All right, brethren, let's turn
to Colossians 3. Colossians 3. We're just gonna look at the first
four verses. Colossians 3, 1, 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
things above, not on things on the earth. When Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him
in glory. Lord Jesus, rising from the grave,
seated at God's right hand, this is fundamental to the gospel
we preach. Paul said, if Christ be not risen,
then our preaching is vain and your faith is vain. He was declared
the Son of God according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. But he is risen. Our Lord Jesus
arose. Paul said, now is Christ risen
from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. And there are many witnesses. Our Lord showed himself to his
disciples after he arose. They touched him, they ate with
him. He showed himself to over 500
at one time. We're nearing Easter when the
world will recognize the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Scriptures
never give us an ordinance to observe a day commemorating his
resurrection. Faithful preachers preach his
resurrection every time we preach. We preach it because it's the
gospel. So our subject is set your affection
above. Now, the main point or the lesson
taught here I take it from Romans 8. This is what Romans 8, 6 tells
us. To be carnally minded is death,
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Our Lord said,
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And
for God's saints, the Lord has caused us, our treasure to be
the Lord Jesus, and he keeps renewing us inwardly and setting
our affection above on Christ. What you think on is greatly
going to affect you. This is sort of a, I don't know
what kind of illustration this is, but I'm sitting here just
a minute ago thinking, I should probably go to the restroom before
I get up to preach two messages. The more I think about it, I
gotta go. You know, that's just a simple illustration, but the
more you think on something, that's going to affect you, and
the Lord will have his people set our mind on the Lord Jesus
above. Now, are you risen with Christ?
Here's what he says, if you then be risen with Christ. What is
the evidence that we're risen with Christ? Well, quite simply,
it is that we believe on the Lord Jesus. God's given you faith
to believe Him. Faith believes He is the Son
of God. Faith believes He is our salvation. He is everything to His people. He's life, and the true God-given
faith gives God all the glory for our salvation, gives the
glory to Christ, to God our Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus.
We even give Him glory for having faith. He gave us the faith to
trust Him. were saved entirely by God's
grace, by the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. True
faith does not take credit for any aspect of salvation. True
faith takes sides with God against ourselves, owning the fact that
we are truly the sinner, incapable, unable to save ourselves, to
make ourselves accepted of God, to even give ourselves life or
to even make ourselves believe. True faith that God gives, gives
God the glory for all these things. Now, are you risen with Christ? Is Christ all your salvation?
Is Christ your life? Are you saved entirely by God's
grace apart from any merit in you or any work done by you?
He 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 on the earth. Here's something to set your
affection on, right here. Let's take this a little at a
time. Here's something to set your
affection on. Verse two says, you are dead. You are dead. Set your affection on this truth
that you're dead. True salvation's a matter of
divine justice and divine mercy. That's what truth says. It's
not this touchy-feely thing that the world speaks about. True
salvation's a matter of absolute perfect justice and absolute
perfect mercy. Mercy that's just. That's what
salvation has to do with. And it's only in Christ that
God is just, and it's only in Christ that God's merciful. only
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Before creation, God chose his
people in Christ, and here's why. He demanded that because
we would fall, we would have to die. So he chose his son. He chose his son. This is how
he chose to manifest his perfect righteousness, that God will
not condemn a righteous man, nor will he clear the wicked.
This is God's perfect righteousness. He chose his son to die the death
that his people owed. By Adam's disobedience, we were
guilty, corrupt, worthy of death, and we had to die. And all who
sin must die and shall die. God's just. He's just. But in mercy, God provided the
Savior. He provided our substitute. He
provided the last Adam, the Lord Jesus, for his people. As by
one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous. That should just completely stop
this notion and shut men's mouths from thinking that we're made
righteous and accept of God by our obedience. It's by one man's
obedience that we're made righteous. That's the Lord Jesus. Our Savior
was obedient to God For us, in obedience to God, the spotless,
perfect, holy God-man mediator presented himself to the Father
and he made him sin for us. He hath made him sin for us who
knew no sin. When you find in scripture, it
speaks of the Lord Jesus being made sin, it always says, but
he was holy. and righteous in himself. He
hath made him sin who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. This is the gospel. This is the
gospel. In mercy to his people, God laid
on him the iniquity of us all. And Christ bore our sin. Only
one, only one stood as the head and representative and substitute
of his people. And that one is our Savior, the
Lord Jesus. And God looked to him. He didn't
look to me or you or anybody else. He looked to him. He looked
to his son. And the Lord Jesus, in perfect
fidelity, just think of that now. He's so holy and so perfect,
hates sin with a perfect hatred, despise sin. and in perfect faithfulness
to God, because he had entered into covenant to do so, he presented
himself to the Father to be made sin for us. And what faithfulness,
what utter, just perfect, and what perfect love to God and
to his people that he would do this for us. You just think of,
you know, if you try to think of something that's just gonna
really, really hurt you, that you need to do for somebody
that you love. And it's really, really gonna
hurt you. I don't mean just stomp your toe. I mean, it's gonna
cause you some serious poverty and some shame and some hurt. You have to really love them
to do it. Well, we see perfect love, the perfect righteous love
that fulfilled the law in that our Lord Jesus willingly gave
himself. to be made sin for us. These
are things to set your affection on. Set your mind on these things
and think about these things. What the law could not do, and
that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us. that a man in our nature, in a body like ours, that he
would come, and by what he accomplished, he would condemn sin in the flesh
like unto his brethren, and he would fulfill the righteousness
of the law for us in flesh like unto his brethren. A man sinned,
a man had to save. He declared from the cross, it
is finished. He did it. He accomplished it.
And God's given us faith now to believe that in Christ, you
are dead. You're old man. That part of
you that you see, because he's given you faith and an understanding
to discern something of our sin, that part of you that you just
hate and long to be free from, well, before God, before the
law, that man is dead. Died under the justice of God.
That means the law has nothing else to say to us. As Colossians 2.14 says, he blotted
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. He that is dead, scripture says,
is justified from sin, freed from sin, justified. That's what
Christ did for us. That's what he accomplished.
That's what he meant when he said it's finished. And because of that,
God says, their sins and their iniquities, I remember no more.
God will not charge one for whom Christ died with sin, because
God has justly put it away. He's dealt with it. And he's
just to be merciful to us. So in regeneration, the Holy
Spirit of Christ entered into us and gave us a new mind. and
set our affection on Christ and showed us what He had done for
us and gave us faith to believe that He truly is the Son of God. We didn't believe He was the
Son of God. We just speculated like men do
and were full of unbelief. We didn't believe He was the
Son of God. But the Lord came and gave you faith to really
believe He's the Son of God. He is the Son of God. He's the
life. of his people. He's our life, and he's at God's
right hand. Go to Ephesians 2. Just a few
pages to your left, Ephesians 2. Look at verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins. That shows you that his love's
in Christ. He loved us even when we were
dead in sins. Why? Because he loved us in Christ,
in Christ's perfection. Even when we were dead in sin,
he quickened us together with Christ, by grace you're saved. And has raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in
the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace
and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are
you saved through faith And that night of yourselves is a gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Are you risen
with Christ? Do you believe, as Colossians
2 says, that you are complete in Christ? That you're seated
there with Him at God's right hand and it has nothing to do
with your merit or your works or anything in you? Look over
with me at Romans 6. This is the one gospel Paul preached
everywhere he preached and to everyone he wrote, and here it
is. This is all set forth for us right here in Romans 6-5.
This is what we're picturing in water baptism. He says, Romans
6-5, if we have been planted together in the likeness of his
death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection,
knowing this. We know this. This is what faith
knows. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him. that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. You not
serving sin is not by something you do. You not serving sin is
because Christ has completely, thoroughly put away the sin of
his people by what he did. That's how come we don't serve
sin, because of what Christ did. Before God, he put it away. For
he that is dead is freed from sin. That word freed means justified. Look here, verse eight. Now if
we be dead with Christ, we believe. Here's what faith believe. We
believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion
over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once. In that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed
unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Set your affection on Christ above, knowing there's my life. He's my life. I am risen with
him, and I'm dead before God, this old man of sin I hate. The
next time you're cast down because of your sin You're depressed
over it, and it's causing you grief, and you just hate it. Set your affection on this right
here. This old man of sin is dead before the law of God, and
God has justified me in his son. Set your affection on that right
there. You know, that's the only way this sinful flesh will be
mortified, is to set your affection on him. Here's another thing. Back in our text, set your affection
on this, Colossians 3.3. Your life is hid with Christ in God. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. That's so of you who believe.
That's so of every believer. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. He said there in verse 4, Christ
is our life. Christ is our life. And your
life is hid with Christ in God. The Lord Jesus said, I am the
resurrection. and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. John said, the
life was manifested. And we have seen and bear witness
and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father
and was manifested to us. Christ Jesus, he's our life. Set your affection on this. Christ
is your life. You're hid. Your life is hid
with Christ in God. That means we're already in glory. In Christ, we're there. We're
in Him. Go back there to Colossians 1,
look at verse 12. We give thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints and lights who hath delivered us from the power
of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sin. Christ is our life. And he came
and gave us life. He said, I give unto them, speaking
of his sheep, he said, I give unto them eternal life. and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. When he's given
you life, I like this word, your life is hid in Christ. It's hid
in Christ. And nobody can pluck you out
of him. Your life is in him. He is our
life. This is the record God hath given
to us eternal life. And this life is in his son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. You sitting here that don't believe
Him, you don't have life. If you died today, you'd face
God and justice and have to bear the justice of God yourself.
Believe on Christ. I pray God bless this word and
make you believe Him today. It's you that do, by His grace,
you have life. You have life, you have been
delivered. You've been made meat, translated
into the kingdom of God's dear son. Romans 8, 10 says, and if
Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the
spirit is life because of righteousness. You think about that. That doesn't
mean you did something to make yourself righteous because when
the spirit entered, that's when you were given life. You didn't
do anything and not done a thing. The Spirit entered you and you
had life because Christ is our righteousness. And the Spirit
of Christ, our righteousness, is in His child. And this is
what, go to Galatians 6, this is what God-given faith believes
right here. Galatians 6, verse 2. Let's read verse 19. I, through
the law, am dead to the law that I might live unto God. You see,
living unto God is not living to the law and to Moses and to
concentrating on what you're doing and not doing. That's not
how you live to God. The only way we live to God is
God takes the law out of the way. He fulfilled it for us so
that now we actually live to God. You can't live to God if
you're in fear and you're worried and you're fretting and you're
troubled that you're sinning and you're going to be condemned.
You can't live to God that way. He had to fulfill the law, give
us a life that we didn't have in Him so that now we actually,
the love of God casts out that tormenting fear. so that we can
live to God now. Look, I am crucified with Christ,
Galatians 2.20. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live. But that's not even me that did
that, yet not I. But Christ liveth in me, and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's why we don't frustrate
the grace of God. That's why we're not trying to
add our works to it, because if righteousness comes by anything
you and me do in the law, Christ did not in vain. I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, Christ liveth in me.
I live by his faithfulness. He's leading me, He's guiding
me, He's correcting me, He's keeping my heart focused on Him.
He is the way we live. He is our life, and He's the
way we live under God. It's by Him. Our bodies are going
to die because of sin. They're sin. The body's dead
because of sin. Our bodies will die, but we're
not going to die. We're not going to die, brethren. You have eternal life. The law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the
law of sin and death. Free from it. What is the greatest
fear man has? Death. It ought to be meeting
God after death. But now, both of those fears
have been turned into thankfulness and gratitude in his child because
We have life, we have acceptance with God, we have peace with
God in Christ Jesus. We've been made free from the
law of sin and death. Christ said, whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Never die. So, set your affection on that. If you're, I think about Brother
Cyril in his 80s. Don't think on that. Don't think
on being 80. Don't think on this flesh. Set your affection on this. You
have life in Christ. You shall never die. You're just
going to lay aside. You're going to take off an old
suit of clothes. That's all. When you lay aside
this body, and then you'll be with Christ. Set your affection
on things above. Set your affection on this, verse
four, Colossians 3, 4. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. This is God the Father's will.
This is the will of God our Father. Listen, Christ said in John 6,
39, this is the Father's will which is sent me. that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. That's the will of the Father.
This is Christ's will. He prayed to the Father and said,
Father, I will that they which thou hast given me be with me
where I am. that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. It's the Father's will, it's
Christ's will, and this is God the Father's promise to us. We
have hope of eternal life which God, that cannot lie, promised
before the world began. It's his promise. It's Christ's
promise to us. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you And if I go prepare a place for you, I will come again and
I'll bring you with me to where I am. That's his promise to us.
This is the will that he's created in his people. We want to be
with him. The psalmist said, whom have
I in heaven but thee? I'm not looking for rewards. I'm looking for Christ. Whom
have I in heaven but thee? And there's none upon earth I
desire but thee. I'll be satisfied when I awake
with your likeness. That's the new will he's given
us. And this is our confidence in Christ. Thou shalt guide me
with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. That's our
life. He will guide us with his counsel. And after this life, he gonna
receive us to glory, bring us to glory. Now here's the point
of the entire passage. I preached on this a year and
a half ago. It seems like it was just yesterday, but it was
a year and a half ago, and I wanted to look at it a little differently
this time. I preached all this to you to make this point to
you. Since you've been sitting here
hearing this message, have you been thinking about your flesh?
Have you been thinking about touch not, taste not, handle
not? You've been thinking about Christ. You've had your heart
looking to him and set on him, and you haven't even been thinking
about you. That's the only way that we mortify this flesh and
treat it like a dead thing, is by the Spirit of the Lord, through
the good news of Christ Jesus, setting our heart on him above. That's the only way we mortify
the flesh. See these sins right here, verse
five, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence,
covetousness, all of these are idolatry. You see, even if you
don't commit any of those things outwardly, maybe you're like
the apostle Paul, who outwardly, he said, I was blameless, touching
the law. But by the very fact that you're
focusing on touch not, taste not, handle not, and looking
to yourself and not looking to Christ, you have committed every
one of those sins in your heart. The only way you don't commit
those sins is in Christ and he turns you and sets you on him.
That's the only way this flesh is mortified. And here's another
thing, if a brother falls and we're looking to that brother
and looking to their sins and trying to Accomplish something
by our power and will and strength in our words and what we're doing
we commit all these other sins verse 8 anger wrath malice blasphemy
filthy communication lying to one another all of that is What I'm saying to you when a
spirit turns our affection to Christ And sets our heart on
Christ we regard our flesh as a dead thing when we think about
it If today you sit and you start thinking about the tariffs and
Trump and Putin and Xi and all these different ones, and you
just focus, focus, focus on that, by the end of the day, you're
just going to be cast down and think it's all going to hell
in a handbasket, and the handbasket's made in China and sold at Walmart. But when Christ turns you to
him, This is what he does, he puts off the old man with his
deeds, verse nine, and he makes you to put on the new man by
renewing you in knowledge after the image of Christ that created
you. He makes you remember Greek,
Jew, circumcision, non-circumcision, barbarian, sithian, bona fide,
none of that matters. Christ is all and he's in all.
This is what he does, verse 15. The peace of God rules in your
heart and you're thankful. and you sing to him with praise
in your heart. This is what it means. To be
carnally minded is death. To be spiritually minded is life
and peace. See, till a man's born of the
spirit of God, this gospel's gonna get old. You know, one
of Merle Haggard's songs said, my hat don't hang on the same
nail too long, My ears can't stand to hear the same old song.
That's the flesh. But where the Spirit of God is,
He keeps renewing you and keeps this gospel ever new in your
heart, keeps you looking to Him. That's why Paul said, I determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ, in Him crucified.
That's why we preach Christ, preach Christ. We don't have
another message. So, if you be risen with Christ, Seek those
things which are above where Christ sits on the right hand
of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on
the earth, for you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.
Brethren, we're going to have salvation, but the fact is, have
been saved. We're going to enjoy that eternal
life and be perfectly conformed to him, but we have eternal life. We have been translated into
his kingdom. Our life is hid with Christ in
God. Aren't you thankful? God did this for you. God showed
you this. He taught us this, brethren.
Out of all the millions of the people in this world, God revealed
this in our hearts and showed us that he loved us from everlasting
and saved us in his Son. Let's go to him. Father, how
we thank you. You have given us the riches, the exceeding
riches of Christ your son. You've done it by your grace.
Lord, we don't deserve the least from you. We don't deserve anything
from you. We deserve nothing but an eternal
separation from you. And you have made us to deserve
heaven by Christ doing everything and being everything and Lord
we can't thank you like we should we don't even praise you like
we should but Lord we do by your grace we thank you and we do
give you the glory and we pray Lord according to your promise
according to your word just regard us in Christ don't regard our
flesh and we can't do anything without it right now. Lord, receive
us in Him and how we thank you. Keep our hearts set on Christ. Keep our affection set single
on Him. Lord, keep us ever, ever mindful. What mercy, what grace, what
love, Thank you so much, Lord, that
we should be called your children. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
In Christ's name we pray, amen.