Colossians chapter 2. The name of the message tonight is
Will Worship. We'll worship. And this is actually,
we're beyond the last verse of Colossians chapter 2. So Lord
willing, next week we'll be in Colossians chapter 3. Start a
whole new chapter. So we're halfway through the
book after tonight. And it has been a great blessing
to study and to be able to preach through this book. I know we're
just scratching the surface, but it's been a great blessing.
We'll worship. Let's read the context of the
verse, Colossians 2, verse 16, and we'll read to the end of
the chapter, verse 23. Let no man therefore judge you in meat,
or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon,
or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come,
but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility, in worshiping of angels, intruding
into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by
his fleshy mind, and not holding the head, from which all the
body, by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered, and knit
together, increases with the increase of God. Wherefore, if
ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
touch not, taste not, handle not, which are all to perish
with the using, after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things
have indeed a show of wisdom and will-worship, and humility,
and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying
of the flesh? So last week, We looked at verses
20-21 where we consider that if we are dead with Christ, and
the believer is dead with Christ, and we've been crucified with
Christ, then we're not subject to the ordinances that the false
teachers were here trying to yoke the Colossian believers
under. We are free from the law. We're free from the law. And
we're free from the law by the death of Christ, with His substitutionary
atonement before God. And remember that His sacrifice
was before God and to God. He offered Himself for us, to
God, to satisfy His justice, to satisfy His law. And He did
it upon Calvary's cross, and He did it in the place of you
and me who believe. Christ himself, God incarnate
in the flesh, hung on Calvary's tree for my sins. And if you're
a believer, for your sins. Why? He left the glories of heaven
to do this. He willingly did that. And we also looked at how a dead
man does not taste, right? Look, it says touch not, taste
not, handle not. A dead man does not taste. He
has no ability to taste things, does he? No ability. A dead man
does not touch things. He has no ability to touch things. A dead man does not handle things. He has no ability to handle things. Again, we are dead in Christ,
beloved, and we are not beholden to the rudiments of the world
or to the ordinances of the Mosaic law, which the Judaizers were
trying to yoke the Colossian believers with. The Gnostics,
they were Gnostics, they were a mix between Judaizers and Gnostics,
and they had angel worship in there too. There was quite the
mess going on. But they were trying to steal
the liberty of the Colossian believers. And what liberty do
we have in Christ? What liberty do we have? And also the false teachers had
imposed certain things which you could not do, and we can
see that in the text before our text tonight. You could not eat
certain things. You could not drink certain things.
You could not handle certain things. And they were always
based upon the false teachers' warped standards. Always. And that's how you can tell things
too, beloved. You can tell if a man's telling
you to do something that's not in Scripture. If a man's telling
you to do something other than look to Christ, there's something
wrong. Now we know, as Bible-believing
Christians, that there are certain things we just don't do. We know
that. But these false teachers, they're
trying to yoke people under their laws and under their rules. My oh my. And they always impose
these as a means for you to either obtain a deeper relationship
with God, or sometimes they outright say you must do this to be saved.
And they will write off, literally write off large portions of people
because they don't follow their rules and regulations. My oh
my. I'm thankful that Christ paid
everything for me. I'm not under the doctrines of
man, or the commandments of man. And gospel preachers, in opposition
to what the false teachers, the false teachers appoint you to
yourself. And gospel preachers appoint you to Christ. Look to
Him. Look to Him. Look to the work
that He has d-o-n-e. Done. Not what you have to do. Look to the one who's done it.
And there is a major difference right there. There is a major
difference. So tonight we'll be looking at
verse 23. And we'll see how it ties in with the verses and context
that we read too. He's talking about the things
that touch not, taste not, handle not, which things have indeed
a show of wisdom and will worship. will worship, and humility, and
the neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying
of the flesh. Again, as we tie this into context,
we see quickly that these religious rules, ceremonies, and fleshy
practices give the outward appearance, the outward appearance of great
devotion, of great humility. But we'll find out tonight, it's
a sham. It's just a sham. Look again
in our context. Look at 20. We'll read from 20
to 23. Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments
of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject
to ordinances, touch not, taste not, handle not, which are all
to perish with the using after the commandments and doctrines
of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom? Oh, they have
a show of wisdom. Oh, yeah. And we'll see later
on that it's carnal men that are attracted to that, that kind
of wisdom. In will worship, in humility,
in neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying
of the flesh. These false teachers are a sham.
They're a sham. They're fake. And this great
show of will worship, this great show of humility, this great
show of neglecting the body. Oh, we don't do those things. We don't hang out with people
who do those things. And you can put whatever you
want in there. My goodness. It's all a sham. Worthless. It's worthless. It's
absolutely worthless. And their followers, they appear
pious and humble, just like the teachers. Oh my. And they promote self-imposed
laws and self-imposed disciplines. And some of them even punish
the body, as we see in our text here, the neglecting of the body.
But beloved, there is absolutely no value spiritually in any of
those things. None. And look it, look it. Not in any honor to the satisfying
of the flesh. There's no value in the checking
of the flesh either in these things. None. Or the sanctifying of the heart.
Because our works can't sanctify our heart, can it? Holy Spirit,
we must be born again. We must be born again. And so,
turn if you would to Matthew chapter 23. Our Lord, our Master,
our King revealed false teachers just like these in Colossians. False teachers just like these.
He revealed them for what they are in the Gospel of Matthew.
when he was talking to the Pharisees. Now, we know the Pharisees had
all kinds of man-made laws, right? Because last week, remember,
we looked at the doctrines of men, and we saw in the text that
the Lord even called what the Pharisees believed the doctrines
and traditions of men. And so, in light of that, look
at Matthew chapter Matthew 23. And in light of this verse we're
looking at tonight, which things have indeed a show of wisdom
and will-worship and humility and the neglecting of the body,
not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Look at Matthew
23, verses 24-28. Oh, he reveals the Lord just
strips us of false humility. You blind guides would strain
at a knot and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and the
platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the
cup and the platter, and the outside of them may be clean
also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which
indeed appear beautiful outward." Oh, they appear beautiful outward.
but are within full of dead man's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so, ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men." Now keep that in mind. But within you
are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Look at our verse tonight and
think of what we just read and how the Master just unmasked
them for who they are. Look at Colossians 2.23, which
things have indeed a show of wisdom. Our Lord said to them
in Matthew 23, even so you also outwardly appear righteous. Oh,
it's a big show unto men. So in these false teachers and
class, which things have indeed a show of wisdom and will worship
and humility and neglect of the body, not in any honor to the
sanctifying of the flesh. Beloved, the enemy just keeps
the same thing. He wraps it in a different package,
like I keep saying, he really does. It's the same sham, it's
the same lie. And their cry is salvation's
in Christ, but plus something you do. No, the Bible's cry and
the Gospel preacher's cry is salvation's in the Lord plus
nothing. It's all in Him. Or there's no salvation at all.
None. None at all. Oh my. So we see in tonight's verse
that that which the false teachers were promoting has no spiritual
value. Just the same as the Pharisees
that we just looked at in Matthew. No spiritual value in what they
were promoting. The Pharisees with all their
works and traditions and commandments of men, everything that they
did that way had gained them absolutely no merit with God.
It had no spiritual value. It was useless. Now it sure puffed
them up. It sure made them feel like they
were something. Well, to their eternal doom and
to the eternal doom of those following them too. Oh my. Oh my. So here we see before us in our
text, which things have indeed a show of wisdom and will worship
Here we see will worship set before us, which is something
that man does to earn favor with God. Something that man does
to earn favor with God, either work your hands or of your minds,
but in God's eyes, it's absolutely worthless. Worthless. Brother Henry Mahan
made a comment one time and he's talking about this decisional
regeneration, just bow your head and repeat a prayer. I remember
listening to this and man, it just stopped me when I was on
the job site. He said, we will never know the
damage this side of eternity that that has done. People who think they're going
to heaven because they bowed their head and repeated a prayer.
And they'll find themselves in hell. My goodness. We're going to make our election
in Colin, sure. Who am I trusting? I'm trusting
Christ and no one else. Not anything I ever said back
there. No, I'm trusting Christ right now. Right now. Oh my. My, oh my. The only thing that God will
accept is the sacrifice of Christ. Perfect salvation for our souls. That's the only thing God will
accept. He will accept nothing else. Nothing else. But by using worldly logic or
human reasoning, false preachers deceive people into thinking
that they have to do something to earn their salvation. They
deceive people. And the doctrine of man's so-called
free will is one of the greatest deceptions. One of the greatest
deceptions which appeals, it appeals, beloved, to the natural
mind. It appeals to the carnal man.
Because it's something you have to do to be saved. And see, what
we preach is salvation in Christ alone plus nothing. And it's
an offense to man's pride. It just destroys man's pride.
It shows us our utter inability to save ourselves. Oh my, but all to we who have
been shown that. It's wondrous, isn't it? It's
absolutely wondrous, wondrous. So the doctrine of man's so-called
free will is one of the greatest deceptions. Again, it puts salvation
in the hands of man. And all these false teachers
are promoting touch not, taste not, handle not, which scripture
declares are all to perish with the using. They'll perish with
the using. And it's all after the commandments
and doctrines of man. And indeed, they have a show
of wisdom in will worship and humility and neglect in the body,
but it's all a show. It's all a show. It glorifies
that which man does and not what Christ has done. It robs God
of His glory. And they are not holding the
head. As Scripture declares, just a few verses above, they're
not holding the head. They're not holding the one who
is the giver of life. They're leading the blind, as
we saw in Matthew, and they impose the commandments and doctrines
of men upon their followers, and their followers have no freedom.
They have no freedom. They are so yoked in bondage. I came out of that. I went from
Catholicism to landmark baptism. Baptism was just from one bondage
to another. Praise God He delivered me from
that. Praise God He saved me from that. Oh my. Turn if you would to Romans chapter
8. And remember that these false
teachers in our text were trying to draw the Colossians away from
Christ alone to the worship of angels as mediators or the following
of a certain lifestyle like monks do and stuff like that. things
you can't do and things you can do. And there's always a list
and commandments of man. And they deny themselves certain
things, all to gain supposed merit and favor with God. But
in the end, it turns out to be their eternal doom. Their eternal
doom. Why? Why, we may say, because
they're steeped in their own self-righteousness. That's really what it is. And
we know what happens when a person stands before a holy God in their
own self-righteousness. Depart from me, you worker of
iniquity. My, chillin' words, chillin'
words. So these false teachers impose
the commandments and doctrines of men, which have in their own
minds wisdom, and it's will worship, but in reality, reality, they're
absolutely devoid of the truth. They're devoid of the truth.
Because that which they preach has absolutely no spiritual value
in it at all. It can't save them. And it can't
save their followers. But it will doom them. It will
doom them. And these false teachers, these
carnal men, have a show of wisdom because, think of this, they
have a show of wisdom to their followers. You know why? Because
carnal men, because carnal things are suited to carnal men. Carnal things are suited to carnal
men. And carnal men will follow those men. And it's pure will
worship. It's pure self-righteousness.
And beloved, the natural man just eats it up. I know, because
I was there. Just eats it up. And it's absolutely
worthless. It's like Paul said. It's just
done. All that stuff. Look at Romans 8, verses 5-11. Look at this. Paul penning this
to the brethren at Rome. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. Right? that are after the spirit, the
things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Oh,
what peace we have. We have a peace that passes all
understanding, don't we? We have eternal life in Christ.
Look at this. Because the carnal mind, so the
natural man, the natural man, that state which we're born into,
beloved, is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God." All these things these people
are doing cannot please God. What is that which God is pleased
with? The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ on behalf of His people. Because the carnal mind is empty
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can it be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please
God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. And so be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. Look at that. He's none of his. Them false teachers, they don't
have the Spirit of God. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is alive because
of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. And remember, right before
this, Paul had written, there is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are on Christ Jesus, who walk not of the flesh, You see, these folks who walk
after the flesh are carnally minded. These folks that think
that they can gain merit and salvation with God are doing
this to their utter doom. They can't please God by their
works. There's only one work that God's pleased with and that's
the sacrifice of Christ. So Paul in our text, now let's
go back to our text, Paul in our text reckons this show of
wisdom, this will worship, which is basically self-made religion,
he reckons it to be wholly worthless. It's worthless. And we saw that
in Romans, didn't we? It's worthless. It has no eternal
value. It can't appease the wrath of
God. Because think of this, this is
sinners doing this. But the one who redeemed our
soul, beloved, he's the sinless sacrifice. He's the perfect spotless
lamb of God. So these false teachers, they
have a zeal without knowledge. Turn if you would to Romans chapter
10. These false teachers, they have a zeal without knowledge.
They're going about trying to establish their own righteousness.
That's what they're doing. And as I said, this is nothing
new under the sun. This is nothing new under the
sun. Paul dealt with this in Colossians. We're going to see
him deal with this in Romans. And we still deal with this today.
See, there's nothing new. That's why when we know the truth
and we study the truth, that will keep us from error. That's
what's most important for us to study. Study the real to know
the counterfeit. Study the real to know the counterfeit.
And Paul deals with this in Romans 10. Look at verses 1-4. And as
I said, we're still dealing with this. It's just a different generation.
Look at this, Romans 10, verses 1-4. Brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
For I bear them record. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. They don't know Him. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, are what? Are going about to establish
their own righteousness. This is exactly what the false
teachers are doing. And this is exactly what their
followers are doing. Trying to establish their own
self-righteousness. And if they die in their sins,
it'll be to their eternal doom. How shall we neglect, remember?
Or how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
We saw that verse on Sunday. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Oh, look at this for the believer. Oh my goodness, look at this.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone. Oh, there's a place I can rest. Right there. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness. He's my righteousness. And if
you believe, He's yours. And I stand before you, though
we can't see. I'm clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. And you who believe are too. We can't see it, can
we? But oh my. Oh my. It's incredible. It's incredible. Now in false religion, there's
a show of worldly wisdom. And it's, again, we've seen in
our text, right? Or we've seen in Romans, when
we looked in chapter eight, it appeals to the carnal mind, doesn't
it? That show of wisdom, that show of zeal without knowledge. It appeals to the natural man. And their followers are bewitched
by these false preachers. And let us remember that that
which seems full of wisdom to the carnal mind, that which seems
to be pleasing to the flesh, is enmity with God. Is enmity
with God. And nothing is more pleasing
to the carnal mind, nothing is more pleasing to the natural
man, than that something they do will
gain them salvation. Something they do will give them
righteousness. And they don't talk about righteousness. They say it this way. They say,
well, I'm a good person. Why would God send me down? I
didn't murder anyone. No, you're just born a sinner
like me. But you don't believe it. You don't believe it. We know what we are, don't we?
Praise be to God, we have a mighty Savior. Oh my, oh my, what a
Savior. So through the flesh, the flesh,
the carnal man, they love the The flesh yearns for that kind
of stuff. It yearns to do... They don't think they're sinners. They think that they can do something.
In religion, the danger in religion where you see these false teachers
and all this is that they believe that they actually can obtain
their own holiness too. And they can obtain their own
righteousness which is just so deadly. It's so deadly. And this is nothing but will
worship. And will worship is really nothing but self-righteousness,
which looks to what you do as opposed to what Christ has done.
They don't believe what God has said. And they make God a liar. We see that in John. Turn with
me. I was looking at this. Listening to Brother Donnie preach
on this the other day. This is just... 1 John 1. 1 John 1. And if we say we haven't sinned,
we make God a liar. Look at these three if-we-says. If-we-say. Three times. We're
starting in verse 6. 1 John 1, verse 6. If we say
that we have fellowship with Him, In walking darkness, we
lie and do not the truth. So here's the difference between
someone who professes Christ and someone who possesses Christ. See, he's showing the contrast.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and we walk in darkness,
we do not the truth. Look at verse 7. But if we walk
in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses
us from all sin. Look at verse eight. If we say
that we have no sin, what? We deceive ourselves. There's
a whole bunch of people that are deceiving themselves. Because
they don't think they're sinners. Just ask them. Oh boy, they get offended when
you call them a sinner. But that's what we are, isn't
it? Yeah. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves in what? The truth is not in us. So by
us, have you ever thought of this? You who are saved and redeemed,
we know we're sinners. We admit we're sinners. So according
to the scripture, the true sinners, hey, because we know what we
are. what we are. And then look at this. If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then look at verse 10. If
we say that we have not sinned, we make him what? A liar. My. And his word is not in us. My goodness. My goodness. Will worship is simply self-made
religion. And I'll tell you, I remember hearing preachers
telling everyone else they're sinners but not themselves. I
remember hearing that. Grace preaching is the only place
you hear a preacher tell you he's a sinner in desperate need
of Christ. Oh, we need, I need Christ desperately. More now than I ever have. More
now than I ever have. Because as you grow in grace
and the knowledge and truth of the Savior and who He is, and
as God reveals Himself more and more to you, is it not so with
you too? Has it been with me? That I realize
more and more what I am. More and more. And it makes Christ
sweeter and sweeter and sweeter. What a Redeemer. What a Savior. Oh my. So, let's look at these
three terms that point to the show of wisdom in our text, right?
Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, there's
number one. And one of the commentators said
they're painting, the false teachers are like painting a picture and
they use three different colors. Look at this, will worship and
humility. and neglecting of the body. So,
will worship we've looked at is self-made religion. Humility
is a false humility, a self-humility. And then the neglecting of the
body is a self-abasement to gain merit and favor with God. Again,
let's look at verse 23. Which things have indeed a show
of wisdom in will worship and humility and neglecting of the
body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Again,
we've already looked at the show of wisdom, which is will worship,
and now let us consider the humility mentioned here in this text.
All these false teachers, they come with such humility. It's a sham. It's fake. It's fake. It's self-humility. And religious people who claim
to be followers of Christ will often put a mask of hypocrisy
on by trying to portray a humble spirit. Yeah, I've told you guys a story
about Vicki making me that picture called Meekness and how I was
so full of pride. And if a person tells you they're
humble, they're so full of pride it's not funny. Now, I'll see the humility in
you guys, but I won't see it in myself, because I know what
I am. And you won't see it in yourself,
just as you're growing in grace. You won't see it in yourself.
I won't see my own growth, but you all might see it, and I'll
see your growth. but we never see it within ourselves
because we know what we are. Oh my, this is a false humility
spoken of here. This is a self-humility. Those spoken of here are filled
with willed worship and they put a cloak of self-abasement
on, a cloak of false humility. And they do not know Christ.
They do not know His Gospel. They do not follow His commandments.
They follow the commandments and doctrines of men. They do
not follow the ways of Christ. And they yoke people under things
that they can't even do themselves. Oh my. So false teachers have
a fake humility. They're full of pride. And this
will worship spoken of in our text is nothing but the invention
of man. Nothing but the invention of
man. And we looked at earlier that
the natural man has an enmity, an enmity for Christ, an enmity
for his gospel, an enmity against his people. But we who are redeemed,
we who are born again by the Holy Spirit, we have a new nature,
don't we? We have a new nature. We have
a spiritual understanding of scripture that we never had before. The Lord speaks to us through
His Word, doesn't He? It's amazing. It's not an audible
voice, but you just light a scripture up before us just when we need
it. Just when we need it. And we get such great comfort
from it. Or we hear the preach of the
Gospel and we'll be bombed to our souls. And I'll tell you what, those
who are born again, God gives us a humble spirit when we consider
that if God had not made us willing, if the Holy Spirit had not regenerated
us, we would have stayed right where we were. That'll bring
you home. That'll bring you real hope. Trust me, it does. Oh, my. I'm planning on going to visit
my family. Every time I see them, I'm reminded that if God had
not have saved me, if he had not have drawn me, if he had
not have intervened in my life, I'd be just like them still.
And I wouldn't even have a clue. I'd have groped around in the
darkness still. But oh my, what a great God we
have. The Holy Spirit regenerates us
and we're made willing in the day of His power and we flee
to Christ, beloved. So let us remember, if it wasn't
for God's sovereignty, if it wasn't for His mercy bestowed
upon us, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, in direct
opposition to the false teachers, what they're teaching, if it
wasn't for God's sovereign mercy bestowed upon us through the
merits of Jesus Christ, we would be right where we were, and we
would be right in the camp of unbelievers. That'll bring you
low. Never forget the rock you were
hewn from, and by the grace of God, I am what I am. And I feel, beloved, I feel like
I know so little about our great King. But what He teaches me
as I study, I have a desire to proclaim every time I step into
that pulpit. Oh, my. And I always remember. And I always ask God to go before
me, before I go in the pulpit, before I preach. And I always
remember, Wayne, you're just one beggar. Tell another beggars
where to find bread. Never forget the rock you were
healed from. Never. Never. And to God be the glory,
I have obtained mercy. And if you're a believer, to
God be the glory, you've obtained mercy. Undeserved. Unmerited. Favor with favor. in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. So let us remember that any religion
which is unwilling to accept Jesus Christ as the only and
all-sufficient Savior is an indulgence of the flesh, a giving into man's
conceit, and it is will worship as they make their own works,
The means of salvation, which is self-righteousness. Boiled
down to self-righteousness. And thus they render the work
of Christ absolutely worthless. Oh my. But we know it's of great
worth. We who are redeemed. We who are
redeemed. Salvation is in Christ and Him
alone. And either one is saved by grace
in Christ, or they're lost. That's it. So let's look at the
latter part of our text here. It says, in neglecting of the
body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. So here's
the third paint stroke right here. The neglecting of the body.
We saw the will worship and humility. And here, this is self-abasement. This is self-abasement. Calvin
calls this the mortification of the flesh, which he says is
just a disguise. And here Paul exposes it for
what it is. He exposes what the false teachers
are teaching for what it is. Our Master, again, spoke against
this. Turn, if you would, to Luke 16, verse 15. Our Master
spoke against this. For that which is in high esteem
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. In Luke 16,
our Lord had just given a discourse about the parable of the unjust
steward. And the Pharisees were offended,
and they heard all these things, and they were covetous, and they
derided Him. And He answers in this way. which
applies to the false teachers at Colossus, and it also applies
to the false teachers of today. Look at Luke 16, verse 15. And He said unto them, Ye are
they which justify yourselves. Luke 16, verse 15. And He said
unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men.
How? By their traditions and by their
doctrines of men. But God knoweth your hearts,
for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
the sight of God. And our text in verse 23 of Colossians
reminds me of the monks of various sects who through acts of imposing
self-inflicted pain to try to make amends for some sinful act
that they did, or they try to keep their body in subjection,
which we know from Scripture is the neglecting of the body.
It does not honor God. It does not honor God. And it
doesn't help us. It doesn't help in the satisfying
of the flesh. And remember, we're not to do
that. Our bodies are the temple of
the Holy Spirit. My. My, there's no satisfying
the flesh if we starve ourselves or if we inflict pain upon ourselves. There's no merit gained with
God doing things like that, but yet natural man just chomps at
the bit to do that kind of stuff. My goodness, and they're all
man-made inventions. You remember about the idle factory
of our minds that Calvin talked about? And these are manufactured
in the mind of men and imposed on other men. And they bring
absolutely no merit whatsoever. to the person who's doing them.
Look again, "...which things have indeed a show of wisdom
and will-worship and humility and neglecting of the body, not
in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. The false teachers
seem to believe that there is value in what they do, but Paul
here, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, shows the utter worthlessness
of will-worship, the utter worthlessness of false humility, and the utter
worthlessness of the false teachers teaching the neglecting of the
body to honor to the satisfying of the flesh. He shows us right
tonight, He's showing us the utter worthlessness in this.
Our salvation is not based upon our works, but the work of Christ
who purchased us with His own precious blood. 1 Corinthians
6.20 says this, for you are bought with a price. You're bought with
a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are of God's. That goes contrary,
right, to what these false teachers were teaching. But we're bought with a price.
We're redeemed by the blood of Christ, which has infinite value,
more than silver or gold or anything in this world. And Christ, who
has redeemed us, he's done it by his own precious blood. by
his own precious blood, and now he sat down at the right hand
of the Father, and God is satisfied with that sacrifice. My goodness! And he's given him, he's so satisfied,
he's given him a name, a name above all names. And His name,
is it not precious to you? Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter.
Is it not precious to you? His name is precious to God too. And His blood is precious to
His people. His righteousness is precious to His people. His
truths are precious to His people. The Lord is precious to His people. Look at 1 Peter 2, verses 4-8.
1 Peter 2, verses 4-8. To whom coming is unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious. He's precious to God. Christ
is precious to God. Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up in a spiritual house, in holy priesthood, to offer
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore,
also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone elect, precious, And he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe,
now that we saw he's precious to God, now look at this. Unto
you therefore, verse 7, verse Peter 2, 7. Unto you therefore
which believe, he is precious. Oh, he's so precious to us, isn't
he? But unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a
stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. See, you preach salvation
in Christ alone, it's an offense to people. But to God's people,
oh, it's so precious. And when the shepherd calls the
lost sheep, he's precious. He's precious. Oh, my. It says, "...and a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word,
being disobedient, whereunto they were appointed." My goodness. So tonight we've looked in our
verse where Paul has penned before us by inspiration of the Holy
Spirit of God, in our text that these observances which the false
teachers practice and which they impose upon their followers,
is an appeal to carnal man. It's just a show. It's a show
of wisdom. It's a show of humility. It's
all false. False wisdom. False humility.
It's will worship. It's self-righteousness. And
all this self-abasement is absolutely worthless, but it appeals to
carnal man's flesh. Oh, you tell a man not to do
something and to do something else and here run to it. It appeals
to self-righteousness. And we've seen in our study tonight,
comparing Scripture with Scripture, that all things done by false
teachers, including the neglecting of the body, have no value as
remedies against sensual indulgences of the flesh, and they gain absolutely
no merit with God. It's a mere show as one's performing. They do not know Christ. But
again, they're leading themselves and their followers to their
eternal doom. And the false teachers appear
to be pious and humble, and they promote self-imposed laws, self-imposed
discipline, self-imposed punishment of the body, but there's no value
in the checking of the flesh, and no value in the sanctifying
of the heart. None at all. And they do not
honor God. but they only indulge natural
flesh, as it's a false concept of righteousness. It's a false
concept of righteousness. Now, in many churches across
America today, you will hear this, do more, try harder. You will. In many churches out
there, do more, try harder, we're gonna come along and help you.
And this is being promoted by false preachers and false teachers
all across this nation, all around the world. But when the gospel
is being preached, you will hear of Christ. You will hear of Christ. You will hear of what Christ
has done. You will hear of what Christ has done for his people. You will hear that He has redeemed
the people with His own precious blood. That He has saved them
from their sins. All of them. That there's nothing
for them to do but they look to Christ. They live a life of
looking to the Savior. And you will hear that God is
absolutely satisfied. with the sacrifice of Christ. Do you see why Paul's been penning
this? Do you see why Paul's going right at the false teachers?
You are complete in Christ, right? That's our cry. That's our cry. And when the Gospel's preached,
you will hear a work of salvation that is D-O-N-E. It is finished. And that means it's done. Oh my beloved. And it was all
done by the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Alone. Salvation is of the Lord. So
for the believer, we're closed with this. So with the believer,
Christ is our life. We feed upon the riches of the
Gospel of God's free grace in Christ. He is our substance. He is the substance of our spiritual
life. He is the sustenance of our life. If we don't have Him, we don't
have life. If we don't have Christ, we don't have life. Oh my. Christ is the object of
our worship. He's the object of our life. And as the soldier fights for
his captain, and he's crowned in his captain's victory, so
the believer contends for Christ and gets his triumph out of the
triumphs of his Master. For him to live is Christ. For the believer to live is Christ. And let us remember this. Oh, if you trust in Christ, let us
remember this. How safe, how secure, how happy
is the Christian since Christ is our life. What a redeemable. May God give
us grace just to rest in Him. Just to rest in Him. Gracious
Heavenly Father, what an honor and privilege it is being to
study Your Word and to look into things of You, Lord Jesus, and
what You've done for us, and to see the contrast of man-made
religion that tells its followers what to do, but, oh, Lord Jesus,
we rest and trust in what you have done. Oh, Lord, give us
strength and grace to enter into your rest, Lord, and just to
each day come before Thee and rest at your feet and look to
Thee. And we love you because you first
loved us. In Jesus' name, Amen.