Take God’s Word, and find Colossians chapter 3. And, when you’ve found it, look up
here to me, if you would, and let me ask you a question: What is Jesus Christ to you? You say, “Well, Jesus Christ has a place in my life.” Jesus Christ does not want a place in your life. “Well,” you say, “Jesus Christ has a big place in my life.” He doesn’t want a big place in your life. Jesus desires, deserves, and demands pre-eminence.
Now, does Jesus Christ have pre-eminence in your life? I ask myself that same question. I want you to look at this scripture with that question in mind: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:1–5). And then, skip down, if you will, to verse 11: “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11).
Now, I want to talk to you tonight about this: “When Christ is All.” Verse 11 says, “Christ is all”—a-l-l. Well, if Christ is all, then that leaves nothing out. It means He is everything. Now, that’s a big question: Is Jesus Christ all to you? I mean, is He all, and is He in all? Well, Paul just said it another way in verse 4, when he says, “Christ…is our life” (Colossians 3:4). Now, Jesus doesn’t just give life; He is our life. “For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21), is what Paul said, in another place. He is our life; He doesn’t just point to life. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), in John 14, verse 6. So, Christ is our life.
Now, the cults don’t believe this. For example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe this. As a matter of fact, they have twisted the Scripture to try to distort this. They go from door to door with their New World Translation. And, it’s very interesting that they would quote John chapter 17, verse 3 this way, in The New World Translation: “This is eternal life, that they may receive knowledge about You, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” Does that sound good to you? Well, it sounds fairly good, but listen to it carefully: “This is eternal life, that they may receive knowledge about You…” Now, what does The King James Version of Scripture say? John 17, verse 3: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
Now, you can have knowledge about someone without knowing that person. You could have knowledge about a senator, or a president, or a king, without knowing that person. But, you see, we don’t just receive knowledge of Jesus; our life is knowing Jesus. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). It is Jesus only. He is all and in all. It is not knowledge about Jesus. It is not Jesus plus anything. It is not something after Jesus. Now, you can get to know Jesus better, but you can never know anything better than Jesus. You can go deeper into Jesus, but you can never go beyond Jesus. Paul says, in verse 11, that, “Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11).
Now, notice how he puts it, in this passage of Scripture, as we prepare for the Lord’s Supper:
A. We Have Been Crucified with Christ
First of all, we have been crucified with Christ. Look, in verse 3: “For ye are dead” (Colossians 3:3). Did you know you’re looking at a dead man? I’ve been crucified; so have you. I died with Christ; His death had my name on it. The old Adrian died when I was buried in that liquid tomb called baptism. That was my funeral service. The chief mourner who was there was the devil; he hated to see his old buddy die. But, we are dead.
B. We Have Been Raised with Christ
And, not only are we dead, but, according to this passage of Scripture, we have also been raised. Look, in verse 1: “If ye then be risen with Christ…” (Colossians 3:1). We are dead with Him; His death had our name on it. And, we are risen with Him.
C. We Live with Christ
And, because we were crucified with Him, and have risen with Him, we live with Him. Look, if you will, in verse 4: “When Christ, who is our life…” (Colossians 3:4). We have the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
D. Our Life is Hidden in Christ
And, that life is hidden in Christ. Notice verse 3 again: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Now, in order for the devil to get to me—I’m in Jesus, and Jesus is in God—and he’s got to go through God the Father and God the Son to get at Adrian. That’s where I’m hidden. He is my life.
What’s he saying here? “I died with Him. I was raised with Him. I live with Him. And, I’m hidden in Him.” He is our life. Friend, He is everything.
Go back to chapter 2, and look, if you will, in verse 3. And, this is a wonderful, wonderful verse here, and I hope that God will write it upon your heart. The Bible says there, speaking of Jesus, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Where’s that hidden? In Jesus. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus, and I’m hidden in Jesus. There’s nothing worth knowing that’s outside of Jesus. There is no wisdom that this world has to offer that can compare with the only true wisdom that is in Jesus Christ. Now, He is all, and in all.
I. Three Things That Will Happen When Christ is All in All to You
Now, in the verses that I read to you from chapter 3, there are three major verbs, and I want you to see them. Look, in verse 1: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above…”—underscore the verb seek. And then, look in verse 2: “Set your affection on things above” (Colossians 3:1–2). Underscore the verb set. And then, look, if you will, in verse 5: “Mortify therefore…”—or, “Put to death.” Your translation may say, “Put to death.” But—“Mortify therefore your members” (Colossians 3:5). Underscore the verb mortify.
Now, those are three things that will happen when Christ is all, when Christ is everything, when Christ is your life: the verbs seek, set, and mortify—or, we can say, if you want it alliterated, “slay”: seek, set, and slay. There are certain things that are true. Now, I want us to take those verbs and look at them just a little differently, as we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Supper. What happens in my life, what is of necessity true, when I can say that, “Christ is my life,” and say, in verse 11, that, “Christ is all, and in all”? (Colossians 3:11).
A. Jesus Captivates My Ambition
Number one: Jesus captivates my ambitions—Jesus captivates my ambitions. Verse 1—look at it again: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). Now, what you seek is what your ambition is. Your ambition is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). The devil doesn’t care what on earth you may seek, as long as you do not seek those things which are above.
Now, I’m going to say something profound, but chapter 3 follows chapter 2. And, I want you to go back to chapter 2. And, he’s thinking, in chapter 2, about those things which are below. He’s thinking about those things that are on the earth, and he delineated those things which are on the earth. And then, he goes into chapter 3 and says, “But if you be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above” (Colossians 3:1).
1. Some Things which are Below that You Might be Prone to Seek
Now, let me show you some things that you might be prone to seek that we find in chapter 2—the things of the world; things which are not above, but things which are below.
a. The Reasonings of the World
For example, there are the reasonings of the world. Look in chapter 2, verse 8: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world,”—the word rudiment, there, means, “the ABCs, the basic elements of the world”—“and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). And, actually, the word here, spoil—it literally means, “to carry you off as a captive.” When people would take a country, they would say they “spoiled” the country. That is, they would carry away the goods of that country, and they spoiled it. Now, he’s saying, “Don’t let somebody carry you away as captives.”
Now, the cults are good at this. The cults—they don’t want converts as much as they want captives. What they will do is kidnap true converts. They will hang around Billy Graham crusades and other places. They will come to Baptists who really are not well grounded, and they will try to carry them off captive. And, they do this “through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). And so, beware of the reasonings of this world.
b. The Rituals of the World
And then, secondly, not only the reasonings of the world, but the rituals of the world. Look, in chapter 2, verses 13 through 17: “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened”—that is, “made alive”—“together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” That is, in His death on the cross, when He took our sins that were nailed to the cross with Him, and took them out of the way. And now, notice what he says, in verse 16: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat,”—that literally means, “in food”—“or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Colossians 2:13–17).
Now, what’s he talking about here? Well, he’s talking to people who’ve been in the Jewish religion. And, they had this certain ritual. They had things that they had done— religious rituals. They had certain drink offerings and certain meal offerings, and they had certain days that they kept. What he’s talking about here, primarily, is Jewish diets and Jewish days. And, there were some people who said, “Now that you’re saved, that’s fine, but you’ve got to keep these days, and you’ve got to keep these diets.” And, Paul says, “Don’t let anybody judge you of those things. For example, don’t let anybody judge you concerning the Sabbath day.”
Now, listen to me carefully. Sunday is not the Sabbath; Sunday is the Lord’s Day. Saturday is the Sabbath. Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath; Sunday is the Lord’s Day. It’s an absolutely different kind of day. Now, we have people today who want us to keep the Sabbath. If you think you’re keeping the Sabbath, you’d better be careful, because you can’t even start a fire on the Sabbath. And, friend, when you cranked your automobile, you started a fire in the engine. You ought to be stoned. I’m telling you, we don’t keep the Sabbath, in that sense. There are people who would like to judge you, and put you under some ritualistic diet and some ritualistic days, but those things were taken out of the way; they were nailed to the cross. And, he tells us they are but shadows of things to come. Do you see that there, in that verse? “They are shadows of things to come” (Colossians 2:17). They are not the substance; they are the shadow. And, people who try to keep these rituals are chasing shadows.
Have you ever seen the ridiculous thing of a dog that chases the shadow of a bird on the ground, and the bird is up there in the sky? Now, that’s when people are substituting rituals for reality. They are seeking things which are below, not things which are above—shadows, and not substance; the blueprint, and not the building.
c. The Religions of the World
So, Paul says here, “Beware of the reasonings of this world. Beware of the rituals of this world.” And then, he goes on to say, “Beware of the religions of this world.” Notice again, in chapter 2, verses 18 and 19: “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels…”—and, by the way, they had a cult named Gnosticism in Colossae, where they were worshipping angels—“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God” (Colossians 2:18– 19). What he’s saying is, “Don’t go following after some angelic being or some highfalutin religious philosophy. You hold on to Jesus, which is the Head.”
I’ve been preaching long enough to be amazed at two things: number one, that men will not believe the truth; and, number two, what men and women will believe. Satan is not against religion, as long as it’s the religion of this world. And, you can seek—you can seek—the reasonings of this world: vain philosophy. You can seek the rituals of this world: days and diets. You can seek the religions of this world, and worship things other than Almighty God.
d. The Regulations of the World
And then, something else you can seek—and that’s the regulations of this world. Look in chapter 2 now, verse 20: “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,”—the word ordinances means, “laws”—“(touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?”—now, he’s not saying that you ought not to taste, or touch, or handle things which God has forbidden, but what he is saying is that, when you have the traditions of men, men will take the Bible, and they will add to it. They will, like the Pharisees, bind on people burdens heavy to be borne. And then, he says—“which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship…”—that’s a very interesting phrase; underscore it—“will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh” (Colossians 2:20–23).
Now, I admit that this is hard-to-understand English; it’s convoluted. But, what he is saying is this: Is, “You’re not going to be any more like Jesus with a list of do’s and don’ts. They’re not going to make you one speck like Jesus. It may look good; it may have a show of wisdom and humility. But, if you let all of the air out of it, it is will worship and not God worship. You think up certain things you’re going to do; and then, you do them, and you say, ‘What a good boy am I!’” And, Paul says, “It has no effect against the flesh. All it will do is just simply increase your pride, and it gives the wrong indication to your neighbor that Christianity is just a list of do’s and don’ts.” Many of us have the idea that, if there are just certain things that we don’t do and certain things that we do, then we’re spiritual. I mean, we say… Especially with the don’ts—you know, “Don’t tell lies; don’t tell dirty jokes, don’t cheat, etc.” And, we try to go for about two weeks not doing the dirty dozen, you know, and we think that’s going to make us spiritual.
There are several figures for the Christian life. For example, the Christian life is like a building program. We call that, in church language, edification. An edifice is a building. Can you imagine a contractor who’s supposed to build a building, and all he does is go around telling his workman, “Don’t saw crooked, and don’t bend nails”? He’s not going to have a building that way. Or, it’s also called a growing process: “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Can you imagine somebody telling you how to raise a newborn baby and saying, “Just don’t give it arsenic”? No. A thousand don’ts will not make you one wit more like the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, Christianity is not a legal relationship; it is a love relationship. And, I’m not saying there are certain things you ought not to do, but the difference is whether it is will worship or God worship. Now, you can read your Bible out of will worship. Do you ever get the idea that you’ve got to read so many chapters a day, and that’s going to make you a great Christian? Not necessarily. You know, a chapter a day keeps the devil away? No. Now, you can read your Bible and not love God. I don’t believe you can truly love God and not read your Bible. It’s why you do it, not what you do. You’ve seen that bumper sticker that says, “Tithe if you love Jesus; anybody can blow their horn.” Well, I like that, but I want to tell you something: You can tithe and still not love Jesus, but I’m not sure that you can truly love Jesus without obeying Him in stewardship.
Now, what I’m trying to say is this: that none of these things—the reasonings of the world, and the rituals of the world, and the religions of the world—none of these things can make you like Jesus. We need to understand that Christ is all and in all. And, look at the verse again. Go back to chapter 3, verse 1—after chapter 2, when he talks about all of these things—and he says this: “If ye then”—in relation to all that he said in chapter 2—“be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above” (Colossians 3:1). You are to seek Jesus. Jesus is the One who captivates your ambition to be like Jesus. You are to seek Him like the needle on the compass seeks the North Pole. You are to seek Him like a sunflower seeks the sun. Jesus is to be the One who has captivated your ambition.
B. Jesus Dominates My Attention
Now, number two—let’s look at the second verb: Not only does Jesus captivate my ambition; but, number two, Jesus dominates my attention—Jesus dominates my attention. Look, in verse 2 now—chapter 3, verse 2: “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). Well, the way to seek Him is to set your affections, and the word affection literally means, “attention.” That is, what you seek you have to set your mind to, because the Bible says, “As a man thinketh, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
Now, we’ve often heard that some people are so heavenly-minded, they’re no earthly good, but the direct reverse may be true. This verse is not telling us not to be heavenly-minded; it is telling us to be heavenly-minded. Jesus is to dominate my attention. I am to meditate on Him; I am to set my mind on Him. And, there are many things pulling at my mind; there are many things pulling at your mind. And, I’m not to say that recreation is wrong, and I’m not saying that relaxation is wrong. But, I’m telling you, folks, in this day and in this age, you’re going to have to seek Him. Your ambitions are going to have to come to a burning focus. And then, you’re going to have to set your affections, where Jesus just dominates your attention.
Now, when I’m talking about setting your mind, setting your affections, I’m not talking about Oriental mystical meditation—no. That is just opening up your mind to all kinds of things. I’m surprised how many Baptists are caught up into Oriental meditation—yoga, and things like that. As a matter of fact, that’s taught in colleges today, and universities—state universities. They wouldn’t let us teach meditation on the Word of God. But, they will teach transcendental meditation, teach people how to relax and get some mantra, some thing—“ama, ama, ama”—to say over and over again—meditate on a dewdrop. And, people think that’s wonderful. They say, “Well, I’m just opening myself up.” You really are—you really are. Would you go home tonight, unlock all your doors, and throw all the windows open, and go to sleep to see what might come in? Would you do that? No. “Because,” you say, “well, I might make contact.” That’s right—you might make contact! You sure might! No. The Bible says, “Keep your mind with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Set your mind. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).
C. Jesus Regulates My Actions
The first verb is seek. The second verb is set. The third verb is slay. Now, notice number three: Jesus is to regulate my actions. Jesus, who captivates my ambitions, Jesus, who dominates my attention, is the Jesus who is to regulate my actions.
Now, when I said before that will worship is wrong, that doesn’t mean that discipline is wrong. It’s a different kind of discipline. Notice, now, in chapter 3, verse 5: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:5–11).
Now, if Christ is my life, then I’m to live like Christ, if He is all and in all. This verb mortify means, “to put to death forcefully and immediately.” Why would you put something to death? Well, because you hate it. You see, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth”—these things are to be put to death. Did you know that, as a Christian, you need to learn to hate? Hmm? “Oh,” you say, “oh no, I don’t want to be convicted of a hate crime.” As a Christian, you have to learn to hate. You could not have love without hate, anymore than you could have high without low, or hot without cold, or in without out. If you love justice, you hate crime. If you love health, you hate disease. If you love purity, you hate pornography. If you love flowers, you hate weeds.
Did you know that God is a God who hates? May I give you some Scripture? Proverbs 6, verses 16 and following: “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,”—by the way, that means God hates abortion—“an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6:16–19). That’s
God’s hate parade right there. God says, “These seven things doth the Lord hate” (Proverbs 6:16). May I tell you that so-called love without corresponding hate is sheer hypocrisy? There are certain things that need to be put to death—mortified.
Psalm 119, verse 104: “Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:104). Now, today, we’re supposed to put our arms around everybody and say, you know, that, “Your religion is just as good as mine.” We’re all un-American, if we’re not tolerant. Well, friend, the psalmist said, “I hate and abhor lying…”—Psalm 119, verse 163—“I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love” (Psalm 119:163). Psalm 119, verse 113: “I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love” (Psalm 119:113).
Now, we’re to hate narcotics, liquor, communism, atheism, pornography, and any sin in our own lives. It needs to be put to death. Why? Because, “Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). What is the Christian life? It’s not Bellevue Baptist Church; it is not prayer; it is not the Bible; it is not doing good. It is Jesus Christ. Christ is our life! He is all and in all (Colossians 3:11).
Conclusion
Now, as we come to the Lord’s Table, we’re coming to celebrate Jesus, to love Jesus, not to learn about Jesus—yes, we need to do that—but to love Jesus; not to know about Him, but to know Him. And, the sweetest fellowship you’ll ever have with anyone is at a meal. We’re not coming tonight to mourn a corpse; we’re coming tonight to have fellowship with a friend, a meal with a friend. It is not that He is dead, because He’s risen; it is not that He has risen and ascended, because He is here. And, He says, “If any man hear my voice…I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). So, Jesus invites us to His Table. We’re going to have a fellowship meal with Jesus. Let’s stand and sing.
