Colossians 3. Let's read verses
1-4. 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. You are dead, and your life is
hid with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. These verses are so vital that
we're just going to deal with a couple of them. Like Wednesday
night, we dealt with the first two verses. Set your affection.
Seek those things above. And these verses 3 and 4, you're
dead and your life is hid with Christ and God. Christ our life. It's so vital that we need to
look at them very closely. Vital to our peace. comfort,
consolation. And these verses are faith. Faith
is what this is. And it's written to those in
Christ because it says, if you're risen with Christ. This is written
to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ. He wrote and said,
those who have this faith, hope and love in Christ. So that's who this is written
to. Those who are risen with Him. And he's going to tell us
about what it means to be, we're going to look into what it means
to be dead. This is something spoken of in
Scriptures often. And it's for our peace, okay?
You're dead. But look at chapter 2, verse
11. It says, in Christ also you're
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands and putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ. He's talking about Christ crucified
what He did on Calvary's tree for us when we were in Him, our
substitute. Buried with Him, verse 12, buried
with Him in baptism, wherein also you're risen with Him through
the faith of the operation of God who raised Him from the dead. And verse 13, you're quickened,
you being dead in your sins, In uncircumcision your flesh
hath he quickened together with Christ, made alive to God from
the dead. So in chapter 3, verse 1, if
you then be risen with Christ, he said. Seek those things, if
it's so. Seek those things where Christ
is. Set your affection. Set your affection. He's talking
to living, breathing, responsible children. God's children. He's
not talking to the world and unbelievers. He's talking to
those alive unto God. Set your affection. As you would
say, put your mind to it. Set your mind, your heart on
things above. And we looked at that Wednesday
night, what that meant. If you weren't here, get the
CD. I believe it will help you. We
all set our minds on things, don't we? And if you really want
something, you set your mind to it, you go after it, don't you? With
all your mind, heart, and soul. And that's what he said. That's
what the Father says to His children. Set your mind on it. Set your
heart. And as we said, doubtless, without Him, we can do nothing.
So the first thing is, we ask Him for help. Lord, help me. And then He says, Brother John
Sheehy loves this verse, I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me. What He tells us to do, He gives
the grace for us to do it. Set your mind on it. And these
things that we looked at, things of God, things of Christ, things
concerning salvation, things above, things that are higher,
things that are nobler, we sing the song. Things that are higher
and nobler, and only those alive quicken, have this desire. So if you have this desire, your
mind, your heart set on things above, thank God for it. You're
a child of God. So, he said in verse 3, since
that is so, set your affection on things above, not on things
of the earth, because you're dead. You're dead. And your life is hid with Christ
in God. You're dead. Reckon yourself,
Romans 6 says. Reckon it to be so. Go over there,
Romans 6. Romans 6 deals with this in depth,
what it means to be dead. You're dead. Dead. Dead, he said. What does that mean, dead? Well, let me see if I can... It's hard enough to understand,
let alone try to convey it. But we don't have to understand
it, we just need to believe it. That's what reckon means. Reckon
means believe it. Reckon means count itself. Reckon
means determine this, to regard it to be so, to think it so.
It's an old... My dad was in the Navy. And when
you're on a ship, the captain determines the position of the
ship. the reckoning, the reckoning of the ship. You determine where
you are, where you are so that you can determine that you're
not lost. You give dead reckoning. You
determine you need to give a reckoning or find a reckoning to make sure
that you're not about to run the ship aground. You need to
know where you are so you'll know you're not lost, you're
not about to be shipwrecked. Well, that's a good way to look
at this. Dead reckoning. Reckon it be
so. Determine it. This is talking
about, number one, our position in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Christ. And I say it, I can't really
make this understandable, I can just tell it. Because of our
standing in Christ, because of our union with Christ, that means,
and you need to reckon it to be so, that we're dead to the
reign, the rule, the realm of sin. Sin, it's all changed in Christ,
all changed. Dead because of our standing
in Christ and dead to the world and the world to us. This is
for our peace. Now look at Romans 6 verse 11. He says, well look at verse 9. Christ being raised from the
dead dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion over
him. In that he died, he died unto
sin or because of sin once. And in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Likewise, reckon ye yourselves
also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. How's this? Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Believe it to be so. For your
peace. That if you're in Christ, and
if you trust Christ, you look to Christ, you believe Christ,
you believe Christ is your salvation, then you're in Christ. Reckon
it so. Don't try to understand what
I'm trying to say, because I don't fully understand it. Just believe
it, OK? You're in Christ. Reckon it so. Reckoning, reckoning,
it doesn't mean it's something you do. It's something you believe.
He's not saying for you to do anything. It's something you
believe. And our philosopher says, you're
dead. He doesn't say for you to do
anything. He just said, you're dead. Reckon
it so. Believe it to be so. That you're
in Christ, dead to sin, dead to the law, and dead to the world.
Believe God. Take His word for it. If you
trust in Christ, God says you're dead. Meaning, crucified with
Christ. Crucified with Christ. The death
sentence was carried out on the Lord Jesus Christ. The soul that
sinneth must surely die. Well, I'm a sinner. But if I'm
in Christ, Christ died. Christ died. Death sentence.
I was killed. I was punished in Christ. Reckon
it to be so. For your peace. Remember, I said
this is for our peace. Crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live, Paul said. But not I. Christ that liveth
in me. Crucified with Christ, dead to
the penalty of the law, dead to the law's demands. Most of us in here have been
under the sound of grace for so long, and few in here were
under some kind of legal religion. So we can't really understand
just what this means. And Paul one time said, he said,
tell me you that desire to be under the law, don't you hear
us? And so many do. I mean, so many desire to be
under the law. There are teachers desiring to
be teachers of the law. They don't understand what they
affirm or what they believe. And there are people who think
they're keeping the law, and they're not. There are people
who actually are under the dominion of the law and they have no peace,
no comfort, no hope. They're miserable people. But
Christ has freed us from the law's demands. Dead to the demands
of the law. Brother Ed Berry one time looked
it up and printed it out for me, all of the precepts that
the Jews are supposed to follow. what modern Jews can determine. And there were, I forget how
many there were, and he gave his book this thick of precepts
that they try to keep. And the Scripture says to offend
in one point is guilty of it all. The Scripture says that
it shall be perfect to be accepted. And Christ came. and kept every
jot and tittle. This is not just a doctrine.
This is for our peace and comfort and health that Christ kept the
law. And so when he died, he died. And you know, Sabbatarians, they
want to keep the Sabbath. Either Saturday or Sunday. Christ
was still lying in the grave, or dead as it were, on Saturday. What? That's the
Sabbath day. What does that tell us? That
we're dead to the law. The Sabbatarian, Seventh-day
Adventist, you know, still trying to keep a day? They don't have
that freedom, do they? They still are under the law. My, my. Christ has freed us from
the laws of man. And, you know, you can't dig
up a dead man and kill him twice for the same crime. Can you? You can't hang him twice. You
find that when you dig up something else, oh, we didn't know he was
guilty. Dig him up, let's hang him again. No, you're dead. Crucified
with crime. See, this is sin is what, guilt
of it. It's what plagues us and bothers
us and keeps us down. Reckon this to be so and you'll
have pea. You're dead. You're dead. And our Lord said, the Scripture
says this, sin shall not have dominion over you. Dead to the
reign and rule of sin. I don't understand. You don't
have to understand. Just believe it for your peace.
Christ said it, and that makes it so. Take his word for it. You'll
have peace. How can I be dead, though, when
I feel it, when I struggle with it? How can I be dead? Go over
to Romans 4. Look at this. We need to be like
Abraham, who against hope believed in hope, who believed impossible. When God told him something,
he said, how can this be so? But it was so, although he hadn't
even experienced it yet. Dead to the reign and rule of
sin. Romans 4, look at verse 9 and 10. This blessedness, is
it upon the circumcision only or the uncircumcision? That's
those under the law or those not under the law. We say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How was it reckoned? When he
was in circumcision, keeping the law, under the law? No, the
law hadn't even been written yet. It's 400 years before the
law. Well, then how? Read on. Not
in circumcision, but uncircumcised, and he received a seal of righteousness
of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised, that he
might be the father of all them that believe, though they be
not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed, that is, charged,
reckoned." That's the same word to them also. Verses 18 and 19. He, against hope, believed in
hope. God said, you're going to have a son, Abraham. How can
this be? I'm 100 years old. This can't
be. This is impossible. Our Lord says, sin shall not
have dominion over you. I don't see how this can be.
I wrestle with it. It's in me. I dwell with it.
Just reckon it be so. I said so. Verse 19, being not
weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, and
he was a hundred years old, nor the deadness of Sarah's womb,
but he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God, fully persuaded what
he had promised he was able also to perform. Therefore, it was
imputed to him for righteous. Reckon yourselves dead. You're dead. Now here it is in
a sentence. Because of what Christ has done,
because of what happened to Christ on Calvary's tree, He's our substitute. Because of our union with the
Lord Jesus Christ, our whole relationship to sin, And the world and everything
has changed. The Scripture says we've been
translated out of this kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
of His dear Son. I don't see it. Well, it's so. I don't understand. You don't
have to. Just believe. Sin shall not have
dominion over you. The law has no claims on you.
Death has no dominion. God's people don't die. They
don't die. Our Lord said, He that liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Do you believe this? I don't
understand. Well, it's so. Why? Because He said so. He called
it sleep. He changed it to sleep. Our friend
Lazarus sleepeth. Paul said, We shall not all sleep. But we shall all be changed.
It's sleep, it's not death. Why? Because Christ died, and
He arose, and we arose with Him, and there is no more death to
believers. No more death. Our brother Charles
is about to start living. He's about to start really living. And this is all for this reckoning. This faith that believing we're
dead is for our peace. There's no peace from the guilt
of sin. There's no peace from the accuser.
There's no peace, there's no strength to fight against sin
until we believe God who says you're dead. You're dead in Christ. I don't see it, but I trust Christ,
I reckon it's so. It is. It is. It's the truth. Good news. He said, because I
live, you live also. Because I died, you died. Because
I was punished, you're punished. Just reckon it to be so. That's
the best I can do with that. I can't do anything. That's it. You're dead. And you're dead
also means you're dead like everything in this world. Reckon yourselves
to be dying, that you're as good as dead. Reckon it so. You're as good as dead. Everything
in this world is called flesh and corruption. This mortal,
this mortality, shall put on immortality. Reckon it to already
be so. Look at it. Think about it. Go
back to Colossians 3. Think about it as if it's already
happened. As if it's already happened.
And this is what faith does. You know, faith looks afar off,
sees things afar off. Faith sees things that are unseen,
not things that are seen, but unseen. And this is what keeps
everything in perspective. This is what keeps us from idolatry. This is what keeps us from being
overcome by the world when we see it and everything in it as
dead, including us. Dead. We need to see ourselves
lying in a casket. That's our end. I told you about
that time that my neighbor was moving out of the country and
I helped him build a big box to put his things in it. And
after we built that box, I got to looking at it and I thought,
that's about the size of a casket. And I said, hold on a minute
before we fill it up. And I lay down in that box. I said, take my picture. And
I laid there like that. And I had that in my desk drawer.
And every now and then, I'd look at that. And that would be a
good thing for all of us to do. Because right there I am and
just real, real soon. Everyone of us. Real soon. Real
soon. And we need to reckon it. It's
so. We're dead. Good as dead. What
is your life? A vapor. A vapor. I mean, it's
here for a time. We all do faith as a leaf, don't
we? My, my. Everything. We're dead. We're dead. Old Brother Charles
was here just recently, wasn't he? And even at 87 years old,
he was full of life, wasn't he? A vigorous man, by reason of
God-given strength in his 80s, he was a vigorous man, a lively
man, still out driving that little blue Jeep, running around everywhere,
fixing things, and boom. Now you're down and skunk. Probably won't come back. Well,
that's us. Reckon yourself dead. You're
dead. As good as dead. Good as dead. Dead. And if we
do that now, the heartaches and disappointments will be less
severe. And we'll look forward to it. Hasten the coming of Christ.
And dead means this. You're dead. You need to reckon
yourself dead to the world. Crucified of the world, the world
to me. Like Noah who went in that ark. Remember when Noah
went in that ark and the Lord shut him in? The world was still
going on, wasn't it? Doing what it was doing. Buying
and selling and so forth until the rain came. But Noah was dead
to it, wasn't he? It made no difference to him,
really. And he was dead to the world. They forgot about him.
Oh, that old fool Noah, gone into that ark and ought to drop
it. What a fool. Well, we're fools for Christ's
sake, aren't we? Fools for Christ's sake. We've gone by faith into
the ark of Christ, and the world's dead. This is a dead place. And
this is a dead plot. Dead. We need to be dead to the
things of this world, dead to the world's opinions, thoughts and opinions, dead to
the world's fears and so forth. What all the world, look at this,
look at that. No, those are, we're looking at things not sane.
But, but, but, but, doesn't that bother you? No. Looking up to Him. Dead, we need
to be dead to the praises and the insults of the world. You know, a dead man. You go
out there and dig up a dead man. Dig up a dead man and start bragging
on him. Start bragging on him. Boy, you
look good. What a handsome fellow you are. How is he going to respond?
That doesn't mean anything to him. Oh, you're smart. Oh, you're so brilliant. You're
so strong. You're so wise. You're so vicious. He's dead. Alright, turn around
and start cussing him. Insulting. You ignorant. You
stupid. You wretched. He's dead. He's dead. You're dead. Don't let the praises puff you
up. Don't let the insults bring you
down. You're dead. You're dead. Does that make sense?
Even if it doesn't, believe me. You're dead. And your life, now
look at this, your life, your life, Christ our life, your new
life in Christ, with Christ, is hid. It's hid. Alright, this means a couple
of things. Go over to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John 3. Your life
is hid with Christ in God. This means the secrecy of it.
It's something you really can't see. And it also means the security
of it. Your life is hid. It's something
you can't see. The secrecy of it. And your life
is hid. It's something that's hidden
and protected. Protected like you would bury
something. Bury it. It's hidden. Your life is hid. This new life, this new man,
this new creature, wholly unblameable, unreprovable in God's sight.
That's what he said. Accept it. Complete in Him. Hid. That's hid not only to us,
but to everybody else, this new creature. We can't see Him. We
see him in others, but we can't see him in ourselves. We can't. He's hid. But he's there. He's
there. Look at 1 John 3, verse 1. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now, right now, are
we the sons of God. But it doth not yet appear unto
us. Why? It's hid. The hidden man. You know what Paul says? The
hidden man. Who is adorning Peter said, let it be not the outward
man, but the hidden man. Hidden man. It does not yet appear. It's hidden. But we shall be.
But we know this. When he shall appear, we'll be
like him. We'll see him as he is. But as he is, so are we. Me. This new man. Yet not I. Again, this is just something
you believe. This new man is hid. He's hid
from view. The secrecy of it and the security
of it. Hid, safe, like something you
would hide. You're dead. Your life is hid.
Who has it buried and hidden with Christ? in God. You're safe in His hand, in Christ. Christ right now is seated with
the Father, and you're already there. Your name is on a chair,
a reservation waiting on you. A seat at the Master's table. So your life is here. Real life. Life more abundant. Life more
abundant. We're kind of like a worm. Worms
turn into butterflies, certain species of worms. But while they're
worms, they're just crawling around, groveling here below.
But just hold on. Just wait. You'll see. Or like
a tadpole in a mud puddle. Tadpole in a mud puddle. Man,
there's got to be something better than this. And he's growing arms
and legs. I don't know what these are for.
Well, soon he's come out of that little puddle and there's a whole
abundant life to be experienced. Did that make sense? Well, it's
so. Reckon it to be so. Eye hath
not seen, ear hath not heard. God hath revealed these things
unto us in part. We know in part. We preach in
part. The unsearchable riches of Christ. That's why we can't
fully understand it. The unsearchable riches and inheritance
reserved in heaven for us with Christ in God. With Christ in
God. And he says in verse 4, When
Christ our life shall appear, we will appear with Him. Who
will? Those who trust Him. Those who
are in Him. Those who believe Him. That's
it. Not those that did this or did that, those that...in Christ
by faith. Well, we have the hardest time
just believing God, don't we? Just believing God. But I this,
I that. What do you mean? It's not you
at all. But God. But He. In Him, by Him,
through Him. How many times do you have to
tell us that? By Him, through Him, with Him, for Him, to Him,
through Him. It's in Him. It's in Him. Reckon
it to be so. That's what faith is. You're
dead. You'll have to see it with Christ and God for your peace,
for your comfort, for your consolation. And when Christ appears, our
life, who's our life, we'll appear with Him in glory. Alright, Lord willing, next Sunday
we're going to look at just what it means to mortify our members. Okay.