Warning! Danger Ahead! – Part 2

Last Sunday, we began by acknowledging
the appropriateness of warning signs on our roads and highways,
those bright yellow signs, sometimes even accompanied by flashing
yellow lights. They call out warnings of dangerous
conditions ahead and often provide even a suggested remedy, reduce
speed, caution. And we were reminded of the propriety
of such warnings. They’re appropriate given the
particular road conditions. But such signs are provided not
only for the physical road conditions, curvy roads, steep roads, slippery
when wet, they also take into account historical data. previous
accidents along that specific roadway. And that makes the provision
of such cautionary signs both reasonable and right. If the
highway department knows the inherent dangers and the tragic
history of a particular stretch of road, they must issue an appropriate
warning. For the highway people not to
provide such information, it would render them incompetent
or heartless, or both. Failure to provide such important
information would not only involve criminal negligence, it would
be callously cruel. And so it is with us, spiritually
speaking, If we know of a spiritual pitfall, dangers ahead, we ought
to issue our fellow believer an appropriate caution. If we
see our brother or sister dabbling in some sin or entertaining some
heretical teaching, for us not to express caution, would be
careless and cruel. It would immediately suggest
that we do not love and care for our fellow believers as we
ought. And so, not surprisingly, this
is precisely what we see the Apostle Paul doing here in Colossians
chapter 2. We don’t know the exact nature
of the false teaching in that region, in that church of Colossae,
but we do know that like any church of any age, the devil
and his demons will be doing everything in their temporary
earthly power to promote error so as to weaken and even destroy
the church. The Apostle Paul knows that.
Even though the church in Colossae was solid, a remarkable little
church, never had had an apostolic visit, and yet the gospel not
only took root, but it flourished there in this little mountain
town. A remarkable, amazing little church that was viciously set
upon by the devil. And like a dark, rain-soaked,
steep, windy road, Paul sees and lovingly calls out the dangers. As a spiritual Christian, let
alone a faithful shepherd, Paul observes the dangerous hazards
ahead for Colossae. perils that would damage and
destroy their faith in Christ, and possibly even lead some to
turn their backs on the Savior and to embrace error. And so
the great apostle must sound the alarm. And he does so here
in Colossians 2, in verses 4 and following. Would God’s people
turn their now And as we did last week, we’ll read just verses
4 through 12, just to get our bearings on the passage before
us this morning. Colossians 2, beginning in verse
4. I say this so that no one will
delude you with persuasive argument. For even though I am absent in
body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see
your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him
and established in your faith. just as you were instructed and
overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you
captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to
the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles
of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the
fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And in Him you have been
made complete and he is the head over all rule and authority.
And in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without
hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision
of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which
you were also raised up with him through faith and the working
of God, who raised him from the dead. As you’ll recall, we took
the encouragement that Paul was providing to his young fellow
worker in the faith, Timothy, that the hard-working farmer
ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Paul
indicated there that there would be a gospel harvest. The seed
was such that when it is sown, it will take root, Not every
occasion, not every heart, but it will take root. There will
be germination. There will be plants that begin
to bear fruit, and there will be a harvest. After the sowing,
there is a reaping. There would be fruit for his
labors, young Timothy, fresh new believers in Christ. And
when that fruit is harvested, It must be inspected. The seeds
of the gospel, once they’re received by faith into the fertile soil
of the humble heart, they germinate, they begin to produce only plants
bearing the true fruit of the Spirit. There are no hybrids. And so when the fruit of such
conversions are inspected, either by a faithful shepherd, by fellow
Christians, or even the individual believers themselves, that fruit
should pass inspection. And Paul, here in the remainder
of chapter 2, verses 4 through 23, presents a full treatment
of the inspection standards to be applied to the ripe fruit
of the gospel. Five evaluation points whereby
believers can verify their Christian lives. If we have been touched
and changed by the gospel, our lives ought to reflect that.
That’s Paul’s point. We’ve already considered the
first two of these evaluation points of gospel fruit. The first
one is the discernment to be exercised. We see in verses 4
and 5 that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. Real and dangerous error was
being propagated, and it is in every age. Therefore, discernment must be
exercised regarding what is being said and taught and who it is
that’s influencing us. To naively embrace any and all
instruction is to court disaster. A Christian is first discerning. The second examination point
that we considered we found in verses 6 and 7, the steadfastness
to be maintained. Paul urged it this way, as you
have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in him. And here he called the believers
and us to continue to grow in grace,
the same divine provision that saved
us is the same provision that sustains us. We must continue
to draw on God’s amazing grace. We might even think of this second
point as the hitch pin of these three evaluation points, the
first three. Think of it this way. If we are
discerning as believers, that will lead to steadfastness. But it’s equally true if we are
steadfast, that will lead to a sanctified cautiousness, which
is our third standard. Last week in verses 8 through
12, we began our consideration of this third point of inspection,
the caution to be observed. The general theme of these verses
is caution, but in verse 8, Paul provides us with the details
regarding this caution that is to be reserved. And we saw that
Paul pointed out the warning of spiritual abduction. What
a shocking statement that was. See to it that no one takes you
captive. To be kidnapped, to be taken
against our will by someone, is one of the most frightening
things that we can even imagine. So he gives a warning of spiritual
abduction, and then he talks about the methods of spiritual
abduction through philosophy and empty deception. Those are
the ways that these false teachers were applying their approach. And then thirdly, we saw the
means of spiritual abduction, and there isn’t a great deal
of difference between methods and means. But Paul gives three
at the end of that verse. According to the tradition of
men, what we think ought to be done. Man-made ideas propagated
as truth. According to the tradition of
men, according to the elementary principles of the world. It’s
fascinating looking at the religions of the world and how rudimentary
they are. Going back to the very basics
of rulemaking. morally speaking. Paul says there is this tendency
to engage in these means of spiritual abduction, traditions and principles,
rather than according to Christ. And we noted that this is one
of the longest of the five points that Paul gives here in chapter
2. And it’s long because not only does Paul seek to caution
this young church, but he also wants to communicate to his readers
the nature of this caution. Following his one-sentence warning
there in verse 8, the remainder of this section, verses 9 through
12, is given to justifying or explaining that warning of verse
8. Now, if I may, I’d like to give
you one additional note of explanation regarding the structure of this
passage, 9 through 12. You probably already noted it,
you heard it. Paul makes a series of statements
that center on a recurring prepositional phrase, in him, in him, in him,
three times. He also inserts a parenthetical
thought in verse 10. We’ll come back to that in a
moment. But those three prepositional phrases, in him, in him, in him,
they provide us the God-given motivation for wise cautiousness. Three reasons for godly caution. Let’s get a start on these three
explanations if we could. Travel back, if you would, to
verse 9 in your Bible, and we’re looking at the warnings that
Paul is providing to this church, and he’s giving the reasons for
the caution that is to be observed. And the first one is the nature
of the one who is at work in us. The nature of the one at
work in us. Look at verse 9. For in him all
the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. The first reason
that Paul gives for exercising caution is the nature of the
one who is at work within us. Essentially, we should be cautious
because of who Christ is. And this powerful argument is
in concert with the last line of verse 8. Would you please
just glance back at verse 8? There, remember, Paul has issued
this warning, see to it that no one takes you captive. And
he proceeds to show his readers the means, as we just talked
about, the means of being taken captive. Philosophy, empty deception,
unprofitable teachings and banter that lead people astray. Near
the end of verse 8, he mentions several other means of being
taken captive, the traditions of men, elementary principles,
as we just reviewed. Those are the ways that people
might be led astray. But there is a third option in
that last line, and I touched on it only briefly so that we
could deal with it here. Instead of being taken captive
by these other things, principles and traditions of men, the implication is that we are
to rest in our captivity to Christ. The language might sound strange
to our ears, captive to Christ, but Paul speaks in those terms
clearly in Philippians 3.12, I press on that I might lay hold
of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Now, if you know Paul’s story,
Paul had a very dramatic conversion. He was laid hold of on the road
to Damascus. But to be taken captive by Jesus
Christ is the sweetest, most glorious captivity of all, isn’t
it? We want to be held secure by
our Savior, and once we are in His care, we would never even
think of trying to escape. Well, and here’s the point. This
captivity to Christ naturally leads to Paul’s explanation in
verse 9. Why should we rest in this blessed
captivity to Christ? Because, verse 9, in Him all
the fullness of deity dwells. We’re in God’s hand if we are
in Christ. This is the first of Paul’s three
in him statements. The first little word of that
sentence, four, is what lets us know that this is Paul’s explanation. These are his reasons for exercising
caution. And the in him again, which is
repeated three times in short succession, communicates the
sphere of operation. It is in him, that is in the
person of Jesus Christ, and only in him that the fullness of deity
dwells. Now this point, you may recall,
This is the second time that Paul has said this. If you would,
please flip back, if you need to, one chapter to chapter one,
and just glance down at verse 19. Paul says the same basic
thing there. That it was the Father’s good
pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him. our consideration of 119, we
saw that the word fullness that Paul uses there in both verses,
it speaks of a completeness. And we’ll come back to that thought.
But you’ll notice here that Paul does not elaborate on what this
fullness is. Paul mentions this fullness,
but he doesn’t define it. And yet there’s no doubt whatsoever,
even as we consider this passage, that the fullness that Paul mentions
here in chapter 1 verse 19 is the fullness of the deity. There’s
just no doubt. Paul speaks of the complete or
the full measure of God residing in Christ. Now glance back, if
you would, at chapter 2, verse 9. And here in 2.9, Paul leaves
nothing to question. In him, that is in Christ, all
the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. It’s a repeated,
but a much fuller statement than that in 119. And here in 2.9,
Paul explicitly says that the fullness of deity dwells in Christ. This is the only time in the
New Testament that this word deity is used. Paul uses a similar
word in Romans 1.20. Just listen, just one verse. Since the creation of the world
is invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature
have been clearly seen being understood through what has been
made, so they are without excuse. Incredible verse. Divine nature,
that’s what I’m pointing to. But we have to be careful here.
The word translated there as divine nature is much more general. And it’s not the same word as
in our text. The words are very similar synonyms. There he’s speaking of the divine
nature or divinity, if you will. Very general. But the word that
Paul uses here in Colossians is much more intimate. It speaks
of the Godhead itself. deity, the essence of God. One capable scholar suggested
that we would almost have to create a new word to really capture
the significance of this word. He suggested the word godness. It just encompasses all that
God is in his attributes, in his character, in his being.
And Paul says that in him, that is in Christ, all the fullness
of Godness dwells. In saying this, Paul refers to that which fills up
God, the Father himself, of God’s attributes, his inexhaustible
perfections, which are the very things that make God, God. All that God is, all of the attributes
that God possesses, and every one of them in perfection, are
found in completeness in our Lord Jesus Christ. Every measure
of God’s essence, the character and nature of God himself, resides
in Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is God. Jesus does not
possess these attributes or essence in measure, in bits and pieces,
a little godness, No, he possesses them in full measure. As Paul
says here, the fullness of deity dwells in him. And so there,
just as here, it is the fullness of deity of which Paul speaks. Now, in both verses, in 119 and
here in 2.9, Paul uses the word katoiko. meaning to live or to
reside. And the fullness of deity resides
in Christ, not temporarily, but from all eternity. Jesus didn’t
gain, nor was he ever bestowed. He was never empty of his godness. Deity, as one commentator put
it, has its fixed abode in Jesus Christ. Deity is an eternal and
permanent feature of our Lord, not just at His incarnation,
not only in His exalted state at the right hand of the Father,
but from eternity past to eternity future, the fullness of Deity
dwells. It permanently resides in Christ. There’s a fourth element of these
sentences made even more clear here in 2.9. In 1.19, Paul says
that all the fullness rather dwells in him, that is in Christ. But here in 2.9, Paul colors
the repeated statement even more beautifully. He says that in
him, that is, in Christ, all the fullness of deity dwells
in bodily form. It was nothing short for me of
exasperating to hear some commentator’s feeble suggestions as to what
Paul might be referring to by bodily. Some suggested that it
is a reference to God as a whole, God as a body, the entire Godhead. Others wondered if it was referenced
to the church, the body of Christ. Still others proposed that Paul
was saying that deity actually dwelt not just seemingly in Christ,
but actually. And unfortunately, for discussions
like those, I’m running thin on hair to even pull. As we just
noted, Jesus Christ is God from all eternity. But in time, Jesus
Christ, as God, took on flesh for the completion of his father’s
plan of redemption. He didn’t become God. He wasn’t
bestowed this godness. as he exited the cross or rose
from the grave, he has always been God, fully God. And so he assumed the form of
mankind. He became incarnate. Deity was
embodied in Jesus Christ. That’s what Paul’s telling us.
And to use that newly coined word, godness filled the incarnate
Son of God. As explained by Matthew in the
opening chapter of his gospel, the birth of Jesus, remember,
was a fulfillment of prophecy, many prophecies. That’s one of
the patterns in Matthew is he’s constantly reminding his Jewish
readers that this is directly from prophecy. Now, one of those
prophecies, not the least of which, was Isaiah 7, 14. A virgin
will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel. Well, that’s well and good, but
Matthew translates God with us. He helps his readers to understand
what Isaiah was saying there. God came to be with us in the
form of a little child bodily. Jesus Christ possesses that body
now in a glorified state even still. It was a body which while
he was here on earth was subject to hunger and fatigue and even
death. But now that body is in a glorified
state. And so, in answer to our question, why must we be cautious? Cautious that no one takes us
captive through man-made and unprofitable and even deceptive
philosophies. Why should we avoid being taken
captive by human tradition and simplistic principles? It is
because Jesus is God from all eternity. God everlasting and
God incarnate that we disdain being taken captive by anyone
or anything else. Paul provides us a second justification
for this caution, a second reason to exercise this caution, and
we find it in verse 10. Paul’s providing three reasons
for the caution to be observed. The first is the nature of the
one who is at work in us. The second is the completeness
of his work in us. Look at verse 10. And in him
you have been made complete. And he is the head over all rule
and authority. Why should we exercise caution
at what false teachers of the world so tantalizingly present
to us? In short, we don’t need it. We don’t need anything that they’re
peddling. We don’t need anything that they’re teaching. We don’t
need their pointless philosophies. We don’t need their worthless
counsel. We don’t need their empty traditions and their works-oriented
principles. We don’t need it. Why? Because Paul says here in verse
10, in him you have been made complete. Did you hear that? Did we grasp
the significance of that? We don’t need anything or anyone
outside of Christ, anything that someone would try to offer us
or push on us or by which they would try to beguile us or try
to force upon us. We don’t need it because as Paul
says explicitly here, if we are in Christ, we have been made
complete, whole. We have no need of anything,
spiritually speaking. Paul employs an intentional play
on words here. Remember in verse 9, we just
looked at it, you better remember, in verse 9 he uses the word fullness,
remember? In him all the fullness of deity
dwells. That’s the noun form of the word
there, but Paul uses the verb form of that word here in verse
10. It’s this word translated as complete. You see it there? Now, here we need to be very
cautious. Paul has just said that all the
fullness of deity dwells in Christ. So does that mean that when he
says here that we are complete, having been made full, literally,
is he saying that we too possess God’s nature? Absolutely not. would make us equal to Christ
in nature, and we know that isn’t true. Paul doesn’t define what
he means here by completeness, but we know without a doubt he
is not suggesting that we too are filled with deity like Christ. Paul uses the same word And he
uses the same word in both forms, noun and verb, and he uses them
in the same manner in his prayer for the Ephesian believers. Just
listen, it’s one verse, part of a verse. In that companion
letter, Ephesians chapter 3 verse 19, Paul prays that they would
be filled up to all the fullness of God. Paul isn’t referring
to moral perfection there in Ephesians, and neither is he
doing so here in Colossians. Rather, that in him, that is,
in Christ, every spiritual need has been abundantly supplied.
Isn’t that a comforting discovery? Every need has been supplied. And so, when Paul does not define
it here, it’s a case of less is more. In leaving this completeness
undefined, Paul thereby includes any spiritual need that a sinful
individual might ever need. Regeneration. Faith. Atonement. redemption, transformation,
sanctification, and any other necessary grace. In our relationship
to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are not lacking a single thing. That’s Paul’s point. The Apostle
John expresses the same thought in the opening chapter of his
gospel This could get really confusing. So if you would turn
to the gospel of John chapter 1. I don’t want to lose you. John chapter 1 and scroll down
if you would to verse 15. Here he says that He will tell us that of His fullness,
that is of Christ’s fullness, we have all received in grace
upon grace. What does that mean? Look at
verse 15. John, and this is the reason
I turned here, this is not the Apostle John. The Apostle John
is quoting John the Baptist. John testified about him and
cried out, saying, This is he of whom I said, He who comes
after me has a higher rank than I, for he existed before me. That’s John’s testimony. And then the apostle John adds
these words, verses 16 and 17. For of His fullness we have all
received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through
Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. Back, if
you would, to Colossians chapter 2, but hear what Paul is saying.
Out of the fullness of Christ’s deity, we have received an abundant
supply of God’s grace. Everything that we need. Because
of Christ’s fullness, if we are in him by faith, we are made
complete, lacking in nothing. We are filled to the brim by
the grace of God, lacking no spiritual good. We are fully
supplied, spiritually speaking, and we need not run about gathering
up books, listening to tapes, going here and there looking
for some new truth to add to our arsenal. In Him, we are complete. So much so that there is no room
left for us or anyone else to contribute to our spiritual condition. We are full up in Christ. Now, I’ll close with this. Look at verse 10 again, if you
would. And in him you have been made complete, and he is the
head over all rule and authority. If you’re looking at that last
line of verse 10, Paul injects this additional statement, he
is the head over all rule and authority, and it’s translated
as an independent sentence, a main thought. But really, it is a
continuation of the previous statement. He’s still speaking
of Christ. Paul literally says here, who
is the head over all rule and authority? It’s an almost parenthetical
thought. But it’s not unrelated. It’s
not as if Paul throws in a completely unrelated rabbit trail here. Rather, what he does is add to
his statement that believers have been made complete If Jesus
Christ is head over all rule and authority, then our spiritual
needs are not merely met. They are abundantly supplied
to overflowing. We have everything we need. This statement too, just like
verse 9, is a repetition, a reiteration of something that Paul has already
said. Would you glance back at Chapter
1, verse 18, Paul said there of Christ that he is the head
of the body, the church. That’s his same point here. He
speaks there of the church as a spiritual organism of which
Christ the Savior is head. And the definite article makes
clear there that Jesus Christ is not a head, one of many, like
he’s part of a committee, a leadership team. He is the head. He is the God-appointed and sovereign
ruler over the church. Jesus Christ is the chief member
of that body. And as the church’s spiritual
head, Jesus Christ, provides, we saw three things, and I’ll
remind you. He provides to us life. Just
as a human body separated from its head cannot survive, neither
could Christ’s church survive without her head, the Lord Jesus. As head, Jesus provides vitality
and strength to the body. life. Secondly, he provides unity
as the church’s spiritual head. Jesus is the unifying element. Jesus serves as the organizing
influence over all the other members of the body so that it
functions together as a unified whole. Life, unity, leadership. As the head of his church, Jesus
also provides direction and comfort and inspiration to his church.
He is the church’s spiritual leader and guide and ultimate
authority. He supremely directs and governs
his church. Well, we have already Consider
two strong arguments for exercising due caution with regard to the
world’s ideas. First, Jesus Christ, the one
in whom all the fullness of deity dwells, is the one who has taken
us to his side in salvation. We must guard that. We must exercise
every caution that no error seep in to our minds and hearts. He is the one at work in us. And secondly, His work in us
is complete. Our final glorification notwithstanding,
Christ’s work in our lives is finished. In our Lord Jesus Christ,
we have everything. Every spiritual need has been
supplied. There’s a third explanation,
a third reason that Paul provides in verses 11 and 12. We’ll come
back to that next Lord’s Day. But I would just say, what a
comforting, encouraging verse for believers. Yes, we should
exercise caution because of who Christ is and because of what
he’s done in our lives. Because that work is finished. My concern is for those who do
not know the Savior. Can you imagine? if you were
to sit here this morning and to hear this talked about, to
not know about Christ, not know about the fact that He is God
in the flesh, to not know that when He begins His work in a
believer, He will complete it, and when He does His work in
a believer as the head of the church, there is no one that
can add to it. Not even ourselves. We can’t
work our way to heaven. We can’t try to earn His kindness
and favor. Our salvation is by faith in
Jesus Christ alone. No more, no less. Would you humble
yourself before Him?