THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD Living the Gospel: Living under the command of Christ Lord s Day 16 th November, Morning Worship, 9.30am Rev D Rudi Schwartz 1 Bible Readings Old Testament: Psalm 101 New Testament: Colossians 3:1 11 Hymns/Songs Main Points 1. Approach: Psalm 84: How delightful are Your dwellings 2. Forgiveness of sins: Before the throne of God above 3. Thanksgiving: Crown Him with many crowns 4. Response: May the mind of Christ my Saviour 1. Introduction 2. Seek the things above 3. Cultivate a heavenly attitude 4. Put to death your old nature 5. Conclusion 1. Introduction My dear brother and sister in the Lord Jesus Christ, A study of the letter of Paul to the Colossians reveals major opposites as the change and transformation which occurs when God does his work of mercy and grace in the life of the sinner. First there are the opposites of the Kingdom of light and dominion of darkness two strong themes in this letter. giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, (Colossians 1:12 13) Another opposite is being an enemy and being reconciled: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:21 22) 1 Feel free to duplicate this file or quote from it. The Name of the Lord be glorified!
Living the Gospel (3) 2 And then there are the opposites of life and death: When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13 14) Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: (Colossians 2:20) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1) These opposites serve to bring home to us the importance of the life of a Christian which is in complete opposition to living as someone who has not met Jesus Christ and does not live a godly life. The Bible has much to say about worldliness, which is not the mark of the lifestyle of a Christian. The line between world and church has become somewhat blurred in our day. The difference between church and world has become hard to make out. As a matter of fact, we find much of the world in the church, and less of the church in the world. Lots of Christians, calling themselves born again Christians, live like the world. Some don t believe in the infallibility of the Bible, the sanctity of marriage or the Deity of Jesus Christ. The result is that the church has to a degree lost its calling to be salt and light in the world. The world does not believe the message of the church, because it is no different from what itself has on offer. Before the Christian has begun to grasp the principle of a Christian Worldview and a Christian way of living, under the rulership of Christ in all areas of life, we will make no difference. We will send missionaries to other countries, but to some degree we will contradict their message by living like heathens on the home front. Many a convert to Christianity from the distant mission fields visit countries of the sending churches only to go home in horror because of the ungodly lifestyles of those calling themselves Christians. What an embarrassment! To develop a Christian World and Life view the Bible is giving us three very distinct commands this morning. We must not see these as advice, suggestions or mere pointers to Christian living, as if one can pick and choose between different options. These are commands coming from our Lord Himself. The Bible is authoritative and it is the Word of God. And as such we need to live by it. For this reason I titled this sermon: Living the Gospel under the command of Christ. 2. Seek the things above Now we have to go back to verses 1 and 2 and see what the effect of all of this is on the practical life of the Christian: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Col 3:1 2)
Living the Gospel (3) 3 The words used in these commands have this in mind: Seek intently and cultivate a new attitude. It is this intensive seeking, which involves the whole person, which is spoken of in the teaching of Jesus in the parable of the merchant and the pearl: Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. (Matthew 13:45) This parable elaborates on this total engagement, which is necessary to attain what one is striving for: the kingdom of heaven. The merchant found the pearl of great value. He hid it again and, in order to get make it his own, he sold all he had and bought that field. The seriousness of this striving is underlined in the fact that many want to enter through the narrow gate of salvation when it is not possible for them: Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. (Luke 13:24) Our Lord continued with what He speaks of in this verse and points out the earnestness to not miss the opportunity of grace when it is presented: Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, Sir, open the door for us. But he will answer, I don t know you or where you come from. (Luke 13:25) We cannot enter the Kingdom on our own terms and when we choose to do so. God does not wait for us until we find it convenient to enter. If this is our attitude, we might later see that our best effort will not be able to open heaven s gate for us. Now is the time of grace; now we should seek intently and make every effort. The Christian cannot be sloppy and careless in his Christian living. It does not depend on us when and how we want to be Christians. It is a matter of complete commitment. It is to intently, with all power, might, strength and mind, seek God s Kingdom and its righteousness. The result of this is that we will and must develop a heavenly attitude to all things we do. There is this profound statement further down Chapter 3 of Colossians: and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:10) In paradise, before sin came into the world, man knew what God required of him, because he knew God. Sin destroyed that perfect relationship. Jesus Christ our Saviour, restores the sinner to that state. It now follows logically that a new lifestyle of love, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude and peace should adorn the life of the child of God. This is what St Paul talks about in Colossians 3. 3. Cultivate a heavenly attitude Someone said: Let the mind of the Master be the master of your mind. Every worldview, Christian and non Christian, deals with at least these three questions:
Living the Gospel (3) 4 1. where did we come from? (And why are we here?) 2. what is wrong with the world? 3. how can we fix it? A Christian worldview answers the three questions biblically: 1. We are God s creation, designed to govern the world and fellowship with Him (Genesis 1:27 28; 2:15). 2. We sinned against God and subjected the whole world to a curse (Genesis 3). 3. God Himself has redeemed the world through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ (Genesis 3:15; Luke 19:10), and will one day restore creation to its former pristine state (Isa 65:17 25). A Christian worldview leads us to believe in moral absolutes, miracles, human dignity as creatures created in the image of God, and the possibility of redemption in and through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Some might argue against it, but here is such a thing as a Christian lifestyle: we are members of a new family, of Christ is the Head. Our thinking should be what the Head determines; we received a new nature which logically leads to a new way of walking and doing. It is all about cultivating a Christian mindset. It talks about the renewal of the mind to think like Christians, talk like Christians and act like Christians. Too easily Christians are trapped into the prevailing mindset of our day: post modernism, which stands for nothing, because it propagates a mindset of no absolute standards. Some Christians therefore argue that that they should be left alone with their choices as far as music, clothing, pleasure and general outlook on life is concerned as if the Bible has nothing to say about these things. Point is, a friend of this world is and enemy of God; worldliness is an abomination to God; and ungodliness is bringing shame to our Lord who is holy. Of course what we believe will determine what we read, what movies we watch, what TV programs we follow and who we will consider as friends. And if this is not the case we will have to answer before God. The Psalm we read this morning is very much an application of what David saw as living as a child of God. Let s look at some of the statements he makes here: I will be careful to lead a blameless life. Once again the intent and earnest desire to live a holy life before God. I will walk in my house with blameless heart. This speaks of holiness, according to God s revealed will. The reference to house here probably has in mind family and family life which is central and basic to all relationships of society. It may also mean the personal life of David as a child of God. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The eyes of the Christian belong to God.
Living the Gospel (3) 5 The deeds of faithless men I hate: Christians act differently; they are driven by a heavenly mindset. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil. Christians are very particular when it comes to choosing friends and hanging out with people. Whoever slanders his neighbour in secret, him will I put to silence: The Christian looks at things from a different perspective and applies different standards that those of the world. Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure. The proud and the haughty only knows themselves as their standard of living. This is not the case with the Christian, who professes Jesus Christ as the Head of his life. My eyes will be on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me. What wonderful expression of whom the Christian should be associating with. No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house. What an application of the Ten Commandments about false witness! And of course this is what Paul speaks about in Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off the old self. No one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence: Paul writes in Colossians 3:8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord. What a desire to see the church of God to be holy! I think it corresponds with Paul s statement in Colossians 3:10 11: and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. This last statement of Paul is often high jacked by those who want to see structural unity between church denominations as an expression of unity. This is not what the text says. What it does say is that the Church of Christ, irrespective of where it manifests itself in different cultures and backgrounds, should be holy. The Scythians were seen as a barbaric people; but when they become Christians, there is no hiding behind culture to make excuses for not living as Christians. Australians cannot argue that certain ungodly cultural practices particular to our way of life should overrule our Christian life; it is the other way round. 4. Put to death your old nature Verse 10 of Colossians 3 reads and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:10) Paul puts the same principle in other words in his letter to the Ephesians:
Living the Gospel (3) 6 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22 24) This expression implies a complete reverse of the old: once there was no compassion, now there is compassion; now there is patience, not anger and rage; now there is gentleness, not malice and slander; now there is kindness, not filthy and lying language. In the final analysis the Bible commands the Christian, who is united with Christ, and whose life is hidden in Christ, the person who can now by faith declare Christ is my life, that this grace calls for a completely new attitude, and lifestyle that is the opposite of what it was before grace entered and sins were forgiven. God s children are called to live holy lives, lives having its origin in Christ and therefore are in opposition with the flesh; it is in opposition with the world; it is different in all aspects. Christians talk differently, the think differently, their relationships are differently, they work differently, they react differently to slander and malice, their marriages are differently, and their families are differently. What controlled them in the past was an earthly nature, which made them to walk in a certain way. The Bible calls this the old self. Then we were members of a certain body, the dominion of darkness. Now we are under the control and command of Christ and it changes our lifestyle and our way of thinking. Man is not born in an innocent or neutral state, somewhere between good or bad with a natural possibility to make a choice between good and bad. Man cannot improve himself. Paul puts it this way in Romans: For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. (Romans 7:5) I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. (Romans 6:19) Someone comments on these verses: The sinister power of sin needs the members of the mortal body in order to accomplish the actual doing of wrong by subjecting man to desires. Sin in its position of strength is here a military leader, but the metaphor is quickly changed into that of a slave owner. 5. Conclusion A married woman, who was caught up in an extra marital relationship, could no longer continue living in a lie. The new man in her life demanded of her to divorce her husband and marry him. The thought of denying her faithful husband and loving children in public for the sake of temporary lust almost drove here crazy. She confided in her minister. After listening carefully his remark was: Someone in this relationship has to die.
Living the Gospel (3) 7 The thought of fire arms and killing someone was too much for her. Too many unlawful relationships end with someone being killed. She broke up in tears. But she understood the comment of the minister wrongly. He was referring to her spiritual life. Once she would understand that she was living according to her sinful old self, and that she needed to put to death her old self with its evil desires and ask forgiveness from God and repent from her sinful ways, she would know what to do. She did repent before God, confess her sin and brake off the relationship with the man. After dying she started living. Kill or be killed: sins born deep inside have devastating consequences. It corrupts the soul and destroys everything precious marriage, relationships, trust, and direction. God calls it idolatry. We cannot keep living like the unsaved. Paul reminds us of the wrath of God which is coming. Just think of God s judgment over sin in the times of Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah! With the water ever increasing, some yelled to Noah and open the door of the ark they had scoffed at. Noah couldn t; God had shut the door. It was too late! May God give us grace! May we make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many will try to enter and will not be able to. Amen.