Practically, what were the false teachers saying to the Colossian church? v21 – “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch?” The false teachers tried to turn the church at Colossae from a community of grace to a community of performance. From a true community of life-giving faith into a community of religion and rules and regulations leading to death.

Col 2
18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on ASCETIC PRACTICES and the WORSHIP of ANGELS, claiming access to a VISIONARY REALM and INFLATED without cause by his unspiritual mind.

The Colossian heresy evidently encouraged the claim that the fullness of God could be appreciated only by mystical experiences for which ascetic preparation and strict rule keeping were necessary. The false teachers taught that the ascetic practices and regulations were a necessary prerequisite for true knowledge, or true spirituality. If you wanted access to mystical visions, a realm of superior spirituality where you could worship angels and experience things that commoners did not have access to, here’s a list of things you need to do.

See how tricky Satan is. The false teachers are not talking about salvation. I’m sure the gospel was preached. But the focus of this community was not Jesus, not the gospel, not salvation, but the focus was spirituality. Who’s spiritual, who’s ascending up the ladder of spirituality the fastest, who has experienced the most fantastic supernatural experiences because he or she has submitted himself or herself under the prescribed program at the church of ascetism and rule keeping.

Imagine if you were a new convert at the Colossian church and the false teachers were telling you, you need to get circumcised, then you need to sell your TV, give away all your money to the church, live off of food stamps. Electricity, you don’t need electricity. Buy candles. Live simply. If you do this, you will reach heights of spirituality that you never thought possible.

What if the new convert said, no, I’m not interested. I’m happy with Jesus. I know I’m not perfect, but his grace covers my sin. I’m thankful for what Christ has done for me and I’m enjoying my prayer times. I’d rather do that instead of following your program.

How do you think the false teachers and their followers would treat this new convert? Who is this guy? Who does he think he is? Does he think he is better than us? What a proud, unbroken sinner! Doesn’t he know that we can speak to angels? When is the last time he spoke to angels? You see what is happening. The church that is supposed to be place of grace and serving one another and unity has been fractured into the inner circle and the outsiders. If you get with the program and submit to the leadership, we will welcome you into the inner circle and treat you like one of us. If you don’t get with the program and fail to submit, good luck, you’re on your own, we want nothing to do with you.

How does Paul address this heresy?

Col 2:9-10 [READ]

Christ is not second fiddle, he’s not second place, He’s the head over every ruler and authority, everything, in the visible world as well as the invisible world of angels and demons, everything in creation bows the knee to Christ. When you see Jesus, you see the ENTIRE FULLNESS of God, and to highlight the false teaching, he throws in that the fullness of God’s nature dwells BODILY in Christ. The body, the flesh, these are not evil things that need to be punished and circumcised and regulated. In fact, Jesus rose up bodily after dying on a cross.

In v14-15, Paul explains what happened on the cross in the spiritual realm.

Col 2
14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the RULERS and AUTHORITIES and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.

Jesus conquered Satan and the rest of his rulers and authorities. He triumphed over them by dying and resurrecting. So for the believer, because you repented of your sin and placed your faith in Christ, you were not only saved, but Satan’s control over you was broken. Yet, look at what the false teachers were doing.

Col 2
16 Therefore, don’t let anyone JUDGE you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a SHADOW of what was to come; the SUBSTANCE is the Messiah.

Before the Christian was converted, he was in bondage to sin, but now through false teachers, Satan is seeking to bind them to religion. There was a strong judgmental spirit, which is a symptom of false teaching, that was festering at Colossae. If you ate certain foods, you were shunned. If you didn’t eat those forbidden foods, then you were accepted. If you drank certain liquids, you were shunned. If you abstained, you were accepted. If you participated in certain festivals, you were accepted and praised. If you failed to show up, you were kicked to the curb. Bondage to sin changed to bondage to religion. In both cases, the false teachers have accomplished their goal of cutting Christians off from the Head, Jesus Christ.

Legalistic churches led by false teachers spend a lot of energy passing judgment on behavior. They spend so much energy regulating behavior. Paul diagnoses the problem–these false teachers are focused on shadowy things, pointers to Jesus rather than focusing on Jesus Himself because he is the substance, not the shadow.

In conclusion, let’s circle back to the main point. Don’t lose your Head. Don’t lose Christ. False teachers have plagued God’s true church throughout the centuries and false teacher are all around us today. If you don’t see it, you’re either naive or you don’t know Scripture. Be alert. Be on guard. If someone tells you, I have a vision. I have a secret revelation. Be careful. Test it. Does the vision lead the person who had the vision toward Jesus or away from Jesus? That’s one quick test to discern the truth from a counterfeit. A vision from the Lord will always lead a person to Jesus while a counterfeit vision will lead you away from Jesus and seeking after newer and better experiences or greed or power, something other than Christ.

Beware of legalistic, judgmental Christians who talk more about optional gray areas of behavior than they do their love for Jesus. We are free in Christ that we may love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength..

This is why I believe in expositional preaching, preaching the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, from cover to cover. It’s because I don’t trust myself. If I teach what I like or what comes naturally for me, I run the risk of majoring in minor things. Placing the accent on something other than Jesus. However, if I am faithful in preaching the Bible, the accent will always be on Christ because the entire Bible is about Jesus.

But don’t trust me. I can be led astray like anybody else. It’s up to you to be knowledgeable about Scripture. Don’t read it academically. Col 2:19 – let Christ, the Head, nourish your soul and spirit. Treat the Bible as if it is food. If you didn’t eat all week and then you went to Hometown Buffet on Sunday, you would not be healthy physically because you are not nourishing your body every day. Likewise, if you rarely open the Bible throughout the week and then you binge on Sundays, you won’t be a healthy Christian. Nourish yourself every day on Jesus through the Word and prayer. No one can force you. It’s up to you.

In addition, knowledge is not a series or hierarchy of breakthroughs. Once you reach Level 1, you beat your body and pray and fast for weeks and you can reach Level 2. Christianity is not like a video game. You don’t have to perform in order to reach higher levels of knowledge.
It’s not like school. You don’t need a seminary education to get access to a higher plane of spirituality.

Col 2:3 [READ]

Every and all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. You don’t need more knowledge. You just need to KNOW Christ better. Christ is a treasure. We are going to spend an eternity unearthing the treasure and beauty of Christ. Get used to it. Start today.

Col 2:6-7 [READ]

When you were saved, you received Christ, now walk in Him, walk with Jesus, get to know Him, root yourself in Him, ask Him to build you up as you follow and stay connected to Him.

Look back on this year. Did you grow spiritually? Not in terms of attendance or ministry or service. But did you grow in your personal knowledge and love for Jesus? If you stopped growing and your relationship with Jesus has grown stagnant, then Satan has you right where he wants you. He has been successful in getting you to lose your Head.

Your enemy is not your wife or your demanding boss or your difficult circumstances. Your enemy is Satan. Don’t get angry at these things. Get angry at Satan and let that anger fuel your prayers to Jesus as you cry out to Him. In the process, let’s keep Jesus as our Head, first place in everything.

If God’s desire is for us to stay connected to Jesus so that you can continue to be nourished and grow spiritually, what do you think Satan’s desire is? Isn’t it quite obvious? Satan will do everything in his power to get you and me to let go of Jesus and to make something else or someone else the Head, the most important thing, first place. And when Jesus is no longer the Head, when Jesus slides to second or third place, when Jesus slides down the priority list and He is no longer first, we’ve lost it all.

Colossians 2 outlines the strategies that Satan employs to get Christians disconnected from the Head and to move Christ out of first place in our personal lives, and sadly, out of first place even among entire churches.

Why do I say Satan was involved at this church in Colossae? There is no explicit mention of Satan in this chapter. Only false teachers. Why do I believe Satan is directly involved? I am basing this interpretation on 2 verses. Verse 8 and 20.

Col 2
8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.

Col 2
20 If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world?

Twice, Paul mentions “elemental forces.” Verse 20, in particular, is quite revealing because elemental forces is used in the context of salvation. You USED TO, past tense, belong to the elemental forces of this world, you used to belong to the world. Who is the ruler of this world? Satan. This means, pre-salvation, every one of us was ruled by Satan. We belonged to demonic forces. We were prisoners of sin and Satan. We were unwitting subjects and followers of Satan, influenced by evil.

Elemental forces refers basically to demonic forces and the head of these elemental forces is Satan himself. The same way that Jesus as the spiritual Head of His church mobilizes pastors and evangelists and missionaries and churches to get the gospel out to the world, Satan as the spiritual head of these elemental forces is mobilizing false teachers.

Notice who these false teachers are sent to. Who’s the target? They are sent to churches. Believers. Verse 20 – believers who at one point died with the Messiah to the elemental forces, who died with Christ, died to their old nature, and the bondage of sin was broken, these very Christians are being deceived and they are being bound again to elemental forces through false teachers. And underlying these false teachers, the source of the deception is Satan, the head, the one in charge of the dominion of darkness.

What does this tell you? This tells you that Satan’s greatest and most frequent attacks are not out in the world, but they are happening right here in churches. Satan doesn’t have to work that hard when it comes to non-believers because they are utterly bound, enslaved, blind, they are prisoners and they have no way out apart from faith in Christ. But when it comes to believers, Satan is working overtime to cause us to fall or to render us spiritually ineffective and impotent.

Sometimes, you wonder, how do Christians fall for false teaching? Are they just extra gullible? If this is how you think, you have no idea who we’re dealing with. We have to remember that Satan is the master of deception. 2 Cor 11:14 – Satan masquerades as an angel of light. He acts as if he’s on our side.

Col 2
4 I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments.

Satan’s arguments toward Christians are extremely, extremely persuasive. If Satan said, stop preaching the gospel, or denounce Christ outright and sacrifice an animal and offer it to Satan here and now in some satanic ritual, I don’t think many of us would fall for it. In order for a false teacher’s argument to be persuasive, it would have to be so close to the original that you would have a hard time knowing that you were falling for a deception. Like fake jewelry, I can’t tell the difference between a real diamond and a fake diamond made out of crystal. A diamond and a shiny pieces of glass look similar to me. You need to have the trained eye of a professional to tell the real one from a counterfeit.

If criminals can come up with fakes which are so close to the original that it would fool most of us, don’t you think Satan can come up a fake version of Christianity that is pretty darn close to the truth? Many Christians think, why is Paul so uptight about right doctrine? As long as the gospel is preached, it’s fine. Paul should loosen up. This is one of Satan’s greatest deceptions, that as long as the gospel is articulated, you’re good. You can say whatever you want, but you’re fine as long as the gospel is preached. This is false.

Many false teachers to this day still preach Jesus as the Savior who died on the cross for our sins. False teachers still teach the gospel as part of their overall teaching. They can articulate the gospel, but what matters is not what is articulated but what is accented. If Jesus is first and He remains the Head because the gospel is accented as THE main teaching, then you and I will continue to be nourished by Jesus and grow spiritually. On the other hand, even if the gospel is articulated, false teachers will not place the accent, the emphasis, the focus on Christ. Instead, the accent is on some other teaching, and as a result, over time, you will lose connection to Jesus as the Head. You will lose your Head. It will be so gradual as to be imperceptible. But you will reach the end of your life and wonder, how come I haven’t changed? Why am I still the same person deep down at the core? Where is the spiritual fruit in my life? How come I don’t know Jesus? How come Jesus says, He doesn’t know me? I don’t get it.

If you listen to current day false teachers like the prosperity gospel preachers, from time to time, you will still hear them preach the gospel of Jesus dying on the cross for our sin and our need to repent and place our faith in Christ. But if you listen to them week after week, the accent is not on Christ. The accent is on things like materialistic blessing, having your best life right now in the present, name it and claim it theology, positive thinking, optimism, the more you give, the more God will bless you financially. That’s where the accent is. Jesus is not the Head. The charismatic leader is the head. Or Money is the head, it’s first. As a result, though the gospel is preached, spiritually, the listeners are cut off from Jesus and they are in danger of losing everything.

Now let’s look at how Satan mobilized false teachers to deceive the Christians at Colossae. What was Satan’s strategy to get the church at Colossae off track so that some there lost their Head, lost Christ, got disconnected from Christ, who is the source of life and growth?

Let’s read a few verses to try to piece together the scene at Colossian church.

Col 2
11 You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of the • Messiah .

The insistence on circumcision is a familiar component of the brand of false teaching that was spreading during Paul’s day. These false teachers were known as Judaizers, but this particular version of false teaching at Colossae was different than the one you see in the book of Galatians. Remember, Satan is not a one trick pony. He is the master of deception. In Galatians, the deception was to impose Jewish tradition on non-Jewish converts. Here in Colossians, false teachers are insisting on circumcision, partly perhaps due to tradition, but also, because they thought that the physical flesh is evil.

Col 2
20 If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to REGULATIONS: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are commands and doctrines of men. 23 Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ASCETIC PRACTICES, humility, and SEVERE TREATMENT of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.

Notice the phrase in v23–ascetic practices and severe treatment of the body. These false teachers taught that our bodies are evil. And because our bodies are evil, they taught that we need to beat down our flesh with burdensome ascetic practices, circumcision being one of the primary examples. Practices that forced you into a rigid life of self-discipline. You had to abstain from all forms of indulgence because when you indulge, you are feeding the source of evil, your flesh.

Text: Col 2:1-23

Last week, we spent most of our time on one verse. Col 1:18 [READ]

If you recall, the main point of last Sunday’s sermon was rather simple–Jesus is first place. We worked our way backward through v18. First, as a summary statement, we read that Jesus is first place in everything. Next, Jesus is the firstborn, or he is first place from the dead. This means, Jesus is not only first place in the present creation because He is the agent of creation and everything in the universe was created through Him and by Him and for Him, but on top of that, in the future, Jesus is going to be first place in the new creation when we reach the new heaven and new earth. Continuing backwards through v18, next we have, Jesus is the beginning, meaning, He is literally the First, the first one, first place. Finally, we reached the beginning of v18 – He/Jesus is the head of the body, the church.

Unlike some interpretations I’ve heard, this doesn’t mean that Jesus is connected to the church the way that heads are connected to bodies. While this is true, this is not the point Paul is trying to convey here. Christians, we are interconnected, we are connected as parts of the body, we belong to one another, but the way we are connected with one another is different from the way we are connected to Christ. We have a unique connection to Christ. I think we’d all agree, the head is the most important part of the entire body. It’s the head vs. the rest of the body. It’s not like my pinky toe is equal to the head. No, the Head is in charge.

Paul reinforces this point in Col 2:9-10 [READ].

Paul uses the word “head” here again. Is he saying that Christ is connected to every ruler and authority. No, he is saying, he is head over every ruler and authority, he is in charge, he is the top dog, he is the one calling the shots when it comes to every ruler and authority. It’s the same word that Paul uses in Col 1:18 to say that Jesus is head of the body, the church. Jesus is first place in the church.

Now, the key verses for today are Col 2:18-19.

Col 2
18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated without cause by his unspiritual mind. 19 He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.

The main point for today is “Don’t Lose Your Head.” Who’s the Head, who’s first, who’s first place in everything? Jesus. Don’t lose Jesus. Don’t lose sight of Jesus. Hold onto Jesus always.

The head of something is very important. I think that’s why there are so many expressions about the head. The expression “keep your head” means that while everyone around you is panicking, you, stay calm. If you are an athlete, you’ve heard the expression, “keep your head in the game.” Stay focused. If you are struggling financially, but barely getting by paycheck to paycheck, then you are “keeping your head above water.”

Probably the most famous expression is used to describe a person who is “like a chicken with it’s head cut off.” That’s an odd statement. Have you ever wondered where that statement came from? With the help of google, I found the source. Did you know there was a famous chicken named Mike who lived for 18 months without its head between April 1945 to March 1947. His name was Miracle Mike and he was a beheaded chicken who lived in Colorado.

I’m not a chicken farmer but I guess it has been documented that a chicken can stay alive and stagger around without a head for up to a day or two. This is because when you chop off the head, it’s possible for part of the brain stem to remain intact and if it happens to be the part that controls the chicken’s reflexes, then the chicken can still move around and act as if everything is normal. Without the head.

This is what happened with Miracle Mike. When its owner was getting ready to serve chicken dinner, he apparently missed the jugular vein, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact. Seeing that the chicken was still alive, the owner I guess thought it was cool and he wanted to make money so he kept Mike alive by feeding it a mixture of milk and water and small grains of corn via an eyedropper. So Mike the miraculous chicken with it’s head cut off continued to walk around clumsily and he tried to crow, though obviously, it was more of a gurgling sound. And Mike’s body would continue to peck for food with its neck. This is sick, I know. This chicken farmer needs therapy. Something is not right in HIS head. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and you hear this gurgling sound and it’s Mike the headless chicken stumbling down a dark hallway toward your bedroom. I don’t think you would be thinking, I’m hungry, I think I want some chicken. I’d be locking myself in the closet and crying for help.

If, for the Christian, we need to keep our Head, keep Jesus as first place, what do you think Satan’s strategy is? He wants you to lose your Head. He wants Christians to be like chickens with our heads cut off. He wants the church to be a Headless body. Chasing after everything, being busy, serving, going on missions, doing it all without Jesus being first place. This is Satan’s end game.

Col 2:18-19 describe a false teacher who has lost his Head, lost Christ as first place.

The chicken without a head may have the semblance of life. For 18 months, it can still stagger around and peck at the ground with it’s neck, but make no mistake, the chicken is dead. Christians, without our Head, Jesus Christ, we may work really hard for the Lord for 18 months, 18 years, for the rest of our lives, but if we are not connected to our Head, Jesus Christ, we’re spiritually dead. Why? Because without the Head, there is no life. No growth. Because the whole body is nourished by the Head. Jesus holds us together. Without Jesus, we are just as dead as Miracle Mike because we are disconnected from the source of life, the Author of Life, Jesus Christ.

Churchgoers and even spiritual leaders may have the appearance of life and growth, but it could be nothing more than a freak of nature. Like the headless chicken. This is not Foster Farms, this is Freaky Farms. Would you want to eat Miracle Mike? Not me. Because Mike is a zombie chicken. The living dead. Let me stick to KFC or Popeyes but not Miracle Mike.

There is an account of freakish growth when Jesus curses a figless fig tree. Jesus is hungry and he goes up to a fig tree because he wants to eat a fig for a snack. I bet Jesus would’ve loved Fig Newtons. I love Fig Newtons. I love figs. They make great snacks. They’re healthy, chewy, sweet. Jesus, expecting to find figs, doesn’t find any. Only leaves with no figs. Angered by this deception, Jesus curses the fig tree.

You have to know a little botany to understand why Jesus is so upset. The fig fruit grows BEFORE the leaves. So the fact that leaves were present was like having a flashing neon sign–Figs here, come get your fruit! The tree that Jesus went up to was full of leaves, meaning it should have been full of fruit. But there were no figs, yet there was plenty of leaves. This means there was growth but it was unhealthy growth.

Likewise, there are many things that can pass for healthy, spiritual growth at churches. Like numbers. More and more people attending a particular church so that it becomes a megachurch or a movement. Is this healthy, godly growth? Perhaps, but not necessarily. You can have an obese child and he is growing, but this is not healthy growth. Same with church. Larger numbers can pass for healthy growth, but it might just well be a freak of nature or unhealthy growth because Jesus is not the Head. Meaning, the church is being nourished by some other person or some other charismatic figure or a philosophy or some ideology other than the gospel of Jesus Christ.