Seek Those Things Above Pt 1

good to see everybody. We welcome you to Calvary Chapel and invite you to stand with us. We'll get started. We thank you for another opportunity to come and praise you, Lord, and to spend some time in your word. Lord, just as always, God, prepare our hearts to receive from you, Lord. Just fill us anew this morning, Lord. As somebody said earlier, Lord, just fill us afresh. Fill us with

you, Lord God, with your spirit. Empty us and fill us with you. You guys can go and have a seat if you like. We raise a hallelujah to you. Always so faithful to us. Help us to trust in you, Lord. God, sometimes we fail in that entire nation out of slavery. You can do the same for us, Lord God. You can teach us to abide in you. You are our source of life. This morning as Pastor Ryan comes,

I'll just pray, Lord, that you would speak mightily through him, Lord. Overflow him with your Holy Spirit. Help us to set everything aside. It's to receive that word from you, Lord.

Let us leave different today. Let us leave changed and on fire for you, Lord God. Fill us with your Holy Spirit this morning. Lord, move in a mighty way because you are a mighty God and you do big and mighty things. Father, we love you and we praise you and we thank you in your precious and holy name. All God's people say, amen. Let's have some fellowship. The bulletin, we'll get ready to go over some announcements. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm

glad that you have joined us this morning. A handful of things to take note of. Inside of the bulletin are the things going on throughout the week. As far as I know, everything's happening as usual this week, so take note of that. Over in the middle section of your bulletin, a few things that are going on. Just a reminder that next Monday on the 15th, we will have a special speaker. I was told when we first booked this guy that I was not allowed

to put him on any kind of social media or anything like that because what he does, but his name's Kamal Saleem. I don't have to, apparently it's like, hey, nevermind, you can put it out on whatever you want to. So share it with your friends. Let everybody know that Kamal is coming to speak on the 15th. It's a Monday night at 7 o'clock PM, so we will be putting that out on Facebook and it will be live streamed too. So we were misunderstood

on that. I talked to his daughter. She goes, yeah, a lot of people have seemed to have thought that and that's not the case. You can put them on whatever you want to. So anyway, that's cleared up now. So also next Wednesday on the 17th, we are going to do a worship night here at the church. So looking forward to that. I figure after we absorb a lot that Kamal has to tell us,

we're going to need a night of worship to kind of soak all that in. And then ladies, there is an event coming up for you on August the 3rd. All of the info is right there. It's some sort of a crafting thing. It looks fun if I was a girl. So that's all I have for you. That's all I have to say about that. All of the info is right there. If you have questions,

talk to my wife. But it's August the 3rd. Robin Tackett does some kind of crafting something or other. So all the info is there. Just take a look at that. All right. There's also a Bible conference coming up at Calvary Chapel, Johnson County, August 1st through the 3rd. Again, kind of like a couple of the other ones, it's going to be a lot of the, this won't just be local Kansas pastors,

it'll be Midwest pastors. They're going to be there. Steve Johnson from up in Nebraska, I'll be there speaking. Patrick, Josh Blevins from up in St. Joe. We're all going to be speaking at that one. So check that out. Again, free conference. You just have to provide your own lodging, but it should be a really good time. Together, we had a great time last year. A reminder that our baptism is coming up on the

11th. And if you've not been baptized, please come visit with me about that. And there'll also be a potluck that takes place before that. And I'll be there. So if you're interested, you can come to that. The Experiencing God Bible study that Elaine Phillips is doing, if you've signed up to be a part of that, just a reminder, that starts this Tuesday. If you have any questions, go talk

to Elaine when she gets here. Also, a couple of things that are not in your bulletin, a reminder that tonight is our intercessory prayer night at six o'clock here at the church. So if you are able, please come take advantage of that. And then I think Sandra has to make an announcement.

Which side you going? Okay. I don't know if you guys missed it. Pastor Ryan's 29th birthday happened on July 3rd. So in honor of Ryan and brownies, we're going to do brownies after second service. So if you guys want to come back, I know it's kind of hard, but if you want to come back, come on back, celebrate Ryan and brownies. Brownies are worth more celebrating.

But hey, we should all do that, right? Thank you. I'm really looking forward to that. Hey, listen, I don't send out subliminal messages. I send out non-subliminal messages about the things that I like and it works out pretty good that way. So, okay. Those are the things that are going on, at least as far as I know. For our responsive reading this morning, we are going to

be in the Psalms, Psalm 67, looking at the new American standard. So I was thinking about the fact that if you're... The Bible reading, we get out of Job this week and into the Psalms. And I'm kind of looking forward to that. I don't know about you guys, but that's going to be pretty exciting. So Psalm 67, as you are turning to Psalm 67, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word.

We'll read the odd verses. If you will follow along with Jared and the even verses. Psalm 67 for the choir director with stringed instruments, a Psalm, a song. God be gracious to us and bless us and cause his face. To shine upon us, say law. That way, your way may be known on the earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth, say law. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you. The earth has yielded its produce. God, our God, blesses us. And read verse seven with me. God blesses us that all the ends of the earth may fear him. And Father, we do praise you for your blessings and for your graciousness to us.

And so, Lord, we do praise you in return for those things. And Father, I ask now that as we continue to seek you through your word, that you would move by the power of your Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our lives to draw us near to you. In Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, please open up in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter three.

Colossians chapter three.

As we come to Colossians chapter three, the first 17 verses are going to give us our next series. And that series is going to be called Seek Those Things Above. Seek Those Things Above. Paul has been telling us what not to do. He told us not to be deceived. Well, in chapter one, he presented. Christ to us, the incomparable Christ, showing us that ultimately the issues that were being dealt

with in Colossae could most efficiently be solved by turning their eyes back on Jesus. And so after he had turned their eyes upon Jesus and the incomparable Christ in chapter two, he went on to warn them to not be deceived, to not be deceived. As a matter of fact, he told them you have died with Christ. So don't be taken captive through philosophy. Don't let anyone judge you through legalism.

Don't let anyone judge you through legalism. Don't let anyone defraud you through mysticism. And don't let anyone enslave you with asceticism. Instead, what they are to do is to seek those things above. And so as we approach this today, there's two things he will do for us. He's going to give us the principle and we will begin to talk about the practice, the principle and the practice.

So as we pick up in verse one of chapter three, it says this. Therefore. Have been raised up with Christ. Keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

And so. Again, he has told us throughout chapter two that you have died with Christ. You were united with him through baptism into his death. And so you have died to the elemental things of the world. You have died to the sins of the world. You have died to the penalties of the world. And now he reminds us that you have been raised with Christ. You have been raised with Christ.

Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ. The the Amplified Bible, as we look at this principle, the Amplified Bible translates that phrase. You have been raised with Christ like this. It says you were raised with Christ to a new life and you are sharing in his resurrection from the dead. That's the reality of who we are, is that we have been raised up with Christ.

You have spiritually been made alive through him. You were at one point in time dead in your trespasses and sins. But as you were united with Christ. In his death, you have now been united with him in his resurrection. And that's the reality that you live in. I point this out so heavily because we need to understand that if we are going to be the people that God has called us to be, we have to live with a different focus.

There are way too many believers in Jesus Christ that are still living as if they are dead. They are still living as if there is no spiritual life coursing through their veins and they are experiencing a great deal of death. They are still living as if there is no spiritual life coursing through their veins and they are experiencing a great deal of death. Because they are failing to realize that you are alive in Christ.

It's not something you have to try to be. It's not something you have to seek to achieve to be. It is the reality of who you are. You are alive in Christ. Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, this is what you are to do. You are to keep seeking things above. Keep seeking. things above. I appreciated the way that the New Living Translation put this because the New Living

Translation said it like this, set your sights on the reality of heaven. Set your sights on the reality of heaven. Again, too many of us as believers in Jesus Christ, and we'll get to this in just a moment when he tells us what not to set our minds upon, too many of us as believers in Jesus Christ live as if we are only citizens of this earth, as if our faith only has an effect on the here and the now, that our faith is only good to produce good for us on this side of eternity, and we forget that there is a heavenly reality that we are to live according to, that there is an eternal reality that we are to live according to. This world that we live in now is a temporary place. This body that we live in now is a temporary shell.

Shelter. The home that you live in is a temporary dwelling place. The cars that you drive are temporary automobiles. They are not an eternal reality, and yet for way too many of us, our faith only tells us how to live in this temporary dwelling place and does not often focus on that eternal reality, and so Paul knows that if he wants to get the Colossian people to seek the right things, he has to remind them, seek those things that are above. Set your sights on the reality of heaven.

There's a couple of cross-references I would like for you to turn to, so hold your finger here, and first of all, go back to the Psalms, and go to Psalm 27, and I want you to look at verse four. Psalm 27, verse four. Now, if you have been a part of Calvary for very long at all, perhaps you've been a part of Calvary for a long time, and you've been a part of Calvary for a long time, perhaps maybe a little bit more extended of a period of time, you're going to recognize this verse because it's a song that we used to sing. Psalm 27, verse four, says this, one thing I have asked from the Lord, and that I shall seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord. This seeking of things above, this

living according to a heaven reality was not a new thing in Scripture. It's actually seen throughout all of Scripture, but the psalmist David puts this in such a beautiful way, and perhaps you have the song going through your head, only probably in the old King James version, because that's how all the old Calvary songs were written. One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. The psalmist David said, my greatest desire is that I would dwell with the Lord forever. As a

matter of fact, I don't remember the psalmist David saying, I don't remember the psalmist David saying, I don't remember the psalm, but in the psalms he goes on to say that I will be satisfied when I awake in your likeness. The greatest satisfaction, the greatest endeavor, the greatest pursuit of the psalmist David was that one day he would dwell with the Lord forever, and that one day he would wake up face to face with the God he had spent his life serving. That's the principle of the idea of continuing to seek those things that are above. Go on from there over to Matthew chapter 6, and I want you to look at verse 33. Matthew chapter 6,

verse 33. If you're an underliner or a highlighter, this would be a really good one to do so. It says this, but seek first. No, let's create context. Look at verse 31. It says, do not worry saying, what will we eat, or what will we drink, or what will we wear for clothing? For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all

these things. Basically, he says, don't seek all of these temporary things. Verse 33, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Again, the idea is presented to us that we should have a different focus in our lives, that we as citizens of the the kingdom of heaven should have a different focus than the citizens of planet earth. As

citizens of the kingdom of heaven, it should be our greatest desire to seek first the kingdom of God, to seek first the righteousness that comes from the kingdom of God, to seek first the one who is a part of the kingdom of God, that we are to seek those things first. And God will take care of all of the temporary things we need on top side of planet earth. Everything else we need, we need to be seeking God first, because if we are seeking those things that are above, how much more is he not going to take care of all of the things that he already knows that we are in need of? And so we go back to Colossians chapter three, and I would like to read this verse to you again, because I think it's important the way the new American standard

translates this. It says, therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, or we could say, since you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above. The new American standard says, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above. The standard does a fantastic job of translating that in its proper Greek tense, because the idea is a continual pursuit. The Greek tense there is given to us in a progressive, continual action,

that you are to keep seeking the things that are above. And it's written that way. Paul writes it that way, because it's not a very natural thing to us. You see, the day that you were born again, you realized that there wasn't above, right? You realized that there was something, beyond this earth. Oh my gosh, you mean there is an eternity I have to pay attention to.

There is a heavenly reality, and your eyes were open to that. Those were not just fairy tales that you had heard growing up. These are realities that are now according to your life. And when you were born again, according to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit gave you the idea that there was something outside of this earth that you should be seeking. And so you began a journey. And the journey that

you began was to begin to seek the things that are above. Only that journey was not a journey that you did not end the day that you were born again. The journey only began the day that you were born again. And now we continue to seek the things that are above. It's a progressive, continual action, until slowly but surely, all of the things of earth start growing a little bit more dim to

you. And as you grow closer to the Lord, you find your heart longing more for the things that are above. I've shared this before, but we all know that when kids come to Jesus, in the early ages, they start to hit those teenage years, and they think, yes, I want to go home to be with Jesus, but maybe I'd like to find a spouse first, right? Yes, I'd like to go home to be with Jesus, but I'd kind of like to start a family first. Because even though you're seeking the things

that are above, you still are kind of tied to the things of this earth. And then you go on in life, and you go, well, now that I have a family, I'd like to make sure that I can see my kids grow up and know Jesus first, or you name the things you'd like to see them do. But you still are more and more starting to see the things that are above. And you're starting to see the things that are above.

And the older that you get in age, and the older that you get in the Lord, the more you quit going, but I kind of want to do this first. And the more you go, but I kind of just want to go home. But I kind of want to just keep seeking the things of God. Because more and more you realize the things of this earth don't do anything for us. The things of this earth simply pull us down.

The things of heaven continue to draw us closer to heaven. And so we keep seeking. It's a continual pursuit of our lives that, listen, will last for the rest of our lives. But that mentality is what is supposed to continue to drive us. It's what's supposed to continue to push us. Why do we need to seek the things that are above? Why is that so important? Notice what it says at the end of verse three.

Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Now, again, I don't know that everybody in here grew up in the church. I did, and I grew up hearing about heaven. And some of the things that I heard about heaven were just fantastic, right? Streets are made of gold. Everybody always thinks that's the coolest thing, which is funny. There's only one reference to that in the entire Bible. It's in the book of Revelation. But that is the one

thing that we have all grasped onto, right? Streets are made of gold in heaven. Everything is going to be perfect in heaven. You're going to have a mansion in heaven. All of these kinds of things. Those are all the things I thought about growing up. And so oftentimes, because we do still have an earthly mentality, that's sometimes what we think about when we think about seeking the things that are above.

We seek the things that are above because we want the treasures that come above. But the longer you go in your walk with Jesus Christ, the more you realize something. The thing that makes it heaven is not that the streets are made of gold, that there's no weeds that you have to pull, that there's always fruit that's produced on the trees. That your body's going to be perfect and that the weather's going to be amazing and that brownies won't make you fat and all those kinds of things. Like, like those are going to be awesome about

heaven. But listen, that's not what makes it heaven. What makes it heaven is that Christ is there. That's what's going to make it heaven. What are we seeking when it talks about seeking those things that are above? Well, Ryan, we're seeking the rewards that go with it. That's great. Eternal rewards are awesome. God absolutely has those for us. And you should be

living a life that seeks eternal rewards. That's the idea of seeking first the kingdom of heaven. But we seek the things above because that's where Christ is. And so ultimately what he's telling us to do is to pursue Christ because he is the thing that's above. If you pursue the things of Christ, then everything else is going to be taken care of. As a matter of fact,

go back one more time to the book of Matthew. Go to Matthew chapter six. I know I'm sorry. I'm going to make you play a little Bible Olympics this morning. This won't be the last time. Go to Matthew chapter six. And I want you to look this time at verse 21.

Oh, you know me and being a sucker for context. Look at verse 19. Don't store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy, where thieves don't break in and steal. But underline this one for where your treasure is there. Your heart will be.

Your heart will be also. Why do we seek the things that are above? Because the things that are above are where Christ is. Therefore, ultimately we're seeking Christ. Why? Because where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. And so I have a question for you, a little bit of a probing question for you this morning. What is your treasure in life? What do you treasure the most?

And I don't want you to think about what the right answer is. I want you to think about what the real answer is because I know the right Sunday school answer. Jesus got in the Holy Spirit, right? Like that's the right Sunday school answer. I know the right Sunday school answer. I know the right Sunday school answer. What's the greatest treasure of your life? Jesus is the greatest treasure of my

life. But maybe you don't act like it. Maybe what you act like the greatest treasure in your life is, is your house. Maybe what you act like the greatest treasure in your life is, is your car. Maybe what you act like the greatest treasure in your life is, is your job or your savings account or your retirement account or you name the thing. Maybe your kids. What is the greatest treasure

that you have? Because while in our spirit, we have the greatest treasure in our life. We have the we would want to say Jesus, sometimes our lives reflect where our treasure is because that's where our heart is. What do you spend the most time thinking about? What do you spend the most time focused on? What do you spend the most time seeking? Because I will tell you, if you can

identify that, I can identify what your treasure is. Because he says, keep seeking those things above where Christ is. Because we want it to be Christ, but sometimes it's not. And that's okay. God's very patient with us. That's why he gives us instruction in the word, right? Like that's one of the greatest revelations I've come across is sometimes I would see things that I should be

doing and realize I wasn't doing and go, oh no, I'm a loser. I'm lost now because I'm not doing what God wanted me to do. And it's like, he goes, no, no, no. That's why I'm correcting you. That's why I'm, that's why I'm, that's why I'm, that's why I'm, that's why I'm, that's why I'm, that's why I'm, showing you these things is so that you can change. Fun story. So when I was a little kid,

my parents ran a school right here at Calvary Chapel. And there was a little boy that went to the school and he was an interesting young man. And he did not like to stop talking. And so this was the days when you could write someone's name on the board. I'm pretty sure you get sued for that now. But you can, if they were doing something, you were, no, please don't do that

any longer. And then he continued to talk. And so she wrote his name on the board and, and he said, why did you write my name on the board? And she said, well, because you keep talking. I've asked you not to. So hopefully every time you look up and see your name on the board, it will remind you don't talk and maybe it will correct you. So he kind of thought about it for a minute and he

looked at her and he raised his hand again. He said, well, then thank you, Mrs. Nichols, for writing my name on the board. Right? And that's, that's how we have to view scripture. When it says, Hey, maybe that's not where my treasure is. Don't go, Oh no, I'm a loser. Right? It was written so that you could be reminded. Sometimes my treasure is not where it should be. I need to correct that. It doesn't mean God doesn't love you. It doesn't mean that

you're lost. It just means that there's areas in our lives that we need to grow. And so he gives us this principle. He says, seek the things above. Well, now in the remaining verses, he is going to give us the practice. Now the practice is going to break down in three parts. We're going to cover the first one this morning. The first thing, he's going to tell us to do is to set your mind. The second thing he's going to tell us to do is to

put off the old. The third thing he's going to do is tell us to put on the new. So let's cover the first one this morning. Set your mind. Notice what it says again in verse two, set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on the earth. So let's, first of all, look at the direct action. Set your mind. The old King James translates that set your affection.

And I've always found that to be a fascinating way that they translate that because I think it's a really good indication of what Paul intended right there. Because when he talks about our mind, he's talking about our affections. Set your affection on things that are above. The idea behind the directive is this, to direct one's mind to a thing or to keep habitually focused on a thing. That's what it means to set your mind or to set your affection. I share it all the time,

but it's a great point to share it again because we're just about to come upon the Olympiad, right? The Olympics are coming up in August. I've been following a lot of the wrestlers that are going to be making the Olympics. There's one guy, he was from Penn State. What was his name? Dan Brooks, was that his name? Just made the Olympic team. Big guy. Four-time NCAA champion, made the Olympic

team. Loves Jesus with all of his heart. So you should keep an eye on him. He always wears, him and this other guy named David Carr always wear these things on their head after they win that says 100% Jesus. And it's cool because they give all kinds of glory to God. So I've been following all this stuff with the Olympics. And I'm always fascinated by Olympic athletes because rarely,

it's not as much anymore, but there was a time when rarely an Olympic athlete was a full-time athlete. They would also work a full-time job. And so they would have to make a lot of sacrifices in order to do what they did. And so they would set a goal for themselves. And they would set a goal for themselves of making the Olympics and hopefully meddling in the Olympics, right? And so the way

that they would do that is they would have to set their mind on their sport. It had to become the greatest focus of their life. Like I said, keep habitually focused. That's what they have to do. Everything that they do is going to surround their sport. Everything that they do is going to have to push them in their sport. The hobbies that they have are going to have

to be set aside so that they can stay focused on their sport. Their diet is going to have to be altered so that they can focus on their sport. Their entertainment life is going to have to be altered so that they can focus on their sport because they have a goal in mind. And that goal is setting the course for everything else that they do. They are setting their minds, setting

their affections on a particular goal. That picture is the idea of what you and I are supposed to be. We are to set our minds on things above. Our goal is eternity with Christ. And while it's not a goal that we have to achieve, it's a goal that's already guaranteed. It is still our goal and our affections and our mind and our focus needs to be habitually upon the things that are above. He says, set your

mind. Now I'm going to take these in reverse order because it says, set your mind on things above, not on the things of the earth. So let's take the, negative first. What are we not to set our minds on? We are not to set our minds on the things of the earth. Our focus is not to be the things of the earth. Well, I would imagine that you asked the same question that I did. What are the things of the earth, right? What does he mean by that?

Expositors Bible commentary had a great comment on this. It said, earthly things can include things like wealth, world honor, power, pleasure, and things of the like. It's exactly what you would think of. The things of the earth. We are not to set our affection on the things of the earth. We are not to set our habitual focus upon the things of the earth. Again, expositors had a great comment on this. It says,

earthly things are not all evil. Some of them are, but not all. But even, things that are harmless in and of themselves can become harmful if permitted to take the place that should be reserved for the things above. Some earthly things are evil, some are not, but it does become sin when it begins to take the place of the focus that we are supposed to have on the things that are above. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 says something amazing about this. Matter

of fact, while I've got you turning all kinds of things around, I'm going to tell you a little bit of other places in scripture. You may as well turn there. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1. It's just a few pages over to your right. I still hear pages turning, so I'll give you just a second to get there. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1. It says this, therefore, since we are surrounded, or sorry,

I went into King James mode on that. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. When the writer to the Hebrews is addressing this, he says, we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, so there's some things that we need to lay aside, and he gives two categories, encumbrances and sin. The New King James translates it, lay aside the weight and the sin which so easily ensnares you. Those are the two ideas that Expositor's Bible commentary pointed out.

Some things in this world are simply a weight. They're not necessarily sinful, but they're not helpful, and to allow our focus to be on those unhelpful things can actually end up distracting us from our greater goal. That's what an athlete kind of does, right? Is it wrong for an athlete to have friends? No. Is it wrong for them to go out and have a good time with their friends? No, but

once it gets to where now they can't get up in the morning and train because they spent too late of a night out with their friends, they can't get up in the morning and train because they spent too late of a night out with their friends, that's a weight, and it's a weight that has become a distraction that keeps them from their goal, and so they have to lay aside the weight, and so there are things in our lives, and only you and the Holy Spirit can answer this when you have become too focused on the things of the earth that they've become a weight to you, but then the other aspect of it is not only do we lay aside the encumbrances or the weight, but of course we also have to lay aside the sin because there are things

that are directly sin. They are things of this earth, and there's no question about it. There's sin, and we are not to set our minds on those things. We are not to set our minds, our affections upon the sinful things of the world, and so back to Colossians chapter 3. So he says, set your mind not on the things of the earth. Instead, what are we to set them on?

We are to set them on things above, heavenly realities where Christ is. We're to set our mind on things that are above, on the heavenly realities where we know that Christ is. Again, John Corson had a great quote on this. He said, the only people that are truly happy on this earth are those whose hearts are in heaven. The only people that are truly happy on this earth

are those whose hearts are in heaven. He told a story about his youngest son. His youngest son was within about two weeks of graduation, and he said it was the most lighthearted, he'd ever seen him before. He had no problem going to school, and he said, why are you in such a good mood? He said, I've only got two weeks left in this place, and they can't do anything to

me now, and that's kind of the way we should live our lives. We are short timers on this earth, and no one can hold us down because this place isn't our home. Therefore, we set our affections on the things that are above, and that's where joy comes from. You know why most people don't have a lot of joy in their life? Because you're worried about all the things on this earth.

Worry is what robs us of joy. Comparison robs us of joy. Anxiety robs us of joy. What are those things all about? This earth. They're all about the things here, and if you've set your affections on this earth, listen, you're always going to be filled with worry. You're always going to be filled with anxiety. You're always going to be filled with stress because your mind is on the

wrong thing, and it's time to gain a heavenly, heavenly focus. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 18. Go ahead. Turn. Go on. To your left. Come on. Be involved with me. This is Bible study. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 18.

Notice what it says. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are temporal. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. The things which we see, these are temporary. The things which we don't see are

eternal. What are we supposed to set our affections upon? The eternal things. We set our affection on those eternal things so that we can have a heart that is set on heaven so that we can truly be happy people, joyful people on this side of eternity because our hearts are constantly set on the other side of eternity. Well, you know me. I'm not content just to read that and go, set your mind on things above and

then move on with life. I like to know how that works. How do we go about that? How do you become someone who sets your mind on the things that are above? Because I like to make, put some shoes on it and make it walk, right? Because otherwise I've just given you platitudes that you can't do anything with. And so as I kind of thought and prayed through this, I thought, so how do we

become those people who are setting our minds on the things that are above? Well, I've identified three things. Number one, I think you should have a really active prayer life, a really active prayer life, because if I'm supposed to set my mind on the things of Christ, it would be really helpful if I was constantly in communication with Christ. If I am constantly communicating with him, but as I am praying, I am praying more that God would give me that heart for the things of him and less of that heart for the things that are on this earth.

And so I have to set my mind on the things that are above. And so I have to set my mind on the things that are on this earth. And so I have that really active prayer life where I am praising God for who he is and seeking God for who he is and seeking him through that time of prayer. And so that's the number one thing. The second thing is to have an active time in the word. Now, I want you to

take note of the fact that I use a little bit of an adverb there or a little bit of a verb there, active time in the word, right? You know what that means? That means if you're going to be in the word, you can't just read it and walk away and pretend that nothing happened. You can't just read it and not spend some time thinking about it. As a matter of fact,

we're reminded in Psalm 1 that we are to meditate on his word day and night, right? So you need to actively get into God's word and find out what it has to say. That means when you read something that you don't understand, you got to take a little time to pray about it and think about it. That prayer life and that word life, they work together. You need to start thinking,

what can I do to put this into practice in my life? I was sitting at Steamy Joe's studying the other day and there was a group of young people in there. And one of them looked at me and said, hey, Pastor Ryan, I have a question for you. Do you have a minute? I said, I always have a minute for a question. And he said, when you study the Bible, how do you do it? And my first

thought was, that's not a minute for a question. But I did think, okay, but this is the easiest way to do it, right? If you attended when we did this last summer, you kind of know these three steps, right? Like you have to solve three problems. What does it say? What does it mean? How does it apply to me? And you're constantly answering those three questions. You're constantly seeking to solve those three problems. Now, this is why I say,

if you're going through the Bible in a year with us and you can't answer those three questions while you're doing it, maybe you need to slow down and just do the Old or the New Testament. Because I care more about you getting something out of the Word than how much you read of the Word. And so that's what I mean by an active time in the Word. I care more about you getting something out of the Word. And it may mean you have to buy a notebook and a pen and start writing

those things down and saying, what does this mean? And it may mean, listen, this is going to get real wild. You may have to read it more than once. That's so much. I know, but it's so good, right? It'd be like if somebody that loves you wrote you a letter, right? You all know about letters in here. I was going to say, most of you don't remember letters, but you all remember letters. Don't

take that personally. If I remember letters, I know you all remember letters. So if somebody wrote you a letter and you were like, oh, man, you should read as much as you can, right? No one had to tell you to read that thing five times. No one had to tell you to read that thing every day because those were the words from the person that you love. And you want to read them over and over and over again. Maybe I'll look at God's Word

like that. And so read it a lot. You might have to write some things down. You might have to take some notes. You may have to look some things up. You may have to get super wild and read other translations. And you're going to love it because it's going to make you feel like you're going to open it up to you. And then you're going to start saying, now, what do I need to do? Because

that's when it gets really active. Because as it begins to tell you what to do, it starts to change your perspective on this earth. Because as you begin to obey God and the things that he calls you to do, he will start changing everything of who you are because he will start changing your affections. And pretty soon you will view this earth as a place to be served, not a place to serve you. You will view this earth as a place where you can build the kingdom

of God, not a place where you can build your own kingdom. You will view this earth much differently and you will view eternity much differently because God will create in you an eternal perspective because you are living out what God's Word has to say every single day. And as you live out what God's Word has to say, it has an eternal perspective. Now, I'm going to tell you one other thing about having an active perspective. I'm going to tell you one other thing about having an active

time in your Word. And again, the amount of pushback I get on this is always huge. You should start memorizing it. You should memorize what it has to say. And I always hear the exact same thing. Ryan, I can't memorize anything. I'll say, what's your best friend's name? And they tell me. I said, see, you can memorize things. You can. If it's important to you, you'll memorize it. What's

your address? If it's important to you, you'll memorize it, right? And so start putting it in. But it goes away. Well, do it again. Just keep putting it in there. As a matter of fact, next year, and I may do it before, the next year, what I've really thought about doing is putting a weekly memory verse in the bulletin and say, hey, you should memorize this one. I did this when I led college ministry at

one point in time. Every week, I gave them a new scripture memory card based on what we were studying at that point in time and gave them a little notebook to keep all of them in. But that's part of having an active time in the Word. You want to set your mind on things above. It means you set your mind on things above. You want to set your mind on things above. You want to set your

mind on the things of Christ. Where do you learn about the things of Christ? Through the Word. So what do you want to put constantly in your mind? The Word of God that teaches you about Christ. And you will be setting your mind on things above. The third way that you begin to set your mind on things above is to serve the Lord. Is to serve the Lord. And I mean get real active in the way

that you serve the Lord. You know what I have found? A lot of people are wallowing in self-pity right now. It's because they don't know what to do. They don't know what to do. They don't know they've stopped serving other people. They've stopped serving other people. All you can think about is your own problems. And you show up and you tell everybody about your problems. And you

try to get counsel about all of your problems. And you're constantly posting about all of your problems. And everybody in the world knows all of your problems. And you know what? At no point in time have you stopped to ask anybody else, hey how can I minister to you? And because of that you become kind of like the Dead Sea. Do you know what the biggest problem in the Dead Sea is? You know

what the Dead Sea is? It's in Israel. It has the highest salt content of any body of water in the entire world. And part of the problem is that it has no outlet. It takes in all of the water when they have their rains. But when it takes in all of the water, all of the salt builds up in there. And because there's no outlet, it has no circulation. And so nothing can live there.

And too many people in the world today, or too many people in the church today, are like the Dead Sea. They're like the Dead Sea. They're like the Dead Sea. They're like the Dead Sea. You take a lot in, you're not giving anything out. And because you're not giving anything out, you're wallowing in self-pity and you have set your affections on the things of the earth. You

want to set your mind on things above? Start serving the Lord. And the greatest way for you to start serving the Lord is to start asking somebody else, how can I pray for you? How can I reach out to you? How can I minister to you? Because listen, that's the way the entire body is supposed to work together. And so he says, set your mind on things above, not on the things of the earth. And then he goes

on to tell us why. Go back to Colossians chapter three, because I was not there. He goes on to tell us why in verses three and four, he says, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. As he tells us why, he tells us two things. He reminds us of what has happened,

and then he will tell us what will happen. In the future, why do we set our affections on the things of above, not on the things of the earth? Because you have died to this world. You have died to the things of this world. You have died to the sins of this world, the elemental principles of this world, to the power of this world, and to the affections of this world. You have died and your life is hidden with Christ.

Your life is hidden with Christ. That word hidden speaks of both concealment and safety. Concealment and safety. You are concealed in Christ in that no longer does anyone see you in, or no longer does God see you as you used to be in yourself. You are now only seen as in Christ and you are concealed in him. That is what your life is wrapped up in, is being hidden in Christ.

But it also is your greatest, greatest place of safety because you find your protection in him. Why do we seek the things that are above? Because you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. That's what has happened, but this is what will happen in the future. Notice what it says in verse, verse four. And when Christ, who is our life, we just have to stop right there for just a second.

Before we get to what's going to happen, I think that it's amazing that, he uses the phrase that he uses there when Christ comma parenthetical statement, who is our life. Do you view Christ that way? Do you view Christ as he is my life? He is our savior. He is our Lord. He is our life giver. But I think that the longer we know Jesus, the more we realize that he is not

just those things. He is our life giver. He is our life giver. He is our life giver. He is also my life. Because if my life is hidden in him, then my life is also wrapped up in him. That means that I'm probably going to start talking about him a lot. And he's going to be on my mind a lot. And I'm going to think about him a lot. And I'm going to be focused on him a lot. Why?

Because he is my, he is my life. I remember when I first, when I first met my wife and we started talking and dating and all those kinds of things, she was on my mind all the time. And you know what happens to me today? I think about her all the time. I think about when I get to go home and hang out with her, when I get to go home and spend time with her, when we can go on a coffee run again, when we get to do things together again, because

as far as this world is concerned, she's my life because I love her. And so I talk about her a lot. I think about her a lot. I talk to her a lot because as far as this world is concerned, she's my life. But even beyond that, I like to talk about Jesus. I like to talk about him a lot. I like to think about him a lot. I like to talk to him a lot because as far as eternity is concerned,

as far as reality is concerned, he is my life. And I always love when people say, can you just not talk about religion? It's like, I mean, I guess, I could just not talk about religions, plural, but I can't not talk about Jesus. I can't not talk about the things of God because he's everything to me. He's what my entire life is wrapped up in. And when I worked construction, they would be like, do you always have to talk

about the Bible? And I would be like, I mean, no, but yeah, I can be a little bit better about it, but I'm going to talk about it a lot because it's my life. And so he says, when Christ, who is our life, appears or is revealed, we will be revealed with him in glory. The word revealed means to appear or to make manifest. In other words, there's going to come a point in time when Christ is revealed or appears to this earth at his second coming.

And at the second coming of Christ, the entire world will go, oh, that's who, he is. But when he is revealed, we will be revealed too. The reality of who we are will be revealed. The reality of why we always talked about this Christ will be revealed because the real us will be revealed. Let me give you another scripture. You don't have to turn there. It's okay. Give your hands a break. There's first John chapter three. It says,

beloved, now we are the children of God. And though it's not yet been revealed, same word, what we shall be. We know that when we see him, we will be like him for we will see him as he truly is. That's the idea that he gives there. Why do we seek those things that are above? Because one day the things that are above are going to be revealed down here. And when the

things that are above are revealed down here, you and I are going to be revealed too. And we will be like him. So we should spend our entire life being focused on him seeking, the things that are above. Brothers and sisters, so much of our battle is won and lost in our minds. And so we are to seek the things that are above. And the only way that we can seek those things

that are above is if we first set our minds, our affections on those things that are above. Amen. Well, this morning is communion Sunday. And so what a great morning for us to partake in communion together as we seek the things that are above. And so we are to seek the things that are above. And so we have spent so much time talking about the things that are above and the reality

of what Jesus has done for us. So I'd like to invite the worship team to come on up and invite the ushers to come on in. And as they're getting set up, I'd like to take just a moment to talk about communion. So as we gather here this morning and we partake in this time together, inside of each of these cups, there's two stacked together. We always do is the juice and the bread. And we're reminded that this is just a celebration

of what Jesus has done for us. On that last great night of the feast, Jesus took that bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body that is broken for you. Take and eat. And he took that cup. He said, this is the cup of the new covenant of my blood that is shed for you. As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of Jesus. And so we're reminded that this is just a celebration of

take and drink. And so we're told in scripture that every time we do this, we are declaring the death of Christ. We are telling everyone that the death of Christ is what has given us brand new life. That the death of Christ is what has brought us to a place of new life in him. And so we're told to do this in a worthy manner. And so as we prepare to do this today, I think doing so in a

worthy manner. I usually say means two things, but this morning I'm thinking it means three things. Number one, we are reminded and we should keep in mind that what we do is an important thing here. We should always keep in mind the death of Jesus Christ. That this is not just another rite or ceremony that we partake in. It is truly a celebration of what Jesus has done for us. And so we keep the

reality of the death of Jesus Christ. At the forefront of our minds. Second way that we make sure that we partake of this in a worthy manner is that if you're not a born again believer, then this meal isn't for you. It's as easy as putting your faith in Jesus Christ and believing that the sacrifice that he made on that cross was not just for other people, it was for yourself. But we do so by making sure that our hearts are

right with the Lord. And then the third thing is that if there is sin that has crept up in our lives, if there are areas that have unconfessed sin that need to be forgiven, then we need to be dealt with. And then this morning is the time to do that because the blood of Jesus Christ that covered you the day that you came to faith in Christ is the same blood of Jesus Christ that continues to cover us today. And so I'll invite the ushers to come down and hand out the elements.

And so as they're handing out the elements and as the worship team is singing this last song, I ask that you just allow the Lord to search your heart and turn your heart once again upon Jesus. And after you have received your elements, if you would stand and we'll partake together.

Would you bow with me? Father, we come before you and thank you for the time that we have had here this morning. Lord, I thank you for your death on the cross for us. Father, that you bore in your own body on the tree all of the sin of humanity. And so, Father, keep us ever in mind of these things. And Father, as we partake, may our hearts once again be drawn closer to our risen Savior that made such a great sacrifice for

us. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may partake. And if you'd bow with me one last time. Father, I pray that as we go out from here, that you would keep our hearts and minds focused on you. Father, draw us near, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.