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- Good morning, people of faith. We're studying today, or learning today in Colossians chapter 3, verses 12 through 17.
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- I want to present to you a little word picture before we begin, and we're going to structure everything around that word picture.
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- I want you to think about you're climbing a mountain. It's not necessarily a very steep mountain, and there's a nice path there that you can get up, but it is still a very majestic mountain, and there's going to be four markers along the way.
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- The first two will be things to put on, and the second two will be things to let.
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- So as you're moving along this mountain, the first marker you come to tells us to put on.
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- What are we to put on? Tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long -suffering.
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- These are all found in verse 12. As you think about these words, it makes me think of us, and not only how we need to be for each other, but to each other as we come together tomorrow, hopefully tomorrow,
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- Lord willing, as broken people needing the kindness and tenderness and love that we bring to one another in healing binding broken pieces of our lives.
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- Verse 14 tells us to put on love, and that is our second marker, and it calls love there
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- The bond of perfection makes me think of the great love chapter, 1
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- Corinthians 13, and these three things remain, faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.
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- Notice that all those things from our previous marker, the tender mercies, the kindness, the humility, the meekness, the long -suffering, if they're done without love, are made meaningless.
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- Also remember that love covers a multitude of sins. When we go about this life looking for ways to be offended, it does not take long to be offended by our brothers and sisters in Christ.
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- We can take hurt when no hurt is meant towards us if we are not looking for love to be covering the multitude of sins, to think graciously of one another, that people are not necessarily out to hurt us.
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- We come upon our next marker, and this next marker is to let. This is found in verse 15.
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- It says, let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Well this is a mindset.
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- This is a mindset that says that God is in control.
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- He's in control of everything, and so it reminds me of Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7.
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- If you recall that verse, it says, those verses it says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, let the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
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- Why pray? Well pray because God is the one who is sovereign over all of life, and he is the one who is to rule in your hearts.
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- Our last marker, verse 16, says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
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- What is the word of Christ? Is it not the word of God, the Bible? This is to have biblical thinking in all matters of life.
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- So the question is, do you evaluate the decisions in life based on the
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- Bible, or do you do it based on culture, or how you feel, or what your family thinks, or what will people think if I do it this way?
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- And these decisions can be in any manner of different things. They can be in politics, entertainment choices, what church you go to or what church you don't go to.
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- There's any number of things, and the question should remain, am I basing my decisions based off of what
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- God has taught me in his word? And finally, finally you reach the top of the mountain after passing these four markers.
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- In verse 17 it says, whatever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the
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- Lord Jesus. Now many things have been done throughout church history in the name of the
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- Lord Jesus, but I want to focus on some that have been done in the Bible for just a moment. In Matthew chapter 28 we are commanded to baptize in the name of the
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- Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Now that would include the
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- Lord Jesus as the Son. So baptisms have been done. In Acts we see that demons were cast out even by unbelievers in the name of the
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- Lord Jesus. Peter in Acts 3, when he was presented with the man who was lame, and he says, silver and gold
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- I have none, but in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, rise and walk, healings were done, and holy fear came upon the church in the name of the
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- Lord Jesus Christ, bringing glory to Christ. In 1 Corinthians 6 lives were changed as regeneration and sanctification occurred, but it says in the name of the
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- Lord Jesus Christ. So many glorious things to bring glory and honor to our
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- Lord have been done in the name of Jesus Christ. Let's keep these things in mind that today we are to do all things in the name of the
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- Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, you sent your
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- Son to die for us that we might have life. Help us to live our lives in the name of the
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- Lord Jesus Christ as we put on all those things that we were to put on from those previous two markers, and to let your
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- Word dwell in us richly as we saw in those last two markers.
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- Help us to walk with you this day and bring glory and honor to you. It's in your Son's name, Jesus, we pray, amen.
