Let us turn to the portion of Holy Scripture that we were considering last Lord's Day in Colossians chapter 3. Turning again then to Colossians chapter 3, and I'll read the passage from verse 5 through 14.

Colossians 3.5, mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry, for which thing sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience, in the which ye also walked some time when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, but not free, but Christ. is all and in all put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, or love, which is the bond of perfectness.

I want us to continue then looking at this portion in which the apostle is speaking of the restoration of man, his restoration by regeneration, his restoration, of course, in the Lord Jesus Christ, as he says in verse 10, and have put on the new man. which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. The restoration then of the man.

Last time, a week ago now, we were considering those two things. The need for mortification and the need for sanctification. That verse where we began the reading just now, mortified. put to death crucify your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanness inordinate affection and evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry so we try to say something with regards to that mortification last Lord's Day morning and then in the evening we looked at the words that follow there at first 8, or rather verse 9, I should say the end of verse 9 through into verse 10. You have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

The negative is not enough. We can't have the negative alone, the mortifying, the putting off. there must also be the putting on there needs to be the sanctifying as well as the mortifying we think of the words of the Lord Jesus in the gospel we refer to them again last time in Luke chapter 11 and there in the passage of verse 24 following when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man He walketh through dry places seeking rest and finding none. He saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. And they enter in and dwell there. And the last date of that man is worse than the first.

not enough to be mortifying, putting to death, putting off the deeds of the body, there must also be that putting on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him, that image that was lost by our first father Adam there in the garden of Eden, the very paradise of God, or the restoration. We have it again, don't we, there in Ephesians 4.24 that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. After God, after the image of God, there's a restoration. And that restoration is only to be found in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And now we're reminded of that in the passage. Christ, we're told there at verse 11, is all and in all. Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, and so forth.

Now the apostle speaks then of these various graces of the Spirit of God. And then we come to the words of verse 14, and above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And it's that 14th verse that I want to center your attention upon for a while this evening.

We see here the significance of love. In many ways it is the chief of all the graces of the Spirit. as St. Paul says much in that 13th chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. And there at the end we read, Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity. Now the word that throughout that chapter is rendered charity is that word agape. the highest and the purest form of love. I suppose that that's why the translators of our Authorized Version decided that in that particular chapter they would distinguish the words.

There are other words. We only recently were looking at the final chapter in John's Gospel, John 21, where the Lord, remember, challenges Simon Peter concerning his love. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Three times the Lord puts that question. And when we were looking at the passage, I remarked that in those first two questions, Simon Peter, son of Jonas, loveth Thou me, he uses the word the gapper. Peter comes back and says to the Lord, Thou knowest I love Thee. But he doesn't use the same word. He uses the word philo, which is a lovely word. It's a beautiful word to suggest all that is good about love, but it's not quite that that the Lord is speaking of. And this is what grieves Peter when the Lord comes a third time and he uses the same word as Peter, philo. And Peter was grieved because he said unto him, Lovest thou me?

Agape is the highest and the the purest form of love and that's the word that we have here in the text this evening above all these things put on charity love the bond of perfectness and so considering this particular verse we divide what I say into some three parts one has to consider how this love is the very basis of God's election and then In the second place, how it is the root of all the graces, love. And then finally, how it is also the source of all that is good. To attempt to address in those three particular headings.

First of all, love is the very basis of election. And he speaks of election here in the context how he addresses these believers in the church at Colossae there at verse 12, put on therefore he says as the elect of God put on therefore as the elect of God and then he mentions various titles that belong to such a people as this and it's interesting looking at that verse to consider what each of the titles designates. First of all, he speaks of them quite clearly as the elect. They're those in whom God hath chosen. And God's election is an eternal election. We know that. It goes back before ever time was created. according as he hath chosen us in him says the Apostle writing to the church at Ephesus before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blind before him in love again as he speaks of the election he speaks of the end that God has in view he chooses his people to that blessed end, that they should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

Again, to the same church at Ephesus, there in Ephesians 3.11, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's that that God has purposed then from all eternity. These names of those who are of the election of grace, they are written in the book of life of the Lamb from the foundation of the world, we read in the book of the Revelation. This title then that is given to these people, they are the elect, they've been eternally chosen by God, They've been chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their names are written in that Lamb's Book of Life.

And then again we find Paul making mention of them in what he says there in the second epistle to Timothy. in chapter 1 and verse 9, who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Their election then is clearly an eternal election, and it's also a sovereign choice that God has made. there's nothing in those whom he has chosen that causes him to set his love upon them and make choice of them

as election is eternal so it is free he says I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion therefore it's not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth it's of God that showeth mercy Why has God done this? Because He pleases Him. He acts in a sovereign fashion. He foreknows them, in the sense that He has set His love upon them, whom He did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, whom He has foreknown then, he has predestinated in the great purpose of election.

These are the names then that belong to those of whom the apostle is speaking. As he gives this exhortation, put on therefore as the elect of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, weakness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another. If any man have any quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. Named then, aren't they, as those who are the elect of God.

But then we have other designations. They're not only the elect of God, they're holy. They're holy. And they're beloved. But think of what it means for them to be a holy people. They are people who are set apart. They are people who are sanctified in that sense. It's been said that in a certain sense election is the highest form of sanctification. And it is the Father, of course, in that sense, who sanctifies the people.

The opening verse of that little epistle of Jews. Sanctified by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ and called. How has God the Father sanctified the people? Well, He has set His sovereign love upon them from before the foundation of the world. and he has set them apart to himself that's the basic meaning of the word to sanctify to set apart to holy usage and as we see the father sanctifying the people in that sense so also we read of the son sanctifying that same people in time God sanctified them from all eternity But the Son sanctifies them by coming in the fullness of the time and accomplishing all that is necessary to their salvation. Who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. How was Christ sanctified? Well, we're told, aren't we, there in Hebrews 13, 12, Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gates. Their sanctification is secured by the shedding of His precious blood.

Again, the language of Paul in Hebrews 10 verse 10, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. All this holiness, you see, that they come into the possession of. It's the work of the Father, He has set them apart, but the Son must come and it's by His work, it's by His dying upon the cross that they are going to be a sanctified people, they're going to be made a holy people. Their sanctification is clearly in the Lord Jesus Christ.

But how do they come to experience it? We have the eternal sanctification by the Father setting them apart, we have that that the Son has done in a specific period of time when He came into this world, and when His hour was come made, that great sin-atoning sacrifice, but He must come into their soul's experience also. Well, 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. It is the Spirit who makes that sanctification, that holiness, a reality. As He comes and reveals the truth of the Gospel to these people.

These are the titles, these are the names that are given to them then. Here in this twelfth verse they are the elect of God, they are holy and then they are also the beloved. They are the beloved. This is why God chose them in the first place. This is why God set them apart. It all comes from His love. He has loved them.

and interesting isn't it what Paul says when he writes to the church of the Thessalonians there in 1st Thessalonians 1 and verse 4 he says knowing brethren your election of God knowing brethren be loved your election of God is how it reads in the text but if we read there with the margin it's somewhat different the margin suggests that the word order is better rendered knowing brethren beloved of God your election they elect because they are beloved that's the order whereas the text actually says knowing brethren your election of God we really need to look at the verse because I think I'm getting this a bit confused what's the language that's actually used there in that fourth verse it's knowing brethren beloved your election of God but the margin says knowing brethren beloved of God your election That's the order that we have it, the syntax as we have it really in the original.

The emphasis falls on the fact that they are elect because they are beloved of God. That's what the margin is indicating. Knowing, brethren, beloved of God, your election. And how important it is to know that. That's the very source of God's choice of them. He's loved them. He's set his sovereign love upon them from all eternity. And we see it wonderfully really in Israel which is ever the type of the true church of Jesus Christ. Remember the language that we see back in the book of Deuteronomy there in Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verses 7 and 8 and the language. of Moses he says to Israel the Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people for you were the fewest of all people but because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers that the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt Why did the Lord do it? Because the Lord loved you. Oh, they are very much those who are the beloved. Jeremiah says, The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness have I called you. An everlasting love. And John, John says, there in that portion we Read in 1st John 4 and verse 19, we love Him because He first loved us. None can be beforehand. They are therefore the ones who are the beloved of the Lord.

Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved. And then these various graces that follow. and all leading up to those words of verse 14, above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

We're turning in the second place to say how this love is the root, the root of all graces. What do we have in these verses? Verses 12 and 13, we have these various characteristics, his graces of those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ and what do we see? well we see that love in a sense is that it is under all of these it's under all of these as he says in verse 14 above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Calvin comments here and says, on account of all these things, on account of all these things put on love. Love is that that is so primary. Love is that that is so basic. Those words that we referred to earlier in 1 Corinthians 13.13, There were by the faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity. And when Paul writes to the Galatians, and there in chapter 5 he remarks on what is the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5, 22 and 23, the fruit of the Spirit, he says, is love. Love is first. It's mentioned first of all the graces of the Spirit.

All love then is under all of these things, and it's over all of these things. It's not only the basis. It's that that is resting upon all these things. As we see there in the beginning of that 14th verse, above all these things, he says. The word that he is using here, the construction, indicates that he is speaking of that that is resting above these things, resting upon these things. It's atop of all these things. But then this love, in its relation to all other graces, is that that is running through all these things. It's spoken of, isn't it, as the bond of perfectness. It is that that binds all these graces together.

How important is this love then of which the apostle is speaking, above all these things, put on charity, the bond of perfectness.

it's not only the source of God's sovereign choice of his people it's there as that that is at the root of all the graces of the spirits when he comes and works in the hearts of those who are the true people of God and then thirdly this love is also the source of any goods and all the good that they ever do because it takes them back time and again to the Lord Jesus Christ as we see in the context verse 13 forbearing one another and forgiving one another even if any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye

the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who is their pattern that one whose example they are to follow and remember how Christ himself when he teaches us how to pray we are to have that petition in our praying forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us or we're to be those who would behave as men and women who have known the grace of God in the pardon of our sins.

And there's no remission of sin without the shedding of blood, that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ when He made the sacrifice, the one sacrifice for sins forever. He is the Savior, but He's also the pattern. of those who know His salvation. They are to live even as He lived upon the earth. Even as Christ forgave you, so also do you.

And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Why, we are told, aren't we, that God Himself is love? Back in verse 10, And have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him. When God created the man, did He not make Him after His own likeness? Did He not create Him in His own image? And that that has been despoiled, that that has been lost, the man in a ruined state and yet to be restored, and God is love. Oh God is love again. We had it in that passage that we read in the fourth chapter of 1 John, there at verse 8, and again at verse 16. He says, God is love.

Of course, God has many attributes. He's a holy God, a righteous God, a just God. He's a gracious God, a merciful God. There are many attributes. and love is amongst those attributes and yet in another sense love is much more than an attribute it's the very nature of God it's who God is in a trinity of persons without a reference to anything outside of himself that inter-trinitarian relationship or the Lord Jesus says there in Proverbs 8 as the wisdom of God then I was by him as one brought up with him I was daily as delight Rejoicing always before Him. How the Father loves the Son as the Son loves the Father. And how each of them love the Spirit and the Spirit loves the Father and the Son. And God is love. God is love. And that's what believers are called to.

What has God done in the Lord Jesus Christ? He has manifested the greatness of His love. Again, those words that we were reading just now in 1 John 4 at verse 9, "...in this was manifested the love of God toward us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." All thanks be to God for that unspeakable gift. What a manifestation of the love of God. He sends the Son the son of the father in truth and in love and he sends him into this world and to what end? here in his love not that we love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins and all that that all that that words propitiation says to us concerning the amazing love of God because it reminds us of God's wrath. He will by no means clear the guilty. His justice, His holiness must be satisfied. It's that Godward aspect of sin. What has sin done? Oh, God's angry with the wicked every day. And Christ has borne all that wrath in His own person there upon the cross. What a remarkable display that God does not withhold His Son, His only begotten Son, but delivers Him up for sinners.

Well, you know how John in that epistle is repeatedly reminding us of why we are to live our lives and what manner of men and women we are to be. Look at the language There in the fourth chapter, verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. And then again at verse 19, We love him because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God and hate his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also. How these matters are made so plain, so clear, this is the calling of God.

My little children Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, he says, but in deeds and in truth."

Here then is the exhortation that Paul is giving, this remarkable epistle. It's an epistle so full of Christ, there's so much in the opening chapters, wonderful Christocentric doctrine in the first two chapters of Colossians, but then we come to the final chapters, and as was Paul's wont, of course, so full of practical matter, exhortation, instruction, imperatives, commandments really, telling us how we are to live our lives.

And this is not set before us as duty that we are to perform owing as it were to the Lord of God to do these things. No, this is all set in that context, our indebtedness to the Gospel. It's because all of that that Christ has done. What has Christ done? He has come and He has by His great work in this world He has restored. that image of God in men.

If any man's in Christ, he's a new creation, a new creature. And they put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that's created him. What a knowledge is this? What is this knowledge? It's life eternal, to no very. the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

In Christ, when the Spirit comes and makes that blessed application, when he does his great work, that's so necessary, an experience, an experience to be born again by the Spirit of God, by the Spirit of God to be those who are continually mortifying the deeds of the body, and being sanctified by the grace of God life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent partakers of the divine nature that's what Christ has done, he's restored that blessed image in man and they've put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him

And then he goes on, doesn't he, to speak of those who are receiving the gospel, not the Jew only, neither Greek, nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor shrewd, Christ is all. And in all, and in all these blessed graces, these wondrous workings of the Spirit of God and above all these things, above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

This is the high and the holy calling of those who are the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh God, grant us grace that we might live up to such callings as these, that we might live to the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, that in us Christ might be all. and in all.

Oh, the Lord then be pleased to bless his word to us. Amen.