Turn to Colossians 3:15-16. As I thought about those beautiful godly virtues in verses 12-14, I thought about those ugly deeds of the flesh earlier in this chapter, verses 5-9. What a contrast between the beauties of Christlikeness and the ugliness of the flesh.
| The beauty of Christ | The ugly flesh |
| Chosen, holy, beloved | Immorality, Idolatry |
| Compassion | Anger |
| Kindness | Wrath |
| Humility | Malice |
| Gentleness | Slander |
| Patience | Abusive speech |
| Bearing with others | Rejecting others |
| Forgiving | Bitterness |
| Love | Hatred |
We are living in a time of intense hatred and slander, in spite of the political buzz about unity. I don’t have to tell you that there is little unity in our nation, and who knows what the future holds. We’re living in a Jeremiah world of false prophets and lies. But you and I know who holds the future! Our sovereign God holds the future. The invisible hand of God is unfolding His plan day by day, hour by hour. And He will give us the grace to endure whatever persecution comes along. We pray that He would send us true revival and reformation so the beauty of Christ will be seen more and more clearly. We may have to wait for the Millennium, a time when truth and righteousness will prevail and His people will shine with these godly virtues.
In the meantime God has given us all we need to shine forth with the beauty of Christ in this world. This morning we’re looking at two wonderful verses that should have a huge influence in each life who knows Christ as our Lord and Savior. We’re looking at the peace of Christ and the Word of Christ. Both are commands and are rich for our edification and exhortation.
LET CHRIST’S PEACE RULE YOUR HEART
Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Peace with God. When Christ died on the cross, He reconciled sinners to God. He brought peace between you and God. The war is over. Romans 5:1 says through justification by faith in Christ we have peace with God, a vertical peace. Vertical peace is the basis for horizontal peace, peace between God’s people. But this verse is not about the vertical peace with God.
Peace of God. There is an inner peace that God promises when we cast our anxieties and cares on Him. Philippians 4:7 says as we pray and let our requests be made known to God, His peace which surpasses knowledge will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Isaiah 26:3 says the same thing: “You will keep him in perfect peace, shalom, shalom whose mind is stayed on You, because He trusts in You.” Jesus Himself said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
But this verse 15 isn’t necessarily talking about inner peace either. Some people talk about getting God’s peace when they are asking God for guidance. “The Lord gave me peace about it.” There is a sense of peace that comes” from doing the right thing, but you could mistake that inner certainty for your own desires. This verse isn’t talking about guidance peace.
Peace with Others. So what is Paul talking about? Notice the word “rule.” It means to referee or serve as an umpire. Paul is talking about relationships between believers. What should you do when you are tempted to get sideways with another believer or get into an argument or disagreement? First, remember the fact that Christ’s peace has reconciled every believer to one another. Then, let that fact of “Christ’s peace reconciling believers” control and rule your mind and emotions and help you handle that disagreement, just like a referee in a football game.
Before you came to Christ, you may have been a real troublemaker. You may have told people off or slammed doors. Or with your wounded pride you may have rejected people who didn’t meet your expectations. I recall a young lady telling me that when there was a conflict in her house, they had four ways of handling it: yell, cry, drink, or walk out.
Now that Christ is your life, you will respond to conflict differently. You’re going to let Christ’s peace rule, umpire, and referee your heart to settle the difference. Consider the marriage relationship. Every marriage has some degree of conflict or disagreement. Things don’t always go swimmingly. But as two believers united in marriage, Christ’s peace should umpire you to resolve the problem, whatever it is.
Sometimes you may disagree with another believer. They think one thing; you think another. Christ’s peace should rule your heart then, too. Wherever you have people you have problems, conflicts, disagreements, clashing opinions. They rise up before you know it. Simple misunderstandings can move quickly to pride and ego. Jealousy of another person’s position or recognition well up. James 4:1-2 says the reason we fight and quarrel is because our selfish desires war within us and we too easily react in anger or bitterness.
God is telling us here in verse 15 that believers must let Christ’s peace reign in the life of the church. That may mean confessing to God and going to your brother or sister and humbly asking forgiveness. That is Christ’s peace umpiring your heart. Is this easy to do? No. I’ve said some dumb stuff to people and have had to go and ask forgiveness. Man, how hard that is. Going is the hard part. And you need God’s wisdom for the right words. But once you’ve cleared up the conflict and forgiveness is assured, the peace you have knowing you did things God’s way was worth the going. And now you trust God to work His peace in both hearts for total restoration.
You may think it is impossible that you would ever have a disagreement with anyone else in this wonderful church. We are thankful for the unity and love we have, but we are a body of sinners. It is inevitable that someone will have a misunderstood attitude or words. Look at the book of 1 Corinthians. They ricocheted from one conflict to the next. If you ever find a church with no problems, don’t join it. You’ll ruin it. The church in Acts had their problems. One couple lied over how much they gave. Others grumbled about not getting some food. Even Paul and Barnabas argued about taking Mark.
Notice how Paul ends this little powerful verse: be thankful. Thankful believers glorify God. There is no better way to keep your heart under the rulership of Christ and His peace than to constantly give thanks. If you are having a hard time with someone, start thanking God for them. A thankful heart keeps you tender and willing to be sure Christ’s peace is ruling your heart.
LET CHRIST’S WORD FILL YOUR LIFE
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
The Spirit and the Word. This is one beautiful verse. It’s not hard to interpret. We are to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly and then use it to minister to one another and guide our singing. Before we analyze this verse, we must compare it with Ephesians 5:18-19.
Ephesians 5:17-20 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
Do you see how Paul parallels the Word of Christ and the Spirit? These are not two different things. The ministry of the Spirit is to illumine your heart to understand the Word of God. When believers are living under the influence of the Word, they are at the same time filled with the Spirit and their worship will be influenced.
The Word at Home in Your Life. God says you need to let God’s Word dwell in you richly. The word “dwell” means to make oneself at home. When you have guests in your home, you may say, “Hey, make yourself at home. There’s the frig and there are cookies in the cabinet, just help yourself.” That’s the idea here. Let Christ’s Word have full access to your entire life. No locked rooms or closets.
And Paul adds the word “richly.” Let Christ’s Word dwell richly. That means lots of it. Some people have an obsession with frogs – ceramic frogs, glass frogs, plastic frogs, frogs on coffee cups, pictures of frogs. Every room has frogs. Frogs on the bathroom towels and the pillow cases. Even little frogs scattered outside. They have frogs dwelling in their house richly, all over the place.
That is exactly how God says you must let Christ’s Word fill your life. Let it live everywhere in your life, with no locked closets. Let it govern your work time, home time, vacation time, your family, your marriage, your parenting, your shopping, your spending, your reading, your movie watching, your time online. Let this be your prayer: “Word of Christ, make yourself at home in my life. Rule every area!” Why do so few believers spend good time in the Word? It is not for lack of resources and plans. Brace yourself for R. C. Sproul’s reason: “Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.” Ouch!
An Appetite for God’s Word. I can still remember when we got saved back in 1971 and the huge impact the Bible had on our lives. We started reading the Bible and finding stuff we had never seen before. We could hardly get enough of it. I was excited about the Gospels and my buddy Ron who was saved at the same time and always a few steps ahead of me said, “Man, wait till you get to Paul’s epistles.” You need an appetite for God’s Word. Discipline yourself to prayerfully read it every day. The more time in it, the more you will desire it. Psalm 119 says over and over, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day!” “I hate and despise falsehood, but I love your law.” (vv. 97, 163).
I hope God has given you this appetite for God’s Word. Peter says we ought to be guzzling down the Word like a newborn craves milk.
1 Peter 2:1-3 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
So Paul says let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly – not just a little, but a lot. Not just the barebones, but as much as you can get. In 1977 we visited the Field Museum in Chicago to see King Tut. When we arrived we were told it was closing in 15 minutes, but they allowed us to go in if we hurried. So we literally ran through the large display just to get a glimpse of the “golden boy” and some of the other treasures. Don’t treat God’s Word this way. Don’t just get a glimpse of it. Read it, study it, meditate on it, memorize it. Be a people of the Word. Use a daily reading guide or some systematic method so you know where to open the Word each day. What is your plan?
Wisdom, Teaching, and Applying. “But why should I read the Bible? What do I get out of it?” Wisdom. God’s mind is revealed in the Bible. You learn where we came from, who we are, why we’re here, what we’re supposed to do, and where we’re headed. Genesis tells us where we came from, Revelation tells us where we’re going, and Romans tells us how to get to there. Without the Bible we are in darkness. Don Whitney says, “The single most valuable item on earth is the Bible.” John MacArthur personalized the Bible as the throne of God. He rebuked President Biden for laying his hand on the Bible at his inauguration all the while supporting the evils of abortion and sexual perversions. When you open your Bible, God is speaking. It is God’s book, God-breathed, telling you exactly what you need to know.
2 Timothy 3:14-17 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
This is exactly what Paul says here. God’s wisdom in God’s Word teaches us what we need to know and admonishes us in how we need to change – teaching and admonishing. Teaching is focused on the content – what you’re learning here, in Sunday School (Trusting God), small groups, book studies, ladies Bible studies. Then admonishing is applying God’s Word to your life. James 1:22 says “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
The Word and Worship. The Word of Christ fills our worship. We are so blessed to have Alex in charge of our music. He is careful to choose hymns and songs that are filled with Biblical truth and exalt our triune God.
Vigorous, full-throttled singing has been a part of the gathering of God’s people from the very beginning. We can’t nail down exactly what these three different types of singing were, but Psalms are surely the Old Testament Psalms. Hymns were possibly portions of the New Testament put to music. Spiritual songs were songs based on the gospel, much like the hymns of Isaac Watts, John Newton, Charles Wesley, Fanny Crosby and many others. Our main concern is not so much the differing styles of music, but that they are biblically accurate. How often a song we sing on Sunday morning stays with me all week.
SO WHAT?
Let Christ’s peace rule your heart and let Christ’s Word fill your life. Keep in harmony with Christ’s peace in your life, continually feed on God’s Word, be prepared to lovingly minister God’s Word, and express your joy in Christ as we sing God’s truths in worship. And in it all, give thanks. Be thankful. May God daily pour His grace into our hearts and feed the flames of desire for the awesome, glorious Word of Jesus Christ.
Do you really know Him as your Lord and Savior? One way to know if He is your Lord is if you have some love and desire for His Word. If you are unsure, we invite you to come to Him in humble, sincere trust, believing that He is your one and only Savior.