Sermon Tone Analysis

God’s People Pray: To Know His Will

Colossians 1:9-10

October 14, 2007

 

Intro: 

* Privilege to have Missionary John Chitumbo with us he shared just a brief bit with us this morning and we will hear more from him today at the potluck, we didn’t know him or meet him before now, yet we have prayed for him, and no doubt he has prayed for us yet he did not know us.

We were able to share in the Lord’s work that is being completed through the Chitumbo’s – by prayer.

* We can communicate to God about the ministry the Lord is doing in Zambia through the Chitumbos – thru prayer.

* Letter from Harvest…..there is no distance to prayer!

* Just like the Apostle Paul with the Colossians, he had never met the people at Colossae, but he prayed for them.

And today we are going to look at what he prayed for them – it is wonderful and a beautiful example to us of how we should be praying for others

* The most important point from today is that God’s People Pray! Repeat with me, “God’s People Pray!” again, “God’s People Pray”.

Prayer

 

Background

* Colossians church mainly made up of Gentile converts, one of which we learn was Epaphras.

Now I mentioned earlier that Paul had never been to Colossae, but he did spend three years in Ephesus on his third missionary journey and Luke tells us in Acts 19 “that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10).

* Colossae was part of Asia – so they would have heard the word of the Lord.

We know this happened through Epaphras v.7

* What a title to have from Paul – beloved fellow servant, a faithful minister of Christ

* Epaphras was from Colossae and likely came to Ephesus and heard the gospel that was preached by Paul, was converted and then went back and shared the message with his people and they too were saved – accepted Christ as Saviour and saved from their sin and the punishment for their sin.

v.4

* I see all of us here as having the potential to be like Epaphras – you come to church and you are taught in the Word, then you go and share the good news (the gospel) where God has placed you.

 

1.

Paul prays….that they may be full

 

* v.9 …from the day we heard – Paul heard from Epaphras – he reported back to Paul what was going on in the lives of the people at Colossae all the good and the not so good – this likely happened while Paul was imprisoned in Rome, since Paul writes this letter from prison.

Talk about possible heresy.

* What is great is that Paul was faithful to share with those in Ephesus (of which Epaphras heard) Epaphras is converted and he is faithful to share with those in Colossae and more are saved – it is this beautiful mulitiplication of saints.

So Epaphras shares this with Paul and so Paul prays.

If you have ever been involved in reaping – having someone come to Christ it is amazing and you do pray for them afterwards with passion.

* It was not uncommon for God’s people to pray for each other –

* Job prayed for his friends (Job 42);

* Moses prayed for Aaron (Deut 9)

* Samuel prayed for Israel (1Sam7);

* David prayed for Israel (2Sam24)

* Daniel prayed for Israel (Dan 9)

* Jesus prayed for His Disciples (our Sc reading today in John 17);

* The Jerusalem church prayed for Peter’s release from prison (Acts 12:5)…I have to go there for a second….this

example just shows that you don’t have to be perfect in your prayers for God to work…..Act 12 …They had great expectations for their prayers (you are out of your mind) …God works despite our limited expectation….we’ve

all been there.

* Paul prayed for the Colossians (our text today)

* Not ceased….double

negative…Paul knows that new believers (and all of us) need prayer, but what does he pray….

* V.9b – that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

* Point #1 Paul prays…that they may be full

* Let’s take a look at being filled with knowledge of His will

* The word filled in the Greek is Pleroo (play-row-o) it is a verb that means to be completely filled or to be totally controlled.

A few examples of usage of this word in Sc….

* The disciples’ hearts were filled with sorrow when Christ told them of his departure (John 16)

* The crowd was filled with fear after Jesus healed (Luke 5)

* The Scribes and Pharisees were filled with fury after Jesus healed on the Sabbath (Luke 6)

* The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4) (One baptism of the Spirit, but many fillings)

In each case they were controlled by what filled them, sorrow, fear, fury, the H.S.,

* So Paul wants the Colossians to be filled with knowledge of God’s will – a deep and thorough knowledge

* Did you notice that Paul didn’t say to be filled with experience, but rather he said to be filled with knowledge.

* Today we face many Evangelical churches that are saying that truth we can not know, so they focus on experience.

This is very dangerous.

This is precisely why Paul desires for the Colossians to be filled with knowledge of God’s will through wisdom and understanding of the Word!

* The denial of absolutes (or absolute truth of Scripture) is wreaking havoc on our society in relation to morals and character.

* Recent study re: teenage purity – no difference.

What made the difference was doctrine, when youth admitted that they had a biblical worldview which included the statement that the Bible is absolutely true in all it teaches – and when they live by that belief…they lived significantly different than the rest of teenagers in regard to sex before marriage.

Knowing the Word makes a difference.

We need to know the Word.

* Would you agree with me that there are different levels of filling?

Different levels in which people know God’s will for their lives.

I would say so, b~/c sin affects that filling.

* Some believers are content to be filled:

*  with a few drops – they are happy they are in, they have been saved and really are not growing that much.

Satisfied with a few drops, they still are enticed by the things of this world

* half full – they are following God’s will and plan most of the time,

* other’s are really full – right at the centre of where God desires them to be, although not perfect – they are growing in knowledge and understanding and being filled continuously

* then there was one – who followed God’s will absolutely and was completely filled in the knowledge of God’s will and that was Christ.

He is our example.

He was completely obedient, even to the point of death on a cross.

Interesting about Jesus is that he says in John 5:30 – “I can do nothing on my own…I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

In his humanity he was totally dependent on the Father.

Similarly, all the miracles that Christ performed, where not done by his deity (the fact that he was God), but were done by the Father through Christ as a human.

Acts 2:22 – Christ was perfectly filled.

* How full are you?

Do you need a filling – dig into the Word.

* Let’s look at God’s will?

I have often heard people say, I wonder what God’s will for me is – have you heard that.

Well, we will find the answer in the Word!

* The word for will is thelema (thel'-ay-mah) which means what one wishes or has determined shall be done.

God’s will, God’s purpose, God’s inclination, God’s plan or his pleasure for us.

The Will of God.

* Paul prays that the knowledge the Colossians would have would be of God’s will.

God’s will is not a secret, it is in the Word.

Here are just a few Scripture

* Once a person is saved, God’s will is that they be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:17,18)

* 1 Thes 4:3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” so sanctification (growing in Christlikeness) is also the will of God

* it is the will of God to be submissive to the gov’t – (1Pet 2:13,15)

* suffering is the will of God – “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

(1 Peter 4:19)  - this flies in the face of the health and wealth gospel – that none of us should ever be sick or suffer – if we do we lack faith…Jesus prayed for his disciples in John 17, he said that the world would hate them b~/c of Christ and the Word and Jesus says in v.15, “I do not ask that you take them from the world, but that you keep them from the evil one…and that you sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

Christ is basically saying immerse them in the Word, so they can stand against a world that hates them.

Amazing.

* Giving thanks is also God’s will (1 Thes 5:17)

* So it is God’s will to be filled with the Spirit, to be sanctified, to be submissive, to suffering, to give thanks….those

are just a few.

We need to grow in knowledge in all these areas…..how does that happen?

* Through Spiritual Wisdom and Understanding.

Basically wisdom addresses our ability to collect and organize principles of Scripture – the truth and understanding refers to the application of these principles in our everyday lives.

* So we need to be filled with knowledge – this comes by collecting and organizing Scripture (not just having that head knowledge) but also realizing how Scripture relates to our everyday situations (therefore applying that knowledge), thus striving toward fulfilling the will of God in our lives.