Colossians chapter 2. I've been bringing messages for
several weeks now to us from this small letter of Colossians,
a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote as a prisoner, a prisoner
in Rome to the church at Colossae, and it was to be given to other
churches as well. The church at Laodicea and another
small place is mentioned in chapter four. And it is, of course, given
to you and me, to the church down through the ages. Paul knew,
even though he had never preached to these in this church in person,
we've seen that he had a great love and great concern for them. If you notice in verse 1 of chapter
2, He wrote, for I would that you knew what great conflict
I have for you. He had never preached to them
in person, but he had a great love for them and a great apprehension
for them because he knew that man had come among the believers
here who were teaching something that was sure to cause at least
these two problems. The first problem was the most
serious of all, and that is they were teaching that which would
have a tendency to take men's eyes off of Christ, to look to
themselves or to look to the law or to look to anything other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. And the second tendency this
false teaching would have in the church, it would cause disunity
among the believers. Now, we saw last week that Paul
summed up the false teaching if you look in verse eight under
these three headings. First of all, philosophy. Beware
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. And we saw that this word means
human reasoning. Empty, empty reasoning, philosophy. And then secondly, the second
heading was the traditions, traditions of men, religious traditions. And the church is always on guard
not to allow traditions, certain traditions to come in because
they so easily do. As a pastor friend of mine who
is now with the Lord, told me many years ago when we were really
in the beginning stages of this church, he said to me, David,
it's easier to bring something into the church than it is to
get it out of the church. And he had reference at the time,
now I call to memory of a particular church who had the tradition
when a person had a birthday, They would come down to the front,
and they had a small offering box on the offering table, and
people would put a penny for every year in it. And the pastor
recognized that this was just distracting, that it had nothing
to do with worshiping God, and so he removed it. And about two
weeks later, they removed him. Traditions, traditions of man. And then the third thing, the
rudiments of the world, which we saw refers to the law of Moses,
the rudiments of the world. The law of Moses is like the
ABCs to the English language. This is the way many of the commentators
refer to it. It was given unto them. in their
non-age, it was given to the nation of Israel in their non-age. But when they came of age, it
was removed by the coming and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean that there
are not things in the law of Moses that are beneficial to
us. but a believer is not under the
law of Moses. Now, Paul answered, really, he
answered these problems, these three things, in two verses,
if you look, in verses nine and 10, when he said, for in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That is, that Jesus Christ is
both God and man. He is one person. He's not two
persons. He's one person. But He is fully
God and He is fully man. He is truly the God-man. The
fullness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily in Jesus Christ our Lord. And secondly, you are complete
in Him. I was just looking earlier this
morning, how many times do we see these two words in this letter
here? In him, in him. If you look back to chapter one
in verse 19, we saw, for it pleased the Father that in him should
all fullness dwell. And we saw that that's all fullness
of grace, all the grace to save a sinner and to keep a sinner
and to preserve a sinner all the way home. It's all in Christ. There's a fullness of grace in
Christ. And I tried to point out, and
I trust that I was able to, no matter how evil, how wicked a
person may see themselves, there's a fullness of grace in Christ.
One of my favorite verses of scripture is in Romans 5, where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Oh yes, in him,
that is in Christ. I remember an old preacher years
ago, that old saying, don't put all your eggs in one basket.
He said, that's exactly what God has done in Christ. Everything
is in Him. Salvation, forgiveness, justification,
sanctification, glorification, all of these wonderful truths,
they're all in Christ. In Him dwelleth the fullness. And then I noticed down in verse
three of our text, or of chapter two, in whom are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In Christ. He is the wisdom of
God and the power of God. And then in verse six of this
chapter, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so you walk in him, in Christ. Verse nine, for in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Verse 10, and you are
complete in him, in Christ. In Christ you are complete. Now, Paul, as I said, he answered
all the evil, the errors, rather, of these men in those two verses.
But this morning, I want to look at verses 14 through the end
of the chapter. And I want to do so under these
words. Why believers should not listen. You know, people tell me some,
well, he says some good things. Well, every man who preaches
says some good things. You have to realize that. I don't
care what church or what denomination he is a part of, every man says
some good things. But here's the question. What about the good things he
never mentions? What about the sovereignty of
God? You'll never hear him speak about
God being sovereign in creation, providence, and salvation. What
about God's sovereign election? What about total depravity and
the Lord's specific atoning work and God's irresistible grace
and the perseverance and the preservation of the saints? You ever hear him speak of those
things and not lie about them? Sometimes they do use those words,
but they twist the meaning of the scripture. I could give examples
of that, but I want to go on. Here, first, believers should
not listen. Now listen. Believers should
not listen to those who would bring them under the rudiments
of the world. bring them under the rudiments
of the world. We saw that this refers to the
law of Moses. Now I want you to look in verse
14. The scripture says, we ended with verse 13 last time, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross. I want you to notice that the
law was always against us. Recognize that. The law of God
was always against us. It was always contrary to us. Now, the law is just like its
author. It's God's law, and God is holy,
God is just, and God is good, and so is God's law. The problem
never has been anything with the law, but it is that as fallen
individuals, it's against us. It's contrary to us. Why? Because fallen man, sinful
man, you and I, every one of us, no exceptions as we come
into this world, we cannot obey God's law as God demands. He demands perfect obedience,
continuous obedience, perfect, absolute obedience in all things. Keep your place here, but turn
back just a few pages to Galatians. Chapter three, verse 10. For as many as are of the works
of the law. Here's a man and it's sad. Isn't it sad that people you
work with, people, your neighbors, how many people do we meet who
say, well, I just try to keep the 10 commandments. Well, that's
part of the law of Moses. That's how I try to live. I think
I'm going to be all right. I try to keep the law. Well,
Paul says, for as many as are of the works of the law, trying
to keep the law, are under the curse. Under the curse. For it is written,
this is what the law says, curse it is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. It's not just buying a plaque
with the 10 commandments on it and hanging that up in your house.
Nothing wrong with that, but that's not what the law requires.
The law requires obedience, perfect obedience. And those who are
under the law or under the The works of the law are under the
curse. Why? Because the law curses everyone
who does not perfectly obey it. The apostle Peter referred to
it as a yoke, as a yoke, as animals are yoked together to pull a
burden, pull a plow or something. The law of God was never given
to give life. It's against us, Paul tells us. It's contrary to us. It was never given to give life,
but to show us that we need a savior, that we need a deliverer. We
need someone to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. When you read through the books
of Exodus and Leviticus, and I've just recently read through
them, and I love, I love God's word. But you know, I was just
reading through there noticing again, the law, it regulated
what men could eat, what you could eat, and what you could
not eat. It regulated the material that
your clothes were made of. It regulated how you could plow
your field and how you could sow your fields. Now that if you touched anything,
like a bone, or if your loved one perished and you're going
to do for them what they can't do for themselves, they're deceased
and they must be buried. They must be put under the ground.
You're going to do for them, you touch them, you touch the
body, you're unclean. You're unclean. No wonder it
was referred to as a yoke. You read through those books
and you see how careful and how precise every man under that
law had to live and try to obey it. This is what we see if you
look down here in verses 16 and 17 here in Colossians 2. He said,
which are a shadow of things to come. Those rites and commandments
and rules, they were a shadow of things to come, but not the
body. You see, when you're walking
out in the sunshine and you see your shadow maybe before you,
Yet there has to be a body first before there's a shadow. And
the law, it was pictured, and it had many types in it of Christ
and of salvation, but it was just a shadow. And you know a
shadow is, you see, darkly a shadow, not clearly. But the body is
Christ. That was just, the law was just
a shadow, the body. is Christ. Notice that in verse
17. Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels. Intruding
into verse 17, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body
is Christ. How has God delivered us from
the curse of the law. And are you delivered from the
curse of the law? Have you been delivered from
the curse of the law? Have you? Think about it. Are you still under the curse
of the law? You say, what is the curse of
the law? Death. The soul that saith it
shall die. Well, how is it then that God
has delivered his people from the curse of the law? God sent
his son. This is a gospel, isn't it? God
sent his son into this world as a surety of his people. And Paul uses a figure here,
if you notice in that verse, verse 14, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. When those Roman
soldiers nailed the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross, he was blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances contained in that law, which
was against us. And he delivers us from the curse
of the law that is eternal death. God sent his son into this world
made of a woman, made under the law that he might redeem us from
the curse of the law. There's only one way a person
is redeemed from the curse of the law, and that is through
Jesus Christ, through his person and his work, his blood and his
righteousness. There's no other way. Romans
chapter 10 in verse 4, Paul said, Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness for everyone, to everyone that believe it. Now that word end, Christ is
the end. Christ is the goal, the purpose,
the conclusion of the law. It's all accomplished through
the death of Jesus Christ. You want to be justified. You want to know that God declares
you just before him. Oh, can't you picture that just
a moment? Here's the holy Lord God and
all the holy angels. Nothing but holiness there in
his presence. And he declares someone like
you and someone like me justified. Just as if we had never sinned. What a blessing. What a mercy,
right? To be justified by God. To be justified before God. And that's only true through
the suffering and death of his son, Jesus Christ. He died as
a substitute. He died as a surety. He died
in the place of his people. You know, there's such a thing
as double jeopardy. I'm not talking about the TV
show. I'm talking about in law. In
law, a man is accused of a crime and he's tried and he's pronounced
as jury, finds him to be innocent. Well, the district attorney doesn't
like that, so he's gonna try him again. No, no, no, he's not. The Lord Jesus Christ, he paid
the penalty for the sins of his people. They're paid. And God
is not going to demand payment twice. First, at our surety's
hand, and then again at ours. No, Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness unto everyone that believeth. Look in verse
20 here in our text, verse 20 through 22. Wherefore, if you
be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, there
it is, the rudiments, elements, 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 using? Touch not. This had to do, of course, with
the bones. Man could be plowing out in the
field and accidentally step on a bone. It could be a human bone. Well, he's unclaimed. Law comes
down on him. I mean, there were so many, And
these Christians are now under the influence of these false
teachers coming to believe or think, well, we've got to adopt
that law of Moses. We've got to live under that
law of Moses. And there are certain things
we can't touch and certain things we can't eat. And that was a
whole thing, wasn't it, with Paul and Peter? Peter was eating
with the Gentiles in Galatia until some of the brethren, the
Jewish brethren came down from Jerusalem and Peter just got
up from his place at the table and went over there and sat by
himself to eat. And Paul said, that's not right.
That's not right. No. Why? He said, if we as Jews, we can't
keep the law, why would you? demand that these Gentiles come
under the law. One thing you have to say about
Peter, he accepted that rebuke. And he spoke of his beloved brother
Paul, didn't he? I mean, we all learn. We all
learn, don't we? You know, when a person's born
into the kingdom of heaven, he's not born full grown. He's born
a babe, and we begin to grow. And I still remember and still
love that saying. Preacher asked the old Christian
lady one time, farm lady said, don't you believe in growing
in grace? She said, I sure do. And I believe it's like the tail
of a calf growing. The more it grows, the longer
it gets, the closer to the ground it comes. That's the kind of
growing in grace I believe the Bible teaches, don't you? The
more we see Christ, the more we see our need, the more we
are humbled before God and sing and shout and praise hallelujah. What a Savior. What a Savior
who could take a poor lost sinner like me or like you. Now, when
we say that we're not subject to ordinances, that doesn't mean
all ordinances. We're talking about religious
ordinances. I want you to turn back to Romans. There are civil ordinances that
we are subject to. In Romans chapter 13, the apostle Paul shows us how needful
it is to have law. have authority, have rulers. One of the craziest things we've
ever heard in the last few years is those people that wanted to
do away with the police. I don't want to live where there's
no police, friends. I really don't. No, we need the
police. We need armies. We need laws
and judges and jails and prisons. Let this place become a hell
on earth because of the depravity of man. Look at Romans 13. Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers, for there's no power but of God. The powers
that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power resisteth the ordinance of God. You see, ordinances,
Religious ordinances, yes, we're free from them. But there are
ordinances, civil ordinances, that we are to obey. And believers,
Christians, are the best citizens in any country, if they're really
Christians. They really are. They're not
trying to rob and defraud. Not pay their taxes and all of
those things that so many people are involved. Not believers.
No, we serve the Lord. We want to do what's right in
God's sight. I won't read any more there.
And also there's the ordinances of baptism. Believers, we obey
this ordinance when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. One
of the first things we want to do is to confess our faith in
Christ, publicly, in water baptism, picturing the gospel we believe. And then the ordinance of the
Lord's Supper, what a privilege it is. The first of every month,
first Sunday in every month, here we gather around the Lord's
table. And it's the Lord's table, it's
not my table, not the church's table, it's the Lord's table.
And if you're one of his, you're invited. In fact, he said, this
do, you're commanded, this do in remembrance of me. The gospel proclaims deliverance,
deliverance to the captives. You know, that's what the first
verse the Lord Jesus Christ read from Isaiah, when he returned
to Nazareth after his baptism, pictures him, the spirit of the
Lord is upon me. And why? To proclaim liberty
to the captives. In other words, a year of Jubilee,
the true, the law had a year of Jubilee, which pictured the
gospel age. And the Lord said, now this scripture's
fulfilled in your hearing. Paul said, stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. That old law. Yes, read it, study it, there
are principles there, practice it, but don't put your trust,
my friends, in any way in the rudiments of the world here,
the law. What message? Listen, well think
about it now. Here these people have come into
this church. They had heard the pure gospel of the grace of God.
And here these false teachers come in and they're adding, adding,
adding, adding to to the gospel, to the message of Christ. Yes,
that's good, you've accepted Christ, you've believed in Christ,
you've trusted in him, but now to go on to perfection or to
keep living the Christian life, you've got to come under these
other, bring these other things. What would that, what message
would that send to the world? It would send this message, first
of all, that Christ is not sufficient. Yes, Christ is a savior, but
we've got to put in our part. We've got to do our part. We've
got to help him out in this matter. No, my friends, it's Christ and
Christ alone. He is the only Savior. I remember an old preacher one
time said, someone asked him, said, is Christ enough? And his
answer was, if He's all you've got, He's enough. Let that sink
in. If He's all you have, He's enough. But if you try to bring anything
with Him, no. No, He's enough. When he's all,
he's everything. Jesus paid it all, all to him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. Jesus, he washed it white as
snow. Amen? These false teachers, what they
were bringing in was a denial of the truth that salvation is
by grace through faith. It's of grace or it's of faith,
the Apostle Paul said, so that it might be by grace. If you
try to add anything to it, that's a bad mistake. Second, believers
should not listen to those who would subject them to vain philosophy. Verse 15, having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them. You notice that little number
there, your margin at the end of verse 15, triumphing over
them in himself. The Lord Jesus Christ by himself,
he defeated, he spoiled, plundered, the armor of Satan and all of
his demons. And he did that at the cross.
That was a fulfillment of the first gospel promise ever given
in this world, that the seed of the woman would bruise the
head of the serpent. And that's what took place at
the cross. And the Lord Jesus Christ, he
achieved a complete victory over all our enemies, over all principalities
and powers, over every devil and demon. Everything is under
his rule, under his control. Look back at chapter 26 of Acts,
just a moment, Acts chapter 26. The Apostle Paul, in this verse
we're going to read, is giving his testimony of what he heard,
what he was told when the Lord saved him. Here in Acts chapter
26, if you will, verse 17. The Lord said, delivering thee
from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send
thee, to open their blind eyes, to open their eyes rather, and
to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan
unto God. Turn them. At the cross, now
listen, at the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ defeated Satan. That's what this verse tells
us, right? By himself, he defeated all principalities and powers. When you are converted, when
you hear the gospel, and the Lord does the work of grace in
your heart, and you look to him, then this deliverance is applied
in your life, and you are turned from darkness to light and from
Satan to God, unto God. That's conversion,
a turning. One other point here. Believers
should not listen to those who would bring them under the rudiments
of the world. Believers should not listen to
those who would subject them to vain philosophy, human reasoning. And believers should not listen
to those who would subject them to the traditions of men, the
commandments and doctrines of men. Paul knew something about
that. He really did. That had been
his whole life until the Lord revealed himself to him. He had
been raised as a strict Pharisee, Jew. Look back to Galatians chapter
one just a moment. Galatians 1 and verse 14 he confesses
that he profited in the Jews religion above many my equals
in mine own nation. I noticed being more exceedingly
zealous of the traditions of my father's traditions. God has given us let me close
with this remind us God has given us this inspired book. verbally inspired, inerrant. No errors in this book. God inspired
men to write it. And he's given us this book that
we might know what we are to believe and what we are to practice. We're not to turn to traditions,
no matter how old they are, how new they are. If they're not
in this book, as he said in the book of Isaiah chapter eight,
to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, this word, it is because there is no light in them, no
understanding. We're never going to outgrow
this book, are we? I heard a story just recently
of a young man who called his, well, he was at a, at a luncheon. I think he was a mayor of a fairly
large city in Minnesota. And he gave his testimony at
a luncheon. And he said, when I went off
to college, he said, I called my dad who was a pastor and one
of the, he said, one of the saintliest men I ever knew. And I told him,
I said, Dad, I just don't believe I can believe everything in the
Bible anymore. He said, there's just some things
in there I can't believe. And his dad asked him this. He
said, well, what is it? He said, well, about the six
days of creation, and he named a few things. And his father
very wisely asked him this question, well, do you still read it? Oh
yeah. He said, I read it. I was taught,
you taught me to read it as a boy, to read the Bible every day.
And I still read it every day. And then his father said, well,
obey what you do understand. And he was given his testimony.
And he said, you know, he said, I listened to my dad. He told
me to obey what I did understand. And I kept reading and kept trying
to obey. Before long, I realized that
I still believe this book. It still spoke to me. It still
spoke to me. And that's the thing about God's
Holy Word, isn't it? It speaks to us as we read it,
study it, meditate upon it, practice it, live it. None but Christ,
none but Christ. That's what one of the martyrs
As he was being burned alive, one of the English martyrs was
able to cry, none but Christ, none but Christ. That's what
Paul is saying here. Don't look to anything other
than Christ Jesus. In him, in him, we have wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Amen.