Sermon by Bob Bradley

Transcription

1 Sermon by Bob Bradley COPYRIGHT 2017 CAMPBELL CHAPEL FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH 1709 Campbell Drive * Ironton, OH 45638

2 Seek Those Things Which are Above Wednesday, February 1, 2017 Bob Bradley Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Paul is writing to the church at Colosse. Colosse was a city that was about a hundred and some miles southeast of Ephesus. We know that when we read the book of Acts, Paul spent a considerable amount of time at Ephesus. The Bible says that the time that he spent there, because of the time he spent there that all those that were in Asia, heard the Word of God. We know if I understand things correctly, Paul never visited Colosse. We know that as we read and if we understand things correctly there was a guy by the name of Epaphras. He was saved under Paul s preaching at Ephesus. We know that he lived in Colosse. If we understand things correctly, he goes back home and takes the gospel there. The churches are established here in Colosse. Some great things begin to happen. People begin to be saved. We know, as we have said this many times as we looked at different scriptures in the Bible and different cities in the Bible, any time people begins to be saved there is going to be opposition. There is going to be those that are going to come and try to water down, steal, or destroy the gospel message of Jesus Christ. We wonder why sometimes that happens. We wonder why the enemy fights so hard the gospel. Sometimes the church, the born again gets infiltrated by people that are not necessarily dedicated and sometimes not even saved. They wear sheep s clothing but they are not always sheep. We wonder why that is. If the enemy can get preachers and pastors, if the enemy can get Christian people to water down their lives and what I mean by that is not to live a consecrated, dedicated life. If he can convince pastors to preach and to teach that it is okay to sin, it s okay to participate in sinful activities if he can get pastors to say that it is okay just to do your best and you can go to heaven then he is winning. He will win in a great way because we know those things are not right. This is what happened here at Colosse. Again, people were being saved. Epaphras was the pastor here. We know, no doubt, that he was a great guy. However, there were some people that came in and we know they were Gnostics. When you look

3 these guys up, the false bunch that came in here, the cult that came in here; they were called Gnostics. Their teaching was Gnosticism. Gnosticism taught that they were super-duper spiritual. If you wanted to get to the place in life that you did not really need anybody s help and you could get to the place in life that you could heal yourself and you could just elevate yourself to some great position; then you need to come and follow them. They taught all kinds of things. They taught that Jesus couldn t have been the Son of God because He had a body of flesh. They taught that Jesus Christ was just one of many ways that people could approach God. They taught all kinds of crazy things like that. That is the reason for this letter. That is the reason Epaphras goes to Rome. Paul is in prison. He goes there. He tells Paul what is going on. Then Paul writes this letter back to the church to instruct them on some things that they needed to do since they were Christian, since they had been born again; there were some things that they needed to do. There was a certain character that they needed to have. There are some things that they needed to work on in their life if they were going to be people that was going to bring praise and glory to God, if they were going to be people that their lives were going to bring glory to God, then there were some things that they had to do. Again, I want you to get this. Christianity is about character. Christianity is about us living right and being right with Almighty God. If we don t think that Christianity is about living right then I am not sure why we waste our time. Christianity is about living right. Christianity is about being right with God. Christianity is about separating ourselves from this world each and every day. I know that is a process. We understand that. Not being saved is a process. We know that because we are saved instantaneously. Growing our relationship with God is a process. We know more about God. As we expose our self to the Word of God more, we talk to Him more and He talks to us more then we get to know Him better. We grow in our relationship with Him. Paul is writing to the folks here to help them and instruct them and to let them know who they were. I think sometimes that we need to be reminded of that. Even in this day and time that we live in today, we need to be reminded of who that we are. We are really children of the God of heaven. If we are born again then God is our Father and we are His children. Since that is the case then there is some requirements. There is some things there is a standard that we need to live by. Since we say and if we are His children and He is our Savior and He is our God then there is a standard that we need to live by. Paul is going to let us know and he is going to let these people here know that the basis here of their Christian life, the foundation of their Christian wasn t some religion but the basis for the Christian life, the foundation for the Christian life was Jesus Christ. He wasn t just one of many ways to get to God, but He was the only way. He was the

4 foundation of their relationship to God. He was the one that supported the whole thing. He was the one that held it all up. Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. The word in the King James is if but if you look at that word in the Greek it came from a word that means since. He says, Since ye be risen with Christ What he is doing here; he is reminding these guys that they have been saved. He is reminding them that they have been born again. He is reminding them that they were once dead in their trespasses and sins but now he says Since you have been risen with Christ since you have been raised with Christ He is telling them here that now they are identified with Christ. When God saved you and me, when we said yes to Jesus Christ and we asked Him to come into our lives and He did that. We know that we were dead in our sins. We know that we were lost, doomed, and damned. However, when we said yes to Him, and He moved into our lives then we become identified with Him. Christian people today, if we are saved, then we are identified with Jesus Christ. Since we are identified with Jesus Christ then our character should reflect who Jesus Christ really is. Does everybody agree with that? That is true. We know that. Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. You are identified with Christ, he is telling these folks at Colosse. You identified with Christ and since you are identified with Christ, you are identified with His death and His resurrection. He uses the word here raised. How you and I, what is Paul saying here when he says since ye be risen with Christ How can you and I be identified with Christ? When we were born again, the day, the time, the instant that you and I were born again, God did something for you and me. When we said, yes, to Jesus Christ; we asked Him to forgive us of our sins. The Holy Spirit born us into the family of God and we became part of the church of Jesus Christ. He came, indwelled us, and moved on the inside of us. God did something. What He does; He reckons. When you look at the word reckons, it means a word that counts. When God looks at us, He counts us righteous in Jesus Christ. Not because of you and me, not because of anything we did, but when God looks at us, He sees that we have believed the message of His Son and He puts righteousness on our account. It does not mean that we were not guilty. It doesn t mean that we were sinless. It does mean that when we say yes to the plan and program that God has instituted in Jesus Christ then He justifies us or declares us righteous in Jesus Christ. God sees us. That is what identifies Christian people with

5 God is the Spirit of God that dwells within us. That is the identification. That is the seal. I have said that many times. That is the seal. That is the thing that makes us different from all other religions is that we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God. That is what makes us different from all the other religions and churches We are indwelled. We have the seal. We have the badge. We are identified with Jesus Christ. We have been declared righteous. That should make us feel like who that we really are. If we get that picture in our mind of what God has done for us then I think it will help us to live a different kind of life. If we recognize what God has done for us, if we recognize that we were lost, we were dead in our trespasses and sins; but Jesus Christ came along. He spoke unto our hearts. He called us unto Him. We said yes Lord; I want you to save us. Then God imputes righteousness into us that makes us very special people. Since that is the case, we should live lives that reflects that. Amen! That is what he wants these people to know. You can t live and that is one of the big things that Gnosticism taught. They taught just live any way you want to live and everything was fine. We know that is not true. Since you have been risen with Christ. Since you have been saved. Since you have been declared righteous. Since God has put righteousness on your account. Since God has done that. When God looks at you and me; He looks at us, if we have been saved, as if we have never sinned. That is what justification means. It means that God looks at us because we have believed Jesus Christ, His Son. We have followed. We have done exactly what He said for us to do. Since we have done that then He declares us right with Him. Do you know what that does? That tickles me. That makes me happy. That gives me joy on the inside because I know I have everything I need to go to heaven. Since we have been risen with Christ, since we are saved; we are born again. We are identified with Christ. He says we need to do something. There are some demands here He is going to make. Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Do you think that is important? Do you think it is important for us to seek things that are above? Do you think it is important for us, what we seek? Do you think it really makes a difference on who we really are? It makes a difference, folks. When we look at the word seek, we know it means to search out, or to try to pursue something. When we are pursuing, when our outlook and everything that we are chasing in life is on this earth; then do you know what happens? We become very miserable people. We miss out on so much. He is saying here, since you have been risen with Christ; you have been born again. God has declared you righteous because you have accepted Jesus Christ, seek those things which are above. Get your mind off of earthly things and seek things above.

6 Seek heavenly things. Seek things where Jesus Christ is at. That is so important in my life and in your life. The way that I think and the way you think has so much to do on what I do and don t do. It has so much to do with how I feel. If I am always thinking about earthly stuff; do you know what happens? You get discouraged quickly. All you have to do is turn any channel on the TV on news channel today, watch it ten minutes and I ll guarantee you your demeanor will change. Amen! That s because it all is negative. Amen! Get this. I want you to try something. If you don t think I m telling you the truth and I listen to all kinds of music. I m not a fanatic. Let me say this, I don t listen to all kinds of music because some of it I don t listen to. However, if you think that what you think about doesn t affect how you feel; go home and turn your radio on some secular music and listen to it for five minutes. Listen to the lyrics and what is being said in the wife swapping, dog slobbering music that is on sometimes and it will change the way you think. When it changes how you think, it changes how you feel. Amen! He says here, Seek those things which are above. Seek, pursue, and chase after those things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right of God. Amen! That is what we need to be looking for. That is what we need to be pursuing. That is what we need to be chasing. Since we have a new life, since we have been born again, since we have been raised from the dead, since God has declared us righteous; then we need to be seeking, pursing things not on this earth but heavenly things. Things where Christ is at. If we would do that our lives would be so much happier. Listen. I know there is all kinds of issues that come. We have issues in life that sometimes they get overwhelming. I know that. I know that we do. I also know that the help we need to get us through those things; we are not going to find it on this earth. The help we need, the instruction that we need, the encouragement that we need, the energy that we need will come from the throne of Almighty God. It won t come from here. We need to pursue that. We need pursue and chase and pursue things that are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand side of God. Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. I think that is things we should be looking for. Don t you? Since Jesus is sitting on the right hand side of God the Father; heavenly things is something we should be looking for. We should be chasing. Get this. Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

7 The word affection means mind. When you look at the word affection, when you look it up, even in a Webster s Dictionary; it will tell you that it means mind. The thing that we have up here that we think with. If we set that set our affections. Sometimes we set concrete block. Sometimes we set a coffee cup on a table. Sometimes we set our radio stations to a certain station. If we set it to a station that always plays Christian music do you know what we are going to hear on that station? We are going to hear Christian music. Amen! Whatever it is that we are setting, then what that tells us is that we are expecting that to do what we are setting it there to do. When I set my mind on heavenly things then do you know what I can expect? I can expect things from heaven. When I set my mind on things of the earth, do you know what I can expect? I can expect all kinds of garbage. I can expect everything coming and going to infiltrate my mind. When my mind gets infiltrated, if I am not very careful there is an enemy out there that loves to get in our minds and loves to play games in our minds. I ve said this a million times here. The greatest battle that Christians fight is between their ears. That is the greatest battle that we fight is in our minds. If we are not very careful, if we start seeking things on this earth, then we allow the enemy to play all kinds of games in our minds. If we are not very careful, he can convince us that black is white. Amen! That is why we need to set our minds on things above. Set our minds where we are seeking and looking and pursing things above. Not earthly things. I know we do all kinds of things. I m not saying we need to be a hermit. I m not saying we need to be an odd ball. I m not saying that at all. I am saying this. When I put more garbage in here than I put the gospel in here; then do you know what I am going to get out of here? I am going to get garbage out of here. Amen! It is very evident if you deal with people, how much control that the Holy Spirit has got in their lives. When people s mouths are out of control then you know the Holy Spirit of God doesn t have control of their life. Amen! We might say that He does. However, it is a very evident fact that if God has control of my life then He will control my tongue. Amen! When our tongues is out of control whoever or whatever when it is out of control then it is an evident fact that Christ does not have very much control. The Holy Spirit does not have very much control in my life. Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Set our minds on things above. Pursue those things that are above. Let s chase those things that are above. Let s pursue with all our energy things that are above. Not on things of the earth. I know we have to work. I know everybody has bills to pay. We understand that. Chasing things here on this earth and working to pay our bills are two different things. We go to work because we have to go to work. We feed our children. We pay our bills. It is something else when we set all of our energy, all of our mind, everything that we are doing thinking about how we can make more money. How we can get more stuff. How we can get this or claim this.

8 That is what Paul wants this church to understand is do not set your minds on earthly things. Do you know why? It is because earthly things are going to pass away. They are absolutely going to pass away. They are not going to be here forever. That is why it is so important to you and me that we lay up treasures in heaven where moths and rust do not corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal. Where our treasures are there will our hearts be also. Amen! Where my heart is tells a lot about what I think about. What I think about we bring out, and will be manifest in what we say, in the motions of this flesh. It is not hard, if you are around people, to see what is really going on in their lives. It is not hard. I m not pointing fingers. I m not doing that. I m saying this. We as Christian people, since we are saved and God has declared us righteous. We have been justified. He has put righteousness on our account then since that is the case, let s set our minds on things in heaven. Let s pursue those things. Let s chase those heavenly things. Not on the earth. Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. How in the world could you and I be dead? He is talking to people that have been saved. Why would Paul be saying we are dead? How could it happen? Do you know what God did when you and I said yes to Jesus Christ? We died out to sin. We said yes to Him and died out to sin. We became alive in Jesus Christ. What he is saying here, we are dead. This old man should be dead. Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Again, he is telling us what kind of position you and I have as Christian people. Where we should be and what we should be doing and what our minds should be focusing upon. He is telling us that. He is telling us how blessed we really are and what God has done for you and me. Listen. It is important that we do that. I m not going to say you are not going to go to heaven. I m not going to do that. If you have been born again, do you know what is going to happen, and you are living right? You are going to go to heaven. I want people to enjoy going to heaven. I want people to enjoy going to heaven. If you know much about sheep, I was thinking about this today a little bit. If you ever knew and ever read much about sheep, sheep will reproduce only when they feel safe and secure. If you have a herd of sheep, a flock of sheep and they always feel threatened, endangered, and there is always turmoil in that particular flock of sheep; they won t produce. If they never get to the place where they feel safe and secure then sheep will not produce. It is the same thing in our Christian lives. When our light really shines as Christians, when I am safe and I know I am safe and I know I am secure. Where I know I am

9 standing at with Jesus Christ. I know I am saved. I know I have been born again. I know where I am at. I know where I am headed. There is no sin in my life. I don t owe 50 people an apology. I haven t stolen anything from anybody. I haven t lied. I haven t committed adultery. When all those things are not there, when we have peace and security and we are living a consecrated, dedicated life then that is when your light will shine. That is when your family will really shine. What I said about reproducing, that is when we can see people saved. That is when we see revival come to Campbell Chapel. That is when we see revival come in our hearts. It is when we get to where we know who we are. We are identified with Him. We know that we have been saved. We know that we have been declared righteous. We are seeking those things from above. When we get to that place in life then we can start having a positive impact on people that are in darkness. We can see people be born into the family of God. Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. One day Jesus Christ is coming back to planet earth. Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. One day I don t know when it is, but one day; it may be today or tonight, one day Jesus Christ is going to appear. He is going to appear out here in the clouds. He is going to shout and all of His people are going to be caught up to meet Him in the air. When that is I don t know but I know it is going to happen. Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. He is our life. We have life tonight only because Jesus Christ has life. If He did not raise from the dead then you and I cannot have life. Had He not raised from the dead then you and I can have no hope. There is no peace. There is no going to heaven if Jesus Christ did not raise from the dead. However, we know that He is our life. He is the one that has imputed life. He is the one that has born us into His family. We know that we have life because of Him. Since we know that Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. We have been reckoned. God has reckoned us. God has put righteousness on our account because we believed His Son. Since that is the case, we have been declared righteous. We have been justified. We are identified with Christ. We have risen with Him. We have been identified with His death and His resurrection. Since that is the

10 case, one day soon, very soon; He is going to appear and we are also going to appear with Him. Isn t that a great hope? If this is all we had, wouldn t this be a miserable place. I love living here. I will say this. The older you get the more discomfort it gets sometimes. If this is all we had we would just be miserable people. Yet the hope that we have that He is going to appear and we are going to be able to appear with Him; that energizes me every day. Do you know what? When I wake up every day, do you know what I want to think about? Today could be my last day here on planet earth. Today could be my last opportunity here on planet earth to talk to some of your family, some of my family. Today might be my last day here on this earth with dealing with aches, pains, aggravations and all that is here. This could be the day that it all ends. That energizes me. That excites me. That helps me through the day. I know one day, it may be today or it may not be today; but if Jesus Christ doesn t come today, when I open my eyes in the morning, I am going to be looking for Him tomorrow. One day that is going to be reality. One day Jesus Christ is going to come. Listen. If you are not saved tonight, or if you need to come and pray tonight this would be a great time. Jesus Christ is coming one day. Jesus Christ is going to appear. Listen. When He appears, He is only coming to get those that are saved. He is not coming to get the lost then. He is not going to forget about the lost. However, when He appears in the clouds He is coming to get the redeemed, the born again, those that have been saved, those that have been declared righteous, those that have exercised faith in the God of heaven. That is who He is coming to get. If you are not ready to meet Him tonight it would be a great time. Come and pray