WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.860 Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you that he came to earth. Thank you that he lived a sinless 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:12.339 life. Thank you for his miracles. Thank you for his teaching. Thank you, Father, that he had 00:00:12.339 --> 00:00:17.940 disciples, that he taught them so that his teaching would continue. Thank you for his death upon the 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:23.960 cross. Thank you, Father, that he tasted all there is to taste of death with nothing left over. Thank 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:29.640 you, Father, for his mighty resurrection, for his defeat of death, his defeat of the sin which 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:35.719 causes death and his defeat of all hostile spiritual powers in his resurrection. Father, 00:00:36.160 --> 00:00:41.980 make us disciples of Jesus, gripped by the gospel, learning to live for your glory and not our own. 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:46.400 And this we ask in Jesus's name. Amen. Please be seated. 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:56.799 So a couple of weeks ago, I walked to a coffee shop with a friend and we bought our coffee and then 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:01.559 we went and sat down. And the very first thing he said to me is, did you notice that that woman was 00:01:01.559 --> 00:01:08.840 wearing a talisman or an amulet to ward off the evil eye? And I said, I have to confess, I didn't 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:15.439 notice it at all. He said, yeah. And then we had a bit of a conversation about it. It was just then a 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:21.679 couple of days later that the National Post, one of the legacy news outlets that I read, 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:29.420 it had a fairly long article by a young woman who's one of the style editors, believe it or not. 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:39.480 And she talked about how the resurgence of magic and spells and crystals and things like that 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:46.320 amongst young professional women in Toronto, the types of people, types of young women who've 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:52.639 graduated from good universities with good law degrees, work in good law firms, or are chartered 00:01:52.639 --> 00:01:58.759 accountants working in top chartered accountant firms on Bay Street in Toronto. And the article 00:01:58.759 --> 00:02:05.859 was about, in fact, a smudging ceremony whereby her new apartment was cleansed. And I think it was 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:11.299 the auras were balanced. And she just talked about the resurgence of interest in this. 00:02:11.300 --> 00:02:18.640 Believe it or not, the Bible, I mean, so somebody say, why on earth is George talking about stuff 00:02:18.640 --> 00:02:24.100 like this? It's Easter Sunday. We should be talking about Easter stuff. Well, I mean, it is Easter Sunday. 00:02:24.480 --> 00:02:30.720 We do remember today, Christians remember how Jesus died upon the cross, and he really truly died on the 00:02:30.720 --> 00:02:35.600 cross. In fact, it's one of the things that even the most skeptical scholars today would accept that 00:02:35.600 --> 00:02:41.160 Jesus died on the cross. And we remember how the disciples fled, how basically everybody 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:47.919 thought he'd stay dead. We remember how he was in the tomb for three days, and how on the third day, 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:56.060 we remember how angel rolled away the stone, people found the tomb empty, how the body of Jesus has 00:02:56.060 --> 00:03:01.979 never been found, never produced, and how on this day, the beginning of this day, there began to be 00:03:01.979 --> 00:03:07.300 witnesses that not only the reason that the tomb was empty was that Jesus had risen from the dead. 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:15.420 And that's what we do remember today. And this story has a great relevance to our current interest 00:03:15.420 --> 00:03:23.300 in our culture, to things like magic, spelt with a K, and spirits, and astrology, and seances. It has, 00:03:23.460 --> 00:03:29.460 in fact, a profound and important meaning to this. In fact, I don't know if you knew this, but basically, 00:03:29.460 --> 00:03:36.740 every religion in the world has problems or has a significant number of adherents who are worried about 00:03:36.740 --> 00:03:44.500 demons. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, it's a very, very major thing amongst many Muslims to be concerned 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:50.520 about demons, and of course, paganism. And so the Easter story actually has an awful lot to say about 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:55.480 it, and we're going to look at it by Paul in Colossians chapter 2. So it'd be a great help for 00:03:55.480 --> 00:04:01.040 me if you got a Bible. Colossians chapter 2, we're going to begin reading at verse 6. Verse 6, and if you 00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:05.340 don't have a Bible, there's some Bibles up here at the front. I will not be at all offended if you get up 00:04:05.340 --> 00:04:11.300 out of your seat and go to get a Bible so you can follow along for yourself. And the book of Colossians 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:18.100 was originally a letter. It was a letter from a man by the name of Paul to a church in Colossae. 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:25.240 He'd never been there. It came about as a result of his ministry in a place called Ephesus, which is 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:33.060 in Turkey, what we now call Turkey. And basically, a person that became a follower of Jesus, a pagan who 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:39.959 had become a follower of Jesus through Paul's ministry in Ephesus, went and planted this church in 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:47.939 Colossae. And that's where Paul is writing to. And it's about, depending how you count, 25 to 30 years after 00:04:47.939 --> 00:04:51.959 the death and resurrection of Jesus. Anyway, here's how it goes. Verse 6, 00:04:51.959 --> 00:05:00.180 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, where it also can mean as Lord. In the original 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:05.159 language, it can be either the or as. Both are valid translations. That's why some of your 00:05:05.159 --> 00:05:11.879 translations might say as and some the. In other words, he means it both ways. He carefully chose a 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:18.319 phrase that could mean either the Lord or as Lord. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:25.819 so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, 00:05:26.339 --> 00:05:31.120 abounding in thanksgiving. Now, just sort of a time out here moment, just before we get into the stuff 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:36.180 about demons, because this doesn't, at least at first, look like it touched much about spirits and 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:43.240 magic and astrology and seances. A lot of people think that when the book of Colossians was written, 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:51.699 these two sentences were Paul's point of the whole book, that the stuff that goes before and the stuff 00:05:51.699 --> 00:06:02.600 that goes after are all explaining this very, very short little pithy saying. And that it's, 00:06:02.699 --> 00:06:07.759 in a sense, like the center of a wheel, and all of the spokes come down from there, and all of the 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:12.560 spokes go up from there. And we're going to return to it at the end of the sermon. But for now, 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:16.040 I just wanted to point that out, like when you look at the structure of the book, that's probably 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:21.000 the function of this, these two verses. It's sort of explaining the whole point of the book 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:27.939 in a very, very short bit. But then in verse 8, he goes on, and this is where it's relevant to us 00:06:27.939 --> 00:06:39.279 in terms of spirits and amulets and smudging ceremonies and astrology and casting spells. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.579 Look what he says in verse 8. 00:06:44.119 --> 00:06:51.399 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:56.919 tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 00:06:57.619 --> 00:07:01.219 Now just pause. I'm going to read that again. For some of us, this is a very, very troubling text. 00:07:01.220 --> 00:07:07.280 Is Paul here saying that Christians, that all of you folks who go to a secular university, 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:11.320 that you shouldn't be going to a secular university, you shouldn't be studying philosophy, 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:17.180 like human thought, that it's all just coming from elemental spirits? Is he saying that back 00:07:17.180 --> 00:07:22.000 in his day that nobody should have read Aristotle or Plato or Socrates, that it was all wrong? 00:07:22.100 --> 00:07:26.300 Is that what he's saying? It sounds like that a little bit. And I can just imagine some of my 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:31.759 friends in coffee shops, if I was to read this verse to them, they'd pounce on this. In fact, 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:36.480 in terms of how Christians are anti-intellectual, they're opposed to the mind, they're afraid of 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:41.319 thinking, they're afraid of new ideas. Is this what Paul is saying? That Christians should live in 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:47.160 fear of new ideas? Let's just read it again. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:52.920 and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:58.199 and not according to Christ. Well, first of all, if you just, if you read the New Testament, 00:07:58.840 --> 00:08:10.020 you'll see that that Paul quotes Greek poets. And so if he quotes, if he knows Greek poets well 00:08:10.020 --> 00:08:14.700 enough to quote them, then he's probably not saying that you should just not know what Greeks had to 00:08:14.700 --> 00:08:19.700 say. And in fact, you might not know this unless you've studied it. One of the big struggles often, 00:08:19.699 --> 00:08:26.219 there are big debates within New Testament studies. And I virtually never referenced this in my sermons. 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:31.599 But if you go back and look at academic commentaries, in many academic commentaries, 00:08:31.860 --> 00:08:39.580 they go on and on and on for pages. Many trees have been cut down because of all of the different 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:47.480 parallels and connections of that New Testament letter or gospel with pagan mythology and pagan thought. 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:52.680 And on the other side, there are people who tend to emphasize all of the different ways that the 00:08:52.680 --> 00:08:58.759 letters and the gospels are connected to Old Testament thought. And there can be a big debate, 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:04.279 actually, amongst academics as to whether it's more reflecting the thought and the practices in 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:08.500 the pagan world or in the Old Testament world. The reason I'm just, and you just sort of have to take me 00:09:08.500 --> 00:09:14.500 on faith on this, the fact is, it shows that all of the writers were deeply aware of pagan thought. 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:21.279 Whether or not the commentators are correct that it goes back to it, it shows that they're very, 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:28.820 they're knowledgeable of it. So what's going on is that in this verse, there's, it has a phrase in it, 00:09:28.860 --> 00:09:35.240 which is almost impossible to translate into English and make it good grammar. So they take it away. 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:41.060 But he's not talking about philosophies. He's talking about the philosophy. The definite 00:09:41.060 --> 00:09:47.000 article is there before the word philosophy. And what he's talking about is that there is a movement 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:51.940 within Colossi, and he's probably thinking of a particular thing, and they've brought to the church 00:09:51.940 --> 00:10:00.019 the philosophy. And unless the church gets in tune and in step with the philosophy, then they're missing 00:10:00.019 --> 00:10:03.539 out. They're not going to be as true. They're not going to be as effective. They're not going to be as 00:10:03.539 --> 00:10:09.539 successful. They're not going to be as culturally relevant. The Christian faith, the gospel, 00:10:10.179 --> 00:10:17.480 the Bible needs the insight. If I go, if I, maybe if I, anyway, needs the insights of the philosophy. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:23.719 And if you think about it for a second, what that, that insight or that problem is something 00:10:23.719 --> 00:10:29.899 that's always been with the church. I mean, you know, one of the things which is, is become, 00:10:29.899 --> 00:10:38.620 we've become aware of looking back in, in earlier days is that often the patriarchy and a patriarchal 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:43.480 way of looking at the world, that it, it just often, it just, it, it, it just brings itself into 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:49.259 the Christian faith in such a way that the, it's almost as if the faith has to fit in with certain 00:10:49.259 --> 00:10:55.779 patriarchal or monarchical forms of thought. But in, in, when I was in university a long, long time ago, 00:10:55.779 --> 00:11:00.299 the, the idea would have been that unless, unless the Christian faith got in tune with Marxism, 00:11:01.339 --> 00:11:05.799 it wasn't going to be relevant or effective in the world. Or in other parts, there was this whole 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:10.699 view that sort of everything is all about science. And there were, was this thought that unless the 00:11:10.699 --> 00:11:15.839 Bible is, is it tuned with a particular understanding of science, the Bible is going to be meaningless. 00:11:15.939 --> 00:11:20.360 It's going to be ineffective. In our days, it's queer studies and transgender studies, isn't it? 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:27.320 I don't mean to offend anybody here, but I'm just saying that there's this constant pressure on the 00:11:27.320 --> 00:11:32.720 church. What is the philosophy today? Well, the philosophy is that unless we get in tune with the 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:39.759 insights of transgender studies, cultural studies, queer studies, certain understandings of feminist 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:45.639 studies, then while the Bible sort of, it's irrelevant, it's incomplete, it's, it's just not very helpful. 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:51.740 So, so actually what Paul is pointing out here is a problem in the church where there is this sense 00:11:51.740 --> 00:12:00.620 that's come in of, you need to be in tune with the philosophy. And, and Paul here, he doesn't mince 00:12:00.620 --> 00:12:05.899 words. The Bible here doesn't mince words. In fact, now that some of you know this, it might make you even 00:12:05.899 --> 00:12:12.220 more anxious about what Paul says. Look at it again in verse eight. See to it that no one takes you 00:12:12.220 --> 00:12:17.759 captive, captive. And actually the image there is of plunder. It's as if pirates or something have 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:22.660 taken your ship and they don't not only have taken it, the ship captive, they're plundering 00:12:22.660 --> 00:12:29.139 the ship. They're plundering you as they make you a captive. See to it that no one takes you captive, 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:38.259 plunders you by the philosophy, which is characterized by empty deceit. At best, it's a human tradition, 00:12:38.259 --> 00:12:44.639 or it might be according to the elemental spirits of the world, but not according to Christ. 00:12:45.700 --> 00:12:52.259 Now, this word elemental spirits is a reference to what Christians in other places call demons. 00:12:53.620 --> 00:12:59.439 As I said, some of you now are going to be very, very, maybe anxious about this. In fact, is this an 00:12:59.439 --> 00:13:06.559 example of Paul demonizing his opponents? That you don't have to deal with them or address them. You can 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:12.519 just call them demonic and then you can just write them off. That, by the way, is a human problem. It's 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:17.759 one of the problems which is happening in universities right now. A major problem in universities is that 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:26.179 if you have a speaker who doesn't agree with what a particular group has to say, it's sort of culturally 00:13:26.179 --> 00:13:32.779 allowed to just call them names and to yell at the top of your voice, to shut them up, to threaten 00:13:32.779 --> 00:13:36.860 violence. It's a human problem. It's not a Christian problem. It's a human problem. But is that what Paul is doing 00:13:36.860 --> 00:13:41.519 here? Well, actually, if you read through the entire book of Colossians, and even as we go through these next few 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:47.360 verses, you'll see that, no, Paul doesn't shout at them and yell at them and call them names to shut them up. 00:13:48.139 --> 00:13:52.559 He engages them in discussion and shows where they're wrong. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:14:03.179 He shows why they're wrong. Why this whole idea of the need of Jesus' gospel needing the philosophy 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:11.000 to actually be relevant or to have greater value is just completely and utterly mistaken. But he does 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:21.979 also say that, in fact, it is often elemental spirits that are behind the entire movement. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:29.439 So here's the thing, and it's a little bit hard for many of us when we read the Bible to notice this 00:14:29.439 --> 00:14:35.099 because we're looking for certain words. We're looking for the word demon or unclean spirit, but the 00:14:35.099 --> 00:14:43.079 Bible has a variety of ways to refer to such spirits. In fact, in this text which Jeremiah read and which 00:14:43.079 --> 00:14:51.739 we're going to look at, three times it references demons. Verse 8, where it says, 00:14:51.740 --> 00:14:59.220 elemental spirits. Verse 10, where it says, who is the head of all rule and authority. Rule and 00:14:59.220 --> 00:15:06.080 authority there are another way of referring to demons. And then if you go down to verse 15, 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:13.320 he disarmed the rulers and authorities. That's disarming demons. That, in fact, the way the Bible 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:19.879 here describes these unclean spirits is as elemental spirits, rulers, or authorities. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:28.060 So just, we need to pause here for a second. This is very, very important for us to understand what's 00:15:28.060 --> 00:15:36.720 going on. If you could put up the first point. The Bible here is making a claim that human beings are 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:47.160 not alone. Invisible beings do exist and they do influence human beings. So in a sense, like I could 00:15:47.160 --> 00:15:53.420 just imagine, what would Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens, if he was still alive, what would they say 00:15:53.420 --> 00:16:01.300 about that National Post article about young women doing smudging and casting spells? Well, if you're at 00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:08.599 all familiar with Christopher Hitchens' writings, he would mock them mercilessly. But on this particular 00:16:08.599 --> 00:16:17.240 one, Christians are with the young women. Christians are with the young women. That invisible beings do 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:25.000 exist. And they do influence human affairs. Now, I might want to ask them, if I was in a conversation 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.299 with them, how on earth, given that you believe in evolution, can you believe that these spirits, 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:38.220 that it's completely, it's completely utterly nonsensical to have, to believe in something like 00:16:38.220 --> 00:16:42.779 evolution and to believe in the spirits, like it doesn't make any sense that your thoughts are 00:16:42.779 --> 00:16:46.980 incoherent. I'd probably want to say that to them. But at the end of the day, I would say they are 00:16:46.980 --> 00:16:52.200 correct. We would agree with them that they are correct. But on the other hand, 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:58.180 we'd want to say something else. In fact, actually, isn't it interesting, those who have friends, 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:04.039 and maybe some of you are involved in this, that in fact, usually when in the world of, 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:08.340 is this just me that keeps figuring out what you're doing? 00:17:08.580 --> 00:17:15.980 Is it on? Okay, this, I haven't done this in a while. Now I can pretend I'm a more classic 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:22.620 evangelical Billy Graham style preacher. I can hold on to this. You can just imagine that it's 00:17:22.620 --> 00:17:29.019 not a table that we've taken from the bar to put drinks on, that it's a pulpit. And in John 00:17:29.019 --> 00:17:34.839 Stott's famous church, it's, I think it had on the pulpit, he had written on it, Lord, may we see 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:39.839 Jesus or something like that. So I'm looking at that when I'm not looking at my notes and looking at you. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:47.299 I just can't wander, which is going to be really hard for me. But anyway, those of you who remember 00:17:47.299 --> 00:17:52.639 when we used to own a church building, I used to speak in the pulpit, and I couldn't move around. 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:58.299 I used to describe it to my Baptist friends that it was like the ultimate fighter cage. 00:17:58.899 --> 00:18:06.039 You were all narrowly in there. And I'd compensate for not being able to walk by waving my arms around 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:12.839 a lot and doing pointing motions like this. So I'll see if it reemerges where I start doing lots 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:19.960 of this sort of like, I don't know, jumping jacks, sort of with my arms, because I get going. 00:18:20.460 --> 00:18:24.659 Where was I? Oh, yes. Okay. If you're familiar at all with any of the literature, or maybe if you've 00:18:24.659 --> 00:18:31.279 been involved in some of the current practices of magic with a K and astrology, how is it that they 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:36.500 often talk about this and why it's so superior to the Christian faith? They'll talk about things, 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:42.759 how they'll talk about elemental spirits. They'll talk about the goddess Gaia or Gaia and how, 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:49.180 and how, in fact, such practices going back is far older than Christianity. Like, why should you 00:18:49.180 --> 00:18:55.079 listen to Jesus? Because we're in touch with something which is older, which is not just white 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:59.539 and male, even though Jesus wasn't really white, even though it's just not white and male and all 00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:05.339 about patriarchal power, that it's somehow connected to the elemental stuff. The very, very, it's 00:19:05.339 --> 00:19:10.680 earthy, it's grounded, it is the elemental spirits. And they'll talk about how they want to get in touch 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:15.299 with rulers and authorities, because if you get in touch with the right type of authorities, then you 00:19:15.299 --> 00:19:21.259 can cast the evil eye, you can do these spells, you can affect things. In fact, the language which 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:27.140 the Bible uses here is, in fact, surprisingly contemporary. It's the way people talk. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:35.079 So if the first point is that Christians actually agree with these young women that there are, in 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:41.019 fact, human beings are not alone. Invisible beings do exist, and they do actually influence human 00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:47.140 beings. I mean, that's what this text is saying here. On one level, people are upset about it, 00:19:47.140 --> 00:19:50.759 but on one, and maybe the young woman in the article would be upset about it, but on the other hand, 00:19:50.780 --> 00:19:55.560 you have to say, one moment here, you cast spells because you think it'll make you more prosperous, 00:19:55.680 --> 00:20:01.860 it'll affect things. So why is it, like, the Bible here is just saying the same thing you're saying, 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:09.480 isn't it? That it might be that whenever the philosophy comes against the, you know, comes into a church, 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:16.220 that Paul's saying that it probably has elemental spirits behind. But here's the place where 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:22.059 Christians are going to really disagree with women, these young women, and where, if you're here 00:20:22.059 --> 00:20:28.660 involved in it, here's the biblical warning, if you could put it up next. To become more powerful, 00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:37.100 people seek spirits, in quote marks. But spirits are really demons, and they will only hurt you. 00:20:37.099 --> 00:20:47.719 Here's where Christians part company with the article in the National Post and all that it represents. 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:55.799 And with the person wearing whatever it was to keep off the evil eye and whatever set of beliefs 00:20:55.799 --> 00:21:01.240 went along with that, is that, in fact, the Bible teaches, in fact, it teaches even here that to become 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:05.579 more powerful people, people seek spirits, elemental spirits, rulers and authorities. 00:21:06.779 --> 00:21:10.980 We believe that somehow or another we can get in touch with them and that we can control them and 00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:16.779 we can use them. But the Bible says that you think you're using them, but they only want to capture 00:21:16.779 --> 00:21:22.819 and plunder you. They will only ultimately make you feel more anxious, more afraid. 00:21:22.819 --> 00:21:32.899 They will only cause you grief. Because they are not just elemental spirits and rulers or authorities, 00:21:32.899 --> 00:21:37.419 that the other biblical language of unclean spirits or demons is, in fact, true. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:42.579 That, in fact, the Bible rejects any difference between white magic and black magic. 00:21:42.579 --> 00:21:52.960 So if you look at this verse again, verse 8, the whole point of this, look how he talks now about it. 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:57.799 He says, see to it that no one takes you captive, plunders you, because it's that double image 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:04.679 in the original language by the philosophy, which is really just empty. In other words, it has no power. 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:18.840 And it's deceitful. It misleads you. And that it's at best human, but it's really according to elemental spirits. 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:23.799 And it's not according to Christ. Paul is, in a sense, the Bible here has thrown down the gauntlet. 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:32.299 Try to be very, very clear, a very clear word of warning to people, you know, as said in native cultures, 00:22:32.299 --> 00:22:40.079 I mean, First Nations cultures, it's part of their religions in Hinduism and Buddhism, in Islam, 00:22:41.019 --> 00:22:47.099 many people in Christendom. It's a very, very deep warning. 00:22:48.099 --> 00:22:51.899 Now, some of you might say, okay, George, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, time out here. 00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:56.000 That's a very, very quick move, George. You're really good at moving things around really quickly. 00:22:56.220 --> 00:23:00.519 You know, follow the, you know, where's the bean? You move things around really quickly. 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:04.480 Like, George, Christianity is just another the philosophy. 00:23:07.740 --> 00:23:12.400 Like, you've just done a little fast one on us here, you know, but what's the difference between 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:16.639 these other things and Christianity? Like, it's just another the philosophy. 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:19.960 That's all you're saying, George. Is it why? Just a matter of power? 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:24.180 Is it just because, I don't know, you think yours is right and you must be right? 00:23:24.180 --> 00:23:27.240 Is that what's going on? Not at all. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:31.320 In fact, it's a really, really good question. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:35.519 You know, because in fact, if you read the New Testament, 00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:39.400 and this is a very hard thing for people to get their minds around, 00:23:39.539 --> 00:23:42.460 especially because we come in a Christendom context, 00:23:42.460 --> 00:23:48.380 is that, and I have a hard time convincing my, when I have conversations around this with people, 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:52.960 but actually the greatest critique of religion is found in the New Testament. 00:23:55.079 --> 00:23:59.100 The greatest critique of religion and spirituality is found in the New Testament, 00:23:59.100 --> 00:24:03.120 because at the heart of the New Testament is not a claim that it is the philosophy. 00:24:03.819 --> 00:24:07.400 The heart of the New Testament is not religion or spirituality, 00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:10.300 which is just different types of ideas and advice. 00:24:10.540 --> 00:24:13.680 At the heart of the Christian message is that it's news. 00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:17.280 It's news. 00:24:18.860 --> 00:24:25.240 In a sense, you could put up on one side all the religions and philosophies and spiritualities, 00:24:25.560 --> 00:24:28.880 and on one side, on the other side, you have the Christian faith, 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:33.800 which is ultimately a proclamation of something that God has done. 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:39.279 It's a sharing of news and the consequences that come from that news. 00:24:40.139 --> 00:24:42.059 That's the very, very first thing. 00:24:42.639 --> 00:24:45.579 It's not just a claim that somehow this is the philosophy. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:49.299 It's news, something that news of what God has done, 00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:57.399 breaking into human affairs in a way which can have the most profound effect on this side of the grave 00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:06.800 and for all eternity for those who hear the news and respond as God hopes that you will respond to that news. 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:10.480 It's news, not advice. 00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:14.259 And we'll see some of what that news is in the very next verses. 00:25:14.460 --> 00:25:14.960 Look at it. 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:15.560 Verse 9. 00:25:15.660 --> 00:25:17.100 We've spent a long time on verse 8. 00:25:17.180 --> 00:25:17.519 That's good. 00:25:17.620 --> 00:25:20.160 Sometimes it's important to spend a long time on one verse. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:24.740 But remember I said Paul doesn't just sort of diss elemental spirits. 00:25:24.860 --> 00:25:30.259 He starts to explain the news and what the news means in terms of the philosophy. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:35.340 And one of the things that he mentions right off the bat in verse 9 is an astounding piece of news. 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:36.660 And it's news. 00:25:37.620 --> 00:25:40.180 It's a claim of something that God has done. 00:25:40.620 --> 00:25:45.980 It's not a claim that Paul has had a sophisticated type of philosophical insight 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:47.840 or that he's had a mystical experience. 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:49.519 It's news. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:50.859 And what is that news? 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:56.059 For in him, Jesus, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:01.299 He's saying to the people in Colossae, if you could go back in time. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:06.599 Paul himself is maybe even saying, you know, maybe I saw the odd glimpse of Jesus or I heard about it. 00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:11.660 I wish I could have gone and looked at him and spent some time listening to him before he died and rose again. 00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:13.799 Because when you saw Jesus, you saw God. 00:26:14.980 --> 00:26:18.839 The fullness of deity dwelling bodily. 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:22.039 Well, why should anybody believe this? 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:25.319 Well, we're going to get to this in a moment. 00:26:25.480 --> 00:26:27.879 If I forget, yell it out and ask me. 00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:29.279 But it's news. 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:30.559 Look at verse 10. 00:26:30.980 --> 00:26:32.000 Continuing with the news. 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:33.440 Well, verse 9 and then verse 10. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:52.220 Now, when it says here, the head here, it doesn't mean as if, I don't know, like, I think maybe there's a couple of people here who own their own companies. 00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:53.940 In a sense, they're the head of the company. 00:26:53.940 --> 00:26:55.019 It doesn't mean head like that. 00:26:55.079 --> 00:27:00.400 It's a metaphor for having authority over. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:06.500 So it's very, very relevant for those who believe in elemental spirits and rulers and authorities. 00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:10.539 The Bible here is saying, I just want to give you this news. 00:27:10.539 --> 00:27:15.940 And the news is that God, the Son of God, took a body. 00:27:15.940 --> 00:27:22.420 And when you saw Jesus, you saw the second person of the Trinity bodily, fully God. 00:27:22.860 --> 00:27:39.160 And as fully God, he ultimately is over and has authority over whatever you think of elemental spirits and whatever rulers and authorities, whatever spirits you want to call rulers and authorities, that over them, truly over them, is Jesus. 00:27:39.160 --> 00:27:44.640 Because he's God and God is over all invisible and visible beings. 00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:50.620 And as well as that, he's going to say that, you know what, you don't need. 00:27:51.860 --> 00:28:04.320 The part of the news is that since God has broken into our created order, that he has come into our order, whatever filling you need. 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:11.279 How can you get anything more than that, what you get from the only true and living God who's created and sustained all things? 00:28:13.139 --> 00:28:15.179 But the news continues in verse 11. 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:18.099 And this is going to be a bit of an odd verse. 00:28:18.339 --> 00:28:19.839 It has to be puzzled over. 00:28:21.139 --> 00:28:22.419 It's not a hard verse. 00:28:22.500 --> 00:28:23.539 It's a very clear verse. 00:28:23.679 --> 00:28:31.779 But, you know, we're so just used to an Instagram world and Bible light that we don't often catch these symbols and stuff like that. 00:28:31.779 --> 00:28:43.119 And for many of us, it's just it's a long journey in reading the Bible to start to become comfortable with these types of metaphors and images and references that Paul uses when he speaks. 00:28:43.119 --> 00:29:05.259 But in verse 11, in him also, in him also, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. 00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:07.119 A very, very dense sentence. 00:29:07.239 --> 00:29:08.259 Let's just break it apart. 00:29:08.259 --> 00:29:14.299 If you're at all familiar with the Old Testament, if you've read it many, many times, one of the constant claims in the Old Testament. 00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:21.019 So, first of all, the circumcision was a cutting of something from a male's private parts. 00:29:21.500 --> 00:29:27.079 And it was a symbol that you were part of the covenant with God through Moses. 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:35.740 And the constant claim in the Old Testament by the prophets is that God would circumcise our hearts. 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:39.240 The command center of who we are. 00:29:39.240 --> 00:30:00.460 And what Paul is saying here is that Paul is saying that whole Old Testament longing that God, by his Holy Spirit, would, in a sense, cut our hearts, the command center, that he would cut us at a personal level in such a way that we would be changed. 00:30:00.779 --> 00:30:02.500 That that's what happens with Jesus. 00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:08.099 I'm going to have to leave the mic if I... 00:30:08.099 --> 00:30:08.980 I'll be right back. 00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:14.359 Hopefully I won't get stuck by a thorn. 00:30:17.859 --> 00:30:19.059 This is a cut flower. 00:30:19.799 --> 00:30:24.240 In fact, actually, one of the things I'm going to announce is when the service is over, we have no use for these roses. 00:30:24.420 --> 00:30:27.180 I want to invite people to take a rose home. 00:30:28.359 --> 00:30:28.980 It's serious. 00:30:29.099 --> 00:30:30.980 Just after the service, come and take a rose. 00:30:30.980 --> 00:30:34.039 And everything else. 00:30:35.360 --> 00:30:38.120 You can take the glass jars as well if you really want. 00:30:38.259 --> 00:30:39.640 We bought them at the dollar store. 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:40.980 But here's the thing. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:42.620 This is a cut flower. 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:43.620 Right? 00:30:44.220 --> 00:30:45.440 It looks really beautiful. 00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:51.920 And I was just saying to somebody at the 8 o'clock service, I don't know, maybe it was lilies or whatever we used to get, Easter flowers. 00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:53.380 I hated the smell of them. 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:58.000 And it used to be when we had a church building, the whole back would be filled with these flowers. 00:30:58.120 --> 00:30:59.339 I hated the smell of them. 00:30:59.339 --> 00:31:00.959 It ruined Easter for me. 00:31:01.139 --> 00:31:02.439 True confessions now. 00:31:03.259 --> 00:31:05.539 Roses smell nice, at least to me. 00:31:05.899 --> 00:31:07.159 But this is a cut flower. 00:31:07.899 --> 00:31:09.279 So what is Paul saying here? 00:31:09.699 --> 00:31:11.559 Paul is saying here in verse 11, 00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:13.839 In him also you were circumcised. 00:31:13.939 --> 00:31:14.740 This is the news. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:21.859 You were circumcised with a circumcision made without hand by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ. 00:31:21.859 --> 00:31:31.919 It's saying that one of the news is, is that when you put your faith and trust in Jesus, the flesh here refers to that part of the human being, which is in rebellion against God. 00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:39.460 And what the Bible is saying here is that when you put your faith and trust in Jesus, your flesh, that part of you in rebellion against God, it still exists. 00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:40.539 It still has a smell. 00:31:40.860 --> 00:31:42.920 It definitely does not smell like a rose. 00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:44.860 But it's now a cut flower. 00:31:44.859 --> 00:31:50.139 It's now a cut flower. 00:31:51.659 --> 00:31:57.719 When you put your faith and trust in Jesus and he comes in, we're going to see that in the very next image. 00:31:58.599 --> 00:32:01.379 He really, there's an identification of Christ with you. 00:32:01.500 --> 00:32:04.339 He really takes you in his arms and holds you. 00:32:04.339 --> 00:32:09.159 And that part of you in rebellion against him, it now becomes a cut flower. 00:32:09.259 --> 00:32:09.879 He's cut it. 00:32:10.879 --> 00:32:11.859 It's going to wither. 00:32:21.059 --> 00:32:22.859 And it's really, here's another thing. 00:32:22.859 --> 00:32:33.539 I don't want to, you know, we, here's the other thing which is so cool is Paul, Paul connects circumcision with baptism. 00:32:34.699 --> 00:32:42.859 In other words, for those of us of Anglican or Presbyterian or Lutheran backgrounds, this is a text that is one of the texts which justifies infant baptism. 00:32:46.419 --> 00:32:47.539 I don't want to get into it. 00:32:47.539 --> 00:32:51.720 I hope I haven't lost you Baptist and Pentecostal and Methodist types by saying that. 00:32:51.720 --> 00:33:05.720 But by connecting circumcision, which is done to infants, to baptism, it's in fact one of the many verses in the Bible whereby biblical Anglicans and Presbyterians believe that the baptism of infants is valid. 00:33:06.460 --> 00:33:07.559 In fact, I'll explain that in a moment. 00:33:07.640 --> 00:33:08.160 Look at verse 12. 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:24.200 OK, so what this text is saying is that the baptism symbolism symbolizes something. 00:33:24.200 --> 00:33:30.319 And baptism, one of the senses of baptism is it's an image of a ship that sinks. 00:33:31.019 --> 00:33:35.500 And when the ship sinks, it's, I mean, this is real immersion, okay? 00:33:35.840 --> 00:33:39.920 When the ship sinks, it means that water is everywhere. 00:33:40.180 --> 00:33:43.120 It's a complete and utter immersion to the point of death. 00:33:43.559 --> 00:33:48.720 And what the Bible text is saying is it's not that the ritual of baptism somehow does this because you need faith. 00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:54.980 But when you put your faith and trust in Jesus, when you put your hand out to him that he will be your savior and your Lord, 00:33:55.519 --> 00:33:59.680 my arm isn't long enough to reach Jesus, but his arm is long enough to reach me. 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:02.480 And I reach out for Jesus. He reaches out for me. 00:34:02.539 --> 00:34:05.000 He takes my hand and my hand. 00:34:05.079 --> 00:34:09.900 There will be many times when my flesh, my rebellion against God means that my hand goes like this. 00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:14.220 In fact, I might even be trying to pull away, but Jesus's hand never lets go of me. 00:34:14.219 --> 00:34:20.739 And my identification with Jesus is so complete, as we're going to see in a moment, that when Jesus dies, in a sense, 00:34:20.819 --> 00:34:25.419 even though it's passed in time, it's my death that he dies and I die with him. 00:34:25.459 --> 00:34:30.379 And when he is raised, it is my resurrection, even though I still have to wait for that in the future. 00:34:30.480 --> 00:34:33.699 But in the present time, I have the new life living within me. 00:34:34.039 --> 00:34:41.279 And by the way, this is why when Luther and Calvin say that when you have doubts, think of your baptism. 00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:44.700 They're not saying because baptism saves you. 00:34:45.200 --> 00:34:48.200 What are they saying? What is symbolized in infant baptism? 00:34:49.200 --> 00:34:51.460 The baby does nothing. 00:34:53.640 --> 00:34:59.019 You don't baptize a baby because it's innocent and beautiful and cute, although they are all those things. 00:34:59.940 --> 00:35:01.640 The baby does nothing. 00:35:02.380 --> 00:35:03.900 The parents bring the baby. 00:35:03.900 --> 00:35:13.720 The priest pours the water or the other lay person pours the water, symbolizing complete and utter immersion, or if you're Eastern Orthodox, actually immersing the baby. 00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:18.200 The baby does nothing in salvation. 00:35:18.579 --> 00:35:21.340 How much do you or I do to warrant salvation? 00:35:22.039 --> 00:35:22.539 Nothing. 00:35:24.300 --> 00:35:24.900 Nothing. 00:35:26.500 --> 00:35:28.280 God makes me alive. 00:35:29.019 --> 00:35:31.260 God is the one who connects me to Jesus. 00:35:31.260 --> 00:35:34.420 God is the one who raises me with Jesus. 00:35:34.900 --> 00:35:38.620 God is the one who transfers me from death to life in Jesus. 00:35:39.080 --> 00:35:40.260 God does it all. 00:35:41.560 --> 00:35:46.600 And that's why Calvin and Luther said, when you have doubts, think of your baptism. 00:35:47.620 --> 00:35:48.440 You did nothing. 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:51.400 It's a beautiful image. 00:35:53.840 --> 00:35:55.580 It's a beautiful image. 00:35:55.579 --> 00:36:00.319 And that continues on. 00:36:00.440 --> 00:36:01.699 I'm sorry, I'm getting carried away. 00:36:01.799 --> 00:36:03.179 The time is just flying. 00:36:03.319 --> 00:36:03.980 How is it flying? 00:36:04.219 --> 00:36:05.880 I hope I haven't put you all to sleep. 00:36:06.539 --> 00:36:07.179 Look at this. 00:36:07.279 --> 00:36:07.960 Verse 13. 00:36:08.099 --> 00:36:10.460 Remember what I said about how, who is it who does all of this? 00:36:10.519 --> 00:36:11.480 It's God who does it. 00:36:11.559 --> 00:36:12.199 Verse 13. 00:36:12.679 --> 00:36:13.659 This is the news. 00:36:13.940 --> 00:36:14.860 What is the news? 00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:17.460 You try to make yourself right with God. 00:36:18.360 --> 00:36:19.460 You can do nothing. 00:36:19.460 --> 00:36:25.800 You think that playing with rulers and authorities and elemental spirits that you will have power. 00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:28.720 They will only plunder you and hurt you. 00:36:29.960 --> 00:36:32.340 You need to call out to God to have mercy. 00:36:32.460 --> 00:36:34.480 And if you call out to have mercy, God listened. 00:36:35.280 --> 00:36:37.400 And he sent his son to die upon the cross. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:38.720 Look at verse 13. 00:36:38.940 --> 00:36:39.760 This is the news. 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:42.800 And you who were dead, a corpse. 00:36:43.240 --> 00:36:46.280 Think of a body in a funeral home. 00:36:48.080 --> 00:36:53.320 And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. 00:36:53.780 --> 00:36:59.260 Because the sinful nature and rebellions against God was a rooted plan, not a cut flower. 00:36:59.600 --> 00:37:00.300 What happens? 00:37:00.300 --> 00:37:08.400 God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. 00:37:08.920 --> 00:37:11.000 All our trespasses. 00:37:11.400 --> 00:37:13.820 George, how on earth can you possibly say that? 00:37:14.080 --> 00:37:15.720 And Paul continues on with the image. 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:16.640 What is the image? 00:37:17.340 --> 00:37:23.940 Because God canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. 00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:28.240 This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 00:37:28.239 --> 00:37:33.099 Over there you can see a picture of Jesus dying upon the cross. 00:37:34.139 --> 00:37:35.539 Actually, I forgot to put up one of my... 00:37:35.539 --> 00:37:36.859 We'll get my point points in a moment. 00:37:37.459 --> 00:37:38.659 And you'll notice that little... 00:37:38.659 --> 00:37:40.799 Like it looks like an I, an N, an R, and an I. 00:37:40.959 --> 00:37:43.839 And what Paul is referring to, which all of his readers would have understood, 00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:48.500 because crucifixion was a common means of torture and death by the Romans. 00:37:50.359 --> 00:37:52.719 Practiced in modern days by ISIS. 00:37:53.479 --> 00:37:54.219 It's returned. 00:37:54.979 --> 00:37:55.279 ISIL. 00:37:55.280 --> 00:38:02.400 And in the Roman custom, they put the principal charge that the person was found guilty of 00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:05.360 over the person who was being crucified and died. 00:38:05.460 --> 00:38:06.780 And what Paul is saying is this. 00:38:07.360 --> 00:38:08.320 He's saying George. 00:38:08.420 --> 00:38:09.240 He's saying Don. 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:10.160 He's saying Louise. 00:38:10.500 --> 00:38:13.700 He's saying, you know, he's saying Fred or Sally. 00:38:14.519 --> 00:38:16.519 What you need to understand is this. 00:38:17.019 --> 00:38:19.560 Jesus was the sinless lamb of God. 00:38:20.100 --> 00:38:21.760 He lived a life of perfect obedience. 00:38:22.240 --> 00:38:24.540 He did not die for his own sins. 00:38:24.539 --> 00:38:24.619 Yes. 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:27.279 He, in my place condemned, he stood. 00:38:27.460 --> 00:38:29.360 In your place condemned, he stood. 00:38:30.199 --> 00:38:33.759 And what you have to understand is for a second, take away that charge. 00:38:33.880 --> 00:38:35.219 Behold the king of the Jews. 00:38:36.019 --> 00:38:39.199 And every single thing that you have ever done wrong. 00:38:39.320 --> 00:38:43.400 And everything that you should have done that you didn't do, which is another way of doing wrong, 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:44.559 by not doing anything. 00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:51.659 And everything that you've ever done and the consequences that should have happened and the justice that should be meted out to you. 00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:53.119 You could make a list. 00:38:53.340 --> 00:38:55.279 And in your case, we couldn't put it up in one sign. 00:38:55.340 --> 00:38:56.759 We'd need memory sticks, right? 00:38:56.840 --> 00:38:57.219 Wouldn't we? 00:38:57.219 --> 00:39:02.379 Some of us would need a bushel basket of memory sticks. 00:39:02.380 --> 00:39:07.039 And every single thing, I've seen all of them. 00:39:07.260 --> 00:39:08.440 I've missed nothing. 00:39:09.140 --> 00:39:10.460 I've seen your thoughts. 00:39:10.619 --> 00:39:12.340 I've seen what you think when you're driving. 00:39:12.340 --> 00:39:18.840 That's like maybe a hundred offenses right there by the time we get home for some of us. 00:39:20.260 --> 00:39:21.100 News for you. 00:39:21.480 --> 00:39:23.519 You are not the best driver in the world. 00:39:25.500 --> 00:39:26.260 News for me. 00:39:26.300 --> 00:39:27.820 I'm not the best driver of the world. 00:39:28.300 --> 00:39:35.039 And the images, every one of those were the ones nailed above the head of Jesus. 00:39:35.039 --> 00:39:44.179 And when Jesus is dying upon the cross, justice is being done. 00:39:46.579 --> 00:39:49.719 He stands for you. 00:39:49.900 --> 00:39:51.159 Could you put up the point, please? 00:39:52.179 --> 00:39:58.340 My past, present, and future debts caused by my wrongdoing were nailed to the cross, 00:39:58.340 --> 00:40:02.500 so they are paid in full by Jesus Christ's death on my behalf. 00:40:02.500 --> 00:40:05.360 And so what does Paul say here? 00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:07.199 Look at how he continues in verse 15. 00:40:07.780 --> 00:40:10.980 This gets us back to these rulers and authorities and elemental spirits. 00:40:11.420 --> 00:40:13.579 What does Jesus do then with his death upon the cross? 00:40:13.699 --> 00:40:18.280 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame. 00:40:19.019 --> 00:40:23.079 The word open, by triumphing over them in him or in the cross. 00:40:23.159 --> 00:40:24.320 It can mean either one in the Greek. 00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:29.320 Paul chose a word that could have a double meaning when he chose the word. 00:40:29.400 --> 00:40:30.340 He chose it very carefully. 00:40:31.139 --> 00:40:31.800 And open shame. 00:40:31.800 --> 00:40:35.060 Remember in the book of Matthew, when it's at the very beginning of the Christmas story, 00:40:35.480 --> 00:40:38.960 Matthew, I mean, Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant. 00:40:39.420 --> 00:40:41.000 He doesn't believe that it was a miracle. 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:44.519 And he doesn't want to cause her open shame. 00:40:45.039 --> 00:40:45.700 Same word. 00:40:46.580 --> 00:40:48.680 So he resolves to divorce her quietly. 00:40:48.780 --> 00:40:50.240 So it won't be a public scandal. 00:40:50.820 --> 00:40:52.900 And what Paul is saying here, what the Bible is saying here, 00:40:52.900 --> 00:41:01.320 is that when in the real history under a pilot talked about by Josephus and other historians and other historians, 00:41:01.519 --> 00:41:09.900 Latin and Greek who knew about the existence of Jesus and Jewish historians who knew about the existence of Jesus and knew about his death upon the cross. 00:41:09.900 --> 00:41:22.039 And when Jesus was dying upon the cross and he rose from the dead, he publicly showed that all these elemental spirits and rulers authorities, they were defeated. 00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:26.840 And if you say, Paul, how can you know that any of this is true? 00:41:26.920 --> 00:41:34.779 And Paul will say, I was one of the people who beat up Christians and wanted to have them killed and help to have them killed. 00:41:34.780 --> 00:41:36.920 I was one of those guys. 00:41:37.100 --> 00:41:39.360 And I saw the risen Jesus. 00:41:40.380 --> 00:41:43.040 I am exhibit A, that it's real. 00:41:48.260 --> 00:41:51.120 How does it, how does this cross disarm demons? 00:41:51.260 --> 00:41:53.240 This is going to be a little bit corny if you could put it up. 00:41:56.420 --> 00:41:56.820 Blast. 00:41:57.160 --> 00:41:57.760 I know. 00:41:58.840 --> 00:42:02.060 Andrew said it's my Baptist heritage springing up. 00:42:02.059 --> 00:42:04.980 But, you know, this is what demons do. 00:42:06.559 --> 00:42:12.599 And I'm not that the Bible here is not talking about possession, but how every single one of us have experience with demons. 00:42:13.579 --> 00:42:14.679 Because what do they do? 00:42:14.759 --> 00:42:16.500 They whisper in my ear. 00:42:16.639 --> 00:42:19.320 They're right between my two ears speaking to me. 00:42:19.340 --> 00:42:21.159 And when they speak, they blaspheme. 00:42:21.559 --> 00:42:22.480 They lie. 00:42:22.779 --> 00:42:23.900 They accuse. 00:42:24.159 --> 00:42:25.279 They slander. 00:42:26.739 --> 00:42:27.779 And they tempt. 00:42:27.780 --> 00:42:32.160 They say, no, God can't do that. 00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:33.980 God doesn't care about you. 00:42:34.240 --> 00:42:35.680 God hates you. 00:42:36.920 --> 00:42:38.140 You're no good. 00:42:40.340 --> 00:42:42.560 And did God really say? 00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:45.180 Does he really answer your prayers? 00:42:46.340 --> 00:42:47.860 Oh, look what you just did. 00:42:48.080 --> 00:42:50.160 Look what you just looked at on your computer. 00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:55.119 How on earth can you possibly call yourself a Christian? 00:42:56.159 --> 00:42:57.179 Oh, look at this church. 00:42:57.279 --> 00:42:58.460 They're all full of hypocrites. 00:42:58.579 --> 00:43:00.099 They all think they're better than other people. 00:43:00.159 --> 00:43:01.299 They just want to hunt witches. 00:43:02.899 --> 00:43:04.920 You know, I think I'm going to go for my coffee break. 00:43:04.980 --> 00:43:09.259 But I think I'm going to go somewhere where I can have that chat with that young woman that I might flirt with. 00:43:10.039 --> 00:43:10.819 Or, you know what? 00:43:11.119 --> 00:43:11.739 I don't know. 00:43:11.799 --> 00:43:13.000 It's income tax time. 00:43:13.159 --> 00:43:14.839 You know, the government's just corrupt. 00:43:14.840 --> 00:43:22.800 But, you know, the province of Ontario, they've completely and utterly massively messed up the electrical system of this province. 00:43:22.980 --> 00:43:26.960 I think if I just cut, take a few of these dollars back by cheating on my taxes, that's fine. 00:43:28.039 --> 00:43:28.980 They blaspheme. 00:43:29.079 --> 00:43:29.460 They lie. 00:43:29.579 --> 00:43:30.120 They accuse. 00:43:30.240 --> 00:43:30.780 They slander. 00:43:30.920 --> 00:43:31.400 They tempt. 00:43:31.860 --> 00:43:34.120 And what does Paul, how does that, how does the cross disarm? 00:43:34.119 --> 00:43:46.679 When Satan tempts me to despair, I'm to think about this verse and what Jesus has done for me on the cross. 00:43:47.339 --> 00:43:54.679 No, demons, it's not the case that God is far away, that he's distant, that he doesn't hear, that he doesn't come. 00:43:54.759 --> 00:43:56.139 He died on the cross for me. 00:43:56.960 --> 00:44:01.339 No, it's not true that Christians think they're better. 00:44:01.340 --> 00:44:05.380 It's not true that we think that we have the only philosophy that's true. 00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:08.300 It's not true that we think we're somehow better. 00:44:08.480 --> 00:44:11.640 We're just one beggar telling another beggar where to find free bread. 00:44:11.720 --> 00:44:13.559 That's what the cross reminds me of. 00:44:14.039 --> 00:44:16.059 And, yes, I know I've done those bad things. 00:44:16.200 --> 00:44:19.240 And I know it has not been a good witness to Jesus. 00:44:19.420 --> 00:44:21.660 And I know I have done terrible things in my past. 00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:22.600 But you know what? 00:44:22.640 --> 00:44:27.840 When Jesus died on the cross, every one of my past, present, and future offenses, it was paid for. 00:44:27.840 --> 00:44:33.559 And that's why it's not right, Satan, to say that I'm not really a Christian. 00:44:33.800 --> 00:44:35.960 Because it's not because of my efforts. 00:44:36.039 --> 00:44:38.680 I just think about the cross. 00:44:38.820 --> 00:44:41.180 I think about what Jesus has done for me on the cross. 00:44:41.579 --> 00:44:44.240 He's the one who made me alive, not my own lies. 00:44:44.900 --> 00:44:50.880 And how can I go and how can I think that it's all right for me to do those wrong things 00:44:50.880 --> 00:44:55.440 when I look at the great love of Jesus for me and what he did to make me right? 00:44:59.800 --> 00:45:03.619 How are the elemental spirits and rulers and authorities disarmed? 00:45:03.880 --> 00:45:09.760 By thinking upon the gospel, the good news of Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. 00:45:13.240 --> 00:45:16.800 The deep need for every Christian is to be more gripped by the gospel. 00:45:17.720 --> 00:45:18.559 I need that. 00:45:18.680 --> 00:45:19.599 Pray for that for me. 00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:24.840 Because Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the fault within. 00:45:26.900 --> 00:45:28.320 Can you put up the final one? 00:45:28.920 --> 00:45:29.880 Look again at verse. 00:45:29.960 --> 00:45:34.420 Remember I said verses 6 and 7 is sort of the ties, the whole book of Colossians together. 00:45:34.539 --> 00:45:35.940 Look at verse 6 and 7 again. 00:45:36.440 --> 00:45:39.720 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord. 00:45:40.640 --> 00:45:46.980 Therefore, as you've received the one who died with all of your trespasses nailed above his head 00:45:46.980 --> 00:45:48.440 because he died in your place. 00:45:48.440 --> 00:45:50.320 He is the Messiah, the Christ. 00:45:50.320 --> 00:45:51.480 He is the Lord. 00:45:51.580 --> 00:45:55.480 He is over demons and elemental spirits. 00:45:55.559 --> 00:45:56.420 He is over them. 00:45:56.820 --> 00:45:59.880 As you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him. 00:46:00.320 --> 00:46:03.100 Let God root you more deeply in the gospel. 00:46:03.539 --> 00:46:06.160 Let him build you in the gospel. 00:46:06.559 --> 00:46:09.400 Let him establish you in the gospel. 00:46:09.400 --> 00:46:16.559 And as you were taught, as you were more fully rooted and built and established on the gospel, 00:46:16.559 --> 00:46:19.840 you will discover rather than anxiety, thanksgiving. 00:46:21.400 --> 00:46:23.019 Friends, this is good news for you. 00:46:23.960 --> 00:46:24.720 Please stand. 00:46:24.720 --> 00:46:24.820 Thank you. 00:46:24.820 --> 00:46:38.760 If you are here and you have anything to do with astrology or seances, all I can tell you is to flee them, get rid of them. 00:46:39.100 --> 00:46:43.360 If you're having trouble getting rid of them, speak to somebody from the church. 00:46:43.480 --> 00:46:44.220 We'll pray for you. 00:46:44.260 --> 00:46:44.760 We'll help you. 00:46:44.800 --> 00:46:45.519 Just get rid of it. 00:46:45.720 --> 00:46:46.600 Just get rid of it. 00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:48.160 You think you need it? 00:46:48.159 --> 00:46:48.899 It's a lie. 00:46:49.259 --> 00:46:49.879 It's a lie. 00:46:50.299 --> 00:46:50.859 It's a lie. 00:46:51.980 --> 00:46:58.779 If you haven't given your life to Jesus right now, and if you've been involved in any of these things, the devil is going right at you. 00:46:58.779 --> 00:46:59.420 It's not true. 00:46:59.480 --> 00:47:00.119 It's not true. 00:47:00.199 --> 00:47:00.779 It won't happen. 00:47:00.859 --> 00:47:01.460 Won't work. 00:47:01.839 --> 00:47:02.719 You're too bad. 00:47:02.819 --> 00:47:03.500 You're too ruined. 00:47:03.619 --> 00:47:04.339 You're too wrecked. 00:47:04.379 --> 00:47:05.000 Nobody loves you. 00:47:05.059 --> 00:47:06.000 Everybody hates you. 00:47:06.639 --> 00:47:07.159 It's a lie. 00:47:09.159 --> 00:47:10.440 Reach your hand out to Jesus. 00:47:10.699 --> 00:47:11.379 He'll reach down. 00:47:11.460 --> 00:47:12.379 He'll grab your hand. 00:47:12.379 --> 00:47:14.279 Your arm isn't long enough to reach his. 00:47:14.719 --> 00:47:16.179 His is long enough to reach yours. 00:47:16.779 --> 00:47:18.159 Your grip isn't strong enough. 00:47:18.539 --> 00:47:19.699 His grip is strong enough. 00:47:20.980 --> 00:47:21.839 That's the gospel. 00:47:21.960 --> 00:47:22.879 That's the good news. 00:47:23.899 --> 00:47:24.659 Reach out now. 00:47:24.799 --> 00:47:25.719 Don't waste your time. 00:47:25.899 --> 00:47:27.199 Reach out now. 00:47:27.839 --> 00:47:35.579 And for those of us who are Christians, that's why our mission statement is making disciples of Jesus gripped by the gospel, learning to live for his glory. 00:47:36.539 --> 00:47:37.179 Let's pray. 00:47:38.559 --> 00:47:43.719 Father, you know the different ways that Satan tempts us to despair and tells us of the fault within. 00:47:43.719 --> 00:47:55.599 Father, make us disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel, who remember what Jesus did for us on the cross, that these demons, that there's a part of us which is in rebellion against you, but you cut it. 00:47:55.599 --> 00:47:59.119 It's now a cut flower cut from its root, will no longer grow. 00:47:59.539 --> 00:48:01.099 Father, thank you for Jesus. 00:48:01.359 --> 00:48:02.819 Thank you for what he did on the cross. 00:48:03.059 --> 00:48:04.559 Thank you that he came to die for us. 00:48:04.699 --> 00:48:05.619 Thank you that he rose. 00:48:06.099 --> 00:48:07.459 Thank you that he rose in history. 00:48:07.699 --> 00:48:08.759 Thank you that it's true. 00:48:09.339 --> 00:48:11.000 Thank you that he can become our savior. 00:48:11.279 --> 00:48:12.759 Thank you for him being our savior. 00:48:12.760 --> 00:48:17.020 Make us disciples of Jesus, gripped by the gospel, learning to live for your glory. 00:48:17.440 --> 00:48:22.540 And we pray this in the sweet and precious name of Jesus and all God's people said, Amen.