Colossians so far: I am thankful for the way the Gospel is at work in the world (Col 1:1-8), so I am praying for God’s will to be done in the church (Col 1:9-14), which is all about Jesus, because He is sovereign God (Col 1:15-20) who reconciled us and made us perfect (Col 1:21-23), giving us the ministry of proclaiming Him (Col 1:24-29), and a burden to see the church succeed (Col 2:1-7), by avoiding false teaching (Col 2:8-10), because Jesus provided a total victory in your salvation (Col 2:11-15), so don‘t let people bully you into trying to add to Jesus (Col 2:16-23). Therefore, keep your mind on things in heaven (Col 3:1-4)...
I am ruthless towards sin:
- Because sin can Destroy my life (Col 3:5)
- Because sin is the reason God’s Wrath is coming (Col 3:6)
- Because sin defines who I Was, not who I Am (Col 3:7)
- Because sin can destroy my Community (Col 3:8-11)
2 Corinthians 4:16 - Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:03
Open up to Colossians chapter 3.
00:07-00:17
Colossians chapter 3. As we continue our series, Jesus is, tell me church, first.
00:17-00:27
Jesus is first. If you don't remember a single other thing when we get through year one, our first year at Harvest Bible Chapel, we want you to remember what?
00:27-00:30
Jesus is first.
00:35-00:38
When your Bible is open, grab your sermon outline.
00:40-00:41
We have at the top for you.
00:42-00:46
This is sort of a summary of where we are so far in Colossians.
00:46-00:48
I want to share this with you again, and here's why.
00:49-00:55
Everything that we're going to be talking about is built upon this foundation.
00:55-01:06
Understand when the Apostle Paul wrote these letters, usually about the first half, Hebrew, Latin, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians especially, the first half is really about doctrine.
01:07-01:12
Doctrine, here's who Jesus is, and here's what he's done, and here's what he's done, and here's what that means.
01:13-01:15
And the second half of the epistles are practical.
01:15-01:17
Therefore, here's how we should live.
01:18-01:28
So it's really important for us to understand that we're not just yanking a verse out of the Bible and running with it, saying here's what I think it means. It's we're taking God's Word as He presents it.
01:29-01:47
So this is really important that we're remembering this foundation that we've been laying these past few months going through Colossians because everything we're talking about today is built on that. So I'm going to read this. I want you to uh you know go along with me on this.
01:48-01:52
Just quick review. What have we talked about Colossians so far? What the Apostle Paul tells us.
01:53-01:55
I am thankful for the way the Gospels work in the world.
01:56-02:17
So I am praying for God's will to be done in the Church, which is all about Jesus, because He is Sovereign God, who reconciled us and made us perfect, giving us the ministry of proclaiming Him, and a birth of the Seated Church Succeed.
02:20-02:21
by avoiding false teaching?
02:23-02:28
Because Jesus provided a total victory in your salvation.
02:30-02:36
So don't let people bully you into trying to add to Jesus than last week.
02:37-02:40
Therefore, keep your mind on things in heaven.
02:42-02:45
And that brings us to Colossians 3, verses 5-11.
02:45-02:49
I'll just take one of your ten verses, and then we'll break it down.
02:50-03:06
"Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
03:07-03:09
On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.
03:12-03:19
In these you too must watch when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away.
03:21-03:28
Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
03:30-03:44
Do not lie to one another, 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.
03:47-04:03
Here, there is not grief to Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all, and in all.
04:05-04:15
And one of the things that we really rejoiced in studying the Word of God was the truth that Jesus Christ provided a total victory for your salvation.
04:17-04:25
Total victory. Sin has been defeated. Death has been defeated. The devil has been defeated.
04:26-04:26
it.
04:29-04:31
Let's be very honest this morning.
04:33-04:35
Sometimes even as believers we still struggle.
04:37-04:37
I do.
04:38-04:39
Anybody else?
04:39-04:40
Or are you just going to like leave me up here?
04:41-04:41
Okay.
04:42-04:43
Do you still struggle sometimes?
04:44-04:45
Do you still struggle?
04:45-04:47
Do you still find that you're a Christian walk sometimes?
04:49-04:53
Maybe you find yourself saying this, I'll just be totally transparent with you.
04:53-04:56
There's times when I like it, I find myself saying this.
04:56-04:56
I'm not saying that you're a Christian walk.
04:56-05:00
I don't feel very victorious today. I'm just being honest with you.
05:01-05:29
You know, my head knows the work that Christ has done, but sometimes my attitude or my emotions come alongside and say, "Yeah, you know what Jesus has done, but I don't feel very victorious today." Why is that? Why are there times that I still struggle?
05:32-05:38
We talked about this. We are dead to sin. Right?
05:40-05:43
But listen, this is very important. We are dead to sin.
05:46-05:48
But sin is not dead to me.
05:50-05:55
We are dead to sin, but sin is not dead yet.
05:57-06:01
Elsewhere in Scripture, the Apostle Paul, in the Resurrection of the Holy Spirit, talks about this.
06:01-06:06
Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 and 17. I'm just going to paraphrase. You can jot that reference down.
06:08-06:18
He says this, "Walk by the Spirit so that you don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh." And then he tells us that these two things are in opposition to each other.
06:19-06:28
You know, the work of the Holy Spirit who lives in us and through us, yet we still reside in earthly, fleshly bodies.
06:28-06:31
Anybody reside in an earthly, fleshly body? Anyone?
06:31-06:33
Anyone? The answer is yes, everyone.
06:34-06:36
Are you in a body? Anybody bring their body with them this morning?
06:37-06:43
You're like, "Yeah, my body's here, but my mind's not." Get them both here right now. You live in an earthly fleshly body.
06:44-06:44
Okay?
06:45-06:47
So we are dead to sin, but sin is not dead yet.
06:48-06:55
We are... we have God's Spirit in us, but we still live in this sinful flesh.
06:57-07:03
And even though sin has been defeated, sin still attacks.
07:05-07:22
And I like the way John the Parther put it best. He said, "Sin is like a defeated king." Who has been defeated, he has been dethroned, and he's been kicked out, but he still has a desire to attack his former subjects.
07:22-07:29
He still has a desire, he wants to hurt his former subjects. He knows he can't conquer them, but he wants to hurt them.
07:30-07:32
That's the spitefulness of the devil.
07:34-07:38
That's the fallenness of our sinful flesh.
07:39-07:41
I want you to think about it this way.
07:42-07:48
There's a past, present, and future sense in talking about sin.
07:49-08:00
For the believer, past tense as you can say, "We were saved from the penalty of sin." Right? Is that true in Christ?
08:01-08:03
We were saved from the penalty of sin.
08:04-08:08
We are being saved from the power of sin.
08:08-08:10
That's the present tense.
08:10-08:12
We are being saved from the power of sin.
08:12-08:19
And ultimately, we will be saved from the presence of sin.
08:19-08:21
Who's looking forward to that?
08:21-08:31
That day that we shed this flesh, and we are with our Lord, And we are no longer even in the presence of sin.
08:33-08:34
Can't wait for that.
08:36-08:39
This passage we're looking at today is dealing with sin in the present.
08:42-08:43
Here's the key.
08:45-08:45
Don't miss this.
08:46-08:51
Positional reality must be displayed in practical living.
08:51-08:52
I'm gonna say that again.
08:53-08:57
Our positional reality must be displayed in practical living.
08:59-09:03
Meaning this, God through Christ has pronounced you holy.
09:05-09:10
And that holiness is displayed in our practical living.
09:11-09:18
And last week when we were looking at the first part of chapter 3, we saw that all of this stems from knowing our identity in Jesus Christ.
09:19-09:29
We're identified with the death of Jesus Christ, which means we're identified with the truth that we are dead to sin, We are dead to the world and we have been made alive in Him.
09:30-09:30
Right?
09:33-09:37
Our lives are hidden in Him. We saw it. He is our life.
09:39-09:44
So when it comes to dealing with sin in the here and now, understand this.
09:45-09:47
Nothing can be done in your own power.
09:48-09:50
You couldn't save yourself in your own power, could you?
09:51-09:54
He didn't wake up one morning and say, "You know what? I don't want to go to hell.
09:56-09:58
I'm going to make things right so I can go to heaven.
09:59-10:00
You can't save yourself.
10:02-10:07
You are totally dependent upon the grace and the power of Jesus Christ for salvation.
10:08-10:11
What makes you think you can live the Christian life when you're in power?
10:12-10:14
It's not as if Jesus brought us on.
10:15-10:33
I said, "Okay, here's new life. You're saved. You're holy. You're forgiven. I'll see you in heaven." And He left us on our own. He kicked us to the door and said, "Okay, now figure some things out." That's not how it works. He dwells in us and through us.
10:33-10:38
And especially in dealing with sin, it cannot be done in our own power.
10:42-10:45
How tolerant do you think the Holy Spirit is towards our sin?
10:46-10:47
How tolerant?
10:47-10:58
Or we can say, "How much sin is an okay amount?" But the Holy Spirit says, "Okay, I can live with that." You know, I'm calling inside you and I see that you still have some sinful habits and attitudes.
10:59-11:00
Just don't go overboard.
11:00-11:03
How tolerant do you think the Holy Spirit is towards our sin?
11:04-11:05
Here's a word for you.
11:07-11:07
Ruthless.
11:10-11:13
This morning we are going to get ruthless.
11:16-11:18
That's why I'm talking to Ken because we were praying this morning.
11:20-11:26
He said, "I don't think I've ever heard anybody pray for a killing spree." But that is exactly what we are praying for this morning.
11:27-11:31
I pray that after this message we go on a killing spree.
11:33-11:34
Because of what the text says.
11:36-11:38
So jot these things down.
11:40-11:44
Oh gosh, it would be a really bad place if I died right after I said that.
11:45-11:45
Thank you.
11:46-11:48
The last thing he said was he wanted us to go on a killing spree.
11:49-11:52
Thank you God for letting me finish this.
11:55-11:56
I am ruthless toward sin.
11:58-12:01
I am ruthless toward sin. I'm going to give you four reasons off of the text.
12:01-12:04
Why we are going to get ruthless about sin.
12:04-12:08
Towards sin, the first one is this, because sin can destroy my life.
12:10-12:12
Because sin can destroy my life.
12:16-12:19
Look at verse 5 again. First few words of my Bible.
12:20-12:22
I'm going to talk about how ruthless here it is. How ruthless.
12:23-12:25
"Put to death." Is that pretty ruthless?
12:27-12:39
"Put to death." Wait a second, back in verse 3, He says that we have died, so what's going on here?
12:40-12:43
Understand this is an imperative statement, it's a command.
12:45-12:48
So understand that Christians, this does not mean that anything goes.
12:49-12:51
That is an immature attitude.
12:51-13:00
If you say, "Well, because Jesus died, I'm forgiven, that means I can do whatever I want." What did Paul say in Romans? "Shall we continue to sin so that grace may abound?" What's the answer?
13:01-13:04
He says, "Absolutely not! It doesn't work that way.
13:05-13:10
It's not that Christ died so we're free, so we're free to indulge in the flesh.
13:10-13:11
Absolutely not.
13:13-13:15
You cannot believe anything goes.
13:17-13:31
This is the extent that we are to go regarding sin." He says, "Now Christians, in the Spirit of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, It's time to put some things to death.
13:32-13:33
We're not coddling them.
13:34-13:37
We're not putting them on temporary suspension.
13:40-13:41
We're putting them to death.
13:43-13:44
Finally.
13:46-13:50
You know, when I was a kid, I used to love to watch horror movies.
13:51-13:54
I don't watch them anymore, I think they're stupid, but...
13:54-14:00
And if you don't watch horror movies, don't feel like watching them because I talked about them today because I'm really counterproductive.
14:01-14:06
Just take my word for it. They're pretty stupid, right? Anybody seen a horror movie and thought, "Yeah, those are pretty stupid"?
14:07-14:09
Yeah, they're pretty stupid. Let's be honest. They're pretty stupid.
14:10-14:13
When I was a kid, I was really into those, you know, "Bride of the Thirteen".
14:14-14:19
You know, like, "A Nightmare on Elm Street" movies. So stupid.
14:20-14:27
But when I was preparing this message this week, I was really thinking about Friday the 13th especially.
14:28-14:29
This is one of the stupid things.
14:30-14:37
How many times did a scenario like this take place where, what's the mask guy, hockey mask guy, what's?
14:37-14:38
>> Jason.
14:38-14:41
>> Jason. I knew that, I just see how many people.
14:41-14:42
I don't watch much of it.
14:44-14:44
>> Coffee?
14:45-14:49
>> No, we watch something like the 700 Club in our house.
14:49-14:52
You've seen that. You know what I'm talking about.
14:53-14:56
If you don't, obviously a lot of people here do, they can tell you.
14:57-15:03
But you've seen these scenes where Jason, you know, is coming after someone, awkwardly slow.
15:05-15:08
And then something like this happens, like they pull out a gun, and it's like BANG!
15:08-15:17
And, you know, he gets shot and he goes down, and then the person's so scared, and they drop the gun right beside him.
15:18-15:28
And they've been like, back and away, and he's like laying there, young, rink aside, not moving.
15:28-15:29
And then what do they do?
15:30-15:31
What do they typically do?
15:31-15:32
They run!
15:33-15:35
And when I was a kid, this just drove me completely insane.
15:36-15:41
When I was a kid, I always said, "Why don't they just keep setting?" What would you do if you were that person?
15:42-15:45
You would pick up that guy, and what would you do?
15:46-15:50
You would unload that thing in his eye!
15:51-15:53
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
15:54-15:58
And then you'd go get his machete and you'd just take his head off, and then you'd burn it, right?
15:58-15:59
That's what I would've done.
16:02-16:02
Why?
16:04-16:08
Because I saw like... how many did they make? Like 86 of them?
16:08-16:12
I saw that up to there, that sometimes you'd think he's dead, right?
16:12-16:15
and he's not there, and he gets up and he's coming after you.
16:16-16:24
And I'm like, "No, I'm making sure." And you see, I think that's the attitude in which we need to have towards our sin.
16:25-16:26
Like, sin is defeated.
16:27-16:28
It's defeated.
16:30-16:31
So I'll just let it lay there.
16:32-16:33
It's defeated. I'm just gonna let it lay there.
16:35-16:37
Surely it can't hurt anything. It's just laying there.
16:38-16:40
I mean, I gave it a good whack.
16:42-16:43
I'm just gonna leave it later.
16:44-16:45
And then we walk away.
16:48-16:53
Next thing we know, we're like, "Why am I still messing with this?
16:54-16:57
I thought that was a done issue." You know why?
16:57-17:00
It's because we didn't unload the gun in its eye.
17:01-17:01
That's why.
17:02-17:03
That's what he's saying here.
17:03-17:05
We gotta put some things to death.
17:07-17:08
Like what?
17:08-17:09
Well, look at the text.
17:10-17:13
What did that there for? What is earthly in you?
17:14-17:28
Remember before he said, "Put your mind on things in heaven." He says, "You still got some earthly things in you, in your flesh." We still dwell in this flesh, and our corrupt flesh still hungers for sin.
17:29-17:32
Do you know why sometimes you still have an appetite for sin?
17:32-17:34
It's your flesh. It's your flesh.
17:34-17:35
In Romans chapter 7.
17:35-17:37
Why do I do the things I don't want to do?
17:37-17:39
It's your flesh. It's hungry for sin.
17:39-17:41
You live in a body that's hungry for sin.
17:44-17:45
That's why it's so rough.
17:46-17:47
But notice the words "in you".
17:47-17:49
Circle those words in your Bible.
17:51-17:52
"In you".
17:52-17:55
"Put to death one and therefore one is brutally" "In you".
17:56-17:57
Why does he say that?
17:58-18:00
Because we're really good at pointing out the sin in others.
18:00-18:01
Aren't we?
18:03-18:15
Like, "Dale, I've been meaning to talk to you. Here's some sin in you that needs to be put to death." And then we go over here, "Ken, here's some sin that needs to be put to death in you." And all of a sudden I become like the Sin Gestapo.
18:16-18:25
You know, "Here's your problem, Bobby. And Bobby, you've got some problems. And Wilson, here's your problem." Here. Here's where it starts.
18:27-18:31
Put to death what is urgently in you. Okay? In you.
18:33-18:37
And a private question. Didn't Sergeant Something-O, a couple of weeks ago, tell us?
18:38-18:41
Remember, do not taste, do not handle, do not touch.
18:42-18:47
So what's going on here? Are we getting back to that? Are we supposed to tell Paul to back off?
18:47-18:55
No. See, when we were talking before about the legalism thing, the issue there was we're trying to get more spiritual through externals.
18:57-18:59
Meaning, my holiness grows from the outside in.
19:00-19:02
And he's saying just the opposite here.
19:04-19:05
It's from the inside out.
19:05-19:10
These things that he's talking about are internals that manifest as externals.
19:11-19:14
He's talking about getting after these internals. Let's look at them quickly.
19:14-19:19
These are really self-explanatory things in a lot of ways. I'm going to make a couple of comments.
19:19-19:23
But the first one is sexual immorality.
19:25-19:39
The Greek word is "pornia," which is where we get our word "pornography." Just saying this, sex is one of the greatest gifts that God has given me.
19:40-19:46
And this issue is when man misuses that gift, or woman misuses that gift.
19:47-19:51
It's any sexual activity outside of marriage.
19:53-20:02
You know, sex in, you know, the covenant of marriage, beautiful, you know, God-given gift.
20:02-20:05
Outside of marriage, it's sexual immorality.
20:09-20:12
Unless you have a hunger for that, it's time to die.
20:14-20:14
Okay?
20:15-20:24
And, well, that's the act, but I don't know many people that were just walking down the sidewalk one day and stumbled into sexual morality.
20:24-20:25
Where does it come from?
20:25-20:26
Well, the next word is impurity.
20:27-20:28
Those are the thoughts.
20:30-20:31
Those are the thoughts.
20:31-20:35
That's when you're not putting your mind on the things above, but Christ is at the right hand of God.
20:35-20:36
My thoughts aren't there.
20:36-20:41
My thoughts aren't on this person who isn't my spouse.
20:42-20:53
My thoughts are on fantasies and Not what I need to be, I'm thinking this through.
20:55-20:56
It's impurity.
20:56-20:58
Passion is the emotional side of it.
21:00-21:02
Passion is the emotional side of it.
21:02-21:04
We live in a culture that is just...
21:05-21:08
It's passion off the leash.
21:09-21:12
Unrestrained sexual desire set loose.
21:13-21:17
It's just, that's what I want, that's what I'm hungry for, That's what I'm going after.
21:21-21:26
An evil desire is in a lot of ways a synonym of passion.
21:26-21:33
It's that deep seed of "I just want it." Notice how these sins, you know, sins in the body.
21:34-21:36
These are personal things.
21:38-21:42
And the last thing he mentions here is a comment she says, which he says is really idolatry.
21:42-21:46
The Greek word literally means "have more".
21:46-21:48
Have more. Have more.
21:49-21:49
Have more.
21:49-21:52
You know people like that? Are you one of those people? Have more.
21:52-21:54
I want more. I want more.
21:54-21:58
And that's the danger when sin is being fed.
22:00-22:01
Sin never gets full.
22:03-22:06
And we yield an area of our lives to sin.
22:06-22:09
Next time it gets a little bit easier, but we have to get a little more.
22:09-22:11
The next time we yield it has to be a little more.
22:12-22:14
And it's out of control.
22:17-22:18
What does he say to do with that?
22:20-22:21
Put it to death.
22:23-22:24
You have some of that earthly appetite in you?
22:25-22:25
Put it to death.
22:27-22:28
Put it to death.
22:30-22:31
Now listen, don't misunderstand me.
22:31-22:33
We are free from the penalty of sin.
22:34-22:37
God finished his son for my sin.
22:37-22:39
That's if you're in Christ, we're going to talk about that in a second.
22:40-22:52
But listen, one bad decision, one bad decision can bring incredible devastation to your life.
22:54-22:58
One bad decision can bring incredible devastation to your family.
23:02-23:05
One bad decision can bring devastation to your testimony.
23:07-23:16
And I don't have the time to tell you, I never mention names, but I don't have the time to tell you people that I've met personally.
23:19-23:26
Believers who have put their lives in a ditch because of a bad decision.
23:28-23:32
I'm not saying in the Lord there's no restoration possible.
23:32-23:33
Certainly forgiveness is there.
23:34-23:35
All of our sins have been forgiven in Christ.
23:37-23:38
But sin is the struggle.
23:42-23:43
Sin is so the struggle.
23:44-23:51
And being a pastor in the ministry, I've had people come to me and really struggle with this.
23:51-23:53
I've had people just be very honest with me.
23:53-23:59
I have this strong desire for something that I know is not right.
24:04-24:24
And because of the authority of God's Word, I have to tell people, if you make this decision, understand, you're going to be going down a road that you're going to be looking back to this time that you were sitting across the table from me, going, "Man, I wish I was back there." You're going to turn everything upside down in your life.
24:24-24:25
It's going to bring destruction.
24:26-24:27
Sin is so destructive.
24:28-24:29
So destructive.
24:29-24:38
I've even known pastors, sadly, who have had some desire to hurt anyone, but they did not put it to death.
24:38-24:39
They did not put it to death.
24:40-24:41
They did not put it to death.
24:41-24:44
They've entertained it and out of ministry.
24:45-24:51
Out of ministry because of an affair with a secretary or an affair with a counselee.
24:53-24:56
I'm not going to compare it with the wife of somebody else in the church.
24:58-25:01
You see, if the devil would have his way, he would kill people with sin.
25:03-25:03
Right?
25:04-25:07
If the devil had his way, he would destroy your life with sin.
25:08-25:11
He knows, if you're in Christ, he knows your eternity is secure.
25:12-25:16
But let's run the Lord's name through the mind, and let's destroy your life.
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But when Christ has His way, sin is killed in us.
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And I hear what you're doing. I hear what you're saying, but the question is, how do I do this?
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There may be some people here saying, "I hear what you're saying, put it to death." Yeah, yeah, that sounds real easy, but I tried that and I can't.
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If you're sitting here this morning and you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can't. You're wrong.
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So understand this, believers that are here listening. If you're in Christ and Christ is in you, you have no excuse.
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Believers cannot say "I can't" because God's giving you the greatest resource in the world, and that's Himself.
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Only unbelievers can say "I can't." Only unbelievers lack a resource.
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Listen, this must be a deliberate choice. Are we going to walk by the Spirit or walk by the flesh?
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And you're saying, "Well, can you give me some handles? You know, when I'm struggling with this." I want you to write some things down here.
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I want you to write little outcomes from the text. I'm not making this stuff up.
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I'm just a megaphone.
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I don't make up the messages, I just broadcast it.
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And jot these questions down.
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You're struggling with the settings here.
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Jot these questions down.
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The first question is this.
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What am I seeking?
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Jot that down. What am I seeking?
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Now why would I ask you such a thing?
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Well, chapter 3, verse 1, "If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above." There's your choice. Are you seeking the things of the earth?
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Are you seeking the appetites of your flesh? Are you seeking the things above?
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You know, you can't think about two things at the same time, right? You just can't do it.
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So what are you seeking? That's the first place to start.
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Also, I read you in the text, this was the whole sermon last week, where's my mind?
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Where's my mind?
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The longer you let that sinful thought be entertained in your head, thought about in your head, then all of a sudden you start to think about, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I could get away with that.
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My wife would never find out. It's not going to hurt it." And you start to entertain it. "I can make an excuse to get out of it." Where's your mind at, man?
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You're spending way too much thought power on this sin.
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Where are we supposed to put our minds?
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Verse 2, "Set your mind on things that are above." Set your mind on things that are above.
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So what do I see? Where is my mind?
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Third question, jot this down.
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"Will I yield my will to Christ?" "Will I yield my will to Christ?" Sometimes, listen, it's just a matter of falling on your face and saying, "I can't do this, God. I can't do it. God, I am really struggling." You're not going to get that. You know that? You're not going to surprise Him.
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"God, I'm struggling right now with this lustful thought and this lustful desire." God's not going to be like, "Oh! You are?
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He knows!
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He knows!" You get on your face and say, "God, I need your help! I'm really weak right now and I'm struggling!" You promised to be there to help me these times of temptation, and that's why I'm crying out to you.
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Will I yield my will to Christ?
28:57-29:01
Another note about that. Let me encourage you. Some decisions are best made ahead of time.
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Sometimes it's a matter of, I know I'm going to be faced with this temptation today.
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So before I get into a situation where I have to make a decision, I'm going to make a decision right now.
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I am not going to do it.
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I am not going to be flirty with that person.
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I am not going to send the emails with the winky emoticons, right Dale, that we've talked about.
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I hate those. Dale and I did a peer review study of three young men one time and Dale was all about the winky emoticons.
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Just our little way of flirting. Just our little way of...
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Kill it.
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Just kill it.
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Make these decisions ahead of time.
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I'll tell you from personal testimony, there's a big difference between the Jeb Miller who seeks the Lord and is in His Word and praying at the beginning of the day, versus the Jeb Miller who is seeking the Lord and praying in the Word at the end of the day.
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Big difference.
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Big difference.
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There's a big difference in the way my day goes when I start off by saying, "God, I need you today to be a work in me." Verses Jeff at the end of the day would pray, "God, I'm sorry for the times that today I screwed up.
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I didn't treat Aaron the way that I should have.
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I didn't treat my kids the way that I should have.
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That's been my testimony." One more thing about this, notice Paul doesn't tell us how to kill things.
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He doesn't... I gave you some tips there based on things that he said earlier.
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But he doesn't say put it to death and here's exactly how to do it.
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But we know that there are two ways to kill something, right?
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There's really two ways to kill something.
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You can kill it swiftly, or you can kill it slowly.
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Are you like me? Do you hate snakes?
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Do you hate snakes?
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That's like everybody, right?
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Let me tell you something. If there was a cobra on the platform this morning, And Mark Bloomingdale, he's about the only guy I can think of that would, you know, be manly enough to do this, wrestled that thing to the ground and put it in a cage.
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Oh, that's not what happened.
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If you know Mark, you know what I'm talking about.
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He wrestled that thing to the ground and put it in a cage.
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What am I going to do with that snake?
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Think about taking him?
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I'd just like to ride in the car with me.
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The kitten would like to see it.
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I'll just let it sit here while I'm preaching.
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Or...
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You know what? I'm going to leave it in the cage and I'm just not going to feed it.
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What do you think I'm going to do with that snake?
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Kill that thing as fast as possible.
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Okay? We're going to go around here.
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Who can kill this thing the fastest?
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What kind of game do you go?
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Kill this thing as fast as possible.
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That needs to be our attitude before we say it.
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Too often we're content to just, maybe we'll let it start out.
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You know, kill it and then start it.
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That's my philosophy. Right?
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Put it to death.
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I'm very close towards sin because sin can destroy my life.
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Secondly, look at verse 6.
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"On account of these, the wrath of God is coming." "On account of these, the wrath of God is coming." So a word to you if you're sitting here this morning and you have not given your lives to Jesus Christ, you have not yielded to His Lordship, you have not been born again, I have a word of warning for you.
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Did you know the rabbit of God is coming?
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Did you know that? Scripture says it over and over and over.
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But there's going to come a day when the Lord is coming back and He is going to deal with sin and sinners once and for all.
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Did you know that?
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Think of it this way.
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If you're a believer, life on this earth is the only taste of hell that you'll ever have.
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It's a taste.
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But it's all you'll ever have, because when you die, you'll be in perfect glory with the Lord forever.
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But listen, if you're not a believer, if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, this world is the only taste of heaven that's really going to happen.
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This is it.
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This is as good as it's possibly going to get for you, because God has promised that He's going to come, And He's going to make all things new.
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And part of making all things new is destroying sin and destroying sinners.
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Again, He's not threatening the lepers here.
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If you're born again, the wrath of God was poured out on Christ.
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And you're not under God's wrath.
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So why is he including this here?
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Why should we get radical about sin? Here's why I think Paul put this in here.
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You know why we should get radical about sin?
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Because God is radical about sin.
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I think that's why he included this verse in the resurrection of the Holy Spirit.
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Why should we get so radical about sin? Listen, because God is.
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Is God pretty serious about sin? Yeah, he killed his son Because of my sin.
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That's how radical God is about sin.
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He's personally coming back and destroying everything that you see.
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That's how serious He is about sin.
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He's pretty serious.
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So if God is that serious about sin, why would we even regard it?
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Why would we even entertain a sinful thought?
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Like this is something that the Lord hates.
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I should hate this sin.
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Because sin is the reason God's wrath is coming.
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That's why we're radical and we're ruthless about sin.
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Number three.
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Why are we ruthless with sin?
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Because sin defines who I was and who I am.
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He says, "In these you too once walked when you were living in them." If your faith hasn't changed you, your faith hasn't saved you.
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Don't tell me for a minute that you made some profession of faith and nothing changed.
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I gave my life to Jesus but nothing changed.
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Then you didn't.
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We need to have a serious talk.
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Because you will never convince me that the almighty God of the universe who created all this has come to personally indwell your heart and you didn't change.
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Really, God's living in you, you're no different than you were.
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I think we better take a big step back and examine the substance of your faith.
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What reason, rather, we get radical about sin, and dealing with sin in our lives, is because that just isn't who we are anymore.
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It just isn't who we are anymore. We talked about that last week, that identity issue.
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He says your life is in the Christ of God.
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That's just not who I am anymore.
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You know, when sin is tempting, you should look at this, or you should indulge in this, or you should have a drink of that.
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You know, that's just not who I am anymore.
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That's just not me.
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That's who I was, but that's just not who I am.
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You know who the most miserable person in the world is?
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Some people say, "You know who I think is miserable? People that don't know the Lord. They're probably pretty miserable." Well, there's somebody more miserable than that.
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And that's a Christian who is in sin.
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Why?
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Because you are acting contrary to your new nature.
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So you're miserable.
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You're in sin. It's like you're eating garbage and you know it's garbage.
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Like, why am I eating this? This isn't who I am. This isn't who I want. But I'm eating it.
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That's the most miserable person in the world.
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I'm not a child of wrath. Why would I act like one?
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But another bit, you know, this should make us compassionate towards the unsaved.
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Sometimes Christians, to our shame, we come to know the Lord, and all of a sudden you start looking your noses down at people who don't know the Lord.
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Like, what's his problem?
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You know what his problem is? He's dead. That's his problem.
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His problem is he's just living according to his nature. That's his problem.
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I'm glad I was ever like that.
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Hello? That's exactly who you were!
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Until grace showed up.
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Stop staring your nose at other people.
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Non-Christians, they're not the enemy.
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They're a victim of the enemy.
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They're walking according to the nature.
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Why are we so shocked when the world acts like the world?
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"Ooooh!" They're acting worldly.
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That's all they know!
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Okay? It's a little compassion.
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They need what you have. Share it with them.
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Alright?
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"Aaron, I mean, we go through this all the time.
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We're driving down the road and we see somebody pulled over for speeding.
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What do I always say, Aaron?" I always say, "Aw, that poor person." Do you know why I say that?
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And they're like, "Heh heh heh, you're busted." You know why I say that?
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People are like, "Oh, that poor person, that stinks." You know why I say that?
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Because that used to be me.
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A few months ago.
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But no, I say that because I've been there, man.
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I've been there. Sammy, don't shake your head.
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You know I've been there, man.
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I know. You know, man.
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You know compared to me, though.
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But I've been there, man.
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And I'm like, "Oh, I hate that feeling." You know that feeling when you-- When the lights are on in your rear view mirror, the little red balloons, and you're just like, "What are the chances that's my brother-in-law?" Right?
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I was just like, "Oh, that's such a sick feeling." And then they make you wait for like, you know, 45 minutes.
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It's like, "I'll be right back." Like, "What are you doing making muffins back here? What are you doing, man?" And, uh, that's a sick feeling. So we drive by somebody else and he's pulling over there.
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I know what I am, I'm always like, a poor person.
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I just want to pull over and like, hug them.
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(audience laughs) But Christians, that should be our attitude towards all Christians, like, man, you know what?
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I was totally there, man.
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I understand the position that you're in.
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I used to live like that.
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But I got some good news for you.
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It lasted today.
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Why were we so ruthless with sin?
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Because sin can destroy my community.
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See, he gives two lists in this section, I'm sure you picked that up.
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The first list all has to deal with personal stuff.
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This list has to deal with community stuff.
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These are sins that hurt the community.
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This is very important because did you know that we are not called to live in isolation?
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We are called to be members of the body, right?
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That's why we're so tied up in those small groups.
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We don't want you to just come here on Sunday and say, hey, Colleen, it was really good to see you.
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I hope I don't see you again till next Sunday.
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What is that?
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Small groups is getting plugged in for part of the body.
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We're members with one another.
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Okay?
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We're not living in isolation.
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And as God's children, we're done acting like the world.
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You know how the world acts?
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Immunity, destroying behavior.
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Let me get through this list quickly as we're winding down.
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Anger.
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He says, "Put them away." Anger.
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This anchor actually literally is the burning anchor.
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This is the...
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You know the person that's just always like ready to explode?
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You know what I'm talking about?
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That's what this anchor is.
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The person that's just like...
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That's this anchor.
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Well the next word, "Rab", that's the explosion.
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That's the explosion.
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That's the person that's just like, end of the fuse, bang, and they blow up.
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Or you know, I call that Yosemite Sam error.
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You know, like, Yosemite Sam, when he gets mad, he just completely flies off the handle.
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That's what we're talking about here.
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Yeah, that's pretty deep theology.
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That's funny, I know.
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But that's what I think of. It's just exploding.
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Malice.
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Hateful intentions.
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hateful intentions. God help us when we would wish ill toward someone.
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You know, I think that person doesn't succeed.
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You know, he's going down to that drug review in Florida and I know that he loves the audition.
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That's malice, man. What are you talking about? That's malice!
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You should be wishing the best for people, right?
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Malice is just spiteful and hateful intention.
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Slander, "Oh, that was coming out." Jesus said, "I was abundance of the heart and mouth speaks." Slander is speaking of someone in a way to make others think less of them.
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I can tell you a mouth so and so, how can you think less of them?
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I even apologized to Sarah a few months ago because I was talking about somebody in that way, I see this person driving me insane and I just totally throw the person down.
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That's slander.
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Obscene talk. That's filthy communication. That's everything becomes an anatomy joke.
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Obscene talk, obscene talk.
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When you hear a joke, and then he talks about lying.
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Pretty self-explanatory.
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Verse 9, he says, "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you put off the old self and his practices." You want to be a church, who speaks the truth in love.
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So he gives us another concept here, and this is really important as we get ready to bridge into next week.
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We talked about putting these things to death in the first list, and now he says, "Here's some things you need to put off." Put off.
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It's the same concept in the sense of it's radically dealing with sin, but it's using a slightly different metaphor than killing it.
44:09-44:30
In this metaphor, imagine that you're on your way to work, and you're standing at the curb, ready to go into work, and a car comes by and it's just been raining, and there's slush and mud and all kind of, and just gushes you head to toe.
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You're soaked, you're filthy, you stink.
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Are you going to walk in the window?
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No, you're gonna get new clothes.
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When you go to the store, you go home.
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Are you just gonna take your new clothes and put them on top of the ones that just got doused?
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Of course not, what are you gonna do?
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The first thing you're gonna do, you're gonna get home and you're gonna rip those clothes off and probably jump in the shower and then put the new clothes on.
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That's the put-on concept he's talking about here.
44:59-45:01
You know, these things, we just shred them off.
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We're done with them. Get them off.
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Well, what do we put on instead?
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We're going to get to that next week. That's the whole message next week.
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A couple more things here. Notice he says, "We put on a new self, verse 10, which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator." Being renewed.
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Every day renewed.
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Every day.
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Here is what the Lord has done.
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This is who he says I am.
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This is what he has called me to.
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Every day.
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Every day is being renewed.
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That's why it's so important that you're in the Word for yourself.
45:37-45:38
Every day.
45:38-45:41
That's why it's so important that you're praying for yourself.
45:41-45:42
Every day.
45:42-45:43
Paul says it's on your outline.
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2 Corinthians 4.16.
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"Though our outer self is wasted away, we are filled with the Spirit of God." Our inner self is being renewed day by day.
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Renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator.
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Where does this come from?
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Where do we get this knowledge?
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Obviously it comes from the Word of God.
46:12-46:15
I'd like to encourage you that the world has it backwards.
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And even some churches have it backwards.
46:17-46:30
They say things like this, "If you change your behavior, eventually you'll start to think differently, and then you'll be a new person." And I want you to know that that's completely opposite of the way the Bible presents it.
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The Bible says, "Christ makes you a new person and a constantly renewed person, which changes the way you think, which changes the way you act." So just as the individual puts off the old self, look at the last verse here with me.
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The individual puts off the old self, you know what church, we need to put off barriers ourselves too.
46:55-47:09
That's why he says, "Here there is none, Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, sinful, slave, free from Christ is all, and in all." He says there are no distinctions in Christ. You know that?
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His salvation is for whom?
47:13-47:14
Who is the salvation of Christ for?
47:16-47:17
Ok, who is the French Refresher for?
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Ok.
47:21-47:23
Shame we had to go out of that way, didn't we?
47:23-47:25
Who is the salvation of Christ for?
47:26-47:26
Everybody!
47:27-47:29
Whosoever believes in His name will know prayer.
47:29-47:30
Have you ever heard that verse?
47:30-47:31
John 3, 16?
47:31-47:32
It's for everybody!
47:32-47:34
I'm just teasing you. Don't be mad at me.
47:37-47:38
It's for everyone.
47:40-47:43
There's no distinction in Christ and in the Church.
47:43-47:44
There's no distinction.
47:49-47:56
I've done some horrible things in my life, but I'm ashamed of the afterlife.
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But we're on equal ground.
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Because we've been renewed in Christ.
48:03-48:03
So, I'm going to read a passage from the book of Acts.
48:03-48:14
flesh, and I will tell you, O man, that I have not been a man of the flesh, but So, Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, you know, the Jews and Gentiles, there was a lot of hatred there, a lot of racial hatred.
48:16-48:22
Paul says, "Not the church. Not to Christ, not the church." Barbarian.
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That was actually a policy that was used as an insult.
48:26-48:30
I think if somebody called me a barbarian today, I would be pretty happy I was today.
48:31-48:35
You know, it seems like Jeffery nothing but a barbarian that just be walking around.
48:36-48:38
I'd probably put it on Facebook.
48:39-48:41
Have a great day, Sam called me a barbarian.
48:43-48:48
But this word, uh, "Scythian", those are warlike people who were known for their savagery.
48:49-48:50
These people were just notorious.
48:51-48:55
You know, they would take the first person they killed in battle and like, drink their blood.
48:55-48:58
And like, use the person's skull as a napkin.
48:58-48:59
And that's what kind of people they were.
49:00-49:02
I'm not a Christ because Christ is all I am.
49:06-49:06
We're a new people.
49:06-49:08
We're in a community of new people.
49:08-49:09
There's no distinctions.
49:12-49:17
You know, the Bible never tells you to be ruthless.
49:19-49:21
The Bible never tells you to be brutal.
49:23-49:28
The Bible never tells you to be merciless, except in one issue.
49:30-49:31
And that's the deal of the state.
49:33-49:38
So Church, I want to encourage us all, let's get a little ruthless. Huh?
49:39-49:39
Let's get a little ruthless.
49:42-49:47
You have some things in your life that need killing.
49:49-49:50
You know what they are.
49:54-49:57
Fellow believers, what does the Gospel of the Holy Spirit say? You know what? This has to go.
49:58-50:00
This has had to go for a while and you've been holding on to it.
50:01-50:06
It's earthly in you and you've been hanging on to this thing and you know it's wrong. You don't.
50:08-50:08
It's time to kill it.
50:11-50:12
I just want to encourage you. You can't do it on your own.
50:17-50:22
Don't be looking for the psychologist, the secular psychologist that we are.
50:24-50:27
The Sigmund Freud way to reveal is not that.
50:31-51:07
Looking at self-help books, even Christian self-help books, the only way these things are going to die And again I pray for our killing spree.
51:10-51:12
Because we're holding on to some things that need to die.
51:18-51:22
Maybe we're wearing some filthy garments that need to be taken off.
51:25-51:26
Today's the day.
51:26-51:28
That's one of the things I love most about the Gospel.
51:31-51:38
God says, "You can start fresh right now." We need that constant renewal, day by day.
51:39-51:45
Maybe it's been a while since some of us have been seeking a daily renewal, day to day.
51:48-51:49
Will you bow your heads with me?
51:55-52:13
Father in Heaven, I confess to you, Father, before my brothers and sisters, There are some things in my own life that need to be killed.
52:16-52:17
That need to be put to death.
52:19-52:23
Father, you know the areas of pride that I've struggled with.
52:33-52:44
Father, you know the areas in my heart that have just been, just frankly, just flat out conscious, desiring more, desiring difference.
52:48-53:03
As my brother Mark and I have talked about, just having those expectations, and feeling I'm even disappointed when my own expectations aren't met.
53:04-53:06
Father, there's some things that need to be put to death in me.
53:09-53:18
Father, I pray on the power of your Holy Spirit, that you give me the faith.
53:26-53:39
Father, my brothers and sisters here, I'm sure, if we had some open mic time, I'm sure, if everyone were honest, they could come forward and say there are some things in their own lives that need to be put to death.
53:43-53:45
Father, I pray today's the day.
53:47-53:54
That we have people walking out of these doors saying, "I am done with that. I am killing that. Right now.
53:54-53:56
That's not who I am.
53:59-54:02
That might be who I used to be, but that's not who I am anymore.
54:04-54:09
And walking in the Spirit, I will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.
54:10-54:11
It's a battle fought.
54:13-54:16
You know this, the Lord tells us that Jesus Christ was tempted.
54:17-54:20
He never sinned, but he was tempted in every way, just as we are.
54:22-54:25
So you know first hand what it means to be tempted.
54:28-54:30
But Father we are people who give in to temptation.
54:36-54:38
I pray for a pillow spree today.
54:40-54:47
That things are put to death and put to the ground and stay there.
54:49-54:51
Remind us who we are in you.
54:57-54:59
Invite your grace when we ask for it.
55:03-55:05
We pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Colossians 3:5-11
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.