Walking Worthy

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: