Higher Thinking

Take your Bibles, turn to Colossians
chapter three. When you get there, take a look. You are looking at one of possibly
the biggest fools in history because when Ron put out the
message that, hey, we have some Sundays open to fill the pulpit,
I took today. I already had a passage in mind,
new points of what I wanted to get across, all that. Started
preparing, and it was evident that God did not want me to do
that. And so, OK, let’s start over. And I kept coming back
to Colossians 3, verses 1 through 4. Now we’re going to be mainly
in 1 and 2. Colossians 3, 1 through 4 is easily has six, easily, six sermons
in it. And I’m gonna be up here today
in one. Which means I cannot give it the detail and attention
it so richly deserves. So bear with me. That is one
of the first trepidations I had in preaching this. And we’ll
get to the other one in a little bit. You have heard the saying,
that a person is so heavenly minded they’re of no earthly
good. And I would say that depends on what your objective is. If
it’s trying to get along in the world, please the world, then
yes, then that’s, it’s probably gonna be true. If you’re trying
to advance God’s kingdom, then I would say that is totally false,
that a person couldn’t be too heavenly minded. Colossians 3,
1 through 4 says, therefore, if you have been raised with
Christ, 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 earth. For you have
died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ,
who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed
with him. in glory. H. G. Moole called this passage
the root of fruit, the root and fruit of holiness. Another called
it one of the golden chapters or golden paragraphs in the Bible. This is one of those passages
that encompasses how all Christians should live. The question if
you were to boil it down to how do I become all that God wants
to become Christ-like, to be holy as he is holy? The answer
would be to become heavenly-minded. John MacArthur entitled this
section, Living the Risen Life. And the overall theme of Colossians
is Christ is sufficient for salvation. Paul wrote it to combat error
that was seeping into the church. And after combating the heresy
in chapters one and two, he gives practical ways to live as a Christian,
and he starts with chapter three, one through four. Quickly, though,
the city of Colossae was made up of both Jews and Gentiles.
Epaphras, who you’ve, I’m sure, heard of in the Bible, described
as one of Paul’s fellow ministers and fellow servants, is the one
who started the church. He’s the one that brought the
gospel to the church. He’s also from that area. And
he was very concerned about the heresy that was seeping in. So
he traveled a great distance to see Paul who was in jail.
Talk to him about this. Seek his guidance. He told Paul
what was going on. The heresy included some Gnosticism. Now Gnosticism is that anything
physical or created is evil. They considered themselves to
be people of superior knowledge whose goal was to help the poor
unfortunates who were not as enlightened as those heretics
thought they were. The teaching was very complex
and proudly intellectual and those in the know looked down
on the simple Colossian believers and they belittled them and led
them away from the truth. Here’s some of the error that
was going around. God could not be involved in
creation because he’s perfect and creation had physical and
it was created so he could not be involved in it. So through
thousands of emanations, he passed it down and he got so far away
from the actual creations that he was still perfect. Jesus was
not really God. He was just one of their higher
emanations, albeit a good one, or an angel. The bad emanations,
or radiations, were demons. And they formed a barrier between
God and man, and only through superior knowledge, along with
the help of some good emanations, or angels, could one break through.
And that made these angels objects of worship. So they were teaching
that the gospel was too simplistic. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians,
for indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom.
But we preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling block and
to Gentiles foolishness. The message from these false
teachers was that Christ was not sufficient. That salvation
required Christ plus higher knowledge. So to refute this, Paul’s message
to the Colossians was to present the incomparable Christ, excuse
me, being totally sufficient, that Christ was fully God and
fully man, that he reconciled you in his fleshly body through
death in order to present you before God, holy, blameless,
and beyond reproach. God willed to make known what
are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which we mentioned earlier, which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory. MacArthur wrote, at the heart
of this understanding, they need to have a settled conviction
about Christ’s deity and sufficiency, that in Christ, the hidden God
was manifested to mankind, and in that sense, Christ is God’s
mystery. In addition to those things, we are unified with Christ in
his death, burial and resurrection through faith. We are new creations. The old has passed away. Behold,
the new has come. And that changes everything for
a believer. Because now you have a totally
new future. Paul is saying, everything you
need to know, Colossians, it’s all about Christ, not Christ
and something else. One wrote, Christ is all. He
is the revelation of the Father, the bond of man and God, the
giver of the spirit, the merit of the guilty, the purity of
the sinful, the power of the weak, the everlasting life for
our mortality. Now, in addition to that heresy,
the false teachers were also teaching legalism. That the way
to God and spiritual fullness would be enhanced if they returned
to some of the dietary restrictions that they found in the Old Testament,
clean and unclean. Although it’s always a good thing
to watch what you eat, food is never a sign of spirituality. Another thing they were teaching
was mysticism. the pursuit of a deeper or higher
subjective religious experience. Now, if the goal is a deeper
knowledge of God, that’s okay, but this mysticism was not that. This was attained in self-abasement
or humility. They were so humble. The false
teachers delighted in their humility. Now, if you have to say how humble
you are, chances are you’re probably not that humble. Another wrote, we are not good
enough to go directly to God. This is what he’s saying, the
heresy or the false teachers are saying. We are not good enough
to go directly to God. So we humbly begin with one of
the angels, which, if we are in correct spirit, will elevate
our request through the hierarchy or emanations to God. That’s what they believed. But
they were too humble to go directly to God, so they had to have the
angels do it for them. They also claimed to have visions,
which put them on the inside, in the inner circle. In advertising
humility, again, they showed nothing, but they were filled
with arrogance. They were also teaching asceticism. Now, asceticism
is self-denial. But this was extreme self-denial
in the hope that they would gain righteousness. The idea is to
free the spirit from the prison of this physical body. God may
call some people to give up something. I mean, missionaries go on the
field and they give up a lot. But it’s not for more righteousness. Through our union with Christ,
redeemed are set free from man-made rules designed to promote spirituality. Now, unfortunately, many have
fallen for this. This man-made self-religion,
it does not do what it claims. It does not bring you to more
righteousness. Why? because it’s man-made. It’s not of God. It’s not of his word. It’s not
what he desires. In fact, it can have the reverse
effect and heightened fleshly temptation and along with it
produce a joyless, unfulfilling life because it does not do what
it promised. Like all false teaching, it is
a works-based salvation. Under a works-based salvation,
no one ever knows if they’ve done enough. For the Christian,
Christ has taken care of all that. So all these things practiced
by the false teachers, Paul is telling the Colossians at the
end of chapter two, these things may look spiritual. They may
look like they have wisdom in them, but they are of no value. They are no help against the
flesh. So in chapter two, verse 16,
he says, therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard
to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or
a Sabbath day. Things which are a mere shadow
of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one
keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement
and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen
inflated without cause by his fleshly mind. If you have died
with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why,
as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself
to decrees such as, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, in
accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are
matters which have to be sure the appearance of wisdom in self-made
religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body,
but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. So then he moves
into chapter three. And he tells them how you can
fight the flesh, how you can grow spiritually. Here is how
you become Christ-like. And so we go back to our passage.
Therefore, if you 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 the things above,
not on the things of earth, for you have died and your life is
hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. Therefore, if you have been raised
up with Christ, if or since you have been raised up with Christ,
because of our union with Christ, we need to start living a life
that reflects his ways and his priorities. And Paul says in
order to do that, you need to develop a heavenly mindset. Think about your future. Now,
I wanted to entitle this heavenly mindset, how to develop a heavenly
mindset. But I was doing some studying and things, and then
I saw under Colossians 1 through 4, somebody had already titled
theirs, Developing a Heavenly Mindset. So I didn’t want to
think I was stealing from him. So I put higher learning. But
that’s probably the last time you’re going to hear that phrase.
Developing a heavenly mindset is much more appropriate for
what we’re doing here. So what is a heavenly mindset?
A heavenly mindset is a spirit-filled mindset, one that has as its
priority the kingdom of God, how to best serve it, represent
it, and advance it. It’s a mindset that knows that
this life on earth is just temporary, and that his or her real home,
their eternal home, is in heaven. It’s a mindset that realizes
that they are a new creation and as a result have new priorities. Those being placing Christ first,
others second, and then self. It’s a mindset that cares about
what Christ cares about. It’s a mindset that wants God’s
will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. It’s a mindset
that lives for someone else now. That being Jesus Christ. In Galatians
2, Paul writes, For through the law I died to the law, so that
I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ,
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I live in
the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself up for me. So that’s what a spiritual mindset
is. How do we develop it? Paul tells us. Keep seeking the
things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
To develop that heavenly mindset, we have to keep seeking or thinking
heavenly. The emphasis is not on the seeking,
because we do seek a lot. That’s probably not new for us.
It’s what we’re going to be seeking. Because of our new life in Christ,
we are now to seek heaven. We are to seek heaven because
that’s where Christ is. Seated at the right hand of God,
the place of highest honor, dignity, power, and authority. Where all
things have been placed under his feet. Hebrews 1, 3 tells
us, and he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation
of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power.
When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high. It’s also where Christ intercedes
for us. Romans 834, Christ Jesus is he
who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand
of God, who also intercedes for us. When we seek heaven, we can
have access to all that it contains. We are to seek that which Christ
went to the cross to obtain for those whom he is called, who’ve
been called by faith. And that, not on our own, but
that even is a gift from God. Okay? So what’s in heaven that we are
to keep seeking? In addition to being where Christ
is, it’s all wisdom, power, all the spiritual values of Christ,
which include tenderness, kindness, meekness, patience, wisdom, a
forgiving and sacrificial spirit, strength, purity, and love. It’s Christ’s character is revealed
in scripture, his attributes, his presence, his joys, things
that are excellent, things that are praiseworthy. That’s what
we’re to continually seek. This seeking is a continuous
effort. He says, keep seeking. So we
are to continue to keep seeking. Seeking not just for information’s
sake, but a seeking to find and keep and take hold of and use. As many of you know, Cambria,
our daughter, for the last few years has been trying to figure
out what’s going on with her health. She’s seen several doctors,
all that. She gave us a text this week
saying, who were giving us the results of an MRI she had. And
then she said, I’m going to be having an EMG in April. And I
just texted her back the grape bottle. And I’m going, what is
an EMG? So I looked it up. I googled EMG. It’s electromyography. Is that correct, Lori? Yes. OK. And that is a procedure to assess
the health of the muscles and the nerve cells that control
them. That’s a seeking for information sake. I just needed to know what
it was. Now, on the other hand, and this is probably not the
best analogy I could come up with, but if I’m diagnosed with
high cholesterol and the doctor warns me that if I don’t change
some habits, I’m going to have a heart attack. And he tells
me ways or shows me where I can get information to lower my cholesterol. Then I will look up those things
and put them into practice. I will use them for my benefit. That’s for seeking to use and
take hold of. In addition to seeking the things
above, we are also to set our mind on things above, not on
the things of earth. Setting your mind is planting
it there. It’s a concentration. The things
above become the desires of our heart. It is the observation
and study of these things. Meditate on them. Setting is
a stronger word than seeking. And one put it this way, be shaped
in your thinking, your emotional life, your pattern of attitudes
and responses, Your preferences in people and entertainment and
clothes and jobs and leisure, in this total set of your mind
and heart be formed by the realities that are above, the realities
of God. And Christ seated at the right
hand of God and your true life hidden with Christ in God and
your death behind you and the spectacular public appearance
of Christ and your appearing with him in glory. Let your way
of seeing the world thinking about the world, feeling about
the world, be shaped and governed by the things above. No longer
are we to be consumed by earthly things, and that includes more
than just material possessions. They also include earthly honors,
position, Advancement. Now, please understand, these
are not bad things. And it’s not a bad thing to strive
for them, to try for them, to try and do your best, to try
and move ahead as far as you can. But as Christians, we are
not to treat these things as if that’s all that matters. You
can be disappointed. But remember, you are a citizen
of heaven. Earthly things like honors, position,
advancements are not your identity. You are a follower of Christ,
a child of the King, joint heirs with Christ. Those are your identities. Similarly, when you feel like
things are getting out of control, if you think, if such and such
happens, that’s going to be bad. Everything’s going to fall apart.
When those thoughts come, look above. and remind yourself and
be assured that God is in control. Set your mind above and remember
that this world is not your final destination. For you, the believer,
this is as bad as it gets. For the unbeliever, this is as
good as it gets. It’s a mindset that when things
don’t go how you want, when disappointment comes, when it feels like things
are spiraling out of control, you are reminded that Christ
is in heaven. He is in control. And that no
matter what happens down here, my future, your futures, up in
heaven with him. The world’s ways are in opposition
to this. The world is all about self because
I’m worth it. Just do it. What happens in Vegas,
you know the rest. The world has its ideas about
success. Whoever has the most toys wins. Get all you can get while you
can. All these serve as false senses
of satisfaction. In the long run, they don’t satisfy.
They are empty, worthless, fickle, and eventually lead to death. Now when one escapes a bad situation,
they usually run from it, leave it far behind. So to be freed
from feeling the pressures to conform to the world, from a
future of eternal damnation, from weeping and gnashing of
teeth, from what Jonathan Edwards describes as a place of perfect
hate. So to be freed from that, we
should find ourselves running from that. Spurgeon said, so
let it be with us. There should be no lingering,
no loitering, no hankering after the world, no clinging it to
its vanities, no making provision for the flesh. Up early in the
morning from your ease, your carnal pleasure, your love of
wealth and self, on a way out from dark’s vault into a congenial
sphere of action. If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above. But yet we do linger. Occasionally
we find ourselves delaying. Maybe oftentimes trying to find
ourselves splitting time between the world and God’s ways. James says friendship with the
world is hostility. towards God. The world hates
Christ. Why would we want to have any
part of it? We also know that if we love the world or the things
of the world, the Father is not in us. 1 John 2. Now this is
not saying to ignore the concerns of the world. It’s not saying
when you have some downtime, you can check on how your favorite
team’s doing. It’s not saying that you can’t
look forward to vacations and things like that. You can think
about things that have to get done at home. Hobbies are fine,
but do they keep you from a quiet time? Prayer, reading his word. How many times a day do you think
about the things of God? His ways? His promises? How often do you pray? Do you
find time to read his word? That will give you an idea where
your treasure is. Is it here? Or is it above? James Hastings wrote, in fact,
to be spiritually minded, this is life. To be carnally minded,
this is death. Thus, the man who has his conversation
in heaven, who is occupied with spiritual realities, whose treasure
is in heaven, and whose heart is there also, has a power within
him for the discharge of duty which the world cannot understand,
and a support under trial which the world can neither give or
take away. Now, a part of me wanted to entitle
this sermon, Spirit-Filled Living for Dummies. or practical holiness
for dummies, based on that yellow book that shows you, hey, do
this computer program or whatever, you can do it. Because I feel
that to be heavenly-minded is the foundation for the things
the Christian is called to do. If you develop a heavenly-minded
life, then the other commands should fall into place. Believers
are called to live in a certain way, to follow certain commands,
display certain characteristics. I see these as a subset under
the one command of seeking and setting our minds on things above.
Because when we develop that heavenly mindset, it enhances
our ability to obey the other commands and display those characteristics
that the believer is called to display. There are many. Here are just a few. Romans 12,
one through two, therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable
to God. Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may
prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect. To display the fruit of the spirit,
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness,
and self-control. Seeking and setting our minds
on things above will enable us to let your speech always be
with grace as though seasoned with salt so that you will know
how you should respond to each person. Seeking and setting our
mind on things above will help us to love your neighbor as yourself. Seeking and setting our minds
above will help us to as those who have been chosen by God,
holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving
each other. Whoever has a complaint against
anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so you should also. Beyond all these things, put
on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Having a heavenly mindset seeking
those things about will help us do that. They would be first
it would be higher in our mind. I’m a sinner. So I’m not going
to say that would be first and foremost in my mind, but they
would be up there. They would be on on the radar
to help me act and display that which Christ wants me to act.
In addition, seeking the things above and setting your mind on
the things above will help us to deal with and overcome anxiousness. Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses
all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. Temptation. No temptation has
overtaken you, but such is common to man. And God is faithful,
who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also,
so that you will be able to endure it. Guilt, therefore there is
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For
the law of the spirit of life in Christ has set you free from
the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do,
weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin. Fear. For I am the Lord your God who
takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear. I will help you. Do not be afraid.
For I myself will help you, declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel. Anybody worry? Okay, just me. Do not worry about your life,
what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Life
is more than food and the body more than clothes. Consider the
ravens. They do not sow or reap. They have no storeroom or barn,
yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable are
you than the birds? Who by worrying can add a single
hour to his life since you cannot do this very little thing Why
do you worry about the rest? Anger. Be angry and yet do not
sin. Do not let the sun go down on
your anger and do not give the devil an opportunity. You can
help us recognize areas of sin in our life. Search me, oh God,
and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts
and see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the
way everlasting. Everything we need is above.
All the power, knowledge, and sustaining grace we need in order
to be Christ-like and live according to his ways is up in heaven where
Christ is. The reason for having a heavenly
mindset. For you have died. And your life
is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
Number one reason for Having a heavenly mindset is our union
with Christ. We are new creatures. We have new priorities. We no
longer have the world’s priorities. We have the promises of Christ.
That’s why we have a heavenly mindset. Remember, before salvation,
we were spiritually dead. Dead meaning unable to respond.
But God has made us alive spiritually. Which means we have now died
to the world. Number two, our life is hidden
with Christ in God, meaning we are secured. This is referring
to the doctrine of eternal security. He will hold me fast. He will
keep me. He will not allow me to fall,
to fall away. Here is my second trepidation
of preaching this passage. I tried everything to get out
of it. Because when I look at most of you, and I was talking
to a dear sister in Christ last week, and I said, you all do this. I don’t think
you’re gonna, this is not, this probably doesn’t even pertain
to you because you guys are so good at this anyway. She set me straight. If having a heavenly mindset
is the answer for how to live a Christ-like life, this sounds
like such an easy fix. MacArthur called it practical.
Practical exhortations. It seems like a duh statement. It seems like it should be so
easily. Well, of course we should have a heavenly mindset. And
here it is. Then why do we struggle with
it? I struggle with it. And that’s why I thought, it’s
probably just me. So why am I telling this to this
mature group of Christians? Again, she set me straight. The first reason is something
we probably can’t do much about. We live here. This is all we
know. So it’s hard to put my mind on
something that I know is coming and something I want, but this
is all I know. Here’s some generalizations. We’re all born here. Anybody
not? Okay, we’re all together in this.
We grew up here. We were dependent on parents
to provide and care for us. Many of us go through or We go
through an educational process or a learning process to find
out something we enjoy in order to prepare us or train us for
a career. We provide for our families,
ourselves, whoever we need to provide for, whoever we’re responsible
for, to provide for everyday needs and wants. You prepare
and plan so that someday you can hopefully retire. In addition,
unless we are here on earth living when the second coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ takes place, we don’t get to heaven until
our life here is over. Meaning when we die. And don’t
we take great care to keep that from happening? To put that off
as long as possible. So that’s One reason, we can’t
help, we’re down here, this is all I know. And so, it sounds
great in heaven, we know that’s great, but I’m in the present
here. And it’s hard sometimes to put
my mind up there. But what about the things we
can control? And there’s just one answer. It’s self. We allow distractions. I experienced this firsthand
this week. I was putting this together, rolling along, and
I got a text. Check that out. Oh, there’s an
email. So I looked at the email, and
I had something in it. And then all of a sudden, I’m looking at other
things in regards to the email, and it’s 15 minutes later. Oh,
gosh, I got to get back to this. And then I go, you know what?
I’m hungry. So let me go get a muffin. I’ll
bring it over here. And then so it was constant, constant
distractions. There is a poem that I remember
hearing about, it’s called Satan’s Agenda. And let me give you just
some excerpts from that. Satan is saying, we can’t, we
can do something else. We can keep them from forming
an intimate, continual experience with Christ. If they gain that
connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them
go to church, let them have their Christian lifestyles, but steal
their time. so they can’t gain that experience
with Jesus Christ. Distract them from gaining hold
of their Savior and maintain that vital connection throughout
the day. Keep them busy with non-essentials of life. Invest
in unnumbered schemes to occupy their minds. Tempt them to spend,
spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince them to work
six or seven days a week, 10, 12 hours a day, so they can afford
their lifestyles. over-stimulate their minds so
they cannot hear that still small voice. Even in their recreation,
let them be excessive. Have them return from their holidays
exhausted, disquieted, and unprepared for the coming week. And when
they gather for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small
talk so they leave with souls unfulfilled. There’s a lot of
distractions. And guess what? We carry them
around with us, this little distraction box. It’s everything. When they
first came out, it was supposed to be so if something happens
in an emergency, I can call somebody. Now it’s everything. Selfish. Pride. Maybe we want to be angry. We’ve
been wronged. Something has gone wrong, and
we’ve been put in a position that we don’t
like. There are times we want to be
angry. We want someone to sympathize with us and tell us that they
understand. We want to receive pity and comfort. It’s all about
us. We also want to be in control.
We want to be in the driver’s seat. We have a certain way we
want things to happen. We want a certain result, so
we try and manipulate the situation to have that happen. However,
when it doesn’t go how we wanted or how we planned, we get upset. God’s ways are not our ways,
and he often works things out in a way that’s better for us,
that are designed to draw us closer to him, but not in the
way we want, necessarily. Priorities. We want to do what
we want to do. We get tired, so we don’t read
or pray. We work so hard during the week,
so we take Sunday off. I’m just exhausted. And just
like the poem earlier, we have interests that we like to do
and we put them first. We are deceived. We are taken
in and deceived that sin looks tempting. And it looks like it
might bring some satisfaction or happiness. We justify our actions by comparing
ourselves to others. Well, so-and-so did this. So
I’m not doing that. I’m just doing this. Matthew
Henry said, better is a dinner of herbs out of the way of temptation
than a stalled ox in it. Sinners pretend to find dainties
in sin. Stolen waters are sweet, for
bidden fruit is pleasant to the eye. But those that consider
how soon those dainties of sin will turn into wormwood and gall,
how certainly it will, that last bite, like a serpent and sting
like an adder will dread those and pray to God by his providence
to be taken out of their sight. Basically it comes down to it
can be hard to be heavenly minded because we allow it. So the next question is what’s
it take to be heavenly minded determination. A mindset on things
above just does not happen. It’s not natural. To do this,
develop a heavenly-minded mindset requires work, continual discipline. It requires a determination,
a concerted effort, and an ongoing pursuit. Because if you back
off, it’s really easy for the world to creep back in. Prayer. To say that prayer is
an amazing thing is quite an understatement because of what
Christ has accomplished for us, that barrier, that veil that
separated us and God has been torn down and we can come to
him now through Christ. We can communicate with the one
living true God. This is where among other things
we bring our requests and petitions to him. Prayer is not meant to
change God, change the outcome of something, it’s to change
us, to change our hearts, to change our attitudes, to change
our focus. And we are commanded in scripture
to pray. Romans 12 tells us to be joyful
in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. The Lord
told his disciples in the garden to pray so that they would not
fall into temptation. Prayer reminds us of God’s presence.
Psalm 145, the Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who
call on him in truth. We receive forgiveness and we
confess our sins in prayer. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Even when we are at loss about
what to pray, the spirit helps us. In the same way, the spirit
also helps our weaknesses, for we do not know how to pray as
we should, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings
too deep for words. We need to be in God’s word.
For in God’s word, the mind of Christ, the mind of God in Christ
is revealed, as well as his will for us. his desires for us, his plans
for us. Commit to God’s word. Thy word
have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. If we are
not dedicated to his word, then how can we be united with him? How can we grow spiritually?
First Peter 2.2 tells us like newborn babies long for the pure
milk of the world so that by it you may grow in respect to
salvation. Lastly, it’s a focus on our future. And until we can fully understand
this, it’ll be hard to keep our minds on things above. We have
been approved for citizenship in heaven because of the gift
of faith that God has given us by his grace. And there are plenty
of verses that we can look to to remind us that we are only
a vapor here. It’s temporary. But this world
is not our final resting place. We are strangers and exiles on
the earth. Our citizenship is in heaven,
for which we eagerly await a savior. We are aliens and strangers on
this earth. Once again, our future is not
here. We must be heaven focused. It’s
not like we don’t think about the future. I mean, you want
to retire so you Check on and watch over your 401k. You train
and you want to get good grades so you can become a doctor, an
engineer, or whatever. We just need to change that and
make it our future in heaven. If we don’t think about and look
to our future in heaven, then we won’t be heavenly minded.
A couple years after we were married, Carolyn and I bought
a house in beautiful Sunland, California. We couldn’t get in
right away because there were things we needed to do before
we got everything in. I remember going over and we
didn’t have any heat. We painted by those little lamps
you put in the garage, your work lamps or whatever. And we had
Christmas music on the little portable CD player. And so now
sometimes when I smell paint or hear a certain Christmas song,
it takes me back there. We couldn’t get in there. It
was our house. But we weren’t ready to get in there, let’s
say that. So all our off time was spent thinking about getting
in there. So why don’t we think about heaven,
which is something much more important and glorious? Burton
said, let us not live for the world which we see, nor after
the fashion of men to whom this life is everything. Let us live
as those who have come out of the world and who, though they
are in it, are no more of it. Now, one last thing. And I hesitated
to bring this up. Because, and even last night,
I’m going, should you really even mention this? Because maybe
it’s just for me. Because I thought about a lot
of you last night saying, They don’t need this. This is not
their problem. Are we too comfortable? Am I too comfortable? Are things
too easy? Am I not bold enough? Because
I think of those who are really truly heavenly minded. A couple
of years ago, I showed you a voice of the martyrs magazine. And
it was an article about a lady who had lost her husband. And
so she and her three kids, under darkness of night, cover of night,
escaped the area where she probably had a death sentence because
of her faith. And the story of her leaving is remarkable, what
she had to go through. I guarantee you she was heavenly
minded. Those who have to attend church
under fear of being caught. I’m sure they were heavenly minded.
It seems like if it’s too comfortable, we struggle with it. There was
a lady in La Crescenta, when we were there, and she had cancer. Gosh, she had it for as long
as I even knew her. It was a few years. And she was
in a lot of pain. She wanted to go home so bad. At her funeral, I sang a song called No More
Night. The timeless theme, earth and
heaven will pass away. It’s not a dream. God will make
all things new that day. Gone is the curse from which
I stumbled and fell. Evil is banished to eternal hell. No more night. No more pain. No more tears. Never crying again. Praises to the great I am. We
will live in the light of the risen lamb. See over there? It’s a mansion prepared for me
where I will live with my savior eternally. No more night, no
more pain, no more tears, never crying again. Praise is to the
great I am. We will live in the light of
the risen lamb. That’s our future. Let’s not wait, but begin to
start living there now, cerebrally. For after all, that is where
Christ is, Christ who is our life. Let’s seek and set our
mind on things above, on things that make a difference, things
that will help us grow spiritually, become more Christ-like, things
that advance the kingdom of God. We may physically be here on
earth, but this is not our home. It will pass away. And if it’s
going to pass away, Why should we try and live by its values
and its ways? Father, we are amazed at our position. For those who have
been called, for those who have been gifted faith by you, we have a standing in Christ. And it’s amazing to think that
When we think of our own lives, what we’ve done, how we’ve acted,
that you would have anything to do with us, but you do. And
we are now in a union with Christ. And we have access to all that
is up in heaven. All that is up in heaven that
will allow us to live in a way that you want us to live. to
live in a way that pleases you. Help us to have a heavenward
focus. Help us to understand that this is not where we’re
going to end up. But it will be a glorious future
with you. And it will be an eternal future,
one that will never end. So we thank you for all that
we have in Christ. And we thank you for granting
us the gift of faith. For we would never have it without
you. And we pray these things in the name of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself up for us. Amen.