Sermon 7 - Believer, Beware Series

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.