Sunday Sermon Colossians 2:16-23

Spring is upon us and it is just a good reminder that the season s are changing church, just like the seasons change with the weather, so do the seasons of life change for us.

It is a good reminder that when the seasons of life change church, that we definitely need to spend more time with the Lord, more time with our brothers and sisters, and certainly more time in prayer.

There are times in life when things get so difficult, we struggles to pray church, so please, please reach out and ask your church family to pray with you and let us walk alongside each other.

Ronnie’s Testimony

Prayer

Read Colossians 2:16-23

Review

We are closing out the first two chapters of Colossians today.

When the Apostle Paul wrote, he always writes with order and direction.

He first writes doctrine and then duty

Or we could say it another way: belief before behavior

We must first know what we believe in order to know how to behave church!

We have learned that we are complete in Jesus Christ, that we do not need anything else.

The Gnostics attempted to convince the Colossians that Jesus was not enough

The Greeks attempted to bring in philosophy to the church at Colossae.

The small Jewish sect, possibly the Essenes, attempted to to bring the Colossians back under the law by saying : Jesus is cool, but you must be circumcised, you must keep the dietary laws, the festivals like Passover, Tabernacles, and Pentecost which were yearly, then you must keep the new moon (the monthly sacrifice on the first day of the month), and you must keep the sabbath which was weekly.

The Sabbath was a sign of the covenant that God had made with Israel

The Sabbath was for the Jews and there is no NT mandate for the Gentiles to keep it.

If there was, it would have been written at the Jerusalem Counsel of Acts 15

Romans 14:5 NKJV

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

So this section covers what we call legalism

Legalism is the religion of human achievement. It teaches that salvation is based on Christ plus human works. It makes conformity to man-made rules the measure of being saved or spirituality. Believers, however, are complete in Christ, who has provided complete salvation, forgiveness, and victory.

Legalism fails to recognize Gods grace in the person of Jesus Christ and his finished atoning work on the cross.

Legalism is the religion of externals and works.

Every religion in the world church, is based on works. Christianity is the only one in the entire world that is built on grace!

So do not let no on judge you in food or in drink, in festivals, new moons, or sabbaths church!

Because these things were a shadow of things to come and our reality or our substance is in Jesus Christ!

And don’t forget that Jesus wiped out or blotted out the hand writing of requirements that was against us! Why? Because they were contrary to us!

Jesus nailed them to the cross church and we are now under Grace!

There was a storm that hit Minnesota and if left ice and snow on the roads. The pastor of a fairly large church attempted to drive his car to the service on Sunday bit could not because where he lived there was a lot of ice. He decided he would use his old hockey skates and skate to church. He made it safely there and preached his message, but afterwards the elders called a meeting and asked him if he skated to church on the Lord’s Day and he said yes. They said you know that you are not to do those kind of activities on the Lord’s day? He said, this was the only way that I could get here to preach. They deliberated without him in the other room and when he returned, they said it was OK, as long as he did not enjoy it! THIS IS LEGALISM CHURCH!

Colossians 2:18–19 ESV

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, 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.

Let no one disqualify, beguile, cheat you church out of your reward!

Let no one- is written in the present imperative which means it is a command that we need to be following in the here and now.

This means that Paul is warning us about legalism and mysticism in these verses.

IN VIEW OF THE FACT THAT YOU ARE COMPLETE IN JESUS CHRIST, DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE JUDGED BY THE LEGALIST OR ROBBED BY THE MYSTIC .

The word used for “cheat” in verse 8 seemed to paint the picture of “pirates”.

Cheat – katabrabeuo – to decide as umpire against someone; to cheat someone of their rightful prize or victory, to disqualify v. — to declare unfit; especially performed by a sports official who is expected to ensure fair play.

Paul is warning the Colossians that when they get seduced into some of these heresies, that they’re going to end up having the Umpire call them “out” and they’ll lose the game and that is exactly what false teachers will do church they will attempt to steal your reward.

Here in the section Paul is teaching about Mysticism, the false teachers were attempting to intimidate the Colossians with experiences that are not Biblical

Mysticism- may be defined as the pursuit of a deeper or higher subjective religious experience.

It is the belief that spiritual reality is perceived apart from the human intellect and natural senses. It looks for truth internally, weighing feelings, intuition, and other internal sensations more heavily than objective, observable, external data.

Subjective means based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

Objective means (of a person or their judgment) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.

Church, we have a lot of mystical things going on in the church today that are not from God!

And eastern mysticism has penetrated this great nation.

While certain instances in the Bible describe mystical experiences, I see not evidence anywhere in the scripture of God sanctioning man-initiated mysticism.

Legitimate mystical experiences were always initiated by God to certain individuals for certain revelations and was never based on altering of consciousness.

A great example comes from Acts 11:5, when Peter fell into a trance while in prayer.

But is was God, not Peter, who initiated the trance and facilitated it.

By definition, a mystic, on the other hand who uses rote methods in attempt to tap into their inner divinity church. Ray Yungen from Light House Trails Research

So your probably thinking what is all this about and how does this apply to us today?

Let me give you a few illustrations church that might make you uncomfortable.

Have you ever turned on the TV and watched a TV evangelist?

And right in the middle of their sermon, they stop and say they heard from God!

Or how about the book Called the Boy Who came back for Heaven

This is directly of Wikipedia Church:

Books about purported visits to Heaven make up a popular and highly lucrative genre of religious books in the United States.[19] The 2004 book 90 Minutes in Heaven spent over five years on the New York Times best-seller list and sold over six million copies,[20] while the book Heaven Is for Real has sold over 10 million copies[21] and the film adaptation earned $101 million at the box office.[22] The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven sold 112,386 copies in the first year,[23] and received a platinum award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association in 2013 for over a million sales.[5]

According to paranormal researcher Benjamin Radford, part of the reason that the story was so well-received and accepted among its American Christian audience is that it reinforced their existing narratives and beliefs. By sticking closely to a widely accepted interpretation of heaven, God and demons, Malarkey was assured that his story would meet his audience's expectations and be popular.[24]

On January 13, 2015, Alex Malarkey released an open letter to Christian publishers and bookstores via the Christian Apologetics blog known as Pulpit and Pen, confessing that the entire account of his journey to Heaven was fictional, and implored them to remove the book from their stores. In his letter he notes:[30]

"Please forgive the brevity, but because of my limitations I have to keep this short. I did not die. I did not go to Heaven. I said I went to Heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible. It is only through repentance of your sins and a belief in Jesus as the Son of God, who died for your sins (even though he committed none of his own) so that you can be forgiven may you learn of Heaven outside of what is written in the Bible... not by reading a work of man. I want the whole world to know that the Bible is sufficient. Those who market these materials must be called to repent and hold the Bible as enough. In Christ, Alex Malarkey.”[31]

John Mac Arthur said You say, “Who is Marvin Ford?”

That’s what I said. Dear man – this dear man got on there, and Pat Robertson got up and said, “Marvin is here because Marvin has returned from heaven.” Marvin gave a description of heaven. What was amazing about the description was that it was almost exactly like the book of Revelation says. With a few little additions. Like as he went from mansion to mansion, he noticed that there were no bedrooms.

If I would have been there, I would have said, “Were there any bathrooms, Marvin?” And I thought to myself, “If he only knew that the term “mansion” isn’t even in the Greek, he wouldn’t have been going from mansion to mansion while he was in heaven.” Because there aren’t any. There’s only one, and that’s the Father’s house, right?

Let me give you a few names associated with Christian mystics:

Richard Foster

Rob Bell

Brain Mclaren

Dallas Willard

John Ortberg

Brenning Manning

Henri Nuwen

Brother Lawrence

It is in the church today and especially in your charismatic churches or churches that are based on based on subjective experiences.

Colossians 2:18–19 NKJV

Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

These mystic were worshipping angels and boasting in the visions that they had having false humilty.

false humility – The word “false” isn’t in the Greek text. It’s just the word “humility”. But you get the idea. Some people make a big show of just how humble they are. And it’s fake. If humility is real, nobody has to talk you in to how humble they are.

Colossians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Mysticism

There is a tendency in human nature to move from objectivity to subjectivity—to shift the focus from Christ to experience. This has always intimidated weak believers and threatened the church.

Today this brand of mysticism is most commonly seen in the charismatic movement—where Scripture is a distant second in importance to visions and revelations.

The Bible strictly forbids the worship of angels.

Matthew 4:10 NKJV

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

Revelation 5:11–12 NKJV

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

Revelation 19:10 NKJV

And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Revelation 22:9 NKJV

Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Angels are called to worship God and to be his messengers church and these mystics had false humility and by the way, I think it is important to understand that all your false teachers will come to you with false humility, gentleness, and kindness church.

They will not come to you not being kind but rather extremely kind to win you over and get you caught up into their schemes.

Colossians 2:18–19 ESV

Text message: They do not hold fast to the Head and their goal is to pull you away for the Head that is Jesus Christ and intimidate you by their mystical experiences church.

What happens if you cut off the Head?

The body dies and cannot be nourished.

Colossians 2:20 NKJV

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—

If we died with Christ, then why are we living like the world, note that he brought up the principles of the world again.

Therefore, he is taking the doctrine of the mystics and comparing it to the world church.

Rudiments ( principles) means crude notions or primitive ideas of men about the universe—that is, about God, reality, and truth. It is man’s ideas and philosophies; their elementary or rudimentary teachings; their ABC understanding of God and the universe, reality, and truth. When men think of God, they come up with all kinds of ways and laws to reach Him and to secure His approval and acceptance.

We are Complete is Christ Church!

Colossians 2:21–23 NKJV

“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

An ascetic is one who lives a life of rigorous self-denial.

Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, do do this, dont do that.

One of the greatest illustrations of this is monks.

They live apart from everyone and live in poverty and with extreme self-denial

There was a young monk who entered into the monastery and when he met with the priest who is the one in charge he was told that he could not speak, but when 10 years passed that he could share just two words. So the 10 years lapsed and he met with the priest and he said that he could share two words.

So he said, “Food Bad”

10 years went by again and he met with the head monk again. He shared with him that he could share tow words:

So he said, “Bed Hard”

10 years went by again and he met with the head monk. He allowed him to share two more words again:

So he said, “I quit!”

The head monk said, it doesn’t surprise me because all you done over the last 30 years is complain!

In addition to practicing legalism and mysticism, the Colossian errorists were attempting to gain righteousness through self-denial.

Man-made commandments and doctrines will cover itself under a variety of laws which basically say

“do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.”

In other words, men will invent handle not, taste not, touch not systems of religion and will make up unbiblical rules and laws which are not found in the Word of God.

Spirituality is determined by one’s relationship with Christ and one’s focus on God’s Word. It is not determined by man-made dogmas, rules, and regulations church.

Commenting on the futility of asceticism, the great nineteenth-century Scottish preacher Alexander McClaren wrote, “Any asceticism is a great deal more to men’s taste than abandoning self. They will rather stick hooks in their backs and do the ‘swinging poojah’ than give up their sins and yield up their wills.” There is only one thing that will put the collar on the neck of the animal within us and that is the power of the indwelling Christ. Ascetic religion is godless, for its practitioners essentially worship themselves. As such, we are not to be intimidated by it.

Paul’s message to the Colossians is also a warning to us. We are not to be intimidated by false human philosophy, legalism, mysticism, or asceticism. Those are but “broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13). We must hold fast to Christ, in whom we “have been made complete” (Col. 2:10).

If you want to devote yourself to something lasting, devote yourself to obeying the Word of God, for the Word of God will NEVER pass away.

Rules and ordinances and man-made laws will all perish and so will the using of them and most of the people that used them.

You will be in heaven because of your relationship with Jesus Christ. You will be honored in heaved because of your faithfulness to God’s Word. You will not be honored in heaven for the way you obeyed religious rules made up by men !

You cannot reform the flesh by man made rules and religion church! They are of not value agianst the indulgence of the flesh!

Prayer

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Kaylee and Juan’s Birthday sing sing sing

Baptism - Arianna next week and anyone the the Lord is prompting

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Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 NKJV

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

The Lord Bless You!

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