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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Colossians chapter three, as we return to our exposition of 
Paul's epistle to the Saints in Colossae. Colossians chapter 
three, picking up a section where the apostle deals specifically 
with Christian ethics or how the individual and ultimately 
the church is to behave As those who have received the grace of 
God, those who are new creatures in Christ Jesus, those who have 
been born again by a sovereign act from on high. The last time 
we were in Colossians, we focused on verses one to four in chapter 
three, where the apostle says that we are to seek those things 
which are above verse one, where Christ is sitting at the right 
hand of God. He says, set your mind on things 
above, not on things on the earth. For you died and your life is 
hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, 
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. So we see 
that sanctification or living the Christian life begins first 
and foremost in our minds as we focus upon the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The Bible doesn't call us to 
moralism. It doesn't say just stop doing 
bad things and start doing good things. That is incorrect. We are to think of Christ, we 
are to believe on Christ, we are to walk in Christ, and it's 
from that vantage point we are to do what Paul has called us 
to do in the following verses of which I'll pick up reading 
in verse five. He says, therefore, put to death 
your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, 
passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of 
these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience 
in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 
But now you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, 
malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie 
to one another since you have put off the old man with his 
deeds and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge 
according to the image of him who created him. where there 
is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, 
Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we come 
to your scripture now and we pray for your spirit to be upon 
each one of us. We thank you for the work of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that you made him 
who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the 
righteousness of God in him. We thank you, Lord, for gospel 
mercies, and we thank you for gospel sanctification. We pray 
that you would just give us the mind of Christ. Even now, as 
we study your scripture, we pray that you would forgive us of 
all of our transgressions. God, the bare reading of scripture 
lays us low. It humbles us. It causes us to 
reflect upon your holiness and upon your righteousness and upon 
our own sinfulness. God, I pray that we would respond 
in a manner consistent with the scripture. We would be like Isaiah, 
the prophet. Woe is me, for I am undone, that 
we would cast ourselves fully and completely upon your mercy 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his most blessed 
name that we pray. Amen. Well, in the United States 
military, I'm sure it's the same in Canadian military law. There 
is a particular code of conduct that men who are in that are 
in various branches of service must engage in. It's the Uniform 
Code of Military Justice. And Article 133 says that an 
officer must engage in conduct becoming an officer and a gentleman. And again, I'm sure that's true 
of the Canadian military. When you see a man who's a major 
or a general or a colonel, he must conduct himself in a manner 
worthy of his status, in a manner consistent with what he has been 
vested in or what the authority has been vested with by the Canadian 
government. That's what we find here in verses 
5 to 11. The Christian is to engage in 
conduct that is becoming a new man. And Paul specifically highlights 
conduct that is unbecoming of the new man in verses 5 to 11. In fact, this whole section from 
chapter 3, verse 5, all the way to chapter 4, verse 6, can be 
summarized in four basic themes. First off, we are to put off. 
Put off wickedness. Chapter 3 verses 5 to 11, which 
will be our focus this morning. We are to put on righteousness. Chapter 3 verses 12 to 17. We are to be subject to one another 
in the way that we relate to one another. Chapter 3 verse 
18 to chapter 4 verse 1. And then we are to watch and 
pray. Chapter 4 verses 2 to 6. That 
is Christian duty. I submit that if we take this 
passage seriously, we have enough to keep us busy until the Lord 
Jesus comes in glory. We are to put off, we are to 
put on, we are to be subject, and we are to watch and pray. 
And that by virtue of our relationship with God through the Lord Jesus 
Christ, which is solely and alone by faith. through his mercy to 
us. Now, there are two parallel sections 
in verses five to eleven verses five to seven. The Apostle says 
we are to put to death the sins of the flesh and then in verses 
eight to twelve or eight to eleven. Rather, he says we are to put 
to death the sins of the time. So, sins of the flesh, sins of 
the time. And in each of these sections, 
they're constructed the same. He gives a particular duty or 
command. He gives the specific sins we are to avoid. And then 
he gives reasons why we are to do this. And I hope that we'll 
be able to cover this entire section this morning. But notice 
first, the putting to death the sins of the flesh. Verses five 
to seven. Therefore, put to death your 
members which are on the earth. That's the duty we are to put 
to death. That means it is to be a decisive 
break. We're not to entertain sin. We're 
not to keep it in our backyard. We're not to play with it on 
occasion. We're not to enjoy its passing pleasures as we see 
fit. But rather, as new men in Christ, 
we are to put it to death. We are to take no prisoners. 
We are to grant no quarter. We are not to engage in any sort 
of a peace treaty, but we are to deal decisively with these 
sins of the flesh. Paul is not playing games. God is not playing games. He has not saved us because we 
put these things to death. He has saved us by grace in order 
that we may put these things to death in order that we may 
let our conduct be becoming of our status as new men and new 
women in Christ. Just so you know, when I say 
new man, it means all of us. I'm not going to be gender What 
is it? Gender sensitive. If you're a 
woman and it offends you, repent. Man covers man and woman in the 
Bible. That's just the way it is. We 
don't need to be gender specific or sensitive because our culture 
doesn't like to refer to mankind without referring to womankind. No, when I speak of the new man, 
if you're a woman, that includes you, provided you are in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. So, Paul says, therefore, therefore, 
put to death your members which are on the earth. That's an interesting 
statement, your members which are on the earth. Well, where 
else would they be? Our members aren't on Saturn, 
our members aren't on Pluto, our members aren't sort of floating 
around in the heavens. The idea is, is that we take 
those instruments that at one time we used to sin with, and 
we put to death those sins. Paul uses a similar construction 
in Romans 6. He says, do not present your 
members as instruments of unrighteousness. But now that you've been redeemed, 
you can take those hands, you can take those feet, you can 
take that tongue. In this context, you can take 
those sexual organs and you can employ them in the means by which 
or the means for which God intended you to use them. That's the idea 
here. And then notice, he gives the 
specific sins, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, 
which is idolatry. Now, I believe all of these, 
this cluster, all refer to sexual sin. I know we think that this 
is the most sexually profligate time that has ever been in the 
history of the church. But the context in which Paul 
wrote was very sexually wicked. Sodomy was rampant. Fornication 
was rampant. Paul, on very many occasions, 
condemns this particular sin. And it's no accident here that 
the language that he uses refers to that area of sexual immorality. The first, he says, fornication. 
This is illicit sex, unlawful sex. Sometimes Christians get 
condemned as being anti-sex. No, we're not. We're anti-sinful 
application of it. God ordained it as he has decreed. For good, but used in a proper 
context. He has put it for use in a covenantal 
context, namely in the context of marriage. We do well to be 
familiar with the Westminster Larger Catechism. In fact, that's 
a bit of homework for you. You can download it on the Internet. 
The Westminster Larger Catechism. Look up questions 138 and 139. Meditate upon that. I don't think 
fornication is just something that exists out there. I don't 
think it's something that exists just among the heathen or among 
the pagans. Paul is writing to a church. 
He is writing to Christians. He is writing to those who had 
died with Christ and who had been raised again. We can't just 
say, oh, it's all about Hollywood and their wickedness and their 
pornography. There's probably a lot of wickedness 
and pornography in the hearts of all of us in this room. And 
so, take the Westminster Larger Catechism, 138 and 139. 138 says what is required by 
the Seventh Commandment, and then the 139 says what is forbidden 
by the Seventh Commandment. And I'll just read that. 139, 
what are the sins forbidden in the Seventh Commandment? Fornication, 
according to the Scripture, is quite broad. It's not just marital 
unfaithfulness. There's another word for that. 
That's adultery. Fornication is a much broader 
offense, and I think the Westminster divines are on to something when 
they say the sins forbidden in the Seventh Commandment, besides 
the neglect of the duties required. So everything that you're supposed 
to do according to 138, you don't do that. That's a sin. Then they 
say, are adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy and all 
unnatural lusts. all unclean imaginations, thoughts, 
purposes and affections, all corrupt or filthy communications 
or listening there unto wanton looks, impudent or light behavior, 
immodest apparel, prohibiting of lawful and dispensing with 
unlawful marriages. Allowing, tolerating, keeping 
of stews. A stew is sort of like a brothel, 
a house of ill repute. And resorting to them. So you 
may say, well, I don't have one, but do you go to one? And then 
it goes on to say, entangling vows of single life, undue delay 
of marriage. Isn't that beautiful? Some men 
knew the Bible. They knew sin. First Corinthians 
chapter 7. You know what Paul says to those 
who are burning lust? Get married. Oh, we're so holy 
and we must go pray for 40 days. No, go get married. And engage 
in what God has given you license to engage in. Undue delay of 
marriage, having more wives or husbands than one at the same 
time, unjust divorce or desertion, idleness, gluttony, drunkenness. You say, well, how do those things 
affect? They affect. Unchaste company, lascivious 
songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays, and all other provocations 
too, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others. 
I feel in many respects I could just say amen right now. We could 
all get on our faces and we could confess sin probably for the 
rest of the day. You see, conduct unbecoming of 
a new man is to engage in this kind of garbage. To engage in 
this kind of lust, this kind of wantonness and sin. Paul goes 
on to say uncleanness. And again, it's usually associated 
with sexual sin. He then says passion. The passion 
is not always bad. We should have a passion for 
God. The word indicates a driver force which does not rest until 
it is satisfied. If you have a passion for Jesus, 
that's commendable. But the fact that Paul links 
passion here with uncleanness and fornication, and that he 
does likewise in Romans 1.26 and in 1 Thessalonians 4.3 indicates 
to me that the passion in view is sinful. It's ungodly. It is desiring sexual sin in 
a way that is condemned by Jehovah himself. And then notice what 
he says, evil desire. Again, desire is good. The word 
desire used here is used of the bishop or the overseer in First 
Timothy chapter three verse one. If any man desires the office 
of overseer, that's a good thing. But Paul specifically says this 
is an evil desire. Again, since it's connected with 
passion, uncleanness and fornication, the evil desire here has to do 
with sexual sin. And then notice what he does 
and covetousness. I don't think Paul is now left 
sexual sin and he's dealing with materialism. I think he is still 
dealing with sexual sin. He is still dealing with that 
area of passion and evil desire that flushes itself out in fornication, 
which becomes covetous in nature, which ultimately ends in idolatry. Now, I don't think this ought 
to be surprising for any inhabitant of 21st century North America. 
What is one of the idols that is paraded around us on a daily 
basis, but sexual sin. We live in a nation that is just 
riddled with people wanting to take their clothes off, wanting 
to engage in ungodliness and unlawfulness. The Apostle says 
this is covetousness, which is idolatry. Doug Moore, a commentator, 
said this. Jewish writers habitually trace 
the various sins of the Gentiles back to the root problem of idolatry. Paul does this in Romans chapter 
one as well. He says that the Gentiles are 
the heathen of a man apart from God. He professes to be wise, 
but he is futile in his thinking. He has exchanged the glory of 
the incorruptible God for that which is corruptible, for that 
which is like man. He starts with idolatry and from 
that fountain, he then fleshes out all the particular sins that 
are peculiar to man. So Paul's doing the same thing 
here. When we look around us at what appears to be a sexually 
liberated day and age, we ought to see it for what the Bible 
says is idolatry. We didn't gain sexual freedom 
and liberation in the 60s. We gained bondage. You see, God's freedom is doing 
what he has made you to do. Bondage is doing that which is 
contrary to his will. We got it all backwards. People 
look at Christians and say, wow, you're so restricted. You have 
no fun. You have no liberty. You have no joy. What does the 
Bible say? The Bible says only in God is 
there joy, is there freedom, is there liberty? Only in God 
is there the ability to enjoy those things he has made without 
becoming slaves to them. I mean, I fear even typing in 
pornography statistics on Google for fear of what it's going to 
yield. But I know it's huge. You know, the pornography industry 
makes more money than all professional sports combined. Have you ever 
thought to yourself, man, a baseball player is way overpaid. Fifty 
million dollars a year to play baseball. And then these guys 
whine, oh, it's so hard to play a game. Poor baby, go to the 
coal mines. Go dig ditches. I don't want 
to hear you whining because you get paid $50 million a year to 
play baseball or the hockey. Oh, don't touch hockey in Canada. 
I'll touch it all I want. They're making a whole bunch 
of money for what? Putting a little puck into a 
net. They're getting paid more money than you and I will ever 
see combined in one year to play a game. You take hockey, you 
take baseball, you take football, you take basketball, you take 
the entertainment industry, you take all of the receipts, and 
you put all that money together, and they pale compared to pornography. We live in a nation of idolaters. Men enslaved, women enslaved. This isn't freedom. This isn't 
liberty. This isn't bliss. What is it 
but to be governed by genitalia? What is it to be but to be a 
worshipper of the creature rather than the creator who is over 
all God blessed forever, Paul says in Romans 1. Exchanging 
the truth of God for the lie. Worshipping that which the Lord 
gave to be enjoyed in a covenantal context, but ripping it out of 
that context and using it to serve our own lusts. It's conduct 
that is similar to the animals. You know, the animals are just 
doing what instinctively comes to them. Man is supposed to know 
better. Man is not to degrade himself 
like that. Man is not to be governed by 
his physical passions. Man is to be governed by his 
love for God and his love for fellow men. What about the objectifying 
of the women involved in this sin? The objectifying, the treating 
as if it's just something for your own amusement. These are 
image bearers of the living and the true God. And again, it's 
not just unique to 21st century North America. The Apostle Paul 
had to deal with it. There is nothing new under the 
sun. Now granted, in Colossae, they 
didn't just have to click their mouths and see every undoubtedly 
thing imaginable, but their culture was saturated with it as well. So, Moose says, Jewish writers 
habitually trace the various sins of the Gentiles back to 
the root problem of idolatry, and especially was this true 
of sexual sins. Putting some other God in the 
place of the true God of the Bible leads to the panoply of 
sexual sins and perversions that characterize the Gentile world. 
Paul reflects this tradition here. Sexual sins arise because 
people have an uncontrolled desire for more and more experiences 
and pleasures, and such a desire is nothing less than a form of 
idolatry. Go back to the Old Testament 
for a time. You know how Baal was appeased? You know how you called upon 
Baal? You know how you worshiped Baal? Through sexual experience. You see, it's connected intimately 
to religion. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul has 
to tell the Corinthians, flee sexual immorality. Why? Because 
they were still engaging in it. Corinth was a hotbed of sexual 
sin. The verb or the noun Corinth 
became a verb to Corinthianize. That meant to fornicate. God's 
people had to deal with this in both the Old and the New Testaments. They have to deal with it today. 
And the way we deal with it is to not engage in it, to put it 
to death, to deal viciously with it, to deal violently with it, 
to take no prisoner, to grant no quarter. One man that I have seen on an 
Internet forum says it's like starving a sumo. Sumo wrestlers probably take 
in about eight to nine thousand calories a day. I think I'm in 
the ballpark. Seven to seven to nine thousand 
calories a day. It's enough for some of you to 
live on for a week. This guy says we need to starve 
the sumo. Don't drop him down to three thousand because he's 
just going to get angry. Don't drop him down to two thousand 
because he's going to eat you. See with sexual sin you don't 
just appease it a little bit. You deal decisively. As Jesus 
says, you pluck out right eyes and you hack off right arms. 
Because it's far better to enter into life named than to enter 
into hell with all of your limbs intact. One man, A.T. Lincoln, commenting 
on the parallel passage in Ephesians says, all idolatry is a form 
of covetousness. For by refusing to acknowledge 
life and worth as a gift from the Creator, it seeks to seize 
them from the creation as booty. So instead of saying, thank you, 
Lord, for providing this good gift that I may enjoy in the 
context of covenantal marriage, we see something that the creation 
has and we plunder it for our own use, and then we become enslaved 
to it. He says, sexual lust elevates 
the desired object, whether a person's own gratification or another 
person, to the center of life and is antithetical to the thanksgiving, 
which recognizes God at the center. And that's profound. I want to 
charge the young people. Most of us in this room grew 
up when there wasn't the Internet. And it wasn't so easily available. There used to be boundaries between 
a man and the sexual sin that he could actually accomplish. 
Those boundaries with the advent of the Internet are gone. No, 
I'm not saying get rid of the Internet, get rid of the modem. 
If it has to be that way, then do so. The Bible says, keep your 
heart with all diligence. The Bible says, govern your passions. The Bible says self-control and 
self-discipline are essential and necessary. There is that temptation there 
that is right there in the way that it wasn't there for the 
Colossians or the Corinthians. One man is well said, we see 
more in a day in terms of the opposite sex being undressed 
than probably most Puritan men ever saw in their lives. I mean, 
billboards, bus stops, everything. It's all over. It's a sexually 
crazed culture. Now, notice Paul is not calling 
us to monasticism. He's not saying, leave Colossae, 
build huts up on the hill, and live there and chant. That's 
not what he says. He says, in the midst of your 
ungodly culture, you put to death your members. In the midst of 
an ungodly culture, you exercise self-control. In the midst of 
an ungodly culture, you pray, you read, you fast, you weep, 
you get brethren, you have accountability, whatever it is, so that you can 
put to death these sins. So the Bible doesn't call us 
to retreat. It calls us to advance in the 
power of the gospel. The power of God's Holy Spirit, 
you young people and you need you children. You need to understand 
this is an enslaving sin. This is something that does not 
take prisoners, it does not grant quarter, it consumes to the uttermost. You say, oh, preacher, you're 
just going overboard, Paul says, put it to death. That is a unique 
temptation facing the children of our age. And you are fools 
to engage in it. Be afraid. Be very afraid. And you know, in the context, 
that's Paul's reasoning. Why should we put these things to 
death, Paul? Look, verse six, because of these things, the 
wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience in which 
you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. That's amazing, isn't it? Why 
should I put to death my members that live on the Earth? Because 
God's wrath is coming upon sinners. Doug Moore points out that there 
were vice lists and virtue lists throughout this period. You compare 
Galatians, Ephesians, here in Colossians, vice lists. Here's 
vices we're to put off. Virtue lists. Here's virtue we're 
supposed to put on. The difference, however, is that 
the pagans, when they called people to put on vice, it was 
for the greater good of the state. It was for the greater good of 
their own happiness. It was moralism, doing the right 
thing for the wrong reason. Here, Paul says, put these things 
to death, because if you don't, you're going to go to hell. Oh, well, that's pretty severe. 
Yeah, well, we need to be treated severely from time to time, don't 
we? The old football coach, you said fear is a great motivator. I heartily amen that. We can 
preach all the love in the world, but sinners need to hear and 
we as sinful Christians need to hear God is angry when we 
sin. God is a God of wrath. God is 
a God of fury. Paul's use of vice and virtue 
lists were consistent with the literature of his day. However, 
in the New Testament, the vice lists function to depict the 
lifestyle of people who are in enmity with the holy God of the 
Bible and who thus suffer eternal condemnation. Don't do this, 
why? Because the wrath of God is coming 
upon the sons of disobedience. Now we can take that as coming 
in one of two ways. It's coming in the future, on 
that day of judgment, that great day of God's wrath, when he separates 
the sheep from the goats and he visits the goats with eternal 
condemnation and punishment. But when we compare with Romans 
1, we see that the wrath of God even comes now. It even comes 
now in the form of sexual disease or sexually transmitted disease. 
The wrath of God comes upon men even now as they engage in such 
wickedness. And while it's not mentioned 
here, we look at first Corinthians six Galatians five, Ephesians 
three, when he highlights these vices and he calls Christians 
to not engage in these things. He says the wrath of God is coming. 
And he also says such things exclude someone from his kingdom. In other words, if you live this 
way, you're not going to heaven. You may think you're a Christian, 
you may pretend to be a Christian, you may say all the right Christian 
things, but if you are not putting to death these deeds that are 
on the earth, you're not a Christian. Bill Hughes, a pastor in Boca 
Raton or Coconut Grove in Florida, he had a good illustration with 
reference to the old man and new man. He said, imagine if 
you had two women that really desired to be married. And one 
of the women pretended to be married. She went out and bought 
a ring and put it on her finger. She bought a veil and a dress 
and hung it in her closet. She pretended to be married. 
And there was another woman who actually got married. Her man 
put the ring on her finger. They signed the book. They lit 
the candle. Everything was legalized. Everything was sanitized. Everything 
was good. As much as that first woman wants to be married, she's 
not. That's moralism. A lot of people act like they're 
Christians. A lot of people try to be Christians. 
Let me just tell you, if you want to try to be a Christian, 
you're going to fail. You could try to be married all 
you want. You could try to be something 
you are not all you want. The only way to be a Christian 
is to believe the gospel. And I want to qualify this 100 
times as we move through this passage. A Christian is not a 
Christian because he puts to death the deeds of the body that 
are on the earth. That's not why we're Christians. We're Christians 
because Jesus died and rose again. We're Christians because God 
in Christ is reconciling the world to himself. We're Christians 
by God's grace because he regenerated us. He made us alive. He gave 
us the gift of faith. He caused us to believe the gospel. That's why we're Christians. 
And you Christians, when you're out there witnessing to an onlooking 
world, don't convey to them, I'm a Christian because I don't 
do this. I'm a Christian because I do this. I'm a Christian because 
I don't go here. I'm a Christian because I do 
go here. I'm a Christian by the grace of God. My hope is built 
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not 
trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. If 
sin is killing its thousands, bad Christianity is killing its 
tens of thousands. We got to get the gospel right. 
We are not saved because of what we put off or what we put on. 
We are saved because our Christ bore the wrath of his father 
at Calvary and he died and he rose again and he ascended on 
high. And by the grace of God, we look 
to him and we live. Isn't that beautiful? Don't mess up the gospel, either 
in your word or deed. Don't tell someone you need to 
stop this, that, or the other. I remember John Owen in Volume 
6. He says, we do a lot to try to 
convince Christians of a particular sin when they're nothing but 
sin. If you're not a Christian today, 
don't leave here and say, wow, I fornicated. I'm a sinner. I fornicated. I've got to stop. 
Fornication is a symptom of a much larger problem. You're at enmity 
with the living God. Your heart is far from Him. You 
need to be born again. You need to believe the gospel. Don't try to clean up. Don't 
take this as a checklist and say, OK, I'm not fornicating 
anymore. I'm not unclean anymore. I haven't had passion anymore. 
I don't have evil desire anymore. I'm not covetous anymore. I'm 
not an idolater anymore. Therefore, I'm going to heaven. 
That's not what this is about. Not at all. He says, God's wrath is coming 
upon the sons of disobedience. And then he says, notice in verse 
seven, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in 
them. What does this do but humble 
us? Because we could be very proud. Oh, we're not like those 
wicked people in Hollywood or Holly Weird, as we might even 
want to call them. We're not like those wicked people 
who live in Vancouver. We're not like those ungodly 
Joneses that live next to us. What does Paul say? In which 
you yourselves once walked. You used to engage in fornication. 
You used to engage in uncleanness. You used to engage in passion. 
You used to engage in evil desire. You used to be a covetous idolater. 
You were all these things, but for the grace of God, but for 
the mercy of God, you are lumped in with that unblessed lot. And 
you were rightly deserving God's wrath. Don't be proud. Don't be arrogant. Don't feel 
like you've arrived. Again, that just bugs me about 
us as Christians. We can walk around as if we've 
just somehow made it. As if we've arrived. As if we've 
performed or accomplished something and God has given us that big 
cookie out of the sky. It's good for us to remember 
from whence we've come. It's good for us to be like the 
Apostle Paul. I was formerly a blasphemer and 
a persecutor and an insolent man. I don't think Paul's writing 
there in 1st Timothy 1 just for rhetorical intent or effect. 
I'm going to make them feel bad. Tear. Sweat on brow. Sob, sob. No, Paul never forgot 
what he was. He never forgot the divine transaction 
that occurred at Damascus on the road to Damascus. He never 
forgot the righteousness of Christ in whom we stand. And that's 
the way we as Christians need to be. We need to remember in 
which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. Let's 
quickly move on to the putting to death the sins of the tongue. 
Verses eight to eleven. Would you love the Bible? it 
finds us all out. You, right here, may be a paradigm 
of sexual fidelity. You may have lived your 20 or 
30 or 40 or 50 years never having cast a lustful glance. I doubt 
it, but maybe. You may have never clicked on 
to a pornography site. You may have never thrown in 
a triple X-rated movie. You may be never engaged in the 
filthy conduct, or the talk rather, going on in the locker room at 
work. You may be the paradigm of sexual purity in our midst, 
but you have all sinned with your tongue. Now, why do I say 
this next grouping of five? Again, parallel sections. Do 
this five things, or put to death these five things. Now he says, 
put off these five things, and then adds one. Why do I say these 
five things all refer to the time? Notice in verse eight, 
but now you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, 
malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. I believe 
anger, wrath and malice are the attitudes, the internal disposition, 
the heartbeat that fuels the blasphemy and filthy language 
that comes out of our mouths. In fact, anger and wrath are 
very similar to one another. Not a lot of difference in the 
wording that Paul uses here. If we could make a distinction, 
we might say the anger means a mental excitement to which 
bitterness gives rise. The wrath refers to a burning 
anger which flares up and burns with the intensity of a fire. 
This is not a righteous indignation. It is a sinful hostility. And then he goes on to say malice. 
This is the vicious nature that is bent on doing harm to others. Those are the three attitudes 
that feed the blasphemy and that feed the filthy language and 
that feed the deceptive language that comes in verse nine. You 
see that. So, I say he's using this or 
this sins of the tongue captures this section here in verses eight 
and nine. And the specific sins are abusive 
speech. Notice in verse eight, blasphemy. And we often think of blasphemy 
as saying bad things about God. In this context, it's saying 
bad things about men. And so it might rightly be interpreted 
or translated as slander. Saying bad things about people. Should we all just shut our Bibles, 
get on our faces and ask God to have mercy on us now? Or do 
you want to wait until you get home? Because we've all said 
bad things about others. We all have. Maybe the holy, 
perfect, pure, you know, exception to this rule, but the rest of 
us are wicked in this respect. With reference to man, slander 
is the better translation, indicates the attempt to belittle and cause 
someone to fall into disrepute or to receive a bad reputation. 
We often preface this with a statement that we're not doing this. It's like taking something that 
comes out of the back end of a dog and trying to polish it 
up and put a ribbon on it and hand it to somebody. I don't 
mean to be crass, brethren, but that's what we do, and it's worse. 
I'm not trying to offend you, and then we offend them. I don't want to gossip, and then 
we gossip. I'm not trying to slander, and 
then we slander. As if our qualification somehow 
makes it OK. We're sickening. We do this. I know we do this. I have a mouth that does this, 
and I have two ears that picks up when others do this. I don't 
want to say anything hurtful, but now there are words that 
we need to say. Let the righteous smite me. I'll 
count on a blessing. There are times when we have 
to be hard with somebody or firm with somebody. But I think more 
often than not, we abandon those rules of civility, of godliness 
and of righteousness. And we let fly whatever we want 
under the guise. I'm not trying to do this. Well, 
whether you're trying to do it or not, you just did it. Let's go back to Bridges commentary 
on the progress, think twice. before you speak once. A few months ago, someone in 
my home said the Bible says speak twice or think twice before you 
speak once. Now, I had two responses to that. 
First of all, no, the Bible doesn't say that. That was Bridges commenting 
on Proverbs. But the second was, praise God, 
I said that enough that somebody in the house actually heard it 
and picked up on it. Think twice before you speak 
once. slander, and then he goes on 
to speak of filthy language. Verse eight filthy language out 
of your mouth, filthy talk, dirty speech, abusive language. Edie 
says it signifies what is noxious, offensive or useless and refers 
to language which so far from yielding grace or benefit has 
a tendency to corrupt the hearer. Is our word calculated to impart 
necessary edification, as Ephesians 4 says? Are we promoting godliness 
in our heroes? This is where we need to take 
these things seriously. This isn't just some idyllic 
picture of what life should be as a Christian. This really has 
binding on us as Christians. We need to do what the psalmist 
prayed, set a guard over my mouth. Oh Lord! Use the illustration 
before. When I was in the service, we 
were in England and we went to the tower of Buckingham Palace. I'm sure those brethren that 
have been to Buckingham Palace can testify. The guards there 
have a reputation for just standing still and not being marred, not 
looking away, not being caught off guard. Well, me and my buddies 
tried to do that. We mocked the guard, we said 
things, everything short of touching him to get him to move and yell 
at us and swing at us or something. He just stood there motionless. 
Big hat, outfit, the whole spiel. David says, set one of those 
over my mouth, God. In fact, give me two, one on 
either side. Because I know the potential 
for danger. I know the potential for harm that resides in this 
pit. What does James say about the 
tongue? It's so little. It's tiny. But oh, what a world 
of iniquity. You know what James says? We 
contain beasts. But no man can tame the tongue. 
It is an unruly evil. We can tame bears to dance. We 
can tame lions to dance. We can tame alligators. We can't. 
Some people can. They can open their mouths and 
put their head in between alligators' jaws or crocodiles' jaws. Some 
people actually do that. James says no one can tame the 
tongue. It's an unruly evil. Do you ever think about that? 
Your biggest potential to harm after your heart is your tongue. 
Have you ever thought, really, about the people you love the 
most, you've hurt the most, because the way you speak to them? Why 
is it that familiarity breeds with us the idea that we can 
say anything we want to people? You know what? There's times 
that you should just shut your mouth. What does Solomon say in the Proverbs? 
Even a fool is counted wise when he shuts his mouth. Guy could 
be as ignorant as a rock. Guy could be as smart as a stump. The man could have an IQ of five. 
He couldn't think himself out of a paper bag, and yet if he 
shuts his mouth in a given context, everybody will look around and 
say, wow, he's wise. Smart man right there. Why? Because 
he chose not to exercise this organ. We need to choose not 
to exercise this organ more often than we do. And then notice the reason why. 
The old man has been put off. This is gospel motive. Why do 
we put to death the sins of the flesh and why do we put off the 
sins of the tongue. Because the old man has been 
put off. The old man is dead. There's a lot of debate about 
the old man new man in Christian theology. Some people say well 
the old man is raising up again. No he isn't he's dead. You know 
what the problem is? When you sin, your new man is 
engaging in conduct unbecoming. Repent. Do you want to blame 
the old man? My old man rose up. Take responsibility as a new 
man who is not living consistently with gospel ethics and repent. 
You see, Paul says it's been dealt with decisively. Chapter 
two, verse 11, you die. Chapter two, verse 20, you die. What's he talking about? We didn't 
physically die, we spiritually died with Christ and we were 
made alive together with Him. We are new men in Christ. That Adamic nature is dead. What we are in Adam, what we 
lost in Adam, has been given to us anew, restored in Jesus 
Christ. This is gospel ethic, gospel 
motivation, and the language here of putting off the old man 
was done by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Verse nine. Do not lie to one 
another. Oh, there you go. There's another 
sin of the top. Don't lie. Don't want to run 
over that. Lord God is God of truth. He 
forbids lying. Lying appears twice in these 
six things the Lord hates. Yea, seven are an abomination 
to Him. Two of them are lying. Tell the truth. Don't lie. Hopefully, Christians will forgive 
you. But even if they don't, God will. Proverbs 28, 13 says, Whoever 
confesses and forsakes We'll find mercy. You cover your transgression 
through lies. You'll not prosper. You confess 
it and forsake it. You'll find mercy. Don't lie 
to one another. Don't lie in the church. Don't 
lie in the covenant community. Somebody says, how are you doing? 
Don't say great. I'm just fantastic when you're 
a shambles. Now, you may not want to weigh 
them down with all of your trouble. You could say something to the 
effect of pray for me, brother. I've seen better days. You know, 
maybe not everybody has the time to hear all our particular woes 
at a particular time. We don't lie and say everything's 
great when everything isn't great. We're good at that. Everything's 
great, and it's not great. That's your own Sunday. How you 
doing? Everything's great, and it's not great. What does Galatians 
6-1 tell us? Bear one another's burdens and 
so fulfill the law of Christ. How can we bear one another's 
burdens if we're all walking around with big fake smiles in 
our polished Sunday suits saying everything's great? I'm jacked 
up, you can pray for me. Please, everything isn't great. 
Pray. Paul said that. Brethren, pray 
for us. Why? Because everything isn't 
always great. Paul said in Ephesians 6, pray 
that God would give me boldness that I may speak the gospel as 
I ought to speak. Why is Paul praying for boldness? 
Because it didn't come naturally to him. Don't lie to realize 
that the old man has been put off with his deeds and you put 
on verse ten, the new man who is renewed in knowledge, according 
to the image of him who created him. Isn't that a beautiful thing? 
And look what's in view here. I want everybody. I know it's 
twelve ten. Stay with me, please. I want 
you to get this. I want you to understand something. Look at 
it. And I put on the new man who is renewed. Literally, it 
is was being renewed. Regeneration produces renewal. This is the thought of Romans 
12 verses 1 and 2. Do not be conformed to this world, 
but what? But be renewed or be transformed, 
rather, by the renewing of your mind. OK, so keep that Romans 
12 to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Notice here, verse 
10, and put on the old put on the new man who is renewed for 
being renewed in knowledge, according to the image of him who created 
him. Now we were dullards to miss the reference to creation. 
God created man in his own image. But, of course, through sin, 
that image has been affected. It has been marred. It has been 
distorted. But you see, in Christ, that image is restored. That 
image is being renewed. That image is being made better. 
That image is being brought into focus, if you will. And notice 
the specific reference. We are being renewed in knowledge. Be transformed in the renewing 
of your mind. Colossians 3, 1-4, set your mind 
on things above. My question as I work through 
this passage is, what happened to the church? What happened? Why have we left the centrality 
of preaching, the instruction of God's holy word, The place 
of preach the word, the ready in season and out of season. 
Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering in teaching. 
Why have we left that apostolic model that we find in Acts 2 
and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine? Why 
has entertainment taken priority in the church? Why has our felt 
need taken priority in the church? Why have puppets and ponies and 
programs taken priority in the church? Why don't we get the 
reality that we're to take this and put it into heaven? And the 
way that we do that is by burying our face in this book. And then 
I was reading Daniel 9 this morning, and Daniel is confessing sin. 
You know what he says? He says, all these curses of 
the law written in Moses are coming upon us for our iniquity 
and because we don't understand your truth. You see what happens 
today? Judgment comes. We got to stop 
abortion. I agree wholeheartedly. We got 
to stop sodomy. I agree wholeheartedly. We got 
to stop all these other evils that are going on in the world. 
I agree wholeheartedly. And we need to study theology. Watch God chase through the prophet 
in Hosea 4, 6. In Hosea 4, if I turn there, I want you to see 
with me the thought here. And this is not a departure from 
the text. I believe it is exegetically sound from Colossians 3. The emphasis is on the intellect. And I don't mean you've got to 
have an IQ of 200. You've got to be a brain. You've got to 
have degrees. No, you need to use your noodle. You need to 
use your head. You need to use your mind. And 
you need to study God's Word. Because the Bible says when you 
know God's Word, hopefully your actions will follow suit. That's 
the connection. This putting off does not mean 
join a monastery. This putting off does not mean 
put on a hair shirt. This putting off does not mean 
take ashes and put it in your suit. This putting off does not 
mean taking knives and gouging yourself so that you don't sin. 
This putting off means Think God's thoughts after him and 
don't do what he tells you not to do. Look at Hosea 4 verse 
1. Hear the word of Jehovah, you 
children of Israel. For the Lord brings a charge 
against the inhabitants of the land. This is legit. This is 
a covenant lawsuit. Hosea is a lawyer right here. 
It is a technical term that he is employing to say God is angry. He is bringing the heat on Israel. Notice the general indictment. 
There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land 
by swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery. 
They break all restraint with bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore, 
the land will mourn and everyone who dwells there will waste away 
with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Even 
the fish of the sea will be taken away. Now, let no man contend 
or rebuke another, for your people are like those who contend with 
the priest. Therefore, you shall stumble in the day. The prophet 
also shall stumble with you in the night, and I will destroy 
your mother. My people are destroyed for what? 
For lack of knowledge. He's just indicted them for killing 
and stealing and committing adultery. And hear me, brethren, I think 
these are bad. But I think they flow from a 
prior commitment. When we reject the knowledge 
of God, we live like the devil. And we have professing evangelicalism 
that can't define justification, that do not know that we're saved 
by grace alone, through faith alone, by Christ alone. We have evangelicals that probably 
haven't read the whole Bible. And yet they think somehow God's 
giving them a new word. I'm not picking on brethren. 
I'm not at all. My heartbeat is that people would 
read and study the scriptures. That's really all I ever want 
is for you to say, well, I'm going to read my Bible today. 
Praise God, I could die in peace. My people are destroyed for lack 
of knowledge, because you have rejected knowledge. I also reject 
you from being priest for me, because you have forgotten the 
law of your God. I also will forget your children. 
The text in Daniel 913, as it is written in the law of Moses, 
all this disaster has come upon us. Yet we have not made our 
prayer before the Lord, our God, that we might turn from our iniquity 
and understand your truth. We need to turn from our iniquity, 
brethren, and we need to study the Bible. We need to set our 
mind on things above where Christ is. Could be the case that we're 
moving toward what Amos prophesied for the nation of Israel. Behold, 
the days are coming, says the Lord God, that I will send a 
famine on the land. We often think about that. What 
if Costco blew up? What if there were no more Walmarts? 
What if Superstore went the way of all flesh? What if the power 
grid collapsed? There is devastation more severe. But I will send a famine on the 
land, not a famine of Bradnor, a thirst for water, but of hearing 
the words of Jehovah. They shall wander from sea to 
sea and from north to east. They shall run to and fro, seeking 
the word of the Lord, but shall not find it. Mark Devers says 
here, instead of hearing the cry of God's prophets, the people 
of Israel would, several decades later, hear the battle cry of 
the Syrian invaders. C.H. Spurgeon says your neglected 
Bibles hide your God. Your neglected Bibles hide your 
God. This is what Paul is saying in 
Colossians 3. How do you put to death and how do you put off? 
You need to read your Bible. You need to pray. You need to, 
dare I say it, read theology. We'll stretch our minds for anything 
and everything that interests us. Think of all the time, the 
effort, the money that is spent on pornography. Isn't our God 
worthy of some time, some effort, and some money? If you're too 
poor to buy a book, I have plenty in here. I'll give you one. Free 
of charge. Take it and read it. There's really no excuse for 
us in the 21st century to be negligent of basic Christian 
theology. There's really no excuse whatsoever. Let's return to Colossians 
3, make a couple of concluding thoughts, and then we go. The 
first, of course, is the emphasis of the passage. Oh, no, I don't 
want to miss this. Verse 11, whether it's neither 
Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, 
slave nor free, but Christ is all in all. Not only has the 
old man been put off, not only has the new man been put on, 
but there is a new humanity in operation. And in that new humanity, 
racial distinctions do not keep us from the same Lord. Doesn't 
mean when you become a Christian, if you were formerly an Italian, 
you become Dutch. Or if you were Dutch, then you 
become Italian. Or if you were a Gentile, now 
you've got Jewish blood in you. That's already saying. He is 
saying, however, that in Christ we are all one new man. And it's 
interesting, the various categories that he highlights here. He speaks 
of the particular distinctions that were there, whether they 
be racial, ceremonial, cultural or social. When he mentions the 
barbarians and the Scythians, you got to think here, the Scythians 
were a subset of barbarian. Scythians were very barbaric 
barbarians. The word barbarian came from 
sort of how they made fun of the way they spoke. Bar-bar. That's how they speak. Bar-bar. They can't even speak in a good 
tongue. They call them barbarians. The 
Scythians were basically intermediaries in a slave trade. They trafficked 
in slavery. They trafficked in grain. They 
were looked upon as the worst of the worst. In fact, Raymond 
says concerning them in the Jews looked upon them as exemplars 
of the lowest form of barbarians. He goes on in the church. None 
are to be so regarded. So in this new humanity, the 
racial distinctions that might be going on in the Roman Empire, 
the things that separate men out there within the church walls, 
a Scythian may preach the gospel to you. A barbarian may serve 
the Lord's supper to you. A Gentile may show you to your 
seat. You see what this new status 
has done, it has broken down all those discriminatory things 
and has made us one new man in Jesus Christ to bring him glory 
and to bring him honor. The emphasis of the passage, 
the sins condemned in verses five and eight are those things 
not becoming a new man in Christ. You cannot profess to be a Christian 
and live in these things. Notice what I said. You cannot 
profess to be a Christian and live in these things. The very 
fact that they're repeated several times in the New Testament indicates 
to me that sometimes Christians may fall into these things, but 
hopefully they repent and forsake those sins and find mercy with 
God. The Christian is to put to death 
and put off those things that are contrary to his position 
as a new man. Again, you're not to play games 
with that. Paul doesn't say do these things, 
but don't get caught. Do these things when you're all 
alone. Do these things so that nobody else sees you. He uses 
radical language, which shows us the radical nature of the 
Christian life. You are to put to death these 
things. Romans 8, 13. If by the spirit 
you do mortify the deeds of the flesh, you will live. It is to 
be hard core. The old man is dead. That means 
when you sin, you cannot blame the old man, but you must take 
responsibility as a new man who has sinned and repented. Again, 
you read literature on sanctification, you see a lot of ink spilled 
on this old man, new man thing. The old man is crucified. That's 
what the Bible says. Which also indicates to us, you 
don't have to say, I'm not saying we'll ever be perfect and all 
that, but follow the argument. You can't say I couldn't help 
myself. Yes, you could. One very misunderstood 
passages, First Corinthians, Chapter 10 in this regard, First 
Corinthians, Chapter 10. You may turn their first well, 
therefore, let him who thinks he stands taking less default. 
No temptation is overtaking you, except such as is common demand. 
We identify their own way. We like that, and I like it, 
too. When I fall into temptation, I'm not all alone. There's brethren 
who have gone there before me. There's been there's other brothers 
in my my boat. There's other people that are 
other pilgrims that are tried and suffer as perhaps I am. That's what Paul says here. Notice, 
first of all, no, no temptation has overtaken you, except such 
as is common to man. You can't say, oh, I'm all alone. 
Nobody knows what it's like. Yeah, we do. Yeah, we do. You know, maybe our circumstances 
don't parallel yours exactly, but you're not an island under 
yourself and everybody's against you. God's against you. The world's 
against you. You're all alone. Everything's 
bad. No, it's never that dramatic. Sorry. Take it from one who thinks 
that way sometimes. You've got to realize the world 
and God and the kingdom and the church are a whole lot bigger 
than us. We think we're it. We think we're the center of 
the universe. If you ever find it, there we will be. Hello, 
we're the sign. I am the center of the universe. 
That's not right. But now, what does Paul say in 
verse 13? But God is faithful, who will 
not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. Why, but with 
the temptation will also make the way of escape that you may 
be able to bear it. You see, so sometimes Christians 
will fall into sin and say, I have no choice. not according to First 
Corinthians 10. You had a choice and you as a 
new man chose to engage in conduct unbecoming. Take responsibility 
and repent. And then, as I said, want to 
reiterate, the Christian is not a Christian because he doesn't 
commit these sins. The Christian is a Christian because of the 
gospel. The sooner this idea dies out, 
we're Christians, we don't, we don't, we do, we do. We're preaching 
the false gospel to the non-Christian. Somebody says, how come you're 
going to heaven? I hope it's not because, well, I don't fornicate. 
I don't use filthy language. That's not why we're going to 
heaven, in case you didn't know that. If you're going to heaven, 
it's because you've believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. You've 
believed on him. That's why we're going to heaven. 
And as far as we're able, we need to communicate that to others. 
And then finally, if you are not a Christian, I hope that 
you see that acting like a Christian doesn't make you a Christian. 
Let me just say that again, because I think sometimes after especially 
a little longer of a sermon, a little bit more, we got to 
look at some text. We can kind of get lost in the shelf. Wait 
a minute. OK, I'm going to take this message on. OK, I just can't 
this and I can't this and I can't this and I do this and I do this 
and I do that and I'm OK with God. No. Acting like you're married, like 
the girl in the illustration, putting a ring on her finger, 
putting a veil on her head, saying I do to an invisible partner 
doesn't make her married. Right. We actually say that's 
weird, wouldn't we? That's weird that she thinks 
she's married and she has no marriage partner. It's weird 
when someone thinks they're a Christian because of what they don't do 
or because of what they do do. It means they haven't understood 
the gospel. The gospel is not a warm religious 
feeling. The gospel isn't simply what 
we identify Christianity with. The gospel is good news. Good news centering on the message 
of Jesus Christ. That he came into this world. That he lived a perfect 33 years. Never sinning, never breaking 
the law of God, never reneging on a promise, never fornicating, 
never engaged in unclean thinking, never engaged in filthy talk, 
never engaged in any of the things condemned there. He fulfilled 
the righteous requirements of God's law. And then he came to 
the cross and he died. Why did he die? To take away 
the sins of his people. And then after that he was buried 
and then he rose again on the third day. He appeared for 40 
days to his disciples and then he ascended on high where he 
now sits at the right hand of his father. That's the gospel. That's the good news. And the 
Bible teaches much to the chagrin of every man out there who is 
unconverted that when you believe that good news you are saved 
and you're going to go to heaven. That's offensive to people. Somebody 
could come to me and say, why are you going to heaven? Because 
I believe the gospel. But Mother Teresa did so many 
things better than you. Yeah. Well, no one goes to heaven 
because of how many good things they did. We go to heaven because 
of the finished work of Jesus Christ. So if you are here and 
you don't get that. Talk to Pastor Cam, talk to Deacon 
Steve, talk to me, talk to somebody and hear what the gospel's all 
about. It's not just stop and do, it's 
believe. It's look and live. You fail or you mistake on this 
point and there are eternal consequences. It's not about what we do. It's 
about what Jesus has done. And when we believe that, then 
our conduct will be affected. When we believe the truth, then 
the idea is, is that we'll go out and live like new men. We'll 
live like Jesus followers. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for the Holy Scriptures and we thank you for the emphasis 
in this passage upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we thank 
you that you have not dealt with us according to our sins nor 
rewarded us according to our transgressions. We praise you 
that as far as the East is from the West. So you have removed 
our iniquities. We know it's only because of 
what Jesus Christ has done, his life, his death, his resurrection. 
And our father, I pray that any and all who do not know Christ 
as Lord and Savior would believe this gospel today. that they 
would stop with their attempts at works righteousness, that 
they would stop with their attempt to please you in their own flesh 
and in their own strength. God, I pray that you'd open up 
their hearts and cause them to receive your truth. And may they 
indeed come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And for your 
people here, God, for Christians, for those who have died with 
Christ, for those who have put on the new man that is being 
renewed in the knowledge of him who created him. God, I pray 
that we would put off these things, that we would seek to deal aggressively 
and violently with our sin, that we would know the scripture, 
that we would study your word, and that it would not be said 
of us, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. God, 
go with us now, we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen.