Colossians chapter 3 Colossians
chapter 3 I'm gonna try to cover three verses tonight I've got that in my notes, but
We get a lot of ground to cover here Colossians chapter 3 verses
will read the context of it verses 1 to 10 the name of the message
is put off put on put off put on If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affections on things
above, not on the things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your
life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 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 the which ye also walked some
time when ye lived in them." And here are three verses for
tonight. 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. So last week we looked at
verses 6 and 7. We looked at verses 6 and 7,
for which sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience,
and to which ye also walked some time when ye lived in them. We looked at verses 6 and 7,
and we considered how the wrath of God comes upon the children
of disobedience. for sin and because of sin. We
also looked at how we once walked in those. And we're still sinners,
aren't we? We're just as deserving as the
wrath of God as the children of disobedience. But God has
had mercy on us. He's had mercy on us. The Lord
Jesus Christ has paid all that God has demanded for the sins
of his people. Verse 7 Paul was bringing before
the Colossians their former pagan states Look, it says in the witch. He also walks sometime when you
lived in him. He's bringing before them the
fact that they were in a pagan state They were And how they
lived in that state and Beloved it's no different for us when
we look back when we look back before the Lord saved us and
We see that we were in the same state as all unbelievers. I was. That was my state. This was my state. This was my state before the
Lord saved me. Now Paul brings before them that
they used to live in this manner. They used to live in this manner.
Sin once had had rule and dominion over them. It's the same with
us. One time it had rule and dominion. But now they're washed in the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now they have a new nature
within them. Now they have a new nature within
them. Paul is bringing before them the distinction between
their past life, dead and trespasses and sins, children of disobedience,
right? Because that's what we were.
And he's bringing that before them. And their new life. They're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. And how they have changed. They
don't desire the things that they once used to desire. but
they battle every day with the flash. And that's what we're
going to look at tonight. They battle every day with the
flash. And we saw that even in verse five mortified. Therefore,
your members, we as believers are to mortify. We're at war
and the battles inside. It's right in here. This whole
flash battles with the new nature. Oh, my. Therefore, if you then
be risen with Christ, See, there's the key. If we are his, then
we are to look to heaven. We're to look to Christ, right?
Where he is seated in the right hand of God. And we see that
in verse one. This is a fact. He is seated upon the throne.
It's a fact. It's a fact. It brings a believer
great comfort, great comfort. We're to set our mind. Look at
verse two. Set your affection on things above. Right. Set our
minds on things above, which in the Greek Robertson brings
out this. He says, keep on thinking about. We're to keep on thinking
about Christ. We're to keep him at the forefront
for us. And that's how we mortify our
members, too, by keeping Christ at the forefront. He's to be
our aim, our goal, our thought should be upon our master, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is seated in heaven. He's seated in heaven. So the gospel preacher, what
do we do? We put forth Christ before you. We say, look, don't I know. And I'm not saying we don't see
the things and be aware of the things in the world because we
are. But I mean, when when our minds start to when we start
to get worked up about some set your mind. That's what I have
to do all the time, all the time, all the time. So the gospel preacher
puts forth Christ, which is what Paul is doing right here, too.
We see that. If you then be risen with Christ,
when Christ look at look at look at the the first verse if you
then be risen with Christ Christ said the right hand of God look
at verse 3 your life is hit with Christ in God verse for when
Christ who is our law he's constantly bringing forth price it's that
goes back to that musical tuning or remember clausen's chapter
one team before Paul corrects the Corinthians all re chapter
1 he's setting forth price Ting! So they know. I've set my mind
upon him. I set my mind upon him. So the gospel preacher sets forth
Christ. And Paul's doing this. He's setting
forth Christ before the Colossian believers. The fact that our
Lord has accomplished salvation by the sacrifice of himself.
He's now seated at the right hand of the Father. God's satisfied.
He's satisfied. He's satisfied with Christ. He's
our federal head. Christ is our federal. He's the
representative of all all who he suffered and died for in glory
right now, right now. He's interceding for us right
now. That's wonderful news because we're sinners and we desperately
need Christ more now than we've ever needed him before. For me,
my. And beloved, all all the chosen
blood bought children of God are in Christ. And we are already
seated with him in glory. Our life is hid with Christ and
God. And when our Lord Jesus, who is our life, shall appear,
then we shall also appear with him. We're also up here with
him in glory. Therefore, we are to seek those
things which are above. We're to seek those things which
are above. We're to set our affection on the things which are above,
not on the things of the earth. And as we walk with Jesus Christ
on our way to our heavenly home, we mortify or put to death our
members, the law of sin, this flesh, this flesh, my own worst
enemy, my flesh, my flesh. You often hear folks in religion,
all the devil, the devil, the devil. Oh, the grace, the grace
believer says, oh, the flesh, the flesh, the flesh. Oh, my. Our dear brother, Calvin, he's
not struggling with that. He's in. His race is finished. He's rejoicing
around the throne. One day we'll be there. We'll
be there with him. so we're to put off the old man
with his deeds and put on the new man bearing the image of
jesus christ who left us an example that we should follow the steps
first peter two twenty one says this for even here on to where
you call because christ also suffered for us he died for his
people leaving us an example that she should all this here
before the caution believers contrasting the new life the
new life with the old. We see that tonight in our text
tonight. One commentator said this, our feet are here but our
thoughts are to be upon him. Our feet are here but our thoughts
are to be upon him. And this will bring great joy
and peace as we think upon the Lord Jesus Christ. So let us
remember that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to
everyone that believes. Our Lord is not trying to make
disciples, is he? He's not trying to make disciples.
He's not trying to get men and women to follow him. To say that
God is trying to do something is to imply that he might fail.
And we know that our God's will will be accomplished and cannot
be thwarted ever, ever. Our Lord and Master, our Savior
said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow
me. God's people, God's sheep, follow the shepherd. We follow
the shepherd. So let us remember this. After
we hear his life-giving voice calling our name, and there was
a name when he, there was a time when he affectionately called
every one of us, every believer, he did. Lazarus come forth as
a picture of Christ affectionately calling his people, calling them
by name, calling them by name. But our Lord continues to speak
to us through the scriptures. through the teaching of the scriptures.
He continues to speak to his sheep through the word. And only
through this. Nothing else. Not some religious
nut saying he got a word from the Lord, a prophecy. No, no.
It's the scriptures and the scriptures alone. This is our final book,
right here. so with these blessed truce fresh
in our mind likes let's read the words are the three verses
for tonight's lesson but now he also put off all these anger
wrath malice blasphemy filthy communication out your mouth
line not one to another seen that 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 so let's
consider verse 8 the start but now he But now you also put off all
these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth. Here before us in our text, in verses 8 and 9, the
Holy Spirit moves Paul to list six sins that are part of the
old man, part of this flesh. This body of flesh that we battle
every single day, every single day. And we will be plagued with
these until we are delivered from this body of death. The
first three are from the heart. The first three are from the
heart, anger, wrath, and malice. The last three are of the mouth,
blasphemy, filthy communication, and lying. three from the heart,
and three from the mouth. Now these are by, there's way
more sins than this. This is just, the Holy Spirit
had Paul pen these to show the contrast between the new man
or the new creature in Christ and the flesh, the old dead nature
that we have. Our Lord said this, out of the
abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. He also said, out of
the heart proceedeth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies. Now you let a man or a woman
talk long enough, and they will tell you what's in their heart.
And I know, because I used to, Brother Noel, you and I talked
about how we used to be. And we know we were dead. We
were dead in trespasses, just from what came out of our mouths. Note, though, in the text here,
but now, but now. In our text, Paul, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, once again is contrasting the old man with
the new. We are to put off these things.
And we're all plagued by them. We're all plagued. I don't care
if a person's young or old. We're all plagued by these things. Now, for unbelievers, it's their
nature. It's the way they are. But for
a believer, we're still plagued by these things because we carry
this body of flesh around. So the first sin set before us
is anger. Now, anger starts in the heart.
Look at our text. But now ye also put off all these
anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth. The first sin set before us is anger. Now, anger starts
in the heart, beloved. It starts in the heart. And it
might not take long for anger to manifest itself outwardly.
But it starts right in here. Starts in the heart. Now we know
that there's nothing wrong with righteous indignation against
those things that dishonor God, but sinful, sinful anger is wrong. Sinful anger is wrong. Allowing
anger to fester. And we all do it. Allowing anger
to fester will often cloud our judgment. It will often cloud
our judgment over things. And we often end up saying things
that we might later regret. Or it'll cause us to dishonor
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, these are very searching
verses here. Now we all profess to believe
that all things are under the absolute sovereign control of
a sovereign God, don't we? That's one of the things that
we profess here, that we believe that. And we often say that we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them that are called according to his purpose. Then someone
says something or does something that we don't agree with, and
we get married in a wet hornet. Talking about myself here. Oh my. And I'm so prone to it. I know we all are. We're so prone
to that. We can just go off like that,
can't we? We can. We can. Paul's instructing us
to put these things off. Put them off. Don't. Think of Christ. Think of what
he's done. Think of this too. Have you ever
met someone or we ourselves may have done this, but have you
ever met someone that professes to believe what we believe that
God's absolutely sovereign, that he's in full control, which is
what we believe. That our Heavenly Father has put all things into
the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ and all things are working according
to his plan and according to his purpose, principalities and
powers, angels and any powers, governments, everything subject
to him, everything. And we say that we believe that
the powers that be are ordained of God, right? And we do. But
have you ever heard or met someone who says that and then when our
Lord Jesus Christ places a certain man or a certain woman in a place
of authority, whether it be a job or any kind of position, right?
They voice their disapproval of them in ways that seem to
question God's power and God's purpose. Love it. We are to be angry and
sin not. Let not your son. Let not the
sun go down upon your wrath. Either give place to the devil.
Vicki and I have a policy in our marriage, and we've had it
right from the very beginning where we and I'm serious about
this. And we've set up many times late at night, sometimes that
we will not go to bed. And it's been wonderful for our
marriage because you don't wake up the next day all mad. It's
all dealt with. And we also have a, I don't know
if you call it a policy, just something that we've done in
our marriage, where if she says I forgive you, or if I say I
forgive you, we don't ever bring it up again. Never be used again
as a weapon. And it's been so liberating,
freedom, freedom in our marriage. It's helped us tremendously.
And it's something I often tell young people in the when Jake
and Liz were getting married, and I was doing some marriage
counseling with them in Oregon, and I said, you know, put, implement
this if you can into your marriage, because it's been wondrous. It's
been, it's so, we do not let the sun go down on our around.
And we're not supposed to. We're not supposed to Ephesians
for twenty six and twenty seven. Be you know that be angry and
sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath neither give
place to the devil. So we're not to hold on to anger. We're
not to hold on to anger. We're not to hold on to it for
years and years. We're not supposed to do that. We're to let it go.
And you know why. And I'm talking to myself here. You know why. Because when I
consider how much Christ has forgiven me. He never brings
anything back up again. As far as the East is from the
West, my transgressions are gone in Christ. So I ought to be,
personally, I ought to be quick to forgive. I ought to be quick,
very quick to forgive. And let us remember this, we
don't have to like the actions and the attitudes of those we
come into contact with. And we certainly don't have to
approve the actions of the ungodly and those in authority, but God
help us to humble ourselves before him and acknowledge his sovereign
power, his sovereign power, his sovereign will, his sovereign
control, and his sovereign purpose in all things. The next word
is wrath. But now, ye also put off all
these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth. Wrath is the next sin of the heart that is listed in our text. And
often, often wrath springs from anger. Wrath springs from anger. Wrath is a heated, angry spirit. Wrath in our text is referring
to fierce indignation. Now wrath does not lead to forgiveness.
It will cause the heart to plot ways of getting even. That's
what it'll do. It'll fill our minds with evil
revenge, and we'll be consumed by it. And this is why Paul is
saying, you see, we know Paul struggled with these same things,
right? Don't think that we're unique to this. Every believer
struggles with these. Oh, wretched man that I am. Our
dear brother. Paul speaking from experience.
He's speaking from experience. So wrath doesn't lead to forgiveness.
And one will be consumed by it. This wrath will cloud our judgment,
that we'll even forget the words of our God, which says, dearly
beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.
For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith
the Lord. Romans 12, 19. Where to put it off? Where to
put it off? I know we all struggle with it.
Like I say, I'm preaching to myself. The next word is malice. Malice. Our text continues mentioning
the word malice, the third sin that deals with the heart. Malice
is the opposite of excellence. It is the same word as badness
in the Greek, malicious, naughtiness, and wickedness. Now, malice would
include bad feelings in our heart against others. Murder comes
from the heart. It is also hatred in the heart
against another. which makes us guilty of committing
murder in our heart. And these sins of the heart,
these sins of the heart, will lead to sins that express themselves
outwardly, which is what Paul now deals with next. These sins
of the heart will lead to these sins of the mouth. Look at the next three. Blasphemy,
filthy communication out of your mouth. And then we see Verse 9, lie not one to another,
seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. Now,
blasphemy here is defined as slander, detraction, speech injurious
to another's good name. So this we see is not only using
the name of God in an evil way, right? But evil speaking in general
of others. My goodness. And I know how easy it is for
us to do that. You see, this is, studying for
this this week is just like, wham, you know, because we all
struggle with this, don't we? If we're honest with each other,
we all do. All of us. So, this we see is
not only using the name of God in an evil way, but speaking
evil in general of others. This would include speaking evil
of members of your family, speaking evil of your neighbors, your
co-workers, or anyone in general. Anyone in general. Speaking evil
of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Blasphemy would include
slandering anyone. And I just learned that today.
I thought it was taking the Lord's name. No. Oh, it's it's it covers
a broad scope. We're all guilty. It gets. Gets comforting in the next couple
of verses, though, after a verse 10, it gets comfort. This is
this is what I meant by where it's hard here. It's hard. So scripture declares in James,
but the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even
the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after
the similitude of God. James chapter three, verses eight
and nine. We are to put this off. We're
to put this off. Put it off and put on the new
man. And we're going to see putting on the new man is not what it's
the Holy Spirit. Do not regenerate. We'll see that we'll get to the
next and Paul brings forth his filthy communication. I also put off all these things,
anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth. This is the second outward sin that is listed in our text,
filthy communication. Blasphemy, using the name of
God irreverently and slandering anyone, would be included in
filthy communication from the mouth. John Gill says this, I'll
quote John Gill. Though it is applicable to all
speech that is unsavory, unedifying, idle and useless, and maybe properly
enough set of flattery, lying, cursing, and swearing, yet chiefly
regards obscene language, unchaste words, and filthy talking, which
tend to encourage and cherish the sin of uncleanness in any
of its branches. So we who are born again should
not allow ourselves to use filthy words. to try to color our speech,
or to express what we're trying to say. Colossians 4, 6 says
this, let your speech be always with grace, be always with grace,
seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer
every man. We are not what we were. Paul
is bringing out the fact here that we're not what we were.
We're not what we are. We're born again in the Holy
Spirit of God. sound speech that cannot be condemned,
that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no
evil thing to say of you. Titus 2 8. So let us put off
the old man with with these old deeds of the flesh. And put on
the new man by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. The next
outward sin in the last one that Paul brings out here is lie,
not one to another. Now, I made the mistake a long
time ago. Oh my goodness. I wish I'd never
done this. But I, one time, Joshua was just
little. Just a little fella. I think
he was maybe five. And I told him a lie and I said,
I'm just joking. He goes, and he grabbed that thing and he
just ran, that was the end of it, man. Every time, every time
he told a lie, I'm just joking. I'm just joking. Oh my goodness,
what did I do? But you see how fast we can pick
stuff like that up, right? Just like that, just like that.
Oh my. Oh my goodness. Lie not one to another, seeing
that you have put off the old man with his deeds. So our conversation
and our lifestyle should be honest before the people of the world.
First Peter, chapter one. If you want to turn there. First
Peter, chapter one, verses. First Peter, chapter two, verses
11 and 12. Turn there, if you would. And then put your finger
in Ephesians, chapter four, and we'll go there. See, we know
that this is universal because Paul deals with it in various
epistles, too. So it's common to all of us.
It's common to all of us. 1 Peter 2, 11 and 12. It's like
the old fish story, remember? Fish you caught was this big,
but by the time you're done telling the story, it was this big. It
always happens, right? Oh, goodness. Dearly beloved,
look at verses first Peter chapter 2 verses 11 and 12. Dearly beloved,
I besiege you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshy
lusts, which war against the soul, having your conversation,
your life honest among the Gentiles. that whereas they speak against
you as evil doers they may buy your good works which they shall
behold glorify God in the day of visitation. Now we know that
our works don't save us do we but but but we also know faith
without works is dead. And that's what that is is that
a saved person will have works to be manifested, right? It will
be manifested and what it'll be it's it's it's nothing to
do with our salvation at all it's it shows that we're we're
born again and that's just loving the Lord and loving the gospel
and Loving our great king so then
turn over the Ephesians chapter 4 and How much more are we to
be honest with our brothers and sisters in Christ? How much more
are we to be honest with one another, right? We are to be
honest with one another. Look at Ephesians chapter four.
So we know that we know that this is a common thing. Look
what look what Paul lists here. Ephesians chapter four. We're
certain verse 20 will read all the way to 32. But you have not
so learned Christ, if so be that you have heard him and have been
taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. that ye put off, there
it is again, right? There it is again. Concerning
the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind. And that you put on the new man, which after God has
created in righteousness and true holiness, wherefore put
in a way, lion, same thing he's dealing with over in Colossians
there, speak every man truth with his neighbor. for we are
members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not. Let
not the sun go down upon your wrath. There's wrath again spoken
of. Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal
no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands, the thing
which is good, so that he may have to give to him that need
it. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth. We've looked at that tonight,
right? But that which is good to the use of edifying, that
it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil
speak and be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind
one to another. Look at this. Here's the key.
Tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven. There it is. So when we consider
how much the Lord has forgiven us, we don't want to do the old
things. We don't want that. We don't
want to stay angry. We don't want wrath to burn within
us, do we? No, we don't want filthy communication
coming out of that. We did that enough, didn't we,
brother? We don't want we want to honor Christ now. We want
to glorify Christ. We seek to praise him. Pastor
Henry Mahan says, From verse 25, that text we just read there,
where it says, wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth
with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Pastor
Henry Mahan said this, reject and denounce lying exaggeration
in any effort to deceive, speak tactfully and kind words of truth
to one another, to one another, for we are of the same body.
This is speaking of the body of Christ. And a man is foolish
to lie to himself. Our text, again, does not give
us an exhaustive list of our inward and our outward sins. It doesn't give us, but it does
list some things that we're all plagued by. We're all plagued
by. And let us note that the order
is right. The sins of the heart are first. The sins of the heart
are first. We are to put those to death,
anger, wrath, malice, before we can mortify the outward. So if we put to death the inward
ones, then the outward ones won't come out. The outward ones, which are blasphemy,
filthy communication of the mouth and lie in one to another. Our
Lord Jesus Christ said, out of the heart proceeded evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies,
Matthew 15, 19. So let us remember that true
worship, true worship, comes from the heart, comes from the
heart. And this is why in our unregenerate state, we cannot
please God. We cannot please God. So then
they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye, as Paul's writing in Romans 8, verses
8 and 9, he says, but ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Our natural heart is evil. Our
natural heart is evil. Nothing good comes from that
evil heart. We need a new heart. We need a new heart. Let's look at verse 10. The last verse we'll look at
tonight. Look at this. And have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. Paul here contrasts the old man
and the new man. The old man and the new man.
We put off the old man, dead in trespasses and sins, with
his deeds. And we put on what? The new man.
were born again. Regenerated by the Holy Spirit
of God. And it's God that does the work. It's God that does
the work. Which is renewed in the knowledge
after the image of Him that created Him. This new man is the new
heart which God has created in us. New nature. We once had a
dead nature. Now we have a new nature. A new
heart that seeks to serve God. Desires to serve. We don't want to do those things.
Tell me this. This is wonderful when you think
about this. Think about before you were saved. Did anger bother you? Did wrath
bother you? Did malice bother you? Did blasphemy
bother you? Did filthy communication bother
you? Did lying bother you? No. It didn't bother me at all. And now I hate it. That is only done by the Lord. That which I once loved, now
I hate it. And I hate it more in myself
than anyone else. That's the work of God. Only
He can do that, by giving us a new heart, a new spirit, born
again by the Holy Spirit, by His miraculous power. He's created
a new man with new desires, new principles, new attitudes. And
think on this, we who believe on Christ, we have a new attitude
about God, don't we? You don't have the same attitude
you used to have about God. I don't. Now I love him. Now all I want to do is serve
him in whatever way he calls. I have a new attitude about the
Lord Jesus Christ, too. We do, don't we, brother? Oh, He's magnificent. He's my
Savior and my Redeemer and my Lord and my King. He was not
those things to me before, but now, as I wrote to a friend of
mine, He's everything. You take away Christ from me
and I have nothing. But in Christ, I have everything. a new attitude, a new love for
him that I never had before. We have a new attitude about
this word, too, don't we? It's precious. It's wonderful. It's food. We desire to hear
it preached. We desire to hear it read. We desire to read it. We desire
to to know more about Christ. We didn't before, did we? Now
we do. Why are you all sitting here
tonight? You want to hear about Christ, don't you? Did you think 30, 40 years ago
you'd be sitting here tonight? I never, in my wildest dreams,
would have thought I'd been a preacher. God's plans aren't our plans,
are they? And aren't you thankful, beloved, that the Lord saved
you? That he didn't leave you where
you were? My, what a Savior. We also have a new attitude about
God's people. You're the folks I want to be
with all the time. Now, if you had asked me 30 years
ago if I'd be desiring to be with born-again Christians, I
would have laughed you to scorn. But I don't want to be with anyone
else now. You're my family. And I love you dearly. So we have a new attitude about
all these things. And the new man is created by the power of
God. Turn, if you would, to Colossians 2. Colossians 2. The new man
is created by the power of God, by the power of God. And in the
image of Christ, it is the work of God, an operation of God.
Look at Colossians 2, verses 11 and 12. Look at this. In whom
also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands. That's being born again. in the putting off the body of
sins of the flesh that's what paul's listing here to us tonight
by the circumcision of christ buried with him in baptism wherein
also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
god who had to raise him from the dead and i i got to continue
down the fourteen because this is magnificent and you being
dead and your sins that's that that was our former states and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened together with him. Look at this, heaven
forgiven you, all trespasses. What a great God. All trespasses,
all sins, all sins. How? Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
he took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Christ did it
all, boy. But note, it's an operation of
God. Salvations of the Lord from beginning
to end, beloved. From beginning to end. We know him now. He's revealed
himself to us. We're learning about his will. We see it unfolding in our lives
and in the world, don't we? Where we never noticed that before.
We just called it chance or luck or no, there's no such thing
as luck. There's providence. The old timers
used to call providence. I love that word, providence,
providence. And we see God's will and his
providence unfold before us. And now we hate the old man of
the flesh. We hate this, the old, the flesh,
right? This body of flesh that we got
to carry around. And we're mortifying the flesh
by God's grace and power. See, religion's got it the opposite.
They say it's all about what you do. I can't do nothing unless
God gives me strength and power and grace. That's what I pray
for all the time. Lord, please give me grace. Give
me strength to make it through this. When I'm going through
something, that's my cry to my king. Please strengthen me. Strengthen me. So the new man will grow in grace.
He will grow in grace. And in the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ, until the time of our death, when the old man,
think of this, beloved, when the old man will be eradicated. This body of flesh, there'd be
no more struggle for sin, brother. No more. No more. We'll never fight it again. It'll
be gone. Think of this too, I just thought
of this. Think of this, the reality of our sins being as far as the
East is from the West. In God's eyes, our sin will be
a reality for us in heaven. It's gone. There's no sin in
heaven. It's wonderful. Pure, unadulterated
worship of our King. My goodness, clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. What a what a what a king we
have. What a Lord we have. And we will be like Christ says
this in Second Corinthians 318. It says this. But we. All with open face beholding
is in the glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the
same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the. Changed into the same image from
glory to glory. Until we are delivered from this
body of sin, the flesh will lust against the spirit, and the spirit
against the flesh, because they are contrary the one to another,
so that you cannot do the things that you would. I live that, do you? We do, don't we? We live that. This is not a one-time act. Now
I punched my ticket. I'm good to go. This is a war. Brother John, you and I have
talked about that. How we need to warn young believers. It's just beginning. It's a war. It's a battle, isn't
it? It's a war and a battle. We have a civil war within us.
We who believe, we battle. The flesh battles against the
spirit and they are opposed to one another. They are opposed
to one another. And as long as we are in this
body, we'll continue. That war will continue. The old
man continually struggles for supremacy, for control, but one
day, one day, beloved, this struggle will be all over. All over. All over. and we will be with
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And as a believer in Lord Jesus
Christ, we are to put off the old man with his deeds and put
on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. That's our text, the last verse
of our text tonight. And this, again, is not a one-time
thing. It's a battle that continues
until we are with Christ in glory, 24-7, 24-7. I had a guy this week, I was
talking to him about sinning. He said, well, I don't sin as
much as I used to. I said, well, do you confess
all your sin? I said, because scripture says
if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I said, do you confess all your
sin? He goes, absolutely, all my sin. I said, you're lying. You're lying. He says, what do
you mean? I says, because you sin in your
sleep. And you sin when you don't even
know it. They call it sins of omission. Praise God, though,
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Oh, Lord, forgive
me for the sins I don't even know I do. And he has, hasn't he? Isn't
it wonderful? This is a great salvation. This
is a marvelous salvation. And it's only in Christ and him
alone. But this battle, beloved, is a 24-7, 24-7. And we pray
that God will give us grace and strength every day, every day.
Here's a little something from someone who knows a little bit
about this struggle. It's posted on the wall of the
Grace Church. I've been there, but he had put this in something,
and I've never seen it, but it's by his copier, supposedly. It
says this. Dear Lord, so far today, Lord, I've done all right.
I haven't gossiped, haven't lost my temper, haven't been greedy,
grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I'm very thankful for that. But
in a few minutes, Lord, I'm gonna get out of bed. And from then
on, I'm probably going to need a lot more help. Oh, my. Oh, well, there's something like
it, too, and I say, you know, we know because we know that
every day we need a lot of help, don't we? I need a lot of help,
a lot of help every day, every day. But I thought that was I
thought that was great. And it's only by the grace of
God that we have any victory over sin. As we have this battle
again, not only when we're in when we get out of bed but even
when we dream all all night all twenty-four seven twenty-four
seven flashback the palsy but thanks be to god beloved we had
to live we have to live deliverance from this body of sin in and
through the lord jesus christ in him alone in him we have forgiveness
for all our sins we read that all of her sins sins that we
don't even know we do and sins that we know we do all i love
that work all all wretched man that I am
who shall deliver me from this body I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord so when then with the mind I myself serve the law of
God but with the flash the law of sin he had the same battle
you How do we put off the old man
and put on the new man? We look to Christ and Him alone.
Set your affections on Christ and Him alone. How do we do that? By hearing the gospel preached
or by reading or hearing the scriptures each day. Not allowing
anyone or anything to move us away from the hope of the gospel.
The hope that we have in Christ and Him alone. Our minds and
our hearts are set upon Him, aren't they? set upon him. Our
Lord tells us in turn if you were the Philippians chapter
four Philippians chapter four Philippians chapter four verse
eight. Look at this. We're all familiar with this verse, but
I want to close with this. Look at this Philippians chapter
four and we know that we know that the putting on of the of
the new man is the work of the Holy Spirit. It's his work. It's him that's done this. Look
at this, Philippians 4, verse 8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of a good report, if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on those things. Well, all these
things point us to the Lord Jesus Christ. All, they point us right
to Christ. The gospel puts Christ, the God-man,
as the only one who is the true Savior. The only one who is the
true Savior. The only one who is honest in
all things. The only one who is just. Right? We saw that this
week. He's the just one. He's the just
one. The Lord Jesus Christ. The only
one who is pure. He's the perfect, spotless Lamb
of God. He's absolutely perfect. And He didn't change when He
died upon the cross. He's the perfect, sinless, spotless
Lamb of God. And our sins were imputed to
Him. And His righteousness is imputed to us. And He's perfect.
It's perfect, beloved. And God is satisfied with his
sacrifice. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. Wonderful. He's the only one who's lovely.
Is he lovely to you, brother? He's lovely to us. He's the fairest
of 10,000. He's the lily of the valley. The record our God has given
us Of him is he's the only truth that is that is a good report. Is a good report. Any virtue
which is excellent excellence. Christ is absolutely he's the
epitome of excellence. He's perfect. Christ is the true
and living God who is worthy of all praise. Let us think upon
these things. Focus our minds upon Christ. So Paul before us tonight has
been contrasting again contrast the old man new when Jesus Christ has the preeminence
and we know from studying this a pistol right that Paul is setting
forth Christ is the preeminent we've seen that all through our
study about the preeminence of Christ the supremacy of Christ
so we know when Christ has the preeminence first place in our
hearts what how at what happens self is taken other And this is what This was what
also what Paul was writing and pointing the Colossian believers
to the preeminence of Christ in contrast to the false teachers
in their claims And he continuously brings forth the work of the
Holy Spirit in their lives Remember this the Lord Jesus Christ is
the one who by himself purged our sins by himself by himself
purged our sins and this is blood blood sprinkled on our conscious
that will purge us from dead works to serve the true. He is our only acceptance. He's
our only acceptance before God. He alone is our blessed surety.
He alone. He alone is seated at the right
hand of the father. Our great high priest making
intercession for us right now. Right now. Our text says, have put on the
new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of
him that created him. Beloved, this is God's work,
his creation, the new man. It's God's creation. It's God's
work. He alone is the author and finisher
of our faith. He alone. And we who believe
say, praise is my name. Heavenly Father, we come before
thy throne grateful and thankful that you have given us a new
attitude about yourself. We who are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, we have a new attitude about who you are. You've
revealed yourself to us. We have a new attitude about
your blessed book. and about your son, our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and we have a new attitude also about your people,
and we love and cherish, and who are going along right beside
us in this battle, in this war that we must endure until one
day, and it will be soon for all of us, we will see you face
to face. Oh, may you be glorified tonight,
and may you be magnified, and may we take these teachings Think
upon them this week. Ponder them. Ruminate upon them. And may they be a blessing to
our souls in Jesus' name. Amen. Brother John, can you close
us in song?