Filled In Him

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning again to the book of Colossians.

! We are in chapter 2 this morning and our passage is chapter 2 verses 6-10.

Isaiah 2:6–10

We have made our way past the long introduction of Paul's letter to the church at Colossae

and now we're getting into his body, the main section of the letter.

Chapter 2 verses 6-10 is really a good summary of what Paul hopes to achieve in writing this

letter to the church in Colossae.

So when you found that, Colossians chapter 2 verses 6-10, let's stand together in honor

Colossians 2:6–10

of the reading of the Word of God.

Paul says,

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.

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him who

is the head of all rule and authority.

Grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Father God, we ask once more that would you reveal your glory through the preaching of your

word.

God, would you show us Christ this morning so that we would not be taken captive by every

wind and wave of false doctrine.

God, would you make this church a pillar and buttress of the truth.

We pray that we would hold fast to Christ.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

A local area pastor shared a story earlier this week that he had pastored a church somewhere

else years ago, and he said that many years ago a young man approached me to tell me that

he was leaving the church that I pastored at the time.

And he said that this young man came into his office and he beat his chest and said,

the gospel, the gospel.

I am so sick and tired of hearing about the gospel.

I need more.

In other words, he needed more than just this elementary basic stuff.

I've already heard about Jesus.

I've already received Christ.

It's time to move on now to bigger and better things.

When can we finally graduate beyond Christ?

And truth be told, that's not an uncommon experience.

I think if you exist in ministry long enough, you are bound to hear something along those same

lines.

You may have felt something like that yourself, if you're honest.

The great reformer, Martin Luther, you may have heard this story from his ministry.

For 34 years, he preached at St. Mary's Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

And of course, Martin Luther preached relentlessly about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And this was the soul of his ministry, that we are justified before God, meaning we are declared

righteous in the sight of a holy God, not by virtue of anything in us, not by our works,

but sheerly because of Jesus Christ.

He preached Christ in his life, Christ in his death, Christ in his resurrection, Christ

in his coming again.

He preached Christ.

And eventually, some in his congregation came to him and asked, Pastor, when can we move on

from all of this?

Why do you keep preaching the gospel every week?

And to which he replied, because every week you forget it.

One of the greatest and clearest signs of our weakness and our frailty as sinful men and

women is that we can forget such an incredibly glorious message as the gospel.

And we can grow bored of the most incredible person who has ever stepped foot on the earth.

And we can grow tired of hearing about Jesus.

And we can sometimes be easily lured away into a pursuit of something more.

You know, this boredom with Christ and this pursuit of more is exactly the issue that the

Colossian church was facing here as Paul writes this letter to the church at Colossae.

The Colossians had received Christ Jesus.

They had received the good news of the gospel.

But now these false teachers have come in.

They've crept in with this message of true spiritual fullness.

And true spiritual fullness can be had outside of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have to move beyond all these basic things in order for us to get there.

Paul responds to this dangerous false teaching by saying, no, no, no, no, no.

You have to remember that you are filled in Christ who is himself the very fullness of God.

You have everything you need in him.

This morning I want to ask the question, what must we do in order to live the full Christian life?

What must we do in order to live the full Christian life?

And Paul gives us two very simple answers to that question.

One, walk in him.

And two, resist everything else.

What must we do to live the full Christian life?

We must walk in him and resist everything else.

First, Paul says the full Christian life is marked by walking in him.

We see this in verses 6 and 7 if you look there with me.

And would you just notice here with me that this is the first command in the entire letter of Colossians.

I mean, how many weeks have we gone through this letter unpacking Paul's first 34 verses here in Colossians.

He has spent 34 verses unveiling this glorious Christ and showing us who he is, how great he is, and what he's done.

He lays that doctrinal foundation so that now he can begin to give us our marching orders here.

And he says,

You want to live the full Christian life?

Well, as you received him, so now walk in him.

Far too often, someone may come to faith in Christ at some point in their life.

And maybe they heard the gospel at a young age and they believed.

Maybe a friend or a neighbor shared the good news with them, but they heard it.

And by the grace of God, they put their faith in Christ.

But then years go by and nothing really changes in their life.

They don't open up their Bible.

They neglect time in prayer.

They don't value the community of the local church.

They start to realize they're falling into the same old patterns and the same old habits that they had before they put their faith in Christ.

And they wonder why their spiritual life isn't very full.

And so then they leave these things behind in pursuit of something else to fill that gap in their life.

Paul sums up the solution pretty well here in just these few words.

As you received him, so walk in him.

Just as you received Christ, meaning just as you were taught of him,

and just as you heard the truth about him from Epaphras,

just as you received it with faith, that you heard it, you understood the word of God and truth,

so now keep going in it.

Or to give another example, it's like a newly married couple.

This couple gets married on their wedding day.

They say their vows.

And the pastor asks, do you commit to be faithful?

They say, yes, I do.

Do you commit to love one another?

Yes, I do.

I do.

Till death do us part.

I do.

I do.

But then time goes by and for whatever reason, they grow distant.

They don't speak.

They don't touch.

They don't talk.

They don't laugh.

And they wonder why they don't feel this fullness in their relationship with one another.

And so they begin to search for fullness somewhere else.

Paul says, your coming to faith in Christ is just the beginning of our lifelong walk with Christ.

It's a lifelong oneness with Christ.

So just as you received him, just as you said, I do, now do.

Just as you received him, so walk in him.

Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so now live under his lordship.

And you remember, Paul prayed exactly for this in chapter 1, didn't he?

If you look back at chapter 1, verses 9 and 10, you see he prayed.

From the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled

with all knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in

a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him.

And this walk that he's calling us to is a whole manner of life.

Our walk is our practice.

Our walk is what we do.

It's wherever you go and whatever you do.

The Christian is called to do it in him.

And if we're wondering what that walk looks like, he gives us two images here to help explain

what he means.

He says, for one thing, we are to be rooted in him.

This is an agricultural image.

Horticultural image.

The full Christian life, he says, it's like a healthy plant that has its roots established

deep into healthy soil.

And this is where the life source comes from.

If you uproot the plant from the soil, what's going to happen?

It's going to shrivel up and die.

If you transplant those roots from healthy soil into unhealthy soil, what's going to happen?

The plant is going to shrivel up and die.

You have to remain rooted in him in order to live the full Christian life.

Jesus says something very similar in John 15, doesn't he?

What does he say?

I am the vine and you are the branches.

Abide in me and you will bear much fruit.

This walking is very similar, closely linked to this idea of abiding.

So church, we have to ask, are we walking in him?

Are we abiding in him?

Are we hearing from him daily in his word?

Are we speaking to him daily in prayer?

Are we meditating on his word day and night?

Are we setting our mind on things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God?

You might think of the image from the psalm that we read this morning, Psalm chapter 1.

Psalms 1 · chapter mention

This blessed man who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night.

What does it say?

He is like a tree planted by streams of water.

He's rooted in the Lord.

He's established, as Paul says in verse 7, in the Lord.

The full Christian life is rooted in Christ.

But not only this, second image he gives us, Paul says we're also to be built up in him.

This is now an architectural image.

Christ isn't just a stepping stone on the way to something else.

Christ is the cornerstone on which the whole structure of the church is built.

As I thought through this this week, my mind stuck on that agricultural image.

So I want to stay there for just a minute.

I went to Isaiah chapter 61.

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

And if you know Isaiah 61, it gives this beautiful image of Christ proclaiming the good news to the end

and the effect that his people may be, it says, oaks of righteousness.

Oaks of righteousness.

Now you think about an oak tree.

That's a big tree, right?

Now you think of that one that's out here in my front yard?

People comment on that tree all the time.

Why?

Because it is big.

It's massive.

It's healthy.

It's sturdy.

It's established.

It's tall.

It's flourishing.

It's weathered storms.

It was here for Hugo 37 years ago.

And every hurricane since.

And the winds blew and it tossed it back and forth.

But that thing is still there.

Stable.

Sturdy.

Healthy.

Established.

It's strong.

Church.

Church.

I want us to be oaks of righteousness.

Don't you want that for yourself?

And we don't want to be just little shrippled up twigs on the ground that when the wind blows it just tosses them far away.

We want to be anchored and sturdy and rooted and strong and healthy and thriving and established in Christ.

So that when the winds and the waves come and they strike, we are still there unfazed.

So that when people see us and they look at Sea Wee Bay, they ask, what is the secret to your strength?

What is the secret to your stability?

And we can say we are rooted and built up in Christ.

You notice how many times it says in him?

All through chapter 2.

Walk in him.

Verse 6.

Rooted, built up in him.

In him.

Verse 9.

In him.

Verse 10.

In him.

Verse 11.

And then it shifts to with him.

Verse 12.

With him.

Verse 13.

Back to in him.

Verse 15.

Do you get the idea here?

The full Christian life is all about life in Christ.

We thrive and live in him and with him and for him.

It is about him.

For from him and to him and through him are all things.

To him be all the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Is this how you see it?

Is this how you see it?

Or are you tired of hearing about Christ?

And do you want to sink your roots down deeper into him?

Or do you wish that I could just move on and talk about something else for a little bit?

One way to check your heart here is to ask, am I abounding in thanksgiving for who he is and what he's done?

I love how Paul connects these truths here.

In verse 7.

He says, walk in him just as you were taught.

Don't move past it.

Abide in him.

Think on the gospel.

Remember the glory of Jesus.

Don't move on past it.

Sink your roots down deep into the fact that you are justified by faith in Christ.

Be built up by the truth that you are adopted as a son or a daughter of God.

By faith in him.

Be anchored and rooted and nourished and strengthened by the fact that his blood has washed away all of your sins.

And by faith in him you are forgiven of all of your sins.

You are loved by God.

You have been reconciled to God by his blood.

Sink your roots down deep into the fact that you are redeemed by Christ.

And in Christ you have a certain hope ahead of you that no matter what comes today or tomorrow or next week or next year.

You have glory ahead of you because you are in Christ.

When you consider what it is that you've been given in Christ.

Church, how can your heart not abound in thanksgiving?

And when your heart abounds in thanksgiving, when you're full of thankfulness for Christ and what he's done,

you will have no appetite for any who would lead you astray with a promise of more beyond Jesus.

The full Christian life is a call to walk in Christ.

And second, it is a call to resist everything else.

We see this in our second point this morning here in verses 8 through 10.

Look there starting in verse 8.

And this is the second command that he gives in the letter.

He says, walk in him and second.

See to it that no one takes you captive.

See to it that no one takes you captive.

He's shifting now to war language, isn't he?

This is battle language.

Church, do you realize that we are not in peacetime right now?

Do you understand that we are at war?

Peacetime will come when Christ comes.

Right now we are in a very real spiritual war.

J.C. Ryle, in his book on holiness, he says,

True Christianity is a fight.

And the Christian is a soldier from the day of his baptism until the day of his death.

He has to fight against a world that loves error,

against a devil who is a master of deception,

and against his own fleshly heart.

If you think that you can float down the stream of time into heaven without a struggle,

you are terribly deceived.

William Gurnall, 17th century Puritan.

He wrote a series of sermons on Ephesians 6,

which calls us to put on the whole armor of God,

that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

He says, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers, against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

He wrote a series of sermons on this passage

that eventually became a classic book on spiritual warfare

called The Christian in Complete Armor.

I would recommend any and all of you to take it up and read.

In it, he says this,

The Christian's life is a continual warfare.

The peace of the soul is a garrison peace.

It is maintained by a constant guard.

We must not expect to be kept from our enemies,

but rather to be kept in the midst of them.

He says this war is a spiritual holocaust.

Either you destroy the power of Satan in your life

by putting on the whole armor of God and keeping it on,

or Satan will destroy you.

Do you realize the severity and the seriousness of this, church?

We are not in peacetime.

Every single one of us is in the midst of a spiritual battle.

This is how Paul understood the issue here in Colossae.

And so, Paul says,

We must see to it that no one takes you captive.

Literally, that word means to be carried off as a slave,

to be hijacked,

taken away like military plunder,

to be stolen.

But just think about that image for a minute.

If you knew that someone was trying to take you captive,

what would you do?

I mean, you would do everything in your power

to keep that from happening, wouldn't you?

If you knew that someone was coming

to take you away from your home,

take you away from your family,

take you away from your job,

take you away from your possessions,

what would you do?

You would fortify your defenses, wouldn't you?

You'd probably buy some guns and ammo, wouldn't you?

Some of you live like this already.

And you would stock up.

You might learn some self-defense.

You would seal up the doors.

You would lock them well at night.

You would probably put alarms in your home.

You would be mindful of your surroundings.

You would be mindful of who was near you.

You would pay attention to their mannerisms.

You would listen closely to what they had to say.

You would be on guard.

You would see to it

that no one took you captive, wouldn't you?

Paul says, in fact, there are some

who would take you captive.

The threat is very real.

There are some who would take you captive

out in the world

who would very much like to steal you away

and take you as their slave.

But they don't come by force.

They don't come knocking down your door.

They come to take you captive

not with weapons,

but with words.

With ideas.

With false systems of thought

that are, as Paul says,

not according to Christ.

The enemy would seek to take you captive

by lying to you

and leading you to believe

any system of thought

that is not according to Christ.

Meaning,

any system of thought

that belittles the glory of God.

And Paul says,

see to it

that no one takes you captive

with philosophy

and empty deceit.

This word philosophy,

this isn't like philosophy in general,

like what you might have studied in school,

like Plato and Aristotle.

This is a word

that's used in Paul's day

to refer to any system of thought,

any system of teaching.

And again,

he's contrasting

this system of teaching

with the faith

that they received.

The truth

that they were taught

by Epaphras.

This false teaching

is not according to

the tradition.

It is according to

human tradition.

It's not according to Christ.

It's according to

the elemental spirits

of the world.

And there's a variety

of understanding

and opinions

on what that phrase means.

I think most likely

he's referring to demons

here.

But most importantly though,

here's the key,

it is not according

to Christ.

And do you notice

the irony here?

These false teachers

promise fullness

by their teaching,

but how does Paul

describe it?

It is empty deceit.

False teaching

promises fullness

and joy apart

from Christ,

but at the end of the day

it can never deliver.

We must see

to it

that we are not

taken

captive.

John MacArthur

preached a sermon

on this text

and I'm thankful

that he did

because he identified

several components

of this particular

false teaching

that's happening

here in Colossae.

Again,

we don't know

exactly what it was

specifically to be able

to put a label on it,

but he identified

four key components

of it.

For one,

he says,

this false teaching

has hints of humanism.

It has in it,

it's rooted in

human tradition,

human wisdom,

love of human ideas.

And for another,

it involves legalism,

this extra-biblical

commands of

do not handle,

do not taste,

do not touch,

these extra-biblical

rules and regulations,

all of which were rooted

in Jewish teaching,

by the way.

Third,

it involved mysticism,

this worship of angels,

obsession with the

spiritual realms

and authorities.

And fourth,

it involved

asceticism,

harshness

to the body,

cutting the body

to enhance the spiritual.

This is what the

Colossians were facing

and all of it

sounds convincing enough

and all of it

looks impressive enough,

all of it on the surface

looks appealing.

Paul says,

none of it

is according to Christ.

These false teachers,

maybe they mean well

in their own mind,

I don't know,

I'm sure that they're

convinced that they are

right,

but they're playing

a role

in a demonic agenda

to undermine

the purity

of the church

and to take people

captive

to lies.

Do you realize

we still face

these same threats

today?

We face

our own isms.

They may not be

the exact same things

that the Colossians

were facing,

but the enemy

is not done

trying to take

people captive

and undermine

the purity

of the church,

is he?

How tempted

is the church

today

to pursue

legalism?

Do not handle,

do not taste,

do not touch.

It is unbelievable

how quickly

a church

can develop

a culture

of legalism,

adding rules

and expectations

that have nothing

to do with Christ

and the gospel,

but what must

be followed

in order to be in.

That's legalism.

How tempted

is the church

to pursue

modernism?

To reject

this whole

doctrinal thing,

this whole

truth thing,

and to reject

church tradition

in order to

appeal to

a new generation,

to be modern

and to be fresh.

I went to a church

years ago

in a different city

and all I remember

from that service

was they played

a Rocky clip

on the screen

and a Taylor Swift

song from the stage.

I don't remember

what was preached.

How tempted

is the church

to pursue

modernism?

How tempted

is the church

to run

after theological

liberalism?

Do you realize

that entire

denominations

are falling apart

because they

have embraced

the lie,

the idea

that the atoning

work of Jesus

Christ is somehow

secondary to

affirmation and

acceptance of

things that the

Bible clearly calls

us to understand

are sinful.

How tempted

is the church

to obsess

over political

activism?

Insisting

that real

Christians must

vote this way,

do this thing,

promote this

candidate in order

to be truly

faithful to the

Lord.

I mean,

be engaged

all you want.

That is wonderful.

But when a church

looks more like a

political rally

than a worship

service,

we have a problem.

How tempted

is the church

to chase

reactionarianism?

That's not a word.

I made that one up.

You won't find that

in a dictionary.

I can't tell you

how many times

I have seen

or heard

someone say

something like,

if your church

doesn't talk about

fill in the blank

this Sunday,

you better find

a new church.

Give me a break.

Now,

I'm not saying

turn a blind eye

to the culture.

Of course,

pay attention

to the culture.

But there are

always cultural

issues to

obsess over.

There's always

a cultural

emergency

to respond to.

Can we just

be busy

talking about

Jesus?

One more.

Have I stepped

on any toes yet?

One more

for our

denomination

in particular.

How tempted

is the church

to run

after pragmatism?

Chasing a

whatever works

mindset

and philosophy

of ministry

over what

has God

said?

Philosophy

of ministry.

Choosing

rather to do

whatever will

fill empty

seats than

to trust the

word of God

to do the

work of

ministry.

See,

the forms

of the lie

may look a

little different

from generation

to generation.

Our isms

may be different

than the isms

that the

Colossian church

faced.

But church,

the essence

is the same.

The playbook

of the enemy

has not

changed.

He wants

to take

you captive

with the

idea

that something

beyond Christ

is what we

really need

to obsess

over.

Do

not

let

them

do it.

See

to it

that no

one

takes you

captive

by any

teaching

that is

not

according

to Christ.

Why?

Because

church,

Christ

Jesus

is all

that we

need.

Haven't

we seen

who Jesus

is?

And Paul

reminds us

once again

who Jesus

is here

at the end

of our passage.

I want to show

you two

breathtaking truths

here as we

close.

Where Paul

shows us

in verses

9 and 10

he brings us

back to where

we need to

fix our eyes.

He brings us

back to the

glory of Christ.

He says

first truth

in him

all the

fullness of

deity dwells

bodily.

Who is

Jesus?

He is

the fullness

of God

in the

flesh.

You remember

that issue

of asceticism?

We need

to be hard

on the body

and put

away the

body

and eliminate

the body

in order

to emphasize

the spiritual.

Paul says

y'all got

this all

backwards.

No,

no,

no,

no,

no.

Jesus

is God

incarnate.

He is

God

in the

flesh.

Jesus

took on

a body.

He entered

into skin

and flesh

and blood

and bone

and he

is even

now in

glory.

He lives

and reigns

and rules

in a

resurrected

body,

the same

exact type

of body

you and

I will

have

when we

join him

in glory.

This is

check and

mate for

these false

teachers.

The problem

isn't the

body.

Jesus came

in the body

to redeem

the body.

Your body

is very

much a

part of

God's

plan of

redemption.

The whole

fullness of

deity dwells

in him

bodily.

And he

says second

truth,

you have

been filled

in him

who is the

head of

all rule

and authority.

So why

would I

worship an

angel or

submit to

the teaching

of a

demon when

I can

worship the

one who

is the

head of

all rule

and

authority.

He is

God in

the flesh

and you

have been

filled in

him.

This is

what it

means to

be a

Christian

church.

You

have been

filled in

him.

So what

could anyone

else add

to you that

Jesus is

not already

for you?

You have

been filled

in him who

is the

very fullness

of God.

Are you

filled in

Christ?

If not,

then friend,

the call of

this passage

is to put

your faith

in Christ,

to shun

and turn

away from

the empty

deceit of

the world

and to

come to

Christ to

find full

satisfaction

in him,

to put

your faith

in him

and find

what it

means to

be truly

spiritually

satisfied.

Charles

Spurgeon,

in his book

The Soul

Winner,

gave some

advice for

Christian

preaching,

good

Christian

gospel

preaching.

He said

this,

he said,

I believe

that those

sermons

which are

the fullest

of Christ

are the

most likely

to be

blessed

to the

conversion

of the

hearers.

Let

your

sermons

be full

of Christ

from

beginning

to end

crammed

full of

the gospel.

As for

myself,

brethren,

I cannot

preach

anything

but Christ

and his

cross,

for I

know

nothing

else.

And long

ago,

like the

apostle

Paul,

I determined

not to

know

anything

else

save

Jesus

Christ

and

him

crucified.

People

have

often

asked

me,

what's

the

secret

of

your

success?

I've

always

answered

that I

have no

other

secret

but this,

that I

have

preached

the

gospel,

not

about

the

gospel,

but

the

gospel,

the

full,

free,

glorious

gospel

of the

living

Christ,

who is

the

incarnation

of the

good

news.

Preach

Jesus

Christ,

brethren,

always and

everywhere,

and every

time you

preach,

be sure to

have much

of Jesus

Christ in

the sermon.

You know,

that's not just

advice for good

Christian preaching.

that is advice

for good

Christian living.

Let your

life be

full of

Christ

from

beginning

to end,

crammed

full of

the gospel.

Know

nothing else

save Christ

and him

crucified.

And when

others ask

you what

your secret

is,

always have

the answer

to give

that you

have received

Christ,

the full,

free,

glorious

Christ.

And so

you walk

in him

and resist

everything else.

Let's pray.

Father,

we ask

would you

root us

and build

us up

and establish

us in

Christ.

Christ.

We ask

would you

fill our

hearts with

thankfulness

to Jesus

for who he

is and

what he's

done so

full that

we have

no room

to listen

to the

lies of

the enemy.

Would you

guard this

church

from every

false system

of doctrine

that would

undermine

the glory

of Jesus?

Would you

help us

constantly

to look

to him

with joyful

faith

for who

he is

and what

he's

done?

We love

you,

Father.

We pray

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.