Put Off Your Old Self

I'm wearing, it'll become obvious in a bit why I'm wearing, I put on two extra layers of clothing before I started to preach.

So, you know, when I teach people how to speak, one of the things I tell them is that they have to have a nice snappy opening.

And this week on one level it's easy, we're going to talk about sex, amongst other things.

So that gets everybody's attention almost instantly.

And as we all know, the biblical teaching on sexuality is unbelievably popular in Canada and is completely and utterly uncontroversial.

So it's a very easy topic for me to address.

And it's all part of a vice list, by the way.

Those of you who might be watching online or one of our guests here this Sunday, we preach through books of the Bible.

And one of the really good things, if you are a spiritual seeker, we're just curious about tuning into our churches.

We don't hide the fine print since we go through a book from the beginning to the end.

Everything which is in there, including stuff which is very awkward and difficult, we're going to look at.

In fact, if you're curious, in a couple of weeks' time we're going to talk about the biblical advice to husbands and wives.

Once again, another easily understood and highly popular topic in Canada.

And we're also going to talk about slavery because this Bible text deals with slavery.

So no controversial topics.

Just all vanilla and Teflon Sunday in and Sunday out.

No, I'm joking.

And it's a very serious issue.

And I really don't mean to joke because, of course, for some of the things that we're going to be talking about today,

it's deeply, deeply, deeply personal and strikes at the very heart of some of our identities.

So let's begin by looking at the text again.

And I'm going to read through the text so you see it.

What it is is that we're looking at what the Bible would call a sin list or a vice list is another way to understand it.

And there's 11 sins or vices which are mentioned in the text of Scripture.

And that's what we're going to look at.

And so it's Colossians chapter 3, verses 5 to 11.

Colossians 3:5–11

And really, the vice list is chapter 3, verses 5 to 9.

Isaiah 3:5–9

But verses 10 and 11, which we're going to read next week as well,

a couple of weeks ago I think I shared how sometimes in the Bible and in literary devices in general,

you have what's called a Janus text.

It's a text that looks in two directions at the same time.

And that's what verses 10 and 11 are.

It's a bit of a bridge text, or it helps on one hand to look back at what's just been talked about,

and it opens the door looking to the next bit.

So we'll read verses 10 and 11.

And here's how it goes.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.

And just before I go anything further with that,

this text isn't saying that the earth is bad,

and it's not saying that physical stuff is bad.

Far from it.

What it's doing, the verse which was just before this,

is talking about the fact that when we see Jesus,

and we're going to return to this in a couple of moments,

when we see Jesus, we will be changed.

We will become like him,

fit to inhabit the new heaven and the new earth,

where there is no evil, no prejudice, no racism,

no sin, no death.

And so what this is talking about here isn't physical stuff,

because we're going to have bodies in the new heaven and the new earth.

But it's, in a sense, all the stuff you leave behind

when you go into the new heaven and the new earth.

All the stuff that's left behind.

And there's lots of stuff that's going to be left behind.

Thanks be to God.

And that's what it's referring to here.

Okay, so put to death everything that's going to be left behind.

If you think about the fact that from the Christian story,

the Christian gospel is that when you put your faith and trust in Jesus,

you change your story.

You enter into a true and better story.

And that true and better story has a far better end.

The end isn't death.

The end in Jesus is to see Jesus face to face

and to become like him,

to dwell in a new heaven and a new earth.

So that's what the earth,

we'll read verse 5 again.

But put to death,

put to death therefore what is earthly in you.

Sexual immorality.

And just to be clear here,

before we go further,

sexual immorality,

it means,

it's the pornea word group in the original language.

And basically,

the Bible teaches that sexual knowing

and sexual stimulation

is reserved

for a biological male

married to a biological female

in marriage.

And that that's what,

anything apart from that

is what pornea or sexual immorality

is referring to.

Just to be clear.

So put to death therefore what is earthly in you,

sexual immorality,

impurity,

passion,

evil desire,

and covetousness.

Which is idolatry.

On account of these things,

the wrath of God is coming.

And just pause there for a second in verse 6.

This is a really important verse in the vice list

because what it's telling us

is that these aren't just boundary markers

to separate Christians from non-Christians.

So for instance,

baptism is a boundary marker

separating a Christian from a non-Christian.

The fact that I'm wearing a collar

is a bit of a boundary marker.

But it's said that I've been ordained,

set aside for the service of God in the church.

And so what the Bible is saying here

is that this isn't just a,

you know,

in a sense,

the Sabbath keeping on one level

is a boundary marker.

Coming to church is a boundary marker.

So the Bible here is saying that

these things which he's just mentioned,

the five sins which he's just mentioned,

and the six sins which are going to come

aren't boundary markers,

that there's something

which is objectively wrong in God's sight.

I know for those Canadians

who are present and those watching,

I'm making the matter harder

rather than easier,

but it's just,

it's far better to just understand

what the text is actually saying.

And so that's the significance of verse 6.

And then verse 7,

this is also very, very, very important

in hearing the vice list.

Let's look at what it says.

It says,

in these two,

you once walked

when you were living in them.

So the reason this is very significant

is that this is not an us versus them text.

Quite a few years ago now,

or 10 years or something like that,

on my summer holidays,

we went to a large evangelical church.

And by coincidence,

the large evangelical church,

the sermon that Sunday was on

Christian marriage and divorce,

Christian marriage and divorce,

mainly about Christian marriage.

And as the sermon went on,

I became more and more and more astounded,

but not in a good way.

Because, I don't know,

there might have been like

four or five, six hundred people in the room,

and he talked as if not a single person

in the room

was ever divorced.

And as the sermon went on,

I thought,

how on earth could anybody in Canada

talk to a room full of people,

like 500 people,

as if none of them

had been touched by divorce

or living together.

Like, it was just,

it gobsmacked me.

You see,

what it reflected

was his understanding

that,

you know,

on purpose,

I'm putting the Bible down

because that's what they do.

We are the pure.

We are the sinless.

We live by all of God's words.

We know you all do.

But when you go through that door,

there's bad, sinful people.

I'm using,

this text

knocks that completely out from under it.

Paul isn't talking about

the group of the pure

in the midst of an impure world.

he's saying,

people here,

these types of things,

that's us.

It's what we lived out of

and what we're still tempted

to live out of.

That's why I'm talking about

these particular things.

So it's not us versus them.

It's us.

Read that again.

Verse 7.

In these two you once walked

when you were living in them.

But now,

you must put them all away.

Verse 8.

Now here's a new list.

Anger, wrath, malice,

slander,

and obscene talk

from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another,

seeing that you have put off

the old self,

and that could also be translated

as the old man

or the old humanity,

with its practices,

and have put on the new self

or the new man

or the new humanity.

Those are different ways

you could validly translate

this particular text,

which is being renewed.

So the new self,

the new man,

the new humanity,

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.

And what Paul is doing

here at the end

is he's saying

how the gospel

has relativized

all of these different

distinctions

that human beings think

are very,

very important.

And he's used

the ones which have been

very common back then,

in other words,

part of the Roman Empire,

but not Jewish,

that's Greek,

Jewish,

circumcised and uncircumcised,

it has to do with

religious background,

barbarian,

Scythian,

and Scythians,

actually,

Scythian,

United States and England

aren't in the Bible,

but Russia is.

Scythian

was the area

we now call Russia.

And it was

where they considered

to be the most barbaric

of the barbaric barbarians.

That's where they lived.

In other words,

the full extreme

of barbarism,

slave,

free,

but Christ

is all in all.

So all of the distinctions

that we make

that are very,

very important

to Canadians

are all completely

and utterly

relativized

by the gospel

because

when you receive Jesus,

you become in Christ

and Christ is in you

and it means

you get a new identity.

It doesn't mean

that you stop,

in a sense,

living in Scythia

or, in fact,

technically being a barbarian

or Greek or Jewish,

but it means

it's relativized

because you have

a fundamental

new identity

based on a new destiny.

So that's

the particular list.

Now,

some of you,

it's,

for some people

when you're looking

at the list,

it seems as if

it focuses on sex

an awful lot.

I'm going to,

here's the thing

about this particular list

which is really important

for us to understand.

For the average Canadian,

this first list,

this first sin,

sexual immorality

is very,

very hard.

And it's not just hard

for those who identify

as LGBTQ+,

or those who would

consider themselves

to be very friendly

and inclusive

of LGBTQ+,

LGBTQ+.

But it's also

just very,

very hard

for people

who wouldn't

necessarily say

that they're,

I mean,

they're not hostile

but not necessarily

friendly to that,

just living a

heterosexual life.

It's a very,

very,

very hard text

and very controversial

in Canada today.

One of the things

for us to understand

is that

in a sense

that this list

isn't focused

on sex.

It's really focused

on God

and how he designed

human beings to be.

And it means

that if you were

to go to different cultures,

parts of this text

might be very problematic.

So for instance,

if I went to a Muslim country,

a Muslim majority country,

and I happen to be able

to preach to a bunch

of Muslims,

obviously there is

some significant differences

between the Christian

sexual ethic

and the Muslim sexual ethic.

Depending on the

Muslim majority country,

I might have to say

that the Bible

doesn't allow polygamy.

And I might have to say

something about

how some Muslim countries

use the Muslim practice

of divorce,

Islamic practice

of divorce,

to allow prostitution

to exist

without being considered

prostitution.

I might have to do that,

but fundamentally,

if I just explained

what the biblical teaching is,

like,

they would view it

as fundamentally

not very controversial.

But,

if not in the vice list,

when it comes

to the virtue list,

when it comes

to some other things,

they might find it

very, very,

very, very problematic.

In fact,

it might be that

I'd spend the majority

of my sermon

dealing with some other

type of issue in it.

You know,

maybe it's around

the biblical teaching

of forgiveness

which comes up,

or maybe it's about

the whole biblical teaching

of anger

which is in this text,

which could be

a very problematic thing

for some Islamic cultures

that would really go

against the grain

of how they understand

the world to be.

So,

in one level,

and in fact,

if I was to,

if we were all to go back

in a time machine

and I was to preach

this text

in a Canadian congregation

in 1950,

I would maybe spend

no time at all

on sexual immorality

because it's not even

viewed as a problematic thing.

They would just expect

that it's completely

and utterly true.

And once again,

there'd be other things

where the text

goes against the grain.

But,

but for us,

it is an issue.

And I'm going to return to it,

but I want to look

at least briefly

at each of the particular

sins

which is on the list.

Let's look

and let's look

at the verses five

and following again.

But to put to death,

therefore,

what is earthly

and new sexual immorality,

impurity.

Now,

just before I start

to try to help us

to understand

what these are,

a few years ago,

I had the great privilege

to be able to go to Angola

and with SIM

and I got to speak

in a variety of locations

and one of the places

I got to speak

was at a church

designed

to reach out

to a semi-nomadic

people group

who had just

within the last few years

started to have contact

with Christians.

And I got to preach

a sermon

to these semi-nomadic

tribes people

in Angola

on the edge

of the Kalahari Desert.

And it was

one of the

really interesting

experience

because the colonial language

was Portuguese.

I would say

a few words,

like I tried to

discipline myself

to speak

seven or eight words

and then there were

two translators

beside me

and so I would

da-da-da

and then the Portuguese

speaker would

da-da-da

and then the person

who spoke

the semi-nomadic

tribal language

would go

da-da-da-da

and there was

a couple of times

when I would go

da-da-da-da

Portuguese

da-da-da-da

and then there'd be

this conversation

amongst Portuguese

speakers who also

knew the native language

as to what on earth

they were going to say

and one of the things

which caught them

is that I used

the word

the Holy Spirit

and that tribal language

had,

I might be slightly

wrong on this

but you get

the basic ballpark,

I think they had

27 different words

for spirit

because in that

tribal group

like there's

the spirit

of the tree,

there's the spirit

of this location,

there's the spirit

of a different plant,

there's,

you know,

there's,

but they had no

general word for it.

Like they literally

they just didn't have

one word

like we did

and I can't remember

how they ended up

solving it.

They also didn't have

a word for ice

or snow actually

which was another

one of the funny things

that caused this

five minute breakup

in the sermon.

Anyway,

the reason I'm sharing this

is that for those of you

who know several languages

you know that there's

sometimes,

there's just not a simple

way to translate

one word into another

language.

So here's what

these different vice lists

to try to get you

a bit of a sense

as to what they're

talking about.

Impurity.

This could mean

anything that makes

you religiously

or ceremonially impure.

It could be,

of course,

referring to sexual

impurity.

But it also could be

referring to

desperate housewives

and the Kardashians

to luxurious living.

It could be describing

how many of us

want to live

like rock stars,

just profligate,

no concern with money,

just way,

way,

way,

way,

way overspending.

And it also can refer

to not having

pure motives,

having duplicitous

motives.

In other words,

what some people do

in terms of how

they advance

in business

or how they advance

in politics

or how they advance

in the public service

is they act like

they,

you know,

there's that old line,

if you can fake sincerity,

you've got it made,

you know?

And so they can fake

sincerity,

they can fake

that they care,

but they really don't.

They're just trying

to manipulate you.

Their motives

are impure.

That's what's covered

under the word

impurity.

And the next word

is passion.

And really,

to understand

the range of meaning

there,

it's depraved passion.

And of course,

within that,

it could refer

to something sexual,

but as you know,

if you think about it

as an aspect

of depravity

and passion for it,

it can also be,

we would describe

anything that wants

to hurt,

a passion to hurt,

a passion to belittle,

that would also be

considered under

this particular sin.

Evil desire

or also evil passion.

In particular,

this once again

could refer,

in the range of meaning

for the word,

it can refer to

sexual practices,

but its fundamental idea

is desiring

what is forbidden.

And here,

all of a sudden,

you realize

it touches on something

very, very profound

for Canadian culture

and for science.

Because in fact,

there's large groups

within Canadian society

that they'd like

to operate on.

They'd like to take

aborted fetuses

and be able to

do experiments on them.

They'd like to try

to develop things

in biological warfare.

They'd like to try

to figure out

if there's ways

to splice animal genes

into human genes

to create new types

of human beings.

In other words,

there's this profound desire

for forbidden knowledge.

And that's what's being

talked about here as well.

The desire to figure out

different ways

to manipulate germs

to create biological warfare,

something that most cultures

would view as,

it's a type of forbidden knowledge,

but there's a hunger

and a thirst

and a passion for it.

That is what is being

described here

as evil desire.

Covetousness or greed,

that sort of obvious,

desiring what other people have,

desiring to have too much,

just being completely consumed

with worldly possessions

and idolatry,

replacing,

making something other

than the triune God

as God,

that's what's covered under it.

Anger,

in verse 8,

that here,

and anger and wrath

sound like they're similar

and there's a big overlap

between the two of them,

but the difference is this.

Anger is a settled part

of the personality,

a settled type of anger

that's just there.

I mean,

this is actually

a very, very, very

important sin right now

if you just think

of how hard it is

to try to have

a civil conversation

about the U.S. election.

In fact,

if you think about it,

just to think of

how big a problem

this is in Canada,

try having

a civil conversation

about lockdowns

and masks

with a large percentage

of the conversation.

And you might think

that these are not angry people.

They've been your neighbors

for years.

You know,

you give them your key

when you go on holiday

so they can come in

and water your plants

or feed your cat

and yet they seem

like they're not,

but all of a sudden

you talk about something

and you discover

there is a settled anger

which is very powerful there.

And it might not be

just a general angry disposition.

It might be an anger

towards a particular person

or a particular set of beliefs

or, you know,

in a sense,

this and the next one

is also where things

like racism and prejudice

start to be revealed.

Where in fact,

they seem normal

until you get into

that right type of topic

and you realize

there's actually

an anger issue

in that person's life.

And as we know,

anger is a gateway sin.

All of these are gateway sins,

by the way,

but it's a very powerful

gateway sin

towards hatred,

towards violence.

And this is specifically condemned

racism.

It's all there.

And wrath is the anger explosions,

the explosions of anger.

Once again,

I was just watching a video

about a two or three year old video

with Jonathan Haidt,

an atheist Jew

who's written a couple

of really important books

trying to analyze the culture,

the righteous mind,

and I can't remember

what the other one is right now,

NYU professor.

And in that time,

he's just very open.

He can't say a whole,

he censors himself

all of the time

because of Twitter mobs

and social media

and Facebook mobs.

That's the explosion of anger,

which is a profound problem

in Canada,

United States right now.

Profound,

profound,

profound problem.

And the Bible calls it out

as a sin.

Malice is,

of course,

basically always having

harmful motives

towards other people.

slander,

slander,

of course,

is telling lies

about the other

or yourself.

Obscene talk

is also to be understood

as abusive talk.

And it could just be everything

from just being very

far too loud,

far too assertive

when you talk.

It can be obscene,

it can just be abusive.

The type of talk

that we might not realize

is really abusive talk

if we're with our buddies

in our silo

or our echo chamber,

but you realize

how abusive it would seem

if all of a sudden

you had to say that

in front of the other.

And you realize

it would come across

as very, very abusive,

just far, far too aggressive

as a type of talking.

And then the last one

on the list is lies.

So, for some,

people in our culture,

when you see that

these are the types of things

that are being talked about,

it actually makes it

even a little bit harder

for some people

to see sexual immorality

on the list.

They say,

George,

what's so wrong

about a man

who loves a man?

Isn't that just natural?

How could that be

on a list like this?

George,

everything you've said

have made it harder.

Not easier.

Like, what's...

Isn't it just natural?

Like, why...

Why would the Bible

put that

with all those other things

that you're just talking about?

And that

is a really good question.

So here's

how we have to understand

both the hard things

in the list

and the others.

The list is part of a book

that we've been looking at

that begins with chapter 1,

verse 1,

and goes through

to the end of chapter 4.

And one of the things

which is very important

at the very...

to understand

why this list

would even be there at all

and how it's connected

to anything else

is how the Bible

describes what it is

that Jesus does for us.

That what the Bible

is talking about

is that God,

the Son of God,

would set aside

His glory and prerogative

and divine splendor

and His appearance

as God

and that He would

empty Himself

and He would come

and walk amongst us

and He does this

so that human beings

can be reconciled to Him

and that out of God's...

the Son...

out of God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit,

out of their profound

and deep love

for human beings

that are being bent

out of shape

and can't fix themselves,

they can't leave themselves

to fix themselves,

that out of their great love

Jesus comes

and suffers

the trials and temptations

that we do

only without sin

and His life

of unbroken fellowship

with God

and resisting temptation

and not being anger-driven,

not giving in

to these sins

even though He's tempted

by them,

in a sense,

His perfect record

and then His death

upon the cross

in our place

that when we put

our faith and trust

in Jesus,

then what happens is

like we say,

Jesus,

I need you to be my Savior,

I need you to be my Lord.

What the Bible

has just described

prior to this

is that it's as if

when you take

the hands of Jesus,

it's as if you're

almost drowned in Him.

You are completely

immersed in Him

and entering Him.

You're immersed

in His life

that you could never live.

You are immersed

in His death

on your behalf

and because human beings

are in a sense

like a little bit

of a sponge,

to be immersed

in Him

is also to mean

that He becomes

immersed in you.

That it isn't so much,

although it's a very important

part of conversion,

it isn't so much

that Jesus came

so that you could

be forgiven,

but that Jesus came

so that you could

have communion

with the Triune God.

And the only way

for that to happen

was for Him

to live the life

He did

and die the death

He did

and for you to be

immersed in Him.

And part of the

being immersed

in Him

is being forgiven

and is being given

new life,

but you are

immersed in Him

and He is immersed

in you

all for the purpose,

all for the purpose

of being able

to have,

begin to have now

a new communion

with the Triune God,

the living God

that will go on

into all eternity.

And that's why

He did what He did

and that's what

the Christian life is.

And so the part,

this is,

Andrew,

if you could put up

the little chart

of the six-fold aspect

of how the gospel

grows you,

this is in a sense

just one step

or one aspect

of this whole process

by which,

if this is true,

if God,

the Son of God,

the Creator

and Sustainer

and Sovereign

over all of the universe

actually entered

into His universe

out of love,

out of pure,

unrequited,

gift love

entered into His world

so that He

could do

what we could not do

for ourselves

which is redeem

His fallen creatures.

Like,

behind this text,

if you understand this,

that from before

anything existed

there was love,

the love of the Father

for the Son

and the Son

for the Father

and the Holy Spirit,

before anything existed

there was love

and everything

that came into existence

was created

by love

and we were made

to be in communion

and at home

living and breathing in

and inhabiting

and participating

and responding

and adding

and adding

to that love

and that is why

we were made

and if you understand

that this means

that no matter

how lonely

you are today

or how much

you might think

that you have

that there's no one

who loves you,

the fact of the matter

is,

is that for every human being

there has never been

a time that you

have been unloved.

Even right now

there has never been

a time that you

have been unloved

and it was purely

and utterly

out of love

that God,

the Son of God

would come and do this

and so you receive

Christ Jesus as Lord

and then there's the question

well how do we live?

How do we live?

And the Bible here

from chapter 2 verse 16

right through

till the chapter 3 verse 17

and beyond that

just describes

how we live.

Twice now

I've talked a little bit

about how

the Bible talks about

Colossians talks about

how you're dead

in your sins

how you're dead

apart from Christ

you're dead

it's as if you're a cadaver

you're a corpse

you're a body

in a funeral home

and how does the Bible

understand that

when it doesn't seem

like it's true

and the analogy

I used a couple of weeks ago

is I had vases up front

with cut roses in them

and that's a way

to understand

what we are

apart from Christ

that we're a cut rose

cut rose is dead

isn't it on one level

and it's decaying

but it looks beautiful

and that's what a human being

is on one level

every human being

is like a cut rose

and what the Bible does

is the Bible says

is that when you

become united with Christ

when you have union with Christ

and Christ has union with you

you now have

in a sense

his life

that death

doesn't have the same sting

that death did before

because Jesus has already

taken all of the sting

of death for you

when he died upon the cross

and that in effect

you have actually

the eternal life

the life of the Trinity

the life of eternity

already within you

when you put your faith

and trust in Jesus

and so that dying

is actually in a sense

an opening of the door

to that time

when we're fully alive

that eternal life

in a sense

becomes full

and so the question is

then

will I grow me

or will the Lord grow me

and that's the first question up here

will I grow me

or will the Lord grow me

and last week

we looked at this

this remarkable text

about that

just before this

that when you put

your faith and trust in Jesus

at some point in time

you're going to see Jesus

face to face

and when you see Jesus

face to face

you will become like him

you will become like him

and so the way

I tried to put it last week

which is all under

will I let the grow

will I grow me

or will the Lord grow me

is

in a sense

spiritual disciplines

and a lot of the

and a lot of

and I'm not saying anything

against worldly practical advice

it's very very important

but basically

a lot of spiritual discipline talk

and a lot of talk

about how to get better

is really just a cut rose project

and a cut rose project

means is

you learn how to

to maybe have the rose last longer

you learn how to make

the light or whatever

bring out the red of the rose

a little bit better

and there's all these different ways

that we make the cut rose better

but as long as we look at

everything from our earthly perspective

the stuff that's left behind

all we're really involved in

is a cut rose project

but if you understand

that what happens

when you see Jesus face to face

is that you will be like him

then you understand

that God doesn't have

a cut rose project for you

he wants to turn you

into a giant sequoia

and there's no way

that all of the disciplines

of a cut rose

could ever do something

that could turn a cut rose

into a giant sequoia

that's a miracle

that only God can do

and when the Bible

calls us to holiness

when it calls us

to become more like Christ

when it calls us

to become more

to you know

in a sense

filled with the Holy Spirit

it's all part of God's project

to prepare us

to take those steps

whereby we will one day

be like a giant sequoia

not like a cut rose

and so that's why

this fundamental first question

will I grow me

or will I let the Lord grow me

is very very important

because if I realize

that I can't grow me

all I'll do

is try to make myself

into a better cut rose

and I don't even know

how to begin

to turn myself

into a giant sequoia

like that's a complete

and utter mystery

I have to put myself

in a posture of obedience

in those places

where God has told me

to be obedient

so that he does

that work within me

it's a matter of

a posture of obedience

to let God do

what only God can do

because only God

can turn a cut rose

into a giant sequoia

and nobody else can do it

can't ever happen

and so these are

some of the postures

it doesn't give all of them

and then the very first one

is set your mind on Christ

Andrew if you could

just maybe flip

to the way I expressed

it last week

in light of his death

upon the cross

for you

set your mind

on Christ

in all his risen

sovereign

trinitarian glory

so in a sense

what we understand

with these six steps

is that you wake up

you had your coffee

you're going to go

to your day

and you say

Lord I know I have a choice

as I go through my day

will I follow a cut rose project

or will I let you do

what you want to do

that I might become

that you might turn me

into a giant sequoia

the beginnings of that

right now

and so Lord

I want to go through

this day

letting you grow me

not me

and then God says

okay so one of the things

I want you to do George

is I want you to

set your mind on Christ

in light of his death

upon the cross

set your mind on Christ

in all his risen

sovereign

trinitarian glory

and as we talked

about last week

you can go look

at last week's sermon

you know there's all

sorts of things

we set our minds on

and I say

Lord help me today

or Lord help me

in this meeting

Lord help me

in this conversation

Lord help me

in this project

help me in this week

to set my mind

on Christ

in all his risen

sovereign

trinitarian glory

help me not

to set my mind

on winning

or on revenge

or on lust

or on anger

or on hatred

but to set my mind

on Christ

in all his risen

sovereign

trinitarian glory

and then the next

thing he says

is okay George

next you got to

put off

and it's literally

analogies for clothing

I got to put off

the anger

and the rivalry

that is really

deep in my heart

into this instance

and Lord help me

to put off

my love

for sexual immorality

or my greed

or my love

of slander

because I'm going

to talk to somebody

and we both

have the same

echo chamber

and we're going

to get talking

about this group

or whatever

and it's easy

for the slander

to find

and Lord

I'm going

to go into it

I have to

throw that away

and for those

of you

who are very

visually minded

that might just

be a very

important exercise

for you

just to imagine

Lord I want

you to grow me

so I can't

grow myself

into a giant

sequoia

and Lord

I got to

put off

some of these

things

these are the

first things

I understand

I got to

put off

and Lord

help me

to put them

off

in a sense

Andrew

if you could

just jump ahead

to the point

and then go

back to this

this is what

the main thing

about this

putting off

given your

destiny in

Christ

put off

sin

sin is

defined by

the Bible

not the world

given your

destiny in

Christ

put off

sin

sin

as defined

by the Bible

not the

world

see one of

the primary

means of

grace actually

is reading

the Bible

and that's

going to be

talked about

if you sort

of flip back

so you know

who's going

to grow me

set my mind

on Christ

I put off

but it's not as if

God just wants me

to become more

and more naked

he wants me

to be clothed

next week

I'll maybe

bring something

that I'll put

on at this

point in time

and we'll look

at that next

week

put on tender

hearted mercy

put on

compassion

put on

love

put on

truth

there's things

you got to

put on

and then

next

let

we're going

to have a

sermon about

that

the last

two ones

let

Christ

rule in

your heart

get out of

the way

and let him

rule

and let him

speak deeply

into your

heart

and then the

final one is

do

everything you

do

whether it's

cleaning toilets

whether it's

negotiating on

behalf of the

federal government

a major

international

treaty

whether it's

negotiating with

a three-year-old

to wear this

piece of clothing

not the other

whether it's

negotiating a

business deal

whether it's

writing a

symphony

whether it's

taking out the

garbage

do everything

in the name

of the Lord

Jesus Christ

giving thanks

to God

and these

are some

of the

means by

which God

grows us

so just

in

sort of

in

conclusion

is this

hard

yes

this is

hard

and some

of you

might say

George

I still

don't quite

know

why it

is

the

sexual

thing

is on

that list

George

it doesn't

sound

very

Canadian

and it

doesn't

really

make a

lot

just those

days of

marrying

are maybe

far behind

and George

were

you know

or you're

in a

marriage

and it's

sort of

loveless

and your

husband

doesn't

get you

or your

wife

doesn't

get you

like what

like what's

what's wrong

with you know

pornography

and you know

other things

like that

like George

what's so

wrong

like why

is the

Bible

like what's

so wrong

about that

you know

like it

it just

gives you

some pleasure

it gives

you a

fantasy

time

to maybe

think

that things

are going

to be

better

and George

if you're

you know

same-sex

attracted

it seems

as if

this whole

teaching

and you're

telling us

to put

all of

that off

it just

it just

George

seems to

go against

the grain

and it

seems just

very very

very hard

what we

have to

say is

you're

right

it is

very very

hard

like it's

very hard

and from

the outside

it sounds

completely

and utterly

impossible

and I

can't tell

you how

it's going

to work

out

but understand

what's going

on here

in this

particular

claim

the fact

of the

matter

is

is that

your deepest

longings

and yearnings

are for

in fact

things like

intimacy

and things

like love

and at the

very very

heart

and the

very very

center

of this

text

is this

story

which is

very different

than the

stories in

the world

are going

to give

you

I have

a friend

who a

couple

of years

ago

he told

me

that when

he gets

to this

point

in time

he's

been to

the

Grand

Canyon

he loves

the Grand

Canyon

and when

things have

gotten to

a particular

point in

time

he's going

to find

somebody

to take

him to

the Grand

Canyon

he's going

to tell

them to

go away

and come

back in a

couple of

hours

but once

they've

gone

he's going

to stand

by the

edge

because there's

no guard

rails for

lots of

he's going

to admire

the view

and then

after he's

admired

the view

for a few

minutes

he's going

to step

off the

edge

so he dies

so he

doesn't have

to deal

with aging

and for a

lot of people

in our culture

we think

there's ways

the aging

process

but the

end of

all of

this

all there

is is

death

but I

want to

tell people

that the

Christian story

tells us a

far truer

the true

story

that death

does not

have to be

the end

it does not

have to be

the final

word about

you

that diminishment

is not the

final word

about you

that the

true God

that does

exist

that who

has created

all things

is love

it's the

Father loving

the Son

and the Son

loving the Holy

the Son

loving the

Father

and the Holy

Spirit

it's love

it's beauty

it's goodness

it's truth

that is the

that is what

created all

things

and the evil

and the death

that's come

into the world

is not because

of God

but because

of what

we've done

that's what's

brought evil

into the world

and the final

end of the story

doesn't have to be

any of these

things

is that when

you understand

what Jesus

has done

for you