Let's turn to Colossians chapter 2 as we continue to go through that epistle together. So we'll start at verse 8 and we'll read through to verse 15. Colossians 2 starting at verse 8. 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 the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, in 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 trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he now 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. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And so far, the reading of the word this morning. So I was recently going through the internet and just looking at the Roman Empire and all the wars and all the battles they had fought. And of course, that empire survived for many centuries, but they had fought more than 50 wars. That's not battles, that's wars like against other empires that drawn out long battle after battle. It's an amazing amount of bloodshed and an enormous amount of lives all in the name of power and might. And no doubt the people of each empire would fear the loss of the war because it would mean enslavement and it would mean their sons going into more wars and it would mean much horrendous tragedy. And we know in this world there's still wars going on. In fact, in the Middle East, it seems to never really stop the amount of bloodshed and bombings and all those kinds of things. And we're graciously living in a free country. And yet the Bible says we're not free. We're not without war even here today. And we know that, don't we? Because the Bible says that there are two kingdoms that are warring against each other. They're diametrically opposed to each other. On the one side you have the kingdom of light, the kingdom of God, and on the other side you have the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of the devil, the prince of this world. And we only need to read the book of Revelation to know that throughout the book of Revelation you see language and images that describe war, that describe conflict. In rich apocalyptic language, we read of things like locusts unto horses prepared unto battle. We read of Armageddon. We read of the city of Babylon in which are the slain of the earth and the nations being gathered together unto war against the saints. There is no denying it. We do not live in times of peace. That final rest has not yet come. In the unseen realm, in the more terrifying reality of angels and demons, there is a fierce war raging and you and I are the pawns, our souls are at stake. And we are part of this conflict and we better not deny it. And it's striking in our days of scientific advance, and in our information age, that the one thing we see the world and our intellectual Western society denying more and more is that striking reality of the spiritual warfare. And it wasn't that way in the days of the apostle Paul. In fact, people were very aware of demonic powers and entities and angels and demons. The problem is they didn't know where to place them. And when they were outside of God's revelation, they elevated angels to the points and positions of God's. They made idols out of them and worshiped and served angels and demons rather than God himself. They twisted the view of the angelic realm and did not worship Jehovah God. In fact, they went so far as to devise all kinds of hierarchies. And in Colossians 1 16, we read about them when it talks about thrones and dominions and principalities and powers. All these different layers and hierarchies in the angelic realm, they had devised and thought of to try to understand this reality of the unseen. In our days of scientific advance, we know that droughts and wars and earthquakes can often be explained by tectonics or by climate and all these different things. But what has happened? What have we done? We have completely, our society is ruling out God's sovereign hand in all these things and have gone completely to the world of science and completely ignored the world of the angelic realm. We know that God is still sovereign and we know that angels and demons are still very active in this world. The Colossian false teachers were placing Jesus among this angelic realm and it was Paul's epistle that was written to set the record straight. In chapter 1 verse 16 we see the Apostle Paul says, Jesus made the entire realm. All the angels were made by him. In chapter one, verse 20, it says, Jesus paid the price of reconciliation and even the angelic realm will be reconciled one day. In chapter two, verse nine and 10, it says, Jesus is the God-man. He stands as deity over the angels. In chapter one, verse 13, again, it says that God the Father has taken everyone who trusts in King Jesus out of that kingdom of darkness and translated them into the kingdom of light. And now in verse 15, we get the pinnacle, the epic, the highest point of Paul's Christology as to what happened with the demonic realm and this war that's going on for our souls. And so I have four points that I want to bring up this morning. Number one, the devil's deception. The devil's deception. Number two, the devil's disaster. 3. The Devil's Doom. 4. The Devil's Defiance. The Devil's Deception, Disaster, Doom, and Defiance. So number one, the Devil's Deception. You see, because the devil revolted, he rebelled against God, the holy God of the universe who made all the angels. Think of it, that the devil would shake his puny fist and rebel against the sovereign God, and they undercut his goodness and his righteousness. And you know what? We joined in. We joined the rebellion when Adam and Eve fell into sin. The father of lies and the murderer from the beginning lured us in and Adam and Eve fell and joined in that epic rebellion. And the sin that you and I commit every day proves that we are aliens from God outside of Jesus Christ. Anybody who does not know Christ is set against God. In fact, the Bible says that everybody outside of Christ is a captive to the devil. You think of it, Ephesians 2 verse 2 says this, it says, in your times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. Notice how it puts those two together. The way you walk is according to the prince of the power of the air. The demonic ruler rules you. The Spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. 2 Timothy 2.26 says this, that the unbeliever is in the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will. Don't kid yourself if you think you can control and shake the devil's tail. There's no way. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 4 says that the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not. You see there's mind control going on. The very way the unbelievers think is controlled by the demonic realm. John Calvin said it well when he said, there is no greater darkness than the ignorance of God. And Matthew Henry adds to this, that spiritual darkness is spiritual bondage. Jesus said to the Jews of his day, you are of your father, the devil. You think of that. Your father, the devil. The idea that the devil controls this world is preposterous. to so many people. I think you're crazy. Many people will say, we don't even believe in the devil and that kind of stuff. We believe in science, in facts, in tangibles. People will say, I can do what I want to do, when I want, how I want, and nobody controls me. Others will say I'm a good person. I treat people with respect. I treat my family well. I give money to charity. Don't you dare say that I'm controlled by a devil. Outlandish to this world. But as long as the truth of God, His holiness, His majesty, His lordship is disregarded, as long as materialism is the new God, as long as self is the center of one's reality, as long as people are experimenting with all sorts of occult practices, dressing them up in new terminology, as long as people are still justifying the killing of the unborn, as long as All sorts of sexual immorality is completely fine in this world, as long as sports is your god, or fashion, or knowledge, or your work. You can't tell me that the devil doesn't control you at his will. Because if that's the way we operate, if ultimately we are in charge, then the devil is really doing a good job in people's lives. As long as God is disregarded and there is no knowledge of God anymore and we suppress the truth of God, he rules. He rules. John Nicola said it well when he said, the devil's greatest asset is the doubt people have of his existence. Isn't that true? The devil's greatest asset is the doubt of his existence. It's what we see. And so I would submit that sometimes cultures, pagan cultures in some faraway country that is worshipping an idol has more spiritual knowledge than our country here that has completely ruled it out. You got a lot longer to go here to persuade people that the realm even exists. But it does. But the question is, how does he hold people captive at his will? How does he snare them? How does he keep his deadly grip on people? 1 John 3.8 says the answer. He says this, he that commiteth sin, that's a continual tense, he that continually commits sin, is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. You see, it is sin that hurled us into his despicable kingdom, and unless sin is removed, the kingdom of darkness will triumph, it will triumph and bring every soul into hell. God cannot have a hint of unrighteousness before him ever, ever. Sin is the reason we were born into the kingdom as citizens of the kingdom of darkness. And as long as you and I are unrighteous, sinful, tainted before a holy God, we cannot be members of the kingdom of righteousness. And if that doesn't stick in our minds, if we don't understand this foundational truth, the rest will not make any sense. God cannot have a hint of unrighteousness before him. I thought of it this week. One bite of this fruit. One minute act of rebellion. There was no murder in that. There was no sexual sin in that. There was nothing against another person in that. They just took one bite from fruit. And it hauled the world into iniquity and into bondage. So holy is our God. So righteous. The rest of the tragedies of this world are the result of that one act of disobedience. For in one man, sin entered this world. And death through sin. It's crazy. Unbelievable! We really don't believe it's that extreme. We think it's a little out there. But that's what the Bible says. That's how holy our God is. And suppressing this, we're hanging on to our little kingdom of self. You see, do all your decisions revolve around you? Does what God requires of you enter into the thought process, or do you never consider it for a moment? The Bible says that every mouth must be stopped and the whole world be guilty before God. That's the beginning of grace when we see our guilt. As long as our sins aren't removed, we remain in the tight clutches of the devil and sin is His control. Because justice demands that God's punishment, that because of God's just holiness that we cannot stand before His presence. And when this segregation, this alienation happens, we continue to sin. We just snowball and it gets worse and worse. That is the devil's deception in this world as he holds us. Number two, the devil's disaster. This brings us to our text. Colossians 2.15 opens like this when it says, And having spoiled principalities and powers, the demonic realm It brings disaster to the kingdom of darkness. And now verse 15, don't forget, comes on the heels of verse 14, where it says that Jesus, through the cross, took away the ceremonial indictment that was against us in the law. All the ceremonies of the Old Testament point to our guilt, our sinfulness, and Jesus bore them on the cross and he removed them and took them out of the way, it says, nailing it to the cross. And he makes us alive by faith in Jesus Christ. Now verse 15 exalts in the decisive, unquestionable defeat of the demonic realm. And it opens up with this rare Greek word, which means to put off or to strip off. In the King James it says spoiled. Some other translations will put disarmed. There's three views that talk about what this might mean. Number one is that at the cross, Christ stripped the powers of evil that wanted him to quit. Remember the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days trying to get him to stop from completing his mission from obeying his father Constantly Jesus was under spiritual attack not to go to the cross and one view is that at the cross Jesus Spoiled he stripped from himself those demonic powers because he triumphed over them in his death the other view is is that at the cross, Christ stripped himself of his flesh, of the body of his own flesh, and so he shamed the authorities. Number three, the final view is that at the cross, the demonic forces were stripped of their power. They were disarmed. They were spoiled. So those are the three views. Stripping the powers, at the cross from influencing Jesus. Number two, at the cross Jesus stripped himself of his flesh and so shamed the authorities. And number three, the demonic forces were stripped of their power. I like the last few best. I think it makes the most sense in the context and there's three reasons why. Number one, the subject. Who's the subject of verse 15? Who's the subject of verse 14? Is it Jesus? It's God. Look back in verse 12. It says, you are buried with him in baptism, wherein you are also risen with him, with Christ. It says, through the faith of the operation of God, who raised him from the dead. And it just continues to say what God has done, what God has wrought. So it can't be that Jesus stripped from himself. No, this is what God is doing. He is stripping something else. Number two, the means is the cross of Christ. It says God is using the cross to perform this action. And number three is kind of a technical way, because whenever the related Greek word, ekduo, is used in the Greek, It's the idea of stripping clothes off of someone else. When Jesus was being led to the cross, the soldiers stripped the clothes off of his body. It was an action performed on somebody else, not on himself. And so putting it all together, I believe the scriptures here say emphatically that God disarmed or he spoiled the demonic forces of their power. at the cross of Jesus Christ. This means that at Calvary, the devil lost his ability to maintain enslaving control over everybody in his kingdom. There is a possibility for people to be freed from that captivity. And don't forget, the devil had legitimate control before this, before the death of Christ. He could always marshal our guilt before the justice throne of God. Our guilt would condemn us, every single sinner to the kingdom of unrighteousness and to utter destruction. You see, before the death of Christ, there really was no hope for you and I. There wasn't really emphatic hope for the saints of the Old Testament. They hoped in a Messiah that would come, but the devil could constantly marshal before them. They're still guilty, God. That blood of bulls and goats can't take away sin. Even Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, you name it, any of the Old Testament saints, to stand before a holy God, the devil could just say, hey, look, God, something's going wrong here. How can they be before you? Because that blood of bulls and goats didn't take it away. He covered it for a season, but ultimately it was an act of faith in a Messiah to come. But now, it says, at the cross, God disarmed the devil through His beloved Son. Where sins are atoned for, the devil has lost his leverage over our souls. In Christ, there is possibility of deliverance, and it has been secured. The devil lost his tight grip on us. And it's only when we are united by faith to Christ that that redemptive deliverance is made real for us. That the devil does not have ultimate power anymore. I hope we never forget this. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews 2 just echoes what I've been talking about so well. It talks about what Jesus has done in verse 14. It says, For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through death through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage." Again, bondage before Christ. At the death of Christ, it's delivered, and we're freed from that bondage. Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown say it so well when they say, coming to redeem mankind, Christ made himself sort of a hook to destroy the devil. He lured him in, for in it In him, in Christ, there was his humanity to attract the devourer, his divinity, his Godhead, to pierce apparent weakness. Jesus became nothing to provoke hidden power to transfix the hungry ravisher. It was precisely at the point where the devil thought he had won that Christ triumphed and decisively defeated the devil. Maybe you know someone who is in despair for their souls. Maybe you don't know where you're going when you die, which could be today. Do you feel as though no matter what you do, your selfish nature always seems to get the best of you? We have been given in Christ Jesus the disarming feat that He accomplished at the cross. Sins that previously had a death lock on us can now be defeated or are defeated when we trust in Jesus. When you unite yourself by faith to Him, that disarming power becomes your salvation. The satanic realm can't hold anyone who surrenders to King Jesus. He stands with pierced hands and a wounded side to readily receive anyone who comes to Him. Today, you can know that the devil is decisively defeated at Calvary. He cannot prosecute to hell anybody who has Jesus Christ as their advocate at their side. And do you know what happens to anyone who turns to Jesus? They are justly given a legitimate freedom from slavery. It's justice that when we turn to Christ, we are freed. And it's a lie if you hang on to sins when you're free in Christ Jesus. You have been sovereignly given citizenship in the kingdom of light when you turn by faith to Jesus Christ. That's why the devil has completely been disarmed at the cross. He has no legal control anymore. Number three, the devil's doom. You see, because the Apostle Paul didn't want to just have the Colossians think that The disarming of the devil was temporary. The disarming of the devil wasn't just for a moment, wasn't for a season. It was not like a defeated army that was defeated and then regroups, gets a couple more soldiers together, and then goes in twice as hard and with twice as much vigilance. That's not the way the battle was won. Paul adds some words here in Colossians that are decisive and that are determined. It says, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them. And that's a picture in the Roman days when a Roman general would conquer an invading army or would go out to battle. He would come back in victory and parade through the streets of Rome with his barbarian captors chained behind him. And he would lead the prominence ones through the streets of Rome. And at the end, they would behead. the prominent captors. It was decisive. It was heralding. It was in front of all of Rome, in front of all the world, that this general had defeated the invading armies. And Paul wants us to know that the victory of God over the power of the darkness was not a private defeat. It was a public matter, it was a public display, and it demonstrated ultimate, utter, and final doom for the devil. Not a hint of new rebellion, not a hint of a stronger start, an escalated army. Now what does Paul have in mind when he says it's public and triumphant? Notice in your text it says, in it Colossians 2 says he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it Now the Greek there allows for two different things that allows for him in it or in him in the cross or in Christ in the cross or in God It's an object or it's a person could be both ways. Those who argue, as our translation has it, for in it are people like the Church Fathers, many of them, John Calvin, Theodore Biza, E.D. and others. And it's no doubt that at the cross, that was the moment that the demons were stripped of their power. But I question, was the cross the public victory parade? Is that when the triumph happened? Is that when in front of everybody, God triumphed? He led his victory parade. Is that where it happened? I don't think so. I lean more to say that the text says, triumphing over them in Him, Jesus Christ. Don't forget that the subject the whole time is God. It is God who is doing the triumphant procession. It is God who leads His captors through the streets, so to speak. And it's the testimony of Scripture that the great battle was won at the cross But it was at the resurrection and at the ascension of Christ Jesus that it was announced in the corridors of heaven that Jesus rules. And it was exploded when Jesus went to the heavens and sat down at the right hand of God the Father. Here are these three verses, Romans 1, 3 and 4 says, this is the gospel concerning Jesus Christ, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, which is what happens when you win, by the resurrection from the dead. 1st Peter 3 verse 22 gets even sharper when it says Jesus who has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God angels and authorities all the demonic powers being subject made subject unto him and Then the final one please turn to Ephesians 1 Read this one together with me starting at verse 19, where it says, When He raised Him from the dead, there's the resurrection, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, there's His ascension, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world which is to come. Jesus stood triumphantly when He ascended into heaven. He had led captivity captive. He is triumphant. because he rose and he stands King Jesus in heaven. All the angels see him there with undisputable power that Jesus triumphed over the dead. Surely when we believe in Jesus Christ sitting here today, we can join in that triumph that King Jesus has brought He was crowned Lord of all that's why we sing and crown him and crown him Jesus Lord of all because he won he has won He's alive forevermore. He is risen. He is Lord That's the triumphant defeat. We have seen at the cross of Jesus Christ and at his ascension into heaven. I Don't you long to be with King Jesus in His presence, where day after day you get to delight in that victory and in that triumph that He has given us, in absolute rest. Because when war is ceased, there is rest. And now we taste that in our souls when we are united by faith to Him, because we no longer have an accuser. But then, all our hardships, every difficulty will be taken away. But then we get to number four, the devil's defiance. Because remember at the beginning of the sermon I said we are at war. So how on earth can King Jesus have triumphed this emphatically and decisively and we are still at war? But we know this is true. In fact, the Apostle Paul who wrote Colossians also wrote that we wrestle, we struggle not against flesh and blood, but precisely against these principalities and powers and these dark realities. We still wrestle them. How could it be decisive? How could it be triumphant? What's going on? That's where you and I are today. We live between that time of the triumphant ascension and between the time of Jesus' second coming. And we know all too well that war is still going on. Did you confront jealousy this week? Maybe it was a friend who has better toys than you do, or a better phone. Maybe it was someone with a nicer house, or a car, or more money. Were you jealous of somebody's vacation? Did you lash out at a family member this week in anger? Were you irritated because of what someone said? Maybe it was your husband, maybe it was your child. Do you resent your dad for his annoying habits? Did the seed of self-righteousness grow in your heart this week? then how on earth can the Bible speak of two contradicting realities, it would appear? Triumph and war. What's going on? There's one passage in the Scriptures that I just love, that puts this together so well. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation is just picturing this time between Jesus' first coming and second coming, but it starts before that. Revelation 12, And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. symbolizing God's covenant community in the Old Testament. And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and it cast them down to earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. That's the birth of King Jesus and how the devil worked through the demonic forces and through the nation of Rome and through all these people to stop Jesus from triumphing. And she brought forth a man-child who was to rule all nations with the rod of iron, an allusion to Psalm 2. And her child was caught up unto God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not. Neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And the great serpent was cast out, that old serpent, great dragon, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of the brethren is cast down which accused them. before our God day and night. That is the ascension of King Jesus. When Jesus triumphed over the grave and rose again, when the atonement was paid, the devil was booted out of heaven. He had no more place there. He couldn't accuse the saints of old and the saints of new anymore because Jesus rose. He triumphed. That's when it happened at the ascension of Jesus Christ in verse 11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their life unto death. Who cares about this world? Let goods and kindred go. This mortal life also, the body they may kill. God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. That's what happened at the cross. That's the triumph when Jesus rose. But then listen. Therefore rejoice you heavens and they that dwell therein. That's the saints that are in heaven today. And that triumph we share it in our souls. But woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea for the devil is come down unto you having great wrath. because he knoweth that his time is short. This is the days between decision day, between D-day and V-E day, victory day. And when the devil saw that he was cast onto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child, and the two women were given two wings of a great eagle, and that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away from the flood." That's the persecution of the church. And the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was rough with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. You believe in King Jesus? Is he your Lord? You will be facing this fury of the devil, because he hates King Jesus. He hates it that he was kicked out of heaven, and he knows his time is short, so he's working overtime to get your soul. He's working overtime to keep you in his clutches, to keep you from seeing the triumph of King Jesus. He does not want you there, because his time is short. And the book of Revelation talks about the end that's coming. He wants you to have a lesser view of Christ than who He really is. He wants you to burn with anger when we are hurt. He wants us to blame God when we're going through difficult times, when we've just lost our job. It's God's fault, not mine. That's the way He wants us to think. He wants us to long for the pleasures of this world. The latest video game, the fattest bank account, being the most popular kid at school or having the nicest body. That's how he works. And he's working hard for you. He wants you. And so I ask you this morning, what motivates you? The war is soon over. And Paul wants us to know that there is a sure hope in Jesus Christ, a relief from all our frustrations, all our apathy, all our selfishness. What motivates you to work towards the end? Or are you so fixated on this world? The war is not for you alone. To fight well, you must fight for others. How will you help others to focus on the victory of Jesus won at the cross? Any other focus is pointless and unsatisfying. Let's constantly urge each other to fix our gaze on the risen, triumphant King Jesus. And if you're about to give up, if you've been hurt or your faith is waning, look to the end. Remember, Jesus has won, and the devil's time is short here. I ask you, have you surrendered to King Jesus? Is he your Lord and Christ? Have you repented of your sins and committed your life to Jesus? Because I'm persuaded that when you do, you will be part of his kingdom. You will share in the triumph of Jesus and you will become more than a conqueror through him that loved us. Oh, please bow in total surrender to King Jesus before it's too late. It's Jesus who won the victory over the demonic forces. They have been triumphantly defeated in heaven. So persevere until the end. In closing, hear what Paul says, so encouraging. Romans 16 verse 20 and 21, and the God of peace shall bruise or crush Satan under your feet shortly. the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Maranatha. Even so, come Lord Jesus.