 Hey man, Colossians chapter 3. So there's a lot of depth here in Colossians chapter 3. So it's going to take us a few weeks to get through Colossians chapter 3. As a matter of fact, tonight we're only going to get through the first six verses. Let me just say this before we start the sermon. When you're reading the Bible, the Bible is so deep that this is why reading the Bible, unlike any other book, reading the Bible several times or reading the Bible over and over and over again, you'll always find new things in the Bible. So it's an infinite book. There's just infinite wisdom in the Bible. You don't ever really want to read the Bible. I don't know if you all are like me, but sometimes if I'm reading through a book or I'm reading through the Bible especially, I almost have to catch myself at times because I can go through and I can read an entire chapter of the Bible and I wasn't paying attention. I don't know if that's ever happened to you or if you know what I'm talking about. This is why people watch TV, by the way, instead of reading because reading takes active thinking. You have to keep yourself engaged in what you're reading and the Bible is especially that way. So the next time you read the Bible, try doing this. Just try just grabbing a first few verses of a chapter and just reading those things again and again and seeing if you can find something in there. Other than just blasting through a chapter in the Bible, you'll always find more things that way and you'll always learn things that way and you're going to see that tonight. There's kind of an interesting concept and it's a super important concept that's laid out in these first six verses in Colossians chapter three and I want you to think tonight during this sermon. You should do this always during all sermons, by the way, but I want you to think because I know that you are affected by this somewhere in your life. I don't know where it is, but I know that every single one of you tonight is going to be affected by this concept that is laid out in these first six verses. Myself included, by the way. So look, let's look at Colossians chapter three and see what we can come up with this evening from the Word of God. Look at verse number one. The Bible says, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Okay, that makes sense. Seek things that are above. Now look at verse number two. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. Okay, that's a pretty simple concept right there. And that concept is what governs the next few verses where we're going to get into some more detail. But basically the Bible here is saying, set your affections on heavenly things, on spiritual things, so to speak, and not on the physical things or the carnal things, as Paul would have said it, on the earth. Change what you're drawn towards is what he's saying. You know, set your affections on the right things. Spiritual versus physical is what the Bible is talking about here. Look at verse number three. He says, For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ and God. By dead there he means, you know, you're not yet glorified. And you can see that in the next verse. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye appear also with him in glory. Then ye would be glorified. Therefore, in verse number five, he says, Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth. Remember, we're not supposed to be focused on things on the earth from the first couple of verses here. He says, Mortify, which means, you know, like subdue. Subdue your members. Subdue your body. You know, keep your body under control. Therefore, your members which are upon the earth. And then he gives some specific sins, some specific problems here. And he lists. He says, Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence. I can't say that word ever. And covetousness, which is idolatry. Cupiscence means lust. So it means, you know, evil lust, uncleanness, inordinate affection, meaning affection that you shouldn't have. You know, things that are wrong. So here we see fornication, uncleanness, this wrong affection, this evil lust, covetousness. These are all things that, you know, you're lusting after that you shouldn't, that your body wants, your members want, but you should not have. But then look at the last three words of this verse. He says, and covetousness, covetousness is wanting something that is not yours. It's wanting something that your neighbor has or that somebody else has. I mean, that could be anything. That could be people. That could be things. Anything. But he says, which is idolatry? He's saying, coveting something that's not yours and, you know, having your members, you know, lust after these things, he says, is idolatry. So here we see a new concept laid out in Colossians chapter three in verse number five. So really this is talking about, verse five is all talking about lusts of the flesh of all types. But then at the end, we see something different here. We see that covetousness or this lusting towards these things equals idolatry. Now go to Leviticus chapter 19 in verse number four. Excuse me. Go to Leviticus chapter 19 in verse number four. Now most people, when they read the Bible and they read the Old Testament and they read about the idolatry and they read about Solomon's wives and all the, you know, the high places and the altars to the false gods, they look at that and they're just like, oh man, I would never do that. They say, I would never do that stupid thing go worship false gods of wood and stone, these dumb idols, as the Bible calls it. But look at Leviticus chapter 19 in verse number four. So Leviticus 19, four, you know, the Bible talks pretty strongly against idolatry. God says in Leviticus 19, four, turn ye not unto idols. Nor make yourselves molten gods, I am the Lord your God. Of course we know that God, our God, is a jealous God. God tells us that over and over. He's jealous. Look, jealousy in the Bible is always a good thing. Jealousy is wanting something. It's okay for me to be jealous over my wife because she's mine. It's okay for a wife to be jealous over her husband because you belong to each other. Now when you're jealous, when you have a feeling that you want something that somebody else has that doesn't belong to you, that would be in the category of envy or covetousness. Envy bad, jealousy good. We serve a jealous God, meaning we belong to the Lord. He bought us with the blood of his own son. So we belong to him. He's jealous over us. He does not want us turning to idols. He gets very, very angry about that. So anything, the Bible is telling us here, anything in verse number five that we lost after with our members, with our body, with our flesh, anything that we're coveting after, that we're wanting, the Bible is saying that is considered idolatry by God. Anything that takes your focus off of the spiritual things and puts it on the earthly things, that's idolatry. Now you're like, oh man, I'm an idolater. Now we have a problem. You know, when we read the Old Testament, we don't really equate ourselves to that sin. But the Bible here is saying is if you're covetousness, if you're covetous, if you're lost after things you shouldn't, these are idols. Anything that takes us towards the things on the earth. I mean, what could this be? What could idols be? First of all, it could be stuff. It could be things. It could be cars, houses. It could be a job. It could be just the idea of success. Just this idea that I must be successful in this never-ending drive to be more and more successful. That could be an idol to you. You could end up just throwing away your spiritual life for that. Turn to Matthew chapter 13. Turn to Matthew chapter 13. It could be anything of this world. Look at Matthew chapter 13. And look at verse number 22. This is the parable of the Sower. But he talks about one specific seed that is thrown among the thorns. And look at verse 22. He says he also, Matthew 13 and verse number 22, he also that received the seed among the thorns is he that here at the word and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he become unfruitful. First of all, it didn't say let's walk it backwards. It didn't say he was always unfruitful. It said he became that way because he got choked. So his spirituality in this verse, you know, the seed among the thorns is somebody whose spirituality was choked out and it wasn't even the things of the world. It doesn't say the things of the world. It doesn't say the stuff of the world. It says the care of the world. This person turned these things into idols in his life and it choked out the spirituality in his life. Look, it's easy to see this one. It's easy to see this one. We care so much about the, you know, everything that is good comes from God. We get to the point where we care so much about the blessings from God that they actually become the prize to us. And that is when they become the idols. When the things of this world become the goal itself, that is when it becomes the idol. And it comes always at the expense of your spiritual life is what Colossians is telling us here. But look, here's another thing. Did you know that people could be idols in your life? You say how? People can draw you away from the Lord. People in your life, look, did you know, here's, let me get, let's do another one. People's children can be idols in their life. You say how? Well, let me just give you an example. Let's take a parent. Let's take a parent who raises a child that is just gone and, you know, is just a wicked child. And they're, you know, maybe they're in fornication, maybe they're just turned from the Lord, maybe they never loved the Lord. I mean, whatever. I mean, this parent just raised a child that just went off the rails and it just didn't do it right. You know, I mean, maybe they raised, you know, some just horrible human being as a child. Instead of saying, you know, instead of rebuking that and saying, ooh, you know, I messed up and rebuking that, you know, instead they changed. Have you seen this before? I mean, you could argue that there's an entire generation that has done this, has raised a wicked younger generation and then as that wickedness grows up, they change. They think, oh, it's okay. Fornication is okay now. It's okay to live with your, everybody does that now. Look, and the irony of it is, is that the fact that they don't rebuke it when it comes to, you know, fruition when they're older is because they never rebuked it along the way. That's why, look, the refusal to correct is the cause, yet they sacrifice their spirituality and they just, they change. They change their beliefs at the expense of their spiritual life. That is an idol. That is an idol in someone's life. That is how a child can be an idol. Whenever you sacrifice the spiritual for the carnal, it's an idol. And you know, that, you know, that's, that's where the, that's what happened to the churches, by the way. That's what happened to the pastors, by the way. They just stopped rebuking. They just stopped, you know, they just, they changed. They changed. They didn't, they didn't rebuke. They changed, they sacrificed. The congregation became an idol. Everyone became an idol and they changed with the times. Any time something or someone in your life causes you to move away from what the Bible says, that is an idol. Is what we are learning tonight. Even children, even your family can be that. How about this one? How about friends? Turn to Proverbs chapter 27. Have you ever had a friend that leads you away spiritually? Have you ever had a friend? Look, that's not a friend. That's an idol. If you allow that to happen. Look at Proverbs chapter 27. People themselves can be idols, folks. Look at Proverbs chapter 27. Look at verse number 6. This is a friend, right here. The Bible says in Proverbs 27, 6, faithful are the wounds of a friend. But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Look, this is a true friend. Look, these wounds are faithful, but they hurt. This is a friend who is telling his brother or sister, you know, not what they just want to hear. They're telling them the truth, even if that truth hurts. Turn to 1 Kings chapter 12. Turn to 1 Kings chapter 12. Look, friends that just puff you up and just tell you you're right and just tell you how great you are. Look, those are not friends. Those can be idols if they drag you away from your spiritual life. Look at 1 Kings chapter 12 in verse number 9. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, is taking over the kingdom and instead of listening to the wise counsel of the men, the people have come to him and they said, hey, you know, how are you going to lead us? How are you going to lead us? Your father's yoke was very heavy on us. Your father was very hard on us. How are you going to be different? What are you going to do? And the wise men, the wise counsel of Solomon's, you know, advisors told him, hey, go light with the people. Tell them you'll be their servant. And then look at verse number 9. Look at verse number 9 of 1 Kings chapter 12. This is what his friends tell him. And he said unto them, what counsel give ye that we may answer this people who have spoken to me saying, make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? And this is the young men. This is his friends. And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him saying, thus shall thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee saying, thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us, thus shall thou say unto them, my little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. And now, whereas my father did laid you with heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. And my father had chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. You know what these guys are doing to Ray Abome here? You know what they're telling him? You're so powerful king. You will go and you tell those people how it is. He's like, you're the king. And they're just puffing him up. They're like, how dare those people, you know, talk to you that way. Don't they know who you are? And they're just puffing him up. He gets all welled up with pride. And then he goes and look, it cost him the kingdom. It cost him the actual kingdom. Look, friends that just tell you good news all the time and just tell you what you want to hear, those are not your friends. Those can be idols that can take you away from your spiritual life. Here's another one. How about this one? How can people be idols is what we're talking about. Look, people's approval can be an idol to you. You know, your need, or much more than this. Much more than this. How about this? Not wanting enemies can also be an idol. Just this idea, look, I don't necessarily want enemies in my life. It's not something I wake up in the morning and be like, I want enemies today. But look, it's just turn to Luke chapter 21. But this desire or this lust, this desire or this lust, and look, this is going to affect every single one of you at some point in your Christian life if you're doing the right thing. At some point in your life, this will affect you. I guarantee it. Look, this desire to please everyone can become an idol for you. Go to Luke chapter 21. And look, it can literally draw you away from the spiritual life. Look at Luke 21 in verse 17. The Bible says, He shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. Matthew 10, 28 says, And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body and hell. Look, here's the thing. When you're doing the right thing in the Christian life, when you're living the right, fruitful Christian life, there's just going to be people that don't like it. And look, there's going to be people that come after you for it. And I mean, Matthew 10, I mean, Luke 21, 17 and Matthew 10, 28, look, it's easy to read that. It's easy to read that and say, yep, I know that. But, you know, then when it happens, it's a little bit more difficult in our lives. But look, here's the thing. You don't have to like people being against you. I mean, you don't have to like that, but it's just the nature of being effective. It's just kind of what it is. You know, you're all going to deal with that at some time. You're all going to be attacked. You know, we say these things all the time, but then when it happens, you know, we're surprised. You know, we're brought low. If somebody rails us, then that desire for approval is an idol in our lives. That's what you have to remember. You don't have to like it. Like, nobody likes that. I get it. I don't like it. You know, I don't like stupid garbage going on and all that. You know, you all know. I don't like it, but it's the nature of being effective in the Christian life. It's just what's going to happen. So look, many things can be idols in our lives. We can be idolaters tomorrow if we're not careful on what we're doing. Go back to Colossians chapter 3. Look at verse number 6, but here's why we need to take this seriously. Actually, you go to Ezekiel chapter 6, and I'm going to read for you Colossians chapter 3 in verse number 6. You go to Ezekiel chapter 6. Here is why we need to take this seriously. We need to take seriously that our stuff. We've got a lot of stuff in this country. Okay? Even the poorest people in this country have a lot of stuff. We've got cars. We've got houses. We've got stuff. We've got Amazon. I mean, whatever. You have all these things in your life. Then you have all these people in your life. But here's why we need to take it seriously. Let me read. You go to Ezekiel chapter 6 in verse number 3. I'm going to read you Colossians 3 in verse number 6. Look at the four which things. This is, he just mentioned idolatry. And he said, four which things, sake. He says, because of these things, because of this idolatry, he says, the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. Look, these things provoke God's wrath. This idolatry. Look at Ezekiel chapter 6 in verse number 3. We could read verse after verse after verse after verse in the Bible. I would just give you a few of how God feels about idolatry. Now that we know how idolatry, look, you don't have to make a little carving of something in your house and start worshiping it to be an idolatry is what I'm trying to get you to understand. You just have to like something, like someone, like someone's approval, worship, you know, some idea of something enough to where it takes your focus off the Lord and you're an idolatry. Is what I'm trying to get you to understand. And this is what God thinks about it. It provokes him to wrath. Verse number 3. And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills and to the rivers and to the valleys. Behold, I even I will bring a sword upon you and I will destroy your high places. That's where the idols are. The high places. And your altar shall be desolate and your images shall be broken and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. Can you get, can you get any more serious than that? Because I'm going to, I'm going to destroy all the false gods. I'm going to destroy all the idols. And I'm going to kill everybody that was doing it. I'm going to scatter their bones all around the wreckage of everything. That's God's wrath. Go to Ezekiel chapter 30. Go to Ezekiel chapter 30. He's talking about in Ezekiel chapter 30 he's talking about judging Egypt, a pagan nation, a godless nation, not godless but a heathen nation. Look at Ezekiel chapter 30 in verse 13. Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols and I will cause their images to cease out of Naph and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. He's going to do this to the idols of a heathen nation. Remember, God is jealous. He's going to do this to the gods. Lowercase G, the idols of a heathen nation. How much more is he going to go after the idols of his own children, of his own people? What I'm trying to get you to understand when I'm explaining to you how you can be an idolater this evening with your things, with your people, with whatever, is that God will make war with your idols. He will break them up. So don't turn your blessings in your life into something that God is going to declare war on. Something God literally, you know, points and directs his wrath upon. Think about that. Now, when you think about, you know, God directing his wrath on the blessings in your life because you've made them idols, okay, I can see that. But now think about the people you've made idols. Things get scary in our hurry when you start thinking about it along those lines. God always must be first in your life. Do not create idols out of anything or anyone in your life. Look at verse number seven. And he says, in which he also walks sometime when you lived in them. So look, we need to conclude this evening. We need to change our affection. We need to change our affection. Look, here's four steps to Christian destruction that just seem to repeat themselves over and over in people's lives. First of all, you know, people, they get saved and they get obedient. They get obedient to the word of God. This is the cycle that Christians go through. Some Christians just have to repeat this cycle their whole life. I don't want to learn things the hard way. Sometimes, you know, we all learn things the hard way. I get it. But I'd rather not learn things the hard way. I'd rather read the Bible, be obedient to the Bible, and just learn from other people's mistakes. And just learn from reading what the Bible says. But look, here's the first step. You get obedient. You get saved. You start following the word of God. Guess what? Blessings are going to come from that. I mean, just the mechanics of the Bible. Think about this for a second. If you just like, just the mechanics of the Bible work. I mean, we were talking about soul winning last Saturday, and I stumbled upon that hive of Mormons. Remember that? I mean, I stumbled upon this apartment of all these Mormons. You know that Mormons, when they go on their mission, you know that, first of all, Mormons, like, have this really weird, like, there's a greater percentage of Mormons that are very successful in business than, like, a lot of other parts of society. You know why that is? Look, they're a wicked cult that believes in a false God and it has nothing to do with their beliefs as a religion. But here's the thing. You know, when they go on these missions, they do, like, six, 10-hour days for two years. When you see them pedaling around on their bikes, that's what they're doing. They're taught to work extremely hard in their lives. They live clean lives. They don't drink. They don't do drugs, things like this. Look, the point I'm trying to make is just being obedient to the word of God, just the mechanics of that is going to produce some positive results in your life. Just the mechanics of not getting all wrapped up in sin. Just the mechanics of working hard and being diligent and just not being lazy. All those things, they're going to produce positive results in your life. I mean, the Bible, just the book of Proverbs right there. Just doing those things, being obedient to the Bible, is going to produce positive results. And guess what? Blessings are going to come from that. You know, as you do that in your life, as a Christian, blessings will come from that. But then, here's what happens. Those blessings turn into covetousness. You know, we get blessed with some things, and then all of a sudden, you know, we want more things. And we want more things. And we want the things that that guy has. And then maybe we move into a better neighborhood, and then we're kind of looking over the fence at the next neighborhood. We're like, huh, where are we at then? We like to live over there. And pretty soon, it turns into covetousness. And you're keeping up with the Joneses. And this covetousness turns into idolatry. And then God is going to destroy these things in your life. Because guess what? He's jealous over you, and he wants you back. And then the cycle, hopefully you get right, and the cycle repeats itself. But why would you go through that if you didn't have to? You know, you need to be constantly destroying idols in your life. You need to always be, just like we're talking about Sunday morning, you need to always be taking an accounting of your spiritual life. You need to get sold out. You need to get in church. You need to stay in church. You need to be, look, there's a reason we're three to thrive. There's a reason that we're in church three times a week. Everyone's like, oh, you know, people that don't understand why we do this, they're like, we're legalistic. Like, oh, yeah, you're going to go to some church and they make you go to church three times a week. Look, I grew up as a Lutheran and it was like ripping the teeth out of my head to get me to go to church once a week. Now I just can't wait for Wednesday to come because I want that spiritual accounting in my life. I want to always have that reset through the week to just keep me focused on the things spiritually because guess what? I'm out there in the world, too. Just like you all are. And I want that spiritual accounting to just keep me closer to the Lord to measure myself. This is why we're in church. It has nothing to do with being forced to be here. It has to do with keeping ourselves right. We constantly have to be asking ourselves, does this friend bring me closer to the Lord? Does this job bring me closer to the Lord? Am I raising my children in a way that is bringing them closer to the Lord? Or am I sacrificing? Am I sacrificing the Lord for my relationship with this person? Or my relationship with my children? Or my relationship? I've seen people sacrifice their younger children's spirituality on the altar of their older children. It's the most horrible thing. I've seen people make idols of their children so many times in my life. But the point is we need to be always checking ourselves. Are we making idols of our family, our stuff, our friends, our children? Whatever it is. Look, it is possible to have a blessed life and still serve the Lord. It is possible. But you need to stay plugged in. You need to still serve the Lord. And look, those things that come from that service, those things we always have to remember. And look, it's going to be the three to thrive. The person that's sold out. The person that's soul winning. The person that sees those blessings and realizes they're not the prize. They're just there along the way. They're just bonuses along the way. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. You know, the Bible calls this thing a race that we're doing here several times. The Bible calls this thing a race. In Hebrews 12, I'll read it for you while you turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Wherefore, seeing we're also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin was thus so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Seeing here is that lay aside every weight. It's like, don't be weighed down by things that you shouldn't be weighed down on. And the sin that knocks us out of the race. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 24. Know ye not that they which run a race run all, but one receiveeth the prize. So run that ye may obtain. Here he tells you. He's like, you know, lots of people run a race. He's like, but only one person wins. Right here he's saying, you know, the odds of you making it through this race are low. He says, run the race that you may obtain. Acts 20, 24, I'll just read for you. But none of these things move me. Neither count on my life dear unto myself so that I may finish my course with joy. And the ministry which I have received to the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Turn to Psalm chapter 142. Here's what happens to us. We run a race. Think about it. I mean, you think about the analogy of a race that they're using here. Who would train for a race? Who would train and train and train and train for this super important race that lasts your whole life and then you're running the race and you're just like, oh, a shiny quarter and then you lose the whole race? I mean, nobody would do that, but that's exactly what happens to us. Look, the devil is going to place all kinds of shiny objects in your path. That's exactly what happens. Look at Psalm 142 in verse number three. Look at Psalm 142 in verse number three. He says, when my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. Look, he's saying here, he's running this race right now. You know, the man of God, David, you, is running the race and he's just like, there's going to be times when you're running the race where your spirit is just overwhelmed or you just crushed. Read the rest of Psalm 142 when you get home. He's just, he's crushed. He's like, you know what? I'm not winning is what he's saying in Psalm 142. He says, in the way where I've walked, they have privily laid a snare for me. Think about it. You're going to be running this race and people are just going to keep putting things in your path. Here he's saying, they're putting snares in my path. And you know what they do? You know what you do when you're snaring an animal? When you want to get something to walk through a snare? You bait it. You put something nice to get them to move over and walk across the snare. And that's constantly what happens to us. The devil is going to throw things at you. The devil is going to, this is, when you think about the logic of it, it's shocking that people get tripped up by it. But you always, look, you always have to be thinking about it. I can't tell you how many Christians get caught with this one. Oh, some opportunity was given to me. Look, I've been busted by this one. Some opportunity was given to me, so I must take it. You must think, is this opportunity an idol? Or is this going to bring me closer to the Lord? Is this going to bring me closer? Is this going to bring my family closer to the Lord? Is this good spiritually or bad? You must weigh everything with that. Because it is just constant bait. Constant, shiny objects that's going to be put in your path to snare you. It says they've privately laid a snare. Look, and it's subtle. It's subtle. It's not obvious all the time. But you have to just be constantly weighing everything and everyone, folks, against this measuring stick. Is this going to focus me more on the heavenly things or more on the earthly things? That is the test right there. And that is what Paul, what the Bible is talking about in these first six verses. And it could be anything, even your own family. Don't be the reason. Don't let the things that God blesses you with in your life be the reason that he wages war on you and those things. Because look, here's the thing. God will destroy your idols. It's best that you destroy them before he has to. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.