What a great promise, right?
When Christ comes,
we'll be able to enjoy the benefits
Thank you, Manuelers.
Appreciate the reminder of that song.
Imagine running,
running on a treadmill,
and your steps are relentless.
Sweat is pouring down your face.
You push the speed control higher and higher,
convinced that somehow,
the faster you run,
the better you'll perform.
Just a little faster,
just a little longer.
And finally,
finally,
you realize
that all of the effort that you've expended
is not accomplishing anything.
You're just going round and round
and round in circles.
And no matter how much effort you expend,
the ground beneath you never changes
because the treadmill goes
nowhere.
And so you're exhausted.
Not from the distance that you have run,
although the miles you put in
in that treadmill are excessive,
but you haven't really accomplished anything
because the treadmill is all about self-effort
without any progress that is accomplished.
That's where Jesus meets Nicodemus.
That's where we kind of meet Nicodemus
in our story,
the story that we find in John chapter 3.
Nicodemus has come to Jesus one night
and he wasn't a reckless sinner.
He was one of Israel's finest,
a respected teacher,
a Pharisee,
a member of the Sanhedrin,
an elite part of the ruling class in Israel,
part of that elite class of religious leaders
there in Jerusalem.
Nicodemus,
for all intents and purposes,
had arrived.
He'd accomplished.
He had fulfilled the obligation.
Yet beneath the robes of his reputation
was a man still running,
tired,
tired by the treadmill,
the treadmill of performance,
and had brought him to the very brink
of wanting to give up.
Then Jesus,
he looked into his heart.
He peered into the spaces of his heart
and he makes this definitive statement
that we find there in John chapter 3.
He says this,
Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
In that single sentence,
Jesus dismantled the illusion
of Nicodemus' self-righteousness.
In that single sentence,
Nicodemus was reduced.
Reduced to one who is performing,
but performing with absolutely no benefit.
Nicodemus,
he didn't need to run harder.
He didn't need to keep having more effort.
Nicodemus needed fundamentally a new life.
He needed a new heart.
The problem wasn't Nicodemus' effort.
The problem was Nicodemus' condition,
his nature,
his status before the Lord.
He was fundamentally flawed.
Only the Spirit of God could give him,
give Nicodemus,
what he really needed.
Not effort,
but a new birth from above.
Nicodemus' treadmill isn't unique.
It's the kind of treadmill
that all of us often find ourselves on.
It's the kind of treadmill
that leads to constant effort
and the kind of wearing out
that we find in Nicodemus' life.
In Colossae,
false teachers
were calling believers back to the treadmill.
They were calling them back to obligation.
They were calling them back to duty.
Do more.
Deny more.
Experience more.
And then you'll be more spiritual,
they would say.
But Paul would sound the alarm of the gospel
and he wants them to know,
let no one pass judgment on you.
Those are Paul's words.
Let no one pass judgment on you.
Let no one disqualify you.
Let no one drag you back into the shadows.
Into the shadows of routine.
The shadows of performance.
But rather,
understand the substance
that is available to us in Christ.
You see,
every human effort
to reach God apart from Christ
becomes a treadmill
of empty religion
in motion,
but no arrival.
No arrival.
So Paul urges
those in Colossae
to step off
the treadmill
of self-effort
and to stand
in the finished work
of Jesus Christ.
The gospel
does not say
run faster.
The gospel says
run to Jesus.
So this morning,
as we look at
this passage,
we're going to see
the benefits
of running to Jesus.
Of getting off
the treadmill
of human effort
in recognizing
all that Christ
has accomplished
for us
in his son.
There's only two points
this morning.
The first point is this.
The first is,
the verdict
has been given
so don't let anyone
pass judgment
on you.
There is a verdict.
That verdict
has been announced.
It's been given
by Christ.
So don't let anyone
pass judgment
on you.
Let no one
pass judgment
on you.
We pick up
our passage
this morning
in Colossians
chapter 2
beginning in verse 15.
It says this.
He disarmed,
speaking of Christ,
he disarmed
the rulers
and authorities
and put them
to open shame
by triumphing
over them
in him.
Therefore,
let no one
pass judgment
on you
in question
of food
and drink
or with regard
to festival
or new moon
or Sabbath.
These things
are a shadow
of that which is to come
but the substance
belongs
to Christ.
We left off
our time together
last week
and speaking
about the victory
that has been purchased
for us
in Jesus Christ.
What God has done
for us
through him.
And we saw
that Jesus
is preeminent.
That he disarmed
rulers
and authorities.
That he literally
undressed them
as it were.
He stripped them
of rank
and he made
a public spectacle
of them.
The picture
that we get
from these words
is a triumphing
commander
who is parading
those who have
been captives,
those who have
been conquered,
those who have
been humbled
through the streets
and Jesus
who reigns
is the one
who is over
them all
parading
these powers
and putting them
to open shame,
public shame.
Of course,
he did this
in demonstration.
It says,
of the fullness
of deity
that dwelled
in him bodily.
That component
of Christ,
that fullness
of who he was,
his deity
just shone through.
And that's why
Paul says,
don't let anyone
pass judgment
on you.
This Greek word
is the word
judgment.
It's this legal
standing,
this decision
that's been made.
Why don't let
anyone pass
judgment on you?
Well, because
the verdict
has been passed.
The verdict
has been given.
The announcement,
the judgment
has been carried
by Christ.
Going all the way
back to verse 10,
we see the things
that Christ
has accomplished.
He says,
you're complete
in him.
Then he says,
you were circumcised
in him,
which is a picture
of this new covenant
relationship,
what Christ has
accomplished
for the sake
of his church.
He says,
you were buried
with him.
There was a death
that happened
in Christ.
We died
to the old
way of life.
We were buried.
But we were also
made alive with him.
He didn't just
leave us
in our death,
but he allowed
us to enjoy
the benefits
of that newness
of life.
You were forgiven
in him.
That debt
was canceled.
You are triumphant
in him,
he says.
All of these
conditions
that are
pronounced
over the believer
who has faith
in Christ
because of
the work
that Christ
has accomplished,
this victorious
work on our
behalf.
So,
let no one
pass judgment
on you.
Don't let anyone
pass judgment
because that
verdict has
already been
announced by
Christ.
You're forgiven.
There's peace.
There can be
relationship.
There can be
fellowship with
God through
his son,
Jesus Christ.
All that has
been accomplished
for us in
him.
Paul will
continue to
declare this
truth in
Galatians
chapter 3
verses 23
to 25
where he
says,
Now before
faith has
come,
we were
held captive
under the
law,
imprisoned
until the
coming faith
would be
revealed.
So then,
the law
was our
guardian
until Christ
came.
In order
that we
might be
justified
by faith.
But now,
faith has
come.
We are
no longer
under the
law,
but under
a guardian.
All of
these
descriptions
that the
apostle Paul
is using
is to
describe the
condition
that we
had before
we believed,
before we
were people
of faith.
There was
an obligation
that we
had to
the law,
to the
moral demands
of that
law,
and because
of those
moral demands,
we were
enslaved.
We were
bound.
The
apostle Paul
says we
were under
guard by
the law.
But now
because of
Christ and
because of
faith,
there's been
a release.
There's
freedom that
we enjoy.
You are
in Christ,
and so
you're no
longer under
this law.
You're no
longer under
this master.
There is
freedom that
we enjoy,
but it's
not a
freedom without
a law,
per se.
It's a
freedom that
binds us
to love,
to Christ.
Paul was
not an
antinomian,
as it
were.
Paul was
not one
that was
against the
law.
It was
that the
law had
been fulfilled,
and so
because the
obligations of
that law
had been
fulfilled in
Christ,
now there
is a new
condition that's
on our
hearts.
It's a
law of
faith.
It's a
law of
love.
This
ritual
pointed to
this picture,
this picture
of Christ.
Paul continues,
he says,
in verse
15,
16,
he says,
therefore,
let no one
pass judgment
on you
with regard
to food
or drink
or with
regard to
festivals
or new
moons
or Sabbaths.
These are
a shadow
of the things
to come,
but the
substance
belongs to
Christ.
All of
those who
were under
the law,
all of
those who
were under
that old
covenant
condition
sought to
meet the
conditions of
that law
by their
own power.
Conditions
that the
apostle Paul
spells out
when he
talks about
food and
drink,
when he
talks about
new moons
and festivals
and Sabbaths.
Certainly
there were
conditions
that bound
the hearts
and lives
of those
who were
under
that moral
obligation
of the
law.
Those
clean
and unclean
foods that
they were
allowed to
partake of
if they were
clean and
were supposed
to put
away if
it was
unclean.
The detail
of those
foods and
the number
of them,
it's an
extensive
list.
Pigs and
camels and
badgers that
they were
unallowed to
eat.
rabbits and
sea creatures,
those whose
fins in
scales,
eels and
shrimps and
lobsters,
they were
forbidden to
eat.
All of the
intricacies of
the law,
it's almost
too difficult
to even
sort out.
It was all
a result of
the condition
of the
burden of
that law.
And partly,
God had a
standard to
draw attention
to his
holiness.
God had
built those
standards to
draw attention
to his
character.
He was a
holy God.
And there
were foods
that were
against his
nature.
God wanted
them to be
distinct.
He didn't
want them to
participate in
the pagan
rituals that
were entrenched
in that day.
there was
food and
drink,
but also
festivals.
All these
festivals,
Passovers,
that they
had to
fulfill.
Day of
Atonement,
the Feast of
Booze,
the Feast of
Weeks,
the laws of
feast and
new moons,
every new
moon that
came,
every Sabbath
practice.
And even
there were
entire years,
the Sabbath
year,
they had to
fulfill and
put away work
for an entire
year.
All of these
were just a
shadow of
the substance.
All of these
were rituals to
perform.
All of these
were burdens
to carry.
But Jesus
came to give
freedom.
Jesus came to
give life.
Jesus came to
fulfill the
obligations of
those burdens
So the people
would be free.
Particularly as
it relates to
the Sabbath.
The Apostle
Paul,
as we know,
we find back
in the law
in Exodus
chapter 20,
we find,
remember the
Sabbath day
to keep it
holy.
Six days you
shall labor
and do your
work,
but the
seventh day
is the
Sabbath to
the Lord,
your God.
On it you
shall not do
any work,
or your
female servant,
or your son,
or your daughter,
or your
livestock,
or the
sojourner who
is within
your gate.
For in
six days the
Lord made
them and
rested on
the seventh
day.
Then,
therefore,
the Lord God
blessed the
Sabbath day
and made it
holy.
We find this
principle of
rest that's
built in to
the law.
This principle
of rest that
actually even
goes back to
the pattern of
rest that's built
right into
creation.
That in six
days work was
to take place
and on the
seventh day there
was to be rest.
this timeless
principle,
this rhythm
of work
and rest
was meant
to be the
cadence by
which those
who lived
according to
God would
follow.
But it was
a yoke.
It was a yoke
that the
Apostle Paul
draws attention
to.
And Paul
will say
in Colossians,
he'll say,
don't let
anyone pass
judgment on
you with
regard to
Sabbaths.
Why?
Well,
because as
Paul will
say,
these are
just a
shadow.
These are
not the
substance.
This is
not the
observance
that God
came to
fulfill.
These
observances
were just
the shadow,
a symbol,
not the
reality,
the outline,
but not the
actual image.
They were
not meant
to be
permanently
binding,
but to
direct the
attention of
those who
followed them
fixed,
this fixed
standard of
Christ to
help them
understand that
Christ was
the end of
the law.
Christ was
the fulfillment
of the law,
not the
duty of
carrying these
burdens on
their own.
Just like the
blood of the
bulls and
goats,
they were not
the once for
all sacrifice
that was
needed.
Not the
repeated
sacrifices over
and over
again,
but recognizing
this picture
of Christ,
that Christ
came to
complete,
to complete
and fulfill
the law.
So,
the shadow
had become
substance.
The gray
had become
this brilliant
color.
And that's
why Paul
will say,
don't fall
back into
the weak
and basic
principles.
You find in
Galatians
chapter 4,
verse 9,
now you
have come
to know
God,
or rather
have been
known by
God,
how can
you turn
back again
to the
weak and
worthless
elementary
principles
of the
world,
whose slaves
you want
to become
once more?
You
observe
days and
months and
seasons and
years.
I'm afraid
that I may
have labored
over you
in vain.
These things
have been
fulfilled,
the obligations
have been
met,
Christ has
come.
We find in
Hebrews chapter
10,
it says,
for sins
the law
has,
excuse me,
for sins
the law
has but
a shadow
of the good
things to
come,
instead of
the true
form of
the realities.
It can
never,
by the
same
sacrifice
that are
continually
offered
every year
make perfect
those who
draw near.
Otherwise,
would they
not have
ceased
to be
offered
since the
worshiper
having once
been cleansed
would no
longer have
been conscious
of his
sins?
If Christ
has cleansed
you,
then why do
you continue
to offer
sacrifices?
That cleansing
has happened,
it's happened
through Christ,
and so
there's no
longer a
need for
us to
continue
to sacrifice
as we
find in
the Old
Testament
law.
So what
do we
make of
this Sabbath
principle?
In Matthew
chapter 12
verses 5
to 8,
Jesus
says,
have you
not read
in the
law
how the
Sabbath,
the priests
in the
temple
profane,
the Sabbath
and are
guiltless?
I tell
you,
something
greater
than the
temple
is here.
And if
you have
known
what this
means,
I desire
mercy
and not
sacrifice,
you would
not have
condemned
the guiltless,
for the
Son of
Man is
Lord of
the
Sabbath.
Jesus
draws
attention
to the
power of
the Savior,
the power
of Christ
himself,
that he
is the
Lord of
the
Sabbath,
that he
is the
one who
has fulfilled
the Sabbath
obligations,
and he
is the
one who
now offers
rest to
those who
are in
Christ.
As Jesus
will say,
my yoke
is easy,
my burden
is light,
enjoy the
rest that I
have to give
to you.
So Jesus
fulfilled the
obligation of
the Sabbath,
Jesus fulfilled
the obligation of
those new
moons and
rituals and
feast days,
and because
he's fulfilled
it, the
verdict has
been written.
That
verdict is
that you
are forgiven,
that you
are righteous,
that you
are one
who is
enjoying the
benefits of
all that
Christ has
come to
accomplish.
So not
only has the
verdict been
given, so
we don't need
to pass
judgment,
we come
also to
recognize your
bondage has
been removed,
so don't
let anyone
disqualify
you.
Your bondage
has been
removed.
Don't be
disqualified.
Verse 18
of chapter 2
says,
let no one
disqualify you
insisting on
asceticism,
on worship of
angels,
going on in
detail about
visions puffed
up without
reason by his
sensuous mind
and not holding
fast to the
head, from
whom the whole
body, nourished
and knit
together,
through its
joints and
ligaments,
grows with
a growth
that is
from God.
Don't be
disqualified.
Don't be
those who
run the
race and
run it in
a way that
will ultimately
lead for your
disqualification.
This word to
disqualify is
to deprive.
It's to
encroach upon
another's
interest.
It really
has the idea
of condemnation.
Don't run in
such a way that
you're going to
be disqualified
or condemned.
Make sure
you're playing
by the rules,
the Apostle
Paul would
say.
There's an
illustration of
one who is
an ultra
marathoner.
This ultra
marathoner who
ran this
50 mile race
back in
2023.
And they
were one of
the top
performers.
They were
able to finish
in third
place.
And in
April of
2023, this
47-year-old
Scottish woman,
ultra marathoner,
she was able
to finish
third overall.
And her
recorded time
was seven
hours, which
was an
incredible
accomplishment.
Seven hours
for 50 miles
and worth of
race.
However, when
the officials
reviewed her
GPS tracker,
they noticed
something impossible
had happened.
In the middle
of the race,
somehow, for
two and a
half miles,
she had run
35 miles an
hour.
Of course, she
had ridden in a
car to accomplish
that objective.
And in order to
kind of get ahead
and actually maybe
even get back to
the place that
she had been,
she ended up
riding in this
car for two
and a half miles
so that she could
get back to the
spot in the
race.
Of course, she
admitted later on
to her cheating.
And of course, as
a result of her
cheating, she was
disqualified.
Disqualified and
actually banned for
12 months that
following year.
The Apostle Paul
will direct our
attention to the
same kinds of
consequences when
he says for us
not to be
disqualified.
2 Timothy 2
verse 5 says,
Are you competing
according to the
rules?
Paul will also
say in 1 Corinthians
chapter 9 verses
24 to 26, he
says this,
Do you not know
that in a race
all runners run
but only one
will receive the
prize?
So run that you
may obtain it.
Every athlete
exercises self-control
in all things.
They do it to
receive a perishable
wreath but we
an imperishable.
So I do not run
aimlessly.
I do not box as
one who beats
the air.
The Apostle Paul
describes this
race that he was
in and a race that
all of us are in
but we need to run
this race in a way
that is according
to the rules.
And Paul will
use different
ways to describe
the false
teachers and how
they were trying
to run through
self-effort.
We find first
they were insisting
on asceticism
and asceticism
is simply
the condition
of treating
yourself in a
way that is bad
so that somehow
you will be able
to attain
spirituality.
This desire
of humility
and lowliness.
This treating
your body
or treating
yourself,
depriving yourself
of pleasures
in order to
attain some
level of
spirituality.
They were also
worshiping angels.
This worship
of angels
seemed to dominate
their attention
instead of
worship of God.
They were those
who relied on
visions.
It says they
go on in
detail about
what has been
seen.
They wanted to
boast about
their experiences
of all the
special extra
visions that
they had been
able to partake
in rather than
depending on
the revelation
of God through
his word.
They were also
puffed up without
reason by their
sensuous mind.
These individuals
who seemed to
boast in their
accomplishments.
They boast in
their spirituality
but it was all
counterfeit
because they
weren't holding
fast to the
head.
They weren't
those who were
depending on the
work of Christ
alone.
They pursued
special experiences.
They wanted
all of these
wonderful
revelations
Christians.
But instead
of it leading
them to
God,
it led them
away from
God.
It led them
into bondage.
You see,
healthy churches,
healthy people
are those who
will follow
what we find in
Colossians 2
verses 1 and 2.
I want you to
know,
he says,
how great a
struggle I have
for you and
for those in
Laodicea who
have not seen
me face to
face,
that their
hearts may be
encouraged,
being knit
together in
love to reach
all the riches
of the full
assurance and
understanding and
the knowledge of
God's mystery which
is Christ.
That's what God
has to offer.
That's what the
Apostle Paul in
Colossians 2 is
talking about.
These hearts that
are knit together,
this refreshment,
this health,
this vitality
that's taking
place,
this unity among
God's people,
this working
together that is
happening.
As the Apostle
Paul will say in
Ephesians 4
verses 15,
he says,
rather speaking the
truth in love,
we are to grow up
in every way into
him who is the
head into Christ,
from whom the
whole body joined
and held together
by every joint
which is equipped
when each part is
working properly
makes the body
grow so that it
builds itself up
in love.
Love is the way
you can tell a
church is healthy.
It loves the Lord
Jesus Christ.
It loves and has
affection for others
in that love for
one another does
something.
It leads to some
energy, some effort
on their part but
it's that effort
that's motivated by
a heart of love
for God and love
for one another.
It results in
unity.
It results in a
church that's held
together in growing,
a church that's
actively working out
the things that it's
been called to.
It's not the church
that we find in
Colossians chapter 2
verse 20.
It says if we, if
with Christ you
died to the
elemental spirits
of the world,
why, why as if
you were still
living in the
world, do you
still submit to
its rules and
regulations?
Do not handle,
do not taste,
do not touch,
referring to all
things that perish
as they are being
used according to
human precepts,
according to
teaching.
These things have
indeed the
appearance of
wisdom in
promoting self-made
religion and
asceticism and
severity to the
body but they
are of no value
in stopping the
indulgence of the
flesh.
All this human
effort, all of
this innate
desire, this
energy that we
expend to try to
put away those
fleshly desires
that we have and
we find that
only Christ can
come and remove
those fleshly
desires.
Only Christ is
the one who has
been able to
destroy the works
of the devil.
Only Christ is
the one who has
allowed us to
experience the
freedom that
comes as he
is killed, he's
put to death
our flesh and
made us alive in
the spirit.
So as we
think about what
Christ has
accomplished, as
we understand that
the verdict has
been written, as
we seek as
those who don't
want to be
disqualified, we
remember what
Christ has
accomplished for
us and we
remember the
wonder of his
work and we
praise him.
let me pray.
Lord, I thank
you for what you
have done in
Christ Jesus.
Lord, I thank
you for
forgiveness of
sins and
cleansing.
I thank you,
Lord, for the
death of our
sinful flesh,
that you've
made us alive
in Christ
because of your
spirit.
And Lord, I
pray that you
would help us
to walk in
that newness of
life.
Not bound by
human traditions,
not bound by
the obligations of
the law, but
free.
Free because in
Christ you have
accomplished it
all.
But of course
that freedom
doesn't mean that
we live any way
that we want
to.
That freedom
compels us because
of love for Christ
to live in a way
that's pleasing to
you.
And so I pray
that you would
help us,
Father, to live
in that very
way.
That you would
be glorified.
That you would
triumph.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.