The Apostle Paul informs the Colossians that he had been praying for them since the first time he had heard of their faith and love. Paul had a very specific prayer and he goes on to inform them of the content. This prayer is beneficial for all of us to learn. It is a prayer that we should memorize in order to pray for ourselves, our family, our church, our friends, and even unbelievers. It is that each person would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.
The Christian’s Aim – To be filled with the knowledge of His will
The Pastor’s Aim – To facilitate that filling
Once a person is filled with the knowledge of God’s will, they will be able and willing to walk worthy of the Lord. We will focus on the cause and effect this morning as we unpack the Colossian prayer.
READ Scripture- This is the Word of God
I. Cause: To ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will
What is being filled? Filling is of the soul. The soul is all that is within. Remember Psalm 103:1 from a few weeks ago, “Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me.” The next logical question would be, what is the soul being filled with? Answer, the knowledge of His will.
The word "Knowledge" here is not the simple word that is most often used in the New Testament, it is the compound form meaning 'thorough', 'well-rounded' knowledge that one accepts into their own life situation. This thorough knowledge can be both salvific and sanctifying. We would need to know where this knowledge comes from if we are to attain it and we would assume that it can only be found in the Bible. Is there a Scripture that can back that assumption up? The best (and maybe only) verse that makes the connection between knowledge and God's Word is Romans 2:17-18 which says, “Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law (Torah), and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law (Torah).” God’s will is mediated through Torah (Scripture).
I said that this Knowledge can be both Salvific and Sanctifying.
Salvific: 1 Timothy 2:4 “(God) desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Sanctifying: 2 Peter 1:2-3 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue”.
This thorough knowledge is what initially brings us into a saving relationship with God and is what continues to sanctify us (sanctify meaning spiritual excellence).
The phrase 'in all wisdom and spiritual understanding' is attached to the filling of the thorough knowledge of His will. 'In' means 'in the company of' as in Colossians 2:6 which says, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” We are to walk 'in company' with Christ Jesus. Wisdom and spiritual understanding are expressing the same, single thought and can be understood as spiritual understanding being the explanation of wisdom (wisdom, that is to say, spiritual understanding. Knowledge is worthless without “wisdom and spiritual understanding.” One can get learnedness (knowledge), but only God can give spiritual understanding. This brings me to one of my main points-it is my work to facilitate the knowledge of God’s will and it is your responsibility (and mine) to ask God for spiritual understanding.
Reference: Proverbs 2:2-6 “So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you CRY OUT for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” We must all CRY OUT for spiritual understanding, less we have attained knowledge in vain.
The Cause is to be filled in our souls with the thorough knowledge of His will and the effect of that filling is that we may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him.
II. Effect: That you may walk worthy of the Lord, Fully pleasing Him
The cause and effect order is essential. Many ministers and churches attempt to skip the cause which is being filled in the knowledge of Him. Many try to skip to the last step of walking, but you must be equipped to walk worthy of the Lord. Remember 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Our objective is to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him by being fruitful and increasing in the knowledge of God.
Being fruitful in every good work means divine work that is by faith.
Increasing in the knowledge of God is progress by interval. It doesn't all come at once. Notice the change here. It is not the 'knowledge of God's will' it is the 'knowledge of God;' His person, character, integrity, and expectations. The more you know of His will the more you know of His person.
The next part of pleasing the Lord is done by being strengthened in order to be patient and longsuffering with Joy. Patient (endurance) is a word meaing to be able to endure difficult circumstances and Longsuffering is a word meaing to be able to endure difficult people. And both can and should be done with Joy, which is why we need strength and power from God. It is one thing to grit your teeth and endure difficult circumstances and people, but it is another thing to do it with joy.
Lastly, we are to Give Thanks to the Father because of the redemptive work that He has accomplished in Christ. The Father has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
When a Christian is filled with the Knowledge of God’s Will then they are equipped to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him which is to be fruitful, increase in the knowledge of the person of God, to be strengthened, and to continuously give thanks to the Father. Knowledge = Walk.
Conclusion
This is a satisfaction guaranteed prayer.
1 John 5:14-15 reminds us that “this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” What better prayer is there that is in accordance with His will than one that is taught in Scripture?
We can pray this for ourselves, our family, our church, our friends, and even unbelievers. We can pray that each person would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. And remember that it is my job to facilitate the knowledge of God’s will, but it is vain knowledge unless you Cry Out to God for spiritual wisdom and understanding.
I challenge each one of you to memorize this prayer and at the very least to pray it for this church, for yourself and family, and pray it for me.
Beautifying the Cross and 30 Pieces of Silver
Isaiah 53
2b He has no form or comeliness; There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
On the surface, how ugly the cross was. BUT how truly ugly is our sin?! WE have utterly failed…
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows.”
“And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
“For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.”
“By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.”
“And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.”
As you pin your flower to the cross, let these words be the significance of the symbolism:
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Though our sin is hideous, the cross of Christ “presents us holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” Our sin is pinned to the cross and our lives are hidden in Christ who died on that cross for the sin of the world “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh BUT made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).
The flower represents the old of your life becoming new and the bag represents the humility of the little we have as we put it at the foot of the cross.
2b He has no form or comeliness; There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
On the surface, how ugly the cross was. BUT how truly ugly is our sin?! WE have utterly failed…
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows.”
“And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
“For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.”
“By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.”
“And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.”
As you pin your flower to the cross, let these words be the significance of the symbolism:
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Though our sin is hideous, the cross of Christ “presents us holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” Our sin is pinned to the cross and our lives are hidden in Christ who died on that cross for the sin of the world “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh BUT made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).
The flower represents the old of your life becoming new and the bag represents the humility of the little we have as we put it at the foot of the cross.
Romans 8:1-8 GOD DID
Text: Romans 8:1-8 Title: GOD DID
Introduction
As we come so near to the celebration of Easter I wanted to study a text that dealt with the reason for Christ Jesus’ coming. We all know the straightforward reason of why He came- to die for our sins, but I want to go over some of the specifics and some of the outcomes. I chose a text that is deep in a discussion of law and grace. In these few verses we find many details so I would like to focus on the third verse though I will lead us into it with the other verses of our main text. This section in the epistle to the Romans begins in chapter 6 verse 14 which says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” How did we pass from law to grace? What is the significance of doing so?
Let us READ Scripture- This is the Word of God
V1. Declares Justification
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
God has reversed the guilty verdict that we all were given. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Yet now God declares us Justified because we are “in Christ Jesus.” Of course, there are existing consequences for our sins now, but what the Scripture is teaching is that there are no eternal ramifications for our sins if we are in Christ. So we are free from condemnation NOT because we are sinless, but because we are in Christ Jesus.
V2. Declares Sanctification
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Law is a “way of life.” There is a law of Christ- it is LOVE.
The law of sin and death = Eternal consequences and DEATH
The law of the Spirit = NO condemnation and LIFE
2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” We follow the law of the Spirit which is liberty and in this liberty we are called to serve one another (Galatians 5:13 “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another”).
VERSE THREE
I. The Weakness of the Law
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh”
The law could/can name one’s sin and could pronounce judgment on it, but nothing else. If the law could not fix sin nor put it to death then all it was doing was adding up one’s transgressions and sins and trespasses and failures. Though the chief weakness of the law was and is the FLESH. The Law cannot be criticized for its weakness- only the participants.
II. God Did
“God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh”
Christ Jesus shared in the essential human nature- flesh and blood, bones and marrow. Jesus was in fact God as a physical human being, but only in the “likeness of sinful flesh.” “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.” “(Our High Priest) was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” It was God who did something. “While we were still sinners Christ…” It took a mighty act of God to save us. It took a mighty act of God to reverse the guilty verdict. “What the law could not do- GOD. GOD DID. This is what Easter is all about. This is what Good Friday is all about.
III. He Condemned Sin
“on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh”
What was it that God intervened to do? Condemn Sin. The condemnation is now off of us and onto SIN. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.”
V4. Just Requirement
The just requirement of the law was fulfilled in God’s condemnation of sin. The “just requirement of the law” is surely love.
*References:
1. James 2:8 “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well.”
2. Romans 13:8 “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
3. Galatians 5:14 “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Christ has fulfilled the just requirement of the law and it is applied to us when we believe in Him, put our faith in Him, and when we treasure Him.
Conclusion
Verse 5 is a fitting idea to reiterate as a conclusion- Let us set our minds on the Spirit.
We do not strive to be justified or sanctified by the works of the flesh, but by the fruit of the Spirit. A vine does not produce grapes by any demand that is made. It produces fruit that comes out of its own life. When we participate in the divine nature and we are in Christ then fruit will be produced out of Christ’s own life not by any demand. Until we are in Christ Jesus and setting our minds on the things of the Spirit, we…are…dying.
The question is left as this- verse one:
Are you in Christ Jesus?
Introduction
As we come so near to the celebration of Easter I wanted to study a text that dealt with the reason for Christ Jesus’ coming. We all know the straightforward reason of why He came- to die for our sins, but I want to go over some of the specifics and some of the outcomes. I chose a text that is deep in a discussion of law and grace. In these few verses we find many details so I would like to focus on the third verse though I will lead us into it with the other verses of our main text. This section in the epistle to the Romans begins in chapter 6 verse 14 which says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” How did we pass from law to grace? What is the significance of doing so?
Let us READ Scripture- This is the Word of God
V1. Declares Justification
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
God has reversed the guilty verdict that we all were given. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Yet now God declares us Justified because we are “in Christ Jesus.” Of course, there are existing consequences for our sins now, but what the Scripture is teaching is that there are no eternal ramifications for our sins if we are in Christ. So we are free from condemnation NOT because we are sinless, but because we are in Christ Jesus.
V2. Declares Sanctification
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Law is a “way of life.” There is a law of Christ- it is LOVE.
The law of sin and death = Eternal consequences and DEATH
The law of the Spirit = NO condemnation and LIFE
2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” We follow the law of the Spirit which is liberty and in this liberty we are called to serve one another (Galatians 5:13 “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another”).
VERSE THREE
I. The Weakness of the Law
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh”
The law could/can name one’s sin and could pronounce judgment on it, but nothing else. If the law could not fix sin nor put it to death then all it was doing was adding up one’s transgressions and sins and trespasses and failures. Though the chief weakness of the law was and is the FLESH. The Law cannot be criticized for its weakness- only the participants.
II. God Did
“God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh”
Christ Jesus shared in the essential human nature- flesh and blood, bones and marrow. Jesus was in fact God as a physical human being, but only in the “likeness of sinful flesh.” “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.” “(Our High Priest) was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” It was God who did something. “While we were still sinners Christ…” It took a mighty act of God to save us. It took a mighty act of God to reverse the guilty verdict. “What the law could not do- GOD. GOD DID. This is what Easter is all about. This is what Good Friday is all about.
III. He Condemned Sin
“on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh”
What was it that God intervened to do? Condemn Sin. The condemnation is now off of us and onto SIN. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.”
V4. Just Requirement
The just requirement of the law was fulfilled in God’s condemnation of sin. The “just requirement of the law” is surely love.
*References:
1. James 2:8 “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well.”
2. Romans 13:8 “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
3. Galatians 5:14 “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Christ has fulfilled the just requirement of the law and it is applied to us when we believe in Him, put our faith in Him, and when we treasure Him.
Conclusion
Verse 5 is a fitting idea to reiterate as a conclusion- Let us set our minds on the Spirit.
We do not strive to be justified or sanctified by the works of the flesh, but by the fruit of the Spirit. A vine does not produce grapes by any demand that is made. It produces fruit that comes out of its own life. When we participate in the divine nature and we are in Christ then fruit will be produced out of Christ’s own life not by any demand. Until we are in Christ Jesus and setting our minds on the things of the Spirit, we…are…dying.
The question is left as this- verse one:
Are you in Christ Jesus?
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