Beware Of Spiritual Bullies Pt. 3

Good evening. Good to see everyone. Glad that you're here tonight and I hope everyone's ready for our business meeting. I'm ready. I've got my booklet here and also will have that tonight. I'll try not to keep you too late tonight, as I'm up here, preaching, since we do have our business meeting, but I hope everyone had a good day. It's pretty day out today, what is felt so nice. Yes,

Okay, I thought Vicky was waving at me.

Either that or going to throw a box of Kleenex at me, I didn't know what it was.

Oh, okay. Alright well good. Yeah, it was a pretty day today. And and so it's good to be back here tonight studying God's word. Well, if you will tonight turn to Colossians chapter 2, we're in the third sermon of the series entitled, beware of spiritual bullies, And tonight we're only going to look at to versus and and we're going to start talkin about tonight.

The bully of legalism. Now, if you know,

we've already talked about intellectualism people saying that well you have to know this or know that you have to have this secret secret knowledge and we talked about that the first time and then last time we talked about ritualism circumcision in Lord's supper and baptism and people saying you have to do these things and you have to follow these rituals in order to be saved, where we'd the month that last week. So this week, we're going to look at the one. There's five of these. We have two more to go after tonight. Mysticism, and asceticism. But tonight legalism to me is what is most dangerous in our churches today. You have some that follow intellectualism but not that many ritualism you have some you know but still not that many but we're going to talk about tonight. Legalism is is very rampant in in a lot of churches especially Baptist Churches. So let's read the scripture first and then I'm going to give you a definition, a short definition of legalism. So we're going to start in verse 14. We're going to look at verse 14 and 15. So this is what the Bible says, 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. Alright, that's speaking of Jesus. Of course, it will go into what this handwriting of ordinances, really is. And then verse 15, and having spoiled, I'm reading out the King James, that word spoiled means. To disarm. So if you want to write disarm in there, having disarmed, principalities and Powers, he made a Shew of them, openly that word shoe, It means. Shame.

or you could say that he

he publicly put them to shame.

Made a shoe or a shame of them openly which means publicly triumphing over them in it. Well, if you just read that, you probably have trouble. Exactly. Trying to figure out what Paul was talkin about, what he's talkin about legalism and I've got a definition. I want to show you tonight of legalism. I wrote this one day. It's very short. But this is what legalism is measuring your own or someone else's spirituality by the ability to keep man-made rules.

Are you not supposed to do it? You can do it. But this this is legalism when you measure your own spirituality or work that you measure measure the spirituality of someone else. By their ability to keep. Man-made rules. Not rules in the Bible. But like the person who had like six or seven hundred extra rules, other was in the Bible.

or like some, who would say,

That it's a sin to go to movie theater.

It's a sin play cards.

It's a sin to clean your house on Sunday.

It's a sin for a lady. To wear a short dress.

Have long hair.

Had one lady one time. Come out of church priest on John chapter 10 and she looked at me and she said, you think it's a sin for a woman to wear makeup. and I said, no, I said for some women are busy and if they didn't wear it,

But now you say well you just telling joke. No, that was not a joke. That was a joke. What I said was a joke but she was serious. She wanted to know, do you think it's a sin for a woman to wear makeup and not fall? Why would it be a sin to wear makeup? but, you'd be surprised at some of the I know one fellow who told me one time. That it's a sin for a man to get in a swimming pool. If there's other ladies in the pool,

he said that he said I'll never get in a swimming pool with. There's a woman in it. Unless it's his wife or something like that. well, I mean, you know, that's fine, if if you can't get in a pool without Groping at a woman or imagining in your mind. I'd like to attack that woman part is probably best that you stay out of that. Would be a good thing for you to do to stay out of the pool. But most man's not not, they're not going to get in the pool and just absolutely attack someone they're not coming to that and they're mine is not racing most men but if your dude then or does the best thing to do is to stay out of pool, you know? But you would be amazed at some of the things. That people will say that you ought to do. Like I told you one time. I was mowing my grass, one Sunday and I and I Lady come by and said, I saw you mowing the grass, you ought not to be doing that. I had just preached that Sunday. They was on a Sunday. I had just breached and I got home and change clothes cuz it was going to rain that afternoon and I had to aerate my yard and mow, and fertilize it and threw grass seed and I did it before it was rain and she thought that was a seeing you not supposed to work on Sunday, not supposed to do anything like that. You did not observe the Sabbath. Well, what does that mean? Does the Ten Commandments say something about the Sabbath? Was it say about the Sabbath? Keep it. Holy. Well then that means you can't do anything, but go to church, and then when you get home, you got to sit there. Meditate on the Bible or something. To hold a long. You can't watch a ballgame. You can't watch the race and then you can't do anything like that. So does that Ten Commandment that. Does that apply to us today?

I'd say the majority of people say, yes. This is some of the things that we're going to talk about we won't get to the Sabbath this week but next week we will but legalism is measuring your own or someone else's spirituality by the ability to keep man-made rules. And let me say this, if you have a weakness and you say, well I don't go watch movies, I don't go to the theater. I don't do that. That is absolutely fine. There's nothing wrong with that. If if you don't want to go watch movies and you think movies are trash with smokes up Maher. That's fine. There's nothing. If that's your individual personal conviction, that is fine. The problem is when we put our own personal convictions and apply them to everybody else, That's the problem. I'm not a drinker. I don't drink. But if somebody does, you're not going to hell because you have a beer in your refrigerator tonight. And if you drink it tonight, when you get home or tomorrow, you're not going to go to hell for that. Should Christians drink. Probably not not. When you look at all the problems that's going on in our world because of alcohol is probably really not a real good witness to other people. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for me to go to Applebee's and set it to bar and drink and other people see me. Does it mean I'm going to hell? No. Mean, I'm a bad person either, but it's just probably not good. That I would do that, as it would be really for any Christian. But the Bible doesn't say that if you drink, or if you smoke, or if you do this, or if you go, here you go there or God's going to get you. Like a lot of Christians think it just nothing, it doesn't talk that way we going to talk about it in the next two Wednesday night. So what are we free from when we talked about legalism when Jesus died on the cross?

What he, what did he do? Other than pay, my send it, or is that what the cross is all about that? He died. My sins are paid for and now I can go to heaven. Is that what the cross is all about? Well, let's look at verse 14, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances, that was against us, that's not seeing, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Jesus, not only took our sins to the cross. He took the law to the cross and nailed it there and what that phrase their means get out of the way forever. Got rid of it do you say what do you mean the law? Well, I'm talking about. specifically The Ten Commandments but all the laws that you can read about in the Old Testament that were ceremonial laws, they were eating laws There were the Ten Commandments everything that God gave to the children of Israel. The law was against us. Why was the law against us? That's what it says. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances. That's the law that was against us. Why was the law against us? Well. How many Elvis can keep the law perfectly? No one. That's why it's against us. We can try as much as we want to. We cannot keep the Ten Commandments because I've never murdered anybody. Well, that's good. If you ever lied. You ever picked up or something in a store like a little piece of bubble gum or something like that or, or maybe picked up some ketchup, packets, or salt, and pepper packets or something like that. You ever done that you ever, have you ever coveted after something that somebody else had or maybe another person? We all have. Well, we can't keep the law, well, because we can't keep the law. We had a death sentence hanging over our head, it when Jesus died on the cross, not only did he pay the debt for our sin, but he took the law. We're no longer under the law. We're now under grace. That is a great thing right there. We don't have a death sentence hanging over our heads. You say, yeah, but wait a minute. God. Gave the Ten Commandments to Israel. How about the jet?

His wall. How about all these Rogue Nations out there? Didn't know anything about God he didn't give them his law also aren't they kind of looked over. Aren't they forgiven though? You say what why? Let's look at it and Romans chapter 2 verse 12 through 16, what the Bible says. Romans 2. 12 through 16. For as many as have sinned without law. Will also perish without law. And as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.

For not the hearers of the law or just in the sight of God. But the doers of the law will be just fine. How many others can do the lawn perfectly, okay? So there's nothing to be just about nobody. Alright? For when Gentiles and watch this, who do not have the law, the law wasn't given to them was given to Israel. So the Gentiles didn't have the law when they by Nature do the things in the law. These, although not having the law or a law to themselves. In other words, when somebody help somebody And they follow the law. How do they, how do they do that by Nature? How do they do the long cuz of all wouldn't give it given to him? How can they do something good when they wasn't even given law? Look at this. Next verse. They show the work of the law written where in their hearts. Every single person that's ever been born has the law of God written in their hearts. You say I'm a gentile I wouldn't matter. He wrote it in your heart. It's there anyway. That's why Gentiles can do things like by Nature. Do the things as in the law because don't we all know really. I mean, just truly really, don't we all know right from wrong? Don't we all know that? It's really bad to kill somebody. It's really a bad thing to steal. We know that whether we've ever been to church a day in our lives. How do we know that the law wasn't given to me? I've never studied the Bible. God wrote it on your heart. Written in their hearts. And what else did you give us a conscious? Look at this, their conscious also, bearing witness you ever done, something like lie and then later felt guilty. Why would you feel guilty about lying cuz God has written his law on your heart? That I shall not lie?

That's why when you pick up something you just not yours. You feel guilty. Conscious also bearing witness and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them. Remember in Romans chapter 1, the Bible says, There's no such thing as an atheist because God's laws been written in our hearts that's our conscience. And he says, you just go outside and look around at creation and and you can tell that there is a God. Now that does mean that, you know, everything about Jesus and that he died for your sins and all of that. But we can just go outside our house and look around and look at everything and know that because of creation there is a God and also know because of our conscious, we feel guilty when we do something wrong, whether we go to church or not, we know that that law is written on our hearts. Can't tonight cannot deny. So that's that's the Gentiles when the Lord shed his blood for Sinners Jesus Christ, cancelled this huge debt, that was against all men because of their Disobedience to the law. We can't keep the law. And in Bible days, Financial records were often kept on a parchment and that, when something changed that parchment could be, could be washed and wiped off. This is the picture that Paul was given their. He says, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances, he says, washing that off. That's what Jesus did when he died on the cross. He just washed that away. You see how could a holy God then? Be just and counseling. A worldwide death. How could he be Justin doing that? It's because his son Jesus, Paid the debt full day at when he died on the cross. And I think of this, if a judge sets, a man free who is guilty of a crime The judge cheapens the law and leaves the victim, or the injured party without restitution, but we see that happening all the time. Now, just corrupt, judges just sent people free who commit crime and then the victims they have, they have no restitution or anyting God wouldn't do that. You see, God said there has to be a price that was paid for our sin that God could have just said, look let's just let's just forget it. You're all just said, I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to send my son down there but he don't have to die for it. I'm just going to take that away the god do that? He would not take that away. Why? Because he is a holy and just God and God paid sincere when he gave his son on the cross. And by doing that, he upheld the Holiness of the law. He upheld back. He's going to judge. Send one way or the other. No one ever gets by with sin, but Jesus did more than Council are death. He took the law that condemned us. And set it aside and now we're no longer under its Dominion. Let me show you three versus look at Roman 76. But now we have been delivered from what the law. This is course, this is after Jesus, this is New Testament wrong with. We have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by the written. The ordinance is the law so that we should serve in the newness of what the spirit and not in the oldest of the letter. So now we have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. And we can serve cuz he leads and guides us. And we can serve through the spirit. We don't have all these laws, man-made rules and laws about, you can eat this and you can't eat this and you can go here and you can't go here. All the dye shalt Nots and I shall, we don't have those anymore because we're, we have been delivered from the law. All right, now look what Romans 6:14 says. For sin shall not have dominion over you. For you are not under what law under, what Grace, If any man seeing, what do we need to do confess our sins, and Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, you see if we didn't have that we under the law? Well, we have sin and now that death sentence over my head, but no longer is it for you are not under law. You're under grace and then, look at what Romans 8 for says, This doesn't mean that we're Lawless. Look at this. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh. But according to the spirit. So the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. That means those of us who are saved It is fulfilled in, she said, yeah, but I'm not perfect, I still seeing right? But because you are wearing Christ's righteousness, when God looks at you. He sees his son's, perfect life, not your feeble life. That's why it's the field in us. We are no longer subject to the law. We are under grace. So just think about, at the cross. With Jesus, he paid our sin, dad in full, but not only that, he brought us out from under the law. He did what he did something else and we are victorious in him. He not only dealt with the law, not only dealt with sin, but he also dealt with Satan and I look at verse 15. Having. Disarmed. Principalities and Powers. That's what he's talkin about. The Demon World. Principalities and Powers. He made a shoe, or he put them to shame, openly triumphing over them in it. So now, we're victorious in him. Remember what Jesus said right before his crucifixion, he said this and John, He said now is a judgment of the world. Now, shall the prince of this world be cast out. He was talking about when he was going to be crucified. He says, when I'm crucified, the prince of this world is going to be cashed out. What he's talking about sake, you see the death of Christ on the cross. Look like a great victory for Satan but it turned out to be the greatest defeat Satan will ever have now is Satan active today. Yes, he is our demons active today. Yes, they are. The Satan tempt us and does he try to control us and destroy us? Yes, he does. But friends, we're not under the power of Satan, any longer? We don't have to say with that has been on my back and I've just been failing failing, failing know, you're not near no longer under the control of Satan. We are under control of the spirit friends. If you any Satan worshipper comes up to you and say where you ought to worship Satan. You ought to be a devil worshiper at all like that. You just tell him that the devil is is the ruler of a dune. And he is the captain of a sinking ship because he as been beat and we don't have to give into Satan, we're not under the law, we're not under Satan. He says, here he has disarmed the principalities and powers and he has openly embarrass them. That's what the Bible says here. So Jesus had three great victories on the cross. First of all, he disarmed the powers and authorities. In other words, he stripped Satan and his army of whatever weapons that they had. Satan cannot harm the believer unless that believer harms himself. You say, what, what do you mean by that? What did Jesus say to his disciples? He says, watch and pray. And what did they do? They fell asleep. If we cease to watch and pray as did Peter, then Satan can use his weapons against us. But as long as we use the weapons that God has given us the armor of God, he will have no control and sin. No longer has dominion over you Satan. No longer has dominion over you the law. No longer has dominion over us. Well, second what did he do? He made a public spectacle of the enemy and that's what he says here. He's shoe a shoe of them openly exposing Satan's, deceit and violence because in his death and resurrection and Ascension Christ, Vindicated what God had done. And then third it says he triumphs Let me tell you why, that's an important word when a Roman general won a great Victory on say some foreign soil or something like that, he would take captives and he would just ramsak the nation and steal everything that he could and he would gain new territory for Rome will. When he would do that, he would bring all them captives back to Rome and they would hold a parade for it. It was called the Roman Triumph was what it was called. And And what Paul was saying here that Jesus won a complete Victory. He return to Glory. Remember his send it back up to heaven? And because he had completely defeated Satan, he disarmed Satan. He disgraced Satan openly publicly embarrass them by his resurrection and Friends. He made a total defeat of Satan and then his send it back to heaven. So we're not under the control of Satan at all. We share in his victory over the devil. We don't have to worry about all these forces and demons and planets and try to try to influence men's lives. The satanic armies of all these principalities and powers are defeated and they have been disgraced. Now, I want to close with this. I'm on, I want to talk a little bit tonight about Our relation to the law. We'll talk more about it next week, but I want to start it this week. The law was given to Moses in the Old Testament. If you want to know all the laws just read Exodus 20 through. I think it's 31 Leviticus and Deuteronomy, but all those law in essence, they embodied The Ten Commandments. Now, here's what I want you to understand. The law was never the Ten Commandments. Was never given for us to follow them in order to be safe. Never given for that reason whatsoever. The law, the Ten Commandments. Was given to us.

The show us our sinfulness. You never follow the law because you think I'm going to be pleasing to God. I'm going to earn my way to heaven. I'm going to get saved by Falling all these dues, and don'ts rules and regulations. That was not why it was given to the law was given to us to show us our sinfulness. Look at Romans 3:20,

therefore by the Deeds of the law, keeping the Ten Commandments, not going here, not going there, not eating this, not doing that, not wearing this all that the Deeds of the law by the diesel out. No flesh will be justified in his sight. Now watch this for by the law of the Ten Commandments and all these other ceremonial laws and everything else by the law is the knowledge of sin. That's the reason the law was given so that we could understand, I can't keep the law. I need a righteousness, that's not my own. What the law, what the Bible tells me is it tells me that I'm a sinner and that I need a righteousness. That's not my own and that's where Jesus comes in know, by the Deeds of the law. No flesh will ever be just 5. Why? Because no one can perfectly keep the law for, by the law is the knowledge of sin. We all know that we fail. God, you ever told a lie? Yes. You ever murdered anybody know? I've never murdered anybody. Jesus said if you ever been angry. So now you've already committed murder You have committed adultery how I would never do that juice. If you ever looked on a man or woman and lusted after him, you've committed adultery ever done that. You don't have to answer.

You see Jesus didn't lower the bar. He raised the bar. He raised the bar in what Paul was saying here. Why in the world? We are complete in Christ. Why do you want to put yourself under the Yoke and burden of the law? When Jesus died on the cross? He nailed he nailed it to his cross. Don't don't get caught up in all these rules and regulations that has nothing to do with the Bible. It was written Israel. It's not for us today. Always saying you're not under the law, you're under grace but see we like to be under the law because if we're under the law that means that if I can perform and do a little bit, it's like I'm helping God out and I want to play a part in my salvation. So I want to do something good. So I'm going to help him out. I'm going to keep these rules and regulation. I'm not going to do this, and I'm not going to do that. And all of this, by the Deeds of The Flash, there's not a single person who will ever be justified in his sight Because by the law is the knowledge. Seeing let's move on. It was given to Israel. It contains moral principles. Now, it does contain of the law certain moral principles that are valid in any age, but God tested Israel under the law. Kind of, as a sample of the human race, and they failed and Israel's guilt. Proved, the world's guilt in the law, had attached to it. The penalty of death in this is what Jesus nailed on the cross. Look at Galatians 3, 10, For, as many as are of the works of the law, or under the curse, what curse is that? Here it is. Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. What was the curse that death? If you don't do everything, that's written in the book of the law perfectly, okay? We didn't, you have a death sentence over your head? Well, that was all of us and to break one of those commands. Even one, what does the Bible say? Look at James to 10, if you just break one up for whoever shall keep the whole law. And yet, stumbling one point he's guilty of what? All of it, don't matter. You say why? I don't steal, I don't do that. Occasionally, I'm covered. It's okay, well, you're out. if you out, if you've committed just one send You failed at all? That's exactly right. You done? So since people had broken the law, they were under the curse of death and God's righteousness and Holiness demanded. That there. Be a penalty in that, that penalty be paid. And it was when Christ died. That's recently came into the world. To pay the penalty by his death, he died us. Theologians call a substitutionary death, which means he was our substitute for guilty lawbreakers, even though he himself, was sinless, he didn't wave the law side. He met the full demands of the law by living a perfect life, and all the requirements that it required. He, he made them all. We had to have someone perfect. That was a man to die for us. And that's what Jesus did. So, the gospel doesn't overthrow the law. It doesn't say, I hear people say all the time. When the law is no good. If I was written for us, we don't need to log. Yes, we do need the loan, we need to log because the law shows us that we're Sinners. And if we don't have that, we'll never know that we are in need of a savior Soul. Gospel doesn't overthrow the law and upholds. The law and shows how the laws demands cannot be attained by us, but it was attained by Jesus. Therefore person trusting. Jesus is no longer under the law. Look what Romans 6:14 says. Therefore, the law. Not, let's go.

Romans 6:14 is it in there?

Okay. Romans 6:4. Romans 6:14. Let me let me turn here because it's important when I thought I put that one in there.

Oh, okay. For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under what but under what Grace there you are right there and it's all because of Jesus. We are dead to the wall through the work of Christ. The penalty for the law was paid once Jesus, Paid it and friends. You don't have to because you couldn't anyway, but you don't have to do in a sense. The law has faded away, but look what Galatians 3:24. And 25 says, if you want the picture, this is I love these two verses here there for the law was our, what, what's a tutor do? Lead you and teaches you like Watch what it says, therefore the law was our tutor to do, what bring us to Christ the show us that we're Sinners that we need Christ. That we might be justified by what by keeping the law know by faith in Christ. But after faith has come, we are no longer under what is talking about. It was a tutor to show us and we are no longer under that. So we're not under law, doesn't mean that we are Lawless, we're Bound by stronger law. That's the Law of Christ. And our behavior is mole to mole did not because fear of punishment. Not because we're trying to follow rules and regulations, but because we want to please Jesus and live for him. Jesus now is the rule of your life. Matter fact. Jesus is your Sabbath. Somebody say should we follow the Sabbath? No, because we follow it every day because Jesus is our Sabbath rest. I'll talk more about that next week. Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament. The only one not if they keep the Sabbath. That's the only one that's not now the ministry of the law. Still applies to unsaved people in. This is last verse I want to show you first Timothy 1 a.m. but we know, That the law is good. It's good. If one uses it lawfully, another words to show me my sin not to try to be saved by. Now watch what it says Knowing that knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person for person who saved. But for the Lawless and insubordinate for the ungodly for center for the Unholy profane murders of fathers, mothers and mothers, and then players, that's who the law is for. Will you say what that sounds like, Sinners? If that's who lost for, that means, it was for everyone but the law does what it was our tutor. It showed us our sinfulness and it showed us that we need a savior. So, Jesus didn't come to abolish the law. He said that he said, I come to fulfill it. And not only did he can feel it but he raised the bar. No longer is it. I shalt not commit adultery. Now you can't look on a man or a woman unless you've already committed no longer is it not the murderer now you better not be angry. Cuz if you're angry and you've already committed murder in your heart. You see how he raised the bar. Exactly right. And that's exactly what he's done. So think about what Christ did on the cross and we'll close with this. He not only paid our sin dead in full He notified the law on his rules and regulations so Mom are still good if not, it's still good not to steal it still good, not to still good to honor your parents. All those things are still good, should we follow the ten commandments as much as we can? But we can never use the Ten Commandments as a way to get closer to God or to procure salvation. The law was given to show us that we're Sinners. Amen. Let's pray, father, we thank you, and praise you, love you tonight, Lord for your word. And Lord, this is so important. And so we, we see this so much in our churches today of legalism of people, making extra rules and regulations for people to live by Lorde. When we do that, we're only being legalistic. We're only being a spiritual bully Lord help us to understand your word, help us to be good. Interpreters of your word and Lord help us to understand that we now are under grace and not the law. It doesn't mean that we have a license to send, it just means. Now, the reason we obey is not because we fear punishment, but because we love you the one who died for sourcing, Christ's name, I pray. Amen. All right. Anybody have any