Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Our text tonight is going to be in Colossians chapter 3 if you guys want to turn there.......

Tonight’s text is going challenge to us to not focus on the horizontal things of this world but rather to look upward.

to the place where we are hidden together with God in Christ.

Paul is going to explain how the believer died to the basic principles of this world and therefore shouldn’t be focused on the things of the world.

but in the same breath, he is then going exhort the believers in Colossae, and by extension of application, you and I, to live a holy life by not engaging in sexual sin, selfish ambition, outbursts of anger, and so on.

To live our lives in the same manner that Christ did, which includes living in this world and being subject to behavior restrictions and disciplines here on this earth.....

this seems to contradict....

but even Jesus taught very paradoxical teachings and they are found all over Scripture

one example is:

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that the wisdom of God is foolishness to men....he then goes on to say that God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

There are 2 reasons why God’s instruction to us or about us can seem to contradict.

we are so bent by sin that what we think is right is actually so wrong

God’s teachings are actually meant to show us prideful creatures just how far off we are

so we shouldn't be confused by teaching that appears to be in contradiction....we just let the Bible interpret the Bible and search the Scriptures for the meaning and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal these truths to us.... after all, all wisdom is a gift from God in the first place.

before we get to our text this evening, we need to lay some groundwork and bring our passage into context...

we see in Colossians 2:20-23 which is just a few verses before our text tonight starts...

Paul had already explained to the believers at this point in the letter that the believer spiritually dies to sin in the same manner that Jesus died and was buried.

and that the believer is raised with Christ to life in the same manner that Jesus rose from the grave.

Baptism symbolizes this.

His point to them is this: your worldly self died so why would your focus be on wordly things any longer?

notice how Paul points to physical things “do not touch, taste, or handle”

but then we see in Colossians 3:5-7

it sounds like Paul is a bit schizophrenic here.....Paul you just said we died to the world so don't worry about physical things and then you tell us to put to death our members which are on the earth.. sounds like a contradiction, huh?

well its only contradiction if you don't understand the spiritual principle of “already, not yet”

we are “already” in the Kingdom of God and Christ is already ruling and reigning at God’s right hand now but He has “not yet” began His millennial reign where He will physically rule and reign on the throne of David.

this shows that God put all things under Christ’s rule but also says that we don't currently see that taking place around us with a rejecting world not submitting to His authority.......just wait....it happens.

He is King of kings here and now....but fully at the second coming, He will fully rule over the entire world.

now this “already not yet” principle is found throughout Scripture not just in dealing with the Kingdom of God and eschatology....in our passage tonight we see Paul saying “we died” and then saying “put to death” so that death he is referring must be incomplete in some way.

It is only incomplete in that we still live in a sinful body, surrounded by a sinful world that is still awaiting the fullness of redemption to take place at Christ’s second coming.

All that being said, Paul’s teaching here is that we died to sin and should then live to holiness by putting these sinful desires and actions to death in real time.

we must make the heavenly reality a worldly reality in our actions.

the question is how?

Paul hashes this doctrine out a little more in depth in Romans....lets look there quickly before we dive into our text tonight fully just to lay some groundwork…turn quickly to Romans 6. I’m going to just read this and briefly explain....this is very much a parallel passage to our text tonight....

READ ROMANS 6 AND DISCUSS.

now to give a little bit of context to the book of Colossians, Paul was partly writing this letter to address some false teaching known as Gnosticism that had crept into the church.

I don't want to get too far in the weeds of Gnosticism but their basic beliefs were that all material things were evil.

the way to salvation for them was attained through this secret knowledge by which you could escape the prison of the material world that held you captive. to them it would have been impossible for a Holy God to enter into the wicked physical world.

if you read the book of Colossians with an understanding of Gnosticism, it makes even more sense as to why Paul wrote the way he did and the words and instruction he used about Christ and about what the Colossians were doing and what they should be doing.

when Paul is instructing them to not subject themselves to regulations about food and drink…he is doing so because they were practicing a self-denying type of anti-materialism that flowed from this false teaching.

if you have ever watched The DaVinci Code (which i would not suggest you do unless you fully understand that it directly contradicts the teachings of the Bible and is strictly a piece of fiction) there is a scene early on where a creepy catholic guy is whipping himself in the back with a whip…he seems to be doing this for some sort of penance or punishment for his sin as if it is actually his physical flesh that is responsible for his actions...

Paul would teach that this “neglect of the body has no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23)

so Paul is making sure to correct these false teachings of Gnosticism with the reality of the cross and what that means....Paul in Romans was not correcting Gnosticism, but here in Colossians he was....the teaching of Colossians 2 and 3 is so very similar to Romans 6. Paul simply teaches the same truth in both instances but put emphasis on the error in Colossians…we can learn a lot from him in this....when speaking to a doubter or unbeliever of the Christian faith.

Maybe someone in your family or friend group..remember that the truth is the same and it is the truth that will set them free, but the way we deliver the truth can appeal to them specifically.

When they raise specific questions or reject in a direct way, give them the simple Gospel truth with an emphasis on what they specifically need....

so looking at our text with these things in mind, lets see what we can learn as universal truths about the Gospel and our fellowship with both God and man...

Body

as we just learned, Paul has already explained to them this baptism into the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

They died to the sinful flesh and were raised with Christ to new life…so starting here in chapter 3 Paul beings to exhort them that since those truths are a reality in their lives, their focus should be rooted in this truth and their actions should exemplify this in their life.

lets talk for a minute about appropriation.

now in our world the word appropriate can have a negative connotation.

When someone steals money or uses it for themselves instead of its intended use in business or whatever, they are have said to have misappropriated funds.

basically, they took something that belonged to someone else and used it for themselves.

but in the Kingdom of God, God has given us freely so many blessings and gifts and for us as Christians.

Ephesians tells us we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, but how do we walk in that here and now?

we must appropriate what we already have in Christ, into our actions.

Not just to lay claim, but to actually spend these treasures.

We have a winning lottery ticket as believers, lets take it and redeem the money that it represents.

After all, the piece of paper is no good until you redeem it.

Miles J. Stanford talks about appropriation in his book, “The Green Letters - Principles for Spiritual Growth”

here is what he says...

“Appropriation does not necessarily mean to gain something new, but to set aside for our practical possession something that already belongs to us.”

he continues....

“To appropriate something for our daily walk in Christ, we face two essentials: to see what is already ours in Christ; and to be aware of our need for it.

On these two factors rests the ability to appropriate.”

-Miles J Stanford

before we can live like Christ, we must understand the reality of what Christ did for us and what that means to us....our obedience must flow from that.

we see this principle of appropriation here in the first verse of chapter 3 ....”If then you were raised with Christ, seek....”

Paul is saying, because of this,....do this...

we are DEAD to sin....past tense

we have been RAISED to new life in Christ....past tense

so walk in this newness of life.

we already have new life so our walk should be new.

Paul is teaching that our focus is not to be rooted in a past life experience of sin.

after all, Jesus came to be sin for us.

and by His obedience to the Law of God, He was accepted as a spotless lamb of sacrifice and by death He condemned sin in the flesh and forever put it to death....the power then came when He was raised to life again.

This same power that raised Jesus to life, now dwells in us and empowers us to be more Christlike.

Paul is saying that since Jesus did all of this for us and we were raised with Him, then we have to live like we believe it.

but it isn't just that we must muster up the strength to kill our flesh in response... look at how Paul describes this reality…look at the language..

Paul tells us we are hidden with Christ in the heavenlies…He instructs us to “set our mind” on these heavenly truths.

that sounds way different than whipping my sinful body into submission and flesh killing....

elsewhere in his letters, Paul will instruct us to walk in the Spirit so as not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh.....He doesn't say don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh so that it will be possible to walk in the Spirit.

He also doesn't say run in the Spirit or even power walk in the spirit....I’m just imagining some old granny putting her sin to death walking circles around the mall with her hips slamming from side to side....sounds unbiblical…i dunno....

walking in the Spirit happens and then the lusts of the flesh dissipate....

so to start this chapter he is telling them that the way to walk in this newfound freedom in Christ is not to attempt to kill the physical aspects of sin in their lives by shear will power.....but rather rest in the fact that Christ killed it for them.

to set their minds on this truth and then appropriate that into their actions.

This doesn’t absolve us from any responsibility, it just teaches us where our strength and motivation comes from and that, paired with God’s Spirit working in us, gives us the ability to live in a way that matches our identity

He even tells us that “Christ is our life” in verse 4. If we are hidden with Christ, our sins covered by His intercession forever, and if He is our life then truly we aren't our own and it takes any pressure off of us.

Because as soon as we put the pressure to “not sin” on our shoulders in this way, we put ourselves back under the law in a way and that is a burden that will eventually overtake us.

(take a few minutes to explain a testimony about this as a drug addict and the “dont focus on the tree” analogy)

once Paul has shifted the focus onto their identity in Christ it is then and only then that he begins to instruct them in application.

Therefore.......basically means here, “because of this truth, this is what you should now do..”

since you died.....put to death

this is the already not yet thing....

we are spiritual beings made of flesh and blood.

sometimes what is a reality in the heavenlies doesn't seem to translate to the physical world we can see.

likewise, we spiritually died and were spiritually raised to new life (with a promise that the physical glorification will come)

here John tells us that NOW we are children of God. this is a truth but the fullness of what that means hasn't been fully realized yet.....but soon it will be.

you guys can read 1 Corinthians 15 for a more in depth description of the promise of a glorious physical body at Christ’s coming

but look at what John says in verse 3.....He says that because we have a future hope of being “like Jesus” when we are resurrected into our glorious bodies and fully united together with the Father for eternity, we should purify ourselves just as He is pure...