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[0:00] Colossians chapter 3 verses 5 through 17.

[0:20] ! On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.

[0:33] And these you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

[0:46] Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.

[1:07] Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

[1:25] And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.

[1:36] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

[1:48] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of this word. You may be seated.

[1:58] So, I'm going to ask you guys a question tonight, and would you guys be okay if there was another you? And all they did was sexually immoral acts, and they had evil desire and covetousness.

[2:14] They were always angry, slandered, talk obscenely all the time, and they lied to others. Now, this might sound harsh, but this is who we are before knowing Christ.

[2:30] The good part is, there is a new you in Christ. We are being renewed in the image of Christ. This is a process, though, because we are not going to be perfect overnight.

[2:44] What we can do is start putting on the new you. We can be kind, having humility, and having patience. We can put on love, and we can allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts.

[3:02] Which you are you going to be? Will you be the new you or the old you? This leads me to my main point.

[3:17] Put off the old you and put on the new you. Put off the old you and put on the new you. So, tonight we're going to look at two different people, the old you and the new you.

[3:33] So, let's start with the old you. We're going to be looking at the first three verses here. I should say four verses.

[3:44] Colossians 3, 5 through 8. And Colossians 3, 5 says, Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

[3:58] So, this verse starts off by saying, put to death. And this word in the Greek is nekrosate.

[4:10] Now, this word is a commanding word, meaning put to death. Paul is telling them under no circumstances should they do the things that are to follow.

[4:23] Paul wants them to understand that they need to control their bodies. So, there are five sins that Paul tells them to put to death here.

[4:34] The first being sexual immorality. Now, Paul is using a more general term of sexual sins to talk about idolatry, homosexuality, premillative sex, and others.

[4:47] The second that we see is impurity. Again, Paul is using a more general term here to talk about evil thoughts or actions. The third being passion, also translated as lust.

[5:04] Now, these are inappropriate cravings which distract us from the things above. This leads us to commit the sins of immorality and impurity. Four, evil desires.

[5:18] Wanting things that are wrong, whether sexual desires or material things. Covetousness. Paul considers jealousy over what others have a form of idolatry.

[5:32] Now, what Paul is telling the Colossians to put to death here, these five things, these five ideas, is the very same sins that we need to put to death.

[5:47] Now, we must take Paul's advice here, or these sins will continue to hold us back from the new you that we are to put on.

[5:57] Colossians 3.6 says, On account of these, the wrath of God is coming, and these too you once walked when you were living in them.

[6:08] This verse is a very big warning for the Colossians. If they continue to do these sins in others, they will face the wrath of God. And we see the wrath of God throughout the Bible for those that commit sins.

[6:22] We see it in Romans 1.19. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of me, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

[6:34] We also see it in Genesis, when God's wrath comes to Sodom and Gomorrah. He destroys these cities. There is nothing left. God's wrath is very real, and it's something that is not just in the past, but it is coming.

[6:51] This we see throughout Revelation. Revelation 14.10, 14.9, 15.1, 15.7, 16.1, all culminating in Revelation 19.15.

[7:06] From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

[7:16] This is what waits for those of the old you, the harsh reality of what is coming for nonbelievers. We need to do as Paul says, and put these to death so that we do not face the wrath of God.

[7:36] Colossians 3.8 and 9. But now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, slander, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.

[7:50] So, same of what we see in verse 8. Paul again gives us another list of five sins that we should put away. The first being anger.

[8:02] So, outbursts of uncontrolled anger not to be found in the life of a Christian. Wrath. Now, wrath here has the connotation of revenge.

[8:14] We are to not seek revenge. We are to leave wrath to God. Third, malice. Malice is the general desire for harm to befall someone.

[8:25] We should hope that harm comes to no one. Slander. Slander is, slander in the biblical context is putting down other people.

[8:37] This includes insults, lies, harsh speech, or gospel. These things should not be found in the mouths of Christians. Obscene talk. Speech that is vulgar.

[8:48] This type of speech should not be associated with the life of a believer. So, with these five sins that we have in verse 8 and the five sins from verse 5, Paul kind of gives us a 10-sin list of worldly sins Christians should leave behind.

[9:07] Now, verse 9 talks about how they should not lie to one another. Now, this is talking specifically about Christians lying to other Christians. Paul tells them that they should speak to each other with love.

[9:20] Ephesians 4, 15 says, Rather, speaking the truth of love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.

[9:34] This all leads us to putting off the old self with its practices. This is the tale of the old you, the person that we need to put to death so that we can then become the new you.

[9:51] The new you. Second person we can be. Colossians 3, 10, and 11, And you have put on a new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

[10:03] Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. Verse 10 starts off by finishing the thought that started in verse 9.

[10:21] Verse 10 is what the Colossians should do as believers. They should put on the new self or the new you. They are then reminded of the fact that they are being renewed in knowledge by Christ.

[10:35] This knowledge that comes from Christ is important to the Christian life and is noted throughout Colossians. This is seen in Colossians 1, 9, and 10, and as well as Colossians 2, 2 through 3, which says that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

[11:02] verse 11, Paul talks about how there is now a unity between the Greek and the Jew, the circumcised and the uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free.

[11:17] They are all together in Christ. There is no more separation. Paul is asking us to put on the new you and be renewed by the knowledge that comes from Christ, that is making us in his image.

[11:34] We should remember that we are to have unity with one another, that despite our differences, we are one in Christ. Colossians 3, 12 through 13 says, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another.

[11:56] And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Now, Paul here refers to the people of Colossians, right, those that are believers as chosen, holy, and beloved.

[12:14] Paul is trying to remind them that they are God's chosen ones. They are set apart and they are beloved by God. He wants them to remember who they are in Christ and how God sees them.

[12:32] God sees us the same way. Holy and beloved, his chosen ones, set apart as new believers. He wants us to remember who we are in Christ and how God sees us.

[12:50] In Colossians 3, 8, Paul lists five ways of what a Christian life shouldn't look like. Here in verse 12, we see him list five ways that a Christian life should live their life, what a Christian life should look like.

[13:08] One, that we have compassionate hearts. It means that they are filled with love and concern rather than selfishness. Kindness.

[13:21] This refers to how they should treat others. Humility. Talking about how they humbled themselves before a perfect God knowing that they were sinners, it also means that they didn't act arrogantly towards one another.

[13:39] Number four, meekness. Not that they should be timid by any means, but that they should be gentle towards others. Number five, patience. Meaning that they were, are to accept delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry.

[13:59] These are the very traits that Paul expects of the new you. We are to show these traits to the world by our words and actions. Now, this can sometimes be hard to do.

[14:13] I know that I struggle with being patient. I know that I struggle with my anger. Just ask my wife. We are not perfect. I understand that we will continue working on these traits as we become more like Christ.

[14:29] in verse 13, Paul tells us to bear with one another. Now, this means that we should treat others with compassion and grace despite any difference that we might have.

[14:45] Now, even when others fail, we should be ready to forgive them. For Christians, this should be an easy thing to do. They have been forgiven of their own sins in Christ.

[14:57] Colossians 2.14 says, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

[15:10] God put our sins to death. We should do the same for others. We are to leave that sin in the past and move forward and help them and encourage them not to do it again.

[15:22] What do you do in your life to bear with others and to forgive them and not bring it up or hold a grudge? Colossians 3.14-15.

[15:35] And above all these, put on love, which binds everything in perfect harmony, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful.

[15:49] The Colossians are told to put on love. In 1 Corinthians 12.31, Paul calls love the more excellent way. This leads into 1 Corinthians 13, which we call the love chapter.

[16:05] And I am going to apologize because I am going to read all of chapter 13 tonight because I think it goes into what Paul is talking about here and what he's truly trying to mean.

[16:15] So 1 Corinthians 13.1-13 says, If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

[16:27] And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

[16:38] If I gave away all that I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast.

[16:49] It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

[17:03] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away.

[17:13] As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

[17:25] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways, for now we see in a mere dimly, but then face to face.

[17:39] Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide. These three, but the greatest of these is love.

[17:51] And again, I wanted to read that full chapter because I think it really goes what Paul is trying to tell the Colossians. What he really wants them to understand is that love is the supreme attribute that they should show to the world.

[18:05] For Paul, love brings people together and makes any differences that they had as Christians compatible to work together in harmony. Christians then and now should love one another despite any differences that we might have.

[18:24] We need to show that love to the world so that they can see that what Christians can do when we love one another and have unity. And that unity goes beyond just what we have in our local body of believers.

[18:41] That unity goes out to that capital C church, to every Christian that is out there. If we could show love to the world, how much more could Christians really do together if we would band together under that umbrella of love.

[19:08] Verse 15. So, throughout 12 and 14 we have seen kind of eight positive ways the new you is to live. In verse 15 he has two new additional ideas for the new you.

[19:21] The first is peace. Now, and that peace is what comes from God. And they receive this peace through the blood of the cross.

[19:34] It should oversee how they live their lives. Paul wants the Colossians to have a peace that allows them to come together in unity. The peace that we see here is something that the new you should strive for.

[19:51] Be at peace with those in the church. When we take the Lord's Supper, Pastor Mike always says that if you have strife with a brother or sister that we should not take the Lord's Supper, that we should go to them and repair that relationship.

[20:07] This is how important it is that we have peace so that we can then have the unity that comes from that peace. The second is the attitude of thanksgiving.

[20:19] Paul is asking them to be grateful for the things that Christ has done for them. Be thankful for all that Christ has done for you. He has done so much for us that we don't deserve.

[20:30] He has given His life for us so that we might have redemption. Colossians 3, 16 and 17.

[20:41] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

[20:54] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. So the people in Colossians are told in verses 12-15 of ten positive traits that they should follow.

[21:11] And in verse 16, Paul gives them one more to follow. To let the word of Christ dwell in them richly, teaching and admonishing them in all wisdom and singing songs.

[21:23] He wants them to see that Christ's words will instruct them and show them where they are wrong. Singing songs to help them better understand His word and to give thanks to God instead of focusing on their own desires.

[21:37] As the new you, we are to live our lives in the same fashion, by letting God's word fill our lives so that we can learn and grow more into the image of Christ, willing to sing out from the joy that is in our hearts with thanksgiving.

[21:55] Yes, even you, if you can't carry a tune in a bucket. Reminds me of something my dad always said. God didn't ask for a beautiful noise.

[22:07] He only asked for a joyful noise. In verse 17, we see everything that Paul talked about come together. Paul has listed 11 negative traits of the old you and 11 positive traits of the new you.

[22:26] And he summarizes this in saying, whatever you do, meaning anything not mentioned in this list. This means the way they behaved and acted, they should submit every moment to Christ, not living by some checklist of do's and don'ts.

[22:46] If we fall back into that idea of do's and don'ts, we then become legalistic, living again by the same law that Christ came to fulfill. Christ has set us free from the law.

[22:59] We are to live in Christ knowing that whatever we do should be pleasing to him. If it is not, then we shouldn't be doing these things.

[23:10] We should allow Christ to lead us so that we don't go astray. Paul tells them to give thanks to God the Father through Christ. This is one of the reasons why we end prayers the way that we do, in the name of Jesus.

[23:25] We do this because through Jesus who God sent, we are saved. You see, we are like Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, the young wild hillbilly boy who the Widow Douglas took into her home and tried to civilize.

[23:43] Got him to bathe, dressed him in nice clothes, sent him to school. Huck can't take it though. So he takes off. Check out what he says to Tom Sawyer about life with Widow Douglas.

[23:58] I've tried it and it don't work, Tom. It ain't for me. I ain't used to it. The widder's been good to me and friendly but I can't stand them ways. I got to go to church and sweat and sweat.

[24:12] I got to talk so nice it wasn't comfortable. I'd go up to the attic and rip out a while, even every day just to get a taste in my mouth or I'd have died, Tom.

[24:22] The widder wouldn't let me smoke, she wouldn't let me yell, she wouldn't let me gape or stretch or scratch before folks. And dad fetch it, she prayed all the time.

[24:33] I never seen such a woman. I had to shove, Tom. I just had to. It don't work. It ain't for me. Listen, the new you is going to be an uncomfortable fit at first.

[24:50] We have seen through these verses what it is to live the life of the old you and what it looks to live the life of the new you. These verses should again not be seen as a list of do's and don'ts.

[25:03] These are the reality of those that are either of the old you or the new you. You either have the traits of the old you or you have the traits of the new you.

[25:17] Now, if you're an unbeliever and living the life of the old you, there is hope. Christ has come and died on the cross for your sins. He has risen again and given you new life.

[25:29] You can become the new you. All you must do is ask Christ into your life. If this is something that you want to do, come see me after the sermon or come talk to Mike or Tyler.

[25:42] If you are a believer and living the life of the new you, remember that all we say and do should come from Christ. If it is not from Christ, then we shouldn't do it.

[25:55] Something that struck me this morning as we were driving back from Branson's where we were this morning, Mike said something in his sermon and I actually had my laptop with me so I actually pulled it out and changed my sermon ending just because of something that Mike said today during his sermon.

[26:14] Mike said in his sermon this morning that there are two branches, one that produces fruit and one that doesn't. We will see the you that you choose based on if you produce fruit or don't.

[26:31] I leave you with these two questions. Which you are you going to choose? Are you going to choose the old you or will you choose the new you?

[26:44] Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, Lord. Thank you for the opportunity that I get up here to share God's word, God. Thank you for what you've done for us, for coming to die on the cross for our sins, Lord.

[27:00] God, thank you for allowing us to become the new you, to truly be transformed into a new creation, God. God, be with us as we go out from here, Lord, in your son's name we pray.

[27:14] Amen. I'll see you next time.