Prayer For The Saints

Well, would you please take your Bibles and open them up this morning again to the book of Colossians.

Our passage this morning is chapter 1 verses 9 through 14.

Isaiah 1:9–14

If you don't have a Bible, that's okay.

We provide them in the seat backs in front of you, but I would encourage you as always, please have a Bible open as we walk through this passage together.

We're picking up in verse 9, and we left off last week with Paul telling the Colossian church how he prays for them, how he thanks God for them, and how he thanks God for the work of his grace at work in them.

He had heard about this from his friend Epaphras, who came to Paul while he was there in Rome and updated him on the church at Colossae.

And so we pick up here halfway through Paul's train of thought in verse 9 this morning, and again, we'll read through verse 14.

And when you found that in your Bible, let's stand in honor of the reading of the Word of God this morning.

Colossians 1 verses 9 through 14.

Colossians 1:9–14

Paul says,

Let's pray once more.

Father, we ask once more, God, would you speak powerfully through the preaching of your Word.

Let it fall on fertile soil this morning.

And draw our hearts' attention to Christ.

Would you give us wisdom and knowledge and insight, God, empowered by your Spirit, so that we might walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

How can I pray for you?

As a pastor, that's a question that I find myself asking fairly often.

And oftentimes, the response that I will get to that question tends to be focused on circumstances of life.

So maybe someone is dealing with a sickness.

Maybe someone that they love is struggling in some way.

Maybe they're having some sort of difficulty at work or at home.

It's about their life circumstances.

And of course, I love to offer up prayers like that to the Lord.

And the Lord loves to hear prayers like that and loves to answer prayers like that.

But it's a little bit surprising sometimes when we open up passages like this.

And we see that the way the Apostle Paul tends to pray is very different from the way that you and I tend to pray.

And it's not that needs like that don't matter.

Of course they do.

But to the Apostle Paul, it seems like they don't matter most.

Paul's prayers for the saints here in Colossae and other places in Scripture are shaped by their greatest and most urgent need.

Namely, that they would know the breathtaking power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And then that they would go living in the power of the new life that Christ has purchased for them in the gospel.

You remember how last week we started our series through the book of Colossians.

And we saw that these believers in Colossae are wrestling against a dangerous and a false teaching there in Colossae.

This teaching told them that they did not have enough.

The gospel is a great start.

And Jesus is a great place to begin.

But what you really need is more of our man-made rules and man-made regulations.

You need more of our secret, special knowledge.

You need more of what we have to offer you.

And then, maybe then, you will be spiritually full.

Maybe then you will have the knowledge that you need of how to live a life that's honoring to God.

But you remember from last week, Paul, right off the bat, told them,

No, no, no, no, no.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is enough.

Jesus and his finished work on the cross is enough.

You don't need to add to it all of these man-made rules and regulations.

This morning, as we look to our passage, what we see is that because the gospel is enough,

we can pray specifically and boldly to the Lord on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ

that they would realize for themselves all the glorious power of God for them in the gospel.

So let's take a look at this gospel-shaped prayer this morning for the saints.

And we're going to see it in three parts.

This will be our outline this morning.

If you're taking notes, I'll try to make it easy for you to follow along.

We'll see three parts this morning.

First, the prayer.

Second, the purpose.

And third, the power.

And as we do, I just want you to notice here, just briefly, I want to make this comment.

There is no copyright on this prayer.

And it would be my desire for us as a church that we would lift this prayer straight off the page

and pray this daily, if not weekly, for one another and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

So let's see what Paul's praying here.

First, we see the prayer.

The prayer.

And we see this in verse 9.

Look there with me.

He says,

And so from the day we heard, meaning the day that we heard about you,

the day that we heard about your faith in Christ from the Paphras,

from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you,

asking that you may be filled with knowledge.

Now, Paul is here for just a moment.

And remember, again, what's going on in Colossae.

Because if you were a member of the church at Colossae and you heard those key words, right?

Filled.

Knowledge.

You would have some alarms lining up.

Lighting up.

Your ears would perk up at hearing this.

Because Paul is hijacking the language that the false teachers are using.

These are their lines.

This is the exact same angle that the false teachers are taking.

Remember, they're promising.

They're coming to the church at Colossae saying,

If you really want to reach spiritual fullness,

you need some of our special knowledge.

If you want to be spiritually filled,

well, you need our man-made regulations.

Paul knows exactly what he's doing here.

And this is a strategic use of these key words here.

And he says,

Yes, I agree.

Fullness matters.

Knowledge matters.

Knowledge matters.

But the Christian's path to fullness is not through human regulation.

But rather, it is through divine revelation.

Say that again.

The Christian's path to fullness and knowledge is not through human regulation and man-made rules,

but rather through divine revelation.

It is not through secret, special knowledge of the few and the elite.

It is through personal, intimate knowledge of God as he has revealed himself in the gospel.

This is why Paul prays that you may be filled with knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

When this knowledge of the will of God is not the prized possession of a few elite Christians.

Rather, every single Christian can be filled with the knowledge of the will of God.

Do you believe this?

Every single Christian, meaning every single man and every single woman, every single boy, every single girl,

who has heard the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

and by his grace has understood the grace of God in truth,

they can be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Do you realize, Christian, it is entirely possible for you to genuinely be filled with knowledge of his will?

Why? Well, because he has given us his book, his word, his revealed will,

and he has given every Christian his spirit to empower the reading and the studying and the preaching of the word of God

so that we might understand the revealed will of God.

We have his word and we have his spirit,

and Paul says, well, that's enough for you.

Now, this is one of the major issues in the Protestant Reformation.

If you've ever studied this era of church history in the 16th century,

for centuries the medieval church restricted access to the average believer.

And they told them that only the priesthood, only the papacy, only the bishops, only the pope

could rightly interpret the will of God.

And so in order for the average Christian in the pews to understand what God's will is,

well, they have to go through the professional clergy.

They get their directions from the top.

They get their directions from them.

Entire worship services like this were held entirely in Latin,

which, oh, by the way, nobody spoke or understood except for the clergy.

They just had to go in faith that these elite special people with this elite special knowledge,

that they were giving them the truth.

But of course, we know the story.

The reformers made the dangerous decision to actually take up and read the word of God for themselves.

And then they made the dangerous decision to go and translate the word of God

into the language of the common people

and to write and publish commentaries on the word of God

that could be read and understood by average Joe in the pew.

And guess what happened?

The reformation took place and caught like wildfire.

You didn't have to be a spiritual elite to grow in the knowledge and the will of God.

You simply had to have the spirit of God and the word of God.

So Paul, understanding this, prays for these believers

that they would be filled with all knowledge of his will.

They don't need the secret knowledge of these false teachers.

They simply need the word of God and the spirit of God,

which, by the way, they already have because the gospel has come to them.

But then we should ask, well, what does that knowledge actually look like in practice?

This is going to be our second point this morning.

We should ask why?

To what end does Paul pray these things?

And we'll spend the bulk of our time here in this second point.

Second, we see the purpose of Paul's prayer.

Why does Paul pray that they would be filled with knowledge?

To what end?

And what does he hope that this knowledge will produce in them?

He tells us in verse 10,

Don't you want to do that, church?

This is such a vital truth.

I need to stop here and make this point.

Do you understand that true knowledge of God,

it accords with a godly life?

True knowledge of God will be lived out in your life Monday through Saturday.

True understanding of who God is,

it must necessarily result in a life lived for God's glory.

There is absolutely no place for a classroom only,

intellectual only, academic only, so-called knowledge of God

that has no impact whatsoever on a Christian's daily life.

If you can study about God in a book and then shut the book

and go out the door and live in blatant, unrepentant sin,

you should know that is not biblical Christianity.

And you may have knowledge about God,

but you may not know God.

You can come to church,

and you can sit through the sermon,

and you can sing the songs,

and then go home.

And if there's no actual difference in your life

compared to your non-believing neighbors,

again, you may be doing religion,

but you may not actually be walking with the Lord.

The great theologian Herman Bivink,

he says it like this.

He says,

Scripture knows nothing of a knowledge that is merely academic.

To know God is to love Him,

to fear Him,

and to trust Him.

And to be filled with the knowledge of His will

means that our entire existence is captured by His truth.

Friend, is this true of you?

Here Paul says,

to be filled with the knowledge of God

and all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

That sort of fullness will show itself up in your life.

Be filled, again,

so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

And so my question becomes then,

well, what in the world does that look like?

What does that look like?

Paul gives us four clear marks

of a God-fearing life here in this passage.

Four clear marks of a God-fearing life.

You can use this sort of as a self-assessment tool

as you look at your own life.

The first mark he says,

he says,

the God-pleasing life bears fruit.

The God-pleasing life bears fruit.

He says,

bearing fruit and increasing in every good work.

This is what the gospel does in the life of a believer.

Isn't he,

this is what he said earlier in the chapter.

As he said,

the word of the gospel in all the world

is bearing fruit and increasing

as it also does among you.

And that fruit of the gospel,

it doesn't just look like a polished exterior

that just keeps all the rules

and looks good on the outside.

He says,

no, no, no, no, no.

That fruit looks like faith in Christ.

It looks like love for all the saints.

He tells us in Galatians,

that fruit looks like love and joy and peace,

patience and kindness and goodness

and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control.

This is the fruit that the Spirit brings about

in the lives of those who have trusted

in the good news of Christ.

The path to bearing fruit

is not rigid, ritualistic, legalistic,

man-made rule-keeping traditions.

It's found in driving your roots

deeper and deeper into Christ.

What does he tell us?

Abide in me and you will what?

You will bear much fruit.

That's Mark number one.

Mark number two, Paul says,

the God-pleasing life increases in knowledge.

The God-pleasing life increases in knowledge,

bearing fruit and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Key word here, increasing.

Increasing.

In other words, church,

the God-pleasing life is not stagnant.

The God-pleasing life is a constant pursuit.

The God-pleasing life is not content

with where you are in your knowledge of God.

The God-pleasing life is eager to grow

and eager to learn not just knowledge about God,

but again, knowledge of God.

Let me ask you, church,

how are you increasing in your knowledge of God?

What are you learning about him

that's not just going into your brain,

but seeking down into your heart

so that you love him more?

What are you marveling at about who God is

and what he's done?

Theology is not just for the nerds.

Okay?

Theology is not just for the spiritual elite.

Theology is the study of God.

And guess what?

We're going to be doing theology

for the rest of eternity,

if you're in Christ.

For all of the rest of eternity,

we're going to be studying

and diving deeper

and increasing in our knowledge

of who God is

and marveling at his attributes,

that he's good

and that he's holy,

that he's infinite,

that he's eternal,

that he's gracious,

that he's wise,

that he's just,

that he's kind.

We will spend the rest of eternity

growing in the knowledge of God.

Paul says,

if you're in Christ,

guess what?

You can start right now.

Where do we start?

Again,

we have his own special revelation

right here.

We have his own revealed will,

his own special self-revelation

of who he is in his word.

But why do we study the word of God?

Why do I, week after week,

just open this book up

and try and communicate what it says?

It's because this is where God

makes himself known.

The word of God

empowered by the spirit of God

for the growth and the good

of the people of God.

That's the recipe.

You can start in prayer

and communicating with him

and speaking back to him

and talking with him

and praying his words back to him.

You can read a thousand good books.

We can benefit, church,

from the centuries of wise believers

that have gone before us.

It's almost embarrassing

how much knowledge and wisdom

we can gain from others.

This is what the Christian life is.

It's a communal pursuit

of the knowledge of God.

It's a body growing up

and walking together in his will.

But of course,

the truth is that this type

of lifelong pursuit

requires strength, doesn't it?

It requires strength.

It requires strength,

not our strength,

but rather his strength.

This is the third mark

that Paul gives us.

The God-pleasing life,

verse 11,

requires his strength.

He prays that they would be filled

for a life pleasing to him,

being strengthened with all power

according to his glorious might,

for all endurance and patience

with joy.

You know,

the thing about legalism,

this rigid law-keeping,

right?

Think about it like this.

Legalistic, ritualistic,

religious law-keeping

does not require the power of God.

This is why we're drawn to it,

to be honest.

Legalism does not need God's help.

It does not need God's strength.

What does it demand?

It demands your strength.

It gives you a list of do's and don'ts,

and it says if you just muscle up,

if you just grit your teeth,

you can get it done

if you try hard enough.

If you're serious enough about God,

you can check off this list

and you will make it.

You can do it

if you're really serious about the Lord.

That's what legalism tells you.

But true Christianity,

you know what it says?

You can't do this.

Here's the motivational talk

you didn't know you needed this morning,

right?

The gospel of Jesus Christ,

it says you cannot live a life

worthy of the Lord

in your own strength.

You can't do it.

You can't begin to discern

His own will

by your own knowledge.

It's spiritually discerned.

You can't begin

to live a life

that's pleasing to Him

in the slightest bit

by your own merit.

The sooner we grasp this truth,

the better off we'll be.

Christian books

have no place

in the self-help section.

The bad news is

we can't do it.

But the good news is,

Paul tells us,

God Himself supplies

the strength that we need.

God Himself supplies the strength.

He gives us everything that we need

to live a life that's pleasing to Him.

It is His provision

that makes the God-pleasing life possible.

It is His power

that makes the God-pleasing life possible.

It's His strength

that makes the God-pleasing life possible.

And apart from His strength,

you can't do it.

If it were,

based on our own strength,

to hold on to Him

or to climb a ladder

up to reach Him,

guess what, church?

We would lose our grip on Him

every single time.

This is why Paul prays

the way that he does.

May you be strengthened

with all power

according to His glorious might

so that we may endure

and have patience

and joy.

This is God's work.

And when you realize, church,

that the entire Christian life

is empowered by His strength,

and then and only then

will we understand

the fourth mark here

of a God-fearing life.

Fourth.

Fourth and finally.

Verse 12.

He says,

the God-pleasing life

is filled with gratitude.

He says,

giving thanks to God the Father.

Giving thanks to God the Father.

The fact is,

you will not give thanks to God

if you believe

that it all depends on you.

You will not give thanks to God

if you believe

that it's all dependent

on your strength.

When you go to a hotel

and you don't walk up

to the hotel door

and open it yourself

and lug your own bags inside

and then turn

and thank the doorman.

Gratitude is the overflow

of a recognition of need.

Gratitude is the overflow

of a recognition

that you have been served.

You have been helped.

You have been unable

to do something

and someone has taken it

upon themselves

to do it for you.

Someone else has served you

in a way that you

could not serve yourself.

But the man or the woman

that's relying

on their own strength,

the man or the woman

that's depending on human effort

to keep man-made rules,

they don't overflow with thanks.

You know what they overflow with?

Pride.

It's either pride

when you do it well

or it's despair

when you don't.

It's not God,

thank you

for what you've done.

It's not God,

thank you for saving me.

It's not God,

I was unable

and I was lost

and I was dead in sin

and you made me alive

in Christ.

You did what I couldn't do.

You kept the law perfectly

when I failed.

You abolished death.

You resurrected Christ

from the grave.

I couldn't do any of that

on my own.

No,

legalism says,

well look what I can do.

I can keep my rules

and I can puff myself up.

I can pad my own stats

and get my own recognition

for my own pride.

Paul looks down this road

of legalism

and he sees the end of it

because Paul has lived this himself.

He sees the end

of what comes

from these legalistic rules

and regulations

and at the end of that road

is not glory to God.

It is glory to self.

And so he says,

you know what?

A life that is pleasing to God,

it looks like humble gratitude.

Overflowing.

The thanksgiving.

Because at the end of the day,

the God-pleasing life

understands that

God's pleasure in you

is not based on your performance

for Him.

Can I say that again?

Church, do you understand?

Christian, do you understand?

God's pleasure in you

is not based on your performance

for Him.

Be free of depending

on your own strength.

faith.

Be free

of religious legalism

that demands more

and more

and more

and more

and more

in order to earn God's favor.

Be free of these lies

of the enemy.

God's favor,

His pleasure in you

is not dependent

on your performance

for Him.

It is based on

the finished work

of Christ

that is given to you.

Not by your rule keeping

but simply by faith.

This is the power of God

that will guard us

from the temptation

to perform our way

into God's grace

and it's this power of God

that will enable us

to live a life

worthy of the Lord.

It's the power of God

and the gospel of Christ.

The finished work

of Jesus Christ

is enough.

This is where Paul points us

in our third

and final point

this morning.

Third,

we see the power

for a God-pleasing life.

What is it?

The power is

the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

It's not

these man-made rules.

It is

the gospel.

And don't you love

how Paul's prayer

is just

so rooted

in the gospel

of Jesus Christ?

He reminds

these saints,

these brothers

and sisters

in Christ

all the way

off at Colossae

not what they

have to do next

but what God

has already done

for them

in Christ.

The gospel

by definition

is a miracle

of God's grace.

Don't you realize

grace can't be earned?

Then it's not grace.

If you earn grace

it's not grace anymore.

It's a paycheck.

God says

the gospel

is a message

of God's

unmerited grace.

no man

can add

anything to it

on their best day.

No Christian

can rob from it

on their worst day.

It is grace

upon grace

upon grace

towards sinners

like us

in Christ.

It's a finished work.

Paul shows us

what God

has done for us

in three

absolutely

breathtaking actions

here.

And we'll walk

through it

and then we'll close.

What has God

done for you?

Christian

Paul tells us

one

he has qualified

you

to share

in the inheritance

of saints

and light.

God has qualified

you

to share

in the inheritance

of the saints

and light.

You know

the lies

of legalism

they give you

this list

of do's and don'ts

in order to be

qualified.

If you just

check this box

then you will make it.

And just so we're clear

that's not

just a problem

back then in Colossae.

This is a right now

problem isn't it?

It's a right here

problem isn't it?

Our hearts

are so wired

to return

to this legalistic

performance

based religion

where we think

we gotta do something

to measure up

and earn God's favor.

The lie

that we can believe

is that we must

do certain things

in order to

be qualified.

What does Paul say?

God

has qualified

you in Christ.

God

has qualified

you

in Christ

to inherit

this glorious

inheritance

of the saints

in light.

Not only this

verse 13

tells us

he has

delivered us

from the domain

of darkness

and again

do you notice

this is past tense?

This is past

this is something

God's already done.

He has delivered

us from the domain

of darkness

and I know

what you're thinking

man it looks

plenty dark

around here

doesn't it?

In this country

where we live

this area

of the world

where we live

there is

plenty of darkness

all around us

isn't there?

The same was true

in Colossae

they wrestled

with all the same

powers of darkness

that we wrestle

with here.

How in the world

can Paul say

he's delivered you

from the domain

of darkness?

We're still in it.

Paul is saying

something has

happened

so that you

even though you

still live

all around it

it's all around you

something has

happened

so that you

can say

I no longer

belong to this

darkness all around me.

What's happened?

Christ

has triumphed

over the powers

of sin and darkness

at the cross.

Christ has

shattered

all the power

all the authority

of the enemy

at the cross

in the empty tomb.

Christ has

disarmed

the rulers

and the authorities

he has conquered

the dark domain

at the cross

of Christ.

So now

even though

we live

in a fallen world

those who belong

to Christ

can say with confidence

I don't belong

to this domain

of darkness anymore

the gospel

has set me free.

He has qualified us

he has delivered us

and look at the rest

of the verse

says he has

transferred us

into the kingdom

of his beloved son

in whom we have

redemption

the forgiveness

of sins.

here's some good news

for you church

if you are

in Christ

simply by faith

in him

you are already

right now

in this present moment

you are a citizen

of the kingdom

of God

he has already

transferred you

into his kingdom

you belong

to his kingdom

John Calvin

says it like this

he says

this is a word

transferred

this is a word

used of empires

when a king

takes an entire

population

and relocates them

into a new

glorious territory

we are not merely

improved prisoners

in the old kingdom

we are fully

naturalized citizens

in the new kingdom

of his beloved son

our legal standing

is completely new

and our old master

has no right

to demand taxes

or obedience

from us

ever again

by his finished

work

Christ Jesus

has purchased

everything we need

for our redemption

Christ Jesus

by his blood

has purchased

the forgiveness

of all

of our sins

Charles Spurgeon

commenting on this passage

he says

it is a done thing

we are not arriving

at his kingdom

we are already there

we are wrestling

to get out of the dungeon

of darkness

the doors have been

smashed

and we've been brought

out

into the glorious

light

of the sun

church

this

perfect

finished

work of Christ

this is the power

that we need

to live a life

pleasing to God

nothing else

this is the power

that we need

to resist

all the many lies

from the enemy

that tell us

to do more

be more

achieve more

in order to be

spiritually full

Paul says

if you are in

Christ

you have everything

you need

in him

the power

for a God

pleasing life

is yours

right now

in

Christ

friend

if you are

not

a believer

in Christ

my prayer

for you

this morning

is that

you would be

free

from the lies

of performance

from the lies

that would tell you

that you must

do more

achieve more

be more

in order to be

pleasing to God

but rather

that God

by the power

of his spirit

through the

proclamation

of his word

would open

the eyes

of your heart

so you might

trust fully

in the finished

work of Jesus

Christ

it's enough

and church

my prayer

for you

is that

you too

would look

to the finished

work of Christ

and that you

would leave

here walking

in a manner

worthy of the

Lord

resting in the

power of God

at work in

you who believe

because of what

he's done

I would ask

one thing of you

as we close

by way of application

church

would you

pray this

prayer

for me

this week

I told you

there's no copyright

on this prayer

I want you

some of you

have committed

to pray

for me

and I appreciate

that so much

if you're looking

or wondering

what to pray

for your pastor

please take this

prayer

and would you

pray that for me

and then would you

look at your

your fellow brother

and sister

in Christ

and would you

pray this

for one another

this week

would you pray

for one another

that they would

be filled

with all spiritual

wisdom and understanding

and the knowledge

of his will

so as to walk

in a manner

worthy of the

Lord

not to earn

his favor

but because they

have been given

his favor already

in the finished

work of Christ

to pray

that we would

walk in a manner

worthy of the

Lord

because he has

qualified us

delivered us

transferred us

redeemed us

forgiven us

all at the

cross of Christ

let's pray

father

we praise you

God for the

finished work

of the gospel

we praise you

God for the

finished work

of Christ

we praise you

that his

work is enough

father that he

alone is what

qualifies sinners

like us to share

in the inheritance

of the saints

in light

we pray that we

would not

fall victim

to the many

lies of the

enemy

that would

lead us

away from

fully trusting

in the finished

work of Jesus

in the gospel

we pray God

that we would

walk in a manner

worthy of the

Lord

fully pleasing

to you

bearing fruit

in every good

work

we praise in

Jesus name

amen

may

may

may