“HAVE I MOVED THE BALL TODAY?”
Col. 1:10
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
Why will all of the referees check their voicemail immediately after the Super Bowl? So they can hear someone say "no missed calls."
B. TEXT
“...So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” Col. 1:10.
C. THESIS
1. The American NFL “Superbowl” is here. Two teams are left. Both have reached this point because they have kept improving their team and strategy until they can “moved the ball” better than any other team!
2. The phrase “Have we moved the ball?” is a football term meaning “have we made progress moving down the field?” It’s easy to tell a team’s progress by the hash marks on the field.
3. My question for you today is, “Have YOU been moving the ball, spiritually?” Are you making steady progress in your Christian life? Most of the time it’s not so easy to tell if we’ve made progress (there aren’t any hash marks on our lives.)
4. But in Col. 1:10, Paul lists 4 measures by which we can tell if we’re still advancing that bring success: a. QUALITY: a worthy life; b. MOTIVE: to please Him; c. FRUIT: are you bearing?; and d. INCREASE in knowledge of God!
I. QUALITY: A WORTHY LIFE
A. ARE WE FOLLOWING IN HIS STEPS?
1. Not all lives are equal. In the sight of God, some are made of fine gold, sterling silver, transparent diamonds; while others are made of worthless materials. We don’t have to wait until judgment day to know which we have.
2. Our Lord Jesus set the standard of what a worthy life looks like. The Father, in raising Him from the dead, set His seal of approval on His life. On the whole, the more our lives resemble the life of Jesus, the more we are living a worthy life.
3. Jesus did not live for Himself, but for others. His goal was to build the Church and to tell others the Good News about salvation. He tried, daily, to alleviate suffering. He lived a holy life. He was a shepherd trying to gather in the lost sheep, but He also brought inward change to people -- spiritual awakening -- to their purpose and calling. He told many, “Come and follow Me.” He was on a mission and wanted others to join Him. Are we following in His footsteps?
4. Paul says, “That you may walk,” not that you might “talk.” It’s a practical way of living. God desires His people to walk according to the best model -- His Son. “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” Amos 3:3.
B. ILLUSTRATION
1. A farmer noticed a lot of dust and noise in his neighbor’s corral. Two oxen were fighting. His neighbor was urging them on with a stick.
2. He asked, “Instead of urging the oxen on with a stick, why don’t you stop them?” His neighbor said, “I can’t use them to pull my ox cart until they learn to get along.” “If I harness them together before they learn cooperation, they will pull in different directions.”
3. We disciples shouldn’t walk in such a way as to bring disgrace upon our Lord! When you walk with a King, you should rise to his level to be an honor to him; you shouldn’t act like a clown. We should become Christ-like -- fit to be put side by side with the character of Jesus.
4. You are a model for others. Somewhere, somebody is trying to be just like you. The turning point will be, in your life, when you live your daily life to edify and inspire others.
5. Our standard should be to live, over again, the life of the Lord Jesus—a life of tenderness, self-sacrifice, of generosity, of love, of honesty, of holy service, and a life of close communion with God. Let’s press forward to Him!
II. MOTIVE: TO PLEASE HIM IN EVERY WAY
A. HAVE YOU DETERMINED TO PLEASE GOD?
1. Paul said in Galatians 1:10, “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”
2. A train ticket-taker moved through a train requiring every passenger to show his ticket. He was rewarded with
considerable grumbling and protesting, "You are a very unpopular man to-night." "I only care to be popular with one man," he replied, "and that is my boss!"
3. He might have pleased the passengers, disobeyed orders, and lost his position, but he knew it was his business was to please one man.
4. The servant of Christ will face many temptations to relax the strictness of God’s Word. As the representative of Christ, we are pressed to “agree” that certain behaviors must be “ok” with God. We can’t be untruthful. "No man can serve two masters." If we try to be popular with the world, will lose our popularity with the Lord.
5. Next, we’re to live to please God in all respects! Some live to please themselves; some, their neighbors; others, their wives or their children, and some live as if they wished to please the devil!
6. Some servants will only do one job. In India (in the 1800s), this was carried to a ridiculous extreme. The Hindu water-bearer would not sweep the house, nor light a fire, nor brush your clothes—he would fetch water and nothing else. Employers had to have a servant for each separate thing, and then each man would do his own little bit, but he would not go an inch beyond.
7. When we enter into Christ’s church, we should come prepared to do whatever is needed. Many of God’s “servants” are too good to do menial tasks around God’s house, or too respectable or educated. It’s amazing that the Lord Jesus would gladly do a thousand things which His servants are too great to touch!
B. ILLUSTRATION OF A HUMBLE LEADER
1. General George Washington, as he rode along one day, saw a platoon of men endeavoring to lift a tree. They weren’t strong enough to move it, but over them stood their muscular Corporal, yelling at them.
2. Washington said, “Why don’t you lend them help and put your shoulder to it? “Why, Sir,” said the great little officer, “do you know who I am? I am a corporal!” The general got off his horse, pulled off his coat, and helped move the tree. After remounting his horse, he said, “Corporal, next time you need a man to do such work as this, you can send for me, I am General Washington.” None of us are too good to do anything! If you’ve done a little, do much; if you have done much, do more! Paul teaches us that if we’ve reached our limits, it’s time to increase our capacity!
III. BEARING FRUIT IN EVERY GOOD WORK
FRUITBEARING IS THE “LAW OF LIFE.” In Genesis 1, God made every creature -- whether it lived in the air, land, or sea -- to reproduce after its own kind. It is the same way in the kingdom of God; we also ought to reproduce after our own kind. It's only natural. SCRIPTURALLY, THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF FRUIT IN CHRISTIANS:
A. “FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”: GOOD WORKS
1. John the Baptist (Luke 3:8) said, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." The Lord Jesus (Mt. 7:16), described outward deeds and lifestyle as evidences of whether one is regenerated or not.
2. So our outward obedience to God’s Word is a visible expression of the inwardly and invisibly power working inside us.
B. THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
1. If we’re living in Union with Christ (John 15:2-8, 16), the Holy Spirit will produce His fruit in the believer; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” Gal. 5:22,23.
2. Our development of these fruit is pretty obvious.
C. “GATHERING FRUIT UNTO ETERNAL LIFE” John 4:36
1. In context, the Lord Jesus refers to “fruit” while speaking about the conversion of souls. So He sees our sharing the Gospel -- in which the destinies of men and women are transferred from hell to heaven -- is considered as gathering fruit from the basket of eternal death and placing them in the basket of eternal life. Other similar references are Romans 1:13 and Philippians 1:22.
2. WE WANT TO BE FRUITFUL! It’s not complicated; all we have to do is share how Jesus has impacted our lives. God will do the rest!
IV. GROWING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
A. WE SHOULD BE GROWING
1. Just as it’s abnormal for a child NOT to grow, it’s abnormal for a Christian not to grow spiritually! ARE YOU HEALTHY SPIRITUALLY? IF SO, THEN YOU’LL BE GROWING! 2 Thess. 1:3, “your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.” 2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2. 1 Peter 2:2, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk [KJV – “sincere milk of the Word”], so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” The Bible is our source of knowledge about God!
B. GET “FULL” OF GOD
1. Paul says (in Greek) we should “grow in the full-knowledge” (Mounce) of God’s will. Jesus told the servants to fill the jars at the Wedding of Cana, and the Bible says they “filled them up to the brim.” There’s different degrees of knowledge: surface knowledge, acquaintance, & depth.
2. You don’t really know a person until you’ve lived with them in the same house. You know them best when you have shared their troubles, celebrated their joys, and your lives have blended together. We should know spiritual truth inside out -- know its foundation, its building and its application by the Spirit to our souls.
3. You can have knowledge in your brains, but God wants it to penetrate and permeate, and saturate our souls until we’re filled with it. When the Gospel becomes one with your nature, then you’ll be full of the knowledge of the Lord. No matter how much we’ve learned, Paul says we still “haven’t yet attained.”
4. Holy Bernard says, “He is not good at all who does not desire to be better.” If we assume we’re already full grown, we’ll never aim to grow more!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: VALUE OF THE NECKLACE
1. A tourist visited a jungle area where he talked with some natives. He noticed one wearing a unique looking necklace, and being curious, asked, "What’s it made of?"
2. "Alligator's teeth," he replied. "Oh," I said. "I suppose they mean as much to you as pearls do to us."
3. "Oh no," he objected; "Anybody can open an oyster."
4. FAITH TURNS TROUBLE INTO OPPORTUNITY. Little faith can’t do great things. Little faith sees troubles as impossibilities. It often runs and hides when battles come. But great faith is confident in troubles. It attempts great things, because all God’s resources power and omniscience are available.
5. What a difference between little and great faith! That’s why we need strongER faith, so that we aren’t overthrown by the devil’s schemes.
B. THE CALL
1. How many of you want to “move the football” today? Let’s determine to seek to advancing these 4 measures toward Christ: a. QUALITY: a worthy life; b. MOTIVE: to please Him; c. FRUIT: to be fruitful; and d. INCREASING in the knowledge of God!
2. Does anyone here tonight need to to be washed from their sins? Raise your hands. PRAYER.
[Some thoughts have been adopted from Charles Spurgeon.]
