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Epistle of Paul to the
Colossians VI
Fred R.
Coulter—December 18, 1993
Now we have
come to Colossians 3:1 and as we have done before, I am going to go ahead and
read down certain sections of Scripture and then we will go back and we will
coordinate those with other scriptural references and bring it all into focus.
Let’s begin
right here in Colossians 3:1: “Reflecting on everything that has been written,
now then, if you were raised (out of that watery grave) with Christ, be
diligently and zealously seeking the things which are above, the things of God,
where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Be minding the things, which
are above, setting your heart and your affections on them—not on the
things on the earth (and all that it stands for). Because you have died (to
yourself and this world), and your life (your spiritual life and eternal
destiny) has been hid and laid up in store with Christ, reserved for you in
God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, and shall be revealed for all
to see, then you shall appear and be openly manifested with Him in magnificent
splendor and glory. Therefore, (through the power of the Spirit of Christ in
you—rather than subjecting yourselves to the regimen of the philosophies
of men and the worship of fallen angels), you are to put to death, mortify,
what is earthly in you, those degrading pulls of human nature; sexual depravity
and promiscuity; uncleanness and lewdness; lustful and disgraceful passions of
sexual desires—(the unbridled mental sexual obsessions of your
imagination)—those evil and wicked lusts and yearnings; also, the
inordinate desires for riches—those avaricious, covetous cravings which
are, in fact, idolatry…. [And of course, that is what we are seeing now at
Christmas time.] …On account of these very things the fierce wrath and anger of
God is coming on the children of disobedience—those who obstinately
refuse to believe and obey God; among whom you also at one time conducted your
lives and walked in those evil ways. When you were living that way, your whole
way of life—yes, your entire lifestyle—was actually built around
those things” (vs 1-7).
Now, let’s
go back and let’s take it verse-by-verse and go through it. And remember that
chapter three is written after everything that we went through in chapter two.
I know that chapter two is perhaps, one of the most difficult chapters in the
entire New Testament. So, if you can understand that, then I don’t think you
are going to be hung up on any difficult Scriptures in the New Testament
whatsoever, except that it just may be a matter of technical understanding of
what the Greek may be.
Let’s come
back to Colossians 3:1: “Reflecting on everything that has been written, now
then, if you were raised (out of that watery grave) with Christ, be diligently
and zealously seeking the things which are above, the things of God, where
Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.”
Let’s go
back to Romans 6, because this tells us all about baptism and what it means.
This is very fundamental. It also shows us the whole meaning; the symbolism of
it and it also shows that there must be baptism. Now there are people today,
who believe that you can receive the Spirit of God without baptism, but that is
not true; that is not so. When God gives the Holy Spirit, without baptism or
prior to baptism, like He did with Cornelius, then the person is to be
baptized. And always remember this, that, you never take an exception,
as you find in the case of the exception of Cornelius and his household and
make that the rule or the standard—modus operandi. And we know
that through baptism, you are to be baptized completely immersed in water. You
are to be raised out of the watery grave, have hands laid on you for the
receipt of the Holy Spirit.
Now let’s
pick it up here in Romans 6:1—and again, I want you to notice the
parallel in the writings of the Apostle Paul. Colossians, the way it is written
is considerably more advanced than we have here in Romans. Romans then gives
the fundamental details of it, whereas in Colossians, he said, ‘wherefore if
you are buried with Christ.’ In other words, he is assuming they know
everything that is contained here in Romans, the sixth chapter. The Apostle
Paul, beginning in Romans 6:1 says, concerning baptism: “What then shall we say? Shall we continue
in sin, so that grace may abound?… [And for all the Protestants who
believe in grace, that is one thing that too many of them practice. Now some of
them are trying as hard as they can to not sin. But the problem is you cannot
overcome sin by just beating the flesh as we learned in Colossians, the second
chapter. It must be Christ in you that is doing the overcoming.] …MAY IT NEVER BE!” (vs 1-2).
Now let’s
understand that ‘God forbid’ (KJV), in the Greek means, may it never
be. In other words, it is not something that God is going to stop or ‘God
forbid,’ but he is saying, may this never even be—which means, don’t
let it come into mind, don’t let it exist, because that is not the way of
God. And as we are going to see, a little later, that God wants His laws and
His commandments and His way, and His love and His faith written in our hearts
and our minds. And that is the whole purpose of the New Covenant.
Now continuing v 2: “We who died to sin, how shall we live any longer therein?…. [Then he
explains what it means to be dead to sin. He explains in Rom. 7 that we still
have the law of sin and death in us and we have to overcome and grow in grace
and knowledge and that is true. And we will see how that parallels in Col. 2 as
we go through verse-by-verse.] (v 3 he says): …Or are you ignorant that we, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?”…. [That is a
tremendous thing, and the Greek means there, that we were co-joined into His death.] …Therefore, we were buried with Him though the baptism into the death; so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in
newness of life…. [Which is what we are going to see that Col. 3 is all
about and it expounds it even more about this newness of life.] …For if we have been conjoined together
in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we might no longer be
enslaved to sin” (vs 2-6). And so that shows the whole meaning of what it means to
be, that if you have died in Christ and were raised out of the watery grave,
your life is then hid in Christ Jesus.
Now, let’s
continue on here in Colossians 3:1: “…be diligently and zealously seeking the
things which are above, the things of God, where Christ is sitting at the right
hand of God.” Now, how are we going to be able to do this? We are going to be
able to do it, because of the Spirit of God in us. And I’ll tell you
what, one of the things that is so very, very important is that, when you have
the Spirit of God and these things are in your mind and in your heart and in
your being, then you are going to be seeking the things of God, where Christ is
sitting at the right hand of God.
Now, we find this in Ephesians, the third chapter, where it
tells us, in one of the most, inspiring sections of the whole Bible, and, of
course, in hearing me preach any length of time as many of you have, you know
that I go there many, many times and cover this. This is what we are to set our
minds on, on the things which are above. And I tell you if there
is any one thing that I am beginning to see and to know and to learn and to
understand more and that is the way you overcome sin to the greater degree is
that, you really focus in on loving God. And you put that as the
primary thing. And that is the greatest thing to set your mind on.
Now here in Ephesians 3:16—Paul writes: “That He may
grant you, according to
the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power by His Spirit in the
inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; And that being
rooted and grounded in love… [And that is the whole way you are going to set your
heart and your mind on the things that are above.] …you may be fully able to comprehend
with all the saints… [And, brethren, this is one of the goals that we all
have to have. This is the whole meat and purpose of what God wants us to
comprehend and understand and grow to.] …you may be fully able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, And to know the love of Christ,
which surpasses human knowledge; so that you may be filled with all the
fullness of God” (vs 16-19). Now God is able to do that and God will do that. You
just wait and see. You go ahead and realize that if you focus in on the love of
God that that is going to help you to be able to grow in that particular way.
Now let’s go
to Hebrews 10 [transcriber’s correction], let’s see concerning the
new covenant, concerning how then, what is the basic, fundamental thing that we
get in to our system, in our heart and mind, as the Holy Spirit will lead us.
We have to put in, we have to drink in of:
- God’s way,
- God’s Spirit,
- God’s laws,
- God’s commandments and so forth.
Let’s come
to Hebrews 10:16: “‘This is the covenant that I will establish with them
after those days,’ says the Lord: ‘I will give My laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe
them in their minds.’” Which is really a tremendous thing and the Greek
means to inscribe as in a stone.
I don’t know if any of you have been following the
series that they have been doing on the mental abilities or the way that the
mind works, but they now understand that, if you use your mind constantly, that
you are going to be alert mentally, all of your life. Of course, there comes a
time when we reach toward the end of our lives that we aren’t going to be as
mentally sharp as we were when we were younger. But they found that even in
cases where there is advanced age, that people who use their minds, because of
the way that the brain was made and built to function, that their minds
actually become greater and better and sharper. And I’ll tell what, from what I
know of some of the ministers I know of I will take any of the people that I
know of who are advanced in age and who have used their minds and have really
studied their Bibles and I’ll stack them up against some ministers I know and
they’ll put those ministers to shame. So that is the whole part of the covenant
that God is giving us that He is doing so we can focus in on the things that
are at the right hand of God.
Now, let’s
come back to the book of Psalms 46:7, and we will see how this all ties in with
it: “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is your refuge.” So this is what God is going to do. He is with us in everything that
we do, because
- He’s given us His Spirit.
- He’s given us His commandments.
- He’s given us His love.
And that is
what we need to focus in on.
What we are
going to do is go back to Psalm 37. And we are going to see that Psalm 37
appears to be the guide, which Paul followed to write Col. 3 Now it mixes in
with some other things, but it has almost the same thing. Put on/put off; put
on/put off; put on/put off—which we find in Col. 3. We are going to go
through quite a bit of Psalm 37:1: “Fret not yourself because of evildoers, nor
be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the
grass, and wither as the green herb…. [Part of our problems that we have in
relationship to that is that we are not patient enough. As I mentioned in the
sermon that I did on How to Use the Holy Spirit when we see all the
world prospering, we get frustrated. Well, he says don’t get frustrated.] (v
3): …Trust in the Lord, and do good; and so shall you dwell in the land and
verily you shall be fed…. [Tremendous promise from God. We’ll see how that
follows right closely along with Col 3.] …Delight yourself also in the Lord…
[Rather than saying; ‘Oh well, you know, I just wish God hadn’t given this
commandment. Oh my, this is so tough and I’m looking out here and seeing all
these other people who aren’t keeping the commandments and man, they don’t seem
to be having the difficulties.’ But turn it around the other way] …Delight
yourself also in the Lord… [Notice what He’s going to do then]: …and He shall
give you the desires of your heart” (vs 1-4).
As we just
read in Eph. 3, above and beyond all that we could think or ask. So He will do
that—v 5: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall
bring it to pass…. [So that is why this whole theme is here, rest in the
Lord; trust in the Lord, look to Him, set your affection on the things above.]
…He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the
noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself because
of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to
pass. Cease from anger, forsake wrath; fret not yourself in anywise to do
evil…. [We’ll see how this really follows along very nicely.] …For evildoers
shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth”
(vs 5-9). And not only, are we going to inherit the earth, but we are going to
have the inheritance of New Jerusalem.
Let’s come
clear down here to v 27—I will let you read all the rest of the way
through because that’s helpful, too, in understanding Col. 3. Let’s come down
here to Psalm 37:27—exact same thing that we find in Col. 3: “Depart from
evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. For the Lord loves judgment and
forsakes not His saints; they are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked
shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever.
The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The
law of his God is in his heart; and none of his steps shall slide…. [And
so there is a tremendous promise from God. Now notice how that ties right in so
nicely with what we read there in Heb. 10.] …The law of his God is in
his heart…” (vs 27-31). And therefore, then, that will give you the guide and
the understanding as led by the Holy Spirit.
Let’s come
down to Psalm 37:34: “Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and he
shall exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.” When are the wicked going to be totally cut off? At the return
of Jesus Christ. So this flows right into everything that we have in the
New Testament.
Now let’s
come back to Colossians 3:2-4, and let’s see some things here which are very
important for us. “Be minding the things which are above, setting your heart
and your affections on them—not on the things on the earth (and all that
it stands for). Because you have died (to yourself and this world), and your
life (your spiritual life and eternal destiny) has been hid and laid up in
store with Christ, reserved for you in God…. [And so that is a tremendous and
absolute blessing.] …When Christ, Who is our life… [Now that is really something
to contemplate and understand, isn’t it? If Christ be in you and the Father be
in you, He is your life, because as Jesus said, the words that He spoke, they
are Spirit and they are life. Now we have something, brethren, that God has
given us with the promises, that is so sure that we need not be discouraged one
minute, concerning anything. Now we might get down and depressed a little bit,
but when you do as Paul said here, be minding the things that are above and
realize that when Christ is going to appear.] (notice): …then you shall appear
and be openly manifested with Him in magnificent splendor and glory.”
You can put
in your notes there, 1-John 3:1-3: “Behold! What glorious love the
Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God!…and it
has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is
manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is.”
In other words, the whole plan and purpose of God, for us, is that He is going
to share His magnificent, splendor and glory with us.
With that in
mind, let me read you the section that I have here, concerning mankind.
The One of
the God Family Who later became Jesus Christ, personally created Adam and Eve
with His own hands, in their image and after their likeness, a little lower
than God (Elohim)—the Hebrew word ‘Elohim’ is a plural noun for God.
Human beings are flesh and blood and do not have inherit immortality within
themselves. However, God has added to the human brain a spirit essence called
the spirit of man. This spiritual dimension of human brain imparts mind, power
and intellect. Therefore, human beings have the capacity to think, to think
beyond their minds and bodies, to speak, to learn, to write, to plan, to
devise, to create, to build, to control, to teach, to choose, to worship, to
build character, combined with all the emotional feelings and expressions. God
made them male and female for the expression of intimate, personal love with
each other as husband and wife. And through this physical union, they would
create children after their own kind; produce families, clans, tribes and
nations.
Adam and Eve
were not created with a sinful nature, but after sinning, by eating the fruit
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God, in His judgment, sentenced
them for their sins to the penalty of death and a sinful nature. This sinful
nature was passed to all mankind by physical inheritance. As a result, human
nature is naturally hostile to God and not subject to His laws or commandments.
From conception, human nature is a mixture of good and evil and all die in
Adam. When a person dies, his or her conscience thoughts cease. The body
returns to the dust and the spirit in man goes back to God. Only through God
the Father’s gracious and merciful plan of salvation, through Jesus Christ and
the Father’s personal, individual calling, is it possible for a person to be
redeemed and saved from this sinful nature of death. God’s overall plan and
purpose of salvation for each human being is complete reconciliation with God
the Father through Jesus Christ. And that he or she may ultimately enter into
the family of God, as a literal son or daughter of God, sharing the same
eternal existence as God. (Beliefs of the Christian Biblical Church of God).
So that is a
tremendous thing, brethren. When I get this beliefs booklet done, I start out
with the God Family. That is interesting in the light of the things that we
have heard recently. Then God the Father and then God the Son, Jesus Christ of
Nazareth; and then mankind, and then God’s love to us and our love to God. And
it is so tremendous, it is absolutely just overwhelming and magnificent when we
think that what Paul is talking to us about here and writing about is the very
greatest Being in the universe, Sovereign Ruler of the universe, has called us
and has given us
- access to
Him through prayer,
- access to
His Word through study,
- access to
growing and overcoming,
that we may be in the Kingdom of God
for ever and ever and ever. So, when He appears, we are going to be meeting Him
in the air, on the Sea of Glass and He is going to share His magnificent
splendor and glory with us.
Now let’s
come back to Colossians, the third chapter, again. We have a couple of other
verses we need to finish here, let’s put in your notes, Phil. 3:21, where it is
that we look to Christ, when He returns, “Who will transform our vile bodies” of sin like
unto the glorious body that He has, at His appearance and at His coming.
Colossians
3:5—notice what we have here. We have the command to put away all of
these things. I made rather a long interjection here in parentheses. The reason
I did that is, because, I tried to bring a quick summary of everything in
chapter two, talking about philosophy and fallen angels and put that in
perspective with what Paul is talking about here. “…Therefore, (through the
power of the Spirit of Christ in you—rather than subjecting yourselves to
the regimen of the philosophies of men and the worship of fallen angels), you
are to put to death, mortify, what is earthy in you…” In other words, this is a
basic beginning on how to overcome and put down sin.
Let’s go to 2-Corinthians 10 and let’s see something that goes
right along with this, how we are to do it. 2-Corinthians 10:4: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the overthrowing of strongholds,
Casting down vain imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into
the obedience of Christ” (vs 4-5). That says an awful lot. This tells us, how
then, we are to overcome sin, we are to overcome lust, again what is it doing,
we are focusing our minds in on Christ, we are bringing it into the obedience
of Christ. And we are to overcome it, through the faith that we have, the love
that we have and focusing in on the things which are above. This is the way to
overcome the degrading pulls of human nature.
Let’s come back to Colossians 3:5 “…sexual depravity and
promiscuity… [The greatest problem that human beings have, complete
misdirection of what God created in us to have intimate personal love with
husbands and wives. And we see how it ruins societies, it ruins lives. You
personally may know, I personally know, those people who have gotten so caught
up in this, that their lives are ruined and destroyed, and unless they turn to
Christ, it is just a complete shambles the rest of their lives. Now, they may
be able to kind of block it out of their mind and kind of live with it but
nevertheless, that is always there to haunt them.] …uncleanness and lewdness…
[Let’s understand something about the term uncleanness: any sin that you
commit puts you into a state of, either physical uncleanness or spiritual
uncleanness. And so, this has to do with more of the uncleanness of mind,
you know you have heard of what is said, ‘a dirty mind’? This is what that is
referring to in lewdness.] …lustful and disgraceful passions of sexual desires…
[Which then, I put in brackets, because this is what the whole society is
trying to get everyone to focus in on, because of the world we live in, you
could call in condom mania.] …—(the unbridled mental sexual
obsessions of your imagination)—those evil and wicked lusts [thoughts]
and yearnings…” That is going to be one of the major, driving forces of any
human being, which if it is not contained, with the Spirit and the power of
God, it is not going to be overcome.
Let’s go to 1-Corinthians 9:27. Here is what the Apostle Paul
did in his overcoming, in his putting the flesh down, in his changing so that
he could qualify for the Kingdom of God. Every one of us, we have our part,
ultimately, Christ has to do all of it, but we have our part and we must work
with and cooperate with the Spirit of God, as it leads us. So we have to put
forth the maximum effort that we can.
Let’s come here to 1-Corinthians 9:24, where he says: “Don’t you know that those who run
a race all run, but only one receives the prize? That is the way you are
to run in order that you may obtain the prize …. [So what
he is saying, we are to live our Christian lives, with the whole thought in
mind that, the goal of eternal life is like receiving the first prize, or the
first place, as you would compare that to some of the sports and things that
you would see or watch.] (v 25): …For everyone who is striving for mastery controls
himself in all things…. [And that means discipline. He disciplines himself. He
doesn’t have the excesses and so forth. And he says that those who do this,
they discipline themselves.] …Of course, they do this so that they may receive a corruptible
crown; but we are striving for an incorruptible crown…. [So what
God has held out for us is even so much greater, so much better, so fantastic.]
…I therefore so run, not
as one who is uncertain… [You can’t be uncertain, you have to ask God for the
full faith, for the full love, for the full understanding, for the blessing of
His grace, for the blessing of His mercy and everything that God does in
dealing with you and also in dealing with others.] (So he says): …so also I fight, not as beating the air…. [He is just not out there, wailing his arms around.] …But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection… [So here, the Apostle Paul was showing the extent of the effort
that he put into overcoming. When we come back to Colossians 3 and see what we
are to put off and to put on, then this makes a whole lot of sense.] …lest, after preaching to others, I
myself might be rejected” (vs 24-27).
So the
Apostle Paul really understood the whole thing concerning the pulls of the
flesh and all the difficulties of growing and overcoming, putting down sin and
bringing every thought into captivity. On our way back to Colossians, let’s
stop off at Galatians 5:16, here is a whole tremendous and wonderful verse.
Galatians 5:16: “Now this I say, walk by the Spirit… [In other words, let the Spirit of
God lead you. Let the laws of God be written in your heart and mind. Let them
be the guide for what you do. Add to that, the faith of God, the hope of God,
the love of God.] (Notice): …walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the
flesh.” That is, what you might say, the counterpoint of philosophy.
Philosophy is: the only way you overcome the lust of the flesh, is to deprive
it, because you see, they don’t have the Spirit of God to overcome, so they are
trying to figure out how they can do it. That’s what ends up being so futile.
But, with the Spirit of God we ‘will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.’ I’ll tell
you one thing, if you really focus in on the love of God, you are not going to
be fulfilling the lust of the flesh.
This shows the fruit of the Spirit; v 22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, Meekness, self-control;
against such things there is no law. But those who are Christ’s have
crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts…. [Gal. 2:20 [transcriber’s
correction]: ‘I
have been crucified with Christ, yet I live. Indeed, it is no longer I;
but Christ lives in me.’] …If we live by the Spirit, we should also be walking by the Spirit. We should not become vain-glorious, provoking one another and envying one another” (vs 22-26). So there are some tremendous lessons
for us here on how to grow, how to change, how to overcome, how to yield ourselves
to God.
Let’s come
back to Colossians 3:5 and let’s finish the last sentence there: “…also, the
inordinate desires for riches—those avaricious, covetous cravings which
are, in fact, idolatry.”
We had the
occasion, we had to go up to San Francisco, and so, right across the parking
lot was Macy’s Department Store. We had a little time to kill before our
appointment, so Dolores and Rochelle went in there to shop and I hate shopping
so I found myself a little chair to sit down in, while they wandered through
the store for twenty or thirty minutes. They didn’t end up getting anything.
But I just sat there, and of course, it was right during the Christmas shopping
season and you could almost smell the covetous cravings for physical things as
people are walking in and walking out. I’ll tell you, in San Francisco you have
to be prepared to see all kinds of odd and weird looking people. It is unreal!
But anyway, people going around, they are all hyped up on the music for
Christmas shopping, they are all kind of in a trance, walking around, seeing
what they can buy. Walking out the doors with shopping bags full of things and
just caught up in this whole thing of Christmas. That’s exactly what Christmas
is all about. To appeal to the covetous and the avaricious and the idolatry of
doing good, under the guise of evil, of which then is idolatry.
I was
thinking, as I was sitting there, watching all of this and wondering why people
go through this, and it really dawned on me. The reason people get caught up in
Christmas so much is that, it appeals to their lying and deceitful nature. What
is one of the things that a lying and deceitful nature would have you do? That
is, do good with a lie. You think on that! Everything that Christmas is
based upon a lie. But then, they try and do good. The whole Santa Claus thing,
the whole bit on that and everything. That just keeps them all wrapped up in
the things of the world, the things of the flesh, the covetousness and the
greed, which are in fact, idolatry. If a Christmas tree in a house is not
idolatry, I don’t know what it is. I personally think that, it symbolizes the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil and symbolizes those of the world who
are celebrating their own fall, through deceit, which they don’t even understand,
that that is what they are celebrating. I know, I asked a man the other day, we
were talking about a Christmas tree and I said—I didn’t give him the
answer, I just wanted to see what his response would be—I said; “Why do
we have all of these orbs and all of these Christmas lights and balls and
things like this on Christmas trees and why do people bring a tree into their
house?” Well, he told me; “It’s fun, it’s beautiful, it’s entertaining, and
it’s wonderful.” It was really something.
Let’s come
back here to Colossians 3:6: “On account of these very things the fierce wrath
and anger of God is coming on the children of disobedience—those who
obstinately refuse to believe and obey God… [If I would have told that person,
“look” and gave him just the whole naked truth about Christmas, he would have
really been thrown for a loop and look at me as if I am crazy. Their time is
coming.] …Among whom you also at one time conducted your lives and walked in
those evil ways. When you were living that way, your whole way of
life—yes, your entire life style—was actually built around those
things…. [All of the physical things are going to come tumbling down. Now we
are getting into some of the things we need to overcome, which I have found,
with my own experience, are those things that you can overcome far better, by
really focusing on the love of God, the laws of God and so forth.] …But even
now, you should also put off…. [So there is a whole process, we are to put in,
Christ. We are to put off and put out all of these other things that he lists
here in v 8.]: …(Strip away, cast aside, and renounce) every one of these
things: indignation, anger and wrath” (vs 6-8).
Of course,
these are the things that get us, more than any thing else. Remember, he is
talking to converted Christians. So he is saying, put these things away, so, it
is no surprise, we have these things to work on, right? Yes. I’ll just
have to say, that is what I need to work on, an awful lot. “…indignation, wrath
and anger; emotional outbursts of temper, and hateful rages—[which then
are] …malignant, bitter thoughts of spitefulness… [I’ll tell you what, if there
is any one thing that can spoil an attitude, it is bitterness. Especially, if
it is bitterness against God, because things didn’t go the way that you wanted. Now, think on that statement! Maybe what you wanted is not God’s way. So
rather than be bitter, as some people are, go to God and say, ‘God, help me to
understand.’] …bitter thoughts of spitefulness; blasphemy and cursing; obscene,
vile or foul language from out of your mouth. [Eliminate these degrading
character traits and habits]” (v 8).
And, I know,
even the Proverbs say, ‘Don’t be around an angry man, lest you be like him.’
Don’t be around someone who has a foul mouth, lest you begin picking up what he
is saying. I know, I have experienced and you have experienced it: if you are
around people who are using bad language, swearing or cursing, you will
inadvertently pick it up in your mind, though you don’t want to have it there,
but just being around and hearing those kind of things, it puts it into your
mind. These are the things that you need to put down and put away and stop and
really yield yourselves to God in a way that is going to be right and good and
true and loving. And you’ll feel better when you get these things out of your
mind. The next time you really smash your thumb with a hammer or whatever it
may be, then you will find out what sort of progress you are making.
(go to the
next track)
Let’s
continue on in Colossians 3:9: “Do not lie or speak deceitfully to one
another…. [Here, he is talking to Christians. Have Christians lied to each
other? Yes. Have they spoken deceitfully to each other? Yes. Is
it something that they should do? No! So that is why Paul says put it
away.] …considering that you yourselves have put off and fully renounced
the old person (your old self which was buried in the watery grave of baptism)
together with his deeds…” There is the whole operation of putting off/putting
out, getting rid of.
Let’s come back to Romans 6 again and see that Paul was
teaching the same thing in a little bit different way than he is here in Col.
3. Romans 6:8—notice how closely this parallels what Paul wrote: “Now if we died together with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with Him, Knowing that Christ, having been
raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has any dominion
over Him. For when He died, He died unto sin once for all; but in that He
lives, He lives unto God. In the same way also, you should indeed reckon
yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God through Christ Jesus our Lord…. [Notice,
he gives an overall statement here in v 12]: …Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body by
obeying it in the lusts thereof…. [He didn’t say you are not to have
sin and you are to be completely perfect, because we know that is an
impossibility. What he is saying is, don’t let it rule in your lives; don’t let
it reign in your lives. If you walk in the Spirit, you shall not fulfill the
lust of the flesh.] …Likewise,
do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; rather,
yield yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness to God” (vs 8-13). So there is
the whole, profound and important lesson of changing, of growing, of
overcoming, of putting out, and that is how we put out.
Let’s come to Romans 8:9—this is also very important for
us to understand in our relationship with God, our relationship with each
other, in changing and growing and overcoming. “However, you are not in the flesh… [That is,
you are not living as a carnal human being, without the Spirit of God.] …but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is indeed dwelling within you…” That is the
most profound and important thing, brethren. That the Spirit of God dwell in
you.
Now, there are times, because of difficulties, there are
times, because of sin; or there are times, because of sorrow; or there are
times, because of frustration and not knowing exactly how God is going to work
things out, that you may feel like there is not as much of God’s Spirit in you
as you would like. But, don’t worry, it is still there. God doesn’t take away
His Holy Spirit unless you commit absolutely, the unpardonable sin. And if you
do, you will never be the same person again. But, nevertheless, if we have the
Spirit of God dwelling in us, then we are His.
“…But if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
But if Christ be within you, the body is indeed dead because of
sin; however, the Spirit is life because of righteousness…. [So again,
we have the same thing that Paul is writing about, the contrast between the
flesh and the Spirit, to put out one thing and to put on another thing.] …Now if the Spirit
of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling within you, He Who
raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies… [that means
to make alive your mortal bodies, obviously at the resurrection] …because of His
Spirit that dwells within you. So then, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; Because if you are living according to the flesh, you shall die;
but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you
shall live…. [And how is this done?] (v 14): …For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
these are the sons of God” (vs 9-14). That is pretty powerful, what
Paul is writing, how we need to grow and change and overcome.
Let’s come
back to Colossians 3:10—now here comes what we need to do.
- If you put
something out, you need to put something in.
- If you take
something off, you need to put something on.
- If you get
rid of sin, then you need to put in righteousness,
and that is the whole thing that Paul is talking about.
“And that you put on and exemplify the new person (Christ in you—your new
self), which is being continuously renewed and regenerated in godly spiritual
knowledge according to the likeness and exact image of Him (Jesus Christ) Who
created and is creating (in you that new person from within).” And there is the
whole process of overcoming. You can see by this, this is a very high level of
Christian growth and may we attain unto that. May we really understand and
realize that in a way that we ought to.
Verse 11:
“Where (there are no physical barriers or qualifications)…. [That’s important
to understand, especially when you reflect on what the Jews said to Jesus, they
said ‘we be Abraham’s seed.’ Well, it’s not because of what you
are; it’s because of Who God is.] …or qualifications… [there is
no physical qualification that God is laying down for a person to be a
Christian, as we saw with the circumcision of the heart and so forth.] …where
there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Scythian, slave nor freeman; rather Christ is all things (of Christian
character and enlightenment) in everyone.”
Let’s go to
Galatians 3:26, and let’s see where the Apostle Paul, again wrote of this and
shows who are the true seed of Abraham. It ties in exactly with what we are
talking about here. “Because
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” Let’s
understand something, very important: if you are the children of God, it
doesn’t matter what your physical status is. It is true; there are
prophecies for different nations. It is true, there are prophecies concerning
the ten tribes of Israel; of which we are in the midst of, I am convinced of,
here in the United States, even though we are going down the tubes just like
Babylon the Great. However, please understand that every time Israel and Judah
sinned, they became Babylonianized. You cannot count on the fact that you are
who you are physically to come to God and say because who I am you must do
something for me. That is not faith in Christ.
Galatians
3:27: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ…. [It means baptized into His death, His burial and
resurrection and so forth.] …did put on Christ…. [Which Christ in you is the
hope of glory, which was the whole focus of the first chapter of the book of
Colossians.] …There is neither Jew… [a Jew has no standing before God because
he is a Jew] …nor Greek… [a Greek has no standing before God because he is a
Greek, or you can put in any other nationality or bloodline that you want
there] …there is neither bond nor free…. [Because, you see if you are free and
a slave of sin you are still in bondage, but if you are a slave and you are
free of sin because of Christ you are free.] …there is neither male nor female…
[as far as Christian growth and overcoming is concerned. There is male and
female as far as our physical lives are concerned, but a man isn’t going to
come to God and say ‘Well God, you made me the head of my wife, so therefore I
deserve better.’ It won’t happen.] …neither male nor female, for you are all
one in Christ Jesus…. [That is your spiritual standing before God. Your spiritual standing before God does not eliminate the fact of your physical
status, but just as your physical status has no standing with God on account of salvation.] …And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise” (vs 27-29). That is what is so very important for us
to know, to realize, to understand, to live by, to really concentrate on.
Let’s come
back to Colossians 3:12. In the process of putting out all of these sins, in
the process of beating the flesh, as it were, as the Apostle Paul said, that he
fights, and he fights putting down these physical things and lust and greed and
works of the flesh by walking in the Spirit. Here’s what we need to do: ‘Consequently,
be putting on and clothing yourselves with godly, Christian character, (the
fullness of God’s way, even His love and attitude, in your mind).”
Let’s
understand something here that is very interesting, let’s go to Revelation
3:18. Here is part of the message to the Laodiceans, I don’t want to focus in
on the whole message, but I want to focus in on just one part. He says: “I counsel you to buy from Me gold
purified by fire so that you may be rich; and white [raiment] garments… [The phrase
‘white raiment’ means that you buy from Christ, the white raiment. Tie
that in with Matt. 25:9, about the ten virgins: five were wise, five were
foolish and the wise told the foolish: ‘Well, you have to go to them that sell
and you buy.’ That is the same message that is here, we are to come to Christ
and through the righteousness that He gives us, we are to purchase, without
physical money—but with the Spirit of God—the white raiment. And
the white raiment is what? The righteousness of Christ. Why?] …and the shame of your nakedness may
not be revealed…” So that is really very important, we are to be clothed, we are
to put on, we are to have all of these things put into our hearts and minds and
being.
Let’s come
back to Colossians 3:12—here is how we are to do it; we are to: “…be
putting on and clothing yourselves with godly, Christian character, (the
fullness of God’s way, even His love and attitude, in your mind), as the elect
and selected ones of God… [Remember the calling that God has given you it is
from God the Father, Himself.] …holy and consecrated… [That’s what you are to
God. When we look at ourselves in the mirror and see this aging flesh as it’s
coming along or whatever it may be, it is hard for us to realize that we are
Holy and consecrated. But with the Spirit of God, we are, in fact, Holy and
consecrated.] …even the beloved and cherished ones in Christ… [I have a
question here: Of all that God is doing in the universe, what is He focusing in
on more than anything else if it is not the children that He has called and
given His Spirit to? That’s what He is focusing in on. And that’s what Christ
wants. He wants us to grow in grace, to grow in knowledge] …(develop these
attributes of God)… Here is what we need to develop brethren]: …compassion and
tender mercy… [How? That you just put it on? No.] …flowing from
the depths of your innermost being…. [I put that in there because it is
to be without any pretense.] …from the depths of your innermost being; kindness
and sympathy; humility and lowliness of mind and heart… [Not the
self-exaltation and the vanity and all the stupidity and things that we as
human beings do.] …meekness and controlled calmness; longsuffering and
fortitude.” Here are all the things that we are to be putting on.
Verse 13
shows what this is going to do. “Forbearing one another… [Don’t be getting mad
and angry at each other because of a little problem that may come along.]
…having an attitude of tolerance and understanding; forgiving each other, if
anyone has a dispute with anyone else, or a complaint or criticism against any;
exactly as Christ forgave you (blotting out, forgiving and forgetting all your
sins, transgressions and offences against Him), in the same way, you also
should be doing (the same thing).”
Let’s go to Matthew 18.
Let’s see something that is really important, in our relationship with God and
our relationship with each other. How many times have we seen this take hold
the wrong way? How many times have we seen someone that God has called, whom
God has forgiven their sins, whom God has given His Spirit and then they come
along and they forget that they have had their sins forgiven?
Matthew 18:23: “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is compared to a man, a certain king, who would take account with his servants. And after he began to reckon,
there was brought to him one debtor who owed him ten thousand talents…. [You can
liken that to; we’ll just round that off to $10 million and be generous. If you
were in debt, $10 million, think of that. I know, it is difficult, when you have
debt and you don’t have money coming in, to try and figure where you are going
to pay these bills, and especially, if the creditors come around and they are
banging on the doors and beating in the walls and clanging on the phones. Just
liken that to your own sins.] …But since he did not have anything to pay, his lord commanded him
to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be
made. Because of this, the servant fell down and worshiped him, saying,
‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And being moved with
compassion, the lord of that servant released him, and forgave him the debt… [Now then,
when we are in that status before God, too many times we do the following.
Because we forget what it was that God has done for us, and we become focused
in on the physical things. We become focused in on a character trait or
character flaw and we forget our own weaknesses and our own stupidities and our
own sins. We do!
Verse 28: “Then that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants,
who owed him a hundred silver coins; and after seizing him, he choked him,
saying, ‘Pay me what you owe.’ As a result, his fellow servant fell down at his
feet and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you
everything.’ But he would not listen; instead, he went and cast him into
prison, until he should pay the amount that he owed. Now when his fellow
servants saw the things that had taken place, they were greatly
distressed; and they went to their lord and related all that had taken
place. Then his lord called him and said to him, ‘You wicked
servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you implored me” (vs 28-32). It shows the
tremendous, immediate forgiveness that God shows toward our sins.
- Can we not give
the same allowance, toward others that God will forgive them of their sins?
- Can we not
be patient and forbearing and understanding in that way?
- Can we not
grow in compassion with God’s Spirit to do so?
That’s hard to do, brethren,
I know. If you have really been offended or someone has offended you, it is
hard. It is not easy. It may take an awful lot of prayer on your part.
Remember this, v 33: “…‘Were you not also obligated to have compassion on your fellow
servant, even as I had compassion on you?’ And in anger, his lord delivered him
up to the tormentors, until he should pay all that he owed to him. Likewise… [here is the
whole lesson] …shall My
heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his
brother’s offenses from the heart” (vs 33-35). So that is very clear. Paul
is teaching exactly the same thing here in Colossians 3.
Let’s go
back to Colossians 3:13: “Forbearing one another, having an attitude of
tolerance and understanding; forgiving each other, if anyone has a dispute with
anyone else, or a complaint or criticism against any; exactly as Christ forgave
you (blotting out, forgiving and forgetting all your sins, transgressions
[trespasses] and offences against Him), in the same way, you also should be
doing [the same thing]…. [Here is the pinnacle that we are to come to] …In
addition to all these things (above and beyond the basic qualities of Christian
character) be putting on and clothing yourselves with THE LOVE… [that’s
what it is in the Greek, the ‘agape,’ the
love] …(that godly, divine love), which is the bond of cohesiveness
that unites us all together in spiritual maturity and Christian perfection” (vs
13-14).
It is so
very important that we do that, brethren. That very love that comes from God, I
hope to do a complete series on the love of God, but remember this, it is so
absolutely important, that we love God because He loved us first and
that is how we ought to be loving each other. I’ll tell you what, if we are in
the process of growing and overcoming and putting out sin and putting off the
things that Paul said, put off, put out, get rid of and put on Christ, and put
on the Spirit of God, then you know that the problems are going to be
minimized. As long as we are in the flesh and have human nature, there are still
going to be some problems and difficulties, but let’s keep them all down to a
dull roar, by using the Spirit of God. Only the Spirit of God can give us that.
Only the Spirit of God can help us.
Here’s what
we are to do: v 14: “…be putting on
and clothing yourselves with THE
LOVE (that godly, divine love), which is the bond of cohesiveness that
unites us all together in spiritual maturity and Christian perfection…. [The
only thing I can say is, recall this past Feast of Tabernacles, because, I tell
you, that certainly, I think, epitomized almost everything that the Apostle
Paul is writing of here. When this happens]: …And let the peace, harmony and
tranquility of God rule and predominate (be the governing force in) your hearts
and minds, by which (peace and rulership) you all were called into one body,
the Church… [which then is the spiritual body of Christ] …and always be
thankful and filled with gratitude (reflecting the preciousness of your
calling)…. [Then he shows exactly how all of this is done] …Let the word and
message of Christ be dwelling, living and residing in you, richly and
abundantly, in all wisdom and understanding…” (vs 14-16). That is what we are
to let abide in us, the Word of God, the Truth of God, the love of God.
Let’s go back to Ephesians, the fourth chapter. Eph. 4 is
really a parallel of Col. 3. As a matter of fact, you could put them,
side-by-side, and study it, and we are going to do that when we get the final
disposition of Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians done.
Ephesians 4:21: “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him,
according to the truth in Jesus: That concerning your former conduct,
you put off the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts…. [Notice how
that parallels Col. 3] …And
that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that you put on the new
man, which according to God is created in righteousness and holiness of the
truth” (vs 21-24). And that is the whole goal, brethren.
God is not going to beat us in the Kingdom of God. He is going
to lead us into it, and being led then, what is the most important thing of
that, that is by the Spirit of God we are going to be inspired,
we are going to be uplifted, we are going to be desiring and
wanting God’s love and His way and His Truth and His Kingdom and His salvation.
Then you can read all the rest of Eph. 4, where he goes through the same thing;
put away lying, don’t be angry, don’t give place to the devil, don’t steal,
don’t have any corrupt communication out of your mouth and so forth. Grieve not
the Holy Spirit. Put away bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil
speaking.
And now the very last verse, 32: “And be kind and tenderhearted
toward one another, forgiving one another, even as God has also in Christ
forgiven you.” That is tremendous, brethren, the way that these books come
together.
Let’s come
to Philippians, the second chapter, and see again we have the same thing. I
tell you, when Paul was writing these prison epistles of Ephesians, Philippians
and Colossians, God gave him an extra measure of inspiration. I think that He
gave the extra measure of inspiration to Paul because he was so alone and so
deprived and he didn’t know whether he was going to live or die and so he wrote
these epistles from the very, innermost part of his being, if we could put it
that way.
Philippians
2:1: “Now then, if there
be any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any deep inner affections and compassions,
Fulfill my joy, that you be of the same mind, having the same love, being
joined together in soul, minding the one thing. Let nothing be done through contention or vainglory, but in humility, each esteeming the
others above himself…. [That is something, brethren, which is really a very
important attitude for us to have. What does that reflect, then? Let’s continue
with v 4 and we will see what this attitude reflects.] …Let each one look not only after his own things, but let each one also consider the things
of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (vs 1-5).
There is the whole goal, brethren, of what we are to do, in character and
growth and overcoming.
- Was not Jesus perfect in love? Yes.
- Was not Jesus perfect in obedience? Yes.
- Was He not perfect in faith? Yes.
- Does He not give these things to us? Yes.
He gives us
- His own faith,
- His own love,
- His own hope,
- His own strength
- and everything to be right in the very midst of our
being.
Let’s come
back here to Colossians 3:16, here is how we are to really grow in grace and in
knowledge with the Spirit of God. “Let the word and message of Christ be
dwelling, living and residing in you, richly and abundantly, in all wisdom and
understanding… [That is so important brethren, I know there are people who, and
I have heard it from people in other Churches of God, that what they do is they
read the Bible. That’s okay, that’s better than not reading it, but we need to
study it. Not only do we need to study it, we need to ask God’s Spirit to lead
us and teach us what it means because, to be just like this here, so that it
will be] …richly and abundantly [in us], in all wisdom and understanding;
teaching and instructing, admonishing and reminding each other in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts and minds to the
Lord…. [That’s really something that we can focus in on and I hope that we can
have more occasions where we can do more singing and things like that. Again, I
call your attention to what we had at the Feast of Tabernacles, this past
year.] …And in everything, whatever you may be doing, in word (whether in
speech or written communication) or in work (any deed or endeavor), do
all things in and through the name of the Lord Jesus, our Master and Ruler,
giving thanks and praises of gratitude to God, even the Father, by and through
Him” (vs 16-17).
And I tell
you what, if we can all strive for this kind of overcoming, if we can put out
the deeds of the flesh, overcome the works of the flesh and the pulls and the
lust of the mind through the Spirit of God, and really apply Colossians, the
third chapter, in our lives, we are going to find that even in spite of all the
difficulties and turmoil and wretchedness in the world:
- that we are
going to know that we are right with God.
- We are going
to know that God loves us.
- We are going
to know that we love Him.
- And we are
going to know that we love the brethren.
And so that is real tremendous.
We will go
ahead and end it here because it gets into other topics and so we will finish
this off the next time.
All
Scriptures in New Testament from The N.T. in its Original Order, A Faithful
Version
- Exception:
Colossians: Expanded Amplified Version
Old Testament Scriptures: King James Version
Scriptural
References:
1)
Colossians 3:1-7
2)
Romans 6:1-6
3)
Ephesians 3:16-19
4)
Hebrews 10:16
5)
Psalm 46:7
6)
Psalm 37:1-9, 27-31
7)
Colossians 3:2-4
8)
1 John 3:1-3
9)
Colossians 3:5
10)
2 Corinthians 10:4-5
11)
Colossians 3:5
12)
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
13)
Galatians 5:16, 22-26
14)
Galatians 2:20
15)
Colossians 3:5-9
16)
Romans 6:8-13
17)
Romans 8:9-14
18)
Colossians 3:10-11
19)
Galatians 3:26-29
20)
Colossians 3:12
21)
Revelation 3:18
22)
Colossians 3:12-13
23)
Matthew 18:23-35
24)
Colossians 3:13-16
25)
Ephesians 4:21-24, 32
26)
Philippians 2:1-5
27) Colossians
3:16-17
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Romans 7
- Hebrews 10
- Philippians
3:21
- Matthew 25:9
Also referenced:
- Sermon: How
to Use the Holy Spirit
- Beliefs of
The Christian Biblical Church of God
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