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In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In Christ we are established in the faith that we believe. In Christ we are thankful for everything that we have and all that we have been given.
A five-point review today of Colossians 2, 1 through 8, so that we might grow all the more in Christ when we understand the text.
You're listening to When We Understand The Text, an online Bible ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Find videos and more at our website, www .utt .com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you, Becky.
The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission released a story about how to pray for Christians who live under persecution for their faith. According to reports, the ERLC said over 100 million Christians are living under persecution for their faith.
Serious, life-threatening persecution. So let us be aware of the things our Christian brothers and sisters are going through around the world so that we might know how to pray for them. In a November 5th story from World Magazine, the federal government told a suburban Chicago school district this week that they have 30 days to comply with demands for transgender equality or be punished.
The dispute arose over locker room access for a biologically male student who lives as a girl. I highly recommend a subscription to World Magazine, by the way. On Tuesday, Houston, Texas voters overturned a controversial Equal Rights Ordinance that would have opened up public restrooms for men to use women's restrooms and women to use men's restrooms, if they liked.
It was known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, horribly abbreviated as HERO. Houston is the fourth largest city in the U .S. Congratulations, voters, on overturning that ordinance. Speaking of Tuesday's voting, both Kentucky and Mississippi elected pro-life and pro-marriage governors who will fight for the sanctity of human life and protect marriage as an institution between one man and one woman.
Well done, citizens! And the Baptist Press released a story about the latest Pew data which shows that 23 of Americans identify themselves as religiously unaffiliated. That number is up 7 percentage points from 2007, and that's the survey that you often hear people reference the number of unbelievers that we have in the country right now who are referred to as the nuns.
According to this latest data, fewer than 61 said they believe in God. That's down 9 percentage points in 8 years. And of that 61%, only about two-thirds hold to orthodox Christian beliefs. My brothers and sisters in Christ, there is a mission field in your own backyard.
Share the gospel. This week we've been looking at Colossians 2, verses 1 through 8. And today we're going to go back through this passage and draw out five points that we can summarize to help us grow all the more in our understanding and our appreciation of Christ Jesus in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Remember, as we're going through this study of Colossians, ultimately what we want to come to a greater understanding of is Christ as preeminent and that we are fully satisfied in our Savior. We need nothing else but Christ.
Colossians 2, verses 1 through 8, and before we come to this text, let's come to the Lord in prayer. Our wonderful and great God, we thank you for showing us through your scriptures Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through whom we have salvation and we can get to eternal life.
We can get to the Father by no other way except through Jesus Christ, our Lord. We need the Spirit of God to understand the words that speak about Christ. So be with us as we open up this text and let the Spirit continue to convict us and communicate to us the Word of God even as we go.
We pray and ask for your guidance as we are filled with thanksgiving for the love and mercy and grace that we have already received. Show us your scriptures all the more. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Colossians 2, starting in verse 1,. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments, for though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
So we go back through this text again, drawing five points that will grow us all the more in our knowledge and understanding of Christ. And point number one is this. See to it that you are knit together in love.
Notice here, as Paul says here in the first couple of verses, I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face. Remember, he's never met the Colossians before, never been to Laodicea, but as he is in prison being persecuted for sharing the gospel, he wants them to know, though I've never met you and though I never planted your churches, you are still with me in this struggle, and I even struggle and toil and labor for you.
You're not left out of this group of missionaries that have been going out and sharing the gospel of Christ. You are part of this work and part of this effort. But he says he does these things and continues to communicate the gospel, as he's doing for the Colossians now through this letter, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery that is Christ.
So we are to see to it that we are knit together in love, and it is understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is being grounded in sound doctrine that actually knits us together in love. Are you aware of that?
As it says this later on in Colossians 3, a little bit later in the letter, Paul kind of expounds a little bit more on these concepts that he's giving to them in chapter 2. In verse 15, well, I can tell you in verse 14 first, where he says, above all these things, all the instructions that he gives to them, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
And then verse 15, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
So the way that we are knit together in love in a body of Christ, it will mean that we are grounded or built upon a foundation that is doctrinally sound. It is rooted in the sound words of Christ Jesus.
When Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy, one of the first things that he tells Timothy to do is be sound in doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it. Don't let anyone teach any different kind of doctrine, except that which was taught to you firmly in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then they start talking about, or Paul talks about with Timothy, how those false teachers have disrupted things. And in 2 Timothy, he says that false teaching spreads like gangrene. When people start clinging to false teaching, or when they start clinging to ideas and concepts that are not rooted in Christ Jesus, it actually causes parts of the body of Christ to rot and fall off.
That's basically the analogy that Paul is giving there. And he gives the same charge to Titus at the beginning of Titus. In fact, Titus 1 .9 is one of those verses that every pastor must know, the charge to teach sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it.
Because without that, entire members of the body of Christ can be led astray by false teaching. So in order to be knit together in love, this means that we are built upon a foundation that is Christ. Sound in Christ and his teaching and his word.
Remember the great commission. Matthew 28 verses 19 and 20. Jesus said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, and so therefore I commission you to his disciples. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, even to the very end of the age. So part of this discipleship making, part of baptizing, part of growing the church was going to involve teaching all that Christ had commanded and teaching them to obey it.
So being knit together in love means that we are grounded on a firm foundation of God's words. See to it that you are knit together in love. Point number two. See to it that you hold fast to Christ Jesus.
As we go on in this section, being knit together in love, reaching all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
So as we are supposed to be knit together in love, as we are supposed to be grounded upon a foundation that is sound to the solid teachings of Jesus Christ, we must hold fast to Christ Jesus, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Remember what we said back in Colossians 1 .15, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. So he is everything that we can know about God. All that we want to know about God, we see in Jesus Christ.
And where it says that he is the firstborn of all creation, it means that God has given to him everything in heaven and on earth. He has received all of the rights of the firstborn. All things belong to him.
We see later on in verses 19 and 20, in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Hold fast in Christ. The growth that we experience in wisdom and knowledge of God's word, we experience it as we grow in the knowledge of Christ. If you were with us in our study of Philippians 4, we read these words, Philippians 4 .4 -7, Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. You know, not only do we need to focus ourselves on learning about Christ, but we never come to the end of that.
As long as we live in this life, and we are devoted to learning about Christ, we will never come to the end of Christ. It is beyond our understanding, but that doesn't mean that it is unknowable. It just means that it is so rich, we will never run out of the things that we have to learn.
And as we go on in that section, Philippians 4 .8,. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Another passage we read earlier this week was Ephesians 3 .14 -19. As Paul is praying for the Ephesians, he says, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
And I want to throw in this passage we didn't read this week, but finds itself so well in point number two here. Romans 11, 33 -36. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him, that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.
Amen. Romans 11, 33 -36. So point number one, see to it that you are knit together in love. Point number two, see to it that you hold fast to Christ Jesus, our foundation. He is love, as it says in 1 John 4.
And here's point number three, see to it that no one deludes you with plausible arguments. So as we continue on in Colossians 2, Paul says, I say these things to you in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. If we remain firm in the faith in Christ Jesus, then we can see to it that no one takes us captive by any plausible arguments or deludes us with those plausible arguments.
In 1 Corinthians 2, as Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church, now remember that the Corinthians are a Greek people, and the Greeks love new knowledge. They really want the new idea that's out there.
Okay, I've got this knowledge and this knowledge, give me something new. And so one of the reasons why Christianity was booming on the scene when it came into Corinth is because it was the new knowledge.
So some people grabbed a hold of it because, hey, this is the new stuff. And I now have something and know something that you don't. So there were people who were boasting over one another because they had greater knowledge than someone else.
And then there were certain apostles and missionaries that the Corinthians held in higher regard because they thought they were the better speakers or had the greater knowledge. For example, Cephas, who is Peter, he was a guy that actually followed around with Christ.
So I follow the gospel that Peter preached because he was actually with Jesus. Then there were others that say, no, I like Apollos because he's Greek and he is a fantastic speaker, so I'm with Apollos on this.
Others said, no, no, no, I'm with Paul because he was actually here and helped to plant this church, so he's the guy that's got all of the knowledge. And so Paul is going, no, no, no, you're missing the point here.
The point is Christ, not who's coming with the better speaking voice or the greater knowledge. So in 1 Corinthians 2, he says, I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
We actually read in 2 Corinthians 10 that Paul was not a great speaker at all. He wrote such weighty words in his letters. But then when the Corinthians saw him and heard him speak for the first time, they were like, wait, this is the guy?
He's not a great speaker at all. You know, if I could even put myself against Paul, I would say that I'm the better speaker than the apostle Paul was. But that's not the point. Paul was the apostle who was called by God to take his gospel to the world.
And the reason why the gospel spread so successfully was not because of Paul's ability. It was because of God. It was because it was commissioned by Christ to go into the world, preaching the gospel to all nations.
So Paul says, I didn't want to know anything except Christ and him crucified, so that the demonstration wouldn't be my abilities to speak or do anything great. The demonstration would be of the spirit and his power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
So if we cling to the words of Christ, knowing that this is the word of God, not because it sounds the best, not because it's the greatest thing, not because we think it's going to make our life easier, because all of those things rest on the wisdom of men and not on the wisdom of God.
But if we're truly clinging to Christ, then we are holding fast to something that is protecting us from being deluded with plausible arguments. Be rooted in the sound doctrine of Christ, knit together in love, holding fast to Christ Jesus.
Don't be deluded by plausible arguments. Here's point number four. See to it that you are established in the faith and abounding in thanksgiving. That's the next verse. Verse six. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, actually showing with your life that you have been transformed in Christ, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
So you don't know it all. Neither do I. All right. You don't know it all. And you've got more journey to go through as you are studying through the scriptures and continuing to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God.
But what you do know and what he has revealed to you in his spirit and in his word, be thankful for it and be thankful to know that everything that we need to know for life is in Christ Jesus. Yes, there is information and knowledge that you are going to learn in this world that's going to help you do your job better, going to help you maybe love your spouse better, raise your kids better, do different tasks in a different way, cook meals more efficiently, balance budget.
All of these things are very important knowledge that we must know. But when it comes to the meaning and purpose that we have in this life, there is nothing else that we need except Christ. No other knowledge or philosophy is anybody going to be able to give you that will give you more meaning in this world than what we can know according to Christ Jesus.
In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. As it says in Proverbs 1, 7, it is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of knowledge. So everything that we can know in this life, we can lift up to praise to God because it is all rooted in Christ Jesus.
Be established in the faith and abounding in thanksgiving. Thankful to God for all that he has given you because if you are not, your mind and your heart are exposed to be diluted with a plausible argument.
If you're not thankful for everything that God has given you, then you will open yourself up to receiving or listening to teachings that you shouldn't be listening to, thinking that those things will finally give you the answers that you're looking for.
Those things will finally give you the peace and the satisfaction that you cannot seem to find or do not think that you have in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, being built up in him, established in the faith and abounding in thanksgiving so that no one deludes you with plausible arguments.
Here's point number five. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit. Same concept. Be thankful to all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that have been given to us in Christ Jesus and in his word so that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition and according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ.
That is a concept that though it is the fifth point of our study this week, we're going to explore even more next week. So we will come back to verse eight when we open up Colossians chapter two and resume our study on Monday.
So here is our summary of everything that we have looked at. Point number one, see to it that you are knit together in love. Point number two, see to it that you hold fast to Christ Jesus the Lord. Point number three, see to it that no one deludes you with plausible arguments.
Point number four, see to it that you are established in the faith and abounding in thanksgiving. So that point number five, see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit. Our wonderful and gracious God who has shown us Christ Jesus the Lord who is our salvation and our strength.
Grow us in the knowledge of these things. In the knowledge of Christ in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Help us to not be deluded with plausible arguments and help us to receive Christ Jesus the Lord and walk in him, rooted and built up in him, established in the faith as we have been taught according to your word.
And Lord, give us a spirit in such a way that we would be abounding in thanksgiving. We pray and ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Of all of the videos that we have produced through When We Understand the Text, which as of this episode is about 90 videos now, which one do you think is the most offensive?
The one that we've received the most complaints about? The video about Mormonism perhaps, Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Catholicism, all of which we present as false teaching. How about the video about abortion or the one about homosexuality?
No, though we do get complaints about those and we get complaints about just about every video. Everybody has a button, it seems. But the one that we have received the most complaints about has got to be this one.
If you call yourself a Christian but you don't attend church, you're probably going to hell. What? No! Church is not what makes a person a Christian. Just because you stand in a garage doesn't make you a car, right?
So going to church doesn't make me a Christian. Yeah, that's true, but being a Christian means that you're part of the body of Christ. And what is the body of Christ? Ephesians 5 .23 says it plainly, the body of Christ is the church.
See, when Christ died on the cross for our sins, he reconciled us back to God. That word reconcile is a beautiful word that means to accept that which was not previously desired. Because of our sin, we did not desire God and he did not desire us in that state.
But because he loves us, he sent his son Jesus to die in our place. That righteous sacrifice makes us acceptable in the eyes of a holy God. As it says in Titus 2 .4, he purified for himself a people for his own possession.
So Christ not only reconciled us to God, he reconciled us to God's people. Sin sets us against God and against one another. Christ repairs those relationships and makes us one. So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another, which is Romans 12 .5.
Christian, understand something. If you say you're a Christian and desire to be with Christ, then you should also desire to be part of his body. If you don't want to be part of the body, you're probably not a Christian, which means you're still dead in your sins and you are not saved.
Hebrews 10 .25 says do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. So let's do that and be faithful to the body of Christ when we understand the text.
There you go. That is considered to be the most offensive what video. And of course, the statement that gets the complaints, you can probably tell what it is. It's where I say toward the beginning that if you're not attending church, you're probably going to hell.
And I stand by that statement. It's not that you will go to hell if you don't attend church, but you probably will. Why do I say probably? Well, because I'd be willing to wager that a person who doesn't attend church probably thinks that they don't have to.
They probably think that they are the church, right? I've got the Holy Spirit inside of me. So that makes me the church. No, you are not the church. You might be one stone used to build the walls of the church, as is demonstrated in First Peter 2 .5.
But you yourself in and of yourself are not the church. You think you are good by yourself, but you're not. By yourself, you're good for nothing. Jesus founded the church, and he intends for you to attend it.
If you don't, or you think that you don't have to, you're claiming that your way is better than God's. And that's why I say, though I can't speak for every person's motivation, but that's why I say that by refusing to be part of Christ's body, you're probably going to hell.
Now, this is not just a new problem. This was a problem in Spurgeon's day as well, 150 years ago. And here's what he preached about church membership. I know there are some of you who say, well, I've given myself to the Lord, but I don't intend to give myself to any church.
I say, why not? And they answer, because I can be just as good a Christian without it. I say, are you quite clear about that? You can be as good a Christian by disobedience to your Lord's commands as by being obedient?
There's a brick. What is the brick made for? It's made to build a house. It is of no use for the brick to tell you that it's just as good a brick while it's kicking about on the ground by itself as it would be as part of a house.
Actually, it's a good for nothing brick. So you Rolling Stone Christians, I don't believe that you're answering the purpose for which Christ saved you. You're living contrary to the life which Christ would have you live.
And you are much to blame for the injury that you do. In 1 Peter 2, later on in verse 11, he says, Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul.
And folks, one of those passions of the flesh is a desire to not go to church. Don't give in to that desire to abstain from the church. Go to church as Christ intended you to. So please go to church this weekend and we will continue our study of Colossians 2 next week.
This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast, or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.
And let your friends know about our ministry. Join us again next week as we grow together in God's Word when we understand the text.