Man’s Ideas or Christ’s Sufficiency

Transcript

GR 978
7/27/1997
Man’s Ideas or Christ’s Sufficiency
Colossians 2:8-10
Gil Rugh

We are going to be in the book of Colossians this morning, Colossians chapter 2. We will be particularly looking at verses 8-10 in our study together. We are going to be dealing with what really is foundational and basic to life. Everyone has what we might call a philosophy of life—certain guiding principles and beliefs that sort of anchor our lives, some convictions about the basic questions of life. I might summarize the basic questions as origins, where do we come from; purpose, why are we here; destiny, where are we going. And those three questions are really drawn together, the things that are of foundational importance to our lives and should and do shape us in the way that we think and the way we conduct ourselves. Now, for many people these matters are rather superficially thought about. For others they have used their great intellect to think deeply on these matters, to try to reason out explanations and answers to the basic questions of life. But in reality only God can give authoritative answers to the basic questions of life. Only God can give us a philosophy of life that is genuine, true and thus ultimately, if you will, workable. Now in the book of Colossians Paul has been dealing with such issues. He has a call to the philosophy of life, although in chapter 2 verse 8 he is going to deal with philosophy by name. But he has been demonstrating that God’s purposes for all creation center in His Son, Jesus Christ. And there we find the answer of origins; there we find the answer of the purpose of our life; there we deal with the question of our destiny and where we are going. And Jesus Christ has been the focus of the early part of this letter.

And Paul has dealt with two basic issues regarding Christ: number one, His supremacy, and number two, His sufficiency, for he is preparing to deal with heresy or theological error that is confronting the church at Colossae. And foundational to dealing with this error and having a church that is prepared to do battle on these issues is a proper understanding of the supremacy of Christ and the sufficiency of Christ. Christ’s supremacy was clearly demonstrated in chapter 1 verses 16 and 17 where He said, “For by Him all things were created.” Then the end of verse 16, “All things have been created through Him and for Him and He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.” So Jesus Christ is the creator of everything. And everything was created for Him and He holds all things together. So He is supreme over all. And since He is the One who has created everything, and everything has been created for Him, and He holds all things together, and He has made clear in chapter 1 in this context He has given a hope to those who experience His redemption. We do find that the answers to the basic issues of life can only be found in Christ, the all-sovereign, supreme Creator for whom everything exists. In Him everything finds its proper place. The sufficiency of Christ falls out of His supremacy as the One who created everything. He has created it to fulfill His purposes, and as the Creator He has provided for it that His will might be accomplished in it.

Now sin has entered into the creation, but in the finished work of Christ as the reconciler, He has provided to bring all things into proper alignment with God. Not all creation will be redeemed in the salvation sense, but as we saw in chapter 1 all creation will be reconciled in the sense it will be brought into proper alignment with God which will include the destruction of the wicked in Hell. So in chapter 1 verse 19, “it was the father’s good pleasure for all of the fullness to dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself having made peace in the blood of His cross.” Verse 22, “He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and without spot concealed with our destiny.” So there is provision in Christ for the salvation of sinful human beings, that they might be brought into right relationship with God and have the assured hope of eternal glory in His presence.

Now Paul’s concern in writing to the Colossians is that the Colossian believers not only understand that Christ is supreme and that He is sufficient but that they see that this truth is applied to the life of the church. So Paul has a serious concern for them. In chapter 2 verse 4, he wrote, “I say this in order that no one may delude you.” He is concerned that the believers of the Colossian church would be deluded and deceived by the false teaching. Down in verse 8. We will look at in detail in a moment but he says, “See to it that no one takes you captive with philosophy and empty deceit.” They would be taken captive. They would be captured, if you will, by false teachers. So down in verse 18 he says “let no one keep defrauding you of your prize, the fullness of what God has provided in Christ.” See these terms, “delude,” “capture,” “defraud.” He is not saying that the Colossian church is off track. He is saying that the Colossian believers are being confronted with the kinds of teaching that could lure them off the track and thus be very harmful to their walk as God’s people.

We are going to focus on verses 8 to 10. There are two main points that I want you to have fixed in your mind out of these verses. Use them as a play on words. The first one is in verse 8 where Paul’s concern is that they beware of the deception of men. “Beware of the deception of men.” And then in verses 9 and 10 he wanted them to be aware of the sufficiency of Christ. “Be aware of the sufficiency of Christ.” Let’s look at verse 8. “Beware of the deception of men.” This verse opens with a command. We have it translated three little words, “see to it.” It is one little word in Greek. It is the word to “watch,” “beware,” “look out,” the idea of being watchful, being on guard. It is the basic Greek word for looking or seeing, given here as a command. So, there is an intensity about it, a present imperative. This is something that is to constantly characterize them as a church. Be constantly watching. Be constantly looking out for the false teaching that would infiltrate itself in among you. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit.” The danger is these false teachers. And he will get into what they are teaching later in the chapter. They will come in and they will teach their methods and it will strike a responsive chord with believers and they will be taken captive by false teaching. That is what happens when someone is lured by the false teaching of someone. They are captured by that person. They come under their influence and thus become booty for a spoil, for a false teacher. He says they are, they could be taken captive through philosophy and empty deceit.

Now philosophy has a broad range of meaning, it did in New Testament times. And it related to God and life really could be included in the realm of philosophy. One person said everything that had to do with theories about God and the world and the meaning of life was called philosophy at that time. The word philosophy is two Greek words “to love wisdom.” Philos –“love,” Sophia – “wisdom.” To love wisdom, lover of wisdom. But here we are talking about man’s views regarding God, regarding life, regarding the world in which we live, the basic issues of life. Josephus, a first-century historian, said there were three philosophies in Judaism: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes represented these different philosophies. What they were were really political, religious views of life. They were within Judaism. Paul says watch out for the wisdom of men regarding the basic issues of life and these false teachers, what they are offering.

He further says beware of philosophy and empty deceit, and the construction of this in the Greek text identifies empty deceit with philosophy. They are not two differing things. The philosophy is empty deceit, the philosophy he is talking about that he is going to unfold here, which is an unbiblical, ungodly mixture of truth and error and really becomes an attack on the supremacy of Christ and His sufficiency. Empty deceit, where empty means without content. It is deceit. It is deceit that has not substance to it, but it is still deceit. Isn’t it amazing you have to warn God’s people to watch out for empty deceit, that which could delude you and deceive you but really has no content? You think we would recognize that right away. But we don’t because it comes under the guise of what? Worldly wisdom and insight and understanding. And it will not be presented as an alternative to Christ, but it will come as something that will help us be more effective for Christ, to have a fuller, more meaningful life in our service for Him.

This empty deceit stands in contrast to the gospel. Back in chapter 1 verse 5, the end of verse 5 of chapter 1, “the word of truth, the gospel.” The gospel is the word of truth in contrast to the deceit of false teachers. In chapter 2 verse 3, Christ is the One in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. But these false teachers have emptiness. In Christ we have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So there is a contrast, if you have been following and reading the letter. If you haven’t done so recently, sit down and just read the letter through to refresh your mind on the flow, because Paul has laid the groundwork for dealing with the false teaching in the opening part of the letter.

Now I want you to recognize, Paul expresses open contempt and disdain for these false teachers and their message. We live in a day today where a corrupted concept of love is promoted that you really shouldn’t say anything harsh about someone else’s beliefs. But Paul puts it in the letter for all to read. It is empty deceit. He has no time for it. He is contemptuous of it. It is not a mark of maturity that we can cuddle up to error and not be offended. He further elaborates on this. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men.” The source of this teaching is not God; it is men, men’s ideas. Now it might be human brilliance. It is effectively packaged, but it is according to the traditions of men. So these false teachers get their material not from God but from men, not from the word of God but from their own traditions.

Now if you have read anything on Colossians, there is a lot of discussion about what is the Colossian heresy. What was the error confronting the church at Colossae? Now this will take us the rest of the chapter to sort through this, but I want to tell you what the error at the church of Colossae was, as I understand it. My understanding is that the error that confronted the church at Colossae was nothing other that the Judaizing heresy that confronted Paul in other cities such as Galatia. So what Paul is confronting and dealing with here is those who would take the Old Testament and the law of Moses, misuse it and misapply it, mix it with their own tradition which nullify it in effect the truth of the Old Testament. They have blended it in with the message concerning Christ, and now they offer it as a fuller, more complete truth of God. This expression, “the tradition of men,” back up to Mark chapter 7. Jesus uses this exact expression, and the expression we are looking at is found in verse 8. Look there before we look at the broader context. The people He is addressing He says they “are neglecting, [Mark 7 verse 8] the commandment of God.” You hold to the “tradition of men.” There is our expression. Colossians says “according to the tradition of men.” Here Jesus speaks about, “they hold to the tradition of men.” Who is He talking to? Back in verse 1 of chapter 7 of Mark. “And the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together around Him when they had come from Jerusalem.” So He is being challenged by the Pharisees and the Scribes. Remember Josephus, the first century historian, identified the party of the Pharisees, their teaching, as one of the philosophies within Judaism.

And remember these are conservatives compared to, for example, the Sadducees. The Sadducees were the liberals in this organization. They did not believe in the supernatural. The high priest was a Sadducee. Imagine, the high priest of Israel was a Sadducee; he didn’t believe in the supernatural—so the decadent spiritual condition of Israel at the time of Christ. The Pharisees were more conservative. They believed in the Scriptures. They believed in the Old Testament. The scribes worked through the details of the Old Testament meticulously so the Pharisees could build their doctrines and beliefs on it. The Pharisees also wanted to make sure that the people handled the Old Testament wisely so they added a lot of tradition to the Old Testament Scripture. It was all for the intention so that people would be more careful and more sure. You know what happens over time? The tradition supersedes the Scripture.

It happens. Look around at how many churches today. What is important and crucial to people in their churches is, what? Their traditions. They might have a superficial claim, yes, we believe the Bible. But their church and their life is built around their tradition. Indian Hills has its tradition. We meet at a certain time. We have a certain order of service. We didn’t get that from the Scripture. We just decided it would be a good way to do it. But oh, if we change it, my goodness, we are not worshiping God anymore. I can’t come to this church anymore. Tradition becomes dominant in our thinking. So Jesus is dealing with the traditions of the Pharisees. He calls it the traditions of men.

And they use this to nullify the word of God. Look at verse 7. “But in vain do they worship My teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” They had taken the truth of the Scripture and so corrupted it with tradition that they canceled out the effectiveness of the word of God. Verse 8, “neglecting the commandment of God you hold to the tradition of men.” Verse 9, “He was also saying to them, ‘You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.’” Verse 13, “Thus invalidating the Word of God by your tradition which you have handed down.” You see what happens when you mix the truth of God with the ideas of men, you nullify it, and your worship becomes empty. “In vain do they worship Me,” Isaiah said as Jesus quoted in verse 7.

We think well, at least they have got the word of God mixed in. No, I am not saying there is anything wrong with having an order to service and a time of meeting, but when certain forms and practices and beliefs become the center of our worship rather than truth of God—hairstyles, styles of clothing, whether you wear make-up or not, whether you wear a ring or you don’t, and all these things. I remember when we left a legalistic group, and they specified how long the ladies sleeves would have to be and how high the collar, and how short the men’s hair, and how long. We moved to a church that was not nearly as legalistic, but if any ladies wore lipstick they weren’t allowed to sing in the choir, because that was worldly. Tradition, that is what he is talking about, I take it, in Colossians. The traditions of men, these would have been Judaizers who had taken the truth of the Old Testament, mixed it with men’s ideas, progressed over to accept Christ as Messiah and now they had a mixture of men’s ideas, Old Testament, and the message of Christ. Look over in Galatians chapter 1. Paul was a Pharisee before his conversion; he is sharing his testimony in chapter 1 of Galatians, and verse 13. “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and I tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.” As a Pharisee, if you would ask Paul, he believed the Old Testament, he would have said yes, he would have been willing to die for the Old Testament. But he was really pursuing a zeal for his ancestral traditions.

Come over to Galatians now. So what you have that Paul is warning the Colossian church about is a mixture. The Judaizers proclaimed faith in Christ, but they proclaimed more than Christ. They proclaimed the necessity of keeping the law, and the necessity of observing the traditions that they had developed out of the law, and together they thought that you had a complete package. But we are told in chapter 2 verse 8 of Galatians, “this is according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world.” And that expression, “elementary principles,” translation of a Greek word stotia, means building blocks, the letters of the alphabet, foundational things. It too is used in the New Testament to refer to the Mosaic Law and matters related to the Law. Come back to Galatians chapter 4, look at verse 3. “So also we while we were children were held in bondage under the elemental things. . .” Elemental things is a translation of stokiah, the elementary principles of the world. Down in verse 9, “but now that you have come to know God, or rather be known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and worthless elemental things, elementary principles.” What is he talking about in the context? He is talking about the Mosaic Law, and matters related to the Law, and the traditions developed out of the Law. Verse 10, “you observe days, months, seasons, year.” He’ll say down in verse 21, “tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law?” So I take it the elemental things, or elementary principles, in Colossians are a reference to the Mosaic Law and the Jewish traditions associated with the Law, unless you have this mixture confronting the Colossians.

This is important because within the framework of the paganism of the first century, the paganism of the Roman Empire, which was polytheistic in its worship, they worshiped all the Gods. The Judaizers had very much in common with the Christians; in fact, these groups would probably be closer in beliefs to the Colossian church than about anybody else on the face of the earth. These would be people that claim to believe the message of Christ, they claim to believe that the Old Testament and the Law of Moses are inspired by God. They would have been those that stood firmly against immorality of all kinds, including the homosexuality that was so rancid and openly displayed at that time, the lying, the violence and so on. They would have been people that said, we stand with you for biblical principles and truths. You know what Paul says about this back in Colossians 2 verse 8? These are those he is warning that you don’t get taken captive with their philosophy of empty deception, according to the traditions of men, the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. It was all these things contrary to Christ. When you mix the ideas of men, and the misuse of God’s word together with God’s truth you have something that is contrary to Christ. This is very important because this is how the delusion and deception is infiltrating the church of Jesus Christ today. We are looking at all the things that we can agree with, with others, when the real issue is what we disagree with. If you want to make a list of what you would agree with, with the Judaizers, it could go on and on and on. But Paul says it is empty deception, it is not according to Christ. This is what he said about in Galatians 1, “those who hold to such a thing are under a curse.” I don’t know how to make this point clear enough—if you have done any reading on the condition of the Roman Empire in the first century you know it was a vile, corrupt place. You can read Romans chapter 1 and get a summary of the kind of things that were being practiced. Nine of the first 10, or 10 of the first 11 Roman Emperors were open, practicing homosexuals. Now stop and think about it. When we get discouraged with the leaders of our country, what would you think if our President castrated a young boy and used our tax money for a marriage ceremony? That happened! And we are talking about a vile, filthy time. And now you have got people that have at least got some convictions. They believe the Bible, they proclaimed Christ, they thought you ought to have to follow the Mosaic Law. They had some traditions that weren’t necessarily biblical, but at least they helped people stay on the path. Paul said they are under a curse; they have nothing in common with the gospel I preached. He says to the Colossians, “you be on the lookout so that you are not diluted by this empty deception.” Paul, you keep talking like that and you won’t have any friends anywhere. And when he gets to his last letter he says, “everyone in Asia has abandoned me.” But truth is truth, and error is error. Well, we have got this idea that if you have more in agreement than you have in disagreement then we can work together. Paul says if we don’t have everything in agreement we can’t work together, sorry. We are talking about doctrine, biblical truth.

Look over in II John 9, the second epistle of John says something of crucial importance related to what we are saying. II John 9 verse 9, this is in the context of verse 7, “many deceivers who have gone out into the world.” They don’t acknowledge that Christ is coming in the flesh. And there is another problem he is dealing with—those who deny the true humanity of Christ. They had a Christ they preached, but it was a deficient Christ. They didn’t believe in the true humanity of Christ. Note what he says in verse 9, “anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God.”

“The one who abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” He is saying the same thing as Paul in writing to the church of Colossae: you go too far, you go beyond the teaching of Christ, the biblical teaching concerning Him. In Colossians it would have to do with His supremacy and His sufficiency. You don’t belong to God. Now I don’t want to go further than the Scripture here, but we as a church need to be careful that we take this teaching of Scripture seriously. The reason God gives a command to the church of Colossae and through that to the church of Indian Hills, watch out! We have books being published, we have done battles over this, those who think it is nothing but the Scripture are narrow and unloving and don’t want to help people. Do you understand if you go beyond and do not abide in the teaching of Christ you don’t have God? Am I saying they are not Christians? I don’t know, I just know what John said. Those who are saying it is not sufficient are attacking the truth of God.

How does this infiltrate the Church? It comes under what? The guise, we believe in Christ, we want to use the Scripture. But we believe that if you also have this you will be more effective and more helpful, and you really care about people, you will know that all truth is God’s truth and you will bring that together and you will have an effective ministry. And a church just swallows it and says “Amen brother!” So we have these kind of programs established all over in the church today. And we just ignore the warnings of Scripture because well, this is different. How is it different when you tell me that the truth of God is not sufficient, that Jesus Christ is not sufficient. I watched a well-meaning man give a sermon a couple days ago. In his program he sat down, I shared this with you before, he is still doing it, he wants to help people. He has got some tapes to send them, not Bible teaching tapes, not tapes from the word of God, but someone who is in the medical field who really has the things, and when he brings that to the word you can really have a marriage that will be. So much for the sufficiency of Christ, so much for the sufficiency of truth. How long will this go on in the church. Keep swallowing it down, swallowing it down until it is totally corrupted, and what is left? A corrupted, ruined ministry. Come back to Colossians. Remember that issue, it is not what you agree on; it is what you disagree on. We have much in common with the Roman Catholics in their beliefs, but you understand their zeal is for the traditions of their church. It is what we disagree on that is at the very heart of it, how is a person saved? Do you realize we have no agreement on that? But for the cultural well being of our nation we have to set aside our differences and work together. There is no excuse, the Scripture says, you watch out, so you are not diluted.

Back in Colossians chapter 2, “Beware of the deception of men.” that is verse 8. Verses 9 and 10, “Be aware of the sufficiency of Christ.” Problem was, these false teachers had a misunderstanding of the person of Christ, we will deal with that in verse 9. They had a misunderstanding of the provision of Christ, the beginning of verse 10. They had misunderstanding of the position of Christ, the end of verse 10. We must be clear in our understanding of the person of Christ, verse 9, the provision of Christ, the beginning of verse 10, the position of Christ, the end of verse 10, so that we stand firm as we should.

Verse 9, a proper understanding of the person of Christ, so that we are aware of His sufficiency. “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” With all the purposes of God center in Christ, just look at the section where we are in Colossians. Underline or circle these little two words, “in Whom,” or “in Him,” or “through Him,” and I’ll draw that to your attention. Look at verse 3, referring to Christ, now all of these. “In Whom,” Colossians 2:3, “In Whom,” mark that. “Are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Look at the end of verse 6, “walk in Him.” Verse 7, “having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him.” Down in verse 9, “for in Him,” verse 10, “and in Him,” verse 11, “and in Him,” verse 12, “buried with Him.” Still in verse 12, “raised up with Him.” Towards the end of 13, “made you alive together with Him.” The end of verse 15, “through Him,” or “in Him.” Same preposition is translated “in” in the previous verses I drew your attention to. See that repeated? It is all centered in Christ in our relationship to Him. So when he says in verse 9, “For in Him, the one in whom all the purposes of God are centered, in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” This same truth was expressed in chapter 1 verse 19, “for it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.” Now we are told it is all the fullness of Deity, so that there is no misunderstanding. “In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells.” That word for Deity—there are a couple of related words for Deity. One would refer to divine attributes, or characteristics. That is not the word used here. He is not saying that Christ has all the attributes and characteristics of God, although that is true. He is saying something more direct here. This word means the essence of Deity, so all the fullness of the very essence of Deity dwells in Him. In other words He is God, very God. All the fullness of the essence of God dwells in Him. Now this doesn’t mean that this is all there is to God, because there is God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit, but that very essence of Deity is as clear a statement as is made anywhere of the Deity of Jesus Christ. That essence dwells in Him in His fullness, that Deity dwells in Him in its fullness. It dwells there, a word that denotes permanent residence, and it is in a present tense. It permanently dwells there. You see, in bodily form, when Christ was born at Bethlehem, the full essence of Deity dwelt in that physical body. Remarkable. And now that He has been crucified and raised from the dead, the fullness of Deity continues to dwell in that glorified body. God the Father does not have a visible body. God the Holy Spirit does not have physical form or physical body. God the Son, the second person of the triune God, has bodily form. But all the fullness of what God is dwells in Him in that body. So you must understand the person of Christ—He is fully God as well as fully man. We understand then something of the person of Christ.

Second thing to understand: the provision of Christ. The beginning of verse 10, “and in Him you have been made complete.” Now, for some reason, many of the English translations have not picked up the play on words here. Because it is the same basic word translated fulness, in verse 9, that is translated “made complete” in verse 10. So to get the idea you should read, “for in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form and in Him you have been made full,” because it is the same basic word, different form of the same word. “You have been made full.” In other words, all the fullness of Deity dwells in Christ body, and we are in Christ, and thus have been made full in Him. This is a perfect tense here, we have been made complete, made full—something happened in the past and continues on. We have received our fullness in Him. That means there is no lack, no insufficiency of any kind. For you see, our fullness, our completeness is inseparably joined to His fullness of Him, completeness. And if He is the fullness of Deity, the completeness of Deity in the sense that He is fully God, how can there be any deficiency in me when I am made full in Him?

Now you begin to see the flaw of those who say there is something more, there is something else: it becomes an attack of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. It is not just a disagreement where we are theologically nitpicking; it is at the root of what we believe. Do you understand? We have opened the doors to invite the wolves in among the sheep because they claim to have something to add to the truth of Scripture that will enable us to help people. And they come and feed on God’s people. And where is the church? We have been made full in Him. John chapter 1, verse 16, “For of His, Christ, fullness, we have all received, and grace upon grace.” Ephesians chapter 3 verse 19, “and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Now there Paul is praying that this will be the experience of the Ephesians, that they will be filled up to all the fullness of God, because both are true. I have been made full in Him, but I continue to draw upon that fullness and become more full, as I mature in Him. And the next verse draws that to our attention. Ephesians 4:13, “until we all attain to the unity of faith, of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Same thing that we studied in II Peter chapter 1 verse 4. “He has granted to us precious and magnificent promises, that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature.” Now in none of this is He saying that we become the essence of Deity. That is not possible, because one of the characteristics of Deity is eternality. You cannot create Deity, so he is not saying we become God like Christ was God. But John says He was the fullness of God in bodily form. We partake of His fullness in Christ. God has made complete provision for us to be everything He intends us to be as His children. And His characteristics, His love, His knowledge, His peace, His joy and so on become the fullness of our lives. That is His provision for us.

The church has not been on guard, not watched. So it not only has allowed itself to be diluted and deceived, it has invited the false teachers to bring their delusion and deception in. And not just in that one area, but in a multiplicity of areas, as it does not take seriously the absolute sufficiency of Christ and that sufficiency is found in the absolute sufficiency of His written word. We’ve seen in other studies to attack the sufficiency of the written word is to attack sufficiency of Christ, because this book from Genesis to Revelation is a revelation of Him. Our being in Him, involves us you see as we get into chapter 3, His word, saturating our lives. Must be fixed, because the next go round on it we’ll be spouting the same thing, we are an unloving church, we are harsh, we are intolerant, it has to be our way, Gil’s personality is abrasive and on we go. The truth is truth is truth. And we must not be deluded, we must not be deceived. We must understand the provision He has made. That ought to thrill your soul, you are made full in Him, there is no lack. He is everything I need; He is all I need. He makes every provision for my life, for my soul. So obviously He is everything to me. In Him I am complete. I fear we have many who have never come to know Him and are they are running around looking for something, what they really need is the fullness of His salvation, but then we need to be careful, we can be lured away, we can be diluted and deceived, and fail to enjoy the fullness of His provision, His peace, His joy, His blessing.

One other area we just mentioned. We must be clear on the position of Christ, the end of verse 10. He is the head over all rule and authority. You remember back in chapter 2, verse 18, verse 16, He created everything. Verse 18, He is over everything. This included the angelic world. So here He is ruler, the head, over all rule and authority. He is talking about angelic beings because you see what happens, we’ll see this as we progress through chapter 2. The Jews held the angels in very high esteem because angels had been mediators in giving the Law. So to recognize the importance of the Law, you recognize the importance of those that gave the Law, the angels, by this time it has degenerated to angelic worship. That easily happens because John fell into that in book of Revelation. He fell down on His face to worship the angel that gave him revelation. So these Judaizers were involving people in the worship of angels, as verse 18 of chapter 2 will show when we get there.

You understand there is nothing over Christ, He is the head of all angelic creatures, He rules over the Spirit world as well as the physical world. He is sovereign. So why would you go elsewhere? There is none above Him, there is none more powerful than Him, why would you bow down to an angel? That’s why Paul can say in Galatians chapter 1, “whether it is a man or an angel from heaven who preaches any other gospel, let him be accursed.” I don’t care if an angel would appear on this platform and begin to speak a mighty message and it contradicted the word of God, that angel is accursed. That’s what Paul says in Galatians 1. And yet I dare say we would have people here saying, “Wait, wait. Don’t be too rash. That is an angel.” You know what? We open ourselves to delusion. Maybe this is an exception. Maybe this is a rare occasion. The sovereign God has spoken and His message is clear.

What is He saying to the Colossians? Two basic things. Beware of the deception of men. Beware of the deception of men and don’t think men are any less deceptive today than they were 2000 years ago when this was written. Don’t think the devil, who is working to corrupt the Church of Christ, is any less deceptive than he has ever been. Beware of the deception of men. Watch out. Any mixture is not according to Christ.

Number 2: Be aware of the sufficiency of Christ. Understand the fullness of His person. In Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. Understand the completeness of His provision for us who are in Christ, in Him. We are made full in Him. In my struggles, in my doubts, in my difficulties, don’t bring me anything else. Bring me truth. Bring me Christ. Let us be clear on the absoluteness of His provision. He is above all, Spirit beings included. So when I have Him, I have everything. And He alone is what I need. May God keep us as church faithful to this Savior who by God’s grace reconciled us by His death that we might enjoy the fullness of God’s provision in Him. Let’s pray together.

Thank You, Father, for our marvelous Savior who has done wondrously, who has brought salvation through His reconciling work on the cross, who has taken us who were enemies and reconciled us to You the living God. Lord, it is awesome and overwhelming to contemplate that we are in Him and the fullness of all that He is as the eternal God is our provision, our sustenance, Lord, the beauty and intimacy of that relationship is a fullness of what it provides. Lord, may we find our fullness and satisfaction in Him and Him alone. May we take to heart as a church the warning to be aware and be on guard that we not be deluded. May we be careful that no one defrauds us of our prize. May we hold tightly to Him who is our Savior, to the glorious truth concerning Him until He comes. We pray in His name, amen.


11
GR 978 Colossians 2:8-10