Well, if we could turn back together to a reading in the first chapter of Colossians.
Colossians chapter 1.
And we're going to look at in particular verse 9 to verse 12.
Just read these verses again.
Colossians chapter 1 at verse 9.
And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you,
asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him,
bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might,
for all endurance and patience with joy,
giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
Paul here speaks about living a life pleasing to God,
being filled in this manner, a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him.
And it's that I want to focus on for a time this evening.
It's been a time of firsts over these last few weeks for me and for you as a congregation,
as it's a privilege to minister to you as a congregation on Sunday morning together,
to start to see faces and to get to know people.
And this evening is no less a privilege,
our first time coming together in prayer in this way,
we join together in prayer and worship.
It's a delight always to worship God together.
And as we seek to serve him together as a people,
our focus can often be guided towards thinking about those who are outside of the church at the moment,
those who are strangers to God's grace.
It's a real burden we should have as a people when we know the great love of God towards us as a people,
that we would have a longing and a desire that others would come and know that great love for themselves.
We always pray that the lost will be found, that they will come to be saved.
But together as a people, that shouldn't be our only desire.
Of great importance too is that as a people,
we seek to grow together in our own knowledge and understanding of the Lord,
to come and understand more of his grace for ourselves,
to understand more of his love towards us as a people.
Because the more and the deeper our understanding,
the more we are able to express that and to share it with others.
So that is going to be our focus together as a people as well.
We have a great burden for the lost.
We will have a great burden for one another to grow in our knowledge and understanding of God
and his love towards us through his son, Christ Jesus.
And as we look at this passage this evening, as we look at Paul's letter to the Colossians,
and indeed as you look at other parts of scripture where Paul writes to the church in different parts,
whether it's in Ephesus or Philippi, Thessalonica,
when you read through his letters, they've got a real sense of pastoring care towards his people,
towards God's people.
They are rich and deep in theology in so many ways,
but it's a theology that the people long to grasp and to know more of.
And so you see there's the two going hand in hand together
to learn the depths of the riches that we have in Christ,
but to do it in a way too, as we see with Paul,
that shows a love and a pastoral care for the people,
longing to take all along with them.
And so it's good for us just to look at these letters and to learn of the riches,
but also to learn the way in which we are to share of these riches together and with those around us.
And he begins this letter by giving thanks,
giving thanks for what has already taken place among the people of Colossae,
how they have already come to faith and come to know the love of God.
And the love that, as it says in verse four,
that they have for all the saints as they have this hope laid up in heaven for them.
He is giving thanks for everything that has happened in the past for them.
He's giving thanks for what they are.
And even as we come together here tonight,
we're so thankful.
And as the men were praying,
they're thankful for ministries that have gone on.
Thankful for everything that has happened here.
Thankful for everyone here tonight and the work of the grace of God in your lives.
For the faithfulness you have,
for the desire that you have to show your love and worship towards the Lord.
We're always thankful for what God has done.
And as Paul is saying here,
he begins with a sense of thanksgiving for what they are,
what they have come to be through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But then he goes on to speak about and pray for them in another way.
And now he's praying more for what they will become.
Because the Christian life is never one while we are here on earth that has an end point,
where we say,
we've made it.
We've reached our goal.
I've learned everything that I can possibly learn of the Lord and his love towards me.
We will never come to that point.
We will never reach that point in this life,
where we say,
that's it.
I know everything there is to know of God.
And so Paul is praying here for the people in Colossae,
just as we should be praying as well,
for what we will become.
What has already been done for us in Christ,
but also this desire to go on,
to go on individually,
to go on collectively,
seeking to know more of this.
And as he says here,
it's knowing this in a way where we come to live a life in the manner worthy of the Lord,
to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
And perhaps we always,
well,
we ask ourselves from time to time,
am I living a life,
a walking in a manner worthy of God?
Am I living a life pleasing to God?
It's not just at a communion time that we're to ask these questions,
to examine ourselves,
but to do it on a regular basis,
to examine our lives,
to examine our hearts,
and to ask ourselves,
is my life showing that love of Christ?
Am I living in a manner worthy of the Lord fully?
He says here,
fully pleasing him.
And as soon as we ask that question,
immediately,
I'm sure your response is no,
because that's an automatic reaction.
When we think of a life worthy of the manner of the Lord,
or fully pleasing him,
we often know,
I cannot.
I cannot achieve that.
And never am I living in that way.
But he's not asking that question to make the people feel guilty.
He's asking them that question to put a desire in their heart,
to be a people who seek in all their strength,
and in all God's strength,
to live this kind of life.
There are so many people in this world who would say,
they're living good lives.
And the danger with asking that question,
with the wrong focus,
when the focus is on self,
is that we begin to say,
judge ourselves by our own standards.
There are things that we say we do,
or there are things that we say that we don't do,
and that that is what means that we are living a life pleasing to God.
The things we do might be to say,
I go to church.
I pray.
I give generously to the church.
I help people.
I help in the work on the cause of Christ.
The things that we don't do,
we could say,
well,
you know,
I don't swear.
I don't steal.
I don't slander people.
There are standards that we look at and we think,
well,
if we don't do this,
or if we do do that,
then I must be living a life pleasing to God.
But the good as these things are,
they are not in and of themselves what it is to live a life pleasing to God,
because there is a danger in them.
And the danger is spelled out for us in scripture,
where it becomes,
or it actually can become a bit self-righteous.
And we become like the Pharisee in Luke's gospel in chapter 18.
The Pharisee who was praying,
and you will know about that time when the Pharisee stood up to pray.
And he said this,
he said,
God,
I thank you that I am not like other men,
robbers,
evildoers,
adulterers,
or even like this tax collector.
As he looked beside him,
he said,
I fast twice a week.
And I give a 10th of all that I get.
And they are all commendable things.
But what was the outcome of that time when the tax collector and the Pharisee both prayed?
The tax collector prayed just a short prayer.
Lord,
have mercy on me,
a sinner.
And who went away right from God?
I mean,
people would look at the tax collector and say,
he's not worthy.
He's a wicked man.
He steals.
He does all of these things.
This Pharisee is such a good man.
He's done all of these good things,
but God sees the heart.
And who went away right with God?
It was the tax collector.
Because he asked mercy of God.
He was looking away from himself to God,
instead of looking within himself and saying,
I have done this,
but I haven't done that.
And so we have to ask ourselves,
as we're living a life pleasing,
or seeking to live a life pleasing to God,
are we depending on ourselves,
or are we depending on God?
And so Paul outlines for us here,
in order to live and walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,
fully pleasing to him,
he gives us an insight as to what it looks like.
And there are four things,
briefly,
we just want to look at here,
that he says in these verses,
that show what a life pleasing to God is like.
And that's what we see,
as we go on through verse 10,
down to verse 12.
So as you look at verse 10,
he says,
to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,
fully pleasing to him,
the first thing he comes to there is,
bearing fruit in every good work.
Bearing fruit in every good work.
The chapter begins by outlining
how Paul is seeing the people full
in what they have already become.
How they've become faithful
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They know the grace and peace
that comes from God.
And now he's asking
that they continue to be filled
in this way,
in order that they will live lives
transformed,
transformed by this grace,
an ongoing transformation taking place,
that they will please God.
And in highlighting these positives here,
it's a reminder of how we often think
of these things in a negative way,
ourselves as well.
You just think of the words
that Paul uses here,
when he says about walking in a manner
worthy and fully pleasing him,
he is saying,
you can please God.
We can often get bogged down
in all that we do wrong.
In every way,
we fail God
and have a sense of guilt
about this.
And there are certain times
where that is right,
where that is good for us.
We know we sin
and fall short of the glory of God.
But God never wants us
to remain in that way,
where our sins just weigh us down.
God sent his son into this world
that our sins might be forgiven,
that we might be restored,
that we might walk
in a manner worthy of the Lord,
pleasing him.
He's saying,
when you come into this relationship,
you can go on in this strength,
not weighed down,
but rejoicing in the forgiveness
of your sins.
Paul,
he does it in such a positive way,
in a pastoral way.
He brings his people,
God's people on.
He shows them their sin,
but he doesn't leave them there.
He lifts them up
to show them
what they have in Christ
and what the works of Christ
has prepared in advance
for them to do.
And so he shows them
that you can rejoice in God
and seek to live
a life pleasing to him.
And another thing is,
we can often have a problem
with the idea of pleasing God
by bearing fruit,
that it's more of
the little that we've achieved
for God.
And again,
you ask yourself
the question,
how has my life borne fruit?
Maybe you say to us,
I've not brought anyone
to the Lord.
My witness has been poor.
I have failed
in so many ways.
I've done nothing.
But again,
that's not what Paul
is getting at here
when he says,
bearing fruit
in every good work.
Paul is here speaking
about a transformation
that comes
in the heart
of the believer.
As we go on
in the strength
of God,
and we see this
in verse six
before we came
to this section,
he says that the gospel
is bearing fruit
and growing.
And it's doing this
in the whole world.
It is bearing fruit
and growing.
Now,
it's not to say
that God
is using people
to convert others
all the time.
What he's saying
in bearing fruit
is that people
are growing
in their knowledge
of God.
People are going
on in the strength
of God.
And since the day
that the gospel
came to Colossae,
its ongoing work
is transforming people.
It is bearing fruit.
The Christians
are not staying still.
What they understood
when they were first believed,
they're not still
at that same point.
It's just like
when you're going
through school.
You don't stay
in primary one forever.
You learn the basics
and you're building on it.
You go through
to secondary,
you go to college
or university.
It's an ongoing
learning experience.
You leave university,
you go into work,
you're still learning.
And that's
the Christian life.
We never stood still.
The work
of transformation,
the work
of God's grace
in our hearts
is always
ongoing.
We should see
a transformation.
We should be
bearing fruit
in this way.
We should change
and continue
to change
over time
and mature
as Christian brothers
and sisters
in Christ.
So are we
bearing fruit?
Is that our longing
to bear fruit,
to go on
learning
with a hunger
and a thirst
for the things
of God?
Paul later on
in another chapter
in Galatians,
he speaks of
the works
of the flesh
and how they are
evident.
He speaks about
sexual immorality,
impurity,
sensuality,
idolatry,
sorcery,
enmity,
strife,
jealousy,
fits of anger,
rivalries,
dissensions,
divisions,
all of these
things.
If you remain
in all of these
things,
you're not living
a life pleasing
to God.
You're not
bearing fruit.
But he says
the fruit of the
Spirit is love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
self-control.
is to long
for these
things in our
lives,
to bear fruit
in that way
of the love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
so on.
So we want
to bear fruit,
not in the sense
of all the
works that we
have done
or seek to do
or to help
save other
people.
That's not what
he's talking
about.
But every one
of us can
bear fruit
in this hunger
and thirst
for righteousness
and seeking
to bear fruit
as we grow
and learn
and develop
together and
mature as
Christians,
never reaching
that point
where we know
it all,
but always
seeking day
by day
to go on
with him.
So there's
bearing fruit,
then he goes
on to say
increasing in
the knowledge
of God.
And you see
that they're
very closely
linked.
But knowledge
is often a
key teaching
in Paul's
letters.
In Romans
1, he speaks
about the
rejection of
knowledge as
the root
of evil.
In Romans
chapter 1,
verse 28,
he says,
furthermore,
since they
did not
think it
worthwhile
to retain
the knowledge
of God,
he gave
them over
to a
depraved
mind to
do what
ought not
to be
done.
They have
become filled
with every
kind of
wickedness.
rejection of
knowledge is
not a
life pleasing
to God.
And so a
life pleasing
to God is
to grow in
the knowledge
of God,
increasing in
the knowledge
of God.
And again,
you see how
it's just
closely linked
to bearing
fruit.
The two
go hand
in hand.
The more
we know
of God,
the more
we will
bear fruit.
If you're
into gardening,
if you like
growing fruits
of different
kinds,
you know,
in order to
bear fruit,
you have to
tend and
water the
plant.
You can't
just leave
it to
develop itself
without
tending to
it.
And the
same is
true for
the Christian.
In order
to grow,
in order
to bear
fruit,
we have
to increase
in our
knowledge
of God.
We have
to feed
our souls.
We have
to water
our hearts.
We need
the fruit
of the
Lord in
our hearts
too.
In a
similar way
in
Philippines,
Paul writes
very
pastorally
towards them
as well,
and he
says,
it is my
prayer that
your love
may abound
more and
more with
knowledge
and all
discernment,
so that you
may approve
what is
excellent,
and so be
pure and
blameless
for the
day of
Christ,
filled with
the fruit
of righteousness
that comes
through Jesus
Christ,
the glory
and praise
of God.
Do you
crave
this
knowledge?
Is that
what you
hunger for
day after
day,
to realize
this knowledge
and truly
be filled
to satisfaction
with it?
A lovely
story told
of a
little girl
in Wales
during the
18th century.
It was a
time of
great revival
in the
valleys in
Wales.
This
little girl
called
Mary
Jones.
She came
to faith
at the
age of
eight.
She lived
with her
family on
a farm
out in
the valleys
and in
order to
get near
to anybody
else,
she had
to walk
very often
a great
distance.
She loved
to hear
the word
of God,
but she
didn't have
a Bible
and they
didn't have
a Bible
in their
own home.
The nearest
one was
two miles
away at
another
farmhouse
and they
would often
as a
family be
found going
there just
to hear
the word
of God.
But even
as an
eight-year-old,
she decided
to start
saving to
buy her
own Bible.
And she
started just
collecting the
little money
that she
could day
after day,
week after
week,
year after
year.
She was
15 before
she could
finally afford
to buy a
Bible.
and in
order to
get the
Bible,
she had
to walk
barefoot
over the
hills 25
miles to
go and
buy this
Bible.
But her
longing,
her desire,
was to have
her own
copy of
the word
of God
and so
she bought
it.
Now today,
you can
download an
app on your
phone for
free.
In literally
seconds,
you can
have a
Bible on
your phone,
you can
have all
kinds of
Bible study
tools on
your phone,
your computer
or whatever.
We have
a plethora of
books we can
choose from
to feed our
souls and to
grow in
knowledge.
But what
use that if
we don't have
the desire of
Mary Jones,
a hunger
for the
knowledge of
God.
So may he
give us
that hunger
to increase
in the
knowledge of
God,
an appetite
and a
desire to
crave the
word of
God,
just like
Mary Jones.
The third
thing we see
here is that
we are being
strengthened.
May you be
strengthened with
all power
according to
his glorious
might.
God gives
us the
strength to
go on.
God gives
us the
strength to
do it.
God gives
us the
strength to
do it.
We sometimes
have to be
reminded of
it.
We don't
go on in
our own
strength.
To live a
life pleasing
to God is a
realization that
we are
dependent on
him.
But again,
Paul is giving
us a reminder
here that if
God asks us
to do
something,
he will give
us the grace
to do it.
He will give
us the
strength to
do it.
God doesn't
say I
will leave
you weak.
I won't
give you
a hunger.
He says if
you will come
to me, I
will give you
the strength.
I will give
you the grace.
I will give
you the power.
May you be
strengthened, he
says, with
all power
according to
his glorious
might.
Not ours,
but God's.
That is the
power that is
complete.
It's all
power.
And God
has this
power to
give to
you.
So that as
we seek to
bear fruit,
as we seek
to increase
in the
knowledge,
God can
strengthen and
does strengthen
us in this
way with all
power.
Again, just to
go to another
letter of
Paul, a
pastor letter
to the
Ephesians.
In chapter
one, he
says in
verse 18,
having the
eyes of
your hearts
enlightened,
that you
may know
what is the
hope to
which he
has called
you, what
are the
riches of
his glorious
inheritance in
the saints,
and what is
the immeasurable
greatness of
his power
toward us
who believe.
God gives
power and
grace to
his people
as they
have need.
So that
unlike the
Pharisee who
prayed in
his own
strength,
who felt
he was
strong,
but was
so weak,
that's not
the strength
that he
gives,
it's the
strength that
he gave to
the tax
collector,
the sinner,
to go away
justified and
right before
God.
As we come
weak before
him, he
gives us his
perfect strength
to go on.
This is a
young church,
the church
at Colossae,
the God's
people, young
in the faith
and facing
many trials
and temptations,
but he is
saying, Paul
is saying
through God,
God through
Paul saying
to them,
the Lord
will give
you strength.
You may
know his
power according
to his
glorious might
for all
endurance and
patience.
he will
give as
you have
need.
And so
that is
true for
ourselves as
we go
forward to
know his
glorious
strength and
the hope
that he
gives to
his people.
Living a
life pleasing
to God is
being in
Christ, as
Paul wrote
at the start
of this
letter in
verse 2,
to the saints
and faithful
brothers,
in Christ
at Colossae.
That is the
kind of people
we are to
be rooted
in Christ,
in the
vine, as
John in
his gospel
describes,
there bearing
fruit through
him.
So we are
to know
and seek
the power
of his
glorious
might for
all patience
and endurance.
Finally,
and just very
briefly here,
the fourth
thing he
says is,
with joy
and giving
thanks to
the Father
who has
qualified you
to share
in the
inheritance of
the saints
in light.
How often
are we full
of thanks
to God?
God, how
easy it is
for us to
go and
complain about
things.
It's easy.
It's second
nature to
us sometimes
just to
complain and
to grumble
about things
in this
life.
But if that's
all we do,
we lose
our joy.
We lose
our joy and
we lose it
very quickly.
God, how
do we
do?
He's telling
us that
we're to
go on,
trusting as
we're looking
at on Sunday
morning,
trusting the
Lord, delighting
in the Lord,
and all of
these things.
It's a very
similar reminder
that we are
giving thanks
to the
Father, that
everything that
we do,
everything that
we do, we
recognize it's
from God,
and that we
remember to
come back and
give thanks
to God.
It will
affect us in
how we bear
fruit, it'll
affect our
growth and
knowledge, it'll
affect our
strength in the
Lord if we do
everything with
a grumbling
spirit.
But if we
seek to do
everything,
joyfully giving
thanks to the
Lord, I know
so good and
refreshing as we
hear, praying
together and
just being
reminded of
all that we
have together.
thanks for.
Every blessing
that we have
from the hand
of God who
has blessed
us so much,
and above
all, how we
are blessed
through his
beloved Son,
who has
brought us
from darkness
into his
glorious light.
Again, it
just comes
back to
fixing our
eyes on
Jesus.
making sure
that we
are doing
everything in
his will
and by
his strength.
God is a
God who
has richly
blessed, and
so may we
joy and
delight in
him.
There was a
book I once
read on the
study of the
gospel of
Luke, and
there was a
quote in that
book that said
this, when
we locate our
joy in our
holy and
loving God,
our joy can
always be out
of reach of
anything that
would seek to
harm us.
Locating our
joy in our
holy and
loving God
can take us
to be out of
reach of
anything that
would seek to
harm us.
love us.
Now, that's
not to say
that there's
nothing that
ever goes
wrong in
our life, but
we know that
whatever comes
our way, that
we have our
joy in the
Lord who
always sustains
us.
As Paul said
to the
Philippians,
rejoice in
the Lord
always.
Again, I
will say,
rejoice.
Keep your
joy in
the Lord.
Let us
rejoice
together in
our loving
Saviour and
seek to
live a
life pleasing
to him as
we endeavour
to grow in
our knowledge
and our
understanding
of him.
That together
we would
grow and
the more we
grow, that
we would share
with one
another and
then share
with those
who have
nothing of
this knowledge
and understanding
of him.
The two
again go
hand in
hand, a
longing to
know God
and a
longing for
others to
know God.
So may God
bless us and
help us to
that end.
We're going
to
do
your
to
you