Wherever, Whatever, Whenever, However . . . Christ!, Part 2

Today, from Chuck Swindoll. Let's start with a question. When you're making an important decision that will shape the future of your life, how can you truly know when you've arrived at the right choice? Well, sometimes we wish a booming voice would sound from the heavens and tell us exactly what to do. But instead, God has chosen another way. And it always begins with, as Paul said of the Colossians, allowing the peace that comes from Christ to rule in our hearts. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll helps us understand the powerful implications of this unparalleled peace. May the mind of Christ, my Savior, live in me from day to day, by His love and power controlling all I do and say. May the Word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour so that all may see I triumph only through your power. And may the peace of God my Father rule my life in everything that I and that we may be strong to comfort the sick and the sorrowing. This is our way of saying, Father, that we want your Son, Christ, to be our all in all, whatever, whenever, however, forever. May it be Christ, lifted up, magnified. And as He is lifted up, may we find joy in the shadow of the cross, for the price was paid for our sins, past, present, and future. We come today, our Father, not to grow nearer you, nearer, still nearer, nearer we cannot be, for in the person of your Son, we are as near as He. But we come to worship, and our gifts today reflect our gratitude for your abundance hour after hour, day after day. Accept these gifts as we give them for your greater glory. In the name of the one who is our all in all, even Jesus, we pray and we give. Everyone sit.

Amen. These words are written to people who know the Lord Jesus Christ. The entire letter of the Colossians was written to people who love Jesus and walk with Him there in the midst of the influx of a particular teaching that was taking over in some parts of the church called the Gnostics. Paul writes to the people and reminds them that your life is not some philosophy, it is not some religion, your life is Christ. It can be boiled down into the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at 15. Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. I'll explain that in a moment. But the peace of Christ, here we are in the outline, is to rule in my heart.

He says it. Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your heart. So the peace of Christ is to rule in my heart.

Look at verse 16. Let the word of Christ, or the message about Christ, fill your lives. So the second point of the outline and of Paul's writing is the message of Christ is to fill my life. The word of Christ is to fill me to the full. Now when you get to verse 18, without announcing it, he goes from the inner person and the life of the individual to the first circle that surrounds us. And that's our homes and families. The presence of Christ is to be seen in my home and with my family. The presence of Christ is to pervade, to permeate my home, my family. Verse 22, in the first century, the issue was slaves and masters.

I'm not here today to solve that conflict and that problem. Paul doesn't set out to change it, so I don't intend to. I'm going to apply it to employees and employers. So you get to verse 22, we now have the life of Christ is to be on display in my work or at my workplace. Words to the employee, 22 through 25, words to the employer, verse 1, chapter 4. It's a good time for me to say for you who love the Bible and are studying it seriously, look for clues. As you're reading through it, put your brain in gear and look for the flow of thought.

Notice the progress. Verse 15, the heart. Verse 16, the life. And 17. Verses 18 through 21, the home.

22 through 41, the work, occupation. Now, let's move ahead and let's see what he has to say, first of all, about peace in our hearts. Verse 15, because it isn't automatic, he begins with the word, let this happen.

You have a hand in this. Let it occur. Let what occur? Let the peace that comes from Christ. What is this peace? Well, think about it. When you read your Bible and you come across a word that is deserving of some time and attention, spend time on it.

Here's a good one. When I think of peace, I think of inner quietness, tranquility, a feeling of calm, secure serenity. When I have peace, I'm at ease.

I'm at rest. And here he says, let that peace be in your heart. Not talking about the organ that pumps blood, not the literal organ of the body, but the inner person.

Get this. Where you make decisions. Where motives are hidden. Where secrets are kept. It's the deepest part of our being frequently referred to in the Bible as our heart.

Now it begins to make sense. Let the sense of calm and serenity flow through your inner being so that you are at peace. And what does that do?

It is there for what purpose? To rule in our hearts. Paul had a choice of words and he chooses rule. The Greek term means to arbitrate, to arbitrate. An arbitrator is one who takes it upon himself or herself to decide what is right in a given conflict or contest.

In games, we call them umpires or referees. That's why people will sometimes paraphrase this, let the word or let the peace that comes from Christ act as umpire deep within your life. And when is that important? When you're wanting to do the will of God. He's called us to live in peace. You see how the verse ends? And by the way, be thankful. And you are. When the peace of Christ acts as umpire in your life, you're always thankful. You can't help but say, Lord, thank you for giving me this sense of serenity when I was in such unrest. And she may be the woman you should marry.

Now this isn't a ceremony going on right here, okay? So you've got to think it through. He may be the man you ought to give the rest of your life to. He may not. You need the peace that only Christ can give. And when you allow him to serve as umpire, he will call that shot and you will know it.

Until you know it, don't decide. Wait for it. Now, that's the peace of Christ in the heart.

Now I go to the next one. Here he says, let the message about Christ, or the word of Christ, like us, it's the word for word. Let the word of Christ in all its richness fill your life. What does that mean? It means think on it. Read it. Listen to it when it's taught. Respect it.

Pour over it. Make a study of it. Memorize portions of it. Let it fill your life.

Let it become a part of your vocabulary, part of your way of thinking. What Moses says affects the way you think. What Jeremiah writes affects the way you think and respond. What David puts together in the Psalms, or Paul, or Peter, or Jude, or James, or John, all of it fits together and before long it begins to fill your life.

I love the way Eugene Peterson renders this in his paraphrase of the message. Let the word of Christ, the message, have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives.

Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. See what the verse says? Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Let the message in all its richness fill your life. Even so that when you are asked about advice, let your teaching and counsel with others be filled with the wisdom that God gives. You know, in my life, the counsel that I've sought from people that I respect, it's always been the best counsel when it's been woven into the Word of God. People who are able to do that become convincing in their counsel because they're not trying to get you to do what they want you to do or what human nature would say. They say, you know, the thing you're struggling with is the very thing that Peter went through in the days of his trial and his struggle.

Let me tell you what he says about it and then they'll quote Peter or they'll read it to you. And the word of Christ begins to fill our lives as we teach and as we counsel with each other. By the way, the byproduct of that, look at the verse. We sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs to God and he mentions again thankful hearts. The role of music comes again and gives you that delight in the will of God. In fact, he says in verse 17, whatever you do or say, look at the word whatever.

Teenagers use it in one way, whatever. But Paul doesn't mean it like that. He means literally whatever may occur, whenever it may happen. However, wherever you may be. Whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the father. You know, when you do that, when he's your all in all, we sing that. He is my strength when I am weak.

Remember singing those words? He is the treasure that I seek. He is my all in all. When he is that, it flows naturally and there is a lot of common sense wrapped around it. And before you know it, you're guided and guarded from extremes as you think about it.

OK, you following it? The peace of Christ in the heart, the word of Christ in the life. Now we come to the presence of Christ.

That is to permeate our homes and families. Now it gets a little bit convicting. Correction.

It gets very convicting. OK. Hang on, wives. I'm going to say something very non politically correct. OK.

Better stated, politically incorrect. That's why I believe it. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. Oh, boy. I can feel some of you right now.

If you knew my husband like I know my all I'm doing is reading to you from the scriptures. OK. I didn't write it, but I stand behind it. Let me finish before most of you walk out. Listen to this.

Submit means submit. Adapt your life to his. And you know what's amazing when Christ is your all in all, it isn't nearly as irksome as you might think. When you're selfish, it is when your head strong, it is. When he does things you don't like, it'll it'll aggravate you.

If he's your all in all. But if Christ is your all in all, you don't see the adapting is that is that sacrificial. It's fitting for those who belong to the Lord.

You know what else you're missing? If that happens to be your reaction, what I just described, you're thinking it means you're inferior. What did I read here that says you're inferior? You hear that from the world system. Let me give you an illustration. The Godhead, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. There's hierarchy there.

There's order. God the Father is the planner. God the Son is the one who implements the plan. God the Spirit empowers it.

Stay with me. Jesus comes to Earth and he says to the Father, I do all those things that please you. It's called submission. He's the Son of God. He's still equaled with the Father. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit, co-eternal, co-existent, co-equal. There's no inferiority in the Godhead. But there is a harmonious submission, a willingness.

There's a hierarchy, get this, with equality. You see, when you're in a home where Christ is all in all, nobody pulls rank. Any husband who walks around telling his wife he's the boss, first of all, he isn't. And second, he's a fool.

But I'll get to him in a moment. Let's stay with the wives. It's fitting for you who belong to the Lord that you adapt your life to your husband. You choose not to do that, don't get married. You marry that comes along with it. Now, husbands, quit poking your wives. That's not fair.

In fact, I'm going to get to you right now. Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. Interesting, isn't it? We are instructed by a command here and in Ephesians 5 to love her. It's agape love. It's a love that doesn't expect a reciprocal love in return. It's a one-way love. It's a love that represents honor and respect. There's even a sense of adoration in it. Have a place in your life that is so filled with love that bears the name and the life of your wife that it's obvious to her how much you care for her. You know something in my 50 years of ministry? I remember how I say this except for cases of mental illness and severe emotional illness. I've never known a wife who was loved as she should be loved who struggled with submission.

Never. You see, it may not be the wife. It may be the husband. Husbands, the command is that you love her. I sometimes say to Cynthia with tongue in cheek, I exist to serve you.

She says, oh, you're so funny. But I mean it. She needs something.

I want to make it happen. Why? Because I'm crazy about her. I love her. I don't have a problem with her submitting to me. Now there are times she gives me counsel.

Which I need. And there are some times I give her counsel. You do that when you're equals. Wives, there's no inferiority. Husbands, there's no tromping around the house with a club hanging from your waist saying stupid things like how important you are. You're not. Christ is important when he's your all in all. The home isn't about you and it isn't about her.

It's about Christ, who's the one who called you together. See how it works? We fouled it up because we've done it all with such humanism.

We've taken our cue from the world and we hear the feminists as they come on with this strong message. You don't get me to say anything kind to him. You know what? Relax. By the way, let me let me let me tell you something. Let me let me tell you something about life in the first century. You think it's tough now?

Listen to William Barkley. Under Jewish law, a woman was a thing. The possession of her husband just as much as his house or his flocks or his material goods. She had no legal rights whatever.

For instance, under Jewish law, a husband could divorce his wife for any cause. While a wife had no rights whatever in the initiation of divorce. And the only grounds on which a divorce might be awarded her were if her husband developed leprosy, became an apostate, or ravished a virgin. In Greek society, a respectable woman lived a life of entire seclusion. She never appeared on the streets alone, not even to go to market. She lived in the women's apartments and did not join her menfolk even for meals. For her, there was a demanded complete servitude and chastity. But her husband could go out as much as he chose and could enter into as many relationships outside marriage as he liked without incurring any stigma. Under both Jewish and Greek laws and custom, all the privileges belong to the husband and all the duties to the wife. Look how revolutionary Paul's words are. Husbands, don't go there.

Don't do that. Love her. In fact, Ephesians says love her as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. She loves you enough to submit to you. You love her enough to die for her. And you would do so willingly when you love her like this. How magnificent is that kind of harmony? How great is that kind of marriage? How rarely it occurs because we are driven by an old nature that wants our way.

We call our own shots, thank you. But when Christ is your all in all, whenever, however, wherever and whatever, you love her. You're listening to Insight for Living. Our Bible teacher, Chuck Swindoll, is midway through a message he's titled Wherever, Whatever, Whenever, However, Christ. To learn more about this ministry, visit us online at insightworld.org. This message is part of our brand new study in Paul's letter to the Colossians.

And in the event you're prepared to dig deeper on your own, I'll point you to two collateral resources. First, Chuck wrote a biography on Paul, the man who wrote this masterful letter to the Colossians. He wrote this spirit inspired book while behind bars, chained to a prison guard. Chuck titled this biography on Paul, A Man of Grace and Grit.

And you can purchase a copy right now when you go to insight.org slash offer. In addition to this biography, Chuck wrote a living insights commentary on Colossians. This book, which also includes his commentary on Philippians and Philemon, is laid out in a format that's clear and easy to understand. Chuck provides the cultural background so you can understand the context of Paul's letter. To purchase a copy of the commentary on Colossians, call us.

If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888. When our study in the book of Colossians comes to a close, we'll take a few days to celebrate Easter. And right after Resurrection Sunday, we'll begin our next study. We often receive letters and comments from our listeners who are looking to find a healthy church to attend. Chuck will present a highly practical series called The Church Awakening. In closing, I'll remind you that we rely on your support to make these daily Bible studies with Chuck possible. And if it's been a while since you've responded to the need, or if you've never stepped forward with a contribution, we invite you to give a donation today by calling us. If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888. Or give a donation online at insight.org slash donate. I'm Bill Meyer, inviting you to join us when Chuck Swindoll continues his brand new study in Paul's letter to the Colossians. Tomorrow on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Wherever, Whatever, Whenever, However, Christ, was copyrighted in 2014 and 2022, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2022 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.