The Fullness of His Peace, Word, and Name

4. Put in the Word of Christ (vs. 16-17) Lead in…So far, Paul has challenged the Colossians to Put On the communicable attributes of God. They are to put them on just like putting on a coat. But now, he challenges them to put something inside of them. Take a look at the text with me...

​ ESV16 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. 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.

Explanation - You and I are to put the Word of Christ (logos tou Christou) in ourselves. In fact, it is to dwell or LIVE in us richly or ABUNDANTLY! Why are we to do this? Because of the abundant benefit of His Holy Word in and on our lives. What are we to do with a mind and heart full of the Word of Christ? Are we to sit on it? No! Are we to argue about it? No! According to verse 16, we are to saturate our hearts and minds with His Holy word so we can instruct others in the truth and help other who veer from the truth. That’s what admonish means - to counsel others back to a right way of living. Believer can and should counsel one another from the word of God. Paul challgenges the Romans with this thought...

​ ESV14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

And the reason we can instruct, counsel or admonish one another is because the wisdom we give doesn’t come from man, it come for God! God’s wisdom is far superior to any foolishness we can come up with on our own.

​ ESV25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

God expects us to speak His wisdom into the lives of each other! But I want you to see the other interesting thing that having the word of Christ dwelling in us richly causes...Singing! Yes, singing! Truth, bubbling in one’s soul should overflow in praise to our God...Where else to people get together and sing on a regular basis? School choirs, glee clubs, Irish pubs? I think I’m safe to say that it is the church that sings regularly and we do so because we have a great reason! We have God’s truth and I will tell you, setting truth to music is a powerful way to get it solidified in your heart and mind! Psalms - Hymns - Spiritual Songs - Singing with Thankfulness in your hearts - In fact, don’t simply sing with thankfulness in your hearts to God, do everything with a heart of thanksgiving to the Father and the Son! These are the results of having Christ’s Word lodged in your soul! Illustration - Pastor Muri and ...Argumentation - Could you take the word and help people with it? Application - Review - Put On The Chosen LifePut on a Godly CharacterPut on a Forgiving AttitudePut on a Heart of LovePut in the Word of Christ

Paul’s command is to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body...” What is the peace of Christ? Peace is the absence of war. Because of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, we, if we are saved, are no longer at ward with God! Praise God for the peace of Christ! “Rule” is an athletic term that means to “umpire” In other words, when conflict happens, The PEACE of CHRIST is to be the authority!

​ ESV27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

And because we are no longer at war with God we can live within a community of His people peacefully! As we allow this peace to rule or control our hearts, we can live, no longer at war with each other. This is the amazing power of the peace of Christ!

​Truth for Today July 28: Peaceful RelationshipsBy definition, a peaceful relationship cannot be one–sided. You must do your part to make sure that your side of a relationship is right. Your inner desire, with God’s help, should be to live in peace with everyone, even the most sinful, hard-to-get-along–with people. Short of compromising the Word of God, you ought to extend yourself to great lengths to build peaceful bridges to those who persecute you and hate you. If you set aside any grudge or bitterness and from the heart completely forgive your enemies, you can honestly seek reconciliation with them.

​ ESV18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

And, by the way, Paul throws one more thing in there. Be thankful! The body of Christ is to be a loving, peaceful and thankful community! This is what biblical love leads to - peace and thankfulness!