Dead to the World, Alive in Christ: Understanding the New Covenant

Please be praying for Nolan as he continues to struggle with his legs. He goes back to the VA on June 18th to discuss next steps in treatment......also be praying for Sheryl both for her physical health as she has been struggling with some things and as a care giver to Nolan

Please be praying for Tracey Washburn....she is back in the hospital in Joplin with an serious infection from her apendicitis surgery.....she will probably be in the hospital until Tuesday.......pray for healing and peace as she is away from her family. Also be praying for God’s provision as she is also the breadwinner in the family.

Be praying for James and the kids as mom is sick and in hospital as well

Please be praying for my father in law Mike who is in the hospital in Lees Summit with a bowl obstruction.....they are trying to get it moving naturally through IV treatments as surgery would leave scar tissue that would cause more issues down the road........Be praying for his beautiful bride Vickie as she is with him there and also for my beautiful bride Melody as we are at camp while her daddy is sick....pray for peace and endurance for her

Speaking of camp Today is the first day of Jr Sr High Camp at Camp Galilee. Melody and I are leaving right after church this morning to get music and computer things set up and ready for worship and Logan and Claire will join us this afternoon after returning from a wedding in Fair Grove last night

The kids will start arriving at 4 pm.....remember you are responsible to get your students to camp today at 4 pm and pick them up Friday June 6 at 11 am.

Please be praying for the adults that God will fill them with His endurance and strength to fight for the eternities of these young people....pray that through the Holy Spirit we will have the words to say when we need them.....pray God multiplies our sleep so we are well rested each and every morning ready to serve these kiddos

Please pray that hearts are open to what God has for both the campers and the adults!!!!!

Let’s Pray

This morning we will wrap up Colossians chapter 2

We are going to dive into Colossians 2:16-23 this morning so if you would like to start turning there in your Bible or on your phone or tablet however you access God’s Word....also if you have not grabbed a notes sheet please do so, it is important every Sunday morning but especially this morning because...........There are several doctrinal truths mentioned here and we will look at those as I want your foundation to be built on Jesus....The Word of God not fancy teachings or slick preaching or lights or smoke and emotion

Everything we do should be to build God’s Kingdom not our kingdom

Everything we do should be rooted in Truth not emotion

the devil understands the power of emotions because he understands our nature

look at how he operates......he uses emotion

if he can get you emotional you will make rash decisions to do things you never would do otherwise

God is the opposite

Jesus says count the cost to be my disciple

not a decision based on emotion but Truth

Jesus says if you love me keep my commandments.....not love based on human emotion but love based on an intentional act....repentance that leads to salvation followed by obedience....

Today we are going to look at God’s Truth on Old Covenant and New Covenant

The worship of angels and false teachings and teachers

Being dead to the world....well we will start that conversation anyway

1. Old Covenant and New Covenant

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Colossians 2:16–17

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“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”

This pointing to and discussing the transition from the Old covenant to the new covenant

now this will not be an in depth look as that would take a few weeks or more to truly dive into old and new covenants.....maybe one day God will lead us there

again so important especially today you have sermon notes,

because i want to give you scriptures that you can dive into and make a decision based upon scripture

What I want today is again to give you scriptures that I believe illustrate this shift from old covenant to new covenant

Genesis 12:1–3

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“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

This is God promising to make Abram a great nation...the beginning of the old covenant

Genesis 17

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Here God establishes a covenant to be Israel’s God and Israel God’s people to obey God

Lets look at the sign or how Israel was to enter into this covenant

Genesis 17:11–12

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“And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.”

You see here this old covenant was sealed with circumcision....physical circumcision

this was a physical covenant between God and the Israelites and that physical covenant had many things that were needed to be done by Israel in order to keep the covenant

Exodus 19-24

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Here you see God giving Moses and Israel the law including the 10 commandments

These 10 commandments are still in force today.....they still have power today.....they are to still be followed by Christians today...if you love me obey my commandments

Leviticus and Deuteronomy

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These are all about God’s law governing how Israel was to live during that time

Israel had no earthly king because God was their King.....God was their government....God was their God and ruler so He dictated how they were to live and be separated from the rest of the people because they were God’s chosen people and must be set apart.....the ten commandments are in force today but most of the old law is not because it was fulfilled by Jesus because the old covenant was a shadow of things to come

it was temporary until permanent came along

all of the holy days

all of the festivals

all of the sacrifices

all of the food laws

all were temporary because sin had not been paid for

all of these things in the old covenant were to appease God’s holiness and wrath due to sin until Jesus came to fulfill the old covenant

Jesus satisfied the old covenant

Covenant is different than contract

if you or I enter into a contract and one of us fails to uphold our part of the deal the contract is broken and no good

covenant was in place regardless of both sides performing their part of the deal

covenant was in place until fulfilled or satisfied

Israel disregarded the covenant many times to where God rejected them however God still kept his side of the covenant

God always knew the covenant was temporary not because of Him but because of us.....look at

Jeremiah 31:31–34

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“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; Which my covenant they brake, Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For they shall all know me, From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: For I will forgive their iniquity, And I will remember their sin no more.”

God spoke of a new covenant coming 600 years prior to Jesus coming to earth

This is very clear

new covenant is coming

when...the days to come....well what is that

Hebrews 8-10

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These two chapters discuss in detail the temporary nature of the old covenant and its replacement with a new covenant by Jesus

lets look at a little bit of it

Hebrews 8:1-13

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Hebrews 8:1–13 KJV 1900

Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

and again in

Hebrews 10:1

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“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”

do you see it

God knew all along a new covenant was coming because Israel would reject God

His chosen people broke their part of the covenant but because God is Holy and Just He sent Jesus to fulfill the old covenant and establish the new covenant !

In addition to that look at the last part of Hebrews 10:1 it says can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect......God knew that the old covenant was not going to be permanent because it didnt address our sin problem

Only Jesus by living a perfect life and dying a perfect death offer His blood as the payment for sin and that blood is applied to your sin debt when you repent that leads to salvation and decide to follow Jesus...become a disciple....count the cost and die to self and world and follow Jesus

why

Hebrews 12:24

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“And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

Shows Jesus sacrifice on the cross as final and acceptable making Him the mediator of the new covenant

What is the sign of the new covenant.....how do we enter into the new covenant....we looked at it last week but let’s look again

Colossians 2:11

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“In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:”

Jesus is the new covenant

Jesus circumices your heart....no longer physical but spiritual

it is not about physical any longer but about spiritual......there is no longer a physical Israel but a spiritual Israel that is made up of all believers.....not physical bloodline is needed only Jesus’ blood making you part of His spiritual bloodline!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again this is a quick look.....I want you to really dive into these scriptures this week......

but with all that in mind I want to read colossians 2:16-17 again

Colossians 2:16–17

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“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”

You and I are free from the requirements of the old covenant because of Jesus and His blood and the new covenant

that means no one is to judge in meat

no one is to judge in drink

no one is to judge in holy day

no one is to judge in new moon and festivals

no one is to judge in sabbath

they are no longer required for obedience and for sure are not required for salvation...never were

if someone says they are required to be saved they are wrong and standing in direct opposition of God’s Word

Jesus is the only way to salvation

The Holy Spirit awakens you to your sin problem and that leads to repentance which leads to salvation in Jesus!!!!!

Now this do not judge goes both ways

Romans 14:3–5

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“Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”

If one is keeping the dietary laws and holy days and new moon and festivals and sabbath on Saturday to honor God not to gain salvation then there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with that

you can if you want to but in Jesus you are set free from that burden because of the new covenant

2. Angel Worship

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Colossians 2:18

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“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,”

Angels are not to be worshipped

again dont take my word for it take God’s Word

Exodus 20:3–4

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“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:”

No other gods before God

you are to worship God and God alone

No graven image or likeness of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water

angels are created why would you worship something created?????

angels are fellow servants not God

Revelation 22:8–9

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“And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.”

Pretty clear....angels are fellow servants and your worship is for God and God alone

Throughout the Bible when angels appeared to people those people attempted to worship them and everyone of the angels rebuked them

said absolutely not

Why.....because

if you are praying to

if you are bowing before images

if you are turning to angels you are worshipping them and you are sinning.....you have no god before God Almighty

now this also goes beyond angels

some of you worship lots of things

the chiefs or you favorite sports team

you have figures or dolls

you have logos

you have emblems

you consistently put them before God

there are so many things you can worship

camping

work

family

golf

fishing

knitting

money

prestige

position

material things

food

alcohol

porn

sex

drugs

vapes

smokes

anything you put before God is an idol and idol worship

get this my friends anything you turn to instead of God is making that thing an idol and you are worshipping it

i am stressed out i need a drink....idol

i am so upset i need a buffet....idol

i only feel worthy in the arms of another.....idol

i want to numb the pain so i will smoke this joint or vape or ciggarette or worse......idol

if you are getting your palms read.....idol

if you are getting your future told.....idol

if you put anything in God’s place, which is first and only, in your life

if you turn to anything other than God you struggle with idol worship

it is all wrong

it is all sin!!!!!

anyone saying you can have or do these things is a false teacher!

Pastor josh you just don’t understand.....i am addicited

so was i for almost 30 years and in a moment Jesus delivered me from it

He wants to do the same for you....are you willing to let Him......count your cost and follow Him!!!!!!!

So how does all this happen....how do false teachers and teachings take hold on Christians

3. Not being connected to Christ

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Colossians 2:19

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“And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.”

If you put worldly things where Jesus belongs

if you teach or believe anything not Biblical

you are not connected with Christ

That is the problem with false teachers....they are not connected with Christ....

Pastor Josh how do you know they are not connected with Christ

I know because they teach false things.....you and I are taught the Word of God by the Holy Spirit

You and I receive the Holy Spirit upon salvation so therefore anyone teaching false doctrines is not connected with Christ

This is different than making an error

One cannot be saved and teaching salvation from anything other than Jesus

Sometimes as teachers we make mistakes......we are human and there are times we use our interpretation not GOD’S through the Holy Spirit

that is not what God is talking about

This is those who either think they are saved and are not and therefore operating under their own power

those who are using the Word of God to drive their narratives or their agenda

those who are evil and intentionally trying to deceive Christians and the lost alike

How can you protect yourself from being a false teacher and listening to false teachers

Discern through the Holy Spirit.....He will tell you when you are hearing false teaching or even teaching something that is false

Make everything obey the Word of God.....examine what is said....check it....is it Biblical....is it applied correctly....dont take something at face value just because it was said by a preacher or pastor or Christian

4. Dead to the World

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Colossians 2:20–23

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“Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.”

As I said at the beginning we are starting this conversation....the rest of colossians deals with this so we will continue to dig into dead to the world

God means what He says here

you will stand in judgement for this

Not stand in condemnation or punishment but will answer for even every idle word spoken the Bible says

you will be judged as to if you were dead to the world

How do I know

what is the fruit of being dead to the world

what drives you

why do you get out of bed everyday

God or the world

are you following man or God

man says touch not

taste not

you cant do this

you must do that

religion is full of mans traditions

true relationship with God is full of Jesus and Jesus alone

do you have to obey

ABSOLUTELY obey Jesus not man

If you won’t repent you are far from dead to the world

that is why we offer invitation each and every Sunday

not to boost my ego

not so the leadership feels I am preaching effectively

not so you can respond to emotion

no we offer invitation each and every Sunday because when you come face to face with God’s Word there is almost always something you need to repent of

if you are truly a Christian repentance is your lifestyle

if you are one person on Sunday and another person Monday through Saturday you are not only not dead to the world you are living of the world and standing in direct opposition to God’s Word

You are satisfying the flesh that you are to be dead to

REPENT

It is a sin

It can send you to hell

REPENT

Repentance requires you to be dead to you and the world

Where are you this morning?

Invitation

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