Lord’s Day Message
Topics: The testimony of Christian living (1)
Bible Verses: Col. 3:5~17
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: … seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Col. 3:5a, 9b-10, ESV)
“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.” (Col. 3:12-15)
Message Outline:
Our life and living are both related and cannot be separated. Christians have Christ as their life inwardly and must have a holy and glorious living as their expression and testimony. Paul describes this living in two aspects, one is the living of putting off the old man and putting on the new man; another is the living of God’s chosen people who live out divine attributes.
- The living of putting off the old man and putting on the new man
- Putting off the old man
Life needs a healthy environment for its growth. This is the reason why we need to put to death what is earthly in us (5) and put them all away (8) so that the life of Christ can grow in us. We need to initiate such “putting to death” that the Spirit can freely work on us and we can be released from sin and be transformed (Rom. 8).
- Putting on the new man
Putting off the old man and putting on the new man is the living of renewing, which will result in two aspects. First, is to be renewed in knowledge. With this we will know how glorious and perfect Christ is and how real and worthy His salvation is. Second, renewing will make us like Him who is our creator.
- Christ is all and in all
Only Christ should be the expression and testimony of a Christian’ living. What we testify is not religious practices, culture, nor social classes, but Christ Himself. In fact, the expression of Christ is the only way to take away the partition from religion, culture, and social classes.
2. The living of God’s chosen people
- Full of divine attributes
The testimony and expression of our living should include compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.
- Put on love which binds everything
Every divine attribute should be bound with love. For example, compassion without love is just showing pity to others, and humility without love may become false. Only love can render these attributes real and lasting values.
- Ruled by the peace of Christ
The Christian living is not led by our own will and we need to learn to be ruled by the peace of Christ. For example, how we endure or forgive others does not depend on our own feeling, but should depend on the will of Christ. We need to seek His mind and obey Him.
3. A living full of the words of Christ
The words of Christ will give us the strength and reality for our living. The transformation of our living should depend on the motivation of Christ’s words, match with the reality of Christ’s name, and eventually give thanks to God the Father.
Next Topics: Col. 3:16~4:1
The testimony of Christian living (2)
Announcements：
- Brother Patrick Li has arranged the weekly schedule for hall cleaning. Please take a look to see your schedule and if any questions, please fellowship with Brother Patrick.
- 10/2 (Chinese New Year) the church will hold another gospel meeting which will focus on singing and testimonies. We hope all the brothers and sisters can prepare and participate. A few families can come together, pick up gospel hymns and share their testimonies.
- Please exercise ourselves to attend the meeting on time.
Intercession：
- Pray for Sister Rebecca Li who was just baptized. May the Lord bless her new life and her family.
- Pray for 10/2 gospel meeting. May the Lord give every brother and sister a spirit of preaching gospel and open the hearts of all friends that they can receive the precious salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Pray that the Lord will give every brother and sister healthiness, peace and joy in our daily living. Also pray for those (the saints or the relatives) who have sicknesses. May the Lord heal the sick according to His will as well as comfort and strengthen the saints.
- Pray for those who travel or go back to home town in the summer break. May the Lord be with them and care for them.
Reference Materials:
When a man comes to the Lord he must let the word of Christ dwell in him richly “in all wisdom”. The dwelling of the word brings us to know Him and His being, and it causes us to live a life close to Him.
The word of God shows us how lovely the Lord’s being is and how precious His operation is. It also makes us to love Him, pursue Him, and be one with Him. How wonderful is it! The word in us becomes the reason we come to Him. The dwelling of the word causes us to get close to Him and to love praying before Him. The dwelling of the word makes us living and powerful. It also makes us love Him and follow Him even more.
This is also “all” wisdom. We can know Him and be one with Him through the fellowship with Him. The wisdom also strengthens us to operate. Our operation is full of wisdom: To the Lord, we have psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts. Then among the saints, we may teach and admonish one another to enjoy and experience the Lord. ……
Dear brothers, I desire that we all have the word dwelling in us richly, so that we have all wisdom to enjoy Christ in the word. I also desire we have all wisdom to enjoy, experience, and pursue the Lord whom we love. (Come to the presence of the Lord, 42, Titus Chu)
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