been working our way through collations were actually almost done uh... i think we started from the times that i would preach here uh... and sunday mornings in january and of last year so or a year into going through collations uh... about once a month and it's been enjoyable for me and i hope it's been for you in uh... it's been very uh... powerful to me to see in the book of collations supremacy and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ amen if that is one theme that has occurred over and over again as we've gone through Colossians is the praise of Jesus Christ that he is sufficient that his salvation that he has brought is perfect and complete that he is supreme above all things in creation and redemption that he is first and And that all means of trying to become more holy, of trying to obtain some special status before God, that isn't just relying on the finished work of Christ, is doomed to fail, right? And if you remember, as we got to Colossians 3, we saw the Apostle Paul giving us some constructive, some how we can walk before God in righteousness. Because for the Colossian church, there was some false teachers, some heresy. that was telling them that they needed to follow very strict rules and laws and have this external conformity or they needed some ecstatic spiritual experience and this would set them apart as elite Christians, superior. And so he dismantles that through the first two chapters. that it's Christ who is supreme, it's depending on Him by faith, that He has conquered death, that He has conquered sin, that He has conquered the devil, and that He has all authority. And then last time we were in Colossians, we looked at verses 1 through 11, and then today we're going to be looking through 12 through 17, but I want to start from reading in verse 1 of chapter 3 so we can make sure we see the context here. Would you please stand with me for the reading of God's word? If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual morality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on then is God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. You may be seated. So verses 1 through 11, we are told that we were to put off the old man, the old way of life, the old self, what characterized us when we were outside of Christ, when we were dead in the world, when we were dead in our sins. We're to put those things off like a garment, like an old filthy garment. We're to take off those old ways of conduct. Cast them aside and today we see that now what we are to put on in that in place of that So we're to take off the old man, and we're to put on the new man. We're to put on the new self Now you might be wondering why is this message called dwelling together in unity it sounds like it's about sanctification well one thing you notice here is that This growing in holiness, this new man, is not an individual thing, but a corporate thing. It is something that we are growing into together. What Paul is concerned for us to see here is that we need to grow together, we need to be unified together, and that we need to put on this new man that's supposed to characterize the church. It's supposed to characterize Living Hope Bible Church. This way of life is to characterize this place, this people, our relationships with one another. One thing I've been struck with is how often I think of, and I'm sure most of us think of, our sanctification, our growing more like Christ, as a very individualistic thing, right? It's how much more like Jesus I am. And that is, our faith is personal, right? Jesus saves me, amen. He saves you, amen. You have particular sins that needed forgiveness, and Jesus' death died for your particular sins. Amen. But he didn't just save you by yourself. He saved you into the body of Christ. And he's put to death that old man. So when it says the old man, it's not just talking about your personal life, but it's talking about the old way of life that characterized everyone outside of Christ. And we are to put on the new man, that is the new identity which is in Jesus, which is the identity of being the one body. That's why we read Colossians 4, as we'll see, it's closely related with this passage. And so it's interesting that the sins that he tells us to put off in Colossians are all sins that have relational ramifications. And all the things that we are to put on are all ways that we are to relate one another that are identified with Jesus, that we are to be compassionate, that we are to be kind and humble and meek and patient. All of these are how we are to conduct ourselves in the body of Christ together. See, we are being conformed into the image of Jesus together. We need one another. We can't grow into the fullness of Christ by ourselves. We grow into the fullness of Christ as His one new man that He has created. This thing called the church. His people. The people of God. And God is doing a great work. He has been... Jesus has been building His church since He rose from the dead. Since His ministry even. He has been building His church and He hasn't stopped. And God is doing great things in this place because this is his church. There's only one church, okay? This Living Hope Bible Church isn't the one church. There is only one church of Jesus Christ, and it's the one church that's in Christ since all of history and all over the globe. But we are a microcosm of that. We're one local congregation that we are to reflect, we are to live as the one body of Christ here in this place. And the only way that we're going to walk worthy of the calling that we've been called, the only way that we are going to live consistent with our Christian identity is if we dwell together in unity. You see, every effective military has to operate as a unified team, right? If one soldier goes in the wrong direction, it's the difference between life and death for everyone else. The entire unit must be unified, must be together, must be moving as in one mind, in one direction. And so too it must be in the Church of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus prayed in this high priestly prayer, which I think Brother Bill will be in very soon. Where are you in it now? I was downstairs today. Jesus prays that we would be one just as He is one with the Father. Just as the Father and the Son are one, of one nature, we are to be one together, of one mind. And when we are one, it is a witness to the world that they might believe. And so our unity is part of the mission. And if we don't remain unified, if we don't protect the unity that God has created, we'll get into that, Our witness is destroyed. And we will not be effective. We will not be effective soldiers of Jesus Christ. In this passage, the Apostle Paul teaches us that we are to conduct ourselves in a manner consistent with our Christian identity, and that when we do so, we will be bound together in unity, we will maintain that unity, and thus grow in our worship of the Lord together. Those are the three things we're going to look at today. is we need to live. in a manner consistent with our Christian identity to conduct ourselves like a Christian. Now when I say that, I mean we are in Christ, we are Christians by faith, we have trusted in Jesus, and as we've talked about in Colossians already, we have been given a new identity, right? Jesus is our representative. We have died with him and rose with him. We have participated with him in the work that he has done. Not that we've added anything, but that all that he's done is to our benefit. And so we are identified with him, and so we are called to put on, to clothe ourselves with this new way of life. We are to live consistent with who we are in Christ. The church is Christ's body, and we are to live in consistency with that reality. Look at verse 12. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved. See, we are those who have been chosen by God. We have been set apart by Him, and that means we're holy. That's what holiness means, right? It means to be set apart. It means to be distinguished from other things. We have been set apart as holy unto the Lord. He has set us apart and we are holy in Jesus and we are beloved by God. He loves us so much that he has brought us into his family through the work of his son Jesus. And so, We need to recognize that is who we are. This is what God has done. And to live any other way, any way that is inconsistent with the character of Jesus, is to be living an oxymoron. It's to be living opposite of your life. of who you are now in Jesus. You are to be characterized by the very nature and character of Jesus. Because we are His holy and beloved ones. And look, He tells us what we are to put on. We're to put on compassionate hearts. Compassionate hearts. Compassion means to have concern over another's misfortune where what is going on in their life and look it says compassionate hearts it's quite literally a bowels of compassion it's the that it's the what the ancients understood to be the seat of the emotions it's something you feel deep within you that we have We have to put on, we have to be characterized by having such love for one another that the hardship, the pain, the hurt of our brothers and sisters, that we have compassion and we feel it in our hearts. That we love one another so much that just like Jesus, who was tired and weary and saw the crowds in great need, was moved with compassion for them and went and ministered to them. We must have compassionate hearts. To conduct ourselves like a Christian, to be like Christ, is to be a man or a woman of compassion. That we truly care for one another. We're to be characterized by humility. That's the quality of being helpful or beneficial to others. That's what it means to be kind, to be gracious to one another. It's to want to be helpful. When you see that need, when you've been moved with compassion, it's not to say, oh, wow, that person's really cold. They really need a coat. I'm going to pray for them. Right? No, no. The heart of compassion is, that person is cold. I've got to do something about it. And so compassion moves you to kindness. And so you either give them a jacket or you go buy one. See, this gets practical, doesn't it? Compassion and kindness is lived out in the community of faith, in the church, as we love one another and do acts of kindness to benefit one another. We're to be characterized by humility. Humility, Saints, is the posture of one who submits to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You can't be a Be truly submissive to Jesus and be proud We are we are those who have humbled ourselves before the throne of grace trusting in no righteousness of our own and only trusting in Jesus and so since we have this posture of submission to Jesus we are not self-centered and We do not assert our own will, our own self-centered will, but we humbly submit to the Lord and to the needs of others, putting others before ourselves. In Philippians, as Pastor Matt will eventually get to that passage in, I think, chapter 3, we are called to be like Jesus. That's chapter 2, I think. Be humble. To humble ourselves. And then, because we're humble, we consider others more important than ourselves. So when we see a need, we have true compassion, we don't think, oh, but I really need to do this. I really need this for me. I can't really care for them. Now you're putting yourself first, right? Humility is submitting yourself to the needs of another. It's not thinking too highly of yourself. And humility the opposite of pride, right? Humility means we don't think too highly of ourselves. We don't think of ourselves more important than we are. We recognize that we are all sinners who are saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this word meekness goes along with humility. In fact, both these words humility and meekness in the Gospels are used to describe Jesus. We are to be meek. Meek is the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one's self-importance. To be humble of heart and to make yourself the servant of all. These are to characterize us. This is to characterize this church. It's to characterize our relationships with one another. And then he says we are to put on patience. Now patience doesn't only mean being able to wait peacefully for an outcome, it does mean that, but in this context, relationally, it means being able to bear up under provocation, under being, you know, people doing things that offend you or hurt you. To be patient is to bear up with that, to not assert yourself, to not demean someone or to look down on them. but to be patient with them, knowing that God is doing a work in them. Just as God is patient with us, right? Because God is patient, He is slow to anger. Because God is patient, He endured with us when we were in great rebellion. And even as he has redeemed us in Christ and we fall into sin and we fail, he is yet patient with us. He doesn't cast us off. And so we are to be patient with one another, knowing that God is doing a work. He will finish what he started. And so we need to have this mindset with one another. We need to be truly patient with one another. The archaic English is long suffering, right? sometimes it is to suffer along with someone as You are enduring in relationship with them Because we need to be patient this needs to characterize us This means that we don't just get fed up with one another and say forget you but we endure with one another now look he says we put all these things on and to the means of so that we may bear bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you so you also must forgive so because we put on compassionate hearts kindness humility meekness and patience we are we live that out those qualities are lived out in putting up with one another it's quite literally what that word means to put up with one another Now, don't lie to yourself and don't lie to everyone else. People in this church get on your nerves at times, don't they? But guess what? We are one in Christ. We have this identity of Jesus. How many times do you think Jesus could have been get irritated with you? Okay? The character of Jesus is to be patient with one another, to bear with one another, to put up with one another because we love one another. And we are to forgive one another. Look at forgiving each other. Our church should be characterized by the forgiveness of Jesus. Look at what he said. He said, the Word of God says that we are, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Listen, if you have an unforgiving heart, you know what that says? It says you don't understand or you're not willing to live to give the forgiveness that Jesus has given you. It means that the principle of grace that brought Jesus to the cross to forgive your sins, that you're rejecting that. That you reject that principle. You reject that and you won't live it out. we must be a community, a church that forgives one another. Forgiveness means not holding someone's sins against them. That's what it means to forgive someone. When God has forgiven us our sins in Christ, He has forgiven every sin, He's nailed it to the cross, and that means God no longer holds those sins against us. We don't have to give an account for them anymore. Jesus has paid for them. Okay, so when your brother or sister offends you, even when they sin and do wrong against you, to forgive them, when you forgive them from your heart, to forgive means to not hold that against them anymore. It's to not hold those things to account. It means that it's dealt with. It's been entrusted to the cross of Jesus Christ. If God has forgiven them completely and fully, how can you not forgive your brother and sister completely and fully? We must forgive one another from the heart. To not forgive is to not be like Jesus. To not forgive is to not live like a Christian. Our Christian identity should be characterized through and through with a forgiving heart. In Matthew 18, let's just turn there because I think we need to spend a little bit of time on this. Matthew 18, starting in verse 15. Jesus gives us very clear instructions for how we are to handle forgiveness, how we are to forgive a brother who has sinned against us. Look at verse 15. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault. Now who are you supposed to go tell? Him. Okay. So you don't go to everyone else and tell them the fault that your brother did against you. If you need counsel from a pastor who's gonna help you figure it out, if it's a big thing, okay, that can be acceptable, but I know what your pastor's gonna tell you. What Pastor Matt's gonna tell you, what I'm gonna tell you, is you need to go to that brother or sister, and you need to tell them that their sin has offended you, and you need to work it out. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses." So your brother or sister has offended you. You've gone to them. You've said, this is sin. Look at the Word of God. You've sinned. This is done wrong against me or against so-and-so. And they say, nah, I don't think so. I don't care. Now, you're supposed to get a couple others, who hopefully will be impartial, and bring them, and now try to work it out together. Two brothers or sisters in the church to come together, and if they still don't repent, look at verse 17, if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen to even the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed to heaven. Again, I say to you, if two or three agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them." So now the person doesn't repent, then you bring it to the church, and now they come before essentially the law court of the church. Different opinions about this, but at this church we believe that this means that you come before the elders who represent the leadership of the church and they try to bring about reconciliation and if there cannot be reconciliation and there has been sin established then we move to something called church discipline and the Lord has given to the church authority to do this all right so Now the apostles are there, right? They hear Jesus tell them about forgiveness. And Peter has an interesting question. Then Peter came up and said to him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times? Jesus said to him, I did not say to you seven times, but 77 times. That's the number of completion. He doesn't mean count to 77 and then you don't have to forgive anymore. He means Always, even if your brother offends you with the same thing 77 times, you gotta forgive him. Because if he repents, if he asks for forgiveness and he falls, how many times have you fallen in the same sin before the Lord? And has he forgiven you? So we must forgive one another. I know this isn't a sermon on Matthew 18, but stories tell it better than we can in just plain explanation. Look at verse 23. Jesus tells a parable. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. Listen, that's a lot of money. That is a ton of money. One talent was 20 years wages for a laborer. So 10,000 talents. This guy's debt is beyond anything he could ever pay. It's like the debt of the US government. It's trillions of dollars. There's no way working as a day laborer you're paying it off. When he began to settle, one was brought to him, quote him, 10,000 talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all he had in payment to be made. And that day, if you couldn't pay a debt, then you would go into slavery. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, have patience with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, the master of the servant released him and forgave him his debt. Now that is grace. He didn't have to forgive him. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii. Now, a denarius was a day's wage for a laborer. So he just owed him 20 days of work. I'm sorry, 100 denarii. For some reason, I was thinking 20. 100 days of work. And seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, pay what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me and I will pay you. He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. And when his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed. And they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then their master summoned him and said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you? And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. This servant had a debt beyond that what can be paid. Our sin is beyond what we could ever pay to God. And Jesus took it on the cross and forgave us our sins. How can then we be like this wicked servant to turn around and not forgive someone else whose offense is far less than our offense against God? How can we not be those who forgive? And interestingly, this great debt that the master forgave, but because the servant was unforgiving, he said he was cast out. You see, we must be characterized by forgiveness. If you can't forgive from the heart, then you have to ask the question, am I really a believer? Do I have the Holy Spirit dwelling in me? If you hear the voice of the Lord today, if you hear His voice, would you repent of unforgiveness and forgive your brother and sister and go to them and make it right? If there is any offense, go and make it right. You see, unforgiveness destroys the body of Christ. And so that's why Jesus, that's why the Apostle Paul, make a big emphasis on forgiveness. Just as the Lord has forgiven us, so we must also forgive. Unforgiveness destroys the unity of the body. When we forgive someone, that means we forgive them from the heart, right? And that means that we brought an offense, they have repented, we have forgiven them, and so we are reconciled, right? And that means our fellowship is restored. See, when we sinned, we were separated from God. Jesus Christ has come and offered the forgiveness of sins. And when we repent and trust in the grace of Jesus, we are reconciled to God. And we have fellowship with God. Now that's how forgiveness ought to work in the church. When there's sin, it breaks fellowship with one another, right? And so we go to a brother or a sister and we tell them their sin and they repent and we've forgiven them. We are reconciled and our fellowship should be restored fully. We should not have a mindset of, Oh, this brother sinned against me once. So I'm just going to make sure that I avoid them at all costs. That ought not to be in the body, church. That ought not to be. We ought to love one another like Christ loves us. We ought not to hold one another's sins against one another, but forgive them as God has forgiven us in Christ. We should forgive one another and fellowship with one another, knowing that Jesus' blood has covered every sin and that we're not going to hold it to account. This needs to characterize this church. If there's a brother or sister in here that you've got a broken relationship with, you've got to make it right. You've got to go fix it. It's the reputation of Jesus that's on the line, saints. You've got to take care of it because the unity of the church, the glory of Jesus is at stake. We have to walk together in unity. We have to work to put up with one another and to forgive one another and to love one another. Look at verse 14. All these things that characterize the body is so that we might uphold the unity of the body. Look at verse 14. And above all these, put on love, which binds together in perfect harmony, everything together in perfect harmony, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. Of all the virtues that's been mentioned here, compassion, kindness, he says love is of the utmost. Love is the one thing that binds us all together. I like how the CSB translates this, because the word here translated in the ESV is, bind everything together in perfect harmony, is literally just a perfect bond. The CSB translates it, and above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. This word bond is used by the Apostle Paul often to talk about the bond that unifies the church together. And love is what binds us together in a perfect unity. It's the perfect bond. It causes us to want to be of one mind, to want to forgive one another, to want to put up with one another. It's the love of God poured out in our hearts for one another. And so love must characterize all that we do. Above all these things that we talked about, love is what we need to put on. It binds us together. It binds this church together. We need to be known by our love. This love is the glue. holds our unity together now the unity that we have comes from the Holy Spirit right we read Ephesians 4 this morning it's the bot it's the unity of the spirit that we are to be eager to maintain our Together that we are to to to uphold so what God has done in Christ has created this one new man And he's brought us together his church unified us taking people from every walk of life It doesn't matter what ethnicity you are. It doesn't matter what economic status you have. It doesn't matter where you're from it If you're in Christ, we are one body, and he's brought us together. And love is the principle that allows us to maintain the unity that God has created. And so you need to cultivate that love for one another. You need to cultivate that love. Now, if you're married, you know that love takes cultivation, doesn't it? Love isn't just a feeling. Love comes with feelings, but love isn't just a feeling, right? Love, you can say, is a verb. It's the true self-giving of yourself for another. And so we need to cultivate love with one another. Cultivate love by going out of your way to listen to your brother or sister, to have compassion, to be kind to them, to be patient with them, to forgive them. All that takes love. So cultivate love for one another. this will bind us together in a perfect unity verse 15 and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body now the peace here doesn't just mean a subjective peace that you feel inside your heart he says let the peace of Christ rule in Let the peace of Christ and you could just skip the next line to which indeed you were called in one body So we were called to peace in one body together We were called in peace together now in scripture when we read peace it can mean the sense of peace in the midst of chaos and But it also speaks of the hostility that we once had between God and man, that Jesus has brought about peace now. He's ended the hostility on the cross. And so now there is peace between us and God. Amen? Alright, so just as Jesus has brought peace between God and man, Jesus brings peace in the body of Christ. He breaks down barrier walls. People that would hate each other and want nothing to do with each other outside of the church are brought together into one body. And the peace of Christ, we're told, is to rule in our hearts. It is to be the governing principle. It's to be something that we take serious and take into account in our relationships with one another. And it's to come from within. This desire for peace. The desire for peace to rule in this place. So that means that we go out of our way to make sure the church is unified. We go out of our way to, when there's not peace between each other, to make peace, to be peacemakers. I mean, that's like one of the main roles that your pastors and elders play in this church, is peacemaker, is making peace between two people who have a conflict with one another. We need to do that. We need to make peace with one another. We need to, this church is to be characterized by the rule of peace, the peace of Christ, the peace that comes from Christ is what we were called to. And we're to be thankful. I think the number one cause of our disunity in the church is discontent. It's not being thankful for what God has given us. It's looking at all the negative, looking at all the faults, looking at all the failures, looking at all the mistakes that leaders have made, or your brother and sister have made, and you get a syndrome called Green Grass Suenza. All right? The grass is greener over there. I know if I go over to that church, they've got to be doing it so much better. I mean, look, I went there and everybody seems happy. Listen, the longer you're around and fellowshipping with and loving and being patient with one another, the more faults you see, right? When you got married and you were dating, your spouse was perfect. There was nothing wrong with them. There was no faults. And then you got married and you're like, what happened? And then you look in the mirror and you're like, wait, I thought I was going to be an awesome husband. I'm not that great. All right. When we enter into a covenant relationship with one another in a church, at first you're coming and everything looks awesome. And you're like, this church is amazing. And then someone offends you and someone else offends you. You see this person do something stupid. And then you'd see this over here and you're just, now you've got green grass who ends up. And you think, oh, if I just go to another church. And you know what your life's going to look like? Going from next church to the next church to the next church, just like people go from marriage to marriage to marriage looking for the greener grass. Listen, we need to put up with one another. We need to forgive one another. We need to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. And we just need to be thankful for who God has given us in this body, for the leadership that he's given us, for the brothers and sisters he's given us, to be thankful for what he's doing in this place. I'm not saying that if you're in a church that's preaching bad doctrine or has bad leadership that you should just stick around, but you should try to work it out. You don't just get up and leave at the first sign of hostility, right? And if our soldiers left the front lines every time there was danger, we would all be dead. Okay. So we need to uphold the unity of the body and you need to see this as your family. And so when there's issues, we got to work it out. We got to work hard at it. We got to get our hands dirty. We got to go through the, the, the, the difficulties of love. Love isn't easy. Love means I got to, I got to put, I got to deal with stuff. I got to talk to people. I got to bear my soul. It's not easy, but it's worth it. And it brings glory to Jesus, and it unifies the church, and it makes His mission more effective as we preach and proclaim. Not that He's not going to do His work without us. He will. But this church will be a clear light on the hill. Now, I don't want you to get me wrong. I'm not saying that our church is filled with all this disunity and unforgiveness, right? I am so thankful for this body. It is a joy to pastor this body. You are so faithful and loving and I am so thankful for you. And so we ought to be thankful for one another. Thankful for what God is doing in this place as we look forward to moving forward and growing and becoming more conformed in the image of Jesus and being more consistent and more faithful and being more bold in our witness. But we do it as we maintain our unity, as we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts with thankfulness. Last point. dwell together in unity, we grow together in worship. Now the word worship isn't used here, but it's clear that the Apostle Paul has worship in mind. He says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let the word of Christ, the message of Christ, the gospel, let it dwell You, is plural here, among the church, in our midst, let the gospel of Christ dwell in you richly. Let it be the source of wealth among us, the gospel of Jesus, the message about Christ. With that message, we are to be teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. Teaching is in the positive sense of instructing, of uplifting, of teaching the good news, proclaiming the gospel to one another. Admonishing is warning someone. When you see them headed for danger, it means to admonish them, to warn them, to help them to cease from a dangerous course of action. And so we are to have the Word of Christ dwell among us richly, And to be with that word teaching, this is how we make sure it dwells among us richly, teaching one another and admonishing one another in all wisdom. All wisdom means that we rely on the Holy Spirit to know the fitting word for a particular brother or sister. We look to give them the right scripture, the right hymn, song, spiritual song, as he says here, to to give a good teaching, a good admonition that is fitting for the occasion, and it requires wisdom to do that. So let us be a church that is characterized by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that we regularly are teaching and admonishing one another. Now in Ephesians, Paul talks about that Jesus has given gifts to the church, teachers, shepherds, to teach the church. But here we see that teaching isn't only for the pastor. Now that's the public proclamation, the official teaching of the church comes from those appointed as gifts to the church. But we also instruct and admonish one another. Listen, don't just expect your pastor Pastor Matt, myself, your elders, to do ministry, to do all the ministry, right? Ephesians 4 says that Christ has given these gifts to the church to equip the saints for ministry. So we are to minister to one another, and the way we worship together is by instructing one another, admonishing one another through psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in our hearts to God. Now notice, the singing is to God, so it's with thankfulness in our hearts to God, but those songs and hymns and spiritual songs are to be given to one another to remind one another of what God has done in Christ, to remind one another of who Jesus is, to remind one another of the gospel. Remember Psalm 73 and Asaph? He's looking around at the world and he got his perspective off. And he's looking at how the wicked prosper and he's just like, why is it this way, God? And he's ready to give up on the faith. He's ready to just say it's not even worth it. And then he entered into the temple and he heard the songs of praise and he was reminded of what God has done. He was reminded of the mighty works of God and he was restored. His joy was restored and he worshiped the Lord. All right. How many times through the week have you gotten discouraged? Have you wanted to give up? Have you sometimes even let a root of bitterness enter into your heart? And then you enter into the congregation. And we sing a hymn about what Jesus has done, how He's the solid rock, and I don't trust in my own righteousness. We sing, how great thou art, even through the greatest suffering, how great that Jesus is, and that Jesus is worthy of worship. When we remind one another through Psalms and through Scripture, and we encourage one another, We exhort one another, as long as it's called today, so that we would not fall into sin, that we would not develop a root of bitterness, right? You need to have that mindset. We need one another. Think of those fitting words. You see a brother in need, a sister in need, don't just pray for them. Pray for them, but also give them a word of encouragement. Give them a song to sing. Give them a verse to read. Encourage them to worship and together with thankfulness we will sing in our hearts to God. In verse 17, whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. So whatever you do, how much that we do? Everything, right? Whatever we do, we are to do it to the glory of God. We are to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. So worship isn't just fitting words and singing, it's all of life. It is all of our conduct, whatever we do in word or in deed. So that encompasses everything. Everything you say and everything you do is to be done the name of the Lord Jesus it is to be done for his glory it is be done for his reputation it is to be done to be characterizing who he is in your life it is to be living like Jesus so together whatever we do in word or deed let us do it let us do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus is he worthy He is worthy. He is worthy of our life. He is worthy of our worship. And our worship isn't just the song we sing on Sunday. It is the words and deeds of your life tomorrow. It's the words and deeds of your life on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday, on Friday, on Saturday, and on Sunday. Whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is through Him that we give thanks to God the Father. Notice that thanks occurred three times in this short passage. Thankfulness. How can we who are far off not be thankful? Thankfulness is an act of worship, saints. Thankfulness, even through difficulties, even through pain, even when we're putting up with one another, thankfulness is fitting. because all good gifts come from above, from our Father in Heaven. So let us give Him thanks. Let us pray and offer Him thanks and then lift our voices in praise. Father, we give You thanks through our Lord Jesus Christ, that in Christ we have been set apart, that You have put the old man to death, and that You have created a new man, Your new people. And we ask that you would make this church, your people, characterized by the character of Jesus. Help us to conduct ourselves in a manner consistent with our identity with Christ. Help us to preserve the unity of this body and to desire it, to let your peace rule in our hearts, to uphold your peace among us. And we ask, that you would help us to grow in our worship together. As we encourage one another, as we build one another up, as we sing psalms of praise, as we lift our voices with thankfulness in our hearts to you, we ask that you would be glorified. Be glorified in our lives. Be glorified in our words. Be glorified in our deeds. Help us to live with this perspective. Help us to live together worshiping You. You are worthy. You are worthy of all the praise. You are worthy of all of our worship. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.