Hold Fast to the Head!

Transcription

1 Hold Fast to the Head! What do you hold on to tightly? A large family? Homeschooling? Your career? Marriage? Financial security? Being out of debt? Money for retirement? Fantasy football? Maybe it s a doctrine like the timing of baptism, or a view of the Millenium? Is it Calvinism or Arminianism? Maybe its good grades or popularity with the crowd? Whatever it is, you hold on because it (the thing you are clinging to so tightly) is what gives you meaning. It is your identity. It is your security. Paul wants the Colossian church to cling to Christ and nothing else. That is the point of this morning s reading. (Colossians 2:16 19) "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. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 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. " The main idea is in verse 19, not holding fast to the Head! Positively, we can state the main idea this way. Hold fast to the Head! The pre-eminence of Christ has been the central theme of this epistle. Last week we learned that we can protect ourselves from the elemental spirits of this world by clinging to our union with Christ. Now Paul continues this theme. In this paragraph he emphasizes the pre-eminence of Christ with the phrase, holding fast to the Head! We want to extract two ideas from this short passage. 1 st We want to talk about holding fast to the head. 2 nd We want to discuss what losing contact with the head looks like. 1 of 11

2 A. HOLDING FAST TO THE HEAD 19 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." As we have seen, Paul wants the Colossians to hold fast to the Head. He wants to keep them from holding fast to anything else. Obviously, the Head referred to here is Christ. Two benefits of about holding fast to the Head stand out in this verse. 1 st Benefit: Holding fast to the head unifies the church nourished and knit together. Paul means that the more we hold fast to the Head the closer we get to Christ the more unified we will be. That is because Christ is our unity. The more we major on Christ the more oneness we will experience. Gospel centered Christians are good at holding fast to Christ. When Christians hold fast to something else the result is disunity. Why does holding fast to the head knit us together? Answer: Christ loves his people. Our unity or oneness is his objective. We should never forget that Christ is part of a community. He created us in his image. The image of God is social and communitarian. Christ is a member of the infinite, eternal, primal community the Trinity. He created us to be, like him, in community. This means that the closer we get to Christ the more we will want to be with our brothers and sisters. The farther we are from him the more content we will be by ourselves. See Graphic 2 nd Benefit: holding fast to the head energizes growth in love. Vs 19 ends nourished and knit together though its joints an ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. This is not physical growth. It is spiritual growth. It is growth in love. Love is the great virtue that proceeds from growing humility. Eph 4:16 indicates that the end result of holding fast to the Head is 2 of 11

3 being built up in love. First, this means love for God. Second, it means love for our brothers. A parallel passage in Ephesians, written at about the same time, makes Paul s meaning even more clear. (Ephesians 4:15 16, pg 978) "15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. " We have talked about the benefits of holding fast to the head. Some of those benefits are corporate unity, and love for God and man. B. LOSING CONTACT WITH THE HEAD Verses describe what it looks like when a Christian loses contact with the Head. They get snared by one or all of the isms we have discussed in recent weeks. The three mentioned in this passage are legalism, asceticism and mysticism. "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. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind. Verse 16 begins with the word, therefore. This is a very important word. Whenever we see a therefore in scripture, we should always ask ourselves what is the therefore there for? In this case, he wants us to look back on what he just said in chapter 2 verses In that passage Paul warned the Colossians to protect themselves from the elemental spirits of the world by abiding in their union with Christ. Today s passage seems to indicate that the elemental spirits of the world have tempted the Colossian church two ways. The first is the temptation to legalism. The second is the temptation to asceticism 3 of 11

4 or mysticism. Living in the reality of our union with Christ (holding fast to the Head) are two ways of saying the same thing. That is why Paul begins this paragraph with a therefore. 1. Old Testament Legalism "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. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. What will the Colossians hold fast to, the censure of legalists or the censure of Christ? Like most NT churches the Colossian church was composed of both Jew and Gentile. The Jewish Christians thought their brothers should keep many of OT laws. Faith in Christ alone was not enough. This text references food and drink (dietary laws), and festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths (laws of feasts and special days). We can either hold fast to these rules and regs or we can hold fast to Christ, but we can t do both simultaneously. In my thirties I became interested in the Christian Reconstruction movement founded by R. J. Roushdoony (early 70s). His most influential book was The Institutes of Biblical Law. The goal of Christian Reconstruction was the remaking of society by legislating biblical law through our elected representatives. While there was much good in Christian Reconstruction, the basic premise was the primacy of biblical law mostly OT law. To the degree that I immersed myself in Christian Reconstruction I lost contact with the Head. I didn t quit being a Christian, but I lost the vitality that comes from active dependence upon Christ. Seventh Day Adventism is another example of an application of OT legalism. It also disconnects us from Christ the Head. 4 of 11

5 Old Testament law is good and has its place. But verse 17 tells us that it is only the shadow cast by the glory of Christ. The shadow is unimportant. The object that causes the shadow is what matters. And that object is Christ himself. We put rigid Sabbath keeping in this category. (Explain). In addition to OT law modern Christians face a second set of evangelical legalisms. However, they are more subtle than OT legalisms. The most obvious in the food and drink category are our man-imposed restrictions against alcohol and tobacco. More subtle examples are homeschooling, birth control, courtship, feeding on demand, moms can t work outside the home, etc. What is a legalism and where do they come from? Legalisms occur when we take a valid biblical principle and turn into a binding law. We are not talking about something the Bible has already imposed as a law. (It is not a legalism to condemn drunkenness or pornography, or adultery). For example, it is a good principle to involve parents in the dating and courtship process. However, it becomes a legalism when a young lady is afraid to go to coffee with a young man because he has not first contacted her father. (Example of the young man that called me about Sarah). It is a good idea to have lots of children. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. But, we feel that it is a legalism to deduct from this that all birth control is wrong. Here s another example. One of the Bible s crucial principles is that each father is responsible for the education of his children. We also want to teach all academic subjects through the filter of a biblical world view. But, it becomes a legalism when we say that Public Schools are always wrong. 5 of 11

6 It is an important principle that young women dress modestly, that they dress in such a way that it does not cause the men in the church to fight for sexual purity around them. It is a legalism when we make a rule that skirts must be so many inches below the knee. It is a crucial biblical principle that a man provide for his family, and that a wife voluntarily submit to the authority of Christ by submitting to her husband. But, it is a legalism when we say that a woman may never work outside of the home. It is an important principle that children honor their parents. But it becomes a legalism when we say this means a single woman must live with her parents until she gets married. Paul s point is that all of these legalisms are holding fast to something other than Christ. In fact, they cause us to lose contact with Christ the Head. Why? We depend upon artificial rules and laws, all supported by biblical principles, to handle life s problems. We quit relying upon the grace of God found in the gospel alone. We quit trusting Christ to help us resolve thorny questions. Instead, we put our trust in external rules and regulations. We quit holding fast to our union with Christ. Paul begins vs 16, Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food or drink. He says this because the first sign of a legalism is that we begin to pass judgment on those who do not follow our rules. To conquer the legalistic judgments of others, and maintain your freedom in Christ, you will need to cultivate the fear God, not th fear of man 2. Asceticism and Mysticism But there is a second way that we lose contact with Christ the Head. Paul warns the Colossians to reject those who want to 6 of 11

7 disqualify them because they are not sufficiently ascetic or mystic. (Asceticism or Mysticism). 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind. Both ascetics and mystics will attempt to disqualify you if you don t play by their rules. They are not holding fast to the Head. They are holding fast to their disciplines and experiences. It is good to be disciplined. Gal 5:22-23 lists self-control as one of the fruits of the Spirit. However, there is a massive difference between the discipline of the ascetic and the discipline of a person under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The ascetic holds fast to his disciplines, and they make him proud. He is the iron man of the Christian life. Iron Man competitions have become popular in recent years. The Iron Man is a 22 mile run, a 100 mile bike race, and a 3 mile swim. What would tempt a person to such a thing? Usually pride. He wants to see how far he can push himself. The ascetic is the iron-man Christian. His focus is on himself. How little sleep can I do without? How much fasting can I endure? How much money can I give away? How much Bible can I memorize? How many ipod sermons can I hear in one day? Note: These are all be biblical activities, however in the case of the ascetic the pride of life usually energizes them. The self-control that is a fruit of the Holy Spirit is different. The Christian with self-control is holding fast to Christ the Head. The spiritual disciplines are a means to know Christ better, to help him hold fast to Christ the Head. They are not an end in themselves. He holds fast to Christ not his disciplines. Therefore, his spiritual disciplines increasingly expose his spiritual poverty and bankruptcy. He grows increasingly humble, kind, gracious, and loving. 7 of 11

8 The Christian punishes himself, but it is the suffering that follows the pursuit of the mission. He does not seek suffering as an end in itself. The mystic is similar to the ascetic in that pride is his foundation. He differs from the ascetic in that experience, not selfdiscipline, is the ultimate authority in his life. (Anecdote: Phil F.) Experience is important. We are not cessationists. We believe that God still speaks through dreams, visions, and miraculous circumstances. However, we don t hold fast to these. We hold fast to Christ as objectively revealed in scripture. The mystic holds fast to his subjective experience. Experience becomes the final authority. God told me to go to the mission field. God told me to go into the pastoral ministry. No amount of outside discernment matters. The elders are not convinced of his call, but he plunges ahead anyway. Sometimes the mystic is so proud that he won t ask for outside advice. There is no one spiritual enough to advise him. When the mystic feels convicted by his conscience he says, God told me This is a problem because our conscience is fallen, imperfect, and subject to sin. But if God told him, well, who is to contradict what God told him. Experience can be good or bad. We can test experience by its affect. At the bottom of all mysticism is pride, self exaltation, and the distrust of other Christians who aren t spiritual enough to understand. At the bottom of all true spiritual experience is a deep and profound humbling. Spiritual experience from God acquaints me with my sin and God s immense love despite my sin. False experience says, you are great and you are going to be great. God loves because you are great. 8 of 11

9 The mystic lives by dreams, voices, hunches, and circumstances. They become increasingly puffed by their experience. They begin to see themselves as the spiritual elite. Over the last forty years I have had my share of experiences personal prophecies, voices, and inward experiences. I am thankful. Some of them have come to pass. Some have proved false. But, I don t hold fast to them. If they don t come to pass, I don t miss a moments sleep. I know I am fallible, and I know my experiences are fallible, so I don t trust them. I trust in the Word of God, and the word of God motivates me to hold fast to Christ, not these experiences. Review where we have been. C. APPLICATION: HOLD FAST TO THE HEAD! 1. Abide in Christ Last week we learned that we hold fast to Christ the Head when we abide in our union with Christ. This means abiding in the gospel Christ s incarnation, his sinless life, his substitutionary atonement, his resurrection, his intercession on our behalf, etc.. In other words, we hold fast to Christ by holding fast to the gospel. Why? Because the gospel is where God has revealed himself. Christ is the reality, and we find Christ in the gospel. The OT is a shadow cast by that reality. We interpret the OT in light of the NT. We do not interpret the NT in light of the OT. 2. Join a local Church God equips us to increasingly hold fast to the Head when we commit to and involve ourselves in a local church. Holding fast to the head is not something that we do by ourselves. It is something we do as a church together. This means that the isolated Christian, not a member of a church, will have a difficult time holding fast to the 9 of 11

10 Head. It s like trying to paint a house without a paint brush or trying to repair your car without a socket set. Why is holding fast to Christ corporate? Why is it something done together as a people? Answer: We need each other to hold fast to Christ. God gives people that are gifts to the local church. He gives them to build up the local church. The gifts are numerous. They include, but are not limited to, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers evangelists, worship leaders, song writers, administrators, people gifted to counsel, people with power to do miracles, etc. If you are outside the church these ministry gifts are not accessible to you. You are trying to hold fast to the Head on the basis of your strength and your gifts alone. You are saying that you don t need anyone else. You are a lone-ranger Christian. This attitude a proud heart. I don t need anyone else. I am complete in myself. God resists the proud. We are incomplete by ourselves. We need others to help us hold fast to Christ, and they need us to help them hold fast to Christ. Our brothers and sisters use their gifts to help us grow. We use our gifts to help others grow. This is why our HomeGroups are so important. If you are a member of GCF re commit yourself to HomeGroup attendance. In addition, the local church helps us hold fast to Christ by providing pastoral care and oversight. The local church will hold you to a biblical standard. The local church will also encourage you and help you persevere in faith. Therefore, to the degree that I hold fast to the Head I will want to be a member of a local church. The closer I get to Christ the closer I want to get to God s people. 10 of 11

11 joining one. If you aren t a member of a local church, seriously consider 3. Fear God We hold fast to the Head when we fear God more than people and their opinions. The Legalists will judge you. The ascetics and the mystics will attempt to disqualify you because you are not sufficiently disciplined or sufficiently mystical. You will need to take a stand. You will need to fear God not people. D. HOME GROUP STUDY QUESTIONS verses? Read Col 2:16-19 According to this week s sermon, what is the subject of these What was the main point of these verses? How did the Word of God come to you through this sermon? Where did you feel conviction? In light of this sermon, what does God want you to change? Is there something God wants you to believe? Is there something you need to start doing that you haven t been doing? What keeps you from obeying God? What helps you obey God? What about this sermon made you thankful. 11 of 11