Sermon Outlines . Volume 02 | Issue 07

Walking in Fullness

By Michael Catt

Psalm 1:1,2

  1. Avoid listening to evil.
  2. Don’t meditate on evil.
  3. Stay away from evil.
  4. Walk in righteousness

Psalm 1:3

  1. A blessed man will be at rest.
  2. A blessed man will have God’s resources at his disposal.
  3. A blessed man will find God’s reward.

WALKING IN FULLNESS
Series by Michael C. Catt

Walking In Fullness (Part 1) Col. 1:9-12

As a believer, you are living your life on one of three levels today:

  1. Christ is present in your life.
  2. Christ is prominent in your life.
  3. Christ is pre-eminent in your life.
  1. TO WALK WITH GOD IN FULLNESS IS TO WALK WITH PURPOSE. vs. 9, 10a
    1. Wisdom
    2. Walk
    3. Work
     
  2. TO WALK IN FULLNESS IS TO BEAR FRUIT. vs. 10b  
  3. TO WALK IN FULLNESS IS TO WALK IN POWER. vs. 11, 12 There are four areas that Paul mentions where God’s power is revealed in our walk.
    1. Steadfastness – Romans 5:3-4
    2. Patience
    3. Joy – Romans 14
    4. Thankfulness – Col. 1:3; Col. 1:12; Col. 2:7; Col. 3:15-17; Col. 4:2.
    G. K. Chesterton, “When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” If I want to walk in fullness I must do two things:
    1. Ask God to answer this prayer in my personal life.
    2. Act in cooperation with the Spirit in my daily life.

Walking in Fullness (Part 2) Col. 2:1-7

In the previous message, we started talking about what it means to walk in fullness. Remember, this letter from Paul was birthed out of conflict – false teachers were infiltrating the church.

The Error of Gnosticism Summarized

William Barclay, “Gnosticism was founded on dualism. Its beliefs may be summarized as follows. In the beginning there were two entities, spirit and matter. Matter is as eternal as God. Spirit is God, and spirit is altogether good. Matter from the first, even before time began, had an essential flaw in it. It is out of this flawed matter that the world was made; the stuff of the world is bad stuff; and hence comes all the evil of this world. There are at least four heresies in this philosophy:

  1. If matter is evil, then the body is evil and therefore God could not have come in flesh. A denial of the Incarnation. 1 John 4 tells us that the spirit of Anti-Christ denies that Jesus came in flesh. They denied the divinity of Christ. John 1 tells us ‘the word became flesh…’  
  2. Some Gnostics believed God did descend on the man Jesus but left him before He was crucified. Their philosophy wouldn’t allow for a God who suffered.  
  3. If matter is evil, the body is evil, I have three choices:
    1. I must punish my body.
    2. What difference does it make what I do with my body, I’ll live like I want to.
    3. Since I have this special gnosis – knowledge – it doesn’t matter how I live. What matters is my soul not my body.
     
  4. Since this knowledge was only available to the elite, it meant there were “haves” and “have nots” in the church.

Paul Insistued ‘Every Man’ Could Be Complete In Christ

  1. PAUL’S OBJECTIVE IS TO SHOW US THE SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST FOR OUR LIVES.
    HE HAS SET THE STAGE IN CHAPTER 1 REGARDING CHRIST.
    1. He is the Revelation of the Father. 1:15
    2. He is the Lord of creation. 1:16, 17 – matter
    3. He is the Head of the Church. 1:18, 19
    4. He is the Reconciler of all things. 1:20-23
     
  2. PAUL’S PURPOSE IS TO SHOW US HOW FULLNESS REVEALS ITSELF ON A DAILY BASIS.
    There are several pictures of the church in the New Testament.
    • A building – Christ is the foundation.
    • A Bride – Christ is the bridegroom.
    • A body – Christ is the head.
    1. We should be encouraged.
    2. We should be knit together in love. F. F. Bruce, “The revelation of God cannot be properly known apart from the cultivation of brotherly love within the Christian community.”
    3. We should walk in full assurance. 2b Ron Dunn, “The tragedy of the hour is not that the lost world doesn’t know what’s in Christ. The tragedy is those in the church don’t know.”
    John Wesley’s tests to validate a belief:
    1. Does it stand the Scripture test? Is it in the Bible?
    2. Does it stand the history test? Is it in harmony with what the church has been teaching for the last 2,000 years?
    3. Does it stand the test of tradition? Is it in harmony with the teachings of the church since the 1st century?
    4. Does it stand the test of reason? Is it solid?
     
  3. PAUL’S PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF WALKING IN FULLNESS. vs. 6, 7
    1. RECEIVE “you have received” – “so walk in Him” – Billy Graham, “No man can be said to be truly converted to Christ who has not bent his will to Christ.”
    2. REMAIN. vs. 7
      1. Firmly rooted and built up in Him. (1 Cor. 3:9)
      2. Established in your faith. (Eph. 3:17-19)
    3. REJOICE.
      See 1 Thess. 5:18; Phil. 4:4; Eph. 5:20; Heb. 13:15; Col. 3:15, 16.

Walking in Fullness (Part 3) Col. 3:1-7

  1. SET YOUR HEART AND MIND ON THINGS ABOVE.
    1. You can’t focus on this world.
    2. You can’t focus on the past.
    3. You must get focused on Christ.
     
  2. SELECT THE RIGHT WARDROBE.
    1. Lay aside the garments that defile you.
    2. Put on a wardrobe befitting a believer.

Walking in Fullness (Part 4) Col. 3:15-4:18

  1. LET THE LORD TAKE CONTROL. Col. 3:15 –
    1. LET THE PEACE OF CHRIST RULE. vs. 15
    2. LET THE WORD OF CHRIST RICHLY DWELL. vs. 16 TWO COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF GREAT REVIVALS & AWAKENINGS:
      1. A revival of respect for the Word of God.
      2. A renewed joy in worship.
    3. LET THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST GUIDE YOU. vs. 17
     
  2. LET PRAYER BECOME A PRIORITY.10 PRINCIPLES REGARDING PRAYING IN FULLNESS.
    1. Prayer should be a priority. “Devote yourselves.”
    2. Prayer moves the heart of God. vs. 3
    3. Prayer bonds our hearts together. vs 3
    4. Prayer empowers us in our witness. vs 4, 5
    5. Prayer is a key to spiritual maturity. vs 12
    6. Prayer is an admission of dependence.
    7. Prayer is a confession of gratitude.
    8. Prayer is hard work.
    9. In prayer God affirms His Word to our hearts.
    10. In prayer, we ask God that His will be done in us, as it is in Heaven.
     
  3. LET THE CHURCH BE A WITNESS.
    We won’t take time to go into all these individuals, but I do want to point out what INDIVIDUALS & CHURCHES walking in fullness do.
    1. They minister outside the box.
    2. They build relationships, not based on class, culture, cliques, race or religion – but on Christ.