Paul writes,
Since then you have been raised with Christ.
Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Now put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature.
Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived.
But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these.
Anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Verse 9,
And do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices,
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge, in the image of its creator.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for your word, your word that we know is true.
We confess, Lord, that we have failed at least once in most of these sins that Paul just listed.
And yet we acknowledge how gracious you've been towards us.
That you have sent Christ.
That you have saved us through His work.
That you have imputed His righteousness to us.
And those of us who call you Lord and Savior have a life that is hidden in Christ.
A life which is Christ.
We thank you for these truths.
We ask that you would apply them to our lives and sow this truth deep in our hearts today.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Well, why do we sin?
And how do we stop?
That's our question here this morning.
Why do we sin?
And how do we stop?
I mean, we just read God's word in which Paul essentially said,
Stop sinning.
He's speaking to a church in Colossae in the first century.
He says, Put your sins to death.
Stop sinning.
And I don't think any of us would really disagree with this command.
I don't think any of us really want to keep on sinning.
But the reality is that we do.
And this was true for the church in Colossae.
And it's true for us today.
And I have to say that globally, we as Christians, to a large degree,
have failed in our well-meant efforts to equip each other to wage war against sin.
And here's what I mean by that.
Typically, today, as well as throughout history,
the approach to getting people to do what is right is telling them in a very loud, angry, threatening,
maybe pulpit-pounding voice,
Don't do what is wrong.
Stop sinning.
We've operated under the assumption that if we portray the terrible consequences of sin
in sufficiently graphic and revolting terms,
then maybe we'll succeed in motivating the human heart to turn from it.
Now, I'm not suggesting that sin doesn't have terrible and devastating consequences.
It does.
Nor am I suggesting that we cease telling people to stop sinning
or that we turn down the urgency with which we warn them
that has to be a part of our understanding of our lives in Christ.
But if all we bring to bear against the incredibly powerful allure of self-indulgence
is a just-say-no campaign,
then we don't stand much of a chance against sin.
And so I think we need to pause and ask,
why do we sin?
And I would argue,
we enjoy it.
At least in the moment.
In the moment,
sin usually feels good.
In the moment.
What did Eve see in the garden?
She saw that the fruit was good.
It looked good.
It was desirable.
It was pleasing.
Again, I would argue that sin appears good.
It feels good in the moment.
And really, nobody would do it otherwise.
I doubt you have had to sin out of duty.
If you know what I mean.
I doubt you've had to wake up in the morning and look at your list of to-do and go,
oh, I better add some sin just in case I forget to sin.
It's probably not something you have to focus on.
It just happens.
Again, I would say it's because it feels good.
And the Bible consistently holds the same view of why we do what we do,
and that is that we typically only do what we want to do.
We only do what we desire.
I'm not saying we only do what we like or wish or prefer.
There's a difference because you can make someone do something under coercion, right?
So if someone holds you at a knife point and demands your money,
your desire to live will outweigh your desire for money.
And so even though you don't want to give them your money,
you will out of your desire to stay alive.
Everything we do flows from our hearts.
And the bottom line is this.
When faced with temptation,
the immediate gratification of sin will almost always triumph over the fear of its long-term consequences.
If we're really honest with ourselves,
the immediate gratification of sin will almost always triumph over our fear of its long-term consequences.
And I would propose that the best way to defeat the power of sin's promise of pleasure
is by faith in God's promises of superior pleasures.
In other words, the only way to fight the pleasures of sin
is to be so reoriented to the gospel that our desires rise above our sinful desires of this world.
And that's Paul's main point in the passage today.
His main idea is that our pleasure in our promised future with God
is the power for our purity in this life.
And I'll say it's one of the powers for our purity in this life.
That is our pleasure in the promised future,
our promised future with God,
is one of the powers for our purity in this life.
And this is Paul's goal as stated in verses 5-10.
He says he wants to see us Christians put to death, therefore,
whatever belongs to our earthly nature.
And then he lists out some sins.
And in verse 6 he says,
because of these sins, the wrath of God is coming.
Verse 7, you used to walk in these ways.
And he's speaking to Christians.
You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived.
But now you must rid yourself of all such things.
Anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Verse 9, do not lie to each other,
since you've taken off your old self with its practices.
And put on the new self,
which is being renewed in the knowledge and the image of its creator.
In a nutshell, Paul wants to see purity in the church in Colossae.
He wants to see purity in all of Christ's churches.
That's the goal, is to have churches that are pure.
And I think most of us would agree
that we don't want these lists of sins to define who we are.
Again, I doubt we wake up in the morning and go,
oh, I can't wait to just be an angry, vengeful, malicious person today.
I doubt as Christians we wake up in the morning and go,
I can't wait to go slander somebody.
We want to be pure.
We want to be rid of our sin nature.
But how?
How do we truly wage war against sin?
Paul proposes that one of the ways in which we do this
is we find ourselves looking forward to our promised future with God.
And this is what he does in verses 1-4.
He gives us the foundations, the weapons, if you will, to wage this war.
In verse 1 he says,
Since you have been raised with Christ,
set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Some translations might say,
Seek the things above.
It's find your desires in Christ, in God, in our future with Him.
Verse 2,
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
It's interesting to note, even Paul recognizes,
our minds will typically follow our hearts.
Set your hearts on things above,
and then think and dwell upon heaven.
Set your minds on things above.
Verse 3,
Recognize there is more than our life here on earth.
Your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
The life we are living is but a shadow of our true life,
which is hidden in God,
which in verse 4 he says,
is Christ.
When Christ who is our life appears,
then we also will appear with Him in glory.
In short,
our pleasure in our promised future with God
is the power for our purity in this life.
Now there's an old saying that says,
you can be so heavenly minded
that you're no earthly good.
Have you heard that saying?
You can be so heavenly minded
that you are no earthly good.
And let me tell you,
I couldn't disagree more with that saying.
I absolutely disagree with that.
In fact,
I would argue that most Christians
are nowhere near as heavenly minded
as we should be.
Just think to yourself for a moment,
when is the last time
I seriously sat down
and considered my future life,
which is hidden in Christ,
with God,
eternal life in paradise?
What does Jesus say
to one of the thieves next to Him on the cross?
Today you will be with me in paradise.
If we're honest with ourselves,
we rarely sit down
and set our hearts
and our minds on things above.
I would guess that none of us
are truly at risk
of being so heavenly minded
we are no earthly good.
C.S. Lewis once said,
in history you will find
that the Christians
who did the most
for this present world
were those who thought the most
about the world to come.
That they were so fixed
on where life was truly headed.
The Pilgrim's Progress
gives a great snapshot of this in a story.
It's a reason
it's a best selling book still.
Again, in history you'll find
the Christians who did the most
for this present world
were those who thought
the most about the world to come.
And so I would argue
it is utterly impossible
to be so heavenly minded
that we are no earthly good.
Because the Bible teaches
and Paul just taught right here
that in order to be
any sort of earthly good
we must become
absolutely heavenly minded.
we must set our hearts
and our minds
on things above
where Christ
who is our life
has our life
hidden with God.
The more heavenly minded
we are
the more earthly good
we will be.
That is,
the more we delight in God
the more we delight
in where He dwells
and the place
that He is preparing for us
and the eternal life
that we are promised
that we will live
in Christ
then the more we are
stirred by these realities
the more our affections
are caught up
in the world to come
the more our thoughts
are captivated by heaven
and then the more
we will naturally do
what Paul commands us to
in verses 5-10
the more we will
naturally begin
to put to death
the things of this world
namely our earthly natures.
And so today
I just want to spend
a little bit of time
looking up
and looking forward
if we could.
And I am just going to go through
a few attributes of God
and this is how I have learned
to study heaven
is to look at
an attribute of God
in a way that
He has explained Himself
to us
and then recognize
that when we say heaven
we mean
the world to come
or the new earth
and that in that
world to come
God will dwell with us
and because of
who He is
we can expect
heaven to be
certain things.
We are just going to look
at three of them today
and then Wednesday night
we will look at a few more
because I firmly believe
that the best way to do
what Paul has said to do
in verses 5-10
which is
what all of us want to do
is to do what he says
in verses 1-4
to set our hearts
and our minds
on things above.
So first
I want us to see
that God is holy
God is holy
so heaven will be
without sin
God is holy
so heaven will be
without sin
and we have seen
a few times already
in the letter of Colossians
that God is holy
Colossians 1-2
Paul is writing
to God's holy people
God's holy people
are holy
because they belong to Him
we have been
made holy
in Christ
verse 12
of Colossians 1
he has qualified us
that is His holy people
to share in the inheritance
of His holy people
in the kingdom of light
Colossians 1-22
we have been
reconciled
by Christ's
physical body
which we will celebrate
in the Lord's Supper
later on today
through death
so that we might be
presented
holy
in God's sight
God is a
holy God
we are His
holy people
and therefore to dwell
in His presence
will be to live
life in a world
that is absolutely
without sin
I don't know if you've ever
just thought about that
for any amount of time
it can be life changing
if you just think
what is life on planet Earth
like without sin
I think we would all agree
there's good stuff
on planet Earth
there's beauty
all around us
my goodness
Ireland
it's gorgeous
I thought San Diego
was pretty
I came to Ireland
I dread going back
to Southern California
how weird is that
it's gorgeous
there's beauty
relationships
are beautiful
food tastes good
there's so many
good things here
in this life
on this Earth
yet
there's sin
all around us
I made a special effort
this week
to watch the news
every day
and read more news
than I would usually read
and it's just depressing
oh it's awful
two shootings
in America
this week
23 people killed
this week
because of anger
and rage
and malice
lives that have been
turned upside down
because of sin
the immorality
around us
the greed
can you imagine
doing business
in a world
where there's no greed
can you imagine
walking streets
where people aren't
harboring anger
I think of traveling
every time we go
through those ridiculous
security checkpoints
and they're good
we need them
why do we need
security everywhere
because we live
in a fallen world
you know we're told
that God is holy
and we're told
in Revelation 21
and in 22
that in the new Jerusalem
nothing unclean
will enter
no evil
no darkness
will be allowed
to be in God's presence
because God is holy
and so life
in the world to come
will be without sin
that alone
will be shocking
it will be absolutely shocking
to see ourselves
without sin
to know ourselves
without sin
to know others
without sin
getting in the way
and that's the second thing
I want us to look at
is God is triune
He's a trinity
and so heaven will be lived
life lived
in perfect community
God is a triune God
He exists as three in one
He's truly one God
truly Father
truly Son
truly Spirit
and if you have a difficult time
understanding that
that's okay
the Bible says
that's the truth
it's hard to wrap
our heads around
I've tried to explain it
to my kids
at least a hundred times
usually I end up
more confused than them
and I'm going
okay
so it's one God
and it's truly Father
and truly Son
and truly Spirit
and truly one God
and yeah
that's just what the Bible says
it's hard to wrap our minds around
but the important thing
to grasp in there
is that God has always
eternally existed
and will always
eternally exist
within perfect community
within Himself
we saw in Colossians 1-3
we saw that Paul says
we thank God the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ
so we see the Father and Son
and then in Colossians 1-8
we are told that
Epaphras has told Paul
of the Colossians
love in the Spirit
so we see Father
Son
Spirit
it's proclaimed
all throughout
all throughout Scripture
Old Testament
New Testament
you can't get away
from this fact
God exists in
perfect community
with Himself
He didn't create us
because He was lonely
but He did create us
to live like Him
in community
and we see in Genesis 1-2
that man and woman
before their sin
they're in perfect union
they're unclothed
and unashamed
they're not fighting
against each other
they're not blaming
each other
they're not trying
to outdo each other
and that they're told
to be fruitful
and multiply
that God's plan
is for His people
to inhabit planet Earth
in perfect relationship
and He sets the example
for what that's like
by existing Himself
in perfect community
and so when we think
about the world to come
we can look back
at original creation
and we can look up
at God
and we can go
God exists in perfect community
He created us
to exist in perfect relationships
without sin between us
and then we can look forward
and go
heaven's going to be
perfect relationships
with no sin between us
and I think of meals together
with friends
and relatives
who've passed before us
with saints of old
sometimes I'll get so caught up
thinking about
who I can't wait
to go for a walk with
in heaven
I'll forget that I'm here
on earth at times
and I think about
some of these guys
that we read
or some of these ladies
in scripture
that are just
we would say
heroes of the faith
and we'll get to
spend eternal life
with them
in perfect relationship
with Christ Himself
in perfect relationships
Anthony Hockman says
God's plan for relationships
does not stop
on the new earth
it continues
He doesn't abandon
His purposes
He extends
and fulfills them
relationships begun
or even hope to have begun
on earth
will continue in heaven
getting richer
and more close
than ever
Jonathan Edwards says
every Christian friend
that goes before us
from this world
is a ransom spirit
waiting to welcome us
in heaven
there will be the child
of our youth
that we've lost below
through grace
to be found above
in heaven
our relationships
with our Christian fathers
and mothers
and wives
and children
and husbands
and friends
which was interrupted
by death
here shall be commenced
again
in the upper sanctuary
and shall never end
and the template
for life
in perfect community
is God Himself
who exists eternally
in perfect community
and in heaven
we will get to experience
relationships
at a level
that we cannot even fathom
I know Cassie and I
have thoroughly enjoyed
getting to know
Karageline Baptist Church
and we've had meals
with some of you
we've had small group
with some of you
we've gone on hikes
and literally climbed mountains
with some of you
and it's just been a blast
to get to know you guys
and there's part of me
that looks forward
to September
like I said
and goes
I don't want to go back
to Southern California
I feel like I have this
whole new family
that I'm just getting to know
and I can look forward
to heaven though
and go
we'll just pick up
right where we left off
and our relationships
will be more rich
and more deep
because there will not be sin
between us anymore
so God is holy
heaven will be
without sin
God is triune
heaven will be
life lived
in perfect community
and then I want us to see
that God is a personal God
therefore in heaven
we will be perfectly known
God is a personal God
therefore in heaven
we will be perfectly known
Colossians 3
3-4
for you died
and your life
is now hidden
with Christ
in God
when Christ
who is your life
appears
then you also
will appear
with him
in glory
at some point
Jesus Christ
will return
in person
it's not some sort of
mythical
or magical thing
Christ himself
will descend
from heaven
in person
and then we too
who are Christians
will exist with him
in person
in glory
and our glorified bodies
we will be more
truly ourselves
than we have ever been
we will truly know
ourselves
better than we know
ourselves now
and we will truly know
that we are truly known
we kind of get it
right now
but we don't
truly
understand
yet
maybe
maybe you could ask
have I ever felt
misunderstood
or I felt like
someone didn't
completely
just get me
and I can say
yeah
I have
so many times
I felt
so misunderstood
and I think
if you only knew me
if you just
really knew me
you would know
that's not who I am
or that's
not what I thought
about you
if you think
I felt misunderstood
before
you're probably right
you probably weren't
totally understood
because even
in our relationships
with each other
and even trying
to get to know
ourselves
sin is still
in the way
still in the way
and so we're left
in this life
often feeling
unknown
misunderstood
and misrepresented
in the world
to come
we will dwell
with God
who knows us
more truly
than we can
ever imagine
and recognizing
that God
knows us
more truly
than we can
ever imagine
I think
we will be
shocked
to see
how truly
He loves us
each of us
individually
scripture says
not a
not a flower
fades
or not a
hair falls off
a head
and God
doesn't know it
He knows us
intimately
and deeply
and even sin
right now
gets in the way
of our ability
to understand
how true
God's knowledge
is of each
of us
I love in
Revelation 2
it says that
that God
has a name
written on a stone
for each of us
that only He knows
I always think
of that like a
like a personal
nickname
that will
perfectly
describe you
I've noticed
that when people
refer to me
in different ways
they know me
in different ways
you've probably
noticed that too
if someone
calls me
Alan
they know me
better than
the person
that just says
hey dude
or hey guy
if someone
calls me
Alan
Giles
I know
they don't
really know
me
because it's
Giles
right
so when I
answer the phone
and say
is Mr.
Giles there
I say
you're a
telemarketer
you don't
know me
if someone
calls me
Pastor Alan
and the states
will use
titles a little
bit more
so if someone
calls me
Pastor Alan
I know that
I've shepherded
them
there's a
relationship
there that's
different
my family
I'll trust
you with a
secret
my family
calls me
Bubba
just my
close family
and they're
not being
goofy like I
know some
of you will
do later
on in the
next month
but if
someone says
hey Bubba
I know that
they know
me much
more intimately
they're a
brother or
sister or
one of my
wife's brothers
or sisters
or a very
close friend
someone says
daddy
well I know
it's one of
my children
that's a
different
relationship
and in
Revelation 2
it says
God has a
name for us
that only he
knows
and again
I just
imagine
it's the
name that
most truly
describes who
we are
that when
God
looks at us
and speaks
to us
and calls
us by
name
we will
instantly
recognize
this
God
knows
me
he gets
me
and yet
he still
loves me
and as
we understand
how much
God gets
us and
knows us
and loves
us we
will truly
be who
we are
we'll begin
to take
off the
masks
that we
wear
throughout
the weeks
God is
a personal
God
and in
heaven we
will be
perfectly
known
we'll be
known
we'll know
that we
are known
and loved
and I'll
just say
these are
just a
glimpse of
heaven
it's just
a glimpse
of what
Paul says
to set
our hearts
and our
minds
on
it's a
glimpse of
what's
truly
waiting
for us
but it's
what Paul
calls us
to dwell
on
it's what
Paul calls
us to
to be a
people who
whose minds
and hearts
are flooded
with these
thoughts
and these
desires
and that
these desires
for this
life with
this God
will push
out our
earthly
desires
as I
set my
heart
and my
mind
on things
above
where
Christ
is
seated
as I
remember
who I
am in
Christ
as I
dwell
on the
life
that he's
bringing
me
into
I
find
that I'm
just
propelled
through
this
life
and this
is the
hope that
we have
before us
as
Christians
let me
just ask
do you
believe
this
do you
believe
these
things
if you
don't
believe
this
if you
don't
believe
that
your
life
is
hidden
with
Christ
who
is
your
Lord
and
Savior
then I
have to
be honest
with you
this
life
is the
best
thing
you
have
to
look
forward
to
if your
faith
is not
in
Christ
then
this
sin
filled
world
these
broken
relationships
this
life
in which
you
might
not
ever
truly
be
known
by
any
other
human
being
is
all
we
have
to
look
forward
to
if
we
don't
have
Christ
and
if
we're
honest
it's
all
we
deserve
without
Christ
this
life
would
be
all
we
deserve
we've
perpetuated
sin
we're
all
guilty
we've
broken
relationships
with other
people
we haven't
been
perfect
in our
relationships
we've
failed
to truly
see
others
as
God
sees
us
we
have
forgotten
that
each
of
us
were
individually
knit
together
by
God
each
of
us
bear
his
reflection
the
image
of
God
and
each
of
us
has
an
eternal
soul
which
he
desires
to
have
with
him
in
paradise
forever
the
amazing
thing
about
the
gospel
or
the
good
news
of
life
in
Christ
is
that
there
is
hope
beyond
this
life
and
there
is
hope
for
this
life
because
if
you
just
try
to
do
what
Paul
said
in
verses
5-10
and you
just
try to
wrestle
your
sin
nature
to the
ground
it
might
work
for a
bit
it's
going to
come back
and get
you
and the
only hope
we truly
have
in this
life
is to
continue
to fix
our
minds
on the
hope
that we
have
in the
world
to
come
the
hope
that
we
have
seated
above
in our
life
which is
in
Christ
forever
his
plan
is
that
someday
there
will
be
no
more
sin
to
contend
with
no
more
broken
relationships
no
more
misunderstanding
of
who
we
are
nothing
but
eternal
life
in the
presence
of
God
it
is
the
unstoppable
plan
of
God
it
is
where
history
is
headed
someday
when we
speak
of
paradise
it
won't
be
something
we
hope
to
experience
or
something
that
we're
having
to
set
our
hearts
or
minds
on
but
something
that
we
are
currently
enjoying
and
life
will
be
radically
different
and
I
truly
believe
what
Paul
says
here
in
Colossians
3
that
as
we
set
our
hearts
on
these
things
as
we
set
our
minds
on
these
things
this
future
with
this
God
then
our
old
self
it
just
simply
won't
fit
anymore
we
will
naturally
see
it
put
to
death
and
shed
from
us
and
it
won't
ever
be
perfect
in
this
life
you
are
not
going
to
perfectly
conquer
sin
Christ
has
done
that
you
won't
be
perfectly
sanctified
he
has
imputed
his
perfect
righteousness
to
us
but
he
offers
us
the
hope
of
a
promised
future
with
him
in
paradise
and
that
is
the
power
for
our
purity
in
this
life
we
set
our
hearts
and
our
minds
on
things
above
and
as
we
do
so
we
will
be
renewed
in
the
image
of
our
creator
so
I
encourage
you
this
week
this
month
as
you
work
through
the
year
as
you
have
time
as
you
have
things
to
think
about
set
your
hearts
on
things
above
set
your
minds
on
things
above
think
about
who
God
is
and
what
it
will
be
like
to
dwell
with
him
forever
let's
pray