Sunday Service

I'm all the way over into the beginning of chapter 3. We're going to overlap these this sermon and next sermon with Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 through 4 because it's a pivotal point in the letter. And I was I was reading through the letter and just forming the structure in my own mind. What was going on. It seems like this is the Central 3 1 through 4 is kind of the Central Command or the central thing that Paul is trying to urge them into the way that they should live their lives. That their life should be radically reoriented around who Jesus is as king and we'll see that as we read. So we're actually going to I'll cover 3 1 through for this week. And also, it'll be the beginning of our text next week. We're starting here. Colossians 2:16.

All right. So, therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new new moon, or Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify, you insisting on it asceticism and the 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 him, the whole body nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ, you died to the elemental spirits of the world. Why is, if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations? Do not handle. Do not taste, do not touch referring to things that all perish as they are used according to human precepts in teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom and promote. Self-made religion and a set of asceticism and severity to the body but they are of no value in stopping the indulgences of the flesh. If then, you have been raised with Christ seek, the things that are above where Christ is seated, at the right hand of God set your mind on things that are above not on things that are on Earth for, you have died. And your life is hidden with Christ, in God. When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him and Glory. Would you play with me?

Jesus. I pray that you would help us to fix our eyes on you.

Is you were the author and Perfecter of our faith is we read in Hebrews 12, this morning and Sunday school. May we see. Have you as our central vision of our mind, maybe see you for who you are.

In your glory and your goodness.

Maybe grow to know you as we read in a fusions. Maybe be filled with the knowledge of Who You Are.

So that we would be people who reflect you in the world, not shaken or put back by those who would condemn us, or judge us, or look down on us for certain things. Not shaken from the hope that we have in you help us to fully set. Our Hope on you Jesus. As we live this life to honor and glorify you to make your name known to preach the gospel to All Nations to reach our family and friends, who do not know you and power Us by your goodness by your gospel to live for you. Jesus. I pray in your name. Amen.

So Paul continues, this is more of the warning, passage that we looked at last week, where he talked about how he didn't want, these said see to it. That no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, you? Because the warn them about the pressures that they are facing and he continues that here in these verses. Is a quote by CS Lewis. And he says, I believe that in all men's lives at certain periods. And in many men's lives at all periods, between infancy and extreme old age. One of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local ring elsewhere in this essay. He calls at the inner ring and the terror of being left outside. He gave that talk call, Deanna rain in 1944 and it's been one of those Sessa that many pastors and thinkers have gone back to. He is such a keen insight into what goes on in our hearts and our minds. What he's basically saying is this every single one of us from the time, we are babies to the time. We die are faced with the pressure of wanting to be on the inside the in-group, The In Crowd as I as you can see. This was given in 1944. This was the pressure that they faced back then. This is the pressure that the Colossians are facing in their day. This is a pressure that we face today. We do not want to be left on the outside. We want to be on an inside type of group. Want to be in the know, we want to be the In Crowd, whatever that looks like. And when we get shunned by some in or groups, we then go to another one. And then we make our home in another group and we pride ourselves and how I'm like this, not like them. And there's this Insider an outsider mentality that we have. That we are just, we are, it's inescapable. It's part of Fallen Human Nature. This this enticement that says that you can get in, to The In Crowd that you can buy certain actions or certain things, you do certain rituals. You might follow even that you can fit in with us, right? Whose are culturally shaped realities, all all over the place or there's also the offer that if you just do this and this and this you might have this experience. Once you have this experience, you'll be in the know, right? That's the Temptation that they are facing these Christians and this is not new to humanity. It was there in the beginning in the garden. This was the LIE. Of the serpent. There's an experience waiting for you. You're in the outside right now. Come on in. It'll open your mind. You'll see things you never saw before, right? You're on the outside right now. Come to the inside, right? This is the Temptation. One of the subtle flavors of the way. That send temps us. Is a desire to be in and not out? But the LIE from the beginning. For Adam and Eve. The lie was that they were not already in that. They've been left out by God. Who is keeping something good from them. But they had to earn it. They had to get it, they had to grab it for themselves because he surely wasn't going to give it to you.

The lie that you don't have all the fullness of what there is to experience that you need to do this and do this, and do this, and you'll be in, you'll experience it. You'll have the fullness of what it means to be human. So we try to create these things for ourselves in fall in a fallen world. We live as Fallen people fall in image, bearers throughout all cultures. We create in crowds and we exclude others, we pass judgment. We disqualify others from being in with us because they don't match up to this or that or whatever. And this temptation is not foreign just to this. Temptation is not foreign to the church, but actually enters into the church. Right. As the church, we live in culture that has in crowding-out crowds has people that are in the know, has people that do the right things has people that think the right things has people that have had the right experiences. And this creeps into the church as well.

And it's really unclear here, these false teachings, these things that Paul is warning. The colossian Christians about is this teaching that is entered into the church. Is this pressures from outside culture? Is it both? I think it's both. I think it's both know. I don't know that. I'll never says it fully hate these. People have entered in and done this, but it seems to be that there are at least some people who are coming in with pressures related to Judaism and maybe even related to a certain ways to worship or be on the In Crowd and Cindy's Colts throughout the Roman Empire that are putting pressures on these new groups of Believers to say, yeah, you've got Jesus, you got this gospel, but here's more, here's better. Add to him. And they're not even saying, hey, do away with Jesus. They're just saying you need this as well. You need this as well. So he says, he's one of them previously in the section. We just came out of last week, the date, see to it. That no one takes them captive by these kinds of things, human traditions and spiritual forces, right? And the pressure to add to Christ and he goes into this long explanation in the last paragraph in, the text about what they have in Jesus. You've been United him in Christ. You have all that. You need to be fully human. You don't need other things. You've been United to, to him in his death. You've been given life through his resurrection. You don't need anything else. So Paul continues with these kinds of warnings to stay away from to not a let these kinds of pressures infiltrate their church. And he says let no one pass judgment on you. Therefore in after all these unpacked about Jesus in the previous section. He says therefore in light of who you are in Christ. Let no one pass judgment on you and then versakini says let no one disqualify you. 32 different Temptations here. I don't know that they're entirely separate things. They're probably working together, but maybe it's helpful. Sometimes it can a separate these things out and see what's going on here. What's going on here? So, First verses 16 and 17. He says, let no one pass judgment on you and then it goes into what they're what these people are passing judgment on these Christians for he says, in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival, or a new moon, or Sabbath. These would have been most likely. These would have been Jewish pressures to go back to religious rules, and rituals set up in the Old Testament that the Jews. During this day. We're still following and they still followed to this day.

He says don't let any of these people pass judgment on you in regard to these religious rules and rituals. He says because these rules these rituals that they make much about really are nothing in and of themselves. Their eyeshadow. With these rules and rituals were set up to be all along. We know this, as you have been, in Hebrews for Sunday school. They've always been meant to point to a greater reality. So, he uses the analogy of a shadow and a substance. You don't want the shadow. You want the substance, which is found in Christ. So today we might not feel pressure to give into. Jewish religious rules and rituals.

but, We might be tempted. Buy all kinds of rules and rituals that we could follow, maybe not even religious. To add to our faith. To be on the In Crowd. To do the things that others are doing.

But all these things are nothing compared to Christ.

He goes on and he says letting no one disqualify you there's a lot of what's going to happen. Here is a little bit foreign to us as, as well as that Jewish thing, but he says that no one could disqualify you insisting on asceticism. And the worship of angels and going on in detail about Visions. That's really strange, right? What's going on there? That word asceticism is not a word. We use very often. But it basically means that you deny your body, a physical needs are Pleasures. Okay. So asceticism was going on back in the Roman days in 1st century was going on. Among Jewish circles, is going on, among certain certain segments of Greek philosophy that they would deny themselves. Certain Pleasures are certain even bodily needs fasting for days and weeks on end, even to the extremes of what their body could handle. There was all these claims by a lot of these Cults within the Greek and Roman world. All these different mystery Cults. Then it popped up all over the place where they would their initiation rites that people would go through and they would fast for days on end and then they would go into the secret ceremony and they would protective maybe when a substance and the promise was hate. If you do these things, if you cannot rigorously pay attention to your body and can I set these things up and then you partake of this substance through this ritual, you will get this Visionary experience that you can't get anywhere else. And once you get this this Visionary experience, it will radically change your life. Not today that might not be exactly the same kind of pressure. We face, but there are all kinds of offers out there. For if you can have this experience. This is what's going to make you whole. There's all this narrative and cultural things built around sex and sexuality in the kind of experience that you can have a being true to yourself in. That it takes a different bent than what was going on back then. But it's a similar kind of offer that if you can have this kind of experience and and sex is just one of the ways that this happens in our culture. There's so many ways. You just have this experience, right? You've been missing out until you've tried this until you've done this, once you get it. Yeah, you'll know what it's really like. You'll feel, you'll your eyes, your eyes will be opened their view of the world will be changed. The offer here. Apparently, was that if these people at least these false teachers were claiming that, if you could get rigorously aesthetic about your body and go through these certain denials. Then after. Of time, you actually be granted, a vision of seems like they're claiming. I think I take it when he says the worship of angels. He's not saying that they would worship Angels but this is kind of debated among the biblical Scholars. I take the second view. Is that what they're saying is, if you can do the certain things, you'll gain this experience up a vision of heaven where you'll be entered into the worship of Angels, by the way that you follow these certain rules with your body. So that then you kind of beat the text from your body and you'll be in the spiritual realm and then you'll be with the angels and you'll participate in the worship of the Angels. That's why he further explains what he means there. When he says, these people are going on, a detail, about Visions visions that they've had right? And he calls these kinds of people puffed up without reason. Puffed up without Reason by his. Sensuous mind crazy. Paul says these people who are rigorously denying their body are actually very sensuous.

And these claims to these religious experiences, the spiritual experiences, the secret practices that will gain you. These experiences these religious rituals and rules that you can follow to gain some kind of elevated. Platform above others. Paul says these things, all they do is Puff you up. That's what he says. These people, they go on and detail about these things and they're puffed-up without Reason by their sensuous mind, their self inflated. They say, if you can do this and do this and do this, and keep away from this, and keep away from this, then you'll you'll get it. And you'll be just like us, don't you want to be like us? Look at how awesome we are. Look at the kind of things that we do the rituals. We follow look at just how rigorous we are booked it. I've had experiences that you can't even dream of right now. teaching enters into the church to in different forms of weird fastings, in Speaking in tongues and God will bless you. If you can do these things in this order with this many days and there's some really strange stuff out there.

Paul. Here is not saying religious rules or rituals are bad. And he's not saying that denying your body of certain needs or wants is bad elsewhere. We see Paul fast encourages others to fast for certain reasons, right? We see elsewhere all throughout scripture. There Are Rules and Things that we follow the way that we live our lives, right? The following section going to be in next week. He's going to say put to death these things in your body. Supposed to say, hey, just do whatever you want. Right? Don't have any rules. Don't go through any rituals. I mean, the Lord's Supper for going to sex is a religious ritual. If you will, that we do, we protect get together, but, it's symbolizing more than just, this doesn't make us awesome. It points to a greater reality of who we are in Jesus. Wright's gallery on Sunday morning. You could say is a religious ritual. Now, if that's all it is to you, then you don't need to come next Sunday. But if you see that, this is an invitation, any kind of ritual that you might follow or some kind of ceremony than you might participate in. Within the church has been set up by the God, not as a way to pump you up. Like these people are planning but actually has a way to invite you and to the goodness of Jesus is so next week. We're actually going to start our service with baptism and we're going to end our service with the Lord's Supper. These are the two If you would, if you will rituals that Jesus commands of the church. The two things that some people call him Sacrament, some people call him ordinances, but the two most ceremonial rituals we have in the New Testament Testament that we do together as Church. The point of baptism. Or the point of the Lord's supper, or the point of any other kind of regular seasonal Rhythm or things, we build into church life, or our own spiritual Walk With. Jesus are not about how good we can make ourselves, but they point us to how good and gracious. Jesus is to us, baptism symbolizes, what he has done for us and Ennis by uniting us to him and his body. The Lord's Supper is a pointer and a proclamation in a remembrance of Jesus's body and blood shed for us. It's not about puffing ourselves up.

So the problem here, that Paul is getting at and he he he described it here. But he said when he says in verse 19, these people are not holding fast to the head. That is Christ from whom the whole body nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that is from God. Here's the point true. Spiritual growth or maturity does not come by self-made religion. It does not come by rigorous attention to ourselves. True, spiritual maturity and growth comes from being connected to Jesus. And yes, connection to Jesus will come out in our lives, through behavioral change. Behavioral changes as a result of faith in Jesus. It's if the outworking of our faith in Jesus, it's not the way that we enter into fullness in Jesus. Supposed to say these people, don't follow them, their self inflated, their self inflated. And how many of you have seen, like the Halloween Halloween, decorations of inflatable, cats, and pumpkins, and all of those things. And those are fun. Like Halle, Bailey and Polly are in a leader in the nursery today, but Holly had this for several years at a big cat that was kind of fun and Ava loves inflatable Halloween. We don't have to get into that right now, but she loved. It was just the one who sings that creates Wonder right? Just like Christmas lights and other things. But the problem is that thing isn't inflatable and its Fabric, and it's permeable. By are so kind of inflates, but over time, it gets holes in it. What's the same thing that's going to happen to any kind of man-made tradition, human religion, something that we do to elevate ourselves or think about ourselves is better than others or judge others because they don't do what we do. Or think that we're better because we've had this experience any of those things that we build our lives, on our fill ourselves up with Will leak

And we'll just be puffed up by ourselves. We don't want to be puffed up by ourselves church. We don't want that kind of growth in my look impressive at times and some of those things. Get huge. You know, the Skinner Christmas tree or Snowman. Hopefully no one has like an inflatable clown, that would be terrifying.

Am I looking pressive? Am I looking press? If it we can say, hey, I do this, I do this, I do this and look what I don't do and I have this kind of experience and then I heard this voice went away. Whatever, you know.

Am I looking pressive, but in the end? It will leak. And you can't fix it the movie tried with that cat, but the nine lives, it really didn't have that many. And they just finally, it's just like this give up and do pumpkins next year. I think that's what she's got now at a little pumpkins and Ava loves those. So, What we want is not self inflated maturity because that's not true maturity or growth. What we want is growth that comes from being connected to Jesus. And noticed first 19. It's not just being connected to Jesus. But it's being connected to Jesus as a body. The nature of the local church is connection to a community of believers who hold on to Jesus together, is what you and I need for mature growth. Not holding fast to the Head. These people are not holding fast. They had from whom the whole body nourished and it together is using these metaphors issues before the church elsewhere that we've seen. The whole body as it pours into one another nourishes. One. Another is knit together through its joints and ligaments working together the way that God designed us for. This is a truth growth comes, that doesn't come from our effort. But from God through Christ in the church. That's the main point here. The main point of wanted to get across today. Was that maturity, true maturity, and growth as a human. Only as a Believer, only comes from being connected to Christ through his body, the church, and this growth comes from the supernatural work of God in our lives. Not by human Reason Not by human effort, not by human wisdom. So he goes on to them, just explain our impact this more. He says, if you have died to the elemental spirits of the world, why is if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations? Do not handle. Do not taste, do not touch referring to all things that perish as they are used according to human precepts and teachings. So there's a lot there to unpack and I don't really have time to get into it cuz they're still even in my mind, a lack of entire certainty about this phrase that Elemental spirits of the world. He says, if you, if we crushed you die to the elemental spirits of the world, that can either mean you died, too. Any kind of growth and maturity that can come from you, no attention to the basic foundation of the world with food and drink in that kind of thing. Or I think it's actually he's talking about Spiritual Beings who are ruling in the world and who are capturing people with deception by getting people to follow certain rules and certain religious, and create certain religious and cultural things at that's kind of abstract and weird and strange. But he's basically making this point you've died with Jesus to this world to the rules, in this world. You cannot now live in the world, like you belong to the world is basically what he saying with Christ you died in him is death to the world. So he says any attention to try to try to find maturity or growth by following rules will leave you empty. They have an appearance of wisdom promoting self-made, religion asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the Indulgence of the flesh Christian. If you have seen present in your life today things, you know, this is not what Jesus has for me, but right now I don't see a way out of it. The way out is not just by paying attention to behavior. Behavior is important. Write, your thought life is important. Jesus says, if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out saying you need to take, seriously, sending your life and take measures to stop it. A real gross and real victory over sin, and the simple nature that is still present. Inside of Believers, does not come by human effort or wisdom. It comes by connection to Jesus, and nowhere else. So then Paul continues. If then you've been raised with Christ, you don't just fight the Battle of sand by trying to cut off, cut off, cut off these behaviors. That's part of the fight, but it's not the totality of it. Cuz the fruit will grow back. And then he says, if you've been raised with Christ, you seek the things that are above, you put your roots down in Jesus, right? You seek him. You don't just try not to send you, try to seek him instead of sending, right? So if you been raised with Christ seek, the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and that is why I have the Redemptive rule of Christ. We talked about, Jesus is King here, which I'm certain circles as it is. You can't talk about. Jesus is King. But that's a king language right there. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. I could go into that but I don't have time Daniel 7. So I'm to someone 10 other places that talk about this Messianic King. And then he says, set your mind on the things that are above not on the things that are on Earth for, you have died. And your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life appears that you also will appear with him and Glory. Believer. Our Lives should be oriented reoriented Around, Jesus. His work and his rule over our lives. Jesus has redeemed us from the indulgences of our flesh, being captive to our sinful nature. We who have been United with Christ and Faith are now buried with him in death. This would have been a good text for next week. We've been buried with him and death and through Jesus and faith in him. We've been raised with him to new like our life is with him. Do we set our minds on him? We said our lives on him. We see him. We let who he is control and shape, our thoughts, and our actions. We live out of who he is and what he's done for us, and we live long. Longing, for the fullness of what he's purchased for us to come of fully and forever. It's a upward looking and forward. Looking at it and a backward, looking, right. We look back to what Jesus has done for us. We look up presently to where he is and we look forward to the hope that he is bringing us. So, our lives as Believers is oriented Around Jesus, and him alone. He is the only place. We will find life growth and maturity. What processor doesn't doesn't negate? The role of putting the death Saint repenting from Saint trying to live and holding us trying to set up rhythms in our lives to follow Jesus. Even partaking of the rituals that he has given us and the experiences we have of him. But yeah, if we get things out of order and think that we can somehow gain maturity by our own effort, than we are wrong. And in the end, we'll just be a puffed-up inflatable. Throw away toy. But if we put our roots in Jesus, if we grow with the growth that comes from God, to connecting with him through the local church, his body you and I will find maturity in him maybe live for him. Maybe we set our minds and our lives on him. Seek Him above all in her life. That is going to mean that we repent, that we turn that we fights in that, we seek him. We do that together. Let me pray for us. Jesus. I thank you, I thank you for Your rule over us as our Sovereign King seated at the right hand of the father. I thank you for the referee Refuge that we find in you. Jesus and not in ourselves. I pray that you would help us be people who grow with the growth that comes from connection to you. Not from growth that we can get anywhere else help us. As we walked this path. Help us as we seek you and you alone. I thank you Jesus for being the source of all life for us and that our life is now in you and not in this world. Help us live. That way. I pray in your name. Amen.