Sermon Colossoans 2:8-10

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Transcript
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Introduction

Good morning and welcome to First Community Church, where we worship God in Spirit and in Truth, one verse at a time.
We are so glad that each and everyone of you are here today both here in the sanctuary and in the sanctuary of your own home.
Know that if you are watching at home and cannot be here in person that you are missed, you are loved and your are prayed for.
A few weeks ago, we were blessed to hear the testimonies of Mike Swenson and Jacob Owens and how God is working in their hearts and transforming their lives.
We then baptized these two men as they desired to make public that they are souled out for Jesus.
Jacob’s little girl Arianna was sitting on the front pew listening intently to her daddy’s testimony with tears in her eyes.
And after service she approached me and shared she wanted to meet with me and discuss baptism.
This past week I met with Jacob and Arianna and during this meeting, the Lord was there. She is very knowledgable about Jesus and the sacrifice he made for you and me.
In the meeting, she gave her heart to Christ and in the next few weeks, we will be baptizing her in the name of the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.
Please pray for her and ask the Lord if now is the time for you to be baptized or maybe God is calling you to re-commit your life to him through this act of obedience.
Baptism is a biblical command, it is saying , “I am souled out for Jesus and I choose to walk in his ways!”
It is going down in the water, and this is symbolic of being buried with Jesus Christ and resurrected in the newness of life church.
Did you know that the Word says:
Luke 15:10 NKJV
Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Church, the angels rejoice when there is repentance....
Have you made the same commitment to the Lord?

Prayer

Read Colossians 2:8-10

Review

Over the last few weeks church, we learned that to be knit together in love, and to be encouraged the way the Lord would like to encourage us that we must be in fellowship.
Did you know that there is a command for us to do this?
Hebrews 10:24–25 NKJV
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
One of the ways we express our commitment to the Lord, is through our commitment to each other.
2. We learned that “Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.”
There are times in life when we must call a spade and spade in love.
In the times we live in, it is not politically correct to call sin by it rightful name, in fact, if you do, people, even in the church, will call you judge-mental.
The same thing about false teaching, if you call it out, your judging!
Jesus did say, Judge not, lest you be judged church!
He was calling out a critical fault finding attitude
Let us not have this spirit, this was the spirit of the Pharisees and Sadducees
The Pharisees failed to see, while the Sadducees were sad you see!
After all Jesus said, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
3. Last week we learned that Paul uses a military word picture here in verse 8:
Colossians 2:8 KJV 1900
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.
Beware lest any man spoil you, cheat you , or takes you captive >>> NIV, KJV, NASB, NKJV
Spoil/ Cheat/ Deceive - sü-lä-go-ge'-o to take control ⇔ loot v. — to become able to completely manipulate a person; conceived of as carrying someone away as plunder. T o carry away captive and make a slave. To kidnap!
You might be wondering why does this definition have the word loot in it?
Last week I mentioned the word picture about an army coming into the camp of their enemy and taking them captive and making them slaves.
But their is also the word picture here of pirates in the sea, taking over a vulnerable ship and taking its loot or plunder.
Beware is written in the prefect, present, continual tense church.
This means that we need to do this continually in the here and now
While lest any man spoil you, cheat you, or carry you off captive is written in the future tense.
Do you know what this means?
It means that men are coming to carry you off as captive church and the our only defense is to know the Word of God.
Again, those that are carried off church, are those that are unbelievers or believers who have no knowledge of the Bible
How will they carry you off?
Through philosophy-
What is philosophy?
Philosophy- philo-sophia- a belief or system of philosophical beliefs accepted as authoritative by some group or school.
Philo- Philadelphia - the city of brotherly love, therefore, philo or phileo is love
Sophia- wisdom
Therefore, philosophy is the love of wisdom.
Verse 8 is the only occurrence of the word “philosophy” in the New Testament. Paul was probably taking the false teachers’ term for their teaching and saying, “It sounds impressive and it promises a lot; but it’s a deceptive empty shell. If you’re not careful, they’ll carry you away as captives to it.
Church, Most philosophers deny the existence of God.
Those philosophers who do allow for the existence of God usually allow for his existence only as a general cause perhaps in a deistic fashion that somewhere back there some place sometime God kind of spun it all out.
But most of them deny the existence of God altogether and try to explain everything in the universe in terms of their own rational thinking patterns.
Very hopeless and humanistic indeed!

The first-century Jewish historian Josephus wrote, “There are three philosophical sects among the Jews. The followers of the first of whom are the Pharisees, of the second the Sadducees, and the third sect who pretends to be a severer discipline are called Essenes” (Jewish Wars 2.8.2). Thus, the term philosophy was broad enough to encompass religious sects. The use of the definite article with philosophia shows that Paul was referring here to the specific beliefs of the Colossian errorists. Most likely they used it to refer to the transcendent, higher knowledge they supposedly had attained through mystical experience.

Remember, the church at Colossae was being attacked by Gnosticism, Greek Philosophy, Jewish legalism, with a hint of eastern mysticism...
Here, Paul confront the philosophy...
Bertrand Russell at the end of his life, 90 years of age, the vast majority of his life, at least 70 of those years, being spent as a philosopher, his last words were, “Philosophy has proved a washout to me.” That’s a long washout, 90 years.
Thomas Hobbs, the famous English atheistic philosopher who fostered materialistic psychology and what is called utilitarian morality, when he was drawing near his death said this, “I’m about to take a leap into the dark. I shall be glad to find a hole to creep out of this world.”
David Hume, the deistic Scottish philosopher was an immoral man in every sense of the word, totally indecent, completely dishonest. His biographers tell us that he was a teacher of immorality, a denier of God. And his death was so tragic that his attendants at his death said he agonized to the point that he shook the entire bed and demanded that the candles be lit all night, that he never be left alone for one moment, and his lips were filled with cursing and remorse until he died.
And so it goes with philosophers, so it goes with people who want to eliminate God and then in their own minds by their own human effort attempt to discover truth.
Again church, when a person does not know their Bible, they can be captured by philosophy
Colossians 2:8 NKJV
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
Paul goes on to describe philosophy as empty deceit
Deceit- to trick
Humanistic philosophy focused on mans presuppositions about what truth is, will decieve you!
Paul gives us the two sources of such speculation here is the text:
According to the tradition of men
Tradition paradosis- that which is given from one to another.
Church, just because people have believed something and handed it down through the years does not make it true.
Tradition usually can lead to error church!
A study of the history of philosophy serves to illustrate that point. Most philosophers have built on the work of previous philosophers, either to refine their system, or to refute it.
This is true of most systems..
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV 1900
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
God desires us to study church, so we do get caught in the traps Paul is talking about!
First-century Judaism is another example of the effects of tradition. The Jewish leaders and teachers had encrusted the Word of God with so many customs, rituals, and teachings that they were no longer able to distinguish it from the traditions of men.
Mark 7 records an exchange with Jesus and the scribes and the Pharisees on this subject:
In verse 5, they asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders?” Jesus replied in verses 8–9, “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.… You nicely set aside the commandments of God in order to keep your tradition!
The Gentiles also had tradition as Peter writes about it:
1 Peter 1:18–19 NKJV
knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Tradition does not save us church, only Jesus does!
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Six: Saints Alive—And Alert (Colossians 2:4–15)

If a new Christian from a distant mission field were to visit many of our churches, he would probably be astounded at the ideas and practices we have that cannot be supported by God’s Word. Our man-made traditions are usually more important to us than the God-given doctrines of the Scriptures! While it is not wrong to have church traditions that remind us of our godly heritage, we must be careful not to make these traditions equal to the Word of God.

2. According to the basic principles of the world, not according to Christ-
basic principlesstoicheion any first thing, primary and fundamental principles
It can refer to elementary things like the letters of the alphabet
The ancient Greeks used this word to refer to “the elemental spirits of the universe, the angels that influenced the heavenly bodies.”
It was one of the words in the vocabulary of astrology of that day.
The Gnostics believed that the angels and the heavenly bodies influenced people’s lives
Paul warns the Colossians against the kinds of demonic heresies that will lead them away from Jesus.
Christians ought to be careful to not get caught up in things like horoscopes, astral charts, Ouija boards, and other spiritist practices.
The Christian who dabbles in these things is only asking for trouble.
1 Corinthians 1:18–21 NKJV
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
Notice the word basic in the text, church carries with it the idea of immaturity
God desires us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Remember church, the word says, “My sheep hear my voice and follow me!”
But we must know Gods voice, therefore we must be in Gods Word
The more time we spend in the Word, the greater our discernment will be!
To accept their teaching would be to descend, to regress from the mature teaching of Scripture to the infantile teachings of an immature religion, based not on advanced thinking and wisdom but on silly and childish thoughts. To abandon biblical truth for empty philosophy is like returning to kindergarten after earning a doctorate.
Colossians 2:9–10 NKJV
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Paul is claiming here church, that Jesus is God!
Paul is teaching is about the deity of Jesus Christ as well!
So Paul gives the remedy to all false teaching:
“All fullness is in Christ, and you have been made full in Him.
Why, then, would you need anything else?”
We have seen the word “fullness” (pleroma) before (Col. 1:19).
It means “the sum total of all that God is, all of His being and attributes.”
This word was used by the gnostics, but they did not give it the same meaning as did Paul.
To them, the pleroma was the source of all the “emanations” through which men could come to God. The highest point in gnostic religious experience was to share in the pleroma.
Of course, there are no emanations from God. The gulf between heaven and earth was bridged in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the fullness of God, and that fullness dwells continually and permanently in Him bodily. Once again, Paul refuted the gnostic doctrine that matter was evil and that Jesus did not have a human body.
When Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, He went in a human body. It was a glorified body, to be sure, but it was real. After His resurrection, our Lord was careful to assure His disciples that He was the same Person in the same body; He was not a ghost or a spirit (see John 20:19–29). There is a glorified Man in heaven! The God-Man, Jesus Christ, embodies the fullness of God!
Now, the remarkable thing is this: every believer shares that fullness! “And you are complete in Him” (Col. 2:10). The tense of the Greek verb indicates that this fullness is a permanent experience. Dr. Kenneth Wuest’s very literal Expanded Translation reads, “And you are in Him, having been completely filled full with the present result that you are in a state of fullness.”
When a person is born again into the family of God, he is born complete in Christ. His spiritual growth is not by addition, but by nutrition. He grows from the inside out. Nothing needs to be added to Christ because He already is the very fullness of God. As the believer draws on Christ’s fullness, he is “filled unto all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19).
What more do we need? WE ARE COMPLETE IN CHIRST! Jesus is all you need!

Prayer

Announcements

Are there any announcements?
If anyone desires to be baptized, please let me know.

Benediction

2 Timothy 3:14–17 NKJV
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The Lord Bless you!
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