11/10/13

From Mark Copeland... Believer, Beware! (Colossians 2:9-23)

                     "THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS"

                       Believer, Beware! (2:9-23)

INTRODUCTION

1. It was Paul's desire that his brethren be "perfect (complete) in
   Christ" - Col 1:28; 2:1-3

2. But there were influences at Colosse which endangered their 
   salvation, against which Paul warns in Col 2:8-23

3. As we consider what those threats were, we see similar threats today
   as well!

4. In other words, subtle (and some not so subtle) influences which may
   promise us much, but can easily lead us away from Christ!

[For example, we notice from verses 8-10 that at Colosse there was the
danger of...]

I. PHILOSOPHIES AND TRADITIONS OF MEN (8-10)

   A. THE DANGER OF MAN-MADE PHILOSOPHY AND TRADITION...
      1. They "cheat" you
         a. They don't deliver what they may promise
         b. They can even cheat you of your salvation!
            1) By rendering our worship and service to God as "vain"
            2) As Jesus warned in Mt 15:9
      2. This they do through "empty deceit"
         a. It is not evident (otherwise, none would accept it)
         b. But like many of the workings of Satan, it is through
            "deception"

   B. WE ARE FACED WITH SIMILAR INFLUENCES TODAY...
      1. The "philosophies" of:
         a. Atheism
         b. Evolution
         c. Humanism
      2. The "traditions of men," found rampant in:
         a. Protestant denominations
         b. Catholicism (both "Roman" and "Orthodox")
         c. Various cults
      3. Though these "philosophies" and "traditions of men" may possess
         a lot of truth, it is the error in them that can lead one away
         from the pure and simple doctrine of Jesus Christ!

   C. WE NEED TO KEEP IN MIND...
      1. In "Jesus Christ" are found ALL the treasures of wisdom and
         knowledge - Col 2:3
      2. In "Jesus Christ" is to be found the FULLNESS of the Godhead
         bodily - Col 2:9
      3. In "Jesus Christ" we are COMPLETE - Col 2:10
      4. As Peter wrote in his second epistle:  "Grace and peace be
         multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
         Lord, as His divine power has given to us ALL things that
         pertain to life and godliness , through the knowledge of Him
         who called us by glory and virtue," - 2Pe 1:2-3

[So "Believer, Beware!" when anyone suggests that we need the
philosophies or traditions of men in addition to or instead of Jesus
Christ!

In verses 11-17, Paul deals with what was a real problem in the first
century church...]

II. JUDAISTIC CEREMONIALISM (11-17)

   A. THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST CENTURY CHURCH...
      1. Many Jewish Christians felt it necessary for Gentile Christians
         to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses in ADDITION to
         following Christ - cf. Ac 15:1-5
      2. The early church had to constantly deal with this problem
         a. Which they did at Jerusalem (where the problem originated) 
            - Ac 15:6-27
         b. Which Paul did in writing Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and
            Colossians
      3. Here in Col 2:11-17, Paul deals with the problem by pointing
         out:
         a. Through baptism into Christ, we experience the "true
            circumcision", which is a cutting away of the sins of the
            flesh - Col 2:11-13
         b. By His death on the cross, Jesus has taken the Old Law out
            of the way - Col 2:14-15 (cf. Ep 2:14-16)
         c. Therefore, we are to let no one try to judge (condemn) us
            in matters of the Old Law - Col 2:16-17

   B. TODAY, THERE ARE MANY WHO STILL TRY TO BIND THE OLD LAW UPON 
       CHRISTIANS...
      1. Various denominations with their Sabbaths and food regulations
      2. Other religions with their separate priesthood and many other
         practices, based upon the Old Testament, and not the New!

   C. AS THOSE IN CHRIST...
      1. We have died to the Law and Jewish ceremonialism (this 
         especially pertains to Jewish Christians) - Ro 7:1-6
      2. We have been set free, and need to beware of becoming 
         "entangled again with a yoke of bondage." - Ga 5:1
      3. If we seek justification by our observance of things found in
         the Old Law, we are fallen from grace! - Ga 5:2-4

[So "Believer, Beware!" when people try to impose things upon you which
are based upon the Law of Moses.  Remember, "you are complete in HIM."

In verses 18-19, we see there was still another danger at Colosse...]

III. THE WORSHIP OF ANGELS (18-19)

   A. WHY WOULD PEOPLE WORSHIP ANGELS?
      1. Perhaps because they felt angels were needed as "intercessors"
      2. Perhaps with "a sense of humility", they felt they could not go
         to God (or even Jesus) directly

   B. THE PROBLEM WITH ANGEL WORSHIP...
      1. It is actually the result of a "false humility" and based upon
         one's "vain imagination"   - Col 2:18 (cf. He 4:14-16, where
         we learn we can "come boldly to the throne of grace")
      2. It actually diverts one away from Christ, the rightful "Head of
         the body" - Col 2:19
         a. For this reason, angels refused any semblance of worship -
            Re 22:8-9
         b. And so did the apostle Peter - Ac 10:25-26

   C. TODAY, SOME RELIGIONS HAVE DEVELOPED A COUNTERPART TO THE WORSHIP
      OF ANGELS...
      1. E.g., Catholicism with its veneration of Mary and the "saints"
      2. The reasoning is similar:  "humility" ("We need them to 
         intercede for us")
      3. Though an attempt is made to distinguish between "veneration"
         and "worship", in practice the distinction is lost among the
         average person
      4. And the result is still the same:  "not holding fast to the
         Head," venerating other beings rather than Christ!

[Finally, from verses 20-23 we can glean that there was the problem
of...]

IV. ASCETICISM (20-23)

   A. ASCETICISM HAS OFTEN BEEN OFFERED AS A KEY TO "SELF-CONTROL"
      1. Such as fasting and other forms of abstinence
      2. Or self-flagellation (beating one's self with whips)

   B. BUT ASCETICISM IS OF NO REAL VALUE AGAINST THE "INDULGENCE OF THE
      FLESH"
      1. As Paul points out in Col 2:23
      2. Indeed, transformation comes through "renewing the MIND", not
         afflicting the BODY
         a. As Paul wrote in Ro 12:1-2
         b. Yes, those who "set their minds on the things of the Spirit"
            are the ones "who live according to the Spirit" - Ro 8:5
            1) They are the ones who by the Spirit will be able to "put
               to death the deeds of the body" - Ro 8:13
            2) For the "fruit of the Spirit" includes self-control - Ga 5:22-23

   C. TODAY, WE MUST BEWARE OF THE FALSE CLAIMS OF ASCETICISM!
      1. Fasting may have a place in the lives of Christians - cf. Ac
         13:2-3; 14:23; 1Co 7:5; 2Co 11:27
         a. But not for the purpose of developing self-control!
         b. Rather as a means of humbling oneself before God as we pray,
            that God might hear our prayer - cf. Ezr 8:21; Mt 6:17-18
      2. Those religions that would teach various forms of "asceticism"
         as a means of developing spiritual maturity would have us
         believe that "the secret" is in such "neglect of the body" 
      3. But Christ is "the secret", and by holding fast to Him we find
         the ability to "crucify the flesh with its passions and 
         desires." - Ga 5:24

CONCLUSION

1. As we live the Christian life, attempting to mature spiritually,
   beware of any doctrine or teaching of man that suggests we need more
   than Jesus Christ!

2. Remember, He is "THE" way (not "A" way) - Jn 14:6

3. And we are COMPLETE in Him!

Are you IN Him?  - cf. Ga 3:26-27...

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

From Jim McGuiggan... FAITH AND CHRISTIAN FAITH

FAITH AND CHRISTIAN FAITH

The faith of the NT Church is faith in Jesus Christ and nothing less than that. Christians are not in the business along with other decent people and clubs and movements to make people kinder and nicer and more law-abiding. The Church is not to say to all these other socially useful people, “Look, we recognize that we’re in the same business only we believe we have the best program and the greatest source of inspiration—Jesus Christ—so we urge you to join our movement and the world will be a better place.”

Christians are not in the same business as non-Christians. They don’t have a program that’s tailored to make a better society even though it’s true that if a person becomes a true Christian he/she will be fervent in righteousness, compassion, helpful generosity and social usefulness.

No matter who has it, Christians need not deny that faith in God is real; but what they cannot say is that faith in God that rejects faith in Jesus is Christian! It is not!

The Hebrew writer would never have dreamed of denying the rich faith of his fellow-Jews who lived before Jesus came; in fact, he extolled it (see Hebrews 11), but he insisted that with the coming of Jesus the faith that God now called for from Jews was faith in God in and through Jesus Christ (compare 1 Peter 1:21’s repetition)—it was Jesus Christ-shaped faith. Less than that, whatever else it was it wasn’t Christian. Now it might not matter if faith is not Christ-shaped but there’s no point in claiming that a faith in God that refuses to be faith in God through Jesus Christ is the same as Christian faith.

The believing men and women of Hebrews 11 committed to God in faith in terms of God’s self-disclosure up to the point before Christ came but with the coming of Jesus God revealed himself as never before and he called those Jews who were confronted with that self-revelation in Jesus to commit to him in a new way of faith. You simply can’t read Acts 2—4, 7 and 13 without seeing that the gospel-ers called many people who already believed in God to come to faith in God in and through Jesus Christ.

The believing heart that devoted itself to God prior to Jesus’ public manifestation and/or the gospel of Jesus did not cease to be a believing heart; no, it now saw God in a new way and the God it had always embraced was now embraced in the person of Jesus.  

A new song was now to be sung and a new gospel phase was now to be announced. What we have in the NT gospel and lies in and under the NT text is a new faith for a new People of God about new things that God has done in creating a new heaven and a new earth in Jesus Christ. The very existence of the new People of God is the visible witness that God in Jesus has been and is in the world and moving it to a final and glorious revelation.

This isn't just faith—it is THE CHRISTIAN faith.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Ben Fronczek... Judging Others


Judging Others

Judging Others

Jesus said in Matthew 7:1-6 

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
   “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
   “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

In our reading, Jesus instructs that one should not judge. But, how far should that go? Is there a difference between judging something and being judgemental toward someone? Or is there a difference between judging and discerning? Let me illustrate both of these with a couple of illustration:

- The Lone Ranger and Tonto stopped in the desert for the night. After they got their tent all set up, both men entered it and fell sound asleep.
Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, “Kemo Sabe, look towards sky, what you see?” The Lone Ranger replies, “I see millions of stars.” “What that tell you?” asked Tonto. The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, “Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, it’s evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. And Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What’s it tell you, Tonto?”
Tonto is silent for a moment, then says, “Kemo Sabe, you are dumber than a box of rocks! It means someone stole tent.”

The Lone Ranger was discerning. But when Tonto called the Lone Ranger “dumber than a box of rocks” that’s being judgmental.

- Suppose you come to a stoplight that just turned red and someone comes up from behind you and goes through that red light. A discerning person might think, “That was not too smart. That was down right dangerous. That’s a good way to have an accident.”
The judgmental person might think and say, “That idiot! That person is absolutely stupid! They’re going to get killed and wind up in hell!”   Now that’s being highly judgmental!

We all need to discern what is right and wrong in life without being judgmental but sometimes, it’s hard to separate the two. Yet when say something to someone who definitely doing something wrong what do they say? “The Bible says ‘Judge not’.” Now does the Bible tell us that we are not allowed to judge between right and wrong, good and bad, truth and error? How do we obey God’s commands to uphold the truth and stand against wickedness while keeping judgmental attitudes in balance? I hope that this lesson will clear up this issue for you.

I. To begin with in Matt. 7:1-2 Jesus said,

 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Now was Jesus is saying that one should never ever judge others? I think not. As with all Bible study, one needs to consider the context.  In doing so, as one reads the Sermon on the Mt., over and over we see that Jesus has been raising the bar when it comes to living a holy and righteous life. Earlier we read that He told those He was talking to not to do what the  hypocritical Pharisees and teachers of the law were doing, but rather their own righteousness should surpass that of those men because they were greedy, self indulgent, show offs and hypocrites. (Mt. 5:20 & Mt. 23). (Click on verses to read.)

So when Jesus tells the people not to judge others, I believe that He did not want the people to make judgments like those men who were harsh, critical, and ready to condemn anyone who got in their way, or didn’t meet their standards.
Now consider some ways, that for example, we should not judge one another:
-We should not judge people because of their outward appearance, how they look, how they dress, nor by their nationality or color of their skin. There’s good and bad in all.
- We should not judge people based on their financial status.
- We should not judge anyone because of their physical condition
I think it is our human nature to want to judge people. But it one thing to evaluate and discern but it’s quite another to make and pass judgment on them. We are told it is not our place to do that.

James 4:11-12

 “Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”

James' words are very powerful and plain. ‘WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO JUDGE SOMEONE ELSE?’ By judging others we put ourselves in the roll of God and that is dangerous territory. Did you know that’s what caused Satan to get kicked out of heaven!

If you take the time to look at what Jesus emphasizes here in our text, He said that if you are going to start making such judgment about other individuals we in turn will be judged according to those same standard that we judge others.  I believe that the real warning here.

We don’t have the right to judge someone’s heart based how long a person’s hair is or how much money they have. Only God can do that.  But I believe we can judge someone by looking at and considering their actions and words when placed beside the truth and real facts.

If were not allowed to make any evaluations and judgments at all, it would becomes impossible to distinguish between right and wrong. People could simply do anything that they’d wanted to do.

The Bible commands us to make some judgments. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 commands us: 

“Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” 

So we can make some observations and if we see that certain individuals are doing something ungodly or illegal we should make a judgment and choose to stay away from such individuals base on this verse.
But we need to be careful. In Matthew 7:3 Jesus goes on to say  

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

The point of what Jesus is saying is this: don’t even think about criticizing or judging others if you’ve got more problems to be condemned for than they do. That’s just what the Pharisees we doing.

Then we see in the following text how discerning we are to be. As a matter of fact I believe Jesus warns us that it might be dangerous if we  don’t make some good judgments and treat everyone the same. Matt. 7:6  

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. ”

The dogs and pigs of Jesus’ time were not quite what we think of today. As someone said, “We’re not talking Lassie and Miss Piggy here!” What is Jesus talking about in this verse? He is talking about discerning that which was evil and dangerous in life. There are some people who treat that which is good, including the gospel and all things having to do with God and Christ with scorn and contempt.

- During a cold winter, a farmer found a snake stiff and frozen with cold. The snake said to the Farmer, “If you pick me up and hold me to your stomach, your body will make me warm.” The Farmer said, “If I do that you will bite me.” The Snake answered, “Why would I do that if you save me? The Farmer had compassion on the Snake, and taking it up, placed it in his bosom. The Snake was quickly revived by the warmth and resumed its natural instincts, bit the farmer, inflicting on him a mortal wound. “Oh,” cried the Farmer, “Why did you bite me after I saved you?”  “You knew I was a snake when you picked me up,” answered the Snake. With his last breath the farmer said, “I guess I got what I deserved for pitying a scoundrel.”

Get the point? If you cozy up to a snake you’re liable to get bit!
Jesus said, 

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.”

So I believe that Jesus was telling them and us that we need to be discerning in life. When it comes to spreading the good news or other blessing from God some people will not listen. And some people will even do worse than not listen. Some will turn on you and attack you! Or abuse you! Or cuss you!

Give a Bible to a true atheist and what will he do with it? Probably trash it; maybe even throw it at you. Give what is holy and good to those who care less and Jesus said you may even put yourself in danger. So what do we do with such people? Do you remember what Jesus told His disciple to do what they were rejected. He said leave and shake the dust of yourself.  I think we need to walk away from them and not waste our time arguing with them. Turn them over to God, and then pray for them. (Consider Paul. He was an enemy but God did to him what no man could do.)


CONCLUSION—

So today we see here Jesus does not condemn all judging. He says we’re to make right judgments, but we also avoid being harsh and hypocritical judges who are unwilling to live by the standards we’re using to judge others. So my  encouragement today is that you do not condemn others but let go and let God be the judge with a wise and discerning prayerful heart.


For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

From Gary... Learning lessons, then remembering them.


The above statement is true!!!  We only have today; so why not live it in as positive way as possible.  Here is one way to make this happen....

Philippians, Chapter 4
 8  Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things.

Yep, you guessed it, your thinking will determine how you perceive your day!  Oh, you still may have problems; maybe even major ones- but, with the right attitude, they will not seem insurmountable!!!  The more I look at the picture, the more I realize that that little red heart is the key!!!!  Now, if I could only learn not to let things bother me, I would be 100% each and every day!!!!!