How we are in Thy presence. And we do desire to walk very softly before Thee. O, we pray that Thou wilt claim us with Thy precious love. We pray that Thou wilt quicken our spirits and enlighten the eyes of our hearts.
We pray that Thou wilt reveal Thyself to us, because unless Thou dost reveal Thyself, Thou dost know how hopeless and helpless we are. So, Lord, we do offer ourselves to Thee. We pray that Thou wilt remove the veil upon our hearts. We ask Thee that Thou wilt be pleased to manifest Thyself to our midst.
O, how we praise and thank Thee, because it is Thy good pleasure to reveal Thy Son. So we do look to Thee together. O Lord, lead us on, we pray. We ask Thee that Thou wilt open Thy Word and open our hearts to Thy Word.
We pray that whatever Thou hast already spoken to us may not be lost, but may be watered and strengthened. We pray that Thou wilt lead us from step to step, from glory to glory, that truly we may be unto the praise of Thy name, because Thou art worthy—worthy to be praised.
We ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Will you please turn to the letter to the Colossians? I am reading probably from a very different version from yours, but I think the thought is there whatever version you have. I am reading from the New Translation.
We will read from Colossians 1:3–14.
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ continually when praying for you, having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which ye have towards all the saints, on account of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens; of which ye heard before in the word of the truth of the glad tidings, which are come to you, as they are in all the world, and are bearing fruit and growing, even as also among you, from the day ye heard and knew indeed the grace of God in truth; even as ye learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-bondman, who is a faithful minister of Christ for you, who has also manifested to us your love in the Spirit.
For this reason we also, from the day we heard of your faith and love, do not cease praying and asking for you, to the end that ye may be filled with the full knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so as to walk worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work and growing by the true knowledge of God; strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father, Who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light; Who has delivered us from the authority of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
I believe that everyone who reads this letter to the Colossians cannot fail to discover that there are certain words—perhaps in different forms, yet giving the same idea and the same thought—which are scattered throughout this short letter.
These are words such as filled, fullness, fulfil, perfect, complete, and everything. They may be different words, but throughout this epistle they convey one great thought: the thought of fullness.
For instance, in Colossians 1:9, we have read: “to the end that ye may be filled with the full knowledge of His will.” In some versions, you simply have “knowledge of His will.” But those who know the original tell us that this knowledge is different from common knowledge. It is the full knowledge—very thorough, very deep, not just on the surface.
Then you find “in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Not just a little wisdom, but all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Again, in Colossians 1:19, we read:
For in Him all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell.
The fullness of the Godhead.
In Colossians 1:25, Paul speaks of completing the Word of God. In verse 28, he says:
That we may present every man perfect in Christ.
Then, in Colossians 2:2, we find:
To the end that their hearts may be encouraged, being united together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the full knowledge of the mystery of God.
Here again are all riches, full assurance, and full knowledge.
In Colossians 2:9–10, we read:
For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
And ye are complete in Him.
Then, in Colossians 3:10–11, we find that the new man is renewed into full knowledge according to the image of Him that created him, and that “Christ is everything, and in all.”
Finally, in Colossians 4:12, Epaphras is said to be always wrestling earnestly for the believers in prayers, “to the end that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” And in verse 17, Archippus is exhorted:
Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, to the end that thou fulfil it.
So, dear brothers and sisters, you find these words scattered throughout this little epistle. And when you find these words in a letter, all conveying more or less the same idea and thought, you cannot help coming to the conclusion that most likely this was the thought of the Apostle Paul when he wrote this letter to the Colossians.
Or, to put it more accurately, this must be the thought of the Spirit of God when He used Paul to write this short epistle. In other words, the letter to the Colossians conveys to us the thought of fullness.
We trust that this thought of fullness is the thought of God. It was not only for those saints in Colossae; it is for us here in these days.
We know that Paul personally had never met these saints. He himself tells us that he had never seen them in person. He had heard of them, most likely through Epaphras.
What Paul had heard, on the one hand, was very good, because these saints had a good beginning in the Lord. Paul said, “Having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.” They had faith in Christ.
When the Word of God came to them, perhaps through Epaphras, they did not hear it as the word of men. When they heard the glad tidings, they were touched by God, and they had a living faith in Christ Jesus.
Their faith was not in any man, nor in any organization, nor even in any teaching or doctrine. Their faith was in Christ Jesus—in the living Person of our Lord Jesus. And we know that when you have such faith, it is saving faith. It is the real thing.
Together with that, they had love towards all the saints. Faith in Christ Jesus and love towards all the saints always go together.
You remember that the Apostle John said, if you do not know how to love the brother whom you can see, how can you love the One Whom you do not see? If you love God and hate your brother, that means you do not love God at all. He who loves the One Who begat us will love those who are begotten of God.
So here you find that these saints had faith in Christ Jesus, and they also had love towards all the saints. Their love was not the kind of love that the world knows.
In the world, you find there is such a thing called love, but we love only those whom we want to love—those who are lovely. But here you find that their love seems to have no choice and no selection. They loved all the saints.
They loved not only those who were very close to them, those who were near to them, but also those whom they had never seen before. They had love towards all the saints. That is genuine love. That must be love from God.
Whenever you find one who begins to love the saints, to love all who are the Lord’s, you know that person must belong to the Lord. In the first epistle of John, you find that this is one of the evidences of those who have eternal life.
Not only that, they also had hope laid up for them in heaven. Probably, after they had believed in the Lord Jesus, this was the first time they really had hope.
You know, the world has no hope. Without God and without hope. But after they had believed in the Lord Jesus, and had begun to love all the saints, they began to have hope. Their hope was not in the things of this earth. Their hope was laid up in heaven.
Because their hope was in heaven, that hope encouraged them to keep on trusting in the Lord and loving all the saints. So you find these three always go together: faith, love, and hope.
These are the evidences of the grace of God upon anyone. If one has really had the grace of God upon him or her, these three evidences will be seen in that life: faith in Christ Jesus, love towards all the saints without discrimination, and hope in heaven.
They consider themselves as pilgrims and strangers on this earth because their hope is in heaven.
When Paul heard of all these things manifested in the life of the saints in Colossae, he thanked God very much, because he saw that they were truly the Lord’s. He was very happy to hear of it.
But, on the one hand, he thanked God for what he had heard about these people. Yet, on the other hand, he felt greatly burdened before the Lord.
You remember that he was in prison in Rome at that time. Most people would only think of their own suffering. Most people would be very much self-centered when they suffered in that manner.
But Paul, when he heard about these saints in Colossae, whom he had never seen in person, began to be greatly burdened in his spirit, and he gave himself to prayer.
He could not go to them to speak to them in person. If the Lord should grant this, he would do that. But he was burdened before the Lord, and he gave himself to prayer before the Lord.
His prayer was not something very general and vague. Sometimes, when we pray, we pray a very general and vague prayer, as if, if the Lord should answer, that is good; and if He does not answer, it does not matter. It does not really touch us.
But when Paul gave himself to prayer, he wrestled before the Lord. He agonized before the Lord. He prayed with great earnestness for the saints in Colossae, and his prayer had a very definite objective.
He told us himself:
For this reason we also, from the day we heard of your faith and love, do not cease praying and asking for you, to the end that ye may be filled with the full knowledge of His will.
In other words, you find that his prayer had a definite objective and a definite goal. There was a purpose in his prayer. He did not just pray for them in a very general way: “O, that the Lord will bless them, that the Lord will keep them, that the Lord will keep them from temptation and deliver them from trial and suffering.”
When he heard that they were truly the Lord’s, he was exercised to a great degree. He prayed that they might be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will.
Here, brothers and sisters, you find that Paul had a very definite purpose and objective in his prayer. Why? Because he knew that God’s purpose for His own is not just that we may have faith in Christ Jesus, love towards all the saints, and hope laid up in heaven.
These are the basics—the foundation. We begin from here. But God does not, and never wants us to, remain in that initial state of our Christian life.
If we are content, very contented, and say, “Now that is good enough”—like many people say, “If I can go to heaven after I die, that is good enough”—then we have missed the purpose of God.
Some others feel that if they are saved, that is the goal, that is the end, and there is nothing more. They simply wait here until they die. Dear brothers and sisters, we find that this is certainly not God’s purpose.
God’s purpose for those who are His own is the purpose of fullness. God will never be satisfied with anything less than fullness for His people.
Thank God, we have faith in Christ Jesus. We have love towards all the saints. We have a hope laid up for us in heaven. But, dear brothers and sisters, are we content? Are we satisfied?
Have we just sat back and said, “Now, Lord, that is all You can give, and that is all we want. We are just waiting for the day of the redemption of our body”? Or do we see that God’s purpose concerning us is far more than we think?
God is a God of fullness. Everything that comes out of God has the concept, the idea, and the fact of fullness in it. He will never be satisfied with anything less than fullness.
We can go back even to the very beginning. You remember that God created man in His own image, according to His likeness.
Man was created a living soul, with a capacity for God and with the ability to contact his environment. Yet you find that God was not satisfied.
Yes, God had created man. It was a noble creation, a masterpiece of God, we would say. Yet God was not satisfied. Man was a living soul. Man was a vessel. And yet that vessel needed to be filled.
That is the reason you find that God planted a garden. There, in the garden, you find all kinds of trees with fruit that was good for food. This was God’s provision for the physical need of man.
All the fruit of the trees could be taken, and this would nourish man’s physical body. God had prepared for man’s physical need so that he could live and continue his physical life on earth. But man does not live by bread alone. That is not enough.
It is not enough just to have physical sustenance. In the garden there was also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Our brother mentioned this this morning.
In one sense, we know that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is food for the soul. When one eats of that tree, his reasoning power, his mind, and his soul power will be greatly developed and nourished.
But God said that man should not eat its fruit, because in the day that he ate of it, he would surely die. Why? Because if man should develop his soul power and his soul life apart from God’s life, the result would be death.
When one’s soul is greatly developed, when one’s reasoning power is developed to the utmost degree, man begins to be independent. Man begins to see himself as God. Man begins to declare independence from God, and in so doing, he dies.
That is why God said that man should not eat this fruit. It is food for the soul, but apart from the spirit life, it means death to us. How many today are eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
Then, in the midst of the garden, God planted the tree of life. Dear brothers and sisters, we all know this is our spiritual food. This is food for our spirit.
If man eats this fruit, then in man’s spirit there will be life—even the life of God. This is eternal life.
So you find that even as God created man, such a noble creation, a living soul, yet God was not satisfied. God desired that man should eat the fruit of the tree of life, that man should be filled with Him—with God Himself, with the life of God.
That is the Gospel. That is the thought of God concerning us.
You find the same thing illustrated in the life of Abraham. We remember how Abraham, by faith, set out to follow God. While he was wandering in the promised land, God promised to give him a son.
He waited and waited, and the son did not come. One day, when God said, “I will bless you,” Abraham said, “May Eliezer, my steward, live before You. I have no son, so my steward will be my son to inherit all that I have.”
But God said, “No. The son will come out from you yourself.” Then, after a while, Abraham had Ishmael, and he said, “O that Ishmael might live before You!”
Here you find Abraham, sometimes when he was tested, was contented with Eliezer. He was contented with Ishmael. He thought, “Well, it is too difficult. This will be all right if God will allow it.”
But God would not permit anything less than His full thought. It must be Isaac. In Isaac shall all the nations be blessed, and the seed shall be as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the sea.
So, brothers and sisters, here you find that God’s thought is the thought of fullness. God is not content with anything less than that.
Even Isaac is only a type, because it is in the One greater than Isaac that God’s thought concerning the Son is finally fulfilled.
The same thing is true with the land. You remember Abraham started out and came to a strange land. While they were journeying in the land, his nephew Lot lifted up his eyes and saw the plain of the Jordan—the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah before they were destroyed.
They were like the garden of Eden, and Lot said, “That is good enough for me.” But God said to Abraham, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look northward, southward, eastward, and westward; all that thou seest, I will give unto thee and to thy seed.”
Of course, we know that this is only a type. What God has in mind is our Canaan—the riches of Christ. That is the land He promises to those who step out and follow Him by faith.
In the life of Abraham, God’s thought and God’s dealings with Abraham are based upon the thought of fullness: not to be satisfied and contented with just a little, but to go all the way with God to the realization of His full thought.
The same thing can be found in the life of David. You remember that David had a desire to build God a house. God surprised him by sending Nathan to him and saying, “I will build thee a house. Thy son shall sit upon the throne, and thy kingdom shall be established forever.”
When David heard that, he went into the presence of God. He sat there and said, “O God, this may seem to be a small thing to You, but it is already too big for me.” How he poured out his heart toward the Lord.
God’s thought with David was more than Solomon. It was more than one, two, or even ten generations. God’s thought concerning his house and kingdom was a kingdom that would never end, and that Son is Christ.
It is in Christ that all these promises are fulfilled. In other words, you find that it is fullness again. When God deals with man, it is never merely in tiny little things. It is always with that overflowing fullness in His heart.
This is our God. Anything less than fullness is not like God. It is contradictory to the very nature of God. God is a God of fullness.
When we come to the New Testament and to our Lord Jesus, I think it is perfectly clear that the fullness of God’s thought is all centered upon Christ.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us … full of grace and truth.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we find one thing: God’s thought concerning His people is the thought of fullness.
Now, if this is what God wants for His people, then there is a great responsibility upon every one of us. Can we be satisfied with anything less than the fullness of God’s thought?
Or may I put it another way? If anyone should be contented with anything less than fullness, it is almost a thing against God.
Sometimes we think that if we do not sin against God in any way, and are satisfied with the little that we already have, then certainly nothing is wrong with us. We feel ourselves quite all right.
But, dear brothers and sisters, if the Lord should open our understanding and cause us to see that God’s thought is a thought of fullness, then I believe our reaction will be that anything less than fullness is almost a sin against God.
It is a contradiction to God. It does not represent God. It does not glorify God. It misrepresents God, and misrepresentation is a great thing.
When Paul heard about the believers in Colossae—their faith in Christ Jesus, their love towards all the saints, and their hope laid up in heaven—his heart was greatly burdened. Why? Because these people were being diverted. They were not going on to perfection.
Some people came into their midst and began to teach them different things: something of philosophy, something of legalism, something of ritualism. People began to divert their attention to something else.
Because of that, they were not going on into the full thought of God. These diversions hindered their growth in the Lord. They were not growing properly, and God’s purpose was frustrated in them.
Paul was greatly burdened before the Lord. He could not go to them because he was imprisoned, yet he went to God and poured out his heart to God. He also wrote this letter to exhort them, to encourage them, and to call their attention to the purpose of God.
That purpose is fullness: that they should not be diverted and should not fall short of God’s purpose.
Let us go back to the prayer that Paul prayed for the saints in Colossae:
For this reason we also, from the day we heard of your faith and love, do not cease praying and asking for you, to the end that ye may be filled with the full knowledge of His will.
Notice here that Paul prayed that they might be filled. It is not just that they might have a little, or a little more, but that they might be filled.
Filled with what? Filled with the full knowledge of God’s will. Not a little knowledge, not a superficial knowledge, but a thorough and full knowledge of God’s will.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, when we think of God’s will, we usually relate God’s will to different isolated matters in our lives.
Sometimes we say, “I want to know God’s will. If I decide to go to some place, then I pray and ask, ‘Lord, what is Your will concerning this? Should I go or should I not go?’”
Especially with young Christians, they often find great difficulty in knowing the will of God. Sometimes people come and tell me, “I have to make a decision, and I know that as a Christian I have to seek the Lord’s will concerning that matter. But I have prayed and prayed, and the Lord does not indicate anything. The time is drawing close, and I must make a decision. What can I do?”
Dear brothers and sisters, we should all be concerned with God’s will, and that is a good thing. If a Christian is not concerned with God’s will in daily life, but does anything he likes, that is a very bad sign. It shows that something is deeply wrong.
If any young brother or sister asks, “How can I know God’s will?” that is a good question. It shows that he is on the right side.
But our concept of God’s will is usually related to isolated matters—small or great, different affairs and things in our lives. “This is God’s will. That is not God’s will. I want to know God’s will in this matter or in that matter.”
Yet Paul prayed that they might be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will. The word will here is singular.
It is not merely God’s will in many things of our lives. Yes, let us pray for that. But behind all these many wills of God that govern our lives is the supreme will of God—the will of God, the eternal purpose of God, the eternal will of God.
There is a supreme will, an underlying will, a will that is behind all wills: the will of God. Paul wants us to be filled with the full knowledge of this will.
Do we know what this will is? Perhaps you know whether you should go to a certain place or not after you have sought the Lord. But do you know what is the will of God that governs everything?
It governs every event and affair of your life—not only your life, but the life of every believer; not only the life of every believer, but the life of the whole universe. There is one over-all will: the supreme will of God.
Paul prayed that you might be filled with the full knowledge of that will. If Paul could pray like this, it must be very important.
The will of God is not something that we should know merely a little about. We need the full knowledge of that will, and we need to be filled with that knowledge.
The will of God is only one. There can be no other. And that will concerns His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
We come into it only in relation to Christ. Otherwise, it does nothing to us. We are not that important. We are important and significant only when we are rightly related to Christ.
This will concerns His Son. It is the will of God to head up all things in Christ. Paul has another way to put it: that Christ may be all and in all.
Christ is everything, and in all.
The heading up of all things in Christ—Christ being everything and in all—this is the will of God.
The will of God is not merely that we believe in Christ as our Saviour. The will of God is even more than that we learn to obey Him as our Master and Lord. The will of God is that all things may be headed up in Him.
In other words, He may be everything and in all. This is God’s supreme will.
Very often you meet believers who have a heart for the Lord. Because of their love toward the Lord, they may have sacrificed much for Him. They may have obeyed the will of God in this matter, in that matter, and in many things in their lives.
But, dear brothers and sisters, God is not satisfied until all things are headed up in Christ—or, to put it another way, until Christ is all and in all.
This should be our pursuit. Let us never be satisfied with something short of God’s full purpose. We must go all the way to the full will of God in Christ.
If there is any area in our life, both as individuals and as corporate bodies, where Christ is not everything and in all, then we have fallen short of the purpose of God.
God wants us to be filled until our cup runneth over. That is God.
Paul prayed that we might be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Wisdom is spiritual insight. It is that spiritual ability to make knowledge practical and useful. Understanding is a spiritual appreciation of what God intends to give to us.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
There is a great difference between having some knowledge and having knowledge in wisdom. Some people may have learned a great deal. They have read many books, received many degrees, and gathered much information. They are almost like a living encyclopedia.
Yet, in spite of all the knowledge they have, they do not know how to use it. That is a great tragedy. You sometimes meet people whose minds are full of knowledge, yet they do not have the wisdom to make use of their knowledge.
On the other hand, you may find an old lady in the country. She has not learned much, has not received much information, and does not have much knowledge. Yet, because of the fear of the Lord in her, she has great wisdom. She can use her little knowledge to a great extent. That is wisdom.
We need to be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will, but remember: not merely mental knowledge, not simply information collected in our minds, not merely something gathered from books or messages.
No, it is living knowledge, because this knowledge should be held in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. God has opened the spirit of wisdom and revelation. God has revealed His eternal purpose concerning His Son.
It is something we know indeed down in our spirit as wisdom. Then the eyes of our hearts are opened, and our minds begin to understand.
This knowledge is not merely mental. It is not just knowledge as information. It is wisdom and spiritual understanding.
What is the result when we have such knowledge of God’s will?
So as to walk worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work and growing by the true knowledge of God.
Sometimes we have a concept that spiritual things are so spiritual that they cannot be practical—as though spiritual people are no longer real or practical, but are up in the air all the time and never touch the earth.
But here you find that when you really know the will of God and understand it, when you really see the purpose of God, that eternal purpose of God, it begins to affect your life.
You may be caught up into the third heaven, but then you come down to the valley. There you find that you have to walk worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing.
In every phase and every respect of your life—in your private life, your home life, your church life, and your social life—you will walk worthily of the Lord, and you may be able to please the Lord.
How can you please the Lord if you do not know what He is willing?
Many believers today are trying to please the Lord, but in trying to please Him, they walk according to their own ideas. They say, “Now, that is what the Lord should like.” Then, if they discover later that the Lord is not pleased, they begin to be offended.
We can walk worthily unto the Lord and unto all well-pleasing only after we have known what His will is. His will should affect our walk on this earth.
If anyone says, “I have caught a vision of the will of God. I know what the will of God is,” and yet it does not affect his walk on this earth, one thing is true: he has had a mirage, not a vision.
When you have the true knowledge, that spiritual knowledge, that full knowledge of God’s will, you will begin to grow as you should.
I do not know how you feel, but personally I feel that when, in your Christian life, after you have faith in the Lord, love toward the saints, and hope in heaven, you desire to go on with the Lord and grow spiritually.
Yes, through reading the Bible, through going to conferences, through hearing messages, through reading books, and through searching after the Lord, you do grow in the Lord. You are growing.
But, dear brothers and sisters, I do not know whether this is true with you or not, but it is true with me: you may grow, yet it is very hard, slow, and difficult. You grow by inches, and it is very slow.
Even if you grow, you find that you are limited and restricted all around. Somehow, the growth does not come as it should.
Let me use an illustration. I think you know that one of the famous dishes in a Chinese restaurant is Peking duck. Do you know how they make Peking duck?
The way they grow those ducks is to put them in pots and force-feed them. They do not allow them to walk around. They put them in an earthen pot and just feed and feed and feed and feed.
That is how they get Peking duck. It is very fat, full of fat, and very tasty. That is true.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, you find that some believers do grow, but they grow fat. Somehow they have food—yes, they have food—and sometimes you find they are full-fed too. They grow, but they grow big. That is not the right kind of growth.
But when the light from heaven begins to break upon you, when God begins to lift the veil from your eyes and you see the knowledge of His will, when you begin to see God’s supreme will that governs everything, when you begin to see Christ as He is and see the plan of God, then heaven is open to you.
From then onward, you grow in a different way. The limitations seem to be broken. The pot is broken. It seems that you can grow properly, and you find that it is a growth from glory to glory.
It is only when our eyes are opened to the real will of God, the full knowledge of God, that heaven is opened to us. Then you find that you will be growing by the true knowledge of God.
If we really seek after the Lord, yet somehow we find there is a limitation, and somehow heaven is closed, then we need that break. That break comes when the full knowledge of God’s will begins to dawn upon our hearts.
Strengthened with all power, according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy.
O, dear brothers and sisters, how we desire to be strengthened with all power. But our thought of being strengthened with all power is quite different from the thought here.
Our thought is that if we are strengthened with all power, then we can be a great preacher or a great man. We can do this and do that, and many great things for God.
But here you find that we are strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory unto all endurance and longsuffering.
Real spiritual power is manifested in endurance and longsuffering. Those who only know power in doing spectacular deeds do not really know what is that power according to the might of His glory.
Why? Because when you are caught up with the full knowledge of His will, you may be called to endure and to suffer.
You remember the saints in Corinth. Paul said, “Now ye are kings already. You are sitting on the throne already. You are rich. You are abundant. You do not need to suffer or endure. You are enjoying all the time.”
But we are still suffering, by the grace of God.
Do not think that if you are caught up with the full purpose of God, then your life will be easy and smooth, and you will be very powerful according to human standards. On the contrary, if you are caught up with the eternal purpose of God, you will be put to the test and trial.
You will find that all the gates of hell will be opened toward you. You will have much to endure and much to suffer. You may even have to suffer from the hand of your own brothers.
O, dear brothers and sisters, how true this is. True spiritual power is manifested in endurance and longsuffering.
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
It is not simply if we cast out a demon, or if we do this and that greatly for the Lord. It is the one who does the will of God who abides forever.
Giving thanks to the Father.
Dear brothers and sisters, you find that this full knowledge of God’s will enables you to give thanks to the Father. In spite of all that you have to endure and suffer, you can still give thanks to the Father.
Why? You thank Him because you know that it is according to His will. You know that all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.
You will be filled with a heart of thanksgiving. People without vision may endure and may suffer for a time with their natural strength, but they suffer without joy and serve without thankfulness in their hearts.
They will be very thankful if the trial is over. But those who have the knowledge of God’s will can endure and suffer with joy because they know that it works out God’s will.
They know that they are being made fit to share with the saints their portion in the light. This is one of the portions.
Who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light.
This does not mean merely something in the future. Of course, in the future we have our portion with the saints in light; that is true. But if you read the context, you find that when Paul says that the Father has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light, it is for today.
Today we are sharing with the saints in light the portion. The portion of the saints in light—not merely in the future, but in light. This is our portion.
Are we willing to go all the way to the full purpose of God? It is a very costly way. It will mean endurance and suffering.
This is the portion of the saints in light. Those in darkness may be full of enjoyment, but the portion of the saints in light may be suffering.
Are you willing to pay the cost?
This is God’s full purpose, and how God desires us to enter into it—not in a mental way, but in a spiritual way, that it may be expressed in a very practical daily living.
But it is a very costly way. Are we prepared for that? Are we willing for that?
No wonder Paul had to wrestle and struggle and agonize in prayer, because the opposition is great. There is not only opposition from evil forces, but even opposition within us.
O, how we oppose that! And that has to be overcome. Unless the Lord works in us through prayer and pressure, we cannot enter in.
So, dear brothers and sisters, let us keep this before us: God’s thought is fullness—the full knowledge of His will.
May we be willing and open to it, that the Spirit of God may bring us into that, and God may be satisfied.
O heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou art our God, and Thou art the God of fullness. Thou dost desire that we may be filled with the full knowledge of Thy will, in all wisdom and understanding.
This is Thy purpose for us, and we pray that none of us will sit back and be satisfied with anything less than this. We pray that there might be a great desire in our hearts to go on with Thee to that end.
We ask Thee that we may be willing, by Thy grace, to pay whatever price is necessary to satisfy Thy heart by entering into Thy will. O Lord, make it very real to us.
We pray that our time together during this week may be toward that end, that Thy Spirit may be able to work in all of us. Be our wisdom and revelation, enlighten our hearts, and bring us into the fullness of Thy purpose.
O Lord, bless Thy people, we pray Thee. Thou dost know that we can do nothing. Thou alone canst do it. We ask Thee to do it in the name of our Lord Jesus.