Please turn with me, if you're not already there, to Paul's letter to the church at Colossae, chapter 3.
Let's see.
Their first day of classes is August 17th, which means we'll likely see a lot of that crew come back on the 16th and the week following.
So I had every intention of wrapping it up.
In fact, originally verses 5 through 17, I had intended to preach in just two weeks.
So this is now week 3, and obviously next week, Lord willing, will be week 4, and then we'll move on into verse 18 beyond that.
Not the best laid plans of mice and men.
This morning for two reasons.
I think it's right and proper to just address verses 12, 13, and 14.
The first of which being, I am sick and tired, but not in a literal, excuse me, not in a metaphorical sense, but in a literal sense.
My little one, three years old, has a head cold, and I think it's coming on me now.
I woke up this morning feeling quite under the weather.
And we're wrapping up the wedding season.
Officiated my fourth wedding since May yesterday.
I finished premarital counseling for six couples just this past week.
And I'm beat.
Weddings are fantastic.
They are great and glorious and enjoyable, but they are also exhausting.
So I am sick and tired, literally, this morning.
Secondly, there is a lot to consider in these texts.
Certainly, thematically, they hold together.
We can see verses 5-11 being this expression of those things that we should be putting off our old self.
These activities that shouldn't exist amongst those who claim the name of Christ.
In verses 12-17, those things that we put on, that we exchange instead.
So thematically, they hold really well.
And we can see the primary exhortation of the text in the last part of verse 9 and the first part of verse 10.
Where Paul says,
It's seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self.
Previously in 3-3, he says,
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
We have been made new in Christ.
And so it's proper that we put off the old self.
It's stated in the negative.
Stop doing these things.
That we put on.
We clothe ourselves differently now.
Stated in the positive.
Rather, we ought to live this way.
Sort of put off the old self.
Verse 5,
Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.
Here, not literally.
Which is where I looked in my notes when I said not literally earlier.
Not literally, but figuratively.
Mortify sin in your life.
And verse 8,
But now you must put them all away.
And Paul gives us these two lists,
which are not exhaustive lists of all sin,
but they're sins that relate to how we deal with one another.
They're sins of unrighteous love and sins of unrighteous hate.
Stop functioning together in this way,
but rather put on the new self.
Verse 10,
And have put on the new self,
which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
I made the case to you last week that our sanctification,
our perfection in Christ is a progressive process.
It's something that's being accomplished in us.
That we have been made new and that we are being made new.
So as we look at these kinds of exhortations in the Scripture,
if we're really honest with ourselves,
none of us live to this standard,
but yet we should.
Don't deny the fact, the reality,
that in Christ we ought to live this way,
but we recognize that we are being,
by one degree after another,
being made into this image.
We rightly see these things and recognize what righteous looks like.
The right way in which we ought to live in Christ.
And we recognize rightly then,
sin.
You see that in verse 10,
he says that we have put on the new self.
This is a snapshot of a completed event.
It's the aorist verb tense.
This is what it means.
It's been accomplished.
And then just beyond this,
he says,
which is being renewed.
And it's being renewed in this way,
by the power of the Spirit,
in knowledge.
That we know how it is we ought to live.
That we meditate on that.
That we function out of the realities
of who God is to us in Christ
in order to accomplish these things.
And we're being made into the image of its,
and they're referring to the new self creator.
We're being made into the image of Jesus Christ.
I was thinking a little bit about that today
and what that looks like in our lives.
And it caused my mind to think about
when you have a brand new baby,
and so many people,
particularly women,
try to figure out who that baby looks like.
I've heard this.
I know, oh, he looks so much like.
Babies don't really typically look like anybody.
They look like themselves.
And I don't understand
how my boys look so much like.
Maybe that's insulting.
I don't know.
Maybe it's a compliment.
Babies are awfully cute.
I'm not sure.
Sometimes a baby really looks like
their father or mother,
but in most cases,
they really don't.
But as they grow,
and as they get older,
they do begin to take on
more and more of those features.
A wonderful example
for my five-year-old Cade
is that he sadly, unfortunately,
inherited my double crown,
the two cowl.
I don't know if you've ever noticed
this about myself.
But it's horrible,
and it's really hard to comb your hair
when your hair's doing that in the back,
and the poor boy's hair does the same.
But when he was born,
he had this cute little fuzzy head.
Right?
We're to look more and more like Christ,
although it's a positive in this case,
and Cade and mine,
it's a negative thing,
but we're to look more like Jesus
by degree after degree after degree.
This is the work of the Christian life
and the way in which the Spirit works in us.
And he begins to talk about this new self
and the way in which we will be changed
in what seems like such a peculiar way
in verse 11.
He says,
here in this new self,
there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcised, uncircumcised,
barbarian, Scythian, slave-free,
but Christ is all and in all.
And in this culture of this day,
there were so many barriers,
just like there are today.
Maybe even more strictly drawn up in theirs.
There were ethnic barriers
between the Greeks and the Jews.
Religious barriers between those
who were circumcised and uncircumcised.
And I mean by religious,
the outward trappings of religion,
not the true devotion to God.
There were cultural barriers
between the barbarians,
the Scythians,
and those who were educated.
Social barriers between slave and free.
And what Paul is saying is that
for those who have placed their faith
in Jesus Christ,
Christ should be everything.
Christ is all.
It's a reality that we should function out of.
And He's in all.
So we have this wonderful commonality
between us.
Apart from our backgrounds,
apart from our ethnicity,
apart from the culture that we grew up in,
we have a wonderful, wonderful commonality
in Christ.
And so today,
our verses will be
verses 12 through 14.
And I want to read those to us
just again to get them on our minds,
if only for my benefit.
Paul writes,
Put on then,
as God's chosen ones,
holy and beloved,
compassionate hearts,
kindness,
humility,
meekness,
and patience,
bearing with one another,
and if one has a complaint against another,
forgiving each other
as the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive.
And above all these,
put on love,
which binds everything together
in perfect harmony.
And let me remind you
that this is God's Word to us.
It has bearing and meaning on our day.
It's written for His glory
and for our good
and that we would all do well
to listen to it
in order to believe its promises
and obey its commands.
I, and I hope you appreciate
and join with me in this,
I am so thankful
for the Word of God.
This past week,
on our family day,
which is on Tuesday,
I was playing with Judah,
our three-year-old,
in the woods,
and we found a millipede,
those big, fat millipedes.
They're kind of gray
and they've got cool red lines on them.
And I've touched them before,
but I've never like agitated
one of them.
But this one kept trying
to go into the leaves
and I wanted Judah to see it,
so I kept pulling it back
out of the leaves.
Don't agitate a millipede
because it secreted
this yellow gunk
all over my thumb
and my pointer finger
on this hand,
which just smelled horrible.
It had a very thick ammonia
kind of a smell to it,
like burned my nose
when I smelled it.
And shortly after,
I washed my hands,
but shortly after,
it turned my finger
and my thumb maroon.
And I showed it to Sam
and she was very concerned,
like, is it hurt?
Like, what's going on
with your finger?
And I just really wasn't sure.
Didn't seem to be any real issue.
I don't know if anybody,
you can't see my thumb from there.
Maybe some of you
on the front row.
I still have some maroon
under my thumbnail
from this goo
that was on my finger.
And this world,
the temporal part of our world,
doesn't really come
with a manual, does it?
Certainly if I had
done a quick Google search,
I would have found out
I shouldn't touch the millipede.
But these things
that have temporal bearing
and temporal nature,
there's not really a book
that we can be handed
that tells us
how we ought to live
in relation to the world
in those temporal ways,
but we have been given a book
that tells us
how we ought to live spiritually.
In those things
that have eternal weight
and matter,
what a precious,
precious thing this is.
That if we are to be renewed
degree by degree
to look more like Christ,
that this is the great call
on the Christian life
for the sake of His name,
we've been given a book.
It shows us how
we ought to do it
and we ought to treasure it
much more than we do.
Main point for today,
there's only one,
and that is
Christian people
will be distinguished
by the way they live
in relation to one another.
Christian people
will be distinguished.
We will look different
by the way we live
in relation to one another.
If the affection of your heart
says Christ is all,
and oh, I hope that it does.
I hope that is the cry
and the longing of your heart.
Christ is all.
Christ is everything to me.
Then you will live differently
as you relate to other people
who say the very same thing.
Remember what Paul is saying here.
He's saying in relation
to one another,
we're to put to death
those things
that cause enmity between us
and we're instead
meant to live in this way.
All of those barriers,
all of those cultural,
social, ethnic barriers
have been torn down in Christ.
So live like this.
And he begins by rooting that
in our very character,
who we are now as God's people.
Verse 12, he says,
put on then,
as God's chosen ones,
holy and beloved.
In Christ, we are holy.
Right?
That's that completed act.
We have been made perfect in Christ.
When God looks at us,
He sees Jesus.
We have been given,
we've been imputed
Jesus Christ's righteousness.
Right?
So we should continue in that.
We should stand in that.
This is our status in God.
We are beloved.
We are loved by Him.
And we are chosen in Him.
This speaks of who we are.
Not differing in degree,
but in type.
It speaks of who we are,
but more importantly,
it reminds us of who made us
who we are.
See that we are chosen ones
and we're holy and beloved,
but so importantly,
we are God's chosen ones.
Holy and beloved.
If you are in Christ,
if you have placed faith in Him,
this is a great work of God Almighty.
He has birthed this in you.
He has caused you to believe
in Jesus Christ's person and His work.
It is His doing,
and therefore,
the completion of what He intends
to accomplish with you
is sure.
What a precious promise
is found in this little phrase,
God's chosen ones.
Holy and beloved.
Turn with me, if you will,
to 1 John 2.
See a bit of a parallel text here
that drives the point
that because of now who we are,
we will live in a particular way.
Our obedience is a response
to the grace of God in Christ
on our behalf.
1 John 2.
And I'm going to begin reading in verse 28.
And now, little children,
abide in Him,
so that when He appears,
we may have confidence
and not shrink from Him
in shame at His coming.
If you know that He is righteous,
there's His work,
you may be sure that everyone
who practices righteousness
has been born of Him.
See what kind of love
the Father has given to us,
that we should be called
children of God,
and so we are.
The reason why the world
does not know us
is that it did not know Him.
Beloved, we are God's children now.
So there's this status change for us.
Enemies of God,
now children of God.
John goes on to write
in verse 9 and 10,
No one born of God
makes a practice of sinning,
for God's seed abides in Him,
and He cannot keep on sinning,
because He has been born of God.
By this it is evident
who are the children of God
and who are the children of the devil.
Whoever does not practice righteousness
is not of God,
nor is the one
who does not love
his brother.
So you see that there's this status change,
and it causes us to live
in a different way.
And if we don't,
if we're not about the practice
of righteousness,
but we're instead about
the practice of sinning,
it's indicative of who we are.
Pears don't grow on apple trees.
Only apples grow on apple trees.
And as such,
when we've had this status change,
sin is part of a believer's past.
Verse 7 of chapter 3 in Colossians,
In these,
you too once walked
when you were living in them.
The last part of verse 9,
Seeing that you have put off
the old self
with its practices.
It's once who we were,
but it is no longer
who we are
if we have placed faith
in Christ.
And Paul is driving this point
that this has to do with
how we relate
to one another.
And beloved,
we don't do this well.
There are so many things
about our church
that are healthy,
and we probably do this
better than many.
But you need to hear
what Paul is trying
to communicate
about the way in which
we should relate
to one another.
And I think one of the great
cultural challenges to this
is that so many of us
think of the church
as something that is
outside of us.
It is an institution.
It is a thing that we attend
rather than who we are.
If you are in Christ,
you are the church.
We go on existing
apart from this piece of property
and from this building,
praise God.
We continue to exist
without a name
or a website
or any contact info whatsoever.
The church is us.
It is people.
If you have a favorite restaurant,
I would not expect you
to know everybody
who works at that restaurant.
I wouldn't expect you
to know the owner.
It doesn't really matter
if you know the owner or not,
if you enjoy the food.
You don't have to know
the chef who cooks
the food for you.
You never relate
to the other patrons.
You don't come in and go,
isn't this the best restaurant ever?
You go in,
you enjoy the company
that came with you,
you get up,
and you leave,
and that is fine
and acceptable.
Sam and I went to a restaurant
down in Gwinnett
close to a large building
where a congregation meets.
And we ran into
while we were eating,
there were so many people
that we knew from our past.
Like I ran into my health teacher
from the seventh grade.
We're just running into people we knew.
It was the weirdest evening.
And most of them,
Sam would ask,
where are you attending church now?
Who are you fellowshipping?
And they all had the same answer.
But as we watched them
go to eat their meals,
none interacted with one another.
All of them professed to be
part of a fellowship
of Jesus Christ together
and yet had no relationship.
None whatsoever.
Or they all hated each other
or were ignoring each other.
One of the two.
Both sin.
This shouldn't be so amongst us.
I will fight and fight
and fight and fight
for that not to be the case
amongst us.
We are the church
and we're meant to live
in a very particular way
with one another.
And this is God's design
for the advancement of His gospel.
This is a primary way
in which His glory is proclaimed
in this world.
The way we relate
to one another.
Look at some of the things
that He says.
And I'm not going to develop
all of these out.
Each of these could be
a week of a sermon.
But look what He says
that we're meant to be doing together.
The things we're meant to put on
as God's chosen ones.
His holy and His beloved.
Compassionate hearts.
Love characterized by mercy.
That looks at an individual
and your heart breaks
for them
and the situation
that they're in.
And every single one of us
has something happening
in our lives
that should be causing
heartbreak
in the life of somebody else.
We're all hurting.
We're all dealing with stuff.
So we're to have
compassionate hearts
for one another.
Merciful hearts.
We should put on
kindness.
Which means
gracious acts
of goodness.
That we care for one another
to the degree
that we serve one another.
That we maybe as
Romans 12 suggests
that we compete
to outdo one another
in showing honor
and serving each other
in this way.
We're to put on
humility.
Which means that we recognize
who we are
apart from Jesus Christ.
Christ.
Wretched thing
that I am
apart from Jesus.
I have been given grace
in abounding measure.
I deserve nothing
that I have.
And yet,
so often we act
like we deserve
everything
that the world
has to offer.
We are to be
humble.
Paul writes in
Philippians 2
verses 3 and 4
do nothing
from selfish ambition
or conceit.
So here's the
stated in the negative.
This is the activity
of the person
who's not humble.
Operating out of
selfish ambition
and conceit.
But,
in humility,
count others
more significant
than yourselves.
Let each of you
look not only
to his own interests
but also
to the interests
of others.
We're to put on
humility.
We're to put on
meekness.
gentleness.
A synonym for this
kind of
is gentleness.
But in the Greek
it means a bit
more than that.
It's a person
that's not
gentle by
lack of strength
but a person
who has strength
and bridles
that strength
appropriately.
Jesus Christ
is the most
wonderful example
of this
as he is
of all
righteous
characteristics.
You see him
as we work
through Mark
recently.
Stilling storms
by his voice.
Commanding the
waves and they
stop casting
out demons.
Pulling no
punches with
the Pharisees.
Fierce in the
way that he
dealt with the
world and sin.
And then you
see him inviting
little children
to come and
sit on his lap.
To me there's
nothing more
precious than
some of the
big strong men
of our church
and the way
they hold
their little
babies.
Stan Luttrell
breaks my
heart sometimes
as big and
strong as he
is in the
way he's so
tender with
his youngest
daughter.
This is a
picture of
meekness.
Jesus Christ
on the cross
is the highest
example of it.
Having the
power, being
God himself,
to just go
ahead and say
you know what
we're not doing
the cross thing.
I'm just going
to go ahead
and judge and
destroy the earth
now.
And yet he
took it for
our sake.
This is that
picture of
meekness.
We're to put
on meekness.
We're to put
on patience.
Not to be
quick tempered.
We're to be
patient with
one another.
Because God
bears with
us.
Just consider
that for a
moment.
Think about
the people that
tend to annoy
you, that you
have a hard
time being
patient with,
and then take
on their
characteristic.
Am I ever
that way
toward God?
And the answer
is a resounding
yes, you are
that way
toward God.
And yet, he
is patient
with us.
Ever loving.
Verse 13
goes on to
kind of work
some of this
out.
So what is that
going to look
like?
If we're going
to have these
kinds of
qualities and
characteristics,
what is this
going to look
like in our
dealing with
one another?
And Paul
says we are
to bear with
one another.
And if we have
a complaint against
another, that
we're to
forgive one
another.
We're to
bear with
one another.
And this
means that
it's going to
be challenging
to do this.
Paul's not
here promising
that you just
join a church
and it's easy.
It's all
wonderful and
everything is
slick.
That you're
never going
to have any
personality
conflict with
somebody else.
That you're
not going to
butt heads
over some
issue in
the church.
But here
we're to
bear with
one another.
And this is
a great
English
translation.
That idea
that comes
up in
our minds
of just
dealing with
somebody is
exactly what's
being communicated
here.
Because Christ
is all.
Because He's
redeemed the
souls of His
people, we
are to bear
with one
another.
We're to
work through
those challenges
of our
relationship
because Christ
is all.
Because He
loves His
church.
And as
such, so
are we.
Far too
many people
are looking
for the
peaceful
place to
go.
I have
been to
churches and
it just
makes me
sick the
false
kindness that
goes around
in those
churches.
It's just
fake and you
can feel the
tension in
the church.
The good
morning brother,
how are you?
And behind
the scenes a
person is
saying I
don't care
at all.
In fact,
it would
be okay with
me if you
went someplace
else.
There's a
bitterness that
broods in
a lot of
churches because
people just
don't like
one another.
And this is
not the
activity of a
person who
believes that
Christ is
all and
that He is
in all.
We're to
bear with
one another.
Turn to
Ephesians
chapter 4.
Beginning in
verse 1.
I
therefore,
a prisoner for
the Lord,
urge you to
walk in a
manner worthy
of the calling
to which you
have been
called because
of who you
are in
Christ.
Verse 2.
With all
humility and
gentleness,
with patience,
this sounds
familiar,
doesn't it?
Bearing with
one another
in love.
Eager to
maintain the
unity of the
Spirit in
the bond of
peace.
Catch what
Paul is saying
to us there,
that we have
a unity.
We have the
unity of the
Spirit because
Christ is all
and He is in
all.
Therefore,
we have a
unity.
This wonderful
commonality that
we all possess.
And yet,
we're to work.
We're supposed
to work that out.
We're supposed
to bear with
one another in
love.
We're supposed
to be eager
to maintain
that because
of what Christ
has done
for us.
So we're to
bear with one
another.
And if one
has a complaint
against another,
we're to forgive
each other.
You all don't
know that I
know most of
the things that
go on in our
church and
amongst our
people.
I don't step
into the middle
of many
situations because
it's honestly
just not my
place.
I like to let
you guys work
your stuff out
on your own.
I have heard
on many
occasions little
comments like,
oh, well,
he doesn't
really like
him.
That is not
okay in our
congregation.
Hear me
clearly saying to
you, it's not
okay for you
to live that
way.
When we have
sign-ups for
things, I know
that some of
you wait to
sign up to go
do something
because you
want to see
who else is
going to sign
up and whether
or not it's a
group of people
you really want
to hang out
with.
Not okay.
If you should
serve in a
particular way,
sign up and
show up and
figure it out.
Learn to get
along and to
love each other.
It'll be a work
I promise, but a
work worthwhile.
If someone has
offended you,
forgive them.
They may owe
you an apology,
but either way,
forgive them.
And why?
Because the
Lord has
forgiven us.
Paul gives
that to us as
the example
for why.
Forgiving each
other as the
Lord has
forgiven you,
so you also
must, and
that's imperative,
forgive.
Apparel to
this is Ephesians
4.32.
Be kind to
one another,
tenderhearted,
forgiving one
another as God
in Christ
forgave you.
You have
been forgiven
the highest
of offenses.
Eternal
offense.
A massive
weight.
An unpayable
debt has
been stricken
from your
record in
Christ.
You can
forgive somebody
the little
offense they
delivered in
the tone in
which they
said something.
Luke 7.47.
Jesus is
talking of the
woman who
comes in
and cries,
washes his
feet with
her tears,
and he
says,
but he
who has
forgiven
little
loves
little.
Beloved,
if you are
in Christ,
you have
been forgiven
much,
and therefore,
stating this
in the
positive,
we should,
it necessitates
that we
love much.
I want you
to hear me.
You're not
all easy
for me to
love.
I'm not
going to
tell you
who you
are,
but it's
just a
personality
thing sometimes.
Sometimes our
personalities rub
up against
each other.
I sometimes
don't have a
clue what to
say to
somebody.
I have
nothing to
say.
I fear
sometimes I
walk away
awkwardly
because I
don't know
what else
to say.
I'm just
talking and
then I
just go
and walk
away.
You're
not easy
to love,
but I
do love
you.
And I
do that
because it's
rooted in
the great
love that
God has
for me.
You are
His people.
And I
love the
things that
Jesus loves.
You are
all precious
to me
because you
are His.
In our
community
outreach groups,
we've been
studying through
the book of
Philippians
together.
And just
depending on
which evening
you meet.
Two weeks
ago for
some of
you,
just a
week ago
for others,
we looked at
Philippians 4,
verses 1-3.
I want you to
turn there real
quick.
I know a lot
of you are
familiar with
the text,
but I want you
to see it
just in case
you're not.
Maybe a little
obscure it seems.
You read past
it.
How many times
I've read right
through the book
of Philippians?
I read right
past verses
1-3.
Something very
important that
Paul is doing
here.
He writes,
Therefore,
my brothers,
whom I love
and long for,
my joy and
crown,
stand firm
thus in the
Lord,
my beloved.
I entreat
Euodia and
I entreat
Cintiq to
agree in the
Lord.
Yes,
I ask you
also,
true companion,
help these
women who
have labored
side by side
with me in
the gospel
together with
Clement and
the rest of
my fellow
workers whose
names are in
the book of
life.
And that was
our text for
that evening
to discuss
together.
And I got
the treat of
getting to
fill in and
lead a group.
And the
question I led
with was,
how would you
feel if on a
Sunday morning
I got up and
I called out
two of you
who I've heard
weren't getting
along too
well?
I just pointed
you out and
I said,
oh, and while
we're at it,
I encourage
the two of
you, work
it out.
Come on.
Quit causing
so many
problems.
And how that
would make you
feel.
This is what
Paul does.
Paul wrote a
letter to the
church at
Philippi.
It was meant
to be read
out loud.
It's exactly
what he does
here.
As he seems
to pause,
for some
reason,
why does
he do
this?
It must
have been
really important.
It must
have been
of great,
great importance.
And here's
the thing
that I want
you to see
is that he
gives this
exhortation to
stand firm
in the Lord
and then he
turns right
from that
and he says
of these two
Christian women,
he affirms that,
they've labored
alongside me,
these are good
people who
something is
causing this
rift between
them.
And he gives
this treatise,
this encouragement
to get along,
you two get
along because
this type
of disunity
is a danger
to the church
standing firm
together.
Do we as a
congregation
stand firm
the way we
should and
is it possible
that we don't
because there
are these
divisions amongst
us?
It's very
possible.
If you look
up in
Philippians
chapter 3,
Paul is
talking about
enemies of
the cross
of Christ
in verse
19,
he says
their end
is destruction.
Their God
is their belly
and they glory
in their shame
with minds
set on
earthly things.
Who they
are.
These people
over there,
but our
citizenship
is in heaven
and from it
we await
a Savior,
the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Christ is
all
to those
who have
placed faith
in Him.
And when we
properly
function out
of that
reality,
we ought
not have
division
amongst us.
We ought
to love
one another
the way we
should.
Verse 14
presses that
point.
And above
all these,
put on
love,
which binds
everything together
in perfect
harmony.
Our culture
says that love
is an intense
feeling of
deep affection.
affection.
It's primarily
about the
way we
feel towards
a person
or towards
a thing.
Christian love
certainly is a
deep affection,
but it's rooted
and sustained
by God's
unchanging
affection for
His people.
We love
the church,
we love each
other because
we love
Christ,
and this is
what Christ
loves.
And that
affection seeks
the highest
good of the
object of that
affection.
So let me
read that to
you without
my interruptions.
Christian love
is a deep
affection which
is rooted and
sustained by
God's unchanging
affection for
His people that
seeks the
highest good of
the object of
that affection.
This is
Christian love.
Doing so many
weddings really
has kept present
on my mind what
marriage is meant
to represent,
this relationship
between Christ
and His church
that someday
we'll be reunited
with Him.
And this is the
metaphor that's
used, right,
that we would
better understand
what it means
for His bride,
the church,
to be reunited
with Christ.
Right?
Not an
individual,
but the church.
You are a part
of the church.
Your salvation
is corporate.
Jesus died for
the sins of
the church.
And beloved,
language is
powerful and it
works its way
into our minds
and there's a
phrase that's
found nowhere
in the Scriptures
which is used
constantly and
commonly in
churches of these
days and that
is personal
relationship
with Jesus
Christ.
This is the
question asked
in an invitation.
Do you have
a personal
relationship with
Jesus Christ?
And there is an
element to that
certainly that I
must place faith
in Jesus.
That if He died
for the sins of
the church,
He certainly
died as dying
for the greater
for the lesser
as well.
For me as an
individual,
right?
I pray to Him.
His Spirit lives
within me.
There is a personal
element to it,
but the Scriptures
way further,
like in greater
balance,
talk about how
it is that we're
saved together.
A people set
apart.
We have to begin
thinking rightly
and properly
about that.
We have to love
what Jesus loves.
Turn with me
finally to 1 Corinthians
chapter 12.
We're almost done.
Amen.
If you love someone, to walk our text backwards.
If you love someone, you forgive them.
If you love them, you will bear with them.
Love generates in us compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
This is why Paul says, above all else, put on love.
Classic 1 Corinthians chapter 13.
I'm sorry that I didn't get you there before.
Let me start reading to you in verse 27.
The Corinthian church had a lot of conflict in it concerning gifts, concerning spiritual gifts.
And much of Paul's first letter to them addresses this issue.
Verse 27, now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
So these gifts that God has given to the church are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, do all work miracles, do all possess gifts of healing, do all speak with tongues, do all interpret,
but earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
So there's these gifts that are in operation.
And we won't get into the theology of that today.
Not worth it right now, because that's not ultimately the point.
He's saying we don't all have the same giftedness.
Seek the higher gifts.
But, and this phrase is so fascinating, and I will show you a still more excellent way.
I'm going to show you something better, greater, than the higher gifts that he's been referring to in the previous chapters.
This is not just a kitschy text to read at a wedding.
Verse 1,
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, I have a gift to speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love.
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers that understand all mysteries and all knowledge.
Just huge phrases, right?
And if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Here's this beautiful expression.
I couldn't explain it better than Paul does here.
Beginning in verse 4,
Love is patient and kind.
Love does not envy or boast.
It is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way.
It is not irritable or resentful.
It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.
As for prophecies, they will pass away.
As for tongues, they will cease.
As for knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child.
I thought like a child.
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
What he's saying is that all of these things, the operation of the church is a shadow.
It's pointing to Christ.
So when Christ comes, we'll fully get it.
So that stuff will no longer be of great necessity.
Verse 13, so now faith, hope, and love abide.
These three.
But the greatest of these is love.
So our main point today is that Christian people will be distinguished by the way they live in relation to one another.
And the defining characteristic will be love.
Jesus says in John 13, 35, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.
How do we show the world a primary way that we show the world that we treasure Christ?
First, we love each other.
We look different in that way from the rest of the world in the way we relate to one another.
In closing, I want to read to you a quote by a contemporary pastor named Arturo Azzerdia.
I call him Pastor Art because Azzerdia is hard to say.
He's the pastor of Trinity Church of Portland, Oregon.
I commend him to you.
Listen to Pastor Art's sermons.
They're wonderful.
He said this.
Let's suppose that a kite could come to life and develop its own personality.
On the one hand, it would feel the exhilaration that comes from the surges of wind that direct it through the sky.
On the other hand, it would almost immediately take notice of something annoying.
The tugging of the string at its center.
A feeling of constraint.
A resistance.
Consumed, the kite begins to think to itself,
If only I could detach.
Then I could really fly.
To the kite you see, it seems that the string is limiting its full experience of freedom.
But as any boy or girl who has ever flown a kite knows,
Were that string to suddenly snap, the kite wouldn't soar freely for very long.
It would dart to and fro for a minute, maybe two,
But very soon thereafter would end up on the ground in a pile of broken sticks and torn paper,
Never ever to fly again.
Rather, you see, it is the taut line between the kite and the one holding it that enables the kite to fly,
That allows all the principles of aerodynamics to come into play,
So that the kite might achieve its full purpose.
Christian love performs the very same function as a kite string.
You take away the stabilizing force of Christian love,
And every towering gift, every supernatural power,
Every sacrificial act,
Every musical performance,
You name it, friends,
It will all end up on the ash heap of eternal insignificance without love.
Let's pray together.