Well, once again, as we come
to meditate in this chapter, this second chapter of the Epistle
of Paul to the Colossians, this evening we'll consider two verses,
verses eight and nine. So we'll read these two verses
in the second chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians. Beware,
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We see how the Apostle continues
to be concerned about the spiritual health of the church at Colossae
and of course by inference to the whole church of God and that
of course comes down to us today and we should realize his concern
and we should be thankful that we do have such words in scripture
for our instruction and encouragement because he starts this eighth
verse by saying, beware. Well, if that's spoken to us
today, we know there's something we need to be careful about,
something we need to take notice of. And it's really similar to
what he said earlier in this same chapter. And the fourth
verse speaks like this. And this I say, lest any man
should beguile you with enticing words. we should realise that
we do have a great adversary, the devil, who uses all the means
that he can to entice us and to turn us away from the things
of God, to turn us to the things of time and placing them in a
far more important position than the great and precious and glorious
things of God. And so the apostle says here
then, beware, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy
and vain deceit. I suppose we live in a day when
this is so true. So many people would try and
use the ability and those things which concern us naturally and
to convince us that the things of the Word of God are really
not true, they have no foundation, they have no real grounding and
therefore turn away from them and don't believe them. Well, that's the tack that the
devil has always adopted. He's always brought before God's
people that which could cause them to doubt. And often it's
couched in the same words that he spoke to Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden when he came and said, hath God said? Well, we do know that God hath
said and what God hath said in the word of God, we should hang
on to. firmly and not be sidetracked
by the clever devices that Satan may bring upon us. And often
we fall into traps because we do not know the Word of God as
well as we should. As I reminded you sometimes when
our blessed Saviour the Lord Jesus was tempted after he'd
been baptised and gone up to the wilderness And the devil
asked him very leading questions and tempted him. And the Lord
God answered him by quoting scripture. What a good thing it is today
if you and I can therefore, when we come into perhaps doubts,
perhaps those doubts come into our mind and we attempt it, that
they may not, the things of God may not be true. Perhaps we're
believing that which is quite evidently false. then to realise
that we have the Word of God which confirms to us, page after
page, chapter after chapter, book after book, confirming things
which have gone before, that thy Word is truth. I love that
statement, that the Lord spoke to his Father. When you pray
to God, you can read it in the 17th of John, and he said, thy
word is truth. And so it is. And therefore,
the word of God for us today should be a wonderful and a blessed
foundation. And the glory of it is, the foundation
is, of course, not only the word of God, but it's centered upon
the rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's really what the Apostle
is directing us to in this verse we have before us. Lest any man
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. And we should
not listen to the subtle temptations of the evil one. Sometimes he
appears to make things very plausible and very reasonable and he discusses
things with us in a philosophical way so that we can easily be
taken in by them and think the argument is quite plausible. Well let us remember that also
not only does he adopt this philosophy but also vain deceit. He is deceitful and he what he
does He plays on our vanity. Our vanity. We may think perhaps
we're better than we are. We may think we have strength,
sufficient to withstand the cunning devices of the devil. Well, let
us never have confidence in ourselves. Let us always have confidence
in our God. So as he says here, beware lest
any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition
of men. You see that again the devil
uses this very often by saying well of course this is what's
been done and this is the way you should carry on and this
is the right way. Well many things have been vain
traditions and we should examine everything in the light of God's
Word, to be able to conclude that it is truth, is a very easy
test for this. And it's this, to see whether
such a philosophy leads us closer to Christ, or whether it leads
us away from Christ. And if he leads us away from
Christ, we can be fairly confident that what it's doing is after
the rudiments of the world. The things of the world always
have been and are and will be very tempting. And don't forget
the devil can make them appear very attractive. And one of the
main Wheezes that he uses is to say very simply, well, look,
there's no harm in just getting involved in this situation. There's
no harm in it. In fact, it might do you good.
Well, we can be sure that if that way of arguing is put before
us, really, it's a red light. It's a warning. We come back
to this word, beware. we are to beware and don't forget
the devil never gives up while you and I are on this earth his
great aim is to deceive us so that we deny the faith so that
we deny the Lord Jesus Christ and we do need strength and we
do need grace to heed those gracious words resist the devil that he
may flee from us. And we resist him, not in our
own strength, but through what Christ has done. We can turn
and we can tell him, devil, Christ has died. He rather is risen
again, you see, and the devil cannot answer against such a
wonderful statement as that. And so it says, the word here,
after tradition of men, and after the rudiments of the world, and
not after Christ. If we are true followers of the
Lord Jesus Christ, true followers of his word, and really take
it to heart, and really desire, because we realize that in the
words of the Savior, there is life, eternal life and there's
not life in the poor things of time which the devil will always
have us go after. And then we read these wonderful
words, for in him, the Lord Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Cast your minds back to the Old
Testament, see all those wonderful ceremonies which the Israelites
were commanded to carry out and the glorious picture that the
tabernacle and the temple had depicting in so many ways the
glory of Christ but you see that was a wonderful revelation to
the Church of God but my friends now it is revealed to us we have
the blessed life of the Savior We have the glorious death of
the Saviour. We have his resurrection. And we have his resurrection
and intercession. And indeed, what a blessing it
is for us to meditate on these great truths. And we don't have
to rely upon those figures which Israel had to previously because
they are revealed and they dwell in all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Jesus Christ was very man. He was very God. It's a great
and glorious mystery. But nonetheless, it's so, so
true. And if the Lord Jesus Christ had not been very man, he could
not have stood in our place. He could not have died for us
that sin atoning death. It would have not been satisfactory.
But tonight, May we praise God for such a wonderful truth, and
to have it indelibly impressed upon our heart, Jesus Christ. The same yesterday, and today,
and forever. And to realize, therefore, that
in Him dwelleth everything that was set forth in the ceremonial
law, revealed in Christ. What a blessing for us today.
Nor may we then really rejoice tonight in what Christ has done
and take heed to this gracious exhortation. Beware. Lest any man should spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments, the elements of this world and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and that dwells for ever. Bless God.