Christ Is My All In All
Colossians 2:16-33

INTRO:
Good morning. Today we are going to look at the cross of Jesus from a different perspective. We’re going to look at it from a worldly perspective. Before we get into that I’d like to tell you a story.
A daughter comes running to her father with tears streaming down her face and said “Dad! You just gave me some terrible financial advice.” Dad said “What did I do?” She said “You told me to put all my money in that big bank down town.” Dad said “Yes, it’s one of the best in the country.” She said: “Well, I think they’re going under.” He said “There must be some mistake.” She said “I’m afraid not. I just got a check back from them and it said insufficient funds!”

A lot of times we are blaming the wrong source for the insufficiency. The problem has never been that Christ wasn’t sufficient. The problem has been that we haven’t thought about it when it comes to Christ. You see a heretic never comes up and says: “Don’t believe in Christ.” A heretic never says, “Christ not.” A heretic says, “Christ and”, instead of “Christ only”. Heretics are masters of the art of spiritual intimidation.

Today I want to talk about the problem of spiritual bullies along with other world religions. I’m going to try to tie it all together. There are people that will literally intimidate you and make you feel inferior spiritually, because you don’t do religion the way they do. That’s a problem and that is what Paul is talking about in Colossians 2:16-23 which is our text.

Turn with me now to that text and let’s have a look at it together. Colossians 2:16-12 – “16. Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17. which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18. Let no one defraud you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19. and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase which is from God. 20. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations 21. "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,'' 22. which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

In his letter to those at Colossi, Paul is trying to encourage these new Christians, who have been told that they are inferior spiritually. Notice his argument. He does two things. He exalts the fullness of Christ. Heretics in Colossi were giving a condescending view of Christ, just like the cults and world religions do today.

Paul was exalting the fullness of Christ. He didn’t begin his letter to the Colossians by tearing down error. He began his letter by lifting up Christ. That’s important. What he is doing in Colossians 2:16-23 is attacking false ideas, but notice that is not where he started.

Where he started was reminding people of the Curriculum Vitae (curriculum v-tie) of Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:15 says, “He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation.” Colossians 1:17 says, “He exists before all things and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 2:3 says, “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily.”

What Paul is saying is Christ is not the first among equals, Christ is the first and there are not any equals. There are none equal to Him. His point is this. If Christ is fully God and Christ is fully man and all that fullness of deity lives in Christ and all that fullness, Paul says, has been given to you... What more do you need? What more do you need to be truly spiritual—than to be connected to Jesus Christ?

The best way to defend the Christian faith is not to attack other religions. Learn about them yes, attack no. The best way to defend the Christian faith is to lift up Christ. That’s what Paul did in the first chapter and a half of this letter. Before he ever talked about something he disagreed with, he said: “Just let me remind you who Christ is.” That’s the way he went about it. The next time someone wants to disagree with you or ask you why you believe what you believe, don’t attack what they believe. Just tell them who Christ is and most of the time that will solve the issue.

I. The first thing Paul did was exalt the fullness of the God-Man—Christ. The second thing he did, and notice this, he exposed the emptiness of man-made religion. That’s what we’re going to focus on now. Paul doesn’t believe that all religions are basically the same. He said, “there is a faith once for all delivered from heaven”. Once for all means final. Note that, it is final.
A. Then look at some of the words he used for man-made religions. We’re going to read them in a few seconds.
1. He said things like: “they are shadows of things to come.”
2. They’re idle notions based on human commands and teachings. That is what Paul is telling those in Colossi and us.
3. The religion of the heretics in Colossi was basically a religion of the world, (whether you agree with this or not) the world has to have religion. The world loves religion and Satan loves to give the world all kinds of religions to keep the world away from God. We’ll look at that in a few seconds.
4. He’s been doing it ever since the days of Cain. We’re not just talking about Eastern religion or Cults. No, we are even talking about what can happen to the Christian faith. It can happen very easily.
B. Remember the people in Colossi claimed Christ. They were not denying Christ; they were toppling Christ from his throne. Satan loves for you to have a religion with Jesus in it, but still keep you away from God. You might think: “Is that possible?” Absolutely! Paul says, “These religions have the appearance of religion, but they take you back to slavery.” Understand this, when Jesus died on the cross, he didn’t just condemn the sins of the world; he condemned the religions of the world as well. What we are going to do today, is deal with this a little bit.
II. What kind of things do you add to Christianity so that it turns into something that isn’t very Christian? What kind of man-made religion do you mix with Christ, so that when you’re through, Christ isn’t really who he is?
A. This is tricky because Paul is going to talk about things on the surface that doesn’t seem all that bad. He’s going to talk about festivals, Sabbaths, self-discipline and all the things he used to do. Here’s the point. What he did voluntarily, the people in Colossi were made to do as a compulsion because they were told that if you don’t do it this way, if you don’t do what we do, you’re not spiritual. Paul would never go down that road.
B. What we want to do is talk about what kind of things you add to the faith that turn it into something that is not Christian anymore. It’s going to command what God never required. It’s going to guarantee what God never promised. All these man-made religions are going to suffer from the same basic flaw and that flaw has many forms.
C. In Colossians 2:16-23 Paul lists three different man-made religions that people want to mix with Christianity.
III. The first one is our old favorite, legalism. Look what Paul says in Colossians 2:16-17 “So let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or the New Moon Festival or the Sabbath. All such things are only a shadow of things in the future; the reality is Christ.”[ para]
A. Apparently, there were people in Colossi trying to mix the Law of Moses with the Christian faith and came out with something new. Paul says, “These things are a shadow of what is to come. The reality is found in Christ.” You’ve always heard that Christianity is built on Judaism. I want to say, it is the other way around. It was always Jesus. He was always the foundation. He was always the reality. The others were just shadows of what was to come.
B. Is Paul against following God’s laws? Of course not, we follow God’s commandments. This is the crux of what Paul’s against. Paul is against making up commands God never made and then judging someone else’s spirituality on those man-made religions and rules. That’s legalism. We do it all the time. We’re always coming up with rules that you can’t find in the Bible, and then say you’re not really a good Christian, unless you do this.
C. Here’s the root problem with legalism. Who gets to make the rules? Here is another problem of legalism. Phonies can always meet external standards. They do that all the time. The problem with that is you can try to keep all the rules and do more and still know you’re not doing enough. Legalism will never give you confidence in your salvation. You do not come up with better faith by mixing legalism with Christianity.
IV. A second thing that Paul says is that people try to mix Christianity with mysticism or spiritualism as some people call it. In Colossians 2:18-19 Paul says “Let no one defraud you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19. and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase which is from God.”
A. They delight in the worship of angels. Have you noticed how popular angels and New Age religions have become lately? Do you know why?
B. If you think about it, there’s a reason for it. You see for 300 years we have lived in the Age of Reason. When Isaac Newton discovered gravity, man decided if humanity could unlock the laws of the universe, God's own laws, why could it not also discover the laws underlying all of nature and society?
C. People began to assume that through a judicious use of reason, unending progress would be possible, progress in knowledge, in technical achievement, and even in moral values would keep going. The 18th century writers believed that knowledge is not natural, but comes only from experience and observation guided by reason. Through proper education, humanity itself could be altered, its nature changed for the better.
D. A great premium was placed on the discovery of truth through the observation of nature, rather than through the study of the Bible. Do you see where the problem is coming in? They saw Christianity as the principal force that had enslaved the human mind in the past. Human aspirations, they believed, should not be centered on the next life, but rather on a means of improving this life. In other words, worldly happiness was placed before religious salvation.
E. Nothing was attacked with more intensity and ferocity than Christianity, blaming Christianity for the suppression of the free exercise of reason. Thankfully we don’t believe that as much anymore. We’ve moved on from that a little bit. We don’t believe that science and technology can fix our problems or make us morally better. Praise God for that. If anything it has made us morally worse, but that’s what we were told for the past few hundred years. We’ll just study it. We’ll take it into a lab. We’ll write a computer program that will fix it. How wrong they were.
F. The problem comes in that after we’ve decided science and technology cannot fix all our problems, we turn to spirituality and that’s why the New Age Movement is so popular right now. That’s why angels are so popular. You see angels don’t come with... baggage. The spirituality of the New Age Movement is not like Christianity because angels don’t demand anything of you. They just show up, they’re cute. They’re nice. They help you and they leave. Isn’t that wonderful?
G. We watch movies with angels in them. Movies like The Preachers Wife or Angels where a team of angels come to the rescue a children's baseball team when a young boy pleads for divine intervention. You see these types of films all the time. You read books that tell you about guardian angels and which one to approach for help.
H. Let me ask in this do we ever hear the name Jesus? You see the vanity of the human mind when it works like this? I need a mediator to help me get closer to God. But I don’t want a mediator with an old rugged cross on His back. I would rather have an angel over a crucified Jew as a means to get closer to God.
I. We live in exactly the same sort of time as the Colossians where you have all manner of mediators available to help us get close to God. Paul says that doesn’t cut it. There is only one mediator between God and man, His name is Jesus. If you have Jesus, you don’t need any thing else.
J. Besides, Paul says, “you know these people that have all these experiences in the other world and meet these angels.” He says, “They don’t know what they are talking about”. He says, “They’re making it up in their heads”.
1. I heard of a TV talk show recently discussing mediums and spiritualism. Of course there were skeptics and believers in the audience. They asked someone who exposes mediums and a “real” medium to give a reading then the audience had to decide who the fake was and who the real one was. Now, by “real” medium I mean someone who claimed this is what they did.
2. The audience voted unanimously that the fake was the real medium and that the real medium was the fraud. They make this stuff up in their heads and take people for a ride. People fall for this stuff all the time.
K. Mysticism is really just a trip in self-importance “hey look at me I’m talking to the dead.” By the way, most of us don’t need any more self-importance. We’ve got more than enough already, don’t we? In 2 Corinthians 12:1-5 [para] Paul says, “1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows. 3 And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows-- 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.”
L. He was even taken up into the third heaven and saw paradise and he can’t even talk about it. Paul says, “I will never boast about that. I will never try to impress you with how spiritual I am by telling you of the things I’ve seen.” In fact he said “What I’ll do is boast in my weakness.” You don’t improve Christianity by mixing it with legalism, mysticism or spiritualism.
V. The third thing Paul mentions is Asceticism. One definition is “severe self-discipline”. Colossians 2:20-22 (NKJV) – “20. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations 21. "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,'' 22. which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men?” Paul is saying, “You have died with Christ and are set free from the ruling spirits of the universe. Why, then, do you live as though you belonged to this world? Why do you obey such rules as "Don't handle this," "Don't taste that," "Don't touch the other"? All these refer to things which become useless once they are used; they are only human rules and teachings.”
A. Some people in Colossi are saying, “Do not handle! Do not take! Do not touch!” This seems like a strange road to Christ’s likeness to refuse the blessings that Christ has made. And yet for centuries we have tried to measure up spirituality that way. Don’t eat this, don’t eat that; don’t drink coffee; if you really want to serve God don’t marry. We’ve gone along for years and said “I’m going to measure your spirituality by what you don’t do”.
B. How many of us have grown up with an unspoken assumption in church that Christianity is not supposed to be fun? It’s supposed to be grim, and if you put up with it, long enough, you get to go to heaven and only then will you have a good time! How many people have heard that?
1. A preacher Holland found the roads blocked one winter Sunday morning and was forced to skate on the river to get to church, which he did. When he arrived the elders were horrified that their preacher had skated on the Lord’s Day. This is true by the way. After the service they held a meeting where the preacher explained that it was either skate to church or not go at all. Finally one elder asked "Did you enjoy it?" When the preacher answered, "No," the elders then decided it was all right!
2. That’s the thinking of asceticism. If you can just deny yourself and keep yourself from enjoying life then you’ll be more spiritual. It’s easier to deny the body than give up the will. You can punish your body to the limit and still have your heart filled with all kinds of wickedness. That’s what Paul is telling us. These man-made forms of religion have the appearance of wisdom.
C. Doesn’t it just seem more spiritual to keep all these rules and if you have all kinds of visions and if you deny all these things, doesn’t that seem good? Paul says, “They all have the same basic flaw.” It promotes haughtiness and vanity, man-made religion encourages spiritual competition. It really does. You start judging each other by things God never talked about.
D. “Let me tell you what I gave up.” “Well, let me tell you about all the rules I keep.” Then we start judging each other on things God never demanded, required or forbid. You see there is something innate in human nature. It’s all about being part of an exclusive club. Doesn’t matter what it is, you like to think you are in a special club really hard to get into.
E. What does that do? These people were saying you’re not full yet. We’ll give you more to make you full. This is going to fill you up. Paul says, “The only thing they’re full of is pride and the irony of pride is it’s the core of all human sinfulness.”
F. Colossians 2:23 “These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” “Such rules appear to be based on wisdom in their forced worship of angels, and false humility, and severe treatment of the body; but they have no real value in controlling physical passions.”
VI. All this man-made religion stuff really does, is promote judging. It doesn’t make the body more loving. It doesn’t make the body more unified. The only more it does is create more sin. It promotes haughtiness, vanity without promoting holiness. Look at the end again. Colossians 2:23 says, “But they have no real value in controlling physical passions.”
A. Man-made religion is morally impotent because an external approach can never change our internal bent. A yolk can change temporarily what I do, but it cannot change who I am. Colossians 1:27 [para] “God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.”
B. There is only one path to real holiness, and that is to have Christ in you. World Religions try to work from the outside in. God works from the inside out through the gift of his indwelling spirit. Galatians 5:16 “[Gal 5:16 NKJV] 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
C. Jesus said the Holy Spirit is a river of Living Water and when the Holy Spirit comes into your life, God from the inside, begins to do a work in you. Philippians 2:13 – “13. for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” That is something other religious groups can never do because they’re trying to do it from the outside in. Look at 2 Corinthians 3:17 “17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
VII. The way of God to make people spiritual is slower and more difficult than the way of man. Remember what is written in Matthew 7:14 – “14 "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
A. Man wants to take a brand new Christian and give them some rules and things to do and never do. God’s way is so much slower and more difficult. God’s way is for you to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit.
B. Which of these two ways makes people more spiritual? That’s what you have to decide this morning. The really spiritual man is not the man who gave up this or saw that, or the woman who talks to the dead, or knows Gabriel on first name terms. The really spiritual man is the man who practices love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and self-control–that is the fruit of the Spirit. There is only one way the fruit of the Spirit will take over your life and that is when you let Him lead and you walk by Him.
C. Here’s a tough question, before we finish up. Is Jesus a guest in your life, or does He live there? Jesus is just a guest when you invite Him in one day a week. He lives there when He becomes a permanent resident in your heart and you start letting Him take over. Then God starts to do a work in you and change you into the person He wants you to be.

CONCLUSION:
That’s what spirituality really is. When Jesus starts to live in your house and takes over your life; you don’t need or have room for anything more. He makes you full. The path to spirituality is to learn to live dependent on Christ. He’s the head, these other forms of religion need to be scrapped. When you stay connected to Christ you will grow stronger in your faith. He is totally capable of keeping you spiritually full. He really is your all in all.

What Paul is saying “If man-made religion is so empty, why do you still let people intimidate you?” Haven’t you had enough of these spiritual bullies? You’ve been there. You’ve had someone get in your face and try to tell you, you didn’t measure up as a Christian because you didn’t do it their way. Paul says don’t let anybody disqualify you; don’t let any anybody judge you.
How can we obey that? How can we stop being intimidated by people’s judgments?
We can easily let ourselves be intimidated by spiritual bullies.

They will tell you if you were really a Christian you would only use a King James Version of the Bible. If you were really a Christian you would only use wine for communion. If you were really a Christian you would speak in tongues. The list is always different. Some will be to the right theologically some will be to the left and some you don’t know what planet they’re on! I have heard it said that the people who suffer the most at the hands of these bullies are preachers.

The phone rings one night. The preacher picks it up. It’s the supporting congregation. “Tell me brother,” asks the caller. “What do you think of Romans 14:5?” The preacher gives him an honest answer. Then the caller says: “You had a thousand dollars a month in support; you’ve just lost that support.”

Just like that. Without any thought for the man’s well being, his family or financial commitments. That’s how fickle some bullies can be with preachers. The point is you should not let yourself get intimidated by these people. Do you know why? If you examine closely the lives of all these bullies, you begin to realize they’re not too holy either.

We need to learn to stop letting bullies intimidate us. We have given our life over to Jesus and we might not be everything God wants us to be, but we are a lot more like Christ than we used to be. We should be convinced that if we stay obsessed with and possessed by Christ we will be OK. You can judge me all you want, but what you cannot do is intimidate me.

I don’t need more than Christ to be a Spiritual man. What I need to do is to let Christ have more of me... and so do you.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.
Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon
Mike Glover