A Do Good Vision

English Standard Version Chapter 1

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

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.

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I. Setting the Stage: Seeing the Similarities Between Ephesians 1 & Colossians 1.

Paul Thanks God for Them. No One Talks Like This Any More: “We always thank God...when we pray for you.”

Paul Acknowledges Their Faith, Hope & Love. The Trifecta/Trilogy. 1 Cor. 13:13 “The greatest of these is love.”

Paul Prays that they Would Grow in the Knowledge of God. Not Just Intellectual, But Experiential.

Paul Prays that they Would Experience God’s Power.The Same Power that Raised Jesus from the Dead.

The One & Only Jesus:

Ephesians 1 Jesus is Exalted

Colossians 1: Jesus is Preeminent, Surpassing All Others.

Hebrews 1: Jesus is God, The Exact Imprint of His Nature.

Revelation 1: Jesus is Worthy of Worship.

John 1: The One Who Lived Among Us Created All Things.

II. Upward Spiral: A Metaphor for Advancement or Growth

(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;

We Should Passionately Seek to Please God in Light of All That We Have Received in Jesus. Not Settle for Less.

2 Things that Please God: Knowing God (Last Week) & Doing Good (This Week).

Last Week’s Focus: Knowing God. This Week’s Focus: Doing Good.

It is Not Legalistic to Focus on Doing Good. It Pleases God.

Do Good is a Big Theme in the Bible.

Psalms:

Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Psalm 37:3

Prophet Isaiah:

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression… Isaiah 1:17

Jesus:

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Luke 6:35

Luke Records in Acts:

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38

Paul Writes to the Churches:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:10

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:15

Paul Instructs Timothy & Titus:

They (the rich) are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. Titus 3:14

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works… Titus 2:7

Author of Hebrews:

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:16

III. At Christmas, We Celebrate God’s Good Work of the Incarnation. It Serves as a Model for Our Good Works.

The Incarnation is a Good Work: It is Called Good News of Great Joy for All the People.

In the Incarnation, God Comes to Us: We See the Nature of His Character.

The Incarnation is a Helpful Model for Doing Good.

IV. If We Are to Do Good, We Need a Few Things:

We Need Humility to Do Good.

In the Incarnation, We See Jesus’ Humility.

Philippians 2: Jesus’ Humility in Emptying Himself of His God Privileges to Live Among us.

Pride Spoils the Best of Deeds. Good Deeds are No Longer Good Where Pride is Involved.

Matthew 6:3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

John Stott: “The New Life in Christ is One of Uncalculating Generosity.”

We Need Relationships to Do Good.

The Incarnation is Highly Relational. God Interacts with us.

It’s One Thing to Write a Check; It’s Another Thing to Have a Relationship.

Writing a Check is Easy. Forming a Relationship is Hard.

Relationships Value the God-Given Value of the Other.

The Example of Jesus Causes us to Embrace Relationships in Our Good Deeds.

We Need the Gospel to Do Good.

God has Qualified Us to Share in the Saints’ Inheritance (12).

He Has Delivered us From Darkness & Has Transferred us to the Kingdom of His Son (13).

He Has Redeemed us & Forgiven us (14).

When We Internalize These Truths, We Will Do an Incalculable Amount of Good.

Don’t Try to Do Good Without the Gospel. Can You? Yes. But Why Would You Want to Do Good Without God?

We Need to Know God’s Will to Do Good.

The Difference Between Good Things & God Things.

Avoid Paralysis By Analysis.

Default to Do in the Context of a Vibrant Relationship with the Lord.

We Need God’s Power to Do Good.

When We Realize that we are Dependent on God to Do the Slightest Good Deed, We’ll Be More Effective.

We Can’t Do Good Apart from Our Good God.

There is Nothing More Thrilling than Doing Good WITH God.

We Need Endurance to Do Good.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:13

Doing Good is Hard. It Isn’t Glamorous.

We Need Strength From God to Keep Doing Good.

We Need Hope to Keep Doing Good.

We Need Joy to Do Good.

No One Likes a Grumpy Do-Gooder.

It’s Not Just Doing the Good; It’s How We Do the Good.

Joy Points People to Our Lord.

V. A Do Good Vision for Awaken Church.

I Want Us to Be Passionate Do-Gooders. Organizational Level & Organic Level.

Organizational: Giving Tree (Social Services), Backpack Program (School).

Church Initiatives are Good. Lifestyles (Organic) are Better. You Can Calculate Organizational Efforts, But Not Organic Efforts.

Imagine How Much Good Could Be Done If We Only Care if God Gets the Credit.