Series in Colossians - Where Are Your Heart and Mind Set?

                             

Where Are Your Heart and Mind Set?

Col. 3:1-4

I often meditate (set my heart) on heaven and my mind (set my mind) on the Lord’s glorious appearing in the clouds for His church, the bride of Christ. “...while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.Therefore encourage one another with these words.(Titus 2:13-14; 1 Thes. 4:16-18) But I can’t forget to examine my heart and mind, and not to be desirous of the earthly or be anxious over the attacks of the demonic,  remembering all this that there is still work to be done while we have light. “Jesus said, ‘I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.’” (John 9:4)

And it is these verses that I have personally memorized to help me focus and combat attacks to the heart and mind from the evil thoughts and desires of this world. So let’s go and read the first portion of our text. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

Paul has now refuted the heresy and corrupt doctrine that infiltrated the Colossian church and he has denounced the ascetic acts, stating they have no value in restraining evil and sins of the flesh nor do they enhance their worship of God or bring salvation.

He takes the church to the next level of living a life for Christ. Paul exhorts the church to “set their hearts” meaning to “seek the Lord and keep with diligence your heart” on heaven, the kingdom and glorious throne room of our Lord and God, Jesus who is seated at the right hand of the Father. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Heb. 13:3-4)

  Paul instructed them to pattern their relationship by fixing on Christ (Heb. 12:2a) in order to live a Christ-centered and focused life. The Colossians ambitions and outlook were to be set on Christ and their steadfastness and wholehearted devotion to Christ would take precedence over all earthly allegiances, Just as Jesus telling the people the cost of being a disciple “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) 

For Christ’s death was to be a symbol of their dying to the flesh. It also meant their resurrection, a new life, as well. It was this resurrected life (2 Cor. 5:17) with Christ that Paul wanted them to focus on. They were alive in Christ. Even more, they should diligently seek Christ in every attitude of their lives. For Jesus sits as their mediator before God, interceding and listening to them. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” “We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.” (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:1 ESV)

Application - Oh how marvelous it is to have my God and Lord so near to me when I pray. "I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken" (Psalms 16:8 ESV) The words to David and Paul and from the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit to the church are of great encouragement and apt instruction for my heart and hopefully to yours as well. I know that Jesus is with us as God said “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5)

And when I get in a funk, apprehensive, or discouraged, I go back to God’s word of encouragement to the church, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” I look upon the One who is seated at the right-hand side of the throne of the Father, and rejoice because He is interceding for me, and for all who are His. For we are raised to life in Christ through His resurrection. As Paul taught in the symbolism of baptism, we are alive in Christ Jesus, just as He was brought to life from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

The works of religious man cannot bring us life as does our Lord Jesus does. For this world will try to imitate, as does the devil, Jesus’ abundant life, but in the end it is still a dead religious act. The life in Christ is real, and he said that we could have it in fullness. “I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].” (John 10:10b)

So remember, He sits on His throne to give us an abundant and full life, and He listens to our prayers and intercedes for us in ways we can’t even comprehend or imagine. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” “...that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.(Isa. 55:9; Eph. 3:16-21)

Last, Paul now encourages the Colossians to set their minds on Heaven. For in their dispositions, they were to live a Christ-centered life, not only seeking it but also living, believing and thinking on it. So let’s read the last portion of the text, “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.” 

Paul was telling them to disengage from anxiety to  earthly desires as Jesus taught on the mount but to contemplate on their inheritance and eternal life with Christ. Their thought life needed to be focused on Christ for this would affect the inner nature of the believer in Christ. The Colossians would no longer live as the world and its desires, consumed with the fears, and the anxieties of overcoming evil, but their focus is to be as overcomers with Christ. Since their lives were now “hidden in Christ” meaning that their eternity was secure and they no longer were to be controlled by earthly desires or religious ascetics. They had died to the carnal nature and it was to be alien to them. 

And the set desire of the Colossians was to be on the coming appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul had been teaching the doctrine of “being caught up” to the believers, whether after death or alive, in all the churches. In the Thessalonian church he laid out the doctrine of the imminent return of Christ for His Church (1 Thes. 4:1,13-18; 2 Thes. 2:1; 1 Cor. 15:42-44,50-54). For the apostles and the early believers looked for the impending and approaching return of Jesus as He promised them. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” “He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority…”Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (John 14:1-3, Acts 1:7,11 NIV)

The Colossian church was to set their minds on the blessed hope of the church, the appearance of Jesus. “...while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

For Jesus was their life as He told the disciples after promising them to return for them. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” (John 14:6; 11:25-26)

Last, the church was to anticipate the coming manifestation of the glory of Jesus’ appearance, and that they would appear with Him in glory. No longer would their minds need to imagine, they would behold their risen and glorious Lord, God, and Savior.

Application - First, the mind of a believer is to be protected just like the heart, “More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it. Have nothing to do with a corrupt mouth; keep devious lips far from you. Focus your eyes straight ahead; keep your gaze on what is in front of you. Watch your feet on the way, and all your paths will be secure.” (Prov. 4:23-27 CEB)

If there is one word of wisdom I could give to any believer, it is to protect the mind by focusing on the God of the Word and the Word of God. For we are inundated with information and visual paraphernalia of this world that entices the mind to seek it. We have to remember, our life is in Christ. We are no longer to live to the flesh, we are hidden with Christ, meaning our lives are secured for heaven in Him through His shed blood which is our righteousness,  “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.(Eph. 1:7; Heb. 10:19-22)

So let us fix our eyes and mind on Jesus as Paul exhorts us. “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy  awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. (Heb. 12:2 CEV)

For we have a blessed Hope, the appearance of our Lord Jesus in the air to catch us up to heaven, to be with Him in His kingdom which He has prepared for us. “...while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13 ESV)

As Jesus told the believers in the gospel, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28 NIV) So let heed Paul admonishment to us to be ready, “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Rom. 13:11-14) and set our heart and mind on Jesus.

I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation for all those who have not yet received Jesus Christ for salvation. For Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I have revised my webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. Thank you. http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com