Christ Hits the Center Every Time

March 5, 2017 · Colossians

Series · Colossians · Week 14 of 26

Scripture referenced 10 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Romans 6:7 cited as established evidence that the old sinful self was crucified with Christ and sin has lost its power

7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.

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Galatians 2:20

Paul's statement of being co-crucified with Christ, no longer living but Christ living in him

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.

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Galatians 5 (works of the flesh)

list of vices including sexual immorality, idolatry, strife, envy, drunkenness, written to Christians

1 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

2 Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.

3 Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

4 You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.

5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

7 You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth?

8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

9 A little yeast grows through the whole lump.

10 I have confidence toward you in the Lord that you will think no other way. But he who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.

11 But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.

12 I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off.

13 For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.

14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

15 But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you don’t consume one another.

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,

21 envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,

23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

24 Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.

26 Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.

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1 Corinthians (vice list)

list including sexual immorality, adultery, homosexual activity, greed, drunkenness, cited as written to Christians

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Ephesians 4-5

adds lying, evil talking, fornication, obscene talk, empty words, disobedience to the accumulated vice lists

4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,

4:2 with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love;

4:3 being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling;

4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.

4:7 But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

4:8 Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”

4:9 Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?

4:10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

4:11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;

4:12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;

4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

4:14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;

4:15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ;

4:16 from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.

4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

4:18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts;

4:19 who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

4:20 But you did not learn Christ that way;

4:21 if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:

4:22 that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit;

4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

4:24 and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

4:25 Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.

4:26 “Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,

4:27 and don’t give place to the devil.

4:28 Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.

4:29 Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear.

4:30 Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

4:31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice.

4:32 And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.

5:1 Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.

5:2 Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.

5:3 But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints;

5:4 nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate; but rather giving of thanks.

5:5 Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.

5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.

5:7 Therefore don’t be partakers with them.

5:8 For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

5:9 for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,

5:10 proving what is well pleasing to the Lord.

5:11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them.

5:12 For the things which are done by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of.

5:13 But all things, when they are reproved, are revealed by the light, for everything that reveals is light.

5:14 Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

5:15 Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise;

5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

5:17 Therefore don’t be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

5:18 Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

5:19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing, and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

5:20 giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;

5:21 subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.

5:22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body.

5:24 But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.

5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it;

5:26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,

5:27 that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having…

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2 Timothy (vice list)

list of sins in the last days including lovers of self, money, pride, brutality, lovers of pleasure rather than God

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Colossians 3:1-11

the main text of the sermon, covering the old self and new self, vice lists, and Christ as all in all

1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.

2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.

3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;

6 for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.

7 You also once walked in those, when you lived in them;

8 but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.

9 Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,

10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,

11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.

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Romans 1 (God gave them over)

used to explain the wrath of God as God giving people over to their own desires and a debased mind

1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,

2 which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

3 concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh,

4 who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

5 through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake;

6 among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ;

7 to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.

9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,

10 requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you.

11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established;

12 that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

13 Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, and was hindered so far, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.

14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish.

15 So, as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who are in Rome.

16 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.

17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

19 because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them.

20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.

21 Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.

24 Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;

25 who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.

27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.

28 Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,

30 backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;

32 who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

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Psalm 19

referenced briefly in connection with Romans 1 and what can be known about God through creation

1 The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.

2 Day after day they pour out speech, and night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,

5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.

6 His going out is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends; There is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.

8 Yahweh’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart. Yahweh’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.

13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be upright. I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.

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1 Timothy 3:16

closing benediction about the mystery of godliness, Christ revealed in the flesh, proclaimed among the nations, taken up in glory

16 Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

The message this Sunday worked through Colossians 3:1-11, a passage that includes one of the New Testament's several lists of vices. Pastor Carl made the case that these lists were written to Christians about their own lives, not as tools for judging the world, and he tied that warning to the Lord's Supper the congregation shared at the close of the service.

What was said

Pastor Carl opened by returning to where he had ended the previous week, Colossians 3:1-4, which he had read briefly during Sammy's baptism. He used it as the foundation for everything that followed: "If then you have been raised with Christ" is where Christianity starts. Salvation comes before any talk of behavior. The hope of appearing with Christ in glory, he said, is not an escape from moral instruction but the grounding for it.

From there he walked through several vice lists from Paul's letters, including passages from Galatians, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, Romans, and 2 Timothy. He stacked them up deliberately. The point was not to catalog sin but to make a single observation land: every one of those lists was addressed to Christians. "Christian, do you have any things in your life that is on that list?" He said we might be able to skip a few entries but that our struggle is somewhere in there.

He spent time on the concept of God's wrath, noting a 1993 survey in which 97% of churchgoing Christians affirmed that God is forgiving but only 37% believed God is judging and only 19% believed God punishes those who do wrong. His read was that the wrath of God as Paul describes it in Romans is not a lightning-bolt cartoon but something quieter and more sobering: God giving people over to what they already want. "That's the wrath of God that we see now. It doesn't have to be hell. It's the hellish experience of having rejected what you know of God."

He then moved into Colossians 3:5-9, the specific vices Paul names for that congregation: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying. He worked through them one at a time without lingering unnecessarily, and he was direct that covetousness and the sins above it are forms of idolatry because they take the place of God. Lying he treated as its own category, saying it distorts everything and compounds itself.

The turn in the passage comes at verse 9b, and Pastor Carl followed it. He described Paul's "put off and put on" language not as procrastination but as changing clothes. The old self is taken off; the new self is put on. That new self, Paul says, is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. He tied this to the diagram he had used in previous weeks about Christian orthodoxy, saying that without Christ none of them would be hitting the center of that target at all, and that Christ being "all and in all" is what pulls people from different denominational and social backgrounds toward the same center.

He closed the sermon by turning the vice lists back on the congregation one more time before communion. He said Christians are often known for pointing these lists at the world, and while the world's sin is real, Paul wrote the lists for self-examination. He asked people to come to the table of Christ with honest introspection about their own sin, grateful for a righteousness they did not earn. The service ended with communion and a congregational singing of "Power in the Blood."

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

Pastor Carl described the vice lists in the New Testament as written to Christians, not just about the world around us. How does it change the way you read those lists when you remember they were addressed to believers?
The sermon described the wrath of God not primarily as lightning bolts from above but as God giving people over to what they have chosen. How does that picture of God's wrath sit with you, and does it change how you think about the consequences of persistent sin?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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0:00 Fellowship and faith campaign for the kitchen remodel and fellowship hall remodel. I'll start out with the slide first on the first service I I forgot what I was here for. So anyway, updated numbers for giving. We have says 175 there. The actual giving as of the end of February was a $177,149.64 right in there.

0:30 So just wanna say thank you so much for all of you that participated in that. There's been a 111 different donors to this project. Things are rolling along very nicely. We're in the final stages of selecting appliances and cabinets and planning to order those very soon and still planning on our April 1, early April start for that. Monday nights will not be hindered in any way.

0:56 We're gonna partition off the end of the kitchen and we'll be able to continue there and it'll be amazing. So I think that's really all I have. Just thank you again so much for your generous contributions to this campaign. I think it's gonna be a powerful part of our ministry in this body.

1:14 So, thanks again. Thank you, Matt. The baby bottle campaign for Turning Point is just a reminder. If you took home one of those empty bottles and you're filling it, you can fill it and bring it on back in and we will turn those over back to Turning Point for their annual our annual fundraiser. I'm chairman of the board.

1:31 It's our, not there. It's our. Youth retreat. Renzy.

1:36 Alright. Today is the deadline to sign up for the Camp Bethel retreat next weekend. The connect retreat with a few other churches here in Wyoming. So middle school, high school kids, parents of those, if you are wanting to send your child on this trip, let me know today. I have to let them know by five today of my numbers.

1:55 So before five would be perfect. I'm gonna send a text out to everybody real quick here. Probably while you're preaching.

2:01 Okay. I'll be back. Renzi. I'm gonna assume you're reading your Bible on your phone. Yes.

2:07 No. I'm not. Alright. And there's one more message. Renzi is irreplaceable and y'all know that, but his time here is coming to an end in mid June.

2:17 Carl is going to make an announcement it looks like.

2:19 Yeah, exactly. That's happening. He is going. He's got big shoes to fill. And so we're in the process of actively seeking for that person to fill the role as youth and family pastor.

2:34 And it's looking like that's what it's shaping up to be, youth and family pastor instead of youth and tech as it's a huge role to fill concentrating on youth and family. So would you please be praying for us? That's my my question.

2:52 Thank you very much. Yep. And all the rest of announcements should be in your bulletins. There's plenty of information in there. If you haven't picked one up, you you can on your way out and you'll know what's going on.

3:02 That's the longest announcements we've done in a long time. Would you stand up and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a peppy song? Will go never fear only trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other Amen. We've go ahead and sit down. I already started you now.

6:35 Go ahead and sit down. He played that exactly like it was supposed to be played. With, you know what muscle memory is? Y'all know what muscle memory is. They say that if you do something repetitively like a pitcher for a ball team, you do the same thing.

6:51 You know, practice makes perfect is not exactly right. Perfect practice makes perfect. To do things the right way over and over and over instills it in your mind. My vocal cords learn that song different than this music says it goes. And I speed it up every time by at least two beats.

7:06 But I love it. Trusting and obeying. Thank you very much for what you do. I learned from YouTube. You learned from YouTube.

7:12 Oh my goodness. That's like studying on Wikipedia. Yeah. Thank you very much for what you do. We're gonna skip that song because I went long in the first service.

7:21 Thank you. So thank you very much, Bob. Bob was very methodically leading me, and I still couldn't do it right because of muscle memory. The vocal cords are muscles. I'm gonna invite the frontline team forward right now.

7:36 And would you pray with me? Matt mentioned the cap capital campaign and the family fellowship faith campaign. And y'all have done amazing things right there. That's good and that's going to serve this community. This offering serves not just this community but this state, this missionaries here and beyond and so, I just want to say thank you for what you do right here in this general given general fund and thank you lord for what you do with this general fund.

8:04 I see the list when we come to the time where we're studying budgets and we see what's been spent and what we think we might do the next year and we're studying the wave and looking for the wave that you would have us ride, lord. I pray that you would use everything that goes into this offering to do your kingdom's work, to advance the gospel, to glorify God, to glorify the name of Jesus. Would you, lord, take the gospel where it has never been before. Would you use these faithful obedient servants who give and the funds that they give, would you multiply and do your kingdom's work. In Jesus name, lord, we ask for your blessing on the gift and the giver.

8:47 Amen. This morning or up to Colossians three one through 11. Now, last week, when Sammy was being baptized, I I ended the service with three one through four because it's just kind of that taken off point. It's about the the being buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life. To me, I love that and I always think of that during baptism.

12:20 So, I ended there last week. We're going to start with it again. I barely gave it a chance last week. We're going to start with three one through four and then get up to verse 11. This one is one of those that's a little bit heavy because it is about a list of vices, a list of sins and if you consider that this was written to Christians as it was written to Christians, a lot of times, Christians take the vice list, look at the world, and see that and then decry the world for all of these sins.

12:45 Well, yeah, but it's written to us about the sin in our own life. And so getting that to go, the right way is what that first part is about. This first part right here. It's gonna point us toward the table, toward coming together as one. I wanna say something before I start.

13:06 I've used this for the last two weeks, this little diagram. Dogmatic, we can be too dogmatic and be outside of Christian orthodoxy. In doing that, being too dogmatic, we can be too existential or experience based and be outside of Christian Orthodoxy that way. Or we can be too supernaturalistic or naturalistic. Now I'm not gonna go through it all again as far as I did for the last two weeks.

13:30 But the reason that I put it up there, last week in both services, I said, so if you know that you pull to this side, then find somebody over here and y'all pull one another back towards the center of the target Jesus hits the center every time. Jesus hits the center and we are the body of Christ and so we balance one another. So, if you find somebody that is not like you that's across from you, then go to em and y'all all pull each other to the middle. And it sounded like this great impassioned thought, and it was good in theory. And then in actual practice afterwards, I got several calls this week that said, so and so said that I was dogmatic.

14:12 Or so and so thought I was too supernaturalistic I'm not saying you're too much that way. This is orthodoxy right here. There's a you're hitting the target. Yeah, that's great but I was just meaning pull us to get, you know, towards the center and without Christ, we can't hit the center of the tarp. We're not going to hit orthodoxy on our own but as we get closer and closer to Christ and we see in someone else, something that we admire as a great Christian quality, knowing the Bible is not the same thing as being dogmatic.

14:40 Do you get what I'm saying? Feeling the presence of God is not the same thing as being barking like a dog and going crazy, right? So, when when somebody comes to you and says, I think you're dogmatic. I don't think that they mean it in a bad way. They're looking at this.

14:58 They're looking at this and going, you're not like me, and I wanna be more like you. Does that make sense? It's a compliment. That was meant to be a compliment. So I got that from three different sets of people this week, who are all friends and love each other, but they see in something someone else acquire a a characteristic they want to acquire more of.

15:19 And so it's good. In the first service, I said, somebody says you're dogmatic, you probably are. You may be but you may just know the Bible really well and that's what they're thinking about. Okay. So, retraction over.

15:31 That's the that's it. We hit all over the the map there but Christ hit the absolute center in his life and walk and all of Corinthian all of Colossians is about the preeminence of Christ about him and about living in him but actually living it out on this Earth. Supernatural power of God, all of the fullness of deity dwelt in him bodily, supernaturalistic, naturalistic, dogma, all that was written about him, all that pointed towards him and was experienced in the New Testament. Christ hits the center of that mark, okay? And that, I want to start here.

16:12 Now, y'all know the way that we have been going for the last four years, four and a half years almost. It will be five years in June that we've been here. And through these almost five years, we've gone through the life of Jesus in the book of John, and then life of the early church, the book of Acts, and we've gone forward in our study through the epistles in the order that we believe that they were written. So I sometimes will say, it's like we're doing a very, very, very, very long court case, and these are facts that are already entered into evidence. Okay?

16:46 This is true. Romans six seven, we know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We're no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin. Praise God.

17:07 That's true. It's a fact. It's entered into evidence already. I'm going to build off of that today. Galatians, we've been through already too.

17:14 02/20. I have been crucified with Christ, Paul says. That's a long Greek verb, and it means have been crucified in tandem. Or I like, I have been co crucified. The type of verb that that is is something that happened in the past that continues to have effect into eternity future.

17:38 Does that make sense? It's something that's a done deal, has already happened, and it has recurring effects throughout eternity. So having been crucified in tandem or having been co crucified with Christ changes things. Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, the walking around man, the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. It continues in the next verse to say, and I do not set aside the grace of God.

18:16 Being crucified with Christ is a gracious act of God. He took our penalty. He took our punishment. I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. Do you get that?

18:30 So, this is where we're starting. These are facts already entered into evidence in today's deliberation that you have to do is listen to the evidence today. Now, I'm gonna go through the list of vices. I told you it could be a little bit heavy. The list of vices in the New Testament, they are written, each one of them, every one of them was written to Christians.

18:52 So thinking, if you're a Christian and you're sitting out there, this list was written to me. The works of the flesh in Galatians, just three chapters later after the crucified with Christ, He gives the theological just like Paul always does. A theological truth and then he talks about how to live that out. The works of the flesh. I remember when I put this up here the first time when we were in Galatians.

19:15 The work this the works of the flesh are these, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, bits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like, or and things like these. So that is a not all inclusive list. It's a general list, but there are a lot of things up there. Christian, do you have any things in your life that is on that list? You might be able to skip a couple of them.

19:47 Go, well, I don't struggle right there. Maybe because you hadn't had opportunity or maybe that your struggle is further down the list but we struggle there. This was written to Christians. If you go on, first Corinthians also written to Christians. Sexual immorality, adultery, homosexual activity, idolatry, thievery, greed, drunkenness, reviling, and swindling.

20:07 If you add to that Ephesians four and five, you get lying, evil talking, fornication, obscene, silly, vulgar talk, empty words, disobedience. If you add to that, we can keep on adding. If you if you add to that, second Timothy, Romans, and another one from second Timothy, you get all of those and it just stacks up. But look at this. This list over here, the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control is steady.

20:44 There are some other lists of the of the good things in life but they look a whole lot like this list right here. It's the fruit of the spirit in our life. I'm going to come back to that in a minute. The ones that were up there were up to today's text. Actually, I'll go back to that for a minute.

21:04 Sexual immorality, usually it's the start of the list. Impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness which is idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, lying, foolish, quarrelsome, quarreling over ignorant controversies, All manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slander, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of new way to do evil, inventors of new ways to do evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. And then the last, from second Timothy there is, and see if you understand this. This is actually what it says. But understand this, in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

21:58 Do you believe that we are in the last days? Okay. Listen to this list and decide for yourselves. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without any self control, brutal, not loving the good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Some of these may even have the appearance of godliness, but they completely deny its power power.

22:32 The natural is this. Without the supernatural, the natural is this list, And we see it all around us. Actually, the very end of that says avoid such. So I'm gonna go forward from there. Each one of those passages that has a list of vices gives a grave warning because it's written to Christians.

22:55 If you have been crucified with Christ, then I warn you just as I warned you before that those who do, who are practicing, who continually, it's a present tense thing, who are doing such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. That's a grave warning, especially in a list of things that we are capable of. So Colossians, I'm gonna bring you back to right here. Colossians three one through four. If then you have been raised with Christ because that's the starting place for your Christianity.

23:28 Have you been raised with Christ? Have you identified with him in his death? Have you been co crucified? If then, you have been raised with Christ, salvation first, then, sanctification. Seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

23:47 Look for those qualities that you saw in Christ. He was he was meek and mild and gentle and truthful and though he did have anger, he did not sin. He is seated at the right hand of God. Seek those things which Christ had. The humility.

24:06 I think of though being in very nature, God did not see equality with God as something to be grasped. He presented the truth of scripture and he presented the true way to live it out and people rejected it. He never beat anyone up to say, I'm right. He didn't consider equality with God, rightness, being right. Something to be grasped.

24:32 He presented it. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. Set your mind on things above. The supernatural does play into our natural life. Now, don't be so heavenly minded, you're of no earthly good whatsoever.

24:50 For you have died, your life is hidden with Christ and God. I had somebody come up after the first service and said, I really fouled things up this week. I really did not it didn't go well. And when going further, she said, I said something that I shouldn't have said, and when I said it, I knew it was wrong, and there was nothing I could do to bring it back, to rein it back in. She wasn't with believers.

25:15 She was with unbelievers, and she feels like she ruined any chance. I said, well, go and your life is hidden with Christ and God and that conviction that you feel is something they may not ever feel But when you know that you've been wrong and you can go back to them and say, listen, I was wrong. That that spilled out of my mouth. I'm ashamed of. I grieve the loss of relationship.

25:37 I grieve the loss of trust. And can you forgive me? I'm sorry. That's the best thing that we can hope for instead of saying, well, theologically, I was right. Actually, theologically, she was right.

25:48 But if you're fighting with somebody that does not know God, equality with God is not something to be grasped. The humility to go back and apologize, I think is a good thing. You have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. Other people may not ever see that your life is hidden with Christ and God and does they do not know exactly what it is to be walking in your shoes. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

26:18 Looking forward to that future hope incorruptible is important, and it's something that is acts as a grounding for this moral instruction that Paul is about to give. Don't ever confuse Christianity and morality. Does that make sense? Don't ever confuse Christianity and morality. All human beings are tempted to sin.

26:42 We continue to be tempted to sin. We have the power not to be slaves to that sin, but don't confuse morality with Christianity. So here we go. The old humanity, and this is what Paul is talking about in five through nine a. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you.

27:04 Sexual immorality, that is first in the list most of the times that we've given a list of vices. It is the one that is the most natural, I guess. It's the one that is the greatest temptation for a lot of people. So Paul always leads off with that. It has such damaging effects.

27:28 He almost always leads off with sexual immorality. Do I need to explain it any further than that? Anything outside of a godly marriage. Impurity. Don't need to explain that.

27:40 It's just not pure. Being not pure. Passion. Now, every conference I've ever been to at some point during the week, whether it's a Christian conference or a safety conference or any kind of conference, you go and

27:52 they go, what's your passion? I want you

27:55 to get in touch with what your passion is. This is an overwhelming preoccupation with something. This what it means here. Probably those first two: impurity, sexual immorality, but it could be these next few too: evil desire and covetousness, wanting what belongs to someone else, which is idolatry. Actually, this is the list sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, and it's written to Christians.

28:28 And it's saying that all of these things equal to idolatry if they take the place of God. So it is a I forgot the word right there it's a distortion of a gift God has given sexual immorality, purity, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness. All idolatry, they've taken the place of God and then in verse six, he says, on account of these things, the wrath of God is coming. Now, I was looking up a survey. I've I've started school again.

29:11 I've started I've gone back to school. And I've started looking at I've got a whole lot more resources now available to me. And I was reading this, survey. And it's a 1993. I couldn't find an updated one.

29:23 So think about this. This is twenty six years ago. Twenty twenty four years ago. Sorry. Twenty four years ago, God is, and they had a list of things.

29:33 Loving or forgiving. Forgiving 97% of Christians. These are people who claim Christ and were church goers. It was the teaching church moving education to center stage is the name of the survey. God is forgiving.

29:47 97% of the people believe that. I don't understand why it's not a 100% because I think you gotta ask for God's forgiveness to be a Christian in the first place. But 97% affirm that God was forgiving. 96% affirm that God is loving. Again, I think that ought to be a 100 judging.

30:06 This was twenty four years ago. I guarantee you the numbers are worse now. God is judging. Only 37% believe that to be the case. And if you ask, does God punish those who do wrong?

30:23 Only 19% believe that he does. The wrath of God is a, concept that is disappearing from our Christian teaching and Christian practice. In a lot of ways, I think, God does punish those who do wrong. God also forgives those who do wrong. But it's at Christ's expense.

30:51 God does punish wrong. I I have said many times before that everyone in this room will either be condemned because of what they have done or they'll be forgiven because of who they have trust. God does punish those who do wrong. On account of these things, the wrath of God is coming. Now the wrath of God, the way that you think of it, a lot of times in cartoons or in cartoon strips, it's God with lightning bolts, and he's just waiting for somebody to do something wrong so that he can immediately zap them.

31:27 Smite, you know, boom right now. Immediately. I I don't think that that's the concept that Paul is bringing out. Actually, in Romans, he says, that for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God. They became futile in their thinking, their foolish hearts were darkened.

31:47 He says, like Psalm 19, he says that what can be known about God is plain because God has shown it. His invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since creation of the world and the things that have been made so that they are without excuse. Claiming to be wise, they became as fools, exchanged the glory of immortal God for images result resemble in mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. And therefore, and this is the scary part about the wrath of God. Therefore, God gave them up.

32:23 God gave them over in their lusts of their hearts to impurity. Then the next paragraph it says, for this reason, God gave them up. God gave them over to what it is that they wanted. And then in the next paragraph, he starts off again, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind or a reprobate mind to do that which ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.

32:53 And that's where the list of vices I read earlier starts. God gave them over to their own desires. That's the wrath of God that we see now. It doesn't have to be hell. It's the hellish experience of having rejected what you know of God.

33:11 That's that's the wrath of God. On account of these things, the wrath of God is coming and these to you too once walked when you were living in them. For every one of these list of vices that I have, there's a warning. I warn you as I warned you before, those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. That was the Galatians one.

33:31 In Colossians, it's this, in in these, you once walked. In Corinthians, as such were some of you in the past, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. Because of these things there, sorry. In each one of these it's got a warning, but it also has the flip side of the coin. He says this again, he reiterates, these are more general categories, but it's the same type thing.

34:01 Now, you must put them all away. Anger. Of all the list of things that you've done, that you think of as sin, is anger at the top of your list? Anger, your own wrath. This is not God's wrath.

34:15 This is your own wrath. Malice, slander, obscene talk. If you look at anger, you know what anger is? I don't have to explain that when we all get angry. Wrath is acting on that anger.

34:30 Righteous or no? Okay? Righteous anger or not, acting on that wrath. Malice. Malice is wishing ill of someone, hoping some bad thing will befall them.

34:41 I said in the first service, I hope that guy follows up that platform up there because he's making me really angry. Right? Malice is wishing something ill on someone else. And then slander is speaking poorly about someone else. It's basically the news.

34:57 If you look at the news, it's basically that. Slander is always saying something ugly about the other, okay? And then obscene talk is just filthy words. Filthy words that come out of our mouth, it says. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.

35:14 So the do not lie to one another is the last one of the the sins in this list. We all know what that is. I have a very, very good friend who's a missionary down in Mexico, he's raising his kids. He said, pretty much anything that they did wrong would get a spanking, you know, a pop on the fanny, when they were little kids except for lying. And he said it's three times because lying lying just distorts everything.

35:38 Adlai Stevenson, y'all probably know who he is. He said it was an ever a lie was an ever present help in times of trouble. No. Lies just beget more lies. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have have put off the old self with its practices.

35:57 You probably heard preachers going and on about this putting off and putting on. It's not put off, like don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today. It's put off like take off take off the old self with its practices. So the new humanity, this is the switch point where he changes it from the old way, the old man, the flesh, to the spirit. The new humanity, very practically speaking, is this.

36:23 Nine b starts off, seeing that you have put off the old self. Actually, I showed up this morning, had a sweater on, and as a visual aid this morning and because it's about 90 degrees in here, I took the sweater off. I took off, put off that old sweater, put off that old self with its practices and put on the new self which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator. The renewing of the mind is a concept that Paul is writing and he's appealing to their sense of reason. He wants for them to renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator, putting on the new self.

37:00 Here, there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free. But Christ is all and in all. The preeminence of Christ he comes back to, and it points us to this. Denominationally speaking, we're from a lot of different denominational backgrounds in this room, and we hit different places of the target. And if it weren't for Jesus, we wouldn't even be hitting the target at all.

37:25 But he is the one that pulls us to the center, and today we celebrate this remembrance of him. He must be all in all. And if we look at that, the Holy Spirit will convict us of our sin, convince us of Christ's righteousness, and illuminate the scripture. So here, there's not Greek or Jew, Baptist or Methodist, circumcised, uncircumcised, wild man, barbarian, Scythian, it doesn't matter where you're from, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all no matter your socioeconomic background, no matter your particular sinful bent because we all have a sinful bent in the old man. Christ is all and in all.

38:18 So I'm gonna invite the frontline team to come back up, and we're gonna go into a time of communion right now. And I think that the thing that I was the most convicted about this week is is thinking about these lists were written to Christians. And I think that what we're known for as Christians often is decrying the other. Often we decry what's being done in the world, and we do that because it's it's wrong. It is wrong.

38:46 We have to see that it's not the way that it should be. But I think Paul is pointing for self evaluation and looking at ourselves. And we always need to be self evaluating when we come to the table of Christ, recognizing the perfect life that he lived and the pure blood, innocent blood that he spilled. But God, would you right now, lord, impress upon us our own sin that we need to give over to you. Would you forgive us, lord?

39:20 And would you impress upon us your righteousness, that available righteousness that you've imputed to our account and we can walk in? Would you impress that upon us, lord, by the power of your Holy Spirit? Would you give us verses to hold on to like these that point us to practice that which we preach? In Jesus' name, Lord, would you bless this little cracker as we distribute these for each person who would take it, Lord, that they would do so conscientiously, and for each one who must let it pass. I pray that another Christian in this room may lead them into your loving and gentle way.

40:01 Amen.

40:33 Thank you.

42:33 On the same night that he was betrayed, Jesus took bread after supper. After he gave thanks, he broke it and he said, this is my body that is given for you. Take this and eat and do it in remembrance of me. Thank you, Jesus, that you did walk a perfect life. Though tempted to sin in all the same ways that we are, you were without sin, and you had a perfect spotless account that you could offer to any of us who believe.

43:15 I thank you, Lord, for the blood of the new covenant. And so, Lord, we ask your blessing right now on this cup, this little representation, this grape juice that represents your blood which was given for sin and so lord, as we take this list very seriously today, would you allow us, lord, the kind of introspection that lets us see and confess. In Jesus' name, Lord, would you bless this cup as we distribute it for every soul present. Amen. Take this and drink, he said, and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me.

47:30 Praise God. I was just thinking about, if you've been baptized last week, this table is for you. You're baptized eighty years ago in a foreign country as an infant, and you believe in Jesus, this table is for you. Republican, Democrat, doesn't matter. This table is for you.

47:53 Praise God for the new covenant. It's not by works. It's by grace. Praise God. Would you stand and join with us in song?

48:01 It was so much fun in the first service. I changed the last song in this one. Do you believe that there's power in the blood? Okay. Then sing it like you mean it.

48:12 Lewis Ellis Jones wrote this in 1899. It's still just as true today as it was then. I'm having the same trouble with my with your strap, Dale. But, Florine played so violently for that first service, wanted to hear it again. Alright.

48:27 Ready? Alright. Amen. Amen. Alright.

50:49 Now, by common confession, I'll say this, great is the mystery of godliness. It's still a mystery for us who believe it. Don't expect for the world to understand it. Great is the mystery of godliness. He who is revealed in the flesh, that's Jesus, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory.

51:11 May we live it out. May we proclaim him. May our lives do great testimony to his efficacy. In Jesus name, amen.

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Colossians 3 Communion Putting Off Sin Self-Examination Sexual Immorality Wrath Of God

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