{"id":154,"date":"2012-06-17T20:57:05","date_gmt":"2012-06-17T19:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=154"},"modified":"2012-06-17T20:57:05","modified_gmt":"2012-06-17T19:57:05","slug":"everything-in-the-name-of-the-lord-jesus-colossians-315-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=154","title":{"rendered":"Everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus \tColossians 3:15-4:1"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first five years after I became a Christian at school and then all through university everywhere I went I used to wear two little lapel badges. One was red and said \u201cJesus lives\u201d and the other was green and said \u201cJesus saves\u201d. For most of that time I also wore a large wooden cross around my neck. In some ways I was what would have been called a \u201cJesus freak\u201d. I thought then and I still believe now that it was very important to tell the world that I was a Christian.
\nOf course, wearing the badges didn\u2019t make me any more holy or any more loving. Just because everything I did was linked by those badges to the name of Jesus didn\u2019t make my words or my actions any more Christ-like. But they were a witness, sometimes a good witness, sometimes a bad witness.
\nI am sure that the apostle Paul had in mind something much more important than wearing badges or t-shirts showing the name of Jesus when he wrote Colossians 3:17
\n17 whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
\nDOING EVERYTHING IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS (verse 17)
\nSaying things and doing things in Jesus\u2019s Name means a lot more than just wearing a \u201cJesus\u201d label. In Bible times the name of a person was often an expression of the character of the person. Saul means \u201casked from God\u201d. Paul means \u201clittle\u201d. Peter means \u201crock\u201d. Jesus means \u201cGod save us\u201d. Doing things \u201cin the name of Jesus\u201d is not about telling people you are a Christian and then thinking that just because you claim to be a Christian you are actually representing Jesus. Putting a Christian sticker on a car doesn\u2019t seem to make much difference to the way many people drive!
\nDoing things in Jesus\u2019s name is about living \u201cthe Jesus way\u201d. Doing what Jesus wants in the loving way Jesus Himself would do it. We have already seen in Colossians that Christ lives in us and that God is transforming us into the image of Christ. Last week we learned that \u201cour real life is Christ\u201d. If Christ truly lives in us and our real life is indeed Christ, then we will seek to ask and speak, not just \u201cwith a Jesus label\u201d but with the nature and character of Christ Himself. Our whole life, everything we do and say, will be like a badge telling the world that Jesus lives and that Jesus saves!
\nWe thought last week about throwing off the dirty tatty rags of the old life we used to live before we were Christians and putting on the spotless new suit of the new life God has given us in Christ, the life of Christ Himself living in us. So we will want to do everything \u201cthe Jesus way\u201d, as Jesus Himself would do in our shoes, everything in Jesus\u2019s Name. And Paul explains how we can do this in three important areas of life.
\nEverything in Jesus\u2019s Name IN OUR WORSHIP (verses 15-17)
\n15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. <\/p>\n

Verse 16 definitely refers to Christians meeting together for worship but I believe all three verses apply to worship and give us FIVE different characteristics of worship.
\nPEACE 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. Christ gives us peace but not as the world gives peace. Christ gives wholeness, an inner calm and serenity which gives us security. Peace should rule in our hearts, especially as we meet together in services and home groups and church meetings. Christ\u2019s peace should characterise the relationships between believers who make up His body, the church.
\nDIVERSITY (v 16b) and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. There will be variety in our expressions of worship. We Baptists probably don\u2019t use the hymn book of the Bible the Psalms in our worship often enough. \u201cSpiritual songs\u201d doesn\u2019t mean choruses so much as spontaneous spirit-led singing, and we probably don\u2019t have enough of that in our worship either.
\nThere are many similarities between Colossians and Ephesians, and Ephesians 5:19 says this. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
\nSpeak to one another AND sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. We sing some hymns addressed to each other: Stand up, stand up for Jesus. Others are addressed to God: Make me a channel of your peace. Other hymns are appropriately an exhortation to ourselves: Praise, my soul, the King of heaven. We can sing to each other or to God or even address ourselves. But it isn\u2019t truly worship when people are just singing. Not to each other or to God or to their own hearts but just singing to empty space \u2013 that\u2019s not Christian worship.
\nTHE WORD OF CHRIST (v 16a) 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. This means equally the word about Christ and the word Christ speaks. Our worship should be focussed on the word of Christ, the word in Scripture and the prophetic word. We should allow that word to dwell in us richly and permeate our souls as we take time to pray and reflect and respond on God\u2019s word to us.
\nTEACHING AND ADMONISHING (v 16) 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, Christ\u2019s word can come to us in teaching, but also in admonishing, personally challenging us to become more like Christ. Some Bible versions translate admonishing as instructing, others as counselling, others as advising. Remember what Paul said in Colossians 1:28 So we continue to preach Christ to each person, using all wisdom to warn and to teach everyone, in order to bring each one into God\u2019s presence as a mature person in Christ. We need all of these, teaching, admonishing, instructing, counselling, advising, and even warning if we want to become like Jesus. That\u2019s where Home Groups and also meeting 1-to-1 with other Christians are so helpful.
\nIn our worship: peace, diversity, the word of Christ, teaching and admonishing. And one more characteristic which is mentioned three times in the three verses.
\nTHANKFULNESS v15 \u2026. And be thankful. v16 \u2026 with gratitude in your hearts to God v17\u2026. giving thanks to God the Father through him.
\nAgain the same in Ephesians 5:20 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
\nThankfulness should characterise not only our times of worship but indeed our whole lives. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
\nEvery part of our our lives should be a thanksgiving offering to God \u2013 all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Worshipping the Jesus way.
\nEverything in Jesus\u2019s Name IN OUR FAMILIES (verses 18-21)
\n18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
\n19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
\n20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
\n21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. <\/p>\n

Living as a genuinely Christian family is not easy. The key is there in verse 18 \u2013 to do whatever \u201cis fitting in the Lord\u201d and in verse 20 \u2013 to do what \u201cpleases the Lord\u201d and by the Lord, of course Paul means \u201cthe Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d
\nThe first thing is to recognise that in God\u2019s perfect plan for family life, there are different roles and different responsibilities. Complete equality \u2013 but different roles. Equal, but not identical. I\u2019m going to leave the difficult task of explaining how that should work out in detail in today\u2019s world for another sermon. For this morning I will just read what Paul says.
\nWives, submit to your husbands. The whole Bible, not just the apostle Paul, expects a wife to recognise the ultimate authority of her husband within the family. But the context of that authority is love. 19 Husbands, love your wives
\nEphesians 5 spells out the relationship between husbands and wives in more detail. 25 Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it 26 to make it belong to God. Christ used the word to make the church clean by washing it with water. 27 He died so that he could give the church to himself like a bride in all her beauty. He died so that the church could be pure and without fault, with no evil or sin or any other wrong thing in it. 28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies.
\nSo the standard and pattern for the husband\u2019s love for his wife is Christ\u2019s love for the Church. If a husband truly shows that kind of love for his wife, the wife would not find it hard to submit to her husband.
\n20 Children, obey your parents in everything. This is not just for goody-goody children. It is God\u2019s pattern for family life. But then there is also there is a requirement for parents: do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. <\/p>\n

Marriage at its best is God\u2019s visual aid to the world of his love for us in Christ. Family life at its best is a picture of the life of God\u2019s forever family, the church. The challenge for us as Christians is to make sure that in our marriages and our families everything we say and do is indeed in the Name of the Lord Jesus \u2013 family life the Jesus way.
\nEverything in Jesus\u2019s Name IN OUR WORK (verses 3:22-4:1)
\n22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. <\/p>\n

I know there is no slavery in Britain today \u2013 although you wouldn\u2019t believe it when you try to get kids to do the washing up! But these verses have lots to teach us all about any work we have to do, employed or voluntary, schoolwork or housework and even serving in the church. If we want to do our work in the Name of the Lord Jesus, the Jesus way, the key is in verse 22. We should do everything with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Likewise in verse 23 we should do everything as working for the Lord, not for men, and be looking for our reward from God, not from other people. Doing any work in the Name of Jesus involves bringing Jesus into every situation. Jesus was a carpenter \u2013 he knew his trade. So how would Jesus do MY job? How would Jesus undertake this responsibility in the church?
\n22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor
\n\u201cNot as men-pleasers\u201d not just while others are watching, to put on a good show. Not clockwatchers, doing the bare minimum. But doing more than we are asked and better than others are expecting. Jesus calls us to be \u201cextra mile\u201d men and women.
\n23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, Working with all our hearts. Not half-hearted or apathetic, but fully committed to the task whatever it might be. Punctuality and hard work. Giving the job your undivided attention. There is no better Christian witness than wholehearted commitment to one\u2019s work, tacking every task cheerfully and doing it well. And what a poor witness half-hearted apathy and grumbling and moaning can be.
\nas working for the Lord, not for men \u2026 It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
\nIf Jesus was our boss, would he be satisfied with that quality of work? Would you be happy to present that piece of work to Jesus? We would never want Jesus to say to us, \u201cYou didn\u2019t really try with that.\u201d \u201cYou made a poor job of that.\u201d Surely we want to hear Him say, \u201cWell done, good and faithful servant.\u201d Doing our work the Jesus way!
\nThe path to Christian Maturity is to offer every part of our lives to Jesus in thanksgiving for all He has done for us. Serving Christ in our worship, in our family life and in every form of work. Doing everything as Jesus Himself would do it \u2013 in the Name of Jesus, the Jesus way. The more we place Christ at the centre of our lives the more we will grow up to be \u201cmature in Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first five years after I became a Christian at school and then all through university everywhere I went I used to wear…<\/span><\/p>\n

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