In chapters one and two, Paul has expressed a litany of doctrinal principles that we have in Christ. He has shared his concerns about false doctrines that were permeating the church. But now in chapter three we see a change in his approach. His concern now is not so much doctrinal as it is practical. Not that doctrine isn’t practical. It is very much so. But it’s the application of doctrine which is what we mean by practical.

Now as we look at this first verse, we notice that it begins with the word “if.” In this case that word does not indicate something questionable, but it would be better if it were translated “since.” All the doctrine which has been said previously in Colossians up to this point has established the fact of our salvation. So Paul is not now questioning our salvation with the word “if”, but he is going to build on that fact, and so he begins with “since.”

Vs 1 then says, “Therefore if (or since) you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Now to understand what is meant here, we need to flip back to the previous chapter and look at verse 20 which starts in a very similar fashion; “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”

We can apply the same translation of the word “if” to “since” in this verse as well. So notice then what Paul is saying. He says in 2:20, “since you have died with Christ…” And now in 3:1 he says “since you have been raised up with Christ…” Now that should help us to understand what he’s talking about in vs 1. He is speaking of our conversion, our death and spiritual resurrection to new life through our representative Jesus Christ.

Perhaps we can get another perspective of what he is talking about by looking at Rom 6:2-11 “How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with [Him] in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be [in the likeness] of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with [Him,] in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Ok then, it should be clear that Paul is referencing our salvation, illustrated by baptism – the fact that we have died with Christ, died to the old sin nature, and in effect buried with Him. So that since we have died with Christ, the sin nature no longer has dominion over us. We are made new creations. We are raised from death to a new life in Christ.

So since we have died with Christ, we have also been raised with Him to live a new life. Baptism symbolizes this fact. It’s an outward illustration of what has transpired inwardly. If we have died with Him, then we are raised with Him to newness of life. So that we walk in newness of life. We walk by the spirit and not according to the flesh. Our focus isn’t on temporal things, but our focus is on eternal things.

And that’s exactly what Paul indicates here in vs 1. “Since you have been raised up with Christ keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” So now that we have been converted from death to life, Paul says we are to keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. We have a different outlook, a different perspective. It’s a spiritual perspective. It’s a Christ centered perspective.

Notice a couple of things that Paul says of Christ. Christ is in heaven with God. He is alive, eternal in the heavens. He is seated; that indicates that His work is finished. His redemptive, representative work on our behalf is finished. And at the right hand of God indicates the place of honor and privilege. It indicates the place of intercession.

Consider what Hebrews 7:24-27 “but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the [sins] of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”

I like that phrase; “he is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him.” Our eternal security rests in the eternal Son who lives forever, and is above all rule and authority, having paid the price for our sins, who was the perfect, complete and final sacrifice so that we might be made complete and perfect in Him. And He intercedes on our behalf at the right hand of God. The favored, privileged position whereby He is able to save us forever by His power, and by His righteousness.

So since you have been raised up with Christ, since you have been reconciled, redeemed, justified, sanctified, cleansed, made new, forgiven, given new life in Christ, then keep looking to Christ. He is our example, He is our Help, He is our Comforter, He is our Guide, He is our Shepherd. He is our Master. He is our Lord. Keep looking to Him for everything relating to this new life. Keep pursuing Christ, keep following Christ. Keep seeking Christ. As James says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Now how do we do that in practical ways? Paul says in vs 2, “[by setting] your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” I like the KJV rendering of this verse better actually. It says, “Set your affection on things above, not on things that are on the earth.” I like that word affection because it indicates this is a matter of the heart. Now the mind is a part of what is referred to as the heart, but affection indicates what you desire, what you admire, what you like or don’t like. As Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” So you can think with your heart. The natural man is ruled by his heart, he is ruled by his affections. The heart by the way refers to the seat of your emotions, your will and your intellect. And part of our salvation experience is that we have a change of heart. We are given a new heart.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 speaking prophetically of this conversion God will says, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” So if we are given a new heart then we will have new desires, new affections and a new mind.

So let us set, affix, focus our affections, our minds, on things above. I have two dogs that live in our house, Maggie, an older lab, and Jackson, a young Siberian Husky. They have completely different personalities and temperaments. But they are both alike in one respect. When we sit down to eat at the dinner table, they sit up on their haunches with their ears erect, and their gaze fixed resolutely on us. They are not distracted by anything else, they watch us intently. I sometimes can’t help but think God created dogs to teach us how we are to act in our relationship with Him.

Dogs cannot understand everything we humans are doing. They have to look to us to feed them, to water them, to take them for a walk. They are totally dependent upon us whether they realize it or not. And when it comes to food, they want to sit where they can get an uninterrupted, unobstructed view of everything we are doing.

Perhaps that’s sort of the idea of how we should set our attention on Christ. Christ is the source of our life and so we should be looking to Him for our satisfaction. Paul understands though that our affections can be turned back to the things of the world. And our love of the world keeps us from unaffected love of God. Jesus said in Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

I’m reminded of Lot’s wife. Remember how the angel of the Lord told them as he was delivering them from the impending destruction, to not look back. But Lot’s wife did look back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. That serves as a great lesson to not look back at the former things of the natural man. To look back with affection on the things of the world leads to destruction. But now that we have a new life, we need to have a new purpose, a new perspective, new desires. And seek those things which are above, not the things of earth.

That of course does not mean that we go live in a monastery or something and forego all earthly necessities, or earthly pleasures that God has given us to enjoy like marriage and children and even the work of our hands. But what it means is those things are not the focus of our lives now. We are no longer wrapped up in our careers, focused on society, or even all wrapped up in our family or those we love. We have a higher calling, a higher devotion, and consequently, a spiritual perspective. We look beyond the immediate to the eternal. We have a new heart with different affections. And our supreme affection is for Christ.

Vs 3 says, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Now we have already discussed this aspect of dying with Christ. But what does it mean our new life is hidden with Christ? I think it means that the new life is spiritual, and not physical. Our spirit is made alive, is made new when we are born again. It was made new in Christ. As He was raised from the dead, so are we. But from outward appearances, there is very little physically to suggest that. It’s an inward transformation, not a physical one per se. Certainly, there will be behavior differences between the old and the new life, but as far as appearances go, there is very little.

But also the word hidden indicates our spiritual union with Christ. We are now part of His body, the church. He is in us, and we are in Him. Furthermore the word hidden also indicates security. We are hidden in Him means that we are safe in Him, we are secure in Him, we are protected in Him. It is a common theme in the Psalms to speak of being in the shadow of His wings. It’s a place of refuge from destruction. So whatever destruction that may lay wait for us, we find refuge under His wings, and we are hidden in Him. In a manner of speaking, we are born again and like the offspring of an eagle who provides for and protects her young until they are mature, so we are kept hidden in Christ, protected, provided for, until the day of our completion.

In that day we will no longer stay hidden. In vs 4 Paul says, “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” There will be a day when Christ will come to earth again, visibly, physically. He will come in power. He will come to claim HIs kingdom. And in that day we that are saved will also be revealed physically in a new body.

1John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” When Jesus returns, the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to be with the Lord. And this old body will be changed to that which is incorruptible and undefiled, and from that which is temporary to immortal. Then we will be revealed in all our glory, for we shall be like Him and share in His glory.

So since this is who we are, and who we will be revealed to be, let us act like the people that Christ has redeemed for His own. Let us behave as children of God. Let us live the kind of lifestyle that comes as a result of our new life in Christ.

Let’s look at it this way. You were dead in your sins. You were by nature corrupt and vile. But , now you have been washed, cleansed, regenerated. You are made new. It’s like your mother making you take a bath when you were little, and then saying to you, “Son, you have just taken a bath, now don’t you dare put those old dirty clothes back on. Put on some fresh, clean clothes. That’s basically what Paul is saying in the remainder of this chapter. You have been given a bath spiritually. Now first of all put away the old dirty clothes of the past, and then put on these new clean clothes of righteousness.

Unfortunately, we are only going to have the time today to talk about what you need to put off. Next week we will look at what you need to put on. Here then in vs 5, is what Paul says we need to put to death. “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”

Have you ever gotten your clothes so filthy that there was nothing left to do but throw them away? That’s how Paul describes these sins. They need to be put to death. Put to death the sinful way of life which belongs to your old nature. And the first one that you must put to death is immorality. That word refers to all forms of sexual intercourse outside of God honored marriage. It’s what is called “fornication” elsewhere in Scripture; and adultery, which is sexual misbehavior by a married person with someone other than his or her mate. This is to be “put to death” by all Christians. The Word of God is absolutely clear on this. Eph. 5:5 says, “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Anything having to do with fornication outside of marriage cannot be something we engage in in this new life.

The second sin is “impurity.” It is the word for “uncleanness.” It refers to being corrupted, depraved, indecent. It may simply be expressed as hedonism. Then he says put off passion. Passion is being inflamed with desire for something. The Bible speaks of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Passion is closely related to lust. Lust consumes, and it is never satisfied. It only craves more and more, often leading to the destruction of that individual.

Evil desire is a lust for evil. Lust leads to even more vileness, which is a desire for evil. And then Paul mentions greed. Greed is covetousness. Greed is desiring more than what you have, more than what God has given to you. Ambition is one thing, in your career, or in your business dealings it’s fine to have ambition. But greed is the evil side of ambition. It’s wanting more than is right. It’s wanting what someone else has. Its’ wanting something that doesn’t rightfully belong to you. And Paul says greed is idolatry. Idolatry is worshipping something, isn’t it? And it’s possible to be guilty of idolatry because of your desire for a woman, or a man, or a car, or a house, or anything that you prioritize ahead of your relationship with God.

But as Christians we too often tend to accept these practices and to excuse or overlook the error of those who fall into them. The apostle says there are two things wrong that that acceptance. First, he says in vs 6, “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.”

The wrath of God is the judicial response of God to evil. In many cases, it is the inherent destruction that such sins carry with them. If you get drunk, for instance, there is an inherent judgment that is a part of drunkenness. It might mean that you wreck your car, or lose your life in some drunken accident, or you lose your family. It’s not always the same thing in every case, but all sin is destructive, and there are inherent consequences to sin that are part of the wrath of God.

But as a child of God, should you revert to your old desires and fall back into one of these evil practices, then you can expect God to discipline you as a son. And that too is a part of the wrath of God. In speaking of striving against the sinful nature, the author of Hebrews tells us in chapter 12:6 “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” If you’re a child of God and you continue in sin, you can expect Him to discipline you. You will face the wrath of God.

The second reason Paul gives is stated in verse 7: “and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.” That kind of sinful lifestyle isn’t what God has saved you to live. It’s a part of the past life. And that past life is one that brings destruction and it caused the death penalty to be placed upon us. It’s not who we are made to be in Christ. We are a new creation. 2Co 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” We are no longer walking the old paths, but walk in a new way, the way of Christ.

Peter said in [1Pe 4:3 NASB] 3 For the time already past is sufficient [for you] to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.” That time past should have been sufficient for you to realize the end of that life is destructive, and damning. Why would you turn back after being washed and cleaned up and put back on those filthy clothes? You have a new resource, a new power, a new life, a Savior who will help you in every moment of temptation, and by His power you can put that old lifestyle away. You can put it to death.

Then Paul takes us to a deeper level, to our inner attitudes in Vs 8, “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, [and] abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its [evil] practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—“

In this new life we are now different, therefore we should act differently. Our heart is different. We have new affections. You are to put off your old self. Paul described this earlier in this letter as “being circumcised with Christ.” A cutting off of the flesh. You are no longer what you once were. You have “put on the new self,” which is growing and increasing in knowledge of righteousness. The more you learn about this new life the more you will find you can put away the old. It is increasing in knowledge, growing into the image of Christ. Children grow up to look like their parents. So we should grow up to look like Christ.

So Paul gives us a list of attitudes to renounce. First, he says we no longer are to give way to anger. Anger is contrary to acting in love. As believers, we must not act in anger any more. We must not give way to anger. The Lord said to Cain, “why are you angry?” “Sin is crouching at the door, and it’s desire is for you, but you must master it.” Put anger away. It leads to sin.

The second word is “wrath.” This refers to vindictiveness. It’s taking your anger out on someone else. And wrath is closely related to the next word, malice. Malice is the hidden hatred of the heart. It’s acting in spite. Then related to that is slander. Slander is speaking ill of someone to injure them. I think we are guilty of all these sins of the tongue more than we would like to admit. James says in James 3:6 “And the tongue is a fire, the [very] world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of [our] life, and is set on fire by hell.” What comes out of the mouth reveals the heart.

The next phrase is abusive speech. I think that covers a lot of territory. It’s not just cursing. It’s demeaning someone. It’s talking down to someone. It’s abusing your authority over someone by what you say to them. Your words can wound deeper than any sword.

And then lying. Lying is bearing false witness. It’s one of the 10 commandments. It’s representing something falsely. How often do we do that? I think we do it without thinking sometimes. We may even excuse it as a means of trying to protect someone. But as Christians we are to be the ambassadors of truth. What we say must be trustworthy. We must be able to be believed, because we speak for God. So false witness, lying is something we must put off, and ultimately put to death.

And Paul speaks of that change in a positive way saying, “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its [evil] practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—“ Notice the conjunctive “Since” you laid aside the old self. I pray that is true. Past tense. That you have died to the old man with Christ. You have laid it aside. You no longer carry with you the remnants of that old nature. Put it to death. God has given us a new life, put it on. He has clothed you in righteousness, wear it. Practice righteousness. Practice holiness. Practice walking in His steps day by day, hour by hour. Keeping your gaze fixed on Him who will keep you, and sustain you, and hold you as you draw near to Him.

Notice Paul speaks of this new life as a renewal to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. As we look at Christ, we learn how we can be conformed to His image. We learn to be like Christ by looking at Christ. And then in our daily walk we practice what we have learned. We walk in HIs footsteps.

Peter said in 1Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” That is what this new life is all about. Christ has called us, saved us out of the life we once lived, the life dominated by sin, by evil passions and attitudes. And now by faith in Him we have been washed, we have been cleansed, made new, and like children we walk in HIs footsteps, follow in His example in our actions and in our attitudes.

Next week we will see more specifically those things we are to put on in this walk of faith in Christ. But for now, I hope it’s sufficient to recognize those elements of the past life that need to be put off and put to death, in light of who we are in Christ. Paul says no matter our heritage, there is no physical distinction in our life with Christ, no matter if we are Greek or Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. He is our life. He is our affection. He is our example. He is our Lord.

I trust that you are hidden in Christ. I hope that He is your Savior and Lord. Faith in Him is the beginning of this new life. He has made salvation available to all who believe in Him and confess Him as Lord. You can have that eternal life in Christ today.

Last week in the previous passage we looked at what Paul describes as the fullness of our salvation.  We said that in Christ we have all the benefits of our salvation complete.  There is no need to seek some sort of higher knowledge, or add some philosophy or experience in order to have all that need.  We are made completely saved in Christ.

This week, we’re looking at the remainder of this chapter in which Paul continues with that line of thought, but he now is going to counter specific false doctrines which were being circulated in the church of Colossae.  In these last eight verses, Paul  gives us three areas of false teaching that were pervasive in the Colossian church, and I believe are still in effect in the 21st century church as well. 

These three areas of false teaching Paul addresses are legalism, spiritualism or mysticism, and asceticism. And I hope to explain what those doctrines look like as we go through this passage. There is an ancient Chinese proverb which says, “Know thy enemy.”  And I think it is very helpful to us to unmask these false doctrines so that we might know better how to defend our faith against the deception and attacks of the enemy. 

So first of all, Paul warns against what we may call legalism.  He says in vs 16, “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—“  Now as we have always been taught to do, we must look back to see what “therefore” refers to.  Because what he says after “therefore” is contingent on what he said previously.  And as I said a moment ago, “therefore” refers to the fullness of salvation which we have in Christ.  Our salvation needs nothing other than what Christ has procured for us through His death and resurrection.  We don’t need Christ plus mysticism or Christ plus legalism, or Christ plus asceticism.  Christ alone is sufficient for all our spiritual needs.

But Paul wants to address some specific issues that were being taught at the church in Colossae. And the first one is that of legalism. In previous messages we have called the false teaching that was being offered in the Colossian church Gnostic Judaism.  You’re not going to find that title in Wikipedia.  Gnosticism would seem to have become popular a number of years after this epistle.  But it seems with Paul’s emphasis on the worship of angels and the subject of spirituality that the roots of Gnosticism had already begun infiltrating the church. 

Judaism of course is a reference to the religion of the Pharisees – Jews that put a great deal of emphasis on the outward appearance of things in relation to the law, but of whom Jesus said they were like whitewashed tombs  – clean and white on the outside, but rotten and corrupted on the inside. But the system of Judaism claimed spirituality based on keeping the law and ceremonies, as well as certain traditions passed down from their leaders.

So combining those two false teachings produces what we call Gnostic Judaism.  Paul first describes those areas which we might term as legalism.  They have to do with the law, or the keeping of the law.  It would seem that they refer to Judaism and the practices of eating only certain foods and drink. 

Some of those restrictions on food and drink had been given to the Jews in the Mosaic law.  The purpose of them was either to create a unique situation or to keep them from eating something that would be harmful to them physically or nutritionally. Primarily the issue, in the old covenant was that God wanted a peculiar people. God wanted a people set apart from the rest of the world by a different lifestyle, and one of the ways He did that was by prescribing a different diet. Because of their diet, the Jews were socially distant from the people of the country they were living in because they couldn’t eat together. And that was the plan of God for them. He didn’t want them to intermingle. He wanted them to be separate from the pagan world. 

So God gave these laws to the Jews, but in the new covenant, those laws were set aside.  In Acts 10, there is the account of Peter on the rooftop when God gave him a vision of all sorts of clean and unclean animals and God told him to kill and eat, and that all meat was declared clean.  Then in  Acts 15 that principle is elaborated upon by the apostles in Jerusalem to say that none of the old dietary restrictions were to be put upon the Gentile church. And that principle is echoed repeatedly in the New Testament.  For instance, Romans 14:17 says, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

But as we probably all are aware, the Jews didn’t stop with just restrictions on food, but they had added all types of traditions to the law, very often with elaborate ceremonies like hand washing which were not dictated by the commandments. And it would seem that sort of thing was being advocated in Colossae. 

So to paraphrase Paul, he says, “Don’t be deceived; don’t be tricked. Don’t let anybody judge you on the basis of what you eat or drink. Don’t let anybody evaluate your spirituality on that basis. And you know the same thing happens in Christianity today in many circles. Some sects teach that you must keep the dietary laws of the Jews.  Others teach you must be vegetarian. There will always be people who want to judge everyone’s spirituality by what they do externally: how they eat, what they eat, how they drink or what they drink, whether they keep certain rituals and requirements which they think are necessary to be spiritual.  

But the problem with that kind of spiritual evaluation is this: that somebody who isn’t a true Christian can qualify on the basis of their works.  So a test of your Christianity, it produces a false positive, so to speak.  It’s not that true Christians won’t manifest some different behavior than the world, but the problem is that those who aren’t  can always conform to some external standard. And so judging by that type of standard doesn’t reveal true spirituality.

Galatians 5:1 speaks to this principle, saying,  “For freedom, Christ has set us free; therefore, stand fast and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Christ set you free to live as free; so don’t go back to legalism. That’s the yoke of bondage which Peter said neither they nor the patriarchs had been able to bear.

And then Paul adds in vs 16, “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—” – don’t let these false teachers try to define your spirituality by whether you go to the Passover, or the Pentecost, or the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Lights, or any of those ceremonies and holy days which were prescribed by the law – “or a new moon” – Numbers 28 tells us that the sacrifice was made on the first day of the month of the new moon – “or of a Sabbath day.”

So you have annual observances, and monthly observances and weekly observances. Rituals, ceremonies, what were called holy days.  That’s where we get our word holiday, by the way, from holy days.  There are a number of various groups through the centuries who have advocated either a return to the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday, or they want to ascribe Sabbath restrictions on Sunday, as the Sunday Sabbath. But the scripture doesn’t teach either one of those.

I remember though back in my twenties when I was not living for the Lord.  And I came under the influence of someone who was a Seventh Day Adventist.  And I had never given much thought to the Sabbath before that time.  And I became really confused about whether or not it was necessary to keep the Sabbath and return to Saturday observance.  

But this passage here makes it clear that no one is to be your judge in regards to keeping the Sabbath.  Romans 14 says “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike.”  And in the early days of the church there were people who were being converted out of Judaism, and their conscience bothered them concerning the Sabbath.  Paul allowed such to do as their conscience dictated.  But it was never ok to be taught that that keeping the Sabbath is a necessary requirement for salvation, or to achieve some higher spiritual plane.  It’s a ceremony that speaks of a future fulfillment in Christ.  Hebrews 4:9 teaches that the Sabbath rest is fulfilled in Christ for us,  having accomplished His finished work on the cross, having sat down at the Father’s right hand. So as was the practice of the early church, we worship on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, which is Sunday. And we have been set free from the restrictions of the Sabbath.

And I will make one last point about the Sabbath.  And that is that those who practice it do not really practice it according to the Law.  You can be very glad that we are not under that yoke any longer.  In Judaism it was a burden, it was not the rest that God intended it to be.

Now the rebuttal to all these legalistic doctrines is found in vs 17. [These] “things which are a [mere] shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.”  These ceremonial, ritualistic things are a foreshadow. But the reality, the fulfillment is Christ. All these laws and all these legalistic things, they were just shadow. A shadow just anticipates the arrival of somebody, and when He comes, and you no longer need the shadow. Or another way of saying it, they were pictures, and when you have the reality, you no longer need the picture. 

Here’s the principle. Spirituality is not a matter of adding some external ritual or ceremony, but  its’a matter of the invisible attributes, a matter of the heart and your relationship with Jesus Christ.   So Paul is saying don’t let anybody intimidate you by the fact that if don’t do something, therefore you’re not spiritual.” It’s a matter of the heart, not external rituals.

Now the second area of concern in this false teaching in Colossae is what I am calling spiritualism or mysticism.  And we find Paul’s admonition concerning that in vs 18 and 19. “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on [visions] he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,  and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”

Now don’t be confused, we are to be spiritual, but spiritualism is not spiritual.  It’s perhaps better called mysticism. What is mysticism?” Mysticism is a deeper or higher experience which one believes gives them an exalted knowledge of God or the mysteries of God. It’s like saying, “Well, I’ve had an experience that I can’t define, but I’ve touched God, or have come to understand something from God.”

Now what Paul says is that kind of thing can make you believe you have missed out on all that God has for you because you haven’t had a particular experience. He says that teaching defrauds you of the prize.  What is the prize?  It’s a full, complete, relationship with Jesus Christ.  It’s knowing all that He has for you and being content in that knowledge. It’s peace with God.  It’s assurance.  And as Paul indicates in this statement about the growth of the body it’s spiritual maturity. You cannot have spiritual maturity if you think that it comes from a false source rather than from following Christ completely.  If you’re seeking spiritual maturity from some sort of fake mystical experience then you’re going to miss out on the real prize of spiritual maturity.

Now Paul gives some examples of mysticism, or false spirituality which were being promoted in the church.  “Delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.” 

Delighting in self-abasement is another way of saying they delight in humility.  I would suggest he’s talking about fake humility.  It’s humility on parade.  The Pharisees loved to be seen fasting and wearing sack cloth and ashes.  That’s a false humility on parade.  I’m afraid we see a version of that today often times at Lent, with people advertising that they are fasting by going around with ashes on their face. Another way that is done is through restrictions in dress, by only wearing certain somber colors, or not allowing cosmetics or jewelry, or even avoiding hygienic practices. A look at church history reveals many things like that in practice from time to time. But whatever means by which it occurs, they were advocating some sort of self abasement by which they thought they achieved spirituality. 

And next, Paul says they worshipped angels, verse 18. What does that mean? This is where the Gnostic influence comes in, by the worship of angels.  They believed that they could achieve higher knowledge through the angels.  But the scripture says that there is one mediator between God and man. And who is that? Jesus Christ. But they were being urged to worship angels, denying the one mediator between God and man.

There is ample evidence at this particular time in Colossae that angel worship was very prevalent. But the scripture tells us that angel worship is forbidden. In Revelation, when John tried to worship an angel, twice the angel said, “Get up, do not worship me; I am a fellow servant of yours. Worship God.” Even the angels forbid us to worship them, unless, of course, they are fallen angels.  And I think that perhaps a lot of angel worship is really worship of fallen angels who reveal themselves as angels of light.

The next example he gives of false humility is those that take their stand on visions they have seen. You know, the funny thing is, I’ve never had a vision. In 62 years I’ve never seen anything. But these people who want to tell you the latest dream they had, the latest vision, the word that God spoke to them can be sort of intimidating. They are typically super pious, self-humiliating, having talked with angels, seen visions, received special revelations, claiming all sorts of amazing stuff. And the rest of us poor folks, we’re left to sitting around at Bible study, just trying to understand what it says on the page.

And that indicates the heart of the problem.  Rather than the word of God being sufficient, these people seek another revelation, a more distinctly personal word from God, a special vision from God.  And that serves to undermine the authority of God’s word.  They dare not say that God’s word is not authoritative, but in practice they reveal it’s not enough, they want God to speak directly to them.  I cannot tell you the number of people that I have talked to that claim that God has verbally, distinctly spoken to them in a verbal way.  And when those people say that sort of thing, there is nothing you can really say in return, other than “that’s nice.”  But in my mind I want to say, “why you?”  I mean, the prophets of old may have only heard from God once in their lifetime or not at all, and there are hundreds of years in history when no one heard a word from God, and yet God seems to speak to these people frequently, and about the most mundane subjects, like where to find a parking space at the mall.  It’s amazing.  It’s false spirituality.  It’s false humility.  But as Peter said, we have the prophetic word made more sure.  We have God’s word written down for us.  And it is more than sufficient for every need.

The last example may just be more of summary of their attitude, rather than a false doctrine, per se.  Paul says they are “inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.”  In other words, they have a big ego, but they have no basis for it. A big ego is a person that is prideful. Paul says they have nothing to be prideful about. They are fleshly.  That’s the opposite of spiritual.  They think they are spiritual, but they are fleshly. I see that every time I turn on TBN.  I try not to turn that stuff on.  About the only time I ever see it is when I’m in a hotel room and I turn on the TV.  But these people parading around as super spiritual, claiming all sorts of special powers, hearing from God, naming and claiming all sorts of things, and yet their lifestyle reveals that they are all about the flesh.  They are all about money.  And they fly private jets and live in lavish houses and so forth.  Inflated without cause in their fleshly minds.

Against that false spirituality Paul gives the correct principle in vs19 “and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”  Spiritual maturity, spiritual growth, comes from holding fast to the head.  And the head of the body is Christ.  It’s not Christ plus something else.  It’s just Christ.  He is sufficient. His word is sufficient. Obedience to Christ produces spiritual maturity.  It’s very notable that those who want to claim all these experiences tend to put a very low value on obedience.  They value experience, but they don’t value obedience.  But that does’t produce spiritual maturity, it only produces mysticism, which is the devil’s duplication of the real thing.

The third area of false teaching pervading the church of the Colossians is asceticism. The dictionary defines an ascetic as somebody who lives a life of rigorous self-denial. An ascetic is somebody who sells everything and goes and lives in a monastery. Self imposed discipline and abstention.  The idea that the only way to be truly spiritual people are the people is to become monks or nuns and go live in a monastery. Or the only truly spiritual people are the people who have nothing, sell everything and live in absolute, abject poverty.

Paul speaks to that false teaching in vs 20-23;  “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,  “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all [refer] [to] things destined to perish with use)–in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, [but are] of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

Paul says if Christ is your representative, and you are in Christ, then you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world. Things like eating, drinking, being consumed with bodily functions, with the basic principles of living.  With Christ we have died to the natural man, and now we live in the spirit.  That doesn’t mean we stop eating or sleeping or working, etc.  But those things are no longer the reason for our life.  We have a higher purpose. And since these elementary things no longer control us, neither does neglecting them or depriving yourself of them lead to a higher spirituality. 

Spiritual purity, holiness is not found in denial of the body.  The ascetics of the past have thought that the path to holiness was to deny any bodily pleasure, to eat only bread and water, to forego sex in marriage, to go live on a mountain alone, to go without washing, or living without basic human necessities.  But Paul is saying if we are saved, then the body has already died with Christ.  Those things do not rule us.  But we now live in the Spirit.  And to deny these things of the flesh does not affect our spirituality.

Look at vs 21, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” You can almost hear the super pious tone in which someone might say that.  As if denying such things invoked a higher spiritual quality. He says saying such things refer to things destined to perish with use. The question then is why are you attributing eternal value to that which is passing away? 

Now when he says “in accordance to the commandments and teaching of men”  I think Paul is referring here to the commandments and the traditions of the Jews which had the semblance of holiness, but in fact were not a means of holiness.  They were for a time and a particular people, to be a picture of what was to be true in Christ.  I think this is further evidence of the Gnostic Judaism type of false doctrine that was pervasive in the church.  It somehow incorporated these ascetic restrictions on food and handling and touching of various things which were considered unclean. 

Paul gives his rebuttal to this false teaching in Vs23, “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

On the outside, it looks like you are holy because of these restrictions you have.  But Paul says that these outward manifestations are of no real value when it comes to indulging in the lusts of the flesh. 

So how do we guard against fleshly indulgence? Gal 5:16 tells us, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”  Walk by the Spirit is not worshipping angels, or seeing visions, or having experiences, it’s simply living according to the word of God which is authored by the Holy Spirit.  There is nothing mystical about it.  There is no mystical bypass around the spiritual discipline which produces spiritual maturity.  Just trust and obey. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. As Jesus said, “you are my disciples if you do what I command you.”  God has given us His word that we might know all that He has for us, and all that He requires of us.  Let us devote ourselves to that, and do not let anyone mislead us to think that we can achieve spirituality apart from clinging only to Christ.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the famous English preacher of the late 1800’s, said, and I quote; “It is the duty of Christian preachers to expose error even when it was held by saintly believers.” I agree with that statement. Error comes in many forms, and the most deceitful means is when it comes from the lips of people who you think you can trust.  Spurgeon went on to say that he wouldn’t preach error if the whole world should be converted by it. 

That may be a shocking statement, but what he was trying to say was that he would never preach error, no matter what appeared to be the consequences of doctrine that individuals might apparently be pleased with. One of the signs of the end times, the age of apostasy, is that as Paul told Timothy in 2Tim. 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but [wanting] to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,  and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Unfortunately, that’s one of the problems with the church at large today.  We have swallowed a little error here, and a little half truth there, and we haven’t realized that we have drifted far away from the truth of the gospel.  I believe it is a problem in society in America as well.  We are like the proverbial frog in a pot of warm water, which at the beginning he is able to jump out of the pot, but he finds the temperature is actually to his liking.  The stove though gradually heats up the pot, the frog goes from complacency to comatose until the water begins to boil, and before the poor frog realizes what is happening he is cooked.

That kind of complacency is what Paul is writing to the Colossians about.  They have found the waters of false doctrine to be quite comfortable.  They like the false teachers that have found their way into the church.  Someone has said they were proposing a new doctrine which we might call Gnostic Judaism.  I’m not going to take the time to try to explain it.  But suffice it to say that it sounded very spiritual.  It sounded like it was based on the scriptures, at least the Old Testament scriptures.  They didn’t really have a New Testament yet and so they studied the Old and whatever few epistles from the apostles that might have found their way to them.  But more importantly the false teaching appealed to their tastes.  It tickled their ears, so to speak. 

And we have a lot of churches today in America that are offering something similar. They are offering a gospel that appeals to secularism.  They are offering a social gospel.  They are offering a prosperity gospel. They are offering a gospel that promises you don’t need to be sick, or suffer, or do without anything you want.  It sounds so good.  The temperature of the water is quite comfortable, and they don’t care that they are becoming comatose. 

Paul’s gospel is not like that.  He wouldn’t have passed muster by the pastor search committee.  He didn’t look very much like the polished and preening prosperity and word of faith type of preacher that we see at the local mega church or on television.  

Let me tell you something just so you get an inside picture of what’s going on in the church at large today. You know when my son was in college studying to be a graphic designer, he took an internship with a local mega church in San Diego.  They had a corporate office in some office park that he worked in, but they had several satellite churches throughout the city.  And one day I showed up there to see him at work, and they ended up giving me a tour of the corporate office.  

We saw the graphic design studio, the film studio with green screen which could be outfitted with the background of the appropriate church, and all kinds of things that went into producing the services for all these campus’s. But then they showed me a room which they called the sermon writing room.  I was naturally interested in that, so I asked how it worked.  And I was told that the sermon writing team met there and came up with the sermons that the pastors then practiced speaking and then performed in front of the green screen and then presented in their church on Sunday.  I was stunned, to say the least, to discover that the pastor did not write his own sermon, nor was he even a part of the sermon writing team.  And then when I left the building, I happened to meet one of the pastors who was coming in to perform his sermon.  He was tanned, trim, bleached white teeth, and a great smile.  It felt like I had just met a movie star or something.

All across this country today, in pulpits in so called evangelical churches, pastors are preaching a canned, packaged, committee written message complete with graphics and Bible verses and touching illustrations that they purchased from one of those type of sermon mills. And like all false doctrines, there is just enough good stuff in there to make what’s not true seem like it’s not all that important. Someone told me the other day that God can use canned sermons too. Well, that may be true, but my response to that is that God used an ass to rebuke the prophet Balaam, but that shouldn’t mean we want one in our pulpit.  

This is not a 21st century phenomenum. In the first few years of the church, this false gospel was already making dangerous inroads.  Paul warned the Galatian church, Gal 1:6-8 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;  which is [really] not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!”

This false, feel good gospel was not what Paul was preaching, however. The gospel that Paul was preaching is not something designed to make you feel special, or to make all your problems go away, or to help you become your best self now. Notice what Paul says concerning the gospel so far. He says we were enemies of God, and the only way to be reconciled to God is through the death of Jesus Christ. It takes the death of Christ to reconcile you to God, to make things right between you and God, Jesus had to die on the cross, a terrible, torturous, violent death, to atone for your sin.

We were naturally enemies of God, engaged in evil deeds, but He rescued us from the dominion of Satan, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.  And regarding His Son he has much to say, not the least of which is that “He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”  Christ is to have first place in our lives.  That’s what it means in Romans 10:9 which said, “If you confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” To confess Jesus is Lord means that He has first place in our lives. He is on the throne of our hearts. We no longer live for ourselves, but we live for God.

2Cor. 5:15 says, “and [Christ] died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”  I wonder if we were examined on that point as proof that we were indeed born again, would there be enough evidence to convict us?  Do we no longer live for ourselves, but live for Christ?

Paul goes on to say concerning the gospel of salvation that it produces a new life. 2Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  We are a new creature, a new creation, no longer consumed with the ways of this world, or with the things of this world, but fixing our eyes on Jesus as we walk in newness of life in Christ. 

Back in Colossians, Paul speaks further of this transformation in us, in vs 21: “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, [engaged] in evil deeds,  yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach– if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”

The goal of our reconciliation is that we walk in holiness, that we live in a way that is blameless, beyond reproach. Now what does he mean, if we continue in the faith? Notice it says continuing in THE faith, not continuing in faith.  There was a popular preacher of an earlier generation who was a prosperity and word of faith preacher before it became quite as mainstream as it is today.  His name was Norman Vincent Peale.  You may have heard of his book which was a best seller;  “The Power of Positive Thinking.”  Mr. Peale made the common mistake of confusing positive thinking with faith.  I suppose you can have faith in carnal things.  I practice faith every time I get in an airplane.  

But that is not Biblical faith. I might convince myself to have faith that God will protect me if I put my face mask over my eyes instead of my mouth and walk across Route 1 out front of this building.  But no matter how much I believe it, or want to believe it, that does not mean that I won’t get run over by a truck.

Biblical faith is believing in the promises of God which are written down in the word of God, so that as Peter said, we have a faith more sure.  2Peter 1:19-21 “[So] we have the prophetic word [made] more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.  But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of one’s own interpretation,  for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Ok, then, so the gospel is the word of God, and faith is trust in the promises of God which are given to us by the Holy Spirit in the scriptures.  This is the faith that Paul is preaching in Colossians, which he delineates in vs 5 saying, “the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel.” And since the day which they believed by faith this gospel, Paul in the beginning of this epistle said he prayed that they would bear fruit, being filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that they will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might,]for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience.”  That’s the evidence of their faith, the fruit of their faith, their walk in the faith.

Now why would they need all this strength, and power, and steadfastness and patience to walk in the faith? Well, the answer is revealed in vs 24, because of the sufferings which they would experience because of their faith.  Vs.24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.”  What is he talking about here?  Is Paul saying that part of the Christian experience is suffering, and afflictions?  Yes, that’s exactly what he is saying.  I thought everything was supposed to be better when you become a Christian.  I thought we get to live our best life now, and also get heaven when we die. I thought God promised to make all things work out for good.

What Paul is talking about is, his identification with the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

“Filling up that which is lacking of the sufferings of Christ,” he means that his sufferings, on behalf of the church of Jesus Christ, represents an identification with the risen Lord who has suffered for the church.  Paul’s suffering though is not for their atonement but as a minister for their spiritual edification. 

Contrary to the teachings of Norman Vincent Peale and others of his ilk, suffering is a necessary part of the Christian experience. If the church is the body of Christ, then we should expect suffering as we are a part of that body. In fact, Romans tells us that suffering leads to the glory which is the inheritance of our salvation.   Rom 8:17 “and if [we are] children, [then] heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him.]” 

There are a lot of ways which we can suffer for our faith as the church.  Because of our faith we can suffer rejection from family, we can suffer the loss of friendships, we can suffer by losing a job, or by losing some sort of favor at work which results in less pay or the loss of a promotion.  The list of ways we can suffer could go on and on.  But I will tell you something I believe very strongly.  We have not yet suffered like we are soon going to suffer, and I believe it will be at the hands of our government. I believe that the ways in which government restricted churches during the pandemic was just a trial run of things to come.  If things continue as they appear to be headed, the day will soon come when we will no longer be able to proclaim the truth of God’s word without fear of reprisal.  The truth will be branded as hate speech.  We will be forced to either condone what the Bible tells us is sin, or we will find ourselves being censored and even shut down. 

But it’s also true that many churches are trying to prove to the world that they are actually inclusive, loving people and so they avoid talking about sin, they avoid talking about damnation, they avoid saying anything that might not be perceived as politically correct.  But the Bible says you cannot love the world and be Christ’s disciple.  1John 2:15 says,  “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” And so if you call out the world and tell them the truth of the gospel, that they are sinners, and without God, and as such will be eternally separated from God in hell unless they repent, then you can expect to suffer affliction.  So perhaps another evidence of our salvation is to examine the degree to which you are suffering.  Now don’t misunderstand me, you can suffer because you’re a jerk too. I’m not advocating that.  But I am saying that it is likely that you will suffer for the sake of the gospel if in fact you are actually living in service to the Lord. In 2Ti 2:3 Paul says, “Suffer hardship with [me,] as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Now Paul goes on to explain how this service works. Col 1:25-27 “Of [this church] I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the [preaching of] the word of God,  [that is,] the mystery which has been hidden from the [past] ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,  to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Now in verse 23, it says that Paul is a minister of the gospel. In verse 25, he says that he is a minister of the church. Both of these are true.  A minister is a servant. That’s what the term diakonos, the term used here means- the same word from which we get the term deacon. 

Paul is a servant of the word, and he’s a servant of the church because you can never really be a good servant of the church of Jesus Christ if you’re not a servant of the word. The blessing of the Holy Spirit can only come through the word of God. The things that God blesses are the things that are in obedience to the word of God. If a person is unable to verify his Christian experience by the teaching of the word of God, you can say it is a dubious Christian experience. Christian experience must be founded in the word of God. The word of God is our standard, and Paul is a servant of the word, and by that he is able to minister to the church.

Notice what Paul says the preaching of the word does – it it reveals the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been manifested to His saints (that is the true believers, the church).   What is this mystery?  A mystery is something that can not be known unless it is revealed.  So the Holy Spirit has revealed through the word of God something that is now clear.  

And though I have read a lot of explanations of possible meanings of the mystery, I think that I will stick with what Paul is saying the mystery is.  He says, “what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, WHICH is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  The mystery is simply this; Christ in you, the hope of glory.  He is referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who is given to us at the moment of salvation.  Jesus said in the upper room that it was expedient that He should leave His disciples, so that He could send them a Helper, the Spirit of Truth.  

In Romans 8:9 notice how Paul uses Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ interchangeably. He says, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”  So the Spirit of Christ is in us as the result of our salvation.  But at the same time He is also a foretaste, or a deposit of the good things to come.  Paul says “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The hope of glory speaks to the future. Christ in us now as the Spirit will be made complete and glorious when we see Him face to face at the consummation. Our future inheritance is the hope of glory.  And so as we said earlier, we suffer with Him now but we are promised glory later.  Remember Romans 8:17 which we quoted earlier?  “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him.]”  We are now saved, we now have the Spirit as a pledge, as a deposit of what will be fully realized when we are raised to glory at the resurrection.

The hope of glory is speaking of something in the future.  Now is not glory.  Now we suffer with Him.  We live as aliens in a foreign land.  We sometimes suffer hardships.  We don’t have everything that we might want to have.  In this world we serve the Lord, not ourselves.  We no longer live for ourselves, but for Him.  And we look forward to that day when all things will be made new, and we shall be glorified.

You know, I have to say that I am very disappointed with the election if it goes as it is being reported in the news.  I am afraid of the world that my kids and their kids will have to live in.  I am afraid that America is on the brink of destruction. Some Christians have offered consolation by saying that God is still on the throne.  And yes He is.  God is on the throne of heaven and earth is His footstool.  But America has rejected God’s rule.  America said a long time ago that God will not rule over us.  God was on the throne in heaven when He allowed Hitler to take control of Germany.  God was on the throne when Russia and China became communist and killed and imprisoned millions of Christians. 

Listen, Romans 1 tells us that there comes a day in the course of human events when God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do the things which were not proper. God gives a people over to their desires, even if that desire is the means of their destruction. God gave Israel a king because they asked for a king.  And their kings led them to destruction, to the destruction of the temple, to become exiled in Babylon.  And yet, God is still on His throne and He will still accomplish His purpose on earth.  But God’s purpose  is to destroy the heavens and the earth and remake all things new.  God’s purpose is not to make this world a better place, but to ransom a people from this world and take them out of this world.  And then His judgement will rightly fall upon this world and it will be destroyed. 2Peter 3:13 “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” Peter said this world will be destroyed by fire. 

Now that’s God’s purpose and that is the hope of glory. That we that are saved, though we may suffer in this life, we will at the end of the age be raised to glory with Christ.  All things will become new.  Where righteousness dwells eternally.  A day with no night, no death, no sin, no sorrow.  That is the hope that Paul is preaching. That’s the hope of the gospel. Yet on the other hand I am sad because I want to have the liberty and freedom that was once America preserved for my kids and grandkids.  But even if God should chose to grant that request, the end is still coming, and things will go from bad to worse, and it will culminate in destruction of this earth.  I would like to delay it for the sake of the few years my children will live on this earth. But, at the same time, I must say, even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.

Well, Paul concludes this section concerning his ministry to the church by saying in vs28 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.  For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”  

The purpose of Paul’s preaching is not just to lead someone to Christ, but to make them complete in Christ.  He is talking about the spiritual maturity of the believer.  And, guess what? spiritual maturity is tied to suffering.  James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have [its] perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  

Listen, God teaches us more by walking through the fire than He does by walking on the mountaintop. The testing of our faith produces strength and steadfastness through the word of God.  As we endure suffering, as we endure afflictions, as we live as aliens and sojourners in this world, we do so by faith in the word of God, trusting in His promises, trusting in His presence in us.  And we come out of those trials as if tested by fire, refined as gold, complete in Christ.

Paul knows that the secret of his success is not in the power of positive thinking, but it’s in the inner presence of the Holy Spirit who works mightily in him.  And that same power is available to us.  We walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh.  We walk in the wisdom of the word and not according to the wisdom of this world.  And through His word, and growing in the knowledge of Christ, we are being conformed to His image, and being made complete in Christ.  That is the goal of the gospel.  To make us like Christ, so that we might have Christ in us, that we might live like Christ in the world, and that we might one day be glorified with Christ.  I pray that is your goal as well.