Ascension

Ascension If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3: 1 – 3 Observe 1. The condition. 2. The direction. “Set your affections embraces two acts; the act of the mind or understanding reflecting upon anything, and the act of the will and affections approving and loving anything (Davenport).” 3. The cause. The draw from above, like a magnet; the sun’s rays that bends a tree toward it. So Christ draws our affections to Him. “Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. Separates our gross and rigid souls from the dregs of earthly things, and by His efficacious working raises them to the heavenly.” 4. The summation. 5. The reason. Doctrine. The Christian life is to be lived with our thoughts above not below. I. Let our thoughts set not below. For Christ in religious ceremonies or regulations. “When we see what God would have us do, we afterwards easily despise the inventions of men… for, in describing solid piety and holiness of life, his aim is, that those vain shows of human traditions may vanish. In our hopes. When our hopes are set below they are dashed, they are unmet, they are empty when met. In our desires. When our desires are set below they are never satisfied, they are fleeting, and they are never enough. In wisdom. When we look for answers below they are left unanswered in the doctrines and ideas of men; government, mankind, and all our thoughts. In pursuits. When our pursuits are set below they are endless, always wearying, never complete. II. Let our thoughts set above. For Christ and all the fulness of our realized hope. “When we perceive, too, that what God recommends to us is much more lofty and excellent than what men inculcate, our alacrity of mind increases for following God, so as to disregard men.” For our hopes. They must be set above, for we are dead to this world. We hope for everything in Christ. For our desires. What would we have but Christ? What is superior to Him? For our assurances. Where is comfort to be found if not in Him? For life is followed by death Health by sickness. Wealth by poverty. Happiness by sorrow. Solomon noted the vicissitudes of life and its constant motions. For our confidences. We have none in life. Christ spoke of this, when a man says he has so much and fills his barns, yet they are laid waste. Job teaches us this. For our pursuits. If all that is good, all that is noble, all that is worthy, all that is eternal, all is in heaven, why do we fret, worry, and meditate on life below? We must set our affections below. Uses 1. For our admonition take our eyes off of these things below. If you are dead to this world, by do you live as though you are alive to it? 2. For our benefit let us set our eyes above. See in Christ the wonders of His benefits to share in to come. We benefit from such reflections Life’s troubles are eases, storms are quieted, tears are dried, and griefs are satiated. “When we perceive, too, that what God recommends to us is much more lofty and excellent than what men inculcate, our alacrity of mind increases for following God, so as to disregard men.” 3. For our direction stop looking below; look above where Christ sits. As Stephen being stoned looked above, having the heavens opened, he saw, “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,. Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God (Acts 7:55ff).” 4. For our excitation start looking above. We should be like David ascending to Jerusalem. After having defeated all enemies, and receiving the anointing of Israel, he made his way up to Jerusalem. O let us dance our way to heaven. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness…and David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. 2 Sam. 6.12ff Let us look to Christ and marvel at the love of our beloved King that has gone before us. Imagine the day that is swiftly approaching, that day which the bride revels in, He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. Song 2: 4ff