In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes three important points for believers to incorporate into their lives. The first point is to seek and understand God's will for their lives, as it is crucial for spiritual growth. The second point is the need for discernment and wisdom in all aspects of life, from the way we dress to the way we interact with others. The speaker also highlights the importance of parents guiding their children in God's will. Lastly, the speaker emphasizes the need for patience and endurance, especially in relationships between men and women. The sermon encourages believers to pray for these qualities and to strive for spiritual growth and maturity.

Psalm 48, the last verse. For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to the end. This God is our God. Now, let us read the letter of the Colossians, verse 9 of the first chapter. Therefore, from the day that we have heard of you, let us not cease to pray for you. We ask God that through all the wisdom and insight that the Spirit gives, you may come to full knowledge of what His will is. Colossians 1, verse 9. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. We pray that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and that you may please Him in every way. For this reason, we ask God that through all the wisdom and insight that the Spirit gives, you may come to full knowledge of what His will is. We ask God that through all the wisdom and insight that the Spirit gives, you may come to full knowledge of what His will is. We ask God that through all the wisdom and insight that the Spirit gives, we may come to full knowledge of what His will is. We ask God that through all the wisdom and insight that the Spirit gives, you may come to full knowledge of what His will is. We ask God that through all the wisdom and insight that the Spirit gives, you may come to full knowledge of what His will is. And it is written that in this letter to the Colossians, important functions are assigned to overcome the wrongdoings through legal, divine rules. And I just thought it was interesting that the theologians wrote something like this. They say that at that time some had gone off the track, and they had come in, infiltrated, and were trying to influence the people with false doctrine and teachings. And so Paul wrote to them and wrote about certain important functions. To help them to overcome these wrong and false teachings and doctrines and the wrong things. Through legal, divine rules. In this time in which we live, hell is free under the children of the Lord and the believers. Christians do anything. They set us free. We are not legal. Now, in German, we are very tired. We are talking about legality. And we are tired of it. Why is that? If you don't want to be legal, then you are lawless. I don't see anyone else in Africa who is lawless. If you are not lawless, then you are lawless. We have heard of what God has said to us. The new law that will be applied here in our country. What kind of marriage do you want? One man, two men, one wife, two wives. Man with man. We must not be under the law. Friends, Romans 8. Say, we are under the law of the Spirit of God. Of course a person can be lawless. But I'm not talking about that God. But there are legal, divine rules. Which Paul wrote to the Colossians. And said, if you do these things, you will overcome evil. And Paul did this by introducing to them certain rules and laws of God. Now, people say nowadays, we must not be under the law. We must not be legalistic. But there are those rules and laws of God. Which Paul writes about and which the Bible teaches about. Which need to be applied. And if we don't want to be under the law of God, we become lawless. And then we become like the people Chell told us about. Where they want to pass ungodly laws. And God's word itself is God's way and God's law for us. Even in the time that we live. One man, one woman. One man, two women. He had even more. But in secret. Or a woman and two men. What is a marriage? Well, it's leaders of nations. A little child knows what it is. A father, a mother and a child. But those who are lawless, don't know what it is. Mitterrand of France. In his time he said, well what is a family? Is it one man, one woman, one wife or two wives? He didn't seem to know. Probably because he had more than one wife. Even though it was in secret. But it's something which even a small child knows what a family is. But these people don't seem to know. God's... God's word gives us direction. God's word gives us direction. It teaches us how we should go. And as Janetta's... The word that she chose says. It is this God who says such things. He is the one that will guide us forever. Now this text here is part of Paul's and Timothy's prayer for the congregation. Those two men, while they were in prison, were praying for the Colossians. They made use of prayer. They were men of prayer. And he wrote, in verse 1 we read of Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God and of his brother Timothy. In verse 1 we read of Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God and of his brother Timothy. And they write here and they say that since the day we heard about you and your congregation, we've been praying for you. And when I had read this and I read it, I thought well this word suits you two perfectly. It's not just written for the Colossians at that time, but for you today. It fits perfectly. But we know it's not just for you two alone, but for the others that are next to you, the three and for all of us. And this word also needs to play an important function or role in your lives. And as we've heard, if you are faithful to that, it will go well with you in your marriage. And if we look at your past, Janetta and Kobos, as we've already heard, I also want to say that we are very grateful. You were a good example, you Janetta for the girls and you Kobos for the boys. And we thank God daily for you. Now just a few points from this text. Now just a few points out of this text. The first point. That God will show you what his will is. Paul and Timothy prayed and said, Oh Lord, show them what your will is for their lives. That they will know and realize what it's all about. If there was ever a time where God's servant needed to pray for his children, then it's today. And especially that they should pray that God's children will recognize God's will. To recognize God's will in our lives is important. It's perhaps the most important thing in our lives. In Greek, Lord, I am your property. It doesn't matter what they say, Lord, we belong to you. We are not your property that will enter the kingdom of heaven. But only what the will of the Father does. And according to this prayer, it goes a little deeper and a little further than just recognizing and doing the will of God. It's not just about trying to please God. With just a few selected truths of God's will. But Paul says that you will come to the complete, the perfect knowledge of his will. The full knowledge of his will and his wisdom and understanding. Often when I'm sitting in an airplane. And I've sat almost all over in an airplane. And I look around. And I listen to what people are saying. And what they read. And what they do before they go to sleep. Some say, Lord, there is no one in this airplane who is looking for you. That's a fact. We live in a godless world. Some are reading books where when you look, you say, but what has that got to do with God's will? And often I think if I'd get up now and speak to those people. They would probably respond by saying, but what you're talking about, the will of God, it just doesn't fit into our time. But even if it is nonsense to them and madness to them, let it not be so to us that are here. Now here they write of the will of God. That knowledge which is given through his spirit, that we may come to the perfect knowledge of his will for our lives. And friends, if we have to stand before God one day, without knowing and recognizing the full knowledge of his will. Will we be able to stand before him? Maybe we think, well we can stand before our preacher, our congregation, or whoever, but on that day it won't be any of us standing there, it will be God himself. Young and old. Also the newly married with small children. And they were on their knees praying saying, Lord give them the full knowledge. Regarding your will. And that goes against what comes out of man himself. There's God's will. His ways. And we also have our own will. We can be pig headed. Our own will. A certain woman asked her husband, can you please buy a dozen pig ears for me? She wanted to use the flowers. And it took so long. And she thought, why isn't he coming back? He comes after hours. He said, it's the last time you send me for pig ears. I've been to every slaughterhouse in this city to get a dozen pig ears. That's why. It's hard work. He didn't know his wife was talking about flowers. Now, that's pig heads, not just pig ears. It's not about their will, but our will. And in German it's said, a man's will is his heaven. And in German there's a saying that, a person's own will is like his own kingdom. Now, this doesn't talk about your own will, or Janita, your own will, but God's own will. His will. And there are tens of thousands of Christians who do their own will, and they claim it's God's will. They don't know the difference between their own will and God's will. A person's own will is that which comes out of his own heart, but here we don't talk about that. There's no room for man's own will here, but it's God's will that is important. And also not the will of the flesh. And not the will of this world either. There's also the world's way, the world's will, the world's way. And friends, we have to do a little bit of self-research today. When I talk about this, on what level do you live? There are different levels. The human, the natural, the flesh, the world, but where do you live? And you two will also have to do daily self-research on what level you live. So there is the worldly way as well. So we need to, and the couple will need to, every day test themselves to see in which will are we walking and living. Is it our own will, the will of the flesh, the will of this world, or is it God's will that we are walking in? And for that we need the divine wisdom and insight and the works of the Holy Spirit to make it clear to us. That is the will of God, not that. It's world, it's flesh. And that has to do with all the different aspects of our lives. From the head to the feet, from the hair to the tongue. Even what we wear, even clothes. And for that we need the divine wisdom and insight and the works of the Holy Spirit to make it clear to us. And for that we need Godly insight, Godly wisdom and understanding, and also the working of the Holy Spirit. That we can discern whether what we are doing is in God's will or not. And that applies to every aspect of our lives. From head to toe, everything, even the way we dress, whatever we do. And we also need parents who will also always be on the lookout to see whether the way they live, and their children, whether it is going according to God's will or not. And we don't care about the Muslims. Someone said to me, That is the work of God for me. Let's be sincere about that it is God's will and God's way. Let's leave the first point. I'll try and be short from here. The second point. To then do what He has shown us. It doesn't help that we pray for God to reveal His will to us, and then He does it, but then we don't obey Him. That we say, O Lord, show me what You desire. What Your desire is with my life. And then You show it. But we don't do it. We must know what the Lord said, Matthew 7, verse 26. He said, In Matthew 7, verse 26, the Lord says, But doesn't act accordingly. You hear His word, but don't act accordingly. His word is compared to a fool. One preacher said, He doesn't have a good way. I'm not ashamed to do that. Because the Lord also did it. The fact that I preach about fools. But well, the Lord did it as well. Now, if the Lord tells you to do something, and you don't do it, then you are fools before Him. But if He reveals His will to you, speaks to you, and you do what He says, then He compares you to one who builds his house on a rock. The storms will come now and then. And the wind will blow from time to time. And the rains will come. And when that happens, you will be safe. And you won't be swept away by the storm. Whether it's the world's worst storm, that will come. You can stay there. And then the third point. That you will increase and grow in the knowledge of God. It's good that we increase spiritually. It's good that we grow in our spiritual lives. And grow in the knowledge of God. We have to grow. If a small barbeque doesn't grow, it's a big mistake. If you meet with friends or with people after some years or after some time, they need to see the growth in your life. It must be evident to them that you've grown spiritually. Otherwise, you're like a small baby that just doesn't grow. And then something's wrong. Well, I just picked out a few points that will keep you on the right path. It's good that we increase spiritually. In the knowledge of God. If you meet with friends or with people after some years or after some time, they need to see the growth in your life. They've grown spiritually. You can never stand still in one place. It's wrong. Or go backwards. It will not please God. We have to grow. If a small barbeque doesn't grow, it's a big mistake. If you meet with friends or with people after some years or after some time they need to see the growth in your life. It must be evident to them that you've grown spiritually. Otherwise you're like a small baby that just doesn't grow and then something's wrong. Now, I've just taken out a few points. Here we're also talking about the holy and God willing change of life. A life and attitudes that are well pleasing to God. If people visit you, whether they be blacks or whites, whatever they are, whoever they are, that your lives will shine brighter than the sun. And that even your thoughts and your attitudes will be to God's glory. And that it will be pleasing to Him. Now to the last point. Excuse me that it's taken so long. And that God will strengthen you and give you the power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience. Patience. We need patience. I've heard you're a good man and she's a good woman. But remember, she's a different nation. Do you understand? If you don't understand now, you'll understand one day. And Janetta, Manz is also a different nation. She has a different mentality than the woman. And in addition, patience is needed. If you don't understand African, you probably don't understand German. Patience is needed in your lives. Now you need to remember, a wife needs to remember, a man is just different to a woman and vice versa as well. And so one needs patience. And if you've got two bulls in a crawl, then a fight will usually result. But we aren't bulls, we are slaves of Jesus Christ. And we pray that the prayer of Paul and Timothy will be fulfilled in your lives and in our lives. Patience and endurance. Right to the end. Endurance. Long suffering and difficult times. We even heard about children. Maybe if the gentlemen see you with children. I said to my children, eight daughters, you live in a good time. You get the babas so cheap. You don't even pay much. Now, I speak like this because there are children there. When they buy the children from the hospital. It is so easy to get children today. We, by the way, got them on the difficult path. But today it is so easy. Although there are people who say, Christ will never do it. She must feel the full pain, the man. But when they go to the dentist at night, they get an injection. I can't understand some people. Maybe this is the mentality of a man. With women it works differently. You don't have to translate. But then the children say, dad. It's an easy thing to bring the child into the world. For us men, this is the big problem. But they say to make the child big. That's a big problem. Now, it may be easy to bring a child into this world. But it's to bring up their child. That's the difficult part. And they say, how can I promise you that it is a daughter? Then she will never go through what we men have to go through. At least she will never need to go through what I've just gone through. So you need patience when you get children and have children. In German they say, small children are small problems. Big children are big problems. So there are times of trial. And of testing. And we need patience. But even though we go through such times, with God's might, His power, His grace, He takes us through those times. It can also be sickness, or even death. There can be so much trial and testing. But His power and His grace is more than sufficient for every circumstance. Now, in the old translation it says something which is a bit different to the new one. In all circumstances to endure with joy. And that with joy. We need to joyfully take up our cross. Even in the darkest night. May your praises be heard. And this was written by a man who was in prison. This is what God is saying to you today. He has said much to you in the past, but now in closing, this as well. And Janetta, this God that says this is my God. If you are determined, this God, this God that says this, He is my God forever. And He will guide us. And then our future will be bright in this world and the next. We thank you for your way of life. We thank you for the life that you have lived. Amongst us, young and old. And for the beautiful and beautiful example that you were for the whole world. All the different services of God. All the different nations. To go in peace, purity and peace. Now bless for them that the future will also be blessed. We have heard a little of your God. What you say. What you want from us. And what you expect from us. Oh gentlemen, let their life be for you. Every day that there will be fruit in heaven. About how the bride was. And that their marriage will be a lesson for us. How our life must be towards God. Towards Jesus. And may your love, God the Father. And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the community of the Holy Spirit be with you. For you alone. On that path. Which ascends to heaven. Not descending. Every day. And bless for them to such an extent that their life will be of great value in your kingdom. And where they are. Will shine. That they will see the glory and the power of God. And that they will always grow in your knowledge. And that they will recognize your holy will. And you will know. And you will know. Amen.