Unqualified

If you have a copy of God's Word please open it and turn to Colossians chapter 1. We are going to look at only one verse today and that is verse 12 and the title of today's sermon is Unqualified. I've worked with children most of my life in different ways whether it be teaching karate or substitute teaching at the high school or working when I was in seminary.

I worked as a paraprofessional which was essentially a teacher's assistant and I've often enjoyed asking little kids questions and hearing the variety of their answers and one of the questions that is always fun to ask a group of young people is what they want to be when they grow.

Up.

Some of us are still wondering what we are going to be when we grow up. But if you ask a group of children what they want to be when they grow up you will hear a lot of different answers, you will hear children say I want to be a fireman, I want to be a policeman, I want to be an army man, it usually has something exciting at least they see it as an exciting career.

In second grade our teacher asked what we wanted to be when we grew up and I said president. I don't have delusions of grandeur but I really thought that's what I wanted to be, I'm so glad I'm not the president.

But she looked at me and she said you mean president of a company, I said no president of everything. What's interesting as you begin to grow up you begin to learn that jobs require qualifications and there are certain things that you learn that you will never be qualified for, like I'm never going to be in the NBA, I'm never going to be a fighter pilot, I learned that.

Very early.

Fighter pilots have a very specific physique that they have to meet and I don't meet it. I'm unqualified to be in Top Gun even though I loved that movie growing up. And as I was thinking about qualifications this week and I began to think what job would be the hardest to qualify for, like what job would be the one that would have the most rigorous qualifications and I don't know that this is true but in my mind I just figured astronaut right, astronaut have to be the toughest.

So I looked up what does it take to be an astronaut, you got to have a master's degree, you got to have at least two years of in training whatever the subject whether it's science, technology, engineering or math, you have to be two years in training in those, you have to have a thousand hours of flight time and you have to pass a long term flight.

Physical.

Anybody here qualified, maybe, no, probably not, but what's interesting about that and the reason why I bring this up is even though those qualifications seem really high, I mean that's just a thousand hours of flight time seems, you know, and that's flying time.

To me it seems like that's incredible but you realize they still get thousands of applications.

Every year.

In 2016 NASA received 18 ,300 applications for the job of astronaut because people felt qualified. Now, people tend to vastly overestimate their qualifications. If you don't believe me, just spend a little bit of time on the internet and read the comments of people who believe they're qualified to be talking about things that they know nothing about.

All it takes somebody to do is read one article or watch one YouTube video and they automatically think they're an expert. Oh that's an amen moment right there because that's what people do, they watch one ten minute YouTube video and they know everything about the subject.

We tend to vastly overestimate our qualifications and the one thing that almost everyone feels qualified for is heaven. The one thing, I don't care who you talk to, the average person, do you think you're qualified for God's kingdom?

Do you think you're qualified for heaven? Average person, absolutely. I'm going to be standing at the pearly gates, I'm going to be up there with St. Peter, don't know where that image comes from but apparently St. Peter's the guy guarding the door and he's the one that I'm going to go up and see, he's going to open the door, he's going to let me in because I am qualified for heaven.

If you don't believe me, just watch any of Ray Comfort's videos. What does Ray Comfort do? He goes around asking people, do you think you're a good person? What is the answer to that question 95 of the time?

Absolutely I'm a good person. If you were to die today, would you go to heaven or hell?

Heaven!

Dude, you can go to prisons and ask that question and still the average guy in prison, no matter what he's there for, is going to say, yep, because I'm not as bad as the guy in cell.

Block D, right?

I'm in cell block A and the guys in cell block D, they're heading for hell but I'm qualified. This is the way we treat heaven, it's just everyone's qualified, we're not justified by faith, we're justified by death.

Everybody who dies is going to heaven and by the way, that's what makes the gospel offensive. Somebody said this week, I had posted a video or something and somebody commented on one of my videos, they said, the law is offensive but the gospel isn't.

I said, dude, you don't know the gospel. If you say the law is offensive but the gospel isn't, you understand the very first thing that you learn in the gospel is that you are unqualified without it. The very first thing you learn in the gospel is that apart from Christ, you are absolutely unqualified for heaven and therefore it's the most offensive thing in the world because everybody feels very qualified.

Everybody feels like they deserve it. Man, Hitler ain't going, Mussolini ain't going, Stalin ain't going but I ain't like them. That's the attitude. I am fit, I meet the standard, I am qualified. Well, beloved, today's sermon is called Unqualified and my goal in this lesson is to simply point out the fact that apart from Christ, you are unqualified.

Let's stand together and we're going to read verse 12 and we're going to think through these questions today. Why were we formerly unqualified? How and when were we qualified and for what are we qualified?

Let's read. This picks up a sentence which is a very long sentence in Greek. It begins at verse 9, it goes actually almost all the way down to verse 21 so it's hard to kind of start at the beginning but we're looking at just verse 12.

Paul begins with this phrase, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Father in heaven, I pray by the mercies of God that as I preach your word that you would keep me from error for Lord I'm a fallible man and I'm capable of preaching error.

I pray Lord that you would open up the hearts of your people to hear your word and Lord God that you would apply the truths of this message to their hearts by the power of the.

Spirit.

I pray Lord that you would for the unbelievers in this room, open their eyes to the gospel, open their ears to the gospel and though they may be offended by the gospel Lord, let the message of Christ be ever sweet in their ears and in their heart that they might turn from their sin and trust in him.

And Lord in all these things and for all these things we give you glory, Lord may Christ increase and I decrease in his name, amen. We have been going through a verse by verse study of the book of Colossians now we're several weeks into our study.

We had our introduction time looking at the beginning verses and we're still technically in Paul's introduction. And I realized that last week for those of you who were here and you may be saying pastor you've said these things already.

I realized that last week I ended on verse 12 and I did say some of these things last week but as I began to prepare my message which was going to be this week's message verses 13 and 14, I kept going back to that word qualified.

It just in my mind it just kept sticking out like a giant sore thumb there in the text and I kept thinking I did not do it justice. And what we talked about last week I hit it like as a end of a long 54 minute sermon.

It was the last two or three minutes that I really focused on that being qualified and I said no that's not enough. We need to understand this word and how it fits into the greater context not only of this passage but of the life of the believer.

And so what I said was I'm just going to stay in verse 12 this week and next week we'll do by God's grace we'll do verses 13 and 14 and see how it all fits together. But understand the context is this the apostle Paul beginning with a word of thanksgiving in verses 3 through 8 he thanks God for the Colossians and then beginning in verse 9 down to verse 14 he tells them that he has been praying for them and there are four specific things that he has been praying for them.

He has been praying that they would that they would be strengthened he's praying that they would give thanks he is praying for them to bear fruit and he is praying for them to increase.

In knowledge.

And something interesting I didn't say last week is is if you remember if you were here I said this is this is a prayer we could pray for one another and I do this for kids all the time and I know you're not children but one of the things I like to do for my own children is I give them songs and acronyms things to remember.

And if you think of the letters B-I-G-S like Biggs like Biggs prayer and I know that sounds silly but it would be bearing fruit increasing in knowledge giving thanks and strengthening in the spirit.

So those are four things that we could pray for one another and I know it gets it out of order but at least it's a way we can remember it. And that last one is giving thanks and that's where we get to verse 12 he says giving thanks to the father who has qualified you for the inheritance or excuse me qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

So as I said the word qualified is the word that really sticks out to me and it's the word I want to spend time talking about today. Now I want to admit something I'm not usually big on word studies even though I think word studies can be very profitable.

Word studies can also be misused. People will take a word in scripture they'll do all of this study about the history and background of that one word and then they'll apply that across contexts that don't mean the same thing words always fit within a context and that context determines how that word is used.

It's called a semantic domain and so the semantic domain is how the word can be used but where is it in the text tells us how it is being used and so that's very important. And what's interesting about this word qualified is it's only used twice in the Bible and so it's not a single use word.

Those are the most difficult there are words in the Bible that only happen once so it's a little more difficult you really have to trust the context there to help you define what the word means because it didn't have any other usage or go outside the Bible to secondary sources and see how that word is used in other sources but in this particular sense we have the word qualified.

It's used twice in the Bible and we're going to look at it here but I want to first show you how it's used in the other place. So hold your place in Colossians and turn with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 3.

You're going to go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 verse 5 and we're going to look at verses 5 and 6 all right. Beginning at verse 5 Paul is speaking of himself as a minister of the gospel and he says this.

He says not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us but our sufficiency is from God who has made us competent which is actually the word qualified that we see in Colossians.

That's where it comes in what does it say in the King James Brotherhood made us able. Okay made us competent made us able qualified us is where this word is being used to be ministers of a new covenant not of the letter but of the spirit.

Now the reason why I'm bringing you to this passage is because as I said this word is only used twice in the Bible. The word the actual Greek word is ikanao and ikanao means to be qualified but it's based upon a root word ikanaos which is in this passage three times.

Notice what he says beginning in verse 5 he says not that we are sufficient. That is ikanoi. That's the root. Paul says we are not sufficient. And the context that he's talking about is to be ministers.

We're not sufficient. By the way if you were to ask any one of our elders are you really sufficient for the task of eldership. I would hope that we would say not in ourselves because that's what Paul is saying here in ourselves.

We are insufficient. We are by ourselves unqualified. Right. He says we are not sufficient in ourselves. And by the way that phrase in ourselves off utahn that is the key to much of what I'm going to say today.

Because when we talk about qualifications and when we talk about sufficiency we have to understand that we in ourselves are unqualified. Any man who thinks that he is qualified to do anything for God in himself is a fool.

No man is qualified in himself. So Paul says here in verse 5 not that we are qualified. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us but our sufficiency. And this is again same root in this one.

It's ikanoi. It's just a different variation of this same word. Not that our sufficiency is from God who has made us sufficient. He has made us competent. He has made us qualified to be ministers of a new covenant.

Say pastor what is it that you're trying to get through. I'm the reason why I brought you here to 2nd Corinthians is because Paul juxtaposes the concept of being qualified with the concept of being unqualified.

Because the first word he says we're not qualified and our qualification is not from us. But we have been made qualified. You see that's the three parts. We're unqualified. But we've been made qualified but not from us now keeping that in mind keeping that that sort of scheme in mind because when you go back to Colossians I invite you to go back now.

When you go back to Colossians you notice something very important. Paul doesn't say we're unqualified in Colossians. But what he does say in Colossians he uses ikanoi which is means to be made qualified.

What is the inference. If you've been made qualified what is the inference. You weren't before. If you were made qualified then you were not before. That's the key to this. That's why I showed you the 2nd Corinthians passage.

Because in 2nd Corinthians he says we're not qualified. Our qualifications don't come from us. We've been made qualified. That same idea can be used right here in Colossians 1. We weren't qualified. Our qualification doesn't come from us.

Because he says the father is the one who did it. And we've been made qualified. And you might think for a minute well why weren't we qualified. To begin with. Aren't we God's creation. Aren't we the very pinnacle of God's creation.

Didn't God make man and say it is very good. Didn't God make man in his own image and according to his likeness. Didn't God make us. Yes he did. But man through transgression fell. And in the fall Adam not only brought himself into the condition of being unqualified but he brought all of us with him.

Because we as his posterity were brought down into the condition of being unqualified. And therefore when we go through the Bible and we begin to look at how the Bible describes man. You know the Bible does not describe man as being qualified.

You know how the Bible describes man. Not even unqualified. Bad real bad totally bad. In fact I brought 10 things I want to show you now. I don't always have a screen. But today I have a screen. Eventually there it is okay.

I went through the Bible and I I wanted to show you a description of our natural state. I know you may have like your glasses. You might have a little tough time seeing it. If you want the notes just email me.

I'll send you my notes. You don't have to sit here and try and write down everything. But these are 10 things that the Bible describes the unbeliever. 10 ways that the Bible describes the unbeliever. I'm not going to ask you to go to every verse.

But many of these verses you probably already know in your mind. Romans chapter 3 says we are ruined rebellious and unrighteous. How does Romans 3 begin. There's an unrighteous no not one. There's none who understands.

There's none who seek after God. All have turned aside. Each has gone his own way. The venom of asps as under his lips in the way of peace he has not known. There is no fear of God before him before his eyes.

That's the way and by the way that is not some exaggerated way of describing some men. That is the way Paul describes all men. If you've ever read the book of Romans and studied it particularly the first three chapters the first chapter and the second chapter are juxtaposing the world and Israel.

And those who don't have the law and those who do have the law. And ultimately showing that all of them are sinners. Just because Israel had the law doesn't mean they weren't sinners. In fact they were.

They were worse because they knew what was wrong. They still did it. Paul says do you who have the law think you're better than those who don't know. Because you having the law still break the law. Right.

But that doesn't give the the Gentiles the ability to be off the hook. Because the work of the law is written on their hearts as well. They know that they're sinners as well. So the very first thing the Bible tells us is we're ruined rebellious and unrighteous.

And if you don't think that's bad. The Bible tells us that the one qualification for heaven is righteousness. And the one thing it says about you is you are not righteous. No not one that ought to scare you to death if you were outside of Jesus Christ.

Because you lack the one qualification that is necessary for the kingdom. The necessary qualification for the kingdom is righteousness. And you ain't got it in and of yourself. And that's just the first one.

It also says we're dead in sin and children of wrath. Ephesians chapter 2. And you were dead in trespasses and sins. What does it go on to say. And says and you were children of wrath. I remember we were.

It's about 15 years ago. I was we used to have a we used to do Wednesday nights in the fellowship hall and I was preaching on sin. And there was this one lady she just hate. She hated to hear me preach on sin.

And she even told me that I don't have to be told every week that I'm a sinner. I said no. You really do. Um she did. We all do. If you come to me and say you don't need to be reminded that you're a sinner.

Just buckle up. And I said you're a sinner by nature. And she said no I'm not. I'm not a sinner by nature. I said listen. You've been in this church for a thousand years. I didn't say that she'd been in church.

Well as you've been this church a long time. And I know you've read the Bible. How did you miss Ephesians 2 which says that you are by nature children of wrath. You understand what you're qualified for is to be kindling for hell.

That's what you're qualified for. You want to talk about qualified. You are qualified kindling outside of Jesus Christ. Children of wrath destined for destruction. If you're outside of Christ and you remain outside of Christ.

Third thing you're unable to come to Christ on your own. John 644 no man can come to me lest the father who sent me draws him and I'll raise him up on the last day says almost the exact same thing 25 verses later.

And well 21 verses later in verse 65 when he says as I said no man can come to me unless it is granted to him by my father. You have such an aversion to God's righteousness that you won't even seek it out on your own.

You don't want it. You don't desire it apart from his grace opening your heart to actually come to him by the way. That's why I'm a Calvinist. Because I know for certain that if God had not sought me I wouldn't seek him.

If God had not opened my heart I would not have a desire to come to him. Say why are you a Calvinist. Because Jesus says. So it's Jesus who said no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and all the father gives me will come to me.

And the one who comes to me I will in no way cast out John 637. All right number four. I didn't number them. So I hope I'm right. Number four. You're hostile to God. This is outside of Christ. Romans chapter 8 says we're hostile to God.

Not even like like I hear people all the time. Oh I know this unbelieving friend. Oh but they're seeking God. Well go back to Romans 3. What does it say. No one. No one seeks for God. You know what we do seek for though we seek for God's blessings.

Everybody wants the blessings of God. No one wants the being of God. That's a little something I came up with years ago. So everybody wants God's blessings. No one wants God's being. People want heaven without God.

They want blessings without Jesus. They want salvation without holiness. That's what we want. Because everybody wants what only God can give. But nobody wants the God who gives it. So when somebody says I'm seeking God no you're not.

Not. If you're outside of Christ the God seeker is the one who God has opened their heart. They have come to Christ and now they are able to seek after God. We're hostile to God. Number five. Unable to accept spiritual things.

First. Corinthian 1st Corinthians 214 says we will not accept spiritual things. They are. What to us if we're outside of Christ. Foolishness. Right. Folly to him. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing the natural man desires not the things of the kingdom of God.

We don't want it. I know this because for 19 years I didn't want it. I like coming to church because there were other teenagers that I could talk to and play volleyball with and shoot pool. He's have a pool table.

We shoot pool. But I didn't want holiness. I didn't want Christ that. That's proof to me that God had to do the work. Because I know I didn't do it. Number six. You're an enemy of God. Romans 5 10. While we were enemies Christ died for us.

Right. While we were his enemies. Number seven. You were slaves to sin. People always want to want to laud their own free will. By the way that's the greatest idol in the modern evangelical church is the idol of free will.

Everybody wants to worship that more than Jesus. But the Bible never says we're free. It says we're either slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. It never says you have free will. Now I'm not saying you don't make decisions.

You do make decisions. And I'm not saying those decisions aren't legitimate because they are legitimate. But prior to coming to Christ they are always selfish and outside of his will in the sense that you are not following Christ.

The Bible says what is not of faith is sin. Our desires outside of Christ are not godly. That doesn't mean they're not ever good. I mean there are people that are outside of Christ who are philanthropic.

There are people who are generous. There are people who do good things. In the sense of me of goodness in a human standpoint. But I always remind people this pirates do good to each other. We're on there on the same ship.

Pirates live together on the ship and they obey a set of rules that they must live by so that they all can get together on the ship. And they do follow those rules. And sometimes they're really good to one another.

Pirates can be really nice to one another but the whole time they're still maritime criminals because they're still in opposition to the authority and they're living as rebels. I know I got to get going three more.

You're not good. You think maybe that's the least important. So why should I didn't make that the first one because that's the one that I really like to remind people because almost every man according to Proverbs almost every man will do what proclaim his own goodness.

But when that young ruler came to Jesus and said good teacher what must I do to be saved. Jesus said why do you call me good. Now Jesus was not denying his own goodness. And I don't have time to get into all of the issues of Christ being the God man Christ the only good man who ever lived.

Christ wasn't denying his own goodness but what he was doing is he was challenging that rich young rulers idea of what goodness is. He says why do you call any man good. Don't you know that men are not good.

You see the problem with that rich young rulers. He did think he was good. I can prove that the text because Jesus says obey the commandments. All this I have done since my youth. He was willing to proclaim his own goodness.

All this I've done since my youth. Oh Jesus said well one thing that you like go sell everything and follow me. You do that. She wasn't good. Jesus found the one thing that he lacked. And that was his willingness to not trust in things but to trust in Christ.

Oh and by the way Jesus also says you were evil. Luke chapter 11 verse 13 that verses. And you being evil can still give give good gifts to your children. Remember that passage. I love that because Jesus said like it's nothing.

He just throws it in there in the midst of a conversation he's talking about God giving good gifts to his children. And he says oh and you being evil can give good gifts to your children. And nobody batted an eye.

Jesus just called us evil. You understand. If I go to the average evangelical church today and I stand in front of that church and I say outside of Christ you are evil in many places. I will be ran out of the room.

How dare you say that I'm evil. I know my heart. Don't people say that. No you don't. The heart is desperately wicked. Who can know it. Who's. I know my heart. No. God knows your heart. And that's why he's consigned you to hell.

If you're outside of Christ because your heart is desperately wicked. Understand. This whole sermon is not to bring you down. It's to help you understand why you were lifted up. You were lifted up because there was no way you were gonna be pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.

There's no way you were gonna be getting out of this mess on your own. There's no way you're gonna dig yourself out of the hole. The hole you are in is too deep. Last one number ten. You hate the light.

Now I'm gonna talk about this more next week. We're not to the end. Don't get excited. But we are gonna. I still got a lot of more. But this right here is the end of the ten. Because next week we're gonna talk about being delivered from the domain of darkness.

That's what we that's what Christ does. He delivers us from being lovers of the dark to being lovers of the light. He delivers us from being those who wallow in our sin to those who love his word. That's a different life.

That's a changed life. Next week we're going to talk about four reasons to give thanks. It's all in verses 13 and 14 if you want to look ahead. And it's four things that Christ does for us for which we should give thanks.

And one is he delivers us from the domain of darkness into the light. But looking back at this the Bible does not paint a flattering picture of man. Does it. People read this now. Oh well wait a minute.

Doesn't the Bible say it says Noah was a righteous man. Or it says Job was a righteous man. Not everybody is unrighteous. Understand this. They are righteous by grace through faith. Every one of them.

No man is righteous in and of himself except Jesus Christ. And any man who thinks he is qualified for God's kingdom apart from Jesus Christ is a fool. So now I want to ask the question. Well how then are we qualified if we're so desperately unqualified.

If we're so far removed if we're so far in the hole that we can't even see the light. How do we be qualified. Because the text says. The text doesn't say we're unqualified. The text says we we are qualified.

But what does it say. It says giving thanks to the father who has qualified. You notice what it says in the text. The father has qualified you. By the way that word qualified there is in the aorist which is a tense in Greek which means it's a completed action.

He has qualified you. It's done. One of the Greek commentaries I was reading on this text says this says. The tense Paul uses here is important because it undermines the false teachers who have failed to understand that eternal perfection is already theirs in Christ.

Understand this. The who Paul is riding against in Colossians it's Paul is riding against those who say okay you have Christ but along with Christ you need to keep these laws along with Christ. You need to practice asceticism.

And you need to practice worship of angels. And you need to practice special holy days. And you need to have this feast and do these things and do it this way. You understand people are adding to Christ and Paul says no if you're in Christ you have been qualified.

It's done. And adding those things ain't gonna make you more qualified. They were already qualified if they were in Christ. So you understand this. The qualification is perfect righteousness. And you are not going to attain perfect righteousness by what you do.

You're not going to add to your desperate condition little acts of righteousness. They're going to make you more righteous. And some and one day you're going to come out clean on the other side that ain't how it works.

Already broken already defiled already unqualified. And you're not going to change that state on your own but Christ perfect perfect from all eternity. But from a human perspective perfect from the womb never sinned in thought word or deed 33 years lived actively obedient.

We call this the active and passive obedience of Christ. He lived an actively obedient life to where he obeyed every single command of the Father. You know what Christ did. That was great. He was obedient.

You know what we don't do. We don't be obedient. I think the best way of saying that. But we are Christ is perfectly obedient 33 years. Just understand this. There's a big popular notion going around right now especially on social media that Jesus was a sinner.

You understand what you give up. When you give up the holy perfect righteousness of Christ one he's no longer God. And you've given up the whole doctrine of the the Trinity and the hypostatic Union and the the the dual nature of Christ is God man.

But also you give up your salvation. When you have a sinful Christ you have no longer any righteousness because Paul says that you have a righteousness that comes not from yourself by keeping the law but a righteousness which comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

And that righteousness is the righteousness of Christ. And if Christ don't be righteous you don't be righteous. Christ lived 33 years active righteousness. Then he submitted himself to the will of the Father receiving in himself the penalty that he did not deserve.

We call that the passive obedience by going to the cross and dying in our place. That is our righteousness. That's how you were made qualified. And you didn't do it. You didn't even really ask for it.

It happened before you were born and God had chosen you before the world was created. You are the beneficiary of a work that you had nothing to contribute to. This is why it's called an inheritance. Think about what we are told about what we receive.

We receive an inheritance. What does a child receive when a parent dies. He didn't earn it. He doesn't earn that inheritance. He receives it by virtue of the parent having set aside this inheritance to him and giving it to him as a gift.

It's not earned and in a sense it's really not deserved. It's gifted. The qualification for the kingdom. The qualification that we're that's in this text is ultimately our union with Christ. Because Christ does deserve the inheritance and being in him we get what we don't deserve.

Christ deserves the inheritance. He's the true son he's the true Israel and in him we are made partakers of this inheritance. Now I point that out because if you look through the New Testament and Colossians in particular what you will notice is an a repetitious idea.

And it's the repetitious idea of being in Christ. Colossians 114 in him we have redemption 122 reconciled in his body 26 we walk in him 27 rooted and build up in him 210 you have been filled in him 211 you were circumcised in him 212 you were raised up in him.

Notice a pattern. You understand you were qualified by being placed into Christ. We saw a picture of that today because our baptism is picture of the union with Christ buried with him in baptism raised in the likeness of his resurrection its union in his death burial and resurrection its union with him.