Spiritual Bullies

Take out your Bibles with me and turn to Colossians chapter 2 Today we're going to be looking at verses 16 to 23 and I'm going to go ahead and preface the message by saying Today will be an overview but these passages require more than just one week of study and As I tried to think about how to break it into several weeks I thought what would be best and is often my Practice to give the overview first so that we do not miss the forest for the trees and Then go back in the weeks ahead and unpack some of the more difficult parts that require our attention so today will be the the big picture the 30,000 foot view and then in the weeks ahead We'll get down with our microscope and pull some things apart and look at them more closely when I was in seminary I worked in Security at a high school.

I had the job of intervening When students would get into physical altercations In short it was my job to break up fights and I became very acquainted With the behavior of bullies and there were generally two types of bullies There was the physically imposing bully Who because of his size and strength would push people around and make them feel small and weak? But then there was another kind of bully There was the emotionally destructive bully The first would threaten physical harm, but the second Would use emotional tactics of coercion name-calling shunning Berating Insulting you all know you all have probably experienced Some of that in the end both types of bullies leave scars on their victims Well bullying is not just limited to high school It happens in adult life It happens at work.

It happens in homes and Sadly it happens within the church Well in our text today Paul is going to address the Colossians in regard to what I can only define as spiritual bullies Those who would impose upon them a demand of something in addition to faith in Christ and Through intimidation and fear would say if you don't do these things in addition to Christ Then you are not right with God Beloved we still see that type of thing today and That's what Paul is addressing and so that's what we're going to see Let's stand together and read we'll read beginning at verse 16 I am I am convinced that verse 6 to verse 23 is really the reason Paul wrote this whole letter Because Paul is concerned about the spiritual bullying the spiritual intimidation that is being done at Colossae so he says in verse 16 therefore Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath These are a shadow of the things to come but the substance belongs to Christ Let no one disqualify you insisting on asceticism and worship of angels going on in detail about visions puffed up with reasons by their sensual mind and Not holding fast to the head from whom the whole body nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth That is from God if with Christ You died to the elemental spirits of the world.

Why as if you were still alive in the world.

Do you submit to? Regulations do not handle do not taste do not touch Referring to things that all perish as they are used according to human precepts and teachings these have indeed an appearance of wisdom in Promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body but they are of no value and stopping the indulgence of the flesh Let's pray father I thank you for the opportunity To preach your word to your people Lord.

I do not deserve One blessing from you and yet you have showered them upon me and the blessing to get to stand in your pulpit and talk to your people is a Tremendous honor and I thank you father.

I pray that you would keep me from error Your people deserve the truth Your people need the truth.

They don't need my failures So I pray Lord that you would keep me from Error, I pray That you would open their ears their minds and their hearts to the truth I Pray Lord if any of us is guilty of anything in this text that we would repent And I pray if we are under the oppression of those who are doing things in this text that we would stand And I pray Lord If there are those who have not yet bowed the knee to Christ that they would kneel not to men and Not to the precepts of men, but to the Word of Christ Which says come to me all ye who are weak and heavy-laden and I will give thee rest Father be with us now In Jesus name Amen one of the things that I have not addressed at least not with a great deal of specificity in My preaching ministry is I have not really addressed much the the the subject of cults Now I've taught on false religions I've given courses in our Academy on different Ways that people have twisted the scriptures and different heresies But I haven't addressed specifically How cults work and the way they operate Not at least that I could remember and of course, it's been many years.

Maybe I'm just not remembering.

Well, the word cult can have varying definitions and context often it refers to the extreme veneration of an individual we talk about the cult leader We think about groups like the people's temple Which was established by Jim Jones and He had brought a group of people together Believing that the end of the world was near and so much so that he convinced them not only to murder on His behalf but to also commit suicide on his behalf so we know what a cult leader is we have More than just one example But when I use the term today when I say cult today I'm referring Maybe a little more general To those groups that use bullying and coercive tactics to control their people and they are not only in the cult groups They are in the churches Cult like behavior exists within churches Spiritual bullies use their intimidation tactics and their usually unique interpretations of God's Word to coerce people into obeying their region and often unbiblical demands and the sad reality is that heavy-handed tactics work many people want control and structure and they want someone to tell them what to eat how to dress when to stand when to sit because it's easier if I don't have to make those decisions for myself Rather than having to think through the questions of ethics and behavior and to live with the tension of uncertainty They like having someone to tell them what they must do and when they must do it because they find comfort and In control Even though it's not their own and what results is almost always some form of legalism based on the preferences of those in power Rather than the teaching of God's Word.

Oh They'll tell you it's from God's Word But they're the ones who get to determine what God's Word means even if it obviously doesn't mean what they say it means Who are you to question them? They're the leader the most insidious Are those who convince people that they have the secrets to understanding God's Word.

In fact this week.

I googled a search on this passage Specifically verses 16 and 17 in our text is going to play a big part of the next few weeks of study Because there are entire groups out there that teach exactly what this text says not to teach Exactly what it says don't do they do and demand you do So I wanted to see what they have to say So I spent time on your behalf listening to some nutter butters Now that was ugly maybe I went a little far but there was some real Real dangerous stuff That takes the text and what it says and literally says that it says the opposite Because they want to impose the very things Paul says Don't impose they say well, we're the ones who know what it means We're the ones The only ones Who know What this really means and the sad thing is and maybe if I seem a little passionate I will tell you why my passion burns as it does.

I have seen people leave our church over these cults I have watched and my wife and I talked this week at length about one particular person and specifically Who was drawn away by the allure of legalism and it was dreadful to see not only this person become so enraptured with it and So unable to be at all Reasoned with and it broke our heart.

So this is not just pie in the sky This is real life.

This is happening every day Might even be happening in some of your families So let's look at the context of where we are just so we remember these things The context is that Paul is addressing a problem among the Colossians, which is related to the sufficiency of Christ in The first chapter he stressed the truth of Christ's supremacy over all things one of the most beautiful Sections in all the Bible on the supremacy of Christ is Colossians 1 15 to 20 We spent six weeks on that passage because we loved it.

So but I have to tell you that's not Paul's reason for writing the letter as beautiful as that section was as Important as that section is in the history of the church.

That part was only there because of this part Paul wrote chapter 1 verse 15 to 20 because he knew he was going to be writing chapter 2 verses 16 to 23 He knew where he was going with his argument and he was saddest or creating a bulwark for his argument by loading up front the understanding of who Christ is so that when he gets to the second chapter and he begins to address the heresies that he knew he was going to address he would be able to point back to the front and say this is who Christ is he is the supreme one overall in him all things hold together.

He is the one look to him faith in him alone Not in these other things and when we get to chapter 2 he focuses on Christ's efficiency For life and godliness And we have said this for weeks.

I hope you don't miss this I hope you I hope you don't go away every week and just forget everything because this most Important thing that I pray is stuck with you is that not only is Christ supreme overall But he and faith in him is sufficient for you Salvation is in Christ alone beginning to end and it is by faith in him from beginning to end That is why in verse 6 he says therefore as you received Christ So walk in him you received him by faith.

So you walk in him by faith In fact, I would say verse 6 is the thesis of the entire book Therefore as you received him, so walk in him.

Well now Paul is going to address the external demands of those who have either already infiltrated Colossae or Are trying to infiltrate Colossae.

I'm still not certain if I land on one or the other Whether Paul is warning them about a danger within or a danger without is the question and I'm I'm Satisfied in the tension of not knowing I tend to think that Paul May be warning about something that hasn't happened yet, but it's going to But with that I am possible to be wrong Either way the danger exists and Paul is warning them and the three things we're going to look at today Verses 16 and 17 are the demands of Old Testament ceremonies and then we're going to look at verse 18 and 19, which is the demand for pagan additions to the gospel and thirdly Verses 20 to 23 is the demand for legalistic conformity Now those are not Alliterated points If you're taking notes, I understand if you stopped halfway me talking Because I didn't give them to you in pithy little one-word sentence this if you want my notes just email me You can have the whole thing and then you can go back and look at it But the notes are the outline is simple You got those who are demanding old covenant ceremonies must be kept Those who are demanding that pagan rituals must be added and those who are demanding legalistic conformity That's the three areas that Paul's going to address And so let's look first at the demand for keeping old covenant Ceremonies the demand for keeping old covenant ceremonies.

He says in verse 16 therefore Now remember therefore always ties it to what he had just said and what he had just said if we look back very quickly He talks about Christ Canceling verse 14 the record of our debt that stood against us with its legal demands verse 15 Disarming rulers and authorities putting them to open shame and triumph in the triumphing over them in Christ That's the that's the context look at what Christ has done Christ has won the victory Christ has paid the penalty Christ is your righteousness Christ died for you and lived for you all of this therefore verse 16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath These are a shadow of things to come but the substance belongs to Christ now right away We asked the question.

What is This list that he gives us Because he says let no one pass judgment on you in regard to these things and he gives four things Dietary restrictions Monthly Observances, that's the new moon.

The new moon was the start of the new month month.

The month is determined by the lunar cycle The third thing is feasts Which in the Old Testament were the Old Testament? feasts of Israel there were seven of them that were done every year and Then finally Sabbaths Now in the weeks ahead I'm going to spend more time on the Sabbath so so as not to get bogged down today I will simply say this There are those who argue that that doesn't refer to all the Sabbaths It only refers to the annual Sabbaths or the ceremonial Sabbaths, but it doesn't refer to the weekly Sabbath I am not convinced of that at all.

I believe he's talking about all of the Sabbaths and I'm going to make my argument later, but just so you understand it's the the thing that you need to see is That what Paul is doing here is he's actually quoting from the Old Testament in regard to this list not Specific quotes like I could point you to this verse or this verse But if you look back into the Old Testament, you will see that the phrase New moons and festivals and Sabbaths is used over and over and over again The only one that doesn't seem to be in the list is the eating and drinking But understand that the eating and drinking was also part of Israel's law In fact, if you do want to write down any notes about this Just keep in mind that Israel in Leviticus chapter 11 was given very specific dietary Restrictions and you can read Leviticus 11 and I'll read to you verse 46 inverted verse 47 It says this is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten so There are laws about what you can eat and what you can't eat that are in the Levitical system in the System of the Old Covenant there were laws about what you could eat and what you could not eat So when Paul makes this list, he says let no one pass judgment upon you and what you eat and what you drink He's immediately addressing the Old Testament dietary restrictions But he doesn't stop there He goes on to talk about the new moon the festivals and the Sabbath and I'll just give you a couple of verses here If you were to look at 2nd Chronicles chapter 8 and verse 13 It talks about the duty of each day required offering according to the commandment of Moses for the Sabbaths for the new moons and for The three annual feasts, so there's that phrase together 2nd Chronicles 31 3 the contribution of the king from his own possessions for the burnt offerings the burnt offerings of the morning and the evening The burnt offerings for the Sabbaths the new moon new moons and the appointed feasts as it is written and the law of the Lord We see this phrase new moons Sabbaths and feasts.

It's held together and I mean, it's in 2nd Chronicles.

It's in Nehemiah It's in Isaiah 1 it's in Isaiah 66 and Ezekiel 45 again.

If you want my notes, I'll give them to you You can see over and over and over these three things tied together and The three things are the new moon, which again was the monthly Celebration which was accompanied by a sacrifice and a blowing of the horn right There was the new moon there was the feasts seven feasts and The Sabbaths and there is argument as to whether or not you should translate Colossians as Sabbath or Sabbaths Plural but I'm unconvinced that it matters because if you say Sabbath Somebody might say well that only refers to one specific Sabbath or if you say Sabbaths is talking about all the Sabbaths I'm convinced.

It's talking about all the Sabbaths and I think either one would work and It's not absolutely clear in the Greek as though some may argue that it is absolutely clear I don't I don't believe it is as clear as some want to make it But the point of the matter is all of these things make up What we would refer to as The laws of Israel which distinguished them from the other nations what distinguished Israel from the other nations It well the Sabbath was their sign and we're going to talk about that in the weeks to come and that's right But the other things that distinguished them was how they ate their festivals Their sacrifices their temple all of those things distinguish them From the other nations and So now we have a question Is it possible that there were those in the Colossian Assembly Who were demanding that these things be kept? Were there people in Colossae who were saying to be a Christian you got to keep these Jewish laws? Well, let me give you and I hope I don't confuse anybody right now but there are those who would say that never happened in Fact if you listen to people from the Hebrew roots movement or the Messianic movements or from the Seventh-day Adventist Church They will tell you That what's happening here is that the true Christians are doing these things and they shouldn't let people judge them for doing them That's the exact opposite That is literally time.

I mean get mad But that's the exact opposite of what this is saying They would say and I've heard them say it out of their own mouths They say there wasn't a big enough Jewish community to cause this kind of an issue So that's not what's happening here because there wasn't that many Jewish people in Colossae to try to impose Jewish ceremonies on the people of God and you know the Greek word for that church Baloney, it's absolute baloney And you want to know how I know that's true I'll tell you because not too far from Colossae was a region called Galatia and Galatia has a letter as well The letter to the Galatians was written ten years before the letter to the Colossians Galatians was written probably around 49 or 50 Colossians as you remember is written somewhere around 60 or 61 That's a decade of time For the Judaizers Which were the people who had come from Jerusalem into the churches Convincing people that Paul's gospel was not enough and that they needed to add the Jewish Ceremonies to Paul's gospel so that they could please God if the Judaizers had made it to Galatia Ten years before you don't think they made it to Colossae.

They absolutely did And if you want to know what Paul has to say about Judaizing go home tonight and read all six chapters of Galatians You can do it before dinner It ain't that long Again, I'm sorry to get so excited But this is this troubles me.

I remember one time I Went to set free to teach on a Thursday and they had gotten a young man there who had been influenced by the Hebrew roots movement By the way, the Hebrew roots movement Are people who say you have to do these things? You have to keep these festivals.

You have to keep these ceremonies to be Pleasing to God, so I'm preaching I'm preaching through Galatians.

I was literally in Galatians About halfway through he starts questioning everything.

I got to say I say hey, man, just hush You know, I came to teach not argue we'll talk about it when we're done so when we're done we walked outside and He started to tell he just started to hammer.

No.

No, you got to keep this.

You got to keep that You don't eat that shellfish.

You don't eat that pork.

You got to keep the festivals.

You got to keep the feasts You got to do this.

You got to do that.

I said brother.

Can you read? And he said yeah, I can read I said well open your Bible to Hebrews 8 y'all do it, too Now I appealed to Hebrews 8 last week.

I'm gonna do it again and Hebrews 8 the apostle who wrote the writer.

I keep saying the apostle.

I don't know who wrote it I know I'm believe it was Paul, but whoever wrote this Talks about how the old covenant was actually never meant to be The final covenant look with me just very quickly at verse 6 He says but as it is Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better since it's enacted on better promises for if that first covenant had been faultless There would be have no there would have been no occasion to look for a second So right there he says the first covenant speaking of the old covenant speaking of these ceremonies He says they were not enough Now he gives them a quotation Regarding the new covenant.

That's what we see in verse 8 down to verse 12 But look what he says in verse 13.

I'm not going to read the whole quote, but look what he says in verse 13 in Speaking of a new covenant.

He makes the first one what? Obsolete and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

I Said to this young man, I said young man The covenant that you are so desperately trying to hold is Made obsolete because the new covenant has come How can you say that about God's Word? I didn't say it.

I Just read it.

I didn't even add any commentary to it.

I just said it Ain't none of you in here using a Betamax machine and some of you don't even know what that is But Betamax gave way to VHS and VHF gave way to DVD and DVD gave way to blu-ray and blu-ray gave way To streaming and I don't even have a DVD player no more.

Why? Because when that which is better comes That which is old passes away.

Oh I didn't like to hear that you're saying God's law Has been passed away Let me tell you what I'm saying.

Go back to Colossians and I'll let Paul explain it to you Just notice what he says Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or in regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath these are a shadow of the things to come but the substance belongs to Christ Every single thing on that list the dietary restrictions the festivals the new moon Celebrations and the Sabbaths all had one object that they pointed to and it was the Lord Jesus Christ The two words here in Greek are skia and soma The skia is the shadow the soma means body or substance.

That's Christ.

And let me tell you something Once you got the body You don't need the shadow no more.

You can put the shadow away Now here's the argument I've heard again.

I've listened to these guys all week.

You know what they say Shadows are still good.

We still use shadows.

Why are shadows not needed? Again, turn in the text on his head because the very thing Paul is saying is once the substance comes the shadows no longer needed You go to Hebrews 8 once the substance comes the old becomes obsolete Can't help it.

I can't help it.

This is to me one of the most dire things that we need to understand Because we get so desperately caught up and wanting to hold to the shadow It's like the man who goes to war and he has the picture of his wife in his wallet and he fights for years in War looking at that picture every night longing to be with his wife and when he gets back home And he's got his wife within arm's reach.

He says no, I'm gonna go back to the picture how foolish To go back to the picture when you have the person How foolish to go back to the shadow when you have the substance? that's the point is We can't go back and if we have what does Hebrews tell us we're doing we're trampling over the blood of Christ By going back Beloved this is so desperately important Now there's a lot to debate about the Sabbath and I did an entire debate right on this chancel Years ago.

So over the weeks to come we're going to talk more about the Sabbath because again, there's whole movements Based upon the Sabbath seventh-day Baptist seventh-day Adventist All that is Sabbath stuff So I'm going to go back to that later But understand this just for now just to end this portion of today's message understand this What Paul is saying here is very simple Christ has come and fulfilled the shadows and Therefore we no longer need to be in the shadow because we have the body we have Christ we have the substance And any other interpretation of that is turning this on its head Absolutely turning it's on its head But then he goes on To talk about pagan additions Verse 18.

He says let no one disqualify you by the way, very important just to point this out Let no one pass judgment on you verse 16 and 17 is a parallel to verse 18 where he says let no one Disqualify you it's not the same word, but it's the same idea Someone here is going to pass judgment on you for doing these things or for not doing these things Over here.

Someone is going to disqualify you for not doing these things In fact, if you go back to verse 8, you'll see he says almost the same thing about philosophy He says beware of vain and deceitful philosophy So there's actually three Times in this passage where we have what is known as a present active imperative The present active imperative is the first one.

He says see to it that no one takes you captive by vain philosophy That's the first one Then the second one is let no one pass judgment on you and according to food and drink and these things That's the second one And then the third one is let no one disqualify you insisting on asceticism and the worship of angels and going in detail about visions And those things that's the third one.

These are the three things that he's giving active commands.

Don't do this Do not get caught up in this That's why if the second one is do this it just turns the whole thing on its head man anyway so Let no one disqualify you insisting on asceticism.

What is asceticism? The word in Greek is actually an interesting word.

It simply means to be willingly humble and you might say well, that's good Willing humility is good But actually what it means is to be someone who takes pride in their humility Isn't that strange Because what's this what's humility supposed to be the absence of pride, but what is taking pride in your humility? you're a living oxymoron and It says they're delighting.

That's the word delighting in their asceticism or their humility Ascetics are people who? Practice self-abasement strict rule keeping strict self-denial and If you want a picture of that just think of the monks that live in the monasteries Who enjoy none of life's pleasures because they believe that by keeping themselves from life's pleasures They're making themselves more holy.

Let me give you a secret.

That ain't the way it works You say well, it sounds like the way it works.

Here's thing.

Paul's going to say later in this same chapter same context He's going to say by saying do not eat do not touch do not do these things You're not actually dealing with the spiritual problem All you're doing is setting rules for yourself in a case.

You haven't realized it by now behavior modification is not the gospel Setting rules for yourself is not what is going to change you It's a heart change towards Christ and having faith in him.

That's what's going to change you You can have all the list of rules that you want and all you're going to become is the same thing the Pharisees became The ones who had a shiny outside, but we're still dirty inside He talks about worshiping angels now that that one may seem like it comes out of left field and it sort of does but it's Not it's not out of context here because Paul is addressing the Colossians And he's addressing a group of people who are being influenced by all kinds of different religious things And we said they've been influenced by the Judaizers, but they're also being influenced by all kinds of pagan ideas And just in case you don't know this worship of angels has been around for a long time There's a there's even that in Jewish mysticism Kabbalah is a angel worshiping cult within Judaism There are People who believe that the there are Basically like a ladder to get to God and you have to go through these different angels to get to God That's part of Gnostic teaching They were called Aeons and you have to go through these different Aeons to reach God and That's probably what he's talking about here.

I'll read to you real quick from This is from Ray Steadman.

He says he said in Colossae There was an ancient teaching later called Gnosticism meaning knowledge Which held that there is a hierarchy of angels between all humans and God which must be placated and acknowledged And that's one's knowledge which began in virtual ignorance Increased with such contact until at last one entered into the fullness of understanding of the oneness of all things It's basically of New Age paganism in The first century they had New Age paganism.

It ain't new New Age is just old heresy.

That's all it is And by the way modern word of faith guys, you know what you often hear I'm talking about Angels I'll give you a good example Todd Bentley Todd Bentley was known so about ten years ago.

He was real famous He had a tent revival going on down in Tampa area and Todd Bentley was doing all kinds of weird and atrocious things and He was giving credit to an angel that supposedly spoke to him I remember I have a video of him in the meeting say I can see the angel right there and he's talking to me So this is nothing that isn't still going on.

It's still going on because Christ is not enough Again, that's the problem Christ is not enough.

What do we need? We need worship of angels We need some weird ascetic behavior where we deny ourselves all pleasures for what reason for the discipline of the body for what reason? So that we can grow spiritually Okay, and then he mentions visions.

What are visions? Well, they're visions.

I mean The belief that they can see into the spiritual realm.

I mean, I mean you guys get what a vision is, right? And the thing is they're becoming prideful about it Notice what he says he says they're becoming they go on in detail about visions puffed up without reasoning by their sensuous mind They believe they know things you don't know can see things You can't see and are on a spiritual level that you have not yet attained How do you get there do what I do and act like I act and behave like I behave and you do what I tell You to do again.

It's just a cult And what they've done is they've replaced Christ as the head Notice what he says in verse 19 and not holding fast to the head From whom the whole body nourishing it together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that is from God There's a lot in verse 19 because what verse 19 is saying is they've taken Christ who is the head of the church off and They've replaced him with all of these other things the worship of angels and asceticism and these visions They've made that the the goal and the focus they've taken Christ off and by doing so there's no more growth Because guess what if you cut off somebody's head they stop growing I heard John MacArthur say this and I thought it was kind of neat.

He said Jesus is like the pituitary gland Pituitary gland is what makes you grow And if it ain't working right you ain't gonna grow and if it's disconnected you ain't gonna grow and That's what Paul's saying here he's saying we have in Christ the method for growth Faith in him is how we grow Pursuit of him is how we grow staying connected to the head is how we grow not through these other things And if we grow that way we'll be growing with a growth that is from God Notice what he says he says and not holding fast to the head from whom the whole body Nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that is from God.

Are you not satisfied in your sanctification? Neither am I But the answer is not Ten ways to a better life the answer is Christ and Learning to trust him more being conformed to him is the answer That's the thing we miss That's the thing they missed You say it can't be that easy.

No, it can't be this hard Because they're making it hard and Jesus said I come and my burden is light Why because the burden is him What do you clothe yourself with beloved? Do you clothe yourself in asceticism? Do you clothe yourself in the worship of angels? Do you clothe yourself in visions or do you clothe yourself in Christ? And then he goes on And asks the question verse 20 He says if with Christ you died To the elemental spirits of the world.

He uses that same phrase up Earlier in verse 8 the phrase elemental spirits King James translates at the rudiments Basic principles if with Christ you died to this world Why as if you were still alive in the world, do you still submit to regulations? Do not handle do not taste do not touch Referring to all things that perish as they're used according to human precepts and traditions These indeed have an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body But they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh That's why I didn't want to stop because I wanted to get to that phrase These things do not stop the indulgence of the flesh and I'll prove it to you.

Just look at the Catholic priests who have in their vow of poverty and chastity Become known for one of the most wretched behaviors among men.

I can't believe he said it.

I can't believe we're not all saying it That type of asceticism does not cleanse the soul and it's all around.

It's not just in Catholic churches It happens everywhere That men impose their regulations on top of Scripture and tell you this is the way that you become right with God my way Beloved rules are not the answer to a better life They are powerless to change the heart and as I said behavior modification is not the gospel Mike How many times have we talked about this was set free? I love set free and I'm not saying they're doing this but because of ministries that we have seen That don't proclaim the gospel.

I'll tell you one thing a young man from set free did send me this week He sent me something because I posted I posted on my page I said behavior modification is not the gospel and one at a time.

I got all these people.

Yes, but the gospel changes you Yes, but the gospel changes you.

Yes, but the gospel I didn't say the gospel doesn't change you What I said is behavior modification is not the gospel if you go to someone and you tell them you have to change So that Christ will love you and save you that is not the gospel you have to say trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will change you and So many of these places where we send men not set free don't think I'm saying that but so many places where men get sent They are being taught do this and live Beloved that is not the gospel The gospel is trust Christ and live Trust in what Christ has done not in what you do if you trust in what you have done You've abandoned the gospel will Christ change your life.

Absolutely Has Christ changed my life I pray and look at it and say yes, thank God But I want you to consider again all the examples of people who live extremely strict lifestyles Only later to find out that they've been given to utter depravity in secret Because they've made their life about rules keeping on the outside and not had a change of heart That's what Paul's talking about here He's saying all of this severity to the flesh all of this rule-keeping all of this asceticism has done nothing for the inner man Go back to the very first thing in this whole list is the eating and drinking What did Jesus say about eating and drinking? What goes into a man cannot defile him? right You said but wait a minute the Old Testament says do not do these things Yes, the reason why the Old Testament said do not do these things is because God was separating his people from the other nations And he was pointing out that his people were going to be set apart and different from the other nations But later in the New Testament We see the Apostle Peter receive a vision from the Lord where he says take kill and eat And he says I've never eaten any of that before it's unclean and God said for the glory He said what I have called clean.

Don't you say is unclean? I got excited about pork sandwiches, but you understand in Mark 7 Mark 7 verse 18 Jesus said to them Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him since it enters not in his heart But into his stomach and is expelled Thus he declared all Foods clean That's Jesus He said you put something in your mouth, where's it going to your heart? No It's going in the toilet That's where it's headed And it doesn't have the power to defile you.

That's a powerful thought Now does that mean we should eat everything and be unhealthy does that mean that there aren't things we should avoid and things maybe you Have sugar issues and things like that.

No, I'm not saying, you know, Mike you get to go eat fat today because we know that ain't work Mike has a issue can't have that but that doesn't defile us spiritually But if you ask your average person who's tied to these movements the first thing they're going to say you got to get your diet, right Got to get your days, right? Got to get your feasts, right got to get your clothing, right? Jesus said you got to get your heart, right? And that's it.

That's the difference.

That's the main Difference now, I want to say this and I'll close and I got a lot more to say next week So don't miss coming back.

You don't want here to rest, but I'll close with this.

Paul is not calling us to a lawless life What some might call in theological circles antinomian ism Paul's not calling us to live like the heathen.

The Christian life is not Thunderdome His point is that when you place faith in Christ and make him your pursuit You won't need these other things to keep you in line in Christ.

We have great Liberty In fact, I'm tempted right now to turn over to Romans 14 and just go through that whole chapter And maybe I'll do that next week I was going to get into the Sabbath, but this whole food things got me thinking because think about what Paul says in Romans 14 he says some people eat meat some people don't and each one is going to stand before his own master and Before his master he will stand or fall Why? Because there's Liberty in Christ There's great Liberty in Christ those who demand Adherence to legalism and take up the tactics of spiritual bullying should be marked and avoided Because they are a danger as I said years ago.

There was lady in our church Who was courted by a legalistic group and I noticed subtle changes in her interactions with me and with the rest of the church She was once one of the most faithful church members.

We had she was very supporting and very encouraging But then like as if a switch had been thrown in her mind She began to argue about everything from the foods we ate at our fellowships to the way that we interpreted certain passages the big one being the Sabbath and She would say things like this.

Well, don't you realize Jesus worshipped on the Sabbath? So should we? Finally, she decided to leave and pursue her faith with a group that had been courting her from outside that we were unaware of And she cut all ties with us Beloved these groups will demand from you legalistic adherence to their persuasive but utterly incorrect theology and They will be appealing because they will give you Simple answers to complex questions and let me end with this don't ever ever be willing to give up truth for certainty That's what cults do They give up the truth and offer in its place certainty But it's certainly wrong Beware Paul says don't let this happen to you And I encourage you the same Let's pray father.