Paul, as I said during the reading,
I'm sure, I don't doubt, was happy, relieved to turn away
from those things that he was forced to deal with in the previous
chapter. When men, as some were doing,
attempted to draw away believers in the church at Galatia away
from the simplicity of Christ and draw disciples to themselves,
that's never good. Mark it down. Mark it down. Don't
forget it. That's never good. The preacher's duty, his responsibility,
if God's called him. Now, if God hasn't called him,
it's no telling what'll come out of his mouth. But if God's
called him, He's going to point you to Jesus Christ. And if I
ever cease to do that, tell me to go to the parsonage and pack
my bags. You have every right to do so.
You've got my permission to do so. It'd be your responsibility
to do so. When they did so among the church,
the believers, rather, at the Church of Galatia, Paul answered
and told the believers there, don't you budge an inch. Don't
you budge away from that blessed hope that's in Jesus Christ alone. Paul was a faithful under-shepherd,
wasn't he? I suppose in the strictest sense,
Paul wasn't a pastor, but oh, what a... I'm almost ready to
renege on that. He was a pastor, wasn't he? And
a faithful under-shepherd. He wasn't confined to one particular
locality, but everyone he wrote to, Whether a church or whether
his beloved Timothy or Titus, he was being a faithful under-shepherd
to the great shepherd's flock. And as such, he was forced to
deal with those things and bring believers that were being troubled
by those things back to Christ. It was as if Paul was writing,
focus on him. Stay focused there. Seek him. Put your affection. We read it
there, didn't we? In verse 2, notice affection
is not plural, it's singular. The object is singular, Jesus
Christ. Set your affection on Him, your
heart. That's where your treasure is.
And people prove that, don't they? People prove where their
heart is by what they devote all their affection to, where
Christ is. above. And Paul said in verse
11, remember brothers and sisters in Christ, remember Christ is
all. Christ is all. Now very briefly,
some of the issues Paul dealt with and we'll not spend too
much time on them. Some men came to this church
and were trying to teach believers and this was something Paul dealt
with on a regular basis. They tried to mix law and grace. Yes, you're saved by grace as
far as it goes, but now you can't kick Moses out the door. You
can't get rid of old Moses. There's got to be an observance
of the law as well. There must be do, do, do, do,
and don't, don't, don't, don't. And Paul dealt with that. And
others of these false teachers attempted to mix philosophy. Philosophy. with the gospel teaching
religious superstition and saying to these believers that it was
God's Word. Not so. Putting philosophy and
man's ideas on an equal footing with the Word of God. What nonsense. Sometimes, I suppose people might
think I'm old and grumpy. But I try to bite my tongue. I don't always succeed, but I
try to. I hear people, they ask you a
question, what does the Bible say? And you read to them what
the Bible says, and their response is, but I think. But I think. That's irrelevant. What's that
got to do with anything? You asked me what God's word
says, and I told you, now do with it what you will. Others
taught, were trying to teach, were teaching, the proud Gnostic
idea that salvation was attained through knowledge. You're sort
of educated into being saved. Once you understand enough, once
you comprehend enough, once you can put all your theological
ducks in a row, then you'll be saved. No. All those things are around today.
Now, let's hear, in a nutshell, Paul's reply, Paul's answer to
all that nonsense. Look in chapter 2, if you will.
Chapter 2, verse 3. Paul was speaking of Christ here. Of Christ, verse 2. And of Christ, verse 3, of whom
are hid all the treasures of the Godhead I'm sorry, of whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this
I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. A deceiver
don't want to approach you and say, I'm going to deceive you.
No, he doesn't do it that way. Verse 5, for though I be absent
in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding
your order and steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye
therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him." How did you receive Christ? Not by works, not by education,
not through philosophy. You received Christ by the operation
of God's grace. That's how you receive Christ
and you continue in Christ. You grow in Christ the same way
by growing in grace. Rooted, verse 7, and built up
in him and established in the faith. as ye have been taught,
abounding therein with thanksgiving." Beware. Are you looking at that? Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit. That's usually at the root of
the problem. these deceivers. It's vain deceit. You dig down deep and it's pride. It's pride at the basis. Look
at me. Look at me. Look what I've got.
Look what I've discovered. I've got a Eureka. I've discovered
something nobody else has known for hundreds of years. Poppycock. Poppycock. Beware lest any man
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition
of men. Men. after the rudiments of the
world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in him. Tell him to
leave you alone. Don't come trying to tell me
there's something in addition to Jesus Christ. I won't hear
it. I won't give an ear to it. And
you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality
and Power. Thank God Christ is all. Now,
let's do with Paul, or as Paul exhorts in verse 1 of chapter
3, left our eyes above all that rubbish and look above. Look above. Oh my soul, look
above. Above is where Christ is. Above
is where our great God and Savior is. Above is where He that loved
us and gave Himself for us is. Oh, look up by the eyes of faith. Look at Him. Stay focused on
Him. Don't be overly distracted. Our Lord said, don't let the
cares of this world overcharge you. No. Keep your eyes focused
on... He's not down here in these fading,
fleeting, earthly things below. He's above. Keep your eyes focused
on Him. When I first felt led by God
to this portion of scripture, and I'm never comfortable, I'm
never comfortable in preparing a message until I feel like,
first of all, first thing, Mike, I feel directed by God's Spirit
to that portion of Scripture. Anybody can make a sermon. It
doesn't take a whole lot to make a sermon. Oh God, give me a message. Give me a message for this hour
for those people you'll be pleased to bring. Give me a message from
you. When I first looked at this text
of Scripture, feeling that I was drawn there by God's Holy Spirit,
I thought, my soul, even any of those first four verses would
serve as a text. They're intertwined, aren't they? They flow together in perfect
harmony. At first I thought, verse one,
That would be a good one. Things which are above. Verse
4. And I would call it Christ our
life. Again, verse 4. With Him in glory. Blessed, blessed
thoughts, each and every one of them. But then I decided on
verse 2, which seems to just bring them all together. Things
above. Things above. Set your affection
on things above, not on things of the earth. It is on the basis
of Christ, again, as I mentioned in the reading, it is on the
basis of Christ our life, our hope, our all in all, that Paul
says what he does in verse 5. Now, to the religionist, that
seems strange. That strange reasoning to the
mere religionist, the Pharisee, for example, Because most people,
such as those, not God's people, will read the first four verses
and then they would say, which I've heard them say, well, if
I believe that, I'll just live any way I want to. If I believe
that, I'll just go out and sin. Yeah, you would. Yes, you would.
But God's people won't. Paul uses as a basis for his
exhortation in verse 5, the very grace of God that's in Christ
Jesus on the basis of our freedom, on the basis of our life in Christ,
on the basis of a certain and sure foundation. Paul doesn't
say, therefore, be lax. Therefore, since we're secure
in Christ, let down your guard. Nowhere does the Scripture teach
that. Paul says, on the contrary, on the contrary. Since Christ,
who is our life, is in heaven, He's above, keep your eyes on
Him. But, while you're still in this world, in the world but
not of the world, be careful to do this. Mortify, therefore,
your members which are upon the earth. Now, child of God, He's
talking to you. He's talking to everyone that
professes to name the name of Christ. Mortify your members
which are on the earth. Fornication, don't do that. Don't avoid that. God forbid. That's what the world does. Uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is adultery. Paul says that's the reason God's
wrath is going to fall on them. Don't be a partaker of such things. John uses the same matter, so
to speak, of arguing. Turn, if you will, to John, and
then we'll move on, but 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. Look what he says, exactly as
Paul did. 1 John chapter 3, verse 1. Behold, O children of God, behold,
You can't look at this enough. You can't fall in wonderous adoration
at this blessed truth enough. It's just not possible. Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God. My soul, what a wonder. Therefore the world knoweth us
not. Well, that's okay, because it
knew him not. Beloved, Now are we the sons
of God. Wherever now finds you, it will
never touch this. Now are we the sons of God, and
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when,
not if, just like Paul said, when he shall appear, we shall
be like him, O glorious prospect, for we shall see him as he is. Now look what John says in the
light of that. that blessed sure everlasting
hope, John says, and every man that have this hope in him does
what? He sits down and says, well,
it doesn't matter how I live? No, no, no. Every man that has
this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. The grace
of God, Paul told Titus, has appeared teaching us denying
ungodliness and worldly lust. If you live a life of constant
rebellion, I mean day in and day out, if your whole manner
of living is a shout in the face of God of your rebellion, don't
talk about grace. Keep your mouth shut. Don't talk
about grace and live in rebellion against God Almighty at the same
time. I'd rather you just be quiet
and don't say nothing. Not a thing. It's dishonoring
to our God. Paul tells them again, back in
Galatians 3, Be watchful. Be on your guard. Let me mention
a couple of things briefly to sort of stress this point, to
bring it right up to our day. Let me ask you a question or
two. Do you remember, can you remember when abortion was shocking? Do you remember that? Do you
remember when it was shocking? Now, Innocent babies are butchered,
slaughtered every day by the tens of thousands, and it doesn't
raise an eyebrow. It's become accepted. It's become
the norm. And those who find their pregnancy
to be an inconvenience or handed the excuse, well, they're not
really human after all. Well, I tell you what, everyone
that's been thus murdered? I don't have a doubt. They're
standing before the throne of God right now. Oh yeah, they're
human. They're human and they're beholding
the king and his glory. Another question. Do you remember
when sexual perversion, homosexuality was only whispered about in secret? Can you remember that? It's not
been all that long ago, but it's not whispered about anymore.
Now most people are convinced it just really doesn't matter.
I mean, my soul. Men wake up one morning and say,
well, I think I'm going to be a woman today and vice versa.
Are you kidding me? Gay pride. A few years ago, the
Supreme Court, as you know, struck down and declared it unconstitutional
that said marriage The recognized marriage that I suppose at that
time had at least an eye toward God's word when it was drawn
up is between a man and a woman. They struck it down. Struck it
down. And the president at the time
decorated the White House in the collars of the sodomites
while they danced on the White House lawn. Can you remember
that? And now, now, it's just normal. It's okay. Each is own. I'm not going to judge. God's
going to. You see what Paul said in verse 6? For these things
sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. Children of God, the reason I
stress this, we have to be on our guard. We become immune to
those things. We become insensitive to those
things. Don't do that. Don't do that.
I don't care. If it's my son or my daughter,
God doesn't make an excuse for them. God doesn't let them off. No, it applies to them just like
it does to anyone else. My brother, oldest brother some
of you met, would come down with my other two, the two that would
go fishing, and Jim and I would play golf. He brought this subject
up where we were watching the news, and you know, you can't
hardly turn on TV. It's not thrown in your face. You know, homos,
homos, homos. And Jim looked at me and said, well, Larry,
you know, Didn't God make him that way? I said, Jim, Charles
Manson could say the same thing. He could offer the same argument
that God made him that way. He murdered those people because
God made him that way. God didn't make him that way.
God doesn't make anyone that way. Sin made him that way and
the deliberate Calculated persistence in that sin is why they are.
Don't lay that at the footstep of God Almighty. You remember
when people said that in honor of God's law, they would
honor Him in their life and in their marriage? You remember
that? You remember those old days? And now they say, I'll
shack up. I don't care who likes it or
don't like it. And I'll profess to know God the whole time I'm
doing it. Poppycock. Poppycock. Again, Paul says, for such things
sake, the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.
Now, enough of that. Enough of that. I sometimes have heard believers
use expressions, and they may not mean nothing by it. They
may not mean what I think they're meaning. And if so, this doesn't
apply to them. But they say, well, concerning
someone else usually, no matter what state they're in, no matter
what ungodly life they're living, well, they're where they're supposed
to be. Excuse me? They're where they're
supposed to be? Are you sure about that? They're
living in open rebellion against God and they're where they're
supposed to be? If anyone means by that expression,
we're not responsible for our actions, that is believers as
well as unbelievers, you're dead wrong. You're dead wrong. Ask
David. One example. I could give many.
Ask David. When the faithful man of God
exposed David's sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her lawful
husband in order to have her, David, when he was thus exposed,
when Nathan said, David, you're the man. David didn't say, well,
I'm where God wants me to be. He said, oh no, I've sinned against
God. Read the 51st Psalm. Oh God,
I've sinned against you and done this evil in your sight. Oh God,
wash me thoroughly inside and out. Return to me the joy of
my salvation. My bones have dried up through
my roaring all the day long. God, forgive me, forgive me.
David never entered his mind that it wasn't his fault and
his fault alone. And Nathan told him, I told him,
you said, David, you've given occasion, you've given occasion
to the Lord's enemies to blaspheme our God. I mean, they're looking,
everybody knows what you've done. You've brought dishonor on your
God by that act. And I tell you what, even though
God overruled David's sin for his own glory, And David's good. And David afterward wrote, blessed
is the man. When Nathan told him, the Lord
has put away your sin, but the sword is never going to leave
your house. You're going to suffer for this, David, but you're not
going to go to hell. The Lord's forgiven your sin.
And then David sat down and wrote, oh, blessed is the man. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not charge sin. Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. Thank God for
his amazing free grace. But even on his deathbed, and
until he died, David suffered for that sin against his God.
I kind of suspect he might have been referring to that when he
said, on his deathbed, Though my house be not so with God."
Oh, I wish I'd have never done that. I wish I'd have never done
that. And though he died with a good
hope, singing of the free grace of God, he paid. He paid dearly. Paul says, children of God, mortify
those things. Mortify those lustings of the
flesh. Set your affection on things
above. because things above are eternal. They're immovable. They're not like these things
below. You know this, and I do too,
but I need reminded of it more often than I probably care to
admit. This world's not my home, but
I sure act like it is sometimes. I'm just passing through. I don't
act like that sometimes. No, everything, everything you
can lay your hand on, I mean everything, that wife sitting
next to you or that husband, everything you can, that car
in the garage, that house, that bank account, whatever it is,
everything below, everything below is going to perish. Everything below is included
in what Bobby sang to us a moment ago. Fade, fade, each earthly
joy. Fade, fade. They're just passing
away. Paul said, look above. Look above where Christ is. Look, if you will, in 2 Corinthians
4. This is exactly what Paul wrote.
And you're familiar with this. You could probably almost quote
it. But Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 16, For which cause we faint not?
But though the outward man perish, yeah, he's one of those fleeting
things. Yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal way to glory, while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, they're all below. But things
which are not seen above, they're eternal. They're eternal. They're everlasting. In verses
1 and 2, when Paul uses the word things, in both verses, it's
in the plural. But for affection, it's in the
singular. He's saying that all those things
above, no more pain, no more sorrow, all that is included
in one affection who is Jesus Christ. That's where your affection
is. Your heart, your treasure. People whose affection, whose
heart, whose love is in Christ, look above. That's where he is.
That's where he's coming from. Above all these toys, above all
this foolishness, above all this glitter of the world, above where
Christ is. He's our goal. And there He stands,
Mike, at the finish line. At the finish line. As Paul said,
I forget those things behind and I press toward the finish
line for the prize singular. Jesus Christ will be at my finish
line to welcome me home. What a prize. What a prize. Those
whose every thought, on the other hand, every desire, who spend
all their energy and time consumed with this world below, have never
beheld, according to this book, the beauty of Jesus Christ. If
any man loved this world, the love of the Father is not in
him, John wrote. Above, because everything below,
as we said, is marked for destruction. Someone said, I don't know who,
I've heard it repeated various times, but all the trees in this
forest are marked to be cut down for destruction. Don't sink your
roots too deep around them. As the old auctioneer said, you
remember this illustration, I won't give it to you again, but remember
the man who had put in his will the man who had so many famous
portraits, paintings by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, those guys. But there
was one by an unknown soldier that knew his son, this man's
son, who had died in the war, and he painted a picture of his
son. And that was the first thing the auctioneer put out on the
block after the father's death. And nobody would bid on it. Nobody. Nobody wanted that. the caretaker
of the house, who knew the son and the father, bid $5. Going once, going twice, sold,
sold to that man, $5. And here he came forward, still
in his coveralls. And he took the painting of that
father's deceased son. And the auctioneer said, we're
done. We're done. Man, everybody, what
do you mean done? We didn't come for that painting
anywhere. What about the Van Goghs? What about the Rembrandts?
That's what we're for. We've got our checkbooks with
us. And he said, I didn't know until this day the father's stipulation
concerning this auction was this. He that gets the son gets everything. He that gets my son gets everything. And that's exactly what God the
Father says to each of his children. Look at verse 4 again and we'll
wrap this up. Paul says in verse 4, When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with
him in glory. I'm 66 years old and I've been
serving God for over 40 years. And like David, I look back and
say, oh, I wish I hadn't done it so many times. Would to God
I hadn't done that. How could I have been so foolish?
Oh, but you're looking at a testimony of His grace. 66 years, 40 serving God and
preaching for the majority of those 40 years. But I haven't
yet. I study. I just don't get up
here and blabber. I study, I prepare, I read, and
so forth, but other men, I've read their sermons, listened,
but I haven't yet, in those 40 years, found the way, and I haven't
found anybody else that can do it either, not Don Fortin, not
Darwin Pruitt, not Bruce Crabtree, that can illustrate this. What will this be like? They
shall see His face. I can't illustrate that. I just can't do it. Oh, but I
can look forward to it. Can't you? Turn, if you will,
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Look what Paul says in verse
13. 1 Thessalonians 4 and 13. But I will not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, believers, concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
God will bring with him. They're with him now. For this
we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive
and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them
which are asleep. For the Lord himself, the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ
shall rise first." On my refrigerator at home, at the parsonage, Y'all
seen this. It was probably a couple of months
after I moved here, nearly six years ago. I went back for a
visit, stayed with my oldest son and his two granddaughters,
and the oldest one, Laurel, y'all heard me mention her once or
twice, had written something. She was probably only six at
the most at that time. And they put it on my pillow
in the room where I was going to sleep. It's their room. They
give it up for Pawpaw and share a room. But this is what she
said. And she wrote each word with
a different color. But said, dear Pawpaw, I can't
wait until you get here. I'm not going to share a dispelling.
That's what makes it precious. But anyway, she said, I can't
wait till you get here. We got the bed all fixed up for
you. And we're going to have a delicious supper tonight. And
I wonder, when can we go golfing? And how long are you going to
stay? I wish you could stay longer. And I wish you could stay forever
and ever. To Paul Paul, from Laurel. In heaven, when I get to heaven,
Lester, I'm going to stay forever and ever. Forever and ever. Everything's ready. Everything's
just waiting for me. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort ye one another
with these words. Amen.