BEWARE AND BELIEVE
Colossians 2:8-10
INTRODUCTION:
A. Do you remember the reason Paul was writing this letter to the Colossians?
1. As the church grew, people from walks of life were coming to salvation and entering the church
2. With such a diversity in the church some saw the opportunity to set up camp and gain influence and status. To do so they were bringing in a mixture of things (calling them “special” knowledge)
a. Eastern Philosophy – matter is evil, spirit is good – spiritualism and astrology
b. Jewish legalism – rules and regulations
c. And Gnosticism - the idea that there is a religious “elite” within the church who had higher knowledge, than others and that they had something to add to a person’s experience in Christ.
d. Each of these individually, and collectively, demeaned the status of Jesus Christ
B. To counter this, Paul, wrote to the Colossians encouraging them to stay with Christ
1. In our passage for this morning we will find Paul beginning to give us the real meat of the letter.
2. Here he states two things: Beware & Believe!
3. He is about to give some instruction to the believers and he wants them to follow through on what they hear.
4. The proverbs say:
a. Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish. Pro 12:1
b. He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth. Prov 10:17
c. Hear what I am saying and do what the word of God says, is Paul’s desire for this church.!
C. With this in mind lets read our passage for this morning, Col 2:8-10 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
1. From these words we will find much to consider and apply
2. Just as Paul spoke to the Colossians, so he speaks to us:
a. Beware
b. Believe
3. May we consider the depth of this warning as it applies to our day and find stability and assurance in our belief in Christ!
PRAY
We will begin this morning by looking at Paul’s admonition to
I. BEWARE, Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
A. As Paul gets to the heart of his message to the Colossians, and us, he wants them to be on their guard.
1. He boldly proclaims “BEWARE!”
a. He was telling the church to watch out, be carful, stay on your guard, stay vigilant
b. There is much lurking in the shadows and in darkness that you need to be aware of, Paul is saying
c. Peter echoed Paul’s heart with these words found in 1 Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
2. And what does he want them to “Beware” about? Being taken captive
a. The Greek word here speaks about being taken as a spoil of war or being kidnapped.
b. It gives us a connotation of being in a battle
c. And as we will see in just a moment, that is exactly what it is: a battle between two worlds – the kingdom of light and freedom and darkness and bondage.
3. So Paul heralds the call: Beware lest any man spoil you!
4. Good words for us today – for there are many who would draw us away from the simplicity of the gospel and Christ pandering something that sounds better, but is not.
B. Following his proclamation to “Beware” he goes on to explain how this could happen, through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
1. Note first what he tells us to watch for: philosophy and vain deceit.
a. Please know that Paul was not against philosophy, as such
1) The word philosophy comes from two roots: philo, meaning “love of” and sophy meaning “wisdom,” hence the love of wisdom
2) It was the type of wisdom, so called, that Paul was warning about – humanistic, earthy wisdom
b. And then there is Vain Deceit – that which is devoid of real truth, spoke to confuse, under mind and manipulate
c. The Message translated this portion of scripture with “Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything.”
2. He then shows the basis of this philosophy and deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
a. Traditions – something passed down, from one generation to the next, but in this case not based on the word of God but the intentions of men.
b. And rudiments of the world
1) The Greek word was used express order such as letters in an alphabet: A, B, C…
2) Also to express first things: like the material causes of the universe.
3) Again expressed in worldly terms – not in Christ.
C. So What does this look like to us? Think for a minute.
1. Worldly philosophies: Jesus was just a man, man is just an animal, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-esteem, sickness syndrome
a. This last one may need some explaining.
b. Today if a man has a problem with alcohol he is deemed an alcoholic – a man with a sickness, rather than what the Bible calls him, drunkard, a man with a sin problem.
c. If a person has a problem with stealing, constantly, with no real reason, they are a kleptomaniac, a person with a sickness rather than what the Bible would call a thief, a person with a sin problem.
d. These and many more are philosophies based an man’s view of things and have become his traditional way of handling things.
2. Rudiments of the World – the biggest may be evolution
a. The “intellectuals” have determined it is the only way
b. From it come the atrocities of abortion, euthanasia, mercy killings, assisted suicides and why not, its just natures way of moving us forward in our evolutionary development.
c. The evolutionary mindset leaves no place for morals, absolute right and wrong, or respect for authority (except that which can be gained by force).
3. When you look at in these terms we must admit the church did not and, for the most part, is not heading Paul’s BEWARE!
4. We have been taken away as spoils of war and are in bondage to the rudimentary things of this world
5. No wonder so many Christians cry out with the words of the apostle, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Rom 7:24
What is the answer to this condition
II. BELIEVE, Col. 2:9-10 For in him (JESUS) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: there are two words of encouragement found in these verses. The first concerns
A. Christ : For in him (JESUS) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily… which is the head of all principality and power:
1. The word “dwell” means to be resident in or to settle into
a. In other words Christ was the embodiment of God – He had settled, so to speak, in human form
b. This countered the peddler’s false idea that Christ was not God
2. And the word “fullness” describes one that is complete
a. It was used to describe a ship that was fully loaded with supplies, cargo, sailors, rowers, and soldiers.
b. Christ was the complete and total embodiment of God, lacking nothing
3. And as such He was the head of all principality and power
a. Whereas some of the errorists believed that Jesus was just an angle or that men had to move up through different levels of powerful entities to get to God, Paul states categorically – Jesus is the head of all kingdoms and power!
b. This agrees with Peter’s words found in 1 Pet 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
4. So we are to believe that Jesus is God incarnate and He is sovereign over all principalities and powers; add this to
a. He is Creator according to Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
b. He is Savior according to Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: and
We come to the second word of encouragement, which concerns
B. US, …ye are complete in him,
1. Those who were trying to infiltrate the church were saying more was needed than just Christ – not true!
a. They were complete and we are complete in Christ!
b. This word complete has a wide rage of meaning such as to make full, to render perfect, to carry through to the end, all of which apply to those in Christ!
2. Again Peter writes in agreement, 2 Pet 1:2-3 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
a Let me give an example (a personal one): You don’t need some doctor telling you that you are an alcoholic and always will be – you can be made complete by acknowledging you are sinning (a drunkard), repent and then get the church to help you change your sinful habits, all of which is found in the grace of Jesus Christ!
b. Now, lest I be accused of trying to over simplify, It will take a lot of work, self-discipline and care to over come but Paul rejoiced to know he all he needed for life and godliness in the knowledge of Christ and therefore he could overcome,
c. Do you remember Romans 7:24 quoted earlier? O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
d. Well here is the beginning of verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
3. Folks, the world’s philosophies, man’s traditions, and the rudiments of this world will just put us back into bondage.
4. Paul writes to the Galatians, Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Gal 5:1
5. Jesus Christ is totally God and we have all we need in Him! AMEN!
6. We are FREE in CHRIST!
CONCLUSION:
A. John MacArthur writes, Everyone has a choice, whether to follow human wisdom or to come to Christ. To follow human wisdom is to be is to be kidnapped by the emissaries of Satan and his false system, which leaves a person spiritually incomplete. To come to Christ is to come to the One who alone offers completeness. May those who have found Christ never doubt His sufficiency by following any human wisdom.
B. When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ we are saved from so much more than hell – we are saved from ourselves, our sins, our false beliefs, our worldly philosophies, traditions of men and the fundamental errors of this world
1. We become complete in Christ, children of God and joint heirs with Jesus and all we need for life and godliness are found in Him.
2. And one day we will stand before His throne sinless, righteous, and joyous for all eternity all because of Christ
C. Beware of that which would take this from you and Believe in Jesus Christ!
