We’ve spent a couple of weeks on the issues of knowledge, spiritual understanding and wisdom. Why is it so important that we have this knowledge? Why did Paul so fervently pray this prayer for practically everyone he ministered to? With this being the case and the fact that it is in scripture means that it must be extremely important. I believe that the messages over the past two weeks have confirmed that basic fact. If it is in the Word of God it’s important. If it’s not in the Word of God it’s a side issue and therefore not important. The fact is, if we are going to know Christ for who He is, for who He has revealed Himself to be, we need to know and understand the issues that are important to Him. Those issues, the thing that truly matter to Him, He has given us in His word. I don’t know about you, but I would rather know what’s important to God and serve Him in that context than spend the rest of my life trying to appease Him. Amen? If you are a truly borne again believer, your greatest desire in life should be to grow closer to Christ. For me, Heaven is a wonderful privilege to which I look forward, but unless I truly know and experience my Lord, it doesn’t matter. The point is, Christ should be our all in all. It should be our greatest passion and desire to know Him more every day. Because the more we know and experience Him, the closer we get to Him. How many of you look forward to Heaven? Is it that you look forward to the privileges and comforts that it offers, or do you long only to be in the presence of Christ? If it is the presence of Christ that you long for, you have the tool in your hand that enables you to experience that today. Every time you open the Word of God to read and study it, you learn more about who He is. You learn more about His character, His love, His ways. Do you know what His greatest desire is? To draw you close to Him. And how does He do that? Through His Word! File this away in your heart and never forget it, scripture study is not for the purpose of building intellect but for the purpose of knowing Him and falling head over hills in love with Him. I’ll tell you one reason I’m glad I never attended seminary, because intellect tends to build big heads rather than big hearts. Scripture study and the knowledge attained through it, is intended to produce a practical outliving of the character of Christ. It should reveal to us those things that are important to God. It should reveal to us those things that He want’s us to pursue and contend for. It should reveal to us the beautiful and gracious heart of God. But unfortunately, we have a tendency to be just like those legalistic Pharisees and we get wrapped up in stupid issues that God could care less about. Issues like what we should wear to church or how we should or shouldn’t decorate the sanctuary. What Bible translation we should or shouldn’t use. What style of music we should or shouldn’t sing. And if that isn’t bad enough, we try to find scriptures to back up our pharisitical attitudes. You know what’s important to Him? That we reflect the light of His glory in a world that is stumbling in darkness. Let me ask you, if you see a blind man walking toward the edge of a cliff would it be important to point out the flaws in his wardrobe. Jesus said “I am the light of the world”. In John 5:14 Jesus says “you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” He’s talking about reflected light. The more you know and love Him, and the closer you get to Him, the more you are going to reflect the Shakina Glory of God.
That is the context of today’s message as we continue in the book of Colossians in chapter 1:10-11.
Colossians 1:10
Here in verses 10-11 Paul points out 5 things that are accomplished in our lives when we are filled with knowledge, spiritual understanding and wisdom. In other words he’s pointing out 5 things that happen to those who love Christ and want nothing more than to bask in the light of His glory. If you are willing to do what ever it takes to get close enough to Jesus to touch the hem of His garment, these five things are inevitably going to be elements of your life. Today we’re going to look at the first three as Paul outlines in verse 10. Here they are:
1.) That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him.
Now, wait a minute! The Bible says that there is nothing we can do to be worthy of the grace of God. So how is knowledge going to make me worthy of the Lord? We’re setting here talking about being filled with the knowledge of Gods will. Well there is one thing I know about what the word of God says, and that is, we cannot be perfect in this life and that is the only way to be worthy of God’s grace. Let’s remember, this is the Word of God. What it says is true. If it says that knowledge will lead to a walk that is worthy of the Lord then you can take it to the bank. We just need to understand what this phrase means. Remember, we’re talking about knowing Christ, falling in love with Him and getting close to Him. To walk worthy of the Lord means to live in a manner which reflects the character of Christ. Let’s think back to Moses for a moment. When he was on the mountain he was in the very presence of God. Soaking up the rays of Gods glory. When he came down, the Bible tells us, his face shown with the brightness of Gods glory. So brightly, in fact, that he had to cover his face. When you know and understand Gods will, you can’t help but fall deeply in love with Him. And that love for Him will inevitably cause you to desire to be right at His side. How many of you here have been married for an extensive length of time? Have you ever noticed how when a man and woman are married, if they are closely connected, over time they begin to act alike. They begin to take on one another’s characteristics. Their personalities begin to rub off on one another. It’s the same way in your relationship with God. The more you know Him, the closer you get to Him, the more of His character rubs off on you. The more you reflect His glory. This is what it means when the Bible tells us to walk in the light. And look at this; he says this is how you can fully please Him. That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. (1 John 2:9-11) Just being a child of God doesn’t necessarily mean you’re walking in the light. Sometimes we get overly focused on trying to do everything just right according to what we think God wants. Like John says, if you’re walking close to Christ fully engulfed in the light of His glory you’re not going to stumble and you’re not going to be a stumbling block to others. The problem is we often allow our focus to drift off of Christ and onto things that we only perceive to be important to Him. We’re trying so hard to show God that we can make Him proud. Then, when things start falling apart around us we have the audacity to wander why. The problem is, when you allow yourself to get sidetracked by petty issues that have no purpose, before you know it you’ve drifted away from God without even realizing it. This is called appeasing, not pleasing. If it where possible to appease God we would have no need of Christ. Now, don’t get me wrong, sin is a very serious issue. And we are called to be holy as He is holy. But the only way to recognize the difference between sin and legalism is to know Christ and what is important to Him. When you know these things and apply them to your life you will be walking worthy of the Lord. You will be walking in the light. More appropriately, as John puts it, abiding in the light. To remain there. As you get to know Jesus more and more your life will reflect His glory. And your life will be fully pleasing to Him.
2.) You will be fruitful in every good work.
This can be understood two ways;
First, the works you do will, in themselves be the fruit you bear as a result of knowledge, understanding and wisdom. In John 15:8 Jesus said, “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.” Biblically speaking, a disciple of Christ is one who learns from Christ for the purpose of conforming to His image. And as we know, we’re not referring to an outward appearance of conformation as reflected by adherence to a list of rules and regulations. It is an inner conformation. Our hearts being conformed to the heart of Christ. It is His passions becoming our passions. It is what matters to Him becoming what really matters to us. When this happens, your heart will inevitably drive you to do the works that Jesus did for the reasons that Jesus did them.
Second, the works you do will, in themselves bear abundant fruit. As you all know, I do not promote the prosperity gospel that says life will be a bed of roses for those who truly have faith. But the bible does teach us that the will of God cannot be thwarted. And when your heart reflects the heart of Christ and you are doing the will of God, everything you do will produce the results that God intends them to produce. Fortunately, and let me repeat that, “fortunately” those results don’t always line up with the results we may want. That in itself is a whole other sermon, but the point is when your heart reflects the heart of Christ, you can know that the works you do will abundantly produce the fruits that most glorify God.
3.) You will increase in the knowledge of God.
This element is more the result of applying knowledge than the result of knowledge itself. It is the result of doing the will of God rather than knowing the will of God. Scripture makes it very clear that there is no such thing as a spiritual bench warmer. If you’re not in the game, you’re not on the team. The easiest way to recognize a Pharisee is to look for those who sit on the bench and criticize the rest of the team. They never grow out of this attitude because they never apply the basic knowledge they have attained. When we are willing to apply the knowledge that God has given us He takes advantage of that opportunity to reveal Himself in even greater ways so that we may know and experience Him more fully. In my study of this subject, God opened my eyes to a great spiritual truth in the parable of the talents. The more you use what he has given you, in this case knowledge, the more He will give to you. Luke 8:16.
