Agnes de Rochier was the only daughter of one of the wealthiest merchants of Paris, and was admired by all for her beauty and virtue. In 1403 her father died leaving her all his wealth. Rumours of her supposed relationships with some of the young men in the area surfaced.
She determined to become a recluse and to live the rest of her life in a narrow cell built within the wall of a church. On the 5th of October, when the cell, which was only a few feet square, was finished in the wall of St. Opportune, Agnes entered her final abode.
The Bishop of Paris, attended by his chaplains and the canons of Notre Dame, entered the cell and celebrated a pontifical mass; he then approached the opening of the cell, sprinkled it with holy water, and after Agnes had said goodbye to her friends and relatives, ordered the masons to seal up the opening. This was done as strongly as stone and mortar could make it. The only opening left was a small hole through which she could hear the ceremonies and rites of the church and receive the offerings of food that charitable people gave her.
She was eighteen years old when she entered this living tomb, and she continued within it for eighty years until her death.
Many stories are told of those who sought to please God by denying self in their actions. A man chained himself with so many heavy chains that he could only crawl on his hands and knees.
One man spent 36 years sitting atop a 50 foot pole….believing that the path to spirituality would be found in exposing his body to the elements and withdrawing from the world. Another sat naked in a mosquito-infested swamp for six months until he looked like a victim of leprosy from the bites.
Still another refused to give in to his body’s desire for restful sleep.
For forty years he would not lie down while sleeping.
As a monk, even Martin Luther fell into this sort of thing before he became a believer.
He would lie naked in his cell all night long in the bitter cold and he would beat his body and torture himself, trying to find peace of heart.
He hoped that this would please God.
He thought that in torturing himself he would find peace in his soul.
Thankfully, God freed Martin Luther from this sort of thinking as he read the book of Romans and discovered the truth of justification by faith.
But what mistaken piety all this is!
I have four facts I want to share with you from today’s Scripture passage.
First, Jesus has set us free from the rules of the world.
Col. 2:20:
“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:”
All these people I just mentioned practiced a religion of self-denial.
It seeks the favour of God by something man offers to God, and it rejects the cross as sufficient by itself.
Christianity is not just another religion.
Christianity is a relationship with God based on the finished work of Christ.
Jesus did all the doing;….we do none of it.
Jesus satisfied God’s righteous demands by His death for our sins.
Notice the opening words of Verse 20….."Since you died with Christ"…. it is a reality that we are dead with Christ.
It is not some future possibility…. it is a fact here and now.
All the sins of the world were poured out upon Jesus on the cross…..We died with Him there.
Galatians 2:20 says:
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
When Jesus died, we died…..Our life is forever hidden with Christ in God.
The moment we repent and trust in Jesus, God forgives our sins by Christ’s death.
We look at the cross and only see one thing…..but God sees something more.
When we survey the cross, all we see is Christ dying there.
But when God looks at the cross he sees you and me dying there with Jesus.
God sees every person who would ever believe dying there with Jesus.
Since we died there with Jesus, that means that God will never again bring up our sins against us…..they have been paid for…..forever.
That doesn’t mean that sin is now overlooked by God.
God is displeased with sin in our lives….any sin.
His standard has always been holiness.
Sin affects our fellowship with God our Father.
Sin breaks our fellowship with God.
He wants us to turn from it and He has promised that His forgiveness is always available. When we repent, our fellowship with God is always restored.
Now, relationship is another matter.
Even though fellowship can be broken, our relationship with God is never affected.
When we believe, we become a child of God…and nothing can ever change that.
God will always pursue us and chasten us to bring us back into the fold if we wander….but we will never cease to be His child.
Since we died with Christ, we can now walk in newness of life with Him.
God has not made us into a bunch of religious puppets.
We are free to serve the Lord as we are empowered by His Spirit within us.
But we can’t do good things in life in the hope of gaining points in God’s sight.
Billy Graham once said: “All the good things you do in your whole life wouldn’t get you one minute into Heaven.”
We can’t earn points with God with the works of our flesh.
Such thinking is unbiblical.
That is not Christianity….that is just religion.
Oh, but how often men have fallen into that kind of thinking.
Religion seeks to earn God’s favour…..But, my friends, grace is unmerited favour.
Personally, I think there is way too much “religion” in the church today.
You may be thinking, “Well, what’s wrong with religion?”
Just this-----It diminishes what Jesus did on the cross.
We sing a great old hymn from time to time that sums up what I’m saying.
The third verse of that hymn says…”For nothing good have I…. Whereby thy grace to claim---I’ll wash my garments white in the blood of calvary’s lamb.”
(then the chorus)----“Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain----He washed it white as snow.”
We can’t store away points we’ve earned with God.
The only thing that impresses God is the finished work that His Son Jesus Christ did on the cross.
V. 20 goes on….“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world…..”
What principles?....Look back to Col. 2:8 :
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ”.
In verse 8, the principles that Paul was talking about are things which take the focus off Christ.
Here in Colossians 2:20-23, he is talking about the world’s rules, regulations, and the world’s way of looking at things…..again, all things that take our focus off Christ.
Religion…..the appearance of religion…..that is all part of the “basic principles of this world”. Religion….and religious rules…take our focus off Christ.
Jesus has freed us from a lot of things.
He has freed us from the basic principles of the world…..from the basics of religion. Let’s face it….men like to appear religious and pious.
Many of us are comfortable within a system of rules.
But Jesus has freed us from the trap of legalism.
V. 20 again….“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:,”
God’s Word should be the foundation of all of our thinking: All of our education and training should begin with the Word of God. We shouldn’t allow the words of men to take on the same level of importance and credibility as the words of the Bible.
Instead, we ought to be using the Word of God to determine whether the words of men are right or wrong. Jesus said to the Pharisees,….. in Mark 7:6-9: …., "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:" ’These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
Doesn’t the Christian life provide all that we need?....Of course it does!
But some believers still insist on living as if Jesus didn’t die for their sin.
They insist on pasting a bunch of “add-ons” onto their Christian faith.
Kinda like the Pharisees…. “if something is good in God’s sight… …then lets make more rules so that it’s even better!”
But keeping lists of rules doesn’t get us anywhere.
That’s just man-made religion.
Christianity is not about religion….it is about relationship.
Religion stresses man’s responsibility…..Grace stresses what God does.
Every religious person thinks their religion is right.
Most of these people are sincere…...but sincerity is not a virtue if we are wrong.
The Bible doesn’t give us the right to insist that others live up to our standards.
God’s Word says what God wants for His followers.
We have no right to go beyond what He says.
Jesus didn’t purposely go around trying to live a life of self-denial.
He went to feasts and weddings when He was invited.
He didn’t spend all His time scowling, accusing, and dwelling upon the wickedness of the world.
He went to festivities and enjoyed Himself.
Rather than denying ourselves, we need to live as the Spirit of God empowers us…giving dominion to the new nature God has placed within us.
Jesus has set us free from the rules of the world.
Secondly, Jesus does not build a relationship with us through rules.
Col. 2:20-21:
“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: [21] "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?”
Notice the three negative things mentioned here….. Don’t handle it, don’t taste it , don’t touch it.
The Gnostic legalists were trying to tell the Colossians that refraining from touching, tasting, and handling was the standard for spirituality…..Duh!
The Colossians were being told that it was wrong to do a lot of things that were just normal.
The Gnostic legalists were trying to impose their standards of behaviour on the Colossians.
Maybe you’ve been around people who think and talk like that.
I suppose that kind of thinking makes some folks feel quite pious…or maybe it’s a false piety….maybe it’s just self-righteousness.
Paul says here…..why do you submit to such things?
The rules presented to us by such people today may sound a little different…..…Don’t go to a movie theatre…don’t wear certain clothing…..don’t wear jewelry….don’t dance…don’t wear make-up…don’t listen to certain kinds of music….don’t read certain Bible translations.
There are folks who are just convinced that these practices are all wrong.
Some of them have also appointed themselves to judge you as unchristian because you do them.
I know of one Christian university where a young man and young woman cannot sit together on a public park bench….or even walk along together on a public sidewalk.
Such things are useless…..They have nothing to do with spirituality.
Paul spent a lot of time as a legalistic Pharisee before his conversion.
But he wrote later in Philip. 3:7-8 ………
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”
During Paul’s journeys, he visited cities that were known for things such as idol worship and sexual immorality,…places quite similar to our own society.
He didn’t shy away from going to such places in his day.
Paul understood their customs and ways of life.
He used his own Jewish background, his comprehension of Greek culture and his Roman citizenship to share the news of his own conversion to Jesus Christ.
He met people on their own levels ...He didn’t seek to place any rules upon them …. He simply shared the Gospel.
Christians/churches today can learn from his methods….for his methods worked.
Jesus has set us free from the rules of the world.
Jesus does not build a relationship with us through rules.
Third, Jesus has determined that the rules of men will perish.
Col. 2:20-22:
“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: [21] "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? [22] These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.”
Paul also wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 6:13:
“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"--but God will destroy them both.”
Harry Ironside told a story….. “of the man who, anxious to fit himself for the presence of God, and awakened to a sense of the emptiness of a life of worldly pleasure, fled from the city to the desert and made his home in a cave in the rocks, there practicing the greatest austerities, and hoping through prayer and penance to reach the place where he would be acceptable to God. Hearing of another hermit who was reputed to be a very holy and devout man, he made a long, wearisome journey across the desert, supported only by his staff, in order to interview him and learn from him how he might find peace with God. In answer to his agonized questions the aged (hermit) said to him, “Take that staff, that dry rod which is in your hand, plant it in the desert soil, water it daily, offering fervent prayers as you do so, and when it bursts into leaf and bloom you may know that you have made your peace with God.”
Rejoicing that at last he had what seemed like authoritative instruction in regard to this greatest of all ventures, he hastened back …and planted his rod as he had been told to do. For long, weary days, weeks, and months, he faithfully watered the dry stick and prayed for the hour when the token of his acceptance would be manifest; until at last one day, in utter despair and brokenness of spirit, weakened by fasting and sick with longing for the apparently unattainable, he exclaimed bitterly, “It is all no use; I am no better today than I was when I first came to the desert. The fact is, I am just like this dry stick myself. It needs life before there can be leaves and fruit; and I need life, for I am dead in my sins and cannot produce fruit for God.” And then it seemed as though a voice within said, “At last you have learned the lesson that the old hermit meant to teach you. It is because you are dead and have no strength or power in yourself that you must turn to Christ alone and find life and peace in Him.” And leaving his desert cave he went back to the city to find the Word of God and in its sacred pages learn the way of peace. (end of quote)
It is impossible to find holiness by self-denial or self-effort of any kind.
Seeking holiness by such means is just a doctrine of man and doctrines of men will perish just as surely as the flesh of men.
Human doctrines have no effect upon spiritual things.
They are a waste of time and a waste of our lives.
The eternal things are the important things.
It is fruitless to fill our lives with the rules and regulations of man’s religion with nothing to show for it in the end.
Jesus has set us free from the rules of the world.
Jesus does not build a relationship with us through rules.
Jesus has determined that the rules of men will perish.
Fourth, Jesus says that rules are made only to satisfy the flesh.
Col. 2:23:
“Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"…..keeping man’s rules and denying self….it’s all just religion.
It may look good…it seems pious.
But it’s only about external things.
It’s only an appearance of wisdom.
Jesus addressed the Pharisee’s about these same issues in Matthew 23:25-28:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. [26] Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
[27] "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. [28] In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
Rule bound, tradition filled, legalistic, self denying religion is based in pride (v. 23--false humility), and hypocrisy…..it has no value at all.
It is ugly and Christ is not in it.
Unsaved people can often see through such attitudes and behaviours.
It gives them a reason to turn away from the claims of Christ.
Christians must strive to avoid traps like the ones here in Col. 2:20-23.
Man’s rules. Man’s traditions. Man’s religion….God has little use for any of it.
So, what kind of religion is God interested in?
I think Jesus showed us in Luke 18:9-13 :
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: [10] "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [11] The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ’God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. [12] I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
[13] "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ’God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’”
William Law wrote: Religion is not ours till we live by it, till it is the Religion of our
thoughts, words, and actions, till it goes with us into every place, sits uppermost on every occasion, and forms and governs our hopes and fears, our cares and pleasures.
False teachers were trying to deceive the Colossians.
Paul was writing in defense of genuine Christianity.
Do you realize that there are teachers today who will try to present their idea of Jesus to you?
There’s the Jesus of stained glass, who requires nothing of you, and will do nothing for you.
Then, there is the Jesus who is only concerned with rules and regulations.
Both of them are phony…nothing more than a figment of someone’s imagination.
Choose instead the real Jesus: the Jesus of the Bible, the One who loves you deeply,…. yet challenges you to change….and even empowers you to change.
He is the Jesus who will accept you as you are….but will not leave you that way.
He is the Jesus who died on the cross for your sins two thousand years ago and rose again three days later…..He is the only real Jesus.
Think back to the men and women I mentioned as this sermon began.
They spent their lives in self-denial…trying to keep rules….. trying to please God… attempting to be spiritual.
Perhaps what they were really seeking was holiness.
Holiness is good….In fact, God says…. “Be holy, for I am holy”.
But it isn’t found in self denial, laws, rules, traditions, or religion.
We will only find holiness in the same Jesus in whom we found our salvation.
If some of these people were still around today, they’d tell you that you will never get to Heaven by sitting on top of a pole.
You know what?....You won’t get to Heaven by sitting on the fence either.
You will only get to Heaven by simply and humbly trusting in Jesus Christ…and Him alone…to save you and to change you….as He molds you into His likeness.
