Turn to Colossians 3. This was definitely the shortest
drive to preach I've had in a while. We've been down to North Carolina
the last two weekends. That gets to be a long drive.
But we enjoyed it, had good company, had good fellowship. It seemed
that the Lord blessed. And that's what's important.
the Lord blessing us and being with us. Nothing else matters,
does it? Absolutely nothing else matters.
It's that we have His presence and His blessing. I ask you this question. What is your heart set on? What is it set on? It's set on
something. Something has my heart, and whatever
it is, has me. It has me. Paul tells us here to set our
affection on things above. The Christian life is not rules. It is not regulations. It is not Ceremonies, going through
ceremonies. As Paul says over in chapter
two, it's not, touch not, taste not, handle not. Then what is
it? What is it? What is it to truly
be a Christian? And you know that name is so
abused in our day. It's so abused. But what is it
to be a child of God? Well, first of all, it's spiritual.
It is spiritual life. It's not of this flesh. Even
though we still live in the flesh, we are not of this world. The Lord said in John 17, 16, they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. How real is that to you? I want to know this, and I ask
myself this quite often as I've gotten older. How real is Jesus
Christ to me? How real is the Kingdom of God
to me? How real is it? I mentioned that,
or made that statement in North Carolina. And a man in the congregation
came up to me afterwards, and he said, Sometimes, he said, I think we
get lost in thinking it's more like a fairy tale or a fantasy.
We forget how real it is. That spiritual life, that spiritual
kingdom, and Christ, and salvation, and eternity, and our union with
Him is very, very real. It's as real as this I'm standing
here. It's that real. Abraham, when he was called to
go out, it says he looked for a city whose builder and maker
is God. That's how real it was to him.
He was looking for a city. And the builder of that city,
he said, is God. Not of men, but of God. Now, it says here, In verse 1, if,
oh, that's a big word. That's a big word, isn't it? If you are not a tare, but you're
actually a wheat. If you're not a goat, you're
actually a sheep. And you're not a wolf, then seek
those things that are above. Set your heart on those things.
Or Paul is saying it this way. or seeing, since he's writing
to the church of God here, he's writing to believers, seeing
that you're risen with Christ. If it's so, if it's really so,
that you are risen with Christ, that you are joined with Him,
then seek those things which are above. Paul's telling us this because
he wants to warn us of those who would try to come and And
they would interject works or over in chapter two he says that
they touch not, taste not, handle not and philosophy of men and
he warns against this. And the only way, the truest
way to be protected of this is our hearts, our affection, our
mind is set on Christ. If it's set on, if it's truly
set, fixed, that's what it is, fixed on him. Now, he starts here, if ye then
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. This is our life here.
Now, this is our life now. This is how we are to live. This
is how we are to live now. And it starts with our thoughts,
doesn't it? Our affection, our mind. That's
one way to keep from being duped. is to set your mind on things
above where the Lord sits, at God's right hand. Solomon said
this, As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. We are what we think, just as
we are what we eat. We are what we think. And we
are responsible for our thoughts. I'm responsible for my thoughts.
It's my mind. It's your mind. Look over in
2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10. Look in verse 5. Casting down imaginations, reasonings. and every high thing that exalts
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ." Bringing every thought that passes
through my mind unto the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone
said, this is true intellectual liberty, when we can bring every
thought before the Lord, when we can bring every thought and
subject it, present it before Him, having every thought subject
to obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Obedience starts in the
heart. It starts in the heart. That's
why Solomon said, Son, give me thine heart. Give me thy heart. The Lord said this one time,
what think ye of Christ? What do you think? What do you
think of Christ? What's your thoughts of Christ?
You know this, here is one thing that determines whether I'm lost
or saved. What are my thoughts of Christ? We can have our doctrine right,
while our heart is still wrong. We can. We can. I sat down late last
night. I thought about this, and then
I sat down and wrote these out last night. And I thought, this
is what I want. I can say this, as I've gotten
older, the desire of my heart is that my heart be right with
God. David said this, give me a clean heart and a right spirit. Give me a clean heart and a right
spirit. That's what I want. I am more concerned right now. When I was young, let me put
it this way. When I was young, when I was young, I was more
concerned about dying and going to hell. Now that I'm older, I'm more
concerned with the hell that's killing me. That's what I'm concerned
with. I'm concerned with that wretched,
Paul said, that old wretched man that I am. I'm more concerned
with overcoming indwelling sin than I am anything else. As David said, let not any sin,
any sin, have dominion over me. Let not any iniquity have dominion
over me. I'm more concerned with that.
Here's what I'm more concerned with now. I love your enemies. How's that working out for you?
I know you believe the doctrine of election. I know you believe
particular redemption. I know you believe that. Some
of you cut your teeth on it. You grew up under that, that's
all you've known. How's love and your enemy going?
That's what I find trouble with. I'm having trouble with that.
Pray for those who despitefully use you. How's that going? I tell you what, through Christianity,
it's not so much found in the doctrines that we hold, because
if you believe the gospel, you're going to believe the doctrines.
You're going to get it right. You're going to get it right.
But the problem I see, and I see where true Christianity lies,
is this. Love your enemies. Pray for them
who despitefully use you. When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was naked, you clothed
me. That's what I'm concerned with. Those things. Those are the things that I'm
troubled about. Those are the things that I fight with. I'm
not going to fuss with somebody over an election. If they don't
believe it, they don't believe it. I told a young man the other day, he
was asking me about to call to preach, like I know something
about that. I'm like, you're talking to the
wrong man. Because I don't know that you ever really know it.
You just do it. You just do it. But I told him, I said, don't
get caught up in fighting with religion. The Lord said to Peter, Peter,
do you love me? And what did he tell him to do?
Feed my sheep. Peter had such an attitude about
him, such a personality about him, that he would have just
jumped right in the face of those Pharisees. He'd have jumped right,
straddled those Sadducees. And he'd have been fighting those
and the sheep would have been starved to death. I said, I'll give you this piece
of advice. Feed the sheep. Don't get caught up fighting
somebody. I believe in elections. You don't believe in elections.
So what? You're never going to believe it unless God saves you.
And if you do, there's a lot of people in hell who believe
it. That doesn't save you. I told them there's no one in
hell who loves Christ. No one there loves Him. Pray for those who despitefully
use you. Which would you rather have?
What do you really want? A clean heart and a right spirit
or do you just don't want to go to hell? Which one? Well, I'd say there's a big difference
in that. There's a big difference. If our hearts are set on things
above, where Christ sits at the Father's right hand, that's when
we will grow in grace and in knowledge of Him. When it's set
on Him. When He becomes that real to
you. When Jesus Christ is not someone who lived, but someone
who lives, and is someone who lives in me. Christ in you, the
hope of glory. Election, as I say, election
is not hard to believe, but I tell you what, loving my enemy is
a tough one. That takes grace. That takes
the work of God. Jesus Christ is the object of
our affection. He said, if you're risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sits.
He's the object. He's the object of our affections.
All blessings flow to us through Him. Therefore, whatever we seek
above, He's the center of it. He's the object of it. As I get older, I want to become
obsessed I do. I want to become obsessed with
Him. I want to become obsessed with knowing Him. You know what
I think would be a good way to die? When we come to die and
we see the Lord, wouldn't it be great to have such a relationship
with Him right now that there's no surprises? That's just like
Him. You're surprised because you
didn't know it. That's why. And we can know the Lord far
better than we do. We can walk with Him much more
than we do. We can. Don't set your mind, he says
here, on the things of the earth. It's a material world. It'll disappoint you. I'm telling you, it'll disappoint
you. And you're not going to take it with you. No matter what
you gain of this world, it won't go with you. And our Lord here
is warning us through Paul, don't set your mind on this world.
God's going to burn it up, on these material things. As I said, Christ said, you're
not of this world. Don't be overly concerned with
what am I going to eat? I don't think any of us are.
It's like we look like we're concerned about that, isn't it? That's got us tore up, doesn't
it? What are we going to eat? Our situation is pushing it away. What are we going to drink? What
are we going to wear? Don't be obsessed with these things. The
Lord keeps telling us throughout the scriptures, don't be obsessed
with these things. This is not your life. You know,
we are in this world. I live in this world. You live
in this world. We get up every morning, go to work. But we don't
live in this world. We literally now, this is true,
we literally live in another world right now. We live in another
kingdom. And it amazes me. It just amazes
me anymore that we get so upset over what Washington's doing
than we do over what's going on in the kingdom of God. Well,
I think there's some spiritual problems when you're so upset
over what's going on in the kingdom of men than you are with what's
going on in the kingdom of God. Our Lord said in teaching the
disciples to pray, Thy kingdom come. Praying for the success
of his kingdom. Praying that his kingdom would
be exalted. Whose kingdom are we concerned
with? Obama doesn't have me tore up
at all. I'm telling you the truth. He
doesn't have me tore up at all. My Lord sits at God's right hand. He sits there, now we just read
it. So why do we get so tore up? The world, the whole world. I said this to a young man the
other day. He was talking to me about something that he thought
was just like crazy. I said, son, the whole world
lies in wickedness. All of it. There's only one book
ever written that doesn't have any sin in it. This one. That's the only book that actually
does not have any sin in it. Every book written by men out
there is full of sin. And I tell you, it lies in wickedness. It lies in wickedness. And that's why we're not to set
our heart on these things, because we're not of this world anymore.
We don't live in this world anymore. We live in another kingdom. It's
a spiritual kingdom. I'm not waiting for it to come.
We're in it. We're waiting for our Lord to come. We're waiting
for Him to come and get us and take us out of this world. But
by that soul, we live in it now. And we need to live in the reality
of that. Christ said the kingdom of God
is in you. He said it doesn't come with
observation. Don't be looking for something to be falling down
out of heaven. It doesn't come with observation. He said the
kingdom of God's in you. If you have Christ, the kingdom
of God's in you. And you're dead. Now, when did
I die? I don't remember that. I don't
remember dying. You remember dying? Verse three, for you're dead
and your life is hid with Christ in God. He's telling us here
you belong to another world. That's what he's telling us.
This is how you live because you don't live in this world
anymore. You don't seek after things in this world anymore. You don't
live after the principles of it anymore. Not a believer. You're dead. When did I die?
At Calvary. That's a real death. That is
a real death. We died at Calvary. I was put to death in Christ
2,000 years ago. Now, we need to live in the reality
of that. He's erecting that to be so. And sooner or later, this
old body will die. I won't die because I already
died. I died in Christ. In a little while, this body
will die and I'll leave this old tabernacle and go be with the Lord. You're dead. He's saying here,
you're dead to the materials of this world. to this material
life, to the principles of this world, you're dead to it. You're
risen with Christ to a new life. It's a new life. If you made
a profession and it's not a new life and you're still in the
old way, you're just as lost as the day you're born. Just
as lost. Because when the Lord saves,
He gives a new life. A new one. He didn't renovate
this one. It's a new one. And your love, your interest,
all that's different. Now, I'll show you, we're still
at war here a minute. But you're dead. You died in
Christ and now you're dead to this world. You're dead to the
materials of it. This is not us. It's not us. It's not me no more. I've been thinking about this
for a while. You know, we live, the church lives under one head,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've been thinking, my thoughts, my thoughts should
be, Lord, what would you have me to do? Most of our thoughts is what
I want to do, really. It's what would you have me to
do? You're the king. What would the King have me to
do today? You pray and ask the King, King
Jesus, guide my steps today, guide my thoughts today, and
thy will be done. Because we live in that world,
not this one anymore. And your life, your life, what
do you talk about your life? What life? The life of God in
the soul. That eternal life that you have
given in Christ. You are risen with Christ. Look
in verse 12 of chapter 2. You are buried with Him in baptism,
wherein also you are risen with Him. I am already risen. This is so
good. I've already died and I'm already
risen. Do you believe that? Do you believe that? That's why
the Lord said to Martha and Mary, I am the resurrection. You're
buried with Christ, and also you're risen with him. I'm already
risen. I've already experienced a resurrection. And then one day, my new man,
that new spirit, that new man is going to meet that new body.
It's going to be joined to that new body that's going to be brought
out of the grave. I'm already raised. I've already
experienced the resurrection. I experienced it. I experienced
it at Calvary when he came out of the grave, and I experienced
it in the new birth. But living in this life, it just
gets confusing, doesn't it? It gets our minds on things on
earth instead of things above. Now, how much easier it would
be If we literally lived this, if our minds, our hearts, our
affections were set on things above, my soul, you realize how much
more content? If I've learned this, contentment
is priceless. It's priceless. I would rather live in a shack
with contentment than in a castle and I'm wondering what in the
world am I going to get next? The rich man's riches, it says,
won't let him sleep. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. Oh, this means you are a son
or daughter of God. Now live in the reality of it. Live in the reality of it. And
when he shall appear, when Christ Who is our life? When Christ
our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory."
Never apart from Him. Never apart from Him. And we
are not going to just see His glory. We are going to be partakers
of His glory. Sons of God. How could you not
be a partaker of the glory of God when you're a son and daughter
of God? He said we're partakers of the
divine nature. When He appears, when He appears, then shall ye also appear with
Him in glory. But until then, until then, we
have a war to fight. And the greatest war we have
to fight is right here. It's within us. The greatest
war I have, the greatest battle I have to deal with is right
in me. It's my attitude. It's the sinful
inclinations I have. And you notice he says here,
mortified. That word means deadened. It
also means disciplined. But here's the shocking thing.
These things are still in us. I'm just as rotten as I ever
was by nature. I have just as much sin in me
as I ever did by nature. I haven't lost any of it. I haven't
lost one grain of sin. It's still in me, put away by
Christ, but it's still there. And it wars. It wars in my members. It wars. There's a reason why
they say don't feed the bears. Idiots feed the bears. Don't feed that old nature. That's
why they say it. Don't feed that old nature. Don't do it. Scripture says, shun every appearance
of evil. That's right. You can't handle,
you cannot handle what's in you. Have you learned that lesson
yet? Have you learned you can't handle that old nature? It'll
whip you every time. You think, oh, I can stand closer
to the fire than I used to. You're an idiot. You can't do
it. It still burns and it'll burn
you. You think you can resist, let
him to think he's standard, think he lest he what? Fall. Fall. Here's the warfare, here it is.
Mortify, mortify, therefore your members which are upon the earth,
and he starts naming them, fornication. That's any sexual relationship
outside the marriage. Now, don't think you can, don't
think you can, oh, I can resist. No, you can't. No, you can't. Don't put yourself in that situation
where you have to. Because that nature is far greater
than we are. And the Lord doesn't condone
it. He says here, and you have to realize too, of course, this
is the same way in our day. Back in this day, the Gentiles
thought nothing of this. It was just normal. But Paul says here, this is still
in us. Any sexual relationship outside
of marriage, he said, mortified, disciplined yourself. Uncleanness. Here's what this is. Uncleanness.
Homosexuality. Incest. It's feminine men. Masculine
women. That's what that has to do with.
He said, you deaden that. You discipline that. You don't ever do that. Uncleanness. Inordinate affection. That's
desire. You know, inordinate affection
is going beyond the desire of what you don't need to be desiring.
Going after what you don't need to go after. Evil concupiscence. That word
concupiscence has to do with desire. It doesn't say just desire,
because there are things we should desire, isn't there? There's
good things we should desire. We should desire to be in each
other's presence. We should desire to love God.
We should desire to be kind. There are good desires, but he
said here, evil desires. Evil desires. Don't give in to
that. Don't feed it. Don't feed it. And covetousness, you know, covetousness,
when it boils down to it, is a love for myself more than it
is a love for God. Scripture calls it idolatry.
It's something that I want so bad that I idolize it, no matter
what it is. Covetousness. And it's because of these things,
God's wrath is coming on the children of disobedience. Now,
someone may say, I'd never, oh, I'd never commit fornication.
Well, you may not. You may not. Years ago, a lady
was bragging about being a virgin when she was married. Well, hell
full of them. Hell full of them. It's good
that you don't. It'll save you from a lot of
heartaches. You know, there are choices we
make that we can be forgiven of, but the consequences sometimes
never go away. The sword never left David's
house over his sin. I'd never, I'd never think about
homosexuality. I'd never, I'd never have evil
desires. Well, if you think you missed
out on that one, Paul gets you on the next one. But now put
off all these. Now he's going to drive right
at the heart. Anger. You ever just find yourself angry? Anger. Angry at somebody. The
Lord said be angry with your brothers, that'll cause murder. Anger. Just upset and just angry
all the time. I know people like that. And I'm that way, way too much. Way too much. And wrath? Get even? You ever just want
to get even with somebody? Malice? Blasphemy? Filthy communication
out of your mouth? If you think you haven't done
it in the flesh, you sure have done something in the spirit.
We don't escape. Brethren, we're full of sin.
I told them down in North Carolina last week, we're just a mess.
We're an absolute mess. That's why God had to come into
this world to save us. If we weren't such a mess, we
wouldn't need such a salvation. We are a mess. And I'm preaching
to a mess. And I'm a mess. A mess preaching
to a mess. You sure better hope God's in
this. It'll turn out to be a mess. It will. And lie not one to another. Lie not one to another. You ever
lie to your spouse? No. You ain't never done that,
have you? You ever lie to one another? You like his dress? You're right. Say that. Surely you've got more sense
than that. Lie not one to another. I was watching this. I was on,
I was watching this on, I think it, there's a, there's a, there's
a program, there's a whole thing on YouTube, it's TED. They give
these different talks, you know, people do. And this one was giving
a talk on liars. And this had nothing to do with
the scriptures, nothing to do. But they said when, when a husband
and wife speak to each other, within so many seconds, I forget
how many it was, they start lying. They start lying. We have never
absolutely told the truth 100%. We hold something back. We tolerate
just a little. Lie not one to another. You ever lie to someone? Well,
you know we have. You know we have. He says, put
that to death. You disciplined yourself. You're
just better off keeping mouth shut, really. in most cases. Lie not once another, seeing
you put off the old man with his deeds. What he's been giving
us here is the nature of the old man, the conduct of the old
man. You know that you will never
find one place in the Word of God that says anything good about
this flesh. Nothing. From Genesis to Revelation,
nothing. Absolutely nothing. And you put on, but now he's
going to have the deeds of the new man. Here we're going to have
the deeds of the new man. And you put on the new man, which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. Not renovated him. Let's get that right. After the
image of him that renovated him? No. Created him. It's a new creation. You are a new person. That's
why you live in a new world. You live, you live, you live
in the kingdom of God. That's where you live. You put
on your feet him. You exercise him. Before you
go walking around the track in the morning, how about walking
the new man in the green pastures? Wouldn't that be a treat? Wouldn't
that be something? How about taking a walk through the word
of God before you go out there on the track? Makes a difference. I'm telling you, it'll make a
difference if it's done in sincerity. He says here, "...and have put
on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him." He's a new person. Now, because of
this, where there's neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, the worst there was, bond or free, but
Christ is all and in all, all distinctions gone. You think
you're somebody? Well, if God ever saves you,
they'll change. Christ is everything, and you and I are nothing until
we're in Him. And then we're sons of God. And
what's that? I can't put that into words.
I can't put it into words. Now, put therefore on. Now, put
on therefore. Now, here's the dress code of
the new man. Put on therefore as the elect of God. And this is this is what I want.
I can say this. I mean, I can say this. This
is what I want. This is what I'm concerned with. Put on as God's chosen people,
holy and beloved vows of mercies. Vows of mercies. Would you like
somebody to be merciful to you? Do you want to know how many times
you ought to forgive your brother or anyone that asks you? Do you
know how many times to do it? As many times as you want God to
forgive you, that's how many times you forgive. That's how
many times. Kindness. Boy, if we could use
that in this world, couldn't we? Kindness. Humbleness of mind. Meekness, long-suffering. Forbearing
one another. Thank you for putting up with
me. Right, because I put up with you too. We put up with each
other. That's why we have some tolerance,
or we just wouldn't be able to do it. Forbearing one another, forgiving
one another, and the basis of forgiveness is this, if any have
a quarrel against any of you, if any of you, and this is for
the church, this is not to the world because he said put on
the new man. The world can't do that. There's not one to put
on. He's writing here to God's people.
Now, if any of you have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, and
boy, that's on a higher scale, isn't it? Isn't that on a higher
level? So also do you. You do the same
on that basis. You say, why should I forgive
him? Why should God forgive you? And above all these things, put
on love. Put on love. It makes everything work together
in harmony. Apart from that, you're just
a gong show. You're a hypocrite. You're just a fake. But all this, just when you put
on this vows of mercy and kindness and humbleness of mind and meekness
and longsuffering, Forbearing one another, forgiving one another.
And the one that you put that, the big overcoat that you put
on. In the wintertime, you know,
you put on a big overcoat after you've dressed up. Love. Love. It's the one thing that'll
hold you together when everything else is falling apart. It's love. And let the peace of God rule
in your hearts. Get this. Oh man, I'm going too
long. Let the peace of God rule in
your heart. You know what this means? Get this. Let the peace of God settle every
difference in your heart that's going on in there. You angry
with somebody? Let the peace of God settle that. Someone says it's the umpire.
I read another translation of it. Let the peace of God govern,
govern everything you do. Let it govern, control. And let the Word of God, it says
here, and let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching, admonishing you. But let the Word, in other words,
here's what this one means. Let the Word of Christ dwell
in you. Let it find a home in you. Does the Word of God have
a home in you? Doesn't really. You know, we
know the right things to say. I'm not looking for the right
things to say. I'm looking for what's real. He says, let it find a
home in you, abide in you. And whatsoever you do in word
or deed, and this will handle all problems, do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. If we could do this, whatever
we do in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord. Everything
I do, can I do it in the name of the Lord? Let that be the
standard. Let that be the line. Can I do this in the name of
the Lord? Can I? Giving thanks to God and the
Father by Him. Now he comes to this, and I'll try to be brief
with this. Now he comes with our conduct here with each other.
But he gives us these things first. Set your heart on things
above. For Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your mind,
your affection on things above. Set it on there. Seek those things
which are above. Because if you don't, this other
stuff doesn't work. Wives, submit yourselves to your
own husband does not work if your heart is not set on Christ. Oh, you can fake submission for
a while, but I guarantee you won't want to slap my daylights
out of them before it's over with. That ain't submission. That's
not submission. Submission is when you really
say, Thy will be done. But if your heart is set on things
above, and you're writing to the church here, now the world
has, you know, the world just, they got to do what they got
to do so they can keep killing each other until they get to
the end. But this is to us. Why submit yourselves to your
own husband as is fit in the Lord? And there's the standard. There's the standard. If it comes
between you and the Lord, you do what the Lord has you to do. You do what's right in God's
sight, not your husband's. But in all things that are proper,
you submit to him. That's what he says. Now, you
say, I think I'm going to do that. Well, go on. Go break a leg. But if you believe
God, this is what you do. This is what you do. And husbands,
love your wives. You know, you can't fake love.
I don't care. All the gifts and all the flowers
in the world is not going to take the place of love. Husbands,
love your wives and be not bitter. Isn't that sad? He even tells
us not to be bitter. against them, don't speak mean
to them. That's what he's saying. When
you say, don't speak mean to your wife, you say, well, I've never
done that. Ain't nobody here going to say
that. Because you know you've done that. Because we have that
nature still in us. But he tells us here, husbands,
love your wives. In another place, he said, love
your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for
it. Children, obey your parents in
all things. He's got something here for the children. Obey your
parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, provoke not your children in anger. Don't break their spirits,
lest they be discouraged. And the servants and the masters,
he's got something to say to them in chapter 4, verse 1. But
brethren, none of this works if your heart's not set on things
above, if your heart's not set on Christ. These things don't work. They
don't work. What is your heart set on? That's
what you will go after. What's your heart set on? And
we are not of this world. We are not of this world. We're of another world. Is that
real? Is that real to you? Is Christ
real to you? Is salvation real to you? Is it? Then seek those things which
are above where the Lord sits at God's right hand. Okay, Roy.