HAVING THE PEACE OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS : Colossians 3:15-17 5-23-07
Today as we all know medical science has come a long way, who, not so many years ago would have ever thought that one day doctors would be doing heart transplants, putting pace makers in peoples hearts, replacing damaged arteries & valves and all such as this. And all that is wonderful, but did you ever think about it; God has been in the heart changing business ever since He created man.
Colo. 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Colossians 3:15-17 15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16Let 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. 17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Here in verse 15 we have a fruit of the Holy Spirit: peace.
Philippians 4:7 7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus
This peace passeth all understanding
Rule means, “to umpire.” The peace of God should govern our hearts.
When a new life enters the world, a new heart enters the world too. There is no life apart from a physical heart. And so it is with the believer: the believer receives a new heart when he receives a new life.
In verse 15 0f col.3: we read that this new heart that God gives is ruled by his peace:
15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, -------------
The word “peace” means to be joined; it means to be assured, confident, and secure in the love and care of God. It means to know that God will take care of us no matter the problem or circumstance. God will...
· strengthen-· encourage-· guide -· sustain -· deliver-· save -· provide-· give life both now and forever.
Knowing these things should certainly bring peace to our hearts.
And let us notice, that this peace is the peace of God, and He alone possesses it, and so if a person is to have true peace, that person must receive the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ.
There will never be any peace here in this world as long as the devil is loose on this earth, but we as believers can and do have peace in our hearts, when I go to bed at night I’m not worried about should I die in my sleep where I will be, because I have the peace of God in my heart that I’m as saved as I’m going to be.
Dear heart if you’re saved just remember that no matter what tomorrow may bring, when it’s all said and done every thing is alright between you and God.
But lets notice, that this peace of God is to rule in our hearts—
I’m afraid that some of us don’t want to recognize this word rule—
The word “rule” means to be or to act as an umpire. Peace is to be the umpire, the deciding factor in all circumstances and situations of our life.
We’re to let the peace of God...be the decider [umpire] of all things within our heart.
What does that mean Brother Brown? It means to feel at peace about what your about to do, if your not sure about a matter, then maybe its best not to do it, you don’t have peace about it, not as yet anyway, maybe later if the Lord so wills.
We as believers must make a choice—are we going to allow the peace of God to rule or not?
I want us to notice that this is not a request it’s a command.
15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
The bible commands it, but the believer has to be willing to let the umpire of peace rule. We need to be willing to lay aside all the differences and circumstances and let Jesus handle them through the rule of His peace.
Jesus said in; John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid
The reason why believers are to let the peace of Christ rule is clearly stated: 15-b to the which also ye are called in one body -we are called to be in one body. We are not called to be in two bodies or many bodies, but in one. Any believer who stands out there in another body is not a genuine believer.
There is only one body of Christ, only one body of believers, and only one church. Believers are to act as one. They are to live and behave as one body, as a body of people in union with each other. And it comes about by letting the peace of Christ rule in their hearts. Peace is to be the deciding factor, the umpire in all relationships between believers.
And then in verse 16 we read that this new heart will be rich with the Word of Christ.
16Let 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.
And also it is a heart that does all in the name of Christ:
17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
A person may pray a nice worded prayer and all that hear it may be blessed by it, but if the prayer is not in the Lord Jesus name, God will not honor it.
Have you ever noticed on TV some time a person will often pray but they’ll not even mention His name any where in their prayer, they seem to be afraid they might offend some Muslim or any number of other religions, well if these people don’t care to honor Jesus Christ why don’t they get on the next plane out of here and go back to where they came from, this is the USA and here we that know the Truth will never except another faith as a saving faith, the planes are leaving every hour, as Brother Oliver Green use to say.
Why is this exhortation (allowing the peace of God to rule in your heart) given? Because often times some person arises within the church who is...
divisive and critical and judgmental and murmuring and grumbling and often gossiping and spreading rumors. They seem to act as the church police you might say.
Many times some person becomes a troublemaker, a person who stirs up trouble within the body of Christ, the church. He lets differences rule within his heart instead of Christ and His peace.
Some persons need to hear the challenge and demand of God: “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts”
We are called to live as one body in peace.
Job 22:21 says, Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee
Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it
Believers are to respond to the demand for peace with thankfulness. Believers should always thank Christ for His peace...
The peace He has brought to their own hearts personally.
The peace He has brought to all men who trust Him and not some other man made god. The peace He has brought within His body, the church.
Let all men thank Him for the glorious privilege to know His peace.
Ephes. 5:20-21 giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God
What kind of respect do you give to the “umpire” in your heart?
Notice the first phrase of Col. 3:15: And let the peace of God rule in your hearts....” Do we let His peace work in our heart?
He creates a HEART RICH WITH THE WORD OF CHRIST
v. 16 16Let 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.
The believer is to let the Word of Christ dwell in his heart. As for as I can tell this is the only time “the Word of God” is referred to as “the Word of Christ.”
The emphasis of Colossians is Christ; therefore, the Word of God becomes the Word of Christ in this great book.
Three significant points are made about the Word of Christ.
v. 16 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
1st. The choice is up to the believer: the Word of Christ does not naturally dwell within the believer’s heart.
The word “dwell” means to be at home or to make a home, to abide or dwell within. 2nd The believer must make room within his heart for the Word of Christ. He must let the Word of Christ enter his heart, making a home within his heart.
He must let the Word of Christ dwell and abide in his heart.
3rdly The believer must clean out all the old furnishings of his heart to let the Word of Christ settle down as the permanent resident within his heart.
Notice the word “richly.” It is important, for the Word of Christ must be allowed to dwell richly within our hearts. The believer is not to be satisfied with just a visit by the Word of Christ. He is to let the Word of Christ dwell richly within Him.
The Word of Christ must be allowed to furnish the believer’s heart with all the wealth of its commandments and promises, instructions and warnings.
This word of Christ is our road map and instruction manual, if we will follow its instructions we will be at peace not only God, but also our fellow believers.
Deut. 11:18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes
Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee
The reason why believers are to let the Word of Christ dwell in them is clearly stated: in 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another believers are to teach and admonish one another in all wisdom.
Friends the world is not going to encourage us in the things of God, This is the believer’s task, we’re to teach and admonish one another.
By teaching is meant the instruction of the Word and by admonition is meant the warning of Scripture.
How can we teach and admonish others if we don’t know the Word of Christ?
We’re to let the Word of Christ dwell in us?
And the answer is obvious: we can’t. Our very lives must be the home, the dwelling place, for the Word of Christ. When people look at us, can they see that our lives are different and special, governed by the Word of Christ?
Worldly philosophy and teachings about the universe are only the notions of men. The truth and wisdom of life are found in the Word of Christ alone.
Col. 2: 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ
Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean
We as believers are told in acts. 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being;
For the believer, to live is Christ. Let us talk about and share Jesus Christ, teaching and admonishing others in the Word of Christ, singing the psalms of Scripture, the hymns of the church, and the spiritual songs that arise out of a heart filled with the joy of the Lord and His Word.
Deut. 6:6-7 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up
17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Whatever a believer does in word or deed, he does all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
We as believers have a choice. We are the ones who speak and act; no one speaks and acts for us. Whether or not we speak and act for Christ is our choice.
The command is: “do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,” but the choice as to what we talk about and do is up to us. We are responsible for our words and deeds.
The believer is to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. What does this mean? It means that the believer knows something: the name of Christ is the only name that God accepts in His presence.
Therefore, the only persons He accepts are those persons who come to Him in the name of Christ as I said earlier.
There is no other name given among men whereby men may be saved.
Therefore, we as believers come to God “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,” if a person does other wise then maybe that persons profession is a false profession.
