Knowledge of Gods Will and Worthy Walk
Colossians 1:9-10 · Bob Eckel · Feb 24, 2019
Colossians (2019), No. 04
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926191455335

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Let's turn to the book of Colossians, and I think it's only appropriate today, I'm covering two verses which are just packed with doctrine and application. But I think to really set the stage for this, I'm teaching the next two weeks. To think I'm in town for a month at a time without travel is very, very unusual, but nevertheless, Roger gave me the responsibilities of being in town, teaching each Sunday, so this is good. I really enjoy providing this for you and for myself, too. Those who teach grow in grace and truth, perhaps a lot more than you do as a class.

Alright, so we're going to read down through verse 14, and I know that's a lot of reading, but I think what we're going to do today relates to what came before this, and I really enjoyed listening to Andrew last week. It sounds like he did a spectacular job. I wish I were here to be witnessing that.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are Colossae, grace be unto you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.

We'll come back to that verse a little bit later, by the way. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which ye heard before in the word of truth of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is unto the entire world, and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth. As you also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. So today's verse 9, for this cause also, actually I have a hole in my Bible there, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father who hath made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of our dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Alright, so that's in context what we're about today when we begin in verse 9.

For this reason, I think I said cause, again I have a hole in my Bible because I've had this page open too many times. For this reason we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. I've got a book, a verse here that's kind of stacked with a lot of information in it.

For what reason? What's the reason? what preceded it. Very good. That's a good answer. Were you looking at the hand by the way? No. I just got it. This is good. Are you telling the truth? Never mind. This reflects verses 4-8 and actually it's the good news from Colossae. I think that's the reason. For this reason we also, who's we? That's why we read this. Well, first one, what does first one say? At least Timothy and likely many others. We talked about the brethren that were surrounding Paul in Rome, and this is likely a group of people, but Timothy is clearly part of this.

Do not cease. Indicative. What's the indicative? Case or tense? Okay, it's truthful. This is factual. Do not cease. That means do it. There is no question about this. Don't cease to pray for you. How are you doing at that? We kind of dealt with this two weeks ago, this kind of constant prayer. Isn't that that constant communication we have with the Lord? I mean, sometimes it's subconscious, but it's the conscious nature of this. You know, God's not keeping track. This is an open relationship we have with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And if you look at weas, this term for prey, Prasakume is a general word for prayer that means to offer petitions, and the verse, and again back to Colossians 1.3, that's what we looked at, we're giving thanks to God for the Father, praying for you always. And to ask, in other words, here, and to ask that you may be filled is a petition for something to be given. So these Greek terms apparently have a little bit of a different interpretation. The first use of prayer, just kind of a general kind of openness that we have with the Lord about anything. But the second one is more specific of something to be given back. I don't know whether that's drilling down too much spiritually here, but that's what Wiest tells us about these two verbs. Any thoughts about us praying without ceasing? How do you all interpret that? We pray without ceasing. We do it at least daily. You keep track of that?

What's this? Not enough fish to fry as it is and yet he still continues to pray. While this again petition for something to be given is asked that you may be filled, that's something that's a little different maybe. Other thoughts here? It's a relationship isn't it? And it's really fellowship. I think in that prayer is really communicating with the Lord our deepest thoughts and our heart view of the world that we live in. All the needs are out there. God's not saying 24-7, gosh, we go to sleep at night, are our dreams in prayer? Maybe they should be.

But praying without ceasing, I think, is a term to be more loosely interpreted as an ongoing relationship. Abiding, if you will, that might be a good way to describe praying without ceasing, the abiding nature that we have. of praying without ceasing because it's mentioned several times.

Paul mentions this several times. And other epistles too. So to me it's sort of like if you're a believer and you're in fellowship with the Lord, the Lord is hearing everything that you're thinking about. Even if you don't think it's a petition, the Lord is still hearing all of the things that we are thinking about worrying about and or dealing with.

I sort of think of that. It's a relationship. It's because, as Patty said, it's an ongoing relationship. I don't think it has to be a formal petition. I think the Lord just is. Yeah, I mean, it's like. That's how I think of it. Think of many mainline churches where you go into this huge cathedral to meet God, right? I mean, that's not what we're talking about here, right? No, it's in the going. I mean, it's in the going. Everything that we're thinking about and doing. Other thoughts or wisdom here? Yes, Roy?

When we think of the scriptures, one of the things that we're taught in the scriptures is that God breathed these words through the men. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and that word is God breathed. There was a fellowship between God and these men that wrote that was so close that when they wrote, they wrote what God wanted them to write. It was precise. In the same way, we are told in another passage that Who knows the spirit of man but the spirit which is in him, but we have the spirit of God.

Yes. And because he dwells in us, there's an ongoing communication between him and us. Just like I'm talking in this room right now, he's talking in me, to me, as well as to each one of us. at any moment of the day. Are we sensitive to that? Are we listening to that? And are we responding to it in prayer? Are we saying thank you for that Lord.

Thank you for showing me Jesus in a different way through what Bob is saying right now. You know what I mean? It's almost like automatic. Hey that's great Lord. What are you going to show me next? Well, the application of what you just said is the fellowship we have one with another, right? I mean, that's the abiding truth of Christ lived out in you, you know, empowered by the Spirit. We're going to come back to that in a second.

So, you may be filled. Notice subjunctive tense. What's subjunctive tense? Potential. Yeah, you may, or by the way, you may be filled, but maybe you won't be filled. He's hoping it's probable. You look like you are ready to say something. You look poised.

We may be filled, we may not be filled. What is going to determine whether we are filled or not? Let's transition to the next slide because I asked the same question there. If we so will, how do we become filled with the knowledge or epignosis of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

Yeah, I had hope yesterday when one of my neighbors who came to the Lord, oh I say a decade ago at least. It was hell. Right, well, you know. That Mike interacted with. We don't want to tell the whole story, but nevertheless, Mike came to the Lord and he He came by yesterday and was talking about his first wife had died of cancer shortly before my wife died of cancer, so there's been a lot of cancer on the road, causing death in young women. But all that aside, he was married again, and that didn't work out. So anyway, he's loved to be married again, but he's going to a lot of singles groups around. And he said something like, I guess I've got to come to the end of myself.

And that's why I put none but the hungry heart. How do you be filled? if the flesh is what's making you want to be filled. I mean this isn't a head knowledge, this is a heart knowledge coming to the point where you come to this rest where ultimately the spirit begins to work. And that's why none but the hungry heart, you read it today, I mean it talks all about abiding.

The more you try to improve the sin nature of the old man, it just isn't working, is it? So I think that's where you begin to become filled, when you come to the end of yourself. And that's why Miles has been so wonderful in opening up these doors to us who want to come to the end of ourselves and grow by grace. So let's build on that theme.

Epigonosis, more than gnosis, which is knowledge, It represents a superior, more in-depth knowledge that is deeply seeded and we have that opportunity, each and every one of us. And this is as available to us and all believers as the world system based superior knowledge was to the Gnostics. The Gnostics thought they had ultimate knowledge, but what kind of knowledge did the Gnostics have? Was that Christ based? Just like Jiminy Cricket in the Encyclopedia song, isn't that spiritual at all?

I wouldn't have thought of it that way, Tom. That's the good thing about Tom. Can you bring Bo Winkle into that? I knew there would be something more to follow there. Alright, so the Gnostics were the ultimate superior worldly knowledge. They thought they knew everything. They had all the answers. Well, this is epignosis built on the same term that they were using as superior knowledge for the world system, but ultimately now we're talking about a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's more than having it, but being filled or abounding in it. This abiding is kind of being abound in it. It's a relationship in all wisdom and understanding.

So Romans 10.17, so how do we get this epigenosis?

So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The Bible is the source of all our knowledge. And as we approach the Word of God, we have to rightly divide the Word of Truth. The Old Testament's about Israel and prophecy, and sets the principles of God up for the cross. And the New Testament's all about us, at least John's Gospel and the epistles of John and Paul and Peter and everybody else. So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, and that's how we get to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's not experiential. I mean our experience builds on our epigenosis, our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and our identification with him. So as we get this type of knowledge, ultimately our experience and condition gets more conformed to that. We'll return to that too in a moment. Okay, so what's God's will for us?

Two verbs. God's will for each and everyone in this room. And I see people looking at their handout. Alright, two verbs. The first is conform. Romans 8. For those who God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Alright, conformed to the image of his son. and 2nd Corinthians 3.18, you hear that a lot around here. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. Isn't that a beautiful verse? So it's that simple, everybody. The will of God is to be conformed and transformed. That simple.

How does this will of God influence our everyday life? Is it a black Chevy or a white Ford? Give me a break. I mean, is God asking you and telling you which car to buy? No. I mean, there are so many choices we make on a day-to-day basis that have nothing to do with... I mean, the will of God is working with us to conform and transform us. Who cares whether you buy a black Chevy or a white Ford or a white Chevy and a black Ford? Who cares? There are so many decisions we make that have no moral quality to them.

They don't necessarily relate to being in Christ. These are decisions of this earth. that don't really need to be judged. Now that doesn't mean, I guess, you can't, for reasons in your Godhead, buy a black Chevy. I mean, if you're being led like that, I think, that's not being conformed and transformed. But God knows every detail. We can't argue with that, right? And there are no mistakes that He allows in our life. And when we buy a white Ford and we regret it, I guess we'll learn through that.

But that's God's grace manifested in the life of the believer. to conform or transform him or her into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thoughts about this? Is that too simplistic to think the will of God is to be conformed and transformed into his image? And that's not micromanagement. We live by faith, and that faith we learn increasingly by being in the Word of God. His will can be very generally applied to the information in those two verses related to confirmation and transformation.

And we're all going through this, not only day by day, but minute by minute, aren't we, as we experience this earthly condition. Any thoughts? I wonder if we need to maybe add to that, that that has to do with us, but there's a facet of God's purposes.

Mr. Medea, his son, and to be glorified. And that brings glory to glory. Thanks, Rory. That's a necessary outcome of our lives being transformed and conformed. God gets the glory, not we. Good. And Hal would have loved that comment, too. All right. Weast. This is good. I hate to drop big sections of other people's opinions, but I think it's worth doing. Let's see. Upside down. All right.

So, at least, this thorough, perfect knowledge of God's will should be in the sphere of all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Again, Paul uses two Gnostic words, sophia, which is for wisdom, and cynesis, which is understanding. Expositors in defining these words says, sophia is general, cynesis is special. Sophia embraces the whole range of mental faculties. and Sinesis is the special faculty of intelligence or insight which discriminates between the false and the true and graphs the relations in which things stand to one another, to each other. The addition of spiritual shows that both are to proceed from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It's all three. What's all three? Sinesis, Sophia, and Gomeskos. Right, they're all in the verse, right?

And this is to be contrasted with what the world system is. For our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God and more abundantly towards you. You know, again, it gets back to the Gnostic view of superior knowledge. That's world system stuff. We're talking about here not fleshly wisdom, but that manifested in each and every one of us by the grace of God.

Also 1 Corinthians 2.14, but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, but because they are spiritually discerned. Different knowledge. The knowledge we're called to is the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, not Yes, there's no reading stuff.

Thank you for explaining that to me. It's good to have you, Tom. And if we look ahead in Colossians chapter 4 verse 12, in Epaphras, who we read about here in Colossians the first chapter, his prayer was so directed, Epaphras, who is one of you, a bond-servant of Christ, greets you always, laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all of the will of God. And we're reading in this verse what the will of God is. that we're going to be ultimately filled with the knowledge of His will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That's His will. And that's the confirmation and transformation process we talked about before.

Thoughts here on this? JFB, I'm taking that, one of the commentators that I kind of like at times, said, there seems to have been a want of knowledge among the Colossians, notwithstanding their general excellencies. Hence, he so often dwells on the subject of God's will.

And here's a series of verses which will not look up about the Colossians kind of necessarily needing to be in a position to understand, ultimately, this contrast between the world's head system or knowledge and that that spirit led in the new nature. So we can look those up later if we have time. And again, this relates to the false doctrine to which the Colossians were exposed.

Colossians 2.8. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles that are of the world and not according to Christ. And in chapter 2, verse 23, these things indeed have an appearance of wisdom and self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. So you know, the Colossians, I think many of Paul's writings really deal with this contrast between the world system, the flesh, and its power, and lack thereof, compared to the spiritual indwelling nature of the Lord Jesus Christ and spirit-led.

And I think the Apostle John sends us a reminder, and I love the Epistle of John because I think it just adds and complements that of Paul. First John 5, 20, and we know that the Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may know him who is true, knowing him, the will of God. And we are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ, this is the true God in eternal life. So I mean it's kind of a reminder of being steeped in the identification that Paul is already carefully and repeatedly identified in the word and John's more applied and this reminds us of that application.

So thoughts on verse 9 in terms of this being steeped up in the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. I mean, this isn't a formula. I mean, if I do A, B, and C, then I got this down. This is increasing knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as our earthly experience on a day-to-day basis is measured against what God has for us as believers, we come to the end of ourselves and we're ready to grow by grace. Okay, and this is not something we easily measure. I'll just say it quickly. World-based? No. Christ-based? Yes! You want us to raise our hands here? Well, maybe like B.C. did. Yes. When he saw the reserve, he didn't call me. Tom, that's great.

Okay, let's go to verse 10 then, that you may want worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. And right back to what you said, bring glory to the Lord. I mean, that's what this is all about. As our walk is in grace and truth, ultimately, that's where we really bring the glory to the Lord. So what's this may, and this is not subjunctive, this is an infinitive participle, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord. I think it's kind of indicative that you do, this is not like, it's not subjunctive, that doesn't mean you could or could not, it has a little bit more stronger meaning. I think the idea is the stage is set, it's not indicative, but it's kind of expected that you would continue in this position of walking worthy of the Lord. This whole issue, walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, doesn't that sound kind of legal?

Everybody's nodding. Penny for your thoughts. I've got a thought. What's that? I've got a thought. Yeah, good. Well, the walking and all the things that up to this verses on the first page and all of it I think is God's we have a new life in us and I think God is in every aspect of our thought processes and understanding of the new life and the things that are spiritual verses worldly bringing all that in us about us whatever into conformance with new life that we have, which is Christ.

Okay, so describe then this walk. So that the way we conduct ourselves in the world as we go along day by day, we are spiritual But we live in a physical realm and we have to relate to that in the things we do. So we want to do it the way, in the spirit, out of the new life that we have. Okay, so you're defining a life, not a choice, right? Right.

So this walking worthy, I mean, is that something we kind of think about ourselves? Are we walking worthy or not? You know, it sounds legal, you know, worthy walk is mentioned elsewhere, I'll just share one verse Ephesians 4, when I therefore the prisoner Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. And what are we being called to?

And by the way, worthy means like value. And if we think of like value, you think of identification. I mean, that's that's fun, this is identification, so like value, walking worthy is that Christ life working in us and by the way, the flesh, the old man is capable of making a right choice or a wrong choice and what would make him or her make the right choice self-righteously? What would make an individual make that choice? The consequences over here So if I make this choice in this self-life, there could be consequences that I don't want to pay. But the Christ life just lives over here, and although we're tempted, you know, it's only the flesh that shows up to make the wrong choice. I mean, that spirit-led life is a walk. And that's identification.

And that's why Philippians 1.21, I said I'd bring this up again, for me to live is Christ. It's not to be like Christ, it's not walking in his shoes, It's not to use him as an example. all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you will walk. I mean it's kind of a result of the spiritual understanding. And I think you very nicely with what you just said, help us interpret the verb may. You're right, if you're built up with spiritual understanding and wisdom, you may walk. In other words, it's kind of expected that you will walk in that manner.

Good, I like that comment. Excellent. So, you know, to die is gain. I mentioned earlier, none of us are quite sure how that's going to be, but once we're dead, we know where we're at. And then, you know, the Old Testament can be sometimes used and applied, in many ways can be applied, but I really like this verse.

The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them. Now, think about that in terms of identification truth. I mean, again, it wasn't written to apply to our new life in Christ. The works of the Lord are great. May God be the glory. Studied by all who have pleasure in them. And as we walk in grace, it's something that we don't get distracted by the things of the world.

Now, we all have jobs. We have responsibilities. We have family where there are stresses at times. But, you know, this trumps all that. This walking worthy, bringing all glory to him. It's a different kind of agenda. And then it asks us to be fruitful in every good work. And let's turn to Galatians 5, 22 and 23. Somebody read that.

Who gets that, please? The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, How are you doing at that? I mean, the self can't be whipped to bring these attributes about. This is the fruit of the spirit. And I guess the question is, what does this look like, being fruitful in every good work? Let's look and see what Lee says.

He said, this fruit bearing And increasing is to be not in the knowledge of God, since the latter is the motivating energy which produces the former, but by the means of the knowledge of God. So head knowledge of God, I mean think of people who have been to the Word, they know the Word extremely well, but they walk as if I mean, remember our experience at another church, a fundamental church that ultimately had a lot of legality to it. And when the decision for Sharon and I to leave that church, ultimately we met with a pastor. And we were discussing this whole issue of, you know, there's more to Christianity than keeping the law.

And, you know, we pointed that example scripturally. And he said to us, you know, he's critical of that position. And I said, well, that's a position that we're growing into. And he said, well, I kind of agree with that position. And I asked him, but do you have ownership for that position? He said, absolutely not. No ownership for this identification truth.

So that was time to say goodbye. Ultimately, that's not when we left. We ultimately got thrown out of the church. That's another story. It wasn't self-any, never mind. Now that I opened the door, our daughter Kristen was away on a high school trip near graduation. Ultimately there was some behavior on the trip that represented some not Christian behavior. And when they came back, the pastor at that time was a different pastor than the one who we had a discussion with about the identification trips, and he basically called all the students in with no parents and we thought that was in violation really of good principles in terms of just bringing the high school students in and scolding them so we had a very vibrant conversation about that and we were asked to leave the church and you know it's history but anyway Yeah, everybody was happy for us actually. I remember Bible study, Doyle was, finally you're out of that place. It's unfortunate that my late wife and I didn't join this fellowship and Margaret's the one that brought me here, so I'm thankful for that, but too much information.

But anyway, this fruit bearing is something that we don't measure. When we apply the law to how we're doing, I think then we're never going to live up to any God-based standard, are we? I mean, the fruit of the Spirit is seen by one another, the Lord understands it and acknowledges it, but this is not something we really pay attention to. How is this measured? How's God measuring the fruit bearing that we're bringing about in our day-to-day lives?

He makes the tough calls, we just have to consider our position and trust in Him. Tom, to build on that, should we care? There are cares on Him, and that's one of them. There's an area that takes time for prayer. So what happens when we're not walking by the Spirit and not bearing fruit? It's good that we have the Holy Spirit, right? He's convicting of that and we confess and move on.

It's not something that we dwell on because the flesh is never going to get any better. Producing fruit out of the old nature is not possible. So should we care? I would say we don't care. We live by grace, by faith. In other words, grace is the walking pad that we walk on and faith is how we carry We've got to trust the Lord in all of that. That's why we don't care. As you said, there are no mistakes. Whatever decision or whatever has happened, the Lord is still going to use that in our life. And so as we bear fruit and ultimately bring glory to the Lord, what happens?

Well, increasingly we're positioned, passive participle by the way, in the knowledge or epinosis of God. See, the idea of the fruit ultimately brings more fruit as we walk in this grace. And we have a role here, but notice the passive participle of increasing. What does that mean? The passive, the fact that you know, that we are increasing in the knowledge of God, but yet it's passive. That means we have a role to respond by faith, but it's the Holy Spirit that does the teaching.

So this increasing in the knowledge or epignosis of God is experiential to the extent that ultimately we learn from our growth and grace and fruit bearing and ultimately in that process the Holy Spirit continues to teach. We increase in the knowledge, the epigonosis of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that to some extent is our condition and is ultimately one that is ultimately dependent on the teaching of the Spirit, but as we live in that grace and walk in that grace, it's increasing over time and more fruit is ultimately to follow.

And again, do we measure this? No, it's a life, and hopefully others do, and the benefit is noticed therein. It's His work, basically. It is, and to God be the glory, right? So, John 14, 16-17, a reminder, we dealt with this two weeks ago, and now I have the verses to support this, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know him for he dwells in you and will be in you." The words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And this is the passive process as we live by faith. He's in the business of growing us in that grace. I think one of the most difficult things we have as believers is describing the Holy Spirit. How would you tell someone who is maybe a new believer who the Holy Spirit is? Don't all answer at once. He's our teacher. He's our teacher. He's our teacher. OK. What does he teach us? The understanding of the word. Take the things of Jesus and make them real. That's kind of what this relates to. He's going to manifest that life in us.

Most people in the world believe in some God of some sort. Many believe in their God who is not their true God, but they believe in some sort of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, you can look at history and you can either deny or accept who He really was. you know, the Son of Man, the Son of God, I mean, so we believe He was truly the Son of God and was crucified on behalf of each and every one of us and set all that aside. So Jesus Christ is a historical figure that nobody can doubt historically. They can relate to Him in different ways, but the Holy Spirit is nebulous, isn't He, to the world? You ever tried to describe the Holy Spirit to an unbeliever?

I think you're out in left field someplace. But yet, We're dependent on him. And just think, what do you think of when you think of the transition from Romans 6 to 7 to 8? What was Romans 6 all about? Well, it's the fact that we were crucified with him, buried with him in baptism under death, and risen with him in newness of life. And that's not our sins being forgiven, but it's we, each one of us, were crucified with him, buried with him in baptism under death, and risen with him in newness of life. And what was Romans 7? The whole law showed up in Paul's life, right? He struggled constantly with it. And then he says, Oh wretched man that I am, right? And then what followed that? And ultimately it's the spirit led life that follows that.

So again, Describing this to an unbeliever seems very, very skeptical and unrealistic. But even to many believers, I think the knowledge of the Holy Spirit and what his purpose is, I think is really predicted very nicely by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is another helper who abides in us. He is the Spirit of Truth. and ultimately it's heat that leads us in that truth.

The verse also points out the difference between the disciples then and what they would be in the future. Because then the Holy Spirit was with them, in the future he will be in you. It's a distinction of when the church is formed. The Holy Spirit came to dwell in them, the last phrase there.

He dwells with you and will be in you both, right? It's a whole different relationship. We now have God dwelling in us. I'm going to go down to Rabbitra for a second. What about some of the Old Testament people that we recognize, the Daniels and Josephs of the world, how did the Spirit work in them? The Holy Spirit gave gifts of art and craft to make the tabernacle and all of the fashionings of it. But that was a short term thing. It wasn't a permanent indwelling was it? No. Acts of God that influenced men of faith. to ultimately sustain his work.

The other thing about the unbeliever that occurs to me is that he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness because Christ is not here about right and wrong and judgment. So the Holy Spirit is convicting unbelievers of those three things. That's a relationship that we can describe the Holy Spirit to an unbeliever. Where's that coming from that makes you recognize your sin, recognize what's right and wrong, and recognize that there's a judgment involved in this.

And for some of those individuals, ultimately, the Spirit continues to work to bring them to salvation. But many, it doesn't. Alright, how do we increase in this knowledge? In other words, what's our role here? kind of been dealing with this intermittently today. Well, it's by faith.

That's what makes it so very special. Do we believe what God's revealed about our co-crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, that we have a spirit-led life that is free of legality? The principles of God never change from Genesis 1-1 to the end of Revelation. His principles are always there, but this new nature we have, this new life in Christ Jesus enabled by the Spirit, we believe that at this church, in this body.

But so many people just don't get it here. And I would come back to the idea, I mean, the nun but the hungry heart. You've got to have a hungry heart. And how do we define a hungry heart? coming to the end of ourselves. It's the only way that I think these truths become apparent. And what follows coming to the end of yourself? There's an important principle that comes to the end of that. I mean, Miles Stanford wrote the Green Letter series about this. What happens when we come to the end of ourselves?

Gail? I don't know that this is what you're after, but it makes me think of the deer longing for the water, going to the water. The deer is driven inwardly by the desire and the need for the water. And so it is that we are driven by the spirit and by the new life and the hunger to have more, And what follows that once we come to a better understanding of what the Pauline Epistles and the rest of the New Testament is all about?

What follows that is a rest. There's a rest. And once we come to that rest, then the Lord has an opportunity to start working within us. And don't we all in this room have a rest? Don't you feel secure that before God you're looked at as fully righteous? He hath made him who knew no sin, to be made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Boy, if that's not positional truth.

2 Corinthians 5.21. It's a great verse that reminds us of our positional truth. And our condition can only be relevant if our position is secure and by faith we believe it. What are the benefits that we experience when in fact we are increasing in this knowledge of God and the fruit bearing continues to be manifested?

First Thessalonians 4.1 is maybe not a perfect verse to reflect this, but finally then brethren we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more just as you received from us how you ought to walk and notice the outcome to please God. So what pleases God? If he's up there, he doesn't have some chart that he's keeping for us, but what pleases God? And by the way, as we abound more and more and we know how to walk, what pleases God about that?

The third person of the Godhead is at work in succeeding in each of our lives. And what's the result of that, Tom? Growth. Well, it's growth for us individually, but... Gary? Fellowship with Him. Well, right. And the glory goes to Him, doesn't it? When our walk is by the Spirit in the Lord Jesus Christ, to God be the glory. And we can't measure that. And we shouldn't be worried about measuring that. We walk by faith, and to God be the glory. And that pleases Him. Any other thoughts as we close in prayer today? Okay, let's turn to the Lord.

Father, we're thankful for the text, and we may have not done true justice, but we've looked at it in terms of how it relates to our day-to-day lives. And as the next two weeks are before us now, we're going to see even further how this is manifested. We're thankful for the class in each and every member, those who are here and those who are not, and we lift up again those in prayer. Norm has been reminded to us today about his circumstances. We're thankful for the service to follow. May Jesus' name be praised. In Jesus' name, amen.