SPEAKER_01: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_00: It is take a moment and go before the Lord and in prayer and supplication and asking him to bless our time together.
SPEAKER_00: We praise you, eternal Father, for the hope that you've given us.
SPEAKER_00: And it is a hope that will not disappoint.
SPEAKER_00: For after all, it is you who saved us, and therefore there is no more for condemnation for those who are in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It is our heart's prayer today to treasure the preciousness of your word.
SPEAKER_00: By your mercy, give us the faith to obey what your word says and to relinquish any sense of self-righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Give us a deeper love for you, O dear God, and to hold the gospel of grace tightly, we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Give us today a new appreciation, a greater love for one another, for we know there is no greater love than to lay down our lives for our friends.
SPEAKER_00: Give us a deeper appreciation for the sacrifice of your Son on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: I pray today for our families, O Heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for children who so desperately need a rock solid worldview.
SPEAKER_00: May we send them into the world with biblical thinking and biblical discernment.
SPEAKER_00: As we raise up our children, may they grow to love your truth.
SPEAKER_00: May we raise our children in the fear and admonition of you, O Heavenly Father, faithfully and gracefully teaching them your words of wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: I pray for those graduates.
SPEAKER_00: May they never forget that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that they will become strong, Bible-believing, Christ-exalting individuals that will be the salt of the earth and the light to the world and fearless in their obedience to you.
SPEAKER_00: Guide us today in all truth, and may we teach and speak the truth and love to one another.
SPEAKER_00: Guide us in the path of salvation, in the ways of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, you are precious, and you've abundantly blessed us, and so often we forget to be thankful.
SPEAKER_00: And so I pray, O Heavenly Father, that we will be a thankful people, a people who are joyfully thankful.
SPEAKER_00: I pray today as I speak your word, may I not speak on my own initiative, but only as your spirit leads and guides.
SPEAKER_00: May the preaching of your word be honoring to you, may the hearing of your word produce fruit.
SPEAKER_00: May what is said from this pulpit today not be for the tickling of ears, but the stirring up of hearts unto good works.
SPEAKER_00: Give us today our daily bread, but also give us manna from heaven, which is your word.
SPEAKER_00: Refresh our souls, for your word is perfect.
SPEAKER_00: Make us wise, for your words are trustworthy.
SPEAKER_00: May we treasure your word, which is more precious than gold.
SPEAKER_00: May we treasure them and respond accordingly.
SPEAKER_00: And I also want to pray this morning for Everett Gilbert, which is Evelyn's father.
SPEAKER_00: May you help him and guide him and support him in his surgery.
SPEAKER_00: And as also Christy Dickinson is undergoing a major surgery this week.
SPEAKER_00: And we just pray that you will be there with her and her physicians, and and that you will just comfort her in her inner surgery and through a surgery and after a surgery.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for both of these individuals and for others who are going through some form of health trial.
SPEAKER_00: May we draw closer to you and nearer to you.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We can open our Bibles in the first chapter of Colossians.
SPEAKER_00: First chapter of Colossians.
SPEAKER_00: And the title of today's message is Learning and Living.
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask this: who of you play golf?
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand golf?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'll tell you.
SPEAKER_00: It's really simple.
SPEAKER_00: You take a s a big stick and a small stick.
SPEAKER_00: You put the ball on the small stick, you hit the ball with the large stick, and third time lucky, it goes into a hole.
SPEAKER_00: It's that simple.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what the fuss is about.
SPEAKER_00: Now many of you would go, Anton, you know what you're talking about, but it's evident you don't understand what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you only played golf, you would know that it's not that simple.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes things are not that simple.
SPEAKER_00: Things are easy to know, but it's hard to understand.
SPEAKER_00: And so it was for the pilots of flight Asiana, Flight 214 to San Francisco on July 6, 2013.
SPEAKER_00: On the way to San Francisco, the pilots were informed that some of the runway equipment was down for maintenance and they would need to land their Boeing 777 manually, not on autopilot.
SPEAKER_00: I learn all these things because there's a lot of students here who want to fly.
SPEAKER_00: And that is what is called a visual approach, not a precision approach.
SPEAKER_00: A visual approach is basically pilot skills and eyeballing some lights on the runway.
SPEAKER_00: The pilot, Captain Lee disengaged the autopilot 90 seconds before touchdown.
SPEAKER_00: But then Captain Lee realized they were too low and too slow, but it was too late.
SPEAKER_00: The 777 violently touched down 50 feet short of the runway, destroying the undercarriage.
SPEAKER_00: This was a catastrophic failure that led to the injuries and death of several individuals and destroying the entire plane.
SPEAKER_00: The official accident report of Asiana Flight 214 was as follows.
SPEAKER_00: The pilots were blamed for the accident.
SPEAKER_00: The accident reports it that the pilots lacked a practical understanding of a visual approach.
SPEAKER_00: They could only fly and land the Boeing 777 in autopilot, but when they had to rely on their knowledge, it seemed they knew a lot but understood little about manually flying a triple seven.
SPEAKER_00: And that is, I think, somewhat what we're gonna see here in the letter of Paul to the Colossian church, where in part Paul is addressing the prevalence of Gnosticism, which I will explain to you a little later.
SPEAKER_00: But it's very similar to Captain Lee and his first officer, who knew a lot about manual flight, but in the moment had no understanding of practically applying it.
SPEAKER_00: Read with me Colossians 1:9 to verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 10, so that, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
SPEAKER_00: What a powerful passage here.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is writing this letter to predominantly address the Gnostics who had a preoccupation with the acquisition of knowledge, and they prided themselves in knowing the more profound things of God.
SPEAKER_00: If there was anybody who did deep study, it were these individuals who had Gnostic influence in the church.
SPEAKER_00: Knowledge by itself, they believed, guided them into a deeper relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: In this church, many individuals were obsessed with knowing stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And they thought the more they knew, the deeper the relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: But this was nothing more than an academic exercise.
SPEAKER_00: It was mystical on the one sense and theoretical in the other sense, and it had zero impact on the way they lived their lives.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Paul described it in chapter 2, 21 as a self-made religion.
SPEAKER_00: A self-made religion which had the appearances of wisdom, but no value in dealing with the indulgences of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul is saying there is look, this, you sound smart.
SPEAKER_00: You sound smart, but really this has no impact in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Growing in one's relationship, we will learn here today, is proportionate not to just the degree that we learn, but to the degree we apply what we learn.
SPEAKER_00: Our relationship with the Lord is proportionate not only to the degree that we learn, but to the degree we live out what we learn.
SPEAKER_00: Paul desires much learning.
SPEAKER_00: But learning must translate into living.
SPEAKER_00: Knowledge must become understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Information must become wisdom, and then that will lead into a deeper relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's prayer here speaks to those and of those who came to the faith.
SPEAKER_00: They fledglings in the faith.
SPEAKER_00: And he tells them how they ought to learn.
SPEAKER_00: They are to learn, but they are to live as well.
SPEAKER_00: Out of good learning comes good application, which leads to a deeper and more intimate relationship with the living God.
SPEAKER_00: Today I'm going to show you a two-step process leading to a deepening relationship with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: People often ask, oh, I just pray for a spiritual breakthrough.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to give you from this passage two things for a spiritual breakthrough.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to have this really deep, intimate relationship with God, I'm going to give you two things to do.
SPEAKER_00: Here they are.
SPEAKER_00: Click.
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, I know about this thing, but I don't understand it.
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Is it Tracy up there?
SPEAKER_00: Hello, Tracy.
SPEAKER_00: Step one, learning God's will.
SPEAKER_00: That's based on verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: Step two, doing God's will.
SPEAKER_00: That's based on verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: The result is growing in God's will, meaning that you're also growing in your relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: Churches, even like ours, we treasure learning and teaching.
SPEAKER_00: We do a lot of learning and we got a lot of teaching, and we study theology and we teach doctrine and we encourage deep diving into the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: That's all good.
SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong.
SPEAKER_00: While these are all good things, is there a balance between what we learn and what we do?
SPEAKER_00: What we learn and how we live.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 9 is very clear that the aim is learning that impacts one's character and conduct.
SPEAKER_00: And it leads to a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I'll unpack this for you.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 9 there.
SPEAKER_00: For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that.
SPEAKER_00: What did Paul ask?
SPEAKER_00: What did Paul pray for?
SPEAKER_00: That you may be filled with the knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you got to be filled with information.
SPEAKER_00: What type of information?
SPEAKER_00: The will of God.
SPEAKER_00: Here are many wordplays here, and here is a lot of uh words that Paul is poking at the Gnostics.
SPEAKER_00: He's taking Gnostic verbiage here, and he's using it in a sense to create clarity.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, that that every time you see the word knowledge, it's the word gnosis in Greek.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where we get the word Gnostic from.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: He prays there that they will be filled with the knowledge of God's will.
SPEAKER_00: And this is step one: learning God's will.
SPEAKER_00: The first step to an intimate relationship with God is learning his will.
SPEAKER_00: He says there first, you ought to be filled.
SPEAKER_00: Go back.
SPEAKER_00: There we go.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: He says there firstly to be filled.
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to be filled?
SPEAKER_00: It means to learn, to saturate our minds with the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians 3.16.
SPEAKER_00: Let the words of Christ richly dwell in you.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to leave no room for guesswork when it comes to what?
SPEAKER_00: The knowledge of God's will.
SPEAKER_00: Now people may ask you, what does it mean, God's will?
SPEAKER_00: Is it speaking of God's will in general, as is in his word?
SPEAKER_00: Is it the things that God doesn't tell you, but you want to figure out?
SPEAKER_00: What is that all about?
SPEAKER_00: I think specifically here it's speaking of God's will as it pertains to Christian living, as it pertains to Christian conduct and Christian character.
SPEAKER_00: And I will explain that uh from the next verse because he says this needs to lead to a life that is worthy of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: We don't learn for the sake of learning.
SPEAKER_00: And those who of you have been involved with education at some point in your life, teaching people, right?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a lot of you.
SPEAKER_00: You can teach, but people don't always learn, right?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, no matter how good you are, right?
SPEAKER_00: And here's a few things I think we can learn here.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, people can know things, but they don't necessarily understand it.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says here, God's knowledge must be learned in this specific way.
SPEAKER_00: The way in which we learn and be filled with the knowledge of God's revealed will is in this way.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the rest of verse 10 there.
SPEAKER_00: In all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual wisdom is in contrast with worldly wisdom, James 3.15.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual wisdom is the Greek word there, is Sophia.
SPEAKER_00: If you have a family member with the name of Sophia, you can call her wisdom too.
SPEAKER_00: But wisdom, according to Proverbs 2.10, is consistently applying God's law and God's commandments so that it becomes a mental reflex.
SPEAKER_00: It's like a muscle, it's like muscle memory.
SPEAKER_00: Tom Rudd, a year ago, he tried to teach me golf, and he in there's like 45 steps just in the swing.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, come again, Paul Todd Paul.
SPEAKER_00: What's your Tom?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we've got like Tom do that.
SPEAKER_00: Todd hunters and Tom Rudd taught me golf.
SPEAKER_00: I failed.
SPEAKER_00: But but he takes a swing and it just goes and the ball goes and lands in the hole.
SPEAKER_00: No, not really.
SPEAKER_00: But wisdom is a consistent application of God's commandments and God's will and God's law in such a way that it becomes a mental reflex.
SPEAKER_00: It's like muscle memory.
SPEAKER_00: But there's something combined here with spiritual wisdom, and that is the word understanding.
SPEAKER_00: What is understanding?
SPEAKER_00: Why is Paul combining these with the knowledge of God's will?
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's the way you learn.
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Kings 3 9, 1 Kings 3 9, Solomon prays and he asks God to give him wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: But he he he he goes a little further.
SPEAKER_00: He says, So give you Your servant and understanding heart to judge your people to discern between good and evil.
SPEAKER_00: And so we are cued into what this word understanding means, which is the Greek word sunesis, which is to be used in combination here.
SPEAKER_00: Wisdom plus understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Senesis speaks here of using God's word as a tool of discernment.
SPEAKER_00: Understanding comes when we can look into a situation and instantly decide whether that's right or wrong, good or bad.
SPEAKER_00: Second Timothy 2.7, Proverbs 2.6, you can look into that, but probably a more profound way of describing this idea of understanding comes from the book of Hebrews.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 5, 12.
SPEAKER_00: These are people who were well educated.
SPEAKER_00: They were buffs when it cannot to learning.
SPEAKER_00: Man, you could ask them questions, they knew it.
SPEAKER_00: Where is that?
SPEAKER_00: They could just fire off answers.
SPEAKER_00: And yet the author says that you ought to be teachers by now.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, there's a few things you just don't get here.
SPEAKER_00: You can't tell right from wrong.
SPEAKER_00: You know a lot, but in the basic things of life, you seem to keep messing things up.
SPEAKER_00: And so Hebrews 5.12, it reads, it says, For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the articles of God.
SPEAKER_00: And you have come to need milk and not solid food.
SPEAKER_00: He says you are infantile.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like calling for feeding people milk.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what he's calling for.
SPEAKER_00: He is just saying, you cannot process solid food yet.
SPEAKER_00: And the problem is not the food, the problem is your application.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: He says, for everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And that word accustomed means practically applying, using it.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll give you an example of that a little later on on this, being accustomed with the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: But he says then verse 14, but solid food is for the mature who, because of practice, have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
SPEAKER_00: That's the the understanding that the author is driving.
SPEAKER_00: He says you should be able to discern good from evil, right from wrong, but you can't simply because you don't apply God's word.
SPEAKER_00: You're unaccustomed to the application of God's word in every life situation.
SPEAKER_00: Learning a series of theological truths is never the point of the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Application of it is.
SPEAKER_00: Application leads to understanding, and that is why the author of Hebrews calls these folk babies.
SPEAKER_00: You can teach a baby a few things, but but but they they cannot consistently apply things because they're still not there yet.
SPEAKER_00: But verse 14 says that because of your lack of practice, because of your lack of practice.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 6, 9 and 10.
SPEAKER_00: These are words that Jesus also mentioned in the Gospels.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, God says to the prophet, go and tell people.
SPEAKER_00: They keep on listening, but they don't get it.
SPEAKER_00: They keep on looking, but they do not understand.
SPEAKER_00: How is it that people can memorize a lot of Bible facts to the extent that they can have like a degree given to them, and yet they cannot distinguish right from wrong, bad from good, better from best.
SPEAKER_00: I think it really comes down to application.
SPEAKER_00: It really comes down to whether we are accustomed to using this book as a practical tool.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, from all religions I've looked at, and I've looked at a lot, this is the most practical religion on this planet.
SPEAKER_00: Try and live consistently under the principles of Islam, the principles of Buddhism.
SPEAKER_00: Darwinism, it's almost a religion by itself.
SPEAKER_00: Try and live under the principles of Darwinism.
SPEAKER_00: It will drive you nuts.
SPEAKER_00: This religion is very practical.
SPEAKER_00: And let me give you an example of this.
SPEAKER_00: You remember David?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so here comes this shepherd boy, and there's this giant named Goliath.
SPEAKER_00: Good.
SPEAKER_00: I was waiting for somebody who says Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You are awake.
SPEAKER_00: That's great.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the giant.
SPEAKER_00: This shepherd boy comes in and they go, come here.
SPEAKER_00: And they give him a coat of armor.
SPEAKER_00: And they give him a sword, and they give him a helmet.
SPEAKER_00: And he walks out and he takes a few paces with it and he goes, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: This ain't gonna work for me.
SPEAKER_00: Why not?
SPEAKER_00: He's like, dude, I'm not accustomed using a sword.
SPEAKER_00: He may have played with his dad's sword, I mean, or his dad's helmet, or his dad's armor.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what kids did in those days.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't have video games, but they they maybe played with somebody's sword and armor.
SPEAKER_00: But David says, I don't understand this.
SPEAKER_00: I have no practical understanding of using a sword.
SPEAKER_00: I have a practical understanding of using a slingshot.
SPEAKER_00: And so he dumps the armor and the sword and the helmet.
SPEAKER_00: And so it is with us, dear brothers and sisters, and I don't want to use David here as a negative example, but I think the illustration is fitting.
SPEAKER_00: How many times do you take this into the battlefield of life?
SPEAKER_00: Or do you leave it in the trunk of the car rather because you're not sure how to use it in day-to-day combat?
SPEAKER_00: How much of our Bible learning, our Bible study actually is tested on the battlefields of life?
SPEAKER_00: You see, Christians often walk out of a church service lowing a ton of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: They go to Sunday school class and they learn a ton of stuff there, and then in the week they got a Bible study and they learn a ton of stuff there.
SPEAKER_00: They're decked up with lots of information.
SPEAKER_00: They put on a helmet of truth, they are given the sword of the Spirit in the left hand, and they walk into the parking lot and dump everything in the trunk of the car and never use it for the rest of the week.
SPEAKER_00: Because they don't think this is really useful on the battlefield of life.
SPEAKER_00: Christians are very eager learners.
SPEAKER_00: But I am often shocked how many people can eloquently teach the passage in deep theology about God's sovereignty and election and predestination and premillennialism and pre-trip, post-trip, mid-trip, what trip, go on a trip.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, in the battlefields of life, those things never feature.
SPEAKER_00: It never features.
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for daily life?
SPEAKER_00: Will be the difference between discerning right from wrong good and evil, and even determine how we relate with God.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is specifically saying we must be studying God's will so that we know how to do God's will.
SPEAKER_00: Just trying to land the plane here on this word understanding, which I think is a very profound word.
SPEAKER_00: Of the 12-year-old Jesus in the temple, and the people who heard him were amazed at his understanding.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't say, Wow, this kid knows a lot.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't say, Wow, for a 12-year-old, you know a lot.
SPEAKER_00: No, they were amazed that as a 12-year-old, he understood a lot.
SPEAKER_00: He knew how to put the pieces together.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't just have a bunch of rote facts of the Bible memorized, but he actually knew how these pieces fitted together and how to apply these truths in daily life and in every aspect of daily life.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, we are told, grew in wisdom and in understanding because his food was doing God's will, John 4.34.
SPEAKER_00: Is your food doing God's will?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was in the business of doing God's will, and he had this very intimate relationship with the living God.
SPEAKER_00: John 6.38.
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a purpose to all the learning, and the way we need to learn is doing it.
SPEAKER_00: Doing it.
SPEAKER_00: Purpose, verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: So that.
SPEAKER_00: That's a purpose clause.
SPEAKER_00: Doing God's will.
SPEAKER_00: You will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work.
SPEAKER_00: This is the second step, dear brothers.
SPEAKER_00: Doing God's will.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's prayer for these fledglings in the faith was to increase in their knowledge of God's will, but also increasing in Christ's likeness.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's prayer was not for more informed state saints, but rather more Christ-conformed saints.
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to be informed.
SPEAKER_00: It's another thing to be conformed.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says in 1 Timothy 1.5, here's a goal to all our teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Love.
SPEAKER_00: As Greek scholar Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Weiss once said, he says, right conduct must be founded on right thinking.
SPEAKER_00: You can't act right in a situation if you don't think right.
SPEAKER_00: And you can't think right unless you know what right thinking is all about.
SPEAKER_00: But he says, but right thinking always leads to right conduct.
SPEAKER_00: Doing does not come at the expense of learning or using one's intellect.
SPEAKER_00: But the point of all biblical truth is ultimately changed character and conduct.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 10 is absolutely affirming that.
SPEAKER_00: So that you will walk in a manner how?
SPEAKER_00: What type of manner?
SPEAKER_00: Worthy.
SPEAKER_00: I love this word worthy.
SPEAKER_00: We get the English word axis.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek word is axios.
SPEAKER_00: It's the word for a scale.
SPEAKER_00: And he says basically, your life needs to be balanced with Christ's character and conduct.
SPEAKER_00: All your learning must be balanced with doing.
SPEAKER_00: There needs to be a balance.
SPEAKER_00: Our intellectual fervors ought to be balanced in our daily endeavors.
SPEAKER_00: Learning must meet character, study must meet conduct.
SPEAKER_00: Learning must translate into a life loved, pleasing to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: As one guy said, a Christian's learning must produce deeply held beliefs which must be matched by conduct and character that is worthy of bearing the name Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Christians, unfortunately, they the scales are like this.
SPEAKER_00: Learn, learn, learn.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know how to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Do it.
SPEAKER_00: Then you'll know how to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Like Tom Rat was a wonderful golf teacher.
SPEAKER_00: Just do it.
SPEAKER_00: How many times?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know, 1,500 times.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Just do it.
SPEAKER_00: The end of all knowledge is change in one's conduct, says Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Lightfoot.
SPEAKER_00: How much Bible study is reflected in character and conduct?
SPEAKER_00: How much Bible study actually translates into daily living?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible has many mysteries that pique the curiosities of intelligent and inquisitive people.
SPEAKER_00: But the question still remains, how much fruit does it produce?
SPEAKER_00: How much fruit?
SPEAKER_00: Look at it.
SPEAKER_00: It says there at the end of verse 10, bearing fruit.
SPEAKER_00: How much fruit bearing is there after every lecture, every sermon, every book study?
SPEAKER_00: What's the fruit?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We can spend a lot of time digging into deep theological truths.
SPEAKER_00: But where's the fruit?
SPEAKER_00: A quick grammatical overview here.
SPEAKER_00: I want to do this because I know you are smart.
SPEAKER_00: A quick grammatical overview of verses 10 and 11 will unlock quite a bit of things here.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: It says there at the end, bearing fruit, and then right next to it, increasing in the knowledge of God.
SPEAKER_00: Bearing fruit in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's very interesting.
SPEAKER_00: And that, by the way, is the growing in God's will.
SPEAKER_00: The growing in God's will is the result of learning and doing.
SPEAKER_00: It's not something we actively partake in, it's something we receive.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll explain that to you.
SPEAKER_00: Bearing fruit is active.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek is active.
SPEAKER_00: You must do it.
SPEAKER_00: You are actively taking a part.
SPEAKER_00: Increasing in the knowledge of God, that is passive.
SPEAKER_00: We the recipient.
SPEAKER_00: That is very interesting.
SPEAKER_00: You learn, you do, you receive.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, as I said, the bearing of fruit here, that is what every believer has to take the responsibility of doing.
SPEAKER_00: He or she takes an active role in fruit bearing.
SPEAKER_00: But the second part, the increasing in the knowledge of God, that is passive.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning the believer is the recipient of the action.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's pause here.
SPEAKER_00: Let's think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Increasing in the knowledge of God.
SPEAKER_00: Paul uses a very specific Greek word here, epinosis.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just like knowing about God, it is increasing and growing in the deeper knowledge that is gained through experience and application of principles.
SPEAKER_00: This epinosis knowledge here, which the Christian receives from God, is a more complete, a more perfect, and a more precise knowledge of God.
SPEAKER_00: This knowledge signifies a more complete understanding and a more thorough understanding of who God is.
SPEAKER_00: And so, dear brothers and sisters, I hope we can see the pattern here is you learn, you do, and your relationship with God grows because God becomes so much bigger, so much deeper, so much wider than you thought.
SPEAKER_00: That word increase, I just want to show off with one more Greek word.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, oxano.
SPEAKER_00: And basically this word means to grow to the extreme limit.
SPEAKER_00: Love it.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, the furthest limits of growing in the knowledge of God comes through firstly doing his will, learning his will, doing his will, and then this knowledge comes.
SPEAKER_00: If Bruce, the New Testament scholar from the 19th century, says obedience to the work of God brings further knowledge of God.
unknown: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: Charles Spurgeon said the following.
SPEAKER_00: He says, here's a mystery that needs to be unlocked.
SPEAKER_00: He says, holiness, that means fruit-bearing obedience, is the road to knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: You want to know God better, you want to know God deeper?
SPEAKER_00: You want to know God in a very profound way, like never before.
SPEAKER_00: Obey.
SPEAKER_00: Do his will.
SPEAKER_00: He says, God has made it so that if any man do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.
SPEAKER_00: Go do it.
SPEAKER_00: Just try and do what it says.
SPEAKER_00: And then, and then maybe doing it, you will discover the deeper secrets of God.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Spurgeon, it seems that Christianity does not separate learning from learning.
SPEAKER_00: Separate learning from loving, rather.
SPEAKER_00: Or holiness from knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: Learning should always lead to greater fruitfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Greater fruitfulness results in a growing relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: Growth in the depth of our relationship with God begins with learning God's will and then faithfully applying God's will.
SPEAKER_00: People will often ask, how is it when they read biographies of men like John Bunyan or Charles Spurgeon, Adorniram Judson, Amy Carmichael?
SPEAKER_00: They're like, wow, these people had such a deep understanding of God.
SPEAKER_00: They had such a deep, intimate relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: It seems they understood God in a whole different way.
SPEAKER_00: Why is it?
SPEAKER_00: And the answer is simple.
SPEAKER_00: They obeyed despite the cost.
SPEAKER_00: They executed and applied God's will, no matter the cost.
SPEAKER_00: And the cost was often very dear for him, for them.
SPEAKER_00: Growing one's understanding of God will result in stronger, more satisfied, more stable Christians.
SPEAKER_00: Stronger, more satisfied, and more stable Christians are Christians who will obey God's will at all costs.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a matter of sheer willpower.
SPEAKER_00: Learning and doing, my dear brothers and sisters, is strengthened by the power of God.
SPEAKER_00: It says it there.
SPEAKER_00: You'll have to lean hard on Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11 strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience.
SPEAKER_00: Attaining steadfastness and patience.
SPEAKER_00: Patience is once again a result of something.
SPEAKER_00: It's not something you give yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Steadfastness, obedience results in steadfastness.
SPEAKER_00: Obedience results in patience.
SPEAKER_00: But patience even goes further.
SPEAKER_00: It bursts forth in this joyful gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the end of verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: Joyfully giving thanks to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Learning and doing God's will.
SPEAKER_00: Learning and living God's will will result in a stabler, more satisfied, stronger Christian.
SPEAKER_00: And a Christian that is overflowing with gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you this quick story before I wrap up here.
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm going long.
SPEAKER_00: This pastor had cancer for seven years, and things got really bad the last month of his life.
SPEAKER_00: And his wife said everything changed for him in those last few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: And that he became more amazed with the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, why did God choose me?
SPEAKER_00: I look back at my life.
SPEAKER_00: Why would he choose me?
SPEAKER_00: Why, why would why why am I saved?
SPEAKER_00: Why am I going to heaven?
SPEAKER_00: He he just had this profound appreciation for salvation.
SPEAKER_00: But that pastor in the and in the hardships of cancer for seven years, people said we never heard him complain, ever.
SPEAKER_00: He always did the right thing.
SPEAKER_00: And this, my dear brothers and sisters, we as Christians must learn to circle the airport of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: It's like the folk out there at uh UND aerospace with those little planes.
SPEAKER_00: They just circle the airport.
SPEAKER_00: They don't go very far.
SPEAKER_00: Because those pilots are too scared, right, Gus?
SPEAKER_00: Where do you fly to?
SPEAKER_00: You don't go to Martha's vineyard or places like that, right?
SPEAKER_00: You just like circle UND airport, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because you feel safe there.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we gotta do.
SPEAKER_00: And this is how Paul ends this section.
SPEAKER_00: He says in verse 13, for he rescued us from the domain of darkness, and he transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
SPEAKER_00: What is that, dear brothers and sisters?
SPEAKER_00: That's the gospel 101.
SPEAKER_00: It's like in all this.
SPEAKER_00: Don't get confident, don't get untethered from the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: When you start learning as a Christian, you start doing as a Christian, don't pat yourself on the back.
SPEAKER_00: Because remember, you've got a dark past, just like me.
SPEAKER_00: We have a dark past.
SPEAKER_00: He rescued us from the domain of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: That's where you started.
SPEAKER_00: So don't get too cocky.
SPEAKER_00: And he transferred you to the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Not you didn't swim a walk away from the one kingdom to the other kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: You didn't fly there.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because your redemption is rooted in the forgiveness of sins which was accomplished on the cross of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: As we learn, as we grow, as we mature as followers of Christ, may we never dare to get too confident that we at best are forgiven sinners.
SPEAKER_00: That's the best you can boast about.
SPEAKER_00: You are forgiven sinner.
SPEAKER_00: That's what you got.
SPEAKER_00: I include myself in there, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Taking off from an airport is easy.
SPEAKER_00: Landing at the airport is more difficult.
SPEAKER_00: Landing is harder, but landing is more rewarding.
SPEAKER_00: Learning is easy, but doing is hard.
SPEAKER_00: But yet growing in the knowledge of God is soul satisfying, priceless, especially in the hard times.
SPEAKER_00: So what am I saying to you as you learn, as you do, keep circling the airport of the cross where Christ paid for your sins.
SPEAKER_00: Put your faith in Him consistently.
SPEAKER_00: But there's one lesson, too, that I don't want us to forget.
SPEAKER_00: There's a point in life that you will have to disengage from autopilot.
SPEAKER_00: Too many Christians are just in this autopilot mode cruising along, and then they get the news well, you got this, or you got that, or this is happening with you, or your life's gonna be upside down.
SPEAKER_00: And now you have to fly that airplane manually.
SPEAKER_00: Can't rely on automation.
SPEAKER_00: You may know a lot about Christianity, you may know a lot about the gospel, but do you understand it?
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand it, dear brothers and sisters?
SPEAKER_00: That was the case for Flight 214.
SPEAKER_00: They got very comfortable with automation.
SPEAKER_00: They were just very doing very fine with cruising on autopilot until things changed.
SPEAKER_00: And it ended in disaster.
SPEAKER_00: Is it not time that we start taking all this accumulated knowledge and start applying it?
SPEAKER_00: Look, let me just be honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: When an organization calls me and says, I want you guys to distribute food packs to the community's children, children who have uh need.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure there are people who have need in Grand Forks.
SPEAKER_00: And I said to the guy, so what do I do?
SPEAKER_00: He says, What you do is you get 10 families in the neighborhoods that you've identified needs.
SPEAKER_00: And you build a relationship with that family, and twice a month you deliver a food pack to the kids.
SPEAKER_00: It's a ministry to kids.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that that proves to be a hard sell?
SPEAKER_00: That's a big ask, I heard.
SPEAKER_00: That's just, I'm not beating up on you, dear brothers and sisters, but we gotta understand that our faith is an intensely practical faith.
SPEAKER_00: A faith that is to change our conduct and character, but not only our personal conduct, but how we conduct ourselves in the community.
SPEAKER_00: Let's disengage the autopilot and start applying what we know.
SPEAKER_00: And God will give us the grace.
SPEAKER_00: He never lets us down, right?
SPEAKER_00: He never lets us down.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we praise you, we thank you that your gospel has brought us into marvelous light, into the kingdom of your Son.
SPEAKER_00: It is all you, God, you get the credit, but you do ask us and you desire us to know you intimately.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray that you will give us grace, that you will give us help to not just be these theoretical children of God, but intensely practical children of God.
SPEAKER_00: Let us be the people who remind ourselves that undefiled religion is paying visits to the widows and tending to the orphans.
SPEAKER_00: Our religion, our faith is not based on works, but it's never absent of works.
SPEAKER_00: The basis for our transformation and the grounds for our salvation is fairly and squarely on the work of your Son Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And we are very thankful for that.
SPEAKER_00: But help us to be worthy, to walk in a manner worthy of you, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Make us people who can bear the name Christian as balanced individuals, learning and doing your will with gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_01: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.