from the pulpit at Donnels Creek

Date: October 12, 2025

Lord’s Day: 41

Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ

Title: All You Need is Love?

Text: Colossians 3:12-14, Mark 12:28-31

Colossians 3:12-15

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 

Mark 12:28-31

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  

Recently I went with our oldest daughter and my two grandsons, Elam and Able, to the zoo.  Elam is 2 and Able is 8 months. 

We had a great time but there was one thing I noticed with the two boys.  Getting them to focus on something is really hard.

The focus to which I refer is not, focus on your classwork here, or pay attention to what I am saying.  It is getting them to see what is literally around them.

I can give several examples, but this is the best one.  We were looking at the manatees.  These are 2-ton shrimp.  They are big, gray, with whiskers.  Enormous animals and because of the widow viewing area, there is not a lot of room for failure to notice them. 

I was pretty much in charge of the youngest, Able. We are standing in front of this tank and it was feeding time so all the manatees were eating salad, floating near the top of the water.

We are at the window this 2-ton creature is less than 6 inches from my face and Able did not see it.  He is focused on this tiny air-bubble that is coming up through the water. 

“Able, look!  Right here buddy.”  I am moving his head with my hands pointing it in the right direction so he can see this animal.  Then he sees it.  Smiles and moves wildly like, “Oh yeah, where did you come from?”

This happens all day long.  We are walking around the zoo and the animals are ready for the day having just woke up.  Moving and interacting with the people. 

Oh, another one.  We were at the Aquarium.  All the lights are low in there.  Tons of fish swimming around and here comes this shark that is as long as these church pews.  Ol’ boy misses it. 

“How can you miss that Elam?”  I was thinking, it is such a good thing we were on this side of the glass.  Oh, E would have ended up as an appetizer if we were in the wild. 

I observed this all day long and it hit me: Part of the mission statement here at Donnels Creek is to love God and love others.  Great goal.  Sometimes, (or even often) DO I MISS what is right in front of my face?  Just like the boys, it’s right here in front of me, an opportunity I am distracted by other things and I do not fully love God and love others?

How often have I missed an opportunity to love.  Opportunities that were as big as a manatee? Opportunities that were 6 inches from my face and I was just looking over here, looking over there.  Sometimes I was focused on this tiny air bubble that is floating.

We have spent the last two weeks emphasizing the particulars of forgiveness and I want to go back to a phrase used in the last sermon.  My desire to was to turn attention to how to properly interpret this text in Colossians 3 and it was stated, “This was a letter written to Christ followers, teaching them how to love other Christ followers.”

What is the central teaching here?  Love. 

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 

As believers we are chosen, holy, beloved:  therefore have a compassionate heart, be kind, humble, meek, and patient and bearing with one another.  These are ALL traits of love.  If there is an issue, forgive as you have been forgiven.

The words of Paul are addressing Christians and telling them, treat each other like Christians.

Here is a thought that really drives me on this text.  What if we are missing something? 

There is the issue that we can be going through life, day to day and at the same time missing opportunities to love God and others.  They can be the size of a manatee and we not see it.  That manatee can be 6 inches away and we still not see it.

Before we get into the meat of the text, let us pray and ask God to bless the message.

In our second text Jesus was asked which was the most important commandment.  The response by Jesus was the Shema Israel, which is a summary of the law: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Many see this as quoting all of the commands in summary form.  You had the first half of the law, 1-4 how we are to love and honor God and then the second half, how to love and honor each other.  Those made in God’s image.

In this culture it is very easy to assume the meaning of, “Love the Lord you God with all your heart,” and think of it in our own terms. 

We have so many love songs, poems and sonnets, I love you with all my heart.   

This is not how they conversed back in Jesus’ day.  If you wanted to communicate the same idea as Al Green, “I love you with all my heart” you would say it differently.  For them it would be kidneys or the liver.  Maybe you would say, “You make my liver quiver.”

For in Jesus’ day, to say love the Lord your God with all your heart, it would be like saying, loving God with all your ability.  The heart was the seat of the entirety of a person.  Today we would say mind.

All your thoughts, all your motives: this is the heart.  Love God with the seat of your life – the MOTIVE of your life.

How are we to do this?  Jesus was quoting a passage from Deuteronomy 6.  If you look at the larger context of you find even deeper meaning:

 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. xx8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

They were to talk about this law of God at all times: while sitting, walking, lying down, rising, on the door posts, on the door frames and on the gates.

Even more, the kings, when they take the throne, were instructed to write down a copy of the law.  It is said that this would be the copy they would read from daily. When they ruled as a king, they would read the law, the very law they had written.

This is the MOTIVE.  IT WAS FUELING MOTIVE.  This becomes the thing that energizes the followers of God.  They would know and fear God and most of all, love Him. 

For those of us who are doing the Proverb study, this week I discussed something that had occurred to me and I consulted some other puritan writers and found confirmation. 

In Proverbs 6 can be found an almost identical statement from Deuteronomy 6.  In this scripture the father is giving advice on how to avoid an adulterous woman:

“20 My son, keep your father's commandment,

It continues: obviously the main teaching is about avoiding an adulterous person.  However, that is not the deeper meaning.  This is an allegory. 

The love of our life is God.  This God that you love, we must keep his word close to you.  Let it lead you.  Let it watch over you.  Let it be a light in your life. 

This will keep you from sin.  This is the deeper allegorical meaning of the adulterous woman.  She is a distraction and she will keep you from the love of your life. 

What we are finding with the words of Jesus in Mark, from the words that Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy and the wise words of Proverbs is, this life that we have, this life in Christ is not an emotion.  It is NOT TO BE WISHY WASHY. 

It is the very thing that moves us.  All the issues of life come from this seat of our heart.

This is the foundation of love.  This is the foundation from which everything is built in our lives.  And so often I miss it. Loving God and loving others.  We are to PUT ON this love. 

(illustration with coats – old coat, new coat ) we are new we put this on

Moreover, we are commanded to love God.  It is not just a suggestion. 

How do I miss it?  If I love my Lord correctly, I will love other correctly.  How do I know God’s love?  I can look into the mirror of His word and see how it binds all things together!

That we are to be like God, God is loving.  God loves.  We imitate Him in this trait.

D.A. Carson in his book “The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God,” mentions  different ways the Bible speaks of God ‘s love.

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand., I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.

For he sends the rain on the just and the unjust and causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good.

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples

But (I am) showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. . . 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love

Throughout Scripture our Lord has taken the thread of love stringing it in and through so many lives.  Doctrine is important.  Theology is important.  These are daily ingredients in my life.  But may they never come at the expense of failing to see God’s love. 

The love which motivated our Lord to cover Adam and Eve.  This was not because they were indecent.  It was a foreshadow, that I will cover your shame.  I will give you garments of righteousness.

Sometimes we can put on what looks like love, because we are missing it.  Like the boys at the zoo.  It is right there, but we just don’t see it.

You know what looks like love?  Think of Joseph and his brothers. They really hated him.  Some of them wanted him dead. 

At the right opportunity they got rid of him.  Eventually selling him into a caravan and he is taken far, far away.

When they come back to Jacob, their father, they have a story and they have some evidence.  We did what we could.  Here is his coat. 

I can say that as a church family, there is love here.  As we begin to rebuild this place, there is a good foundation of love. 

But what is more important than our love for each other, is our love for our Lord.  Love God and love others is a perfect summation of Jesus’ answer in Mark 12. 

Love the Lord your God, love you neighbor.  Jesus answer in our text takes us right back to a love for God that is tied with God’s word. 

What binds everything together?  Moses, Solomon and Jesus give the answer to what binds everything together: Love God, love others.

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Col 3:14

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand Dt 6:8

My son, keep your father's commandment,

Date: October 5, 2025

Lord’s Day: 40

Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ

Title: Bold Faith

Text: Colossians 3:12-14

Colossians 3:12-14

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 

I have to admit as I began to drill down into this topic of forgiveness and love, there came a point where I had to say, “How did I get here?”  I even asked myself the question, “Is this really necessary?”

I revisited the text several times.  Considered the cultural climate.

I debated mentally for a long time.  For days, while driving or random quiet times there was this back and forth in thoughts because I could leave this. Ultimately, as you will obviously see, the decision was to press down.

In Colossians 3:12-14 we are instructed to be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, patient, loving and to be forgiving.  Last week, in dealing with this text in Colossians 3 and in light of recent cultural events we discussed the nuances of forgiveness.

But there is an additional issue; we have the following passages which point the opposite direction.  Consider the following:

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

Maybe you have not noticed these three Psalms as you, over time, have read through your Bible.  It is possible that your mind wandered and the full impact of these really did not set in.

These are certainly from our Scriptures.  Which begs the question in light of our passage on forgiveness and being a forgiving people, how does this fit?  What are we to do with these very colorful descriptions, prayers and praises to God in what to do with our enemy?

These are three examples of what we call imprecatory Psalms.  Imprecatory is a prayer for God to call harm or evil on someone.

My first sermon here in February was from Isaiah 6:1-6.  One of the points of that sermon concerned the thrice repeated description of God, “Holy, holy, holy.”  This was a matter of emphasis, and it mentions specifically God’s holiness. 

The description did not address God as “love, love, love.”  Nor did it express him as, “merciful, merciful, merciful.”  God is loving.  God is merciful.  God is forgiving.

What the passage states clearly mention is God’s holiness.  God is “holy, holy, holy.”  He has a passion for that holiness.

There are just 4 other Scriptural instances where something is repeated 3 times.  One of those is Revelation 8:13 where it says regarding the coming judgement of God, “Woe, woe, woe.”

There is strong emphasis in American evangelism on the love of God, and So much so that it comes at the expense of the holiness of God. This has led to some having a misunderstanding of forgiveness.  This was the idea introduced last week. 

For God so loved that he gave . . . to this we say “Amen!” We are grateful as we were unworthy and unholy and our gracious and merciful God made us holy.

Underestimating God’s holiness and  misunderstanding of forgiveness it has weakened our ability to hate evil and  renders us logically unable to defend the faith from the enemy. (repeat – rest of what I say will clarify)

My hope today is to return us to a bold faith.

Speaking from the heart, I have watched the faith that I love get completely wrecked.  I have seen the country that I love get completely wrecked. 

There has been an ongoing deterioration of faith and values that if I were to publicly state, from this pulpit, what is being said by others on similar pulpits, I might be able to keep my job but there would certainly be meetings.  There are things being said in pulpits at this very hour that is straight from Babylon and Sodom and Gomorrah.

Similarly, there are acts of violence committed every day against believers in this country.  I was typing out something for Donnels Creek and my Attention Deficit kicked in. I thought to myself, I wonder how many people enrolled in the 31 Days reading have watched the video today.

Y’all know I can see who has been looking right?  There was a sharp decline from day 1 to day 2 to day 3. 

Anyway, I popped on over to the Tube and of course greeted with the home page of suggested videos.  There was one of five to seven people standing on a street corner, peacefully protesting an abortion mill.  Two of them had signs.

They were approached by 5 people, one carry a club, three carry semi-auto rifles. They were in all black, masked from top of the head to foot.  They douse them with bear spray while the semi-auto stood ready to shoot if any dared to strike back.

What about persecution worldwide?  This is not mentioned on any news channel.  (have photo) This is a photograph of a mass grave being filled.  September 20 (two weeks ago) more than 90 Christians were murdered by Islamist in Ntoyo Africa in eastern Congo.  No a whisper of this.

On my shoulders to the right was bad Matthew.  To the left side was bad Matthew and those two began to fight it out.  “I hate those who hate you God.”

How it typically goes for the Christian who loves Jesus is like this, They have been taught about forgiveness.  They know what Colossians says. They know the words of Jesus.

If someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn him the other.  Love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you may be the sons of your Father who is in heaven.  For he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good and sends the rains on the just and the unjust.”

What are we to do with these words of Jesus?  Do they make us sitting ducks; patsies? How do we reconcile this teaching of Christ with the imprecatory song and prayer of David?  Can we say, “Do I not hate those who hate you?”

I look around me and there is an overwhelming rise of evil around us.  I am telling you; I hate watching this happen to our FAITH and our country.  We are in a time period where we are not shielded because we live in a small town. 

Do we “Marcion” this tough Scripture in Psalm.  Just cut out what we do not like?  What does not seem to fit with the rest of Scripture?  So we can understand our text in Colossians: be kind, compassionate, forgiving, meek, humble and patient?

Like our time with forgiveness, last week, there is a nuance which must be understood. 

In order to interpret our texts properly we must understand the context AND the whole counsel of God.  What does our text say?  What does the rest of Scripture say?  How do we reconcile these two things?

Think of a village.  We can call that the Village of Colossae.  Those are the people who read this text first.  These were the people to whom it was written.  It has an application over there and that application could be different than over here. 

Picture a village over here, we will call it the Village at Donnels Creek.  It is a Village that is roughly 2,000 years and also nearly 6,000 miles away.  There is a body of water that is in between the two villages.

The responsibility I have is to see what did the application mean over in that village and then build a bridge to connect the two.   

We also carry a backpack – Like Dora the Explorer. We carry this backpack that is filled with the Whole Counsel of God.  This is what God has said to other villages. We use all this information to rightly handle this word.

Last week we began our first look at this section of Scripture in Colossians, and our focus was on 3:13 and forgiveness. Of course, taking note of the current cultural climate with the recent events of Ms. Kirk forgiving her husband’s killer.

Because we are chosen, holy and beloved we are to put on some things: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience and forgiving.  As a forgiven people we are to be forgiving.

There are two words for forgiveness used.  I mentioned this last week.  It is more of a painted picture than a word.

First word is ALPHIEEMI- which means sent away, put over there, separated, removed. It is the word used here in Colossians  3:13 forgiving one another as the Lord has forgiven you. 

Second word is KARIZOMAI- free, favor, a cancelled debt.  This is the word used in Matthew as we prayed the Lord’s Prayer last week.

One word means something taken away.  The other word means something given.

We had Ms. Kirk who said at her husband’s funeral, to her husband’s killer, “I forgive him.”  Then Stephen Miller who said of the same killer, “You have nothing, you are nothing and we are coming after you.”  We then explored how both of these can be a right response. Even though they are opposite each other, they can both be a Biblical response.

After mentioning several instances in Scripture where just a blanket statement of “I forgive you” is not automatically provided we can list at least three categories.

On a personal level we are to be forgiving.  In the Church we are to be forgiving.  This is the context of what we are reading.  Jesus has given us grace/forgiveness and he has taken away our debt.  Let us imitate that.

But when considering the while counsel of God, there are other texts which shed additional light on this.  Matthew 18 and an unrepentant brother is an example.  Also Jesus’ and Paul’s teachings bring further nuances.  If you missed last week, please watch or listen online.

Remember, as we approach Colossians, we must understand that we are reading someone’s mail.  This is a letter Paul wrote to the church in Colossae.  This is written to a saved people and giving instructions on how to treat the saved. 

He is not addressing the same problem here that was addressed in Corinth.  There were serious issues in Corinth, issues of heresy.

Fortunately, the letter we are reading is addressing an issue where Paul is just saying, “Love each other and do the things that look like love” This would include patience, meekness, forgiveness, kindness and humility.

If you apply this teaching to the heresy in Corinth it would make the response weak and ineffective. 

The pastorate is to look out for the flock.  We will get more into this in our next series on leadership in the local church. The pastoral oversite is to watch for “savage wolves” (Paul’s words in Acts 20).

Our passage appears in a time when I have been in many discussions over the current state of morality in our country AND our nation. What do we do?  Do we just keep identifying the problems, speaking about the problems and do nothing?  Then let us take the teeth from the Lion of Judah!

480 BC (included map)

Historian Heroditus

The book we are studying, Colossians, was written by Paul at the same time which Ephesians was written.  They were most likely carried by the same mail carrier as they were delivered.  We can find in Ephesians how to fight.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic xx powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Xx 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you xx can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

Let us not be weak.  Let us be bold in our faith.  Let us not give an inch.  Let us, just like the Athenians and the Spartans fight on our terms.

We face an enemy that is large.  We face an enemy that has tried to execute us throughout time.  Even in recent times as shared earlier, 90+ believers executed in one night. 

We will not be meek with our enemy.  We will be forgiving and meek with each other.  But we will be bold and brave and fight the enemy in prayer.  We will hate that which the Lord hates and at the same time, at the VERY SAME TIME pray that all men everywhere repent. 

Christian, I am calling your attention to the holiness of God and it is nothing to be weakened or trifled. We can be bold in our faith and we need to be.

So many of us see on gravestones or hear quoted at funerals for those who died as believers that they fought the good fight and have defended the faith. . . yet most of us have seeded territory our whole life because we misunderstood how to live boldly.

We have territory here.  Several weeks ago I mentioned that one of two avenues for growth in this church is the youth program.  Are you fighting for those kids? Are they in your prayers?

God will bring people to where there is an ability for them to flourish. He will bring souls to a place where people will fight for them.

In this culture, in this time when the faith is devalued and tread upon, this is a time where we understand that we must hate what God hates, love what God loves.  Let us pray for repentance and really believe that it can and will take place.

Date: September 28, 2025

Lord’s Day: 39

Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ

Title: Forgiveness

Text: Colossians 3:10-17; Matthew 18:15-20

Colossians 3:10-17

10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Matthew 18:15-18

 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.  

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

 When his mother bought the house next door he sold as quick as he could, moved into same town but near Blacklick creek that flooded basement frequently, one car garage, he had to rent another space to continue his home business.  All this because he did not want to live next to his mother.) I don’t know what she did.  I did not ask, I did not want to know.  Is forgiveness always warranted?  What is forgiveness?

The past few weeks we have been dealing with this middle part of Colossians 3.  It states that we are to put to death what is earthly in us and then proceeds to give a couple of short lists which are in the negative.  As believers, we are to put OFF these things. 

We approach the text where Paul turns his attention into the affirmative.  He makes a list of affirming things, positive things that we are to put on.

Beginning with 3:10 we put on this new self that is in the EIKON of the Creator (Jesus).  We do this because we have been renewed.  Our OLD self has died.

What are we to put on?  (3:12) He begins to make an affirmative list: compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.  We do this because we are chosen in God, we bear with one another and forgive each other.

This text happens to come at a very interesting moment.  We had a high-profile memorial service where the wife, now widow, of a murdered man, in a very public way proclaimed forgiveness for the killer of her husband. 

At Charlie Kirks memorial service you had two extremes.  You had the wife who not only forgave the killer, but she also quoted the words of Jesus, as he was on the cross just before he died.  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

Then you had Stephen Miller who said to the killer, “You are nothing, you have nothing, and we are coming for you.” 

I found both of those very interesting statements.  That is loaded.  You have people who are Christian and non-Christian who say the Christian community has to chose one of those.  It can’t be both.  

It doesn’t.  Before I am done today you will see why that both of those statements are valid Christian responses to the reaction to what has happened.

For many Christians in America have been instructed in forgiveness sometimes in very dangerous ways. It is fortunate for us that this public display happened just as our study came to the topic of forgiveness in our text.

What does the Bible have to say about forgiveness?  We have read our text and added the text of Matthew 18.  We have the words of Ms. Kirk as she quoted Jesus’ words on the Cross. 

We prayed the Lords Prayer together which mentions it and then after we also have the words of Jesus just as he concluded the Lord’s prayer, “If you forgive those who trespass against you then your father will forgive your trespasses.  But if You do not forgive those who trespass against you, then your heavenly father will not forgive your trespasses.”

Jesus also taught, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.  How are we to understand forgiveness in light of Jesus?  How does it apply in our text here in Colossians 3? 

I will say that this will take a couple of weeks to fully unpack so please stick with me.  We are not going to break down every passage and parable on forgiveness, but we are going to give a thorough look at the topic. 

The issue is, when we get this wrong it can be very dangerous.  The church, in general terms, has gotten this wrong more than it has gotten it right.

There have been some cases, in public life and in the church, leaders have gotten this wrong and it has proved deadly, hurtful and dangerous.  It has caused some people to leave church doors to never return.

Too often we look at forgiveness with a monolithic application.  Often is the case, the nuances is ignored and the whole counsel of God is bypassed. 

Let’s start on the ground floor as we begin a comprehensive look at forgiveness.

POINT:  So often is the case in this situation is forgiveness is more for the person doing the forgiving than the person receiving it.

ILLUSTRATION: (heavy weights and balloons. The balloons = burdens/responsibilities we have.  Weights are the past unforgiven hurts we encounter. (in a bag or in front).Got t keep the balloons up as the weights increase.)

 We bring them from day to day, and we really get no rest.  It is the release of that burden that someone put on us, that we are not going to get even and we are going to heal.

From our two passages there are two different Greek words.  There is no one word for Forgiveness, but rather a context that paints a picture.  We will define this more next week. But here is the picture – it is releasing a burden. (Take the weights out of the backpack.)

Are there passages that hint towards forgiveness not being automatic?  Yes.  Consider the following:

This is the process of reconciliation between two people.  Jesus did not say:

He says, go to them and address it.  That does not fix it? Bring a couple of people.  That does not fix it? Bring it to the church.  That does not fix it? They are cast out. 

This is a situation where they are not forgiven.  Something is being held against them, and it is whatever that offense is. Avoid, refuse to be with them.

These are cases where the offended party can leave the marriage.  If we are to monolithically apply forgive because we have been forgiven, then it would render Jesus’ teaching on divorce void. 

He tells them, this man needs to go.  Do not associate with people who say they are brothers and sisters in Christ and are in unrepentant habitual sin.  Paul says, do not even eat with such a person.

So, I hope you can better see that forgiveness is not just something Christians automatically dispense.  We are not instructed that 100% of the time we are to go from sin to automatic forgiveness.  The Christian community has most often been taught if they are sinned against it is universal and unilaterally automatic forgive.

Here is the danger: there have been many cases where something happens in a congregation (sadly this happens more than you know).  The elders and leaders of that congregation are made aware of it and then they decide to handle this in house because we are supposed to be forgiving.

IN HOUSE LEADERSHIP:  There have been MANY cases of abuse, sexual and physical, where the offended party has been coerced to forgive the offender because the offender said, “I repent” and Jesus says that we should forgive as we have been forgiven.

This has been the source of A LOT of people who eventually leave the church angry, frustrated never to return.  They are hurt and betrayed. 

Church, we need to understand this.  We have to get this right.  So how do we get this right? 

What has been presented here are some situations that contradict the teaching that Christians are to blanket offer forgiveness to every situation regardless of the offender has done.  So how do we justify that which is contradicting?  How can we make these teachings line up?

On the ADMINISTERING of Justice, Scripture provides three categories :

Erika Kirk stated in her speech at the Charlie Kirk funeral that she forgave the killer.  She quoted Christ, “Forgive them they do not know what they are doing.”

Did you know that most people who offend you, who sin against you, even when it is heinous sin, do not know fully what they are doing?  Do you think the killer thought about two baby girls growing up without their father?  I really doubt it.

From the slightest sin committed against you to the worst sin that can be committed against you, it is safe to say the offending party did not know the complete impact of their sin.

This position of Erika Kirk, if it is meant from the heart, is the best position to be in. Why? It is a release.  It is the beginning of release.  Forgiveness is a process of growth. 

I would argue it is like our opening illustration; it is a release of a burden.  It is making a statement that you will not allow this thing that was done to you to control every part of your future.

There is a public responsibility for these things.  The government holds the sword.

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. . .  4 for he is God's servant for your good. . . . for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:1-2 & 4

The public servant, the government, is the servant (deacon) of God.  The government is to carry the sword and act out justice for those who are wronged.

There have been many congregations whose leadership whose actions said, “We are going to force the member of our body to forgive a crime, and we are not going to let the government do its God designed job.”

We also have judges who are not doing their jobs.  We have prosecutors who are not acting justly.  What happens in these instances?

You cannot treat public enemies from a private method.  This is why I said, Erika’s response to the murderer is correct and Stephen Miller’s response to the murderer was correct.  It is not an either or.  It is both. 

You have a young girl murdered on a Charlotte, NC subway train by a criminal who had been arrested and released 14 times. This is the result of treating public enemies from the private method.

The church brings the water, word, wine and the wheat (bread).  The church has a responsibility here as well.  They are to preach the gospel.  These are the tools of the church.

When a congregation of a church has a matter which arises which is in the jurisdiction of the magistrate, the leadership is to allow the civil authority to address the matter.  They are not to simply sweep it under the rug. 

The church is to pray for repentance of the offender.  The offender is to be addressed by the civil authority and the church is to pray for their salvation.

The issue for so many is, if they offer forgiveness when there is a sense that you are justifying what has happened against you.  This is not the case. 

You are expressing a faith that God will handle this justly.  You are releasing your notion of getting even and allowing the proper authorities to enact justice.

Think of the twelve apostles in the first century.  Tradition tells us, history tells us that they all suffered greatly.  Eleven of the twelve suffered death.  John was boiled in oil and lived only to be exiled to the island of Patmos.

Do you not think these had a right to get even? How do you think the church prayed for those involved in the trial, imprisonment and execution? 

I am certain that they prayed for them.

Date: September 21, 2025

Lord’s Day: 38

Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ

Title: Bearing His Image

Text: Colossians 3:9-10; Genesis 1:26-27

Colossians 3:9-10

Colossians 3:9 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 

Genesis 1:26-27 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,

Edmond Rostand wrote the play Cyrano de Bergerac in 1897.  Anyone know what that is about?  The movie Roxanne was released 90 years later, in 1987 and it starred Stephen Martin and Daryll Hannah which was a loose modern bend on Cyrano de Bergerac.

Cyrano had a very low opinion of himself because his nose was too large, and he had gained a love interest who was very beautiful.  His interest in this beautiful woman was not just a physical desire.  He cared for her completely, her mind, her heart, her likes, her dislikes.  Yet he would not allow himself to pursue her because of the possible rejection that he faced.

There was another man who also was interested in this beautiful woman.  This man was extremely handsome.  He had all the outward marks of an attractive male, tall and strong but he was not in any way smart or intelligent. 

Cyrano found his way to express himself and it was through this handsome man. He would write her letters and poems and send them to her with this other man’s name attached.

There would be scenes in the play where Roxane, the beautiful woman in the play, would be on her balcony speaking to the handsome man at night and Cyrano would be hiding nearby, whispering words for him to say.  It is these very words that caused Roxane to develop a deep affection for this handsome young man.

Cyrano continued to harbor his own affection for Roxane but remained hidden.  He did not want to be vulnerable.  He did not want to face the rejection.  He was ashamed.

This came to mind while considering our passage here in Colossians 3.  Last week we introduced this idea of the old self and the new self.  We will be building on that idea this week.

If we do not properly understand our relationship with Jesus and more importantly, OUR POSITION IN JESUS, we will begin to resemble Cyrano.  HOW? It is in the struggle between good and bad, righteousness and evil. When confronted with holiness, we will see our deficiencies.

Within us, the Spirit begins to work and Jesus becomes precious to us.  He is no longer just a good teacher.  He is no longer just an old Rabbi.  He is precious and we love him. We want to read of him and learn from him. 

But when we do not understand our position IN HIM, and we see our Spiritual life as totally dependent upon ourselves, it is a heavy burden.  When failure comes, and it will, we do not feel attractive enough to approach him.  Let’s just stay on the downlow.  There are others who are much more attractive than me to Jesus. 

This position keeps us from fully experiencing Him. Loving him from far away.  Living with this notion that if we get too close, he will reject us.  Let’s not get too close.

3:9 “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.”

This section began in 3:5 that we are to put to death what is earthly in us.  As believers, here are our marching orders.  What are we to do?  It is an imperative. It is passive (according to the grammar). What does that mean?  We are commanded to perform a thing which we will be helped to perform.  You are not alone in this.

Then there is a list of things and we dealt with those over the past few weeks. Sins of the flesh and sins of the mouth.

Then he gets to 3:9-10 and says, we are to put these things away “seeing  that we have put off the old self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”   

We see this word appear again.  It is a word that we talked about way back on June first.  The sermon title was Iconic Jesus. 

That word here for image is the Greek word icon.  Remember that Sunday?  I put up a bunch of icons on the screen and you had to guess the brand that the icon represented? 

That same word is used here.  There is this statement about the OLD SELF and the that old self is being renewed in knowledge after the  of its creator.  Interesting isn’t it?  What does it mean?

There is a lot going on there in that statement.  Let’s spend some time unpacking it.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image,

On day six God made man, it was the pinnacle of His work.  How is this true? It says that man (which means humanity) was made in the image of God.  Here is our word.  Greek eikon was used to refer that man is in image of God.  The male is in the image of God and the female is in the image of God.

How were we made in the image of God?  In what ways do we look like Him? What traits or characteristics do we have that are similar to God?

There are what we call communicable and incommunicable traits of God.  The Incommunicable traits are ones that only God possesses such as this partial list would be what I call the Omni’s which means ALL or EVER. 

God is omnipresent.  He is everywhere at once.  There is nowhere God is not. “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8).  

THIS WOULD INCLUDE Eternality- God does not have a beginning or an end.  Hard to fathom this but it is true. “From everlasting to everlasting, you are God” (Psalm 90:2).

God is Omniscient (all knowing).  God learns nothing.  There is nothing God does not know.  There is nothing you can do to teach God something.  He does not learn something new from you. “God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything” (1 John 3:20). I know most things, but not everything. 

God is Omnipotent (all powerful).  God is all powerful. There is nothing outside of His power.  He does not need to sleep.  He does not need to work out.  “Nothing is too hard for me.” (Jeremiah 32:17).  I am not all powerful.  I get injured.  I get tired.   

This would include Independent- It is said by some that God created the Universe and humanity because he was lonely.  There are variations of this but it is untrue.  I don’t know who started it but it is false and bad theology. Paul said in Athens, “God made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man NOR is He served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives all men life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:24-25)

These are a few of the attributes of God that He has that we do not have.  He alone has them.  Even Adam and Eve, before sin, did not have ALL the attributes of God.

Communicable attributes of God.  These are things that God has that we also have.  It would include this partial list:

Knowledge – God possesses all knowledge, but we do have some knowledge.  Some have more than others. Some are geniuses, most are not.  But all have an ability to retain and learn something. 

Love - 1 John 4:8 says that God is love.  I can love.  I do not love like God, but I can love.  Everyone, even Hitler, loved someone and was loved by someone.

Wisdom - We read that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.  God possesses all wisdom, but we have some too.  Again, like knowledge and love, some have more than others.  But everyone has some wisdom.

So, you can see, this is a partial small list of the characteristics that God has, that we also have in our own lives. 

In what way were we made in the image (the eikon) of God?  How do we resemble Him?  How do we reflect His image?

It is in holiness.  How do I know this? From our passage in Colossians.

“Since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being RENEWED in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:9-10)

There was something lost in the paradise of Eden.  Something that happened that damages that reflection of God’s image that it needed to be restored.

Holiness.

That is it.  We still retain, at least some wisdom.  We have retained our ability to love.  Some to the degree that they love things more than God.  We love ourselves more than we do the Creator.  We are able to gain knowledge but, in the flesh, it is void of the author of knowledge.

What was lost for humanity in Adam is holiness.  That which was lost can be regain in Christ Jesus.  Because of this, put off that which is earthly. 

That ICON we regain IN CHRIST is Holiness.  We do not need to hide like Cyrano.

Andrew Murray[i] says that Christians have 2 natures that are striving within them.  And they are striving against each other (Ga 5:17, 24-25; 6:8; Eph 4:22; 1 Pt 4:2).  The motive to achieve holiness is the new self, which is the life in the Spirit.

If you want to dig deeper in this, I encourage you to read John Owen who wrote, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.  Be prepared NOT to read one chapter at a time.  Be prepared to read one page at a time.  Be prepared to read this over the course of a year.  This is not a quick fix.

But also, be prepared to grow deeper and deeper in love with Jesus.  Be prepared to see the work of Christ in your life from an entirely new perspective.

John Owen says that this new nature is like turning on a lamp.  It is not simply knowledge.  We do not just gain knowledge, but we gain illumination.  We see ourselves differently. THE NEW NATURE SPEAKS

We find with this light that we look in a mirror.  The mirror is Christ.  We begin to see things in this reflection that we want to change.  Things that do not look like our life.

Do you remember, “Christ, is our life” Colossians 3:4.  As we go through this life, there are the two natures.  These are at war with each other.

Throughout our time in this section, I have really wrestled with how to present it.  Here is my issue, because we have these two natures in us, I do not want to appear flippant and just proclaim, we are going to sin.  At the same time, I also do not want to appear too harsh because we are going to sin.

It could be this is what John felt when he was writing 1st John when he said, “If you say you have no sin you are a liar and the truth is not in you.”  Yet a few words later he says, “But I am writing so you will not sin.”  Then next breath says, “If you do sin, we have an advocate who is faithful and just to forgive us.”

There is this back and forth.  It is the struggle.  I want to encourage you to strive for holiness.  At the same time, it is not your striving that is saving you.  It is your striving that points to whom you belong.  You belong to the Savior, and it is His righteousness that will save you. HE IS THE NEW CLOTHING.

I have an old t-shirt, grey in color.  I got it from Walmart about ten years ago. I bought about 5 of them, I often do this because when I like something I stick with it. 

But out of the 5 I have one remaining; it was different than the rest and it is my most comfortable shirt.  I like to wear it.  It is growing thin, almost to where you can read through it.  It is still my favorite.

You have any clothing like that?  Clothing that maybe you put on that you do not wear out of the house.  You wear it because it feels right, and you can relax in it. 

You find out that I am coming over to visit with you and now disappointment because you have to change.  You were comfy, now uncomfy.

This is life for the believer with these two natures, one in the flesh and one in the Spirit.  When you sin, it will not feel right.  It will not fit right.  You will not be satisfied.  You will want to get out of that as quickly as you see it. 

While going through Colossians, we have looked at some of the original grammar.  It reveals more than often the English text provides.  However, I did find a translation of 3:10 that I really like:

“Put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its creator.” Jewish New Testament

This is progressive sanctification.

This translation shows that this growth in Christ is not just a one-time thing.  Just as we have two natures striving in us, there is one nature, the one of the Spirit, that keeps lovingly and faithfully drawing us to the image of Jesus. 

This is the eikon that has been restored.  The image and likeness of Jesus that we see in Colossians 2:15-20 is the eikon that has been given to us.  What was damaged in the Garden has been restored in Christ Jesus.

Zechariah 3 there is this beautiful scene where the enemy brings Joshua in a court setting.  The enemy is the prosecuting attorney, and they are standing before Jesus. Joshua is said to be standing there guilty. The guilt is in his garments.  He was filthy. 

It was then that Jesus commanded his garments be changed.  Joshua was to be clothed in clean and pure garments.  Jesus said to him, I have taken away your iniquity.

Christ has robed us in righteousness.  What is our charge? Grow in Him.  Our image has been restored.  Grow in Him. 

I want you to love Jesus.  I want you and this community to see Jesus, grab hold of Him and love Him.  To forsake ourselves.  To live for something more than our appetites. To taste and see that the Lord IS GOOD.

Let us Pray

Prayer:

You are the God of all grace.  In the name of Jesus, our Messiah, clothe us in righteousness.  You have given us this Savior.  May we strive to bear the image of Jesus. 

Produce in us ta faith to live by Him, to make Him all our desire, our hope, our glory. Let us enter Him as our refuge, build upon Him as a foundation and conform ourselves to Him. May your dear Son preserve us from this present evil world, so that its smiles will never allure, nor its frowns terrify.

We are so grateful for this new life in You.  As we leave this place, let our light so shine before others that they may see our good works and praise you.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Our blessing today comes from 2 Thessalonians

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

God in the peace that Jesus has offered Himself for you and for me, may the peace of Christ be with you and on you.

[i] Andrew Murray, The Essential Works of Andrew Murray, Barbor Publishing, page 190.

Date: September 14, 2025

Lord’s Day: 37

Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ

Title: Old Self, New Self

Text: Colossians 3:5-10; Matthew 26:41

As a pastor, it is my desire to keep the main thing, the main thing.  The MAIN thing here is Jesus Christ, our Savior.

There are certainly moments when SOCIAL matters find their way into the church body and when they do, it is wise for us to consider them and discern what we must do. This week past week is one of these moments.   

On Wednesday I watched with great difficulty and sadness, as the events unfolded in Orem, UT with Charlie Kirk.  Because I watch very closely, every day, social matters, I have remotely followed Charlie Kirk and his organization Turning Point USA, from its very beginning.

I say remotely because this organization has a focus on high school and college age people.  For those of you who are not aware, in about 13 years he grew this organization from an event that had 200 people to 14 events yearly that had 10,000 people.

Charlie would respectfully take questions from audience attendees on a wide range of topics.  I admired him for he was incredibly knowledgeable, humble, respectful, thorough and above all, he represented Christ well.

If I had to think of a modern-day Paul, from Acts, when he would go to the Areopagus and face opposition while standing for truth, it would be Charlie.  He has done this for years, going from campus to campus all over these United States. In these campus’ he would freely exchange ideas and defend the faith.

As you may know, Charlie was shot Wednesday while doing one of these college events.   In my opinion, he was killed instantly and is now in the presence of our Lord and Savior.

In the hours after this incident, I monitored many reactions. Most of that reaction was great sadness.  A significant portion is celebration and mockery.

I wanted to address this with the congregation for several reasons:

Firstly, the description of what happened to Charlie Kirk has been labeled an assassination. I do not agree with this.  Charlie held no political office, nor was he running for political office.  He did support various political candidates through the years.  He also discussed political matters in relation to faith, for so much of our political focus today absolutely bleeds over into morality and matters of faith.

For this very reason, Charlie was not assassinated.  Charlie became a martyr.

Charlie represented the faith and morality of Scripture, and it cost him his life.  There are many people who die as martyrs every day on this earth, but rarely do we witness one this public and in the United State of America. He absolutely, represented Jesus well and also Scriptural truths.

Charlie was just a man. He was heard often confessing freely he was a sinner saved by the Grace of God. Just like you and me he was ONLY perfect in Christ. Every public moment I witnessed, He represented Christ very well. 

Secondly, because of this, I want to pray for his family.  He leaves behind his wife, two daughters and a father and mother.  Because the internet is forever (as far as we know), the video of the husband and father to these children will forever be there for them to see. It is hard for me to fathom this. 

Not only will they have to experience the remainder of their life without their loved one, the videoed events which unfolded Wednesday will be a constantly available reminder.

Thirdly, Charlie did not leave this earth one second earlier than our Lord had planned.  God is sovereign over all things.  He is Almighty, Creator God. There are things regarding His rule that we do not understand and for me, this is one of those things.

This has been hard for me to process. My prayers this week have sounded a little like Habakuk questioning God.

But I trust in the Lord. I have faith in Him. Psalm 103:19 says, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” And Psalm 135:6 states, “Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps.”

As a congregation this is one of those moments where we must stand firm even when it is difficult to grasp; even when it does not make sense.

I want to pray for the Kirk family and all those close to him; His wife, children, parents, siblings and others.  I also want to pray for this country and its leaders.  The fall out of this moment has an extraordinary possibility to expand into a much more serious matter.

Would you please pray with me?

Lord, we come today with humble hearts and heavy hearts.  The condition of the world around us and even in our own country has been stretched and strained. There are wars and conflicts abroad and at home and we long for peace.

At this moment we pray for the Kirk family and the tragedy that they faced this week.  There is no emotional relief for them for some time to come as this event will play out in the media and courts and in the political arena for the foreseeable future.

We pray for peace for that family.  As I voice this prayer, I do believe that Charlie is with you.  He had all the visible fruit of a devout Christ follower.  Because of this, we pray that you comfort his wife, children, parents, extended family and coworkers.  The visions of Wednesday will remain abundantly available.  We pray for those who were at the event Wednesday, the students and the attendees, that for those who have been traumatized by what took place, you would comfort them as only you can.

We pray for the leaders of this country.  We pray that you, Jesus, as you reign as Lord, that you would act and bring peace.  Help us to trust in Your sovereignty. Strengthen us that You know best. 

May your Church grow in number and influence.  May it grow here in Springfield, in America and in the World.  Isaiah says that of the increase of Jesus’ government and of peace there will be no end, that on your throne you will establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness forever more.  That the zeal of the Lord will do this. We say Amen, come Lord Jesus.

We turn our attention to this text in Colossians and ask your blessing on our time in Your word.  I sincerely ask a blessing upon myself as I deliver these thoughts. 

It is in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Colossians 3:5-10 and Matthew 26:41

Colossians 3:5: 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[d] with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 

Matthew 26:41:  “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation”

This has been the world of the Lord 

I would like for you to think about Samson, the Bible character from Judges who was strong.  He had to take a Nazarite vow and his strength was in his hair.  As long as he did not cut his hair he would have miraculous strength.

For just a moment, I would like you to picture in your mind what you think Samson looked like.  There are no wrong answers because we are not told and there are no pictures in the Bible, but just imagine what you think he looked like.  If you need to shut your eyes you can. 

Alright, you have a mental image?  Does he resemble Arnold Swarzenegar?  Does he look like the Rock or Andre the Giant?  Is he really big and muscular?

That was the image I had for most of my life.  When Samson came to mind I thought of a very large (the fit large) kind of man.  But when I consider it further, I don’t think so.  I think Samson looked like every other average man out there during his day. 

If you remember the story Samson defeated Israel’s enemies the Philistines.  They were always trying to find a way to get him so there came Delilah.  Samson was sweet on her and she kept trying to trick him.

What was she trying to find out?  What is the source of your strength Samson?  Please tell me, how are you so strong?

If he were the Rock or Andre the Giant, there would be no doubt that Samson was strong on his own strength. There had to be a mystery as to the source of his power because they tried tricking him many times to get him to reveal what it was.  He was 100% dependent upon God for his strength. (Which is true if he were little or big I just think he was average or small because it baffled people as to how he was so strong.)

We return to our text of Colossians 3 and we see here in verse 5 that we are to put to death what is earthly in us.  We have been on this section and this verse for several weeks. Today I want to address how can we put to death what is earthly in us?  There is the old self and this new self, what does this mean?

From the beginning I would like to say, the source of the strength Samson had during his time is the exact same source of strength for us to put to death what is earthly in us. It is God!!!!

In our text a list is made of what we are to put to death:

So the issue here is, is Idolatry pointed at covetousness or the entire list?  The answer is yes to both.  In one sense, the way the sentence is constructed, covetousness IS idolatry. 

What is coveting? When you strongly yearn for something.  It is an unusual yearning.  It is not a yearning like, I would like to have a skyline hot dog.  I would like to have that Carhart shirt because it looks nice. To covet is to have such a desire to have a thing that you would sin to get it.  It places that thing FIRST.  Any affection that is before God is an idol.

Therefore, The things that begin that list, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire can be things that are coveted. Also Idols.

Except, for those whose lives are hidden with Christ in God (3:1-4).  What is true for those who find themselves IN CHRIST they are a new creation. 

The old self looked like one thing, the new self looks like another.

Now, I have some people who are going to assist me today. 

What a beautiful day to have Milani baptized into Jesus.  She has symbolized today this new birth.  We have been given a visual presentation of what happens to the believer.  They are buried and raised just as Jesus was.

I have asked her and some others to come up and help me today. 

Point 1) Your greatest enemy is your sin:

The flesh has desires.  This list that I just read is a reality.  Paul in this letter is telling the believers, put these to death.  HOW CAN THEY DO THAT?

When we gain Christ, we are changed! We are “RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE after THE IMAGE OF THE CREATOR.” (3:10) This Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:25-27) becomes a part of us.  Our affections change.  (Bring the “Holy Spirit” representative on stage who will be holding the Ezekiel passage)

GOD AT WORK IN MILANI – Just like Samson

This influences your whole life.  You begin to love all things Jesus (at this point put on her new sticky notes that represent the new Milani and separate her from the evil desires). The old Milani dead, the new Milani alive.  She is a new creation.

We (She) are still here on this earth.  We are still in this body.  Our affections changed but we fight.  Christ is our righteousness.  When God looks at Milani He sees Christ.

Point 2) Putting to death our sin (3:5) means there is sin to put to death.  Jesus died FOR our sin, we are to die TO our sins[i]

Milani, and us, have these fleshly desires that just pop up.  They want to come in.

These are tongue in cheek but I know you are aware of how out of bounds our flesh can take us.  It is there. Trying to convince us, go this way!  Do this.

But Paul says, “Kill it.  Put it to death.”

Here is the picture of temptation: Jesus says, “watch and pray that you may not enter temptation.”

Have you ever prayed that prayer?  Lord, do not let me be tempted today.

Peter takes it one step further, he says the devil, your enemy, prowls like a roaring lion.  How many of us would go to the Cincinnati Zoo or the Columbus Zoo if there was a warning that the lion was out of the cage?

No one would go.  Why? Because it is dangerous.  This is the image we need in our mind that for the believer we are to just avoid temptation. (Milani just turn away. Point your back to that which is trying to kill you.

Point 3) The best way to kill sin is to starve it.  When something is getting fed, when it is receiving a steady diet it will live.

Last week when I said I guard my heart, I meant it.  I was not bragging.  It was not false humility.  It is a statement of fact. 

I do not want to feed anything that my flesh may want.  Part of this is gaining the wisdom that the flesh will whisper subtly. Before long, if left unchecked and unguarded, it will be screaming.

The more mature you grow, the more the fleshly desires in your life will bother you. 

“The greatest lie of Satan is this, you can have both Jesus and an unchanged life.” Derek Melton.

You can’t kill sin without reading God’s word.  Find the time of day that works for you.  I don’t sleep much, I am up early.  My best time in early.  Not everyone is like me.  But dedicated the time of day that works for you and read everyday.

I get my journal and write the passage.  I read the passage and while reading it the words or phrases that stick out I write down.  For whatever reason they stick out, write them down. 

Then I write out a brief summary of what I just read.

Then I put heart, mind, soul, strength and write out how this applies to me.  In light of this text, how can I love the Lord with my heart, mind, soul and strength. Take time.  Slow down.  Do not go fast.  Allow God’s word to lead you.

You can’t kill sin unless you identify it.  Secret sin is the worst.  Maturity will reveal and open you to see your secret sin.  Immaturity will hide it from you.

This is a matter of the old self and new self.  I am so thankful for Jesus and the work of God that reveals these things.  Oh the mercy and patience of God as He works for us and in us and through us.

Let us pray.

Merciful Father, what a day we have had.  So thankful for Melani and her baptism.  Thank you For the family here at Donnels Creek.  Thank you for Your word.

We come before you asking for a deeper holiness.  Grow us in Christ.  May we hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Point to us the things in us that are to die and continue to provide to us the things that give life.

We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Amen

The Lord bless you and keep you;

Go in the peace that Jesus has offered himself for you and me.  May the peace of Christ be with you and on you.

[i] Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims On the Way, p. 661

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 

Matthew 11:28-30 “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We are as believers saved by Christ.  This means our sins have been forgiven as Jesus has suffered in our place.  This is called substitutionary atonement.  Jesus was our substitute.  He stood in our place and atoned, paid for our sin.

So, what now? 

I have spent last few months going through Colossians 1 and 2 and it addresses how and why Jesus was able to atone for our sin.  We have discussed how new birth comes about as an act of God upon the believer. 

As we opened Chapter 3, the discussion turned to how we are to put to death what is earthly in us.  And we will be addressing some of the more specifics on that today.

You recall the “use to” part of our lives.  We USE to be this, but now we are in Christ, and we are a new creation, we are to be putting to death this sin.

We talk a lot about sin in the church.  This thing that separates us from God.  We talk about what we bring to the table, and it always seems to be a negative. 

We come to church, or we were raised in church, and we hear about this sin in our lives.  We hear sermons and teaching about sin and forgiveness of sin in Christ and how we can live eternally in the good place.

We like this.  We have these things that we have done, said, thought and places we have gone.  We begin to feel this burden in our conscience and in our heart and we have this baggage. (illustration with suitcase full of things below)

Do you mean Jesus will take this away?  Jesus will take this upon himself?  Oh, thank you Jesus. 

We take that and receive that grace.  We are so thankful.  We continue to live and then we find in our bag that maybe we picked up some of those old things.  Maybe there are some items in there that are still there.

Next, you have someone like me that teaches sanctification.  That there is instant sanctification, that you are instantly set apart, instantly set aside for holy use.  There is also continuing, ongoing sanctification.  That we are to progressively be made holy. That we are to grow in holiness.  That we spend our lifetime putting to death our sin.

But this is the difficult part – it is like picking scab.  If I keep talking about our sin and how we need to grow, at what point will there be joy in our life as a believer.  At what point is the burden easy and light?

We look in this bag and there is a never-ending supply of baggage.  The content just keeps coming.

I am bringing this . . . again Lord, do you still love me?

I have not grown like I wanted. . . Lord, do you still love me?

I am doing better Lord, but I am still failing. . . do you still love me?

I hope I die on a good day. . . or I hope the Lord returns when I am having a good day.

We never get to a place where Jesus is seen as a light burden.  We are weary.  We are heavy laden.  Where is our rest?  How can we live out these words of Jesus?  How can we experience these words?

If this is you, then you are missing it here.  You are missing it completely.  The enemy is sowing doubt and lies in your mind. 

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  (repeat) 

Did you hear this?  Do you hear this?  How have we died?

If we are raised with Christ (and we are) in what way have we died?  How were we dead?  If one is raised from, what are they raised?

Previously we began to dig into this language here that there are these textual words that say we are dead in one sense and alive in another sense.  That we are buried in one way and raised in another.

What does it mean?

When we are alive in Christ, we are ALIVE in Christ. I really want you to hear this.  Two weeks ago the sermon title was “The Happiest Funeral Ever.” I told you about Dr. Forbes, death just days away from 100.

That was a happy funeral.  But it was not the happiest ever.  You know what the happiest funeral is/was? The day you died and rose with Christ. 

Those who are raised with Christ, will never die. Not for one second.  Not for five minutes.  You will never die.  Two passages we will look at here.

The first is John 11.  In this text we have the death of Lazarus.  Jesus comes to the house where Mary and Martha are.  They are having a funeral.  Martha comes to Jesus v21, Lord if you had only been here, Lazarus would not have died. 

“Your brother will rise again,” Jesus says. To this Martha replies, “I know, I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 

Then there is this, John 11:25–26, Jesus is talking to Martha, the sister of the man who’s in the grave.

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Yes, we die. The text itself says, “though he die, yet shall he live.” But no, we don’t die, because it says in verse 26, “everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Lazarus’s body lay dead in the grave, but Lazarus was not dead. His body was dead. He was not dead. He had not died.

Now here’s the other verse. This one is even more important. Jesus says in John 5:24,

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life

Believers in Jesus who keep his word have passed already out of death into life. They now have what’s called eternal life. Eternal life cannot, by definition, stop for a second. It cannot stop. You never lose it. It is eternal. There’s not a five-minute pause in the hospital or anywhere.

Repeat after me . . Christ . . . is . . . .my . . . life!

(Now put to death what is earthly in you.) 

Put it to death because it is not you anymore.  You do not put it to death because you are trying to gain eternal life.  You do not put it to death to prove that you are worthy for God’s grace.  (Let me clue you in, you are not worthy of your next breath.   You are not worthy of your next heartbeat, and neither am I)

You are putting it to death because you are not that man anymore.   You are putting it to death because you are not that woman anymore.  You are putting it to death because you have a new love.  You are putting it to death because you have a new life.

Now is it more clear how Jesus is not a burden?  Is it clear how Jesus’ yoke is easy?  He is it.  He is pulling the weight. 

We are not picking scabs here.  When we get to verse 5 and it says, “Put to death what is earthly in you,” and then it begins to make a list. 

That list can look A LOT like the things that were in that suitcase.  It will look a lot like what I brought to the table.  It includes this list and even more.  Paul was just making some examples.

“Put to death what is earthly in you, sexual immorality.”

Well that is a big one. 

When I arrived here at Donnel’s Creek the decision had been made to not make any big changes for about six months.  During this time I would get to know you and you get to know me and I would get to know how things operate. I could observe what is working and what can be improved.

As the sixth month date was arriving I began to work on a strategy of growing this body.  There are TWO avenues that can be a HUGE source of growth and one of them is the youth program.

We have on this lower end of our body these kids that represent scores of more kids that could really be nurtured and matured.  Beth is has done, is doing and I am certain will continue to do a beautiful job with this program.

But I want to give you some insight into what the youth of Springfield, New Carlisle and everywhere in between are facing.

Adult content was something that in the recent past in which you wanted to consume, you had to go somewhere else and get.  Those days are over.

This, sexual immorality covers a lot of ground.  The word used there in the Biblical language is pornea.  It refers to a wide range of things like adultery, fornication, immorality, unfaithfulness, prostitution and in general, any sexual sin.

Paul is making an imperative here: “Put to death what is earthly in you.” Which MEANS that there are earthly things in them. 

As a church, as believers in Christ, we are growing in holiness and we are putting to death what is earthly in us.  If we are doing that as a church, as those from the outside come in, they will ALSO be doing this. 

What are some of the alluring things of the world that is attracting our children.  This is not as simple as counseling them to avoid the back seat on Friday and Saturday night.  Times have changed.

Only fans began in the twenty-teens for content creators.  That you can post videos on how to cook a specific dish.  You can start the conversation and invite behind a paywall and be taught. Content creators could be anything from mechanics to comedians.

In 2020 blew up with adult content and if one says Only Fans, the two are paired.  As of today, 90% of the content is adult.

I have consumed none of it.  I will make a pledge that I guard my heart very closely in this area.  I will not even look at a mannequin in a Vicotria’s Secret window.  It is not arrogance or pride, self-righteousness, it is not legalism, it is self-preservation.  I want to give nothing to the enemy.

So much so, that as I explain to you a Tic Tock channel called Bop House, I would not look at it long.  These are fully clothed girls, 13+ that is headed by a woman named Sophie Rain.

Sophie Rain claims to be a Christian.  She also claims to be a virgin.  She is an adult content creator on Only Fans. 

There are young women all over the country, (14, 15, 17 years old) whose goal is to make it to Bop House in LA.  Why? It super charges their career as an Only Fans model.  It guarantees success.

The girls, fully clothed, post videos on Tic Tock that on surface level just appear to be choreographed dances.  They are fully clothed but revealing at the same time.

This is attractive.  The promise to make tens of thousands of dollars each month and some others flaunting millions of dollars each month is attractive.

One such Bop House resident just recently turned 18.  After MUCH publicity, at 12:01 on her birthday she opened an Only Fans account and three hours had 1 million paying subscribers.  Do you not think that there are young women who will find this appealing?  That they can make major money selling themselves?

There are 1.4 million women on Only Fans.  1.2 million of them are between the ages of 18 to 24.  There are only 10 million total women in the USA between ages of 18 to 24.  That means that 1 out of every 10 (10%) have content on Only Fans. 

There are some models who have made millions.  One in ten girls Yet the average income for content creators is $180 per month.  Most are selling their soul for this.

Who is consuming it?  There are 82 million men in USA. 90% of the subscribers are married.  68% are white.  The overwhelming average consumer is white, married male. 

What is the attraction?  The allure. It is all a lie.  That is the definition of sin.  It is a lie.  It made big promises to Eve, but failed to deliver.  This is true in my life.  There was great hope in the promises sin has made and it has failed every time.

What do we do with this?

We want to grow as a church.  When I pray for this church I pray that we grow spiritually.  That we grow in knowledge.  That we grow knowing Jesus more, that it produces in us a reverent praise and a commitment to grow in our faith.

But I also pray that we grow in number.  As we grow in number, I want to fill these seats.  I am serious when I can see a day when we have another congregation.  It is possible with God.  We can have one in east Springfield.  We can have one in Beavercreek.  We can plant churches all over the region.

This means we will be bringing in people who are hurt by sin.  People who have been lied to by the enemy.  People who have scars.  People who need to put to death what is earthly in them.  People just like you and me.  People who need rest.

Jesus says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.

There are people who need this.  We must be a people ready to provide it.

I want to repeat what I said earlier.  Paul is encouraging this people to put to death what is earthly in them.  This is a reality for them.  It is a reality for us and it is a reality for those who come to us. 

Date: August 31, 2025

Lord’s Day: 35

Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ

Title: How To Get Away with Murder

Text: Colossians 3:1-5a

 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you

What “used” to be.

Point:

Our minds can be so tied to the past that we forget the present reality. It can be SO CLOUDED from the past to the point that it can CLOUD THE PRESENT. The focus of the mind can be ROOTED in the past and in what ONCE WAS that we fail to see the present.

Last week we opened our study of this third chapter of Colossians and the main thoughts surrounded the change in pattern here. The teaching of Paul in chapter 1 and 2 is the work of Christ, the work done outside of the believer.  But now, the focus turns: now that we are in Christ, what CAN we do?

What does Paul expect here?  We should kill sin! “Put to death what is earthly in you.”

Before we begin, let us seek a blessing for this message.

As we open up the text this morning I would like to bring your attention to the repetition.  There is a thought process applied here where essentially the same emphasis is mentioned four times.

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

Notice the direction of our thinking!

THEREFORE: An Imperative is used here.  This means, Paul is not making a suggestion.  As a result of this, because of this put to death what is earthly in you. 

In Plain words KILL YOUR SIN.

I would like to build on a thought from last week.  We are in one of two camps, one of two realities:

Dead to Christ but Alive in the world.

Dead to the world but alive in Christ.

Those in Christ are DEAD . . . to the world. 

How is this a reality? 

IN what ways have we died to the world? 

When it says in our text that we are raised in Christ what does that mean?

I have here with me two certificates.  I was around for both events but only remember one of them.  I have a birth certificate.  It lists where I was born, what time I was born, my parents and my weight and height.  This is a certification that I was born.  If there is any doubt that I had a birth, I was given a piece of paper that documented that my birth was an actual event.

This is an event that I have kept secret for a long time.  My first week here there was a Q and A and one of the first questions was when is your birthday? I was hesitant to give that information and one may wonder why.

In previous years of my life I was associated with the world that likes to overindulge in alcohol.  Of my shortcomings, this was not, is not one of them.  I can’t stand the overindulgence of alcohol. 

Yet at the same time, it is seen as very rude and insulting to refuse if someone wants to buy you a drink. The fix for this situation is no one ever knew when my birthday was.  I kept it to myself. Upon leaving that world, it was a habit that I never let go.

So Tina QUICKLY answered in my place. It made me feel a bit awkward.  I was not offended; it is just that I have kept that information very private and right out of the gate, no one asked what my view of the Millennium was, or my theological stance on Melchizedek, or my view of transubstantiation or con substantiation.

But have no doubt, I was born. 

I have a second piece of paper here of another event in my life.  It is my baptismal certificate. It was given to me decades ago and it states when I was baptized, who did it and where it was done. 

There are a lot of metaphors and analogies being used throughout Scripture that speaks of death and life.  It is said of the believer that they have been “BORN AGAIN”.  “New BIRTH” another term to describe Christ followers. Our text here it says that you have been raised with Christ which is certainly an allusion of death to life.

Does this refer to these documents that I have right here? My brith = real, my baptism = real, is this text referring to ONE or BOTH of these?

 Then you read down a little further it says that we have died, and our life is hidden with Christ in God.  How can we have death and life in the same sentence.  In one regard we are dead and in another we are alive.  This is an odd thing, isn’t it?

I do not want you to forget the context we have here. 

This is one issue with chapters and verses.  These are very helpful when we are all trying to get to the same place in our Bibles.  But they are are hindrance, often, to context. 

Chapters and verses were added later to help with the ease of audience reading of texts.  What happens in many instances is we when we are reading Scripture and want to take a break from the text we get to a chapter and stop. 

Even in as I have been preaching through Colossians, we had a hard break at the end of chapter 2 and beginning of chapter 3.  Yet there is still a context here.  Chapter 3 does start an ADDED THOUGHT, but the thought comes within the context.

The emphasis in chapter 2 was the new birth.  That our, “whole self was ruled by the flesh,” and that it was, “put off when we were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also RAISED with him through your faith in the world of God who raised him from the dead.” (2:11-12)

Is this referring to a literal baptism or figurative baptism? Not always in Scripture, when baptism is taught or referenced, is it a literal, being buried in the water.

Examples of figurative baptism:

“And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.” 1 Peter 3:21. (This references baptism symbolically. It states that this is not about the literal water that removes dirt but a clear conscience.  This is a thing of the mind.)

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Titus 3:4-6 (Again, a washing that is figurative.  It was done to us, this passage gives a hard glance at Ezekiel 36.  But this washing was a metaphor of work done by God through His Spirit)

Is this what is being referred to here in Colossians?  When Paul states, “if you have been raised with Christ,” he is continuing the context from Colossians 2 about burial and raising of baptism. Is this literal or figurative?

ODG: Commentators and theologian are mixed. I think it can be both. There is a figurative reference to a circumcision done to our hearts.  A work done BY GOD.  This is not literal.  It is a reality. But it is not a surgery done on our hearts by God. It marks a moment we are forever changed.

The fact is, I have two papers here that signify that I was born.  I was born once in Adam and once in Christ.  I did nothing both times. I participated in neither birth other than just being. My baptism in water represented something already done in me.

It was God who raised Christ from the dead, the working of God.  It was God who raised me from the dead, the working from God.

“Having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also RAISED WITH HIM THROUGH FAIHT IN THE WORKING OF GOD WHO RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD” (Colossians 2:12)

This is our context.  “IF THEN you have been raised with Christ seek the things that are above.”

We find the statement in v.5 “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” in another place in Paul’s writings.  It appears in Romans 8:13. In English it sounds identical. 

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Don’t those appear to say the same thing?  They do say the same thing but they are to be interpreted differently.  How so?

Last week we revisited sanctification.  This passage that we are currently studying is a sanctification passage. 

Sanctification means, being set apart.  In relation so Scripture, we are set apart by God for holy use.  We are set apart to be holy.

The reason Colossians 3:1-5 is a sanctification passage is, now that we born again, set your minds on things above.  Think on things above.  Here is how we are to think.  Here is how we are to proceed.

Regarding sanctification, it is a one time event in the believers life:

“You were washed, you were justified, you were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Corinthians 6:11

It is also a continuing activity. “We are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” 2 Corinthians 3:16

The action in those passages, the verbs are easier to see in English.  The verb in 1 Corinthians 6:11 is aorist which means it is a completed action done in the past.  It was an event. The verb in 2 Corinthians 3:16 is present tense.  Which in Greek means a present reality but also going on into the future.  It is a continuing thing.

We find that same situation here regarding killing our sin:

In our passage of Colossians 3:5 the verb is Aorist.  Means it was done in the past.  It was a single event.  Because you have been raised with Christ, because you life is hidden with Christ in God . . . put to death. . . One time deal.

But in Romans 8:13, just like Sanctification is a ONE TIME and ONGOING thing, the verb tense there is present tense.  This is an act that you are presently doing and will continue to do. 

IS this not a beautiful thing.  Don’t you just love God’s word? 

We are going to come back to this next week and continue past verse 5.  But I want this to be an encouragement to you.

How is this encouraging.  In both instances (Colossians 3:5 and Romans 8:13) these verbs are in passive tense.  What this means is the Spirit, within us, Is helping us bring this about. 

We are bringing it about, but we are being helped to bring it about.  Oh how this makes me love Jesus more.

I have had to put a lot of sin to death.  I say this not bragging.  I say this because I am like you.  I look back on my years past and I weep.  I hate what I once did.  I hate who I use to be.  I genuinely hate it.

We are celebrating Labor Day this weekend.  Long weekend of work that has been done.  Let’s take a day off and smoke some ribs or fry some hot dogs or hamburgers and celebrate that we have worked.

This passage in Colossians is a work passage.  The work of Christ FOR us.  The work of God in us.  The work we are to do in Christ.  Mortifying our sin.

Date: August 24, 2025

Lord’s Day: 34

Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ

Title: Happiest Funeral You Will Ever Attend

Text: Colossians 3:1-5

Introduction:  

Clarence Forbes was born in 1901. Coming from a farming and snowy background in northern New Hampshire, he entered Bates College in Maine. For his freshman year he registered for five courses in Latin, Greek, German, French, and English, to the consternation of his classmates (who didn’t think he could survive such a rigorous schedule). He not only survived, but earned his Phi Beta Kappa key and became enamored of a lovely coed, Florence le Maire, from a French family in Maine.     In 1924 they began 63 years of married life, raising five children. Clarence always referred to his wife as “the Best of Maine.”

After his marriage, he received his master’s degree while studying under William Abbott Oldfather, the distinguished professor of classics at the University of Illinois. Clarence continued his graduate work and earned his PhD four years later. He then took a position in the Classics Department at the University of Nebraska. After twenty years at Nebraska, he moved to Ohio State because he feared that Nebraska was about to make him a dean. As he wrote at the time, “I just wanted to teach!” He remained at Ohio State as a faculty member until his retirement in 1971.

Calrence Forbes died in August of 2001, only a month and a half short of his hundredth birthday.  I was at that funeral in 2001 and I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was the happiest funeral I had ever attended. 

You may ask, in what way was it happy.  Dr. Forbes was days away from being 100.  The wife he met in college was wearing a red sweater when they were first introduced.  After her death in 1987 every day he wore Santa Clause red socks, in memory of her. He had lived 14 years after the love of his life had died.  Additionally, he had outlived all of his friends.  He was ready to go and everyone knew it. 

This was the happiest funeral I had ever attended.  There were some tears, he was a beloved family member.  But at the same time, there were many smiles. 

We come to our text today and see a funeral that even tops Dr. Forbes.  How is this a happy funeral? “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”  Yes, this is a most joyous reason to be happy. 

We have spend much time in Colossians chapter 1 that sets up the foundation for this letter.  Then in Chapter 2 spells out the problem.  We discussed various theological matters along the way.

Specifically, I have shared all of the things that as believers we could not do.  We cannot earn our salvation.  That even the faith that it took for you to believe is a gift of God.  Last week we spent much time discussing how Christ filled you.  That you did absolutely nothing to save yourself.

Where does that leave us?  Do we continue to do nothing?  Are we continually passive? 

Our passage today links the doctrinal portion of the letter to the practical portion of the letter.  There is a NEW NATURE that occurs in the believer and it becomes a motivating factor in their growth.

Let us pray before we dig into the text:

Back in 2012 I had a clean up job.  It was clearing out a unit and I came upon this baggie of goodies. 

The owner of the unit was obviously a retired deputy as well as a fire chief.  It appears as if he had both jobs and this bag was full of his police and fire ID’s. 

It took me back to when I was in high school and there was this show on NBC, Miami Vice.  If God would give me another life back then, I wanted to be Sunny Crocket.  Sometimes, even today, when we check in at a restaurant and there is a wait list, I will give them the name, Sunny Crocket. 

Sunny Crocket was handsome, I was not.  Sunny Crocket drove a sweet car and dressed nice and had great hair.  What he also had on occasion was his police badge that he wore around his neck on a dog chain necklace.

Guess what was in the bag?  Oh yes, my chance to be a little closer to Sunny Crocket. I would put that on my neck and Tina would see it, “What are you doing?  Get that thing off before you end up in the clinker impersonating a police officer.” For a brief moment, I was Sunny. 

Now, I ask the question, and I know the answer.  Does this badge make me Sunny Crocket?  Does this badge make me a deputy?  The answer is no, and in fact, if I were to pretend, in public, in anyway that I am a police officer, I have committed a serious crime.

Even though I have the badge I have no authority.  We give authority to certain people to uphold the law.  So much is this the case that in older films or on tv, during a police chase they would say, “Stop! In the name of the. . . .law.”

This is the authority that they have. Because these officers have gone through a process where they get trained and make oaths they become representatives of the law.

We begin to see this same principle in our text today.  We have spent much time in chapter 1 and 2.  We see the authority of Christ in these passages.  We have labored quite a bit on how our relationship with Christ began and there is NOTHING we can do.

Jesus fills the cup.  We don’t fill it at all.  He filled your cup and my cup from start to finish in this work in our lives. 

But last week, for those who were here, you may have seen the glass of water and you heard my words.  You heard my deliberations in my head from 30 years ago. I have to do something in order to be saved right?  Do I not play a part?

In terms of salvation, new birth, regeneration, new creation, your life as a Christ follower, disciple of Christ, it began 100% without you.  It is by grace.  This is that which we have been discussing. 

God says, in this new covenant, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean.  He did it.  He says in this new covenant I will take your rock hard resistant heart and give you a heart that does not resist me. 

See that?  Without the work of God we would resist Him.  I will put my Spirit in you and cause you obey me.

See that?  Without the Spirit, we have no desire, no ability to obey.  This is the work of God.  It is a beautiful work of God.  This is the jar filling the cup.  Bottom to top.

What about now? 

“You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)

Sanctified.  What does that mean?  Set apart for holy use.  You were made holy.  Just like the instruments in the tabernacle were set apart for holy use.  They were sanctified.  God set them apart.

You have been sanctified.  In the name of the the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is your authority. 

We come to our text,” IF then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (3:1)

Here is a switch.  It is something you can do.  Up until now we have been solely speaking in terms of what has been done for us. These opening 4 sentences reveal to us what we are now.

When you have been taken hold of by Jesus Christ himself, then at that very moment you:

This is every believer.  You have been deputized.  You have been given authority IN CHRIST.  I can’t look at this and not get a little excited. 

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, no on things that are on earth. FOR YOU HAVE DIED . . .” (1:1-3a)

That old you is no longer you.  In fact the old you compared to the new you:

Alive in the world but dead in Christ

                        Alive in Christ but dead to the world

The is the happiest funeral you ever attended was when you died to this world.

Everything you could not do before Christ, you have been set totally free to do now. 

Date: August 17, 2025

Lord’s Day: 32

Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ

Title: Filled

Text: Colossians 2:8-23

Introduction:  I recall many years ago someone taught me a lesson that too me another twenty years to learn.  I heard what they were saying but I did not completely understand it till much later in life.

I place before you a glass which represents the life of a potential believer.  We are going to define grace.  This can be a rhetorical exercise.  So, if this cup is the believer, water equals what has to be done to save you. 

In other words, what do you bring to the table?  For instance, if you are 20% does God bring 80%?  Or if you are 50% is the remaining grace needed 50%?  How much does Christ fill? 

At the time I looked and I reasoned, well I do my part and Jesus does His part and I am saved.  That was the tools I had been given to interpret Scripture from an early age on.  But is this reality?  Is this what Scripture teaches?

I focus on this a lot because I find that in church congregations and in individual Christian lives there are often one extreme or the other on this issue. 

On the one end I will use this image to define it: Donkey from Shrek.  Have you seen Shrek?  It was a brilliant cartoon film that is now 25 years old.  Shrek and Fiona’s ugly children are now out of high school, out of college and in the work force. 

In Shrek you had Donkey.  All he wanted is for Shrek to like him.  He did everything in his power to make Shrek like him.  He just kept hanging around, kept following him, everywhere Shrek went there was donkey. 

Donkey tried to do things for Shrek to prove his worth.  He was trying to show Shrek that without him, he would not be complete. 

Donkey was in awe of Shrek.  If Shrek had given Donkey the open arm of fellowship from the beginning, I do not know if that would have changed Donkey’s feeling of inadequacy.  He was constantly trying to impress Shrek with his importance.

Yet, there was another side of Donkey, another ego, another personality.  It was what he really wanted to be. (Shoe the white stead.)

The stead is the exact opposite of Donkey.  Donkey saw himself as slightly below average in looks, the stead is a 10 out of 10.  The stead is tall, donkey is short.  The stead is strong, Donkey is weak.  The stead is brave, Donkey was most of the time a coward.

The stead did not need a friend in Shrek.  Everyone would want to be friends with stead.  The stead being handsome would attract a beautiful mate that is thrilled to be with him, donkey was being pursued by and ugly very large dragon. 

What I find in myself at times, in others, and in congregations are there are people that fill these roles.  There are times we just want Jesus to love us but we know us and we have seen our failures.  We know what we think sometimes.  We know what we have done, what at times we want to do and sometimes what we continue to struggle doing. 

If I could just get myself in a position for Jesus to love me.  If I could just do my part.  Maybe if I just hang around Jesus A LOT, maybe if I just keep pushing what I am good at, maybe He will love me.  I just need to prove myself and be really good and show that I would be a good friend of Jesus.

Then the other extreme happens when we fail to see all the ways we fail.  Maybe there is not an outward failing.  But we fail to see that while we may not have said profane words out loud when we were in traffic or in a specific place, we certainly said them in our heart.  But we can overlook that right?  I did not say them out loud . . .and then with the same inward voice pray to God in our heart.  The same voice that yelled outrage or held anger or harbored wrong desire is the same heart that utters silent prayers. 

For those who have been in church most of their lives, this can be true of them.  Jesus loses a little luster and we become a bit more the captain of our righteousness.  We become less like Donkey and more like the steed. 

My hope today as that we get a very healthy look at Jesus.  I want us to see his deity, his authority and His sufficiency in our lives. 

For Donkey, he is full of awe but lacks the seriousness of the situation.  For the steed, it is the reverse for he lacks the awe but understands the seriousness of the situation.

The woman who anoints Jesus understands both.  She is in awe of Christ and also gets the seriousness of his work and ministry. 

What she realizes is what we must realize that we fill no part of this glass.  Jesus completely fills us.  Jesus (2:19) who is the head and holds us together, also fills us (2:10) but there were some (2:18) who were teaching that there was something they could do, apart from Christ, on their own, that would grow them.

Faulty Doctrine = Faulty Reality

There were elemental spirits of the world (2:8, 20), demonic teaching that were causing the believers to take their eye off Jesus and begin putting it on themselves.  How so?

What can I do to fill my glass?

Can I eat/not eat certain food to get me closer to God?

Can I celebrate a certain holiday or feast and that get me closer to God?

Can I fast/deny myself in someway to get closer to God?

In reality NONE OF THIS WORKS.  Jesus stated it best in Mark 7:1-8 that the heart of the problem is a problem of the heart.  Our issue is the flesh and none of these things just mentioned and will be mentioned again shortly, will fix a spiritual problem. 

These things can help make you appear spiritual but at the same time, you become prideful and arrogant.  The only help is Jesus.  How so?

Our passage today points that proper doctrine produces a proper view of God’s work in our lives (2:8, 16, 18, 20-23).

Rather than look at self, our passage lists three things.  We will look at three pieces of Christ’s work in:

The deity of Christ (2:10a) points back to 1:15-20.  We spent several weeks in this passage working our way through how Jesus is fully God and fully man. 

God was pleased to dwell bodily in Jesus.  He was pleased to dwell there, much more than an O.T. sacred building. This tabernacle pointed to Christ.

The sacrifices and the holidays all pointed to Christ.  Christ was the fulfillment of these things.

The influence that the Colossian church was receiving made promises that failed to deliver.  Jesus never failed and never fails.

His authority is profound.  The picture that is being painted here by Paul is so very powerful (2:15).  He disarmed the ruler and authorities and put them to shame by triumphing over them.

The picture here is what the Roman army would do in victory.  The conquered soldiers were stripped of their clothes and weapons.  Then they would march them in public.  Completely naked and disarmed they were shown to be in total defeat. 

Compare this to what led up to Jesus’ darkest hour.  As he was mocked and put through sham trials, then beaten beyond recognition, stripped naked and made to carry a cross through the streets of Jerusalem. 

Isaiah 52 says that He was so beaten that he did not even look like a man.  They gambled for his clothing.  When I read account of the woman who anointed Jesus with oil, this was just literal hours away from his crucifixion.

I have pondered the difference between cheap and expensive cologne/perfume.  Through the years Terrell, who has worked with me a lot, have had conversations about this.  We would find a scent that we like but it does not last.  Even if you can find a cheap version, let’s say Polo Black, which sells for about $100 for 6 oz. that you can find similar size with same scent for $15.  The difference, it does not last.

You can spray and it smells great but it only last a few minutes to a few hours.  He and I would say, what is it that the expensive one has that make sit last.  The pricey scent will last all day.

He found out the answer and it is because it has to ferment.  Like fine wine, it is not so much the ingredient but the process.  It has to sit in the dark for a period of time and then it can be sold because something happens during that time.

This woman brought expensive perfume and anointed Jesus with it.  How expensive?  A year’s wages.  An entire year wages is poured on him in a matter of seconds. 

I have thought about this on many occasions.  Because it was expensive, maybe, just maybe there was a hint of aroma as he was paraded through the streets.  Maybe there was an occasion that remnants of that perfume she sacrificed for him could be detected as He was sacrificed for us. 

As Jesus was being led through the streets being humiliated it was actually the beginning of the end for the demonic forces.

We are being led by Christ triumphal procession.  We are the aroma of Christ.  As he ascended on high, he took many captives (2 Cor. 2:14; Eph 4:8)

The deity of Christ, the authority of Christ and the sufficiency of Christ is no match for our measly efforts at spirituality.