Sunday
Morning Bible Study
June
14, 2009
Introduction
Paul has moved out of the section in his letter where he is clarifying good
doctrine and warning about heresies, and is now teaching us how we ought to
live our lives.
We’ve been given a lesson in appropriate Christian “fashion”, what to wear and what not to
wear. We are the “bride of Christ”, and
it’s important to dress right for the wedding.
Some things
don’t look good on Christians:
(Col 3:8 NKJV) But now you
yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
language out of your mouth.
Some things
look good on Christians:
(Col 3:12 NKJV) Therefore,
as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness,
humility, meekness, longsuffering;
If you look at what all these qualities have in common, you find that they
are all about relationships. They are all qualities that affect our
relationships with one another.
Paul continues with this concept of relationship:
:15 And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
let … rule
– brabeuo – to be an umpire; to
decide, determine; to direct
This word has to do with making decisions, with gaining direction in life.
We saw a similar word used by Paul back in:
(Col
2:18 NKJV) Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking
delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things
which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
cheat – katabrabeuo
(“against” + “to umpire”)
The idea was that of an umpire tossing you out of the game for not
obeying the rules.
Here the word is not focused on a bad umpire call, but simply letting
something be the “umpire” in your decisions.
What is the “umpire”?
peace – eirene – peace between individuals; inner
peace
The peace that God gives is the umpire, the thing that should direct us. But is Paul talking about the peace between
people, or inner peace?
I have to confess I have often used this verse to talk about making
decisions, about finding what God’s will was.
I’ve often said that one of the ways we can discern God’s will is whether
we experience His “peace”. If you don’t have a peace about a decision,
perhaps it’s not what God wanted.
I’m not sure I want to totally toss
out this concept. Romans 14:23
encourages us to not do something that is not of “faith”. If you have doubts about something being
right, perhaps you ought to wait.
But I’m not sure this is what Paul is really talking about here.
The context is not about making personal decisions, the context is about relationships. It’s the peace
between individuals that should be the “umpire” in our hearts. My decision making process ought to include
“peace”.
This is why Paul reminds us that we’ve all been called into the Body of
Christ.
called – kaleo –
to call; to invite; to call i.e. to name, by name
in one body – the Body of Christ.
God has called all believers to be the “Body of Christ”.
(1
Cor 12:13 NKJV) For by one Spirit we
were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or
free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
We are all a part of each other, like it or not.
Lesson
Make Peaceful Decisions
Paul wrote,
(Rom
12:18 NKJV) If it is possible, as much
as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
It’s not always possible to live peaceably with others.
We ought to be sure that we’re not the once destroying the
peace.
peace of God
– he didn’t say “let your own peace rule in your hearts”
He’s not saying that we do things to make life easier on ourselves and keep
the peace.
I don’t think God’s desire is that we have peace at any cost.
Some of us are afraid to confront difficulty when we see
it. We keep our mouth shut to “keep the
peace”. We don’t want to be the one to
“rock the boat”.
There is a place to confront something that’s wrong. There is an appropriate time to make someone
a little uncomfortable.
I think our goal ought to be to having God’s kind of peace be the thing that is driving
our decisions.
If I am at odds with someone, what do I need to do to make
things right?
If they have offended me, perhaps I might need to bring it
to their attention. Or perhaps I need to
just get over it.
If I have offended someone else, maybe I need to make
things right. Maybe I need to
apologize. Maybe I need to fix the wrong
I’ve done.
be – ginomai – to
become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being
“become thankful”
thankful
– eucharistos – mindful of favors,
grateful, thankful; pleasing, agreeable; acceptable to others
I wonder if Paul might be talking here about being thankful to others
around us.
Illustration
The monks at a
remote monastery deep in the woods followed a rigid vow of silence. Their vow
could only be broken once a year—on Christmas—by one monk. That monk could
speak only one sentence. One Christmas, Brother Thomas had his turn to speak and said,
“The oatmeal is too lumpy” Then he sat down. Silence ensued for 365 days. The
next Christmas, Brother
Michael got his turn and said, “My bed is too hard” Once again, silence ensued
for 365 days. The following Christmas, Brother Paul rose and said, “I am fed up with this
constant complaining!”
I think it’s a bit sad when all that comes out of our mouths are gripes and
complaints.
Wouldn’t it be nice every once in a while to hear a little “thank you”?
:16 Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord.
word – logos – word. Simple translation: Think “the Bible”
dwell – enoikeo – to dwell in; to dwell in one
and influence for good; to be at home in
richly –
plousios – abundantly, richly
What kind of a home are you going to make for God’s Word in your heart?
Is it going to be a “cheap”
place, or a “rich”
place?
Paul is going to define what he means by “richly” with the following words…
wisdom –
sophia – the practical application of
knowledge.
You can be a very smart
person who knows a lot of facts, but facts alone don’t help you live better. I guess that makes you a sort of Bible nerd.
Wisdom is
taking facts and knowing what to do with them, knowing how to live, sort of a Bible MacGyver.
Lesson
Living the Word
One of the questions we’ve heard several times in “The Truth Project”
is: “Do you really believe that what you believe is
really real?”
How can you tell? You can tell by the way you live.
If you believed
that I was going to give a million dollars to anyone here who raised their
hand, would you raise your hand?
We heard Dr. Tackett share about a fellow he was talking to who was caught in
pornography. Dr. Tackett asked the
fellow if he believed in the “omnipresence” of God, that God is
everywhere. The fellow said, “Yes”. Dr. Tackett responded, “Well I don’t think
you do. You said that your biggest
struggle with pornography is when your wife and kids leave the house and you
feel alone. But if you really believed that
God was with you, then you wouldn’t be alone.”
We sometimes don’t let the truths of God get too far into our lives. We settle with a superficial understanding
instead of letting God’s Word dwell “richly” in us.
The Psalmist writes,
(Psa 19:7-8 NKJV) The law of the LORD
is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise
the simple; {8} The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The
commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
Do you really believe these things about God’s Word?
I think I could probably tell whether I really believe
these things by whether I am spending time reading, studying, and doing God’s
Word.
It’s not just learning the Bible that’s important, but
learning to do it.
Jesus said,
(Mat 7:24-27 NKJV) "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and
does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: {25} "and the rain
descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. {26} "But everyone who hears these sayings of
Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on
the sand: {27} "and
the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it fell. And great was its fall."
Illustration
In August 1992, Hurricane Andrew blasted across south Florida with 160
mile-per-hour winds, causing terrible destruction. After it’s wake, Florida
adopted new building codes. When Hurricane Ivan came in
2004, you could tell who had built according to the new building codes. Here’s a house that was built with the new codes next to one that
wasn’t. One withstood the storm, the
other didn’t.
You have a choice as to how you are going to build your
life. You can build it according to
God’s building codes, or just try and do it your own way. But what are you going to do when the storms
come?
James writes,
(James
1:22 NKJV) But be doers of the word, and
not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Do
you really believe that what you believe is really real?
Paul now gives us some more insight into how God’s Word can dwell richly in
us:
teaching
– didasko – to teach; to hold
discourse with others in order to instruct them
admonishing
– noutheteo (“the mind” + “to place”)
– to admonish, warn, exhort; counsel
one another
– believe it or not, teaching and admonishing isn’t just the job of the pastor. We all have the ability to do this for each
other.
One of the things that I enjoy about Sunday nights is the chance to hear
what God has been doing in other people’s lives. Dave usually gives us a chance to share what
God has been teaching us. I love to hear
the stories of how God is at work. It
encourages and teaches me.
Another way we teach and admonish is in the songs we sing…
psalms –
psalmos – a striking, twanging; of a
striking the chords of a musical instrument; a song with musical accompaniment;
might refer to the Old Testament psalms.
hymns – humnos (“hymn”) – a song of praise,
whether of gods, heroes, or conquerors
spiritual
– pneumatikos – “of spirit”, “windy”,
might relate to the human spirit; might be of the Holy Spirit.
songs – ode – generic word for “song”
About a hundred years ago, scholars discovered an ancient manuscript that
contained songs dating back to 100AD. It is thought that
these songs were written in Antioch
of Syria, the place where believers were first called “Christians”. This was the church that sent Paul out on his
missionary journeys. The work is called “The Odes of Solomon”, not because they were
written by Solomon, but after the style of Solomon.
These songs were part of the ancient worship of the early church. Some scholars and musicians have been working
to take these ancient songs, translate them, and put them to music that would
be similar to the music of the early church. The music they have now recorded and published is called “The Odes Project”. The song I want
you to hear is an adaptation of “Ode 3”.
This particular song reminds me of our text in Colossians where Paul has
been telling us to “put on” certain qualities, to “put on love (Col. 3:14), and
to learn to have “peace” with each other.
As you listen, try to imagine that you are back in the 1st
century, meeting secretly because of the persecution that has started, and you
are worshipping. You will hear the leader sing a line and
the church echoes the line…
Ode 3 (song adaptation)
Can you see how people might be “taught” in song? Did you hear the teaching that is in the
song? Our contemporary songs work much
the same way. This song (like many of
ours) is a “psalm”, a “hymn”, and a “spiritual song”, all in one.
with grace – charis –
grace; good will; thanks
This doesn’t mean you find someone named “Grace” and sing with her.
It means that your singing is done by means of grace.
You realize all that God has done for you that you did not deserve and
you respond with thanks.
in your hearts
to the Lord –
Sadly, some people think of “worship” as the music that the band plays. Some think that the music we play at the
beginning of the service is some sort of “warm up” for main event, the
preacher.
I’m flattered by those of you who might think I’m the main event. But you’re mistaken if you think that.
God is the
“main event”. He’s the one that can
change your life, not me. You can listen
to me all you want, but if you don’t come to the place where you are connecting
with God, you are going to find no help by coming to church.
The music, the worship we sing is where you have the opportunity to come
before God.
Worship isn’t the sound waves that come out of your mouth, it’s the love
that comes out of your heart. Jesus said,
(John
4:24 NKJV) "God is Spirit, and
those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
To worship in “spirit” means that it comes from inside
you, from your heart, from your spirit.
I know that some of you are a little more reluctant to show affection to
your loved ones in public than others.
Some of you don’t have a problem holding your sweetie’s hand in
public. Others of you get embarrassed by things
like that. But if you were in the dark
in the movie theater, wouldn’t it be okay to hold her hand?
That’s one of the reasons that some of us close our eyes when we
worship. It’s kind of like turning the
lights out in the movie theater. Do an
experiment with me. Everyone close your
eyes. Raise both of your hands. Now put them down. Open your eyes. Was it embarrassing to raise your hands? Some of you might be concerned about drawing
attention to yourself during worship by raising your hands. You can do the “half-mast” thing if you
want. Just open your hands upward to the
Lord. Even if you don’t use your hands,
turn your eyes upon Jesus. Tell Him that
you love Him.
:17 And
whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through Him.
word – logos – word
deed – ergon –
business, employment; an act, deed, thing done
in the name
of the Lord Jesus – There are a couple of ideas here:
As His representative
If I was to say to you that I was standing here before you in the name of
the President of
the United States, I would be called an ambassador.
When the Secretary
of State travels to a foreign country and meets with it’s leaders, she is
supposed to represent her boss, the President.
Whether I realize it or not, I represent Jesus Christ to everyone around me.
When I pray “in Jesus’ name”, I could be asking myself, “Would my Savior be
asking me to pray this?” “Is this the
message He wants sent to heaven?”
According to His nature
In the Bible, a person’s name was often descriptive of who they were. A name describes the nature of a person.
Jacob was named “heal catcher”, and that’s what he was, a guy who tried to
trip up others, to deceive them.
Everything we do ought to be representative of the Lord Jesus, according to
His nature.
This is why Paul has been telling to “put on” certain qualities, because these are the
things that reflect God’s nature.
Would Jesus say the kinds of things I say?
Would He do the kinds of things I do?
We often think of the word “witness” as something that we say to somebody
about Jesus. When we verbally share our
faith, we call it “witnessing”.
But whether or not you open your mouth, you already are a “witness” of
Jesus Christ.
You represent Him.
The question isn’t whether or not I will be a “witness”,
the question is whether or not I will be a good witness.
Do I represent Jesus in what I say and what I do?
Here the idea is not giving thanks to people, but giving thanks to God.
We’re going to share in communion – this is a time to “give thanks” to God.