colossians 1:9-12

9 "For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 "so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, 11 "being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully 12 "giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.” ()

After giving thanks for the Colossians’ reaction to the proclamation of the gospel in their midst (v3-8), Paul new prays that they might continue on the course they have begun.

How did they respond to the preaching of the gospel?

Faith in Christ Jesus. (v4)

Love that they had for all the saints. (v4)

Heavenward hope for their future.(v5)

It’s a hope that is growing because it stems out of the fruit bearing gospel! (v5-6)

And again in v8 Paul has communicated that this church is continuing to manifest a key quality of Christian existence: love.

We see that the Holy Spirit is the One who stimulates this love (v8).

Look how Paul prays in 9 "For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,”

Think of the breadth of Paul’s request for the saints.

Isn

These are large petitions that Paul spread before God, as he went to the throne of grace.

Paul does this often.

13 "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” ()

19 "and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” ()

9 "And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment,” ... 11 "filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” (, )

So Paul prayed here: that they might not merely have a knowledge of God’s will in wisdom but

“be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom.”

This was not a bare and general request that their conduct should adorn the gospel,

but rather that they “might walk worthy of the Lord onto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work.”

How different is this large-heartedness of the apostle from that cramped spirit which is evident in much of our praying!

So when Paul prays in v9 to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will; Paul isn’t thinking like some of us do.

That knowing God’s will for a particular situation. For example:

“Lord, help me to know Your will as to whether I should take this job or marry that person.”

I want you to think with me (remember we wanting and desiring to grow!)

When we think of knowing God’s will in those kinds of terms it’s sort of misleading and

sort of encourages me to think of “the Lord’s will” primarily in terms of my

future,

vocation,

needs, and

that is often another form of self-centeredness.

But we should fill our minds and our consciousnesses with the dominant ways

in which the Bible speak of the will of the Lord.

Look over to

10 "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me on level ground.” ()

To do the will of God in this passage is virtually synonymous with obeying what God has mandated.

What God has mandated is His will;

our responsibility is to do it.

The psalmist does not here encourage us to find God’s will, actually he assumes it is already known.

In reality he’s concerned with performance of that will.

When he says “Teach me,” he does not say, “Teach me your will,” but “Teach me to do your will.”

Look over to . List to how Paul exhorts the Roman Christians.

2 "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” ()

Here the assumption is that the transformation of character and conduct

brought about by the renewal of the Christian’s mind

is precisely what equips such a Christian to test and approve God’s will—

that is, to discover personally and experientially that his ways are best.

15 "Pay careful attention, then, to how you live—not as unwise people but as wise—16 "making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 "So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” ()

In such a context, to “understand what the Lord’s will is” cannot be reduced to a merely intellectual pursuit.

Over against the evil and folly of the surrounding society, where, because of

laziness and indulgence,

people squander opportunities that the Lord graciously gives,

Christians are to make the most of every opportunity, to avoid foolishness,

and thus to show they understand what the Lord’s will is.

The next verses contrast the debauchery of drunkeness with the joy of being filled with the Spirit,

a filling which issues in right relationship at every level of society ().

That is the way understanding “what the Lord’s will is” will be worked out in believers’ lives.

So if someone comes and says, “I just don’t know if I should stay married to this woman!

And you says, “Hey, you really need to know and understand what the will of the Lord is:

Don’t be foolish husband, here is the will of the Lord for you:

25 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her” ()

So will that man heed God’s Will?

Wives? Don’t be foolish but be wise and understand what the will of the Lord is:

22 "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,”24 "Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.” (, )

So, in going back to our text in .

What Paul has in mind in Colosse in praying that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.

He’s actually praying for a deep and abiding understanding of the revelation of Christ and all that He means for the universe.

15 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 "For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. 17 "He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 18 "He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 "and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” ()

And all He means for the Colossians: 21 "Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions. 22 "But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—23 "if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.” ()

So it’s only by the Holy Spirit giving you this wisdom and spiritual understanding that you can grow in what it means to be filled with the knowledge of God.

Maturing wisdom lead to transformed relationship with God and with others and provides a safeguard against false teaching!