Colossians 1:9-11
To The End
I. \\#1:1-2:23\\ Christ Exalted Through His Person and His Work
A. \\#1:1-12\\ Introduction
1. \\#1-2\\ Paul’s Salutation
2. \\#1:3-8\\ Paul’s Recognition
3. \\#1:9-11\\ Paul’s Prayer
B. \\#1:12-2:3\\ The Person of Christ
1. \\#1:12-14\\ Paul’s Praise
2. \\#1:15-22\\ Paul’s Message
3. \\#1:23\\ Paul’s Challenge
4. \\1:24-2:3\\ Paul’s Ministry
C. \\#2:4-23\\ Warnings to the Church
1. \\#2:4-7\\ Don’t Be Beguiled
2. \\#2:8-15\\ Don’t Be (Spoiled) Ruined
3. \\#2:16-17\\ Don’t Be (Judged) Condemned
4. \\#2:18\\ Don’t Lose Your Reward
5. \\#2:19-23\\ Don’t Lose Your Christ
D. \\#2:10-23\\ The Solution is to Remember
1. \\#2:9-10\\ Who Christ is.
2. \\#2:11-15\\ What Christ has done.
3. \\#2:16-23\\ What we should do.
II. \\#3:1-4:18\\ Christ Exalted Through His People
We are still in the introduction of this book; that is, Paul is establishing a
rapport with the church. The introduction is longer than normal for a book of
this size, probably in part because Paul had not been to this city before.
Notice in \\#9\\ "For this cause…." Paul’s cause was to help the Colossians.
As Paul begins this letter, he will share with the readers his goals for them.
What is interesting is that in these verses, Paul told his readers how to get to
the place that God wanted them to be.
I. \\#1:1-12\\ Introduction
A. \\#1-2\\ Paul’s Salutation
B. \\#1:3-8\\ Paul’s Recognition
C. \\#1:9-11\\ Paul’s Prayer
1. \\#9\\ Paul’s unceasing prayer.
a. This is a phrase that Paul used several times.
\\#Ro 1:9. 1Thess 2:13, 1Thess 5:17, 2Ti 1:3\\.
b. To get God’s people where Paul knew they needed to be, he gave
himself to praying for them.
c. Most would say that a human being cannot pray without ceasing.
(1) If at no other time, at least when you are asleep you have to
stop praying.
(2) It is my belief that since the brain can only think of one
thing at a time, whenever we earnestly concentrate on any
thing, we have to stop praying.
d. But when something is on your heart, that burden comes back as soon
as your mind is free.
(1) Paul must have trained his mind so that praying for others was
his neutral position.
(a) A true burden can change your mind’s neutral setting.
i. Few people drive manual transmissions anymore, but in
the days they did, it was not that unusual to knock
the transmission into neutral for various reasons.
ii. Neutral was where you put the transmission when it
was not working in another gear.
(b) We know that Paul had other activities to occupy himself
with besides just praying.
i. Paul had a ministry of preaching.
ii. No doubt Paul also entered into a lot of one-on-one
conversations with others about their souls.
iii. Paul also had the job of making tents.
(c) But when Paul was not occupied with these things, it
seems that his mind bounced back to praying for
Christians, churches, and the lost.
(2) Where is our mind’s neutral?
(a) Christians, we need to ask ourselves…
i. "Where does our mind go when it is not on a problem
at hand?"
ii. "What is mental neutral for you?"
(b) Consider where our mind idles.
i. bills, finances?
ii. work?
iii. hobby?
(c) Does your mind ever idle? When you get a free minute, is
it your habit to fill it with something? music?
television? texting? Facebook? a telephone call?
(d) If you mind does idle, what does it idle on?
i. When you get a free moment, is your idle to
re-engage?
aa. Do you always have a list of important things to
do to re-engage yourself?
bb. While that may make us very poor in spiritual
pursuits.
ii. Is your neutral just sitting in a chair staring into
space with a bit of slobber dripping down your chin?
(e) I’m thinking that Paul’s idle was praying.
i. This allowed him to pray whenever his mind was not
occupied.
ii. I believe that this is probably as close to praying
without ceasing that we can come.
2. \\#9-11\\ Paul’s Desires
a. Paul’s Beatitudes - These are the things that Paul wanted the
Christians to BE.
(1) That you be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.
(a) It was Paul’s prayer that the Colossians would know what
God wants.
(b) No Christian will ever be successful without knowing the
will of God.
(c) How can I know what God wants?
i. Through the Word.
aa. The Bible is like a compass.
bb. It points all Christians in the general
direction that God
cc. The Bible is the beginning place of finding
the personal, will of God for your life;
however, it will not take you to the specific
place that God where God wants you to be.
ii. Through the Holy Spirit.
aa. The Holy Spirit is the Map with Instructions
that will guide you to the exact spot in
God’s will.
bb. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, a
Christian can not get to the specifics of
God’s will.
iii. Other things can help open your ears to what God
wants but these two are the only true Sources of
knowledge.
(d) How does this work?
i. We study the Bible.
ii. We pray, listening to the Holy Spirit.
iii. We hone our ability to discern what the Holy Spirit
wants us to do.
(2) That you be filled with all wisdom.
(a) Wisdom in a by product of knowing God’s will.
(b) That means it comes from reading the Bible, praying with
listening to the Holy Spirit.
(c) I describe wisdom as "seeing things as God sees things."
i. Our vision is world bound.
ii. Being of this world, it is difficult to see
anything beyond this world.
iii. My son-in-law is used to being able to see dozens
to hundreds of miles in any direction. He
dislikes Alabama’s trees and hills because it
blocks his view.
iv. God wants us to look beyond the limited view of
this world and see the eternal, timeless view that
He sees.
(3) That you be filled with spiritual understanding.
(a) Spiritual understanding is also a by product of knowing
God’s will.
(b) That means that it also comes by studying the Bible,
praying while listening to the Holy Spirit, and honing
your skills at discernment.
(c) Understanding is the ability to see the relationship
between cause and effect.
i. If you DO an action, there is a REACTION.
ii. The ability to connect our actions to the reactions
is understanding.
aa. This is a lost art.
bb. If you spend more money than you have, you
will be in debt and under pressure.
cc. If you make decisions with limited wisdom and
understanding, you are going to make a lot
mistakes.
(d) SPIRITUAL understanding is the ability to see the
relationship between cause and effect in SPIRITUAL
matters.
i. Tithe
aa. Tithe and even though you have less money, God
will bless your finances.
bb. Don’t tithe and even though you have more
money, God will not bless your finances.
ii. Worship
aa. Worship and even though you have less time,
God will allow you to accomplish more.
bb. Don’t worship and even though you have more
time, you will accomplish less.
b. Paul’s Actions - These are the things that Paul wanted the
Christians to do.
(1) \\#10\\ That you would walk worthy of the Lord.
(a) The desire of Paul and the Lord is that Christians
would live in a manner consistent with what Christ
has done for them.
(b) The Christian life is normally described as a walk.
i. Too many Christians get hung up on where they think
they are supposed to be when life ends.
ii. Don’t worry about the destination. Worry about
the journey.
iii. Life is the journey to God’s destination.
(c) If you will take the appropriate step NOW, you will end
at the appropriate destination THEN.
i. Christianity is always about NOW.
ii. Do what Christ wants NOW, in this time, at this
step.
iii. Then, when life is over, you will be able to look
back at each STEP you took and see that each step
in your journey was always in line with the will
of God.
(d) Just remember that Christ died for you.
(e) Ask yourself, "What would Jesus have me do?" then do it.
(2) \\#10\\ That you would be fruitful in every good work.
(a) While we are not proponents of the "prosperity gospel"
as it is proclaimed in certain pulpits today, God does
what to bless what we do.
i. God wants to bless what we do for Him. Why would God
give us a ministry and then deprive us of His help?
ii. God wants to bless what we do for our family. God
created the home and wants it to succeed.
iii. God wants to bless our finances. He may not want
us to be "rich," but it is not the will of God that
any Christian be stressed and oppressed due to
bills or needs.
iv. I believe God wants to bless us physically. I know
God gives some a cross to bear, but I believe that
with the weight of the cross comes addition grace
to bear it.
(b) Sadly, most Christians do not understand that these
blessings are all listed in the context with being
filled with knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual
understanding.
i. Building your life beyond the will of God will
never bring blessings.
ii. Blessings come when we get back to the Bible,
praying, listening to the Holy Spirit, and
discerning what God wants us to do.
(c) If you want God’s blessings, you must do it God’s way.
(3) \\#10\\ That you would increase in the knowledge of God.
(a) \\#9\\ Paul was praying the Christians would increase in
the knowledge of God’s will.
(b) Here, he is praying that they would increase in the
knowledge of God.
i. The first is getting to know what God wants.
ii. The second is getting to know God.
(c) God does not just want us to know about Him. He wants us
to know Him.
(4) \\#11\\ That you would be strengthened with might, power,
patience, and longsuffering.
(a) These items seem to describe the elements that are
necessary to balance the Christian life.
i. One set, might and power, hint at the authority or
power of the Christian to FORCE the world into
subjection to God.
ii. The other set, patience and longsuffering with joy,
hint at the ENDURANCE needed in the Christian life
to tolerate what the world might force upon us.
(b) And such is the Christian life.
i. We are constantly battling.
ii. Sometimes, it seems God’s will is to effect the
world for change.
iii. Sometimes, and seemingly more in the last century.
it seems that we are forced to endure what the
world wills.
(c) Hence, we need both the POWER attributes and the
ENDURANCE attributes to be a strong Christian in this
age.
1. We need courage enough to advance the cause of
Christ when so directed.
ii. We need strength enough to withstand the scourge of
this world when God wills it.
So what was Paul’s goal for the church at Colosse? The same as ours should be for
ourselves and the same as God’s is for us; that we would seek a wise, discerning
spirit which would direct us in godly and faithful paths.
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