Putting Off the Old Self Colossians 3: NCBC, Sept 27, 2015

Transcription

1 Putting Off the Old Self Colossians 3: NCBC, Sept 27, 2015 Main Point: Since you have died with Christ, dethrone and starve all evil desires. Put to Death Sexual Sins (v. 5-7) Put to Death Social Sins (v. 8-11) Application: Take your own sin seriously, and be transformed by Christ! Opening Announcements: Tim and Sue Cushman & Jeff & Nancy Steiner grandparents Chelsea Jane Cushman was born to Daniel and Rachel Cushman on Thurs, Sept 24 th. Healthy 8lbs 1 oz and 20 long. Installation Service this 2:30pm NewComer s Lunch next week - immediately following 2 nd service <<Lord I Need You>> Let s now continue our worship by reading from God s Word. Please open your Bible to Colossians chapter 3, where we enter into some practical instruction for our thinking this morning. Please stand with me now in honor of God s Word as I read our text for us from Colossians 3:5-11, reading from the English Standard Version: Colossians 3: Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is Page 1a of 12 Page 1b of 12

2 being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Praise God that He Himself is the greatest gift of the Gospel to us. Please be seated. Let s Pray. consistent with our new identity in Christ, we must confront this matter of idolatry. Have you ever witnessed someone worship an idol? It can be a disturbing and heartrending experience to watch someone literally prostrate themselves fervently before some statue or memorial and think that they are somehow making spiritual progress. I remember visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem several years ago. This is a massive church building that was built over the very site of Jesus crucifixion and burial at Calvary. But as we walked through this ornate church now encumbered with images, incense, and zealous worshippers my heart was broken by the blatant idolatry and worship disorder that was present all around us. At one point in our tour, we were shown a large flat stone, now encased by ornate marble carving, which is called the Stone of Anointing. So far in our study of Colossians we ve learned that Christ s death has made us holy and blameless and above reproach now before God (1:22). Through faith in the powerful working of God, we who were spiritually dead God has made alive together with him, by forgiving all of our sins (2:13). All those who are buried with Christ s death by faith are also raised together to a new life with Him (3:1-3). Positionally in Christ we are dead to sin, and alive to God. So today as we come to Colossians 3:5-11, we are confronted with our need to kill all remaining sin within us. If we are to live According to tradition, the body of Jesus was laid on this piece of rock to be prepared by burial. (Never mind that Page 2a of 12 Page 2b of 12

3 this stone was only added to the sepulcher in the year 1810.) But during our brief visit, dozens of worshippers came and fervently wept, kissed, and caressed this stone showing their adoration and love for this stone as if somehow this stone was worthy of their honor and service. I can t describe to you how this worship of a piece of rock disturbed me. I wanted to scream out loud put your faith in Jesus Christ not in some rock encased in marble! Jesus alone can forgive and pardon not some fervent display of adoration to a rock at some designated holy place. So as I was studying Colossians 3:5-11 this week, my mind drifted back to my disgust at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and I wondered Lord, what is your experience as you walk through your Church today? As God tours through my heart and your heart does He find us self-affirmed in a foolish worship disorder looking outside of Christ Himself for our satisfaction, identity, and rest? Having been made dead to sin positionally, we must die off to sin practically. We must become who we are in Christ! And so Paul and Timothy write in verse 5, Put to death therefore, what is earthly in you. Put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Mortify or kill and eliminate any cancerous desires or cravings rooted in self-worship and self-reliance. Or we could say it this way, Since you have died with Christ, dethrone and starve all evil desires. Because our faith has united us with Christ s death, and God s Spirit resides within us we now have the spiritual power to destroy the fleshy desires that want to control us. We must now reckon ourselves dead to sin, and put to death all self-centered influence of own hearts. We can outline our study this morning in two sections first verses 5-7 teach us to Put to death all sexual sin. And then verses 8-11 teach us to Put to death all social sin and segregation. And in truth all of the sins mentioned could be understood as perverted or distorted love. Using or abusing or devaluing others merely for my own self-promotion or self-gratification. Since we have died with Christ, we must dethrone and kill all forms of this self-worship. First then, let s consider verses 5-7 where we learn to Put to Death Sexual Sins (v. 5-7). Page 3a of 12 Page 3b of 12

4 Every kind of sexual immorality and any kind of sexual sin is condemned and must be put to death in the heart of the believer. Verse 7 reminds the reader that before our hearts were transformed by God s grace, we too were characterized by self-centeredness in our sexuality. Several sins are explicitly named as earthly meaning belonging to the unbeliever s nature. All of them are sexually-charged, and equated with idolatry. Let s first look carefully at the list of sins that are mentioned in verse 5: Sexual immorality is always selfish and proud. Only proud people look at porn. Only arrogant persons look at another with lustful consumerism (Matt 5:28). Sins of this kind are far more than just external actions and behaviors. You notice the list given in verse 5 starts with sinful behavior but ends with sinful desires and motives of the heart. What we desire determines what we do. Sexual immorality. Impurity. Passion. Evil Desire. Covetousness. All of these are motivated by idolatry in our hearts. So we must not believe the lie that as long as my fantasies are just in my imagination that no one is being harmed. Don t believe the lie of window shopping that Page 4a of 12 Page 4b of 12

5 tries to convince you that no one ever is hurt by just looking. For you are feeding a desire that is clamoring to enslave you. We were made to feast at God s banquet table with Him! But every time we go back out to feed on the poisonous scum of the slum it s like we put a darker tint on our glasses by which we see the world. Sexual immorality constantly tints our own perspective of reality making it more and more difficult to see the beauty of Christ through the increasing fog of our self-worship. All impurity deepens the deception of our desires and leaves us only to chase after an elusive, ever-decreasing pleasure. The only way we can starve away the impurity of our souls is to pursue the purity of Christ! Without taking our entire sermon this morning to unpack this let me just say for now that biblical purity means to wholeheartedly value God above all else. Biblical purity is an unpolluted affection and valuing of God as the highest good in my life. Purity is putting Jesus in first place in my life all the time, every time. Brothers and Sisters - we must put to death all sexual sin, Because it is idol worship. Notice in verse 5 the ultimate motive behind all these evil desires and earthly practices idolatry! Idols in our hearts. Here the concern is not that we would bow down and worship a piece of rock or wood but that we would allow our heart to be controlled or ruled by anything other than God. Don t miss this our fundamental problem is always idolatry. Everytime I sin against God, I m trusting my sin to be my Savior in some way. So if we are going to put to death sexual sin, we must look at the sin beneath our sin. The root of our sinful behavior is idolatrous desires that reject God s truth only to indulge ourselves in divided loyalties. So what idols need to be dethroned and starved to death in your own heart this morning? Let me offer some helpful diagnostic questions to help expose this deadly cancer that lurks within all of us: Page 5a of 12 Page 5b of 12

6 no longer are to be dominated by false gods and the worship disorder of sexual sin. By faith we see Christ as the most valuable treasure of our hearts! By faith we delight in knowing Him above all else. By faith we give our loyalty and obedience and service to Christ, as we become God-centered in all of our desires and our will. By faith, we worship Christ alone, and put to death all sexual sin. Whenever I m willing to sin to get what I want then what I want is an idol for me. Whenever I m willing to sin when I don t get what I want then what I want is an idol for me. And finally, whenever I sin when I get what I don t want then what I don t want is ruling me and controlling me as well and it is an idol of my heart. So church root out all the lies of the worship disorder of all kinds of sexual sin not only because it is idol worship, but Because it brings God s judgment. So what do you want so bad that you re willing to sin to get it? Loved ones sin goes much deeper than just attitudes and behavior doesn t it? All sinful attitudes and behaviors arise from our hearts worshipping hearts that want to remain in control and be independent in our selfworship. In brief we sin because we want to be God. But sin provides less satisfaction every time you eat of its forbidden fruit. Sin only offers salt water to the thirsty soul. And the future of a soul given to sexual sin is to die of thirst on a raft in the middle of the salty ocean! God alone is the fountain of living water than can satisfy our souls. Having been raised together with Christ we Verse 6 is very clear, On account of these [kinds of sexual sins], the wrath of God is coming. If you play with this kind of fire, it s just a matter of time before you will be burned by God s anger and wrath. 1 1 Proverbs 6:27 Page 6a of 12 Page 6b of 12

7 God is holy. And His wrath is not an irrational or vindictive reaction rather a justified righteous response to man s willful disobedience and sin. If you are reading this verse in the King James, or New American Standard translations, you ll notice there is an extra clause included, stating that God s wrath is coming on the children of disobedience. While it is probably best to understand this phrase was imported from the parallel passage in Ephesians 5:6 rather than part of the best manuscripts of Colossians it doesn t change the meaning of the text at all to include it here. It is right for God to punish all those who practice idolatry and sexual sin. He is a jealous God. He alone is the highest beauty and source of good and his final judgment against all evil doers is certain. Sexual sin is always self-centered and self-serving. Stop taking advantage of others. Do not transgress and wrong your brothers and sisters in this manner. Put off this part of your old living and find all the satisfaction, pleasure, and identity that you are seeking in Christ and Christ alone. In His presence there is fullness of joy! (Ps 16:11) Having died with Christ, we must dethrone and starve all desires for sexual sin. Dead men don t lust. But similarly we must dethrone and starve off all desires behind social sins as well. Verses 8-11 are clear we must Put to Death Social Sins (v. 8-11). In spite of the fact that we all used to be characterized by a self-centered life, verses 8-9 say, But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 Moving from the perverted love of sexual sin, we now enter the arena of the perverted love of social sins. These are the more respectable sins that often run rampant through a community of faith without a second thought. If a church member is caught in sexual sin, all of us grieve deeply. But if a member loses self-control of his tongue and attacks the person rather than the problem we call it righteous-indignation and applaud his courage for taking a stand. Church - may God s Spirit awaken us to the seriousness of these Sins in Good Standing among us today. Consider the list carefully: Page 7a of 12 Page 7b of 12

8 Anger and wrath are closely connected and relate to the indwelling energy of animosity against all perceived opponents. Anger and wrath believes that they have been mistreated, and it s up to them to protect their own rights. This is the spirit of the murderer who is quick to hate his brother with either the silent treatment or a volcanic eruption of name-calling and violence. 2 Malice refuses to rejoice with those who rejoice, but rather is eager to harm others or cause them to suffer. Malice is a mean, self-justified desire of the heart that aims to punish and seeks revenge. And note that these are just the heart problems that produce word problems. Just like we saw earlier, the reality of the heart is always betrayed by the mouth (Luke 6:45). As long as a person continues to hate someone in their heart, they will not love them with their words. So Colossians commands us to put such idolatry to death. These social idols in the heart produce a forked tongue. Listen to James 3, No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. (3:8-10) We must honestly root out these inner heart idols that poison our words towards one another, Because it is the old life. 2 Matt 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15. Page 8a of 12 Page 8b of 12

9 And at the same time when we were born again by God s Spirit, a new way of living was put on us we received a new heart, a new nature, new affections and desires for Christ and we possessed new life just like how you put on clean clothes after you take off the dirty ones. Verses 9-10 contain the justification and power for such repentance, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. In Christ we have died to sin s controlling enslavement of our hearts. Dead people don t lust. And dead people don t lie. Now I get excited when I read these verses, because there s so much in this Put Off and Put On paradigm that I want you to see. First I want you to know that the verb tense of the put off and put on commands are both speaking of a definite action which was done once for all at a point of time. When we were born again by God s Spirit, our old way of living was put off crucified and put to death just like when you take off dirty clothes after doing chores in manure at the end of the day. Our old self has been put off with all its old sinful habits or practices. We need to stop here. Have you been made new in Christ? If you don t have God s Spirit inside of you, you are enslaved to cruel idols. But today is a day of salvation God loves idolaters! Jesus is ready to rescue all that will call upon Him by faith today. Listen my friends we don t change by just stopping the bad sin habits of corrupt communication or sexual immorality. No we defeat illicit and guilty desires with honorable and holy pleasures! The power to overcome the old way of living in sin is found in the provision of the new way of living. Gratitude overcomes greed. Truth overcomes lies. But now notice the phrase in verse 10 that provides the power by which all believers live out their new life in Christ. Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Translation God is constantly renewing us by His Spirit so that we become more and more in practice what we have been declared to be in our position. Here the verb tense signifies an ongoing continuing action we are constantly being renewed in our inner man to be made Page 9a of 12 Page 9b of 12

10 more and more like Jesus Christ. To have the image of God that has been deformed by our sin transformed now more and more into the image of God that we were created to reflect. And how does this renewal come about? Through knowledge. Knowledge of Christ. So get this All those who have been radically and supernaturally transformed by God s grace are called to live consistent with the new life. We must die to all impure worship in our sexuality and our speech. And the means of this progressive sanctification is our coming to know God more and more through His Son Jesus Christ. And verse 11 drills the point home for us this morning no one has an advantage over anyone else in the body of Christ. There is no room for self-worship or selfpromotion or any other such self-gratification. Because Christ is all and in all Verse 11 reads, Here [because of what God has done in giving us newness of life through Christ] there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. The logic is this Christ s resurrection life has done away with all the deep distinctions that tend to bring strife, conflict, and hostility into a diverse community. So now even though these earthly differences don t go away, they have nothing to do with our position in Christ and do not give us a higher or lower standing in Him. All social sins can truly die for those who are raised together with Christ! For any superficial differences among God s children are no longer powerful enough to nourish the sins earlier mentioned. Really the end of verse 11 is the theme of the entire book of Colossians: Christ is all, and in all. Christ is more than enough. Put to death all social sins of speech and racism, discrimination, and partiality because Christ is all, and in all! Raised together with Christ, we must look beyond earthly differences such as race, color, social standing and really enjoy a spiritual unity in the Lord. So as we consider the so what? of this message, I urge you towards two responses: First, Take your own sin seriously, and second, be transformed by Christ! Page 10a of 12 Page 10b of 12

11 the powerless piece of rock that they are. And then turn and delight in the beauty of God Himself afresh. Don t seek God for what He can do for you but seek God for the delight of knowing God Himself! He Himself is the greatest gift of the Gospel to us (2 Cor 4:4-6)! Remember it is the presence of the Lord that distinguishes God s people from the rest of the world not His provision. So turn from your idols. Starve your idols by feeding your soul more and more of Christ s beauty as you come to know Him through His Word. Church we must not trifle with sin. Whether it is sexual or respectable all sin corrupts our soul and is an expression of our worship. Our taking won t turn to giving until there s a transformation of our hearts through a greater knowledge of Christ. Our lips will not overflow with praise and thanksgiving until our hearts first find their home in knowing Christ. Our hands and our mouths won t be cleaned until our hearts are purified by confession, repentance, and faith in Christ alone. Your sin is not a disease it s a worship disorder. So guard yourself from idols (1 John 5:18). Avoid wasting your energy on the hamster wheel of self-improvement. You know what I mean by a hamster wheel right? Running all the time round and round but getting nowhere fast! This is what it would be to focus on changing your external sins without rooting out the ruling idols at the core of your own heart. So ask yourself the diagnostic questions identity the lies that you are believing, and repent of your idols. See them for being Since you have died with Christ, dethrone and starve all evil desires. Your broken cisterns won t hold water anymore come and find all that you need in the One whose name is Living Waters. He alone deserves the throne of your heart. Page 11a of 12 Page 11b of 12

12 So who or what are you worshipping in the sepulcher of your heart? Put to death what is earthly within you. All sexual sin, and all social sins of speech and segregation. through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Well so much practical teaching is packed into this short letter of Colossians! Next week we continue in chapter 3 by setting our minds upon the spiritual grace of forgiveness. So if you ve ever been hurt by another person, or been sinned against you ll want to be here next week for very helpful teaching on this most important expression of love. Let s pray. Closing prayer. Closing Song You are My All in All Jude Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, Page 12a of 12 Page 12b of 12