Jesus is Enough

English Standard Version Chapter 2

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. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

What an amazing passage

Last week we looked at verses 6-8

And I want to emphasize again what we talked about then

Story of Blondin, the tightrope walker

famous tight rope walker

Did many famous exploits that wowed his audiences

one of his most amazing stunts was walking across the Niagra River. He crossed the river nearly 300 times in his life!

Got so good at it that he would push a wheelborrow across

people were amazed and cheered!

One time he asked his audience, “How many people think that I could push someone across in this wheelborrow?”

Everyone thought that he could

Then he asked, “Ok, any volunteers?”

And there were crickets

Finally one man raised his hand and said he would volunteer

This man turned out to be Blondin’s manager

Well, Blondin wasn’t quite ready to do that, but sometime later, this man rode across Niagara on Blondin’s back

This man was a picture of faith in action

Kind of like Peter taking Jesus’ invitation to come walking to Him out on the water

Faith in action

It’s one thing to say with your mouth, “Jesus is LORD.”

It’s quite another thing to live it out. to be transformed in Christ and rooted in Him

In verse 8, the opening verse of our passage today, Paul doubles down on something that he said in verse 4

In verse 4, he said, “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.”

I say this in order that no one may deceive you with reasonable sounding arguments

In verse 4, Paul sounds like he is taking a lot of the responsibility to guard them from deception on himself

But here in verse 8, he uses some different language

It sounds more urgent

And it throws the responsibility on his readers, the Colossian Believers

See to it that no one takes you captive

Another way of stating this would be, “See to it that no one kidnaps you!”

when you put it like that, it really has an alarming effect.

You mean, there is someone who wants to kidnap me?

Yes! Maybe not physically, but certainly spiritually. And the effect of being kidnapped spiritually is more serious than being kidnapped in body

This is actually the first of three strongly worded warnings here in these verses

Verse 16: “Don’t let anyone pass judgement (or condemn) you!

Verse 18: “Don’t let anyone disqualify you!”

We will be looking at those later

Don’t let anyone kidnap you. Here’s how they might do that:

philosophy and empty deceit

according to human tradition

And according to the elemental spirits of the world

You might be deceived by people using Philosophy and empty deceit

When people show up claiming that they have deep spiritual knowledge and mysteries

that they had knowledge that not everyone was able to have.

It was up to them to impart this knowledge

Empty deceit

Arguments that when you stripped away all the layers of this argument, you found…nothing

It was like the story of the emperor’s new clothes—people claiming that they saw the new clothes, when in fact the guy had nothing on

It’s like the arguments that we have today like

Should we sing off the wall or out of books?

Should we have a big pulpit up here or a small podium

Is the 1000-year reign of Christ before the Tribulation or after?

When you strip all of these things down, what do you find? Usually nothing

We are unable to come to a conclusion. Or if we do come to a conclusion, it seems empty and lacking

Human traditions

Using human ways of thinking

For older folks, it could be appealing to the way that things have always been done, or the things that have always been taught

For younger folks, many times we appeal to the way that everyone else is doing things

elemental spirits of this world

This might not apply to us quite so much, but the Colossians lived in a pagan society where natural elements were thought to have spirits

This is the tradition that they came from and it would have been very easy for them to fall back into this way of thinking

That the spirits of the elements had to be appeased

And doubtless there would have been false teachers coming along and trying to drag them back there

The ultimate problem (vs 8): It was not according to Christ

And if the teaching that we are receiving is not according to Christ than we are in very grave danger of being kidnapped

Folks, we living in a world today where this danger is extreme.

I don’t believe that I am overstating it here. I really believe that we all, even those of us in church are in extreme danger of being kidnapped by all kinds of teachings

In the church…I have been cautious about calling out specific people and churches and movements. And I don’t want this to be my regular way of teaching

But, folks, I am VERY concerned about some of the teachings and movements out there that are influencing us

Be very careful about the teachings that come out of some of our modern charismatic megachurches.

Like Bethel in California

Like Elevation church in New York

There are teachers claiming to have access to dreams and spiritual visions and spiritual experiences that the common person does not

And you can’t prove it or disprove it

But people flock after these men and say, “Wow! They are amazing!”

There are teachers who claim to have gone to Heaven and talked with Jesus and talk with the angels

And people say, “wow that’s amazing!”

There are men and women who manufacture healings that aren’t actually healings and

They prophecy things that don’t actually take place

And these men and women have HUGE followings

And I fear that millions of people are being kidnapped by them

Folks, hear me on this! Does the Holy Spirit still work signs and wonders today? Yes, I believe He does when it is according to the good and perfect will of God.

But much of what is being taught and promoted in some of our churches has very little basis or support in Scripture, and it certainly isn’t according to Christ. vs 8

See to it that these people do not take you captive!

On the political front

The danger is very real in politics

We’ve got an election on Tuesday. How do we know for sure which person to vote for?

On both sides, you have candidates that seem to have very little regard for Jesus or very little regard for the Bible until they get in front of Christians

And then they try to quote Scripture and they usually get it wrong

One candidate in front of Liberty University in 2016 read 2 Corinthians 3:17 “17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (Liberty)”

Seemingly having no idea what the passage was talking about

And just a few weeks ago another candidate attempted, but failed, to quote Luke 1:79. saying that “faith” is the light that shines in the darkness and guides people through

Thankfully, I think that most people are smart enough to see through the charade,

but serious, no doubt there are people who are taken captive by them

And very seriously, they are mocked by the public

And it makes me cringe. Because I wonder what they have done to the name of Jesus

But don’t be taken captive by them!

On the pop culture front, you know occasionally you will have an actor or a singer who will make a reference to God or to the Bible, and people will gush and say, “Wow, did you hear what that person said?”

they must be a Christian!

And it will give them the excuse to watch their movies or listen to their music because, well, they must be a Christian

And on social media, you have someone that make up memes or puts out plausible sounding things and it get posted and re-posted

and Christians are like, wow, did you know this?

And we are taken captive by plausible sounding arguments

Because they are human ways of thinking and they sound right to us

And as we navigate all of these things in our lives, I find myself saying over and over again, “We need discernment! The American Church needs discernment!”

But Paul says to the Colossians and to us, “DO NOT LET YOURSELF BE DECEIVED”

That’s ALL of us.

I put a lot of time into preparing sermons and I will continue to do the best that I can and be Spirit-led

But, folks, this is for ALL of us. WE need to discern!

We should have discernment. Why?

Because a conclusion taken from verses 3,9, 10

we have been filled up in Christ (vs10)—we have been brought to completion in Christ, or are being brought to completion in Christ

It’s in HIm that the whole fullness of deity dwells vs. 9

And it’s in Christ that are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (vs. 3)

You ask, how does this keep us from being taken captive? How does this give us discernment?

Well, I am convinced that the reason that so many people are being taken captive is because they are disconnected from Christ

They have not been filled up in Christ

They are not rooted in Christ. They don’t truly know Him

They are disconnected from the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that He has

They are not receiving life and fulfillment from Him

And because of that, they wander. Their hearts and attentions wander

They are easily persuaded by things that sound right

And, like we all do, they seek for answers to the many unknowns in life

And they seize onto the things that seem like they might be true

What they don’t realize is that the answer to all of their questions and concerns is found in Jesus

Now, does that mean that in Jesus we will have all of our questions answered?

Does that mean that in Jesus, all of the things that used to keep us up at night worrying or wondering will be revealed and made clear to us?

No, not necessarily

But what it does mean is that the closer you get to Christ, the more that you are filled up in Him

The more that your life and satisfaction is drawn from Him

What often happens, or I think what should happen, is that many of the things that used to worry us and make us feel uptight

Or the things that used to be a priority for us and send us searching for answers and being held captive

Those things start to slide to the back burner. They start to sink to the bottom of the pile

And Jesus takes His rightful place as the Only One of importance in our lives

And as He does that, these things aren’t quite so important anymore

And our hunger for Him grows. Our desire to know Him grows

And our heart is quieted in worship before Him

And we don’t have to win the argument anymore

We are OK with not knowing some things

Google is actually making us more worried and uptight because we have discovered that we can find anything out in the blink of an eye

Or we think we can anyway

What it comes down to is that He is enough for us

And He should be enough for us, because in the following verses, look at this description of what Jesus has done

Look at these things that are true of our life in Him.

In Him, we have been circumcised (vs 11)

We are familiar with this OT reference

Circumcision in the Jewish culture was a ceremony done to the body

But it had deep spiritual significance.

It was a mark of identity. It was a practice that the Israelites had which no other nation around them had

And it marked them as a people belonging to God

And as we know in the early church, this was a big question for the Jewish Believers. Is this something that we are still supposed to practice

And do we require Gentile Believers to practice it

Here, Paul doesn’t say that they shouldn’t

But what He does say is that your mark of identity isn’t something that has been done by hands, or by humans

Now, you are marked by your identification with Christ!

in HIM you have been circumcised!

For us, our mark of identification isn’t the building that we gather in for church on Sunday mornings

It’s not the style of clothes or religious garb that we wear

It’s not the kind of music that we sing

It is not something done by human hands or human interpretations of Scriptural principles

Rather, it is the mark of Christ

Holy Spirit is spoken of as a “seal”—something like a pledge or a mark of ownership

Like an engagement ring that a young man gives a young lady

Signifies his intentions toward her, but it also signifies to other young men that she is taken. She belongs to someone else

The other week, we had our international student hayride

We gathered for pie and ice cream at Warren’s place

And they asked VH to come and talk a little bit about what it means to be Amish

V opened it up for questions

and he did such a fantastic job of constantly bringing the conversation back to Jesus

“I’m a Christian first, and Amish is down the list a ways”

One person asked him what would I have to do if I wanted to join your Amish church

“The most important thing is, do you know Jesus. Then come and visit”

With Him you have been buried in baptism and raised through faith in the powerful working of God who raised Him (Christ) from the dead (vs. 12)

What a great picture this is!

This is why baptism by immersion is such a great visual representation

Now, I know a lot of were “poured” when we were baptized. I was. And I’m not planning to go back and get rebaptized

But as far as an accurate visual representation of what happens in the new birth, immersion gives us that picture

By dipping a person under the water, it signifies a death

Jesus died as a payment for the sin of the world. your sin. My sin

And when there is a payment made, there is also a separation and a leaving behind

Someone makes the last payment on their mortgage

Those bills don’t come back to haunt him

He doesn’t continue to try to pay those bills. He has paid that debt. It is left behind

And so when we identify with Christ in His death, my going under the water, it is a symbol of what is happening in our lives

That we are leaving behind an old way of living, a life of sin, a life of being in debt to God because of our sin

And in making that statement, we are declaring that we do not intend to pick up that life again

We do not intend to incur that debt again

And then also, with Him, we are raised to a new life

in a practical sense, we put someone under the water, we can’t leave them there, can we? They would drown

And in a spiritiual sense, the same is true. We can’t just die to our past life

We have to be raised to something

and just like Christ was raised from the dead, we too, with Him are raised to a new life

This is why being transformed by the Holy Spirit is so important

Some folks might confess their sins to Jesus, and renounce their past life, but then are left thinking, “Now what?”

And this is where discipleship is so important. Many folks don’t realize that they are also raised again with Christ.

They don’t realize that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is now at work in them

do you realize this? Is the Christian life a struggle for you? Do you feel futile sometimes?

Finally, in this passage, Paul summarizes what he is saying about what Jesus has done for us

Your condition

You were dead in your trespasses and sins (13)

Because of sin, you were cut off from the life of Christ

Separated from God because of our own sin

You were uncircumcised (13)

You were not identified as being one of God’s children

You were not part of God’s people

W

What God has done

Made us alive (vs 13)

Remember, apart from Him we are “dead”

Forgiven us our trespasses—all of our sins (vs13)

how did He do that?

Canceled the record of debt (14)

We did not pay it. Jesus did

And God took out his big red stamp and marked “Canceled” across it

And with it, He canceled all the legal requirements that went along with that debt

And in Christ, all of that was nailed to the cross, and left there.

I don’t know what happened to Jesus’ cross after He was taken off of it, but I assume that it was destroyed.

And with it, our record of debt was destroyed. It is no longer in His files

Disarmed the rulers and authorities (15)

A picture of an army that wins a war or a battle. The first thing that the conquered soldiers have to do is throw down their weapons

Either that, or they are forceably disarmed

And it is a shameful thing for a soldier to give up his weapon. Because that is the symbol of his power, his strength. He wages warfare with that weapon

Now, is that soldier still alive? Yes. But he has been disarmed and humiliated

These readers living in the Roman empire would have been familiar with this analogy

The Romans would conquer an army and parade them disarmed and humiliated through the streets

And that is what Jesus did by dying on the cross and being raised to life again

He disarmed the evil powers—took their power away

This is not something that we have to continually seek, folks! This is something that has been done!

This might be something that is worth a longer sermon at some point

But folks, this is what God has done for you through Jesus

So, my exhortation for us today is

Please. Don’t let yourself be taken captive!

Be Ok with not knowing some things

Because Jesus is enough!