We have actually taken a brief hiatus from our Colossians series to deal with the Atonement. However, there are a few sermons from Colossians that I have yet to make available.

Kill Sin or It Will Kill You is part one from Colossians 3:5-11. The primary question in this sermon is "what must I do to cultivate a love for Jesus?" In this sermon we deal with the issue of mortification. And as you might expect I got quite a bit of help from John Owen.

Look the Part is part two from Colossians 3:5-11. In this sermon we deal with the issue of hypocrisy. We compare life in Adam's community to life in Christ's community. Since we have been delivered out of Adam's community and transferred into the community (or kingdom rather) of Christ we need to look the part.

Could They Tell is part one from Colossians 3:12-17. The key question from this sermon is this: "If an unbeliever were to observe our interactions with fellow believers could they tell how beautiful God is?"

The Gathered Church is part two from Colossians 3:12-17. It is very important for us to be an active part of a community of believers, but what are we to do when we gather? Colossians 3:12-17 gives us some guidelines.

In Colossians 3:3 Paul says, "you have died with Christ". In Colossians 3:5 Paul says, "Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you". It is apparent that the death of Christ is what motivates us to "put to death" what is earthly in us. As I have read through commentaries it seems that they are making a much bigger problem out of this than is necessary. Romans 6 gives us a pretty good idea of what Paul is saying in Colossians 3.

Here is my question, for any that have studied Colossians, Romans 6, or the relationship between the New Man and the Old Man:

Would it be appropriate to paraphrase Paul's point as this, "He's dead (the old man) now put him in the morgue so he doesn't stink up the joint? Clean up all the filth that this dead corpse has caused and put to death every remain there is of him."

I am not so much interested in the grammatical structure of my paraphrase--I understand it is rough. I am interested in knowing if you would agree with the theology undergirding such a statement.

Again I have fell somewhat behind in posting sermons from Colossians. So, here you go...

In Colossians 2:6-8 we discuss living the "full" Christian life: Walk Like You Talk. It is really rather simple--"be a Christian and live like it". Living the "full" Christian life is found in living out what Christ has already accomplished.

Everyone is either a slave or they are free. In our sermon on Colossians 2:9-15, Slave or Free, we ask 4 Questions to Determine whether or not you are a slave or free. 1) Are you enslaved to deceit or are you made free? 2) Are you enslaved to depravity or has your sin nature been stripped 3) Are you enslaved to death or have you been given new life? 4) Are you enslaved to debt or has your debt been conquered?

Our sermon on Colossians 2:16-23 is controversial. Does that mean that it will get more hits? I hope not--honestly the sermon on Colossians 2:9-15 is better (at least in my opinion). In this sermon we try discover how to make gospel-permeated decisions on areas that are not crystal clear. We do this by discussing the issue of alcohol use: To Drink or Not to Drink.

Finally, the latest sermon was on Colossians 3:1-4: Battling Sin with a Superior Pleasure. The previous sermon helps us to learn how to determine what we should and should not be doing--but it does not give an answer to conquering sin. I am indebted to Sam Storms, Charles Spurgeon, and Thomas Chalmers for the idea behind this sermon. How do you fight sin most effectively? You conquer sin with a superior pleasure. We do this by looking at what Christ has done and what Christ is going to do.

I realize that I am quite behind on posting past sermons. There are four new sermons on Colossians that I have preached.

The first one is part 2 of Colossians 1:15-20: Jesus, Lord of Reconcilation. It is always neat for me looking back at sermons that the Lord uses (at least in part) in His mighty process of reconciliation. One young lady came to know Jesus the night this sermon was preached.

The second one is Colossians 1:21-23: Must I Endure? In this sermon we consider the doctrine of eternal security (or as we Calvinist call it--Preservation of the Saints). I am indebted to Tom Schreiner for many of thoughts in this sermon. He helps us to see how we ought to heed the warning in this text.

The third sermon is on Colossians 1:24-29, where we consider: Are You a Faithful Minister? This was (is) and extremely difficult text to preach. (At least it was for me). At the beginning of preperation it was one of my least favorite sermons. However, once I began writing it quickly became one of my favorites. If I had it to preach over again I would spend more time on the final point--but until I edit you get the uncut sermon.

The fourth sermon is last weeks sermon on Colossians 2:1-5: Truth Matters. This is another sermon that students responded to. I know for me, considering whether or not I truly believe Jesus to be the storehouse of all wisdom and knowledge, this was convicting. In case you read the sermon and want the answers to the first 13 questions: 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 are true the rest are false. You may disagree with calling 11 false--I mean it to be somewhat tricky.

May God be glorified!

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church..."

There are quite a few different ways of looking at this text. What is it that is "lacking in Christ's afflictions"? And, how exactly is Paul "filling up" that which is lacking?

Sam Storms does a great job of narrowing the discussion, you can read the full thing here.

The six options are thus:

1. Redemptive: Paul is somehow filling up what is lacking in Christ's redemption
2. Glorifying: Paul is giving more glory to Christ through his suffering
3. Typological: Paul's suffering is corresponding to the suffering of Christ
4. Eschatological: There is a set amount of suffering that Christians will endure, Paul is filling up that bucket of suffering with his suffering.
5. Extending: Ministers, like Paul, extend the message of the suffering servant to others through their suffering in ministry. Christ is not lacking in propitiation but in presentation. Therefore, Paul is extending the presentation of Christ, through suffering, to the nations.
6. Union Suffering: Paul is suffering where Jesus would have as an example and encouragement to benefit the Colossians.

Maybe you have a seventh or a combination of a few of these. I would be interested to hear your suggestions. Read Storms' article first.

Wednesday's sermon is now available online. Colossians 1:15-17 is an absolutely stunning text in all that it asserts. Jesus is God made flesh. Jesus is the Lord over all of creation. Jesus is the Pre-existent I AM. Jesus holds all things together. That is enough to blow our minds. Yet, as Paul expounds on Jesus being the Lord over all creation in verse 16, the scope absolutely is astounding. Everything was created by the means of, through, and for Jesus Christ.

Why is Mercury closer to the sun than Jupiter? Because Jesus thought that was a good idea? Why was I created? Because Jesus thought it was a good idea. He created me because He wanted to, and he did so for His glory. If that does not give us significance I am not sure what does. EVERYTHING was created by, through, and for Jesus. Truly astounding.

One final thing, did you realize that Jesus was actively involved in knitting Judas together in his mother's womb? In one sense Jesus planted the tree that became the Cross he hung on. He wrote the Passion story. From the rocks under his feet, to the spit that wet his brow, to the blood which dripped from his veins. He poetically wrote the whole thing. Why? Because he wanted to and for His glory. What a mighty God we serve!

In the sermon from Wednesday night I gave this analogy:

Imagine a beggar. He has no cash. His clothes are tattered and torn. His breath is smelly. His hair is unkempt. His biggest hope is to get a few coins to get a coffee or a beer to drown out his pain. Every afternoon around 3:00 he waits outside a successful law firm, hoping to get a few coins from the wealthy employees.

One day a young businessman exits the law firm. It has been a relatively tough day and his mind is wandering and his heart is betting a little excited about his plans for the evening. Suddenly, he is awakened from his day-slumber. He notices the man. The beggar. The tattered clothes. He reaches in his pocket for a few quarters, but something hits him. Perhaps it was a Sunday school lesson from his childhood, maybe it was the Mexican food he had for lunch. He decides to really bless this beggar. Rather than giving this man a few dollars to get him through the night. The man decides to lavish riches upon the beggar. He stoops down to the old man, and asks him if he would like to go for a ride. Of course, the beggar is a little reluctant, but with a little pleading he follows the man. What happens next is almost unbelievable. The rich lawyer goes to the closest 5th Avenue store and buys the beggar an expensive suit. They get a haircut. He takes the man to get a shower. He takes him out for a really nice dinner. Then at the end of the night he gives the beggar a key chain. On the key chain is a key to his new car, his new house, and to the building of his new office. He has taken the beggar off the street and set him in the lap of luxury.

Now, how does the beggar give gratitude to the rich man? If we can speak this away, how would
the beggar glorify the rich man? How would he magnify the works of the rich man? What could the beggar do to make the rich man shine the brightest? As I stated in the sermon Wednesday night, our answer to that question, will dictate whether or not we understand thanksgiving and gratitude towards God. We are the beggar, God is the "rich man". How are we to give Him thanks for what He has done?

One of the most difficult things for me to preach are Paul's prayers. For one the actual text is usually packed and lengthy; typically being one long sentence in the Greek for our 8 or 9 verses. It is also difficult to apply. Do we discuss what Paul prayed for? Do we discuss prayer? In this particular sermon on Colossians 1:9-14 (primarily focusing on v.9-10) we discuss the importance of having a knowledge of God's Will. If we desire to fully enjoy that which Christ has already purchased then one way of doing that is to be filled with a knowledge of God's Will. You can now view Wednesday's sermon online.

I apologize that I have not posted much lately. Just when it seemed that this blog was beginning to gain some momentum (as far as number of visitors) I found myself ridiculously busy, and unable to post much. Hopefully, today that will change.

There are two recent sermons that are now available online. The first one is the introduction to our new series on Colossians. The introduction and conclusion are under-developed in the written version that is available; for that I apologize. The body of the sermon is, however, very much intact. Although it was probably preached a little different than this "uncut" sermon. You can find it here.

The second sermon that is available is the one that was preached last night. It is on Colossians 1:3-8, You can find it here.