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We’re in a series through the book of Colossians called “Jesus is Greater”, and I have to stop here and set up the things that Paul is going to say about Jesus today, because you need to understand WHY he says some of the things he was saying.
Review of the book:
Paul is a saved man, an ex-murderer of Christians, who is now the greatest missionary and church planter on the planet. He is in jail in Rome for preaching, and a friend named Epaphras comes and says, “Paul there are some false teachers, some people influencing my people in wrong directions that have come to Colosse. Can you help me know how to handle it?” And paul writes a letter to send back with him to help contradict some things that these people are being taught.
As we get into chapter 2, Paul is about to really start taking on the false teachers. This chapter is the key one in contradicting them.
Colossians 2:1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
The word “struggling” is the word from which we get our word “agony.” Literally should be translated “how great a contest I am having.”
Leadership is a STRUGGLE. It is not an easy task. Leading your family, your wife, your church... it’s not an easy task.
Paul hasn’t even met a lot of these Christians or the ones in Laodicea, a neighboring town. He’s never taken them out for coffee, but he still gets imprisoned and beat up for the Gospel he preaches to them; he still prays for them.
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
“the mystery” –
“complete understanding” -
“treasures of wisdom & knowledge” –
The false teachers were saying… “Yes, Jesus, is good… he’s good. But there’s more you need. You also need….”
Knowledge of Jesus isn’t enough – that’s what these false teachers were saying.
ILLUS: Jesus is the “case” that holds all the “little pieces.”
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
Fine-sounding arguments.
Over the next three weeks, we are going to get into more of what they were apparently saying that sounded so good, but was so deceptive.
For now, let me stop and say, are you aware that things can _____SOUND SO GOOD and BE SO WRONG_____? Are you really aware of that? Do you really know that something can SOUND SO SMART and BE SO FOOLISH?
And honestly, intelligence and education is no guarantee that the “wisdom” that you spout today is actually true.
ILLUS: Try Googling “wrong predictions”.
1. In the future, computers may weigh no more than 1.5 tons. (Popular Mechanics, 1949)
2. Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. - Economist Irving Fisher in October 1929, three days before the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression
3. Remote shopping is feasible, but will flop. – Time Magazine 1968
4. Ours has been the first expedition, and will doubtless be the last to visit this profitless location. - Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861.
5. The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is a passing fad. - The president of the Michigan Savings Bank, 1903
6. This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. - William Orton, president of Western Union, in 1876, when Alexander Graham Bell tried to sell the company his invention.
7. Fooling around with alternating current is a waste of time. No one will use it, ever. – Thomas Edison
8. Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan. – Mary Somerville, 1948, pioneer in radio
9. There’s no chance the iPhone is going to get any significant smartphone market share. – Microsoft CEO steve Ballmer
10. “There is no danger that Titanic will sink. The boat is unsinkable and nothing but inconvenience will be suffered by the passengers.” - Philip Franklin, Vice President of the white star Line
“fine sounding arguments”
It can sound so right at the time… and be so very, tragically wrong.
You – YOU – can be deceived.
You can sincerely believe something that will send you to ____hell______.
The question is, HOW DO WE KNOW? And what can we do to protect ourselves? Is it possible?
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,
7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
There it is. Let’s list them:
• An orderly, firm faith in Jesus is what you need to avoid deception.
“receive” – Jesus as your own Lord.
“continue to live in Him” – don’t turn around
“rooted” – drawing your nourishment
“built up” – built on him like a foundation
“strengthened in the faith as you were taught”
“overflowing with thankfulness” – You never convince the happy, satisfied customers, it’s the dissatisfied ones who are at risk for being deceived. If you’re not thankful where you are right now, all Satan has to do is make the right argument, and you can be deceived.
Colossians 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.
How can you be taken captive?
Hollow and deceptive philosophy
These things rest on two foundations:
• Human tradition.
It’s traditionally the way people do.
People are mostly the same, the world around. They may act differently, but they are all the same in their motivations.
And people keep doing the same things over and over, just what their parents did, and grandparents did, without thinking about why.
• Basic principles of the world.
There are several words for “world” in Greek. This one means the “world system” not the “planet Earth.” So, this isn’t talking about scientific laws, it means the basic things that the “world philosophy” is built on. This is saying that “hollow deceptive philosophy” is based on the ABC’s of how the world works.
What is that?
There are three things that John tells us makes up all of what is in the world: The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. (1 John 2:16)
Those three are the basic principles by which everything in the world operates. It’s been that way ever since our first parents fell, and with them, the culture that they created. To Eve, The fruit was:
a) Good for food (lust of the flesh)
b) Pleasing to the eye (lust of the eyes)
c) Desirable for gaining wisdom (pride of life)
The Devil hasn’t changed strategy. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
SO here’s what he’s saying,
If you aren’t careful, you can be taken captive by an empty, deceptive philosophy that’s based on just “doing what you feel like, if it makes you happy, you have to go for it…” and gradually, you become a “worldly Christian.” Still believe in Jesus, but you’re fooled into thinking that you’re living basically in harmony with His will – really, you’ve just drifted away into doing the same thing everyone else in the world is doing, for the same reasons they do it.
George Barna is the premeire Christian pollster in the world. He runs the Barna research group. He did a poll on Christian behavior where he defined Christian as “a person who claims to be a believer in Jesus Christ.”
The conclusion he came to is this: “The Bible clearly states that true believers should be readily distinguished from nonbelievers by the way they live. Yet, the evidence suggests that most American Christians today do not live in a way that is quantifiably different from their non-Christian peers, in spite of the fact that they claim to believe in a set of principles that should clearly set them apart.” (Barna, “Second Coming of the Church, pp. 120-21)
Wow. Deceived. Empty, deceptive philosophy based on the same ABCs of the way the world works.
Here’s the danger: Jesus isn’t ____flashy____, now.
• He won’t give you everything you want. (Despite what the preachers on TV say.) There’s not much lust of the flesh there.
• He isn’t airbrushed. The idea of a crucified savior on a bloody cross isn’t all that delicious to the eyes, and we haven’t yet seen him in his full glory upon his return. So there’s little to appeal to the lust of the eyes.
• He doesn’t appeal much to pride. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me? The world would prefer, “exalt yourself, take up your dream, and just do it.”
Jesus isn’t flashy, so a guy with some influence and some slick words comes into town… he’s been to the big city, and claims to know a few big teachers by name, and starts talking… and he goes straight for the jugular of the human weakness, using the traditional things that Satan depends on.
Worldliness
Are you building your life on the ABCs of the world’s philosophy? To find out, examine WHY you do what you do:
• To fit in?
• Just because you feel like it?
• To be thought of as spiritual?
• To fill up some perceived lack in what Jesus has done?
• To make yourself feel better about yourself?
• To make you feel worse about others?
• To give yourself a way to compare yourself to others? “Well, they don’t do THIS… therefore, I am better.
• For worldly success?
• Because your parents will like it?
• Because your parents won’t like what you do?
THIS is what most people rest on! The fundamental ABC’s of how the world makes their decisions.
Now, I want you to notice the last part of that verse:
“…rather than on Christ.”
The alternative is to believe in Christ, to rest on him.
Satan doesn’t really care what your life is built on – AS LONG AS IT ISN”T BUILT ON CHRIST! He doesn’t care. Build it on drugs, build it on the American dream, build it on your family, build it on your job, or your talents, or your dreams, or your
Why you should rest on Christ:
The world’s philosophy is ___empty______; Jesus has the ___fullness______ that you need.
Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
All the fullness of God – in Jesus.
In philosophy, you will find emptiness. In Christ, fullness.
Is it possible to have a life of fullness without other things? YES.
Is it possible to have a life of fullness as a single person? YES.
Is it possible to go and live as a missionary with a mud floor and have a life of fullness? YES
Is it possible to
BECAUSE JESUS IS GREATER!
ILLUS: Guy who bought a Hawaii cruise, spent all his money to get the ticket, and lived on peanut butter and crackers for most of the cruise. Finally, desperate for something besides peanut butter and crackers, he came and said to a cook, “Sir, I’ve got to have a good meal – can you let me work for one, or do dishes…?” The cook responded “Sir, all the meals on this cruise are included in price of your ticket!”
HANDOUT:
Colossians 2:1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Notice these terms: “the mystery” – “complete understanding” - “treasures of wisdom & knowledge”
The false teachers were saying: Knowledge of Jesus isn’t ______________.
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
Are you aware that things can ________________________________ and ___________________________________? You can sincerely believe something that will send you to ___________________.
The question is, HOW DO WE KNOW? And what can we do to protect ourselves? Is it possible?
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,
7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
• A firm faith in Jesus is what you need to avoid _______________________.
“receive” – Jesus as your own Lord
“continue to live in Him” – don’t turn around
“rooted” – drawing your nourishment
“built up” – built on him like a foundation
“strengthened in the faith as you were taught”
“overflowing with thankfulness” –
Colossians 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.
This deceptive, hollow philosophy rests on 2 foundations:
• Human ______________________.
It’s the way people traditionally do.
• Basic ______________________________________.
What are the basic principles that the world’s philosophy is built on?
There are three things that John tells us makes up all of what is in the world: The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. (1 John 2:16)
George Barna, famous Christian pollster: “The Bible clearly states that true believers should be readily distinguished from nonbelievers by the way they live. Yet, the evidence suggests that most American Christians today do not live in a way that is quantifiably different from their non-Christian peers, in spite of the fact that they claim to believe in a set of principles that should clearly set them apart.” (Barna, “Second Coming of the Church, pp. 120-21)
Here’s the danger: Jesus isn’t ________________________, now.
Are you building your life on the ABCs of the world’s philosophy? To find out, examine _______________ you do _____________ you do:
“…rather than on Christ.”
The alternative is: Build your life on Christ!
The world’s philosophy is ______________; Jesus has the _________________ that you need.
Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
