The Real Substance of Your Faith
Sermon Transcript
0:00:14.0
You know, people of real substance are hard to find today, are they not? There are plenty of people—present company, hopefully, excepted—plenty of people today who are content splashing around in the shallow end of life. Splashing around and pursuing things like money and power and decadent pleasure and things of that nature. Splashing around in what I would call a meaningless existence. I say that only because if you have any doubts about whether the pursuits of such things are meaningless, just ask a guy named Solomon, who had all of that and then some. And he found it to be wanting. He wrote a book in the Old Testament known as Ecclesiastes, and he said, “Meaningless, meaningless, vanity, vanity.” Such is the person who splashes around in the shallow end of life pursuing such things.
0:01:20.2
I want to suggest to you also that social media has a way of inviting us into shallow things and shallow places. I have nothing against social media. I’m all over it myself. I hope you follow me on Instagram and become my friend on Facebook. How’s that for a shameless plug? But at the same time, it invites us into shallow connections and replaces real, human face to face connections with this digital illusion that we’re all fascinated by.
0:01:53.4
It’s possible you’re here this morning and you say you have faith in Jesus Christ, but you’re also splashing around the shallow end. In the words of Kyle Idleman, you’re not a true follower of Jesus; you’re just His fan. You say, “Oh yea, Jesus. I just love Jesus. He’s my hanging dude. And I love His moral teachings, and I love it when I learn leadership principles from the life of Jesus.” You’re not a true follower. You’re just a fan.
0:02:22.3
Or maybe your faith in Jesus Christ has devolved into the kinds of religious practices that threatened a church 2000 years ago in a place called Colossae. I’m talking about the kinds of practices that still inflate the ego and make a person content with his or her self-righteousness. And these are the kinds of practices that the apostle Paul goes after in his letter to the Colossians 2:16-23. In fact, I find no less than three threats to the real substance of our Paul that highlights in these verses. What do I mean by the real substance of our faith? That’s the title of today’s message, and I think that’s the essence of what Paul’s getting at here in this text. But let me set the course here before I get to the threats by just a couple of statements.
0:03:14.0
First of all, the real substance of your faith grows in a community that offers real conversations about real faith. I hope that describes this faith community that you and I are a part of called Atlantic Shores Baptist Church. That we can get at the real substance of our faith because it’s a safe place to have real conversations about real matters of faith. You don’t have to walk in here feeling like you have a have a spiritual Ph.D. in any way. No, you can get connected. You can have some real questions. We’re engaged in real conversations about our faith.
0:03:52.2
Secondly, the real substance of your faith is not found in rules or rituals, but in a real relationship with Jesus Christ. Let me say that again, because I think that’s the big idea that Paul’s getting at in this section of his letter to the Colossians. The real substance of our faith is not defined by a list of rules that you keep so meticulously. It’s not defined by some religious ritual that you practice, but it’s defined by a real personal relationship with Jesus Christ by grace and through faith.
0:04:32.5
Now, let’s talk about the threats to that real kind of faith. Paul address three of them in theses verses. The first threat to the real substance of your faith is what we call legalism. Look at it in verses 16-17. Paul says, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” Let’s just stop right there. Paul is concerned that there were some false teachers that arrives in Colossae, and they were passing judgment on people. They were looking down their spiritual noses at them because they didn’t practice the same dietary laws that they did. They didn’t pay attention to the same special days that they did, much of this and all of this probably rooted in the Old Testament law. Paul says to the Colossians, “Don’t let anybody judge you and judge the level of your spirituality by these things. To say it more directly, let nobody judge your spirituality by elevating law over grace. And that’s what the legalist does.
0:05:51.4
Now, you may be wondering, what is legalism in the church? Well, Dr. Charles Ryrie in his book Balancing the Christian Life defines legalism this way. He says, “It’s a fleshly attitude that conforms to a code for the purpose of exalting yourself.” We’re going to find pride as a threat that runs through every one of these three threats to the real substance of our faith. And it’s never more evident than in legalism. The person who has established an arbitrary, manmade list of rules that you and I are to live by—to check the box, so to speak; to measure our spirituality. And they walk around in pride, looking down their spiritual noses at you and me and say, “I’m better than you are.” And that list of do’s and don’ts is rather arbitrary. The legalist makes a manmade list. He picks and chooses. Often comes up with a list of external behaviors that are right or wrong for a real spiritual Christian to participate in.
0:07:04.4
If you’re looking for examples of this, look no farther than the Pharisees. 2000 years ago, the Pharisees had earned a Ph.D. in legalism. Some scholars estimate that they added some 600 laws or rules to the Mosaic Law that was already in the Old Testament. They put rule upon rule upon rule and basically ended up putting everybody and themselves in a spiritual straitjacket. And the people who kept the rules the best, those Pharisees, were considered the most spiritual.
0:07:39.8
Legalism rears its ugly head in every generation, threatens the real substance of our faith in every church. Now, this is not to say that the Christian life is absent of commandments that we’re to obey. Jesus said in John 14, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” But the legalist keeps not only the commandments of God, but his own superimposed list of do’s and don’ts, not out of love for Jesus, but to earn His favor and to feel more superior to somebody else. That is the attitude of the legalist.
0:08:14.4
I remember when I was growing up in a church in Indiana, there was just the whiff of legalism in the church back then. And I heard the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ there. There was no question about that. It was faithfully preached. But underneath it all, there was just this little hint of, “Here are some things you do and you don’t do.” Like, “Guys, don’t let your hair grow past your ears.” A real spiritual person had…and that wasn’t even the style back then. How do I know? You ought to see my grade school pictures and my high school pictures and college. No, I don’t want to float those around, but I had longer hair then. That was the style back then. But, oh no, if you went to the Christian school associated with the shirt, you couldn’t get in unless you cut it up over your ears because that’s what a spiritual person did. It’s those kinds of manmade things that have no connection to the scriptures. The legalist loves his list of things to do and not do and places to go and not go.
0:09:20.2
There is a version of this that I read about this week that is emerging. If it weren’t true, it would almost be comical. A group of so-called Christian vegans are making a case for a vegetarian diet based on the dietary laws in the Old Testament. And they’re suggesting that a real Christian, a spiritual Christian, ought to be a vegetarian. Well, I’m just going to go on record of saying I like a good steak once in a while. And I’m sure a lot of you do as well. And there is nothing wrong with being a vegan or not a vegan. You can be a vegan. And maybe there are some nutritional and dietary pluses in that for you. That’s okay. But don’t impose that on everybody else and suggest that this is what a good Christian does.
0:10:08.9
You see, Paul in his letter to the Colossians, he says, “Don’t let anybody pass judgment on you on questions of food and drink.” Some had brought in the dietary laws of the Old Testament and tried to insert them into the Colossian church. He goes on to say, “Or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” Think of a festival as a holiday. You go back into the Old Testament in Mosaic Law, there were certain festivals or holidays. Certain cycles of the moon, even Sabbaths that they were to keep and to maintain as holy. And Paul says, “Don’t let anybody just your spirituality based on the keeping of some holiday.”
0:10:54.5
Can I say something that’s going to make you wake up a little bit this morning? And I don’t want to be misunderstood here. But did you know that there is no obligation in scripture for us to celebrate Christmas on December 25th or any other day of the year? There is nothing in the Bible that says, “Thou shalt celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.” Do I think that the Matthew account and the Luke account of the birth of Jesus is important for us to hear? Absolutely. We’re not canceling Christmas. Please don’t run out of here spreading the rumor that Pastor Ron is canceling Christmas. Of course not. There is nothing wrong with celebrating it. But imagine for a moment if we did cancel it. Do you know what some people would say? “Well, that isn’t a real Christian church if they don’t celebrate this particular holiday like this.” That’s a bunch of hogwash. In fact, we might even be more biblical by saying, “No, we’re not going to draw special attention to that day, a festival, a new moon or any Sabbath or any special day.” Again, we’re not canceling Christmas. Don’t go there, all right. I have no intention of that. I’m not seeding that out there. So please, if you suggest that I am, I’ll deny it. I’ll deny it wholeheartedly. I’ll use my social media platform to say, “No, Christmas is on this year.” In fact, we have great plans for Christmas here at this church.
0:12:18.8
Paul goes on to say in verse 17 that these special diets and these special days are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance is of Christ. He’s not interested in shadows. He’s not interested in splashing around in the shallow waters of religiosity. He’s interested in substance.
0:12:46.7
Maybe this will help us understand this. In the Bible, Jesus Christ casts a long shadow over the Old and New Testament. We obviously understand His presence in the New Testament, but He casts a long shadow into the Old Testament. To say it another way, every book of the Bible points to Jesus, starting as early as Genesis 3. You get the first introduction of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible’s story is about the coming of the anointed One, the Messiah, the One who will pay the penalty and atone for our sins through His shed blood upon the cross. And everything leading up to the birth, the life, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the New Testament…everything leading up to that is a shadow. It’s a foreshadowing if things to come.
0:13:46.3
So, for instance, when Jesus came and He was starting His ministry around the age of 30, the first thing He did was go see His friend and His cousin, John the Baptizer. And Jesus identified with us in His baptism. And do you remember what John said when Jesus walked up? He looked a couple of his disciples, and he says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” That is shadow language. Because what John was saying was, “Hey, fellow Jews, you remember all that stuff in the Old Testament? The sacrificial system, the blood of bulls and goats, and the spotless little lamb? All of that was a foreshadowing of this and this person. He is now here. The reality is now here. This is the Lamb of God who will go to the cross and shed His blood. The perfect sinless, spotless Lamb of God that was foreshadowed for all these centuries in the Old Testament, He is now here.” And what Paul is saying is the real substance of your faith is not in the shadows.
0:14:56.0
Let me say it another way. Is it easier to hug a shadow or to hug a real person that is physically standing in front of you? You know, if your spouse is in the military and he or she goes on to deployment and you put a picture of that spouse upon your mantle or maybe by your bedside, are you content with the photograph? Or do you want your spouse to come back in flesh and blood. Well, the Old Testament was all shadows and foreshadowings and types and figures, pointing us to the reality and the substance who is Jesus Christ.
0:15:30.6
And Paul says let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or all these special kinds of festivals and new moons...these were shadows. The reality is now here. And because the reality is here and because He went to cross and died on the cross for our sins and shed His blood, guess what? That’s why we don’t have a sacrifice of blood and bulls and goats here on Sunday morning. We don’t need the shadow anymore. Legalism is all about shadows. Old shadows and new shadows. And it misses the substance of our faith. The first threat to the substance of your faith is legalism. I’ve got to move on here.
0:16:19.4
A second threat to the substance of your faith is mysticism. Now, let’s move on here. In verse 18 Paul says now, “Let no one disqualify you.” Earlier he said let no one judge you. Now he uses a different word to say a similar thing. He says don’t let them disqualify you. It’s an athletic term here, the word “disqualify.” It’s the picture of an umpire that might say, “You’re outta here.” It’s one thing to feel uncomfortable in a legalistic church. You know, you don’t measure up to their manmade, self-imposed, prideful list of do’s and don’ts. It’s another thing for the mystic to say to you, “You’re outta here too because you don’t measure up.” He says don’t let anybody disqualify you, “insisting on...,” and then he drops in this word “asceticism.” And I want you to park it right there. We’re going to come back to it because he uses this word in verse 18 and again in verse 23. But he quickly moves on to descriptions of mysticism. “Insisting on worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up,”—there’s pride—“puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head.” Who is the head but Jesus Christ, right? “From whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.”
0:17:50.6
Now, how would we define mysticism? The practice of mysticism could be defined as religious ecstasies. Always looking for that new experience that leads to self-delusion and a dreamy confusion about what the Christian life is all about. It is a dangerous threat to the real substance of your faith. So how do we recognize mysticism? What does that look like? How do we see it when it stairs us in the face?
0:18:27.0
Well, let’s play a little game called “You Might be a Mystic If…” You might be a mystic, for example, if you value spiritual experiences above the objective truth of God’s Word. There are all kinds of people walking around in churches today that say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Bible is the Word of God. But let me tell you about my experience. Let me tell you about the time Jesus and six or seven angels came to visit me at my house. And I had this conversation with them.” Really? (0:19:00.1) Come on now. Remember this principle. Always judge an experience…whether it’s your experience or somebody else’s, judge the experience by the objective truth of God’s Word. Don’t judge the objective truth of God’s Word by your experience. And there is a real important difference between the two. The mystics are all about the experiences. And they elevate that above the Word of God.
0:19:27.4
Secondly, you might be a mystic if you seek after visions, dreams, new revelations from God, and hidden meanings in the scripture. Again, there are all kinds of people going around today saying, “You know, here is the Bible, but there is a hidden code. And only the highly spiritual and highly trained can really understand.” And the mystics with the pride and arrogance draw you into their false teachings. Listen, God is not playing a game (0:20:00.0) of hide and seek with us. He is a God of mysteries. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord.” But He is also a revealer of mysteries. And our job is not to play hide and seek with God and to find out the hidden things that He hasn’t told us about that are only available through visions and dreams and all those kinds of things. No, He has plainly revealed through His written Word and through His Son Jesus Christ all that He wants us to know and all that we need to know in Jesus Christ. This is His Word. Don’t add to it. Don’t subtract from it. But get to know Him through His Word, His revealed Word. He has revealed Himself through the pages of scripture and through His Son Jesus Christ.
0:20:48.4
Also you might be a mystic if you obsess over angels and worship them. This was a problem in the church at Colossae. Paul says, “Let no one disqualify, insisting on the worship of angels.” Now, why would you worship an angel even if you saw one? Throughout the pages of scripture whenever an angelic creature showed up to a prophet or somebody and made that person fall on his knees before the angel, the angel would say in so many words, “Hey, get up. I’m just like you.” In fact, the teaching in the New Testament book of Hebrews is that angels are a little lower than us.
0:21:25.0
Also, you might be a mystic if you take pride in possessing special spiritual insight gained through—and we’ll get there in a moment—asceticism or extreme self-denial. You see, here was the problem with the mystics. They had this idea that there were unworthy to enter into the holy presence of God. And they needed help from a go-between like an angel or a saint, maybe even mother Mary. Now I’m stepping on some toes, aren’t I? I’m wading into the waters of Catholicism. There is no need to seek after a go-between because you feel somehow unworthy to enter into the presence of God. As a child of God, the writer of Hebrews tells us come boldly into the presence of God. I don’t need an angel. I don’t need a saint. I don’t need mother Mary to get me into the presence of God through prayer. I have access to the holy throne room of God in prayer because of my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
0:22:38.1
But the mystics would kind of feign humility. It’s a false humility. And they would go chasing after the worship of angels and dreams and visions and all these kinds of things. And Paul says, “You're cutting yourself off from the head. This is called headless Christianity. He says they are “puffed up without reason…and not holding fast to the Head.” Who is the Head? This is Jesus Christ. You know, quit fluttering around in the realms of angels and dreams and visions and secret things and mysteries and hidden codes in the text. You have a relationship with the head of the church. You go directly to the CEO. But when you dabble in all those other things you’re engaging in headless Christianity. And it’s not a Christianity…it’s not a faith that feeds you to grow. “Not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.”
0:23:44.5
So the threat to the real substance of our faith is found in legalism. It’s found in mysticism. Thirdly and finally, in asceticism. And we found that word in verse 18, and it appears also in verse 23. Let’s read on beginning in verse 20. “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?” He says, “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” Now, throughout church history, asceticism led to monasticism- the monasteries and the monks. Asceticism is this idea of going to extreme measures of self-denial. Now, I’m talking extreme. The kind of extreme measures that involved extreme fasting that did damage to the body, extreme exposure to heat and cold, sleep deprivation, flagellation, even self-mutilation. The ascetics and the monastics were people who felt like, to really be on the receiving end of God’s favor, “I have to go to the extreme end of self-denial and spiritual discipline,” even to the damaging of their own body.
0:25:38.9
Listen, friends. There is nothing in the scripture that encourages us to do that. One author says, “Followers of Christ are told to deny self.” And he’s right. Jesus said, “If you want to be one of my followers, deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.” Self-denial is certainly a part of the Christian life, as opposed to the self-indulgence that our culture invites us to. It says, “Followers of Christ are told to deny self, but asceticism takes this command to an extreme. The Bible never suggests that a Christian should purposefully seek out discomfort or pain. On the contrary, God has richly blessed us with everything for our enjoyment. The Bible warns of those who forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods. Thus it is erroneous to believe that celibates who also abstain from certain foods are more holy than other people.” Where did we ever get that idea? “We are under grace,” he says, “not under the law. Therefore, the Christian does not live by a set of rules but by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Christ has set us free. In many cases, the ascetic practices self-denial in order to earn God’s favor or somehow purge himself from sin. This shows a misunderstanding of grace. No amount of austerity can earn salvation or merit God’s love.”
0:27:08.7
Now, again, that is not to say that the Christian life is not a life of self-denial and discipline. Even the apostle Paul said to Timothy, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." And in the Greek word that is translated “ascetic” or “asceticism,” it means “exercise or training or practice.” But you can take that to an extreme, right? Paul says discipline yourself, gymnazo yourself. It’s where we get our word “gymnasium.” Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. Yes, that involves spiritual exercise and training and practice. But you can go to such an extreme on that that you do damage to your body. And God never intends for that.
0:27:49.7
So the threat that was true in Colossae and is even true in our world today, the threat to the real substance of our faith are these religious practices that, on the outside, look very spiritual and allow the person who is full of pride to be puffed up in self-righteousness and to even look down his or her nose at somebody next to them and say, “Based on my legalistic list of do’s and don’ts, and my delving into mysticism…do you know the secret things that God wants us to know like I do?” Or even the extreme practices of self-denial, this is not the real substance of our faith. The real substance of our faith is found in a real, authentic relationship with Jesus Christ. Not a shadow. Not a photograph of Him.
0:28:55.0
Now, God would have sent us a photograph, I suppose. “Here is My Son. See the picture of Him smiling? He loves you.” No, He sent Him here physically. The Gnostics in the 1st century and 2nd century wanted us to believe in this spiritual and mystical Jesus. And they said the body was evil and Jesus really didn’t have a body and all those kinds of things. That’s foolishness. The plain teaching of scripture is that He is the incarnate Son of God- 100% God and 100% man, God in the flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We don’t need the shadows anymore. All of that was a foreshadowing of the reality that is to come. And that reality and that substance is found in Jesus Christ.
0:29:42.7
Don’t let anybody judge your spirituality by elevating law over grace. Don’t let anybody declare you unworthy to walk into the holy presence of God because you're not as mystical as they are. And certainly do not let anybody enslave you with extreme measures of self-denial. Just be in a relationship with Jesus. It’s personal. It’s authentic. It’s real. It’s not a shadow or a foreshadowing. He really came in flesh and blood. When He rose from the dead, He said to His disciples, “Feel the nail scars in My hands and My side.” It was a real body, a glorified body at that point. But that’s the real substance of our faith.
0:30:33.7
My question for you this morning is, do you hve a real and personal relationship with Jesus Christ by faith and through grace? If you’re delving around and swimming in the shallow waters of legalism and mysticism and asceticism, maybe even monasticism, and you're thinking those are the paths that take you to a higher plane and a more spiritual place, and you’re becoming puffed up in pride as you look at others who are not willing to go there with you…you’re just splashing around in the shallow end. You’re dealing with shadows. I don’t want to hug a shadow. I want to hug the reality. And I want to deal with the real substance of our faith and not get off in cuckoo land with this other stuff. Do you have a real personal relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and is that enough for you?
0:31:51.1