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The passage before us today gives us some insight into a very interesting topic in the New Testament - the topic of prayer; and not just prayer itself, but further, what do the writers of Scripture pray for?
There was a man named Epaphras.
Epaphras was a minister of the Word of God in a city called Colosse.
Now, Epaphras had travelled from Colossae to see Paul who was imprisoned at Rome.
That would have been around a 1200 mile journey - Quite a distance to travel in those days.
Epaphras brought word to Paul, word of the growth of the Colossian Christians, and word of some of the false teachings that had spread around in that place.
Both the faithfulness of the Colossians and the danger of the surrounding false teaching were worthy of note, and Paul’s letter addresses both of those things.
When we get to verse 9, Paul says “and so” or “for this cause” we have not ceased to pray for you.
Prayer is a discipline of the Christian life that is much needed, but is often neglected.
It is an activity that needs honing and practice and application as much as our scripture study does.
In the book of Acts chapter 6, there is an interesting “conflict,” if we could call it that, that takes place.
Some of the Christians, Hellenists, who were Greek-speaking Jews, in the early church were complaining because the widows of their people were not being ministered to as readily as they thought necessary.
The Apostles certainly recognized the importance of that matter, but they asked an interesting question.
They said, “it is not right that we should give up the ministry of the Word of God to serve tables.”
Now, what they were saying was not at all that the ministry to these widows was not important, but they were saying that it was not more important than the ministry of the Word.
So what they did, in essence, was ordain what would be similar to the first Deacons in the early church.
They appointed seven faithful men who would set out to minister in these situations; but the Apostles would stay focused on their intended purpose.
Why is this significant, you may ask?
Well, it is significant because when we see the Apostle Paul speaking of his prayer life in the Epistles, we are not simply getting a glimpse into his personal time, or what he does behind closed doors, or his own spiritual habits - we are getting a glimpse into something that was, at least by inference, a critical and vital role in his ministry.
And noting all of the churches and young believers that Paul knew of and was instrumental in coming to faith, we can easily surmise that prayer took up a large portion, and a large priority, in the Apostle’s ministry.
A side note here, before we move into the crux of our message for today, is to remind you that this is the attitude that you should be looking for in your spiritual leaders.
All kinds of ministry are important, but every ministry in the local church should be driven by these two things that the Apostles devote themselves to - The ministry of the Word, and prayer.
It is my hope that the men who have been called to lead here follow this pattern.
And i would go a step further to say that a minister who focuses on peripheral areas of ministry to the neglect of his prayer life, and to the neglect of the ministry of the word, is a minister who has perhaps lost sight of the scriptural agenda of his office.
Now, all that to say this.
We are interested in the importance of prayer in the Apostle Paul’s ministry, but we are also interested in the substance, or subject of the Apostle Paul’s prayer.
As a preacher I am, obviously, very interested in the content of Paul’s message, and when it is included by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I am equally interested in the content of these inspired prayers for the saints.
Now, as we look at these verses, we are going to shift away from the subject of prayer itself and focus in on the content of the prayer - what is Paul praying for in the lives of the Colossians, and by implication, what is the application of this prayer request in my life.
But there is a strong secondary purpose here that I want to highlight before we lose its significance, and that is this: does the content of our prayer life reflect, at least in principle, what the writers of scripture prayed for?
We can conclude by the fact that they are recorded in scripture that these prayers are something that God not just listens to, but He also desires to listen to them and answer them.
These are prayers that honor Christ and His Work.
They are prayers that focus on getting down to what is central in our Christian walk, and shift away from prayer being some genie-in-a-bottle type divining rod for out Christian experience.
That being said, the main topic of Paul’s prayer request in this passage is simple - it is the title of the sermon - it is that we, as believers, would be filled with the knowledge of God’s Will.
So as we look at this scripture today, the call is simply this:
Let us live our lives to the glory of God by being filled with the knowledge of His will.
As we seek to point this out, I would like to see:
The Apostle’s Supplication
T
The Intended Application
Our Humble Recognition
1.
The Apostle’s Supplication - Vs. 9
So, again, we see that the specific, major, driving prayer request in the Apostle Paul’s mind is that the believers would be “filled with the knowledge of His Will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
This was absolutely paramount in Paul’s heart and mind.
Now, what exactly does Paul mean by this?
The word that he uses to be “filled” here is one that is not uncommon in scripture.
This word had an interesting usage in that day.
The picture if gives is of a sailboat on the Mediterranean Sea, and as you picture that sailboat, you picture the sail of the boat bellying out as the wind fills it up.
So we could say that the sail is “filled” with the wind, but we can also say that the sail is “driven” by the wind, or “controlled” by the wind.
This is illustrated for us in another passage of Paul’s.
Here we see the same word used for being “filled.”
Paul contrasts being “filled with the Spirit” with someone who is “drunk with wine.”
Now, to be drunk is not simply to have your belly full of a substance - that would cheapen the meaning of that illustration - but rather it is for that substance to control you.
He contrasts that with being “filled” with the Spirit.
The picture here is not that believers simply need more of the Spirit in volume, for every believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit, but rather what we need is for the content of the Spirit in us to drive, or control, our minds, as contrasted with one being out of control in their drunkenness.
The word for being filled also has a level of totality involved.
That means that Paul wasn’t simply intending that believers have some content of what he was praying for, but that they would have a total fulfillment of it, a total control by it - this fulness would be the key driving factor of their life.
So what is that key driving factor?
Well, it is, simply, the knowledge of the will of God.
Knowledge here is an interesting word - there is the greek word gnosis which is the typical word used, and it is employed here as well, except it is used here with the prefix “epi.”
So it is knowledge Paul is praying for, but it is really “above knowledge.”
It is supreme knowledge, not because the ones possessing it are intellectually elite, but because it is the knowledge of God’s Will.
Now, whenever we approach the subject of God’s Will, people’s ears perk up because one of the most popular questions asked of any minister of God’s Word is “how do I know God’s Will for my life?”
And even if we have never voiced that verbally, we have certainly thought it, have we not?
A little later on, I want to address that question specifically, because this passage does shed some important light there.
But first, we must understand that when we speak of God’s Will, we are speaking of two things.
Not two things that are opposed, but two things that are distinguished nonetheless.
The first, and perhaps trickier aspect of God’s Will is God’s Will of Decree.
This is that concept in which God by His own power and Sovereignty decrees and oversees everything that comes to pass.
This is something that is critical to our understanding of God.
Some people would argue that the absolute sovereignty of God in all things is a view reserved for one particular Christian view of God, but it is not necessary at best and harmful at worst.
I would counter with this.
A belief that God is Sovereign over and ordains all things is not simply a necessary tenant of one view of God, but it is necessary to be a theist in any real sense of the word.
A God who is bound or limited by anything outside of himself is not God at all, but is rather a false idol in the imagination of man.
A God who has his actions forced or determined by outside causes is not a God who is able to accomplish His means in any real sense, and that is simply not the picture of God in scripture.
But rather, in contrast with Idols of silver and gold, made with men’s hands, the Psalmist in says
“God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.”
Now,
God is providentially ruling over all of creation.
All things happen for a purpose, and all things happen according to the council of God’s will of decree.
So God’s will is firstly what He intends to do as he sovereignly rules over creation.
This is a beautiful picture of God’s power and might, but this is not specifically what is in view in our text.
God’s will of decree is unknown to us, except in the case of prophecy, until after events take place in real time.
However, what is known to us is God’s will of desire, or God’s will of command.
That is the will of God that has been explicitly laid out for us in scripture, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit - and this is what Paul prayed that we would be filled with.
Now, what is God’s Will for us in this sense?
God’s will of desire is all that He commands, or prescribes, in His Word.
Ephesians 5:17-18
So what is God’s will?
Well for starters, God’s will is that we would be filled with the Holy Spirit, That we would grow in sanctification, that sometimes we would follow Him through suffering, and that we would thank Him in all these things.
Now, we could go through scripture and find every instance in which God prescribes or commands us to do or not to do something, but for sake of time let us just think about the implication of this.
Paul prays for us that we will be filled with the knowledge of what God desires for us to do.
The question is, how many of us ignore what God has explicitly stated that He desires for us, and yet ask the question, “how can I know God’s will for my life?”
My answer to that is twofold:
As we wrestle against the desires of our flesh, we want to have God’s will in our lives without being willing ourselves to obey what He has actually stated.
What we really are interested in when we ask “how can I know God’s will for my life” is not God’s will of desire, but God’s will of decree.
We could care less what God has commanded us to do, we just want to know if we’re going to have a wonderful marriage, or if we’re going to be financially successful, or if our job is going to last, or if our kids are going to do this or that.
In this mentality, we are focused and driven by the 2 year, the 5 year, the 10 year, and the 40 year plan in our lives, rather than the explicit statements of God’s Word that effect how we live now.
Know this, dear ones, God has the details of our lives worked out in his perfect wisdom.
It is our prerogative to concern ourselves with His desire for us, and we find that in scripture.
God has the details of our lives worked out in his perfect wisdom.
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