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Guest (Male): With the Bible's sure-fire remedy to our sinful passions and desires, here's pastor Tom Keller.

Thom Keller: Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. I've said this before. It's been said many times. Every single issue in your life, relational, addiction, lust, pride could be rectified by you attending one good funeral, your own. Put the old man to death.

Guest (Male): Sin, why do we do it even when we don't want to? Why is it such a struggle to obey what we know is right? Or put another way, why do we find it so easy to sin? Well, there are answers and a remedy on this issue of sin, and we'll explore them among other things on today's edition of Study the Word with pastor Tom Keller. From Colossians chapter 3, here's pastor Tom.

Thom Keller: G. K. Chesterton said this. Listen, this is so good. There are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more, and the other is to desire less. Isn't that good? There are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more, and the other is to desire less. And do you know how to be successful in desiring less? Here it is. You think less about this world. You think less about the awards, the accolades, the power, the prestige. And instead, you think more about the rewards in heaven, the bema seat. Going on, Colossians 3:3.

For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ who is your life is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Now what does Paul mean when he says your life is hidden with Christ? He again is speaking of the exchanged life. We looked at this two weeks ago. Of this, a commentator McLaren says this. Christians enjoy a most real and close relationship with Jesus Christ, so that in his death, we die to sin and the world. And that even while we do live the bodily life of men here, we have in us another life derived from Jesus.

Unless our Christianity has grasped that great truth, it has not risen to the height of New Testament teaching and Christian privilege. We speak much about Christ as our sacrifice as we should, but some of us make too little of Christ our life, and thereby fail to take in all of life's fullness available to us. He goes on and says union with Christ through the possession of his life in us and the consequence of rooting our lives in him is a truth with which much of the evangelical Christianity of this day needs to see more clearly.

He ends by saying the practical outcome of our blessed union with Jesus is that we are to turn away from the world, which is no longer our home, and set our mind on the things above. Surely the Christ seated on the right hand of God will be as a magnet to us to draw our hearts and minds upward to himself. Surely our union with him in his death will lead us to die to this world, which is alien to us. and to live in aspiration, thought, desire, love, and obedience with him in his calm abode above.

Christ living in me. You know I was thinking this week, when I drive my car, I get frustrated with other drivers. Like, why did that guy pull out in front of me? Can't he see I'm going fast? And then he slows down 20 mph slower than I'm going. And I'm thinking, you could have saved both of us a lot of frustration if you just would have waited. You know, now I'm I don't do gestures in my car. I don't. Do I do gestures in my car? I don't gestures in my car. And I don't yell out the window, do I?

No. But see I used to think I got special credit for not saying things. I only thought them. But then I realized to my great sadness that Jesus read you and was in your head. And so I'm busted. But I thought, you know, I want Christ to live in me. And I thought I should tell Sue. I haven't told you this yet. I'm not sure I want you to do this yet. You listen first. I thought when I get angry in the car and I and I say something to her, she should say to me out loud, well, there goes Jesus.

There went Jesus. He just left. You're back, Tom. You're back. You're back. You can do that. I think. We'll talk. Let's hope Jesus hears that and not me. I do mean that. Verse 2 and 3. Says think about the things of heaven, not the things on earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And then Paul moves on to speaking of our time of reward in heaven in verse 4. He says this. And when Christ who is your life is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

Now says when Christ appears, you will also appear with him in glory. Now when does this take place? When does Christ appear to the whole world and we appear with him? Well, commentators are split on this. Some say it takes place at the rapture at the beginning of the seven years of tribulation. That will happen. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 speaking of the rapture says, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive, who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. We will meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. And so we will appear with him in the air at that time. Others say that Paul is referring here to Christ's second coming, which is at the end of the seven years of tribulation. We find this in Revelation 19:11. At the end of the seven years, I saw heaven open, and a white horse was standing there.

Its rider was named Faithful and True, Jesus. He judges fairly and wages a righteous war. He's going to war. Zechariah 14 picks up at this point and tells what happens next. Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as he fought it in times past. On that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. That's how he arrives to the earth at his second coming.

His feet touch down on the Mount of Olives. And then back to Revelation, finishing this out it says and the armies of heaven dressed in the finest of pure white linen followed him on white horses. Who is riding those white horses, folks? We are. That's right. We come back with him. We are going to appear in his glory. So again, Paul could be referring to one of those two, maybe both of those. But you will be in that army. The bottom line is either way, you're going to appear with Christ in his glory. And then going on to a verse 4 in the ESV.

When Christ who is your life appears then you will also appear with him in glory. Now we've seen in the first four verses of chapter 3, they're all focused on heaven. Now in verse 5, Paul suddenly shifts his view back to earth. Verse 5. So put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still a part of the world, but now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.

Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature with all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Now this starts out by Paul saying we are to put to death our old man. The King James says mortify your members. And Greek the word for mortify is and it means to make dead, to put to death, to slay, to be worn out like an old impotent man, to deprive of power, to destroy the strength of.

So how do you do that? How do we mortify the flesh? How do we put make the old man dead? We've talked about this before, but we find the answer so clearly in Galatians 5:24. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. I've said this before. It's been said many times. Every single issue in your life, relational, addiction, lust, pride could be rectified by you attending one good funeral, your own. Put the old man to death. Let me prove it to you. Paul goes on to give us a list of things that you and I are to die to.

Verse 5. Put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature, the old man, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Now that's some list. And how can you tell that Paul is spot on here? Because 2,000 years later, this is exactly what our sin-sick world around us is chasing after and screaming for more. Listen, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed. Anybody challenge that? Anybody say that that list is outdated, antiquated, no longer applies? And we all know how that story ends. Eating that apple, it is not a pretty ending.

And how are we to deal with this? Verse 5 says it so clearly. Put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality. Don't be greedy. Have nothing to do with the the earthly things. Put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Put to death. Listen, here's a picture. I said this two weeks ago, but if I take a man who has struggled with an addiction and he's been dead for three days and rigor mortis has set in and I prop him up against that pillow right there and I put a tray in front of him with $1,000 worth of drugs of his choice he will not look at that tray.

He will not touch that tray. He won't move toward that tray. Why? Because he's

Guest (Male): Dead.

Thom Keller: He's dead. Dead men don't reach. Dead men don't look. Dead men don't desire. You say, well, the difference is that guy's eyes no longer work. Mine do. Okay, but here's the key. When you are living the exchanged life who is looking at that woman, that car, that house, that drug alley? Jesus is looking at it. And what does Jesus see? Something he has no interest in. When I surrendered my life to Christ in my early 30s, it was late fall and in the spring of the year, it rolled around and I began to think about going to the shore and surfing again.

And my heart was sensitive to God, very sensitive to God, and I thought, wow, how's this going to work? You know, cuz there's flesh everywhere at the shore. Well, God gave me these verses in Job. Job 31:1 it says, I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman. Gentlemen, I would encourage you to pick up that verse, make a covenant with your eyes not to look at lust with a young woman. And then the penalty of that makes you gulp. Job 31, same chapter, 10 verses later, for lust is a shameful sin.

Listen, I want to say this. If you ever hear yourself saying excusing your sin by saying, that's just the way I am listen for that. Listen for those words. I'm just the way I am. You know what you're doing? You're excusing away your sin as unchangeable because this is my nature. That is not your nature. That's your old nature. It is not your new nature. It is not your new nature. If you hear your Don't judge others. But if you hear yourself ever say that's just the way I am you hear what you just said and reverse course.

For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished. It is a fire that burns all the way to hell. It would wipe out everything I know. I think King David knew that. Don't you think he did? It is a fire that burns all the way to hell. It would have wiped out everything I own, everything I've done. And second, I asked Jesus when I went to the shore to crucify my flesh and asked Jesus to be my life for him to look out of my eyes instead of me. And folks, I remember that it was amazing.

It was actually absolutely amazing that I didn't see what I used to see. It was very different. It was the exchanged life. Folks, this works. I said it before. It works. And it's worth noting what made it to the top of Paul's list. God's list really Did you ever think about this? They're all sexual sin plus greed. In fact, most of the New Testament lists of sin are primarily sexual sin. The point don't be quick to dismiss any area of sexual sin in your life based upon what you think your very limited involvement in it is compared to what others are involved in, compared to the world says is normal.

It's not the greed. And this is not a small matter to God. Listen what he says in verse 6. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. God's wrath comes upon children of disobedience. You might ask, so if I sin, God's wrath is going to fall on me? I thought 1 Thessalonians says this. For God has not destined us for wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. But here, Paul says in verse 6 on account of these things, the wrath of God is coming. Well, the wrath of God is coming but not upon those who are saved.

A commentator Gill says this about this quote, these are those who are disobedient both to the law of God and the gospel of Christ who are unbelievers in him, are rebellious and reject his calls to come to Christ and the persuasions of his ministers. They reject their counsels and will have none of God's reproof. This is the reason why such who have life in Christ should mortify, repress, and abstain from the above sins. For though this wrath pertains to ungodly persons, yet the effects of God's wrath on the unsaved show how much these sins are displeasing to God and detested by him and therefore are to be avoided by the saints.

Now next we're going to pick up in verse 7 and look at anger and rage, slander, dirty language. But how does the day's lesson apply to me? Number one, this is a constant theme that Paul continues to take us back to. Keep your eyes on the prize. You're not home yet. I don't care what you're going through. You're not home yet. I don't care how bad it is. You're not home yet. You're not home yet. Keep your eyes in heaven where you will be seated. In fact, you are already seated in the highest place of honor off his right hand.

You say I don't deserve that. Of course we don't deserve that. That's what grace is, right? Receiving what we do not deserve. Him being treated the way we deserve to be treated so we could be treated the way he deserves to be treated. How unfair is that? Number two, remember your life is hidden in Christ. A reminder once again to live the exchanged life. I no longer live but

Guest (Male): Christ lives in me.

Thom Keller: Christ lives in me. Let that be more than just words to you. Let that be your life, your life, your life daily, daily. Do I sound like a broken record on this one? Good. Good. I want to sound like a broken record on this one. We learn by repetition. And third, the natural outcome of successfully doing this is verse 5. Put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Put to death the outcome of Christ lurking in you. You put to death the earthly sinful things lurking within you. You will want nothing to do with sexual sin, with impurity, with lust, with greed, and shameful desires.

Now this is one way you can try to do it, this next picture. Blinders. But that doesn't change your heart. Here's the better way. I've been crucified with Christ. In fact, it's the only way. Die daily. Put the old man to death daily. So as we close in prayer, I'd like to hone in on sexual sin. After the first service, a man left here in his early 40s and he said, I struggled with pornography since I was 8 years old and it was a struggle. And he said, but one day I picked up my Bible and I went to three separate sections in my Bible.

I just looked it I just happened happened to turn to the page and they all dealt with crucifying the flesh. And he said, that day I got victory and I've had victory since that day. Folks, this is real. This is real. This is real.

Guest (Male): It's real indeed. So you can pray in faith confident God will hear. Speaking of prayer, our teacher pastor Tom Keller will be right back to lead us. So stay with us. Would you like to give this a second listen? Either go to our website at ccleb.com or visit our YouTube page. Simply subscribe to our channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon, and you can watch our services live or on demand. That includes this series in Colossians. For those interested in a CD copy, call 717 273 5633. Once again, that's 717 273 5633. Study the Word is listener supported.

With your help, we're able to reach thousands of people all over the world. Please consider sending in a gift today, and you can give online at ccleb.com or call 717 273 5633. Or if you prefer to write, jot down this address. Study the Word 740 Willow Street, Lebanon, Pennsylvania 17046. And we also want to invite you to join us for a Sunday service either in person or online. For more information or to watch the live stream, visit ccleb.com or again go to our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon. Now to conclude our time together by leading us in prayer, here's pastor Tom once again.

Thom Keller: Father, I would I would have those blinders on if I didn't think there weren't a lot of people in this room, on the radio watching on the internet that struggle with sexual sin with pornography. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that you would give us victory in these areas, not by us toughing it out, not by us working hard in the flesh to say no. That doesn't work. We all know that doesn't work. But instead, Father God, that we would allow you to live your resurrected life in us as we put that old man with those passions and desires and interests to death.

And that instead, it would be you, Lord Jesus Christ that looks through these eyes. It would be you, Lord Jesus, that makes the decision what you will click on and will not click on. It's all you. And Lord, if if we're successful in this, it's going to be a whole different life. Father, thank you for the victory you've given us in Christ Jesus, not only in his death, but also in his resurrection. If you're listening on the radio and you've never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, that's the starting point. If you'd like to do that, I just encourage you to pray this prayer right now.

Lord Jesus, I ask you to forgive me for my many many sins. And I do receive Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. You dying on that cross so that my sins could be forgiven, and I believe. I believe. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Thank you for doing the work to deliver me from this wretched life that I live, as Paul said. Thank you, Jesus. Now help us to live lives that honor you that we would find ourselves longing for that day to be seated by your right hand in that place of honor.

We love you, Lord. We praise you. We ask this in Christ's name and all of God's people said

Guest (Male): Amen.

Thom Keller: Amen.

Guest (Male): And amen. If you've prayed with pastor Tom to receive the Lord and his help, would you let us know? It would be a great encouragement. This is Study the Word, a presentation of Calvary Chapel Lebanon, Pennsylvania.