Sermon Tone Analysis

Therefore...

Picture with me please a 5 year old sitting down at the table and there before him was a bowl of spinach and a nice big piece of chocolate cake…show pictures…and now momma says choose which one you want…do you think that 5 year old boy is going to find it easy to eat that bowl of spinach when there is this huge piece of cake in front of him…

This morning we're going to move into chapter 3 of the book of Colossians and we see this very important word at the beginning of verse 1…THEREFORE…why is this word so important?

Colossians.

The more you read Scripture, the more you recognize that Paul typically follows a particular pattern in his letters…

convinced I am

- the American church in general

- and our church in particular

- and especially my own heart...

- needs the message of this book.

- I can't think of many things that would be more relevant and practical

for you and I to be studying (and challenging one another about) than

Paul typically begins with an exposition of Christ and the gospel...doctrine…we can look at that portion of his letters as positional truths…or gospel indicatives...

the message of this book.

- I want to especially thank those of you who have worked at being

faithful to SS -- and have done some study in this book on your own

during the week

- because surely this is important business.

He then follows that up with an explanation as to how we live consistently with what he just expounded…we would call this practical truth…or gospel imperatives

The more you read Scripture, the more you recognize that Paul typically follows a particular pattern in his letters…Paul typically begins with an exposition of Christ and the gospel...doctrine (positional truths/indicatives) and then follows that up with an explanation as to how we live consistently with what he just expounded, practical application (practical truth/imperatives) of that doctrine…Paul follows that pattern in Romans (1-11 doctrine, 12 Therefore…) Ephesians (1-3 doctrine, 4

Therefore…), here in Colossians...

Paul follows that pattern in Romans (1-11 doctrine, 12 Therefore…)

to many of Paul's other letters

Paul spends a great deal of time in Romans laying down doctrinal truth…then in

He does this in Ephesians…first three chapters are doctrinal truth…then

He does this in Ephesians…first three chapters are doctrinal truth…then

Ephesians (1-3 doctrine, 4

Therefore…), here in Colossians...

- in that the first half speaks of doctrinal truths, or positional

So what we have from is one large exhortation to the church of a practical Christianity…he starts with doctrine and transitions to the practical…Paul always believed in a faith that functions…Lord willing in the weeks ahead we will examine it more closely...

So what we have from is one large exhortation to the church of a practical Christianity…he starts with doctrine and moves to the practical…Paul always believed in a faith that functions…Lord willing in the weeks ahead we will examine it more closely...

here in Colossians...

Without the light of the standards of Christian belief, Christian behavior will quickly fade into the shadows.

What we face today is a desire to hold on to external standards of what is called “Christian” without holding to Christian belief…without that truly biblical understanding of God through Christ standards for Christian behavior disappear.

So what we have from is one large exhortation to the church of a practical Christianity…he starts with doctrine and moves to the practical…Paul always believed in a faith that functions…Lord willing in the weeks ahead we will examine it more closely...

With those thoughts in mind lets consider our text… but first we need to remember the Colossian Context...

Remembering the Colossian Context

Doctrinal Confusion

Doctrinal Confusion

False teachers abounded here with all sorts of damaging teaching that was focused on a man-made religion of externals…which lead to...

Moral Chaos

All sorts of thoughts and practices also abounded that did not fit within the framework of what God desired for His people…

Paul was concerned these Colossian believers would fall prey to the false teachers who were selling a man-made religion as a means of attaining spirituality...

Paul’s conclusion to them was none of those man-made religions will help you fight sin…why submit yourself to all those rules and regulations that are powerless to help you overcome the sins that plague you...

What sins were plaguing them?

we haven’t examined that section yet, but look ahead to …Read …

So if a man-made religion of externals won’t help me find victory over sin, what will?

How can I be holy?

How can I win the battle over impure thoughts…how can I face a world whose hallmark of daily existence is immorality and lust…how can I deal with a culture that is governed by greed?

So

Sin may be conquered as a result of being united to Christ…without a union with Christ, the new life in Him does not exist in you, and therefore, if the new life doesn’t exist in you, you cannot know it and you surely cannot live it.

Read

Two things were happening here…there was doctrinal confusion

Read

truths

- and the second half talks about the practical applications of those

truths to specific areas of life.

So as we focus on this text Paul exhorts us, that if we want victory then...

So as we focus on this text Paul exhorts us all to...

the bridge between what we've studied so far, and what the Lord has

Preoccupy Yourself With Christ, Not the World!

So you are going to have to make a choice here this morning…

So you are going to have to make a choice here this morning…

- you could title these verses--What Is Your Relationship To The World?

Are you going to buy in to the philosophies and pursuits of the world, are you going to get sucked in to allowing the world to shape you and trying to make you think and act like them...

...or are you going to accept the truth of Scripture… and are you going to allow that truth to mold your thinking and behavior?

These four verses are going to provide the foundation for gaining victory over sin that is not found in man-made religions, it is found in what we have in Christ...

In light of the call for a high level of spiritual discernment, this then is how you ought to live...

relate to the world around us.

- we're not going to take time to fully develop that theme--but here's a

some passages to get our minds thinking in that direction:

1) - (our Lord said) - "As thou didst send me into the

These four verses are going to provide the foundation for the specific ways the truth of Christ ought to impact us on a daily basis...

world, I also have sent them into the world."

Let’s examine these three truths...

2) - "Go therefore and make disciples of all

nations..."

Believers Have A New Position

the gospel even "to the remotest part of the earth."

- so there's no question that God does not want us to extract ourselves

from the world.

(the world of people)

- if someone said, we're going to build a city out in the desert

somewhere -- and only believers are going to be allowed in --

that's the last place I'd want to live.

when he says, "Paradoxically, before Christians can reach the world,

they must first leave it."

- thats why the Scripture says things like:

1) (Christ) gave "Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out

of this present age."

2) Believers are of Christ's kingdom, which is not of this world (John

18:36.

3) We have overcome the world because of our faith in Christ (I John

5:4-5).

- now again, we could develop that topic a lot more, getting into

different ways the Scripture uses the word "world" and so on--but

we've made the point we need to make in order to move into chapter 3,

Two phrases describe our new position...

and that is that you and I must be regularly asking the question:

- what is my relationship with the world?

You Are Raised With Christ

- and how does that stack up with what the Bible says about my