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Epistle of Paul to the
Colossians V
Fred R.
Coulter—November 27, 1993
Now we are
continuing on in our series in the book of Colossians, which (as we saw last
time) Colossians 2 was the most difficult chapter in the book and perhaps one
of the most difficult chapters of the writings of the Apostle Paul outside of
the book of Romans. Now let’s review just a little bit. Let’s understand that
everything that is said in Colossians, the second chapter, then is built upon
everything that is said in the first chapter. And the entire problem that they
had at the church at Colossae was that they were being inundated with false
teachers who were coming in bringing philosophy. And we saw that how the second
chapter was built upon an A/B kind of construction where as: ‘A’ is
for God and ‘B’ is for man. Now let’s review the verses again
which are for man/which are for God.
Let’s come
to Colossians 2:2; this is ‘A’—for God:
- “That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit
together…” and so forth.
- “…in Whom are hid…” (v 3)
- “…the mystery of God, and of the Father and of
Christ…” (v 2)
- “…in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge” (v 3)
And as we
mentioned last time, this would be the most appropriate place, in fact, if the doctrine of the trinity were ever taught in the Bible, it would almost be
demanded to be added here; because if the ‘mystery of God’ contains the Holy
Spirit as a person or a form of a third being in a triune Godhead, then it
would have to be mentioned in v 2. And it should read then: “…unto the knowledge
of the mystery of God, and of the Father and of Christ”—and
it doesn’t say—and of the Holy Spirit. So this is a good proof by
negation or the lack of having it there that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is
not true as taught in most nearly every other church. So v 3 says: “In Whom…
[that is God the Father and Jesus Christ] …are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge.”
Now v 4 is ‘B’: “Now this I say so that
no one may deceive [beguile] you by persuasive speech.” Now why would they be beguiled or
deceived? And of course, the word ‘beguile’ means to deceive with enticing
words—and they sound good. Then he again reaffirms that they are in
Christ. Let’s come over here to v 6: “Therefore, as you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, be walking in Him… [not in the beguiling words of
men.] …Being rooted and
built up in Him, and being confirmed in the faith, exactly as you
were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving…. [Now notice the ‘B’—contrasting
what men would do.] …Be
on guard so that no one takes you captive through philosophy and vain deceit,
according to the traditions of men, according to the elements of the world, and
not according to Christ” (vs 4-8).
Question:
What is the trinity called? It is called a tradition, is it not? Yes,
it is. Now there are many traditions in philosophy that people follow, as
we will see. But notice again it is comparing their status in Christ, as they
have been built up in Him and established in Him as compared to men who are
coming around and trying to spoil them. Spoil means to hunt down as a prey
or an animal seeking to kill someone, through philosophy, ‘philosophia’: the love of wisdom
and vain deceit, which then are the fables and the tales and “the
traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world”—and those rudiments
of the world are guided by demons and “not after Christ.”
Back to ‘A’ again: “For in Him”—God—It goes back to God and Christ (v
9)—then all the way down through v 15, has to do with what God has done.
“For in Him [Christ], dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily…. [And that
could be all the fullness of Deity, the fullness of what it is to be Divine is
found wholly in Christ bodily.] …And you are complete in Him… [Which then also
refers to Christ, which then goes back to the mystery of God the Father and
Christ.] …You are complete in Him… [That is a profound statement! We will come
back and review that again here before we are done.] …In Whom you have also
been circumcised with the circumcision not made by hands, in putting off
the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (vs 9-11).
Which is then accomplished by baptism and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.
That is why, then in v 12 he goes right on: “Having been buried with Him in baptism… [That is
the circumcision of Christ, to take away the hardness of the heart, to take
away the things that human nature is and to be converted and transformed by the
renewing of your mind with the power of the Holy Spirit.] …by which you have also been raised
with Him through the inner working of God, Who raised Him from the dead.
For you, who were once dead in your sins and in the
uncircumcision of your flesh…” (vs 12-13). Now, everyone is dead in sin, until they
accept Christ, everyone is dead in sin. Why? Because the ‘wages of sin is
death.’ The only way you can get rid of sin is by repentance
and baptism.
- You can’t get rid of past sins by being better today.
- You can’t get rid of sins that you do today by doing
good works tomorrow.
- You cannot be made right before God by what you do or
by the prescriptions of what other people tell you to do, which follow
philosophy and do not follow Christ.
“For you, who were once dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh…” (v 13). Which then again is
another proof that the congregation at Colossae was Gentile and was not Jewish.
There is no circumcision/uncircumcision controversy in the book of Colossians;
and this becomes very important when we come to v 16, because it is claimed by
those who come to the book of Colossians with preconceived notions about what
they believe and what it is saying, make the claim that they were told in v 16,
not to keep the commandments of God, having to do with eating and drinking and
the Sabbath and the festival, etc. They were told that was a command to not do
it, but we will see that that is a complete, absolute, incorrect interpretation
of that verse.
Now let’s
come back to v 13 and we will finish it up here: “…For you, who were once dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has now made alive [quickened (KJV)]
with Him… [Now how
is that done?] …having forgiven all your trespasses…. [And as we
saw last time, all trespasses means all the sins, everything that has caused
sin, now being Gentiles in the past, and following philosophy in the past,
their past religion caused them to be ‘dead in their sins.’ So he makes it very
emphatic here.] …having forgiven all your trespasses. He has blotted out the note of debt
against us with the decrees of our sins, which was contrary to
us; and He has taken it away, having nailed it to the cross” (vs
13-14).
And as we
saw last time, the only thing that was nailed to the cross was Jesus Christ,
Who represented sin and the little sign over His head, which said King of the
Jews. Nothing else was nailed to the cross. Most of the Protestants believe
that this says, because it says blotting out the handwriting of ordinances,
they think that this means that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ blotted out, did
away and nailed to the cross, the commandments and laws of God, so therefore,
they do not have to keep them. And as we saw, that is a complete, erroneous
interpretation of this. The blotting out of handwritings or the Note of Debt,
have to do with the sins that were caused by the commandments and doctrines of
men, as we will see in just a minute.
So it comes
all the way down through v 15, now let’s finish it off and this is the one then
which is referring to God and what God is doing or the ‘A’ part of the
structure of Colossians the second chapter. “After stripping the principalities and the powers…. [Now who
were they? They are the evil powers of this world.] …He made a public spectacle of them, and has triumphed over them in it…” (v 15)—and the ‘in it’ refers to the
crucifixion and the resurrection and the whole life of Christ. Now after he
goes through from v 9 to v 15, showing how they got to their condition as
Christians, that it was through Christ, that it was through baptism, that it
was through the forgiveness of sin, which Christ can give, that they have the
circumcision made without hands, that they were raised from the watery grave to
walk in newness of life…
Then he
comes to v 16: “Therefore,
do not allow anyone to judge you...” Now what does that statement
mean? It means just what it says, do not let any man, who is
what?—v 4: trying to “beguile you with enticing words”; v 8: trying to
deceive you with “philosophy and the traditions of men.” So these were the men
who were coming in and judging. What were they judging? Well, they were
obviously judging their behavior. And as Gentiles, uncircumcised in the
flesh, in keeping the things which are mentioned here, which come in the rest
of the verse, they were astonished that these disciples, now following Christ,
had given up their philosophy, had given up their way of pagan religion and
were now following the laws and the commandments of God. And they were
astonished that they were following the commands of eating and the commands of
drinking, that they were keeping Holy Days, that they were calculating things
by the new moon rather than by the sun, and that they were regularly keeping
the Sabbath.
So we have
to ask the question then, what does it say, what does v 16 not say? It does not
say, do not keep, it does not say that. It does not say, therefore
let no man keep eating and drinking, or a Holy Day or new moon or Sabbath day.
It does not say that! It says: “Therefore, do not allow anyone to judge you…” And how
are people judged? Well, people are judged by comparison. What were
these evil men comparing their new behavior to, now that they were Christians
and had forsaken the pagan way, what were they comparing their behavior to? Philosophy,
the commandments of men.
Now, let’s
go to another part of ‘A’—which then shows why we are to let no
man do this. Let’s come to v 18, again: “Do not allow anyone...” Now notice we have v 4, we have v
8, we have v 16, now we have v 18: “Do not allow anyone to defraud you [or deceive
you out] of the prize by doing his will in self-abasement… [and a voluntary humility then is taking the vows of asceticism; taking the philosophical—and we
could almost say severe Buddhist way would be more like anything that we would
understand today—in the pagan religion. And it says]: …by doing his will in self-abasement and the worship
of angels, intruding into things that he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his
own carnal mind.”
So you
notice the comparison all the way through. Now let’s just finish these next
verses and then we will go back and we will understand from v 15, 16 on and
complete the second chapter. Now it says that if you are worshipping angels,
which we will go into in a little detail here—v 19: “And not holding fast
to the Head… [Who is the Head? Christ. So in other words, these were all
the things:
- which were taking them away from the calling of God,
- away from the Truth of God,
- away from the commandments of God,
- away from the laws of God,
so
that they would get involved in this philosophical, voluntary humility and the
worshipping of angels. Now that is called the New Age movement today, where
they have channelers, where they worship demon spirits. When you do that, you
get your mind off of Christ.] …And not holding fast to the Head, from Whom all the body, being supplied
and knit together by the joints and bands, is increasing with the
increase of God. Therefore, if you have died together with Christ… [How are
you dead with Christ? You are dead through baptism, you are buried with Him.]
…if you have died
together with Christ from the elements of the world… [Then
which comes right back here to v 8, ‘the rudiments of the world’ are what? Philosophy
and vain tradition of men.] …Therefore, if you have died together with Christ from
the elements of the world, why are you subjecting yourselves to the decrees of men?” (vs 19-20).
Now let’s go back here to v 14: “He has blotted out… [That is
the whole operation of Christ through baptism and your calling.] …blotted out the note of debt against
us with the decrees of our sins, which was contrary to us… [What were
those ordinances? Well, the ordinances, let’s come back to v 20: …why are you subjecting yourselves to the decrees of men as if you were living in the world?…. [Now
here are the ordinances which cause sin, because they were contrary to the laws
and commandments of God.] They say, ‘You
may not handle! You may not taste! You may not touch!’…. [and then
up here worshipping of angels.] (v 22): …The use of all such things leads to corruption… [which
means they have no lasting, eternal value or function. Why?] …according to the commandments and
doctrines of men” (vs 14, 20-22).
So the handwriting
of ordinances were those things which were the commandments and doctrines
and teachings of men, which established the pagan religion of
philosophy—and from that they had been called. And from that operation of
what is called, in philosophy, enlightenment—which we have
in various religions: Masonry, Buddhism, Islamism, Catholicism; all of those
are based on the philosophies of this world. And what happens is that, it is
useless after you have done those things and they are useless before you even
do them, because they have no lasting, eternal value, they have no standing
before God, in Christ.
Verse 23: “Which indeed have an outward
appearance of wisdom… [Again: ‘sophia’—from which we get philosophy.]
…[They] have an outward
appearance of wisdom… [they appear to be intelligent] …in voluntary worship [will-worship] of
angels… [Now will-worship then are those mental things which
make you smarter, which make you greater, which then gives you the will to walk
on coals, to spike yourself with nails and all of this sort of thing. The
punishment of the flesh, the voluntary humility in will-worship, where they
take a vow of celibacy, where they go on pilgrimages or whatever it may be.] …and self-abasement, and unsparing
treatment of the body, not in any respect to the satisfying of the
needs of the flesh”—which means it does not stop. It does not
control the carnal flesh and the drive of sin.
Now let’s
come back to Colossians 2:16 and let’s analyze this one considerably more so we
can understand what is going on here. “Therefore, do not allow anyone to judge you… [Which
means that because you are doing what is listed, you are not to let any man
judge you. What is the very first thing that happens, when you start
following the Word of God and you change your eating habits so you don’t eat
the foods that people normally in this world accept as good? What happens when
you begin to refuse eating pork and sea foods and especially down there in the
Gulf Coast, boy, that is the shrimp haven of the world, you know the oysters,
the clams, the lobsters and all that sort of thing and you begin not eating
those things? Why? Because God is the one Who says not to eat them.
Let’s go
back to Leviticus 11 for just a minute here and let’s see what the Word of God
says about these kinds of foods. Let’s change that to Deuteronomy 14, because
that is the parallel account. Deuteronomy 14 was given just before they went
into the “promised land” and in Leviticus 11, it covers many of the wild
animals which they would encounter in their journey before they got to the
“promised land” so it lists many of the wild animals there that are not
necessarily listed [starting] in Deuteronomy 14:1: “You are the children
of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor make any baldness
between your eyes for the dead…. [Now what is that? That, brethren, is one
of those religious, philosophical practices that the pagans did. And that’s
exactly what Paul as referring to back here in Col. 2.] …For you are a
holy people unto the Lord your God… [Now we are also called Holy people aren’t
we? 1-Peter 2:9: ‘You’re a holy nation, you’re a holy people.’] …and the Lord
has chosen you to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth” (vs 1-2). Now is that not true of us today? Yes,
it is.
Now why are
we not to eat any of these unclean animals? Because we are called, because we
are Holy people. If you eat things that are unclean then you are defiling the
body.
- Does God
want you to be ill? No.
- Does God
want you to be sick? No.
- Does God
want you to suffer ill health because of eating these things? No.
God did not
create certain things to be eaten, as we will see. Verse 3: “You shall not eat
any abominable things. These are the beasts which you shall eat… [This takes
care of vegetarianism as a religious, ascetic way of living. Now some people
have to be vegetarians because of their health or because they have cancer or
because they can’t tolerate meat or whatever the condition may be. However,
this is a command to eat meat.] …These are the beasts which you shall eat; the
ox, the sheep, the goat, the hart, the roebuck, the fallow deer, the wild goat…
[etc., all the way down.] (v 6): …every beast that parts the hoof and cleaves
the cleft into two claws, and chews the cud among the beasts, shall you
eat. Nevertheless these shall you not eat of them that chew the cud, and them
that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, the hare, the coney: for they chew
the cud but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean to you. And
the swine, because it divides the hoof; yet it chews not the cud, it is unclean
to you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcases” (vs
4-8). Then it shows what we are to eat of the waters, everything that has fins
and scales, what we are to eat of the birds, etc.
Now then,
when the brethren at Colossae turned from eating these wrong things and went to
eating the things that are correct, they then were being judged. And this is a
good substantiation that they were following the commandments of God concerning
the eating of things, which were clean or not clean.
Now let’s
come to 1-Timothy, the fourth chapter, and here is one of the places in the New
Testament that people turn to, to try and show that it is okay to eat unclean
things, but just like everything else that many religious people do, they have
an idea in mind and they pick a verse right out of the middle of the context.
So they come here [to] 1-Timothy 4:4-5: “For every creature of God designated for human consumption is good, and nothing to be refused, if it is received with
thanksgiving, Because it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.” So
therefore, all you have to do is to make sure that your pork is refrigerated
and that you cook it well—so it kills all the parasites, etc.—and
then you can go ahead and eat it if you ask the blessing on it.
Now again
let’s go back and look at this verse and we will see that one of the major,
major difficulties we have with people concerning these verses is that they
don’t really read the verses before or after and they don’t dig into it to find
out what it really says. Now then, 1-Timothy 4:1: “Now the Spirit tells us explicitly that in the latter times some shall apostatize from the
faith… [Now when you depart from the faith, what are you leaving?
- You are leaving the Word of God.
- You are leaving Christ.
- You are leaving God the Father.
Correct? Yes,
indeed. So] …some
shall apostatize from the faith, and shall follow deceiving spirits… [Now isn’t
that the same topic that we are talking about in Col. 2, in a voluntary worship
of angels? Yes, it is.] …deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons… [Which are
what? The traditions and philosophies of men after the rudiments of the
world.] …Speaking lies in hypocrisy… [And boy, are we not seeing that on a
vast scale even within the Church of God. And, of course, we are seeing it on a
mammoth scale in the government, speaking lies in hypocrisy, the deliberateness
of their deceit and the underlying subversive, socialist plan that they are
bringing upon us as a nation is almost just unreal. So here are those things
come from demons because they speak lies and hypocrisy. And then you come to a
certain point when you speak lies so much and I think we all know one very
famous man who seems to have this kind of conscience.] …their consciences having been
cauterized with a hot iron…. [They no longer have any shame in
telling lies and teaching the doctrine of demons, why it is just a wonderful,
natural thing to do.
Now v 3
shows some of the problems they had at that time: “Forbidding to marry; and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving… [And we have
the same thing today. What is one of the biggest problems that they have in the
Catholic Church right now? An unmarried priesthood. And what is one of
the problems that they have with the Buddhist religion? An unmarried
priesthood. Which is based then on philosophy and ‘will-worship’ to the
depriving of the flesh. All right, then the next one]: …to abstain [stop
eating] from meats, which
God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, even by those who know the truth.”
Now let’s
analyze this statement here in v 3 just a little bit: …which God created to be
received… [So there were certain things which were] …created to be received
with thanksgiving by the
faithful, even by those who know the truth.” …Now what is truth? God’s
Word is Truth. If you believe the Truth, which is God’s Word; and know the
Truth, which is God’s Word; then you go back and you find out which animals God
created to be received with thanksgiving. Right? Yes. Were there certain
animals that God created not to be received with thanksgiving and not to be
eaten? Yes, indeed! And He tells us which ones they are and which ones
they aren’t.
Now, v 4: “For every creature of God designated
for human consumption is good… [Now, that would be a contradiction
in fact if it meant every creature which God ever created is good for food and
nothing to be refused if it was received with thanksgiving.] (Now v 5 is
another qualifier for v 4): …Because it is sanctified by the Word of God… [Which then is
Truth. Which then is saying that every creature which God created to be eaten
is good and nothing to be refused if it be]: …is received with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified
by the Word of God and prayer.”
So the very
verse that is used to show that it is all right to eat unclean meats—and
by the way, I think that needs to hang on. I think that in other Churches of
God we know of, that they are going to go to the allowance of eating unclean
meats. I have already heard it and one of the reasons is that we have
refrigerators. And so therefore, that makes the meat clean, it is all right to
eat it. Well a refrigerator does not change a condition of creation. Just
remember that.
Now let’s
come back to Colossians 2:16 again: “Therefore, do not allow anyone to judge you in eating or in
drinking… [And we could go through the Scriptures and see that the
Bible allows the drinking of wine and occasionally strong drink, but it
does not tolerate nor endorse drunkenness. Now much of the
philosophical teachings that are in the various religions have to do, that they
are not to drink at all, which is one of those things that people will do in
the form of ‘will-worship’. So here they were drinking, obviously, wine with
the feast that they were having and so forth.] …or with regard to a [Holy Day] festival…”
Now if they
weren’t keeping these Holy Days, how could someone judge or criticize them? It
would not be possible. Remember they had no exposure to the Holy Days. Paul
never went into any synagogue in Colossae to preach. As a matter of fact, it is
not even recorded that he ever even went there and so since Paul went to the
Jews first and went to the synagogues first, he [Paul] probably did not go to
those cities where there was not a synagogue. So therefore, this is another
proof that this was a wholly Gentile congregation having never known the laws
of God nor followed the ways of God. Now the Holy Days are all listed in Lev.
23. And the Holy Days teach us the things that we need to know of God. Now we
will rehearse those in just a bit.
“…or new moon… [Rather
than using a solar calendar, they were now using the new moon as the beginning
of the month, and in particularly, we have today the Feast of Trumpets, which
is the first day of the seventh month.] …or the Sabbaths…[In the Greek this is the Sabbaths,
which is plural, which means a weekly, on-going keeping of the Sabbath] … Which are a foreshadow of the things
that are coming…” (vs 16-17).
Now let’s
review for just a minute and understand why the Holy Days and the Sabbaths and
these other things are a ‘shadow of the coming things.’
- What is one
of the most important things, which is coming, in the whole history of the
world? Well, it is going to be the Kingdom of God—correct?
- What are
they going to be eating and drinking in the Kingdom of God?
- Do you think
that God is going to allow the eating of unclean foods in the Kingdom of God?
- Do you think
that God is going to institute Sunday worship, which is breaking and violating
the Sabbath?
- Do you think
that God is going to carry forward with Christmas and Easter and New Year’s,
which are all based on lies? NO!
Let’s go
back to Isaiah 66; let’s look at a prophecy here—the very last part of
the last chapter of the book of Isaiah—which brings us into what the
Millennium is going to be. And also, it has to do with the Church, as we will
see. Isaiah 66:15: “For, behold, the Lord will come with fire… [That is His
second return.] …and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render in his anger
with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire. For by fire, and by His sword,
will the Lord plead with all flesh… [You tie that in with all of the prophecies
in the book of Revelation and the other prophecies in Isaiah, Jeremiah and
Ezekiel, and so forth.] …and the slain of the Lord shall be many. And they that
sanctify themselves…” (vs 15-17). Which is by what? By worldly, earthly
philosophies and religions.
Now hold
your place right here and let’s go to the book of Ezekiel 8 for just a minute
and we will see some of the things that were done, the practices that the
children of Israel did concerning all of their abominations, which they were
doing, which they were committing against God, which were all based in pagan
religions, which then is pagan philosophy, because pagan religion is pagan
philosophy.
Ezekiel 8:5:
“Then said He to me, ‘Son of man, lift up your eyes now in the way
toward the north.’ So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and,
behold, northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy at the
entry…. [Now this was a pagan image, which was placed right in front of the
temple of God and this is called the image of jealousy.] …He said furthermore
unto me, ‘Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that
the house of Israel commits here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? And
turn you yet again, and you shall see greater abominations’” (vs 5-6).
Question:
Where do these abominations come from? Who is the mother of all of these
abominations? In Revelation 17 it is “Babylon the Great, Mystery Babylon the
Great, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth”—and this
is the practicing of the Babylonian religion right in the temple of God. Now
are we seeing that happening again in one of the Churches of God? Absolutely.
Come over
here to the last sentence in Ezekiel 8:14: “…and behold, there sat women
weeping for Tammuz.” [Which was what? One of the gods of the Babylonians—because
every abomination in religion and all the religions of the world, which are not
of God, come from there, come from Babylon. And we are going to see with the
amalgamation of all these religions of the world, Babylon the Great, come back
home together again.
Back to
Ezekiel 8:6—and He said, “Even the great abominations that the
house of Israel committed here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But
turn you yet again, and I will show you greater abominations. And he
brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the
wall.’ Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I digged
in the wall, behold, a door’…. [A secret entrance.] …And He said to me, ‘Go in,
and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.’ So I went in and saw;
and, behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the
idols of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before
them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel and in the midst of
them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan with every man his censer in his hand;
and a thick cloud of incense went up” (vs 6-11).
Question:
Who were the seventy of the ancients of Israel? That was likened unto what we
would call the Congress today. Do those in the Congress have their secret
organizations to which they belong? Yes, indeed. Do they have their
secret little religious practices that they practice? Yes, they do. This
is exactly what it is talking about. This is all based on the philosophy, which
takes men and people away from God to worship Satan.
Verse 12:
“Then He said unto me, ‘Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the
house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery?’….
[Well, let’s see, we have Masonic temples, we have Knights of Columbus temples,
and we have Odd Fellow temples, and we have Elks, and we have the Moose and
whatever we have, those are all included in what is discussed here in Ezekiel
8.] …Then He said, ‘Turn yet again, and you shall see greater
abominations that they do.’ Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the
Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat women weeping
for Tammuz…. [Right there, weeping for the Babylonian goddess Tammuz, right in
the house of God! What do they always say; ‘Oh, we are delivered to do this.’]
…Then He said unto me, ‘Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn you yet
again, and you shall see greater abominations than these.’ And he brought me
into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and, behold, at the door of the
temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, about five and twenty men,
with their backs toward the temple of God, and their faces toward the east; and
they worshipped the sun toward the east” (vs 12-16).
So there you
have it, loud and clear, right? Are there men in high places that are causing
people to turn back from God to worshipping those pagan deities, which come
down to sun worship? What do they do on Easter sunrise services on top of a
high hill or in front of their churches? Do they not bow down and worship the
sun toward the east?
“Then He
said unto me, ‘Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to
the house of Judah that they commit the abominations, which they commit here:
for they have filled the land with violence, and returned to provoke Me to
anger…. [And do we not have our land filled with violence, today? Is not God
provoked to anger?] …And lo, they put the branch to their nose…. [That is
sniffing at their own pagan religion and the branch, we just need to be very
frank about it, is a phallic symbol. And that is what they are doing with their
religion.] …Therefore will I also deal in fury: My eye shall not spare, neither
will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them’” (vs 17-18).
(go to the
next track)
Now let’s
come back to Isaiah 66 and let’s see some of the other practices that they were
doing. This is why Christ is going to come in fury, this is why Christ is going
to come in power because Satan is going to have deceived the whole world. He’s
going to control the whole world. He is going to lead the whole world, except
those that have the Spirit of God, in rebellion against God and to fight God to
destroy as many human beings as he can and hopefully to destroy God.
Now Isaiah
66:17—so God says He is going to come with fire and his sword and so
forth: “They that sanctify and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst…. [This is, brethren, no less than the eco-freak movement of
today, where trees are counted as having spirits and they go to the grove. And
that’s where the academy of Plato originated, in the groves, where he talked to
the demons. Philosophy. And what do they do?] …eating swine’s
flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse… [So they’re eating all these unclean
things. In many places, mice are considered a delicacy. As a matter of fact, in
Thailand, after they have the harvest of the rice then they drain the fields
and they gather all the rats, heap them into a big pile and they have a deep
fried rat fest. They do! They do!] …For I know their works and their
thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they
shall come, and see my glory” (vs 17-18).
Then it
shows that He is going to bring all of them. Now when God reforms the world,
what is He going to do? Verse 23: “And it shall come to pass… [Here’s the
reformation of the thing which is coming in the Kingdom of God.] …‘And it shall
come to pass, that from one new moon to another, from one Sabbath to
another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me,’ says the Lord.” There you
go. Now, the reason we keep these things is because they are a foreshadowing of
the events, which are coming.
Now let’s
review, just a little bit, concerning the Sabbath and the Holy Days, etc. Let’s
do it this way:
- we will have past, which is Israel,
- we will have present, which is the Church
- we will have future, which is the Kingdom
of God when Christ returns.
Passover
- Past: For Israel. It pictured what? The
passing over of the houses of the children of Israel when they were in Egypt,
when God killed the firstborn of the land of Egypt.
- Present: the Passover Lamb of God, the
crucifixion of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and the passing over of
our sins.
- Future: For the Kingdom of God, when
salvation, through the sacrifice of Christ will be granted to all nations and
the sacrifice of Christ will be applied to all nations at that time.
Feast of
Unleavened Bread:
- Past: House of Israel, in the coming out
of Egypt and leaving the bondage of slavery in Egypt.
- Present: For the Church, coming out of sin,
coming out of the ways of sin, because a little leaven, leavens the whole lump.
- Future: When the world system will be
changed so that there will no longer be a sinful civilization.
Wave Sheaf Offering Day, which is
on the day after the regular Sabbath, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
- Past, for Israel, it pictured the
beginning of the harvest of the firstfruits.
- Present, it pictures the resurrection and
acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior to appear before God the Father in
heaven above for us.
- Future, it pictures the opening of salvation
to all people in the world.
Pentecost:
- Past: to Israel, pictured the receiving
of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai.
- For the New Testament
- Present: Church—It pictured and still
pictures the giving of the Holy Spirit for salvation to all people in general
through repentance and baptism (Acts 2).
- Future: It pictures when God is going to
save the whole world by giving His Holy Spirit available to everyone in the
world.
Feast of Trumpets for Israel:
- Past: When they completely conquered the
land through their warfare, overcame and inherited the promised land.
- Present: the Feast of Trumpets pictures the
birth of Christ.
- Future: It pictures the return of Jesus
Christ in the power and the authority of God Almighty and in the future
it also pictures when the Government of God is going to rule over all the
earth.
Day of Atonement:
- Past: for Israel, the Day of Atonement
pictured when all of their sins were forgiven, officially at the sanctuary and
God would then deal with them again through the next year in spite of the
carnality of their flesh.
- Present: the Day of Atonement pictures that
Jesus Christ has conquered and overcome Satan the devil, that He has carried
our sins and that Satan the devil has been conquered through Christ.
- Future: It pictures when the world will be
at one with God and Satan the devil will be removed and will be bound. Now,
let’s come back to the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Feast of Tabernacles pictures for Israel:
- Past: When they went into the promised
land, when they had all of plenty, when the golden age of Solomon was in
effect.
- Present: It pictures that we are strangers
and sojourners just as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that we are looking for the
Kingdom which comes from God and that we are following God right now. It also
pictures for Christ, when He lived or tabernacled among men on the earth.
- Future: It pictures the millennial reign
of Christ when the universal salvation will be granted to all of those who
choose and accept it.
Last Great Day:
- Past: The Last Great Day for the
children of Israel pictured, when they had a great feast toward God because it
ended living in booths.
- Present: It pictures the pouring out of
God’s Holy Spirit and really there is not too much of a present time
fulfillment for the Last Great Day today that is more totally into the future.
- Future: It pictures the second
resurrection, and the opportunity of salvation for all those who never had an
opportunity for salvation, while they lived a first, physical life.
Now that is
a very, quick summary of the foreshadowing and the meaning of the Holy Days and
the Sabbath. We can go back and let’s picture the Sabbath. The Sabbath was
created by God as a day of fellowship, week in and week out, with His people.
All the way through the Old Testament, the Sabbath was a sign of His people.
Then of course, that also means the Holy Days Exo. 31:13. The Sabbath today
pictures that we are entering into the spiritual rest of
Christ every week. It pictures that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath
and it pictures that we are to be keeping the Sabbath, week-by-week. In the
future, the Sabbath also pictures the millennial reign of Christ. So all of
these things are a shadow or a foreshadow of the coming events in the plan of
God. Now that is why Satan wants to deceive us with philosophy and keep us from
understanding those things by substituting his deceitful way for the Truth of
God.
Let’s come back to Colossians 2:16 again. Now this will make
far more sense when we read it again. “Therefore, do not allow anyone to judge you in eating or in
drinking, or with regard to a festival, or new moon, or the Sabbaths,
Which are a foreshadow of the things that are coming, but the body [is (KJV)]
of Christ” (vs 16-17). Now that is a little difficult verse there, because the
translators of the King James inserted in italics the little verb ‘is’
which is meant to help clarify the topic, but in helping clarify the topic,
they actually confuse it and it actually has this meaning: Which are a
shadow of things to come but the body of Christ, let that body judge you in
observing these things instead of a man. Now that is one meaning of it.
Another meaning is that: The reality of keeping these things which are
foreshadows are found in the body of Christ, which is the Church. And the
second one is probably the more proper understanding of v 17. These things are
a foreshadowing, an advance sign of the things which are coming.
Let me read this in the Amplified Version. Let’s pick
it up here in v 16 and then we’ll go on and we’ll analyze the rest of the
verses and hopefully we will be done with the second chapter of Colossians
today. Here is what I have written in the Amplified Version bringing to
bear all of the Scriptures of the Bible and the Bible understanding to the
verses to help give us a broader understanding.
Colossians 2:16: “Consequently, in the light of (all that has
been written up to this point)… [and that is what the word ‘therefore’ means,
and in King James it says: ‘let no man therefore’—but it should
really be ‘therefore, let no man’] …Consequently, in the light of (all that has
been written up to this point), do not let anyone judge you… [Now ‘judge’ has
this meaning; calling you into account, or assuming censorial power
over you] …in your eating or your drinking, or in regard to, or on account
of your observance of a festival…[which is what it means in the Greek] …or a
new moon, or the Sabbaths.” It is plural in the Greek, and when it is done that
way in the plural it means an ongoing practice—the Sabbaths, on a
regular basis.
Verse 17: “Which are a foreshadowing and an advance sign of
the things which are coming, (actually a foretaste of the coming events in
God’s plan); but (the meaning and reality of observing these things is found)
in the body of Christ, which is the Church.” Now, I hope that through all of
this that you really understand these verses because vs 16 & 17 coupled
with vs 13 & 14 are perhaps the most difficult verses of all that Paul has
written. And you can’t understand those unless you fully realize, as Paul was
writing, that you are complete in Christ. Christ in you is the hope of
glory, that you’re to be rooted and built up and established in Him, as
you have been taught, and you are to avoid and beware of the deceptions of men,
which bring you into the bondage of their demonic religions.
Now we are ready for v 18—again we have the same
situation: “Let no man… [that is: do not allow anyone] …to beguile you
or deceive you of your reward.” Now that’s a very interesting statement, isn’t
it?
Let’s go to 1-Corinthians, the third chapter, and let’s see
what he is talking about here. This talks about how we live our Christian
lives, what we build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and so forth. This is
the thing that is important, this is what Paul is talking about with Christ and
salvation and everything that we are concerning here in Col. 2. 1-Corinthians
3:11: “For no one is able
to lay any other foundation besides that which has been laid, which is Jesus
Christ.” Since Christ died for our sins, rose and is at the right hand
of God; since our salvation is in Him and through Him; and since Christ is in
us, the hope of glory, there is no other foundation that can be laid. You
cannot go back and substitute it for your own will, which is will-worship.
You cannot go back and substitute it with philosophy. You cannot go back and
substitute the revelation of God the Father and Jesus Christ for the doctrine
of the trinity.
“For no
one is able to lay any other foundation besides that which has been laid, which
is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds upon this foundation… [Now if you are
going to build upon the foundation of Christ, how are you going to do it? You
are going to do it by the will and by the Word of God, with His Holy
Spirit. Now then he likens what you could say six classifications of
Christians and their works.] …Now if anyone builds upon this foundation gold… [which is
the finest character as typified by fine gold.] …silver… [which then is
the next most precious metal.] …precious stones… [and notice these
three: gold, silver and precious stones all survive trial by fire. And as a
matter of fact, gold, silver and precious stones are made better because of
trial by fire. But notice the next three]: …wood, hay a or stubble….
[Now what happens to wood, hay and stubble when the fire comes? It burns up.]
(v 13): …The work of each
one shall be manifested; for the day of trial will declare it, because
it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall prove what kind of work each
one’s is. If the work that anyone has built endures, he shall receive a
reward” (vs 11-14). Now our works do not save us, but our works in
Christ—whether it is gold, silver or precious stone—bring us a
reward.
Now
tie that in with Matthew 25 where it talks about what is given to those who
develop with the talents that God gave them, and that is their reward. So he is
saying here about the reward, now notice v 15: “If the work of anyone is burned up… [burned up in
the way of wood, hay and stubble, the three inferior kinds of Christian character.]
…he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet as through
fire.” Now this doesn’t guarantee salvation because you have to tie that in
with Matthew 25, if you go so far that you even burn up the foundation that you
have because you leave it for philosophy or the worshiping of angels, then you
yourself will not be saved. But he is saying that if you build on this
foundation even though it is kind of crumby and it is filled with wood, hay or
stubble, if your heart is right you’re still going to make it, but you aren’t
going to have much of a reward.
So
back here in Colossians 2:18 he says: “Do not allow anyone to [beguile] defraud you of the prize… [Now let’s
see how they do it] …by doing his will in
self-abasement [voluntary humility]… [which includes all the do’s and
don’ts of men. It has to do with all of the rigorous, disciplinary things that
men would enforce in a physical way upon people. And all you have to do is look
at some of the Eastern, philosophical religions and you have the whole
understanding of that.] …and the worship of angels…”—now these angels are not the angels of God,
these are the demonic angels.
Let’s
go back to Revelation 19. If a spirit comes and says worship me, you know it is
not a Spirit from God, you know if a spirit comes and says; ‘I am an angel from
God, worship me’—you know it is not from God. That’s how we know that the
whole Mormon religion is not correct, because it is based upon the angel,
Maroni; and the angel, Maroni, was the one who was Jesus Christ and became an
angel. Now if you want a real twisted conglomeration and amalgamation and
combination of philosophy with so called biblical sounding things, try
Mormonism.
Now let’s
pick it up here in Revelation 19:10—and this was after the angel gave him
the vision here: “Then I
fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, ‘See that you do not do this!… [This was the angel that brought the message.] …See that you do not do this!
I am a fellow servant of yours, and of your brethren, who have the testimony of
Jesus. Worship God... [not angels] …For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’”
Now let’s come here to Revelation 22:8—and let’s see the
same thing again; and after John saw all these this vision, boy what a
tremendous thing it was: “Now I, John, was the one who saw and heard these things. And when I
heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who was showing me these things. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do
this! For I am a fellow servant of yours, and of your brethren the
prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God’”
(vs 8-9). So any angel that comes along and says ‘worship me,’ is not of
God, it is of Satan the devil.
Now let’s go to Revelation 12:9 and we will Satan does have
his angels which, because of their fall, are now called unclean or demon
spirit. “And the great
dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who
is deceiving the whole world… [that means actively doing it now] …he was cast down to the earth, and
his angels were cast down with him.”
Now let’s go to Matthew 25—because those are the angels
that want to be worshiped. Any true angel of God would direct you exactly as
the angel from God directed the Apostle John there as we saw back in the book
of Revelation. Matthew 25:41: “Then shall He also say to those on the left,
‘Depart from Me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire, which has been
prepared for the devil and his angels’”
Now let’s go to Matthew 4:8, and let’s see that Satan wants to
be worshipped as God and even wanted Jesus Christ to worship him. “After that, the devil took Him to an
exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and
their glory, And said to Him, ‘All these things will I give You, if You will
fall down and worship me’” (vs 8-9). So Satan and his demonic angels want
to be worshiped and one of the surest ways of losing your salvation and losing
your reward is to worship angels. Now angel worship is always connected with
philosophy. They even have it in the mail order books today. It is called the Rosicrucian’s,
where you get their little prayer book and go into your bedroom and make it
dark and you set up these candles and you go through the stages of Rosicrucian
enlightenment, which brethren is no more than the old ancient Egyptian
religion.
Now let’s
come back to Colossians 2:18: “Do not allow anyone to defraud you of the prize by doing his will
in self-abasement and the worship of angels, intruding into things that
he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his own carnal mind… [And I will
tell you one thing that is for sure, every time someone is involved in this
kind of overt, active, spirit worship of angels and following of Satan, they
get all lifted up in their vanity and they think they are greater than anyone,
they have greater intelligence than any one. We are not to do that, because]: …And not holding fast to the Head, from
Whom all the body, being supplied and knit together by the joints and bands, is
increasing with the increase of God” (vs 18-19).
Now again we
come back to ‘A’, v 20: “Therefore, if you have died together with Christ from
the elements of the world… [That again is ‘A’—referring to God. How
are you dead with Christ? By baptism, you die to the world.] …if you have died together with
Christ from the elements of the world... [Going back and living and becoming
part and parcel of the world. And is that not what one of the larger
denominations of the Church of God wants to do, and is that not where it is
heading? Yes, it is! And they are going to head right back into
accepting all of the basic demonic philosophies of religion and that church
will not be a Church of God, except in name only.] … why are you subjecting yourselves to the decrees of men as if you were living in the world?…. [which then
are the ordinances of the pagan, philosophical, demonic, angel worshipping,
asceticism, which was the former religion of those in Colossae.] …The use of all such things leads to
corruption, according to the commandments and doctrines of men…” (vs 20, 22). [Not after
the commandments and doctrines of God. Where, in the Bible, at any time, does
it ever show that the commandments and doctrines of God are not to be followed? It does not. So therefore, these verses cannot, nor will they ever mean
that the commandments and statutes and laws of God have been done away. As a
matter of fact, I need to do a sermon on this, I will show that the laws and
commandments of God transcend and follow through every covenant of the Bible.
So if you want something to study on, go ahead and study on that and think on
that.
Now what I
want to do is just go ahead and read this in the Amplified and then I will go
back and I will summarize the things which make us complete in Christ and the
things we are to beware of and then we will have finished Colossians the second
chapter.
Colossians
2:18: “Do not permit or allow anyone to rob, defraud or cheat you out of the
prize or the reward (of the calling of God), by doing his will, the one who is
wishing and desiring to get you involved in self-imposed humiliation and
self-mortification, even wanting to get you involved in that religious system
of philosophy, which is worshipping angels (those wicked, rebellious, hostile
angels who fell with Satan, and who are now demons), intruding into and getting
involved in things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up in his mind and
rashly strutting in the vanity of self—in the fantasy of his own fleshly
mind. And in following these practices they are holding fast or keeping their
eyes on the Head (Who is Christ Jesus), from Whom the entire body [the Church],
through the spiritual joints and ligaments which binds all together, are being
nourished and spiritually supplied and knit together, even interwoven in
Christ, and is increasing and growing with the increase and growth that comes
from God (and not from the philosophies of men). Now then, consider this: If
you died together with Christ (through the operation of baptism, and the
spiritual circumcision of your hearts and minds) from the elements and
rudiments of the world (those evil, demonic, supernatural, spiritual forces,
which are driving, motivation and controlling this society), why then, as if
living in the world (as if you are part and parcel of the society) are you
voluntarily submitting to and subjecting yourselves to the decrees and dogmas,
even the ordinances and statutes (of the philosophy of demon worship)? Such as:
you may not handle. Abstain—you are not allowed to have sexual
intercourse (as God intended); You may not taste—you are not allowed to
partake [as God intended]; You may not touch—the superstitions of
forbidden objects. All these things (these absurd, inane and foolishly imposed
restrictions of men) fall into spiritual corruption and destruction by their
very use according to the commandments and injunctions which are the doctrines
and teachings of men, which things indeed have a superficial appearance and a
skin-deep veneer of wisdom in the ritual of voluntary worship (of fallen
angels) and the will-worship of self-imposed humiliation and
self-mortification, even the unsparing, rigorous treatment and non-indulgence
of the body—(are against what God intended); and in no way will this kind
of strict, torturous regimen provide an honorable satisfaction of, or the
control of the (lusts of the) flesh” (vs 18-23).
Now I am
going to take this from the article that I wrote, You are Complete in Christ and toward the back of it we have a summary of all the things, which make us
complete in Christ. We have also, all the things, which take us away from the
completeness of Christ. So I am going to have this in my final print out that I
have for the book, which I am going to do for these three epistles. So what I
am going to do is just draw your attention to, and please go back and review,
starting with the things, which take us away from the completeness in Christ.
Now all of these are out of Colossians, chapter two.
So here are
the things, which take us away from Christ:
1.
Persuasive, deceitful words.
2.
Philosophy and empty deceit.
3.
Traditions of men.
4.
Elements of the world.
5.
Allowing anyone to judge you in your Christian behavior
and obedience to Christ.
6.
Doing the will of men.
7.
Humility, self-imposed pseudo humility.
8.
Voluntary worship of angels or demons.
9.
Intruding into those things, which he has not seen.
10.
Puffed up, vainly puffed up by the mind of flesh.
11.
Not holding fast the Head, which is Christ.
12.
Living to the world.
13.
Subjecting yourself to the decrees, doctrines and
commandments of men.
So there are thirteen things,
which take you away from Christ, and if you are superstitious in numbers,
thirteen is bad.
Now the
things, which make us complete in Christ:
1. The full assurance in understanding. Full assurance
means the completeness, the fullness.
2.
The knowledge of the mystery of God and of the Father
and of Christ.
3.
In Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom. Sophia,
knowledge and gnosis and they are hidden in Christ and God the Father.
4.
The steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
5.
As you have received Christ, walk in Him.
6.
Having been rooted and are being built up in Him.
7.
Being confirmed in the faith as taught, which then
means the full teachings of the New Testament as taught by the apostles and
preserved for us.
8.
Circumcised with the circumcision of Christ.
9.
Putting off the body of the sins of the flesh.
10.
Buried with Him in baptism, the death of baptism.
11.
Raised with Him through the workings of God.
12.
Dead to your sins.
13.
Made alive with Christ.
14.
Forgiven all your trespasses.
15.
Blotting out the handwriting of the note of our sins.
16.
Nailed all of our sins to the cross.
17.
Stripped away the power from the principalities and
authorities of the demonic spirits over Christians.
18.
Publicly triumphed over them in it, that is the
crucifixion.
19.
Eating and drinking in accordance with the commands of
God rather than the traditions and commands of men.
20.
The observance of the festivals, which are the annual
Holy Days of God.
21.
The observance of the new moons in particular, the
meaning of the use of the Hebrew calendar as the standard of time, rather than
the pagan calendar of Rome.
22.
The observance of the Sabbaths, which means the weekly
keeping of the Sabbaths on an on-going basis.
So we have finished Colossians, the second chapter,
which leads us up to what we are going to learn in chapter three but the thing
that is so important and vital in this, brethren, is that whenever you come to
difficult Scriptures—such as we have here in Colossians 2—this is
how we are to study them and take them apart bit by bit, but keep the whole vision
of what God is giving us to do. So I hope not only, has this been helpful and
beneficial for you but that it has been helpful and beneficial in showing you
how to properly study the Bible and tackle some of these most difficult
Scriptures.
All
Scriptures in New Testament from The N.T. in its Original Order, A Faithful
Version
·
Exception:
Colossians: Expanded Amplified Version
Old Testament Scriptures: King James Version
Scriptural
References:
1)
Colossians 2:2-16, 18-23
2)
Deuteronomy 14:1-8
3)
1 Timothy 4:1-5
4)
Colossians 2:16-18
5)
Isaiah 66:15-17
6)
Ezekiel 8:5-6, 14, 6-18
7)
Ezekiel 8:6-18
8)
Isaiah 66:17-18, 23
9)
Colossians 2:16-18
10)
1 Corinthians 3:11-15
11)
Colossians 2:18
12)
Revelation 19:10
13)
Revelation 22:8-9
14)
Revelation 12:9
15)
Matthew 25:41
16)
Matthew 4:8-9
17)
Colossians 2:18-23
Scriptures
referenced, not quoted:
- Leviticus 11
- 1 Peter 2:9
- Leviticus 23
- Revelation 17
- Acts 2
- Exodus 31:13
- Matthew 25
Also
referenced:
- Article: You Are Complete in Christ by Fred
R. Coulter
Reformatted:
3-20-09 (bo)
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