Let's begin reading here in Colossians
2, verse 6. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up
in Him, and established in the faith as you have been taught,
abounding therein with thanksgiving. How do believers receive Christ? This is very important because
this is the basis of His walk. Paul said, as ye have therefore
received Him, now walk in Him. And it's also the basis of His
growth, rooted and built up in Him. And evidently, it's the
object of His faith because He's established in the faith. How
do believers receive Christ? Well, they receive Him, first
of all, by believing the testimony of God concerning Him. We believe
God's testimony. We reject the testimony of this
world. We reject the witness of false
prophets who testify of dreams and visions. We reject the testimonies
of those whom the Scripture describes as receiving information from
seers and people who claim to be able to read the future and
so on. The name of the Lord was never
a name simply spoken and left to men to interpret any way they
pleased. Saving faith believes and submits
to the Lord Jesus Christ as God has set Him forth in the Scriptures. He is God. That's the second
thing. How do we receive Him? We receive
Him, first of all, by God's testimony concerning Him. What is His testimony? Well, His testimony first is
that He is God. This is God come into the flesh.
When we receive Christ, we receive Him as the God-man, the eternal
Word made flesh. That's how God set Him forth. That holy thing in the womb of
the Virgin is God over all, Paul said, blessed forever. Whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him. That's what John said. And He
in God. And then our Lord said this to
the Pharisees. The Pharisees constantly questioned
this. They questioned His Godhead.
They questioned His eternality. They questioned the fact that
He came down from heaven, that He was sent of the Father. This
is something strange to them. They didn't understand this.
And they totally rejected it. And He turned to them and He
said in the book of John, He said, except you believe that
I am, You shall die in your sins. So how do we receive Christ?
We receive Him by the testimony of God, and God testifies that
He is God. He is God. To receive Christ
Jesus the Lord is to receive the Son of God. And then secondly,
to receive Christ Jesus the Lord is to receive Him in the capacity
in which He was sent. He was sent as the Savior. He
was sent as the substitute. He was sent as the Lamb. John
the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb, the Lamb of God, that taketh
away the sin of the world. The Christ, the promised Messiah,
was set forth of God by the prophets as the Savior. Thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. He declares this in the book
of Isaiah, I am a just God and a Savior. And then He came secondly
as our federal head. In Adam, all die. In Christ,
all shall be made alive. When we receive Him, we receive
Him as our federal head. Our standing, in other words,
is in Him. He is everything. He is everything. This is our head. As we fell
in our Father Adam, we're restored in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
came as our federal head. As by the opulence of one judgment
came upon all men the condemnation, even so by the righteousness
of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. And that all men is not talking
about a universal salvation. It's talking about all that were
represented in Adam fell, all who were represented in Christ
shall be made alive." Jesus Christ came into this world
as the propitiation, that which enables God to show mercy for
our sins. He's that which enables God to
be just and justifier of His people. And He came to provide
His people with a righteousness. He's the end of the law for righteousness. to everyone that believeth. And
to receive Christ Jesus the Lord is to receive Him as our covenant
head and surety. He's the surety of God's everlasting
covenant of grace. We can't meet the terms of that
covenant. There's no way any man can meet the terms of God's
everlasting covenant of grace. We can't satisfy God. We can't
produce a righteousness acceptable to God. We can't keep those terms. But He can. And therefore, He's
our covenant head. He is the surety. He is what
makes this covenant sure to all God's elect. Christ died, and
we died with Him. He was raised. We were raised
with Him. He lived under that law. We lived with Him. He ascended
into glory and sat at the right hand of God. And the Scripture
said we're seated with Him in the heavenlies. And then to receive
Him is to receive Him as Lord, absolute, total sovereign over
all, King of kings and Lord of lords. He's Lord. But He's especially
Lord to the people of God because it's in His Lordship, in His
Lordship, that He makes this salvation sure. Assurance, beloved, is confidence
and submission with an understanding of who He is and what He's done
and where He's at right now. We're rooted and built up in
Him and established in the faith. Christ alone is God's unspeakable
gift. Christ alone is our righteousness. Christ alone is our redemption. Christ alone is our authority.
Christ alone is the object of our affection and Christ alone
is our motivation and inspiration. And so Paul says, you're established,
you're rooted, you're grounded, you're established in the faith,
abounding therein with thanksgiving. We're thankful to God because
all of these things are His free gift to us. All of these things
are by grace. It's all by the grace of God.
How does a man get in Christ? By the grace of God. It's what
my nephew told me one time. He said, well, how's somebody
like me who's never been to church? I hear this, and I hear that,
and I hear something else, and this guy says I'm a preacher,
and this guy says I'm a preacher, and this guy's talking about
works, and this guy's talking about dipping in a pool, and
getting sprinkled, and babies being immersed, and all this
kind of stuff. How does somebody like me ever come to know the
truth. And I said, apart from God's
intervention, you never will. We're saved by grace. It's by
the grace of God that God intervenes and reveals things to you. You
never know these things. Never know these things. And
so we abound therein with thanksgiving. And then he tells a second man.
As you have received Christ Jesus, now walk in Him that way. Huh? You received Him as Lord. Do
you walk that way? You received Him as a gift of
God's sovereign grace. Are you gracious in your walk?
Do you walk that way? Or do you walk proud? I've got nothing to be proud
of. Do you? Huh? Walk as one alive from the dead. Walk as one saved by the sovereign
grace of God. Walk as one who's received infinite
mercy. Walk as one chosen and loved
by God. Walk as heirs of God. We're heirs
of God, and we find ourselves quibbling over pennies. How foolish is that? Don't walk
that way. Don't walk that way. God said
this. He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. I wouldn't tell you. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. Our Father owns it all. We need to walk that way. Walk as heirs of God and join
heirs with Christ. Walk as believers. Believe God. Boy, that's tough, isn't it?
Just believe God. Walk as those who are ruled by
sovereign. Fear no man. Quit falling apart
every time something happens that's out of your control, because
in reality, it's all out of your control. Walk as new creatures in Christ.
Walk as those led by the Spirit. As many as be led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. Walk as examples of His
grace. Paul said, I know your election
of God, he told those Thessalonians, because you become examples to
all that believe. And walk as those who have seen
God's heavenly treasure and now walk for nothing. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. And then thirdly,
he gives us a stern warning. Beware. Beware. Lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Now let's just
kind of look at these things one at a time. First of all,
philosophy. What does that word mean? Philosophy. We're guilty of reading words.
I am. I read these words. Just go on like I really knew
what it meant and never even think about what it meant. What
does that word philosophy mean? It means inquiry into the nature
of things based on a logical reasoning. That's what it means. It means an outside critique, an analysis
of spiritual things. Somebody on the outside, somebody
not spiritual, making a critique of things that are spiritual. He tells us in 1 Corinthians
2.14, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, their foolishness unto him. Now listen, neither can
he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. And that's the problem. Natural men try to discern spiritual
things, and the way they do it is they critique it with natural
logic, worldly logic. So this is what this philosophy
is. It means an outside critique,
an analysis of these fundamental beliefs. The dictionary says
that in the disciplines of university curriculum, now listen to this,
There are three things exempt from philosophy, medicine, law,
and theology. Isn't that something? Three things
totally exempt from it. And here our Lord through His
Apostle tells us, beware, they'll fool you through philosophy.
Philosophy is nothing more than an unregenerate man trying to
apply his ignorant ideas to the character and ways of God. That's
all this natural philosophy is. In the scriptures it's stated
this way, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof is death and destruction. God said, you thought
I was altogether such a one as yourself. But he said, I'll reprove
you, and I'll show you who I am. Beware, beware, lest any man
spoil you through philosophy. Isn't it something how a man
can stand and just And just pile Scripture up on folks. Just pile
it up on them one right after the other. Have them turn. A
lot of times I have you turn with me. Turn with me over here
and look at this. Read this with me and so on.
And do that, do that, do that. And then right after church,
somebody will come to me and say, well, that just don't seem
right. What on earth does seeming have to do with anything? We
receive the testimony of God. Beware. And isn't it something
how effectual that is? That a man will take something
like that and immediately it just catches on like a grass
fire in dry weather. It just catches on here and there. But the truth, it don't catch
on. It's revealed. It's revealed. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy. begin to take apart your hope
by applying to long time accepted ideas and thoughts. God never
told the Jews that Christ would come and build an earthly kingdom.
He never did say that to them. He never did tell them that He
was going to raise up another David to physically sit on the
throne of Israel or save everybody who was circumcised or love and
show mercy to every natural descendant of Abraham. He never told them
those things. Never did. But they built their
whole religion on that. And what was it except earthly
philosophy? That's all in the world it was.
Man reasoned these things out and formed a philosophy and sold
it to generations until it becomes so ingrained in their minds and
hearts that even the disciples After having heard so many messages
on the resurrection, still didn't understand it. Still didn't understand
it. They had trouble trying to grasp
any other idea except that which was ingrained in them from their
youth. And then secondly, he said, beware, not just of philosophy,
but of vain deceit. Vain deceit is a lie given to
deceit. Romans 3.13 tells us that the
tongue of those under sin is the instrument of it. With their
tongues they have used deceit. Mark 7.22 tells us where it comes
from. It comes within, out of the heart
of man. It comes off deceit. Whether they know it or not,
natural men are used of Satan to do his bidding. Not the way
Hollywood betrays people possessed, but in deceiving them into believing
a lie. That's how he does it. If our
gospel be hid, it's hid to the lost, in whom the God of this
world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.
How are men's minds blinded? By being convinced that a lie
is the truth. And that's what he's telling
you here. You beware. Beware of vain deceit. Beware of it. I listened to an
old man give his testimony around a table at a fellowship in a
church not too long ago. And it was based on nothing but
feeling. Based on nothing but feeling. Not one word of God
in the whole thing. In fact, totally contrary to
the Word of God. But that old man wept, and the
tears run down his face, and he was just shaking. And I watched
those folks at that table, and one by one, tears began to run.
That testimony effected, beware of vain deceit. That's what it
is. It comes in all kind of forms.
Sometimes it comes emotionally. Sometimes it comes with just
an out-and-out lie. That lie was disguised by emotion. And it was bought. It was bought.
Everyone at the table was moved by his testimony. He tells us to beware as Eve
was beguiled by the serpent. So can you. So can you. Some folks have the idea that
false religion is just folks messed up in their theology.
Some of them are saved, they just don't all have the facts.
They don't have the right facts. That's vain deceit. That's what
that is. False religion is nothing in
this world but the spirit of Antichrist. It's deadly. It's
a pit full of vipers. It's poison to your souls. And
our Lord told His disciples who were walking on eggshells around
these Pharisees to leave them alone. Leave them alone. Because they'd be blind leaders
of the blind. And if you take the hand of a
blind man, and you're blind, you're both going to fall in
the ditch. You're going to go where he goes. Blind leaders. I got you, brother. Just follow me. Just follow me. Just take my hand, sister. I'll
show you the way. I'll show you the way. Show you the broad way. That's
what He has shown you. Any man who preaches freewill
works religion is a deceiver. And Paul said, let him be accursed.
Any man who defends one, supports one, or follows one is a partaker,
the Scripture said, of his evil deeds. Beware of vain deceit. Beware of it. That which is vain
is empty. I looked the Word up. That's
what it means. That which is vain is empty. Barnard used to
say they're straight as a gun barrel and just as hollow. Right. Empty. Empty. That which is vain
has no foundation. Everything the denominations
in this world, this worldly acceptable religion, everything they say,
everything they preach is based on a church confession. Everything
the Catholics preach is based on the Mother Church and the
Pope's approval and interpretation. Everything God's preacher has
to say is based on the Word of God. You don't care what the church
confession says. Church confessions are wrong.
You know some of the best confessions that were ever put on paper.
Approve of sprinkling babies. That's right. Beware. Beware of philosophy. Beware of vain deceit. Now watch
this. After the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. The tradition
of men has to do with man's traditional understanding. How he was raised. How he was taught. And especially
this applies to the Jews, but it's not limited to them. Catholics
and Protestants, they both have a traditional understanding.
Heathen idolaters, they have a traditional understanding. And then he talks here about
the rudiments of this world. That's the fundamental principles
of what they believe. And what this world believe is
kind of a mixture of everything that they get from false religion.
It's just a giant mixing bowl. They take this thought and that
thought and this guy's what he said and what this preacher said
and they put it all in a big bowl and mix it up and that's
what they believe. And it's so far out that it's
just unbelievable what people... People talk about riding up into
glory on the wings of an angel. Is that what Scripture says?
I can't find that anywhere in Scripture. Nowhere in Scripture. They talk about riding on an
angel's wings up into glory. Maybe we will. But I've got no
information on it. The rudiments of this world are
the fundamental principles of what they believe, logic. natural
reasoning, emotion, scientific facts. We are to beware of all
these things because all of these things are contrary to Christ. And Christ alone is our wisdom. He is our wisdom. Now let's go
back to Christ here in verse 9. For in Him, 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." Jesus
Christ is God, manifest in the flesh, and there's only one reason
for God to take in union with Himself the seed of Abraham,
and that is to save and reveal Himself to chosen sinners. As God tabernacled in Israel
and made Himself known, so the Word was made flesh and tabernacled
among us. He is God manifest in the flesh. Let me read you something over
here in II Timothy 1. The first verse here is one I
quote to you all the time in verse 9. God hath saved us and
called us with a holy calling. not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. But now listen to this,
"...but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel." Everything God has
for sinners is in Christ. God hath made Him to be unto
us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And to know Him
is to know God. And to know Him and to know God
is eternal life. That's what eternal life is.
Grace and truth come by Him. Would you know something about
the new birth? He's the first begotten of many
brethren, born of the Spirit of God. Born a new man, unlike any other. Would you know something about
sin? He was made sin for us. Who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him? Would you want to
know what the Scripture is talking about? Forsaken of God? My God,
my God, He said, why hast thou forsaken Me? Punished of God? We did esteem Him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. Would you learn of righteousness?
He's the end of the law for righteousness. And what about rest? What about
rest? All those that believe do enter
into His rest. Rest for your souls. Come unto
Me, He said, all you that are weary and heavy laden, and I'll
give you rest. And that's what Paul's saying.
We're complete in Him. As you have received Him, He's
the answer of every question that a seeking sinner has is
answered in Christ. All his needs are supplied in
Christ Jesus. All of them. We receive Him that
way. We walk in Him that way. Now,
he said, stay in Him. Because you're complete in Him.
You're complete in Him. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness."
It didn't come there and camp out for a while. It dwelled.
Dwelleth in Him. And you're complete in Him.