Set your affection on Christ. Set your affection on Christ.
Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of
the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject
to ordinances, touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are
to perish with the using after the commandments and doctrines
of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship
and humility and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to
the satisfying of the flesh. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on the things
above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. So
tonight, again, we'll continue our study. Two weeks ago, or
three weeks ago now, we looked at verse 1 of chapter 3, which,
as we learned, then is tied into the portion of verses 1 to 4,
which deal with our... Brother Henry Mahan brought out,
it deals with our attitude towards the material world and towards
spiritual things, which is found in verses 1 to 4. Hawker comments
about verse 1 to 4 of this chapter, Paul is now calling upon the
members of Christ's body who were once dead in their sins,
absolutely dead. We know that. We come into this
world spiritually dead. who were once dead in their sins
but now brought forth into a new and spiritual life, born again,
regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, were born again in Christ,
their glory is had to manifest the reality of this new life
by living to Christ and upon Christ. So we live to Christ
and we live upon Him, we feast upon Him. and causing their whole
affections to center in Christ. And we brought that up many times
through this study, that Paul is bringing forth and setting
forth the supremacy of Christ, and the preeminence of Christ,
that He is the object of our faith. He's the one who we center
upon. Christ in Him alone, as the members
of the body live by the head. So let us know that the text
is written to believers. It's not written to unbelievers.
It's written to believers. None can seek Christ or set their
affection upon Christ except those who are born again. Those
who are born again, regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. Christ
must be revealed. He must be revealed before we
know Him. We must be born again. We must be regenerated before
we have faith in Christ. It's a work of God, the Holy
Spirit. In order for us to set our affections
upon Him, we must be born again. We must be. And we know from
our study two weeks, or three weeks ago, the tie-in that Paul
has to what he's penned in verse 20, where he brings out the fact
that we are dead in Christ. We are dead in Christ. We're
dead to the rudiments of the world. We're not subject to ordinances. Which the false teachers, remember
what the false teachers are trying to yoke? They're trying to yoke
the Colossians. And to do this and do that. But
we're dead to those things, Paul. We're dead to those things in
Christ. Paul has exposed the false teachers and their teaching
for what it is. They promise freedom and knowledge through
their teaching. But all it does is lead to bondage. All it does
is lead to bondage. And it puffs up the false teachers,
and it puffs up the followers, and they're filled with self-righteousness.
And the false teachers of supposed liberty, which actually leads
their followers into bondage, enjoy no spiritual freedom, as
they're always caught up, continuously caught up in, what must I do,
instead of, What has Christ done? It's done. It's finished. He
did the work. He did the work. So hence, Paul
exposes the false teachers as bogus. They're false teachers.
Look at the question in verses 20 to 22, and then he exposes
them in verse 23 of chapter 2. Wherefore, if ye be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living
in the world, are ye subject to ordinances? Touch not, taste
not, handle not. which are all to perish, after
the commandments and doctrines of men, which things indeed have
a show of wisdom in will-worship, and it says in humility, and
we saw that that was false humility, and the neglecting of the body,
not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. So in verse 1 of
chapter 3, he centers the cautioned believers on He who is to be
worshiped, on He who is to be adored, on He who is the object
of our worship, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to look to the
One who is so great that our minds can't even comprehend Him. We can't comprehend who He is. Brother Norm and I were talking,
you could be the most gifted person with languages and you
still couldn't come close to describing who Christ is. Not
even close. He's indescribable. He reveals himself in the scripture.
We just marvel. It says, If you then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth. He must reveal himself. The Colossians
were not to lose their freedom which they had in Christ by submitting
themselves to the false teachers and their ordinances. Remember
we looked at it on Sunday, the freedom and liberty we have,
Galatians 5.1. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made you free. It's in Him. Our freedom and
our liberty is in Christ and Him alone. And here we see Paul
hitting the same thing again. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God." A true believer who's born again
of the Holy Spirit of God will seek Christ in Him alone. This
is a distinct mark of a believer. A distinct mark of a believer
who's been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We seek the one
who we never sought before. One we have no desire for. Now
He's all we want to hear. He's all we want to know. And the Colossian believers were
to keep their freedom by looking to Christ and setting their mind
and their affections on Him. So the mind and then the affections
speak from your heart. So Paul tells you, keep your
mind and your heart upon Christ and Him alone. In verse 1, Paul
is bringing out that which we are to seek Christ. Now, Weiss
brings out in the Greek that this is the... we are to constantly
be seeking the things of God. Constantly be seeking the things
of God. When do we seek Christ? Well, when we read the Scripture,
we seek Christ. When we study the Scripture,
we seek Christ. When we desire to listen to the Gospel, we seek
Christ. And I'll ask you this question.
Who is it that you want to hear about when you come here? Who
is it? Who do the saints and dowels,
who do they want to hear about? Just Christ. Just tell me about
Christ. Don't tell me about what I have
to do. Tell me about what He's done. Tell me what He's done.
So we seek Christ in prayer also. As we approach the throne of
grace, praying to our great advocate and mediator between God and
man, man Christ Jesus, we seek grace to help in time of need.
We go to Him. We go to Him. Think of this,
a believer is regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God in conversion
and seeks Christ. Then the believer lives a life
of continuously seeking Christ. Continuously seeking Christ,
which will be consummated when we're bought the glory. And then
we'll see Him face to face. And we'll see Him face to face.
So the believer lives in Christ. He's everything to us. You take
away Christ, I have nothing. I have nothing. And we daily
hold on to Christ as the center and the source of all our joy.
And when we ponder, when we ponder, The fact that we've been chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. Sinners. It brings us great joy. Because
we know we never would have chosen Him. When we ponder that we've
been redeemed, we've been purchased by the precious blood of Christ.
by His shedding His precious blood on Calvary's cross, and
the salvation that we have, that all our sins and all our iniquities
are gone. As far as the East is from the
West, that fills us with great joy. Great joy. When we ponder that we've been
justified before God in Christ, it makes us joyful. When we ponder
that we'll soon be in glory, because we know our lives are
just a vapor, We'll soon be in glory with the Lord. It makes
us joyful. We desire to be with Him. What things are we to seek and
set our affection upon? Let's look at verses 1 and 2
again. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above. For Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set
your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. So what things are we to seek?
Things that have eternal value. in the truth of God's Gospel.
As we know that those who worship God, we must worship God in spirit
and truth. And who does the Gospel speak
of? Christ. Christ in Him alone. How do we
do this? Think of this. We're to seek
those things that make our election and calling sure. Brother Norm
and I were talking about this today. We're to seek those things
that make our election and calling sure. How do we do that? How
do we make our election and calling sure? How do we do that? Well,
Brother Norm brought out that we examine what we think of Christ. How did we think of Him before
we were saved? How do we think of Him now? What did we think
of the Gospel before? What do we think of Him now?
What do we think of the people of God before the Lord saved
us? What do we think of Him now? All things are new, beloved,
to the believer. All things are new. God's people. You ever had, Vicki
and I had someone one time, I was opening up the scripture with
them, and Vicki and I had someone say plainly about the scripture,
and this is a person who professes to believe Christ, is in religion,
and they said plainly, I don't believe. when presented with
the scripture. Now, Brother Norm brought something
out today. People will say, God's people will say this. They'll
say, I don't understand that. But they'll never say, I don't
believe that. And what you said today, too,
about we don't have a right thought about God before we're saved. We don't know who He is. We don't
have a right thought about God before we're saved. We don't
have a right thought about Christ before we're saved. We have no
clue. But oh, when the Lord saves us,
when He saves us, He reveals Himself to us. He reveals the
Gospel to us. He reveals Christ to us. He reveals
who He is. He reveals what we are. sinners in desperate need of
Christ. And when we think about what
He's done for us, it just floods our souls with joy and peace.
And we are to seek Christ and His righteousness under the preaching
and teaching of God's Word, under the preaching and teaching of
the Gospel. We are to seek those things that bring glory and honor
to God. Jesus Christ is God's glory.
We are to keep our eye of faith upon Him. Upon Him. And not let anything move us
away from the hope of the Gospel. Where is Christ now? He's seated
at the right hand of the Father. He reigns and rules in majesty.
He's our Great High Priest. He would have set our hearts
and our minds and our affection upon that very fact. He's King. He rules and reigns. It brings
us great joy. He's making intercession right
now for all His elect. His chosen blood-bought people.
He's the only mediator between God and man. He's our blessed
surety. Who's able to save to the othermost
all who come to God by Him. There's no other way to God except
through Christ and Him alone. He's our sovereign Lord and beloved. You know, we look at things going
on in the world and sometimes we wonder, wow, what's going
on? In our puny human minds, right, we think that sometimes.
But He is working all things up to the counsel of His own
will. And all things are working for
our good and for His glory. And we are to seek those things
and set our mind upon the fact that our God is absolutely sovereign.
He rules and reigns. He rules and reigns. So with
this in mind, let us look at our next verse in our text, verse
2. Here's the key to seeking those things which are above.
Set your affection. So here's the key to seeking
what he's spoken of in verse 1. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth. The word affection means to exercise
the mind, entertain or have a sentiment or opinion, a passionate desire. We are to direct our mind, our
heart to the things above, the things of Christ. See what Paul's doing? He's doing
a direct contrast to what the false teachers are trying to
do. They're saying, set your mind on things you do. Paul's
saying, no, set your mind on Christ and what He's done. What
He's done. The false teachers say, set your
mind on material things which will perish with the using. Look
again in verses 20-23. Wherefore if ye be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world, wise though living
in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, touch not, taste
not, handle not, which are all to perish with the use and after
the commandments and doctrines of men. So these are commandments
and doctrines of men. These are things that they tell
you, you can do this, but you can't do that. And they all perish with the
use. The natural mind is void of affection
for God. We come into this world dead.
Enemies in our mind to God. In the things of God. Sinners
by birth, nature and choice. And the natural mind is void
of affection for Christ. The natural mind is void of affection
for His Gospel. And the natural mind is void
of affection for his people. I know that. I remember when
I wasn't saved and how I thought about God's people. And this is why the false religionists
become so infuriated when they hear the true Christ in his gospel
preached. Because the natural mind is void
of any affection for him. The natural mind lusts after
the things of this world. And there are things in this
world that are needful in our lives, but our lives shouldn't
be controlled and directed by our physical needs. Our Lord
Jesus said this, take no thought saying, what shall we eat? Or
what shall we drink? Or whither all shall we be clothed?
For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek
ye first the kingdom of God." Seek ye first the kingdom of
God in His righteousness. Where is God's righteousness?
It's in Christ. It's in Christ. He's the Lord,
our righteousness. And all these things shall be
added unto you. Take therefore no thought for
the moral. For the moral shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Matthew
6, 31 and 34. And then in Matthew 6, 20 and
21, our Lord Jesus says, lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven. where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, where things do not break through nor steal. For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Where's
your affection? It's on Christ. For the believer,
we say it's on Christ. It's on him alone. So this is a heart matter. Heart
matter setting our affections on things above. This is why
we need a new heart. This is why we need a new heart.
This is why we must be born again as the old heart, the dead nature,
has no love for the things of God. No desire for the things
of God. And it cannot set its affections
on things above. Ye must be born again. You must be. Natural mind not only loves the
things of this world, it loves the darkness that our old stony
heart is trapped in. And unless our sovereign God
and King delivers us from the power of darkness, we will not
set our affection on things of light. We'll have no desire for
Christ unless He does a work. And we know that. We who believe
know that. Oh, what a great God. Unless
our sovereign God and King delivers us from the power of darkness,
we will not set our affection on the things above. And this
is why people have no time for God, because they love the world
and they love the things of the world. And this is why we had
at one time, we who believe, had no time for God before He
delivered us from our sins, before He saved us. I loved darkness
before. I loved my sin. I still struggle
with my sin. But at that time, I had absolutely
no desire for the things of God. I didn't care. I thought my good
would outweigh my bad. Boy, was I wrong. Let us rejoice. Rejoice, as Paul
said in chapter 1 of this book, in verses 12 to 14. Look at this.
The Father hath made us qualified, which is meat in the text. Turn
over to chapter 1, verses 12 to 14. Giving thanks unto the
Father which hath made us meet. The word meet there is qualified.
We're qualified for heaven in Christ. meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints and light, who have delivered us from the power
of darkness, that's where we were, dead in trespasses and
sins, and have translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son, in whom we have redemption, how? Through His blood. And what's
the result of that? Even the forgiveness of sins.
All sins. There's nothing left. It's finished. What a marvelous, marvelous salvation
we have in Christ. So let us remember, even though
we're not of this world, we're in this world. And as long as
we're in this world, we're trapped in this sinful body, aren't we?
We have a civil war going on right amongst us. My goodness. As long as we're trapped in this
body of death, the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us, in
this old flesh which is still part of us, they're contrary
to each other. Like I said on Sunday, I'm my own worst enemy.
I'm my own worst enemy. We can't do the things that we
know we should do. So we have a civil war within
us. Our Lord tells us that we are, despite all that, we who
are redeemed are a chosen generation. a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a particular people, that ye should show forth the praises
of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous
light. 1 Peter 2.9. Public worship of Jesus Christ,
praising and thanking Him as part of setting our affection
on things above. Private worship is also part
of our setting our affection on our minds on Christ. Set your
affection, your heart, on things above us, Scripture tells us
tonight. And unless our hearts are set on the things of Christ,
the Scriptures declare, keep thy heart with all diligence,
for out of it are the issues of life. We are not to set our
mind and our thoughts and our desires upon the things of this
world. Everything we see is going to perish. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit. Food and clothing, care of our
families, health and necessities of life are to be sought after
and provided for, yet not with anxiety and distress. as if we're
chief end or source of our chief happiness. Brother Mayhem comments
on that. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 6. In light of that, Matthew chapter 6. We're not
to get caught up and set our affections on the things of this
world. We're to set our minds and our affections and our hearts
upon Christ. Matthew chapter 6, verses 28
to 34. And why take ye a thought for
remnant? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow,
they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you
that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these. Wherefore if God so clothed the
grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into
the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall
we drink? Wherewith shall we be clothed?
For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." And think
of this, too. Think of this. All our spiritual needs are fulfilled
in Christ. Not just the physical things
that God provides for us, but what did we need? We needed to
be justified before God. We're justified in Christ. We
need to be redeemed and purchased from our sins. We're redeemed
and purchased in Christ. Everything we need is in Christ.
Everything we need. Everything. And then he goes on to say, But
seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And
again, where is God's righteousness found? Only in Christ. And all
these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought
for the moral. For the moral shall take thought
for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. So the source of our happiness,
the source of our joy is the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone.
Nowhere else. Nowhere else. All the things
of this earth shall fade away. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever. Look at 1 John 2. 1 John 2. And let us remember from the
verses, the two verses that we're looking at in verses 1 and 2
in Colossians 3, that Paul, as one commentator says, it's a
Christocentric focus, and it's unmistakable. He's pointing them
right to Christ. This is where we need to keep
our minds. This is where we need to set our affections. Because
for the Christian, everything makes sense only when it's seen
in terms of our identity, our relationship, and our union with
Christ. And thus we are to set our minds and our hearts upon
Him. Look at 1 John 2, 15-17. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but it is of the world. And the
world passes away. It's all going to fade away.
It's all going to be gone. And the lust thereof, but he
that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Now a lot of folks get all tied
up about the will of God. Christ satisfied and fulfilled
the will of God for me. And if you believe for you. You
know that scripture about thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, mind and soul? Can you do that? I can't. But
Christ did it in my place. And if you're a believer, He
did it in your place. My. Oh, and we pray, don't we? Oh,
Father, make known to us the glory of Your Son, that the Spirit
would shine the light of knowledge of the glory of Jesus Christ
into our hearts and teach us. Don't we desire to be taught
more and more about Christ? More and more about Him? That's
what we desire. Oh, let we who believe be captivated
with Christ's splendor. That we, like Moses, by faith
might say no to the passing pleasures of sin. Hebrews 11, 24 and 26,
By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Some people think he might be
next in line to be Pharaoh. Choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than
the treasures in Egypt." And Egypt was an extremely wealthy
country. But he chose, he esteemed the
reproach of Christ's greater riches than all the treasures
in Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense
of the reward. Hebrews 11, 24-26. And our cry
is, Lord help us just to rest. Help us just to trust Christ.
Because what's the hardest thing for us to do? Just to enter into
the rest of Christ. Oh, Lord, help us to set our
affection. Help us to set our minds upon
You. We know from our study in Colossians
that He must work that in us. He must work those desires in
us. The Holy Spirit gives us a desire for the Gospel and for
the Word. And then we just praise Him. We're so thankful for what
He's done. May God help us to rest in Christ
alone as a treasure greater than all earthly rewards. He's incomparable. He's incomparable. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we just come before Thy throne. We are so thankful for
Your daily mercy towards us. We're undeserving sinners. We
don't deserve the grace You bestow upon us. We don't deserve the
mercy that You've shown Your people. But we're grateful, Lord
Jesus. We're grateful and thankful that
You purchased us upon Calvary's cross. We're grateful and thankful that Your love was set upon us
in eternity. That You loved us when we didn't
love You. We didn't even know You. We love this in eternity. And
we're so thankful, Lord Jesus, for your continued provision.
Help us, Lord Jesus, to set our hearts and our minds upon Thee.
In Jesus' name, Amen.