Well, good evening. It's hold on a minute here. Good evening. Well, Robin and I are grateful
to the Lord for bringing us here and And we echo what Todd just
did, that we've just been blessed by the fellowship that we've
had this weekend and the discussions we've had. It's been great. And we're thankful that we're
here. Now, if you would turn with me to the Book of Colossians. That song that we just heard, I heard it for the first time
just Wednesday. That was just such a blessing
to listen to the words of that song and what a beautiful rendition
of it we just heard too. But I feel like I did at that
point in time that I could almost just sit down and those words
are a gospel message in themselves, aren't they, if we reflect on
those. And when I heard it, felt how
well it would go with the message that I hope to bring here, which
is why I asked if that would be sung tonight, to direct our
thoughts to these glorious truths of union with our blessed Lord
and Savior. And as we look on just one aspect
of that tonight, I trust that You'll be blessed, as I was blessed,
as I saw these things revealed in the passage we're going to
look at tonight. But we're going to look at the first three verses,
four verses, to begin with, of Colossians chapter three. But
before we do that, I'd like us to just remind ourselves, look
back there in the first chapter, and let's just remind ourselves
of the context that this will come to us in. And as you know,
there's a letter that Paul is writing to a group of believers
here in this place called Colossae. And Colossae was a pagan society. It was steeped
in all sorts of idolatry and religious philosophies and evil
practices. And what was said of the Ephesians
that was just read to us could equally well be said of these
people there at Colossae, that they once were under this rule
of the prince and power of the air. that they once conducted
themselves in the last of their flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, just as others. And further, just a little further
down in that chapter, we read there also that at that time
you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope and without God and the world. Now, that's a pretty frightening
situation, isn't it? And yet here at the very beginning
of this letter, Paul writes, and he says to the Saints and
faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossi. Now, something
has happened there, hasn't it? Obviously, here's these these
ones who are saints and faithful brethren in Christ. Well, how
did this happen? Well, he continues. Paul's going
to tell us in the following verses. Look there in verse three. We
give thanks to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why
does he give thanks? to God, the father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, because he's the one that's done something, hasn't
it? Isn't it? He's the one that's responsible for this momentous
change which has occurred among these people. They're a Colossi.
And he's since when? Since we heard of your faith
in Christ Jesus and your love for all the things because of
the hope which is laid out for you in heaven. And where had
they heard of Christ? Where are they heard this message
to be believed? in the word of the truth of the
gospel. The gospel had come, hadn't it?
The gospel had come, and this is what they had heard, and this
is why Paul now writes to these saints and faithful brethren
there, because the Spirit of God had taken this message of
the word of the truth of the gospel and worked effectually
in the hearts of this group of people that were there, that
the Lord had drawn out of this darkness into his marvelous light
and they were gathered together and in verse sixty says, which
is come to you as it has also in all the world and is bringing
forth through, as it is also among you since the day you heard
and knew the grace of God in truth. And that's always the
case with the gospel, isn't it? The gospel will always bring
forth through. Now, if the gospel is not bringing
forth fruit in your life, well, you've never heard the gospel.
It's just that simple. Well, here are these are these
saints and faithful brethren gather together. But as will always be the case until
the end of the world, when when the gospel comes and the Lord's
people are saved and gather together in a body. Well, what happens? false teachers come. We see that
over and over again in the epistles. We see it down through the history
of the world. We see it today, and that's exactly
what occurred here in Colossians. No sooner had these things gathered
together than these false teachers came in and we see it in the
Scripture that we heard before the message there in Colossians
12. on down in this first chapter that what Paul does is he holds
up before these things there. This magnificent person. The Lord Jesus Christ. The son of his love, as he's
spoken of here. And again, even in those verses,
we see that Paul again directs thanks to God. Why? Because he's
done the work, hasn't he? He's the one that's qualified
us to be partakers. He's the one that's delivered
us from the power of darkness. He's the one that's translated
us into the kingdom of the son of his love. And how is this
all been accomplished through this glorious person, the Lord
Jesus Christ? But I don't know if you notice
the tremendous emphasis that we find here in this first chapter
of Colossians on the on this fullness and completeness, which
is found in Christ, that he is the preeminent one. But he's
not just the preeminent one. He's the preeminent one. all
things, in all things. He is the image of the invisible
God, as Hebrews, first chapter of Hebrews puts it. He's the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. He's the firstborn over all creation,
for by him all things were created. Things visible, things that we
see. The invisible realm also. Whether thrones or dominions
or principalities and powers over the spiritual realm also,
all things were created by him. Not only that, all things were
created by him, but they were created for him. And he is before all things,
and in him all things consist. What does that mean? It means
that not only is he the creator of all things, But all things
are sustained by the word of his power. Not one molecule moves
in all of creation, except it's according to the will of the
Son of God. All things, and he is before
all things, and in him all things consist. You see the emphasis.
Glorious as that is. Well, how much more glorious
is the new creation, and he is the head. He is the head of this
new creation. He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he may have the preeminence. And why is this?
Because God the Father, it pleased the Father that in him all the
fullness should dwell. You see, the emphasis that the
apostle Paul is placing on this fullness and completeness and
perfection that is found in this glorious Redeemer, this glorious
deliverer. And why is he doing that? Well, because, as I said, there
were these false teachers that had come in and they were preaching
a message that Christ It was good to believe in Christ. It
was. But for full salvation, you also
needed to believe in other beings, and you also needed to do other
things. You see, salvation wasn't fully
in Christ. And so in Chapter two, look over
there in Chapter two and verse eight and Paul warns that so
Paul. This is one of the primary reasons
of Paul writing this letter to these saints there at Colossae,
is to warn them and deal with this aspect of this false gospel
that is being preached, and so he warns them. Beware, lest anyone
cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to
the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the
world, and not according to Christ. And here, then, in the next two
verses, is one of the most glorious statements that we find in all
the scriptures. For in him, that is, in Christ,
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. What a mystery,
what a mystery in this person. The Lord Jesus dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. You see, in him is found fullness,
completeness, perfection. That's the message. Well, if
that's true, then the salvation that is found in him is full
and complete and perfect. Also, is it verse ten? And you are complete in him. Now, isn't that a grand statement
of the salvation that is found in Christ? This is the essence
of the message that Paul, the apostle Paul, is bringing to
these saints there at Colossae. This is, we could say, this is
the theme of his letter. In fact, I think it's fair enough
to say it's the theme of all the scriptures. We'll turn over to chapter three
now. And if this is the theme, this
is the theme, I do that all by way of introduction to direct
our thoughts where they should be. Because as we turn over to
chapter 3, you see that even a cursory glance at this third
chapter here of the Apostle Paul's epistle to the Saints there at
Colossae will reveal that this is addressing, this is a section
of the epistle addressing the life of the believer. Many would, let me just say,
many would say that there's doctrinal sections and practical sections
and the doctrinal began, it all starts with doctrine and then
you go to practical. And in some ways I think that's
a fair enough distinction. But nevertheless, I would say
that gospel preaching is always doctrinal and always practical. And that's just the way it's
got to be, because the subject is always the person of Christ. Now, as we look at these verses
beginning here, let me just say, too, that when we speak about
the life of the believer, most of the preaching you would find,
I think, in churches across a whole broad spectrum could be summarized
in this way. Try to be who you should be. Now, when put in this way, I
think you can see how seriously flawed that idea is. Now, the
scriptural teaching on the life of the believer can be summarized
in this way. Be who you are. Now, think about
that now. And as you look at the word in
time ahead, as you're reading and you come to sections like
this, just see if that isn't true. Be who you are. Well, let me just give you one
example over there in Ephesians, chapter five. We read you were
once darkness. That's who you were. Now you
are light in the Lord. That's who you are. You are light
in the Lord. All right. walk as children of
light. Look over in verse 12 of this chapter. What do we read there? Therefore,
as the elect of God strive to be holy. Is that what
it says? No. Therefore, the elect of God,
holy and beloved. This is who you are. This is
who you are in Christ. All right, be who you are. Put
on as tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
long suffering. Well, we see that. All right,
well, let's look at these verses now. Let me read verse one through
four here of the first chapter of Colossians. If, then, you
were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind
on things above, not on things on the earth, for you died, and
your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our
life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. Well, you were raised with Christ,
we're told here. If, then, you'd be risen with
Christ, that this really should be since or given that you were
risen with Christ. That's what the apostle was saying
here. If this being the case, that you were raised with Christ,
well, that's who you are. All right, then, be who you are. Seek those things which are above. Set your mind on things above,
not on things on the earth. Why? Why is this? Well, because
of who you are. For you died and your life is
hidden with Christ and God. We see this. We see this pattern
repeatedly, not just here, but in all the scriptures. Now, in
verse one, we're directed to Christ in this way. Where Christ is sitting at the
right hand of God, this is what I want to particularly look at
tonight. Within this context, what does that mean? I preached
through this portion of scripture before and completely bypassed
and yet came back to this later. What is the purpose within this
context? What's the importance of this
statement here where Christ is sitting at the right hand of
God? In other words, what does this have to do with the life
of the believer? The life that I now live, as
Paul puts it in Galatians, the life that I now live in the flesh.
Well, what does this specifically have to do with that? Or, in
the first chapter, we didn't read it, but Paul is praying
for these saints here at Colossae, and he has this sincere desire
for them that, as he says, that you may have a walk worthy of
the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good
work. and increasing in the knowledge of God. Now, that's a great desire,
isn't it? And isn't this really the great
desire of every believer? Well, what does this mean, Christ,
where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, with respect
to the life, the life that I now live? Well, simply put, it has
everything to do with the life that I now live, because it has
everything to do with who I am. And I trust by God's grace to
show this to you this evening. So stay with me as we begin to
look at this. Now, the phrase sitting at the
right hand of God is most commonly associated thing that most often
comes to mind is the ruling reigning lordship of Christ is King. However, integral to this phrase,
Christ sitting at the right hand of God is also the priestly ministry
of Christ is high priest. Now, turn over to Psalm 110 and
let me show you that both of these truths are encompassed
in this idea. Psalm 110. Both truths are encompassed in
this statement there, and the one that's in the forefront is
this priestly ministry of Christ, and we'll see that. But here
in Psalm 110, we have what is one of the most important prophecies
found in all of the Old Testament scriptures. Now, the way we know
this is it's. It's quoted on the day of Pentecost
to the inception of the church. repeatedly, we find it everywhere
in Hebrews. In fact, several chapters of
the book of Hebrews is devoted to an exposition of this prophecy
that we find in Psalm 110, the fulfillment of this prophecy
by Christ and in Christ. So in verse one and two, in verse
one and two of Psalm 110, we have this rule and reign of Christ
is King who triumphs over all his enemies in the strength of
his power. Let me read it. The Lord said
to my Lord. Sit at my right hand till I make
your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
your strength out of Zion rule in the midst of your enemies.
So here is this. this great king who goes forth
in the strength of his power, defeating all of his enemies
and ruling over them. But as lord and king, he also
has a kingdom, doesn't he? He has a kingdom, he doesn't
just have enemies, he has a kingdom and he has subjects. But these
subjects are willing. and they are holy in the beauty
of his holiness. Look at verse 3. Your people
shall be willing in the day of your power, in the beauties of
holiness, from the womb of the morning you have the dew of your
youth. Why are these people willing? Why are they beautiful in the
beauties of holiness? Well, because this king is also
a priest. He's the high priest, the Lord,
verse four. The Lord has sworn and will not
relent. You are a priest forever, according
to the order of Melchizedek. What we'll see in a moment in
Hebrews, when we turn there, how intimately tied the priestly
ministry of Christ is to his sitting at the right hand of
God. But before we do that, turn over to Leviticus chapter sixteen. Leviticus chapter sixteen, and
let's remind ourselves of what the primary ministry of the high
priest was. Now, this occurred, of course,
on this on one day of each year on that great day of atonement. And this is what we find being
described here in Leviticus chapter sixteen. Now, this day was like. no other day of the year. This
day was the only day that the high priest went into the holy
place behind the veil. Now, let's look at that beginning
in verse two of Leviticus 16. And what I want to see, I'm not
going to go through all of this. I think you're all familiar with
it. I just want to look at a few verses to point out the significance
of the in the emphasis and explicit instructions, which are directed
to the cleansing and the purifying of the filth and corruption of
the sins of the people of Israel. That's all I want us to see the
importance of this on this day of atonement. But here in verse
to read, and the Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron, your brother,
not to come at simply any time into the holy place inside the
veil before the mercy seat, which is on the ark, lest he die. And
here's the significance of this day. For I will appear in the
cloud above the mercy seat. The presence of the Lord is the
significance, isn't it? As the high priest goes in there.
That's the significance. Now, what's vital for entrance
into the presence of the Holy One of Israel? Holiness. holiness, and this is why we
see that in these instructions is emphasis on on this this purity
in this cleansing in this holiness in verse verse three. Then Aaron that's Aaron shall
come into the holy place with the blood of a young bull is
a sin offering and of a ram is a burnt offering. He shall put
the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body. He
shall be girded with a linen sash and with a linen turban.
He shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore, he shall wash his
body in water and put them on. Verse eleven, and Aaron shall
bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself and make
atonement for himself and for his house, and he shall kill
the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself. So before doing
anything else, the high priest had to make atonement for himself
and for his house. verse 15. Then he shall kill the goat of
the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside
the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the
bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat before the mercy seat.
So shall he make atonement for the holy place. Why? because
of the uncleanliness of the children of Israel, and because of their
transgressions for all their sins. And so he shall he do for
the tabernacle of meeting, which remains among them in the midst
of their uncleanliness. And then lastly, in verse nineteen,
as he comes, he takes his blood to sprinkle upon the horns of
the altar, and it says, Then he shall sprinkle some of the
blood on it with his finger seven times. it and sanctify it from
the uncleanness of the children of Israel. Now, what if the high priest
did not obey perfectly all these instructions? He would die. He would die. Not only would
the high priest die, but all the children of Israel would
perish. because the high priest did not
make atonement for their sins. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
seven. Now go to Hebrews, and I apologize
for jumping around, but this was serious stuff for the children
of Israel. You remember when they stood
before that mountain, Mount Sinai, that mountain that may be touched
and that burned with fire and darkness and tempest and the
sound of a trumpet and the voice of words so that those who heard
it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
for they could not endure what was commanded, and so terrifying
was the sight we read in Hebrews that Moses said, I am exceedingly
afraid and trembling. This was serious stuff. Well,
how much more serious this is for us when we know that all
these things that we're reading about there in Leviticus are
nothing but types, shadows, copies of the things in heaven. You
know, I think often people tend to think that this glorious work
of atonement accomplished by Christ is patterned after all
of these Old Testament sacrifices. That isn't the case, is it? No. All of these Old Testament sacrifices
are the types and shadows, copies of the true, the things which
are in the heavens. Here in Hebrews chapter seven,
let's look at the substance. Let's look at the reality. Let's
look at the substance, which is of Christ, the reality rather
than the shadow. And look there in verse twenty
of Hebrews chapter seven. And here we read it and in as
much as he was not made priest without a note. For they have
become priests without an oath, but he with an oath by him who
said to him, and here's this prophecy, this glorious prophecy. The Lord has sworn and will not
relent. You are a priest forever, according
to the order of Melchizedek. By so much more, Jesus has become
a surety of a better covenant. And there were many priests because
they were prevented by death from continuing, but he Because
he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore,
he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God
through him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. Now, is this high priest fit
for this task? Is this high priest fit for the
task of entering the most holy place behind the veil to make
intercession, make atonement for the sins of his people? I
reckon he is, don't you? Verse 26. For such a high priest
was fitting for us who is holy. harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. Now,
why is he not ministering sacrifices daily? Why are the sacrifices
of cleansing and atonement finished? Because the work is finished. Verse 27, who does not need daily
as those those high priests to offer up sacrifices. First, for
his own sins. And then for the peoples for
this, he did once for all when he offered up himself. Now there's
fullness, isn't it? Fullness. There's perfection.
This high priest, holy, harmless, undefiled is not only the high
priest, but he's this spotless lamb of God, is he not? He's
both the high priest and the offering. Verse 28. For the law appoints as high
priests men who have weaknesses. Well, what kind of weaknesses?
Terminal weaknesses, sinful weaknesses, which lead to death. The law
appoints as high priests men who have weaknesses, but the
word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the son
who has been perfected forever. What's the point of all this?
What's the main point? I love it when the scriptures
just tell me, because I need all the help I can get. Look
at verse one of chapter eight. Now, this is the main point of
the things we are saying. We have such a high priest. And
where is he? Where is this high priest? He's
seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens. a minister of the sanctuary of
the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected and not man. Well, what are the implications
of these things on our subject there in Colossians chapter three
will look over to Hebrews chapter nine. Again, we're speaking about
what are the implications of Christ sitting at the right hand
of God? What are the implications of this to the life that I now
live in Christ? Well, Hebrews chapter 9 and verse
11. But Christ came as high priest
of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with hands. That is not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and
cows, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place,
once for all having obtained eternal inheritance. Now, what again, what does this mean
with respect to the life which I now live? Well, verse 13. For
if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling
the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, well,
what's he saying here? That here, in these things of
the earth, these earthly things, these types and shadows, well,
here the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer serve
to purify and cleanse these copies of the things in heaven. Well,
verse 14. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to do what? To serve the living
God. I think that has little to say
about our subject there in Colossians 3, doesn't it? Here, this blood
of Christ, it serves to purge our conscience from dead works.
Isn't that a marvelous thing? You see, his death, his atoning
work, has direct impact on the life that we now live. This is
our text in Colossians 3.1. If then, you were raised with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting
at the right hand of God. Well, such a high priest is fitting
for us, isn't he? He's holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and he's seated at the right hand of God
because the work is finished. I love that verse in Hebrews
chapter one, where it says he by himself, by himself, purged our sins. and sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high. Now, if Christ is seated in the
presence of the majesty on high, where is he seated? He's seated
in the holiest of holies. He's seated in the most holy
place behind the veil. Turn over and look at the end
of chapter six, Hebrews chapter six. and beginning in verse 19
there. And we're read of this hope,
this hope. This refuge, which is laid before
us, that has fled to this hope, said before us, verse 19, this
hope we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. and which enters the presence
behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus,
having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. It entered into the presence
behind the veil, entered into the holiest of holies, as this
forerunner who has become high priest forever, according to
the order of Melchizedek. Well, listen to me now. If you were raised with Christ,
where are you? In Christ, we read in Colossians
Three, in Christ your life is hidden with Christ in God. The
brother just read that glorious passage in Ephesians chapter
two. What do we read there? It tells us that God has raised
us up together with Christ and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ. We are seated in the holiest
of holies. Now that is powerful incentive,
if not to seek those things which are above. That's powerful incentive
to set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. And as I said, we also see in
Hebrews what we find in Colossians, that the death of Christ upon
the cross has direct impact on the life that we now live. His
blood sanctifies for the purifying of the soul. His blood purges
our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Now, even our very best thoughts
Our very best actions, our very best desires are polluted by
sin. They're corrupted by sin, they're
defiled by sin. And I don't hesitate to say,
if I could see myself as I truly am, and I know I can't, but if
I could see myself as I truly am, I would say like Paul, from
the depths of my heart, with all sincerity, I'm the chief
of sinners. And so would you, and so would
you. And yet, here I am, and here
you are, in the most holy place, in the holiest of holies. Well,
how can this be? How can this be? Because in Christ,
I am holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. And so
are you, if you're in Christ. There's no other way to be in
the presence of him who is a pure rise and to behold evil. Christ
is seated at the right hand of God, and if you are raised with
Christ, so are you. So set your mind on things above,
not on things on the earth. The forerunner has entered the
presence of the veil behind the veil for us, for us. having become high priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek. Is your life hidden with Christ
in God? Well, remember where you're seated. You're seated
in heavenly places in Christ. You're seated in the holiest
of holies, in the presence of his glory. Live as one who is
seated there with the joyful expectation, the certain assurance
that when Christ, who is our life, then you will also appear
with him in glory. Amen.