The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Luke 11:1-26primary passage preached, covering the Lord's Prayer, persistent prayer, casting out a mute demon, the Beelzebub accusation, and the strong man parable
1 When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
5 He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’
7 and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’?
8 I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he?
13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
14 He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled.
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”
16 Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven.
17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls.
18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.
19 But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore will they be your judges.
20 But if I by God’s finger cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come to you.
21 “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe.
22 But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder.
23 “He that is not with me is against me. He who doesn’t gather with me scatters.
24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’
25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order.
26 Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
extended passage on putting off the old self and putting on the new, from being raised with Christ through the benediction verse
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.
12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
14 Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
17 Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
quoted to explain being co-crucified with Christ: 'I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me'
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.
referenced as a parallel account of the Beelzebub controversy, preached previously on 03/13/2022
22 Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
23 All the multitudes were amazed, and said, “Can this be the son of David?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”
25 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
27 If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
28 But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come upon you.
29 Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man? Then he will plunder his house.
30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message moved through Luke 11 and Colossians 3 to make a single connected point: because of what Christ has already done, believers are to be actively seeking the things of God, putting off destructive patterns, and putting on the character of Jesus toward one another. Pastor Nathan had been working through Luke 11 in the weeks before, and this week he brought those threads together with Colossians 3 as a practical picture of what that life looks like in the present.
What was said
Pastor Nathan returned to the closing section of the Luke 11 passage he had been working through before he and Carl were away the previous week. He picked up with Jesus casting out a mute demon, and the response from the crowd: some accused Jesus of working by the power of Beelzebub, and others demanded a sign from heaven. Jesus answered both groups by pointing out that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, and that casting out demons by the finger of God meant the kingdom of God had arrived right in front of them. The Pharisees, Pastor Nathan said, had already made up their minds, and in doing so had set themselves against Christ and his mission without realizing it.
From there, Jesus warned about behavior modification that relies only on human effort. When an unclean spirit leaves a person and the house is simply swept clean with nothing to fill it, the spirit returns with seven worse than itself. Pastor Nathan connected this to the danger of cleaning up outward sin while filling the space with pride and self-righteousness, which he called harder to see than outward sin and more destructive than the original problem.
Moving into Colossians 3, Pastor Nathan walked through the grammar of Paul's argument carefully. The past tense matters: you have been raised with Christ, you have died with Christ, your life is hidden with Christ in God. Those are accomplished facts. The present tense commands rest on them: be seeking the things above, be setting your minds on the things above, not as a one-time decision but as a continual, habitual way of life. And the future is secure: when Christ appears, you will appear with him in glory.
The present-tense side of that means putting certain things to death now. Pastor Nathan read through the first list, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which Paul calls idolatry. He noted that covetousness at its root is a lust for greater numbers of temporal things, and he pushed back gently on the cultural habit of talking about leveraging what you have to get more. On account of these things, he read, the wrath of God is coming, and then he noted Paul's pointed word: you once walked in them. Once. That chapter is closed for those who are in Christ.
The second list gave Pastor Nathan more time, because he said he had found himself in it. Anger, he explained, is a settled swelling up against something the beholder considers wrong. Wrath is that anger expressed outwardly. Malice is wishing ill on someone even when nothing is said or done about it. Slander, the Greek word for which is blasphemy, is tearing someone else down with words. He said flatly that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God, and it never will. He admitted he had been angrier in the past two weeks than he had been in years, and that it did not matter how good the reason felt.
After the tearing down came the building up. Colossians 3 calls believers to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and forgiveness toward one another, in the same measure as the Lord has forgiven them. Pastor Nathan said he was planning to use this passage at weddings later in the week, because forgiveness cannot be a one-time thing, it has to be a mode you are living in. All of it is held together, Paul says, by love, which binds everything in perfect harmony, and by letting the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. He closed with Colossians 3:17 as a benediction: whatever you are doing, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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 Nathan talked about the persistence of asking, seeking, and knocking, and said that God is constantly trying to give us good gifts. Where in your own life have you found it hard to stay persistent in prayer, and what got in the way?
When Jesus cast out the mute demon, some people who saw it still said He was doing it by the power of the devil. Pastor Nathan asked whether we have ever been quick to dismiss something good God was doing because of where it was coming from. Have you experienced that, either in yourself or from others?
Speaker 1Yeah. That's fine. Okay. Others will trust them if only you prove. That's what always gets me.
If you prove true every
Speaker 2moment you live. I know. Every moment.
Speaker 1There are no pressure. No pressure.
Speaker 2How is it there, Joni? Do you like Sage? Do you like Sage? The nurses are nice, though. Yeah.
Yeah. You have Anne? Has she been working?
Speaker 1To and gonna going sing blessed that. Assurance. Hymn We're number 572. We might sing some folks in from down the hall.
Speaker 2Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine heir of salvation purchase of God born of his spirit washed in his blood This is my story. This is my song praising my savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song praising my savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my side, angels praising my savior all the day long this is my story this is my song praising my savior all the day long perfect submission all is at rest I am my savior am happy and blessed watching and waiting looking above filled with his goodness, lost in his love. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my savior all the day long. This is my story.
This is my song. Praising my savior all the day long.
Speaker 1Amen. And for the next song, we'll sing Rock of Ages. I thought that was gonna be it. Rock of Ages.
Speaker 2Amen. Rock of ages, clap for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flow be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure.
Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know all for sin could not atone thou must save and thou alone Price I bring simply to the cross I cling while I draw this fleeting breath when mine eyes shall close in death, when I rise to worlds unknown, and behold thee on thy throne, rock of ages cleft for me let me hide myself in thee.
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements this morning. Monday nights at first b are happening. It's on tomorrow night.
Sloppy Joe's for the meal, and then the band will play for the music, and then there'll be a message from the book of Mark. We're up to Mark nine, I think. Brad Yates will be bringing the message tomorrow night. So that's going to be a good Monday night service at 06:00. Awana happens at the same time, starting out in this room and then moving around the church.
There is a connect hour that happens between services that's, helpful to keep the two services from becoming their own separate churches. So that's helpful to get together with the first service and, the second service. It's good. So connect during that. Ladies fellowship happens on Thursday nights down the hall.
There was a ladies one day retreat here yesterday, but, there's a ladies fellowship that happens on Thursdays, 6PM in the fellowship hall. And that's a good group, to come, and they pray together, and they eat together, and they hang out together, and they read scripture together. It's a really good group. It's fun. So that's happening.
We this is kind of a perpetual thing in every church I know anything about. Sunday school volunteers are always needed. It would give the folks that are continually doing it a break, but it also is a huge blessing for us if we will take it on. So Sunday school volunteers are needed. Liz Owens is the contact, that's her number up there.
But if you'll call the office, we can get you connected to her and to, a Sunday a month or a Sunday every couple of months would be helpful if we had some Sunday school volunteers. Nick has been making this announcement. In Idaho Falls in September, Will Graham, in the tradition of Billy Graham, is coming in and doing a big rally. But before that happens, they're trying to get a lot of churches on board for being the place, to help support the event, bring people in, but also after the fact be a place that they can have a church home. So these classes have been happening here and will be happening, around on the way up to September.
And I think that's it. Do you all have anything else I forgot? Okay. Would you stand with me then, and we're gonna sing the solid rock on Christ, the solid rock I stand.
Speaker 2My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest rain, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all of the ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness fails his lover's face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, I anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, a solid rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. His oath, his covenant, his blood. Support me in the whelming flood when all around my soul gives way even is all my hope and stay on Christ a solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand all other ground is sinking sand on the last when with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found dressed in his righteousness alone, all lest you stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand all other ground is sinking sand
Speaker 1amen We're gonna sing you are my all in all. This comes from the passage one of the passages we're gonna hit today. Christ is all, and he is in all. It's pretty good. Number five eighty three.
Speaker 2You are my strength when I am weak. You are the treasure that I see. You are my all in all. Seeking you as a precious jewel or to give up, I'd be a fool you are my all in all Jesus lamb of God worthy is your your Taking my sin, my cross, my shame, rising up and I bless your name. You are my all.
When I fall down, you pick me up. When I am dry, you fill my cup. You are my all in all. Jesus, Amen.
Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat. We invite the ushers to come forward and Would you pray with me? God, I thank you for the fact that you are our all in all. Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful valley, for this beautiful week that we've had, to see beginning signs of springtime, Lord, of rebirth, of renewal. Thank you for the blue skies and the beauty of this valley looking at those mountains.
Also, you, Lord, that our spiritual landscape, whether we are on the mountaintop or in the valley, Lord, that you are right there with us. In Jesus' name, Lord, even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Lord, we won't fear any evil because we've got you right there with us. Your rod and your staff, Lord, that comfort us. I thank you, Lord, for what you are doing in both the mountaintop experiences and in the valley. I thank you, Lord, for what you're doing as we are moving together forward.
Thank you. In Jesus' name, Lord, I ask that you would be using your humble and willing and obedient servants, to be doing the kingdom's work. I pray, Lord, that we would be exactly in tune and in line with what you would have for each of us to do, but collectively, that we would be doing collectively what you'd have us do. Lord, show us your way. Allow us the grace to know it and the strength to walk in it.
In Jesus' name, may we be doing your will and your way. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Judy. So this week well, last week, let me get back to this for a second.
Last week, Carl and I were not here. So Carl didn't do the music last week. I didn't do the preaching last week. I'm thankful for Glenn that he stepped in and did that. Carl and I went to what we thought was going to be a pastoral retreat.
When we got there, they told us actually, they didn't tell us till the end that it was a men's intensive. Okay. That's enough said. We thought we were going for a rest, and we did not get any. So it was good.
I'm glad it's over and never again. Okay. Here we go. Luke 11. We have laughed about it since and have had a great time laughing about it since.
It was something we were sent to do, and it's over. Colossians three, Luke 11. This this this week, has been really pursuing me. Luke 11, we were already in Luke 11. We covered the first four or five verses were the Lord's Prayer, and then immediately following that, we hit these things.
I'm gonna just hit a couple of things from two weeks ago. So I say to you, Jesus says, and it's it's right after the Lord's Prayer. Be asking for things to be like the kingdom. Your kingdom come. I mean, Matthew adds on earth as it is in heaven, but your kingdom come.
That's the kind of way we should be praying. So I say to you, be asking and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. Those progressive actions are important there because it's not something where you just ask once and then be done with it.
The the preceding story is about a persistent, importunate neighbor who goes and says, I've got a guest and I need to serve this other guest, and I don't have any bread. Can you lend me some bread? So I say to you, be asking and it'll be given to you. Be seeking and you will find. If you're not looking for it, chances are you're not gonna find it, and be knocking and it will be open to you.
I did it again. Immediately go to knock knock jokes in my head. Be knocking. How about this one? Knock.
Opportunity. Opportunity only knocks once. I'll not try that again, sorry. So this is for everyone who is asking, receives. It's persistence.
It helps to be persistent about it. You know what? God is constantly trying to show us things. And I think he's constantly trying to give us good gifts. But if we're not asking, sometimes we might not know where it's coming from.
Know? So everyone who is asking receives, and the one who is seeking finds, and the one to the one who is knocking, it'll be open. It's important to be persistent with God. And immediately after this, Jesus gives an example. If one of your kids comes to you, and one of your kids comes to you and they want something that's a good thing.
It's not extravagant bread. You know, it's not extravagant. You're not gonna give him a bad thing when he wants bread. You're not gonna give him a rock. Right?
And if he comes and asks for an egg, you're not gonna give him, you know, or a fish and a serpent in Luke, actually. He asks for a fish, you're not gonna give him a snake. And if he asks for an egg, you're not gonna give him a scorpion. He's asking for reasonable things. You're gonna give him what he is asking for.
And so Jesus goes from that argument of, yeah, you you know that you're not you're gonna take care of your kids. So if you, despite at the outset, human beings are evil. We are bent towards evil. So if you, despite at the outset being evil, if you all know how to give good gifts to your own children when they're asking for reasonable things, you are gonna give them those things. If you know how to do that, how much more then will your heavenly father, who is almighty and all, he is Jehovah Jireh.
He is the provider. How much more will your heavenly father give what we need, the Holy Spirit? Oh, that's what it's all about. It's not a prosperity gospel. It is about having God's perspective and his spirit.
His eyes to see what's going on, his ears to hear what's going on, and his power to affect positive change on what's going on. That's the Holy Spirit. He allows us to walk in harmony with God. How much more will your heavenly father be giving the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? And actually, it's progressive action there too, to those who are asking him.
God, I want to be filled with your spirit, and I want to be able to see what you see and affect the change that you desire in myself first and then in others, Lord. Okay. So that's last couple of weeks ago. And then this is immediately following that. Immediately following.
It's funny to me. He teaches them the Lord's Prayer, and then he has this little lesson that that comes up right there. He's gonna be giving you the Holy Spirit, and with the Holy Spirit power, he's casting out a mute demon. And he was casting out a mute demon. It says it so nonchalantly.
That's a huge deal. Can you imagine not being able to speak? To not being able to express yourself. And Jesus is casting out a mute demon when and when the demon had gone out, the man who previously was unable to speak talked. Oh, John Newton's amazing grace.
I once was blind, but now I see. That's great. But to not be able to express yourself and then to be healed of that and to be able to speak. Oh, a man who previously been able to speak, talk. And the crowds were amazed.
So there are lots of people there from all different stripes. Some of them, it says, some of them in Matthew, it says it was the Pharisees. Okay? But in some of them, he cast he's some of them said, he cast out the demons by Beelzebub, ruler of the demons. They just saw a miracle, an amazing miracle.
And a man that they knew could not talk, all of the sudden, was speaking. I I actually, this sounds like a different example than was in Matthew, but it still sounds like the Pharisees. He cast out the demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. That's ugly To have seen something that was obviously a good thing and to say, he does it by the power of the devil. I grew up in a little, fabulous church in, Georgia, very rural.
And I think that denominations probably played more significance than they should have. They still do. And if I were watching and I saw somebody that was actually healed, I would have been super skeptical about it, especially if it was an Assembly of God guy that did it. Right? Or even West End Baptist, they were the ones who cheated at softball.
Right? Anybody that wasn't us, it was hard to imagine that God would use them. Right? But Jesus is Jesus, first of all. He's got crowds around him all the time.
Anytime we see him trying to slip away, it's hard. He still makes time for it. He still does it, but he's constantly followed. And then some of them are saying, I said in the first service that it's like the two guys up in the balcony at the Muppets. Right?
They're just curmudgeons, and nothing's good enough. And they're constantly just casting shade on them, you know? And others, not just some of them were saying that he cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub. That's gotta be the devil. Not that's there's no way that could be good.
We're God's people. We're the good people. He's gotta be doing it through some other means. Others, to test him, were demanding a sign from heaven. Well, do it again.
Yeah. Whatever. You probably got together with that guy, and he's been working for years pretending not to be able to talk so that you could do it. Do it again. Do something that we can see and know that it's real.
But he knew their thoughts. I love that Jesus knows our thoughts. It's so hard though to think he knows all of our thoughts. We'd be embarrassed. We are we should be embarrassed.
That's what I'm getting to in Colossians. Okay? He knew their thoughts, and he said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house that's divided against itself falls, Abraham Lincoln pulled from this. Right? You can't be at enmity within the body, or it's gonna fall apart.
He he knew their thoughts, and he said to him, every kingdom that's divided against itself is laid waste, and a house that's divided against itself falls. And think about this. If Satan also has been divided against himself by the way, I'm going through this rather hurriedly because I preached this passage when I preached the passage in Matthew. I think they're two separate events, but I preached it when I preached in Matthew. If you wanna go here more thorough, it's 03/13/2022.
So I'm just going through it to get us into place. If Satan also has been divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? You claim that I cast out demons by Beelzebub. I hear you. I know your thoughts.
That's your claim. Yet if it's by Beelzebub that I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? If y'all ever do something good, don't you celebrate over it and tell everybody. If you set somebody free, don't you wanna brag about it? Yes.
You brag about it. It's still the power of God if somebody gets set free. If by Beelzebub I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Think about this too. Some of those Pharisee's sons will be believers in Jesus.
Therefore, they'll be your judges. But if I cast out the demons by the finger of God Oh, that phrase, the finger of God, takes me back immediately to God wrote the 10 commandments, the law. With the finger of God wrote out this merciful gift to show us how we fall short, God shows us the law. Now we can't live up to it, but it is a helpful thing for driving us to him in humility as our savior. If, Jesus says, I cast out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Now just say it. If it's by Beelzebub, then how do y'all do it? If you ever see anything good happen, is it are you attributing that to the devil too? If I cast out demons by the finger of God, consider this, the kingdom of God is right here, right now. It's come upon you.
You are close enough that you're talking to me right now, and you're rejecting it out of hand because you've already made up your mind about me. That's a tough situation to be in for those pharisees. It's a tough situation for us when God shows us something right in front of us, and we just reject it out of hand. Jesus says when a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are secure. We can do a lot for security.
You know, we can we can add barriers and all this sort of stuff. We can try to protect our things. And in this case, I believe he's talking about Satan. He's saying the straw a strong man fully armed guards his own house. He's got the gates of hell surrounding his house.
His possessions are pretty secure, but when someone's stronger than he and think about this. Jesus told the Pharisees already on multiple occasions, they're not they're not Abraham's children like they think. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. You're not of Abraham. You are of your father, the devil.
That's harsh words, but that's what he's already told him. And now he's saying, the devil's a strong man for sure. And he's got a lot he's got his clutches around a lot of things. But when someone stronger than he attacks him, Jesus said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Amen.
Amen. That man takes away his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. The devil is God's devil. It is not a duality yin yang. It is not evil and good, constant battle forever.
Good wins. God wins. That man takes away his armor on which he had relied, distributes his plunder. And then Jesus draws a line. The one who is not with me is against me.
You're saying that it's of the power of the devil, and that's not true. And I've and I'm exhibiting how it's not true. And if you should decide to stand against me still, you have to know you're against me. It's not gonna go well for you. The one who's not with me is against me, and the one who doesn't gather with me scatters.
So Jesus has a mission to every tribe, tongue, and nation, and he's shown his disciples throughout his work in Galilee and in the parts outside of Galilee. He's shown them in the Decapolis, and he's shown them up in Tyre and Sidon, and he's shown us up in Caesarea Philippi, and he's shown them all these things. And now he's coming to the end of his earthly life. And he's coming in, and he's saying, you don't wanna be rejecting this. The one who's not with me onboard is against me.
And the one who doesn't gather with me scatters. You think you're standing up for what God wants, but what you're doing is causing a real problem. If you're not gathering with me, you're scattering. Matthew says the same thing, exactly the same verbiage. And I say that this is particularly, at this time, for the pharisees who thought that they had it all figured out, and they had set themselves up at the top as being the holiest of holy ones.
And if we're not careful, church, we'll find ourselves in exactly that same position. And we'll look down on everyone else, and we'll think we're the holy ones, and we are setting ourselves up against Christ and his mission. So from that, we go immediately to this. Jesus is talking about I think right here he's talking about behavior modification. When we, in human terms, do all we can in earthly methods, When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest.
And not finding any, it then says, I'll return to my house from which I came. And when it does come, it finds it swept and put in order. How many of y'all made New Year's resolutions? How long did they last? How many of us have tried to set ourselves free, I would say, from something?
There's a reason in the 12 steps that the first step is admitting you have a problem. I have a problem. I have a problem that I can't do anything about. I am powerless over this struggle. That's the first step.
The very second one, though, is there is a higher power that will, can and will, is willing to restore me to sanity. The third one is I'm gonna let him. Now human wise, when it comes, it finds it swept in order, and then that demon goes out and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself. He's speaking to Pharisees right here. He's speaking to Pharisees who maybe they have put aside all kinds of sinful stuff.
Oh, if he knew what kind of people they were, he would never hang out with them. But they're in the opposite ditch. Pride is very, very destructive, and it's also harder to see than outward sin. It goes and it brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come in and they live there, and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. So I think that's talking about purely human efforts at behavior modification.
They are problematic because they're not relying on the power of God. They're finite. They're, I would say, destined to fail in one way or another. You may get free from the original thing that was causing the problem over here, whatever it is. But if you end up in the opposite ditch and you become proud or you become self righteous or you start looking down on the people over there, that's a real problem.
So it's problematic. From there, I'm gonna go to Colossians three. This was this has been pursuing me. I think that along this line, since I already preached that passage before, we can go back and listen to it if we want to, I felt like this to me is very helpful because we have to know that there's a reason we can be set free. And here it is, past, present, and future.
We have to think that way because we're human beings. And this next passage, these next 17 verses are gonna bounce from past to future, past to present, and just pay attention to those tenses. Three one says this, if then and now Colossians is all about the sufficiency of Christ, the absolute sufficiency of Christ. And chapter three says, if then you have been raised, the grammar is obvious. It means, and I know you have.
I'm assuming that the majority of people in this room right now under the sound of my voice are Christians. And so this letter was written to the Christians at Colossae. If then you have been raised with Christ, and I know you have, that's in the past. That is something that happened in the past. When we do baptism, it's an outward sign of an inward reality that has already come to pass.
Yes. I've been raised with Christ. Alright. We're gonna show that by buried with Christ, raised to walk in newness of life. If then you have been raised with Christ, there's a presence tense command, seek the things that are above or better stated.
It is be seeking. Uh-oh, this little clicky clicker is not working there, Preston. Be seeking the things, thank you, that are above. Where Christ is. Be seeking the things that I I just said a minute ago.
Be seeking, be asking, be knocking. This is saying what to be seeking. Be seeking the things that are above. Be seeking the heavenly, bringing the heavenly down to earth as on earth as it is in heaven. Be seeking the things that are above, where Christ is.
He's seated at the right hand of the father, and the nice thing Hebrews says is he is interceding there for you. He's praying for everyone who's ever put their faith in him. He's praying for you. Be seeking the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of the father. Actually, better put with this particular grammatical suggestion it is, be continually and habitually as a matter of your life seeking the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
And set your minds. This even intensifies that. Intensifying that, it says, seek it. Yes. Be seeking it.
Yes. Be continually habitually seeking it. Yes. But set your minds. Be continually and habitually setting your minds when you rise up and when you lay down.
Be seeking after the things of God in every circumstance, in every situation. Be continual and habitually setting your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. Honestly, if you set your minds on the things of the earth, it will make you mad. Do you know that? There's a lot that's wrong with the world.
And if you are thinking about the things of God and you look down for a minute, you go, this is terrible. We're gonna get to that. Set be setting your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on Earth. Why would we do that? Because you have died.
That's the next line in Colossians. I'm using this from Galatians. This long word, sunestaromai, sunestaromai, means you have been co crucified. You've been crucified in tandem with Christ. I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The same argument he used in Galatians. Earlier, he uses in Colossians and say, because you have died to those former things, for you have died. And your life, your true self, your life is hidden with Christ in God. He has made the atonement so that you might have peace with God, and your life is at peace with God.
Let your mind understand that. Set your mind on those things. Set your mind on it, and you will not have the same kind of fears and anger and wrath. We'll get to that. It's coming in the text.
But your life is hidden with Christ and God. And when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Praise God. That's good. And that is a when then instead of an if then.
When it's happening because it's happening. Then you will also appear with him in glory. That is the if then you have been raised with Christ because it either is or it ain't. You either are his or you're not. And if you are, then be seeking and be setting your minds.
When he appears, you'll also appear with him. That's a future focus that we can have based on something that happened in the past. But here we are in the present. What do we do in the now? In the land between, knowing that we're sinful and that we humbly ask God to forgive us, and he does, and before we're glorified, what do we do now?
Be putting to death, present tense command. Be putting to death, therefore, what is earthly in you. Mortify the things that are earthly in you. There's a colon, and these are those things. Sexual immorality.
I don't have to go into it's porneia in the Greek, but I didn't put up a lot of Greek slides. I'm not trying to look smart. We all know what this is. Right? Sexual immorality.
Be putting that to death. Be putting that off. Actually, it's using terms like taking off a garment. Take this off. You used to wear that, but don't wear it anymore.
Sexual immorality. Impurity, that which is mixed with or it it like an open infection. It's a wound that is not healed. It is impurity, something that's not clean. Passion.
Lust. That's passion in this case. We are so used to hearing people say, find your passion and go for it. Well, maybe. The way we use it, yeah, okay.
But passion in this case means lust. Inordinate desire. Actually, it's followed up with an intensifier there too. Evil desire. Looking for something that you do not currently have.
And then that leads into covetousness, which it says, which is idolatry. It's a building. Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness. Sexual immorality, I've said, is porneia. Impurity is that which is not clean.
Passion is strong feelings, a suffering desiring what you do not have. Desire, lust, inordinate desire, evil. Evil is, inner malice. To be morally rotten, to be inwardly foul, to be rotten and poisoned. And then covetousness.
It says right there, covetous which is idolatry. Any of those things can be idolatry, but it says it specifically of covetousness. And covetousness also means avarice, greed, aggression, or a desire for advantage. I hear a lot of people talk about leveraging. Leverage what you have.
To get more. Covetousness, if you go to the roots, the two words, it is having numerically more. A lust for greater number of temporal things, which is in itself idolatry. And he follows that up with, this is Paul writing to the folks at Colossae and to us, on account of all of these things, the righteous wrath of God is coming. It's coming.
And it's because of these things, because they're not right. And Paul says, in these things, you too once walked. This is interesting to me. Maybe not to you. You might not be as grammar nerd as I am.
In these things, you once walked. That's a simple past tense. You you you did that. Once, walked. And then it's followed with this, when you were living in them.
It was a that's continual. That's habitual. Habitual past tense. But the fact that this says you once walked is like that ended. That's not who you are anymore.
If a man is in Christ or a woman's in Christ, they're a new creation, and that is not their identity anymore. You once walked when you were living in them, but now but now, by the power of God, you are seeking the things that are above. You are setting your mind on the things that are above. But now you must put those things all away, and it gives us another list. And this is kinda tearing us down to build us back up.
Okay? The tearing us down, this, but you now must put them all away. Yourselves, y'all selves technically. Y'all need to be working together. I mean, accountability is important.
Y'all need to be working together. 12 step programs are hardly ever successful if you're the only one doing them. If you're the if you're the only one, y'all's selves, y'all need to be getting together and putting these things all away. So Christians, because of what Christ has done in the past, y'all are to be living in the present, renouncing, and I'll give you the list here, anger, wrath, malice let me go back to that. These are the next things it says, anger, wrath, malice, slander, filthy talk, and lies.
So definitions, anger. It comes from a swelling up or a teaming up. Now listen to this. This might con this might convict some of us. It is a swelling up and a settled anger that is teaming up to oppose from a very real sense of what the beholder considers wrong.
Are you are you with me? Anger is when you see something and you think,
Speaker 2that's wrong,
Speaker 1and you get angry about it. You see from one side of the aisle, politically, everything they do is wrong. And then from the other side of the aisle, I can't believe you can be so that way. Everything you do is wrong. And both of you, from the beholder's position are angry.
Is that doing anybody any good? Do we ever progress by anger? Oh, let's think about this. It is the kindness of God that leads to repentance. The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
It never will. Never. It's not designed to do that. Anger is a swelling up or a teaming up. You can't even recognize when it's gonna come on from a real sense of what the beholder considers wrong.
Alright. Anger. Wrath or rage. Wrath is expressing that anger outwardly. It is expressing from an internal disposition which is produced by anger.
It is a personal venting of that self righteousness. That's wrath or rage, and it is ugly. Ugly. Malice. Malice is the underlying principle of evil even if it's not expressed.
You could have not said anything. You could have not done anything, but you still wish others evil in your heart. You wish ill on another person because of what they've done, because of what they've done that you think is wrong. That's malice. Well, maybe I'll just let the other list counteract this.
But it is possible to know that someone's wrong and still love them. It is possible to know that they're wrong and not think that you have to make them right because you can't make them right. Malice is something we have to put off. It is normal for people to have malice, but it is not normal for Christians to stay in malice. Malice.
Slander. Slander. Blasphemy is actually the Greek term, and it means scurrilous or abusive speech. It is saying something ugly about somebody else. So how are we doing?
Saying something ugly about somebody else. Anger, wrath, and malice, all of those things together, and then it gets to slander. And really, slander is expressing it. Now it's possible to be angry. It's possible to be expressing that.
That's bad. That's bad. It's it's possible to hold on to it, just have it as an internal But when you say something out loud that is tearing someone else down, it is denying their whole experience of the battle that they're fighting. Every one of us is fighting a hard battle. Every one of us.
There's not anybody that is exempt. It's possible to do what your mama said. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Malice is still there though. Right?
It still can be there. Obscene talk from your mouth, filthy talk. This might be just in your mind cussing, right? Don't be cussing. But it's more than that.
It's saying things that are just ugly. Filthy speech. Probably probably does have something to do with certain words, but it's not just certain words. It's saying something that is not motivated by love. And do not lie.
Do not lie to one another. Well, if I say something out loud about that person and I don't tell the truth, you don't have to say it, first of all. Don't lie. Do tell the truth, but tell the truth in love. He he clarifies that in other positions, but tell the truth in love.
Do not lie. Why? Why should we put these things off? Well, they're terrible. I mean, it's obvious why we should put them off.
We don't wanna be known that way. We don't wanna just be known for what we oppose, do we? We wanna be known for some a people who have met an almighty and forgiving, gracious and merciful, loving and forgiving God. And if we have met him and we are emulating him, we will be that way. We'll get to that in a minute.
Seeing that you have put off the old self because you've been crucified with Christ. You have put off the old self with its practices, and you have put on, taken off an old garment, put on a new garment. Baptism, like I said, is a symbol for this. We put on these new garments. You put on the new self, which is being renewed.
Again, progressive action verb. It is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator. God created man in his image. Male and female, he created them in his image, and it was good. Now, sin came in, and there was a fall.
No doubt. And it's been very messed up since then. But with every sinner who comes to believe, they are a new creation in Christ, and they get to be who God designed them to be. And you can, it is possible to walk in it. It's being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Here here, within the body of Christ, here in this kingdom of God, which we prayed for just above in Luke, you know, in this kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven, in this kingdom come here, there is not Greek or Jew. That's a big difference for the Jews, especially. For the Pharisees who are listening, for Colossians and Colossians, for the people of Colossi, there were all different kinds of Christians in Colossi. Here, in the body of Christ, there's not Greek or Jew. There's not circumcised and uncircumcised.
I know that was a big deal, but God has opened the door with a whosoever, and anybody can come in. And when they do here, there is no distinction between those. Barbarian. Oh, we know what barbarians is. We know the definition for that.
Barbarians, barbarian. Yeah. We got that. Scythian? Whoo.
Worst type of barbarian. That's like adding an exclamation point. It's almost like he's saying, for crying out loud, these are the worst of the worst, according to y'all. I'm saying that doesn't even matter. The vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives, and they are a part of the kingdom of God.
No Greek, no Jew, no circumcised, drunk, circumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free. How much different could that be? But Christ is all, and he is in all. He's reaching out to every tribe, tongue, and nation, and anyone who humbles themselves before him will be saved. The gates of hell will not prevail against it, and so get used to getting along.
Repent. Now, tear you down to Bel Jevre. This is the turn at the place where we did you see yourself in the list? Maybe I'll turn around. Did you see yourself in the list?
I saw myself in the list. I've been angry in the past two weeks than I probably have been in years. Yeah. Seriously. I was mad for quite a I felt like good reason.
Doesn't matter. His way, their way, our way, whatever. God is working, and he's all in all. If we're brothers in Christ, that way is not my way. But these are the clothes that fit a follower of Christ.
I love that. So here's what we are to put on. Put on then or be putting on then. I'm I'm doing two weddings this week, and chances are I'll use this in one of them. Be putting on then as God's chosen ones.
If then you have been raised with Christ, you're one of God's chosen ones. If then you have been then put on as God's chosen, elect, ones, holy. You're called out from whatever you came out of. You're called out holy, set apart for the God to use and beloved. Oh, where we deserved nothing but death, hell, the grave, we have been mercifully given abundant life on this earth and an incorruptible hope in heaven for sure, holy and beloved, be putting on compassionate hearts.
Compassionate hearts. Compassion means pity, favor, mercy. Literally, means with well, with passion in English, but with suffering. You are willing to suffer with those who are suffering. You recognize the hard battle that other people are facing even before they know Christ.
How hopeless is that existence? If you remember, I love it when people come to Jesus as adults because they have memories of what it was like before they met Jesus. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on compassionate heart. Put on kindness. Kindness is useful goodness.
It is profitable for the one who is suffering. It is well fit. It meets the needs, and it avoids human harshness. One one commentator says, we have no term that quite carries this notion in English. Kindness is useful goodness.
Humility. Well, we know God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. We know Peter says we can humble ourselves under the mighty hands of God. So this is what we're to be putting on, humility. Be humble.
You could be wrong. Be humble. Maybe your human opinion is not the right opinion. Be seeking the heart of God, and he will be showing it to you. Humility.
Put that on. Meekness, also known as gentleness. It is a restrained strength. It is to be powerful but not have to express it, especially not in anger, wrath, or malice. To be meek and put on patience, bearing with one another bearing with one another.
There are gonna be times within the body of Christ when you do not agree with the way things are being done. That's just the way it is. We're different people called to different tasks. We have different steps that we're to walk in them. We should have unity, but we should also be bearing with one another.
And if one has a complaint against another, be forgiving each other. Be in a mode of forgiveness. Be forgiven each other. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also be forgiven one another. This is very important, and one of the reasons I included in marriages.
I think it's really, really sweet, but eventually, you're going to hurt one another's feelings. That's just going to happen. Eventually, you can be Twitter pated as all get out when you come in for your premarital counseling. But at some point, you're going to hurt each other's feelings and you're to sin against one another. And to be able to get over it, you need to be forgiving one another.
And that's a progressive action mode. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, what a high standard, but he's made it available to you so that you can give it out to others. Think about that. Just above us in the Lord's Prayer, forgiving us our trespasses just as we forgive those who trespass against us. That's the way we need to be forgiven.
So you must also. That is in this way, you must also. So here we are putting off and putting on. These are the things to put off. And it's not like put them off for later.
Okay? Don't be putting them off just during church. Alright? Put them off. Put them off like taking them off like a garment.
Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, slander, filthy talking lies. And be putting on. Let this just bathe over you. Put on. This is available to you.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, seeking God, you can have compassionate hearts. You can have useful goodness, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. You can be bearing with one another and forgiving each other just as the Lord has forgiven you. And then, we tie it all together, and above all these things, put on love, which binds everything together, all this stuff in perfect harmony. You'll have it in the right measure, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
Allow his peace to rule in your heart. By the way, watching the news will make this much more difficult. If you're setting your minds on the things above and you feel like you gotta know everything that happens on Earth, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you are called into one body. There's no mainline fundamentalist gap.
There's not denominational gaps. All of that stuff is earthly. You're called into one body. Let there be unity in the body of Christ and be thankful. May your life be filled with gratitude.
I'm gonna hit 16, and let the word of Christ dwell with you richly. Be dwelling on what Christ has said habitually, continually. Be letting it dwell in you richly. Be teaching one another and be admonishing one another in all wisdom by singing psalms and hymns. Judy, you can come on forward.
Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual psalms with thankfulness in your hearts to God. That's 16. I'm gonna leave 17 for our benediction verse. That's it. Would you all stand with me?
And we're gonna sing something. It's called make me a blessing. This is an interesting song. There's one in line here one line in here that makes me a little uncomfortable every time we sing it. I'm gonna tell you what it is.
It's in the second verse. It says, others will trust him if only you prove true every moment you live. No pressure. Right? I think that when we find ourselves off the path, when we find ourselves straying, when we find ourselves full of wrath, anger anger, malice, all that stuff, when we find out that's true, we go to the cross, we lay our burden down at the cross, and we know that we have been forgiven, and we can express even more what it's like to be forgiven.
So would you sing with me? We're gonna sing all three. Make me a blessing, hymn number six seventy.
Speaker 2Out in the highways and byways of life, many are weary and sad. Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife, making the sorrowing glad. Make me a blessing. Make me a blessing to someone today. Tell the sweet story of Christ and his love.
Tell of his part to forgive. Others will trust him if only you prove through every moment you live. Make me a blessing. Make me a blessing
Speaker 1blessing oh save your I pray me a blessing to someone
Speaker 2today on the last. Make Give as was given to you in your need. Love as the master loved you. Me to the helpless, you. Oh save your I pray make me a blessing to someone today Amen.
And as
Speaker 1a benediction, we'll we'll go to Colossians three seventeen. It kinda sums it all up. And as far as our practice goes, and so does that song, whatever it is that you are doing, whatever it is that you are doing, whether it's in word or in deed, be doing it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. May we walk it out in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him. In Jesus' name, I pray that we would be walking it out.
