In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes that as Christians, we have a role to play in our spiritual growth. It is not automatic, but requires effort and application of the word of God. The speaker encourages us to set our minds on the things above and to actively seek ways to serve God and cultivate Christ-likeness in our lives. He also highlights the danger of living as a carnal Christian, who thinks and behaves like a non-Christian. The sermon concludes with a prayer for God's guidance and a reminder to be disciplined in reading the Bible and making choices based on obedience rather than feelings.

Colossians chapter 3. Let's pray together. Lord, as we come to the word this morning, we pray that you would open our hearts. Lord, that we might receive from it. Lord, we thank you that you've given us instruction. Lord, you've showed us the kind of people that you want us to be. You've given us your spirit and the power to be who you've called us to be. Lord, today help us to do our part. Lord, help us to submit ourselves. Help us to make the right choices. Help us to, Lord, exercise our will to be the people that you desire us to be. Thank you for your blessings, Lord. The way you've taken care of us, the way you provide for us, the wonderful life you've given us, all the things that we so richly enjoy. Thank you for the opportunity of giving to you. And we pray that that which we've given today would be used to sustain this work and to further the kingdom. Lord, we just open ourselves up to you today. And we want to leave this place having been spoken to by you. So work in us and among us. To that end, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Colossians chapter three, verse one. If then you were raised with Christ. Seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the 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. Set your mind on things above. Paul is now moving into that exhortation. The call to apply the truth of God to our lives. And he's challenging us to be spiritually minded people. Setting our minds on the things above. In verses one through 15. Paul is going to challenge us over and over again. And in doing so, he is showing us that we do have a part to play. In this whole process of growing as a Christian. I think sometimes we forget that. Sometimes we think it's just automatic. We think that once we become Christians, it'll all just come together. Eventually for us and we'll just suddenly arrive at Christ likeness. Well, that isn't totally accurate. You see, there are things that we must do. We must apply ourselves. We must apply the word of God. We must exert ourselves and we must exercise our will. If we're going to be spiritually minded people. It can only happen if we set our mind on the things above. You see, your mind is naturally inclined toward the things of the earth. That's the natural inclination. As a matter of fact, Jesus described the man of the world. He said the unbelievers are taken up with. What am I going to eat? What am I going to drink? What am I going to wear? How am I going to be clothed? How am I going to be taking care of this body? What can I do to enhance my pleasure here in life and so forth? Those are the things that the natural man is taken up with. Now we are to be the direct opposite of that. We are to be taken up with spiritual things. To be spiritually minded people. Having at the forefront of our thinking process. How can I love the Lord more deeply? How can I know Him more intimately? How can I serve Him more effectively? What can I do to cultivate the likeness of Christ in my life? Those should be the issues that are at the forefront of our minds as God's people. Unfortunately, there are many of God's people who are thinking and then subsequently behaving like non-Christians. In the Bible, we do seem to have a distinction between three types of people. We have the natural man, who is the person outside of Christ. We have the spiritual man, who is the person who has surrendered to Christ. But then we have also reference to the carnal man. And the carnal man is a Christian who lives like a non-Christian. Who thinks like a non-Christian. Who acts like a non-Christian. What a contradiction. But nevertheless, there are many people who truly are Christians who are carnal. Because their thinking process is identical to the people who don't know the Lord. Their life is consumed with earthly things. You see, God wants to bring us to a spiritually minded state. God does not want you to be carnally minded. He doesn't want you to be a Christian yet thinking and behaving like a non-Christian. God wants you to be thinking in the realm of the Spirit. And that's what Paul is saying here. Set your mind on things above. Not on the things of the earth. But in order to do it, I have got to exercise my will. Again, naturally, I will gravitate toward the things of the earth. Have you noticed that about yourself? I've certainly noticed that about myself. If I am not in the Word regularly, and by regularly I mean daily, I so quickly develop thought patterns that are identical to the men in the world. I start thinking about those very things. Those are the things that control my thinking process. Things that concern my body. Things that concern my well-being. Things that concern my enjoyment, my pleasure. And there have been times when I must confess that, you know, I haven't spent time in the Word like I should have, maybe in the morning before I went about my day. And by the time the afternoon rolls around, or maybe by the time the evening rolls around, I look back over my thinking process, and I realize my whole day has been spent with vain thoughts. Worthless thoughts. Earthly thoughts. Worldly thoughts. I haven't even thought about the Lord. I haven't even given Him praise or honor or glory. I haven't even contemplated what His will might be for the day. Or, you know, looking at the bigger picture, what His will might be for next week or month or year or my life or whatever. You see, because that's where we go naturally. So unless we set our mind on things above, unless we purpose to do so by being in the Word faithfully, by communing with God in prayer, by communing with the saints, by being with God's people, by seeking to influence ourselves through the kind of things that are going to contribute to a spiritual mentality, unless I do that, I'm going to drift right toward the world's thinking process. So I've got to purpose to set my mind on things above. See, I've got to do it. It doesn't naturally happen. That's my point. It doesn't naturally happen. If you're waiting for it to naturally happen, believe me, you're going to be waiting a long, long time. Some people say, well, you know, I don't read the Bible because, you know, I just don't feel like it. If you wait till you feel like it, you'll never get to it. You see, this is where discipline comes in. This is where this whole issue of setting, you're active, you're involved, you're exercising your will. I'm going to do this regardless of how I feel. Most people, and I think especially in our Western culture, operate purely on the basis of feeling. They do what they do based upon how they feel. And you see it in every facet of life. It's all a matter of feeling. They go to work and they don't perform well on the job that day. Why not? Well, I didn't feel like it. Or, you know, they have a situation that they encounter and they deal with a person rudely. Why did they do that? Well, I felt like it. Why didn't you take care of your responsibility? Oh, I didn't feel like it today. And that's really, for the majority of people, that's the way they operate. They operate purely in the realm of feeling. If you feel good and you feel up to it and you feel like it, then you do it. And if you don't, you don't. And here's what happens. That has affected Christian people. It comes over into their Christian life. And so they end up never setting their mind on things above because they don't feel like it. I didn't feel like reading the Bible today. You know, I didn't really feel like praying. Well, you know, I just didn't feel like going to church today. See, it's all feeling. And when you're operating,