October 16, 2025 • 60 mins
A Christian is known not only by what he does, but by what he does not do. Pastor Lance demonstrates from Scripture how a Christian denounces everything the world stands for, which begins in the heart with idolatry: self-worship!
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Father, we thank you, Lord, for today.
Thank you, Lord, for the rain this past week, and thank you,
Father, for the safety and getting us all here.
Thank you for the opportunity tospend time in Your word and
pray, Lord, that you'd open our hearts and minds to behold the
beauty of Your glorious name. We thank you, Father, that You
allowed us this opportunity to study Your word.
We are such blessed people to beable to read the words of God
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and to be able to study them, knowing Your plan and Your
desire for our lives that we might follow you in obedience
and so just bless our time together.
To Steve we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
Take your Bible and turn with meto the book of Colossians, the
book of Colossians the 3rd chapter and I want to read to
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you the 1st 8 verses of chapter 3.
Set them in your mind. That will set the tone for our
time together as we study and ask the question, What is a
Christian? Colossians chapter 3 verse #1
says Therefore, since you have been raised up with Christ, keep
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seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God. Set your mind on the things
above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your lifeis hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life is revealed, then you also will be
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revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members
of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion,
evil, desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
For it is because of these things that the wrath of God
will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you
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also once walked, when you were living in them.
But now you also put them all aside, anger, wrath, malice,
slander and abusive speech from your mouth.
Do not lie to one another, sinceyou laid aside the old self and
this evil practices and having put on the new self, who is
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being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image
of the one who created him. The question is, what is a
Christian? A Christian is known by his
decision, that's Luke 9/23. His decision is to deny himself,
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take up his cross and follow Christ.
A Christian is known by his definition.
Philippians chapter 3 verse #3 That we are the marked ones who
worship God in spirit, who gloryonly in Christ Jesus, and put no
confidence in the flesh. Thirdly, the Christian is known
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by description, by his description. 2nd Corinthians 517
For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. Fourthly, a Christian is known
by his declaration, Matthew 16 verse #16 Thou art the Christ,
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the Son of the living God. And last week we talked about a
Christian is known by his dedication.
That's Philippians one verse #21for to me to live is Christ and
to die is gain. The question is, how do you know
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someone is genuine, authentic, real, true believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ? Well, the only way to know that
is to match that life with what the Bible says about
Christianity. It's not about someone's opinion
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or someone's thinking. It's about what God has already
said in His Word. That's why you always prove what
you believe by what the Bible says, because what the Bible
says is all that matters. And so a Christian is very
easily distinguished by what theBible says.
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Tonight we will look at another characteristic of the Christian
to help you understand that a Christian is known by his
denunciation. That is, there are certain
things that he denounces. He denounces the world.
He denounces the sin of the world.
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He denounces A sinful behavior in the world, and yet the
paradox about Christianity is that he is in the world, but he
is not of the world. Christ in his high priestly
prayer in John 17, said to the Father, I pray that you not take
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them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil
one while they are in the world.There is this great paradox that
that faces the Christian is thatis that he is in the world but
not of the world. And that's because he has been
saved out of the world. Therefore he denounces
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everything the world stands for.He denounces the world, sin and
all the sinful behavior that goes with the world.
That's what Christians do. That's very, very important.
In fact, the Bible says in the book of Romans, the 12th
chapter, very familiar words to us.
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Paul says, Therefore, I urge youbrethren, by the mercies of God
to present your bodies a living in the holy Sacrifice, pleasing
to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Paul says based on all that God has done, all the mercies that
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he's bestowed upon you, you needto be able to present your body
as a living sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord because
this is the only logical form ofworship, very important.
The only thing logical about your worship is that you present
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your body as a living sacrifice.And we've told you over the
years that you understand a living sacrifice.
When you look at Justice chapter22 and realize that God told
Abraham to take his only son, his beloved son Isaac, to a
place that he will tell him, which was Mount Moriah, take him
up there and sacrifice his son. Abraham being obedient, took his
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son up the mountain, tied him down, was going to sacrifice
him, and the Angel of the Lord stopped him and said, now I know
you fear me. It's not that the Lord didn't
know that Abraham feared him. It's just that Abraham needed to
know that he feared the Lord, and the Lord knew that he feared
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him. Abraham was willing to sacrifice
all of his dreams, all of his hopes, all of his aspirations,
all of his desires for the sake of obedience to the Lord.
His son was the promised son. He'd waited 25 years for this
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son, and this was the promised beloved son of Abraham and
Sarah. And God says, now I want you
take that son that you love, andI want you to sacrifice him unto
me. I want you to slay him for my
sake. And Abraham was going to do
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that. And if Abraham would have slayed
him, if he had not been stopped by the Angel of the Lord, Isaac
would have been a dead sacrifice, and Abraham would
have been the living sacrifice. Because the living sacrifice is
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that I'm willing to present everything that I have to God,
withhold nothing from him. Paul says in Romans 12, I
beseech you, I beg you, based onwhat God has done, that that you
now present your body as a living sacrifice.
That is, you're willing to crawlup on the altar and sacrifice
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every aspiration, every dream, every desire that you have for
the sake of honoring and glorifying the name of God.
And Paul says that is the only logical thing to do based on the
mercies of God there. Everything else you do is
illogical, but this is the one thing that's extremely logical.
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That's your window. Sacrifice everything because of
what God has done. And then, he says, and be not
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable
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will of the living God. When you present your body as a
living sacrifice, the natural byproduct is that you're not
going to be conformed to the things of the world.
You're going to, you're going toturn your back on the world and
you're going to be renewed. You're going to be conformed by
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renewing your mind to the thingsof God.
This will be pleasing to God. Said another way, the Bible says
these words over in the book of Second Corinthians, Second
Corinthians chapter 6. We are the temple of the living
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God, we the church. Not only is your body a temple
of the living God, but the church is a temple of the living
God. Just as God said, I would dwell
in them and walk among them, andI will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Therefore come out from their
midst and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is
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unclean. And I will welcome you, and I
will be a father to you. You should be sons and daughters
to me, says the Lord Almighty. Paul says the people of God are
distinguished by coming out fromthe world being separate unto
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God, because God dwells in them and they are the temple of the
living God. You see, in today's culture, we
try to reach the World in the church by reflecting the world.
You can't reach the World by reflecting the world.
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You can only reach the World by rejecting the world.
If you reflect the world in yourlife, you can't reach them.
But if you reject the world, youcan then reach the World because
you are holy and separate unto God.
You're uniquely different than the world, and God has always
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called his people to be separatefrom the world, to be unlike the
world. And that's why the Christian is
known by his denunciation. He denounces everything of the
world and everything that's a part of the world.
In fact, the Bible says these words in Galatians chapter 1 and
verse #4 that Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He
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might deliver us from this present evil world.
God died in order for you, for you and I, to be delivered from
the present evil world in which we exist.
We are in the world, but we are not of the world because we've
been saved out of the world. Very, very important.
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In fact, in Philippians chapter 2, listen to what Paul says,
verse 14. Again, familiar verses.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you may
prove yourselves to be blameless, innocent children of
God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation among whom you appearas lights in the world.
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You live in a Dark World, and ifyou grumble and you mumble, then
you're just like the people of the world, the darkness in the
world. But you want to appear as lights
in the world because the the world is a perverse and crooked
generation. And the perverse and crooked
generation are known by their mumbling and grumbling and belly
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aching and complaining about everything under the sun.
But the believer, no, they don'tdo that because they've come out
from the world and they appear as lights in the world because
they shine forth the glory of God.
Again, note this Titus chapter 2, Paul says verse 11 For the
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grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires,
and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the
present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing
of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who
gave himself for us to redeem usfrom every lawless deed, and to
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purify for himself a people for His own possession, zealous for
good deeds. The grace of God has appeared to
all men, and the grace of God isa teaching grace, and it always
teaches the believer to deny ungodliness, to deny worldly
lusts, deny worldly passions, sothat it might live righteously
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and godly in this present age. That's how we live our lives.
Again, we are in the world, but we are not of the world because
we denounce everything the worldstands for.
Why? Because Christ saved us from
this present evil world and we have presented our bodies as
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living sacrifices. Because we made the decision to
deny ourselves, take up a cross and follow Christ.
And when one denies himself, he is denying all of his dreams,
all of us hopes, all of us aspirations that are apart from
God and says, Lord, I'm going to, I'm going to take in my
cross and I'm going to follow you because you are my life.
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You are my dream. You are everything I've longed
for and hoped for. That's the life of the believer.
That's what a believer looks like according to what the Bible
says. And so Jesus would later say
these words in John chapter 15. He would say in verse #18 if the
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world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated
you. That's just a great statement.
If the world hates you, know this.
It hated me before it hated you.If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. You're not of the world.
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You're in the world, but you're not of the world.
Because if you were of the world, the world would love you.
But because you're not of the world, the world hates you.
In fact, he says this, but because you are not of the
world, but I chose you out of the world.
Because of this, the world hatesyou.
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The world hates you. The world wants no part of you.
Why? Because you appear as lights in
a World of Darkness that's crooked and perverse.
And what does light do? Light shines in the darkness in
light exposes that which is in the dark, and those who love
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darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil,
love to live in the dark. So when the light shows up, it
shines in the dark and exposes the sin of the unbeliever.
They don't like that. That's why the world hates you.
So Christ made it very clear you're not of the world, because
if you were, the world would love you.
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But I've chosen you out of the world.
I've chosen you for myself. I've separated you unto myself.
I have sanctified you, set you apart for my purposes.
This is the life of the believer.
And therefore, when we seek to reach the World with the gospel,
we cannot reflect the world. We reject the world.
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We denounce the world, we don't want to associate with anything
of the world because it's filledwith sin, sinful behavior,
sinful attitudes, sinful actions.
And the believer wants no part of that.
Even though he's he's in the world, he is not of the world.
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Very, very important to understand that.
So when you come to Colossians chapter 3, Paul makes it very
clear with these words. Therefore, since you have been
raised up with Christ, well, howwould you be raised up with
Christ? Because you died with Christ.
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So Paul says in in Galatians chapter 2 right verse #20 he
said, I have been crucified withChrist.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the 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.
And then in Galatians chapter 6 he said these words are verse
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14. But may it never be that I would
boast except in the cross of theLord Jesus Christ, through which
the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
Paul says I have died to the world and the world has died to
me. Why?
Because Christ lives in me. You are in Christ, Christ is in
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you. Christ is not a part of the
world, so therefore neither are his children a part of the
world. And therefore Paul says, the
world has died to me and I've died to the world.
So Paul says in chapter 3 of Colossians verse #1 Since you
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have been raised up with Christ,keep seeking things above where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that
are on the earth. In order for you to denounce the
things of the world, you must keep seeking the things that are
above. You must set your mind, set your
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affection on things above where Christ sitteth at the right hand
of of God the Father. You're always looking above.
You're always looking to where Christ is.
You're always focused on heaven above.
That's how you could denounce everything below, because you're
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always focused above. That's why we, in our, in our
study, the book of Ecclesiastes,Solomon kept talking about
living above the sun instead of below the sun.
That's the SUN, by the way, whenyou live below the sun,
everything is vain, everything is empty.
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But when you live above the sun,then you're able to see things
clearly below the sun because your eyes are fixed above.
They're fixed on glory. So the Bible says these words in
the book of Philippians, the 3rdchapter, Paul says verse 17.
Brethren, join in following my example and observe those who
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walk according to the pattern you have.
You haven't us for many walk, ofwhom I am often told you, and
now tell you, even weeping, thatthey are enemies of the cross of
Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their
appetite, and whose glory is in their shame.
Who set their minds on earthly things?
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Those who are opposed to the cross of Christ, those who are
unbelievers, set their minds on earthly things.
As believers, we set our mind onheavenly things.
He goes on to say in verse #20 For our citizenship is in
heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for the Savior of
the Lord Jesus Christ, who wouldtransform the body of our humble
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state into conformity with the body of His glory by the
exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things
to himself. The reason we keep looking above
is because that's where our homeis.
That's where our citizenship is.We are aliens and strangers in a
foreign land. But unfortunately, we, we have
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made ourselves very accustomed to this land.
We kind of love it down here. We kind of appreciate everything
that's going on around us down here.
And we have forgotten that our citizenship is not in the United
States. Our citizenship is in glory, but
we are aliens and strangers in aforeign land.
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That's what that's what Peter says over in in first Peter
chapter chapter 2 verse #9 He says these words.
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people for God's own possession say, you may proclaim the
excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into
His marvellous light. For you once were not a people,
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but now you are the people of God.
You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from
fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
You're aliens and strangers downhere, and therefore you are to
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abstain from the fleshly lusts which are waging war with your
soul. You're to denounce all of those
things. Why you want to keep your
behavior excellent verse 12 among the Gentiles so that in
the thing in which they slander you as evil doers, they may,
because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God
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in the day of visitation so incredibly important.
Remember what Paul said over in in second Corinthians chapter
chapter 4. He said these words, He said in
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verse 16, We do not lose heart. But though our outer man is
decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day for
momentary light. Affliction is producing for us
an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we
look not at the things which areseen, but at the things which
are not seen. For the things which are seen
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are temporal, but the things which are not seen, those
things, well they are eternal. Paul says we had this, this
momentary light affliction. And when you read through the
2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and you read through Paul's
epistles, his afflictions were, were not light, They were pretty
heavy, but he saw them as as light in comparison to eternity
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because he kept looking for those things that are unseen,
not the things that are seen. In other words, he kept focused
on things above. He kept seeking those things
above. In fact, over in First
Chronicles chapter 29, David said to Solomon, verse #19 I'm
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sorry, First Chronicles 22 verse#19 he said to Solomon, Set your
heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.
Those are David's words to his son.
Set your heart and your soul to seek the things of God, Paul
says. Since you've been raised up with
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Christ, keep on seeking Christ. Keep setting your affection on
things above, not on things below.
If we don't do this, we will notdenounce the world.
We'll accept the things of the world.
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So in order for us to live a life of denunciation, we must
seek those things that are above.
We must set our mind and affections on things above, not
on things on the earth. He goes on to say this.
For you have died, and your lifeis in with Christ and God.
When Christ, who is her life is revealed, then you also will be
revealed with him in glory. In other words, Christ is your
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life. Your life is no longer your own.
You've died the self, the light that you now live.
You live because of the power ofChrist in you.
Christ is your life. That that's why you can denounce
the world. Listen, if you cannot denounce
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the world, if you can't turn your back on the world, if you
can't run away from the sin of the world and the sinful
behavior of the world, maybe it's because Christ isn't your
life. Because of Christ is your life,
you set your affections on things above.
You keep seeking those things where Christ is seated in the
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heavenlies. Once you seek those things
above. And what did Christ say in
Matthew chapter 6 verse #33 thatwe are to seek first His Kingdom
and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added
unto you. But seek first His Kingdom and
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His righteousness. There's something about the
believer that sets his mind and his thoughts and his heart on
seeking God and God alone that allows him to denounce the
things of the world. And that's where verse #5 comes
in. All this was introductory up to
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verse #5 because the verse #5 Hesays, Therefore, therefore,
because you are seeking those things that are above.
Therefore, because you have set your mind on things above where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
Therefore because you're alreadydoing that, that's your heart's
attitude. He says these words, consider
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the members of your earthly bodyas dead.
Another translation would be this.
Therefore, kill the members of your body.
Another translation says. Therefore mortify the members of
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your body. Well, what can that possibly
mean? Well, it's, it's, it's, it's a
take off from the words of Christ in Matthew 5 where he
said if your right eye offends you, pluck it out.
If your right arm offends you, cut it off.
He didn't mean that literally. He meant it dramatically.
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He meant it drastically, not literally.
He says take whatever measure isnecessary to keep away from sin.
Here Paul is saying you need to kill the members of your body.
You need to commit it as if it were spiritual suicide.
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In other words, you are to kill the members of your body.
What are the members of my body?Those things that leads you into
sin. And specifically in the context,
it's your mind. It's it's your, your, your, your
attitude, your words and your actions, your conduct.
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OK, so you're going to deal withthe mind first of all by
studying your affections and your mind on things above.
But now when it comes to your conduct and your words, you need
to deal with them because those are the members of your body
that you need to kill, you need to destroy, you need to
eliminate. And the only way you can
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separate yourself from those things is if you set your mind
on things above and seek Christ who is in the heavenlies.
If you're not doing that, you can't separate yourself from
those members that leads you into sin.
This is very, very important. This is this is working out your
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salvation with fear and trembling.
According to Philippians chapter2, this is how the Christian
lives his life. He denounces, he destroys
everything that leads him into sin.
And so Paul's going to give us 2lists, 2 lists.
The lists are not inclusive thatinclude every sin, but the lists
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are very unique because the first list begins with the act
and moves backward to the attitude.
The second list begins with the attitude and moves toward the
ACT. Very important to realize that
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one moves backwards, one moves forwards, because right in the
middle is the answer, and we're going to show that to you.
And so the first list is a personal list.
The second list is a relational list.
The first list deals with what Ido.
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The second list deals with what I say.
Very, very important. And so you're going to ask
yourself tonight, am I the kind of individual, the kind of
believer, the kind of genuine, authentic, true believer who
denounces the things of the world because I want to separate
myself from all sinful behavior,sinful attitudes, simple
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activities? This is my aspiration, this is
my desire. Remember the apostle Paul, the
things I'm not doing I should bedoing, and the things I'm doing
I shouldn't be doing. Paul had this, this wrestle
wrestling match going on with the members of his body.
That that's why over in Romans chapter 8, Paul says these words
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in verse #13 he says since then brethren, we are under
obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.
For if you are living according to the flesh, you will die.
But if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of
the body, you will really live. If you put to death the deeds of
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the body, if you are involved inspiritual suicide, if you are
involved in destroying the members of your body that leads
you into sin, you're really going to live.
Fact, he says earlier in Romans 6.
These words. Therefore do not let sin reign
in your mortal body, verse 12, so that you obey its lust.
And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as
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instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as
those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over
you, for you are not under law, but under grace.
In other words, sin's not going to master you.
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Why? Because you're slaves of God,
not slaves of sin, and thereforeyou obey the master that owns
you, and you live a life of obedience.
This is so important. So listen to what Paul says.
First list. He moves right from the act to
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the attitude. So it begins on the outside and
moves you to the inside, he says.
Therefore, because you seek those things that are above,
because you set your mind on things above, now you can
separate yourself from all thosesinful attitudes and sinful
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behaviors that control the members of your body.
So he says these words kill the members of your earthly body as
dead. Number one to immorality.
To immorality, this is the ACT. Pornea is the word.
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Immorality is any unlawful act, unlawful sinful act, unlawful
sexual act outside the realm of marriage.
In fact, there's only one lawfulact of sex.
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Everything else is unlawful. That's between one man and one
woman in the realm of marriage. Everything else is unlawful and
is immoral. There's only one that's lawful,
and that is the one that's in the in the realm of marriage
between a man and a woman who are married and united together
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and holy matrimony. That's the only lawful act of
sex there is. Everything else is unlawful.
Every act of homosexuality unlawful.
Every sin outside of marriage unlawful.
Every act of pedophilia unlawful.
Every act of bestiality unlawful.
It's all wrong. And remember, Paul is writing to
those in Colossae who lived in arealm where everything about
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homosexuality, everything about pedophilia was all accepted in
the city. So he lived in a realm where all
this was accepted. And he's telling the Christians
that you need to kill the members of your body, beginning
with immorality, sex, sin, outside the realm in which God
has made it lawful, that is outside the realm of marriage.
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Now we talked about this in First Thessalonians chapter 4,
when when Christ or Paul says that this is the will of God,
even your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual
immorality. And he goes on and uses the word
sanctification 3 times in those first 8 verses, the 1st
Thessalonians 4. Why?
Because we are to live separate lives and the world lives
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uniquely different lives than the world.
This is the will of God. That you abstain have nothing to
do with sexual immorality. So Paul here begins with the act
of immorality and then he moves to the next act which is
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impurity. What makes a man commit
immorality? Impure thoughts, impurity.
That's why Christ says over in Mark's gospel, the 7th chapter,
he says, listen to me all of youand understand there is nothing
outside the man which can defilehim if it goes into him.
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But the things which proceed outof the man are what defile the
man. If anyone has the ears to hear,
let him hear. When he had left the crowd and
entered the house, the disciplesquestioned him about the
parable. He said to them, are you so
lacking and understanding? Also, do you not understand that
whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him
(37:35):
because it does not go into his heart but into his stomach and
it is eliminated. Thus he declared all foods clean
and he was saying that which proceeds out of the man.
That is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the
heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts,
(37:57):
murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well
as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.
So Paul is saying, Look, need tokill the members of your body.
(38:20):
Which ones? Immorality, impurity, impure
thoughts. Listen, if you're able to
control your thoughts, you can control your sex life.
If you can't control your thoughts, you cannot control
your sex life because immoralitystems from impure thoughts.
(38:44):
Therefore, we are to think in the things that are pure and
true and holy and honorable and lovely, Paul says in Philippians
chapter 4. That's why we are renewed in the
spirit of our mind. We're not conformed this world
because we're transformed by therenewing of our mind, right?
So when our minds feed on the word of God and we think in the
things that are true and pure and holy, it keeps us from from
(39:07):
from committing sexual acts of immorality.
But the reason man commits sexual acts of immorality is
because he has impure thoughts, impurity.
Now remember, Paul was moving backwards.
He begins with the ACT, then tells you what causes the ACT
impure thoughts. But what causes the impure
(39:29):
thoughts? Next word he says passion.
Passion lying beneath all the impure thoughts in the flesh of
man are the passions of man, andonce those passions are
inflamed, he begins to think impure thoughts that lead to
(39:53):
immoral acts and what causes those those flames of passion to
be ignited. Nick's word?
Evil desire. And the two words are very
similar, but it's the evil desire, that's what John says.
(40:15):
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the sinful
pride of life. That's the evil desire.
It, it's in the deepest caverns of our soul.
It, it, it's, it's there. And, and once those evil desires
are aroused, they lead to passionate drives.
(40:36):
And those passionate drives leadto impure thoughts and those
impure thoughts lead to immorality.
Paul is very explicit. He explains to you why you
commit sex sins. But we as believers, we don't
want anything to do with what wewant to denounce all those
things. So what leads to those evil
(40:56):
desires? The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes and the and the pride, the sinful pride of life.
In fact, James would say something similar to this in
James chapter 1. What does James say verse 14?
Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his
(41:16):
own lust. Then when lust has conceived, he
gives birth to sin, and when sinis accomplished, it brings forth
death. Later in James he would say
these words. In James chapter 4, he says what
is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?
Is not the source your pleasuresthat wage war in your members?
(41:43):
That he says you lust and you donot have, so you commit murder.
You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and
quarrel. You do not have because you do
not ask. You ask and do not receive
because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend
it on your own pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not
know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?
(42:07):
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes
himself an enemy of God. Very clear words.
So Paul says there's something that causes the evil desire that
leads to your passionate Dr. which leads to impure thoughts
(42:31):
and impure motives, which leads to acts of immorality.
But what is that next word? Greed.
Covetousness. That's the word pleonexia.
It's a word that the the Greeks used of the insatiable desire in
(42:55):
the depths of man's soul. Covetousness.
That's what greed is, Covetousness.
Now listen very carefully. This is very, very important
because it sets the tone for everything in the passage, the
depths of man. So why does man sin?
(43:18):
Covetousness is the last sin listed in the 10 commandments,
the Decalogue. It's not listed last because
it's the least. It's listed last because it's
the cause of all the previous 9.Man shall not covet.
(43:42):
Why does man murder? He covets.
Why does man steal? He covets, he's greedy.
Why does man lie? He covets.
Why does man commit adultery? He covets.
Why does man have another God? When God says there shall be no
other gods before me, it's because covetousness, as he says
(44:10):
in the text, is what idolatry. At the base of every sin is.
Idolatry, self worship. I want something I cannot have.
(44:31):
When I want something I cannot have, I become very, very
covetous. I want it.
And what that does is arouse those lustful passions that lead
to evil desires that lead to impure thoughts that lead to
acts of immorality at the base of every man's nature.
(44:53):
The reason man does what he doesis because he covets that which
he cannot have. This was Satan's sin, right?
Satan wanted something he could not have.
What did he want? He wanted the throne of God.
He coveted God's throne. He wanted to be worshipped as
(45:15):
God has worshipped. At the base of Satan's sin was
idol worship. He worshipped himself.
The reason you sinned, the reason you commits acts of
immorality, the reason you commit any sin at all is because
of self worship. You believe you deserve
(45:39):
something, you believe should have something.
And covetousness is idolatry. In fact, Paul says these words
in Ephesians chapter 3, very similar.
I'm sorry. Ephesians 5 verse three, he says
immorality or any impurity or any greed.
Same 3 words of the words that are used in Colossians Chapter
(46:02):
3. Immorality or impurity or greed
must not even be named among youas proper among the Saints.
OK, not only do you not let it happen, you can't even name it
among you don't even mention it.And there must be no filthiness
and silly talk or coarse jestingwhich are not fitting, but
rather giving thanks for this. You know with certainty that no
(46:26):
immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater
has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
A covetous man is an idolater. The reason there are other gods
before the one true. That's why Christ came.
(46:46):
He says I came to seek what trueworshippers, true worshippers,
those who worship God in spirit and in truth.
I'm looking for people who have no other God before me, no other
God besides me. And when we think of that as as,
as as trying to trying to carve some kind of image like they did
(47:09):
in, in, in ancient times, listen, idolatry is not what you
carve with your hands. It's what you crave in your
heart. That's idolatry.
That's self worship. That's what I want to have.
And pleonixia is a word that that, as I said earlier
(47:29):
described by the Greeks of that it's, it's like a having a,
having a bowl with no bottom that when you pour into it, it
cannot be filled. The insatiable desire of man's
heart. That's what needs to be
destroyed. That's what needs to be
murdered. That's what needs to be killed.
(47:50):
That's what needs to be put awaywith.
That's what needs to be separated from, that's what
needs to be denounced. All idolatry, all covetousness,
not only to violate the command of God, but it leads me into all
kinds of sinful behavior. That's why Paul says these words
in verse #6 of chapter 3 of Colossians.
(48:15):
He says for his because of thesethings, the wrath of God will
come upon the sons of disobedience.
And in them you also once walkedwhen you were living in them.
In other words, this is the way you used to live.
You used to walk this way. This is what characterized your
life before, before Christ was in you and you were in Christ.
(48:39):
This is how the wrath of God comes upon the sons of
disobedience. God dams people to hell because
of these kinds of sins. Why?
Because at the base of man's heart is that he is a self
worshipper. And that's hard for for some of
us to understand, but that is really the the true essence of
(49:00):
sin. We are idolaters in the depths
of our soul. We think that we need something
so bad that we will do everything we can to get it.
And once we get to that place ofself worship, it spawns within
us the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of
life. And it moves us toward evil
desires and passionate drives. It leads us to impure thoughts.
(49:24):
It leads us to acts of immorality.
That's why Paul begins with the act and drives you all the way
back to the heart attitude. The depths of a man is that he
is an idolater. Paul knows this, he understands
this and so he says this is whatneeds to be so denounced.
(49:46):
It needs to be destroyed. You could say this is the
Christians not just as denunciation.
This is the Christians destruction.
He is destroying everything thatleads to idol worship, that
leads to self worship, that leads to his prominence, that
leads to him being put on display, that leads to his own
(50:06):
ego. He destroys all those things and
then he moves to the second list.
Remember, the lists are not inclusive.
They're just a partial list of sins.
But he removes from the attitudeand then moves to the ACT.
(50:28):
Why? Because at the base of the
attitude of speech is covetousness is idolatry.
That's why he says these words. He says, but now you also put
them all aside. What anger, anger that's or gay
that that is the the, the bitterness that that wells up
(50:50):
within us. That's on the inside of man and
that orgae leads to thumos, the boiling over of my attitude of
anger. You know this very well.
You, you, you hear someone, you know someone and just the
thought of them caused you to tobe angry on the inside.
And the more someone talks aboutthem, the more you begin to boil
(51:12):
over with that kind of anger. It begins because somehow, some
way, you are a self worshipper. You think yourself better than
somebody else. You think that you are high and
mighty. You think that you are the cat's
(51:33):
meow. You think you're just the the
the the best thing that's ever happened.
And how dare someone say something that gets you.
So you begin to get angry. That angry leads to to boiling
over to thumos that that that wrath and that wrath leads to
malice, Malice's vicious thoughts, the vicious attitude
(51:55):
that leads to slander. That leads me to slander.
The reason I slander somebody isbecause there are these vicious
thoughts I have about this person that stem from this
bowling over of the anger that Ihave because I think that I'm
better than somebody else because I'm a self worshipper.
I'm an idolater. I'm a covetous person.
(52:19):
And the Bible says in the book of James that when you slander
your brother, you really blasphemy the name of God
because your brother James chapter 3 verse #9 is made in
the image of God. So when you slander your
brother, who's made of the imageof God, you're blaspheming God's
(52:40):
architect, God's creation. Therefore you are blaspheming
God himself. And that slander leads to
abusive speech, abusive speech, speech that is filled with
(53:04):
unrighteousness. Christ would say in Matthew 12.
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh good
man, out of the goodness of the good treasure of the heart
bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil
treasure bringeth forth evil things.
(53:28):
That's why Paul says, let no corrupt communication proceed
from your mouth. Because you see those vicious
thoughts lead to slandering yourbrother, which lead to abusive
speech. By the way, if you recall the
life of Peter, in his denial of the Lord Jesus Christ on the eve
(53:51):
of the crucifixion of the Messiah, he denied the Lord
three times, right? Lord prophesied that he was
denying 3 times for the cockroach, and the third time
that he denied the Lord to this little girl by a fireplace
outside the House of Caiaphas. It says that he used filthy
(54:15):
abusive speech. In other words, he began to
curse and to swear. And guess what?
After that, nobody ever accused him of being a follower of
Christ again. Why?
Because people who follow Christdon't use that kind of language,
(54:39):
that's why. So he was free from being
accused of being a follower of Christ because everybody knows
the words that Jesus spoke, and those who follow Christ would
never speak like that. This is how Peter would get
people to stop accusing him of being a follower of Christ, even
(54:59):
though he was. He began to curse.
He began to swear using abusive speech because that would stop
all accusations against him. And it did.
And that abusive speech leads tolying.
(55:22):
Lying. Why do people lie?
People lie to protect themselves.
Why do they protect themselves? Because they're idol
worshippers. They're self worshippers.
People lie to protect what they want to protect.
They lie because they want to preserve something in their
lives. They would have preserve the
(55:44):
story. They want to preserve that which
they tried to get everybody to believe, right?
It's a self protective act. That's why people lie.
Satan is the father of lies, right?
So whenever you lie, you, you align yourself with the father
of lies. Why would you want to do that
with the father of lies with an idolater?
(56:07):
And those who live lie are self worshippers.
They too are idolaters. So Paul says as Christians keep
seeking those things that are above.
Set your mind on things above and separate yourself from all
(56:28):
sinful acts and sinful words, because those the members of
your body that will haunt you ifyou do not kill those members of
your body and what is you are actually killing.
You are killing the fact that you in the depths of your soul
(56:51):
seek to preserve yourself because you worship yourself,
Paul says. We're worshippers of God.
When you worship God in spirited, in truth, you don't
want to worship yourself. You want to worship the true
God. You want to honor the Lord, you
want to glorify his name. You want to live for the glory
(57:13):
and honor of the Christ. And as long as you're seeking
those things that are above and set your affection and mind on
things above, you can then effectively separate yourself in
those things of the world. Because it's the world that
lives in idolatry, that are covetous, that had this
exuberant greed for that which is wrong.
(57:34):
And the believer, he's marked bya denunciation of all those
things. Why?
Because they worship the king. They want to honor the Lord.
This is just so important to understand.
That's why. That's why man centered
(57:56):
preaching is so bad. God centered preaching gets you
focused on God. And the more you see God, you
see His Holiness. The more you see His Holiness,
the more you see your sinfulness.
But as long as we keep preachingto man, having man centered
sermons, focused on man centeredthings, guess what?
(58:18):
Nobody's convicted of their sin because they don't see God.
They just see themselves. And God knows.
We got enough problems with thatalready.
We don't need to see any more ofourselves and see God.
When you see God in His Holiness, you see your
sinfulness. When you see your sinfulness,
(58:40):
you turn and follow the true Godand worship him.
A Christian What is a Christian?A Christian is one who denounces
and destroys anything in his life that will move him away
(59:02):
from God to be accepted by the world because they want to live
for the glory and honor their King.
Let me pray with you, Father, Wethank you for tonight, and we
thank you for your word. We thank you for the truth
that's there. Our prayer, Father, is that we
would live for you. None of us are perfect.
(59:25):
The Apostle Paul would wrestle with his own sinful behavior
knowing how wrong it was, which makes us so aware of the fact
that that when we see our sin for what it is, we realize it's
an offence to the holy God, our holy God, the one who lives and
reigns within our lives. Help us, Lord, to live for you.
(59:50):
Help us, Lord, to to pursue you.Set our affections on things
above, not on things below. Keep seeking Christ the Lord.
That is where our life really is, for you are our life.
(01:00:12):
As we go home tonight, protect us, keep us safe, and may our
spiritual pilgrimage be greater tonight and tomorrow than ever
before, because we truly want tohonor our King.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Father, we thank you, Lord, for today.
Thank you, Lord, for the rain this past week, and thank you,
Father, for the safety and getting us all here.
Thank you for the opportunity tospend time in Your word and
pray, Lord, that you'd open our hearts and minds to behold the
beauty of Your glorious name. We thank you, Father, that You
allowed us this opportunity to study Your word.
We are such blessed people to beable to read the words of God
(00:24):
and to be able to study them, knowing Your plan and Your
desire for our lives that we might follow you in obedience
and so just bless our time together.
To Steve we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
Take your Bible and turn with meto the book of Colossians, the
book of Colossians the 3rd chapter and I want to read to
(00:45):
you the 1st 8 verses of chapter 3.
Set them in your mind. That will set the tone for our
time together as we study and ask the question, What is a
Christian? Colossians chapter 3 verse #1
says Therefore, since you have been raised up with Christ, keep
(01:07):
seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God. Set your mind on the things
above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your lifeis hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life is revealed, then you also will be
(01:27):
revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members
of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion,
evil, desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
For it is because of these things that the wrath of God
will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you
(01:51):
also once walked, when you were living in them.
But now you also put them all aside, anger, wrath, malice,
slander and abusive speech from your mouth.
Do not lie to one another, sinceyou laid aside the old self and
this evil practices and having put on the new self, who is
(02:14):
being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image
of the one who created him. The question is, what is a
Christian? A Christian is known by his
decision, that's Luke 9/23. His decision is to deny himself,
(02:39):
take up his cross and follow Christ.
A Christian is known by his definition.
Philippians chapter 3 verse #3 That we are the marked ones who
worship God in spirit, who gloryonly in Christ Jesus, and put no
confidence in the flesh. Thirdly, the Christian is known
(03:07):
by description, by his description. 2nd Corinthians 517
For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. Fourthly, a Christian is known
by his declaration, Matthew 16 verse #16 Thou art the Christ,
(03:34):
the Son of the living God. And last week we talked about a
Christian is known by his dedication.
That's Philippians one verse #21for to me to live is Christ and
to die is gain. The question is, how do you know
(04:01):
someone is genuine, authentic, real, true believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ? Well, the only way to know that
is to match that life with what the Bible says about
Christianity. It's not about someone's opinion
(04:23):
or someone's thinking. It's about what God has already
said in His Word. That's why you always prove what
you believe by what the Bible says, because what the Bible
says is all that matters. And so a Christian is very
easily distinguished by what theBible says.
(04:47):
Tonight we will look at another characteristic of the Christian
to help you understand that a Christian is known by his
denunciation. That is, there are certain
things that he denounces. He denounces the world.
He denounces the sin of the world.
(05:09):
He denounces A sinful behavior in the world, and yet the
paradox about Christianity is that he is in the world, but he
is not of the world. Christ in his high priestly
prayer in John 17, said to the Father, I pray that you not take
(05:30):
them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil
one while they are in the world.There is this great paradox that
that faces the Christian is thatis that he is in the world but
not of the world. And that's because he has been
saved out of the world. Therefore he denounces
(05:52):
everything the world stands for.He denounces the world, sin and
all the sinful behavior that goes with the world.
That's what Christians do. That's very, very important.
In fact, the Bible says in the book of Romans, the 12th
chapter, very familiar words to us.
(06:14):
Paul says, Therefore, I urge youbrethren, by the mercies of God
to present your bodies a living in the holy Sacrifice, pleasing
to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Paul says based on all that God has done, all the mercies that
(06:37):
he's bestowed upon you, you needto be able to present your body
as a living sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord because
this is the only logical form ofworship, very important.
The only thing logical about your worship is that you present
(06:58):
your body as a living sacrifice.And we've told you over the
years that you understand a living sacrifice.
When you look at Justice chapter22 and realize that God told
Abraham to take his only son, his beloved son Isaac, to a
place that he will tell him, which was Mount Moriah, take him
up there and sacrifice his son. Abraham being obedient, took his
(07:22):
son up the mountain, tied him down, was going to sacrifice
him, and the Angel of the Lord stopped him and said, now I know
you fear me. It's not that the Lord didn't
know that Abraham feared him. It's just that Abraham needed to
know that he feared the Lord, and the Lord knew that he feared
(07:48):
him. Abraham was willing to sacrifice
all of his dreams, all of his hopes, all of his aspirations,
all of his desires for the sake of obedience to the Lord.
His son was the promised son. He'd waited 25 years for this
(08:09):
son, and this was the promised beloved son of Abraham and
Sarah. And God says, now I want you
take that son that you love, andI want you to sacrifice him unto
me. I want you to slay him for my
sake. And Abraham was going to do
(08:31):
that. And if Abraham would have slayed
him, if he had not been stopped by the Angel of the Lord, Isaac
would have been a dead sacrifice, and Abraham would
have been the living sacrifice. Because the living sacrifice is
(08:51):
that I'm willing to present everything that I have to God,
withhold nothing from him. Paul says in Romans 12, I
beseech you, I beg you, based onwhat God has done, that that you
now present your body as a living sacrifice.
That is, you're willing to crawlup on the altar and sacrifice
(09:12):
every aspiration, every dream, every desire that you have for
the sake of honoring and glorifying the name of God.
And Paul says that is the only logical thing to do based on the
mercies of God there. Everything else you do is
illogical, but this is the one thing that's extremely logical.
(09:32):
That's your window. Sacrifice everything because of
what God has done. And then, he says, and be not
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable
(10:01):
will of the living God. When you present your body as a
living sacrifice, the natural byproduct is that you're not
going to be conformed to the things of the world.
You're going to, you're going toturn your back on the world and
you're going to be renewed. You're going to be conformed by
(10:22):
renewing your mind to the thingsof God.
This will be pleasing to God. Said another way, the Bible says
these words over in the book of Second Corinthians, Second
Corinthians chapter 6. We are the temple of the living
(10:46):
God, we the church. Not only is your body a temple
of the living God, but the church is a temple of the living
God. Just as God said, I would dwell
in them and walk among them, andI will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Therefore come out from their
midst and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is
(11:07):
unclean. And I will welcome you, and I
will be a father to you. You should be sons and daughters
to me, says the Lord Almighty. Paul says the people of God are
distinguished by coming out fromthe world being separate unto
(11:28):
God, because God dwells in them and they are the temple of the
living God. You see, in today's culture, we
try to reach the World in the church by reflecting the world.
You can't reach the World by reflecting the world.
(11:51):
You can only reach the World by rejecting the world.
If you reflect the world in yourlife, you can't reach them.
But if you reject the world, youcan then reach the World because
you are holy and separate unto God.
You're uniquely different than the world, and God has always
(12:14):
called his people to be separatefrom the world, to be unlike the
world. And that's why the Christian is
known by his denunciation. He denounces everything of the
world and everything that's a part of the world.
In fact, the Bible says these words in Galatians chapter 1 and
verse #4 that Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He
(12:37):
might deliver us from this present evil world.
God died in order for you, for you and I, to be delivered from
the present evil world in which we exist.
We are in the world, but we are not of the world because we've
been saved out of the world. Very, very important.
(13:03):
In fact, in Philippians chapter 2, listen to what Paul says,
verse 14. Again, familiar verses.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you may
prove yourselves to be blameless, innocent children of
God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation among whom you appearas lights in the world.
(13:28):
You live in a Dark World, and ifyou grumble and you mumble, then
you're just like the people of the world, the darkness in the
world. But you want to appear as lights
in the world because the the world is a perverse and crooked
generation. And the perverse and crooked
generation are known by their mumbling and grumbling and belly
(13:49):
aching and complaining about everything under the sun.
But the believer, no, they don'tdo that because they've come out
from the world and they appear as lights in the world because
they shine forth the glory of God.
Again, note this Titus chapter 2, Paul says verse 11 For the
(14:16):
grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires,
and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the
present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing
of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who
gave himself for us to redeem usfrom every lawless deed, and to
(14:38):
purify for himself a people for His own possession, zealous for
good deeds. The grace of God has appeared to
all men, and the grace of God isa teaching grace, and it always
teaches the believer to deny ungodliness, to deny worldly
lusts, deny worldly passions, sothat it might live righteously
(15:01):
and godly in this present age. That's how we live our lives.
Again, we are in the world, but we are not of the world because
we denounce everything the worldstands for.
Why? Because Christ saved us from
this present evil world and we have presented our bodies as
(15:22):
living sacrifices. Because we made the decision to
deny ourselves, take up a cross and follow Christ.
And when one denies himself, he is denying all of his dreams,
all of us hopes, all of us aspirations that are apart from
God and says, Lord, I'm going to, I'm going to take in my
cross and I'm going to follow you because you are my life.
(15:44):
You are my dream. You are everything I've longed
for and hoped for. That's the life of the believer.
That's what a believer looks like according to what the Bible
says. And so Jesus would later say
these words in John chapter 15. He would say in verse #18 if the
(16:07):
world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated
you. That's just a great statement.
If the world hates you, know this.
It hated me before it hated you.If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. You're not of the world.
(16:29):
You're in the world, but you're not of the world.
Because if you were of the world, the world would love you.
But because you're not of the world, the world hates you.
In fact, he says this, but because you are not of the
world, but I chose you out of the world.
Because of this, the world hatesyou.
(16:53):
The world hates you. The world wants no part of you.
Why? Because you appear as lights in
a World of Darkness that's crooked and perverse.
And what does light do? Light shines in the darkness in
light exposes that which is in the dark, and those who love
(17:13):
darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil,
love to live in the dark. So when the light shows up, it
shines in the dark and exposes the sin of the unbeliever.
They don't like that. That's why the world hates you.
So Christ made it very clear you're not of the world, because
if you were, the world would love you.
(17:36):
But I've chosen you out of the world.
I've chosen you for myself. I've separated you unto myself.
I have sanctified you, set you apart for my purposes.
This is the life of the believer.
And therefore, when we seek to reach the World with the gospel,
we cannot reflect the world. We reject the world.
(18:01):
We denounce the world, we don't want to associate with anything
of the world because it's filledwith sin, sinful behavior,
sinful attitudes, sinful actions.
And the believer wants no part of that.
Even though he's he's in the world, he is not of the world.
(18:26):
Very, very important to understand that.
So when you come to Colossians chapter 3, Paul makes it very
clear with these words. Therefore, since you have been
raised up with Christ, well, howwould you be raised up with
Christ? Because you died with Christ.
(18:48):
So Paul says in in Galatians chapter 2 right verse #20 he
said, I have been crucified withChrist.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the 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.
And then in Galatians chapter 6 he said these words are verse
(19:11):
14. But may it never be that I would
boast except in the cross of theLord Jesus Christ, through which
the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
Paul says I have died to the world and the world has died to
me. Why?
Because Christ lives in me. You are in Christ, Christ is in
(19:34):
you. Christ is not a part of the
world, so therefore neither are his children a part of the
world. And therefore Paul says, the
world has died to me and I've died to the world.
So Paul says in chapter 3 of Colossians verse #1 Since you
(19:56):
have been raised up with Christ,keep seeking things above where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that
are on the earth. In order for you to denounce the
things of the world, you must keep seeking the things that are
above. You must set your mind, set your
(20:17):
affection on things above where Christ sitteth at the right hand
of of God the Father. You're always looking above.
You're always looking to where Christ is.
You're always focused on heaven above.
That's how you could denounce everything below, because you're
(20:38):
always focused above. That's why we, in our, in our
study, the book of Ecclesiastes,Solomon kept talking about
living above the sun instead of below the sun.
That's the SUN, by the way, whenyou live below the sun,
everything is vain, everything is empty.
(20:59):
But when you live above the sun,then you're able to see things
clearly below the sun because your eyes are fixed above.
They're fixed on glory. So the Bible says these words in
the book of Philippians, the 3rdchapter, Paul says verse 17.
Brethren, join in following my example and observe those who
(21:21):
walk according to the pattern you have.
You haven't us for many walk, ofwhom I am often told you, and
now tell you, even weeping, thatthey are enemies of the cross of
Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their
appetite, and whose glory is in their shame.
Who set their minds on earthly things?
(21:43):
Those who are opposed to the cross of Christ, those who are
unbelievers, set their minds on earthly things.
As believers, we set our mind onheavenly things.
He goes on to say in verse #20 For our citizenship is in
heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for the Savior of
the Lord Jesus Christ, who wouldtransform the body of our humble
(22:05):
state into conformity with the body of His glory by the
exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things
to himself. The reason we keep looking above
is because that's where our homeis.
That's where our citizenship is.We are aliens and strangers in a
foreign land. But unfortunately, we, we have
(22:26):
made ourselves very accustomed to this land.
We kind of love it down here. We kind of appreciate everything
that's going on around us down here.
And we have forgotten that our citizenship is not in the United
States. Our citizenship is in glory, but
we are aliens and strangers in aforeign land.
(22:47):
That's what that's what Peter says over in in first Peter
chapter chapter 2 verse #9 He says these words.
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people for God's own possession say, you may proclaim the
excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into
His marvellous light. For you once were not a people,
(23:10):
but now you are the people of God.
You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from
fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
You're aliens and strangers downhere, and therefore you are to
(23:33):
abstain from the fleshly lusts which are waging war with your
soul. You're to denounce all of those
things. Why you want to keep your
behavior excellent verse 12 among the Gentiles so that in
the thing in which they slander you as evil doers, they may,
because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God
(23:55):
in the day of visitation so incredibly important.
Remember what Paul said over in in second Corinthians chapter
chapter 4. He said these words, He said in
(24:16):
verse 16, We do not lose heart. But though our outer man is
decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day for
momentary light. Affliction is producing for us
an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we
look not at the things which areseen, but at the things which
are not seen. For the things which are seen
(24:36):
are temporal, but the things which are not seen, those
things, well they are eternal. Paul says we had this, this
momentary light affliction. And when you read through the
2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and you read through Paul's
epistles, his afflictions were, were not light, They were pretty
heavy, but he saw them as as light in comparison to eternity
(25:01):
because he kept looking for those things that are unseen,
not the things that are seen. In other words, he kept focused
on things above. He kept seeking those things
above. In fact, over in First
Chronicles chapter 29, David said to Solomon, verse #19 I'm
(25:23):
sorry, First Chronicles 22 verse#19 he said to Solomon, Set your
heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.
Those are David's words to his son.
Set your heart and your soul to seek the things of God, Paul
says. Since you've been raised up with
(25:44):
Christ, keep on seeking Christ. Keep setting your affection on
things above, not on things below.
If we don't do this, we will notdenounce the world.
We'll accept the things of the world.
(26:05):
So in order for us to live a life of denunciation, we must
seek those things that are above.
We must set our mind and affections on things above, not
on things on the earth. He goes on to say this.
For you have died, and your lifeis in with Christ and God.
When Christ, who is her life is revealed, then you also will be
revealed with him in glory. In other words, Christ is your
(26:28):
life. Your life is no longer your own.
You've died the self, the light that you now live.
You live because of the power ofChrist in you.
Christ is your life. That that's why you can denounce
the world. Listen, if you cannot denounce
(26:49):
the world, if you can't turn your back on the world, if you
can't run away from the sin of the world and the sinful
behavior of the world, maybe it's because Christ isn't your
life. Because of Christ is your life,
you set your affections on things above.
You keep seeking those things where Christ is seated in the
(27:12):
heavenlies. Once you seek those things
above. And what did Christ say in
Matthew chapter 6 verse #33 thatwe are to seek first His Kingdom
and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added
unto you. But seek first His Kingdom and
(27:32):
His righteousness. There's something about the
believer that sets his mind and his thoughts and his heart on
seeking God and God alone that allows him to denounce the
things of the world. And that's where verse #5 comes
in. All this was introductory up to
(27:54):
verse #5 because the verse #5 Hesays, Therefore, therefore,
because you are seeking those things that are above.
Therefore, because you have set your mind on things above where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
Therefore because you're alreadydoing that, that's your heart's
attitude. He says these words, consider
(28:17):
the members of your earthly bodyas dead.
Another translation would be this.
Therefore, kill the members of your body.
Another translation says. Therefore mortify the members of
(28:38):
your body. Well, what can that possibly
mean? Well, it's, it's, it's, it's a
take off from the words of Christ in Matthew 5 where he
said if your right eye offends you, pluck it out.
If your right arm offends you, cut it off.
He didn't mean that literally. He meant it dramatically.
(28:59):
He meant it drastically, not literally.
He says take whatever measure isnecessary to keep away from sin.
Here Paul is saying you need to kill the members of your body.
You need to commit it as if it were spiritual suicide.
(29:28):
In other words, you are to kill the members of your body.
What are the members of my body?Those things that leads you into
sin. And specifically in the context,
it's your mind. It's it's your, your, your, your
attitude, your words and your actions, your conduct.
(29:52):
OK, so you're going to deal withthe mind first of all by
studying your affections and your mind on things above.
But now when it comes to your conduct and your words, you need
to deal with them because those are the members of your body
that you need to kill, you need to destroy, you need to
eliminate. And the only way you can
(30:15):
separate yourself from those things is if you set your mind
on things above and seek Christ who is in the heavenlies.
If you're not doing that, you can't separate yourself from
those members that leads you into sin.
This is very, very important. This is this is working out your
(30:35):
salvation with fear and trembling.
According to Philippians chapter2, this is how the Christian
lives his life. He denounces, he destroys
everything that leads him into sin.
And so Paul's going to give us 2lists, 2 lists.
The lists are not inclusive thatinclude every sin, but the lists
(30:58):
are very unique because the first list begins with the act
and moves backward to the attitude.
The second list begins with the attitude and moves toward the
ACT. Very important to realize that
(31:19):
one moves backwards, one moves forwards, because right in the
middle is the answer, and we're going to show that to you.
And so the first list is a personal list.
The second list is a relational list.
The first list deals with what Ido.
(31:43):
The second list deals with what I say.
Very, very important. And so you're going to ask
yourself tonight, am I the kind of individual, the kind of
believer, the kind of genuine, authentic, true believer who
denounces the things of the world because I want to separate
myself from all sinful behavior,sinful attitudes, simple
(32:05):
activities? This is my aspiration, this is
my desire. Remember the apostle Paul, the
things I'm not doing I should bedoing, and the things I'm doing
I shouldn't be doing. Paul had this, this wrestle
wrestling match going on with the members of his body.
That that's why over in Romans chapter 8, Paul says these words
(32:26):
in verse #13 he says since then brethren, we are under
obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.
For if you are living according to the flesh, you will die.
But if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of
the body, you will really live. If you put to death the deeds of
(32:49):
the body, if you are involved inspiritual suicide, if you are
involved in destroying the members of your body that leads
you into sin, you're really going to live.
Fact, he says earlier in Romans 6.
These words. Therefore do not let sin reign
in your mortal body, verse 12, so that you obey its lust.
And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as
(33:09):
instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as
those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over
you, for you are not under law, but under grace.
In other words, sin's not going to master you.
(33:29):
Why? Because you're slaves of God,
not slaves of sin, and thereforeyou obey the master that owns
you, and you live a life of obedience.
This is so important. So listen to what Paul says.
First list. He moves right from the act to
(33:52):
the attitude. So it begins on the outside and
moves you to the inside, he says.
Therefore, because you seek those things that are above,
because you set your mind on things above, now you can
separate yourself from all thosesinful attitudes and sinful
(34:13):
behaviors that control the members of your body.
So he says these words kill the members of your earthly body as
dead. Number one to immorality.
To immorality, this is the ACT. Pornea is the word.
(34:37):
Immorality is any unlawful act, unlawful sinful act, unlawful
sexual act outside the realm of marriage.
In fact, there's only one lawfulact of sex.
(34:59):
Everything else is unlawful. That's between one man and one
woman in the realm of marriage. Everything else is unlawful and
is immoral. There's only one that's lawful,
and that is the one that's in the in the realm of marriage
between a man and a woman who are married and united together
(35:19):
and holy matrimony. That's the only lawful act of
sex there is. Everything else is unlawful.
Every act of homosexuality unlawful.
Every sin outside of marriage unlawful.
Every act of pedophilia unlawful.
Every act of bestiality unlawful.
It's all wrong. And remember, Paul is writing to
those in Colossae who lived in arealm where everything about
(35:42):
homosexuality, everything about pedophilia was all accepted in
the city. So he lived in a realm where all
this was accepted. And he's telling the Christians
that you need to kill the members of your body, beginning
with immorality, sex, sin, outside the realm in which God
has made it lawful, that is outside the realm of marriage.
(36:07):
Now we talked about this in First Thessalonians chapter 4,
when when Christ or Paul says that this is the will of God,
even your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual
immorality. And he goes on and uses the word
sanctification 3 times in those first 8 verses, the 1st
Thessalonians 4. Why?
Because we are to live separate lives and the world lives
(36:28):
uniquely different lives than the world.
This is the will of God. That you abstain have nothing to
do with sexual immorality. So Paul here begins with the act
of immorality and then he moves to the next act which is
(36:48):
impurity. What makes a man commit
immorality? Impure thoughts, impurity.
That's why Christ says over in Mark's gospel, the 7th chapter,
he says, listen to me all of youand understand there is nothing
outside the man which can defilehim if it goes into him.
(37:11):
But the things which proceed outof the man are what defile the
man. If anyone has the ears to hear,
let him hear. When he had left the crowd and
entered the house, the disciplesquestioned him about the
parable. He said to them, are you so
lacking and understanding? Also, do you not understand that
whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him
(37:35):
because it does not go into his heart but into his stomach and
it is eliminated. Thus he declared all foods clean
and he was saying that which proceeds out of the man.
That is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the
heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts,
(37:57):
murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well
as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.
So Paul is saying, Look, need tokill the members of your body.
(38:20):
Which ones? Immorality, impurity, impure
thoughts. Listen, if you're able to
control your thoughts, you can control your sex life.
If you can't control your thoughts, you cannot control
your sex life because immoralitystems from impure thoughts.
(38:44):
Therefore, we are to think in the things that are pure and
true and holy and honorable and lovely, Paul says in Philippians
chapter 4. That's why we are renewed in the
spirit of our mind. We're not conformed this world
because we're transformed by therenewing of our mind, right?
So when our minds feed on the word of God and we think in the
things that are true and pure and holy, it keeps us from from
(39:07):
from committing sexual acts of immorality.
But the reason man commits sexual acts of immorality is
because he has impure thoughts, impurity.
Now remember, Paul was moving backwards.
He begins with the ACT, then tells you what causes the ACT
impure thoughts. But what causes the impure
(39:29):
thoughts? Next word he says passion.
Passion lying beneath all the impure thoughts in the flesh of
man are the passions of man, andonce those passions are
inflamed, he begins to think impure thoughts that lead to
(39:53):
immoral acts and what causes those those flames of passion to
be ignited. Nick's word?
Evil desire. And the two words are very
similar, but it's the evil desire, that's what John says.
(40:15):
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the sinful
pride of life. That's the evil desire.
It, it's in the deepest caverns of our soul.
It, it, it's, it's there. And, and once those evil desires
are aroused, they lead to passionate drives.
(40:36):
And those passionate drives leadto impure thoughts and those
impure thoughts lead to immorality.
Paul is very explicit. He explains to you why you
commit sex sins. But we as believers, we don't
want anything to do with what wewant to denounce all those
things. So what leads to those evil
(40:56):
desires? The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes and the and the pride, the sinful pride of life.
In fact, James would say something similar to this in
James chapter 1. What does James say verse 14?
Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his
(41:16):
own lust. Then when lust has conceived, he
gives birth to sin, and when sinis accomplished, it brings forth
death. Later in James he would say
these words. In James chapter 4, he says what
is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?
Is not the source your pleasuresthat wage war in your members?
(41:43):
That he says you lust and you donot have, so you commit murder.
You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and
quarrel. You do not have because you do
not ask. You ask and do not receive
because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend
it on your own pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not
know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?
(42:07):
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes
himself an enemy of God. Very clear words.
So Paul says there's something that causes the evil desire that
leads to your passionate Dr. which leads to impure thoughts
(42:31):
and impure motives, which leads to acts of immorality.
But what is that next word? Greed.
Covetousness. That's the word pleonexia.
It's a word that the the Greeks used of the insatiable desire in
(42:55):
the depths of man's soul. Covetousness.
That's what greed is, Covetousness.
Now listen very carefully. This is very, very important
because it sets the tone for everything in the passage, the
depths of man. So why does man sin?
(43:18):
Covetousness is the last sin listed in the 10 commandments,
the Decalogue. It's not listed last because
it's the least. It's listed last because it's
the cause of all the previous 9.Man shall not covet.
(43:42):
Why does man murder? He covets.
Why does man steal? He covets, he's greedy.
Why does man lie? He covets.
Why does man commit adultery? He covets.
Why does man have another God? When God says there shall be no
other gods before me, it's because covetousness, as he says
(44:10):
in the text, is what idolatry. At the base of every sin is.
Idolatry, self worship. I want something I cannot have.
(44:31):
When I want something I cannot have, I become very, very
covetous. I want it.
And what that does is arouse those lustful passions that lead
to evil desires that lead to impure thoughts that lead to
acts of immorality at the base of every man's nature.
(44:53):
The reason man does what he doesis because he covets that which
he cannot have. This was Satan's sin, right?
Satan wanted something he could not have.
What did he want? He wanted the throne of God.
He coveted God's throne. He wanted to be worshipped as
(45:15):
God has worshipped. At the base of Satan's sin was
idol worship. He worshipped himself.
The reason you sinned, the reason you commits acts of
immorality, the reason you commit any sin at all is because
of self worship. You believe you deserve
(45:39):
something, you believe should have something.
And covetousness is idolatry. In fact, Paul says these words
in Ephesians chapter 3, very similar.
I'm sorry. Ephesians 5 verse three, he says
immorality or any impurity or any greed.
Same 3 words of the words that are used in Colossians Chapter
(46:02):
3. Immorality or impurity or greed
must not even be named among youas proper among the Saints.
OK, not only do you not let it happen, you can't even name it
among you don't even mention it.And there must be no filthiness
and silly talk or coarse jestingwhich are not fitting, but
rather giving thanks for this. You know with certainty that no
(46:26):
immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater
has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
A covetous man is an idolater. The reason there are other gods
before the one true. That's why Christ came.
(46:46):
He says I came to seek what trueworshippers, true worshippers,
those who worship God in spirit and in truth.
I'm looking for people who have no other God before me, no other
God besides me. And when we think of that as as,
as as trying to trying to carve some kind of image like they did
(47:09):
in, in, in ancient times, listen, idolatry is not what you
carve with your hands. It's what you crave in your
heart. That's idolatry.
That's self worship. That's what I want to have.
And pleonixia is a word that that, as I said earlier
(47:29):
described by the Greeks of that it's, it's like a having a,
having a bowl with no bottom that when you pour into it, it
cannot be filled. The insatiable desire of man's
heart. That's what needs to be
destroyed. That's what needs to be
murdered. That's what needs to be killed.
(47:50):
That's what needs to be put awaywith.
That's what needs to be separated from, that's what
needs to be denounced. All idolatry, all covetousness,
not only to violate the command of God, but it leads me into all
kinds of sinful behavior. That's why Paul says these words
in verse #6 of chapter 3 of Colossians.
(48:15):
He says for his because of thesethings, the wrath of God will
come upon the sons of disobedience.
And in them you also once walkedwhen you were living in them.
In other words, this is the way you used to live.
You used to walk this way. This is what characterized your
life before, before Christ was in you and you were in Christ.
(48:39):
This is how the wrath of God comes upon the sons of
disobedience. God dams people to hell because
of these kinds of sins. Why?
Because at the base of man's heart is that he is a self
worshipper. And that's hard for for some of
us to understand, but that is really the the true essence of
(49:00):
sin. We are idolaters in the depths
of our soul. We think that we need something
so bad that we will do everything we can to get it.
And once we get to that place ofself worship, it spawns within
us the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of
life. And it moves us toward evil
desires and passionate drives. It leads us to impure thoughts.
(49:24):
It leads us to acts of immorality.
That's why Paul begins with the act and drives you all the way
back to the heart attitude. The depths of a man is that he
is an idolater. Paul knows this, he understands
this and so he says this is whatneeds to be so denounced.
(49:46):
It needs to be destroyed. You could say this is the
Christians not just as denunciation.
This is the Christians destruction.
He is destroying everything thatleads to idol worship, that
leads to self worship, that leads to his prominence, that
leads to him being put on display, that leads to his own
(50:06):
ego. He destroys all those things and
then he moves to the second list.
Remember, the lists are not inclusive.
They're just a partial list of sins.
But he removes from the attitudeand then moves to the ACT.
(50:28):
Why? Because at the base of the
attitude of speech is covetousness is idolatry.
That's why he says these words. He says, but now you also put
them all aside. What anger, anger that's or gay
that that is the the, the bitterness that that wells up
(50:50):
within us. That's on the inside of man and
that orgae leads to thumos, the boiling over of my attitude of
anger. You know this very well.
You, you, you hear someone, you know someone and just the
thought of them caused you to tobe angry on the inside.
And the more someone talks aboutthem, the more you begin to boil
(51:12):
over with that kind of anger. It begins because somehow, some
way, you are a self worshipper. You think yourself better than
somebody else. You think that you are high and
mighty. You think that you are the cat's
(51:33):
meow. You think you're just the the
the the best thing that's ever happened.
And how dare someone say something that gets you.
So you begin to get angry. That angry leads to to boiling
over to thumos that that that wrath and that wrath leads to
malice, Malice's vicious thoughts, the vicious attitude
(51:55):
that leads to slander. That leads me to slander.
The reason I slander somebody isbecause there are these vicious
thoughts I have about this person that stem from this
bowling over of the anger that Ihave because I think that I'm
better than somebody else because I'm a self worshipper.
I'm an idolater. I'm a covetous person.
(52:19):
And the Bible says in the book of James that when you slander
your brother, you really blasphemy the name of God
because your brother James chapter 3 verse #9 is made in
the image of God. So when you slander your
brother, who's made of the imageof God, you're blaspheming God's
(52:40):
architect, God's creation. Therefore you are blaspheming
God himself. And that slander leads to
abusive speech, abusive speech, speech that is filled with
(53:04):
unrighteousness. Christ would say in Matthew 12.
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh good
man, out of the goodness of the good treasure of the heart
bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil
treasure bringeth forth evil things.
(53:28):
That's why Paul says, let no corrupt communication proceed
from your mouth. Because you see those vicious
thoughts lead to slandering yourbrother, which lead to abusive
speech. By the way, if you recall the
life of Peter, in his denial of the Lord Jesus Christ on the eve
(53:51):
of the crucifixion of the Messiah, he denied the Lord
three times, right? Lord prophesied that he was
denying 3 times for the cockroach, and the third time
that he denied the Lord to this little girl by a fireplace
outside the House of Caiaphas. It says that he used filthy
(54:15):
abusive speech. In other words, he began to
curse and to swear. And guess what?
After that, nobody ever accused him of being a follower of
Christ again. Why?
Because people who follow Christdon't use that kind of language,
(54:39):
that's why. So he was free from being
accused of being a follower of Christ because everybody knows
the words that Jesus spoke, and those who follow Christ would
never speak like that. This is how Peter would get
people to stop accusing him of being a follower of Christ, even
(54:59):
though he was. He began to curse.
He began to swear using abusive speech because that would stop
all accusations against him. And it did.
And that abusive speech leads tolying.
(55:22):
Lying. Why do people lie?
People lie to protect themselves.
Why do they protect themselves? Because they're idol
worshippers. They're self worshippers.
People lie to protect what they want to protect.
They lie because they want to preserve something in their
lives. They would have preserve the
(55:44):
story. They want to preserve that which
they tried to get everybody to believe, right?
It's a self protective act. That's why people lie.
Satan is the father of lies, right?
So whenever you lie, you, you align yourself with the father
of lies. Why would you want to do that
with the father of lies with an idolater?
(56:07):
And those who live lie are self worshippers.
They too are idolaters. So Paul says as Christians keep
seeking those things that are above.
Set your mind on things above and separate yourself from all
(56:28):
sinful acts and sinful words, because those the members of
your body that will haunt you ifyou do not kill those members of
your body and what is you are actually killing.
You are killing the fact that you in the depths of your soul
(56:51):
seek to preserve yourself because you worship yourself,
Paul says. We're worshippers of God.
When you worship God in spirited, in truth, you don't
want to worship yourself. You want to worship the true
God. You want to honor the Lord, you
want to glorify his name. You want to live for the glory
(57:13):
and honor of the Christ. And as long as you're seeking
those things that are above and set your affection and mind on
things above, you can then effectively separate yourself in
those things of the world. Because it's the world that
lives in idolatry, that are covetous, that had this
exuberant greed for that which is wrong.
(57:34):
And the believer, he's marked bya denunciation of all those
things. Why?
Because they worship the king. They want to honor the Lord.
This is just so important to understand.
That's why. That's why man centered
(57:56):
preaching is so bad. God centered preaching gets you
focused on God. And the more you see God, you
see His Holiness. The more you see His Holiness,
the more you see your sinfulness.
But as long as we keep preachingto man, having man centered
sermons, focused on man centeredthings, guess what?
(58:18):
Nobody's convicted of their sin because they don't see God.
They just see themselves. And God knows.
We got enough problems with thatalready.
We don't need to see any more ofourselves and see God.
When you see God in His Holiness, you see your
sinfulness. When you see your sinfulness,
(58:40):
you turn and follow the true Godand worship him.
A Christian What is a Christian?A Christian is one who denounces
and destroys anything in his life that will move him away
(59:02):
from God to be accepted by the world because they want to live
for the glory and honor their King.
Let me pray with you, Father, Wethank you for tonight, and we
thank you for your word. We thank you for the truth
that's there. Our prayer, Father, is that we
would live for you. None of us are perfect.
(59:25):
The Apostle Paul would wrestle with his own sinful behavior
knowing how wrong it was, which makes us so aware of the fact
that that when we see our sin for what it is, we realize it's
an offence to the holy God, our holy God, the one who lives and
reigns within our lives. Help us, Lord, to live for you.
(59:50):
Help us, Lord, to to pursue you.Set our affections on things
above, not on things below. Keep seeking Christ the Lord.
That is where our life really is, for you are our life.
(01:00:12):
As we go home tonight, protect us, keep us safe, and may our
spiritual pilgrimage be greater tonight and tomorrow than ever
before, because we truly want tohonor our King.
In Jesus name, Amen.
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