Sunday Sermon Colossians 3:5-7
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and thank you for joining us the morning here at FCC where we worship God in Spirit and in truth, one verse at a time.
What a blessing last week was with Arianna taking the leap of faith and not only making Jesus her Lord and Savior, but making it public by being baptized.
Baptism church is an outward sign of an inward grace.
When we go down in the water, we die in Christ and come up in the newness of life.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
This is what happened for Arianna church, but also for each of you as you committed you life to Jesus Christ.
Behold, all things have become a new.
Prayer>> John Mathwich family with loss
Prayer>> John Mathwich family with loss
Read Colossians 3:1-7
Read Colossians 3:1-7
Review
Review
Last week, we took at look at verses 1-2 and we learned that we are to seek and set our minds on things above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
We live in a distraction dilemma.
The world is screaming for our attention and the wicked one will do whatever he can, to get our eyes off of Jesus the Author and Finisher of of our faith and yet here, we are commanded to seek and set our minds on things above, not on things of the earth
Paul is moving from our position that is in Christ to our practical living as his disciple or we could say from doctrine to duty, or belief to behavior.
Now that we know that we were crucified with Christ and resurrected with him, we also need to know that our life is hidden with Christ in God.
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Here we see that the Apostle Paul is driving home that we died, we died, and we died.
But he also mentions that our lives are hidden with Christ in God.
So We are hidden in Christ what does this mean:
We no longer belong to the world, but to Christ; and the sources of life that we enjoy come only from Him. “Hidden in Christ” means security and satisfaction.
The eminent Greek scholar, Dr. A.T. Robertson, comments on this: “So here we are in Christ who is in God, and no burglar, not even Satan himself, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:31–39).”
2. The Christian life is a “hidden life” as far as the world is concerned, because the world does not know Christ .
3. Our sphere of life is not this earth, but heaven; and the things that attract us and excite us belong to heaven, not to earth. This does not mean that we should ignore our earthly responsibilities. Rather it means that our motives and our strength come from heaven, not earth.
4. This is play of words because the Gnostics attempted to teach them that they had secret knowledge.
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
We will appear with Him in glory church.
Christ is now seated at the Father’s right hand, but one day He will come to take His people home
When He does, we shall enter into eternal glory with Christ. When He is revealed in His glory, we shall also be revealed in glory.
According to the Apostle Paul, we have already been glorified!
Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
This glory simply has not yet been revealed.
The Word says thatChrist has already given us His glory
And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
But the full revelation of the glory awaits the return of the Saviour (Rom. 8:17–25).
The bodies we inherit will be more like what God originally intended, rather than what we now abide in. Gone will be the infirmity and weakness of our sinful flesh; rather, we will be glorified with Christ, and that glory will extend to the bodies we will inhabit.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Now, in view of our wonderful identification with Christ, we have a great responsibility: “Seek those things which are above” (Col. 3:1).
Through Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, we have been separated from the old life of this world, and we now belong to a new heavenly life.
Here Paul is giving us a list of things that we must put to death church, or as the King Jimmy says, we must mortify our members that are on the earth.
What does mortify mean?
Put to death/ mortify-nek-ro'-o- v. — to stop a state or activity with lethal determination; conceived of as putting something to death , to slay, to deprive of power, destroy the strength of, to kill...
Church, this is a strong word. Paul is telling us to kill are members, to slay them parts of us that causes us to sin.
But you might be thinking that I died with Christ and my life is hidden with him, therefore why would Paul tell me to die again?
It is because of the battle that we see in Romans 7.
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Church, this is where the rubber meets the road, there are many that call themselves Christian and yet they are still full-filling the lust of their flesh.
They are people who say the love Jesus, but they are not willing to do whatever it takes to over come the sin in their lives, therefore, they stay in bondage and their witness is marred or they have no witness.
“I’m a Christian. I’ve been converted. I’ve experienced the new birth. I’m a new creation in Christ.” These are words we often lightly throw around as Christians, but do we really understand the deep implications of these terms?
Whatever else Christianity teaches, it does teach that when one becomes a Christian, there is a radical, revolutionary change of lifestyle. Christianity is designed to change people and equip them to live in a world which is antagonistic to Christ.
Has your lifestyle changed since coming to Christ?
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Why is this therefore, therefore?
It is because of the first 4 verses that we have have covered.
We are complete in Christ, we have died and been co-resurrected with him.
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Paul has laid out our identity in Christ in the first town chapters and now he is saying, since you have died and are raised to the newness of the life that Christ has given you, you must kill your members.
It is important to know that Colossae was full of pagan religion and one of the elements of their worship was sexual-immorality. They even had temple prostitutes church and this culture was really sick.
Put to death your members is an imperative in the Greek, therefore a command that God has given you and I to fulfill.
It is our responsibility to do this church.
I think it is important for us to get a good definitions of the words Paul is working with here:
Fornication/ sexual immorality- porneia- refers to any sexual activity outside of the marriage union - premarital sex, extra-martial sex, homosexuality or lesbianism.
Sexual immorality was rampant in Paul’s day and he condemned it because it was contrary to the moral law of God.
Sexual immorality is running rampant in our culture as well church.
The Word of God teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman, therefore anything outside of the is a direct violation of God’s law and therefore, will be judged.
The only time that is sex is to happen is within the confines of marriage.
So if anyone is caught up in fornication which is having sex outside of marriage, knock it off and repent!
“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.
I have found that when a person is struggling with sin and they are enjoying the pleasures of it for a season, they will not cut off their hand or pluck out their eye, but rather convince themselves they can overcome the bondage they are in, only to go deeper and deeper into it.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
Uncleanness/Impurity- refers to uncleanness in thought, word or act and some have translated it “dirty-mindedness”. The word “impurity” refers to things and thoughts which are unclean and impure. Impurity has to do with all kinds of sensual things which God deems as morally corrupt (Eph. 4:19).
We are not to develop in things impure, we are to destroy things impure. We are to search out impure things in our own lives and destroy them, once and for all.
What are you putting in your mind?
Our thoughts determine our destiny church.
If a person has a dirty-mind it simply because they are putting dirty things in their mind
We live in a sex saturated society and we must walk in the spirit so we do not obey the lust of the flesh thereof.
We must regulate everything we have coming into our minds or we will become a by-product of this world church.
Paul says put death your members of this earth fornication and uncleanness or dirty mindedness church.
Church I want you to know that the Bible gets very specific. Right from the Ten Commandments, when God talks about sin, he doesn’t talk in generalities; he talks in very clear specifics.
Paul gives two lists: one is in verse 5, and the other is in verse 8. And in between, there’s something else that’s very interesting we’ll mention to you. But the two lists, in verse 5 and 8, are simply lists of sins.
The first list speaks about unholy kinds of love; the second list, wicked kinds of hate.
So, they’re set in contrast.
The first is perverted love, the second is wicked hate.
The first list begins with Acts and moves to motives.
The second list begins with motives and moves to deeds or acts.
The first list is personal; the second is social.
The first is related to feelings; the second is related to speech.
Both list church are related to our thinking though!
We are not going to cover the other going to cover the list in verse 8 today, but rather finish up with the list of sins in verse 5.
Passion- pathos- inordinate affection, vile passions, lustful passion, lustful desire, a strong feeling or emotion.
The word “passion” means we are to exterminate all ungoverned, emotional and evil desires
We could define this as godless passion.
Even the world says “if it feels good, do it,” God’s Word commands “if it isn’t good, kill it.” Thoughts are to be controlled, evil passions are to be destroyed. As Dr. Johnson said, “Undisciplined self expression has no place in the Christian life”
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Evil Desire-epithumia – desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust , craving fo the wrong things.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Covetousness/ greed- pleonexia – greedy desire to have more
Greed is a desire to have more with total disregard of the rights of others.
In our context, greed is used in terms of sexual sin where there is constant lusting for more.
Covetousness is the opposite of contentment church and we must learn that the grass is not greener on the other side, in fact in needs to be cut more!
Covetousness is idolatry church.
All these sins are idolatry here. Sin is always about self. I want more, more, more!!!
Both covetousness and idolatry are mentioned in the Decalogue which is the ten commandments. Idolatry being first and coveting being last.
If you have these two in your life, chances are you are violating them all...
idolatry – eidololatreia – the worship of false gods, idolatry; of avarice, as a worship of Mammon
All these sins amount to idolatry because they take our focus off of God and place them on ourselves and we must understand that the Bible is clear about sexual immorality, covetousness, idolatry, passions, and evil desires.
Fornication starts with idolatry which is worship of self, idolatry produces covetousness, evil desire, passion and uncleanness.
IF THESE GO UNBRIDLED, FORNICATION IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER WILL BE RESULT.
Church, God said for us to kill these. Put them to death because:
Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
These things are the very reason why the world will one day be judged.
These things are the very reason why the world will one day be judged.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
People who indulge habitually in the above sins mentioned stand to receive the wrath of God at the final judgment when Christ returns in His second advent. God’s judgment on that Great Day will fall upon the disobedient from Adam to the end of the age.
Positionally church we have been crucified with Christ, but we are to practically work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
Our practice church, must match our position, therefore, let us put to death our members that are on the earth!
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