Sermon Tone Analysis

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Col 1:9-14

Intro to Passage:

Turn with me to Colossians, As Thanksgiving day approaches this passage is particularly fitting.

9-14 is a summary of the prayer that the Apostle Paul has for the Colossians.

In fact it is a thanksgiving prayer.

It starts out with Pauls desire to see them grow in maturity and ends with thanksgiving for God’s redemption of the Colossians and indeed all God’s people.

Last week we saw how Paul thanked God for the faith they had and now we are going to see what requests Paul is making for the church in colossi.

Let’s read Colossians 1:9-14.

Read/Pray:

Colossians 1:9–14

9And 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,

10so 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;

11being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;

12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Sermon Intro:

We live in a dangerous world, A world filled with immature Christians, baby Christians, men and women who have access to every spiritual opportunity yet squander it on feel good self-logy.

(not theology, which is the study of God, but self-logy which is navel gazing).

I sat down to think through the the dangers of an immature Christian:

-Self-centered vs Christ Centered

Can damage a church, split

damage to families

Weak worship

worldly worship

-Led astray by every wind or doctrine.

Desiring special knowledge, vision, (Jesus calling).

-Ultimately an embarrassment to Christ

Urgency to have mature Christian today.

Like in Paul’s day.

Every day I'm seeming a decay of Christianity in America.

The faith is not always attacked from the outside, but the inside.

Due to a great ignorance to the Word.

Because our Church has a great need for Mature Christians we must have Spiritual Wisdom, Walk in a God-pleasing manner, and we must Worship Jesus Christ.

I) A mature Christian must have Spiritual Wisdom (verse 9)

II) A mature Christian must Walk in a God-pleasing manner (Verse 10-11)

III) A mature Christian must Worship Jesus Christ (Verse 12-14)

A mature Christian must have Spiritual Wisdom (verse 9)

Spiritual intelligence, growing by the will of God by knowing the Word of God

Paul pray’s for these people.

Paul in prison, Paul under house arrest, Paul at risk for execution takes time to pray, without ceasing, do you do that?

In times of your trials and suffering do you pray for others?

Can we be more like Paul?

But I don’t want to spend as much time on Paul’s praying as we need to focus on the content of what he prayed for.

Paul lays out three types of knowledge here in verse 9, knowing, wisdom, understanding.

Each of these is a different Greek word with different emphasis.

First Paul prays that they will be …

a. Filled with the knowledge of His will

What is Paul talking about here?

He said that he wants the people of Colossi to be filled, This word filled is fascinating and should be explored a little bit.

The image is that of a cup filled to maximum volume.

It also carries that sense of bringing to completion.

Being filled by the Holy Spirit, so full you are controlled by it.

But we are not to be filled by any old thing, but by the Knowledge of His will.

Ephesians says it this way.

Eph 1:9–11

9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ

10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

Knowledge of God is only found in His revealed word.

We do not discover who God is without Him showing us in the Bible!

So many people think they can discover God’s will with their Bibles closed, this is not how it works!

So knowledge here is what is revealed in Scripture, the Bible.

(APP)

But just knowing what the Bible says is not enough.

Many people are experts in what the Bible says, in fact a sign of Christian immaturity is when this knowledge puffs up, those believers who know every prophecy and jot and tittle of the law yet don’t know how applies to life.

But more often there are Christians who don’t even know that the Bible says much less how to find the principles out of it.

This is where Spiritual wisdom comes in.

b.

Spiritual wisdom

Another way to remember these three areas is, (OIA) Observe, interpret, apply.

We gain knowledge by observing what the Word says, then we must gain Spiritual wisdom (Sophia).

This is not some esoteric up in the clouds type of wisdom, not this spiritual but not religious thing.

No Paul is talking about understanding the principles of Scripture by the revelation power of the Holy Spirit.

Another way to say this is to interpret what is being said.

(APP) What does this look like in the real world?

Well every passage of Scripture has principles that can be drawn out.

We have the knowledge of the passage before us, we are getting the background and looking at the construction (what we are doing here in verse 9).

What is the principle here?

That we need to be filled with knowledge wisdom and understanding.

All based on our reading of Scripture.

But now we move into understanding, or application.

c.

Understanding

insight, understanding σύνεσις ἔν τινι insight into, understanding of something.

If a mature Christian is filled with knowledge, and has the wisdom to make it into principles then he must be able to understand how it relates to life.

How does God’s will apply to your everyday life?

Do you see this model in our preaching?

This is why I feel most comfortable teaching and preaching through Scripture like this.

We are able to get knowledge of the text, see what the principle is behind it and then apply it to our lives through the power of the Spirit’s illumination.

Transition: Spiritual Wisdom is not stagnant it grows into action.

II) A mature Christian must Walk in a God-pleasing manner (Verse 10-11)

Illustration: When I first started dating my wife, I kept a little notebook.

I studied her likes and dislikes, I wrote down her favorite flowers, her favorite colors, her favorite poems and poet.

All these things I did because I liked her and desired to grow my relationship with her.

But all that knowledge translated into action.

I knew her favorite flowers so I would buy them from time to time.

My knowledge of her translated into action.

Our knowledge of God must translate into action.