Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.
13 sermons cite this verse
… final destination. In Hebrews 11 verse 13, the writer says, we are nothing but strangers and exiles on the earth. In Colossians 3, 2, Paul says, set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. But here's the ironic thing. The more we focus on there, the more effective we become here. I think of the great Puritan preacher and leader, Jonathan Edwards. He understood that heaven is our true destination. He was consumed as he thought about heaven. At one point he wrote, to go to heaven fully to enjoy God is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Therefore it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven, to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for or set our hearts on anything else but that which is our proper and true happiness. And yet, if you know anything about the life of Jonathan Edwards, you know how tremendously productive he was in the 50 some odd years God left him here on earth. All of the things he wrote and accomplished. I mean, it's mind boggling what he accomplished here. He was focused on there, but he was effective here when he was only 19 years of age. He sat down and wrote out 70 resolutions that would guide his life. How he would live here in light of what awaited him there. For example, here are three of his resolutions. Resolved to endeavor to obtain …
… Like God is worthy of our full attention. That's why it says in Colossians chapter three, verse one and two, it says, set our hearts and set our minds on things above, right? Where Christ is seated as the right hand of God. He is like, hey, not only do I desire it, I deserve it. This is where you need to be putting your heart and mind. not on the things of the world, but on me. But then here's the thing. God doesn't demand our attention. And when I say that, I mean, he doesn't force it. He gives you and I a choice. So it's up to us in our times with God if there's ever moments where the door gets closed. In our offices here at 515, God provided in above and beyond season through somebody that was in the marketplace, had a glass company, different story for a different day, just saying God uses people in unique ways to bless this church and we're so grateful. …
… Lock in. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. got to get up above that get up in the spirit watch this it says for you died what you the old you, the lesser you, when you accepted Christ, the Bible says if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. So there's a version of you that wants to live even though it's dead. It wants to live. It wants to pretend like it's alive. It's called your flesh. And you've got to remember it's dead. It's like if it's dead, how come it's still moving? Because you've got to keep it dead. It's dead in the sense that it can't produce life. It can only produce death. it can't your flesh cannot produce anything that matters it can only partner watch this with the adversary of your soul to tear you down so you have a part of you that is like a judas oh i gotta stop there's a part of you that is like the young folks say you you have an ops in you and it's in partnership with the enemy to take you down. …
… days and social media, that there's no soul energy to pursue heavenly things? Apostle Paul, he wrote these words in Colossians chapter 3 verse 2. He says, set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Our comfort as God's chosen is that we know that the grave is not the end for us. We know that we have passed from death to life. We know that we have escaped the wrath to come. We know, point number two, the best is yet to come. We know our bodies will be redeemed. Three thoughts here under that point about the best is yet to come. Number one, Christ will return and raise our dead bodies from the ground. Number two, Christ will change our bodies. Number three, Christ will fashion our bodies. Christ will raise our dead bodies when he returns. His first coming was to change our souls, to deliver us from Satan by his death, burial, and resurrection. His second coming shall be to deliver our bodies from the bondage of corruption. …
Seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above. So here you have seek the ta'ano, and here you have set your minds on, is that word right there. That's the verb form of phronimo. Strange Greek word, set your mind on, is the way the ESV is translating it here. I think it means something like have a mindset. Cultivate a certain mindset. Mind slant. Mind way of being a mind. The things above. So this is the above things. This is the above things. And this is seek. And this is... So I think these are explaining each other. Right? Not on the things that are on the earth. And we're going to come back in a little bit and ask, how in the world do you do that? What is that? And what are the things above? What would you do every morning to obey that command? But right now, we're trying to get the structure. So here we've got a four as the support. …
… in that same manner, pursue things that are unseen. Verse 2, set your mind on things above, not on things on earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Wow, wow, wow. Verse 2, look at it again. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. All right. I don't know how to do that. I'm trying. I don't want to be in a car. The taxi or Uber driver is imagining angels surrounding the throne singing holy, holy, holy. I want to be in a car with a driver who's thinking about the road that we're on and the destination that we're going to. I don't want to have surgery from a doctor who's praying in tongues and is seeing Jesus at the right hand of the Father when he's supposed to be cutting something out of me. Are you catching my point? I don't want to have my car repaired by someone who doesn't know what a wrench is, but they do know their Bible. …
… if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. That's an exhortation, that's an imperative, but you'll notice immediately it's based on an indicative. Seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ who is your life appears, you also will appear with him in glory. More than once during the course of the conference, we've come to this question, who am I really as a Christian? And in this letter, Paul's answer is this. As a Christian, you're a man or a woman in Christ, united to Christ. And that means your identity is defined by these realities. You have died with Christ to the reign of sin. You have been buried with Christ in your baptism. You have been raised with Christ in his resurrection to new life. …
… life through a different lens. We have our heavenly longing, but then it moves to our heavenly lens. or heavenly lens. Here's what the Bible says in Colossians chapter three, verse two, set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. Paul is showing us one of the most powerful disciplines in the Christian life. That word set, it doesn't mean to glance. Doesn't mean to just look once. It means to fix your focus. It means to lock in, to intensely stare. Paul's saying, don't let the world shape your focus. You choose your lens because how you look at your life determines how you live your life. Think about a lens. A lens doesn't change your reality. It just helps you see more clearly. I'm 41. I don't have glasses yet, but I'm getting there. I'm sure I will soon. But for those of you who wear glasses, you know your glasses, they don't change the reality of what's outside of your eyes. This helps you to see more clearly. A few weeks ago, my wife was driving our son and all of his friends to the mix on Wednesday nights, the best place for students to be. And it was dark outside. And so I went outside with some Windex and I sprayed the inside of her windshield. It was soft smudge. It was dirty. It was gross. And so I wiped it all down, cleaned it off so she could see more clearly as she was driving. It didn't change the reality of …
… In the New Testament, the language is often set your mind. Maybe you've heard some of these texts, like Colossians chapter three, verses one and two. You can look that up. Romans chapter eight, verses five to nine, where the apostle Paul talks about, hey, your mind can be set on things. You're not an animal. Animals just respond to stimuli. Humans have this amazing capacity to think, I'm gonna put my thoughts on that. I'm gonna put my mind, I'm gonna set my mind somewhere. and your mind is going to, as you drive through university, all the advertisements all around town, you got the billboards, you got stuff on your phone, the ads are popping up. You can endure all sorts of stimuli coming at you if you have set your mind on an enduring, solid, powerful place, mainly the voice of Jesus in his word. You become ready for the day when you've set your mind and you reset your mind. Now, I know you can't only think about heavenly things all day. …
… And you go through life, and you focus on that heavenly perspective, set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. One writer said it's like riding on a train through the mountains. You're sitting on the train, you're on the train, you're headed to the destination, and on one side of the train there's just a series of sheer cliffs. You're going along the tracks against the side of the mountain. And when you look out the window, you see nothing but dirt flying by. On the other side of the train are beautiful verdant valleys with streams and waterfalls. Look, you're on the train. You're going to the destination, but you could choose which side you want to look at. And, as one who has waiting in heaven, an eternal inheritance, you ought to go to the side where you can enjoy the anticipation of your heavenly reward. Some Christians, it seems to me, have only enough Christianity to make them miserable. And you want to tell them, get on the other side of the train. …
… where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. This is exactly what Peter says. Add to your faith moral excellence, which is virtue, and all those other things that we've read. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. You're a completely new creature. And when Christ who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. That's security. When Christ comes in glory, you'll be there because you were raised with Christ, because you were seated at the right hand of God with Christ. be there when He comes to reign. Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come on the sons of disobedience. In them you also once walked when you were living in them. …
… it. I didn't realize why I turned there, but God had a reason. It was Colossians 3 and it says, If then you've been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. Wow. Man, I was thinking about that, set your mind on things above, and I was like, I want to read that passage. I had no idea right after God had convicted me about coveting that at the end of that passage, he uses those words, you know, put this to death, covetousness, coveting, which is idolatry. …
… because I just didn't give the office the proper notice, is let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. It comes at the very end of all this sweeping chapter on how to change, on a changed heart. And there's a parallel to it in Philippians 4. And in Philippians 4, Paul says, the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. For I have learned the secret of being content, whatever the circumstances, whether well-fed or hungry, whether in plenty or in want. Now, what's the principle here? Let me use one more illustration from Pride and Prejudice. My illustrations tend to come in clusters, if you notice. And there's a place near the end of the book where the central character, Lizzie Bennett, one of her sisters is engaged to be married. I wish you could find a man and be as happy as me. Well, now, Lizzie's response is interesting because on the one hand, it's not the traditional response. …