“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.”
In our previous lesson we took notice that in his opening words to them Paul did more than just send his greetings and commend them for their faith in Christ and love for the saints and rejoice over the fact that they had grasped the hope of Heaven. We saw that in all of that his wording was such that he was reminding them once more that their redemption and their preservation were the work of God through the good news which had been preached to them.
And you may remember we noted that if they were thinking as they heard his words they might have realized that they needed to stop listening to the false teachers who had come in with Moses and their vain philosophies, and just get back to the basics.
We did that as we were looking at those early verses of this chapter, and I will repeat here that we need to do that often; clear our minds of the superfluous worldly tripe that creeps in and seeks to confuse us and bog us down and get us focused on the things that are passing away, and reacquaint ourselves with the basics.
We were entirely without God and without hope in the world, spiritually dead and morally depraved, and God sent His Son in the weakness of flesh to hang on the cross and bear the penalty for all our sin in His body and He carried our guilt away forever.
Because He did that the Bible tells us that all who turn from sin and self and believe in Him and His atoning work will never come into judgment, but have passed out of death and into life.
Those are the basics that we need to know and stand on and we must reject all who would seek to change or add to or take away from those basics.
The fruit evident in the lives of the Colossians and indeed, all who become Christ-followers, is all brought forth by God’s presence in the life and it was there before the false teachers came in. Faith in Christ, love for the brethren, the hope of heaven, joyfully clung to.
FURTHER FRUIT
As we move on to the verses of today’s text we continue in this theme of fruit-bearing, and that of necessity since the Apostle continues in it.
As we go however, we’ll find a transition from the gospel fruit manifest in the life of the believer to fruit which is also a direct outcropping of the gospel, but of the type that is manifest in the good works done by the believer.
Let’s slow down and walk through these verses.
Paul says ‘For this reason”, and there is no great mystery here; he is referring to the encouraging news that has come to him through Epaphras of all those things we talked about in our previous session and in the opening statements of this sermon.
The heart of Christ’s Apostle is Christ’s own heart, and also the heart of every true minister and preacher of the Word sent by Him. If a preacher of the gospel does not rejoice in his heart at the news of gospel fruit being borne in people’s lives then he needs to take stock. He is either not called to the ministry he is trying in some empty-shell way to perform, or he has lost his fire and ought to turn to God in fervent prayer for renewal.
For this is the heart of the Holy Spirit of God that even his angels have been privileged to share, as we know that “…there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” Luke 15:10, that is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and salvation.
And of course we know it is this same Spirit of Christ who when He brings someone to life through the preaching of the gospel brings forth this very fruit we have been discussing as evidence of that inward work and so that there might be rejoicing all around.
So Paul and Timothy, since Paul says ‘we’, have prayed continually for these Colossian believers since they heard this great news. Now this is important and it has clear implications for us as Christ-followers.
“…we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”.
I want to remind you at this juncture that Paul will be addressing the invasion of false teachers into the Colossian church and these early statements of his are made with these troublers in mind.
So here is the picture. He has received encouraging news of these relatively new believers in Christ and their excitement for the gospel and their love for one another and what is the first thing he does and continues to do?
He begins immediately to pray for an increase among them of the knowledge of God’s will and for spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Isn’t that interesting? He doesn’t say, ‘Hey, Epaphras, tell us about the needs of the folks there so we can pray for them. Is anyone sick? Injured? Are there poor folks among them so we can pray that God will bless them?
How are you doing on church furniture? I heard the Ephesians may be selling some pews they picked up cheap. Do you need hymnals?”
Ok, I’ve gone too far. But listen. Paul was a spiritual father. That is, he was one of God’s gifts to the church for the growth and benefit of the spiritual house.
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;” Eph 4:11-12
Paul, as any pastor/teacher must be, was first and foremost concerned with their spiritual well-being and their preparation to respond and react in a Godly way to life and life’s situations.
That’s what the church should be about, Christians. Not drawing people into the body to fill up space and have more warm flesh to plug into classes and committees; numbers to report to the convention in order to impress and show the people we want to impress that we’re measuring up to some supposed standard.
There are far too many people in our churches who are brought into fellowship in some attractive way, maybe some of them have been born again but I think many have not. But whether saved or not, the immediate emphasis is to connect them with their particular peer group so they’ll feel a part, maybe in some cases pass them off to someone who will disciple them for a while, which might consist of teaching them a few basics of being a Christian.
But I just don’t think in very many instances there is an immediate concern that is demonstrated both in prayer and deliberate teaching, that they be equipped to handle tribulation – I think more often they are taught to avoid tribulation at all costs and seek immediate deliverance if they find themselves in it by accident – and taught to pursue a deep knowledge of God’s will and spiritual wisdom and understanding for the challenges ahead.
Why do this? Why is it important? Paul says in verse 10! He clearly understands the need for them to be equipped in such a way because they are now representatives of Christ on earth and people are watching them.
They need to walk in holiness, they need to be vessels yielded to His will and doing the works that He prepared beforehand for them, and their personal, intimate knowledge of Him should be ever increasing.
This is for their own protection as well as their outward testimony. When a person signs up for military service and raises his or her hand and takes the pledge, what happens next? Does the Captain say, “Ok, go home now and when you’re ready come on over to the base and we’ll fix you up with a uniform and a policy manual and a book on the logistics of hand to hand combat”?
No! I’ll tell you what happens because I’ve been there. As soon as you sign on the line and raise your hand you are owned. That’s what the term GI means; ‘Government Issue’. That’s what you are. You now belong to the military. I didn’t say ‘in’ the military… you may soon begin to feel you do not indeed belong ‘in’ the military, but it doesn’t matter, you belong ‘to’ the military. You can literally be fined and/or busted in rank for getting a bad sunburn, because your body belongs to Uncle Sam and you are not your own.
That means you’re now drawing military pay and benefits, and they are going to make very certain that you immediately begin to earn it. You are shipped off to an uncomfortable place and given an uncomfortable bed and clothed with uncomfortable clothes, and from before the sun is up each day until after the sun is down each day for anywhere from 3 to 6 months, you will be passed from one person to the other to learn the proper wearing of the uniform, marching, for physical training, for academic training, for combat training, for specialized training for the field to which you will be assigned.
When this intense training is over, you will be a soldier and you will be capable of handling anything with which you are confronted because your teachers equipped you with everything you would need; nothing more and nothing less. They didn’t load you down with junk food, they didn’t give you inordinate periods of time off for leisure, they didn’t tell you a lot of superfluous, silly, fluff information that would not be a help to you; but they did make sure you could recite back with clarity everything you needed to know and they made sure you could respond instantly to any attack with physical aplomb because they made you do the moves over and over until they became second nature.
Why does the church not prepare her children with this sort of dedication and intensity? It’s not that it isn’t needed. But we’ve grown soft and unwilling to be demanding. We’ve taught people that being a Christian is a clean and comfortable thing that means having their needs met, both emotional and physical, that it means belonging to a like-thinking group of people who will always be happy to see them and usher them to a nice plush seat where they can sing and watch the entertainment and listen to a man tell them stories about Jesus and other Bible characters and wish them a nice week, and hey, let’s all carpool to another city to listen to a Christian singer with a testimony of a sordid past or watch some clown roll up a frying pan with his bear hands while he tells us about having Holy Spirit power as a Jesus person.
Am I ranting? No, I’m not. I’m telling you why so many Christians go through life dragging themselves along on their belly like a dying man under a desert sun, instead of, as Paul says right here, “…walk(ing) in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”.
ESTABLISHED IN POWER
Listen to the words Paul uses as he expresses his sincere interest and concern for their development.
Knowledge. Wisdom. Understanding. Worthy. Strengthened. Power. Steadfastness. Patience. Inheritance.
There is a phrase in verse 11 though that should draw our attention away from all these words used to describe the growing believer, to the source of all of it.
He says, ‘…according to His glorious might…’
John Davenant, writing in 1627, has this to say on this phrase.
“Only one thing now remains to be explained: How this glorious power of the Holy Spirit comes to us. It is derived unto us by the gracious mediation and intercession of Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father. Concerning the gift or sending of his Spirit into the hearts of believers, we have the promise of Christ, John 16:7, It is expedient for you that I go away, for, if I go away, I will send the Comforter unto you. Christ, therefore, as God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, gives this glorious power of the Holy Spirit to his people. God alone gives God. Christ, as man, intercedes with the Father, and by his intercession obtains this Spirit of fortitude for all the elect.” “Colossians”, John Davenant, 1627, reprinted from English 1831, Banner of Truth pub 2005
There has been a lot of ‘power’ talking in some circles of the church in recent decades that deviates from any Biblical definition. It seems to sound Biblical and the terminology around it seems to be spiritual and right, but it is ultimately man-centered and self-aggrandizing.
These things that Paul prays for these Colossian believers and also for us call in some degree for our cooperation. He wants us to be filled with something. Pause for a moment and let that sink in. Filled. And with what? With the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…
…and here is where we cooperate… “…so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects…”
Then he talks of good works and increasing in knowledge, but we note once more that none of this is possible apart from the glorious inner working power of His Holy Spirit.
Peter said early in his second letter:
“…seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” 2 Pet 1:3
This walk Paul calls us to, these good works, the pursuit of an increasing knowledge of God and His will only come from the power that has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.
Folks, the Holy Spirit was not given to us so we could strut around claiming things and ordering demons to do things that the Bible never gave us authority to command. He was not given to us so we would never be sick and never have money problems or struggles with difficult people.
He was given to lead us into all truth and disclose things of Christ to us, John 16:13-14, and to empower the believer for a walk of holiness and growing in the grace and knowledge of his Lord. He has granted to us everything we need to live the Christian life and to walk in godliness.
His Spirit and His Word. We have the one in all His fullness upon salvation, and we have the other to teach us and explain to us and exhort us and all those things listed in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
MADE ABLE
Once more, and just to get it all in one place for the sake of clarity, let’s look at the list of things the Apostle is praying for them in response to the positive report he has received about them.
He is praying that they will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, be given spiritual wisdom and understanding, that they will be empowered to conduct themselves in a Godly way that is worthy of their connection with the name of Christ, that they will bear fruit through good works, that they will be spiritually strengthened and empowered to stand firm with Godly patience, and that they will be brought to joyously offer up gratitude to the Father who grants all these things.
Wow. That’s how I’d like to have someone praying for me. If my church family prays for me I would like to make this my ‘wish list’. Please don’t pray that I will be made physically perfect, for unless the Rapture takes place soon I will eventually need to die in order to go home.
Please don’t pray for material wealth or property to come to me, for those things often bring trouble and if I am made too comfortable I will become self-dependant and forget my Lord.
Please don’t pray that no trouble will come to my life, for in the times of tribulation is when I have learned most and been closest to Him. In fact, I was doubly blessed because those are also the times that have made Lynn and I closer to one another.
No, if you pray for me, and I would hope that all congregations would hold their pastor up in prayer, I would only ask that you pray that God will keep me in His Word and continue to teach me so I might teach you, and if you would turn to Colossians 1:9-12 and pray those verses for me I will be perfectly content with that, and I will pray them in turn for you.
Now I want you to look at the wording of verse 12 once more.
“…giving thanks to the father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
That word ‘qualified’ means to make able, to make sufficient. I want to be very clear on this point. God has made the Christian able, sufficient, qualified, to share in the inheritance of all the saints.
Did you hear the past tense of that?
Now just so there is no confusion I want to explain the term, saints in light, but then I want to finish today by talking about the phrase, ‘who has qualified us’.
I think we are all aware, but I want to say it again to be certain no one is left behind, that ‘saints’ means true believers in Christ. Every Christian is a saint. It means that you are set apart by God as His and you are being progressively made more like Jesus in the process of your spiritual growth.
So when Paul says ‘saints in light’, he is talking about all who are Christ’s and who are now dwelling in the light that He brings. In order to fully understand this we have to go one verse beyond our text and see that there is a comparison made there.
“For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son”. In other words He transferred us into the kingdom of light. Out of darkness, into light.
The NIV at the end of verse 12 says, of the saints of the kingdom of light.
Those words, ‘kingdom of’ are not in the Greek text and no other translation puts them there, but it is not wrong, it’s just not supposed to be there. But it is otherwise Scriptural.
1 Peter 2:9 says,
“But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”
And in a description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:23 we read,
“And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
Then again, in chapter 22 verse 5,
“And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”
As to the word ‘inheritance’, briefly, since we are told in Romans that we as God’s adopted are made heirs and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, we can just leave that alone for now content that if we are joint-heirs with Him we are most certainly eternally and infinitely supplied.
Now back to this phrase, ‘who qualified us’…
This is not a reference to progressive sanctification. This is a direct reference to our justification and our positional sanctification.
That is why it is put in the past tense, as are other passages that talk about our standing before God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” Romans 5:1
“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” 2 Corinthians 5:17
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” John 5:24
I will repeat here once more, Paul is saying these things to the Colossians in reference to the report he received from Epaphras, prior to addressing the error that has come in. He is reminding them that all of these things were true before the false teachers came in with their added information.
He is telling them that as a result of the word of truth that was first brought to them, they had been qualified, made able, by the Father, to share in the eternal inheritance of all the saints.
Christian today, this is the fruit of the gospel. You are the fruit of the gospel.
You don’t need any further information, there is no further work to be done, there are no formulae you must follow, no exercises you must conduct, in order to get right or stay right with God.
If you are truly a born again believer in Jesus Christ today that means that by His grace and power and no other’s God has qualified you eternally to stand with all the saints in the Kingdom of Light and receive that which you jointly inherit with His Son.
That will not change, that cannot change, and all the maniacal ranting of the Judaizers and false teachers who come and go can not have any affect whatsoever on your standing.
The perfect atoning work of God’s Son on Calvary’s tree left nothing unpaid or undone and you are thereby made acceptable forever. Not even you can change that if you are His.
Remember all that talking I did last week about the basics and repeating the basics and staying with the basics? Well this is it, brothers and sisters. This is what we must keep before us continually, for it will carry us through anything this world or the devil or our own sinful doubting can throw our way.
