COMPLETE IN CHRIST (PART ONE)
COLOSSIANS 2:10
1. Illus. of filling one gallon jug
• Half full- how much more can it hold?
• Three quarters full- how much more can it hold?
• One gallon full- how much more can it hold? (None)
2. In this chapter, Paul is going to tell us that Christ supplies everything we need to be spiritually complete (see vs 10). Some false teachers came to town saying, “you’re a pretty good Christian. But if you want to be a real Christian, a top-drawer Christian, you’ve got to add some things to what Christ gave you.” What the Colossians didn’t realize was that trying to add to what Jesus had already given them was like trying to pour water into a bucket that is already full!
3. Before we’re too hard on these Colossians, let me say that I know many who do the same thing today. They are always seeking some secret key that will instantly make them mature in Christ, or they become rigid legalists who are convinced they are more Christlike than the non-legalist, or they go from one place to the next seeking some new religious high that will make them a better Christian.
4. Text: Paul tells the Colossians that Christ supplied everything they needed to be spiritually complete. They didn’t have to add anything to what Jesus had given them to be all God wanted them to be!
5. Today: There is nothing we can add to what Christ gives us that will make us better Christians.
6. What does Paul tell us about becoming better Christians? Three statements.
I. SECRET KNOWLEDGE WON’T MAKE YOU A BETTER CHRISTIAN
1. See
Vs 1- Not just for Colossians, but for all churches.
Vs 2-3 Using language of false teachers. They taught that there was some secret (literal meaning of mystery) knowledge God hadn’t given to the Christian church. While the NKJV is a little difficult to understand here, listen to Paul’s reply from the NIV: My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
2. Did you catch what he’s said? “The only mystery God has is Christ. In Him God has hidden all the spiritual wisdom and knowledge we need!”
3. Principle: Christians sometimes fall into the trap of believing that some secret knowledge exists out there in the world system that will make them better Christians.
4. Illus. of my singing
• Always wished I could sing. Once had a man tell me, “Tim, you’re a prison singer.” I thought he was going to say something like, “you hold your listeners captive.” Instead he said, “you’re behind a few bars and looking for the right key!”
• Some Christians are prison seekers. They are always looking for some secret key of knowledge out there that will make them better Christians. !
4. “Are you saying I shouldn’t dig in the Word or read books about my faith written by godly Christian authors?” Not at all. Vs 8b- Paul is warning against seeking knowledge that is according to the traditions of men, and that is according to the abc’s of the world (read that as superstition), and that is not according to Christ. He is not warning you against having a devotional time or reading a book by Chuck Swindoll. He is warning against seeking knowledge in places like the Book of Mormons, the Divine Principle of the Moonies, or the Tao Te Ching of eastern mysticism, or the gospel of Thomas so often quoted by the new ager.
5. Acquiring secret knowledge from these sources won’t make you a better Christian. As a matter of fact, it will probably hurt you as a Christian. Why? Because they are based on little more than the ideas of men and empty superstition!
6. Acquiring hidden knowledge won’t make you a better Christian!
II. LEGALISTIC RULE-KEEPING WON’T MAKE YOU A BETTER CHRISTIAN
1. See vs 15-16 and 20-22. (especially note regulations… in vs 20, and commandments and doctrines of men.. in vs 22) These false teachers had come up with a whole list of regulations the Colossians were to keep if they were going to be spiritual. Some came from the Jewish Law, some came from other religious systems, and some were apparently just made up on the spot! A lot of them had to do with punishing the flesh: “you can’t eat this, you can’t touch that, you can’t even be around these sorts of things!”
2. The bottom line is that these false teachers had devised a whole list of rules and regulations, and said, “if you’re going to be a good Christian you need to check these off every day!”
3. Principle: Christians sometimes fall into the trap of legalism: thinking that your ability to keep a set of man-made rules makes you spiritual!
4. Illus. of Victory Christian
• School was a ministry of Victory Independent Baptist Church.
• Couldn’t really afford a private school, but felt we had to because of area.
• Had a commencement at end of first year. Speaker was pastor of another church in the area. His sermon had about four points. Good Christian men didn’t let hair touch their ears. Good Christian women didn’t wear pants to church. Good Christian teens didn’t practice mixed swimming. Good Christians of all ages didn’t play cards or go to the theatre.
• Absolutely convinced if you couldn’t check off the items on his list, you were NOT a good Christian!
5. There is a problem with legalism. See vs 23. It makes you look good (these things indeed have the appearance of wisdom…) on the outside, but it doesn’t change things on the inside (of no value against the indulgence of the flesh…). That’s why Jesus would say that the Pharisees were like whitewashed graves. They looked pretty good on the outside, but inside were full of death and corruption!
6. Rigidly adhering to a set of manmade rules cannot make you a better Christian!
III. MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES WON’T MAKE US A BETTER CHRISTIAN
1. See vs 18. Key is meaning of worship of angels…Could mean angels were the objects of worship, or could refer to worshipping like angels worship. There was a cult in the city of Colossae that believed they could leave their bodies and ascend into the heavens to worship with the angels and to commune with God. These people would then come back to Earth, telling their disciples what they had seen.
2. They might have taken a trip, but it wasn’t to heaven! That’s why Paul says in vs 18 they were intruding into those things that he has not seen…
3. Although they walked around with this air of fake humility, they were really puffed up in their own minds. Its not hard to figure out what would happen next. “If you were really all God intended for you to be, you’d be having mystical experiences like I’m having.”
4. Principle: Sometimes Christians fall into the trap of thinking they lack some mystical experience that would make them a better Christian.
5. Illus. of Brownsville revival
• Sure many genuine changes took place.
• I had a friend who felt need to go.
• “I want all God has for me. I’ve never been so overwhelmed by presence of God that I’ve fallen on my knees and barked like a dog.”
• In so many words he was saying, “I think there is some mystical experience that will make me a better Christian.”
6. While it is true that an encounter with the living God will make us a better Christian, seeking some mystical experience for the sake of mystical experience is not!
7. Mystical experiences will not make you a better Christian.
CONCLUSION:
1. Christianity is not about keeping rules, or punishing your body, or seeking some hidden knowledge or some new mystical high. It’s about a relationship. Its about an intimate, ever deepening, life consuming relationship with Jesus Christ. A relationship governed by His Word, but a relationship nonetheless.
2. You can fill up notebook after notebook with sermon notes, have three time a day devotionals, and obey every minutiae of the Jewish dietary law, and yet not have that intimate relationship with Him that He desires.
3. Illus. of Jess Moody.
• Wrote a devotional guide to book of Joel called “A Drink at Joel’s Place.”
• Told about being humble country pastor, then busy pastor of FBC Van Nuys.
• “I woke up one day to realize I missed the sound of sandaled feet.”
4. How long has it been since you heard the sound of sandaled feet in your life?
