I don't know if you would, the
Colossians chapter three. Colossians chapter three. Tonight
we'll continue our study on Colossians three. We'll be in verse 14 tonight,
but I'd like to read the context of the verse again. So we're
starting in verse 10 and we read to verse 15. The name of the message is Love,
the Bond of Perfectness. Love, the Bond of Perfectness.
Colossians 3 verses 10 to 15. And they 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, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in
all, put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
vows of mercy, 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, and charity is love, which is the bond of perfectness,
and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which
also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Now the believer
in Christ, as we have seen in our past studies, desires to
walk in the newness of life, which is in Christ alone, which
is in Christ alone. And we do not desire to walk
in in this life as we used to before we were saved. And that
life is described in verses five, eight, and nine of this chapter. We don't desire to walk in that
life anymore. And we who are born again by
the Holy Spirit of God have a new man within us. And
God has wrought a mighty work in us. We're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. We have a new nature within us.
One time our nature was dead and now it's alive in Christ.
So we have a constant battle going on between our flesh and
the new nature. And it's a battle that will continue
until the day we die. And we know that we must crucify
the old man, the flesh. because it struggles for supremacy,
doesn't it? It does. It struggles for supremacy
in our lives, and we must crucify him daily. Him or her. We must. We must. It's a constant struggle. A lot of preachers would like
to call it a civil war within us. It's a battle going on. It's a battle going on. Do you
hate sin? We hate sin, don't we? More in ourselves than anyone
else. Did you hate it before you were
saved? No. No, we loved it, didn't we? Now
we hate it. We hate it now. So we don't desire
to walk as we used to. And it's God who's done a mighty
work in us. We can't do anything on our own. It's God who does
it. And each day we seek to put on
the new man as the elect of God. And that's what Paul is talking
here. Gil says it's like putting on clothes. We're born again
by the Holy Spirit. We desire to put these on each
day, to be loving, to be kind, to be humble, have humbleness
of mind, to forbear with one another and forgive one another.
We desire that. So each day we seek to put on
the new man as the elect of God. Again, we desire to have with
others bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
long-suffering. We desire to be forbearing and
forgiving with one another, when we've been offended or when we've
wronged. We desire forgiveness. Now I know, as I said to the
Lord's sheep, every one of us goes through the same struggle
every day. We have a war with our old nature or with the flesh,
which is the old nature, and it wars against the Spirit of
God who dwells within us. And there's a constant struggle.
We desire to love one another, especially those of the household
of faith. And this comes easier for the believer as we reflect.
When we reflect upon how much the Lord's forgiven us, it's
easier for us to be forgiven. When we reflect how kind the
Lord is to us, it's easy for us to exercise kindness. It's
easier anyways, it's not easy, it's easier. But it's when we
consider, when we always go back, and that's what Paul was kept
bringing Christ to the forefront for us. Even as we're forgiven
in Christ, we have to keep that before us, keep that ever before
us. How much have we been forgiven
in Christ? Colossians chapter 2. How much have we been forgiven
in Christ? The answer is over in chapter 2. Colossians 2 verse 13 and 14. And you being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him? You're born again. Have him forgiven you? All trespasses. Isn't that wonderful? All trespasses,
beloved. blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. Justice in law of God had
a claim upon us, beloved. Handwriting of ordinances that
was against us. Well, he took it. It was contrary
to us, and he took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And this he did for every single
one of his sheep. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them. So we see the believer The believers,
they have a heart of compassion, lowliness of spirit, humbleness. Think of this in comparison to
the Gnostic teaching that was going on. The Gnostic teachers
would stress the high knowledge, which only they could impart,
stress the knowledge that they secretly had to give you, puffed
up in themselves, as compared to the spirit brings us low,
brings us low. So Paul is bringing forth the
change that occurs when a person is born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. And Paul brings forth in our
verse tonight that which bonds all the other things that have
been mentioned in the last couple of verses. Paul brings forth
in our verse tonight that which bonds all the other things mentioned
in verses 12 and 13. The Gnostics think of this too. The Gnostics found their perfection
in their knowledge, in what they knew. The apostle finds it in
love, which is centered in Christ and based upon Christ. Look at
our verse. And above all things put on charity,
love, which is the bond of perfectness. Where does that love for the
believer come from? We're going to find out. It comes from God. It comes from God. and it's centered
in Christ and Him alone. 1 Corinthians, turn if you would
there, 1 Corinthians chapter 8. We'll look at verses, verses,
a little portion of verse 1, the latter part of verse 1, and
then verses 2 and 3. So, the Gnostics had some form
of secret knowledge, they said, and only they could impart it,
right? Well, what does Scripture say
about knowledge? And it's meaning knowledge like
what the Gnostics were doing, where they were the only ones
who could impart this knowledge. Look what it says here. Knowledge puffeth up. It puffs
people up. It puffs them up. But charity,
love edify. Look at verse two. And if any
man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing. He knoweth
nothing. Yet as he ought to know, but
if any man love God, the same is known of him." 1 Corinthians
chapter 8, verses, the latter part of verse 1 and 8, and 2
and 3. So love binds believers together,
beloved, and looks to their final perfection in Christ and Him
alone, not in ourselves. The Gnostics were looking inward
to themselves. The believer looks outward to
Christ. Outward to Christ. So let's look
again at our text tonight. And above all these things put
on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Now the word
love here, charity, the word charity is actually translated
love in the Greek, and it's the word agape. And it's, for us,
we have one word for love. The Greeks had three that were
prominent, agape, eros, and philia. The word here used in this text
is agape, agape. And unlike, again, our English
word, love is love, and agape is not used in the New Testament
to refer to romantic or sexual love. That's eros in the Greek,
eros. And agape love is not to be confused
with philia, which means close friendship or brotherly love
in the Greek. But agape, agape love is selfless, sacrificial,
unconditional love. Selfless, sacrificial, unconditional
love. The highest type of love in the
Bible. It is the love that God has for
his people. It's the love God has for his
people. And this agape love that God
has for his people was manifested and displayed at Calvary's cross
when the Lord Jesus Christ died the sinner's substitute. What
a manifestation of unconditional, sacrificial love. The sinless one. dying for sinners. Ephesians 2, 4 says this, but
God who is rich in mercy, for his great love, agape, wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved. God has agape love
for every one of his people. Isn't that wonderful? And that
love, that love, beloved, is from eternity. I've loved you
with an everlasting love. It's incredible. And we do not
deserve what Christ has done for us. We do not deserve that. It's a demonstration of God's
agape love. It's a demonstration of God's
agape love towards his people. Towards his people. I remember a long time ago someone
told me, because I didn't have a great relationship with my
dad, that I would never understand the love of God. My dad's love
for me didn't even come close to how much my Heavenly Father
loves me. And as I study more and more,
and that love is manifested through scriptures and studying, it's
overwhelming. And if you're one of His people,
He has the same love for you. Ain't that amazing? It's incredible. It's incredible,
beloved. But God commanded His love, His
love, agape, toward us, toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. Why? What love? God's agape love
is unmerited, gracious, merciful, and it seeks out the ones he
loves. It seeks out the ones he loves.
God sends the Holy Spirit to his people, fetching grace, beloved. Oh, my. The Bible says that we're
undeserving of this love. Turn, if you would, to 1 John
3. 1 John 3. We're totally undeserving
recipients of God's agape love. We are undeserving recipients.
But we rejoice when we receive it, don't we? My. Look at this in 1 John 3, verse
1. Behold what manner of love. There it is again. The Father hath bestowed upon
us, God's love has been bestowed upon His people, that we should
be called the sons of God, therefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew Him not. Behold, what manner of love hath
been bestowed upon us, God's people. So God's demonstration
of agape love led to the sacrifice of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, for his people, for those God loves. And without this love, this agape
love, all our professions are vain and worthless. A person
who professes Christ and does not love the brethren. I didn't think I'd ever heard
of a creature like that. A person who professes Christ
and does not love the brethren is a person who has been deceived
either by their own heart or by the enemy. Because love is
the bond of perfectness. And I don't care how much a person's
wronged someone. We as believers, right, we're
forgiving. We love the brethren. I'm not going to get into Psalm. Boy, oh boy. You know, when you
hear someone say that, my goodness. When you hear someone say that
they just write someone off by saying, well, they're not saved
because they don't agree with you. I'm going to say this is
wrong. That's absolutely wrong. May
we never ever do that. And may we never do that to a
preacher. May we never do that to a brother, right? Oh, so a person who professes Christ
does not love the brother and. Who professes Christ and does
not love the brother is a person who's been deceived. Turn if
you would, the first Corinthians chapter 13, first Corinthians
chapter 13. Look at this. Now this is just,
this is just wonderful. 1 Corinthians 13 verses 1 to 12. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels and have not charity, love, I am become
as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. So whether the person
is the greatest preacher in the world, if they don't have love,
and that's agape love, they're a sounding brass or a tinkling
cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though
I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not
charity, love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and
have not charity, it profit me nothing. Charity suffereth long and is
kind. Charity envieth not love. Love vaulteth not itself. It is not puffed up. It doesn't seek the preeminent. It's content where God has it.
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily
provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices
in the truth. God's people. Don't we, beloved? We rejoice in the truth, don't
we? We love it. We love to hear the gospel preached.
We love to hear it proclaimed. We're not looking to start disputes
and fights and arguments. We just we just proclaim the
truth. Now, some people might get offended by that. We can't
help that. Right. You take away the offense of
the cross, you've taken away, you know. Christ died for sinners,
that's what we are. That's what we are. We're sinners. Rejoices not in iniquity, but
rejoices in the truth. Beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. And I'm
gonna say love where it says charity here. Love never faileth. But whether there be prophecies,
they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, they
shall cease. Now remember, Paul was combating false use of spiritual
gifts. in the book of Corinthians, so
that's why he's bringing that up there. And we know tongues
is a known language. It's not some gibberish that
somebody pops off. It's not that. It's a known language,
beloved. The Greek is so plain on that. It's a known language. Charity never faileth, but whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues,
they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it
shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesize
in part, when that which is perfect is come, a lot of commentators
believe that's the scripture, when that which is perfect is
come, in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as
a child, I understood it as a child, I thought as a child, but when
I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through
a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part,
but then Then shall I know even as also I am no one. When we
get the glory, we just see through a glass darkly right now, beloved.
We do, we see through a glass darkly. But when we get the glory,
we're gonna see. So this, without love, no amount
of orthodoxy and doctrine. No amount of power, no amount
of devotion or given or church membership or duties matter because
the profession is a sham. It's a sham. And agape love does
not come natural to us, does it? It doesn't, it doesn't. It
does not come natural to us. And we love our, we love our
family members, but this agape love spoken of here, this unconditional
love doesn't come natural for us. We as believers, we have,
through the Holy Spirit of God, through the Holy Spirit of God.
But it's not naturally something we have. We're not born with
it. No. Because of our fallen nature,
we're even incapable of producing such a love. If we are to love as God loves,
that love, that agape love can only come from the source, which
is God. The love of God has been poured
into our hearts, beloved. Turn, if you would, to Romans
5, 5. Poured into our hearts abroad by the Holy Spirit of
God when we're born again. We have a new love. Think of
this. We have a new love when we're born again. We have a new
love for the scriptures, which we didn't have before. We have
a new love for the gospel. Brother Tim, you and I have talked
about that many times. We didn't love the gospel before
we were saved. Now we love it. That's all we want to hear. We
have a new love for the gospel. We have a new love for God. We have a new love for his word.
We have a new love for his people, a love that wasn't there before.
It comes from the source, beloved. It comes from the source. It
comes from God, the Holy Spirit. Look at this, Romans 5, 5, and
hope make it not a shame because the love of God is what? Shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. It's given to us. It's marvelous.
It just clamps down even more that this is a work of God. Salvation
is of the Lord. It's His work. It's His doing.
And because of God's love toward us, we are able to love one another. 1 John 3.16 says this, Hereby perceive
we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us, and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Love is the fruit of the Spirit.
Turn, if you would, again to Colossians 3, verses 12 to 14
in our text area here. Love is the fruit of the Spirit. And these are the things Paul's
been hitting on in our last three verses. Look at this, our last
two verses plus tonight's verses, the third. Put on, therefore,
as the elect of God. as the chosen of God, holy and
beloved, God's people are holy and beloved, beloved in Christ,
beloved by God, vows of mercy, 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, which is the bond of perfectness. So love, love,
is the fruit of faith. It's the fruit of faith. Faith cannot exist without it.
It cannot exist without it. And faith without it is dead.
It's dead. Which is what Paul's bringing
out in 1 Corinthians 13 when he says, it profits me nothing.
If I don't have love, all these things are nothing. You ever wonder why people can
come for years sometimes and then just leave in a heartbeat? Now, I don't know. Maybe they
were never saved. Maybe it was all just a sham.
Only God knows really, right? But it may be. I guess we're no on the other side,
We're no on the other side. But God's people, we love the
gospel. We love it. We. And it's this agape love
that's been shed abroad in our hearts, we we we want to be where
it's being preached. We desire that. And note the
the importance that Paul places on love. Look at this. And above
all these things, the things that have been mentioned in the
previous two verses put on love. but on love, which is the bond
of perfectness. Why are we to do this? Well,
Romans 14, 10 says, love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore
love is the fulfilling of the law. Now think of this in the sense
of the Gnostics. Knowledge won't bind us together, right? The
Gnostics tried to use that, but God's love will bind us together. Sitting under the teachings of
the law of Moses won't bind us together, will it? No. He'll
make a man despair. But God's love will bind us together. Dedicating our lives to moral
living, although that's a good thing, but people who do that
to gain merit and favor with God, that won't unite us, because
everyone will be looking at everyone else. But God's love will bind us.
God's love will bind us. A zealous spirit won't bind us
together. Sometimes it divides because
the zealous one thinks you're not as zealous as him or as zealous
as you should be. I know I was one of them guys.
And it was sad. I thank God for grace. But God's
love, God's love will bind us together. Above all these things,
Paul says, put on charity, put on love, love. Charity, which
is love, and note the supremacy of this love. This agape love,
we know it only comes from Christ, and this epistles about the supremacy
of Christ, right? Put on love. And in First Corinthians, we
saw that. First Corinthians 13. Do you know that, turn if you
would to Galatians chapter five, do you know that love heads the
fruit of the spirit? Love heads the fruit of the spirit.
And we know that God is love, right? Scripture declares that
God is love, he is. But people sacrifice the love
of God, they take it so far that they toss away the wrath and
the justice of God. No, you need that balance, don't
you? God has many attributes, many attributes. Love is he's
a God who's whole. He's a God, as I said, of justice,
wrath of. We can't even fathom. Look at
Galatians, chapter five, verses 22 and 23, but the fruit of the
spirit is love. Well, it heads the list. Of the fruit of the spirit, joy,
peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance
against such there is no law. So love is what binds these things
together, spoken of in verses 12 and 13 of our text. Love is what binds them together,
beloved. Love is what binds together bowels
of mercy. Love is what binds together kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, being forbearing
and forgiving with one another. It's the love of God shed abroad
in our heart. This, beloved, this is what binds
them all together. And Paul is bringing forth how
love will act as a bond of bringing together of separate items, thus
bringing them into unity. And is that not what he does
with each of us? He brings us into the body of Christ. It's
incredible. And it's the love of Christ that's
the bond that keeps us together. And it's the love of Christ that
constrains us from sin, too. Isn't it incredible? It's amazing,
beloved. And this is what happens in the
body of Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Now the
word bond in English is defined as an adhesive, cementing material,
or fusible ingredient that combines, unites, or strengthens. And it's
also a uniting, binding element or force ties the bonds of friendship. So it unites and holds together. holds together. One grace preacher
said this, and he didn't say this flippantly, he said, love
is God's super glue. It's what keeps us all together,
keeps the church together, the love of Christ, the bond of perfectness. Pearl comments that the Greek
word we translate bond here denotes a collection of binding together
of parts where of a body is composed. Love is what binds the body. Every time we put on the new
man, which we do daily, God's love for us and our love for
Him will dominate our thoughts and our actions. So if we put
on the new man, we put on charity, love, love. And make no mistake, the central
Supremacy of love among all Christian virtues is all through the biblical
record. Over in Romans, we see Paul writing
this in Romans 13, verses 8 to 10. He writes this, owe no man
anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath
fulfilled the law. For this, thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. And if there
be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in saying,
namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill
to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling
of the law. In this love, Paul writes about
for the believer is always centered in Christ and him alone, it always
is. Galatians 5, 6 says this, for
in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth nor anything nor uncircumcision,
but faith worketh by love. By love. So if we are in Christ
by grace and faith, it does not profit us one thing to be circumcised
or uncircumcised. And that's what Paul was writing
about in Galatians chapter 5. He was writing about that. To
observe or not to observe those things commanded in the Levitical
law does not command command God to us. The service which
God requires is a true heart of faith, a true heart of faith,
which is evidenced and expressed by our love to Christ and our
love for one another, our love for one another. The love which
we have in Christ is that which ultimately binds us all together,
whether we be Greek or Jew, whether we be circumcision or uncircumcision,
whether we be barbarian, Scythian, whether we be bond or free, Christ
is all and in all to us, and it is the love of Christ which
binds us together, beloved. That's what bound together the
Colossian church. That's what binds together this
church. And church meaning the people, not the building. God's
called out assembly. It's the love of God in Christ.
So let's look at the latter part of the verse here. It says, which
is the bond of perfectness. And above all these things put
on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. So knowledge,
activity, zeal, morality won't bind us to Christ or to one another. The love of Christ is what binds
us together. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22. Verse 36 to 40. Master, which
is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, or with all
thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Can any of us do that? Christ
did it for us. Christ did it for us. He did
it for us. My oh my. This is the first great
commandment. And the second is like unto it.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets. So again our text closes with
which is the bond of perfectness. Speaking of love. The word perfectness
means completeness. Perfection. The love of God is
shed abroad in our hearts. And it is this love which unifies
and cements we believers together. It unifies and cements we believers
together. And we are perfectly joined together
by Christ. By Christ. Not in anything we've
done, but only in Christ and His love. And therefore, we have
become of one mind and of one heart. This is the bond of peace between
us. And it's beautiful, and it's
enjoyable for the brethren to live and dwell together in unity. We have this in Christ, in Christ
alone. We only have this in Christ.
We are united under His banner. He's our General. And we march
forward for Him, united in Him. we shall not be divided. United
in Him, we shall not be divided, as we have the bond of unity.
So tonight we've looked at how love is that which binds all
the other qualities of the new man Paul has mentioned in our
text together. Let us consider this. Beloved
of God, let us consider this. Our total inability to do these
things which are set before us in the text, be it on our own
or by our own power, we can't do it on our own. God's people are taught by God
the Holy Spirit that our sufficiency is of God. And our sufficiency
is in Christ alone. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
3, verses 5 and 6. Our sufficiency... See, this
is the opposite of religion. Religion tells you that your
sufficiency is within you to be able to do something. To make
a decision, which you can't do, for God, because left on our
own, none of us would choose Christ, or to flee to God on
your own strength or your own doing. But the Scriptures clearly,
clearly declare that our sufficiency is of God, beloved. Look at 2
Corinthians 3, verses 5 and 6. Now, I'm not saying we don't
come to Christ, right? Because you all know, you've
heard me preach, we're made willing. And then we run to Christ. But
that sufficiency to be able to even do that comes from God,
comes from God alone. Look at 2nd Corinthians, chapter
three, verses five and six. Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God. There it is. who also hath made
us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter,
but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the
Spirit giveth life. Our sufficiency is of God. Is of God. So life only comes
by the Spirit of God. Ye must be born again. Ye must
be. That's why I say that folks say
that, you know, you listen to religion and everyone goes to
heaven. But the scriptures say you must
be born again. You must be. You must be born
again by the Holy Spirit of God in order for us to enter into
heaven. And God, the Holy Spirit, must write a work. And we're
born again. And we have a new nature then. And none of the elect of God,
though, can put on these things which are mentioned except by
the Spirit of God. Let's look at our text again,
verses 12 to 15. This is not, we can't do this except by the
Spirit of God. Put on therefore, and note that
Paul says that in the text. Put on therefore as the elect
of God. It doesn't say anyone put this
on, does it? No. Put on therefore as the elect
of God, the chosen of God. Holy and beloved bowels of mercy
kindness humbleness of mine 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 love which is the bond of perfectness and
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the witch Also,
ye are called in one body and be ye thankful So we cannot put on these things
unless we're the elect of God. And it's by the power of the
Holy Spirit. Neither can the peace of God rule in our hearts.
But in the elect of God, as the Word of Christ dwells in them,
richly in all wisdom, the believer will grow in the grace and knowledge
and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And next week, Lord willing,
we'll look at verse 15. which speaks about the peace
of God ruling in our hearts and how we're one body in Christ
and how we are to be thankful. We're to be thankful. Gracious
Heavenly Father, we come before thy throne thankful for the time
that we've been able to gather together, the freedom and liberty
we have to gather together. Let us never take it for granted,
Lord. We love you and praise you and thank you for your goodness
and mercy to us when we see it and when we don't. You're an
ever-present help in time of trouble. We love you, because
you first loved us. In Jesus' name, amen.