Introduction:
A. One day a customer was entering a little country store and noticed a sign posted on the door warning, “Danger! Beware of dog!”
1. Inside, the customer noticed a harmless old hound dog asleep on the floor beside the cash register, and asked: “Is that the dog folks are supposed to beware of?”
2. “Yep, that’s him,” replied the owner.
3. The customer couldn’t help but be amused and said: “That certainly doesn’t look like a dangerous dog to me. Why in the world would you post that sign?”
4. “Because,” the owner explained, “Before I posted that sign, people kept tripping over him.”
5. So, beware of the dog!
B. Life is full of warnings and everywhere we look we see a warning of some kind.
1. The flashing red signals at the railroad crossing warn us of an approaching train.
2. The skull and crossbones on the bottle of poison warns us of the deadly potential of its contents
3. Then there’s the dumbfounding, conundrum of trucks hitting the railroad bridge on the Onondaga Lake parkway.
a. There are over 20 signs in each direction warning about the low bridge and forbidding trucks on the parkway and yet the bridge continues to be hit by trucks.
b. Six trucks hit the bridge last year, and so far this year one truck has hit it.
C. Whenever any of us don’t heed the warning signs, then we can end up in great danger and can pay a great price.
1. And the same is true in our spiritual lives.
2. The spiritual life also has its warnings and dangers.
3. Moses warned the Israelites not to forget the Lord when they reached the Promised Land (Dt. 6:12)
4. Jesus issued many warnings in His teachings and often used the word, “beware.”
D. Paul’s letter to the Colossians contains many warnings about spiritual dangers.
1. In the section of the letter that we will explore today, Paul got very specific about some of the false teachings impacting the Colossians and he gave them three things to beware of.
2. As we explore these dangers to them, we will see that these things are still a danger to beware in our time as well.
I. Lose the Legalism – Let No One Judge You
A. Paul wrote: 16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ. (Col. 2:16-17)
1. The false teachers at Colosse (and elsewhere) were laying down rigid rules about eating, drinking, and religious days.
a. Their focus was on diets and days – calendars and calories.
2. The old covenant was made up of many of these rules and regulations,
3. Under the old covenant, certain foods were classified as “clean” and “unclean,” in other words, “approved” and “unapproved.”
a. But Jesus had made it clear that food was neutral and that what comes out of the heart is what makes a person “clean” or “unclean,” not the food that goes into their mouths (Mt. 15:1-20).
b. In Romans chapters 14 and 15, Paul suggested that people have the freedom to partake or not partake of certain things according to their conscience, but that we should not judge people according to these kinds of things.
4. The old covenant was also tied to the calendar with required religious festivals, new moon celebrations, and weekly Sabbath day guidelines.
a. All of this had its proper reason and function under the old covenant, but no one has a right to require those rules and requirements from Christians under the new covenant.
5. Jesus fulfilled and completed the old covenant and nailed it to the cross.
a. Jesus established the new covenant that is so different from the old – it has much more freedom and much less legalistic requirements.
B. Paul’s main point about legalism was that it was a shadow (an anticipation) of the things that were to come, but now the reality had come and that reality was Christ and Christianity.
1. The substance – the real thing – is Christ.
2. Why go back to the shadows of legalism when the real thing – freedom in Christ – was and is here and available?
3. Legalism is attractive to many because it is a simple and convenient way to measure or judge a person’s spiritual life and can lead to comparisons and even bragging rights.
4. Unfortunately, people who religiously observe diets and days may have an outward semblance of spirituality, but those things don’t guarantee an inner spirituality.
5. Legalism is a far cry from measuring up to Christ and the salvation Jesus offers by grace through faith.
6. Paul’s warning for them and for us is: don’t let anyone judge your standing before God on the basis of your observance or non-observance of rules and regulations.
a. We had better beware of judging anyone’s standing with God based on anything other than their relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
b. Anything required for salvation beyond Jesus Christ and the grace found in Him is a regression into legalism and a falling from grace.
c. There are many helpful spiritual practices and spiritual activities, but our right standing with God is not based on them and they are not a guarantee of spirituality.
7. Ultimately, the substance, the reality is Christ – our trust and hope is in Him and Him alone and is not in our perfect response to Him or the perfect keeping of days and diets and rules.
8. Believer, beware of legalism – let no one judge you.
II. Miss the Mysticism – Let No One Defraud You
A. Paul wrote: 18 Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind. 19 They don’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God. (Col. 2:18-19)
1. The word translated “condemn” in verse 18 in the CSV has been translated in other translations in these ways: disqualify, rob, beguile, and defraud.
a. The literal meaning is: “let no one act as an umpire against you.”
2. What Paul was trying to say is: don’t let someone come and cause you to be disqualified of the reward you are eligible for in Christ.
3. What Paul was concerned about was that the mysticism or spiritualism being introduced by the false teachers would lead to the condemning or disqualifying of the Colossians.
4. Basically, mysticism or spiritualism was the practice of trying to reach “God” or have spiritual experiences apart from Jesus through visions or angels.
B. Paul described people who are into mysticism as people who delight in ascetic practices, worship of angels, claim access to visions, and are inflated by empty notions.
1. I will say more about ascetic practices under the third warning in a minute, so let’s focus on the worship of angels, visions, and inflated empty notions.
2. It is so easy to take pride in our piety and have a kind of false humility.
a. Those who think they have found secret and superior ways to connect with God through visions and angels often look down on others and take pride in their spirituality.
b. The person who worships through angels or visions isn’t expressing humility but is actually expressing a subtle or not so subtle pride and substitutes man-made philosophies and traditions for the Word of God.
c. That’s why Paul says that their unspiritual mind puffs them up with idle notions.
d. The false teachers were so interested in “deeper spiritual knowledge” that they ignored God’s truths.
e. Their secrets gave them a big head, rather than a submissive heart.
3. Trying to reach God through anyone or anything other than Jesus is idolatry.
a. Jesus is the way and no one can get to the Father except through Him (Jn. 14:6).
b. Jesus is the one and only mediator between humans and God (1 Tim. 2:5).
c. Angels are created beings and should never be worshiped.
d. When John was on the island of Patmos, he began to worship the angel who was communicating the revelation of Jesus Christ to him, but the angel refused his worship and told him to worship God (Rev. 19:10).
C. Paul summarized the situation of anyone who was into mysticism as someone who has lost connection with the Head – who is Jesus.
1. Jesus is the Head of the body, the church, and all of us who are in Christ are members of His body, the church.
2. If a believer does not draw on the spiritual nourishment that comes from Christ, then they become weak and will eventually die, spiritually.
3. Unless we abide in Christ, and remain attached to our Head, the true vine, then we cannot be saved or grow in Christ.
4. We remain connected to Christ through worship, fellowship with the body, by feasting on the Word of God, and yielding to the Holy Spirit within us..
D. There is a fascination with religious mysticism even today.
1. People seek to learn mysteries, be controlled by the stars, and have contact with the spirit world.
2. Some seek these things in the New Age movement, Mormonism, or even the Catholic church.
3. If we chase after revelations, out-of-body experiences, visions, healers, angels, departed saints, etc., then we disconnect ourselves from a relationship with Jesus.
4. We must remain connected to Jesus, glory in Him alone, and seek no spiritual experiences that aren’t related to Him the Head of the church, the Savior and Lord
5. If we become disconnected from Jesus, the Head, then we will be disqualified, defrauded or robbed of the reward which comes through Jesus.
6. Summary:
a. First, Believer, beware of legalism – let no one judge you.
b. Second, Believer, beware of mysticism – let no one defraud you.
III. Avoid Asceticism – Let No One Enslave You
A. Paul wrote: 20 If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. 23 Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self- indulgence. (Col. 2:20-23)
1. So, after warning against legalism and mysticism, Paul now warned against asceticism.
2. Asceticism is the practice of extreme self-denial and even self-injury in order to become spiritual – they think they can sanctify the soul by punishing the body.
3. Ascetics believe that the body is evil and the only way toward holiness is to deny any of the body’s desires and keeps its needs to a minimum.
a. And so many ascetics would deprive themselves of food, or sleep, or sleep on a concrete slab, or take a vow of silence, or practice self-flagellation (self-beating).
4. Prominent ascetics of the past include:
a. Ascepsimas who wore so many heavy chains that he had to crawl around.
b. Besarion did not allow himself to lie down to sleep for 40 years.
c. Macarius sat naked in a swamp for 6 months and had so many mosquito bites that it looked like he had leprosy.
d. Simeon Stylites dressed in a shirt made of hair and lived on top of a pillar for 37 years.
e. Anatole of France wanted to be like Simon Stylites but couldn’t find a pillar.
1. He improvised by placing a chair on the table in his kitchen and intended to spend the rest of his life fasting and praying on top of that table.
2. His family succeeded in making his life so miserable that he discontinued his plan.
3. Anatole wrote: “I perceive that it is a very difficult thing to be a saint while living with your own family.”
5. In some respects, the ascetic is like the legalist, but the primary difference is their reason for their behavior.
a. The legalist follows rules because they are rules and rule-keeping equals salvation to them.
b. The ascetic follows rules in order to restrain their body.
c. The ascetic hopes to sanctify the soul by discipling the body.
6. It is true that disciples of Jesus must be careful to control our bodies.
a. It is God’s will that we control our passions and desires – our bodies must not be in charge.
b. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19) and must be protected.
c. Paul said in 1 Tim. 4:8 that physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things.
B. But here in Colossians chapter 2, Paul had some strong criticisms of ascetic practices.
1. First, Paul pointed out that if we died with Christ, then Christ has already given us what we need.
a. The false teachers were preaching human attainment, but Christians rely on Christ’s atonement.
b. If a person has died with Christ from the world, then such disciplined efforts are besides the point.
c. Christ has already accomplished for the saints what the ascetics were seeking to effect.
2. Second, Paul pointed out that ascetic practices are based on human commands and teachings, not on God’s commands and teachings – they are man-made mandates.
a. Paul added that asceticism tends to lead to a false humility, which is a kind of pride and self-righteousness.
2. Third, Paul pointed out that in the end, asceticism doesn’t work.
a. These practices may look spiritual or look to be full of wisdom, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
b. Since real change is always from the inside out, not the outside in, we must look to God for the power to change our hearts and our minds, before our behavior will change.
C. Now let me make an important distinction: not all ascetic practices are wrong or dangerous.
1. Scripture encourages fasting and prayer as a spiritual discipline.
2. Retreating from the world and spending time alone with God can be helpful.
3. Decluttering and giving away possessions, or doing a digital detox might be a good practice.
4. But all these things must be done with the right motives and in the appropriate amounts.
5. Doing anything in an extreme way may be detrimental.
6. And doing anything thinking that it will save us or to manipulate God is grave error.
7. An extreme fixation towards asceticism usually leads to false humility, judgmentalism and self- righteousness.
8. So, beware of asceticism.
Conclusion:
A. In conclusion, Paul’s goal was to warn the Colossians to beware of false teachings and false approaches to spiritual growth and to living a life worthy of God.
1. Paul warned the Colossians to beware of three false approaches.
2. First, Lose the Legalism – it leads to bondage, pride, and judgmentalism.
3. Second, Miss the Mysticism - it separates us from the Head.
4. Third, Avoid Asceticism – it doesn’t bring about change.
B. The only way for disciples of Jesus to grow spiritually and experience the fullness of Christ is through fellowship with Christ.
1. We must walk daily with Jesus, communing with Him, yielding to the Spirit, and being bound together in love with the body of Christ, the church.
2. Any other approach to salvation and spiritual growth is dangerous and deadly.
3. So, let the believer, beware.
C. So, let me ask you…Are you connected to Jesus and are you walking in the freedom of His grace and are you the living in the power He supplies?
1. Jesus is everything – He is the secret of all knowledge and wisdom, He is the fullness of God and life, and He is the supplier of everything we need.
2. The path to Jesus is not a path of legalism, mysticism or asceticism.
3. The path to Jesus is by faith and through obedience to His commands – and His commands are not burdensome.
4. Jesus said: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt. 11:28-30)
Resources:
Colossians, by Warren Wiersbe, in The Bible Exposition Commentary, Victory Books, 1989
Colossians, by David E. Garland, in the NIV Application Commentary, Zondervan, 1998
Colossians, by Owen D. Olbricht, in the Truth for Today Commentary, Resource Publications, 2005
How to Walk in Freedom, Sermon by Keith Walker, SermonCentral.com
