Palatians, the third chapter, and our text today
is verses 15 through 17. And let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you
were called in one body, and be thankful. Let
the word of Christ richly dwell within you with
all wisdom. teaching and admonishing one another,
with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing
with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And
whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through
Him to God the Father. As the famous evangelist
preached, On the return of the Lord Jesus Christ,
he noted that there was one man, particularly
in the audience, whose face glowed and shined
as he spoke on that truth. And over and over
again he would say, as the man was preaching,
yes, yes, and that will be glory for me. After
the service, the evangelist inquired of someone
else, who was that man? And the man said, well,
we call him Old Glory Face, because of his countenance.
Charles H. Gabriel, the songwriter, knew of the
same man. And based upon that name, Old Glory
Face, and what the man was prone to say in services,
that will be glory for me. He wrote that familiar
gospel song. Oh, that will be glory for me, glory
for me, glory for me, when by His grace I shall
look on His face. That will be glory, be glory
for me. You and I who are children of God through
faith in Jesus Christ have glory to look forward
to. I was talking to one of the dear elderly
saints of our church yesterday who is not doing
very well. And we talked about the future, and
about heaven, and the coming of Christ. And she
said, yes, there's something to look forward
to. But do you know, in the pace and complexity
of our lives, many of us have lost sight of what's
ahead for us. The daily issues that are related
to family, to work, to money, to emergencies,
to health, and all those sorts of things, take
our eyes off of the glory that is to come. But
listen to what God says. The sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory that is to be revealed to us. God calls
you into his own kingdom and glory. We have obtained
an inheritance. The Holy Spirit of promise is
given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a
view to the redemption of God's own possession
to the praise of His glory. We look for the blessed
hope and the appearance of the glory of our great
God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The God of all
grace calls you, calls you. to His eternal glory
in Christ. Our outer man is decaying, but our
inner man is being renewed day by day, for momentary
light affliction is producing for us an eternal
weight of glory far beyond all comparison. We
eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform the body of our humble state
into conformity with the body of His glory. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. That's what the future
holds. But the danger is that we lose sight of
the glory to come. And as a result, we become
disheartened in trials and weary in our well
-doing. The Apostle reminds the Colossian believers
and us today that we were called in one body.
We have been called by God out of the world to
belong to the Church, the Church which is rich
in diversity, but which possesses one calling
and one hope. And that one hope that we have
is to a destiny that involves a glorious heavenly
wedding and an eternal reign then with Jesus
Christ on His throne of glory. Having described
to us what we are to take off and to put on so
that we are dressed for the heavenly wedding,
the Apostle Paul in our text today seems to write
about rehearsing for that event and what that
event will bring to us. He talks about rehearsing
here on earth our heavenly calling. In heaven
we're going to enjoy peace. In heaven there will
be fellowship with the saints of God. In heaven
we will be busy praising and singing to the Lord.
And in heaven we're going to be serving the Lord.
That's what's to come. And so in these three
verses he tells us that we are to rehearse right
now for what's coming. You and I need to rehearse
on earth what we will experience in heaven. How
do we do that? What does that mean to rehearse
on earth what we will experience in heaven? Well,
the Apostle begins by saying it means that God's
peace that you will know fully in heaven. God's
peace will right now rule in your heart. Verse
15. God's peace will rule in your heart. There
are four insights about God's peace that he gives
us in this verse. First it is a divine peace.
God is its source. Philippians the Apostle says
that when we, with prayer and thanksgiving, bring
our petitions to God, then the peace of God that
passes all understanding will fill our hearts.
It's God's peace. It's God's peace that He gives
to us. It is a peace that is transcendent. It's
beyond understanding. It's beyond the peace that
we can conjure up in this world, that we can
generate within ourselves. This peace is not
merely an acquiescence, it is not a resignation
with the affairs of life, but rather it is a
God -provided tranquility that is able to carry
us through the pain and the storms of life. Some
years ago, there was a submarine that went down
deep on a test dive. When they came up the next
day, someone asked the captain, well, did the
storm last night bother the submarine? He said,
not at all. Not at all. We're down deep. The
storms cannot bother us. When you and I are down
deep into the peace of God, the storms of life
may rage around us, but our spirit will remain
unaffected. A .T. Pearson said, the peace of
God is that eternal calm which lies far too deep
in the praying, trusting soul to be reached by
external disturbances. God's peace will rule
in your heart. That peace is a divine peace,
but it's also a deciding peace. The peace of
God will rule, it says. The word rule is used
only here in all of the New Testament. It means
to act as a referee, to call the decision. I
hope all of you watched Kentucky win yesterday.
I am very grateful that Kansas lost before this
Final Four because it would have been difficult
in our home. I am from Kansas, my wife is from
Kentucky, and she is blue. Believe me, big blue,
through and through. And she watched that game
yesterday from beginning to end. I didn't see
any calls that were doubtful. There probably
were some there. You know, it's tough to be a
referee in a game like that, isn't it? A lot
of pressure. God's peace needs to be the referee
in our lives is what this verse says. It needs
to arbitrate. It needs to decide every debate.
Now, in the context here, I wonder if he's not
saying, look, here's what you're to wear to the
wedding. You're to wear compassion and forgiveness
and so on. And he says, if you've got the wrong
clothes on, the peace of God is going to blow
the whistle on you. You're not going to have
peace in your life. Do you remember when you
were younger? You were dressing to go out for
a date, or maybe it was some school function.
And as you were about to go out the door, your
mother said, not in those clothes you're not.
Do you remember that? The peace of God that says
to you and me, not in those clothes, you're not
getting ready for the wedding. It blows the whistle
on us. It arbitrates. It decides for us whether
we have the right clothes on or not. But I think
by way of application, since he mentions here
the body of Christ, he is saying within the body
too, we need to guard peace. Let God's peace
decide the conflicts and the differences in the
church. Be careful that we do not disturb the
peace that God desires for us to experience in
the body. In Ephesians it says, preserve the
unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. For
there is one body, one spirit, just as you were
called also in one hope of your calling. And
so he uses the very same kind of language there
in Ephesians 4 as he does in Colossians 3, reminding
us that we have been called into one body. And
as one body, in all of our diversity we are to
let the peace of God rule and govern. The peace
of God is divine and deciding. It's also destiny.
It is a destiny peace because the peace of God
is part of our birthright to enjoy. Paul says
that we are called to this peace. We are called
in the first place to have peace with God. through
our Lord Jesus Christ. God is no longer at war
with us. We are no longer at war with God. There
is peace between us because of the work of the
cross. Because we have trusted in the Savior.
We have been justified by faith and hostility
has ceased. There is peace with God. I hope you
have that peace with God this morning as a Christian.
Then he says that we also are heirs of the peace
of God. The peace like we're talking about here.
The peace that we are destined to enjoy, Jesus
said on that night before he went to the cross.
Peace, I leave with you. Now here is one who
is facing death by crucifixion within hours.
Here is one who is about to undergo suffering
unlike any man has ever endured, and he knew
it, and yet he says to his disciples, peace,
I leave with you. He says, my peace I give to
you. I don't know what you are passing through,
or what you may be about to pass through, but
this I do know, the peace of God is your birthright.
And while you can choose to be disturbed and
upset and anxious, you can also choose to enjoy
the birthright that God's given you, His peace
in the midst of those circumstances. So enjoy
it. And when you do that, when you choose to
enter into that peace, you'll be preparing and
rehearsing for what heaven is going to be like.
God's peace will rule in your heart. It's a divine
peace. It is a deciding peace. It is a destiny
peace. But finally it's also a delicate peace.
This peace of God is like a fragile plant. It
blossoms in the right environment. But if you
take away that environment, it tends to wilt.
And what is the environment? Well, he explains.
He says, and be thankful. It is the environment
of a thankful spirit in which the peace of God
blooms and flourishes. It is a delicate peace.
Curtis Vaughan says, in all inner conflicts as
well as in all disputes and differences among
Christians, Christ's peace must give the final
decision. We are to do nothing that would violate
that peace. Gratitude is intimately associated
with peace. of God. One man said to another,
your wife used to be terribly nervous. Now she's
very calm and collected. What happened? The other
man said the doctor told her that her nervousness
was the usual sign of advancing age. Well, I
suppose that that will do it in some cases, my
friend, but We have something more than the threat
of advancing AIDS that should calm our hearts,
and that is the peace of God. When you and I
allow the peace of God to rule in our hearts
and in our fellowship, then we will be rehearsing
for heaven because, my friend, there will be
peace in heaven for us to enjoy. Secondly, he
tells us that as we rehearse for heaven, it means
that Christ's Word will reside in our relationships.
Verse 16. Let the Word of Christ richly dwell
within you, it says. A Christ's Word here probably
means the some message of Jesus Christ, who He
is, and what He has done. on our behalf as our
Savior, Christ's work, Christ's person. But in
a broader sense, it refers to all that God has
revealed to us in His living Word, Jesus Christ,
and in His written Word, the Bible. He is saying
that what God has said to us, we are to allow
to reside, to settle down and to be at home.
within us. We are to let it take residence and
not be a stranger. Christ's Word is to be at
home in you. In other words, it is to govern
our lives. Bob Gromachy writes, it is one thing
for the believer to be in the Word. It is another
for the Word to have free access to all parts
of his life. Half of the books of the Bible can
be read in less than 45 minutes. Did you know
that? And many of those can be read in less than
20 minutes. And yet so often we say we don't
have time to read God's Word. The entire Old
Testament and New Testament can be read in about
71 hours. One woman I read about has read the
entire Bible, all 66 books, 143 times, and at
85 years of age was reading it through again.
Let what God has said to you be at home in your
heart. But it means more than just taking the
Bible in. It means to give our hearts to the
Bible, giving our hearts to Christ. It means
allowing God and what He has said to us to govern
our lives. Someone made the statement recently,
I don't care what the Bible says. I'll worry
about that later. I know what I want to do. Now
before we point the finger at that person, we
have to back up and say, how often does that
reflect my own attitude? If the Word of Christ
is at home within us, it means that it will govern
our lives, and we will submit to what it says,
even if what it says doesn't agree with what
we want to do. God's Word is to be at home in
you. But not only that, when God's Word resides
in your relationships, it will not only be at
home in you, it will be a help to others. Because
the Apostle says after it's residing in you,
then you need to, with all wisdom, teach and
admonish others. With all wisdom, that is, with
discretion and with tact. By the leading of God,
you and I are to teach and to admonish others
that we have relationships with. To teach them
means to instruct them in a positive way. To
teach another what God says doesn't mean to beat
them over the head with the Bible. There are
some people who do that and then they wonder
why their friend turns against them. We can't
beat people up with the Bible and expect a positive
response. That's not wisely teaching them. But
with wisdom we are to instruct to help them understand
what God has said and we are to admonish. To
admonish means to warn. It means to correct.
Back in chapter 1, verse 28, the apostle has
already said something about this. He says, we
proclaim Christ admonishing every man and teaching
every man with all wisdom. Same language, isn't
it? But Paul says, here's what I'm doing, and
now you are to do that too. Let God's Word govern
your life and once it has ruled in your own heart,
once it is there residing and is at home, then
you are able to teach others and to warn and
to correct them, to spare them from the injuries
that will come to those who ignore God's Word.
Christ's Word will reside, it says. in your relationship.
That means that it's at home in you. It means
that it's a help to others. Thirdly, it means
that it's a hymn to God. It depends on where
you put the punctuation in this verse. And in
the Greek language, Greek New Testament, there's
no punctuation. And it makes as good a sense
to me as any. to put together the last part of
that verse saying, with Psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs and singing with thankfulness,
rather than saying, teaching and admonishing
one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs. With Psalms and hymns and songs that the
Spirit generates within us, we're to sing with
with thankfulness in our hearts to God. You see,
when Christ's Word is at home within us, it will
not only govern our lives and enable us to help
others, but it will be reflected back to God
in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. Warren
Risby writes, to be filled with the Spirit of
God means to be controlled by the Word of God.
If you want to understand what he's saying, go
back to Ephesians 5 verse 18 verse 19 and notice
that Paul uses a very similar language there
when he says, and be filled with the Spirit.
If you compare those two passages, it's hard
for me to do that with one of my hands tied up
with this microphone this morning, which I am
doing because I still am suffering from what
I had last week. How many of you were not here?
No, better not ask that. If you missed last week,
you missed an intermission in the sermon. And
boy, everybody set up and paid attention. We
might do that again today, Paul, and that's why
I have this, as a matter of fact, so I can get
away from you if I have to cough. But if you
compare those two passages, you will find that...
The same results occur when one is filled with
the Spirit and when one has the Word of God at
home within him. And so Wiersbe says to be filled
with the Spirit simply means for the Word of
God to control you. My friend, the Word of God
is going to control heaven. The Word of God is
going to be at home in heaven. And so he tells
us we're to rehearse right now that Word of God
being at home in us. so that we're prepared when
we get there. Now third, verse 17, he tells us
that rehearsing now for our heavenly calling
means that your service will represent Christ
in your world. You know, there are a few rules
in the Bible regarding do or don't. But in the
New Testament, The Spirit is not so much that
of rules as that of principles. For God gives
us a principle. He says, now apply this. And
that's what verse 17 is. It's a wonderful principle.
It is a principle for our service. He tells us
first, regarding our service for Christ, that
that service embraces our every effort. He says,
whatever you do, literally, It means, and everything,
whatever you do. That's not real smooth English,
so they don't put it that way here, but in the
text of my Bible, but that's what it means. And
in everything, whatever you do. So often we divide
the sacred and the secular, don't we? We say,
boy, I've got to be faithful to that Sunday school
class I'm teaching. I've got to be faithful in
working in the nursery, and that's great. That's
great. But we ought also to see the work that
we do on Monday in the office on that computer
as our service for Christ. Or whatever we do,
seeing that as an opportunity to serve the Lord.
It embraces our every effort. God is the Lord
of both sacred and secular as we divide them.
There's no difference to Him. Not only does it
embrace our every effort, it enables our very
existence. He says you are to do this in the
name of the Lord Jesus. Now exactly what he means
here has some debate. There are several ways
to look at this. But I think the best way is
to say this, that when you do something in the
name of someone else, what you are doing there
is acting as a representative of someone else.
When you pray in the name of the Lord Jesus,
you are praying as His representative to the
Father. You recognize the position that you have
as a believer in Him. And you have delegated
authority given to you. And so you pray in His
name. You say, in Jesus' name I pray. What says
here that we're to serve in Jesus' name. We're
to understand that our existence is all about
being who we are in Jesus Christ and serving
Him in this world and understanding that He has
delegated us to be His representatives in all
of our relationships. So wherever we go, whoever
we talk with, whatever we do, whatever we say,
We're to do that remembering that our existence
is about serving Jesus Christ, and we should
ask ourselves, at least subconsciously, how can
I serve Jesus in this situation? Now why is this
important? Because you're rehearsing. Remember
that. You're rehearsing. In heaven, you're going
to serve. There are those who believe, and I
tend to agree with this, that in the new heavens
and the new earth, the Lord Jesus Christ is going
to extend His reign throughout all of that new
universe through His redeemed Church. And as
you have faithfully served Him here, He will
give you part of His Kingdom to rule over. Maybe
you'll have a planet out there somewhere. And
you're going to be his representative there,
overseeing that part of his creation and his
kingdom. And so the apostle is saying, you need
to rehearse right now. Understand that everything
you do is a rehearsal for what's to come. For
you will serve our Lord then, even now you are
to see that everything you do is service for
Him in the world. During the reign of Oliver
Cromwell in England, it seems that there was
a shortage of currency in the British Empire.
Today there seems to be a shortage of sane beef.
That's bad, isn't it? Sane cows. But in those
days there was a shortage of currency, and so
they searched everywhere to find enough silver
to melt down. to make some more currency. And
to their dismay, they could not find any, except
in the cathedrals where there were statues of
the saints that were made of the very finest
of silver. And so Oliver Cromwell replied, let's
melt down the saints and put them into circulation.
And dear friend, that's what God needs to do
today. He wants to melt down his saints and put
us into circulation in the world. Some of you
met the gentleman who is the director of the
Billy Graham crusade when he was here a couple
of months ago for an event during the week. Rick,
at a meeting this last week, was telling us about
being in Charlotte last week. And he and a friend
of his were in his car. They were driving from
one event to another in a hurry. So they pulled
in the Wendy's to get a hamburger. And as he
was waiting for the hamburger to come there at
the window, as you do, you know, the telephone
rang in his car. And it was Billy Graham. And
so here he is sitting at Wendy's, getting his
hamburgers, talking to Billy Graham, and on the
other side there's a homeless person knocking
at the window wanting something to eat. And so
he's got all of these things going on at once.
But Billy Graham said to him, referring to the
Minneapolis crusade coming up, you know Rick,
what it's going to take for God to do what he
wants to do in Minneapolis, it's going to take...
broken hearts and bended knees. Doesn't that
summarize it pretty well? If God is going to
do what He wants to in the Church of Jesus Christ
in this area in the coming months, it's going
to take our broken hearts and our bended knees.
And as we allow the Lord to break our hearts
for the lost, and really care and have compassion.
Be clothed with the heart of compassion for them.
As we get dressed up as we're supposed to for
our wedding, and as we rehearse by doing everything
in the name and as a representative of the Lord
Jesus Christ, as we do that, then God's going
to be able to do a mighty work in this area.
He's already begun. A couple of weekends ago
there was an event for the youth. down in St.
Paul, and 11 ,500 teens showed up, paid five
bucks apiece for tickets to get into this event.
My understanding is they've never had a response
like that to that teen event in other cities.
And out of the 11 ,500 teens that came that night,
at least 1 ,050 of them came forward at the invitation,
responded. to what Ron Hutchcraft had to say
in presenting the gospel to them. More responded
than that, but the fire marshal wouldn't let
any more of them in the room where they were
counseling. It was filled to capacity, so they
had to turn them away. God is beginning to stir
in this area, and you and I want to be a part
of that. We don't want to miss what God wants
to do. And you and I can be a part of it if we'll
just start rehearsing. We'll begin letting the
peace of God rule in our hearts and letting Christ's
Word reside in our relationships and our service
representing Christ in our world. Child of God,
you've been called to glory. God has destined
you for heaven and so now is the time to rehearse
and to rehearse well. Are you preparing for it?
Are you preparing for it? In an article entitled,
Are We Ready for Heaven, Maurice Irwin points
out to us that only 34 % of the American people
who call themselves Christians attend church
at least once a week. And he goes on to say,
We sing when all my labors and trials are o 'er,
and I am safe on that beautiful shore. Just to
be near the dear Lord I adore will through the
ages be glory for me. But, he says, unless our
attitudes toward the Lord and our appreciation
of Him change greatly, heaven will be more of
a shock than the glory. We're called to glory.
Let's keep that before us in this world with
its trials and its storms. And let's be busy
rehearsing for what we will inherit for the grace
of God. Let's pray. With our heads bowed, I wonder
what the Spirit of God may be saying to you.
In just a moment, I'm going to open the front
here for prayer, and if you would like to come
and have prayer with me after we've dismissed,
I invite you to slip out and come to the front.
I don't know what the issue may be in your life
or what God has said. If you're not a Christian,
I want to invite you to come. that you might
trust the Savior. If you are a Christian and
there is not peace in your heart, Christ's Word
is not at home within you. You've been ignoring
it. If you've been living life on your own and
not his service to Jesus Christ, I want to urge
you to change today. Commit yourself afresh to
who you are in Christ. and what Christ has called
you to become. We're going to sing a verse or
two of a closing hymn. And when we do, as we
sing, I want to invite you to flip out and come.
And just stand here, and then after we've dismissed,
I'll have prayer with those who come as a group.
Now, Father, I pray that by the Holy Spirit You
will accomplish in my heart and the heart of
every one of us what you want to do. Help us
to see this life as preparation for heaven. Forgive
us when we allow this life with all of its concerns
and its worries to overwhelm us, to take our
eyes off the goal. Lord, help us to look ahead
and to get prepared. And to begin that process
anew perhaps even today. In Jesus' name, Amen.