Colossians 3:6-7

Colossians chapter 3, verses 5 to 7, our focus is on verses 6 and 7 this morning. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Ornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience in the which ye also walk some time when ye lived in them. May God bless to us his sacred and holy word this morning. There is a story about a fable, if you would, about a frog who fell into a deep pothole on the road couldn’t get out. He was encouraged by his friends to jump, and he tried to jump, and he couldn’t get out. Eventually, his friends left him, and he found that there was a truck coming along, and trying with all his might, he got out. The next day his friends ask him, how is it that he got out when he couldn’t get out before? And he said, well, I saw a truck coming, and I knew I had to get out. And the moral of the story, of course, of the fable is, sometimes what you need is the right motivation to get out. Well, Paul has spoken here of your duty as a Christian. Sin is throughout all your members, both inward members and outward members, and outward members, and it needs to be put to death. At this point, Paul provides two basic incentives, or motivations, if you would, to encourage you to mortify sin. The first motivation, is the wrath of God. And the second motivation is gratefulness to God. So we want to talk about incentives to mortify sin. Now let me begin by saying this. You should be motivated to mortify sin because of the wrath of God. Verse 6, for which things sake the wrath of God comeeth on the children of disobedience. You must not complain when you see God’s wrath poured out in this world. That phrase, for which things sake, refer us to the list of sins that we find in verse 5. The fornication, the uncleanness sexually, the inordinate affection, the evil desires or concupiscence. The covetousness that is mentioned. These types of sins excite the wrath of God and causes it to be poured out upon the perpetrators. And the Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. The curse causeless shall not come, the book of Proverbs tells us. We must clear God of all suspicion, of all cruelty when he pours out his wrath upon the earth. It is always rightly deserved. Who has a right to complain when God pours out his wrath because man is sinful sinful? You know, when a great calamity comes, in our world, whether it’s a tornado or an earthquake or whether it is some type of natural disaster. We find people often murmur against God. You know, why has God brought this? Why has he let this happen and so forth? But they rarely consider how their own sins may have brought forth this judgment upon them. The love, the grace, and the goodness of God is so emphasized today that people do not consider the justice of God and the holiness of God. Scripture would have us have a balanced view of God, as Romans tells us in Chapter 11, and the goodness of God. As a believer, you have good reason to mortify sin, because you know that God’s wrath is going to be unleashed against those who commit iniquity. I want you to look with me to the book of Zachariah, Chapter 5, if you would. There’s an interesting vision that our prophet has here in chapter 5 of the book of Zachariah. And I want to read the first four verses. Then I turned and lifted up my eyes and looked and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, what seeest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll. The length thereof is 20 cubits and the breadth thereof is 10 cubits. Then said he unto me, this is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth. For everyone that stealeth shall be cut off, as on this side according to it. And everyone that swareth shall be cut off as on that side, according to it. And I will bring it forth, said the Lord of hosts. And it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth. falsely by my name, and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof. This vision is provided to the people of God as an emphasis on the necessity of breaking off their sins. Zachariah sees this huge open scroll that’s written on both sides, and it’s flying over the land. It’s about 30 feet by 15 feet. And it’s the exact dimensions of the temple porch where the law is normally read. It publicly proclaimed to all God’s determination to judge sin, to send forth the curse. of the law upon those who would violate it. According to the one side of the scroll, it represents the first table of the law, because it talks about swearing falsely, the sin of doing so, using God’s name in vain. And the second table of the law is represented by the fact of people speaking or engaging in theft. these are representative of the two tables of the law, representative sins. Now, God says he’s bringing forth the curse, the curse of the law against those who violated. And it is sent forth as a punishment against evildoers. This is to be laid to heart. For divine judgment does not remain dormant, but it flies forth from God to bring judgment on those who are guilty. It pursues the sinner. There is a relentlessness to God’s curse. It’s sort of like the bloodhound tracking down the criminal that has escaped. He tracks down the sinner. And God is an impartial avenger of sin because because the curse here is over the face of the whole earth, the Bible tells us. And everyone who is guilty shall be cut off. Sinners not only draw down judgment upon themselves, but you’ll notice that the families also are judged as well. They ruin their own families. You must not complain when God’s wrath falls in this world because it is just. The second thing I’ll mention here is you must recognize that God keeps a record of men’s sins. For which things sake implies here God is taking note and keeping track of these types of sins that are being committed. For divine justice and judgment is always perfectly just, and God recompense is according to the type of sin that is committed. the Bible tells us that God keeps a book of works in which is recorded all the actions of men, all their thoughts and intentions as well, and it will be read on the day of judgment. No one should think that God forgets like man does. No one should think that God is ignorant even of the thoughts and intentions of men’s heart, therefore he reads them and knows them. The scripture says we’re all going to appear before the judgment of seed of Christ. Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Knowing the judgment of God, the wrath of God that’s going to be poured out, we persuade men to repent and turn from their sins. I read a story about a husband and wife. We were discussing a trip they were planning to go to the whole. Holy Lance and they thought, the husband thought that wouldn’t it be fantastic when we get there if we could go to Mount Sinai and shout the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. To which the wife responded, it might be better if we just stayed at home and kept the Ten Commandments. And so the scripture says, He that Seth, I know him and keep if not his commandments, is a liar. And the truth is not in him. A person who doesn’t want. mortify sin and claims to know Christ and salvation has reason to fear the judgment of God. For these things, the wrath of God is poured out. So we have the cause here of divine wrath. We see the coming of divine wrath. The wrath of God cometh, he says here. You can expect both earthly, An eternal judgment or divine wrath. The wrath of God cometh in this present life, for the Bible says that God is a God who judges in the earth. The wrath of God is his eternal detestation of all unrighteousness. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. and unrighteousness of men, Romans 1 tells us. It was revealed when the sentence of death was first pronounced, and the earth was cursed. And we find that from the garden. We could talk about the worldwide flood. We could talk about the account of Sodomondmore and its destruction, their destruction. We can look at the plagues that were poured out on Egypt. We could look upon the carcasses of the dead Israelites who fell in the wilderness because of their wickedness. And then there are all the enemy invasions of the land of Israel and their captivity in a foreign land. And on and on we could go. We could look about how God struck down Abimelech, Adonai Bezik, Nabal, Belchazazar, even Herod in the New Testament, we’re told about. out in the book of Acts. And I suppose if we want to see the zenith of God’s wrath, we could look at Mount Calvary, and we could see the wrath of God poured out upon our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, because he was bearing the sins of his people. The book of Revelation portrays people fearful of the wrath of the Lamb. Christ, the risen. Christ as reigning as king pouring out his wrath in a terrifying manner on the wicked. The wrath of God cometh in this present life, and we should be recognized that. But the wrath of God cometh in the future as well. And the Bible warns us to flee from the wrath to come in Matthew 3.7. It’s frightening as the wrath of God is in this life. when it is poured out, I assure you that it will be more awesomely revealed in the life to come. Who can adequately describe the eternal torments of hell fire? For the scripture declares, the wicked shall be turned into hell. Hell is a furnace of fire, a place of outer darkness. where your worm dith not and the fire is not quenched. There you will lift up your eyes in torment, bearing the wrath of God for all eternity. There is no escape. It is an everlasting punishment. In the opening of Pilgrim’s Progress, you find Mr. Christian reading the scriptures, and he’s weeping and trembling, and he meets a man called Mr. Evangelion. to ask him about his whole demeanor. And Mr. Christian says, sir, I perceive by the book in my hand that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment, and I find that I am not willing to do the first, die, and not able to do the second stand in the judgment. I fear that this burden that is upon my back, will sink me lower in the grave and I shall fall into Toffet, which is an Old Testament word for hell. And Vangelis says, if this be your condition, why are you standing still? Flea from the wrath to come. Friends, the prospect of ending in hellfire ought to be an incentive. It ought to be a motive to turn to the Lord, to seek to forgiveness. To go to Christ is the only remedy for your sin, for he says from the wrath to come according to 1. Thessalonians 110. So you can expect both earthly and eternal divine wrath. Now you should realize divine wrath is a deterrent to sin. When you engage in the sins of verse 5, the sure consequence is a deterrent to sin. When you engage in the sins of verse 5, the sure to experience the wrath of God. In John 5, when Jesus heals the man that’s infirm at the pool of Bethesda, the man has brought the faith in Christ, but he’s given a warning by Christ. You remember what he said. Jesus said, behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee. Grace does not ignore the requirements of God’s holiness. Nor should we think because God is gracious that somehow or other it is a license to sin. It is just the opposite. We are to wake to righteousness and sin not, the Bible says. Peter warns those who profess faith in Christ and then would turn back to their old way of life in the book of 2nd Peter chapter 2. He says this, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with them than the beginning, for it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known it. To turn from the Holy commandment, delivered under them. It would be better not to have even heard the message of the gospel, then to profess faith in the gospel and then go back to the way you were before, and he talks about the dog returning to his vomit or the sow going back to the mud and saying this is a very dangerous situation. Divine judgments in this life should be carefully noted for they are foretaste of the wrath to come. For the true believer, don’t you think that you can sin with impunity? Because the Bible says that God’s on God’s true people, he sends his judgments. It may be sickness. It may be some type of disease or hardship or trouble, because God will bring his people to repentance. For mere professors, however, who are never regenerated, you can expect a more severe eternal punishment for turning away from the way of righteousness. When I was growing up, there were times when my family would be going out to maybe some important place, and my father would line up the four children according to age, from the oldest of the youngest, and he would give us a hard swat with an oak slat, and he would say this is just a sample of what you’re going to get if you misbehave tonight. Well, needless to say, with our bottom still hurting, smarting, we were well behaved, fearing the wrath that was to come. Now, I tell you this, because what you have in this life in any judgments that God said you in this life are nothing compared to the life to come. It is a one-swat deal. But compared to the life to come, it will be most severe the judgment that is the come. God would have his children well-behaved. So he expects you to mortify sin and you will taste of his wrath. And you get a warning in this life often when he pours out a judgment and humbles you so that you repent of your sin. The coming of divine wrath. And then he mentions also the children of divine wrath. The children of disobedience. It comes upon the children of disobedience. Now, your stubbornness and sin is sure to provoke divine wrath. Children here expresses a relationship to disobedience. And the idea of the those who have addicted themselves to disobedience. Those who are disobedient, both to the law of God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are people who can by no means be persuaded to believe the divine word and renounce their sins. It’s similar to that phrase we have, Sons of Belial, in Scripture. People devoted to pursuing evil in this life. life. Such as those who were called disobedient in the days of Noah who would not repent at the preaching of Noah, at the threat of divine judgment that was coming, and yet they wouldn’t listen. Such as the people of Sodom Gimorrah who would not believe the warning of Lot when he tried to warn some of his family members about God destroying this place. It should be noted that stubbornness in sin, particularly, draws down the wrath of God. Those who remain rebellious and continuously mock God’s calls made by his ministers through the gospel are assured of facing divine wrath, both earthly and eventually eternal. So your stubbornness in sin is sure to provoke divine wrath. that being children of disobedience is a stubbornness, persistence in sin. You should realize the difference between divine wrath toward the believer and the unbeliever. Sometimes God is wroth with the truly godly, and the people have to cry out in wrath. Remember mercy, as we read in Abaka 3-2. But God in his wrath, in his judgment of the righteous, his wrath never uttered. abides upon them. For I will not contend forever, neither will I always be wroth, Isaiah 5716. God’s wrath is that of an angry father disciplining his children so that they are corrected and brought in line. It’s not for destruction. The wrath poured upon the stubborn sinners is of another kind. And it is everlasting without mercy. It is a wrath that abides upon them. The children of disobedience. Terrifying, eternal wrath. So if you wish to be classified as a child of God and not a child of disobedience, you must be mortifying your sin. So you should be motivated to mortify your sin. Secondly, notice this. You should be motivated to mortify your sin. sin out of gratefulness to God for salvation. Notice verse 7 here of our text. He said, in the witch, you also walk some time when you lived in them. It talks about your former state prior to salvation. Before your effectual calling by God, you were wrapped up in these kind of sins. You were like a son of disobedience. You did the very things that he condemns in verse 5. You walked and you lived in these things. Sin is a way of life. It’s a road or a path that we go down in life. And you proceed from one evil to another. We take life, we take pleasure in a life of sin. Scripture says we love darkness rather than light. Sin at one time had dominion over us. and ruled us, but then of course, God saved us. And Esop’s fable, there’s a rich man who moves next door to a tanner. But the tanner would put out all his tanning skins and so forth out in the back of his yard. And the smell of the tanning yard was very unpleasant to the rich man. He said, you’re going to have to move. Well, the Tanner delayed his departure when he was told again he was going to have to move. Every time the Tanner would say that he’s making arrangements to do so shortly. Well, this went on for a while, till at last the rich man got so used to the smell that he no longer was bothered by it anymore, and the Tanner didn’t have to move. In a similar way, since at first it made trouble the controversy, of a person, particularly an unbeliever, soon become acceptable. They no longer bother them because it is a way of life for it. They just become used to it. And that’s the way they live. And this is something we must recognize in the sinner. We used to be like that. We used to walk in that manner. Now, your present state, as we’ve already talked about, is you’re dead to sin. Recollection of your past. ought now to deter you from present sin. God has reached out in mercy to you. He’s changed you. The point is you’re no longer like you used to be. You’ve been circumcised by Christ. You’ve been regenerated, he tells us in chapter 2. We’re now dead to sin. It doesn’t have the power over us that it once had. When Mr. Christian reaches the interpreter’s house. You recall that he meets Prudence, and they have this conversation. Prudence says this. Do you not think sometimes of the country from whence you came? And Christian says, yes, but with much shame and detestation. Truly, if I had been mindful of that country from whence I came out, I might have had opportunity to have returned. But now I desire a better country that is a heavenly. And Christian says this, and, excuse me, Prudence says this. Do you not yet bear away with you some of those things that then you were conversant with all? And Christian replies, yes, but greatly against my will, especially my inward and carnal cogitations, with which all my countrymen, as well as myself, were delighted. But now all these things are my grief, and might I but choose my own things, I would choose never to think of those things more, but when I would be doing of that which is best, that which is worst, is with me. Mr. Christian is saying here, I don’t want to go back to the way I used to live. I don’t even want to think the way I used to think. Those things sometimes crop up, and they trouble me and they grieve me that I would even find myself in that situation. We’re ashamed of the way we used to live. It grieves us deeply. And this provides an incentive to live differently. We used to live like that. We’re not to be like that anymore. Your mortification of sin is a way to show gratitude then toward God. Do you appreciate your salvation? Do you appreciate what Christ, the Savior, has done that you may be freed from sin and damnation? Don’t you want to please him? Don’t you want to bring honor to his name? Well, then mortify sin in your life. If you love me, keep my commandments. And one of his commandments is go and sin no more. My friends, We have to come to the point. We realize that God’s grace and goodness does not encourage a life of sin. It actually encourages us to do the very opposite. It should cause us to restrain sin. How can I sin against God? How can I do this evil in his sight? We should live soberly. Righteously and godly because we know what we once were and how God’s grace has changed us. Well, the frog that got stuck in the pothole got out as soon as he was motivated enough, which meant when he saw the truck coming. Mortification of sin is stimulated in the Christian by a right motivation. The first motivation, the first motivation, is the wrath of God. The second motivation is gratefulness to God. Let us close with