"Desiring God's Will in Our Lives"

Sermon Outline Walk in a Manner Worthy Colossians 1:9-14 Introduction 1. Illustration: Visiting a village school one day, King Oscar II of Sweden asked the pupils to name the greatest kings of Sweden. The answers were unanimous: Gustavus Adolphus, Charles X. Then the teacher leaned over to one little boy and whispered something in his ear. "And King Oscar," volunteered the child. "Really? And what has King Oscar done that's so remarkable?" asked the king. "I--I--I don't know," stammered the unhappy child. "That's all right," said the king. "Neither do I." We sometimes worry that we have not done any remarkable things, that maybe we have not succeeded in life. "achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that's nice too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success." 2. Life: Life is not about “success”, being praised by others, it is about striving to do our best, working hard at doing God’s will, serving Him not ourselves. 3. Need: We need to keep our eyes on what God wants of us, we need to want the same things for ourselves. 4. Text: Today we are going to look at what Paul asked God to give the church at Colossae. Because Paul’s desire was what God desires for all His people. Turn with me if you will in your Bibles to the book of Colossians, chapter 1, I will be beginning in verse 9. 5. Context: In the first 8 verses Paul tells the church at Colossae of his prayers for them because of the faith they have in Christ and the love they have for fellow Christians. He reminds them that the hope they have is in heaven, a hope they heard in the Gospel. A Gospel which is growing in all the world just as it grew in them. I. All Christians should desire to grow in God’s wisdom.v9 Colossians 1:9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, A. Desire for others to grow.v9a Paul had great joy when he heard of the Colossians’ faith and love. The joy continued from that day, and that, too, became an occasion for prayer. The Colossians are, according to what Paul was told, faithful Christians. He wants them to continue growing and maturing in Christ, both in their beliefs and in their behavior. He heard that they were good, and he prayed that they might be better. We should desire to see all our fellow Christians grow in Christ. The new in Christ need to mature, so to do those who have been in Christ many years. B. We should not stop desiring to grow.v9b Paul’s ceaseless prayer does not mean that he prayed without ever stopping but that he never forgot to pray for them when he daily and regularly prayed. There was no point that Paul felt they were mature enough and no longer needed prayer. Just because we see someone doing God’s work does not mean we stop desiring for them to grow more. Besides thanking God when praying in regard to the Colossians, Paul and Timothy ask God for what the Colossians need. C. Growth comes out of wisdom and understanding.v9c Paul wants the Colossians to pursue the gospel knowledge they have received from Epaphras to its full extent. Such knowledge of God’s will does not come from a fleshly, but from the Holy Spirit who enlightens a believer’s inner person, and from the Word of God. Validate: 1 Corinthians 2:5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. “that you may be filled” We cannot fill ourselves, we must yield to and co-operate with the Holy Spirit When it is connected with “wisdom” real knowledge of God’s will applies this knowledge in life’s situations. Illustrate: A reporter was interviewing a body builder. During the interview, He asked "Why do you develop those particular muscles?" The body builder simply stepped forward and flexed a series of well-defined muscles from chest to calf. The audience applauded. "What do you use all those muscles for?" The reporter asked. Again, the muscular specimen flexed, and biceps and triceps sprouted to impressive proportions. "But what do you USE those muscles for?" He persisted. The body builder was bewildered. He didn't have an answer other than to display his well-developed frame. I was reminded that our spiritual exercises--Bible study, prayer, reading Christian books, listening to Christian radio and tapes--are also for a purpose. They're meant to strengthen our ability to build God's kingdom, not simply to improve our pose before an admiring audience. Apply: Part of the Christian walk is encouraging others. Paul prayed for these people to grow in Christ we need to do that for one another. This is something that starts when someone comes to Christ and should be part of our relationship with them for life. Praying is a huge part of it. But so is encouragement, so is being an example. These things are really what it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for one another, encourage one another, show each other what walking with Christ looks like. Transition: We provide this example when we walk the way God wants us to walk. II. All Christians should have living a life worthy of Christ as their primary goal.v10-11 Colossians 1:10–11 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously A. Live a life in God’s will.v10 Paul had a purpose in his prayer, a goal. The purpose of the prayer is “that you may live a life worthy of the Lord.” The wisdom he prayed for them to have is to be applied to living, to how they walk. Right conduct cannot be the product of wrong knowledge. He wanted them to have knowledge of God’s will so they could walk in God’s will. Believers are to continue to grasp the meaning of the gospel and continue to live out its implications. The first characteristic of those in God’s will is continued growth in the spiritual life. Ever and ever all our knowledge of God and of his will is not to be theoretical or abstract but fruitful, productive, molding conduct and life. B. We can only do this by God’s power.v11a “Strengthened with all power” literally “with all power being empowered.” Like salvation, the Christian life is a gift. It is not unaided, strenuous human effort. Believers must yield to the Spirit to produce effective, godly lives. If we ever prove deficient, it is never because he fails to supply us; it is always only because we do not allow him “fill us with the knowledge of his will,” C. Joy & patience in suffering is part of life.v11b The second characteristic of those who know the will of God is power to persevere. Endurance” is “the ability to bear up under difficult circumstances.” Generally, this word refers to the events of life which must be endured. Patience” is “a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune and without complaining or irritation.” This provocation usually comes from other persons. Neither circumstances nor people are to upset the person who walks in the will of God. Divine power is available to those who know Christ. Christians should never forget what God has done for them, and they should allow that life-changing experience to bring them daily joy. Validate: James 1:2–4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Illustrate: (Hold up the cell phone.) Have any of you ever used one of these before? I remember when cell phones were used only for making phone calls! Now they are used for so many more things! You can play games, listen to music, navigate, watch movies, and so much more. It is amazing how much you can do with a cell phone. There is a problem that all cell phones have. Have you ever used a phone for a long period of time, maybe playing a game or listening to music, and then you glance up and see that the battery indicator shows the battery is almost dead? What a horrible feeling that is! What do you do when that happens? Do you throw the phone into the garbage? Do you toss it on the ground and stomp all over it? Do you smash it with a huge hammer? No way! Of course not. What you need is one of these! (Hold up the phone charger.) You have to plug the phone into the power and recharge it. The battery will start to charge up immediately and you will soon be at full power once again. Did you know that your life is a lot like this cell phone. You may play games, watch movies and talk with your friends, but soon your spiritual battery begins to drain. You need to get recharged! You need to take time to read God’s Word on daily basis. As you read God’s Word your faith and power will begin to increase and you will be able to do great things for the Kingdom of God. If you don’t take time to recharge your spirit will be weak and not able to do great things. Just like you always remember to recharge the batteries in your cell phone make sure that you recharge your spiritual batteries each day. Transition: As we study God’s word we should notice things that we need to thank God for. III. All Christians should thank God for qualifying us to grow in Christ by rescuing us from sin and placing us in Christ.v12-14 Colossians 1:12–14 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. A. thank God for qualifying us to grow in Christ.v12 Here Paul focuses thanksgiving on the fact that God has qualified you or “made us competent” to share in the inheritance of the saints. We need to understand something vital, as human beings we were unfit in to grow in Christ; God has fitted us to share in the inheritance of His holy people. Ephesians 2:1–2 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. So what is the; “the inheritance of the saints in Light.” Is this speaking of eternity in Heaven? Let me ask you a question, are we “the saints?” Yes of course we are. In this very book believers are referred to as the saints. Ok so if we are the saints now, are we in Heaven now? No, we are not in Heaven we are in Mullin. It is important that we understand this. The saints are “in light,” now and the inheritance is “in light.” “In light” as the sphere of their walk, the saints enjoy their “inheritance” which is “begun here and this qualification is for our sanctification, our growth in Christ. The inheritance of the saints in light is our walk with Christ in this world. We were not qualified to undertake this walk, but God Qualified us B. Know that God rescued us from sin and placed us in Christ.v13 Through Christ we were brought from a rebel kingdom and placed under the sovereignty of their rightful King. The word translated, “to rescue,” requires a power that is greater than the power from which the rescue is affected. “from the dominion of darkness” Literally “authority of darkness” One translation says “from the ruling force of darkness.” We were literally ruled by darkness, we were not qualified to walk in Christ. Because of our transference—being ‘conveyed … into the kingdom of His beloved Son’. We are to thank God the Father because we have been rescued personally from the authority of darkness and the kingdom of Satan and transferred into the kingdom of Christ. C. Christ paid the ransom for our sins so that we could be forgiven.v14 “in whom we have redemption” Ransoming” is a better word than “the redemption.” We must resist the efforts to reduce the word to the mean “deliverance.” We must never forget the idea of the ransom, the sacrifice, and the substitution is eliminated. The ransoming is intended for all men, but only believers “have it” with all its blessed effects. It is theirs personally by faith alone. Notice “the forgiveness of sins” is the result of Christ’s ransoming for all believers. It is vital that we understand just who we were and who we are now. Illustrate: Once upon a time a man found the egg of an eagle. It had been abandoned for some reason by its mother, but as it was still warm the man took it and put it in the nest of one of his backyard chickens along with the other eggs that were there being brooded upon. After a period of time the eaglet was hatched, and along with the other chicks from his nest began to go about the backyard doing what the other chicks did. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He looked for the corn that the man would throw into the yard. He clucked and cackled as best as he could, and as he grew, he would, like the other chickens, thrash his wings and fly a few feet in the air. Years passed in this way and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. It glided majestically among the powerful wind currents, soaring and swooping, scarcely beating its long golden wings. The old eagle looked at it in awe and asked "what is that" "That is the eagle, the king of the birds", said one of his neighbors. "He belongs to the sky and to the high places. We belong to the earth, we are chickens." The old eagle knew this was true, and so it was he lived and died as a chicken, for that is what he believed he was. We should never forget who we were before Christ. We need to understand who he has qualified us to be. But it is vital that we recognize that it is He who qualified us. 'We are changed and enabled by the power of God not by anything within us. ' Apply: In our prayer we need to spend time just giving thanks to God. Sometimes we have so many people in our lives with problems we spend all our prayer time lifting people up to God. And that is wonderful, but we should always take time in our prayers to thank God. Possibly the greatest thing we need to thank Him for is transferring us from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Christ. Transition: Conclusion We can get awfully concerned in life about success; wondering if we have done anything notable. There is really only one notable thing anyone can do in this life. The only achievement we really need to be concerned with. Have we walked in a manner worthy of the Lord? We need to be about this work, we need to desire to see our fellow Christians about this work, praying for them, encouraging them, providing an example when we can. We cannot do this on our own strength, only when we yield to the Holy Spirit and are filled with the wisdom and knowledge of God’s will are we able to walk in a manner worthy. Once we were not qualified for this walk, but God paid a ransom to free us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of Christ. God did this because He loves us and wants an eternal relationship with us. But we all sin, we think say and do things that contradict God’s will. 1. Review of flow of sermon 2. Raise image and give final challenge and or celebrate: LAND THE PLANE: Prayer: ALTAR CALL If there is anyone here who has not trusted in Christ, anyone still trying to earn Heaven, in a moment I am going to pray a prayer and we are going to sing a song. During that song I would invite you to come forward and place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. Additionally if there is anyone who is in need of prayer I would love for you to come forward so that I can pray for you. And Finally if there is anyone here who wishes to be a member of this Church this is the proper time to come forward and receive membership in this church.