← ArchiveColossiansSunday, November 6, 2016DateNovember 6, 2016Speaker—TextColossians 2Passages in this sermonColossians 21:21Colossians 2:1–104:15TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00is the image of the invisible god the firstborn of all creation but by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together and he is the head of the body the church he is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent for in him all the fullness0:25of god was pleased to dwell and to him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross in him our ransomed soul will find rest and one day we will have eternal rest0:54but i'm thankful today that god gave many of you an hour's extra rest for those you have little kids you will you realize that although we can change our clocks and although my iphone woke me up the correct time that our kids still thought it was 6 30 and not 5 30 so i i will wait one day that god gives me eternal rest because i did not have my our last night if you have your bibles with you and i i hope and pray that you do turn to colossians chapter 21:21we are journeying through colossians and with a sermon series entitled all about jesus and in my message this morning is entitled the deception versus deliverance i've entitled the deception of religion versus the deliverance of jesus christ but you can fill in the blank there it could be the deception of the world1:50the deception of the bible belt the deception of your home the deception of x compared to the deliverance and the freedom that we find only in jesus christ religion is identified and defined in this way the belief in and worship of a superhuman power a particular system of faith a pursuit of interest2:12into which someone ascribes supreme importance and we live in a time and it's not different than thousands of years ago where people say well as long as you're worshiping something god will honor that and god will reward that that is not what the bible says that is not what jesus christ says jesus christ says the opposite he says2:37i jesus am the the way and the truth and the life without the truth you don't have the way without the way you don't have the truth and without either you don't have eternal life second timothy reminds us in the last days by the way welcome to them people will be lovers of themselves3:01right selfie generation lovers of money right affluent americans boastful proud blasphemers right politicians disobedient to parents right kids ungrateful unholy unloving irreconcilable slanderers without self-control brutal without love for what is good3:25traitors reckless conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god man sound familiar and then paul says this in second timothy he said having the appearance of godliness yet denying its power now the reason i i begin here before we look at colossus because3:51if we are not careful we can do church and we can look like we have godliness and yet we deny its power in our life so we are going to see a book of the bible written to church people we can't miss that fact that paul says do not be deceived church folk do not be deceived because only christ is the answer so let's read colossians chapter 2 verses 14:15through 10 colossians chapter 2 verses 1 through 10 i'm going to plug our wednesday night services if you if you were here wednesday night this is a familiar passage because we have already prayed over this together we've already read this so if you're looking for something to do on wednesday nights and would like to gather around like4:41like-minded people who pray and seek the lord together wednesday night at 6 30 we would love to have you colossians 2 verse 1 i want you to know what a great conflict i have for those in laodicea and for you also for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love attaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding5:06to the knowledge of the mystery of god both of the father and of christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge now i say this lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words now circle that because we're going to camp out on verse 4 this morning for though i am absent in the flesh i am with you in spirit rejoicing to see your good order and steadfastness of your faith in christ5:36as though therefore you have received christ jesus the lord so walk in him rooted and built up established in the faith you have been taught abounding in it with thanksgiving beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men according to the basic principles6:00of the world and not according to christ for in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily you are complete in him you are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power let's pray father lord so we read your word lord may we not be hearers only but may we be doers lord where there is sin in our6:29life can bring conviction lord where we are worn out and weary give us strength lord if there is someone here that is blind to the gospel that they have not received jesus christ yet lord i pray that they will respond to your grace this morning lord that we would be built up rooted in you and we would know the6:52truth that in jesus christ we are complete lacking nothing lord i pray this in jesus name amen and amen screw tape writing to his young wormwood in the the book screw tape by c.s lewis said error old error in a new dress is error nonetheless old error and new dress is error nonetheless so we7:15continue our series and all about jesus with an admonition and a warning to the church and what is paul's warning here in verse four he's saying bethel church the invisible church and the visible church what should we watch out for in verse four now this i say list anyone should deceive you now i know many of you had have had an extra hour of sleep okay7:44lest i say this should anyone deceive you with persuasive words so why would god give us this unless we are prone to be deceived right now before we point fingers and say those pagan heathens out these outside the walls of these church i can't believe they're deceived by the world that is not what paul is saying here he is writing to the church saying you guys us do not be deceived that's my8:12first point do not be deceived you see deception is anything that draws us away from the truth of the gospel not just the gospel but the whole gospel that's why we believe here we stand firm that we declare the whole gospel to the whole person to the whole worlds it is important that we stand upon the entire council of god because if i stand on something that i've created is no longer the gospel and i am8:41now walking in deception but this is why it's difficult for us you see in order to recognize deception we must first recognize truth we must recognize the truth and so i ask you do you know jesus christ my testimony is mirrored to what dan shared with you earlier that i grew up in church and i don't i don't9:10i don't say this as a boast but by the time i was 12 i knew more scripture verses in my mind than most adults would ever know but there's a problem with that i didn't know jesus christ personally i knew about him i knew some of the gospel but i had not yet received christ and so i did not know9:34truth from deception because i didn't know truth and so do you truly know jesus christ and you say well pastor i've grown up in church of course i do you're being deceived he said well i watch pastors on tv you're being deceived we say well i've grown up with a bible in my in my house in my hand but if we have9:56not received the grace of jesus christ personally you are being deceived in your life do you know the truth of jesus christ do you know the glorious power of his words how important is it for us to know god's word and as i read second timothy earlier it seemed like god is penetrating our culture that in10:22the end times there will be people who are lovers of self welcome to our worlds this was written thousands of years ago and yet god is still impacting our world there will be people in the last days who boast in themselves lord i can't wait till tuesday i mean just personally i don't know how it's all going to shake out i know who the king is10:50so the the little kings i'm not worried about but it seems like we seek people in our lives that are boasting in themselves and not in jesus christ and here's the problem with our culture that we have created most people that boast in christ and him alone won't ever get on tv because in order for us to put them on a pedestal you have to boast in yourself11:16that we would not be deceived by the world actually the bible says about god's word in jeremiah that it's a hammer you know that god's word can shatter a hard heart and a hard head you know how i know that because he shattered mine and if you are here and you say well you just don't know what i've been through i want you to11:41know that every time you hear god's word god is pounding on your heart as a hammer would pound on a nail god's word also is said to be a fire that can bring warmth to any cold heart any dead body and we also know that god's word is a light that it would be a light into my feet and a lamp into my path that when we are in darkness god's word shines forth and when we are encountering deception12:07god's word would shine forth you so pastor what are you getting at often we don't know deception until it's too late i believe that many times churches church people christians have been deceived and it's too late it's not too late for christ he can forgive us of that and he can change our lives i was reminded of this several years ago um we're about to pay it off so that's why i know12:34but i found a good deal on a car in new orleans and we've been looking for a car for um several years well several months because we we had eli and we said you know what the the ultima kind of got small quick especially when you add car seats and it said lord we just we're gonna pray and so i was looking for a certain car and i found that car in new orleans and i was actually going to new orleans that day to teach at seminary so i had the the perfect car the perfect deal one problem i didn't bring my wife13:03along has nothing to do with her i will never buy a car by myself again it's just personally that's not that's not a spiritual endeavor it's just a personal so i i get this car i i get in it i drive it i'm like man this is nice right mechanically it's good and we got a good deal and i was in and out no13:29problem i drive it home i'm like dear look at your new car and so she she wasn't too enthused yet she just starts to walk around the car i'm like what is she doing they're like baby i got you this you know i got you this new car i would never call her baby by the way i saw her face there but just pretend this is a story it's a pastor story i get some freedom of expression13:53and she walks to the hood and you know what she says she said it looks like it's been wrecked i said no i would never buy a car that's been wrecked i'm like lord what did i do and so i i go to the carfax and i pull it up and sure enough14:19i believe it's the front right fender bender from a year prior now they didn't tell me it was wrecked now to their credit though i didn't ask but i i got home thinking you know what i've been deceived and the lord and his sovereign grace two weeks two i think it was two months later we we wrecked it again14:45so i was like don't worry about that right at thanksgiving that we were a mile from my grandma's house and someone ran a red light and just plowed into us uh almost totaled it but i began to think you know there are times in our life where we don't know deception until we've already bought the car and we've taken it home and some of you have been eating up what the world has been telling you15:11you'll turn on talk shows or popular shows and and you bought the lie well i know you're a christian but you know everyone else worships everything else and um don't worry it'll all work in the end that is not what jesus christ says actually jesus comes to tell us he says i am god in flesh in christ the fullness of god dwells bodily so if you believe well it doesn't matter what we worship you have bought a lie and you have brought it in your home and that lie is wrecked may we15:41have discernment that christ would give us more often as paul says in verse 4 he says beware lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words that reminds me that we need to be very careful when things sound too good to be true man that pastor really sounds good16:04well maybe he does and maybe he is god-fearing and god-centered that's that's wonderful when our gifts mirror god's spirit but there are times when persuasive words are persuasive because they're deceptive not because they're true be careful when things sound too good to be true be careful when things sound too good to be true for you because there are things that people can say that we would16:33we would say oh amen i love to hear that if you have to say i love to hear it the bible says in the last days that people will preach to your itching ears if you say well that just sounds really good to my ears oh may god cleanse us from deception often what is good for our ears is destructive to our soul16:54so we must ask does the church does the pastor does the philosophy does the strategy that i am hearing and that i'm abiding by push me deeper into god's grace into his word the day i preach and i don't open my bible is the day that you should be knocking at my door saying pastor what happened today because that's the day where you can't say what a great sermon you can say what persuasive words you17:24preached i like the illustrations i like the car story but pastor you didn't open god's word and we stand upon god's word be careful of persuasive words and we say well then how how do we know what's deceptive look at verse eight beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy now the word philosophy here17:50there's not this academic philosophy the word philosophy here is used for any tradition that you might be a rules i said well what sir what is your rule he said well i'm just going to stay to myself and keep my nose clean and god will accept me i think what does it what does that even mean you're going to be a hermit and with a clean nose um right but here's the lie that we buy many of us think well if i just work hard18:19if i go to church when i can god will accept me oh that is a lie from hell may we not be deceived you see often religious life is a system of convenience and convenience does not result in a life change we do things to make systems and programs that we say well lord i'm just going to have a microwave christianity make it convenient for me make a system18:49god let me just say a prayer and let me go on with my life that is not salvation it is not the gospel convenience actually leads to chameleon behavior we're not careful many of us will change colors on sundays some of you changed to crimson today i don't know how that happened saw a lot see a lot of those shirts today19:17but it might be another color blue green many of us have a spiritual color that will change when we get around spiritual people maybe it's blue maybe it's gray and then when we get in another environment our external shell changes again we get back to work on monday morning and we turn back to our real color you know what that is black that's that's the color of our heart without christ may we not be deceived into convenience because belief that does not impact my behavior is useless19:47a belief that does not impact my behavior is useless it's deception it is not christ paul warns us again in verse 8 he says be careful that anyone would cheat you with philosophy or empty deceit the word emptiness means hollow because we live in a world that that says this do what you feel is best20:15do what you do just do in your life what feels right as if our feeling has any impact on god's grace and mercy and listen to the music that we we are attracted to listen to the the services that we are we gravitate towards sometimes the music that we have is almost has this rhythmic behavior where it starts quiet and as we worship as we sing it gets louder and louder and louder and the words get more repetitive20:43and repetitive and before you know we're in a frenzy and we don't know why because it feels good and we leave here saying lord we worship and when in reality we've been deceived there's a song that we like at our house right now um it's not ungodly it's not godly either it's just a neutral song i'm not going to say what it is casey don't worry but we love the song when it comes on in the car our kids are like21:10i mean they're they're pumping their arms dancing and they didn't our our 18 month old dances like this and sad thing is her dad dances like this also but we we love it why because it makes us feel good but our relationship with the lord cannot be built on the way i feel because if i'm not careful tomorrow morning i'm not going to feel the same way i did today21:37paul says be careful that anyone would cheat us with emptiness with hollowness with tradition of men hey church we have a lot of traditions not all of them are bad not all of them are good but if it's a tradition we say you know what is a tradition of man we can throw it out or we can take it but it is not gospel be wary what we hold near and dear in our hearts22:01there are times though in our life where the deception is not external it's internal there are times in my life where the biggest deception is not you it's coming from my own heart because some of us buy the lie that i'm a good person because i've grown up in church no you're not and actually without christ you can't be part of the church because you don't know his grace and his mercy22:28jesus makes you the church you don't just go to the church some of you about the lie and i pray that god's word shatters your heart today and by the way i'm thankful you're here i don't believe that's an accident or incident god has called you here to hear his word some of you have bought the lie that you're just too ugly and too nasty inside to be loved by the father22:56i don't think i don't know but i don't think we have any murderers in our audience i'm pretty sure even if we did we don't have any murderers that were murdering christians because they believed in the way but i know a man who did and his name is paul and i know that exact same man was the man who wrote the verses that we just read and he would tell you don't buy the deception you are not beyond god's grace and his mercy23:21don't be deceived is god calling you to salvation today you say why he can't call me not me because i'm unholy you are not me because i'm sinful yes not me because i'm beyond his grace don't listen to that none of us are maybe you're here and you bought the lie that you're too young to serve him you're not too young youth you are not too young to work for the savior maybe you're here you don't23:50remember your youth days and you bought the lie that you're too old to serve him do not believe that lie because until i breathe my last breath i am not too old i am not too weary i am not too worn may we not buy the lie the enemy will tell you at the beginning of your lives it is too soon to serve24:19god he will tell you at the end it is too late oh be not deceived jc ryle says but pastor okay i get it don't be deceived don't be deceived empty philosophies i don't want to do that so how then do we find deliverance oh it is found in jesus christ it is found in jesus christ verse six as you therefore have received24:41christ jesus the lord so walk in him how do we find deliverance in our life it is found in verse six it is found through the good news of jesus receive christ jesus well how do we receive him this verse is not only a matter of believing in a person it is also a commitment to his truth25:06because some of us believe well i believe in jesus i celebrate christmas so of course i believe and yet you are not committed to following his word living for him you don't truly believe have you received his mercy that is freely offered have you received at verse six receive christ jesus25:29so walk in him bonhoeffer defined cheap grace this way the preaching of forgiveness without repentance baptism without church discipline communion without confession cheap grace is grace without discipleship grace without christ jesus have you received him as lord today he died for you knowing that you were in25:53your sin he still died for you to find deliverance look to jesus to find deliverance look to jesus verse six to find deliverance receive christ jesus and walk in him so are you walking well look at the words that paul uses he says walk this way sounds like a song it would be really be a good song i26:23imagine rooted verse seven the word rooted is comes from the land the environment of horticulture it is to to sink your roots down in christ the tense is completed action but continuing results paul is saying if you have rooted yourself in christ he will continue to work in your life are you rooted on the firm foundation26:48of christ i couldn't help but think of a tumbleweed in this illustration of being rooted in christ you see tumbleweeds have a single rather narrow root that turns brittle with age and tumbleweeds can be massive they can grow fast but they have a very single brittle root and as they get older with age27:12the wind comes and they blow the tumbleweeds and then the tumbleweeds are at the mercy of the winds and my fears for some here is that you've bought the idea that you can have a little root in jesus and live your life like you want to live and you wonder why guys the wind's blowing you any way it wants because you don't have roots and the word paul uses not you sink a little root and then go on with your27:38life it is you have put your faith in christ rooted in him and that root will sustain you throughout your life oh that we would be delivered and rooted in jesus christ how are your roots today how are your roots don't have a tumbleweed faith stay rooted in him then paul says this not only be rooted in christ but verse 7 not only be rooted but i heard it built up so not only using land from the farm but now land from28:11construction so why would we have to be built up one because jesus christ was a carpenter by trade and if anyone knows how to build you a good house it's jesus but he also says this truth that if we are like houses being built you're not finished yet so if you came in here thinking your house was built you're done i got news for you28:40there's still some some rooms to be built they still got to pour the sidewalk or something they still had to do the landscaping but the joy of scripture is this that if i am to be built up in christ i'm not the one building myself jesus is the one building me and i know i'm not done yet but that means he's not done with me yet i love that truth put your faith in christ be rooted in him and be29:07built up and when you say i'm tired of being built jesus says hey i'm a carpenter i got this i'll build you maybe you're here and you're just worn you say lord i need i need some remodeling today father i need you to build me up with your truth do not worry he is not finished with you yet if you believe in him be rooted built up in him and established in the faith the word established29:34means to have a firm guarantee to be confirmed by his faith to be validated translators are are not sure of how to translate this verse they ask is it to be strengthened in the faith or be strengthened by your faith and i say yes there are times where we are struggling and our29:57faith strengthens us for those who believe and there are times where you are struggling and it is your faith that strengthens you and so if you're on a mountain today i say may your strength come from your faith may you be carried by that as we sing oh the old rugged cross but if you're here today you say well i'm not i'm not there on the mountain i'm down lower know that your faith will carry you through30:25established in the faith as you have been taught abounding in it paul says hey grow in your faith how do we avoid deception by growing in his word get into god's word until his word gets into you and just because you have a bible in the home does not mean it's in your hearts that's convicting for me because we we have a bible in every room not only do we have a bible in every30:53room i have a bible on my ipad and a bible on my phone and we can be bibled out and we fool ourselves to thinking hey because my bible is on my kitchen table then it's just going to jump into my heart god didn't tell you that satan told you that because if i'm not putting it in my ears and reading it in my through my eyes and putting it in my heart i have deceived myself be taught in god's word be31:20delivered in him and then he says this find deliverance compared to this deception be rooted built up established in the faith as you have been taught abounding in it with thanksgiving now this does not mean go eat a lot i know some of your minds went there you're already in nfl watching the lions31:44play i don't know who they're playing after dinner in a semi-conscious state on your recliner this is not what paul is saying that he's not saying the holiday thanksgiving what paul is saying is the green leaves as green leaves are a sign of healthy tree so too thanksgiving is a sign of a healthy soul as green leaves are a sign of a healthy tree and we understand that right now because many of us32:16see our grass and our trees dying so too thanksgiving is a sign of a healthy soul in christ you show me a miserable christian i'll show you someone that doesn't know jesus really show me a miserable christian because i have seen people and i have walked with them through cancer through alzheimer's through lou gehrig's disease i've seen people that have looked at the ugliness of this world and they have not lost hope or32:46thanksgiving because they are rooted in jesus christ and i have seen other people that call themselves believers that they stub their toe and their world falls apart they cuss the door they cuss the toe they cuss god and i would say that's a life that's about me and not him and so if your life is not very thankful today maybe you don't have much to be thankful about and maybe when you receive jesus this33:13morning he will radically change your life and you will find thanksgiving that will not run dry church do not be deceived but be delivered in jesus christ i think one of the largest deceptions in in our life right now and it's a blessing but it can also be if we're not careful a curse33:39it's something that we call the bible belt i've actually never physically seen the bible belt but i've lived in it this is how it's defined online because everything online is true the bible belt is an informal region in the southeast and central united states in which socially conservative evangelical protestantism plays a strong role in society and politics34:05and christian church attendance across these the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average we say well pastor what are you saying you don't like the south no but i'm saying many of us have been fooled because we live in the south and we think we're moral people than northerners i know you do and that because we go to church more than other people that we are automatically saved34:36and if that were true jesus would not had to die for us but the reality of the good news is that he did die he died to save us and may we not buy into the lie that is our worlds may we not buy into the lie that you know what if it was if we just go back to the good old days this this world will be changed you had to go back thousands and thousands of years ago before the35:06fall in the garden of eden those are the good old days may we not buy the lie the deception the tradition of hollow men and the emptiness of this world but today may you find deliverance in jesus christ and him alone god's word says this and i will leave you here this morning for in jesus dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily and you are complete35:36we live in an environment that says you're not complete and jesus says if you put your faith in me you have everything you need we're gonna have a time of response and i'm gonna invite you to the to the altar just to respond to the lord today i believe i not only believe i know there are people here this morning that do not know jesus christ personally you know about him but you have not received jesus as lord and savior36:05if that is you i pray that god takes the lens off that deception right now and you put your faith in jesus and you say well pastor speaking to me no the holy spirit is and i pray that you would hear the holy spirit speak in your heart and that you would respond maybe you bought the lie that but i would love to pastor but i just i am i am not where i need to be you will never be where you need to be36:33spiritually and may you see that may you humble yourself and may you repent of your sins and find forgiveness at the foot of the cross maybe you're here and you just feel like a tumbleweed this morning you know you have a root but it's small and you feel like you've been blown to and fro and you say pastor i know i'm a believer i know i'm established in my faith but i'm struggling37:03maybe you just need to spend time and say lord establish build in me no no in my heart that i am built up and that i in jesus christ am made complete do not buy the lie that you must do it on your own it is christ and him alone that completes us maybe you're here you've been deceived that you're too young to serve the lord and he has been encouraging you and been working with you and you say i'm just not there yet37:32or maybe you're on the other end you say i'm too old to serve do not buy the lie that you cannot serve your savior because he has saved you to serve him he has saved you for his purposes he has saved us to be the church and be the body of christ and may we respond to the good news of jesus in a way that would radically change us and forever change our world let's pray father37:57Thank you.38:08Thank you.← Previous in ColossiansSunday, October 23, 2016Next in Colossians →Sunday, November 13, 2016More sermons on Colossians →
