“And Be Thankful” (Part 1 of 2)

What does it mean to be in Christ? Where do we find our true identity as individual believers and as a church?

We'll hear the answers to these important questions today on Truth for Life. Alistair Begg explores an important reminder from the apostle Paul. Our Scripture reading this morning comes from the letter of Paul to the Colossians, and chapter 3, and reading from verse 12 to verse 17.

Colossians chapter 3, and beginning to read the twelfth verse. Put on, then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Amen. Almighty God, you have given to us your Word, and it is to your Word we now turn. It is the longing of our heart that we might hear your voice through your Word by your Spirit, and that in hearing we may both trust and believe, obey and live in the light of it, in order that you might be glorified and in order that our friends and family and neighbors may know that you are God. And we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. I woke up early in the morning, and I had just a phrase in my mind. It was a King James Version phrase, and it is the phrase that you can actually see in the ESV right there in verse 15, if you opened your Bibles. In the King James Version, it reads, Be ye thankful. Be ye thankful.

Now, why I wakened up with that phrase, I don't know. Partly because, I think, of the celebration that Susan and I had enjoyed the evening before. Partly in anticipation of all that thanksgiving provides us an opportunity for us in celebrating with one another God's goodness.

But for whatever reason, that was it. And so, as the week unfolded and into this week, I determined that there was a reason that I woke up with Be ye thankful. And so, Be ye thankful, or the ESV version of it, and be thankful, is the heading for this morning's study.

I didn't know where it was. I knew it was in the Bible. I knew it was in one of the letters, but I didn't know which letter.

And some of you are here, as young people, this morning, because the childcare doesn't extend to you. And so it's important that we understand what we mean when we say it was in a letter. There are letters in the New Testament. And the letter that we just read from was a letter that was written by the apostle Paul, and he wrote to a church that had been established in a place called Colossae—not Cleveland, but Colossae. And the reason that we're able to read this letter this morning in Cleveland is because it was written to Colossae a long, long time ago in order that all the people both in Colossae and all the people since may be able to learn from the Bible just why it's there. And it is important, I think, for us as a congregation that we take just a moment to remind us of its context. After all, many of you were not present when we studied Colossians together. Twenty-nine years ago, we studied Colossians, 1994. I think it's time for a refresher course. I'd like to believe that myself and all of you two would be able to say, Oh yes, Colossians, we remember all about that. The chances are that that is not the case. So, here is a brief background.

You can fill in the rest on your own. The church, I take it, began during Paul's time in Ephesus. You can find that in Acts chapter 19. And you remember that he was speaking in the synagogue, he was kicked out of the synagogue, he moved his operation to the hall of Tyrannus, and for two years he was doing Bible studies—I take it—in the afternoon in order that he might tell the gospel to as many people who wanted to listen. One of the listeners, presumably, was this fellow called Epaphras. And Epaphras was converted, I take it, during that time.

He then went back to his hometown, which is Colossae, and as a result of his ability to tell others this same good news, the church was formed there. At the time of the writing of the letter, Epaphras is actually now with the apostle Paul in Rome. Paul is writing from Rome to Epaphras's hometown and to the church that is there. And Epaphras has told Paul of what has been going on.

The church has blossomed, it has been fruitful, but there are various notions that have begun to embed themselves in the congregation. And when you read the letter through, as I hope you may do for homework even today, you will find exactly what it is to which he's referring. For example, in verse 4 of chapter 2, Paul writes to say, I am saying these things to you in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

So people were saying, I'll tell you what this really means and why this really matters. And so he writes, in the awareness of that, if you go just down to verse 8, he says—this is chapter 2—"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition." And what he has been doing is he has been making sure that the people who are now reading this letter understand what has happened to them when they have trusted in the Lord Jesus. More than anything else, that is what matters—that they understand what it means to be in Christ.

And if they will grasp that fully and be grasped by it, then they will not be deluded by these specious ideas, they will not be held captive by various notions. So in other words, he is preempting the kind of danger to which Epaphras has been alluding. And the responsibility both of Epaphras and of all in pastoral ministry might be summarized in the twenty-fifth verse of chapter 1, of which I became a minister, says Paul, according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you.

The gifts that were given to Paul were given to Paul but not for Paul. They were given for these people. To do what?

There you have it in a phrase. To make the Word of God fully known. So every person who stands up behind a pulpit with a Bible needs to be held to this.

And that's the question. Does this individual set out to make the Word of God fully known? And then secondly, in verse 28, him we proclaim, warning everyone, teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. Making the Word of God fully known and seeking to see those who have come to trust in Jesus grow to maturity.

Now, I need to leave you to do all the background work on your own. But the beginning of it all, I think, if you look at verse 6 of chapter 1, where he is laying out his case, this gospel, this hope that is yours, that you have heard, is the word of the truth, it is the gospel. Verse 6 of chapter 1, which has come to you, has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing, as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and you understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras, our fellow servant, because he had been the one who came back to let them know this amazing news. So they are those who have heard the word of grace in all of its truth. In chapter 2 and in verse 6, they have received Jesus Christ as Lord. In verse 13 of chapter 2, those who were dead are now made alive in Christ. And in a very realistic way, their old life has been buried in the waters of baptism, and their new life is now hidden with Christ in God. In short order, he's reminding them that they have been delivered from the rule or the dominion of sin. When a person has come to trust in Jesus, sin no longer reigns, but it remains. And so what he's pointing out is this, that you have been delivered from the dominion of sin, and now in Christ you are free and motivated to fight against the remnants of sin, which are still part and parcel of your journey as a Christian.

Anybody who suggests differently is clearly not even reading their Bibles. And so, what he does in the first two chapters is lay down these indicatives. These are the things that he says represent the true experience of someone who has come to know Jesus.

And then from that point, he's going to go on and make application of it. Now, at the risk of beginning a new series in Colossians right here and now, let me try and navigate back to this phrase and be thankful, because some of you have already forgotten that phrase due to our little discourses here. But anyway, what struck me was that when I went to the phrase thinking it was sort of a random phrase, I realized it wasn't random. It's not an isolated phrase.

It's not an isolated emphasis. In fact, verse 12 of chapter 1, I'll just point it out to you, giving thanks to the Father—giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Chapter 2 and verse 7, rooted, built up in him, established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Chapter 2 and verse 16, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. But instead, make sure that you are declaring the goodness of God with thankfulness in your hearts. You will recognize that that is actually chapter 3 and verse 16 and not chapter 2. Those of you who were turning it up or scratching your heads and saying it's not there at all, I think he's making it up. No, I was making that up, but it's chapter 3 and verse 16, with thankfulness in your hearts to God, and in verse 17, giving thanks to God, and in chapter 4 and in verse 2, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

So I said to myself, well, you know, I think I'm definitely onto something here. In other words, there is a direct correlation—a direct correlation—between a heart that is full of thankfulness to God for all that he has done for us in and through the Lord Jesus and a life that is then lived under his lordship. Do you get that? That there is a direct correlation between a heart that is filled with thankfulness for all that God has done for us in Jesus and then that life lived out underneath the lordship of the Lord Jesus himself. Now, what he does when he gets to chapter 3, as you perhaps recall, is he moves from what is indicative to what is imperative. These, he says in chapters 1 and 2, are the things that are true of Christian reality. Now he says, your application of that in your lives, by the same grace of God, will be revealed in this way. And he points out that those who get a new life in Jesus also get a new wardrobe. In other words, they get rid of a lot of stuff that was in their old-life wardrobe—not actually necessarily their clothes, although that would be good to do in certain cases, I'm sure. But a punk rocker may decide that she doesn't really want to be a punk rocker for Jesus anymore, and she thinks that was part of her old life.

I don't know, because I don't know any punk rockers at the moment. But the fact of the matter is, in verses 5–11, he is explaining, you don't wear this stuff. You don't wear rage, you don't wear malice, you don't put on a jacket that is marked uncleanness. So he deals with a negative, which we're not going to touch, and then he goes, in verse 12, to deal with a positive. Essentially, he's answering this question. What do people whose thankfulness flows from the grace of God… What do people whose thankfulness flows from the grace of God look like, not just as individuals but as communities? Because remember, he's not writing to an individual—there are some letters written to individuals—but he's writing to a community. In many ways, it would be as if someone had written us a wonderful letter to the church in Cleveland and had reminded us in chapters 1 and 2 of everything that is ours in Jesus.

And then in chapter 3, the application comes. Therefore, here is your dress code. Dress code is an interesting phrase, isn't it? I don't know how recent it is, the idea of dress code. I mean, there's always been different codes. In Scotland, sometimes it's formal wear with a kilt, sometimes it's not. It's usually dangerous whether it is or it isn't.

But we've got it now. You end up asking the question, well, what is the dress code? Is it formal, semi-formal, informal, casual, business professional, business formal, business casual, smart casual, casual? How do you actually decode the dress code?

There's no difficulty here. And I'm going to identify three pieces that are part of those whose lives are transformed by grace, community-wise. First of all, he is pointing out that our identity is grounded in the work of Christ. And the work of Christ is seen in his calling us to himself. Notice how he begins, verse 12, Put on then. Put on then.

Get your clothes on. As God's chosen ones. The story of the Bible from the beginning is a divine search on the part of God for those who are not actually looking for him. And he is reminding these people that God has chosen them. What Jesus on one occasion says to his disciples, he says, You didn't choose me, but I chose you.

Wow! Out of all the people in the world, these people in Colossae, you see, we thank God for our salvation, don't we? Because we know that God was entirely responsible for it. That's why we thank him.

Chosen ones. Holy, a people of his own possession, a recurring emphasis throughout all the letters of the New Testament. The glory of the gospel is actually in the fact that God is doing something in his church that is absolutely different from what he's doing anywhere else.

Martin Lloyd-Jones was very strong on this. He would say to his people always in London that the great glory of the gospel, when it is revealed in a community, is revealed in the fact that God makes his people different from other people. Different from other people. Now, if you think about that for a moment, it is actually at the other side of the notion—which is a prevalent notion—that the way we can go out and reach the greater community is just to let them know we're just exactly like them. But that would be a fiction, because we're not like them.

We used to wear those clothes, but we don't wear those clothes now. And it is when the difference is seen, when the attractiveness of the difference is seen, that people will actually begin to pay attention, will actually begin to listen, even though they may hate us for it at first. They called you names. But wasn't it you they came to when their son was diagnosed with cancer? Wasn't it you they came to seek out when they felt that their life was on a shaky foundation? They hated you. You were different. They listened. They came.

And some of them came to Christ. Because of you. Because you were chosen.

Because God made you holy. And because he loved you. Chosen, holy, and beloved. You see, that's not merely a term of affection. We understand what it is to say, I like you or I love you. Mere terms of affection are wonderful things. But what he's actually saying here is, you are objects of God's love. Of God's love. A love that has been exercised toward sinners even while we're actual sinners. A love that has been unconstrained by any qualities in us. It's unlike any other love. We love, because, well, this is a nice person to love.

I mean, they're like me, or I like them, or I like what they do. But God looks on us. And despite what we are, he loves us.

In this is love, not that we love God but that he loved us and gave his Son as a propitiation for our sins. When I was studying this, it made me think again of Jonathan Edwards and the distinction that he makes in his religious affections concerning gratitude. This is what he says, True gratitude, or thankfulness to God, for his kindness to us, arises from a foundation laid before, of love to God for what he is in himself. Whereas a natural gratitude has no such antecedent foundation. The gracious stirrings of grateful affection to God for kindness received always are from a stalk of love already in the heart, established in the first place on other grounds—namely, God's own excellency.

So, is there then a difference between natural gratitude and gracious gratitude? I mean, everybody's been out there saying, Hey, it's Thanksgiving. Let's be thankful.

Let's have a turkey. Let's be thankful we got enough money to go and use it up on Black Friday and worry about it on whatever Saturday's called. But only the person who is in Christ has any inkling of this. Otherwise, you see, what about all the people in the world that have nothing and yet in Jesus have everything?

When everything that is represented as an essential dimension of human existence is no longer part and parcel of their lives, is Christ really all in all? You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. And we'll hear more tomorrow. Well, on behalf of all of us here at Truth for Life, we want to wish you a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. If you live here in the United States, our offices are closed so our team can enjoy celebrating at home with their families.

We'll be back in the office on Monday, December 2nd. As you share time with your loved ones in the weeks ahead, we hope you will make this season of giving a time to tell others about Jesus. That's why we have carefully selected gospel themed books that you can give as Christmas presents. They're available for purchase at our cost in our online store at truthforlife.org slash gifts. As you browse this selection, you will find several options for young children. For example, we have a bundle of three colorful board books that teach preschoolers how to use their eyes, their hands and their speech in ways that honor Jesus. This set of three books can be purchased together for just $9. There is also a brightly illustrated book that teaches older children about the parables Jesus told. It's priced at $5. And if you're looking for stocking stuffers or something extra you can attach to every child's gift, you'll find pocket sized booklets that teach young children the story of God's salvation plan. You can buy a 10 pack of these for just $5.

And there is so much more. Check out the meaningful gift options online at truthforlife.org slash gifts. And if you add a donation to your purchase, you can request the family Christmas devotional titled promises made promises kept. Thanks for studying God's Word with us. Tomorrow we'll learn how the church could be a radical light shining in a dark world. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.