Followers Of Jesus Are Not Captives Of Empty Philosophies
Colossians Series #07
Followers of Jesus Are Not Captives of Empty Philosophies
By Bill Denton
Introduction
A. Illustration
Pastor Wilkins sat behind his desk, a look of utter disbelief upon his face. Standing in front of him was church member Mrs. Trent.
"According to my horoscope," she said, "this is a good week to preach against false doctrine."
Adapted from an original cartoon by Jonny Hawkins, The Best Cartoons from Leadership Journal, Volume 1
B. It's amazing how easily Christians end up adding all sorts of things to their faith in Jesus
1. Sometimes it's because others have insisted or presented things in what sounds like
logical, reasonable thinking
2. Sometimes it's because they truly don't understand who they are or what they have
in Jesus Christ
3. Sometimes it's because they stumble into things that are appealing or seem to offer
answers they can't find in their own faith
4. Sometimes it's because they are taught about philosophies that contradict Christ and
they find they must make some choices about what to believe or practice
C. The Colossians faced this sort of thing
1. We don't know the specifics, but we can figure out some of the generalities and they
sound like things we still struggle with today
2. Our text today is Colossians 2: 6-10
I. We Need A Constant Reminder That Our Life Is In Christ (Col 2:6-7)
A. You received Christ Jesus the Lord
1. John 1:12 -- 12But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, even to those who believe in His name, NASB95
2. We "receive" Jesus when we accept him for who he is and what he has done
a. it is the opposite of rejecting Jesus
b. Christians are people who put their faith in Jesus as the Son of God
c. We believe and accept his death on the cross as the substitutionary sacrifice
that provides forgiveness of our sins
d. We believe in the resurrection and his ascension to heaven
3. Implied in all of this is that Jesus is both Messiah and Lord
4. Acts 2:36 -- 36“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has
made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” NASB95
a. Luke 2:11 -- 11for today in the city of David there has been born for you a
Savior, who is Christ the Lord. NASB95
b. You can't take Jesus as one and not the other - he is either Lord and Christ,
or he is neither
B. So, walk in Him
1. This is a simple, straightforward statement - You received Jesus as Lord, so live
like it!
2. This ought to be the main concern of every Christian
a. I have put my faith in Jesus Christ - he is my Savior and my Lord
b. does the life I live demonstrate this fact
c. this one simple statement has the power to help us put everything in life into
its proper perspective
d. Christians have no excuse to live like something that does not resemble
following Christ
3. Look at the words used in 2:7 - they emphasize the point
a. firmly rooted
b. built up in Him (Jesus)
c. established in your faith
II. Paul's Warning About Empty Philosophies (Col 2:8-10)
A. Illustration
If you remember the old Lost in Space TV shows, Robbie the Robot was forever running around shouting, "Warning, Warning!" Frequently, that's how the apostle Paul sounds as he tries to tell us about various dangers that we will face
B. Colossians 2:8-10
8See 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. 9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; NASB95
1. Before we deal with the actual warning, I want you to notice that Paul is asking the
Colossians to actively do something - "See to it"
2. Too many times people have to say, "I didn't intend for that to happen," and the
question begging to be asked is, "What did you intend to happen?" - often there was
no intention involved, no purposeful action toward a purposeful end
C. Don't let anyone kidnap you!
1. That's a fair literal translation of the first part of 2:8
2. Paul draws a picture of something like a slave trader carrying away a conquered
people into slavery
a. this would be a terrible thing to happen to anyone
b. it would be even worse if it happened to people who had just been freed!
c. Colossians 1:13-14 -- 13For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and
transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins. NASB95
d. don't let anybody take that away from you
D. How could a Christian be kidnapped like this?
1. Through philosophy and empty deception
a. Paul has something rather specific in mind, so don't necessarily condemn
everything that wears the name philosophy
b. To the Greeks, philosophy was a broad concept, applying to all sorts of
thinking, ideas, conceptual notions, even magical arts and religion
c. it may well be that we should think of whatever it was Paul warned about
he was thinking of something passing itself off as a religion
2. It was something handed down by human tradition
a. in Paul's time, the validity of philosophies was established by age
1) in other words, if it was old, it was probably good
2) today, we've turned that around - today, the newer the better - old is
old, out of touch, dated, not useful to modern times
3) we sometimes forget that "human traditions" can either be old or new,
the problem isn't age, the problem is that it is human generated, human
promoted and human propagated
b. the contrast is that the gospel of Jesus Christ wasn't handed down from one
human to another
1) it came straight from God
2) the teachings about Jesus Christ were revealed to men by God and
then passed to others
3) there is a huge difference in disseminating the gospel and
disseminating human thought and reasoning
3. This philosophy was according to elementary principles of the world
a. it is difficult to know exactly what Paul had in mind, but whatever it is it had
to do with the material universe in which we live
b. we ought to immediately see that if it is based in creation, it is already a step
removed from the Creator himself
4. It may mean that the philosophy had to do with the elemental spirits of the world
a. especially the spirits of the stars and planets
b. we relate to this idea in terms of the zodiac and astrology
1) many ancient world leaders wouldn't make a move without first
consulting the stars (Julius Caesar, Ausgustus, Alexander the Great)
2) a lot of people today won't make a move without checking their sign,
or making sure the stars are lined up right for success
3) nobody sees that they are captives, slaves to the stars
c. If you are a regular reader of your horoscope, you might have a bigger
problem than you realize
5. This philosophy was devoid of truth
a. whatever is Christ-less is untrue
b. whatever is Christ+something is a changed truth
c. Paul said all such philosophies are empty deceptions - they offer nothing
real, nothing of substance, nothing that can help us at all
Conclusion
A. This brings us back to a statement Paul has made before and will make again
1. Colossians 2:10 - 10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head
over all rule and authority; NASB95
2. Christians don't need anything else because Jesus makes us complete
a. if you're complete, what else do you need?
b. if you're complete what would trade Jesus for?
3. Don't be kidnapped by useless things that offer nothing real
B. Invitation