"The Word of Christ"

The new minister was asked to teach a boys' class in the absence of the regular teacher. He decided to see what they knew, so he asked who knocked down the walls of Jericho. All the boys denied having done it, and the preacher was appalled by their ignorance. At the next deacons' meeting he told about the experience. "Not one of them knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho," he lamented. The group was silent until finally one seasoned veteran of disputes spoke up. "Preacher, this appears to be bothering you a lot. But I've known all those boys since they were born and they're good boys. If they said they didn't know, I believe them. Let's just take some money out of the repair and maintenance fund, fix the walls, and let it go at that."

The question today … is modern evangelicalism following the biblical directive that we are to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly? For years I have studies the startling statistics of the biblical and theological illiteracy of our culture and as we progress, it does not seems to be getting better.

A new survey conducted by the Barna Research Group reveals widespread ignorance of common Christian terms. Researchers asked a sample group of 1,210 adults to define Great Commission, evangelical, John 3:16, and gospel. In each case, only a small minority gave accurate answers. Even "born-again Christians" had trouble answering.

Only 9 percent of the respondents accurately defined Great Commission. About 75 percent of born-again Christians could not offer a definition.

Eighteen percent of the respondents correctly defined evangelical, with 57 percent of born-again Christians unable to give a definition.

Twenty-five percent of the respondents gave accurate or partially accurate descriptions of John 3:16, and half of the born-again Christians could not offer a definition.

Thirty-seven percent of the respondents correctly defined gospel, and 16 percent of born-again Christians could not offer a definition.

These terms "clearly do not convey the intended meaning to the masses," concluded George Barna, president of Barna Research Group. "The fact that so few of the insiders understand the meaning of these terms also suggests that the Christian church in this country would be wise to invest in training people about the basic principles and concepts of the Christian faith."

But presently, it seems that we are suffering not from biblical illiteracy but from a- biblicalism. Are we even reading the Bible or does it even have a place in our lives anymore. Scholars have sent so much time recently showing people on how passages of the scriptures have nothing to do with us … and now we are surprised when people don’t read the Bible anymore. We spend so much time spending hours on how to hear the voice of God that its no wonder people don’t wanna read the bible anymore? Don’t you want more than and ancient non relevant book written about other peoples experience? And we wonder why people don’t read the Bible anymore. And its not like its hard enough as it is to read the word...

Matthew 13:18–23 NLT

“Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

So you see it is the words of Christ that will transform and uphold us … It is the word of Christ that will revive the soul, make wise the simple, give joy to the heart, give insight for living, that will last forever, that is fair, that is finer than gold, sweeter than honey, and brings a great reward. It is the power of God for salvation. Useful for teaching correcting rebuking and training in righteousness, thoroughly equipping for every single good work. It is the very breath of God. Lets take a look.

Colossians 3:16–17 NLT

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

The Word of Christ

Giving Thanks

The first thing we will look at today is the significance of what it is to let the Word of Christ dwell within us. Second, we have so much to thankful for.

Thesis: Though sin, false teachers, and the pattern of this world cause us to lose sight of the precious nature of the Word of Christ, it is the spirit of God and the truth of the Scriptures that will remind us that when heaven and earth passes away, the Word of Christ will remain.

I. The Word of Christ

- Let it dwell in you richly.

A. But what does the word of Christ mean? This is the gospel message of what God did in and through Christ and this word of Christ is to dwell with them richly. This means that Paul and Timothy desired the message of the gospel to be alive and living in the lives of the Colossians and that this gospel is to be in huge abundance. A jewish teaching - he who dwells in a house is the master of the house, not just a passing guest. The gospel is not to be a passing guest in our lives.

B. And this gospel is not just to be the master of the houses of our lives… it is to be there richly. This word is to dwell in them ‘richly’: the church is to be stocked with good teaching as a palace is filled with treasures.

C. With all the statistics concerning this, I wonder if we should be concerned? How can the gospel be alive and living and in abundance in the lives of the believers today if we don’t even know what it is? This is why I am so adamant about the gospel being proclaimed. The gospel being declared. The gospel being the center of all life in the church. But how can we get it out if we don’t get it? All of the scriptures point to Christ. And to preach Christ is to preach His words and His works. And to preach his words and works is to illuminate the death and resurrection.

D. And how are we supposed to teach and counsel in all wisdom if we do not know the Word of God. How are we to help each other if we do not know the Word of Christ. How do we grow in the grace and knowledge of God if we do not know the word of God?

E. Gallup Poll - Only three out of five Christians could recall the names of the first four books of the New Testament, and only half of the Christians interviewed correctly identified Jesus as the person who delivered the Sermon on the Mount. A full 42 percent of the Christians interviewed said that without the government's laws, there would be no real guidelines for people to follow in daily life.

F. Dr. Al Molher gave some stats from Barna - Recent Barna statistics on these questions (2013–2015 polls)

88% of US adults say their household owns at least one Bible.

48% of US adults read the Bible less than 2 times per year.

45% of US adults believe the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves.

60% of Americans can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments.

- Molher continues - Churches must recover the centrality and urgency of biblical teaching and preaching, and refuse to sideline the teaching ministry of the preacher. Pastors and churches too busy—or too distracted—to make biblical knowledge a central aim of ministry will produce believers who simply do not know enough to be faithful disciples. (Worse, they will fail to pass down a clear understanding of the gospel to the next generation sitting in the pews.)

We will not believe more than we know, and we will not live higher than our beliefs. The many fronts of Christian compromise in this generation can be directly traced to biblical illiteracy in the pews and the absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches.

This generation of Christian parents and pastors must get deadly serious about the problem of biblical illiteracy, or a frighteningly large number of Americans—Christians included—will go on thinking that Sodom and Gomorrah lived happily ever after. Without a mature knowledge of God’s Word, how can churchgoers expect to make new disciples of Jesus Christ?

G. The number one reason why Christians today are failing at being salt and light in our current culture is because of Biblical Illiteracy. Are we ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us with gentleness and with respect? How can we make disciples of Christ by teaching them everything Christ has commanded, if we don’t know what he commanded. The gospel of Christ is not the ABC’s of Christianity it is the A to Z of Christianity.

H. We are under a delusion that was pointed out by David Nienhuis, a professor at Seattle Pacific University who wrote about a confusion that people have. Just because we are familiar with the Bible it does not mean that we know it.

I. In their recent 2021 study, Lifeway Research found that eleven percent of American evangelicals have read all of Scripture, nine percent have read all of Scripture more than once, ten percent none at all, thirteen percent only a few sentences, twelve percent almost all of it, fifteen percent at least half of it, and thirty percent several passages or stories. The same study noted that thirty-two percent read the Bible every day, twenty-seven read it a few times a week, twelve percent read it once a week, eleven percent read it a few times a month, five percent once a month, and twelve percent rarely read it.

J. This is a serious problem. A very very serious problem… our patristic father Jerome wrote… If you don’t know the Scriptures, you do not know Christ. This is why I urge you with all that is in me to know the Word of God. This is why we preach expository sermons and why the gospel is proclaimed every single week. There is so much trying to snatch the seeds of the word of God from us. We fight for it. We defend it. We protect it. And we do not let the enemy take it from us. It is finer than the finest gold and it is sweeter than honey.

K. JC Ryle famously wrote, “By reading [the Bible] we may learn what to believe, what to be, and what to do; how to live with comfort, and how to die in peace. Happy is that man who possesses a Bible! Happier still is he who reads it! Happiest of all is he who not only reads it, but obeys it, and makes it the rule of his faith and practice!”

II. Giving Thanks

- We have so much to be thankful for.

A. He did such an amazing thing by giving us His word. He reached out to His creation with the wonderful word of Christ. And he gave us the wonderful news of the gospel.

B. The Bible declares that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. He gave us His law and the 10 commandments not to show us what we need to do for righteousness, but to show us that we cannot do what is commanded. And this leads us to the conclusion that we are wretched men and women and we need to be delivered. We need to be saved.

C. Thanks to the Lord he made way for us. Even though the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, it also says that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and He was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. The saying is trust worthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.

D. And as always… all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. The gospel of John was written so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God and that by believing we would have life in his name.

E. Salvation is here and we know it because of the Word of Christ. May we all let it dwell within us and may it be in abundance.