you get your mind wrapped around the purpose that you are here, you are comforted in your heart, you are living out love and doing what God has asked you to do, you will have assurance. You will have confidence. Confidence conquers all of our doubt. Do you realize that? You know some people are in sports and everything. They're just confident, right? They may not be better than someone else, but they're confident because they know the rules. They know what they're doing. And that's what Paul says. You have this confidence about it. And Paul is saying, I want you to be confident. I want you to be secure in your mind. You need to be like those in Ephesians 4.14. Children tossed to and fro, carried about with every kind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Confidence comes from living out your faith. You've got to live it. You've got to be confident. You know, I've used this illustration of my kids and grandkids jumping off of something into my arms. The more they do it, the more confident they become, right? Until all of a sudden, I'm just walking by not paying attention. They say, hey, Baba, catch me! And here they come. What? Because they're confident that I'm going to distort and I'm going to do whatever I can to try to catch them. The only way you can have confidence in Jesus Christ is you've got to try Jesus Christ. You've got to go through and do ministry with Him. You cannot claim what you're unsure about. And so many Christians today are going through this life and they're struggling with their salvation. They're not even for sure if God's capable of saving them. They're not for sure if God is capable of saving them. How in the world can they be confident that God can save someone else? And so we have all of these people that have these unsettled minds and everything else. And look at the last part of verse 2. He says, not only confidence, but he says, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God. It results in confidence which gives us confirmation. What we mean by confirmation is wherefore be you not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. It's one thing to know something, right? It's another thing to understand it. I know how to change the oil on my vehicle, right? I'm going to try it again this week. I haven't done it in a long time, but I'm going to try to change my own oil. This thing got plum ridiculous to have someone else do it, so I'm going to try my own. I know what to do, but you know what? I don't know why I'm doing it. I don't know how that oil functions in the motor. I don't know what all goes. I know the hole that I put it in. I know the hole that I pour it out. I don't know what it does inside that motor. But I've got confidence that what? I'm supposed to change it every so many thousand miles. Why? Because I had a vehicle one time that I didn't change it in. I blew a motor. And so guess what? Through experience, through doing, I've learned that oil is very vital. I don't understand it, but I know it needs to be done. That's what he's talking about. Don't be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. See, we know that God wants us to come to church. Do you understand why He wants you to come to church? We know that God wants us to read the Bible, right? But do you understand why God wants you to read the Bible? We know what we are supposed to pray, but do we understand why we are to pray? See, that's a huge difference in knowing what we should do. We've got tons of people that know what the Christian is supposed to do, but we've got very few that understand why. And Paul says we need to have understanding. I want you to have absolute, unwavering assurance and acknowledge that the mystery of God, that is, the hidden God, is revealed in Christ. And we're going to skip the rest of that and we'll finish it out tonight, but I want you to get this this morning. We're fixing to close. What is He trying to get us to know and understand? Go back to chapter 1. Christ is deity, right? What were they doing? Somebody was coming in saying that Jesus Christ is made of matter, and all matter is what? Evil, so therefore, Christ cannot be God because He's in a body and He's evil. And so Paul is saying He did what? He showed us that Jesus Christ is God. That Jesus Christ was there at the beginning of creation. Jesus was not, for He has always been because He is God. And so Paul is trying to get us to understand and to have confidence and confirmation that Jesus Christ is God and that all of the hidden treasures, everything in this world that is hidden in God is revealed in Jesus Christ. The men are looking at parables on Wednesday night. And you know why Jesus Christ spoke in parables? He says so that those that are willing to hear and want to hear can hear. Those that want to see can be able to see. Those that don't, that just want to know, that don't want to understand, then guess what? He said they're not going to get it. I speak to parables because guess what? We've got to be willing to understand. We've got to put in the effort that is there. He's wanting us to know that Jesus Christ is God. But not only that Jesus Christ is God, but what else did He teach us, Major, in chapter 1? Jesus Christ is sufficient. Can I tell you something this morning? All you need as a child of God is Jesus Christ. We spend so much time chasing everything else, right? We've got to have a retirement. We've got to have a 401K. We've got to have a wife. We've got to have kids. We've got to have a vehicle. We've got to have electricity. We've got to have this. We've got to have that. Now listen to me. All you have to have is Jesus Christ. He is sufficient. He can take care and provide everything that you need. And He will provide everything that you need. And what Paul is saying is, folks, we need to get people to get their mind right. All of these false doctrines, this prosperity gospel, you know why the prosperity gospel works so much? And these preachers can literally get people to give hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars to them. You know why they do it? Because they're saying, man, if you want to be rich, if you want to have something, then you need to give up what you've got to me, right? And the only one that's getting rich is the pastor, right? He said, guess what? You don't have to give up everything you have to be rich. You just need Jesus Christ. Christ is sufficient. He's going to take care of you when you can't pay the bills. Christ is going to take care of you during that medical crisis. Christ is going to be there when you die. It says to be absent from this body, the first person that's going to greet me is not my grandparents. The first person that's going to greet me is Jesus Christ. For to be absent from this body is to be present with what? The Lord. And Jesus Christ, I am going to wake up and He is going to be there waiting. He is sufficient. I don't need anything else. I've got Jesus Christ. And so, man, if we could get our minds wrapped around these two things, Jesus Christ is God. 100% fully God. And all we need to have a relationship with God and have a relationship in this world with each other is Jesus Christ. If we get that, then guess what? We're going to grow and mature. And we're going to be able to do ministry. And we're going to be able to understand why are we doing ministry. It's not just to do things. It's not just to keep up with the other churches. It's how are we using what we're doing to present Jesus Christ. As we stand, we have a verse of invitation this morning. But you cannot do ministry if you don't know Jesus Christ. Will you accept Him today? Will you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? And if you've done that, if you've accepted Him as your personal Savior, will you begin today and say, you know what? I'm going to live for Christ. I'm going to get my mind wrapped around this, that God has me here for a purpose and a plan. That I may proclaim that Jesus Christ can be in you just like Jesus Christ is in me. Because Jesus Christ is God and Jesus Christ is sufficient. As we sing, what hymn?