Hidden

“For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

How can we follow the ways for this fallen world and be alive to Christ?

We cannot. If we are not God-centred in our thoughts and deeds, we must seriously consider out spiritual state.

When a person is made alive in their souls, and are born again into spiritual life, we become dead to this world. It has no further interest for us or hold over us. We are set free from its deadness and the cloying effects of sin, which keep us in slavery. When we experience the life of God, this world and its attractions fade in their appeal to us, because we now have the liberty in Christ and the very power of God dwelling in our souls. If we have been enslaved by something in particular, this strength we now possess helps us to break free. God can release every chain, no matter how tightly bound we have been. Many testify to this power, and it overflows into all areas of our lives.

Why would we risk loosing that power or dampening down its potency on a day to day basis? It would be foolish to exchange the power of God for this worlds tawdry and empty promises.

So, we have died to these things and we are therefore now kept by that same power of God to overcome continually and persevere in our Christian lives right to the end. It is God who does this work in us, because it is His work and His will for our lives. He gives the motivation through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit who keeps us going, and fighting and being daily victorious.

No one or no other power can take us away from the Lord. Our lives are hidden safely in the refuge of the rock of our souls, and we are no less safe than if we were already in heaven!

“Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.”

Psalm 142:4

Sometimes it can seem like this. Sometimes it is like this for certain people. We can find ourselves isolated so easily, but we remember we are never alone. The Lord cares for His people when all else fails. He will never leave us, even to the end. If we should find ourselves neglected, we are in the privileged position of being under God’s especially care. We are precious to Him and His interest in us is direct and personal so that we always know He is in control and is actively caring for us. It is an experience not to be missed. God lifts up the downcast in a very special way and heals all our wounds.

This is the way to peace and rest in the Lord. Beloved, do not be discouraged if all things fall away from you. You are precious and gathered into His especially care under the shadow of His wings…

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine; God, my rock, in him I will take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge. My saviour, you save me from violence. I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from my enemies.”

2 Samuel 22:2-4

Above

“Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.”

Paul is speaking plainly about our Christian life and thought processes. The godly mind is centred on Christ and the issues pertaining to God, not consumed by earthly considerations. Even as we consider our temporal lives they are viewed and planned with the will of God in sight. Those who know the Lord their God will make good judgments and their plans will be in line with what God would have in mind for His child. The better we know the Lord, the more glorifying to Him our judgments and choices will be. Our outlook on events and circumstances will be God-orientated and not just about what suits us or the people around us. God works in the lives of His people for the good of others and we live out our lives as salt and light to a decaying and darkening world. 

If this is to be our lot, we must have a mind like Christ and a heart like His heart. To foster the thought processes of the Word of God and to have desires that God has, is a godly way to live. Our thoughts and deeds will not be centred around the considerations of this present world, but will be for eternal aims. 

The pursuit of the godly mindset is to think of the things above. We put God first in our lives and the way of righteousness, and not our own way. Then all the temporal needs and blessing will follow from His gracious provision.

“Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Matthew 6:31-33

To seek the spiritual and the heavenly, is not only God honouring, but is the remedy for all worry and fretting. When our mind priorities are right, then all our needs follow on from that, for the Lord will honour those who honour Him. 

“Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever.’ But now the LORD says, ‘Be it far from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”

1 Samuel 2:30

Here in this verse from the Old Testament, we have the alternative condition. If our mind and heart do not follow the purposes of God, we will suffer great loss. Those who are careless and remiss about their spiritual life and therefore unmindful toward the things of God will not be blessed. They will suffer the loss of the temporal blessings and lose the joy of the spiritual. 

Beloved, let us watch our thought processes and stay close to the shepherd of our souls. We can live without anything, but not His gracious presence. Let us be soaked in the Word of God and obedient to His commands, thinking of all righteousness and peace. 

Seek

“If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.”

The Christian is dead to the flesh and alive to Christ. When we are changed by God and brought into new life, our souls experience a resurrection and we are made alive to God in Christ. As Jesus was raised from the dead, so our souls are raised to spiritual life in Christ and one day our bodies also. Because we are now raised to the new life, we should seek the things of that new life, the things that relate to us eternally and not to this fallen world. We seek to relate to God through the power of the Spirit and not in fleshly ways or in our natural inclinations.

Our motivation for doing so is that Christ is there in heaven, seated in glory at the right hand of God, exalted now and victorious over death and hell on our behalf. We are victorious in Him and lay hold on spiritual life because of Him. He is our rock and our fortress against the trails of life and He is the strength of our heart.

Christ has all the authority and power over the kingdom and also over us as His people. He reigns supreme over the cosmos and over all the events and circumstances of our lives and every human life. He is the sovereign Lord and will not permit us to be lost. We possess a new life that can never be lost or stolen away from us by anyone, and we rejoice in such a great salvation. 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:11-13

This is how we seek after the Lord – with all our hearts. We pray to Him and call on Him to answer our prayers for His glory and the growth of the Kingdom of God. God promises that we will find Him and know him better when we seek Him with sincerity and persistence. we seek Him in His Word, the Scripture and we are never disappointed.

He promises that we will enter into a deeper life with Him and be conformed into the image of Christ, becoming the people we were meant to be. Jesus our Saviour and Lord will be with us to the end, for He reigns eternally over all circumstances and the people who inhabit our lives. One day we will be with Him and be raised body and soul forever with the Lord. This verse, at the beginning of chapter three in Colossians, is so full of hope and the deep truths of God and gives us confidence to live our life for God and to obey Him. We seek Him who we love, for all other loves will certainly fail, but our hope is in the risen Christ and in Him alone. 

Beloved, let us seek Him with true and whole hearts, devoted to His eternal glory and in the knowledge that He will work all things out for that glory and for the good of His beloved people. We live victoriously, for the victory is already won in Christ and we enter into the reality of that victory through faith. 

Severity

“Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

The outward form of religion appeals to our fleshly mindset and our love for the formality of ritual. They can seem like a good idea to us, but are based on worldly wisdom and not the wisdom of God.

Worship becomes a self-imposed event with self-imposed humility therefore not sincere. We have an outward show of religion, but it is not reality in terms of God. It is not spiritual and therefore not acceptable to God. It focuses on the body and what we can present to God and not on what He has done for us – His mercy and grace which give spiritual life.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

Romans 12:1-2

Our worship of the Lord, comes from a renewed and spiritual soul, the inner workings of the Spirit of God and the heartfelt expression of sincere love. We are not to be taken in by the fleshly outworking of our unspiritual mind, but have renewed minds that can test and know what is pleasing to God. Our human wisdom is set at odds with the will of God and not what He requires of us. He seeks the contrite, humble soul that will follow His wisdom and not the devices of human religious practices. All that is human is against the Lord and tends to neglect the needs of the body, and at the same time, treating it with severity in the name of this self-imposed worship. On the one hand we can be harsh in our treatment of the body, yet also neglectful. Outward religion focuses on the subjugation of the body for aesthetic purposes and denying necessary needs to the body to try and bring it under a self-imposed subjection for so-called religious purposes. This is not what God requires. Our whole lives are a sacrifice of praise, and denying the fleshly tendencies in our character to grow in grace and love for God.

In reality, the earthly religion of man is purely the indulgence of the fleshly mind and satisfies the outward expressions and not the inner work of the Spirit of God, indeed there is no worship at all, only the puffing up of the godless mind. None of it helps us in our fight against the flesh and simply serves to indulge it further and confirm us in our lack of spiritual attitudes and motivations.

Privilege

There are no privileged people. If we do not know the Lord our God for ourselves, and walk with Him every day, and have a living developing relationship, we are on the outside. We are lost, dead in sins and living out sinful works under the judgment of God.

No person is more attractive or more favoured by God, because of the family or church they have been born into. We are all moral failures, born with immoral inclinations and fully inclined to follow the wrong way, and reject the love and mercy of God. Some people know a lot about God and are very, very familiar with the scriptures and many even feel some love or regard for them, but the soul is dead towards God, inclined to self-righteousness and the legality of following some sort of code.

People need to know Christ personally, they need to humble themselves and come to Him to find forgiveness for the sins they have stored up, in mind, heart and behaviour.

If we don’t know Christ, we have nothing and although we may seem to follow, He is not with us and we have never faced up to ourselves and our deep spiritual need.

Privileged people are those who have seen their immeasurable need, and have humbled themselves enough to seek God, and find a full forgiveness, free to them, yet costing an incalculable price. They have the privilege of knowing Christ and all his love forever.

Perish

“(all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men?”

This translation of the verse is not very helpful. The New International translates it..

“These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.”

All of the ceremonial sacrifices and rituals have passed away. They are subject to time and space and are therefore fleeting reminders of a more permanent state. They have passed away. All who follow them and insist on participating in them make the Christian faith all about the outward form of things. The rituals become the most important consideration and the inner life of the soul shrinks. We place great credence on the outward and the eating, drinking and wearing of clothes, so that all our considerations are in the outer fleshly life. The ritual kills the godly mindset and arrests the development of the life of faith. The spiritual retreats and the flesh advances.

“… for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 14:17

All who follow the way of the outward will perish. There is nothing to be gained by outward religion, but only sin and death. The religion that God requires is the inner working of the Holy Spirit in the soul of the believer.

Following these fleshly religious ways are also person-orientated and not of God. True worship is not about the outward form but about the inward working of the Spirit. We worship God in Spirit and in truth. All the traditions that people come up with to worship and serve, are all of no effect. Paul refutes the traditions of humankind and focuses our eyes on the inner life of the soul as we relate to God. All that is of human invention with its rules and regulations is against Christ and renders His death ineffectual. It’s the doctrine of dead works that kills the faith of the believer and brings the conscience into bondage. We get ourselves tied up in the rules and make our spiritual life of no effect.

Don’t…

“Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch”

The Apostle Paul tells us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to stay well away from the concision and those who are false towards Christ. Going backwards is not an option, and we cling to the reality of Christ and not faded pictures from a past era. He is vehement about this assertion. He tells us not to touch or taste or handle these false doctrines which keep harking back to the Ceremonial law, and the worship of any entirety other than God. 

To practice the observance of the Old Testament ceremonial feasts and religious ceremonies, encourages the development of a legalistic mindset which becomes oppressive towards our own personal life and others. We easily become judgmental and think that everyone must adhere to the personal standards we set ourselves. We can become hard line in our thinking and gradually shut down the working of the Spirit because of our legalistic ways and strict personal judgment about what to do or not do. We are constrained to obey the moral law of God, but not the pictures of the past, which are now made reality in the coming of Christ. 

This is a mindset of legalism. It looks at, tastes and handles the self-righteousness of judgmentalism and encourages salvation by works and therefore undermines our faith. We become the weaker brother, with all kinds of rules and regulations that we construct around our lives, making us slaves again to fear. The moral law stands above this and is set by God for humankind through all time. It is the peerless expression of a holy and just God and we are duty bound to keep it with great effort and dedication. Paul is telling us to stay away from the legalism of the Old Testament covenants with God, surrounding the old life choices of the Israelites nation – the old shadows that pointed to the coming kingdom.

It starts with “looking”and progresses to “touching” this mindset of rules. We think we are becoming more holy by taking to ourselves more and more stringent “laws” about living, and then imposing them on others. God sets us free to be at liberty in our lives, and we must not become, enslaved by the unnecessary observances of laws which have passed away. We can become very judgmental and put ourselves in the slavery of these issues. We can become very obsessed with the minute details of the law and lose the liberty we have received from Christ, and end up offending our own conscience. 

Paul is telling us to not go near this kind of attitude and to stand firm in the faith we possess in Christ. Don’t let your faith get sullied by the unfruitful works of dead laws, which Jesus has allowed to pass away. 

Elements

“If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances,”

The reasoning here in this verse is clear. If we are part of the spiritual body of Christ, and are set apart from the elements that features in this world, why would we insist on continuing on with the outward, fleshly ceremonies that are now defunct. They are unnecessary, as the Lord Jesus has come and is revealed to His people, who follow Him with redeemed hearts and minds and are alive in their souls. The elements and essential components of this vain world are not the motivation of the Christian any more. Our inner eye has been changed and we see and desire the spiritual portion of God. Our hearts are now set after God and His will and our minds are being conformed to the mind of Christ.

When a person comes to faith in Christ, they die to the things of this life. Their soul has come alive to God and their desires change from being in thrall to this world, to loving the Lord God with all their heart and mind and strength. They cease from chasing the preoccupations of this life and start to live a new life in God. It changes all the priorities from the physical to the spiritual.

The ceremonies and ordinances of the Old Testament era were given to point to the living Saviour that would come to call out His people to respond in repentance and faith in Him. They were pictures and types of the real Lord and not a means in themselves. The believing Israelites would realise this and trust in God in faith just as we do now. They looked forward to the coming Messiah who would release them from the sin and death under which they lived, and set them free to serve God as He would command. So we also look to the Messiah who has come and has saved us from sin and given us faith to believe.

It is illogical to look back to days of shadow, when the Lord has already come and all the prophecies have been fulfilled and all the pictures have become reality. We serve the living Lord Jesus and have the revelation of His person in the Scripture, so why would we go backwards to the replaced pictures? The Christian is dead to the elements of this life and lives for another life in Christ, alive in soul to spiritual elements and God-orientated living. The Apostle seems incredulous that a Christian would seek to return to shadows rather than enter into the light of the gospel reality. We put off the now out of date ways and put on the new and living way of life in Jesus Christ the only Saviour. Anything else is just worldly mindedness.

Growth

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2KTlprLj2znPNL9Acw6tz4?si=CnKiY0dJTyev5RIkU7cOzQ

“… and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.”

These falsely humble and superstitious teachers and their followers do not hold to Christ and easily slip away into fleshly and ungodly living. Because they do not hold firmly to Christ and His Word, they fall away, showing themselves not to be of the body of Christ. Christians must hold to Christ or we will fail and fall…

This body of Christ is so precious, for it is the whole church of God, the full remnant of the people of God who are kept faithful and true by the power of their living and glorious Head – Jesus Christ the righteous one. It is knit together by His power alone and all the parts of it grow to God. Christ supplies the strength to the joints and ligaments that hold the whole body together and facilitate the movement to grow in grace and knowledge of the Word of God. Every part is crucial, for if one part fails, it affects all the others. We are not an unable body, but living stones being built as a strong body of the Lord. As we depend on each other, so we encourage each other in all truth and godliness. 

The body of Christ is knit together in fellowship of the sharing of the holy Scripture and in suffering. Every Christian suffers and the power of encouragement is mighty in the Lord. There is no lording it over one another, but heartfelt humility as we experience hardship and serve the Lord our God with full hearts. 

Our growth will be exponential in the body of Christ if we follow the lead of our head.  The closer the Christian walks with God, the greater the inner spiritual growth. The more time we spend with God in His Word, the wiser we will be and the more strength we will have. The growth is from the Lord and not a worldly knowledge. It comes from the Word of God and not impressions we might have about our circumstances. The healthy Christian walk with God, sticks close to the commands of God and exercises the disciple of obedience and self-denial. This is not popular with our fallen human psyche, but is the pathway to life and peace. It is the only way for the body of Christ to survive, as we need the constant spiritual nourishment from the Lord that we will not fall to pieces and the body fail, just like the human body would do.

If our flesh gets puffed up in self-importance and pride we will fall. We will lose our grip on Christ our head and Master of our souls, and we will stray into all kinds of wayward roads. This will affect us personally and also the whole body of Christ. There is much lack of devotion in our hearts, so we watch ourselves and tutor ourselves with the wisdom of the Spirit to stay close to our Lord and Saviour. 

Fleshly

“Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,”

It is too easy to be sidetracked by spiritual folly. It is too easy to lose your reward by falling into sins and falling way from the Lord. There are people who seem very spiritual and seem to know a lot about the Scripture and are good at putting their ideas across, especially in the media. They have winning personalities that can draw us to what they say. Unfortunately what they say is not wholly right and true and their words are contaminated by error. This error involves a kind of self-righteous, self-conscious humility that is not true but appears to be sincere. Maybe they mean well, maybe they know what they are about, but whatever their motivation it draws people away for the truth of the scripture and to put faith in angels, signs and wonders and all kinds of false doctrines. 

Some of the speakers in the media are very full of themselves and focus on the things that they know rather that the study of the Word of God. They talk lucidly and knowledgable about any number of things that they have worked out in their own lives and have gained a kind of wisdom that is endearing and somewhat helpful to the hearers. But the power of the Word of God is not there, and the doctrine is shallow and applied in a worldly way to the situations that people find themselves in. Speakers can become puffed up very easily, especially if they get some kind of success at what they do and are recognised as important and insightful. Many are a great stumbling block because the Scripture is not presented fully or deeply and people are just encouraged to self-help their lives into a better place. Prayer becomes a means to an end of getting the things that you want. 

The gospel of good news and hope of how a holy God can reconcile sinful people to Himself gets lost, and we get a second-rate message about having God’s help in our lives. The rescue message of the cross of Christ is lost in the cacophony of self-promotion. We get tired of the Word and prefer the soundbite of the tele-evangelists and so sound doctrine and the sincere meat of the Word gets left out for psychological insights. 

We should shun those who soft-peddle the Word of God and who’s words will make us shallow Christians and too worried about the things of this present life and not about the eternal life we possess. We cannot lose our salvation but we can lose the reward. We can become lazy and complacent about our Christian service and our witness for Christ before the people we know. Finding ourselves dependant on the injection of the preachers who flatter and cajole us, our faith is undermined and we become weaker. 

We are instructed to resist those who would glorify angels and any being other than Christ. He is our Lord and God and we worship Him alone. But there are those who are too interested in other heavenly beings and would encourage us to superstition and false worship. The messengers of God in the Revelation of John, urged the Apostle to not worship them, because they were created beings just like him. 

“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”

Revelation 22:8-9

God alone is the uncreated light and He alone should receive our worship. There are also those who teach that we need the intercession of Mary, angels and worthy Saints to gain favour with God. This is falsehood since the dead have no part with us and Christ alone is the mediator between God and people. 

These people look rashly into subjects that they know nothing about nor is it revealed in the Scripture. They make up false dogma about such entities and confuse many. We accept the headship of Christ and no one else and trust in Him alone for the salvation and sanctification of our souls. Only He through the message of the Word of God can purify us and make us fit for Him. Let us not be puffed up in pride at our own “research” and our own fleshly outlook on the things that are of God. We hold fast to the Apostles doctrine and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus as our Lord and God.