[0:00] Let's turn for a short time back to the chapter that we had, Colossians 3. Colossians 3, and we can turn back for our text, verses 15 to 17.
[0:15] Colossians 3, verses 15 to 17. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.
[0:30] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
[0:41] Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. What does it mean, or what does it look like for us as Christians to live our lives as Christians?
[1:01] I'm sure for many, for perhaps all of us, this last year and a bit has been a time of reflection. Reflection for us in our lives, reflection for our family situation, our personal situation.
[1:15] But also hopefully reflection for us as to what we are in Christ and who we are in Christ. What does it mean to be a Christian? What should it look like for us in our own walks to be Christians?
[1:29] Very many who are listening have been on a walk for many, many years. Perhaps there are some listening who are relatively new Christians who have perhaps just recently come to faith in Christ.
[1:41] The question remains just the same. What does it look like for us as Christians to live in the light of reality of knowing and of following our Saviour?
[1:55] For a very short time this morning, as we look at verses 15 to 17, I want us just to see and to note three simple marks of the Christian. Three simple realities that is true for the Christian.
[2:08] Three marks, three realities we should seek to find and to nurture in our own lives. And three marks we look for in those around us who are our brothers and sisters.
[2:26] Always bear in mind as we look at these three points, as we see what it means to know Christ and to have Christ and to live in the reality of knowing Christ, we all remember that we don't do this for knowledge's sake.
[2:42] That hearing always leads to action. How should we live as Christians? What does it mean to know Jesus? How does that look in our lives?
[2:53] So verses 15 down to verse 17. Three simple points. First of all, looking at heart. Heart. Then looking at head.
[3:05] And then finally looking at hand. Heart, head and hand. We can begin by looking at verse 15.
[3:19] Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, to which indeed you are called in one body, and be thankful. As Paul writes to this church, this young church, it takes time here to remind them, to remind them as Christians, they have to have the peace of Christ ruling in their hearts.
[3:46] The word Paul uses here for heart, it's the same word for physical heart, cardia, but it's the same sentence as we use the word heart today. In their hearts, in their inmost being.
[4:01] In our person, in all our emotions, in all that we are as people. The peace of Christ, according to verse 15, is to rule, is to reign in our lives.
[4:14] Not just some generic or nondescript hope, but it's fine, things will work out in the end. No, not just some peace or security from our family situation.
[4:26] Not peace from our financial situation. No, what must reign in the heart of believers? It's the peace of Christ, ruling and reigning in our hearts.
[4:41] Peace that can come from him alone. Peace that can come only from knowing him, and from him keeping us. Peace from Jesus.
[4:55] In the previous verses, the verses we read, in verses 5 down to verse 14, we see listed the realities, the very basics of what it means to live a Christian life.
[5:09] in verses 5 to 14, we see the sins we should be avoiding. We see the very things we should hate, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and so on.
[5:23] And then in contrast to that, in verses 12 to 14, we see the very basics, what it is that Christians should be searching after, that Christians that we should be longing after.
[5:36] Compassion in our hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and so on. So verse 15, the verse we have here is our text, verse 15 to verse 17, it flows from these verses.
[5:50] Paul is reminding these Christians of what and who they are in Christ. That in Christ, they must put aside these things, the things they once were, and instead in Christ, they now must look after the things, these better things, these incredibly holy things.
[6:07] Humility, meekness, patience, and so on. As we do this, as we, as we pray that these things be in their lives, as we now live lives full of these wonderful qualities of a Christian, they do so.
[6:24] They do so with a peace of Christ, ruling and reigning in their hearts. That first two words there in verse 15, and let.
[6:35] So we have the word let here, it's a good translation, but it's a command. It's not a suggestion, not a gentle suggestion. No, it's let, it's a command. Let, Christian, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
[6:52] And if we're honest as Christians, it has to be a command, because this is something that we all struggle with. We're all so prone to letting so many other things rule our hearts.
[7:03] worry, anxiety, pain, it's then for desires, darkness. But for the Christian, we must let the peace of Christ rule and reign in our hearts.
[7:19] this is a peace that no one else can offer us, that no one else can give us. We all know, of course, that the comfort and peace we get from those we love, the comfort and peace we get from friends and from parents and from spouses, the peace and comfort we get from our children, perhaps our grandchildren, our friends.
[7:43] But if we're honest, we can say also that these people, those we love dearly, they don't always give us peace, do they?
[7:54] Sometimes those we look to for peace give us strife, give us worry, give us upset. Only in Jesus do we find real peace, and only in Jesus do we find constant peace.
[8:11] peace. He's not changeable. Not one day is peaceful, and the next day he is not. No, in Jesus, the peace that reigns in our hearts as Christians, that peace that comes from our Lord, that peace is not changeable.
[8:24] It is certain, it is constant. It does not change. And because this peace comes from him, we must let it rule in our lives, reign over our whole lives.
[8:41] We've all heard so many testimonies, and it's quite often a feature in Christians' testimony, is it not, that when we're saved, we suddenly have this peace that comes over us.
[8:55] This peace that we cannot even begin to describe, and we can't. Because this peace, it is something that's foreign to us, but it comes from Jesus. The peace that Christian has when we're saved, that peace of knowing that we have a Savior who has saved us.
[9:16] The wonderful verse in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 7, which talks about this peace, the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
[9:32] So this peace of Christ, it must rule and reign in the lives of Christians. It must be foremost in our lives. Not relying on finding peace anywhere else.
[9:45] Not in our own situations, not in our own strength, not in our own families, not in our own friends, because these things can and will be taken away from us. We must find our solid foundation as Christians in the peace that comes from knowing Christ and knowing who He is.
[10:02] And the truth is, if as of yet, you do not know the peace of Christ in your life, if as of yet, you have no idea what this means to know the peace of Christ in your life, if as of yet, you don't know Jesus, then you will find nothing.
[10:20] Like it. It's the peace of knowing the Saviour. It's the peace of knowing your eternity. It's a peace, like we're saying in the children's talk, of knowing that God looks on us and looks on us in love.
[10:39] The peace of knowing the punishment for our sin has been removed from us. The peace of knowing that right now our Saviour is with us, that He sees us, that He knows us.
[10:51] The wonderful thing is, this peace, it's a peace that you can have this day. There's no ritual, there's no secret to it. This peace comes through knowing Jesus.
[11:03] Come and know Jesus. Cry out to Him as Lord. Cry out to Him. Ask for forgiveness of your sins. Cry out to Him and confess that He is Lord and Saviour.
[11:13] Come and know this peace in your hearts today. We see in verse 15 that this peace, it's a calling that Christians have.
[11:25] The peace of Christ's rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called. As Christians, the peace we have, it's a calling to peace. Not just something we can choose whether to participate in or not.
[11:38] No, it is something we're called to take part in. It is our calling. The peace that reigns in us is central to who and what we are as Christians.
[11:52] It's central to how we relate to one another, to how we relate to the world around us. Spurgeon, in a sermon on this text, calls Christians ambassadors of peace.
[12:04] Ambassadors of peace. To have peace reigning in our hearts, to have peace reigning in our minds, it is so against the world.
[12:15] It's so against the tide and the influence of the world we live in. This world where there is no peace, where there is no certain hope, where there is no solid peace at all, where everything is always shifting and moving, as Christians we can say, no, my peace is solid.
[12:34] My peace is set. My peace is based on Christ. It comes from him. It's rooted and found in him. And his peace is what reigns in my life.
[12:46] Not the worries, not the problems, not the anxieties around me. No, it is his peace that reigns and rules in me. And we say this, of course, there are many times, for all of us, where we lose sight of the reality of us, where we let the anxieties and the problems and the pains in our lives take over our minds.
[13:07] But still, the peace of Christ is there. And the dear Christians who are listening in, we've all had the same experience, have we not? Where we find ourselves at an end of ourselves, at the end.
[13:18] We've tried our hardest, we've done everything we can, and the situation is still ongoing. There's nothing we can do. We say, Lord, what can I do? What is happening? And still, bear your mind.
[13:33] The peace of Christ rules and reigns. We've all heard many testimonies attesting to the same reality. That when we realise that we have no power, when we realise that in of ourselves, we have nothing, when we remember of who we are in Christ, when we come back to verse 15 and realise that our calling in this world is to be those who are filled with the peace of Christ.
[13:58] This world hates peace. Our culture hates peace. Controversy and gossip reigns and rules, and there's never any peace. But in Christ, there is peace.
[14:10] We're called, in this verse, we're called to let the peace of Christ rule and reign in our lives. We're called to be peaceable, yes, but we're not called to be pushovers.
[14:25] There's a difference there. We can be peaceable. We can let the peace of Christ rule and reign in our lives. That does not mean for us second as Christians we are pushovers, we let things wash over us, no.
[14:38] But it does mean we bring all things to Christ. All our anxieties, all our worries, all our cares, all our genuine stresses and worries we have, we bring them to the throne of grace in boldness.
[14:50] We bring them to him knowing that he hears us and through that we receive this peace from our Saviour. So peace, it's a calling, but also we see in verse 15 that peace leads to unity.
[15:08] Peace leads to unity, to which indeed you're recalled, in one body. just as a peace of Christ rules in our lives and rules in our hearts, so does unity.
[15:21] The more peace we have reigning and ruling on us, the more unity we have also. And same for our congregation. The more we have the peace of Christ in our congregation, the more united we become.
[15:35] As a peace of Christ rules, so does unity. as one body of believers, we exist and we thrive in the peace of Christ.
[15:49] There are some who are listening, I don't know, of course, your stories, I don't know who you are, I don't know where you are. There are some listening even just now and you've had awful week, awful month, awful year, the most unpeaceful, perhaps few years of your life.
[16:08] Some are listening in that are far more unsettled than others. Some who are listening in just now, you've known more hardships than others. Some, like we said, are perhaps newer to the walk, you're a newer Christian, a brand new Christian perhaps.
[16:24] Perhaps some listening in, you've been on the walk for many, many years. But we all exist together in unity. And just as we can't become a church by being one person on our own, we also cannot have a piece of Christ grow on our own.
[16:45] We're made to work together, we're made to be united together. If the peace of Christ rules and reigns in our hearts to a Christian, then that will also be present in our fellowship together, in our desire to come together, our desire to spend time one another, our desire for unity, our desire for fellowship, our desire to spend time for the Lord's people, it all comes from having that peace of Christ in our hearts.
[17:16] And the wonderful truth is, as we pray for the increase of one, the other soon follows. As we pray for the increase of peace in our lives and of peace in our hearts, that peace of Christ to be ever present and to be growing all the time, as we pray for that, we also will find that our unity increases, improves, both as individual Christians with other Christians but also as a congregation coming together.
[17:41] And in these strange, dark, confusing days, the peace of Christ reigning and ruling us and also that peace of Christ then uniting us together, it's so essential.
[17:53] So essential. In a world full of division and divides, the church must not follow the worldly pattern. We must be united in Christ. So peace leads to unity.
[18:06] We also see in verse 15 that peace ultimately leads to thankfulness. Peace of Christ for you in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful.
[18:20] It's wonderful. We praise at the end of this verse, quite literally, and be becoming thankful for a literal translation. This idea that we're to become as God's people more and more thankful all the time.
[18:36] Our thankfulness is to increase and increase and increase. As we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and reign in our lives, our thankfulness should increase.
[18:48] Just as our unity should improve, also our thankfulness should get more and more and more, becoming ever more thankful. It's amazing isn't it?
[18:58] How concise the sentence is. Just three simple words and be thankful. I will need a reminder for us.
[19:10] I will need a reminder for the Christians, the suffering Christians in the church in Colossae who are facing tough, tough days and Paul is saying to them, in the middle of the persecution, in the middle of your hardships, in the middle of your suffering.
[19:25] Dear Christians, dear church, be thankful. As the peace of Christ rules in your hearts, be thankful. I will need a reminder for the church in Colossae that here we are a few thousand years later and a few thousand miles away and the same reminder is essential for us still today, is it not?
[19:49] As we find ourselves dealing with tough situations and complicated situations, as we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and reign in our lives, we must do it in thankfulness.
[20:04] We must be thankful. If the peace of Christ is truly in our lives, we have every reason to be thankful and to rejoice. We know that the punishment of our sins has been taken away from us.
[20:17] We have peace because we know that right now we have a place with our Saviour in eternity. He has gone to prepare that place for us. And if he's gone he will return, will he not?
[20:28] The promise he has given us. That we have a place with him. For right now he walks alongside us. For right now he is present with us. For right now he reigns at the right hand of the Father in glory.
[20:40] In all his power, all his majesty, our Saviour is there. And with that knowledge we have that peace reigning and ruling in our lives.
[20:51] That we worship our risen Saviour who this very moment in time is caring deeply for his people. Who is fully involved in the lives of his people.
[21:03] We must as Christians first of all have the peace of Christ ruling and reigning in our hearts. As we do that so increases our unity, so increases our thankfulness, so increases our sense of calling.
[21:19] We're called to live in that peace. If you find yourself as a Christian, even this very morning, dear brother and dear sister, if right now you are struggling to realise or to know that peace of Christ ruling in your hearts, take it to him in prayer.
[21:38] Pray that peace would indeed increase, that peace would again once more rule in your life. Take to the throne of grace with boldness, full and complete boldness and ask that peace would be yours.
[21:54] That reminder would be yours, that peace is yours. You have it in Christ. It's yours, dear brother, dear sister. Lay hold on it, let it rule in your heart, let it reign in your life.
[22:08] So the peace of Christ ruling in our hearts, the first mark here of a Christian, first benefit also of a Christian. Secondly, we then have head in verse 16.
[22:22] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and so on. Now here we have perhaps the other side we could say. We're not all just heart, we're not all just emotion and feeling, of course, we're not.
[22:36] We have an intelligence too. We have a logical thinking side of us. There must be an acknowledgement of what's happening. There's no use being all heart.
[22:47] There's no use just being all emotion but then having no understanding of the one we worship. We're using the word head here to help summarize verse 16.
[23:02] But by head we just mean the understanding. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Just to convey the idea of knowing and of loving his word.
[23:14] In verse 15 we have heart. that Christ must reign in our emotions, that Christ must reign in our being and here we have our head. The word of Christ must dwell on us. We must be filled intellectually with Christ.
[23:29] Now it is of course important that we remind ourselves that our worth, our place before Christ is not measured in knowledge.
[23:41] We all have different and varied academic abilities. there are many listening here who perhaps have never had the opportunity to study formally but who have much more wisdom than many of us.
[23:52] We're not judged on our academic abilities. Definitely not. Our worth is not found in the depth of our knowledge in an academic sense.
[24:06] Of course it's not. But we all must learn more and more about Jesus. We must all, as verse 16 says, let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.
[24:20] Not one of us, not one Christian listening, has an excuse to not be constantly growing in the knowledge of our Saviour. We all have access to materials.
[24:31] We can all be reading, listening to sermons, listening to radio, even listening to our Bibles through our phones, if we can do that. Online, discussing with our Christians in person, on the phone, on Zoom, whatever it takes, we can all be growing.
[24:49] Meditating each day on a chapter, on a section, on a verse, we can all be growing each and every day, each and every day growing and letting the word of Christ dwell in us more and more.
[25:03] So the question is, how do we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly? First of we do so, do we not, by reading and by hearing the word together.
[25:15] Verse 16 tells us we have to have a word of Christ dwell in us. We're to ask, well, how does that happen? Over to be our daily bread, to be our sustenance.
[25:29] They dwell in us, by us first dwelling in them. we all remember the older saints, the older brothers and sisters who went before us, who when we were growing up, these much older Christians who just had that closeness to the Lord, who had that wonderful, that wonderful relationship with their Saviour.
[25:56] They seemed just so close to him. They seemed so close to the one they love. They had that closeness because for the most part they dwelt in his word.
[26:12] These days, I think more so than ever before, we have so many distractions, so many various distractions in the world around us. Our phone's never off, our telly's never off, our computer's never off.
[26:25] I say this to myself also. We have always distractions and we're not spending the time in the word. These dear brothers and sisters who loved their Lord, who went before us, they spent time in his word, they knew the word.
[26:40] I think of one brother who has long since gone, who when I was growing up, he was incredible, incredible. You could talk to him about one verse and within a few seconds he would give you 10, 20 other verses that connected to that verse.
[26:54] He was like a walking common through in scripture. He could connect things together, connect verses or in scripture. He wasn't showing off. He wasn't educated.
[27:05] He was at sea his whole life. He left school very young but he knew the word. He lived in the word. As we dwell in the word more and more, the word begins to dwell in us.
[27:21] And verse 16 becomes more and more of a reality. The word of Christ truly does dwell in us and does so richly. And see, it's good for us to note that the word you being used here, that the word of Christ dwell in you.
[27:42] This is plural. It's a plural you. The word of Christ dwell in you all richly. This is something, yes, we do as individuals, of course it is, but it's also something we must do together.
[27:56] Encouraging one another, building one other up in the faith. Coming alongside each other as brothers and sisters and asking how we're doing.
[28:07] Reading scripture together, discussing scripture together, especially in these strange days when we still cannot meet in the way we would like to, in the way we desire to. Let's make the most of the time.
[28:19] Let's be forwarding each other, encouraging each other in scripture, encouraging one another to dwell more and more in the word of Christ. Just as one Christian on their own is not the church, neither will one Christian on their own grow well, or at least grow in a way that is biblical.
[28:38] If we're to grow in the word of Christ, if we're to grow in the word of God, we must do so together. Growing as part of a body of believers.
[28:50] So we grow in the word of Christ by hearing, by reading, and by doing so together. We also see the second phrase here in verse 16, that the word of Christ will and you're richly teaching and admonishing one other in all wisdom.
[29:12] So the word of Christ rules in our lives, first of all by reading and by hearing, by growing in it, but also by teaching and admonishing. What does this look like for us as Christians?
[29:28] What does it look like for us even here in Barvis? First of all, teaching. Here we have the importance of positive instruction based on scripture.
[29:41] The teaching that helps us to grow in love and to grow in knowledge of our saviour. Primarily the teaching you receive from the pulpit, from your servant here, from the minister.
[29:53] As he faithfully works through the word of God and faithfully brings that word to you, you grow through that word. As you attend the means of grace, as you listen to the services, you grow more and more in that word.
[30:08] As you listen to the word from your ministry, you've spent the week in prayer, the week in deep study, the week wrestling with the text, we grow in that.
[30:19] We also grow, of course, by the teaching of each other as brothers and sisters, the teaching especially from older believers. I encourage as always, of course, the older believers, even this congregation, to please be mindful of younger believers, be mindful of them and be willing to teach them, to gently, lovingly offer them help and offer them support in the walk.
[30:45] We also, of course, have the teachings we have in our own private study, our own daily devotional. As we read scripture ourselves and wrestle with texts of scripture, as we go to our own books, perhaps if we have them, we grow that way too.
[30:59] As we said, as Christians, we must always be growing, always seeking to grow more and more in our knowledge of our Saviour.
[31:11] Never knowledge for knowledge's sake, like we said, never just for sake of it. theology always leads to doxology, a common phrase, a great phrase. Theology, the knowledge of God, the things we learn about God must always lead to doxology, a word I mean somebody to praise God.
[31:28] So what we learn about God must always then lead us to praise him more. Never knowledge for knowledge's sake, no, always learning more to praise him more, to love him more, to serve him better.
[31:41] So that's the teaching side of things. We know that, we understand that, that's fine. Teaching and admonishing. Admonishing. Here we have it, as it were, the negative correction.
[31:56] In teaching we have a positive correction, the positive instruction. Teaching, growing. Admonishing we have the negative correction. The warnings.
[32:08] Again, always based on scripture. The warnings that help us to see the areas of sin that are in our lives. The gentle warnings that are shared in love between brothers and sisters.
[32:24] The gentle warnings of things like, perhaps you're too harsh there, or that was not fair, or perhaps you spoke to that person in a way that's not appropriate. I think what you said or did there was not right.
[32:38] The gentle, caring warnings between brothers and sisters. And we also have, scripturally we have the admonishings that come from the elders.
[32:50] The gentle warnings that seek to guide the people. That quietly, generally seek to guide someone back to the right path.
[33:00] And at times, we also have the solemn, the very solemn moments where there must biblically be harsher admonishments and corrections.
[33:12] Always done biblically, always looking towards restoration in the life of that dear brother or dear sister who have sinned in that way. If we're honest, we find teaching, I'm sure, a lot easier than admonishing.
[33:31] It's much easier to talk about a verse together, to talk about some theological point together, than it is to talk to our dearly beloved brother or sister and to say to them, I see sin in this area of your life, dear brother, dear sister.
[33:47] I see you going off the path here. much, much harder for us to do that. With that in mind, here's a thought experiment, an experiment for us just now.
[34:03] I am passing through just now, of course, as a student, but if you were to even just now hear me in this sermon say something that was wrong, or something that was not correct according to scripture, would you, after the service, be willing to let me know?
[34:24] Would you be willing to say, brother, I think we said there was wrong. It was not in accordance to God's word. It's not easy, is it? Not easy at all.
[34:36] As a body of believers, as a body of brothers and sisters together, we must be able, we must be willing to lovingly, gently, and biblically admonish one another.
[34:48] All towards, of course, the goal of growing together and seeing one ever grow too. So we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly by teaching and by admonishing.
[35:02] We also see the word of Christ dwelling in us in this verse by worshipping, teaching, admonishing, but also worshipping. the peace of Christ and his words dwelling in us, they lead us to worship.
[35:23] Just as we must grow in knowledge together, we must also grow together in our worship and in our joy. We have that here at the end of this final section of verse 16.
[35:36] singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Now this verse, verse 16, has been used to debate the best form of worship for the church.
[35:55] The question comes from this verse, should we use hymns, etc. That is not our conversation today. Now that's not our conversation, not because I'm wanting not to discuss it, but because this is not what this verse is talking about.
[36:13] To make this verse, to make it teach the correct form of worship, to say that's what this verse is talking about, is to destroy this verse and to rip it outside of its context of which Paul wrote it in the first place.
[36:29] Paul is not, in verse 16, giving instructions as to the worship of the church. No, he's giving encouragement to the Christians in the church. It's encouragement, not instruction.
[36:45] In fact, here, in verse 16, the three terms Paul uses here, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, in fact, these are not even Paul listing off three different types of worship.
[37:00] They are, we could translate, Paul saying, praise, praise, praise. Teaching and worshiping one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, spiritual songs.
[37:16] Praising, praising, praising. The three categories here, psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, these three categories we know were used at the time to describe the various sections of the book of psalms.
[37:35] Sproul, in his commentary, helpfully tells us this. In the Septuagint, the Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament that we used at this time.
[37:46] So in the Greek translation of the Old Testament that Paul would have used and the believers would have had, there are three nouns used in this phrase and these three nouns are synonymous.
[37:57] it's unlikely that in Colossians they designate three separate types of song. In other words, Paul's not giving instruction here as to how to have the right form of worship.
[38:13] No, Paul is encouraging the people here, not instructing them, he's encouraging them that as they let the word of Christ dwell in them richly, to do so in worship.
[38:24] He's not giving musical advice, no, he's giving real theological encouragement, he's saying praise him. As you grow together, praise him.
[38:36] As a piece of Christ rolls in your heart, praise him. As a word of Christ dwells in you richly, praise him. In recent months we've found this to be the case, have we not?
[38:49] As we've been disallowed for good reason to sing together, as because of health reasons we have the great privilege of singing with one another, we've found how hard it's been, so hard even to come together and to not sing with one another.
[39:07] Naturally we are just built to sing to God. We are created to praise him, created to worship him, to lift up our voices together in praise of him.
[39:20] To praise God in singing is part of who we are, it's part of how we've been made to worship. To be united together in public worship is essential for our growth in God.
[39:37] We have the peace of Christ ruling in our hearts, we have the word of Christ dwelling richly in our minds. we also have at the end of verse 16 here the words of Christ, the words of praise to our saviour richly dwelling on our lips.
[39:57] As Paul is saying here, as you grow and as you learn more about your saviour, as you teach and admonish and grow together, you must do so praising him, praising him, praising him.
[40:12] It brings us very briefly and finally to verse 17, hand. This verse is very, very short and it's a wonderful short verse that actually encompasses all things.
[40:27] Verse 17, and whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
[40:41] Whatever you do, whatever you do, three simple words, which cover all things. The word used here, whatever word is used, it encompasses all things.
[40:56] It's one of the biggest words that Paul could have used. In all things, in everything, in everything you think or say or do, do all these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[41:12] Christ. We're using the word hand here just to help us to understand this reality. Our heart, our emotions are to have Christ first in our head, Christ is to reign in our intellect, but also here in our hand.
[41:25] In all that we say, in all that we do, in all our works of our hands, Christ is to have the preeminence. He is to be Lord over it all.
[41:39] Paul's made clear, already like we said, Paul's made clear that in our hearts, in our minds, Christ should reign. Now he's finally reminding these Christians that in the practical things of life, in our words and our actions, Christ must also reign there too.
[41:58] All our words are for Christ in word or deed. All our words are for him. All our words, both public and private, are there to honour Jesus.
[42:13] Not just putting on a show when it suits, not just sounding the right way, not just saying the right words at the right time, not just putting on that special talk when we talk to other Christians.
[42:24] No, at all times, in public and in private, the words of our mouths are to honour Christ. we're to live with Christ so much in our hearts, that peace of Christ dwelling so much in us, that even our very words reflect that.
[42:47] this is not easy, we know it's not. Very often we find ourselves, if we're honest, we find ourselves in our words not being honourable, saying things which are not honourable, saying things which do not convey the reality of Christ dwelling in us, if we're being honest this morning together.
[43:10] we bring these things to him, we bring them to the one who reigns in our hearts, we bring this to him and we do so again and again.
[43:26] James, as clear as we know, James in chapter 3, he's very, very clear as to the reality, the importance of watching our words. James 3 and verse 6 talk about the danger of words, the tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body, it corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell.
[43:55] Strong words by James, but true, very true. Even as Christians, if we're honest, we let careless words come out of our mouths, we say things which we do not mean or we say things we should not be saying.
[44:09] And by doing so, we are not honouring Christ in our words. We're not doing what verse 17 is telling us to do, to honour Christ in all that we say.
[44:23] All our words are for him, but also all our deeds are for him in verse 17. All that we do is to be done for his sake and for his glory.
[44:34] Our daily lives, our mealtimes, our times of relaxing, our work, our study, how we are with each other, how we are with those in the village around us, our family members, our friends, how we talk to them and act towards them.
[44:54] It is all there to honour Christ. He must be honoured in all these things. How we are also when no one else is watching us, when we're on our own.
[45:06] our words, our actions, our thoughts, even then, are to be honouring to Christ because he knows, he sees. All our deeds, all our actions are to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus.
[45:25] We're not just saying, of course, act like a Christian. If you do that, of course, very quickly, it becomes nothing more than a show. But what we see here is that all that we do, we do so for the sake of Christ and for his glory.
[45:41] We do so with his peace reigning in us. We do so with his word dwelling richly in us. And as that happens more and more, as that becomes more and more of a reality for us, more and more, we will, in our actions and our words, glorify him.
[46:00] Paul brings a section to a wonderful completion by reminding us, bringing us back to the reality of thankfulness. Whatever you do in the word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
[46:20] Dear Christian, all that you are, all that I am, all that we are as his people, we are so through and for him. All our words, all our actions, all our thoughts, all are for him.
[46:40] All belongs to him. We all belong to him. We are his, bought with that precious, precious price. Verse 17, it's a challenge for us, a challenge for us even just now as we listen to this service.
[46:58] all our thoughts, all our words, all our actions, all that we are, all that we do, it's all for him. All for his praise, all for his glory.
[47:14] We'll bring our time to an end here. We do so giving praise to God for this reminder. Just as Paul reminded the church in Colossae, this young suffering church, as he reminded them who they were as Christians, we also have the same reminder this morning.
[47:31] As Christians we are those who have the peace of Christ ruling in our hearts, reigning in our emotions. We also have the word of Christ dwelling richly in our minds, growing all the time, seeking to grow all the time, more and more in that knowledge, in that love.
[47:51] And bearing in mind all the time, all that we do, all our words, all our actions, private and public, it's all for his name's sake, all for his glory, all for his honour.
[48:07] And all that we have and all that we are, always giving thanks to God. Doing so in thankfulness. We should be a thankful people. We should be a joyous people, for we know that we have a saviour who lives, who reigns in us, whose word reigns in us, who sees us, who knows us, who has set his love on us.
[48:30] All that being true, we should be a thankful, thankful people. My one question as I end is to those who are listening in again who as of yet do not know Jesus.
[48:43] My simple, simple question is to you, what or who reigns in your heart? what or who reigns in your mind? What motivates your words?
[48:56] What motivates your actions? Because if it's not Jesus, if Jesus does not reign in your mind, dear friend, if Jesus does not reign in your heart this day, no matter how bold or how wonderful your intentions may well be, it is not and never will be pleasing to God.
[49:19] Without Jesus as your saviour, without Jesus ruling and reigning in your mind and ruling and reigning in your heart, all that you're doing, it will not please God.
[49:33] You have to come and know him as saviour. You have to have Jesus ruling in your heart. Come and know the peace of having Christ rule in your lives. Come and know the peace of having him as lord and saviour.
[49:47] Come and know the joy of serving him as the one who is your risen lord. Come and know what it is to have thankfulness in your heart. That thankfulness of knowing that you are saved, that you are loved, that you are known by the God of all creation.
[50:02] Come and know Jesus. Come and know him as your lord and as your saviour. Even this day, pray. If you've never prayed before, pray. Just use whatever words you can.
[50:14] It doesn't matter. God knows your heart. If you haven't prayed in many years, it doesn't matter. Pray. God knows your heart. Ask that he would come and save you.
[50:24] Ask that he would transform you. Ask that he would make Jesus the saviour and lord of your life. Ask that you would have the sin that hangs over you, that guilt, that punishment taken away from you.
[50:38] Ask that you would have what it is to know the peace of Christ dwelling in you. Have his word dwelling in your mind and do all that you do for his glory and for his sake.
[50:54] We can now sing again in God's praise at this time, singing in Scottish Psalter, singing in Psalm 145.
[51:06] Psalm 145 in the Scottish Psalter. We sing this Psalm to God's praise. We sing this Psalm with thankfulness in our hearts, praising God for that wonderful reminder we have in his word, that we have the peace of Christ reigning and ruling in us.
[51:23] We have his word dwelling in our minds, that all that we do and all that we say and all that we are, we're to do it, to say it, to think it, to live our lives for his sake and for his glory.
[51:37] I'll ve extol my God, O King, I'll bless thy name always. Thy will bless each day and will thy name forever praise. Great is the Lord, much to be praised, his greatness search exceeds, race into race shall praise thy works and show thy mighty deeds.
[51:54] I off thy glorious majesty, the honour will record, I'll speak of all thy mighty works which wondrous are, O Lord, men of thine acts the might shall show, thine acts that dreadful are, and I thy glory to advance, thy greatness will declare.
[52:11] That's our prayer this week. As we declare the goodness, the greatness, the glory of God, we'll do so honouring him, do so in love for our Saviour, with his peace in our heart and his word on our minds.
[52:24] Let's sing these verses together to God's praise. O Lord, thou art my Lord and King, be well I have with high and grace.
[52:45] I will be blessed and gladly sing unto thy pouring name always.
[53:03] Each day I rise I will be blessed and praise thy name I will attend much to thee praise and grateful is this greatness love and comprehend they after shall thou wander thee god gen shield
[54:15] Father, our God is gracious, Compassionate is he, O soul.
[54:33] In mercy he is pentious, But unto wrath and anger's soul.