Colossians chapter 3. I had said that the title of
the Bible class was Free in Christ. We've been made free. We've been
set free. Whom the Son sets free, He's
free indeed. But what are free people to do? I can only imagine back in the
1800s when the black people were set free from slavery. They were
happy. You know they were happy to be
set free. But I imagine there were many
of them who said, now what do we do? Now what do we do? A lot of them went ahead and
stayed where they were. Some of them headed out not knowing
where they were going. But what? What are the free people to do? Well, we have it in verse one. If you then be risen with Christ, you've been made alive in Christ,
quickened, as we saw in chapter two, quickened together with
him, made alive with him, you're risen with him. Seek. Go after. Pursue. If you seek something
in the true sense of that word, you are pursuing something. You're
going after whatever it is you're, really, whatever has your heart.
Whatever has your heart, you're seeking it. You're pursuing it. Seek those things which are above. where Christ saith, the object
of our faith, the object of our affection. You notice it says
affection, not affections. It's singular. It's singular. He has our affection. Now there
are things we enjoy here on this earth that God has given us to
enjoy. And we do enjoy them. We enjoy family. We enjoy some
leisure time. Many things we enjoy, but that
which has our affection is the Lord Jesus Christ. And if he
has our affection, if he has it, and you go after him, everything
else that you enjoy, you'll enjoy much more. And you'll enjoy it
in a way that it should be enjoyed, if he has our affection. If it
be so that you are risen with the Lord Jesus Christ representatively
and spiritually by experience, you've risen with him in regeneration,
you've been raised from the dead, you've been made alive in Christ,
then seek after, pursue those things which are above, like
Abraham. who looked for a city, whose
builder and maker is God. That's what he did. This is not
our home here anymore. As I said earlier, we are strangers
and pilgrims in this world. We're going home, and home is
above. It's not below. It's above. If everything we seek is above,
now listen, we won't have to worry about losing it. If everything
we seek is above, we won't lose it. But we will lose everything
below. We will lose everything below.
All relationships, earthly, fleshly relationships, homes. My grandparents had a home over
on Pea Ridge. West Pea Ridge, went over there
several times. I go there no more. They're gone. The place is sold. They had that
place 60 years plus, but I don't go there anymore. They didn't
take it with them. It's still there, but they're gone. They're
not there. Everything here, we will leave. We will leave it. We will leave
everything below. But we will not lose one thing
above, not one thing. It says in Matthew 6.33, but
seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and
all these things that you need. And so he's talking about all
these things that you need shall be added to you. It'll be added. Seek those things which are above.
Seek the heavenly things. Seek the things that are real
and lasting. Set your mind, your heart, your
affection on those things, where Christ sitteth, on the right
hand of God. We are not just looking for things
above, but we are looking and seeking the One who is above,
the One who is seated at God's right hand. It is in Christ that
we have all the heavenly blessings. It is in Christ that we inherit
all that God has. We inherit through him. He's
the fountain of all blessings. And notice where he's seated
on God's right hand. Power. Authority. He sits there
to give them to us. Seated because he finished the
work given to him by the Father to do. He's seated because he's
finished. It's sure we will have everything
above we will have it. And he is seated at the right
hand of power. He has the power and the right
to give us all things above. No one else can do this but him.
It's all given to him. It's all been placed in him.
Now, seeing this as so, With determination, I believe
that's what it means, with absolute determination. Set your affection,
your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Look
over in Hebrews chapter 11. We have this as an example in
Hebrews chapter 11. Look in verse 13, These all died
in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For
they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country,
and truly if they had been mindful of that country from which they
came out, they might have had opportunity to return, to go
back. But now they desire a better
country. They didn't want to go back. That isn't heavenly.
Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he
hath prepared for them a city. Where are those people that we
just read of? They are there. They are above. They are above looking into the
face of the man Christ Jesus, right now, as we sit here, when
we have this worship service, there is a throng in glory beholding
the face of the Son of God, the Lamb of God, who loved them and
gave himself for them, and there is a perfect worship service
going on right now, above, above. So set your affection on things
above where you are going. Where you're going. And listen,
continually do it. There are a lot of things that
take our minds, our affection. A lot of things are after our
affection, our attention. A lot of things. My soul. Especially
in this day and time we live in. There's a lot of things that
grab, try to grab our affection. that we must continually set
our minds on things above, be very concerned and diligent of
things above, be very diligent about it. Scripture says where
your treasure is, your heart is. You can be sure of that. Our citizenship is in heaven,
and we ought to be more mindful of things above than we are of
the things of this earth. That doesn't mean that we handle
these things foolishly. It doesn't mean that at all.
We handle these things diligently as a steward of the things God's
given us. But when it's time to let them
go, let them go. Let them go. And if our minds
are on these things, on the things that are above, we won't be tripped
up so easily. You won't get tripped up so easily
if your mind, your affection, is on things above, not love.
You won't get tripped up so easily by touch, thought, taste, thought,
paddle, knot, and the rudiments of the world. They won't trip
you up so easily if your mind is set on those things, if your
mind is set on Him, and not on things of the earth. Who in this congregation would
set their mind, their affection, on a condemned piece of property?
that's filled with chemicals, and it's just being condemned.
Now, who in their right mind would just desire and crave that
piece of property that's being condemned? We live in a condemned
world. We see it every day. We see it
every day. This world is like a landfill
of sin. That's what it is. And God said,
No matter how foolish men think we are, believing this, God said
he's going to burn it up. He's going to destroy this earth,
and there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth. He's
going to destroy this landfill of sin sooner or later. It's
going to happen. So don't set your heart on these
earthly things. That's what he's teaching. That's
what Paul is teaching these Colossians, and he's teaching us. Don't set
your heart on these things. Don't set your heart on the pleasures
of this world. Set your heart on Him and things
above. Those things that are eternal.
Those things that are lasting. Those things that are truly rich. Our true riches are above. Our
true riches. Don't set your heart on them.
Don't let them get you. You get them, but don't let them
get you. There's a difference. There's
a difference. For you are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. This is your life. The believer's
life is Christ. It concerns things above. And
this life that we have in Christ, He says it's hid with Christ
and it's in God. It can't be lost. Everyone here has to die. Everyone has to die. We have
to lay this body in the grave. But our real life is hid with
Christ and God. So in reality, I'm not going
to die. This body is going to be laid
in the grave. But as soon as I leave this body, I will go
to be with the Lord. I will not taste death because
he tasted death for me." So it says over in Hebrews. I will
not have to taste death. It will be such a glorious translation. I don't have any words to put
it in to even begin to explain what that experience must be
like. You know, when I hear of a believer
dying, like when Scott Richardson died or passed away, he didn't
die, but he passed away here with hope. I thought, Scott is
looking at my Lord. Scott's looking at his Lord.
This man whom he preached for many, many, many years faithfully. Now he's looking at him. He's
looking at him. He's looking at things above. You can't do that when this body,
this body can't handle that. It can't handle that. There's
got to be that change. When you're dead and your life
is hid with Christ and God. One time we were dead in trespasses
and sins with no spiritual life, no interest in the Lord Jesus
Christ whatsoever. No interest in things above whatsoever. But now we're dead to this world
It doesn't say that we don't have an interest in anything
in this world. We do have an interest, but our
hearts are not set on them. Our affections are not set on
them. We use them, but we are not to abuse them. When it comes
time to let them go, let them go. Let it go. What if we could just learn that?
If we could learn to enjoy it, and when it's time to let it
go, let it go. Because everything below has to go. That's just
the way it is. This world has nothing for us.
It has nothing for us. I can say that when I was 20,
I did not see the world as I see it now. Oftentimes, Vicki and I, I've
said to Vicki, I said, the world is so wicked. I said, I never
saw the wickedness of the world the way I see it now. I never
saw the deceitfulness of it. And that scripture says the whole
world, life, and wickedness means more to me now. I understand
it more now. I don't care what it's in. It doesn't matter what
it's in. You can put it in any office,
any political office. It lies in wickedness. There's
a root of wickedness in it because of one reason, men. Sinful men, sinful men and women
handle those offices. And that's why we don't get taken
up with these things. We're not to do that. Now he
says here that we are dead to the world. We are dead to the
condemning power of sin. We are dead to the law through
the death of Christ on the cross. Our old man is crucified with
Christ. He does not rule the day. Sometimes
it feels like it, but no, the Holy Spirit's not going to allow
that to happen. He's not going to allow his children to be ruled
by that old man anymore. We are dead to the sinful pleasures
and lifestyles of this world? That doesn't mean we're not tempted. Donnie said he still had one
leg wanting to go dancing. You still have that. You still have
to deal with that. But that's not our life. The life of a believer, the tenor
of the life of a believer is one of righteousness. You can
mark it down. It's one of righteousness. It
says here, and your life is hid with Christ and God. Our real
life is with Christ. Our real life is Christ. And
it's in God. Can't be touched. Can't be touched. Old Satan, as I said, he wanted
to touch Job, but he couldn't touch what? It's life. He could
touch his property, he could touch his family, touch everything
he had. You can't touch his life because
his life is hid with Christ in God. You can't touch it. Christ is our life, he's our
hope, he's our joy, he's our all, and he is in God and we
are in him. How safe is that? Therefore, set your heart on
Him, and you will not be disappointed
when you leave this life. You'll not be disappointed. In
fact, you'll be satisfied when you awake with His likeness.
And when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, He is our life. See, Scripture teaches us this.
He is our life. When he shall appear, then shall
ye also appear with him in glory." Christ is said to be our life.
He's the author of it. He's the sustainer of it. He's
the glory of it. He is our life. He said, because
I live, ye shall live also. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. If I have Christ, I have eternal life. I have it.
I have the life of God in my soul. And he says here, and he
shall appear. Right now he's seated at the
right hand of the Father. Now he's with us as a church,
in the body, and dwells his people, we know that. But right now his
bodily presence, physical, that man, Christ Jesus, is seated
right now at God's right hand until his enemies be made his
footstool. And then he shall appear. This man is going to appear,
and someday he shall appear suddenly, and then shall ye also appear
with him in glory, in great glory. One day we shall see him in all
his glory, and we shall appear with him in full glory. The best is yet to come. The
best is yet to come. Someone said you cannot have
your cake and eat it too. Don't give me the cake. If I
can't eat it too, that's just teasing me. That's just teasing
me. But here's what we have. Listen.
We are not just going to look at Christ. That would be like
having your cake and not being able to eat it. We're not going
to just be able to look at Christ, we are going to be partakers
of that same glory. That same glory, we are going
to be made partakers of it. You're not just going up there,
we're not just be seeing some glorious things, we'll be a part
of those glorious things. We're a part of His glory. We
will appear in glory, not just show up, but partakers of it. Now, seeing that these things
are so, verse 5, mortified, deadened, therefore your members which
are upon the earth. And these are sins of the flesh, he talks
about, because we're still in this flesh. We are still in this
flesh, we're still tempted, we still sin, we still have these
problems we have to deal with. And Paul says, deadened, fight
against them, mortified. Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil concupiscence, covetousness, which is idolatry,
deaden these things. These are sins of the old man
that he's speaking of here. For which things sake the wrath
of God cometh on the children of disobedience. Every day God's
wrath takes men away, every day. It will come and sweep all away
that are not found in Christ, just like the flood did in Noah's
day. It will happen again. It will happen one more time,
and that will be the end of it. Now, lest we look down on these
persons that still live in these things, because we never get rid of self-righteousness.
It'll raise its head, it'll grow on concrete. Self-righteousness
will grow anywhere. And we never get totally rid
of it. And Paul points this out here in verse 7, so to remind
us, don't ever look down on those who still live in these things.
In the which he also walked. He said you were a part of them.
God brought you out. Except for the grace of God,
there go I. He brought you out of it. That's why in the wish,
you also walked sometime when you lived in them. You know, the worst of all sins
has to be self-righteousness. I know it's the most obnoxious. Looking down your nose at someone,
thinking you're a better, you're the same kind of worm everybody
else is. You know, worm is a worm to me. Now in verse 8 and 9, Paul mentions
the sins of the spirit and tongue. He says, but now ye also put
off all these also. He said, we got the sins of these
flesh, but then you got the sins of that old nature that still says things ought not to say
and gets upset, harbors hard feelings. And he said, get rid
of these things. Don't let these things persist.
Put off also these. Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy communication, out of your mouth. Lie not one to another,
seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. Don't
let these things take control. Put them off like you'd put off
a filthy garment, because that's what they are. It's a filthy
garment. How do you put them off? Make no provisions for them. If you want a stray dog to keep
from coming around your house, you don't want that stray dog
to keep coming around. Don't feed it. Don't feed that dog. And he'll go someplace
else. Make no provisions for him to
fulfill the lust thereof. That old man is not dead. He's
crucified. He does not rule and reign, but
he's not dead. He's still kicking around. So
don't provide for him. He's ever-present, and he tries
to feed himself as before. But don't make any provisions
for him. Don't cook for him. Don't set the table for him.
Starve him out. He's crucified. He's always hungry
for sinful pleasures and ways, but put a check on him. Put a
check on him. As the scripture says, bring
every thought, listen, every thought into captivity
to Christ. Don't even let your thoughts
go unchecked. Stop him at the door. Don't let
him go unchecked. Because before you know it, that
thought will break into an action. And he says, you bring every
thought into subjection to the captivity of Christ. Put him
off like you'd put off an intruder, because that's what he is. He's
there to destroy. And you put him off. Don't provide
for him. But put on the new man, which
is renewed in knowledge. after the image of him that created
him. He's renewed in knowledge, listen, after the image of him
that did what? Created him. It's a new creation. The new birth is a new creation. It is a new
creation. I'm going to read to you from
Henry's commentary on this verse, verse 10. He says, this is regeneration. This is the new birth. The Holy
Spirit has created a new man with new desires, new principles,
new attitudes. This new man is created in the
image of Christ. We know him, his will, and his
ways. We hate the old man of flesh
and continually put him off. By God's grace, the new man will
grow in grace and in knowledge of Christ. until at death the
old man will be totally eradicated and we will be like Christ."
That was better than I could say it. And Paul says now in verse 11,
and I'll close, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision
or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but Christ
is all and in all. Lest someone thinks that because
of their nationality The Jews said, We be Abraham's seed. Well, so you are. Unless someone thinks that because
of their nationality or something about them that that attracted
God's favor. Paul said, Let all know this. Let everyone know this. That
in Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew. They're not differences. There's
not differences in the family. I have two boys. One's not a
Greek, one's not a Jew. They're what I am. We are one in Him. We are what
He is. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, sympathy, bond or
free. Here's the one. You see, in Christ we are one.
But Christ is all. Christ is all and in all. He is all to me. He is all to
the Father. He is all in heaven. He is all
in all. That's a good way to end it.
That's a good place to end. With Christ being all in all.
He's all our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. Now,
you that have been set free, Here's what you do. Seek those
things which are above, where our Lord sits at God's right
hand, and set your affection, your mind, every day on things
above, where our Lord is. Set your mind, your affection,
on Him. And you won't get tripped up
by touch not, taste not, handle not, and all these goofy things
that men throw at us. Christ is all in all. Don't ever
forget that.