The Beacon
April, 2024
“Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.”
Proverbs 12:19
I thought he was referring to John 3:16. Dr. Jim Borror preached at Redeemer years ago. He began his message indicating that he was going to preach from a verse that everyone knew. It would be one that we would be so familiar with and that we probably all had memorized. I thought for sure we were going to hear him say, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Some of you know that he did not recite that verse, but instead he said, “At Parbar westward, four at the causeway and two at Parbar.” (I Chronicles 26:18 KJV) Those who heard the message that night may rate it as one of their all-time favorites! Dr. Borror included his testimony when he spoke. You might say that John 3:16 came through because of his emphasis on salvation.
There is another 3:16 that is so important for our day. In Colossian chapter 3, Paul began by pointing to how those in the church in Colossae had been raised up with Christ. Their old life had died and their new life was hidden with Christ. When Jesus comes again, they will appear with Him in glory. Because of those truths, they were to “set [their] minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2)
On March 3, 1995, a thirty-eight-year-old man was walking to his temporary job at a warehouse in Rosemont, Illinois. He tried to get there by cutting across eight lanes of the Tri-State Tollway. After he crossed the four northbound lanes, however, the wind blew off his hat. The hat flew back across the northbound lanes, and he chased it. There, a semi-trailer truck struck and killed him. A person can lose everything by chasing after nothing.
Is a lot of that happening today? Are people chasing after things that have little eternal value? After reminding the believers of their faith in Jesus, Paul provided instructions on how to live a holy life in Christ. He wanted the peace of Christ to rule in their hearts. (How needed is that today?) And then he said in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
In order to deal with the world, believers need to have Christ’s word dwelling richly in them. Many have gotten sidetracked and have their minds set on earthly things. Our culture continues to sink into a moral, ethical, and spiritual cesspool!
“LET THE WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY…” (Colossians 3:16)