(Col 1:9-12) The Best of This World, Gospel Growth.

In our culture, the will of God is often treated as a subjective knowledge, difficult to obtain and confusing to figure out. But this passage teaches us that God's will is knowable. It is principally not found in soul searching over a job or financial decision, but in a faithful growth in the Gospel that we already know. Imagine if we spent more time applying the Gospel in understanding and wisdom then in soul searching. What would our lives look and how would it shine for Jesus?

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INTRODUCTION:

I would like to begin this morning by talking about boy - who naively deprived himself of the best.

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Spiritual Growth

One night, a mother fixed a special meal for her family: turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce, and apple pie for dessert. It was everyone’s favorite meal, especially when it came at a time other than Thanksgiving. The aroma filled the house, and as the children came in from playing they could hardly wait for dinner to begin. The last child appeared only a few minutes before dinner time and sat through the meal without eating, even though he especially loved those foods. Why? Because he had filled up on peanut butter at a friend’s house. In settling for something good, he had lost his appetite for the best.

The same applies to our spiritual appetites. Some people don’t have much of an appetite for spiritual truth because they have satisfied themselves with lesser things.1313

Moody and a number of missionaries have been noted as saying -

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter.” (D.L. Moody and others)

And the implied idea of that quote - we would succeed at that which -

Doesn’t matter to God

Doesn’t matter in eternity

Is meaningless - As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes; “Vanity of Vanities”.

Oh what a failure it would be to be widely successful at “vanity of vanities”.

One of the greatest dangers in our Christian lives is not that we would fail - but we would be widely successful at something doesn’t matter in eternity.

It is so easy to get caught up in the wonders and pleasures of this world - and forget that this world

is 2nd best.

And according to - will utterly be destroyed and made new.

And thus miss the wonders of what is best - the riches of Christ, which will endure into eternity.

Our text this morning is one of the great prayers of Paul.

In fact - a great book to read is: Praying with Paul - A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A. Carson.

It walks you through the prayers of Paul and helps you reevaluate our priorities in this life.

What I hope to do this morning is to -

Remind us about what really matters.

Describe what a mature Christian looks like.

And challenge us to live in ways that continual put ourselves ever increasingly under the Lordship of Jesus and the riches of Christ.

**************************Pray*********************************************************

Colossians 1:9–12 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.

Based on Paul’s Prayer -

PROP: We ought to be growing in our faith

TRANS: This text gives us a challenge to do so and 7 categories for how we should be growing in Christ.

So let’s first look at the -

1) Call to Grow in the Gospel - Paul’s Prayer Request. (v. 9)

We live in a world where the will of God is a confusing, subjective, mess.

ILLUSTRATION:

Sometimes we feel like it would be easier to run for President then to know God’s will.

But part of the problem is what we are asking.

Many Christians - have limited God’s will to questions of

What college do I go to

what job,

where do I live,

what house do I buy.

AKA - the American Dream.

And when we limit our search for Gods will to those questions, … no wonder we are all confused.

Because Scripture doesn't emphasize these temporary questions.

But the Spiritual and eternal questions.

And - I am not saying we should not pray to God for those needs.

After-all, the Lord prayers says -

Luke 11:3 ESV

3 Give us each day our daily bread,

Luke 11:2–4 ESV

2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

Luke 11:2–3 ESV

2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread,

Luk

So we ought to pray for our daily needs.

But,

Observe the Spiritual, Gospel, eternal focus of Paul’s Prayer.

Colossians 1:9 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,

a) This was Paul’s Prayer.

According to our text - we should be

a) Filled with the Knowledge of the Will of God, which means we can know the will of God.

In other words, God’s will is not abstract monkey we can’t get a hold of,

but a tangible truth that we can know.

Recognize how this is the opposite to how often we live and think about God's will.

We treat God's will as something that is hard to know and find.

Yet Paul teaches us that it is knowable and discernible.

The real issue is whether we obey it?

Hence the idea of being filled with the knowledge of God's will.

What Paul is teaching here is not that we can't know it,

but we need to be filled with it.

One of the reasons I know that this is not about subjective filling of the Holy Spirit is because -

found after hours and hours of prayer,

About my job, house, and where I live is because

The Holy Spirit is not mentioned here.

First – the Holy Spirit is not mentioned here.

Is not to say we'll need the Holy Spirit,

but I would suggest that not every time Scripture says being filled is not always a reference to the Holy Spirit.

And in this case we are to be filled with the knowledge of God's will – primarily found in wisdom and understanding.

What wisdom and what understanding is being described here?

And given the reference to the gospel before verse nine

and the clear reference to the gospel in verses 12 - 14 teaches us this wisdom and understanding

>>>>>is the wisdom and understanding of the gospel.

Which means -

b) The Will of God is found in the Wisdom and Understanding of the Gospel.

APPLICATION/EXHORTATION:

At this point, I want to make another major observation about how we understand the will of God in our lives.

Because we often equate the will of God with early life decisions…

- We often neglect to emphasize this to our young children because they are not there yet.

- And as we grow older we often think less about the will of God in our lives then when we were young.

It is true - that young adults need to know the will of God,… But are we who are older and past those early life decisions beyond the will of God?

You see the problem when we equate the search of God's will with only these temporary and pragmatic questions.

>>>>It has a profound impact on our life… We forget to continue to search the will of God as we get older and we neglect the teacher children to search the will of God when their younger.

It has a profound impact on our life… We forget to continue to search the will of God as we get older and we neglect the teacher children to search the will of God when their younger.

Andrew Murray, said this in his book"waiting on God" -

" I had felt that we needed to train our people in their worship more to wait on God, and the make the cultivation of a deeper sense of his presence, a more direct contact with them, of entire dependence upon him, a definite aim of our ministry." (Waiting on God by Andrew Murray)

In other words, regardless of age or Christian maturity – we all ought to be aiming to more and more know and be filled with the wisdom and understanding of the will of God… The gospel of Jesus Christ applied to our lives.

Paul's prayer should represent a repolarization to our lives centered on knowing and living the will of God.

Not simply in temporary pragmatic decisions, but mostly in how we understand and live out the gospel we so love.

How many of you don't know anything about the gospel?

There may be some of us who don't know the gospel,

and we all would admit that none of us perfectly understand the gospel.

But at a basic level most of us know what the gospel is and what it's supposed to do.

That because Christ died on the cross to save us from our sin,

and gave us a new life through his resurrection.

We are now to live as a people who are set apart to his glory and his purity.

How do you do that?

We learn how to wisely and knowledgeably apply the gospel to our lives.

In other words,

For Paul the will of God is not primarily in the temporary decisions we make in this life, but in the spiritual and internal application of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you're sitting here and wondering what God's will is for your life, then realize you already know 95.5% of it.

The will of God is for you to live a life set apart God's people, who are living out the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul's prayer should be a challenge for us to grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But how do you grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ?

What is being filled with the knowledge of the will of God with all wisdom and understanding?

Fortunately our text is not leave us wondering.

In fact it's going to hone in on seven areas that matter for gospel growth.

2) The 7 Areas of Gospel Growth. (v. 10-12)

CAVEAT:

For times sake we are going to treat the rest of this passage as a grocery list for gospel growth.

But by providing a broad overview we can understand what Gospel growth looks like.

Nothing am I going to say today you will not of heard,

nor is anything I'm going to say today something innovative and ingenious,

Nothing am I going to say today you will not of heard, nor is anything I'm going to say today something innovative and ingenious, nor even exhaustive an explanation.

nor even exhaustive in explanation.

My simple goal is for you to understand the importance of growing in the gospel of Jesus Christ every day of your life and to give you six areas that Paul says is essential for us to grow in the gospel.

Colossians 1:10–12 ESV

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.

Our Gospel Growth should including

a) Growing in our Desire to Please God. “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him”

The Christian life is a life of humility primarily because the life centered on God and not ourselves.

Colossians 1:10 AMP

10 That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition].

“a walk in a manner worthy of the Lord”

- It is a life that recognizes that we are unworthy of God's love and yet God is worthy of all praise.

- It is a life that recognizes we are not our own because God is both creator and Savior of our souls.

In every aspect of our Christianity –

we are either pointing to the greatness of God

or living out the will of God as natural devotion to the one who saved us.

Which is why,

one of the ways we should be growing in Christ is continually, and more and more, increasingly desiring to please God.

Please God with my words.

Please God with my hands,

Please God with my thoughts,

Please God with my money.

please God with my time.

In everything we do we ought to be seeking to desire to please God.

Are there areas that displease God in your life?

Are there areas that you could be more faithful to please God in?

Further, Our Gospel Growth should including

b) Growing in our Sanctification. “bearing fruit in every good work”

“

We certainly are not saved by our works.

– for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

– for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. What about after your saved?

>>>>>>>>>>>What about after your saved?

The gospel teaches us that we are not saved by our good works,

>>>>> but the new life found in Jesus Christ should produce a growth and doing what is right and holy before a just and holy God.

If there's a sin in your life, I challenge you to run away from it like it run away from a rattlesnake.

(((((The bite of sin will be far more than you can stand so put it off, confessed that the God, and live a life free from the sting of sin.)))))

The bite of sin will be far more than you can stand so put it off, confessed that the God, and live a life free from the sting of sin.

But don’t just purge sin from your life, because this is a call to service and kindness as much as a call to holiness.

And don't neglect a respectable sins - borrowing from Jerry Bridges we need to be careful not to only look for big sins.

Take some time and read - because that chapter really lays out putting off sin, and putting on Good works.

Take some time and read - because that list will include far more than the big sins.

Every day we ought to be growing in our sanctification,

and growing in the new life we find in Christ.

Bear fruit in every good work.

Additionally,

Our Gospel Growth should including

c) Growing in our Knowledge of God. “increasing in the knowledge of God”

Take some time and read Colossians 3 - because that list will include far more than the big sins.

Every day we ought to be growing in our sanctification, growing in our separation from our old life, and growing in the new life we find in Christ.

Bear fruit in every good work.

Colossians 1:10 ESV

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;

Col 1:10

A life without Scripture as a life without God.

A life without Scripture is a time bomb of foolishness and sin waiting to explode.

A life without Scripture is a life of depression and fear.

A life without Scripture is a life with doubt and void of wisdom.

Yet a life filled with Scripture is a life of

understanding

and wisdom.

wisdom beyond our years,

and true and meaningful hope for the future.

Of all these categories that were looking at

– every one of them God has addressed in His word to help us grow.

I can't emphasize enough that each one of us

- in order to grow in Christ,

- must be busy studying and knowing the word of God.

Also Our Gospel Growth should including

d) Growing in our Dependence upon God. “being strengthened with all power”

Christianity starts with us confessing I'm not good enough and I need God to save me.

So we all have a certain level of dependence just because we believe in the gospel.

However at the same time,

we still often have areas we need to put our lives under the Lordship of Christ.

we still often have to put our lives under the Lordship of Christ.

As we grow we need to increasingly understand that I was not designed to meet my own needs,

but I was created as a creature dependent upon God.

And everything I do I need the power and strength of God to carry me through.

In a few verses,

- Paul will explain to us that our very existence is not sustained by ourselves,

- but by Christ who sustains the world.

From our daily provisions, our parenting, and our faith all fully and wholly depends upon God

From whom all blessings flow.

Our Gospel Growth should including

Another area, Our Gospel Growth should including

e) Growing in our Faithfulness. “according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness”

Are you faithful to Christ?

And of course everybody answers that answer yes… But is it true.

Steadfast is really close to the idea of patience and faithfulness.

The word patience is really close to the idea of faithfulness and steadfastness.

(((Many places in Paul's writings uses two similar words to emphasize a point.)))

As we understand these two words I think that we can understand

- we should be steadfast in our commitment to Christ

- and increasingly trusting and waiting on God.

Faithfulness in the day and in day out, years after years is a rare quality.

Willing to have faith in God's faithfulness (trust) found in waiting upon God is also a rare quality.

Despite that is rare even in our churches.

We ought to be growing in our steadfastness and patience.

A life that is growing in the will of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ is one that learns to be faithful through the mud and the muck,

and trusting even when everybody else says your fool.

ILLUSTRATION:

I think of the heroes of the faith and –

Names like Noah, Abraham, and Moses.

Men who over a lifetime, certainly not perfect like Jesus, but by faith in the power of God live lives steadfast and patient waiting upon God.

Are you steadfast and patient like Noah or Moses?

And if not, I would challenge you to examine your desires and your trust in God.

Because we ought to be growing in our faithfulness to God.

Further, Our Gospel Growth should including

Additionally, Our Gospel Growth should including

f) Growing in our Joy. “joyfully”

How should the Gospel make us feel?

We might think of it in terms of what I do for the church,how many or how often we tell people about Christ.

That is growing in the Gospel.

The Gospel represents

The gospel always should first represent salvation for the lost, wonderful healing to the brokenhearted, and hope for the despairing.

salvation for the lost,

wonderful healing to the brokenhearted,

and hope for the despairing.

>>>> Which means we should be growing in joy.

The last area that we often think of – is how the gospel should make me feel.

The last area that we often think of growing in – is how the gospel should make me feel.

One area reflects a proper growth in the gospel

is whether you are increasingly finding joy in the gospel that saved you.

ILLUSTRATION:

Nothing frustrates me more than when I hear older or more mature Christians tell a young Christian… I know you're excited now, But one day that will wear off.

What they had just done is given themselves over to an apathetic Christianity.

They have confessed that they believe Christianity ultimately flattens out.

And then they taught that to a brand new believer.

What a way to disciple people?

Start them out teaching that one day they will apathetic and flat … and that is ok.

Everyone does it.

But that is not what I find here in Paul's prayer.

Joy should not be a matter of youth or newness, but a response to Jesus Christ.

While we often become less and joyful over time,

were told here the part of the will of God is that we would grow with joy.

Does the gospel still amaze you?

Does the blessings of God still marvel you?

If you're truly amazed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and marveling at the wonders of God

– then you ought to be full of joy.

Your confession when you tell people about Jesus should include

>>>>>>>>I have found joy… Wonderful magnificent joy… Because of what my Savior has done for me.

I challenge you and ask you –

are you growing in your joy

Because who God is

and what he has done for you?

Finally, Our Gospel Growth should including

g) Growing in our Thankfulness. “giving thanks to the Father”

Thankfulness goes with the gospel like mustard and ketchup goes with a hot dog.

There best buddies.

There are like peas in a pod.

The gospel of Jesus Christ begins with the fact

>>>>>>>>>>>that we are unworthy of the grace and mercy of God,

>>>>>>>>>>>and yet he loved us anyway.

It recognizes I owed more than I could ever pay because of my sin,

so Christ bought me what I could not pay for.

It recognizes I owed more than I could ever pay because of my sin, so Christ bought me what I could not pay for.

Salvation for my sins and adoption as a child of God.

Tell me what you have that could have paid for your sin?

What could you give God, the creator of the world, to buy yourself adoption as his son?

This is a rhetorical – because there's nothing you could of done or given or been. It is called grace and mercy.

Someone who received the greatest gift in the world,

at lowest price it could be had,

all while being most undeserving you could be.

Should be abounding in thankfulness.

ILLUSTRATION:

I Remember when Eli was firstborn - he needed a procedure we cannot afford.

It wasn’t life threatening - but absolutely necessary.

But for a while we knew he needed it, but we weren't sure how we were going to pay for it.

And for several months we struggled with knowing what to do.

And then we finally talked to the right billing nurse who showed us how our insurance could pay for it.

How do you think we acted towards that person -

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.

We were thankful for that person because they gave us something for our son we couldn't afford.

And yet that's exactly what happened with Jesus Christ.

So we ought to be>>>>> thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus because he's given us the greatest gift we can never pay for.

So we ought to be thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus because he's given us the greatest gift we can never pay for.

Everyday, we ought to becoming more and more thankful.

Thankful

Just like we learn and grown about the Gospel everyday.

Correspondingly, we ought to grow in our thankfulness.

CONCLUSION:

So I challenge us this morning,

Are you enjoying the second best.

Imagine if we spent more time applying the Gospel in understanding and wisdom,

then in soul searching about a career and a house.

How much more would our lives be transformed by God and show the light of Jesus.

Like the kid, are you Spoiling your appetite for what is Good with what is 2nd best in this world,

Spoiling your appetite for what is Good with what is 2nd best in this world,

or are you rejoicing and growing in what God has given you – the greatest gift, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

or are you rejoicing and growing in what God has given you – the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What I hope this passage has done is -

Remind us about what really matters.

Describe what a mature Christian looks like.

And challenge us to live in ways that continual put ourselves ever increasingly under the Lordship of Jesus and the riches of Christ.

As Moody Said -

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter.” (D.L. Moody and others)

From Paul’s prayer,

Despite our focus and obsession with jobs and houses.

We should understand that the Will of God is found in growing in the Gospel.

PROP: We ought to be growing in the Gospel

TRANS: And This text gives us a challenge to do so and 7 categories for how we should be growing in Christ.

a) Growing in our Desire to Please God.

b) Growing in our Sanctification.

c) Growing in our Knowledge of God.

d) Growing in our Dependence upon God.

e) Growing in our Faithfulness.

f) Growing in our Joy.

g) Growing in our Thankfulness.

I challenge us, child and elderly, young and old. …

Is seeking and filling your life with the will of God - your first priority?

Is there an area of Gospel growth that you are neglecting?

These are spiritual questions everyone of us should be asking.

I challenge us - let’s do the will of God together,

by growing in the Gospel.

***********************************************************

a) How have you struggled with the will of God? How have you neglected the greater will of God for temporary things?

b) What area of Gospel growth do you struggle with the most? What area’s do you find the easiest? (pleasing God, sanctification, knowledge, dependence, faithfulness, joy, thankfulness?

c) What steps can you take to fully seek the will of God? How can your church help you in your Spiritual growth?

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