You and I have been studying
in the third chapter of Colossians together, and I want to read
the first four verses, and we're going to look today at verses
3 and 4. And we're going to thank this
day Christ our life. Christ our life. In verse 1,
if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory."
Paul has been instructing us here in these first two verses.
and encouraging us to seek those things which are above, to thank
them, to come to the greater knowledge of them, to find them
in God's Word, and when we do, to live in the faith of them,
live in the hope of them, live in the assurance of these things
and the joy of these things which are above. Why? Because these
things above are lasting. These things above are real.
These things that we see with our eyes, they're not lasted.
They're perishing things of clay. But Paul said the things that
we see not, that's what is lasted. That's what is everlasting, eternal. And he tells us here in verse
2, not only to seek these things and come to a better knowledge
of them and live in the faith and hope of them, but he says,
be tenderly attached to these things. Fall in love with them. Think upon these things. Let
these things of God, let these things of Christ, let these things
of heaven soak deep into your affections. Let them get down
deep into your heart. These are the good and lasting
things. Now, somebody may ask this morning,
how can I be sure that these things belong to me? How can
I be sure that I have a saving interest in these things? Well,
he tells us here in verse 1, if you are risen with Christ,
are you quickened? You're not dead in trespasses
and sins anymore. You've experienced that new birth. You've been born again. You've
entered a new kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. Are you quickened
with Christ? then these things are yours.
They belong to you. God has given you these blessed
things. Look what he says here in chapter
1 and verse 5. Look at this. These things of
God that are above. He's put all of these things
into the hands of his Son. Where's the love of God? Do you
have an interest in that? If you're quickened with Christ,
you do. The love of God is yours. Think upon it. Christ is yours
in all His offices as King and Priest and Prophet. He's yours. Life is yours. Grace is yours. Mercy is yours. The Kingdom of
God is yours. That inheritance that's incorruptible
and undefiled. These things are yours. if you
have been quickened with Christ. Do you believe in Christ this
morning? I mean, with all your heart, is all your confidence
in Him? Do you love His people? Then
these things are your things, and you can love them and think
upon them. He says that here in verse 5. Look in verse 4,
chapter 1 and verse 4. Paul says this about them. Since
we heard, we're praying for you, since we heard of your faith
in Christ Jesus. What does that faith mean? It
means trust. It means your confidence. It
means you're leaning all the way of your salvation and your
acceptance before God and with God. You're leaning all upon
Jesus Christ. And the love which you have to
all His saints. You love His people. You love
fellowship with them. You love to meet with them. You
just get along with His people. Their company just suits you.
You love His people. And look in verse 5. For the
hope which is laid up for you in heaven. Everything that's
worth having, brothers and sisters, is laid up. It's laid up. We're in heaven. For who? For you. Why is it laid up in
heaven? There's where the good things
are. There's where the things that's worth having are. Heavenly
things. And it's laid up for you. Here's
what old Luther said in his psalm. He said, The Spirit and the gifts
are ours through him who with us sideth. Therefore, that being
so, since the Spirit is ours, the gifts are ours, Let goods
and kindreds go. This mortal life also, the body
they may kill, God's truth abides still. His kingdom is forever. And that kingdom is yours. Come,
you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you."
If it's yours, then think upon this thing. There's nothing I
think in all the world, and I can only speak for myself, but for
myself there is nothing that has a tendency to kill me to
the things of this world as when I get the things of heaven in
my heart. I mean the love of these things. You may hear about
the things of heaven, and you may read about them, and it may
have little effect upon you, but assure us this, that when
we get these things in our hearts, The love of Him in our hearts,
you'll notice when a person begins to do that, but I'll tell you
what he'll do. He'll begin to turn his back upon the things
of this world. And you'll see him with hands
stretched out to heaven, with his face pointed in that direction.
Why? He's fallen in love with the
things that's above. These eternal, everlasting things. If our treasure is in heaven,
And we're soon going there, brothers and sisters. May God grant that
something of the joy of that place and the things of that
place will be known to us as we travel through this life.
Peter says it like this. He said, The God and Father of
our Lord Jesus has begotten us unto a lively hope. A lively
hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead to an inheritance
that's incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away, and it's
reserved for you in heaven." And then he made this wonderful
statement, he said, who are kept by the power of God. See what
he says? He said there's a wonderful inheritance
and it's kept for you. And not only is it kept for you,
you're kept for it. Ain't that a wonderful thing?
You'll never be deprived of it, and He'll never be separated
from you. You're kept for each other. And He said, therefore,
you rejoice. You rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory. Seek these things which are above.
Think upon them. Set your affection upon them.
They're yours if you're Christ. They're yours. Now here in verses
3 and 4, Paul is going to give us four things to help us to
seek and to set our affection upon things above. Let me give
you these four things quickly. In verse 3 he says this, 4, for
this reason, seek those things, set your affection upon them
for this reason, for you are dead. You are dead. I tell you, only God speaks like
this. Only God can speak in language like this. This is Bible language,
isn't it? I look out on you believers.
You're not dead. You're much alive. Then what
does he mean when he says, you are dead? What does it mean to
be dead? Well, in a physical sense, we
know what it means, don't we? It simply means you don't participate
in the things of this world anymore. You're dead. You don't move around. You don't think and participate
in eating and drinking and dying and selling and living. You're
dead to this world. There was a young preacher who
went to see his old pastor, and he found him in the church study.
And he had this question that he wanted to ask him. He said,
Pastor, what does it mean to be dead? The Bible says this
over and over. What does it mean to be dead?
And there was a cemetery there around the church, and the old
pastor said, You know old so-and-so that died, and we buried him
here in the cemetery. He said, You go out there and you brag
on him. Every good thing that you can
think of, that dear man done, you tell him about it. So he
went out there, and he stood there for the longest of time,
telling that old man what a fine fellow he was, how he appreciated
him. And he came back in, and he said,
passed right in, and he said, well, what did he say? He said
he never said nothing. He said, you know that old cuss
that died and was a reproach on this community? He's buried
out there. You go out there and you tell
him what a sorry fellow he was in this lifetime. Every bad thing
you can think to say to him, you go say it. So he did that.
And he came back and the pastor said, what did he say? And he
said he never said anything. He's dead. They're dead. They don't respond. That's what
it means to be dead, isn't it? You don't participate. It doesn't
matter what's going on around you. You don't participate in
it. You're dead. Now, he gives us
a hint here in chapter 2 and verse 20. He enlightens us a
little bit more on what it means to be dead. Look in chapter 2
of Colossians and look here in verse 20. This here enlightens
us on just what it means to be dead. Look in verse 20. If you
be dead with Christ from the rudiments, the elements of the
world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject
to these ordinances? Taste not, touch not, and handle
not, which all are to perish with the use and act of the commandments
and doctrines of men." He says to you, you are dead with Christ. Christ is dead? No, He's much
alive, isn't He? He's in heaven. But He's dead
to something. He's dead to this world. Is He
not? Did not this world take Him out
on Calvary's tree and crucify Him? Did they not put Him to
death? When the Lord Jesus Christ lived
in this earth, He participated in this world. When He came into
this world, they circumcised Him. He went up to the temple
every year and worshipped there. He taught in the temple. They
offered the sacrifices. He participated in these laws
and in all these ceremonies. But when he died, what did he
do? He ceased to participate in these
things. Did he not? Jesus Christ is not
offering any sacrifices now. He's not going up to the temple
to worship. He's not keeping the moral law,
the ceremonies. He's not doing any of those things.
How do we know that? Because He's dead. He's dead. And here, brothers and sisters,
is a wonderful thing about this. You and I don't participate in
these laws either. We're not going to go over to
Jerusalem and offer sacrifices, are we? We're not going to rebuild
any temple that they talk about. We're not circumcised. How do we know that we don't
have to do all these things? How do we know we don't have
to participate in these things anymore? Because Christ is not
participating in them. He's dead. He's dead to these
things. Can you imagine what a blessing
this was? You and I can't relate to this. I know, I see it in
your faces. They say, Bruce, what are you
saying? I have no idea what you're saying. If you had lived around
40 A.D. or 60 A.D., you'd have known
just exactly what I'm talking about. Because some of these
Jews came down from Jerusalem and they told little congregations
like ours, you've got to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. You've
got to go up to the temple and offer sacrifices and worship. There are certain things you
can eat and certain things you can't eat. There are certain
places you can go and places you can go. There's this ceremonial
law you've got to participate in or you can't be saved. Boy, that threw the Gentile church
into a tizzy. Some of them went and started
being circumcised. They wanted to go up to the temple and start
offering sacrifices and worship. And they got themselves in a
mess. Can you imagine what a blessing it was when Paul wrote to them
and says, Brethren, listen, Christ is dead. He's dead to these laws. He's dead to these ceremonies.
And you are dead with Him. Ain't that a blessing? You mean
Christ can save me by himself? It don't matter what kind of
underwear I've got on. You say, Bruce, what are you
talking about? You know there's a big denomination in this world that
puts a lot of stock in the kind of underwear they wear? One of
the most popular quarterbacks in our day, he wears it. And
it has to do with his salvation. You mean we don't have to get
mixed up in any of this? No. How do we know that? We're dead. And what does it
mean to be dead? You don't participate anymore. You're free, brothers and sisters,
from the obligation. And if you're free from the obligation
of this ceremonial law that God instituted, how much more from
the commandments and traditions of men. Ain't that wonderful? You're free. Why? Because you're
dead. If I come to you this morning
and I say, Glenn, you've got to go be circumcised, old buddy.
Or you can't be saved. You know what Glenn's going to
say? Nothing. Because he's dead. I come to him and I say, Glenn,
you're the finest man I ever know of. Boy, you ain't even
a sinner anymore. You know what he's going to say?
Nothing. He's dead. He's dead. He don't participate
in people bragging on him. He don't participate in people
putting him down. He's dead when he cries. Paul took this one
step further, though, in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 14. Listen
to what he said. God forbid that I should glory
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this.
By whom? By this cross. The world is crucified
unto me, and I am crucified unto the world. What did they do with
Jesus Christ? They crucified him. Why did they
crucify him? They said, he's a criminal. We
have a law, and by our law, you're going to die. Where'd you get
such a law? It came from their own miserable
hearts. So they took him out and they said, you're a criminal,
we're going to crucify you. And that's what they did. And
the Lord Jesus looked upon them and He said, you're crucified
to me too. You count me a criminal? I count
you a criminal. I testify of you that your works
are evil, and you hate me for it." Isn't that what they said?
You have the Lord Jesus being crucified on the cross, and they
said, He's a criminal, look at Him. And there He hangs on the
cross and looks down at the world and says, You're criminals. You're
criminals. And Paul said, You know something?
I'm crucified with Him. I'm crucified with Him. Brothers
and sisters, if this world crucified our Savior as a criminal, do
you want to participate in it? What should you and I have to
do with such a world as we live in, who crucified our Savior
as a criminal? Paul said, I'm crucified to this
world. I'm dead to it. And it's dead
to me. It don't recognize me as anything
but a disturber of its peace. And I look upon this world and
I think the same thing about it. I have no use for you, world. I have no use for your attitude,
your course. And I sure don't want to participate
in your end. We're dead with Christ. Dead with Him. Look in Romans
chapter 6. Here's something else. He's dead
to all these ceremonial laws. He's dead to this world. We're
dead with him. And look here what he says in
Romans 6. This is a wonderful thing. And all of these things
have to do with encouraging us to seek those things which are
above. Look what he says in Romans 6. He's going to tell us here
something else that we're dead to. This is wonderful. What shall
we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? Dead to sin? What does it mean to be dead
to sin? Well, it means several things. It means you don't participate
in it anymore. Do you? Is that the course of
your life? Do you still love sin? Do you
go after it like you used to? No. No. And I tell you this much,
and you search your own heart and you'll find this out. You'd
never sin again if you could have it. If you could avoid it. Dance of sin. Look in verse 6,
Romans 6. Knowing this. that our old man,
our old sinful man, is crucified with him, that our body of sin
might be destroyed, that we henceforth should not serve sin. For he
that is dead is freed from sin." Ain't that a wonderful thing?
Freed from sin? You're not free from it's working,
are you? I know better than that, and you do too, don't you? Don't
you feel your sin often? And don't you sometimes weep
over it? And don't it lead you astray
sometimes? Yes, it does. You're not dead to it in that
sense, are you? But I tell you what you are dead to. You're
dead to its condemning power. You're dead to its guilt. You're
dead as far as it bringing the judgment of God upon you again.
How do we know that? How can we be assured of that?
Christ is dead. You are dead with Christ. Look
at Jesus Christ hanging on Calvary's tree. Is He dead? He took our
sins in His own body and He suffered the punishment for those sins.
And now He's dead. Can sin do anything else to Him? Can God punish Him again? What
would be the use? He's dead. He's dead. The Catholics hated, was it Husk
that they hated so much, Larry? They killed him, burned him,
and then dug up his bones and burned them. They hated him so
much. But that didn't hurt poor old
Husk. He was dead. And Christ died. And he died for our sins. And
there's no more punishment for him. And look what he says here
in verse 11, "...likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin." Isn't that wonderful? You are dead. Dead
to what? Dead to sin. Dead to sin. Now you're free, brothers and
sisters. Isn't that wonderful? You don't have to be afraid of
coming into God's presence. You don't have any more sin.
You're dead to Him. Now you can feel free to come
into His presence and love Him and serve Him and seek those
things which are above without any guilt, without any fear of
being condemned. Why? Because you're dead with
Christ. That's the secret. Dead with
Christ. In whatever sense He's dead,
you're dead. You're dead. I don't know how
this works. I'll be honest with you. I have no idea how this
works, but I just know it works. When I see this and I read this
and I believe this, I can't explain it to me. I tell you, it sets
my soul on fire. It just sets my spirit on fire
to think I'm free. I'm as dead to sin as Christ
is. That's what God says. You are
dead. But look here in chapter 7. Verses
1-4, you're dead with Christ to this law, the law of God. The Ten Commandments, if you
will, to be blunt. Look what Paul says here in chapter
7 in verses 1-4. Know ye not, brethren, I speak
to you that know the law, the moral law of God. Thou shalt
love the Lord your God with all your heart. Love your neighbor
as yourself. You know the meaning of that.
You know the meaning of the, you shall not kill, you shall
not covet. You know what the law teaches
spiritually. You know the meaning of it. How
that the law, it has dominion over a man as long as he lives. You shall not commit adultery.
The law has dominion. If you leave your wife and marry
another woman, you're not an adulterer. If you leave your
husband and marry another man, you're not an adulteress. And
the law judges you and condemns you. That's what he's saying. Look in verse 2. For the woman
which hath no husband is bound by the law to her husband as
long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she
is loose from the law of her husband. So then, if while her
husband lives, she be married to another man, she shall be
called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is free from that law, so that she is no more adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Now he's going to apply this
spiritually in verse 4. Wherefore, my brothers and my
sisters, you are become dead to the law by the body, the dead
body of Christ. that you should be married to
another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that you should
now bring forth fruit unto God." You're married to Christ. How
did you get free from the law? When Christ died, he set you
free from the law. Now, the law, it wasn't that
the law was a cruel husband. But he was just so strict. He
was just so stern. You couldn't satisfy him. He'd come home from work and
he had such keen eyes. He could find a crumb on the
floor that you missed and he would just go into a rage. If
the food wasn't cooked just exactly right, oh, he would go into a
rage and start accusing you and telling you what a sorry wife
you were. If he went and looked at the bedroom, there was a wrinkle
on the bedspread. Oh, it was awful. He was just
too stern. He was too strict. And you couldn't
satisfy him. And sometimes he'd go into this
rage over what you were doing to him because you weren't perfect.
You see, he was just such a perfect guy. He expected you to be that
way. And you're not that way. So he just raged, and it was
terrible to live with him. Wouldn't it? Wouldn't it? Aren't you glad that you got
free from that husband? Aren't you glad you're married
to one who is kind and tender and gentle? Oh, don't Jesus Christ your husband,
oh, isn't he so good to you? When he comes home and something's
wrong, he's so patient with you. But before, when you got afraid
of your other husband, you didn't want him to come home. Now when
your husband comes home, oh, you want everything to be right.
You don't want any crumbs. You want the food just right.
You want the bed made just right. Because you want to please Him.
Because He's not hard. He's not harsh. He's loving.
He's kind. He's tender. He's patient with
you. And don't you love it when He
looks at you? Oh, when you have a sense that, oh, He's looking
at me. He's looking at me. And when He speaks, when you
hear His voice, and you don't have to do a thing.
He provides everything for you. All your food He provides, all
your clothing, all your shelter, everything that you need and
want, your husband Christ provides for you. Brothers and sisters,
would you ever want to leave this husband and go back and
try to be reunited with that other husband? Would you ever
want to go back to that? I tell you, if you've ever been
in a bad relationship and you get in a good relationship, you
know what you say? Man, this is much better. I didn't
know what being married was. I didn't know what it was to
be loved and cared for and appreciated. That's the way it is with Christ.
When you're out and under that law of that old husband that
just whipped on your conscience and accused you, and you're married
to this Christ who is meek and lonely at heart. Oh, it's wonderful. You're free because you are dead
with The law has no more dominion over him, so it don't have any
dominion over you. Sin has no more dominion over
him, so it has no dominion over you. You're free. You're free
because you're dead. I don't know how this works,
but I'm telling you it works. Look back over to our text again
right quickly in Colossians chapter 3, and look at this. Look in
the last portion of verse 3. Set your affections on things
above, for you are dead." And look at this, your life is hid. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. What does this mean? Your life
is hid. Well, Clarence is a very good
example of this, I think. He was born here in Newcastle,
raised in Newcastle, worked in Newcastle, retired in Newcastle.
And if you go to the restaurant with Clarence out to eat, Just
about every other person who comes in the door, they know
Clarence. He spends a lot of his time, because everybody knows
him just about it, and he knows just about everybody else. But
you know something? They don't know the new you.
They don't know the real Clarence. They don't know the hidden man
of the heart, that man that's been burned again. They can't
see him. They can't understand him. He's
hid from their eyes. They never see him, and they
never shall see him in this world. Why? He's hid. Brothers and sisters,
don't be concerned if the world don't know you, if the world
don't understand you. They can't figure out why you
believe what you believe, why you love the things you love,
why you hate the things you hate. They don't understand you. Why? They don't know you. They've
never seen you before. They've just never seen you before. John says it like this. He says,
What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God? Therefore the world knoweth
us not. It don't know you. You're hid
from this world with Christ in God. And the world don't know
you and understand you anymore than it understood the Lord Jesus
Christ when He was in this world. You are hid. You are hid. Your life is hid with Christ. What else does this teach us?
Not only that the world can't know the real you, but don't
this speak to us of security? If you hide something, why do
you hide it? So nobody can find it. You are hid with Christ. We talk about, people talk about,
you know, somebody's going to pluck you out of His hand. Well, they first got to find
Him. Because you're with Him hidden. Somebody says it's like
looking for a needle in a haystack. Oh, it's more than that. You
first go looking for a needle in a haystack. Then when you
find that needle, you come and try to find one of God's little
children. He's hid with Christ in God. That's security, ain't
it? That's security. I tell you,
it speaks of safety. I saw a picture somewhere, and
I don't remember who had it. I think the name of it was Serenity,
or Peace, or something like that. It showed this ocean, and it
was beating against this rock shore, a huge rock. And it was
violent. You could tell the wind was blowing,
the waves were up, and it was beating against that huge rock. And I thought, serenity? What
is serenity in this? But when you look real close,
this little tiny bird was back in a hole in that rock. And you
could tell he had his eyes shut. He was all snuggled up in that
hole, protected, secure from that raging waves and the wind. Oh, brothers and sisters, in
Jesus Christ, there is safety. There is safety. Nothing can
harm you. I want you to hold Colossians
3 and look with me over Isaiah 32. Isaiah 32, and look in verses
1 and 2. This is one of the most blessed
verses, I think, that I've read for a long time. I was reading
one day, and I just saw this. There it was. Look what he says
here in Isaiah 32. And look here in verses 1 and
2. Isaiah 32. I'm talking now about
being hid. Being hid. I told you about going
to Tennessee, and I go by this Camelot Church, this Church of
Christ, and it's called Refuge Church of Christ. But there's
no refuge there. Where is a hiding place? There's
a hiding place, but where is it? Look here in verse 1. Behold,
a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as in a hiding
place from the wind, the raging wind, and he shall be a cover
a shelter from the tempest, as rivers of waters in a dry place,
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Are you in
Christ? Then you are hid, you are hid
in Him. Listen to this, listen to this
blessed old song that you and I sing so often. Our brother Cushion, William
Cushion. that is higher than I, my soul
in its conflicts and sorrow would fly. So sinful, so weary, thine
would I be. Thou blessed rock of ages, I
am hiding in thee. In the calm of the noontide,
in sorrow's long hour, in times when temptation cast o'er me
its powers, and the tempest of life in its wide raging sea,
O thou blessed rock of ages, I am hiding to thee." And listen
to this, "'How often the conflict, when pressed by the foe, I have
fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe! How often, when trials
like sea billows roll, have I hid in thee, O thou rock of my soul!'
Hiding in thee. Hiding in thee. Thou blest Rock
of Ages, I'm hiding in thee. Aren't you glad there's a hiding
place? You ain't going to escape your troubles and the storms
of this life, but I can tell you there's a hiding place for
you. You ain't going to escape death and eternity, but there's
a hiding place for you. And it's safe there. It's in
Christ. Don't that free you up, brothers
and sisters, from being so concerned? of trying to secure yourself
in this life. Don't it free you up to seek
those things which are above? Where Christ said it, on the
right hand of God. Troubles come, temptations come,
no telling what may come, but we're here in Christ. Let it
come. If it can't hurt Him, it can't
hurt you. You're in Him, and you're here with Him. Quickly,
back over to our text, right quickly, look at this. In Colossians
chapter 3, and look at this. In verse 4, when Christ, who
is our life. Another amazing statement. I'm
not your life, and you're not my life. It's impossible for
that to be. But Christ is our life. He's
your life. When, not if, but when he shall,
not maybe, but shall appear. Then shall you also appear with
him in glory. Here's these other two things.
Christ is coming. Christ is coming. All through
the Old Testament, they waited for it. He says, I'm coming.
I'm coming. Wait for me. Don't be discouraged. Don't get weary. I'm coming.
I'm coming!" And he came, didn't he? Right on time, when God ordained
him to come. In the fullness of time, he came.
And Simeon took him up in his arms, that little baby Jesus,
the Son of God. And he said, Lord, let me die
in peace. My eyes have seen your salvation. Once in the end of
the world, he appeared to put away sin. But you know something? He's coming again. He's going
to appear again. The angels told those disciples
out there on Mount Olives, they said, this same Jesus that was
taken up from you, He shall come again in like manner as you've
seen Him go up. And brothers and sisters, when
He comes, what's going to happen? When the Lord Jesus comes again,
Peter said, this world is going to pass away with a great noise. Heavens! The heavens! These astronomers
and so on, astrologists, they study the heavens, that's where
their life is. Studying the stars and the planets,
they're going to pass away. They're going to pass away. The elements are going to melt
with permanent heat, and the earth and all the works that
are therein, what's going to happen to them? They're going
to be burned up. They're going to be burned up. And Peter said,
see them, these things are going to be dissolved. These things
are going to be dissolved. Don't set your heart upon these
things, brothers and sisters. They're going to be dissolved
when Christ comes. They're not what happened. They're already
being dissolved, aren't they? I thought when the white heads
went on the cruise down south, landed there at Cozumel, we went
down to Cancun. And they took us down and showed
us the pyramids and everything the Mayan Indians had built sometime
back in the 10 A.D. I don't know when it was. Nobody
knows for sure. But boy, what buildings they
built! What pyramids! Magnificent! And I can imagine
what they looked like when they were building them. But can you
imagine as they were building those huge cities? Can you imagine
How those people set their affection on those things. They give their
lives to building those cities and those pyramids. They shed
their blood for that. They went to bed thinking about
it. Got up all day and that's all they thought about. Oh, look
at that pyramid. Look at this city we built for
ourselves. And you know what they call those places now. The
Mayan ruins. And someday when the Lord comes,
you know what they're going to call all of these things? Ruins. They're gone. Christ is coming. Christ is coming. Set your affection
upon things above, not on things upon this earth. And here's the
last thing he says, fourthly, is this, Then shall you appear
with him in glory. He's coming in glory. And I'm
telling you, when you see Him, you'll say, oh, how glorious
He is. And all those glorious angels
are coming with Him. Then you'll be glorious yourself,
because He's going to change your vile body and fashion it
like unto His glorious body. Everything concerning His coming
is glorious. And you'll be there with Him.
You'll appear with Him. Think on this, brothers and sisters.
Look here over to your right, and I'll close with this. I just
want to read you these five scriptures. 1 Thessalonians 1, look at this. This must be a wonderful truth
because in every chapter, Paul mentions the coming of Christ.
And you're appearing with Him in glory. Look what he says in
1 Thessalonians 1, and look in verse 9. 1 Thessalonians 1, 9. All the people that watch your
lives, they show of us what manner of entering in we have into you,
and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and
true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised
from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to
come. You don't have to fear His coming.
You know why? He's delivered you from the wrath
to come. It's coming on the world, but
not on you. You're hid in Christ. He's already suffered the wrath
for you. Look what he says in chapter 2, in verse 19. For our hope, for what is our
hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing, are not even you in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming. See where you're going
to be? You say, but we're not Baptists. We're going to be for
all. No. Everybody that's in Him is going
to be right close to Him. In His presence. Everybody. If you know His presence here,
you'll love His presence there. Look what He says in chapter
3 and the last verse in it. To the end, He, the Lord God,
may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even
our Father. at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. You mean He'll be without blame
before Him at His coming? That's what He said. And He's
going to do that for you. If you've got any sin, He's just
going to wash it from you. If you have any nakedness about
you, He's just going to clothe you with His righteousness. He's
going to present you blameless, without spot or blemish or any
such thing. Blameless in His presence, when?
At His coming. Look in chapter 4 and look here
in verse 13. I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, concerning those brethren which are asleep, and those sisters
which have died in the Lord, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them which are asleep in Jesus,
their souls, their spirits are there, and God will bring with
Him For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of our Lord shall
not go ahead, prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ
shall rise first." Then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the earth. So shall we ever be with the
Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words." My goodness, He's delivered us from the wrath
to come, so we're waiting for Him. He's going to present us
blameless in His very presence before His face. And He's going
to present us not only our souls, but our bodies. He saved us. We've waited for Him, and He
saved us, body and soul. You think He's faithful enough
to do all that? You think you can trust Him to
do that? You can't do it for yourself. You think you can trust
him to do that for you? You think you can wait and just
keep on seeking and setting your affections, knowing he'll do
it? Are you sure about that? Look what he says in the fifth
chapter in verse 24. Faithful is he that calleth you. He has called you, and you've
come. And he's still calling, and you're
still coming. And look at this. Do it. Someday the Lord Jesus,
as one old man said, is going to stand out on the portals of
heaven. And He's going to call. And you're going to answer. If
you're in a grave, you're coming out. If you're still alive, you're
going up. And you're going to be with Him
for all eternity. Seek those things, brothers and
sisters, which are God. Let's pray.