Rev. David Holwick H
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 10, 2002
Colossians 1:9-14
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I. What do you wish for?
A. Peanuts cartoon.
One day Lucy and Linus had a chicken wishbone and were going
to pull it to make a wish.
Lucy was explaining to Linus that if he got the bigger half
of it, his wish would come true.
Linus said to her, "Do I have to say the wish out loud?"
Lucy said, "Of course, if you don't say it out loud it won't
come true."
So Lucy goes ahead and makes her wish first.
She says, "I wish for four new sweaters, a new bike, a new
pair of skates, a new dress and one hundred dollars."
It came time for Linus to make his wishes, and he says,
"I wish for a long life for all of my friends,
I wish for world peace,
I wish for great advancements in medical research."
Lucy takes the wishbone and throws it away saying,
"Linus, that's the trouble with you.
You're always spoiling everything!"
#5118
B. Paul's wish for the Colossians is expressed in these verses.
1) It is his prayer for them.
2) He prays for the highest things.
a) So often our prayers are little prayers.
b) Immediate needs and problems are our focus.
3) Paul is responding to a report about Colosse.
a) He is grateful for what has happened to them.
b) He prays for their further enrichment.
II. First request - they would be filled with knowledge of God's will.
A. Fill-ups have become more frequent in Holwick household.
1) Two cars, three drivers.
a) We used to have Rebecca too, but she didn't drive much.
1> She was afraid to drive.
2> And it showed all over my vans.
b) Sarah is different.
1> "Can I go to Kathleen's? Can I go to Eric's?"
2> I am lucky to find an eighth of a tank of gas.
A> So I am always filling it up.
2) Our knowledge of God's will is like a gas tank.
a) We need to fill it up.
b) Will of God is whole purpose God has for our lives.
B. Creating an environment of clear direction from God.
Comment by Ron Hutchcraft:
Ultimately, this "God's will fill-up" is an answer to prayer.
But there are some things you can do to create the environment
of clear, unmistakable direction from God.
First, want it badly.
Are you interested in God's viewpoint just to see if you want
to do what He says?
Or are you desperate to get God's leading on what you should do,
and you'll do it no matter what?
Remember, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust also in Him and He
will bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5)
Secondly, approach it neutrally.
Don't pray to be filled with God's will if you're all full of
your will.
Give God a blank piece of paper, not a contract you'd like Him
to sign.
One other step that prepares you for a "God's will fillup" -
act responsively.
When you get God's leading, do it - before you change your mind.
Obedience isn't just agreeing with what God wants - it's doing
it.
And until God fills you with the knowledge of His will on this
matter, don't move.
When He does fill your heart, don't wait.
Don't forget that the unfolding of God's will is usually just
the next step, not the whole plan.
That is why we have to depend on him day by day.
#19720
III. Second request - they would live worthily.
A. The way you live matters to God.
1) "Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise
of others, but from doing something worthwhile."
Wilfred Grenfell (1865 - 1940)
English medical missionary #18735
2) Lightfoot - "The end of all knowledge is conduct."
B. How can we please God?
1) Please - originally had connotation of cringing servitude.
2) Bible presents it differently.
3) We are his sons and daughters and we want to make him proud.
IV. Four elements of a God-pleasing life.
A. Fruitfulness in every good work. 1:10
1) Christian life should exhibit continual fruitfulness.
2) Fruit itself is every good work.
a) Good works mentioned a great deal in his letters.
b) They are the fruit, not the root, of right
relationship with God.
B. Growth in knowledge of God. 1:10
1) Personal spiritual enlargement.
2) Present tense puts emphasis on habitual action.
3) Knowledge of God is means by which we grow.
C. Strengthened with God's power. 1:11
1) We are engaged in moral conflict.
a) We need God's strength to stand.
b) According to his might - his supply, not just our need.
2) Twofold result of empowerment:
a) Endurance.
b) Patience.
D. Gratitude to God for blessings of redemption. 1:12-14
1) Kingdom of light - future and heavenly. But --
2) Rescued - we already experience aspects of kingdom. 1:13
Tomorrow is the six-month anniversary of the September 11 attack.
There are so many stories that put a face on the tragedy.
A particularly moving first-person story concerned a woman who
miraculously survived the collapse of the North Tower.
She tried to make her way down the long stairwell from her office on
the 64th floor, and she made it to the 13th floor.
And that's when the entire tower began to crumble.
She fell to the ground as the building continued to collapse
around her.
She dropped thirteen floors and ended up with her head pinned between
two concrete pillars, her legs trapped in a staircase.
She said, "I saw that no one came, and I wasn't hearing any noises
around me.
So I thought, 'I'm going to die here.
I'm going to see myself slowly die here.'"
The young mother prayed, slept, prayed some more.
At one point, she asked God for a miracle.
That's when she heard noises.
She yelled out, and someone answered back.
She had been trapped under tons of debris for 27 hours.
Here's how she described what happened next:
"I took a piece of concrete and I knocked the stair above me.
And then they heard the knocking, and then they started to come
closer.
And then I put my hands through a little crack in the ceiling, and I
felt the person hold my hand.
The fireman found my hand and he said, 'I've got you.'
And I said, 'Thank God.'"
She was the last person pulled alive from the wreckage.
#22201
3) God is reaching out his hand to us.
a) He wants to rescue us.
b) Do you want to be saved?
V. There are two realms.
A. You are in kingdom of the Son, or you are in darkness.
1) Right now we only catch glimpses of the difference.
2) Some day it will be very evident.
B. Accept his redemption.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 5118 "The Wishbone," Peanuts cartoon by Charles Schulz, quoted by
Rev. Ron Newhouse, Daily Devotions News;
http://www.devotions.net; January 2, 2000.
#18735 "Quotes On Joy And Happiness," Wilfred Grenfell, from "Bits &
Pieces" (internet daily email); January 10, 2001.
#19720 "Filled With The Good Stuff," by Ron Hutchcraft, "A Word With
You" #3813; August 22, 2001.
#22201 "A Life That Depends On You," by Ron Hutchcraft, "A Word With
You" #3937; February 12, 2002.
These and 20,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Study notes and extra illustrations:
Commentary: Expositor's
=======================
I. Paul's fervent petition.
A. That Colossians would be filled with knowledge of God's will. 9
B. So that they will live worthily. 10a
1) Growth in knowledge of God.
2) Fruitfulness in every good work. 10b
3) Patience and long-suffering. 11
4) Gratitude to God for blessings of redemption. 12-14
C. So that they would please God.
II. Paul is responding to report about Colosse.
A. He is grateful for what has happened to them.
B. He prays for their further enrichment.
III. Two requests in prayer.
A. God might fill them with knowledge of his will.
1) (had they settled for breezy speculation?)
2) Knowledge refers to religious and moral knowledge.
3) Will of God is whole purpose of God for our lives.
B. That they would live worthily.
1) This is a result of knowing God's will.
a) Lightfoot - "The end of all knowledge is conduct."
2) Worthy of Lord - commensurate with what he's done for us.
a) Also, acting in conformity with Christ.
IV. Ultimate aim - please God every way.
A. Please - originally had connotation of cringing servitude.
B. Four elements of a God-pleasing life.
1) Bear fruit.
a) Christian life should exhibit continual fruitfulness.
b) Fruit itself is every good work.
1> Good works mentioned a great deal in his letters.
2> They are the fruit, not the root, of right
relationship with God.
2) Grow.
a) Personal spiritual enlargement.
b) Present tense puts emphasis on habitual action.
c) Knowledge of God is means by which we grow.
3) Be strengthened.
a) We are engaged in moral conflict.
b) We need God's strength to stand.
c) According to his might - his supply, not just our need.
d) Twofold result of empowerment:
1> Endurance.
2> Patience.
4) Be grateful.
a) Kingdom of light - future and heavenly. But --
b) Rescued - we already experience aspects of kingdom.
V. Our redemption - emancipation - is a present possession.
A. Blood - not in earliest manuscripts.
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HOLWICK'S COLLECTION Number: 15787
TITLE: Colossians 1:13
AUTHOR: Rev. David Lemmons, LemmonsAid;
webpage{http://www.hcis.net/users/dlemmons}
PAGE: 1/1998.101
DATE: 414-434
ILLUSTRATION:
"HE HAS TAKEN OUR HEADS OUT!"
A man returning from a visit to a mission field in Africa tells an
interesting story about the circumstances behind the translation of
Colossians 1:13 into the dialect of the people. He says that the words
"has delivered us," referring to the liberating power of Christ in
salvation, are rendered, "has taken our heads out!"
When the man first heard that strange expression, he inquired how it
could possibly convey the meaning of the verse. The missionary told
him years ago the tribes people had lived in terrible slavery. Huge
iron collars attached to heavy chains had been placed around their
necks. They dared not strain to get away because these cruel collars
would bruise their throats and choke them. When they were finally set
free from their oppressors, the best part was being released once and
for all from those confining iron bands.
Therefore, when they wanted to describe the wonderful spiritual
deliverance they had experienced from the awful power of Satan, they
could find no better way to express what Jesus had done for them than
to say, "He has taken our heads out!"
What word picture would you and I use to describe the spiritual
deliverance we have experienced.
Often we use the Biblical terms of redemption and delivered casually
and almost given them 'theological status' not realising that the power
of these words is connected to the reality of our being captives or
slaves. Typically Western Societies do not see themselves as captives,
but as conquerors.
What is interesting to note is that the terms redemption and delivered
are typically in our society used in connection with the buying,
selling, and delivery of goods.
One person owing another person no longer occurs in Western Culture,
but slavery still occurs. People become slaves to material items, to
the consumer culture, people become enslaved to the very things they
buy.
If you have any doubts about the reality or power of the slavery of
materialism consider the fact that people in our culture own more
things than people in any other culture at any other time, yet there
is a profound emptiness in people lives. Everybody kno ws that things
do not bring joy, but then why do we pursue things as if they were
the only source of joy.
Back to the word picture of being delivered. Because of Jesus we have
set free from sin and the madness of our consumer culture. We have
been delivered from the temptations of the advertising culture. That
is a great blessing far too many Christians have neglected, including
myself.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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