Colossians 1:9-14
Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 3
The story is told about a small town in the south. For many years, this town had been “dry” in that no alcohol was ever sold or served there. But one day a businessman in the area decided to build a tavern. In response to this new tavern, a group of Christians from a local church became concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. Shortly after the prayer meeting that night, lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.
In the aftermath of the fire, the owner of the tavern sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible for his loss. But the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. After his initial review of the case the presiding judge began the trial with an official statement. He said: “No matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear: the tavern owner believes in prayer, and the Christians do not.”
As we begin this third of our studies in Paul’s letter to the believers at Colossae I feel compelled to confess to you how woefully unqualified I feel to be teaching this week’s study on prayer. You see, as we begin to deal with Paul’s prayer for the Colossian church, it’s not just something we read, groan a sound of assent and commend him for. It’s illustrative for us. It’s when the descriptive becomes the prescriptive. This is where I have had to do some heavy personal evaluation and criticism. Stick with me for a moment because you might be able to identify with me.
There was a time when I was sure of my powerful role to wield if not entirely control the hands of God by my actions and prayers. If there was a lost person, I possessed the subtilty of speech and sleight of hand to “get him saved”. If someone was spiritually immature, I knew the regimen of enforceable activities in order to get the desired outcome. Only those things that seemed truly out of my reach were items for prayer: A hurricane in the Caribbean that needed diverting, Bill Clinton’s salvation or maybe getting 3,000 people to Friend Day. But even in what would’ve appeared to be an act of dependence upon God, my prayers still possessed quite a bit of self reliance. I truly believed that God’s hands were tied without me.
Non-Christians and Christians alike often give the same answer to difficult questions like these: Why did God allow sin in the first place? Why does God save some people and not others? Why does God send people to hell? Why can living like a Christian be so frustrating? The immediate solution often suggested is simple: “free will.” To many people, it’s a satisfying answer: “Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, God does x because he has to preserve my free will. Yeah, OK. Next question.” I’d like to suggest that we re-think this important issue.
“Free-will doctrine – what does it? It magnifies man into God; it declares God’s purposes a nullity, since they cannot be carried out unless men are willing. It makes God’s will a waiting servant to the will of man, and the whole covenant of grace dependent upon human action. Denying election on the ground of injustice it holds God to be a debtor to sinners so that if He gives grace to one He is bound to do so to all. It teaches that the blood of Christ was shed equally for all men and since some are lost, this doctrine ascribes the difference to man’s own will, thus making the atonement itself a powerless thing until the will of man gives it efficacy. Those sentiments dilute the scriptural description of man’s depravity, and by imputing strength to fallen humanity, rob the Spirit of the glory of His effectual grace: this theory says in effect that it is of him that willeth, and of him that runneth, and not of God that showeth mercy.”