Open the Bibles to, if you would,
to Colossians. The book of Colossians. We'll
be looking at Chapter 3, portion here in Chapter 3. The name of
the message is called Conformed. Now, in religion, people often
talk about holiness, which is very important. Holiness is very
important. And they are told, though, that
they can make themselves more holy. I'm here to tell you, and
I know you already know this, we cannot make ourselves more
holy, can we? We can't. The scripture says
that we're made holy in Christ. We're made holy in Christ, and
only in Him are we holy. We do though grow in grace, being
conformed to the image of the Son. And I'd like us to look
at a portion of scripture today, Colossians chapter 3. Look at
verse 10, it says, And have put on the new man which is renewed
in knowledge after the image of him that created Now God's
people, we know from our studies in scriptures, in latter studies
which we've already done, that we are stones being made ready,
right? We're being conformed to the
image of Christ. Now we don't feel like we are,
do we? No. We don't, do we? I never forget
one time when I called Donny Bell one time, and I was talking
to Brother Donny, and I said, Donny, I'm getting worse. I said,
man, I'm more of a sinner now than I've ever been before. And
he chuckled on the other side of the phone. He started chuckling.
And he said, you're growing in grace, brother. Because we see
that progression with Paul, too. He said, I'm the least of all
saints at the beginning of his ministry. And at the end of his
ministry, he said, I'm the chief of sinners. So this is natural
for us. Now it goes opposite to what
we think, doesn't it? But the more we grow in grace,
the more we're conformed to the image of the sun. And again,
we don't see it. The more we see ourselves as
sinful. Religious people, you talk to
them, they don't believe they're sinners. God's people do. We know we're sinners. We know
we've been made new creatures in Christ by the Holy Spirit
of God. That's what the new man spoken
of here is. The new man spoken of here in
Colossians chapter 3 is created by God. This is a new man that
never was before. The old man's been around a long
time, hasn't he? We still carry this body of flesh
around, don't we? Yeah, we do. And we're very familiar
with His ways, aren't we? We're familiar with His will.
We're familiar with His ways. Look at verses 5 to 9. It talks
about the way of the flesh. Mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. For which
things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.
in which ye also walked some time when ye lived in them. So
Paul's bringing forth our natural state. He's bringing forth how
we were when we were dead in trespasses and sins. And he's
writing to the Colossian believers, and he says to them, but now
ye also put off these things, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy communication out of your mouth, lying not one to another,
seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. There's
nothing more contradictory to a born-again believer than an
angry, controlling professor. That's not how we are to be.
It says here, put off anger, put off wrath, don't hold grudges,
don't hold malice. Blasphemy! If you guys knew me
before the Lord saved me, you wouldn't have wanted to be around
me. And I know how I still struggle now, even as a believer. Is it
so for you? It is, isn't it? Felt the communication
out of your mouth. Lie not one to another. Seen
you put off the old man with his deeds. The new man's created
by God. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, by His almighty power. And now, tell me if it's
so for you. Now we have a battle. Old timers
call it a civil war in the believer. It's true, isn't it? It's a battle. And now we mourn over our sin
when we never used to. Did sin ever bother you before
the Lord saved you? No. Like I always say, only when
we got caught, right? Or if we'd been out doing something
we should have done the night before, and the next day we're
hurting for it. Say, I'll never do that again, Lord. A week later,
you're back at it. I was back at it again, right?
See, because that's just how the natural man is. And this
new man grows in grace. As the scripture says, they grow
in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Daily. Now we don't see it. We don't
see it. We don't see our own growth. We never do. Others will
see it in us, but we will never see it. If you hear a man say,
I'm getting more humble, they're not humble. Somebody tells you
they're meek, they're not meek. We don't see it in ourselves.
You know why? Because we know how much sinners
we are. We know what we struggle with
every day. They don't know that, but we do. We know how much we
need Christ every day. I need Him more now than I've
ever needed Him before. Is it so with you too? It is,
isn't it? It is. And as we grow in grace,
He teaches us more of how sinful we are. Oh my. And then we realize
more and more the great deliverance that has occurred in our lives.
We've been delivered from all our sins. We've been delivered
from the penalty of our sins. We've been delivered from the
judgment of our sins. Praise God, one day we'll be
delivered from the presence of our sins. We haven't yet, right?
Because we're still sinners. But one day we'll be delivered
from the presence. It doesn't have the power it
once had over us. Now we mourn over our sin. When
I say something I shouldn't say, now I mourn over it. And I remember
in religion, man, preachers were never sinners. They were guys
that you thought, boy, those guys never sin at all. Well,
listen to grace preachers. You've all listened to grace
preachers long enough. We're a bunch of sinners saved by grace. We're
beggars telling other beggars where to find bread. And that's
only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. Nowhere else can
you find peace with God. Look at what Colossians chapter
3 says here in verses 11 to 14. Look at this. So we've read about
how we were and then we see in verse 10 that we're to put on
a new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of
him that created him and then look at verses 11 to 14 look
at this but speaking about the body of Christ where there is
neither Greek nor Jew circumcision nor uncircumcision Barbarians,
Scythians, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Now
the Greeks, we know, are the Gentiles, and the Jews, we know,
they were God's chosen people. And then it says uncircumcision,
well that includes all the Gentiles as well. Then barbarians, and
then the Scythians. Have you ever wondered who the
Scythians are? The Scythians were the barbarians of barbarians.
They were the worst of the worst. I won't go on and tell you some
of the things that they did to people after they caught them
in battle. I read a little bit about these
Scythians. You talk about brutal. The Lord saved some of them.
Isn't that wonderful? It says here, barbarian Scythian,
born nor free. They're included. There's some
of them the Lord saved, beloved. Here's something for us to say
to people. Somebody says, well, you don't know my sin. It's so
bad. And I said, well, I know the Lord saved some Scythians,
the barbarians of barbarians. he can save to the other most
all who come to him that's what the scripture declares right
oh yeah look at this bond or free doesn't matter if they were
in slavery at that time or if they were free men right because
we know some believers were were slaves at that time look at this
but Christ is all that's what Christ is to us to today isn't
he's all and in all look at this and put on therefore is the elect
of God now there's a statement right there It's not a put on
therefore if you've made a decision to walk with Christ. It says
put on therefore as the elect of God, the chosen of God. If you're a believer here today,
that's speaking to you and to me as a believer. The elect,
the chosen of God, based upon absolutely nothing in us. undeserving. Put on therefore as the elect
of God, holy and beloved. We're made holy in Christ. That's
what that's saying, holy and beloved. We're already holy in
Christ and we're beloved of God. That's speaking of us being beloved
of God. I remember when we were going through our study in 1st
John and we saw the word beloved. And one of the Greek scholars
I read, he said that means divinely loved ones. Let that sink in.
Divinely loved ones of God were holy in Christ, even though we're
sinners. How is that so? Because of Christ's
perfect, spotless righteousness. And it says this. Bows of mercy.
We're to have bows of mercies with people. 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 forgive you, so also do ye. And above all
things put on charity, that's love, love, which is the bond
of perfectness. So we see, look at verse 12,
we see in verse 12 how God's people are elect in Christ and
how they're holy in Christ and how they're beloved in Christ.
So what sweet comforting words that is for we who are sinners,
as we have to go through this world every day, every day, to
know that we're made holy in Christ, to know that we're beloved
of God, we're the divinely loved ones, to know that we're chosen
by God in Christ. Do you see how Paul, even when
he's doing instruction and correction, how he always weaves it, and
again, never forget, this is by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God, how he always weaves it with these sweet comforts
that we have in Christ, just like a river that meanders its
way, and he gets to the correction point, but he just tells us how
much Christ loves us, and oh my. Even in Galatians, you know,
that first chapter of Galatians, boy, he really lays it out, doesn't
he? But later on in chapter 3, he
tells them that if you're in Christ, then you're of the seed
of Abraham. He just weaves that comfort in
there. All that comfort for us as believers.
So knowing that God chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world, and knowing that we are unholy in ourselves, but
holy in Christ, and knowing that we are beloved in Christ, we
should therefore put on with one another vows of mercy, kindness,
humbleness, of mind, meekness, long-suffering. We should be
forbearing with another. We should be forgiven with one
another. And if any man have a quarrel against any, even as
Christ forgave you, so also do we. We should be quick to forgive
others who sinned against us. Again, when we reflect upon how
much Christ has forgiven us, it won't be hard for us to forgive
other people. It won't be. And you know I'm
not the religious type that says, you gotta do this, you gotta
do this, you gotta do this. This is just instruction for
us, instruction in righteousness. In religion, you've heard me
speak of this, I was always told you had to do this and you had
to do that. And I know some of you came out of that too. Always,
just constantly told what you have to do. Now we look at this
and what Paul's writing, he's writing this saying we should
do this, right? And it's the Holy Spirit that
works this in us. If we try to be more kind, I'm
telling you what, we're not going to be more kind. Right? If we
try to be meek, we're not going to be very meek. Always remember
that it's the fruit of the Spirit. He works this in us. It's God
working in us to do this. And it's wonderful knowing that
because the new man is, we've been born again by the Holy Spirit
of God, beloved. We're regenerated. We're new
creatures in Christ. Now we still carry around this
body of flesh, which is our worst enemy. It is, isn't it? But praise
be to God, we're born again, we have a new spirit in us, new
man who wars against the flesh. Again, now sin bothers us. You know, I say something and
then I get convicted of it and I say, Vicki, I shouldn't have
said that. My. You know, now before I ever said it, before
the Lord saved me, wouldn't it just, I just, oh well. But it's
not the same anymore, is it? It's not. Oh my, it's just not. And you know why we're like that
now? Because God's called us out of darkness. And what a darkness
we were in. We were veiled in darkness before
the Lord saved us. Now, can unsaved people do kind
things? Yeah, they can do kind things.
Of course they can, yeah. Are some unsaved people humble?
Yes, some of them are, but they're also very proud. We know that.
Because all people have pride. We all struggle with pride. But
we're new creatures in Christ as believers. We've been taken
out of the darkness that we once were in. You know how dark that
darkness was? That darkness was so dark that
we didn't even know we were sinners, did we? And now we're in the
light. And what does the light do? I remember somebody one time
said, if you get a room full of cockroaches, you'd be walking
around there in the dark. You don't even know they're there.
You flip that light on, what happens to them cockroaches?
They just scatter, don't they? I've never really seen one. So
thankfully, I haven't experienced that yet, which is a blessing.
But they just scatter. As soon as you turn the light
on, I've heard, well, the light's been turned on, eh? In us. Oh,
my. Now we know what we are. Now
we know what we are. No, we were sometimes in darkness,
the scripture says, but now are you light in the Lord. Walk as
children of the light. For the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable
unto the Lord. It's the fruit of the Spirit,
you see? It's not something we can muster up. We've been again
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, created anew by God's
sovereign almighty power. The same purpose of God that
raised Christ from the grave is the same purpose which purposed
us to be born again, which chose us in eternity. Isn't that amazing? That's incredible. And now the
same purpose of God, the eternal purpose of God, we're being conformed
to the image of the Son by the same sovereign power, the power
of God. And the grace of God, it's the
grace of God that created the new man in us. It's the grace
of God. And it will manifest itself in
our outward conduct. As I said, religion tells you,
you've got to do this, do this, do this. The believer, we just
walk in faith. And what do we do? We struggle,
don't we? We struggle. But as our faith
grows, as the Lord has our faith grow, the more we hear the gospel
preached, the more we hear about our sovereign God, the more we
trust and rest in Him, our faith grows. We don't even see our
faith growing, but it's growing. When does our faith most grow?
Does it most grow in times of peaceful tranquility? No, Sister,
you're shaking your head. No, you're right. It doesn't.
No. When does it grow? It grows in times of trial, in
afflictions, in sorrow, in pain. That's when it grows. That's
when it grows. It also does grow by constantly
hearing the Word of God preached, too. By hearing the Gospel preached
and proclaimed. Sometimes we'll be reading a
passage and we'll go, oh yeah, that's neat. And we'll read it
later on, we'll go, I never saw that. Well, it's a time for you
to see that. It's time of illumination by
the Holy Spirit of God to reveal that scripture to you. And you
go, oh my goodness, look at that. Do I got a new Bible? No, it's
been there the whole time. It's just the Lord chose to illuminate
the scriptures by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And you
get great comfort at that time, don't you? Right when you need
it. Right when you need it. Isn't it amazing? See, God's
grace is incredible. It's just incredible. It doesn't
work like our way of learning does in humans, does it? Because
learning, you know, we go and we do this and we do that, we
work diligently, we work hard and we do all this, right? And
we learn and grow and we learn more. But as believers, we know
that's the Lord even giving us that knowledge too, isn't it?
Because all the knowledge we have even outside the Bible,
God's given it to us. He's given it to us. But then
when it comes to the Scripture, too, we are to study the Scripture,
we are to be Bereans, but it's only the Holy Spirit of God who
can illuminate that Scripture and teach us the things of Christ.
I was a lost man in New Doctrine. I was a five-point calvinist
in the Lost Man. Some people say, well, how can
that happen? Because I wasn't born again.
But when God regenerated me, oh my, those things became even
more precious to me. Even more precious. I've heard
of preachers and preachers' wives who the Lord, they knew all kinds
of stuff, went to seminary, did all this stuff, and then the
Lord saves them. It's incredible how God is at His time. And we see, turn if you would
to Romans chapter 13, verse 14. It says here in Romans 13, verse
14. But put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the
lusts thereof. Brother Henry Mahan comments
on this verse here. And he says, clothe yourself
with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not only to be clothed
in the spotless and imputed righteousness by faith and to make a strong
public confession in him, but it is to imitate him in the exercises
of grace, to walk as he walked, to love as he loved, to forgive
as he forgave, to submit to the Father's will as he submitted,
make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof,
that is, give less thought and attention to this body of flesh.
See, the unsaved give a lot of attention to this body of flesh,
don't they? But they have no care for their
eternal souls. Henry goes on to say, as we think
of the flesh, as we draw on the passions and the lust of the
body, We somehow arrange for those desires to be met. So we
look to Christ and Christ alone. We look to Him and He subdues
those things. So let us ponder this, that the
same purpose of God that predestinated us unto the adoption of children
also predestinated us to be conformed to the image of the Son. Colossians
chapter 3 verses 12 and 13 again, 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. Keep short accounts. You can either get better or
bitter. I've learned that. Somebody reminded me of that.
I say that a lot. Somebody reminded me this week
of that again, and it was good for me to hear that. Oh, it was.
It was good for me to hear. Wayne, you can either get better
or bitter. Oh, what happens? You put the head down, don't
you? Oh Lord, oh Lord, please forgive me. Now we know we're
sinners, and our wa can never be as it should be, or as we
desire it to be. That's the big thing, is we desire
it, because we desire not to sin anymore, but while we're
in this body of flesh, we're going to sin still. It doesn't
give us a license to go do whatever we want, but let we who are the
redeemed of God praise God that we're not what we used to be.
We're not what we want to be. We're not what we will be. But
praise God, we're not what we used to be. He didn't leave us
dead in trespasses and sins with no hope. No, now we have a hope,
beloved. Now we have a hope. And the old
man now, there's a war, and the old man struggles for supremacy,
doesn't he? The old man or the old nature
struggles for supremacy within us. And we must crucify him daily.
We know that God's people do not sin that grace may abound.
We do not practice sin. It's not our lifestyle. And we
hate it in our lives, don't we? We cry out with the apostle,
by the grace of God, I am what I am. I said that to Vicki this
morning. I said, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. Thinking about this message this
morning. Praise God, we're not what we used to be. By the grace
of God. And the fact that our Heavenly Father loves all His
blood-bought children, and that His love for us motivates us
to serve Him, doesn't it? And obey Him. Thus the Apostle
Paul wrote that the love of Christ constrains us from sin. It's
the love that we have for Christ that constrains us. Imagine what
we would be without the constraining grace of God. Imagine what the
world would be like if he didn't restrain sin. We still restrain
sin. Imagine what it would be like.
We've had glimpses through history of little bits. But imagine if
God just let his restraining hand go. Oh my. One preacher
friend of mine said, we see a little bit of his restraining hand being
let go in the last little while. Just a little bit. Just a little
bit. My, my. Our Lord is full of mercy. Our
Lord is full of compassion. We see that all through the Gospels.
Turn, if you would, to Mark chapter 1, but keep your finger here
in Colossians chapter 3, because we'll be going right back there.
Mark chapter 1, verses 40 and 42. Look at this. Our Lord is
so full of compassion for his people. I don't think we fully
grasp it. I don't think we ever really
will. Just how compassionate our Lord is with us. Just how
long-suffering our Lord is with us. This, Mark chapter 1, verses
40 to 42. And there came a leper to him.
Now, the lepers were not supposed to come near anybody. And in
order for this leper to get to Christ, he must have had to cry,
unclean, unclean, all the way until he got to the Lord, because
that's what they used to have to do. They weren't supposed
to be within the city. And this leper comes to him,
besieging him and kneeling down to him and saying, if thou wilt,
thou can make me clean. If you will, Lord. Is that not
what every believer says? Lord, if you will, if it's your
will, you can save me. And is it not what we even cry
out in the midst of trials and tribulations? Lord, if it be
your will, have this to pass, please. If not, give me the grace
and strength I need to make it through it all. Look at this.
In Jesus, what was he moved with? He was moved with compassion,
beloved. You ever had somebody show compassion to you? I think
we all have sometime in our lives. Look at this. And remember though,
remember the one who here is moved with compassion. It's the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's God incarnated in the flesh.
And you know He was moved, God the Father was moved with compassion
when He chose us in Christ. Isn't that amazing? We gotta
bring it home, don't we? Look at this though. And Jesus
moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him. Now,
he touched a leper. Now, here's something to think
about, too. When you touched a leper, it was like a death
sentence. You were gonna get leprosy, too. Here's something
to think about here, though. Our Lord is the perfect, sinless,
spotless Lamb of God. And he touched this leper, and
nothing happened to him. But watch what happened to the
leper. He's perfect. He's the God-man. He's God incarnate
in the flesh. Look at this. And Jesus moved
with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith
unto him, I will be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken,
immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. Christ is the perfect, sinless,
spotless Lamb of God who gave himself for the sins of his people.
Sinless and spotless. And he touches a man that leprosy
pictures full of sin, and he is still clean, and that man
is cleansed. Oh my, what a picture, eh? He's
perfect. He cleanses his people from all
their sins. They've already been bought and
paid for at Calvary's Cross, haven't they? Oh, what a picture
we have here. See, Christ's cleansing power
is complete. It's full. It's a full salvation. It's a forgiveness of all our
sins. And then if you read the narrative
over in Luke, he was told to go to the high priest, for the
high priest to examine him. And the high priest would examine
him and find no leprosy in him, which pictures sin, and he would
release him to go back. Isn't that incredible? Oh, what
our great God has done for us, beloved. What he's done for us.
Oh my. And he's had mercy upon us and
then look at verse 12, let's go back to our text in Colossians
chapter 3. Since the Lord's had mercy upon
us, we therefore as the elect of God, who are holy in Christ
and beloved by God in Christ, are to put on vows of mercy.
Those who have been shown mercy, who are objects of sovereign
mercy, who have experienced sovereign mercy, will show mercy to others.
It'll just flow naturally. You don't even have to tell them.
It just happens. Matthew 5 verse 7 our Lord said blessed are the
merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Now we don't feel very
merciful do we? No. But the scripture says that
we're to be merciful and show kindness and humbleness of mind
and meekness and long-suffering. And that's all the free of the
spirit being worked in us, beloved. Bows is a reference to the inward
parts. And this mercy is true heartfelt.
It comes from a regenerated heart, beloved. Do you see how it all
comes from God? It comes from Him. And this will
be a true heartfelt concern for those who are in need, those
who are suffering, those who are hurting in any way. So bowels
of mercy is inward pity and tenderness towards the needs of others,
kindness towards the misery that they're going through or their
infirmities. 1 John 3.17 says this, but so whosoever hath the
world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shut up his bowels
of compassion for him, how dwelt the love of God in him. We're
to bear one another's burdens, aren't we? We're to esteem others
better than ourselves. We bear one another's burdens.
And so fulfill the law of Christ, it says in Galatians 6, too.
We bear one another's burdens by comforting one another. And
isn't it always amazing? I'm always amazed at this. The
Lord will put us through things so that we can be a comfort to
others later on. It happens every time. It's amazing
how it happens. You may hear a brother or sister
in Christ that's off somewhere that is going through the very
same thing, or it may even be an unsaved loved one. And it
gives you the opportunity to testify of what Christ has done
for you. I was reading Grace Gems this
morning, and Grace Gems came in, and it talked about what
you often hear me say about looking back at the mercies of God, which
he's had upon you. And I think I might even put
it in the bullet next week. It was beautiful. It talked about
how we can look back and see what the Lord's done for us.
And then we are able to help others who are going through
a similar experience. We are comforted with the comfort
of God, and then we're able to comfort other people. And in
doing so, we fulfill the royal law of Christ. Listen to this,
in John 13, verses 34 and 35, it says this, a new commandment
I give unto you, that you love one another. as I have loved
you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that
you are my disciples, if you love one to another." We love
the people of God. We love our brothers and sisters
in Christ. We hurt when they hurt, don't we? We do. The next
word I'd like to look at in this text is kindness. It says, put
on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of
mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering.
Kindness was shown to mercy beggars like you and I by God. We who
are the redeemed, right? God's kind to us, isn't he? He
showed us kindness. Oh, he sure has. He showed us
kindness in Christ. Look at David as a picture of
God the Father and Jonathan. They made a covenant years before
Mephibosheth was even born, which pictures the everlasting covenant
of God made in eternity. Turn if you would. 2 Samuel chapter
9. Let's turn there. David had made
a covenant with Jonathan even before Mephibosheth was born.
And he said, be kind to any of my kin, spare them. And David
and Jonathan had a love for one another. It's incredible. Listen,
2 Samuel chapter 9. And David said, is there yet
any left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? And there was of the house of
Saul a servant, whose name was Ziba. When they had called him
unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said,
Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not
yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness
of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet had a son, which is lame on his feet. Now
I've said this before, and it's worth repeating again, that whenever
a new king came into power, they usually slaughtered anybody who
was descendant of the king before them, because they did not want
any challenge to their throne. Now we see David here do the
exact opposite. Look at this. And the king said,
where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, behold, he is in the
house of Makar, the son of Emiel in Lodabar. Means no bread. He's
in the desert. Now when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell
on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth.
And he answered, behold, thy servant. And David said unto
him, fear not. Look at that. Fear not. Those
are the words that God says to every believer in Christ. Fear
not. Fear not. for I will surely show
thee kindness. Has the Lord showed us kindness?
Oh, he has, hasn't he? He's been so kind to us. And
look at this, for Jonathan's thy father's sake, and will restore
thee all the land of Saul, thy father, and thou shalt eat bread
at my table continually. Look at that. Do you know that
we're going to eat bread continually at the king's table when we're
in glory? Oh, my beloved. What a picture
of the mercy and kindness of God towards his people. So we
who are born again, regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, will
not only have inward feelings of mercy towards others, but
there will be a show of outward kindness and mercy as well. And
it will express itself with tender words and benevolent deeds, kindly
bestowed on those who are in need. Paul continues to write
that we are to put on humbleness of mind. Look at Colossians 3.12,
put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bows
of mercy, kindness and humbleness of mind. Matthew Poole comments
that humbleness of mind here is a sincere lowliness of spirit. So what a picture we have here
of Christ. You see how the believer is being
conformed to the image of Christ? Christ is, he's humble, of a
humble spirit. So we're not to seek attention
and preeminence. We're not to do that at all.
We're to be lowly of mind, in the sense that, remember what
John the Baptist said about Christ? He must increase and I must decrease.
Turn, if you would, to Philippians chapter 2. This humbleness of
mind here arises from the fact of our own sins, because as I
said, when we grow in grace we become more knowledgeable about
our own sins and how sinful we are. the fact of our sins, and
our own infirmities, and our shortcomings, and then we also,
this humbleness of mind comes about knowing that our great
God has had such great mercy upon us, and shown us such great
grace, loving kindness towards his people. Philippians chapter
2, it says in verses 1 to 8 here, if there be therefore any consolation
in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, and that ye
be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of
one mind. Now that's the love of God shed abroad in our heart.
We cannot muster that up. That is the one thing that Satan
cannot counterfeit, is the love of God shed abroad in the hearts
of believers. That's the one thing he cannot
counterfeit. He can counterfeit a lot of things in religious
people, but that's one thing he can't counterfeit is a love
for the brethren, a love for God, a love for his word. Let
nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness
of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look
not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things
of others. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. Lowliness, lowliness. made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of man, and being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself." What great humility. God himself became
a man and lived the perfect life that we could never live. fulfilled
the law perfectly for us as our substitute, and then went to
Calvary's cross and paid the debt for our sin. The sinless
one did this. What great humility! Made himself
of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of man. And being found in the fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." The sinless one did that for
sinners. What great mercy. What great mercy. What great
kindness. What great compassion. What great lowliness of mind.
It's incomparable, isn't it? It's incomparable. Paul writes
this over in Colossians. He writes, in these things, brethren,
I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for
your sake, that ye might learn in us not to think of men above
that which is written. Don't vault men up. Don't vault
men up. That no one of you be puffed
up one against another. Why? For who make it thee to
differ from another? We have nothing to get puffed
up about over other people, because the only one who's made us to
differ one from another is God. He's the only one. That's found
in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7. For who maketh thee the different
from another, and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?
So think of all the knowledge you have, all the knowledge that
you've gained. And isn't it neat how each one of us can do a job
or do something that others can't do necessarily, or other people
can do it, but we've been taught that and we've learned that.
I used to be a sign painter. I used to do hand lettering by
hand, all lettering by hand at one time. went to school for
it and everything, and did it for years, had my own business
doing it. But only sign painters could do that with a brush, the
art of it. Now they just punch numbers in
the computer and print it, the vinyl, and it gets stuck on something. I even had one of those after
a while. It just took the art away. It took the art away of
the sign painting. But I was one of few who could
do that. And each one of us have special talents and things that
we can do, knowledge. But even that knowledge, to be
able to do that, even in our natural state, is given to us
from God. It's given to us. Everything
we know is given to us from God. Paul says, and what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? That means everything. And now
if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst
not received it? See, we don't have anything to
glory in but Christ. He's the one we boast in. It's
God who's made us to differ. We look upon ourselves as the
chief of sinners, inferior to others in gifts and knowledge,
and we esteem others better than ourselves. That's why we esteem
others better than ourselves. Paul wrote about preaching. Who's
sufficient for these things? All we preachers, when we talk,
that's something we talk about, how we're so insufficient. But
yet God makes the preacher. God gives us knowledge, and he
gives us a message, and we proclaim that message. But it all comes
from him. It's not a job or a profession for the preacher. It's a calling.
It's not a job for the preacher. It's a calling. And it's with
great joy that I stand before you and preach the gospel. The
Lord is the one who's done this, and it's amazing. And all the
gifts I have, I have because of Him. I can't lay claim to
none of them at all. And it's the same for you all.
You all have different giftings, and those all come from the Lord.
And we are to esteem others better than ourselves. So the next point
I'd like us to look at is meekness. Look at verse 12 again of Colossians
chapter 3. Put on, therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, and longsuffering. Now as the elect of God, we're
to put on meekness. Now meekness is the opposite
of pride. There's nothing more contradictory than a proud believer
to the grace of God. And that's why pride is so deadly. So deadly. How do we kill pride
as believers? I'll tell you a real sure way
to kill pride as a believer. Never forget the pit you were
taken out of. Never forget the state we were
in when the Lord found us. When he saved us, that's how
you kill pride. Henry Mahan used to say this.
I got a sign in my study. Never forget the rock you were
hewn from. Don't ever forget where you came
from. Never. That'll kill pride so
quickly. Knowing the pit we were in. We
were in a miry pit. You know, Jeremiah talks about
a miry pit. And that pit is being in a pit.
And you're dropped in this pit. And miry clay is clay with water. And every time you try to dig
in, and you get up a little bit, you just slide right back down
to the bottom. That's the pit we were in. And
you know where help came from? Help came from above. In that
story in Jeremiah, there's something lowered down, a rope lowered
down. Help came from above, beloved. He was taken out of that pit.
He was pulled out of that pit. Oh, how we were pulled out of
the pit of sin we were in. And help came from above, beloved,
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, washed clean by the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise his mighty name. Oh, he's
so good to us. Meekness is defined in the Greek
as gentleness, gentleness. Several commentators bring up
the point of when you're being reviled, you don't lash out in
anger. That's what our Lord, they reviled our Lord, right?
And he did not lash out in anger at all to them. Do you see how
these show us how we're being conformed to the image of Christ?
And we don't even know when this is happening. You ever tell a
believer that, you know, you say, man, you know, you're just
such a blessing to me, and the believer often says, well, I
don't know how I'm a blessing to you. But it's true. We're
encouragements to one another. We've been changed by the grace
of God in Christ, and we're being conformed to the image. of Christ. Our Lord was a gentle, meek servant."
Now let's look at the last point in this text that says, "...put
on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved vows of
mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and long-suffering."
Now I'll tell you what, long-suffering. We, as the elect of God, are
to be long-suffering with others. And this ties right into our
last point, which was the spirit of meekness. And that will enable
us to be patient and long-suffering with others, and even with ourselves. even with ourselves. A jealous,
envious person is not one who is patient. Those who want to
argue and quarrel over every little thing that they don't
agree with, they're not manifest in a meek spirit. They're not.
They're not manifest in being long-suffering. A meek and quiet
spirit will lead to patience and long-suffering. We don't
feel it necessary to avenge ourselves, because the Lord says, vengeance
is the Lord's. I will repay, because Christ
is our refuge. We don't even have to defend
ourselves, because God will defend us. It's amazing. Stand back
and watch the sovereign at work. Incredible, incredible. Here
vindicate his people. So let us be patient and long-suffering
with God's children. Remembering, now here it is,
this is the reason I, for me, remembering how patient and long-suffering
the Lord was with, and I just say me, and then say us. Think of how long-suffering the
Lord was with us. Think of how patient the Lord
was with us. And the love of God is now shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God. And this is how
love works, by being gentle and kind, patient, long-suffering
with others. A new commandment I give you,
that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also
love one another. By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples, if ye love one another. John 13, verse 34
and 35. You see, we've been changed by the grace of God. We're not
what we used to be. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. 2,000 years ago, Christ shed
his precious blood for us on the cross, and we had no idea
at all until the time of love, until it was revealed to us what
our wonderful, merciful Savior has done for us. Now, I don't
know how old you were when that happened. For me, I was in my
30s. And I look back now, and I think, oh, how long-suffering
God was with me, and how long-suffering He still is with me. Oh my, it's
incredible, isn't it? Divinely loved ones. Divinely
loved ones. When we put on the new man, the
faults of others won't seem to be as offensive to us as our
own faults. I got a lot of faults. I know
it's so for you too. And when I look at my own faults,
you can be quick to let things go, right? One thing I was talking
to Drew about this week, and I'm not sure if I mentioned it
to all of us here, I've mentioned it to a few of you privately.
If we would look at each other in Christ, which is how we're
supposed to look at each other, right? In Christ. We wouldn't
find faults with one another, right? It's true. We're to look
at each other in Christ, and then look at ourselves and go,
Lord, look how long-suffering and patient you've been with
me. Glory to your name. Glory to your name. Scripture
says this, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against
such as there is no law. Remember, it's called the fruit
of the Spirit. That's found in Galatians chapter
5 verses 22 and 23. Remember though, it says right
there in verse 22, but the fruit of the Spirit. It's not the fruit
of our works. You can't muster it up. God works
this in us. And that's a miracle, isn't it?
That he takes rebels at heart and conforms us to the image
of Christ. And one day, when all that hewing
and chipping is done, we'll go home to be in the presence of
the Lord. What a day that'll be. Glory to his name.