I've tried to been thinking lately as we sing, to sing that as a prayer to God. And both of those songs that we sang tonight are really designed just for that. That's why music in the church is so great. It's truly, I think, unbelievable. We're going to look at Colossians tonight, chapter two, verses eight through 10. And those verses start out like this, see to it that no one takes you captive. Starting at verse eight and going down through verse 23 is a new section in Paul's letter. It's a section that is really a warning against false doctrine and practice. And it begins with a warning. And those words that I read to you that comprise the beginning of verse 8 is a warning. Paul meant it to be a warning to his original readers, but we need to take it in the same way. Some Christians feel, I think, rather uneasy about warnings in scripture. They're negative, and that's true. And some people might say they're unloving, but that is not the case at all. And Paul certainly would not agree with that. Warning is an important part of the gospel message. What are we saved from? The wrath of God to come. That's a warning. God's wrath is real. And the way I know that Paul is very concerned about warnings is to notice what he said when he had a chance to meet with the elders of Ephesus. In Acts 20, 29 through 31, here's what he told them, part of what he told them. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own cells will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years, I did not cease night and day to admonish everyone with tears. So Paul has taught them for three years And he uses the words night and day, but Paul knows what can happen. So this falls underneath the same category here because Paul is now addressing a church he had never been to, but he's also been informed that there were false teachers in the church. We're gonna look at three headings tonight. The first one is, see to it that no one takes you captive. That's found in verse eight. The second heading is, the Colossians should know their enemy. And the third heading is, they are to know the sufficient Christ. So let me read Colossians chapter two, verses eight through 10. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. For in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. Let's pray. Our great God, we thank you for the truth of your word. And Father, one of the essential things in preaching through a book beginning to end is we are faced with all that the author has written. And we need this because we too live in dangerous times. So I pray, Father, that you would help me to preach clearly and accurately and above all, in the unction and power of the Holy Spirit, to the end, that you would be glorified. And it's in your Son's name we pray. Amen. See to it that no one takes you captive. This is how Paul begins this section. And what he says in these verses, those who do not teach the authentic gospel are really spiritual predators. A predator wants to take over, wants to destroy. What it meant at Colossae was that the false teachers, while presenting their message as the way to spiritual liberty, would actually deprive believers of their freedom in Christ by enslaving them to a set of principles that were superficially Christian. And that can happen today. What do we need? Discernment. How does discernment come about? It comes about when the word of God is preached and taught. That's the only way it's going to come about. Because we, people need to hear not what we think, but what the word of God says. discernment. Listen to what Paul says about this in Ephesians 4.14. So that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. What do we need to hear? We need to hear the truth of the word of God. And we need to know about the Christian faith. I came across the quote by D.A. Carson. I cannot think of why any Christian would not want to study theology. Now he's a theologian. par excellence. Whether you know it or not, you are a theologian. We are all theologians. The whole question is, what kind of theologian are we? I mentioned books that I think are worthy to be read. And I mentioned one a while back that dovetails exactly with what I'm talking about tonight. Knowing what the Christian faith is all about. Not just the beginnings, but to know the breadth of it. And I recommended a book by R.C. Sproul that he wrote in 1991 called Essential Truths of the Christian Faith. Now, if you have Amazon Prime, you can get that book in paperback for $12.47. If you don't want to pay that much, there's 121 different people who are willing to sell that book to you, some as cheap as $3. new or used. Give it. The thing that I love about that book is with key doctrines, he takes from three to five pages to explain them. And then at the end, he gives this summary. And R.C. Sproul is a master of taking concepts, biblical truth, and putting them in ways that are to be understood. By the way, Bonnie still, she's had the bug or something going around here for a long time. She told me this morning, she listened to the conference, the Ligonier conference that was held March 9th through 11th. And she listened to a man called Augustus I can't remember his second name. Oh, Bartholomew, no. Anyway, Lopez. He's the head of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil. Latin America for years was involved with the health and wealth gospel. signs and wonders. He says that has changed and is changing radically. People are tired of that. They want to hear the truth of God. And there's a young man down there who has a blog And there are 250,000 people who subscribe to that. And they simply are hearing about the Reformed faith. That's what's happening. So every Christian has the responsibility of knowing the essentials of the Christian faith. I have a question at the end, and the question has to do with what I've just read to you. Are you learning the essential truths of the Christian faith? in an ever progressive manner. You see, I don't wanna be this old guy that's just hanging around, not learning. I wanna be a learner till the day I die. And I would hope, especially I'm talking to the young people, you are starting your life. I'll tell you right now, By being in varsity here at this church, you are so far ahead of me, it's pathetic how I was. I came from a Christian home, but I didn't really care about growing as a Christian to be honest with you. So, see to it that no one takes you captive because as you live your life as a Christian, you're going to run across false doctrine. You're going to run across people who want to lead you astray. And the only way that you can prevent that to happen is you have to know the book. Know the book. And that's what these helps do. The second thing is the Colossians needed to know their enemy. Listen to what Paul says again. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Paul was concerned that the believers at Colossae might be taken captive, that they would be taken captive by what he is referring to as philosophy and empty deceit. So now let's look at those two terms. What does Paul mean by philosophy? Well, philosophy, when I attended Biola College, I took philosophy. That was a class offered. This is not what Paul is talking about. He's not talking about an academic subject. He's talking about a worldview. It's how you view the world. It's a set of convictions about the meaning of life. Josephus, the Jewish historian, used it in this way when he said that the Jews in his day had three philosophies. He meant the teachings of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes. Now that last one, the Bible doesn't actually refer to, but historians refer to them. They were a group of Jewish people who were devout. They believed in carrying out the law to the nth degree. They live together. We know about the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Each of those groups had a way of looking at life. And if we think of philosophy in those terms, Christianity is a philosophy because we have a way of looking at life. And that way comes from this book. It's not randomly put together. So Christianity has a set of beliefs about God, the universe, our place as being human. And you know, the other things that Christians do They very categorically say that their philosophy is the only true philosophy. Listen to what Jesus said in John 14, six, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one, no one comes to the father except through me. And by the way, every person has a philosophy of life, whether they know it or not. They have a way of looking at life. I have a nephew that thinks that this whole world came from a big bang a long time ago. And he also thinks that when he dies, he ceases to exist. He's heard the gospel, but that's what he truly believes. Empty deceit. Paul uses philosophy in the negative sense. What about empty deceit? The false teachers were promoting something that was not true, not biblical. It was hollow. It was incorrect. It was devoid of substance. Their view made great claims, but there was really nothing to it. So here in verse 8, Paul makes some observations concerning their teaching. Here's the first observation. Their teaching was of human origin. If you're going to accept somebody's teaching based upon the fact that it's their teaching, you're going to be led astray. You see, the only reason anybody can speak with authority standing up here is because we believe this is the Word of God. And when anybody preaches, they should be preaching the Word of God, not what they think. not this or that. What does the word of God say? And that's preached. Not what I think, what does it say? Everything is based on scripture. What was happening in Colossae, the message was distorted by the the views of the false teachers. It was their views, see? And anybody who speaks of their views, you need to be suspect of it. The second reason is they had an unhealthy obsession with the hidden forces of the spiritual world. Notice Paul said, according to the elemental spirits of the world. There are things going on right now that are a part of that. Satan, demons, that's part of it. And these false teachers were emphasizing the fact that they were really experts in these areas. They could enlist. They made the boast that they could enlist angels to come and ward off dominic powers. There are people today who teach that there's demons. There's a demon for Shingle Springs. There's a demon for this. And there's a demon for that. And the list can go on and on. I'm not denying the reality of that. But here's what I'm telling on the authority of scripture. When Jesus died on the cross, Satan, he's living on borrowed time, borrowed time. And we need to rest in that. We need to rest in that. The third thing is Christ is the only true teacher. The reason why it is so important that when we come to the New Testament, I think there's such a reason that it starts out with the Gospels. those four gospels which just engulf us in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then what happens after that? You have the book of Acts, which is a transition. It's a historical book that tells what happened after Christ went back to the Father and the church started to go out and minister, and people came to know Christ. And then what follows? The Gospels and Acts, the epistles. And it's in the epistles that the epistles gives us the details of what actually happened. And this morning, During the Sunday school time, we heard from Romans that chief, I think, epistle of Paul. Christ is our teacher. So with these Christians, They are to know the sufficient Christ. And Paul has already taught them this. But the thing you find out that Paul does, he teaches, he'll drop it, but then he comes back to it again. Because we need to be reminded, and Paul does that. Listen to what he says, speaking of Christ. For in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Jesus at this present time has a resurrected body. When we see him, we will see him in that resurrected body. Then Paul goes on and you have been filled in him. Who is the head of all rule and authority? One of the things we need to realize, and I've talked about this before, is when we think of the triune God, everything that is said about God the Father is true of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They have different roles, but they're three in one. So Jesus is not a little more holier than God. No, no, no, no. Never think of it that way. Paul says it right here. For in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And we need to keep that in mind. In Jesus. Nothing of God is missing. Now I'm at the stage to where I'm going to read you the summary that J. Philip Arthur says about these verses 8, 9, and 10. This passage alerts us to the danger on one hand of falling prey to religious charlatans who argue that spiritual fullness is only to be found if we add some new insights or experiences to the simplicity that is to be found in Jesus Christ. On the other hand, it is also clear that the best way to avoid being taken in is to cultivate large, large views of the son of God, to ensure that he fills our mental and spiritual horizon, that our hearts are full of Christ. No greater blessing exists than to know the love of Jesus. To be in Christ is as good as it gets. In that case, how high is our estimate of Christ? God thinks everything of him. He sees his own glory and perfections completely and fully reflected in the face of Jesus Christ. The man who owned a whole galaxy, but did not have Christ, might as well be a pauper. While the person who has Jesus, And nothing else at all in this life has staggering wealth because he has all the fullness of Godhead. Without Jesus, nothing that you have is worth anything. With Jesus and he alone, he is more precious than mountains of gold and jewels. than all the mirrored stars and planets of the Milky Way. In the end, everything revolves around this one great issue. You may have many things, but no need is greater than your need of Christ. And until you have made Him your own by faith, there will always be a colossal piece of unfinished business waiting to be resolved. Don't delay until you can say with the Apostle John, and of his fullness, we have all received and grace for grace. You see, you hear a lot from this pulpit. We heard it this morning from Phil. about the need of coming to Christ. There were a lot of people here this morning, a lot of people. But within that group of people, we can almost say positive. There were some non-believers And that's why whoever stands up here mentions that, because it's God the Holy Spirit and only God the Holy Spirit that can open blind eyes and blind ears to the truth of the gospel. Jamie gave my wife a book to read about Bethan Lloyd-Jones. That was the wife. of Dr. Lloyd-Jones. I said before, he was my mentor. I never knew him, but his book Studies and the Sermon on the Mount changed my whole view of God and my view of the theology that I embrace now. Beth and Lloyd-Jones was actually not a believer when Dr. Lloyd-Jones married her. She came from a very strict kind of a background where they crossed all the T's and dotted all the I's the same. You know, when she became a believer, by sitting underneath the preaching of Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones early in his ministry, I got home today and that's one of the first things that she did. She came in and just started to tell me all about Beth and Lloyd-Johns. Listen. Take what you hear. Think about yourself. You can think all is well, but all may not necessarily be well. So what's the question? Are you fulfilling your responsibility to know the essentials of the Christian faith? Here's how you can do that. You can get to this church. Because at this church, the Word of God is preached. You can attend Sunday school. Sunday school is the teaching of the Word of God and things related. That's another thing that you can do. You're here on Sunday night. But there are other things that are open to you that you can You can become a learner in a greater way. You can get the book I'm recommending and just start going through it. I want to challenge you to become a lifelong learner and no time is better than the present if you aren't. And you know whether you fit that category or not. You know that. How many days did you let go by before you get into the word of God? That's one just basic clue maybe. You want to pray for me? Pray that I would keep being a lifelong learner to the day I die. I would appreciate that more than anything. Now I'm going to add some words to that, a humble lifelong learner, because some people learn the truth of scripture but they have a way of being boastful about it. That's not what I'm talking about at all. Who are we to boast about? The Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. That's what we boast about. But you see, we need to get to know Him better and deeper. We need to know the Father more. It takes work. There's no simple way here. Wouldn't it be nice if I went to bed with this laid on my forehead and all of a sudden it just went. Doesn't work that way. It just doesn't. So we're gonna take some time for reflection and then I'll pray and then we're gonna We're going to sing those hymns. I really want to thank you guys for those two songs. I think sometimes we may take that for granted here, but we have people that are very gifted that serve us so well in the area of music. And I thank God for that. Oh, give us time to reflect and then I'll close in prayer. Our Father God, I want to thank you for the truth of your word. Thank you for your goodness, Father, in seeing that we have the Word of God. It wasn't passed down orally. We have it in written form. Thank you so much for that. And then I would pray, Father, pray for myself here, for those that are here tonight, that we would be lifelong learners, that we would keep on keeping on in learning of you, that we would take delight in your word. but that, Father, we would do all of this in a very humble way, not boasting of ourselves and what we know, but using what we know to worship you better as we come to you in prayer. Thank you, Father, for your goodness to us. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.