Colossians Chapter Two vs. 14-23

Now let's turn back to Colossians
2, verse 14. You're going to have to pay very
careful attention tonight, now, and try to keep our minds from
wandering the least bit, because it's not the difficulty of the
Scripture, it's the difficulty of our understanding. There's
nothing difficult about God's Word. It's there, and it's revealed
in Christ. It's just we're so dull of understanding,
and we remember what we ought not to remember, and we forget
what we ought not to forget. In verse
14, Paul says, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that
was against us. Now, there are many different
interpretations given to this phrase here. I'll give you two
or three. And there's an element of truth
in each one. What we're trying to find out
is exactly what the Apostle is talking about here. But some
think that the reference here is to the covenant that God made
with Adam. which being broken by Adam when
he rebelled and when he fell, brought us under a sentence of
death. And that sentence of death, through
that covenant of works broken by Adam, continued. And Christ
now has put that away, nailing it to his cross. Well, in a sense,
that's so, because Christ did take all of our guilt and all
of our sin and all of our Adamic responsibility and nailed it
to his cross and put away not only actual transgression but
original sin. But that's not what Paul's talking
about here because the following verses refer to something else. And then over in the book of
Exodus, I want you to turn over there just a moment, Exodus chapter
20. In Exodus chapter 20, from Chapter 20 to chapter 21 and
22. You see, 22 verse 1, if a man
shall steal an ox or a sheep and kill it and sell it, he should
restore five oxen. And then verse 7, if a man shall
deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep and it be stolen
out of the man's house, the thief be found, let him pay double."
And then, verse 18, "...thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." are these instructions that are
given, and it's more or less a present, which God made with
Israel. It's not only the King's commandment, but all these other
commandments having to do with daily life and daily conduct
and borrowing and buying and selling and business and human
relationships. These four chapters, or five
chapters, 21, 22, 23, and 24, and then in verse 7 of chapter 24 of Exodus, and
he took the book of the covenant and read it in the audience of
the people, and they said, all that the Lord had said will we
do and be obedient. Well, you know they didn't, and
I know they didn't. And some say when Paul is writing
here, blotting out the ordinances, the handwriting of ordinances
against us, he was talking about that particular covenant. The
covenant made it Sinai. in reference to all these rules
of conduct. But while there's an element
of truth there, that's not what Paul's talking about. Then some
believe it to be the book of remembrance of all our sins.
The scripture says that when men shall stand in the judgment,
they shall be judged out of those things written in the book, recorded
against them. evil word, every idle thought,
every thought of foolishness, every sin of omission and commission
which God records against us. Well, there's a sense in which
those have been nailed to the cross to be remembered no more.
But that's not what the Apostle's talking about here. Now let's
look at, this is what he's talking about. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. The reference here has to
be because of the following verses, it has to be to the ceremonial
law. That's what he has to be referring
to. When I say the ceremonial law, I mean all of the Old Testament
ordinances, all of the Old Testament sacrifices, the Old Testament
priesthood, the Old Testament holy days, all of these duties
and ceremonies. Christ blotted them out. Christ
took them away. Christ nailed them to his cross. All of these ceremonies, all
of these ordinances. Now these Old Testament duties
and these Old Testament ceremonies, as they were observed day after
day, week after week, month after month, year after year, they
were an acknowledgment of the filth of sin and of the guilt
of sin. Every washing was to remind us
that we're unclean. Every one of these washings,
and there were many of them, the different type washing of
the hands, and the washing of the feet, and the washing of
the entire body in religious ceremonies, every one of these
washings said this over and over again, every time they were performed,
unclean, unclean, unclean. Every sacrifice, every animal
that was killed, every bull, every goat, every heifer, every
turtle dove, every sacrifice declared over and over again
that the sacrificer ought to be the one dying. That as the
victim died, we should die, for the wages of sin is death. Every
atonement, the scripture says, is a what? A remembrance of sin. not annihilation of sin, not
a covering for sin, a remembrance of sin. Every atoning sacrifice. Now let's go to Hebrews a minute.
In Hebrews chapter 10, I want you to look at this. This law,
Hebrews chapter 10, beginning with verse 3. In those sacrifices,
Hebrews 10.3, now we're talking about all these mosaic ceremonies
and sacrifices that are given in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy, all of them. In those sacrifices, there
is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it's not
possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. It's not possible. Now then,
turn with me to verse 9 of Hebrews 10. And this is Christ speaking,
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. Now what is the first
here? The first is the ceremonial law. The first is the type. The first
is the picture. The first is the shadow of things
to come. And the Lord taketh away the
first. He takes away the ceremonial
law, that he may establish the sacrifice of Christ, that he
may establish the fulfillment which is Christ. Now let's look
at verse 9 again, Hebrews 10, 9. Then said he, Lo, I come to
do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest, that is the Old
Testament priest, they stand daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God. from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us, for after that he hath
said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my law into their hearts,
and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more." Now, where remission of these is,
where remission of sins, where remission of iniquities is, there's
no more offering for sin. So this is what he's saying here.
He takes away the first covenant, He takes away the sacrifices
and the ordinances and the ceremonies and all these things that were
pictures and types and shadows of Christ to come, that he may
establish the second. Now it will amaze you as you
go through God's Word to find that this is a pattern which
God follows. The first Adam failed. The second Adam restored all
that were lost in the first Adam. The first paradise, the Garden
of Eden, was destroyed. The second paradise, heaven,
is to come. The first covenant, the covenant
of works, failed. The second covenant, the covenant
of grace, gave us life. The Scripture says the first
heaven and earth shall pass away, and God will make a new heaven
and a new earth. Our first birth is natural. Our
second birth is spiritual. Our first body shall decay and
rot. Our second or new body shall
be raised incorruptible. So this is a pattern that goes
throughout the whole scripture. God removeth the first because
it's temporary. God removeth the first because
it's just for a little while that he may establish firmly
and permanently the second, and that is Christ. And these, look
at verse 14, Colossians 2 again, these ordinances, these sacrifices,
they were against us. That is, they were contrary to
us. One writer said this, we couldn't
perform them, not perfectly, as God requires. We couldn't
perform them any more than we could like them. The law charges
us with debts we cannot pay. The law never has anything to
say in our defense, but thank God he has blotted them out. Thank God the ceremonial law
can show no debt and therefore can demand no penalty. The ceremonial
law can show no commandment, therefore demand no obedience. He's taken it away. He's taken
it away. he nailed it to his cross. Now,
when we say he nailed it to his cross, this shows that the cancellation
of the ceremonial law is because of the cross. That's why there's
no more sacrificing of animals, because of the cross. That's
why there's no more keeping of these covenants and these ceremonies
and these rituals, because of the cross. Why keep the promise
when you have the fulfillment? Now let's read verse 15. And
having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in it. Now I must confess
to you, I spent more than five minutes on that verse. How would
you like somebody to assign you to get up here and give a five-minute
talk on that verse? That is a toughie. But I think
I've got some light on it, and when I did get a little light
on it, it thrilled me to death. I saw something this afternoon
in verse 15, never seen before. I got an interpretation of a
verse of scripture I've always wondered about. So let's look
at it. Now I'm going to read it again,
and then I'm going to read it to you from the amplified version. It says, And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he, that's Christ, we know that, made a show of
them, the principalities and powers, openly triumphing over
them in it. Now here's the amplified version. Christ disarmed the principalities
and powers of hell arrayed against us. And he made a bold display
and a public example of them in triumphing over them in his
cross. Now here's the picture. Let me give you an illustration.
A Roman custom, an old Roman custom of the Roman Empire was
this. When the old Roman emperor went
out to battle and defeated and conquered an enemy, complete
victory. He brought the enemy back, the
enemy king and the enemy generals and captains and mighty men,
he brought them back to Rome. And by a vote of the Senate,
the Roman Senate, the Roman Emperor was put in a chariot, drawn by
many horses, and he would parade down the streets of Rome, down
the main and behind him would be those conquered enemy dignitaries,
the king and the court and the men of power, the men of renown,
stripped of their armor, stripped of their medals, stripped of
their recognition, clad like a slave with their hands tied
behind them in chains. And the Roman emperor would parade
down the main street as the people cheered, and as they acclaimed
his victory. And the defeated enemy was led,
exposed to public view, shame and disgrace. Now what's that
saying in verse 15? That's what Paul's talking about
here. Now here's what he's saying. The principalities and powers
here are the principalities of hell. We're talking about Satan.
We're talking about the demons of darkness, the powers of darkness. Paul said, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood. Our enemies are not human beings.
Our enemies are principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness
in high places. And these principalities and
powers here are the powers of darkness and the principalities
of hell who are our enemies. The scripture calls Satan the
accuser of the brethren. And Christ has conquered him. The scripture says that Christ
bruised his head on Calvary. He has taken from Satan his authority. He has taken from him his power. He has taken away his army. He has defeated Satan's designs. He has defeated Satan's will. He has defeated Satan's counsels. He has conquered him. And as
Christ passed through the air, going back to the Father, the
air is the territory of Satan. He's the prince of the power
of the air. That's what Scripture said. And as Christ died on that
cross, was buried and rose triumphant over the grave, over death, over
every enemy. As he passed through the air,
ascending back to glory, the territory of the devil, in the
sight of God, in the sight of the mass of holy angels, in the
presence of that great cloud of witness, he led Satan captive. And all of the principalities
of hell and the powers of hell, he led them captive. Now let
me show you a verse of scripture in Ephesians 4. You turn over
there. And this is a verse of scripture I have never been satisfied
with in my twenty-some-odd years of preaching, that when Christ
arose, he led the believers that were in Sheol, or wherever they
were, to heaven because they were captive. It's not talking
about them at all. Ephesians 4 verse 8. Look at
it. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended
on high, he led captivity captive. He led a multitude of captives. And you know what the translation
is? He led a train of conquered foes. That's exactly what that
is. I never took the time to really
look into that before, but when Christ ascended, when he went
back to glory, when he went through the territory of Satan, when
he went through the place of principalities and powers and
spiritual wickedness and high places, he went like a conquering
emperor who had defeated his He had knocked the crown from
his head, he had conquered his power, and he led, the correct
translation is, he led a whole train of vanquished foes behind
him as he went to glory. And Satan is no longer the prince
of this world. Christ said, All authority is
given unto me in heaven and earth. He is the Lord of the living
and the dead. He's the king of this world. And that's exactly
what that's saying in Colossians 2, verse 15. And it all happened
at the cross. At the cross, he blotted out
the handwriting of ordinances, he took it out of the way, he
nailed it to his cross. At the cross, he spoiled principalities,
he conquered the powers of hell, and he made a show of them openly. And when was this done? He made
a show of them openly. He triumphed over them openly. Open disgrace, open shame, open
defeat. There's a good possibility that
we benefit in this world. Some people wonder about why
there aren't more revelations of demon spirits and all as there
was in the scripture before the cross. Well, Satan is a conquered
demon now. He's a defeated power and he's
only permitted to do what God in his permissive will allows
him to do. He's been conquered. Oh, and
look at verse 16. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, in drink, in respect of a holy day, new moon, or Sabbath
day." Now then, here's what this is saying. Since we are complete
in Christ, and that's what it says in Colossians 2.10, you're
complete in Christ. Verse 11 says you're circumcised
in Christ. Verse 12 says you're buried to
gather with Christ. Verse 13 says, And you have bequickened
to gather with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Now, since
you are complete in Christ, since you are purified in Christ, since
you are risen and seated in Christ, all of these ceremonies and sacrifices
have been nails of the cross. Don't you let anybody come along
and trouble you and confuse you in regard to certain foods which
are permissible and not permissible on certain days and certain times
and certain weeks, drinks, feast days and Sabbath days. These
rules and regulations, Paul said, are not to be imposed upon you. The kingdom of God, a relationship
with God, does not lie in the observance of outward things.
But the kingdom of God is the kingdom of righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost. That's what Scripture says. The
things that go in the mouth do not defile, nor is anything of
its own nature common or unclean. But every creature of God is
good when used in moderation and godly judgment with thanksgiving. Let no man judge you, therefore,
in meat, in drink, in respect to a holy day, new moon, or Sabbath."
Now let me point out something here. All of these ceremonies that
he mentions here, let's go back to verse 16, meat and drink.
Now in the Old Testament there were certain meats that were
forbidden. There were certain meats that
were clean and certain meats that were unclean. These meats
and drinks, the clean and the unclean, were emblems of two
people, the Jew and the Gentile. The Jew clean, the Gentile unclean. The Jew within, the Gentile dogs
without, aliens, strangers. And these meats and drinks were
pictures of the believer and the unbeliever. And they were
pictures of the different foods of the believer and the unbeliever.
One feeds on the meat and milk of God's word, and the other,
the unclean flesh of this world. Now when Christ died on the cross,
he made Jew and Gentile one. Now you take the feast, the feast
of the tabernacle, is a picture of Christ dwelling in human nature.
The Feast of the Passover is a picture of Christ's blood shed
for us. The Feast of the New Moon is
a type of the Church which receives its light from the Son of Righteousness.
We have the grand sabbatical year, that is, every fiftieth
year on a certain Sabbath day, that was the fiftieth year, the
jubilee year. All debts were counseled. No
matter what a man owed, a Jew's debts were counseled during that
50 years. It was called the year of Jubilee.
We don't observe that anymore. It's been fulfilled in Christ.
He is our Jubilee. All of our debts have been counseled.
All that we owe, Jesus paid it all, all the debt we owe. He's
the fulfillment of that sabbatical year. There was a seventh-day
Sabbath. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, seventh day, which is the day of rest. And
that seventh-day Sabbath is a picture of the rest into which we have
entered in Christ. It's a picture of that eternal
rest that we shall someday enter and enjoy. We need that Sabbath
day no more because Christ is fulfilled. He is our rest. We
have ceased from our labors and entered into his rest. Now look
at verse 17. All of these are a shadow of
things to come. Now here's the key right here.
Verse 16 says, let no man judge you, confuse you, bring you back
to these things, condemn you for not observing them. Because,
verse 17, these are a shadow of things to come. They're not
the real thing. They're the means. This is not the city of refuge. This is not our place of dwelling. This is not our foundation. This
is just things, signposts to point the way. You don't stop
and pitch your tent under the signposts that says, Canaan's
that way. You don't sit down and rest and
say, this is where we abide. Doesn't it say there, Canaan?
Well, it says, Canaan that way. And he says, these are all but
a shadow of things to come, but the body, that is, The fulfillment
of all these things is Christ. They have their accomplishments
in him. Now let's go back just a moment.
Verse 14, Paul said all of these ceremonies and sacrifices and
holy days and meets and washings and drinks and priesthood and
tabernacles and atonements and all of these things, Christ has
nailed them to the cross, blotted them out. He has taken them away. He took it out of the way, removed
it. And when he did, when he died
on that cross, he also defeated Satan. He crushed his power. He made an open display of his
victory over Satan. He led a train of vanquished
foes. When he went, open your doors,
ye gates of glory, the King of glory is coming in. Who is this
King of glory? He's the Lord strong and mighty
in battle. He hath won the victory over
his foes. Satan is conquered and defeated. Now then, let no man try to take
you back to these meets and drinks and washings and Sabbath days
and new moons and holy days and Lent and Good Friday or any of
the rest of that junk. It's all been nails of the cross.
It has no meaning whatsoever. Because, look at verse 17, these
things are a shadow of things to come. They have served their
purpose. The body is of Christ. He is the fulfillment, he is
the accomplishment, he himself is what these things have been
pointing to. We've got him, and we don't need all these playthings.
We don't need these reminders, we don't need these pictures,
we don't need these signposts, we are home. We have the person. Now verse 18. Now then, and he's
warning us, let no man. Now verse 16 he says, let no
man take you back to the stuff, meats and drinks, and I could
call names here, now we've got folks who won't eat They eat
fish on Friday, they won't eat pork at all, they eat certain
things, and this is exactly what he's talking about here. Some
people can't marry, some can marry. We go back to some worship on
the seventh day. Some have what they call a Christian
Sabbath. Their Sunday is just like the
old seventh day. They have a certain week in the
year, they call the Holy Week, we've gone right back to these
very things from which the Lord delivered us, that were against
us, that were a burden to all who had to bear them. I don't
want to be back under that stuff. Every day is God's day. Not just one-tenth of what I
have, all that I have is the Lord's. And this picket, picket, picket,
take us back under these old burdens and these old ceremonial
laws and these old ordinances, don't you let anybody do it.
He says these are the shadows. Christ is the body. He's the
life. He's the life. There's no life
in these things, but a lot of people have to do these things
because they don't have Christ. They've got to have something
to hold to. Now verse 18, let no man beguile you of your reward
in a voluntary humility, worshipping of angels, and that's angels
and saints and all the rest of it, intruding into those things
which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.
Now here's what that's saying. Don't you listen to it. Let no
man beguile you of your reward. Let no man defraud you and declare
you unworthy. of eternal life, of the prize
of eternal life, tell you you're not saved because you don't do
what he does. You're not saved because you
don't keep the Sabbath day. You're not God's child because
you're not a Jehovah witness. You're not one of the 144,000
because you don't do this. You're not saved because you
don't do that. Don't you let anybody beguile
you of your reward by acting like a religious umpire. and
insisting on all of these duties, and here's what they are, self-abasement,
bodily penance, the worship of St. Jude and St. Mark and St. Thomas and St. somebody else,
the worship of angels, taking his stand not on the word of
God, but on visions which he claims to have had. That's what
he's talking about here, intruding into those things which he has
not seen, which he claims to have seen. The visions which
he's never had and never seen, and he's puffed up by his fleshly
conceits, and he hands down the traditions of men and churches
and synods and Presbyterians and all the rest of these councils
as being the way of God when it's not even God's word. He's
a religious umpire. He's a religious referee. He
knows where you can go, and when you can go, and why you can go,
and what you can do, and how you can dress, and he's going
to tell you all of these things. Well, don't you let him do it
at all. Don't you let him do it. Don't
you let him judge against you or defraud you and declare you
unworthy of your reward. in these things. Because verse
19, listen to this, he certainly doesn't hold the head, that's
Christ, see that capital H, H-E-A-D, and not holding the head. That
is, not holding fast to the head of the body who is Jesus Christ.
They don't preach Christ. You know it and I know it. They
don't preach Christ. These religious referees, these
religious umpires that want to call you back to the old ceremonial
way of religion, they don't preach Christ. They don't hold to the head from
which all the body, from which the entire body supplied and
knit together by joints and ligaments grows with the growth, that's
increase it, that is grows with the growth from God. That's how
we grow. This is what he's saying. It
is not from ordinances that a man grows spiritually. It is not
from ceremonies of religion that a man develops and matures spiritually. It is not from duties of religion
and keeping of days and keeping of ceremonies and walking so
far and keeping certain days that a man receives nourishment
and life. it's from Christ he receives
nourishment and life. From Christ our head, that's
who we receive the wine of love, the wine of divine love, that's
the one from whom we receive the water of life, that's the
one from whom we receive the bread of life. His flesh is meat
indeed and his blood is drink indeed. Now, you can have your
people meet together for religious exercises on certain holy days,
and they won't grow spiritually. You can have your people abstaining
from certain kinds of meats and certain kinds of drinks and certain
kinds of dress and so forth, and they won't grow spiritually.
You can have people following all of these religious traditions
and bowing and kneeling and standing and sitting and prostrating themselves,
and they won't grow spiritually. But as those people have Christ
preached to them, and as they see in Him the fulfillment of
all things, and as they come to love Him and to love His Word,
they come to love each other, and they grow spiritually. As they go to the cross and see
divine forgiveness and divine mercy and divine love and divine
righteousness and divine submission and divine holiness, they get
a taste of that. and they feed on him, and that's
how they grow. I want you to turn to Matthew chapter
12. Now brethren, I'm conscious of
the fact that there are certain laws, but the law is not made
for the righteous man, it's made for the unrighteous. I want you
to stop and think a minute. Now in Matthew 12 verse 1, at
that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn. His disciples
were hungry. Now this was the Sabbath day.
And you know how strict the law was about the Sabbath day. And
he began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. Boy, when the
religious Pharisees saw it, they said to him, Behold, your masters
do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day, and they
were speaking the truth. The absolute perfect law of the
Jews says on the Sabbath day you don't pick corn, you don't
walk but so far, you don't do but certain things. But Christ
said to them, Have you not read what David did when he was hungry?
David was with him, how he entered into the house of God, and worse
than eating corn on the Sabbath day, he ate the showbread in
that holy place. He went in there and ate that
bread that was dedicated to God's worship. And not only did he
eat it, but he gave it to those with him. It was not lawful,
Christ said to him, to eat it. And neither for them which were
with him they were soldiers, but only for the priest. But I say unto you, verse 6,
that in this place is one greater than the temple. You had known
what this meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice.
You would not have condemned the guiltless. The Son of Man
is Lord even of the Sabbath day." They brought him a woman found
in adultery, threw her down at his feet. And they said, and
I'm sure one of them had a scripture verse with him, the law says
she's to be stoned. That's what it said. That's what
it said. Now what do you say? My brethren, I don't want to
be ruled by law. You can have it. I want to be
ruled by Christ. and by his divine love, and that's
what Christ is saying. I don't know whether I'm making
clear what I'm trying to say or not, but I'm simply saying,
if you're going to go back, if you're going to go back, you
who would be under the law, don't you hear the law? If you want to go back to these
holy days and these Sabbaths, if you want to go back to these
ceremonies and back to these things which are shadows of things
to come, You don't know what you're thinking. You don't know what you're thinking. And when we have a situation
arises, my relationship with yours, I don't want to even turn
to the law and find the solution. I want to turn to the love of
Christ and find the solution. That's what I'm talking about.
And I see so many churches and so many individuals who go to
looking for laws and go to looking for rules and go to looking for
these statutes that have been laid down. Now, what are you
supposed to do with this and what are you supposed to do?
You're supposed to do what Christ would do. You're supposed to
show mercy and love and grace and forgiveness. That's what
you're supposed to do. But if you want to go back to
the law, you go right ahead. People talk about the law as
our rule of life. Not this Christian. Christ and
His love is my rule of life. And like David, if I'm going
through the field of corn on the Sabbath day, and I feel like
that my master would be glorified in taking the corn and giving
it to those with me who are hungry, I'll pull that corn. Because
the man wasn't made for the Sabbath day, the Sabbath day was made
for me. And I wasn't made to be put under regulations and
rituals and rules. I was made for the glory of God. I was made for the glory of God.
And that's what he's saying here. And you, verse 20, let's look
at this. Wherefore, if you be dead with
Christ from the rudiments or elements of the world, why, as
though living in the world, are you subject to these ordinances,
touch not, taste not, handle not? Listen to this. What does
this mean? It means this, we're dead with
Christ. Now listen to me, we're dead to sin. It is not imputed
to us, it cannot condemn us, it cannot destroy us, it has
no power over us. We're dead to sin. Sin and its
punishment, its justice, has all been fulfilled at Calvary.
I'm dead to the world. The world has no claim on me.
I'm not a citizen of this world. I'm a citizen of the heavenly
kingdom. I am dead to the moral law. Now, be careful. Listen
to me. Not that we despise it, and not
that we intend to walk contrary to it, for we love it. But we
do not seek from it our life. We get that from Christ. We do
not seek from that moral law our righteousness. We get that
from Christ. We do not seek from that moral
law our salvation. We get that from Christ. We do
not seek from that moral law our justification, our acceptance,
or the favor of God. We find that in Christ. We're dead to the ceremonial
law. The ordinances of the worldly sanctuary have no claim on me.
Now, you can go back to your clean meats and your unclean
meats and all these things, and you're a fool if you do. Because
they have no claim whatsoever. They have fulfilled what they
were given for. And therefore, we are not to
cringe before these things, and we are not to be troubled by
radicals who would trouble us over them. They have no claim
on us. Do not touch this. Do not taste
that. Do not handle this. You see at
that, verse 22 on? Listen to this. Some of the Jews
were quiet. You couldn't touch. Touch not
the dead body. Touch not the bone of any man.
Touch not the place where a leper sat. These old Jews would come
home from the marketplace and they'd go through all these washings
afraid that they had touched something on which a Gentile
had sat or touched himself. Touch not a woman on certain
days. Touch not the sofa where she sat. Touch not the bed where
she lay. Taste not. Taste not the fat
nor the blood. Taste not swine's flesh. Taste
not any creature that chewed the cud or divided the hoof.
The Nazarite could not taste wine, could not taste vinegar
made from certain kind of grapes. Touch not, taste not. Sounds
like 20th century, doesn't it? Handle not. Do not come near
a Gentile. Do not handle an unclean person.
Do not touch a leper. Now, if you be dead with Christ from
these things, Why do you want to come back to them? Why? Verse 22 now. These all perish with the using. They can be of no service to
my soul because they perish with the using. Now Christ is a perpetual
blessing. Christ ever lives to make intercession. He's the living water, He's the
living bread, He's the living life, you see. But these all
perish when you use them, and can be of no service to my soul. The using of these certain things
can't defile me, and the absence of them can't sanctify me. They only relate to the flesh,
and they die with the flesh. No matter how much of a certain
meat or drink I indulge, it can't sanctify me, and it can't defile
me. No way. Not my soul. I can hurt
my body. I can drink so much of certain
things, I can hurt my body, and I'd be a fool to do that. I'll
get to that in just a moment. But as far as these things having
any value to my soul, no way. No way. Verse 23. Now here's a tremendous verse. Let's pause just a moment. Now we're talking about these
meats and drinks and all these things, touch not, taste not,
handle not, clean and unclean, good and bad and so forth, having
to do with the elements of the world. These things have indeed
a show of wisdom in world worship. What does this mean? These outward
religious duties, these outward religious practices, have an
outward appearance to the people of the world of piety and holiness. these self-imposed rigors of
devotion. Here's a man who wears solid
black. He wears a displaced halo around
his neck. He's got a real pious look on
his face. He's never been married. He's
never had a family. He lives in the stone walls of
an old monastery somewhere, walks around in sandals, and he carries
a great big old Bible under his arm. And he fasts two or three
days a week. He lies on a stone bed at night. He doesn't have a soft pillow.
He has no car to ride in. All of these self-imposed rigors
of devotion, these self-imposed abstinences, these self-imposed
rules, not commanded by the Word of God, have an appearance of
piety. That's exactly what he's saying. Now here's a man dressed in an
ordinary suit, he's got a wife and children, he's got a church,
he's a pastor, he studies, he preaches, he prays, you stand
him beside this character that's dressed up like a religious man,
which one do you think's the most holy? You know good and
well which one you think's the most holy, him, because he looks
the holiest. That's exactly what he's saying
here. These things have indeed a show of will-worship. You know what will-worship is?
It's self-imposed devotion and commandments and abstinences
not commanded by God. And read on. And humility. Self-humiliation. Praying to the saints. Which
man looks like he's praying the most? The man standing with his
hands up in the air and his eyes look like a carriage looking
at a new moon, you know, or a new barn gate. You ever see a carriage
look at a new gate? He's never seen it before, you
know. Who looks like he's praying the most? The fellow doing that
or the man just standing here with his arms folded, you know,
and his eyes closed? Well, the man that's lifting
his hand. He looks like he's holier. That's
why we do those things. That's why it is self-imposed
humility. It looks religious, and it has
a show of wisdom. It's all in telling you the truth
and neglecting the body. and neglecting the body by self-imposed
privations and penances." And he goes on and says, "...not
in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh." This is what he
said. These things which have an appearance of piety and an
appearance of hope. You know what Christ said? If
you are fasting, if you are under a great religious burden, between
you and the Lord, wash your face and comb your hair, and don't
appear to men to fast, or you have no reward of your Father
in heaven. When you pray, I don't know a great deal about this
praying in restaurants. I know it looks religious, but
I'd be willing to bet every dime I got that ninety-nine, and you've
got a dime, But 99% of the people that do that in restaurants do
it for show. That's my guess. I do it sometimes
when I wish somebody would get their feet and hurt if I didn't.
Because I feel like I'm circumcising Timothy to take care of the Jews.
But I'm telling you, I just can't pray out where people are clanging
dishes and walking up and down, and waitresses are stopping,
you know, and folks are staring. I just can't. It's a show. I know it is, and it feels religious. You feel like a dog if you don't,
and I don't know what to do. But I'm just telling you the
truth. But I just think a lot of it's just show. That's all
the world is. Just show. And the Bible condemns this stuff
of trying to appear to other men to be holy, trying to appear
to other men to be pious, trying to appear, and he says here,
this does not honor the body, it dishonors the body. That's
what he's saying. It's not in any honor at all
to the satisfying of the flesh. And brethren, I tell you, this
right here where we are is the thinnest line. It's so, I don't
want to get into, you don't want to get into liberty that leads
to licentiousness. You don't want to get into a
spirit where you just, you really try to keep from showing someone
that you know the Lord. But boy, be awfully careful at
what you're doing is not to be seen of men. Otherwise, Christ
said, you have no reward. Our righteousness is Christ.
Our acceptance is Christ. Our holiness is Christ. And what
I do, my conduct, my attitude, my words, the places I go, these
things ought to be determined by my relationship with Him. For me to start developing a
program that appears to others, to impress others with my holiness
and my piety, and to develop a praise the Lord, we'll praise
the Lord, you know, every other word, we'll praise the Lord.
Don't say it if it's not coming from your heart. It's a false piety. We get that
holy jargon, you know, that we talk certain ways and say certain
things. Bless your heart in the Lord.
I love you in the Lord. Don't you love me if I wasn't
in the Lord? It's phony. And that's what it's
talking about here. That's exactly when we bring
it down to modern day, bring it down to everyday 1975, we're
talking about that very thing right here. The reality of Christ. The reality of Christ. Well,
I hope that was helpful to you. It was to me. I just examined
myself. I want to so much. I don't want
to be bound by rules and regulations. I want to be one with Christ. Our Father in Heaven, bless the
Word, to our prophet, to thy glory. We thank thee for thy
word. We thank thee for this which
we've read tonight. Even if we pray right now, are
we communion with thee? Are we going through a form?
Are we praying because you're supposed to pray? Or are our hearts communion with
the living God? Are we using the repetitious
phrases because this is the way we've heard others pray? Do we abstain from appearing
to men to be holy? Is our conversation genuine and
real and motivated by the Holy Spirit, or is it motivated by
a desire for recognition? Are we seeking thee for thyself? For our motive is unholy and
selfish, and we're seeking thee for the loaves and fishes and
because of the miracles. Help us examine our hearts and
our very deepest part of our souls. The heart is deceitful,
desperately wicked. Who can know it? Where do we
stand? Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I his or am I not? teach us, mold us, break us,
crush us, take the eye out of us, let us begin to think about
others. We ask for Christ's sake. Amen.

Colossians Chapter Two vs. 14-23

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Colossians Chapter Two vs. 14-23

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