This has been an awesome week in
that God has shown His presence on numerous occasions in my life this
week. It was the woman who asked for
three pastors to pray for at the Cracker Barrel on Tuesday – to the two pastors
who shared their time together at the Lifeway Christian Bookstore in Greensboro
on Wednesday – to a brother from another church who gave me some advice on a
prayer ministry they started at his church of which the Lord had spoken to me
that we needed to start here at Emanuel.
God is working around us each and every day if we will just look closely
at those we come into contact with. The
last few weeks we have been dealing with the book of Colossians and our major
theme has been Jesus Christ! Without
Jesus we can do nothing whether individually in our lives or corporately as a
church. Today we gather to learn what a
person who has Christ as his or her Lord or Shepherd looks like and how the
dwelling of the Word of Christ in their life will affect them in a powerful
way.
There are numerous traits that a
Christian will exhibit in their life and many of these will match the fruits of
the Spirit found in Galatians chapter 5, but today I want us to focus on what
Paul is telling the people of Colossae.
The first trait we will exhibit is tender mercies. This means that we
must exhibit a compassionate heart toward others. In the Greek it means to have pity or
sympathy or an inward affection for what others are going through. This is hard to do when the world has become
so divided and cynical, but we must have compassion for one another. The second trait we will exhibit if we are a
follower of Christ is kindness. In the
Scriptures we are told that we are to treat others as we want to be treated and
if we would adopt this attitude when it comes to our interactions with one
another I think you would find people acting in a more compassionate and
Christian manner in their encounters with one another. We are to have the character or demeanor that
shows a morally excellence in regards to the gentleness we exhibit in our
relationships with others. The third
trait we will exhibit as a follower of Christ is humility. In the Greek this means that our very soul
reveals a character that is sensitive in nature with an understanding that
Jesus Christ governs every aspect of our life and that we are just His vessel
in our interactions with others in the world in which we live. The fourth trait we exhibit as a follower of
God is meekness. The Greek word here
means to be mild and humble in how we live our life. Have you seen a theme flowing through the
first four traits so far? We are seeing
a relational attribute that shows forth in our relationship with God’s
creation. These traits so far speak to
attributes that are slow to anger and slow to have resentment for others. As I have already said this is so hard
because we live in a world that teaches us to be in your face and stand your
ground; caring more for what is happening in our lives and to us than what is
going on in others lives. Let’s continue
to move forward with the rest of the traits of a Christian. The next trait is longsuffering or as some
people like to call it – patience. This
means we have a forbearance or a fortitude in the face of adversity. When we make Jesus our Lord and Savior we are
told the world will not accept us because they did not accept Christ – so we
need to understand that when we face these times Jesus has walked our walk and
is there to walk with us through our difficult and trying times. The next trait we should show as Christians
is that we should bear with each other. This means that we hold each other
dearly and stand firmly beside each other in whatever we may be facing. Can you see the traits of a Christian deals
with a strong relationship that exists between us and our sisters and brothers
in the Lord? As I studied this part of
the passage I became so excited to the point of being giddy because I saw a
group of people that were committed to each other no matter what the cost; they
were committed because of their common bond found in Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters that what church is all
about! Watch how the final few traits
just build on this commitment to one another based on the foundation we know as
Jesus Christ. We are called to forgive
each other as Christ has forgiven us. We
now begin to get to the brass tacks as they say or where the rubber meets the
road. We must have a forgiving heart –
this is a must. We are told in the
Gospel of Matthew, "For
if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses"
(Matthew 6:14-15, NKJ). This is simple –
if we do not forgive others – God will not forgive us. Also when we forgive
others it releases us from a prison that Satan has kept us in; a prison that he
says is where we need to be and tricks us into believing we should not forgive
someone for the hurt they have caused, but in reality that is a teaching of
Satan and not of God, for God says the only way He will forgive us and we will
find freedom is when we forgive others first!
We now move to the motivational tool of all the traits I have spoken
about so far this morning and that is that love is the bond of
perfection. I love this phrase because what it means is that in kindness and
love we pardon or rescue others. When we
have the love of Jesus in our hearts there is a love that bonds all our traits
together to make us a minister and messenger for Jesus Christ! Out of love we serve Him and reach out to
others who are in need of Him! When we get to this point in our walk of faith
we will find that an amazing trait will take over and we will see that peace
will rule our hearts. This is the type
of peace that means we are joined as one with Jesus Christ and with one another
and this peace takes over in every aspect of our life. It is no longer our life, but Jesus Christ
living in us and through us, and we have this surpassing peace that cannot be
match by anything we have or will experience.
With all these traits it leads to the church becoming one body. We become so committed to Jesus Christ and
each other that our lives function as one with Him and the church community
functions as one with each other through their common bond found in Jesus
Christ! As I studied this part of
today’s Scripture I couldn’t help but get excited about the future of those who
believe in Jesus Christ and place Him first in their lives and the churches
that are standing up today and saying, “It isn’t about the church or about the
people – IT IS ABOUT JESUS!”
We are bound together by Jesus but
we also need the Word of Christ to lead us and direct us. Now notice beginning in verse 16 of today’s
text it tells us that there are some great things that will take place when the
Word of Christ Richly Dwells in Us. Not only should we read the Word, but it
must become a part of our life down to our very soul and our life should
reflect the Word of God! The Greek word
for richly here means to be completely filled with or to be totally influenced
with the Word. When we allow this to
take place in our life we will find that the Word of Christ dwelling in us will
give us wisdom. This wisdom is not a
wisdom that is of human proportion, but it is a godly wisdom. Our decisions will be made with our eyes and
ears tuned into the plan of God and not what we see as to how things are to be
done or how they may seem. When our
wisdom comes from God we are seeking Him and His plan first and foremost in our
life and the life of the church. We also
will find that the Word will teach us.
We are told in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 (16-17), “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work.” Because it teaches us, we are able to use it
in all aspects of our life in our relationship with others. The Word also admonishes us. This means that we the Word will call
attention to our sins, in other words it will convict us! Let’s be honest here today – we don’t like to
be convicted, but the Word in its admonishment of us warns us of the
consequences that could happen if we did not live our life by its tenets. The Word is a guideline to live by not just
read and forget about what it teaches. I
believe if we would incorporate the Word into our life (that is what Word of
Christ richly dwelling in us means) we will see that we have no choice than to
be convicted when we move away from what it teaches. Another thing I love about the Word dwelling
in us is that it causes us to sing praises to God! Remember last week I spoke to there were some
who wept because the temple was not going to be the same as it once was; they
worshipped the building and not the Savior.
We do that sometimes – we worship the building, the programs and we
forget that it is all about Jesus. When
the Word dwells in us we see the great things God can do in the midst of change
and by being in the Word we see that this has taken place all throughout the
Scriptures. I love what Psalm 40 says
when it says, “He has put a
new song in my mouth -- Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the
LORD” (Psalm 40:3). As a new Southern Gospel song today says, “God don’t come in the building, until people come into
the building. He don’t live in granite, wood or stone. He lives in an old
tabernacle cover over with flesh and bones. It takes a heart not a house if you
wantta make God a home!” Jesus
must live in our hearts in order to make us a church! When we realize this it can only inspire us
to have hearts that will sing praises to God each and every moment of our
lives! We also learn when the Word of
Christ is dwelling in us it causes us to work in the name of Jesus. In
other words what we do is all about Him and not about us – we want to work out
of our love for Jesus and when we do, we give all the glory and praises to
Him. It also means that what we do we do
in His name and we are committed to doing what we He desires and not what we
just want to do or think we have a gift for.
Finally when the Word dwells in us it causes us to give thanks to God
through Jesus Christ; we thank God that Jesus saved us and gave us the opportunity
to live for Him! We begin to understand
how great a life found in Jesus Christ can be each and every day of our
life. In the good times because Christ
died for us we thank God; in the bad times because Jesus Christ died for us we
thank God; In the hard times of our life because Christ died for us we thank
God; in the easy times of our life because Jesus Christ died for us we thank
God; and in the ugly times of life because Jesus Christ died for us we give
thanks to God! Because of Christ we give thanks to God!
As we have ventured through the
traits of a follower of Christ and the great things that take place when the
Word of Christ dwells in us I hope it has given you a hope and joy to face each
day that you live on this earth. God has
promised that He will not abandon you if you will just commit to being a
follower of His Son. It is as simple as confessing with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord
and Savior and believing that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9)
that you have this wonderful opportunity to experience the joy and peace of
Jesus Christ. But it doesn’t stop there we will continue to grow in Christ and
we will begin to look more and more like Him in our daily walk. This can only be accomplished if we allow the
Word of Christ to richly dwell in us so that we can know how He reacted to
situations He encountered in His life.
When we see how Jesus lived and we strive to live as best as we can to
His example then we will grow more and more like Him. I challenge you this week to make a commit to
be led by the Word and by the Holy Spirit in all you do – to those who have
ears to hear, hear the message God has laid on my heart…
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