Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Richly
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1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.
8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16 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.
Quit dragging around a corpse
Quit dragging around a corpse
Here in , Paul describes that as the old man and new man. The old man is dead and needs to be put off, and the new man needs to be put on. The new man occupies the same old physical body of the old man and has to contend with a brain that has been trained to think in wrong patterns and view the world incorrectly, but those things will change as the man is conformed into the image of Christ.
The old man is dead and Christian needs to quit dragging his old corpse around. His previous deeds and attitudes are to be put to death – immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed along with anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive speech. In their place the deeds and attitudes of the new man are being developed through the cleansing of God’s word, the renewing of his mind, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The believer’s character is changed so that he is marked by compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiving each other and agape love.
These virtues are not limited to friends and loved ones, but are extended to all men. The result of this is a disposition of peace and thankfulness. Because the believer has peace with God through Christ, he can be at peace himself and extend peace to others. A peace that is not just the absence of conflict, but a peace of harmony in relationships.
(Obviously such harmony requires both parties involved to work at being at peace and it may not be possible if one of them refuses to do so. That is why God only commands us to be at peace with all men so far as it depends on you.)
Today I want us to focus on v.16
16 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.
16 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.
The idea of “dwell” (ejnoikevw / enoikeô) is for the teachings of Christ to reside within in us. It is to live in us so that we can live it out in what we think, what we say, and our disposition. Jesus Himself made the same point in when explained that He is the vine, we are the branches, so we must abide in Him to have life. We are to abide in Him and His word is to abide in us if we are to prove to be His disciples. David expressed this idea in when he explained that the way live a pure life was to hide God’s word in his heart so that he might not sin against the Lord.
Paul adds here the adverb “richly” (plousivwV / plousiôs) to describe the degree to which this should occur in the life of a believer. It is to be within us in abundance. The word of Christ should direct every thought and decision that we make. We should be striving to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ () so that we can make and live out decisions that will glorify Him. The third part of the Great Commission is to teach believers to obey all of Christ’s commands (). But none of this can happen if you do not know the teaching and commands of Jesus. There is a knowledge base that must be present and that knowledge needs to be present in abundance. You need to know God’s word richly.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you;” that is, let it be your most familiar friend.
Col
We know the people who live in our home, but we do not really know other people. When someone asked Mr. Whitefield, “What do you think of Mr. So-and-So’s character?” He answered, “I cannot say, for I never lived with him.” Ah! That is the true test; it is living with people that lets you know what they are. In like manner, if you will live with “the word of Christ,” especially if you will let it dwell in you, and abide with you as a constant friend, you will get to know it better; and the better you know it, the more you will love it. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, if you meet with a man who finds fault with the Bible, you may be certain that he never read it. If he would but read it in the right spirit, he would be of another opinion. And if you find a professing Christian indifferent to his Bible, you may be sure that the very dust upon its cover will rise up in judgment against him. The Bible reader is always the Bible lover, and the Bible searcher is the man who searches it more and more. Various pursuits have a measure of fascination about them, but the study of God’s Word is fascinating to the highest degree. Jerome said, when he was pondering a certain text, “I adore the infinity of Holy Scripture;” I have often felt that I could say the same. The Bible is a book that has no bounds to it. Its thoughts are not as men’s thoughts, a multitude of which may go to make up half an ounce; but any one of the thoughts of God can outweigh all the thoughts of men. This Book is not a book of pence, or a book of silver, or even a book of gold, but a book whose every leaf is of untold value. He shall be enriched indeed who lets “the word of Christ” richly dwell in him. (CHRIST’S INDWELLING WORD NO. 2679 A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD’S-DAY, JUNE 17, 1900. DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, APRIL 10, 1881.)
(CHRIST’S INDWELLING WORD NO. 2679 A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD’S-DAY, JUNE 17, 1900. DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, APRIL 10, 1881.)
It is truly by way of spending time with Christ in the word that we are transformed into the person of Christ.
The Problem
The Problem
We Need to be a People of the Word
We Need to be a People of the Word
Not just a cursory verse or a checklist item, but a transformational time of fellowship in the word.
If you are visiting for the first time or you’ve been here for decades, I want you to know that Sunday Church will change your life… Hopefully a sermon will encourage you along the way, but it is not enough to sustain you...
ruminate
ruminate
verbru·mi·nate | \ ˈrü-mə-ˌnāt \ruminated; ruminating
Definition of ruminate
Definition of ruminate
transitive verb
1: to go over in the mind repeatedly and often casually or slowly 2: to chew repeatedly for an extended period
intransitive verb
1: to chew again what has been chewed slightly and swallowed : chew the cud 2: to engage in contemplation : REFLECT
Some of our small group leaders are reading the book Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
“The early morning belongs to the Church of the risen Christ. At the break of light it remembers the morning on which death and sin lay prostrate in defeat and new life and salvation were given to mankind”
What do our mornings look like? What sweet fellowship are we missing out on?
The Word of Christ dwells richly among us as we admonish one another
The Word of Christ dwells richly among us as we admonish one another
When we teach we are telling someone the truth about Jesus and the Gospel. When we admonish we are warning someone who may be wandering from the truth. As believers we called to warn or admonish those who are straying from the truth
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Admonition is often difficult but it essential to the health of the body of Christ. As a church we should strive to have a culture where we speak the truth to one another in love.Our teaching and admonishing is to be carried out in all wisdom- In the Bible wisdom usually refers to the ability to take truth and apply it to life. Our teaching and admonishing is carried out as we apply the Scriptures to life
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
The Word of Christ dwells richly among us as we sing with and to one another
The Word of Christ dwells richly among us as we sing with and to one another
In this verse singing is being directed to God and to one another.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Singing is commended and commanded throughout the Bible We are all supposed to sing
Singing is commended and commanded throughout the Bible We are all supposed to sing
Singing is a means of giving thanks and praise to God – God is worshipped through our singing
Singing is a means of teaching and admonishing one another
Our singing is a means of instructing and serving one another
There are many different kinds of songs that we should sing– Paul mentions several different kinds of songs that we should sing. While there are a variety of kinds of songs, the most important thing is that our songs are true and that they are used for the praise of God and the benefit of others.
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.
In a Healthy Church the Name of Christ is Supreme (3:17) – As a church we should strive to have a culture that exalts the name and reputation of Christ above all else
The phrase word or deedrefers to what we say and to what we do. Everything we say and everything we do should be done in the name of Jesus, or for the sake of His reputation and fame.