Morning, brethren. Let's turn
to Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. Paul has just warned believers
in verse 8, saying, Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy,
vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ. And what Paul is saying, what
he's affirming to you, brethren, is that Christ is sufficient
to save you to the uttermost. You don't need to look beyond
Christ. You don't look outside of Christ. You don't look away from Christ. We look to Christ because He
is the fullness of the salvation of God for His people. Everything the child of God needs
is given to us freely by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at verses 9 and 10. He adds,
For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye
are complete in him which is the head of all principality
and power. And so, these rudimentary things,
and it can be translated elemental, elemental things. You think of
the chart of elements, it's the base things, it's the most simple
form of things. And these rudimentary things
were used by men to worship God. The Jews were given the law by
Moses. The Gentiles worship the things
of creation. and through philosophy and vain
deceit and traditions of men, the carnal man, who is dead in
trespasses and sins, he sought to answer the questions of life. He sought to worship God, and
he sought to find out, well, how is it that a man receives
life? How is it that a man escapes
the judgment of God and escapes death? How is it that a man can
be justified with God? Well, man uses rudimentary, elemental
things to find these things out and to approach unto the true
and living God. Things in the law, things in
creation. And so we see throughout man's
history the works that he did and how he bowed down to the
things that were created by God. He worshipped the sun, he worshipped
the stars, he worshipped stones and stumps and things that cannot
save. And even the Jews, through the
law, they thought that it was their righteousness. And those
looking to the elemental things thought that that was their salvation
and that God was pleased with their works. But our God has
revealed to us in Christ that all these things are vain deceit. They are carnal, fleshly, idolatry,
and they cannot save you. The form of religion cannot save
you. The letter of religion and trying
to come to God in the form of religion, whether it be the law,
even if you call it Christianity and you slap the name Jesus on
it, that cannot save you. Christ and Christ alone is the
salvation of God for his people. And so Paul reveals the sufficiency
of Christ. And to do that, he preaches,
he declares the mystery of God revealed in the gospel. which
shows us Christ, which shows us the fullness and sufficiency
of Christ. Now, in the next few verses that
we're looking at this morning, verses 11 through 13, Paul describes
how it is that God delivers his people from darkness, how that
he gives his people life, an eternal life, how that he reveals
to them our hope, our hope in the Lord. He does it through
the preaching of the gospel. Now just look at, just think
about for a moment what we see in the world today. And we look
at all the many religions. We can look in our own neighborhoods
and in our own cities and we can see all manner of different
forms of man's religion and what man hopes in and trusts in. We see that just looking at all
the different ideas that he has about God and how they come.
There's many sects, there's many things that even call themselves
Christian in our day. There's various ways that people
try to worship God even under that name. And so they have various
forms and they have ceremonies and they have different practices
that they train their people up in and get them used to and
say, this is your salvation. This is how you worship God.
This is the most effective use of your time. Whether it be a
community church that does works in the community or it's very
formal, and and rather historic but they say this is this is
good this is the old ways do this and you'll live and so man
still continues in religion and it's just showcases the deadness
of man's heart it shows that we don't know what we're doing
we don't know where we're going we don't know how to worship
god we don't even understand what the lord has revealed in
his word to us here and even though It's ignorance, it's not
the truth, yet most people seem rather content and rather satisfied
with their religion. Once they find a little groove,
whether they're raised up in it or they just stumble into
something new, that seems to be what they're content with.
And if they leave it, it's for very carnal reasons. Sometimes
they just drift away, and they don't care about it anymore,
and they just fall away and just forget about it. Other times
they leave one place because they're offended in some carnal
way by a person, by a practice, by the preacher, whatever it
is. They get offended, and so they go somewhere else. And sometimes
they have an experience. over here rather than where they
were. And I say, well, this must be the truth because this man
preaches the fullness of the Bible. And he says other things
that I wasn't hearing over there. So now this is my hope. And so man is very content and
pleased with his form of religion. In my family, I had a cousin,
and he was a little older than me, and he seemed to be one of
the more religious members of our family. And I used to hear
him say all the time, well, I just felt like the Lord was telling
me to do this thing as opposed to that thing. And he just felt
led to do it. And because he followed his conscience,
or that little voice that he thought he heard, and it seemed
to go pretty well, that was his comfort. And that was his assurance
that he was a child of God. And he never went to church services,
rarely, if ever. He did read his Bible from time
to time, but that was his comfort. That experience, those few experiences
that he had, was the fullness of his hope that he was a child
of God. And you probably know several
people that have said things like that. I recall my grandmother
once telling me that the wind blew the page over in the Bible
and she read something that comforted her and that was her hope, that
she was a child of God now from that little experience. That
was the extent of her hope in the Lord. But our God gives us
the gospel. He reveals salvation in the face
of Jesus Christ. He declares the mystery of God
in the Gospel. He doesn't leave it as a mystery
and He doesn't leave us to experiences and feelings. He gives us the
truth. He shows us the truth. How that
God saves His people by Jesus Christ alone. He tells us, ye
are complete in Him. He tells us Christ is all. all you need to stand before
holy God accepted of Him. So the following verses, verses
11 through 13, describe what Christ has accomplished for His
people. Those that now believe Him and
look to Him rather than trusting it to chance, to feelings, and
to what they have or have not done. This is what Christ accomplished
for us in his blood redemption. And Paul tells us these things.
to give us a knowledge and an understanding. He does tell us
these things so that we do understand what our Lord has done for us. And he tells us these things
that we would know and be comforted and have peace in what Christ
has done to assure us of his sufficiency and the fullness
of what he's done. And we'll go through these verses,
but I do want to add that having a knowledge of these things,
that isn't salvation. There are some educated and smart
people that can memorize these verses. There are people that
can learn the doctrine of grace and can spout these things back
to us. and declare what they've heard
and have sided with these things and say, this is the truth, but
it has done nothing for them. There's no life. They're still
the same old man. living by the letter of the word. This time now it's just a doctrine
and there's a lot of people like that and we all need the grace
of God to save us from that because we're just as susceptible to
dead letter religion and forms as anybody else. We always need
the grace of God. And when the Lord gives it to
us it's why believers do love Christ because We've experienced
these things. We do know these things by experience
of what our God has done for us, delivering us, giving us
repentance from dead works that cannot save, giving us repentance
from trusting doctrine to trusting him who is the fullness, the
life of that doctrine that we believe and have. We love Christ
because he loved me and gave himself for me and every sinner
says the same thing. That's what he did for me. as
my Savior, as my substitute. So, verse 11, Colossians 2.11,
Paul says, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the
flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Now, first of all, this
circumcision is a work of God in his child. This is not something
that we do for ourselves or work for ourselves. Christ does this. Now, why does Paul speak of circumcision? Well, Paul would go around and
preach the gospel, and these Gentile churches would be stood
up, and then as he moved on to other churches, the Judaizers
would come in after him. Judaizers being those that believed
Christ, but believed also that the law was, we were to continue
in the practices of the law. And just see now the more fullness
of the law in light of Christ. But we had to keep practicing
these things because this was our righteousness. This is what
God gave to us by Moses. And so they came into those Gentile
churches and said, Hey, fellas, you guys are doing pretty good.
You're doing pretty good, but there's something yet that must
be done. You've got to be circumcised
according to the law of Moses, after the manner of Moses. And
then, you'll be perfect before the Lord. And what are they saying? They're implying, they're saying,
without saying it necessarily, they're saying Christ isn't sufficient
to save you. It's more than just Christ alone.
You need something else, in addition to Christ, for God to justify
you and find you acceptable in His sight. Christ isn't enough,
is what they're saying. And so, what Paul is saying is,
that's not true. That's not so, Paul. Christ is
sufficient. He's the fullness of God's salvation. It's not Christ plus anything.
We don't just slap the name of Jesus on it and that's now the
religion that saves. Christ himself is the salvation
of God, Christ alone. And so circumcision was a picture
of the cutting away of the filth of the flesh. It pictured the
cutting away of the filth of this flesh. But the physical
act of salvation never removed the enmity in us by nature, or
the sin, or our corrupt nature. It never put away our sin or
our pride in Adam. It was symbolical of what God
himself must do for the sinner. A man can be circumcised in the
flesh and yet be uncircumcised in heart. A man can do the form
of it, he can do the practice of it, and yet his heart be just
as dead and have that flap of skin over the heart like a veil. But one thing that can't be done,
one thing that doesn't, but let me just say it this way, a man
can be circumcised in heart and yet be uncircumcised in the flesh,
and he is a child of God. And that's what the Lord does
for all his people, male and female, he circumcises the heart
and justifies us in Christ. Turn over to Romans chapter two.
Let's go to Romans chapter two, end of the chapter, verse 28
and 29. was speaking of this to the Roman
Church, he says, for he is not a Jew
which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is
not of men, but of God. And that's what Paul was saying
to the Colossians here. This is a circumcision made without
hands. God must do this work. He does
it. Christ redeemed his people on
the cross, and those he redeemed, they all shall be circumcised
of heart. Our God, when Christ laid down
His life to put away the sins of His people, our God, it's
the fulfillment of our salvation. And God doesn't leave His people
in darkness. He brings the gospel to them,
He gives them the Spirit, opens their ear that they may hear.
the good news of what Christ has done for me, a sinner. Our Lord does this. When he brings
that gospel home to the heart with power, he pricks the heart. He removes that flesh that lays
over the heart like a veil, and he pricks the heart, and he convinces
us of our sin, and his people are ashamed. for their sin. We look back at our life in religion
because many of us have been in religion for years and years
and years and when we think about the things we did in the name
of religion and how we've We've come and judged others and told
others how they're to live and how they weren't doing it right,
and they need to get themselves under the yoke of the law, or
you need to stop doing this, and you need to start doing this,
and God will have mercy on you. And we told them all these things
that we ourselves didn't even know. We didn't understand. And
we look back on that and we say, Lord, I was such an ignorant
fool. Forgive me. And we feel the shame
when we think of those things. We remember what we've done and
we recall our deafness and our blindness to these things. We
see, the Lord brings us to see our nakedness before him and
our shame and all the things we were trusting in, believing
we were children of God, and now know that wasn't clothing
me. I'm still as naked as ever without the blood of Christ.
I have nothing without Christ. And by His grace, when He brings
this to us, when He gives us life by Christ and removes that
flesh in the heart, then we begin to cry and groan in the Spirit
and ask, God save me. And that continues. That continues. We still, when we're brought
to see the hardness of our hearts and the coldness and the indifference
that we can have in this flesh, we're brought to cry and groan
when God graciously touches us and makes us to see, you're trusting
in things that cannot save. Look to me, look to my son. And
we pray again and again what that publican prayed, God, be
merciful to me, a sinner. Be merciful to me, Lord. Save
me. Save me. I've been telling everybody what
they need to do to be saved. Save me, Lord. Don't pass me
by. And that's what the Lord does
for his child. And so this work of grace is
wrought in us because, not because we did anything, not because
we sanctified ourselves and got ourselves into a savable spot
by God, but because God came in grace and mercy in spite of
us. And he brought his gracious spirit
to us. And he circumcised our heart
and removed it from us and brought us out of darkness. Paul said
the body of the sins of the flesh is put off by Christ. And so
now we see. Now our eyes are enlightened
and we see our God. We hear the gospel. We hear his
strong voice in the preaching of the gospel and we believe
with a new heart. Because God has taught us by
his spirit. He's been gracious to us. And he's always gracious
to us. Next, in verse 12, he says that
we're buried with him in baptism. Wherein also ye are risen with
him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised
him from the dead. Now baptism is an ordinance that
the Lord, and I say that word on purpose, our Lord Jesus Christ
has given to the church for the people. Baptism is an ordinance
given to the church by the Lord Jesus Christ. And what baptism
is, is sinners who believe the Lord Jesus Christ, it's their
making a public confession. Christ. We're making a public
confession of our faith in Christ through immersion under the water. That's what baptism pictures,
our death with Christ, and when he was raised we were raised
up out of the water, which even though the word means immersion,
but even the picture of shows us that it's immersion. Immersion
under the water. Baptism, however, does not save
the sinner. Baptism is not our salvation. The act of baptism does nothing
to wash away the sins of the people, and that's probably why
some believers don't bother with baptism. They think it's not
necessary. But it is an ordinance given
by our Lord to the Church in which we publicly confess Lord,
I love you. You saved me. And I believe that
everything you've declared here in your word, you have done.
God has done it. You went to the cross and laid
down your life for me. And God raised you from the dead.
And all those who believe, as you promise in your word, they
are saved. They shall never be ashamed.
They shall hear. They live in Christ. And so,
It's a picture of what Christ has accomplished for them and
in them through his blood redemption for them on the cross. It's testifying
of that. He died and was buried and rose
again. And our baptism is a testimony
of the faith that God's brought in us. It's a testimony, it shows
God's done this. He's given me, he's circumcised
my heart and I believe Christ. And it follows him in faith. Faith believes, that faith, that
trust in Christ believes when Christ was there on the cross,
he laid down his life for me as the Lamb of God. He was paying
my sin debt as my surety. He was dying my death as my substitute. He died my death in my place
and when he rose, I rose with him, and I live with him, and
I'm seated now in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. I know it,
I believe it, I believe him, that he's all. And those grave
clothes that were left behind in the tomb, they picture the
sins of his child that are yet in the grave, buried and out
of sight, and have no more bearing on me. They don't decide my fate. They don't decide my inheritance.
All that's decided in Christ. It's all in Christ. And so the
believer is no longer guilty and condemned by their sins.
They're free in Christ to serve the true and living God without
the form, without the worry of the form and all that baggage
that we have in nature with these things that we've experienced.
God's delivered us from the yoking bondage, so now in freedom, we
may worship God and trust Him and not be worried about, did
I do that just right? Did I bring strange fire and
touch it here? Did I touch the ark and I'm gonna
die there? We do foolish things all the
time. We say and do things that are
sinful, but by the grace of God, we don't try to do it, we are
ashamed of our sin, but by the grace of God, He's put that away
in Christ so that we don't have to fixate on whether we should
stand for the first hymn or sit, it doesn't matter. Just with
hearts that are joyful and rejoicing, let us sing praises unto our
God. Whether we sing two hymns or three or one, It's okay. The Lord has blessed us in Christ
and I'm so thankful for that. Aren't you glad that it doesn't
matter whether you're wearing the right shoes or the right
outfit or your hair is parted the right way or not? We're free
in Christ, and we thank God for that. In 1 Peter 3.21, Peter
adds, the like figure, speaking of baptism, the like figure whereunto
even baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God
by the resurrection. of Jesus Christ. It's a confession
that God has raised Christ from the dead, and he's raised me
from the dead too, and I believe him. It's a manifestation of
the faith of the child of God. Now, this being the operation
of God and a work of grace, gets accomplished in the new birth
by the Spirit of God and not by something we do. We're not
saved by acts and forms that we do. Look at Colossians 2,
verse 13. Colossians 2, 13. And you, being dead in your sins,
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened, hath
he made alive, together with Christ, having forgiven you all
trespasses. We were all dead in trespasses
and sins. There's none of us born of Adam
that are accepted of that. We are full of sin. It's in our
very nature. We're full of sin. And we were
in complete darkness. We were ignorant of the things
of God and we couldn't find them. Some of us were religious, some
of us very religious, some of us not very religious at all. But we didn't know God. Regardless,
we didn't know God. And what our Lord is telling
us now in Christ is that in Him, you are complete. You that believe
Him, trust Him, rest in Him, thank Him, rejoice in Him, you
are complete in Christ. There's nothing more that you
need to add besides Christ. And because of His redemption
of His people, He has sent His Holy Spirit. He did the work.
We were saved then, and we're saved now. He sends the Spirit
in what I call the day of His grace and mercy. And He sends
the Spirit to circumcise the heart, to remove that flesh,
to remove that veil, open my ear, open my eyes, give me a
new heart that hears and sees and believes the Lord Jesus Christ,
knowing that the Father sent Him. And Christ gave his life
for me on the cross. And the spirit regenerates his
people, that's a quickening then to spiritual life, through the
preaching of the gospel of Christ, wherein his voice is heard. We
may have sat under the preaching, even of the truth, for a long,
long time. But when God is pleased to save
his child, he removes that flesh, and their ears open, and they
hear Christ. and rejoice in Him. And so that
sensibleness, that description of how we see our sin and are
undone before God and now see what fools we've been and what
darkness we were in and the shame of our sin, that sensibleness
there is now manifested in that sinner. And they trust Him. They
see Him. They see Him. And they see what
they were as God sees it. And now they see themselves as
they are as God sees them in the Lord Jesus Christ. And He
keeps us there in Christ by faith. And so that peace and assurance
He gives us is that He has forgiven us all our trespasses, not for
anything we have or have not done, but for Christ's sake. And that's our hope. And that's
where we stand firm in the Lord. Trust in Christ. Believe Him.
Rest in Him. He's all you need, and God's
giving you everything you need in Him. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Our gracious Lord, we thank You for Your grace. We thank You
for Your Spirit that gave us life in Christ. We thank You
for Your Son who gave His life and secured our salvation by
His own blood. And Lord, that in When it pleases
you, you bring all these blessings of Christ our Savior to us, by
your grace, in the day of grace, to hear, to see Christ, to hear
Him, and to believe by that faith which you give to your people.
Lord, we thank you for this. We pray that you would help us
to hear. Lord, help us to always hear
that. That word, deliver us from this flesh, preserve us and keep
us in Christ, Lord, because you know our wandering hearts and
you know the deadness of this flesh. But Lord, we trust you
and we believe and know that it is your salvation only and
always. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. All right, let's be dismissed
for 15 minutes. Come back at 11.