WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.839 Welcome to you all. Glad that we can be together on this beautiful evening. As I said at the 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:14.339 beginning of the service, this is actually a very special Sunday. It's the Sunday of 00:00:14.339 --> 00:00:19.600 Pentecost celebrating the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It's also a Sunday where we get 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:25.660 to celebrate a baptism where Juniper Ducharme in a little while is going to come up and 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:31.500 be baptized and join our church family officially. So we're very excited about these things. 00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:37.460 It's interesting drawing all of these things together, the Holy Spirit, baptism, and then 00:00:37.460 --> 00:00:41.939 also this collect that we prayed earlier. These prayers that we pray every week that we call 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:47.079 collects, these are laid out in advance. We don't write them. We pray them along with Anglican 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:51.519 churches all around the world. And the one that we happened to pray made an interesting 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:58.000 request. A collect normally states something that's true about God and then makes one request 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:04.140 of God. And so what we prayed, if you remember, is we prayed that in light of the fact that 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:09.560 we have the Holy Spirit, that because of the Spirit and through the Spirit, that we would 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:17.000 be able to have a right judgment in all things. And I don't know if that struck you, but imagine 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:23.640 your life if you were guaranteed to have right judgment in all things. Of all the things that 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:29.040 we could ask of the Holy Spirit, it's interesting that this is the way the prayer is phrased. And 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:33.379 yet that's actually what we're going to be talking about this evening. We're going to talk about 00:01:33.379 --> 00:01:42.840 how the presence of the Spirit uses baptism to enable us to have right judgment. So it sort 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:48.400 of pulls all of this together. We're looking at Paul's letter to the Colossians to understand 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:53.820 this more. This is a series that we started after Easter. And the central question of the 00:01:53.820 --> 00:02:00.300 series centers on the resurrection. If the resurrection actually happened, in other words, if it's not 00:02:00.300 --> 00:02:05.340 just a nice idea or some fanciful creation of the followers of Jesus in the centuries following 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:11.620 his death, if it actually happened, what difference does it make? And that's based on this premise. 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:18.520 That if the resurrection did not happen, if it's just a nice idea, then I would strongly 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:24.980 recommend you leave Christianity and go find another religion or another philosophy. It is 00:02:24.980 --> 00:02:30.980 simply too difficult. It asks too much. It's far too inconvenient to be a Christian if there 00:02:30.980 --> 00:02:37.580 is no resurrection. As Paul said, if the resurrection didn't happen, all of this is empty. On the other 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:44.020 hand, if it did actually happen, if Jesus Christ actually rose from death, which I believe happened, 00:02:44.200 --> 00:02:50.420 and many of you believe happened, that changes everything. So the question is, what changes as 00:02:50.420 --> 00:02:56.540 a result? And so Paul has written this letter to Colossians laying out what does life in light of the 00:02:56.540 --> 00:03:03.780 resurrection look like? And we get into the meat of that in this passage, chapter 2, verses 6 to 15. 00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:09.699 Because here's where we begin to get at Paul's major concern, the reason he wrote the letter. 00:03:10.259 --> 00:03:15.699 And that's because there are things happening in the Colossian church that worry him. False teaching 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:21.340 is being propagated, and it's threatening to tear people away from the truth of the gospel. And so here 00:03:21.340 --> 00:03:28.259 he issues a warning about that. So we'll look at the warning, and then he offers a way out. So what is the 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:33.360 warning? What is the danger? And then what is the way out? That's our outline. So let's pray for the Lord to 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:41.400 lead us. Our Father in heaven, you have sent the Holy Spirit to take things that are hard to 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:48.060 understand or unclear and make them known and make them clear. And it's because of the presence of 00:03:48.060 --> 00:03:53.840 your Holy Spirit that we can have hope that when we open these written words, that your Spirit can use 00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:03.900 these written words and the ministry of broken vessels to lead us into the presence of the living 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:11.140 Word, Jesus Christ. And that is the encounter for which we came. That through the ministry of the 00:04:11.140 --> 00:04:18.000 Spirit, we would see Jesus face to face, that he would minister to us exactly in the ways that we need. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:23.620 And so we ask that, Lord, for our good, but ultimately for your glory. In your Son's name. Amen. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:31.680 So first of all, the warning that Paul issues. What's his concern? I want to bring you up to speed and give you a 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:39.439 little context about where we are in the letter. Paul is writing a letter to a church in Colossa full of primarily 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:46.879 Gentile converts, non-Jewish converts. And these are people he's never met. He's never visited this church in person. 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:54.279 He led a man to faith named Epaphras. And Epaphras then went and planted this church. So Paul is the spiritual 00:04:54.279 --> 00:05:01.060 grandfather. But he's most likely in prison at this point. And so he's writing to people he's never met. And he's heard of 00:05:01.060 --> 00:05:08.540 their faith. He says in the opening verses that he's heard of the genuine way that the gospel is bearing fruit in their 00:05:08.540 --> 00:05:14.620 lives. And for the first few verses of chapter one, he simply gives thanks. Next time you write an email 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:19.680 or a letter, take a couple of verses and just give thanks for the person that you're writing. It'll make 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:25.800 a huge difference. He just gives thanks for them. And then beginning around verse nine, going through 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:31.680 verse 23, he tells them how he's praying for them. He says, he says, I pray for you continually that you 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:37.700 would be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, that you would be filled with the joy that comes from 00:05:37.699 --> 00:05:45.779 knowing the Lord. And then from the end of chapter one into the first few verses of chapter two, 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:54.779 verse five of chapter two, he says, all of this, your faith, the fruit that is being grown up in your 00:05:54.779 --> 00:06:00.500 midst, the joy that you are experiencing in your faith, all of that is the result of the apostolic 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:05.659 ministry. In other words, Paul and other apostles, they've suffered, they've struggled, they've 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:14.300 persevered in order to deliver the clear teaching of Jesus in an unspoiled way, like precious cargo. 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:22.700 We've given this to you. And he's saying, now hold on to it. Don't deviate from it. And that brings us 00:06:22.700 --> 00:06:28.000 up to verse six. You heard about that last week. Dan preached on it. Therefore, as you received Jesus 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:35.420 Christ, the Lord, so walk in him, just as we taught you to do, continue down that road. Don't go to the 00:06:35.420 --> 00:06:43.079 left or right. Stick to what we told you. That's what the letter is about. And now we see why this 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:49.079 matters so much. You say, well, why? Who cares? What difference does it make? Well, here's the warning in 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:57.439 verse eight. See to it here. Listen to this. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:03.099 empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not 00:07:03.099 --> 00:07:10.459 according to Christ. That's the warning. So what's he saying? Has anybody ever seen the movie 12 Years a 00:07:10.459 --> 00:07:18.039 Slave? Are you familiar with it? It's an amazing movie if you haven't seen it. It's a true, based on a 00:07:18.039 --> 00:07:23.919 true story, an account that we have of a man named Solomon who was an African-American man born free, 00:07:24.039 --> 00:07:30.639 born in New York as a free person. And nevertheless, when he was in Washington, D.C., he was kidnapped, 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:39.339 he was taken captive, and then sold into slavery. And he had to spend 12 years of his life as a slave. 00:07:39.339 --> 00:07:44.000 I mean, that's a horrific idea to think about that actually happening to somebody who's free, 00:07:44.139 --> 00:07:49.179 who has the papers to prove it. And the thing is, that kind of thing happened more often than we 00:07:49.179 --> 00:07:53.179 would like to believe. You would have a free person who had the papers to prove it. They would be 00:07:53.179 --> 00:07:57.719 abducted. The papers would be torn up. They would be sold as a slave. And once that happened, it was 00:07:57.719 --> 00:08:05.699 very, very, very hard to regain your freedom. Well, in a way, this is the warning that Paul is giving. 00:08:05.699 --> 00:08:13.959 He's saying, you have been made free people. You've been born again through the gospel as free people. 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:23.439 Beware, because there are people in your community, there are teachings, worldviews, philosophies, 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:30.060 that will take you captive and send you back into the very slavery that you've just been freed from. 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:36.039 Be very careful. This is happening, he says. Now, I want to be clear that this isn't knocking 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:41.019 philosophy in general. You know, some people will say, well, this means that all philosophy is evil. 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:46.639 Absolutely not. That's not what it's saying. In fact, I would commend all of you to the study of 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:55.259 philosophy. The basic tools of philosophy are enormously useful for Christians when it comes 00:08:55.259 --> 00:09:00.600 to articulating and understanding the teachings of Scripture. So, philosophy is enormously useful. 00:09:01.379 --> 00:09:07.939 What this is talking about is likened more to worldviews, right? It says there are certain 00:09:07.939 --> 00:09:13.139 worldviews being offered. There are certain ways of making sense of the world that are being offered 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:17.799 that are dangerous. They're empty. They're deceitful. They will take you captive and lead you back into 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:24.139 the slavery that you've escaped from. And this is a serious warning because the worst kind of slavery 00:09:24.139 --> 00:09:33.720 slavery is a slavery of the mind and a slavery of the heart. So, it doesn't matter if you're living 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:39.699 a technically free life. If you're a slave in your heart and a slave in your mind, 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:48.580 then you're not free. And so, this is a very serious warning. And so, we need to understand how does this 00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:53.919 actually happen? How does a way of thinking take us captive? That sounds kind of like a strange idea. 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:58.319 And in order to understand how this happens, you have to understand two things about human nature. 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:03.980 And if you ever read or are familiar with Paul David Tripp, he's a therapist and a teacher and a 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:07.960 pastor. He's very helpful on this front. But there are two things that we need to understand about how 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:16.519 we work as human beings. The first is this, that you and I, we do not live our lives based on the facts 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:23.159 of our life experience. We don't live our lives based on the objective facts of our lived experience. 00:10:23.779 --> 00:10:31.659 We live our lives based on our interpretation of those facts. Right? That's the thing that makes 00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:38.539 the difference. How do you interpret your daily experiences? So, let me give you a tiny example of 00:10:38.539 --> 00:10:43.659 what I'm talking about. Say you pull out your phone and you send a text to somebody you know and you say, 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:51.199 hey, you want to hang out tomorrow night? Send. And you wait, you wait, you wait, set the phone down, 00:10:51.439 --> 00:10:55.620 pick it back up, check, set it down, and the person doesn't respond. And the rest of the day, that person 00:10:55.620 --> 00:11:00.699 doesn't respond. Well, there's the objective fact. That's something that has just happened, an event in 00:11:00.699 --> 00:11:05.679 your life. How do you interpret it? So, there are some people in this room who, if you send a text to 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:09.639 somebody, you want to hang out and you didn't hear back, you would immediately assume, well, they 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:15.039 probably lost their phone. Or maybe their phone's broken. Maybe their texting isn't working. Maybe 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:19.759 they're in a meeting or maybe they're busy and they just forgot to get back to me. Any number of excuses 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:25.979 that you come up with to justify why that didn't happen. And then you literally will not think about 00:11:25.979 --> 00:11:29.279 it again. You'll go on the rest of your day and you won't give it another thought. Well, I'm sure something 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:34.159 came up. No big deal. You go right on with your day. Now, there are other people in this room. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:40.459 If you send a text like that out to somebody and you never hear back, what do you think? 00:11:42.459 --> 00:11:50.740 They don't like me. Right? They're trying to tell me something here. They didn't write back 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:54.719 because they, and I feel like an idiot, and I just put myself out there and took this huge 00:11:54.719 --> 00:12:00.179 social risk and they're not even going to respond to me. They must really not like me. Now, I feel so 00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:04.459 stupid for even suggesting that because obviously they don't want to hang out and they're trying to 00:12:04.459 --> 00:12:08.259 give me this hint. And unlike that other person who just goes on and they don't give it another thought, 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:13.599 that is all you think about for the rest of the day. Right? It ruins your day. Maybe it ruins the 00:12:13.599 --> 00:12:18.139 next week. Right? Why didn't they write back? I'm so hurt. I'm so crushed. Why didn't they do it? 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:23.859 They're so mean. Right? All those thoughts. So you have one fact, one event, but two completely 00:12:23.860 --> 00:12:30.080 different ways of interpreting it. And the first way preserves your freedom. Right? I'm going to go 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:34.419 on with my day. I'm not going to think about it. Sure something came up. Not a big deal. The other 00:12:34.419 --> 00:12:40.139 way of interpreting it takes you captive. Right? You start thinking about it, dwelling on it, analyzing, 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:44.899 overthinking it. Right? Why did that happen? You've been taken captive. Now, this is a tiny example, 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:48.620 little example. But I'm sure this kind of thing has happened to almost everybody in this room. 00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:53.840 Tiny example, but what we need to understand is we also do this on a much larger level. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:58.280 And what happens is that we make these interpretations of our lives day in and day out. 00:12:58.560 --> 00:13:04.019 And over time, we are constructing a worldview. A way of interpreting all of life. A way of making 00:13:04.019 --> 00:13:10.460 sense of all of life. Same basic principle, but applied to everything. And that worldview, 00:13:10.680 --> 00:13:19.360 that way of thinking, dramatically affects how we feel. How we then respond to our lives. And 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:26.139 ultimately, these things are determining whether or not we are living out our freedom or living as 00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:31.759 functional slaves to this, that, or the other. So that's the first thing. We don't live life based 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:36.159 on the objective facts. We live life based on our interpretation. And this, by the way, isn't 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:41.580 distinct Christian teaching. This is something that any therapist worth their salt is going to tell you. 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:48.740 So that's the first thing. Second thing is this. We are always being bombarded by the opinions of other 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:55.720 people in terms of how we should interpret our lives. Well-meaning family members, well-meaning friends, 00:13:56.180 --> 00:14:03.900 well-meaning movie makers, well-meaning advertisers, music, books, podcasts, you name it. 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:13.019 We are flooded, inundated, living in a cacophony of opinions, of people trying to assert their sense 00:14:13.019 --> 00:14:17.639 of how we should make sense of our lives. Here's how you should make sense of your marriage. Here's 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:21.679 how you should make sense of parenting. Here's how you should make sense of dating. Here's how you 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:25.759 should make sense of your job. Here's how you should make sense of your feelings of rejection. 00:14:25.959 --> 00:14:30.279 Here's how you should make sense of your anxiety. Again and again and again, people are offering their 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:39.699 opinions. And so we're not interpreting our lives in a neutral, objective way. We are constantly 00:14:39.699 --> 00:14:46.819 having to sort through hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of opinions and decide which is accurate 00:14:46.819 --> 00:14:53.439 and which is not. So to summarize, we live our lives based on the way we interpret our experiences 00:14:53.439 --> 00:14:58.519 and those interpretations are constantly being influenced by thousands of outside opinions. 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:07.679 And Paul is saying, beware. Beware of that. Because he says many of those opinions that are coming from 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:14.399 very well-meaning people are nevertheless empty and deceitful. They claim to give you an accurate 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:22.559 sense of reality, but they don't. And they skew your perception and they can take you captive. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:29.839 So this is the first point. This is the warning. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy 00:15:29.839 --> 00:15:37.579 and empty deceit. So then what's the way out? If that's the warning, then what do we do about this? 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:42.439 And if this isn't quite making sense to you, we're going to talk about the way out and then I'll give 00:15:42.439 --> 00:15:46.879 hopefully a couple of examples that will kind of help the penny drop a little bit. But let's look 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:53.340 at what's the way out according to Paul. And the way out is this. What we need with all these opinions 00:15:53.340 --> 00:15:58.139 coming in and us trying to make sense of our lives on a day-to-day basis, what we need is some kind of 00:15:58.139 --> 00:16:04.539 objective standard to gauge these opinions against, right? Something to let us know whether or not 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:10.580 they're true or false. Something solid that we can count on. Do you know what a plumb line is? 00:16:10.580 --> 00:16:17.020 If you're building a wall or building and you think the wall is vertical and then you pull out a plumb 00:16:17.020 --> 00:16:22.300 line and it's a string with a little conical shaped weight on one end and you hold it and it shows you 00:16:22.300 --> 00:16:27.700 true vertical. And you hold that up next to your wall and it will show you is your wall truly vertical 00:16:27.700 --> 00:16:32.580 or is it leaning in one way or another? Is it skewed? So you can't tell unless you have that objective 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:39.940 standard. We need a plumb line to do the same thing for our interpretations of life. Is my 00:16:39.940 --> 00:16:45.680 interpretation accurate or is it skewed in one way or another? I need something to hold it up against. 00:16:46.560 --> 00:16:52.060 And what Paul is saying is that that plumb line is the life and the death and the resurrection of 00:16:52.060 --> 00:16:58.640 Jesus Christ. That that is our plumb line. So you say, well how do I know that? Why should Jesus 00:16:58.640 --> 00:17:04.580 get to be that in my life? And Paul spends the rest of our passage giving us three reasons why we should 00:17:04.579 --> 00:17:10.980 look to Jesus alone to help us make sense of our life experience. Why should he be the gauge? Well, 00:17:11.199 --> 00:17:21.559 reason number one. Jesus is the only one with the authority to define reality. Right? Family, friends, 00:17:21.740 --> 00:17:26.500 commercials, movies, right? They all have opinions. But nobody in your life, despite what they may say, 00:17:26.500 --> 00:17:33.920 well-meaning friends and family, despite what they may say, nobody has authority to define your reality. 00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:39.799 They can offer their opinion, but nobody has the authority to actually define your reality for you. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:48.680 But Paul says Jesus is different. In verse 9 it says, for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:56.440 So he says when you're dealing with Jesus, you're dealing with God. This is God in flesh. 00:17:57.500 --> 00:18:03.680 And then he goes on in verse 10, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:10.500 What does that say? Jesus has the final say. He's the head of all rule and authority. If he's the one, 00:18:10.660 --> 00:18:16.180 to put it simply, who made all of this, then he's the one who has a right to define it. 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:23.160 So he is different. He has that kind of authority to define reality as he sees fit, because he made it. 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:30.740 That's the first thing Paul says. Second thing he says, second reason, Jesus has joined our lives to his. 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:33.960 It says in verse 11, 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:55.180 So what's that saying in plain English? 00:18:55.180 --> 00:19:02.600 For those people who are baptized, this is how it connects to what's going to happen in a little while. 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:09.360 Those people, their lives become grafted into or joined to the life of Jesus Christ. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:15.319 Right? So everybody in this room who's been baptized, your life has become joined with Jesus. 00:19:16.159 --> 00:19:21.939 So it is as though you have experienced his life and his death and his resurrection. 00:19:22.159 --> 00:19:25.399 Those things that are true for him are now true of you. 00:19:26.059 --> 00:19:28.119 Your lives have become merged. 00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:33.179 So Jesus joins our life to his own. 00:19:34.159 --> 00:19:37.159 So all of these things that are true of Jesus are now true of us. 00:19:37.219 --> 00:19:42.679 By the way, this is an aside, but this is also where we understand that baptism is the continued practice. 00:19:43.019 --> 00:19:44.619 In the Old Testament, we see circumcision. 00:19:44.739 --> 00:19:49.119 In the New Testament, we see circumcision and we begin to practice baptism. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:20:00.819 This is why we extend this practice, this what we call a right of inclusion to the children of believers. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:05.679 We see that happening in the Old Testament, and so we do that in the New Testament church. 00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:07.799 Now we don't believe that it is salvific. 00:20:07.899 --> 00:20:10.000 We don't believe that this will save Juniper. 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:16.379 But what we believe is that God wants us to include her, because of who her parents are, in the covenant community. 00:20:16.379 --> 00:20:18.759 In the visible community. 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:23.660 And then we will pray altogether that by means of that inclusion, she will come to genuine faith. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:28.440 The Bible differentiates between external circumcision and circumcision of the heart. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:34.160 External baptism and a washing with the power of the Holy Spirit and a cleansing of sin. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:41.920 And so we pray that the spiritual reality would follow, even as we are obedient to the outward and visible sign. 00:20:42.859 --> 00:20:48.160 So we see this happening here, and what this shows us is that Jesus joins our lives to his. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:53.980 And so if anybody should have a say in how we make sense of our lives, it should be him. 00:20:55.060 --> 00:20:58.540 Right? Because he has made our lives and his life one and the same. 00:20:59.860 --> 00:21:01.720 So that's the second reason he should be our plumb line. 00:21:01.860 --> 00:21:04.680 So reason one, he's the only one with that kind of authority. 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:06.880 Reason two, he has joined our lives to his. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:11.060 And reason three, very simply, Jesus has already set us free. 00:21:12.180 --> 00:21:15.860 His whole aim, his whole goal is our freedom. 00:21:16.120 --> 00:21:17.040 That's why he came. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:19.360 It says in verse 13, 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:26.599 And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, 00:21:27.179 --> 00:21:33.699 having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. 00:21:34.159 --> 00:21:36.519 This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:37.500 Listen to verse 15. 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:45.779 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. 00:21:45.779 --> 00:21:47.619 So what is that saying? 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:55.279 Every voice out there that makes a claim about you. 00:21:57.160 --> 00:21:59.079 I don't know how much you struggle with shame. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.200 I don't know how much you struggle with self-criticism. 00:22:02.859 --> 00:22:05.660 I don't know how much you struggle with self-hatred, self-loathing. 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:09.639 But I know there are people here who are struggling with those things. 00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:15.500 You've got an enormous amount of opinions weighing in on your value and your worth. 00:22:16.379 --> 00:22:20.579 You've got an enormous amount of things that want to become your master. 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:29.460 What this is saying is that all of those false tyrants, those false voices, those false masters, 00:22:30.139 --> 00:22:36.639 that Jesus, because of what he did on the cross, has utterly rendered them powerless. 00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:40.359 In other words, they have no say over who you are anymore. 00:22:40.579 --> 00:22:43.160 And the language that's used is really strong. 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:48.400 All of those voices that condemn you, that shame you, that haunt you, that want to master you, 00:22:48.580 --> 00:22:54.240 that all of those false tyrants, it says Jesus has stripped them and marched them naked down the street. 00:22:55.320 --> 00:22:56.220 That's the image. 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:57.700 He didn't just disarm them. 00:22:57.880 --> 00:22:58.960 He humiliated them. 00:22:59.580 --> 00:23:02.279 So you need to understand this is where Paul's urgency comes from. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:03.560 You used to be a slave. 00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:10.279 But Jesus came and he took your slave master and he removed their authority and he stripped them naked and he humiliated them 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:12.899 and he marched them down the street for everybody to see. 00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:17.740 And now you're telling me that you want to go back into slavery under that master? 00:23:19.399 --> 00:23:21.220 He's saying, don't do it. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:22.720 Beware. 00:23:23.619 --> 00:23:24.440 This is the warning. 00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:28.079 So Jesus is the only one with that kind of authority. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:33.419 He's joined our lives to his and his whole ministry exists to set us free. 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.539 Therefore, he has the right to help us make sense of our lives. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:42.659 In other words, to live and to see and to experience life as a free person would. 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:47.079 So what does this actually look like in real life? 00:23:47.639 --> 00:23:48.980 It's kind of esoteric idea. 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:50.960 How does this actually play out on a Monday? 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:54.439 Well, I think I have time for maybe one or two examples. 00:23:54.539 --> 00:23:55.559 I'll give you a couple of examples. 00:23:55.559 --> 00:23:59.139 Think about the way we think about love. 00:24:00.940 --> 00:24:01.619 Take love. 00:24:02.399 --> 00:24:03.539 Now, some of you are religious. 00:24:03.700 --> 00:24:04.339 You're here, you're Christians. 00:24:04.460 --> 00:24:06.399 Other people here are maybe not religious. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:11.399 Maybe you're here as a friend or family or something like that, but maybe you don't consider yourself to be religious. 00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:17.279 Well, many people I know, both religious and not, they have a high view of love, particularly romantic love, right? 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:18.099 I know a lot. 00:24:18.179 --> 00:24:22.839 I talk to more and more people who say that romantic love is maybe the greatest thing in life. 00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:24.519 It's the greatest ideal. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:27.720 So say you're married. 00:24:28.779 --> 00:24:29.659 Some of you are married. 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:30.519 Some of you want to get married. 00:24:30.859 --> 00:24:32.279 Say you've been married for a few years. 00:24:32.399 --> 00:24:33.240 It started out great. 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:35.359 But then things get complicated. 00:24:35.679 --> 00:24:37.740 And there are lots of chores to do. 00:24:37.819 --> 00:24:39.200 And you've got to pay bills. 00:24:39.399 --> 00:24:41.139 And you realize that you don't get along. 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:43.980 And things that used to be kind of cute are driving you crazy. 00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:45.460 A few years later, right? 00:24:45.460 --> 00:24:49.440 That thing that you used to kind of like shrug your shoulders at now like makes you think murderous thoughts. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:50.640 It will happen. 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:51.740 Right? 00:24:51.819 --> 00:24:53.600 And you say, I can't believe I feel this way about this. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:57.559 But my little snookums has become this object of deep resentment and hate. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:57.880 Right? 00:24:57.880 --> 00:24:59.560 And how did we get here? 00:25:00.120 --> 00:25:00.280 Right? 00:25:01.139 --> 00:25:06.359 And that in love feeling that kind of got you through the first few years is no longer there at 3 a.m. with a crying baby. 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:07.299 It just does not exist. 00:25:07.399 --> 00:25:08.599 You cannot muster it up. 00:25:09.379 --> 00:25:10.779 And you try to rekindle the romance. 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:13.099 And you try to, you know, maybe like go out for a date night. 00:25:13.099 --> 00:25:17.039 But then you realize you're $100 into a babysitter before you even leave your house. 00:25:17.699 --> 00:25:19.019 You say, I don't want to go out for a date night. 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:19.299 Right? 00:25:19.459 --> 00:25:20.259 Date night is not romantic. 00:25:20.339 --> 00:25:21.819 I'm just thinking about the money we don't have. 00:25:22.699 --> 00:25:23.019 Right? 00:25:23.059 --> 00:25:24.419 And you try to rekindle and you can't. 00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:25.439 So what do you do? 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:26.119 You ask your friends. 00:25:26.259 --> 00:25:27.779 You ask your, you know, people around you. 00:25:27.859 --> 00:25:32.619 You look into the movies and you, okay, what's the prevailing wisdom about where I am right now? 00:25:32.659 --> 00:25:33.839 You know what a lot of people will say? 00:25:37.879 --> 00:25:39.659 You need to find the love of your life. 00:25:39.660 --> 00:25:45.279 If you're with the right person, that love will never die. 00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:49.840 If that love dies, then you need to go looking for it. 00:25:50.540 --> 00:25:50.740 Right? 00:25:50.779 --> 00:25:55.420 And that sounds like conventional wisdom that is true. 00:25:55.779 --> 00:25:58.640 That if love is the greatest thing, then I need to find it. 00:25:58.779 --> 00:26:03.480 And if I can't find it here and if we can't rekindle it here, maybe it's a sign that I need to pull out. 00:26:04.060 --> 00:26:05.580 Leave this marriage and go looking for it. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:07.120 And many, many people do. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:10.739 Or maybe you're not married and maybe you have this deep fear of getting married. 00:26:11.299 --> 00:26:12.979 And that in love feeling fades. 00:26:13.079 --> 00:26:13.939 And then what are you going to do? 00:26:13.979 --> 00:26:16.039 You're stuck in a marriage where you don't feel any love. 00:26:16.159 --> 00:26:17.379 And what does that mean? 00:26:17.899 --> 00:26:19.599 And I know people that don't get married. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:21.339 They put off marriage for years. 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:24.539 Because they're so afraid that they won't find the love of their life. 00:26:25.819 --> 00:26:27.519 See, this sounds like wisdom. 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:31.519 But what we need to understand is that way of thinking is a trap. 00:26:32.539 --> 00:26:37.519 Because that in love feeling never lasts all the time. 00:26:37.740 --> 00:26:41.599 It ebbs and it flows and it comes and it goes. 00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:43.379 It's like the flowers in the spring. 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:43.639 Right? 00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:46.660 There are times when it is radiant and in full bloom. 00:26:46.700 --> 00:26:49.859 And other times when they're withering and dying. 00:26:50.119 --> 00:26:50.299 Right? 00:26:51.259 --> 00:26:52.519 That's what life does. 00:26:52.639 --> 00:26:56.639 And more than we like to admit, a lot of those feelings are based in neurochemistry. 00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:59.720 You know, it's serotonin and dopamine and oxytocin. 00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:04.139 That are driving us to feel these feelings. 00:27:04.460 --> 00:27:04.659 Right? 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:07.279 Comes and goes. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:10.879 And the reason that that way of thinking will take you captive. 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:13.099 If you give in to that, you'll be taken captive. 00:27:13.220 --> 00:27:13.379 Why? 00:27:13.380 --> 00:27:17.720 Because you'll spend your whole life looking for something that doesn't actually exist. 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:21.360 That's a slave. 00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:24.280 Working toward a futile goal. 00:27:25.700 --> 00:27:26.080 Right? 00:27:26.180 --> 00:27:27.560 So you hold that way of thinking. 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:28.680 People say you need to get out. 00:27:28.760 --> 00:27:29.200 You need to leave. 00:27:29.280 --> 00:27:30.100 You need to find the love of your life. 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:33.400 You take that and you hold it against the plumb line of Jesus. 00:27:34.080 --> 00:27:36.420 And what does the plumb line of Jesus show us? 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.500 Life is not ultimately about romantic love. 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:45.920 But that can't become the foundation of a relationship. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:57.100 The foundation of a relationship needs to be the far deeper, truer, sacrificial love that we see embodied in Jesus Christ. 00:27:57.220 --> 00:27:58.980 That self-donation. 00:27:59.080 --> 00:27:59.780 And how do we know that? 00:27:59.840 --> 00:28:03.320 Because that's the foundation that Jesus built in our relationship with him. 00:28:04.260 --> 00:28:07.220 The foundation is his willingness to donate himself. 00:28:07.460 --> 00:28:08.360 To give himself. 00:28:08.360 --> 00:28:10.720 He says that's the foundation of a relationship. 00:28:11.080 --> 00:28:11.880 But here's the good news. 00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:13.680 That doesn't replace romantic love. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:15.100 It enables it. 00:28:15.740 --> 00:28:16.660 It empowers it. 00:28:17.120 --> 00:28:26.020 If you build a relationship on daily willingness to die to yourself, then those daily deaths make a rich compost of decay. 00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:26.820 Right? 00:28:27.020 --> 00:28:28.700 And that compost builds up. 00:28:28.780 --> 00:28:33.340 And then out of that fertile soil, romantic love will blossom. 00:28:34.620 --> 00:28:35.700 It will blossom. 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:40.660 But the plumb line of Jesus shows us that sacrificial love is the primary love. 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:43.259 And romantic love is subservient to that love. 00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:48.180 So you hold that up and you realize, no, I'm not going to buy that. 00:28:48.380 --> 00:28:49.480 That will take me captive. 00:28:49.620 --> 00:28:51.299 And you reject it because you have a standard. 00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:51.720 Right? 00:28:52.039 --> 00:28:55.019 So that's how we think about love in the plumb line of Jesus. 00:28:55.140 --> 00:28:56.059 Let's take one more example. 00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:56.960 We've got time for one more. 00:28:58.620 --> 00:28:59.019 Independence. 00:28:59.019 --> 00:28:59.259 Independence. 00:28:59.259 --> 00:29:03.339 How do we think about success in our culture? 00:29:04.619 --> 00:29:05.059 Right? 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:09.079 I think a lot of us define success along the lines of independence. 00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:13.579 The more successful you are in life, the less you need from other people. 00:29:13.700 --> 00:29:15.279 You're independent from your family. 00:29:15.539 --> 00:29:17.059 You're independent from... 00:29:17.059 --> 00:29:18.000 You don't need anything. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:22.180 People say, well, a successful life means that I'm self-sufficient. 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:23.720 Got what I need. 00:29:24.140 --> 00:29:25.819 I don't need other people helping me out. 00:29:25.900 --> 00:29:27.119 I don't need religion. 00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:30.079 A lot of people say, if you need those kinds of things, that makes you weak. 00:29:30.619 --> 00:29:34.200 That's evidence that you're not very successful if you're so needy all the time. 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:38.400 Again, we need to understand that's a trap. 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:40.220 Why is it a trap? 00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:43.460 Well, I'm going to tell you something that most of you already know. 00:29:44.140 --> 00:29:46.380 Life is way too hard to live alone. 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:48.340 It's way too hard. 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:48.780 Right? 00:29:48.840 --> 00:29:49.940 People misquote the Bible. 00:29:50.220 --> 00:29:54.820 And they say, well, doesn't the Bible say that God will never give us more than we can handle? 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:55.380 No. 00:29:55.500 --> 00:29:56.780 The Bible does not say that. 00:29:57.420 --> 00:29:58.740 I don't know where that came from. 00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:00.120 But it's not in the Bible. 00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:05.280 The Bible virtually guarantees that life will, on a daily basis, be way too overwhelming. 00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:06.160 Right? 00:30:06.360 --> 00:30:08.680 It's way harder than we can deal with on our own. 00:30:10.300 --> 00:30:12.240 And so you hold that way of thinking. 00:30:12.420 --> 00:30:12.620 Right? 00:30:12.620 --> 00:30:14.120 That I need to be independent. 00:30:14.220 --> 00:30:15.240 I need to be totally self-sufficient. 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:16.680 And that's what a successful life means. 00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:20.759 You hold that against the plumb line of Jesus and you realize that's not actually a Christian value. 00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:21.940 That's an American value. 00:30:22.599 --> 00:30:28.460 And the only reason that we as Americans can even think that way is because we're probably the wealthiest country ever to have existed. 00:30:29.140 --> 00:30:31.259 The most privileged country ever to have been. 00:30:31.259 --> 00:30:40.019 So we have the luxury and the privilege of thinking that self-sufficiency and autonomy and independence are somehow ultimate values. 00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:40.319 No. 00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:43.920 You hold that against the plumb line of Jesus and Jesus shows us what? 00:30:44.420 --> 00:30:45.960 You weren't made for independence. 00:30:46.099 --> 00:30:47.519 You were made for interdependence. 00:30:48.299 --> 00:30:53.000 Success doesn't mean living life as a self-sustaining individual. 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:56.000 You're made for community. 00:30:57.000 --> 00:30:57.099 Right? 00:30:57.180 --> 00:30:58.619 Success isn't being totally independent. 00:30:58.779 --> 00:31:04.259 Success is learning how to serve and to depend on other people. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:06.720 That is a successful life. 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:08.079 We need one another. 00:31:08.180 --> 00:31:12.599 That's why the Bible talks about us being a body where every part works properly. 00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:15.539 So these are just two examples. 00:31:16.980 --> 00:31:22.819 But what I want to encourage you to do is all of us in this room, everybody is a theologian. 00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:24.240 Everybody is a philosopher. 00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:35.059 We are always stepping back, assessing our lives, assessing our relationships, assessing our circumstances, and trying to interpret them and make meaning of them. 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:36.299 Some of you are doing it right now. 00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:38.000 You've got things that you're trying to make sense of. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:32:02.420 Whether it is your job or your friendships or your family or your marriage or your desire for marriage or your kids or your desire for success or your fear of failure or the regrets that you reflect on in the late hours of the night or the anxieties and fears that threaten you of the unknown that awaits you in your future. 00:32:02.420 --> 00:32:05.960 Whatever it is that you are dwelling on, know this. 00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:09.480 You are not living in response to objective facts. 00:32:09.579 --> 00:32:11.920 You are living in response to your interpretation. 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:15.340 So the question is, where are those interpretations coming from? 00:32:16.539 --> 00:32:18.039 And what will it look like? 00:32:18.120 --> 00:32:27.519 Imagine your life if you begin to take all of that and filter it through the lens of the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:29.680 How would that change how you live? 00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:35.519 How would that right your judgment, enable you to see things as they really are? 00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:38.660 Let's pray.