Col 3:15-17 NASB 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 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. (17) Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
LET PEACE RULE IN YOUR HEARTS
He is the Author of Our Peace – The Prince of Peace! His peace is our peace!!!
Isa 9:6-7 KJV For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end . . .
At His birth the angels said, “On earth peace, good will toward men.”
He could sleep in the midst of a killer storm!
Let Peace Be the Decider – act as umpire
- Judge, decide, control; “be in control of someone’s activity by making a decision.”
- Imperative mood – expresses a command, intention, or exhortation; it is therefore not an expression of reality but of possibility and volition.
- You have to cooperate with God! Faith takes what grace supplies!
- Let peace be the deciding factor!
When you don’t know what to do, peace must be allowed to step in and make a call.
John 14:26-27 NASB “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. (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.
JFB “Many a legacy is “left” that is never “given” to the legatee, many a gift designated that never reaches its proper object.
Jesus is the Executor of His own Testament; the peace He “leaves” He “gives”
Some inheritances are given but never received!
Peace and Thanksgiving are connected – Be Constantly Thankful Ones!
We are not to live in reaction to the devil; we are to live in response to the Spirit.
You will manifest the fragrance of the world you are most aware of.
Php 4:6-7 KJV Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Stay thankful; live in peace. If you are going to have the peace that passes understanding, you will have to give up the need to understand everything.
LET THE WORD DWELL RICHLY IN YOU
Let the Word be at Home in Your Heart
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.
The exhortation to the Christian is to so yield himself to the Word that it is at home in their heart.
- The Word is the Language the Holy Spirit Uses as He Guides Our Lives.
- He can effectively talk to us to the extent to which know the Word.
Give the Word Unrestricted Liberty
“Richly” = “abundantly.”
Saints are to Teach and Admonish One Another
The participles “teaching” and “admonishing” are imperative it force. Commands.
“Admonishing” is “to warn exhort, admonish.” The word contains the ideas of encouragement, reproof, blame, as well.
As in 3:15 the subject of the imperative is not the readers, but something they must open up to and allow to do its work
Warning and teaching are seen as a corporate responsibility (Fee 649).
It is striking how much of the Paul’s writing insisted that the members of the churches should recognize their mutual responsibility to instruct and admonish each other (Rom. 12:7; 15:14; 1 Cor. 14:26; 1 Thes. 5:14; 2 Thes. 3:15; note also Gal. 6:1–3).
Wuest Translation. The word of Christ, let it be at home in you in abundance; with wisdom teaching and admonishing each other by means of psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, with the grace singing in your hearts to God. And all, whatever you do in the sphere of word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, constantly giving thanks to God the Father through Him.[1]
With Gratitude in your Hearts Sing Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs to God
Only a handful of passages give us some insight into the content of earliest Christian worship, the most obvious others are 1 Cor. 14:26 and Acts 2:42.
The elements of Christian worship: “the word of Christ,” teaching and admonition, and singing and thanksgiving.
1Co 14:26 KJV How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
Ac 2:42–43 Wuest And they were giving constant attention to the teaching of the apostles and to that which they held in common with them, and to the breaking of the bread and to the gatherings where prayers to God were offered. And a reverential fear came upon every soul. And many miracles that excited amazement and attesting miracles were performed by the apostles.
in Eph. 5:18–19 singing is the result of being filled with the Spirit, in some ways like the uninhibited singing of those who are drunk (Eph. 5:18; cf. Acts 2:13–18),
Do Everything in the Name of the Lord
(17) Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Everything, whatever . . . do everything in the Name!
Doing something in someone else’s name . . .
Giving Thanks through Him = because of, on account of, by reason of.’[2]
No matter what happens in the world, we can ALWAYS give God thanks because of Jesus! “On account of Jesus!!!!”
Make sure it’s in the name of Jesus – Many people are eliminated from usefulness not due to lack of calling but because of wrong motives.
- His gifts are grace gifts. We can’t “qualify” for a grace gift orit isn’t grace anymore.
- Gifts are like the sails on a boat – useless without the wind of the Spirit
- Willingness to obey is what qualifies you to do what you are unqualified to do.
[1] Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader (Col 3:15–16). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
[2] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (779). New York: United Bible societies.
