Intolerence or Indifference

Intolerance or Indifference

Text: Colossians 2:6-15 (NIV)

Introduction: We can not settle for a generic religion. We must be intolerant of other religions and their encroachment on our territory, for if we settle on a generic prescription of the term religion, we sacrifice the efficient and complete cure of Christ to numbing lies and exaggerated cures. Generic indifference in religion leads to death. Only Jesus can truly cure us and make us whole.

I.        Don’t Abandon The True Religion

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

A.      Continuous In Additional Growth

B.      Continuous In Apostolic Guidance

C.      Continuous In Appreciative Gratitude

II.      Don’t Listen To Empty Religion

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

A.      Empty of Freedom

B.      Empty of God

C.      Empty of  Authority

III.   Don’t Settle For A Surface Religion

11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

A.      Look For A Deeper Operation

B.      Look For An Inner Transformation

C.      Look For A Vitalizing Restoration

IV.    Don’t Forget The Victorious Religion

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

A.      A Debt Free Victory

B.      A Death Free Victory

C.      A Decisive Victory

Conclusion: Jesus is the only answer. All other religions will leave you dead cold. We can’t afford to be indifferent (tolerant) in this area, or it could kill us.