Colossians chapter 2. I'll read the whole chapter this morning. Let us hear God's Word. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto all riches of the fullness full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. This I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words, for though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, have he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come. but the body is of Christ. But no man beguile you of your reward in the voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind, and not holding the head, from which all the body, by joints and bands having nourishment, ministereth, can knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish with the using, after the commandments of men and doctrines of men, which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship and humility and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh." That's the reading of God's holy and infallible Word. Now, this Lord's Day morning, we return again, having celebrated the Lord's Supper and looked at Isaiah 58, last Lord's Day, we have come to return again to the book of Colossians. Now, briefly, I've told you many times that Epaphras, the minister of Colossae, has come to Rome. He's informed Paul of what is taking place there. Paul dictates a letter. We realize that in verse 18 of chapter 4 of this letter when we see that Paul tells us he's now writing the last words in his own hands. So, he's dictating this letter. He's apparently dictated a letter to the church at Ephesus as well. It's very likely that the letter that he asks the Colossians to read that will come from Laodicea in chapter 4 verse 16 is that letter that first is addressed to the church at Ephesus. He apparently sends Typhicus in verse 4-7 with this letter to Colossae, to Ephesus. Likely a man named Onesimus joins him and he takes another brief letter with him to a man Philemon who was formerly Onesimus' master. Now, in this letter to the church at Colossae, Paul focuses on Christ. After the greeting, he speaks of Christ as the object of their faith, and then in verse 3 begins to speak of Him as their source, or the source of their life as well as ours. Now, we worked our way through chapter 1 in the first part of chapter 2. Thus far, Paul has stated the objective truths concerning the person and work of Christ. He's spoken of the doctrine of Christ, not only as the head of the church, but as the head of all principality and power over all of creation. And he's exhorted them to continue in this doctrine of Christ that they have already been taught by Epiphras several years before. Now, two weeks ago, we began looking at chapter 2, verses 1 through 7, and we saw that in this portion, as Paul has spoken of this doctrine positively, he's exhorted the people to continue in this teaching, but particularly at verse 6 and 7. As we have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. In other words, continue to follow the same Jesus that you and Grace years ago when this church was first planted, being rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." So we've noted already that Paul, in dealing with the church at Colossae and their unique problems, deals positively first. He encourages them about many good things that are going on. He also gives them a positive statement of the doctrine of Christ before he's now going to enter into a refutation of the heresies that are in the air in Colossae. And that's where we come this morning to consider the errors that Paul will deal with from verse 8 of chapter 2 all the way to the end of this chapter in verse 23. Now, we won't look at all these errors and all these verses today, but I will say that Paul is refuting what is called syncretism. Syncretism is the amalgamation of biblical teaching with unbiblical teaching. It's trying to combine things that are not compatible. Rome has been famous for this attempt to include pagan practices into their teachings so as to make the gospel more palatable as they sought to take their gospel, so to speak, to the nations. They would be pleased to adopt their doctrines to match whatever would be palatable to those that they're taking the teaching. We really see that even today in the seeker-sensitive movement, that same kind of amalgamation of worldly teaching with biblical teaching. But here, this syncretism comes also with an elitism. And it often does in the church. But the people at Palase that are seeking to teach this clearly are Greeks that are making much of pseudo philosophy and intellectualism. And so they come with a certain elitism. Paul is seeking to deal with that. This is, he has to deal with it in Corinth and 1 Corinthians. But as he begins to deal with this syncretism and this elitism that goes with it, He deals with four particular outcroppings of this teaching that are at least prevalent. We don't know that this is the totality of the teaching, but these are at least four things that he wants them to be dealing with. He first tells them in verses 8-10 to not be taken with empty or vain philosophy. We'll look at that this Lord's Day. Then after that, in verses 11-17, he tells them that they need to get beyond the shadow of Judaistic ceremonies. They don't need to be participating in combining false Greek philosophy with the Bible. They also need to get beyond the shadows of the Old Testament ceremonial practices. But then he goes on to say in verses 18 and 19, you've got to hold on to the head, Jesus Christ. Stop making so much of angels. Why are you seeking mediators in the angels when you have the advocate, the mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ to avail yourself of. And then in verses 20-23, Paul tells them to not submit to ordinances. He's likely dealing with asceticism of the time, a form of fundamentalism which is still very prevalent in our days. Lists of do's and don'ts. Paul wants to confront all four of these outcroppings of this false teaching in this letter. Let's look first today at verses 8 through 10 and see that Paul is bashing empty philosophy. And again, it's in this section that the theme of this epistle comes out so loud and clear. Just two Lord's days ago, as we look at verses 1 through 7, we noted verse 3, "...in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Paul says Christ is sufficient. Before he shows them the insufficiencies of all their additions, he reminds them of the sufficiency of Christ. And he's going to tell them today, and He are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power, in verse 10. He's everything. He's sufficient. And you've got everything you need in Him. You don't have to look elsewhere. is this continual message. Now, let's look first at his refutation of empty philosophy in verse 8 before we consider three reasons for his refutation in verses 9-10. First in verse 8, the refutation of empty philosophy by the Apostle Paul. Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Paul begins this section. Beware! The root word here is the word blepho. It's one of the first vocabulary words that a Greek student learns when they begin Greek. It means to look. Keep your eyes open. In other words, pay attention. Beware. Watch. You need to have your eyes open. Beware lest any man spoil you, literally lead you away as booty. Not steal from you, but steal you. You don't have to keep your eyes open for pickpockets or even spiritual pickpockets. He's saying, beware lest somebody steal you away from the church. Steal you away from the body of Christ through this teaching. Lest any man steal you through philosophy and vain deceit. Through philosophy and vain deceit, and then Paul's going to define what this vain or empty and lying or deceitful philosophy entails. It entails that which is following the tradition of men and of the world and is not consistent with the doctrines of Christ and of the Word of God. We have to realize Paul does say more than, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy. He doesn't stop the sentence there. Verse 8 doesn't stop there. So what is philosophy? The word here, philosophy, just means a system of thought. An ideology. Or what has become popular in our day, a world and life view. A certain perspective of creation and who we are and how we fit in creation. In that sense, philosophy is in bed. You see, everyone must have. A philosopher. They have a system of thought. Thomas Cartwright in his commentary says this concerning this passage, The Apostle Paul doth not take away the use of philosophy, for if it be well used, it is a good handmaid for the minister. If so be, It be not used to make a gloss and a show to the world. It was very interesting as I looked at a number of Reformed commentators on this verse. Every commentator to a man wanted to make some statement about the validity of philosophy, generically. And almost every one to a man had something similar Thomas Cartwright's statement. You see, the Puritans had picked up on the fact that philosophy, or even the law of nature, isn't wrong in itself, but it is to be, they say, a handmaid. It's not an equal. It's not a master of theology. It's not a master of the Word of God, but it can be a handmaid. It can be helpful. But it can only be helpful, he says, for ministers, but I think it would also imply for all Christians, if it's not used to make a gloss in a show of the world. If it's not being used to put on airs. If it's not promoting elitism, then there's a place to have an ideology. We do have to have a view of this world. So, what view is Paul speaking against. He's speaking against a view of the world that is vain and deceitful, that is empty. In other words, a view of the world that's based on people being enamored with that which is impressive. You see, we live in a day in a post-modern culture where style is everything. Image is nearly everything to most people. And the substance is therefore nothing. When substance matters so much more than style. Now, we'd be fools to ignore the reality of that in any sphere of life. But we need to recognize that that is the culture which we live. The culture that was trying to make inroads into the culture of the church at Colossae through some of these false teachers. Empty. Looks real impressive, but there's nothing behind it. It's just a big facade. You ever been on a movie set, children? You ever seen an old western where you see all these buildings down the road, and cowboys come in, and the bad guys come in, the stagecoach comes in? If you've ever been on one of those sets, you walk around the side, and maybe some of them have side walls, but you go in and it's empty. There's nothing there. It looks like a building, but it's only a wall. And Paul's saying that kind of philosophy is of no value. It's empty. It's deceitful. In other words, it cheats by deluding. It's deceptive. It makes all kinds of promises it cannot fulfill. Are there not all kinds of false gospels out there that make all types of promises to people that cannot be fulfilled? And has not the true gospel been tampered in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to make all kinds of promises that cannot be fulfilled. The health and wealth and prosperity gospel has infiltrated even our own church's people. Don't think it hasn't. It has. It's affected the way we think. This philosophy that's empty and deceitful is not good. Don't fall for it. Because it's after the tradition of men. I think we could apply it to secular humanism in our day. Things that men have concocted based on fundamental principles that are inconsistent with biblical principles. You see, a whole lot of false teaching can be concocted on the principle that we are just apes in trousers and dresses. That we're just a higher form of animal. It only takes a couple fundamental errors to create a whole superstructure of vain and deceitful philosophy or views of the world. You see, men can even use logical deductions, but having started from error, they will end up with error. So, secular humanism. Here in the context, I think he's dealing with a Greek philosophy of life, particularly as it's emphasized in what I mentioned in Christian Ed class, probably one of the biggest errors, fundamental errors that the Greeks made was their Platonic view and their dualistic view of the spirit and the body. And so they made much of the spirit and so they began to believe they could commit all kinds of sins in the flesh because the flesh was nothing worth considering. They had low views of it and couldn't comprehend that God would redeem the body with the soul. So they were the liberals of the day. They followed the view of the Sadducees of the Old Testament. Well, there will be no resurrection of the dead because there's nothing in the body that's worth that. But I think he's also referring to the traditions of men that he would deal with in the coming verses. Judaistic ceremonialism, angelolatry, as well as asceticism or fundamentalism. If he called Galatians 1, as he speaks of the Pharisaic philosophy that he had adopted, could say in verse 14 that he was zealous of the traditions of my fathers. He's saying, I was really caught up in what my fathers taught. And as a Pharisee, I was very committed to those things which were Judaistic, ceremonial, external, formal. So, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world. Now, here's a word we don't use very often. Rudiments. Paul will use it again in verse 20 here in the same chapter. It literally means elements or fundamentals. Kind of the ABCs of something. It's vain and deceitful because the very fundamental principles of it are defective. This very word is used in Hebrews 5.12 where we have it translated there in Hebrews, first principles. Or it could be translated elementary principles. There in Hebrews 5.12, Paul speaks of the elementary or first principles of the oracles of God. He says, Hebrews, you've been Christians long enough that you ought to have the fundamentals or the first principles there. You ought to have a catechetical knowledge of the Scriptures by now, but you ought to be able to be teaching others about the faith. But you can't yet. The call in contrast here to speaking of the first principles of the oracles of God in Hebrew speaks of the first rudiments or first principles of the world. This vain philosophy is built upon fundamental principles that are inconsistent with the Word of God. No matter how attractive this secular philosophy appears, it's not rooted in biblical, fundamental truths. Because they're rudiments or first elements of the world. Now, you remember, children, the Christian has three enemies. The world, the flesh, and the devil. And we are told that we are not to be conformed to the thinking of this world, Paul says in Romans 12, but we're to be transformed by the renewing of our minds as we feast upon the Word of God. We're to let the Word of God affect our thinking. We're not to be compressed or conformed to what the world thinks. Paul is dealing with that here, with worldly thinking. that comes out in them being enamored with Greek philosophy and particularly errors of Greek philosophy, but also being enamored with the externals of Jewish ceremonialism. Paul speaks of the Mosaic Law in Galatians 4.3 as being of the elements of the world. He said worldlings are babies and they want to play and they're impressed with the show. They're like little children and they like the externals. They're not looking for substance. And he says the ceremonial, Judaistic types of the state kind of people. They just want something different on the outside, but all they really want is something impressive on the outside. It's at the heart of formalism that has been an enemy of the church of God since the fall in whatever form it takes. Whether it's a new perspective on Paul today, or the federal vision, or liberalism of old, it's similar in that it's promoting the externals and not the internal. Rudiments of the world, Paul goes on to say, and not after Christ. It's all after men. It's built on false principles, fundamental principles, that are inconsistent with God's Word, therefore it's empty, and it's vain, and dead, and deceitful. But it's not after Christ. In other words, it's not made known to us in the Gospel. It's not consistent with what the Word teaches. You see, that's where Cartwright and the other commentators were getting at about philosophy. They're not saying that everything that men can deduce is necessarily contrary to Scripture, but some things that men concoct are. They are not after Christ. They're not consistent with the Gospel. They must be cast out. We must try everything Paul says and hold to that which is true and throw out that which is false. In other words, Paul is saying Christ is not the dominant factor in this view of world and of life. And therefore, this kind of teaching needs to be warned against. Because it's worldliness. In 1 John, John tells us what we find in the world. He says, in the world is the lust of the flesh, first. Secondly, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. That's what the world's about. Lust. Fulfilling desires of the eyes and of the flesh. It's all wrapped up in pride. Thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought. in light of who God is. It's not having a right view of God in our place in His world. And that's what this worldly philosophy that Paul's warning against was encroaching and impinging upon their thinking in. John goes on to say there in 1 John 2.16, this that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father. That's not of the Father. And therefore, it must be shunned. So, Paul tells us what they should shun and what we should shun. Vain or empty and deceptive philosophies built upon fundamental principles that are inconsistent with the Word of the living and true God. He gives us three reasons why we should and why they should in verses 9, And the first reason is found in verse 9. Because Christ is perfect in Himself. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Christ is perfect in Himself. Here in verse 9, I believe Paul is saying something synonymous with verse 3. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He's repeating Himself. He wants to make sure they get it. He speaks first of the dwelling, for in Him dwelleth. In other words, in Christ's human nature. Think of John 1.14, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Here, the eternal Son of God comes to live in flesh. We see the dwelling, we see the inhabitant. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. Now, we're not to understand that all three Persons of the Godhead are incarnate in Jesus. What we're to understand from this phrase is that none of the perfections or attributes of the divine nature are racking one iota in the Person of the Son. He is infinitely eternal. infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely just, merciful and wrathful, and I could go on and on and on, of all His perfections and attributes. None of them are lacking one iota, one little bit in the Lord Jesus Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, This is the mode in which the divine nature inhabits the human bodily, or it could be literally translated personally, or visibly and tangibly in Christ. In other words, what Paul is speaking about is not two persons of Christ, but two natures of Christ. One person, two natures, the divine and the human. In the Geneva Notes of the Bible, commenting on this verse, they say, "...by these words is shown a distinction of the natures." This word, dwelleth, notes out to us the joining together of those natures. So that God and man is one Christ. The orthodox doctrine of the person Christ is found here in verse 9. It's very interesting if you look at your confession in larger and shorter catechisms, the questions as well as the section that relate to Christ's incarnation and his personhood, all three of those sections allude to this verse as a proof text to support the orthodox position of the two natures and the one person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see the first reason, that Christ is perfect in Himself. Then Paul gives us a second reason in verse 10a. Christians are complete in Christ. Christ is perfect in Himself and Christians are complete in Him. And He are complete in Him, verse 10a. Literally, made replete, furnished, or leveled to the brim. In other words, finished. Furnished with all things necessary for godliness. Isn't that what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1.30? One of those particularly juicy, compact texts of Scripture. This is one of those passages that Whitefield preached on because there's so much of the Gospel in just a few words. where it says, but of Him, of God the Father, but of Him, of God the Father, are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Whitefield, following many other Reformed commentators on this passage, suggests that Christ is our Redeemer, and as our Redeemer, is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, because He is our Prophet, Priest, and King. He's our perfect wisdom. He's our Prophet. And Paul's going to say, because He's our Prophet, we don't need philosophical additions to our view of life. We don't need to add that which is false to that which is true. He also says Christ is our complete righteousness. If we're complete in Him, He is our righteousness as our priest. And therefore, we need no ceremonial additions. We don't need to enter back into childhood and play with the shadows of what's been fulfilled at the cross. We're post-crossed. We don't need silly pictures of the cross that were before the cross. They have a place in the Christian life, mind you. But they've been abrogated as ceremonies to be carried out in the church. And if he is sufficiently our priest and mediator, then we do not need the mediation of angels. And Paul will deal with that error of the church at Colossae. We'll see in weeks to come, though there may be few that seek mediation through angels today, there are many in Christendom who certainly want to go to the saints and Mary in particular, rather than make address directly to Christ himself. So, Christ is our perfect wisdom. He's our complete righteousness. He also is our sanctification. As our Redeemer, He's our Prophet, Priest, and King. He's our Wisdom, He's our Righteousness, He's our Sanctification. If He's our King, then it speaks against asceticism or fundamentalism. Trying to do harm to the body or to make certain rules and regulations beyond Scripture to keep ourselves holy. Paul will say, that is to no honor to the satisfying of the flesh. In other words, it really doesn't bring under the flesh. That which you think will curb your appetite, your desires, will in fact not. The other passages of Scripture even suggest it might inflame them. There might be a further temptation to give in to sinful and inordinate desires. So, Christians are complete in Christ. Christ is complete. He's full and we're complete in Him through union with Him. He is our wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification when we are united to Him through faith union. And therefore, there is no condemnation to us who are in Jesus Christ. So, Paul gives us two reasons. Because Christ is perfect in Himself and because we're complete in this perfect Christ. And lastly, in verse 10, because this Christ is head over all in ten feet. which is the head of all principality and power. Which is the head. It's interesting that the root word that this word comes from literally means to seize. So, this headship suggests lordship. It's just not a position on the org chart Jesus is Lord. He is the One that dominates. He seizes us. He seizes everything. Everything is His. It's under His control. All principalities and powers. There seems to be an allusion here particularly to angels and to the unseen world when Paul is speaking of principality and power here. We see that in verse 16 of chapter 1. We've already looked at that. And I think we have to see that it's broader than that. Paul is saying He is Lord of all. And so why should you have to go to the creation, which is part of the all that He's Lord of, to add to your faith? Why is not the Scripture sufficient for you philosophers? We need to ask ourselves the same question. Why would we turn to the philosophies of heathen and seek to incorporate them into our view of who we are and where we stand in this world before an almighty God. Think of 1 Corinthians 1, 30 and 31. Again, we read 30. But of him are ye in Christ, who is of God, made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That, Paul says, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. That's our application. If he's everything, and we're complete in him, and he is ruler over all, then let us glory in him, not in ourselves. that of our own making or the making of other mere men. But let us also apply to ourselves the principles of Romans 12, 1 and 2, where Paul, having enumerated the mercies of God in chapters 1 through 11, as he spoke of the need of righteousness and defined that righteousness and showed how Israel rejected the righteousness of God. It comes in Romans 12, 1. to speak of the life of righteousness. And says, by the mercies of God, because of the mercies of God, then give yourselves as a living sacrifice. Give yourself to the worship of God in all of your life. And Paul says that will make itself known in no longer being conformed and pressed into the image of the world. No longer allowing the world's vain and deceitful philosophy to affect your thought life and thus your words and your behaviors as well as your thoughts." He says, that's what it'll mean to serve God that way. To give yourself wholeheartedly to His worship will mean that you'll no longer give yourself to be impressed with these false teachings of the world that creep into your thinking and then creep into your words and your life. But you'll be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You'll be devoted to the Word of God. You'll want to read and digest the Word of God. You'll do so dependent upon the Spirit. You might be transformed in your thinking. You haven't been transformed in your mind to be transformed in your speech and in your behavior unto the glory of God. May it be so with us, brethren, that we give ourselves afresh to the worship of God by being transformed by our minds into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ whom we serve, our Savior and our Lord, the only beloved Son of the Father. Let us pray.