Turn with me to Colossians chapter 3. We're going to read verses 1 through 4. Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. You may be seated. The main point of this passage tonight is not very difficult to pull out. Somebody see if you can find it for me. Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 through 4. What's the main point? What is Paul commanding us? What's the Lord commanding us in these verses? Yeah, that's it. It's set your mind on things above. He says it twice there in the verses. In verse one, he says it, keep seeking the things above where Christ is. And then at the beginning of verse two, set your mind on the things above. A little bit different from each other, but basically the same idea, right? This is the command. This is what we are to think about, the things above. Is that a message that we need to hear just as believers? As I was thinking about this this week we it is a message we need to hear And we just I'm praying that the Lord will do that for us that it'll help us to do that because there is a constant pull for us as believers because we live not above. You know, we live here in the world and so it's natural for us to, for our attention to slip to things that are temporal, to things that are just here on the earth. And to keep your mind fixed on the things above takes consistent effort. And if you notice those commands, the first one there in verse one where it says, keep seeking the things above. It doesn't say it as something that you ought to do. Once and for all, seek what's above. It's keep seeking the things above because we need to be continually every day Setting our minds on what's above and It's very obvious in in verse 1 that that's the idea that it's something we're to be doing continually in verse 2 though You could put a keep in front of that just the same because it's the same tense in the Greek It's the same idea that we need to be doing this all the time throughout our lives. We need to be continually setting our minds on the things that are above not on the things that are the earth and So, where is your focus today? What has been running through your mind? What's been the theme of your thoughts? What is your life about today? This week, what were you pursuing with your life? What is it that you're passionate about today? Paul's saying that It ought to be things above. It ought to be the things of heaven, the things that are eternal that we are fixed on. Here's a question just to get us thinking about this some more. What's the difference between us as believers, those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, what's the difference between us and our nice, decent, unbelieving neighbors? I just moved to a new neighborhood and I have a lot of really friendly neighbors. Maybe where I lived before, I didn't have neighbors on the other side of the street except over, you know, over there in the Sluder area, but they kind of kept their distance. So, it feels like now I've got all these people around and unbelievers, you know, but really nice people, friendly people. What's the difference between us who've believed and our nice, decent, friendly neighbors? Well, there's a couple of things you could say, right? One would be, while our eternal destiny is different, our status with God, that we've been forgiven, that we have heaven, that we have eternal life already, our status and our standing with the Lord is different. But there ought to be another focus, another thing that's different, and that would be our focus, right? our direction in life ought to be different. Even though we do, it's hard to see that sometimes because we do a lot of the same things that the people around us do, the people that are unbelievers and yet nice, friendly people. You know, they mow their grass, they pay their taxes, they avoid scandalous sins like we do, they take their kids to softball games, they go visit their grandkids on the weekends, They enjoy a good lunch at Pizza Ranch every once in a while. You know, it's kind of a similar lifestyle that we live. We all live in Lamars and it's a nice place to live and there's a lot of people around us who aren't believers and yet it's, you kind of look from the outside and it seems, well, it's kind of the same sort of thing you do. You kind of have to do those things to live. But Paul is saying here that one of the things that ought to set us apart, that there ought to be a difference in our mindset as believers. That even while we're doing the same things that everyone else is doing, our minds are to be fixed elsewhere. So that we're not really about the stuff of the earth. We have a higher focus than that. A believer will go with his family to the lake for a day. An unbeliever might do the same thing, but there ought to be a difference. So that if you were with both people and listen to the things that were said and saw the attitudes, there would be a difference where the believers at the lake would be focused on the Lord and on the blessing that He's given to them. And they would be talking about that with their kids even as they're enjoying their day at the lake. There should be a different way we go about the things because our minds are set elsewhere. It's not all about this life for us. So the command, and it's a simple one, is just basically fix your minds on the things above. Continually be setting your attention on the things that are eternal, the things that are in heaven. And then it's interesting to see in the verse, that's the command. And then around the command here, he gives it to us twice there, right? We notice both of those times. Before he gives us that command and between the two times that he says it, and then afterwards, he keeps saying the same thing. And the thing that he's saying around that is that you believers, you belong to a world that's not here. You belong to another much greater world than the one that we can see. He says, fix your minds on the things above because we don't really belong here. We belong somewhere else, somewhere greater, somewhere higher. It seems like Paul is concerned, as he's writing to these believers, that we might forget where we belong, that our identity might start to get tied to the stuff of the earth, who we feel like we are might get tied to the things we have and the things we're doing and the status that we have on earth, instead of who we really are in Christ at the core of our being. And those are things above. So if you were going to sum it up, you could say, Paul says, commands us here, fix your eyes on the things above, because that is where you belong, believer. We don't really belong here. This isn't our life down here. And so I think that maybe you could say that Paul gives us a key here. He gives us a key for, because it's difficult for us, right? I mean, if you're like me, Or even greatly better than me. You probably still still have a hard time always fixing your eyes on internal things because this stuff we can just see it and everyone else is Excited about it and we can be decided about it. And and how do we do that? How do we set our minds on things of heaven that we can't see it's invisible. It's not here. I It's hard to focus on it all the time. And I think Paul gives us a key here. The key that he says is that we have to remember who we are. We have to remember where we belong. And as we have that, our identity right, then it's going to help us to have our mindset in the right place. And so that's what he does. He gives us here in this passage four truths about who you are that encourage an otherworldly mindset. four truths about who you are that encourage your mindset to be set upon heaven. So, number one is this. You have already been raised with Christ. So, you belong there with Him. You've already been raised with Christ. Now, look at verse one with me again, Colossians 3.1. He says, Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, now he's talking to believers and he's not really questioning, like looking at them like, Well, if you've been raised up with Christ, you know, skeptically, the idea is he's drawing them in and they're supposed to hear him say that. If you've been raised with Christ, then they're supposed to say, yeah, that's me. I believed. And if I believed in Jesus Christ, then I've been raised with Christ. We're supposed to kind of respond to that and say, yes, that's the case. He's not calling it into question. He just wants us to think, yeah, that's me. I'm a believer. I've been raised with Christ. And he's already told the believers that even in this book, that if we've trusted in Jesus Christ, we have been raised up in Christ's resurrection. Look back with me at Colossians 2, verse 12, just in case you missed that week, or just in case you don't remember from two months ago when we were there. Colossians 2, verse 12, he says, talking to us who've received Christ, he says, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised up with him through faith in the working of God. So if you have put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God says that you have been raised with Christ. What's that mean, that we've been raised with Christ? Obviously, we're not physically in heaven. Otherwise, heaven isn't all that impressive. No, we're obviously not physically there, right? I mean, we're here. Physically, so what's he mean that we've been raised with Christ because we know where Christ is He's at the right hand of the Father in glory and and I'm not there But this is past tense. He's saying you have been raised up with Christ and we're supposed to say yeah. Yeah, that's right I know I've been raised with Christ maybe three things That that means one is this or letter a if you're following the outline We already share in his eternal life John Neeson, welcome. Good to see you. We're in Colossians chapter 3. We already share in his eternal life. Jesus Christ was in the grave, he was dead, and he came to life, and for those of us who believe, we have eternal life already. It's not something we're waiting to be given to us at some point, we have it. I think that's included in the idea. Letter B, we already experienced the power that raised Jesus from the dead, and Paul talks about this in various places, that we have access to this kind of world-shattering power that raised Jesus from the dead, we have access to as believers, which is an amazing thought in itself. Letter C, We already share in Christ's exalted status. In a sense, we share in Christ's exalted status. Now, did you see in verse 1, Christ's status is pretty exalted, isn't it? Did you see that at the end of the verse? Where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. The idea of being at the right hand of the ruler, that's the highest position of honor that there is. And that is where Christ is. He's been exalted to this place where he has authority over what's taking place. He is the exalted one, and we have been raised with him. In a sense, we're reigning with Christ. We've been given this exalted status as believers. So Paul says, since we already belong to heaven. And that's what he's saying. He's saying we belong there. You have been raised with Christ. You're seated with Christ in the heavenlies, he said in Ephesians. Turn that with me. It's close to here. Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 4 through 6, another place where Paul is talking about the same idea, that we as believers belong in heaven because we've been raised with Christ. We have this status of exaltation, in a sense. In a sense, spiritually we're there. Look at that Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4. This is fun to read even it's in itself But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and Raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus We have this This is our identity now. We are tied to Jesus and he has won the victory. And so we have won the victory and we belong there with Christ in heaven. That is where we should be, where we belong. And so Paul is saying, well, if you've already been raised with Christ and heaven is where you belong, why would you be overly focused upon this life and the things that are going on down here? Four truths about who you are that encourage us to have an otherworldly mindset, to fix our eyes on the things above instead of the things of the earth. The first thing he says is you've already been raised up with Christ and so you belong there with him. The second thing he says, you've died with Christ to this earthly world and so you don't belong here. Look at verses 2 and 3. There's kind of a positive. He says it positively and then he says it negatively. It's the same thing. See in verse 2, set your mind on the things above. That's a positive statement. And then he says, not on the things that are on the earth. So if my heart is fixed on Christ and my heart is fixed on things that are eternal, then that's going to take my heart away from the temporal stuff that's here. Not on the things that are on the earth. And then he says in the beginning of verse 3, for you have died. And this is the third time in Colossians already that Paul has talked about this, that we have died to this life. That our identity down here has been ended. It's been cut off. This isn't who I am anymore as a believer. I've died to the stuff that's here and I've been raised with Christ. I belong with him. And that should change how I think. It certainly is a different way of thinking. I mean, if we can really do this, and we can, God wouldn't be calling us to something that's impossible for us. So if we can go through our lives with our minds really grasping, look, I really belong to the heaven more than I belong here. My identity is I'm connected to Christ, and I'm eternally His. If I can go through my life thinking that and thinking about things that are eternal, I'm going to stand out from my neighbors, aren't I? Because for all of their decency and friendliness, my unbelieving neighbors can't help themselves. Their lives revolve around the stuff of Earth. That's just, those are the things that are important to them. And you could really just take any kind of thing that goes on down here and see that if my mind is set on heaven, it's going to be different for me. Okay, so what's one of the things that's most important in Lamar's? Like if someone was going to move to Lamar's and you were going to say, you want to come to Lamar's because it's a nice... what kind of community? What are some of the things you would say? Because you'll get to my thing really fast, I think. It's good for... No one likes Lamar's, I see. Come on. Yes. Yeah, those are definitely things you could list. I mean, you've got, it's a safe place, it's a friendly place, we've got a nice Lamar's Bible Church. And people would... And one of the heart of that small town feeling would be family, wouldn't it? I mean, it's a nice place to raise a family. That's what I always tell my friends that are from bigger cities about Lamar's, is that, well, this is a great place to have kids. It's a good place to have family. So if you think about unbelievers around us, they live here because family is important to them. And I think you can see that in the families, the people in the town. And so you can say, okay, if I got an unbeliever and they love their kids and they want to do what's best for their kids, that's what they're living for. And you can take a lot of believers and say, okay, well, what's important to you? And you say, well, I love my kids. I want to do what's best for my kids. Someone might say, well, it's the same. But it gets different pretty fast, doesn't it? If I have my heart set on eternity, Because my unbelieving neighbor, they love their kids, they're doing what's best for their kids the best they can, and so they want their kid to be well-adjusted, they want their kid to have the best education, they want their kid to be successful, they want all the best that this world has to offer for their kids that they want. But I have a little different focus when I'm thinking what's best for my kids, right? Because I want my kids to see that there's more to life than this. I want those things for them too. I want them to be successful. But more than anything, I want them to see, I want to teach them, I want to train them that the most important thing about life is the relationship with Jesus Christ. And he is the delight of our life as a family here on the earth, and he is our hope for eternity. I want them to see… Christ work in our family, and I want him to receive him and So even just I think at every basic level you could just take each example and say okay well this thing we both do but if I do it with an eternal mindset if I do it with a heavenly mindset, it's going to be different than it would be if I Was just doing it with a worldly mindset just focus on this this life So Paul says we have died to the stuff of this world, and we've been raised up with Christ, and who I am now as a believer is different than who it was before, and so it fits me, it ought to be natural for me to say, to fix my mind on the things that are important to me, to fix my mind on the things that are eternal. I say it ought to be natural to me, but it's not that easy. There's all sorts of things that can pull my heart here, where I can get focused on things that are really, it's just earthly. Maybe just in a phrase or a word. What are some of the things that draw my attention here instead of there? Draw my attention to the earth instead of heaven. Just throw out like a phrase or a word. Nebraska football. I had that on my list. I did. Amen. Mel, keep going, keep going. What were we gonna say? Work? Stuff. Yeah. Stuff. I just recently read Jerry Bridges' book, Respectable Sins. It's a great book, if you've not read it. It's neat to kind of... He does a good job of saying, okay, here's the things that, like, for us believers, these are sins, but we don't see them as being too bad, and so we kind of allow them in our lives, and he kind of points out what they are. And in the process of that, he was talking about money, Stuff and how we can get focused on that as believers. Oh, this was interesting I'll just read a little bit from the book here He says America is the wealthiest nation in the world and our prosperous middle class is unparalleled in all of history average household income as of 2004 was 52,000 287 But from that income 52,000 a year the average Americans giving for all causes is $800 a year 1.5% of their income now that's the average American evangelicals do a little better than that the same survey has evangelicals giving 4% of their income to the Lord's work But then Bridges kept going and said, well, okay, so we make more than anybody else has made in history. I mean, we are ridiculously rich. I mean, just throughout the population, middle class, everybody has something. But we only give 4% of it, say, to the Lord's work. But then Bridges says, most of what we do give to the church is spent on ourselves. In 1920, the percentage of giving to missions from total offerings was just over 10%. So you understand, so in 1920, people would give their money to the church. The church would take 10% of that on average and send that overseas to missions. By 2003, that figure had fallen to 3%. So we're the richest nation in the world, but we give individually 4% of our money to the church, who then takes 3% of that money and sends it elsewhere. So in summary, it appears that evangelical households are keeping more of their income for themselves and giving less to their churches, and churches are keeping more of what they do receive for their own ministries and programs and spending less of it to missions working overseas, yet we are the richest nation in history. And so what do we do with our money? It feels like I don't have any extra money to give, you know? Do you feel like that? But what do we do with our money? Well, we spend it on stuff, right? We spend it on the things of the earth that we like and that we need. We buy houses and cars and electronic stuff and this and that. That's a good area for us to say, okay, where is my attention fixed? You know, is it on this earth or in my money? Am I fixing my thoughts on what's above? You mentioned Nebraska football. I think that that is a... That is a real thing for me. I think sports for a lot of guys it can be a Distracting thing where I can be focused on the stuff of this earth instead of the next life. I was I went to Omaha There was a pastor's conference there and there was a speaker coming from California thought of my seminary so I wanted to hear him and so I went to to hear him speak and then afterwards the pastors got invited to lunch and So it was just a circle of pastors sitting around a table eating. We're discussing things in the ministry with this Visiting speaker. It's a fun time And of course it was Nebraska football season. This is an Omaha that I mentioned, Omaha and so the Huskers come up and the the speaker from California listens to us for a while and then he says something like I There's more enthusiasm around this table right now than there has been in anything else we've discussed. And we're all kind of like, yeah. Not that we shouldn't be involved in sports. That's not what I'm saying. Obviously, the Huskers are a good thing. Where's our focus? And just any little thing, whether it be something that we need in our lives, financial things, or it's just some sort of hobby that we have, all of these things can take our focus off of our attention, our heart, off of Christ, and put it on things that don't really matter. You can listen to the radio. I hardly ever do. The other day I drove up to Sibley for a funeral and back, and I only have AM on my car, and so I couldn't get anything but talk radio or a Twins game, and I don't care about the Twins, so I was listening to the talk radio. You can just get really like, boy, our country is falling apart, and there's all these issues that are going on, and just kind of focus on those things. But really, in some sense, some of those are just earthly things. Because America, you know, there's not going to be an America in heaven. The gospel is what's most important, and it plays into how we act as Americans. All of these things can take our attention off of Christ and the things that are eternal, the things that matter most, and pull it to the earth. And so Paul says, continually be fixing your mind on the things that are above and not on the stuff of the earth, whatever it is. And then he says the reason that we ought to is because really we belong to that next life more than we belong here. We've been raised with Christ. We've died with Christ in this earthly world. And then he says the real truth about you, the real truth about you as a believer is currently hidden from view. This is cool. Look in verse three. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. As far as I know, I think this is the only time in the Bible that believers are referred to as being hidden. You've died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. What's he talking about? What does he mean we're hidden? And I think there's a contrast between verses three and four that help us understand this a little bit. So look there with me. Verse three, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. But then look what he says in verse four. When Christ who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. The idea is, our lives are temporarily hidden in order, one day, to be revealed. I think the thought here is that, look, you as a believer, you have this exalted status. You've been united with Jesus Christ, and you've been raised with Him, and you are a son of God, and yet it's not obvious. You know, it's not... The people around us don't look at us and say, whoa, Son of God is here with us, you know, but in a sense I mean, that's the reality and that is the truth of the matters. We've been united and raised with Christ But it's it's just not obvious. It's it's hidden Now that isn't a permanent thing There's a revelation that's coming that he says in verse 4 I think that's the main point of what he's saying there that we were hidden with Christ in God and I think there might also be kind of a connotation of safety because you can you can hide something and to keep it safe, right? You've got a hyrax, a rock badger, sitting on a rock, and an eagle swoops down, he's gonna go in the rocks to keep him safe. He hides for safety. And I think there's a little bit of that in this, too. When he says that your life is hidden with Christ and God, it's like, you've been hidden away in God, and what safer place could you be? With Christ, you've been hidden, in God. So we are very safe, tucked away in God. We're not going to lose our salvation. We're not going to lose this status that he's given to us. We're not going to lose heaven. We're hidden away in God. It's kind of a cool picture. Okay, so the real truth about who you are is currently hidden from view. But, fourth point, your glorious destiny will one day be revealed with Christ. Look at verse four again. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Christ, Paul says, is our life. Life, our life is really not about the stuff down here, is it? Christ, he says, who is our life? Our life is tied up in Him. It's tied up in the things that last forever. It's tied up in the things that are eternal. Not in the stuff that goes on around us all the time, the stuff that's just going to pass. And when Christ comes, because right now He's hidden from you too, right? He's at the Father's right hand. You can't go somewhere and see Christ. He's hidden and we're hidden with Him. But one day He will be revealed and we will be revealed in all our glory, in a sense, with Him. And then everyone will see Why was so important for us to always be talking about this gospel? Why we always wanted to talk about Jesus again and about the gift of salvation that they needed to receive and I mean everyone will see at one point. Whoa This is what's important because Christ is gonna be revealed in all his glory and we will come with him I just think it's fun to go and look at the picture of that. So hold your finger there in Colossians go to Revelation Revelation 19 this is talking about Christ's coming and In glory, his next return, Revelation 19 verse 11, when he comes to set up his kingdom, this is fun just to read of how exalted he is, but notice in the middle of this description of how great and exalted Christ is and will be when he's revealed, We're tucked in there, and we share in this glory. Though we do not deserve it, we're coming with him in his glory. Revelation 19, verse 11. He says, and I saw heaven opened, and behold the white horse, and he who sat on it is called faithful and true. This is Christ. And in righteousness he judges and wages war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies, which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. That was us. Did you see us in there? For his mouth From his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords." See, this is what we live for. This is what it's about for us. It's about Christ. And temporarily now we're hidden away in him. And we're living in this world that really we don't belong to. This is the world that we belong to. It's the things of Christ, the one who is currently exalted on high. He's the one that we are about. And so Paul says, fix your minds, continually be turning your minds and your heart and your purposes and your desires and your passion to the things that are eternal and not the things that are temporary. Let's pray. Lord, we just want to do that with our lives. We want to live for the things that matter, and you have given us such a wonderful, eternal gift. that you would unite yourself with us and that you would let your death set us free, that you would give us the life and even let us share in the glory of your return. These are wonderful things. Help us not to lose sight of that. Give us the mindset that the things that matter are the things that aren't seen, the things that are yet to be seen, the things that come with Christ. Even in this week, so that we might be the salt and the light and the testimony that we're meant to be here in this community, that we love and yet needs to hear the gospel desperately. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.