Hearts Set On Heaven - Colossians 3:1-10

Paul writes,

Since then you have been raised with Christ.

Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Now put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature.

Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived.

But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these.

Anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

Verse 9,

And do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices,

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge, in the image of its creator.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your word, your word that we know is true.

We confess, Lord, that we have failed at least once in most of these sins that Paul just listed.

And yet we acknowledge how gracious you've been towards us.

That you have sent Christ.

That you have saved us through His work.

That you have imputed His righteousness to us.

And those of us who call you Lord and Savior have a life that is hidden in Christ.

A life which is Christ.

We thank you for these truths.

We ask that you would apply them to our lives and sow this truth deep in our hearts today.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, why do we sin?

And how do we stop?

That's our question here this morning.

Why do we sin?

And how do we stop?

I mean, we just read God's word in which Paul essentially said,

Stop sinning.

He's speaking to a church in Colossae in the first century.

He says, Put your sins to death.

Stop sinning.

And I don't think any of us would really disagree with this command.

I don't think any of us really want to keep on sinning.

But the reality is that we do.

And this was true for the church in Colossae.

And it's true for us today.

And I have to say that globally, we as Christians, to a large degree,

have failed in our well-meant efforts to equip each other to wage war against sin.

And here's what I mean by that.

Typically, today, as well as throughout history,

the approach to getting people to do what is right is telling them in a very loud, angry, threatening,

maybe pulpit-pounding voice,

Don't do what is wrong.

Stop sinning.

We've operated under the assumption that if we portray the terrible consequences of sin

in sufficiently graphic and revolting terms,

then maybe we'll succeed in motivating the human heart to turn from it.

Now, I'm not suggesting that sin doesn't have terrible and devastating consequences.

It does.

Nor am I suggesting that we cease telling people to stop sinning

or that we turn down the urgency with which we warn them

that has to be a part of our understanding of our lives in Christ.

But if all we bring to bear against the incredibly powerful allure of self-indulgence

is a just-say-no campaign,

then we don't stand much of a chance against sin.

And so I think we need to pause and ask,

why do we sin?

And I would argue,

we enjoy it.

At least in the moment.

In the moment,

sin usually feels good.

In the moment.

What did Eve see in the garden?

She saw that the fruit was good.

It looked good.

It was desirable.

It was pleasing.

Again, I would argue that sin appears good.

It feels good in the moment.

And really, nobody would do it otherwise.

I doubt you have had to sin out of duty.

If you know what I mean.

I doubt you've had to wake up in the morning and look at your list of to-do and go,

oh, I better add some sin just in case I forget to sin.

It's probably not something you have to focus on.

It just happens.

Again, I would say it's because it feels good.

And the Bible consistently holds the same view of why we do what we do,

and that is that we typically only do what we want to do.

We only do what we desire.

I'm not saying we only do what we like or wish or prefer.

There's a difference because you can make someone do something under coercion, right?

So if someone holds you at a knife point and demands your money,

your desire to live will outweigh your desire for money.

And so even though you don't want to give them your money,

you will out of your desire to stay alive.

Everything we do flows from our hearts.

And the bottom line is this.

When faced with temptation,

the immediate gratification of sin will almost always triumph over the fear of its long-term consequences.

If we're really honest with ourselves,

the immediate gratification of sin will almost always triumph over our fear of its long-term consequences.

And I would propose that the best way to defeat the power of sin's promise of pleasure

is by faith in God's promises of superior pleasures.

In other words, the only way to fight the pleasures of sin

is to be so reoriented to the gospel that our desires rise above our sinful desires of this world.

And that's Paul's main point in the passage today.

His main idea is that our pleasure in our promised future with God

is the power for our purity in this life.

And I'll say it's one of the powers for our purity in this life.

That is our pleasure in the promised future,

our promised future with God,

is one of the powers for our purity in this life.

And this is Paul's goal as stated in verses 5-10.

He says he wants to see us Christians put to death, therefore,

whatever belongs to our earthly nature.

And then he lists out some sins.

And in verse 6 he says,

because of these sins, the wrath of God is coming.

Verse 7, you used to walk in these ways.

And he's speaking to Christians.

You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived.

But now you must rid yourself of all such things.

Anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

Verse 9, do not lie to each other,

since you've taken off your old self with its practices.

And put on the new self,

which is being renewed in the knowledge and the image of its creator.

In a nutshell, Paul wants to see purity in the church in Colossae.

He wants to see purity in all of Christ's churches.

That's the goal, is to have churches that are pure.

And I think most of us would agree

that we don't want these lists of sins to define who we are.

Again, I doubt we wake up in the morning and go,

oh, I can't wait to just be an angry, vengeful, malicious person today.

I doubt as Christians we wake up in the morning and go,

I can't wait to go slander somebody.

We want to be pure.

We want to be rid of our sin nature.

But how?

How do we truly wage war against sin?

Paul proposes that one of the ways in which we do this

is we find ourselves looking forward to our promised future with God.

And this is what he does in verses 1-4.

He gives us the foundations, the weapons, if you will, to wage this war.

In verse 1 he says,

Since you have been raised with Christ,

set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Some translations might say,

Seek the things above.

It's find your desires in Christ, in God, in our future with Him.

Verse 2,

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

It's interesting to note, even Paul recognizes,

our minds will typically follow our hearts.

Set your hearts on things above,

and then think and dwell upon heaven.

Set your minds on things above.

Verse 3,

Recognize there is more than our life here on earth.

Your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

The life we are living is but a shadow of our true life,

which is hidden in God,

which in verse 4 he says,

is Christ.

When Christ who is our life appears,

then we also will appear with Him in glory.

In short,

our pleasure in our promised future with God

is the power for our purity in this life.

Now there's an old saying that says,

you can be so heavenly minded

that you're no earthly good.

Have you heard that saying?

You can be so heavenly minded

that you are no earthly good.

And let me tell you,

I couldn't disagree more with that saying.

I absolutely disagree with that.

In fact,

I would argue that most Christians

are nowhere near as heavenly minded

as we should be.

Just think to yourself for a moment,

when is the last time

I seriously sat down

and considered my future life,

which is hidden in Christ,

with God,

eternal life in paradise?

What does Jesus say

to one of the thieves next to Him on the cross?

Today you will be with me in paradise.

If we're honest with ourselves,

we rarely sit down

and set our hearts

and our minds on things above.

I would guess that none of us

are truly at risk

of being so heavenly minded

we are no earthly good.

C.S. Lewis once said,

in history you will find

that the Christians

who did the most

for this present world

were those who thought the most

about the world to come.

That they were so fixed

on where life was truly headed.

The Pilgrim's Progress

gives a great snapshot of this in a story.

It's a reason

it's a best selling book still.

Again, in history you'll find

the Christians who did the most

for this present world

were those who thought

the most about the world to come.

And so I would argue

it is utterly impossible

to be so heavenly minded

that we are no earthly good.

Because the Bible teaches

and Paul just taught right here

that in order to be

any sort of earthly good

we must become

absolutely heavenly minded.

we must set our hearts

and our minds

on things above

where Christ

who is our life

has our life

hidden with God.

The more heavenly minded

we are

the more earthly good

we will be.

That is,

the more we delight in God

the more we delight

in where He dwells

and the place

that He is preparing for us

and the eternal life

that we are promised

that we will live

in Christ

then the more we are

stirred by these realities

the more our affections

are caught up

in the world to come

the more our thoughts

are captivated by heaven

and then the more

we will naturally do

what Paul commands us to

in verses 5-10

the more we will

naturally begin

to put to death

the things of this world

namely our earthly natures.

And so today

I just want to spend

a little bit of time

looking up

and looking forward

if we could.

And I am just going to go through

a few attributes of God

and this is how I have learned

to study heaven

is to look at

an attribute of God

in a way that

He has explained Himself

to us

and then recognize

that when we say heaven

we mean

the world to come

or the new earth

and that in that

world to come

God will dwell with us

and because of

who He is

we can expect

heaven to be

certain things.

We are just going to look

at three of them today

and then Wednesday night

we will look at a few more

because I firmly believe

that the best way to do

what Paul has said to do

in verses 5-10

which is

what all of us want to do

is to do what he says

in verses 1-4

to set our hearts

and our minds

on things above.

So first

I want us to see

that God is holy

God is holy

so heaven will be

without sin

God is holy

so heaven will be

without sin

and we have seen

a few times already

in the letter of Colossians

that God is holy

Colossians 1-2

Paul is writing

to God's holy people

God's holy people

are holy

because they belong to Him

we have been

made holy

in Christ

verse 12

of Colossians 1

he has qualified us

that is His holy people

to share in the inheritance

of His holy people

in the kingdom of light

Colossians 1-22

we have been

reconciled

by Christ's

physical body

which we will celebrate

in the Lord's Supper

later on today

through death

so that we might be

presented

holy

in God's sight

God is a

holy God

we are His

holy people

and therefore to dwell

in His presence

will be to live

life in a world

that is absolutely

without sin

I don't know if you've ever

just thought about that

for any amount of time

it can be life changing

if you just think

what is life on planet Earth

like without sin

I think we would all agree

there's good stuff

on planet Earth

there's beauty

all around us

my goodness

Ireland

it's gorgeous

I thought San Diego

was pretty

I came to Ireland

I dread going back

to Southern California

how weird is that

it's gorgeous

there's beauty

relationships

are beautiful

food tastes good

there's so many

good things here

in this life

on this Earth

yet

there's sin

all around us

I made a special effort

this week

to watch the news

every day

and read more news

than I would usually read

and it's just depressing

oh it's awful

two shootings

in America

this week

23 people killed

this week

because of anger

and rage

and malice

lives that have been

turned upside down

because of sin

the immorality

around us

the greed

can you imagine

doing business

in a world

where there's no greed

can you imagine

walking streets

where people aren't

harboring anger

I think of traveling

every time we go

through those ridiculous

security checkpoints

and they're good

we need them

why do we need

security everywhere

because we live

in a fallen world

you know we're told

that God is holy

and we're told

in Revelation 21

and in 22

that in the new Jerusalem

nothing unclean

will enter

no evil

no darkness

will be allowed

to be in God's presence

because God is holy

and so life

in the world to come

will be without sin

that alone

will be shocking

it will be absolutely shocking

to see ourselves

without sin

to know ourselves

without sin

to know others

without sin

getting in the way

and that's the second thing

I want us to look at

is God is triune

He's a trinity

and so heaven will be lived

life lived

in perfect community

God is a triune God

He exists as three in one

He's truly one God

truly Father

truly Son

truly Spirit

and if you have a difficult time

understanding that

that's okay

the Bible says

that's the truth

it's hard to wrap

our heads around

I've tried to explain it

to my kids

at least a hundred times

usually I end up

more confused than them

and I'm going

okay

so it's one God

and it's truly Father

and truly Son

and truly Spirit

and truly one God

and yeah

that's just what the Bible says

it's hard to wrap our minds around

but the important thing

to grasp in there

is that God has always

eternally existed

and will always

eternally exist

within perfect community

within Himself

we saw in Colossians 1-3

we saw that Paul says

we thank God the Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ

so we see the Father and Son

and then in Colossians 1-8

we are told that

Epaphras has told Paul

of the Colossians

love in the Spirit

so we see Father

Son

Spirit

it's proclaimed

all throughout

all throughout Scripture

Old Testament

New Testament

you can't get away

from this fact

God exists in

perfect community

with Himself

He didn't create us

because He was lonely

but He did create us

to live like Him

in community

and we see in Genesis 1-2

that man and woman

before their sin

they're in perfect union

they're unclothed

and unashamed

they're not fighting

against each other

they're not blaming

each other

they're not trying

to outdo each other

and that they're told

to be fruitful

and multiply

that God's plan

is for His people

to inhabit planet Earth

in perfect relationship

and He sets the example

for what that's like

by existing Himself

in perfect community

and so when we think

about the world to come

we can look back

at original creation

and we can look up

at God

and we can go

God exists in perfect community

He created us

to exist in perfect relationships

without sin between us

and then we can look forward

and go

heaven's going to be

perfect relationships

with no sin between us

and I think of meals together

with friends

and relatives

who've passed before us

with saints of old

sometimes I'll get so caught up

thinking about

who I can't wait

to go for a walk with

in heaven

I'll forget that I'm here

on earth at times

and I think about

some of these guys

that we read

or some of these ladies

in scripture

that are just

we would say

heroes of the faith

and we'll get to

spend eternal life

with them

in perfect relationship

with Christ Himself

in perfect relationships

Anthony Hockman says

God's plan for relationships

does not stop

on the new earth

it continues

He doesn't abandon

His purposes

He extends

and fulfills them

relationships begun

or even hope to have begun

on earth

will continue in heaven

getting richer

and more close

than ever

Jonathan Edwards says

every Christian friend

that goes before us

from this world

is a ransom spirit

waiting to welcome us

in heaven

there will be the child

of our youth

that we've lost below

through grace

to be found above

in heaven

our relationships

with our Christian fathers

and mothers

and wives

and children

and husbands

and friends

which was interrupted

by death

here shall be commenced

again

in the upper sanctuary

and shall never end

and the template

for life

in perfect community

is God Himself

who exists eternally

in perfect community

and in heaven

we will get to experience

relationships

at a level

that we cannot even fathom

I know Cassie and I

have thoroughly enjoyed

getting to know

Karageline Baptist Church

and we've had meals

with some of you

we've had small group

with some of you

we've gone on hikes

and literally climbed mountains

with some of you

and it's just been a blast

to get to know you guys

and there's part of me

that looks forward

to September

like I said

and goes

I don't want to go back

to Southern California

I feel like I have this

whole new family

that I'm just getting to know

and I can look forward

to heaven though

and go

we'll just pick up

right where we left off

and our relationships

will be more rich

and more deep

because there will not be sin

between us anymore

so God is holy

heaven will be

without sin

God is triune

heaven will be

life lived

in perfect community

and then I want us to see

that God is a personal God

therefore in heaven

we will be perfectly known

God is a personal God

therefore in heaven

we will be perfectly known

Colossians 3

3-4

for you died

and your life

is now hidden

with Christ

in God

when Christ

who is your life

appears

then you also

will appear

with him

in glory

at some point

Jesus Christ

will return

in person

it's not some sort of

mythical

or magical thing

Christ himself

will descend

from heaven

in person

and then we too

who are Christians

will exist with him

in person

in glory

and our glorified bodies

we will be more

truly ourselves

than we have ever been

we will truly know

ourselves

better than we know

ourselves now

and we will truly know

that we are truly known

we kind of get it

right now

but we don't

truly

truly

understand

yet

maybe

maybe you could ask

have I ever felt

misunderstood

or I felt like

someone didn't

completely

just get me

and I can say

yeah

I have

so many times

I felt

so misunderstood

and I think

if you only knew me

if you just

really knew me

you would know

that's not who I am

or that's

not what I thought

about you

if you think

I felt misunderstood

before

you're probably right

you probably weren't

totally understood

because even

in our relationships

with each other

and even trying

to get to know

ourselves

sin is still

in the way

still in the way

and so we're left

in this life

often feeling

unknown

misunderstood

and misrepresented

in the world

to come

we will dwell

with God

who knows us

more truly

than we can

ever imagine

and recognizing

that God

knows us

more truly

than we can

ever imagine

I think

we will be

shocked

to see

how truly

He loves us

each of us

individually

scripture says

not a

not a flower

fades

or not a

hair falls off

a head

and God

doesn't know it

He knows us

intimately

and deeply

and even sin

right now

gets in the way

of our ability

to understand

how true

God's knowledge

is of each

of us

I love in

Revelation 2

it says that

that God

has a name

written on a stone

for each of us

that only He knows

I always think

of that like a

like a personal

nickname

that will

perfectly

describe you

I've noticed

that when people

refer to me

in different ways

they know me

in different ways

you've probably

noticed that too

if someone

calls me

Alan

they know me

better than

the person

that just says

hey dude

or hey guy

if someone

calls me

Alan

Giles

I know

they don't

really know

me

because it's

Giles

right

so when I

answer the phone

and say

is Mr.

Giles there

I say

you're a

telemarketer

you don't

know me

if someone

calls me

Pastor Alan

and the states

will use

titles a little

bit more

so if someone

calls me

Pastor Alan

I know that

I've shepherded

them

there's a

relationship

there that's

different

my family

I'll trust

you with a

secret

my family

calls me

Bubba

just my

close family

and they're

not being

goofy like I

know some

of you will

do later

on in the

next month

but if

someone says

hey Bubba

I know that

they know

me much

more intimately

they're a

brother or

sister or

one of my

wife's brothers

or sisters

or a very

close friend

someone says

daddy

well I know

it's one of

my children

that's a

different

relationship

and in

Revelation 2

it says

God has a

name for us

that only he

knows

and again

I just

imagine

it's the

name that

most truly

describes who

we are

that when

God

looks at us

and speaks

to us

and calls

us by

name

we will

instantly

recognize

this

this

God

knows

me

he gets

me

and yet

he still

loves me

and as

we understand

how much

God gets

us and

knows us

and loves

us we

will truly

be who

we are

we'll begin

to take

off the

masks

that we

wear

throughout

the weeks

God is

a personal

God

and in

heaven we

will be

perfectly

known

we'll be

known

we'll know

that we

are known

and loved

and I'll

just say

these are

just a

glimpse of

heaven

it's just

a glimpse

of what

Paul says

to set

our hearts

and our

minds

on

it's a

glimpse of

what's

truly

waiting

for us

but it's

what Paul

calls us

to dwell

on

it's what

Paul calls

us to

to be a

people who

whose minds

and hearts

are flooded

with these

thoughts

and these

desires

and that

these desires

for this

life with

this God

will push

out our

earthly

desires

as I

set my

heart

and my

mind

on things

above

where

Christ

is

seated

as I

remember

who I

am in

Christ

as I

dwell

on the

life

that he's

bringing

me

into

I

find

that I'm

just

propelled

through

this

life

and this

is the

hope that

we have

before us

as

Christians

let me

just ask

do you

believe

this

do you

believe

these

things

if you

don't

believe

this

if you

don't

believe

that

your

life

is

hidden

with

Christ

who

is

your

Lord

and

Savior

then I

have to

be honest

with you

this

life

is the

best

thing

you

have

to

look

forward

to

if your

faith

is not

in

Christ

then

this

sin

filled

world

these

broken

relationships

this

life

in which

you

might

not

ever

truly

be

known

by

any

other

human

being

is

all

we

have

to

look

forward

to

if

we

don't

have

Christ

and

if

we're

honest

it's

all

we

deserve

without

Christ

this

life

would

be

all

we

deserve

we've

perpetuated

sin

we're

all

guilty

we've

broken

relationships

with other

people

we haven't

been

perfect

in our

relationships

we've

failed

to truly

see

others

as

God

sees

us

we

have

forgotten

that

each

of

us

were

individually

knit

together

by

God

each

of

us

bear

his

reflection

the

image

of

God

and

each

of

us

has

an

eternal

soul

which

he

desires

to

have

with

him

in

paradise

forever

the

amazing

thing

about

the

gospel

or

the

good

news

of

life

in

Christ

is

that

there

is

hope

beyond

this

life

and

there

is

hope

for

this

life

because

if

you

just

try

to

do

what

Paul

said

in

verses

5-10

and you

just

try to

wrestle

your

sin

nature

to the

ground

it

might

work

for a

bit

it's

going to

come back

and get

you

and the

only hope

we truly

have

in this

life

is to

continue

to fix

our

minds

on the

hope

that we

have

in the

world

to

come

the

hope

that

we

have

seated

above

in our

life

which is

in

Christ

forever

his

plan

is

that

someday

there

will

be

no

more

sin

to

contend

with

no

more

broken

relationships

no

more

misunderstanding

of

who

we

are

nothing

but

eternal

life

in the

presence

of

God

it

is

the

unstoppable

plan

of

God

it

is

where

history

is

headed

someday

when we

speak

of

paradise

it

won't

be

something

we

hope

to

experience

or

something

that

we're

having

to

set

our

hearts

or

minds

on

but

something

that

we

are

currently

enjoying

and

life

will

be

radically

different

and

I

truly

believe

what

Paul

says

here

in

Colossians

3

that

as

we

set

our

hearts

on

these

things

as

we

set

our

minds

on

these

things

this

future

with

this

God

then

our

old

self

it

just

simply

won't

fit

anymore

we

will

naturally

see

it

put

to

death

and

shed

from

us

and

it

won't

ever

be

perfect

in

this

life

you

are

not

going

to

perfectly

conquer

sin

Christ

has

done

that

you

won't

be

perfectly

sanctified

he

has

imputed

his

perfect

righteousness

to

us

but

he

offers

us

the

hope

of

a

promised

future

with

him

in

paradise

and

that

is

the

power

for

our

purity

in

this

life

we

set

our

hearts

and

our

minds

on

things

above

and

as

we

do

so

we

will

be

renewed

in

the

image

of

our

creator

so

I

encourage

you

this

week

this

month

as

you

work

through

the

year

as

you

have

time

as

you

have

things

to

think

about

set

your

hearts

on

things

above

set

your

minds

on

things

above

think

about

who

God

is

and

what

it

will

be

like

to

dwell

with

him

forever

let's

pray