All right, let's go back to Colossians
2. Colossians chapter 2, we'll continue what we started Sunday. We have this chapter, the words
of comfort we saw last Sunday. These words
will give you full assurance of understanding. But they're words of warning,
too. He tells us to watch out for some people, some persons
here. And so it's everything we need
right here in this chapter, words of comfort, words of warning. If you want and need to know
what this thing of salvation is all about, You listen carefully this morning.
All right? If you want and need to know
what salvation is all about, what this book is all about, you listen carefully. Verse 3
says this, "...in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge." You don't need to know when Christ is coming.
You need to know why he came the first time. I don't even know him. Nobody
needs to know. If we need to know, he'll tell
you. This whole book is written about
his first coming, why he came, who he was and why he came. That's what we need to know.
In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. These things are hid from the
wise and the prudent, but they are revealed unto babes. My favorite scripture, 1 Corinthians
1.30, says, He is made unto us wisdom, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. He is made unto us wisdom. Here's a good definition of knowledge
and wisdom. Knowledge is the horse. Wisdom
is the rider. It's an old saying. It's a good
saying. Knowledge is what you know. In this case, it's who. Knowledge is what you know. Wisdom
is what you do with what you know. Does that make sense? Knowledge is the horse, wisdom
is the rider. Scripture says Christ is made
unto us wisdom. If you see that in Christ is
all you need, saving wisdom is to trust Christ, believe Christ
only. If I had one word to describe,
or two words to describe this second chapter, it would be this. Christ only. In him. You see, in him. Or he hath. These things are all the way
through this chapter. Christ only. In him. You're complete in him. In him
dwelleth all the fullness. All you need to know. And all
you need to do is come to him, you see? He's made unto us wisdom. Listen to this. Paul in Romans 10 grieved over
his kinsmen, his countrymen, because they were going about
to try to live lives according to Old Testament law, and Paul
said, they are ignorant. In other words, they don't have
the knowledge that they need. They are ignorant, and they are
doing a foolish thing. They are not being wise, they
are being fools. They are trying to get to God by what they are
doing, by how they look. We don't get to God how we look,
we get to God how we are hidden. You hear that? We get to God
because we are hidden, covered. Not how we look, to whom we look, to what God looks. Paul said, ah, I wish they were
wise, I wish they knew that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness,
for everyone that believes it. Yes, the end of the law for righteousness. The law says, do this, and God
will accept you. Well, none can. Christ says,
believe, and God will accept you. by his grace. Ah, wisdom. Christ is made unto
us. In him are all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. You see that? All we need to
know from this book. You don't need to know Jewish
history, really. You understand, everything in
God's Word is significant. It's the Bible. But it's all pointed to Christ.
History is That's why God wrote this book to point sinners to
the One who is to come. In Christ are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. If you'll open this book up and
keep Christ in mind. will be revealed. You'll see,
you'll know, you'll know. Well, all right, verse 4, it
says, let me say one more word. Can I say one more word about
that? I need to say this, it's not my word, it's God's word. What do we need to know? Isaiah 53 says, by his knowledge. shall my righteous servant justify
many." I don't know all the law. I don't know all the law. There
are many laws I'm ignorant of. If I try to keep the law, if
I stand at one point, I'm guilty. Even the law I don't know, I'm
guilty. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? Christ does know the law. Every
jot and by his knowledge. Isn't that good news, John? By his knowledge of the law,
he's going to justify me. He's going to keep every jot
and tittle for me. Let's go home. That's all we need to hear. You understand? That's all you
need to hear. All the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. You want to be wise unto salvation?
Know the scriptures that are able to make thee wise unto salvation?
They are Christ's. Knowledge, what do I need to
know to be saved? Verse 4 says, Now this I say,
lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. You see,
those are words of comfort, weren't they? Verse 3, those are words
of comfort. Verse 4 is a word of warning.
Paul says, Now I said that, lest any man, I don't care who it
is, I said, though we are an angel from heaven, entice you, beguile you. Do you remember how Paul said
in 2 Corinthians 11, I believe it was, he said, I fear, I fear that Satan, that Satan
should beguile you, as he beguiled Eve through his subtlety. Serpent
beguile thee through his subtlety, taking God's word and twisting
it, taking God's word and making it say what it doesn't say. You
can do that just by changing an if, an and, a but, a be, adding a little word here and
there, taking away from it. Keep translating it until you've
translated away the meaning through the subtlety. He says
that your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that's in
Christ. Let me tell you what he's saying
there. Salvation is in Jesus Christ. Period. If anybody add anything to that,
now, he's enticing you with something, enticing words, you know, words
that appeal to the flesh and so forth. Well, let's go on there. It says
in Colossians 2, I'm absent. Paul was gone. He's writing a
letter. He said, I'm absent in the flesh, but I'm with you.
I'm thinking about you. And he said, I'm joy and I'm
rejoicing, he said. Look at this, verse 5, And beholding,
I see your order and steadfastness of your faith in Christ. He said, I'm with you. I'm with you. Though I am absent,
I am with you in the Spirit, and I rejoice, and I behold your
order." What does he mean there? I read somewhere that there are
over a thousand denominations of religion throughout the world. There are almost that many in
so-called Christianity. What kind of Baptist are you?
Well, let's see, you know all the denominations. Well, we're
a free will Baptist. We're a Southern Baptist. We're a Northern Baptist. We're
a Western Baptist. The reason there are so many
denominations is because everybody's got a different way Everybody
has their own interpretation of things. Right? You know there's one way to worship
God, and it's very clear from the Scripture. Very clear from
the Scripture. There's one way to conduct these
services, the order of our services. Do you know that? There's one
way. the way that it's written in
the scriptures, is the way we are to conduct our worship service,
to order our services. Is that right? One of our ladies
said to me, we need to conduct our services in such a way that
the Apostle Paul could walk in, sit down and say, this is the
way it's supposed to be done. What do we read of in scripture
as it's done in the New Testament church? in the scriptures, and we better be doing them. This better be the order of our services. Number one, lots of reading of
God's word. Lots of reading. If we don't
do anything but read God's word, we'd better do that. Second thing, singing. Yes, singing
is a vital part of worship. God's people have been singing from the beginning. They've been
singing. Our Lord, they sang a hymn, didn't
they? He sang a hymn with his apostles,
his disciples. Third thing, preaching of the
Word. Preaching of the Word. This goes
all the way back to the beginning. When we started pulpit, you know,
this is biblical. You remember who got up behind
a pulpit of wood? Ezra, the preacher, stood up
behind him. And the only purpose of this
is not to make me look good, although that's the reason they're
hidden. The more I'm hidden, the better
I look, the better Christ looks. The less you see of a man, the
more you see of Christ. That's good. Isn't it significant that they're
doing away with four pits a day? If they have one, it's a clear
plexiglass one. Why? So the man can be seen. Well, these days I don't preach
on my knees, but all you can hear is a voice. Who are you? A voice to hold the Lamb. Don't look to this man. Flesh,
a poor bit of wood, that's biblical. Preaching the Word, God pleased
by the foolishness of preaching. Oh, it's out of style now, isn't
it? It's foolishness. You don't want to hear that.
Don't preach to me. God's people say, Please preach
to me. This is what God uses. Folks, really, I'd rather not
do this. I'd rather somebody else do it. I mean that. And that's who I'm preaching
to you. Remember that article by my pastor last Sunday, that
Moses didn't want the job? Well, the last thing is prayer.
Prayer. Lots of that. That's it. That's it. We gather together
for the Lord's table, but that's it. That's order. That's the order of worship.
The less flesh, more worship. The more flesh, less worship. God is to be worshiped in what?
Spirit, and in what? Less truth, more wildfire. Right? Further a man gets away from
the Word. I thought about this. Further a man literally gets
away from the Word, the wilder he'll get. Did you hear me? I'm not trying to show off here
right now. I'm giving you an illustration.
The further I get away from that Book, I'm now in the flesh. I'm about to do the same thing.
Tell you where you want me. Behind the Word. That's what Paul meant by that.
I'm beholding your order, and I'm pleased. And steadfastness
of faith in Christ. Steadfastness of faith in Christ. My boy. Here we stand. We can do no other. I want to stand with Martin Luther. I want to stand with, who wrote,
on Christ the solid rock? Who wrote that? Yeah, whoever.
That's where I want to stand. I want to stand with him or her.
Right there. I can do with no other. All right,
look at verse 6. Now he says, "...as you have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord." Walk in him, so walk in him.
as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord." How have you received
Christ the Lord? How does one receive Christ the
Lord? You come as helpless, worthless. The world doesn't want to hear
this. You know, this is—don't call me a sinner preacher. Don't call me a sinner. You don't, you can't have Christ
if you're not a sinner. This gospel, none of the promises
apply to a person unless they're a sinner. Weak, helpless, unable to do
anything. Oh, but wait for it. Christ is not all to you if you
don't come that way. Is that how you receive Christ?
when you first heard the gospel? Huh? Is it? When you first heard
the gospel? In my hands, no price I bring,
simply to the Christ of the cross I cling. On Christ the solid
rock I stand. His oath, his covenant, his blood
support me, his blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, anything, but Christ, Christ, Christ. Then how do you
receive him? Keep hanging on right there.
Right there. Steadfastness of faith in Christ,
as you have received Christ. Like that. Keep hanging on right
there to him and him only. In him. rooted and built up in him, established
in the faith. Rooted. Is the root of the matter
in you? Is the root of the matter in you?
If you're rooted, the root of the matter is in you. What's
the root? We saw this morning, the root of faith. Christ is
the root of faith. And you're built up, you're rooted,
you come, you see Christ as all in the beginning, and you are
built up in your knowledge of him in the end. As you've been
taught, that's how you've been taught, but not by the deeds
of the law, but by the deeds of Christ. Not by feeling, but
by faith in Christ. Right there's a good word to
come for people. I feel real sinful. Your salvation
is not based on that. It's based on a man standing
up there pleading for sinners. Well, I don't always
feel like I have faith in the blood. God sees the blood. Did you hear that? I don't always
feel like I have It's not based on you feeling or looking or
seeing or... It's God seeing the blood. It's
the papal saying. Rooted, built up in him. That's
what it means to be built up in Christ. Learn more of him. Established, established in the
faith. The faith. Established, established
in the faith. Don't take one step anywhere
off of that rock. Let me give you this old illustration.
I've got some new people, people that hadn't been here in the
last, that weren't here seven or eight years ago when I first
told this illustration. I worked on the railroad, and
my wife used to fix me lunches, plate lunches. I was the envy
of every Man on the railroad, they were eating bologna and
I was eating roast beef and mashed potatoes. That's when we were
first married. Newly married. No, she'd have
done it for me. But anyway, I'd bring a plate
lunch, roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, whatever we had
the night before, and heat it up. Well, I would put it on the
table or somewhere and wait for lunchtime to come around. Well,
one day I brought one of those wonderful plates. Oh, I was looking
forward. I was thinking about that plate
the whole day at work. And I came in at lunchtime. Oh, boy. And I looked on the table. And I lifted up that foil and
it was black, covered with ants. I mean you couldn't see the plate
for all the ants. And those ants were, they had
called all their neighbors and friends to come eat my lunch. They had a trail of ants down
that table, you know, across the floor and out the door. I got furious. That's my plate. You have ruined my food. This is God's work. God made
it. Mankind has absolutely ruined
it. And God is angry with the wicked
every day. what is intended for God's glory,
man uses for himself and desecrates it. Man calls good, bad, evil,
evil, good. Well, I got angry, and I took
that plate lunch and went outside with it and threw it in the garbage
can, plate and all. And I got a fusee flare. Didn't say flare, but some of
you might think I'm talking about roses or carnations. Fusee. Fusee. Flare. And I struck that
thing and I set that trash can on fire. Everything in it. Ants, plate, food, everything. And then, I wasn't satisfied. I was going to burn every ant
I saw in my sight. And I went about that yard burning
every ant up I could find. They spoiled my luck. My luck, prepared for me. Isn't that a clear picture of
what man's done? No, but wait a minute. I sat down on a bench, and I thought I'd burned all
the ants up. And I looked down, and there's an ant. at my feet. Well, I said, you're going to
get it, buddy. You're just like all the rest.
And I started to get up and go get me another musician. And
that ant crawled under a rock. And I said, you stay right there. I mean, salvation was going before
my eyes then. When he crawled under that rock,
I started crying. I said, that's me. A worthless, no-good sinner like
all the rest of this sin-filled world, and God's going to burn
it up? Why do you think God's going to burn this world? It's
not the love of God. He said last week, it's the holiness
of God, the justice of God, the anger, the hatred, the wrath
of God abideth on the ungodly. And that's me. Scripture says, all the way through
Scripture, it says, there's a rock. There's a hiding place. If you need one, I'll put you
in it. And this consuming fire won't
consume you. Do you know who that rock is?
That rock is Christ. And I told that answer, Buddy,
you stay under that rock and you're safe. If you get out,
I'll burn your bottom. It's that simple as I can make
it. Our Lord told illustrations like
that, that you stay hidden and you're safe. under the blood,
under the blood, under the blood, under the rock, in Christ, in
Christ, in Christ. What's your hope center? Christ.
You'd better say it. What's your hope center? What's
your righteousness person? Christ. Where's your—what are you going
to offer to God? Christ. That good news? That good advice? Ah, boy, that will make you abound
with thanksgiving. Verse 7, after you are established
in the faith, hidden in the rock, as you have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. And I'm not going to be able
to finish this chapter. If you stay with me the next six
months, we'll finish this. But he says, now you beware,
verse 8, I do want to deal with these next three verses. Beware
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. Yes,
I know it's Christ, but. Ain't no buts. No buts to it. Beware lest any
man spoil you. The word spoiled there, we use
it differently. It's what you do to your children,
that's why you spoil them. That means you give, and give,
and give, and give, and give, and give, until they're just
rotten. They're spoiled. That's the way we use the term.
The word spoiled here means you are their spoil. It's like when
an army goes into a country and just kills everybody, and they
take the spoils. Instead of that, they take the
booty. They take the goods. They take everything for themselves.
That's what he's saying. That's the spoil here. He doesn't
want to spoil you. He says, beware of men. Well,
they're not out for the salvation of your soul. They want your
body so they can count it. They want your money so they
can count that too. That's what he's saying. Beware
of them unless they spoil you. And you know how you can get
more bodies and more money? Don't call anybody a sinner.
Right? Tell them how much God loves them. a menopause society or something. Make them a minister or something,
and then you'll get them. Yes, you will. It's funny, isn't
it? That's because that's what they
do. That's how they keep bodies in the pews and monies in the
coffers. They're spoiling you. Paul said,
it's not you I want, not yours I want. What I get out of you,
I want you to know Christ, he said. Boil you through philosophy and
vain deceit, empty deceit, after the tradition of men," see there?
After the rudiments, and this is important because he says
it twice. After the rudiments, so that is the elements of the
world and not after Christ, because in him dwelleth all the fullness.
You are complete in him. Would you turn it over to Mark
7 if you didn't read it like I told you to write it down and
We're going to read it now. Mark chapter 7. Paul tells us
twice here, the rudiments, the elements of
the world. Beware, let's say, Strasbourg, you, of talking about
the tradition of the elements of the world. He said, well, if you're dead
in Christ, are you subject to ordinances, touch not, taste
not, and so forth, rudiments, elements, if things are a shadow
and so forth? Isn't religion taken up with
outward things mostly? Isn't it? It really is. is flesh. God's worship of the Spirit.
Well, look at this. Mark 7 says this in verse 7,
Christ said, now this is Christ talking. Let's read verse 6. He said,
Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written
This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is
far from me. In vain, albeit in vain, do they
worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." In
other words, setting forth the commandments of men. It doesn't
matter whether they find it in God's Word. It doesn't matter.
This is what we believe. Verse 8, laying aside the commandment
of God. Laying aside the word of God,
they hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and so
forth. Verse 9, he says this four times. He said, under their
full will, you reject the commandment of God, or frustrate, but to
keep your own tradition. Verse 13, making the word of
God of no effect through your tradition. And then look at the next two
verses. Our Lord said something that just shocked these Pharisees.
When he called all the people unto him, he said, You listen
to me. You hearken unto me, every one
of you, and understand that there is nothing, no thing from without a man. entering into him can defile
him. Does that shock you? Now, this shocks the religious world. But Christ said, Now the things
which come out of him, that's what defiles him. If any man
hath ears to hear, let him Well, the apostles later on got him
inside and they were shocked, too. Got him inside and said,
Lord, what did you mean by that? And you know, people run wild
with that. Well, does that mean we can just get... He meant what he said. Hey, let me give you an illustration.
Why do people get drunk? It's that old fire water, that
old demon liquor. That's what it is. We can just
do away with that. Man gets drunk because he wants
to. And nobody holds a gun to his
head while he drinks that second, that third, that fourth. He drinks
and gets drunk because he is a drunk. Right? It's a choice. people argue today, and beware
lest anybody spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. Well,
God made me this way. I'm homosexual, but God made
me that way. God made one man. God made one man. The rest came from him. God didn't
make anybody a sinner. In Adam, we all died. The fact
of the matter is, we're all born with the propensity to do any
sin. And but by the grace and the restraining grace of God,
we'll all be whatever. Don't blame God for it. Now,
beware lest anybody spoil you through philosophy or vain deceit, like that. Salvation is not in meat and
drink and dress and outward actions. Salvation is in Jesus Christ. I'll just leave it right there.
Shouldn't I? Do I have to explain that? That's
what Christ said. And he, later on in this chapter,
he said, Let no man therefore judge you in meat and drink.
And I'm not giving anybody a license to go out. That's not it at all. That's
what people argue. Well, that's been there for,
I'm just going to go. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Old things pass away. A man whom God saves, a woman
whom God saves, has to admit, I was a drunk, or I was this,
or I was that, because I wanted to be, because I chose to be. Right? But then, later on, when
God deals with them, they say, Hey, I don't want to go do this
and do that. Why? Because of God, by his grace. Because of God. That's why I
chose Christ. Not me. If he left me alone for a minute,
I'd be laying in the gutter again. Isn't that right? If he left me alone for a minute,
I'd fall. That's why all the examples of God's people in the
scripture of sinning, that's why they're there. To show that
we're just flesh and blood sinners saved by grace. By grace. That's in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
One hundred percent. We're sinners when we came to
Christ. We're sinners right now. This man standing, this pope,
is a chief. And we'll be sinners to the day
we die. And sinners need one thing—mercy. And that mercy is in one word—Christ. And that's the gospel. That's
the gospel. All right. Joe, what was that
number? 272. My hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus Christ's blood and righteousness. I dare not,
dare not, dare not. See if you can sing this for
the first time. I dare not trust the sweetest best feeling, my
strongest faith, that holy link, completely, of the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let's sing a couple of verses. Verse 72. Sing the first and
the third stanza, first and the third. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
strain, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. And though His covenants support
me in the whammy flood, When all around my soul give way,
He there is all my hope can say. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. Like you and your dismays.