In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij continues looking at Colossians 3 and the new life of a believer in Christ. In part 2, Pastor Babij examines the second characteristic of the new self as explained in Colossians 3:5-9: the new self deals decisively with the old man of sin.
Three Characteristics of the New Self in Christ
1. The New Self Has New Pursuits (vv. 1-4)
2. The New Self Deals Decisively with the Old Man (vv. 5-9)
2a. The first list of vices to put to death (vv. 5-7)
2b. The second list of vices to put away (v. 8)
2c. Lying (v. 9)
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and let me have a word of prayer father this morning as we approach your word we thank you for it again we thank you for the awesome privilege to have it in our hands to be able to read it and thank you Lord that we’re still free to read it to live it to speak of it and I pray Lord that you would allow that to go on for some time I just pray Lord that you through the word of God would make us mature especially Lord in regard to sin and how we deal with it I pray Lord that by your spirit you may give us the power to say no to it when it often tempts us to pass sins and even present realities that are around us that are not pleasing to you that do not honor your name that do not bear the light of the gospel nor is it the salt that should provide flavor and preservatives to our surroundings so Lord this morning open Thy word to us teach us so we are maturing in this area and are steadfast in it and I pray in Christ’s name amen it was the year 1882.
you probably never heard the name Gerald Lander but you probably heard some probably heard the name D.L Moody he was an evangelist around the 1800s and he had planned to preach a historical uh at the Historical Cambridge University in England and on a Sunday morning when he started the meetings many Christians met early to a prayer meeting and then about eight o’clock they returned to a hall and began to fill the hall began to fill with a Rowdy University students and eventually numbering to about 1700.
the brave choir began singing mocked by the students that were there and it began pandemonium reigned during that particular meeting the door was open and D.L Moody the Evangelist came in and his song leader Ira shanky came in and several Christian faculty members also came in and other clergy they had a word of prayer Ira shanky began to sing the 90 and the nine and the audience began to say shout here here and then when he was done they would shout Encore not in a good way but in a bad way and then he got up before the message and started singing Man of Sorrows and before he was done he was almost in tears because of the chaos going on amongst the students then deal Moody began to preach on Daniel in the Lion’s Den Moody’s monosyllabic pronunciation where he would pronounce Daniel Daniel was too much for the rabble rousers and they came back and began to repeat Daniel Daniel each time Moody mentions the name and whenever Moody used an American phrase or non-british pronunciation they were louder and started laughing at him a heckler hecklers were there led by a student named Gerald Lander he was the vocal minority of the group but he was the leader of the group and he was the main Heckler in the front row Moody was looking at him and tried to shut him down but he wouldn’t and he got louder and those with him also and he finally said after the message if uneducated men will come to teach the varsity they deserve to be snubbed the next morning November 6th a Bellboy knocked on Moody’s hotel room door and handed him a personal calling card bearing the name Mr Gerald landner Moody invited Lander to his room and recognized him instantly the student said humbly I want to apologize sir I brought a letter of apology from the men some of the more gently men upon appalled that my behavior has written an apology and so he came to deliver the apology though reluctantly when Moody the English gentleman realized that he over this English gentleman when he realized he overstepped his bounds of propriety Moody had a long talk with this man and he said if you are really sincere you’ll come to the meeting tonight and show me your sincerity now this man was definitely an abusive person and a very prideful person and a person that definitely was not a believer but a most unlikely thing happened years later and little did Moody know that one day Gerald Lander the disrupt disruptive leader and the leader of the students would spend the rest of his life evangelizing Southern China as a missionary so what happened see that’s the question what happened well Gerald Lander came to Believe In Christ the transformative and sanctifying gospel got a hold of his heart and he was no longer that abusive student from Cambridge he was now a man under the Holy Spirit sanctifying process what now moved his heart to now evangelize in one place for the rest of his life and of course I’m sure that was an encouragement to DL Moody and it’s an encouragement to us to hear a story to see how God works in people’s lives and how he changes them and how he makes them new and how they put off sin even the sins of of abuse and speech so they can live for the Lord so we come to Colossians again and we realized that a Christian has experienced a radical change of their environment their spiritual environment and that environment should affect the whole of their life the way they live their life the way they think the way they act the way they speak and that just does not happen by itself when a Christian realizes they’re now different they’re changed they’re alive as never before because God opened their heart he opened their soul to the truth and to the spiritual light that was given to them from the word of God and everything becomes different everything becomes new I’ve already said in Colossians chapter 3 verse 1 through 4 chapter 4 verse 6 the applications are given for living a true life in Christ and practicing biblical imperatives now there are three things that are realized very quickly about the actual life of a Christian and the scriptures before us this morning in Colossians chapter 3 actually help us identify some characteristics as the new self the first has already been covered today I will examine the second there is a third but most likely I’ll not get that far today but the second one this morning found in our passage but I’ll just mention first of all the first one from last week was the new self has new Pursuits and why they have those new suits is because in verse 1 of chapter three the new self is risen with Christ also the new self is consecrated for Christ and then in their consecration they are to pursue certain things the first thing they are to pursue is seeking things above that the direction of the Christian’s life is different and they are to keep minding things above meaning the direction of their thinking and Outlook is different and then of course the Christian is also identified with Christ and the first reason for you and I to seek and mind things above is because in verse number three we have died that’s past secondly we are hated in Christ that’s present and the being hidden in Christ means that us that is a secret thing it’s hidden from the view of the world they can’t see it but we can see it in the change that’s taking place in our life because the spirit of God is transforming us it also means that there’s a security as a Christian of double protection where it says in verse number three that the security comes with God in Christ the way that is referred to there is that the Christian has an unbreakable Bond because Christ and God are their fathers and the spirit of God now indwells them so it is a bond that provides security for the believer as they await the final fulfillment of God’s plan of history and that also gives us a new identity that our identification is no longer the way we were in our old sin but what we are now in Christ we are called to identify identify ourselves as Christ followers and then that leads to a lastings that the new self is glorified in Christ in verse number three or verse number four it says when Christ who is our life is revealed then you will be revealed with him in glory so we will be glorified with Christ that is future so the Bible says that God is taking care of our past he’s taking care of the present and he has taken care and he will take care of the future that our future is guaranteed we have a certainty nothing can prevent our final salvation we are under the power and dominion and reign of the grace of God so that means the saint in Christ are to be christ-directed for they are indwelled by the spirit of God and the old self the old self of sin is to be shriveled up and it is to become ineffective in the life of the believer now this morning we want to look at the second point and that is the new self deals decisive decisively with the old man now this becomes the reality of the Christian and notice what it says in verse number five it says therefore consider the members of your Earthly body as dead let me just stop right there for a minute because that word consider were con were to consider several things the first thing we’re to consider and that means to think about to observe uh in the Old King James it says to reckon the one thing we’re to consider and reckon is that a Christian sin has been put to death and Christians have resurrection power that’s what we’re to consider every single day we wake up we should consider that that means to take into account to calculate how that is going to change how I live my life because I now have the power to actually say no to my sin so we are to consider also that sin is no longer Master but Christ is the master we have the power to refuse sin and it’s command that it tries to Reign Over Us in other words we don’t have to obey it Romans chapter 6 that we read in verse number six it says knowing this that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be put done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin see that’s what we were before we were slaves to Sin Sin had Mastery over us it dictated our passions and desires but now we’re different that no longer should be taking place so the purpose of the believer’s death with Christ is that the body as controlled by sin might be completely put out of a job that Christians should want to put sin in the unemployment line so Christians do not have to serve sin really ever again now that’s one thing we’re to consider but there’s also one thing we’re to present in verse number five it says we’re to present our members our Earthly members of our body that means the sinful flesh were to present them to God it’s the practice of walking in Grace we don’t present our members to unrighteousness anymore and this really does assume that we can quit sinning that’s not becoming sinless but sinning less and when we do sin we are confessing the sin and then putting that sin to death we’re not making Provisions for that sin anymore and then there is something that we do present we don’t present our members to unrighteousness and to sin but we present our members to the righteousness of God to pleasing God and what is what does putting to death mean there’s a negative sense to it because immediately there’s a struggle in fact Ephesians tells us there is a battle so we are to resist such Temptations and impulses in which you no longer if you are a believer make provisioned to gratify the flesh it also has a positive sense to it because you are given the way of victory over your sin you are to S you are to seek and set your mind on things above where Christ is the one we desire to please so the picture is of one putting off the old sinful behavioral patterns that evident evidences in a new transformed life in Christ Believers are enabled to carry out this death sentence on the members of their body their passions and their desires because they have a now a five-fold Grace that has been bestowed upon them by virtue of being in Union with the Risen Savior Jesus Christ and what is that well those Graces have already been given in the word of God that we died with Christ that we are raised with Christ that we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies that we are hidden with Christ and that we will be revealed with Christ when that day comes so death to the old way of life should be the reality of every believer every single day of their life in fact the imperative here means to wipe away or to utterly slay not simply to suppress or control evil acts and desires but to actually put those sins out from you and to death and any things that that is dead is not going to get back up and get you anymore in our passage the decisive Act is to strike dead the bodily members so that being dead they shall become incapable of being used for any of the vices that are listed in our passage this morning so either when we’re talking about the Christian either you are joined to Adam and in Union with the old Adam and in Adam what happened with him we were under the reign of sin and death or that you are in Union with Christ and in Christ we are under the reign of Grace and life and Power that was not what you used to be but that’s what you are now but we could talk about our sin we can talk about putting sin to death we can even share stories about others who put their sin to death but are we putting our sin to death are we looking on ourselves honestly to say listen that is something that was part of my life and even now it rears its ugly head and tries to get me to go that way again you could say no to that and then find victory in that so the next section of scripture is going to give us vices and it’s going to give us virtues but I’m not going to look at the virtues today I’m going to look at the vices because that’s what’s next in the text and I want you to notice the first general list of vices to put to death found in verse number five through seven and these These are five kinds of impulses of the flesh and here it’s really clear and it’s really a direct call to avoid certain vices and the manifestations of the human sinful heart that is going to raise its head to try to drag us down and these are sins connected to our old hell-bound life and I want you to notice that I’ll read them quickly then look at one each each one individually in verse number five it says therefore consider the members of your Earthly body as dead to immorality impurity passion evil desire greed which amounts to idolatry now that last one is really telling us all these sins are really forms of our doubt of our idolatry they becomes the master in your life now the first one is the word immorality it’s the Greek word pornia and of course this is a word that includes every kind of extramarital unlawful or unnatural sexual intercourse fornication sexual immorality prostitution all those words can go there the word we drive the word porn or pornography from this Greek term and it’s used here as in all inclusive term designating complete abstinence from any form of sexual immorality this includes abstinence from any real or imagined sexual deviant behavior that all pornography really reduces a person to a subordinate tool and when a person puts that person in that place it really robs them of the dignity as one created in the image of God so for human beings to attempt to gratify their sexual hunger in any way then marriage or abstinence is to is really a deviation from God’s plan and God’s will that would include any man to woman sexual relationship outside or before marriage before marriage it would be called fornication after marriage it would be called adultery it also would include any man-to-man or woman to woman self sexual gratification such as occurs in homosexuality and even though some people today would have us believe that sexual activity is neither wrong nor immoral but simply a different lifestyle that they chose because of the strong attraction that they had and they can usually conclude would God want me to be unhappy well God declares in the word of God in many places that it is sin it is a twisted perversion of the norm created by God one man one woman in the marriage bond it also would includes self-stimulation or gratification that occurs in masturbation masturbation is impure because it is attempting to have pleasure outside the marriage bound or outside of abstinence that would please God it is a selfish act rather than a loving one it is gratifying the flesh it is a perversion of something good and we know from scripture that the sexual desires of very very powerful desire you can’t just shut that down that has to be shut down by someone greater than us and the power that God’s given us in his spirit it’s like what Paul told the Romans of Romans chapter 13 let us behave properly as in the day not in carousing or drunkenness not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality not in strife and and jealousy but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the Flesh in regard to its lusts so in other words this really cannot be done unless someone is a believer and has the spirit of God and wants to obey the spirit and the words as it says in Romans would make no provision any lust is impure no matter how small one considers it to be or how short-lived it is the Apostle Paul also said the effect to the Ephesians Christians but immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you as proper among Saints now really you read something like that you hear something like that and immediately you say that that can happen that can’t that’s impossible it is impossible but it’s not impossible as a believer that lust is so aggressive that we must fight against it as a soldier of Jesus Christ and not to fight against it is actually to accept the feed and this battle has Cosmic proportions for it is part of the war against Satan who is really viciously fighting to divert our attention as Believers away from our glorious God and savior and trying to get our mind to be in the gutter instead of heaven and on the earth instead of where Christ is now that’s the first one look at the next one they’re all connected but I believe that as you look at this passage of scripture God is saying listen no one could wiggle out of this in some form or some way this type of sin you have to deal with or you have dealt with or maybe you’re dealing with it right now because pornography in our culture is on the rise both for men and for women and for young people because of the access they have to the internet and to sites that you don’t even know they’re what they’re watching there the next word is impurity in our verse that’s a really uncleanness it’s used in the Old Testament to uh refer to ceremonial uncleanness in other words you’re unclaimed where you cannot come into the presence of God you have to take care of that first it’s really something opposite of holy living in Morality and impurity are the most nasty pair which include every kind of sexual deviant behavior and hear dirty-mindedness having your mind on dirty things and then the next word is passion passion here is a strong emotion of Desire or craving it’s really a base fire kindled in the human heart which reaches out for an object in order to satisfy itself and does not rest until it is satisfied That’s How Strong that is like uncontrolled sexual passion or evil craving usually of a sexual nature again Paul writing to the Thessalonians says that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor not in lustful passion like the Gentiles or like the way you were when you were not a believer who don’t know God and that is always key when it comes to sexual sin that people who do not want to deal with it they don’t know God because they love their sin they don’t love and want to please God at all and then the next one is evil desire that’s any strong overwhelming evil desire of the Mind and then the last one there would be greed and greed is really a disposition to have more than one’s share you always want more never satisfied with anything and in this case here it’s degreed also not only for material things but for sexual things and the relative Clause he uses at the end of the passage which amounts to idolatry meaning that all these vices are a manifestation of the worship of Idols it’s a loss of contentment with Christ it’s not having your mind above and your desire to want to please Christ the worship of gold instead of God when a person has greed in his heart he loses sight of God in his Mass his mad desire to get things for himself covetousness is a sin of always wanting more that’s the last commandment that’s the Commandment that really done in the Apostle Paul he says when I realized I was covetous it’s slow it slayed me it killed me I realized that I was guilty of all the Commandments and that’s what it ought to do it ought us put us in a place where we realize that these sins are powerful sins and they have no part of the Christian walk anymore so idolatry because covetousness puts things in the place of God idolatry puts things in the place of God and when sexual sin begins to dominate ones every waking moment every thought every look every relationship well then sex has become the Lord of that very moment in that very day and in that person’s life and that is idolatry it’s now a master to you and we as a Christian can do that we can allow sin to master us but see we’re different than we used to be is now we don’t have to let sin Master us and we have the power to say no to it but we also know enough that if our mind is in heaven we will make no provision for that particular sin we will not feed it we will not give to it where it keeps it alive we will not imagine in our mind things that will put our imagination to death because we don’t want that sin to have authority over our life or as Romans says to Reign Over us as a king and it will if we let it see Satan so what would each expression of sin we must put to death all the impulses and actions we must go to the root of such acts and impulses and deal a death blow to them and the lies they feed us and believe me sin and continuing in a sin has a lot to do how you lie to yourself and Satan he’s the father of Lies that’s what the Bible says he has a toolbox full of lives and Satan will flatter Sinners by saying to them you’re as good as anyone else everybody’s doing it it is not a big deal today it’s not considered shocking anymore the whole culture Embraces it even the government approves of it so go ahead indulge yourself enjoy yourself whatever passion whatever desire you have go ahead and do it because God wants you to be happy and if this makes you happy you do it have you ever lied to yourself like that I have I’m going to be honest to you and you know what sometimes you like those lies because you know I know maybe he’s right maybe I need a little fun in my life and I I want to do this and an opportunity to do it and you do it but I tell you what if you have the spirit of God in your heart you’re going to be deeply convicted by it to the point where you say Lord I know you hate this I want to hate this sin I want this sin out of my life but I need your power to do it and I need my mind to be on the right things and if someone would think that God will Overlook a habitual pattern of sexual Covetous idolatrous sin he or she has already believing a lie and just because our culture has subtly normalized sin and we live in the middle of a highly charged sexually intoxicated culture that is no excuse to fall in line with the world’s Norms instead of put sin to death see so it’s not so easy being a Christian a Christian as Paul said in Romans in Ephesians 6 is Warfare and it’s going to be Warfare with your own mind with your own past with your own passions and desires that’s where you fight the battle and that’s where you win the battle and if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time and you’ve been putting these things into practice you know they work because God gives you the power to say no to things that you are in a new position and that you can stop sins reign in its path right when you’re being tempted with it you can so there’s a Biblical principle behind this found almost in every book of the New Testament and that Believers are free from the Mastery and controlling power of sin Paul said in Romans 6 which we read this morning for sin shall not be Master over you for you are not under law but under grace and then he also said in Romans 6 18 and having been freed from sin you have become slaves we are slaves but now we’re slaves to righteousness what’s righteousness doing what pleases God and what pleased God that we once yielded ourselves to uncleanness and sinful Behavior and what did that lead to it led to more iniquity more lawlessness and eventually only to death but now that you’re a Believer you present your members as instruments of righteousness so now you’re slaves to God but God’s a good master he’s a loving Master he’s a kind Master he’s a merciful master and you know what he’ll do he will forgive you of your sin that you confessed him why because he’s already taking care of that sin on the cross that’s why first John tells us if we confess our sin he’s faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from what all our unrighteousness so every time we confess God’s cleaning up everything else see when we live like that we will realize that these passages of scriptures are real and they are practical for us every single day so from a past standpoint positionally The Sinner becomes a saint the moment they are saved presently experimentally or experience experientially we are growing we’re growing to spiritual maturity everybody who’s a Believer is at different levels of spiritual growth right now these sins may be sins that you’re no longer really dealing with anymore because you you’re past them but it it still rears its head from time to time depending on how you want to uh let things into your life but there’s a future aspect is that this sinless state that we don’t have on this side of Eternity we’ll have when we’re at home with the Lord and that’s the hope that we have so we’re always going to have this struggle here while God leaves us here we’re going to be struggling with our sin all kinds of sins at all different stages of our life I mean just because you’re older Christian don’t mean you’ll struggle with sin sometimes the sin is more complex and the Temptation is more subtle because Satan’s smart and he knows that he can’t get you with the old stuff anymore so he has to make up some new stuff and he does and he’s good at it and he put you in situations like how did I get in a situation I didn’t even ever want to be here but I’m here now I’m dealing with this and this and this and this but you have to put everything you know into practice at that time and believe me when you do and you put first God and you call upon him in that weak moment he will deliver you he will deliver you and not only that back to Colossians it is the motive of holy living what is that motive that Christians know God’s serious about these vices and he’s also patient notice what it says in verse number six it says this for on account of these things the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience is that not a motive to live a holy life what’s the motive I know God’s going to judge this stuff get God’s not going to look over this stuff this passage of scripture is not just stuck in there it’s giving us something here that the anger is the reaction of God’s holiness and righteousness against sin that we should have also we hate living that way we hate those times where we fall into sin and this also shows that our Sovereign Lord will carry out his judgment on all those who do not obey the gospel so if you if the culture goes one way and they say well all this sexual freedom is fine don’t worry about it you’re all right everything’s fine well and dandy is a big lie it’s not fine well and dandy not according to this passage of scripture because God is the one who inflicts wrath what did Paul tell the Romans in Romans chapter 3 but if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God what shall we say The God Who inflicts Wrath is not unrighteous is he is God unrighteous to say that lifestyle is all right it’s all right to do those things no matter what people around you are saying it’s all right it’s not all right see that’s a motivation for holy living that God it was for such perversions as here listed that God brought the flood in Noah’s time that the wickedness of their heart was continual and that fire in Brimstone fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins sexual sins and that of homosexuality and all the other things that go with that and today the audacious Sinners flaunt unrighteousness with a which we are bombarded with every single day with the G lgbtq Plus agenda of unrighteousness judgment will come and who should know that the most Christians should know that most but it is a motivator it’s a motivator to know that God is going to take care of things but what happens is that it’s like what it says in Ecclesiastes hey because the sentence against evil deed is not executed quickly what does it say Ecclesiastes therefore the hearts of the sons of men uh are given fully to do evil see I said that God is is not only holding wrath but he’s patient his wrath will come the Bible says In this passage of scripture it will come don’t make that mistake to think it won’t it will come and it will come on these sins on a culture who flaunts these sins and people who love these sins also God’s Wrath presently abides on unbelieving we’re in the Gospel of John chapter 3 verse 36 it says he who believes in the son has eternal life but he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of God abides on him and also what what does Paul say in Romans 1 the Wrath is currently falling from Heaven on all unrighteousness for Romans 1 18 for the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth of an unrighteousness that’s what they’re doing they’re holding down what they know is true God’s going to judge nah no he’s not I’m a good person I’m good most of the time no it should be a motivation for holy living but then notice in verse number seven there’s a humility also for holy living and what is that humility in verse number seven and in them you also once walk when you were living in them oh man that is it’s close to home what is it saying don’t let your head get too big as a Christian you were just like that you you not only walked in it that’s the manner of life that’s your lifestyle but you also were in it so such conduct actually belongs to the Past and maybe there’s no better way to say stay humble when dealing with our sin and the sins of others before we’re too quick to judge than to know that we were enslaved and engaged in a sinful habitual lifestyle Until We Were Made Alive to repent of our sins and to trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior and then at that point we realized that our walking wasn’t pleasing to him and that our living was not pleasing to them and our thinking wasn’t pleasing to them tend to him so these are all in your past as a Believer so don’t go back don’t go back to the dreary catacombs of sin when I was in Rome I got a chance to go down to the catacombs where many Christians actually held services and prayed because they had to stay away from the persecution what a dreary place I mean it was like pretty much dirt and cubes carved out so they put the dead bodies there no cover on them at all that must have been a horrible place to go but that’s how we should look at sin that’s going back to the old dreary catacombs lifeless dead things why we wanted spend time in a cemetery as a Christian we want to spend time in the cemetery now that leads me to something else in our passage of scripture here’s the second General list of vices to lay aside now these these here are a little bit different the first really harmed The Sinner themselves this group of vices harm other people these are more some have called the social sins related to speech and violence of the heart notice what it says in verse number eight here’s the second General list of vices to put aside the first group was to put to death this one is to lay aside it says but now you also put them all aside and here they are anger wrath mouth slander abuse of speech from your mouth so the Christian is really to execute what God has already sent in sentenced and to put to death the old practices and put off the domination of the old self put away from you once for all since the fearful former time has passed and thank God that you’re able to do it and the Really the picture here and further into the passage is of changing clothes you’re putting something off like dirty garments and then you’re going to put something on those are going to be the good virtues and we’re not going to get to those today but I want you to notice what they are the first one is pretty simple anger it really means Revenge too it includes a subtle feeling of hatred towards someone and then the next one is wrath this is an intense Outburst of passion that someone has that usually builds up inside and then boom it bursts out through all kinds of body language and attitudes and then malice malice is really meanness being mean to people there’s a lot of bullying today that goes on with younger and older people but it’s mean and also it includes a desire to want to inflict bodily injury on someone because of the boiling agitation of the feeling someone have when they are have malice towards someone it’s almost like you want to put your hands around their neck and choke them if you could do that and get away with it you would and then slander it’s the word blasphemy here in scripture speaking against God but also blasphemy is really self-opinion and it’s expressed with challenges to the character and the wisdom of God I don’t think it’s that way there’s other ways to look at this or I think I want to do this or I will do what I want no matter what God says that’s blasphemy defamatory speech against others human beings being created in the likeness of God see people don’t often think that listen if I am out bursting towards someone whether it’s in anger or wrath or malice or slander speaking about them in a way I ought not to we think that’s all right that we have the privilege to do that and yet what does James tell us you know what he says this is what he says in James chapter 3 but one can no one can tame the tongue it is a Restless evil and full of deadly poison with it we bless our Lord and father and with it we curse men and then it says this who have been made in the likeness of God so in other words treating all people with respect for what reason it doesn’t matter how great a sinner they are they have been created in the image of God they have the likeness of God stamped upon them so therefore that we they have no right for us to be angry towards them or wrathle or hold malice or slander them and then also he uses the word abuse of speech and in the next uh at the end of verse number eight he says put abuses of speech from your mouth Ephesians says that there must be no filthiness or silly talk or course jesting which is not fitting but rather giving of thanks so evil speech is also reflective in a refusal to worship God and the lordship of Christ it always it has to do with whose Lord so is your sin Lord and if your sin is Lord then you’re going to convince yourself I have every right to be angry with this person I have every right to slander them with my tongue and slice them to pieces with with abusive speech because I have rights and I’ve been abused instead of being thankful that what you do have has been given to you by God see these are sins that harm other people I always say in the membership class sticks and stones will break my bones with words will never harm me that’s the biggest lie from the pit of Hell throw stones at me hit me with a stick but words I remember words when I was just five years old if somebody said something to me that was really hateful I never forgot it it was a dentist and I told my mother I’ll never go back to him again and my mom says well that’s your family dentist I said I’m not going back to him because of what he said to me I was just a little kid I didn’t know the context of that I just know that it was mean and I didn’t want to hear it so you have stories I have stories of people who have said things to you that you have never forgotten and probably never will you just know what to do with it now right but here’s this last one in verse number nine and this is very crucial look what it says do not lie to one another since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices now Brethren if we lie to each other where do you go with that what do you do with that when someone lies to you there’s nothing I don’t know what to do with that because I don’t know when you’re telling the truth and when you’re you know don’t forget half truths part truth conveying wrong Impressions exaggeration which really distorts the facts hypocrisy false teaching contrary to the Bible if we lie to one another there is no way to establish trust or to work together to accomplish anything worthwhile can’t happen in a marriage can’t happen in a relationship in the family with parents and children can’t happen on work can’t happen anywhere if someone is not going to tell you the truth but you know what all of us have committed this sin and more than once and sometimes you know what you get to the place where you know I’m not even going to open my mouth right now until I have the facts right and tell this person exactly what is true because they say if you tell the truth you’ll never have to remember what you said right and it is true but I tell you what you fudge the facts you you you just turn the truth a little bit and that’s all satan does he just gives it a little twist you won’t remember from day to day what you were said to that person at that point and at that time so that means your story is going to change and change and change and change and then you know what’s going to happen people aren’t going to come to you and ask you for anything because they cannot trust you so if this is a person’s practice it will demonstrate that they do not know the Lord and are in fact a child of the devil who is the father of lies and I’m saying this according to First John if they practice this is this if this is the mode of operation for their life and they do not want to let go of it because they have some good success doing it they don’t know the Lord and they shouldn’t deceive themselves that they do it’s just like the Prophet Jeremiah listen with the Prophet Jeremiah said to the people who started believing the practices of the false prophets listen what he said listen he said this they bend their tongue like their bow lies and not truth Prevail in the land for they proceed from Evil to evil and they do not know me says the Lord and then it says let everyone be on guard against his neighbor and do not trust any brother because every brother deals craftily and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer everyone deceives his neighbor and does not speak the truth they have taught their tongues to speak lies they weary themselves committing iniquity your dwelling is in the midst of Deceit through deceit they refuse to know me says the Lord probably the greatest characteristic of someone who’s a perpetual practice and gifted liar is that they are a tool of Satan because Satan is their father and Lord and not Jesus and if we’re convicted about anything in our life it should be this sin that we’re always always to be on guard with right to making sure and if we don’t are we’re not sure we don’t say anything it’s only when we’re sure so these two lists of vices belong to the old unsaved unregenerated dead self are you are you gonna leave them behind are you going to put them off are you going to put them to death you are to put them away because these are the dirty rags that should be away from your mouth and the practice of your life but you know there’s there’s a few lessons I just want to close with this to learn in dealing with sinful desires and the first it all really comes from uh Romans six and seven and also Colossians chapter two but I’m not going to give you all those things I’m just going to tell you what they are that knowledge is not the answer because Paul felt fine as long as long as he did not understand the Law’s demand as soon as he knew the Law’s demand what was his conclusion I’m doomed so in other words there’s an inadequacy of human knowledge to overcome the flesh that means I could know this is wrong to do and it could be clear theology or it could be clear theoretically but I just don’t do it so your knowledge helps you understand that you sinned but it doesn’t help you overcome the sin secondly self-determination or will doesn’t overcome the flesh now where does that come from Romans 7 verse 15 it says for the Willing is present with me but the doing of the good is not so just because you’re strong-willed and have the ability to do all these things you have no will to overcome the flesh by yourself you have no will to do that in other words there’s an inadequacy of the human will to overcome fleshly passions and desires the human will not strengthened by Christ is bound to crack thirdly self-imposed religion is not the answer well where do I get that from I got it right from Colossians chapter 2 where it says this are matters which have to be sure the appearance of wisdom and self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body but they are of no value against fleshly indulgences see so there’s an inadequacy of human religion to overcome the Flesh and many people park right here they park right here because they think this is going to be the balance between them overcoming something and God forgiving them that’s why there’s a lot of religions that are giving approval to all these sins and say don’t worry come to our church come be with us be who you are made to be and we can have fun together in all that’s kind of garbage because it’s just a big lie that’s all it is and then the last one is even profound Christian experience does not instantly Stamp Out All Sin from a believer’s life that means a conversion to Christ does not stamp off all sin in your life it forgives you of your sin it covers your sin but now you must deal with your sin putting it to death and putting on righteousness so all I say to you this week is that it is our responsibility to put off and to put to death these vices and then next time for balance we will learn to put on the virtues because anytime you put something off like sin you cannot leave a vacuum you must put on the opposite of what you’re repenting of and putting to death right if not then that repentance is not complete so we put off the old dirty garments of whatever sin it is and then we put on the righteousness and we robe ourself in it and that’s where we find protection and that’s where we find the power of the spirit of God to say no to the Mastery of sin and allow Christ to Reign and that’s where you find joy and peace in Christ amen let’s pray Lord thank you this morning for the Clarity and conviction of scripture thank you Lord that these things are clear to us that these are the things that are not righteous that are the things that come under your judgment and the things Lord you’ve given us the power to say no to so I pray Lord if there’s anyone here struggling with any of these things and maybe they have been struggling with it for a long time the struggle is good Lord but I pray that they would win the battle and they would put these sins aside into death and that you would give them the joy and the peace that they’ve been looking for in that sin but found did not find it there just found bondage and found just disappointment but Lord in you we find peace and rest and we find your merciful face shining upon us so strengthen Us in these things and Lord as we do that let us be the ambassadors of light in a culture and we can even counsel other people with the word of God to say listen I struggle with this until I had Victory and this is how I had the victory Lord let us do that and let us give honor to your name that Lord you would be our Lord and Master and that sin would be something that we hate and we learn to put it aside and put it to death and not make provision for the Flesh and I pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ amen