Endurance (Col. 1:11b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/4/2017 10:42 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                               Focus:  Endurance

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:11b

            Message of the verses:  “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously”

“1) Steadfastness, constancy, endurance

1a) in the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings”

            This is the definition of the word “steadfastness” from my Online Bible Greek/English dictionary as this word speaks of endurance, and this is the last result of true spiritual knowledge which is joyous endurance of trials.  I suppose that if you are looking at an example from Scripture, other than that of our Lord Jesus Christ, we could look at Acts 16:25 “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”  This speaks of Paul and Silas in a Philippian jail after they had been beaten when according to law they should have not been beaten, and yet they still demonstrated “joyous endurance” under this trial.

            We have looked at the definition of the word steadfastness but John MacArthur writes that this Greek word is closely related to the Greek word makrothumia which is translated as patience.  “If there is a distinction, it is that hupomone refers to patience with people (Richard C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament [Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 1983]…Both refer to the patient enduring of trials.”

            Believers can endure through these kinds of trials by knowing the Word of God and trusting the Holy Spirit of God to see them through different trials.  We can endure these trials with joy and with that we want to look at the book of Hebrews which speaks of this in the life of our Lord.  “1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

            Now when I look at verse eleven in the NASB there is a paragraph divide, but the paragraph divide comes in the middle of a sentence.  John MacArthur writes Commentators are divided on whether meta charis should be connected with verse 12.  It seems best, however, to connect the phrase with verse 11.  ‘Giving thanks’ (v. 12) already includes the element of joy.  Knowledge of God’s truth gives us the ability to endure trials joyously, as did Paul himself (cf. Acts 16:25).”  We already looked at that verse earlier.  The Greek “meta charis” which we quoted earlier literally means “with joy.”

            MacArthur concludes this second chapter in his commentary on Colossians by writing “It was Paul’s constant prayer for the Colossians that they be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.  He knew that only when believers are controlled by that knowledge can they walk worthy of the Lord and please Him.  Paul knew further that such knowledge was required for a fruitful life, spiritual growth, strength, and joyful endurance of trials.”

1/4/2017 11:06 PM

 

Strength (Col. 1:11a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/3/2017 8:38 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                                   Focus:  Strength

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:11a

            Message of the verse:  “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously”

            We are looking at the fourth result of knowledge in our SD for this evening and that is spiritual strength.  Now before we get away from looking at knowledge I would like to quote from Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on this subject as we will look at some of the things that he wrote under the sub-point of “He prayed for Moral Excellence” which actually covers verses 11-12, but we will only look at things that pertain to verse eleven in our SD for this evening.

            “Wisdom and conduct should always be related to moral character.  One of the great problems in our evangelical world today is the emphasis on ‘spiritual knowledge’ and ‘Christian service,’ without connecting these important matters to personal character…

            “Knowledge, conduct, service, and character must always go together.  We know God’s will that we might obey it; and, in obeying it, we serve Him and grow in Christian character.  While none of us is perfectly balanced in these four factors, we ought to strive for that balance.

            “It is God’s energy that empowers us.  Colossians 1:11 reads, in effect:  ‘With all power begin empowered according to the might of His glory.’  Paul used two different Greek words for God’s energy:  ‘dunamis (from which we get our word ‘dynamite’) means ‘inherent power’; and kratos means ‘manifested power,’ that is put forth in action.  The grace of our Christian lives is but a result of God’s power at work in our lives.  Spiritual growth and maturity can come only as we yield to God’s power and permit Him to work in us.

            “We usually think of God’s glorious power being revealed in great feats of daring—the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, David leading a victorious army, or Paul raising the dead.  But the emphasis here is on Christian character:  patience, long-suffering, joyfulness, and thanksgiving.  The inner victories of the soul are just as great, if not greater, than the public victories recorded in the annals of history.  For David to control his temper when he was being maligned by Shimei was a greater victory than his slaying of Goliath (2 Sam. 16:5-13).  ‘He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city’ (Pro. 16:32, NASB).”

            So as we are focusing in own strength these paragraphs help us to learn that this strength comes from the Lord as He, through the Holy Spirit gives us the strength to accomplish some what may seem to small things in our lives, but are as Dr. Wiersbe writes are actually big things.

            John MacArthur writes that the Greek word for “strengthened” is dunamoumenoi and it is a present participle, which signifies continues action.  It is not like a motor on a rocket that gets a rocket into orbit and then stops because there is no need for it anymore, rather believers are continually “strengthened with all power” throughout their Christian life.

            MacArthur writes “The measure of that power is ‘according to His glorious might.’  ‘Glorious’ is from doxa and refers to the manifestation of God’s attributes.  ‘Might’ translates kratos, which refers to strength in action.  It refers to God eleven out of the twelve times it is used in the New Testament.  The ‘power’ available to us is the limitless power of God Himself.”

            In conclusion we know because we looked at this before that God’s power is manifested in us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth’ (Acts 1:8).”  “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16).”  “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).”

1/3/2017 9:07 PM  

Growth (Col. 1:10c)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/2/2017 10:44 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                                     Focus: Growth

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:10c

            Message of the verses:  “so that you will 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;”

            In our SD for today we are looking at the last part of verse ten as we consider growth of believers in this part of the verse and this is the third result of knowledge, something we have been looking at in this section of Colossians chapter one.  As we continue to grow up in the Lord we are growing in the knowledge of God, so more knowledge means more growth in the Lord.

            John MacArthur writes “Te epignosei (‘in the knowledge’) is an instrumental dative case.  It indicates the means by which our ‘increasing’ or growth, takes place.  The knowledge of God revealed in His Word is crucial to spiritual growth.”  Peter had something to say about this in 1 Peter 2:2 where he writes “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”  And one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture is the very last thing that Peter writes in 2^nd Peter 3:18 “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”  It is as always that the Holy Spirit is the One who enables our own efforts to grow as He gives us enabling grace.

            We will now look at four marks of spiritual growth beginning with a deeper love for God’s Word as seen in Psalm 119:97 “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

            The next mark of spiritual growth is a reflection in more perfect obedience as seen in 1 John 2:3-5 “3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him”

            Thirdly spiritual growth will result in having our faith enlarged as seen in 2 Thess. 1:3 “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;”  We can also look at 2 Corinthians 10:15 “not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you,”

            Lastly we see that a mark of spiritual growth is having a greater love as seen in Philippians 1:9 “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment.”

            Now as mentioned we cannot do this on our own for if we could do this on our own then how would that bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.  We need the aid of the Holy Spirit to guide us into our spiritual growth.

1/2/2017 11:03 PM

A Fruitful Life (Col. 1:10b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/1/2017 9:44 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                    Focus:  “A Fruitful Life”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:10b

            Message of the verse:  “so that you will 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;(                                      

            I first want to quote Ephesians 2:8-10 with emphasis on verse ten:  “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Emphasis added)

            As we compare the last part of verse ten of Colossians chapter one with Ephesians 2:10, they both talk about good works that are performed by believers, and I have mentioned many times that I believe that it is not a stretch to believe that God has chosen good works for individual believers to perform in the power of the Holy Spirit so that all the glory will be given to the Lord once we do what He has planned for us to do.

            We also see the word “fruit” in the last part of verse ten and for those of you who have been following my SD’s from the gospel of John will remember that as we are in the 15^th chapter of John that the first part of chapter fifteen also speaks about bearing fruit through the power of, well actually the whole trinity.  God being the vinedresser, Jesus Christ being the branches, and I don’t think it is a stretch to see that what flows between the vine and the branches is the Holy Spirit giving power to believers to once again do what God wants them to do.

            Now we have been talking about knowledge and we can see from this last part of verse ten that fruitfulness also is a result of knowledge for we have to understand the Bible which gives us knowledge in order to do the things that God wants us to do.

            Let us look at Romans 7:4“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” 

            John MacArthur writes “The Bible defines ‘fruit’ in various ways.  Here Paul speaks of ‘bearing fruit in every good work.’  Converts are referred to as fruit.  Paul spoke of the household of Stephanas as the ‘first fruits of Achaia’ (1 Cor. 16:15).  He also desired some fruit among the Romans (1:13).  Hebrews 13:15 defines praise as fruit:  “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that gives thanks to His name.’  Giving money can also be fruit (Rom. 15:26-28).  Godly living is fruit, as indicated when the writer of Hebrews tells us that God’s discipline produces in us ‘the peaceful fruit of righteousness’ (Heb. 12:11).  Finally, the holy attitudes mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 are referred to as ‘the fruit of the Spirit.’”

            The following produces fruit in a believers’ life:  First we have to have a union with Christ “4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:4-5).” 

            Next we have to have wisdom as this is a necessary prerequisite for us bearing fruit.  James 3:17 “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.”  Lack of fruit production is caused by a lack of wisdom.

            Thirdly we have to have a diligent effort on the Christian’s part as this is required and Peter 1:5-8 addresses this last point which we will close with:

            “5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1/1/2017 10:13 PM

A Worthy Walk (Col. 1:10a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/31/2016 12:38 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  A Worthy Walk

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:10a

            Message of the verses:   9  For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will 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; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously;”

            We spent four days looking at verse nine and now we move into the next main point which John MacArthur entitles “The Results” and in our SD for today we will look at the first of five purposes that are fulfilled in the spiritual knowledge we have been studying for those last four days.  The first purpose is a “worthy walk.”

            The following is what is in my Greek/English dictionary on my Online Bible program on the word walk1) to walk:  “peripateo per-ee-pat-eh’-o” Used 93 times as the word “walk” in the KJV of the Bible.

1a) to make one’s way, progress; to make due use of opportunities

1b) Hebrew for, to live

1b1) to regulate one’s life

1b2) to conduct one’s self

1b3) to pass one’s life

            As one has their mind controlled by wisdom and knowledge one will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.  I know that this is a difficult thing to do as a believer’s life is filled with conflict, conflict in doing right or wrong, but it is possible if we continue to study God’s Word, rely on the Holy Spirit, and pray a lot.  John MacArthur writes “Although it seems impossible that anyone could walk worthy of the Lord, that is the teaching of Scripture.  Paul desired the Thessalonians to ‘walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory’ (1 Thess. 2:12).  He exhorted the Ephesians to ‘walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called’ (Eph. 4:1).  He told the Philippians to ‘conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ’ (Phil. 1:27).”  Looks like Paul had much to say about our walk with the Lord, seeing how important that is to a believer.

            Do you wonder if God has left us on our own to walk in this worthy manner?  He did not just save us and then tell us that we are on our own:  “"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Gal. 2:20).”  As mentioned we have the Holy Spirit living in us to aid us in our walk with the Lord as Jesus promised that He would send Him to believers.  “16  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph. 3:16-17a).” 

            Martin Luther knew that we as believers could not walk worthy on our own strength as he penned the following verse in “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”:

Did we in our strength confide

Our striving would be losing,

Were not the right Man on our side,

The Man of God’s own choosing.

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is He.

Lord Sabaoth His name,

From age to age the same.

And He must win the battle.”

            We must be thankful that the Lord did not leave us on our own to walk worthy in our lives for Him.  As I think about the aid that we receive in our walk so that we can produce fruit in our lives for the cause of Christ, something we will look at in our next SD, I think of Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Notice that God is the One who prepares us to produce these good works, and the reason is that first of all we cannot do it on our own, as what we would produce would not be worthy, and would not give glory to the Lord.  I have said in earlier SD’s that I picture my life as a hose that the Holy Spirit uses to flow His water through me to produce in me what God desires for me to do.  May God always receive the glory from what He does through me.

12/31/2016 1:06 PM

PT-4 "The Petition" (Col. 1:9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/30/2016 10:31 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  PT-4 “The Petition”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:9

            Message of the verses:  “9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”

            It is my hope that I will finish my thoughts on this verse in this SD, and I want to pretty much concentrate on the highlighted portion of this verse.  Now we have been talking about “knowledge” and have found out that Biblically speaking that this has a lot to do with the different doctrines that are found in the Scriptures.  We also talked about how in Paul’s letters that he would spend the first part of his letters talking about doctrine and then in the later part of them he would talk about how we are to act on the basis of the doctrine that he has written about.  As a born again believer it is our responsibility to know doctrines as we are to “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).”  Once we learn about the different doctrines that are found in the Scripture we are to remember them so that when we go through life that we can apply them in our lives and that constitutes wisdom, putting our knowledge in to action.

            There is more of the quote from John MacArthur’s commentary that I wish to quote that will help us learn more on about what is packed into the verse.  “Paul prays that the knowledge we have would be of His will.  God’s will is not a secret; He has revealed it in His Word.  For example, it is God’s desire that a person be saved (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9).  Once a person is saved, it is God’s will that he be filled with the Spirit.  Ephesians 5:17-18 says, ‘Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.’  Furthermore, sanctification is God’s will:  ‘For this is the will of God your sanctification’ (1 Thess. 4:3).  God also wills that the believer be submissive to the government.  Peter writes, ‘Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution…for such is the will of God’ (1 Pet. 2:13, 15). Suffering may also be God’s will for the believer.  ‘Let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right’ (1 Pet. 4:19).  Finally, giving thanks is God’s will.  Paul writes, ‘In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’ (1 Thess. 5:18).”

            Let’s move to look at wisdom as MacArthur writes:  “Though the terms ‘wisdom’ and ‘understanding’ may be synonymous, Sophia (‘wisdom’) may be broader of the two terms.  It refers to the ability to collect and concisely organize principles from Scripture.  Sunesis (‘understanding’) could be a more specialized term, referring to the application of those principles to everyday life.  Both Sophia and sunesis are spiritual; they deal in the nonphysical realm and have the Holy Spirit as their source.

            “Believing, submissive Bible study leads to the knowledge of God’s will.  A mind saturated with such knowledge will also be able to comprehend general principles of godly behavior.  With that wisdom will come understanding of how to apply those principles to the situations of life.  That progression will inevitably result in godly character and practice.”

3/26/2024 11:45 AM

 

PT-3 "The Petition" (Col. 1:9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/29/2016 6:35 PM

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                   Focus:  PT-3 “The Petition”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:9

            Message of the verses:  “9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”

            I have to say as we begin this 3^rd SD on this subject that there are a lot of things on it.  I promised to do a rather long quote from John MacArthur’s commentary on this SD, on knowledge and so that will be the bulk of this SD.

            The denial of absolutes, particularly in the area of morals, characterizes our society.  Without a source of authority to provide absolute standards, virtually anything goes.  What moral values are enforced are often arbitrary, based merely on human option.  But for the Christian the authoritative Word of God provides absolutes.  Those absolutes are the basis upon which all truth about God and all standards of faith and conduct are set.  Because knowledge of those absolutes is the basis for correct behavior and ultimate judgment, it is crucial that Christians know God’s revealed truth.  Ignorance is not bliss, nor can anyone please God on the basis of principles they do not know.

            “So the Bible views knowledge on doctrinal absolutes as foundational to godly living.  Most of Paul’s letters begin by laying a doctrinal foundation before giving practical exhortations.  For example, Paul gives eleven chapters of doctrine in Romans before turning to godly living in chapter 12.  Galatians 1-4 are doctrinal, chapters 5 and 6 practical.  The first three chapters of Ephesians detail our position in Christ, while the last three urge us to live accordingly.  Philippians and Colossians also conform to the same pattern of doctrine preceding practical exhortations.  Godly living is directly linked in Scripture to knowledge of doctrinal truth.

            “The Bible warns of the danger of a lack of knowledge.  Proverbs 19:2 says that ‘it is not good for a person to be without knowledge.’  It was for lack of knowledge that Israel went into exile (Isa. 5:13), and God says in Hosea 4:6, ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.’  First Corinthians 14:20 warns us, ‘Do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature.’  Ephesians 4:13-14 tells us that lack of knowledge produces ‘children tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.’  Verse 18 describes unbelievers as ‘being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them.’

            “How does a person obtain knowledge?  First, he must desire it.  In John 7:17 Jesus says, ‘If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.  That thought is echoed in Hosea 6:3, ‘Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.’  Second, he must depend on the Holy Spirit.  It is through Him that we know the things God has revealed to us (cf. 1 Cor. 2:10-12).  Finally, he must study the Scriptures, for they make the believer ‘adequate, equipped for every good work’ (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  Perhaps the most graphic text related to the pursuit of divine truth is Job 28.”

            We will look at more of this quote in our next SD.

12/29/2016 7:14 PM

PT-2 "The Petition" (Col. 1:9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/28/2016 10:22 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-2 “The Petition”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:9

            Message of the verse:  “9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”

            The word for “filled” in the Greek is Pleroo “to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full” from the Greek/English Dictionary on my Online Bible program.  There are some examples that we can find in Scriptures that help us understand this word better.  “"But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart (John 16:6).”  The disciple’s hearts were filled with sorrow because Jesus was leaving them and going back to the Father.  “They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen remarkable things today’ (John 5:26).”  The crowd’s were filled with fear after Jesus healed the paralytic.  “11 But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus (Luke 6:11).”  This speaks of the Pharisees after Jesus healed on the Sabbath day.  We will look at two more “31  And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).”   “5 The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch (Acts 6:5).”

            Now we will look at the word knowledge as it is a central theme in Paul’s writing.  1 Corinthians 1:5 says “that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge.”  John MacArthur writes “Paul wants the Colossians to be totally controlled by knowledge.  Epignosis (knowledge) consists of the normal Greek word for knowledge (gnosis) with an added preposition (epi), which intensifies the meaning.  The knowledge Paul wants the Colossians to have is a deep and through knowledge.”

            I just got an older book written by John MacArthur sometime in the 1990’s that seems to go along with this subject of knowledge:  “Reckless Faith” “When The Church Loses Its Will To Discern.”  Faith today in a lot of cases does not have the correct Object, which of course is Jesus Christ.  Many people go by feelings instead of what is in the Bible and in order to understand the Bible believers must have knowledge something that MacArthur writes about in his commentary on Colossians which I may just copy so all can read it because it is a very important subject for us to understand.  I have to admit that to understand knowledge has not been a strong suit for me and so I think we can do that in our next SD for Colossians.  If we don’t have the proper knowledge the things that MacArthur writes about in this book mentioned above can happen to us, and that will not be good for us at all.  Remember that our enemy is always trying to cause us to turn away from the Word of God which will cause us great problems, so we need to stay in the Word of God each and every day depending on the Holy Spirit to teach us the Truth found there.

12/28/2016 11:14 AM

PT-1"The Petition" (Col. 1:9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/27/2016 8:13 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus: PT-1 “The Petition”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:9

            Message of the verses:  “9  For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”

            Now we have to go back and look at verse eight “and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit,” and this talks about the favorable report that Paul had received from Epaphras about the Colossian church.  So we see that since Paul got this report that he was praying for the Colossian people.  Perhaps one may think that because this church was doing well that Paul may not want to pray for them, but if they were not doing well that he would then want to pray for them.  The truth is that Paul wanted to continue to pray for them that they would continue to do well as they were growing up in the Lord.  One of my new favorite verses comes from 2 Thessalonians 3:1 where Paul is actually asking that church to pray for him, but as you look at this verse you realize that Paul was complementing them for the good things that they were doing and in the beginning of the book as was his custom he said that he was praying for them “Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you.”  One of the things that perhaps we forget to do when we learn that the Lord has answered our prayers is to thank and praise Him for the answered prayer.

            John MacArthur writes the following about unceasing or recurring prayer:  “Such unceasing or recurring prayer (1 Thess. 5:17) demands first of all an attitude of God-consciousness.  That does not mean to be constantly in the act of verbal prayer, but to view everything in life in relation to God.  For example, if we hear of something good that has happened, we respond with immediate praise to God for it because we know He is glorified.  When Paul looked about his world, everything he saw prompted him to prayer in some way.  When he thought of or heard about one of his beloved churches, it moved him toward communion with God.”  I hope this paragraph helps us understand what 1 Thess. 5:17 means, and it goes along with what Dr. Wiersbe had to say about that verse when he wrote that this verse means to a believer that we are to keep the phone off the hook to God so we can talk to Him at a moment’s notice in both prayer and praise.

            Nehemiah is a wonderful example of one who was praying without ceasing for his heart was broken over the fact that the city of Jerusalem and the temple there was in ruins and we are led to believe that he prayed often for that and so when he was sand in the presence of the king the king asked him why he was sad.  Even though this was not looking good Nehemiah had prayed for the Lord to let him go to Jerusalem and this was the answer to his prayers as the king would send him there. “Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven (Neh. 2:4).”

            There is a second aspect of unceasing prayer and that is we have to be consciousness of what is going on in the lives of people around us.  This is a good reason to read the prayer letters of missionaries so we can pray intelligently for them.  Later on Paul would write to them “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving (Col. 4:2).”  He wrote the following to the Ephesians “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints (Eph. 6:18).”

            MacArthur adds “The two elements of praying without ceasing came together in Paul’s prayer life.  His love for God led him to seek unbroken communion with Him.  His love for people drove him to unceasing prayer on their behalf.  The prayers of Paul recorded in his letters are a precious legacy.  They reveal his heart and are models for us to emulate.  This text records the first of those prayers.”

12/27/2016 8:44 PM

Intro to Colossians 1:9-11

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/26/2016 10:30 PM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  Introduction to Colossians 1:9-11

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference:  Colossians 1:9-11

            Message of the verses:  “9  For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10  so that you will 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; 11  strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience;”

            We will be looking at these verses over the next few days to see how Paul has prayed for the Colossian believers and will find out that in this first part of his prayer which goes from verse nine to eleven that he will be praying that they will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.

            It is interesting that in many of Paul’s letters he prays for the ones who he is writing to, and in this case we see that after Epaphras had brought Paul the news of the problems that the Colossians were going through, a problem that could lead to some difficult sinfulness if not stopped that Paul is first of all attacking the problem through prayer.  Also in many of Paul’s letters towards the end of them he will ask the recipient of the letters to pray for some specific needs in his life, so prayer in the beginning for those he is writing to and then prayer for Paul at the end of the letter.

            The internet is a marvelous way to get news around the world in seconds, but think about Paul in a time when it was even difficult to travel long distances could pray for the Colossian people and many others right from where he was at in prison.  Prayer goes faster than the internet can take information from one place to another, and God really wants us to pray for others.

            Paul’s ministry was teaching the Word of God to others and also to pray for them.  John MacArthur writes “While Paul obviously gives rich instruction to the Colossians; he also shares something of his prayers for them.  Verses 9-14 are a sample of Paul’s ministry of prayer on their behalf.  His passionate words contain two elements:  petition (vv. 9-11), and praise (vv. 12-14).”

            Paul knew that it was very important for others to pray for him as he went about his ministry, and this is something that we also should remember as we pray for others in our lives.  I receive prayer letters from different missionaries and try to pray for the requests that they send out as doing this I can be a part of their ministry.  I know people who have ministered around the world and so right here in my house as I pray for them God will hear my prayers for people I know in Canada or Turkey, or the United States, or Cambodia or Spain or Italy, or other places around the world.

            The Bible is full of examples of God’s people praying for each other.  John MacArthur gives the following examples:  “

·       Job prayed for his friends (Job 42:10).

·       Moses prayed for Aaron (Deut. 9:20) and Miriam (Num. 12:13).

·       Samuel prayed for Israel (1 Sam. 7:5, 9).

·       David prayed for Israel (2 Sam. 24:17) and Solomon (1 Corn. 29:18-19).

·       Hezekiah prayed for Judah (2 Kings 19:14-19).

·       Ezekiel prayed for Israel (Ezek. 9:8).

·       Nehemiah prayed for Judah (Neh. 1:4-11).

·       Jesus prayed for His disciples (John 17:9-24).

·       The Jerusalem church prayed for Peter’s release from prison (Acts 12:5).

·       Paul prayed for Christians (e. g., Rom. 1:9-10; Eph. 1:16-19).

·       Epaphras prayed for the Colossians (Col. 4:12).

Because prayer is so important, Paul starts his letter by sharing the nature of his prayers for the Colossians before he begins to teach them.  Two elements compose the content of his prayer:  petition (vv. 9-11) and praise (vv. 12-14).”

12/26/2016 10:58 PM

 

The Gospel Truth is Reported by People (Col. 1:7-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/24/2016 6:51 PM

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  The Gospel Truth is Reported by People

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:7-8

            Message of the verses:  “7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.”

            Before we get started looking at today’s verses I wanted to say that since tomorrow is Christmas day that I will be posting on both of my blogs a paper I wrote about Christmas a few years ago.

            We realize that salvation is solely by the grace of God; however He uses humans to tell the story of the gospel so that the Holy Spirit can convict them of their sins and cause them to accept the good news of the gospel.  We have been over this ground before that everyone who has been born is born into sin because of the sin of Adam which is passed on by the father. Paul writes in the third chapter of Romans the following to show us that it really takes a miracle from God for anyone to come to know Him.  “10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." 13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; 14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17 And the way of peace they have not known." 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes’ (Romans 3:10-18).”  Scholars call this the depravity of man, meaning that we are not as bad as we can be, but we are as bad off as we can be.

            Getting back to the truth that God uses people to tell others about Christ and the gospel we can see this in Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’”  We see part of this also in Matthew and call it the great commission. 

            “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe (1 Cor. 1:21).”  I have heard of people who are reading the Bible and pray to receive Christ without anyone telling them about that need and they were genuinely saved, which shows that it is the Word of God that the Spirit uses to convict them of sin and their need of salvation.  In my case the people who told me about the gospel were not even believers as time showed me, but again it was the Word of God used by the Spirit of God that was used to tell me the truth and convicted me of sin and brought me salvation.

            Now there is one more verse that we need to look at that shows us this truth of people telling people how to be saved and that comes from Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”  Paul goes on to quote from Isaiah  in the next verse “How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"”

            Now as we go on looking at these two verses we see the name Epaphras, and we learned that he was the one who was visiting Paul while in prison, the one who first gave the good news to the Colossians, and the one who is telling Paul the problems that were developing in this church. Now I want to note something that we have been learning in our study of the 15^th chapter of John’s gospel about the word “bond-servant.”  The Greek word is doulos and Paul uses this word many times in his writing to the different church and people he writes to and the word means “slave” in the Greek and only slave.  Paul is connecting Epaphras’ with his ministry as he was Paul’s representative at Colossae and the one who backed up his authority and also the authority of Jesus Christ which Paul had because of his apostleship.

            John MacArthur concludes this first chapter, and last main point from this first chapter of his commentary on Colossians with the following paragraph.  “God gives us the wonderful privilege and sobering responsibility of being His agents in proclaiming the gospel of His grace.  May we be faithful to share with others the gospel that has meant so much to us.”

12/24/2016 7:20 PM

            

The Gospel Truth is Rooted in Grace (Col. 1:6c)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/23/2016 10:50 PM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  The Gospel Truth is Rooted in Grace

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 1:6c

            Message of the verses:  “and understood the grace of God in truth.”

            Grace is the heart of the gospel message:  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).”  Verse nine goes on to say “not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  We see that God freely gave those who accept His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ which is the forgiveness that goes along with it, and that is He gives it to us because of His Grace.  We did nothing to deserve this, but God gave it to us any way by giving us something that we could never deserve or earn and that my friends is grace. 

            When Peter came back from his meeting with Cornelius the rest of the disciples that he was talking to about this exclaimed “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life’ (Acts 11:8).”  There were other events from the book of Acts that were similar to this one like Acts  16:14 “A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.”  Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”  We see that it is God who gives us the grace to believe as the Spirit of God calls those who will be saved.

“Jesus Paid it All

For nothing good have I

Whereby Thy grace to claim.

I’ll wash my garments white

In the blood of Calvary’s Lamb.

 

Jesus Paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow.”

 

12/23/2016 11:01 PM

The Gospel Truth Reproduces Fruit (Col. 1:6b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/22/2016 10:26 PM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The Gospel Truth Reproduces Fruit

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 1:6b

            Message of the verse:  “it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it.”

            Sometimes I am amazed at how my Spiritual Diaries that I do in the morning and the ones that I do in the evening have parallel thoughts as this one does this evening.  In the morning we have been studying the 15^th chapter of John’s gospel, and the first part of that chapter speaks about the vine and the branches, the Vinedresser, and the fruit.  Another thing that we can see from this half verse is that the Colossians were passing on the good news of the gospel to others soon after they heard it, and I can absolutely understand that as I did the same thing soon after I became a believer.

            The gospel is not a stagnant system of ethics but it is a living moving and growing reality.  This is why John speaks of the vine and the branches in the fifteenth chapter of his gospel.  Beside that one has to use the Word of God in order to tell someone else about the gospel and the writer of Hebrews writes “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb. 4:12).” 

            The gospel will produce fruit both in the individual and also in the universal aspect.  The universal aspect and also the individual aspect are why I take the time everyday to write my Spiritual Diaries and post them onto my blogs.  It is interesting that of the almost 87,000 Spiritual Diaries that have been looked at almost 57% are read from those outside the United States, and for that I can say a hardy AMEN!

            Paul is thankful for the believers in the Colossian church who not only have come to the knowledge of the truth, but have passed it along to others in a similar way that the Thessalonian church did “Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you (2 Thess. 3:1).” 

            The gospel produces fruit in the believers of a church which causes it to produce fruit in the church as a whole.  This is done through the work of the Holy Spirit who causes growth and fruit to come from people and churches as a whole as the individuals reads, studies, prays, and listens to Pastor’s preach the Word to them.

            It seems to me that the early church had great spiritual growth for a long period of time, but then as we see in the 2^nd chapter of Revelation something happened that slowed the progress of the church:  “4  ’But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5  ’Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place-unless you repent (Rev. 2:4-5).”  The churches in the book of Revelation were seven literal churches, but some believe that they are prophetic in the order that they were placed in the letter.  The dominant church in different eras followed the order of the list in Revelation 2 and 3.  Now that does not mean that there are different types of these churches throughout the church age, but we are speaking of the dominant church, and as we look at the order and the period of time we believe we are in now and most fundamental Bible Teachers believe we are in the Laodicean church age, but I am here to tell you that the church that I go to which last month turned 180 years old standing firm in preaching the gospel is not of the Laodicean mode.  I guess I got off the track a bit, sorry.

            John MacArthur concludes this section by writing “The living gospel is the power that transforms lives.  As it does so, the witness of those transformed lives produce fruit, including new converts.  So as the gospel produces fruit in individual lives, its influence spreads.”

12/22/2016 10:49 PM