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As we've been talking about this week, there are many people out there who are going to try to woo us with some false ideas. And here's the thing. If we are not thankful and grateful for all that we have been given in Christ Jesus, then we're opening our minds and hearts to potentially receive some false ideas.
So we need to be established in the faith and abounding in thanksgiving when we understand the text.
You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to sound teaching of the Word of God. For questions and comments, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com. And don't forget our website, www .tt .com.
Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. In 1872, there was a U .S. inventor by the name of John Keely who claimed to have built a machine that could generate virtually limitless energy out of only one gallon of water. He called it the etheric generator and boasted that he could propel a steamboat from New York to Liverpool.
These kinds of claims attracted all kinds of investors who dumped money into his mysterious machine, and he suckered them for almost 25 years. He had articles printed in newspapers around the country, including The New York Times, claiming his machine created a water vapor solely by mechanical means that would produce a force of 2000 pounds per square inch in five seconds.
And he's doing demonstrations of this machine where he's pouring water into it and people are watching as it would bend iron bars. And all the while he's spouting off these really technical terms like sympathetic equilibrium and etheric disintegration and quadruple negative harmonics.
Now, the reality of the situation was he did have a real machine. It was a generator in his basement that was attached to his mystery machine by a system of belts and pulleys. So while people were watching his machine bend bars, presumably with water vapor, it was actually a fossil fuel power generator concealed behind fake walls.
All the stuff he said sounded really good. An etheric generator, of course, sympathetic equilibrium. How could that be wrong? And Keeley was a genius, right? But his financial backers were duped for over two decades by something that sounded plausible, but was really just a fraud.
So whatever happened to Keeley anyway? Well, he died in 1898. A couple of months later, the Philadelphia Press did an investigation where they were able to conclude that the whole thing was a big fraud.
In his lifetime, Keeley never got caught and even tried to play the gag out longer by handing the machine over to a fellow inventor who refused to continue the work. But he also refused to say that the whole thing was a big scam.
But ultimately, that's really what it was. So Keeley knew how to to use big words and knew just enough science to to dupe some people into backing his scam. But when it came down to it, he had them all diluted with plausible sounding arguments.
We've been looking at Colossians chapter two and the apostle Paul means for the Colossians to understand Christ first and foremost, so that no one may delude you with plausible arguments, he says in verse four.
And then I'm going to throw in verse eight today, where Paul says, 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.
Paul instructs the Colossians to be filled with thanksgiving, because if they're not thankful for everything that has been given to them in Christ Jesus, that that opens their minds and hearts to be diluted by stuff that sounds good, but is really far from true.
Before we come to the scriptures, let's come to the Lord in prayer. Our wonderful God, we thank you for your word that teaches us and guides us. And I pray that our hearts and minds would be guarded from plausible arguments from human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ.
We want to be grounded in the truth of Christ Jesus. So show us this by your spirit as we come to this word today. And in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Colossians chapter two, starting in verse one, 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 to verse one where Paul says, I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all those who have not seen me face to face. Now, remember, Paul is talking to a church that he's never been to before.
He's never been to Colossae, never been to Laodicea. And so the things that he is struggling through is he is under house arrest in Rome. He is enduring these things, not just for those Christians that he knows and not just for those churches that he has planted, but for everybody in the faith that all would come to the knowledge of the of the son of God, that their hearts may be encouraged, knit together in love to reach all of the riches of full assurance of understanding of the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ.
You know, I am not being persecuted for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Right now, as I'm preaching these things, I am not under persecution, but I do these things for your benefit. We don't know one another.
I have never met you before, and you have not met me. But I am sitting on this side of the microphone, taking the time to proclaim the word of God and teach these things in such a way that would be understood.
And in a different time and in a different place, you are where you are receiving this teaching that I am putting out. And I am doing this for you so that your heart may be encouraged, that you would be knit in love to reach all of the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ.
And the knowledge of God surpasses time and space. We're doing that now with this exchange through this wonderful invention of the Internet and podcasting. OK, but even the words of the apostle Paul are stretching across time and space.
Two thousand years later, he's writing to the Colossians, but it is by the spirit of God that he is speaking these things. And that very same spirit is speaking these things to us. Paul spoke it in a certain context two thousand years ago.
And we have a context now that we apply it to and work these things out in our lives so that we might be filled up with that full assurance of understanding of the knowledge of God's mercy of mystery, which is Christ.
Isn't this wonderful? I mean, the God that we worship, who is not bound by time and space, and yet through his apostles, he continues to teach us even now the things that have been written down for us in the New Testament.
The sufferings that the apostles went through were not just for the building up of the Colossian Church or the Laodicean Church, but also for the church that you are a part of even now, the Church of Jesus Christ, which is all over the globe.
You know, I pastor a church that is military influenced. I've talked about this before, a junction city, Kansas, right next door to Fort Riley. So we've got something like 60 percent of our church that is involved in the military.
Right now, a number of our men are deployed overseas, and there are ways that we are even able to reach across time and space to be able to pray for those men and encourage those men, and that they would be filled up with the Spirit of God and know that their church is behind them and supporting them.
We are able to do these things by the power of Christ. It is the Spirit of God that works in these mysterious ways, and the ways that we're able to unfold the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that we have in Christ is by what we read in the Word of God.
So commit yourself to God's Word that you would find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in God's mystery, which is Christ. Paul goes on in verse four to say, I say these things to you. I preach Christ.
I preach the gospel in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I'm with you in spirit rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
See, same relationship that you and I have. I'm absent in body, but with you in spirit surpassing time and space for your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ Jesus. Paul puts these things before the Colossians so that no one may delude them with plausible arguments, and I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to you with soundness so that no one may delude you with plausible arguments as well.
There are people out there who are going to try to dupe you into believing in something just as this Keeley fellow, John Keeley in Philadelphia in the late 1800s had duped a bunch of investors and investing in a machine that actually didn't even exist.
And there are people out there who are going to try to dupe you with ideas that are not real at all, trying to tell you that this is the idea that you need in order to find fulfillment in life. But we can find fulfillment no other way except in Christ Jesus.
Meaning in life can only be found in Christ. We can't have eternal life except through Jesus Christ. You've heard this verse quoted many times, John 14 6. But in it, there is so much great truth that we need to understand about the identity of Christ and who he is and how and how we get to God and eternal life through Christ.
John 14 6. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one gets to the father except through me. Jesus is the way no one gets to eternal life except through Jesus Christ. He is the truth. All that we can know about God, we know through Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1 15. He is the image of the invisible God. And we read this also here that Christ is God's mystery in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So everything that we can know about God, we know through Jesus Christ.
He is the truth. He is also the life. Now, I mentioned that he is the way to eternal life. So isn't that redundant then that he is the life? Well, all of the meaning that we have in this life, we find only in Christ.
You cannot find meaning in this life any other way except through Jesus Christ. Our purpose in life, all of these things given to us in Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. No one gets to the father except through Christ.
OK, people who pray prayers just randomly because they have some sense of spiritualism or whatever, or maybe they pray to false gods. None of those prayers are ever heard by God. Only when a person prays through Jesus Christ and they know exclusively that Jesus Christ is the son of God and no one gets to God except through him and by no other way unless a person understands that their prayers are not heard by God.
A Mormon's prayers are not heard by God because they will. They pray through Jesus. They pray to Jesus, right? Yes, but it is a different Jesus. The Jesus of the Mormon Bible, the Book of Mormon is not the same Jesus of the historical historical Bible.
Therefore, God does not hear their prayers. God is not listening to the prayers of Muslims who think that Jesus is not the son of God, but that he was just a prophet of some kind because they do not believe in Christ is the son of God, the way and the truth and the life.
The only way to God, God, the father, is not listening to their prayers. The only way our prayers are heard by God is if we know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Everything that we can know about God and our very access to God is through Jesus Christ only.
And it is through him that we find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And they are written for us in scripture. I've already talked about this, how the apostles, all of the writers of the New Testament stretching across time and space because they were inspired by the spirit to deliver this truth to us.
Even now, everything that we can know about Christ, all that we can know about God bound up for us in the scriptures, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge right here. Remember, Jesus is described as the very word of God.
He's described that way in John and in the book of Revelation. So when we open up the word of God, we're reading about Christ, all of these things that point to Christ Jesus in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
How many times do I have to say it? Are you understanding now that in Christ we are given the access to God and only through Christ? If we are grounded in Christ, if we are focused entirely on Christ, no one can delude us with plausible arguments.
In verse six, as we go on here, Paul says, as you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him. OK, so we've received Christ as Lord. Our vertical relationship with God is sealed in Christ Jesus.
In Ephesians 113, it says in the spirit, we have been sealed for the day of redemption. So that vertical relationship with God is solid, sealed, cannot be taken away. Jesus said in John 10 that my sheep know my voice and they follow me and no one can snatch them out of my hand.
My father who gives them to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of my father's hand. So if we have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, we are sealed for the day of redemption. But then Paul goes on in verse six to say, so walk in him.
Therefore, as you've received Christ, the Lord, vertical, so walk in him horizontal. Though we are sealed in Christ, what has not yet come to a fulfillment in our lives is that sanctification process.
We have not yet come to the end of that. So we have the vertical relationship sealed, but we have these horizontal relationships in Christ Jesus that we are still working on. And those are things that are going to be a daily struggle.
We are constantly working those things out, the horizontal things in our lives, relationships with our coworkers, relationships with family, relationships with the guy in front of you in traffic who just won't hurry up.
All right. Even that plays into our sanctification process. When you're getting mad at the vehicle in front of you that won't move out of the way so that you can move faster and get to your destination, you're not just getting upset at a vehicle.
You're upset at the person that is behind that vehicle. When you get mad at a conversation on Facebook, you're mad at somebody because whatever words they said, they called your grandmother, a purple monkey or whatever.
You're not just getting mad at words on a computer screen. You are upset at a person on the other end of that screen. And oftentimes when we lose our cool with individuals, whether it's in traffic or at work or in our families or any of these other things, the reason why we get so frustrated is because things are not going the way that we want them to go.
We are not satisfied with our situation right now. And we need to be satisfied with everything that has been given to us in Christ, abounding in Thanksgiving. That's what Paul goes on to say. So in verse six, as you have 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.
So here's the deal. Okay, let's play this back into everything that we've been talking about, not being diluted by plausible arguments. And as Paul goes on into verse eight to say, 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.
Here's the thing, folks, when we are not satisfied in Christ, when we do not find fulfillment in Christ, and when we think that we need all of these other pieces of knowledge or all of this other spiritualism and all of these other things in order to find true fulfillment, then we're not grateful.
We are not abounding in Thanksgiving. And that's when our minds and our hearts are open to receive plausible arguments. That's when we are most at risk to be taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, and according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
If we are not satisfied with the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that we have in Christ, if we are not thankful to God for these things, we open ourselves up to plausible arguments and things that aren't true.
We open ourselves up to being duped and being taken captive by frauds and all of these other things. What we need is to be established in the faith, confident in the word of God that has been given to us, growing in our knowledge and understanding of everything that has been given to us in Christ Jesus, thankful for all of that.
And then we are able to guard our hearts and minds against the schemes of the evil one who attempts to pull us away from the things of God, in which we are supposed to be fully satisfied, right? We're supposed to be completely satisfied in our Savior Christ, taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ.
That's in 2nd Corinthians, by the way. And so I'm going to go ahead and turn there. 2nd Corinthians 10. I think a good passage to end on here. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 10 .3, for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.
So we are to be completely built up in the knowledge of the word of God. Let us take every thought captive that would attempt to draw us away from the things of Christ and let us be focused entirely upon the Son of God, knowing that we are fully satisfied in our Savior and knowing that in Christ are given to us all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Jesus is the way to eternal life. He is the truth about God and he is the life. He is the fulfillment of this life. He is our meaning in life. We cannot find meaning in anything else except in Christ.
Guard your hearts and minds. Don't let anyone lead you astray. Be led by the word of God to Christ Jesus. Lord, as we come to a conclusion of this particular study today, I pray that no one would take us captive by empty philosophy and all of these deceitful things that are in the world, but let us be captivated by the word of God.
The moment that we were set free was the moment we were taken captive by Christ. Free our hearts and minds to know you and love you more and we pray and ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. Is atheism a faith?
Sure seems like it. They have their share of fanatics like most any religion and you know what? They even have their own churches. Seriously guys? As for the question, the answer is no, it's not. Atheism is not a rebranding of faith.
It's the absence of faith and scripture affirms this. In 2 Thessalonians 3, the apostle Paul asked the church for prayer and one of the things that he asked them to pray for is deliverance from wicked and evil men who are faithless.
In this context, that doesn't mean just atheists, but anyone who does not follow Christ, to whom faith is offensive. Even polytheists are faithless. They worship gods of their own making because they do not have faith.
You could surely say that an atheist worships, they worship themselves. But if we're serious, a statement like, I don't have enough faith to be an atheist is a misunderstanding of what faith really is.
Hebrews 11, 1 reads, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. So the biblical definition of faith is not a guess at something we can't see. It is knowing with absolute certainty the promises of God.
We can see in history that he's fulfilled his promises in the past and he will do what he's promised for the future. So certain are we of his words that we are convicted to obey them. Here's something that goes against the common understanding.
To not have faith is to actually refuse to think. Psalm 92, 5 through 6 reads, how greater your works, O Lord. Your thoughts are very deep. The stupid man cannot know. The fool cannot understand this.
When the subject of faith comes up, avoid semantic arguments and direct others to the truth. To live by faith is to know the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And that's when we understand the text.
I got a message from somebody about that video, a disgruntled unbeliever who said Christianity does not have an exclusive claim on faith. On the contrary, yes, it does. Because faith comes from Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity.
Hebrews 11, 1 says, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it, the people of old received their commendation. By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God.
So that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. So how does a person have an ability to believe that the universe was created by an unseen force out of unseen things? We're able to believe that because of Christ, because faith has been given to us by Christ.
We read in Ephesians 2, 8, it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. So God has given us faith and God gives us belief. John 6, 29, Jesus said, this is the work of God that you believe in whom he has sent.
Our ability to believe in Christ as the son of God is given to us by God. So since faith and belief are given to us by God, then, yeah, Christianity has the exclusive claim upon faith. The reason why a person cannot believe that the universe was made from unseen things is because they don't have faith.
So we can't say that atheism is a faith or agnosticism is a faith. Now, you can use that word faith in the in the generic sense. But when you're talking about faith itself, the substance, the assurance, the conviction, that's something that is only given to us by Christ.
And then Hebrews goes on, Hebrews chapter 11, to describe heroes of the faith, Abel, Abraham, Jacob, Moses. We have Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah and David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of the fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again in a better life to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stone. They were sawn in two. They were killed with the sword. They were they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and cave and in caves of the earth.
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised since God had provided something better for us that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. And that better thing was talked about earlier in the chapter, verse 13, where it says these all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth for people who speak, thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
If they had been thinking of that from which they had gone out, they would have had the opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city and he has prepared that city for us as well.
So just as the Old Testament faithful look for something that they could not see, not for fulfillment in anything in this life, but for a promised city that was to come that they could not see. So we as Christians walking this life even now should be looking forward to that same thing, not for God to give us something in this life that we can see, touch, taste, smell, you know, whatever, but that we are looking forward to the full fulfillment of all things in Christ, in his glorious eternal kingdom.
God, keep our eyes, hearts, and minds focused on you and your eternal things, for where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. We hope you are a part of a church family committed to gospel teaching, and we thank you for including us in your Bible learning.
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