I return in your Bibles to the book
of Colossians, Paul's letter written to the church
at Colossae, and we are going to read
as the basis of our meditation this morning
the passage that comes next in order, namely
verses 15 to 17.
Chapter 3, verses 15 to 17 in the
epistle to the Colossians.
I am reading from the New International Version.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts, since as members of one body you
were called to peace, and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly, as you teach and admonish one another
with all wisdom and as you sing songs,
hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your
hearts to God.
And whatever you do, whether in word or
deed, do it all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him.
Now, Paul has been very clearly outlining the
duty of every Christian man and woman, not
only in ancient Colossae, but in the church
of Jesus Christ anywhere and at any time,
everywhere and at all time.
Looking back over this chapter 3, you will
notice that he has been telling us quite
clearly in unambiguous terms that as sure as
we are Christian, as sure as we are
men and women in Christ, then we should
be busy, we should be doing something.
First of all, he puts our duties in
terms of negatives.
He says there are certain things that we
should be getting rid of.
The metaphor is one of unclothing, disrobing, taking
things off as you would take a garment
off and throw it on one side.
What he says is that all the characteristic
features of our old Adamic and fallen nature
we should get rid of.
If we are really men and women in
Christ, then there is our inspiration and there
is our strength and there is our grace.
We should be getting hold of the old
pattern of living and putting it all on
one side.
I'm sure all of us from time to
time say concerning a suit of clothes or
what have you, now I've had done with
that and we pack it out and we
get pack it and get rid of it.
Paul says that we should do that kind
of thing with every aspect of behavior that
relates to our old Adamic nature, but he
doesn't end there.
He says that we should be constantly robing
ourselves with the graces of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
That we should be regularly coming to the
wardrobe of divine grace and from there receiving
grace upon grace and clothing ourselves spiritually with
these beautiful garments that God has given us.
And when we feel we're reasonably clad we
should belt the whole thing with a girdle
of agape of love.
And so we should go out into each
new day and into each new week as
men and women that are clothed spiritually for
the task to which God has called us.
Now the paragraph before us today takes us
one step further and this is dominated by
the theme of the centrality of Jesus Christ
in the ongoing Christian life.
You may always know whether a man is
growing Christianly by this.
Is Jesus Christ central in his thinking, in
his acting, in his living, in his planning,
in his desiring, in his motivation?
Is self central?
Is this world central?
Or is the Lord Jesus Christ right in
the center of it all so that a
man can say as the apostle himself did,
to me to live is Christ.
There you see Jesus Christ is dead center.
Everything else, everything else must take its due
place around the centerpiece which is the living,
reigning Lord Jesus Christ.
Allow me to ask you therefore right at
the outset this morning whether Jesus Christ is
central in your thinking, in your living, in
your learning, in your acting, whatever else you
do.
Now this is brought out by the use
of three verbs found in each of these
three verses before us this morning.
And for those of you who read the
Greek New Testament, and quite a number do,
let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts.
These verbs are in the subjunctive.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly.
And then whatever you do, do it in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The peace of God ruling in the heart.
The word of God richly dwelling within.
The word of Christ brother.
And then the name of Christ sovereign over
all else.
I want us to look at these three
this morning in turn.
And as we look at them we shall
see the ongoing Christian life as the apostle
and mouthpiece of the living Lord would address
us and wants us as a community of
people and as individuals to live in this
20th century.
Now first of all the peace of Christ
and its inward ruling.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts.
Since as members of one body you are
called to peace and be thankful.
Now lest the readers of the King James
Version may think that we've played a trick
here just in order to have everything circle
around the Lord Jesus Christ.
The King James Version says let the peace
of God.
Really these modern versions are more accurate when
they refer to the peace of Christ because
we now have older manuscripts that take us
back nearer to the New Testament era and
they all have the peace of Christ rather
than the peace of God.
Not that there is any major theological distinction
but it does give us a particular concept
of the peace that we are to allow
to rule in our hearts.
It's not simply the peace of a God
we have never seen but the peace of
the God revealed in Jesus Christ the man
of Nazareth.
Now let's examine this the peace of Christ
ruling in the heart.
First of all what did Paul mean by
the peace of Christ?
What's involved there?
Well one wonders how much Paul would put
into that phrase.
I believe that he probably meant not simply
the peace which Jesus Christ purchased for us.
He did purchase our peace by the blood
of his cross.
We are told that in Ephesians.
He came and preached peace to them that
were near that is to the Jewish community
and to those that were afar off.
He himself says Paul in another place is
the embodiment of peace.
Christ is our peace.
I have a feeling however that the apostle
Paul would also imply and involve in this
phrase the peace that Jesus Christ himself enjoyed.
Surely this was one of the most remarkable
of all things in the experience of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
How he enjoyed peace with God.
If you'd like to put it differently you
can think of his life as a life
of perfect harmony with his father.
There was never a jarring note.
There was never a battle to be fought.
On one occasion in the garden of Gethsemane
it appears that Jesus had a doubt as
to whether the cup was absolutely necessary after
all.
And so he came and he asked the
father, father if it be possible let this
cup pass from me.
But when according to the father it was
known to be impossible to evade that cup
on he went with a willingness and a
dedication that is evident in the record.
He was led as a lamb to a
slaughter.
No man takes my life from me he
says but I lay it down of myself.
In other words he never fought with his
father.
He was never at variance with his father.
Because of that he might have to face
the opposition of men.
But in the midst of it all even
when the cross emerged on the horizon Jesus
had peace so that he could turn to
his disciples and say this remarkable thing.
He could say to them now he says
not as the world gives do I give
to you.
I'm going to give you something that the
world could never give.
My way of endowing you as my people
is quite different from that of the world.
Not as the world give give I to
you.
I'm going to give you my own peace.
That in the first place reveals the fact
that in the depth of his soul our
Lord Jesus had peace with his father.
There was the perfect harmony of the obedient
son concerning whom the father more than once
said this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased.
Now the apostle Paul would have us enjoy
that peace in our hearts.
Just imagine it.
Are you going through any period of trouble
and trial and difficulty at the moment.
Is it very boisterous in your life.
Are there things that harass you from day
to day.
They wait you at the dawn of each
new day and they're with you in the
evening when you go to bed at night.
Listen my friend it is the plan and
the purpose of God that his people should
know this quality of peace.
The peace of God which passeth all understanding.
But now here's another thought.
That peace according to the apostle Paul is
meant to rule in our heart.
The peace of Christ is meant to rule
in the hearts of the redeemed.
The noun that corresponds to the verb here
would be translated umpire or referee if you
like or arbiter.
It was very often and most generally used
in connection with the Olympic Games where you
would have referees or umpires and of course
you know what would be done if there
was a question about anything.
The appeal was made to the referee and
his word was final in all matters.
Now says Paul the peace of Christ flood
your heart fill your heart and as he
does so as it does so let it
be the umpire the referee that determines right
and wrong.
What's he getting at?
The notion is that as those who are
in Christ as those who have been crucified
with Christ and are risen with Christ and
ascended in Christ to the heavenly places all
that's in the background and are awaiting the
coming glory of Christ when we shall be
glorified with him we have his peace.
As those who are going on in the
Christian life casting off the things of darkness
and putting on the raiment of light as
those who know something of an ongoing work
of grace and not something that happened 40
years ago and period as those who know
an ongoing work of grace in our hearts.
Now says Paul there's the peace of God
also in your heart as sure as you're
getting rid of that which is evil and
that which is tempted by the flesh and
as sure as you're coming to the divine
wardrobe and putting on the beauties of your
Lord's grace more and more you're going on
with him you're growing up into him and
you'll know his peace.
Now he says you're to judge things by
means of that peace.
What he had in mind probably was something
like this here you have an alternative will
I choose this or that way shall I
join that group and what they believe and
the way they live or shall I join
this group shall I shall I embark upon
this particular mode of living and behavior or
shall I turn my back upon that and
go this way.
You judge what is right or wrong says
the apostle Paul by the peace of God
in your heart.
If you can contemplate going on this particular
way or that particular way and the peace
of God in your heart is undisturbed it
remains and it deepens then of course it
must be right.
But if you have a sense of the
impropriety of it if you're afraid that the
dove of peace is going to leave its
perch in your heart don't do it.
Now word of warning this is not a
message to the carnal Christian stuck in the
mud refusing to leave his sin.
Now let's be sure about that I must
put my neck on the line this is
not the kind of argument that a man
or a woman is to bring forward who
is living in open sin not necessarily immorality
but other kinds of sin and you're stuck
in the mud you were born again but
you've never grown up you're just a little
babe in Christ carnal as carnal can be
in your own soul and you argue I
don't see anything wrong in this or I
don't see anything wrong in that this is
not for you.
Paul addresses these words only to men and
women who are casting off the works of
darkness who are putting off the things of
the old Adamic nature and who are putting
on the things that are in Christ Jesus.
If you're in that process if you're really
living the Christian life day by day then
this applies to you you may depend upon
it says Paul.
The peace of God in your heart is
a barometer which will indicate right or wrong
nearness to him or distance from him that's
not all.
We have all been called to enjoy this
quality of peace within the community of the
body of Christ since as members of one
body you were called says Paul.
This experience of peace is no fanciful addition
to the Christian program it is an integral
part of our high calling and it is
to be enjoyed in the fellowship of God's
people in other words our attitude attitudes to
each other.
My attitude to everyone else in the fellowship
of the body of Christ is to be
determined by this one principle.
You know we have over the years gained
a concept of church membership which is so
far from church membership in the new testament
as to be incapable of recognition.
The member of the body of Christ as
understood in the new testament is a person
who is sensitive to what he says or
how he looks at his brother or sister
and there's a deep sensitivity here and by
the knowledge of the spirit's pleasure or displeasure
in his heart a person is able to
do or not to do to say or
not to say what he had in mind.
In the fellowship of believing men and women
you and I are meant to practice and
enjoy the experience of this peace of God
brought down to earth.
Brothers and sisters in Christ I trust you
and I know something of this but if
you don't take the church seriously and you
don't relate to other Christians properly you're not
within reach of this.
If you're living an independent life if you're
treating yourself as the only child in the
family a spoiled child living all on your
own off of the tangent going your own
sweet way my friend you can't know anything
of this maturity.
Anything that you may have which approximates it
only approximates it.
Can I just say a word about this?
This calling should make us intensely and increasingly
grateful.
It's a kind of afterthought.
Paul puts it in tersely and be thankful.
Now there are men and women here this
morning who will know what this means.
I know.
Be thankful that you know anything about the
peace of God.
Remember who you were, remember what you were,
remember where you've been, remember the pit from
which you've been brought up and the rock
from which you've been hewn.
Remember the way satan had mauled you and
marred your testimony but you have the peace
purchased by the blood of Christ ministered by
the spirit of Christ perfected by the word
of God.
If you have that peace you don't need
to be told be thankful for there is
nothing in this world to compare with this
little bit of heaven that the spirit by
the blood brings into the heart of the
believer.
The peace of God and the peace that
is with God.
That brings me to the second main point
here.
The first the peace of Christ and its
inward ruling.
The second the word of Christ and its
rich indwelling.
Another subjunctive let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly as you teach and admonish
one another with all wisdom and as you
sing psalms hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude
in your hearts to the Lord.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly.
The word of Christ indwelling that's the main
thought here and dwelling deeply.
Dwelling deeply.
You see the Colossians had already received the
word of Christ they'd received the gospel but
but what Paul wants is that the word
that they had initially received should get deeper
and deeper into their subconscious minds into their
hearts into the soil of their spiritual beings
until there it thrives as a plant of
heaven planted in the soil of earth.
Now by the word of Christ of course
is meant his teaching in its broad sweet
and full significance both as evangel and as
ethic.
The word of Christ is the teaching of
the doctrine that he has given us and
given us as Paul often says as a
sacred deposit on trust.
That we should keep it safely in one
sense but that we should pass it on
to others in another sense.
We keep it in order to pass it
on we see that no one no one
steals anything from it no one robs it
of its wholeness.
We keep it in that sense but we
keep it in that sense in order to
pass it on in all its divine glory
and potential to save to the uttermost those
who come to God through Jesus Christ.
It represents the fruit of three and a
half years public ministry upon earth and actually
practically corresponds to the entirety of our new
testament.
Now notice the word of Christ is meant
to dwell in us and dwell deeply.
That is first of all it's to have
a permanent abode in us.
I was talking to someone at all that
long ago and the image came through quite
clearly that his concept of being under the
word of God was that of coming to
church and being preached at as he put
it and being engaged in having to think
of the scriptures for a half an hour
or three quarters or so and go away
and come back another Lord's day and he
lived by this.
Now you see this concept that Paul has
here is quite contrary to that.
You and I are not to be arrested
by the word of God occasionally and made
to think about it occasionally and for a
limited length of time.
Then to cast off its influence and go
our own sweet way until we are arrested
again and we have to think again.
But the word of God that we hear
is to dwell in us.
We take it with us.
We remember it, its impact, its influence, its
message, its significance, it sinks into the depths
of the soul.
Now I guess I've seen no one, none
of the commentators suggest this but it seems
to me that there may very well be
here a reference to the parable of the
sower and the soils.
You remember for example taking Luke's version.
Two illustrations of the soil that simply did
not take in the seed properly.
There was a third but we mentioned two
only.
First of all there was the seed that
was sown by the wayside.
You remember the wayside.
It's the path around the strip that had
been sown in and some of the seed
had fallen on the pathway but there were
so many people walking on the pathway that
the path was hard and when the seed
fell on the path well it didn't penetrate.
And you remember you remember what happened in
our Lord's parable.
The birds of the air came and my
they've got great eyes.
They don't need spectacles.
They just look down and they see and
they saw that there was a little meal
there and down they came and they got
rid of it all in no time and
there was no seed.
In the soil that is.
There are some Christians who are like that
and I have no doubt that there will
be some of us who will leave this
service this morning and everything that is said
is just like that.
It'll be like seed falling on very hard
soil and in no time the birds of
worldly influence will have been after us and
before we've had our lunch today we'll have
forgotten all about the word of God.
But then there's the other.
Luke in his parable also refers to the
seed that was sown on the rock or
better on rocky soil because the picture there
is of a thin layer of of of
soil a top soil very thin not deep
and it is on top of a thicker
layer of rock.
So as you look at it you see
some soil but underneath there is the rock
and now the sower is sowing his seed
you see and some falls into this soil
now because the rock maintains the heat better
than the earth generally there is warmth there
and so the the seed germinates very very
quickly it brings forth fruit I mean it
germinates you can see the little flower or
whatever it is coming up almost immediately there's
immediate response but it can't grow because there's
no way whereby its roots can go down
and maintain its nourishment it can't find subsistence
it can't find nourishment because the rock underneath
has been broken.
Brothers and sisters I find that this is
one of the most challenging pictures in the
whole of the book I wonder whether I'm
speaking to someone here this morning and you
and I have made an immediate response to
the gospel of Jesus Christ but the rock
of the heart has never been broken the
heart of stone has never been taken out
and so there is no rootage and everything
you hear you might sit at the feet
of an archangel nay nay of the incarnate
Lord himself and you'd not grow in the
Christian life because the rock has not been
broken there's a massive rock that has to
be broken and taken out and you have
to receive a new heart in its place
now there are many professing Christians who have
never known that Paul is here requiring of
us that the word of Christ should be
allowed to dwell in the very depths of
our beings get right in not just into
the mind momentarily but into the memory into
the subconscious into the heart into the feeling
so that the whole of one's inner life
is radically transformed by the word of the
living God now
notice the richly indwelling word should then become
the richly outgoing word I must call your
attention to this if we don't call attention
to this then we're going to miss something
very precious here and I don't want to
be guilty of it as you teach and
counsel or admonish one another with all wisdom
and as you sing psalms hymns and spiritual
songs with gratitude in your hearts to God
if the word of Christ dwells in us
richly then it should of necessity find an
avenue for expression for us to express its
message and its meaning in life an impression
that begets no expression becomes a depression that's
why you have so many depressed Christians now
you will ask what more does it mean
than what we've already referred to for the
word of God the word of Christ to
dwell in us richly well look at this
in reply I would say from this verse
16 that it does not simply refer to
the depths of its indwelling but also to
such things as the wisdom it imparts and
the worship it inspires Paul goes on immediately
you see and he says in the light
of what he said now he says as
you teach let the uh word of Christ
dwell in you richly as as you teach
and admonish one another with all wisdom in
other words the word of God dwelling deeply
in the soul of a man so that
in consequence the word along with the spirit
of Christ are working together in that man's
life and he enjoys the peace that Christ
gives as an arbiter and a referee concerning
right and wrong as this proceeds you will
notice that a man has wisdom to admonish
or to teach others and Paul says that
this is something that should be seen in
people now the apostle is here addressing not
christian pastors or ministers or teachers in that
sense he is addressing the whole church here
so that you see he is expecting that
a wisdom of God should be manifest in
the way that a sunday school teacher teaches
a sunday school class or a bible class
leader leads his class in other words my
friend if the peace of God the peace
of Christ is dwelling within me and the
word of Christ is richly indwelling me then
something should be evident this that I am
wise in my teaching and that I admonish
people wisely and that I shall never say
the wrong things to people and send them
in the wrong directions when the word of
Christ dwells in us richly it imparts a
quality of wisdom to teach and to admonish
and let me repeat it is something that
should be seen in every child of God
but now along with that the worship it
inspires as you sing this is something else
that goes on at the same time as
you sing psalms hymns and spiritual songs with
gratitude in your hearts notice the concept of
gratitude in these three verses giving thanks or
gratitude it comes in the three verses if
the word of God dwells in us richly
then it will create in us an attitude
of worship yes worship even though we have
to get rid of questionable things out of
our lives worship in the process of coming
to the wardrobe which is Christ Jesus our
Lord for grace upon grace worship whatever the
cost worship especially as the peace of Christ
begins to rule within worship as the word
of God imparts inward wisdom worship worship worship
not just on the Lord's day but at
any time anywhere everywhere if you can confine
your worship to one single hour in the
week brother or sister there's something radically wrong
you are blind and you need your eyes
open still you are you are you are
incapable of understanding the things of the gospel
God requires the worship of the whole heart
all the time as all these things are
going on says Paul what's happening in the
heart oh you're making melody and music to
your God in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs you're going about and there is this
Godward side of your life friends do we
know anything about it what catches your eye
now I don't want to dwell at any
length as to the division of these three
here now lots of arguments have taken place
in the church about how you divide these
psalms and psalms and psalms some people say
well I think that Dr. Hendrickson in a
very incisive comment puts it like this all
in all he says it would seem that
when in Colossians 3 16 the apostle uses
these three terms apparently distinguishing them at least
to some extent the term psalms has reference
at least mainly to the Old Testament Psalter
hymns mainly to New Testament songs of praise
to God or to Christ and spiritual songs
or odes as they are called mainly to
any other sacred songs dwelling on the theme
on one theme or another than Christ and
the Father but something related to spiritual matters
whatever their nature he proceeds to say this
threefold mode of praise must be offered in
a spirit of thankfulness and to crown the
whole of this passage this morning there is
one other thing and it is a capstone
here the peace of Christ and its inward
ruling the word of Christ and its rich
in dwelling the name of Christ and its
absolute overruling notice verse 17 and whatever you
do now this covers everything nothing could be
more general than that and whatever you do
whether in word or deed do it all
in the name of the Lord Jesus and
again notice giving thanks to God the Father
through him my all this man how this
man expected us to praise God do everything
in the name of the Lord Jesus the
name of Jesus Christ should dominate the whole
of the Christians life that means of course
that we act because of our confessed relationship
to him it means that we act and
we live as we do because we are
his representatives in this world it means that
we act and live as we do because
we are concerned for his glory and it
means too that we act consciously by his
authority what right does a man to stand
in a pulpit on the Lord's day morning
and say these things to many if not
all present who are much wiser than himself
what right does any man to stand before
a group of people and say these things
with a dogmatism that you have heard this
morning well I'll tell you and the only
right is this that one does it in
the authority and with the authority of the
Lord Jesus Christ all authority has been given
to me in heaven and on earth go
ye therefore or if you want it in
pictorial form come with Peter and John day
after Pentecost and they're going to the house
of prayer bless them they went to that
uh old temple with its formality even though
the fullness of the spirit has been flooded
into their souls they go back into the
temple at the hour of prayer yeah and
as they go what do they see but
a man lame from his womb sitting at
the outside the gate the beautiful gate of
the temple to make matters worse the beautiful
gate and this ugly scene of a man
lame from birth no one could do anything
for him now bless them they they kind
of gave him a little gift threw their
coins to him and that helped him along
and enabled him to keep body and soul
together but they really couldn't help the man's
physical condition until Peter and John came and
I guess he was expecting money from them
too well makes it clear that he was
he asked and answered them Peter said no
man he says we're not like these other
folk we just haven't got a pocket we
don't have we don't have we don't have
silver and gold silver and gold have I
none but I have something in the name
in the authority because I've been sent by
one with all authority in the name of
Jesus of Nazareth stand up rise up and
walk and if I understand the full significance
of this statement here I believe there are
things that the church that is in living
touch with the reigning lord there are things
that we should be doing in his name
and with his authority still that would make
the worldlings say God is in that place
and I close with this the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ is to integrate thus
the whole of life whatever you do do
everything in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ giving thanks to God and the father
through him your life is to be so
Christ-centered that as you go along this
is your one main ambition and this is
the thread that is to run through every
thought and every deed and every desire and
every aspect of your life Christ dominates the
whole brothers and sisters I confess to you
this morning I feel very unworthy of preaching
this oh
what do we know of this this this
this golden thread running through all our lives
giving meaning to every word and every look
and every desire and every motion of the
spirit and every imagination says Paul this is
the way we should be looking at things
if you are in Christ Jesus crucified with
him risen with him reigning with him this
is your life now don't you push it
off to anybody else this is your life
believer you may be a visitor in Knox
this morning I want to I want to
bring this to you this is your life
man or woman in Christ as well as
to those who regularly worship here on the
Lord's day and we're members of this community
this is my life to be of which
I am very unworthy may the grace of
God be given us then on this another
Lord's day another earthly Sabbath on our earthly
pilgrimage may the grace of God be given
us first of all to see the plan
see the line see the root that has
been planned for us the duty that has
been set before us and as the spirit
and the word work within us may we
know that wholesome desire that becomes an ultimate
determination so we can feebly say even with
the apostle to me to live is Christ
let us pray our heavenly
father the first thing that we must needs
do when we have been browsing on your
word have been looking at ourselves in it
as in a mirror is to acknowledge that
we have not obeyed and we are not
what we have been called to be but
we desire to be what we are not
we yearn oh lord by the grace of
your spirit to be like our blessed redeemer
we covet for your glory that you will
make the formalities of our christian profession to
be dynamized with reality