Colossians chapter 3, and our
text will be found in verses 1 and 2. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affections on things
above, not on things on the earth, for you are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God." The title of the message this morning
is, The Sense of a Risen Saint. The Sense. And I get that from
this word, if. We'll see in a minute that it
means since. I know that many have taken it
both ways, and I believe we can see it in both ways. If you be
risen with Christ, or since you've been risen with Christ. And so,
this is the sense of a believer. If you be risen with Christ,
or since you've been risen with Christ. If you who are dead in trespasses
and sins have been quickened by the Holy Spirit, if you have
been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, by our gospel,
and given faith in Christ alone, then this message is for you.
This message is for saints. I know a lot of people take these
practical things, these exhortations of the apostles, and they apply
them generally to man. They say, well, set your affections
on things. Now, how can you set your affections
on things above if you have no heart for it? If you have no
new nature, if you have not been risen with Christ, then these
things are not for you. These are not new laws given
to men. These are rather exhortations
to us who are believers in Christ. And so then this whole message
that we have been studying in Colossians, we know this, that
the apostle was trying to stir up the love of the believer for
Christ and one another." You go back to chapter 2 and verse
2, he said, "...that their hearts might be comforted being knit
together in love unto all the riches of full assurance of understanding
to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father
and of Christ." This gospel, this is written to believers.
And He desires us to beware, beware of false prophets, beware
of a false gospel, beware of those who would spoil the gospel. How does one spoil the gospel?
By adding to it. They spoil it by adding to it
or taking from it. But rather, Paul was talking
about these men that have crept in to the church and were adding
the elements of the law, new moons, feast days, Sabbaths,
and circumcision. Beware those who would pervert
the New Testament ordinances of baptism and the Lord's table
so as to make them part of salvation. Beware them. For these men are wolves in sheep's
clothing. You remember our Lord said this,
that if it were possible, they would even deceive the very elect.
So these things, we are not above being deceived. This is why we
are given these exhortations, believers, because we are capable
of being deceived. We are capable of being lured
away from these things, not permanently. But our flesh is prone to these
things. Otherwise, why would He give
us warning? If we weren't prone to these things, why warn us?
He warns us because we are prone to these things. Therefore, in
verses 7 through 10, He says this, that we should be rooted,
that we should be rooted and built up in Christ, established
in the faith that you have been taught, abounding in it. Abound in the faith, believer.
Abound in the faith that you have been taught the gospel.
Why? You are complete in Him. That's what he says. This is
the conclusion of it. You are complete in Him, believer. Abound in that gospel. Be rooted
in that gospel. Ground it. apostle will show
us by these exhortations. By these exhortations, we are
reminded that we still, as believers in Christ, we still have this
old flesh. This is why the exhortations
are necessary, because we still have the old man of sin in our
bodies. And we should not make a mistake
here. Though we are complete in Christ, are made new creatures, yet the
old man is with us and we are prone to every sin, even to be
allured away from the simplicity that's in the gospel. Isn't it
always the flesh to try to think there's got to be more? Isn't
that the way of the flesh? There's got to be something great.
No, the simplicity that is in Christ. You are complete in Him. That's the gospel. That's the
simplicity. Now, abound in that. Don't fall
away from that. Don't add anything to that. Christ
is all. Christ is all. That's what the
gospel is. You should abound in that gospel.
Abound in what you've been taught. How are you going to abound in
it if you're not availing yourself to it? Avail yourself to study. Avail yourself to prayer. Avail
yourself to the worship of God, as you're doing right now. This
is how we abound in this gospel, is to be reminded again and again
and again and again, you are complete in Him. You are complete
in Him. You are complete. You are complete
in Him. That's the gospel now. Bound
in it. Rejoice in it. Be comforted in it. Rest in it.
Be rooted in it. Hold on to it with all your strength,
with all your faith. Cling to it. This is the message,
the gospel. The faith upon which we are established,
even Christ, for we are rooted and built up in Him. He is the
whole of our salvation. He is the whole of our acceptance
with God. This morning, if you prayed at
all, did your heart doubt you were being heard? I know it often
times, my heart doubts. But my feelings about the matter
doesn't matter. It doesn't enter into the equation.
Why? Because of Christ, I am heard. Because of Christ, we are accepted
in Him. Why? Because you are so in union
with Christ. He is as your head, and you are
as His body. You are one with Him. You are
put in Him. God puts you in Him. The Father has put us in union
with Christ so that all that Christ has done for
our salvation, God sees all our salvation in Him. And as upon
Christ the rock of ages we are built. Go to Isaiah chapter 28.
Isaiah chapter 28. You know, Paul's desire is my
desire for you. Let this stir up your heart so
that you'll be comforted. I'll tell you, there's nothing
more comforting when everything's spinning than solid ground. When everything around you is
in trouble and turmoil, there's nothing like finding something
you can stand on, something that doesn't move, something that
is stable and firm. And here it is. Verse 16, therefore,
thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, listen,
a sure foundation. And he that believeth shall not
make haste." Whoever God has chosen, when He laid that stone,
He put you on that stone. He built you on that stone. All
of His church is built on Christ. Christ said, upon this rock,
I will build my church. and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it." Christ is the rock on whom our souls are
built. He is the surety and foundation
of our souls. And what's the result of this? We shall not make haste to get
off. Isn't that great? I don't want
off. Do you? I'm built on this rock. I am rooted in this foundation. And I have no desire to leave
it when I'm confused and I'm troubled and I find difficulties. You know what I want to know?
I want to know if I'm on the rock. I don't want to get off
of it. I want to know that I'm planted on it. That's my hope.
That's my only security. It's my only surety. As if I
am founded in Him. And I have no other surety anywhere
else. Remember the disciples, when they were confused, what
did they ask? Jesus said, Will you go away also? And they said,
Lord, to whom shall we go? We don't have any desire to leave
you. We don't understand what you said, but we sure don't want
to leave you. You've got the words of eternal
life. And so this is what Paul's desire. He said, You should be
founded on this. All our salvation, and we don't
want to make haste off of this rock because all our salvation
is on it and everything outside of it will be cut off. Everyone outside of Christ will
be cut off. He said, judgment will I lay
to the line and righteousness to the plummet. And the hail shall sweep away
the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place."
All who make a covenant with death and hail. Who is that? All who are on a
refuge of lies. These are the ones trusting in
themselves. They just say to themselves over
and over, it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going
to be all right. Everything's just going to work
out fine. If you're outside of Christ, it won't work out fine.
It's not. Now, you can tell yourself that
all you want to, but it's not going to happen. Everything outside
of Christ is going to be swept away. Anyone trusting in their own
goodness, in their own works, trusting in their own knowledge
of doctrine? You have a refuge, but it's one
of lies. It's one you built. How many? How many? will be in that day when the
Lord gathers His sheep on His right hand and the goats on His
left." How many of those in that Scripture, that text of our Lord,
do you realize they expected to be received? These were men expecting God
to receive them into glory. And what a surprise, in the end,
they're cast away. They're cast into everlasting
torments. He said, depart from me, you
that work iniquity, I never knew you. They said, why? Well, when I was hungry, you
didn't feed me. When I was in prison, you didn't
visit me. naked, you didn't clothe me."
And they ask, Lord, when did we not do those things? We did
those things. How dare you say anything against
our self-righteousness, our goodness? We did everything. I tell you, He'll cast them out,
and that day their refuge of lives will be swept away. Their true hearts and motives
will be exposed, and God will do His strange When the Lord will command their
departure into hell, they will still cling to their self-righteousness. But God's elect you, we have
a totally different answer, don't we? When He says to us, Come, you
blessed of My Father, into the kingdom prepared for you before
the foundation of the world. For when I was naked, you clothed
Me. When I was sick and in prison, you visited Me. And we would
ask, Lord, when did we do any of this for You? When? When did we do the least of this
for You? Our confession is we are all
together sin. All together sin. When? You did it when you were in Him.
That's when you did it. When He fulfilled righteousness,
you fulfilled righteousness. You are in union with this foundation. Paul reminds us as to why we
are accepted in Him. Look back in your text.
Look back in your text in Colossians. Look at verse 12 through verse
15 of chapter 2. He says, You are buried with
Him. This is why you shall be accepted,
because you were in union with Him and you were buried with
Him in baptism. wherein ye are raised with him
through faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from
the dead." You were baptized with him. What does that mean,
you were baptized with him into his death? Well, it doesn't mean
anything about physical baptism. It doesn't mean anything about
physical baptism. The Lord Jesus in Luke 22 says,
I have a baptism to be baptized with. And how am I straightened
until it be accomplished?" Now what did he mean? Because he
had already been physically baptized. What is he talking about? I have
a baptism. Would he be re-baptized in water
again? No. He's talking about his death. The word baptism means immersion. He was to be immersed into death. He was to take our sins upon
himself. He was to bear our iniquities
in His own body, and in the depths of that, God's justice was to
fall on Him. That's what it is to be baptized.
He says, I'm straightened, fixed. I'm fixed and bound to die. You remember when Peter tried
to stop our Lord's attackers? He said, this is what I came
to do. Shall I not drink this cup that
my Father has given me? This is what I've come to do.
I've come to die. He came to be a surety. Jesus
was made a surety of a better covenant. And as God swore to
make Him our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, even
so Christ, as our covenant surety, gave Himself and swore to die
in our stead. He swore to die. He swore that
He would bear our sins. He swore! that He would be all
our righteousness before God. He swore to redeem us to God
by His one offering. For unto us a child is born,
for unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon
His shoulders. Who's carrying the weight of
this thing? Whose responsibility is it to save you? Is it yours? Do you have any responsibility
in this? No. Christ bore the responsibility. He said, If I bring not the lad
to thee, let me bear the blame. That's good news. He came to
bear it. Thus the Lord was baptized into
the depths of God's justice and wrath, and when He had finished
our salvation, God raised Him from the dead. Our Savior triumphed
over the grave and was risen victoriously over all our sin
and enemies. And we being in union with Him,
I want you to understand this, when He was baptized into death,
so were you. When he was baptized into death,
so were you in union. Know you not that so many of
us were baptized into Jesus Christ. You were baptized into his death
or baptized into his death. That's Romans 6.3. By which death our sins were
blotted out, Paul says, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, that was contrary to us, took it out of
the way, nailing it to his cross. Having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Therefore, let no man beguile
you. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. end of the law,
the end of the law. Don't be deceived by the vain
show of false humility. Don't be deceived by this religious
world show, and they can put on a show. They know how to put
on a show. And to the carnal mind, to the
sense of the carnal mind, will worship is the wisest and most
noble act of man. For men to try to please God
by their actions and neglect of things of this world that
he considers evil. Now that's important. He takes
the things that he considers evil and sets them aside. And men look at that and they
stand in awe, don't they? They come in their religious
garb and their beautiful clothes, their beautiful buildings, their
beautiful tabernacles, they have all of the music and pomp and
circumstance that the flesh could want. And man looks at that and
says, oh, that's beautiful, that's religious, look how holy that
is. That's got to be holy. It's so
beautiful. You remember by the illustration
of this, you remember the two that went up to pray, the Pharisee
and the publican. And the Pharisee, you remember,
he prayed thus with himself, Lord, I thank you. That sounds
so good, doesn't it? Lord, I thank you. Now, if he
just shut up, it might have been good. But he kept going, I thank
you that I am not as other men. fast, I tithe, I, I, me, me."
I thank you that I'm not like that sinner. And they said, look at that holy
man. That's will worship. That's a man who makes a show. And Jesus said he prayed with
himself. But behold, true religion's in the publican. True religion's
in the publican, the sinner who is exposed before God without
righteousness. See, he's not even able to look
up. He's not worthy to look up to God. And cries out, Lord,
be merciful to me, the sinner. I don't know if there's another
one, but I'm the sinner. I'm the sinner. True religion,
even a sinner is humbled before God, not boasting of his piety,
but rather seeking mercy. You know, we should be rooted
and grounded in that. Constantly seeking mercy. Constantly seeking
mercy. That word means propitious. It
means I need a substitute. I need a sacrifice. Lord, be
propitious to me. This man was a sinner in need
of a blood offering that he could not provide. Behold sinner, are
there any sinners here in that condition? Then behold the Lamb of God.
Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. The
writer of Hebrews said that he was sent to be a faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God to make, listen, reconciliation
for the sins of his people. You know what that word is? Same
word, propitiation. To make reconciliation. And what Jesus said of this man's
humility was this, That man went to his house, what? Justified. Rather than the other. Rather
than the other. So then believer, we who are
baptized into his death, this is what I want that God give
to you this morning. That He stir your heart so that
it might be comforted. That it might be sure. That you
might rest on this solid ground. For Jesus said, my sheep hear
my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto
them eternal life. And no man shall pluck them out
of my hands. This is the comfort we have.
So then, it is this assurance, this gospel of salvation, accomplished,
sins blotted out with this message, of the end and satisfaction of
the law by Jesus Christ. Paul says, then, since. In our
text. Since all of this. Because of
all of this. Since you be risen with Christ. Because you have been risen with
Christ. if you've been risen with Christ.
Have you been risen with Christ? Well, only if you've been baptized
with Christ. Only if you've been born again
of the Spirit of God. Then this is your sense. This
just makes sense, doesn't it? Since you've been risen with
Christ, seek those things that are above. Why? Because that's where Christ
is. If you are in union with Christ,
does your hand not desire to be where your head is? Your hand don't want to be anywhere
else your head's not. That's the same way it is with
the believer. We want to be where Christ is. And so then we should
set our affections. We should seek those things that
are above. Since you are in union with Christ
and he has triumphed over the grave, then it must follow. It
is only reasonable. Isn't that what he said? Isn't
that the same language that he uses in Romans 12? In Romans
12, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, because of the mercies
of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy
and acceptable unto God, which is your what? Reasonable. That's just reasonable service. It's just reasonable for us to
give our lives to the gospel of Christ to Christ. It's just
reasonable. Is this exhortation needed? Do you need to be exhorted to
seek those things above? How much time and energy do we
spend seeking the things of the world? How much? How much thought do we put into
the things of the world? How much concern do we put into
the things of this life? Are these things not fleeting
away? I don't know about your experience
with these things, but for mine, I have found Solomon's words
to be true. They are vanity of vanities and
vexation of spirit. It just makes me more anxious.
It don't help. When I get what I want, I want
something else. And when I want that, I get it,
and then I want something else. It never ends. Why? Because the things of this world
are fleeting, they're moving, they're passing away. Therefore,
it's reasonable for you to seek those things that are eternal.
Seek those things which are above. We need to be reminded of this.
Because you're complete in Christ, because your sins are blotted
away, because heaven is yours, why would you seek the lesser? Let us learn. Let us learn this, that everything
is passing. Keep that in mind as you travel
through the world and you're journeying through this life
and it's coming to a close. Our lives are closer to the end
today than they were yesterday. Seek those things that are above. Now to the dead, The world is
all they know. That's not you. You know something
more. You know all there is to know. Because you know Him, you know
all there is to know. Seek those things that are above. And since you are risen with
Christ, quickened in the Spirit, and our soul is made living,
our joy and our peace does not come from the world. It comes
not by family or friends or kin. Now, I'll tell you this, if you have
any earthly joys, we know it is a gift of God, is it not?
Now, I'm not saying despise those things that God gives. Rejoice
in them, be thankful for them, but hold them loosely. Don't
seek after them. And why should you seek those
things above? Because I tell you, everything in this world
rivals Christ. Everything in this world is a
rival or opposition to Him. These earthly things, these jars of clay are always
setting themselves in opposition and competition to the worship
of God and the faith of Christ. They're always... Jesus said this, you cannot serve
God and mammon. How many people have tried to
disprove that? And I tell you, they've all failed. You cannot serve God and man. That's the truth. That's not
something up for debate. You cannot serve two masters.
You'll despise the one and love the other or hate the one and
cleave to the other. You can't serve these two. Therefore, we should say with
Luther, let goods and kindred go. This mortal life also, what's
the worst they can do? The body they may kill. God's
truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. Set your
eyes on the kingdom that is to come. Set your eyes on what Christ
has accomplished for you. Set your eyes on those things
that are fast approaching. Heaven, eternal bliss. You know there's going to come
a day one day when you won't have any sin. You will not have one wicked
thought cross your mind one day. The flesh will lie in the grave,
the Spirit will ascend to be with the Father, and we will
be forever with Him. Consider how many religious men,
pious men, moral men, educated men, profess even the words of
grace. but are so bound to this world
that they see heaven and Christ of little value. Let a man brag so much as he
will on his faith and knowledge in Christ, but if a man has no
desire to hear the gospel or to fellowship with saints, that
man's heart is most likely lost. And I say most likely because
we are still prone to wander. We're still prone. I know true
believers are still prone to wonder. But one thing is true,
God won't ever let His people go. So what makes the difference?
Grace. Grace. The same thing that is
the root cause of our salvation keeps us in the faith, seeking
those things which are above. For who maketh thee to differ
from another? What hast thou? Thou hast not received. And notice Paul says, set your
affection. It's singular. Your affection
should be singular. Why? Because the gospel is singular. It is about Christ. It is all
about Christ. Set your affection. Now, you
know what it doesn't say? It doesn't say rest in your affection. Because your affection fluctuates. This is an exhortation that you
set your affection. Fix your eye. And with this connotation, you
should know that there is obviously something pulling your eye in
another direction. It's the flesh. So set your affection
on things. Why? For you are dead. I know sometimes when we fear
death, death Every man has this in his nature.
I think, you know, if he's drowning, he's going to naturally seek
to live. But believer, you've got to recognize
this, you're already dead. And your life is not here. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. So set your affections on things
above and not on the things of the earth. May God give us grace
to do this. And praise Him. May God give
us grace to be rooted and grounded only in Christ. And then set,
because, since we are risen, it is our sense to seek those
things above. It's just good sense. This is
good sins. To who? Those that are raised
with Christ. That's where my life is. It's not here. May God
remind us of that again and again.