Okay, this is not written to
everyone. This is written to those, look
at chapter 1, how this begins. This is written to those, in
verse 2, it says, Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. God is their Father, born of
God, and who are in Christ. In verse 1 of chapter 3, it says, are risen with Christ, that is, regenerated, given life. And
verse 3 says those that are dead, crucified with Christ. And they
have this new man, their life is hid, but he's there, this
new man that is created in the image of Christ. Verse 4, those
who Christ is their life. They were dead, and now they're
alive. That's who he's writing to, okay?
He's not writing to unregenerate, lost people and telling them,
mortify your members. He's talking about new creatures. All right? And so that's what
he says in verse 5, mortify your members. Lust of your flesh,
lust of the eyes, pride of life. Listen to Simon Peter, and he's
going to continue this. We looked at this last Sunday,
but he's going to continue this in the rest of the chapter. But
listen to Simon Peter, his exhortation, and in every epistle, all the
apostles. Peter said, Dearly beloved, I
beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lusts which war against the soul. War against it. Having your conversation
honest, not Gentile. There's a war going on in God's
people. It's between two men, an old man and a new man. If
there's no war, there's no new creature. There was a time when
I didn't struggle with sin. I loved every minute of it. I
didn't mean to laugh about that. I didn't. That's what Paul said
in Romans 6. You had pleasure in those things,
but not now. I mean, it's still a temptation,
but now you want to be done with it. That's the new man. The new
man. And it says in verse 6 of chapter
3, for which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh on the children
of disobedience? Over and over through the scriptures.
It says this, particularly the epistles, it says, let no man
deceive you. God's going to destroy this world
because of sin. Sinners, it talks about. shall
not stand in judgment." Not sinners saved by grace. They're no longer
sinners. But he said, over in the Revelation,
he said, he that is filthy, let him be filthy still. He said,
such were some of you, but you're washed by the blood of Christ, by the
Word of God. That's what God's Word does. It washes us from
this filth. And that's what we're doing here.
So verse 7, it says you walked at some time, you walked in them,
you lived in them, lived for them, lived in them. Not now. Not now. How can we, Paul wrote, that
are dead to sin live any longer? They're in. No, God's people
want to be done with that old man. They want done with him. So verse 7, now this is, We're
going to look at putting off the old and putting on the new.
He carries this on throughout this chapter. Put off, verse
8. So put off all this. Put off. Have you ever been put
off by somebody? You call them and they won't
answer you. You text them and they won't
answer you. And you know they've got caller ID. And they won't
answer you. That's what's bad about caller
ID. You need to take it off your phone so you can tell everybody.
I don't have it. And I called you and you didn't
answer me. Just put off. I don't want anything to do with
you. Leave me alone. Don't call on me. Put off the
old man. Don't feed him. Don't, don't. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. That would be a good memory verse
for Monday morning. I've already got another one
in mind. Psalm 119, 133. We all know what
that means. Don't make provisions for him. You're feeding him. You want him weaker. You want
a new man stronger. I want the old man weak. Paul
said this in Romans 13, cast off the works of darkness, put
on the armor of light. That's what he said. So do that
with the old man. Put him off, put him off. Verses
9 and 10, lie not one to another. See, and you put off the old
man with his deeds. All men are liars. That's what
David said. I said in my haste, all men are liars. That describes
the people of this world. They don't think a thing about
lying. That's how they get by, just telling lies. We want truth, don't we? We want the truth, believe the
truth. And I want to be a truthful person. Put him up, verse 10. You put
on the new man. The new man is renewed in the
knowledge after the image of him that created him. The knowledge,
the mind of Christ. Didn't Paul say in Philippians
2, let this mind be in you. Here he says, let the word of
God dwell in you richly. Let the peace of God rule in
your heart. Let this mind be in you. This new man is renewed
in knowledge. The world, natural man, natural
people of the world don't have good sense. Their minds are void
of judgment, Scripture said. Reprobate unto every good word.
Past feeling, Father. Understanding darkened. How darkened
is man's understanding? He calls good evil and evil good. And religion is worse. Religion
has got man being a god and God being like a man. God can't do
anything unless man exerts his sovereign will. The understanding is turned backward. Man's mind is sick. But by God's grace, God's people,
mourn of God, given the mind of Christ, they think clearly. They think right thoughts of
God, of man, the world. See the world for what it is.
Evil. Evil. You know, Christ is the light,
and God's Word is the light. And like that window in the ark,
there was only one end window. If you wanted to see the world,
go up to that window, that ark, and look out, what would you
see? A flood of the ungodly. A world perishing, destroyed,
filth, mud. Imagine how, what all mud. Let that water stir it up and
everything. A world of corruption. That's
what you see when your mind's made clear. And what you want
then is out. I want out of the muck and the
mire and the slime pits. Please, Lord, get me off this
dung heap to set among princes. Take us out of here. The preacher, he said, all things
are beautiful. Yes, yes, they are. The Lord, I didn't say that,
the Lord pleasested. But, and he's given us all things
richly to enjoy, but man corrupts these things. They become evil
when man lusts for them and thinks about these things and lives
for these things and forgets God. That's, that makes them
evil. So, verse 10. And Christ, there's
no Greek or Jew, aren't you glad that those salvations of the
Jews, yet he saves Greeks? The Jews rejected the gospel,
you know, and so Paul said, okay, I'm going to the Gentiles. Oh,
thank God. That circumcision is not, salvation
is not by flesh or works, but by God, by Christ crucified. Aren't you glad? Barbarian, that's
us. That's what the Jews called us.
Barbarians, Scythian, bond. I'm afraid I told you one time
about Dan Parks. I love telling his story. I mean,
his son, when he went down to the islands, his son D, Daniel,
was just a babe. And they had to treat him at
the hospital for something. And they said, they asked, what's
his religion? What's your son's religion? He
said, he doesn't have religion. He's six months old. They said,
we got to put something down here. What's his religion? So
Dan said, okay, heathen. He's a heathen. Put it down there. That's a truthful man, isn't
it? My son, until God makes him a new creature, is a heathen.
Lost. I'm praying that he's one of
God's elect and you make him a child of God. Barbarians. We're all a bunch
of barbarians. Scythian. Bomb. No free. Christ is all
in all. Don't you love that? Christ is
all. All our hope. This is written
to those to whom Christ is all. Now you know he's all our wisdom,
all our righteousness, all our sanctification. Don't you know
that? By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that
are sanctified. He said, I sanctify myself that
they might be sanctified. You know that. I preach that
so clearly. And this is the last time I'm
going to say this. I'm not preaching good works for salvation. I'm
not preaching merit, good works for merit, for acceptance with
God. No, sir. We're accepted in the beloved.
Good works don't save us, but salvation is unto good work. I said that last Sunday, and
I shouldn't have to... I'm not going to apologize for
God's Word, and I'm not going to try to explain everything
to everybody. I'm just going to preach it like He wrote it,
like our Father says to us. He doesn't make us a son and
say, son, do this, do that, don't do that. Son, that doesn't make
us a son, whether you do it or don't do it, does it? But he
said, father, he said, you don't tell other people's children
things, do you? You don't chase other people's
children, do you? John, you didn't go next door
as much as you'd like to handle other people's children. You
didn't do that, did you? But you did yours, didn't you?
You took a rod to your children. And he said, no, stop that. And
you know what he's telling us here? Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Act like Jesus Christ. Now, what's wrong with that?
David said it. Here's our salvation. He said,
I will behold thy face in righteousness. Whose? His, clothed in his righteousness. We know that, don't we? Oh, yes,
we do. Thank God. All ours are filthy rags. David
said, I'll behold thy face in righteousness. This prodigal
son, he brought him home and the father said, bring the best
robe. He didn't ask me to put it on.
He said, put it on him. Put the ring on his finger, kill
the fatty calf. That prodigal did nothing. He
stood there. And while the father said, put
it on him. That's when the gospel comes
in power, isn't it? Where was I? I'd like to stay
there a while longer. That's my story. Do you understand? We're not talking about works. Paul's not preaching, teaching
works for salvation, but because of it. He's created a people
in Christ Jesus unto good work. Listen to Titus. Let me just
read this to you. It says, don't you love Titus?
11. He begins by saying the truth
is after godliness. First verse. Truth. The truth
is after godliness. What's that mean? Making a people
that were ungodly, godly. A people that had nothing to
do with God, now He's all. He's your Father. Then chapter
3 says, We once time foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving
divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice, envy, hateful, hating
one another, but... After the kindness and love of
God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the
washing of regeneration, renewing of the Holy Ghost. He shed on
us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord, justified by his grace
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Isn't that wonderful? Listen, it doesn't stop there. This is
a faithful saying. And these things I will that
thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God
might be careful to maintain good works. Peter said he's created
a people, a peculiar people, zealous of good work. The worse this world gets, the
more peculiar God's people go to bed. You believe what? You believe in modesty? Seriously? Abstinence from, you know, premarital
sex? Are you kidding me? Are you a
dinosaur? When this world just keeps getting
worse and worse, God's people are going to be so peculiar. And that's what we are. We're
not of this world. Don't think like it. Don't think like it. Our God, our Father is holy. And our Teacher is the Holy Spirit. And He says, Be ye holy. I'm over it, didn't I? That's what I want to be. That's
what I want to be. I'm so tired of this old man. All right, verse 12 says, put
on therefore. Put on as the elect of God. Put
on. Put on. It's not like put on
a happy face. Not fake it, you know. Fake it,
fake it, fake it, fake it, put on. Although, it might not be
a bad thing. If you wake up on the wrong side
of the bed, don't show it. But put on, meaning act like
the Lord. Verse 12, as the elect of God. Holy. Beloved. Bowels of mercy. Put on bowels
of mercy. Inner feelings toward others. Bowels of mercy. Inward feelings
for others. Let's quit feeling sorry for
ourselves. Let's quit thinking about ourselves. The first thing our Lord said
to His disciples, He that cometh after me, let him what? First
thing. Deny Himself. We come into this world thinking
it's all about us, our children. That's what we have to kill in
our children. This ain't about you. You're one of a zillion
others. It ain't about you. And this kingdom of God's not
about me. It's about Him. It's about his
kingdom. It's about his people. It's about
his family. We're members of the body and
our one purpose is to hold up the head. Not, well, look at
me. I'm a vital member. I'm a little toenail. Yeah. Seriously, it ain't about me.
Let me done with them. Oh, I got my feelings hurt. Well,
shoot. Well, I ain't happy. Or maybe
God's not happy with you. Be done with that. Our Lord denied
Himself, didn't He? He gave Himself. For who? A bunch of selfish people. Inward feelings for others. It's a sad fact that we don't
really feel for others unless we go through the same thing.
Isn't that sad? So sad. My granddaughter just
broke her ankle. And I went through that, and
I know what it feels like. I feel so sorry for her. But
I remember when Lauren Elizabeth fell out of a tree and broke
both her arms. You remember that, Lauren? Oh,
my. Both arms in a cast from her
shoulder down. She couldn't even feed herself.
Oh, man. And I remember feeling sorry
for you, but not like I should. That had been my granddaughter.
Oh, man. By the way, old Joseph, she got
her cast off, and Joseph was raffled with her later. She said,
stop it, Joseph, I've got bad bones. I love that story. We ought to
think on things of others. We're bowels of mercy, our Lord
full of mercy. He's even merciful to the unmerciful,
isn't he? What's wrong with this? Put on,
as the elect of God, kindness. Love is kind. That old man is
mean, isn't he? He's mean. Why? He's out for
himself. If you don't serve him or make
him happy, he's going to come down on you. That man needs a
good slap in the face from God's Word. Humility, humbleness of
mind, verse 12. Humbleness of mind, meekness,
long-suffering. Humility, humility, humility. The world is heady and high-minded,
proud. God's people are humble. Paul
wrote in Romans 12, let no man think too highly of himself,
but think as we ought to think. What should we think of ourselves?
That we're a bunch of zeroes. Nothing, right? We're all a bunch of nothings,
a bunch of nobody. Religion, you know, get people
in. This is a church where everybody's somebody. God's church is a place where
everybody's a nobody, where Christ is all and everything. That's
who He came to save, a bunch of nobodies. You see your calling,
don't you, brother? Not many wise men have the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble have called. God has chosen the
nothings to nobodies from nowhere. God
doesn't need us. It's for the poor and needy that
need Him. That's the mind of God's people.
We're nothing. He's all meekness. What's meekness?
That means humble submission to whatever comes our way. And if we're humble, we will.
We'll realize that whatever comes our way is not what I deserve. You have not dealt with me according...
I'm slapping my thigh. You remember that's what old
Ephraim does, doesn't he, Kenneth? When he realizes what the Lord
has done, he slaps his thigh. And he'll loathe himself and
think, how could I have ever gotten upset about anything when
it's all mercy? I should have been mad at myself
all these years instead of mad at God and mad at everybody else. Hmm. Meekness. Long-suffering. The word long-suffering
means And you know, I'm getting all excited, but I'm really aiming
this at me. Is it coming across that way?
I need that. I'm not preaching this to you
because you really need it. I need it. I know it. Well, I'm honoring myself. It says in verse 12, long-suffering. You know what that means? It
means putting up with one another. Verse 13, forbearing
one another. Putting up with. That's what
it means. James said, in many things we
offend all. We all offend one another. Somehow,
someway. We have, we do, and we shall.
We are different families And each of us thinks that we got
it right and everybody else is strange. That my family, you
know, the Andersons, the Mayhens, they're a bunch of weirdos. They
don't do it like we do. Putting up with. What does the
Lord put up with? What does he put up with in everything? It was so much unlike his son.
But he puts up with it. Long-suffering. Simon Peter said
this. You need to take into account that the long-suffering of our
Lord is salvation. One time he said, how long must
I suffer with you? How long will I put up with you?
How long did it? Having loved his own, he loved
it to the end. You put up with your own, don't
you? You put up with your family. You put up with those things
in your spouse or your children that you don't like. There's
things about others that we don't like. Face it. What is it about
you that's unlikable? You know? But in our own, those
we love, those that are dear to us, we put up with it. Hoping
we can change. And then after you're married 40-something
years, can't do it. It ain't going to change. I said,
well, you're going to do it. You're just going to change the
way you think, maybe. Be more merciful, like I do.
Grow in grace. Because he puts up with us until
the day we die. Forbearing one another. Forgiving
one another. And that means forget, doesn't it?
Forget. You haven't forgiven. You haven't
forgotten. Remember that burn note? Some of you, I asked if you listened
to that message by my dad. One lady said, five times. Well,
have you learned to really forget? Well, then listen five more.
We need this, don't we? Here's the motive. Here's the
reason. If any have a quarrel against
any, any quarrel, any problem, anything against any, as Christ
forgave you, so do you. We have never, we will never
do anything to one another like we've done to our Lord. Even
now. Even now. So he says, above all
things, and I was hoping to get down, hoping to start with verse
18 on wives and husbands and children. But here it is, above
all things, put on love, charity. It's a bond of maturity, of perfectness,
Christ-likeness, the bond, love. Put on love. Provoke one another
to love. We provoke one another in many
ways. Well, he says, provoke them to
love you. We do enough to make them mad
at us, do something to make them love you. Put on love, fervent
love, active love, love that surges. It's a bond of maturity
of Christlike, above all things. Put on, now by the faith, hope,
and love. What's the greatest? The man
said, I believe. Do you? Jane said, do you? Show
me. Here's love. And Christ showed
us that. The greatest of these is love.
Paul said, do I have all faith, remove mount, and don't have
love? Hmm. You're nothing. Understand all mysteries and
doctrine, have not love. You're nothing. Nobody. Means
nothing. Faith, hope, and love. Love.
But John wrote a whole book about it. If you don't love your brother,
how can you love God you haven't seen? It can't be. Love is a bond of perfectness. Love is maturity. Here's love. You remember in
Hosea, the story of Hosea and Gomer? Anybody want to hear that
priest song? I preached on it last year. Have
you forgotten? Yeah, I have. But here it is. He said, go love a woman of whoredom who's given everybody and everything
credit for what I'm doing for her. Go love that woman. And
after the manner of God's love for his people, you go love her. Marry her. and do everything for her, buy
her. She sold herself to sin. He's
going to purchase her with a steep price, his own precious blood. Now what's she going to do, be
faithful the rest of the time? Oh, no, but he is. Now that's the motive in it.
That's love. Isn't that love? That's real
love. Love never Never failed. Never failed. Perfect love. I want that kind of love. I'm
sure thankful he has it. Aren't you? I'm sure thankful
my salvation is not dependent on my love for him. Aren't you?
He has love for me. Aren't you glad? Well, I want
a love like that though. I want to be like him. I want
to be like him. It's the only way to be. Okay.