Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20070729.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Colossians: Maturing Over False Beliefs By Christ's Supreme All-Sufficiency
Part IX: Applying Christ's Supreme All-Sufficiency To Godly Living
C. Using Christ's Supreme All-Sufficiency For A Life Of Worship
(Colossians 3:16-17)
  1. Introduction
    1. John F. MacArthur, Jr. noted: "There is almost no limit to how far some churches will go to be relevant' and contemporary' in their worship services." ("How Shall We Then Worship?" In The Coming Evangelical Crisis, 1996, John H. Armstrong, gen. ed., p. 175) He illustrated the point, noting "the following ad for a Sunday evening service appeared in the bulletin of one of the largest and best known churches in the heart of America's Bible Belt': Circus: See Barnum and Bailey bested as the magic of the big top circus comes to The Fellowship of Excitement! Clowns! Acrobats! Animals! Popcorn! What a great night!'" (Ibid., p. 175-176)
    2. This is not true worship; the worship God seeks is a orientation toward the supremacy and all-sufficiency of Christ in one's outlook that affects his whole life (as follows):
  2. Using Christ's Supreme All-Sufficiency For A Life Of Worship, Colossians 3:16-17.
    1. We have learned in this series that due to the supremacy and all-sufficiency of Christ, the believer is to seek those things above where Christ sits enthroned in glory rather than those things that are on the earth, Col. 3:1-3. This equips him to live above the world's vain secular philosophies (Col. 2:8-10), and the artificial spiritualities of legalism (Col. 2:11-17), mysticism (Col. 2:18-19) and asceticism (Col. 2:20-23).
    2. In practice, this view causes a believer's whole life to express WORSHIP to God, Col. 3:16-17:
      1. Flowing from his preoccupation with the supremacy and all-sufficiency of His exalted, coming, glorified Lord (Colossians 3:1-4), the believer is to let the Word of Christ, Scripture itself, dwell richly in him in every kind of wisdom, or practical skill in application to the Christian life, Colossians 3:16a.
      2. Flowing out of his preoccupation with the supremacy and all-sufficiency of His exalted, coming, glorified Lord Jesus Christ, the believer is to let that Scripture dwelling in him influence other believers as it both instructs and admonishes them unto godliness, Colossians 3:16b:
        1. The word rendered "teaching" (KJV) from didasko in the Greek Testament means to "instruct," U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966 ed., p. 700; Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lex. of the N. T. , p. 191.
        2. The word rendered "admonishing" (KJV, ESV) from noutheteo in the Greek Testament means "to have a corrective influence," Ibid., U. B. S. Greek N. T.; Th. Dic. of the N. T., v. IV, p. 1019.
        3. Thus, the believer's preoccupation with the supremacy and all-sufficiency of His exalted Lord will lead to his being so engrossed in His Word that, by way of his contact with other believers, he will inevitably teach and have a corrective influence upon them toward influencing them unto holiness!
      3. This influence will be evident when the believer performs Old Testament psalms (psalmois), hymns of praise to God (humnois) and all other forms of spiritual songs (odais pneumatikais), Col. 3:16c; Ibid., U. B. S. Greek N. T., p. 700-701; J. B. Lightfoot, Colossians and Philemon, p. 225.
      4. This influence will occur in with a demeanor of graciousness toward others (en chariti), Col; 3:16d; Ibid., U. B. S. Greek N. T., p. 701 (and p. 702 with Colossians 4:6).
      5. This influence will come from the inner man, from the heart that is in right relationship with the Lord and is thus filled and hence empowered and led by God the Holy Spirit, Colossians 3:16e.
      6. This influence will be attended by the tendency to glorify Christ, Col. 3:17a; cf. John 16:13-14.
      7. This influence will be accompanied by heartfelt thanksgiving to God the Father through Christ for the believer's salvation and positional riches possessed in his wonderful Lord, Colossians 3:17b!
Lesson: A preoccupation with the supremacy and all-sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ leads the believer to a whole LIFE of TRUE WORSHIP where Scripture so permeates his thinking, he impacts in teaching and correcting fellow believers unto practical holiness even in his musical expressions, and he impacts others from the heart with a focus on God's grace that glorifies Christ with thanksgiving!

Application: My we focus on the supremacy and all-sufficiency of our Lord to live lives of true worship!