“PUT OFF – PUT ON” Colossians 3:5-17
FBCF – 8/11/24
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Hospital visit mid-afternoon Tue. Decided to stop at Broad Street Bakery to grab a cup of coffee & work on sermon some. Tuxedo rental store upstairs in Banner Hall. On chalkboard downstairs – “In a tuxedo, I’m a star. In regular clothes, I’m nobody.” (Dean Martin) – If some of you young ladies don’t know who Dean Martin was, put it this way: He was your grandmother’s Ryan Reynolds.
Dress for Success book – 1975 bestseller – Author, John T. Molloy – the effect of clothing on a person’s success in their business & personal life. Our clothing identifies us. Says something about us.
- Style says something about us
- Culture says something about us
- Uniforms say something about us
- Costumes say something about us
Styles change – Cultures change – Uniforms change – Costumes change.
But God’s Word does not change!
- Isaiah 40:8 – “The grass withers, the flower fades. But the word of our God stands forever.”
- His Word stands forever – His commands stand forever. His precepts & statutes stand forever. His promises & guarantees stand forever.
- And these teachings from Colossians 3 stand forever.
EXPLANATION – Colossians 3:5-17
Continue series, “Our Life in Christ.” We’ve established that Colossians focuses on the superiority & preeminence of Jesus Christ, especially in the 1st 2 chapters.
- David Jeremiah: “…Christ alone is enough. No other person, being, or knowledge is needed in order to know the one true God.” (The Jeremiah Study Bible, p. 1664)
Chapter 3 begins the more practical section of the book. We begin to see how we are to live our lives in light of Jesus & the spiritual freedom we have in Him – “…propositions followed by practice; doctrine followed by daily living; exhortations followed by examples.” (David Jeremiah)
- It’s studying the playbook then hitting the field for gametime.
- It’s taking the NCLEX then taking treating patients in a hospital.
- It’s going through basic training/ bootcamp then going out to face & fight the enemy.
R.C. Sproul – “Without right doctrine, right living is impossible…” – Colossians 1 & 2 give us the right doctrine; Colossians 3 & 4 show us the right living. And that living is intentional & practical, which is why our application for today is this:
APPLICATION – A Christ-follower’s life is intentional & practical.
v. 5a – “What’s the ‘therefore’ there for?” – Back up to v. 1-4
4 POINTS OF INTENTIONALITY:
GARMENTS OF GARBAGE – v. 5b-9 – This is what you intentionally put off.
- “put to death” – Gk – nekrosate – “to make dead” – Very strong word.
- Not enough to put off these garments. You need to burn them – Destroy them – “Make them dead!” – Exterminate your old way of life.
Could just say, “Don’t sin.” Good spiritual counsel. Definitely biblical to say that.
But naming specific examples of sin guards us against the temptation to rationalize our behavior or minimize our sinful actions. Easy to just sort of drift into sin when we keep things general & somewhat vague. Paul cuts straight to the heart of the matter. Doesn’t pull any punches. Makes it clear that these specific things are garbage that needs to be killed in our lives. Don’t have to wonder about these things. Take a look at them:
First set gives strong words about sensual sins.
- “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire” – porneia Gk for “sexual immorality” – These termes describe any & all sorts of sexual sin – before marriage, outside of marriage, pornography, prostitution – “Kill every desire for the wrong kind of sex.” (CEV) Paul includes filthy, lustful thoughts – “dirty mindedness” (Phillips) – Jesus said, “Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery w/ her already in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28)
- He talks about immoral desires for someone who doesn’t belong to you. Desires lead to actions that destroy lives.
- “covetousness” – included here among these sensual sins b/c a covetous person is never satisfied w/ what he/she has & wants what belongs to someone else: their spouse, home, career, looks, friends, etc. Serious sin b/c whatever that thing or person is will become your god & consume you.
Next set of sins are social sins. May not seem as serious as the first set but will absolutely wreck your life & witness in an instant – v. 8-9 – Flying off handle – fits of rage – intentionally hurting someone w/ your words of gossip & slander – losing control of your mouth & cussing someone out – lying about someone/something. Devastating sins that decimate lives, damage your witness, & destroy the unity & fellowship of a church.
Lot of pain in the world. And one of reasons is because so many Christians are not putting off these garments of garbage. You might not be able to change THE world, but you CAN change YOUR world.
GARMENTS OF GRACE – v. 12-15 – This is what you intentionally put on. Encourage you to put on the armor of God every day (Ephesians 6:14-18). Encourage you to also put on these garments of grace every day.
Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, love, peace, & thankfulness. Notice that these are the exact opposite of the filthy garments of garbage.
- The garments of garbage – It’s all about me – my desires, my pleasure, my passions, my wants. It’s all about building myself up & tearing the other person down. It’s about getting whatever I want, whenever I want, as much as I want, no matter how it affects or impacts someone else.
- The garments of grace – As a chosen, holy, & dearly loved Christ-follower, I want to clothe myself in these garments that glorify God & build others up. It’s all about the other person – All about meeting their needs – about increasing their joy in life – about making their lives better & richer & fuller – What can I do to show to them these things?
When I start putting on these garments, I will begin to notice 2 things:
- Peace will rule my life – I will see it more evident in my family’s life, in my friendships, in my work, in my church.
o “The peace of God is the ‘Umpire’ in our believing hearts & our churches. When we obey the will of God, we have His peace within; but when we step out of His will (even unintentionally), we lose His peace.” (Wiersbe)
- “And be thankful.” – As I begin see more & more of God’s blessings & presence in my life, I will just be a thankful person, grateful to God for His amazing GRACE in my life!
o Mama: “Thank you, Lord!” – I will learn to say these words a whole lot more!
INTENTIONAL WORD & WORSHIP – v. 16 – The key to “putting off & putting on” these garments is found in 2 things: Word & Worship! Every Christ-follower must be intentionally living in the Word & lifting your voice in worship. And notice that we do these 2 things both personally & corporately – privately & w/ others.
- Paul is talking to the Church here.
- We immerse ourselves in the Word in our personal lives & also “teach & admonish one another” w/ it – instructing, reprimanding, warning each other.
- We also lift our voices to the Lord in our personal worship in our quiet times or in our cars & homes. And then we joyfully & expectantly come together in this place sing our “hymns & spiritual songs” w/ thankfulness in our hearts to God”!
- We’re not hit & miss w/ Word & worship – We are intentional b/c we know that we cannot live w/out it!
INTENTIONAL “WHATEVER YOU DO” – v. 17 – And then we live it out in an intentional God-glorifying, Christ-honoring life where our words & our actions continually point others to JESUS!
- That’s why you tell others about Jesus…wear the bracelets/carry the tracts…invite people to church…refrain from gossip & stop it when you hear it…forgive those who’ve hurt you & don’t hold grudges…let go of bitterness…pray w/ someone today who is here & is hurting…serve in this church…sing in this choir…play these instruments…serve as a deacon…serve on a ministry team…go on a mission trip…keep babies in the nursery…work w/ Cindy in children’s ministry…w/ Michael in student ministry…serve as a greeter, usher…serve in the sound booth or the broadcast ministry…serve on our safety & security team…serve at Mission Flora giving food to needy people…serve on the steering committee…give your tithes & offerings…go visit our homebound members…disciple someone & help them grow in their walk w/ Christ…
- Our life as a Christ-follower must be an intentional “whatever you do”, whatever it takes life!
