Colossians 2:23-3:7
The first two chapters of Colossians deal with the Gospel; Christ plus nothing; your position in Christ; and what salvation means. The second two chapters deal with living the new life, the practical working out of our salvation.
So as we have heard over the past two weeks
1 Paul instructs us to set our sights on heavenly things
2 Think about the things of heaven and not earth. You have died to the old life and now have a new life in Christ.
Paul directs us to deal with sin, specifically the sins of the flesh that we have brought from our old life.
Col 3:5
Adrian Plass - Preach on lust
Two weeks ago Peter said in his talk that "sex is actually quite nice". Sex and desire were created by God and are good. God wants sex to be within a marriage. This is to protect us because his heart is always for the best for us. Children playing have freedom until one runs into the road, then you pick them up and protect them.
WHAT YOU TOLERATE WILL DOMINATE.
We must not tolerate these things as they are part of our old nature. As Christians we are instructed to have our eyes fixed on heaven. We are now IN CHRIST. New Life. Led by the spirit, not by our flesh and earthly desires
Sexual immorality etc is a huge problem in the world. The Porn industry is worth $97 billion a year (over £1 billion in the UK). There are more downloads from porn sites each month than from Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined.
Paul encourages us to run from sexual sin
1 Corinthians 6:18
2 Timothy 2:22
Look at someone who didn’t do as Paul suggested, the consequences of his actions and what we can learn from his mistakes!
2 Samuel 11:1- 11
What can we learn from this?
1 David was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He should have been at war with everyone else. Be careful where you go. It could be a party, it could be at home late at night after your wife has gone to bed, it could be in a car in a compromising situation. Whatever the situation is, it could look innocent but the enemy can use it against us to compromise us.
Woman on the train – Catch an earlier train!
2 Looking is ok/It doesn’t hurt anyone/It’s only a sin if I act on it?/I’m just window shopping – I’m not going to buy! Looking is NOT ok. What you are looking at is the temptation. You fall into the sin trap when you don’t look away! Matthew 5:27-29
3 Looking can led to action which is what happened here. David fell to temptation, slept with Bathsheba and she became pregnant.
4 Consequences. There are always consequences when we sin. For David, Uriah was killed and the baby died because of David’s sin. The consequences for us can be similar – people get hurt, families can be torn apart and children hurt.
5 Breaks our relationship with God who is holy and cannot abide sin. God does not turn a blind eye to our sin.
6 God has to send Nathan to rebuke David regarding his sin and tells him the story in 2 Samuel 12:1-7. Don’t ever be in a situation where God has to send a prophet to say those words to you. Be accountable to and hoenst with each other.
David repented of his sin and God forgave him, just as he can and will forgive us. Bathsheba eventually gave birth to Soloman who was called Jedidiah which means “beloved of the Lord”. God restores us to a right relationship with him. Broken lives are made new in Christ.
We can learn so much from David but how do we ensure we don’t fall like him? We need to stay close to God, let the Holy Spirit rule in our lives and change us from the inside out. Give us hearts of flesh not of stone! Self control is one of the fruits of the Spirit. The closer you are to God, the easier self control will be. We are in a spiritual battle.
Galatians 5:16-24
Col 3:10
Questions
Please discuss these verses and their implications for our Christian lives. Pray for and strengthen