Becoming a People of Understanding
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING MEN AND WOMEN OF UNDERSTANDING
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be
filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10that you may walk worthy of
the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.(Proverbs 4:5)
A. Right understanding of the will of God is critical for the life of the believer and more so as we approach the End
Times. Paul prayed for the Colossians that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding. The knowledge of God’s will includes understanding about His ways, His judgments and His wisdom.
B. God wants us to be a people who, like the sons of Issachar, have understanding of the times and know how to live
on the earth as the people of God. Such a people will not be taken aback or offended with God’s ways because they have
taken time to gain a spirit of wisdom and understanding concerning the plans and purposes of God.
32of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two
hundred; and all their brethren were at their command (1 Chronicles 12:32)
C. Paul encourages believers to both know (information) and prove God’s will i.e. to test and try it to prove that it is
true so that we can agree with it.
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
(Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
D. There is a dramatic difference between knowledge and agreement. It is important to not simply to fill our minds
with information but also to gain accurate (spiritual) understanding and come into agreement with the will of God.
Information without understanding and agreement (submission) will not move our hearts or cause us to change the way
will live. It is not enough to simply understand the what? of God’s will, we have to gain understanding of the why?
E. Our behavior (what we do/how we live) is determined by our faith (what we believe). Our faith is based on our
theology (our view of God and His purposes). The starting point for a changed life is a right understanding of God’s will.
This why it was so important to the Apostle Paul that the Colossian believers were filled with accurate knowledge about
(and understanding of) God’s purposes.
F. Paul outlines four main benefits to the believer that flow from being a man or woman of understanding: a life that fully
pleases God; a fruitful ministry; growth in the knowledge of God; supernatural strength to persevere in times of trial
(Colossians 1:10-11).
G. Agreement with the truth of God’s will and his ways will keep us steady in the hours of trouble that are coming upon
the earth in the last days. Conversely, not understanding God’s ways will cause our hearts to draw back in offense and
anger at God as the events of the end times unfold.
H. God is raising up messengers who are filled with right understanding of God’s will and are able to instruct others
concerning the hour in which we live and how to rightly interpret the signs of the times. Daniel tells us that in the midst of
the Great Tribulation there will be a company of people who will possess understanding (of the times and seasons) and
will make sense of the end time events for those who are bewildered and confused.
And those of the people who understand shall instruct many (Daniel 11:33).
I. Today, God is looking for watchmen who will listen, understand and proclaim God’s purposes to prepare the people
of God for what is coming to the earth; those like Ezekiel; Jeremiah; Zechariah; Anna; John the Baptist who were all
consumed with the purposes of God.
17"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth,
and give them warning from Me (Ezekiel 3:17)
J. If we are not in agreement with God’s will we will end up in opposition to Him. We will choose our will over that of
God. God will give us over to that which we choose.
II. THE NATURE OF GOD’S WILL
…that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2)
A. It is important that we understand these three important premises about God’s will. To the extent that we are
unable to agree with any one of these statements, we have not yet entered into full agreement with God’s will. Paul exhorts
the Roman believers (concerning God’s purposes for Israel) to come into a place where they can say that God’s will is not
only true but it is good, acceptable and perfect.
B. God’s will is always good. The way God chooses to administer his plans and purposes will not violate justice and
righteousness. It is neither arbitrary nor capricious. His will is good because He is good.
C. It is agreeable or pleasant (acceptable) when we rightly understand it. It will bring delight to our hearts as we come
into agreement with it.
D. God’s will is perfect. It cannot be improved upon either by adding to it or taking away from it. It has been fully
thought through and, though it may at times take us by surprise, it has been fully thought through by the eternal triune
God as being the best way to bring about His purposes.
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea than
much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:9-10)
III. THE NATURE OF GOD’S WISDOM
A. Paul exhorts us to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom. The book of James tells us that the nature
of God’s wisdom is the opposite of earthly wisdom.
15This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16For where envy and
self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17But the wisdom that is from above is first
pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without
hypocrisy. (James 3:15-17)
B. God has deliberately hidden the mysteries of his will and purpose so that they cannot be understood through
human reasoning and wisdom.
14But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
C. God has blinded the eyes of those who are wise according to human wisdom
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through
wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those
who believe….25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. (1 Corinthians 1:20-21,25)
D. Those who seek to understand God’s purposes with human wisdom will end up opposing God Himself because
God’s will is offensive to them. This is the testimony of Church history.
25For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery (God’s wisdom), lest you should be wise in
your own opinion (Romans 11:25)
E. Within just a few hundred years of Christ much of the Church had adopted Greek philosophy (human wisdom) as
the primary lens through which they interpreted Scripture. Whatever was reasonable to man would be taken literally but
what was unreasonable was spiritualized. This approach amounts to man deciding what God actually means in His word.
This resulted in a largely skewed view of God and His purposes.
F. Paul says that it is impossible for man to know God and His ways through human wisdom, yet the church
throughout history attempted exactly that with disastrous consequences: They were seeking to develop their knowledge
of God and his ways (theology) through a lens of human understanding (wisdom).
G. The wisdom of God can only be understood by revelation of the Spirit of God – something that is available to every
believer (1 Corinthians 2:10-16). This is why Paul prays for the Colossians to receive an impartation of spiritual wisdom
and understanding.
IV. HOW DO WE BECOME A PEOPLE OF SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING?
A. Weak and broken human beings can know God’s mysteries. God has given human beings the glory and dignity of
knowing and understanding His will and the secrets of his heart.
…that you may prove (Romans 12:2)
…it is the glory of God to conceal a matter; but the glory of kings is to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2)
B. Gaining a spirit of revelation and understanding is a two-fold process involving diligent searching and preparation
by the believer (Proverbs 4) and the sovereign impartation of God’s Spirit.
C. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul gives key insights on how we should position our hearts to gain right (spiritual)
understanding of God’s will and purpose.
D. Offer your whole life to God
Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God (Romans 12:2)
1. Just as a sacrifice is dead, we consider ourselves dead to the wisdom of the age and our own fleshly desires,
but alive to Christ and His wisdom. We acknowledge that God’s will is supreme over ours.
2. We offer ourselves to Him in every area of our lives through prayer (time), fasting (strength), giving (power),
loving our enemies (forgiveness) (see Romans 12:9-20)
E. Don’t Live According to the World’s Wisdom
Do not be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2)
1. The wisdom of this age is passing away – yet we have a tendency to believe the scholars and the
philosophers of this age (media etc.) rather than the Lord.
2. Paul tells us not to live according to the pattern of this age and for the things of this world. The world in its
present form is passing away and we are called to live for eternity.
F. Change Your Mind and be Transformed
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2)
1. Renewed as to how we see God
2. Renewed as to how we see ourselves
3. Renewed as to how we see others
G. We enter into true understanding primarily in the place of prayerful study. Daniel 9 gives great insight into how we
gain understanding of God’s will. The passage shows us how Daniel received revelation of God’s purposes for Israel in
the end times.
1. Understanding “by the books” (Daniel 9:2) – diligent study of God’s Word
2. A lifestyle of prayer and fasting (Daniel 9:3-4)
H. We receive “skill to understand” (Daniel 9:22) as we pray the little we have received.
I. We must be those, like Daniel, who meditate and pray around the mysteries of God in weakness and with limited
understanding. The Lord will surely break in with more. Not because we said the right things but because He wants to
reveal His mysteries to His children who seek them. Like Paul, we must make it a priority to ask the Lord to fill our minds
and our hearts with the knowledge of His will (Colossians 1:1-9) so that we may fully please Him in our lives.