Episode 306 - He Rescued Me!

The brothers look at Colossians 1:9-14 in today's episode.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

And welcome back to Two Brothers One Bible Podcast from Columbia, Tennessee, and we are blazing through Colossians.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

That's what what did you call it a while ago?

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Blaze and blister.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

So blazing and blistering through Colossians. We've uh we've had three podcasts, and I think we're not even close to being done.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

No, well, what makes it even funnier is Robert said when we sat down, it's like, well, let's just do the first 14 verses, and it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Okay. Yeah, that was a lofty goal, in it. Well, you got you gotta have goals.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

And you know, I thought, well, this is not that much. Well, no, it was a lot. Oh, it's full. It's so rich. It's unbelievable. Um, because the way he was praying for people he did not know. Yeah, that's what struck me about this. Okay. Uh uh, this first part that we're in, he is praying fervently and he's asking God for their spiritual wisdom to grow. Yeah. And he's never met these people.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Yeah. That's amazing to me. Well, which takes me to what our church does on the third Thursday of every month. Right. Is uh we've we've done this for a few years now, is we invite people to come and pray, and what we do is we pray over every seat. And uh part of that prayer is if we consistently, because we're creatures of habit, we sit in the safe spot.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

We do.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

And so if we know these seats are usually empty, we pray for the Lord to fill that chair. We don't know who that is, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:28

But he does. And he can do it. Yeah, yeah, it's it's a it's a great thing. So this this uh study in Colossians has been great. I don't think I've introduced you yet or myself. I'm Robert Wakeville. And I'm Peter Singh. Okay, so now we can continue on with the thing. So much better. Yeah, wow. Thank you so much. I don't know who I was. All right, so we're gonna start in verse nine, but we're gonna go through 14.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Yeah, I'll start. We we finished nine in the last episode, but um, I think it just gives continuity. So nine through fourteen says this for this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and the understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Yeah, I don't know that we're gonna get to 14 after reading all that. Oh, that is so good. That is the word of the Lord. So let's just jump right in there in verse 10 that says, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way. Yeah. Now that is such a wonderful thing to think about. Yeah. Because if there's one thing that I want to do in my life, is I want to live in such a way that brings honor and glory to him. Absolutely. And and I think that for him to actually pray for these people, that he he wants them to live a life that's worthy of that. That that's a that's a wonderful calling. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

You know, the the verse 10 is the why for the prayer in nine.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

So I am praying nine so that ten may happen. And so we need to look at so one, he wants you to live a life that is worthy of all that Jesus has done for us. Right. And you know, when when we think about our hopeless estate, you know, I love that line in that that wonderful hymn. Well, there was nothing, you know, and he and he and he draws attention in a few verses about we were children of darkness. Right. And now we're in the light. And so you think about where we were and where we are, and and so we need to live a life that's worthy of that. We need to please him in every way. And then he talks about bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the in the knowledge of God. Right, right. I I I used this in a sermon one time and and and and it really made an impact on me. But there's been phases in my life growing up as a kid where you know you have these aspirations, you know. And uh so I wanted to be a great guitar player. Okay, figured out I I don't have the the fingers for it. Just just didn't. You know, you're a you're a great drum player, that's what you do, and you used to do drum lessons for people. I did. And and I I know that if you want to excel in that or or anything, it it's gonna be one word. Practice. Practice.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

And so there's this thing called the rule of a hundred. Mm-hmm. And so if you spend a hundred hours on on something a year, uh, you're gonna know 95% more. You're gonna be 95 more percent more proficient than the average person.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Yeah, that's right. I've heard that.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

If you want to be a master in something, then you need to do 10,000 hours.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

10,000 hours, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Well, when you look at a hundred hours a year, it breaks down to eighteen minutes a day. Okay. If you took 18 minutes a day to spend time with your father and being in his word, you would be 95% more efficient in knowing the will of God and understanding the will of God.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

That is awesome.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Than the average person.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah. And you know, that's why uh for the third year in a row, yes, here at New Song, yes, we have read through the entire Bible. Yes. And this is our third year to do it, and and we've gotten more people to do it every year. Yes. And it's been it's been fun to watch because people are coming up to say, I've never done this before. Right. And this is really changing my life. And it's it's because they're spending 18 minutes a day uh in the Word of God. And one of the things, too, about this verse uh 10 is Paul is connecting knowledge and behavior.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Uh he's saying this true knowledge is going to lead us to a worthy walk, a fruitful way of life, and it's going to continually grow.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

So that's that's what this uh commentator said on that. So he connected knowledge and behavior on that. And he said this too. I thought this was good. Uh spiritual maturity is not static, it's a cycle of learning and living. I like that. Yeah. Yeah. And so I think that's what verse 10 is talking about.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Yeah, you know, it goes back to what he said, I think it was verse 3 where he talked about the the being holy people, but we're also have faith that you know what what Jesus did on the cross made us holy, but that holiness is gonna not going to perpetuate us being faithful in our walk. Right. So, you know, he says the the how that's going to happen is by us having prayer, praying it for ourselves and praying it for other people, and then just doing it, putting in the work, putting in the effort.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Yeah, putting the 100 hours. Absolutely. Oh, yeah. And then he got twisted in verse 11 again. He says, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you may have endurance and patience. So he's play playing, praying that they'll be strengthened, and using God's power for endurance and patience.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Yeah, again, you know, you gotta look at all these words. So it's it's like he could have just said strengthen with power, but he says all power. Okay. And then he could say that you have endurance and patience, but he said great endurance and patience. Right. Now the key thing in here is the middle. It's not Paul's strength, it's not Peter's strength, not Robert's strength, it's not our strength, it's not human strength. It's it's his power. It's God's power, and it's for the purpose of giving him glory. The glorious might. And yeah. And and how God receives the glory is if you look at endurance and patience, it leads to one word in my mind perseverance.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

And when do we need perseverance the most? When things are tough. Right. Yeah. I mean, that's when, you know, you know, you talk to any, you know, anybody who's trying to do the hundred hours, if you're trying to be a better musician, if you're trying to be a better athlete, if you're trying to whatever you're trying to improve, when it gets hard, you know, what what runner wants to go outside when it's raining and cold?

SPEAKER_00 8:45

You know, not a one.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

No. And so, you know, who wants to keep playing an instrument when when you've got calluses and blisters and and it hurts. Right. But that's the endurance. And so when it's difficult for us to live the Christian life, that's why the prayer for endurance and patience is so important.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

It really is, it's not about circumstances. No, it's about your relationship with him. Yeah. And that relationship with him will give you the power to get through anything. Yeah. And so that that's great, Peter.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

That is really, really important. The question I wrote when it comes to verse 11 is how do we win the race? Paul talks about running a lot. We'll see it in Colossians. He uses a lot of uh of uh metaphors about ath, you know, athletes and games and winning. And so, how do we win the race? Right. We've got to have endurance and patience. We've got to have perseverance, we've got to and lean on his power, his strength. This is this is how it's done.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Oh, verse 11 is really fantastic. It's really, really good. And then right after that comes verse 12. Yeah. Oh, and that and that's he did in mind too. Yeah. And giving joyful thanks to the Father who has uh qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. Good gracious. This sentence is just incredible. Well, in verse uh 12, uh it's it's talking about that they should give thanks because God has qualified them for an inheritance. That's the summary of it. Yeah. And when you think about that, you know, God is qualifying them. Yeah. Not not we're qualifying ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Well, you know, again, I think he's really picking up on a on an Olympic Game kind of theme here. And so when you see the words in verse 11, endurance and patience, and then you see the word qualified, right? You can't help. So, I mean, you you're looking at athletes all over the world for an Olympic game who qualify. Their nation says, We think you're the best of the best, we're gonna send you. Right. You qualify. And so that word is so key. It means that you're you're competent, you're you're more than adequate, you're you know, you're efficient in this. And so Paul says, I'm I'm giving joy and thanks, but who's qualifying them? Not themselves. No, God is not a group of their peers, right? It's the father saying, You and what do you get? You get to share in the inheritance of his holy people. You just can't beat that.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

No, you just can't beat that.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

No, and and then he he builds up for the next verse when he says, you know, what what did we inherit? He says, one, you became a holy people. You know, you were you were unholy people before, and now you're holy people, and now you're a resident in the kingdom of light rather than being in the kingdom of darkness.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Oh, goodness gracious. That is un that's just incredible. It really is. Just really, really incredible. So uh something else I wanted to say about verse 12. Um, it and I think you hit on it. Um Paul says that God qualified them, uh, that they didn't qualify themselves, and this destroys legalism at its root. Yes, is what this guy wrote. Yes, I like that. And I thought, you know, I've been in a legalistic church and it it's not fun. No. Uh it's it's a check mark uh mentality. Well, I did this and I did that and I did this. Listen, that's not relationship.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

No, it's not.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

And God's qualifying us uh to get this inheritance.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Yeah, I mean that it's exhausting. Oh, it is exhausting. You know, I I realize part of our humanity, it makes it easier.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Oh, I I like a checklist.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Yeah, I mean, because i if you want to know if you're doing what's pleasing the father, well, give me a checklist. Right. You know, I'll mark this and uh well, I missed that yesterday, I'm gonna catch up today. But it totally destroys relationship.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Right, right. We're talking about checklists. It's so funny. Uh, you know, Trish is in the wedding planning business. Yeah. And and Mikey Burns and myself, we go set up chairs. Well, I just while we were doing this podcast, I got the checklist that we have to do tomorrow. Oh, goodness. Yeah. So, you know, we love checklists. Yeah. We love, okay, yeah, Father, I did I did this. Yeah. I did this, that I prayed to you today. I but but legalism doesn't it's just such a damaging, it's a damaging thing that happens to you.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Yeah, well, let's go back to that hundred hours. You know, hundred hours a year turns into eighteen minutes a day. If that eighteen minutes in your mind is a checklist, you're doing it wrong. Exactly. If you say, and let's just make it 20, you know, let's let's just but if you're saying I get to spend 20 minutes with my father, yeah, I just want to, you know, it's not about me. I I want to give him praise, I want to give him glory. I don't know what I'm gonna face this day, but he does. I want to put on the full army of God, God, like we talked about in Ephesians.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

In Ephesians, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

I want to be prepared for what he has me. I want to be bold in my faith, you know, and so that's what that 20 minutes a day does. Right. Is it allows us to be in relationship with him and allows us to do whatever he wants us to do so we can be holy people.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

You know, and uh being in the kingdom of light, don't you just love that? Yeah, you know, because we're we're in it live in a kingdom of darkness in a lot of ways, uh by living in this world. But being in the light, it what a refreshing way that that he put that.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Yeah. I I just think that's just you know, we just had some big storms come through not too long ago, and and our our the the transformer outside our house was actually struck by lightning. Oh, it was shook the house, wow, cut a power line, and the power line dropped in our front yard. I I still have a scar in my yard from this power line, and it connected with the fire hydrant in my yard, and it was sparks everywhere. The fire department came out, you know, and so we were in the dark. And it's two o'clock in the morning, you know how long it's gonna be dark. Yeah, uh, we lost all the contents in our freezer, you know, which was a you know, it's sad, but you know, that's what happens when you're in power. Right. We don't like being in the dark. We don't, you know, and and uh and so we couldn't, you know, we all I think we cheered when the lights came back on, you know. Yeah, and then they went off again the next morning. But yeah, but at least the sun was out. Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

But yeah, we don't navigate well in the dark. No, we do not. And I think that leads right into verse 13 because God rescues us uh from this darkness, and he chuh, you know, we're transferred into Christ's kingdom of light. Look look what verse 13 says. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us in the kingdom of the Son, He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Wow. I just love those two verses. Boy, they are incredible. Yeah. You know, he's using just Paul is using dramatic rescue language here. Yeah. You know, he he salvation is not uh self-help, or it's not any kind of moral improvement checklist that you're doing, or or turning over a new leaf. It's a change of kingdoms. Yeah, you're transferring your citizenship from the darkness to the light.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Yeah, I'm glad you said that because that's actually what that Greek word rescued means is transferred. Okay. So I was in place X and I'm in place Y.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

And the thing about it is I didn't do that. I could not transfer myself. It was the power of God that did that. Exactly. And so Paul's making sure it's very clear that God did this. And so He He took me where I was and He put me over here.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Right. And he transferred your citizenship.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Yeah, and so now I'm in the kingdom of the Sun. And it's as ON. So he's talked about the kingdom of light, now it's the kingdom of the sun. Right. Kind of a little play on words there. And then he says, it this is the son he loves. Right. This is the son he sent to die for me. This is the son that allowed me to be rescued, allowed me to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Oh, I just love that. Yeah, I just think that's so good. And uh the last few minutes that we have, let's see if we can get to 14. In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Oh. You know, that's that that redemption thing, well, we've talked about this before, but it's being bought back. Yes. Uh, because we used the example in previous podcasts of SNH green stamps. Right. And you would get these green stamps when you bought groceries. For those of you who are young and don't remember this, you you would get that, you would put them in a book, and then you would go to a redemption center and pick out cheap stuff. It's basically what it was. Yeah. Uh, but everybody did it. Sure. And and this this whole redemption thing is is freed from slavery of darkness. Yes. I think that is an important part of what this is talking about here.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah. The redemption goes with the word rescue. And so for the people that lived in Paul's day, there was a lot of people that are slaves. In fact, there was more slaves than there were citizens. Right. Part of that slavery is because you had a debt, and so the only way you could pay off your debt was by putting yourself in servitude. Right. And so what happened if you were a slave, someone could buy you back. They could redeem you, they could pay for you, they could give you your freedom.

unknown 18:38

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

And that's what the image that Paul is using is I was a slave to darkness. Right. I was a slave because of sin. And Jesus loves me so much. He forgave my sins. He rescued me. He transferred me from darkness to light, and he redeemed me. He bought me back. He paid for me. And he didn't have to.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

No.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

He did it because he loved me.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Wow. That's so good. We're going to end it on that. Okay. All right. So we got through the first 14 verses over about 17 podcasts. There you go. But it is what it is, right? It is. And I'm loving every minute of it. Thank you so much for listening to Two Brothers One Bible Podcast. I'm Robert Wakefield, Peter Search. And we will pick up right where we left off. We're going to get to verse 15. What? I know. That sounds great. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.