Grow With Pastor Joe

Everyone has quirks. One of mine (although I don’t think it is a quirk) is that I don’t let my gas tank drop below half full. My Dad never did and taught me to do the same. It leaves more available miles and normally makes filling up more affordable. That’s a tough one with today’s prices. My wife and as far as I know every woman in my life drives their car without a care in the world. Flashing lights mean nothing. Gauges mean nothing. Certainly, the amount of gas is of little importance until the little light comes on. My wife has gotten much better about this; while it doesn’t bother her, she at least will let me know when it gets to half a tank so I can go fill it up. Now, I don’t claim to be mechanical by any means. However, one thing that I know about cars is that they will only go as far as they are filled with the required fluids, especially gas. No car goes without gas, except for those electric cars, but even they can only go as far as they are charged up.

            When it comes to the average Christian, I believe that many are rarely filled. Many coast along on fumes. Some have lights and warning signs on their dash but refuse to acknowledge them. Others go, but they spit and sputter because they don’t do regular maintenance. Most would probably keep their spiritual tanks somewhere between empty and half-full. Just as a vehicle will only go as far as it is filled up, so too it is with the Christian and local church. In our study of Colossians so far, we have been focusing on the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ. When Christ is supreme and sufficient, our spiritual car doesn’t spit and sputter. It stays filled up under the control of the Holy Spirit through the word of God. Last week, we began to look at Paul’s opening prayer in Col. 1:9-14 is where Paul prays that the believers would grow in discerning and doing the will of God with strength that comes from the Spirit and gratitude for the supreme and sufficient work of Christ. Paul’s prayer begins with a desire that they would be “filled” which is the Greek word “pleroo” which means to be filled to the brim or under the control of. Whatever fills us up will control us. You can be filled with a lot of things that control you. The needful thing for the Colossians and each present-day believer is seen in Col. 1:9-14 which says, “ ⁹ For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ¹⁰ That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; ¹² Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: ¹³ Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: ¹⁴ In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” I had every intention of covering Col. 1:9, but we didn’t get to finish it. We saw last week that before we can do God’s will (His designs and desires) we must first discern God’s will. We can’t discover or discern God’s will apart from the work of the Holy Spirit through the word of God.

            Now, before we get too much further into the rest of our study today of Col 1:9 we need to see a couple of important things. Notice with me the word “spiritual.” The word is “pneumatikos” which is the combination of two words meaning wind (or spirit) and blow. This is dealing with the realm of the spirit which is the inner man that is invisible to the naked eye. Other uses in the New Testament focus on the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. We must understand that there are two realms. There is the flesh or the natural world. The other is the spirit or the spiritual. This is in sharp contrast to the flesh which is man’s innate inner nature. The flesh and the Spirit are at odds with one another and for every believer we must walk or live in, by, and through the Spirit. “Pneumatikos” also must be understood in its usage as one who is sensitive and surrendered to the Spirit’s work of guiding and leading. The Spirit works through the word too for us to discern, desire, and do God’s will (See Phil. 2:13; Rom. 11:33-36). Paul deals with these issues throughout his letter to the Colossians, but also extensively in1 Cor. 1-3 and Gal. 5.

In those passages mentioned we see that the natural or fleshly cannot receive the spiritual things of God. The flesh is a fool that believes he is healthy, wealthy, and wise. This was the same issue that had threatened the Colossians to depart from resting in the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ and to trust in their own or additional wisdom and works. Our wisdom and works are nothingness compared to Christ. All spiritual knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that we see in Col. 1:9 must be received by the Spirit through the word of God as we yield in faith to His wonderous work for, in, and through us. Spiritual is the qualifying factor of the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that we are to practically live in each day as Spirit filled believers. Paul combines knowledge, wisdom, and understanding together to make his third grouping of three aspects of practical Christian living (See Pr. 2:1-6). Previously, he had thanked God for their growing in faith, love, and hope. Here, Paul begins to pray that they would grow further in a true experiential knowledge of the will of God and that the quality of that knowledge would be “in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Notice as well that it is to be “in all” meaning believer should be saturated and filled as much as we can be. This requires us to be emptied of self to be filled with the Spirit. You can’t be filled with both at the same time. In today’s study, we will see what it means to be filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding.

First, we must be filled with spiritual wisdom. This statement presupposes that one can have unspiritual wisdom. There is a natural wisdom of man that is in the world, but true biblical wisdom is from the Lord. Man’s wisdom can make one successful in life which is seen throughout the Bible’s usage of the word, but in death, man’s wisdom and works will never measure up. The wisdom that man has is microscopic compared to God’s infinite wisdom. Here, Paul uses the word “sophia” which is a general term which means to judge rightly and to follow the best course of action. God created man and man’s wisdom can judge and choose a good or best course, but it is still never going to be truly the best because the mind of man is limited and so is man’s morals. God’s wisdom knows what is best and therefore He only does what is best. Therefore, the wisdom that God gives through the scriptures by the illuminating and enlightening work of the Spirit is supreme and sufficient. Wisdom discerns and decides the best direction to the desired destination. In our passage, the desired destination is the will of God. The Spirit fills us with wisdom through the word of God enabling and directing our hearts toward God (See 1 John 2:20). We have no direction in our spiritual walk apart from the Spirit’s work. He never gives bad directions and any wrong turn that you make you may rest assured you took your own direction, not His. Knowledge can be learned from books, but spiritual wisdom must be learned through the Bible. It is unwise to live apart from the Bible. Wise living and those who are considered wise or are filled with wisdom are filled with the word of God. Being filled with spiritual wisdom comes from being taught by the Spirit through the scriptures and it must be caught in humble faith and dependence upon His directing. Vance Havner wrote, “If you lack knowledge, go to school. If you lack wisdom, get on your knees.” James 1:5-6 says, “⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” If we are going to be filled with spiritual wisdom, then we must submit to the work of the Spirit through the word. We can’t rely on our own wisdom. In my experience, those who are wise don’t tell you that they are wise. A wise man doesn’t promote his wisdom. True wisdom knows when to speak and when to be silent but, as well, true wisdom knows the power of both.

Second, we must be filled with spiritual understanding. The qualifying factor of understanding is that it is spiritual. Like wisdom and knowledge, understanding can be man made or man centered, but the kind that we need is spiritual or of the Spirit of God. Man is capable of understanding a lot, but with all of our learning we have less understanding about the world around us. With all of the knowledge that is available at our fingertips, there is less wisdom and understanding than ever before. The word that Paul uses here is “sunesis” which means to comprehend, reason, or put together. People today are able to use Google or new AI (Artificial Intelligence) platforms to access all sorts of information. Yet, wisdom apprehends that knowledge in a discerning fashion which most cannot do today. Certainly, no one apart from Christ can apprehend the spiritual things of life. Here, understanding is the application of that knowledge and wisdom. Spiritual understanding is having spiritual street smarts. The word itself is used in the sense of joining facts together. To put it another way, spiritual understanding is the ability to connect the dots. How can we connect the dots of the Bible? How can we see the big picture of the puzzle? How do we even put the pieces together? Not to kick a dead horse (or any other animal), but this only happens by being filled with the Holy Spirit through being sensitive and surrendered to His work through the word of God. Many Christians have an “about” life, but not an “of” life. Look back at Col. 1:9. The prayer is that we would be filled with a knowledge “of” God’s will in “all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” I believe that the average Christian struggles in the application department of their Christian living not because they have a lack of knowledge about how to live, but rather because they have a lack of the knowledge of the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ. They theoretically and practically seem to believe that Christ is supreme and sufficient only regarding our salvation, but not our sanctification. This issue leads many to believe and live as if Jesus gave us a push at the start of the race and then it is up to us to perform or to keep up the pace. We must understand that what and how we learn will determine how we live. We must learn to live what we have learned from His leading and His life-giving power to discern and do God’s will.

Proverbs 9 acts as a personified invitation from Wisdom who offers safety and sustenance for life. Pr. 9:10 says, “¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” I believe that if we are to understand and apply the truth of Col. 1:9 that we must understand and apply Pr. 9:10. Notice the joining together of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. As we remember what each of these three words mean it helps us to see what is being said here. Learning to live wisely begins with the fear of the Lord. Proverbs is filled with this thought and it is a theme throughout the scriptures. Remember, wisdom is to judge rightly and discern the best direction and destination. That begins with a right view of God through Christ and by His Spirit. Then, we see that the knowledge that we are to have of the holy is to be like Col. 1:9. It is to be a personal, intimate, and experiential knowledge based upon relationship. To know Christ is to know holiness. To be in Christ is to be in union with the thrice holy God and to commune with Him. To have a knowledge of the holy is to have understanding which is to comprehend and apply wisdom through connecting the dots and putting the puzzle pieces together. If we are going to see things clearly with spiritual understanding in our daily life it must come by way of seeing Christ as supreme and sufficient. The Lord Jesus is not just a fountainhead of life including our knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, but He Himself is our wisdom. It is God’s will for us to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding as we are saturated by the scriptures being sensitive and surrendered to the work of the Holy Spirit. Do you have natural knowledge, wisdom, and understanding? Do you have the indwelling Holy Spirit? If so, then do not rely upon your flesh to know God or obtain wisdom or understanding. Christians are to live by faith as we depend upon Him and draw upon His grace to guard and guide our hearts. Trust that Christ is supreme and sufficient. Because He is supreme and sufficient, the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that He gives to us by His Spirit through the scriptures is supreme and sufficient for all of life. Be filled by Him today!