Holiness in the Family and at Work

Today on Renewing Your Mind when you find peace slipping away from your soul and you find turmoil rocking your spirit look to the Prince of peace and remind yourself of your inheritance of who it is that only two who it is who has adopted you into his family supposed to the Colossians to give them some practical ways to live their lives as new Christians reminded them because they been raised with Christ, to seek the things that are above and to let the peace of Christ in their hearts they needed that encouragement, then considering the challenges we face in our day.

We needed as well is RC Sproul where in that section of the epistle that has Paul's practical application of the theology of the doctrine that it expounded earlier in the epistle and if you recall uses the metaphor of putting on putting off and you told us to put off the works of the flesh and is now exhorting us to put on those things which are of the spirit of God, and he says here, above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, and we just touch on that. But we are to put on love, which is the grace the virtue the gift of the Holy Spirit that seals the bond of unity among believers. How many times this Jesus put emphasis on this point that by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another, and then he says let the peace of God dwell in your hearts. Is that what it says now rule in your hearts is not an interesting metaphor that he is saying not only that he wants us to possess the peace that passes understanding the shalom that has its roots in the character and nature of God himself, but that this piece is to be in a position of authority in a position of dominance a position of rule in our hearts that our lives should not to simply dissipate in the peace of Christ be dominated by that piece.

Remember when Jesus was preparing for his death in the upper room and during the upper room discourse. He said to his disciples, and let not your hearts be troubled and someone went on to give his last will and testament his final legacy before his death.

Many of you had the opportunity of being an attorney's offices when you heard the reading of the will of a departed loved one in which the New Testament is given at the last will and testament, and I bequeath so-and-so this particular piece of property, and so on. Jesus does that. He reads his will before he goes to his death in the presence of his friends in the presence of those who be called to this intimate association of discipleship and what was his last will and testament. He didn't have any place to lay his head. He didn't own a house. He didn't have a card and Evan Jerry what he had was that she said peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your hearts be troubled. This will most difficult things for Christians to do is to go through this world with them and troubled heart.

But any person whose heart is ruled by the peace of Christ is truly unflappable. This is an stoicism where one practices the importer mobility of the stiff upper lip, but it is a calm acquiescence into one's assurance of the character of God, and who God is, that whatever else happens to matter how much pain we endure, the matter how much persecution we have to face, we should be people of the peaceful and troubled spirit that is not an easy set, but it's the corollary to love. If we put on the love of God, and allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts. Then life moves to a whole new plateau to a whole new dimension doesn't and the courses was the great desire of the ancient Jews that were so important, so central to their theology that the word peace became a substitute for the word hello to this day when a Jew makes another Jew in Palestine and say hello with his essay shalom, a lack of peace be unto you in the responses. LA comes along, and unto you peace. And so Jesus was familiar with that Old Testament. Priority of peace, but he achieved a level of peace as the Prince of peace, that no mortal had ever achieved Thomas Aquinas speculated on the question of the beatific vision that which is promised to the people of God in heaven when the veil between our eyes in the very being of God is removed and the promise that John gives us in his epistles is that we shall see him as he is in his on veiled glory and recall that the beatific vision because no human experience no sensory experience could do anything close to flooding the soul with joy and happiness and be able for the believer to see the on veiled glory of God. This is the highest and supreme state of blessedness.

That's why it's called the beatific vision and remember when Jesus in the sermon on the Mount gave the promises to those who endured certain deprivations. Blessed are the poor and he goes through the blessings of the Beatitudes again who is promised, the vision of God who is promised beatific vision. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Since Jesus had perfect purity of heart, wouldn't that mean that he enjoyed in this world the beatific vision that he always beheld the father's effects and that was what it would be that would keep Jesus heart and soul in perfect peace as he could see the father he could bask as it were, in the glory of the father and it would give him peace.

These people that followed him around and saw him in the in the firestorm of controversy everywhere he went, being the target of ridicule and hatred and animosity. Nevertheless remain so call missed the store he had an indescribable measure of peace that no one ever seen in a human being before Saturday think they felt together up releases will hear from you. Leave your fellows like to give you my robe. The Romans are to take that let you have my peace. What a legacy that he would give to his disciples that he would give to us in this apostles, not just talking in religious terms.

He's talking in terms of a quality of life that he himself had participated in and he is reminding the Colossians of house central to the Christian life. The legacy of the peace of Christ is that it should not simply be tasted. Occasionally, but it should be in a position of dominance in the soul so that the life of the person is ruled by that piece, he will keep that one in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on him. So when you find peace slipping away from your soul and you find turmoil wracking your spirit look to the Prince of peace and remind yourself of your inheritance of the Lord is that only two who it is who is adopted you into his family left the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body and be thankful mother so much here when removal let the word of Christ dwell in you richly let the word of Christ richly dwell in your soul that is saying immerse yourself in the Scriptures immerse yourself in the word of God with the David say in the Old Testament thy word have I what he did in my heart I have just read it occasionally and just listen to it, let it bounce off my ears. But I've taken it as a prized possession and I've sought a place where I could conceal it from those who would steal it from me, it's a treasure and I have buried the treasure where in my heart so that that which is in my heart is the most valued thing of my life.

Let the word of God dwell in your heart richly and now he says something, I think, somewhat strange in the text. Very strange. Teaching and admonishing one another.

That's not so strange that Paul would call the people of God to be engaged in teaching each other and encouraging each other and admonishing each other but note the methodology that he asked to be used, how are they to teach and admonish one another through hymns and songs and spiritual socks. Luther understood that music is a preternatural gift that God gives to human beings and that there something that happens when the human person responds with music in response to music, it was that music sues the savage beast. It when Saul was going through his periods of dementia utter madness when he was king was the only thing that could call me spirit he would call for David and David would come in and he would play his instrument and sing the whole spirit of Saul would change called Paul is saying that we encourage one another, teach one another and admonish one another to spiritual growth by the singing together of hymns Psalms spiritual socks and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through and now Paul gives again virtually the same list of practical instructions that he gives in his other epistles over and over specific directions of behavior to various people in various circumstances. The first when wives submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord in our day and age.

This is seen as politically incorrect and totally unfitting apostolic testimony is the submission of the wife to the husband in the Lord is the fitting thing to do.

Missing before another passages where we have the command for wives to submit: say wives submit to your husbands as wives, submit to what your own husband's your particular husbands. Another translation to be your peculiar I children obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing to the Lord fathers, do not provoke your children unless they become discouraged. Elsewhere, he says, do not provoke them to wrath. Now you can provoke your children to wrath by disappointing them.

They can get angry, you can provoke them to wrath by disciplining them. They can about a dozen of a pause talking about here. He's talking about.

I believe he's talking about fathers who not only discipline but to tyrannize the guest children are called to obey those who are in authority over the children are called to rule their homes and adjust and godly manner, not exercising a tyranny in fighting that God has given us a license to abuse our children now on servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye services men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God in Ephesians when the commands are given to various groups. People talk all the time about the relationship. The wife and husband. What's why she's positive deposits, possibly with the child is possibly the purse) and Paul ends that is a discussion of slaves by your masters and there's almost no ink given to that text today. Why because slavery's been abolished, and so we don't sense a an application of this biblical mandate of submission of the slave to the master as being applicable to us because we've abolished slavery don't have slavery except for one little problem. Anyone who's a Christian is a slip we are called the dual the slaves, the bond servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says you are not your own, but you've been bought with a price. He has purchased your redemption by his own blood is paid.

The bride price to redeem you out of slavery and now he owns. You and that's Paul's favorite metaphor to describe himself and his own relationship to Christ braces.

Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ to the church at Rome and so and so every Christian bears.

This metaphor and this is rooted not only in Jesus thinking, but let's back up a minute. Let's go back to the Exodus. Why did the Exodus take place in the first place. What was the problem that God was acting to rectify his people were enslaved and they were under the tyranny of Pharaoh and they groaned under this burden that they had to endure for years and years and years and finally we read in Exodus that God hears the cry of his people and he sends Moses and he says Moses you go to Pharaoh and you say to Pharaoh that I said let my people go in the Old Testament drama of redemption is about release from slavery. But here's something you never almost never hear we know what God was freeing the Israelites from but what was he freeing them to for go tell Pharaoh to let my people go, so that they can do what they can come and serve me. We are freed from slavery to service in a sense what God is saying is a Pharaoh let him go there not yours their mind to serve you, but you certainly in like manner Jesus essay Satan taken away from you, so they can serve me there.

My I bought now if you are Christian you are no longer in bondage to sin no longer a slave site you are now called to be a servant of Jesus Christ. And since we are called to be servants.

We need to understand what God's law for servants what's and that's what I think is so rich about what Paul says here to the bondservant ceases bond servants, obey in all things your master according to the flesh but can we apply that to the Christian Christians obey your master in all things that work.

Here's the kicker there's the painful part, not with eye service, as men pleasers evolve in and work environments work situations where there's a foreman or superintendent plant superintendent, an office manager, whatever is through our own offices at the Atlee and Aaron walking unexpectedly in to the computer on the card game long game or whatever it is computer game Spielberg and paid the work and apply, but normally when I walk through the building and people see me coming there aren't any games on the computer's I look at these people essay how can they work so hard for so long, uninterrupted labor will mean they're making sure I see them in that posture of work that will do that that we all sort of increase the output when the boss comes by when Paul says not with eye services, meaning you don't serve your master only when your masters looking only when your masters watching you not to be a Christian, just when you're in church when the preachers looking at you but we are to be servants of Christ with sincerity, sincerity of heart, not says in I service nor as men pleasers.

I would say to you that the single greatest weakness of the church beginning the 21st century is that the church has been infected with men. Please Paul says it can't be a servant of Christ. If you got one eye on the crowd. You have been in jail for your faith. I haven't. How many of the disciples worked every one of them save one was executed for their faith. One, it wasn't was drawn, who was banished and exiled from his home by the government because they refused to please the craft.

That doesn't mean that we are called to be as obnoxious as we possibly can be. As Christians know when a spouse doesn't mean that God is called us to be the police of the world to correct everybody we see whenever we see them doing something that we know would not be pleasing to God. That's not what we're about.

I'm not talking that way.

I'm talking about being cowards for Christ because we know it's not politically correct to say there's one way to God.

We know that doesn't go down in this country were not willing to say that they were not servants of Christ and so we can learn much about what it means to be a Christian.

Looking at the New Testament mandate given to slaves is us who we are. I don't own my life, my life was purchased is not my sis, so he has a right to do with it whatever he wants.

I'm called to express that servant in sincerity of heart, I did skip over the responsibility lies with which it probably was a Freudian slip because that's the text I hate because if I had to choose responsibility given to a wife for the responsibility given to a husband in the New Testament.

I'd much rather take the easier responsibility which is the one God gives to what because God calls me to love my wife is? Give myself my wife as Christ gave himself as RC Sproul with a message from Colossians, and you're listening to Renewing Your Mind on this Tuesday timely web.

Thank you for being with us. This is classic RC Sproul material and it's an example of why we so appreciate his teaching. The messages were featuring this we come from our ministry partner archives, a collection of sermons and messages available only to those decided to give a monthly gift of $25 or more ministry partners or special group and that we serve them with exclusive resources and other benefits their stable monthly generosity fuels everything we do here at Ligonier ministries. If you have benefited from this ministry through the years. I hope you'll consider becoming a monthly partner, friends, like David, are helping us reach more more people with the gospel ministries and catalyst headsets tremendous impact on my spiritual life.

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