Latest / Simply Christ Podcast / The Study of the Book of Colossians Part 7 - Simply Christ Podcast

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The Study of the Book of Colossians Part 7 - Simply Christ Podcast · Simply Christ Podcast

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Welcome back to the Simply Christ podcast hosted by Leon
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Martin, along with Aaron Keaton, Melvin Martin, Andrew Schrock
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and Dan Blatz. Let's get right to it.
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Andrew is going to kick us off with a word of prayer.
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All right, let's pray. God, we thank you so much for
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all that we have. We're so grateful.
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Thank you for especially for the word of God that we can learn,
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learn of you. We can learn about what Jesus
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Christ did for us and pray that we would be able to see it and
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understand it and believe it to where it changes our lives,
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makes us victorious, and keeps us from believing anything that
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it's not true in Jesus name, Amen.
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Amen. Amen.
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Couple of things for those of you listening that that
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interests you or not. But our oldest son got married
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on Friday. So we had a beautiful fun
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wedding and a an interesting weekend.
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Melvin spent a couple hours at our house yesterday.
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Yeah. And now they're at home in
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Kentucky. So a lot of driving happening.
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Appreciate you guys being up here.
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And yeah, we had had a lot of fun there.
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And Andrew sitting right over here, he welcomed a new baby
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into this world. Too.
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So a lot of stuff happening on the home front today, boys.
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Oh yeah, yeah. So praise the Lord for marriage.
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I was always like going to weddings, especially when it's
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my own kin. That's kind of special.
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So. And actually my nephew's getting
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married on Thursday, so we're all surrounded by weddings right
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now. And also it's always great to
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welcome a new child into a godly family.
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That is a blessing. It really is to see parents that
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take their job seriously and walk in the presence of the
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Lord. Yeah.
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Is there a problem? Oh, was I cutting out or No, no,
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you can hear. Yeah, OK, My wife thought maybe
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I was hooking to the wrong beaker or something.
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Anyway, it's all good there. So yeah, we are going to be in
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Colossians tonight, chapter 2, and we're going to start with
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verse 5. Last week we kind of talked a
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little bit before and very, very interesting set of scripture.
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I don't know, I can't remember where we started last week, but
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really interesting that he talked about.
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I, I liked verse 2 and 3 and I'm going to read that just to get a
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rolling start into this little bit.
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Verse 2 says that their hearts might be comforted.
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Actually, you know what I'm going to read verse one because
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that doesn't make any sense for I would that you know that I
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have what great conflict I have for you for them at Laodicea and
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for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh that their
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hearts might be comforted being knit together in love and unto
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all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the
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acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father and of
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Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
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knowledge. I find it interesting and it it
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just it's I think it's kind of profound that Paul in all his
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writings. His goal and you can see this
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was to instruct us but to make known the mystery of the gospel.
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In other words, Christ and what he did and then he writes here
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that in him in him. That's the whom there Christ are
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hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
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So if we want to know something, if we want to be wise, get into
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Christ. How do you do that by faith.
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You know that that is really the argument that he is making that
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always well in the body of Christ in in Christ.
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All is well outside of Christ and he's going to say and verse
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4 says, and this I say, lest any man should beguile you with
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enticing words. So Satan would that he could
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take us away from that, that in Christ this that a Christian
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has. That's what he would like.
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He would like us to think outside of that and to start
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seeing the physical parts of it and the the non spiritual parts
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of it. He would love to have us have
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the gospel shaded just a little bit that it loses its power.
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That's where he is. So Paul really would have that.
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We would not be beguiled with enticing words.
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And notice too, that it's not with bad words.
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They're interesting words. They're intriguing words.
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They're words that would lure us, pull us away from the truth.
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So just a good word of wisdom right there and then he goes,
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for though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the
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Spirit, joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness
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of your faith in Christ. And I'll let you go on this,
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Melvin. I just had to think.
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Yet I am with you in the Spirit. The Bible talks of being
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together in the unity of the Spirit.
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It says, and that's, that's what he's talking about here in the
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Spirit. We're the same.
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We have the same father, you know, or, or we think about the
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same kind of things and he's, he thinks about these people that
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way. Melvin, go ahead with anything
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you have there. Yeah, I thought it was just
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interesting that he made a point here in verse 5, he says about
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him not being there in his flesh, like being there in his
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physical body, which he said the same thing.
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They're in verse 1. He he said the same exact thing.
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And so it seems to me like he first of all, in verse four, he
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what you just read, he is telling them to be aware of of
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man that is going to be GAO you or could be GAO you with
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enticing words. And so it seems like he's coming
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across that what he's trying to get across to them is that if
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they put their trust and faith in Christ and they concentrate
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on the understanding, the acknowledging of the mystery of
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God. In other words, the gospel and
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understanding all spiritual understanding what we read in
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back in in chapter 1. If if we do that, then we don't
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need a man in the flesh like guiding us and directing us and
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keeping us from getting beguiled or enticed by words from man.
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Like if we are grounded in Christ and in grounded in the in
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the gospel and we understand the fullness of Christ, we're going
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to get to that a little later. He talks about how in Christ
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dwells the Godhead bodily like in Christ.
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Christ is complete and we are complete in Him, and that's what
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he's kind of trying to get across here.
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It seems like that even though he's not there in the flesh, he
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trusts that if they do this and they understand in all wisdom
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and spiritual understanding in Christ, then they won't get
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beguiled as easily, right? Even though he's not there.
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Because the simple fact is, is that we all have probably had
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someone in our life maybe that brought us the gospel and helped
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us to understand the gospel in whatever aspect or way that can
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be. And, and that's great.
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And we should be doing that to others.
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We should be sharing the gospel with others and bringing others
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to Christ. But the reality is, is that we
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should be able to grow beyond, you know, coming to Christ and
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be able to be grounded ourselves as believers in Christ so that
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we can go on teaching others and not get deceived.
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Or I think in Hebrews, maybe, I don't know if it was in Hebrews
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where we went through the thinking it was.
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No, it's not. It's actually that verse that
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I've read the last couple times. I think it's in in First
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Corinthians where he was scared that they're going to be turned
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away from the simplicity that is in Christ.
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And so that's I think what he's trying to get across here.
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And that's just the point that I got from these scriptures is
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that we need to be ground. We shouldn't be looking to
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another man, another human to, you know, guide us all the time.
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And not that that's necessarily wrong necessarily, but we should
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be grounded enough that we can make our own decisions and we
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can see when someone is trying to entice us or begot us with
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words or false doctrines or or whatever.
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Yeah, no, I that's that's a really good point and real quick
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before I toss it over to Andrew here.
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But when he says joying and beholding your order, what do
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you suppose he meant by that? You know, I'm not sure.
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I just have to think because it doesn't really say.
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It'd be interesting to see what you think about that, Andrew.
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But like, is it the fact that they're that they're refusing to
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be be lulled away with enticing words that they hold hold Christ
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first, you know, is that the order?
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I don't know. I just I kind of pondered what
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that might be earlier last week when I was reading.
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Andrew, go ahead. You're muted, Andrew, I got.
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You. We talked about that a little
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bit last time, and I believe that he appreciated how they
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have their faith and what they believe in order.
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They're not. Yeah, he's warning them to not
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be becoiled by a man, but he's saying at this time he's proud
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of him. Like he keeps bragging on them,
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their faith, how they're steadfast in Christ Jesus and
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he's just telling them, you know what, stay there.
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Don't I like where you're at. You're, you're in a good place
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right now and just keep growing, keep growing the spiritual
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wisdom and understanding, understand the mystery,
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understand the fullness of Christ and the completion.
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But right now you got it in order.
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Don't move away from that order. You're not going bringing the
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law in or allowing people to bring the law in.
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You're actually got it right. It's in order.
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It's not chaos. Your faith is not confusing.
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You're not saying one thing and doing something else.
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Jesus Christ is actually your savior and you're walking in
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that you're joying and beholding Jesus Christ in the and your
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your joy is in him and you're fulfilled in that.
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And it's like, don't move away from that.
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That's what I see. I know it's not talking about
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that's the favorite verse that the Amish used to say that in
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all in the German it actually says which is like or unatling
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or whatever, like saying if it's not in order, like so that's
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what the verse that exact verse that they use.
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They say we need traditions of men, but we know it's not what
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he's saying because he just little bit before or it's going
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to in the next couple verses say to not let us be beguiled by
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traditions of men. So I mean, it would be out of
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context to say that that's what he's talking about.
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And we also know he's talking about the faith because he said
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that tells them that just got done telling them again, the
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completion in Christ and their steadfastness of their faith.
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And then he's just going to tell us to keep walking in that
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faith. So but one thing that I wanted
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to talk a little bit about that we haven't touched much yet is
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to me it's very significant that he says they were less than a
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man. Begal you.
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We're always worried about Satan.
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Everybody is talking about the devil, the devil this and the
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devil that. Well, in this book, he says,
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man, they were less than a man. So that man that you trust that
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you look up to, he can deceive you.
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He can, he can beguile you. And we need to realize that
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that's very possible. He's he's not saying no, the
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enemy, you know, the Satan, he's working like a roaring lion and
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he's going about to deceive And he said no, he's saying, beware
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us a man beguile with entirety work.
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And that is how begodling happens, because people that we
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trust that they, they, they talk in a way that makes you think
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that they know spiritual things that you don't.
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So when there is a contradiction, you just think
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you don't understand. And so you're just submit to
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whatever that man says because, well, he reads the Bible and he
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studies. So who am I to question this man
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of God? Well, that's by design.
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They want you to think that they know something you don't.
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And that's how they beguile you. And he's telling us not to let
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it happen. Like don't let a man, don't let
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a man bewitch you or be all you or whatever he said.
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And one of the one of the things is that I find a lot which we've
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touched on a little bit before was all that people cannot, one
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of the reasons that people cannot accept the writings of
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Paul, let's just be honest, most Christians cannot fully embrace
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the writings of Paul because it doesn't line up with the red
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letter Christianity. So to them, they're going to try
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to make it fit Sermon on the Mountain, but it doesn't.
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So the problem which we talked a little bit about is the problem
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is that you cannot embrace the words of Paul is because you're
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not following the story. And the the reason they don't
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trust Paul is because it's just so far out there and they think
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he's talking about himself and he's all confident and cocky.
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Well, he's confident and cocky and someone else's work.
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He's never glorying in himself. He's never saying Paul, I Paul
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got this figured out and I'm sanctified.
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I'm I'm presented before the Father, blameless because of
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anything he did. Never.
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Religion always glorifies man. The gospel of Jesus Christ
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glorifies Christ and that's it. And you understand Paul's
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writings. He's never glorifying himself.
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All honor and glory and praise goes to the Father and it's all
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even going to be wrapped up that even Jesus Christ will lay all
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the glory and honor before the Father.
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He's not even going to claim the glory.
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So to say that Pauline believers or people that believe Paul's
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gospel are arrogant and cocky and which is most of the time, I
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think it's just confused with confidence.
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When you understand that Jesus Christ took my place, very easy
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to be confident because it's no longer you trying to do the
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work. He did it.
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And that's where we get our confidence.
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It's not we don't have confidence because we have
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something that we did in any way.
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We have just peeked through that curtain and saw the goodness of
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the Lord Jesus Christ and we're loving it.
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Yeah. Confidently steadfast in that
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hope. That's it.
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Like we're not saying we got something like something about
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us. It it.
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I just get so frustrated how people just think these people
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that believe the gospel that somehow we want to sin.
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I just had a guy the other day say, oh, that's the gospel.
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Then you can just go do whatever you want.
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And that's why he hates Paul's teaching.
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He literally despises Paul. He says he's a liar and talks
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all about himself. No, you haven't read it.
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He never talks about himself. It's always about the work of
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Jesus Christ and just in the I forgot to read it, but but one
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of the verses you just read, it says who are hit, treasures are
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hit in him. All the wisdom of wisdom of
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knowledge is hit. That's kind of like not out in
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the open. So the reason you don't know
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these spiritual thing is because you're still looking for
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something. You're not willing to look at
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something that is hit, right? You're not looking to
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investigate. You're not looking to study and
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to open up that gift and to find what's hidden in there.
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You're not willing to do it. And that's why you hate Paul and
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that's why you can't embrace his teachings.
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You're not following the dispensations.
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We can, we can spend a lot of time on that.
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But that's just fired me up again because this guy just,
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he's just hate Paul, like hates his writings just.
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But he also doesn't believe the Bible is accurate.
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So, yeah, you know, it's interesting what happened.
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What happened for me is I find somebody that said that he would
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present me faultless before the throne.
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Yeah. And I, I like him for that.
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Yeah. You know, and it's it's not
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because I'm special that he said that.
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It's because he loves. He is love, you know that that
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is, and how can you not be appreciative of that?
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And that's exactly how Paul was. Of course, of course, he might
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sound braggadocious, but it's always in his Savior.
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I agree with you 100%, Andrew. Actually, he does talk about
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himself very specifically in Philippians.
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I quickly looked it up while you were talking there where he says
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that he was circumcised the 8th day.
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He was a stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, the Hebrew of
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the Hebrews. He was a Pharisee concerning the
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law. And you know what he said at the
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end of that? He counts it as dung.
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That is worth nothing. You know, it's, it's if it isn't
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Christ, it's nobody. You have nothing.
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So that's that's 100% right. Thanks for bringing that out.
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I appreciate too that you talked about the fact that it's a man
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that would beguile you with in crazy words.
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I agree with you. We often we're so scared of
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this, of Satan, that we don't realize that there are deceitful
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men, whether it's Satan working in them or whatever, that we
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probably really should be watching out for.
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Everyone's scared of the devil and we'll run the other way.
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But no one's scared of the innocent looking man that's
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feeding your lies. You know that?
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That's just it. Yeah, that passage you just
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quoted there, do we really get the significance of that?
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Paul is adding up. He's like mentioning all the
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good things he did and he's adding it up and he counted it
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and he counted it as dumb, which is I now call it he basically in
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the in the modern terms, he would have said it was all BS,
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literally. And that's amazing.
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If we would just get that, I think we would start worshipping
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Jesus right? Well, I think another thing I
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thought of when you were saying that is if you think of the
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context of the scriptures, like through the Gospels when Jesus
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came to the earth, and even before that, even before Jesus
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was here, you know, God talked through the prophets, which was
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a man, right? And then in Jesus's time, there
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was the scribes in the Pharisees, right, that were
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supposed to know the scriptures and the people went to the
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temple to to listen to the scribes and Pharisees read the
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scribes, right. And so like what I'm getting at,
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or what I'm pointing out is that people kind of went to man, so
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to speak, to hear from God, where when Jesus came and he's
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introducing the Kingdom of God, it's going to be in you, the
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Spirit is going to be in you personally and you're going to
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have access to God directly, right?
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And so that was where the switch happened.
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And I think Paul is still dealing with that probably.
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And and we deal with it today, right?
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I mean, isn't that happened today where where so many people
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are relying on their pastor or whatever, whoever may be in
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their life, that they just look to him instead of looking into
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the word themselves and understanding, fully
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understanding the fullness of of Christ themselves.
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So yeah, I got. Some I think we really need to
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read. In John 1418, it says, I will
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not leave you comfortless. I will come to you yet a little
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while, and the world sees me no more.
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But ye see me because I live, ye shall live also, and that day
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you shall know that I am in my father, and ye in me, and I in
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you. See here he's lifting the lid a
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little bit. If we're willing to look in.
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He's actually revealing the mystery right here.
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Just a sneak peek. And he says, He that hath my
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commandments and keep with them, He it is that love with me, and
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he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love
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him, and will manifest, will manifest myself to him, which is
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exactly what Paul is doing here. And he says, verse 23, If any
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man love me, he will keep my words, and my father will love
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him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.
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This is what he's going to do after he's shed and rose again
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from the dead. And he that loveth me not
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keepeth not my sayings, and the word which you hear is not mine,
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but the Father's which sent me. E things have I spoken unto you,
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being yet present with you but the Comforter, which is the Holy
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Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name.
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He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
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remembrance, whosoever whatsoever I have said unto you.
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That's good stuff right there, and look what it says here.
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First. John 2, verse 27.
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But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you,
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and ye have not. And ye need not that any man
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teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you of all
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things and is truth and is no lie and even as it is it hath
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taught you, ye shall abide in Him.
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That's good. We don't need a middle man.
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God is in US and he is going to instruct us in the ways of
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righteousness. I I have total confidence in
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that package. I I don't believe now something
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like this, you know, discussing the word.
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I think that's good for us. That's good exercise that that
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is that can really build us up and and get us moving and stuff.
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But I am not scared, and I'm literally, I'm just not saying
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this, but I am not scared that God would leave me without
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direction. He wants me to succeed worse
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than I want to succeed as a Christian.
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I just find it so amazing that he actually told us what he's
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going to do in the future so that I'm telling you this now so
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that when the time comes, it's not strange to you and saying if
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he would have been reading and paying attention, the mystery
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was right there revealed. Like, oh, told him, I mean, God,
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Jesus kind of opened the door a little bit.
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And then he taught Paul directly after he converted him, after he
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was crucified and came back, he taught Paul.
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And now Paul is telling us exactly what Jesus said he's
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going to teach us when he's raised risen from the dead.
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But yet we don't want to make that transition.
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Yeah, folks, that is some good news right there.
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I'm telling you. Andrew's hitting the home run
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right there with us. Jesus Christ.
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Jesus Christ made a home run. Grand Grand Slam there, boy.
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Yeah, you're just well. Bases loaded, Woo.
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Nobody out. Nobody out either.
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Yeah, that's right. OK, All right, well, 6 is
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actually just more of the same thing as you have therefore
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received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walkie in him.
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I mean it. That is such a simple and
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profound verse that I don't feel like there's a whole lot of
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discussion there. I mean really, how did you
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receive Christ by faith that tracking him.
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You know, I don't, I don't know that we have to have an
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expectation of something farther.
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You know, a lot of people want to talk about where there's
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more. You know, now that now that
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you're saved, you know, there's more.
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You go deeper, you go deeper, you learn to all the hidden
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things. No, I don't know about that.
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He just said that they have been made manifest.
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You know those hidden things have been in Christ, you know
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have been have been made manifest now so.
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I think, I think we grow. I think we grow obviously
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because of of the inverse one. Where was it 1 where it says
26:20
that he wanted them to understand in all spiritual
26:23
understanding and wisdom. I think we grow in spiritual
26:26
understanding and wisdom. But in other words, I think
26:30
where where a lot of people go wrong is they're trying to
26:34
figure out the deeper things of God.
26:36
Like, in other words, the gospel is not good enough somehow like,
26:39
like just the plain gospel is too simple.
26:42
Like it, it needs to be more than that.
26:45
That's where I think a lot of people go wrong.
26:48
But but. Anything else?
26:50
Andrew on verse 6. Yeah, I, I, I definitely think
26:55
that I don't know how I can say this and it makes a lot more
27:00
sense, but I think we're always learning more of the depth of
27:06
the work that Jesus Christ has done.
27:08
In fact, the word abounding is in the very next verse, I think.
27:15
I think we do abound more and we get stronger trials and
27:18
tribulation makes us tries our faith and we get more solid,
27:22
more established. But what he's saying is it will
27:27
always point back to the way you've received Christ.
27:30
That's right. When you were, when you've
27:32
received Christ, you had no more confidence in yourself, no more
27:36
confidence in the flesh. You had no more confidence in
27:38
the law. You just knew that you were just
27:40
lost and hopeless, without hope and without God in this world.
27:45
And when you saw the goodness of Jesus Christ, that weight was
27:49
lifted. And after that you said, Jesus
27:52
Christ took my place. You were free.
27:56
And he's telling us to stay there and grow in the spiritual
28:00
wisdom and understanding and knowledge of what that liberty
28:04
really meant and get more understanding of the depth of it
28:07
so that you're not beguiled by a man.
28:10
That's what he's saying. He knows if we would continue to
28:13
study the finished work, that what we felt, what we understood
28:17
at the beginning. If we understand more of that
28:19
and keep growing and abounding in that, in what Christ has
28:22
done, we will not be tricked by a man.
28:26
That's right. That's right.
28:27
No, that's that's really good, Andrew.
28:29
I appreciate that. I was thinking along the same
28:32
lines. Like, think about a man, a
28:35
believer that he gets buffeted, you know, he gets called a liar
28:39
or, you know, bigoted or whatever.
28:41
You know, he gets pressured by the world.
28:44
You know, people try to beguile him with enticing words, and yet
28:48
he says no. You know what the Christ that
28:50
saved me, that one is sufficient.
28:52
He just stands there and then five years later he's still
28:55
standing there. 10 years later, he's still standing there.
28:58
And every time that someone tries to beguile him and he
29:01
doesn't give in, he is more convinced that what he is
29:04
standing on is true and it's right.
29:06
That's what how you learn the hidden things of God.
29:10
Then you see the other person that they, they, they dive into
29:15
the word and they try to find things that are hidden and they
29:19
they just exhaust themselves trying to examine God.
29:24
And yet they're blown about by every wind of doctrine.
29:27
I see those two kinds of people like very opposite of each
29:32
other. Well, you're talking about
29:33
Andrew is that first example of that man that just he refuses to
29:36
be moved from the grace of God despite any pressure or or even
29:42
just heartaches and and misery that comes out of it.
29:44
Never, never curses God like like Joe, you know, just no, he
29:48
said he is the one that brought me life.
29:50
He's I'm never going to go against him.
29:52
He's the sustainer of life. Why would I do that?
29:55
That kind of an attitude. Yeah, the the, the prime, the
29:59
primer to be beguiled by a man is when you're struggling with
30:04
sin, you're depressed or a family member died or some
30:08
tragedy hit. That's when the doors are kind
30:11
of that's where the enemy at least thinks the door is open
30:15
for beguiling when you're feeling defeated, but you
30:19
believe in this awesome savior and, and, and some man will come
30:22
along and say, well, I was struggling with you and my heart
30:26
goes out to you and I, I really would like to share something
30:29
with you. And they start talking about
30:31
their philosophy, which is something that relates to what
30:35
you're feeling, right then it ministers to your feeling,
30:38
ministers to your emotions. It makes you feel better.
30:41
It gives you some kind of antidote to the situation you're
30:45
going through. And you feel better physically,
30:48
mentally, fleshly, you feel better.
30:53
But in the way in the back, you know that the, that, that piece
30:57
that you had, it's contradicting it.
31:01
It's what you're being told right now.
31:06
It's kind of pouring water on the Holy Spirit.
31:10
It's kind of denying the faith that you once believed that
31:14
Jesus Christ is enough and everything is fine.
31:17
The children of Israel and did not enter into the promised land
31:20
because of unbelief. And that unbelief came while it
31:23
was extremely tough. It wasn't easy.
31:27
It was so bad that they would rather be slaves in Egypt being
31:31
beat up and make bricks without straw than what they were
31:36
dealing with. It was extremely hard and I want
31:41
to be resolved in the finished work of Christ.
31:43
When I'm defeated in sin, even I'd rather be messing up and
31:47
flopping around, believing the truth in sin and trying to find
31:51
victory and faith and believing it according to God's plan of
31:55
freedom from sin, then messing and flopping and making a mess
31:59
of myself. In some traditions of men trying
32:01
to deal with sin, there's two paths you can take, man's wisdom
32:05
or God's wisdom. And God says he made us free
32:08
from sin by the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
32:11
And I'm going to believe that whether it works or not.
32:13
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
32:17
Those and those two paths, one's right, one's wrong.
32:20
And they don't cross, they don't.
32:21
They're not running parallel. I'm just telling you right now,
32:28
aye. And actually verse 6 is part of
32:33
the sentence. The rest of it is verse 7, which
32:35
says rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as
32:40
ye have been taught, abounding therein with Thanksgiving.
32:45
So he's he is Paul is asking that the believers would walk in
32:56
Christ the same way that they received him and to be rooted
33:00
and build up in him and established in your faith.
33:03
You know earlier we were talking about what what exercise.
33:07
You know we have everything in Christ that we need.
33:10
You know he we have no need that man teaches us is what it says
33:13
in first John there. That's a little bit different
33:14
context now I admit that, but I I think it's applicable to what
33:17
we're talking about. But it's a little bit different
33:19
context If you go look there in in first John, but established
33:25
in our faith faith like that I did to be that this that is what
33:30
it does a conversation like this.
33:32
It builds us up helps us root down and and see what it's all
33:37
about. Any other comments on 7 there?
33:42
Yeah, I, I like what he says there.
33:45
He's encouraging them to. He uses 3 words there.
33:49
He says rooted, which is gives you kind of a picture of like a
33:53
tree, something that has roots that goes down into the ground
33:58
and that it's not easily moved or blown over.
34:02
He says rooted built up in him. You know, he doesn't, he doesn't
34:08
say build up in traditions or traditions of man or, or in a in
34:15
a church or whatever. He says build up in Christ and
34:18
then he uses another word established in the faith when
34:23
someone established, when you're established, let's say you move
34:28
like we just moved to Kentucky about five years ago and it
34:32
takes time to be established in an in a community or in an area.
34:36
You just don't move into a community and be established.
34:40
It's something that takes time. And that's also the same with
34:45
our faith in Christ. I think what he's encouraging
34:48
them to do is these words here is something that is needed in
34:53
Christianity, in our. Walk with the Lord.
34:55
Rooted, built up and established and all those things come from
35:01
putting keeping our faith in Christ and in Christ alone, just
35:05
like you were saying earlier, and learning how to walk in
35:08
that. Just like you, we received him.
35:09
That's just what he got, what he got done saying.
35:12
And so those things are really important.
35:16
I think those 3 words and then I like what he says.
35:19
They're abounding therein with Thanksgiving.
35:22
Well, that's another thing I think that is important that we
35:25
that we remember that. In other words, when we remember
35:29
what Christ has done and, and who he is and that he is
35:35
complete, that in him we are complete and the fullness of the
35:39
Godhead bodily is in Christ, which we're going to to see a
35:42
little later on when we understand that and we abound
35:46
when that with we abound in that when we are full of thankfulness
35:52
for that, what Christ has provided us in that and we live
35:57
in that and we walk in that. And I think that's where a lot
36:00
of a lot of times, a lot of believers kind of go off the
36:05
rails. Maybe when we start looking to
36:08
man, we start looking to experiences, we start looking to
36:14
man's traditions of man and all those things instead of rooted
36:20
and built and established in faith Christ and in Christ
36:24
alone. That's good, Andrew.
36:28
Yeah, this reminded me of when the group was first starting
36:32
over here. I, I forget what was going on,
36:36
but I was talking to Michael Pearl and I told him what's
36:41
going on up here, that we're starting a new group.
36:43
And I should say, hey, with all your experience of churches and
36:46
blow ups and he's seen his full share of church fighting and all
36:50
that stuff. And I asked him what advice
36:52
would he have for me starting with a new group like this And
36:57
just to kind of not make some of the same mistakes that that
37:00
other people make. It's like, I'd, I'd like to hear
37:03
your wisdom on it. And he said that tons of people
37:09
will come by to try to look for a vacuum, look for some weak
37:16
spot or something missing that they can step in and kind of
37:23
that's how they get their foot in to kind of run their show
37:28
like, and I think it's the same way with the gospel.
37:33
When you're established in the faith, there's not a lot of
37:35
vacuum, you know, you're, there's not a lot of open doors
37:40
for someone to come in and beguile you and to kind of
37:44
hijack your faith because you're established, you know where
37:49
you're standing. And I've just like the group
37:52
here when we preach and teach the word of God with confidence
37:55
and we know where we stand the people with the false doctrines.
37:59
It's just no vacuum for it. Like people just nothing takes
38:04
off for their their little beguiling that they want to come
38:08
in in the back door. It might be a little bit of a
38:11
high for some people for a little while and all of a sudden
38:13
they realize, no, that's something else that brings me
38:17
condemnation. It brings me bondage.
38:19
It focuses on the flesh. Jesus Christ tells us to focus
38:24
on the thing that makes us complete.
38:28
And if you do that, you will be thankful.
38:30
The people that are working and are not abounding in the and
38:34
under in the understanding of the finished work of Christ are
38:38
not grateful because they're still praying and asking God for
38:42
an answer to their problems and their lives.
38:45
And if I'm still struggling with sin, then, and I wouldn't
38:48
believe the gospel, I would be asking God to deliver me from
38:50
sin. I'm not asking that because I
38:54
already know that He said He did deliver us.
38:57
He destroyed the body of sin through death.
39:00
We just read that. That's how it was destroyed.
39:03
So when I struggle with sin, I already know that it's not God's
39:07
problem. It's a faith problem on my part.
39:09
That's right. I already know that God answered
39:12
my prayer. He answered the human race
39:15
prayer. When it comes to the freedom
39:18
from sin, He already answered that prayer.
39:20
So he's not going to answer it again because when Jesus Christ
39:24
died and rose again, he answered that prayer.
39:27
Now my prayer is let me abound with spiritual wisdom and
39:32
understanding, with the assistance of the Holy Ghost and
39:37
the Spirit of God in me to believe the gospel and that I'm
39:41
free from sin. I don't you can see the
39:44
difference. And walk in that.
39:48
And walk in that. That's what he's saying.
39:50
Yeah. And you know, if there's a group
39:52
of people, you know, if there's one person, but especially a
39:54
group of people that are, that are settled in, that rooted and
39:58
built in him, stablished, and someone comes spinning a yard,
40:03
there's just no takers because because nothing is sweeter than
40:07
what they already have. There's just no reason to look
40:10
like why am I going to, why am I going to, you know, one day a
40:16
kernel of court if I have a lollipop in my hand?
40:22
You can. Take your corner.
40:24
I want the lollipop, you know? And so, yeah, I just don't think
40:27
that. And that's why it's important to
40:29
be established and rooted because that is exactly how
40:33
people get LED astray, you know, because man, this if, if you
40:37
don't trust God and his and his plan, his system that he has
40:42
here, whatever you want to call it, Christ, you know, if you
40:44
don't really trust that, of course, you're always going to
40:46
be watching out of the corner of your eyes for something better.
40:49
And and you'll be easily, easily beguiled.
40:52
Kind of like this, if your checking account is full,
40:54
somebody flashing $100 bill was not going to mean much to.
40:58
You. That's right.
40:59
Yep. Yep.
41:00
Well, and the, and the other thing is, is it's not a matter
41:03
of if you're going to get beguiled or, or enticed, I
41:07
should say, maybe not beguiled, but enticed.
41:10
It's just a matter of when, right?
41:12
So that's why it's important that we are rooted and build up
41:17
in Christ and established in the faith in Christ alone.
41:21
So I think we could make this a marriage seminar on this exact
41:24
same thing. You can be established and
41:26
rooted in your own wife. If you don't if there, if you
41:29
think there's something a little sweeter out there, man, I tell
41:32
you what, you're going to have a rough, rough Rd. a hoe in in
41:35
marriage even I mean the same kind of a principle applies
41:38
across the board. That's.
41:39
Why God uses that? God uses that all the time, and
41:43
often when he talks about idolatry and fornication, he's
41:46
not talking about sexual fornication, he's talking about
41:49
fornicating with other types of salvation.
41:54
Right, like other gods or or other gospels.
41:59
Crazy all right verse 8 beware lest any man spoil you through
42:05
philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions or tradition of
42:09
men after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.
42:15
So this is interesting. So the first four things are
42:19
fiber. Whatever that are there are not
42:22
after Christ because he clearly opposes them as as opposed to
42:28
Christ. So lest any men and again what
42:32
Andrew said earlier, any man this is not you know, Satan
42:36
necessarily. This is being spoil you through
42:41
philosophy and this is I just want to point out one thing here
42:44
before Melvin, go ahead. But when we think about the word
42:48
spoil, we think of something going bad.
42:51
But what spoil actually means, though, is like when you go when
42:55
when, when the army goes in and takes over a city and when they
43:02
spoil the city, that means they took the valuable stuff.
43:04
They took the women, they took the gold, they took food, they
43:07
took the horses. That's how they spoil a city.
43:09
In other words, they have rendered it powerless.
43:12
There's nothing of any value there anymore.
43:14
And when you think about how that a man could spoil you, they
43:19
could take the valuables away from you by getting you down the
43:23
track of philosophy and vain deceit and all this other stuff.
43:25
But I just wanted to point that out that when we think about the
43:28
word spoil, it's not like spoiled fruit necessarily.
43:32
We're talking about being being stripped of your power to walk
43:38
in truth and in in faithfulness, Mel.
43:44
Yeah, and that and that value would be simplicity in Christ or
43:49
in, you know, putting your faith in Christ, in Christ alone and
43:52
walking in that. Yeah, that's interesting.
43:55
You point that out. That's really good.
43:57
I saw. I want to point a few things out
44:01
here. So philosophy is just simply
44:07
means the systematic or critical study or fundamental questions
44:12
regarding existence. So in other words, it's a man is
44:17
trying to argue so to speak against with you that that even
44:24
you know Christ is not good enough or or even if Christ
44:29
exists. You know, first John talks about
44:31
the spirit of the Antichrist and I think that's a real thing as
44:37
well in that people, you know, trying to say that Christ did
44:41
not actually come in the flesh and there's many different ways
44:45
that man tries to spoil spoil you.
44:49
But the Vandy seat that I was looked that up as well and Vandy
44:56
seat pull that up again. It's just an empty, fruitless,
45:03
deceptive human philosophies and traditions.
45:07
It's just empty, right? It's, it's when someone is
45:11
trying to make you believe something that is totally empty
45:15
and Christ is not empty. Jesus is not empty.
45:22
The the simplicity of the gospel is not empty.
45:25
It's complete. It's.
45:26
Full. It's truth.
45:27
And it, so the, that is pretty, I would say in my mind is pretty
45:35
important to understand. And then the other one is after
45:38
the traditions of men. And that can be a lot of things,
45:42
obviously for for us growing up in the Mennonites.
45:45
It was to me in my mind that in my mind, whether that's exactly
45:50
what this means. But in my mind that means, you
45:52
know, rules following rules of of men and following the
45:57
traditions of men like this is how we always have done it or or
46:01
whatever. And not after Christ.
46:05
We're following after men And we realize that's what he's trying
46:08
to cut get across here. He's that's the the warning that
46:11
he is putting putting out here. And then after the rudiments of
46:15
the world and the rudiments of the world is, you know, who is
46:19
it the ruler of this world? It's it's Satan.
46:23
I don't exactly know what all that means.
46:25
And maybe you have some more thoughts on that.
46:26
What the rudiments, actually, I didn't look at what that word
46:29
rudiments means. But and then he just ends it
46:32
with not after Christ. So anything that is not Christ,
46:37
that is not Jesus Christ, when we get pulled away from Jesus
46:42
Christ, whatever that may be, there's many different ways and
46:47
philosophies and vain deceits and, and things that, but what
46:52
we have to remember, it's not so important about knowing all
46:55
those things exactly. But the to me, what simplifies
46:59
it in my brain is that anything that pulls us away from Christ
47:03
and the simplicity in Christ and the fullness of Christ and what
47:07
Christ has done on the cross and what that means, anything that
47:10
is pulling away from that is not good.
47:14
It is going to be deceptive. Yeah, Amen.
47:19
Now the rudiments are like the first principles, the elements
47:23
like. The rudiment of math is 1 + 1 =
47:25
2. That would be, you know, so when
47:27
you think of the rudiments of the world, it would be the
47:30
workings of the world. Probably would be a way to sum
47:34
it up there a little bit. Andrew The.
47:41
Moon the stars. Oops.
47:42
Yeah. The rudiments can be the sun,
47:44
the moon, the stars, all the things and even also the trees,
47:49
the rivers, dress code, all the physical things of this world.
47:56
It it, it brings us back to where we started, where Leon was
48:01
talking about Philippians 3, where Paul added up all the
48:06
philosophy and traditions of men that he was doing as a Hebrew of
48:10
the Hebrews. And he added it all up and he
48:15
counted it and he said it was loss, complete loss in
48:20
comparison, in comparison to the Excellency that he found in
48:24
Christ. The value he found in Christ
48:26
made made human philosophy about the rudiments of the world and
48:32
and traditions of men look like a complete, full laws.
48:36
It had no power. There's no nothing to it.
48:40
And it's what we were trying to say earlier as far as being
48:48
established in the faith. Then you won't be deceived by
48:54
philosophy. Maybe see the average tradition
48:56
of man, it's not after Christ. So right away we can smell that.
49:03
And what philosophy of men often tries to do is come up with
49:09
something that will help us control this body of flesh to
49:14
get us from worldly minded to spiritual minded.
49:18
That's what the goal of philosophy and traditions of man
49:22
is. The Amish where I come from,
49:26
that is the goal. It's supposed to help you not be
49:30
worldly minded, to not be fleshly minded.
49:34
So in their definition, a car would really minister to the
49:38
flesh. So you can't have cars because
49:40
we're trying to be spiritual minded and not worldly minded.
49:45
So that's human philosophy. That's a man's way of trying to
49:48
overcome this flesh and lust of the world.
49:52
But again, it's not God's plan. In Galatians 6/14 he says, but
50:00
God forbid that I should glory save him.
50:02
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
50:06
crucified unto me and I unto the world.
50:10
That's God's plan to get you separated from the world, to get
50:15
you to be spiritual minded, to remove you from the grip and the
50:19
power of the lust and the pride of this world is crucifixion.
50:24
That's God's plan. And it's not philosophy, it's
50:28
not deceitful traditions that have the appearance of making
50:32
you not bound by the world. I know.
50:38
Oh, this is true because when I saw the truth and the spirit
50:42
came in, the world lost its grip on me across the board.
50:47
Even the horse that I was proud of didn't mean anything to me.
50:51
The brand new shiny buggy that made me almost get have
50:55
goosebumps driving down the road with this horse.
50:58
Just trot and just so. And the buggy is just as smooth
51:01
as silk and the fresh air, I mean it's like glory.
51:05
And when I came to God and I understood the significance of
51:10
the cross, it all had this world had nothing to offer.
51:16
And that is what Christ can do versus the philosophy of men to
51:20
trying to make me something that I wasn't.
51:23
And it it is very deceitful because in your mind, you're not
51:29
of the world because you're not driving a car, but yet you're
51:32
obsessed with your manure spreader.
51:34
You're really upset when your neighbor borrows your manure
51:37
spreader and it comes out back a little dirtier than it was.
51:40
The Amish are extremely obsessed with the things of this world.
51:44
The Swartz and Trooper Amish that are the most strict
51:46
probably. And there's, they're really
51:50
committed to not being part of the world.
51:53
So much so. And it was so deceitful and so
51:56
tricky and so beguiling and so spoiling that right now they
52:00
don't have faith. It's spoiled the faith that they
52:03
once had 250 years ago. And the goal was remember to get
52:08
us from the worldly mind, the spiritual mind.
52:11
That was the goal of the traditions.
52:13
What is with deceitful? How was it deceitful right now,
52:16
today, if you took the world away from the Amish church that
52:19
I came from, they would not have a church and they wouldn't know
52:22
what to do. Think about that.
52:25
If it wasn't for the things of this world, they would lose
52:28
their identity. So where's your identity in then
52:32
the world, the very thing that they were trying to be escaped.
52:37
It's what they're caught in. That's why it says beware.
52:41
Let any mind spoil you to the deceitfulness of like to remain
52:46
deceit after traditions of men because it's a trick, it's
52:49
deceitful. It really does not deliver you
52:52
from the world. In fact, it gets you obsessed
52:54
with the world and your focus is the world.
52:58
Now if it wasn't for the world, they wouldn't have their
53:02
identity. The identity is not in Christ,
53:04
it's of the world. How do you know a Schwarz and
53:07
Truper Amish person by the things of this world?
53:09
You look at their hat. You look at how white their band
53:11
is around the hat. You look at their shirt.
53:13
I can tell you exactly where there's a Schwarz and Truper
53:18
Amish person. Yeah, based on what?
53:23
The world. Yep, Yep.
53:26
So there. Yeah, man, that's that's
53:28
interesting. And that that is a really good
53:31
explanation of that verse. Actually, I I find that
53:35
interesting if you think about being spoiled through
53:40
philosophy, vain to see the traditions of man, the rudiments
53:42
of the world, things like that. You know, I go back to I had
53:46
quoted maybe it was last week. Second Peter 2 where it says
53:49
where they speak great swelling words of vanity, you know,
53:52
again, emptiness. But in Jude, and I'm going to
53:56
read a couple verses in Jude that that are that are
53:58
interesting. Verse 16 in Jude says and it's
54:01
talking about these these whore mongers and these these ones
54:05
that would not have Christ. It says those those ungodly
54:08
people, It says and it says then these are murmurers, complainers
54:14
walking after their own lusts and their mouth speaks great
54:19
swelling words having men's persons in admiration because of
54:24
advantage. You know, that is exactly like
54:27
the Amish Mennonites are caught in the same thing.
54:28
And and maybe it's a pride issue across humanity is we, we love
54:34
to have that advantage, advantage.
54:36
You know, everyone looks at the Amish people and says, wow,
54:38
those holy people. And and it's, it's an admiration
54:43
from these people that don't even I mean, why would you want
54:45
that? But then he goes on and he says,
54:48
but ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy
54:53
faith thing in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of
54:56
God as as opposed to being admired because of your great
55:03
swelling words and your prestigious positions and your
55:07
holy garb and all that stuff. Yeah, I think.
55:13
Yeah, go ahead. Well, I was just going to say,
55:15
if we pick on the homage in the Mennonites, just because that's
55:17
what we're came from and that's what we're like, we have
55:21
connections with that. But I think, I think we're the
55:25
society as a whole, or religion, I should say, as a whole, gets
55:29
caught in that. That's the same.
55:32
Throughout the whole. World, right?
55:35
Anytime there's religion or it's worldly and, and most people
55:40
don't see it as that, but God does, you know, anything that is
55:44
not Christ and Christ alone, in other words, is religion, it's
55:49
worldly. It's just that simple.
55:50
It's of this world, and that's a hard thing for some people to
55:56
see. Andrew, you had something.
56:00
Yeah, I was just going to say he talked about established in the
56:04
faith and after you receive Christ, walk in him like that.
56:08
If you want to test yourself, leave.
56:13
Think about leaving any kind of structure that you're in,
56:17
leaving the church. Picture yourself standing alone.
56:22
Would you feel unestablished? Would you feel vulnerable if you
56:28
left everything that is surrounding you in this world,
56:31
whether it's your ministry, your church preachers, all the people
56:35
you talk to? If you would completely remove
56:37
yourself from all influence down here, would you still be
56:42
established? That's that's a good thought.
56:45
That's. Very good.
56:47
You know, Would you be terrified to leave the traditions of men?
56:51
Would you be terrified to leave the Amish?
56:53
Would you be terrified to leave the Mennonites?
56:55
Would you be terrified to leave the 7th Day Adventist where a
56:59
false woman prophet is leading you?
57:02
Would you feel vulnerable? You know, that's that's a good
57:06
test. Like that's a good test.
57:10
Where your establishment is at? Like where your confidence?
57:12
Is at. That's right.
57:14
Yeah, imagine for a second you by yourself, you know, without
57:19
any of those props that you're used to.
57:22
Are you still as convinced that you're all and glad as you were
57:24
before? I've, I've done that to myself.
57:27
And, you know, for a long time the answer was like, I think so.
57:32
You know I can. Persuade it.
57:35
I wasn't for a while, yeah, but yeah.
57:39
Really, that's a good question for even people, someone that is
57:43
in ministry even. I mean, not that ministry is a
57:46
bad thing, that's a very good thing.
57:48
But but that is a good question, Andrew, for everyone to ask
57:52
themselves. If I am standing by myself apart
57:57
from what I am doing here, not that that's a bad thing
58:00
necessarily, but am I established when I'm standing
58:04
outside of that in Christ that that's a good question?
58:07
Love that. Even the ministry is that tough
58:11
slide. Are you still convinced?
58:13
That's right. That's.
58:13
True, Melvin, So true. Man, that is good.
58:17
Man, we're going to close with some straight up gold tonight.
58:20
I'm telling you, that's good. Are we done here, buddy?
58:24
Oh yeah, that's. Another.
58:25
I know it's crazy. All right, Well, hey, thanks for
58:28
your time. I really enjoyed this.
58:30
Every time I think it's good. It just keeps getting better
58:32
here. So, yeah, praise the Lord.
58:35
Yeah, like I said, check out more episodes.
58:37
You're going to want to listen to this whole series through
58:39
Colossians for sure, and maybe maybe even Hebrew that's there's
58:42
some good teaching in there. Thanks for being on.
58:45
Appreciate it. Check it out
58:47
simplychristministries.com. You can check out all the
58:50
previous episodes there. We'll see you guys next week.
58:53
Same time, same place. Thanks.
58:54
Jerry just posted on there. Thanks for being on.
58:57
Appreciate that and hope it could encourage somebody.
59:00
Thanks for your time.