his holy word. Let's turn to
the epistle of Paul to Colossians chapter 3 and we'll read verse
3. The epistle of Paul to the Colossians
chapter 3 and reading verse 3. For ye are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God. The Apostle here is addressing
the Church of God. He tells us as he begins his
letter to the Colossians, he's writing to the saints and faithful
brethren in Christ which are at Colossae. And so we can believe
that He is here addressing the believers and as we have these
words in the Word of God speaking to us today we should also consider
when we read the Word of God whether those words are addressed
to us. We should never think well of
course that doesn't apply to me and if we do come to that
conclusion we should really ask ourselves why? such a word does
not apply to us. Now the epistles that the Apostle
writes are very precious really and they have so many words of
direction and here we have in this chapter, indeed in this
epistle, gracious and glorious words of instruction to the Church
of God and also warnings to those who are not perhaps evidently
in the Church of God. And so this third chapter commences
with these words, if. Okay, and it's good for us to
look into our own hearts. We should never make assumptions. We should never make assumptions
which are wrong. You and I need the proof. God's
work in our hearts. Indeed the previous chapter and
in the 13th verse we read, And you being dead in your sins and
the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened, that means
hath he made spiritually alive, together with him. That means
joined together with Christ. together with him, having forgiven
you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross." Well, that's a glorious
statement for the Church of God, to realise that our wonderful
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, indeed, is the one who by his
grace has made us spiritually alive and if we're spiritually
alive it must follow that we've been forgiven of all our trespasses
isn't that a glorious truth and then he tells us blotting out
the handwriting of ordinance that was against us there was
handwriting against us because of our sins, because of our transgressions,
because of our trespasses. And yet you see, through the
wonderful death of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, they have
been taken out of the way, and therefore took it out of the
way, nailing it to His cross. It was through our Saviour's
glorious death upon that cross at Calvary and all that he did
there, which atones for the sin of the whole church of God. And
what a great blessing this morning, if you and I have the evidence
that we've been made spiritually alive. And that means that God's
spoken to our hearts. And if he has to realize that
we're washed, we're complete in him, We're washed with the
blood of Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Well, this morning,
may we truly rejoice in that wonderful truth. And so the apostle
goes on to tell us then, if you then be risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above. where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. You see how important it is that
we seek after spiritual blessings. How often we find we seek after
the things of this world. The things of this world which
do not profit. The things in this world which
will not do us any real spiritual good and yet our nature is such
that we hanker after the things of this world, and seek after
them. And yet the word of God is very
clear. If ye then be risen with Christ,
and we are risen with Christ, if we've been made spiritually
alive, that's a great, wonderful blessing, isn't it? You see,
Satan will try and dispute such words as that. Satan always wants
to dispute the truth of God's word. You only have to go back,
don't we, to Genesis and the Garden of Eden. He disputed with
Adam and Eve those words that God has spoken and he hasn't
changed his attitude. He hasn't changed the attacks
that he makes upon the Church of God. He causes them to question
the great and glorious truth of God. Well, may God give you
and me grace. to ignore those evil insinuations
that the devil would bring into our hearts. May we point him
very clearly to the scriptures of truth which declare to us
what God has done and what he is doing and what he will do. And so we have this gracious
word of instruction To us this morning, if we are dead, that
doesn't mean that we're physically dead. What it means is that by
the grace of God, our sins have been forgiven. We are, for ye
are dead. Dead, you see, to those things
which would continue to sadness and attack us, but yet to realize
that Christ has died. And the devil cannot overcome
that great and glorious truth. And so if ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above. That's a very clear
statement, isn't it? And it's something that we ought
to ponder and ought to consider as to whether we are seeking
spiritual blessings. We know we often seek after the
things of time, but the things of time they finish they vanish
and in reality however great they may seem to us today they're
very trivial in comparison with what the Lord does for his people
giving them the great and wonderful and glorious gift of eternal
life and so we have here a gracious word of instruction it was to
the Colossians and as I said if it's true that they suffered
a very severe earthquake and many of them died what a blessing
if they heeded these words spoken through the instrumentality of
the Apostle Paul but the words of God direct to the Church of
God at Colossae and by inference to the Church of God down through
the ages and to us, to you and me, today. We should not think
that such words do not include our own spiritual life. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above. What does that mean? It means
that by God's grace we are to think upon the things of glory,
the things of heaven. We've sung about it a little
bit in that second hymn. And the devil doesn't want us
to think about the things of glory. He wants us to think about
the things of time. He wants us to eradicate the
things of heaven. He wants us to consider. There's
no need to think about those things. They're a long way off.
Well, they may be, but they may not be. And how relevant it is,
therefore, to seek those things which are above. Now, we won't
really seek them unless God has given us that desire after them. And of course, the desire after
them is really summed up in this, as the Apostle says, For me to
live is Christ and to die is gain because the Apostle realised
he would then be with Christ forever. Forever. The hymn writer has, doesn't
he, those lines? Forever with the Lord. And that should be
a glorious and a wonderful consideration. you and me as we travel on and
so because he tells us here seek those things which are above
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God and we know that
the Savior when he rose to glory on that wonderful day of ascension
he went into heaven to sit on the right hand of his father
in glory there to intercede for us until that great day when
he will rise from his throne and return to the earth, when
the end of all things comes to pass, when time will be no more. Well, may you and I heed such
words as this, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, because
we are dead, really, to the things of this poor world. What a blessing
if they don't, they may appear to have an inference on them,
but what a blessing to know that they can't really take away that
which God has done for us. That can't be removed. Because
God doesn't work in vain. But if God blesses us with that
spiritual life, it is that great gift of eternal life which will
never be removed and that should be a great and a wonderful consolation a wonderful blessing for us as
you and I carry on on this earth and so the Apostle says Seek those things which are above,
where Christ sits on the right hand of God. And then he tells
us to set our affection on things above. And then also he qualifies
it to make sure we don't misunderstand what he's saying. Set your affection
on things above, not on things on the earth. What a mercy, isn't
it? That God's given us such clear,
direction because left to ourselves we would set our heart we would
set our affection on the things on the earth and we would not
set our affection upon things above we would just be swallowed
up with the things of time the things on the earth what a blessing
if God in his amazing love toward us has drawn us to Himself. Drawn us to Himself to seek those
heavenly blessings. Those blessings which ought to
be found in Christ because really every heavenly blessing is found
in Christ. Christ is all the glory in Emmanuel's
land. And what a wonderful favour for
you and me today to realise the wonder of that great truth and
so here we have this statement then to set our affection on
things above and not on things on the earth well it's good if
God enables us to recognize this great and wonderful truth the
Apostle when he wrote to the church at Galatia and he tells
us this in the last chapter the sixth chapter of the Galatians
in the 14th verse but God forbid don't let it happen that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. That's a very broad statement,
isn't it? It's wonderful, isn't it? If God gives you and me grace
to truly desire that. He didn't want the glory in anything
else. Sometimes we want the glory,
don't we? The glory in our attainments. The glory in what we've done.
We're proud of it. Well, the apostle was wonderfully
blessed, wasn't he? But he didn't want a glory in
those things which he'd done. He tells us so clearly, God forbid,
that I should glory. But he makes an exception. He
makes an exception. Save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world. Won't it be a wonderful blessing
for us this morning if as we consider these words, for you
are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. To realize
that our life is hid with Christ and hid with him because of that
great and glorious offering that he made when he gave his life
upon that cross at Calvary to take away all of our sins. Freedom in Christ. No freedom outside of Christ.
No freedom anywhere else. He only could unlock the gate
to heaven to let us in. The blessed Saviour, the blessed
Lord Jesus Christ. So do we glory today in the cross
of Christ? Do we glory today in his finished
work? And do we glory today because
we have a hope And the Holy Spirit has made us spiritually alive. It's made us spiritually alive
because of what Christ accomplished upon that cross at Calvary. He
completed the work, the wonderful work that his Father gave him
to do. No one else was capable of fulfilling
that work. How willing was Jesus to die
that we fellow sinners might live! The life they could not
take away! How willing was Jesus to give! Well, says the Apostle, that
I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's a good question, isn't it,
for us today. Do we glory in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ? We are, as we've said, to set
our affection of things above and not on things on the earth.
And these are things above. These are eternal realities. These are not things that are
concerned with time. are things concerned with eternity. What a wonderful blessing therefore
if God gives you and me that grace to glory, not in what we've
done, but in what Christ has done. And to think how utterly
unworthy we are to receive any blessing. yet to realise that
our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into this sinful world to
live and to die that wonderful and glorious sin, atoning death. We have various wonderful references
in the Word of God to think of what the Saviour has done. He tells us when the Apostle
wrote to the Church of Rome, there's some wonderful statements
in the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. He tells us in the fourth
chapter and the seventh verse saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven. and whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Why is that? It's because, and
it's an amazing statement, that our sins have been imputed to
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. They've been placed upon Him.
And in order to reconcile us to God, the Lord Jesus Christ
paid that price to take away our sins. Our sins were imputed
to Him, placed upon Him. He who was sinless, who lived
a perfect life, was willing to take our sins. it should have a very sobering
effect upon us in our lives as perhaps we indulge in things
which are sinful perhaps we brush them aside and think well that
doesn't matter well what a good thing it is if the Holy Spirit shows to us
that it's our sin imputed to the Saviour, which caused the
Lord Jesus to suffer and to die upon that cross in order to pay
that price that was necessary to reconcile us as unworthy sinners
to the Saviour. No wonder the apostle writes
in these terms, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered. It's wonderful isn't it to think
that we have such a wonderful and great and glorious Saviour
and the Apostle tells us in the sixth chapter to the Romans and
the first couple of verses What shall we say then? Shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein. Well, it's a great and
wonderful statement, isn't it? And it's good to realise that.
And in this sixth chapter of the Romans, you may be familiar
with, he then aligns it to the act of believers' baptism. And he says here, Know ye not
that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised
into his death. Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. Well, it's a wonderful picture
that we have in the ordinance of believers' baptism. And we
shouldn't think it's irrelevant. And we shouldn't think it has
no virtue. And we shouldn't think it's not
necessary. God set it before us as a way
to demonstrate that we are a follower of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. It sets before the whole world,
really, our love for the Saviour. He loved us so much. Wonderful, isn't it, to realize
the great and glorious truth of our great and wonderful Savior. And then perhaps just one last
reference to the epistle of Paul to the Romans. The apostle, when
he wrote that wonderful eighth chapter, he tells us, and not
only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of
the Spirit." That's the evidence of the life of God in our soul. Glorious blessing. Even we ourselves, grown within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. I wonder whether you and I understand
that. Grown within ourselves. because
of the sin which does so easily beset us we're not happy with
it we groan within ourselves well and not only they but ourselves
also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we ourselves
groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption
of our body Well, it's a great blessing if we know the redemption
of our soul. And if we do, then we can be
sure there will be the redemption of our body. For we are saved
by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth,
why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope, for that we see
not, then do we with patience wait for it. See how the word
of God spells these things out for us too. direct us and to
encourage us, and we should be so thankful that we have these
words recorded in the Word of God for our encouraging. Well, we're told then, for we
are, ye are dead, and your life, our spiritual life, is head with
Christ in God. You and I can't keep ourselves
alive, but it's head with Christ, we're united to Christ. And that's
an eternal blessing. And so then the apostle says,
when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, and he will appear.
We know that. We're told very clearly when
he ascended up to his father on that day of the ascension,
the angels told the disciples that he would come again in like
manner. He will come. He will return. And so the Apostle says, when
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall he also appear
with him in glory. Well, this morning, do we have
that good hope that we've just read of in that 8th chapter of
the Romans, the 24th verse? That good hope. Have we that
good hope? when Christ who is our life shall
appear, positive, definite, no doubt, he will, then shall he
also appear with him in glory. Now is that a wonderful promise
that you and I rejoice in? To think that by his grace, that's
true, True to each one who have been quickened by the Holy Spirit. Yes, it's a wonderful truth. Then shall he also appear with
him in glory. And with this wonderful evidence,
the Apostle then goes on to encourage us. This is what he says. Mortify
therefore. That means put to death. Mortify
therefore. your members which are upon the
earth and he gives a list a comprehensive list fornication uncleanness
inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry
and that may not be in an actual physical way but it may be as
the devil tempts us in our minds he's very clever and he comes
and puts these ideas into our minds and their sinful ideas. And it's a great blessing, therefore,
if God gives us grace to kill them off. Mortify, therefore,
says the Word of God. What a blessing, therefore, if
God enables you and me to spiritually desire that they may be taken
away from us. The devil plagues us with thoughts
Thankfully, no one else knows about them. But nonetheless,
perhaps it makes us cry out. Can ever God dwell here? Well, blessed be God, he can. And blessed be God, he does. But we should remember that spiritual
life is a battleground. Spiritual life is one where we
face the devil every day, in reality every moment of our life.
The devil is always looking for an opportunity to enter into
our heart and to take our affections away from the things of God to
the poor things of time. That's why Graciously, God has
given us such words of exhortation and encouragement to us. And
so the apostle goes on, having told us to mortify ourselves,
having given that list, he says, for which things sake the wrath
of God cometh on the children of disobedience. And then he
says, in the which he also walked some time when you lived in them
well what a blessing if you and I can look into our lives and
see there's been a change whereas at one time we loved such a life
we loved such thoughts but now as God gives us grace because
we are dead and our life is hid with Christ, we desire to put
such thoughts away from us, to kill them off. Well, what a mercy
it is, therefore, to realize that God has blessed us. And
he goes on to say, in this chapter we read, and he says, and lie
not one to another, sinning you've put off the old man with his
deeds. doesn't leave us there and having
put on a new man a new man which is renewed in knowledge that's
through the quickening of the Holy Spirit into our hearts which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him You see, God is pure, God is sinless. And what a mercy
if God gives us that desire to be like unto our Saviour. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. These are great truths, aren't
they? It's a wonderful blessing. to realise that God has shown
his love and mercy toward us. Sometimes we have, I think of that wonderful
17th chapter of John's Gospel, which of course records that
prayer of the Lord Jesus to his father, that wonderful high priestly
prayer. And as we come towards the end
of that prayer, the Lord Jesus says, neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also, which shall believe, what a mercy if
you and I come within that, which shall believe on me through their
word, through the great truths of scripture, that they all may
be one, united to Christ. as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are and thou in me, that they may
be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Grand truth. Blessed words, aren't
they? Wonderful to think that the Holy
Spirit saw fit that such words should be recorded for us today
to encourage ourselves in this great and wonderful truth. Yes, well, it's a good prospect
set before the Church of God and it's a wonderful favour to
know that God has granted these wonderful blessings. And in the
very last chapter in the Word of God, last chapter in Revelation,
chapter 22 we have a little view of the heavenly realities and
the Apostle John tells us he was shown a pure river of water
of life clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of the God
and of the Lamb and he goes on and comes down to the fifth verse
and there shall be no night there. It's hard for us to realize isn't
it? In glory There's no day and there's
no night. There's just one eternal day. They need no candle, neither
light to the sun, because for the Lord giveth them light and
they shall reign forever and ever. We today live in time. You and I understand time. We
don't understand eternity. It's beyond our comprehension. And yet to think that there is
an eternity where there's no sun and no moon, no need of the
sun or moon. Because the Lord God is all the
light. It's amazing, isn't it, to think
of that? And I think that you and I will never need any sleep. You know, we look forward sometimes,
don't we, to going to bed at night and resting and sleeping. No need for it in glory. We'll never be tired. And the
occupation will surely be to praise God for his love, for
his mercy, and for his goodness. And you see there's no curse,
there's no sin. Again, it's worth sometimes just
pondering that truth. Just sit down sometimes and think
what it would be like to have no wrong thought, no wrong word,
nothing, nothing which will go against that perfect environment
of happiness and peace and glory. It's really almost, well it is
impossible really for us to understand. But that's why we have just little
glimpses recorded in the Word of God to encourage us to look
forward to that wonderful and glorious day. When the Apostle,
as the Apostle Paul says, to go and to be with Christ which
is far better. Well, surely this is for us in
this verse this morning to think of the truth of it. For ye are
dead. Yes, dead because of what Christ
has done in taking away all our sins and your life, our spiritual
life is hid with Christ in God. It's a great depth. beyond our
natural understanding what a blessing it is if Christ gives us that faith
to believe and that faith to rejoice in such a statement and
to thank God that we have such words recorded for our encouragement
as you and I press on through life. For ye are dead, and your
life is hid with Christ in God. Amen. Closing hymn in worship this
morning, hymn 126. 126 to the June Gerontius, 115. Hymn 126. I'll speak, the honours of my
King. His form divinely fair, none
of the sons of mortal race may with the Lord compare. Sweet
is thy speech, and heavenly grace upon thy lips is shed, thy God
with blessings infinite. has crowned thy sacred head. Hymn 126.