Let us, if you will, open our
Bibles today to the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3, and the
title of my message today is risen with Christ. Risen with
Christ. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affections 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. I'm going to continue this morning
with the same theme that I brought to us last Sunday morning and
that is the union. The union which exists between
the Lord Jesus Christ and every believer. Last Sunday morning
we looked at what the Apostle Paul called in Ephesians 5 and
verse 32, a great mystery. And of course he was referring
to the union which exists between Christ and his church. A union. It was pictured in that
passage of scripture by the union which exists between a man and
his wife. Two become one. that that was the law of marriage
in the beginning. For this reason shall a man leave
his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and
the two shall be made one, shall become one. We saw the union
that exists between Christ and his church which was pictured
in the marriage union. But today I want us to look at
the union that is pictured between Christ and His church, His body,
between the head, the head and the members of the body. And that's what we have here
in the letter of Colossians. If you look back in chapter 1
in verse 18, when I say Christ and His church, remember we're
talking about His body, those who are members of His body,
every child of God. There's only one church. Now
I realize there's many local churches, but there's only one
church of the Lord Jesus Christ and that church everyone must
be a member of if he or she is saved. And that church is His
body. Look here in Colossians 1 in
verse 18. And he, that is Christ, is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence. Christ is the
representative head of his church, that is his body. I believe that in our text this
morning a better translation of the Greek word is for as much. You see it begins if. If ye then
be risen with Christ. The word if, it conveys the idea
of uncertainty. And that's not what Paul is saying
here. That's not what Paul is teaching
in this passage of scripture, that there is some uncertainty
between Christ, the union which exists between Christ and his
body. Now, you say, well, was everyone
in the church at Colossae saved? Probably not. The Lord Jesus
Christ had 12 apostles, 12 disciples, and one of them was a devil.
But remember this, that the New Testament letters are written
to men as they profess to be. Everyone in the church at Colossae
professed to be a child of God. And so the letter is written
to them as believers. And there's no uncertainty in
Paul's mind, and by the grace of God, there should be no uncertainty
in your mind and my mind if we are God's children today, that
we are in union with Christ, that Christ is our head. Just
like this body has one head, so the church has one head, and
that head is Christ. Many members, yes, but we are
all in union with the head. He's stating a glorious truth.
that every child of God, every child of God, by union with Christ,
is risen with Christ. For as much as you are risen
with Christ, this is His word to you as a child of God this
morning, for you, you, you, for as much as you are risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above. And again, when we
think of this union, as it's pictured between the husband
and wife, Paul said it's a great mystery. But I would say also
this morning, as it's pictured between the head and members
of his body, this too is a great mystery. But we believe it, we
believe it because it is revealed unto us in the word of God. Those
of us who know Christ as our Lord and Savior today, we are
in union with Him. We are members of His body, and
we are risen with Christ. Now, I have three things this
morning that I want to say about the saved and our union with
Christ, who is our head. First of all, all the saved are
risen with Christ. All the saved are risen with
Christ. And here are two ways that all
of the saved are risen with Christ. When we were dead in trespasses
and sins, we were quickened. If you look back in chapter 2
verse 13, the apostle had already stated this. He said, being dead
in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. All men,
when we come into this world, are spiritually dead. We lost
our life in our father, Adam. We lost that likeness in which
we had been created, the likeness of God, the image of God. We
fell in our father, Adam. And we come into this world,
as the apostle has said, dead in your sin, dead in sin, dead
in trespasses and sins. And it's a strange kind of death.
Because in 1st Timothy the apostles wrote as living and yet dead. We all have a life, a physical
life, but by nature man has to be born of the Spirit of God. He must be quickened, he must
be raised by the power of God into a new life, a spiritual
life, in order to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. By nature, spiritually, all men
are dead. Have you been raised? I think
we have a beautiful picture. Now, Paul here says quicken,
but that is made alive. That's what resurrection is.
It's making alive. And so I'm saying, first of all,
that every child of God, every saved individual, is risen with
Christ. And we see this in two ways.
The first way is the new birth. In the new birth, when we are
quickened and made alive. In Ephesians 2 and verse 1 he
said, And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. No one who reads the Bible No
one who is serious about reading the Bible should ever entertain
the idea that salvation is not of the Lord. It is so clearly
revealed. What can a dead person do? Someone
said he could stink. That's about it. That's about
it. He'd been in the grave for four
days. And his sister said, don't take
the stone away because his body's already begun to deteriorate. And the Lord Jesus said, take
the stone away. And he called him from the dead,
physical death. Lazarus, come forth. And he came
forth. The same thing is true of spiritual
life. Let me show you a wonderful example
of this over in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 37. Ezekiel chapter
37. And there's so much in this passage
of Scripture. The hand of the Lord was upon
me and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord. You know
the first thing I see here is God calls men to preach and God
sends them to the place where He wants them to preach. God
called Ezekiel. God sends Ezekiel out to this
place. And Ezekiel would have never
in a lifetime chosen this place to preach. Oh no. Anywhere but there. Anywhere
but there. Why? Because look. He set me
down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. Anyone
want to preach to bones? The bones? And he caused me to
pass by them round about, and behold, there were very many
in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry. They were not
only dead, but they were very dead. They were dry bones. And he said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones live? Don't you just love the way Ezekiel
answered? O Lord God, thou knowest. and
you're the only one who does. God has his people, his chosen
people in this world. He knows them, the preacher doesn't. We're commanded to go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Can these
bones live, Ezekiel? Lord, you know, you know. Again,
he said unto me, prophesy. prophesy upon these bones, and
say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. But
how can they hear? How can they hear? If God gives
them ears to hear, they will hear. Our Lord said, He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith. Thus saith
the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon
you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with
skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and ye shall
know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was
a noise, and behold, a shaking. And the bones came together,
bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews
and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above,
but there was no breath in them. What they needed was life. And
even though, as he preached, they came together, bone to bone,
and sinews and skin upon the bone. They still did not have
what they needed. They needed life. Then said he
unto me, prophesy unto the wind. Now the word wind is the same
word that's translated spirit, fuma, spirit. Prophesy unto the
spirit. And remember the Lord Jesus Christ
told Nicodemus, the wind bloweth where it listeth. And thou hearest
the sound thereof, but you cannot tell from whence it cometh or
whither it is going. So is everyone that is born of
the Spirit of God, the new birth. Prophesy unto the wind. son of man, and say to the wind,
thus saith the Lord God come from the four winds, O breath
and breathe upon these slain that they may live. So I prophesied
as he commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived
and stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army. I think
this is a beautiful picture here of what takes place and the salvation
of a sinner. When a person who is dead in
trespasses and sins is raised, that is quickened, is given life
to believe in Christ and turn from his wicked way. This is
what we call a vital union. A vital union. And by that I
mean you To be saved, you must have faith in Christ. You must believe in Christ. We are in union with Him by faith. He is in union with us by His
Spirit. This is a vital union. No one
is saved who is not in union with Christ because Christ is
our life. The Apostle Paul wrote this in
Romans chapter 8, he said, Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. And our Lord said this in John
5, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation, but is passed, is passed from
death unto life. When a person is born of the
Spirit of God and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are
in union with Him. He is our life and because He
lives, we live. Now, I said there's two ways,
two ways that we are risen with Christ. That's number one. And
I put that first because it is all important. It's so important.
But secondly, there's a union which exists between Christ and
His members. He rose from the grave and so
did His members. I know, as I said, this is a
great mystery. But it is revealed unto us in
the Word and by the Spirit of God. If you look here in Colossians,
if you have turned back to verse 20, the apostle said, wherefore
if you be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why
so living in the world are you subject to ardentness? If you
be dead with Christ. All believers, all believers
are dead with Christ, buried with Christ, risen with Christ,
ascended to the Father's right hand with Christ, are in Christ
because we are in union with Him. All who are saved are with Christ
by the union which exists between Christ as their representative
head and they are members of His body. It is impossible for
the head to die and the members not die. It is impossible for
the head to be alive and the members not be alive. Look at
our text again in verse 3, it said, for you are dead. You are
dead. How is it that a believer is
dead? Because of his union with Christ. Because of our being in union
with Christ, when He died, we died. When He was buried, we were buried.
And when He came out of the grave, we came out of the grave. And
when He ascended to the Father's right hand, we ascended to the
Father's right hand. We are seated with Him in the
heavenly places, the Apostle Paul tells us. in Ephesians chapter
2. And how is all of that? Because
of the union which exists between Christ as our representative
head and us as members of His spiritual body. Do you know that you can drown
in six inches of water, can't you? But you will never drown. I don't
care how deep the water is. if you can keep your head above
the water. The rest of the body may be under
the water, but you'll never drown if your head is above the water. Christ is our living head. We are in union with him. I know sometimes God's children
are troubled by scriptures which speak of being dead. We're said
to be dead to the law. We're said to be dead to sin. And we are said to be dead to
the world, having been crucified with Christ. I know believers
are troubled by these verses of Scripture, but I think a lot
of the trouble is by not realizing what Paul doesn't say. He doesn't say that the law is
dead to the believer, that sin is dead to the believer, that
the world is dead to the believer, but it is the opposite. It is
the opposite. Through the body of Christ we
have become dead to the law. When Christ died, He obeyed the
law, He kept the law in our stead and in our place, and in union
with Him, we obeyed the law, we kept the law, and we are now
dead to the law, and the same thing is true about being dead
to sin. You say, well, preacher, I don't
feel very dead to sin. I still have temptations. He didn't say that sin is dead
to you. He said that you are dead to
sin. Sin can never charge you again. It can never bring a charge
against God's elect. Why? Because it is God that justifies. Sin, debt's been paid. God's law has been satisfied. You're dead, the apostle Paul
says, dead to the law, the rudiments of the world by the body of Christ,
dead to sin. Sin can never accuse you and
charge you, and you're dead to the world. The clearest proof
The clearest proof that you partake of the life of Christ is that
sin and the world are a burden to you. Is sin a burden to you? Is that
the one thing above everything that troubles you the most, your
sin? Well, if you were dead in trespasses
and sins, sin wouldn't bother you. You wouldn't even think
about it. The scriptures not only teach
that the saved died with Christ, but that we rose with him and
that we ascended with him into the heavenly places. Ephesians
2 and verse 6 says, and hath raised us up together and made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus
is our head. If we are a child of God, if
we are saved today, and we set together with Him in heavenly
places. Now here's the second thing that
I want to bring to us from this passage. Look again, if you will,
in Colossians 3. All the saved have their life
that is hid with Christ in God. Notice that in verse 3. For you
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. This is true of every saved person. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. Now here are three truths about
the believer's life that is hid with Christ in God. First of
all, the life of every saved person is entirely hid from the
lost. Don't expect the lost to understand
you. You're living maybe in a family
where you are the only believer. Don't expect the lost to understand
you. They can't. You're working on
a job. Some are saved, maybe. Some are
not. They don't understand you. And
they can't. They never will understand you
because your life is hid from them completely. They don't understand
what motivates you. They don't understand what causes
you to live as you live. The only thing they think is
you think you're better than us. That seems to always be the
one thing that the lost always think about the same. You think
you're better than us. They've bought into the philosophy
you only go around once, so enjoy life to its greatest. If you want to do it, do it.
If it feels good, do it. That's the philosophy of this
world. And they cannot understand that
you are motivated by a life that is hit with Christ in God, and
your desire is to please Him. Your self is to please the Lord Jesus
Christ. Your temperance, your self-denial,
they can't understand. They never will. The Apostle
Peter, in his first letter, he said that, let me read that to
us, 1 Peter chapter 4. Verses 1, he said, for as much
then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves
likewise with the same mind. For he that hath suffered in
the flesh hath ceased from sin. There's no longer should live
the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the
will of God. For the time past of our life
may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. When
we were lost, living, dead in trespasses and sins. What Peter
is saying, that should be enough. That time should be enough. For the time past of our life
may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when
we walked in lasciviousness, lust, excessive wine, revelings,
banquetings, and abominable idolatries. Now notice, wherein they, that
is the lost, they think it strange. that you run not with them to
the same excessive right, speaking evil of you." They don't understand
you. Your life is entirely hid from
the lost. Here's a second truth. The life
of every saved person is sometimes hid to himself. Now, I don't know why. I would
think this is strange. We still have the flesh which
wars against the spirit, that is the new nature. And the flesh
attacks, unbelief attacks, and sometimes Christ withdraws his
comfortable presence from us. And then we fear that either
we had no life or it's dead. The life of every believer is
hid with Christ in God. It's hid entirely to the lost
and it's sometimes hid even to the believer. And that brings
me to my third thing. The life of every saved person
is always safe. Always safe. Why? Because it's hid with Christ
in God. That's why it's always safe. It can never be lost. As long
as Christ and God lives, every saved person's life cannot be
lost. It is safe. The Lord Jesus said,
because I live, you shall also live. God the Father chose us
to eternal life. God the Son redeemed us to eternal
life. God the Holy Spirit applied salvation
to us. Therefore, our life can never
perish. It can never be lost. None can pluck a believer out
of the Father's hand. Now, here's the third point,
and I'll take just a few minutes. All the saved should seek those
things which are above. That's the way our text begins,
isn't it? If you then are for as much as,
since you are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. I believe verse
2 helps us to understand maybe a little bit better, what it
means to seek those things which are above. Set your affection,
set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. The Lord Jesus said, where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also. Things of heaven
and things of the earth are set in opposition to each other. And the truth is that the more
we set our affections on the things of the earth, the less
our affections will be set on things above and vice versa. The more we set our affections
on things above, the less our affections will be set on the
things of this world. Now what are some of the things?
And I looked at that word things. Set your affection on those things. Christ is not a thing. God is
not a thing. He's a person. What are some
of the things? Set your affections on things
above. What are some of the things?
Well, since things of the earth are contrasted with things of
heaven, I thought of these three things. What are some of the
things that man set their affections on, on the earth? And the first one that came to
mind is riches. Riches. How many people set their
affections on riches? Things of the earth. Set your,
if you be risen with Christ, since you are risen with Christ,
set your affection on things above, on riches above. Now, as I looked at that, I thought
about this scripture in the book of Proverbs, which speaks to
us about the riches of this world and what are called durable riches. The riches of this world are
not durable, not by any means. In fact, there's one proverb
which says, certainly riches make themselves wings. They fly
away as an eagle toward heaven. Set your affections on things
above. Riches, durable riches. Well, what would that mean? Well,
in Proverbs 8, verses 17 and 18, wisdom is there personified
and says, I love them that love me. And those that seek Me early
shall find Me. Riches and honor are with Me,
yea, durable riches and righteousness. Durable riches. Set your affection
on durable riches and righteousness. Well, that would include justification,
wouldn't it? Righteousness, justification.
That would include sanctification. These are things truths that
we know from the Word of God. Set your affection on these things. Be concerned about these things. Put most of your emphasis in
these things and not on things of the earth. Why? Because you
are risen with Christ. That's why. Here's another thought
that came to my mind. Knowledge. Let us set our affections on
heavenly knowledge. Many people, they set their affections
on the knowledge of this world, and that's good. That's good.
I'm not speaking against that. But there's a knowledge that
is all-important. And the Scripture says the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the
Lord. Set your affection on the knowledge
which is above, that is, the fear of the Lord. Let me tell
you something about fear. We're not talking about being
afraid of God, some servile fear. We're talking about reverence,
worship. Set your affection on things
above, on knowledge of His greatness, of His holiness. of His goodness,
of His righteousness, His mercy, His grace. Set your affection
on these things. This is the beginning of knowledge,
the fear of the Lord. The more you know about God,
the more you will love God. And the more you love God, the
more you will want to know about Him. And I thought of something
else, hope. Set your affections on things
above. That is your hope. We've been
begotten again unto a living hope. And that living hope is
that we will spend eternity enjoying Christ, enjoying God. Set your affection on it. Think
about it. You ever just set aside some
time and think about heaven? That's where we're going to be
one day if we're God's children. Think about it. Read about it. Talk about it. Set your affection
on things above. One thing that I think of, the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking to his father said, in thy presence
is fullness of joy. In the presence of God, there's
fullness of joy. Set your affection on the hope
that we are begotten again unto. Well, I pray that the Lord would
bless this word to all of us here this morning and that we
would be, as I said last Sunday morning, that we would be encouraged
and that the truth of our union with Christ would help us to
resist temptation and to give us assurance day by day as we
walk through this world. Let us sing a verse or two of
a hymn before we are dismissed.