In Colossians chapter 3, and
let's begin reading in verse 8. Colossians chapter 3 and verse
8. But now ye also put off all of
these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication
out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing
ye have put off the old man with his deeds, And I put on the new
man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. Whether is neither Greek nor
Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, scythian, bond or
free, but Christ is all and in all." And this is what I want
you to think with me for just a minute, this phrase that the
Apostle mentioned, Christ is all. Christ is all. Christ is all and in all. What an all-encompassing statement
this is. Christ is all. He tells us here
that in Christ all nationalities are dissolved. There's neither
Greek nor Jew. And he tells us here that all
religious distinctions are dissolved. There's neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision. And in Christ he tells us that
all cultures are dissolved. There's neither barbarian, those
uncivilized people, or scythian, the most savage of all people. In Christ all these are dissolved. And he adds one more, in Christ
all cultural standing, all social standing is dissolved. But look
what he says, there's neither servant or master. There's neither
slave or slave owner. And in Galatians 3, 28, he adds
one more. In Christ, there's neither male
nor female. Christ is all. He's all. And if He's all, there's nothing
else, is there? There's nothing else. In Christ,
there's no Americans and Russians and Mexicans. In Christ, there's
no Baptists or Presbyterians. In Christ, there's no trash haulers
or brain surgeons. In Christ, we're one. And in
Christ, Christ is all. These early Christians needed
to know this because you know what they were going to do? They
were going to take the gospel to all the world. They were going
to confront different nationalities. They were going to confront all
these different cultures and social standings in life. And here's what they were to
preach. Here was their message that united all of these different
groups to one. What was it? Christ is all. Christ
is all. This place here of Colossus was
a lot like the Corinthians. The city was full of silly philosophers. And along with those philosophers
you had your Jewish law keepers with their traditions and the
ceremonial law. And Paul mentions them here in
chapter 2 in verse 8. He mentions these two different
groups. Look at this. There's two different groups
mainly that made up those at Colossians that were in the church
and that he was writing here for them to beware of. Look in
verse 8 of chapter 2. Beware lest any man spoil you. That's what they did when they
They had defeated an army. They spoiled them. They stripped
them. And then they carried them away
captive. Paul said, Beware lest any man spoil you and take you
for a prey through philosophy. Through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world,
and not after Christ. There's those two different groups.
You had your Greek philosophers. And then you had your Jews with
their traditions and their law keeping. What is philosophy?
One man defined it like this. He says it's mere human speculation. It's speculation about all kinds
of subjects. The nature of God, the nature
of man, the origin of things. the existence, the end of all
things. And the philosophers took great
delight in speaking of all kinds of subjects. And Paul said in
Acts 17 that they gloried to come up with some new thing.
They always wanted to talk about some new thing. But you know
something? It was speculation. You couldn't
prove it from the Word of God. It was just mere speculation. They could philosophize about
carnal things or spiritual things, earthly things or heavenly things,
things concerning time or eternity. But it was empty speculation,
and all it led to was empty delusion, vain deceit. Listen to this statement. Here's the way they reasoned.
If you made a god out of expensive materials, If you had the sacrifice
to make this God and you really depended upon that God and sincerely
called upon it, you would no doubt get help. That's philosophy. And what is that? Empty delusion.
Vain deceit. They have no knowledge that set
up the wood or gold or silver of their graven image and pray
unto a God that cannot save. That's the difference between
philosophy, man's opinion, and God's Word, isn't it? One is
vain delusion, and another one is the truth. Greek philosophy
gave us all of these silly gods. What did we get Zeus? What did
we get Diana? All of it came out of Greece,
and they made cartoons out of them, and you see movies made
out of them today. The Greek gods. And what are
those Greek gods? Nothing in the world. Just vain
delusion out of men's silly heads. What was Paul giving these Christians
at Colossi as a defense against these Greek philosophers? Christ
is all. Christ is all. And he warns them
about these Jewish religious law keepers. He says there in
verse 8, Lest any man spoil you after the tradition of men. Now who in the world could that
be? Well, that was the Jews. They came to the Lord Jesus one
day and they said, Why does your disciples transgress the tradition
of the elders? And you know what Christ told
them? Why do you transgress God's commandments by your traditions?
They had them, didn't they? They had their traditions. They
kept their bodies clean, but their hearts were filthy. They
wore clothing to impress man, but they knew nothing about the
garment of salvation to stand before God in. They would stone
you for breaking a tradition, but knew nothing about the love
of God and the mercy of God and the forgiveness of God. You know,
we have modern traditions too, don't we? We have modern traditions. It's got into a lot of the churches.
I have a sister that told me one day, she said, I never attend
a church that didn't have an altar, didn't have a mourners
bench. I never. That's tradition. I grew up with it. I have a neighbor
that has a woman for a pastor. What is that? Tradition. Tradition. There are churches that have
pictures of Jesus hanging all over the walls. What is that?
Tradition. There are people that won't attend
a worship service in a building that don't have a steeple. What
is that? Aren't these traditions? They're
traditions of men. And Paul adds this, and this
is also from the Jews, after the rudiments of the world. This is language that pertains
to the ceremonial law. Look what he says on over in
chapter 2 and look in verse 20. Look in verse 19. Well, go back
up to 16. Look in verse 16. Let no man
therefore judge you, bring you into bondage, and condemn you
in meat, because you eat it or don't eat it, or in drink, or
in respect of that holy day, or of the new moon, and of the
Sabbath days. Look down at verse 20. Wherefore,
if you be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances,
touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish
with the evening? What does this pertain to? The
ceremonial law. Certain things they could eat,
certain things they couldn't eat, drink, They couldn't touch
certain things, a dead body or they would be unclean. And they
were bringing all of this tradition and all of this rudiments of
the law into the church. And Paul says this in verse 8
that I read to you. After the traditions of men and
rudiments of the world and not after Christ. What does philosophy
do? What does the law do if it's
not put in its place? It takes us from Christ. It takes
us from Christ. That's all that it does. What is Christ? He's all. He's all. And if He's all in
our estimation, you know something? We won't be swerved by philosophy. We won't be swerved by the tradition
of men. and wouldn't be swerved by legalism
and self-righteous law-keeping. Christ is all. That's Paul's
remedy for these false teachers. Do we want to talk about the
law? Do we want to talk about the ceremonial law? Boy, it's
good in its place, isn't it? You want to talk about the moral
law? It's good in its place. But listen to this. Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes in
Him. Do we want to talk about creation? By Him were all things
created. Do we want to talk about prophecy?
A lot of people want to talk about prophecy in our day. Listen
to this. To Him gave all the prophets
witness that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall
receive remission of sin. Do you want to talk about the
promises of God? The first promise in the Bible
is concerning Him. And the last promise in the Bible
He gives Himself. Surely I come quickly. And every
promise in between is sure and amen because it is in Christ.
All the promises of God in Him are yea and amen. Do we want
to talk about wisdom? Being wise unto salvation? Do
we want to talk about growing in knowledge? Listen to this.
In Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Is He
not all? Christ is all. Do we want to
talk about sacrifice? By one offering He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Do we want to talk about completeness,
complete salvation, completely saved, completely forgiven, completely
sanctified? You are complete in Him. Do we want to talk about the
eternal God and all His perfections and His attributes? Well, listen
to this. In Christ dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Do we want to talk about the
glory of God? The fullness of that glory is
seen in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we want to talk
about the kingdom of God? It is the kingdom of God's dear
Son. He set it up, He sustains it. It is upon His shoulders and
He is the King over the kingdom. What do we want to talk about?
The church. It is His body. The fullness of Him that filleth
an all in all. Do we want to talk about the
hearts of His people? Christ dwells in their hearts
by faith. Do we want to talk about bearing
fruit? The branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine. Do we want to talk
about joy and happiness and peace and contentment? Christ is all. He's all. Do we want to talk
about how to walk and to please God? As you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk you in Him. Listen to how Paul says
it in this epistle. Rooted in Him. Built up in Him. Complete in Him. You are dead
and your life is hid with Him. You are buried with Him. You
are risen with Him. And your life is hid in Christ. And when He shall appear, you'll
appear with Him in glory. Christ is all, isn't He? He's all. Don't that just rejoice
your heart to think about that? Christ is all. Brother Scott
Richardson used to say a lot when somebody asked him if Christ
is enough. And Scott said, if He's all you
have, Because He's all. He's everything. What can we
add to Him? Nothing. He's all. He's all. And He makes this lastly, Christ
is all and in all. In all. Now He's not in everybody
without exception. But you know something? He's
in His people. The Bible says He abides in their
hearts. He's in their bodies. Christ
is in their life. He's in their affections. He's
in their thoughts, their memories, their desires, their hope. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. He's in you. Oh, what a salvation
this! Christ liveth in me. And you
know something? If He's in you this morning,
He's in you in all His fullness. He's in heaven in His humanity.
And He's there in His completeness and His fullness. And if He's
in you, He's there in His fullness. You never see Christ in part. He's always a whole Christ, a
complete Christ. When He was born, He was a whole
Christ. His name was called what? The
Mighty God. Was He God when He was born?
Sure. Was He God when He walked among
humanity, tempted and tried? He was the mighty God. If He
was the mighty God on the cross, He's the mighty God in heaven,
in His fullness. And if He's in you, He's there
in His fullness. Christ is all, and as all, He
dwells in you, as all. That's a wonderful thing, isn't
it? What a mystery this is. Christ who dwells in heaven in
His glorified humanity is all. And Christ as He dwells
in the hearts of His people, He is all. Christ is all and
in all. Oh, what a salvation is this,
Christ living in me.