Spiritual Kidnapping Series

INTRODUCTION

• Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., twenty-month-old son of the famous aviator and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was kidnapped about 9:00 p.m., on March 1, 1932, from the nursery on the second floor of the Lindbergh home near Hopewell, New Jersey. The child’s absence was discovered and reported to his parents, who were then at home, at approximately 10:00 p.m. by the child’s nurse, Betty Gow. A search of the premises was immediately made and a ransom note demanding $50,000 was found on the nursery window.

• I cannot imagine the horror a family faces when a loved one is kidnapped.

• According to the web site “Fighting Change”, every 40 seconds in the United States, a child is reported missing or abducted. That translates to over 2,000 children per day (under 18 years of age) or 800,000 per year.

• This is a parents worst nightmare. We had the recent cases in Aruba with Natalee Holloway and there have been more.

• I have read that from 2000-2004, 73% of the worlds reported kidnappings have happened in Latin America. It has become a booming business for some folks.

• With this knowledge, a person would want to do all they can to protect themselves and their families from being kidnapped or abducted.

• I found that there are companies that sell “kidnapping” insurance that companies can purchase to cover there workers in case of a kidnapping. The insurance company will pay a ransom to get you back.

• How many of you would do all you could to protect you and your family from being kidnapped?

• As we turn to Colossians 2:8 today, we see that the Apostle Paul was worried about Christians being spiritually kidnapped.

• SLIDE #1

• What are you doing to protect yourself from being spiritually kidnapped?

• Today we are going to look at a passage that is trying to warn us of the potential we all can face of being spiritually kidnapped.

• Let’s read Colossians 2:8

• SLIDE #2

• AFTER READING OF SCRIPTURE GOTO NEXT SLIDE

• Here is some news for us to digest!

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. CHRISTIANS CAN BE SPIRITUALLY KIDNAPPED.

• It is so easy to be going about your business only to realize that one day you have been taken captive spiritually.

• Paul has been speaking on the subject of making sure your walk is solid now he speaks of the danger of being taken captive.

• SLIDE #4

• In verse 8 he starts out by saying that we are to see to it that no one takes you captive.

• The implication here is that we have to do something to make sure we are not taken captive. We are responsible for what happens to us spiritually.

• The word translated “captive” was used of taking captives of war and leading them away as plunder. It has the idea of being kidnapped, the idea of being taken against ones will.

• The bible tells us in Romans 8:35 that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

• The passage we are looking at though warns us to not allow ourselves to be taken captive.

• We see in Galatians 1 where Paul was worried about the Christians in Galatia going back to the old ways or falling prey to those who would come in and try to take them away from the faith.

• SLIDE #5

• 1 Peter 5:8 (NASB) 8Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

• This passage gives us a similar warning, be ready, be prepared, be alert. If you are not careful to guard your faith, you could find yourself taken captive.

• We must take the time to make sure that our faith is on solid ground.

• SLIDE #6

• Galatians 5:1 (NASB) 1It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

• The words used by Paul in the original text indicate that the danger he is speaking of is a real and present danger, not some hypothetical or imagined danger.

• We cannot live our lives thinking that nothing can happen to us. If we are not prepared, we can get into trouble spiritually very quickly!

• SLIDE #7

• Now let us look at:

II. HOW A SPIRITUAL KIDNAPPING CAN HAPPEN

• If we are serving such a powerful God, then how can we be spiritually kidnapped from Him?

• Verse 8 gives us two ways.

• SLIDE #8

• SLIDE #9

A. Through falling prey to bad philosophy.

• Paul is not condemning philosophy, Paul himself was a philosopher.