Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us for this time of Bible study as I
preach through the word of God. Today I'll be preaching from
the book of Colossians chapter three, beginning at verse one,
Colossians three. And the title of the message
is Risen with Christ. Risen with Christ. Now we often
talk about the glorious truth of the resurrection of Christ.
And we do this because that's the culmination of the gospel
message. It's the culmination of God's
testimony and revelation of how God saves sinners. Some people
will say, well, the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection
of Christ. And that's true, but you have
to be careful there because it's not simply the historical fact. These are historical facts. Christ
did die. He came to earth and walked this
earth as God in human flesh. And that he went to the cross
for the sins of his people, God's elect, the church. And he paid
their sin debt with the price of his blood so that he died.
And he was buried in a tomb, and three days later he arose
from the dead. Those are historical facts. And
you cannot believe the gospel without believing those historical
facts. If you remove any one of those
historical facts, you've got no gospel. If Christ did not
die, then we're yet in our sins, condemned. And if he wasn't buried,
that means he didn't die. That's what the burial of Christ
is about, that He really did die. It was no fake, it was no
hoax. But if He wasn't risen from the dead, then His death
was unsuccessful. You see, the resurrection of
Christ means that He accomplished what He set out to do in His
death. And what was that? It was to
pay the sin debt in full for all whom the Father had given
Him before the foundation of the world. and conditioned all
of their salvation upon Him. The condition being righteousness
through His death. And that's what came out of His
death, righteousness. Perfect satisfaction to God's
law and justice. Propitiation, the scripture calls
it. Reconciliation that ensures the salvation of His people and
their eternal life. And that was evidenced by His
resurrection. He was declared to be the Son
of God by the resurrection from the dead. Now, Paul writes here
in Colossians 3 and verse 1, he says, if you then be risen
with Christ. Now, how was I risen with Christ? Well, I talked about this last
week, how that's talking about a believer's union with Christ
in his death, burial, and resurrection. that Christ did what He did,
not as a private person, but as a representative, as a surety,
as a substitute for the people to whom the Lord gave Him. That's
God's elect. Remember he said in John 6, 37,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. This is the will of
him that sent me that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing but raise it up again at the last day. That's
the resurrection. But if you're one of God's children,
evidenced by your belief in him, Then you were risen with Christ
already in Him being your representative, your surety, your substitute,
your redeemer. And then in time, He sends forth
the Holy Spirit to literally raise us from the dead. You see,
we fell in Adam, ruined by the fall, and therefore were born
spiritually dead in trespasses and sin. I'll show you that in
just a moment. and we must be born again. That's a spiritual
resurrection from the dead. And that's evidenced by faith
in Christ and repentance of dead works. So if you then be risen
with Christ, well, if I'm risen, how do I know I was risen with
Christ? How do I know that when he died, I died? When he was
buried, I was buried, because he did it for me. And when he
arose again, I arose with him. How do I know that? Because I've
been resurrected spiritually in the new birth. and I believe
in Christ. Last week, I talked about holding
on to Christ. That's who I'm holding on to.
I'm not holding on to you, and I'm not holding on to my denomination
or anything I've done or don't do. I'm holding on to Christ
by faith in Him. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. Well, now if that's the case,
if you then be risen with Christ, and that if there is an evidential
if, in other words, this is evidence that you're saved, Seek those
things, look at verse one. Seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Now you see that? Don't set your affection. Now,
and he says your affection in verse two, he's talking about
your mind. In other words, People in religion,
even so-called Christians, they're so involved in the things of
the world, thinking that this in some way recommends them unto
God. And this is just not true. Now,
listen to me. I'm not telling Christians, true
Christians, to neglect their duties and responsibilities in
the world. We live in this world. Christ
told his disciples and when he prayed to his father, he talked
about his disciples and he said, they're in the world, but they're
not of the world. And that's the way a believer
is to see things. I'm in this world, you have responsibilities,
you have families, you have jobs, you have responsibilities that
you must take care of and God commands us to take care of.
We don't want to be like the one old preacher talked about
a fellow, he said he was so heavenly minded, he was no earthly good. We don't want to be that way.
We ought to be the best stewards of the things that God has blessed
us with, that we have a family. You fathers, you ought to be
the best fathers you can be. You mothers, the best mothers.
Husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, employees, bosses. You ought
to be kind and compassionate and responsible, all of these
things. Students, all of these things.
But here's what he's saying now. When it comes to salvation, when
it comes to a right relationship with God, when it comes to the
forgiveness of sins, I'm a sinner. I wanna be the best father, the
best grandfather, the best husband that I can be, you see, but I'm
still a sinner. If I could be the best husband,
the best father, the best grandfather that I could be on this earth,
a model citizen, that still would not make me righteous in God's
sight. Are you getting what I'm saying
here? Yes, I ought to do my best in all of those areas, but my
best will not recommend me unto God. My best will not gain me
entrance into heaven. My best will not justify me and
make me righteous before God. And my best will not wash me
clean from my sins. Now what will? Look at it again,
verse one. If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Now, what is Christ doing sitting
on the right hand of God? What does that mean? Well, first
of all, it means that Christ is the one and only one who reached heaven, reached the
very presence of God by his obedience, his obedience unto death. You
see, you and I, we cannot get to God and be accepted and be
honored by our works, but Christ did. And he didn't do it just
for himself, he did it for his people. And so, that's where
He is. He's passed through into the
heavens. After His death, burial, and
resurrection, He stood before His disciples. It's recorded
in the book of Acts chapter 1. And He ascended up into glory. He is the way to God. He's the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Him. So that's
where He is. He worked His way into heaven. Now you cannot work your way
into heaven, and I cannot work my way into heaven. There's not
one individual, I don't care who it is, how much they've done,
how much they've sacrificed, how much they've given, how sincere
they were, they cannot make it to heaven, they cannot be saved,
they cannot be justified, they cannot be righteous by their
works. There's only one person who ever accomplished that. And
that's the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's where
He is. Now it says, He sitteth at the
right hand. Now the right hand is the hand
of judgment. Christ was judged worthy to be
in the presence of the Father. The right hand is the hand of
fellowship. Christ is the second person of
the Godhead, the Son of God, eternal, but He's God-man, and
as the mediator of His people, as the Redeemer, He's accepted
into the fellowship. And then He sitteth, He sat down. You remember back in the Old
Covenant, in the tabernacle, there were There was all kinds
of different pieces of furniture. There was out in the outer court,
there was the brazen altar. And then there was another inner
court there called the holy place. We had the table of showbread,
the golden candlesticks, had the laver, all of that. And then you had the holiest
of all, the most holy place where the Ark of the Covenant was,
and the mercy seat, Aaron's rod that budded, all of that. Did
you know, have you ever noticed that there were no chairs in
that tabernacle? That's because the priestly duties
under the Old Covenant never allowed those priests, not even
the high priest, to sit down. And the reason they couldn't
sit down is the work was never finished. It was never completed. It was never perfected. The law
made nothing perfect. It was a continual, continual
service. But Christ, when He came to this
earth as the representative, the surety, the substitute of
His people, He redeemed them by His death on the cross and
He finished the work. John 19 30, it is finished. Hebrews 10, 14, for by one offering,
the offering of himself, he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. You see that? After he had purged
our sins, he sat down the works done. That's where he is. In
other words, it's based on a finished work. People today, even who
call themselves Christian, they look upon it as an unfinished
work. They say Christ died for every individual, But if you
don't complete it or don't seal the deal with your cooperation,
your decision, your faith, your repentance, then it's a failure. Oh no, my friend, that's not
the Christ of the Bible. He finished the work. And the
finishing of His work means the salvation of everyone for whom
He died. And they're risen with Him. Again, what we read in John
chapter six there. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, verse 37, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. But what is he doing in heaven
with the Father? Well, look at Romans chapter
eight and verse 31. Romans eight and verse 31. Paul
had been talking about salvation by grace. And he says in verse
31, what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us,
who can be against us? Now here's the question that
I would ask you reading that, how can I know that God is for
me and not against me? You know, as we go through this
life here on earth, we'll have good times and we'll have bad
times. We'll have times of much wealth
and then times of poverty. We'll have times of health and
times of sickness. We'll have times where everything
seems to be going well with our families and then we'll have
times when it looks like a disaster. And that's just the way of life.
Read the book of Ecclesiastes, there's a time for everything.
Now during those good times, it's natural for us to think
that God's blessing us and where he's for us. During those bad
times, it's natural for us to think He's against us. Well,
that's not necessarily true. That's walking by sight, not
by faith. Here's what I'm asking. If God be for us, who can be
against us, even in the bad times? So how can I know that God is
for me? Well, I'll tell you how you can
know that without fail. Are you looking to God's Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, for all salvation, for all righteousness, for all
forgiveness, for all life and glory? God said of Him, the Father
said of the Son, He said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased. Hear ye Him. The Bible says that
God accepts His people in the beloved, that's Christ. It's
in Christ. Well, look back here at Romans
8 verse 31, What shall we then say to these things? If God be
for us, who can be against us? Verse 32, He that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Now, who is the
all there? Well, people automatically go
to that and they say, well, that's everybody without exception.
No, it's not. Listen to it. For us all, how shall he not
with him, with Christ, also freely, unconditionally, without a cause,
give us all things? The all there are those who have
all things in Christ. They're the saved. evidence by
their being brought to faith in Christ. If you believe in
Christ, as he's identified in the Word, you can include yourself
in that all. But if you live your life in
unbelief and die in unbelief, you're not included in that all.
You understand what I'm saying? Well, how do you know that? Look
at verse 33 now. He says, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect. That's who they all are, the
elect. To whom God will not charge sin. He says it's God that justifies. It's God who declares them not
guilty. It's God who declares them righteous
in His sight. How can He do that? Because they
are sinners. They deserve nothing but death
and hell. But how can God justify them? How can God not charge
them with their sin and be just in doing so? How can He declare
them righteous, charge them with righteousness, and still be just?
Upon what basis? Well, He just told you. And He
tells you again, verse 34. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again. That's how. Their sins are not charged to
them, they've been charged to Christ. He's my surety. He took
my debt. The Lord laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. That's all His sheep. And in
return, He imputed, charged, accounted Christ's righteousness
to me, so I stand in Him. I'm not righteous in myself.
I'm saved by grace, I'm a sinner saved by grace. Now one day I
will be perfect in myself, but that's when I leave this life
and go to be with the Lord. Well, look on at verse 34 now.
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again. Now set your affection on things
above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father.
He's even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession
for us. He's making intercession for
His people. He's the High Priest. He's Jesus Christ the Righteous,
who is the propitiation for the sins of His people. And my friend,
as long as Christ intercedes for His people, they cannot be
lost again. These churches that tell you
you can be lost, but then lose that salvation, They're not looking
to Christ. They're not setting their affection
on things about, they're not holding on to Christ. The only
way I could lose my salvation is if Christ stopped interceding
for me. The only way I can lose my salvation
is if Christ the King was taken off of his throne. But that will
never happen. And therefore, Paul, in the last
part of that chapter, he says, who shall separate us from the
love of God in Christ? And he says, nobody. We cannot
be separate if we're in Him. Now go back to Colossians 3.
Read verse one again. Here's what he says. If you then
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, ever living to make intercession. Now verse two, set your affection,
your mind. Now that doesn't mean just your
intellect. That means your very heart. Set
your heart. on things above, not on things
on the earth. Now there are things in this
life on this earth that we love. Husbands love your wives, wives
love your husbands. We love our children and all
of that. But again, when it comes to salvation,
and a right relationship with God and justification before
God. Our love for our wives, you wives
for your husbands, our love for our children will not accomplish
that. For that we have to set our affections,
our minds, our hearts on things above where Christ sitteth at
the right hand of God. And he says, that's where our
affections are to be, we're to follow Christ. In verse three
he says, for you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ
in God. Verse four, when Christ who is
our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory.
That's the key. What is the assurance of final
glory? Well, it's the fact that Christ
is my life. I died with Him. I was buried
with Him. I rose with Him. He is seated
at the right hand of the Father everliving to make intercession
for me. He's coming again. And he'll
receive his people unto himself. He'll gather up his church unto
himself. And let me tell you something
about that. That's not gonna be a secret rapture where people just start
disappearing. That's not biblical. That's science
fiction. He's gonna come with a shout
in the heavens. And he's bringing those who have
gone on to be with him, with him when he's coming. And the
dead in Christ shall rise first and they'll be caught up together.
That's the rapture in a very public way. And after that will
be the judgment where all who are in Christ will be judged
out of the one book. And that one book has one account,
righteous in Christ, forgiven, washed in the blood of Christ.
And all who are without Christ, they'll be judged out of the
books, plural, because it contains their works which testify against
them that they are not washed from their sins and they are
not righteous, they're guilty and deserve condemnation. The
assurance of final glory is that when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, we'll appear with him in glory. And then we who
are in Him will spend eternity in uninterrupted, perfect fellowship
with God in Christ. And that's the hope, risen with
Christ. That's the hope. He's at the
right hand of the Father. Now, again, and I wanna emphasize
this, this is not, as I mentioned earlier, like the guy who said
he's so heavenly minded, he's no earthly good. We're to be
good stewards of the things that God has given us here on earth.
We're to be good witnesses of the gospel. And remember, the
witness is not our works, but our truth, our gospel, our message. Now again, we don't want our
conduct on this earth to hinder that witness. But we have to
understand that when we do the best we can, that man by nature
will hate the light of the gospel because it exposes his deeds
as being evil. See, he's involved in the things
of this world that he thinks recommends him unto God. His
love, his purpose, his affections, his mind, his heart is set on
things of the earth. Like, for example, having your
best life now. Well, if this is the best life
that we're gonna have, my friend, we're of all men most miserable.
Now, we wanna make life as good as we can here on earth in the
eyes of men, but there's nothing good in the eyes of God here
on this earth. It's all sin, it's all curse. God's gonna burn
this world up. He's gonna create a new heavens
and a new earth, and his people will live with Christ in the
new heavens and the new earth. So understand that this is all,
all conditioned on, based upon what Christ himself, the God-man,
accomplished in His obedience unto death, His death, burial,
and resurrection as the representative, the surety, the substitute, the
redeemer, and now the intercessor, the mediator of His people. There's one God one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Now, the command
is set your affection on things above, not on things of this
earth. Don't be involved in the legalistic
religiosity, human false holiness that people get involved in today,
which is going to perish, tasting not, touching not, handling not.
Be good stewards, all of that. Be temperate, moderate in all
things, but don't get involved with the law religion, the legal
religion that people try to draw you into in order to think that
you're some way humble, holy, or righteous, or that you can
recommend yourself unto God by your own power and your own goodness
and your own will. That's false religion, false
religion. hold on to Christ, cling to Christ,
set your affection on things above, where Christ is seated
at the right hand of the Father. And remember this, all righteousness
is in Him. Romans 10, four, for Christ is
the end, the fulfillment, the perfection, the finishing of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. Then
it says, for with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness. In other words, with the heart,
man in faith, the new heart, that's the heart that God gives
us in the new birth, with the new heart, man believes in Christ,
unto righteousness, which is in Christ, and not in ourselves. Now the hope of glory that the
Bible talks about, which this verse in Colossians chapter three
talked about, The hope of glory is in Christ because Christ is
our hope. He's the consolation. He's the
hope. He's the forerunner. He's the redeemer. He's the resurrected
one who is the first fruits of all of his people. And he's the
one who sits in heaven having finished that work. So set your
affection on him, risen with Christ. Hope you'll join us next
week for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
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today and may the Lord be with you.