Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction:

• This church had problems
• There were legalists
• There were people who were super spiritual and saying there was a special knowledge you could know
• When Paul opens his letter he does not mention this
• He thanks God for the church and believer
• He calls them the faithful saints
• He greets them with warm tender greetings
• He confirms them in the faith
• He speaks of the faith, hope and love
• I have been stirred up in faith for you
• A lovely way to open a letter
• He does not open with a negative
• Sometimes we would do this
• First of all he wants to encourage and strengthen them
• How do you find prayer?
• Prayer isn't always easy
• Sometimes we know moments of tremendous joy and blessing
• At other times prayer is difficult for us
• Is it because we are too self-centered?
• We rely upon our self and our own strength instead of knowing that we are absolutely dependent on God
• Paul seemed to live in the attitude of prayer
• He said he prayed constantly
• He often prayed silently
• People can pray in all sorts of situations
• Paul was often in adverse situations yet he prayed
• His prayers were not focussed on himself but others
• He prayed big prayers for the church - to be fully pleasing God (v10), fruitful in every good work, to be filled with the knowledge of God's will (v9)
• Prayer needs to be fuelled
• The fuel for Paul's prayer is the message that Epaphras has brought
• The news that we hear can be turned into prayer

A Comprehensive Knowledge of God's Will (v9)

• The false teachers talked a lot about fullness, about a certain secret knowledge
• Paul uses the words: filled, knowledge, every, all
• Every believer can be filled with the knowledge of God
• Paul counteracts this false teacher by using something positive
• As Paul is explaining this prayer he is teaching the people truths
• Paul is not praying for the Church in general, he asks specifically that they will be filled with the knowledge of God
• These people were not brought up in a Christian home, with Christian parents
• These people had not attended Sunday School, had not read the bible, did not have notes or read books
• These people had been brought up in a pagan environment
• Their thinking needed to be shaped by the will and word of God
• They needed to know the full will of God for their lives
• E.g. in family lives
• E.g. in their marriages
• E.g. in the field of work
• These people needed to be living in the centre of God's will
• Are we living in the centre of God's will?
• How do we know God's will?
• The Word of God has principles and laws
• As we pray and seek for spiritual wisdom
• How do we know whether a big decision is right or wrong?
• In all wisdom and spiritual understanding
• Not just a theory but a practical application
• A wise person is a 'doer' of God's will, who puts God's will into practice
• The people of Colossi did not have access to modern information
• Do we have a poorer knowledge of God than these people? Paul held them in high regard
• We should pray for each other
• Help our brothers and sisters to know your will fully for their lives
• Pray for full obedience to God's will (v10)

To be Fully Obedient to God's Will (v10)

• We cannot please God with our works - we are not more worthy because of our works
• The Bible always teaches grace
• Our worthiness is because of what Christ has done for us
• "That you may walk worthy of the Lord"
• Because of God's grace in our lives, we are able to please Him
• Because of His enabling grace that makes us worthy before Him
• A walk:
• Not a run or a crawl - it isn't just sprinting out as fast as you can or crawling away very slowly
• It is constant progress
• God wants us to have a walk like Jesus Christ, to walk in His footsteps
• As Christians God wants us to be fully pleasing to Him
• It can be unhealthy to be a perfectionist
• You expect too much of yourself and don't accept your limitations
• You have high ideals for yourself
• If things come into life that spoil it, you become low and discouraged
• Your standards are too high and you are not accepting your weaknesses
• We should have high ideals for one another in terms of holiness
• Paul didn't look at the Christians and think 'they won't go far'
• He believed they could be fully in every good work
• We should pray 'Lord help us to be the best we can be by your grace'
• Practical examples in school, work, church, family and sports life
• God wants us to be fully pleasing to Him in every area of life
• How large are your prayers?
• How much do you expect of God for others?
• "Be fruitful in every good work"
• Practical examples of good works
• "And increasing in the knowledge of God"
• We are practical people but we want to know God more
• The apostle Paul wasn't content and always wanted to know more about Christ
• It is easy to become unbalanced

Total Empowering to Obey God's Will (v11)

• This is very encouraging
• Maybe you are discouraged by v10
• There is a total empowering available to every Christian, "strengthened with all might according to His glorious power" (v11)
• God made this world with His powerful word
• God is very powerful
• Consider the opening of the Red Sea, Daniel in the lion's den, God raising people from the dead
• This is the power of God at work
• Paul knew about this power and believed that it was available to the church
• The church would face trials and temptations
• Paul prayed so that the church would not be overcome by these temptations
• British stiff upper lip
• This is speaking about something totally different
• About knowing tremendous joy in the midst of great trials
• Giving thanks to the Father
• Imagine the Christians in Iraq facing the Islamic State
• What an awful situation
• In that situation the Church of Jesus Christ can know the awesome power of God
• Example of the Church in Cambodia
• Hopefully we will never face such awful persecution as this
• God wants us to know all patience and long-suffering with joy
• There is an Almighty power available to each of us

Summary

• Let us follow the example of the apostle Paul in praying to fully know God's will
• In obeying Him and fully pleasing Him
• To know that we have a power that totally empowers us to obey God's will