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Walk Worthy Of The Lord (Colossians 1:10-11) I. A Fruitful Walk II. A Knowledgeable Walk III. A Persevering Walk

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: The Call to Live Worthy
• Our Obligations in Life
• Our Greater Obligation to God
2. The Balanced Christian Life
• Doctrine and Practice in Harmony
• The Danger of Imbalance
3. A Life Worthy of the Lord
• A Fruitful Life (Colossians 1:10)
• Saved for Good Works (Ephesians 2:8-10)
• Equipped by Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• A Knowledgeable Walk (Colossians 1:10)
• Growing in the Knowledge of God
• Defending the Faith (1 Peter 3:15)
• A Persevering Walk (Colossians 1:11)
• Patience in Trials
• Longsuffering with People
4. Conclusion: Finishing Well
• A Life Pleasing to God

Sermon Context & Hook

Why Should You Care About Living "Worthy"?

Imagine standing before God one day—not to be judged for salvation (if you’re in Christ, that’s secure), but to give an account for how you lived the life He gave you. Would He say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21)? Or would your life’s story be filled with missed opportunities, shallow faith, and half-hearted obedience?

In this powerful sermon, we explore what it means to "walk worthy of the Lord" (Colossians 1:10). It’s not about earning salvation—it’s about living like someone who’s been radically saved.

• Are you living a life that matches your faith?
• Is your knowledge of God growing—or stagnant?
• When trials come, do you endure with joy or collapse in frustration?

This message cuts to the heart of genuine Christianity—calling us to a life of fruitfulness, deep biblical understanding, and unshakable perseverance. If you’ve ever wondered, "How should a Christian really live?"—this sermon is for you.

Read on—your spiritual growth depends on it.

Sermon Highlight:

"Walking worthy of the Lord" (Colossians 1:10) means living a life that matches our salvation—balanced in doctrine and action. A true Christian is fruitful (doing good works God prepared for them), knowledgeable (growing in faith to defend and share it), and persevering (patient in trials, longsuffering with people). Salvation is by grace alone, but a transformed life proves its reality. Are you bearing spiritual fruit? Deepening your understanding of God? Enduring hardships with joy? If not, it’s time to examine your walk. Faith without works is dead—but so is knowledge without obedience. Let your life reflect Christ’s worth!

(149 words)

Sermon Transcript:

Are you a citizen of Australia? If you are, then you are well aware that you are obligated to abide by the laws of this country. If you are a soldier, you are obligated to abide by the standards of the military. If you are a doctor, you are obligated to abide by the standards set by the medical board. If you are an athlete, you are obligated to follow the rules of the game.

Almost every organisation and every society would operate within certain requirements and obligations. When a person falls short of those standards, he or she would be rejected. People are afraid to be rejected, whether by their companies, organisations, or the society. So they would discipline themselves to keep to those required obligations in order to be accepted. Sometimes they would take extreme measures not to be disqualified.

But what about being disapproved by God? What about our obligations to the Almighty God who has saved us from eternal hell, transported us out of darkness, and into His marvellous light? When we receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we became citizens of God’s kingdom and members of His family. Along with all those spiritual blessings and privileges, we also have obligations. We are expected to live as new creatures in Christ. We are expected to live according to God’s standard. We are expected to let His purposes be our purposes, to let His desires be our desires.

In our previous message, we have learned about the Apostle Paul praying for the Colossians unceasingly, that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Having the right doctrine must lead to the right response, and the opposite is also true. The right response must be based on the right doctrine.

It is impossible to live a faithful Christian life without biblical doctrines. And it is equally useless to have biblical doctrines but not live a faithful Christian life. This is what we want to learn from this passage in Colossians 1:10-11. The title of our message is ’Walk Worthy of the Lord’.

Look at the first part of verse 10: "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing," To walk is to live out. It is the way we live our lives. The original Greek word for "worthy" has the root meaning of balancing the scales—what is on one side of the scales is equal to what is on the other side. It means to have a value that is equal to one’s position. A worker who is worthy is someone whose services equal the wages he receives.

If you profess to be a Christian, then you must live a life that equals the profession of faith. There are some Christians who are very knowledgeable of the Bible. They love to read, study, and they enjoy discussing the great doctrines of the Bible (doctrine means teaching). That is a good thing. But the intellectual believer faces a great danger—he loves doctrine so much that he only stops with doctrine. What he wants to know is just doctrines, and what he lacks is application.

On the other hand, there are some Christians who are just concerned about application, experience, and feelings. They are only eager to apply, and they find the doctrines and teachings to be dry and impractical. But their applications of Christianity are based on a very shallow understanding of the Bible, and in time to come, they will be easily swayed by every whim and fancy of strange teachings.

As Christians, we must never live such an imbalanced spiritual life. Our doctrines and our practices must both be balanced on the scales of Christianity. Only such a balanced spiritual life is worthy of the Lord. It is pleasing unto Him, and it will lead us to live a certain kind of life.

[56:48] I. A Fruitful Life

Firstly, it is a fruitful life. Paul said, "…being fruitful in every good work,…" No man can be saved by good works, but only by grace through faith. As Ephesians 2:8 says: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." And Romans 10:17 says: "…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to convict us of our sins and enables us to embrace our Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Upon our salvation, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God continue to work in our lives so that we may do good works. When we say we are not saved by good works, that is true. But we are saved unto good works, which means we are saved to do good works for the glory of God.

All of us, I believe, are familiar with 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." The word "perfect" means to be equipped or qualified, and the word "furnished" means to be accomplished—to accomplish what? All good works. And who is the one supposed to do the good works? The man of God.

There were only two occasions in the New Testament where this phrase "man of God" was used—here in 2 Timothy 3:17 and 1 Timothy 6:11—both referring to Timothy. And Timothy was a believer. But in the Old Testament, this phrase "man of God" appears more than 70 times. Moses was called a man of God. Samson was called a man of God. Samuel was called a man of God. Elijah, Elisha, David—they were all called men of God.

It is a technical term that applies to someone who spoke the Word of God. In a broader sense, it applies to someone who belongs to God—someone whom God has called to be His child, someone whom God has given His Spirit and His Word, that he may be "perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." The opposite of a man of God is a man of the world. So this "man of God" applies to all of us who are believers, who belong to God.

Dear friend, why do you think God would allow us to live on this earth after He has saved us? We read in the Bible that heaven is the best place. If heaven is such a wonderful place, why did God not bring us to heaven the very moment He saved us?

He wants us to live our lives on this earth to do good works for His glory. Do you realise that we only have a set number of days on this earth—no more, no less? They are appointed by God. And there is also a set of things that God wants us to do—they are appointed by Him. The things that God wants us to do are the good works.

How do we know that? Where does the Bible say that? Well, Ephesians 2:10 says: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Something that God has "before ordained" is something that will come to pass—something that God wants us to live out.

And God has ordained us to do a set of good works. Only He knows what those good works are. But when we read the Scriptures, we know that anything we do that glorifies God are good works—our worship, our services, our evangelism, our discipleship, our giving, our support for missions, helping others, and so forth. So for as long as we live, we want to faithfully fulfill all the good works that God has set before us. He has ordained for us to do. He has opened the door for us to serve Him, to minister to others.

It is one thing to end our life—if Jesus does not come in the rapture, all of us sitting in this room will die one day. But it is another thing to finish it, and to finish it well. At the end of the day, we want to be able to say like the Apostle Paul: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7)

If you are serving as a Sunday school teacher, continue in that good work. If you are giving to the gospel work in the mission fields, continue in that good work. If you are visiting the sick and the elderly to encourage them through the Word of God, continue in that good work.

Even if you are weak, frail, and lying on your sickbed, you can still continue to do good works. Do you know how? By praying for the church and the people around you. That is what it means to be "fruitful in every good work."

Let us honestly ask ourselves: If the Word of God says to us that we are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works," (Ephesians 2:10) and God has ordained that we should walk in them. (2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 2:13; Titus 2:14; Titus 3:8; Matthew 5:16)—since the day of our conversion, what are the good works we have done for the glory of God? If we cannot name any good works that we have done (and are still doing), something is terribly wrong. It is not a laughing matter. It is so important because it has to do with our eternal salvation.

Again, I’m not saying that we are saved by our good works. But if we are truly saved, we cannot help it—because God has saved us for His glory, and God has ordained for us to do good works. And you and I are expected to be engaged in the good works that He has ordained for us to do.

[1:07:13] II. A Knowledgeable Walk

Our second point: A knowledgeable walk. Look at the last part of verse 10: "…and increasing in the knowledge of God." At the point of our conversion, we knew enough knowledge about the gospel message—about sin, judgment, salvation, the Saviour, and the knowledge of God. But our knowledge of God will not stop there. It must continue to increase. The more we know about God, the more we want to worship and serve Him, the more we trust Him, the more we depend on Him, the more we want to tell others about Him.

Remember, Jesus has given to us the Great Commission—that we ought to evangelise to the lost and to disciple those who are saved. These are the words of our Lord Jesus: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:19-20)

In other words, we are to evangelise to the world. And when they believe, we are to baptise them—they are brought into the church—and we are to disciple them by teaching them all the things that God has taught us through His Word. In fact, this is the life of the church:

• We go out to evangelise to the lost.
• When they are saved, they are brought into the church.
• They are being discipled.
• Then they go out to evangelise to others.
• When they are saved, they are brought into the church.
• They are being discipled.

And it goes on and on for as long as our Lord Jesus tarries in His return.

We cannot do this work of evangelism and discipleship unless we ourselves are increasing in the knowledge of God. God has given us His Word and His Spirit to teach us all things about Himself. And He is willing to enrich us with this knowledge to evangelise and disciple others effectively. But this knowledge will not come to us magically. It can only come to us through a diligent study of the Bible. As 2 Timothy 2:15 says: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

Some people would tell you, ’It doesn’t matter how much you know, as long as you have this warm feeling in your heart for Jesus.’ Have you ever met someone who says to you, ’I do not need any knowledge—only Jesus?’ Or, ’It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you have Jesus. It is the heart that matters.’

It may sound very nice, but that kind of statement is immediately destroyed as soon as you ask this question: ’Who is Jesus?’ The moment he or she tries to answer this question and tell you something about Jesus, knowledge is involved. He has to know what the Bible says about Jesus. That is why it is so important to study and to be equipped with the Word of God, that we may be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us. (1 Peter 3:15)

If we are brought before a judge and put on trial because of our Christian faith, we are to be ready to explain why we believe what we believe. If our neighbour asks, ’I notice you go to church every Sunday. What is it that you believe in?’—we are to be ready: not only to explain what we believe but why we believe it.