Spiritual Knowledge and Its Practical Results

Spiritual Knowledge and Its Practical Results

(No. 1742)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 30 1883,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"For this cause we, also, 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 in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you might
walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good
work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." Colossians 1:9,10.

FOR the Church that was at Colosse, Paul gave hearty thanks to God for
many most important blessings, especially for their faith, their love
and their hope. It would be a very useful exercise to our hearts if we
would often give thanks to God for the gifts and Graces which we
discover in our Christian Brothers and Sisters. I am afraid we are more
inclined to spy out their faults and to suppose that we deplore them,
than we are to discern the work of the Holy Spirit in them and, from
the bottom of our hearts, give thanks to God for them. Paul felt
encouraged by what he saw in the Colossian Believers to pray to God to
enrich them yet farther. It should be our desire that our best Brethren
should be better and that those who are most like Jesus should be still
more completely conformed to His image.

We cannot more wisely show our love to our friends than by, first,
acknowledging the Grace which is in them–and then by praying that God
may give them more! Paul, as with an eagle eye, surveyed the Church at
Colosse, which he loved so well, and he noted that it was somewhat
lacking in knowledge. The Colossian brotherhood differed considerably
from the Church at Corinth which abounded in talent and was enriched
with all knowledge. The Colossians had fewer gifted Brethren among them
who could act as teachers and, though this was no fault of theirs, it
impoverished them in the matter of knowledge–and as Paul would not
have them be behind in any desirable attainment–he, therefore, prayed
for them that they might be filled with knowledge in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding.

If you read this Epistle through, you will observe that Paul frequently
alludes to knowledge and wisdom. To the point in which he judged the
Church to be deficient, he turned his prayerful attention. He would not
have them ignorant. He knew that spiritual ignorance is the constant
source of error, instability and sorrow–and, therefore, he desired
that they might be soundly taught in the things of God. Not that they
were destitute of saving knowledge, for he says in the 6th verse that
they "knew the Grace of God in truth," and that they had brought forth
fruits meet for salvation. But saving knowledge, though it is the most
essential attainment, is not the only knowledge which a Christian
should seek after. He should long to be useful as well as to be safe.

Being himself delivered out of darkness, Paul strives to bring others
into the marvelous light of Grace. Paul would have his Brethren
thoroughly furnished for sacred service, knowing the will of the Lord,
themselves, and able to teach others. He desired for them that they
might possess comforting knowledge, strengthening knowledge, edifying
knowledge, sanctifying knowledge, directing knowledge–so that they
might be ready for all the trials, duties and labors of life. Upon this
subject I am led to make four observations and to enlarge upon each of
them. May the Holy Spirit, by this discourse, build us up in the
knowledge of God.

I. My first subject is THE GREAT VALUE OF INTERCESSORY PRAYER, for as
soon as Paul felt his heart burning with love to the saints at Colosse
and had heard of the work of the Spirit among them, he began to show
His love by lifting up His heart in prayer for them. He did that for
them which He knew would bless them. Notice that intercessory prayer is
a very important part of the work of Christians for one another. We are
not sent into the world to live unto ourselves, but we are members of
one body–and each member is expected to contribute to the health and
the comfort of the whole. It is true we cannot all preach, but we can
all pray! We cannot all distribute alms from our substance, but we can
all offer prayer from our hearts!

In temporal things we may not be able to enrich the Church for lack of
substance, but if we fail to bless the Church by our prayers, it will
be for lack of Divine Grace. Whatever you fail in, dearly Beloved–and
I pray that you may in nothing fall behind–yet do not fail in prayer
for all the saints, that every blessing may abound towards them!
Intercessory prayer is to be esteemed as an invaluable proof of love
and as the creator of more love. The man who will truly pray for me
will certainly readily forgive me if I offend him. He will relieve me
if I am in need and He will be prepared to assist me if I am engaged in
a service too hard for me. Give us your earnest prayers and we know
that we live in your hearts! How sweet it is to be permitted thus to
manifest our love to one another!

When our hands are palsied, we can still pray! When our eyes grow dim,
we can still see to pray! When, by sickness, we are altogether laid
aside, we can still pray! And when we meet with cases in which we are
unable to help, and yet are moved with sympathy for a Brother or
Sister, our sympathy can always find one open channel, for we can
pray–and by prayer call in the aid of One whose help is effectual.
Therefore, by your love to your Lord and to all those who are in Him, I
beseech you abound in intercessory prayer as the Apostle did.

Intercessory prayer, again, is most valuable because it is an
infallible means of obtaining the blessings which we desire for our
friends. It is not in vain that we ask, for it is written, "Everyone
that asks receives." It is not in vain that we intercede for others,
for the Lord delights to answer such petitions. The unselfish devotion
which pleads as eagerly for others as for itself is so pleasing to the
Lord that He puts great honor upon it. If we desire any blessing for
our friends, our best course is to pray–even if we would have them to
be filled with knowledge in all wisdom, our safest course is to pray
that it may be so.

Of course, we must not forget to instruct them and to aid them in their
studies as far as lies in our power, for every honest prayer supposes
the use of all proper means. But the instruction which we offer will be
of no service unless we first bring down the blessing of God upon it,
that thereby our friends may be made willing to learn and may receive
the Truth of God not as the word of man, but as from the Lord, Himself.
None but spiritual teaching will nourish spiritual life. The Holy
Spirit must teach Divine Truth to the heart, or it will never be truly
known. Whatever you wisely desire for your friend, strive to get it for
him, but hasten, first, to the Throne of Grace. If you would have your
friend converted; if you would have him strengthened; if you would have
him taught of God; if you would have him quickened to a nobler life and
elevated to a higher consecration, do him this great service–take his
case before the Lord in prayer–and in so doing you have gone the
wisest way to work to enrich him.

Note, Brothers and Sisters, for I am keeping to my text closely, that
such intercessory prayer will be all the more valuable if it is our
immediate resort. The Apostle says, "Since the day we heard it, we do
not cease to pray for you." He began to pray at once! Whenever you
perceive the work of the Spirit in any heart, pray at once that the
holy change may proceed with power. Whenever you discover any need in a
Brother, begin on the day you hear of it to pray that his need may be
supplied. There should be no delaying of prayer! "He gives twice who
gives quickly" is a human proverb, but I believe that when we pray
speedily we shall often find that God, in answering quickly, gives us a
double blessing. Usually he who is the most diligent in the pursuit of
them shall win worldly riches–and assuredly he shall be richest
towards God who is most diligent in supplication. Linger not a minute!
Speed on to the Mercy Seat. Now is the accepted time; the Lord waits to
be gracious to you! The Lord indicates to you what your prayer shall be
by the news, which you have just heard of your friend. Therefore, bring
his case at once before the Throne of Grace. Divine Providence has
brought the necessary subject for prayer under your notice; therefore
begin to pray about it at once!

Our prayers will be all the more valuable if they are incessant as well
as immediate. "We cease not," said Paul, "to pray for you since the day
we heard it." "Oh," says one, "was Paul always praying for the
Colossians from the day he heard of their welfare? It may have been
months and years! Did he never cease to pray?" I answer, he was always
praying for them in the sense which he explains–he adds, "and to
desire." Now, desire is the essence of prayer. In fact, desire is the
kernel of prayer. The vocal expressions which we call by the name of
prayer are often but its shell–inward desire is the life, the heart,
the reality of prayer! Though you cannot always be speaking in prayer,
you can always be desiring in prayer. The miser is always desiring
riches, though he is not always talking about his gold and silver. And
the man who loves his fellow men and desires their profit is really
always praying for their benefit, though he is not always lifting up
his voice in supplication. "Since the day we heard it," says Paul, "we
do not cease to pray for you."

The act of prayer is blessed, but the habit of prayer is more
blessed–and the spirit of prayer is the most blessed of all–and it is
this that we can continue for months and years. The act of prayer must,
from force of circumstances, be sometimes stopped, but the habit of
prayer should be fixed and unvarying. And the spirit of prayer, which
is fervent desire, should be perpetual and abiding. We can hardly
realize the value to the Church and to the world of that intercessory
prayer which ceases not, day or night, but without fail ascends before
the Lord from the whole company of the faithful, as the incense
ascended from the altar!

Dear Friends, our intercessory prayer will be all the more precious if
it is an intense expression unto God. I suppose that by the use of the
word, "desire," here, the Apostle not only explains how he continued to
pray, but in what manner he prayed–with "desire." Remember how our
Lord puts it–"with desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you
before I suffer." I wish we could always say, "with desire have I
desired in prayer. I did not repeat a merely complimentary benediction
upon my friends, but I pleaded for them as for my life. I importuned
with God; I offered an effectual inwrought prayer which rose from the
depths of my heart to the heights of Heaven and obtained an audience
with God." Fervency is a great essential for victorious prayer. God
grant us to be importunate, for then we shall be invincible!

One more observation and I have done with this point. Intercessory
prayer is increased in value when it is not from one person, alone, but
is offered in intimate union with other saints. Paul says, "We, also,"
not, "I, only," but, "we, also, since the day we heard it, cease not."
If two of you agree as touching anything concerning the Kingdom of God,
you have the blessing secured to you by a special promise of God.
Remember how Abraham prayed for the cities of the plain, but succeeded
not until Lot also added his supplication for Zoar? Then the little
city was spared. I compare Abraham's intercession to a ton weight of
prayer, and poor Lot's I can hardly reckon to have been more than half
an ounce, but still that half-ounce turned the scale!

So here is Paul–and with him is youthful Timothy, who, compared with
Paul, is meaningless! Yet Paul's prayer is all the more effectual
because Timothy's prayer is joined with it. Our Lord sent out His
servants by two and two, and it is well when they come back to Him in
prayer two and two. I commend to you, Brothers and Sisters, the habit
of frequent prayer together. When a Christian friend drops in, his
visit will, perhaps, end in mere talk unless you secure its spiritual
profit by at least a few minutes spent in united prayer. I frequently,
during the day, when a friend comes in upon the Master's business, say,
"Let us pray before you go," and I always find the request is welcomed.
Such prayers do not occupy much time, but if they did, it might be well
spent–such united supplications oil the wheels of life's heavy wagon
and cause it to move with less of that creaking which we too often
hear. "I, alone" is certainly a good word in prayer, but, "we, also" is
a better one! Let us link hands and intercede for our Brethren and the
whole Church of God.

Thus have I expatiated upon the excellencies which increase the value
of intercessory prayer. Use much this heavenly art. It is effectual for
10,000 ends. It turns every way to bless the Church. Brothers and
Sisters, pray for us, pray for all saints, pray for all sinners and, by
doing so you will be the benefactors of your age.

II. Our second observation from the text is this–we learn, here, THE
PRECIOUSNESS OF SPIRITUAL KNOWL-EDGE–for all this earnest, ceaseless
prayer is offered for this end, "That you might be filled with the
knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." Here
let us speak of the usefulness and blessedness of that spiritual
knowledge for which the Apostle and his friend cried incessantly unto
the Lord. First, consider the men for whom this knowledge is desired.
They are saints and faithful Brethren, of whom we read that they "knew
the Grace of God in truth," and were, "bringing forth fruit" unto God.
For those who already know the Lord we must not cease to pray. They are
not beyond the need of our prayers while they are in this life.

We may pray for those who know nothing of the Lord, that He would open
their blind eyes–but even those who have already been taught of God
are in need of our supplications that they may learn yet more. We have
great encouragement to pray that they may be filled with all knowledge,
since the Lord has already done so much for them. We dare not say in
this case that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, for a little
knowledge of the things of God may suffice to save the soul, but more
knowledge is a most desirable thing for those who have that little
knowledge! Pray, therefore, for them. Let not your prayers plead only
and altogether for the unconverted, but entreat for our young converts,
that they may be further edified. It will be an ill day when we are so
engaged in seeking lost sheep that we forget the lambs! It would be
very mischievous for us to neglect our work at home in order to carry
on warfare with the adversary abroad.

No, let us daily cry to God in prayer that the stones lately quarried
may be built up upon the one Foundation and embedded in the walls of
the Church of God unto eternal glory! We desire life for the dead,
health for the living and maturity for the healthy. For the deeper
instruction of our younger Brothers and Sisters let us pray. Of this
desirable knowledge, what is the measure? We desire for them, "that
they may be filled with the knowledge of His will." Filled– this is
grand scholarship, to have the mind, heart and the whole of our manhood
filled with knowledge! Paul would not have a Believer ignorant upon any
point–he would have him filled with knowledge, for when a measure is
full of wheat there is no room for chaff. True knowledge excludes
error.

The men that go after false doctrine are usually those who know little
of the Word of God. Being untaught, they are unstable, ready to be
blown about with every wind of doctrine. It you leave empty spots in
your minds unsaturated with holy teaching, they will be an invitation
to the devil to enter in and dwell there. Fill up the soul and so shut
out the enemy! Paul desired the Colossian saints to be filled–filled
up to the brim with the knowledge of God's will! Brethren, we would
have you know all that you can know of God's Truth! Rome flourishes by
man's ignorance, but the New Jerusalem rejoices in the Light of God! No
knowledge of the revealed will of God can ever do you any harm if it is
sanctified. Do not be afraid of what they call, "high doctrines," or
the, "deep things of God." They tell us that those things are secrets
and, therefore, we ought not to pry into them.

If they are secrets, there is no fear that anybody can pry into them!
But the Truths of God revealed in the Word of God are no longer
secrets, seeing that they are revealed to us by the Spirit of God–and
as far as they are revealed, it should be our desire to understand
them–so as to be filled with the knowledge of them. Let us try to know
the Divine Truths of God more and more intimately. You know a man, for
you pass him in the streets with a nod. You know another man far
better, for you lodge in the same house with him. You know him best of
all when you have shared his trouble, partaken in his joy and have, in
fact, had fellowship with him by blending your two lives in one common
stream of friendship. When you learn a spiritual Truth, endeavor to
know it inside out–to know its foundation and building–to know it by
the application of the Spirit to your own soul so that you are filled
with it.

You may have knowledge in the brain, but it may not run into your
spirit, so as to penetrate, permeate and saturate your spirit, till you
are filled with it. Oh, to get the Gospel into one's entire nature and
to be like the water pots of Cana, filled up to the brim! Lord, fill
Your poor children with the knowledge of Your will! This makes me
notice what the matter of this knowledge is–"filled with the knowledge
of His will." What is that? It means the revealed will of God! Paul
would have the Colossians know what the Lord has revealed, as far as
human mind could grasp it, whether it were doctrine, precept,
experience, or prophecy. How well it is to know the perceptive will of
God! Our prayer should daily be, "Lord, what will You have me do?"
Lord, teach me what is sin and what is righteousness, that I may
discern things which are excellent. Whereas there are questions in the
Church of God, itself, upon what the will of the Lord is, Lord help me
not to care to know what is the will of this learned doctor, or what is
the will of a certain assembly, but what is YOUR will!

"To the law and to the testimony"–this is our touchstone. Our desire
is to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord's will so as to do it
without fail. Especially would we know the will of God as it
constitutes the Gospel, for Jesus says, "This is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which sees the Son, and believes on Him, may
have everlasting life." Oh, to know His will in that respect most
clearly, so as to go and tell it out on all sides, that men may know
the way of life and may be led into it by our word! Once more we read
in 1 Thessalonians 4:3–"This is the will of God, even your
sanctification." Oh, to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord's will
till you know what sanctification means and exhibit it in your daily
life! It is yours to teach men what God means by holiness! Your mission
is not fulfilled and the will of God is not accomplished unless you are
sanctified! This it is with which we need to be filled! Know anything,
know everything that is worth knowing! "That the soul is without
knowledge is not good."

Never attempt to run side by side with the agnostic whose glory it is
that he knows nothing. But let it be your delight to know all that can
be learned out of the Book of the Lord, by the teaching of the Holy
Spirit. Concentrate your faculties upon the will of God. Here dive into
the deeps and climb up to the heights and be afraid of nothing! Ask the
Holy Spirit to saturate you with His Truth, as Gideon's fleece was wet
with the dew of Heaven, as the golden pot was filled with manna, or as
Jordan is filled in the time of harvest when it overflows all its
banks!

Still we have not done, for we must now notice the manner as well as
the matter of this knowledge–"in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding." Wisdom is better than knowledge, for wisdom is
knowledge rightly used. Knowledge may find room for folly, but wisdom
casts it out. Knowledge may be the horse, but wisdom is the driver.
When a man has knowledge, it is like the corn which is laid in the
barn. But wisdom is the fine flour prepared for food. We need Christian
people not only to know, but to use what they know! Happy is he who
knows what to do at the right time! Many people are very knowing half
an hour after it is too late–but to be filled with wisdom is to be
able, at once, to apply knowledge rightly in difficult cases. Wisdom
enables you to bring your knowledge practically to bear upon life, to
separate between the precious and the vile, to deal with your fellow
Christians in their different conditions–and to deal with sinners and
those that are in need.

You need wisdom so to conduct your affairs that nothing therein shall
scandalize the weak, or bring dishonor upon the name of Christ–mere
knowledge will not suffice for this. Knowledge is the blade, wisdom is
the full corn in the ear. Knowledge is the cloth, but wisdom is the
garment. Knowledge is the timber, but wisdom has built her house. May
all our knowledge be sanctified by Grace and attended with the guidance
of the Spirit that we may become wise to know what the will of the Lord
is. "All wisdom," says the Apostle–many-handed wisdom, wisdom of all
sorts, wisdom that will serve you in the shop, wisdom that will be
useful in the counting-house, wisdom that will aid the Church of God
and wisdom that will guide you if you are cast among the vilest of
mankind. May you "be filled with knowledge in all wisdom."

But that wisdom which operates on the outside must be attended by a
spiritual understanding which is powerful within. I hardly know how to
explain this–it is an inward knowledge of truth–the knowledge of the
inward parts of things. It is a spiritual discernment, taste,
experience and reception of the Truths of God, whereby the soul feeds
upon them and takes them into herself. We know many men who know much
but understand nothing. They accept implicitly what they are taught,
but they have never considered it, weighed it, estimated it, found out
the roots of it, or seen the heart of it. Oh, to have in the Church men
full of spiritual understanding! These can say that they have tasted
and handled the good Word of Life and have proved and tested the Truth
as it is in Jesus! You know how it was with the sacrifices of old–a
man who was poor brought turtle-doves or pigeons–and of these we read
of each bird, "The priest shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but
shall not divide it asunder."

But a man who was rich in Israel brought a bullock or a sheep–and this
offering was not only cleft down the middle, but further divided–the
fat and the "inwards" are mentioned in detail. The poorer sacrifice
represents the offering of the uninstructed–they have never rightly
divided the Word of God and know not its fullness of meaning. But the
man who is rich in Grace is comparable to him who brought his bullock,
for he can enter into detail and see the secret meanings of the Word.
There is a deep, which lies under, and he that is taught of the Lord
shall find it. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and
He will show them His Covenant." And blessed are they that are taught
of the Lord so as to read the mystery of His Grace! Here, then, is a
grand petition for us.

To go back to our first head, let our intercessory prayers go up for
all our Brothers and Sisters. Lord, teach them Your Word! Let them know
Your Book from cover to cover, and let Your Truths revealed therein
enter into them until they are filled to the brim! Then Lord, grant
them the skill to use in daily life the knowledge which Your Spirit has
imparted and may they more and more, in their inmost souls, be guided
into all Your Truth, that they may comprehend with all saints what are
the heights, and depths, and know the love of Christ which passes
knowledge.

III. Now, thirdly, let us see in the text a lesson concerning THE
PRACTICAL RESULT OF SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. Paul prays for his friends
"that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding; that you might walk worthy of the Lord
unto all pleasing." See, see the drift of his prayer?–"That you may
walk." Not that you might talk; not that you might sit down and
meditate and enjoy yourselves, but, "that you might walk." He aims at
practical results! He desires that the saints may be instructed so that
they may walk according to the best model. By walking worthy of the
Lord Jesus, we do not understand in any sense that he expected them to
possess such worthiness as to deserve to walk with the Lord–but he
would have them live in a manner that should be in accordance with
their communion with Christ.

You would not have a man walk with Christ through the streets, today,
clothed in motley garments, or loathsome with filth–would you? No, if
a man is a leper, Christ will heal him before He will walk with him!
Let not a disciple walk

so as to bring disgrace upon his Lord! When you walk with a king, you
should be, yourself, royal in gait. When you commune with a prince, you
should not act the clown. Dear Friends, may you know so much of Jesus
that your lives shall become Christ-like, fit to be put side by side
with the Character of Jesus, worthy of your perfect Lord! This is a
high standard, is it not? It is always better to have a high standard
than a low one, for you will never go beyond that which you set up as
your model. If you set a low standard, you will fall below even that!
It is an old proverb, "He that aims at the moon will shoot higher than
he that aims at a bush." It is well to have no lower standard than the
desire to live, over again, the life of the Lord Jesus–a life of
tenderness, a life of self-sacrifice, a life of generosity, a life of
love, a life of honesty, a life of holy service–a life of close
communion with God. Mix all virtues in due proportion and that is the
life of Jesus towards which you must press forward with all your heart.

Next, the Apostle would have us get knowledge in order that we may so
live as to be pleasing to our best Friend– "worthy of the Lord unto
all pleasing." Is not that beautiful? To live so as to please God in
all respects! Some live to please themselves, while others to please
their neighbors. Some live to please their wives; some to please their
children, and some live as if they wished to please the devil! But our
business is to please Him in all things whose servants we are. Without
faith it is impossible to please Him–so away with unbelief! Without
holiness no man shall see Him, much less please Him–therefore let us
follow after holiness and may the Lord work it in us! "Unto all
pleasing"–so that we may please God from the moment we rise in the
morning to the time when we lie down! Yes, and please Him even when we
are asleep! That we may eat and drink so as to please Him; that we may
speak and think so as to please Him; that we may go or stay so as to
please Him; that we may rejoice or suffer so as to please Him–"walking
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing."

Oh, blessed is the man whose life is pleasing to God in all respects!
The Apostle Paul desires that we may be filled with knowledge to this
very end. If I do not know the will of God, how can I do the will of
God? At least, how can there be anything pleasing to God which is
ignorantly done without an intent to do His will? I fear that many
children of God grieve their heavenly Father through sins of
ignorance–an ignorance in which they ought not to remain a single day!
Be it clearly understood that sins of ignorance are truly sins. They
have not about them the venom and the aggravation which are found in
sins against the Light and knowledge of God, but they are still sins,
for the measure of our duty is not our light, but the Law of God
itself. If a man pleads that he follows his conscience, yet this will
not excuse his wrongdoing if his conscience is an unenlightened
conscience and he is content to keep it in the dark. You are to obey
the will of the Lord–that will is the standard of the sanctuary.

Our conscience is often like a deficient weight and deceives us. It is
ours to gather a clear knowledge of the Word of God, that we may prove
what is that perfect and acceptable will of God. The law makes no
allowance for errors committed through false weights. When a man says,
"I thought my weights and measures were all right," he is not,
therefore, excused. The law deals with facts, not with men's
imaginations! The weights must actually be correct, or the penalty is
exacted. So is it with conscience–it ought to be instructed in the
knowledge of the Divine will–and if it is not, its faultiness affords
no justification for evil. Hence the absolute necessity of knowledge in
order to true holiness. God grant us Grace to know His will and then to
obey it "unto all pleasing."

Look at the text again–"That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto
all pleasing, being fruitful." Paul would have us producing the best
fruit. Without knowledge, we cannot be fruitful–at least in the points
where we are ignorant we must fail to bring forth fruit. Therefore he
would have us to be taught well, that we may abundantly produce fruit
unto God's Glory. He says, "fruitful in every good work," and this
means much. He desires us to be as full of good works as we can be.
Some are hindered in this because they do not know how to set about
holy service. How can a man be fruitful as a preacher if he does not
know what to preach? True, he may preach the elementary doctrine of the
Cross, but even that he will be apt to set forth in a blundering
manner. For certain, a man cannot teach what he does not know. The
zealous, but untaught man, would be much more fruitful if he had a
clearer understanding of Divine things.

In daily life, if in knowledge you are ignorant as to the things of
God, you will be ready to become the prey of any false teacher who may
chance to pick you up. In hundreds of ways, ignorance will make you run
risks, lose opportunities of usefulness and fall into dangerous
mistakes. Knowledge is food to the true heart and strengthens it for
the Lord's work. Oh, to have knowledge placed like good soil around the
roots of the soul, to fertilize the mind that thus the clus-

ters of usefulness may be as large as those of Eschol–beautiful,
plentiful, sweet and full. May our Lord, the King of Israel, to whom
the vineyard belongs, receive an abundant reward for all His labor for
the vines which He has planted!

There is another note in this verse, which I beg you to notice. Paul
would have them cultivate a comprehensive variety of the best things.
He says–"Fruitful in every good work." Here is room and range
enough–"in every good work." Have you the ability to preach the
Gospel? Preach it! Does a little child need comforting? Comfort it! Can
you stand up and vindicate a glorious Truth of God before thousands? Do
it! Does a poor saint need a bit of dinner from your table? Send it to
her! Let works of obedience, testimony, zeal, charity, piety and
philanthropy all be found in your life. Do not select only big things
as your specialty, but also glorify the Lord in the littles–"fruitful
in every good work." You never saw in nature a tree which yielded all
sorts of fruit and you never will.

I have seen a tree so grafted that it produced four kinds of fruit at
one time, but I remarked that it was a poor business in reference to
two of the varieties, for one of the grafts, more natural than the
others to the parent stem, drew off most of the sap and flourished
well, but robbed the other branches! The second sort of fruit managed
to live pretty fairly, but not so well as it would have done on its own
stem. As for the third and fourth, they were mere attempts at fruit of
the smallest size. This tree was shown to me as a great curiosity–it
is not likely that practical gardeners will be encouraged by the
experiment! But what would you think of a tree upon which you saw
grapes, figs, olives, apples and all other good fruits growing at one
time? This is the type of what instructed Believers will become–they
will produce all sorts of goodness and graciousness to the honor of
their heavenly Father!

I have no doubt that you will naturally abound most in certain good
works for which you have the largest capacity, but still, nothing ought
to come amiss to you. In the great house of the Church we need servants
who will not be simply cooks or housemaids, but general servants, maids
of all work, prepared to do anything and everything! I have known
persons in household employment in England who would not do a turn
beyond their special work to save their masters' lives! These are a
sort of servants of whom the fewer the better! In India this is carried
out to a ridiculous extreme. The Hindu water-bearer will not sweep the
house, nor light a fire, nor brush your clothes–he will fetch water
and nothing else! You must, therefore, have a servant for each separate
thing, and then each man will do his own little bit–he will not go an
inch beyond!

When we enter into Christ's Church, we should come prepared to wash the
saints' feet, or bear their burdens, or bind up their wounds, or fight
their foes, or act as steward, or shepherd, or nurse. It has been well
said that if two angels in Heaven were summoned to serve the Lord and
there were two works to be done, an empire to be ruled, or a crossing
to be swept, neither angel would have a choice as to which should be
appointed to him, but would gladly abide the will of the Lord. Let us
be equally prepared for anything, for everything by which fruit can be
produced for the Well-Beloved. Why is it that some are not fruitful in
this comprehensive way? Because they are not filled with knowledge in
all wisdom! When a man says, "You asked me to do the lowest work! Don't
you know that I am a man of remarkable ability who should have higher
work to do?" I venture to assert that he is an ignorant man!
Self-assertion is ignorance on horseback!

You have probably rand of a certain renowned corporal in the American
service a century ago. A general, as he rode along, saw a body of men
endeavoring to lift timber. They were shorthanded and the work lagged,
but their famous corporal stood by ordering them about at a magnificent
rate. The general passed and said, "Why don't you lend them help and
put your shoulder to it? "Why, Sir," said the great little officer,
"how can you think of such a thing? Do you know who I am? I am a
corporal!" The general got off his horse, took off his coat, and helped
move the timber–and by his judicious help the soldiers achieved their
task. Then he turned to the high and mighty gentleman and said, "Mr.
Corporal, next time you need a man to do such work as this, you can
send for me–I am General Washington."

Just so the Lord Jesus Christ, if He were here, would gladly do a
thousand things which His poor little servants are too great to touch!
I know you, dear Brother–you are too experienced, too old, too learned
to help in the Sunday school! I know you are too respectable to give
away a tract! Pray get out of such ignorant ways of thinking and ask to
be useful in all possible ways! If you have done a little, do much! If
you have done much, do more! And when you have done more, ask for Grace
to proceed to the highest possible degree of usefulness for your Lord.

IV. And now, fourthly, notice THE REFLEX ACTION OF HOLINESS UPON
KNOWLEDGE. We have only a few moments left–let my few words sink into
your hearts. "Fruitful in every good work"–what then? "Increasing in
the knowledge of God." Look at that! It seems, then, that holiness is
the road to knowledge! God has made it so. If any man

will do His will, he shall know of His doctrine. If you read and study,
and cannot make out the meaning of Scripture, get up and do
something–and it may be, in the doing of it, you shall discover the
secret. Holiness of heart shall increase the illumination of your mind!

Will you kindly observe that this knowledge rises in tone? Paul first
prayed that they "might be filled with the knowledge of God's will."
But now he implores for them an increase in the knowledge of God,
Himself! Oh, blessed growth! First to know the Law and then to know the
Lawgiver! First to know the precept, and then to know the mouth from
which it comes! This is the height of knowledge–to see Christ and know
the Father, and learn how to say from the heart–"Truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ." I would call your
willing attention to another thought. The Apostle, if he is to be
judged according to his outward language, often utters impossible
things, and yet his every sentence is not only full of deep meaning,
but is strictly correct!

Notice his language here–in the 9th verse he says, "that you might be
filled with the knowledge of His will." Can anything go beyond this?
The vessel is filled right up to the brim! What more can it have? Yet
the Apostle says, "increasing in the knowledge of God." What can that
mean? If the mind is full to the brim, how can it receive more? If the
man is full of knowledge, how can his knowledge increase? Can there be
any increase after that? I propose to you the riddle. Here is the
answer–make the vessel larger–and then there can be an increase. This
solution of the difficulty requires no great wit to discover. So Paul
plainly teaches us here, that if we have so increased in knowledge as
to be full, he would have us increased in capacity to know yet more!

He would have our manhood enlarged and our powers of reception
increased so that we might grow from being children to be young
men–and from young men to be fathers, and so may be filled–filled
always! Filled with all the fullness of God! The Lord grant unto us to
perceive with humility that if we are already full of knowledge, we can
still advance, for we "have not yet attained." Let no man think that he
can go no further! "There is," says Augustine, "a certain perfection
according to the measure of this life. And it belongs to that
perfection that such a perfect man should know that he is not yet
perfect." To that I heartily subscribe! There is a certain fullness to
be found in this life according to the measure of a man. And it belongs
to that fullness that the man should know that he can yet increase in
knowledge!

Holy Bernard says, "He is not good at all who does not desire to be
better." I also subscribe to that saying! Some might become good if
they were not puffed up with the fancy of their own perfection. Others
are somewhat commendable, but will never grow because they judge
themselves to be already full-grown. I would have you filled and yet
have room for more–filled with all knowledge, filled with all
holiness, filled with the indwelling Spirit, filled with God– and yet
increasing in knowledge, in holiness, in likeness to God and in all
good things forevermore to His Glory! The Lord add His blessing for
Jesus' sake. Amen.