Well now once again may you please
God to bless us as we continue our meditation in the Epistle
of Paul to the Colossians and this evening we'll speak to you
from chapter 3 and verses 16 and 17. The Epistle of Paul to
the Colossians chapter 3 and verses 16 to 17. 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. And 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. So the Apostle Paul continues
this letter to the Colossians, giving them a wonderful instruction
and direction, and what of course he gave to them, so the Lord
gives to us today. And we read these words, let
the word of Christ Well, the Word of Christ is, of course,
the whole Word of God. And so, as we think of that very
simple statement, and yet very profound statement, as the Apostle
says, let the Word of Christ dwell in you. And that would
seem to indicate that we are not to bring those things into
our lives which would hinder Christ through his word dwelling
in us. It's a wonderful blessing to
have the evidence that almighty God dwells within us. What a wonderful confirmation
it is of the great gift of eternal life. And so he says here, let
the word of Christ dwell in you and richly. That means that as
you and I may meditate in the word of God, it is a rich supply
to our souls that we rejoice in the word of God. And that
means from Genesis to Revelation. It doesn't just mean one or two
favourite passages that we may have in the Word of God. But
as the Lord sees fit, He can grant that His Word, wherever
it may be, may dwell in us richly, to be a wonderful blessing to
us. And he goes on to say, in all
wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another. And what instruction
there is, surely, in the word of God. So much teaching, so
much instruction. And again, to realize that there
are those times when we do need admonishing, and so the Lord
says, teaching and admonishing one another. And then he goes
on to say, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Well, I'm sure most
of us enjoy singing, but the important aspect sets forth here
that it is to be with grace in our hearts to the Lord. And if
it is to be that, it is because the words that we sing, our heart
goes with. It's not because it's a wonderful
tune that we enjoy singing in itself, nothing wrong in that.
But the Word of God points out to us very clearly, it is to
be with grace in our hearts to the Lord. become rather distressed when
I'm not fitting any caps on anybody here. But when I've travelled
around sometimes, you would think the most important thing was
to sing using the tunebook rather than look at the words of the
hymn. Well, of course, the reverse is the truth. And we are privileged
to be able to sing hymns and spiritual songs and psalms, whatever
they may be. But it is very relative and it's
very important that it is our hearts and it is to the Lord. It's a very sad thing isn't it
when we can sing a hymn and we can come to the end of the hymn
and if somebody says now could you tell me what you've sung
and we couldn't tell them at all because we've been taken
up with the tune rather than the words and of course reality
is we sing because of the words so here we have this encouraging
statement that in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord when the Apostle wrote to Timothy
and there were many gracious words and he wrote of course
to Timothy who was his son in the faith and he was instructing
him in many things and he said to them said to him rather charge
them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded
nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth
us richly all things to enjoy. And that's really what this 16th
verse is also saying, because it's telling us that Christ might
dwell in us richly, that Christ might be a really glorious truth
to our souls, and that we really may rejoice in what Christ has
done. And so as the apostle says when
he wrote to Timothy, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. What a wonderful God we have
who is in kind, gracious and merciful. And also, you see,
gives us then this right appreciation and right understanding these
things when the Apostle again wrote to the Corinthians and
in the first epistle of the Corinthians and in the 14th chapter in the
15th verse this is what we read what is it then I will pray with
a spirit and I will pray with the understanding also I will
sing with a spirit And I will sing with the understanding also. See how the Apostles was concerned
about having a right understanding and having a right spirit. So as good as it not that we
are reminded in our times of worship that we do have the right
attitude and the right desires so that our souls may truly be
blessed And then the Apostle goes on and he says, and whatsoever
ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father by him. Well, again, how necessary
it is for us to realise that. It's a comprehensive statement,
whatsoever we do, in word or in deed, that means by speaking
or in our actions. Whatever it is, we should do
all in the name of the Lord Jesus, for his honour and for his glory. How necessary it is for us to
remember this great important aspect. Our lives are for the
honour and glory of God and therefore we should do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus, whatever it is, whatever word or whatever
deed, to always have this in view, not have ourself in view,
not having something of the flesh in view, but having the honour
and glory of God in view. And 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. Well, we are blessed to know
that we have the scriptures, the scriptures which we can read
and the scriptures which are blessed to his people. And the
apostle, again, when he wrote in the second epistle to Timothy,
he said this, all scripture, and again, that's a good point
as I made earlier, The whole Word of God, all Scripture, is
given by inspiration of God. Nothing is just there by mistake. Everything is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable. And profitable for a number of
things. For doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness. And the reason the Apostle gives
us that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished
unto all good works. That's not evil works, that's
good works. And those good works lead us,
as the Apostle says at the end of the 17th verse, to give thanks
to God and the Father by Him. And I'm sure this is one of the
problems that we have today. in not sufficiently giving thanks
to God. At the end of the day, how much
we have reason to give God thanks. At the beginning of the day,
what reason we have to give God thanks. And through the day,
many times, we surely have reason to give God thanks. Well, here
the Apostle speaks so very clearly, giving thanks to God and the
Father by him, by of course the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. So we can really sum up these
two verses with a very simple statement that we should always
have an eye for the honour and glory of God and to recognise
His gracious leadings and directions so that each of us may grow spiritually,
grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. I will leave the comments there.
Amen.