MESSAGE

       FROM THE

    WORD

                                       HOW TO MAKE A WISE DECISION    

                                                       Colossians 3:14-17

SERIES:  Colossians                                                                                          Message # 18

Throughout the history of our nation, there have been some legal decisions that could be labeled as evil.  Certainly the Dred Scott decision in 1857 would fall into that category.  The decision by the 9^th District Court of Appeals decision last year to remove “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance is another that some feel would fall into this category.  I came across a case this past week that has to rank up there on the “EVIL” scale.  It comes out of a court case in Vermont.  Mark Hulett had been convicted on charges that he had repeatedly raped a young girl over a four year period beginning when she was seven years old.  The prosecutor had recommended a sentence of 8 to 20 years for this horrific crime.  After considering the case, Judge Edward Cashman gave the convicted molester 60 days.  The judge stated that he no longer believed that punishment worked.  He stated, “The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn’t solve anything.  It just corrodes the soul.  I discovered it accomplished nothing of value; it doesn’t make anything better; it costs us lots of money; we create a lot of expectation, and we feed on anger”.

This decision is obviously a travesty of justice.  I am sure this decision will be reversed and I hope the legislature in Vermont rises up and removes him from office.  However, my reasoning may be different than that of others.  On the surface, many would want to remove him from office because of the decision he made.  His decision was an abomination.  However, the primary problem is not the decision itself, but the reasoning behind the decision.  The Bible is very clear.  We read             1 TIMOTHY 1:8-11           The law referred to is the Law of God.  However, this principle is just as valid for applying the Law of Man.  We do not write laws to praise law abiding citizens.  We write laws to protect society from evil doers.  The Old Testament is filled with commands to the judges of Israel to pass judgment on those who violate God’s law.  The primary responsibility of a judge is to punish evil doers.

Here is my problem with Judge Cashman.  Did you notice the basis for his decision?  He did not rule because the law gave him a standard.  He ruled because, “I discovered…” and “He no longer believes…”  The role of the judge is not to decide what he believes; it is to determine what the law says.

Our nation is filled with individuals making decisions in similar ways.  They check fortune cookies, flip a coin, see what feels good, or a dozen other ways.  We read                PROVERBS 29:18                         This verse is often misunderstood.  It is usually interpreted to mean, we need a vision of where we want to go or what we want to do, or we will be in trouble.  The word for “vision”, or “Revelation”, has nothing to do with our dream for the future. It has to do with a standard given by God.  When a holy standard is the law of the land, prosperity and peace dominate.  When there is no standard for conduct, chaos and destruction result.  This is what is taking place in our society today.  Judges have decided that laws should not reflect God’s view, but there own.  The result is a culture in which everyone is free to do their own thing. 

This is becoming more profound even in the church.  I have heard people say they don’t need the Bible, God just tells them what is right or wrong.  Others just open the Bible and whatever verse they land on is God’s will.  What if they land on “JUDAS WENT OUT AND HANGED HIMSELF”.  The church is to proclaim the truth so people making decisions, can make them based on truth.  Paul wrote                       1 TIMOTHY 3:16                     Truth must be at the foundation of any decision, which is why we are making so many bad choices.  It is nice to say, “It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you are sincere”.  That sounds very tolerant, but it is truly dangerous.  My wife went into the doctor last year for some minor surgery.  He gave her a shot of Novocain, took out a small section of skin, put in six stitches and sent her home.  When he began the procedure, if he had sincerely picked out the arsenic bottle instead of the Novocain, Nicki would be dead.  Regardless of how sincere the doctor was, wrong choices have consequences.  Sincerity can never be the deciding factor in a decision.  

As we continue our series through Colossians, we come to the passage that helps us determine how to make choices.  Paul writes             COLOSSIANS 3:14-17                   In these four verses, Paul gives us five principles that will help us make wise decisions. 

FIRST, IS IT BASED ON LOVE?  Burt Bacharach was right when he wrote, “What the world needs now is love sweet love; it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of”.  Those words should never be uttered among the people of God.  The body of Christ should have ample amounts of love to go round.  Love is a big issue in our society.  We have love songs, love talk, romance novels, and a dozen other such items.  However, what we do not have enough of is love.  We talk about love, sing about love, make movies about love, even have books like, Love Story, but we lack love.  The reason for this is pretty simple.  We do not define what love is.  A guy tells a girl, “If you love me, you will…”  A girl asks a guy, “Do you love me”?  When he answers “Of course I do”, she thinks they have communicated.  However, their definition of love is probably a thousand miles apart.  For this reason, God defined true love.  We read,              1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7                   Love is not what you say, it is what you do. 

How does this help us in making a decision?  When faced with what to do, our first question should be, “how does this decision communicate love to others”?  We read          VERSE 14             I want you to notice something very important.  Paul does not say “Do the loving thing”.  He tells us, “PUT ON LOVE…”  We do not always know what the loving thing is.  This week Hollywood releases the major motion picture “End of the Spear”.  It is based on the story told in Through Gates of Splendor, by Elizabeth Elliott.  It tells the story of five missionary families who moved to Equator in the 1950’s to reach what anthropologists had judged to be the most violent culture in the history of the world.  60% of the deaths in this tribe were a result of homicide.  Through a series of lies, the tribe was lead to attack and kill the five missionaries.  Later, two of the wives of those missionaries moved into the village to live with them and explain the gospel.  The Indian who killed Ned Saint became the adopted grandfather to his grandchildren. How many in that situation could love the individuals who killed your loved one?

SECOND, DOES IT BRING PEACE?  This principle is probably the one that is most abused and misunderstood.  Paul does not say “Do whatever brings you personal peace”.  I talk with people who are involved in sinful acts but who claim they have peace about their decision.  Hitler felt very comfortable about exterminating the Jews.  Personal peace does not mean you are doing right.  It could just mean you are doing whatever you want to do. 

Paul tells us to seek, “THE PEACE OF CHRIST…”  There is a big difference between personal peace and the peace of Christ.  The peace of Christ comes from being close to Him.  It is derived from being in the center of His will.  We read                  JOHN 14:25-27; 16:33                  We think of peace as the absence of conflict.  Peace is the presence of God in the midst of conflict.  This is also New Testament truth.  We read                        ISAIAH 26:3            This is a very interesting verse.  Hebrew does not have a word of perfect.  If you read the verse in Hebrew, it says “GOD WILL KEEP HIM IN PEACE, PEACE WHOSE MIND IN FOCUSED ON HIM”.  Since there is no word for perfect, Isaiah simply repeated the word peace for emphasis.  How do we experience the peace of Christ?  We focus in like a laser beam on God.  Those who have their minds on Christ will desire to live a holy life.  

Notice also the consequences.  Paul says the “peace of Christ” will “rule”.  This is a very interesting word.  It is the word umpire.  What is the purpose of an umpire?  It is his responsibility to be the final decision.  We decide what we want and then the umpire decides if that decision stands.

There are areas in our life in which we have final authority.  However, we need to remember that when it comes to decisions in our life, the final umpire is the peace of Christ.  Discovering peace becomes a critical part of our life.  We need to live a holy life, spend time searching the scriptures and pray heavy.

THIRD, IS IT BIBLICALLY BASED?  When a decision, must be made, there is no place more important to turn to than God’s word.  We read          PSALM 1:1-6; 119:9,11; JOSHUA 1:8         It is God’s word that sheds light on the issues.  It is God’s word that gives us direction.  There is a great illustration in Paul’s life.  We read                        ACTS 17:11                Paul spoke and the people checked the scriptures to confirm what he said.

What is it about God’s word that can help us make wise decisions?  1) It gives you God’s pattern for living.  When a decision arises, is there a Biblical example to follow?  Can we find a “thus saith the Lord”?  2) It gives you God’s principles.  If you can’t find an exact illustration, are there principles that deal with a similar issue?  3) It gives you God’s standards.  We obviously could go to a passage such as the Ten Commandments to see God’s standards, but throughout the scriptures we read “do this, don’t do that”.  4) It reveals consequences of behavior.  We read               Psalm 19:11              In a culture which has few standards, God’s word is a reminder of what happens when we do right, or do wrong.  5) It reveals how to grow spiritually.  When we come to Christ, our first desire is be to grow.  We read                      II TIM. 3:17; 1 PETER 2:2                           Growth comes from reading and applying God’s word.

When a decision is made, a priority should be, “What does God’s word say”?  How does this happen?  Paul tells us that God’s word needs to “RICHLY DWELL WITHIN YOU…”  This is so good.  The word for dwell is the word for house.  In other words, Paul is telling us that God’s word should make itself feel at home in our lives.  God’s word is not a guest.  If you get upset with what it says, you can’t ask it to leave.  God’s word is to live with you.  It is in your heart, but it constantly rises to speak to you when situations arise.  This is why we need to know God’s word.  This is why Bible Classes, home studies, 40 Days of Purpose, conferences and retreats are important.  It is not sufficient for you to own a Bible, it must own you.  I want you to notice something very interesting.  What is the result of having God’s word filling your heart?  Paul mentions three results.

The first is to teach.  This makes sense.  This is the giving of information.  What does God’s word say about money, the future, politics, marriage, children, sex, work, or a hundred other topics.  This is what I do on Sunday morning.  I teach you what God has revealed in His word.

The second is to warn.  Admonish is not the same as to rebuke.  Rebuke is “you did wrong, shape up”.  Admonish is “you’re getting close, watch it”.  Parents do this all the time.  Don’t touch the stove, don’t run out into the street, be careful of the dog, don’t go in the pool without adults around, etc, etc, etc.  To a lesser degree, I also do this each week.  If you fall into this sin, this is the consequences. 

The third is to sing.  I love this.  A heart filled with God’s word will be prompted to sing.  God’s word tells us of the greatness of God.  When we fill ourselves with that word, sooner or later it is going to overflow in praise.  This is why we sing each week.  This is why you are to sing.  It is a sin not to sing.  That sounds harsh, but the scriptures command us to sing.  To refuse to do so is a sin.  If you don’t have a good voice, sing quietly.  There are three different aspects of music mentioned.

First we sing psalms.  These are scripture songs.  It is taking a section of scripture and putting it to music.  We need to remember that the book of Psalms was originally a songbook.  The melodies are no longer with us, but the words are.  Many of the songs we sing are simply verses put to melody.

Second, we sing hymns.  These were the theological statements of the church put to music.  “All Hail the Power of Jesus name”, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”, “Amazing Grace”, and “A Mighty Fortress is our God” are just a few of the songs that were written to communicate something about the character of God.  These are critical to the church, because they teach the truth about God.  It is important that we realize that many of these hymns were written by pastors and theologians who were immersed in the word of God and in the character of God.

Third, we see spiritual songs.  These are testimony songs.  This is the vast majority of songs sung in many churches today.  If hymns were the product of pastors and theology, spiritual songs are the product of musicians and experience.  Hymns say, “This is what we know about God”.  Spiritual songs say, “This is what I feel about God”.  The benefit in these is that they are contemporary with the culture.  The danger in them is that they are more interested in melody and beat and can be superficial. 

What does God desire?  Some say we should only sing out of the hymn book.  Some say we have to be relevant and sing only new songs.  What does God tell us to sing?  He tells us to sing all three.

FOURTH, WOULD IT RECEIVE THE APPROVAL OF JESUS?  Paul writes         VERSE 17                 This is a constant theme for Paul.  We read                   1COR. 10:31               This is a blanket principle.  If this was the only verse in the Bible, we could live out the Christian life.  In every action, thought, or word we would simply ask, “What would Jesus Do”?  The difficult part of this is knowing what Jesus would do.  That is why this is not the only verse in the Bible. 

To do something in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is to do it as a representative for Him.  When a police officer says, “stop in the name of the law”, he is claiming to be the human representative of the law.  What would Jesus do?  I served on a panel last year on the subject of homosexuality and marriage.  One of the panelists was a pastor of a church which catered to the homosexual community.  Every time I mentioned what the Bible said he replied with  a “That is not a God I could love” kind of answer.  The deciding issue was not what the Bible said, but what he personally believed.  What he had done was create a God of his own liking and called that the God of the Bible.  That is nothing more than idolatry.

What would Jesus do on such issues as homosexuality, racial hatred, immoral behavior, tax cheats, drug and alcohol abuse and other problems in our society?  He would do exactly what He did when He walked on Earth 2000 years ago.  He would preach a perfect standard.  He would call sinners to repentance.  He would offer forgiveness.  He would show love, mercy and compassion.  He would insist that people follow Him.  That is exactly what He is doing today.

LAST, DOES IT LEAD TO GRATITUDE?  Three times in this passage Paul uses the term “THANKFUL”.  That means more than just being happy or grateful.  Paul tells us we should “BE THANKFUL”, “SING WITH THANKFULNESS”, and “GIVE THANKS”.  The most difficult is to give thanks.  The reason for this is because there are times when we don’t feel like giving thanks.  When tragedy occurs, our first thought isn’t usually to thank God.  We read             JOB 1:13-22                        Would you have responded that way?  Even in the midst of this terrible ordeal, Job gave thanks, because He understood that God is good and His mercy is everlasting.

When you make a decision, even if it is difficult, can you make it and then say, “THANK YOU”?  That doesn’t mean it is easy, we just know that God approves.

How do you make a decision?  Simply ask a few questions.

1)       Can I do this as an act of love?

2)       Can I do this and have peace with God?

3)       Can I do this without violating Biblical principles?

4)       Can I do this as an act of gratitude to God?

5)       Can I do this and know that Christ would approve?

If I can run this decision through all of these questions and have no red flags, then go ahead.  There is another wise aspect to consider.  Are there wise people in your life who are monitoring you to make sure that these five principles are a part of your life and you are not claiming what is not true?

This message is from the teaching ministry of Glen Jackson, Pastor of Faith Christian Church in Simi Valley, CA.