Art Hays Sermons Colossians 3:1-4

My father passed away in 2018, but he left behind a legacy of a life dedicated to the study and preaching of the Word of God.  This is a sermon He preached on "Seeking those Things that are Above."  I hope it inspires you as it has me.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

speaker 0:   0:00
If you will turn together with me to the Book of Colossians,  Chapter three verses one through four . If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sits On the right end of God Set your affection on things above not on things on the earth for you are dead. And your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall you also appear with him in glory.  

speaker 0:   0:38
Let's pray, Heavenly  father, we Ask, or your blessed Presence with us tonight and we know that it will be so for you have promised so.  Father we pray that you would move mightily in our midst. I pray, Lord, that you  would help us to see beyond the veil of it, to see the glory that life should wait for us at the end of the road. When we leave this life and begin life in heaven with you, Father, I pray that you would help us day, by day. The live in expectation of that time, to live for Glory. I pray, Lord, that you would challenge us to do our very best with your strength. We live in such a way that Jesus Christ might be magnified through our lives.  We ask in his name. I was, given a few tapes just a few days ago, made me think sometimes of some of the preaching that I've done and some of the comments that maybe sometimes preachers receive. I believe it was Charles Colson who is telling about a preacher that I think was pretty well known some years ago. And people would come by after the service and respond like I was encouraging you this morning to do, only don't respond like that, I hope. And one person came by and says, Oh, brother So and so your sermons are like throwing water to a drowning man. And, uh, another one came by and said, Oh, brother so and so every sermon that you preach is better than the next. I don't know how that would go. Well, I'll tell you, when I think about the passage before us tonight, I feel  really humble and not really able to express in words some of the glorious truth that we have in this passage. I would like to share with you around the theme Living for Glory. We can ask ourselves the question What am I living for? You ever hear that country music song " What am I living for if Not for you?" And I could almost want to sing it, you know, And on and on he goes wailing out those words" You are my only light You are  My only love my whole life through what am I living for It not for you" we ought to be living for Jesus We ought to be living for glory in anticipation of that time when we shall be glorified we'll go to be with the Lord forever. When we think about the lost we recognize that the lost are living for pleasure We look around us today and I think one of the evidences of that is the fact that you have marriages and remarriages and so forth and so on. So on ad infinitum, as they say,  people are living for pleasure. Today we see another example of this and I guess to some degree, maybe we get off on this somewhat. I remember in our family from time to time we would say when it used to be duffs and they've changed the name. Now out on Central, you know, beyond 235 let's go to duffs and stuff. Have you ever passed by the restaurant  called pot bellies? that's just getting to be a little bit on the ridiculous side? You know,  everywhere you go, it seems that it's all you can eat of this or that of the other. Have you ever stopped at the, uh, truck stop that its on the other side of Emporia on the way to Kansas City on the right. Inside you get all you can eat breakfast. You know what? The breakfast bar. I can't think of the name of it right now. My dad said he was in there one day and one of those truck drivers looked like he had plenty enough. He'd already came in there. He had run out a few gallons of diesel on the ground because he got a free breakfast when he filled up and got so many gallons. Some people, it seems, are living for that and for that alone in this time. And that's just a part of the pleasure seeking thing. Some people are living for drink. They're living for the bottle and what they get out of it. Remember the passage in Proverbs One that I, uh, tried to memorize some time ago when I don't remember very much of it. But it began something like this. Who has? Who has sorrow? We has Contention, who has redness of eyes? They that Tarry long at the wine they go to seek mixed wine on and on it goes. And at the end of all that, he said something about the person getting sick, you know? And all that goes with the drinking and then the final end comes I will seek it yet again are people who are living for the bottle Are people today who are living for sex? You look around you everywhere, and you see that this is so It's sometimes amazing. It is shameful. You could go on and on at the things that you will see. Indications of this things that you read in Ann Landers. You go on and on. And so many things that you see are indications that this is so. people  who are living for sexual pleasure or people who are living for power. And this has been so down through the years the Pharaohs lived for power Alexander the Great Mussolini and I believe it was Emperor Hirohito, was it not? That was leading Japan and the Second World Wars, that's a little bit before my time and since I was too young to remember much about it anyway, they live for power. Hitler lived for power. But that's not the only area where people are living for power. People in the business world today who are living for power, you check it out. I have seen some people like that. They do their power plays. I think some of those things on TV. You know, the Soaps, J.R. He's living for power. But sometimes it is so in denominational in church circles that people are living for power, people who are living for money and the pleasure that they get out of money. You take Ebeneezer Scrooge and that story about Christmas or Scrooge McDuck. If you've ever watched any of his cartoons living for money. It seems that for these that nothing else matters just money. That's the most important thing in the whole world. Then, on the other hand, we think about those who are Christians. We recognize that we ought to be living for the Lord. We ought to be living for Jesus. We ought to be living for glory. But is this really so? In every circumstance in our lives we have family for dinner, and oftentimes I see that is so not in every case but often times it is so you'll have the family for dinner and and you hear people talk about this and, well, I can't come to church because my kids are coming over. I'm going to go over to my kids and we ask ourselves, Seriously, the question When this becomes a pattern are they really and truly living for the Lord? And I sometimes wonder if people like that really do know the Lord. What are we living for? Are we living for the Lord are we living with for his glory? Are we living for family? Sometimes it seems that a husband or a wife's word carries more weight than the word of God we ought to be living for glory. Sometimes it seems that people are just living for making a living. We ought to be truly living for heaven and for glory.  in this passage to me, there are two questions that are answered. Possibly you could see more and these will not come in exactly. Capsuled Order this one here and that one there. But, uh, I would think about these two questions. How do you live for glory and why live for glory? First of all, we think about how we live for glory. We see in this passage that the word therefore work points back to Chapter two. There's a connection between chapter to chapter three. Recently, we've been talking about Chapter two and talking about the ascetics, those who would get out away from everything away from everybody that go into the caves. They would live apart. They just got away from everything they thought that was the way to live the Christian life. Then we see Chapter three that always saying it is not by a bunch of rules and regulations that we are able to live for glory. But it is true, the centrality and the importance of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. Day by day, it is through our union with him that we were able to live for glory. Now, when we think about this union with Christ, that is an inward experience. I think I mentioned something along that line this morning. We have that inward experience of living for glory inside that union with christ. But there is  also an outward expression of this living for glory. We have these outward relationships that we have to maintain. It says in this passage that in verse 3, we are dead and our lives are hidden With Christ in God, our life is hidden with Christ in God. It is put in a place where nothing can touch it. There is an inward glory that we experience that the world never sees day by day in the life that we live. I was talking with someone one Time about this and and I had not come to this passage in my understanding at this time of this passage so much and as we're talking about this, I was saying that Christians as they live out their lives as they ought to be lived. It really should make an impression upon the world. The passage I'm thinking about its in Ephesians. We appear as luminaries to the world. And, I said. We live like we ought too. Then the people of the world would truly be amazed at the Christian life and would be convinced of the truthfulness, the truth of all that we're telling them. But I'd like to qualify that a little bit. there's a part of the Christian life that the world never sees, and it is that inward experience that we have with Lord Jesus christ they never see that, and one of these days they're going to see it. But those are lost and go on and never trust Jesus Christ the savior. When they come to that place where they see all of the glory of that inward experience with Jesus Christ union with him, it will be too late. And I believe that's what he's talking about in Verse four. Our lives are hidden  with Christ in God, and there's nothing that can touch that part of the Christian life But there is another part of the Christian has to be lived out day by day. So we live for glory now. In verse one, he says if you're risen with Christ, actually, it is  since Christ was raised from the dead and actually in the word that is used here, in a sense, we are co- raised with Christ, is the thought that we get from the word Christ was raised from the dead and the Christian is raised from that day, but one is on the physical level in a sense, and the other on the spiritual level. Jesus, What raised bodily from the grave? He was raised up from there, and he was not in a swoon like when I was in college. The man named, uh Hugh Sconfield that we studied about who wrote a book called The Passover Plot. And, uh, he said that, uh, one of the theories he put forth was that Jesus swooned. He passed out on the cross and later on,  to be revived. But, you know, I came across something the name of a book some years later, written by Hugh Sconfield and As I looked at the title of that book, I came to the conclusion that he became convinced that Jesus Was raised from the dead. He became a Christian Jesus was gloriously raised from the dead he came to life again and he received that glorified body, the same kind of body that you and I will receive some day. But on the spiritual side, when we put our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ the Savior, we are raised from death to sin, we were dead in trespasses and sins and were raised from being dead in sin and were made to be gloriously alive. We live for glory by being made alive, spiritually speaking, by the power of the Holy Spirit, living for glory. And if we were raised with christ , then we will seek the things  which are above Now. When I think about the word seek, I think about a couple of things and these two things are arrived at from the verb tense here we have a present imperative that means present tense. It means he is saying keep on seeking. Those things were above it means that it is in the form of a command we're commanded to keep on seeking those things from above. And by way of illustration, I would point to a couple of words here when I think about keeping on seeking the things  above, I think about zeal. And when I think about zeal, I think about it on a physical plane. First of all, I can't for the life of me remember something that I saw one time the details about it so much. But I remember that some guys were trying to get away from someone who was tracking them, and they did this thing in that thing. And the other thing, they went over rock. They did every trick of the trade and and they were traveling at night, and the tracker kept on tracking them through it all.  They kept on tracking them throughout all of those things. They were on their trail. When we think about seeking the things that are above, we need to get on the trail of the heavenly things, the things that are above and keep on that trail. Keep on pursuing after those things. I think about that in the area of zeal. But then I think about something else in the area of intensity, which is close to that. Keep on seeking those things that are above with a great intensity, physically speaking, spiritually speaking in any way you want to name. When I think about intensity, I think about sports. I'm not a sports fan by and large. Once in a while, I will watch a game. Someone else turns it on. I just don't watch much sports, but I cannot imagine a great big oh football player running down the field or tackling someone are getting a pass and going for a touchdown. And here he goes, just laid back, casually running down for you. Everything that I see of him there is such an intensity in their playing and in their actions, they really go all out in their intensity and what they're doing. And I think that as we look at this word, we ought to catch that kind of thing from this word that we should, with an intensity, seek the things that are above now in this world. See, actually we're talking about setting our hearts on something. We were having a birthday dinner today, and one of the family said something, and I can't remember what it was I said, If you stick around for the message tonight, you might hear that in the message. But I can't remember exactly what was said. But the person said something about having his heart set on something. Ever use that phrase? Oh, I just got my heart set on that. I'll tell you something. If you ever go to Rusty Eck Ford,  or one of those new car dealers and you see a car there, that's just the color that you like very much. And it has all the options on it, just like you like. And you let that salesman know that you got your heart set on, that you bought a car. I believe, my friends, we need to have our hearts set on heavenly things. That's where our desires ought to be. Have our hearts set on things about heavenly things, spiritually, things, the things that we see in the word of God have your heart set on heaven. On, God, the Lord Jesus the Sweet Holy Spirit Have your heart set on being with God with your family and your friends in heaven Have your heart set on Sunday school and church and worshipping serving God to the extent that nothing is going to stand in the way you're keeping your appointment with those things and with God meeting with him. Lord Jesus christ and sweet fellowship. We have a heart set on these things on witnessing, reaching people for Christ on  spiritually growth becoming like the Lord Jesus Christ day by day and on being filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit. Seek the things above he said. Where Jesus, where Christ sits on the right hand of God we're not in the devil's domain He's a prince of the power of the air. But up in that third heaven that Paul spoke about where God is and Jesus sits at his right hand the place of power and authority, the place where Jesus is sitting to be our mediator, to intercede on our behalf the place where Jesus sits as Lord Oh, why do we live for glory? We live the glory life for our Lord and savior Jesus Christ because of all that he has done for us and all that is doing today. That's why we live for glory. How do we live for glory? We set our affection on the things that are above When I think about the word set, I want to think in terms of well, actually  before I go on that the word the word affection. Set your mind on these things and the word said indicates to me like as if you've got your mind locked in heaven, Heavenly things to the Lord Jesus Christ and and I still want to believe there is that element in there. But this verb is a present tense. Also, what he's saying is, keep on setting your mind on heavenly things. Keep on thinking about heavenly things and in that regard, remember that when we put our mind onto  something, we could do it like someone says, You can do anything you put your mind to, and I brought this thing. It came from Harold. Interesting. First Baptist Church Belle Plain. A little note to the youth. This is years ago, Charlie Paddock, Great Olympic athlete visited East Tech High School in Cleveland, Ohio, he said to the students, If you think you can, you can. If you believe in a thing strongly enough, it can come to pass in your life. Who knows? But there's an Olympic champion here in this auditorium. This afternoon, after he finished his speech, spindle  legged  black boy came up to him and said, , Mr Paddock, I'd give anything if I could be an Olympic champion just like you. What he had said to the boy changed the boy's life after their conversation. It says the boy was never the same, where he had been challenged to do his best, and he responded to the challenge. In 1936 that boy won four gold medals in the Olympics in Berlin. You know his name.  Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens returns from his triumph, and he was driven through the streets of Cleveland to the cheers. The crowds his car stopped. He began to sign autographs for some of his admirers. A little black boy squeezing through the crowd said to the great athlete Gee Mister Owens, I'd give anything if I could be an Olympic champion just like you, sound like a broken record.  the word sounded strangely familiar for years before Owens had said the same thing. His reply. Was, If you will work and train and believe, then you too can become a champ. The Olympics were held at London's Wembley Stadium in 1948. That boy Bones Dillard was first to break the tape to win the 100 meter dash, and Dillard went on the break. Other world records, friends, If we will set our minds on our affections on the things of heaven. If we will set some heavenly goals for our lives, then we can see those goals accomplished. We sometimes get up on the negative, but let us dwell on the positive.  remember it says in Philippians 4 13 Let's just take four words out of the right number of fingers here, I can through Christ. Don't get tick tickle there, Get me tickle half in bad shape. All right, I can through Christ. That's the most important part of that verse. I can through  christ My friends, we need to think of heaven  and not think Earth. And that does not mean that we are going to withdraw from life as it were and get over your own a hill or somewhere and sit there and just all day long, think about heaven. Heavenly things. No, that's not it at all. We need to fill our minds with heavenly things. We need to see everything in the light of him. Makes me think of an illustration that I think carries a bit of the truth. The guy I worked with, the Air Motive Engineering in Dallas named Johnny, said of his pastor. He would be with the pastor sometime. Pastor would be standing there in the yard, they would be talking and someone would drive along the street or walk down the sidewalk. And Pastor would look at the person and say, I wondered if he's saved, He had  his mind on heavenly things he was thinking about heavenly things and they saw everything in the light of heaven. That's what we need to do. How do you live for glory? Begin by thinking glory. If we think about world things, we're gonna live worldly one said. You are what you think but if we think glory, we're gonna live for glory. Philippians 48 says finally brethren whatsoever  things, are true whatsoever. Things are honest whatsoever. Things are just whatever things are pure whatsoever. Things are lovely whatsoever. Things are of good report. If there be any virtue And if there be any praised be constantly thinking on these things Let us be constantly thinking on these Things. How do we live for glory 1st 3 by union with Lord Jesus Christ. And he says without me, you can do nothing So we need union with the Lord Jesus Christ We're united with Christ. In his death you died with Christ Christ died on the cross The believer died When he put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ He died to sin died to the old way of life There was the end of that old way of life , it's such an end that are to turn our backs on that way and walk away from it and never look back. Reminds me of a story that I told some of you of the part time driver at Mistletoe Express that we're driving one of those bobtail trucks. It has a pretty tall box on it. He came down second Street Bridge that has 10 foot clearance, you know, and as those chains hit that  windshield, so you'll know that something serious is wrong. And he came down there and he never slowed down. And he gets that and really ruined that truck and they have really done a number. When they told him about having an accident, they told him how serious it was and the man that worked in a building right beside their called Mistletoe Express and said, One of your drivers just ran into Second Street Bridge and he got out of the vehicle and closed the door and walked off down the street. Never looked back. He didn't come back to get his paycheck. My friends, that's what I'm talking about. When I say that  when we die to sin we died to the old way of life. We turn our backs on the old way of life. It is indeed because we're united with Christ. We're united with Christ in death,  we're united with Christ in his  resurrection Christ is raised from the dead. The believer is raised from spiritually Death. We begin a new way of life. It's like being in prison and being set free. That's exactly what we're talking about. We begin in a new  way of life and our lives are hidden with christ in God, That means that our souls are secure. You probably sing it before I am in Jesus hands. And he is in  God's hands. There is no power in the earth that can break the security of that.  But not only that, we because our lives are hidden with Christ in God. We were living in a spiritual realm that cannot be touched by the things of this life. In a sense, we see that in a parallel fashion. And Ephesians 26 beautiful, beautiful truth there says But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love where with he loved us even when we were dead in sins has quickened us together with Christ, by grace, you are saved and he has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places In Christ Jesus.  There's a  little study course book that I have on my shelf says  that the heavenly places in the heavens the place where we raised to have fellowship with Lord Jesus Christ. And that's a place  It's a safe place, a secure place that all the powers of hell the forces of evil cannot touch for there we're caught away to have fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Our lives are hidden with Christ in God. Why I live for glory? Because Christ gives us life We live for glory because he nurtures that life We live for glory because Christ is our life We live for glory because he is the very essence of life. To know Christ is to truly be alive to truly be living We live for glory because Christ shall return Share with you four words that have to do with Jesus coming, the 1st one and I only could give you the English letters P A R O U S IA You'll see it from Time on and study and I has taken pronounce it because my pronunciation has gotten rusty from years away from stew.  The word means Christ presence with his people. God himself. Revelation says he will be with us and will be our God. We will forevermore be with God with the Lord Jesus Christ. This coming will mean Christ presence with us. Faith will become sight as it says. Eye has not seen or ear heard. Neither has entered into the heart of man. The things that God has prepared for those that love him. Face to face with Christ my savior, face to face. What will it be? face to face when I behold him far beyond the shining sea. Harriseea - Christ presence with his people epafania. And you see this word in English? We have a  English word that that comes from the Greek word of money. It indicates the visible are the visibility and the splendor of Christ coming. We think about Jesus when it comes again. And the scriptures say that as the lightning Shines from the east to the west. So shall the coming of the son of man be We see in the first part of the Book of Acts that when he left here, as the teacher in college said, he rode away on a cloud the cloud took under him he rode away on a cloud and it's going to come back in the same way when Jesus comes back in the epiphany. We're going to see him in all of this glory, All of you. That's the second word. And the third word is the word that we see in the heading of Revelation Apocalypses it's actually translated over our transliterated over into the English apocalypse revelation. It indicates the inner meaning of the events of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be the end of all things as they are now but the beginning of eternity and of eternal at we shall know as were known, the inter meaning of the events. And finally, the word find fanirao, the word that is used here and verse four. When Christ, who is our life shall appear then shall you also appear with him in glory. This this word indicates the open display of Christ and it's coming. Every eye it says in the first part of revelation shall see him. Those alsowho pierced him will see himthe  lost, will see him and wail and mourn because of his coming. Realizing that it's too late, those were saved will see him. They will see the beautiful open display of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is coming. Christ will be manifested. Believers also will appear with him in glory at that time the veil will be withdrawn. The world who has persecuted Christians despise them, spit upon them, beat them, martyred them it all sorts of horrible things to Christians. We'll see the Christian in that Inner life that we already know inside that will be open The life will no longer behidden But it will be open and manifest to everyone Sight They will be blind by the dazzling glory that we shall receive What am I living for? I'm living for that time I'm living or glory Oh, heavenly Father I pray that you would help us in some fashion tonight Leave this place walking on glorious clouds on cloud 9 Spiritually cloud nine that we would go forth from this place and not be discouraged or dishearten or downhearted by the things that come our way But day by day live for that time that glorious time When we will be glorified We will be with Jesus. We will be with family and friends. We will be with all those that know Jesus christ and worship him forever served. You help us, Lord today to live in such a way. But Jesus will be glorified that we will live fo glory ask in Jesus name.