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The thing with Colossians, I
suppose, again, could really be, part of it, apart from the
preeminence of Christ, could really be saying to us, what
is a Christian? What truly or who truly is a
Christian? Is it somebody that's just decided
to live their life in a slightly different way? Just decided in
some way to follow a certain set of principles in their lives?
Because if that is the case, then the Colossians actually
wondered whether that was what being a Christian meant. It's
not surprising that Paul felt there was a danger that they
might go off and start following other teachings, other ways of
earning their salvation. But the whole point of this letter,
we've just read chapter 1, and Paul goes into considerable detail
through the aid of the Holy Spirit of what a tremendous work Christ
has done. Did Christ really need to do
all that? if it was just a matter of deciding
to live by a different set of principles. No. Paul tells us,
as we've been reminded recently, this is really part three of
one bible study, that we are new creatures. We are a new creation. And we find that in what we've
been reading in Colossians. He says you are a new creature. You are a new creation. There
is no satisfactory illustration to give us that. Think of a butterfly. Think of a butterfly. Starts
life as some insignificant caterpillar crawling over a cabbage, eating
away at the leaves, finding the gardener's most upset with the
damage he's doing, and then becomes a chrysalis, and then, unless
we knew what had happened, we wouldn't believe So that beautiful
white cabbage butterfly that's now soaring in the lovely sunlit
sky on a lovely scented afternoon in summer is in fact once that
caterpillar that couldn't get within 6 inches of the muddy
earth and spent most of its time in the shadow and dark of the
leaves under a cabbage. We'd say, isn't it strange if
we saw one of those butterflies deciding that's where it was
going to spend the rest of its life, stuck under a cabbage with the
dots. But no, the butterfly now is
a new creature. It's environment's changed. It's a new person. It's not a
caterpillar that's decided to actually live life by a new set
of principles. Or you get a picture of a potter.
He's making a pot out of clay. And he makes something that's
lovely. A new creation. Now what's he going to do with
that? Well it's going to be used for something. It's been made
for a purpose. And Pope Paul is saying you are
new creatures, you are a new creation. And he develops this
very much at the beginning of chapter 3 by actually stressing
this fact here quite clearly, saying that you are risen with
Christ. We know in Genesis we are told that we died. The day
that you eat of that tree you will die. Morally dead, spiritually
dead. You and I, strangely to say,
were born dead. We were born spiritually dead.
But if we're Christians it's because we've been raised with
Christ. We're risen with Christ. This is dramatic. It is not just
deciding, Colossians, to live your life by this different set
of principles. You were risen. Did you do it yourself? No, this
is the work of God. The whole of your salvation,
the whole of being a Christian is to do with a new life, a new
creature, a new creation. We just looked at comparing what
that is with what we know of the final resurrection as it
were. There's a new life after death, there's going to be a
new nature, there's going to be new knowledge, new awareness, new relationships,
new power, new responsibilities. That's all involved with being
a Christian. We are risen with Christ. We saw that in fact Paul
uses the symbolism of baptism to show us this. He says, you
were dead but now alive. Remember we said it's a change
of state. You were dead, now alive. It's also a change of walk of
behaviour. You once walked according to the lust of the flesh, you
are now going to walk in the spirit. But there's a problem. There's a problem. Not really
a problem, but we perceive it as a problem. The problem is
this. Our sin has been dealt with,
but in effect our sinfulness hasn't. The psalmist says we
were shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. And although you're a new creature, you're a new creature
spiritually, yet you are still in this body, and this body is
still shaping this sin. And the letters of the Colossians
might well be addressing this issue to young Christians, how
they should deal with this challenge of being a new creature. You see, Christian life, as I
reminded on Sunday, started with repentance. And I happened to
glance through a book on Sunday, a little booklet, called the
moral basis of faith. In other words, it's quite a
good title for the Little Book, because it's saying our conversion, our
new life, started with repentance. It started with an awareness
of sin. It became a moral awareness. We repented of sin. We saw sin
for all its ugliness. We saw it's terrible nature.
We saw that we were sinners. We saw that sin actually has
been separating us from God. We saw very often that sin separates
us from one another. I only need to look out in the
playground to see this. Children today on my patch don't
know how to play together. And adults don't know how to
get on together. Families don't get on together.
Sin separates not just from God but from one another. Sin enslaves. Jesus said if you sin you are
the slaves of sin. Sin has wages. The wages of sin
is death. Jesus says, you will die in your
sin. What an awful thing to die in
your sin. You say, well what's so awful
about that? I'll tell you what's awful. All the time you're alive, the
gospel is still there. You may be a sinner, but if you
live through God's grace to tomorrow, the gospel is still proclaiming,
come unto me and be saved. But what happens when you die?
When you die, there is nothing that can deal with your sin for
the rest of eternity. Nothing. If you have X amount of sin when
you die, you will spend eternity with X amount of sin. Why is
there everlasting punishment? Because you will be a sinner
everlastingly. God has given you all your life
to repent. If you die in your sin, as Jesus said, it's such
a terrible thing to die in your sin, because that's the end!
You go into eternity with your sin. What will you do? Will you get the priest to light
some candles for you? Will you get somebody to pay some money
to the church for you? Do you honestly think that God
will take any notice of that when you've refused the blood
of Jesus Christ? That's the terrible nature of sin and when we're
converted we realise just how terrible sin is. And we repent
of it and say, oh my sin! Often broken in tears over it.
And really, that's the start of a life of repentance. A life of daily recognising that
we're sinners. Any Christian will tell you,
we all know, that so often in the evenings as we come to prayer,
sin is there. We have consciously sinned that
day. We need to repent of it and be cleansed again from that
daily cleansing. It's a constant battle, a constant
warfare. For God will give us grace. And
the whole purpose of us not going straight to glory when we are
saved is that we may be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. So, that's why these false teachers
are likely to come along and say, you are Christians, but
how are you going to live this life now? You know God saved you,
you're a Christian, but how are you actually going to deal with
sin now? Try all these things. These things will help you. The
Paulists say to them, if you were saved through the blood
of Jesus, then just trust Jesus for the rest of your life. If
he was able to save you, if through his power you've been cleansed
and forgiven, he's the one to work with, he's the one to love,
he's the one to see you through to your final salvation when
you go to glory. Don't go to any other course
if you won't save by works. What makes you think that works
are going to be of any help to you in living your Christian
life? We saw there were three issues
in this chapter. Paul looks at the lusts of the
flesh. These were the way we walked when we were sinners,
before we knew Christ, and these are still there so often. We
saw it wasn't just to do with sex, it's to do with anything
that actually has an overpowering demand on us. As I said, it can
be even just a hobby. You get a hobby magazine and
you look into it and overnight you want that next thing, you
want that next thing, you must go and buy that next fishing
reel or something. And it sort of just consumes
you. You see that's part of our nature. We're never satisfied.
But as Christians we shouldn't be walking by the lusts of the
flesh. Paul says do not walk by the lusts of the flesh. Walk
by the Spirit. This chapter, chapter 3, very
much is about a love for Christ. The positive side You once walked
in the lusts of the flesh, now walk with love for Christ and
he says in chapter 3 verse 1, if you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above. Why set your heart on the things
of the mud and the things of the dirt and the things of the
cabbage as it were? Set your heart on things above
where your new life is. Another life like Christ's and
he goes on to say later in the chapter, I can't find the verse now, about
being like in the image of Christ. This is our whole purpose, that
we might be in the image of Christ. So we look last time very much,
and it's the negative side of things, at those things that
very much were part of our life, and the things that we've got
to kill of, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil, concupiscence,
covetousness, idolatry. We saw the most key issue there. The worst sin there is that covetousness,
because that's the root of all else here. I'm going to come
on this evening very much to the love of Christ, because Paul
says, seek those things above where Christ is. You see, how
are we to live as new creatures? We're new creatures, we're a
new creation, we're risen with Christ. How are we going to face
this problem? How are we going to deal with
that sin that so easily besets us? We won't want it. This is the
mark of being a Christian. Before you're a Christian you
sin and you enjoy sin for a season. When you're a Christian you will
sin, but it will grieve you. There's a battle When you have
sins, you may not grieve immediately, but God will ensure that you're
brought face to face with your sin and you will grieve over
it like David did. So this is the point. But how do you deal
with it? How do you actually ensure that sin is dealt with? How do you ensure that you're
able to deal with these sins and become a victor, become a
conqueror? And Paul says, be positive. Don't
sit there saying, I mustn't do this, and I mustn't do that,
and I mustn't, I mustn't, Set your affection on things above.
It's positive. Where Christ is, where Christ
is. Because this is the key. Not
setting our heart on things above in an arbitrary sort of way.
It's where Christ is. If you're in love with somebody,
you want to know about where they are, you want to know them.
Set your affection on Christ. And as Christians, This is the
most glorious thing. We come to love Christ. We come
to know him. And I would have faced it if
we went to a seminar over at Romney and something that actually
stuck with me, perhaps it didn't appeal to other people so much,
but it came as a challenge to me. Having been a Christian,
having known Christ, would you carry on being a Christian if
somebody said to you, actually there's no heaven, there's no
hell? It's not a matter of what you're going to get out of it,
but would you carry on loving Christ for who he is? And for
what he is. And I'd say, yes, I truly believe
I would. I so love him. Yes, if there
wasn't a heaven, if there wasn't a hell, I still love him. I still
know him on a day-to-day basis. And I wouldn't give that up for
anything. So it's that love for Christ
can be the real motivation to us living a life that is victorious
and that is conformed to the image of Christ. A true Christian
may have a battle. that they will always grieve
over sin. We reminded ourselves, didn't we, of the terrible cost
to David of his sin. Psalm 51, we're not going to
go through it again. But the terrible agony he faced. And
for a Christian, we're now brought to see sin on occasion, sin in
their lives. David says, my sin is ever before
me. My sin is ever before me. He
says, I've lost the joy that I once knew. Oh, poor David. But haven't we known that at
times? When sin has been brought home to us in a terrible way
and we realise how we've bereaved ourselves? Why? Because the psalmist has suffered
a personal separation from Christ. So the challenge is actually
to live the Christian life and to live it setting our affection
on things about The Bible says you are controlled by the lusts
of the flesh. Now our first hymn said, may the mind of Christ
my Saviour dwell in me from day to day. Christians should be
people controlled by their minds, not by their lusts. And minds
that are conformed to the image of Christ. Now isn't this a wonderful
thing? Isn't it a wonderful thing to actually be controlled by
your mind? If it's conformed to the image of Christ and not
just by your lusts. Maybe a battle sometimes. If we look at one
or two verses about where we are told to do this. Romans. Romans chapter 12 verse 2. Paul says, who will not conform
to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God. This is how we are going to walk
a Christian life. This is how at the next church
meeting we will make wise decisions. Be not conformed to this world.
If we have a church meeting and we're all walking in conformity
to the world, how can we make decisions that are based on the
mind of Christ? Be not conformed to this world,
but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind that you
may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God. Philippians 4 verse 8 Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians.
Ephesians called their saints. Finally brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue,
if there be any praise, think on these things. Is that easy? No, it takes some willpower.
Take some effort, take some prayer. Romans 7, verse 22, 23. Paul's talking
about this warfare. Paul the Apostle, the Apostle
Paul, that holy man. Listen to what he says. For I
delight in the law of God after the inborn man, but I see another
law among members, warring against the law of my mind. See the battle
here? the lust of the flesh, the law
of my mind, and bring me into captivity to the law of sin which
is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord." So there is a battle. That we're not to
be controlled by the lust of the flesh, but by a mind that
is in tune with God, in tune with Christ. A love for Christ. And Paul says, seek those things
above. Set your affection on them. Here
is a key to restoring the image of Christ. How positive Paul's
being. He's not saying, you've got to
give up that, you've got to give up that. He's saying, set your
mind on the Kingdom of Christ. Now what does this entail? For a start, why do we have the
rules table? Can we forget the cross of Jesus?
Yes, we may forget it. But Paul says, so as often as
you do this, do this in remembrance of me. We have the rules table,
we break the bread, we drink the wine. Why? We might set our
affection on things above. Now God in his grace knows what
we're like. We're frail creatures. And it's
something positive. We have to set our mind on it.
Do any of you actually have to set your mind on eating? Do you
have to set your mind on actually getting to sleep at night? Do
you actually have to set your mind on watching a television
programme you want to watch? Do you actually have to set your
mind to read a good novel? Do you have to set your mind
to listen to a good piece of music? No, you don't. But you
have to do this. You have to set your mind on
things above. It's something that is not natural
to this body. And that's why the Lord says,
even as Christians, You've got to meet together regularly round
the Lord's table to set your mind on things above, to set
your heart on the love of Christ. That's a very good illustration
of what we should be doing every day, through God's word and through
our prayer time, setting our affections on things above. We might really truly know Him,
truly know Him. You see, all God's love will
show of his love, doesn't matter what passage you're reading in
the Bible. It will show that God is a God of grace and a God
of love. You say, well what about judgment? What about the punishments?
Oh, but they were in God's grace. Here were people going into idolatry
and God was bringing them back. He was chastising them. Can you
say that a father that smacks his young child is unloving?
Of course you can't. God's love is through all the
pages and the more we read of it the more we'll see of the
love of God. Set your affection on things above. Set your affection
on God's word. Set your affection on the prize,
the gift of Christ's love, an inheritance, incorruptible and
undefiled we're told. Set your love on the crown that
you're going to receive, on the reward that you're going to receive.
Set your affection on the goodness of God. You say goodness of God? Yeah, I mean I think that that
is a challenge to me. I've said before, I think if
it was possible for me to be embarrassed when I stand before
Christ, it will be that I ever doubted in circumstances that
he'd withdrawn his love. Don't we sometimes feel that
we're being treated a bit hard, that perhaps God isn't treating
us in love, perhaps God isn't good? The way we talk sometimes
we would think it. We've got to believe, and I'm
sure we do really believe, in the total and ultimate goodness
of God. God is good, and everything he
does with his people is because of his goodness and his love. God is good. This was the insult
of Adam's sin, wasn't it? Adam was saying, really? As we've
been reminded of recent months. Oh yes, I'll take that for what
Satan was really saying to Adam and Eve, wasn't he? God's a bit
mean, isn't he? God's a bit mean. Why shouldn't
you eat of that fruit? God's been very mean. And that's
the sort of feeding they must have had. And this is the feeding
Christians sometimes have. They mustn't think like that.
Think of everything that God has given them. Bountifully.
People say, oh if I become a Christian I'll have to give up this and
I'll have to give up that. Give up what? All that the world offers. is
perversions of what God's given you. What God's given you is
the perfect, is the pure, is the lovely. Wonderful, just think of it,
go through it. I mean the perfect illustration is the role of sex. The world
perverts it, the world spoils it. But how beautiful are we
in God's context, how wonderful, how glorious. All these gifts,
perfect and good gifts, we can read about these in James. Set
your affection on the things above. James chapter 1 verses 13-17,
I'll read them to you. Let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted of evil, neither
tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when
he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust is
conceived it brings forth sin, and when it is finished brings
forth death. Do not err my beloved brethren.
Every good gift, every perfect gift is from above. What's he
saying? Don't be lured into the lie of
Satan in the world saying that we've got all the good gifts
to give you. Look at this young people says the media, look at
what the world can offer you. God is saying, God's word is
saying, the good gifts, every perfect gift is from above. cometh
down from the Father of Light, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. Yes, let us set our hearts on
things above, on a goal of love, on a Christ of love. Just before
we finish that section, would you turn with me now to Philippians
chapter 4? This is God's Word. And very
often, particularly, and I can understand it, I can understand
it, young people will come to you or come to me and they'll
say, but what is wrong with this? What is wrong with it? Now here
is a very good verse. This is God's Word. And if we
disobey this, we're sinning. Now here is a guide to test everything.
Let us read together, may we? Philippians chapter 4 verse 8.
Just that one verse. Shall we read together? Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things
are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are
a good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise,
think on these things. Am I in God? No. What a glorious
list. It's a wonderful test for us
personally to apply to things in our own lives, about whether
they are in fact the things we should be setting our minds on
as Christians. That's God's Word. And then we go on to a life like
Christ's. We know that Adam was created
in the image of God, don't we? He was created in the image of
God, but that image was marred, it was spoiled. And we reminded
ourselves a couple of times ago that part of that Christian life
now is to have that image restored. That's what we know as sanctification,
it's a long word. But it's really through God's
grace and the work of the Spirit and our efforts restoring that
image. And Paul starts really in chapter
3 by saying you're not going to do it just by trying to do
this and do that. That's why at the beginning of
chapter 3 he starts his chapter on restoring the image of Christ
by saying Set your love on Christ. That's the key to it. If you
don't love Christ, if you haven't got any love for Christ, don't
try doing the rest of the chapter. Get that bit done first. Make
sure you're in love with Christ first. Because if you're not
in love with Christ, there's no motivation to live in the
Christian way. So having done that, Paul goes
through, and we can read some forceful words here. Chapter
5, verse 5 now. He says, first of all, multiply
therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication,
sexual immorality that is, uncleanness, inordinate affection, now that's
another word for lust of the flesh, that lust that goes beyond
reason, evil concupiscence, covetousness which is idolatry, forsaying,
you've got to cure those off. No, sorry, there's no We'll try
and sort of have a go at this. We'll get a psychologist in,
we'll get a psychiatrist in, we'll see what we can sort out.
Paul says, look, don't mess about with it. Simple answer, kill
it off. I remember somebody saying from
the pulpit here, was it? You know, people come to them and say, well, how
do I give this up? And he said, give it up? Really? It's got
to be as simple as that. And people that are giving up
smoking, thankfully I haven't had to do it, found in the end that
with all the different things on the market that help give up smoking when
it comes to it, it's just the issue of giving it up. And for
say, mulchify. What does mulchify mean? It means
kill up. Kill up. These are weeds. You can probably find this on
dandelions. They've got roots that go down deep. But it's all
the same that a gardener does with weeds. You've got to kill
them off. They've got to be dug up deep. They've got to be, when
they start sprouting, delivered immediately. Don't wait for the
lust to grow in your mind that the very first No sign of a weed
growing. Kill it off if you're a good
gardener. I'm sure Mr Hawkins knows more about dealing with
weeds than I do. I've never seen a weed in his
garden. Mortify, kill off those deeds in your members. Jesus
says, doesn't he, if your eye offends you, pluck it out. What did he mean? Did he actually
mean if your eye offends you, pluck it out? What does it tell
you? Paul Yeats is saying, BE DRASTIC! If you're a young man, or even
an older man, and seeing some of the pornographic books on
some newsagent shelves is a problem, you go in there and it causes
immediately your eye to come... What do you do? You say, I'll
never go in that newsagent again. That's drastic action. But that
is what Paul's saying here. And that's an obvious one, but
I'm sure you can think of all the other ones. Some people,
certain things may not be a problem. But if they are, you have to
take drastic action. You may be criticised for it.
Another Christian might say to you, what on earth are you being
so fussy about that for? I can't see what you're making
a big issue about it. They may not have a problem with it, you
see. It may not cause them to sin. But Jesus was saying, and
Paul is saying, be drastic. You have to multiply it. You
have to kill it off. If it doesn't cause you a problem,
then you won't have to be, but if it is, you kill it on. I mean, some people have problems
with their diet, have to be pretty drastic about what they do, where
they don't go. People can be very serious about
their diet because they're worried about what they look like. Shouldn't
we be more concerned about what we look like to God and the image
of Christ? We will need to study God's word.
How are we going to know what the image of Christ is by reading
his word? Because Jesus is speaking to us in here. Jesus is saying
through his word. Now he said the Holy Spirit will
teach you the things that I will have you to know. And right through
scripture the Holy Spirit is speaking to us and teaching us
what Jesus would know. How we can become like him. What
about our attitude to eating and drinking? The Bible will
give us the principles. Our attitude to dress? The Bible
will give us the principles. The role of men and women in
society and marriage. No, modern society won't give
you the guide. The Bible will give you the guide. Either principles
or specific teaching. The way we should deal with disagreements.
The Bible will give you the guide. The way we should deal with children
and punishment. The Bible will give us a guide.
Don't listen to the latest psychologists. The principles underlying our
enjoyment of the pleasures that God has given us and God has
given us richly many things to enjoy. The Bible will give us
that guidance. to the high and beautiful place
of sexual relationships. God will give us the guidance
in his word. To our use of time, to our attitude of gaining promotion
in our career. God will give us the guidance in his word.
It's all there. The image of Christ. A lifelike Christ. There's no need for a vacuum.
And please, hang on. I remember Edgar Wood teaching
this, and it's something that's stayed with me ever since. If
God is saying no to something, in your life. It may be no to
a career, it may be no to promotion, it may be no to a move, it may
be no to something that you particularly enjoy. Be assured that because
God is good, he has got something far better for you. God is going
to be no man's debtor. If God says no to something,
it's because he's got something far better for you and far better
for me. Get hold of that, that God is
a God who is good and kind and loving. Then look at this image
that we are to put on. Just quickly we can just read
through those words. Put on, verse 12, therefore,
holy beloved, bells of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another.
If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do you. and above all things put on charity. Glorious. How can people say
this is wrong or they don't want to be like this? How glorious
to be like this, to be like Christ. Kindness, humbleness of mind.
The welcome to see it as glorious. I nearly lost my job as head
because I quoted some of these characteristics. In my interview,
I was asked, Mr Orchard, what do you think of the qualities
of a good leader? And I said, well, to know where he's going,
and to be humble, and to be meek, and to be firm. And I was told afterwards, you
shouldn't mention the word meek or humble when you're a leader.
He nearly lost the job. But it happened, the head that
was interviewing me was a Christian. I didn't know it at the time.
But the inspector didn't like the thought of this chap who
thought that a character of good leadership was meekness. or humbleness,
that I knew as a Christian that good leadership does involve
those characteristics, does involve those attributes, because God
says so. The image of Christ. I think
I'm done singing, I haven't got time to think on those now. Just to finish with, we have to turn to the passage
we had on Sunday, just the last couple A Life, Life, Christ. Matthew
7, verse 21 to 23. Not everyone that saith unto
me in that last day, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name, in thy name cast out devils,
in thy name done many wonderful works. We were church members,
we were baptised, we were deacons. Then I will profess unto them,
I never knew you. Depart from ye that work in iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these
words of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise
man. It's important that Christ knows
us. It's vitally important that Christ
knows us. Just being a church member doesn't
automatically mean that Christ knows us. Can I ask you, would
he recognise you? Would he recognise me as one
of his? By our life? By the fact that we now have
got the image of him? By the fact that we've been talking
to him regularly every day? By the fact that we've been listening
to what he's been saying? You see the key word was there wasn't
it? Jesus was likening this person that he didn't know to somebody
that hadn't listened to his words. Hadn't listened to what he said.
They thought being a Christian was just making a profession
of faith and then living their life as they wanted to. Jesus
said, I never knew you. Because you hadn't done as I
said. You haven't listened to my words.
But there are awful things I say, I'm just having to now repeat
what he said Sunday really. It's a frightening thing. He
says many Many in evangelical churches, many in churches across
the land will find that Christ doesn't recognise them because
they don't bear his image, they haven't heard his words, they
haven't listened to his words. What an awful thought. Does Christ
know you? Do you know Christ? I remember a story something like
this. It was at the end of the war in Poland. There was a Red
Cross camp for orphans. A couple of little children sitting
there, well, a young teenage 13 year old and an 8 year old.
The 13 year old was cuddling the little one. Dirt was down
their faces, their hair was dirty. Torn, borrowed clothes. They
looked dejected sitting in the court room. Some of the children
looked a lot cleaner and brighter, but these two were huddled in
the corner, giving up hope it seemed. Many people wandering
around for the camp. some coming in to take children
to adopt them or wanting to adopt them. One or two parents that
had been separated in law were coming in to see if their children
were in this camp. They were travelling from one Red Cross
camp to another Red Cross camp, to another Red Cross camp. Long,
weary journeys. And into the camp came Mr Sapolsky,
shall we say. It had only been about 18 months
previously that the Nazis had stormed their house and they'd
been separated as a family. He had been taken to a prison
camp. He'd been separated from his wife, but his quest now was,
at the end of the war, to find his children. He came into the
camp, into the place where the orphans were. Children were hanging
around. One or two were coming up, and
quite deliberately trying to tug his heartstrings by saying,
Daddy, Daddy! I'll have you as my daddy. I
want you as my daddy. Some of them were offering him what they
could offer, tiny little meagre scraps. But his eyes weren't
on them. His eyes were only fixed on one
thing. He was scanning every face, every
eye, every body, every child, wandering up and down with a
forlorn look in his eyes, until the moment came when his eyes
rested on this bundle of sadness in the corner of the yard. His
eyes, like his own, although they were dirty now, They were
in a terrible state. He'd recognised them. He knew
them. And as they looked up, although
he'd now looked haggard from loads of food and prison camp
for 18 months, they knew him. How was it they knew each other?
They knew each other because they'd lived together for years. They were in the same family.
They recognised each other. Now that's a very poor illustration.
I know it doesn't bear many semblances. But I couldn't help thinking
of that. Will you recognise Christ? I mean this. Will you recognise
Christ? Will he be like you expect him to be? We haven't seen him
physically, have we? Will he be like you expect him
to be when he returns? And will he recognise you as one of his? Will he recognise me as one of
his? What if he does? Then he comes again and he says,
Paul, I know you. Or sister, I know you. Come to me. I've shared with
you when you've spoken with me. I remember the times we've shared
fellowship. I've drawn near to you in your bedroom when you've
had tears running down your face over a bereavement. I've been
with you in your bedroom when you've drawn near to me over
this issue or that issue. I know you. I know what you patiently
bore. I know the scoffing and sacrifices
you made because of the honour of my name. I know the career
you had to give up because of the honour of my name. I know
the time you spent in that church with nobody really knowing what
you did for me. I know. Enter into your reward. Enter into your rest. Our hearts have been challenged
this evening. The one who has been speaking
as well as us who have been listening. By our lack of love for thee.
How attractive we find the things of this world still. because
we do not truly love Thee as we ought, because we do not truly
comprehend the love that brought Thee down to earth to die on
Calvary. Lord, teach us what it meaneth,
that cross uplifted high with one the man of sorrows condemned
to bleed and die. Lord, break our hearts with love
for Thee again this evening and repentance of sin. Lord, if there
are those here yet who do not have assurance of faith in Thee,
O Lord, be merciful to them. Show them your love for them
in all their need. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Risen with Christ
Series Studies in Colossians
The believers life in Christ
| Sermon ID | 9150152525 |
| Duration | 40:53 |
| Date | |
| Category | Bible Study |
| Bible Text | Colossians 3:1 |
| Language | English |
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