Our text will be found in Colossians
chapter two. But I want to read a couple of
familiar verses from Romans 1, if you would like to turn there
and follow along. Colossians 2, mark that. And then, first of all, we'll
read from Romans 1. Paul, the apostle, says here
in Romans chapter 1, concerning some, verse fifteen, I'm sorry,
verse eighteen, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. He says there are some who hold
the truth Yet in unrighteousness they hold this truth. Yet in unrighteousness. Then
he says in verse 25, he says some of these have changed the
truth of God into a lie. And the Apostle Peter says in
2 Peter 3, he says much the same things. Those that are unlearned
and unstable do wrest the scripture to their own destruction. Paul
says here in verse 25, they changed the truth of God into a lie and
worshiped and served the creature, that is, man, more than the creator,
God, who is blessed forever. Now doesn't that sum up modern
religion today? Modern religion, which is more
concerned with man, man's thoughts, man's ways, man's wills, man's
wants, man's wishes, rather than the worship and study of God
himself. Paul said in a letter to the
Philippians, You may remember the verse, he said, all seek
their own and not the things which are of Jesus Christ. All seek their own and not the
things which are Jesus Christ. Most everyone, and I'm speaking
of religion primarily, but most everyone is more interested in
their own thoughts and opinions their own will, their own wants
and wishes, their denomination, their church creeds, their church
doctrines, their prayer books, their literature, their traditions,
the rudiments and practices, their disciplinary rules, rather
than the pure, sincere, simple, and honest worship and study
of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Isn't that true? Most of the people you run into
and talk with, that's true of them. They're more interested
in things having to do with man's will and man's creeds and man's
traditions and so forth. Now, Paul sums it up here in
Colossians chapter 2, which is our text and the title of this
message. Colossians chapter 2. There are
many which profess to be members of the body or the church. You
have a so-called church on every street corner, just about, and
many profess to be members of the body or the church of Jesus
Christ who are guilty of this. Verse 19, they're not holding
the head. They're not holding the head. And that's the title of this
message. They're not worshiping, not exalting, not setting forth,
not exalting, not following, not studying, not glorifying,
not taking up with Jesus Christ, who is the head of the church,
but would rather talk about the body. Isn't it so? It's evident
by your conversation with most people. What is it that they
would rather talk about? When you enter into a religious
conversation with people, what do they automatically turn to? Beggarly elements. Right? The
rudiments of the world. Traditions. Denominational practices. You know, these things. They
talk about what? The church. The body. The creature. They're not interested. You know exactly, some of you
have been confronted with this lately. They're not talking about the
head. They're not holding up the head. They're not exalting.
Terry, they're not studying, following, exalting. Wanting
to reveal to men the head. Worshipping the head. But they're
rather more interested in the body. But you, brethren, Paul said
in one place, he said, you, brethren, have not so learned Christ. or
receive Christ, you've not so learned it. Those who have truly
seen the glorified and exalted Lord Jesus Christ by saving faith,
you see how in verse 18 of chapter 1, verse 16, chapter 1, verse
16, you who have truly seen the glorified and exalted Lord, this
is what you're interested in, or rather who. For by him were
all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers. All things were created by Christ
and for Christ. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist, and he is the head of the body,
the church, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He must have the preeminence. When you've
learned Christ, that's your creed, isn't it? You ask for a church
creed? He must have all the preeminence. He must increase. We must decrease. That's John the Baptist's creed,
wasn't it? They asked him, Who are you? What do you think? What's
on your mind? What's your denomination? Him. Behold the Lamb. Well, what's
your body of divinity? What body of divinity do you
study? Well, Colossians 2, verse 9, is my body of divinity. In
him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That's
my body of divinity, Christ. Not holding the head, that's
what our religious generation is guilty of. And those who have
been truly taught Jesus Christ and have saving faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ They know and are persuaded that in all things
he must have preeminence. Why? Because he is all. He is Lord. He is the head. And
without him, the body is a big zero. Nothing. Without him, the
body can do nothing. Right? We don't do anything for
him, per se. Right? Without him, We can do
nothing. Anything we do, it's like Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 15 10, it's by the grace of God I am
what I am. The grace of God did work within me. All right, let's
begin here in verse 6 of chapter 2. And browse through here. Verse 6. Now he says, As you
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in
him. As you have received Christ Jesus
The Lord. Now, you can't have a Savior
and then later have a Lord. That's not the way it's done.
That's not the way salvation comes. I challenge you sometime
to get your concordance out and look up every time where the
two names are mentioned together. And you'll always find that it's
in this order, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, every single time. The Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because the first thing in salvation
that God brings a man to is to bow to the sovereign king, the
sovereign Lord and ruler, Jesus Christ, our Master. The first
thing God does is cause us to bow to a holy, sovereign king,
And then that in turn shows us our sinfulness, and then we repent
of our sins, right? And then we sue for mercy, or
that is, ask and beg for mercy. Then God saves us. Brings the
good news to us. So as you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, walk in it. How does one receive Christ Jesus
the Lord? Does that bring a scripture first
to mind, anyone? As many as received Him? How
does one receive? Do you make your decision? Is
that how it's done? Is it done by the will of the
flesh, by the will of man? Man exercises his free will and
accepts Jesus as his personal Savior, receives Him as Lord
into his life. Is that it? How does one receive
the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, I'll read it to you. John
1 verse 12 and 13, as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name, which, or these that received him, these that believe
on his name, were born, not of blood, that is by heritage, not
because they grew up in church, not of the will of the flesh,
or that is it was not any decision upon their part, not decisional
regeneration, not of the will of man, or that is, they weren't
coaxed into it or persuaded in it by some smooth-talking preacher,
but of God. Of God. We are born of God. That is, this thing, this thing
of salvation was born in the heart, in the mind, the will
and the purpose of God before the world began, right? And He
elected He predestinated a people and whom he did predestinated,
he called. Right? He called. The ones who
receive God's Son are the ones who receive an effectual call
from God. The ones who receive God's Son
are the ones who have received the call, saying, you will believe
my son, won't you? Yes, Lord. thy people shall be
made with them." So all those who receive Christ are those
who have received this effectual call, right? None but them. And that call is first this. This is the way the Lord calls
every man, every woman, every young person. The first thing
he says is this, every knee will bow and every tongue confess. That's what? that he's Lord. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry. Bow the knee and confess that
he's Lord. And I remind you what it says
in Isaiah 45, the last verse, Surely shall one say, In the
Lord I have righteousness. He's the Lord my righteousness.
He's my only acceptance with this holy God. He's my only mediator,
my only intercessor. Bow the knee, and with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made, that he is," what? Not just Jesus, but he's Lord
to the glory of the Father. Right? That's scriptural. That
is the scriptural way of salvation, the way God does things. And
we receive Him. How does one receive Him? Well,
they receive Him by this new birth. God brings it about. And
then we receive him in all of his offices. Here are three of
them. Anybody name them? Prophet, priest,
and king. We receive him, first of all,
as that prophet whom Moses spoke of. You remember the woman at
the well who said, well, when that prophet that Moses spoke
of, Messiah, when he's come, he'll tell us all things what
Christ said. I had to speak under the ham.
I am that prophet. What does that mean? Prophet.
That is, he is the one, in him, our text says, are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He's that prophet, the only true
prophet. He's the one from whom all the
prophets get their wisdom, because he is wisdom personified, isn't
it? Proverbs 8. He is the truth. He said, I am
the truth. I am the truth. I am that prophet.
You want to know anything? come to Christ. He is that prophet. He is that priest. He is, Vicki,
he is the great high priest. He's not just a high priest like
Aaron and Levi and so forth. He's the great high priest. He's
God's high priest. He is that one who entered into
the holy place by himself, entered into that holy place not made
with hands, and he entered in with blood, but not the blood
of bulls and goats, right, but with his own precious blood.
And he's the one that made that one sacrifice for sin forever,
and he's the one that sat down at the right hand of God saying,
it's finished. I've ended all sacrifice. This
is the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. This is the one blood that can
actually take away sins. He is the great high priest who
offered his own blood for the remission of sins. And there
are no more priests. He's that one great high priest
to put away the priesthood, right? Now he says all believers are
the priesthood, all believers, because we minister unto him,
the great high priest. We're the ministers of the sanctuary,
or that is, the outside of the camp. He's the one sitting in
on the Holy of Holies, John, isn't he? We're just a common
priest, you know. ministering about the outer core.
He's on the inside with God. He's got the blood. The only
thing that will remit our sin. Take him away. And we're all
kings and priests. He's prophet, priest, and king. King. He is the king at whose
feet we bow and at whose feet we sit and at whose feet we receive
all from. We're beggars at the feet of
the king. That's all. And that's the sovereign
Christ you have heard and you have believed in this place,
isn't it? That's the sovereign Christ you believe? Now, as you
have therefore received Christ Jesus as the Lord, walk in it. Look at this. Go on. Verse seven. Rooted and built up in him, established
in the faith. Rooted. Let's just take each
one of these words very briefly. He said it back in chapter one,
grounded and settled, rooted. You know what it means to take
root, don't you? It means you're grounded. You dug down deep and
you built it on the what? On the rock. On the rock. Grounded, settled. Those roots
have wrapped around that rock. You're not going anywhere. You're
not going to be moved away. You're going to be untossed by
every wind of doctrine. untossed, unmoved by every wind
of doctrine that comes along, or anything or anyone that doesn't
hold up or hold to the head. Right? You're rooted, grounded,
settled, confirmed, persuaded, rooted on the rock Christ Jesus. And anybody or anything that
comes along that tries to shift you away with every little wind,
every little subtle breeze that comes along that goes over your
head in some other direction other than pointing you to Christ,
no, I'm not moving. You're not going to move me away
from my only hope. Built up. Paul said in Ephesians 4, it's
one of my favorite verses, 4.15, he says, growing up in Christ
in all things, which is the head, even Christ, growing up in Christ
in all things. And Peter said we're to grow
in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. That means grow more
appreciative of his grace and grow more dependent upon his
grace and grow in knowledge of Christ, for of him, through him
and to him are all things. Now go on. He says, rooted, built
up or growing up in Christ, learning all about Christ, not all about
Him, but learning much of Christ, who He is, what He did, where
He is now, what that means to us, how we're to act accordingly. Established in the faith. Established
in the faith as you have been taught. Established in the faith. as you have been taught. Three
words could well comprehend what we believe here, our faith. You want to sum up the creed,
our creed? It could be found in Colossians 3, verse 11, the
last part of Colossians 3, 11. This is the faith. You want to
know what saving faith is, Terry? You want to know what saving
faith is? You want to find out if somebody has saving faith?
If this is where they stand and they can say no other. Christ
is all. Christ is all. I like that poor
huckster. When they came to him, what do
you know? What do you believe? He said, I'm just a poor sinner
and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and all. He's all my wisdom, all my righteousness,
all my sanctification, all my redemption. He's all I need. All I need. Established in the
faith, which is Christ is all in my salvation and in life. In life. And he says we're to
abound, we ought to abound with thanksgiving at the thought of
that. Established in the faith as you've been taught, verse
seven, abounding therein with thanksgiving. You know, God has,
he's passed by a lot of people with this simple knowledge Isn't
that a simple creed? Christ is all. You know, he's
passed by the wise and the prudent. He said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the
wise and prudent. What things? Just the simplicity
that's in Christ. That salvation is totally in
Christ. You don't do anything. It's in Christ. He's hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and they're going about to establish
their own righteousness. And they're ignorant. of the
blessed fact that it's been done. Righteousness has been established,
and it's there for the asking. And we ought to abound in thanksgiving
that he's done this for us, revealed this to us, that he passed by
others. The gospel came to you. Verse eight. Now you beware,
he said. Now listen carefully as we go
through there. You beware. Lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and so forth. Spoil you. Let's take that word
just for a second. You know what the word spoil
means? Now, I know you know what it means in reference to fruit
getting old or food spoiling and rottening. And that happens
to us too through the preaching of these false prophets. But the principal meaning here
is when a man comes into a village or a town and he ransacks it
and gets rich or pockets everything, robs and pillages and takes for
himself from the people. Spoils. The spoils are his, right? People. People are preachers'
spoils. Did you know that? Sure you did.
Members, proselytes, baptisms are the spoils of preachers. They are feathers in their caps.
They are money in their pocket. They're the spoils for preachers. They're the spoils of those who
make merchandise of men's souls. And there are many. And Paul
says here, he warns the church, beware lest any man spoil you
or feed off of you. And he will indeed spoil your
soul or make it stinking or rotten and unacceptable to God Almighty. Even though it may sound good
and so forth, it'll cause you to loathe, it'll cause God to
loathe your soul through your self-righteousness. He says,
Beware now, lest any man spoil you or make merchandise of you
or ruin you through his philosophy and vain deceit. And there are
many philosophies of preachers preaching today, but the philosophy
of man's worth, that is the principle and primary preaching that goes
on today. The philosophy of man's worth, that you are somebody. And you're valuable to God. God needs you. God wants you. As a matter of fact, God has
a wonderful plan for your life. Now, you're so powerful, your
will is so unlimited, that won't you let God have His way, you
little God you? After all, He needs you. He can't
do anything without you. He has no hands but yours, no
feet but yours. Man's worth, man's power, that's
vain deceit. It's philosophy of man. The philosophy
of God's love. Many people like to talk about
God's love, don't they? But not in a sovereign sense,
do they? Very few people talk about the
love of God in a sovereign and a holy sense, right? God's love
is holy love. The Lord loveth righteousness
and hateth iniquity. God's love is sovereign. He will
be gracious to whom he will. He'll love whom he will. Right? It's sovereign. It's unconditional,
too. He doesn't love based upon the
merit of any creature because there's no merit there to love.
The philosophy of Christ's universal atonement so to speak. The philosophy that God loves
you, Christ died for you. Now, why don't you just receive
him, accept him, make your decision for him? It's all set, waiting
on you. Christ's universal atonement,
which really doesn't atone for anything. Really, your decision
is what makes the atonement, right? Isn't your decision what
makes the blood effectual? That's what they say. That's
their philosophy and main deceit. You know what makes the blood
effectual? The Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God is
who applies the blood to all of those whom God chose and elected.
And then there's the philosophy of universal love and then the
universal church and the brotherhood of all faiths, you know. Doesn't
that sound sweet? I mean, after all, we're all
taking different roads, and we'll all get to heaven. We all believe
there's some truth in all religions. You know, there's a philosophy
of there's some truth and some good in all religions. As long
as a man is sincere, as long as a man is worshiping God as
he knows Him, then he'll get to heaven, and it doesn't matter.
That's philosophy of man in vain deceit, and it'll ruin you because
Christ said, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. By me. The philosophy of denominational
codes and creeds and rules and regulation, the list goes on.
And he says, look here, after the tradition of men, philosophy
in vain deceit, after the tradition of men. Now, I've showed you
this many times, but turn back to Mark chapter 7 again with
me. And you need to mark these verses
very well in your Bible for reference, because Christ
four times here in Mark chapter 7, in the space of just over
a dozen verses, four times he makes mention of these traditions
of men. Now, men and women everywhere
are very careful and very strict in their creeds, in their ceremonies,
and in their catechisms and so forth. But Christ said they have
omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy,
and faith, right? And I'll go into those four things
right now, but they've omitted the weightier matters of the
law, but they're very strict. The tithe meant anus and coming
and do this and do that according to church creeds and traditions
and so forth. Wouldn't dare step out of line
according to the church's rules and practices, right? The tradition of men. Mark chapter
7, our Lord says in verse 7, he says, in vain do they worship
me, or that is just a vain show. They pretend to worship me, they
draw near to me with their lips, but their heart is far from worshiping
me, because this is what they do. In vain, or in a vain show,
they worship me, teaching for doctrines, or for the Word of
God, the commandments of men. Right? Look at verse 8. He said, They lay aside the commandment
of God, or the word of God, and hold the tradition of men. It's the washing of pots and
cups and many other things. Verse 9. And he said unto them
again, Full well. You reject or frustrate, or as
Peter said, I quoted it to you, they arrest the scriptures. twist it, pervert it, turn them,
the commandments of God, the Word of God, the plain teachings
of Scripture that you may keep your own tradition. They twist
and rest the Word of God to make it coincide with their tradition. Right? They wouldn't dare break
the tradition. You might be ostracized from,
quote, the church or the denomination. Verse thirteen, they make the
Word of God of no effect. They've weakened it and diluted
it and twisted it and perverted it and turned it into what has
no meaning at all anymore. It just has, it means what anybody
wants it to mean, right? They've got so many translations
So many perverted translations and interpretations of it now
that nobody knows what it's saying. And so, therefore, it's up to
the preacher or the head of the church of the denominational
ruling polity, ecclesiastical polity, to condemn the practice of homosexuality. Isn't that wonderful? I'm so
pleased they did that because otherwise I wouldn't have known.
My soul. They make the Word of God of
no effect through your tradition which you have delivered and
many such like things you do. Do you remember this verse over
in Isaiah 29? The fear of God is taught by
the precepts of men. Isaiah 29, 13 says that. The fear of God is taught by
the precepts of men. What is that? No fear at all. Right? Isn't that what Paul said
in Romans 3? No fear of God at all. You hear Do you hear or
run into any true fear and godly fear in worship today before
a thrice holy God who will by no means clear the guilty, a
just and holy God? Do you? No talk of that. There's not even much talk of
sin. What are some of the traditions of men? He says they spoil you
through the tradition of men. What are some of the traditions
of men? You know well that tradition. Tradition you might have some
family traditions. It's something that has been
passed down from generation to generation. Have you ever played
that silly little game. Or you all sit around, you get
a bunch of people and you sit around a circle. It's called
gossip. And you sit around the circle
and you take up anything. You take a passage out of a book
or take some well-known saying or whatever and whisper it in
the ear of the person beside you. And they in turn whispered
to the person beside them and so forth all around the room.
And then finally, when it gets back to the original gossiper,
it doesn't anywhere resemble what it started out as. This is what happens to traditions
and things handed down through the years. OK. Many of them,
Terry, started from the Old Testament Levitical laws and so forth from
God. Good things. All right. And they've
been handed down through the years and pared and turned and
twisted. We don't like that. And thrown
out. That's too tough. We'll throw
that out. We'll keep this and hand it down. And they say, well,
that's a little too tough. We'll throw this one out and
hand it down. God gave. And until finally they're
so distorted and so contrary to Scripture and so out of context
they don't have any bearing whatsoever on the Word of God. Matter of
fact they're totally contrary to the Word of God. God gave Scripture says sundry
or many and various laws for various reasons primarily Many
of the laws were types, pictures, symbols, practical sanitation,
etc., primarily to point to Christ. But the Levitical laws were many.
Just go back some time and casually read through Leviticus, and you'll
see how that—Ellen, oh my, it was so strict, so strict. Everything had to be strictly
observed. From the minute you awoke to
the minute you went to bed, it had to be strict observance of
rules, regulations. What you did, what you touched,
what you drank, what you ate, where you went, what you said. And under fear of judgment and
condemnation. That's the reason Paul said in
one place, you that desire to be under the law, you must not
hear it. Didn't he? You that desire to
be under the law that is Levitical law, you must not hear it because
there are too many and they're too strict or else you wouldn't
desire to be under it. There's a reason I say for the
most part people take what they want and leave the rest, right?
That's not the way it's done. If you're going to be saved by
the law, you're a debtor to do it all. Isn't that what he said?
Now, the various Levitical and ceremonial laws had a time and
a purpose. Everything has a time and a purpose.
They had a time and a purpose. Jesus Christ fulfilled all of
those laws for us. I'm happy to say I've got good
news for you. Jesus Christ fulfilled all of
the Levitical and ceremonial laws for us and put an end to
them. And now Christ is our lawgiver,
right? Jesus Christ is our lawgiver.
And in the words of his earthly mother, whatsoever he saith unto
you, do that. Nothing more, nothing less. Whatever he says, do that. John Calvin made this great statement. This is worth copying. He said, Everything that makes
for right living is found in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
You want a law to live by? Live by the royal law of Christ.
Didn't he say all the laws fulfilled in one word? The royal law of
Christ. Everything that makes for right
living is found in the teaching of Jesus Christ and his apostles
as he handed them down to them, right? The apostles didn't say
anything other than what they heard from Jesus Christ, right? Listen, the Old Testament laws, Levitical,
ceremonial, are not binding. on us. Do you hear me? And you can repeat that. The
Old Testament laws are not binding on us. Not binding. You say,
what about the moral law? Or the Deca law? The Ten Commandments? What about it? Only the spirit
of it. The spirit of it. We're not under the letter of
the law to be saved. The letter killeth, right? The strict observance of the
letter, dotting every I and crossing every T, it must, it shall be
perfect to be accepted. This do and live. That is no more, Ella. Christ
did, now we live. The moral law is only binding
in spirit to us. And it's still not binding on
us in a sense that we must keep it perfectly to be saved. We
want to, but no man or woman can keep that law perfectly.
Because Christ magnified it, didn't He? What does it mean
to magnify something? That means to really make it
large and reveal what it said. He said, You've heard it said.
I know you all, He said to those Pharisees, I know that you know
the law. Well, you're lawyers. doctors,
lawyers, Pharisees, Sadducees. You've heard it said by them
of old time, Moses, thou shalt not commit adultery. Yes, and
they say we haven't. We're all squeaky clean. None
of us here have committed adultery. Christ says let me magnify that
a little bit. He said let me really expound
unto you what God requires. to look on a woman, to lust after
her in your heart, is to commit adultery. Who can say they've not lusted
after a woman in their heart? And it could be that's what Christ
was writing those particular things in the sand that day when
those Pharisees came in and they started filing out one by one.
Their conscience pricked them. Now, we don't want to do away
with the law. We don't say any, make any disparaging
comments concerning God's law, but what I'm saying is Christ
fulfilled the law as a means of justification, salvation,
acceptance with God Almighty. He fulfilled it all. And you
don't have to, to be accepted by God. You'll want to be holy
and righteous out of love and gratitude to him, but you don't
have to do it in order to be saved. What kind of ceremony or strict
observance did Christ and the apostles hand down? Huh? Let
me, I want to show you this quickly. I've got five more minutes and
I promise you, I'll get you out of here. It's going to be a 45
minute message. Look over at Acts chapter 15
with me. Acts chapter 15. What kind of ceremony or strict
observance or laws did Christ and the apostles hand down? What
kind of traditions? Well, I looked it up, and three
times the Apostle Paul mentioned the traditions which you have
received of us. Do you remember? In 1 Corinthians
11.2, 2 Thessalonians 2.15, 2 Thessalonians 3.6, Paul talks about the tradition
or ordinances which they received from the apostles or handed down. Tradition. He does mention the
word, Max. This is where they handed those traditions down,
right here. Acts 15, look at verse 23. Here's what they handed
down to the people. They wrote letters, verse 23
of Acts 15, to them after this manner. The apostles and elders
and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the
Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, all the known churches
at that time, established churches. For as much as we have heard
that certain which went out from us, that is Jews, have troubled
you with words subverting your souls, Paul said they spoil you,
saying you must be circumcised and keep the law. We didn't give
any such commandment. You see that, sir? It seemed
good unto us. This is all it seemed good unto
us. The elders of the church receiving
it from Christ, being assembled with one accord to send chosen
men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul. men that have
hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And we have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell
you the same things, no more, no less, by mouth. For it seemed
good to the Holy Spirit, look at it, verse twenty-eight, and
to us to lay upon you no greater burden than those necessary things,
that you abstain from meats offered to idols and from from things
strangled, or any semblance of idolatry, that is, and from fornication,
from which, if you keep yourself, you shall do well, good-bye." Wait a minute, what about the
Sabbath? What about this? Good-bye, fare ye well. Is that it? So beware, brethren, Paul says,
all those who teach for a doctrine, or that is the law of God, the
commandments and tradition of men. Let's hurry back in our
text. After the rudiments of the world,
the rudiments, beggarly elements, touch not, taste not, handle
not, he said over in verse twenty-one, rudiments which are going to
perish with the using, go in, Christ said that, and go in the
mouth, come out to grab, Kingdom of Heaven is not meat and drink.
It doesn't have anything to do with your soul relationship before
God. It doesn't have a thing to do with what you put in your
mouth. Now, drunkenness is a sin, and I advocate it. I'm not even
implying that you can go get drunk. Only a fool would take
that and fly with it. But all I'm saying is sin is
not in a bottle or a box. In a thing, sin is a principle. And he says, Beware lest they
spoil you through philosophy, vain deceit, the tradition of
men, the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in
Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. All
fullness. What does that mean, Terry? What
he said. All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
All authority. I'm the supreme commander. I
am your Lord and master. You want to know something? Come
to me. Don't go to that pretended head of the church. Come to me.
Isn't that what he says, Evan? God in a body, the body of a
man. He says, Come to me. And you're
complete. C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E. Complete in Him. Needing nothing
and no one. except as it or they point you
to Christ, because he's the head of all. You're complete in him
who is the head of all principalities and power. He's the Lord. He's
the sovereign king. He's the law and the lawgiver.
And whatsoever and whosoever does not line up with Christ
and his doctrine is a liar and is anti-Christ. And steer clear
of it. Now he says these things he's
done for you verse eleven through. Fourteen he's circumcised you. Not with the hand with hands. But in the heart. You remember
when Paul said in Philippians three we're the true circumcision.
We worship God in spirit rejoicing Christ Jesus but no compass in
the flesh. We're buried with Christ in baptism. And we're
risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who's
raised us from the dead, raised him from the dead. And you being
dead in your sins and uncircumcised in your flesh, he quickened together
with Christ. That is, we were dead sinners,
guilty, condemned by the law to die. Christ came, fulfilled
the law, established righteousness, died on the cross as a substitute
for me, shed his precious blood for the remission of my sins.
And when Christ died, I died. And now, because Christ lives,
I live. And all charges against me have been dropped. Right? You can't charge a dead man. My sins, he said, have been nailed
to the cross. Verse 14, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances, all the Levitical and ceremonial laws against me
that said, you're not doing it, you're guilty, nailed to the
cross. Christ said, I have. I have. And I've taken them with me. All charges were laid on him.
The sentence was carried out. Verse 15, he spoiled principalities
and powers. Satan has no claims on me. Principalities and powers have no claim on me. other than
Christ who is the head of all principalities and power. So
he says, now let no man therefore judge you. Is that what you're
reading, Brother Terry? Let no man therefore judge you
in meat and drink in respect of the holy day or the new moon
or the get a load of this, or of the Sabbath. Do you find anywhere in the scriptures
where Christ commanded to meet on the first day of the week
and observe it in the same way that the Old Testament believers
observed the seventh day of the week? Huh? You find that anywhere?
You find anywhere where the apostles
commanded that we would meet on the first day of the week
and abstain from everything? That nobody can work on the first
day of the week? You find that anywhere in the epistles? On
the contrary, I see in Hebrews 4, which they take and try to
use as their proof text for a Sabbath, I find where it says, Christ
is our rest, our Sabbath. He's our Sabbath. All right, let no man therefore
judge him. Meat or drink, respect of a holy
day, of a Sabbath, those are just shadows, things to You've
got to summon the substance in a person, in a person, the body
of Christ, the real thing. So let no man beguile you or
fool you or judge and condemn or manipulate you in a voluntary
humility, or that is, influence you by their pretended piety
and their religious observances, whether they look and talk and
act and this and that and the other, and really influence you
into thinking, well, maybe there's something to what they know. Let no man beguile you in some
voluntary humility and recruit you as a volunteer, a proselyte,
worshipping of angels." What does that mean? Saints, dead
saints? Or preachers, famous preachers? Don't worship a preacher.
"...intruding in those things which he hath not seen, puffed
up by his fleshly mind." They're not holding the head. Case closed. Message ended. Anything or anyone or anybody
that's taken up with anything or anyone or anybody other than
Christ, pointing you to Christ and Him alone, to follow Him,
to trust Him, to believe Him, to commit to Him, it's not of
God. Beware of it. Steer clear of
it. Stay away from it. It's philosophy, vain deceit,
traditions of men. And they spoil you. They make
a spoil of you. We're not here to count numbers,
are we? Or count heads. We're here to
count blessings. Count blessings. And we're only
here to count one head. There's only one head worth counting
anyway, isn't it? Because there is only one head.
All right, stand with me. Our Lord, we thank you so much
for your Word. It's so complete. It's so exact. It's so clear. All your words,
as you said in the Proverb, Chapter 8, you said all your words are
plain to him that understand it. There's nothing forward or
perverse in them. They're all clear. very, very
clear because you've made them clear to us. And, Lord, deliver
us from clouding the Scriptures. Don't let us twist or distort
or pervert the Scriptures. We want to preach and teach all
the counsel of God and keep back nothing that's profitable to
the people. And, Lord, I believe we can say that in all honesty,
in all honesty, By Your grace, by Your mercy, we here in this
little group, we long to do one thing and one thing only, and
that is glorify our God in the preaching of Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Determined not to know anything,
say, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Whom to know is to have eternal
life. Appoint us to Christ. Give us
faith in Christ. Cling to Him. Trust Him. And
keep us from the evil one and his cohorts. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.