1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,840 All right, we are continuing in our study of Colossians, and I was thinking of it was 2 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:15,340 pretty relevant reading this passage because Judah has been doing this thing recently. 3 00:00:15,340 --> 00:00:22,520 It's pretty new where he keeps repeating the same word over and over to try to add emphasis 4 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:24,140 to what he's saying. 5 00:00:24,140 --> 00:00:28,880 And so the other day he was telling me he really, really, really, really, really, really, 6 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:35,880 really, really, really, really, really wanted to watch TV. 7 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:43,640 And then immediately after that he was very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very hungry. 8 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,440 And so I've had to address this with him, and I have to tell him first and foremost, 9 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,320 you've got to stop because that's annoying. 10 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:51,720 So don't do that. 11 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:57,920 But secondly, all these words don't actually add anything to what you're saying. 12 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,080 So if you want to watch TV, you can just say, I want to watch TV, and that's sufficient. 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,200 Or if you're hungry, you just say, I'm hungry, and that's sufficient to communicate your 14 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:07,200 meaning. 15 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:13,080 But for a five-year-old, it's very hard to understand that adding to something doesn't 16 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,320 necessarily make something better. 17 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:21,840 And to be fair, that was also hard for the Colossians to understand as well, because 18 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:26,680 they were battling the temptation of adding to Jesus. 19 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:28,040 You see, you have to remember the situation. 20 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:33,960 The Colossians loved Jesus ever since Apaphryus first came to Colossae, and he shared the 21 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:37,480 Gospel with them, and he started the church there in Colossae. 22 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,440 And the more they learned about Jesus, they loved Jesus. 23 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:46,280 But as we talked about a few weeks ago, there were these false teachers who had come into 24 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,720 the Colossian church and into the city of Colossae, and they were trying to corrupt 25 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,920 the Christians with all sorts of heresies and false teachings. 26 00:01:54,920 --> 00:02:00,200 And one of the ways they did that was by trying to convince the Colossians that something 27 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:08,400 more than Jesus was needed to obtain salvation and a right standing with God. 28 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,960 And so what they were basically saying is that if you don't have these other things, 29 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,800 if you just have Jesus, then you are incomplete. 30 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:20,080 And if there's something I know about humans, we desire completeness. 31 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:21,080 Do we not? 32 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:23,920 We hate when things are left incomplete. 33 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:31,040 For example, nobody move, nobody do anything. 34 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,960 How badly do you want to add those last two knocks, right? 35 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,840 Well, you're not allowed to, because that serves the purpose of what I'm saying. 36 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:43,680 We desire completeness, and we don't like being incomplete, and this is especially true 37 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:45,560 of our spiritual lives. 38 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,760 When it comes to our relationship with God, we don't want to lack anything. 39 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,740 We want the fullness of God's love. 40 00:02:51,740 --> 00:02:54,480 We want the fullness of God's approval. 41 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:56,320 We want the fullness of God's acceptance. 42 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:03,040 I think more than anything, what we really want is to know before we die that when we 43 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,400 die, we're going to get to be with God forever, right? 44 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,480 We want the fullness of the assurance of salvation. 45 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:13,440 And the question that every Christian has to deal with is, well, how do we actually 46 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,440 get these things? 47 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,520 That's what the question, the Colossians were dealing with when Paul was addressing 48 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:20,520 them. 49 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:21,840 So they started questioning things. 50 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,360 They started saying, well, how can we get these things? 51 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:29,160 Maybe we need Jesus plus philosophy. 52 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:33,160 Or maybe we need Jesus plus human traditions. 53 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:38,200 Or maybe we need Jesus plus spiritualism and mysticism and all these kind of things. 54 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:44,520 And as you can imagine, the danger is with the word plus. 55 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:49,720 Because any time we start entertaining a plus, it means that we're actually doubting 56 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,920 the sufficiency of Jesus. 57 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:59,400 We are saying that you need something other than Jesus to obtain all of these things. 58 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:04,080 And Paul is addressing the Colossians in this passage and reminding them that that's not 59 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:05,080 true. 60 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:10,400 Notice he says in verse 10, you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and 61 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:11,400 authority. 62 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:18,840 Now, that phrase filled in him in Greek, it means been made complete. 63 00:04:18,840 --> 00:04:23,000 So Paul says you have been made complete in Christ. 64 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,640 You lack nothing because of Christ. 65 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,640 He has filled you completely. 66 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,520 And so listen, here's the point that Paul's making in this passage. 67 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:39,080 He's saying we don't need to add anything to Jesus because we are complete in him. 68 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:47,200 We don't need to add anything to Jesus because we are complete in him. 69 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:52,000 You do not need a Jesus plus fill in the blank. 70 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,440 You just need Jesus. 71 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:58,640 And so the question that I want us to consider together this morning is, well, how are we 72 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:00,920 complete in Jesus? 73 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:06,200 It's one thing to say it, but it's another thing to ask how we are actually complete 74 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:07,200 in Jesus. 75 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,680 And I want you to see what Paul says here. 76 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,320 So notice what he says in verse 8. 77 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:19,440 He says, see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according 78 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:25,840 to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to 79 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:27,440 Christ. 80 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:32,120 So Paul starts here, as you can see with a warning, he says, see to it. 81 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:34,240 And actually in the Greek, it's beware. 82 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,160 So see to it, beware, beware of what? 83 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:40,320 Well, beware that no one takes you captive. 84 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,360 Now if you look in your translation, you might have something else. 85 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:45,440 That phrase takes you captive. 86 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:50,600 Your translation might say, make sure no one cheats you or it could say take you captive. 87 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,440 Actually neither one of these is really strong enough to convey what's being communicated 88 00:05:54,440 --> 00:06:01,920 here in the Greek because this phrase in Greek actually means to kidnap and to take hostage. 89 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:07,820 And so Paul is literally saying that these false teachers are spiritual human traffickers. 90 00:06:07,820 --> 00:06:13,080 To make sure they don't kidnap your faith, make sure they don't take it hostage, you 91 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:17,520 need to be on your guard against what they are spewing. 92 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,800 And we need to address something here because Paul says see to it that no one takes you 93 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,520 captive by philosophy. 94 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:28,680 And a lot of people have looked at these verses and they've said, we don't need as Christians 95 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:33,560 to have anything to do with philosophy because Paul's condemning it. 96 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,720 But that's not actually what Paul's doing. 97 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,840 Paul is not condemning philosophy in general. 98 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:43,600 He is not condemning the academic study of philosophy. 99 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:48,360 We know this for many reasons, but one is if you look at how Paul engaged with people, 100 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:54,400 especially in the book of Acts, he often engaged in philosophical conversations and used philosophical 101 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,920 ideas to converse with people. 102 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:01,160 So he wasn't condemning philosophy in general. 103 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,200 He's condemning a very specific philosophy. 104 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,800 I want to show that to you and I think I can do it by showing you a slide. 105 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:11,920 So here's a slide for you to look at and you're like, oh my goodness pastor, why would you 106 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:12,920 show us that? 107 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:13,920 I can't read Greek. 108 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:14,920 That's okay. 109 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:15,920 You don't have to. 110 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,280 I've circled and underlined the important words for you, right? 111 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:23,960 So the underlined word is the Greek word philosophias, which is where we get philosophy. 112 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,680 But the really important word is that circled word. 113 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:28,440 You might say, why is that important pastor? 114 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,080 It's important because it's not in your translation. 115 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,000 It's been left out of your translation. 116 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:35,200 Next slide please. 117 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,760 It is the Greek word, the, as you can tell by my beautiful handwriting in Microsoft 118 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:40,760 paint. 119 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:45,200 So it's the Greek word, the, you might say, why is it important? 120 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:51,520 It's because Paul is saying beware of the philosophy, not philosophy in general. 121 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:57,280 When you add a the, it means that you have a very particular philosophy in mind, which 122 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,260 is what Paul has in mind here. 123 00:08:00,260 --> 00:08:06,680 And he's going to go on in these verses to describe the type of philosophy that he is 124 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:08,560 warning Christians against. 125 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,200 And he says it has a few characteristics. 126 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,120 First and foremost, he says that it is empty. 127 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,880 Notice this is empty and deceitful. 128 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:21,840 And this is really going to start contrasting with what he's been saying about Jesus and 129 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:23,080 the gospel. 130 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:27,240 So Paul says this new philosophy that you're encountering, it's deceitful. 131 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:32,800 But remember what he said in Colossians one five, he said of this you have heard before 132 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,200 in the word of truth, the gospel. 133 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,800 So notice the contrast here, this new philosophy, it's deceitful. 134 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:41,080 It'll lead you astray. 135 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,640 But the gospel is the word of truth. 136 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,480 He also says this philosophy is empty. 137 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:52,880 And this is opposed to Christ as well, because in verses nine and 10, he says in him, the 138 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,480 whole what fullness. 139 00:08:55,480 --> 00:09:00,280 So the philosophy is empty, but the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily in him. 140 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:06,960 And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 141 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:07,960 So this is what he's doing. 142 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,400 He's saying, here's this particular philosophy. 143 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:12,080 Here's some characteristics it has. 144 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:13,080 These are the general ones. 145 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,080 It's empty, it's deceitful. 146 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,840 And now he's going to go on to really describe the ways that it manifests itself in the world. 147 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,880 And the first way is through human traditions. 148 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:23,880 Notice what he says there. 149 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:31,320 He says that this philosophy is according to human traditions and not according to Christ. 150 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,920 So what he has in mind here is a lot of religious stuff, a lot of traditions that have been 151 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,520 passed down that people were still trying to practice. 152 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:46,880 And I want to just say that few things will hijack a person's faith like human traditions 153 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:48,960 or traditions in general. 154 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,200 Now I do want to be clear. 155 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:52,600 Traditions are not bad. 156 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,200 Everybody hear me say that because I don't want to get the email tomorrow saying pastor, 157 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,040 you said something bad about my tradition. 158 00:09:58,040 --> 00:09:59,040 No, no, no. 159 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,880 Traditions are not bad in and of themselves. 160 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,680 Traditions can be good and helpful. 161 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:07,840 But here's the problem with traditions. 162 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:15,120 Traditions become a problem when we elevate them to the status of a necessity. 163 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:20,480 Traditions become a problem when we elevate them to the status of God's word. 164 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:29,240 And we say that you must do these things, these traditions in order to be a Christian. 165 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:34,640 When you start talking like that, that's when tradition becomes a problem. 166 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:38,520 Because I mean, Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees for that very thing. 167 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:44,600 In Matthew chapter 15, the Bible says this, then the Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus 168 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,480 from Jerusalem. 169 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:51,000 And they said, why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? 170 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,000 For they do not wash their hands when they eat. 171 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:57,200 Now, Paul's, Jesus has just fed the 5,000. 172 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:01,040 He's done a miracle that only God can do. 173 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:05,000 Everybody should have seen this and said, clearly this is God in the flesh. 174 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:06,720 And the religious leaders hear about it. 175 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:11,240 And their first response is, yeah, but he didn't wash his hands first. 176 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:13,720 So let's just make sure we have that in mind. 177 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:14,800 Jesus answered them. 178 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:20,720 And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 179 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,920 For God commanded, honor your father and mother, and whoever reviles father and mother must 180 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:26,200 surely die. 181 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:31,040 But you say, if anyone tells his father or his mother what you would have gained from 182 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,000 me is given to God, he need not honor his father. 183 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:43,560 So listen, for the sake of your tradition, you've made void the word of God. 184 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:46,120 You see, this is the big danger with traditions. 185 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:51,520 When you start saying that they are a necessity and you have to do these things in order to 186 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:52,520 be saved. 187 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:54,280 And here's my warning for you this morning. 188 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:55,280 Okay. 189 00:11:55,280 --> 00:12:00,120 There are only two logical outcomes when you start going this route, because this is what 190 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:01,800 leads to legalism. 191 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:06,760 If you elevate a tradition to this standard, you're going down the route of legalism, basically 192 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:10,640 saying, I need to do these things in order to be saved. 193 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,640 And I need to do these things in order to have God's approval. 194 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:19,080 There are only two possible options with legalism. 195 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:24,520 Legalism will either damn you to your pride or it will damn you to despair. 196 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:26,200 Those are the only two options. 197 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,200 They can do nothing for your status with God. 198 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,520 They can do nothing for your salvation. 199 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:35,960 It will either damn you to your pride or damn you to your despair. 200 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:38,280 And you see clear examples of that in scripture. 201 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:42,040 Let me think about the rich young ruler. 202 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:43,600 You remember him? 203 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:48,280 Very nice young gentleman, wealthy, very religious. 204 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:56,640 And he comes to Jesus and he says, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 205 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,720 Now already he's thinking legalistically, right? 206 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:04,320 What must I do to inherit eternal life? 207 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:08,560 And Jesus says, well, hey, why do you call me good when no one is good but God trying 208 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:13,120 to get him to think in terms of biblically Jesus is God and the flesh? 209 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,520 That's what he's trying to get him to do. 210 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,280 And Jesus says, well, you know the commandments. 211 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,280 Go and do them. 212 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,200 And do you remember the rich young ruler's response? 213 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,240 He says, well, hey, guess what? 214 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:27,720 I've already done all that stuff. 215 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:29,160 You want me to go do all the commandments? 216 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,280 I've been doing this since I was a kid. 217 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:34,160 So notice what Jesus says. 218 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:37,920 Jesus says no one is good but God alone. 219 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:38,920 Do we all agree? 220 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:40,680 That's what Jesus says. 221 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:45,240 And four seconds later, this guy goes, and so am I. 222 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:46,480 I'm good too. 223 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,200 I've already been doing all this stuff. 224 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:53,040 And so he elevates himself to the level of God. 225 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,000 And as soon as Jesus goes after his heart, what does the man do? 226 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,200 He walks away. 227 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:04,240 Because when approval with God and eternal life was about a checklist, he was on board. 228 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:05,240 I can do that. 229 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,320 You give me a checklist, I can do a checklist. 230 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,720 But as soon as it was about the heart, he couldn't do it. 231 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:13,440 He walked away. 232 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:15,440 And so legalism damned him to his pride. 233 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:21,280 He thought that he was able to earn God's approval and earn eternal life. 234 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:25,640 And I think there are many people like the rich young ruler today who are convinced that 235 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,800 they are saved and that God loves them and that God is pleased with them and that they're 236 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:34,520 going to heaven because of all the religious stuff they do. 237 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,160 That's their assurance of salvation. 238 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,280 I remember having a conversation with one of my family members. 239 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,840 I'm not going to tell you which one, but it's not one that goes here. 240 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:48,080 So don't be looking around at them, okay? 241 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,400 But I had a conversation with one of my family members and we were talking about salvation 242 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:54,680 and I was asking him about salvation. 243 00:14:54,680 --> 00:15:00,280 And he said to me, Alex, you don't have to worry about me because me and God were good. 244 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:02,960 I pray, I try to read my Bible. 245 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:04,600 I was baptized when I was a kid. 246 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:06,240 I take care of my family. 247 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:07,600 I try to help other people. 248 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,160 I'm getting my life together. 249 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:14,360 So you don't have to worry about me because me and God were good. 250 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:20,320 Now I listen to him say this and the most obvious thing that stuck out to me, and maybe it sticks 251 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:21,320 out to you. 252 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,840 Is there anything missing from all his reasons? 253 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:25,840 Jesus. 254 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,160 He was just telling me all the reasons. 255 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:33,120 Well, I don't need to worry about his salvation and his standing with God and not once did 256 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:34,520 he mention Jesus. 257 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:40,600 And the problem is there is no way to be good with God apart from Christ. 258 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:42,360 That is the only way we have salvation. 259 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:44,960 That's the only way we can be good with God. 260 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,400 Salvation has nothing to do with what you do. 261 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,200 It has everything to do with what Jesus has done. 262 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:53,800 And so if you don't have Christ, you have no salvation. 263 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,560 You have no assurance. 264 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:58,200 And this is the danger of legalism. 265 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:03,600 It gives us this big head, this false assurance, and it deceives us into thinking that we can 266 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,240 do what only Jesus can do. 267 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,880 And so legalism, it'll damn you to your pride. 268 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,680 And if it doesn't, I guarantee it'll damn you to your despair. 269 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:17,200 And I've told you all before about my battle with legalism early on in my faith. 270 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:21,160 The Lord had saved me and I've been a Christian for maybe two months. 271 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,520 And I was on fire for the Lord, always reading the Bible. 272 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,160 And so I got a notebook one day and I said, here's what I'm going to do. 273 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,400 I'm going to go through the Word and I'm going to make a list. 274 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:32,240 I wish I still had this so I could show you. 275 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:38,240 And I said, I'm going to make a list of everything God requires me to be and everything God requires 276 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:39,640 me to do. 277 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:44,640 And I'm going to start checking those things off one by one because I thought if I could 278 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:49,760 just get through that list, then when it came time for me to die, I could have assurance 279 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:54,200 that I was going to get to be with God because I would get through my list. 280 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:59,960 And as you know, the first thing on my list was humility. 281 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:02,080 And I tried and tried. 282 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:04,960 I did a pretty good job. 283 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:06,480 No one understood that joke. 284 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:07,480 Okay. 285 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:10,040 I was real good at humility. 286 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,320 So, but no, I was trying and trying and I thought, I'm going to get through this. 287 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:14,480 I'm going to get through this. 288 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:19,640 And I realized one day, if I ever got to a point where I thought I could check off humility, 289 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:24,360 that would be a clear indicator that I didn't need to check off humility. 290 00:17:24,360 --> 00:17:30,800 And so I remember being so depressed because I just kept looking back at that list. 291 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,520 And it was this reminder, you're not these things. 292 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:36,240 Here's what God says to be. 293 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:38,080 Here's what God says to do. 294 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:42,560 And you can't do it. 295 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:47,040 And there might be some of you in here this morning who say, well, I can pastor. 296 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:49,600 That's the pride of legalism. 297 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,840 And there's others of you in here this morning who say, I'm right there with you. 298 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,440 There's no way I can do it. 299 00:17:55,440 --> 00:18:00,360 And so I remember I was given to despair because I thought there's no way I will ever be what 300 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:01,360 God calls me to be. 301 00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:06,200 And there's never going to be a time when I can do everything He calls me to do in my 302 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:07,200 own power. 303 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,600 And I want you to understand, church, this is what legalism does. 304 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:18,280 Legalism puts demands on people that not even God himself puts on people. 305 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,400 And it happens in all sorts of ways today. 306 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:29,440 It happens anytime someone says you need something in addition to Jesus in order to be a Christian. 307 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,720 And I've had it happen to me in many ways. 308 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,760 I've had people tell me that I'm not a true Christian because I never prayed the sinner's 309 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:37,280 prayer. 310 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,480 And there's a belief today that you cannot be a Christian unless you pray the sinner's 311 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:42,480 prayer. 312 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,000 When God saved me, I didn't even know that thing existed. 313 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:46,680 I was alone in my room with the Bible. 314 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:48,480 And the Holy Spirit convicted me. 315 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,040 But apparently I needed a set prayer in order to be saved. 316 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:57,400 I had a lady tell me that I was not a true Christian because I've never spoken in tongues. 317 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,520 And that one always gets me because I'm like, well, the Bible says that's a gift of the 318 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:04,560 Spirit and the Spirit doesn't give to everybody in the same way. 319 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:06,880 So what am I supposed to do about that? 320 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:11,400 If I can't force myself to speak in tongues, I guess I'm just never going to be a Christian. 321 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:17,920 But apparently in her mind, you needed to have Jesus plus tongues for salvation. 322 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:23,280 I had a guy tell me that I wasn't a true Christian because I didn't preach from the KJV. 323 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:24,640 That's a true story. 324 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:29,200 I had another person tell me that I wasn't a true Christian because I didn't believe 325 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,120 in his view of eschatology. 326 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:35,120 I've had all sorts of people tell me I'm not a true Christian. 327 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:41,680 And I've noticed that they rarely ever mentioned faith in Jesus alone. 328 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,400 You see, church, whenever we make salvation contingent on these things, what we're actually 329 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:52,560 doing is saying that Jesus is not enough, that he's not sufficient in and of himself, 330 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,160 that you need something more. 331 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:56,400 Here's the problem. 332 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:04,000 You see, when the Bible talks about the gospel, God puts a period after Jesus, but legalism 333 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:09,120 puts a comma and then adds a list and says, here's all the stuff you actually need to 334 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:12,800 do if you want to be saved. 335 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,800 And so Paul is addressing this here with this philosophy, according to human tradition 336 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:17,800 and not according to Christ. 337 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,360 And he's saying it is a Christless Christianity. 338 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:27,320 And his whole point is to remind us that Jesus has already done everything that needed to 339 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:29,960 be done for salvation. 340 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:30,960 That's his point here. 341 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:36,440 Jesus has already done everything that needed to be done for salvation. 342 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,720 Do you believe that this morning? 343 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:45,160 That when Jesus died on the cross and he said it is finished, he actually meant it. 344 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:50,360 That the work was done, that he had completed God's requirements. 345 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:54,400 It means that salvation is not Jesus plus anything. 346 00:20:54,400 --> 00:21:00,440 Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture 347 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:06,480 alone, for the glory of God alone. 348 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,560 And I've said that to you so many times that you probably know it by now. 349 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:15,000 But maybe you haven't thought through the implications of what that actually means for 350 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,000 your life. 351 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,080 And so I want to just tell you this morning what it means. 352 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:26,480 It means that God will never love you any more or any less than he currently does. 353 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:31,680 Now some of you really like to hear that. 354 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:37,440 And for others of you who may be struggling with legalism, that's hard to hear. 355 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,920 God can certainly be more pleased with you than he is. 356 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,000 He can be less pleased with you than he currently is. 357 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:50,520 But God's love for you, if you were in Christ and you're standing with him, is completely 358 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:52,960 unchanging. 359 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:57,480 Which means that Jesus actually frees us from the pride of legalism. 360 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,840 Because on your best days, when you think you're doing great. 361 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:02,560 And you know those days, can we be honest? 362 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:07,520 You have those days where you're like, man, God must really love me today. 363 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:09,800 I haven't been given any temptation today. 364 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:11,720 I didn't lash out at anyone. 365 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,200 I didn't say anything I shouldn't have said. 366 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,600 Like I'm having a great day. 367 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,160 God must really love me today. 368 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:18,880 Listen, congratulations. 369 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:19,880 God does love you. 370 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:20,880 He's pleased with you. 371 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:25,800 He doesn't love you anymore on that day than he does on your worst day. 372 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:29,320 And that's actually an encouragement for us. 373 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:33,840 You know, it's amazing that we think this way about our children, but we can't seem 374 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:35,360 to think this way about God. 375 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:41,880 Because we had a situation a couple of weekends ago where I called Judah in a lie. 376 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,280 And since he's the preacher's son, he immediately owned up to it. 377 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:47,880 And he said, I'm so sorry. 378 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,120 Wow. 379 00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:51,640 No believers in here. 380 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:52,640 Okay. 381 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:57,880 No, so immediately what he did, because he's a sinner at heart, like we all are, he doubled 382 00:22:57,880 --> 00:22:59,380 down on the lie. 383 00:22:59,380 --> 00:23:00,700 And he told another lie. 384 00:23:00,700 --> 00:23:01,700 And another lie. 385 00:23:01,700 --> 00:23:04,960 And another, and another, and another. 386 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,320 And he kept lying rather than just own up to it. 387 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:09,840 Was I disappointed with him? 388 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:10,840 Absolutely. 389 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:12,560 I was incredibly disappointed with him. 390 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,200 And I disciplined him. 391 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:19,360 But I didn't love him any less on that day. 392 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:23,760 And when he has his good days where he's doing everything we tell him to do, and he's perfectly 393 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:27,800 obeying and he doesn't get in any trouble, and he's doing chores and everything else, 394 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,800 I don't love him any more on those days. 395 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:31,800 I'm happy with him. 396 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:32,800 I'm pleased with him. 397 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:38,320 But it would be ridiculous to say that I loved him more or less because my love for my son, 398 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:43,440 listen to me, is not based on anything he does or does not do. 399 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:47,840 It's based on the fact that he is my child. 400 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:53,920 Now if we can understand that about our children and our relationship with them, why do we 401 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,600 struggle so much to believe that about God? 402 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:03,120 And to believe that when we mess up and we sin or we have a good day, that God's love 403 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:05,840 for us hasn't actually changed. 404 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:10,400 You see, one of the most comforting things I can tell you this morning is that God does 405 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:15,160 not love you any more on your best days and he doesn't love you any less on your worst 406 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:16,560 days. 407 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:22,640 And we might be more familiar with those, yes, our bad days when we have sinned and 408 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,120 we have given in a temptation and we did lash out at someone and we said something that 409 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:31,080 we can't take back, you need to know as a Christian that God's love for you has not 410 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:32,080 changed. 411 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:34,200 He's disappointed. 412 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,640 He will discipline as any good father would. 413 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:43,560 But God's love for you is unchanging because it's not based on the things you do or don't 414 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:45,120 do. 415 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:50,920 It's based on the fact that through faith in Jesus, you are a child of God now and for 416 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:52,880 all of eternity. 417 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,000 And that is unchanging. 418 00:24:55,000 --> 00:25:00,760 And so Jesus actually frees us from the despair of legalism because when we were reminded 419 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:06,040 of how much we fall short of God's requirements and God's standard, we look back to Jesus 420 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:10,960 in the gospel and we say, but Jesus has already done everything that God requires of me. 421 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,600 And so we're free from that despair. 422 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:19,120 Everything that needed to be done for salvation has already been done by Christ. 423 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:23,800 The perfection that God requires that was achieved by Jesus. 424 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,440 The obedience that God requires that was achieved by Jesus. 425 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:33,120 The payment for our sin that our sin required was paid by Jesus. 426 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:38,160 The peace that needed to be made between us and God was made by Jesus and the blood of 427 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:39,160 his cross. 428 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:45,960 The reconciliation that needed to happen between us and God was brought about by Jesus. 429 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,120 Freedom from the bondage of sin was brought about through the victory of Jesus. 430 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:53,760 The promise of resurrection was insured by Jesus and his resurrection. 431 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:59,960 The eternal life that God has for his people is given through faith in Jesus. 432 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:06,400 Everything from start to finish has been done and secured and achieved by Jesus and Jesus 433 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,680 alone. 434 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:19,240 And as our hope church, Christ alone, not my works, not my religiosity, give me Jesus. 435 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:24,640 So you don't need to add anything to Jesus because he is sufficient and you are complete 436 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,640 in him. 437 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:28,600 So Paul warns us against human tradition. 438 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:34,480 Notice he also warns us in verse eight and says that this philosophy is also according 439 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:39,160 to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. 440 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:44,320 Now there's a bit of debate about this phrase elemental spirits because it's ambiguous 441 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,400 the way it's written in Greek. 442 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:51,680 In Greek it could refer to the most basic rudimentary teachings of something. 443 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,000 So you can think of it as the ABCs of something. 444 00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:00,060 And if that's what Paul meant, then he was saying that this philosophy was operating 445 00:27:00,060 --> 00:27:05,480 at a very basic level which would not have furthered or deepened their faith. 446 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:11,280 However, I don't believe that's what Paul had in mind here because you see the Colossians 447 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:18,320 were highly interested in mysticism and spirituality, which we're going to talk about in a few weeks. 448 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,800 But one of the ways this mysticism manifested itself was through the worship of what was 449 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,520 known as elemental spirits. 450 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:30,360 So at the time Paul was writing, people believed that the world was made up of basically four 451 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:34,520 basic elements, earth, water, fire, and air. 452 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,560 Those are the basic elements of all of creation. 453 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:42,280 And each element had a deity to go along with it. 454 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:47,440 And so these elements were said to have this deity and the Jewish people at the time believed 455 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:54,760 and I think rightly so, that these so-called deities were actually fallen angels. 456 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:59,120 Demons who were exercising power in a particular region. 457 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:02,320 I believe this is what Paul meant by elemental spirits. 458 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:09,160 These fallen angels, this demonic force that was present in the area at the time that people 459 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,760 were appeasing in various ways. 460 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:13,480 And that's what people would try to do. 461 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:18,920 They would try to appease these spirits, these demonic beings, in order to have a good life. 462 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:24,340 So at the time Paul was writing this, it was very common before you took any sort of voyage 463 00:28:24,340 --> 00:28:30,480 over the water, you would offer a sacrifice to Poseidon or Neptune, whichever name you 464 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:31,480 want to call him. 465 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:36,000 But you'd offer a sacrifice to the God of water so that you'd have a safe trip over 466 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,000 the water. 467 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,080 And this was going on at the time in the ancient world. 468 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,840 It was also believed that the stars and planets weren't actually made of material, but they 469 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,800 were actually divine beings that influenced human destiny. 470 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:54,360 And so people would consult astrologers to try to determine how to live their life in 471 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:57,160 harmony with these spiritual powers. 472 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:04,120 And so what happened at the time was there was a blending together of all these practices. 473 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:08,400 The Christians at the time, they took the faith that had been passed down to them, and 474 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,880 then they took a little bit of Greek philosophy, and they took a little bit of Greek paganism, 475 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,880 and they took a little bit of mysticism, a little bit of spiritualism, and they mixed 476 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:21,640 it all together and you had this syncretistic faith that was not pure. 477 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,000 This is what Paul is addressing here. 478 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:28,000 And you might say, well, pastor, what's the big deal because we don't worship these false 479 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,000 gods? 480 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,120 We don't have anything to do with these elemental spirits anymore. 481 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,880 But here's what I want you to see. 482 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:41,360 That even though we don't practice these things in the same way the Colossians did, we are 483 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:50,240 still deeply involved in spiritualism and mysticism in very type of pagan ways today. 484 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:54,520 You can even have Christians today who do the exact same thing as the Colossians, and 485 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:59,360 they pick and choose a little bit of everything and they blend it into their faith. 486 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:01,280 I can show you a couple examples of this. 487 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,320 For instance, take a look at this picture. 488 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:07,360 It might be kind of hard to see. 489 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,720 You've probably seen porches painted this color, right? 490 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:15,640 Now, full disclosure, because my in-laws are looking at me. 491 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,200 My porches painted this color, but not for the reason I'm going to tell you. 492 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:20,720 Okay, so let's just be clear. 493 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,200 My porches originally painted that color when we did the remodel. 494 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:24,200 We were just matching it. 495 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,400 So it's not for this reason. 496 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:32,320 But this is a very particular shade of blue called Haint Blue. 497 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:37,320 And people paint their porches this color in order to prevent ghosts and demons from 498 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,320 entering their house. 499 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,880 You might say, well, what does that have to do with anything? 500 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:46,360 Because there's a belief that ghosts and demons cannot cross water. 501 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:51,280 And since this particular shade of blue looks like water, the belief is if you paint your 502 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,520 porch this color, you will not have ghosts or demons. 503 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,080 You might say, well, pastor, only the pagans are doing this. 504 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:00,800 Christians are doing this. 505 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:02,640 This is mysticism. 506 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:04,800 This is spiritualism. 507 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:09,040 And the same thing that the Colossians were guilty of here, we're just practicing it in 508 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:10,040 different ways. 509 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,440 I mean, there are still similarities too. 510 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:18,600 For instance, you have Christians who are still using astrology and horoscopes and zodiac 511 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:24,320 signs, believing that these things can determine your personality and your future and even 512 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:29,200 your compatibility with someone else. 513 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,800 This is exactly what the Colossians were doing too. 514 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,760 And we're laughing at them going, man, they were ridiculous. 515 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:38,640 Back then, we're doing the same thing today. 516 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:42,520 People are saying, well, you know, I'm just the way that I am because I'm a Capricorn. 517 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:48,640 It's like, well, no, maybe you're just not nice and you need to repent. 518 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,480 But we believe that these things have some sort of bearing on our lives. 519 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:53,920 This is the same type of mysticism. 520 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,600 You have Christians who put a dream catcher over their bed because they believe it can 521 00:31:57,600 --> 00:31:59,320 ward off bad dreams. 522 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,720 You have Christians who are using crystals, believing that they have some sort of healing 523 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:03,800 power. 524 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:09,120 I would add in Christians praying the rosary or praying to Mary, praying to the saints. 525 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:15,360 I think one of the strangest ones I've ever seen is this, which you'll see here. 526 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,920 This is a practice called grave sucking or grave soaking. 527 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:24,200 This is a real thing and it comes straight out of Bethel church. 528 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:31,780 And Bethel church is teaching people that if you will go and lay down on or touch the grave 529 00:32:31,780 --> 00:32:39,000 of a deceased Christian, you can actually absorb their anointing and their power. 530 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,040 And this is a real thing that people are going and doing. 531 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:47,960 They're searching out graves of famous Christians, godly men and women whom God used to do great 532 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,480 things and they are laying on them, touching them and performing this practice to try to 533 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:52,880 absorb something. 534 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:57,560 Do we see that we don't need to laugh at the people in the first century because we're 535 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:00,200 making the same mistakes today? 536 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:01,700 Do we see that? 537 00:33:01,700 --> 00:33:06,160 You might not look the exact same, but the principle is the exact same. 538 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:12,440 What amazes me today is that our world, even though it's growing more secular, our world 539 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:18,600 has probably never been more interested in spirituality than they are right now. 540 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:22,580 But they practice spirituality apart from Christ. 541 00:33:22,580 --> 00:33:27,800 They want the feeling, they want the spirituality, but they do not want Jesus. 542 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:29,680 So what is Paul's point in addressing this? 543 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:39,520 He's trying to tell us that spirituality without Christ is just empty superstition. 544 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:43,920 Spirituality without Christ is just empty superstition. 545 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,600 And I don't care what the spiritual practice is. 546 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,880 I don't care if it's you putting on a certain suit to come to church. 547 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:55,080 I don't care if you sit in a certain pew that you sit in every Sunday, or if it's you praying 548 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,360 a certain way, or you doing this, or you doing that. 549 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:07,000 Anytime there's a spirituality that is not rooted in Jesus Christ, it's just empty superstition. 550 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:08,600 That's all it is. 551 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:10,760 And the Bible is saying these things are empty. 552 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:11,760 They are nothing. 553 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,000 They can do nothing for you. 554 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:16,360 They can't build your faith. 555 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:18,480 They can't strengthen your bond with God. 556 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:20,400 They can't protect you or provide for you. 557 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:22,680 They can't help you grow closer to God. 558 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:28,280 And Paul's point is, and you don't need these things, because you've already got 559 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:32,280 them in Jesus. 560 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:38,880 You want deity and want God, you want spirituality, Paul says in verse 9, for in Him the whole 561 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,920 fullness of deity dwells bodily. 562 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:45,680 If you want someone to protect you and strengthen you and watch over you and provide for you, 563 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:49,640 you don't need to go and paint your porch blue, and you don't need to consult astrologers, 564 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:51,080 and you don't need to get crystals. 565 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:56,880 The Bible says here in verse 10, you have been filled in Him who is the head of all 566 00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:58,680 rule and authority. 567 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:04,040 So you don't need to look for spirits and mysticism because Jesus rules over all. 568 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:07,240 He is over all things, and you are filled in Him. 569 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:13,000 So when you have Jesus, you lack nothing. 570 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:18,080 So the whole point of this is that we don't need to let these empty deceitful philosophies 571 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:21,840 hijack our faith and kidnap our faith. 572 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,920 We need to beware of them and watch out for them. 573 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:30,640 What we take captive by them is one preacher told me, keep your knees down and keep your 574 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,040 eyes on Jesus. 575 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:34,040 Not all these other things. 576 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:38,760 If you want to grow in your faith, if you want guidance, spiritual enlightenment, the 577 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:43,900 Bible is saying here, look no further than Jesus because they are in Him. 578 00:35:43,900 --> 00:35:49,920 If you want salvation, the Bible says Isaiah 45, 22, look to me and be saved. 579 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:57,320 All you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. 580 00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:04,400 If you want salvation, if you want right standing with God, if you want assurance of your faith, 581 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,520 look to Jesus and Jesus alone. 582 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:15,160 And most of all church, whatever you do, do not add anything to Jesus because He is sufficient 583 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:19,320 in all ways and you are complete in Him. 584 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:20,320 Amen. 585 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:49,320 Let's pray.