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BELIEVER’S WORTHY
WALK (Col 1:10) 04/23/17 Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. CONTEXT A. Paul had given thanks to
God because the gospel had come to the Colossians through Epaphras. The
gospel came to these believers as the word of truth (Col 1:5), fruit-bearing
(Col 1:6a), the grace of God (Col 1:6b), preached by Epaphras (Col 1:7), and
product of love in the Spirit (Col 1:8). B. Now Paul’s prayer was for the spiritual
maturity of the Colossians (Col 1:9-14), namely that they would first have
the spiritual knowledge of God’s will (Col 1:9). Their spiritual maturity in
understanding God’s will would include a worthy walk (Col 1:10) which could
be depicted as a Spirit-led Walk, Worthy Walk, Pleasing Walk, Fruitful Walk,
and a Knowledgeable Walk. None of which bring man salvation, but cause the
true believer to grow spiritually and walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. II. WALKING WORTHY A. Spirit-Led Walk 1. The
believer is to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will so that (supplied
purpose clause from an aorist infinitive, peripatêsai) he will walk
worthy of the Lord. If a believer truly understands God’s will, it will
translate into worthy walk before the Lord. 2. The term “walk” (peripateō
- walk or behavior. Eng. Peripatetic - a teacher who walks while teaching)
is understandable enough, especially as it mentioned in the Scriptures. 3. Obviously, it can mean literally walking
as from one place to another (Joh 7:1), in an outward display (Mk 12:38), or
in agreement with a teacher (Joh 6:66). 4. But metaphorically it depicts a
relationship between God and man (Gen 5:22, 24; Gen 6:9), obedience to God
(Gen 17:1), disobedience to God (Psa 81:12; Jer 7:24), or the characteristic
conduct of a believer (Eph 4:1). 5. The believer’s walk should match up with
his position in Christ. A walk is the application of the believer’s knowledge
A walk is what a believer looks like to those who observe his life. A
believer’s walk is the pinnacle of the Christian life. 6. How does a believer walk with God? Though
there is much to be said in Scripture, two principles are: by the Spirit and
by faith. 7. First, we learn in Gal 5:25 that the
believer is to rely on the indwelling Spirit to walk the Christian life. The
believer cannot walk without realizing His total reliance on the Spirit of
God (Joh 15:4). 8. Secondly, the believer must walk by faith
(2Co 5:7). Sometimes life seems insurmountable. But with the same faith that
we receive Christ Jesus the Lord, we are to apply to our walk in Christ (Col
2:6). By faith the believer’s trust in the Spirit’s enabling moment by
moment. B. Worthy Walk 1. What
does this walk look like or with what should we measure this walk? The words
“manner worthy” is the Greek word axiōs.
Literally it means “bringing up the other beam of the scales” (Friberg). It
has come to mean something of equal value whether weight to scales, respect
to the honorable, or service to a cause. 2. Paul illustrates this concept in Tit
2:9-10, in that, the believer’s life ought to “adorn the doctrine of God our
Savior in every respect.” 3. In Scripture, the word is most often used
in the sense that a believer’s manner of life should be fitting: a. for a
holy and wise Lord (1Th 2:12), b. for the gospel (Php 1:27), c. for the believer’s calling (Eph 4:1), d. for the believer’s model, Christ (1Jo
2:6). 4. The
saints are to see to it that their manner of life, their conduct, weighs as
much as the character of their Lord. That is, He is to be their example in
life, and the copy must be like the example. Wuest 5. How do we measure up? For the sake of our
holy God and Father, for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of our calling,
the believer’s walk ought to be a worthy walk, one that walks as Christ
walked. C. Pleasing Walk 1. The
believer’s walk ought to be a pleasing walk, that is, the believer ought to
seek to please the Lord at all times and in every area of life. 2. To “please” is the Greek word areskia
which originally was a legal term and meant to appease or reconcile two
parties. From there it came to mean to please or have a desire or willingness
to please. 3. In classical Greek it denotes a cringing
and subservient [servant], ready to do or say anything to please a patron;
not only to meet but to anticipate his most trivial wishes. But when
transferred to the spiritual region, and the believer’s relations to his
Lord, the word at once rises by its association. To do anything to meet, to
anticipate, His wishes, is not only the most beneficial but the most
absolutely right thing we can do. It is His eternal and sacred due; (Moule). 4. Enoch was an example of someone who
walked with God in a pleasing manner (Heb 11:5). One of the reasons why Enoch
pleased God was that his walk was a holy walk. Enoch preached against
ungodliness and judgment at the Second Coming (Jude 14-15). Enoch desired to
please a holy God, so his walk was a holy walk. 5. The believer’s great ambition is to
please Him in all respects and not do anything that displeases Him
(2Co 5:9). The believer is to cooperate with God who is working in the
believer that which is pleasing in His sight (Heb 13:21). He is to learn what
is pleasing to the Lord through His Word (Eph 5:10). In the end, it is doing
those things which are prescribed in His Word (1Jo 3:22), even as Christ
always did what pleased the Lord (Joh 8:29). D. Fruitful Walk 1. Paul has
already mentioned how the gospel bore fruit and spread (Col 1:6). Now Paul
declares that is God’s will for the believer to have a fruitful walk. Paul
may have been interjecting a play on words with the use of the same Greek
word karpophoreō (bearing fruit, Karpophoreō
comes from two Greek words, karpos - fruit, and pherō -
bear or bring). 2. How does one maintain a fruitful walk? By
first having union with Christ. This means that a person must know Christ as
Savior. It also means that as a believer he must abide in Christ and draw
their source of life from Him (Joh 15:4-5). 3. Secondly, we receive fruit from wisdom.
Fruit is related to spiritual wisdom. “But the wisdom from above is first
pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits,
unwavering, without hypocrisy” (Jam 3:17). 4. What kind of fruit is produced in the
believer’s life? a. Fruit of
converts from sharing the gospel (1Co 16:15). b. Fruit of growth among other believers
(Rom 1:13). c. Fruit of the lips through praise (Heb
13:15). d. Fruit of righteousness (Heb 12:11). e. Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). f. Fruit in every good work (Col
1:10), which suggests not only fruit every situation as well as an all-out
commitment to always bear fruit. E. Knowledgeable Walk 1. It is
also God’s will for the believer to have a knowledgeable walk by increasing
in the knowledge of God. 2. When we increase “in” (instrumental
dative - “by means of”) the knowledge of God, it has an immediate and
lasting impact on our spiritual lives and walk. 3. It is obvious today that many do not have
a biblical knowledge of God. Their knowledge of God is based on biases and
personal opinions. Not only is their knowledge of God suspiciously tailored
to their own preferences, but such knowledge will never lead to true the
knowledge of God or spiritual growth. 4. This knowledge of God, the purest and
loftiest of human acquisitions, is the only pabulum of spiritual growth. A
God in shadow creates superstition, and the view of Him in only one [aspect]
of His character, will, according to its color, lead either to fanaticism or
to mysticism (Eadie). 5. The only
way to increase in the epignōsis (“true knowledge”) of God
is to accept everything in His Word that He has revealed about Himself (Pro
2:1-6; 2Pe 3:18) and reject every man-made preconceived idea (2Co 10:5). III. OBSERVATIONS AND
APPLICATIONS A. Fanatical Walk B. Fathomless Walk C. Fruitful Walk IV. OBSERVATINS AND
APPLICATIONS A. Fanatical Walk 1. The term
fanatic has been popularized in our generation. A fan is short for fanatic.
Some people are fanatical about Tim Tebow. Some have accused me of being
fanatical about Tim Tebow. But I think the real fanatics were those people
who were taking bets on how many consecutive weeks I would use another Tim
Tebow illustration. But the old meaning of Fanatic - [was, someone] marked
by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion. 2. A fanatic is a person who, having lost
sight of his goal, redoubles his effort to get there. The fanatic runs around
frantically getting nowhere. He is a basketball player without a basket, a
tennis player without a net, a golfer without a green. People often want to
know how to be more spiritual or more pious, but the underlying goal ought to
be to know God more intimately and to please Him. The reason? Simply because
its possible to be very spiritual and religious, at least on the surface,
without being devoted to pleasing God, and especially according to the principles
of His Word. The Pharisees were very religious and appeared to very
spiritual, but for most of them, it was only external and they failed
miserably. B. Fathomless Walk 1. It has
been stated that a true genius is not someone who has great knowledge, but
some who has great knowledge and is able to implement that knowledge into
every facet of life. The apostle Paul fits that definition perhaps more than
any human in history other than the Lord Himself. 2. Paul was perhaps able to attain to the
depths of the knowledge of God more than any other. But what made Paul a
genius (humanly speaking) was that fact that he was able to implement the
knowledge of God into every area of life, every church, every situation, and
every believer. For Him, the ultimate in God’s will was to “walk in a manner
worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every
good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” C. Fruitful Walk 1. There is
a bottom line with all doctrine and theology. The bottom line is fruitful
living. When you learn Bible Study
methods, you learn about the importance of context, observations,
interpretation. But Bible Study methods always rightly conclude with the last
principle of Application. That is the ultimate bottom line. a. Is
there an action to be taken (1Co 16:13; Phil 2:14)? b. Is there a command to obey (2Th 3:4, 6,
12; 1Jo 4:1)? c. Is there an example to follow (2Th 3:7;
1Pe 2:21)? d. Is there a sin to be confessed (Mat
5:23-24; 1Co 8:12)? e. Is there a sin to avoid (1Co 6:18; 1Pe
2:16)? f. Is there a promise to claim (Rom 10:13;
1Th 4:17)? g. Is there a condition to meet (1Ti 3:10;
2Co 2:2)? h. Is there a path to avert (Psa 1:1; 2Ti
4:4)? i. Is there a challenge to face (1Pe 4:13;
Gal 6:2)? j. Is there an attitude to correct (Phil
2:3; Col 3:12)? k. Is there a perspective to be changed (Rom
6:13; Eph 5:8)? l. Is there a truth or doctrine to be
understood (1Co 15:20; Heb 6:1)? m. Is there an area that I need to open to the
Holy Spirit’s control? (Gal 5:25; Gal 5:16; Eph 5:18). 2. Paul
wrote in 1Ti 1:5, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart
and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” 3. Jesus taught us the difference between a
wise person and a foolish person. It had been proposed to me to conclude
every sermon with the parable with which Jesus concluded the Sermon on the
Mount in Matthew 7. Well, today, at least, I’m going to do that. 4. "Therefore everyone who hears these
words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his
house on the rock. "And the rain
fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house;
and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. "Everyone
who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a
foolish man who built his house on the sand. "The rain fell, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--
and great was its fall." |
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Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516 |
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