Colossians 2:16-23 - Wisdom by Appearance
Colossians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
There are all sorts of uniquely Christian decisions to make as we seek to follow Jesus...
Our opinions
Our preferences
Our needs and the needs of our family
Go to a Mega church or a house church or somewhere in between
home school or public school or private school
Which Bible version to read (ESV, NLT, CSB, NKJV, Hebrew and Greek manuscripts)
Whether to watch The Chosen or not…there is a lot of creative license to move from one Gospel story to the next.
Whether to drink alcohol in moderation or not
The most important thing you can do to make sure you are making the right decisions about these things OR literally about anything, is to keep your HEAD attached to your BODY.
I’ll explain…false teachers had started to look down on those who don’t value certain religious practices and even promoted practices that have no attachment to Christ at all. This was damaging to those who were coming to faith in Jesus.
What they were promoting was rooted in human tradition and elemental spirits of the world NOT according to Christ.
Paul gives TWO commands to STAND firm in Jesus,
Let no one PASS JUDGEMENT on you
Let no one DISQUALIFY you
Colossians 2:16 (ESV)
16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
16 - Let no one pass judgment on you
in question of food / drink
in regard to festival
in regard to new moon
in regard to Sabbath
(not in the sense that we shouldn’t devote a day out of your week to rest and worship with the body of Christ, but in the sense of there being a SPECIFIC day that ought to be the day you rest on).
You could hold church ANY day of the week that makes sense in your culture. Sunday is not of greater Sabbath value inherently, but culturally it is the day that makes the MOST sense to set aside.
17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
17 - These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ
What is the substance of these things...
Abstinence from certain food speaks to a setting apart for holiness sake as with purity laws of the Jews
Festivals celebrate the great works of the Lord in preserving and protecting His people
New moons recognize GOD as the sustainer of the heavenly beings (sun, moon and stars)
Sabbaths recognize GOD as the provider of all we need to live.
But you can do these things out of the wrong heart
13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
Paul touched on these topics similarly in Romans 14:1-5
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
Weak vs Strong is not judgmental of a position being better or worst but rather just contrasting those who feel constrained to a restricted diet (by faith) and those who do not.
Point is THIS isn’t something to quarrel over!
However you feel about food or drink, festivals and special days on the calendar,
BE CERTAIN your MIND is connecting the meaning of these things to their foundation, which is Jesus.
Colossians 2:18 (ESV)
18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels,
18 - Let no one disqualify you
insisting on
ASCETICISM - avoidance of indulgences and severe treatment of the body for religious purpose
WORSHIP OF ANGELS
Hebrews 1 gives us a healthy perspective on angels saying in v 5-6...
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
The angels are not to be worshipped…the angels worship Jesus!
and again in vs 13-14...
13 And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
They are sent out to serve those of us who follow Jesus.
Prayer over my kids at night…place your angels at our beds, rooms house…protecting us from any evil things
The Lord is in command of the angels
The angels move at the command of Jesus...not on their own inherent wisdom or will. So, our worship should be directed to the Beloved Son Jesus, anything less is unworthy of our worship.
Colossians 2:18–19 (ESV)
going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,
and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
18 - going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind
BOASTING IN SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
…that is, boasting about the things they have seen and using this experience to disqualify or extend authority over others.
exalting spiritual experience over communion with the author of all things visible and invisible.19 - not holding fast to the Head
from whom the whole body...grows with a growth that is from God
nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments
The Church is meant to find growth from Jesus through one another
[Basis for not letting anyone JUDGE you or DISQUALIFY you]
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
20 - If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world
Why do you submit to its regulations
21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”
21 - Do not handle
Do not taste
Do not touch
22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?
22a - The things these rules are about will perish with use…the food is broken down in your body, etc. (referring to things that all perish as they are used)
22b - These rules are based on human precepts and teachings
23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
23 - These rules have no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh
have an appearance of wisdom
in promoting
self-made religion
asceticism
severity to the body
Avoidance of sinful behavior does not remove the desire for sinful behavior
Rather our affection for Christ and the Church replaces our desire for sinful behavior.
When sinful desire is replaced, sinful behavior stopped.
Our desire for sin is REPLACED by that which is superior, the love of Christ and His body, the Church.
Word
Worship
Prayer
Intercession
GO WITH THIS...
Keep your HEAD on your BODY
We’ll get to this verse in a couple of weeks, but Colossians 3:17 “17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
So, first let no one JUDGE you in those convictions through which you are actually worshipping Jesus
Food/drink, celebrations, Sabbath
Second, Let no one DISQUALIFY you by convincing you to participate in things that have NO substance in Christ.
Following Jesus is not dependent on elaborate spiritual power structures or secret knowledge
Following Jesus is not about breaking your body to the point of hallucination
Following Jesus is about being connected to His BODY in such a way that you are knit together as you are nourished by Jesus, the Head of the Church (v 19)
Finally, Loading yourself up with RULES will not do anything to fight the battle of sin, but You have POWER in the name of Jesus over the desires of your flesh
As you give yourself over to the Body the way Jesus also gave himself up for us, your affections, motivations and desires will be so full that there is no room or time or energy for sin to have a place.
We have to decide ahead of time what we are going to do to stay connected to Jesus with our time and relationships so that we don’t passively accept the convenient desires of our flesh.
Give yourself to the Word, to Worship, to Prayer, to Fellowship with the saints and you will have no time to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Any church BODY where the AUTHORITY structure is severing it’s member’s connection with POWER from Jesus, has a problem
AUTHORITY & POWER function side by side…every believer has the POWER of our resurrected Savior living inside of them, but NOT every believer has AUTHORITY in the church.
We get in trouble when these are not in proper balance
We may think everyone has AUTHORITY and POWER
We may think AUTHORITY and POWER is only held by leadership
POWER is held by every believer by the blood of the Lamb
AUTHORITY has been given to the Elders of the church so that they might properly direct the body to accomplish it’s mission.
Major systems of a church body
Power - Cardiovascular
Authority - Nervous
Mission - Respiratory
Discipleship - Digestive
Resources - Skeletal
