← Back to sermon library

Please turn your bottles to Colossians 
chapter three. Colossians chapter three is returning. I'll just mention something about 
the calendar. The new calendars are available on the And on the 
back it says, if you have any concerns, please contact Pastor 
Butler, Pastor Porter. Obviously that's concerns about 
the church, but it's also a call. Sometimes people need pastoral 
counseling or assistance and help. And we want to be available. You don't need to wait for our 
visitation to your house. But very often we don't know 
what's going on if we're not instructed. So if you have Any 
needs or any concerns whatsoever, we are available via phone, via 
email. Set up a meeting, we'll get together 
as soon as is convenient. So that's a little bit of amplification 
for that announcement on the back of the calendar there. Well, 
as we turn to Colossians three, we remember we're in a section 
where the apostle Paul has called us to direct our minds heavenward. Chapter three, verses one to 
four. He says we are to seek those 
things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right 
hand of God. He says we are to set our mind 
on things above, not on things on the earth. And then in the 
following section, he describes how heavenly mindedness will 
apply itself in our lives, heavenly mindedness will be seen in the 
manner in which we conduct ourselves in verses five to eleven. He says that the new man is to 
put off. He is to put off on godliness. Verse five, put to death your 
members which are on the earth. fornication, uncleanness, passion, 
evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Verse 80 says, 
But now you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, 
malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. So, the new 
man in Christ Jesus is seeking, by God's grace, to put to death 
those deeds of the body which are evil, which are ungodly. And the only power by which we 
can do this is through the gospel of Jesus Christ itself. Notice 
in verse 9, Do not lie to one another, since you have put off 
the old man with his deeds. and hath put on the new man who 
is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created 
him. So it's because of what God in 
Christ has done for us in terms of saving us from our sins that 
we are able to put to death these deeds. And in verses 12 to 17, 
to put on the virtues that the Apostle Paul highlights. Verses 
18 to 4, 1, he says we are to be subject to one another in 
our household relationships. And then in chapter 4, verses 
2 to 6, we are to be watchful and prayerful. So, this is conduct 
becoming, or unbecoming, a new man. Last week we saw in verses 
5 to 11, and now we're going to pick up conduct becoming a 
new man in chapter 3, beginning in verse 12. Hear now the word 
of the living God. Therefore, as the elect of God, 
holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, 
meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving 
one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ 
forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, 
put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace 
of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in 
one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell 
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one 
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with 
grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or 
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to 
God the Father through him. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for the Holy Scriptures, and we thank you for the Spirit 
of the living God, and we pray that he would be poured out now, 
that he would come upon each and every one of us, that you 
would guide our thoughts and our minds and our hearts, that 
we would seek those things which are above, that we would set 
our mind to the right hand of God the Father, where Jesus Christ 
is. And Father, having this heavenly 
mindedness and filling ourselves with sound doctrine, may it flesh 
itself out in the way that we live in this world. We just pray 
that you would forgive us for all of our sins. We confess at 
the outset we don't always live as we are supposed to. We don't 
always let our conduct be consistent with what we are in Jesus Christ. 
We just pray that you would cleanse us afresh in his most precious 
blood, cause us never to forget it's by grace alone, through 
faith alone, in Christ alone by which we stand. And we pray 
now, Lord God, that you would just direct us and teach us and 
help us. and convict us, Lord God, and 
correct us and instruct us in righteousness so that each one 
of us may be thoroughly furnished under every good work. And we 
pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, as Christian 
men and women here in after the new man. We ought to not only 
put off on godliness if we stopped after verse eleven and said now 
my Christian life has to simply be about putting these things 
off. We would be incomplete. We're 
not only to put off the bad, we're to put on the good. We're 
not only to engage in negative, but we're to engage in positive. We are to be like the Lord Jesus 
Christ. We have been saved by grace, 
as we said, through faith, and we have been saved to live in 
a very specific way. And in verses twelve and following, 
the apostle highlights those elements that we as God's people 
are to put on. Now, this morning, we're going 
to just take up verses twelve to fourteen under the larger, 
larger heading of conduct, becoming a new man. And the Lord willing, 
we'll pick up the rest of the passage next week. Verses 15 
to 17, because there we see the Christ-centered orientation of 
the new man. We are to have the peace of Christ 
rule in our hearts. We are to let the word of Christ 
dwell in us richly, and we are to do all things in the name 
of Christ. So the new man is very much about 
bringing glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose here, but 
let's just look at the conduct, becoming a new man versus twelve 
to fourteen under three considerations. The first is his identity. Secondly, his character and thirdly, 
his supreme obligation. And I hope that my voice will 
sustain itself until this sermon is over. I feel quite a strain. I thank you for your prayers 
this morning. God willing, we'll be able to get through this material, 
as I believe it is very important for us as Christians, both as 
individuals and within the context of Christ's church. But notice, 
first of all, his identity or our identity, if you will. Verse 
12. Therefore, as the elect of God, 
holy and beloved, the doctrine of election, God's sovereignty, That doctrine wherein God, who 
is unfettered and unbounded by human limitations, where God 
has set his love upon sinners whom he chose, that is the foundation 
upon which we are new men in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus 
said in John 15 and verse 16, I chose you. We see in Romans chapter 8, those 
whom he foreknew, these he predestined. Those he predestined, these he 
called. Those he called, he also justified. And the one he justifies is the 
one he glorifies. In Romans 9, verses 10 to 24, 
Paul, answering the charge that there might be unrighteousness 
of God, says, may it never be. And he highlights the freedom, 
the liberty and the glory of God Most High in choosing whom 
he will to have compassion upon and hardening whom he will. We saw in the reading this morning 
at the outset of worship, one of the proofs of the glory of 
the cross is that the Corinthians weren't wise. They weren't noble. They weren't better than anyone 
else. The glory of the cross is seen 
that by him, by God, you are in Christ Jesus. We see it in 
Ephesians 1, chapter 1, verses 3 to 14. In one long extended 
praise unto God, the Apostle Paul says, Blessed be the God 
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who has chose us in him 
before the foundation of the world. We see it referred to 
in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13. 2 Thessalonians chapter 
2 and verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks 
to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because 
God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification 
by the Spirit and belief in the truth. The reason why I'm highlighting 
these passages is because, believe it or not, there are those who 
would teach that God really doesn't choose. God really doesn't elect. And if he does, it's because 
we did something worthwhile for him to elect us because of. That is simply not the case. 
We see in these passages the freedom of God. We see in these 
passages the liberty of God. We see in these passages what 
Jesus Christ praised His Father for according to Matthew 11, 
25 to 30. He said, I thank Thee, Lord of 
heaven and earth. For thou hast hidden these things 
from the wise and the prudent, and ye reveal them unto babes. And he says, Even so, father, 
for thus it was well pleasing in your sight. Reverend, what 
is more important than your alleged free will? What is more important 
than your alleged liberty is God's freedom, God's liberty, 
God's glory, God's majesty and God's honor. Because if it is 
up to us in our free will, we will always choose contrary to 
God and we will end ourselves in hell. As Whitfield said to 
Wesley, it was our free will that got us into the mess that 
we find ourselves. It must be the freedom of God's 
will to deliver us from this curse. 2 Timothy 1, verses 8 
and 9. 2 Timothy 1, verses 8 and 9. Therefore, do not be ashamed 
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. But 
share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the 
power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, 
not according to our works. but according to his own purpose 
and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time 
began. You see, the constant emphasis 
upon salvation in the Holy Scripture is what the prophet Jonah confessed. Salvation is of the Lord. And, incidentally, that's what 
the redeemed in heaven sing under God, according to the book of 
Revelation. Salvation belongs to our God 
and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne. And in this, brethren, 
we rejoice. So we are not to take this list 
of things to put off. We are not to take this list 
of things to put on and in our own strength and in our own wisdom 
say, well, that's what a Christian is all about. I'm going to go 
out and live that way. Absolutely not. God chose us. God saved us. Christ died to 
redeem us. It is all of the Lord. And when he describes us or when 
he identifies us, rather, he says, therefore, as the elect 
of God, holy and beloved. These three terms are all applied 
to Israel in the old covenant. They're all applied to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And I think that demonstrates 
continuity. The church is the true Israel 
of God. First Peter 2 9 tells us that. But as well, it highlights that 
because Jesus was elect, holy and beloved, we participate in 
this identity because of our covenant Lord, because of the 
surety of a better covenant, because of what he accomplished 
on our behalf. We are called elect, holy and 
beloved. Now, you need to make sure you 
understand we're not elect because we're holy and beloved. In other 
words, our holiness and our belovedness does not determine our election. 
It's the other way around. Our election determines our holiness 
and our belovedness. Make sure you keep that in mind 
or you'll end up an Arminian. You'll think God went down the 
tunnel of time and saw that I would be a good guy or a good girl, 
or I would decide for Jesus, and therefore he elected me. 
That's not the emphasis of the text. Perhaps it's a bit even 
clearer in Ephesians chapter one. Turn to Ephesians chapter 
one at verse four. Ephesians one, four. Just as 
he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that 
we should be holy and without blame before him. You see that? It's a purpose. He chose us that 
we should be holy and without blame. He didn't choose us because 
we were holy and without blame. It's a cause and effect. He chose 
us in order to be. He didn't choose us because we 
were. The elect, who are now holy and 
beloved, are to function as new men who are part of a new creation. That's the emphasis here in Colossians 
chapter three at verse twelve. Now notice, secondly, he describes 
his character, his character. What is consistent with the new 
man? O'Brien, a commentator, says, 
as God's chosen ones who have already put on the new man, they 
must darn the graces which are characteristic of him. It's beautiful. Same verb used here in verse 
twelve that we've seen in verse ten. You have put on the new 
man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him 
who created him. Verse twelve. Therefore, as the 
elect of God, holy and beloved, Put on, clothe yourself with, 
don these graces, live like this. If conduct unbecoming a new man 
is to speak wickedly and to engage in sexual immorality, then conduct 
becoming a new man is to live in the manner of verse 12. The first thing that he highlights, 
he says, put on tender mercies, tender mercies. basically bowels 
or a heart of compassion. This was characteristic of our 
Lord Jesus, who in Matthew 9, verse 36, saw the multitudes 
and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep 
having no shepherd. That passage has always amazed 
me. We have no indication that that entire multitude believed 
on the gospel. We have no indication whatsoever 
that Jesus was looking only upon a massive amount of elect sinners. He was looking at sinners and 
he was moved with compassion for them. Brethren, I love biblical 
Calvinism. I love the theology of our 1689 
Confession. I love Reformed theology. But 
if we don't have tender mercies, if we don't have hearts of compassion 
for one another and for other people, we have not learned Reformed 
theology. It's not just some heady wine 
where we drink and engage and we just intellectualize over 
it. We take these things in to affect 
us in our current walk. It's to affect us in the way 
that we live. We are to put on tender mercies. We're to be like the Lord Jesus 
Christ. We're to look at sinners, and 
we're to be moved to compassion for them. We're to look at our 
children, and if we suspect them being unsafe, we're to be moved 
with compassion for them. We're to look at our husband 
or our wife or our extended family, and if they are not in Christ, 
we are moved with compassion for them. We don't say, wow, 
we're elect ones, we're holy and beloved. We've somehow arrived. 
Too bad on you. Now, this whole idea of election 
ought to humble us. We were not, as I've pointed 
out, elect because of holiness and belovedness. We were elect 
because of the freedom of God. The potter's freedom. Does not 
the potter have the right over the same lump to make one vessel 
of mercy and one for destruction? Notice that text, or notice that 
reference. He says, over the same lump. 
It wasn't as some lump was, some of the lump was disposed to holiness 
and belovedness and the rest of the lump was disposed otherwise. No, it's the same lump. The freedom 
of the potter to take from that lump those whom he sets his affections 
on and those whom he reprobates. So if we find ourselves as new 
men in Christ, It's not because of anything we've done, it's 
because of what God has done. And hopefully that humbles us 
and lays us low and promotes in our hearts tender mercies, 
bowels of compassion, bowels of compassion. Notice, secondly, 
his character, kindness. Kindness. It is kindness expressed 
in attitude and deed, the friendly and helpful spirit which seeks 
to meet the needs of others through kind deeds. Again, I think as 
we work our way through, probably after everyone, we could close 
our Bibles, get on our faces and ask God to forgive us. Kindness 
to fruit of the spirit, according to Galatians chapter five, lots 
of overlap between that passage and this one kindness. Not only 
in word, not only in be warm and be filled, but indeed come 
in and be warmed and be filled. Kindness displaying itself. Kindness 
fleshed out. Kindness lived. You see the progression 
of thought. Set your mind on things above 
where Christ is so that you'll be kind to that person in your 
life. Is that amazing? The Christian is told to meditate 
upon and think upon the doctrine of Christ so that he's kind. 
I struggle with kindness, what's the reason? I probably don't 
set my mind on the things above as I ought. You struggle with 
kindness. That's your problem, too. You 
see, you can't come away from thinking about a kindly savior, 
one who has tender mercies, one who is about showing it in word 
and deed, and then be a hard-hearted wretch. The idea is that the 
doctrine of Christ melts your heart and forms it into a Christian 
man. Notice thirdly, he says, humility. 
Humility, we're going to pick up on that a bit later in more 
detail. But for now, it's lowliness in 
thinking. It's humility. It is the recognition 
of one's own weakness, but also the recognition of God's power. This isn't the humility of Gandhi. 
This isn't the humility of the monk that buries himself in some 
hut. It's not only recognizing your 
nothingness and your lowliness, but it is conversely recognizing 
the glory and the majesty and the supremacy of God. It's a 
recognition of who He is. It's a recognition of who Christ 
is. Humility. Interestingly enough, 
Jesus describes Himself with this moniker in Matthew 11 and 
verse 29. They're translated lowly. Christ is lowly. The fourth is 
meekness. You're to put on meekness. I 
think we've got it wrong when we think of meekness being a 
doormat. That's not what's in view. One man as well said, meekness 
is not weakness, but it is self-controlled, empowered by the Holy Spirit. I often think of a horse. A horse 
is a very powerful creature. And when you put that bit and 
bridle in, you're able to control it. That's what meekness is. We're not as powerful as the 
horse per se, but meekness is the bit in the bridle, the self-control 
that goes into one's government of self. If you haven't learned 
it yet, yourself is probably your chief enemy in the Christian 
life. Yes, we battle against the world. 
Yes, we battle against the devil. You know, when we're crossing 
that River Jordan into Immanuel's land, I have this idea, the world 
is behind us, the devil is behind us, but we still got ourself 
to contend with. We're still swimming there trying 
to make it into Immanuel's land and we're going to hear that 
uprising. I'll just turn back. I'll just forget it. Oh, it's 
just too difficult. Yourself is your constant nemesis. Meekness seeks to garner self 
under control. It is the celebration, or it 
is that self-control celebrated in the Proverbs, when it says 
that a man without self-control is like a city broken down without 
walls. You know what an ancient city 
without walls was? It was free pickings. Just take 
what you want. They have no defense, they have 
no capability, they cannot keep you out. A city without walls, 
you just wandered in, you took what you want. The same idea 
is true of a Christian man. Self-control. There's a lot of 
times in our Christian life we want to blame others. We want 
to blame circumstances. We want to blame stuff. We want 
to play the victim. We want to act like everything 
bad is always happening to me. Well, the Bible puts the primary 
onus on you. The Bible says exercise self-control. The Bible says put on meekness. 
The word indicates an obedient submissiveness to God and his 
will with unwavering faith and enduring patience displaying 
itself in a gentle attitude and kind acts toward others and this 
often in the face of opposition. So, it's not just exercise when 
everything's going well. None of these graces are. This 
isn't like, okay, on Sunday, as the elect of God, holy and 
beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, 
love and suffering. I can do that. Ten minutes after the service, 
I can be that. Watch. That's not what Paul's talking 
about. I mean, he's including it. He doesn't mean in the back 
of the church, be contrary to all these things, be a hard hearted, 
mean, vicious, unkind person that just spouts venom upon all 
the people of God. No, it doesn't mean that. But 
he also means on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and 
Monday, wherever you are at whatever time. This is your conduct. This 
is your virtue. This is the grace that you are 
to display, because this characterized our Lord. Who, when he was reviled, 
what did he do? He reviled not. He didn't adopt 
the position of defensiveness and start attacking everybody 
else. And he could have. Has anybody 
ever come to you and said, look, I have seen this in your life 
and your immediate response is, yeah, what about you? I see it 
in you too. Maybe you're all arrived and that's never happened. 
Praise God, I'm happy for you. But that's not what Jesus did. 
And he could have. You get that he could have pointed 
out every fault in every man that ever came before him. With the eye of omniscience. 
He goes, I remember back in, you know, four A.D. when your mother told you to 
do something and you didn't do it, you got mad, you reviled 
her. They would have said, how did you know that? Because he's 
got meekness, meekness. It is often in the face of opposition. It is the restrained and obedient 
powers of the personality brought into subjection and submission 
to God's will by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, Blessed are the meek, 
for they shall inherit the kingdom of God. He's reciting Psalm 37 
and verse 11. And then the fifth virtue, the 
fifth grace, the fifth thing we are to put on is long suffering. Longsuffering indicates the patient 
longsuffering in bearing injustices or unpleasant circumstances without 
revenge or retaliation. It is a perfection of God, according 
to Exodus 34 and verse six. It is something that God exercises 
toward his children. He is longsuffering with us, 
isn't he? He is patient with us. Long-suffering 
is something God exercises even toward the unconverted, according 
to Romans 2 and verse 4, and it ought to lead them to repentance. Long-suffering. One has described 
it well. It is perseverance under provocation. Again, not just perseverance 
when everything is going well. I'm the most long-suffering, 
impatient guy when everything's going my way. And I suspect it 
is the same with you. When there's no challenges, when 
there's no backchat, when there's no any sort of challenge to your 
authority or of your life, it's great. You're long-suffering, 
you're patient, right? In fact, you might say, I'm the 
most patient man I know. But as soon as something comes 
up, as soon as something begins to affect you and your walk. You see, long suffering is perseverance 
under provocation. These five virtues are all exemplified 
by our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe so much so that in 
Romans 13, 14, Paul can summarize just by saying, but put on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill 
its loss. So here he is describing what 
it means to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. So as we look at this 
new man's character, that's his personal character. Now, notice 
this affects his community relationship. Evangelicals and reform like 
the word community today. I like church, but I'll use community, 
community relationships, church relationships. So you've got 
tender mercy, so you're kind, so you're humble, so you're meek 
and so you're long-suffering. OK, now what? Well, they should 
flesh themselves out in the way that you deal with people in 
your church or the way that you deal with people in your home 
or the way you deal with people in your workplace or the way 
you deal with people in society. And the two church relationships 
that the apostle highlights here are forbearance and forgiveness. Forbearance and forgiveness. I remember reading somewhere, 
I believe it was in Morning and Evening, Spurgeon said we ought 
to keep two bears, a bear and a forebear, in our dealings with 
one another. Keep them somewhere, whether 
they're in your pocket or in your heart or in your head, wherever 
they have to be. Keep bear and forebear. Because 
you're going to need them. Look at what he says in verse 
13, bearing with one another. Oh, come on, that's simple, isn't 
it? Are you married? It's not always easy to bear 
with one another in the marriage relationship. Do you have children? 
Always easy to bear with your children. It's easier, believe 
it or not, young families, it's easier when they're little and 
they're in diapers and you can just spank them and make them 
do what you say than when they're older and they're out of diapers 
and it's tougher to make them do what you say. We all have 
to exercise forbearance. You may not be married. You may 
not have children. You still need to forbear. I mean, if a marriage is hard 
where God takes two redeemed sinners and puts them together 
and they still have some struggles bouncing off of one another, 
how about the church? We all come in here from different 
backgrounds. Yes, we've all been made a new 
man in Christ Jesus. There is neither Greek nor Jew, 
circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor 
free. But Christ is all and in all. 
But some of us are hard headed. Some of us are stubborn. Some 
of us are abrasive. Some of us aren't always as kind 
as we ought to be. So what is the response? What is the duty? We are to forbear. We are to bear with one another. Bruce says there ought to be 
mutual forbearance, mutual tolerance, mutual forgiveness should mark 
all our relations with one another. This means we're not to be short 
fused. We're not supposed to be quick 
tempered. We're not to be like that bear 
who's been robbed of her cubs. That should not characterize 
a new man in Christ Jesus. Now, I'm not saying that this 
will be mastered and will always respond perfectly, but this is 
the text that we are considering. We are to bear with one another. We ought to realize that this 
command or this reference is necessary because it's not always 
easy. Have you ever wondered why so 
many times in the New Testament, the apostle ends with and greet 
one another with a holy kiss? I'm guessing it's because not 
everybody wanted to greet one another with a holy kiss. Or 
why certain things are repeated several times. I mean, there's 
a few people that are getting married here in the next several 
months. And for the life of you, you may not realize that these 
commands about wives and husbands are in there because it gets 
hard. God doesn't waste words when 
he tells us we are to bear with one another, it is because it's 
not always easy. We don't just live in utopia 
where everything just goes the way it ought to go. So what's the Christian response? 
It's to be like Jesus. Who bore with his disciples. I mean, just study the three 
year ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ and see long suffering 
and forbearance. There are times when he says, 
have I been with you this long and you still don't know? You still don't get it, you still 
don't understand. He bore with them, he didn't 
dump everything on them initially, he trained them for three years. 
He bore with them, God bears with us. There's often times 
where we think somebody ought to be more like us in our Christian 
lives, if they would just perform more up to our satisfaction. Praise God that he bears with 
us. Praise God that he knows our 
weaknesses and he knows that we're damaged goods. Praise God 
that he treats us as his children, that he pities us, that he remembers 
our freight, that he knows we're but dust. Praise God for his 
forbearance with us. And let us take our cue from 
God and bear with one another. But then notice he goes on to 
say forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against 
you, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. We are to 
be gracious to forgive one another. You're not supposed to hold a 
grudge as a Christian. You're not supposed to not let 
things go as a Christian. Somebody says, please forgive 
me. You're supposed to forgive them. In fact, this manifests 
that you've been forgiven yourself. Matthew six, fourteen and fifteen. If you don't forgive others, 
there is no evidence whatsoever that you yourself have been forgiven. And notice the duty is be gracious 
to forgive one another, literally be gracious to forgive one another. Let us forgive, but be gracious 
in doing it, not because you have to. I'm a Christian. This 
is the way a new man acts. So I'll forgive you. Be gracious. 
How does God forgive us? Well, I'll do it because I have 
to know. He sees that prodigal a long way off, and he runs from 
his porch. He probably holds up his sheet 
or his outer garment, and he sees that young man, and he falls 
on him, and he kisses him, and he puts a ring on his finger, 
and he orders that the fatted calf be slain. He is gracious 
in forgiving him. So much so that his other son 
says, you've never done anything like that for me. His grace embarrassed 
the brother. His grace irritated the brother. His grace irritated the original 
audience. And I suspect His grace irritates 
a fair many today. He is gracious to forgive. That's 
how we ought to do it. Because look at the standard. 
As Christ forgave you. One thing I've not ever been 
able to get my mind around is if we're willing to hold a grudge, 
we're willing to not let something go. We're willing to keep something 
alive and cherish it and make it burn and feel it and all that 
sort of thing. Have we come into contact with the living Christ? 
He has forgiven us our sins. He has forgiven us everything. 
Gordon Clark said this. He says, when we start to consider 
how the offended God forgave our sins by the death of his 
son, We must be as hard as rock not to forgive a fellow church 
member who sin against us is so small when compared to our 
sin against God. And not just within the church, 
sometimes in the family, in the home. Offenses come. That's the whole point. He says, 
forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. 
Of course, that's going to happen. We will sit against each other. 
The husband who loves his wife will sit against her. The wife 
who loves the husband will sit against him. Within the context 
of the local church, pastors will sit against people. People 
will sit against pastors. People will sit against people. 
It's never an issue or never question us as if we see him. That's not the issue. The issue is when we said, what 
are we going to do with it? The Bible outlines a threefold 
strategy in dealing with your sins, one with another. The first 
is you can let love cover it. Isn't that beautiful? 1 Peter 
chapter 4, the apostle highlighting or quoting from the book of Proverbs, 
let love cover a multitude of sins. You can take love as if 
it were a big blanket and throw it on that sin to extinguish 
it. You're free to do that. You have the liberty to do that. 
You don't have to go to bed at night angry at that person. You don't have to put their picture 
on your dartboard and try to hit him in the forehead. You 
don't have to think bad things about them. You don't have to 
wish they would die. You don't have to do that because 
you can let love cover a multitude of sins. Let me qualify. If you choose this option, really 
let love cover it. In my experience, many are afraid 
to do the second point in the strategy. which is go to your 
brother if he sins against you. We're afraid to do that. So we 
say, well, I'll let love cover it. But we really don't. We really 
don't. Oh, yeah, I just let love cover 
it. And I may not throw a dart at his picture anymore, but I 
certainly don't go out of my way to talk to him on Sunday. 
I'm certainly not as happy toward my wife or my husband as I ought 
to be if I really let love cover this particular sin. You see, 
it's still alive. It still hasn't been fully extinguished. 
It still hasn't gone away. It's just I'm too afraid to do 
what Jesus says in Matthew 18. So I'm going to invoke that first 
point in the strategy and say, I've let love cover it. You may 
let love cover it, but please hear me, brothers and sisters. 
If you invoke this one, really let love cover it. Don't play 
games with God. Don't wreck relationships because 
you're afraid. Of doing the second thing, which 
says, if someone sins against you, you should go to him. Matthew 
18, verse 15. If your brother sins against 
you, go to him. That may seem difficult, but 
that's the means that God has given for us to deal with one 
another. It may be the case that your 
brother says, wow, I didn't even know it had that effect upon 
you. Please forgive me. You see, the 
omniscience of God is one of those attributes we call incommunicable. God doesn't give us omniscience. We cannot know everybody we've 
ever offended. Some of us are so good at it, 
we just offend the multitudes. And if we are never brought, 
it's never brought to our attention, we can't deal with it. You may 
be throwing a dart at somebody's picture, maybe avoiding them 
on Sunday, and they have no inkling whatsoever that they have offended 
you. Whereas if you manned up and you Matthew 18, 15 them and 
you went to them and you said, brother, I believe you sinned 
against me. You might hear from them. Please forgive me. I never 
intended that. And if I did, I'm sorry. I just 
want to I want to make things right. If he doesn't do that, 
well, there's rules for proceeding. But generally speaking, this 
is church discipline. When I say church discipline, 
probably your mind goes to excommunication. Throw him out. Church discipline 
is when we disciple one another, when we go to one another, we 
say you hurt me, you offended me. He says, please forgive me. We have fixed the problem. And 
quite honestly, this is the way husbands and wives ought to deal 
with one another as well. Some people have this idea that 
everybody's out to get them. Right? And we all have different 
backgrounds. We've been scrambled up in a 
lot of different ways. We come into relationships and 
we don't always operate biblically. So, communication and talking 
and going to one another is the way to deal with it. And the 
third point in the strategy in dealing with forgiveness is if 
you remember you have sinned against somebody, go to them. 
Matthew 6 or 5. You're there at the altar, you're 
about to lay down your gift. And oh, wow, I remember this 
brother has something against me. Says, put the gift down, 
go deal with your brother and reconcile and then go lay your 
gift at the altar. What's the point? How can you 
worship God vertically if you have not dealt with your brother 
horizontally? There's probably a whole lot 
more to say about the whole subject of forgiving one another, as 
God and Christ forgave us. It could probably occupy the 
space of sermons and series on sermons and books on forgiveness. 
But you get those three points in your mind. You can let love 
cover a multitude of sins, but really let it. You go to your 
brother if he sins against you and you deal with him lovingly 
and graciously and biblically, or if you realize that you have 
offended a brother, go to him. We just put those in the practice 
in our homes and in our churches, and it would really be a community 
that has Christ's Christ likeness stamped upon it. So we've seen his identity, we've 
seen his character, both personal and church, and then thirdly 
and finally, notice his supreme obligation. But above all these 
things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. It's 
almost like he's describing how you get dressed in the morning. 
You get up in the morning, you put your pants on and you put 
your socks on and you put your shirt on and you put your whatever 
on. You cinch it all together with 
a belt. Or in this instance, you put a crown on. That's love. Love completes the package. Love 
binds it all together. Love is the glue that holds these 
virtues in place so that they're genuinely Christian. You're not 
a Buddhist or a Hindu who happens to be humble or have bowels of 
compassion. No, you are loving. We just saw 
that in the reading from the Gospel according to Mark. Love 
to God, love to man. Jesus says in a parallel, Matthew 
22, upon these two hang all the law and the prophets. This is the bond of perfection. This unifies the entirety. Love, again, O'Brien says, is 
the crowning grace which the new man has to put on as part 
of his distinctive dress. Love is the greatest of the Pauline 
Triad. Faith, hope, love. The greatest 
is love. 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 13. Hebrews 13, 1 says we are to 
let brotherly love continue. And in 1 Peter chapter 4 at verse 
8, he says, and above all things Have fervent love for one another, 
for love will cover a multitude of sins. Paul tells us that in 
verse 14 of Colossians 3. But above all these things, put 
on love, which is the bond of perfection. John Gill says, for 
without this, all is nothing. They will only be done in show 
and appearance. You don't have love to God and 
love to man. You're going to do these five 
in show and appearance. I am the holy one. I am the kind 
one. I am the tender, merciful one. 
I am the lowly one. But without love. You're wicked. He says, for without 
this, all is nothing, they will only be done and show an appearance 
in mere guise and hypocrisy if love is wanting this actuates 
and exercises all the rest. It is only from this principle 
that true sympathy, real kindness, undisguised humility and meekness, 
patient longsuffering and forbearance and hardy forgiveness proceeds. You're not going to forgive one 
another if you don't love them. You're not going to let love 
cover a multitude of sins if you don't have love. You're not 
going to have tender, tender mercies and kindness and humility 
and lowliness and all those things without love. That's why the 
apostle says, above all these things, put on love. Above all 
these things, put on love, love is the glue that holds the other 
virtues together and brings harmony to the characteristics of the 
new man. When you love God, when you love 
man, you will God willingly manifest these five races and in so doing 
you will look like what Christ has saved you to be a new man 
who is put off the old who is put on the new who is being renewed 
in knowledge according to the image of him who created him 
who is putting off sins of the flesh who is putting off sins 
of the tongue and who is putting on those things In conclusion, we need to consider 
these five virtues and ask ourselves a very pointed question. Do you 
manifest these things? I've often wondered if somebody, 
you know, were to ask a non-Christian at our workplace and say, does 
this guy seem tenderly merciful? Is he kind? Is he humble? Is 
he meek? Is he long-suffering? Does he bear with one another? 
Does he forgive? They'd say, what, are you kidding 
me? This guy is just the opposite 
of this. We need to come to grips with 
this. This is what a Christian looks like. It's not magic, it's 
not esoteric, it's not, has God given me a sign that I'm actually 
in him? You believe the gospel according 
to the Bible and you are saved. And that belief will indeed promote 
or will flow from These things and if you think about specifically 
here humility and specifically humility. Pride is the opposite 
of humility. We all know that I think pride 
is the opposite of tender mercies. Pride is the opposite of kindness. 
Pride of course is the opposite of humility. Pride is the opposite 
of meekness and pride is the opposite along suffering. Pride 
is a problem. We cannot put on these virtues 
if we're proud men and women. We cannot put on these virtues 
when we think we're all that, when we have a higher estimation 
of ourselves than is biblical. We cannot exercise these virtues 
when we are puffed up with who we are. The new man, if he is 
anything, is a humble man. The new man does not seek to 
promote himself but Christ. The new man does not seek to 
promote himself over his brethren, but he seeks to promote them. 
Paul tells us that in Philippians, chapter two, Philippians, chapter 
two, verse one. Therefore, if there is any consolation 
in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the 
spirit, if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being 
like minded, having the same love, being of one accord of 
one mind, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. 
But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than 
himself. This describe you. Do you esteem 
others better than yourself? Not just by saying it. Oh yeah, 
man, I love everybody. They're better than me. I'm so 
I'm so wretched. There can be a reformed pseudo 
piety that we adopt. Esteem one another, esteem others 
better than himself. Romans chapter twelve. Paul again 
very clearly and Paul is simply echoing a theme that runs throughout 
the scriptures. Romans twelve verse three. For I say through the grace given 
to me to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more 
highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly as God has 
dealt to each one a measure of faith. And then in verse nine, 
let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to 
what is good. Be kindly affection to one another with brotherly 
love in honor, giving preference to one another. Remember that 
God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. James 
and Peter tells us this, and they bring it out of the Proverbs. 
Remember what God says in the prophet Isaiah. He says that 
he inhabits eternity, that he is the high and lofty one who 
inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. He says, I dwell in 
the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble 
spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the 
heart of the contrite ones. And then again in the prophet 
Isaiah sixty six one, thus says Jehovah. Heaven is my throne 
and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will 
build me and where is the place of my rest for all those things? My hand is made and all those 
things exist as the Lord. But on this one will I look on 
him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my 
word. And then a very familiar passage 
of scripture, probably one of the more familiar Old Testament 
scriptures to the church today is Micah, chapter six and verse 
eight. Micah, chapter six and verse 
eight. He has shown you, oh man, what 
is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly 
to love mercy, mercy and to walk humbly with your God. This isn't 
the first occurrence of this in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 
1012, Proverbs 21, 13, I'm sorry, 21, 3, Hosea 12, 6, Zechariah 
7, 8 to 10. And then, of course, Jesus indicts 
the Pharisees with, I think, this text in his mind or some 
combination of these texts. He says, Woe to you, scribes 
and Pharisees, hypocrites. You tie the mint and the anise 
and the comment and you neglect the weightier matters of the 
law. What are they? Justice, mercy, faith. Faith, I believe, highlights 
this walking humbly with your God. And the context of Micah 
6 there is very amazing. If you're there, look at Micah 
6, verse 6. With what shall I come before 
the Lord and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before 
him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord 
be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of 
oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit 
of my body for the sin of my soul? Do you know what they're 
saying there? God's angry with us. Micah's telling us so. And 
now they insincerely say, how are we supposed to come before 
the Lord? How am I supposed to appease him? How is he going 
to be happy with me? I mean, look at what they say. 
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves 
a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with 
thousands of rams, 10,000 rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn? 
It'd be very much akin to what we find today in the Christian 
church. Well, how can we please God? How do we get revival? How 
do we get more of the power of the Spirit? Should we fast more, 
should we pray more, should we give more, should we do more? 
What is it that's going to get him to perform up to our expectations? The church trying to bind the 
free potter and make him perform for them. He has told you, he 
has shown you, oh man, what is good. Do justly, love mercy and 
walk humbly with your God. You have to schedule special 
meetings or do special things. You don't have to throw it in 
the daytime or put it on the church calendar, then we're going 
to have a revival meeting because the Spirit's going to be there 
then. You don't have to be a Roman Catholic and hurt yourself. You 
don't have to go live in a monastery. You don't have to read special 
books on how to be a better this in every single area of your 
life, how to be a better woman, how to be a better man, how to 
be a better man, woman, man to woman relationships, how to be 
a better businessman, how to this, how to that. He has shown 
you, oh man. That's the point of Micah 6 verse 
8. This isn't new in redemptive 
history. This wasn't revolutionary with 
the prophet Micah. Any more than Colossians 3, 12 
to 17 is new. This is what you're supposed 
to be as a new man in Jesus Christ. You're supposed to be humble. 
And if you're not humble, study yourself according to the Bible 
and study God according to the Bible, because if that don't 
lower you, nothing will. That's how you get humble. Read 
your Bible. Secondly, with reference to the 
supreme duty of love, just to remind you, this is the way according 
to Jesus in the upper room discourse that the Christian is identified. 
I guarantee you, if you walk down the streets of Chilliwack 
wearing a crown, everybody would notice you. They would think 
you were nuts. He's got a crown on his head. 
That's weird. I would, if I was driving down 
Yale Road and I saw somebody walking with a crown on their 
head, I would say, that is mighty odd. But I would recognize them. I would see them. I would be 
able to go home and say, hey, I saw a guy walking down the 
street with a crown on his head. It's weird. By this, all men will know that 
you are my disciples. John 13, 35, if you have love 
for one another. That's it. That's what identifies 
us. That's not what saves us. We're saved by grace alone, through 
faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. And that will promote love for 
one another within the context of the local church. It is the 
virtue that gives meaning to spiritual gifts, according to 
First Corinthians 13, Paul's wonderful statement, though I 
speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but I'm not love. 
I've become sounding brass reclaiming symbol, though I have the gift 
of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge. 
And though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, 
but have not love, I am nothing. And though I was so all my goods 
to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, 
but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love is the bond 
of perfection. And then finally, we need to 
remember, when we look at a list like this, when we consider Colossians 
3, 12 to 17, we all fail miserably. I am not up here as one saying, 
look at me and the way I demonstrate tender mercy and humility and 
longsuffering. We all fall short of the glory 
of God. Our hope is built on nothing 
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. A study of passages like these 
ought to promote in us praise to God for the gospel of free 
and sovereign grace. It ought to make us those who 
celebrate that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness. That fountain that is filled 
with the blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. We ought to be those who 
prize and who glorify and who honor the Lord Jesus Christ, 
because we have failed miserably. We continually fail miserably. But our status with God is based 
on his sovereign purpose in election and his redemptive work in Jesus 
Christ, his putting to death legally the old man and putting 
him to be the new man. This ought to promote in us celebration 
for the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. We are not Christians 
because we perform these. We are Christians because Jesus 
did and Jesus died and Jesus rose again. If you are not a 
Christian in here, my encouragement to you today is not to go out 
and be a nicer person. Nice people apart from Jesus 
go to hell. Some not so nice people are going 
to go to heaven. That's a tough pill to swallow, 
but it's the grace of God alone. That's what I want you to get. 
We're not saved because of niceness. You don't go out and become nice 
and God will save you. You must flee to Christ. You must believe the gospel. You must believe in him. whom 
God made to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness 
of God in Him. You're not saved by changing. 
You're not saved by putting off and putting on. You're not saved 
by being a better performer, being a better doer. You are 
saved by God's grace. Look unto Jesus Christ and you 
shall be saved. Let us pray. Father God, we thank 
you for the Word of God and we praise you and thank you that 
you have saved us. We know that election is not 
because of our holiness. It's because of your freedom 
and your glory and your majesty. And our God, I pray that these 
things would humble us and put things in proper perspective 
and that we would live consistently with the scriptures, empowered 
by your spirit and being students of the scriptures themselves. 
We just pray now that you would go with us. We have much to think 
about, much to pray about. I hope that we do take these 
things to heart and consider our place before a sovereign 
and a glorious and a holy God. And we do thank you for your 
bearing with us and for your forgiveness of us for our sins. We thank you for the life and 
the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom 
we have everlasting life. We just pray that more and more 
people would come to know him. that more and more people would 
believe the gospel, that more and more people would be saved. 
And we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.