Colossians (2)
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Main point: Measure Spiritual Maturity by Information not transformation
Main point: Measure Spiritual Maturity by Information not transformation
How do you measure spiritual maturity?
How do you measure spiritual maturity?
Short version of healing Testimony
Depression, Suicide
God meets me there —> Scripture
700 verses
Angry punching holes in the wall yelling at my mom, treating her harshly and she calls my dad sobbing as she’s writing these verses on the flash cards for me to memorize…
Information is actually really valuable in helping mature us.
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
Why do we teach?
Why do we teach?
to bring about maturity.
Colossians 1:28 (ESV)
28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
But God’s desire is not simply that we be informed or to use Paul’s language conformed but rather transformed.
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
How do you know the will of God?
How do you know the will of God?
By testing it. With what? A Transformed mind.
My concern, we have informed minds.
We have conformed minds.
churches conform to worldly ideals & politics
you also have been affected by the world y’all use fruits and veggie emojis in your text and it aint cuz your vegetarian
But do we have transformed minds and hearts?
What’s the purpose of information?
What’s the purpose of information?
in the same way that information is only knowable if it is accessible
God is only knowable if He makes Himself known
Victoria analogy - couldnt date her if I didn’t know she existed
General vs Special Revelation
Revelation is critical because its the means by which God is made knowable.
God can not be known apart from His revelation to us.
Revelation is important because it gives us information data about Who Jesus is.
Lots of types of Data that gives us information about God.
If we are not careful we will find ourselves accumulating data. Storing up treasure in our mind and not our heart.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Information was meant to form us in some way
But we have to be careful with the means by which He has made knowing/information availible to us.
But we have to be careful with the means by which He has made knowing/information availible to us.
Then go to Liberty University
Infatuated with all kinds of Biblical debates and discussions
When I was at Liberty University, I attended chapel 3x a week, was plugged into 3 biblestudies, went to church wednesday night and sunday, in addition to all of this I travled preaching the gospel and was enrolled in religious courses.
Was this contributing to my spiritual growth?
To some extent, absolutely!
But I found myself substituting my love for God with the means by which I was meant to know Him.
last night I’m writing a essay for seminary and I was convicted, “I have a love for what I do for Jesus more than I love Jesus” If you’re not careful the affection of your heart will drift away from Jesus towards the things that were meant to bring you closer to Him
Cell phone analogy - powerful tool by which I can know my wife, date my wife long distance, but if not careful I can fall in love with my phone and not my bride
I can love something that was meant to help deepen my relationship with someone.
Revisit question: How do we grow in spiritual maturity?
Revisit question: How do we grow in spiritual maturity?
Colo 1
Colo 1
Colossians 1:9–14 (ESV)
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1 - epi Ginosko - defining KNOWING
Colossians 1 - epi Ginosko - defining KNOWING
ἐπίγνωσις, -εως, ἡ, (ἐπιγινώσκω, which see [cf. also Bp. Lightfoot on Colossians 1:9; Trench § 75 at the end]), precise and correct knowledge; used in the N. T. of the knowledge of things ethical and divine:
ἐπίγνωσις epígnōsis, ep-ig'-no-sis; from G1921; recognition, i.e. (by implication) full discernment, acknowledgement:—(ac-)knowledge(-ing, - ment).
includes knowledge but moves beyond it
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
Saul —Paul experiential faith
Affection — demons
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
Culminates in action
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,
But How do we measure maturity?
But How do we measure maturity?
It depends on what you’re measuring
It depends on what you’re measuring
Bannana
Tadpole
Apple Tree
Human
Spirituality
There are external indicators of our faith. If you’ve read James 2, you know this.
But our faith, if it is to be different than the scribes and the pharisees must also have a invisible component. Lets we be “white washed tombs”! Matt 23:27.
In other words, our maturity is dependent on our identity.
In other words, our maturity is dependent on our identity.
Our maturation process is dependent on what we are.
The human maturation process from infant to adulthood is diff than a larva turning into a catapillar and then butterfly.
The maturation of a ant is drastically different than that of an apple tree.
In otherwords, what we grow into is depedent on what we are. So what are we?
In otherwords, what we grow into is depedent on what we are. So what are we?
Genesis 1:26,27
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
We are image bearers of God. But here’s the problem we try to become God. Either through works or knowledge.
We are image bearers of God. But here’s the problem we try to become God. Either through works or knowledge.
What was the first sin?
Satan tempted Adam and Eve, Genesis 3:5 “5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””
Quiz question: what was the tree called?
For them maybe the tree they’re eating of is the tree of the KNOWLEDGE
Tree of life 2. Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil
We want to be not just like God, we want to be God and we often pursue that through intellect.
We want to be not just like God, we want to be God and we often pursue that through intellect.
We were made to bear the image of God; to be His reflection, but we traded the opportunity to be His reflection in attempt to be His equal.
If our identity is “image bearer” than our maturity is measured by the extent to which we portray Christ both inwardly and outwardly.
If our identity is “image bearer” than our maturity is measured by the extent to which we portray Christ both inwardly and outwardly.
Here’s the problem: even if you wouldn’t say spiritual maturity is measured primarily by knowledge or intellect. Many of you would pursue maturity through knowledge and intellect; thus the reason you’re at this school.
Here’s the problem: even if you wouldn’t say spiritual maturity is measured primarily by knowledge or intellect. Many of you would pursue maturity through knowledge and intellect; thus the reason you’re at this school.
Loving warning: if we’re not careful our knowledge will lead to pride and not Jesus.
Loving warning: if we’re not careful our knowledge will lead to pride and not Jesus.
Pharisees knew a lot about God; in fact, they memorized the whole Torah (The first five books of the bible)And Jesus called them out saying,
1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.
So how do we assess whether our knowledge is different than that of the pharisees? Does it lead to pride or to love?
So how do we assess whether our knowledge is different than that of the pharisees? Does it lead to pride or to love?
The reason our knowledge matters is that it might be displayed in love, in action.
The reason our knowledge matters is that it might be displayed in love, in action.
to all my pastoral majors, what’s the goal of preaching? Just teaching the text? or teaching it in a way that it fosters transformation, life change, action?
why did JC give us the Bible?
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Action, life change
In the sermon on the Mount Jesus said
Matt 5:6 our hunger is to be for righteousness. what is righteousness? rightful living.
How do we obtain righteousness? faith. 2 cor 5:21
My concern is that we hunger for knowledge more than we hunger for Jesus!
My concern is that we hunger for knowledge more than we hunger for Jesus!
I think a lot of us are informed; but few of us are being transformed.
I think a lot of us are informed; but few of us are being transformed.
Jesus doesn’t just want us to grow in information, our accumulation of knowledge. He want’s us to be transformed by the power of the Gospel.
Word should transform our mind
Word should transform our mind
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
How do we get from knowledge to action?
How do we get from knowledge to action?
Our actions would indicate we believe the bridge between knowing and doing is effort.
What if the bridge was deeper; what if it was experiential more than it was effortful.
Head Hands
Knowledge || Action
Confessional faith || Expressional faith
Out of alignment: Hypocrisy
In alignment: Authenticity
But here’s the thing: Knowledge + Action = Religion, life of pharisees
So how do we get to live like the life of the disciples? (Faith)
Head Hands Heart
Knowledge || Action Affection
Confessional faith || Expressional faith Genuine Faith
the catalytic is faith, why because faith is transformative.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Maturity doesnt come through being informed but by transformed
Maturity doesnt come through being informed but by transformed
To the skeptic, who is sitting here thinking that I am downplaying the importance of knowing/knowledge. Let’s look at a passage together.
To the skeptic, who is sitting here thinking that I am downplaying the importance of knowing/knowledge. Let’s look at a passage together.
Paul began often began his letters with:
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
How do you know that you know God?
What does it mean to know God?
Why do you come to chapel? What to you hope to gain from it?
Why do you come to chapel? What to you hope to gain from it?
(do tophat poll? )
(do tophat poll? )
Requirement?
Encouragement?
Community?
Knowledge?
Why do you go to church? Why do you go to Bible study? What do you hope to gain?
Why do you go to church? Why do you go to Bible study? What do you hope to gain?
Knowledge?
When you, leave chapel, church, bible study frustrated, why do you leave frustrated?
When you, leave chapel, church, bible study frustrated, why do you leave frustrated?
Didn’t learn enough?
Certainly knowledge and biblical literacy are a part of our spiritual growth.
Problem INST Seek to gain understanding and Knowledge THE PROBLEM IS: Knowledge and understanding you’re seeking is incomplete.
Problem INST Seek to gain understanding and Knowledge THE PROBLEM IS: Knowledge and understanding you’re seeking is incomplete.
My concern: Incomplete knowledge
My concern: Incomplete knowledge
Colossians 1 - epi Ginosko
Colossians 1 - epi Ginosko
ἐπίγνωσις, -εως, ἡ, (ἐπιγινώσκω, which see [cf. also Bp. Lightfoot on Colossians 1:9; Trench § 75 at the end]), precise and correct knowledge; used in the N. T. of the knowledge of things ethical and divine:
ἐπίγνωσις epígnōsis, ep-ig'-no-sis; from G1921; recognition, i.e. (by implication) full discernment, acknowledgement:—(ac-)knowledge(-ing, - ment).
Intellectual Knowledge:
John 5:39 (ESV)
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
EXAMPLE: SAUL —> PAUL
Not only do we need to experience God, but God wants to have experiences with us� When Abraham was on the mountain preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac, God said, “Now I know that you fear God” (Genesis 22:12) It wasn’t that God didn’t know beforehand what Abraham would do it God is omniscient (all-knowing) It’s that He hadn’t yet experienced this type of obedience from Abraham C S Lewis recognized this, saying:
If God is omniscient, he must have known what Abraham would do without any experiment; why, then, this needless torture? but as St Augustine points out, whatever God knew, Abraham, at any rate, did not know that his obedience would endure such a command until the event taught him; and the obedience which he did not know that he would choose, he cannot be said to have chosen The reality of Abraham’s obedience was the act itself, and what God knew in knowing that Abraham “would obey” was Abraham’s actual obedience on that mountain top at that moment To say that God “need not have tried the experiment” is to say that because God knows, the thing known by God need not exist
Intellectual knoweledge/Awareness—> precedes experience
Intellectual knoweledge/Awareness—> precedes experience
As much as I woulda loved to cultivate a relationship with my bride in HS - i didn’t know her, i didn’t know her name, idk she existed,
I didn’t meet her till masters —> Experiences
,
intelect and experience ought to lead to affection
intelect and experience ought to lead to affection
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
They had accurate head knowledge and genuine experiences with God
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
Titus 1:1 (ESV)
Why does knowledge matter? It’s one of the ways we grow in maturity
col 1:28
Colossians 1:24–28 (ESV)
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
KNOWING GOD
KNOWING GOD
Intellectual
Pharisees knew a lot about God; in fact, they memorized the whole Torah (The first five books of the bible)And Jesus called them out saying, “you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you might find eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39) Jesus goes on to say that their hearts were far from God (Matthew 15:7-9)
Knowing God begins with factual knowledge. That’s why God created the world in such splendor so that people “are without excuse” in knowing that there is a Creator (Romans 1:20).
Experiences
1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Affection
David was called a man after God’s own heart Acts 13:22
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
“My whole being thirsts for you” Affection for God is the last ingredient that completely changes the taste of what it truly means to know God, to ginosko God
What differentiates our knowledge of God from the demons? Affection.
Demons have accurate knoweldge of who God is.
Demons have experiences with God, they worshiped in His courts.
Demons don’t have affection for Jesus
So what does it look like when we know and display God’s word?
So what does it look like when we know and display God’s word?
Jesus summed up the entire law with His statement:
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus’s metric for maturity is not knowledge but love
Jesus’s metric for maturity is not knowledge but love
The greatest way to embody Scripture is not through growth in knowledge but in love.
1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Litmus test: How well do you know God?
Answer: How well do you love?
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
How well do you love? Some of you don’t endure, don’t forgive, don’t trust, don’t serve b/c your not loving. And your not loving because you relationship with Jesus isn’t intimate, its intellectual, its theoretical.
How well do you love? Some of you don’t endure, don’t forgive, don’t trust, don’t serve b/c your not loving. And your not loving because you relationship with Jesus isn’t intimate, its intellectual, its theoretical.
Action: If you know Jesus you will love:
If you are not loving someone, the goal isn’t to strive out of your own effort and will power.
The solution is to ask where is the deficit in your relationship with God?
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Paul Information vs Transformation
Maybe throw them a bone some super deep detail and then unveil how it reveals more about Jesus
For them maybe the tree they’re eating of is the tree of the KNOWLEDGE
they want to be like God and the way they seek equality with God is knowledge
and because of this they are separated from God
Potential talking points:
Potential talking points:
If spoken word - this one! knowing God intellect, experience, affection - do you know God or know about Him?
matt 5:6.
if spoken word could also do John 10.
transfiguration message - do we understand?