July 22, 2012
Morning Worship
Text: Colossians 2:8-10
Subject: The Fullness of Being In Christ
Title: Increase
As we move forward in our Year of the Harvest Revival I have to tell you that I am finding out more about my own faith than I ever have before. I am really being challenged in some areas and I am digging deeper into the word of God to see where this revival is going to take me personally. I cannot open the bible anymore without seeing something that is an advantage to me if I will just accept it at face value and not try to put any theological spin on it.
Sometimes I think that those who have Bible training are at a disadvantage. For those of us who have taken bible classes, we have generations of believers who have studied the original languages and the history of Bible times and they can tell us what certain passages mean and what they don’t mean. The truth is that almost every commentary that has ever been written has been written with a preconceived bias from a theological standpoint. For instance, reformed theologians will tell you that God has predestined things to happen and no amount of prayer can change God’s mind – that if something happens in your favor after you pray, it is because it was going to happen that way anyhow. Ammilenialists look at end-times scriptures from a preconceived notion that the rapture and the millennial reign of Christ are only a figment of someone’s recent imagination. Still others say that miracles and healing and the gifts of the Spirit are not for today.
Listen to me. I know that those “theologians” are a whole lot smarter than I am. I know they have years of study behind them with doctorate degrees and they have it all figured out. But they are not in a revival that proves God’s Word to be true and we are. They aren’t experiencing the manifestations of the Spirit – we are. They are relying on the knowledge – we are responding to revelation.
I have been praying, “Lord, how do we get to the place where we see more miracles, more healings, more manifestations of the Spirit?” And the answer is that if we are going to be more, do more or experience more, we have to be less. In John 3 and verse 30 we read a profound statement from John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Turn with me to Colossians 2 verse 8-10, 8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
I believe this is God’s Word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
And I appropriate it to my life today…
We are going to look at three things this morning to help us see what must happen for this revival to continue for the years to come. 1) The source of your understanding… 2) the source of your faith… 3) the source of your authority… the key to all of these is the source.
Everybody say, “I have a source… and it’s not me…”
I. THE SOURCE OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING… 8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. There is a lot in verse 8 to break down. 1) 8See to it that no one takes you captive… The word translated “take captive” or “spoil” in the KJV, means to be led away or seduced. It comes from the root word that means to be stripped… 2) … through hollow and deceptive philosophy… literally empty delusion… it sounds really good but it has no foundation in truth. For instance, Freudian psychology tells us that we do not have to take responsibility for our actions – that there is an ultimate root cause for every decision that we make, whether it is the decision to live for God or the decision to walk into a movie theater and kill 12 people. Whichever we chose it is because of the influence our parents had on us and it is not our fault. 3) …which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world… The deception that comes from human traditions is the most dangerous kind. Why? Because they deal with the temporal and with the circumstances of life and are not based on spiritual truths. Human tradition says there is no hell, no judgment, no right or wrong… Human tradition says everyone goes to heaven, God would never send anyone to hell (if there is such a place), and that all religions lead to the same place… the basic principles of this world say that it’s only wrong if you get caught and look out for number one. Matthew 24:10-11, 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Who is the source of human traditions and the principles of this world? It is the god of this world… 4) rather than on Christ… In 1212 a French shepherd boy by the name of Steven claimed that Jesus had appeared to him disguised as a pilgrim. Supposedly, Jesus instructed him to take a letter to the king of France. This poor, misguided boy told everyone about what he thought he had encountered. Before long he had gathered a large following of more than thirty thousand children who accompanied him on his pilgrimage. As Philip Schaff records it, when asked where they were going, they replied, "We go to God, and seek for the holy cross beyond the sea." They reached Marseilles, but the waves did not part and let them go through dry-shod as they expected. It was at Marseilles that tragedy occurred. The children met two men, Hugo Ferreus and William Porcus. The men claimed to be so impressed with the calling of the children that they offered to transport them across the Mediterranean in seven ships without charge. What the children didn’t know was that the two men were slave traders. The children boarded the ships and the journey began, but instead of setting sail for the Holy Land they set course for North Africa, "where they were sold as slaves in the Muslim markets that did a large business in the buying and selling of human being. Few if any returned. None ever reached the Holy Land." Two cunning men enjoyed enormous financial profits simply because they were willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands of children. Steve Farrar, Family Survival in the American Jungle, 1991, Multnomah Press, pp. 60- 61. Those poor children were not able to distinguish between the truth of God’s Word and so - called spiritual experience. It is imperative that the source of your understanding is based on the Christ of the bible and the Bible of the christ. No theologians. No commentaries. Just God’s Word and the truth contained in it.
II. THE SOURCE OF YOUR FAITH… 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form… What does that verse say? It really says that Jesus, who was raised from the dead and is still alive in bodily form seated at the right hand of the Father, is all the fullness of God – in fact we know He is God. In Christ everything that God has ordained for creation is completed. Go back to verses 6 and 7 in Colossians 2. 6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Who are you supposed to live in? In Christ! If you are in Christ you are part of the body. He is the head. Can the head and the body be separated? Can the body operate effectively without the Head? Can the Head do the work on earth without the body? Listen… This is not just an analogy meant to help you understand the church’s relationship to Christ. It is scriptural truth. Jesus cannot do anything on earth except through the body… Not that He is not powerful enough, but because God has ordained it to be so. So it is up to the church, the body of Christ, to remain in Him. He is your source. It is by faith in Him that all things on earth will be accomplished for His glory. John 15:7, 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
III. THE SOURCE OF YOUR AUTHORITY… 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority… Here is where everything has been leading us to up to this point. you have been given fullness in Christ… That is a powerful statement. Do you understand the scope of what Paul is saying here? OK so let’s back up just a little bit. Christ and His Word is the source of our understanding. He is also the source of our faith. So if we remain in Him and our faith is in Him we can ask for whatever we wish right? We have been given the fullness in Christ… So why don’t we see displays of God’s power in the church on a daily basis? I have been praying and asking the Lord this same question. The key lies in one word in verse 10 – fullness… you have been given fullness in Christ… that word “fullness” in the Greek has meaning beyond just one word… 1. to fully, completely fill 2. (literally) to cram, level up, 3. to fully supply, satisfy, execute… And I like the way the NIV says it. you have been given fullness in Christ… You have to understand this in the context of our humanness. The church has been given spiritual gifts but not everyone receives them. The church has been given the baptism in the Holy Spirit but not everyone accepts it. The church has been given spiritual power and authority over everything that the enemy has brought into the world, but does not exercise it. So what did Jesus mean when He said in John 14:11-14, 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. That authority, that power has been given to you but not many receive it. Why? Because of the word fullness . . . you have been given fullness in Christ… The church has somehow mistakenly come to believe that we can somehow obtain this fullness by reading more, praying more, having more faith… If we could only get to that point where we could increase our faith we would see more miracles. We would see God confirm His word with signs following. Here is the problem. God wants us to receive increase but there is only one way to receive that increase – I’m talking about increase in faith, in miracles, even in your finances and your personal life… the only way to receive increase with God is for you to decrease. What we try to do may seem spiritual, but we are trying to accomplish it somehow by praying, reading, believing… and it is not enough. John the Baptist understood the principle we are talking about when he said in John 3: 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less. Or He must increase and I must decrease. The only way to receive the fullness of God’s power and authority is to empty yourself and not try to earn His fullness. Paul spoke to that issue in Ephesians 5 and verse 18 when he wrote, 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. In other words, don’t try to satisfy your spiritual self with natural means. That is what the world does. We try to do that in the church as well. But there is only one way to receive that fullness that Paul wrote about to the church. The more you pour out your life to Him, the more room you make for Him to fill you to the fullness that He wants for your life.
I have talked to you today about your understanding, your faith and your authority. But the focus was not on those things coming from yourself but from you true source – Jesus.
Paul told the church in Ephesus that we are the church, the body of Christ who fills everything in every way. If we the church are ever going to experience the fullness of His promises for this life we have to become full of Him. The only way to do that is to remove our own ideas of what it means to be spiritual and just allow the Holy Spirit to fill us to His desired fullness.
1. Those who do not know Christ attempt to fill themselves with things that satisfy. We all have an innate need to find satisfaction in this life. But some will try to find that satisfaction in drugs or alcohol or some other artificial stimulant. The true satisfaction that your soul is looking for only comes from a life in Christ and that can come only by confessing that you are lost in your sin and are in need of a Savior. By confessing your sin and inviting Jesus to be the Lord of your life your spirit man comes alive with revival and you become a new creation. God is calling you to that place today.
2. For those who do know Christ God is asking you to empty yourself – to decrease – in order that He might increase in you. Have you never received the baptism in the Holy Spirit? Maybe it is because you have never been able to empty yourself before God to allow the Spirit to fill you to overflowing. Do not be drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit is a command for all the church to not just accept the initial filling, but to be filled over and over with power from on high. It is God’s plan for your life today.
3. For those who are filled and are walking with the Lord, who spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word, who desire to see the miraculous happen in this church on a regular basis, He is asking you to set your understanding and knowledge, as well as the events and circumstances of your earthly life and to just get to a place where you can trust Him and Him alone to meet every need you have.
I MUST DECREASE AND HE MUST INCREASE.
