Colossians 2:4-10

- this morning we'd like to study verses 4-10, and ask you to think
about the question:
"What Have You Done About Your Incompleteness?

- the Scripture makes it clear that because you and I were born in Adam,
(as humans, inheriting a disposition to sin) that we are born in a sad
state of incompleteness.

- that could be sketched out different ways, but here are several
ways in which this is true:

1) Spiritually incomplete - totally out of fellowship with God.

- sin separates us from God (Isa. 59:2), so we are born
spiritually incomplete.

2) Morally incomplete - we live outside of the will of God.

- Rom. 3:23, etc.

- it is impossible for a human to determine absolute right from
wrong because we are unequipped to do so.
- it is even harder to live "righteously" because of our
propensity to sin.
- so we are born morally incomplete.

3) Mentally incomplete - we cannot know absolute truth.

- in fact the Scripture says that the unsaved mind purposes
suppresses what truth we do know (cf. Romans 1)

- we could go on sketching this out:
- we could talk about "relational incompleteness"--the difficulty in
getting along with others.

- we could talk about "emotional incompleteness."

- point is -- Scripture makes it clear that you and I were born in a sad
state of incompleteness.

- bottom line of the verses we are studying this morning is--you and I
are faced with a question -- "what have you done about your
incompleteness?"

- the reason that question is so important is because it is not just
believers in Jesus Christ who would agree with these statements.

- practically everyone would admit an emptiness, or an incompleteness,
- that’s why all throughout history people men and women have
wrestled with questions like:
1) Who am I?
2) Why am I here?
3) Where am I going?
-- and many men and women stand ready to offer solutions to those
questions:
- in many cases those solutions are:
1) deceptive
2) reductionistic
3) damning

- they are a replacement of the completeness that God
intends men and women to find in the Lord Jesus Christ.

- read Col. 2:4-10

- we're going to divide our time into talking about:
1) The danger of false teachers
2) the methods of false teachers
3) How to overcome false teachers

I. The Danger of False Teachers

- Paul is very, very concerned that the Colossians have the right
attitude toward this subject of false teaching.
- there are at least three times that he specifically says that in
this chapter:

A. In Colossians 2

- INPUT - what are the three places in chapter 2 that Paul
specifically warns this church about false teachers?

v. 4, 8, 18

- the point is - Paul tells these dear believers "see to it" that
no one leads them astray.

- the word "see to it" is a present tense command and the idea
is they are to constantly be on their guard because they
recognize that the enemy is near.

- Paul says to these folks--I want you to be very, very careful
about this.
- I want to be careful about it yourselves
- I want you to be careful about it in your families
- I want you to be careful about it in your church

- we're not talking about being sinfully suspicious, or
paranoid -- but we are talking about them having a constant
sense of watchfulness.

- not only is this a theme in Col. 2, but we read this same kind of thing
in many others Bible passages as well.

B. In other passages

INPUT - what other passages come to your mind that warn about
false teachers?

Matt. 7:15
Matt. 16:6
Acts 20:29-31
Phil. 3:2
II Peter 3:1
(this list could go on and on)
- let's push this idea one step further:

C. Characteristics of persons who recognize the danger?

INPUT? How did Paul want this information to affect the
Colossians, and how would the Lord want it to affect us? What
will characterize a person who recognizes the danger of false
teachers?

(sharp thinking, "critical thinking", Acts 17, etc)

- In this passage, Paul explains some of the:

II. Methods of false Teachers

A. They use philosophy and empty deceit

- word philosophy is a compound word
- phileo - love/fondness
- sophos - knowledge/wisdom

- philosophy is the love of knowledge/wisdom/understanding
(especially when it comes to the most important
questions//issues of life)

- so philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom.

- by that definition, of course, philosophy is not inherantly bad
- because everyone has a worldview, in some senses every person
has a "philosophy of life" and is therefore a "philosopher."

- the problem with philosophy is that most men and women try to
arrive at ultimate truth apart from the God of Heaven.

(from MacArthur - p. 96)

- quote Francis Schaeffer
- quote Os Guiness
- quote David Hume
- quote Nietsche

- trying to answer the questions of life apart from the God of heaven is
a useless pursuit.
- Man rightly concluded that he was incomplete (that he had questions
for which he had no answers)
- but he wrongly concluded that could answer those questions on his
own.

- and as a result, the philosophical trial has taken many men and women
to a hopeless and confused end

- quote Jean-Paul Sartre.

- Francis Shaeffer pointed out that "Man's rebellion has driven him
beneath the line of despair"
- Rom. 1:21-22 - They became futile in their speculations, and their
foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they
became fools."

- "By eliminating God and His revelation from the picture, modern
philosophy has plunged man into the abyss of ignorant darkness and
hopeless despair." (MacArthur - p. 97)
- Paul says even to believers in Christ -- don't let anyone take ou
captive with philosophy and empty deceit.

- he goes on to point out that another method of the false teachers is
that:

B. They rely on the tradition of men.

- in other words, it's the old "if you say something long enough,
eventually it will be accepted as fact."

- cf. Maytag commercials

- Paul says that you and I must beware of "ignorance and
falsehood that is handed down from generation to generation."

- we don't have time to develop this as much as I'd like, but
that phrase is so true of the world in which we live.

1) view of origins/evolution
2) self love/self image
3) place of the unconscious/ etc.

- Paul says that false teachers rely on the tradition of men.

C. They use elementary principles of the world.

- there are a couple of different ways this phrase could be
interpreted--but the bottom line is that Paul is taking a
"jab" at the false teachers claim to "depth."

- they wanted to be viewed as "deep"

- the phrase "elementary principles" was also used to describe
the alphabet in Paul's day.
- it is very possible that He is bringing up the picture of
returning to the first day of school.

- the false teacher's best attempts at giving deep answers to
life are shallow, superficial, and reductionistic.

- the point is -- why would a believer, who has tasted of the
heavenly riches of Christ -- want to find supposed answers
from the shallow well of the world?

- its like earning a doctorate and then going back to
kindergarten (MacArthur)

- can I ask you this morning - Do you and I need to hear what these
verses of Scripture are saying?
- there are few passages in all the Bible that give such a clear
state of American Christianity.
- if there has ever been a day to beware of the things listed in
Col. 2:8, it is today.

- the good thing is that Paul tells us in these verses:

III. How To Protect Ourselves From False Teachers

A. Walk in Christ your Lord - v. 6

- Paul gives us in these verses a model for dealing with false
teaching.
- he doesn't denounce the heresy by name. (not that he would have
been wrong in doing so--but that wasn't the emphasis)
- he doesn't even detail all the tenets of the false system.

- Charles Erdman - "...the apostle draws so eloquently upon the
deity of Christ and the dignity and completeness of believers
that the reader is left in some uncertainty as to the exact
system of error against which the Colossians were to be on
their guard."

- this is very similar to the way bank tellers are taught to
recognize counterfeit bills.
- just study the real thing.

- the more you know about the real thing, the more prepared
you'll be to recognize a fraud.

- it's interesting that in this context, Paul goes to the issue
of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

- but the rationale is obvious.
- if you and I are in the habit of submitting to
Christ's leadership in the way we conduct ourselves
- learning His Word
- growing in our love for Him and our love for
others
- disciplining ourselves to be more like Him

- then when the false ways of handling life come up--we
won't be tempted to follow them because they are so
foreign to what it means to follow Christ.

B. Continue to be built in Him - v. 6

- Paul wanted the Colossians to be attempting to grow spiritual
roots.
- cf. Psalm 1

- instead of being a "spiritual tumbleweed" (DEVELOP)

C. Understand and remember your completeness in Christ - v. 10

- verse 10 is another of those great summary verses that goes
along with the theme of this book.

- it is in Christ that we are made spiritually complete
- it is in Christ that we are made morally complete
- it is in Christ that we are made mentally complete