Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would help us to see ourselves in your Word,
and to see ourselves in your Word in a way that makes us long,
to have the Gospel become more real in our hearts,
and for your Holy Spirit to change us more and more in a way, Father,
that is for our true good, and that fits us for heaven,
and is for the true good of the world around us.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son, and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
This is the first Sunday I'm doing a service with a hearing aid in,
and I'm still getting used to the fact, those of you who have hearing aids,
I'm still getting used to the fact that I hear my voice in my head in a different way.
And if you're not familiar with that idea, I can just tell you it's something that it just throws me off a bit.
Anyway, one of the things which is very true about being human
is that we can be very, very, very bothered about things which don't really matter that much,
but not be very bothered by things which matter a great deal.
In other words, we can feel guilty about something that really God doesn't care about,
and not feel guilty at all about things that God really does care about.
I'll give you an example.
It might be that somebody could be feeling very guilty or very depressed right now about their weight,
but not feel even remotely guilty about the fact that they just told several lies to their best friend
or to their boss the day before.
People can feel very, very guilty about maybe the condition of their vehicle
or what type of vehicle they have.
They can feel very bad or very proud, but often very bad,
yet not even feel a tinge, a twinge of guilt over something like, I don't know,
lying on your income tax, which is in effect a type of stealing.
So it's just one of the things about human beings that we can,
and we all probably could give examples afterwards about other people, of course,
never about ourselves, about how something very, very trivial really bothers them,
bends them out of shape they feel guilty about or they feel very proud about.
And we know that God doesn't give a hoot about it.
It's a very, very common human problem.
The Bible text that we're going to look at today speaks into this.
In fact, we have to keep this in the back of our mind as we're reading the Bible text
because it's going to speak into this particular condition.
It's going to speak into this condition more and more in the weeks to come
as we look into the text that comes after it.
But this is a text which starts to look at this human problem,
and it's Colossians 2, verses 16 to 23.
Now, actually, just before we look at this, two things.
I'm going to be looking at actually the few verses before it,
which aren't going to be on the screen,
which is just a good reason to have your own Bibles with you,
either a paper Bible like this
or having something like YouVersion on your phone
so that you can read the Bible on your phone.
But the other thing is that you're going to notice that when I'm reading the Bible text,
when we get into 16 to 23,
I'm going to be reading from the English Standard Version,
but I think, I hope, the text on the screen won't always be the English Standard Version.
And part of the reason for that is this text is a notoriously difficult text
if you read academic Bible commentaries.
It's a notoriously difficult text to translate,
in a sense, in a very literal type of way,
because there's nuances in the original language which don't exist in English.
So what I've done, what you'll see above me,
and sometimes I'll refer to it,
is either from the academic commentary that I've read.
Basically, it all comes from the academic commentary that I've read.
I've tried to give you a version on the screen
that gives the basic sense of the text.
And if you look at the English Standard Version,
you can see that that's the right way,
you know, that that's a way to interpret it.
So anyway, that's why there's going to be sometimes a bit of a gap.
I'm going to read this, and you're looking up at the screen,
and you're looking up at the screen and say,
that's why I've provided a bit of a help on the screen.
Anyway, so the problem is,
what is it about human beings
that we can feel very, very bent out of shape and guilty
about things that we probably would recognize don't really matter,
although obviously to many people in the world it really matters,
yet not even be remotely guilty about something else.
Somebody can feel very, very, very guilty
about the fact that they drive an old car,
that they're not really, you know, with it,
and have a new car really nice and clean,
but they don't feel any guilt at all
about the fact that they show no generosity whatsoever.
They're very, very just ungenerous, ungracious people.
So why is that about us?
Why is it we worry about maybe our weight?
The Bible doesn't care about that,
but we don't worry about lying,
or about betraying confidences.
Why is that going on?
Well, what we looked at last week,
as part of the flow,
because we're preaching through the book of Colossians,
is last week what we looked at,
it's all sort of developing this idea
that when you receive Christ Jesus,
you receive him as the Lord,
and so we have to learn how to walk in him.
And the text that we looked at last week
talked really about this profound idea
that when we give ourselves to Christ,
we, in a sense, enter into him,
and he enters into us.
This is one of the many profound ways
that the Bible, and I think only the Bible,
really accounts for features of human experience
that we take for granted,
and that other systems of thought
and other religions can't really account for,
because it's, in fact, a part of personal relationships
that we, in a sense, enter into the other person's life,
and the other person enters into our life.
And for Christians, we understand that,
ultimately, this is rooted in the very nature of God,
that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
that from all eternity,
the Father, in a sense, has given himself to the Son,
and the Son has received the Father into his life,
and the Son gives himself to the Father,
and the Father receives himself,
receives the Son into his life.
And human beings bearing God's image,
it's the same thing for us.
So, if we've ever been at, let's say,
a wedding reception or a funeral reception,
back in the day when you could meet
without being socially distanced,
and you're at a table of strangers,
and you try to make conversation with the person beside you,
and they either ignore you,
or they give brief, grunt answers,
which they grunt affirmative,
or they grunt negative.
And obviously, what they're doing
is they're keeping their force fields up
to not let you into their lives.
And you're trying to just be friendly with them.
But in things like love,
and friendship, and family,
there's this very, very real sense
that as you share things about yourself,
you're hoping that the things you share
with the other person will be received.
And we can almost picture that being received as,
to use body language like this
is just a very natural thing to say to be received,
because we open ourselves up
to let the other person come into our life.
And then we share something back.
And I use language like,
my hands like this,
and we hope that they receive it like this,
that they open their lives up.
And that's why, you know,
when we experience the death of a friend,
or a family member,
or like a spouse,
it actually feels as if something
from inside of us has been taken away.
There's now a hole inside of us
that wasn't there before.
Because there is a real sense
that human beings enter into each other.
And we know that it's not just emotions,
that there's some other thing which goes on,
that there's not really human words,
English words that can capture.
And the Bible is saying,
all the way through the book of Colossians,
the phrase, in Christ,
is, it's said over and over
and over and over again.
And what the Bible is telling us
is that when you trust Jesus
as your Savior and your Lord,
you enter into him,
and he enters into you.
That it's not just an analogy,
it's not a metaphor,
it's not an experience per se,
but that in the case of Christ,
it's real,
it actually happens.
You enter into Christ
and now, in a sense,
live in him.
And he enters into you
and in a very real and true sense,
enters into you and is in you.
The two truths are very, very true.
And we looked at that last week.
And then the Bible text talked about
using two analogies,
one of circumcision from the Old Testament
and then baptism in the New Testament,
and showed how both of those
symbolic actions,
so to speak,
are signifying something that God does.
And then it culminates in verses 13 to 15.
And you who were dead in your trespasses
and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
God made alive together with him,
having forgiven us all our trespasses,
here's the thing I want to point to,
by canceling the record of debt
that stood against us
with its legal demands.
This he set aside,
nailing it to the cross.
And last week I shared how this word
legal demands
is sort of a,
it's a very, very legal,
it's a very, very literally correct word,
but it actually isn't,
it doesn't really capture
the right sense in English.
And what the Bible text is saying
is this very wonderful
and profound truth.
It's saying that when you,
like when you give yourself to Christ
and you enter into him,
it means then in a very real sense
that the death Jesus dies on the cross
is your death.
And his resurrection
is also your resurrection
because you're in him.
And just as in,
you can sort of see it over there
a little bit with the stained glass,
that if you read the gospel accounts,
it was very typical with crucifixion
that a brief summary of the charge
against the person
was nailed above the cross
so that everybody walking by
would know that this is why
the person was dying.
And so Paul uses this analogy
because crucifixion
was a very common form of punishment.
Hundreds of thousands of people
died of crucifixion
in the Roman Empire.
And so it's a very, very common thing,
a very shameful way of dying.
And Paul says,
what do you need to imagine is this,
that the first part of that,
which it talks about
the record of debt,
that's referring to real objective,
from God's point of view,
moral wrong.
Every lie that I've ever told,
every time that I had an opportunity
to do something good
and I didn't do that good,
a sin of omission,
every betrayal of a confidence,
every stealing,
every slander about another human being,
every sexual thing,
every injustice,
everything which from God
who sees perfectly,
every single real wrong,
objective wrong thing
that I have ever done,
well, that's nailed to the cross
above Jesus.
But the other word
is really implying
human regulations,
the human judgments
that we make on each other.
And human judgments
might have a bit of a grain
of truth to them,
but they're a bit very,
very different.
The way that people condemn you
because you're too skinny,
too fat,
too muscular,
are not muscular enough.
You eat crappy food.
You're too obsessed
about eating healthy food.
You only eat organic.
You never eat organic.
You only go to Tim Hortons.
You never go to Tim Hortons.
You think you're better than people
by going to a hipster coffee place.
You drink wine
out of a little box
that has plastic
or you only drink
the finest vintages.
All of the normal human things
that we mean
to put each other down
or evaluate everybody else,
those also
are nailed to the cross.
That's what regulations are,
human assessments
that make us feel guilty.
And so it's this profound truth
that on the cross,
I'm to imagine,
well, imagine,
it's not just imagining
because the Bible's telling us
it's actually what happens,
is that every accusation
that a human being
could make against me
that gives me worth
or doesn't give me worth,
that's nailed to the cross as well.
Now, God's going to help us
to sort out
what of those human things
are right or wrong
because sometimes
human views of things
are right.
We might say
that such and such a thing
is cowardly
or such and such a thing
is foolhardy
and it might be right
or there's a germ of truth in it
that the germ of truth
is to be too concerned
about food is a sin
or to be too underweight
or too overweight,
of course,
is bad for the body
and there's a germ
of some sin in there.
It's hard for us
to figure it out
but the comforting thing is
that it's all nailed
to the cross.
Jesus died for all of that
and part of what will happen
as we walk with Christ
is those human regulations
start to get hopefully
sorted out in our lives.
That's what Christ wants to do
and definitely in eternity.
It's all sorted out
but all of those accusations,
they're all up there
on the cross
and that's why it goes on
to say in verse 15,
Jesus disarms
the rulers and authorities
and puts them to open shame
by triumphing over them in him.
As I shared before,
rulers and authorities here
are two different types
of angelic beings,
demonic beings,
I should say.
And so the main way
as I shared last week
that most of us experience
demons in our lives
is by guilt,
accusation,
slander and lies.
In a sense,
the demon speaks lies
into our ears
and they go into our hearts.
And the lies could be,
you were right,
you're always right.
Or the lie could be,
you're wrong,
you're always wrong.
And the devil tells you
the lie,
you're right,
you're always right
when you've just done
something wrong.
When you've just done
something right,
the devil tells you
the lie,
you're wrong,
you're always doing
something wrong.
But he tells you lies,
he slanders you
and they go deep into you.
And in a sense,
how does understanding
the cross help
to disarm it?
You see,
if you understand
that you're not quite sure
how to figure out
the whole weight thing
and what you should
feel guilty about
and what you shouldn't
really feel guilty about,
but the thing is
that is profoundly comforting
is you can just think,
Jesus knew
every accusation
against me.
Those are nailed
to the cross
and Jesus died for them.
He's over time
going to help me
to understand
what needs to be done
about some of these things.
And in fact,
in chapter 3,
we're going to see
how Paul starts
to help us
to figure out
what true north is,
like where we really are.
That's what he's going
to talk about
in chapter 3.
But it's all been,
all these accusations,
they're all dealt with.
So then,
if we put up verse 16
on the screen,
you'll notice
in the English Standard Version,
it begins with,
therefore,
let no one pass judgment
on you in questions
of food and drink
or with regard
to a festival
or a new moon
or a Sabbath.
These are a shadow
of the things to come,
but the substance
belongs to Christ.
Now,
what Paul is doing here,
you'll notice it says,
therefore,
that's how it begins.
And the verses 16 to 23,
and by the way,
I don't know how to pronounce
this correctly.
One of you can shout it out.
You know,
there's that,
it's an ancient,
I think it's an old
Greek god
or it's a part
of a Greek story,
a Janus figure.
I don't know
if it's pronounced
Janus or Janus.
It's, eh?
Janus.
Okay,
thank you very much.
So a Janus
is a figure
that has two faces
looking in opposite directions.
And lots of times
in the Bible,
there's a text
which in a sense
is a Janus text.
And this is a Janus text.
In other words,
verses 16 to 23
on one hand
is looking back
from all the things
that have happened
from chapter 1
to chapter 2.
And it's looking back
at that
and bringing it
to a bit of a conclusion.
But it's also
a Janus text
in the sense
that it's looking forward
to chapter 3
and it's giving us
a bit of an introduction
about what's going to come.
But it begins
with this powerful word,
therefore,
let no one
pass judgment on you
in questions
of food and drink.
Now,
what's going on here
is this.
So I've just shared
the gospel with you.
You put your faith
and trust in Christ
and every accusation
against you,
the ones that have
just purely
human regulations,
the ones which are,
in fact,
that God could say
are objectively wrong,
they're all nailed
to the cross.
So when you walk
out the door
after the service
and you begin now
to live the rest
of your week
or even maybe
as you're listening
to the sermon,
how are you going to live?
Like,
how do you live?
How do you live
when you walk
out the door
of the church?
And in a sense,
it's not just
how do you live
when you walk
out the door
of the church,
it's also,
in a sense,
how are you right
now evaluating things?
Will you,
that's the question.
So here's,
you see,
the problem
is that what happens
is we often
as human beings,
in fact,
it almost always happens
as human beings,
that we hear this
wonderful news
about the gospel,
but we walk
out the door
and now we start
to live
as if the gospel
isn't true,
but we live
as if to develop
as a human being,
to develop
as a godly person,
as to develop
as a person
that God would use,
to develop
as God's friend,
whatever the analogy
is as God's child,
as soon as we walk
out the door,
we very quickly
start to use
regulations
to frame
how we live
our lives.
In other words,
human rules.
And what the Bible
is going to do
in this text
is it's going
to give us,
in a sense,
the classic six,
the classic six ways
that human beings
use regulations
to try to understand
how to get better
with God,
how to grow with God,
how to become
more Christ-like,
how to be fit
for heaven,
how to live
a godly life,
how to live
a spiritual life,
how to be,
all those different
analogies,
and there's
these classic six.
They're not always
as prevalent
in certain subgroups
or certain times
as others,
but they're the historic
classic six.
And here's how it is.
So let no one
pass judgment.
And the word there,
I think,
I think I used
the word condemn
up here.
That's the sense of it.
It's a sense of
disqualify you
or condemn you.
It's not just
passing judgment
on you as if,
oh, you're a good,
it's what,
how do people
condemn you?
And look at the
first of the six,
food and drink.
Well, I mean,
isn't that true?
This coffee only uses,
this church only uses
fair trade coffee.
Oh, we're very good,
aren't we?
And other churches say,
yeah,
these guys,
they just want to be
hipsters and cool
and all that stuff.
We use Tim Horton's
coffee because we're
of the people
or something like that.
Or, you know,
we only have organic.
Well, you know,
organic people,
they just want to be
politically correct
and hipster.
They don't know
what it's like
in the real life.
They have lots
of disposable cash.
They don't live
from paycheck
to paycheck.
You can finish
the rant if you want.
Some of you have
those rants in your head,
right?
You go grocery shopping,
you see the organic section
and in your head,
there's a rant
about people who buy it.
Or in your head,
you know,
as you're buying
from the organic,
there's the rant
about the people
who are going
to the sale
and you think about,
yeah,
they don't care
about slave labor,
they don't care,
but you know,
that's what goes on
in our heads,
right?
And it's not just that,
you know,
there's the clean
and unclean food
and then it goes on,
new moon,
or sort of a festival.
And I'm going
to give you
secular versions
and I'm going
to go back
and give you
religious versions
of some of these
types of things.
How many people
in our society
evaluate us
by whether or not
we'd go to a gay pride parade?
Like,
you wouldn't go
to the gay pride parade?
You wouldn't organize that?
Like,
you're a terrible person.
You're against inclusivity?
You're against inclusion?
You hate gays?
Like,
you hate,
like what are you,
like a Trump supporter
or something like that?
Make America Great?
Like,
the judgments
would come immediately
upon that type of thing.
And then,
you know,
or let me tell you,
I'll finish the ones,
new moon.
And a new moon,
that's in a sense that,
I mean,
on one level,
all of these have
Old Testament precursors,
but new moon is really
how much do we get told
to keep in touch
with nature,
to get with the rhythms?
Like,
isn't one of the advantages
of Wiccan,
why is Wicca
a better religion
than Christianity?
Because Wicca
respects natural rhythms.
Wicca respects,
in particular,
the rhythms
of a woman's body
with her period
and all of that
type of stuff.
It respects the moon
and the tides.
It's one with nature
and we have to be
at one with nature.
And then,
you go on to Sabbath
and then it could be,
of course,
that,
you know,
Sabbath,
not necessarily
in a religious sense,
but you need to have
a time of rest,
you need to have
your alone time.
And you see what I mean
that all of these
types of things
are the types of things
that judgments come about
and they all have
the religious versions
as well.
You know,
in terms of,
you know,
food or drink,
I've already mentioned
the ones that churches
can start to divide
over what type of coffee
they have
or what type of food
they serve
or vegetarianism
or not being vegetarian.
Festival,
I'll just use
Anglicanism as an example.
Like,
people will get
all bent out of shape.
Some of you
who are old Anglicans
will tell you
how transgressive
it was
in our church
when I sang
a Christmas carol
before Christmas Eve.
Like,
that was going
against a huge
Anglican religious rule.
When I said
Alleluia
in church
during Lent,
I was being
very transgressive
against a whole pile
of Anglican
religious rules.
You know,
and you can go on
in terms of,
you know,
we've had people
in this church
who've been very,
very,
very upset
because when there was
coffee time after church
we went to a store
to buy cream
and we weren't
keeping the Sabbath.
But all of a sudden
there's a whole range
of different types
of rules
about how you keep
these things
and you need to keep them
if you're the right
type of church.
I mean,
it even comes up
in the fact
that for many,
many churches
they would say
that one of the
problems with us
is that we actually
have something
like a liturgical year
but ironically
those same people
would often
probably judge me
that George said
one of the reasons
your church doesn't grow
is you don't do
a big thing
about Mother's Day.
You don't do
a big thing
about Father's Day.
You don't do
a big thing
about Thanksgiving.
You don't do
a big thing
about Remembrance Day.
You don't do
a big thing
about this and that
and we'll go
whoa,
whoa.
These are secular festivals
and you're using
art keeping
of a secular festival
to judge us?
like your church
non-liturgically
your church
you're superior
to us
because you keep
Mother's Day?
That was invented
by greeting card companies
folks
and you're passing
judgment on us
because we remember
Advent?
Like
you see how it works
in church circles?
It's a bit
of an aside.
I'm clueless
about a whole
pile of things.
I've been in this
church so long
I've lost track
of a whole pile
of Anglican rules
but at one point
in time
in Anglican history
you walk in the door
and the fact
that I have
this collar on
rather than
another collar
would tell you
that the circle
the collar
that goes all around
they'd say
ah,
he's the right
sort of the wrong
sort.
Oh,
a collar like this
he's the right
sort of the wrong
sort.
They'd instantly
figure that out.
The mere fact
sorry
I could keep
going on and on
about this.
On one level
it's a bit fun
to look at a text
like this.
Because we don't
have,
I don't wear
all of the robes
that were developed
like I don't know
like in the 1600s
or the 1700s
with all these
processions
we've had people
come from other
Anglican churches
that say that
we're not even
Anglican
because we don't
do all of that
stuff.
I don't wear
the robes
to be well dressed
for the year
1650.
I mean
as soon as I say
that obviously
I'm mocking it,
right?
But the fact
of the matter
is these are
very very powerful
things.
I'm using
Anglican examples
but there's
even,
there's Baptist
examples
and there's
charismatic examples.
They're all
examples in
everything that
all of a sudden
you have these
rules and
regulations
that come from
who knows where
often from
certain things
in the culture
and it's means
by which you
evaluate whether
it's a good
church or a
bad church.
I've had people
come to the
church and
they've never
come back again.
Why?
Because of
these.
because it's
an offense
against
idolatry.
It's
idolatry.
It's
against
the Bible.
Like I think
to myself
you'd never
have a
kid's
storybook
that has
a picture
of Jesus
in it?
Like what
do you do
when you
tell a
Christmas story
about the
nativity story?
Like is it
just words?
There's no
pictures for
your kids?
Anyway,
I won't go
into it.
But you see
what I mean?
There's secular
and religious
things.
So here's
you see the
thing which
is going
on.
You have
to watch
the time.
So what
the text
is saying,
I just
gave you
that the
first part
of the
sermon
was all
about this
wonderful
thing about
the gospel
that God
doesn't look
at me and
say,
God looks
at me and
knows that
George,
if all of
the things
that were
listed against
George by
our culture
and all of
the things
that I could
put against
George which
are actually
correct,
objectively
true,
moral wrongs
that George
did and I
put them
all up.
There's no
way that
George could
sacrifice
enough,
atone for
it.
He'd come
under judgment
and God
makes this
profound offer
to you and
me and he
says,
listen,
put your
faith in
Christ.
And when
you put your
faith in
Christ,
you enter
into him
and he
enters into
you.
And the
death he
died,
George,
he died
listing all
those things
against you
and he
offers you
his life
and it's
all grace,
it's all
free.
It's not
because I'm
weighing how
wonderful you
are,
it's because
I'm pardoning
your offenses,
it's not
because you're
so unbelievably
spectacular by
your own
definition,
it's because I
just love you
so much and
I value you
and I want
you to be
with me for
eternity and
it's all
love,
it's all
grace,
it's all
mercy,
it's all
kindness,
it's all
goodness.
But as
soon as we
hear that,
instantly we
want to
grow ourselves,
we're going
to see that
in a moment
in the text.
The fundamental
choice before
us as
Christians is
will God
grow us
or will I
grow us?
Actually it's
even more
than that as
we're going
to see in a
moment is
will God
grow me
or will I
grow me?
Me,
me,
I will
grow me
and they have
religious ways,
we have
charismatic ways
of doing
that,
you know,
like there's
the right
way to lift
your hands
at the right
time and
there's the
wrong way to
lift your
hands at the
right time and
there's the
right time to
lift your
hands in the
wrong time and
you don't do
it the wrong
time,
you do it the
wrong time and
people look down
their nose at
you and there's
Anglican things as
to whether you
bow enough or
kneel enough or
deep enough and
it's all just
regulations and
rules.
Look at verse
17,
these are a
shadow of the
things to come but
the substance
belongs to
Christ.
In other words,
these are just,
at best,
there's something
that sort of
points to
Christ but the
fact of the
matter is it's
just you're
talking about
shadows,
you're not
actually talking
about reality
and I've helped
you here with
the text up
above us.
Literally in the
original language
it's pointing
backwards to
Christ.
So I think the
way I've worded
it up above
without having
to turn my
head is,
and this has
actually captured
it better,
these are a
shadow of the
things that
were to
come because
it came in
Christ.
We're not
waiting for it
in the future.
It's all in
Christ.
These are a
shadow of the
things that
were to come.
The reality,
however,
is found in
Christ.
And then the
Bible gives you
two more of the
big six.
Right here it's
giving you food
and drink,
festivals,
new moons,
Sabbaths.
But then in
verse 18 it
goes on,
let no one
again disqualify
you or judge
you or condemn
you,
insisting on
asceticism and
worship of angels,
going on in
details about
visions,
puffed up without
reason by his
sensuous mind,
and not holding
fast to the
head from whom
the whole body
nourished and
knit together
through its
joints and
ligaments.
And here's,
there's two big
ideas in the text
and here's one
of them,
grows with a
growth that is
from God.
See,
that's the
fundamental choice
before us.
Will it be me
by my
disciplines?
Will it be us
by our disciplines
that grows?
Or will we
acknowledge that
all growth comes
from God?
And if all
growth comes
from God,
it's going to
suggest that we
have different,
in a sense,
types of postures
in responses to
God's word.
that allows,
that God,
that causes God
to grow us.
Because,
in a sense,
if we understand
that all growth
comes from God,
it means I
always come before
God with empty
hands.
In fact,
unclean hands
and an unclean
heart.
And a mind
that sometimes
can be very,
very true,
but often gets
me into trouble.
And a will
that can often
be very,
very good,
but often gets
me into trouble.
And emotions
that sometimes
can be very
good,
but often get
me into trouble.
They're out of
whack.
I get bothered
by somebody
putting me down
because I drive
a 1998
Honda Accord.
Because if I was
a really successful
Christian,
I wouldn't be
driving a car
that's 23 years
old.
I'd have a
Beamer or a
Lexus or
something like
that.
But if I was
a real successful
Christian,
really with it,
you know,
and I can
get beat up.
Actually,
I don't get
beat up about
the car at all.
That's why I'm
using it as an
example.
I don't want
to use an
example that
might actually
betray the
sinfulness of
my heart.
Frankly,
I just want a
car that's as
cheap as possible
that when I
turn the key,
it starts,
gets me to
point A and
back home,
and I don't
care how ugly
it is.
I'm sorry.
I have a
whole pile of
other sins.
That's just
not one of my
particular sins
or virtues.
I don't care
about cars.
Anyway,
but the point
is right here,
go back to
that,
let no one
disqualify you
insisting on
asceticism,
and here it's
really all about
self-control.
The big
besetting sin
of much
Christian teaching
is it basically
is teaching
about self-control.
Do these
five things
and you're
going to have
a better
marriage.
Do these
four things
and you're
going to be
able to
forgive.
Do these
seven things
and you'll
get that
promotion.
Do these
nine things
and you'll
have financial
security.
And then you
don't have
those things.
Well, it's
ultimately because
you don't have
any self-control.
Sucks to be
you.
I mean, we
don't say
that, right?
We have
polite
Christian ways
to cover
the fact
that that's
what we
think.
It's one of
the reasons
why evangelical
Christians
and charismatic
Christians
have a very
profound,
hard time
with mental
illness
and have a
very profound
and hard
time against
other types
of things
which are
just physically
wrong with
us.
like we
can be in
great judgment
on a street
person who
has no
control of
alcohol
whatsoever.
Why?
Because I
have control
and I never
stop to think
about the fact
that there's
something
probably
actually
biologically
broken in
them connected
to a will
that has been
broken by past
experiences which
means that they
will be
profoundly more
drawn to
alcohol or
drug abuse
than I
ever will
be.
And I
worship or
I trust in
my willpower.
And that's
what this word
asceticism is
getting at.
It's the way
to deal with
the body.
It's connected
to a whole lot
of other types
of messy
things as well
in the Christian
faith.
But look at
the game.
Let no one
disqualify you.
Verse 18.
Insisting on
asceticism,
worship of
angels,
and going on
in detail about
visions.
And that's
sort of two
different ideas.
One of them
wouldn't be
true necessarily
in a lot of
the types of
churches that
we would go
to.
But it's
drawing on
spiritual powers.
It's a very
common thing in
the world that
you manipulate
energies around
people.
I went to an
ultra-liberal
equivalent to
seminary.
I am not
making this up.
And I had to
go to a place
to learn how to
massage people's
auras.
Not making
this up.
And I was
to try to
sense the
colors and
auras around
them.
And I was
to move my
hands around
their body in
such a way that
it helped to
rebalance the
auras so
they had no
wholeness.
I am not
making this up.
Liberal
seminary.
Catholic
seminary.
The same
seminary.
I almost got
fired.
Not fired.
We were
told to go
into deep
states of
relaxation,
get in touch
with animal
guides from
our subconscious
to help us
to guide us
to a
collective
and kind.
I am not
making this
up.
It goes on
in certain
churches.
But there is
evangelical and
charismatic and
Catholic equivalents
to all of these
types of things.
How many
charismatic and
evangelical books
value somebody
who has had a
vision of heaven
as if they
somehow have a
better way to
speak into the
Christian life than
other people?
It is because
they have had a
vision.
Well the Bible
just says here,
look what it
says about it.
Look what it
says.
Verse 18,
let no one
disqualify you
or judge you
or condemn you,
insisting on
asceticism and
the worship of
angels, like
getting in touch
with spiritual
powers,
entering into
all the details
of their
visions.
What does it
say?
They are puffed
up without
reason by
their fallen
mind.
They are
actually just
puffed up with
pride.
We are just
puffed up with
pride, not
them, we are,
and not holding
fast to the
head from whom
the whole body
nourished and
knit together
through its
joints and
ligaments grows
with a growth
that is from
God.
We are saved
by God, we
grow by God.
Nothing in
my hands I
bring simply
to the cross
I cling to
be saved.
Nothing in
my hands I
bring simply
to the cross
I cling to
grow.
So verse
20, if with
Christ you
died to the
elemental spirits
of the world,
why as if you
were still alive
in the world,
in other words,
or why as if
you let the
world set the
agenda, verse
20, do you
submit to
regulations?
That word
regulations is
the same there,
the word that
was there before
translated in a
different way in
verse 13,
basically the
same ideas as
the word
translated earlier
with legal
demands in the
English Standard
Version in
verse 14.
So all these
regulations that
come from the
world.
So if in
fact when you
put, you're
in Christ and
his death is
your death and
his resurrection
is your
resurrection and
you're in him
and he fills
you, if this is
the fundamental
truth, and
because on one
hand it's already
true that he
completely fills you
but it's also the
not yet, you
don't live, I
don't live in this
world as if I've
never fallen and
I don't have a
sinful nature, it's
already true but
it's not yet fully
true, it will only
be fully true in
the new heaven and
the new earth, it
will only be fully
true when I see
Jesus face to face
that all that sin
will be burned
away but right now
I live in a world
and I still have
these things and I
have to deal with
them in Christ
but if it's true
that I've died then
why do I live as
if the world is
setting the agenda?
That's what it
means, do not
handle, do not
taste, do not
touch, verse 21
referring to
things that all
perish as they
are used according
to human precepts
and teachings
in other words
why is it do you
think that you
can prepare for
eternity by
manipulating that
which passes away
as you use it?
Why do you think
that will fit you
for heaven by
manipulating things
that perish as
you use it?
And here's the
second big teaching
in the text.
It fits with the
first one about
all the growth
that comes from
God.
These have an
indeed, these have
indeed an appearance
of wisdom in
promoting self-made
religion and
asceticism and
severity to the
body.
And what this
means is it
means these all
have the appearance
of wisdom because
they promote
strong devotion to
religious rules and
religions that you've
made up for yourself.
But it emphasizes
strong devotion.
And these all have
an appearance of
wisdom in promoting
asceticism.
In other words,
pious self-denial.
And they all have
an appearance of
wisdom because they
seem to show a
severity to the body
or a severe body
discipline.
Like great mind
over matter.
great emotional
control and
willpower and
mental abilities.
And it all seems to
show these types of
things.
The power of my
mind.
The power of my
will.
The discipline of my
emotions.
The discipline of my
imaginations.
All of these things
that come from me.
From me.
And I can learn
techniques to how to
control my breathing.
To control my
feelings.
And control my
emotions.
And I can learn
exercises so that when
somebody says
something to me.
I can control how
I'm going to
respond.
And these can all
have religious guises
and religious forms.
But it's all about
my control of my
mind.
My control of my
mind.
My control of my
will.
My control of my
heart.
My control of my
emotions.
And then what does
the Bible say?
The end of verse
23.
They are of no
value in stopping
the indulgence
of the flesh.
They are of no
value in stopping
the indulgence of
our sinful nature.
They don't stop my
pride.
They don't stop my
anger.
They don't stop my
envy.
They don't stop my
sloth.
or sloth.
Which is indifference
to things which
should be important.
They don't
necessarily stop my
gluttony.
Which doesn't mean
overeating.
Overeating is part of
gluttony.
The other part of
gluttony is just
actually being too
concerned and too
picky about food.
food.
In other words,
yeah, it doesn't
necessarily stop my
lust.
But it has the
appearance as if it
will do all of those
types of things.
I mean, we just keep
being rocked by scandal
after scandal in the
Christian world.
And not only in the
Christian world, but you
can go into the
Buddhist world, the
Hindu world, you can
go into the secular
world, where people
who, I mean, Harvey
Weinstein, I mean, his
name's mud, but he
would eat with the
Clintons.
He would be a
favorite on CNN.
All the while, his
outward ability to
manage his appearance
and all of those
things, but inside he
was a cesspool.
It's a secular
problem, a spiritual
problem, a Christian
problem.
And yet there still
seems to be something
about it that it has
to be me growing
me, even though it's
not me that can save
me, only Christ can
save me.
And this is a Janus
text because on one
hand it's summarizing
the things that have
gone before in chapter
two, but it's also
now helping us to go
for a better way,
which is what chapter
three and the first
part of chapter four
is going to talk
about.
How is it that we
grow from the gospel?
How is it that we
grow from grace?
How is it that God
grows you?
What is it that we
have to do as God
grows you?
And God growing me
is going to also
mean I fail.
I screw up.
It's going to involve
humility.
God growing you is
going to be trying to
reorient your moral
compass so you can
take, yeah, it'd be
all right if I lost a
couple of pounds with
the right type of
thing.
That might be a good
type of thing.
It might be all right
for putting on a
couple of pounds of
muscle or something like
that.
That's not a bad thing.
You know, it might be
good if I could have a
little bit of extra
money to be generous,
maybe to give to the
church or just to have
for a rainy day.
We need to have our
compass reset by
Christ, moral compass,
the moral way to
understand our lives.
But the main thing is
the normal way that we
think about it in the
terms of the world, and
there's Christian
versions of all of it,
is listen again, they
are of no value in
stopping the indulgence of
the flesh.
We need Christ, the
hope of glory, and we
need to be drawn by
hope, the hope of glory,
and we need to be
assured of the hope of
glory, and we need each
other to do it, which is
why small groups are
important, spiritual
friendships, why
worshiping together is
important.
Let's bow our heads,
let's stand please, and
let's bow our heads in
prayer.
Father, we, um,
Father, I, I know how
powerful it is in my
own life that I can see
specks really well in
other people's eyes, all
the while having a huge
log stuck in my eye that
I don't even notice.
And I know how easy it
is for me to see other
people bowing down to
regulations and self-control
and willpower and mind
power and emotional
power and all these
things, and I, I can,
Father, get really bent
out of shape and anger or
envy over these things
without even realizing
that I'm doing it.
I, I'm just really better
at condemning others than
seeing my own sin.
Father, we thank you so
much for your word.
We ask, Father, that you
would make the gospel real
to our hearts, and that as
it is made more and more
real to us that when we
put our faith and trust in
Jesus, we are in him, and he
is in us.
All of the fullness of
deity now dwells in us, not
that we are divine, but that he
dwells in us.
And that every true moral
wrong and every human
regulation against us, those
are all nailed to the cross.
Father, make that real to us
grace, and that we are
so that we can repent of
our sins and learn those
postures that make us open
to grace, grace changing
and transforming us in every
aspect of who we are, that
all that is within us will one
day bless your holy name in a
way that is truly good for us,
that brings you glory, and is
truly good for those around us
and for our city.
And we ask all these things in
the name of Jesus, your Son,
and our Savior.
Amen.