Let God’s peace rule in your heart
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 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. 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. Colossians 3:15-17 NKJV
1.) As a believer you are called to let God’s peace rule in your heart.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body…
Rule (brabeuetô). Imperative active third singular of brabeuô, to act as umpire - Word pictures in the New Testament A.T. Robertson
Peace
by Henry Van Dyke
With eager heart and will on fire,
I fought to win my great desire
“Peace shall be mine,” I said;
but life grew bitter in the weary strife.
My soul was tired,
and my pride was wounded deep:
to Heaven I cried,
“God grant me peace or I must die,”
The dumb stars glittered no reply.
Broken at last, I bowed my head,
Forgetting all myself, and said,
“Whatever comes, His will be done;”
And in that moment peace was won.
- We must allow peace to rule. Peace must be our umpire our official, the controlling force in our life. This requires a humble submission to the will of God in each situation in life.
- We must let go and let God, we must allow His peace to invade and rule our lives.
- We must put aside worry and angst and trust in our sovereign and loving God.
- The peace of God is an everlasting peace which never fails and is capable of comforting us and guiding us through any and all situations.
27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 NKJV
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV
Illustration: An umpire is in control of a game his decisions guide and control the game being played. In the same way peace should rule the believer’s heart. Peace should be the controlling and dominant force in a believer’s life. During sports events we all see calls made that we don’t agree with or even understand, yet everyone accepts the final authority of the official, referee of umpire, whether we understand their decision or not. The same should be true with God’s Peace in our lives it should rule our hearts, our lives, and guide our choices and decisions.
2.) As a believer ruled by God’s peace you are to be thankful to God.
…and be thankful
Be ye thankful (eucharistoi ginesthe). "Keep on becoming thankful." Continuous obligation. - Word pictures in the New Testament A.T. Robertson
in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4 NKJV
- when we focus on what He has done rather than on what he hasn’t done or what we want done we will find our attitude will be a grateful one rather than an anxious one.
Illustration:
When Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked on a lonely island he thought of both the good and the bad.
- He was cast onto a desolate island, but he was still alive, not drowned as all of his ship’s company was.
- He was divided from mankind, but he was not starving.
- He had no clothes, but he was in a hot climate where he didn’t need them.
- He was without means of defense, but he saw no wild animals.
- He had nothing to speak of, but God had sent the ship so near to the shore that he could get out of it all things necessary for his survival.
So he concluded that there was not any condition in the world so miserable but that there was something positive for which to be thankful.
SOURCE: Steve Shepherd in "Thanksgiving" on www.sermoncentral.com.
3.) As a believer ruled by God’s peace you are to be saturated by the word of Christ.
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. Colossians 3:16 NKJV (emphasis added)
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8 NKJV (emphasis added)
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby 1 Peter 2:2 NKJV
Dwell (enoikeitô). Present active imperative of enoikeô, to make one’s home, to be at home. In you (en humin). Not "among you." Richly (Word pictures in the New Testament A.T. Robertson)
In other words the word of Christ is to be highly concentrated in the believer and in his or her life they are to be saturated with and at home in the word of God and it should be at home in them. The person who is saturated with the word of God is full of godly wisdom, practical wisdom, spiritual wisdom & insight.
- We are to worship Christ in Psalms, personal prayers and songs
- We are to worship Christ with Hymns, songs written by other believers that exalt God.
- We are to worship Christ with spiritual songs, music and song is an important part of worship. Whether thought out and written professionally and masterfully or if the songs are spontaneous songs of praise we are to constantly have our minds focused on Christ and to be overflowing with Hi word.
- We are to worship based on the grace God gave us and it should be an expression of our heart a loyal, devoted, & grateful heart. Anything else is not Christ honoring worship.
Illustration:
How many of you remember what it was like back in the “old day” when color computer monitors were outrageously expensive and therefore rare — when pretty much everyone used simple black and white displays? If someone wanted to play a trick on someone — and I think this happened to me once (either that, or someone just made an error) — he could mess with the controls on the monitor and turn the contrast all the way down, so that when you turned the computer on, it looked like it wasn’t working, because everything was grey. I recall at least once, maybe twice, spending a long time trying to figure out what was wrong with my computer, because I had turned it on, yet I couldn’t see anything on the screen. Finally, I turned that contrast knob, and suddenly everything became clear — the grey turned into clear black and white.Think of God’s Word as that contrast knob. It adjusts what you see. It brings those shades of gray back into distinct black and white. God’s Word does that for us — it takes those shades of gray that the world, and our sinful flesh, like so much, and turns them back into the clear black and white we need and want to see.So choose carefully whom you listen to and what you read and watch. Stay away from the grays and leave the lies to the liars. Stick with the black and white, living and active, fiery and hammer-like Word of God. May God in his grace lead us to always speak, hear, and use it faithfully.
Contributed by: Jeffrey Samelson
4.) As a believer ruled by God’s peace all you do should be done for His glory.
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.
5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. Ephesians 6:7 NKJV
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men
Colossians 3:23 NKJV
Illustration:
David Brainerd was an American colonial missionary to the Indians who died at the age of twenty-nine. His diary reveals a young man intensely committed to God. Brainerd once said to Jonathan Edwards:
“I do not go to heaven to be advanced but to give honor to God. It is no matter where I shall be stationed in heaven, whether I have a high seat or a low seat there...My heaven is to please God and glorify Him, and give all to Him, and to be wholly devoted to His glory.”
Contributed by: Donnie Martin
Jim Elliot was dedicated to bringing the gospel to a savage tribe, the Acua’s he and his four missionary friends lived to share the gospel with these indigenous peoples. After beginning to make some progress with this unreached people suddenly the Acua’s ambushed Elliot and his friends and slaughtered them. Before Elliot died he said this.
"Always seek peace between your heart and God, but in this world, always be careful to remain ever-restless, never satisfied, and always abounding in the work of the Lord."
Elliot, Jim
"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." Jim Elliot
Contributed by: Sermon Central Pro
