Thank you, Mark and Diane, again. And thank you for the update on Nate. Mark, we appreciate hearing that good news. Praise God for answered prayers concerning Nate's health. We'll continue to pray for him. 

Good morning to everyone. Hope you're surviving the heat and the smoke and all the adversity of the world in your life. It's a challenge sometimes, but Lord is faithful. 

We are continuing our study in the book of Colossians this morning, and as I studied these verses before us in 9 to 14, it's just amazing to see how Paul has jam-packed these verses with amazing spiritual truth. There's so much here and so profound in its depth and focus on spiritual truth, on Jesus and who he is, what he's done for us, it's difficult to know where to start because each phrase could be an entire sermon. 

And at the same time, the outlines sort of sort themselves out as you work through these verses and soak in the richness of who we are and what we have in Jesus. Paul, in our text today, is going to link the Christian life, walking worthy, fruitfulness, God's life and power in us, all these things, to the knowledge of him, an ever-increasing knowledge and all spiritual wisdom found only in Jesus Christ. 

It is Jesus that we need. It is the knowledge of Christ found in his word that we need. This is the source of all knowledge, of all spiritual wisdom. And this is a direct shot at those false teachers who were saying that there was higher wisdom, that there was secret knowledge, knowledge that only they had, that the believers needed to know and pursue for a full Christian life and salvation. 

Paul says, no, all knowledge and wisdom is found in Jesus alone. And it is an ever-increasing knowledge of Jesus and his word that produces a fruitful, holy life, pleasing to God and consistent with his plan and purpose for his glory. 

There was a danger in this church, as there is today, a danger coming from those false teachers who would twist the meaning of words, who would question, sometimes subtly, the sufficiency of Christ, who would lead the believers astray into pursuing that which they could not accomplish, a worthy walk or fruit in their lives, nor could it be obtained that through the pursuit of human wisdom or asceticism or rites and rituals that we could live out the life that God intends, that his will would come through these kinds of means. 

Well, first, Paul prays that we would know and understand, in fact, be filled with the knowledge of his will. So that begs the question, what is his will? What is God's will for our lives? And the only way we could know that is from his word. 

You see, this is a key point. When you get off into legalism, into religious rite and ritual or higher knowledge, philosophy and the wisdom of men, then all of your thinking becomes twisted. And this certainly was the case for these philosophies of men that were entering the church that were not according to Christ, Paul says. 

The Gnostic-type ideas that were coming in implied a dualistic thinking. And this simply taught that the spiritual was the goal, the realm that mattered. But the physical was irrelevant. God didn't care about these things. For the spiritual was good, but the physical was evil. 

And the conclusion to this twisted thinking ended in the idea that it did not matter how we live. It was fine to indulge the flesh. Do whatever you want in the flesh. And at the same time, it was the ultimate goal to seek the spiritual, the mind, the higher wisdom, in relationships with angels and emanations in all the spiritual realm. 

This heresy exists in varying forms in all kinds of religion and philosophy today as well. And the idea often permeates the thinking and living of worldly wise men and religious alike. But this is not truth. This is not Christianity. The Christian ethic extends to the physical realm and how we live. 

In fact, Paul's going to make that the central point of his words in these verses before us this morning. And it is a vitally important lesson for us to understand. 

Verse 9, he says, for this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. 

What's that next word in verse 10? I'm going to highlight this several times today. That's the most important word in the text right there. That. That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. 

What is Paul's prayer for the saints in Colossae? That we may know and be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, and that we might walk worthy and be fruitful in every good work. 

You see, here's a salient point. And we're going to develop this in our study today. The false teachers, the Gnostics, the wise men, the religious gurus seek knowledge. They seek human wisdom, that which they believe they can discern by their own intelligence or through religious exercise. 

Listen now. Why? For the sake of the knowledge itself. The knowledge is the end game. The pursuit is the knowledge, the knowing, the gnosis. But what Paul is teaching us here, and by such refuting the heresy, is that the knowledge is a means to the goal, not the goal itself. 

God is not only concerned about the spiritual, the knowledge of him and his will, but he's also concerned about the physical, the living, the walking out in wisdom by the knowledge of him. God cares about how we live and what we do. And this is an outflow, a fruit, of knowing him. 

Look more closely at verse 10 with me, and then we'll get to our text. Colossians 110, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. 

What we will see as we study this verse is that the word ace in the Greek here, translated in, in the knowledge of God, is important to understand. It's in the instrumental case here, not the locative. 

What that means is, rather than in, indicating the sphere, called the locative case, am I getting that right, Mark? It is the instrumental case which could be translated by means of. In other words, it's the knowledge of God that is the means by which we walk worthy, that produces the fruit in every good work. 

And we see in the next verse that this is by the strength and the power of God. So the knowledge is not the end all. The pursuit of knowledge for the knowledge itself is not what we're after.

But rather, it is the knowing of God through his word, knowing him and his will, pursuing him and his life and power in us, according to his glorious power, Paul says, for the express purpose that we would walk worthy of our Lord, that we would walk worthy of our calling, that we would produce fruit for his glory. This is a significant point of division and understanding between the heresy of the false teachers and the biblical truth of fullness and sufficiency in Christ, as his life and power produces holiness and fruit in the physical realm through this body of flesh. 

Think about Romans chapter 6, verse 13. We love that passage in 1 to 11, where he talks about knowing and reckoning and yielding. And then you get down to verse 12 and 13. He tells us what? To present the members of our bodies. When you look at chapter 7, 14 to 25, as he's describing the unbeliever there, he says, the member in his members is indwelling sin, controlling those members. And he's bearing fruit, what? Onto death. How? Through his members. Through his mouth, his tongue, his hands, his eyes. Everything is worked out through this body of flesh. 

But the heretic said, the flesh doesn't matter. The flesh is not important. What we do in this body doesn't matter. So it's a very important point. And I think Paul's main point here in these verses is to say, no, God does care about what we do, how we live. And that shows the transforming power, the manifestation of the life transforming power of the gospel, of God's salvation work and life in us. And that's important to God. 

Let's look at our text, Colossians 1, 9. Paul says, for this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. 

I've given you five points on your outline, first, filled with the knowledge of his will, second, all wisdom and spiritual understanding, third, walking worthy, fourth, increasing in the knowledge of him, and fifth, giving thanks. 

Let's go back to verse three to pick up the context here. We'll read verses three to eight. Paul says, we give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. 

As you also learn from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the spirit. Paul is writing to a great church with faithful believers who are bearing fruit. They have love for one another. They are walking in the spirit. In verse nine, he says this, for this reason, for this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you. Heard it, heard what? Heard of their faith and love and hope, their love in the spirit, their ministering to one another, their fruit bearing. We looked at this last week. 

And so he's praying, praying for what specifically? To ask that they may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that they may walk worthy of the Lord. I wanna look at this word filled to start. The word used here for filled often speaks of controlled. Be not filled with wine, right? We live near Hurley, Wisconsin, down on Silver Street sometimes. You see the guy filled with wine, right? How do you know he's filled with wine? Well, he's stumbling, he's one foot on the curb, one foot on the street, you know, he's walking down. He's slurring his words. Being filled means to be controlled. 

So be not filled with wine, but be being filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul says. Or if someone is filled with rage, we see that sometimes. Filled with rage, they stoned him or tried to throw him off a cliff, those kind of things. So it's being controlled by something. And I think this is the same type of meaning here. Although in the book of Colossians, Paul uses this word to describe maturity, completeness, being filled to overflowing, or of bringing something to completion or fulfillment. 

The emphasis appears in Paul's use here to deal with the Christian living, understanding your completeness, fullness in Christ, and therefore living it out. He says in Colossians 2.9, the same word, for in him, in Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In verse 10, he says, and you are complete, that word complete, same word. You are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power. In him dwells all the fullness. You are, notice that, you are complete in him. 

Chapter one, verse 25, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God, which was given to me for you to fulfill, that's the same word, fulfill the word of God. Chapter four, verse 12, Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. And chapter four, verse 17, say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord that you may fulfill it. Again, the idea of bringing to completion or fullness. 

So Paul prays that we might come to the fullness or be filled with the knowledge of his will. And of course, his will is found in his word. But this might be a little more difficult than you think, at least as evidenced in the Christian world today. John MacArthur wrote a book years ago called God's Will Found. I always liked that idea, it's found in his word. We have his will, it's right here. So what is God's will? You'll quite often hear people say, I'm seeking God's will for my life. I don't know what God's will is.

But Paul's prayer is that we would be filled to fullness, to overflowing with the knowledge of his will. 1 Thessalonians 4, three says, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. That you should abstain from sexual immorality. 1 Thess 5, 18, and everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Peter 2, 15, for this is the will of God, that by doing good, you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. 1 Peter 3, 17, for it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 1 Peter 4, 2, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 

We see the contrast. 1 Peter 4, 19, therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good as to a faithful creator. John 6 tells us that this is the will of God, that we believe Jesus. 1 John 3, 24 says the command of the new covenant is that we believe Jesus and love one another. So we see that the will of God includes faith. It is for sure love, it is hope, it is thankfulness, it is grace. The will of God is holiness, living a life worthy of our calling, faithfulness day by day by his grace and power in our lives. 

Sometimes God's will is suffering, trial and tribulation for his purposes. It is witness and praise and thanksgiving. We know the will of God by His Word, but all of these things focus in on who we are in Him and what He has done in us, and therefore how we must live. So what Paul is praying for is that we would have full knowledge of these truths of the will of God so that we might live a life that brings men to Christ and glory to God. 

In verse 9, Paul uses three favorite words of these false teachers of his time who were influencing the church. He actually uses their words, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. These were the buzzwords of the false teaching, but Paul turns them from the carnal wisdom of men in the world to fullness, to complete spiritual wisdom and knowledge in God's will, the fullness found only in Jesus Christ. Our knowledge is of the Word and will of God. Our understanding is only according to the truth of God's Word. Our wisdom, that is knowledge applied, is according to and by the power and wisdom of God alone. 

And the purpose here becomes the key to our understanding. What was the purpose of knowledge and wisdom and understanding for the false teachers, the Gnostics, or dualist philosophers? The purpose was the knowledge, the gnosis, the goal. Like those we read about in Acts 17 in Athens, it says they sat around discussing some new thing, right? That's the way we were in college, right? We'd sit in the dorm room and fight and yell and discuss some new thing. I guess in the present generation you're not allowed to offend anyone, but we enjoyed that. We learned a lot, right? But we would discuss some new thing. 

And that's what this was about, the pursuit of secret knowledge or understanding, and that knowledge was the end game, but not so for God's will for our lives. For this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that for the express purpose that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 

In God's plan for our Christian life, His purpose in saving us and recreating us and indwelling and empowering us was not for us to sit around and gain knowledge just to know and be enlightened, but His purpose is that we would walk in a new way, that we would live a new life in consistency with who we are in Him, that we would be fully pleasing to Him in every way, that we would be bearing fruit for His glory in an ever-growing relationship in our knowledge of Him, who He is, a personal relationship with our Abba Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

This is a stark contrast, and we see it in our world today as well. Seeking knowledge, trying to grow in understanding, developing technology, we have AI now, all these things. Why? Why do men seek after knowledge and invention and technology? Think about it with me. Why do they do all of these things? Why do they spend tremendous resources in order to satisfy their hedonistic desires? More stuff, more money, more power, but most of all, a more comfortable, convenient lifestyle where they have time and resources to satisfy the flesh. 

This is the pursuit of the lost man in Adam, the worldly wise man of our day and of Paul's day. But this is not the will of God for you, my friend. His will is so much greater than all these things. It's a changed life today and for eternity. It's a real purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in Him and His will for us. It's the privilege of being used by Him to accomplish His will and purpose in people around us. It's a life worthy of who we now are in Him because of His grace and salvation, His grace in our everyday life, His sufficiency, His purpose. 

Jesus came to give us life, eternal life today and forever and abundant life in meaning and purpose in the will of God. Gnosis is not the goal, and the hollow, deceptive philosophies of men and religion and law is not the means to God's will. The means is the knowledge of God through His Word, the understanding of who we are in Him, what He's done in us and promised for us, and believing, trusting that what He says is true. 

He is the means, Jesus is the fullness, the Holy Spirit is the power that indwells and strengthens us. His will is for us to know and understand and believe who we are in Christ and by His grace and power to live in light of these truths. So for the false teacher, life is all about the pursuit of knowledge and how I live in the flesh is irrelevant, but for the believer it's all about the knowledge of Him and how we live is the very purpose of gaining, growing in, and having the fullness of this knowledge. 

Let me ask you, what is the hallmark of false teachers according to the will of God? We see this continually in the scriptures. Think of 2 Peter 2 or the book of Jude. What marks a false teacher? What does God tell us is always the case?

One, money and power, right? Two, sexual sin. These are the hallmarks of every false teacher according to God and His word. Peter says they are in it for the filthy lucre, old King James. They will make merchandise of you, he says, right? The TV evangelists, those kinds of things. 2 Peter 2.14 says they have eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They are trained in covetous practices and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. 

For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, I love that phrase, when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, Pastor Krenz used to say soap bubbles, right? They allure how? Through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, right, that's what we hear over and over and over. When they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption, inner corruption. For by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. Jude 1.11 says, woe to them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 

These are spots in your love feast, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots. Raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame, wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. My friends, they're in it for the money. They're filled with sexual sin. They seek power and influence. These are the carnal desires of the false teachers, and they do it through lies, through false doctrine, through higher wisdom, hierarchy, authority over people. 

This is the opposite of truth in Christianity. Paul says, for this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you. To ask that you may be filled with all the knowledge of His will, all wisdom and spiritual understanding in order that you may walk worthy, fully pleasing to Him. Paul's prayers for God's will, knowledge of Him, fruitfulness, faithfulness, holy living, pleasing Him, strengthen with all might according to His glorious power, joy, thankfulness, perseverance in trial, knowing, having hope that we are partakers of the inheritance of the saints and the light. 

All these things are a contrast with the carnal, self-centered, man-exalting teachings of the false religions and philosophies of man. God's will sits in direct contrast to the wisdom and understanding of men. So we must be filled with the knowledge of His will according to His Word. We see this in our text, filled with all the knowledge of His will, all wisdom and spiritual understanding. 

And I just want to briefly go over these last three points, walking worthy, increasing in the knowledge of Him, and giving thanks. Verse 10, that you may walk worthy of the Lord. We see this same language in Ephesians 4, if you turn over to Ephesians 4 with me. We always talk about how the imperatives are built on the indicatives, meaning the truth underlies the commands, right? The commands are reasonable for the believer. You can't say to an unbeliever, be holy, do not lie, do not steal, right? You can give them that law, but it provides no means to live it out. 

But for the believer, because of the truths of our salvation and regeneration, our death, burial, and resurrection with Christ, His life and power in us, it's reasonable for us then to live that way. That's what Paul's getting at here in Ephesians 4. He says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Now the critical word here is the word therefore. What does it point us back to? What is Paul basing his exhortation on? The words walk worthy literally mean with equal weight. 

Paul is encouraging us to walk in consistency, equality with who we are. In the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul has told us who we are and what we have in Christ. He's taken us to great heights, talking about the salvation work of God in us, how we were born again, regenerated, indwelled with the Holy Spirit after we heard the gospel and believed. He talks at length about the glorious nature of our position in Christ, the reality of who we are and what we have in Him. 

And having done all this, laying down all this truth, you'll find no imperatives in those first three chapters, just truth about who Jesus is, the salvation He's provided and who we are in Him. In chapter 4, he says, live in equal weight with your calling. Be who you are, consistent with all the truths about who we now are since we were taken out of the kingdom of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love. 

Our old man died, we were buried with Christ and raised to newness of life. We are no longer slaves to indwelling sin, under bondage to the law and held captive to the fear of death. We are now under grace, living in righteousness and have eternal life. We are no longer in Adam, we are in Christ. And Paul wants us to walk in consistency with who we are, as he says in Galatians 5, we live in the Spirit, therefore let us also walk in the Spirit. 

This is the knowledge we need to have, to know, to believe. And the means, the power of this new life is the knowledge of Him, His life and power in us. He says in Colossians 1.10, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy. 

We read Galatians 2.20 last week where Paul explains that this new life in Christ is now lived by faith in the Son of God, Jesus' life in and through us. It's no longer I who live, but Christ in me. In the life I live, I live by faith in Him. It's the Holy Spirit who imparts strength to our inner man, it's God's power, His glorious power that produces fruit and holiness through us. Ephesians 3 says, according to the riches of His glory. 

My friends, the resource is endless, superabounding grace towards you. The very power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in you. His glorious riches, the very provision of God Himself, it is God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.

It's not by our wisdom and knowledge, not by our works, by law or religion, it's not some secret knowledge that only the muckety-mucks have, it's Jesus.

Jesus is the fullness.

All wisdom and knowledge is found in Him, and the resource for this life of fruit and faith is His grace.

We live in grace.

We stand in grace.

God's grace is superabounding towards us who believe.

God by His grace is accomplishing His will in our lives as we walk by faith.

And this grace of God produces thankfulness.

Colossians 112, giving thanks, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints and the light.

He has delivered us, rescued us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

God in Christ has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints and the light.

What can we say but thank You?

How can we live but thankfully?

John 112 says, but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Romans 8, 16, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

The Holy Spirit is in agreement with my spirit.

I am a child of God, and if I'm a child, then I'm an heir, an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ.

If indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 2 Peter 1, 3, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him.

Peter says the same thing.

He's given us all things we need, so full sufficiency for holy living, for godliness in this life.

How?

Through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be part of God. takers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you for your indescribable gift.

Thank you for your grace and salvation in all things that pertain to life and godliness, in your will and purpose for our lives and for our hope in eternity.

God's grace is sufficient for today and every day of life, and we say thank you.

Thank you.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness, conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.

When we understand that salvation is by grace through faith alone in Jesus alone, when we understand that the Christian life is by grace through faith alone in Jesus alone, that we walk by faith and stand in grace, that it is God who is accomplishing his will and purpose in our lives by his grace as we abide in him, as we believe him, then our life will be a life of thankfulness, love, hope, faith, gratitude, and this will be a witness in this world.

Jesus has redeemed us.

We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin.

He paid the price.

He bought us back by his death in our place for our sins.

And he has redeemed us from the curse of the law and the power of indwelling sin, taken us out of the kingdom of darkness.

We are no longer slaves of sin, we are no longer under the law, we no longer fear death.

Our life is now in Christ under grace, righteousness, and eternal life.

And our hope is in him, in him alone for today and forever.

What can you say, my brother and my sister?

What can you say to God's grace, to Jesus, but thank you?

And what should your life be?

How then should we live?

Thankfulness, forgiving one another, loving one another.

That's what this text is all about.

It's about the body.

It's about the church.

It's about you loving one another.

Loving God for his great gift of salvation.

Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful salvation we have in Jesus.

And now our spiritual act of worship, our reasonable service, right, logizima, logic's in there, our reasonable service is now to present our bodies, our lives, a living sacrifice to him for his will and purpose, for his glory.

Let's close in prayer.

Father, we thank you.

Thank you for the truth of our salvation in Jesus.

Thank you for your grace.

Thank you that you've given us your Word, that you've given us the church, that we can exhort one another, we can go to your Word and encourage and correct and just help each other and grow in our own understanding of who you are, of your will.

And thank you that you accomplish all these things.

Help us to believe you, to trust you, so that we might see this kind of life produced through us in our flesh, in our bodies, in this world, so that your will might be accomplished.

In Jesus' name, amen.