Sermon Tone Analysis

Christ Being Supreme in my life should produce a new walk

“Walking ABSOLUTLEY in a RELATIVE World”

Col. 1:9-14

3 Sep.

2008

You can tell a lot of things by the way people walk.

If people are walking fast they are probably in some kind of hurry either to go to the bathroom, to get to class or because they are being chased.

If someone is walking slowly they might be tired, depressed or relaxed.

If somebody is skipping or frolicking they are probably happy or just strange!

If somebody is limping they are injured.

Again generally speaking you can tell quite a bit from how people physically walk.

Tonight I want to look at our spiritual walk.

As Christians we should have a different walk than the world.

However, this is not always the case.

Sometimes “Christians” are undistinguishable from the non-believers.

We are going to break into Paul and Timothy’s prayer for this Church in Colosse and see what they are continuously, specifically praying for.

The prayer has essentially 2 parts: 1) REQUEST 2) GIVING THANKS

1) REQUEST (9-11)

*I.

“That you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding”*

                *A.*

Filled with Knowledge of His will

As we get into the book of Colossians a little farther we will see that one of the main things that Paul and Timothy are dealing with is heresy that deals with knowledge… for now just realize that some people think that salvation or superiority comes through knowledge gained through some kind of revelation or state of being.

So the fact that Paul is asking them to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will is important because they are emphasizing that real, true knowledge comes from God and any believer is capable of having it.

When Paul is asking that they be filled with knowledge, he is saying that he wants them to be completely certain of the truth of this knowledge.

He doesn’t want them to have any doubts about it, he doesn’t want them to second guess it.

He wants them to be so sure about it that it changes and affects their lives as we will see here in a little bit.

This knowledge that He wants them to be ABSOLUTLEY sure about is God’s will.

So that begs the question:

*WHAT IS GOD’S WILL*?

The easy answer is God wants us to do what He has commanded us to.

This goes along with Pastor Bruce’s message a little bit in that: *If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal savior*, God wants you to "*Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.*”"

(John 6:29, NKJV)

*If you do know Christ as your personal savior it is this*: "*I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.*"

(John 9:4, NKJV)

Essentially we are to look at Christ as our example.

He was sent to do the works of God the Father, why would our life be any different from that.

If we skip down a little farther we see that we are to have a walk that is worthy to the Lord, a walk that pleases Him.

(1 Peter 2:21, NKJV)  "*For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:*" The context of this passages helps us understand on an even deeper level what the will of God is for us as believers, and that is that we as believers should be walking differently from the world because we have a absolute standard, God’s will from His word.

*B.*

Spiritual… Wisdom and Understanding

Paul includes two things in His request that are necessary for our walk with God.

Understanding and Wisdom.

The idea here is twofold: *wisdom* is the idea that you can read and comprehend in an organized way the truths in Scripture *understanding* is the application of those principles in your everyday walk with~/ in Christ.

The important thing is that the word spiritual is speaking about both of these things.

As believers we need the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us.

“*This is not an inner impression or feeling, but a deep and thorough knowledge of the will of God that is finally and completely revealed in the Word of God* (3:16; Eph.

5:17; 1 Thess.

4:3; 5:18; 1 Tim.

2:4; 1 Pet.

2:13, 15; 4:19).”[1]

*So what does all this mean for you*?

This brings us to a very important point of application.

Is it ok to steal?

No. Okay so raise your hand if it is ok to steal… Okay raise your hand if you have ever illegally downloaded music, movies, burned a CD~/ DVD for someone or taken a burned CD~/ DVD from someone.

Why?

Is it ok to lie? No. Okay here we go into the realm of “what- if” a dangerous place, I know.

Is it ok to lie if it keeps someone from getting hurt?

No.

You and me both, you more so have grown up in time where there is a lack of moral absolutes, where things are not determined by God’s standard but our own judgment or situational ethics.

It is a very subtle way that Satan works in our society, with things like abortion, adultery…

 

Paul and Timothy are talking to God for these believers that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will so that they do not cave on absolute truths.

That society was in a way similar to ours saying that people cannot know the absolute truth.

*II.

Results*

Paul next gives a list of results that come from being filled with the knowledge of God’s will.

                A.

Walk Worthy of the Lord

One result is that they walk worthy of the Lord.

ü  "*that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.*"

(1 Thessalonians 2:12, NKJV)

ü  " *I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,*" (Ephesians 4:1, NKJV)

ü  " *Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, …. (so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel*,)" (Philippians 1:27, NKJV)

Ø  "*This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, /that you should no longer walk/ as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,*" (Ephesians 4:17, NKJV),

Ø  "*in which /you yourselves once walked/ when you lived in them.*"

(Colossians 3:7, NKJV)

Ø  "*/in which you once walked/ according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,*" (Ephesians 2:2, NKJV)

This word walk is synonymous with the way we conduct our everyday life.

Thinking back to what we first talked about… How you can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she walks.

How do people that watch you walk see you?

Ø  The New Testament describes several features of the worthy walk.

We are to walk in *humility (****Eph.

4:1–3***); in *purity (****Rom.

13:13*, KJV); in *contentedness (****1 Cor.

7:17*); by *faith (****2 Cor.

5:7****)*; in *good works (****Eph.

2:10*); different from the world (Eph.

4:17–32); in love (Eph.

5:2); in light (Eph.

5:8); in wisdom (Eph.

5:15); and in truth (3 John 3–4).[2]

As we expand and apply this… why do you do the things you do.

Why do you brush your teeth in the morning?

Why do you move out of the street when a car comes?

Why do catch a ball when someone throws it at you?

You do all these things because you know the opposite result would be bad.

Why we fall short a lot of times in our walk with God is in the fact that we don’t know or we don’t think of God’s word as absolute truth.

What Paul is saying we need the knowledge walk the walk.

B.

Bearing Fruit

It only makes sense that if we are walking the way we are suppose to be walking we will producing fruit.

*"Abide in Me, and I in you.