Latest / HBCWestminster / 7.23.23 Colossians 3:1-4 Pastor Nathan Anderson

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7.23.23 Colossians 3:1-4 Pastor Nathan Anderson · HBCWestminster

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We are going to be in one of my favorite passages of Scripture from one of my favorite books in Scripture.
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We're going to press pause on Romans and we're going to be in Colossians chapter 3.
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Colossians chapter 3.
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You know, there are chapters in God's Word where you read it and you finish and you say,
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well, that was pretty much it, right?
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That is the Christian life in a nutshell.
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And Colossians chapter 3, I believe, is one of those chapters.
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Chapters that so simply and yet succinctly speak directly to us as believers.
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We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 4 of Colossians 3 this morning, as I said.
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But before we do, since we are kind of parachuting into the middle of Colossians,
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allow me to try and set some context for us this morning of these four verses.
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Leading up to Colossians 3, Paul has laid the groundwork.
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He has built a foundation.
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He has reminded the Colossians, the church in Colossae, where to refuel,
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where they should get their nourishment from, where they get their value from.
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He is setting Christ as our ultimate goal.
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The image of the invisible God.
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Telling the readers of this letter that all things are made,
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by Christ and for Christ.
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Paul, in the first two chapters, has been unpacking the implications of this truth.
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Talking about toiling by the power of Christ, which is in him.
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Setting Christ as the source of all knowledge and assurance.
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Paul tells us in the first two chapters that Christ is above all.
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That he is the source of all truth and thus worth all our effort.
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But this is done by the powerful work of the Holy Spirit within the believer.
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Paul has been building this argument and as he closes out chapter 2,
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talks about how the believer has died.
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He says,
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If you have died with Christ, then these things should be true.
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If you have died with Christ, we should die to our old self.
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Live as though we've been set free.
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From our old self.
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But Paul does not leave us dead.
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In chapter 3, he will begin to tell us that we are alive now.
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Paul begins this section of his letter with a similar statement to what he made in chapter 2, verse 20.
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If then you have been raised with Christ.
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That's our background.
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But before we jump into the study of the word, we need to read the word.
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Do we not?
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So, if you would stand with me, we will read Colossians chapter 3.
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Verses 1 to 4.
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Pray and we will get started.
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Colossians chapter 3, verse 1 says this.
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If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above,
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where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
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Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
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For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
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When Christ is seated at the right hand of God,
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when Christ, who is your life, appears,
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then you also will appear with him in glory.
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And God, this morning we ask that you, by your spirit,
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would guide and direct us in the study of your word.
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Lord, that you would help us to get understanding.
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God, that we would not just merely get understanding,
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but that our hearts would be shaped by the truth of your word.
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And God, as you do that, that you would change us.
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You would empower us and encourage us to live out our faith.
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God, I pray that you would be honored and glorified now in the preaching of your word
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and that you might encourage your people by it.
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We pray these things in your name.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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You can be seated.
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As I said earlier, Colossians 3 is one of my favorite chapters.
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It is one that stands out amongst God's word to me.
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There are several chapters of the Bible that do this, though,
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ones that are just spectacularly filled, just jammed with truth.
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Ephesians 5, Romans 8, 1 John 3 is one of my personal favorites as well.
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James 2, Romans 12.
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All of these are passages, much like the one we will study out this morning.
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Chapters which, if we seek to live out in our everyday lives,
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we would fulfill the call on our lives as Christians.
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Now, I personally, and perhaps you're different than me,
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but I personally, and perhaps you're different than me,
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but I personally love chapters like this because they keep it really simple.
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And I don't know about you guys, but I get distracted really easily.
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And I forget really easily.
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And so when God's word makes it simple, it really blesses me.
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And I hope this morning it will bless you.
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You see, I find it really easy to get distracted with all sorts of things in my life.
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As a husband, as a dad, as a pastor in the church,
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there are endless things that I can get busy doing.
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And I can forget why I'm doing them.
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There are an endless number of things which can pull our focus off the essentials.
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You know, years ago, and if you guys have heard me teach any number of times,
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you've probably heard me reference the sugar beet factory before.
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But years ago, many years ago now, when I was in college,
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I had a job at a sugar beet factory.
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And if you're wondering what that is, most of your sugar in the store is made from sugar beets.
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I did not know this until I worked there.
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And I didn't work there because I wanted to.
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I worked there because they paid the most.
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Torrington, Wyoming, there's a sugar beet factory.
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Well, there was. It's closed down now.
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But back then, years ago, there was.
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It was a union-run factory.
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And my friends and I worked there during my college years because they paid the most.
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But they hired us as seasonal labor.
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We were not...
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We were not union employees.
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We were seasonal labor, which meant we didn't have to pay the dues, but we paid our dues.
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The union guys loved us because we did all the jobs that they didn't want to do.
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And there was a very large list of those things.
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While working there, I discovered, I did not know this when I took the job,
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but there was an endless number of things that would kill you at that place.
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Um...
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One of those was the fact that apparently sugar dust is one of the more combustible things in our world.
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And Scott's Bluff, the sugar beet factory at Scott's Bluff, actually found this out because it blew up
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and made a crater.
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And they had a picture in Torrington of that crater with a sign that said,
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Be careful.
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It was very reassuring.
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Now, one of the jobs that we had on occasion while we were working there
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was to go up to this giant hopper.
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It was about...
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It was about half the size of this sanctuary and about this tall.
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And it was pretty deep.
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And this is where, when the trucks would come and pull up,
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the conveyor would take the sugar beets up into this conveyor
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and then they would go into this big hopper
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and they would go through a process of getting washed and then sliced
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to prepare to be turned into sugar later.
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But because that process took some time washing and cutting them,
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occasionally, not very often, but occasionally,
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that conveyor needed to be stopped so that it wouldn't overflow the hopper.
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Now, this might seem like a complex job, but they assigned it to one man.
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He had a chair that he got to sit in and he had a live video feed of both the conveyor
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and maybe this was the problem, there was two screens, I don't know,
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but the conveyor and the hopper so he could see them coming up
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and then he could see them coming up.
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He could see them going in and he could see how many sugar beets were in this hopper.
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His job was to watch that live feed sit on his chair and he had a red button.
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One button, not multiple options, this was not multiple choice.
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This was one button that he pushed and that would stop the conveyor
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so that those sugar beets would not overflow the hopper.
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This was his job for eight hours of the day.
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He was not good at his job at all.
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He often got distracted and those sugar beets would overflow and not a little bit.
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I mean, we're talking a lot, like enough to fill the hopper up a couple times.
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So I don't know what he, like maybe he hadn't pushed it for eight hours kind of thing.
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So we would come to the superintendent, we would ask him,
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what do you have for us today?
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And he'd say, well, sugar beets overflowed again,
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I need you guys to go up and shovel them back in.
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Well, when he said shovel,
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what we actually had to do was use pitchforks because these were giant.
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It's like shoveling rocks, like big, giant rocks.
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You can't use a shovel to shovel big rocks, they don't, it bounces off.
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So we used pitchforks, stabbed them, scraped them off, stabbed them, scraped them off,
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and that was our eight to ten hour shift doing that.
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And we would do that for three days in a row, usually because there was so many of them
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and it would take so long.
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So we really liked this guy, a lot.
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You know, he had one job, stay focused.
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Don't get distracted.
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But he constantly got distracted and it caused more work and frustration for those around him.
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This morning, my hope is to pull our attention towards three points
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that we will pull out of our text this morning.
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In so doing, I hope to help us to keep ourselves focused on how we ought to live.
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We will look at our passage from these three points
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and each of them will be informed by this open text.
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This is the opening statement Paul makes in verse one of chapter three.
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If then you have been.
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Our points will be these.
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The clause redirects our lives pursuits,
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the clause reshapes our lives perspectives,
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and the clause redefines our lives purpose.
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Starts off, if then you have been raised with Christ.
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This if then you have been is a statement where we get our title for the sermon today,
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a definitive clause.
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The statement from Paul as he begins at first glance,
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this seems to be a conditional statement, not a definite statement.
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However, the use of if, and I'm going to explain some grammar here in a second.
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So just hang with me because I'm going to give you the reason why.
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And just know that if you're lost, I'm lost in grammar all the time.
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The only reason why I know this is because I know how to read and study.
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So when I explain this to you, don't come up and ask me a grammar question later
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because I don't actually know any of this.
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I just know what it means, okay?
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Okay.
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The use of if here is a particle indicating a fulfilled condition,
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followed by the use of indicative mood, the mood of reality.
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If in this case does not convey uncertainty,
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but what is referred to as a first class conditional clause,
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which assumes that the statement,
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which follows, is true.
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So we could substitute the word if with since,
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or in view of the fact.
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Thus Paul is making a definitive clause statement.
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He is making a statement which is true,
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and thus the implications of this truth should be considered to be connected
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and be seen as a call to response
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because the statement is true.
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What am I saying with all of that?
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Paul is saying you have been raised with Christ,
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and because of that fact,
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here is how your lives should be affected.
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Okay?
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Definitive clause.
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Fulfilled condition.
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So let's consider what this clause affects.
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Verse 1 tells us that it was.
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It redirects our lives' pursuits.
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This letter of Paul was written to correct the church in Colossae
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who was being taught by false teachers,
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namely being focused on personal performance and experience.
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These false teachers were trying to purport
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that there was some mystical way to achieve something,
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a greater way,
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and this would be achieved through their performance,
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which led to this greater experience.
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It was a works-based sanctification,
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that Christ was not enough to effect change
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in the lives of believers.
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So Paul is seeking to correct this false teaching,
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and in so doing, he begins to show us
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how the definitive clause redirects what we pursue,
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what we seek after.
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But before he does that, he makes it very clear
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how this will happen.
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You see, the change in our lives
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is not going to come from our own efforts.
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It is going to come by the finished work of God
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through His Son, Jesus Christ.
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We see this come through very clearly
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in the way Paul writes,
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if then you have been raised with Christ.
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This statement from Paul is written in a passive voice,
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something that has happened to you,
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not something that you have done.
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He could have easily written it and said,
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since you raised yourself in Christ.
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See the difference?
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You have been raised, is how he wrote it.
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He could have said, you raised yourself,
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since you raised yourself in Christ.
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By your faith in Christ, you raised yourself.
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No, he says, you have been raised.
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Paul is emphasizing, this is the work of God
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through Christ Jesus in us,
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not based on your or my effort.
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This is a simple difference in language,
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but has significant impact on our understanding
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of who is accomplishing this work
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of changing what we pursue,
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what we seek after.
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This is significant because it establishes
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for the believer the starting point,
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the foundation for our spiritual change,
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for our sanctification.
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Paul ties this truth not to our efforts,
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but that definitive clause,
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that statement of certainty,
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which grounds this change,
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in our lives pursuits to the reality
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that our identity is in Christ,
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and that is the genesis for change.
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That is the inertia, the energy
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with which we move forward.
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It is not our vain attempts to earn favor
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or to effect change by our own power.
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Because of this, Paul then challenges
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the Colossian believers and us today
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to redirect our lives pursuits,
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what we seek after.
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Paul says that since we have been raised,
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raised with Christ,
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we should pursue different things.
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Paul says we should seek the things
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that are above,
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where Christ is seated.
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Paul is shifting the focus off
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from where the false teachers had focused,
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these worldly, earthly, human efforts
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and traditions,
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and redirecting their attention
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and ours upwards to where Christ is seated,
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showing Christ has finished
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His work of redemption,
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as He is seated at the right hand of God.
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We must understand that this call
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to redirect what we pursue
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is not an intellectual change.
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He does mention the mind in our next verse,
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but we need to remember that God talks of the mind
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as the gateway to the heart.
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So as Paul is calling us to respond
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to the fact that we have been raised with Christ,
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it is not a calling for mere intellectual redirection.
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Practically speaking,
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in order for our life's pursuits,
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what we seek after,
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what we put our energy and focus on,
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for that to change,
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our affections have to change.
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I pursue what I care about,
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what I value.
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We must be captivated by Christ,
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and this through our union with Him.
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Our understanding of the love
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expressed to us
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through Him
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will affect this change in us.
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This reality may require us
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to reevaluate many areas of our lives,
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to reconsider what we are pursuing.
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What am I seeking after
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to reevaluate our careers,
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our time usage,
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our financial choices,
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what our families look like,
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how we invest in relationships?
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All of life is affected
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by how we view this reality
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that Paul brings out in verse 1.
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You see, ultimately,
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our union with Christ
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should so stir, move,
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compel our affections for Him
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that it affects,
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and if needed,
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redirects what we pursue in life.
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If then you have been raised with Christ,
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seek the things that are above.
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The clause redirects what we pursue.
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Next, the clause reshapes our perspectives.
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Verse 1.
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Verse 2.
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Set your minds on things that are above,
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not on things that are on earth.
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Paul now begins to expand
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and zero in on this call
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to redirect what we pursue or seek after
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with a very directed call to our thinking.
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Now, while verse 1 and 2
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have really similar and complementary thoughts,
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they are not actually the same.
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As stated in point 1,
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to seek things above
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is redirecting our pursuits, right?
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What we seek after,
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it's focusing on our heart's affections.
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In verse 2, Paul says to set your minds.
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He is seeking to reshape,
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reorient our will.
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Paul is seeking to reshape our thought process
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and the perspective with which we view the world around us
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and the relationships around us.
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Thus, Paul, in these first two verses of chapter 3,
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is looking to call on the readers and listeners
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of his letter to a holistic change,
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and this coming through the understanding
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of the eternal realities of their and our salvation.
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Paul is seeking to reshape our thinking through
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helping us to see the incredible effects
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our redemption has and can have on our lives.
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The false teachers that Paul is writing to correct
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were very into mystical and emotional experiences.
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Does that sound familiar to any of you today?
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If you took a jaunt over to Boulder,
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you might hear some things about mystical energies
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and experiences.
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Paul's statement here in verse 2 shows
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that there is a rational and objective perspective
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which is in direct contrast to that emotional and mystical
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and kind of nebulous teaching
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that those false teachers were purporting.
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Church, here is an important but oh so hard fact
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that I think Paul is also pointing us to.
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Our perspectives, our doctrine, our theology
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cannot, must not be affected by what is going on in our lives.
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How we feel.
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It is so easy as we walk through this life
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to have our perspectives rise and fall
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with present circumstances.
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To have our theology,
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our doctrine change based on our experiences
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rather than on the fixed and certain truths
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revealed in God's word.
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Paul understands this reality and thus calls on us
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in response to our union with Christ
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to have our perspectives reshaped
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by the truth of God's word
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and not our circumstances or emotions.
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This is done by setting our minds
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not on what we experience here on this earth
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but on the Lord.
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On His word.
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On His work.
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And to set our minds on heavenly things
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which are fixed, certain, unchanging.
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That is where our hope is.
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It is this reshaping of our perspectives
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through the discipline of our minds
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that the process of sanctification happens in our lives.
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I don't know about you guys
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but when my thinking is off,
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my reading is off.
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Right?
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If I'm not spending time in the word and in prayer,
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really quickly I get off track.
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If I haven't set my mind on God,
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on His truth,
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it is so easy for me
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to be shaped by circumstance and thought.
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It is through the discipline of our minds
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as we fill our minds with things that are above
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that sanctification happens in our lives.
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Because it no longer becomes situationally dependent
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but rather a foundational and certain fact
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in the life of a believer.
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If we set our minds on things above,
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God will change us.
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He will reshape us.
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If we want to experience the powerful change
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of sanctification in our lives,
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we must allow the gospel to affect
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a reshaping of our perspective.
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And no longer see the world
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through our earthly understanding
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but rather allow it to be shaped
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by things that are above,
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not on the things that are on earth.
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Right?
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The beauty of God's word
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is it holds in it many promises,
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much hope,
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much encouragement.
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And church, if we would allow our perspective
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to be reshaped by these truths,
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God's word will guard our hearts and our minds
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as we dwell intentionally,
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focus on the redemptive work of Christ for us.
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And this will bring about a supernatural peace
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that surpasses all understandings.
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Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 through 8 promises this.
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And as these things take root,
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we begin to have a renewed hope
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even in the midst of trials and difficulties.
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Listen church,
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when Paul tells us to have our minds set on things above,
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not to get distracted with the things that are on earth,
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he's not belittling the difficulties
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that this earth holds.
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He's not saying that these things are simple
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or that we might even understand all of them.
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He's just promising that God is big enough
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to walk through them with you.
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So this definitive clause has affected our pursuits,
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what we seek,
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it's affected our perspectives,
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and now we see this all leads to a redefinition of our purpose.
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Redefinition of our purpose,
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verses 3 and 4.
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For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
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When Christ, who is your life, appears,
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you will also appear with him in glory.
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As Paul finishes his thought
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and closes out his thought in these two verses,
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he does so by showing us the clause redefines our purpose.
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In verse 3 he actually summarizes,
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verses 3 and 4,
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he actually summarizes his argument
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that he started in chapter 2, verse 20,
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where he talks about us having died with Christ,
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if you have died with Christ.
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He summarizes 2.20 through verse 2 of chapter 3,
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and as he does,
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he does this by stating in verse 3 that these sections
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are a collective foundation for his final argument.
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The statements from chapter 2 in verse 20
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and chapter 3 verse 1 are wrapped together
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in this final section we look at this morning
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where he says,
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for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ.
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When Paul says,
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for,
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in verse 3,
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he is establishing the axiom,
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the fulcrum,
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on which the Colossians and us today are to seek and set.
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He says seek and set,
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and this is both the reason and the power
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for us to redirect and be reshaped,
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which in turn leads to our redefinition of purpose.
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The way in which Paul builds this all out
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is amazingly powerful
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as we consider these two short verses.
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And Paul actually writes this in a sequential form.
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He says in his statement in verse 3,
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you have died,
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past,
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your life is hidden,
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present,
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and you also will appear,
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future.
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Paul in that simple but robust statement
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tells us that our past, present, and future
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is a fixed and certain thing because of what Christ has done.
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But let's just take a moment, church,
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to consider the unbelievable promises
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which are housed in this small but powerful statement.
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Our past has been put to death.
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That old, disgusting, sinful self,
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depraved self,
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has been crucified with Christ.
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It has been put to death.
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It has been put away.
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And we in our present are hidden in Christ.
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And can we not pass over this?
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Can we just sit for a second
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on this truth?
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We are hidden in Christ.
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As each of us sit here today,
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I stand, you sit,
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but as we are here today,
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each of us are hidden in Christ.
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That means that it's no longer
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our sinful self that God sees.
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It is His perfect Son
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that He sees in you and me.
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That is an incredible promise and reality.
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You guys remember back in Exodus?
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When Moses is up on the mountain
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and he prays to the Lord
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and asks that God would show him His glory?
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I want to see your glory, God.
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You remember what God says back to him?
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He says,
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You can't see me because you'll die,
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but I will hide you in the cleft of this rock
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and my glory will pass behind you.
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Our lives are hidden in Christ.
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Christ is the cleft in the rock
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that allows us to have
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the very presence of God reside in us
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and ultimately, someday,
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to see God in the fullness of His glory.
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Someday.
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Our lives are hidden in Christ.
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It not only means that we are in Christ,
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but that Christ is in us.
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This truth, Paul says in chapter 1 of Colossians,
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is the very hope of glory.
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Christ in you, the hope of glory.
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So we have died in Christ,
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but by faith in the power of His resurrection,
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we live through Christ
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and His abiding power and grace
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lives in our lives.
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This is the hope of our present life
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and the promise of the future glory to come.
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You have died.
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Your life is hidden with Christ
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and you will appear with Him someday
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when He returns.
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Now, how does all of that reshape our purpose?
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You may be asking.
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And if you are, I'm really glad
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because we're going to answer that question.
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Verse 4 tells us when Christ,
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who is your life, appears.
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This future fulfillment,
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which will bring to fruition
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the promise of the present,
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hidden with Christ,
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this brings to a mind-blowing result.
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You will appear with Him in glory.
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Appear with Him in glory.
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It is this promise of Christ's glory to come.
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which redefines our present purpose.
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You see, church,
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there should be no worthless pursuits,
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selfish pursuits.
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You know, earthly wealth and achievements
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and status and gratification,
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if we see this through the perspective
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that Christ gives us
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and the future hope to come,
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are seen for what they are,
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things which are temporary,
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lacking eternal hope.
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We can and should then see
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and seek things above
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by pursuing a close and vibrant relationship with Him
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and pursuing His kingdom,
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promoting His kingdom,
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building His church,
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not our own.
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This also redefines,
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this redefinition of purpose
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allows us to walk through the difficulties
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of this life with assurance and confidence
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that in spite our lack of understanding
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at times of what God is doing,
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we do have a sure and fixed hope.
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An anchor for our souls.
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God is constantly giving us reassurance
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that even if we don't understand everything,
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He does.
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And He has a plan and a purpose.
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And finally,
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in how this redefines our purpose,
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and here's where we get our first
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and only Sunday School answer for this morning,
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but they're Sunday School answers for a reason.
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Because they're true.
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And because they should be lived out
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and they are eternal truths with application.
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And here it is.
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The eminence of Christ's return
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should, must move and motivate us
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to live with urgency today.
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Church, the Savior is coming back.
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Amen?
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That is a fact.
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He comes back to bring with Him
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those who have trusted in His finished work on the cross
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and eventually to judge those
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whom have not.
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That is a reality.
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That is a promise made in Scripture.
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Now, when you consider the fact
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that Christ has saved you by His finished work
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through His grace and by faith,
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should it not impact our purpose
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and desire to share what we have experienced?
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To live as ambassadors for Him?
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Seeking to live and share the Gospel
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in an appealing way that others may come to know Him?
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That they may return in glory with Him as well?
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Church, God has been writing a redemptive story.
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He has been doing it since He created the world.
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God is still writing that story today.
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He invited you and I into that story
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and has even commissioned you
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to live in recognition of that invitation.
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These truths should inspire us
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to allow God to redefine how we spend our lives.
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How we work.
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How we work in and for His church.
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How we function in our families.
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How we build our friendships.
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Church, we are citizens of heaven.
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That should change how we live
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and we should live like we want our neighbors
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and coworkers to go.
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Brothers and sisters, we need the right mindset.
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If we are not focused,
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we do not allow the Gospel to redirect our focus,
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reshape our perspective,
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and redefine our life's purpose.
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We will miss out on taking part
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in what God is doing today
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and tomorrow until the day He returns.
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To take part in that redemptive story
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that He is writing each and every day.
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And church, worse yet,
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if we allow ourselves to get distracted
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and lose focus,
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I can guarantee the moment we do,
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sin comes in.
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Right?
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If I get distracted, if I lose focus,
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sin comes in and the worst part about sin
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is it doesn't just affect me.
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Right?
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It affects the relationships around us.
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It affects everybody.
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Just like that guy all those years ago
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at the sugar beet factory,
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who couldn't stop the sugar beets in time
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and they went everywhere
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and it affected a whole bunch of people.
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If we lose focus in this life,
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sin will come in
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and it's gonna affect those we care about.
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It doesn't just affect us.
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Church, these truths are deeply personal
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as they relate to our identity and union with Christ,
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but they also have corporate implications.
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How we as a church should live together.
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We should be a church that cultivates
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a community of believers
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which do not shackle one another down
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with unnecessary guilt, shame,
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or pressure to perform,
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or pressure to be okay.
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Because of what Christ has done for us,
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it's okay not to be okay.
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Rather, we should, as Hebrews 10 says,
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let us consider how we can stir one another up
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on towards love and good works.
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And church, this will all come,
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as scripture says,
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as we draw near with true hearts
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sprinkled clean,
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holding fast the confession of our hope
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without wavering,
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for he who promised is faithful.
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May I just encourage us this morning as we close
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to consider how the gospel is impacting us.
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Has it redirected what we pursue,
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what we seek after?
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Has it reshaped how we think?
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And is it redefining how we live?
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Because it should.
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Because what Christ has done
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is that powerful,
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that amazing,
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that beautiful,
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that loving.
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Let's pray.
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God, we love you.
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As scripture says,
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not because we first love you,
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but because you first loved us.
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God, you sent your Son
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when we were enemies of you.
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Our souls were at war with you,
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and yet by your grace
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and your love,
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your Son lives in us.
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He lived a perfect life,
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died on the cross,
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rose again that we might have newness of life.
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And if we have been raised with Christ,
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may we seek you above all else
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because you are worthy
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and because you are good.
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God, redefine what we pursue,
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that we may bring you glory with our lives,
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and there might be those
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who come to know you
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because we have lived our lives faithfully.
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God, we pray these things in your name.
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Amen.