5/12/19 - Col. 3:15-17 - "The Rich Dwelling of His Word"

[0:00] Please join me in prayer. Father, we thank you for a time to gather in your word. And as we could just jump so quickly to these pages with all of this baggage from life and all the stresses of life and all the crying kids during this morning and the struggle to get out the door on time.

[0:22] Father, we come to you and we ask you for help. We ask you to help put a pause to life, to overwhelm us with your Holy Spirit, to see these words on this page.

[0:37] Father, that it changes us, that we leave different from when we came to your word. We praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I'm going to start in verse 12 of chapter 3 to bring everything into context.

[0:58] So last week we spoke on verse 12 saying, Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other that the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

[1:25] And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Verse 15, which we'll be speaking about today, says, And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body, and be thankful.

[1:43] 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.

[1:55] And whatever you do, in word and deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. I love this passage.

[2:10] I'm so glad that we finally arrived at this passage. The whole study, I'm like, oh man, this is going to be a good Sunday. Because it's talking about the two things that I love doing most, teaching and singing.

[2:23] But the first point we're going to be speaking about today is in verse 15. And verse 15 says, The first point this morning is going to be the ruling piece of Christ.

[2:48] Let's talk about the ruling piece of Christ for a minute. Let's pause and talk about this. These last few weeks, we've been focused a lot on issues regarding our hearts.

[3:01] We've been kind of, Paul has been chopping at ends. To getting to the root of the problem, which is dealing with our hearts. He does this a lot in many of his epistles and his writings in Scripture.

[3:13] And the entire passage, looking all the way back to chapter 3, verse 1, is addressing issues of the heart. Something deep within that manifests itself beyond what the eye can see.

[3:27] Keeping in mind the audience, which Paul is writing to, the false teachers were focused upon a certain type of logic. So Paul is addressing this church, this Christian church, this blood-saved church by the blood of Christ.

[3:44] He's reminding them and warning them about this false teaching, this false sense of logic, saying that what we do externally, externally, through rituals, through asceticism, through harsh severity to our bodies, through withstanding from even sexual urges in marriage, things like that, and Old Testament observances, that these external things qualify the condition of our hearts.

[4:14] But Paul flips the scripts on this false teaching and in turn takes their logic backwards. That what transpires internally through the Spirit of God, through regeneration, as the Lord circumcises our hearts, as chapter 2 talks about, and cuts away all the sinful addictions we have, what transpires internally through this regeneration is what drives the order in our lives.

[4:48] It is the driving force. It's not our external signs of worship are not the source. But what is happening inside is the substance which points to Christ and the saving work.

[5:01] And the quality of the unseen will reveal the quality of what is seen. If you can ever imagine, I've done this many times, I don't know if anybody has been victim of it, but trying to carry a full bucket of water that you can usually tell who has been carrying a full bucket of water.

[5:22] It's very easy to see because usually it's going to indicate that the person has wet feet. Because it's very hard to maneuver if you're, I'm thinking like a five-gallon bucket, not like a little, you know, wussy bucket, you know, that they have.

[5:36] But like, I'm talking like, like big stuff, five-gallon bucket from Home Depot, big orange bucket full of water. You can always tell who has carried this bucket filled to the brim because there's no possible way to carry a bucket filled to the brim and not get wet feet.

[5:55] It indicates that there is something that overflowed onto your feet and showed an external sign which points back to the bucket that was filled. And likewise, in the Christian life, when our hearts are filled, it's something that is seen.

[6:08] It's the driving force of what is seen in our lives. And here Paul mentions the ruling piece of Christ in the saints' hearts, in the Christians' hearts.

[6:22] Meaning it is that salvation literally is the governor of our hearts. Salvation is the governor of our hearts. And notice the plural of hearts because it is speaking, it is addressing, you know, us specifically, but he is addressing the corporate body as we're going to continue to analyze today in his writing, which is an attribute of the gathered church, the hearts, the hearts of the gathered church at this time, which is visually verifiable among a united community of believers.

[7:02] It recalls one of my favorite passages in Scripture, one of my favorite, in Hebrews 10, 23, through 25, that says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

[7:19] And let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as it is the habit of some, but encouraging one another in all the more as you see the day drawing near in Hebrews 10, 23, through 25.

[7:37] If you can remember last week when we spoke, if you missed Sunday morning and you caught up on the audio podcast on the website, the community, remember last week we observed in verse 12 through 14, which I started out with today to kind of bring you up to the speed of where we're at now.

[7:55] The community, we observed the community, which we commit together, it actually tests and verifies our faith. Remember, the grace we express to one another through forgiving one another, through bearing with one another, not merely just putting up with one another and coming together to church as like a sort of obligation, like, ugh, church again, but like coming together and excited that we're bearing with one another.

[8:24] We're not just putting up with one another. We're bearing with one another. We're lifting each other up. That the grace we express to one another authenticates the understanding of the grace that we have received, just as the full bucket indicates that you've been carrying a bucket full of water.

[8:40] Your feet are wet. The grace we express to one another authenticates the understanding of the grace we receive. We also spoke about love, which preemptively flows among the church and validates its faithful submission to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the idea of that a forgiven church will be a forgiving church.

[9:01] That a church who is forgiving one another actually validates that they are forgiven. So going along this theme, I told you this is going to be a two-part message, so I'm trying to connect everything, so bear with my flow of thought here.

[9:18] Today, this passage is continuing on that line of thinking, the same line of thinking as Paul is reinforcing a community, the hearts, the plural hearts of the gathered people called in one body, as verse 15 talks about.

[9:31] And I can recall one message that we preached in this series in Colossians that points back, turn back to chapter 1, verse 20.

[9:47] Actually, start in verse 19. 20 starts in the mid-sentence. He says in chapter 1, verse 19, for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

[10:10] That what was in play back in that letter, in that part of the letter, is actually being played out in real time right now as we're speaking. Because where Christ reconciled all things, making peace by the blood of his cross, this is the very same peace of which is ruling in the hearts of his church, the gathered community of believers.

[10:35] It's pointing to salvation. Look with me in this passage back to chapter 3, verse 15. Look at it.

[10:48] What is the unique response in this passage? What is the unique response which is observable within this reconciled community?

[11:01] You can call it out. It begins with a T. Thanksgiving. That thankfulness flows from this community.

[11:13] how often we lose the conviction, church, of what was created to be a blessing in our lives becomes such a burden.

[11:29] Can I hear that? That kind of like pigtailing off of last week's message of forgiving and bearing with one another? How often it just what was created to be a blessing becomes such a burden to sometimes get together and gather?

[11:48] I've heard a lot of stories of family gatherings that, you know, we try to avoid like the plague and how often we're a victim of seeing such a small scope of the picture and seeing each other's sin rather than seeing our own sin.

[12:08] The primary ministry of the united corporate body is proclaiming corporate thankfulness for one another and thankfulness to God as the peace of Christ rules in our hearts.

[12:21] And so let's see how this thankfulness manifests itself as we continue to read in verse 16 which continues to say, 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.

[12:48] The second point this morning is the dwelling word of Christ exposed. The dwelling word of Christ exposed. Paul highlights in this single verse two imperative phrases which the word of Christ is to be instilled and manifest in the gathering of God's people.

[13:16] There's a certain quality at play in this corporate body. When I think of the word, he mentions let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

[13:30] You know, being a husband of a very gifted baker, when I hear the word rich I think of cake. She is, she can bake.

[13:45] Being a husband of a baker, when I hear the word rich I think of a cake. And I think thinking of a cake in this passage can actually do us a little bit of good.

[13:55] Because just as a cake, no matter how you cut it, no matter if you take a little section of the cake or a giant section, which I'm very prone to doing and I'm getting better as life goes on, but even, no matter how you cut the cake, big or small, there's always the taste of richness within that cake, within what was baked within that cake.

[14:18] and we see that no matter how this congregation is divided up into small groups, it is going to be rich whether it's just a one-on-one interaction with one another where we're teaching one another, admonishing one another in all wisdom, or singing to one another, that no matter what size of the group we are, especially in the corporate gathering on the Lord's Day on Sunday, the first day of the week, this is extremely and vitally important because it is actually making a declaration of the very salvation which bought us.

[14:55] It says to the world, the world who comes in and looks in, appears in, what's going on in that church? They see love, they see thankfulness flowing, they see hearts gathered, united, a rich community.

[15:12] No matter if they're talking to Liz, talking to Betsy, they will sense that richness. Everything produced within the church must be saturated with the word of Christ.

[15:29] Everything produced within the church must be saturated with the word of Christ. I'm talking, church, about convictions, of why we do what we do, because it dries, which is done.

[15:43] everything that which is done. Specifically, Paul calls two departments into subjection in this passage of, number one, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and secondly, he talks about singing psalms, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

[16:03] And please note, of all the things that Paul could be addressing in this church, of all the things he could bring into subjection, he pulls out two, teaching and singing.

[16:19] He chose two. So let's look at what he's saying here in this passage. Regard to teaching, it says teaching, and having the word of God, letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly in your teaching and admonishing one another.

[16:45] Having our teaching rich with biblical convictions, church, the teaching ministry having rich convictions. Some of you may say, hmm, teaching you say, interesting.

[16:58] Yeah, that stuff is for you pastors. I'm not good at teaching. No, I'm not trained for that type of stuff.

[17:09] Definitely not good at that type of stuff. I actually think people would actually be even more prone to not converting to Jesus if they talked to me. No, send them to a guy who knows what they're doing.

[17:22] But here, look at what Paul's saying. Look down with me. Put it up on the screen. Verse 16, what Paul is saying. He's saying, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing who?

[17:39] One another in all wisdom and understanding. In other words, this is not optional.

[17:51] Paul's not saying, if you feel like it, if you're qualified to teach one another, yeah, you should probably teach. No. Instead, he actually calls the entire church into subjection saying, it is your job to be teaching one another too.

[18:05] That if hearing me blabber for 30-some minutes on a good day, up here on Sunday, once a week is the only time that we're ever receiving instruction in our lives, we're missing something here.

[18:20] If we're dependent upon me or Rick or Matt to be the pastoral shepherds primarily in the body of the church, we're missing something.

[18:35] Think about it, the richness of the church. No matter how you cut it, there is richness. Not just when you talk to Matt about the Bible, like, oh man, Matt just knows so much, I was just so encouraged after talking about it, I just want to keep getting together with Matt.

[18:51] No. We are all called in subjection in this passage. The prerequisite of the teacher is given by the supremacy of the word dwelling richly in you.

[19:04] That which you receive and renew yourself, remember renew that we spoke about a couple weeks ago, being renewed in the image of Christ our creator.

[19:16] And this is not something that's meant to be stored. We don't just gather all these good scriptural nuggets and, oh, I'm going to hold on to this for a rainy day. While that is good, you're supposed to store his word in your heart.

[19:30] But this, Paul's actually saying that this is something that should be flowing out of each and every one of us. No, we're called to express that which we are instilled personally and corporately, church.

[19:43] The Holy Scriptures is a book with supreme authority breathed out by God himself, as his Holy Spirit inspired Paul specifically, but also 40-some other authors of the Bible.

[19:56] 2 Timothy talks about the inspiration of this word, that this is no ordinary book. 2 Timothy 3, 16-17, you can recall, it says, all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

[20:24] Every good work. The significance of this charge, teaching, which Paul's talking about in Colossians, is the Holy Scriptures being used is what properly equips us and strengthens us, and the Holy Spirit which dwells in us and works through us in the midst of our body, personally and corporately.

[20:44] All of us who gather under His name must bear witness to His name. All of us who gather in His name must bear witness to His name, to one another. Just as we spoke about last week, you're going to start seeing a theme developing, because just as we're forgiving one another, we're to be teaching one another.

[21:04] this dwelling word of Christ is to be at the very driver seat in our lives and in this church. It is. It's not a passenger.

[21:15] There's a lot of people who can live life very fine and not take too many risks and kind of just have the word and the truth and biblical convictions at the passenger seat and be just driving along however they want to live their life, rather than allowing Scripture to be at the driver's seat, driving them forward, advising Scripture before they make moves in life.

[21:41] This is a sense of abuse to the word, but Paul is telling you today that it must be at the driver's seat. This means that every office of this church particularly, if we're talking about the corporate gathered church, every office of this church, every position, every leader in this church, every expression, even the Mother's Day roses, I hope all the mothers, if you're a mother in this room and you came late, get a rose, we have a rose for you.

[22:09] Every expression is to be glorifying God, that Christ who is the one who transforms every one of us, and especially mothers today, we celebrate it, we're celebrating Christ essentially, every expression of the church must be rooted in God's word, and every event, we don't just go out and try to just win people over to come to our building, we're trying to win people for Christ, so everything that we do outside of these walls is to glorify Christ, be deeply rooted richly in the word of Christ.

[22:43] I spent a little more time than I anticipated on that. So we're going to continue to look at singing. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, and it also says, it says, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, but it also says, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

[23:08] Having our singing rich with biblical convictions to church. Some of you, again, might say, singing, you say.

[23:22] Well, that's for the musicians up here that do it so wonderfully. I can't carry a tune with a bucket, as the old saying goes, the old idioms that we have.

[23:37] Well, just like teaching, Paul is calling upon the church also to be singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs. And notice, it's to one another.

[23:50] In other words, this is not an optional, it's not treating Sunday morning as a concert where we're merely just gathering attenders to sit and listen to some good beats, to listen to some good guitar solos that Matt busts out every single song that he plays.

[24:07] I've been trying to tell him week after week, stop with the guitar solos. Anybody who knows Matt knows that that is far from his personality. But in other words, this is not optional, either.

[24:22] Treating Sunday morning like that for 20 minutes once a week is severely missing the beauty of what the church is to resonate. Resonate.

[24:35] So I'm going to address the ones in this room. I know, I've heard it, I'm just not a singer. I'm just not a singer. And I'm going to help you today.

[24:47] With the help of Buddy the Elf from the wonderful Christmas classic, Elf. He actually helps his audience talk about singing. He actually says that singing is just like talking.

[25:01] So be encouraged, it's just like talking. Except louder and louder. And you move your voice up and down as you talk.

[25:17] There are really no excuses, church, to sing. We should probably take some words of wisdom from Buddy the Elf in church and get kicked in the butts. And we need to start singing in church. This moment in history, Brent and his pastorate has referenced Buddy the Elf.

[25:37] Corporate singing is such a beautiful component, church. It's so beautiful. It's actually unique to the Christian church. church.

[25:47] And yes, while many gather like this and teach and pray to one another or to their various gods, not everyone sings.

[25:59] The church of Christ is a singing church. It's a beautiful thing. We see this through history. If we can record, like through the record of Christian awakenings during the past 2,000 years since Christ resurrected, whenever the word of God is recovered, it is so beautiful because it is propelled by prayer.

[26:26] There's a consistent dynamic of when there's a Christian word-centered awakening in the life of the Christian church throughout all these 2,000 years.

[26:36] It is propelled by prayer. And it's actually, guess what? It is expressed with great joy, joy, which inevitably is expressed and recorded as through song.

[26:48] All these awakenings. Let me take you for a little time travel back to, because this recalls the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century specifically, which brought such a rebirth to music.

[27:02] Such a rebirth to music. And a lot of the hymns that we sing today were produced and kind of dusted off during that Protestant Reformation. Or I can recall the Wesleyan revival in the 18th century, where we can recall John Wesley for any historian, biblical historian, but also his brother Charles Wesley, who gifted the church back then with so many great hymns that we sing today.

[27:28] He wrote Hark the Herald Angels Sing. He wrote Come Thou Long Expected Jesus. He actually wrote Christ the Lord is Risen Today. And even throughout the various revivals, even back in the 60s and the 70s, scripture is also recorded during these times of actually being sung.

[27:51] Why? Why? Why singing of all things? Why singing? Why is this unique? I like to think of when we're sick and we're heating up a kettle full of water to make a cup of tea.

[28:10] when we put that kettle on the stove and turn the element on over time is that that kettle gets hot and hotter and hotter and hotter.

[28:25] Now, I don't care how much you tell it, rebuke that kettle to not whistle if it's one of those old-fashioned whistling kettles. There's no way of stopping this kettle which is boiling over from shouting this loud whistle to indicate that your water's hot.

[28:45] If we think about the word of God, the richness of the word of God heating up the church essentially, richly dwelling in the church and hotter and hotter week after week, time after time until a point where we are just so overwhelmed with thankfulness that we just shout out a praise to God singers or not.

[29:09] It is a natural response of the dwelling richness of God's word. Could you imagine if Whitney Houston wrote that song? I, E-I, will always love you.

[29:31] Ooh. there's such a stark difference between speaking and singing that you just explode with this powerful melody which expresses something that's going on in your heart.

[29:55] You know that Whitney wasn't speaking that song. She belts those words out, man. And you know that those words meant something to her. Or maybe you're his producer. I don't know. But church, when the word of Christ dwells richly within, it will illogically, illogically bring the worst of singers to sing.

[30:18] A grateful witness of hearts gathered in one body as verse 15 talks about, declaring as one the deep truths of our forgiving and merciful God.

[30:29] It brings unity to the church. And we have discussed a unified body, even last week, of forgiving one another, with bearing with one another, and addressing with one another how the saints ought to address one another as Christ reigns supreme in their hearts.

[30:49] Well, guess what? Being a two-part message, we're still in this theme. Singing unifies in a common melody. It is the proclamation and witness of a united body.

[31:06] Think about it, the words up on the screen that we sing, whether if somebody is going through the lowest valley in life or the highest peak where they just can't get enough of God, they're so blessed, but somebody's going through struggle, guess what?

[31:21] singing brings in and unites both situations in life and unifies his church and actually ministers to one another at those times.

[31:36] Music also teaches and ministers each other. It shapes our thoughts to truth because while we can be on highs and we can be overwhelmed with the joy and the glory of the Lord, this can actually be taken out of context because then we have started treating God like he's our magical genie and then, you know, takes us through a lesson of humility.

[31:58] Singing will actually help bringing that to truth or if you're going through suffering it'll lift you up. That when we doubt we sing a mighty fortress is our God.

[32:11] In our doubt we sing and we minister to ourselves. We minister to one another. The evangelism of the church is expressed in teaching and singing.

[32:26] What we sing matters then, just as much as what we teach matters. If I'm up here just reading some biography from some dead guy, you know, it serves you no purpose whatsoever.

[32:39] What we teach and what we sing matters. The rich dwelling of the word of Christ is to drive that which we teach to one another and to the world just as what we sing to one another and to the world.

[32:53] Content matters. This content must be rooted in conviction which is rooted in the word of God. So today, while I don't think many of us will argue the value of teaching, let me allow this day to observe the importance of singing in our lives.

[33:13] Because we actually learn, singing actually teaches us. If we can think back to, if you think back, can recall to second grade, those early grade school years, man, singing is actually a fundamental strategic element in the learning process as you're younger.

[33:31] And I still even remember counting in twos. I can recall, let's see, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, you know, I can still remember that is second grade.

[33:44] I can still recall these counting songs that helped me learn. And singing likewise, when it is filled with a content rich with the dwelling word of God, we're actually absorbing something, that which is sun.

[34:01] When I was sick with Crohn's disease and battling it when I was about 10 years old, I can recall on those days when my stomach pain was so excruciating, there was actually no hope, no answers from the doctors of what was wrong with this guy.

[34:17] I'd be just laying on the couch at my grandma's house. I can remember to this day, and despite the pain, despite what I was going through and walking through, what God was allowing me to go through, that when I broke out in song, I know one thing was true, that that pain went away.

[34:38] That singing reminded to me, actually singing Amazing Grace which we sung this morning, was a song that reminded me, it brought everything, it actually ministered to my very soul.

[34:53] Singing is important and powerful. Interesting fact to you that you might not know, that's what the elders do when we meet, we sing.

[35:05] And it's good. It should not be such a strange concept to ourselves, to sing to ourselves the salvation of God, to sing to each other the salvation of God, to sing within our families the salvation of God.

[35:23] This shouldn't be such an odd thing where we're just like feeling awkward, like, well, I guess we bust up the hymnal and we turn to page 62. This should not be an awkward thing.

[35:35] This should actually, I don't know what has happened to the culture, but this was a common thing in centuries past, and we've lost the church. So I'm going to actually challenge you, as awkward as it might be, to allow singing hymns, or whatever the melody, I say hymns, but whatever the chorus might be, let's let singing hymns in Scripture be a part of our daily devotions, church.

[36:05] And I'm really interested for you to report the effects of it. Read, study Scripture, pray through Scripture, and also sing Scripture as well, and report back to me the effects.

[36:17] Talk to me at the end of summer if we do this together as families. We started doing it with our kids at home. Your voices should overpower the instruments on Sunday mornings. We've actually strategically turned the volume down of these loud things over here, paperweights.

[36:36] We've turned those down so that your singing can be heard. This is not a concert. Actually, we leave the lights on now so we can see one another because this is a biblical call to be singing to one another, that we should be looking around to one another.

[36:52] We should be reminding, hearing, no matter how good or bad the melody might be next to you, guess what? You're hearing the very same words on the screen that you ought to be singing. The psalmist says that it doesn't matter if you can sing, to make a joyful noise, by all means, make a joyful noise.

[37:14] Your voices should overpower the instruments here on Sunday mornings. I challenge you to do that as well. Corporate singing is a time where we lay aside our preferences of style.

[37:25] I just don't like those old hymns or I don't like all the new music. Whatever side we might be on of singing and church music is such a contentious debate in the church today.

[37:36] It's just like, why? I could see analyzing the words with a microscope, making sure that we're singing right things because content matters as we learn today. Content truly matters.

[37:48] Yeah, analyze that, but preference, like, really? We're missing it. What matters is the content, the catchy melodies, the guitar leaves, the artistic expressions, you know, whatever it might be.

[38:04] It's secondary. But I do have my reservations for fog machines and light shows that are sometimes a cool thing these days. I have my reservations for those, and I believe for good reason.

[38:15] I just think those are distracting. But too often, the secondary becomes the driving force of the church. We lose the essence of what we're actually doing.

[38:26] So I'm going to speed up here to point three, which is a cause for action. A cause for action, as we see in verse 17.

[38:42] Turn with me. It says, 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. Paul finishes his statement in this passage with a summary statement over all the previous verses that we trace back to verse 1 in chapter 3.

[39:02] A blanket summary statement over everything because he pulled out some specifics of forgiving one another, of singing to one another, of teaching one another. This is a summary statement.

[39:15] So just in case Paul missed anything in the past, if we're like, well, he didn't talk about that. I wonder if this meets the mark. Well, where does it stand with this?

[39:27] Where are convictions in what we're questioning of what we're doing? Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all we do, in our forgiveness, our teaching, and our singing.

[39:38] Because often we live compartmentalized lives. You know, church is just, you know, the thing that we do on Sunday that, you know, we just make it through the week.

[39:53] We're going to make it to church. It's just going to be one of the other things. Come on, pastor. Hurry up with the message. I got my reservations at 1215. You know, we compartmentalize our lives.

[40:04] And this is just another check on the list. And we leave these buildings sometimes. I'm not saying all of us, but I think we're all prone. We can all empathize with the fact that we leave and we sometimes find it easier to blend in with the world.

[40:20] To live lives like a chameleon lives on a tree. Just blending in with the bark, the leaves, wherever it might be positioned, it just blends in with its surroundings. I hope up to this point that you see that Paul is really defining our identity, church.

[40:39] Giving us true attributes of what we're to put off and what we're to put on. We're to put off the bad behavior that glorifies the evil one in dissension, the vice list that we spoke about.

[40:53] We are to put on which glorifies God in unity, the virtue list that we spoke about last week. Our words and actions define this community. They point back to a sanctified, saved church.

[41:07] And this is where it gets to a hard pill to swallow, but I must say, and I say it with all love and all kindness, because we need to hear it today. We need to be convicted by God's Word. If we take this a step further, if our tongues are an expression of what is ruling our hearts, and if our tongues are filled with sin and with dissension, that can actually only indicate, church, a heart that may not be fully transformed by the gospel.

[41:42] If our tongues are filled with sin and dissension and disunity, that may indicate a heart that may not be fully changed by the gospel yet. So let all that we do, church, be done in the name of Jesus.

[41:57] I'm wrapping it up here. I'm sorry for going a little bit long. For some of this, for some of this that we read, many of you might be masters.

[42:07] You might be veterans at this. You can say, actually, this is really encouraging because I'm just going to keep going the way I've been going. And for some of us, this is horrible.

[42:18] We're absolutely the worst of the worst. We leave here and we don't even know up from down. We turn on CNN and we're just like, we're just like a main line of just left side, right side, up and down, boy, girl, man, woman.

[42:32] I don't know. What's happening? We're not rooted in this thing, this word of God that it's not dwelling rich within us. We must seriously look at how our lives are conducted in complete contradiction to the Bible.

[42:47] And if they are, we must change. And this scripture is calling us that whatever we do in word and deed, do it for the glory of God. So that means parenting, doing parenting in the name of the Lord, by teaching in the name of the Lord, singing in the name of the Lord, by working, shopping, talking on the phone, driving, eating, serving, exercising, even sleeping, church.

[43:16] Some of us, we can sleep for a whole day and be completely content. We have no use to God. For our work and our play, all things in the name of the Lord, church. And then finally, stepping back, if we look at this, the words on these pages, if we step back just a little bit and survey what Paul is truly communicating here, we see actually the theme of the entire book of Colossians coming to life.

[43:44] The entire theme rooted in the supremacy of God. And here, it's saying, let Christ reign supreme within you so that he may be seen around you.

[43:56] We've been seeing this theme all throughout our study, week after week, that Christ in this passage is supposed to be supreme, reigning over our lives and what we're teaching, what we're singing, and all things.

[44:10] Just as our forgiveness, how we bear with one another, how we treat one another, how we put on and how we put off everything. Here within this church body, we pay close attention to what is being taught and what is being sung.

[44:28] We do a really good job at this. We don't just sing songs because they sound good. We sing songs because they're rich. And God willing, Lord willing, I will keep teaching what is rich, which is rooted in his word.

[44:41] So let's take a moment to pray before we get back into singing. I expect all of your voices to be loud in praise with thankfulness, especially after convicting you, or we will have words after the service.

[44:57] And we'll continue to declare together through song the glory of God together, united in song, as which is being taught today and over the last several weeks.

[45:09] Let's pray. We'll we'll go together.