Good morning to everyone. Good to see you this morning. It's like you all got a little rain down here yesterday. We once again did not. But I see the leaves are turning a little early, and I don't know what's coming from all this drought. We'll see. 

We began to study this section of scripture in Colossians 2 last week and saw that Paul was writing to warn the believers, to implore them to be on the lookout, to be ever watching for doctrines that would lead them astray, that would divide their minds, take them captive, and cause them to place their faith, their trust in something other than Christ. And I want this morning to review some of what we looked at last week and then try to develop a little further what Paul's warning against in the last verses of this chapter. 

Remember, Epaphras has come to Paul and Rome with concerns about false teachers and the doctrines they were bringing to the church, doctrines which were after the traditions of men according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ. And this is the definition, my brothers and sisters, the dividing line, that which is after the traditions of men or the principles of the world, the wisdom of men, and not according to Christ. 

The instruction here is this, hold fast to the head. Reject everything that does not line up with the word of God, that which is according to Christ. And I think it's so instructive to see Paul's words to us, his prayer, that our minds would be established. As Peter said, that we would pull in the loose ends of our mind, gird up the loins of our mind, our thinking, what we know, what we believe. We want to know and believe and depend on the truth according to God's word, that which is according to Christ, that we are holding fast to him, placing all our faith in Jesus alone and his sufficiency. 

So we're going to emphasize the truth that Paul lays out concerning believers again this morning, that all the fullness of God is found in Christ, that we are complete, full in him, that we have been regenerated by the will and power of God, and he will conform us to the likeness of Christ, will complete his will in us. We are new men, and therefore we must live new lives. And all we need for this new life in Christ is Jesus. Therefore, we need to beware. We need to be diligent to recognize that which is contrary to Christ and reject it, avoid it. 

Paul highlights three basic areas in which this kind of error exists, legalism, mysticism, and asceticism. These same errors exist today and attempt to draw us away into religion, into works righteousness, into law sanctification, to some secret knowledge, some religious exercise or experience, or some deprivation, self-deprecation, even self-harm as a means to spirituality. All these things are going on around us in the religious systems and spiritual disciplines crafted by the minds of men after the basic principles of the world, and again, not according to Christ. 

I hear quite often from people today when I try to witness to them or talk to them about Jesus, they will say, well, I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual. I'm not sure what this even means. But it so often has to do with mysticism, some New Age spirituality, some worldly means to reach the divine. Whatever it is, it's not according to Christ. So we deal with these same dangers in our day as they did in Colossae, even and often in the church. 

And the message is to hold fast to the head, to fix your heart and mind on Jesus and him alone, and to depend on him and his sufficiency for your life and godliness by his grace each and every day. This is the encouragement from Paul to us in our text this morning. 

Let's look at verse 8. We'll read these words again. Beware, lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power. 

In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers. He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. 

So let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 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 the whole body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 

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? 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. 

With five points on your outline, first, beware. Second, Christ, the fullness. Third, complete in him. Fourth, the wisdom of man. And fifth, holding fast the head. 

Well, verse eight is a central verse in this letter. Paul writes, beware lest anyone cheat you. We talked about that last week, to take you captive, to haul you away, to draw your mind away from a focus on Christ. Let no one cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 

Paul says, be ever on the lookout, watching diligently for false teaching, deceptive words, fine-sounding arguments, anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We have seen in our lifetimes a great push in the evangelical church for ecumenism, for going along to get along, for unity at the expense of doctrine.

I've heard evangelical pastors say we need to de-emphasize doctrine, because doctrine divides. Well, yes, truth divides. Matthew 10, 34, Jesus said, "'Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. "'I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.'" That sword is the truth, and truth divides from error. That is precisely what Paul's talking about, warning against, being drawn away from truth and taken captive by error, having a divided mind, trusting in the ways of the world and the wisdom of man, rather than the fullness found only in Christ. 

We must hold fast to the head. We must know and believe the truth and reject error, and if that divides us from those who entertain error, then that is how Jesus said it would be. We see this throughout the New Testament, Paul's writings in Galatians, in Corinthians, in Romans. Jude, Peter, John, they all warn us of false teachers and lies, and encourage us to divide ourselves from those who do not preach the gospel, the truth about Jesus, and the truth about the Christian life. So we need to beware. We need to be on the lookout, diligently watching for these deceptions, and the cure for deception is truth. 

In Ephesians 4, it says that, "'We should no longer be children tossed to and fro "'and carried about with every wind of doctrine, "'by the trickery of men "'and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, "'but speaking the truth in love "'may grow up in all things into him who is the head, "'Christ.'" So we must be watching for error. 

The next truth we see in our text as we review here is fullness and completeness in Christ. Verse nine, "'For in him dwells all the fullness "'of the Godhead bodily, "'and you are complete in him, "'who is the head of all principality and power.'" We see the continued use of this phrase, in him, in Christ, and this is who you are. This is where you live, my friends, in this realm, in Christ. You have been conveyed, taken from the kingdom of darkness and Adam, and placed into the kingdom of his son of Jesus. 

In him, in Christ, is the sphere in which you exist. And all that is true of being in him, as we are studying, is who you are, is true of you. Paul says that Jesus is the pleroma, the fullness of God, and you are in him, so you are complete. Same word, verb form here, you are full. Because fullness exists in him, and you are in him, and he is in you. Then you are filled, you are leveled off, is the literal. 

You ever do that and get a cup of coffee, and I like to have some fresh Jersey cow cream in my coffee every morning, and sometimes the cup gets a little full, and you pour that milk in, and it's just the surface tension holding it in, you go, like this. You're leveled off, you're full to the rim, is the picture here. What this means, practically speaking, is that we have no need, other than our desperate daily need for him. And he is in us. He will never leave us or forsake us, and we are in him. 

So we have all we need for life and godliness. We need not look anywhere else to any other source. We don't need any of that stuff. And again, it is amazing to me how short-sighted, unbelieving we can be, however you want to term it, lacking understanding, knowledge, faith, because our tendency is to go to man, to go back to the basic principles of the world, to law, to our own means, or the vain imaginations of men, as we talked about last week. 

When you study and know and believe the words of this letter, or the words of the letter to the Ephesians, and you ponder on the profundity of these truths, of Jesus, of our salvation, of his intention, his good pleasure and will for you, and the unlimited power he has to accomplish these things, who Jesus is, God, Creator, Sustainer, Savior, Friend, Judge, Ruler, King, Lord of Lords, how can we look anywhere else to anything in this world from men who are so corrupted, so sinful, so impotent? 

And not to Jesus, when he is yours, and you are his, and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in him, and the very power that raised him from the dead works in you. The Holy Spirit lives in us, and imparts strength to our inner man. Jesus lives in us and through us, as we abide in him by faith, and it is the glory of the riches of his grace that accomplishes more than we could ever ask or think according to his purpose for his glory. 

My friends, what does this world have to offer you? What do men who are lost in Adam, who are corrupted on the inside, who do not have the mind of Christ nor the wisdom of God have to give us in the way of truth and wisdom? We need not look anywhere but Jesus for our spiritual well-being, our fruitfulness and fulfillment, our contentment and our joy and our peace. He's the fullness, we are full in him. 

We also see, as we studied in some detail last week, that we have been circumcised in the body of the flesh in Christ. Verse 11, in him, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead, and you being dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. 

I think this truth is worth going over every day. This is the basis of who we are in Christ. We were in Adam, and all that that meant. But God took that old man in Adam, controlled by indwelling sin, under bondage and curse of the law, destined for eternal death, and he crucified him with Christ on the cross, buried him in death, and raised him a new creation in Christ. 

And now, if you believe Jesus, you are in Christ, and all that this means. Mark referred to Ephesians one, we studied verses three to six on Wednesday night in our Bible study, and what an amazing passage. I wanna just look at that with you again this morning, Ephesians one, three to six.

It says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. 

Now, notice in verse one, that these truths are for believers. Paul is writing to believers about believers, discussing what we have in Christ. And what we have is every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, every spiritual blessing. What is it that you lack? And verse four tells us that God designed, he conceived a plan before the foundation of the world, that in Christ, we will be holy and without blame before him. 

Verse 5 promises that God predetermined every believer's destiny, anyone who believes, anyone who's in Christ, will receive the adoption as sons. This is glorification, the placing as a full son, a co-heir with Christ. Turn over to Romans 8, let's consider these amazing truths, Romans 8 at verse 15. Paul says, you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you receive the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. 

And if children, then heirs, and heirs of God, and join heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. He says we are co-heirs with Christ, full sons, and the realization of this will be at our glorification together with Him. Look at verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now, and not only that, but we also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption. 

What's the adoption? The redemption of our body. He predestined those who believe Jesus, those who are in Christ, to the full adoption as sons. That's the redemption of our body. You are accepted in the Beloved. You are a co-heir with Christ. You will receive the adoption as sons at glorification because you are in Him. 

My friends, we have ultimate assurance, peace, joy, confidence of our salvation, full and final according to His good pleasure, His will for His glory. God saved you for the express purpose of making you like Christ, conforming you to His likeness and ultimately bringing you to glory. He gave His Son to become a man and die in our place for our sins and rise again the third day to save us from His wrath for our sins. 

And that is not all. He also saved us from the sin that dwells in us. He crucified our old man, circumcised the body of flesh, that is, this physical body controlled by indwelling sin. He released us from the power of indwelling sin, placed us into Christ where we stand in grace and see the fruit of righteousness out through this body, its members, as we are now slaves of righteousness. 

We have died to the law, the law no longer has dominion over us, Jesus has nailed the moral law of God and its requirements and claims against us to the cross and has taken it out of the way. In short, my brothers and sisters in Christ, we have been totally and completely transformed, recreated, and made new, and this by God's will and power and grace and nothing that I did. 

So how is it that I would think that there's something I could do to undo all that? He saved me for the express purpose of bringing me to glory, and He will. If you have believed, if you are in Christ, then you will be sanctified, you will be glorified, this is God's will and intent for you, and for every single one in Christ by faith. This is who we are. This is what we have in Christ. 

So Paul says in verse 16, let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substances of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility, worship of angels, intruding into those things which has not been seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the head. 

He says if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why is there living in the world? Do you subject yourselves to regulations? 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 and self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value, no value against the indulgence of the flesh. The goal of the false teachers is always to convince us that we need something more than Jesus, and the favored means that Paul warns of here are in the realm of legalism, mysticism, and asceticism. 

I've put definitions for these terms on the back of your outline because they're a bit difficult to keep straight in our minds. The first definition you see is from Webster's, and the second definition kind of has a Christian connotation. Here's what it says, legalism is a strict literal conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code. Christian legalism refers to a focus on strict adherence to rules and laws, listen, as the basis of righteousness or acceptance before God. 

Mysticism, the belief that the direct knowledge of God's spiritual truth or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience. In a Christian sense, focus is on a heightened relationship or interaction with God through experience. It refers to the pursuit of a deep experiential communion with God that transcends mere intellectual knowledge, and I would say it deemphasizes intellectual knowledge by the word. 

Asceticism is the practice of strict self-denial as a means of personal or especially spiritual discipline. In Christianity, asceticism refers to the practice of self-denial, self-discipline, and renunciation of worldly pleasures, look again, as a means to foster spiritual growth, holiness, and a deeper relationship with God. These things are rampant in the world called Christian.

These are the basic ways that false teachers seek to lead us away from a focus on Jesus and trust in and dependence on him alone as sufficient. And these three errors run through Paul's warnings in the rest of the chapter, look at verse 16, let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substances of Christ. 

The idea here is that one would sit in judgment of you as to your worthiness before God. The judges here would be the ascetics or the legalists, the false teachers who would find you unworthy of blessing or reward because you fail to conform to their legalistic or ascetic standards, celebrating this, eating that, not drinking this, or keeping a Sabbath or a new moon festival. We have this very thing today. If you do this or don't do that, if you wear this or don't wear that, if you have this kind of music or this order of service, whatever it may be, we don't drink, we don't chew, we don't date girls that do, right? 

Whatever it may be, your relationship with God, your reward, and your sanctification are defined by your adherence to a list of laws or certain activities that you either participate in or will not participate in. I hear now and again Christians who think we should keep all the Old Testament feasts or Sabbaths or whatever. Why? If it is to be more spiritual, if it is to please God more, if it is to foster fruit in our lives, then we're barking up the wrong tree. 

Likewise, with mysticism and asceticism, look at verse 18, let no one cheat you of your reward. Taking delight in false humility, worship of angels, intruding into those things which he's not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. Why do you subject yourselves to these rules of legalism, don't touch, don't taste, don't handle? All these things are meaningless in any way, it has no ability, no power to help with the indulgence of the flesh. 

Some would teach us that if we could just connect with some spiritual being, some angel, some secret knowledge, if we could have a greater understanding through some sort of emotional manipulation or ecstatic experience, then we could connect with God on a higher level. We see this in the church today, for sure, feelings, experiences, subjective means for connecting with God, but what does Paul say? Establish your minds, your thinking, based in the written Word and truth, according to Christ. 

Now feelings should follow, and certainly we have experiences in this life that come from our relationship with Jesus and the work that He's doing, the fruit He's producing through our lives. But the measuring line is not my subjective experiences concerning spirituality, the standard is the Word of God, the truth, by which we judge every thought we have and every experience we have captive to the obedience of Christ. We judge all experiences by the Word of God, not the other way around. 

Paul warns against delving into spiritual realms with angels and demons. This is what they were teaching. I grew up with this in the Catholic Church, all kinds of angel stuff going on. Even the Jewish legalists were into angels. Why? Because the angels gave the law, so they were the mediators, so we needed this mediation of angels. Vincent says the attitude of the false teachers would involve their sitting in judgment as to the future reward of those who refuse their doctrine of angelic mediation. 

He continues, we could go a step further and say that these false teachers would actually deprive those Christians who would be led astray by them of their reward at the judgment seat of Christ by reason of the fact that their Christian experience would be affected in a bad way. The bottom line is that the false teachers convinced believers that they need these religious rites, rituals, or mediations of angels, or ecstatic experiences, or secret knowledge, or whatever, that they need something more than Jesus. And that's how you're led astray. 

The answer to all this nonsense, and let me be quick to add, you don't need any of that, the answer is found in verse 19, holding fast the head. Now they're not holding fast the head, but what are we to do? Hold 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. 

Notice it says the increase is from God. It's not from my ideas, my innovations, my new way to do church, my programs, my outreaches, right? May not be anything wrong with some of those things, but the increase is from God. How? By holding fast to the head. It's not asceticism, it's not mysticism, and in the next verse we'll see it's not legalism, it's holding fast the head, Jesus. 

Jesus has to be at the center of everything, we have to see Him as sufficient. Verse 20, if you died with Christ, and that's not implying doubt there, he's saying you did die with Christ, from the basic principles of the world, why as though living in the world do you subject yourselves to regulations? 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. 

You see, the old man in Adam, who we were, he lived according to the basic principles of the world. Religion, psychology, government, all the experts and forces controlling his thinking, dictating his actions. He lived according to the basic principles of the world, the sin that dwelled in him controlled and dominated him so that he consistently produced the fruit of death out through his members. 

Paul says, since you died to all of that, and you are new creations with the mind of Christ and the divine nature, and now you see your freedom in Christ, a different perspective on the whole world, now all things are of God, right? If all this is true of you because you are in Christ, why in the world would you go back to the world? Why would you go back to those kinds of things? Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle. 

The key is seeing all of these other things as means to holiness. If I see something besides Christ as a means to holiness, then I'm being led astray. If I don't understand that I am accepted in the beloved, and I'm trying to please God by keeping some list of laws, or doing something or not doing something, I'm not understanding who I am in Christ. These things are not means. Paul says, you died with Christ. 

Listen to Weiss' comments. He said, death means separation. The Colossian believers died with Christ at the cross, and thus were separated from all such things as are mentioned in verses 20 to 23.

The Apostle recalling them to the time of their conversion points out how inconsistent with a death to the elemental spirits and submission to ordinances belonging to their sphere would be. The death of the believer with Christ is a death to his old relations, to sin, law, guilt, the world. It's a death which Christ has himself undergone, Romans 6.10. Here it is especially their death to the angels who had ruled their old life and under whose charge the law and its ceremonies especially stood. They had died with Christ to legalism. How absurd then for ordinances to be imposed upon them. 

The key is to understand, know, and believe this truth of regeneration, death, and resurrection to new life. And now to see that Jesus is the means. He is the fullness. He is sufficient for our sanctification as well. You don't need any of that other stuff. In verse 23, Paul tells us none of that stuff helps anyway. It's of no value. It may seem pious. You get a big hat and some incense and you run around and do a ceremony, and everybody This is how holy you are. No value, no value. Paul says none of this has any value against the indulgence of the flesh, the flesh again being the body controlled by indwelling sin. 

These aesthetic observances, while they appeal to men as indications of superior wisdom and piety have no value as remedies against the body controlled by indwelling sin. You know, it really depends on what you believe. Some believe if you put rocks in your shoes and flagellate yourself until you bleed and bind yourself with spikes on your waist that you can attain salvation. Self-deprecation, self-harm, monasticism. In the evangelical realm, we don't believe in these things for justification, for salvation. But what about legalism, mysticism, and asceticism for sanctification? 

Reminds me of Galatians 3, right? Paul says, haven't begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Unfortunately, we see this quite often in a variety of denominations and mainstream thinking in evangelical church. They teach that the law is necessary for and binding on the believer. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that. This is a commonly held belief, the moral law of God is still binding on the believer. I'm not even sure what that means. And I've thought about it for 25 years and I'm still not sure what it means. 

Paul says in our text that Christ has taken the moral law of God out of the way, releasing us from its claim against us, having nailed it to the cross. Paul calls the law a ministry of death, a ministry of condemnation, says the law is a curse and brings only wrath. My friends, legalism is no way to holiness. I was surprised to find an article by Taylor University, Taylor University in Indiana, the website calling for monastic asceticism for holiness in evangelical Christianity, talking about mortification. 

Mortification has a place for holiness in the Christian life. It says, this is an 180-year-old Christian university that speaks at length about Bible-based Christ-centered education. And they want to go to monastic asceticism? What about mysticism? Certainly, the charismatic denominations don't have the only corner on this experience-based Christian living, but it permeates all of evangelicalism where believers seek a closer relationship with God, heightened spirituality through some sort of experiential exercise. 

Are you going to gain something you don't have? Paul says these things appear spiritual, they appear religious, higher level, high-octane prayer, Janet Folger used to say. But they're absolutely useless. You don't need any of that. These practices and beliefs are impotent against the indulgence of the flesh. What is effective for holiness is truth. Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth. What is effective is the truth of our death with Christ, our union with Christ, the power of God in us accomplishing his will and purpose and holding fast to the head, fixing your eyes on Jesus, choosing to believe what God says is true. 

Christ is our all in all, Christ is our sufficiency, Christ is our sanctification, the scripture says, and we must hold fast to him by faith. This is the answer. Paul says in the book of Galatians that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, only a new creation. You are a new creation if you are in Christ. This is the key to the Christian life, what God has done in placing us into Christ and all that is true of us because we are in him, and it is the new birth, regeneration, it's the life of God in us, it's Jesus and only Jesus. 

He is the head of the body, the church, and it is our desire and pursuit to hold fast to him by faith, to walk by faith, to look to Jesus only for all things that pertain to life and godliness. My friends, he is the way. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're thankful for these letters that you've preserved for us that we can read and study and see the same things that were going on then are going on now and that the error is still that Christ is not sufficient, that we need something more. Help us to understand that Jesus is all, he is the fullness, and that it's through knowing him through your word and choosing to believe you that we can see the fruit of righteousness produced. As Jesus said, like a branch abiding in a vine, help us to abide in him. We pray for your will to be done in our life for your glory, in Jesus' name.