Is it possible to be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good?

This does not mean at all that we neglect our earthly tasks or relationships. When things are well with us, we perform our duties conscientiously. But in looking up to the Lord we see our job as a task we are doing for Him (not for the next promotion or pay rise). We see our family relationships as a sphere in which we have the task of pleasing the Man at the right hand of God. The view that a heavenly-minded Christian is of no use on earth is simply wrong. Colossians 3 makes this very clear. The chapter begins with the invitation to seek and reflect on what is "above" – and then it continues to show us exactly how we should live on earth. Looking at the glorified Christ leads us to honour Him in our actions on earth.

The fact is we have an altogether new sphere of life. Our interests centre in the right hand of God, and not in our homes or businesses, however important these may be in their place as furnishing us with occasions for serving the will of God. We set our minds upon things above, not by reposing in arm-chairs indulging in dreamy and mystical imaginings as to things that may be in heaven, but rather by setting our minds supremely upon Christ, and seeking in all things the furtherance of Heaven's interests. The British ambassador in Paris sets his mind upon British things by seeking British interests in French circumstances, and not by continually sitting down to try and recall to his memory what British scenery is like.

But there is far more than that: "If ye then be risen with Christ." Here we enter not merely what clears one out from the rudiments of the world, but what introduces us into the new thing. We need the positive as well as the negative; and as we have just had the latter, so the former now comes before us. Instead of letting the reins free now to run in the race of improving the world and bettering society, or any of the objects that occupy men as such, the saints of God should abstain altogether. Many who really love the Lord are in this quite misguided as to the duty of the Christian here below. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." And as if that were not precise enough, it is added, "Set your affection on things above." It is rather "your mind;" for here, however important the state of the heart, it is a question simply of the whole bent and judgment. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." It is not merely bringing the heavenly into them, so to speak; and decidedly not of joining the two things together. The Colossians, like others, would have liked this well enough; it is just what they were about, and the very thing that the apostle is here correcting. The apostle will not sanction such an amalgam, but refuses it; and we must remember that in these exhortations it was the Lord acting by the Spirit in His servant. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth; for ye are dead."

But some one may say: That is a beautiful theory, but have we no responsibilities in the directions expressed in the words "within" and "around"? and is it a matter of no importance that these should be answered? The reply is, yes. And they are best sustained and met not by setting the "mind on things above, not on things on the earth;" that is, occupation with Christ, where He is, is the way to the possession of that which nothing can cloud, dim, or take away; and when it is so, these responsibilities I have spoken of are fulfilled according to the thoughts and mind of Christ — a matter of primary importance to a true heart.

Another saint recently said to me, "Well, but after all we are down here." Undoubtedly we are down here. But that is not the point. The thing is, being down here, ought we not to express the life of Christ? He is my life, I am in Him risen, and therefore if I do not set my affections on things above, I ought to search my own heart, and ascertain whether I can truly say that I am risen with Him. After all, it comes simply to this — What is the heart occupied with? If my heart is occupied with the, Risen One, I shall soon be lifted out of this present scene. If He fill my gaze, I shall be blind to the fairest sights on earth, and I shall be deaf to its sweetest sounds. It is entirely a question of affection. Does He fill my heart? Does He occupy me? Not simply am I occupied with Him. The two are connected. If I am occupied with Him, He will be occupied in manifesting Himself to me; and if that is the case, I shall do everything down here as to Him, and of necessity my affections will be set on things above, where He sits on the right hand of God.

I would add one word in respect of the place which death practically has in relation to this; and here, I believe, lies the secret of our low walk. The reckoning of faith and the realization of faith are not sufficiently prominent in our thoughts; the bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, is the only way to express practically what we are in Christ in heaven; and this must be "always," even as of old the camp of Israel was at Gilgal. Circumcision is both positional and practical: Col. 2:11 is the former; Col. 3:5, the latter. Finally, as to service, it has been said that certain parts of it are considered "unsuited to the heavenly atmosphere." Some foolish person may have said so whose word would not weigh on any other subject. Alas that the spirit of opposition should be so manifested! yet it is undeniable that none would be more fitted or ready to serve in any practical act of Christianity than those whose souls were consciously in possession of their place in Christ in heaven; others might, excel in quantity, but quality could alone be found with those. The church of Ephesus is not refused of the Lord Jesus its full roll of laborious service, yet it did not meet His heart for all that. Surely this is not without its warning for us today as to how possible it is to do works excellent in themselves, yet valueless in Christ's eyes. To the Church of Philadelphia, on the other hand, He says, "I know thy works." He does not enumerate them as He did those of Ephesus. It is not improbable that in the eyes of others they were insignificant, and those who did them but as men asleep and inactive; yet they possessed the quality which His heart values - "thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and has not denied my name. Verily, the one who knows what it is to be in Christ in heaven, and is seeking to express it practically on earth, will be ready for any service to which the Lord may call; but they will seek His sending and His glory as well as His mind in regard to it; for while deeply touched by the misery of man, or the sorrows of His saints, the object, motive, spring, must be Christ Himself, and thus man is best ministered to and served. And I will add that such an one will not use any power for Christ on earth other than the Holy Ghost. In fine, no one would be more self-denying, earnest, laborious; but the same acts have a very different meaning when viewed from the standpoint of the mind and pleasure of our Lord. The Lord grant to His beloved saints in these last days more real true apprehension by the Spirit of their real origin and destiny, so as to present it more practically in their ways, walk, and service on earth, knowing that "our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour." W. T. Turpin.

Spiritual elation is not infrequently to be traced in such cases. A kind of ecstatic enjoyment of a character not unlike that of the monk or the nun, when they have progressed to the elate condition. Such simple acts of practical Christianity as visiting the sick, caring for the poor, and in some cases, even the gospel to sinners, are regarded as inferior occupations unsuited to the "heavenly" atmosphere. It seems to be forgotten that there are chapters 4, 5, and 6, in the Ephesians, and that to be heavenly is not be a dreamer but downright practical in the home, in the relationships of life, and in christian warfare.

Some reach the elated state by this path. They do not think that they have sinned for given periods of time, and others go so far in their monastic zeal that they ignore the relations of life and treat their parents and children as dead. The Romanist or Anglican shuts himself up in a cell, and so becomes dead to duty and affection: the others become so by either offending or ignoring those whom God has given them to win and to love. It is the spirit of the monk, but without the discomfort of the monk's cell.

And oh, beloved brethren, what a relief it is that in the common business of this world one can have one's mind and heart set upon what will never perish! Let us have our hearts occupied with what is precious in God's eyes. We can take up other things as matters of duty; but the moment we make them objects, we altogether miss the mind of God. It does not matter what the thing may be. Suppose a person at any business; it makes all the difference possible whether he is simply doing it to God as that which He has given him to do, or whether it is what he likes and takes pleasure in, his object being to be great or rich by it. Where this is the case, I am practically making this world to be the scene of my enjoyment. I am not even treating it as a wilderness, still less am I acting as associated with Christ in heavenly places. On the other hand, if I hold firmly, as from God, that even now I am a heavenly man, still, if God has given me anything to do, I do it — no matter what it may be.

So far from this character of truth being impractical, we have no hesitation in saying, that our moral resemblance to Christ now, will be proportionate to our knowledge of, and fellowship with, our exalted Head in heaven. What made Paul so heavenly minded? His eye was fixed on Christ in the glory, and his heart breathed fervently after Him there. "One thing I do." Christ in heaven was the "one thing" before his soul. This, and this alone, will produce on earth that in which Christ finds His delight - His own moral image reflected in us. Knowing this, may we set the Lord always before us, and ever seek to do the things which please Him.