Heavenly Thinking on Earth, Part 2

Which many of you already are, and that's fine. Colossians 3 once again. I'll read the same as I did this morning, 1 -17, but the preaching this afternoon will be on verses 5 -17. 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 mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked when you were living in them.

But now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave-free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on, then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 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. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. You may be seated. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we again come before you.

Our hearts are geared towards Jesus Christ. Our spirits are set upon you, Father. And our eyes, our minds, our hearts are looking to your word and looking for instruction from it. So, Father, you accomplish within us and amongst us that which only you can do by your Spirit.

Change us, even by the proclamation of your word, more and more into the image of Christ Jesus, our Savior. In his name we pray. Amen. So, if seeking after and thinking about Jesus are the regular occupation of those who have been raised with Christ, of course, that's verses 1 -4 from this morning, then here are those definitive acts that those thought processes lead to.

That's verses 5 -17. The acts that the thought process leads to. Seeking after, of course, is a thought process at its core. Seeking after and thinking about lead to something. They mean something. They do something in this life.

There's more specifics as we go through this book later that Paul addresses. But for now, what we have here is the put on, the put off. Put on in verses 5 -11. Excuse me, put off in 5 -11. Put on in 12 -14.

See, when we seek Christ, we set our minds on him, what do we do? Well, as we do so, we dispose of whatever does not fit that image, what is no longer needed. What things that we carry that just don't even fit the needs of that new person that you are in Christ Jesus.

New person is compared to the old person. The new creation, 2 Corinthians 5 -17 again. So this is what this is about, really. Put off the old. It's no longer appropriate. It doesn't fit your new nature.

It's going to lead you astray. It's going to lead you in places that are going to be reprehensible to you because of God's Spirit within you. These things are no longer going to be something that is free and easy in your conscience.

So put those off, 5 -11, in which you once walked. And even if the inventory of sins here in Colossians 3 doesn't meet your particular inventory, you can fill in the blanks. And then put on in 12 -14.

So it's kind of a general inventory of sins that we all struggle with that are given here. The old joke is to ask a man whether he beat his wife today. Hey, Joe, did you smack your wife today? Well, no, I never have.

I never will. I've never hit her. Well, I'm just glad to hear you didn't do it today. You see where this goes. We all have these things that we no longer or never did do. We have sins within us. We have these things that we need to put off.

We need to take this inventory. We need to, as we look up and seek after Christ and put our minds upon Him, think about Him constantly, there's got to be some put off. As we look at His image and compare it to ours, and as I said this morning, one at a time, don't shotgun yourself.

Things need to be disposed of. Things need to be put off. While I'm going to focus mainly, I'm not going to give any detailed description of those sins that are listed here. They speak pretty well for themselves in the language that we have it, in the English that we have it.

I'll give a quick description, quick definitions of what's in there just to remind us, but I'm not going to go into a lot of detail. What I'm more interested in this afternoon is putting off and putting on, reclothing ourselves, really, putting on the image of Christ, putting off the image of me, the old me.

Those first five sins that are listed here in Colossians 3, what is earthly in you? Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. So sexual immorality, I mean, it is what it sounds like, sex between any two persons except a husband and a wife.

Impurity is moral corruption in the general sense, often of sexual behavior, but moral impurity generally. Passion, uncontrolled sexual desires. Evil desires, which is a general term, a general term which is how James uses it when he says, you are dragged away by your own evil desire.

Same word. And we learn there that sexual sin is from self-generated evil desires. And then there's covetousness, which is idolatry. Covetousness, which is the desire for more and more of what is or what ought not to be yours.

So in this context, not taking your neighbor's donkey or something that you can actually put your hands on, but in this context, it's just desiring that which God says is not ours to desire. It's not ours to have.

And that's in that sexual context. Verse 7 says, In these you two once walked. That's probably alluding to their former participation in the morally lax, the pagan Greco-Roman world from which they were saved.

So the idea here is what? To put to death, you personally, me personally, we engage this conflict of putting to death those things to which the scripture says what? You've died. You've died to these things and he's saying put them to death.

Well, you and your spirit, you have died to these things. You no longer want these things. Christ has given you a new heart to believe in him and to desire to be like him. I like to say, I chose to be like Jesus Christ not just to get your attention, but we all did choose because God changed us and made us want to choose to do something that we wouldn't without his regeneration within us be wanting ourselves.

But it's this desire to be like Christ that brings about this putting off and putting on. We find something in me that is not like Christ. It's a lifetime engagement as we said this morning. It's a good engagement.

It's worth the effort. Putting off and putting on. Put to death that to which you've died. You're dead to them, but they do live on. Without this determined action, without this putting off, taking at a point in time the seeking and the thinking from verses one through four, they're just theories.

It's just academics. Well, I'm seeking Christ. Okay, good. I'm learning all about him. Wonderful. I put my thoughts upon him. I've learned about him in the scripture. That's great, but so what? So what are you doing about that?

What does that mean when you go to work or go to your home and nurturing your home or whatever it is that we do Monday morning? What does that put off really mean? You see, we don't just start randomly tossing things aside.

We have a standard. When I clean my garage and I organize my tools, I often find tools that were once very important to me, very valuable, and I no longer need them. One of them was a manometer. Who knows what a manometer is?

One. Okay, cool. Probably because I told you some time ago, right? It's used for balancing carburetors, and there's a little screw within carburetors, and you can turn them and get all the carburetors sucking in air at the same time.

I used to have a Kawasaki with four carburetors, and I'd use a manometer to balance the carbs. That thing ran great. Well, I don't ride motorcycles anymore for obvious reasons. I don't have a Kawasaki anymore.

I don't need a manometer. Now, that's kind of a weak illustration, but if we apply it to ourselves, you're a new creature in Christ, and these old sins, like my manometer, are things you don't need. You're no longer a Kawasaki with carburetors.

You don't need those tools. They're not appropriate to you. They will not accomplish what needs to be accomplished. There's a work of the Spirit. There's a work of the Spirit in which we are responsible to do our part, to grow in knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be more and more like Him.

That is our part. There's a Spirit within us that gives us the wherewithal to accomplish that, and it is He who brings about the changes as we strive to be changed. He brings about the changes both and at the same time, and I can't balance them any better than that.

You see, when we seek things above, when we seek where Christ is, excuse me, when our thoughts settle on Him, we have to find these old things in ourselves, these old inappropriate things, those manometers that need disposal, the sins like Paul lists, and if your sins are not in there, your own personal list.

Put to death is this determined, definitive, decisive destruction of the deeds that detract from the daily disposition of being like Christ. Okay? A lot of Ds there, but I wasn't trying to be clever. The determined, definitive, decisive destruction of the deeds that detract from the daily disposition of being like Christ.

This is what Paul is saying to put off. He was just saying to be rid of and put them where your old man is. Verse 4 says he died. Put them in the grave with him. You died to the things of the world when Christ's death was applied to you.

And so you need to apply to yourself those tools that will bring about what the Scripture says, what Christ says you need to bring about. What are those tools? Well, we talked about them in Sunday School a bit.

In 2 Peter 1, verse 3 and 4, it says, He's given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. And he goes on with that whole list. He's given us everything. He's given us the tools, the Scripture, the Spirit, most importantly, the Spirit within, the communion of the saints.

He's given you pastors to teach you. He's given you each other to admonish and rebuke and encourage one another. He's given us everything we need to put off those old things and to recognize what it is that needs to be put off.

That's repentance. That's going to Christ, like 1 John 1, 9. When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is what Paul's talking about here.

Jesus had a lot to say about this, as you might expect. He said it this way. He said, Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. Well, let's stop for a second. What's the new wine? Well, it's Him. Wine is often a metaphor for the Holy Spirit.

So it's Jesus. It's the Holy Spirit. New wine in new wineskins. And He goes on to say, Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. They're not appropriate anymore. It won't work. Old or new wine will burst an old wineskin.

If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But the new wine is put into fresh wineskins and so both are preserved. Do you hear the ring of 2 Corinthians 5 .17 being a new creation?

Do you see what Paul is saying about putting off the old things? You're no longer the old wineskin. The Holy Spirit, that new wine, wouldn't go in there in the first place. First, He makes you new. He makes a new wineskin that's appropriate for the wine that's going to go in there.

And what's the wine? Well, again, a metaphor for the Spirit of Christ. The new you is a new wineskin. In Isaiah 55, in verse 2, the Holy Spirit says this. He says, Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to Me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food. In other words, why do you keep striving for that which you won't accomplish, that for which you're striving? Want to be like Christ?

Use the means that Christ has given us. Do you want growing holiness and sanctification? Read about the Holy One of God, which is Jesus Christ, and put off, each time you read, something of the Old South.

Say, I'm going to put on this, this aspect of Christ. Again, don't overload yourself. Don't pick 20 each day because there's 20 ,000, there's 200 ,000, there's too much. Take one. Take what the Spirit leads you.

Find in Scripture when you're reading what is coming into your conscience. What are you seeing of yourself? As James says, are you going to close that book and forget what it says about you? No. We're going to remember.

And from it, we're going to put off, one by one, those old things, those old clothes. Those things are no longer appropriate. The new wine skin filled with new wine and new wine alone. And that's Jesus by His Spirit makes us the new wine skin.

Jesus by His Spirit fills us with the new wine. And this is what Paul's saying with the put on, the put off, with the thinking of things that are above, setting your mind on those things. Verse 8 has for us a pretty good list of things that need to be put off.

But now, you must put them all away. Or put them off. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Put them all away means lay it aside. Renounce them. Put them away. It sounds like you're storing it, like putting away for a rainy day.

You might think it sounds that way, but that's not at all what He's saying. He's saying put them aside. Lay them away. Renounce them. Have no more to do with them. He goes on saying, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

And one thing I like about the way Paul wrote this, he's saying seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. As if we did it? Well, of course we didn't. We loved that old self.

We would never put that away. We had no desire for the new self, which is conversion to Christ. We were God's enemies. We were born children of wrath. So it's the work of the Spirit that makes us new.

We know that. But I love the way it's our responsibility to put them off and put them on. As I said, I cannot balance it any better than that for you, the sovereignty of God. And He says you're responsible to do this thing, which you cannot do.

I will do it for you or with you by the Spirit of God, but you're responsible to do it. It's both at the same time. So it sounds like putting them away, if we just read that in plain English, it would sound like we're just storing it, keeping it aside.

But that's not all it means. It means kill it. Consign it to the same grave where your old man lies. Put it away. That word can also though mean, just so you know, stripped off. Something stripped off.

It sounds almost violent like Lazarus' grave clothes when Jesus said take those off of him. They don't fit him anymore. He's no longer dead. He's not in a grave anymore. Those are no longer appropriate.

Zechariah chapter 3, Joshua the high priest with his sin-filthed priestly robes. That was the angel of the Lord who was Jesus' say, take those off of him. Put the clean turban on him. They're ripped off.

They're cast aside forever. Not just put off. Christ gives us what we need to put in its place. So He didn't just take away and take away. Our God is able to give us more than He takes. He gives us Himself.

So put on. You take off, or put off and you put on. See we said it several times in these messages. I know I said it this morning. With salvation comes a change of life. Comes a different way of thinking.

A new world view. A despite for the old person. And we don't have to go overboard and be totally disgusted. Though you may be. But it's not necessary. We can just say, there's Christ. And here's an aspect of Christ that I see not in me.

That I know that the Holy Spirit who's given us all things that pertain to life and godliness can work in me. That's our part. Verse five says, on account of these things the wrath of God is coming. That seems to follow those first five that I read.

Which sound like they're all sexual sin. I just want to point out to you that there does seem to be a special kind of wrath of God for that special kind of sin. Paul talks about, would you join with a prostitute?

Would you take Christ in with a prostitute with you? This idea of using our bodies in that particular sinful way. He says, on account of these things, I believe it's those things, the wrath of God is coming.

The psalmist says, God is angry at sinners every day. But there's a special reservation for that particular type of sin. Read Genesis 19. And the sin of Sodom before they were destroyed. Read Romans 1, 18 to 32.

And why these things particularly gain the wrath of God. Read Jesus' words in Revelation to the church in Theatera concerning Jezebel and how she led that church into sexual immorality. There is a special wrath of God, a special type of wrath of God over that particular kind of sin.

So verse eight and nine, but now you must put them away. Let me read it again. Sin, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another. Put them all away. Renounce, kill, be done.

Seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. And there it is, the old self, the new self. The one put on, the other being renewed.

Or excuse me, the one put off, the other being renewed. The one in the trash heap, never to be seen again. The other, the new self, on a new and constant journey towards the image of him whom we seek.

Him upon whom our thoughts are fixed. A steady diet of growth and renewal as we gain more and more knowledge of him. Growing in the knowledge of Christ Jesus as this is the motto of our church. Renewal.

It says we're being renewed day by day. Being changed from glory to glory, if you like. Renewal is not a mere moral improvement. Understand this. Renewal is not being merely morally better. Okay? It is becoming less what we were and more like Jesus is.

To be like Jesus is, is to so far exceed mere morality as a Rembrandt exceeds a kindergartner's finger painting. You see, it's not moral improvement, though the Christian is to be a moral person. But it's not so much moral improvement that we strive for.

It's daily recreation in Christ. And that's a different matter. I would argue that moral improvement, if that's what we're after, anybody could do that for a few days, a few weeks, maybe even a few years depending on your level of discipline and which self-help book you found.

You could be morally better in your behavior, but you won't be changed. You can get a new habit, but you won't have put on Christ. And that's the difference. Renewal is not just moral improvement. It's becoming more and more like Him who saved us.

It's putting on Jesus Christ more and more. And that's what he says in verse 12. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. So again, put on, be characterized by, dress this way so you not only look this way but live this way, live according to these precepts.

These are just the outward signs of inner renewal, of daily recreation more and more into Jesus. The list here that Paul gives us, it's a lot like what we have in Galatians 5 .22, isn't it? Where the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and above all, what?

Love. Above all is love. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Above all, love. Paul and James both say that when we love our neighbor as ourselves, that's that person sitting behind you, in front of you, to your left, to your right, in this very place.

When we love them as ourselves, we have fulfilled the law. And James even goes so far as to say we've fulfilled the royal law. And so what are we in there? This putting off and this putting on. This ability that God gives us to do it, this desire He gives us, and then the empowerment by His Spirit so He gets all the glory.

He really is the one who does the work, and yet we do our responsibility, we do our part. That's what the new covenant is, brothers and sisters. That's the new covenant which provides what it demands.

And I said that this morning. I really want to emphasize that for you. The problem with the law was that the law demanded a lot, and the law is holy and righteous and good. It came from God, but it did not provide the means to accomplish what the law demanded.

The new covenant, the great difference, the blessed difference, in this age of the Spirit who is within you, the new covenant says we provide, meaning God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, a triune work of God, provides what we need to accomplish what is demanded of us.

That's the beauty of the new covenant. This new covenant of my blood. We're going to say it again in a few minutes at the community table. This cup is the new covenant of my blood. What is that new covenant?

It's many things. It's worth, as they say, a month of Sundays. But this one thing I think is most prominent, at least it is in my mind. The new covenant provides what it demands. When Paul says put off and put on, it's not just discipline, not just moral improvement.

It is seeking after Christ. It is thinking upon Him in all the ways we said this morning. We'll simply close this afternoon with verses 15 through 17. I won't say a lot about them. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.

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. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Jesus said, My peace I leave you. Let that peace rule in your heart, the one that Paul calls compassionate, the compassionate heart in verse 12. In all your dealings, may the peace that Jesus won for us, peace between us and God His Father, therefore I've been justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord, that kind of peace, let that be the peace that is the rule and the guiding principle of all we do in this place, with each other, husband and wife, brother, sister, pastor, congregation, whatever it is, this peace that we have with God must be the peace that we have with one another.

May His word be administered lovingly and peacefully to each other, all with thanksgiving flowing from grateful hearts, holy and faithful brothers and sisters, beloved of God for Jesus' sake, may we all put on Christ daily and together daily be renewed in Him.

Amen.