Now we'll look at that passage
that Brother Mark just read. We're going to look at the last
verses of this second chapter of Colossians, actually beginning
at verse 18. And the title of the message
is, Holding on to Christ. Holding on to Christ. I could
subtitle it this way, Holding on for dear life. You ever been
in a situation where you had to hold on to something, somebody's
hand, a rope, or something holding on for dear life? Well, that's
holding on to Christ. The Apostle Paul had been inspired
by the Holy Spirit in this book to set forth the salvation of
sinners by God's grace based solely upon what he portrays
here as or describes here as the fullness of Christ. That seems to be the theme that
goes through this whole epistle. He talked about it in the first
chapter, talking about the preeminence of Christ. Christ is everything
in salvation. For a sinner, Now for religionists,
false religionists, it's Christ plus this, Christ plus that,
Christ plus me. But for a sinner, one who's been
convicted by the Holy Spirit of our sinfulness and depravity,
Christ is everything. And he said, for it pleased the
Father, God the Father, that in Christ should all fullness
dwell. The fullness of salvation, the
fullness of the Godhead, he said in verse 9 of chapter 2, for
in him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead, the Father, the
Son, and the Spirit. You want to see the fullness
of God. Don't look at the stars, as beautiful as they are, and
they are a testimony to the power and the wisdom of God. Don't
look at the oceans. Don't look at the beautiful parts
of the earth. But if you want to see the fullness
of God, look to Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That's Christ as God in human
flesh. God-man, think about that. God
with us. The Word made flesh without sin
dwelling amongst us. And then he said in verse 10,
you're complete in Him. You're filled full in Him. In
other words, it's not religion that fills you full. If it does,
there's something wrong. It's not ceremonies. It's not
holy days. It's not even taste not, touch
not, and handle not that'll fill you full. It's Christ. You want
the fullness of salvation? Look to Christ. If you want the
fullness of righteousness, look to Christ. Hold on to Christ. And I took the title from this
phrase that you find here in verse 19 of chapter 2, holding
the head. The head there is Christ because
he's the head of the church. I related this last week, how
Christ is everything to the church in this way. First of all, he's
the rock of the church, the foundation of the church. The foundation
of God's church is not the Apostle Peter, folks. Never was, never
will be. If it is, we're all doomed. It's
not the preacher or the denomination. It's Christ, and Christ is the
head of the church. He's the head of the body, and
Christ is the heart of the church, the life of the church. That's
a good outline, isn't it? What he says there is that God's
true people who have been brought by the Holy Spirit to know their
sinfulness, their inadequacy, their impotency, that the only
thing that can totally fulfill us, fill us up, is the Lord Jesus
Christ in the glory of His person and in the power of His finished
work. I'm saved not because of anything I did. I'm saved not
because of anything I plan or try to do. I'm saved not even
because of any decision I made. I'm saved because of what Christ
accomplished as my surety, as my substitute, as the Lord my
righteousness. Paul wrote in this chapter here
that we're looking at, chapter 2, of believers' union with Christ
in His death, burial, and resurrection, and the fact that we're united
to Him by God-given faith, reconciled to God through Christ, in Christ
we're delivered from the law because our sins were charged
to Christ, imputed to Christ. And His righteousness, which
He accomplished in His death, satisfying justice, paying our
debt, redeeming us by His blood, His righteousness is imputed
to us. The law cannot condemn one who is in Christ. The law
cannot condemn one for whom Christ died because his death is a complete
propitiation, satisfaction to the law, to the justice of God. The law, listen to this, the
law cannot even compel us in the way of establishing righteousness
because Christ, Romans 10, 4, is the end, the fulfillment of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. And so
we realize this by focusing our faith and our assurance, not
on ourselves, but on Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our
faith. Now, when the Bible teaches us to examine ourselves, read
the rest of that verse, examine ourselves, examine yourselves,
whether you be in the faith. And here's the issue of that.
It's not looking within to say, have I done enough? Do you ever
feel like you've ever done enough? Enough for what? Enough to save
me? Well, I can tell you right now,
you've not done enough. Neither have I. You know who you're listening
to right now? Don't get up and leave, but you're
listening to a sinner saved by the grace of God. That's right. But if you know Christ, you know
that's who you are. Isn't that right? Only a sinner
saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace.
This is my story. to God be the glory. And so I'm
just not compelled or inspired or desiring to get up here and
talk to you about my accomplishments or my credentials. I want to
tell you about my Savior. I want to tell you about He who
is the Lord, my righteousness. I want to brag on Him. My old
pastor used to say that preaching the gospel is getting up and
bragging on Christ. And he used to tell us young
preachers, he said, get up, preach Christ, and then get out of the
way. Get out of the way, don't be a hindrance to people. Well, the first thing, listen
to what he says here in verse 18. He says, let no man beguile
you of your reward in a voluntary humility, worshiping of angels,
intruding into those things which he hath not seen. Some translations
will remove the not, what it means there, intruding into those
things, exploring into those things, which he claims to have
seen. You ever say, like kids on a
playground, I know something you don't know. I've seen something
you haven't seen. Well, where is it in the Bible?
Well, I can't point to it in the Bible, but if you ever see
it, you'll know I'm right. You ever heard that kind of logic?
That's mysticism. Kind of like the fellow who said,
God's revealed it to me, and if he ever reveals it to you,
you'll agree with me. And he says, vainly puffed up
by his fleshly mind. In other words, this brings pride,
self-righteousness. And verse 19, here's the key
to what he's talking about. Now there's a lot of different
views from different commentators on exactly what's going on here
in the Colossian church with the heresies that have crept
in. Some talk about Jewish legalism, and that's probably there because
he talked about holy days, Sabbath days, all of that. And then others talk about Gnosticism. You know what Gnostics are? They
are the knowing ones, like what I just described. I know it,
and if God ever reveals it to you, you'll know it too. Well,
the only way that we ever know we know anything for sure is
if we can point to God's word. Is it in the Bible? God never
has some kind of elite group that he reveals certain things
to as opposed to other believers that he just keeps things back
from. Now I know there is a progressive revelation somewhat, the Old
Testament and the beginnings of the church, but that doesn't
apply to the gospel. The gospel is always the same.
If we're brethren in Christ, you believe the same gospel I
believe and I believe the same gospel you believe and we can
bank it on God's word. Not on things that I claim to
have dreamed or have seen or felt. So it could be Gnosticism. It could be just plain mysticism.
Look at it. When he says in verse 18, let
no man beguile you. You may have in your concordance
judge against you or condemn you. of your reward. In other words, they claim that
you don't have it. And it says, in a voluntary humility. You
know what that is? That's a self-imposed humility.
You know, when God the Holy Spirit convicts a sinner of his sin,
or her sin, it brings about godly humility, spirit humility, real
humility before God. that brings a sinner to take
sides with God against himself. Listen, you know how you take
sides with God against yourself? Like the psalmist said in Psalm
130. Lord, if thou, Lord, should mark
iniquities, who would stand? Not me. If God charged me with
my sins, I'm doomed. You say, well, wait a minute
now. God's going to weigh your good works with your bad works.
Well, let me tell you about that scale. It's already tipped against
you because you don't have anything good. There's none good, no,
not one. That is in relationship with God. I'm not talking about
our lives here on earth. I'm talking about as we stand
before God. But they say, well, this is a
voluntary, it's a self-imposed humility, it's a fleshly humility,
it's an appearance of humility, and worshiping of angels. Well,
some commentators say that's talking about people who actually
worshiped angels. And I'm sure that's true. You know the word angels sometimes
means, literally means messengers. Now the Bible talks about angelic
beings, The elect angels, scripture speaks of, they do attend and
protect God's people as they're sent by God. We can't see what
they look like. We don't know what they look
like. I don't care how many episodes of Touched by an Angel you've
seen, they don't look like that. I don't know what they look like.
I know they're there because God says it. They had a very
prominent role in the Old Covenant, Hebrews 1 tells us. But sometimes
angels is speaking of just messengers, like preachers. You say, well,
you don't look like an angel to me. Well, I'm just talking
about a messenger. Well, some people worship angelic
beings. Some people worship preachers. Did you know that? In fact, that's
one of the most common errors that professing Christians get
into. And let me tell you where it
begins. Well, I know old pastor so-and-so, and he said it, it's
true. Wrong. Just because he said it,
doesn't make it true. If he said it, and you can prove
it by God's word, then it's true. Remember Corinth? Some say I'm of Paul, some say
I'm of Apollos. Somebody said, you know, I was
baptized by the Reverend Dr. So, who cares? People go to the Holy Land, they
get baptized in Jordan River, and they think that's something.
That's just a muddy river. That's all it is. You know what
baptism is? Water baptism, immersion? It's
a confession that I'm holding on, banking on, trusting in Christ. Isn't that right? I'm not holding on to my baptism,
I'm holding on to Christ. And so, whatever this is talking
about, it is something that takes a sinner's eyes away from the
Lord Jesus Christ as his only righteousness before God. Whatever
it is, I don't care what it is, whether it's angels, things that
they claim to have seen here. Oh, I had a dream and it was
so real. Well, emotions. Some people hold on to emotions.
I just felt good. Well, feelings come, feelings
go. Feelings can be deceiving. My
hope and assurance is the word of God. Nothing else is worth
believing. If God said it, it's true, folks.
Whether I believe it, whether I feel it, people gauge the presence
of the Holy Spirit by their feelings. Oh, it was just such an emotional
meeting, I can just feel the love. Well, you can't feel love,
not biblical love. Love is in deeds, according to
the scripture. It's not in how you feel, it's
what you do. So He says, don't let any man
condemn you of your reward. What reward is He talking about?
He's talking about the reward of grace. You know what the reward of grace
is? It's something Christ earned for His people. We didn't earn
it. You know, people say, well, you're
saved by grace and then you earn your rewards. That's not in the
Bible, folks. God never puts Himself in a position
where He owes us anything. If we have any benefit or blessing
from God, it's grace, grace, grace. You know over there in Revelation,
let me just read this to you. Revelation 22 and verse 12, it
talks about where Christ coming back the second time. It says,
behold, I come quickly and my reward, Christ's reward, is with
me to give every man according to his work shall be. Well, what
is my work? It's not the rewards I earn by
my works. This is the work of God that
you believe on him whom God has sent. You see, works done by
a believer are not his or her earning power. You see, the Christian
life is not a mercenary life. You know what a mercenary is,
don't you? Well, we're all mercenaries in one way or another. You go
to work, you expect a paycheck, don't you? That's mercenary. Somebody said, like the soldier
who hires him out to a country to, I'll fight for you if you
pay me, instead of saying a patriot who does it for love of his country.
Well, Christians aren't mercenaries. You know what we are if we're
true believers? We're willing, loving, bond servants of Christ. Our debt has been paid. We've
received an inheritance that we didn't earn or deserve, and
we serve God out of grace, love, and gratitude. That's what a believer is. This
is the reward of grace. It's salvation with all of its
benefits and blessings. And don't let anybody judge against
you on that by diverting your attention away from Christ. How
do you live the Christian life? Hebrews 12 and verse 2, looking
unto Jesus, the author, the beginner and the finisher, the completer
of our faith. You want mercy? Hold on to Christ. Look at verse 19. And not holding
the head, not holding on to Christ, not clinging to Christ. You want
mercy? Cling to Christ. You want righteousness? Cling to Christ. Don't look for
it inside. If you find it, you're worse off than before. Because
that's self-righteousness. From which all the body, by joints
and bands, have a nourishment minister. See, this is the whole
body of Christ. This is what brings the body
of Christ together and what keeps us together. You see, we may
have a lot of differences in a lot of different ways. Your
favorite color may be red, mine may be blue. You may like this
team, I may like that team. You may have this group of friends. Listen, the thing that binds
us together is that we are sinners who have no hope of salvation. But the Lord Jesus Christ and
the blood of his cross, his righteousness alone. That's what brings us
together. All walks of life, all colors,
all creeds, not creeds in religion, but I'm talking about we have
the same gospel. And he says, and knit together,
increaseth with the increase of God. This is how you grow
in grace and in knowledge. It's not coming to a point where
you see finally you've arrived because you're no longer sinful. You hear these people who call
themselves Christians who say they've reached sinless perfection
or imply that. Well, I got news for them, they'll
never get sick another day and they won't die physically because
the only reason we get sick and die physically is because of
sin, isn't that right? This body, if Christ be in you,
this body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. Well, where am I going to find
righteousness? In Christ. His obedience unto death, His
merits, His blood. That's my whole salvation. That's
the reward of God's grace in Christ. Men want to hold on to their
traditions, their works, their experiences. How many times you
talk about salvation with a person, they always go back when they
were young and they walked an aisle and got baptized. Is that
what you're holding on to? Don't hold on to that. Forget
it. Oh, but it was so real. Well, hell's real, but I don't
want to go there. Forget. Hold on to Christ. Cling
to Christ. Hold on for dear life and don't
let anybody divert your attention with their religious playthings, with their visions, their dreams,
their angels. Listen, if they're true angels
of God, they won't try to divert your eyes from Christ. If they're
true messengers from God, they'll point you to Christ and him alone.
You say, preacher, that's just too simple. Thank God it is. You know, It is the simplest
thing that I can tell you about, but it's something that the natural
man, it's impossible for him to do. That's why it takes a
work of God the Holy Spirit to bring us to see the simplicity
that's in Christ. You know that in 2 Corinthians
11, two or three, I can't remember, that simplicity that's in Christ,
you know what that is? That's the singleness. that's
in Christ. In other words, my whole salvation
is singularly focused on that one person who did that one work
on my behalf as my surety, as my substitute, as my redeemer. All said it this way in 2 Timothy
1, 12, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed against him, I've committed
against that day, to him against that day. What have I committed
to Him? My whole salvation is committed
to Christ. And that's what brings me to
be committed to Him. Well, look at verse 20. He says, wherefore,
for this reason, if you be dead with Christ from the rudiments
or the elements of the world, Then why, as though living in
the world, are you subject to ordinance, taste not, touch not,
handle not? What he's talking about here
is people who measure salvation and righteousness by what they
don't do. Oh, I know that guy saved, he
used to smoke and he quit. Well, now let me give you something
to think about. If you're smoking, quit! It's
bad, but it won't make you righteous. Oh, he used to be a drunk and
he quit drinking. Well, listen, if you're a drunk, quit drinking.
It's bad, but it won't make you righteous. Do you see what I'm
saying? It won't wash away your sins. Whatever it is you're doing that's
detrimental, that is even sinful according to the scripture, whatever
you're doing, make a concerted effort to stop it. But that's not what saves us.
That's not what makes us righteous in God's sight. That's not what
washes away our sins. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. That's what Paul's saying here.
Don't let religionists divert you into their world, to the
earthly things. He says in verse 22, which are
all to perish with the using. Whatever it is, now listen to
it, whatever it is that saves me, whatever it is that justifies
me before God, whatever it is that sanctifies me, whatever
it is that causes me to grow in grace, whatever it is that
is spiritual, will not perish, will not go away. But now these
things that people are concerned with today in religion that they
think makes them saved or evidences their salvation, they're all
gonna perish. Look at verse 22, he says it's after the commandments
and doctrines of men. This is not God's word, that's
what men say. Oh, you gotta do this, you gotta
stop doing that. Well, that may be so, but it
won't make you righteous. What's gonna make me righteous,
a sinner like me? Not wearing a suit and tie? It's not going to be jumping
up and down, playing the guitar and beating the drums. That's
not going to do it. It's the blood of Jesus Christ. His righteousness
imputed, charged, accounted to me. That's the only thing that's
going to do it. What's going to give me life? Not what I eat,
drink, or don't eat and drink. Only through Christ, who is my
life. In verse 23 he says, which things
have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, that's self-imposed,
that's not Holy Spirit inspired. Some say it's the worship of
the will. That's the idea that it's not what Christ did for
me that saves me, it's what I do for him, what I decide for him.
Humility. That's self-imposed humility. In neglecting of the body, in
other words, what I, you know, there's a fellow who writes me
all the time and he talks about fasting. Well, we're not, there's
no command of God for us to fast, but fasting can sometimes be
good for people. And it can be a spiritual exercise
in the sense that it sets our minds off on Christ alone. But
he's always got to tell me what day of fasting he's on. And he
says, I'm on the 7th day of fasting and all that. And I'm tempted
to write him back Matthew chapter, what is it, 6? I can't remember
which chapter in the Sermon on the Mount, where Christ said
this. He said, if you fast, don't let anybody know it. Didn't he
say that? In fact, he said this. He said,
when you fast, wash yourself, cleanse yourself, dress yourself
so they won't even think you're fasting. Don't declare it. That's a personal
thing between you and God. That's not your witness before
me. You don't have to witness before
me. It's the gospel that tells us who Christ is and
what he did and why he did it and where he is now. And he says,
not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. What he's saying
there And it's a little bit confusing, but what he's saying is this. These things have no value in
curbing the desires of the flesh. In fact, they only feed the flesh. Self-righteousness and pride.
Now there's this one phrase, let me conclude with this, verse
20. He says, if you be dead with Christ. I want to talk about
that more next week, Lord Willen. Over in Colossians chapter 3
and verse 3, he says, for you are dead and your life is hid
with Christ in God. What is he talking about? He's
talking about our union with Christ in his death, his burial,
and his resurrection. When Christ died on the cross,
he did not die as a private person. He died as a representative,
a surety, a substitute, a mediator. one who died for others, the
one dying for the many. And when he died, all whom he
represented and substituted himself for died with him. He died for
me. What did he die unto? He died
unto the law. The law condemned him, he satisfied
the law. He died unto sin. Sin was imputed
to him. He paid the debt. He satisfied
the justice of God. And when he did it, he did it
for his sheep. That's what he said. The good
shepherd gives his life for the sheep. So I'm dead with him. The law
cannot condemn me. Sin cannot be charged to me.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. Yea, rather is risen again, seated
at the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession
for us. Romans 8, 33 and 34. Even though I'm standing before
you preaching, I'm dead with Christ. And what does it say
about those who died with Christ? Well, look at Colossians 3, 1.
Again, I'll deal with this more next week. If you then be risen
with Christ. He died, he was buried, he arose
again. And why did he arise again? Because
in his death, he conquered sin. In his death, he satisfied the
law. In his death, he established righteousness. And just as my
sin was imputed, charged to him, his righteousness is charged
to me. When he arose, I arose. Now,
how do I know that he did all that for me? Do you believe in him and rest
in him? Are you holding on to Christ?
for dear life, not looking inside, not looking elsewhere, not looking
this way or that way, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, holding on for dear life, holding on to Christ. That's the power of God, isn't
it? If I'm holding on to him, I know this, it's because he's
holding on to me. And he won't let me go, because
he's faithful. Christ our Lord and Savior.