Ron Dunn Podcast - A Worthy Walk

Episode Date: August 7, 2024

Who have us can say that we are worthy of the Lord? The way we walk should be affected by the Lord. From the series The Fullness of Christ.

I tell you what, that's a tough act to follow. If I didn't have the Word of God to preach, I'd be in trouble. And the only thing I know that can measure up to the great singing is the Word of God. And I'm glad I've got that to hang on to. There's something about conferences that I think are very interesting and significant. That each conference somehow digs out its own stream and runs in its own particular current. There will be an emphasis, maybe running underneath the surface, but're all the same. And when you find the singing and the preaching all kind of running in the same stream, you know you're with God. It's that when one goes over

here, one goes over here, one goes over here, that nothing really is done. But it's when the Spirit of God brings all of it, and none of these men, as far as I know, have talked about what they're going to say or what they're going to sing, but it just seems to... And I'm excited when it gets that close. Except, this morning, Dr. Hoffman, in his prayer, quoted my text.

And I thought, Lord, not this close. I don't want him to get this close. Last year, Ray Steadman was here, and I had planned to preach from 2 Corinthians last year, and I was sitting out there on the first night, and Ray Stedman stood up, and I turned to Kay, my wife, I said, he's going to preach on 2 Corinthians, and he did, all week long, and I did too, that was what I had prepared, But it just worked out that he didn't touch on the passages I had planned, and so we kind of all dovetailed together.

I made a little joke about it. I said, I asked the Lord, Lord, you want me to preach on 2 Corinthians, but Ray Stedman says that you want him to preach on 2 Corinthians. Which is it? And the Lord said, Ray who? That night after the meeting we met over, I think it was in the village restaurant.

And he said, oh, he said I'd given anything to have been able to stand up and say something. I said, what would you have said? I would have said this. Lord, why? Why do you want me to preach on 2 Corinthians? And the Lord says, because if you don't, done's going to. So. So, would you open your Bibles, please, to Colossians, the first chapter. Colossians chapter 1.

Paul writing to this church, church that he did not found, the church that at the time he wrote this he had never seen, but he's heard a lot about it. So he says in verse 3, We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, Excuse me, I've lost my place. Yes.

Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is in all the world and brings forth fruit as it does also in you, since the day you heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth. As you also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the spirit so for this reason paul says because of the great work that god has done in your life i'm praying that god will even do greater there is never any

satisfying of grace it always is growing and growing and so paul says for this cause we also since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,

being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power and unto all patience and longsuffering, with joy giving thanks unto the Father who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of saints in the light, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son,

in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. A couple of weeks ago, Kay and I were in Atlanta for the Southern Baptist Convention. One morning after the session, we left a little early, and so we were walking through this passageway that goes between our hotel and the convention, and a long carpeted hallway, and it was just Kay and I in the hallway walking back towards the hotel. And suddenly there comes an old man, bent over, really bent over bad like this,

with silver hair and a blue suit on, and he's just working his way down the hallway, shuffling down the hallway. Ever since my dad died last year, I've always taken a special interest in men, old men with white hair. And so I noticed him. And we drew up together,

and he looked up like this, and he stuck out his hand, and I stuck out my hand. He said, Have you ever plowed a mule? And I said, he said have you ever plowed a mule I said no sir a heaven but I imagine you plowed a few oh yes yes you get going behind those mules and you're going down that row and all of a sudden you hit a rock and it flies up and you have to duck it

and then you're running down that row and all of a sudden the blade hits a deep root and it stops and throws you into the handles of the plow and you feel like you've broken your ribs. But that's life. And he turned and walked off. We never said hello or we never said goodbye. What was it that made him ask me if I'd ever plowed a mule? Surely he knew that I hadn't.

It was obvious. Oh, what I think it is, is that the elderly old gentleman, as he was working his way down that long, narrow hallway must have remembered those long, narrow rows that he walked behind that old mule. And he was kind of proud of it. He was proud to have done it.

And he was glad to tell me that he had done it. And he asked me if I had because he knew I hadn't. But he had. Well, I was at that time working on my messages on Colossians. And I thought, boy, that's a great story. I wonder where I can work it in. And so this is where I've worked it in.

For this cause we also, since today we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. And here it is, that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. A life that you can label as a worthy life.

A behavior that you can label as a worthy behavior. I felt like that old man shuffling down that hall, looked back on his life, and far as he was concerned, he felt like it had been a worthy life. And he was happy to have done it. Paul says, I am praying for you. I've heard all the great things that God has done.

And from the very first day that you heard the gospel, it has continued to bear fruit in you. There was no gap. But the fruit began the moment you heard it. And lasts even until this day. And we rejoice. And that encourages us. To pray even more for you.

And that God would do some things in your life. So that you would be able. To walk a worthy walk. to live and to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. Now, that almost immediately sounds a little bit unbelievable because who of us could ever say that we are worthy of the Lord? We ought to say, well, there's no way I can walk worthy of the Lord. And in a sense that is true, but in another sense it is not true. Paul says you and I are to walk worthy of the Lord. And of course the walk there indicates the behavior, the lifestyle, the consistent pattern of living.

And this is one of the emphases that I have seen emerge in our conference is on the practical outworking of all that we know and how that God works it out in our daily lives. And Paul is emphasizing this. He says the way that you walk, the way that you talk, the way that you behave yourself ought to be affected

by the relationship you have with the Lord Jesus Christ. Walking worthy of the Lord simply means that my life, my behavior, well, the Lord wouldn't be ashamed to have me to say He's my Lord. That my life is worthy of that name. That what I'm living, what I'm doing

corresponds and is in harmony with what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for me. It's not inconsistent, you see. It's not inconsistent for me to live like I'm living and then to say that Jesus is my Lord. You live a life that is consistent with your profession. I think it's amazing that the Lord has trusted us with His name, given to us his name. The story is told that when Alexander the Great was on his move, the reports kept coming to him of a young soldier that was rebellious and could not be handled.

And so one night he asked for that young soldier to be brought to his tent. The young soldier sat down, and Alexander stood up and pointed his finger at him. He said, Young man, what is your name? And the soldier said, Sir, my name is Alexander. And Alexander the Great said, Son, change your name or change your behavior. I'm wondering sometimes if the Lord would not sort of like to say that to us. It's amazing that God has trusted us with His name. Living worthily of the name. When my son was in seminary, I found out that he had a couple of professors that I'd had back in 1960, 61, 62. And I said to him, son, have you mentioned to any of your professors

that they taught me also that, you know? He said, no, dad, I haven't told any of them that yet. I said, well, why not? He said, well, I'm going to wait until I see how my grades are. And he said, if my grades are good, I'll tell them who I am. But if my grades aren't good, I don't want them to know. I appreciated that.

As far as I know, he never said a word to any of them about it. Walking worthy of the name. All right. Now, this passage is a preacher's paradise because it divides itself. It outlines itself so logically. And so what I really want to share with you this morning is this idea of a worthy life, of a worthy life, the foundation of that worthy life, the purpose or goal of that worthy life, and the ingredients of that worthy life. Or you can put it this way, the fountain of the life, the flow that comes from that fountain, and then the fullness that that flow brings in the life of every believer. First of all, I want us to pay attention to the beginning, the foundation, or the fountain of this life of worthiness.

He says in verse 9, For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you might walk worthy of the Lord. Paul says we're praying that you may be filled with all the knowledge of his will, so that you can walk a worthy walk. In other words, the prerequisite to living a life that corresponds with the grace of God is a knowledge of the will of God.

That we might be filled with the knowledge of the will of God. And here, the will of God, I think Paul is speaking of more in its moral aspect and our conduct. In other words, I am to be so permeated. That's the idea of the word fill. Room for nothing else. I am to be so permeated. My being is to be so pervaded by the will of God

that out of that will, out of knowing what God wills for me, out of knowing what God wants for me, I have the strength, the power, and the knowledge to be what God wantss for me, out of knowing what God wants for me, I have the strength, the power, and the knowledge to be what God wants me to be. One of the interesting things that Paul, I think, emphasizes in this passage and in others is that knowledge always leads to action, always leads to action. That the will of God, knowing the will of God, is never simply an intellectual matter, not simply a thought or an idea to be grasped at,

but it is something that affects the way we act. And if I am filled with a profound knowledge, then that's going to profoundly affect the way I live. Dr. Hoffman mentioned about something. We know somebody. We know something. Over in James chapter 1, the apostle says that we are to rejoice in tribulations. Why?

Knowing that tribulation produces patience. We know something. Paul says in Romans chapter 5 that we rejoice in our tribulations knowing we know something. The reason that some people can stand up and walk through the fires of suffering and still walk through it with faith is because they know something other people don't know. And every once in a while,

I meet somebody and they live in such a way that you think they know something. They know something I don't know. They're listening to a drumbeat that I do not hear because their life is being profoundly affected in a way that is obvious that something is going on in their life. They know something. And no matter what you and I do, if it is not done in the knowledge of the will of God, then it is not worth doing.

But as I am being filled with the knowledge of God's will, as I allow God to speak to me and to fill me with how He wants me to act and how He wants me to be, that is going to profoundly affect the way I live. So, that's the first thing. The foundation is that we might be filled with the knowledge of His will. Now the flow from that fountain or the purpose of that, that you might walk worthy of the Lord, and here it is, unto all pleasing. Paul is praying that you

and I might walk a worthy walk. The foundation of that is being filled with the knowledge of His will. What is the goal? What is the purpose of a worthy walk? So that we might please Him in all things, unto all pleasing. And by the way, as we go through this passage, you'll notice how Paul emphasizes the word all and every. I mean, there is no scrimping here of grace. Paul is demanding,

not that you and I just get along with a little bit, but he's demanding and praying that we have all of it that there is to have. Don't settle for anything less. Unto all pleasing. Let's not take the time to go into the background of this word. It's a very interesting word,

but let me just say that this word has with it the idea of anticipation. And it is the picture of a slave who out of fear, not like us, but out of fear of his master, kept his eyes on his master, kept his ears tuned to the master's voice, stayed on his toes, and at the slightest notion or the slightest motion from the master, he jumped to do and would even try to anticipate His desires so that He could fulfill them. Now, the slave did it out of bondage and fear. You and I are to do it out of love and joy.

The Master motive of our life is to be this, that we walk in such a way that Jesus is pleased with everything. In all things that Jesus is pleased. You can trust a person who has that as their motive. You can trust a person who is motivated by this, that he wants to please Jesus in all things. You can trust a person who has that motivation. The reason you and I find it hard to trust others and one another is because we do not know what their motivation is.

And as we have experienced throughout our years, that you can't always trust human beings, and especially if you're a pastor and you see a couple of deacons over here in the corner talking, you begin to wonder what they're up to. Wonder what they're up to. I remember several years ago when I was a pastor, I was talking to another pastor, and he mentioned about budget and finance committee meeting,

and I said, well, I haven't been to a finance committee meeting in, I don't know, a couple of years. And he said, well, I haven't been to a finance committee meeting in, I don't know, a couple of years. And he said, what? He said, you mean you're not there when that finance committee meets? I said, well, no. He said, man, I wouldn't let that committee meet without me being there. No telling what they might do. You know what I said?

I said, listen, I trust those guys. And they trust me, and they know that I make mistakes, and I know that they make mistakes, but I know that when those mistakes are made, they are made with the right motive. Their motive is to please Him in all things. Now, if I know that is your motivation, I can accept your failures. I can accept your mistakes. It won't scare me. It won't worry me to follow you because I know this much that whatever you're doing, the motivation is one that can be trusted to please Jesus in all things. The greatest need in churches today, I believe, is what I would call the relationship of a trusted motive. People don't trust their pastor. The pastor doesn't trust the people.

So many of the churches I go into, the pastors are suspicious of what the people are up to and the people are suspicious of what the pastor's up to, if he's up to anything at all. There is suspicion. There is recrimination.

There is dissension. Why? Because everybody has his own agenda. Sometimes churches see pastors using them just as a stepping stone to a greater thing and just as a monument to their own popularity or name. And sometimes pastors see congregations as someone who is against them. I mean, it's me against them. And you've got to watch them and make certain that they don't get the edge on you. Is that the way it is to be in the body of Christ? I tell you this morning,

that is the way it is in many of the churches. The aim, the flow, the goal of life, unto all pleasing. I can trust a fellow who has that motivation. I never will forget when I was 19 years old. I was a student at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and I was preaching a revival meeting in the First Baptist Church of Bowlegs, Oklahoma, which is about 18 miles away from Shawnee. Now, folks, I've been to some mighty highfalutin churches. My first pastorate was the First Baptist Church of Black Gum, Oklahoma. And my greatest revival up to that time was in the First Baptist Church of Bowlegs, Oklahoma. I was 19.

Johnny Bassagno, who is now pastor of the First Baptist Church in Houston, Johnny Bassagno was leading the music, playing his trumpet and the xylophone. And I want to tell you something, folks. We were having something that I was scared to death of. I didn't know what in the world was happening. I'd never been anything like it. The place was packed out every night. The spirit was so thick, you'd cut it with a knife.

People were being saved. I mean, they would call the pastor in the middle of the night wanting to know how to be saved. I knew this much. I knew, brother, we were being saved. I mean, they would call the pastor in the middle of the night wanting to know how to be saved. I knew this much. I knew, brother, we were in something. I knew God was doing something. I'll never forget walking in and going into the pastor's study on Thursday night, and I was so afraid because I knew that what was going on was far beyond me.

And I felt so inadequate. And also I was afraid. I was afraid that maybe my preaching, I may be wanting to please the people. They may be expecting something from me. And so I was torn up. And I said, Lord, what can I do? Lord, how can I make certain tonight that what I do is the right thing? And just as clear as anything I've ever heard in my life is this.

He said, you just make certain that when you finish your sermon and you walk out that door, that you know that I've been pleased with everything you've done. And I don't guess there's ever been a time when I've stood up to preach that I haven't thought of that. And said, Lord, when I leave this place, all that really matters is that you have been pleased with it. That's the goal. That's the flow. Now, I want us to get to the real message.

All of that is sort of preparation. But I'll do this quickly. I said a moment ago, this is a preacher's paradise as far as outlining, because immediately after that statement, when he says that you may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, there are four participles, modifying the infinity, four participles that give you the outline of it all. He says that you may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,

number one, being fruitful in every good work, number two, increasing in the knowledge of God, number three, strengthened with all might, and number four, giving thanks unto the Father. What is a worthy life? The fullness of that life, the ingredients of that life is this. It is giving thanks unto the Father, being strengthened with all might, increasing in the knowledge of God, and being fruitful in every good work. And so we're going to take those one by one. First of all, he says that when we walk worthy unto all pleasing, there will be this characteristic.

We will be fruitful, being fruitful in every good work. Being fruitful in every good work. Now, I want to say just a very important word about this. Here again you meet the all inclusiveness of the apostles mind. Unto every good work. Not unto a few good works. Not unto some good works. But unto every good work. I speak about these things

because these are the way that I see them, and this is where God deals with me at the moment. I have a dangerous tendency to believe that a deficiency of a good work over here can be made up by doing double duty over here. You know what I mean? That doing a whole lot over here will compensate for doing little over here. We try to balance it out. This works in so many different ways. Sometimes we place so much emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit that it causes us to use these things as an excuse.

For instance, one man said to me well i'm a prophet and prophets don't study so i don't study and uh one pastor was was taking his church through the spiritual gifts and how to know what they were and everything and they were they were there to the they discussed the gift of mercy and the gift of a prophet, evangelist. And this woman stood up and she said, praise God. She said, all these years I've wondered why I despised every evangelist that came to our church. Now I know it's because they're prophets and I'm a mercy sower. And he thought, wasn't that great? I said, no, that's not great.

The woman ought to repent of her sin for despising evangelists. What she's doing is she's blaming it on God. She says, the reason I don't like these preachers is because God's given me the gift of showing mercy. repent of her sin for despising evangelists. What she's doing is she's blaming it on God. She says, the reason I don't like these preachers is because God's given me the gift to show on mercy. So sometimes we say, well, that's not my gift. That's not my area. But the truth of the matter is, while we are proficient more in some areas than others,

yet Paul says you cannot make up for a lack over here, for doing double duty over here. Increasing in every, every, every good work. In 1970, we were in a revival meeting in our church and on Sunday morning the evangelist walked in and this evangelist had on the most beautiful black on black suit I've ever seen in my life not just a black suit black on black black and black stripes and it was beautiful and I told Kay man I I'd love to have a suit like that. She said, well, go ahead and get you one. So on Monday, I went downtown and began looking at all the department stores

that I usually look at, looking for a black-on-black suit. Now, I found a lot of black suits, but I couldn't find a single black-on-black suit. And I was discouraged, and I was standing on the corner downtown Dallas, and I looked up, and across the street was a department store that I'd never been in. I'd heard a lot about it, but I'd never been in it.

We didn't have an account of it. It wasn't the kind of store we actually shopped in, but I thought, well, maybe they'll have what I'm looking for. And so I walked into that store, and the minute I walked in, I should have been warned because when I walked in there, folks, it was quiet. I mean, quiet. There weren't any little children running around.

I mean, I'm not talking Walmart here. It's quiet. Almost reverent a woman said could i help you and i said well uh i'm looking for men's suits she said step over to the elevator and push the third four button and that'll take you where you want to go so i stepped on the elevator push the third four button the elevator rose rose. The door squished open. And standing there should have been my second warning. For standing there

were six old guys with white hair in blue suits. Now, I'll tell you something. You go buy clothes today, especially men's suits, and you get some of these, you know, young guys

that are just selling suits until they can get something better to do. You know, they're not. But these old guys, boy, they've done it all their lives. And they are smooth. And they are tricky. So one of the old men came over to me and said,

Good morning, sir. Can I help you? I said, Well, I'm looking for a black-on-black suit. He looked at me and said, Size 42? I said, Yeah. He said, well, I'm looking for a black on black suit. He looked at me, said size 42. I said, yeah. He said, follow me. And he led me through a maze of clothes and stood me in front of those, one of those mirrors and took a coat off the rack and draped that coat over me and buttoned it and said, is this what you had in mind? And boy, was it, I mean, that was the most beautiful black on black suit I've ever seen in my, that was far prettier mean that was the most beautiful black old black suit i've ever seen him that was far prettier than the one the evangelist had he said he said and this should have been the

next warning he said uh would you like to try on the trousers now see if if they call them trousers you're in a highfalutin place. Other places, they call them pants. But boy, when he says trousers, you know you're in there. So I tried on the trousers, and I looked great. I mean, it was great. I said, I'll take it. I'll take it. So he got the little man from upstairs, came down, and stuck pins and tape and chalk on me.

And I got back into my clothes, and the man said, now, will that be cash or charge? Oh, well, I hadn't even thought about that. As a matter of fact, I was so excited about finding the suit. Well, I don't have a charge account here, and I don't have a checkbook with me. And he said, oh, that's all right. That's all right. I said, we'll open your charge account right now on the spot. That's something else. Those real places like that, they're easier to get credit than anywhere else, seems like. I said, okay, we'll charge. Well, then it occurred to me, I didn't even know how much the thing cost. I'd been so excited that I hadn't even looked at the price tag. Now, you have to remember, this is 21 years ago. This was 1907. Things have changed a lot. 1970. The most I'd ever paid for a suit at that

time was $125, and that nearly choked me. This is 20 years ago. Most of my suits, $65, $75, once in a while I'll creep up to $95, but the most, the most, and I vowed not to do it again, was $125. And I didn't want to act like I just got to town from the farm, you know, and I didn't, I won't say, well, how much is it? Or I didn't want to gawk at it. I wanted to be cool, you know, and so I just kind of superstitiously looked down there to see if I could find out what that tag was. And it was $250. Twice as much as I'd ever paid. You say, well, that doesn't sound like much.

That same suit today goes for about $795. We're talking good suit. I thought to myself, I know this much, I am not going to embarrass myself and let this guy think I can't afford it. He's already got it chalked up and taped and everything else. I'm going to take it.

I'll be all right, though. I'll be all right because I'll charge account. I'll charge account. All the bills come to me at my office because at that time I was handling all the finances. I don't now for obvious reasons, but at that time I was handling all the finances. I don't now for obvious reasons, but at that time, but at that time I was handling all the finances. And so the bills came to me and I paid the bills and there was something else. Kay and I never ask each other what we paid for

something. Kay walks in with a new dress. I never said, how much was it? I walk in with a new suit. She never says, how much worth it? So I knew that's all right. I was going to be all right. I shouldn't buy this suit. It's stupid and ridiculous and dumb and possibly a sin. But I'm too embarrassed, and I really want it,

and I'll be all right because I can pay it out about $10 a month. Kay will never know. It'll be okay. Well, I got back to the office. I was working on my Sunday sermon. Phone rang, and it was Kay. She said, well, did you get a chance to go downtown and go shopping? I said, yeah, yeah, I went down there. Did you find the suit that you wanted? Yeah, I found a suit that I wanted. Well, did you get it? I said, yeah, I got it. She said, how much was it? Well, I never batted an eye. I said, $125. Shouldn't have paid that much, I know. She said, ah, you deserved it. Hung up the phone. I went back to my sermon preparation. And I have never in all my life felt such conviction as I felt. I got on my knees

and I quoted 1 John 1 9. And I confessed my sin. I said, Lord, I sinned, probably in buying the suit, but surely in lying to my wife. And I'm confessing it to you, and I'm thanking you that even now I'm being forgiven for my sin. And there was nothing. That burden was still there. And Lord, I'll tell you something else this has taught me a big lesson you know Lord I haven't been praying like I ought to

and I'm going to start praying more than I've ever prayed before nothing and Lord you know boy I just want you to know Lord Lord, this has really taught me something. I really learned a lot from this. I haven't really been into the Word like I ought to be.

If I had really been into the Word, I would never have gotten into this thing. And so I just want you to know, Lord, that as a result of this experience, I just want you to know I'm going to start reading the Bible more than I've ever done before. Nothing. And Lord, there's something else I realize too. I haven't been the witness at all. I should have been out witnessing today instead of buying that suit. And I just want you to know from now on,

I'm going to witness more than I've ever witnessed in my life. And nothing. You know what I was doing, don't you? I wasn't wanting to do every good work. I was willing to do a few of those good works. But there was one good work that I didn't want to do. I knew I had to go to Kay and tell her I lied to you. Not if I can help it.

I want to try some other things first. And so I said, Lord, I'm deficient over here, but I'll pray more. That ought to make up for it. Lord, I know there's this sin that I need to take care of. I know there's this thing I need to make right. But I tell you what, how about if we sort of let that go and I'll read the Bible more. Lord, I know I need to go to my wife and be honest with her. But maybe if I would just witness more or witness harder or give more money. Nothing.

Nothing. Nothing. God says you are to be fruitful in every good work. You can't make up for a lack one place by doubling up another place. Well, Saturday afternoon, I was out mowing the lawn. No, I wasn't. I was wearing that black-on-black suit. I'm telling you, that thing, it stayed with me moment after moment, hour after hour. All week long, I'd been negotiating with God. We hadn't come to a decision. All week long, I'd been trying to maneuver myself out of that situation. I was out there mowing the lawn.

Tomorrow was Sunday. I had to preach. And, you know, I may not always be this sensitive, but, brother, I tell you, at that time in my spiritual life, I was so super sensitive to sin and the spirit. I couldn't tolerate it. I knew I would never be able to stand up before those people and preach if I had that sin in my heart. And there was nothing to do, but I went in the house. Kay was in the kitchen, and I went over. I said, Honey, I've got to tell you something. I lied to you about that suit. I didn't pay $125.

I paid $250. And I was so ashamed and so embarrassed. I apologized, honey. I told you a lie. I'm sorry. And she just put her arm around me and said, That's all right. But there was peace. Don't you just hate when you can't...

Everything's all right. Increasing in every good work. All right, let's look at the next one very quickly. Strengthen with all might according to His glorious power. Strengthened with all might according to the power of His glory. Think how much strength that is. Think how much power that is. We are being empowered by God's great power. And the only way you can measure it is measuring by His glory which cannot be measured. Paul says that if you and I, if you and I

are walking in the fullness of the Lord, he said one of the interesting characteristics of that is you're going to be strengthened and strengthened and strengthened. But just one thing I want to point out. I want you to notice the purpose of this strength. He says in verse 11, Strengthen with all might according to His glorious power unto all patience and long suffering. What is the purpose of God strengthening us?

What is the purpose of God giving us this mighty power? So we can go out and do some great task? So we can preach some sermon or sing some song? No, he says the purpose of this tremendous, unbelievable, immeasurable power is to give you patience and long-suffering. And I find that amazing.

I find that amazing. I would think that to be filled with the Spirit and to be walking worthy of the Lord meant that I was sort of a superhuman type of person and that I achieved great things, but that may be so in some ways, but the primary thing God is interested in is that I'm able to be patient with people and long-suffering with people, patient with adverse circumstances, and long-suffering with difficult people. All I'll say about that except this. It takes a lot more power to be patient than it does to preach a sermon.

Preaching is about the easiest thing I do. Living is the hardest thing I do. Living is the hardest thing I do. Being patient is the hardest thing I do. Being long-suffering with somebody who just seems to be determined to go their way and they know what they're doing is hurting you. They know what they're doing is not right

and you want to take them and you want to shake them and say, get with it. Talking about this to somebody this morning, it reminded me of Dr. J.P. Macbeth who used to have a great sermon called Security of the Believer as seen in Noah's Ark.

And Dr. Macbeth was a very picturesque type of fellow. And he would be telling the story of all these animals, two by two, coming to the ark. And he would say something about each one. But the thing that I remember most of all, he said, And here come two snails. Just inching along. He said, They've come two snails. He said, they've been in sight of the ark for more than a year.

But he said, they just move so slow, so slow. He said, sometimes I want to just pick them up and move them a foot ahead, get them there a year or two earlier. But he said, deers are deers and snails are snails.

And you've got to be patient, long-suffering with those snails. Now, I realize I missed number two, so I'm going back real quick. Verse 10, increasing in the knowledge of God. Now the notable thing here is that he's already prayed that we would be filled with it. But now he is praying that we will increase in the knowledge of God. The principle here is simply this. Obedience to present revelation

is the condition for additional revelation. Obedience to the light that I have is the condition for receiving more light. As you walk worthy of the Lord, as you are bearing every good fruit, what happens? You are also growing in the knowledge of the Lord as you are bearing every good fruit what happens? You are also growing in the knowledge of the Lord. You start out being filled with the knowledge of His will

and as you perform in His Spirit as you walk worthy of the Lord you are all the time increasing evermore increasing in the knowledge of God coming to a greater understanding of God coming to a deeper fellowship of God, coming to a greater understanding of God, coming to a deeper fellowship of God. You see, you have to obey what you know to obey right now. Sometimes we're wanting God to give us some new truth, some new revelation when we haven't

lived up to the one He's given us. The Bible becomes a closed book to me if I do not obey it. And we're having plenty of opportunities to obey it this week. When the Spirit of God speaks to my heart and God makes that well known to me, I have to obey it. And as I do, it just gives me more and more knowledge of Him. And then one last thing in verse 12. Giving thanks unto the Father who has made us meet or who has qualified us to be partakers

of the inheritance of the saints in life, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sin. As I walk worthy of the Lord

and please Him in all things, perfect Christian character right here, bearing fruit in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened by His power, and daily giving thanks to Him for all that He has done. Let's pray together.