there is really a a message within a

message on my heart today and I'm so

thankful for the text that is before us

because this particular burden that I've

had in my heart needs to be relieved and

I can do that by saying to you this

morning what I'm going to say from the

Word of God

let's open to Colossians chapter 3 and I

want to set the context for this because

I have the feeling that this message

might get sort of spread around and I

want a full context for the particular

emphasis so I'm going to read the

opening 15 verses of Colossians 3 just

to set it in your mind and then make a

few comments before we get to the heart

of the Word of God for us today

Colossians chapter 3 therefore since you

have been raised up with Christ keep

seeking the things above where Christ is

seated at the right hand of God set your

mind on the things above not on the

things that are on earth for you have

died and your life is hidden with Christ

in God when Christ who is our life is

revealed then you also will be revealed

with him in glory therefore consider the

members of your earthly body is dead to

immorality impurity passion evil desire

and greed which amounts to idolatry for

is because of these things that the

wrath of God will come upon the sons of

disobedience and in them you also once

walked when you were living in them but

now you also put them all aside anger

wrath malice slander and abusive speech

from your mouth do not lie to one

another since you laid aside the old

self with its evil practices and have

put on the new self who is being renewed

to a true knowledge according to the

image of the one who created him a

renewal in which there is no distinction

between Greek and Jew

circumcised the nun circumcised

barbarian Scythian slave and freemen but

Christ is all and in all

so as those who have been chosen of God

holy and beloved put on a heart of

compassion kindness humility gentleness

and patience bearing with one another

and forgiving each other whoever has a

complaint against anyone just as the

Lord forgave you so also should you

beyond all these things put on love

which is the perfect bond of the unity

but the Peace of Christ rule in your

hearts to which indeed you were called

in one body and be thankful this is a

chapter that directs our attention to

sanctification to sanctification that is

the doctrine in which we live our

Christian lives from justification to

glorification we're in the progress of

sanctification being made increasingly

holy increasingly like the Holy One our

Lord Jesus Christ now I've been telling

you that there's a foundational

indicative in this text that is the

foundational premise and it's in verse 1

since you have been raised up with

Christ that is to say since you died as

verse 3 says since you died to the old

life and have been raised up with Christ

since you died in Christ were raised in

Christ since you now have your life

verse 3 hidden with Christ in God since

Christ verse 4 is your life

therefore there are some imperatives

that you need to follow so you have this

powerful indicative statement of fact

since you have been raised up with

Christ you have died with Christ this is

reiterated in verses 9 and 10 again

verse 9 you laid aside the old self with

its evil practices

have put on the new self who is being

renewed to a true knowledge according to

the image of the one who created him

that's a fact

you died with Christ you rose with

Christ and in so doing you laid aside

the old self and you now are a new

person there's another statement about

this in terms of an indicative and

that's in verse 12 you have been chosen

by God holy and beloved you have been

chosen by God to be holy and beloved we

are the elect of God we were chosen by

God before the foundation of the world

to be in Christ when he died in Christ

when he rose then we live a new life

that new life lays aside the remnants of

the old life and embraces the particular

righteous elements of the new life this

is laid out in Romans chapter 6 in more

familiar terms let me remind you of a

few verses in Romans 6 verse 8 a good

place to start now since we have died

with Christ we believe that we shall

also live with him knowing that Christ

having been raised from the dead is

never to die again death no longer is

master over him for the death that he

died he died to sin once for all but the

life that he lives he lives to God even

so consider yourselves to be dead to sin

but alive to God in Christ Jesus that is

so important we are in Christ Christ to

see in us of course we are in Christ in

him we died in him we rose that's a very

basic foundational indicative of

sanctification we are new people down in

verse 16 he continues do you not know

that when you present yourself to

someone as slaves for obedience you are

slaves of the one whom you obey either

of sin resulting in death or of

obedience resulting in righteousness but

thanks be to God that though you were

slaves of sin you became obedient from

the heart to that form of teaching to

which you were committed

and having been freed from sin you

became slaves of righteousness as a

result of that verse 19 he says you

presented your members as slaves to

impurity and lawlessness in the past so

now present your members as slaves to

righteousness resulting in

sanctification then in verse 22 now

having been freed from sin and enslaved

to God you derive your benefit what is

it

resulting in sanctification and the

final outcome glorification or eternal

life these are statements of fact about

believers we have been raised with

Christ because we died with Christ as

such we have laid aside the old self and

put on the new self we are the ones

chosen by God for holiness as his

beloved now that leads to a lot of

imperatives here consider put aside put

on put off let peace rule let the word

of Christ dwell in you richly there's a

lot of imperatives every command here is

based on the fact that we are new

creatures this is the reality of

sanctification we have been justified

before God we have been born into God's

family

regenerated and now we live in the

progress of becoming more holy let me

sum it up God by Sovereign Grace chose

you to be in Christ so that when Christ

died you were spiritually in Christ in

the purposes of God you died in his

death you rose in his resurrection you

are now alive in Christ as a new

creation in union with the Son of God

you are empowered to put off the

remnants of the old life and put on the

elements of the new and righteous life

and this is the process of

sanctification
it is putting off and putting on it is

progressively the work of the word and

the power of the spirit conforming you

more to the image of Christ

now scripture is clear that this is a

command for us to be sanctified 1st

Thessalonians 4:3 or to mark that down

this is the will of God even your

sanctification plain and simple

this is the will of God even your

sanctification God's will is that you be

sanctified this is God's plan that this

is God's purpose this is God's design

now that means that anybody in ministry

has that as an objective if you're

shepherding the flock of God if you're

feeding the flock of God if you're

pastoring God's people if you're a

preacher this is what you are called to

do to aid God's people in that

sanctifying process the word and the

spirit does the work but you are the one

who has the responsibility to distribute

the word so the spirit can use the word

for the sanctification of God's people

that's what faithful pastors do let me

show you some illustrations today go

back to classes one for a moment and

here you have at the end of chapter 1

the Apostle Paul talking about his goal

his purpose with God's people verse 28

we proclaim him that is Christ who is

mentioned in verse 27 we proclaim him

admonishing every man and teaching every

man with all wisdom so that we may

present every man complete in Christ or

perfect in Christ or mature in Christ

the goal of ministry is to admonish

every person teach every person with all

biblical wisdom to present every person

complete in Christ verse 29 says for

this purpose also I labor striving

according to his power which

mightily works within me that was Paul's

goal he was working to the point of

sweat and exhaustion to see the people

of God made mature in Christ he had a

companion by the way when he wrote

Colossians he refers to him in chapter 4

you can look at chapter 4 verse 12 a man

by the name of Pat Apophis who was

actually a member of the church at

Colossae and so Paul gives a brief

report about Apophis he is a slave of

Jesus Christ as is Paul and he says

Apophis is one of your number sends you

his greetings always laboring earnestly

for you in his prayers that you may

stand perfect and fully assured in all

the will of God again the paffrath and

Paul have the same goal Paul in his

ministry

Apophis in his prayers to see the people

of God come to full maturity in Christ

in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 19 Paul

expresses the same desire a very strong

language my children with whom verse 19

Galatians 4:19 with whom I am again in

labor until Christ is formed in you he

uses a verb it speaks of labor pains of

a woman bringing forth a child I suffer

the agony of labor pains until Christ is

fully formed in you that is the faithful

ministers passion in Ephesians chapter 4

verse 11 and we find another evidence of

this he gave some to the church as

apostles some as prophets some as

evangelists and some as pastor teachers

for the equipping of the Saints for the

work of service to the building up of

the body of Christ until we all attain

to the unity of the faith and of the

knowledge of the Son of God to a mature

man to the measure of the stature which

belongs to the fullness of Christ that

is absolutely unmistakably clear pastors

teachers evangelists like prophets and

apostles are given to the church for the

equipping of the Saints for the building

of the body to bring the Saints to the

knowledge of the Son of God to a mature

man to the measure of the stature which

belongs to the fullness of Christ that

is the ministry goal Christ's likeness

in the people of God one other portion

is also reflective of Paul's passion

Philippians 3 and he says in verse 12

not that I have already obtained it or

have already become perfect but I press

on as we heard some moments ago so that

I may lay hold of that for which I was

laid hold of by Christ Jesus I was laid

hold of by Christ to become like him and

that's my goal I do not regard myself as

having laid hold of it yet one thing I

do forgetting what lies behind and

reaching forward to what lies ahead I

press on toward the goal for the prize

of the upward call of God in Christ

Jesus and in the next verse he refers to

it as a kind of perfection or maturity

so let it be made absolutely crystal

clear the objective of any pastor any

teacher in the kingdom of God

is the sanctification of the people in

his care the responsibility to be an

instrument of God by which you aid the

work of the Holy Spirit in bringing the

Saints into conformity to Christ to

Christ likeness to the measure of the

stature of the fullness of Christ

Hebrews 12:2 indicates to us that the

best way to do this is fixing your eyes

on Jesus who is the author and perfecter

of faith so sanctification demands that

our eyes be kept on Jesus who is the

goal the one we want to emulate

this is why churches exist so that

leaders can be instruments to sanctify

the saints who can then go out and live

godly lives and give out the gospel in a

credible way I have been pointing out in

fact that in the kind of current pop

culture Christianity there is very

little interest in sanctification very

little interest in it I heard one very

very popular pastor recently say as soon

as you come to Christ you need to get

out of this church it's not for you

and he's repeated it over and again he

doesn't understand what his role is he

doesn't understand what the church is

and he doesn't understand what the

purposes of God are the work of the Holy

Spirit and the work of the word but

that's kind of pop culture Christianity

little interest in sanctification little

interest in holiness little interest in

maturity little interest in Christ

likeness and it shows up in much of the

pop culture Christianity because it is

immature it is juvenile it is

superficial it is shallow it is

emotional it is entertaining it is

self-centered it is a form of religious

theater fully accepting of people's

obvious immaturity and there's one very

glaring evidence of this evidence of the

disdain for sanctification in the church

you might not have thought about it that

you will you will hear it now one of the

evidences of the church's disdain for

sanctification is the divisive

propagation of hostility in the church

through the issues of social justice

critical race theory or critical theory

of any kind and intersectionality now I

don't know if you know what all those

terms mean it's not important what each

of them means

but essentially what those terms do is

try to deconstruct all of human life and

put everybody into identity categories

you you are either categorically an

oppressor or you are categorically one

of the oppressed and there are myriads

of groups of the oppressed and of just a

few groups of the oppressors this is

created in our culture what we now call

identity politics which is destructive

and on every level its destructive of

our nation it's destructive of our

political discourse it's devastating

because it legitimizes this mentality of

victimization and it seeks to hold

everybody responsible for things done

not by them but by people of their same

identity group going back forever into

history identity politics has found its

way into Washington and all the places

where politicians gather but it has also

decided to go to church eventually bad

things go to church that's what happened

when liberalism destroyed all the

denominations liberalism was the social

gospel we need to reach people on a

social level before we worry about their

souls we need to take care of their

bodies that destroyed the Episcopalian

Church the Presbyterian Church the

Methodist Church Church of Christ it is

totally destructive to the degree that I

saw this week

Union Theological Seminary one of the

most esteemed seminaries back in New

York City it's small student body

gathered in Chapel to repent to plants

plants we had a bunch of potted plants

maybe they were repenting them for

cutting them out of the ground and

putting him in a pot but they were all

repenting to plants

that's where liberalism takes you into a

level of

religious nonsense identity politics has

gone to church like everything goes to

church everything that is bad Satan will

bring into the church identity politics

has brought into the church all these

efforts to identify everybody's people

group men and women all kinds of racial

issues splitting everybody up

fragmenting everybody calling on men to

make sure that they overturn male

patriarchy and elevate women in the

church a calling on certain races to

confess to their sins and and reverse

the patterns of the past and elevate

other racial groups it's gone to church

with such a force that it's destructive

as you probably have seen now I know

that's bold talk but this is what I see

the Word of God telling us and I want to

show it to you so we've already talked

about the premise of sanctification that

you have died in Christ risen in Christ

you are in Christ we are one in Christ

one body one people we have one father

we're in one family were brothers and

sisters we've talked about that we've

talked about the progress in

sanctification that we're to be pursuing

righteous things godly things and were

to separate ourselves from the world

that's exactly what he says were to set

our thoughts on things above and not on

things on the earth so we talked about

the premise for sanctification the

progress of sanctification now I want to

talk about the partnership in

sanctification come to verse 11 verse 11

in the Naas says a renewal in which

there is no distinction between Greek

and Jew circumcised and uncircumcised

which is another way to say Greek and

Jew barbarian Scythian slave and freemen

but Christ is all and in all

Paul addresses the issue of our

partnership in sanctification but I want

you to look at this verse a little more

closely we are all new creatures we have

been born again we have a new father and

a new family and a new brother in whom

we are united new sisters and brothers

we are the church we are all in the

process according to verse 10 of being

renewed to a true knowledge according to

the image of the one who created him

we're being renewed by the power of the

Spirit in the word into Christlikeness

into Christlikeness this is our

objective our objective is to move

forward in progressive sanctification to

Christ likeness by embracing the full

knowledge of Christ as revealed in

Scripture as we gazed at him we are

transformed into his image 2nd

Corinthians 3:18 but I want you to look

at verse 11 and I want to you'll notice

there that if you have an N a s maybe

other translations there are several

words in italics which means the

translators added those to make things

clearer but but I think while those

things are helpful to some degree it's

more helpful to go back to the original

text verse 11 actually doesn't use the

word renewal or distinction or the word

between it literally if you translated

it in which there is no Greek and Jew

circumcised and uncircumcised barbarian

Scythian slave and free men there is no

this is a very interesting little Greek

phrase Luke and knee Luke any not

they're not present not in not existing

very strong language very strong

language we are involved

in a new self according to the image of

the Lord Jesus Christ himself in which

there is no Greek or Jew circumcised or

uncircumcised barbarian Scythian slave

and freemen but Christ is all and in all

distinctions don't exist they don't

exist the same little two words in the

Greek is used in first Corinthians six

five translated not among you not among

you it's used in James 1:17 where it

says every good and perfect gift comes

down from the Father of lights in whom

there is no change not change doesn't

exist in God there's no variableness or

shadow of turning it's not there it's

not in God it's not part of God very

strong language so go to Galatians

chapter three and verse 28 in the same

little Greek phrase Luke and knee is

used three times in one verse verse 28

the back it up verse 26 you're all sons

of God okay we're all sons of God

through faith in Christ Jesus we've all

been verse 27 baptized into Christ we've

closed ourselves with Christ and then

you have verse 28 not their Jew and

Greek not their slave and free not their

male and female you're all one in Christ

Jesus three times you candy doesn't

exist does not exist not there we have a

new identity and our new identity is

Christ right

our new identity is Christ Christ is all

and in all

Christ is the universal object of our

love and worship we are in Christ Christ

is in us previous identities don't exist

did you hear that they're not there they

don't exist

turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and

it's very strongly stated by Paul this

same truth

verse 14 2nd Corinthians 5:14 love of

Christ controls us having concluded this

that one died for all therefore all died

ok look Christ died for all therefore we

all died in Christ we died to the old

life with all of its identities and all

of its definitions those things that

were Jew Gentile circumcised

uncircumcised barbarian Scythian slave

free in the previous to Christ world

those things had a place but when Christ

died we all died in him he died verse 15

says for all so that they who live might

no longer lives for themselves but for

him who died and rose again on their

behalf

yes Christ is all and in all we live for

Christ Christ is everything we are in

Christ we are in the family of God we

have a new father a new family a new

brother with whom we are identified new

sisters and brothers and it's all about

Christ therefore and look at verse 16

from now on we recognize no one

according to the flesh what a statement

we don't deal with people the way we

used to we don't deal with people in

previous to salvation categories they

don't exist in the church they don't

exist

we don't use fleshly categories even

though we have known Christ according to

the flesh he Paul says before I was

converted on the Damascus Road IIIi knew

Christ in a fleshly way and and I hated

him and I persecuted people who believed

in him and then I met him and now he

says I don't know him in this way any

longer I know him on a spiritual plane I

once knew him is when I hated now I know

him as my Lord and Savior whom I love I

once knew Christians as those who I

persecuted and now I don't know them in

the flesh anymore I know them in Christ

this is because verse 17 if anyone is in

Christ he is a new creature the old

things what do you mean the old things

the old identifications they're gone

they're passed away everything has come

new Paul is so transformed that he has

lost all of his original hatred for

Christ and all of his very vicious

prejudice against Christians his view

has changed dramatically

he loves the one he hate hated and loves

the people who loved the one he hated

everything changes as newly created

children of God created by our Heavenly

Father spiritually put in his family we

don't see each other in human categories

anymore that's not how we define our

people we're all one in Christ as

Christians collectively we put aside the

old ugly sins of social prejudice

resentment jealousy hatred racism or

whatever they don't exist

they're not in the church I know there a

lot of people who are interested in all

that ancestry stuff but we just traced

SARS back to Christ back to the new

creation now please understand this this

is jolting stuff this is shocking

startling truth to the ancient world

because Jews and Gentiles were very very

separated circumcised and uncircumcised

and barbarians and Scythian Zand I'll

say more about that were very very

hostile toward each other and slaves and

free men were categorically in

completely different worlds in the

ancient world it was that way and it's

always been that way and it's still that

way now what a world we live in so much

so much social hatred ethnic hatred

separation over religion education

economics there are so many ways people

get divided up even fashion music the

whole world is just fragmented with

hatred always has been always will be

resentment prejudice scorn leads to

conflict leads to violence leads to

crime leads to destruction leads to war

it's ubiquitous it's going on all the

time we can't settle this world down and

make them get along can we those

identity distinctions have led to the

worst of all human behavior genocide

such divisions are so common that even a

small little group of teenage kids think

it's no

for them to hate some other small little

group of teenage kids because they don't

like the way they dress this is so

profoundly etched into the fallenness of

man that we can't overcome it

but the groups themselves think it's a

kind of a virtue to hate their enemies

even the Jews thought it was the virtue

to hate their enemies salvation comes

along and now a Jew and a Gentile are in

Christ and they're one an uncircumcised

and a circumcised person are one and

before no connection a barbarian and a

sofyan are one and a slave and a free

man are one there's no more animosity

there's no more categories there's no

more racial groups there's no more

ethnic groups it's all irrelevant in

particular let's just talk about Jew and

Gentile Ephesians chapter 2 we know that

you and Gentiles hated each other the

Jews I suppose you could say had a

reason to hate because they were

basically attacked and assaulted and

killed so often in Old Testament history

by Gentile nations they even in modern

times have have been assaulted as we

know the horrible Holocaust and

attempted genocide and even now they

have enemies surrounding them in the

Middle East non-jewish enemies have made

life miserable for Jewish people this

runs so deep that Jonah went out and

didn't want to evangelize Gentiles

because he didn't want them having the

blessing that the Jewish God would give

them and when they did repent and

believe

Jonah wanted to die then I can't stand

this I'd rather be dead than see

Gentiles blessed by my god a Jew

wouldn't go into a Gentile home eat with

a Gentile utensil touch a Gentile and if

he went out of Israel when he came back

any shake the Gentile dirt off his

clothes so he didn't put it on the soil

of Israel and yet in Christ there's

neither Jew

nor Gentile seasons 2:13 now in Christ

you who have formerly a far-off Gentiles

have been brought near by the blood of

Christ for he himself is our peace who

made both groups Jew and Gentile into

one and broke down the barrier of the

dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh

the enmity verse 16 to reconcile both in

one body to God through the cross

putting to death the enmity the cross

ends that we have a new father a new

family a new brother whom is Jesus

Christ and we are joined to him so

that's no longer an issue

what about barbarians and Citians what

what are they well I'm glad you asked

because that that is a very interesting

statement comparison that's the only

time the word Scythian is used in the

Bible but that does not reflect the fact

that there's some obscure group of

people they are actually not obscure at

all well let's talk about barbarians

first of all barbarian is an

onomatopoetic word which remember your

English class that's a word that sounds

like it means so because it seemed to

educated people that the uneducated

people talked to kind of bar bar bar bar

bar bar bar bar they call them

barbarians there was a pejorative it was

mockery it was scorn

but barbarians were the unintelligible

people at least to them linguistically

they spoke in a kind of inarticulate

babble a kind of stammering speech and

there was more to that the Jews in the

Gentiles sort of generally speaking saw

themselves as the cultured people they

lived in cities they they lived in

cities that might be the simplest way to

distinguish between what the Jew and the

Gentile saw as the difference between

them and barbarians barbarians were

nomadic roaming tribes who basically

herded animals across the steeps of

Europe they they were the uncultured the

people who built cities were seen as the

cultured people and you know there's

some truth to that they they've built

some marvelous things even as we know

from the accomplishments of the

Egyptians and the building of the Temple

in Jerusalem and other things like that

there were certain civilizations that

advanced more rapidly in metallurgy and

building and they were they were seen as

the educated people they had reduced

their their language to writing for

example and they had written many many

things we have many things written by

the more cultured ancient barbarians not

so barbarians were these nomadic roaming

people who were feared by most people

because they were so different and so

unknown people saw them as subhuman

educated people culture people saw them

as subhuman lowlife people and they

wouldn't imagine that they would have

any kind of social connection with a

barbarian would be impossible in their

minds but this isn't a comparison

between the Greeks and the barbarians

this is between the barbarians and the

Scythian so who in the world are thus if

Ian's the British Museum has done a lot

of work on decisions you may not have

heard of them but you can google it

sometime not now but fascinating

fascinating people they basically were

so extensive that they ran all the way

from China to Eastern Europe massive

massive landmass sweeping from China

through India through Russia even

through Afghanistan Kazakhstan through

Russia the Balkans all the way into the

Middle East and beyond powerful powerful

collection of tribes they appear to have

then Iranian people by origin from an

area of Iran they grew very powerful

militarily very uncouth very uncultured

very dangerous very deadly and so their

group began to grow by collecting other

tribes so they became a collection of

tribes

it was either join him or get killed by

them so the Scythian became a massive

massive horde of people who roamed

across the steppes of Siberia and Russia

and sweeping all the way as I said from

China to the to the Balkans they are

called in some ancient writings

horselords because they had developed

horses beyond apparently anybody in that

time the breeding process and they had

turned horses into fighting machines war

machines there they also had chariots

that these horses pulled they were

master breeders and trainers of these

kinds of war horses there are all across

the the frozen tundra of Siberian

sweeping across the plains of Russia

there are burial mounds that basically

were put there by the Scythian now they

they run from 900 BC to about 200 BC

that's a long time a long time of

growing power in the seventh century

they conquered the Middle East they were

very very fearful people in those burial

mounds which have been now uncovered

about 300 years ago they started digging

up some of those burial mounds they find

bows and arrows they find axes they find

daggers they find swords and these some

of these battle axes are terrifying to

see they had war instruments because

they were a warring group they are

forefathers according to some of the

Huns like Attila the Hun and the Mongols

also people who were very dangerous

apparently after all the discovery has

been made we know now they had no

writing they had not reduced their

language to writing there is nothing

written

they had magnificent art particularly

certain animals that they depicted and

they did it in gold they found a lot of

gold art they found mummies mummies so

well preserved that they found out that

most all of the men and women were

tattooed all over their entire body with

images of the same kind of animals that

was in their art which means that they

were animists they were worshipping

these animals that they depicted on

themselves and in their artwork they

were then pagan as Pagan gets and

godless they terrified all the tribes

around them who couldn't withstand them

they were vicious and they were deadly

Herodotus a Greek historian from the

fifth century has said a lot about them

and these writings are interesting

Herodotus said and I quote the

translation they invaded and all the

land was wasted by reason of their

violence and their arrogance they drank

the blood of the first enemy killed in

battle they made napkins of scalps and

drinking bowls of skulls of the slain

vicious terrifying terrifying people

there were such powerful people and such

uncouth and fearsome people that some of

them became bodyguards in the Roman

Empire functioning is sort of personal

police Herodotus also said I thought

this was interesting they had the most

filthy habits of anyone and never washed

with water hmm that too that might be

the final straw

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so that they weren't just barbarian they

were the worst of the worst of the worst

of the worst but in Christ there's no

barbarian and no Scythian you might have

been a barbarian his tribe was decimated

you might have been a barbarian whose

ancestors were decapitated and their

skulls made into drinking bowls for the

Citians you might have been a barbarian

group that were pounced upon by them and

the blood of your parents they drank but

a physician and a barbarian Huma

Scythian had conquered came to Christ

they don't exist

there's no reparations folks there's no

distinction in Christ that doesn't exist

the most filthy wicked violent person

possible would be a Scythian by the time

Paul writes in the first century they're

almost gone they they assimilated and

they're almost impossible to find by the

second century AD they had disappeared

but the term was still basically a

symbol of the worst kind of humanity in

the first century AD Josephus the Jewish

historian said the Scythian is delighted

in murdering people and were no better

than wild beasts even Tertullian the

early church father couldn't resist

using them as an illustration when he

was tackling Marcion the heretic he was

trying to think of the worst possible

thing he could say about Marcion the

most fitting insult he could give to

marci and the heretic and this is what

he came up with he was more filthy than

a Scythian might want to use that

sometime

not that fiffie ins were actually still

around the term described the filthiest

most wicked violent person possible in

the kingdom don't exist don't exist

might have been a criminal who killed

somebody in your family but in christ

that there's no difference the brother

there are no reparations there's no

going back and rewriting history there's

no effort to separate people into the

categories that existed before Christ

one other distinction slave and free man

Roman Empire was a slave Society they

estimate the population of Rome and one

AD 1st century AD at about a million of

which 300 to 350 thousand were slaves

slaves could own no property they were

considered property they couldn't be

considered persons they had no legal

status as persons slaves basically were

subject to physical punishment sexual

exploitation torture and even execution

it was it was all kinds of things it

wasn't racial because Roman slaves came

from a whole lot of different nations

when they conquered a nation they took

them captive many of their slaves were

soldiers when they conquered soldiers

from another nation they made them into

slaves because they were strong now that

was a problem because as they conquered

more and more nations and had more and

more soldiers who were slaves they had

slave rebellions and those slave

rebellions were formidable because the

people engaged were soldiers the last of

those being the famous rebellion of

Spartacus so they came from many nations

it wasn't a particularly debt slavery

until they earned enough their debt

parents who were poor and destitute

could said let's sell their children

into slavery but while there was no a

real ethnic distinction in slavery there

was a social distinction you were

you were a living tool you are an

instrument if you were a slave you're

nobody you weren't even a person but in

Christ

those those distinctions don't even

exist when Onesimus went back to

Philemon unless had been his slave by

leaving the master he went back as his

brother why why are these distinctions

gone they're gone they don't exist

they're not there that's the Greek

language they are not there three times

it says it in Galatians 3:28 and an adze

male and female those are not

distinctions we should be dealing with

they don't exist in the spiritual realm

why because all that matters as Christ

is all and in all

the single identity of every believer in

Christ as a part of his body his the

living body the church obliterates all

other identities then let me be clear

all the critical race Theory social into

social justice intersectional victimhood

is of the world and the kingdom of God

has no place in the church if you're a

Christian leader pastor theologian

teacher you don't want to be dragging

those worldly identities back into the

church which the Lord rejects you're

attacking him his church and the Saints

and it is a reflection of an

unsanctified heart an unsanctified heart

by this shall all men know that you're

my disciples that you have what love for

one another we love each other because

God is love first John four so what

should be our attitude toward everybody

let's go back to the text and look at

verses 12 to 15 I'm not going to explain

them it's enough to read them because

here you

have we've looked at the premise of

sanctification the progress the

partnership here's the personality

what do sanctified people look like

what's the complex that makes up their

person verse 12 so as those who have

been chosen of God holy and beloved

since you are so loved to have been

chosen how marvelous is that what why

should you not be so happy to love

everybody else when you have been

undeservedly loved by God so as those

have been chosen of God holy and beloved

put on compassion a heart of compassion

kindness humility gentleness patience

forbearance and forgive each other

whoever has a complaint against anyone

look it's the Lord isn't saying you

don't have a complaint the Lord is

saying whatever complaint you have do

what forgive just as the Lord forgave

you so also should you if you can't

forgive then Matthew 18 says you're like

the man who was forgiven a dead he

couldn't pay and then went out and

strangled somebody for a minor debt and

the Lord sent the Punishers to punish

him to be able to receive forgiveness

from God and not give it is wicked

wicked so beyond that verse 14 put on

love which is the perfect bond of unity

then verse 15 let the Peace of Christ

rule in your hearts to which indeed you

were called in one body keeps going back

to that doesn't eat why why would you

reinvent these identities when your one

body

they don't exist and they won't be an

issue to you if you are defined by

compassion

kindness humility gentleness patience

forbearance and forgiveness and I can

show you Bible verses that point every

one of those virtues as a characteristic

of Christ himself well it was he not

compassionate kind humble gentle patient

for bearing and forgiving yes each one

of those is the virtue of Christ be like

Christ and then wrap yourself up verse

14 wrap yourself up in love which is the

perfect bond of unity wrap yourself up

in love and then verse 15 but the Peace

of Christ rule in your hearts to which

indeed you were called in one body and

be thankful the capstone be a peacemaker

and just live in thankfulness right just

be thankful in gratitude is ungodly in

gratitude is pagan any kind of ethnic

division is sinful but in the church to

try to legitimize it is to attack the

church it's a nun sanctified act it is

not the wisdom that comes down from

above the wisdom that comes down from

above is James 3:17 pure peaceable

gentle reasonable full of mercy good

fruits unwavering without hypocrisy and

it makes peace the demonic wisdom his

jealousy selfish ambition and where that

is there's disorder and every Eve

thing the church should be marked the

wisdom that is from above you know we've

been so blessed here at Grace Church I I

love to come to a new members list and

on a Sunday night and I look at all

these names and I I can't pronounce half

of them and I always say thank you Lord

this is the church this is the church

they're in Christ Christ is in them I

don't really care what your ethnic

background is what your social story is

doesn't matter to the Lord it doesn't

matter to me it doesn't matter to us

what your economics are what your

education is it doesn't matter what

crimes you may have committed in the

past it doesn't matter because you're

new in Christ right this is God's family

and those distinctions do not exist to

artificially create them is a nun

sanctified act of attacking the work of

Christ in his church let's pray father

we are again grateful that we can open

your word and all confusion disappears

so much talk so much ink spilled so much

dialogue conversation seminars books

written on all these identities from

quote/unquote a Christian perspective

and it just attacks the simple glorious

truth that those distinctions belong to

the world and not to your church

we are all one in Christ we are in him

and he is in us may we be marked by the

attributes of Christ compassion kindness

mercy humility forbearance forgiveness

may we be marked dominantly by love

may we be always seeking that the peace

of Christ would rule and may we be

thankful thankful for the fact that you

have granted us the privilege of being

holy and beloved and we do not deserve

it may gratitude wash away all other

things so there's no room for bitterness

resentment selfish ambition but only the

wisdom that comes down from above and

may we show this reality of a sanctified

body to a watching world so that they

can see our love and know that it's

evidence of your transforming power

continue to sanctify us for your glory

we pray amen