Living as an Actual Christian.

Steve Gentry

[0:09] We’re going to have a seat. [0:11] Welcome to Village Church. [0:12] If this is your first time here, [0:13] my name is Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:15] And as always, I am thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:19] If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Colossians chapter two.

[0:23] We’re going to be starting in verse one, but last Sunday, we finished Colossians chapter [0:28] one and the final paragraph of that that chapter expounds on the implications of what it’s [0:35] going to look like in your life if you submit to the supremacy of Jesus Christ in and over [0:41] all things, because Jesus is the creator God and he is also the redeeming God. [0:47] His redemption gives us a new life in which we seek to proclaim the good news of his finished [0:52] work on the cross.

[0:53] And then after that, to teach people who believe the gospel just exactly how they are to live [0:59] in light of that truth. [1:01] Jesus does not just simply save us from sin and then leave us in a static state of continuing [1:07] in that sin. [1:08] Rather, Jesus gives us a new life through faith. [1:11] Jesus changes our position and our purpose and our mission in this life to align with

[1:18] his very own. [1:19] Because of Jesus, we have both the privilege and the potential to live out his design [1:26] through his mission in this world for the sake of others. [1:31] Today we’re going to look at Colossians chapter two, we’re going to look at verses one through [1:34] seven and in that what I hope you see is that Paul focuses on what binds the church together [1:39] for the cause of his gospel.

[1:42] It cannot be reduced to simply an emotional experience, nor can it simply be reduced [1:47] to a gathering because of some common affinity that we have outside of the gospel. [1:52] Rather, Paul casts a compelling vision for a community that actually anchors down into [1:58] the truth of the gospel to live out Jesus’s mission in organized discipleship. [2:04] This is how we ensure that faith is multiplied continually in the lives of others. [2:11] To put it bluntly, as the title suggests, Paul casts a vision for living an actual Christian

[2:17] life according to his design. [2:19] I want to start reading in Colossians chapter two. [2:22] The apostle Paul writes and he says, for I want you to know how great a struggle I have [2:28] for you and for those that lay out of see you and for all who have not seen me face [2:33] to face that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love to reach all the [2:39] churches a full assurance of understanding the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is

[2:46] Christ. [2:47] Paul really tells us two compelling things to begin with. [2:51] He tells us that unity and love are dependent on the truth. [2:56] Unity and love are dependent on the truth. [2:59] I want to start by talking about that term unity. [3:02] That’s what he’s talking about when he says they need to be knit together.

[3:04] Unity requires a common goal. [3:08] That’s obvious. [3:09] But for some people, they believe that the church, they believe that Jesus is about [3:15] unity above absolutely everything else. [3:18] And this is simply false. [3:20] As a concept, I want you to understand unity is meaningless without a common goal that

[3:27] brings it meaning. [3:29] I don’t know if you realize this, but you can unite around a million meaningless things. [3:33] You see people do it all the time. [3:35] But more than that, worse than that, you can also unite around a million lies. [3:41] And if unity is ultimately based on something that is either untrue or even worse, destructive, [3:48] then unity is a bad thing.

[3:51] Unity is not always positive. [3:55] Unity frequently is actually a very negative thing that you must avoid because unity necessitates [4:03] something to be united around. [4:05] And if you are united around the wrong things, you may unite right off of a cliff with everyone [4:11] else as they go off of it. [4:12] And that, of course, should be avoided.

[4:15] And this section, Paul speaks of his desire for the church to be united, but not for the [4:21] sake of unity. [4:22] Paul says they need to be united through and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. [4:28] If the truth is not the common goal, unity is unhelpful. [4:34] Unity is ungodly. [4:36] And division would actually be a good thing.

[4:40] There are many circumstances, there are many contexts, there are many scenarios where division [4:44] is the healthiest thing that you can seek. [4:48] If people are believing lies, you do not help them by joining in on their delusions, do [4:53] you? [4:54] No, you help them by exposing the lie. [4:57] You help them by giving them the truth.

[4:59] Here’s the deal. [5:00] Biblically, you help them by actually promoting division with them to show there is a difference [5:07] between me and you. [5:09] I have truth in my life. [5:11] You have lies in your life. [5:13] Friends, when you seek unity above all else, you will not help anything.

[5:17] You will not help anyone. [5:19] You will ultimately unite people in folly rather than the wisdom that God has in his [5:25] scripture. [5:26] But Paul, again, speaks of his continuing work in the church while he talks about this [5:32] issue of unity and the issue of love. [5:35] Why does he talk about his struggle for them?

[5:38] Well, he wants them to know about his work because that is what he actually wants them [5:42] to unite with him in. [5:44] But it’s because of what his work is for. [5:48] If you look in 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul speaks of endurance for the sake of other Christians [5:52] to young Pastor Timothy. [5:54] He writes, therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, for the sake of

[5:58] Christians that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. [6:06] The saying is trustworthy, for if we have died with him, we will also live with him. [6:11] If we endure, we will also reign with him. [6:13] If we deny him, he also will deny us. [6:16] If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. [6:22] And so you see right there, in speaking of the work that the apostle is enduring for

[6:26] the sake of the elect, Paul gives them the uniting principle. [6:30] It’s the gospel of Jesus Christ. [6:32] But towards the end of that, I hope you picked up something very important. [6:35] Paul speaks of division towards the end of that, necessary division. [6:40] He says, if we deny him, what does he do? [6:43] He doesn’t look at us and be like, well, I’m sure you have your reasons.

[6:46] Let’s stay united. [6:48] No, he says, Jesus is going to deny you. [6:51] Jesus will divide from you. [6:54] Jesus is not going to stay united with you no matter what. [6:57] Jesus requires faith in him in order to have unity. [7:01] If we are faithless, does Jesus join us in our faithlessness?

[7:06] No, it says Jesus stays faithful. [7:07] He can’t deny himself. [7:09] Jesus cannot be unfaithful to himself. [7:11] Therefore, if you are unfaithful, Jesus will not join you in your error. [7:17] His mission aims, Paul’s does, to multiply his faith in other people’s lives. [7:25] He’s not saying our greatest objective and what I am enduring and what I am

[7:30] struggling for is that we can be united with other people no matter what. [7:36] That’s the foolishness you’ll hear in our contemporary era. [7:39] Unity above all else. [7:41] I hear it all the time. [7:42] I hear it in secularism. [7:43] And frankly, unfortunately, I hear it with many churches today.

[7:47] I said, oh, no, if you talk about this, you’re going to bring division [7:51] even within the entire denomination. [7:53] I got news for you. [7:54] There’s a lot of denominations in this world that need a good, [7:56] healthy dose of division in it. [7:58] Even the Southern Baptist Convention, friends,

[8:01] if we go away from faithfulness, [8:06] we must divide from those that would be unfaithful. [8:10] We must stay faithful regardless of the cost, because Paul is telling us [8:15] right here that he will pay the cost. [8:19] It is the outcome of the gospel of Jesus that Paul is seeking and nothing else. [8:24] He uses a very important term to describe his efforts.

[8:27] He uses the term struggle. [8:29] And you know, last week, an important part of the third point was that term [8:32] toil that he used when he says struggle in this section. [8:36] It’s actually a completely different word than toil. [8:39] Toil meant an exhaustive effort. [8:42] Struggle speaks more of the emotion that he’s putting in.

[8:45] It’s a word that we translate as agony. [8:49] As a policy, I am agonizing for you and for those that lay out a sea. [8:55] Why is Paul so passionate about the church [8:59] that he would endure an agonizing work for their sake? [9:03] Most of you have spent most of your life avoiding hard work. [9:07] Why would Paul go straight in and say, this is what I am living for?

[9:12] For one reason, because the gospel is worth it. [9:14] According to the apostle Paul, that’s the reason that he always gives [9:18] because truth is always worth sacrifice. [9:23] It is the mindset that his faith in the gospel [9:26] has actually given him towards his life. [9:30] Second thing that he speaks of in point one is love.

[9:33] But he seeks a love that knits together, that love that promotes unity, [9:39] knits together, requires that common bond that we’re talking about. [9:42] Still, through Paul’s work, he wants the church to be knit together in love. [9:48] And that is an important phrase for us to understand in our contemporary era. [9:53] This is what people should find when they come into the church. [9:58] This is what I hope you have found in the church.

[10:01] This is what the culture around us should see. [10:03] Apologist and great philosopher, I believe, Francis Schaefer [10:06] called the love shared within the church [10:09] the final apologetic to a watching world. [10:14] What he’s saying is that the love that the church has is an uncommon bond [10:18] with no competitors, no one else can have it.

[10:22] It is truly what is unique about the Church of Jesus Christ. [10:26] The question must be asked. Why? [10:28] Is it because love is love? [10:31] As so many people say, of course not. [10:34] Love must have meaning. [10:36] Love must be anchored to something that is real or it is worthless and it is a lie.

[10:42] Why? Because unity is ultimate. [10:44] That’s not what Paul says. [10:46] What does Paul continue to come back to in the book of Colossians? [10:49] The reason that we are knit together in love is, again, for one reason, [10:53] because Jesus Christ is Lord. [10:55] That is how we know love.

[10:57] He has exerted his lordship by sacrificing his life on the cross of Calvary. [11:03] Therefore, if you want to know what love is, [11:06] you must define it by Jesus Christ or you cannot ultimately know what love is. [11:11] And that is a problem that so many in an unbelieving world struggle with. [11:15] Because without Jesus, love is unknowable. [11:21] Love then must become an arbitrary thing

[11:24] that each individual gives definition to. [11:27] I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not, that’s not working out too great. [11:29] That’s turning into quite a chaotic thing in our world, in our culture. [11:33] And especially in the lives of people outside of the church. [11:37] You can make it whatever you want love to be in our culture. [11:42] And that is destructive.

[11:45] But because of Jesus, love has an objective definition [11:49] that you can anchor your love towards, that you can actually be about. [11:53] You can actually be guided with. [11:55] Otherwise, love can ultimately become a very selfish thing. [12:00] And when love becomes a selfish thing, [12:02] love becomes a destructive thing.

[12:05] Love begins to cause ruin rather than giving you the life [12:09] that God has designed for you to have. [12:11] As soon as you will find something, if that is your definition of love, [12:15] that it’s just all about you and it’s all about the definition that you give it to. [12:19] It doesn’t require an objective definition. [12:21] Then you will move from thing to thing for your entire life,

[12:25] because love will ultimately be about what makes you feel good. [12:29] No, I mean, really, if you’re honest with yourself, [12:31] that’s the definition of love that the world is going with. [12:34] If it makes you feel good, must be true, must be good. [12:38] Can’t be ruined. Your truth.

[12:42] As soon as you find something, though, that makes you feel better, [12:44] what do you do? You have to move to that thing. [12:47] So love can’t last the rest of my life. [12:49] Love can’t be committed to because as soon as you make stop making me feel valuable, [12:54] I have to find something or someone else that makes me feel valuable. [12:57] And I have to abandon you because I have to live for love.

[13:00] Love then becomes some arbitrary mist that you’re chasing with your life. [13:05] And by the end of it, you will find a record of chaos behind you, [13:10] where you have abused yourself and ultimately you have abused others [13:14] because you’re believing in your seeking lives. [13:16] So what is it that knits the church together in love? [13:21] It is the redemption of Jesus Christ.

[13:23] That’s what Paul is pointing us towards. [13:25] It’s the fact that Jesus is our Lord. [13:28] It’s the fact that we are his people. [13:29] It’s the fact that he has called us to be and make disciples [13:33] in order to build the Church of Jesus. [13:36] That is the love that Jesus in his gospel gives great definition to.

[13:42] And that is what Paul anchors love in. [13:46] Therefore, without love, again, it is that arbitrary thing, [13:50] because for the love to be knowable, [13:54] it necessitates a truth as its foundation. [13:58] And because of Jesus, truth can be known [14:00] and it must be the anchor for the Christian community.

[14:06] Friends, I have seen people come into even this church. [14:10] I’ve seen people find relationships. [14:12] I’ve seen people find things to do. [14:16] I’ve seen people find a purpose for themselves. [14:20] And it always amazes me that I’ll watch those same people [14:24] as soon as those things become familiar.

[14:27] Or as soon as the emotional high [14:30] that they initially felt begins to fade [14:33] or as soon as they find something else new and shiny [14:37] that makes them feel significant, makes them feel more important. [14:43] They quit. So what was the problem? [14:46] Was it the church? No.

[14:48] The problem was at the foundation of that person. [14:51] They weren’t seeking Jesus Christ at all. [14:53] They were seeking to feel better about themselves. [14:56] Friends, I can tell you right here and right now, [14:59] the church does not exist [15:02] so that you can feel valuable.

[15:07] The church does not exist so that you can feel lovely. [15:13] The church does not exist [15:16] so that you can feel better about yourself. [15:20] If that’s what you’re here for, if that’s what you’re doing, [15:23] I can guarantee you that sooner rather than later, [15:28] the feeling will fade.

[15:30] You will feel like someone else is getting the attention [15:33] that you want and you feel like you deserve. [15:36] And you’re not feeling as significant in this community [15:39] as you feel like you should get. [15:43] And what are you going to do? [15:45] You’re going to chase it somewhere else.

[15:47] And the same thing is going to happen there. [15:49] Same thing is going to happen there. [15:50] Same thing is going to happen there. [15:51] Let me ask you a question. [15:52] How many churches have you been in to make yourself feel better? [15:57] And how’s that going for you?

[15:58] It might last for a minute.

[16:01] I might last for a season.

[16:05] But that’s not what God has designed you to be about. [16:08] And certainly is only God has designed this church to be about. [16:11] God has designed this church and the people in his church [16:13] to know Christ and to make him known to other people. [16:18] That is the purpose for which we are here. [16:21] And that is the love that knits us together.

[16:26] Therefore, if you will not make your life about that, [16:30] I can tell you at some point or another, we’re not going to be united. [16:34] There will be a necessary division, [16:38] because without being knit together, [16:42] this has an expiration date. [16:45] And for us to be knit together in love,

[16:47] you need the objective truth of Jesus Christ. [16:51] In order to endure in faith. [16:55] But Paul continues, I’ll go back to verse two, [16:58] as there’s another term in there that we need to talk about. [17:01] He says he wants to see them face to face. [17:03] He’s never met them.

[17:04] That their hearts may be encouraged because, excuse me, being knit together [17:08] in love to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding [17:13] and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, [17:16] in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom, [17:19] all the treasures of knowledge. [17:22] I say this in order that no one may delude you

[17:25] with plausible arguments, for though I am absent in body, [17:30] yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see [17:34] your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. [17:41] I want to talk about the negative of what Paul’s saying here. [17:44] Number two, this morning, encouragement can be deceptive.

[17:48] Encouragement can be deceptive. [17:51] How do I know that? [17:52] Because Paul says that he wants them to be encouraged, [17:56] but he doesn’t just say he wants them to be encouraged. [17:59] He wants them to be encouraged in a specific thing, [18:02] and he wants them to be encouraged for a specific thing.

[18:06] He wants them to be encouraged in what? In Christ. [18:10] And he wants them to be encouraged for what? For Christ. [18:14] So many of us seek encouragement in something else.

[18:20] And Paul writes, there are going to be people [18:23] that are going to come in here and they’re going to try to delude you with what? [18:27] Plausible arguments. [18:29] So Paul says you need to be encouraged in Christ, but look out. [18:33] Because some people are going to try to deceive you, even with encouragement. [18:39] You can be encouraged in the wrong things,

[18:43] because so many of you, when life is all about how you feel, [18:50] you’re going to look for the wrong type of encouragement, [18:53] because you just want to be encouraged because you want to feel encouraged. [18:58] And so you’re going to seek out somebody that will encourage you [19:01] just because you need to be encouraged. [19:03] What if you don’t need encouragement right now?

[19:05] And you say, how could that be possible? [19:06] Everyone always needs encouragement. [19:09] No, sometimes people need to be gratefully discouraged.

[19:13] Some of the most helpful conversations I’ve ever had. [19:17] I walked away feeling terrible about myself. [19:22] Why? Because they had to tell me some hard truths [19:25] about things that I was getting really wrong in life. [19:29] But for many of you, that’s going to be the point of division, [19:33] because you will not hear anything negative about yourself

[19:38] and find it helpful, because all that you want people to do [19:42] is encourage you to make you feel good. [19:45] Even if you’re giving your life to a bunch of folly, [19:48] to a bunch of destructive things, you want to be encouraged in your folly. [19:52] You want to be encouraged in your destructive things. [19:57] For many of you, this concept is unfamiliar.

[20:01] A few years ago, a phrase became popular in some circles. [20:04] That’s the phrase that’s very true. [20:06] It’s the phrase facts don’t care about your feelings. [20:09] As society kind of crumbled in 2021 through 2022, [20:13] this phrase became almost a call to people to understand [20:16] that your feelings can lie to you.

[20:20] And so many of you, even though you would claim faith in Jesus Christ, [20:23] you still live by feeling, don’t you? [20:26] Even though God has given you a much surer word, [20:29] you won’t do something because it just don’t feel [20:33] like it’s something I should do. [20:34] Who cares how you feel?

[20:38] Why do you care so much how you feel? [20:42] How’s feeling working out for you?

[20:45] So many of you, every big decision you’ve made in your life, be honest, [20:49] you’ve made it because you felt a certain way. [20:51] And how did all those work out for you? [20:52] You got 100 percent success rate on feeling the right thing. [20:55] I’ve just got a gut.

[20:58] I’m not eating some bad nachos.

[21:01] I get a gut, too, when I do that. [21:05] Be careful, friends, your feelings are not always factual. [21:12] The only way to know if your feelings are factual [21:15] is if you can look at the objective anchor of your life, [21:18] which must be the gospel of Jesus Christ, [21:20] and say, do my feelings match what God has said in his word?

[21:24] But for so many of you, you don’t diagnose your feelings that way, [21:30] because even though you would say the scripture is authoritative, [21:33] even though you would say scripture is sufficient, [21:36] you live as though your feelings are authoritative [21:38] and your feelings are significant. [21:40] And moment by moment, feelings are actually dictating

[21:44] how you react to others, how you make choices, [21:48] how you treat others and how you live in this world. [21:51] And that is why when you make decisions, [21:54] you get alone, you know the truth. [21:56] You are miserable.

[22:01] But you are so deceived that you walk away, [22:06] giving credence to your misery rather than repenting of your emotions.

[22:14] Jeremiah 17, nine, we must be reminded of this. [22:20] Prophet Jeremiah writes, and he says, [22:22] the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. [22:27] Who can understand it? [22:30] And he continues in verse 10, and he says, [22:31] God, judge is based on your actions.

[22:34] We are conditioned by this culture [22:38] to have a goal to feel better about ourselves.

[22:45] I mentioned that word, encourage in verse two, [22:48] it’s a vital term. [22:51] It’s a term in the original language [22:52] that literally means to call alongside. [22:54] In other words, it is about your relationship with other believers [22:59] that you come alongside one another.

[23:01] Paul wants to come alongside of them. [23:03] He wants to help them in following Jesus Christ. [23:07] But his encouragement has a design. [23:09] It has a purpose. [23:11] It has submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ. [23:14] What we have done with the idea of encouragement

[23:17] is to encourage no matter what.

[23:21] But read the text, Paul qualifies it. [23:24] He encourages on a foundation of the truth of Jesus Christ. [23:30] And without that, it is meaningless.

[23:34] Without the truth of Christ, we will believe lies [23:40] in order to feel better about everything. [23:45] I’ve seen people living such destructive lives, [23:50] hurting others, abusing others, manipulating others, [23:56] lying to others, sinning continually.

[24:02] And then you confront them with that. [24:04] And some of you have done this. [24:07] How does that work out for you? [24:09] Not well, usually. [24:11] You’re being so discouraging. [24:13] I refuse to listen to your negativity.

[24:16] You better start listening to some negativity [24:18] because you’re living a negative life. [24:21] And you need to repent of your sin. [24:25] Therefore, you will if you refuse to hear [24:28] a discouraging word that’s necessary, [24:32] you will be tempted to seek encouragement

[24:35] to the extent that even encouragement will deceive you [24:39] to remain in a sinful state.

[24:43] Beware of being encouraged away from the anchor of truth [24:49] because it happens. [24:51] I want you to realize that the same term [24:52] that Paul uses for encouragement here in Colossians chapter two [24:56] is the root word for what Jesus describes the Holy Spirit with [25:01] in John 14, 26.

[25:04] Jesus speaks and he says, but the helper, [25:06] a title of the Holy Spirit, pericly. [25:08] Do you know that it’s the same root word for encouragement? [25:11] You could translate that the encourager, [25:15] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, [25:18] he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance

[25:22] all that I have said to you. [25:23] That term, that title for the Holy Spirit is used four times [25:27] between John 14 and John 16. [25:31] But the important thing is that you read the whole context. [25:35] Because some of you want to read that and you say, [25:37] the Holy Spirit, the helper, always keeping me encouraged.

[25:42] Not about everything. [25:44] He gives a qualification, doesn’t he? [25:46] What does he encourage you to do? [25:50] Remember the teachings of Christ. [25:54] If you look at what Jesus said in his earthly life, [25:58] did he say some hard things?

[26:01] Did he give some truths that are hard to swallow? [26:03] Yeah. But here’s the problem. [26:05] Some of you have you read that and you’re like, [26:08] Holy Spirit reminds me of the red letters.

[26:11] Jesus wrote the Old Testament. [26:14] Did you know that?

[26:17] Jesus wrote everything in the Gospels, not just the red ones. [26:21] Jesus wrote Colossians. [26:24] Jesus wrote all the letters of Paul. [26:25] He wrote all the letters of John. [26:27] Jesus wrote the whole New Testament. [26:29] Jesus wrote all 66 books.

[26:32] That’s what we mean when we say it is inspired of God. [26:37] These are the words of Christ that he’s given us to live [26:41] an actual Christian life. [26:43] And this is what the spirit is giving you. [26:46] Some of you are seeking a special word that the Holy Spirit will give [26:49] that is unique to you.

[26:51] He’s out of them. [26:52] He put them all in the Bible. [26:53] And that’s what you get. [26:56] As if you want to know what the spirit is encouraging you with. [26:59] Pick this up and read it. [27:01] Otherwise, here’s the problem.

[27:04] So many of you are going to find yourself in. [27:06] You’re going to call something a special message from the Holy Spirit [27:10] that keeps you encouraged, that didn’t come from the Holy Spirit at all. [27:14] At best, it came from your sinful flesh. [27:16] And at worst, it came from Satan himself. [27:19] The only way you can be sure that anything is a message from God to you

[27:23] is to read it in the scriptures. [27:26] It must align with his word. [27:30] You want a life that is about Jesus. [27:34] You do not want a life that is about you and your feelings [27:38] because he is superior. [27:40] That is why in verse four,

[27:43] Paul instructs them away from something. [27:47] He comes alongside them. [27:49] He encourages them to be about to be in to before Christ. [27:52] And they encourages them away from something, doesn’t he? [27:55] What does he encourage them away from? [27:56] From being diluted by the plausible arguments

[28:00] that some are going to bring into the church. [28:02] That phrase plausible arguments in some translations, [28:06] it may be persuasive rhetoric. [28:08] Both are fine translations. [28:10] What it means is the false teachers that we’ve been talking about [28:13] in this series that had come in the Colossian Church,

[28:16] that we’re seeking to convince them away from the sufficiency of Christ, [28:20] away from the supremacy of Christ, away from trusting [28:23] the atonement of Christ for their salvation. [28:25] He’s saying these false teachers can be convincing.

[28:30] How are they going to be convincing? [28:32] They’re going to come in and they’re going to say some encouraging words. [28:36] They’re going to offer persuasive rhetoric. [28:39] In other words, they’re no dummies. [28:41] They’re smart people. [28:42] They’re going to have convincing arguments,

[28:44] and you’re going to want to buy into those arguments. [28:46] And those arguments are going to try to make you feel better [28:50] about your situation, even if your situation [28:53] is you walking away from Jesus Christ.

[28:58] At first glance, [29:00] people in the Colossian Church were convinced by their arguments. [29:03] That’s why this letter was written. [29:06] And this same thing has happened in churches all over the nation, [29:09] even if we just look at the last few years, the false teachers have come in [29:12] or with arguments of intersectionality, with arguments of critical theory,

[29:17] all forms of wokeness to convince people to follow cultures lies [29:21] because they don’t want to feel bad about themselves. [29:24] And they even do it. [29:27] And we give into it. Why? [29:28] Because we don’t want people to call us hateful. [29:30] We don’t want people to call us bigoted towards anyone.

[29:33] But the reality is that they were selling lies that were anti-gospel. [29:38] Don’t fall for the lies.

[29:43] So many have come into the church telling us that we should base [29:47] so much on how we feel because we need to be united. [29:50] And it’s with this very subtle false doctrine called standpoint epistemology.

[29:57] That’s what people are doing when they say, well, that’s your truth. [30:01] What about my truth? [30:03] Friends, I don’t have a truth. [30:06] I’ve either got the truth or I’ve got my lies. [30:10] Those are the two options. [30:12] Put it on a practical level.

[30:13] Standpoint epistemology is simply you basing what you believe [30:17] on the experience that you’ve had in this world. [30:20] And whatever it is, intersectionally speaking, that you are dealing with, [30:23] that’s going to define the truth for you. [30:25] And the person that has been more marginalized, [30:27] you can trust their truth more than you can trust the truth

[30:30] of the hegemony or the majority culture at that time.

[30:37] I can tell you that’s false doctrine. [30:39] It’s a lie of Satan. [30:41] And I’m going to give you some standpoint epistemology from me right now.

[30:46] I’ve been a big boy my whole life. [30:47] I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you can see it. [30:50] I’m overweight. [30:52] If you don’t think so, let’s talk after you’re the encouragement I need.

[30:58] I want to feel good about myself.

[31:02] But here’s the deal. [31:04] You don’t want to be fat phobic, do you? [31:07] So you better not tell me that I’d be healthier if I lose 20 or 30 pounds, [31:12] because that just means you’re fat phobic. [31:14] You haven’t had my experience. [31:15] I’ve got my truth and plump is pleasant, baby.

[31:22] But here’s the problem with that. [31:25] It’s obviously a lie. [31:28] Because let me tell you, when you’re in your 40s, [31:31] your fat starts talking to you.

[31:35] It’ll do it through your lungs. [31:37] It’ll do it when you’re bending over. [31:40] It’ll do when you try to tie your shoes.

[31:43] It’ll do it when you go to the doctor’s office big time. [31:47] And it tells you you’re at risk for this, you’re at risk for this, [31:50] you’re at risk for this, better change things. [31:51] So this is waiting around the corner. [31:53] You don’t want this. You don’t want that. [31:55] So if you want to live longer, because you don’t meet a lot of 300 pound

[31:59] 80 year olds.

[32:04] We have convinced ourselves as a culture. [32:07] That we should never be discouraged [32:10] to the extent where it can literally end our lives.

[32:15] You need the truth more than you will ever need life. [32:20] And it doesn’t even have to be about some kind of special philosophy [32:26] that’s pervasive in culture, because we fall for the same thing [32:30] when we make it ultimate to feel better about being unhappy [32:34] in whatever thing isn’t going right in our lives. [32:37] Some of you want to deny that you should be unhappy in your parenthood.

[32:43] And so you want people to tell you you’re doing a great job as a parent, [32:48] even if your family is falling apart and you would rather be encouraged [32:52] about bad parenthood than you would to be to repent from sin [32:57] and actually be a good mother or actually be a good father [33:01] and do the job that needs to be done and realize that you’re just a selfish mess [33:06] that cares more about yourself than you do about your kids.

[33:10] But now you need to be encouraged about your parenthood. [33:14] Now, sometimes you just need somebody to look you in the face and say, grow up. [33:19] You want to be encouraged about the stability of your marriage [33:23] rather than admitting that you’re a selfish husband or you’re a selfish wife. [33:28] But you want somebody to tell you, no, it’s OK, you’re great. [33:31] No, some of you are bad husbands and you need to stop looking at porn

[33:35] and you need to stop ignoring your wife. [33:38] And some of you are bad wives. [33:40] No, he can’t spend every waking moment of every waking day [33:44] watching reality shows with you. [33:46] And I’m sorry if that doesn’t make you feel good, but he needs to get out there [33:50] and he needs to make money to pay the mortgage.

[33:55] But you just want to feel better about your plight. [33:58] No, you need to be discouraged. [34:00] There’s a holiness to some discouragement. [34:03] Friends, some of you, you just want the self help [34:07] of someone telling you to find security and happiness in your singleness [34:11] rather than discouraging you and telling you, no, maybe you’re making an idol

[34:15] out of things that you shouldn’t make an idol of, and maybe you should better [34:18] some things about your life and stop feeling sorry for yourself [34:21] and get out there and do something with purpose.

[34:25] Some of you have made the church about finding people for you to hang out with [34:30] that are your own age, with your same feeding habits, [34:34] with the same hobbies that you want to do on the weekend. [34:37] And you’re like, well, there’s nobody here my age. [34:39] Why aren’t you doing that for people here? [34:41] My age, I’ll tell you why, because I’m not forming youth group part two for you.

[34:45] And I’m actually trying to do something for the gospel of Jesus Christ. [34:48] And I can also tell you, I’m not a matchmaker. [34:51] I’m not going to find you a spouse. [34:53] I can tell you, I’ve tried to do that before, and I’ve made some matches [34:56] that were from the pits of hell, and I’m out of that business.

[35:01] I play a matchmaker for nobody else.

[35:06] If you I will put your oil with someone else’s water. [35:10] All right. And it ain’t going to mix. [35:13] And I won’t take responsibility either. [35:15] I got plausible deniability. I wasn’t involved at all. [35:19] I don’t know how they met at a bar. [35:20] I don’t know. Must have been one of the websites.

[35:27] Friends, stop being obsessed [35:30] with how you feel.

[35:34] God’s encouragement, though, will always lead you to growth in Christ. [35:38] I promise you that. [35:40] What should the Colossian Church do [35:43] about their lives to combat the lies that are coming? [35:47] Paul tells them in verse five, it’s two things, very simple. [35:50] He uses two terms.

[35:52] The first one is good order. [35:55] The second one is the phrase that they need firmness of faith in Christ. [36:00] Good order and firmness are actually two terms [36:05] that can also be translated discipline and stability. [36:11] The very thing some of you are running from.

[36:15] It doesn’t any discipline and stability. [36:16] These two things are missing in so many people’s lives. [36:20] And Paul is telling them to get themselves together [36:24] and focus on grounding themselves in the truth of Jesus, [36:28] because the only way to combat lies is with the truth. [36:33] And rather than being obsessed with how you feel,

[36:36] you need to start being obsessed with the truth of Jesus. [36:39] You need to stop saturating your life with self-help [36:42] and start saturating your life with the gospel. [36:45] Many of you are on a path towards deception, [36:47] and you don’t recognize it because you are being deceived. [36:54] It’s not complicated.

[36:56] Deceived people rarely know it [36:58] because they’re deceived. [37:00] If the gospel doesn’t encourage you, I got a question for you. [37:04] Do you really believe it? [37:07] You have to ask yourself that question. [37:10] If when you look to the truth of the gospel,

[37:12] Christ has done for you versus what you deserve, [37:14] and that doesn’t bring you encouragement, regardless of where you are in life. [37:18] Do you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ? [37:21] Good order is what the church tries to do by providing [37:25] environments of discipleship. [37:27] That’s what discipline is.

[37:28] There is a positive form of church discipline. [37:31] It’s why we cultivate all of the environments that we cultivate. [37:35] And the stability that you have in life, that firmness of faith [37:39] in Christ is only going to happen if you know Christ [37:42] and you live your life in following him. [37:46] And no one can do that for you.

[37:50] It necessitates that you leave the lies [37:52] that you are basing your life on behind [37:55] and actually anchor your life to the gospel and saying, [37:59] regardless of what anyone says, regardless of what anyone does, [38:03] I’m not moving away from Jesus Christ, even if everyone walks out of the door. [38:07] I’m in Christ.

[38:09] That’s what stability of faith actually looks like. [38:12] But when you build your life on other things, [38:16] you just get the lies. [38:19] You just get the disorders. [38:22] But look in verse six,

[38:26] the apostle writes, and he says, Therefore, in other words, [38:28] because all of this is true, [38:30] he’s going to tell him again, what do you do with this? [38:33] As you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, rooted [38:37] and built up in him and established in the faith, [38:42] just as you were taught, abounding in Thanksgiving.

[38:45] And I love that verse seven ends with the term Thanksgiving [38:47] before he gets into verse eight, because verse eight continues the same thread. [38:51] He ends with Thanksgiving, [38:53] because what is the natural outlet of being encouraged?

[38:57] Thanksgiving. [38:59] It’s a reaction. [39:01] Paul’s saying, I’m writing you to encourage you, [39:04] and I’m praying you will order your life in such a way that you will be encouraged, [39:09] because if you are encouraged, you will be thankful. [39:12] Because number three, this morning,

[39:14] the answer is always to build your life by walking in Christ. [39:17] I know some of you think that at some point, [39:21] some devotional book coined the term walking in Christ. [39:27] And so you’ve been asked before in your life, how’s your walk with Christ? [39:30] If you’ve been asked that, that’s not some kind of pie in the sky reality. [39:33] That’s actually a biblical ideal that Paul talks about here.

[39:37] He talks about walking in Christ. [39:39] His immediate application is that just as they receive Jesus, [39:44] they must now walk in Jesus. [39:46] And that is Paul’s answer to the Christian life. [39:51] If there is no walk, there is simply no faith. [39:58] If you want to protect yourself from those plausible arguments,

[40:01] Paul was talking about that persuasive rhetoric of those false doctrines [40:06] and ideologies in this world, then you must move with Jesus. [40:10] Is Paul’s point. [40:12] I think at times, [40:14] many of you want to overcomplicate the answer to what you need [40:19] in order to excuse yourself from doing the necessary work.

[40:23] This is not complicated stuff. [40:26] This is actually very simple stuff. [40:29] But sometimes we complicate it because we think, well, [40:32] if the answers to my problems are complicated, [40:35] even if subconsciously what you’re doing is you’re saying, [40:37] then I can avoid actually putting forward any effort to fix things.

[40:42] That’s not going to give you firmness of faith in Christ [40:45] and certainly isn’t going to help you walk with Christ. [40:47] The answer to lies will always be the truth. [40:52] You must know the truth in order to know what the lies look and sound like. [40:56] And Paul spends many of his letters in the New Testament [40:59] dealing with these very issues.

[41:01] And first, Timothy for the apostle writes again to young pastor Timothy, [41:04] saying that lies will not cease in this age. [41:07] Now, the spirit expressly says that in the later time, [41:10] some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves [41:12] to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons [41:15] through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.

[41:20] That’s pretty serious language. [41:23] But notice starts some people are going to depart from the faith [41:25] because they’re going to get tricked. [41:27] They’re going to pursue false doctrine. [41:29] This is a serious enough issue that Paul distinguishes [41:32] between Christian and non-Christian in it.

[41:34] He says to pursue false ideologies [41:37] means that you are not a Christian. [41:39] And you may ask, well, which false doctrines are that serious? [41:46] Simple, all of them. [41:50] If you entertain the lies of Satan for a moment, [41:53] you are putting yourself at risk.

[41:56] You are putting yourself in danger. [41:58] And established faith necessitates building on truth. [42:03] Do not let any of the lies of the enemy in. [42:07] He says you have a seared conscience. [42:10] You will have the teachings of demons. [42:14] I don’t think anybody in this room wants that in all honesty,

[42:19] whether it is the lies of secularism [42:21] that will just make you materialistic, [42:24] whether it is the lies of Mormonism, [42:26] whether it is the lies of the prosperity gospel, [42:28] whether it is the lies of critical race theory [42:30] or even the lies of basing it all on how I feel in my own experience.

[42:35] The victims of these lies are always the same. [42:39] People who are not established in the faith. [42:44] And so what does Paul say to do? Establish yourself. [42:47] That’s where Paul draws his line of distinction. [42:50] The more mature you are in your faith. [42:54] And yes, that means your knowledge and your practice

[42:59] that is coming from scripture and the natural law of God, [43:03] then the less likely you are to fall for lies. [43:09] So it’s the conclusion.

[43:12] Do not be a nominal Christian.

[43:17] Be an actual follower of Jesus Christ. [43:21] Read your Bible. [43:23] Memorize scripture. [43:25] Think about the Bible. [43:28] Commit to serving the church. [43:32] Have your family in church.

[43:34] Get in a community group. [43:36] Form a discipleship group. [43:38] Get to core classes. [43:40] Read good books. [43:42] Pray all the time with your family. [43:47] Tell people about Jesus as much as you can.

[43:53] Ephesians 4, 13 and 14, and I’ll close.

[43:58] Stresses why we seek to mature in the faith. [44:01] Paul writes that we do all this until we all attain [44:03] to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, [44:06] to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ [44:11] so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro [44:16] by what the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine,

[44:20] by human cunning, plausible arguments, [44:24] by craftiness in deceitful schemes. [44:29] That’s why it’s all about the truth. [44:34] To be all about Jesus, you need to know all about Jesus [44:39] and you need to walk with him and for him every day. [44:46] A few application points this morning.

[44:48] First, know the truth to identify lies.

[44:53] Some of you want to study all the false religions [44:56] and you haven’t even studied your own. [44:59] You don’t know lies by studying the lies. [45:03] You know it by saturating your life and truth. [45:07] Friends, saturate your life in the word of God [45:10] and you will be able to identify and expose the lies of the enemy.

[45:15] Secondly, unite around the truth or you will be divided by lies.

[45:20] Thirdly, avoid false teachers and correct false teaching.

[45:26] I seek to do that for you, [45:28] but you must be willing to do that for yourself and for the sake of others as well. [45:34] Fourthly, crucify the temptation to live by feeling. [45:37] Your feelings are not God.

[45:41] And then finally, move toward being established in the faith. [45:47] But you’re not going to get there by sitting stagnant.

[45:53] Move because Jesus is moving. [45:56] And if you want to follow him, you got to go with him.