Hymn number seven. Oh, I'm sorry about that. Hymn number seven. Holy, holy, holy.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Early in the morning our song
shall rise to Thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and
mighty. God in three persons, blessed
Trinity. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty. All thy works shall praise thy
name in earth and sky and sea. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and
mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity. I'll be preaching this morning
from Colossians chapter 3, but I'd like to read for you Colossians
chapter 2, which has a direct bearing on everything that I
need to say. Colossians chapter 2. For I would that you knew what
great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and
for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their
hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and to
all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And
this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the
flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, joying and beholding
your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith
as you've been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware,
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, After
the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ. Now notice here when he gives
us these warnings that he brought in his application. He's not
talking about, and I'm saying this because in religion I was
taught that there's a narrow-minded bunch of people that's going
to say this and say that. That's not how Paul describes
it. He's talking about the rudimentary principles of the whole work.
And he said, beware lest any man spoil you, any man spoil you through philosophy
and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him which is
the head of all principality and power. In whom also you are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ. Christ himself was cut off. Buried with him in baptism, wherein
also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you being dead
in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
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. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of a new moon,
or of Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, but
the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility, worshiping of angels, intruding
into those things which is not seen vainly puffed up by his
fleshly mind, and not holding the head from which all the body
by joints and bands having nourishment ministered and knit together
increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore, if you be
dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though
living in the world, are you 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. And then here's
my text. If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth, for you're dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory. Our great God and Father, let us thank for just a moment of what we're doing. Speaking to you, coming to you,
having an audience with the living God. coming before you in boldness
and confidence and assurance knowing that Christ has made
the way and privilege for us to do so. And Lord, as we call upon you
this morning, we call upon you with some understanding of who
you are and some understanding of what we are and how we are. And Lord, we know that without
you we can do nothing. And so we come to you this morning
asking of all things. We ask for your spirit to be
with us. We'd ask for a right understanding
of your word and the right form of words, a form of doctrine
that we might teach these things in a way honoring to God. And
that you would open the hearts of those who are gathered here
this morning, those doors that are so hard shut. These minds which are so distant
from your purpose and ways. Lord, would you be pleased this
morning to open the hearts of those gathered here, our own
heart included. Open these hearts. Speak to us. Lord, speak to us in a way that
is permanent. In a way that changes. In a way
that's affectionate. And these things we ask for Christ's
sake. Amen. All right, for a hymn this morning,
let's turn to hymn number 127. We'll sing Hallelujah, What a
Savior. Hymn number 127. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Man of sorrows, what a name For
the Son of God who came Ruined sinners to reclaim Hallelujah,
what a Savior Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned
he stood, Sealed my pardon with his blood. Alleluia, what a Savior! Guilty, vile, and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement can it be, Hallelujah,
what a Savior! Lifted up was He to die, It is
finished was His cry. Now in heaven exalted high, Hallelujah! What a Savior! When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring, Then anew this song we'll sing,
Hallelujah! If you will turn back with me
now to Colossians chapter 3. The message this morning is as
short a title as I've ever used. The title to the message this
morning is simply, If. If. That's what jumped off the
page at me when I read Colossians chapter 3. If. The word if is mostly used to
describe hypothetical situations, conditions, or terms throughout
the scriptures. In Hebrews chapter 3 verse 6,
he's talking about those who make up the household of God,
whose house are we, he says, if we hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of the whole firm unto the end. In verse 7 of that
same chapter, he said, today, if you will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts as in the day. of provocation. And then in Colossians
1, speaking on the subject of reconciliation, And ye that were
sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy, unapprovable in his sight. If, if, you continue
in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel which you've heard. And there's many such
verses in the Word of God. The if I'm concerned with this
morning is found in verse 1 of Colossians chapter 3. And it deals directly with the
salvation of our souls. If you then be risen with Christ. what he's talking about back
here in chapter 2. In chapter 1, he tells us who
Christ is. He's the creator of the world.
All things were made by Him and for Him, and by Him all things
consist. He's the one who maintains the
world. Governs it. Sets an order in it. When you look at the planets
through telescopes, All you see is these giant craters all over. Meteors have just blasted them,
blasted them, blasted them. Why not the Earth? How come it ain't filled full
of craters? Now granted there has been some meteors that's
hit the Earth, but not in a way to destroy it. And you look at
these planets and they're just beaten to pieces by meteors.
But not the earth. How come? Because God has set
an order in His creation. He maintains it. He gives it
a continuance. He's accomplishing something.
He put a people here on this planet. And He did it on purpose. He did it to show in their salvation
the glory of His great name. And that's what He's doing. And
that's what He's going to do. And surely when he talks about
this, he tells us who Christ is. He's the head of the body
of the church. He tells us all these things
in chapter 1. Then in chapter 2, he tells us
all these great mysteries of God are all in the Father and
in Christ. In God, who reveals himself in
Christ. It's all in him. And he said,
don't let Philosophers and men in general con you, talk to you,
give you some kind of insurance in a false god. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, how did we receive Him? How do you receive Him?
As He is. As He's revealed in the Scripture,
the Son of God. The Savior of His people. I'm the Good Shepherd. The Good
Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. He's revealed in Scripture
to us. That's how we receive Him. How
do we receive Him? We receive Him as the salvation
of God. There's no salvation apart from
Christ. And then He goes on and says
you're complete in Him. You don't need anything else.
He's everything you need. Everything God has for sinners
is in Christ. Now, if you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Walk that same Everything's provided
for you. Don't let them come along and
tell you now that's all well and good, but we have to keep
the new moons and the Sabbath days. No, he said those things
were a shadow of Christ. Christ fulfilled them things
for you. He took all them things out of the way and nailed them
to his cross. He fulfilled all those things. He's the rest.
He's the Sabbath day of rest. We rest in Him. We rest in Him. And surely when he gets to chapter
3, this if, if you then be risen with Christ, surely this is the
if of all ifs here. Now I don't know what you know.
I can't see your mind and heart. I only hear what you say. And
as a preacher and as a pastor, the best I can do for you and
for myself is to put an if before us on everything. Now think about it. Every time
God talks about you, he uses an if. Every time he talks about
Christ, he don't use an if. Now in general, or speaking of
God's elect, I can be very positive, very dogmatic, but when it comes
to myself or to you as individuals, the best I can do is say if,
if you believe. There was a man who had a son.
He was possessed by an evil spirit. He was palsied. He had all kinds
of problems. But he would throw himself, just
throw himself off a cliff into the water and try to ground himself.
And he'd throw himself into the fire. And his father, in just
absolute exhaustion, came to Christ and
said, if you can do anything, have mercy on us. And the Lord
took that effort. away from themselves. And He
said, if you can believe, all things are possible to them that
believe. Here's where the if belongs,
on us, not on Him. Not on Him. There's nothing iffy
about God, nothing iffy about His Word, or His promises, or
His Son, and there's nothing iffy about the work of the Son. His work accomplished exactly
what He worked for. When He gave up the ghost on
the cross, He cried, it is finished. What's that mean? That means
it is finished. That's what it means. It's done. You can't add anything to it.
You can't take anything away from it. It's finished. But with us, when I'm talking
about us, now God's elect, I can talk differently. I can tell
you every one of God's elect is going to be saved. Somebody
said, well, you believe in a salvation no matter what. You bet I do.
You bet I do. No matter what. All the no matter
what's have been already taken into consideration and provision
made. Well, what about man believing?
We were chosen us from the beginning to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Huh? Therefore he called you by our
gospel. All the what about's already
been taken care of. But when I'm talking about myself,
or if I'm talking about you, Winston, or you, Gary, I have
to use an if. I have to use an if. Doesn't mean I doubt what you
say. It simply means that I can't go beyond the word of God. And we're saved by hope, Paul
said, but hope that seems not hope for what a man sees, why
does he yet hope for it? Somebody hands you a hundred
dollar bill, you got a hundred dollar bill in your hand, you
don't hope you get a hundred dollar bill, you already had
it. I got it in my hand. We're saved by hope, but hope
that seems not hope. But if we hope for that we see
not, then do we with patience wait for it? And the if to which I'm drawing
your attention is an if that separates God's elect from every
other son of Adam. If you then be risen with Christ. And I'd not have you hear a message
in which I did not tell you at some point in this message that
salvation is in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not trying
to get you to join anything. Not trying to get you to make
a decision, but you will if God makes you willing. I'm trying
to point you to a person. Salvation is in a person and
that person is seated at the right hand of God. He came here
in the fullness of time. He was made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law. Did
he do it? You bet he did. God raised him from the dead. There are things that must be
done, but all conditioned. All these things that have to
be done, they're all conditioned on this person and our standing
in Him. So how is our salvation in Him? Our salvation is in Christ as
the covenant head of the church. Back yonder in eternity. I don't
have words to describe how far back that is. That is without
beginning. Back yonder, somebody said, in
the council halls of eternity. That's probably about as close
as you're going to get. God made a covenant with himself
to save a people. And he appointed Christ as the
covenant head. The covenant head. That whole
covenant would stand or fall on his son. Huh? You know, after the creation
of the world back in Genesis chapter 1, he said, and the Lord
rested on the seventh day from all his work. How could he rest? He's God. He knows all things.
Didn't he know that Satan was going to come into the garden
and tempt the woman, and through the woman the man was going to
fall, and through him all humanity was going to fall under the curse?
Didn't he know that? Didn't he know that at the first
worship service, Cain was going to come and bring the works of
his hands? Didn't he know that Cain was going to kill the one
believer in the family? Did God not know these things?
Didn't He know that in just a few generations He was going to have
to destroy the whole world because every imagination of man was
only evil continually? Looking to God as some kind of
a dung beetle and worshipping God in all kinds of forms. Didn't
He know that? Didn't He know that the people
in Babylon were going to try to make a tower? They were going
to try to make a way by their own works to walk up into glory? Didn't he know that when his
son finally appeared that men were going to reject him? Nail
him to a cross? Well, then how could he rest?
He rested in his son, the covenant head. If you read Ephesians 1,
verses 11 and 12, that's exactly what he said. Who first trusted
in Christ. Who was that? That was God. were to the praise of His glory
who first trusted in Christ. Oh, if, if our salvation is in Christ as
the covenant head of the church, God deals with men and women
by covenant promises. Did you know that? Our Lord who
is the creator of all things, and for whom all things are created,
and the reason behind their continuance, is also the head of the body,
the church. He's not talking about this physical
head of a mystical body. He's talking about the federal
headship of Christ. He's the head. As Adam was the
federal head and representative of all mankind, Christ is the
federal head and representative of all God's elect. The very nature and character
of humanity was determined by Adam. By one man, sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men. It was all done in Adam. The God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ has blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly
places in Christ according as He's chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world. That we should be holy in Christ. We're perfectly holy. Without
blame. Justified from all our sins. Before Him in love. love for
all eternity in Christ. These covenant blessings are
fully dependent upon the person and work of Christ. He's our
covenant surety. David said, God has made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. How can
it be sure? Because of the surety. In Hebrews 13, 20, Paul wrote,
Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead, that's what
we're talking about, the resurrection of Christ and our hope of being
raised with Him. And he said, Now the God of peace
that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ, that great
shepherd of the sheep, now listen, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. make you perfect and ever good
work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing
in His sight through Jesus Christ. That's the blood of the everlasting
covenant. And all of the promises of God
are yea and amen in Christ because He's the covenant surety of God's
everlasting covenant of grace. Thand or fall, sink or swim,
saved or lost, all of it hangs on the shoulders of our great
King. How is our salvation in Him?
It's in Him as the covenant head of His elect. And secondly, we're
saved in Christ as He's connected to every promise given to chosen
sinners in the Word of God. There are no promises apart from
Christ. There simply are no promises. Listen to this. To Him. This is Acts chapter 10 verse
43. To him give all the prophets
witness. What did they witness? That through
his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission
of sins. Listen to this one, Acts chapter
13 verse 38. He recites several incidences
in the Old Testament. And then he says this, Be it
known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this
man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him
all that believe are justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. We're saved in him. He's the
covenant head. He's the covenant surety. It's through him And all of these
promises are connected to Him throughout all the Old Testament.
It's ridiculous to go back in the Old Testament and start talking
about the love of God and all these things apart from Christ. There are no promises of salvation
apart from Christ. And then thirdly, we're saved
in Christ by divine union. And this union was manifested
as he took to himself the body and soul of a man. He didn't
take on him the nature of angels. He didn't appear as the angel,
although he is called the angel of the covenant. This union was manifested as
he took to himself the body and soul of a man. God made his soul,
he said, an offering for sin. He saw the travail of his soul
and he was satisfied. It behooved him, Paul said, to
be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for their sins. One mediator, God said, between
God and me and the man, Christ Jesus. And then fourthly, he
saves us by representing us under the law and justice of God. Christ
alone honored and exalted the law. How did he do that? Well, he did it because he's
the law giver and he himself submitted to it and honored it. glorified it, exalted it. He exalted it as he himself obeyed
it in every jot and tittle. And he, by his representative
obedience, wrought out for us an acceptable righteousness.
He didn't have to obey that law as God. He's the law giver. That
law was given based on his very character and nature. God gave
it. It's a holy law. That's what it's called. That's
because it doesn't compromise the nature of God, the character
of God anywhere in it. Everything it says is holy and
consistent with God. So why did he have to obey it?
He didn't obey it for him, he obeyed it for us. He's our representative. He's our federal head. He's the
surety of the covenant. He came down here in the fullness
of time and was born of a woman made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. How did he do it? By his obedience. The crowning act of which was
his death on the cross. He become obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Representative obedience and
substitutionary death. He's the king of Zion. He thought
it not robbery to be equal to God, but made himself of no reputation. Took on him the form of a servant
and become obedient. Oh, and then he saves us by his
substitutionary death on the cross. Now I hope you can hear me. The
death of Christ is not some conditional sacrifice that's end is determined
by how men respond to it. The death of Christ is not, as
some would preach it, a damn payment, the balance of which
man must pay or be damned for. The death of Christ was vicarious. The death of Christ paid for
our sins. Is that right? He put away our
sins. They're put away. They don't
come back. There is no if that says when
they come back. They're not coming back. He said
their sins and iniquities I will remember no more. They're not
going to be a remembrance of you. You might remember, but
He not. It says He was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. Somebody said that means just
as though they had never sinned. Justification. I don't know. I'm not that good
with words. But I'll tell you this. He won't
charge his elect with sin because their sins were paid for in Christ. Once, it says, in the end of
the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. He put them away. And then David
says this, way back in the Old Testament, he's singing about
the Christ who's coming. He knew why he was coming. And
he sings about it. And he said, Blessed is the man
unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. He won't charge him,
David. He won't charge him. Why? Because he has no sin. Why? Because the Lord put it away. He won't charge his elect because
their sins are paid for in the Redeemer. God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing, not charging their
trespasses unto them. And then listen to this, God
saved us in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. Ephesians
chapter 2 says He quickened us together with Christ. By grace,
ye are saved. and hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Our
union with Him. When did He do this? He did this
in the day when God raised Him from the dead. Now think with
me for just a minute. His Son came down from heaven.
Isn't that what He said? I came down from heaven. Could he not ascend back up into
heaven? Sure he could if he wanted to.
That would have been no big thing for God. If God came down in
the form of a man, it would have been nothing for him to go right
back into glory, but that's not what he came to do. His son came down from heaven
and to ascend back would not be anything glorious in and of
itself, but to arise in recognition of accomplished redemption. That's
glorious. To have God Himself look on you
as the worst sinner that ever was, more sin on Him than ever
was on any man. He bore all our sins and His
own body on us. He made Him to be sin for us. Oh, what a glorious thing. that
God saw the travail of his soul and was satisfied. Huh? He's satisfied. So he raised
his son. No, he raised us up together. We were in union with him. He
came for us. Everything he did for us as our
federal head and surety of that everlasting covenant. When God
raised him up, he raised us up. When He accepted him into glory
with open arms, He accepted us. When He said, sit here at My
right hand, He never told an angel to do that. Not the most glorious angel among
them did God say, read Hebrews chapter 1. To which of the angels
said it, He at any time said, sit here at My right hand. But
He told His Son that. And He said, we're seated with
Him in the heavenlies. Oh my soul, God saved us in Christ
when He raised His Son from the dead. In full recognition of
accomplished redemption, to rise because of accomplished righteousness,
to arise as the representative head of God's elect is a glorious
thing, and the very hope and foundation of our assurance before
God. And then he saves us daily as
he sits at his father's right hand dispensing his gifts and
promises according to the will of God. Listen to this. Paul said in Ephesians 1.11,
having obtained an inheritance, talking about his elect, having
obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the
purpose of him, now listen, who worketh. not who did work, who
worketh constantly, continually, who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Saved daily as our
God and King watches over us and orders all things for our
good and his glory. chosen in Him, redeemed in Him,
represented in Him, called by Him, interceded for by Him, loved
by Him. If you then be risen with Christ.
Are you? You understand what I'm saying?
If you then be risen with Christ. Is that my hope? Is that what my heart rejoices
in? You see what Paul's saying? That's
a big ear of things. Oh my soul, that's the if of
all ifs. If you then be risen with Christ.
Is that your hope? Then seek those things which
are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set
your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Oh, seek those things which are
above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Acceptance,
blessing, inheritance, eternal salvation, eternal life, fellowship
with God. Walter invited us over for lunch
today, and he does that a lot, and I appreciate him. And I look
forward to it every time. You know why? We have fellowship.
Fellows in the same ship. We can sit and talk about God
and His promises. We can talk about salvation.
We can talk freely. Fellowship. Fellowship. John said, that which we've seen
and heard declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship
with us. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with His Son. Jesus Christ. But here's the if. If we say
we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we're a liar.
We're a liar. Is that how we walk? Do we walk
in ignorance? We did when we were in religion.
We did when we were in the world. We walked in ignorance. Do we
still walk that way? No. No, we walk in the light
as He is the light. Huh? And we have fellowship one
with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all sin. What's my hope? My hope is Christ. That's my hope. I know people
look for some big, long, drawn-out... They write books about it. Write
a whole book. And you're just as confused when
you finish the book as when you started. Truth of it is, my hope's
in Christ. It's in Christ. Where is my hope? He's at the right hand of God.
Why is He my hope? He's been accepted. He's accepted. He entered in in full acceptance
and fellowship with the Father. He's my hope. Well, if He is,
shouldn't my affection be on things that are there and not
here? Beloved, we ought to live our
lives as sojourners, just passing through this world, because that's
the truth of it. We're just passing through. I like that old spiritual. They
used to sing, this world is not my home. I'm only passing through. You see, if heaven's not my home,
oh Lord, what will I do? What will I do? But the Spirit's
calling me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home
in this world anymore. We talk about heaven, heavenly
blessings and heavenly rest, yet we look and live as though
heaven was a sentence that we had to bear. Doctor comes in
shaking his head, said, you got 30 days. Oh, we just cried. Do you mean I'm going to be in
glory where I want to be in 30 days? Well, give a party. We ought to rejoice, shouldn't
we? Why don't we? Because that's not where our
mind is. And that's why Paul's telling
us what he's telling us. If that's your hope, then set
your affection I don't care what you do down
here, it's gonna be burned up, it's gonna be destroyed. Even
our lives here, you know what he calls it? A vapor. I was 18
here yesterday. I'm 73. What happened? Boy, like the snap of a finger,
huh? And I tell you, you ever seen
old Wendell Blyant? Pull it down, it don't catch.
It goes up and flops around, around, around. That's just how
fast your life goes. And it gets faster. The older
you get, the faster it goes. Oh, set your affection on things
above, not on things of this world. I know we have to do things
here. We have to make a living. We
have to... And that's good. It's commendable in the scriptures
for us to do that. We're to treat our employees
as... in an honorable fashion, you
know, and so on. Our children, our family, I know
we have things to do, jobs to work, and so on. I know we do.
But don't set your affection here. This ain't the end. This
is just a brief time. And in Hebrews, when he's talking
about walking in true faith, he points to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, who were sojourners in a wilderness. And they couldn't settle. They
could have bought land. Abraham was a rich man. He could
have bought land if he wanted it. He didn't want any. We killed
ourselves trying to get it. He didn't want any. We tried
to get a bank to finance us, and they won't do it, because
they think it's foolish too. Oh, my soul. Abraham had the
money and didn't want it. He said, I'll just live in a
tent. I'm just here for a little while. I'm just here for a little
while. You see what he's saying? Set
your affection on things above. Don't set it here. It's okay
to have a house, but it ain't the end. It's just a place to
live until you die. That's all it is. And I owe him
my soul. He said, if our earthly house
be destroyed, we have a house not made with hands in the heavens. Set your affection on things
above. He's our hope. He's our rest.
He's our confidence. And then, listen to this. Here's the second
argument he gives in this. He said, you're dead. You're
dead. We don't look at ourselves that
way, do we? But you're dead. You had the Quicken who were
dead. You're dead. There's only one thing that separates us from
the rest of mankind, and that's our union with the Son of God.
Verse 3, you're dead, but now watch this, your life, you have
a life. What did Paul say his life was?
For me to live is Christ. That's what he said, to die is
God. You're dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. There's your life. You want to
know where life is? It's in the sun. I'm the way. I'm the life. I'm the life. We live in what Paul called a
body of death. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. There's my life. My life's in
Him. What does God use to describe
sin? You ever think about it? Flesh. And that boy said, why would
He do that? Because we're, that's what we are. We're sin. Everything
about us, sinful, sinful sin. Flesh. Flesh. They that are in the flesh, he
said, cannot please God. But you're not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, and so be the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now, if any man had not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his. He's none of his. You're dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God. Verse 4, when Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with
him in glory. Is that my hope? Is that my confidence? Is that what governs and sets
the tenor of my life? If it is, don't live like other
folks live. Set my affection on things above.
Set my heart... Where your treasure is, that's
where your heart is. Is Christ my treasure? Then let
me set my affection on things above. Pen my heart to Him. May God make it so.