Put on the New Self

Father, at this time, we invite those of us who are here and those who are entering into

worship as part of our online community, we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do

a gentle but wonderful work in our hearts and help us to do what we want to do in our

best moments but can't do in and of our own self without the help of your Holy Spirit.

So, Father, we give permission, full and unreserved permission for you to rule in our hearts and speak into our hearts.

And we ask that you would do that this morning, that this, your word, would be brought deep into the very center of who we are

so that we might live lives that bring you great glory.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, you don't want to go too far with analogies like this, but it's just like God to do certain types of things.

So, I'm going to be preaching on the Colossians text, and in the Colossians text you heard about how we have to put on compassion.

I shouldn't say that as if I'm making fun of it, but, well, compassion, meekness, humility, forgiveness.

And it sort of struck me, actually, yesterday, because, as my wife will very properly tell you, I can be very, very thick.

But it really struck, came home to me yesterday.

But it sort of came to me all week that it's just like God that in a week where every day I'm thinking about how to preach on putting on compassion, meekness, forgiveness,

that every single day this week I was involved in low-level conflict.

Like, every single day.

It's just like God.

That it wasn't as if I'm going to preach on, you know, compassion and showing mercy.

And so, this week, I don't know, I was at a cottage, just my wife.

Every day was better than the day before.

We were just lovey, lovey, lovey all the time.

And then I'd get up to come here on Sunday, and I'd get to say, oh, we all have to put on compassion and mercy and meekness and forgiveness.

And off we go, and I'd do it without having had to really struggle with it.

But actually, it's just like God.

Every single day this week, I was involved in low-level conflict.

Every day, I kept bringing to myself, one moment, I'm supposed to be putting on compassion while I'm dealing with this bleepity, bleepity, bleepity, bleep,

which is my flesh speaking, by the way, not the way a Christian should speak.

So, it's just like God.

That's what my week has been like.

Anyway, so we're going to be looking at Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

And it's verses, actually, we're going to begin, Andrew has from verses 10 to 14 on the screen, but we're going to begin at verse 9.

And that's because verses 10 and 11, and here's the other thing about this text, by the way.

Just when I said to you that all this week I had to struggle, I'm in low-level conflict in several different directions.

Every single day this week, I'm in low-level conflict.

But thanks be to God, I wasn't in any conflict with my wife, but I was in conflict with other people on behalf of the church and other types of things.

But, so every week I'm in conflict with, every day I'm in conflict with people.

I'm thinking about this text.

And the fact of the matter is that the things that Christ is asking us to put on aren't things that we would naturally put on.

And, in fact, they're probably not, like if you went to a management expert or a success expert, they're not what they would tell you to do.

There might be little bits and pieces of it, but they would warn you against this text.

They'd say, well, don't take it to extreme, it's all right to do that a little bit.

But what you need to do is you need to put on your big boy pants.

You need to put on your game face.

You need to get your shoulders back.

You need to be strong.

You need to be this.

You need to be that.

That would probably be the type of advice.

And just even when I said I'm praying and I, you know, in my mind I'm going to bleepity bleepity bleep.

I mean, that's, you know, probably a management coach would say, yeah, that's what they are.

Like, channel that.

Function.

Get that going.

Like, use that as a way to motivate how you go.

So, this text is going to be telling us to do something which is not really, I mean, parts of it are what Canadians would think of as are very good things,

but probably in every case they'd say don't take it to extremes.

Like, be careful or you're going to get caught.

You're going to become a doormat.

So, we're going to begin reading at verse 9, and that's because verses 10 and 11 are what I sometimes scholars call a Janus text.

Janus is a person in ancient mythology that was able to look at two directions at the same time.

And so, 10 and 11 is a really important verse.

It's on one hand looking back to what had just happened, and the other hand it's looking forward to what Paul is about to say.

And the reason it's really important as a Janus text is that what Paul had just been talking about before,

which was what we talked about in the sermon last week, is about a series of vices,

things which are bad that we have to put off, that we have to take off as clothing and throw away and not use.

And it's a really important thing to have a Janus text like that that summarizes the putting off before introducing the putting on,

because it's very easy for people to think, it's very easy to think of non-Christians to think this way about Christians,

and part of the reason non-Christians think this way about Christians is that this is often how Christians, in fact, talk.

As if the things which are most important about Christians is all the sin, all the bad things, all the things you have to stop.

Whether it's biblical sin or therapeutic sin or moralistic sin or religious sin, but we're often known for our don'ts.

At least that's how it's viewed on the outside.

Often the more conservative the church is, the more we're prepared to talk about the things that we shouldn't be doing.

But it's really important, and I have this, to summarize the don'ts by talking about the do.

Because, you see, if all of the Christian life is just about not doing things, well, that's completely impossible.

It would be as if I gave you advice to only breathe out.

If you only breathe out, you die.

Right?

You breathe out, and then you breathe in.

You breathe out, and you breathe in.

And so the Bible has this very, very healthy balance.

There's things we need to get rid of to purge from our lives.

But you don't just purge without clothing yourselves with something which is vastly and eternally better.

So if you look at it, here's how it begins in verse 9, at the end of the vice list, the sin list.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.

Now here's the beginning.

You'll see it in the original language.

The ESV captures it.

It's all part of the same sentence, in fact, right?

But it's now beginning to move the focus, summarizing the past, moving towards the next bit.

It says, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all in all.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved.

And there's going to be a list of eight virtues.

Compassionate hearts.

Kindness.

Humility.

Meekness.

Another word to translate that is gentleness.

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 I'm going to unpack what these are, but the last bit is very, very important.

And in the original language, it's seen to be not just the last thing in the list.

You know, as if your wife has given you or your friend has given you a shopping list.

And, you know, there's all the thing.

And the last thing on the list happens to be pick up the, you know, pepperoni or something.

It's just one more thing.

No, in the original language, it's the culmination.

It's a central point of the whole list.

And the way to understand it, and it's a really beautiful image.

It's part of the beauty.

One of the things which people from the outside of the Christian faith don't understand often is how, once you enter into the way of Christ, how emotionally satisfying it can grow into becoming.

And you see part of the beauty of the gospel, by the way, it has these seven virtues.

And then it says the love is the one that binds them all together.

And what you have to try to imagine is you just imagine our solar system.

And in our solar system, if there wasn't a sun at the center, which all of the planets spin around, then the planets would just be hurtling through space.

They would eventually just become, I mean, they just become very big, I guess, meteors or whatever.

Like just cosmic dust hurtling through the space.

But because the sun is at the center, it's holding all of the different planets in their orbit.

And that's the image which the Bible is trying to communicate here about love.

That love is at the very center.

That's what's helping you to understand what patience is going to be about, what forgiveness is about, all of these things.

If that's not the sun that's keeping the rest of the virtues spinning in the right way, they're all just going to go in chaotic directions.

Now, you can see how this is a bit of a list that could be a bit counterintuitive.

But let's go back to verse 10.

Let's go back to verse 10 to verse 10 and just try to understand a little bit about why it is that the Bible would encourage us to have such a list like this.

Like, why is it that would encourage me that when I'm in conflict that I should be thinking about these things?

And it's not just telling us to think about these things when we're in conflict.

Why is it that these, in a sense, make sense from the Christian worldview?

Well, look at it again, verse 10.

And have put on the new self.

And we're going to talk about it a little bit more in a moment, but put on as a clothing imagery.

And that's, if you think about it, intuitively a very good image to work with.

When I come home, I have a thing about shorts.

And so when I come home, as soon as I can, it depends.

Sometimes I come home and we have to eat right away.

But when I come home, if I have the time, you know, I put my dirty dishes, you know, I brought my food.

I put it in the sink.

And I, you know, take my gym stuff and hang it up.

And then I go into my room and I take off my clothes.

And I put on, you know, a ratty old thing to cover myself on the top.

And I put on these shorts that aren't really decent to be worn in public.

Like, I mean, they're just all ripped and everything.

And they're just really old and very comfortable.

And I'm home, right?

If I had to be meeting the queen, I would dress the appropriate way.

If you have an important interview, you dress the right way.

Going on a date, we have this understanding that clothes can contribute and fit with what it is you have to do.

In fact, they can really help you.

Some of you would say, how could I even go for a job interview if I'm dressed like this?

You know, I don't have my power stuff on to do what we have to do.

And so that's the image, the fundamental image which the Bible is using.

But it says here at verse 9, verse 10,

And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

And this is a very, very important set of ideas.

The new self is the self that you get because when you give yourself to Jesus,

there's several things which are going on here, and they're all really important to know.

Remember I said that the Christian life isn't just about not doing sin.

Well, it's the same thing for what happens.

Why is Jesus so important?

Why is what he does on the cross so absolutely important to us?

Well, it's not just, as Paul talks about earlier in Colossians,

that you can think about the idea that every single thing that you've ever done wrong,

everything that anybody might accuse you of,

anything that you might be ashamed of,

anything that you accuse yourself of,

if one of the things that you can do is just picture that when you're thinking about Jesus on the cross,

just imagine that every single thing from the moment that you were able to do a wrong act

until no matter how far the future is,

that in all of these cases,

every single item with nothing left over was nailed above Jesus' head,

and he took the punishment that you deserved for every single thing on the list.

And that's an important aspect of why the cross is so important.

But the cross is important for another feature as well.

It's not just what Christ took away,

but what he clothes you with,

what he gives you.

And that's why his life is so important.

That's why it wouldn't be Christianity if all of a sudden,

just like on Palm Sunday,

God parachutes Jesus as a fully formed adult into the world,

or even better,

on Friday morning as a fully formed adult,

Jesus just gets parachuted in by God,

and God then has him nailed to the cross,

and he rises from the dead.

That would only be dealing with the things which are wrong.

It would be as if,

well, it just would be dealing with the things that are wrong.

But the other aspect of the gospel,

which is so unbelievably important,

is that God, the Son of God,

humbles himself by taking,

by setting aside his glory,

his prerogatives,

his divine splendor.

He, in a sense,

puts aside that constant unveiled fellowship

with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

and remaining fully God,

he takes into himself our human nature,

and he doesn't,

he becomes this one person,

God, the Son of God.

He's also fully,

fully human,

and he's humbled himself

even to be entering into the human story

as the zygote attached to his mother's womb.

And he lives a completely and utterly human life.

It's a lower working class life

as part of a conquered people

under the empire of pagans,

and he lives a fully human life.

And the Bible said he lives a fully human life

without ever sinning,

without ever having his relationship with God,

the Father,

ever broken or compromised.

And so what happens is,

when you're putting your faith and trust in Jesus,

when you reach out to him

and say,

Jesus be my Savior,

Jesus be my Lord,

and Jesus reaches down,

he crosses that infinite distance,

so to speak,

from heaven to where you are,

wherever you are today

or wherever you were

when you put your faith and trust in Jesus

or wherever you were

when you realized

that there'd never been a time in your life

that you hadn't had

your faith and trust in Jesus

because you grew up in a Christian home

and you just grew up as a Christian,

so to speak.

That not only does God take away all of your sin,

but Jesus' perfect life,

his unbroken fellowship with the Father,

that now becomes yours.

That now becomes yours.

And God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit

come and actually live within you

and in a sense you now have life.

It's already now present within you.

And so the Bible uses this image of the new self,

the new you, so to speak.

And this is where there's this,

I'm not going to talk about very much,

but there's this very important biblical idea

called the already not yet

that we need to have in our minds

to understand what it is exactly

that Christ has done for us.

Because on one hand,

you can almost sort of use the image of a seed

as if the seed of eternal life

has now been planted within who I am

when I put my faith and trust in Jesus.

The Holy Spirit now indwells me.

And that's the already.

That's the exact same life

that will blossom and flourish

in the new heaven and the new earth

that will allow me to spend

or you to spend

an unbroken eternity

in the presence of God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit,

enjoying in a sense their household,

their life,

breathing their air,

seeing their beauty,

being transformed by that.

And that is already in a sense yours in Christ,

but it's like a seed.

Not yet.

I still do sinful things.

I still do wrong things.

I still have a body

which is fit for this earth,

not for the new heaven and the new earth,

which is to come.

And that's why if you look at verse 10,

it says,

it says,

and put on the new self,

which is being renewed in knowledge

after the image of its creator.

And this is a really important

and wonderful truth

to understand why it is

that you should be trying

to put on compassion,

why it is that you should be trying

to put on humility,

why it is that you should be trying

to put all of these things on.

You see,

it's,

remember I said,

see,

already not yet.

So,

I'm to put this stuff,

I need to constantly be renewed

because God is working in me

and he is working in you

to prepare you for a particular destiny.

And what is that destiny

which he is preparing you for?

He is preparing you for that destiny

where,

as I said before,

you are in the presence of the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

You get to actually,

in a sense,

begin to taste

and see

and experience

and breathe

and reflect

that unending,

that unending,

that unending,

eternal dance

whereby the Father

reveals himself

to the Son

and the Son reveals

himself to the Father

and the Holy Spirit

reveals himself

and there's this dance

and you see their goodness

and you see their humility,

you see their self-giving,

you see their other-centeredness,

you see the beauty,

the glory,

the splendor

and God is preparing

ordinary human beings

like you and me

to actually be able

to be in the presence of that

and not just to be

in the presence of that,

to know that we are home,

to breathe it,

to delight in it.

And so we need to be renewed.

And as,

and that's,

and then it goes on to say,

and you put off,

so you're going to be

putting on the new self

which we'll talk about in a moment,

you take off the old self

and have put on,

which has been renewed

in the image of its creator,

which means that God

is making you more

and more human

the way God originally

intended human beings to be.

He's not turning you

into an angel,

he's not turning you

into an aardvark,

he's turning you

into more and more

what a human being

is supposed to be.

And it gives you

this little tiny bit

of a glimpse

that if in fact

Adam and Eve

had not fallen,

it's as if

God's always plan

was not just

that Adam and Eve

would have continued

to be the way they are

but that they

would one day

be transposed,

be in a sense

elevated

or another stage

of even vaster glory

and splendor

and of being themselves.

And so it is

that we are

becoming more

as God intended us to be

but at the same time

God wants to work

within us

to make us

more the type of person,

the type of being

who can dwell

in the Trinitarian glory

and splendor

and beauty

and delight

and love

and joy

and happiness

and music

and movement

all embodied

and that's God's

ultimate destiny

for you and me.

And in verse 11,

here there is not

Greek and Jew

circumcised

and uncircumcised,

barbarian,

Scythian,

slave,

free,

but Christ

is all

in all.

And one of the things

which is so powerful

about this text,

I'm just going to say it now,

on a couple of Sundays

from now,

I'm going to spend

a whole service

just talking about slavery

because Colossians

is going to talk about

slaves and masters

and we're going to look at it.

But one of the things

which is so unbelievably

significant about this text

is that as this text

grips you,

slavery

becomes unthinkable.

and it becomes

unthinkable

in a way

that is not true

of secularism

or of atheism

or of any other religion.

That as it grips you,

that even the worst

barbarian

who's also completely

and utterly enslaved,

that when they hear

that the words

that Jesus has died

for them

and that his perfect life

is also for them

and that we are to have

an obligation

to tell the worst

barbaric slave

of the worst

barbaric slave

that they can hear

the gospel

and that when they receive

the gospel,

the exact same benefits

that I have just described

for you and me

is for them,

that they are being renewed

in the knowledge

of the Creator,

that they are being prepared

for eternity

with the Trinity.

The more that grips you,

the more slavery

is unthinkable,

which is vastly

more important,

the big problem

that most of our culture

has with the Bible

and slavery

is that our culture

is addicted

to virtue signaling.

Complete,

empty,

mindless,

self-righteous,

self-justifying

virtue signaling.

And they want to see

virtue signaling there

and it's not there

but what the Bible

does instead

is vastly more precious.

As this grips you

and slavery becomes

increasingly unthinkable

in a world

that just took

slavery

as part of the natural order

and the good order

of things,

it becomes

unthinkable.

And then we become,

because Christ is all in all,

put on then,

verse 12,

as God's chosen ones,

holy and beloved,

compassionate hearts,

kindness,

humility,

meekness,

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.

so there's this,

this is the one aspect

of the six.

If you could put this up,

Andrew,

you can just look at it.

I'm not going to spend

much time on it,

right?

This is something

that begins at the end

of chapter 2

and it's going to go right

until chapter 3,

verse 17

and then it's going to be

shown how it works

itself out

in certain types

of fundamental relationships.

And the first,

and in a sense,

the Bible's asking you

not just to do one

but in a sense

to think of all six

as being part

of a single act.

And the first act

is to ask yourself

the fundamental question,

am I going to grow me

or is God going to grow me?

And I've talked about that.

I won't talk about it

as much right now.

And God's word

wants you to say,

if my destiny

is to be like Jesus,

then how on earth

could I possibly grow me?

Only God can grow me.

So Lord, grow me.

The second thing is

set your mind on Christ

in all his,

as I put it,

in light of the cross,

set your mind on Christ

in all his risen,

sovereign,

Trinitarian glory.

And then last week

we talked about

how you have to put off

your old self

or put off sin,

not as the world defines it

but as the Bible defines it.

And now we come here

to this next step

which is put on Christ.

Actually,

I'm going to put it as

given your destiny in Christ,

put on the biblical virtues.

Given your destiny in Christ,

put on the biblical virtues.

And then we're going to look at

let and do

which is what we're going to look at

next Sunday.

But as I said,

you look at these virtues

and just think,

I've been in a week

where I've had low-level conflict

all week.

And Daniel got to see

a little tiny bit of it

and, you know,

he'll know that

Daniel,

people who know me

know that I have lots of flesh.

Because you see,

here's the thing

about all of these six things

including this put on.

When we start to walk

in the path of these things,

it doesn't lead to success,

it leads us to meet our flesh.

When we try to start to walk

in the path of these things,

it doesn't lead us to success,

it leads us to meet our flesh.

And then there is a success,

by the way,

after that.

But first,

you constantly meet your flesh.

So,

for instance,

okay,

I have to put on Christ.

It's only when you think about

the fact that you need

to put on Christ,

I mean,

set your mind,

my mind on Christ

in all his risen,

sovereign,

Trinitarian glory,

that I realize

how many things

I already have my mind set on.

I have my mind set on rivalry.

I have my mind set

on being able to boast.

I have my mind set

on the fact

that I think I'm right

all the time.

I have my mind set

on wanting to win.

I have my mind set

on revenge.

I have my mind set

on things,

maybe that are connected

to wounds

that I've never forgiven.

I have my mind set

on all sorts of things.

And that if I want

to set my mind on Christ,

there's all that flesh

that I have to deal with.

It's the same thing

with put on.

Under Paul,

I'm putting on Christ.

Well,

the fact is,

I have all sorts of things

I'm wanting to put on.

I'm going to have this phone call

and I'm going to have

this phone call

and I can just feel myself

putting stuff on.

I'm putting on

the things I want to say.

I'm putting on

that I'm not going to back down.

I'm putting on

that I'm always right.

I'm putting on

that I'm going to be

a guy and assertive.

I'm putting on

all this stuff

and maybe I'm putting on

a fear that I can't do

all those guy things

that guys are supposed to do.

That's what I'm putting on.

And so this text

leads me

to confront my flesh.

That part of me

is a human being

which is in rebellion

against God.

That's what I come

face to face with.

And that leads

I have to be

that leads to

an analogy

for us to understand

this particular text.

These things

that we are to put on.

Means of grace

there's many things

in the Bible

which are means of grace

and these are some of them.

And in all cases

of means of grace

remember

I can't

I can't turn myself

into a person

so that when I see Jesus

I'm going to be like him.

I can't do that.

I only God

can do that.

By definition

I see Christ

and he turns me

into someone like him.

That's something

that only he can do.

But the means of grace

is a posture

of obedience

to God's word

so God

can do

what only he can do.

All of the means of grace

are an invitation

to take a posture

of obedience

to do

what only

he can do.

even if that

is not

not only

not intuitive

it's

it's

it's not even

counterintuitive

it's just nonsense.

So

here's an

Old Testament story

which is maybe helpful

for us to get our mind

around this.

There's a story

in 1 Kings 8

it's not as well known

as it should be

but it's a very

very wonderful story.

And the nation of Israel

has come to one of its

darkest

lowest times

and God

has called Elijah

to be

a lone witness

against a culture

which is completely

and utterly

abandoning God.

And to our secular

friends and to Christians

this might sound

like I'm complaining

like for many Canadians

it says

George

it's as if you're

complaining about pluralism

when you say that.

But

when you go back

and you read

the stories

in the Old Testament

what our Jewish friends

what my Jewish friends

call the Tanakh

you have to realize

what's going on

when they leave

the worship

of Yahweh

the Lord

and they start

to take up

with other gods

because it's not

just a neutral matter

it's not just

that one of you

like to

I don't know

sing praise songs

another one of you

like to sing hymns

no no it matters

why does it matter?

One of the things

which is completely

and utterly unique

about the Christian faith

about the book of Genesis

is

like all of those

other religions

that the Jewish people

are tempted to go after

and have started to go after

and by the time

Elijah has come

basically everybody

in the country

from the religious elite

to the political elite

to the cultural elite

down to the average

the poorest

the poorest person

in the culture

all of the other religions

at the very heart of them

why did they create

human beings?

in all cases

they created human beings

because the gods

wanted more slaves

human beings

were created

to be the slaves

of the gods

we already know

what it's like

in a culture

right now

there's a very major

world religion

which understands

that it's part

of the very fundamental

sense of what it means

for God to have created

how on earth

can you

what does it mean

if you have a view

that the gods

that you go to worship

that they only created

human beings

to be slaves

what does it mean

when you go

to start to worship

these gods

and goddesses

it's going to mean

that you go to the temple

to sacrifice your child

to kill your child

to appease

the wrath of God

it's going to mean

that you sell

your excess daughters

to the temple

so they can become

prostitutes

so that when you

want to go worship

you go have sex

with these women

what does it mean

in terms of

how you view children

and family

and how does it view

the whole thing

in many of those religions

it's all about

the particular power

of the man

including being able

to exercise sexual power

there's a massive

in that particular culture

the ruler

is either a god himself

or the specific agent

of the god

and so when they're

going after these things

it's not just about

well they happen to like

I don't know

wearing these types of robes

and you like having

no there's a whole worldview

there's a whole way

of ordering culture

there's a whole way

of understanding politics

which is involved

anyway so Elijah

has this contest

he's got the attention

of the people

and the king

because he's declared

that there would be

no rain

and there was no rain

and then God tells them

it's time now

that you've got

their attention

go and challenge

the gods and goddesses

of the world

of the nation

and go and challenge them

to a contest

and here's the contest

you can have your

hundreds and hundreds

and hundreds of priests

and you make a simple

make whatever altar

you want

put wood on the altar

put a sacrifice

on the altar

I all by my little lonesome

I'm going to be over here

I'm going to make an altar

and I'm going to put wood

on it

and I'm going to put

a sacrifice on it

and the contest

is very simple

whichever god

or gods

sends the fire

that's the real one

and they agree to it

and there's hundreds

and hundreds of prophets

this is in 1 Kings chapter 8

1 Kings 8 · chapter mention

and they make

their elaborate altar

they put their sacrifice

they put their wood

they do their whole spectacle

it would be

the sort of thing

you know

listen

the YouTube video

would be on theirs

not Elijah

just by himself

unless he did

at the end

it would all be on Elijah

they'd been wishing

they'd film it

but you know

they have

and then

Elijah had

Elijah was

ornery

so by the end of the day

the gods and goddesses

aren't setting the fire

he sort of said

ah you know

maybe your gods and goddesses

are all off in the bathroom

and you just need to

be a bit louder

or something

they're having a snooze

come on

wake them up

maybe they'll come

and send the fire

nothing happens

nothing happens

nothing happens

here's the point

of the analogy

so what does Elijah do

he says

okay now it's my turn

he takes a very very

simple set of rocks

he takes the wood

he has them dig

a big trench around it

he puts the sacrifice

on top of it

and then he starts saying

pour water on the wood

and then pour more water

on the wood

and pour more water

on the wood

and then he calls out

to God

God I know you hear me

and God sends fire

and consumes the wood

and the sacrifice

now here's the point

of this analogy

if you go camping

later on

next spring

or maybe even now

and if you maybe have it

that you know

your wife says

I'm going to get this set up

you know hubby

why don't you

get the fire going

and you know

get the meat cooking

or the tofu frying

or whatever

and I always want to be sensitive

to my vegetarian friends

and then

you know

the wife turns around

and you put the wood

you know

you made a nice big pile of wood

oh it's going really well

and then the next thing

she sees is you pouring water

on the wood

she'd say

time out hubby

you really are clueless

maybe she'd say

something stronger

that's not how you make a fire

pouring wood on it

that's the wrong way

to do it

okay

so what it is

in other words

God giving this story

in 1 Kings 8

of something

which doesn't make

any natural sense

and in some ways

all means of grace

are like this

okay

God

okay

God

you're telling me

that if I go into

these types of conflicts

I've got to put on

patience

meekness

compassion

humility

and forgiveness

we laugh

that we wouldn't even

think about it

because we just

plunge in

right

you know

we plunge in

Bible down

fists up

that's how we live

literally

our flesh

says George

our flesh

without even thinking

about it

Bible's down

Bible's closed

fists up

and we need to

understand

that at the heart

of all the means

of grace

is this sense

that we are

to put ourselves

in a posture

of humility

and obedience

before God

to do what only

God

so that God

can do

what only God

can do

always remembering

that he does

on one level

care about

what goes on

in the earth

but he

doesn't have to

just

he can

work on

lots of levels

at the same time

in fact

not only can he

that's what he does

we'll go to heaven

and the new heaven

and the new earth

we will just

one of the things

I think

he'll maybe do

is he'll show

the whole

of human history

and we can

hardly keep

more than

one or two

things going

at the same

time

but he can

keep billions

of things

going on

the same

time

and he can

at one level

be working

in such a way

that George

will turn into

a being

that can be

fit for heaven

at the same

time he can

be working

in a way

that cares

for the earth

and cares

for the politics

cares for the economy

cares for others

and so in this

particular thing

given your destiny

in Christ

put on the

biblical virtues

that's verse 12

put on then

as God's chosen

one

holy and beloved

compassionate hearts

and if you're

at all visual

I meant to do

this and I forgot

I mean it might

literally be

because remember

you begin with

who's going to

grow me

where do I

set my mind

put off

put on

let

and do

and here we're

just focusing

on the put on

part

because all six

of those aspects

are very very

important

and it might be

how we begin

the day

it might be

that you

you ask the

Lord to help

you to remember

before that

phone call

that you just

pause

and pray

through these

types of things

and realize

okay Lord

I got to take

off this

rivalry shirt

I've got to

keep off this

that I always

have to win

I have to

take off

this layer

of clothing

that's connected

to anger

I need to

take off

this layer

of clothing

which is

composed of

being able

to use my

tongue to

abuse and to

win

I need to

take that

off

and now I

need to put

some of these

things on

and the first

thing I need

to put on

is compassion

and it might

even just help

you if you

even just

imagine that

those are

clothing

and if you

are very good

at visuals

and some of you

are you can

just imagine

how rank

it is

it looks

shiny but

it's in fact

filthy and

foul and

you're taking

it off and

you just dump

it and then

you're reaching

over maybe

imagine your

Bible on a

table like

this and

you put on

compassion

and you put

on kindness

and you put

on humility

I think we

all have a

pretty good

idea about

what kindness

and compassion

are by the

way compassion

and kindness

you're not

kind towards

evil you're

kind towards

people

you're not

compassionate

towards evil

you're compassionate

towards people

if you start

to become

kind to evil

you are moving

in a demonic

direction

if you show

compassion

to evil

you are moving

in a demonic

direction

but you show

compassion

and kindness

to people

and humility

very briefly

you see all

of these things

you could do

a whole sermon

on each one

of them

but humility

is fundamentally

several types

of things

if you think

of the natural

tendency of every

human being

is to become

like a black

hole

to suck in

everything

into themselves

and humility

is that ability

that virtue

where you start

to look to

the other

and we all

know that in

many ways

we are most

ourselves

and we don't

look within

but look without

if you've ever

if some of you

who dance

when you lose

yourself in the

dance

in some ways

you become

most yourself

for those of you

who are really

brilliant at art

in some ways

when you lose

yourself to the

writing or the

creativity

you become

most yourself

in friendship

when you're most

enjoying your

friend

in some ways

you're most

yourself

in love

when you are

in most

completely and

utterly enamored

with the other

in many ways

you are most

yourself

and that is

the heart

of humility

and the next

one is meekness

or sometimes

gentleness

and if we

think about

this

meekness

is not

weakness

now I know

there's a whole

range of

superhero things

that are going

on in the world

right now

but if you

think about it

at the

traditional

superheroes

at the best

all of them

are meek

because in

all of them

whether you

think of

somebody like

spider-man

or batman

or whatever

it might be

spider-man

the child

is falling

from a ledge

and what is

the meekness

of spider-man

not saying

well it sucks

to be you

or making

a really hard

landing

that actually

does almost

as much

damage to

the child

as if he

just let

him fall

no

how does

television

present it

that in a

sense

spider-man

or whatever

catches the

child in

such a way

as it is

as if gentle

hands slowly

stop the

child from

falling so

there's absolutely

no harm done

to the child

and that's

the spirit

of meekness

it goes

with strength

it's using

your strength

to not

needlessly

hurt the

person

in fact

the more

we grow

in humility

and meekness

and all of

these are

fitting us

to be with

God

from all

eternity

the easier

it is

to stand

to tyrants

and refuse

their claims

because it's

all part

of a

all part

of a

process

by which

we set

our minds

on Christ

and understand

Christ is

the hope

of glory

forgiving

each other

I've talked

bearing

with one

another

that actually

is one

that if you

understood

the image

you'd see

it as a

good thing

in a sense

the underlying

image of

bearing up

we've all

been in

situations

where everything

seems to be

falling apart

maybe it's an

office

your whole

office seems

to be in

conflict

and in

crisis

or your

family's all

in conflict

and crisis

and there's

one person

bearing up

under it

in a sense

it's the one

person who's a

bit of a voice

of sanity

and balance

while everything

seems to be

falling up

that's the

image there

to bear up

under the

conflict

which is

going on

so that

there's

in a sense

some type

of hope

for something

to be rebuilt

and then

when it says

I think we

understand a bit

patience

and forgiving

forgiving doesn't

mean forgetting

it doesn't mean

that you give

a past evil

but it's

one of those

things

unless you learn

to forgive

the wrong

that's been

done to you

will continue

to eat away

at you

and eat away

at you

and eat away

at you

and eat away

with you

and destroy

you

and then

all of these

things

love is the

center of all

of these

things

a word

which was

basically

popularized

by Christians

it was popular

in Greek

literature

but not

popular

it was present

as a word

in Greek

but basically

unused

it's that

complete

and utter

self-giving

for the benefit

of the other

it's in a sense

a passion

for self-giving

for the benefit

of the other

and in all

of these cases

there's never

a compromise

with evil

there's never

a compromise

with injustice

there's never

a compromise

with hatred

but it's a very

very different

way

of entering

into relationships

and trying to

deal with it

for the good

of the person

because

and here we'll end

God takes no

delight in the

death of a sinner

but rather

that they will

turn from

their wickedness

and live

said three times

basically the same

way in the book

of Ezekiel

it's one of the

heart of Anglican

spirituality

is found in

the book of

common prayer

for morning prayer

and evening prayer

that God takes

no delight

in the death

of a sinner

but rather

that they will

turn from

their wickedness

and live

it's not so much

that we win

arguments

but that we

win people

and it's not

so much

that we win

people for

ourselves

but we win

people for

Christ

that is

the Father's

heart

for you

and for me

let's stand

Father we

we know

that many

of the things

which your

word tells us

to do

are viewed

as foolishness

or even evil

in the eyes

of the world

our commitment

to life

our commitment

to love

our commitment

to your word

our commitment

to Christ

Father many

of these things

are seen

as foolishness

that we

are to learn

to try to be

committed to

humility

rather than

pride

Father these

are mysteries

and they're

mysteries to our

flesh and often

mysteries to us

and we ask

Father that

you would grip

us

grip us

grip us

with the gospel

that that the gospel

might be the narrative

by which we begin

to understand

ourselves in the

world

that you are a

God that does

exist

that you are real

and that you are

true

and that you are

sovereign and will

bring all things

to their proper

order and

conclusion

and that you

know why we

were made

and how we

were made

and how we

are to thrive

and that we

would trust

your word

and your

wisdom

we would ask

questions

and that we

would come

together

and pray

together

and weep

together

and rejoice

together

and question

together

as we study

your word

not doing this

by ourselves

but doing it

with others

but we ask

Father that you

would grip us

with the gospel

and grip us

with your word

and grip us

with such a deep

confidence in Jesus

and who he did

who he is

and what he did

for us on the cross

that we can look

at your word

and be willing

to say

Father I know

it goes against

my flesh

but help me

to take a posture

of obedience

trusting in your word

so that you

will bring the fire

Father from my flesh

it looks like you're

asking me to pour

water on the wood

but grant me

Father that deep

confidence

that you know

what you're doing

that you are faithful

and true to your word

and that as we take

postures of obedience

to your word

trusting in you

that you will do

that great and mighty work

that you Father

will bring the fire

as you change us

from one degree

of glory

day by day

so that one day

we will see Jesus

face to face

and we will be like him

and we will hear you say

welcome

welcome

welcome

welcome

my beloved

and chosen

one

welcome

and all these things

we ask in the name

of Jesus

your son

and our savior

amen