between believers that is really effective. When love is constantly in the forefront,

misunderstanding and splits disappear. It is the tie that expresses maturity (perfectness)

and should always be in evidence among those who have left spiritual infancy behind and

are growing up in all things into Christ (Eph. 4: 15). The peace of Christ automatically

follows when this is experienced and `rules in the heart' as also does a thankful spirit.

We have seen before what a safeguard this is against spiritual declension and

forgetfulness of the many mercies we continually enjoy day by day. The pagan world

had slid into darkness, not only because `they glorified Him not as God', but also because

they were not `thankful' (Rom. 1: 21). We do well to keep the spirit of gratitude ever

before us.

With gratitude, praise naturally follows:

It is hardly necessary to say that the `Word of Christ' which should dwell in us richly,

can hardly mean all that He spoke on earth in His ministry to the people of Israel, for it

would have been most unlikely for these Gospels to have circulated at this time as far as

Colossae. The Word of Christ embodies all the revelation of the `good deposit' of truth

the risen Christ had made known to Paul and which he had so faithfully proclaimed and

taught in the churches. It is amazing how great is this treasury of Truth which can only

be appreciated by a close and careful study of his epistles. When this is personally

appropriated by faith and divine understanding, we have a rich storehouse to draw on in

every experience, need or emergency.

Does the `you' mean individually, or collectively as an assembly? The answer is both.

The more each individual member is indwelt by the Truth the more the assembly as a

whole is indwelt and the greater the possibility that God's Truth will reign therein and He

will be supreme. The praise that naturally follows, as Eph. 5: 19 declares, is expressed

in a threefold way: `psalms, hymns and spiritual songs'. Little has been left on record to

clearly indicate what these were, but the psalms almost certainly were drawn from the

O.T. Psalter; the hymns possibly from N.T. passages of Scripture; and spiritual songs

composed by members of the church who were gifted spiritually and musically to express

truth in this way. Professor F. F. Bruce quotes from Tertullian (Apology 39) where the

latter states ". . . . . each is invited to sing to God in the presence of others from what he

knows of the Holy Scriptures or from his own heart", and from Pliny the Younger who,

giving an account to the Emperor Trajan, states that the Christians of Bithynia met on a

fixed day before dawn and `recited an antiphonal hymn to Christ as God' (Epistles X.96).

There is no doubt that Christian praise is important for the believer and it should be the

best that we can render to the Lord, for He is surely worthy of nothing less than the best.

At the same time we should bear in mind that praise should not only be with our lips, but

continually with our lives, `by giving up ourselves to His service'.