Disciple Up # 165
Christ the Controversialist
By Louie Marsh, 6-24-2020
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Month: June 2020
Episode 164
Disciple Up # 164
Colossians: The Supremacy of Christ
Pt. 7(8): Put on the Garments of Grace, Col. 3:12-17
By Louie Marsh, 6-17-2020
Intro: Today we continue our look at Paul’s Putting off and on metaphor and focus on the positive side of it. We’ve already seen we must put off the old man, now our focus must change.
Where you can find past episodes on Colossians: 134, 135, 137, 142, 146, 152, 160, 164. Please note my numbering of my Colossians are off by one – this should be Part 8!
Signs in Longmont for guys running for County Coroner – we don’t want to become our own spiritual coroner.
- I) THE CLOTHING OF CHRIST (vs. 12-14)
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 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. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:12-14 (ESV)
- A) Chosen People Choose Compassion (vs. 12)
1, “God’s chosen ones” = used of Israel in OT, now it’s us – dearly loved by God!
2, Because this is true we – as a Body – must put on these things.
a, Compassion leads to kindness, humility leads to gentleness & patience.
b, Compassion = “bowels of compassion” literally “inwards parts” used of seat of emotions. That’s heart to us, but bowels to eastern people
3, We know that we CAN be and act this way, because the Lord tells us here being this way is A CHOICE!
- B) Applying These in the Church (vs. 13)
1, There may have been hard feelings in Colossian church over fight with false teachers, may have felt bitter about growing churches in neighboring towns.
a, How do we handle these problems in the church?
2, Paul says to first of all bear with one another.
a, Literally that means “to put up with”
3, We must also forgive each other, even if the other isn’t worthy of it!
a, forgive = “give freely or graciously as a favor” give being Charis in Greek – GRACE!
b, Literal translation could read “forgive yourselves.” When we fail to forgive other believers we fail to forgive ourselves because WE ARE ONE IN CHRIST!
c, It’s written in the present tense – showing a continual, tireless effort must be made. Matt. 18: 21-35
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Matthew 18:21-35 (ESV)
4, We must forgive this way, because this is the way God forgave us. The finished work of Christ is the basis for our treatment of each other.
- C) Love – Superglue! (vs. 14)
1, Clothing metaphor is back. We are to wear love “above all” which may mean “on top of all.”
a, Love, Agape, is more than just another virtue, it’s what holds them together and makes them come alive. Without love they are nothing (I Cor. 13)
2, “Binds them all together in perfect unity.” What does this mean?
a, Perfect as we’ve discussed before means complete, mature, something that has completed it’s purpose. Love is what brings us together and makes us into a mature Body of believers.
3, This word was used in early Christian lit. to distinguish the baptized believer from someone still being taught.
4, The Gnostics – a heresy – used it to denote the man who has passed from mere faith to knowledge.
a, Preachers who harp on “I know that I know that I know!” are dangerously close to the gnostic heresy!
- II) PEACE IN THE BODY (vs. 15-17)
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 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. 17 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. Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV)
- A) Peace that Rules (vs 15)
1, This applies to both individuals and churches
2, Peace = referred to umpires who presided over and presented prizes at games, normally used in the sense of judge, decide, control or rule.
3, The Peace of Christ should rule and decide what is and isn’t right behavior in our lives and our churches. I should obey when it tells me something I’m about to say or do isn’t right.
- B) Be Thankful (vs. 15)
1, “Within the Pauline letters the word-group regularly denotes gratitude that finds outwards expression in thanksgiving; there is an emphasis in Paul on the public aspect of thanksgiving.”
2, Why aren’t we more thankful?
a, Could it be because Christ isn’t as real part of our everyday lives as I’d like Him to be?
- C) Peaceful Ministry (vs. 16)
1, The Word of Christ
a, more than the Bible – although that’s part of it
b, it’s the gospel message which centers on Christ, it’s everything about Him, it’s His special presence with us!
2, Dwell in us
a, dwell is to become a permanent part of your thoughts and feelings
b, it also means Christ is to be allowed to dwell in each church Body.
3, Richly
a, We must let the full effects of Christ’s Grace overflow us.
b, We must let Christ truly be Head of this church.
4, We are to teach and admonish one another – music is a way of ministry as surely as teaching and preaching.
1, We are to do this wisely – ie. under the influence of the indwelling Word of Christ and the at the direction of the Peace of Christ.
III) DO ALL IN THE NAME OF JESUS (vs. 17)
17 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. Colossians 3:17 (ESV)
- A) Whatever
1, This command isn’t limited to church or “spiritual” things.
a, it deals with both speech and actions
b, it deals with our entire life!
c, FOR THE CHRISTIAN THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM IT!!!
- B) The Name of the Lord Jesus
1, This refers to His authority.
a, A Christian shouldn’t steal because you can’t do that with Christ’s o.k.
b, To act in the Name of someone means to act on their behalf – with their permission!
c, So this brings us back to verse 14, acting in the Name of Jesus is acting in Agape – God’s Love.
2, It also refers to Salvation
a, Acts 4: 8-13.
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:8-13 (ESV)
b, “The whole content of salvation revealed in Jesus is comprised in his name.”
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Episode 163
Disciple Up #163
Staying Sane in An Insane World – Thinking Biblically
By Louie Marsh, 6-10-2020
How to stay sane?
First Think Biblically
God calls disciples to think Biblically not culturally and not to simply follow my feelings or to go by my instincts. No, God calls all disciples to think clearly, critically (I mean analytically not to be critical of others).
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Isaiah 1:18 (ESV)
We need to think like God thinks, to see the world as he does and then follow that truth.
People sometimes say, “The god I believe in …” Perhaps the god you believe in isn’t the real, true and living God. And the only way to know for sure what he thinks is to consult, understand and depend upon the Bible.
C.S.Lewis: “If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones!”
Jesus shows us his authority in many places including the Sermon on the Mount when he repeatedly says, “You have heard it said but I say…”
To think like Jesus, to think Biblically means that you’ll really be different. Not different in a way that is considered cool, but different in a fundamental way that won’t be appreciated by many if not most people.
To really think Biblically I must to this: 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (ESV)
Test everything – especially things that make me feel good while sending me off in a slightly different direction in life.
This kind of testing, comparing everything to Scripture – needs to become a deeply ingrained habit that the disciple does automatically!
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 (ESV)
An Example of Thinking Biblically
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:34-40 (ESV)
1st Question: Who is my neighbor?
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:29-37 (ESV)
Is this a command to love yourself?
2nd Question: What is the command here?
A: To love my neighbor. This isn’t two commands – it’s ONE. The command is to love my neighbor.
The second part of this is an explanation of HOW we are to love our neighbor. People have always known there are different kinds of love. Love my dog, spouse, baseball, various unhealthy sweets etc.
“As yourself” explains that this command is for us to love our neighbor the way we normally LOVE OURSELVES. This selflove is assumed – NOT commanded. This type of self-love, or self-preservation as we’d probably call it, is noted throughout Scripture.
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, Ephesians 5: 28-29 (ESV)
Conclusion: This command is NOT a command to have high self-esteem. To make it say that is to twist the plain meaning of the text to fit into our modern therapeutic, psychologized world view. A view which did not exist prior to the last century and NEVER existed or was taught in the Bible.
Second Connect thinking to peace
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9 (ESV)
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Email – louie@discipleup.org
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Episode 162
Disciple Up # 162
Peace Thru Meditating On Scripture
By Louie Marsh 6-3-2020
How To Meditate On God’s Word
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:2-3
Meditation is THINKING / PONDERING about a Bible verse(s) in order to discover how I can apply its truth to my own life.
WHY Meditate On Scripture?
1) It is the key to becoming like Christ.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. NRS 2Co 3:18
2) It is the key to a more fruitful prayer life.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. John 15:7
3) It is the key to successful living.
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8
Six Ways To Meditate On A Verse
- Picture It! Visualize the scene in your mind.
- Pronounce it! Say the verse aloud, each time emphasizing a different word.
- Paraphrase it! Rewrite the verse in your own words.
- Personalize it! Replace the pronouns or people in the verse with your own name.
- Pray it! Turn the verse into a prayer and say it back to God.
- Probe it! Ask the following nine questions…
S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S. Questions
- Sin to _CONFESS_?
- Promise to _____CLAIM_
- Attitude to _CHANGE_?
- Command to _OBEY_?
- Example to __FOLLOW_?
- Prayer to _PRAY_?
- Error to AVOID_?
- Truth to _BELIEVE_?
- Something to __DO_?
Links to pages talked about in this episode:
https://unlockingthebible.org/2015/10/five-steps-to-meditating-on-the-bible/
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/17-ways-to-meditate-on-scripture/
https://ourdailybread.org/resources/how-to-meditate-on-scripture/
Please Get In Touch!
Email – louie@discipleup.org
Check out the Disciple Up Facebook page:
My books –