INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• One of the questions I hear a lot from people concerns the issue of God’s will for their lives.
• People want to know what God wants from them. I believe that many Christians would really like to know what God’s will for them is.
• The question we have to ask ourselves is, “How badly do we really want to know what God’s will is for our lives?
• Is it something we want to know bad enough that we will do what we need to do in order to obtain the knowledge?
• Is it something that we see as worthy of putting the time to pursue?
• Today, I want to share some thoughts with you concerning God’s Will for your life.
• I think for many of us, the value of knowing God’s will for our lives is not high enough on our priority list for us to really spend the time we need to in order to understand it.
• I hope today to be able to help you to understand the value of knowing God’s will for your life. Then my prayer is that once we understand the value of knowing it, we will put knowing God’s will for our lives high on our priority list.
• In the passage we will look at today, Paul continues to share his prayer for the people in the church at Colossae.
• Let us look at Colossians 1:9-12 together this moring.
• SLIDES #2-#3
• READ Colossians 1:9-12
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
I. GOD DESIRES YOU TO KNOW HIS WILL. (9)
• God is not trying to hide His will from you. He really does want you to know what He wants from you.
• It would be nice if God will call us on the cell phone or send us some emails.
• Through Jesus, God has made one thing very clear, He values us. Another thing we learn is what pleases God. Jesus was our ultimate example.
• Here is something Paul prayed for and something we need to grasp.
• SLIDE #5
1. We can be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.
• Paul would not be asking for something that cannot happen.
• For some of us, this would tell us that if we accumulate enough book learning or enough education, we have mastered what Paul is praying for.
• The word used for “knowledge” is used in a compound form which is not the normal usage for the word.
• In this form it denotes a deep and thorough knowledge, it is a knowledge which grasps and penetrates into the object. A deep and accurate comprehension.
• This “knowledge” will saturate all one’s being, thoughts, affections, purposes, and plans.
• John MacArthur Jr states: The Bible views knowledge of doctrinal absolutes as foundational to godly living. Most of Paul’s letters begin by laying a doctrinal foundation before giving practical exhortations. For example, Paul gives eleven chapters of doctrine in Romans before turning to godly living in chapter 12. Galatians 1-4 are doctrinal, chapters 5 and 6 practical. The first three chapters of Ephesians detail our position in Christ, while the last three urge us to live accordingly. Philippians and Colossians also conform to the same pattern of doctrine preceding practical exhortations. Godly living is directly linked in Scripture to knowledge of doctrinal truth. (MacArthur Jr)
• This is a knowledge that will change one’s life.
• God demonstrated His will in a broad sense through Jesus. In this passage we see that knowing God’s will for our lives will have life changing effects.
• SLIDE #6
• Proverbs 19:2 (GWT) 2 A person without knowledge is no good. A person in a hurry makes mistakes.
• Without knowledge, we will be in trouble. If we do not know anything about God’s will for our lives, what are we left with?
• SLIDE #7
2. Knowing God’s will takes more than just a little reading.
• Knowing God’s will for us takes more than just speed reading through the Bible. WE need to do more than just read.
• SLIDE #8
a. We need to have spiritual wisdom and understanding.
• Wisdom is the ability to collect and concisely organize principles from scripture.
• In order to have spiritual wisdom, we must be spiritual.
• READ 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
• We need to have the mind of Christ which is given to us through the Spirit that is given to us when we are immersed into Christ.
• Understanding is the ability to apply the principles of scripture to everyday life.
• We need to be connected to God in order for us to really grasp what God’s will is for us.
• We need to not only read the word, but we must pray and meditate on it. The more we know our Jesus, the more we will understand what He wants us to do. It becomes more clear to us.
SLIDE #9
II. THE BENEFITS OF KNOWING GOD’S WILL. (10-11)
• Is your faith kind of boring to you, is it fulfilling for you? Are you getting what you expected? Are you getting more or less?
• Having the knowledge of God’s Word control our minds is the key to righteous living. What controls your thoughts will control your behavior. Self-control is a result of mind-control, which is dependent on knowledge.
• Knowing God’s will can help us to do many things. If we know God’s will, we can do many things that will be exciting in our lives. I just want to list five benefits, there are many more.
• SLIDE #10
1. We can walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
• How can we walk in a manner worthy of the calling that we have if we do not know God’s will for our lives? Our lives are to act in conformity with our union with Christ and with His purposes for our lives.
• Have you noticed in the past that when a child of the President of the United States acts up, people are appalled? Why? Because we expect the Presidents children to act in a way that does not bring shame on the office.
• SLIDE #11
• 1 Thessalonians 2:12 (GWT) 12you should live in a way that proves you belong to the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
• If you do not know God’s will, you cannot walk in a way that is worthy of Him.
• SLIDE #12
2. We can please Him in all respects.
• To please means we are to have an attitude of mind that anticipates e very wish.
• Have you tried to please someone, but you did not know what they expected? Can you imaging trying to please God when you have no clue as to what pleases Him?
• Today is Mother’s Day. How many of us got presents for our wives/mothers? Did you try to get them something that would please them? I know Robyn would like for me to have, I mean to get her the latest electronic gadget.
• We know what pleases our wives/mothers because we know them. We know what they like.
• God wants you to know what He likes!
• SLIDE #13
• In Ephesians 5:10 we are encouraged to seek what pleases God.
• SLIDE #14
3. We can bear fruit in every good work.
• For the Christian, we should NEVER stop bearing fruit. The phrase translated “bearing fruit” is in the present tense which denotes a continuous non-stopping action. If it were in the aorist tense it would be a one-time past action with continuing present day results.
• We are to constantly bear fruit. We can only do that if we are on the vine
• SLIDE #15
• John 15:4-5
• Fruit is what we do for God, it is what comes from our life lived for Him. In 1 Corinthians 16:15, converts are called fruit also.
• What kind of fruit are we bearing for God? How about the fruit of a someone we helped lead to Jesus?
• SLIDE #16
4. We can increase in our knowledge of God.
• Here is something interesting. Did you know that the word translated “increasing” is also in the present tense form? This means that we are to NEVER stop increasing in our knowledge about God. NEVER!
• Increasing in knowledge should be a habitual action for us.
• SLIDE #17
• 1 Peter 2:2 (GWT) 2Desire God’s pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation.
• AS we grow in knowledge, guess what, our obedience increases as does our love for others, and we become more Christ-like!
• 1 John 2:3-5; John 13:35
• SLIDE #18
5. We can be strengthened with all power.
• Have you ever felt that you cannot do it alone? YOU CAN’T!
• To be strengthened is the continuous empowerment that enables us to stand during the battles. It is given out of God’s abundant supply, not our need.
• God wants us to be strong! He gives us the strength to fight the battles, He does not leave us alone. The battle belongs to the Lord!
• SLIDE #19
• Philippians 4:13 (GWT) 13I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.
• SLIDE #20
III. THE GOALS OF KNOWING GOD’S WILL. (12)
• I was not 100% pleased with the wording of this point, but what we need to understand is that knowing God’s will for our lives benefits us in the above mentioned ways, but it also helps to lead us to some other wonderful things in our lives.
• Here are just three.
• SLIDE #21
1. To attain all steadfastness.
• This is the opposite of living scared and despondent. It is the capacity to see things through.
• It is the ability to not let circumstances knock you down or knock you out. It is the ability to continue toward a goal regardless of the obstacles.
• When we know God’s will for our lives, we will not be discouraged by the obstacles.
• SLIDE #22
2. To obtain patience.
• Remember that word LONGSUFFERING we spoke of a few weeks ago. When we understand God’s will for us, we develop patience. We become more patient with people.
• We no longer have a spirit of revenge or wrath toward people. We begin to understand this issue of God’s timing verses our own.
• God has a plan. And it will be executed in His time!
• SLIDE #23
3. To joyously give thanks to God.
• As you gain an understanding of God’s will for your life, you level of thankfulness will rise daily as you learn to appreciate how God is working in your life for his glory.
• We will not be able to contain our thankfulness to Him for His wonderful plan.
• We are thankful that He qualified us to be with Him.
• To qualify means to make sufficient or competent. We are not fit in ourselves to go to heaven, God qualified us through the blood of Jesus.
• By the way, the word qualified is that aorist tense which means the qualification was a one-time past act with continuous present day results.
• SLIDE #24
• Ephesians 2:12 - 13 (GWT) 12Also, at that time you were without Christ. You were excluded from citizenship in Israel, and the pledges£ God made in his promise were foreign to you. You had no hope and were in the world without God. 13But now through Christ Jesus you, who were once far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
CONCLUSION
• Knowing God’s will for your life is life changing. God wants you to know His will for your life, the question is, is it important enough for you to seek?
• Seek and you will be blessed.
• Spend time reading the Bible, praying and meditating on what you read.
• Get to know the God who saved you.
• For those who do not know Jesus, today may be the day you being your journey with Him.
• Come along, it is worth the ride!
