HEAVENLY
MINDEDNESS AND EARTHLY MINDEDNESS
Text: Colossians 3 I. YOU'RE SO HEAVENLY MINDED YOU'RE NO EARTHLY
GOOD
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A. Heavenly mindedness and earthly mindedness are concepts that are often misunderstood by Christians. B. “The
Gospel ain't Gospel until it is spread/But how can you share it where
you've got your head?” (Johnny Cash) C. “You’ll
get pie in the sky when you die” (Joe Hill, “Preacher and the Slave”): |
“Between the washing of dishes and the preaching of the word there is a difference. Concerning pleasing God, there is no difference at all” (William Tyndale, the chief shaper of the English Bible). |
Long-haired
preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer in voices so sweet
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you
die
This song
goes on to promise food in this life is workingmen unite:
Workingmen of
all countries, unite
Side by side we for freedom will fight
When the world and it's wealth we have gained
To the grafters we'll sing this refrain
You will
eat, bye and bye,
When you've learned how to cook and how to fry;
Chop some wood, 'twill do you good
Then you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye
II. YOU’RE SO EARTHLY MINDED THAT YOU’RE NO
GOOD AT ALL
A. Too often we compartmentalize what we do on the
Lord’s Day, apart from what we do every other day of the week.
B. At one point last century, John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in the world. Rockefeller was a devout Southern Baptist who gave nearly $500 million to charities, including many distinctly Christian organizations. But he was also well known for using violence against labor unrest and for bribing employees of competitors for inside information on his competition. Someone described Rockefeller as "a conscientious Christian who struggled to end the livelihood of his every rival." (BreakPoint)
C. "My priorities are God first, family second,
and McDonald's hamburgers third. But when I got to work on Monday morning,
that order reversed." (Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s)
III. BEING HEAVENLY MINDED SO THAT WE ARE OF
EARTHLY GOOD (Colossians 3; cf.
Matthew 5:13-21; 6:33; Philippians 3)
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A. Heavenly mindedness is living in the power of the resurrected Christ. It is to live on earth as a new creature in Christ. Earthly mindedness is living as if Jesus has not died for our sins. It’s living as if we have not been raised to new life with Jesus. 1. When we think of the resurrection, we shouldn’t only think of what happened to Jesus 2,000 years ago. 2. Every Christian has been raised with Christ to new life (Romans 6:1-11; Colossians 2:20-3:4). |
Heavenly mindedness versus worldly mindedness is similar to obedience versus disobedience; righteousness versus unrighteousness; the path of life versus the way of the wicked; spirit filled living versus fleshly living. |
3. Paul’s teaching about the present power of the resurrection in the life of the believer was so prominent that it seems that some Christians misunderstood him to teach that there was no future bodily resurrection for Christians. (2 Timothy 2:18;cf. 1 Corinthians 15:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)
4. Heavenly mindedness is about inheritance of the earth (Genesis 1:28 with Psalm 37 with Matt.5:5).
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B. Resurrected life isn’t something that is only future. It is present (Colossians 3:1). What happened to Jesus historically – His death and resurrection – is something that has happened to every Christian. C. The Bible teaches that not only have we been raised to new life with Jesus, but we died with Jesus to sin. (Colossians 2:20; 3:3,5; cf. Romans 6:2,11; 7:4, 6; Gal.2:19; 1 Pet.2:24) Why do we still sin if we have been raised with Christ? Sin
is like a venomous snake. Dead
snakes can still bite up to an hour after they are dead from reflex. People have been bitten two or three
times by dead snakes. In fact, you
can cut the head off a rattlesnake and the head can still bite! The remaining sin in the life of a
Christian is like a dead rattlesnake.
It’s dead, but can still bite. |
Question 45 of the Heidelberg Catechism What does
the “resurrection” of Christ profit us? First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, that he might make us partakers of that righteousness which he had purchased for us by his death; secondly, we are also by his power raised up to a new life (Colossians 3:1,3); and lastly, the resurrection of Christ is a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection. |
D. Christ’s/Our resurrection is to transform every aspect of our lives.
1. Heavenly mindedness transforms the way we speak with one another (Colossians 3:9).
2. Heavenly mindedness transforms our marriages (Colossians 3:18-19).
3. Heavenly mindedness transforms our children (Colossians 3:20).
4. Heavenly mindedness transforms our parenting (Colossians 3:21).
5. Heavenly mindedness transforms our work (Colossians 3:22-23).
6. If the resurrection of Jesus is only some kind of abstract belief in your head and not life transforming, then you have not been raised with Christ.
“John Stuart Mill and all the classical economists held that economics is a branch of ethics. And they were right. The whole system is based upon trust, honesty, and clarity about the facts — no lies, no illusions, no duplicity. Those are destructive agents in the system” (Michael Novak, The Moral Heart of Capitalism).
“…moral scandals in corporate life — especially by corporate leaders — are huge evils. They are trebly evil. One disgusting example was recently reported: A CEO installed a $6,000 shower curtain in his private home, allegedly at company expense. If that story is true, that was not only an evil harming one man, his reputation, and his company. It was twice evil because in the same act he humiliated all the good and decent CEOs in the nation, and dragged them all into ridicule. It was three times evil because his stupidity gave ammunition to the classical enemies of the free economy, at a time when the poor of the world depend on the spreading and the growth of the free economy. In his moral carelessness, he did enormous damage to causes far larger than himself” (Michael Novak, The Moral Heart of Capitalism).
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in
vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
QUESTIONS FOR
SABBATH DISCUSSION & MEDITATION
Pray that God would enable you and give you the desire to be
conformed to His Word as read and preached today. Pray that God would make you more “heavenly
minded” so that you will be of earthly good.
What was the title of this morning’s sermon?
What does it mean to be heavenly minded?
What does it mean to be earthly minded?
Why is it that too many Christians are no earthly good?
Why do we still sin if we have been raised with Christ?
There isn’t any sphere of life that has been left untouched by
sin. Why does this make the Gospel
relevant for every sphere of life?
