Reflections on the Book of Colossians (Part 10)

[Instrumental music plays] Trustees and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home for all. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Singing] We are together again. We are together again. In one accord. In one accord. Hallelujah. Something good is about to happen. Something better is in store. We are together again. We are together again. Just praising the Lord. Just praising the Lord. What a mighty God we serve. Hallelujah. What a mighty God we serve. Hallelujah. Heaven and earth adore him. Angels bow before him. What a mighty God we serve. He’s a mighty God. What a mighty God we serve. Hallelujah. What a mighty God we serve. Hallelujah. Heaven and earth adore him. Angels bow before him. What a mighty God we serve. He is the king of kings. He is the Lord of lords. His name is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. O Lord. He is the king. He is the king of kings and the Lord of lords. His name is Jesus. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. [Speaker 1] ...mind set on the things of God. We were reminded by the Holy Spirit in that study that we should have the correct mindset. We took Colossians 3:1–7. By the grace of God, we will be starting from verse 8 today. We will continue from 8 today to have the correct mindset. We also learned to sit confidently on the finished work of redemption by Christ Jesus. That until we first sit, and sitting on the finished work of Christ’s work of redemption is agreeing with what Christ has done and acting on it by faith. That until we confidently sit and know who we are, we will not be able to stand, let alone walking. We will not be able to stand our ground. We will not be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and we will not be able to walk in the abundant life that God in Christ has given to us. And we know when we are talking about abundant life, we are talking about victorious life, living over the devil, over the world, over sin, over everything, victorious in every way. And we thank God again. We also learned last week that the wrath of God will come upon children of disobedience. And today, by God's grace, we want to continue on that Colossians chapter 3. We will read verse 8, 9... let me see where the Lord will help us get to today. Colossians 3. Let's quickly open the place. [Speaker 2] Colossians 3:8. "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him." [Speaker 1] Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. That passage is making us to see something. If we quickly remember from the beginning of that chapter, it told us where we are, who we are, and began to tell us what Christ has done. And now it got to a point where we began to see what we are to do based on our new nature, based on the newness of life, based on the redemption work. What we couldn't do for ourselves, Christ did it. The inability to even take responsibility and live the life God was with us at a point. But when Christ came, when he paid the sacrifice, and when he helped us walk... just to surrender to Jesus, we have all it takes now to live the life. God did not first come to ask us, demand responsibility from us. He first made us fit. He first fit us. He set us in the right place. He made every provision available. Bible says the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared unto all men. And that grace has a work, teaching us to do this, this, this, deny ungodliness, worldly lust, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this world. So now that we are in that state where the old man is gone, there are expectations of God. And this is what we've been saying in the last few weeks. Last week we saw where the Bible said we should put to death fornication, idolatry, sexual immorality, and so on. That is what we saw last week. And that makes us to see that it's a thing that we are to do. It's a responsibility. It's a thing that God will not come down to do. He has given us all it takes. He's expecting us now to walk in it. And now today we are seeing verse 8 where he's saying put off anger. Put off rage. Rage is what? When you don't have control over your anger. When you begin to act in anger, that is rage. Rage is when you begin to take steps based on the way you feel you are angry about and you are taking decisions that are contrary. We've seen in the Bible, Bible made us to see that be angry but sin not. That means it's possible for you to be angry and not sin. And it's possible for us to be angry and sin. In Matthew 5, when Jesus was addressing anyone who is angry with his brother for no just cause... I think that is 21 or thereabouts... "whosoever is angry with his brother for no just cause." So it's also possible for you to be angry for no just cause. Those are anger that are contrary, that are not to be found in a child of God. If there should be anger without sin, it should be to have displeasure in a behavior, in an action. And your action towards that displeasure is to bring an edifying solution, to bring an edifying report, result. But when it results to rage, when it results to malice, it is no longer the operation of the Holy Spirit. It's the operation of wisdom that is earthly, that is devilish. It is not the wisdom of God. I may be angry with... I may have displeasure because in dictionary, anger also shows displeasure. It's the way it goes, how it's heightened that it becomes negative. But when you have a displeasure towards sin, towards a brother's way of life, but your intention, your attitude is to bring about an edifying result, correct the brother in love, and so on. You have displeasure on things. That is godly anger. Just like we have godly sorrow. When you are angry with a wrong way of life in your life too, you will say "no gree." Use the slogan of "do not gree for anything." Don't gree for sin. That is a godly sorrow. That is a godly anger where there will be an edification. But in this place we are seeing, it said anger, and the thing was graduating: rage, malice. That's the reason why it said malice is heightened anger. Malice is about anger that is heightened and established. Because in the process, there's communication breakdown, there's bitterness, there's different kinds of ungodly practices. And because of that, the Bible says we should put it off. No matter what you want to correct in a brother or sister, no matter what you want to correct in anybody's life, no matter what you're angry about, check it. Is it resulting to rage? Or is it a thing that provokes you to godly sorrow? Is it a thing that makes you to seek edification? Not to fight dirty with the person, but to see how to win your brother. That is God's goal. It's for us to win. Win people for the work of God and the kingdom of heaven. For the kingdom of God to be propagated and established, these things, as minute as they seem, some people will say it's my nature, God will help me. And that is the reason why many of us are not amounting to what God wants us to amount to. We may say "Is it with my anger, this my little anger? Are you now say this anger can take me to hell?" I'm not saying that directly, but what does the word of God say? Let's check Ephesians 4 quickly please. It points out that don't call it little anger. Don't call it "it's just my nature, everyone of us have our own." Don't settle for it. It may take you into things that you never imagine. [Speaker 2] Ephesians 4 from 29. "Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them." Ephesians 4:29–31. [Speaker 1] Can you see the instruction the Lord is giving us as his children? Remember, we are talking about people that are new nature, new creations in Christ Jesus. Put away foul language, but also wrath, malice, hypocrisy, acrimony. When it's in your heart, you'll begin to open your mouth and say things that you'll wonder. When they call your attention and say "you said this," you'll say "Ehh? You mean I said this?" And that's the reason why the Lord is telling us, do not let them settle. Put them off, get rid of them, get them out of your heart before you open your mouth. When you open your mouth in any of those things, in wrath, in malice, what will come out of your mouth can never be good and helpful. Even in our profession, one of the ways we help anybody that has fits of anger, when we want to help them, systematic desensitization, is that at that point, don't say anything, don't take any decision. Because they will not be helpful and they can never be good. He said "Let everything you say be good and helpful." This is the reason why you have to take off all these vices: malice, wrath, anger, blasphemy, evil speaking. Because the Lord expects your word to be helpful and good. He said so that your word will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Now see another important thing: "And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit." Can you see where it's very, very dangerous? You may say it's just minor anger, has not been able... is that enough? Is that enough? Are you say with that I'm no longer a child of God? No, I'm not saying that. But the word of God is saying that with this thing, you bring sorrow to the Holy Spirit by the way you live. He said "Remember he's the one who has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption." Let me read New King James. He said "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." That's why it is dangerous. When we are in this, when we don't put off this, we grieve the Holy Spirit. We make our lives unfit for the Lord's use, for the Master's use. You may not go far in what God wants to take you... the extent to which he wants to use you. Your life may not amount to anything. These are things that will be a clog on your way of progress. These things will hinder you, will limit you, will limit the assignment God has put in your hand. And that is the reason why we should know it as a filthy garment. Put it off, put off all form of bitterness. Put off all form of malice, rage, anger, blaspheme. Be temperate. Because in exhibiting and living this life, we are doing what? We are grieving the Holy Spirit. And you know how dangerous that could be. When we grieve the Holy Spirit, it's as good as we are turning ourselves against our strengthener, our helper, our advocate, our comforter. We are grieving his presence and he leaves us to ourselves. So when the Holy Spirit removes his hand from our matter, please, who will help us? That's the reason why we should see it as a matter of urgency, as a matter of compulsion, to make sure we conquer every negative passion, every passion whatsoever that will make us grieve the Holy Spirit, that will limit the work of God in our hand, that will be a clog on our wheel of progress. Don't... no matter the justification. You may have justifiable reason to do it, but please, remember the consequence. You may say the person deserve this... won't you think of yourself? There are times I tell people, when you are in bitterness, unforgiveness, you are doing yourself. The person you are even doing it towards may not even notice you. You are the one carrying the burden. You are the one truncating your progress. You are the one that everything about your life may be at a stop. So there is nothing good about it. We loose a dead weight. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. Amen. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. Amen. All these things, they are also dead weight, just like I've said. Why we must put them off. They are dead weight. They defile us. They make us unclean for the Master's use. And that is the reason why we should not allow them. We should not allow them... we should work at it. Finally, the Bible talks about heroes of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. I quickly want to read part of that place. Let's please open to Hebrews 11. I got an understanding when we were using it in our devotion. I'll be reading... the word of God is true, is new every day. Hebrews chapter 11. And he talks about these heroes of faith. [Speaker 3] Hebrews 11. Where they say they conquered, they shut the mouth of lions. If you get there before me... okay. It starts from verse 32. Verse 32. "Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and all the prophets. By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled by justice, received what God had promised them, shut the mouth of lions, quenched the flame of fire, escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight." [Speaker 1] You know what, when I... what I want to bring out for us is this battle of putting off. Maybe we are thinking of kingdoms, fight a battle of demons, come "ah, when I was going there is a demon on the way." No. You have to overthrow the kingdom of anger. You have to shut the mouth of lions... that is your own lion: malice, bitterness, filthy words, unworthy words, unsavory, unedifying words that comes out of your mouth. These are your own lions that you must shut their mouth. Quench the flame of fire that you must quench. These are the things. These are the things. Because they can rub us... rub us off of our glory. They can rub us off of God's... God's will. See them as things... battle. See them as battle to fight. He said "Their weaknesses were turned to strength." How? Because they did not settle for that weakness. They stood in what Christ has done. They believed in who they are and they exact it over everything that is contrary. Saying "this is who I am, even if it is anger, rage, and all this way of life, even if it has spiritual connection, I overcome you." You quench them, this fiery fire, you quench it by the power of the Holy Spirit. What am I saying? Don't commonize it. Don't say it's everywhere, I'm not the only one having it. Don't commonize it. Don't push the bulk. "It's the person that made me angry, that's the reason why I said what I have said." No, it's not the person. It is our choice. It's your choice. That thing that made you be bitter, have malice, begin to tell lie, or behave in an unworthy manner, unsavory way where the life of men could be helped, where the life of men could be used for God's glory, is because you chose it. But we can decide now. We are as we become saints. Choose the alternative. Choose the right one. Decide for the right one. And in doing so, you'll be pleasing your God. You will always have the presence of the Holy Spirit. You will be a light indeed. You will be a salt indeed. Bible talks about we are the salt of the earth. When you see salt... you know salt is not visible inside food. Nobody sees it. But it is irresistible. When it's not in a food, you will know. "Ah, this thing there's no salt here." So it wasn't visible, but the power, the potency, no one can resist it when it is in its sweetness. Malice, anger, wrath, blasphemy, filthy language out of our mouth, lying to one another, will not make us light. Will not make us salt. Don't wait "I want to be noticed." Even if all... if all this is okay, the Bible said your religion is perfect. Because through your mouth, lives were not destroyed. Through your attitude, lives were not destroyed. But what? They are being helped. They are being encouraged. They are being comforted. The society is being helped, is being changed. If we all change, we say good, we are in a position where we put off all this evil sins and put on compassion, lovingkindness, forgiveness, mercy. If we put it on, the world will be a better place to live in. And that is the reason why God left us here. That is the reason why we got converted, we did not go immediately. So that the world can be a better place to be, so that God can showcase to the demons and kingdom of darkness. "Can't you see my little, little Jesus on earth? The Jesus is here." But if you allow all these things, it will rub us of the life that converts men. It is not... devil don't mind as I'm preaching. Make me to preach "go, preach, preach, preach, preach, preach." He's only interested in what? Polluting our salt, so that it can be thrown away and trampled. You will not have any influence over lives. That's the concern. Don't mind them, let them be moving, be preaching, have the largest congregation everywhere, but that life, don't let it be correct. Because what comes out of our life, they are issues. They are contagious. They are things that in connecting men, are they connecting Christ? Are they connecting a different spirit? You know there is a spirit of oppression, there is a spirit of pressure in the world. We are to be there and let them connect a new spirit, and they will see peace. They will see lovingkindness. They will see the right word. They will see forgiveness. They will see forbearance. That is the spirit that the Lord expects us to show forth. And that is what converts men. That is what changes the world. Not the amount of grammar, not the amount of Bible knowledge. May our lives be renewed by knowledge. And not that we only come out and speak knowledge, but our lives be renewed and the life of God be seen in our lives in the name of Jesus. Amen. So all these things, he said since you have put off the old man and his deeds. If indeed I have put off the old man and his deed, I must put off all this. They are not supposed to be found in me. They are not supposed to be found. Do not retain them. Get rid of them. They are not part of the new man that is renewed in knowledge. Begin to renew, go and check the new man, what are the attributes? We have read it in Ephesians and several other places. As we continue you see where it talked about put on, put on... it first mentioned put off. It now put on bowel of mercy, put on forgiveness. We'll get there. But today we are talking about why we need to put it off. The danger of retaining these old deeds. The danger of retaining these old deeds. It's not profiting you. It's not profiting God's kingdom. You are losing out no matter the justification. Even if it is somebody making you to do it, don't see the person, see the demon behind it. Bible says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God pulling down strongholds. You handle that in the realm of the spirit. It's not a carnal weapon. The reason why we keep exhibiting this sinful nature is because we think it's carnal. "I have to do it by my strength," as if you are going to gain something. Bible says... I cannot remember that passage of the Bible quickly now... he said the wrath of man does not bring the required righteousness of God. Does not bring the required righteousness, the requirement of God. The wrath of man. Book of James, okay. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Can you see that? To you, it'll work something. Now [speaks native language] they will now know, they will know I'm a no-nonsense person. It works a boast, maybe your shoulder will be high, you feel now I'm something. But not the righteousness of God. So my brother and sister, if your life don't now work God's righteousness, what will it work? What will it bring? Will it bring those thing joining the devil to ridicule the precious work the Lord has done? Will you want to trample or crucify the son of God the second time? It does not bring it. And that is the reason why the Bible says we should put on bowel of mercy. We should put all of these evil sins and sins that easily beset us. Put it off. Because it will not bring the righteousness of God. It grieves the Holy Spirit. It takes your comforter, your strengthener, your helper far from you. It reduces your strength. It makes us unclean. It defiles us. It's a waste, dead weight. It brings no profit to our sojourning or our eventual end. It reduces us, it deflates us. It takes away our strength. It could useless us, if God don't come and an end will come, we'll just be an unclean... unclean for God to use. And will you now return back to your master empty-handed, not fulfilling your purpose? Just because you want to score a point against somebody or against someone? The Lord is challenging us. These are things we are to put off. They are with us. You must guide it jealously every day. As you take yourself, as it's coming, you stable by the help of the Holy Spirit that has been given to you. Amen. We have a question here. "If I am willing to let go of my dead weight, will I still overcome the world if I am inconsistent in my prayers and Bible study? And how can I be consistent?" You do well when you are willing to let go your dead weight. That is a step. You may continue to overcome the world if you are consistent in your prayers and Bible study. You can put on God when he used you. Anger will be gone. Malice will be gone. Because you put on God. Lying will be gone. When you are consistent in God's presence, these things will be far from you. Because the spirit of God will rule your life. He will take over. He will control you. He will help you. You'll be renewed in knowledge. You'll be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus. And remember, in his mouth there was no guile. He was no sinner. He was holy. No man could point to sin in his life. And remember, he was the son of man too. He was 100% man and 100% God. And what he did, he did as man. Bible says he did not use his godhead when he was here on earth. So if he could live that life, we also can live that life through the strength of the Holy Spirit. God has given us... he's even more closer to us now. He was with the disciples then, but now he's in you. He's in me. He's in us. [background noise] Even the things that were not yet appear, but by the reason of the word of God, it came to be. So that is the reason why you must be consistent in fervent prayer and in the study of God's word. Let the word of God fill your heart. Then it tells us how can I be consistent? Praise the Lord. It's doing it daily. When you want to see something that will make impact, just imagine a very common one that came to mind now is when you have a place that water drops every day. It may not be very heavy rain, but water drops on a particular spot consistently, daily, continuously. And that thing drops. Even if the thing became flat, let's say on the ground, after a while, there will be hole. You see the thing digging down, digging down. Something I have one in my daughter's bathroom. The tap to the sink, even when you lock it, there's still drop of water. That thing is there. Do you know even on that sink, that drop of water could not make hole on the sink, but there was this mark. That water has always been coming. When they wash the sink, you take strong sponge to scrape it off, it still remains. That is how you'll be consistent. You must be continuous, it must be consistent, it must be the way we continue, you persist, and you be deliberate about it. Don't wait till you have a long hour. Look at your time. When we talk about setting goal, realistic goal. Even if it is 30 minutes, you could concentrate. Don't be in a rush. Don't say you have not covered much. Just continue in that. You will come to discover that little by little, you are gathering. And in that little by little, you are changing. Bible says from glory to glory it changes us. And that is in a... it's a consistent thing. You continue daily. Read it daily. Meditate. Store the word of God in your heart. Study the word. Many at times we say we read Bible. We are not to do reading. It's different from meditating, storing. You know one thing about our mouth? When you read the word of God, you meditate on it. You may be able to do that for maybe three verses before you go. That is a blessing of meditation. When you store it, you can continue to ponder on that. It will take even that a step too, you will discover you have written more than the number of words even in that whole passage through what God has directly spoken to you. And those are the word of life. Those are the ones that transform. Those are the strengths because it is no longer the letter, it is the breath of God into our heart. They change us. I hope I've said something. Daily. How do I fight with God's strength? How do I fight with God's strength? Everything about the God strength we find in Ephesians where it talked about we should put on God... armors of God. That is the strength of God. Let's quickly read it please. Ephesians 6:10. [Speaker 2] "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." [Speaker 1] I think we can see from there. Put on the armor of God that you may be strong. How do I fight with God's strength? Stand, you're fighting. We are already always in a fight... in a battle. Don't ever think because you go everywhere up and down, we are in a... on a battlefield. As long as we are on this side of eternity, it's a battle. Battle over your soul. Because there is a battle over our soul. The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of darkness, they want to battle and say "Ah, [inaudible]." We no go gree. So that is the fight. That is the fight. That this my life will be for his glory. And he said put on the armor of God. That is how to fight. When the Lord says it, that is the solution. I don't have any other revelation. This is basic. Maybe by the grace of God we will find time to also talk about this armor one by one. But let me quickly mention what each of them means. Put on the whole armor of God. He kept insisting on that. Put on the whole armor... mention one by one. Stand your ground, put on the sturdy belt of truth. You know what that is? The word of God. That is the truth. The word of God. You know when you put on your skirt or trouser without belt? What happen? It drops. That is what will guide you and make you fit. That is what will make you to be able to reply the enemy when he comes. Remember our master, when Satan came, the belt of truth of Jesus... our Lord Jesus Christ was intact. So when he came with this, he knew, he answered back. How much of the word of God is in you? If you have the word of God within you, you will fight with God's strength. Because that is the strength of God. Bible call it also the word of God again. What? The sword of the spirit. You will be at the... you will not only be at the defensive, you'll be attacking the kingdom of darkness. It also talked about body armor of God, okay, and the body armor of God's righteousness. That is the helmet of salvation. Talks about our righteousness. You get that by God's grace and gift. If you are here you have not come to the Lord Jesus to come and put up the helmet of salvation, you are in trouble. Have you seen a soldier that put on every other kit, warring kit, all the other armor and the head is open? Is it possible for such a soldier to win a battle? Helmet of salvation. That is what secure you. That is what saves you. That is what makes your head... the Lord Jesus is your head. And when that head is secure, there is no power of darkness that will be able to penetrate you. It's important. There is no life outside salvation. It is only in Christ Jesus, when you surrender your life to Jesus, that you begin to live. We were all dead. Dead men and women. We only come alive... we only come alive when we accept the free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus. Then for shoe, put on the peace that comes from the good news. That's the reason why we cannot dissociate ourselves from preaching the gospel. If you are a believer and you do not preach the gospel, you must have used your mouth to destroy the gospel. You must have used your life, attitude, behavior to embarrass the gospel. Where you are among your friends, terrible number one. That's the reason why you can't preach it. But it's dangerous. Because you will attract darkness. Your light, they will not know that you are a light. Your life is under bushel. That armor is very important. Don't hide. Let Jesus be made known through your mouth and through our lives. Put on salvation as helmet, take the sword of the spirit which is the word of God, pray at all times. We have mentioned that. Prayer without ceasing. Pray at all times, on every occasion, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert... you know I mentioned it... watchful. Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary, your enemy roams about seeking whom to devour. Stay alert and be persistent in prayer. He mentioned it again. Pray always and be persistent in prayer. Spirit that is persistent is the spirit of prayer. That is the Holy Spirit. You cannot be victorious if you have the spirit of God within you and you are not praying. Go and check it out. Something must have gone wrong between you and the Holy Spirit. He must fan you to flame. Because he's the spirit of revelation, he's the spirit of prayer, he's the spirit of understanding, he's the spirit of strength, and he's the spirit of truth. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. By the grace of God we have come to the end of the message. And to wrap it up, we know that we can do it. God has given us all it takes. God lives in you. God lives on the inside of everyone who has surrendered his life to God. Yes, because that is what quickened you from your deadness. And if you have been born again, you are not filled with the Holy Spirit with baptism with the evidence of speaking in tongues, please, the measure of that spirit of God in you has to come to overflowing. It must keep overflowing. It must keep overflowing. You need that. Because there are a lot of things you will do even in the place of prayer by the spirit of God. There's a limit to which your understanding can carry. And as we submit ourselves to God by the help that the Lord has lavished upon us, let us be willing to put off all these things. All these things, this old deed, this old man. We are a new man. You are no longer dead. The life that you live is the life of the son of God who died for you. Arise. Arise and shine. Arise, take your place. Shut the mouth of lion. Conquer that flame. Turn that weakness... shut it down and let strength of the Lord come out. Because they are dead weight, they will do us no good. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. He said "Seeing that we have taken off the old man and his deed." Those who put on the old man did it with all his deeds. And likewise, when we put on the new man, we do it also with all his deeds, having been renewed in knowledge. Having been renewed in knowledge. So the Lord is charging us this evening. What is your attitude to this? You are to put off, get rid. They are cankerworms in our life. Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. They should be out of our mouth. [speaks native language] You know when a cooked egg, when it drops, no longer useful. And that is the reason why the Lord is charging us. All those things, they will come out when they start within, if we don't check it, they will come out through our mouth. And Bible talks about what we take into our mouth in Matthew. It said "when you eat food does not defile you, but what comes out of the mouth of a man." Our defilement is what comes out, what you confess you possess. So if you want to know a man, the way through your behavior, your attitude, your behavior. We have different types of communication: oral, which we call verbal. We have non-verbal. They are all still products from within. When it is oral, by the time you speak, let him speak, we'll know who he is. It could be non-verbal through your attitude. But what tell all those actions, they are things from within. And that is the reason why we are to conquer our passion. We are to make sure from within we get renewed by knowledge through the word of God. Through the word of God. All these vices mentioned here, all these things, all these iniquities, all these waste that are mentioned here in this passage, they are things that you can choose to or choose not to as a child of God, because you have the strength of God. And that is the reason why it's a choice. It's a choice. Somebody who was very angry, they said "Ah, that man was... he's a madman, any time he's angry the whole world..." but as he was thinking he was in the... he was the chief angry man. When he was in the midst of that and nobody could pacify him, a soldier just drove in. When the soldier drove in and brought out... just the sight of the soldier, you will not believe that man that no one can touch, could... could hold down. That man no one could hold down became gentle. He became gentle. What about that? Because he saw something higher. Is that not? But we could see that there was a choice. The other time when people were holding him and he was saying "no, no, no, no, no," he chose to behave that way. When he saw something that could deal with him, what happened? He became gentle. So it's a choice. That person made me angry, that's the reason why I said what I have said. No, it's not the person. It is our choice. It's your choice. That thing that made you be bitter, have malice, begin to tell lie, or behave in an unworthy manner, unsavory way where the life of men could be helped, where the life of men could be... could be used for God's glory, is because you chose it. But we can decide now. We are as we become saints. Choose the alternative. Choose the right one. Decide for the right one. And in doing so, you'll be pleasing your God. You will always have the presence of the Holy Spirit. You will be a light indeed. You will be a salt indeed. Bible talks about we are the salt of the earth. When you see salt... you know salt is not visible inside food. Nobody sees it. But it is irresistible. When it's not in a food, you will know. "Ah, this thing there's no salt here." So it wasn't visible, but the power, the potency, no one can resist it when it is in its sweetness. Malice, anger, wrath, blasphemy, filthy language out of our mouth, lying to one another, will not make us light. Will not make us salt. Don't wait "I want to be noticed." Even if all... if all this is okay, the Bible said your religion is perfect. Because through your mouth, lives were not destroyed. Through your attitude, lives were not destroyed. But what? They are being helped. They are being encouraged. They are being comforted. The society is being helped, is being changed. If we all change, we say good, we are in a position where we put off all this evil sins and put on compassion, lovingkindness, forgiveness, mercy. If we put it on, the world will be a better place to live in. And that is the reason why God left us here. That is the reason why we got converted, we did not go immediately. So that the world can be a better place to be, so that God can showcase to the demons and kingdom of darkness. "Can't you see my the little, little Jesus on earth? The Jesus is here." But if you allow all these things, it will rub us of the life that converts men. It is not... devil don't mind as I'm preaching. Make me to preach "go, preach, preach, preach, preach, preach." He's only interested in what? Polluting our salt, so that it can be thrown away and trampled. You will not have any influence over lives. That's the concern. Don't mind them, let them be moving, be preaching, have the largest congregation everywhere, but that life, don't let it be correct. Because what comes out of our life, they are issues. They are contagious. They are things that in connecting men, are they connecting Christ? Are they connecting a different spirit? You know there is a spirit of oppression, there is a spirit of pressure in the world. We are to be there and let them connect a new spirit, and they will see peace. They will see lovingkindness. They will see the right word. They will see forgiveness. They will see forbearance. That is the spirit that the Lord expects us to show forth. And that is what converts men. That is what changes the world. Not the amount of grammar, not the amount of Bible knowledge. May our lives be renewed by knowledge. And not that we only come out and speak knowledge, but our lives be renewed and the life of God be seen in our lives in the name of Jesus. Amen. For all these things, he said since you have put off the old man and his deed. The danger of retaining these old deeds. The danger of retaining these old deeds. It's not profiting you. It's not profiting God's kingdom. You are losing out no matter the justification. Even if it is somebody making you to do it, don't see the person, see the demon behind it. Bible says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God pulling down strongholds. You handle that in the realm of the spirit. It's not a carnal weapon. The reason why we keep exhibiting this sinful nature is because we think it's carnal. "It's to I have to do it by my strength," as if you are going to gain something. Bible says... I cannot remember that passage of the Bible quickly now... he said the wrath of man does not bring the required righteousness of God. Does not bring the required righteousness, the requirement of God. The wrath of man. Book of James, okay. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Can you see that? To you, it'll work something. Now [speaks native language] they will now know, they will know I'm a no-nonsense person. It works a boast, maybe your shoulder will be high, you feel now I'm something. But not the righteousness of God. So my brother and sister, if your life don't now work God's righteousness, what will it work? What will it bring? Will it bring those thing joining the devil to ridicule the precious work the Lord has done? Will you want to trample or crucify the son of God the second time? It does not bring it. And that is the reason why the Bible says we should put on bowel of mercy. We should put all of these evil sins and sins that easily beset us. Put it off. Because it will not bring the righteousness of God. It grieves the Holy Spirit. It takes your comforter, your strengthener, your helper far from you. It reduces your strength. It makes us unclean. It defiles us. It's a waste, dead weight. It brings no profit to our sojourning or our eventual end. It reduces us, it deflates us. It takes away our strength. It could useless us, if God don't come and an end will come, we'll just be an unclean... unclean for God to use. And will you now return back to your master empty-handed, not fulfilling your purpose? Just because you want to score a point against somebody or against someone? The Lord is challenging us. These are things we are to put off. They are with us. You must guide it jealously every day. As you take yourself, as it's coming, you stable by the help of the Holy Spirit that has been given to you. Amen. I want us to bow down our head as I pray. I want us to commit ourselves into the hands of God. Let's ask the Lord to help us. Lord, even in what we are to do, our help is in him. Bible says we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We can do all things through you who strengthens us. God we are ready. We are ready to do this one, to put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, evil speaking from our mouth. We are ready not to speak tell lie to one another. We are ready to put off the old man, we are dead with and his deed. We are ready O Lord to put on the new man and be renewed in knowledge, be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus. We are ready. Lord, Bible says we can do all things. Your word says we can do all things through Christ Jesus. Yes, we depend on your strength O Lord. We are ready. When we are ready, you are ready. Because you are not looking at our ability. You only want our availability. You only want us to be ready. You said you are at the door knocking. Anyone who opens you will come in. Lord we are ready. We are ready. Come in. We ask strengthen us. Holy Spirit our strengthener, strengthen us. Holy Spirit strengthen us. We are making up our mind, we are taking decisions, to put off... to put off every ungodliness, every filthiness of the spirit, of the mind, of the soul, of the body. We are ready. We are putting it off. We are putting it off. We are putting off the old man and his deed. Holy Spirit we are ready. Strengthen us, strengthen us, strengthen us. We can do all things through you that strengthen us. We receive the strength of the Holy Spirit. We go in the strength of the Lord. We go in the strength of the Lord. We go in the strength of the Lord. We conquer nations, we conquer kingdoms. All these kingdoms that have been measured that we should put off. We demolish you in our life. We get rid of you. We conquer you. We march you under our feet. We trample you under feet in the name of Jesus. Because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We receive the strength of God. We receive the strength of God. Our vessel shall be clear. We have been washed. We will remain washed, sanctified. We will not be polluted. We'll be used for the glory of our Master. We will bring Jesus glory. We will not embarrass God's kingdom. We will not embarrass the name of the Lord again. We will live for Jesus. We will endure in God's fear. We conquer our passion. We put Jesus first in the name of Jesus. Thank you Lord. Precious Father we are grateful again for this evening. We thank you for the scripture says "your word have I hidden in my heart that I may not sin against you." When the scripture says "how will a young man make his way pure, but by hearkening to your word." Our Lord and our God, we are committing ourselves again into your hand, reflecting on the book of Colossians, the need for us to put off emotional expressions that does not reflect the kingdom and the image of Jesus. Our Father, you are saying we should put it off because we can put them off. Lord help us to realize we can put them off. Help us to realize that you have given us all it takes to put them off. Lord deliver us from the bondage of our mind that makes us to feel we cannot put them off. Lord we can. We can. That is the truth of the gospel. That we can, we can. And the process we saw again this evening is by renewing ourselves in the image of the new man. Lord help us on a daily basis to renew ourselves in the image of the new man, knowing Jesus on a daily basis. Spending time with scriptures. Lord, may every distraction from deliberate Bible meditation, Lord we pray break them in our life. Everything that does not make us to deliberately deliberate on scriptures, Lord break them in our life. In the name of Jesus. May we be scripture chasers. May we be people who chase scriptures, who sit with scriptures, who pursue scriptures, who memorize scriptures, who speak scriptures in the name of Jesus. We must be renewed in the image of the new man. And the image of the new man is the word of God. Lord help us on a daily basis. Cause us to see, cause us to know this. We can put off this expression. Lord help us to realize this. Thank you eternal Father and more and more Lord of your strength upon your daughter. More and more O Lord of your grace upon her life. More and more O Lord of the increase O God of your person and of your hand upon her life in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Let's share the grace together in fellowship. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission head. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday 5:00 PM. Adolescent and Singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Marriage Forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Family life seminars, regular school outrages and every day counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilaro community, opposite De Choice filling station along Ijero road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.