Don't Ignore the Gospel
Listen Up to the One in Charge • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Title:
Text: -24
Main Idea: In Order to Conquer Your Evil Desires, be Rooted in the Gospel!
Do Not Live Like You Are Dead (vs. 20-21)
Do Not Follow Fake Wisdom for Life (vs. 23)
Introduction
If you haven’t notices, things are not getting better out there. If you spend any time reading or watching the news, people are being murdered, politicians are lying to gain or maintain control of their position, racism is increasing exponentially! Quite honestly, it is a bit overwhelming. How do we get it to stop? What needs to take place to stave off the ever increasing evil in our own country (not to mention, the world)?
I have a question for you this morning...
How do we get people to be good?
We could take the path of Surrender? The road to licence...
How do I overcome sin in my life? It’s not how you might think!
What is the Hearer’s problem? How do I overcome sin in my life? It’s not how you might think!
How do I overcome sin in my life? It’s not how you might think!
We pretend things aren’t all that bad?
It isn’t through trying harder to stop...
Resistance is pointless. It won’t do anything anyway!
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!
or
It isn’t through whipping my body and beating it into subjection.
We could take the path of Prohibition? Also known as legalism. This is how the religious often respond.
“Essentially it means that we come down harder with our rules and restrictions.” Mark Meynell 112
But are these our only two options to get people to be good? I submit to you there is one more way and over the next two sermons we will not only discover that way, but learn how it actually happens.
Today’s focus is on the negative and next week will be on the postitive.
In biblical terms this week we will learn what to PUT OFF and next week we will learn what we are to PUT ON!
And even though I don’t want to steal the thunder from next week, I will tell you right away that the solution is found only through the gospel.
It isn’t through starving myself..
What is the Biblical Solution? It’s actually through the gospel.
What do the hearers need to know? Understanding and obeying the gospel is the only means by which you can conquer the sinful desires of the flesh.
This is what Paul is communicating through his letter to the Colossians...
Main Textual Idea:
Main Idea: In Order to Conquer Sin in Your Life, Don’t Ignore the Gospel!
Interrogative: How does the Gospel help quench Evil Desires?
Transition: Two ways for this text...
Body (Satisfaction)
Do You Want to Stop
1. In Order to Conquer Sin in Your Life, You Must Die With Christ (vs. 20a)
Lead in…This is the first part of the gospel that we must not ignore! Your eternal life depends on it!
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”
Text -
Explanation -
Death means separation and Christians died with Christ at the Cross. This is clear from Paul in...
2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:2-4
And because we have died, we are now separated from all the things Paul mentions in verse 20-23...
And so the point Paul is clearly making here is that when a believer “dies with Christ,” it is a death to his old ungodly habits, to sin, to the law, to guilt and to the world itself. It is a radical, positional reality for the believer.
10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
And they had died with Christ to legalism. It is a ridiculous notion to consider that they would think their participation in the regulations would give them some spiritual advantage.
Illustration -
Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 321.
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
The point is this, the Apostle is challenging the Colossian Christians with the question, “If with Christ you died...”
The NIV says it with more strength, “Since you died with Christ...”
Illustration -
I’ll say it even more strongly, “You Are Dead with Christ...”
You and I are dead to the old and insufficient ways. And I will talk more about this in a few minutes. But what I would like you to focus on with me for the next few minutes is the significance of your death. How did you die and what does this mean?
A very long time ago, Adam rebelled against the command of God to not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve, tempted by Satan, tempted Adam and that decision to doubt the Word of God and succumb to the lie of Satan and the wicked desire of their hearts, plunged mankind into spiritual death that we still struggle with today.
God could have rightfully left us in this horrible situation, but instead He implemented his grand rescue plan. A plan that would cost Him greatly.
His plan included the Second Person of the Trinity, to take on human form as conceived baby, live a poor and insignificant childhood, grow into a man (all the while sinless), starts a revolutionary ministry at the age of 30 which end in His death three and a half years later. He was buried and to the surprise and joy of His follower, He rose again on the third day!
You see, Jesus was much more than a man, He was God Himself. And by being the sinless God/man, He was qualified to offer His life up as a propitiatory sacrifice on your behalf.
A propitiatory what? I know that is a big word, but it is so significant for you to understand.
Propitiation. Turning away of anger by the offering of a gift. The word was often used by the pagans in antiquity, for they thought of their gods as unpredictable beings, liable to become angry with their worshipers for any trifle. When disaster struck it was often thought that a god was angry and was therefore punishing his worshipers. The remedy was to offer a sacrifice without delay. A well-chosen offering would appease the god and put him in a good mood again. This process was called propitiation.
Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Propitiation,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1784.
Our God requires propitiation as well! His wrath must be recognized and satisfied.
Recognized -
Satisfied -
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Let’s get down to the raw issue here. You are not a basically good person who God will assess your good deeds and your wicked deeds and then make a determination as to whether He will allow you entrance based on that determination. That’s what a lot of people think, but that is not how this works. And you need to clearly understand what God has told us in His word about this very important issue.
You are not basically good, but, in fact, according to God’s holy Word, you are a sinner! You have missed the mark of God’s holy and perfect standard and because of the reality, you must pay the debt of your sin against God in Hell for all eternity.
There are many, many passages regarding Hell in the Scriptures. But Paul make the reality of hell, for those who reject the gospel exceedingly clear!
9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
Do you see what Paul says here? “Those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”
48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
Notice Paul doesn’t say, “Know of God.”
Most everyone, except for the hardened atheist, acknowledges some “Higher Power.”
Because we are created in His image!
Because we have His Law written within us and...
Because “God has set eternity in the heart of man.” ()
Knowing of God simply is not sufficient.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
God desires and requires more than a simple recognition that He exists. He requires a relationship.
The problem is we are unholy and sinful. Because of our unholiness and sinfulness, we cannot have a relationship with God.
In fact, we have a great divide between God and us. A divide so great, there is nothing that we have or can do that can bridge the gap. Not...
Going to church
praying
giving money to the church or other charities
Being kind
Being moral / a good person
Being baptized
Going to catechism
Reading the Bible
These are fine activities, but not one, not any, not all of them together will save you.
Jesus tells a beautiful story that helps us understand this point in a powerful way...
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The first man had faith in what he did and didn’t do. The second man had faith in God and begged for forgiveness.
And this, friends is the good news! God has provided a way for you to have a relationship with Him that will lead to an eternal home with Him!
And it all starts with faith in who God is and what He has provided for you in His Son, Jesus Christ!
Who is God? He is the Holy, righteous Creator of all that is! There is no one greater, more powerful, more loving and gracious than He.
And this God desires to have a relationship with everyone in this room! His Gospel/Good News goes out to every tribe, nation and tongue!
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
And so, my challenge to all here in this room and within the sound of my voice is to trust Christ! Because, the bible says clearly that those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.
Do you believe that Jesus is God?
Do you believe that you have not lived in a godly way?
Do you believe that the punishment for your disobedience and sin is a literal eternal Hell?
Do you believe that Jesus came to rescue you from this horrible situation?
Do you believe that it is only by His Grace that this is possible?
Do you believe that by placing your trust in Him, he will save you from eternal death and give you eternal life?
He isn’t willing that you should perish! He has provided for you everything necessary for your redemption and right relationship with him!
Will you trust him?
This is Paul’s big “if” question. If you died with Christ, then the logical result is, you are alive with Christ!
Remember ?
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Illustration - It was Oct of 1991 that I finally stopped trusting myself and began trusting Jesus Christ as my one and only Savior! It was that day that I became His follower. It was that day I died with Him! And It was that day He gave me new life!
Argumentation - Paul’s point here is simple and important to grasp, if with Christ you died, then you have a brand new life to live! A brand new life that requires nothing more than what He has accomplish for you through Christ’s sacrifice.
Application - But before we get there, I have a question to ask you. The most important question you will ever be asked in this life.
Have you, by faith repented of your sin and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your ONLY hope to be right with God and have received the amazing gift of eternal life?
If not, why not?
Don’t be a fool!
Don’t believe there is some other way! Or that there is no way!
Believe on Christ!
You must die with Him in order to live with and for Him!
And this is the first, most important step because without dying with Christ, you have no hope of beating the sin in your life.
Review - In Order to Conquer Sin in Your Life, be Rooted in the Gospel!
You Must Die With Christ
2. In Order to Conquer Sin in Your Life, You Must Stop Following the Rules of the World (vs. 20b-23)
Lead in...
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Text -
Explanation - So, having the all important question of one’s eternal destiny solved, Paul goes on with his logical line of questioning.
Explanation -
“If you died with Christ to the elemental spirits or principles of this world...”
Then...
“why, as if you were still alive in the world do you submit to regulations — ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used) — according to human precepts and teachings?
This is a big question that Paul is asking the Christians at Colossae!
Let’s try to figure out what he is saying here...
First and foremost, Paul is making a clear point. “Christian, why in the world are you living as if you are alive to the world that you, in Christ, died to?
Why are you submitting to asceticism? Do you think that the ascetic way of life is going to bring you closer to God?
What is asceticism?
Dictionary of Theological Terms Asceticism
ASCETICISM
The complete renunciation of the flesh. There is a good Biblical base for the practice of mortification (1 Cor. 9:27; Rom. 8:13), but the practice of asceticism in the church degenerated into making men hermits or recluses, with the idea of meriting God’s favour by suffering.
Spiritual discipline is a good thing! Even the Lord told us that we are to deny ourselves...
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
However, there is a difference between “Spiritual discipline” and “Asceticism.”
Paul list’s three regulations...
‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used)
Illustration -
These regulations are not from Paul but from the false teachers who were giving specific commands that they insisted the believers in Colossae obey! Together each command seems to have to do with food or drink as mentioned earlier.
According to these False teachers there were only certain things they could and should eat! And if they did otherwise, well they were break the rules for a deeper spiritual life! This, of course was not true! Jesus made this very clear...
18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
Jesus also made this clear to Peter in ...
9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
Paul makes this abundantly clear to his Son in the Faith, Timothy!
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
These admonitions from the False Teachers...
‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used)
are, according to Paul, “Human precepts (commands) and teaching that are contrary to the grace-filled message of the Gospel which is there is nothing you can or need to do to add to God’s glorious plan for God to rescue us and fit us for heaven!
This is proved out by the Thief on the cross...
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Illustration -
He did nothing to receive this promise. He humbly asked to be recieved by Christ and Christ promised he would be with Him. Simple faith alone! He was never baptized! He was never catechized! He never had the opportunity to walk out his faith in this life. Yet, that day he was with Christ in paradise.
But there is something appealing to us about legalism. There is something satisfying about it. And if we are being honest, there is a little legalist in all of us who follow Christ.
In verse 23a admits to the idea that there appears to be a benefit to a legalistic life.
23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Part of it is because this is the way life is! You don’t get something for nothing! I was raised with the notion that “there is no such thing as a free lunch, you need to earn your keep!” This is ingrained in our thinking.
Mark Meynell, a British follower of Jesus gives another example of how hard it is for us to change our thinking about this...
“A classic but fairly ludicrous example — all too common in man older British institution — is the right to walk on an immaculately kept lawn. At my school, this was restricted to a small group of senior students and teachers. I remember being told off for walking on the forbidden patch of grass when young — and so still have a paranoid nervousness of doing the same now. Even when I did earn the privilege of walking on the prefects’ (chief officers’) lawn, that felt like a huge moment — but it still felt wrong! But that is how conditioning works. After all those years of restrictions, my new found freedom somehow seemed illegitimate. Yet the only thing holding me back was not the rulebook but my head.” - Meynell, Colossians & Philemon for You pg.113
And so it is with Christianity for Christianity is counter cultural. It is far different than what the world promotes.
Meynell goes on to say, “Even if such rules have their origins in Scripture, legalism twists them into something thoroughly worldly. They are based on merely human commands and teachings (v 22). They will perish because they are past their sell-by date. Meynell, Colossians & Philemon for You pg.114
Argumentation -
So here’s the shock. It’s worldly to be religious! - Meynell
And so we must fight against this mindset every time we are tempted to fall into it! It’s worldliness!
Aren’t you glad that God’s love for you doesn’t depend on how you perform? What it does depend on is Christ’s death for me!
Legalism is not Christian! And we must change our thinking about this!
Because legalism doesn’t make the church better and it certainly doesn’t make you and I better! Look at verse 23 again...
23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Are you under the delusion that you can control your sinful impulses and desires by being scrupulous in your religiosity?
Do you see what Paul says about this? “No you can’t”! There is NO VALUE IN THEM TO STOP THE INDULGENCES OF THE FLESH!
It’s pointless to use that route to change our sinful behavior...
We think we can control our sinful impulses and unholy desires by being fanatic in our religion. But Paul is clear, legalism simply does not have the power to overcome the sinful desires of the flesh.
In fact, ironically, those focused on legalistic religiosity not only struggle with the indulgences of the flesh, but they grow in pride simultaneously!
Martin Luther, prior to coming to saving faith in Christ, was a serious monk! He was absolutely scrupulous when it came to pursuing devotion to God.
“One example of his obsession was his ascent of the Scala Santa (the holy steps) of St. John’s Lateran. These had supposedly come from Pontius Pilate’s palace in Jerusalem, but were brought to Rome in the fourth century because it was thought that Jesus had climbed them during his trials. Consequently, they became of popular focus for mediaeval pilgrims who would climb them step by step on their knees. This is what Luther did in 1510, saying the Lord’s Prayer on each step, in the hope that this would somehow release a loved one from purgatory. But when he got to the top, he was plagued with doubts. ‘Who knows whether this is true?’ he wondered. He soon became increasingly convinced of the futility of such acts, whether on behalf of others or for himself. He realized that the only hope we can ever have of being right with God depends on God himself. As he would say in the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518, a foundational event in the early Reformation: “It is certain that man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive the grace of Christ.”
So, if legalism isn’t the answer to change the heart, what is?
Well, that is what we are going to deal with next week in chapter three. And it is amazing. But as a small glimpse of what we will learn, listen to the words of Pastor R. Kent Hughes...
“The answer to legalism is the continual realization of the grace of Christ.” - R. Kent Hughes
Paul wanted the Colossians to understand clearly that legalism was not the intended tool to get us to beat the sin in their lives and if they listened to the false teachers, they were setting themselves up for abject failure!
Application -
Application - And so I will warn you as well. If you believe being legalistic is somehow making you more pleasing to God than others, that what you do or abstain from makes God like you more? Or if you think that somehow your legalism can make you holier than other people and stop indulging the flesh, YOU ARE WRONG!!
And this leads us back to the main idea...
Review - In Order to Conquer Sin in Your Life, be Rooted in the Gospel!
You Must Die With Christ
You Must Stop Following the Rules of the World
Don’t Follow the Rules of the World
Lead in...
Text -
Explanation -
Illustration -
Argumentation -
Application -
Review -
Conclusion (Visualization)
What now? If our religious activity can’t change our heart, what can? Do we just give up? Is there any hope?
So what’s the answer? If I shouldn’t submit to the regulations of the Law, If I shouldn’t worry about the appearance of wisdom, how do I conquer the evil desires within me how do I stop the indulgences of the flesh?
Well, Paul does give us hope and we will see what he has to teach us next week in Chapter 3! So come back and see the tremendous hope there is for us!
Application -
Land the Plane
Land the Plane
Connection Group Reflection Questions
Why do you think Paul starts with the “If” clause, “If with Christ you died?” Why is this important?
What are the “elemental spirits” and what significance does this phrase have for us today?
Why do you think the Colossians were susceptible to this heretical teaching?
Why are we so given to feeling like we must do something to stop “the indulgence of the flesh?” How does grace deliver us from this mindset?
What is one thing you have learning and will do because of this passage?