Who Grows You?

Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would help us to see ourselves in your Word,

and to see ourselves in your Word in a way that makes us long,

to have the Gospel become more real in our hearts,

and for your Holy Spirit to change us more and more in a way, Father,

that is for our true good, and that fits us for heaven,

and is for the true good of the world around us.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son, and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

This is the first Sunday I'm doing a service with a hearing aid in,

and I'm still getting used to the fact, those of you who have hearing aids,

I'm still getting used to the fact that I hear my voice in my head in a different way.

And if you're not familiar with that idea, I can just tell you it's something that it just throws me off a bit.

Anyway, one of the things which is very true about being human

is that we can be very, very, very bothered about things which don't really matter that much,

but not be very bothered by things which matter a great deal.

In other words, we can feel guilty about something that really God doesn't care about,

and not feel guilty at all about things that God really does care about.

I'll give you an example.

It might be that somebody could be feeling very guilty or very depressed right now about their weight,

but not feel even remotely guilty about the fact that they just told several lies to their best friend

or to their boss the day before.

People can feel very, very guilty about maybe the condition of their vehicle

or what type of vehicle they have.

They can feel very bad or very proud, but often very bad,

yet not even feel a tinge, a twinge of guilt over something like, I don't know,

lying on your income tax, which is in effect a type of stealing.

So it's just one of the things about human beings that we can,

and we all probably could give examples afterwards about other people, of course,

never about ourselves, about how something very, very trivial really bothers them,

bends them out of shape they feel guilty about or they feel very proud about.

And we know that God doesn't give a hoot about it.

It's a very, very common human problem.

The Bible text that we're going to look at today speaks into this.

In fact, we have to keep this in the back of our mind as we're reading the Bible text

because it's going to speak into this particular condition.

It's going to speak into this condition more and more in the weeks to come

as we look into the text that comes after it.

But this is a text which starts to look at this human problem,

and it's Colossians 2, verses 16 to 23.

Colossians 2:16–23

Now, actually, just before we look at this, two things.

I'm going to be looking at actually the few verses before it,

which aren't going to be on the screen,

which is just a good reason to have your own Bibles with you,

either a paper Bible like this

or having something like YouVersion on your phone

so that you can read the Bible on your phone.

But the other thing is that you're going to notice that when I'm reading the Bible text,

when we get into 16 to 23,

I'm going to be reading from the English Standard Version,

but I think, I hope, the text on the screen won't always be the English Standard Version.

And part of the reason for that is this text is a notoriously difficult text

if you read academic Bible commentaries.

It's a notoriously difficult text to translate,

in a sense, in a very literal type of way,

because there's nuances in the original language which don't exist in English.

So what I've done, what you'll see above me,

and sometimes I'll refer to it,

is either from the academic commentary that I've read.

Basically, it all comes from the academic commentary that I've read.

I've tried to give you a version on the screen

that gives the basic sense of the text.

And if you look at the English Standard Version,

you can see that that's the right way,

you know, that that's a way to interpret it.

So anyway, that's why there's going to be sometimes a bit of a gap.

I'm going to read this, and you're looking up at the screen,

and you're looking up at the screen and say,

that's why I've provided a bit of a help on the screen.

Anyway, so the problem is,

what is it about human beings

that we can feel very, very bent out of shape and guilty

about things that we probably would recognize don't really matter,

although obviously to many people in the world it really matters,

yet not even be remotely guilty about something else.

Somebody can feel very, very, very guilty

about the fact that they drive an old car,

that they're not really, you know, with it,

and have a new car really nice and clean,

but they don't feel any guilt at all

about the fact that they show no generosity whatsoever.

They're very, very just ungenerous, ungracious people.

So why is that about us?

Why is it we worry about maybe our weight?

The Bible doesn't care about that,

but we don't worry about lying,

or about betraying confidences.

Why is that going on?

Well, what we looked at last week,

as part of the flow,

because we're preaching through the book of Colossians,

is last week what we looked at,

it's all sort of developing this idea

that when you receive Christ Jesus,

you receive him as the Lord,

and so we have to learn how to walk in him.

And the text that we looked at last week

talked really about this profound idea

that when we give ourselves to Christ,

we, in a sense, enter into him,

and he enters into us.

This is one of the many profound ways

that the Bible, and I think only the Bible,

really accounts for features of human experience

that we take for granted,

and that other systems of thought

and other religions can't really account for,

because it's, in fact, a part of personal relationships

that we, in a sense, enter into the other person's life,

and the other person enters into our life.

And for Christians, we understand that,

ultimately, this is rooted in the very nature of God,

that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

that from all eternity,

the Father, in a sense, has given himself to the Son,

and the Son has received the Father into his life,

and the Son gives himself to the Father,

and the Father receives himself,

receives the Son into his life.

And human beings bearing God's image,

it's the same thing for us.

So, if we've ever been at, let's say,

a wedding reception or a funeral reception,

back in the day when you could meet

without being socially distanced,

and you're at a table of strangers,

and you try to make conversation with the person beside you,

and they either ignore you,

or they give brief, grunt answers,

which they grunt affirmative,

or they grunt negative.

And obviously, what they're doing

is they're keeping their force fields up

to not let you into their lives.

And you're trying to just be friendly with them.

But in things like love,

and friendship, and family,

there's this very, very real sense

that as you share things about yourself,

you're hoping that the things you share

with the other person will be received.

And we can almost picture that being received as,

to use body language like this

is just a very natural thing to say to be received,

because we open ourselves up

to let the other person come into our life.

And then we share something back.

And I use language like,

my hands like this,

and we hope that they receive it like this,

that they open their lives up.

And that's why, you know,

when we experience the death of a friend,

or a family member,

or like a spouse,

it actually feels as if something

from inside of us has been taken away.

There's now a hole inside of us

that wasn't there before.

Because there is a real sense

that human beings enter into each other.

And we know that it's not just emotions,

that there's some other thing which goes on,

that there's not really human words,

English words that can capture.

And the Bible is saying,

all the way through the book of Colossians,

the phrase, in Christ,

is, it's said over and over

and over and over again.

And what the Bible is telling us

is that when you trust Jesus

as your Savior and your Lord,

you enter into him,

and he enters into you.

That it's not just an analogy,

it's not a metaphor,

it's not an experience per se,

but that in the case of Christ,

it's real,

it actually happens.

You enter into Christ

and now, in a sense,

live in him.

And he enters into you

and in a very real and true sense,

enters into you and is in you.

The two truths are very, very true.

And we looked at that last week.

And then the Bible text talked about

using two analogies,

one of circumcision from the Old Testament

and then baptism in the New Testament,

and showed how both of those

symbolic actions,

so to speak,

are signifying something that God does.

And then it culminates in verses 13 to 15.

And you who were dead in your trespasses

and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

God made alive together with him,

having forgiven us all our trespasses,

here's the thing I want to point to,

by canceling the record of debt

that stood against us

with its legal demands.

This he set aside,

nailing it to the cross.

And last week I shared how this word

legal demands

is sort of a,

it's a very, very legal,

it's a very, very literally correct word,

but it actually isn't,

it doesn't really capture

the right sense in English.

And what the Bible text is saying

is this very wonderful

and profound truth.

It's saying that when you,

like when you give yourself to Christ

and you enter into him,

it means then in a very real sense

that the death Jesus dies on the cross

is your death.

And his resurrection

is also your resurrection

because you're in him.

And just as in,

you can sort of see it over there

a little bit with the stained glass,

that if you read the gospel accounts,

it was very typical with crucifixion

that a brief summary of the charge

against the person

was nailed above the cross

so that everybody walking by

would know that this is why

the person was dying.

And so Paul uses this analogy

because crucifixion

was a very common form of punishment.

Hundreds of thousands of people

died of crucifixion

in the Roman Empire.

And so it's a very, very common thing,

a very shameful way of dying.

And Paul says,

what do you need to imagine is this,

that the first part of that,

which it talks about

the record of debt,

that's referring to real objective,

from God's point of view,

moral wrong.

Every lie that I've ever told,

every time that I had an opportunity

to do something good

and I didn't do that good,

a sin of omission,

every betrayal of a confidence,

every stealing,

every slander about another human being,

every sexual thing,

every injustice,

everything which from God

who sees perfectly,

every single real wrong,

objective wrong thing

that I have ever done,

well, that's nailed to the cross

above Jesus.

But the other word

is really implying

human regulations,

the human judgments

that we make on each other.

And human judgments

might have a bit of a grain

of truth to them,

but they're a bit very,

very different.

The way that people condemn you

because you're too skinny,

too fat,

too muscular,

are not muscular enough.

You eat crappy food.

You're too obsessed

about eating healthy food.

You only eat organic.

You never eat organic.

You only go to Tim Hortons.

You never go to Tim Hortons.

You think you're better than people

by going to a hipster coffee place.

You drink wine

out of a little box

that has plastic

or you only drink

the finest vintages.

All of the normal human things

that we mean

to put each other down

or evaluate everybody else,

those also

are nailed to the cross.

That's what regulations are,

human assessments

that make us feel guilty.

And so it's this profound truth

that on the cross,

I'm to imagine,

well, imagine,

it's not just imagining

because the Bible's telling us

it's actually what happens,

is that every accusation

that a human being

could make against me

that gives me worth

or doesn't give me worth,

that's nailed to the cross as well.

Now, God's going to help us

to sort out

what of those human things

are right or wrong

because sometimes

human views of things

are right.

We might say

that such and such a thing

is cowardly

or such and such a thing

is foolhardy

and it might be right

or there's a germ of truth in it

that the germ of truth

is to be too concerned

about food is a sin

or to be too underweight

or too overweight,

of course,

is bad for the body

and there's a germ

of some sin in there.

It's hard for us

to figure it out

but the comforting thing is

that it's all nailed

to the cross.

Jesus died for all of that

and part of what will happen

as we walk with Christ

is those human regulations

start to get hopefully

sorted out in our lives.

That's what Christ wants to do

and definitely in eternity.

It's all sorted out

but all of those accusations,

they're all up there

on the cross

and that's why it goes on

to say in verse 15,

Jesus disarms

the rulers and authorities

and puts them to open shame

by triumphing over them in him.

As I shared before,

rulers and authorities here

are two different types

of angelic beings,

demonic beings,

I should say.

And so the main way

as I shared last week

that most of us experience

demons in our lives

is by guilt,

accusation,

slander and lies.

In a sense,

the demon speaks lies

into our ears

and they go into our hearts.

And the lies could be,

you were right,

you're always right.

Or the lie could be,

you're wrong,

you're always wrong.

And the devil tells you

the lie,

you're right,

you're always right

when you've just done

something wrong.

When you've just done

something right,

the devil tells you

the lie,

you're wrong,

you're always doing

something wrong.

But he tells you lies,

he slanders you

and they go deep into you.

And in a sense,

how does understanding

the cross help

to disarm it?

You see,

if you understand

that you're not quite sure

how to figure out

the whole weight thing

and what you should

feel guilty about

and what you shouldn't

really feel guilty about,

but the thing is

that is profoundly comforting

is you can just think,

Jesus knew

every accusation

against me.

Those are nailed

to the cross

and Jesus died for them.

He's over time

going to help me

to understand

what needs to be done

about some of these things.

And in fact,

in chapter 3,

we're going to see

how Paul starts

to help us

to figure out

what true north is,

like where we really are.

That's what he's going

to talk about

in chapter 3.

But it's all been,

all these accusations,

they're all dealt with.

So then,

if we put up verse 16

on the screen,

you'll notice

in the English Standard Version,

it begins with,

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.

Now,

what Paul is doing here,

you'll notice it says,

therefore,

that's how it begins.

And the verses 16 to 23,

and by the way,

I don't know how to pronounce

this correctly.

One of you can shout it out.

You know,

there's that,

it's an ancient,

I think it's an old

Greek god

or it's a part

of a Greek story,

a Janus figure.

I don't know

if it's pronounced

Janus or Janus.

It's, eh?

Janus.

Okay,

thank you very much.

So a Janus

is a figure

that has two faces

looking in opposite directions.

And lots of times

in the Bible,

there's a text

which in a sense

is a Janus text.

And this is a Janus text.

In other words,

verses 16 to 23

on one hand

is looking back

from all the things

that have happened

from chapter 1

to chapter 2.

And it's looking back

at that

and bringing it

to a bit of a conclusion.

But it's also

a Janus text

in the sense

that it's looking forward

to chapter 3

and it's giving us

a bit of an introduction

about what's going to come.

But it begins

with this powerful word,

therefore,

let no one

pass judgment on you

in questions

of food and drink.

Now,

what's going on here

is this.

So I've just shared

the gospel with you.

You put your faith

and trust in Christ

and every accusation

against you,

the ones that have

just purely

human regulations,

the ones which are,

in fact,

that God could say

are objectively wrong,

they're all nailed

to the cross.

So when you walk

out the door

after the service

and you begin now

to live the rest

of your week

or even maybe

as you're listening

to the sermon,

how are you going to live?

Like,

how do you live?

How do you live

when you walk

out the door

of the church?

And in a sense,

it's not just

how do you live

when you walk

out the door

of the church,

it's also,

in a sense,

how are you right

now evaluating things?

Will you,

that's the question.

So here's,

you see,

the problem

is that what happens

is we often

as human beings,

in fact,

it almost always happens

as human beings,

that we hear this

wonderful news

about the gospel,

but we walk

out the door

and now we start

to live

as if the gospel

isn't true,

but we live

as if to develop

as a human being,

to develop

as a godly person,

as to develop

as a person

that God would use,

to develop

as God's friend,

whatever the analogy

is as God's child,

as soon as we walk

out the door,

we very quickly

start to use

regulations

to frame

how we live

our lives.

In other words,

human rules.

And what the Bible

is going to do

in this text

is it's going

to give us,

in a sense,

the classic six,

the classic six ways

that human beings

use regulations

to try to understand

how to get better

with God,

how to grow with God,

how to become

more Christ-like,

how to be fit

for heaven,

how to live

a godly life,

how to live

a spiritual life,

how to be,

all those different

analogies,

and there's

these classic six.

They're not always

as prevalent

in certain subgroups

or certain times

as others,

but they're the historic

classic six.

And here's how it is.

So let no one

pass judgment.

And the word there,

I think,

I think I used

the word condemn

up here.

That's the sense of it.

It's a sense of

disqualify you

or condemn you.

It's not just

passing judgment

on you as if,

oh, you're a good,

it's what,

how do people

condemn you?

And look at the

first of the six,

food and drink.

Well, I mean,

isn't that true?

This coffee only uses,

this church only uses

fair trade coffee.

Oh, we're very good,

aren't we?

And other churches say,

yeah,

these guys,

they just want to be

hipsters and cool

and all that stuff.

We use Tim Horton's

coffee because we're

of the people

or something like that.

Or, you know,

we only have organic.

Well, you know,

organic people,

they just want to be

politically correct

and hipster.

They don't know

what it's like

in the real life.

They have lots

of disposable cash.

They don't live

from paycheck

to paycheck.

You can finish

the rant if you want.

Some of you have

those rants in your head,

right?

You go grocery shopping,

you see the organic section

and in your head,

there's a rant

about people who buy it.

Or in your head,

you know,

as you're buying

from the organic,

there's the rant

about the people

who are going

to the sale

and you think about,

yeah,

they don't care

about slave labor,

they don't care,

but you know,

that's what goes on

in our heads,

right?

And it's not just that,

you know,

there's the clean

and unclean food

and then it goes on,

new moon,

or sort of a festival.

And I'm going

to give you

secular versions

and I'm going

to go back

and give you

religious versions

of some of these

types of things.

How many people

in our society

evaluate us

by whether or not

we'd go to a gay pride parade?

Like,

you wouldn't go

to the gay pride parade?

You wouldn't organize that?

Like,

you're a terrible person.

You're against inclusivity?

You're against inclusion?

You hate gays?

Like,

you hate,

like what are you,

like a Trump supporter

or something like that?

Make America Great?

Like,

the judgments

would come immediately

upon that type of thing.

And then,

you know,

or let me tell you,

I'll finish the ones,

new moon.

And a new moon,

that's in a sense that,

I mean,

on one level,

all of these have

Old Testament precursors,

but new moon is really

how much do we get told

to keep in touch

with nature,

to get with the rhythms?

Like,

isn't one of the advantages

of Wiccan,

why is Wicca

a better religion

than Christianity?

Because Wicca

respects natural rhythms.

Wicca respects,

in particular,

the rhythms

of a woman's body

with her period

and all of that

type of stuff.

It respects the moon

and the tides.

It's one with nature

and we have to be

at one with nature.

And then,

you go on to Sabbath

and then it could be,

of course,

that,

you know,

Sabbath,

not necessarily

in a religious sense,

but you need to have

a time of rest,

you need to have

your alone time.

And you see what I mean

that all of these

types of things

are the types of things

that judgments come about

and they all have

the religious versions

as well.

You know,

in terms of,

you know,

food or drink,

I've already mentioned

the ones that churches

can start to divide

over what type of coffee

they have

or what type of food

they serve

or vegetarianism

or not being vegetarian.

Festival,

I'll just use

Anglicanism as an example.

Like,

people will get

all bent out of shape.

Some of you

who are old Anglicans

will tell you

how transgressive

it was

in our church

when I sang

a Christmas carol

before Christmas Eve.

Like,

that was going

against a huge

Anglican religious rule.

When I said

Alleluia

in church

during Lent,

I was being

very transgressive

against a whole pile

of Anglican

religious rules.

You know,

and you can go on

in terms of,

you know,

we've had people

in this church

who've been very,

very,

very upset

because when there was

coffee time after church

we went to a store

to buy cream

and we weren't

keeping the Sabbath.

But all of a sudden

there's a whole range

of different types

of rules

about how you keep

these things

and you need to keep them

if you're the right

type of church.

I mean,

it even comes up

in the fact

that for many,

many churches

they would say

that one of the

problems with us

is that we actually

have something

like a liturgical year

but ironically

those same people

would often

probably judge me

that George said

one of the reasons

your church doesn't grow

is you don't do

a big thing

about Mother's Day.

You don't do

a big thing

about Father's Day.

You don't do

a big thing

about Thanksgiving.

You don't do

a big thing

about Remembrance Day.

You don't do

a big thing

about this and that

and we'll go

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa.

These are secular festivals

and you're using

art keeping

of a secular festival

to judge us?

like your church

non-liturgically

your church

you're superior

to us

because you keep

Mother's Day?

That was invented

by greeting card companies

folks

and you're passing

judgment on us

because we remember

Advent?

Like

you see how it works

in church circles?

It's a bit

of an aside.

I'm clueless

about a whole

pile of things.

I've been in this

church so long

I've lost track

of a whole pile

of Anglican rules

but at one point

in time

in Anglican history

you walk in the door

and the fact

that I have

this collar on

rather than

another collar

would tell you

that the circle

the collar

that goes all around

they'd say

ah,

he's the right

sort of the wrong

sort.

Oh,

a collar like this

he's the right

sort of the wrong

sort.

They'd instantly

figure that out.

The mere fact

sorry

I could keep

going on and on

about this.

On one level

it's a bit fun

to look at a text

like this.

Because we don't

have,

I don't wear

all of the robes

that were developed

like I don't know

like in the 1600s

or the 1700s

with all these

processions

we've had people

come from other

Anglican churches

that say that

we're not even

Anglican

because we don't

do all of that

stuff.

I don't wear

the robes

to be well dressed

for the year

1650.

I mean

as soon as I say

that obviously

I'm mocking it,

right?

But the fact

of the matter

is these are

very very powerful

things.

I'm using

Anglican examples

but there's

even,

there's Baptist

examples

and there's

charismatic examples.

They're all

examples in

everything that

all of a sudden

you have these

rules and

regulations

that come from

who knows where

often from

certain things

in the culture

and it's means

by which you

evaluate whether

it's a good

church or a

bad church.

I've had people

come to the

church and

they've never

come back again.

Why?

Because of

these.

because it's

an offense

against

idolatry.

It's

idolatry.

It's

against

the Bible.

Like I think

to myself

you'd never

have a

kid's

storybook

that has

a picture

of Jesus

in it?

Like what

do you do

when you

tell a

Christmas story

about the

nativity story?

Like is it

just words?

There's no

pictures for

your kids?

Anyway,

I won't go

into it.

But you see

what I mean?

There's secular

and religious

things.

So here's

you see the

thing which

is going

on.

You have

to watch

the time.

So what

the text

is saying,

I just

gave you

that the

first part

of the

sermon

was all

about this

wonderful

thing about

the gospel

that God

doesn't look

at me and

say,

God looks

at me and

knows that

George,

if all of

the things

that were

listed against

George by

our culture

and all of

the things

that I could

put against

George which

are actually

correct,

objectively

true,

moral wrongs

that George

did and I

put them

all up.

There's no

way that

George could

sacrifice

enough,

atone for

it.

He'd come

under judgment

and God

makes this

profound offer

to you and

me and he

says,

listen,

put your

faith in

Christ.

And when

you put your

faith in

Christ,

you enter

into him

and he

enters into

you.

And the

death he

died,

George,

he died

listing all

those things

against you

and he

offers you

his life

and it's

all grace,

it's all

free.

It's not

because I'm

weighing how

wonderful you

are,

it's because

I'm pardoning

your offenses,

it's not

because you're

so unbelievably

spectacular by

your own

definition,

it's because I

just love you

so much and

I value you

and I want

you to be

with me for

eternity and

it's all

love,

it's all

grace,

it's all

mercy,

it's all

kindness,

it's all

goodness.

But as

soon as we

hear that,

instantly we

want to

grow ourselves,

we're going

to see that

in a moment

in the text.

The fundamental

choice before

us as

Christians is

will God

grow us

or will I

grow us?

Actually it's

even more

than that as

we're going

to see in a

moment is

will God

grow me

or will I

grow me?

Me,

me,

me,

I will

grow me

and they have

religious ways,

we have

charismatic ways

of doing

that,

you know,

like there's

the right

way to lift

your hands

at the right

time and

there's the

wrong way to

lift your

hands at the

right time and

there's the

right time to

lift your

hands in the

wrong time and

you don't do

it the wrong

time,

you do it the

wrong time and

people look down

their nose at

you and there's

Anglican things as

to whether you

bow enough or

kneel enough or

deep enough and

it's all just

regulations and

rules.

Look at verse

17,

these are a

shadow of the

things to come but

the substance

belongs to

Christ.

In other words,

these are just,

at best,

there's something

that sort of

points to

Christ but the

fact of the

matter is it's

just you're

talking about

shadows,

you're not

actually talking

about reality

and I've helped

you here with

the text up

above us.

Literally in the

original language

it's pointing

backwards to

Christ.

So I think the

way I've worded

it up above

without having

to turn my

head is,

and this has

actually captured

it better,

these are a

shadow of the

things that

were to

come because

it came in

Christ.

We're not

waiting for it

in the future.

It's all in

Christ.

These are a

shadow of the

things that

were to come.

The reality,

however,

is found in

Christ.

And then the

Bible gives you

two more of the

big six.

Right here it's

giving you food

and drink,

festivals,

new moons,

Sabbaths.

But then in

verse 18 it

goes on,

let no one

again disqualify

you or judge

you or condemn

you,

insisting on

asceticism and

worship of angels,

going on in

details about

visions,

puffed up without

reason by his

sensuous mind,

and not holding

fast to the

head from whom

the whole body

nourished and

knit together

through its

joints and

ligaments.

And here's,

there's two big

ideas in the text

and here's one

of them,

grows with a

growth that is

from God.

See,

that's the

fundamental choice

before us.

Will it be me

by my

disciplines?

Will it be us

by our disciplines

that grows?

Or will we

acknowledge that

all growth comes

from God?

And if all

growth comes

from God,

it's going to

suggest that we

have different,

in a sense,

types of postures

in responses to

God's word.

that allows,

that God,

that causes God

to grow us.

Because,

in a sense,

if we understand

that all growth

comes from God,

it means I

always come before

God with empty

hands.

In fact,

unclean hands

and an unclean

heart.

And a mind

that sometimes

can be very,

very true,

but often gets

me into trouble.

And a will

that can often

be very,

very good,

but often gets

me into trouble.

And emotions

that sometimes

can be very

good,

but often get

me into trouble.

They're out of

whack.

I get bothered

by somebody

putting me down

because I drive

a 1998

Honda Accord.

Because if I was

a really successful

Christian,

I wouldn't be

driving a car

that's 23 years

old.

I'd have a

Beamer or a

Lexus or

something like

that.

But if I was

a real successful

Christian,

really with it,

you know,

and I can

get beat up.

Actually,

I don't get

beat up about

the car at all.

That's why I'm

using it as an

example.

I don't want

to use an

example that

might actually

betray the

sinfulness of

my heart.

Frankly,

I just want a

car that's as

cheap as possible

that when I

turn the key,

it starts,

gets me to

point A and

back home,

and I don't

care how ugly

it is.

I'm sorry.

I have a

whole pile of

other sins.

That's just

not one of my

particular sins

or virtues.

I don't care

about cars.

Anyway,

but the point

is right here,

go back to

that,

let no one

disqualify you

insisting on

asceticism,

and here it's

really all about

self-control.

The big

besetting sin

of much

Christian teaching

is it basically

is teaching

about self-control.

Do these

five things

and you're

going to have

a better

marriage.

Do these

four things

and you're

going to be

able to

forgive.

Do these

seven things

and you'll

get that

promotion.

Do these

nine things

and you'll

have financial

security.

And then you

don't have

those things.

Well, it's

ultimately because

you don't have

any self-control.

Sucks to be

you.

I mean, we

don't say

that, right?

We have

polite

Christian ways

to cover

the fact

that that's

what we

think.

It's one of

the reasons

why evangelical

Christians

and charismatic

Christians

have a very

profound,

hard time

with mental

illness

and have a

very profound

and hard

time against

other types

of things

which are

just physically

wrong with

us.

like we

can be in

great judgment

on a street

person who

has no

control of

alcohol

whatsoever.

Why?

Because I

have control

and I never

stop to think

about the fact

that there's

something

probably

actually

biologically

broken in

them connected

to a will

that has been

broken by past

experiences which

means that they

will be

profoundly more

drawn to

alcohol or

drug abuse

than I

ever will

be.

And I

worship or

I trust in

my willpower.

And that's

what this word

asceticism is

getting at.

It's the way

to deal with

the body.

It's connected

to a whole lot

of other types

of messy

things as well

in the Christian

faith.

But look at

the game.

Let no one

disqualify you.

Verse 18.

Insisting on

asceticism,

worship of

angels,

and going on

in detail about

visions.

And that's

sort of two

different ideas.

One of them

wouldn't be

true necessarily

in a lot of

the types of

churches that

we would go

to.

But it's

drawing on

spiritual powers.

It's a very

common thing in

the world that

you manipulate

energies around

people.

I went to an

ultra-liberal

equivalent to

seminary.

I am not

making this up.

And I had to

go to a place

to learn how to

massage people's

auras.

Not making

this up.

And I was

to try to

sense the

colors and

auras around

them.

And I was

to move my

hands around

their body in

such a way that

it helped to

rebalance the

auras so

they had no

wholeness.

I am not

making this up.

Liberal

seminary.

Catholic

seminary.

The same

seminary.

I almost got

fired.

Not fired.

We were

told to go

into deep

states of

relaxation,

get in touch

with animal

guides from

our subconscious

to help us

to guide us

to a

collective

and kind.

I am not

making this

up.

It goes on

in certain

churches.

But there is

evangelical and

charismatic and

Catholic equivalents

to all of these

types of things.

How many

charismatic and

evangelical books

value somebody

who has had a

vision of heaven

as if they

somehow have a

better way to

speak into the

Christian life than

other people?

It is because

they have had a

vision.

Well the Bible

just says here,

look what it

says about it.

Look what it

says.

Verse 18,

let no one

disqualify you

or judge you

or condemn you,

insisting on

asceticism and

the worship of

angels, like

getting in touch

with spiritual

powers,

entering into

all the details

of their

visions.

What does it

say?

They are puffed

up without

reason by

their fallen

mind.

They are

actually just

puffed up with

pride.

We are just

puffed up with

pride, not

them, we are,

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.

We are saved

by God, we

grow by God.

Nothing in

my hands I

bring simply

to the cross

I cling to

be saved.

Nothing in

my hands I

bring simply

to the cross

I cling to

grow.

So verse

20, if with

Christ you

died to the

elemental spirits

of the world,

why as if you

were still alive

in the world,

in other words,

or why as if

you let the

world set the

agenda, verse

20, do you

submit to

regulations?

That word

regulations is

the same there,

the word that

was there before

translated in a

different way in

verse 13,

basically the

same ideas as

the word

translated earlier

with legal

demands in the

English Standard

Version in

verse 14.

So all these

regulations that

come from the

world.

So if in

fact when you

put, you're

in Christ and

his death is

your death and

his resurrection

is your

resurrection and

you're in him

and he fills

you, if this is

the fundamental

truth, and

because on one

hand it's already

true that he

completely fills you

but it's also the

not yet, you

don't live, I

don't live in this

world as if I've

never fallen and

I don't have a

sinful nature, it's

already true but

it's not yet fully

true, it will only

be fully true in

the new heaven and

the new earth, it

will only be fully

true when I see

Jesus face to face

that all that sin

will be burned

away but right now

I live in a world

and I still have

these things and I

have to deal with

them in Christ

but if it's true

that I've died then

why do I live as

if the world is

setting the agenda?

That's what it

means, do not

handle, do not

taste, do not

touch, verse 21

referring to

things that all

perish as they

are used according

to human precepts

and teachings

in other words

why is it do you

think that you

can prepare for

eternity by

manipulating that

which passes away

as you use it?

Why do you think

that will fit you

for heaven by

manipulating things

that perish as

you use it?

And here's the

second big teaching

in the text.

It fits with the

first one about

all the growth

that comes from

God.

These have an

indeed, these have

indeed an appearance

of wisdom in

promoting self-made

religion and

asceticism and

severity to the

body.

And what this

means is it

means these all

have the appearance

of wisdom because

they promote

strong devotion to

religious rules and

religions that you've

made up for yourself.

But it emphasizes

strong devotion.

And these all have

an appearance of

wisdom in promoting

asceticism.

In other words,

pious self-denial.

And they all have

an appearance of

wisdom because they

seem to show a

severity to the body

or a severe body