If you have your Bible this morning, let's go to the book of Colossians. Book of Colossians, I will say this about your pastor's vacation. Because I love his kids, he needs that, and he needs that complete unplug. His children deserve their dad. And I don't mean this in any vicious way. I was just raised in a pastor's home. And if you're not careful, you can absorb your pastor, which you're supposed to do. That's biblical. That's what he's there for. But there are moments and times where his kids just need him. And his wife just needs him. There's a couple weeks in my year where I go away and my phone is not on, and it is a glorious occasion. It is an awesome occasion. He was up near where I grew up. I was raised in Lupton, Michigan. How many ever heard of Lupton, Michigan? One, two. Lupton, Michigan still has dirt roads. Has a population of 200 people. And my dad was actually raised in Lupton. My grandpa was a Quaker pastor or a Friends pastor. So he's pastoring where he grew up. It was the one place he told the Lord when he graduated Bible college. He said, Lord, I'll go anywhere but Lupton. And that's where the Lord took him 43 years later. He's still there doing awesome ornery as ever and doing good So that is my background. I've been in church Since I was born and just love the Lord. I love this book This book will change your life If you're if you're if you're newly saved or newly into church get into this book and the great thing about this book It's in English And you can read it, and you can understand it, and you don't need a commentary, and you don't need a Google search. We were doing a family devotion in Proverbs the other night, and we ran across the word, and my kids were like, what's that word? And I said, well, let's hop two verses previous, and there was our definition to the word. And your Bible will do that over and over and over again. It explains itself. Why? Because God doesn't want to be mysterious to you. He doesn't. God wants to be your friend. Abraham was the friend of God, and that's what God wants. That's why he created us. God didn't create us to hold us at arm's distance. God created us to draw him to himself and to be close to him. So that's what we're going to do today. Colossians chapter 3, the title is Giving God an Allowance. I was raised in a home where there was no allowance. No allowance. There was no money. There was no money for tasks. That's right, that's biblical. I guess, I don't, I have no idea, I just throw things out there. My son, my oldest son Dawson, he's 13, he went and did something that I think every young man should do. And if you haven't done it yet, let me know, I'll hook you up. You need to go bale hay or straw. You need to do it, man. It will teach you how to work. I told the farmer yesterday, I said, at 15 years old, I was trying to outwork my 45-year-old uncle as we were baling hay, and I failed miserably. because I was trying to out muscle him, you know, being 15, I can do anything, you know, just give me a, give me a knife and I'll go conquer the world. You know, when you're raised in Northern Michigan, you're just crazy. You can just do crazy things. And so then I did, then I discovered this, there's something different about work and there's, he had a nice rhythm and he wasn't in a hurry, but he outworked me every stinking day. So Dawson came home with blisters yesterday. That's a good thing. That's an awesome thing. I showed him calluses. I still have calluses on my hand from baling hay. So there was no allowance for me growing up. I went and worked on the farm every summer for free. It was just part of the deal. You can laugh at my jokes. It's okay. It's funny. But there's no allowance. And so what I mean by this, I'm not meaning give God your tithe. You should do that. I'm not meaning give to missions. That's a good thing. But give God an allowance. In other words, this, God is not going to come down and make you serve him. This is where we struggle, as he mentioned, with our kids in church. God is not going to make Zach Marshall serve him. That is on Zach Marshall. It doesn't matter that his dad is Matt. It doesn't matter that his grandfather is Rick Thowell. God is not impressed. God will leave that up to Zach to decide what Zach is going to do with his life. And that plays out for us in Colossians chapter 3. Let's go to verse 14. This is where the message is at. There's an introduction, as all good messages have introductions. Without introductions, I feel us pastors sometimes wouldn't have much to say. Because sometimes the message is very small. So we get an introduction too. That's like bonus from the Lord. Colossians 3 verse 14, it says, and above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also you're called in one body and be thankful 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 whatsoever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him father we're thankful for your word We're thankful, Father, that you want to speak to us this morning. You're interested in where we are in our lives. You're interested in the decisions that we're making. And God, you want to speak into our lives and you want to help us today walk closer to you than we did yesterday. And so as we get into your word, God, I pray that you'd help us allow you to change us and allow you to work as only you can. Father, we can't do the things that you do. Holy Spirit of God, we ask you to meet with us. Without you here, this is just a religious exercise. And so, Holy Spirit of God, we ask you to come and to meet with us this morning. Speak to us through your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Giving God allowance. Let's go back to verse number one of chapter three. I love exposition of scripture. Topical messages are fun. They're just exciting. You can jump in and preach whatever you want. I said it in Sunday school, if you haven't been down south, plan a family vacation down south around a camp meeting. Because what you get at a camp meeting, you get a lot of guys who jump in, grab a word or a phrase, and just run. A lot of them won't even come back to their Bible again, which is interesting. But anyways. Pastor got that joke. Ever been a part of a message where the guy jumped in and took off and then you're sitting there going, I don't know, trying to tie this back in. I'm trying to find where it's in the Bible. I'm even going to check the concordance and I'm not even finding it there. Ever been in one of those? I've been in several of those and I was like, man, I don't know about this guy. It's pretty interesting. Pretty interesting. Verse one of Colossians chapter three. Here's what Paul says. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. So introduction this morning, number one, notice this, my residence is eternal. My residence is eternal. I should want God to work in my life right now. I should allow him that room to move because he's not a high pressure guy. You ever been, uh, we had a high pressure salesman. Thanks to my wife in our house years ago, I come home and she's like, we've got a meeting with this water softener guy. I'm like, come on, I don't need a water softener. Two and a half hours later. Our marriage is still together. But two and a half hours later, I got this joker out of my house. And I did not buy a water softener. But you know what he was trying to do for two and a half hours? Sell me something I didn't need. God is not in the business of selling you anything. God gives us freely all things to enjoy. He put Adam and Eve in the garden, and I told the teenagers last weekend, I said, what's amazing about Adam and Eve? He puts them in the garden, and how many things couldn't they do? One thing. How many other trees in the garden were there that they could eat from? That is the exact word. It is all of them God wants you to enjoy yourself. God wants you to have a good time God gives you everything that you need and then he sets up some parameters to live according to the way that he wants you to live and Adam and Eve's only parameter was one thing and they blew it We would have done the same thing I know I would have done the same thing I So God working in my life is not something new. It is not this new thing that churches are trying to get you to do. No, it's the way that God made it. God came in the garden. He walked with Adam in the cool of the day. God wants to be in your life. How awkward is it going to be if you're saved and you're just kind of doing a church thing? How awkward is heaven going to be? I can't think of heaven from a spiritual place very often because I'm stuck in this flesh. So I have to think of it from the awkward experiences that I have in this life. You ever show up somewhere and it's just awkward and you're there and you're a part of this thing? You get invited to a party of this person you kind of know and you're there and you're trying to talk to people and everybody's asking, who's that guy? What's he doing here? And I wonder what heaven's gonna be like for Christians who got saved and they never allowed God to grow them. They never allowed God to be a part of their life. Eternity is coming. And when you cross over, and you stand before your God, what will that be like? Will it be awkward? Will you have to talk to someone that you gave no time to? Will you have to try to get to know someone that you had a whole lifetime to get to know? It'd be like getting married and never speaking to your wife. Some of you may do that anyways, but it would be that way. How can you tell anybody about your spouse of whom you don't talk to? I have a million great things to say about my wife, mainly because she wrote them out for me to say. No, why? Because we've been married 20 years and there's experience after experience and God's done this and God's done this and God's moved here and I can say I've watched her grow and I've watched all these things happen. Why? Because there's an active relationship. If there's no active relationship in your life, can I ask you this? Are you even looking for eternity? Is heaven even in your view? Or has COVID just clouded everything down so that the only thing you see is the small bubble that you literally live in? If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things. If I'm not looking for God, It's really hard for him, for me to find him. When you say, well my relationship with God is, we're just a little distant right now. Can I ask you whose fault is that? It is not God's fault. God hasn't moved. Then he said in verse two, what's the first word of verse two? Set your affection, set them. Make it a goal in your life to get to know your God. Make it something that you're trying to achieve, that I want to know Him. Maybe, listen, I want to know God according to my relationship with God. I love talking to my dad about spiritual things, and he is just an absolute library of things. But just because my dad walks with God doesn't mean that I'm going to walk with God. That's a completely different thing, and the only way that I can do it is to set my affection on things above, not on things on this earth. My love, my drive can't be for material things. If my drive is for material things, there will be no allowance in my life for God to work and to move. Because if you're honest, as a Christian, there's many times in your life where God said no to you about something material. Being raised in northern Michigan, I grew up on ATVs. I rode it, crashed it, yes, all of it. I would love, like I would love, I already know what brands I want. I would love to have snowmobiles. I would love to have a dirt bike, maybe a couple of quad runners. But do you know when people up north, do you know when they ride those things? Yeah, Sundays. Growing up in the wintertime in Michigan, we come out of the church and it used to be lines of snowmobiles going by the church. Because that's what they're doing. You know what God has said to me in my life concerning those things? And if you have them, that's fine. I may come over and enjoy yours. You know what God has said to me about those things? No. Now, could I go get them? Sure. But I know this. If I go get them, there's going to be a temptation in my life that does not currently exist. And the temptation will be this. I just spent $5,000 on that and it's just sitting. And then I'm going to become very creative in the ways of, I need to go visit my dad. You know, he's getting older and I need to go see my dad. And eventually something that is not, you understand a simile meal is not sinful. It can't be, but I can allow that to be more important. And maybe for you, it's other things. I don't know, but your affections better be set. And listen, that is you and me doing that. Every once in a while, if you have that clock back there, you gotta change the battery, you gotta set it, you gotta make sure. Now with phones, we don't have to do that. We don't even think anymore. Remember when you used to know people's phone numbers? Yeah, you don't know anybody's phone number anymore. Hey, what's this guy's phone number? I don't know. Let me look it up in my contacts. Setting something is a purposeful thing. He says, set your affection on things above. Notice verses three and four. We don't like the first phrase of verse three. He says, for ye are dead. and your life is hid with Christ, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory." Not only is our residence in eternity, but there's the removal of self. If God is going to have a place to work in my life, I have to take myself and set myself over here. And then it is not only my job to set my affection on things above, but it is to keep myself over here. I cannot serve God like I should if I am always wandering into the things that I want to do and looking over here and looking at that. Listen, that doesn't mean you can't do nice things. It doesn't mean you can't have nice things. But those shouldn't be the driving force. You and your thoughts need to be overshadowed by God and His desires. And God's thoughts and God's desires ought to be the thing that you're trying to pattern yourself after. That's why discipleship is so key. Why? Because you're reminded again, I'm going through it for the third time with someone else. And once again, I'm reminded again, God wants this and God wants this and God, I'm filling out the same blanks. Anybody else have those blanks in the book? You're just like, why in the world did he pick that word? I'm going to call him someday and say, listen, Mr. Honeycutt. Let me tell you about your fill-in-the-blank thing here. It's not very good. But it's not about the fill-in-the-blank, is it? It's about the verses you're reading. It's about the relationship that you're forming. And what does that do? 7 o'clock in the morning isn't about you. Or 8 o'clock at night isn't about you. You know who it's about? It's about Jesus Christ. And that's why it works. That's why if you're discipling someone or if you're being discipled, you're drawn to it. And when you miss it, you miss it. Why? Because it has nothing to do with you or I. It has to do with him. Verses five through seven. So since Christ is our life, since I've set my affection in heaven, since I'm now dead, verse three, mortified therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry, for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience, in the which ye also walked some time when ye lived in them. Notice thirdly, there's a reminder of my past. I have my residence in eternity. I need to remove myself, but God does this for me. He reminds me where he found me. Just because you've been raised in church doesn't mean that you're not a sinner. It just means that you're sneakier about your sin. And that's us 40-year-olds who were raised in church. We're just sneakier about our sin. We know a way around everything. You need a good reminder, I need a good reminder of who I am. Because once I realize who I am, then I will begin to realize who God is. Because a lot of times when I'm in church all the time and I have my Bible all the time, me, God, and the Bible, and church begin to overlay and I lose track of who's who and what's what. And I begin to follow my own thoughts and my own ambitions, thinking that it's God, because I haven't stopped to actually check with God. A reminder of my past, Paul said, mortify those things, get those things out of the way. And the reminder in verse seven is, you walked there, that was you, shouldn't be anymore. Notice verse 8, but now ye also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth, lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man and his deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Here's my renewal after Christ. Listen, the reason I should give God an allowance and give him space to work and give him room to work is because Jesus Christ is the one who paid the price. Without Jesus Christ, there's no reason for me to give God an allowance. There's no reason for me to give God any room in my life. But Jesus Christ makes all that difference. Why? Genesis 1 27, I'm created in his image. When God sees you as a child of God, it said in Sunday school, he sees his son. Therefore, he's interested. He wants to work in your heart. He wants to work in your life. If you're not saved this morning, he wants to save you. He wants to give you the thing that you're looking for. But that's up to you and I. God's not going to push his way in. He's not going to force his way in. He's not going to have the awkward conversation with us. The scariest moments in my Christian life are the moments where it's just really silent. And I begin to wonder where did God go? Why is he not speaking to me? Because I know this. He didn't move. I'm the one that's moved. And I know that he wants to speak to me. Notice verse 14, back to where we started. God is interested in us and I have to remove myself from that. He is waiting, seated at the right hand of God, verse 1. But notice verse 14, here's the bridge that Paul builds to where we're gonna go this morning. So he gives us several lists of things. Things to put off, things to put on. Reminds us of who Jesus Christ is. Reminds us of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. And then in verse 14 he says, above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. You see, this one word is what separates us from the world. Charity to the world is a tax write-off. Charity to most people is I get to do something and then I want you to mention it, that I give to charity or that I did this charitable thing. Christians shouldn't live that way. I've heard it said before that you should never ignore a generous impulse. As a child of God, God has given you things and it is our job to be generous with them and to give them. Do you have time? Give your time. Can you work with your hands? Then go work with your hands. I've been doing flooring for 20 years, and I went and helped a friend. They've been working on their house for three and a half years. And they got to the part where they were going to do carpet, so I went over there last Monday and did carpet. And then they're very good friends of my wife and I, and so I said, well, when your wife gets home, shoot a video. His wife comes in, and she is just weeping, weeping as she's looking at it. You know what that is? That is payment right there. For what? Charity? Just giving of yourself? Just doing something? And that's how Christians should act. He said above all these things, here's the hard part. Put on charity. The connection point to this is if I'm going to, in verses 15 and 16, let God do two things with me. I have to be a charitable person. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Here's the chapter on charity. We're only going to look at one verse. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul runs us through the list of all of these things. All the things that he would be, all the things that he could be, all the things that he could do, all the greatness that he could achieve, but without charity, what is it? It's nothing. It doesn't mean anything. Go to chapter 14 verse 1. What is the first word? Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. You know what he's saying to us? Charity, Paul says, to put it on. Charity, Paul says, to follow it. You know what that means to me? That God and charity are the same thing. How charitable was your God to you when he found you in your sinful state and saved you from the sin that you were in? How charitable was God to you? What did you deserve personally in your own life for the things that you know that you did that no one else knows? And how charitable was God to you? And we can't be charitable to other people. We can't give that back out. Verses 15 and 16 is where we're going to land this morning with the word let. So because of all the previous things, and above this, put on charity. And if I will do this, if that bond of perfectness, I will allow it to be a part of my existence and who I am. And then Paul says, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Doesn't that apply today, maybe more than it did six months ago? You feel like you're living in a different America than what you lived in six months ago? Yeah, I am. That doesn't settle well with a northern Michigan boy. We have militia, and they're very serious. And I have to keep that stuff to the side, and it can't come out the pastor vein at all. I have to slide it over here. Because a lot of times, if I let that stuff in, and I'm talking about all the stuff that I'm going to do and all the stuff that I won't do, you know what's not existing in my life? The peace of God. We watched a little bit of video in Columbus yesterday. There was a, I don't know what the march was started with, but other people showed up. And so then they're hollering and swearing and yelling back and forth at each other and sitting there looking at it going, we're not doing anything. And Christian, if we're not careful, we will allow the things in verse five that we're supposed to mortify. And we're gonna allow the things in verse eight that we're supposed to put off. We will allow those things to exist and live in our life, and we won't allow God to use verses 15 and 16. We become so self-centered about our own opinion, and guys, that is, watch that, that is being pushed on you so hard. You matter, your opinion matters. Can I ask you this? To who? Seriously, to who? Before he said the name David Heaton this morning, some of you didn't even know that I was even breathing air on this planet. So what does it matter what our opinion is? We can stand up front later and talk COVID, and you'll give me your opinion and the stat that you read, and I'll give you my opinion and the stat that I read. And how's that gonna change the world? Zero. You know what will change the world? And let the peace of God rule in your hearts. to the which also year called in one body and be thankful. Number one, let the peace of God rule. No rule means it means to control or direct. It means to exercise dominating power or authority or influence over Christian. How different would you be in this environment if the peace of God was ruling? What would your witness be like if you let God set his throne of peace in your heart, and then him sit on it, and him rule your life? We drink in so much, not filth of this world, but we drink in Fox, and CNN, and MSNBC. Guys, there's hardly even a news that exists anymore that's worth listening to or paying attention. Everybody's spinning it. So that you'll listen in there and they're in there. How horrible is it? They're, they're making news for exactly you. Isn't news just news? Not anymore. The Prince of the power of the air is dictating it and making it fit because you're special and you're important. How old are you, sir? 59. You know what? You weren't sold as a kid that you were important and you were special. You know what they're selling my kids right now? That they're the most important people in the world. You know where you can't find that? You can't find that there. And let me say to you, older Christian, don't drink the Kool-Aid. God hasn't changed and God hasn't moved by because God's got a peace. God's not interested in getting involved in everything. God just wants you to sit there and he wants his peace to rule in your life. Go to Psalm chapter four. The problem is that when I allow God to set up his throne of peace, I am no longer in charge. And for some of us, that's tough. Psalm chapter four, go to verse eight. Notice what David said. I will both lay me down in what? Peace and sleep. For thou, Lord, only, makest me to dwell in safety. Is there a COVID-19? I think so. Is it going to seek you out in your bed in the middle of the night? No. Do I know personally people that have died from it? Yes. But if that's the stuff you're focused on, if that's the only thing you filled your heart with, You will not sleep in peace. And David said, God is the only one who makes that possible. Proverbs chapter 28 to our 2528 Solomon said this, he that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down without walls. You want Christian. If we don't let God bring that throne of peace and set it in our life, you know what we are. We're a Christian with no walls of protection. and we can get attacked from any angle. You know what God intends? He intends to take his throne and to sit it in our heart and to sit there in peace. Peace ought to be a part of something that we talk about every day. The peace of God ought to be something that you are in trying to encourage other people with. Notice back in Colossians 3 verse 15, he said, let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Then he says this, to the witch also. So in other words, because of the ruling peace. So if the peace is ruling, there are two things. There's a calling of unity. He said, also ye are called in one body. You know what makes church special? It's because you get to come to a place where the person behind you, in front of you, and next to you is God should be ruling in their heart. The peace of God should just settle in this room this morning. But that only happens if I mortify the right things, and I put off the right things, and I put on the right things. Don't, I'm not trying to step on toes, don't be the guy who's giving everybody all of the conspiracy theories. I was raised in northern Michigan. I've got conspiracies for days. There's enough bunkers up there. If you're scared, let me know. I'll get you one. You know what that is? That is not the peace of God ruling. Could they be coming for us? Maybe. Do they have black helicopters? Probably. Are they watching us while we sleep? It could be. Then let me ask you this question. What are you going to do about it? You know, they can put a missile right in your bedroom right now. That's just honesty. We love that technology. You know, when we're talking war, you see them, they dropped that thing right on that building. I watched them drop a Moab into a cave system in the mountains of Afghanistan. It was one of the coolest videos I've ever seen. That's awesome technology, except when you reverse it. But why are we even thinking about reversing it? Do you think that I matter that much to the US? No, I don't. And when I dwell on those things, and when I gather all those things in, and when I begin to read those things, and I follow this blog, and I get this YouTube, and I watch this over here, the peace of God is not ruling. Then I become of no use to God. God left me here to be an example and to be a witness. And when I follow the things of the world more closely, then I follow the things of God. I am of no use to my Savior. Christian, are you letting the peace of God rule in the way of unity? You ought to be unifying other people in this church and drawing them to God. You shouldn't be the reason that people are thinking about stepping over here and going over there and I don't know if I'm coming back. You shouldn't be that person. Then, notice the end of the verse, he said, Be ye thankful. There's a calling for thanksgiving. Go to Psalm chapter 100. If the peace of God is ruling, you will be a thankful Christian. Oh, I just don't have much to be thankful for. You know why? Because you're reading the wrong stuff. You're letting fear just live inside of you. So aren't you afraid? Of what? Well, what if they come after us? Look back at history. Anytime that they did that, what did those people do? Nothing. Listen, if that's what God wants to happen, how many of you have never read Fox's Book of Martyrs? If you've never read it or ever heard of it, raise your hand. Everybody else has read it? If you've never read that book, read that book. There isn't anything that's being talked about, concocted, or thought of that other people have already died for. There is nothing new under the sun. Solomon should have wrote that down. Maybe when I get to heaven I'll tell him. Solomon, that would have been a good thing to jot down. But you know what we do? We buy and sell fear. We buy and trade fear. We send links. Read this thing. I didn't know this was going on. I didn't want to know that thing was going on. We have a Facebook account, so it's her and I names together. I am never on there. I do not look at it. I do not have time for that. There are groundhogs that need to die, so I don't have time for that. And every week, without fail, some dear saint of God is sending me some link or some screenshot. Pastor, did you see this? No! I didn't! And that was on purpose! But now I've seen it! Thank you so much for blessing my soul today. There's a calling of thankfulness Psalm 100 David said make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands serve the Lord with what? Gladness come before his presence with singing know ye that the Lord he is God It is he that has made us and not we ourselves. We are his people on the sheep of his pasture Enter into his gates with what? Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and bless his name for the Lord is good His mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth To the greatest generation in America and then it died and it no his truth endure through all Generations my kids have access to the same truth of God that I do God is not sleeping on the throne And it is my job to be thankful for where I'm at for what I have and then to be honest and say I could be somewhere else but I made this really dumb choice back here and now I'm paying for that and And that is not God's fault. Be thankful. Be a person that the peace of God is directing unity. We need unity around spiritual things. I spend more time of my life talking to Christians about somebody's stupid blog than I do anything else. I would love for someone to come up and say, Pastor, I was reading my Bible the other day and the Lord showed me this. I would love that! That would be the best Sunday ever! But instead I get, did you see this YouTube video? I watched this guy the other day. No, I didn't see it. Once again, on purpose. You know what I watch on YouTube? You can ask my wife. I follow a farmer out in Minnesota. And I watch him fix equipment. Yep. That's my exciting life. Why? Because I'm not going there for truth. I don't go to the internet for truth. Did you know that you personally can change the content of Wikipedia? Yes, you can. So don't go to Wikipedia looking for truth. Because you personally can change it. You may not know how to do that, but you can. Just a tidbit. Don't go to YouTube for truth. Guys, we are supposed to be the people of peace. We are supposed to be the people of unity. We are supposed to be the people of thankfulness. But I have to allow God to do that. He's not going to make me. Let's go to verse 16 of Colossians chapter three. He says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Not only let the peace of God rule, but let the word of Christ dwell. How amazing is it, and I don't want to argue this with you, but how amazing is it that these are God's words that he wanted me to have? And I have them and he speaks to me. That's mind blowing to me. I sit on my sitting on my porch this morning being a good Christian, drinking my coffee, man. Not coffee that Jonathan drinks, because I don't know what that is. That's not coffee. Motor oil or something. It's just amazing that I can sit there in peace and quiet and read the very words of God that he intended for David Heaton to have. And then he speaks to me. You know where Sunday school came this morning? It was Tuesday morning, sitting on my front porch, reading my Bible. And I began to run all those references on Amazon, look at his life. Guys, getting to know God isn't some magical thing. It's just sitting there with him. It's just letting him speak to you. And you realizing that he's actually speaking to you. And letting the peace of God rule. And then, let this book dwell in you. Let it be in you. Think this book, live this book. To dwell means to live or to continue in. He uses the phrase richly in all wisdom. Go to Proverbs chapter eight. You know wisdom has companions that comes with it. Solomon asked for wisdom and when Solomon got wisdom, he got more than that. Proverbs chapter eight, look at verse one. It says, does not wisdom cry and understanding put forth her voice? The answer to that question is yes. Here's where she does it. She standeth in the top of the high places, by the way, in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O man, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom, and ye fools, be of an understanding heart. Hear, for I will speak of excellent things. The opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth, wisdom's mouth, shall speak what? Truth. And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction and not silver. Knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. I wisdom dwell with who? Prudence. When you get wisdom, you get prudence. What is prudence? It is caution, but it is spiritual caution. People living in the wisdom of God's Word have prudence that comes with them that helps them keep themselves out of certain sins in their life. She comes with I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge of witty Inventions the fear of the Lord is the hate evil pride and arrogancy and the evil way in the forward mouth Do I hate notice this counsel is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding. I have strength wisdom brings prudence with it What is that prudence? It is regard to practical things in your life. It is with regard to direction in your life. Verse 14, she said, counsel is there, understanding is there, strength is there. So when Paul says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, that's more than just you bringing your Bible to church. This is a way of life. And when I allow this to dwell in me, it changes the way that I think, it changes the way that I talk, it changes the way that I act towards my spouse, it changes the way that I act towards my children, it changes the friendships that I have. Why? Because wisdom brings a host of friends with it. And God has them each to do specific jobs in our life. But what does the Word of Christ do? Well, it does a couple things. Number one, teaches us. It teaches us to sing. Music is a gateway. Ephesians chapter 5. You should have all kinds of knowledge of wisdom because of Pastor Matthew Marshall. You should have all kinds of wisdom on music. Him and his brother, who is my pastor, they literally walk and talk music. That's just a part of who they are. Ephesians chapter 5, notice verse 17, here's some verses that you know, but notice, interesting phrase, he said, Wherefore, be ye not, what? Unwise, which means what? If I'm unwise, I'm not allowing the word of Christ to dwell in me richly. So Paul says, be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what this book will do? It will teach you to sing. It will teach you to love the right music. We bought a CD this week, The Rains Family, R-A-Y-N-E-S. Pastor in North Carolina. Met him last year. They just put a CD out as absolutely magnificent. I listened to it all day yesterday. We listened to it on the way down here this morning. Just music that praises God. What a blessing. But this book does that. This book will put parameters in your life. Not just in the area of music, but everywhere. Well, pastor, you know, Lord saved me, but you know, I just kind of make my own decisions and do my own thing. Well, then you're not letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. If there isn't anything that you can't do, there's something wrong as a child of God. There ought to be some things that you just can't do. Not only does it teach us to sing, but it admonishes us. Paul says, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. You know why congregational singing is good? Because you're admonishing other people. You singing is a blessing to other people, whether you think so or not. Oh, I can't sing, God's not, this isn't a singing contest. It is you praising your God next to a fellow believer. That's encouraging! It admonishes us to sing. It admonishes us to urge to a duty, to remind of something. It is pushing us forward. And then he says, with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Taking the peace of God and the Word of God and reminding us that it all goes back to God. That grace that is brought in is what covers us. Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Let's look at a couple verses here. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 11. This admonishing is something that we're supposed to do. Verse 11 in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul says, You know what will do that? The word of God. You know why church problems come in? Because the Word of God has been vacated. And personal opinion has been put at a higher standard than what the Word of God says. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, but that is up to me. God is not going to make me do that. God is not going to make the peace of God rule. Notice, back in Colossians chapter 3, Verse 17, so he gives us all of this. And Paul is telling this church at Colossae that I want God to be real to you. I want God to be real in your relationships. He talks about wives and husbands and children and fathers and servants. And he covers all of those things. Notice verse 17. He said, And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Then he covers all of those personal relationships in 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. And then notice what he says in verse 23. And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, not unto men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which we have done, and there is no respect of persons." In conclusion this morning, notice that this allowance that I'm supposed to give to God is an all-encompassing one. I don't just come to God and say, okay, you can have this and this, not that God's not interested. You know what God wants whatsoever you do, whatever it is that you're doing, God wants to be a part of it. Whatever plan you're making for your life, God wants in whatever idea you have for your future. God wants to be a part of it. but he's not gonna make you do anything. God will let you. I've watched people that I grew up with, I've watched them walk away from the Lord, and you know what the Lord does? I think the Lord is grieved, and then the Lord just puts his hands up and says, okay. They're still saved, but God's not gonna make us. You know what it is? You know what Paul is narrowing at the end of this chapter down to? Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men. It is all about him. God wants to move and God wants to work in your life. No matter the climate of the world, no matter whether the polar bears are dropping at an alarming rate, you realize that God could make a whole bunch tomorrow. Do you ever wonder if God does that? If scientists go out into the wild and say, Oh, this thing's endangered and God just drops another 150. Yeah, God can do whatever he wants. But this whole thing, this allowance of God, God's not worried about COVID. God's not worried about the regular flu. God's not worried about cancer. God's not worried. Those things don't bother God. Those are all a product of a sinful nature. And that's on us. Do you know what God wants? God wants to talk to you, Christian. God wants his peace. to just settle into your soul. God wants you this week to not be so alarmed. And when that'll happen, you know what the next thing will be? You'll have a love for this book that you never had before. It's super hard to fall in love with a book that is absolutely the opposite of everything else that you're reading and drinking in. God's word does not line up with all the news networks. It can't. God wants you to allow his peace to rule, and God wants you to allow his word to work.