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Colossians 2:8-23 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
If you weren't here last week, just really quickly, I want to get you caught up.
0:05
I know there's a lot of people who weren't here.
0:08
These verses that we covered last week and the verses that we covered this week will really be taken as a whole.
0:14
And so we kind of have to do some piecing together, some combining of this week and last week.
0:21
And I gave you an outline last week so that we can kind of see the overall picture of this text.
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And this is basically it, that we have a warning not to be taken by empty deceit, not to be taken by worldly, empty philosophy.
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And then we have a call to the sufficiency or the supremacy of Christ over worldly philosophy.
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And then the outflow of that is kind of something that's going on in the background all throughout the book of Colossians that Paul is doing.
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And that is this thing called apologetics.
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It kind of naturally outflows from this idea that we shouldn't be taken by empty philosophy,
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that the supremacy of Christ reigns in our hearts, and the outflow of that is apologetics.
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And we see this in Paul's letters as well as his preaching and his teaching.
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And so last week we defined apologetics in this basic form as knowing what we believe,
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why we believe it, and then being able to communicate that effectively to others.
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The last part is pretty important, right?
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So knowing what we believe, why we believe it, and then being able to communicate that effectively to others.
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And this is really what we see Paul doing throughout the book of Colossians.
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And the core of his message is in Colossians 2, verses 8 to the end of the chapter, including our text this morning.
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And so we're going to see the core of his message here is really combating heresy.
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It's really combating these unbiblical ideas that are making their way,
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these empty philosophies that are making their way into the church at Colossae.
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And there really isn't a better time to be talking about this than right now.
1:58
Nathan's already mentioned it before, but the travesty that took place this week with the Supreme Court ruling,
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I use the word travesty, not tragedy.
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It's not a tragedy for us as believers.
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It's important that we understand this is very much a part of apologetics,
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how we react to cultural issues such as what happened this week.
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And should we care about the same-sex marriage ruling?
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Yes, we should.
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We should care about it.
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We should be concerned about it.
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Should we be concerned about the direction our culture is heading in terms of how it glorifies sin over Christ?
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Yes, absolutely.
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We should be concerned about these things.
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But should we respond in panic and outlash?
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Absolutely not.
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There's nothing to panic about.
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There's nothing that has changed in terms of the biblical definition of marriage.
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But they're redefining marriage, right?
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No, they're redefining the law.
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They have redefined the law.
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Let's be clear here.
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Whose idea was marriage in the beginning?
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It was God's idea.
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In Genesis chapter 2, God said that it is not good for the man to be alone.
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And so he created for Adam a suitable helper.
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And right then, in the very beginning, God defines marriage.
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Genesis 2, 24.
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It's his idea.
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It's his definition.
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We can't change that as humans.
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The Supreme Court can't change that.
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Our President of the United States isn't powerful enough to change the definition of marriage.
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So God defines it as simply as a covenant union.
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A lifelong covenant union between one man and one woman.
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That's what marriage is.
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God gets to decide what marriage looks like.
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It's his idea.
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It's his definition.
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The Supreme Court has the power to do a lot of things, but they can't redefine biblical marriage.
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Genesis chapter 2 defines biblical marriage.
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The Supreme Court might be able to change the law.
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This is important.
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Don't miss this.
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They might be able to change the law, but they can't put Christ back in the grave.
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It means, fellow believers, that we should respond as people who have hope, and we should be living out our faith as people who have hope.
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It means we don't panic when the Supreme Court tells us something like they did this week.
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We live as people who have hope.
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It goes all back to what we talked about last week, that Jesus is the ultimate authority over all authorities, over all rulers.
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We read that last week in our text.
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He is supreme over all authority.
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And yes, that means he is supreme over the Supreme Court of the United States.
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They might be the highest court authority, but they are not the highest overall authority.
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Jesus is.
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Let's not forget that.
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And let's not forget that every person outside of God's grace is looking for hope.
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They're looking for something to hope in, to place their hope.
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And there's a lot of celebration right now in the homosexual camp because they think that they have found hope.
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They think that's what they've found.
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So don't alienate yourself from these people by pushing them away from the gospel.
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Remember what we said last week.
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Apologetics is not the vindication of me.
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It's the vindication of the Christian philosophy of life.
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And so we're not out to win arguments.
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We're not out there to defend ourselves.
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We're out to defend biblical truth.
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So don't push these people away from the gospel.
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Because when they finally realize that there's no hope in their lifestyle, it's going to be us standing there with open arms, ready to welcome them in to the fold of Christ.
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It's going to be us as they begin to place their hope in the only one true and holy God, the only one true hope that we have.
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And we've got to be ready to give a defense for the reason, for the hope that we have, which is Christ Jesus.
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I left you last week with something to think about.
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And I don't know how many of you have actually thought about it.
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Hopefully most of you.
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But this is what I said.
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There's essentially 66 books of the Bible.
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We're not adding any more to that.
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The canon is closed.
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Which means that there's a limited number of things that we believe, right?
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If there's only 66 books of the Bible, it can only contain a certain amount of truth in it.
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And that is what we hold to believe.
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There's a limited number of things that we believe.
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And if that is true, if we have a limited number of things that we believe, that means there's a limited number of objections that people can raise up against our beliefs.
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And also a limited number of objections that we must answer.
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And thirdly, we have those answers.
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God's given them to us in Scripture.
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And so my point in telling you that is that you have the ability, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the ability to do this thing that we call apologetics.
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You can contend for the faith.
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It is possible for you to do this.
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This isn't just something for elite Christians.
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This isn't just something for the seminary professors and then the big mega church pastors or whatever it happens to be.
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This is something that you and I can and should do according to Scripture.
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Contend for the faith.
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It may take some practice.
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It may take some boldness.
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It might take some courage.
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But you can do it.
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And so the first thing that we really need to know, practically speaking, when we're contending for the faith,
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is that I'm not responsible for defending what I do not believe.
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So we're narrowing it down here.
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We're even making it more simple, right?
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We don't have to defend what we don't believe.
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I'm also not responsible for defending heresy.
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If someone asks me about heresy, well, yeah, well, what about this?
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Well, that's heresy.
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I don't believe it.
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I'm not going to defend something that I don't believe.
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I don't need to defend heresy.
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I just need to know what I believe.
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Well, it would be kind of like somebody walking up to you and just maybe saying,
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well, what about the way the Russians handle their foreign policy?
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I don't know.
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Well, I'm kind of not a Russian, you know?
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I don't know why the Russians do what they do.
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Just ask one of them, I guess.
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I mean, I'm not a Russian.
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I'm also not responsible for defending assumptions in straw men.
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You know what a straw man is?
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A straw man is an argument that somebody is making or an argument that somebody is refuting that you didn't even make to begin with.
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It's a really effective fallacy.
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It's an informal fallacy that people often will make in front of other people.
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If you have a group and you're doing a debate in front of people, they'll begin to attack an argument you're not even making.
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And so it looks effective, but really it's a fallacy.
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You've got to call those out.
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It's a straw man.
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Well, you guys believe, and you can just fill in the blank with whatever, whatever we're being accused of, whatever horrible thing we're being accused of this week.
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Well, you guys just believe this.
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I don't believe that.
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Do you believe that?
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I don't know anybody who believes that.
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In fact, I think you're making that up.
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Paul doesn't entertain assumptions or straw men in his writing or in his preaching.
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There's a great example of it.
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You can go look it up later.
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I don't have time to go there.
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But Acts chapter 17, there's a lot of questions being raised to Paul.
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Does he entertain these straw men?
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No.
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He doesn't entertain them.
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He just calls it what it is, and he moves on.
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We don't have to defend straw men or anything that we don't believe.
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So what do we do?
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We use the Word of God as your source of objections.
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Why?
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Because it is your source for what you believe.
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It is your source for what you believe.
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If you can't defend what you believe from the Word of God, then it means it probably isn't in the Word of God,
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and therefore we probably shouldn't believe it.
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So we use Scripture.
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It's important.
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The first thing that we need to know about these things is that it must be biblical.
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Our apologetics must be biblical.
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Now at this point, some people will say,
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Well, Kyle, that's great if I'm talking to someone who believes the Bible,
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but what if I'm talking to someone who doesn't believe in the Bible?
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Then I've got to use something outside of the Bible to prove what I believe,
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because they don't believe in the Bible.
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Says who?
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Says who?
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They don't believe in the Bible, so I don't use my Bible?
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That sounds like their rule.
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Why would I do that?
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You know what it sounds like to me?
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It sounds like if I'm a knight in medieval times,
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and I walk up to my opponent, and I say,
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Unsheath my sword.
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And my opponent looks at me and says,
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I don't believe in your sword.
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Well, then allow me to speak about the science of the metallurgy,
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so that you may as well believe in my sword.
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No.
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He's either going to believe in my sword,
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or he's just going to lose.
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Right?
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In fact, when we are arguing biblical truth with someone who does not believe the Bible,
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if we give up the Bible, then they've just won.
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Because we've agreed with them that there's a greater source than the Bible,
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and that we don't need the Bible for truth.
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The last thing you want to do is give up your Bible.
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Why on earth would I allow someone else to dictate how the Word of God is communicated?
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It makes no sense at all.
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It's alive and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword.
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So when I choose to use something outside of the Bible,
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it means that I choose to use something that's not as authoritative,
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and not as powerful as Scripture.
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Therefore, I do not relinquish it.
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Do not relinquish your sword.
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The Bible compares it, actually, to a sword many times throughout Scripture.
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So this is how this works.
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We're going to try to simplify this so that we can understand this a little better,
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and I promise we're going to get into the text.
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This is all kind of work leading up to us seeing how Paul is working this out inside this text.
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So this is how this works.
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So first of all, it's got to be biblical,
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and second of all, it has to be simple,
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or else we're not going to do it, right?
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If we don't make this simple for ourselves,
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then we're not going to practice this in our own lives.
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And so if you know seven or eight key characteristics of theology,
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and you know a couple of key passages,
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two or three key passages,
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where these things are discussed,
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no one will ever ask you a question that you can't answer.
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Because most of the objections that are raised against Christianity,
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they fall into one of these seven or eight categories.
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And if they do ask a question that you can't answer,
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more often than not, they're asking you about something you don't believe,
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and you don't have to defend it.
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So every question typically falls into these seven or eight categories.
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So we learn these categories,
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and we can begin to defend what we believe.
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So the tools I promised you last week,
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I told you that we're going to have some tools that we can use.
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The number one tool that we have,
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most of you have it in your hands right now,
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the Bible.
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Number one tool,
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know your scripture,
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know the word of God.
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It's the best and most reasonable thing,
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but it is large,
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it's hard to know everything that's in it.
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So we understand that our apologetics must be biblical,
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but there are other tools that are really the training grounds for apologetics.
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What are these tools?
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Catechisms,
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creeds,
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and confessions.
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Catechisms,
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creeds,
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and confessions.
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There are three C's,
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you can write that down in your notes,
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help you remember them,
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whatever you have to do.
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Catechisms,
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creeds,
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and confessions.
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Creeds are summaries of the gospel.
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They're summaries of the gospel.
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They are poetic in nature,
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so they can be easy to memorize.
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And there's several creeds out there.
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There's the Apostle Creed.
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And by the way,
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these creeds,
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they came out of heretical movements throughout history.
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Oftentimes they would call together groups of believers,
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and they would have what they called councils.
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They had the Council of Nicaea.
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On the other side of the Council of Nicaea,
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they met together to defend heresy that was going on during this time.
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And so on the other side of that,
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we get the Nicaean Creed.
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They come up with the Nicaean Creed.
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It's used to combat heresy during this time.
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So these are very effective things for us to look at and to understand.
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There's the Apostles' Creed.
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There's the Nicaean Creed written to combat Arian heresy of that day.
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Interestingly,
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Jehovah's Witness,
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same heresy.
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That's the Arian heresy.
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Meaning the Nicaean Creed is a great tool for us.
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Only a few months ago,
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I had a JW knock on my door.
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Unfortunately,
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we didn't really have a great conversation.
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They weren't really ready to have a conversation with me,
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and we were trying to head out the door.
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But they showed up at my door,
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and we had a short conversation.
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It was a little bit awkward.
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But this is relevant to us today.
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The Athanasian Creed answers the Jehovah's Witness heresy as well.
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How do we respond to Pentecostals?
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Same thing.
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Athanasian Creed.
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These creeds were written at times,
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not unlike in our passage today,
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where they were combating heresy and false doctrines.
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So particularly effective.
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Here's an interesting thing, too.
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Our catechisms and our confessions
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were designed to fit into these categories
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that we're talking about.
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And so you already have the categories laid out
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within your confessions.
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We already talked about catechisms some last week.
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They're questions that we ask our learners
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with a predefined response
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that the learner is supposed to say
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in answer to the question.
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So catechisms were designed
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to help us learn our confessions.
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That's how catechisms work.
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And so we see that we have these tools that we have.
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And by the way, what's a good confession of faith?
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We have one at Christ's Family Church.
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Right?
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Every person who is a member
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should have read through this
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before they decided to be a member.
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And so we already have one here at our church
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that outlines everything that we believe
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that falls into these categories.
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What's more is that we have Scripture
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that goes along with those categories.
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So it's a great tool for us to begin to learn.
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It's really the training grounds for apologetics
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so that we can begin to understand God's Word.
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We can begin to understand these categories
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where people might ask a question,
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and then we have the biblical truth
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that shows where we get that truth from.
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So particularly effective.
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And by the way, if you need a copy of that,
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I'm sure Nathan can somehow figure out a way
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to get you a copy of our Confession of Faith.
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If not, in the meantime,
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it is based off the New Hampshire Confession of Faith primarily.
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So you can go online,
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look up New Hampshire Confession of Faith,
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and you'll find essentially
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what is contained within Christ's Family's Confession of Faith.
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Am I denying that this isn't helpful to know science?
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No.
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It's not.
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There are helpful things,
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but what we have to get right first
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to make it simple
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and so that we can do it
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is to understand the biblical truth behind our answers.
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And as we do so,
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then we can add some other stuff to it.
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Simply learning about fallacies and rhetoric
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can go a long way
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in understanding what people are doing
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when they make their arguments.
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And we can call them out on certain fallacies,
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and they try to use tactics to trip you up.
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And God bless you if you take that route.
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That's great.
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If you want to continue on,
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you want to get deeper in your study of apologetics,
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you want to get deeper in the way
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that you can combat these heresies
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and these other things,
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these objections people are raising,
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then more power to you.
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That's really great.
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That's extremely beneficial.
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But if you want to make this simple,
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you're defending what you believe, right?
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You're defending what you believe.
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As far as doing apologetics,
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this is about you always being ready
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to give a reason for the hope that is within you.
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And you don't believe what you believe
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because some philosopher told you to believe it.
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You don't believe what you believe
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because some scientist told you.
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You believe what you believe
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because of what's in the text.
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Is there a little work that needs to be done?
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Yes, there is.
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There's some work that needs to be done up front.
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And unfortunately,
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I can't give you all the answers
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in a 30 to 45 minute sermon.
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So it's not going to work that way.
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You've got to do some work yourself.
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Come up with these ideas
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and understanding of Scripture.
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And then you can be confident
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and comfortable when answering these questions.
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Now, don't make this mistake
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because we make this mistake a lot as believers.
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Here's the reality.
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It's that God saves sinners.
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Apologetics doesn't save sinners.
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God saves sinners.
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So don't merely use apologetics
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without sharing the gospel.
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You've got to have gospel truth.
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The changing life message of the gospel.
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I was talking to a guy that works at UNG
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the other day.
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That's where I work.
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For those who don't know,
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I work in the IT department.
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And there was a student worker
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that works there.
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And he's a real people person.
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He's a really good person to talk to.
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He asks a lot of questions.
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He really wants to get to know people.
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And I really love that about him.
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And over the course of our conversation,
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he found out that I have a seminary background
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and that I used to work on staff with a church
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and all these things.
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And I almost cringe whenever I tell people this.
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Not because I don't want to share my faith.
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I love sharing my faith with people.
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It's because usually the walls go up
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and the conversation shuts down.
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And for those of you who have been in ministry
20:18
in the past
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or you just happen to know these type of people,
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oftentimes these conversations just,
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they're squelched
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because they don't want to have a conversation
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with somebody who's a professional Christian,
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so to speak.
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And he really surprised me
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because that didn't happen with him.
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It so pleasantly surprised me.
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This guy didn't act this way toward me.
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He really wanted to continue engaging
20:43
in this conversation.
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And he said,
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you know,
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I used to be an atheist
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and I hated the way Christians
20:49
would force their faith on people.
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I just hated that.
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But now,
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I just say,
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if that's what makes people happy,
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then I'm,
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you know,
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more power to them.
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That's great.
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That's what makes you happy.
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And I said,
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well,
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I'm not really one to force my faith on anyone
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and I'm really not.
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I believe to really force your faith,
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you've got to try to make them believe
21:07
what you believe
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and there's no way to do that.
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It's impossible.
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You can't make somebody believe anything.
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They're going to believe
21:13
what they accept as truth.
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Right?
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So I'm not forcing my faith on anyone.
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So I said,
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I'm not really one to force my faith on anyone
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but I'll tell you this,
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Jesus Christ has changed my life
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and I'll never be the same again.
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And he said,
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that's really great.
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You know,
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that's what makes you happy.
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I'm happy for you.
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That's good.
21:28
And I said,
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well,
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you know,
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it's way more
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than just making me happy.
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This faith that I have in Christ
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is way more.
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Scripture tells us
21:38
the wages of sin is death.
21:40
And I was once
21:42
on a trajectory
21:43
that would have sent me
21:44
straight to hell.
21:47
But the gift of God
21:49
is new life
21:49
and that comes only
21:50
through the sacrifice
21:51
that Jesus paid on the cross.
21:54
And that just triggered something
21:55
in this guy's mind
21:56
and he said,
21:58
yeah,
21:58
well,
21:59
this guy I used to work with,
22:00
he told me that
22:02
if I don't believe in Jesus
22:03
and the people that don't believe in Jesus,
22:05
well,
22:05
they're going to hell.
22:07
And if that's the kind of God
22:08
that your God is
22:09
and I don't want to have anything
22:11
to do with believing in Him.
22:14
I said,
22:14
did your friend
22:15
explain God's reason behind that?
22:19
He said,
22:20
well,
22:20
no.
22:21
Since we're already talking about it,
22:23
can I explain it to you?
22:25
Let's say
22:26
that there is
22:27
a person,
22:29
a serial killer
22:29
who was caught
22:30
and the evidence
22:32
presented before
22:33
the jury
22:35
was overwhelmingly
22:36
guilty.
22:38
He is guilty.
22:39
He's killed
22:40
more than 20 people
22:42
and he
22:43
is found guilty
22:45
overwhelmingly
22:46
by his jury
22:46
and he stands
22:48
before a judge
22:49
and the judge
22:50
stands up
22:51
and he says,
22:53
your sentence
22:54
is nothing.
22:56
You're free to go.
22:58
Would that be just?
23:01
Well,
23:02
absolutely not.
23:03
It wouldn't be just at all.
23:05
He said,
23:05
he deserves the full punishment
23:07
of the law.
23:09
Right.
23:09
And in the same way,
23:11
if you commit one sin,
23:12
one sin before an eternal God,
23:15
you're infinitely guilty
23:17
before Him.
23:18
And he says
23:19
that that
23:19
requires
23:22
an eternal death,
23:24
a sentence of eternal death.
23:25
But God
23:26
in His love
23:27
devised a plan
23:29
from the very beginning.
23:32
And that plan
23:33
was to send His Son
23:34
as a substitute
23:35
for those who die,
23:37
for those who believe.
23:39
Sorry.
23:41
I mean,
23:41
that Jesus died
23:42
the death
23:42
that I should have died
23:43
and I said,
23:44
that's why
23:45
it can only be
23:45
through Jesus.
23:47
That's why.
23:48
Because it's God's plan
23:50
from the very beginning.
23:51
Because it was God's plan
23:52
to redeem us
23:53
from the punishment
23:53
that we fully deserve.
23:55
And He said,
23:55
man,
23:56
I haven't ever heard anybody
23:56
explain it to me
23:57
that way before.
23:59
Never heard it that way.
24:01
You'll notice,
24:02
by the way,
24:02
that I didn't shut Him down.
24:04
I wasn't trying to
24:05
win an argument.
24:07
I just spoke the truth
24:08
to Him in love.
24:09
And that is what
24:09
we're called to do,
24:10
believers.
24:11
It's to speak
24:12
the truth in love.
24:17
This is what Paul does
24:18
over and over and over again,
24:19
by the way,
24:20
in his letters.
24:21
He's firm in the truth,
24:22
but he speaks the truth
24:23
in love.
24:24
And last week,
24:25
we saw that we are
24:26
complete in Christ.
24:27
And this is something
24:27
that's going to be
24:28
really important
24:29
as we jump into
24:30
this passage this morning.
24:32
Because being complete
24:33
in Christ means
24:34
that we need
24:35
nothing else.
24:37
And what we're going
24:38
to see is Paul
24:39
combining a series
24:39
of heresies
24:40
which said that
24:41
we need Jesus
24:42
and something else.
24:43
So as we jump into this,
24:44
I want you to keep
24:45
that in mind.
24:46
This week,
24:47
we're going to see
24:48
Paul employing
24:49
apologetics to combat
24:50
particular heresies
24:51
that the church
24:52
was facing at this time.
24:53
So we're going to jump
24:54
right into this passage.
24:55
Colossians 2,
24:56
verse 16.
24:59
Colossians 2,
24:59
16.
25:00
Therefore,
25:02
let no one
25:03
pass judgment
25:04
on you
25:05
in questions
25:06
of food
25:06
and drink
25:07
or with regard
25:08
to a festival
25:09
or a new moon
25:10
or a Sabbath.
25:12
This is standing
25:13
directly opposed
25:13
to the Judaizers
25:14
of this day
25:15
who were saying
25:16
that we need
25:17
to keep going,
25:18
we need to keep up
25:19
the Jewish ceremonial law.
25:22
There was a lot
25:23
of stuff they had
25:23
to do.
25:23
There were certain
25:24
things that they
25:24
could eat.
25:25
There were certain
25:25
things they couldn't
25:26
eat.
25:27
There was a lot
25:28
of law that was
25:29
involved in this.
25:30
And what Paul is
25:30
saying to the Colossians
25:31
says,
25:32
look,
25:33
these people are
25:33
trying to intimidate
25:34
you with legalism.
25:36
With legalism.
25:37
So this is right
25:38
here,
25:39
this verse,
25:39
he is combating
25:40
the heresy
25:41
of legalism.
25:42
They're trying
25:43
to judge you
25:44
on what you eat
25:45
or what you drink
25:45
or whether you
25:46
attend a Passover
25:47
or whether you
25:47
attend all
25:48
these Jewish
25:49
festivals,
25:50
whether you
25:51
make your sacrifice
25:52
on New Moon
25:52
or whether you
25:53
prescribe to the
25:54
rituals of the
25:55
Sabbath day.
25:56
They're trying
25:57
to intimidate you
25:58
by saying you
25:59
need Christ
25:59
plus these
26:01
man-made rules.
26:03
They're saying
26:03
it isn't enough
26:04
to know Christ.
26:06
You have to know
26:06
Christ and keep
26:08
the Jewish
26:09
ceremonial law.
26:11
Legalism,
26:12
by the way,
26:13
is subscribing
26:13
your spirituality
26:14
to man-made rules.
26:18
Subscribing your
26:19
spirituality
26:19
to man-made rules.
26:21
Defining your
26:22
spirituality
26:23
by your ability
26:25
to keep
26:26
man-made rules.
26:28
Obeying God's
26:29
rules,
26:30
by the way,
26:30
what is that?
26:30
That's obedience.
26:32
We get this
26:32
confused too often.
26:34
And we accuse
26:35
people of
26:36
legalism
26:37
when they're
26:38
really just being
26:39
obedient to His
26:40
Word.
26:41
There's a difference
26:42
between obedience
26:43
and legalism.
26:45
Obedience,
26:46
obeying God's
26:47
Word,
26:47
God's commands
26:47
to us.
26:50
Legalism,
26:50
saying that we're
26:51
required to follow
26:52
man-made rules.
26:53
There's a difference
26:54
there.
26:54
So don't give
26:55
believers a hard
26:56
time for being
26:57
obedient.
26:58
It's really
26:58
important that we
26:59
understand that
27:00
distinction.
27:02
Paul's not
27:02
arguing against
27:03
obedience here.
27:04
He's arguing
27:05
against legalism.
27:06
Remember that
27:08
Paul uses the
27:08
word therefore
27:09
at the beginning
27:10
of this passage,
27:10
which means that
27:11
we must reconnect
27:12
this back to the
27:13
previous thought
27:14
that Paul had,
27:14
which we talked
27:15
about last week.
27:16
So in light of
27:17
the completeness
27:18
that we have
27:19
in Christ,
27:21
don't let people
27:22
place legalistic
27:23
judgment on you.
27:25
Don't let people
27:25
judge you for the
27:26
things that God's
27:27
Word hasn't said
27:28
that we have to do.
27:30
In other words,
27:31
don't sacrifice
27:32
your freedom in
27:33
Christ to
27:34
circumscribe your
27:35
life to a bunch
27:36
of rules,
27:38
a bunch of
27:38
man-made rules.
27:40
Christ has
27:40
canceled the
27:41
bondage of
27:42
law.
27:43
We see this
27:43
in verse 14.
27:44
He canceled
27:45
the record
27:46
or the debt
27:46
that stood
27:47
against us
27:48
with the
27:49
legal demands.
27:50
He nailed
27:51
it to the
27:51
cross.
27:53
Galatians 5.1
27:53
is really
27:54
helpful for us
27:54
here as well.
27:55
It says,
27:56
For freedom,
27:57
Christ has
27:58
set you free.
27:58
Therefore,
27:59
stand firm
28:00
and do not
28:01
submit again
28:02
to the yoke
28:02
of slavery.
28:05
Don't go back
28:05
to legalism.
28:07
It would be
28:08
ridiculous to
28:08
imagine that
28:09
Jesus suffered
28:10
what He suffered
28:11
on the cross
28:12
and to free
28:15
us from the
28:16
prison and
28:16
the bondage
28:17
that we were
28:17
in prior to
28:18
His suffering,
28:20
only for Him
28:21
to send us
28:21
into another
28:22
jail cell.
28:23
It would be
28:24
ridiculous to
28:24
think that.
28:25
He has set
28:26
us free to
28:27
stay free.
28:28
Now look at
28:29
verse 17.
28:31
These are a
28:32
shadow of the
28:33
things to come,
28:34
but the
28:35
substance,
28:36
the substance
28:37
belongs to
28:37
Christ.
28:39
These are the
28:39
shadow of the
28:40
things to come,
28:41
but the
28:41
substance
28:41
belongs to
28:42
Christ.
28:42
I love
28:43
this verse.
28:44
This is an
28:45
incredible verse
28:46
and I think
28:46
that on the
28:48
surface level
28:49
we don't really
28:50
understand what
28:50
it means,
28:51
so I hope I
28:51
can help you
28:52
understand that
28:53
here.
28:54
This is really
28:54
referring to the
28:55
eating and
28:55
drinking and
28:56
the festivals
28:56
mentioned in
28:57
the previous
28:58
passage.
28:59
All these
28:59
rules,
29:00
all this
29:00
Jewish
29:01
ceremonial law,
29:02
these were
29:02
things that
29:03
they had to
29:03
do.
29:04
These were
29:04
things that
29:04
were the
29:05
shadow of
29:07
the One
29:07
who was to
29:08
come.
29:08
That's what
29:09
this passage
29:09
is talking
29:10
about.
29:10
These laws,
29:11
these regulations,
29:12
all these
29:12
things that
29:13
they had to
29:13
follow,
29:13
the sacrificial
29:14
system,
29:15
this is but
29:15
a shadow of
29:17
the One
29:18
who is to
29:18
come,
29:19
and the One
29:20
who is to
29:20
come is
29:21
here.
29:22
He's arrived,
29:23
and His name
29:24
is Jesus.
29:26
All those
29:26
other things
29:27
were the
29:27
shadow that
29:29
went before
29:31
Him.
29:31
And so we
29:32
see that this
29:33
Jewish ceremonial
29:34
law, it was
29:36
there, and if
29:36
you read the
29:37
book of
29:37
Leviticus,
29:38
if you can
29:38
make it all
29:39
the way
29:39
through the
29:39
book, then
29:40
that's really
29:40
awesome, because
29:41
it is really,
29:42
really tough to
29:43
read straight
29:43
through the
29:44
book of
29:44
Leviticus.
29:46
We have a
29:49
lot of
29:49
narrative in
29:49
Genesis and
29:50
Exodus, and
29:51
we get to
29:51
Leviticus, and
29:52
man, it's like
29:52
the narrative
29:53
shuts it down,
29:54
it's really
29:54
difficult to
29:55
make it all
29:55
the way
29:55
through, and
29:56
that's really
29:56
great.
29:57
You think you
29:57
should understand
29:58
the book of
29:59
Leviticus,
30:00
because it
30:00
teaches us
30:01
what was in
30:02
the Jewish
30:03
ceremonial law
30:03
primarily.
30:04
And it also
30:06
teaches us that
30:08
there is no
30:09
way.
30:09
If you look at
30:10
the rules, the
30:11
regulations, all
30:12
the things that
30:12
they had to do
30:13
just to atone for
30:14
sin alone, it's
30:17
unbelievable.
30:18
We can't
30:19
accomplish this as
30:20
humans.
30:22
Okay?
30:23
Christ had to
30:24
accomplish the
30:24
work on the
30:25
cross for us.
30:26
And so, the
30:28
Old Testament, in
30:29
a lot of ways,
30:31
shows us our
30:32
need for the
30:33
gospel, our
30:34
need for Christ.
30:35
Those things
30:36
were the shadow.
30:37
Paul says, the
30:38
one cast in the
30:39
shadow has
30:39
arrived, and
30:40
this is Jesus.
30:41
He is the
30:42
true substance.
30:43
We no longer
30:44
need ritualistic
30:45
food and drink.
30:46
Jesus is the
30:47
bread of life.
30:48
He has come to
30:49
fulfill the
30:51
law.
30:52
Moving right
30:52
along, Paul
30:53
reaches the
30:54
second issue.
30:54
He addresses
30:55
legalism, then he
30:56
moves right
30:56
into discussing
30:58
mysticism.
31:00
So, before we
31:01
get to verse
31:01
18, what is
31:02
mysticism?
31:03
Simple definition
31:04
is a deeper or
31:05
higher religious
31:06
experience based
31:07
on personal
31:08
intuition.
31:09
So, this is
31:10
some higher
31:11
level of
31:12
spiritualism that
31:15
we're not going
31:16
to find in
31:16
scripture.
31:17
Right?
31:18
So, it's very
31:18
subjective.
31:20
A very
31:20
subjective,
31:21
experiential type
31:23
spirituality.
31:24
There's nothing
31:25
connecting it to
31:26
the word of
31:26
God.
31:27
There's nothing
31:27
that we can
31:28
connect it to
31:28
anything objective.
31:30
And so, this
31:30
experience could
31:31
be anything for
31:32
anybody.
31:33
And so, this is
31:34
what Paul says
31:34
about this.
31:36
Let no one
31:36
disqualify you
31:37
insisting on
31:39
asceticism and
31:40
the worship of
31:41
angels.
31:43
Going on in
31:43
detail about
31:44
visions,
31:44
puffed up without
31:45
reason by his
31:46
sensuous mind.
31:47
These people,
31:48
he's saying,
31:48
are puffed up by
31:50
this experience
31:51
that they had
31:52
where there's
31:53
nothing objective
31:54
about it.
31:56
Don't let
31:56
anyone make
31:57
you think that
31:57
you're missing
31:58
something based
31:58
off of unbiblical
31:59
principles or
32:01
based off of
32:01
principles that
32:02
aren't found in
32:03
scripture.
32:04
In this case,
32:05
it's mysticism and
32:06
asceticism.
32:08
You haven't
32:09
understood until
32:11
you have understood
32:12
the worship of
32:13
angels.
32:13
This is what
32:14
these people say,
32:14
you haven't had
32:16
the right visions,
32:16
you haven't
32:17
properly caused
32:18
yourself enough
32:19
suffering in
32:19
this world like
32:21
I have.
32:22
They inflated
32:23
themselves in
32:25
their own minds
32:25
because of
32:26
their experiences.
32:29
All the while,
32:30
the one thing
32:31
that they're not
32:31
doing is holding
32:33
fast to the
32:34
head.
32:34
Who is who?
32:35
It's Christ.
32:37
There in verse
32:37
19, and not
32:39
holding fast to
32:40
the head.
32:42
So this version
32:43
of heresy is
32:44
Christ plus my
32:45
visions, plus my
32:47
experiences, plus my
32:48
deeper experience,
32:49
sorry, my
32:50
experiences with
32:51
angels, plus my
32:51
deeper experience.
32:53
The first heresy
32:54
is Christ plus
32:55
rules.
32:57
This all goes
32:57
back again to
32:58
last week.
32:58
When Christ is
32:59
sufficient for
33:00
our grace, we
33:01
don't need
33:02
anything else but
33:03
Christ.
33:03
But these people,
33:04
the heresy they're
33:05
making is saying,
33:06
you need Christ
33:07
plus these other
33:08
things.
33:10
And that is the
33:11
heresy.
33:11
As a believer, do
33:12
you know what you
33:13
need?
33:14
You need Christ.
33:16
Do you know what
33:17
else you need?
33:18
Absolutely nothing.
33:21
He is all that you
33:22
need.
33:23
You don't need
33:23
rules.
33:24
You don't need
33:24
mystical experiences.
33:25
You don't need
33:26
anything else under
33:27
the sun.
33:29
You just need to
33:30
hold fast to the
33:31
head from whom
33:32
the whole body
33:33
nourished and knit
33:34
together through its
33:35
joints and ligaments
33:36
grows with the
33:37
growth that is from
33:39
God.
33:39
You just hold on to
33:41
the one who's
33:41
holding the entire
33:43
church together.
33:44
Capital C Church,
33:45
which means broad
33:46
spectrum, whole
33:48
world, capital C
33:49
church, the
33:49
church of Jesus
33:50
Christ.
33:51
Not just this
33:51
church, but all the
33:52
churches who are
33:53
gathering right now
33:54
and with one voice
33:55
worshiping God all
33:56
together this morning.
33:58
That's what we're
33:59
talking about.
34:00
He holds the
34:01
church together.
34:02
Don't be intimidated
34:03
by the world and all
34:04
its empty philosophy.
34:05
Don't be distracted
34:06
by other people's
34:07
mystical experiences
34:09
or their man-made
34:10
rules.
34:10
Peter tells us,
34:12
you have received
34:13
all things pertaining
34:14
to life and
34:15
godliness.
34:16
You have already
34:17
received it.
34:18
You don't need
34:19
anything else.
34:20
You have Christ.
34:22
Verse 20.
34:24
If with Christ you
34:27
die to the elemental
34:28
spirits of the world,
34:30
why, as if you were
34:31
still alive in the
34:32
world, do you
34:33
submit to regulations?
34:35
Do not handle,
34:36
do not taste,
34:37
do not touch.
34:38
He says,
34:40
your union with
34:41
Christ and his
34:42
death has caused
34:43
you to die to the
34:44
elemental spirits of
34:45
the world, which
34:46
means you have
34:46
essentially died to
34:48
the philosophy and
34:49
everything else that
34:50
exists in this world.
34:52
He's primarily
34:52
speaking to
34:55
asceticism here,
34:56
which is following
34:58
a set of man-made
35:00
rules to gain
35:01
higher favor with
35:02
God.
35:03
It's asceticism.
35:04
Let me explain
35:04
this further for you.
35:06
Typically, what
35:07
this looked like
35:08
during Paul's time
35:10
and what he's
35:10
addressing is the
35:12
removing of earthly
35:13
comforts for a
35:14
higher level of
35:15
spirituality.
35:17
And so, the way
35:18
this played out was
35:19
typically a
35:20
monasticism or
35:21
what we would call
35:22
the monks who
35:24
are trying to
35:25
gain a higher
35:26
level of
35:27
spirituality by
35:28
adding more rules
35:29
to their life and
35:31
taking away earthly
35:32
comforts.
35:32
So, this is what
35:33
the monks would
35:33
typically do.
35:34
They would remove
35:36
comforts anywhere from
35:37
shelter all the way
35:39
to comfortable
35:40
clothes.
35:41
They would wear
35:41
fabrics, oftentimes
35:43
such as burlap,
35:46
in order to make
35:47
themselves more
35:48
uncomfortable in
35:49
this life.
35:50
And that was
35:50
somehow supposed to
35:52
ascribe more
35:53
spirituality or this
35:54
higher experience
35:56
with God.
35:57
Some of them would
35:58
even go as far as
35:59
to wear cotton
36:00
robes over
36:02
their uncomfortable
36:06
garments underneath,
36:08
their burlap or
36:08
whatever they wore
36:09
underneath, so that
36:10
they didn't get
36:11
favor from men,
36:12
thereby not receiving
36:14
more spirituality
36:14
from God.
36:16
This very strange
36:19
religious thing.
36:20
Early monks would
36:21
remove themselves from
36:22
the general populations,
36:23
you know, thinking
36:24
that, hey, we should
36:25
just completely remove
36:26
ourselves from the
36:26
world and that we
36:28
should go and live
36:29
secluded lifestyles,
36:31
some of them living
36:31
in caves, abandoning
36:33
the traditional
36:34
homes and things
36:36
like that, things
36:36
of that nature.
36:38
Some of them would
36:39
even go to this,
36:40
there's one particular
36:41
place that a lot of
36:42
them went to where
36:43
there's these natural
36:44
stone pillars and
36:45
they would make their
36:46
way up to the top
36:47
of the stone pillars
36:48
and that's where they
36:50
would hang out, days
36:51
on end.
36:52
And they would live
36:53
in solitude, that way
36:54
nobody can bother
36:55
them.
36:56
And then,
36:58
naturally, people see
36:59
this as a spectacle
37:00
and people by the
37:02
hundreds, often times
37:03
would come out to
37:04
this place and they
37:05
would just gaze upon
37:07
these men with a
37:09
higher calling in life
37:11
and just gaze up
37:13
at them, like, man,
37:13
what a spiritual person
37:15
for sitting up there
37:16
on that column.
37:20
I just, I don't get
37:22
it.
37:23
And I'm sure that the
37:24
laughter is because you
37:26
don't get it either.
37:28
That makes sense.
37:29
Some of these monks
37:31
even consider it sinful
37:32
to take a bath.
37:35
That's just wrong.
37:38
Gotta be clean.
37:42
And of course, those
37:42
things don't bring about
37:43
godliness.
37:45
They don't bring about
37:46
godliness.
37:48
These things are
37:49
works-based and they
37:50
are in accordance with
37:51
human precepts and
37:52
human teachings,
37:54
according to verse 22.
37:55
Then verse 23.
37:58
We have indeed an
38:01
appearance of wisdom
38:02
in promoting self-made
38:04
religion and
38:05
asceticism and
38:06
severity to the body,
38:08
but they are of no
38:10
value in stopping the
38:11
indulgence of the flesh.
38:13
He says they are of no
38:14
value.
38:15
All of these things,
38:17
this legalism,
38:18
mysticism,
38:19
asceticism,
38:20
they all have the
38:21
reputation of wisdom.
38:22
wisdom.
38:23
They all, in other
38:24
words, they look like
38:25
wisdom to the world.
38:29
You look at them,
38:29
they keep all the rules,
38:31
they have these higher
38:31
visions, they apparently
38:32
go up on pillars and
38:34
sit alone all day,
38:35
praying to God.
38:37
They take away all the
38:38
comforts that are
38:39
available to them.
38:40
And this looks good
38:42
to the world or to the
38:44
untrained, unthinking
38:45
mind.
38:46
It looks good because
38:47
they are attributing
38:48
these things to
38:49
spirituality.
38:49
spirituality.
38:52
It's a godless
38:53
religion because
38:54
they're really doing
38:55
this for who?
38:56
They're really doing
38:56
it for themselves.
38:58
They're really doing
38:59
it so they can obtain
39:00
some higher level of
39:01
spirituality.
39:03
And in the appearance
39:04
of humility, they are
39:06
nothing but a mask of
39:07
spiritual pride.
39:09
They did this for their
39:10
own spiritual pride.
39:13
Now, does this mean
39:14
that we should just all
39:16
go and indulge in every
39:17
worldly comfort that is
39:19
out there as believers?
39:21
Should we indulge
39:22
ourselves in everything
39:23
that is out there?
39:24
No.
39:25
Because a lot of these
39:26
earthly comforts are
39:27
sin.
39:29
One of the prerequisites
39:30
to following Christ is
39:31
denying yourself.
39:33
Denying yourself.
39:35
These people, these
39:36
ascetics, these people
39:37
who are doing these
39:38
different things that
39:40
are attributing higher
39:41
righteousness to
39:41
themselves, they're not
39:42
doing this for
39:44
righteousness.
39:45
They're not doing it
39:45
to follow Christ.
39:46
They're doing it for a
39:47
higher level of
39:48
spirituality.
39:49
They're doing it for
39:49
themselves.
39:51
So Jesus said in
39:52
Matthew 16 and 24,
39:53
If anyone would come
39:53
after me, let him deny
39:55
himself, take up his
39:57
cross, and follow me.
39:59
Self-denial is key.
40:01
But asceticism is not
40:02
self-denial.
40:03
It's the practice of
40:04
self-righteousness.
40:05
And when we try to
40:06
attribute righteousness
40:07
to ourselves apart from
40:08
God, we end up in sin.
40:12
It's an attempt to make
40:13
the self look better, and
40:15
therefore, it is the
40:16
opposite of self-denial.
40:18
If Christ is supreme, if
40:20
Christ is sufficient, we
40:22
don't need the world.
40:23
We don't have to have all
40:25
the comforts in the
40:25
world.
40:26
Is it okay to wear
40:27
cotton clothes?
40:28
Yes.
40:28
That's fine to wear
40:29
cotton clothes.
40:31
But we need Christ.
40:33
And that is all.
40:34
That is all.
40:35
And we see Paul here,
40:38
heresy after heresy,
40:39
stepping through,
40:40
combating it with
40:41
biblical truth, with
40:42
biblical understanding.
40:43
And so Paul argues,
40:46
you don't need extra
40:47
man-made rules.
40:48
You don't need
40:49
asceticism.
40:50
You don't need
40:50
mysticism.
40:52
You don't need
40:53
worldly philosophy.
40:54
What you need is
40:55
Christ, and Christ
40:56
alone.
40:59
And in light of our
40:59
culture that seems to be
41:00
increasingly celebrating
41:01
sin over Christ,
41:04
that's exactly what we
41:06
need to give the world.
41:08
There's a picture of
41:09
Him.
41:09
we need to give them
41:12
the gospel.
41:13
And in our words,
41:14
and in our actions,
41:15
and our example,
41:16
and the way that we
41:16
engage people that are
41:18
around us, God has
41:19
given you an influence.
41:21
No matter who you are,
41:23
you know people, and God
41:25
has placed you in this
41:26
influence that you have
41:28
to be able to talk to
41:29
people.
41:30
You have the ability to
41:32
communicate with these
41:33
people, and you have the
41:34
ability to communicate
41:35
God's truth.
41:36
So let's be confident
41:38
and work toward
41:38
understanding what we
41:40
believe, why we believe
41:42
it, and the ability to
41:45
communicate to others
41:46
effectively.
41:47
God's Word.
41:48
Let's pray together.