If you will, take your Bibles
and turn with me to Colossians chapter 3. I brought a message Tuesday evening
in Lake Charles, Louisiana from Colossians 3.11 on the sufficiency
of Christ. Christ is all. And in that message, I ask him,
what does the Lord mean when he says Christ is all? He means
what he said. Christ is all. He's all. And as I studied the text, and
as I preached the text, and on the way home, thinking about
the text, I couldn't get those things out of my mind. I just
kept going over and over and over those things. There was
so much more to the text than what I was able to preach to
them. I just have relatively just a few minutes. It's hard to hold anybody's attention
more than 45 minutes, and most of the time, 30, you're pushing
the limit. And it's hard to get these things
said. And so when I got home, I began to study these verses
some more, and then I decided to bring this message to you
this morning. My subject this morning is thinking
on things above. We're all, all too prone to think
on things of the earth. Are we not? What, what takes
up 95% of your thoughts, this world,
and things related to this world. That's what we think of. Thinking on things above. In
Colossians 3, he begins with the word if. If, that's a big
word, if. If you then be risen with Christ. And Paul tells us what this being
risen with Christ is. He actually says in the text,
if then, and what he's talking about is what he just said, according
to what he just said, if you then be risen with Christ. He tells us what this being risen
with Christ means back in chapter one of this letter. Those he
reconciled who were enemies in their mind by wicked works, and
how they were reconciled in the body of his flesh through death,
and the results of that reconciliation to present you holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in his sight, and he tells us how we know if
it is us that he died for if you continue in the faith grounded
and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. What is the hope of the gospel? In Romans 8 24 it says we're
saved by hope. What's your hope? What's your
hope? What makes you think God's gonna
save you and grant you an interest in the glory? What's your hope? If someone were to ask you today,
you walk out here in the parking lot and go to wherever you're
going, home or wherever, and somebody just out of the blue
said, well, what's your hope? Give me a reason for your hope.
Could you tell him? 1 Peter 3.15 says, sanctify the
Lord God in your heart. That is, set him apart in your
hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh you a reason of the hope that's in you with meekness and
fear. Could you tell them what your
hope is? What is that hope and why do
you think it applies to you? In Colossians 1.27, he says this,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you. What are you gonna tell them
next time they ask you? Christ in me. That's my hope. That's my hope. In Colossians
3.11, he tells us that this Christ, who is our hope, is all. He's all. He's all our hope. But he's all there is. There's
nothing besides him. It's not Christ and your experience,
it's not Christ and your decision is not Christ and your work,
it's just Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory. As we hear and believe the testimony
of God concerning his son, we are, it says here, buried with
him in baptism. wherein also ye are risen with
him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised
him from the dead. If, if, if ye then, based on
what he's just said, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above. What's up there? Christ is. Christ is. Ain't that your hope? Ain't that your hope? Then why
do we occupy so much of our time hoping in this world? If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. To be risen with Christ means
that we were buried with Him. To be buried with Him means that
we also died with Him. And to have died with Him means
that we lived with Him. And to have lived with Him means
that God chose us in Him and put us into a holy union with
Him before the foundation of the world. So that all our hopes
are in Him. In him, when he appeared, that's
my hope. That's my hope. What hope do
I have of pleasing God? What righteousness can I produce
before God? Christ, that's it. That's it,
I don't have any other righteousness. Set your affection, he says in
verse two of Colossians three, set your affection on things
above. Boy, we love everything there
is. I love that river. I love to fish out on that river.
That's fun, ain't it? People never fished out there,
don't know what they're missing. I love a good ice cold watermelon,
right? Wait all year for a cantaloupe
or that first tomato. I'm telling you, this world occupies
so much of our affection. Set your affection on things
above, now watch this, not on things on the earth. Why? Verse three. For ye are dead. Huh? You're dead. And your life is
hid with Christ in God. I'm dead. I was born in Ashland,
Kentucky, King's Daughters Hospital, December 1949, December the 10th. I've lived in Kentucky, I've
lived in Ohio, Lived in Louisiana, I've lived in Arkansas. But there come time when I died. I died. I saw myself dead. I died long before that, but
I saw myself dead. When did you die? I died, actually,
back in eternity. I died with the rest of mankind. I died. I died in the garden when Adam
sinned. By one man, sin entered into
the world, now listen, and death by sin. You never thought about yourself
being dead, have you? Huh? That's why we ain't got
no hope in this world, because we're dead. We're dead. When did I die? I died when he
died. I died when he died. There's
no need to bury me if I ain't dead. But we're buried with him
in baptism, because we died in him. And then God rose. He raised us from the dead on
the third day. He raised us up out of that tomb,
and we ascended up to glory with him. And now Paul tells us in
Ephesians 2, we're seated with him in the heavens. Set your
affection on things above. Where Christ sitteth, that's
my life, that's, he's all. He's my salvation, he's my righteousness,
he's my justification. And he's seated at the right
hand of God, victorious, accepted, glorified. And I'm seated with
him. I'm seated with him. This world no longer the sphere
of our life. Our lives are not limited by
time anymore. He that believeth on me, he said,
he passed from death unto life. This world is not the sphere
of our life anymore. Our lives are not limited by
time, by earthly rules or earthly standards. We pass from death
unto life everlasting. It says here our lives are hid
in Christ in God. So what lies ahead? What should
occupy my mind and heart? How should I treat my present
existence in this world? Paul said the life that I now
live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. How should I treat my present
existence? Well, seek those things which
are above where Christ sits. Is that my life? Is that my hope?
Then why don't I seek those things? where Christ sitteth at the right
hand. Set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. Well,
what things? What are these things that ought
to occupy my heart and my thoughts? Well, let's look at a few. First
of all, when I look up into glory, I'm thinking on things above,
thinking on things above. What should occupy my thoughts
as I look into glory? My heavenly father. The Jews, they bragged, they
said, we have God for our father. Christ said, if God were your
father, you'd love me. I came forth from the father.
I'm the son of God. You'd love me. You wouldn't throw
rocks at me. You wouldn't want to throw me
off the brow of a hill if you love me. God ain't your father. But all believers have God for
their father. They said, Lord, How do we pray? We don't know how to pray. This
whole thing's new to us. It's new. Our old religion is
nothing like what you're talking about, and we don't even know
how to pray. He said, how should we pray?
He said, pray this way. Our Father. You mean I have a Father in glory? You do. If you're a believer,
you do. That's why you're a believer. They started mumbling. Christ
told them, said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to
me, and him that cometh to me I will know why I was cast out.
For I have come down from heaven, not due my own will, but the
will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every man that
sees the Son of God, looks upon the Son of God, he's gonna live. I'm gonna give him everlasting
life and I'm gonna raise him up again at the last day. And
they started murmuring. He said, don't murmur. Don't
murmur. No man can come to me. Now listen. except my father
draw him. Who rejoiced when the prodigal
son come home? The father. Can you imagine? God the father, open arms, rejoicing
when you step into glory. Huh? Why would you want to think
about a river when you can think about that? It's like gazing up at night
at them stars. They're so beautiful. I just
lay there. We used to lay out by the campfire and look up at
them clear skies and see all them stars and things and just
occupy your thoughts. Boy, they didn't occupy your
thoughts when the sun come out. They all disappeared, didn't
they? And that's the way it is. When we begin to see things as
they are, and see the glory of God in Christ, and see that we
have a loving Father, and that Christ was sent forth from Him. It began with our Father. Isaac was a son of God, not because
he was of Abraham's seed, but because God was his Father. God said, at this time, I'll
come to Sarah and she'll have a son. When's she gonna have
a son? When I come. I'm Isaac's father. Jacob was not a son of God because
Isaac was his father, but because God was his father. Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. And he said, I said that that
the purpose of God according to election might stand. God,
Paul said, who separated me from my mother's womb. In James 1,
17, it said every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down
from the Father of lights. Your Father in heaven, very God
of very God, is the Father of all illumination. There is no illumination but
of God. He's the light. He's the light. It's from above and it comes
down from the Father of lights. Now listen, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creatures. Oh, I look up into glory and
I see a loving father who is God Almighty. Why did he love me? Because he
could and because he would. That's just so. That's just so. Our Lord told his disciples in
John 16, 25, he said, these things have I spoken unto you in Proverbs
But the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in Proverbs,
but I shall show you plainly of the Father. At least at that
day you shall ask in my name, and I say not unto you that I'll
pray the Father for you, for the Father himself is in love
with you because you have loved me and have believed that I came
forth from him. I'll show you the Father plainly. Whose right hand is Christ sitting
beside? His Father. His Father. He came to do the redemptive
will of the Father, and having accomplished His will, He ascended
back unto the Father and took His place at His right hand. Secondly, we're told in our text
that above We're to think on these things above and seek those
things which are above, set our fiction on those things which
are above, where Christ sits. Christ sits. Now think with me
for just a minute about this. All of our hope's tied to Him,
isn't it? All tied to Him. In Colossians 1, Paul's talking
about the great mystery of Christ and his people, which is hid
from ages and generations, now made manifest unto his saints,
even among the hidden Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. There is no hope apart from Christ. Please the Father, he says in
Colossians 1, that all fullness dwell in him. He has the preeminence. You can say that God created
the world, and God did. God the Son did. By God the Father's direction,
He created the world. Nothing was made without Him.
That's what Scripture says. He made it all. Not only that,
He said it was made by Him, it's made for Him. And not only was it made for
Him, but by Him it also consists. It has a continuance. One mediator between God and
men. One chosen from all eternity
to make peace with men, the man Christ Jesus. I cannot emphasize
to you what I'm trying to preach unto you, that Christ is all.
He's all. creation, providence, and salvation. He has the preeminence. It's
by Him and for Him, preserved by Him, and there's no hope apart
from Him. There's no knowledge apart from
Him. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal it. The last book
of the Bible is not the book of revelations. It's the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1 in Christ. Yeah, but there's a lot more
to it. Yeah, it's all in Him. You ain't gonna understand creation
until you understand who created it. There's no spiritual understanding
apart from Christ. He said, when the Comforter comes,
he's not gonna speak of himself, he's gonna take of the things
of mine and show them unto you. There's no assurance apart from
Christ because we're preserved in him, saved in him. He said,
God has saved us, called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. 1 Timothy
1, or 2 Timothy 1, 9. And there can be no walk with
God apart from Christ. Paul said, as you therefore receive
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Rooted and built up
in him. Established in the faith as you've
been taught. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in him. You're complete
in Him who's the head of all principality and power. Circumcised
with a circumcision, not made with hands, but circumcised in
Christ. When He was cut off, we'd cut
off. If you then be risen with Christ,
representatively, and seated with Him in glory, seek those
things which are above where Christ sitteth, at the right
hand of God. All right, so I'm looking up
there, I see a loving father who's God. I see his victorious
son in whom I'm chosen. God made provision, full provision
for me in his son, and I'm seated in him in glory. He's seated at the right hand
of his father. What else do I see? I see a throne. God don't sit on a footstool,
he sits on a throne. He sits on a throne. I think
about a heavenly throne, the seat of all government, no power
but of God. The powers that be are ordained
of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
power, he resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. That's Romans 13, one and two.
We're told in the scripture that our Lord sits on the throne of
God. John looked into glory itself,
the spirit on the Lord's day, caught him up, took him up, and
if you will, he pulled the veil up and let him peek right into
glory, let him see everything that was gonna transpire in these
last days in Christ. And here's what he said, in the
midst of the throne, Revelations 5, 6, John saw the lamb. Where was? In the midst of the
throne. John heard everybody in heaven,
all the elders, all the angels, everybody in heaven, every occupant
in glory. And they're talking about the
worthiness of this lamb. And every creature which is in
heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in
the sea, and all them that are in them, heard I saying, blessed
in honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne. It's of very little importance
to you that Christ came, that Christ died, that Christ was
risen from the tomb, if he's not seated at the right hand
of God. It was his resurrection that
justified us. Oh my soul, there's a throne
in glory which rules over all and it is the seat of supreme
government. and Christ sits with his father
on that throne, and it's not just the fact of a throne or
a supreme power that lights a fire in us, but knowing that these
things are engaged to the salvation of our soul. There's a throne
in glory to keep us, to guarantee us our presence is gonna be with
him. If God be for you, who's gonna
be against you? That's what Paul said to those
things, his absolute predestination, calling, glorification, justification. Here's what he said, if God be
for us, who can be against this? Do you know anybody that's gonna
topple the throne of God? Oh, my soul. You know what's
seated next to God on that throne? Our Savior. Our Savior. These things are
there to defeat our enemies and bring us safely home to be with
Him. He was always omnipotent, but
now the God-man sits on the throne. There's a man in glory seated
on the throne of God. And there's only one reason for
a man to sit on the throne of God, and that is to save man's
soul. Listen to this over in 1 Timothy
6, 15. Paul's telling Timothy to submit
to Christ and his rule until he appears in glory. And he says
this in verse 15, which in his times, in that day, he shall
show who is the blessed and only potentate, king of kings and
Lord of lords, who only has immortality and dwells in a light that no
man can approach. To him be honor and power everlasting. When our Lord says, fear not,
here's why you don't fear. He sits on the throne. He sits
on the throne. There's nothing to fear. We're
in him. We're one with him. He loves
us. He spared not his own son, but
delivered him up for us all. Oh, there's a throne in glory,
and sitting on that throne is the God of their redemption. So what are these things that
we think and think about? God our Father, our Savior and
Redeemer, that great white throne. Listen to this. John said, And
I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose
face earth and heaven fled away upon this throne. sits our Savior,
and His sitting constitutes our standing. And then fourthly,
we think on a place our Lord has made for us. Our Lord told
His disciples before He left, He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. I'm looking up here, here's my
Father, my Heavenly Father. Seated with him, my victorious
savior, my substitute, my representative, my head, my covenant head. He's
seated there victorious. My guarantor, the surety of the
everlasting covenant. There he is, he's seated beside
the father. And they're both seated on the
throne. Seated on the throne. Now listen to this. He said,
I go to prepare a place for you. Huh? Mm. Not everybody has a place in
glory. That scripture I quoted a few
minutes ago which said, the earth and heaven fled away, it's followed
by these words, and there was found no place for them. But Christ said, I go to prepare
a place for you. Old Brother Barnard, he dreamed
that he died. And the next thing that he knew,
he closed his eyes, and when he opened his eyes, he heard
the most beautiful singing he'd ever heard in his life. Perfect
harmony, all of it, every word of it, glorifying the God, and
oh, he said, I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to sing. It
was stirring my heart. I just wanted to open up and
let the words come out. And he said, I climbed up there
where they were sitting. And finally, I got all the way
to the top. And I looked way over there,
and there's an empty seat. And he said, I pushed and kind
of shoved my way over there. And he said, when I got to it,
it said Roth Barnard. I go to prepare a place for you. What makes you think you're gonna
sit up there with all those angels and elders and sing praise unto
God? He made a place for us. And he said, if I go and prepare
a place for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself that
where I am there you may be also. An eternal place, a welcome place,
a reserved place, a permanent place. A comfortable place. No heat gonna get on you anymore. Think about Walter, he's over
there working on that thing and boy the sun just burning him
up and he's out there working and these guys working in the
log woods. No more sun on you in glory, no more heat. No more
pain. John said, I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he'll dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God, and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be
no more death, sorrow, crying, neither shall there be any more
pain, for the former things are passed away. Oh, a place in glory. What else constitutes these things
above? A whole race of spiritual beings
created for your protection. Did you know that? You thought
angels was just there to do whatever. No. No, angels are ministering
spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of
salvation. Read Hebrews chapter one. That's
why he calls his ministers angels in the book of Revelation. They're
servants. Sent forth to minister to those
who shall be heirs of salvation. Angels. A whole race of beings.
You don't even know how many times angels have interfered
in your life, intervened in your life, and you wasn't even aware
of it. He said they're angels. You be
careful how you talk to God's people. They're, T-H-E-I-R, they're
angels do always stand before their Father. Now what would you do? Got this
little old kid, And he's about 11 or 12, starting to feel his
wheeties a little bit. And he goes over in this crowd,
starts mouthing around. And this big old guy comes over
and grabs him by the head. Huh? You just going to sit there? Uh-uh. Right or wrong, you're
going to come to his help, because that's the one you love. And
you're going to take care of that bully for him. Their angels
do always stand before their father. Be careful, he said,
how you talk to them. It'd be better for you than a
millstone tied around your neck and threw in the deepest part
of the sea. Angels, angels watching over you all the time, all the
time. A whole race of being created
for nothing but that. And they take part in it all.
They took part at the announcement of the Lord's birth, they took
part As he was tempted, the angels come and minister to him. Oh. When the devil tempted Christ,
he took him up on the pinnacle of the temple, and he said, if
thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it's written,
he shall give his angels charge over thee, lest thou dash thy
foot against the stone. They stand there ready. They
stand there ready. Now just throw yourself up. He
said, it's also written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God. But if we're one with Christ, then his angel's been given charge
over us. We're one with him. We're being one with him, the
care of the holy angels watching over us. And I had no desire
to throw myself under a train to prove it. and thereby tempt
God, but I'm certain these spiritual beings exist, and they're watching
over and ministering to those who shall be heirs of salvation.
I oughta been dead a hundred times. A hundred times. What
prevented it? God did. How'd he do it? I don't
know, but I like to think the angels intervened. He said, you be careful how you
entertain strangers. Some have entertained angels
unaware. Huh? If you then be risen with
Christ. Is that my hope? Is that my hope? Do I really believe when I die
and they lay me down in that box and they shoot that stuff
in my veins and they go out here and they bury me and throw some
dirt on me, do I really think God's gonna raise me from the
dead? I do. I do. Do I really think
to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord?
I do. I do. Then shouldn't that occupy
my affection? I'm talking about I know you love your kids and
I know we're commanded to love one another. He's not saying
not to love. He's saying Your supreme affection
ought to be set here, because this whole thing of children
and parents is over in heaven. Your mom might see you, but she
won't be your mom. Your wife might see you in glory.
I have a good hope that I'll see my wife in glory, but she
won't be my wife. All of these things down here
are going to be dissolved. Well, shouldn't we think about
that so we don't put too much thought in these things? Don't
even think on these things in the world. Don't let them up.
You want to think about something, think about that. Oh, your name's
written in heaven. He said, you want to rejoice,
rejoice in that. Oh, my soul. May the Lord give
us some understanding on these things. Thank you.