Colossians 3:1-4- Set Your Mind On Things Above

all right guys let's open up to Colossians chapter 3 this morning Colossians chapter 3 with the exception of last week um for the past few weeks we've been moving through Paul's letter to the Colossians and as is typical for Paul this week marks a transition in this letter that we've been studying now we've seen some very high theology already some tremendous focus on who Christ is on what he's done on what that means on what we should watch out for the last few sermons have been all about that but for so many of Paul's letters we now turn the corner he begins to tell us what this means practically in our lives on a daily basis you see for Paul right doctrine always should lead to right practice and as we've said before in this series on who Christ is should change who we are amen so today we're going to focus really intently on chapter three only at verses one through four and we're going to set the stage for what he's going to say not only through the rest of this chapter but through the rest of this letter so let's look at this Colossians chapter 3 starting in verse one we're just going to take this phrase by phrase here he opens up this way since then you have been raised with Christ since then you have been raised with Christ this is bringing us back to Colossians chapter 2 12 if you remember that you can look back on that Paul is talking about our identification with Christ and baptism and being circumcised in our hearts and and he says we've been raised with Christ through faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead if you're a Christian in this room you have been ray used with Christ so this transition sentence of since then we have been raised with Christ brings all of us collectively now for relevancy and what will be said next this is relevant to each and every one of us because we've all been raised with Christ once we believe and this is powerful considering everything that Paul has already taught so far in this letter you have not been raised with a false Christ that the Gnostics taught or the Judaizers taught you have not been raised with that Christ but you have been raised with the Christ who is the image of the invisible God the firstborn over all creation eternal creator and sustainer of all things firstborn from among the dead fully God fully man King of Kings the Lord Jesus Christ you have been raised with him and not only have you been raised with him you've been given fullness in Christ he is enough nothing can or should be added to him we have fullness in Christ Paul said in Colossians chapter 2 if you're a believer everything he's about to say applies to you because you and I have been raised with Christ so notice what he says 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 in light of who Christ is set your mind where he is that's the gist of this of this text and later who Christ is set your mind where he is I want to point a couple things out where I where I read here where it says set your hearts on things above literally this says keep seeking that which is above so here where it says set your hearts on things above what it means is it means continually seek after set your heart in the sense of make it the one thing that you seek that you strive for that you focus on set your hearts on things above some of your translations will will show that you'll see that if you have other translations it says keep seeking the things above and it's also important to note when it says set your minds on things above this is more than just our thoughts some of your translations may say set your affections on things above this is our mindset yes our thoughts but more than that our mindset our attitudes our affections set your minds on things above and I think as Christians we want to do that amen we want to do that right how many of us are successful often no hands that's good cuz you guys are honest but it's interesting because we desire that right I I desire to set my heart in my mind on things above but so often I don't so often I set my mind in heart on earthly things why is that why is there a disconnect as I was preparing for this sermon um believe it or not this show that's on Netflix kept coming to mind I'm not sure if anyone's ever seen it Canada's worst driver you guys ever seen the show Canada's worst driver alright it's on Netflix if you've seen the show it'll make you appreciate driving Rhode Island more right never seen anything like it trust me trust me well they keep making this comment on the show which I'll tell you what the comment is in a little bit um uh but these guys they just drive the crash into everything they're hitting stuff all the time and the comment that's often made on the show is look where you want to go don't look at what's in front of you look at where you want to go and while I was looking through this I ended up finding something that I want to show you guys how many guys drive motorcycles or want to how many you guys are going to get in trouble because you raise your hand well what I have on the screen is actually going to be a motorcycle instructional video on exactly what we're going to be talking about alright so it might be a little bit dry the guy has a British accent which means everything he says is going to be true so let's uh let's put our put our eyes on the screen here and watch this video how many of you guys have heard of this before target fixation do you guys see you guys furthest I came across this instructional video and and it stood out to me because it is so profoundly relevant I think it's really gonna help us bring insight into this text see target fixation is a phenomena when an individual becomes so focused on an observed object that they inadvertently increase their risk of hitting that object seems kind of strange right it's a huge problem while driving and you can see that on Canada's worst driver if you watch that show huge problem target fixation is the reason or one of the many reasons why people hit targets they're trying to go around and the solutions usually summed up this way look where you want to go not at the object in your way see we got so focused on where we are and what is or isn't in front of us that we miss where we want to be and and just like target fixation we become fixated on the earthly things and lose focus of the greater reality of where we're going our destination the road that we are on and we still live on this earth just like a busy road there's stuff all around us and so everywhere that we look to our left to our right in front of us everywhere we look we're inundated with things that draw our focus away from Christ and put them back on the things of this world our lives are one giant target fixation mess it's what causes all of our crashes all of our Falls all the injuries that come when we set our mind and hearts on earthly things rather than heavenly things they come because we're focused on what is right in front of us on the wrong thing and it sends us out of control it's target fixation so what are some of those things that take our eyes off of Jesus and place them on the things of this world what are they well I'm just going to talk about three but I think these three are very relevant for the majority of us target fixation happens when we take our eyes off Christ and place them on pleasure it's the first one we'll talk about you know this is like when you're riding your motorcycle or you're driving in your car right and you've been driving for a while and then you see that that shiny sports car in front of you you look and it's glistening in the Sun they just got it waxed or whatever you see it looks good it looks like something that you need it looks like something that you want something that you wish you had until you focus on it you're not focused on the road anymore your gaze moves onto it and you focus on it and before you know what you're in a ditch now I'm not talking about the pleasure that we get from eternal things or from rightly enjoying the things that God has created that's not what I'm talking about I'm talking about here the momentary gratification that we seek in order to feel this instant feeling of what we call happiness this desire for momentary gratification fuels sinful lusts and passions we often disguise it with words like happiness but it's a poor substitute for real biblical joy and it never satisfies for more than a moment in some cases not only does the satisfaction wear off quickly but we're left with more of a deep broken emptiness than we had before we experienced our moment of gratification because we're trying to satisfy something that will never be satisfied you ever noticed how rampant hopelessness and depression are with those that we would consider the most successful movie stars musicians they have everything have you ever noticed how hopeless they are see what we see is money clothes nice houses security but the reality is that a life spent focusing on worldly things and momentary gratification bring with them the same thing that ultimately everything in this world has set for as its destiny emptiness death sadness they go away they're fleeting you know there's a tennis great his name was Boris Becker anyone know who that is Boris Becker all right so a few of you to Cimino's and um this gentleman shocked the world shocked the world really shocked the sports community and everything when he came out and it admitted that while he was on top all he could think about was suicide and in an interview he said this I had won Wimbledon twice before once as the youngest player I was rich I had all the material possessions I needed it's the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide they have everything and yet they're so unhappy I had no inner peace I was a puppet on a string I found this quote in one of Ravi Zacharias books by a gentleman named Jack Higgins a successful novelist and he was once asked what he would have liked to have known as a child if there was one thing you could know as a child you wish someone told you when you were a little boy what would that one thing be you know what his response was that when you get to the top there's nothing there see what they're expressing here and there's myriads of these what they're all expressing is what we who know Christ I've already come to understand in some way that there's there's so much more to life than momentary gratification and satisfaction they'll never satisfy us the way that we think they will we know that there's more and so we pour our heart out to Jesus Christ and we say Jesus I need more I can't do this on my own lord save me so we know this but yet there's a sirens call of that form of happiness it looms in front of us we see the sports car we know we're happy with the one we're driving but we see the sports car we still become fixated on it pornography drugs inappropriate relationships money praise accolades they dangle in front of us like carrots on a string they call to us remember how good it felt remember how much you liked it it's not that big of a deal just a little bit and we stare at these things for a moment and for that moment we say wow I'll get that sports car but before we can even blink we find ourselves in a ditch somewhere because we set our eyes on the car in front of us and lost sight of the big picture the road that we've been placed on pursuit of pleasure sets our minds and our hearts on earthly things as the Lord said in Matthew 6:21 for where your treasure is there your heart will be also so target fixation on earthly things can happen when we take our eyes off Christ and place them on pleasure but it can also happen when we take our eyes off of Christ and place them on people this is a trap of comparison imagine you're driving right and you see this in movies sometimes I've never experienced this but whatever you're driving and up ahead you see a convertible and the convertible is full of beautiful people right and they're driving all legally sitting on the top of the trunk or whatever and you know the hair is blowing and the wind is blowing you know and all that and you see these beautiful people in this convertible your eyes drift to the car you see how nice they look how beautiful they are how much fun they're having how perfect their knives look become fixated on them we can easily easily look toward other people and see their lives and think to ourselves wow if only I was like that if only we had that you know social media is the lifeblood of this Facebook Instagram snapchat YouTube even Pinterest all kinds of other things exist as as places that we can peer into what we perceive is the life of someone else and so very easily we get swept into wishing that that were us now these things are not bad in it of themselves but they easily become the mode through which we can become fixated on people or our perception of people and compare ourselves to them and before you know what you're off in the weeds somewhere because the road Christ has put you on your eyes have come off of that road you put them on the road the cars driving on and now you're in the weeds how come I can't have the cool stuff in my house like I see on Pinterest you guys never try to accomplish something on Pinterest I'm going to make no more comment the laughter says it all or we look at we look at these people say all how come how come I don't have that many followers on Instagram or how come I can't have a body like that or or we look and we say all how come my family can't be perfect like the families I see on Facebook I mean Facebook [Laughter] come on now it's amazing how those comparisons are made with little or no information of what that person is actually like these comparisons aren't made based on reality of who they are these comparisons are made based on the insecurities we have about ourselves our perceived faults and and we see those who don't share those perceived faults and we want to be like them we compare ourselves to them but everyone has faults especially those who want to appear as though they don't trust me my faults are crazy then Legion I'm a man full of faults and I fall right into this trap so often so often those we compare ourselves to aren't even living the life they're pretending to live online and without even realizing it we in many cases many cases begin to wish that we could be like these other people that if we knew anything about them we've the last thing we would want to do is be like these people but why what's because what we see the Apostle Paul commenting on comparison with these people who had set themselves up as greater apostles than him to the Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians 10:12 says this with regard to this we do not classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves when they measure themselves by themselves and comparing Layton's will say foolish child of God let me tell you this you do not need to compare yourself to anyone at all now the secret is not looking in the mirror in telling yourself you know how awesome you are or that you're great or anything like that's not that's not how you get through that it's not what you do the secret is looking in God's Word seeing that he is great this sovereign God creator of everything the universe all that is seen and that is unseen you look at his word you look at him and you realize that you mean so much to him that He gave His only Son for you what could we gain by comparing ourselves to anyone if you wish to compare yourself to anyone compare yourself to Christ let that cause you to grow in your love of him and your desperate need for him as the one who gave His life to you comparison keeps our eyes on worldly things and takes them off Christ so this target fixation on earthly things can happen when we take our eyes off Christ place them on pleasure we take our eyes off Christ to place them on people it can also happen when we take our eyes off of Christ and place them on whatever situation you're going through how many of us are guilty of this every single one of us in this room now this is like that giant box truck it's driving in front of you you don't want to look at it but you can't help it cuz it's too big you know let's get the diesel gas some exhaust pouring out the back of it you got to turn your you got to close all your windows because everyone's coughing in the car you know if it the words clean me written in 40 year old dirt on the back of it right so what ever reason is going at least 15 miles an hour under the speed limit at least doesn't matter what the speed limit is speed limit 65 it's going 50 speed limits 35 is going 20 if you can go 50 when the speed limit 65 you can go 25 but whatever you know that's neither here nor there but but we know what this is this big box truck just right in front of us and you want to go around it but you can it's frustrating it seems like lasts forever and rather than falling back a little bit to assess the road and to look maybe for a place to pass or for a place where this box truck is going to get off at the next exit rather than pulling back in moving cautiously what do we do in our frustration what do you do in your frustration you get right up on top of that thing right you get right up on top of that thing right and then BAM you hit it see you didn't leave enough room to respond or to react to it you fixated on it you hit it and now you're damaged see we we so easily become fixated on our situations and lose sight that there's a road beyond them that doumitt they might be large they might be difficult they might be frustrating they might be painful whatever situation you're in it's going to be gone the road is still going to be there rather than focus on the situation and let it distract you from God let the situation remind you of him and who he is and what he is doing and his promises his great promises of Scripture you know them this is when James chapter 1 starting at verse 2 becomes so important counted joy when you face trials of various kinds knowing that trials produce patience and let patience have it's perfect work that you might be mature in lacking in nothing second Corinthians 4:17 through 18 for this light and momentary affliction is producing in us a greater weight of glory so we set our eyes not on the things of this world which are temporary but on the things above which are eternal Romans 8:28 we all know it you know it right we know these scriptures let the box truck cause you to back up a little bit and look at the road and remember what these texts are telling you that God works all things out for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose you see God is God especially of your situations he's not off somewhere wondering what's happening to you he's not confused God is still God of your situation and instead of being fixated on them pull back a little bit we need to set our eyes on Christ it's going to be frustrating it's going to be hard but at least we won't smash into it right so target fixation on earthly things I mean I could just keep going with this but target fixation on earthly things happens when we take our eyes off of Christ and we place them on anything but especially pleasure people the situation so we're called in this text to set our hearts and minds on the things above where Jesus is and as much as as what is around us the sports cars the the beautiful people the box trucks as much as they're real and they're not going to go away we must by God's grace set our eyes where we want to go and not what's around us pleasure people situations they're all fleeting but Christ is eternal so set your minds on things above not on earthly things why verse 3 for you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God at one time you were in the world and of the world you were a slave to sin you were slave to worldly things but now you've been rescued you've been set free you've been released from the chains of sin and death so don't go back to those things that once owned you live in the freedom that you now have because your life is hidden with Christ in God this is what it means to say that you've died to those things their ownership over you their power over you is gone your where is your life your life is hidden with Christ in God writer of Hebrews says let us throw off everything that hinders in the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith things are different now what makes things different now is that is not that we don't have any obstacles to face that's not why things are different Christian you have obstacles anyone who pretends they don't have obstacles and difficulties and temptations is lying we do so what makes things different now is not the lack of those things what makes things different now is that those things no longer own us we're no longer slaves to pleasure or comparison or to our situations we've been set free from that slavery we have the Spirit of the Living God inside of us and God's Word says where the Spirit of the Lord is there is what say it where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom we're free what makes things different now is that our life is not here and now though we may be experiencing in the right now there is this not yet that has that is that we are waiting for where our life really truly is notice to text your life is hidden with Christ in God we may be experiencing here but it is hidden with Christ in God that's what's different that is where your life is so do not set your minds on earthly things that you have died to but toward heavenly things because he is your life and your life is with him the difference is that you and I have somewhere other than the stuff to look at we could not say that before before we were just living in a gap between one obstacle and another but now in Christ our eyes have been open we can actually see this road that we've been placed on to travel for his glory and that's what makes things different don't be fixated on the things on the road set your minds toward Christ look at verse 4 when Christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with him in glory there's a lot here in this text but I want you to catch one thing when Christ who is your life appears you will also appear with him in glory who is your life Christ is your life the text says that Christ is your life Christ is my life so you know what that means that means that literally everything else that claims to offer us life or living is a lie Christ is our life Christ anything else that sets itself up and promises us living any pleasure any any comparison we make to other people anything we think is a way out of our situation anything that detracts from our life being in Christ is a lie our life is Christ our life is Christ and it's hidden with him in God in and though we navigate through this life with all kinds of obstacles all kinds of temptations all kinds of comparisons we need to know that Christ and Christ alone is where we are going and how we are going to get there Christ and Christ alone is where we are going and how we are going to get there let Christ alone if we're gonna fixate on anything let it be Christ alone amen how do we do that obviously like this we know what the scripture is saying here how do we avoid fixating on these earthly things I mean because we're navigating around them all the time how do we avoid the target fixation that overtakes us so much well I don't know if the people who made this motorcycle video knew how spiritual it was but I adapted some of the things because it actually it was really good so I adapted some of the points that they suggested because I really do think there are tangible things that we can do to avoid target fixation biblical things biblical ways to set our minds on things above not on earthly things the first one I want to bring out is this don't go by what you see go by what God's Word says don't go by your feelings go by the truth sometimes how many you know sometimes your feelings and the truth don't line up that's right how many how many know that sometimes what you see and what God's Word says don't line up alright so don't go by what you see don't go by your feelings go by God's Word go by the truth get into God's Word second one don't become focused on the one thing you're trying to avoid that's exactly what target fixation is have you ever noticed that right I do this all the time have you ever noticed that there's a sin in your life you're trying to avoid when you focus on not committing that sin it's like the first thing you do you ever notice that you ever like you ever like get a feeling of like let's say you have this feeling of lust and you're like no don't lust don't lust don't lust don't love that's all you're thinking about so you can't set your eyes on the thing you're trying to avoid because you'll crash right into it rather set your mind beyond the sin set your mind beyond the comparison set your mind beyond the situation set your mind to Christ not on the thing you're trying to avoid 3 speak God's Word to yourself remind yourself of who he is in your promises don't speak empty vacuous self-help mantras and all this stuff to yourself you speak God's Word to yourself his word is life you're feeling the the trap of comparison you proclaim who God says you are proclaim that to yourself from his word his word is alive that'll take your eyes off that'll take your eyes off that target fixation for look past where you are right now look past where you are right now look at where you're going don't look at what's happening right now look at what God's doing through it and keep your eyes on him God I I'm in this situation I'm so frustrated I've blown up so much I've yelled God I don't know what to do this is making me angry but God I created me a heart that is kind thank you God for giving me more patience through this thank you that I know when I come out of this I look more like Jesus than I do right now God thank you that I'm reminded of who I really am in you then I'm not that old angry man that died but I'm a man who who wants to seek after your will and after your grace for other people God thank you that I'll be more like that when I come out of that that's looking past what's happening and the last one is the hardest one chill out right seems like it's easy right but chill out man God's got this give your anxieties over to him remember that he's sovereign and in control that you can trust him now you might say well that's so hard I can't just chill out well let me tell you what if you're not going by what you see if you're going by God's Word if you're not fixated on the finger trying to avoid but you look past that to the road if you're speaking God's Word to yourself and looking at what God is doing in you it'll be a lot easier to give your anxiety to him it really will I believe if we put these things into practice we're going to avoid much of that target fixation that overtakes us because the Apostle says set your mind on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God set your minds on things above not on earthly things that's what we that's that's what our minds in our hearts belong we have target fixation it's real but I really believe that by God's grace and with his power we can overcome that I'm going to call up the band while they're coming up just want to let you know that the Apostle Paul will in the next few verses unpack specific things that need to be put to death and raised to life so to speak and out forward to going through that on and everything these verses are really practical for us and everything but it's not about what's my list of stuff I can and can't do it's about who Christ is changing who we are do we really believe that we've been raised with Christ do you believe that you've been raised with Christ say it louder cuz that's not convincing do you believe that you've been raised with Christ because if we don't believe that you're going to walk out of this place and you're going to look at the first thing that takes your eyes off of Christ you will focus on it you'll walk out of this church and be in a ditch when we sing we're going to worship now we worship a Living God we don't worship a dead God we don't worship the idea of God we worship a Living God Christ is our life our life is hidden with Christ in God we have to set our minds to that because so many things will knock you off so as we leave today let's sing this song of worship and mean it in our hearts and let it fuel us as we go through our week praise God

Channel: Christian Hill Community Church

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Length: 40min 15sec (2415 seconds)

Published: Sun May 14 2017