If you will, turn with me to
the book of Colossians and find chapter 3. It is a privilege to be here,
and I thank God that He has blessed us to come amongst you, and I
pray that God's Word would be exalted, the sun be lifted up. Paul had written the letter to
the church at Colossae, He was now in prison at Rome for preaching
the gospel. And he had heard of the folks
in Colossae of hearing the gospel and how that they had loved the
gospel. And he said in Colossians chapter one and verse three,
he said, we give thanks to God. Anytime that we hear someone
receiving the gospel, we don't go and brag on them or go and
pat them on the back. We give thanks to God. It's God
who worketh in us. It's God who causes us to look
to Christ by faith. It's not something we conjure
up within ourselves. He said, we thank God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. And this
we should do for one another. Since we heard of your faith
in Christ, and your love for which you have all the saints,
for the hope, we have a hope. The hope which is laid up for
you in heaven. Wherefore ye heard before in
the word of truth of the gospel. And then up farther down in that
chapter, Paul also tells them that they are brought together.
They have been united together. They have been saved by the grace
of God. giving thanks unto the Father
which has made us meet, fit. We're fit to be the kingdom of
God. I don't understand that. How
can I, who can do nothing, will do nothing, and shall do nothing
but sin, but yet the scripture tells us, giving thanks unto
the Father which made us meet. It is His work and not our own.
We are partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who had
delivered us. God had delivered us from the
power of darkness and has translated us, made us, moved us from one
stead unto another. We are now the sons of God. We are those who worship God
in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence
in the flesh. And men hear you say, You're
bragging on God too much. No! We can never brag on God
too much. For in Him, Paul said in Colossians
chapter 2, For in Him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
and ye are complete in Him. Now in chapter 3, it's what we
want to deal with for just a few minutes. He says this, If ye then be risen
with Christ, Seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God." This new man that God has
created within us, this new heart, this new spirit, this new being
that was never there before. This is a new creation that God
does in and by and through His people, causing them to look
to Christ. The old man won't look to Christ.
The old man will look to the flesh. He will look to everything
but God. Our Lord said, you will not come
unto Me. You will not. You don't have
a will, you don't have a desire, you don't have an interest to
come to Christ. Oh, but this new man, this new
man that is risen with the Lord Jesus Christ, we have new desires. We have a new nature. We have
a new attitude. We have a new understanding of
who we are. And we have somewhat of an understanding
of who God is. That's what causes us to worship
Him in spirit. That's what causes us to fall
before Him and cry out, Lord, save me lest I perish. We understand
who He is and we understand to some degree who we are. If ye then be risen with Christ,
if these things are true of you, If this is your standing before
God, if God by His grace has risen you, raised you from the
dead, and seated at His own right hand in the Beloved, then seek
those things which are above. Seek those things. I can't look at you and you can't
look at me and say, I know that this man or that man is a child
of God. I saw men that I had great confidence
in that I heard preach the gospel all the way. What happened? They had it here,
but they didn't have it here. That's the difference. But if
you be risen with Christ, you have it in the heart. This new
man, this new creation that God has created and put within us,
desires the things of God. It desires to be where Christ
is. It desires to be where Christ is preached. It desires to be
where Christ is exalted and edified and magnified. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. If you be risen. If you read
this whole chapter, especially the third chapter of Colossians,
if you put this one sentence in front of every verse that
you read down through here, you'll have a better understanding.
He talks about wives and husbands. He talks about servants. If you
be risen with Christ. Husbands love your wives. If
you be risen with Christ, wives submit to your own husband. If
you put this one verse in front of all these verses down through
here, we'll get a better understanding of what he's saying. Seek those things which are above
where Christ set us on the right hand of God. We seek, oh, we
seek with the heart. David said, ask for me. I will
behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. That's the desire of every new
creature. That's the desire of everyone
that is risen with Christ. Paul said, by faith, Abraham
sojourned in a land as a strange country. That's who we are. That's
you and I. We're in a strange country. We're
not citizens. of this world that we live in. We have a heavenly country. We
have a palace. We have a building not made with
hands. Eternal in the heaven. And what? It's reserved. It is reserved
in heaven for you. If we be risen with Christ. There
has to be something happens here. And it's not walking an aisle.
It's not making a profession. I did that. And there was no
change here. But when that change comes, when
that new man is planted within us, created within us, then the
life begins to turn. Does the old flesh get changed?
No. This flesh still desires the things of the flesh. This
flesh desires to be looked up to, magnified, exalted, pleased
in every possible way. And it will until this old flesh
is put away. Until it returns to the grave,
it will be the same. But this new man, this new creation
desires the things of God. Paul said that I may be found
in Him. That's our desire, that I may
be found in him not having my own righteousness, not having
this righteousness that is built up of the flesh, not having my
own righteousness which is of the law, but that which through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that
I may know him. That's what it is. That is what
it is to be risen with Christ. To know Him and the power of
His resurrection, the power of His authority, the power of His
cancelling our sin, the power of His substitute being made
pleasable unto God. That I may know Him and the power
of His resurrection. If you be risen with Christ,
set your affections. Oh, what is this? Set your affections
on things above, not on things of the earth. I know that we
live in a world that we must provide for family, we must provide
for housing, clothing, we must provide. I know that. I know
that we go out into the world and we work in the world, but
we are not of the world. We're separated. This new man
that God has put within us is holy in the very image of God. If you be risen with Christ,
set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth.
This is the affections of the heart. this new man, this new
nature. It's not this old blood pump
that men talk about that they can take out and change out and
put back in. That's not the heart we're talking
about. That heart is desperately wicked, according to the scripture.
And who can know it? But this new man, oh, this new
man that God is pleased to bring unto us and give unto us, create
in us, causing us, by faith, to turn our eyes and look upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. What the old songwriter said,
turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full on His wonderful face, and
the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of
His glory and grace. That's our affections. That's
where our affections are at. For with this heart, this new
man, this new creation, for with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness, and with the mouth, we tell one another what Christ
has done for us. We confess our sins and we are
made meat to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. Brother Walter read the scripture.
I have my notes here. David said, I was glad. This
is our affections. I was glad when they said unto
me, let us go into the house of the Lord. I'm glad to come
and worship God. Once before, it wasn't that way. Oh, we went to church and we
done this and we done that, but there was no peace, there was
no comfort, there was no settlement. It was always, have I done enough?
Have I been good enough? Have I, have I, I, I? And the answer always come back
no. But now, Paul says in 1 Corinthians
3 and verse 16, he said, Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? What a statement. What a statement.
If ye be risen with Christ. this new man, this new nature,
this new spirit that God has put within us, His affections
are set. They are set upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. I know that oftentimes our mind
gets clouded, our thoughts wander and stray, but the tendency of
our life, the tendency of our life is towards this thing of
godliness because of who is in us. Not because that we've changed
our way, not because that we've changed what we're doing, or
where we go, or what we watch, or anything. It's because of
who takes up abode within here. If ye be risen with Christ, our
Lord said in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33, Seek ye first
the Kingdom of God. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness. And all these things will be
added unto you. We will persevere. We will. We will feed our family. We will
do what's necessary in this world to get by. These things will
be added to us. God will give us the grace, the
mercy, the power to do it. if we be risen with Christ. John wrote in John chapter 1
and verse 2, it says, love not the world. Now he's talking to
the new man now. He's talking to the believer.
He's talking to those that have been risen with Christ. And this
is how sinful we are. We must be reminded over and
over and over. Love not the world. Neither the
things of the world. For if any man loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. We have family in the
world. We have possessions in this world,
and we think a lot of them. But our heart is not set on these
things. Our heart is set upon Christ,
and who He is, and where He's at. The world passes away, and the
lusts are off. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever, if ye be risen with Christ. Look at verse
3. If you be risen with Christ,
you are dead. And your life is hid with Christ
in God. This whole lesson, this whole
chapter, hinges on this one statement. if ye be risen with Christ. Those
who look to Christ by faith are dead to the things of the world.
Again, I know we must live in this world, we must walk in this
world, we must work in this world, as long as this flesh is here.
But we're not of the world once again. Paul said in Galatians
chapter 2 and verse 20, he says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. There's the difference. There's the difference between
those who are born of God and those who are sitting on front
row pews in church buildings. There's the difference. Christ
liveth within me. And the life that I now live,
I live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. The life I once
lived was in this thing of sin. Although wrapped up in religion,
I lived in rebellion against God because I did not know God. But God. Oh, if there was ever
two sweeter words in Scripture, I know not worthy are. But God. when God by His grace revealed
unto me something of my state before Him, something of my state
before a thrice holy God. I don't see it all. No man sees
the sinfulness of the flesh. We get glimpses of what Paul
said we see through a glass dimly or darkly. We see God in a dim
situation. We see ourselves in a dim situation. We don't completely see what
sin is. Men have this attitude that sin
is something we do. Sin is what we are. Therefore,
sin comes forth as our deeds. And when God, by His grace, reveals
this unto a person, He has begun a good work in them. And He will
perfect. He will perform. He will accomplish. He will complete that work that
God has started. This thing of, oh, I was a Christian
for a long time, but now I've... Mark it down. Mark it on the
wall. They went out from among us because
they were not of us. If they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. And the only reason
you and I don't leave is because God won't let us. There's no
power within us. It took for me to stand and be
strong in the Lord. It's God's hand keeping me, grounding
me, settling me, and preventing me from leaving Him. If He raised
one finger off of me, I would go astray. Paul said, I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, when the law came, Sin
revived in me and I died. Then Paul says in Ephesians chapter
2, I believe it is, and you have ye quickened. That's what has
to take place. There must be a quickening. There
must be something that takes place in a person's life for
them to be raised with Christ. And this is the quickening. We
were born dead in sin. Now this is what most men don't
understand. Most religious folks don't understand. Well, we were sick and all we
needed was a little bit of medicine to make us well. All we needed
was a little bit of help to get us over the top. They never understand. They never see. You're dead.
You're helpless. You're hopeless. You have no
will. You have no desire. You have
no interest in the things of God. You're dead to the things
of God until God speaks unto you through the preaching of
the gospel and awakens you out of this dead state. And He says,
come out from among them and be ye a separated people. Come
unto me, all you that labor and heavy laden. I'll give you rest.
And we come. Not by works we do, but by Him
bringing us. Working within us and causing
us to come to Christ. You sung the song, I had it in
my notes here. My hope is built on nothing less. That's our plea. That is our plea. That when Christ
died, He died for me. But oh, this new man, this new
life, this new creation that God puts you here is the Holy
Spirit of God. God taking up abode within a
man or a woman. And as He takes up abode in us, He drives out past, present, and future sins. Do we sin? Oh yeah. This flesh
sins daily, comes short of the glory of God. Even as we attempt
to preach the gospel, our minds wonder, I wonder what he's thinking
about this. That's sinful. That's sinful. That's how wretched
and vile we are. There's not a moment, there's
not an instant that we live that we're holy. We are completely
dead in trespasses and sin. And this flesh remains there.
It remains there. But how are we risen in Christ? How is it possible for one such
as I to declare unto one such as you that I am risen in Christ? There's only one way. Our sins must be dealt with.
God is a just God. He's a holy God. He will not
look at sin and allow it to go unpunished. God must punish sin
because of who He is, His holiness, and His justice. So how can I,
who is nothing but sin, be dead to sin? and my life be hid with
Christ in God. How is that possible? This is
the way. By the only begotten Son coming
and taking abode upon Himself my sin. To the point the Scripture
says that He was made sin. I don't understand that. That's
way over my head. How can God be made sin only
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when He came and
He took abode in this world, He came down from the Father
made of flesh, made of a woman. He came for a purpose. He came
to redeem. He came to quicken. He came to
save. And that's what He does. He takes
my sin unto Him own self to the point that He has made sin. And
then He cleanses me from sin. The new man, this new creation,
this new heart is of God. It sinneth not. It cannot sin
because it is born of God. And those that are born of God
sinneth not. So where is my sin? What the
old scripture says, or the old song says, not in part, but the
whole. The whole past, present, and future is laid upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. To the point that He accepts
them and embraces them as His own sin. He said, my iniquities,
the Lord said, my iniquities have taken me away. They became
His. And instead, His righteousness
became mine. To the very point that He has
made sin, I am made righteous. How can that be? Only in this
substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ satisfying
God's justice to man against sin. And there He lived. Some
33 years walking this earth, doing nothing but good. And there,
Pilate, Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Jews, the Gentiles, the Greeks,
they all agreed in one. We talked about this last night.
This is the only time in Scripture that we can find that all these
people gathered together. They gathered together and agreed
on one thing. Crucifying. Get him out of here.
We don't want this man to reign over us. And there they hung
Him on a cross. Nailed Him to this piece of wood.
And the pain and the suffering, no man has ever been able to even enter into
it, much less explain it. But for this One, the Holy, Harmless,
Undefiled, to be made sin to the point that He gave up His
life He died under the wrath and penalty against God because
God said, the soul that sinneth, it must surely die. And him being
made sin in my room and in my stead, he took the penalty of
my sin and he buried it under the cross and he took it under
the tomb. When he died, they laid him in
a tomb, out of sight. Out of sight. My life is hid
with Christ in God. Can you hide anything from God?
Nothing but my sin. Nothing but my sin. He sees all. To the point that there is no
sin for Him to see. Sin has not been swept under
the rug. Sin hasn't been put right outside of His sight. Sin
has been dealt with. The Lord Jesus Christ dealt with
my sin. And He paid my sin debt. And
now I'm free. I am free. What the old song
says, free from the law, oh happy condition. Jesus has bled and
there is remission. God taking my sin and putting
them away, saying paid in full. Now I'm risen with Christ. Now
I'm risen with Him. When He rose from the dead, I
rose in Him. Everyone that looks to Christ
by faith, when He died, they died. When He arose, they arose. And when He ascended, they ascended. You say, well, you're still here.
You're still here on this earth. This flesh is. But in the mind
and purpose of God, I'm seated at the right hand of God because
of my relationship of being in Christ. Look at verse 4. When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, where's He at right now? He's
appearing in the presence of God right now. Where am I at? I'm there with Him, seated in
Him, grounded in Him, rooted in Him, received in Him. When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with Him in glory. We stand right now in the very
presence of God's glory. This flesh is still here, this
flesh is still here, but this new man, this new nature lives
before God, holy and accepted. If we be risen with Christ. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter
2 who we were according to the flesh. We walked after the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom we all had our conversation
in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as others.
No different but God. But God. If we be risen with Christ. God
has worked a work of grace within our heart and caused us to look
to Christ by faith. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall we appear with Him in glory. I know this
is no doubt referring to His second coming. This is referring
to Him coming back and receiving the church. But right now, who
was it? The writer said, now. or are we the sons of God? Right
now. When he wrote that some 2,000
years ago, that word now meant exactly what it means right now.
It does not change. You and I who look to Christ
by faith, now are we the sons of God. It does not yet appear
what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we
shall see Him, we shall be with Him, and for we shall be made
just like Him. That's our future state. Once
this old flesh is put aside, but in the mind and presence
of God, or in the purpose of God, we stand before Him right
now, complete. Complete. If we be risen with Christ, who
is my life? we will forever, forever continue
with him. Where is this backsliding at? Men teach backsliding so that
they can pat one another on the back and tell them what good
creatures they are. Oh, you fell away, but you come
back. Find that in the scripture. You go through this book and
find that anywhere. I know God talks about a backsliding
nation, Israel. They said they would do one thing,
the next day they were doing something else. But personal
backsliding is an abomination to the child of God. You're saying
that Christ don't have the power, the authority to keep me. He
don't have the right to keep me. We're kept by the power of
God through faith, ready to be revealed in the last days. Will
we ascend unto the heavens? We shall surely, if we be risen
with Christ. That's the problem with our nation
today. Everybody's religious, but nobody
knows anything about Christ. Christ is the author of spiritual
life. He is the fountain from which
it springs. The object of the very saints of light. That's
our object. That I may win Christ and be
found in Him. When Christ who is our life shall
appear, then shall you appear also with Him in glory. Our Lord prayed in John chapter
17. He said, Father, I will. You
reckon the Father hears Him. He said in one place, he said,
Father, I know that thou always hearest me. I'm not exactly sure
how it says it, but that's the state of it. He said, but for
those that are without, those that are standing around, this
I pray. Father, I will that they also, whom thou has given me,
election, predestination, perseverance. Those that thou has given me,
be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory,
or that they may see me in my full array of glory. They saw
me come in the flesh. They saw me hang on the tree.
They saw me laid in a tomb. But now, oh, that they may see
my glory, the glory that I had with thee before the world began. And the glory which thou hast
given me I've given them. How is that possible? That they
may be one, even as we are one. I in them, here it is. I in them
and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. Beloved,
what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth
us not. Why don't they know us? Because
it knew him not. Beloved now. Oh my. This passes
the scripture here in 1 John. Beloved now. Are we the sons
of God? And when Christ who is our life
shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. if
we be risen with Christ. I hope this is helpful to you.
Pray that the Lord will bless His word.