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. So after a year, tonight, well
last week when we would have met, would have marked one year
of being preaching through the book of Colossians. And after
a year of preaching on Colossians, Here we've come to chapter three
in our study. Brother Henry Mahan commented,
and I like this, this could be called, this chapter, chapter
three could be called the attitude and conduct of the believer.
So Paul has been establishing, right, the foundational work
of who Christ is, what he's done. He's laid that down for the Colossian
believers. It's been evident that the all-sufficiency
of Christ has been set before us. Set before us. The fact that there's salvation
in no other. Now he's going to deal with the
attitude and the conduct of life. Here it becomes, you know, now
we're going to flesh it out. We're going to flesh out what
we believe. So the attitude and conduct of the believer. Take
a look at this. And for further study, you might
want to jot this down. But look at how Brother Henry
broke this down. This could be called the attitude
and conduct of the believer as it deals with nearly every area
of our life. And just write this down if you
want. Verses 1 to 4 is our attitude towards the material world and
spiritual things. Verses 1 to 4. Verses 5 to 9,
our attitude towards sin. and toward the flesh, toward
the old man, and towards his deeds. And we'll look at these
as we go through the chapter in this study of chapter 3. In
verses 10 to 15, our attitude toward other people, both in
the church and outside the church. In verses 16 to 17, our attitude
towards the Word of God, and towards worship, and towards
the ministry of the Word. And in the last eight verses,
verses 18 to 25, as we journey through this chapter, we'll see
our attitude towards those to whom we have been joined together
in human relationships, our family members, our church members,
our church family. And so this is going to reveal
to us, too, our attitude and conduct. And Paul's showing them,
if you be risen with Christ, and we're going to see, this
should be our attitude and conduct. This is what, similar to what
Jean-Claude and I were talking about, transforming grace, right? If we're saved, our lives, we're
transformed, right? We're new creatures in Christ.
That's where the fruit of the Spirit has worked in us. Right? We love those whom we didn't
love before. We love the Word of God. We love
the One whom we didn't love before. It's transforming grace. It'll
be manifested in our lives. It'll be manifested in our lives. And always I pray that this study
will be a rich study for us and that the Holy Spirit will illuminate
it for us. So we've seen in the first two
chapters, again, that Paul has set forth the preeminence of
Christ and the all-sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ, both
in creation, in providence, and in salvation. So that's been
evidently set forth in the first two chapters. And we'll be quick
to give him all the glory, right, and praise. And we see Paul do
that. He's quick to give all the glory and all the honor and
all the praise to Christ. Why? Because he's the one who
receives the preeminence, not the preacher, right? The Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the one who receives all
the preeminence, all of it, all of it. So last week we looked
at how the heretics, the false teachers had a show of, or not
last week, two weeks ago, a show of wisdom in will worship, which
was self-righteousness, right? The will worship was self-righteousness.
And humility, we saw that that was false humility. the last
time we met together. And neglecting of the body, that
was abstaining from certain things, to do certain things and not
to do certain things. Right? And we see that in verse 23. Which things have indeed a show
of wisdom and will, worship and humility, and neglecting the
body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Okay. And all these things the false
teachers were promoting for people to gain merit and favor with
God. And we know from studying the scriptures that we cannot
gain merit and favor with God by what we do. I know that's
a nail I keep hidden, but that's what we do. We preach against
works-based religion. No matter what. Because we are
wired. We are wired. We come into this world naturally
wired for works. We do. Give a man something to
do, he'll run to it. Tell him it's free grace, he'll
run away from it. He'll run away from it. Unless
God makes him well. Unless God makes him well. So
let's note again here in verse 20, chapter 2 and we see the
tie-in tonight with the preceding verses all the way from 20 all
the way through the next chapter. Wherefore if you be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world why as though living
in the world are you subject to ordinances? And again we looked
at our study of verse 20 how we're crucified with Christ and
how we're risen with Christ. And tonight's verse sets that
before us beloved. Look at our look at our text.
If ye then If ye then, you who are dead with Christ, if ye then
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. So Paul brings forth
before the Colossian believers the fact, now think of this,
the fact that they are raised with Christ. The fact. He's not doubting, is he? He's
not doubting. If ye then be risen with Christ.
Believers are raised with Christ. So he's bringing forth the fact,
this is not a hypothetical situation, but beloved, this is a truth
proclaimed. Just as verse 20 of chapter 2,
wherefore if ye were dead with Christ, remember Paul said in
Galatians, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.
So Paul was writing to Colossian believers, those who've been
redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb on Calvary's cross.
He's writing to those who have been identified in the death
and resurrection of Christ. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter six. Those who have been identified
in the death and resurrection of Christ. Romans chapter six,
we'll look at verses two to 11. He's writing to believers. And
it's evident here, if ye then be risen with Christ. Who is
risen with Christ? Believers. The elect of God. The elect of God. Look at Romans
6, verses 2-11. God forbid, how shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so
many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into
his death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been planted
together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the
likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with Him. Remember Galatians? I'm crucified
with Christ. That the body of sin might be
destroyed. That henceforth we should not
serve sin. For he that is dead is what?
Oh, that was a marvelous verse. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. Oh my. Now if we be dead with
Christ, 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.
So Christ's resurrection was a physical resurrection, wasn't
it? Ours is a spiritual resurrection in Him, in Him. And think of this. We who believe
have been raised from the spiritually deadness we were in. We've been
raised. We've been raised to newness
of life. Raised from spiritual death to spiritual life. Born
again. And Christ said, ye must be born
again. You must be born again. And we
looked at in chapter two that the believing Colossians were
dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, right? We looked
at that. They were buried with him in baptism. They were risen
with him through faith in the operation of God, right? It's
a work of the Holy Spirit of God. You were circumcised with
a circumcision made without hands. That's the new birth, beloved.
We saw that we were not in bondage to traditions and doctrines of
men. Therefore, Paul here sets before them and before us too. Remember this. This was written
to the Colossian believers. Years and years, thousands of
years, right? But it's for us here right now,
too. Isn't that amazing? It's set
forth right before us. Paul here sets before them and
us that which we are to seek to walk in the newness of life
in Christ. We are to walk in the newness
of life in Christ. And note the words in our text,
that we are to seek the things above. We are to seek the things
above. Look at verse 1. If ye then be
risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. So we are to seek, in
the newness of life we have in Christ, we are to seek the things
above. The things above. Weist, in the
word studies in his great comments, says this. The things above be
constantly seeking. In the Greek, it's be constantly
seeking. Constantly seeking. The word things here, he says,
is an empathetic position, contrasting the things above with those things
the heretics were seeking. See, Paul's contrasting. What
the heretics were seeking after, touch not, taste not, the rudiments
of the world. And what the believer, what we're
supposed to seek, the things of God. Look to Christ. That's why the preacher always
says, look to Christ. Look to him alone. Don't look
to yourself, look to him. So Paul's pointing the Colossian
believers to look to Christ, where he sits. Where is he right
now? Where's Christ right now? He's seated at the right hand
of the Father. See what Paul's doing? He's just pointing them
right to him. Right to Christ. Right to Christ. And also, think
of this. The false teachers tell you to
look to what you do. Don't they? Any false teaching
will tell you to look to what you do. What's Paul doing? Look at what Christ has done.
Look at what he's done. Look to him. And what does a
believer in Christ do? Looks and lives. And we just
keep looking. We just keep looking. Just keep
looking to Christ. So, if ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits
on the right hand of God. Christ is not only the object
of our faith, but beloved, he's the source of our life, isn't
he? Both physical and spiritual.
Therefore, we who believe are to keep our hearts and our minds
fixed upon him. Fixed upon him. Therefore, we
are to seek those things which are above. And Paul, having set
the union between Christ and the believer before the Colossians,
which he did in the chapter before, shows them that they are to seek
no other but Him. No other but Him. If you are
one who has been crucified with Christ, one who has died with
Christ, one who has risen with Christ, one who has been redeemed
by His precious blood, one who is born again by the Holy Spirit
of God, one who has been raised with Christ, one who is seated
with Christ in the heavens, if you are a child of God, if you
are one who hath by faith received the Lord Jesus Christ, then you
are no longer fleshy people. You're spiritual people. Therefore,
the following will be true. and will be a desire. We will
desire to seek things above. We will desire to seek Christ. And again, for we who believe,
just look back before the Lord saved you, what you used to seek. It's not the same, is it? Not
the same. Now we desire Christ. Now we
desire Him. So we are to seek these things which are from above. Here are a few points. We seek
not just giving a mental assent to these things either, but we
seek these things if we're risen with Christ. So if you're risen
with Christ, then you'll be seeking this, a pardon of sin. Pardon
of sin. You'll seek a sincere fellowship
with the living God. And these things are things we
should continue to seek. Even though we know we have a
pardon of sin, what are we to do when we sin? If we sin, we're to confess our
sin. And He's faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We are to seek an assurance of our salvation and our interest
in Christ. Make your election and calling sure. We are to seek, and if you're
risen with Christ, you will be seeking the life of Christ to
be manifest in you by His work. You will be seeking
the fruit of the Holy Spirit, knowing that it's Him that has
to work in us. But we still seek it, don't we? You seek to be desiring a growth in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you want to
learn about them? We do, don't we? That's why we
come to hear the gospel preached. We desire for the Holy Spirit
to teach us, to guide us. And we can hear a text, we can
hear a text a hundred times. And then one day, the Lord just
light it up for us. And it's marvelous. It's marvelous. Wonderful. If you're risen with
Christ, you'll be seeking to have a part in the resurrection
of the dead. As Paul said, that I might attain the resurrection
of the dead. And we will be seeking, not just
agreeing, but seeking eternal glory in heaven. Oh, my. I ask you, beloved. We're anxious,
aren't we, to be in glory with our Lord. Oh my. And these are
just a few, just a few of the things that the believer diligently
seeks for. And they all find, note, note,
they all find their end in Christ. They all find their end in Him.
And this is where Paul points the Colossian believers. He points
them right to Christ. The Lord's kingdom is not of
this world. We seek a better country, don't
we? We seek a better country. We seek a heavenly country. We
seek to be in the Lord's presence. Psalm 17, 15 says this, As for
me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. In righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. We're being conformed to the
image of Christ. And when we dwell here upon this
earth, we're in a strange country, beloved. We're in a strange country. All the time looking for a better
country. All the time looking for a better
country. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews
chapter 11. Oh, beloved, we have a lively
hope. A great hope that's founded in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we keep looking to Him. And we know one day we will be
in glory with Him. 1 Peter 1, 3 and 4 says this,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance incorruptible. and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you. Heaven is a better country,
beloved." Look at Hebrews 11, verses 9 and 10. By faith He
sojourned in the land of promise. Hebrews 11, verses 9 and 10. Oh, we seek a better country.
By faith He sojourned in the land of promises in a strange
country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs
with Him of the same promise. For He looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Oh, we seek
a better country, Lord, where our inheritance is incorruptible
and undefiled. Oh, my. We seek Christ in His
righteousness, don't we? We seek Christ in His righteousness.
Turn, if you would, to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter
3. And we know from Ephesians 1-3
that all spiritual blessings are in the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him alone. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. We look to Christ and Him alone.
We look to Him alone. And this is where Paul is pointing.
He's pointing the Colossian believers to Christ, to look to Christ.
Look at Philippians 3, 9-11. And be found in Him, in Christ,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. that I may know Him and the power
of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being made
conformable unto His death, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead." Paul was seeking to attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. Knowing that it wasn't based
upon his works, but he's continually looking to Christ. He's continually
seeking Him. My. And we are to seek all spiritual
blessings in Christ. And again, the kingdom of Jesus
Christ is not of this world, is it? The only reason this world
still exists, you know, the only reason this world still exists
is because there are some of the Lord's sheep that are still
lost. That's the only reason the world still exists. Because
there's some of the Lord's sheep that are still lost that have
not yet been delivered from the power of darkness. But oh, when
it's all finished. Oh, my. And we know that those
lost sheep, we know, we know that those lost sheep shall be
found, right? They shall be, there's no doubt.
They shall be found. He found us, didn't he? He found us. The way some folks
talk in religion, you think God can't find the sheep, but we
know he will find his sheep. He'll find them all. Every one
he, every one he poured his blood out for, that he shed his blood
on Calvary's cross, they shall be found. And we know that those
lost sheep, by God's authority, by God's decree, will be drawn
in, and not one of them will be lost. Not one of them will
be lost. And this is my Father's will,
which has sent me, that of all He hath given me, I should lose
nothing. There's eternal security. Out with the rubbish that folks
say you can lose your salvation. And of all what you have given
me, I should lose nothing. Oh, my Lord. Aren't you thankful your salvation
is not dependent upon you, but it's dependent upon Christ and
Him alone? But you'd raise it up again at the last day. The
lost sheep which have not been found will be found, and they
will be delivered, and they will be bought into a living union.
with the true and living God, our exalted Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who purchased them with His own precious blood on
Calvary's cross. And this is the one who Paul
tells us to set our minds upon. Set our minds upon the one who
is our blessed surety. The one who has redeemed His
people with His own blood. The one who has all power and
authority in heaven. and rules and reigns right now.
We are to set our minds, set our thoughts upon Him, upon Him. So when storms come, and they
will, and they swirl, don't they? They do in our lives. We're to
set our minds upon Christ and Him alone. Look again at our text. It says,
if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. And let us think
on our wonderful Savior. Let us set our minds upon Him.
Let us think of our wonderful Savior. He is Jesus Christ, the
God. Jesus Christ the Godman. He is
the blessed and only potentate. He is the King of Kings. And
He is the Lord of Lords. And He is seated right now. Our
text says here, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God. He is seated on the eternal throne. Right now. Right now. And earth is His footstool. That's our Savior. That's our
God. And let us ponder this as we
seek the things above, that the throne of our Lord Jesus Christ
is established forever and ever and ever. It's spoken of in the
Old Testament and in the New. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
45, and then put your finger in Hebrews 1.8. This throne is
spoken of. Oh, His throne. It's an everlasting
throne, beloved. And think of this. This is the
one who keeps us. This is the one who's redeemed
us. This is the one who the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us. Remember on Sunday we saw in
Isaiah chapter 6, where Isaiah got a glimpse of who he was?
He was eating dirt, wasn't he, after that. Right in his face,
right? That's how we are, too. We get
a glimpse of our Savior. We just get a glimpse through
the Word of God. Look at Psalm 45, verse 6. Thy throne, O God,
is forever and ever. That means it has no end. No
end. The scepter of thy kingdom is
a right scepter. The king held the scepter in
his hand. Oh, he has such power, beloved. And then turn over to
Hebrews 1, verse 8. Look at this. In Psalm 45, I'll read it again
as you're turning to Hebrews 1.8. Psalm 45. Thy throne, O
God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is
a right scepter. And look at Hebrews 1.8. Look
at this. But unto the Son he saith. And
remember what he said in Psalm 45.6. Thy throne, O God. Look at this. But unto the Son he saith. Thy
throne, O God. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. God incarnated in the flesh.
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Do you see, when we set our minds
upon who He really is, it fills us with awe. He's God. He's God. And if He's revealed
Himself to you, give Him all the praise and glory. This is who He is. This is who
Scripture declares He is. The Lord Jesus Christ, Thy throne,
O God, is forever. So if His throne is forever,
and He sits upon the throne, and I'm saved, I died with Him,
and I'm raised with Him, again, that's eternal security. Because
our salvation is in Him, in Him alone. the one whose scriptures
declare, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of
righteousness, is a scepter of Thy kingdom. Let us remember,
beloved, as we ponder these precious truths about our great Redeemer,
that again, this world is not our home. It's not our home.
God's people confess that we are pilgrims and sojourners We're
just passing through this world, aren't we, on the way to our
heavenly home. We're just passing through. In
our life, Brother Chet was mentioning, I thought it was really neat,
Chet, as we were talking today, and Brother Chet was mentioning
that he was outside the other night, and he looked over, and
he let that breath out, and the vapor went out. Well, that's
what our life's like, too, though. It goes out, and then it's gone. We're just pilgrims. We're just
passing through, beloved, on our way to our permanent abode
in heaven, where we will see our King face to face. Oh, my. We are just like Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, who were heirs of promise, All of us who are
heirs of promise look for a city which has foundations whose builder
and maker is God, right? We look to be in glory with our
Lord and Savior. We looked at it in Hebrews 11.
And again, Abraham looked for that permanent abode in heaven,
didn't he? That's what we look for too. We look to Christ. We look to him. And all Abraham's
hopes and all Abraham's expectations upon the world to come were centered
in Christ. And his faith rested in Christ,
rested in Christ alone. Oh my, what a great God we have.
And since his faith was centered upon Christ, it moved him to
obey Christ. The love of Christ constrains
us from sin. Oh, we seek our Savior. And so
let us remember this, beloved of God, that our God has given
us richly all things to enjoy. He's given us richly all things
to enjoy, hasn't He? But we don't sink our roots in
here, do we? We don't sink our roots into this world. No, we're
just passing through. We're just passing through, beloved. Everything we see with the physical
eye, think of this. The reason we don't dig our roots
in here, because everything we see with the physical eye, everything,
is going to come to an end. It's going to come to an end.
The things of this life, beloved, are temporal. And let us remember,
this includes our heartaches. This includes our trials. This
includes our pain. They're all temporal. Well, we
live on this earth, and all the sorrows of it will soon be like
our lives. All those heartaches, all those
trials will soon be just like our lives of vapor God. And we'll be with our Savior
for eternity. For eternity. Isn't it marvelous?
Isn't it wonderful? He would have set our minds upon
those things. Set our minds upon those things.
So our text here admonishes us to seek those things which are
above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. In this
verse, in the next three, this verse and the next three, they
stir up the believer to focus on the true end of our walk here
on this earth. Truth look at this if ye then
be risen with Christ seek those things which are above Where
Christ is on the right hand of God set your affection right
on things above not on the 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 ye also appear with him in glory.
Oh My So we are to focus our verse tonight and all the way
to four, stir up the believer to focus on the true end of our
walk here. The true end of our walk, which
is we will be in glory with our Lord. And our Lord and Savior
dwells in heaven right now, seated at the right hand of the Father.
And this is the true end of our faith, to be in the presence
of our Lord and to worship Him and to adore Him for eternity. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Now, seeking here implies labor,
and this has nothing to do with our salvation, because our salvation
is in Christ and Him alone. It was all accomplished by the
Lord Jesus Christ, our salvation. Here before us in our text is
an exhortation Do not set our minds upon the things of the
earth. Do not set our hearts and our minds on the things,
but to set our hearts and our minds on the things of Christ
and Him alone, who dwells above. Now think of
this. If we're setting our minds on
things above, on things of Christ, where are our eyes not looking? I have to remind myself all the
time. Look to Christ. Because if I'm looking to Him,
I'm not looking. I'm not saying we're ignoring
those things. But we're not going to let them
consume us, are we? No. Oh my. And I have to, I'll tell
you, this is speaking to me. My. Oh my. And this requires diligent spiritual
effort, one commentator said on our part, and this is a spiritual
effort that we do not have in our unregenerate state. Let us ponder this, the same
power that regenerated us, the power of the Holy Spirit of God
is the same power that enables us to see the things above, to
set our minds upon Christ. to set our hearts upon Christ,
who is seated at the right hand of the Father. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, the great shepherd of his sheep, sought us out when
we were sheep that had gone astray. He sent his Spirit into our hearts.
He moved us to diligently seek him. Beloved, He continues to
work in us that which is well pleasing in His sight. He works
in us that which is well pleasing in His sight. When His children
seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated in the
right hand of God, this pleases the One who loved us and gave
Himself to us. When we come to worship service,
it takes diligent spiritual effort to rid our minds of worldly thoughts,
doesn't it? It does. It does. And worldly
concerns. Spiritual effort can only be
accomplished by God's Spirit working in us. Working in us. And by our sincere prayer for
Him to rid our minds of those things that would distract us.
from worshiping Him. We come to worship the Lord Jesus
Christ, we seek comfort, don't we? We seek comfort. We seek
direction from God through the preaching of His Word. And we
do it sincerely. It's like the manna that fell
every day. The manna was new every day. We seek it through the preaching
of His Word, don't we? Fresh manna. Fresh manna. I remember one old saint tell
me, the manna that fell yesterday wasn't for today. That's why the manna had to be
fresh every day. Oh, I'll never forget that. That's
why we seek Him. Set your mind on things above.
We diligently seek Him each day. Each day. Fresh manna. Fresh manna. And we get fresh
manna when the Gospel's preached. When the Gospel's preached. We
are to seek those things which have eternal value. which are
the truths of God's gospel. Our minds are fixed upon Christ
and His gospel, fixed on Christ who is seated at the right hand
of God. Again, our text says, if ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
26. Matthew 26. And we looked at earlier in our
study tonight that our Lord is upon a sovereign throne, isn't
He? He's a God who rules and reigns upon the sovereign throne,
and that throne is fixed. That's an everlasting throne.
It will never be moved. What a great God we serve. What
a great God we have. Look at Matthew 26, verses 63
and 64. Matthew 26, verses 63 to 64. Look at this. But Jesus held
his peace, and the high priest answered and said unto him, I
adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou
be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast
said, nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the
Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in
the clouds of heaven. So our king said he would sit
upon the right hand of power. And that's where Paul's telling
the Colossian believers, you set your mind upon Him. You set
your mind upon Him. Ponder this. Look at these words. Look at these words of the Master
in this verse. Hereafter shall you see the Son
of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds
of heaven. Now think on this. Every single human being will
one day see the Son of Man sitting in the right hand of power. And
they will either see Him as their Savior or they will see Him as
their Judge. And note the chilling words.
Note this, though. Note the chilling words here
to the religious leaders who have, by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, took Christ and had Him crucified.
Look at these chilling words. Hereafter shall ye see the Son
of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds
of heaven. Oh, my. Oh, every knee shall
bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father. And this is prophesied in the
Old Testament. In Psalm 110.1 it says this,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until
I make thine enemies thy footstool. And it's fulfilled in the New
Testament in Hebrews 12, too, where it says, So we see that
this is something that's written about continuously in the New
Testament, that Christ is seated at the right hand of a father. And beloved, we who believe on
Christ, we worship God in spirit and in truth, don't we? In spirit
and in truth. Turn, if you would, to John 4,
verse 24, and then put your finger back in our text. And then we'll
close with a few words after that. Look at John chapter 4,
verse 24. All we who believe, we worship
God in spirit and in truth. And we seek, we seek those things
which are above, don't we? Look at this. God is a spirit. And they that worship Him must
worship Him, what? In spirit and in truth. Oh, you
must be born again. And the truth is in the Word.
And who is the truth? Jesus Christ So Paul has pointed
the Colossian believers. Let's go back to our text Paul
has pointed the caution believers to Christ and he has told them
to seek the things which are above and we see in our text
We see in the next verse also in our text that we are to set
our our affections on things above and not on things in the
earth look at Colossians 3 verse 1 no and If ye then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. And then the next verse
says, set your affection on things above, not on the things on the
earth. Here are a few more things that
we are to seek. We are to seek those things that make our calling and election
sure. Search the Scriptures. Make your
calling and election sure. We are to seek those things that
flood our souls with peace and joy, which for the believer is
the things of Christ, the things of Christ. We are to seek Christ
and His righteousness under the preaching and teaching of God's
Word. And that righteousness is imputed
to us who believe. But it's in Christ. Again, you
see, everything is in Christ. We are to seek or ponder those
things which our Lord Jesus accomplished for us. Ponder. Ponder through
the week. Those things which Christ accomplished
for you while he was living on this earth. Just ponder that. He fulfilled the law. He really,
literally fulfilled the law in my place. It'll bring you joy. It'll bring you joy. Oh my. And we are to seek those things
that bring glory and honor to our great majestic God. And we are to seek the Lord Jesus
Christ, for He is the one, He is the only one that we have
salvation in. We are to keep our eye of faith
upon Him. We are to keep our eye of faith
upon Him and not let anything move us away from the hope of
the Gospel. Someone says something, I'm going
to keep my eyes on Christ. Someone offends you, I'm going
to keep my eyes on Christ. Just keep focused upon Him. Just
keep focused upon Him. Not let anything move us away
from the hope of the gospel. And Jesus Christ is seated at
the right hand of God right now. Right now. Right this second.
Right this second. In the next second, and all the
way into eternity. He's on a fixed throne, isn't
he? Seated at the right hand of God as our great high priest. And think of that. He's seated
at the right hand of God as our great high priest right now.
He's interceding for you and I, for we who believe. Oh, what a God. What a Savior. interceding for all his chosen
blood-bought people who he purchased on Calvary's cross. And let us
remember this. Let us ponder this. He's the
only mediator between God and man. He's the only one God will
accept. And you who believe are accepted
in him. Isn't it wonderful? Doesn't it
fill your heart with joy? And think of this. This will
give us hope for our family members because He saved us, right? But
He's able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by Him. He'll not turn one away, will
He? He did not turn one away. All who come to Him, He saves.
And as our Sovereign Lord, let us remember this. Now, let us
remember this as we see things go on, His trials come into our
lives. That is our Sovereign Lord, our
King, that He's working all things after the counsel of His own
will, making sure that all things...
Think of this. Now, think of this. Not just in our lives. And I mentioned this on Sunday.
And I've been thinking about it even more, not just the things
in our life, but for everything in this whole world and this
universe is all working, all working according to the counsel
of His own will. And then for His people, they're
all working for our good and for His glory. Down to the little insect or
the organism that we can't even see. Think of that. It's all working
for our good and for His glory. So let us set our hearts and
minds upon our great God and King, the Lord Jesus Christ. And may God the Holy Spirit give
us grace and strength to do so, to keep our minds upon Him, to
set our minds upon the Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the
Father. And God's people will say amen,
won't they? Oh, we desire that, don't we? We desire that. Gracious
Heavenly Father, we come before Thy throne. We pray that You
would help us to seek the things above, to not set our minds upon
the things of this world. Oh, help us, Lord Jesus, to seek
the things above, to seek the things of You, Lord Jesus, to
set our affections upon Thee. Oh Lord Jesus, we love Thee and
give You all the praise and glory because You first loved us. In
Jesus' name, Amen.