This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:00] It is with a real sense of excitement that I ask you to grab your Bible right now and open it up to Colossians 3 please grab a Bible and turn there with me. If you got one of our Bibles, it's going to put you on page 984. And when you turn there to Colossians, chapter three, verse one, we're going to read a phrase that's going to set us on a course for tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night. If you're able to come back in. It's a very important phrase here. And you if you don't have a Bible, you can even read it on the handout in your bulletin or text for tonight, starting at Colossians, chapter three, verse one. And we just want to start with one phrase. It says, If then you have been raised with Christ, then it's going to go on to tell us a bunch of things that our life should look like if we have been raised with Christ. And so this is going to work out great if. Yeah. If you can say yes to that. If you have been raised with Christ, well, then what we're about to get into tonight is how you're supposed to think about your life. And if you're like, well, that isn't enough for me. I'm not sure if I've been raised with Christ. I'm not sure if I have a testimony like the people we saw getting baptized. How I really repented and put my faith in Christ. Well, then this will be great because it'll show you what it will look like to die with Christ and to rise with him. So follow along with me as I read the first four verses of Colossians three, our text for this evening.

[00:01:30] It says, If then you have 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.

[00:01:54] When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

[00:02:05] So this is talking about the person who has experienced Good Friday and Easter, the person who the gospel has happened to you, it says in Burse three. Here's the kind of person we're looking for here at the church. This is maybe the kind of person some of us are as believers in Christ. You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. You have. You've been raised with Christ. You have the new life. And it's like your life is hidden right now with Christ in God. And when it says hit in here, it's not so much like it's hit. And you can't see it. You can't find it. When it says hit in here. It's like it's safe. It's like it's secure. It's like when you hide something because you don't want to lose it. You don't want anybody else to steal it. You want to know right where it is. You tuck it into a a hiding spot, a safe place. That's the idea here. Buring Christ, right now, your life is with Christ at the right hand of God in heaven because you've died to your life here on Earth and you've risen with Christ and you have that life with him. So the command here for us tonight, look back at verse two, something we're supposed to do and something we're not supposed to do if we really have been raised with Christ is to set your minds on things that are why.

[00:03:19] What does it say? There are things that are above, not on the things that are on Earth. Do I then think about is my mind set on the things above the eternal things, the things of heaven? Or is my mind set on the things of earth? Am I surrounded by the things of this world? Am I caught up in what's going on in the here and now?

[00:03:46] Says if you've really experienced this. Your mind is going to be set on the things above. So how did our day go like that? How did our week go?

[00:03:57] Could we really say that our mindset is on the things of eternity and the heavenly realm where Christ is not on the things that are on my to do list in the day to day here on this, sir? And that's a really interesting command where it says you're going to have to set your mind on things that are above. And that means you can't be you have a mindset of earthly things. And we saw that testimony video a million to go of Johnny Miller. And he seemed to have what he wanted in life. And then he realized that it was all chasing after the wind. He quoted the book of Ecclesiastes, whose turn with me to the Old Testament. Let's go look at that book. Ecclesiastic is a book of wisdom from the wisest man who ever lived. Solomon and I want you to go to Ecclesiastes, chapter two. I mean, how many celebrities do you need to watch their life completely fall apart before you realize that even if you had all the money in the world, even if you had all the material possessions, even if you had the fame and people loved you, if you had the drugs, the sex and the rock and roll that this world is trying to get you to chase after that, the world is saying, is the good life? How many celebrities do we need to see fall apart before we realize that this world will not satisfy us?

[00:05:17] Are we still chasing after the things of this world?

[00:05:20] Now, Solomon was in a position of ultimate power and ultimate riches as the king of Israel. He was the wisest man. And this is Ecclesiastes, chapter two. And here this man, who is the king, who can do whatever he wants, decides that he's going to do whatever he wants. Imagine if you could do whatever it is that you wanted to do with no thought of consequences, no thought of cost, no thought of anything except what you want.

[00:05:50] That Solomon read it with me. Ecclesiastes, chapter two. Verse one says, I said in my heart, come now. I will test you with pleasure. Enjoy yourself saying to your own self. Enjoy yourself. I'm going to see how much pleasure I can handle. But behold, this also was vanity. It was nothing. It was empty, I said of laughter. It is mad and a pleasure. What use is it? I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine. My heart's still guiding me with wisdom on the wisest man ever. So I'm getting drunk here. But I'm doing it with a wisdom that other people have and I'm trying to figure it out, trying to figure how to lay hold on faulty till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. So I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves and have slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. More riches than anyone else before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women and many concubines.

[00:07:13] The delight of the sons of man. Menhir is solid and he'll have whoever he wants.

[00:07:19] Perform a concert at the palace. He'll have anyone he wants. Come and have sex with him. I mean, this guy is literally testing himself with pleasure. And he is going after everything the world has to offer. And he's getting what ever he wants. And it says in verse nine. So I became great and I surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me and whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them.

[00:07:46] What an amazing statement. You see something, you want it. You take it for your own.

[00:07:53] I kept my heart from no pleasure for my heart, found pleasure in all my toil. And this was my reward for all my toil. And when I considered all that my hands is done and the toil that I had expended in doing it. And behold. Let me tell you. And you can have everything this world has to offer. Here's my conclusion. All was vanity. It was striving after when there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

[00:08:20] Here's a man who literally had it all. And he is trying to tell you through the pages of scripture tonight that it was worth nothing. Everything in this world is worth nothing. In the end, that's what Solomon is saying. Can I get any men from anybody on that here tonight?

[00:08:39] See, I meet a lot of people who are ready to say yes to Jesus. But if you're going to say yes to Jesus, here's something else you've got to do.

[00:08:46] You've got to say no to the world. You can't have the best of both worlds. You can't have a heavenly mindset and an earthly mindset. If you've been raised with Christ, what you're saying is I'm dead to this world. I'm dead to the to the love of this world, the lust of the flesh, the lust to the eyes, the boastful pride of life. I've made my allegiance with God in heaven. Therefore, I can't be a friend of this world.

[00:09:13] And so if you're going to say yes to Jesus, you have to say no to the things of this life. You've got to get over this life. Let's get that down for point number one, if you're taking notes here. Part of being raised with Christ, the way that we should think about ourselves as Christians is we're over this life. We're not living for what we can accumulate for the pleasure that we can have here and now. No, our focus is on something beyond this life. We are here on a Tuesday night due in church because we believe that you can't have your best life now.

[00:09:48] That's what we believe here at this church. We believe that your best life is yet to come. You can say a man anytime you want to hear. You're here on a Tuesday. So just let it go. All right.

[00:10:00] I mean, we believe that we're here to get fired up all week long. We're here to celebrate baptisms because we don't think that one Sunday of church on Easter, once a year celebrating the resurrection is enough because the life we have in Jesus is so much better than anything this world affords today.

[00:10:21] And we believe that.

[00:10:23] And everyone here will believe that you will believe what I am saying. Sooner or later, you can believe that the world will not satisfy your soul. And you can believe it tonight by wisdom or you can believe it later by experience. Either way, you will believe it in the end.

[00:10:41] And it's a hard road. To learn it by experience. Lot of heartbreak along the way, a lot of disappointment, a lot of hope and things that.

[00:10:51] Never really worked out for you. A lot of relationships.

[00:10:54] That break apart.

[00:10:56] You know, it's funny because somebody like Johnny, where we're making these videos about his testimony guy, this experience being in a band, going all over the the whole world, and then you get some of us who just grew up going to church. We never really saw the world. Our parents protected it from us. They shielded it from us and from the young age. We just knew the way of Jesus Christ. In the end, which life do you want for your kids?

[00:11:20] Which life do you really want in the end?

[00:11:23] And wouldn't it be great to just avoid the heartache of this life and the disappointment of this world? And just take it by faith. Right now, I know some people in here have learned the hard way, but maybe there's some people in here, some young people that you could decide today. I'm just going to believe it, that I don't need to seek out the things of this world and let them disappoint me one by one. I can just set my mind on the things above right now.

[00:11:47] Won't that be a great way to live to pass on to the next generation? I'm sure we got some people still trying to satisfy their hearts with the things of this world. Well, when you get that house, it's all gonna be great. When you when you get that much money in the bank, then everything's gonna work out fine.

[00:12:04] When you finally get married or then when you finally have kids, or then when you finally have those more kids, or then finally when the kids leave the house and you're an empty nester, and then finally when you retire and then you die.

[00:12:16] That's how it works. And you're always looking for the next season of life to satisfy you when this season of life didn't satisfy. When you gonna realize it's not gonna satisfy?

[00:12:28] I mean, you guys are maybe thinking, well, this is a great, great point for me because I don't have any worldly possessions to put my stock in. So this is great. Oh, yeah. As we say that as we live in Orange County, California. Right. But no, some of us don't have maybe the material possessions. We can't look at our bank account and feel like, oh, yeah. And you look out, look how rich I am and take pleasure in our bank account. No, we just spend our time worrying about the things of this world.

[00:12:57] We don't have them, so we just worry about them. Same same thing.

[00:13:04] A lot of poor people spending their life trying to be rich. Even though they don't have it, they still think that somehow if they did, it would solve their problems. And what is Jesus say? The gentile's the people who don't know God, they seek after these earthly things. Right. And don't worry about this life. What you're going to put on clothes, what you're going to eat food. Hey, can't God take care of you? Why don't you instead.

[00:13:32] Matthew 633 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things that you need here in this life. They will be added to you, he says.

[00:13:44] So don't worry, because what does worrying do, had somebody compare worrying the other day to a rocking chair, gives you something to do, but you don't really go anywhere. That's that's what they said worrying was.

[00:13:58] Why are we worrying about the things of this life when Jesus is saying seek the things of the kingdom.

[00:14:03] Seek the things of God's righteousness? Set your mind. Your life is already hidden. It's safe and secure with Christ at the right hand of God. Right now. It puts it here like you've already been raised with Christ. You've already been made alive with him. Let's set our mind on that. And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

[00:14:31] Now, there's a verse that really always convicts me, because I would believe that I have been raised with Christ like maybe many of us here in the room, and I would say I'm not living for this world anymore. But then I read this verse sometimes it saw one 19, verse 37. And it's going to come up here on the screen here, Psalm one 19, verse 37, it says, Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in your ways.

[00:14:59] And so we might agree with the premise here tonight. Yeah, I'm over this life. I'm not living for the things of this world. But when we go home tonight or on any given night at the end of a long day, what do we look to for our hearts to be satisfied? Do we look to the worthless things, the news?

[00:15:17] Right. Entertainment. All right.

[00:15:21] I mean, things that might not necessarily be evil in and of themselves, but they're not going to help us set our mind on on the things above. Right. A lot of worthless things that even if you can say you've left the world behind to follow Jesus, there's a lot of earthly pursuits that you can end up focusing on and giving your life to. And you could be so busy running around trying to get the next thing done that you end up just getting the life sucked out of you.

[00:15:48] Is Outfields.

[00:15:50] But then it says, no, if I turn my eyes from worthless things, God will give me life in his ways. All right.

[00:15:57] Do I spend more time in the week? In a day when I'm tired and when I'm feeling weak, do I turn to the worldly things and look at those things? Or do I turn to the things of God's world that have God's word, that have eternal value? Where do I go, if I can say in an ultimate sense, I'm not living for this life. I'm living for heaven. I'm living to be with Jesus Christ will on a daily sense. What does that look like in your life if you've been raised with Christ, where you go going for energy, where you go in for strength?

[00:16:27] More time watching the TV, more time browsing the Internet, is that going to give us the life of God? Is that going to revive us? That's really what it means here. It means revive me in your ways. Like, I believe that life comes from setting my mind on things above where Christ is at the right hand of God, not from looking on what's going on around me here in this world. And so I'm praying for revival and I'm seeking it in the Bible and I'm asking God to stir me up so it feels like I'm raised up with Christ and I'm on my way to be with him in heaven, not getting dragged down by the daily affairs of this life. Now, that is why we are here on a Tuesday night right there. We need a revival.

[00:17:11] We need to be stirred up in our souls. We need to be shaken to the core of who we are. And we need to rise above this world. And we need to have have been working it out itself in our lives right now.

[00:17:26] We're not going to set our mind on the things above by looking at the worthless things of this world.

[00:17:32] You know, there was a saying that they used to say about Christians. Can you imagine this? They used to say in this country about Christian people like us that we were so heavenly minded, we were no earthly good. Anybody ever heard that phrase before?

[00:17:46] That's bad. I have not met those people. Have you met those people? I have met a lot of people that are so earthly minded. They're no heavenly good. I've met a lot of those people. But I would love to run into some Christians who are so heavenly minded that we would say it's like they're not even checked into what's going on, on the things of this earth. It's like they're always thinking about the eternal things of the age to come. The things of heaven. I would love to meet some of those people. And I've met some of them here at this church. I don't think they're no earthly good. I think those are the people that are doing the most good here on this earth. The people whose mind is on the things above, the people who've been raised with Christ.

[00:18:30] I think they're the ones who are spreading the good news of Jesus the power of his resurrection. And the idea that he's alive and heaven's gates are open wide. Those are the people who have the mindset of Evan. In fact, I want you to put down four four point number two, that being heavenly minded does earthly good. And I want to try to prove it to you three different ways here, that if we have a heavenly mindset, if we really set our thoughts through the word onto the things above and we see Christ there with our life hidden with Christ, our life is now in Christ. And if we really think that way, I think that we will do more good on this Earth by spending more time thinking about heaven. And three ways that I think your life will benefit if you really set your mind on things that are above. Go to first Peter, chapter one with me, three different passages. And they all talk about this this mindset on the things above. First, Peter, chapter one. It's on page one one 1000 in 14. If you got one of our Bibles, the beginning of the book of First Peter. And it starts by talking about our premise, which we would want for every single person here, to experience the resurrection of Jesus Christ not to happen two thousand years ago. But that happened to you if then you've been raised with Christ. Look at verse three of First Peter. One says, Blessed be the godfather of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. There it is. Now we have the hope of eternal life because of the resurrection of Jesus to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfailing. It is kept it is hidden in heaven for you who by God's power, are being guarded. You're being kept in this life through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this, you rejoice, you rejoice. You're going to heaven. You rejoice in the resurrection, though. Now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials so that that tested genuineness of your faith. More precious than gold. That perishes, though it is tested by fire. It may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him, though you do not now see him, you believe in him, and you rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. You can know you're going to have and you can know it's hidden up there. Your life is hidden with grace. God is going to keep you until you get there. But now you have trials.

[00:21:15] Is not even maybe what happened in some of the lives represented here. Man, we were seeing and he's alive on Sunday morning and then we went back to work on Monday morning. You know what I'm saying? And we got hit by some trials in life. Well, this man Sunday already feels like a long time ago for some of us.

[00:21:32] The trials come. Won't it be great to know that the trials of this life are temporary? Let's get that down for our first date. Trials or temporary trials are are speed bumps on the road to heaven.

[00:21:45] Lee Glory. That's what they are. In fact, it says that even if we're going through trials, as we pass the test, as we continue to see our faith endure and grow stronger through these trials, there's this joy that's inexpressible. There's this glory that awaits us. And we see the salvation of our souls yet ahead of us when we're finally with Christ, when we're made like Christ. And so we're able to get through the trials because we know we've been raised with Christ and we can see our life there in heaven with him.

[00:22:15] And I had to go to Nebraska one time, anybody ever been in Nebraska before? I mean, let's just talk about this, that the rest of America thinks we are crazy Californians. Have you ever left California before? Have you ever gone to any other state, particularly states in the middle of the country? And you told them that you were from California? There's like a physical reaction from people. It's like you looked okay on the outside. But now I distrust everything about you. I'm not making this up. Sometimes I make jokes about other states like Texas or Nebraska. People give me a hard time. Hey, have you heard what they're saying about us? So, I mean, let's let's get honest.

[00:22:52] Oh, yuck. It's so expensive out there. How do you afford to live there? Oh, and there's so much crime. Oh, and there's just the evil of Hollywood and and the movies and all the earthquakes that you guys experience every day. Oh. How do you how do you even survive. Right. Well, the truth is, I love living in California. I don't know if anybody else feels that way. Maybe we're not. We don't have to all agree on this. But I happen to like where we live. Right. I kind of think you get what you pay for out here. Right. But I went to Nebraska on time for a family reunion, and it was one of the most miserable experiences of my entire life. I was like, I can see why my family was from this place and no longer lives here anymore. I mean, it was so humid and there were bugs everywhere. Like everywhere you went inside bugs. You lift up the covers, bugs. I mean, just everywhere. And I'm thinking, when can I leave Nebraska and get back to California? And I. And even though I was a young child, I remember I could put a smile on my face because I was only in Nebraska for like 36 more hours. Same thing. If my mindset is in heaven, if that's where I'm headed, if that's where I'm going, then everything I'm going through right now, it's temporary.

[00:24:16] It's short term.

[00:24:18] It's not going to last. In fact, it's just a test to see if I can still keep my mind set on heaven. And when my mindset is on heaven, when the world is trying to drag my thoughts down and I'm able to keep my focus on Christ, there is a joy that's inexpressible for as Peter says. There is a glory that I know is coming that my suffering in the here and now will be worth it.

[00:24:46] When I see Jesus Christ, you believe that, that every trial you go through and you are not going to feel like, well, I'm glad I'm in heaven, but if I didn't have to go through.

[00:24:55] No, you will be over whelmed with the glory of God. There will be praise and honor and glory.

[00:25:03] I mean, everything it says here, your trials that you're going through right now are temporary. And I've got to somehow get my mindset beyond the challenges of this life, the physical pain, the relational conflict and the economic maybe turmoil that my family's going through. And I got to see that my life is right now hidden with Christ in heaven. And when my mindset gets up there, I'm able to overcome the trials of this world and improves my faith, which just increases my confidence and gives me a greater longing to see Jesus Christ. Every trial that you're going through is only short term.

[00:25:39] It's only for a season.

[00:25:42] Now, that's not encouraging enough, go to first, John, just a few pages over to the right first, John, Chapter three, because it keeps building on this idea here and it says in first John, chapter three, verse one, it says, See what kind of love the father has given to us. This is page 1022. He got one of our Bibles, says, let's look at the love.

[00:26:01] God's given to us. Look, that we should be called children of God. And so we are.

[00:26:07] Wow. Look at how God's brought us into his family.

[00:26:10] And the reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now. We've already been raised with Christ. We're already in the family. And what we will be now, when we get the fullness of our resurrection, the new body, the perfect life, what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is, and everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. You know, one of the things that people like to say when we talk about purity in living for Jesus, in obeying Jesus Christ. Well, nobody's perfect. That's 100 percent true. Nobody here on this earth is perfect, but some of us are going to be perfect someday. When we see Jesus is Jesus Christ perfect. What do we think? He's perfect. He's 100 percent righteous. He is holy. He is set apart from all sin. And he reigns in splendor above.

[00:27:09] And when we see him, we will be like, man, anticipating perfection.

[00:27:16] That's going to make your temptations that you're going through right now. Feel like your temptations are only for a limited time. Let's get that down for our second dash. Man, the sins that have plagued you your whole life, the sins that used to be dead in that used to walk in according to the course of this world, the sins that used to define your life, that now if you've been raised with Christ while you've repented of those, since you've turned from them, you're walking in a new way. But still, they try to pull you down. They try to tempt you. They try to cause you to stumble. Well, that's only going to go on for a little while longer. Because someday you're going to see Jesus. And when you see them and all of his glory, when he appears in his glory, you will be made like him and you will be given a perfect body that doesn't want to be seen anymore. You'll be put in an environment of righteousness and holiness, in the presence of God, where there is no sin, nothing unclean can enter into the presence of God.

[00:28:14] And you will someday experience per fiction.

[00:28:21] And as I consider myself raised with Christ and I see him there at the right hand of God in heaven. And I get my mind on heavenly things, the temptations of this earth feel like something that's passing away. Something that's fleeting. Something that I just have to resist that for a little longer and then I won't be bothered by it anymore.

[00:28:41] What a radically different perspective that is than I'm no, I'm not perfect that I'm human and I've always sinned. So that's just what I do. No, someday you're not going to do it anymore.

[00:28:51] In fact, there's a place right now where Hidden with Christ is your life. And because you've been raised with Christ, you don't have to sin anymore. You have the power now in Christ to say no to your temptations.

[00:29:05] And you could tell them, know today and you can tell them no tomorrow. And who knows, maybe only a few more times you're going to have to tell that temptation. No, before you never have to deal with it again.

[00:29:17] That's a heavenly mindset.

[00:29:19] Just a short term, you know, when it's like something you like at a restaurant is only there for a limited time and you show up and it's off the menu.

[00:29:26] Like, where did it go? That's your temptation's. Someday you're going to show up and heaven be like, where did those ten? Oh, they were only available for a limited time. They're gone. And they're never coming back. And you're going to be like, I like the taste of one hundred percent righteousness. That's what you're gonna say.

[00:29:44] Perfection. Me. Wow. Only Jesus Christ could make a sinner like me 100 percent righteous. And you will worship Jesus Christ. And he says, if you have this hope, this hope of someday purity in heaven with Christ.

[00:30:02] Look what it says there in verse three. Everyone who does hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Today I want to be more like Jesus and less like me.

[00:30:13] And if I've been raised with Christ and my life is hitting with Christ in heaven, I can walk that way. I can have my mind set that way. I can live that way today because heavens, where I'm going. See, in fact, that really the Bible goes so far as to say as heaven is really where you belong.

[00:30:29] Even right now, it's really your home. Your citizenship is actually in heaven right now. Go to the Book of Philippians with me. Chapter three, Philippians, Chapter three. Now another letter written by Paul when he was in prison. We call Philippians Colossians Ephesians. These are the prison epistles. Paul wrote them one time when he was in prison for preaching the gospel. And he says in Philippians Chapter three, he says it. Look at verse 14. Let's start there. Here. Here's Paul. Even though he's in prison and what he actually says was good because he's got guards chained to him now and he's preaching them the gospel. In fact, all of the guards on the shift have now heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's Paul's mindset. And he's saying that he's setting his mind even in prison on things above. And he says in Philippians 314, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And so let those of us who are mature think this way. Those of us who have been raised with Christ, whose life is hidden with Christ, we need to think in a mature way that we're pressing on because it's not much longer and we're going to get the upward call to be with God in heaven where our life is. And so all of us who are mature should think this way. In fact, verse 17 says brothers join in, imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. You should be looking for the most heavenly minded people, you know. And you should try to follow them around to become them, to look at their example and imitated heavenly minded is the way we want to be. It says verse 18, for many of whom I have often told you and now tell you. Even with tears, many walk as enemies of the cross of Christ and their end is destruction. Their God is their belly and their glory is in their shame. Hey, and here's what those people are described by. With minds set on earthly things. So they haven't been raised with Christ. They're not set in their mind on things above. But our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, the body that we have now, this earthly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. We are awaiting a savior from heaven who is coming to get us, it says, and our body will be changed forever. Soon you will see Jesus. Let's get that down for our third dash here. Here's why I want to be heavenly minded, because I want to be thinking that soon. Which means imminent. It could happen at any moment soon. I am going to see Jesus Christ. That's what my heavenly mindset gets me. Eventually, if you think about having enough, what it's gonna do is it's going to bring heavenly thoughts down here to Earth and you're gonna realize that someday heaven's gonna open up and Jesus is gonna come riding out on a white horse. That's what it says in the Book of Revelation, that someday for Cecil Unions force says there will be a trumpet sound. There will be a cry. And all of Jesus his people will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And so they will always be with the Lord. I mean, who knows how much longer it is until you are seeing Jesus Christ?

[00:33:52] And it says we're like it's like we're waiting for you.

[00:33:55] It's like our home is already there. We already belong there. Our citizenship is already in heaven. I am not a citizen of the United States of America, so to speak.

[00:34:05] I am a citizen of the new Jerusalem, my life is already hidden there, it's safe there. It's secure there with Christ in God.

[00:34:15] You see, our heavenly mindset would do us a lot of earthly good if we were thinking this way. Anybody want to say amen to that here on Tuesday night?

[00:34:22] And why am I so worried about what's going on in the election and what the events of the day are and what so-and-so is doing and so-and-so is doing and how many steps I'm taken and did I get enough hours of sleep? And there's just all these things just bogging us down when we've got a life in heaven with no trials, no temptations, and we're gonna be with Jesus forever. And you've already been raised there, it says it in the past tense and people debate about it. They argue about like, why does Paul say you've already been raised with Christ, your life is already in heaven.

[00:35:03] And he's saying you can have that mindset right now. Like we said on Sunday, the question is not.

[00:35:10] Are you ready to die? The question is, have you died already? Because if you have died to this world, to this life, to the sin that you used to be just defined by. But now you've died to that. Well, you've been raised to this new life and you can start experience in heaven in the here and now through your eternal life relationship with Jesus Christ. Did you get a sense of heaven today as you were walking around this planet? Did you get a sense that I don't really belong here anymore and I can't wait to see Jesus. And I'm going to hit this trial and I'm going to say no to this temptation because it won't be long and those things will be gone. How can you and I do this? This is a nice idea, right? I like this idea. I'd like to think more about heaven than earth. That sounds great. And then I got bills to pay and then I got kids to discipline. And then I got all these things going on. How can I really have this mindset on a daily basis? How are you going to get your mind in heaven? There's one way. And this is really the problem. This is why we don't have this mindset a lot today. Because there's one thing that you can do every single day of your life. And when you do it, you actually go to heaven. In your mind, you see God on his throne. You see Jesus at the right hand. And you talk straight to God. It's when you pray. This is how you go to heaven, is that you keep a heavenly mindset. The closest you are going to get to heaven on this earth is when you're on your knees praying to God.

[00:36:44] That's how you're going to get there.

[00:36:47] You've got to go to heaven every day when you pray. Let's get that down for point number three. This is the real take home. I'm going to set my mind on things above. If I've been raised with Christ, then the way I'm going to keep that heavenly mindset going. Day after day, week after week, year after year, as I'm going to have to develop a pattern of prayer in my life.

[00:37:08] How did Jesus teach the disciples to pray? What is the first four words that he said? Our father in your heart, you have to go there in your mind when you pray.

[00:37:19] In fact, turn there with me to Matthew, chapter six versus nine to 13. And if there's one thing I would love to see happen at our church, I love it when we invite people and we are bold evangelists. I love it when we read the Bible and we get stirred up together by getting in the word together. We preach the word together. But man, if there's one thing that we could do to set our minds in heaven and to bring heaven down to earth, it is if we would become here at CompassHB Bible Church, Huntington Beach, a praying people. And you're the crowd that's willing to come out on a Tuesday night. So I'm pleading with you. All right. If anybody is to do it, it's going to be you guys. Christians used to be known as God fearing men and women.

[00:38:05] There's this book that I like to read every once in a while to remind me what it's really all about, it's called Why Revival Tarries. And it's by this crazy man named Leonard Raven Hill, if you've ever read this book. This guy, he had this thing. He says this at the beginning of his book. He says, We we think about pastors and we hire pastors all wrong. We ask pastors what degrees they have. We ask pastors what experience they have. We ask. We like here a pastor's sermon. And we try to evaluate based on his sermon if he's a good pastor or not. He says, we should be asking every pastor, do you pray at least two hours a day? Because if you don't, why would you even think that you could do this?

[00:38:46] To the great people of faith, the people who really brought heaven to earth, the people who were the most earthly good for the kingdom of Jesus Christ. You find one common denominator in the lives of all of these people.

[00:38:58] I knew how to talk to God in the secret place. They knew how to pray.

[00:39:04] You find out that the great people say, well, wow, tomorrow's going to be a busy day. People like Martin Luther like tomorrow. There is so much that I have to do that I guess I need to wake up an hour earlier to spend even more time in prayer so that I'm sure I'll be ready for all that I have to do tomorrow.

[00:39:23] Like the busier he got, therefore he thought, the more he needed to pray. The more heavenly mindset he needed to gear up for so he wasn't dragged down by the things of this Earth. It's the secret place where we talk to God, where we're going to make our greatest impact on the world around us. It is in the secret place. Where you ask God to do great things.

[00:39:52] Matthew, chapter six versus nine to 13 years and we're supposed to pray, just pray then like this, our father in heaven and before I even get to my needs, wants, desires. I start with God's requests. Hallowed be your name. Your name be lifted. Hi. Your name. Be exalted. You get the glory. Your will be your kingdom come heaven coming down. Jesus returning your will be done on earth as it is in what. Here. What's the point of prayer. I'd like to see more honor of what is going on in heaven right now. Can we get some more heaven down here please. That's what we're praying for every single day.

[00:40:32] And when I set my mind on the things above and I picture God raining on his throne and I see all the angels shouting, how holy, holy, holy. The whole earth is full of his glory. God, I would love for people to see what's going on up there, and I would love for them to see it right down here. But for people to see your Gloria. I'd love for people to see the reigning power of Jesus Christ as lives are being transformed, I'd love to see Christians living out the will of God as perfect as it is in heaven.

[00:41:01] And that's what I'm praying for.

[00:41:03] Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[00:41:14] Because there is no temptation in heaven and all our needs are met in heaven.

[00:41:19] So God do what it is going to be in heaven and do it here in my life today.

[00:41:26] That's what prayer is all about, people asking God to do God things in the here and the now and only if our mind is on heaven. Will we pray things like this. Here's a prayer in Isaiah, chapter 64, verse one. And we'll throw it up here on the screen. Isaiah 64. Verse one. And this is how all good prayer starts. Oh that you would run the heavens and come down that the mountains might quake at your presence, man.

[00:41:56] I would love to hear more prayers that start with.

[00:41:59] Oh, we've lost the the most important word in our prayers.

[00:42:03] Maybe the passion, the desire, the faith that I'm going to see the heavens open up and I'm going to see heaven come down and I'm going to experience the presence of God in my life. Does anybody here believe that that is going to happen? Are we asking God to do it? Do we literally believe that someday the heavens will split and Jesus will come riding in on a white horse?

[00:42:29] Are we asking for that to happen?

[00:42:33] That's what revival is, revival is not just a lot of people getting saved, although we would love to see a lot of people getting saved. But revival is when the presence of God is felt among his people. It starts with the Christian people. It starts with the people who have believed in the resurrection for many Easters, and all of a sudden they get this sense that they don't want to go through the motion of one more resurrection Sunday, but they want to live the resurrection life. They want to live raised up with Christ and their mind set on the things above. And they start praying and they start getting their eyeballs in the Bible and they they start getting fired up and then they're just done with the worthless things of this world and they can't get enough of the things of God. And other people start to see that God is moving among his people once again. Would they see that if they followed you around?

[00:43:24] We want to see a revival than we have to be revived. Who here tonight could say I'm revived in Jesus Christ?

[00:43:32] My mind is set on heavenly things. I'm praying with. Oh, Lord, we need you right now to read Nevins and come down, have it shake like an earthquake.

[00:43:44] When we feel your presence and we know that you are among us in our midst, I think one of the things about the people of God that they will believe when their mindset is in heaven is that none of us belong in heaven.

[00:43:58] None of us belong there.

[00:44:01] CBC, some people down here, we see some people, we see them at church and we think, well, that's a good kind of person and we see some people live in the righteous way. And we think, well, that's a good kind of person. Well, they're not a heavenly kind of person. They're not a perfect kind of person, especially if you knew them before they were raised up with Christ.

[00:44:20] No, it's an amazing work of salvation that any of us are saved, and when you understand that, that it's amazing that anybody in this room is safe, then all of a sudden anybody out there, no matter who they are or what they've done, they could all be saved by Jesus Christ right now. And no one is off limits and everyone is fair game. And any single sinner on this planet could go to heaven.

[00:44:47] Just like me. Just like you. And you start to pray like that.

[00:44:53] Got man your kingdom come. May your will be done. May sinner's be saved. Right here now. Tonight as it is in heaven where people are just declaring that you're worthy and we're not worthy. And the only reason we're there is because of Jesus Christ. May we see that tonight as you raise up people to new life, people who are so lost in their sins that their own family members were tempted to give up on them?

[00:45:16] But Jesus can still save the. Is there people in your life that are unsalable or is everyone within the grasp of God ripping heaven open, reaching down and grabbing onto their soul and saving them? What about you? If God could save you, can he save the person next to you? Can he save the person down the street? Is there anyone that God can save? Heaven is going to be the greatest display of cultural diversity the world has ever known. All right.

[00:45:49] We're always trying to be politically correct. We're always trying to get everybody to agree and to get along, you know, where you're going to see people of every nation, tribe and tongue, every possible ethnic diversity all together, all united, all worshiping is one that's have. And that's what it's going to be like.

[00:46:07] And we're all going to have the same story, I was so lost. I was in my sea and I was caught up in the things of this earth. And then all of a sudden I was raised up with Christ and he hit my life up here in heaven where God is when he was seated at the right hand of God. And I was made alive. Together with Christ. And for a while I lived down there on the earth still. But I began to see of the things above. And when Christ appeared, I was like him, and I was made like him in his glory. And now I live with him forever. That's our story. We should set our mind on that every single day, and if you don't have this hope that we have here. If you can't say they have been raised with Christ, I would suggest to you that tonight is a good night for you to consider asking God to raise you up with Jesus. I would suggest to you that there is no better time than the present to enter into eternity, that there is no better time than now to start giving this heavenly mindset. Let me pray. God, we thank you so much for this resurrection week and that we can set out to study your word.

[00:47:14] And I pray that tonight you'll give us this one simple command of application. If we've been raised up with Christ, that we would set our mind on the things above and no longer on the things of Earth and all how that heavenly mindset would change our attitude about the trials of the day and the temptations of this world and the expectation we would have to see Jesus not only someday in heaven, but to see his kingdom come now, to see his will done now. To see the name of Jesus be lifted up high here on Earth as it is in heaven.

[00:47:47] God make us people who pray this way. Make us people who go to heaven. In our minds, as we as we come to you in the secret place of prayer every day. And if there's people here who are not praying these kind of prayers, let that change. Tonight.

[00:48:03] And can I just pray that if there's someone here who's maybe never really prayed before, who's never really called out to have and like my friend Alan, who just showed up one night at a night like this, not really expecting anything to happen. But then you started working on his. Ah. And you convicted him that he needed to be born again and he asked you to give him that new life in Christ. God, I pray that you will put it on the HA.

[00:48:28] Of souls here tonight who know they haven't been raised up. They don't have this hope of heaven. This expectation that changes everything here on Earth, tonight would be the night that you would hear from them, God, that they would call out to you for salvation. And you would give it to them in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, that you would exalt his name once again and that you would raise another sinner up to salvation, proving once again the love with which you have loved us and the power you have to save souls.

[00:48:57] Now we ask that you would do a work of revival here among us, God, and that we wouldn't stop praying for it until we see it happen. Oh, that you would run the heavens and come down and show your presence among us God.

[00:49:11] And you would fill us with the anticipation that someday we will be perfect and we will be in your presence. Oh, for the robe of whiteness. God, that we might stand in your glory worshiping you for all of eternity. We pray this in Jesus name a man.