The Substance Belongs to Christ, Col, 2:16-17

Good morning. We have a gem of a passage to look at here this morning. Colossians 2, 16 and 17. And just in keeping with what we've been looking at here, Paul through the second chapter of Colossians has been alternating between warnings, which in this micro-scale font here we've highlighted in red, and teaching positively. about the character of our position in Christ, who Christ is in the black portion. Now, we've completed what's been several weeks in this section here from verse 9 through verse 15. Now we step into verses 16 and 17, which at least begins with a warning and then ends up with a statement of positive teaching. And as we brought up before, Paul is continuing as he goes through this passage a set of warnings, and those warnings have a pattern.

One of the things we find in Colossians 2.4, 2.8, 2.16, and 2.18, every one of those says, no one, whereas the King James puts it, lest any man. It's an absolute statement there in each one.

The other pattern we saw, though, as we've gone through here, each one of those, even though they said no one, no one what? Now, each of them has a difference, 2.4 we saw, let no one will delude you. 2.8, no one takes you captive. And now in 2.16, no one is to act as your judge.

There is a difference between the first two of these warnings and the last two. The first two is a warning about persuasive speech and enticing doctrine. Now, we don't have a problem with that in our culture, right? Ah, no. No, in fact, after 19 plus centuries, it's as relevant as ever, isn't it? There will be those who will entice many. There will be those who will use persuasive speech.

I brought up in the past, Jim Jones, the cult leader, was my sister's 7th grade teacher. I used to sit across from him at PTA meetings. As a matter of fact, my brother, said a few things about him while he was sitting next to him and didn't realize that that was him he was talking about. He was an expert at persuasive speech. And as a consequence, a number of the kids that I went to high school with, and I went to a little high school, died with him in Guyana.

Persuasive speech is toxic. So when Paul talks about this, this is serious stuff. Most certainly it's spiritually serious, In this case, it actually cost them their very lives. But the next part that he steps into is spiritually stunting and spiritually hazardous practices.

So he's making a shift here as we go into this verse. The warning shifts to look out for what they say now. Look out for what they are asking you to do. See the difference there? So we're stepping into a different section, even though, yes, it's warnings, even though it's still no man, they have that in common, this difference, he's stepping into practices, and watch out, because it's not just what they say and ask you to do, it's what they are expecting you to put into place in practice and in your own life, that's toxic, that's spiritually stunting, that's spiritually hazardous. His warning is real.

Now, principle here, and so we'll use the warning flashing light here to highlight it, Doctrine will ultimately impact practice. What we teach will impact how we live. It will have an impact. That's one of the reasons why we've been, in recent weeks and months, going through kind of a re-look at our doctrinal statement. We want to make sure it's saying everything as clearly and succinctly, but truly, as we can make it. Because doctrine will impact practice. It does matter what they teach at a church.

Okay? It makes a difference. It will impact practice. It will matter. Practice ultimately will impact doctrine. Whatever direction the practice goes, it'll hunt out a doctrine to support it. You see that? There is an interaction between the two. So this is a key principle we want to look at.

Paul carries this principle forth here in 1 Timothy 4.16. And I'm using this as an expanded translation. who have been with us for a while are familiar with that. I'm not getting larger, hopefully, but the text is.

You must, of logical necessity, and that logical necessity is based on your position, pay close attention to your own life and to your doctrine. Persevere in these things, for as you do this, you will positively impact the spiritual growth of both yourself and those who hear you. See that? Doctrine. and practice.

Watch both because they both matter. Each will interact with the other. Each make a difference. And that's precisely the point that Paul is getting at with the Colossian believers here in verses 16 and 17. Let me give you an illustration. Not one quite like that. More like this. Doctrine is much like the foundation. There is a structure above the foundation. We oftentimes would think it odd if somebody just went around building foundations and no structure.

They go together, don't they? And they have to be designed together because they interact with each other. Practice and doctrine, as you have it on your handout, is very much the same way. There is a definite interaction between the two. How one is built will impact the other. You most definitely need to have support. for whatever forces the structure is bringing down. The way the foundation is built and the way the structure is built will interact with each other.

There is definitely an interaction between practice and doctrine. And that's part of the connection Paul is making here. The first two of his warnings are more doctrinal. The second two of the warnings are practice. He's making the connection between those as he puts them together with Timothy in the passage we just looked at. This passage easily drops into four different parts there, nice and simple.

We'll take a look through each one of these in sequence, so step through with us as we go through this. What do you know? We're going to start with the first one. How about that? All right. Therefore, this is the beginning statement there, no one is to act as your judge. This therefore is there because it's there for something. It is a logical statement. It follows logically from what's been said before.

He's been telling us, this is your position in Christ. Therefore, the resulting consequences of those doctrines that I've just told you, these are practices you need to watch out for. These are the teachings that you're going to get about practices in your life, and you need to watch out. This is a warning, because they're spiritually hazardous and spiritually stunting.

Paul isn't coming up with some disconnected thought. He isn't saying, hey, I think I'll throw something else in. He is making a logical statement. What I've laid out before, this follows from it, logically. That's his reason for using the therefore. This is no one. He follows through in the same pattern he's been using and he's going to use once more.

Now, the tolerance level for this act of judging in the case of law is zero. There is no percentage, allowable range, acceptable number in this category. Zip, none, nada. The precise number, get this now, the precise number of those who may act as judge in your life and mine in these matters is precisely, absolutely none.

Okay? So, self-appointed judges in your life, how many of those are you supposed to have? How many? Got to get that number. Okay, ready? Zip, zero. Now, just for those who have a scientific or technical background, I know in my own case, after a couple and a half decades of engineering, plus or minus zero percent, just so you know. No tolerance in there. No one is to act as your judge.

This is a present active imperative preceded by this personal pronoun, you. So here's the warning here. It comes expanded this way if we look at the first Therefore, being a logical conclusion based on what has been said, that's your position, absolutely not even one person is to be continuing to act as your judge. That is, placing themselves between you and Jesus Christ in these matters. Nobody. None. Zip. There is no place for it. Period. He's as clear as he can be on this thing. In Philippians that we studied last year, verses 7-9 of chapter 3, Paul makes this very direct statement.

After telling them about all the things, he says, I thought were gain. He says, I find that they're not. I count all things as loss. What is he saying? He is saying this is priority such that everything else falls into insignificance. in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord." He says, I was an expert at the law. He says, nobody could surpass me. But what's the problem with that? He says, I've come to the place of realizing all that can do is get in the way of my relationship with Jesus Christ. And that is what counts. That's the reason, the basis for his warning, isn't it? He does not want to see anything or anyone acting as judge in these legalistic matters, coming between the believer and Jesus Christ.

You have been seated with Christ. Is there any basis for inserting some earthly set of rules with that relationship with Him? You have been identified with Christ, and as we've seen in the prior passages, from His crucifixion all the way to having been seated with Him. If that's true, What do a set of earthly rules have to do with that? Your life is with Him in the heavenlies.

The next part that Paul gets to here, he says, acting as your judge, no one, about what? Then he lays it out. We've got this part two. Now, sometimes you need a judge. There's a food eating contest. You need judges for those. That's not what he's talking about. If you have anything like that, you need a judge. That's fine. That's not what he's talking about.

This is the legalistic rules and laws that the Jews would have, and he kind of goes through a casual listing of them. Obviously, as we looked at before, the Jews had 613 laws about things you do, don't do. 365 of those were things do not do. The balance, do those. All these laws and rules he summarizes here in the last half of verse 16.

But one of the things that we find is that because of the concoction, the spiritual concoction that they were being sold there at Colossae, what they would do is they'd say, okay, here's a bunch of nice Jewish laws. By the way, we've got some pagan practices to kind of feather in there and attach to those. So we'll go over those in a bit here.

Remember the stoichia zone we looked at several weeks ago? This word stoichia was the word that Paul used in verses two, and we'll use again in verse 20. And what happens here is in, excuse me, verse 8 and 20, in this passage here, something is going on here. The word stoichi was used for certainly what the Greek philosophers talked about. They talked about the basic parts of matter. And so it was sort of a philosophical speculation about how things were made up. That was one of the ways it was used.

And that would be attached to these Jewish laws and rules. In addition to that, there were gods that they attached to the earth, air, fire, and water symbols that they came up with. There were also various aspects of Jewish occultism and magic and astrology that were attached to these laws that were just simply laws of Moses. Then on top of that, the signs of the Zodiac were connected up with the Jewish laws.

So this concoction that they were coming up with was getting more and more spiritually toxic by the minute. Today's neo-paganism and earth religions call upon these same beings. They actually even use the word stoichia in some of their incantations and writings. The Colossians' spiritual concoction, however, It, at the surface, looks like, at least starts off looking like mosaic laws.

First, he talks about food or drink, and you've got some passages there in the Old Testament law that lays out these mosaic laws about food and drink. You have festivals. There was actually seven of them that were laid out in scripture. And some of the initial ones laid out there in Exodus 23. You have also the looking at new moons. The Jews had the new moons as their basis of their Jewish calendar. And in order to correct that with a solar calendar, they would every once in a while throw in an extra month. You can imagine that.

Then they had the Sabbath day. So they had all these laws and observances, and Paul makes a quick outline of them here in the end of verse 16. Essentially what those laws were, however, was basically a graveyard. It was death. That's what the law is good at. It was just another tombstone to put in the graveyard.

Okay, now, what happened, though, among the Jewish and pagan concoctions that they put together, the blended pagan practices that you see connecting with this, is they would say, okay, the Jews have their restrictive laws. Don't eat this, don't drink that. And so they would say, well, that's really good, let's add to that. We'll come up with some pagan practices that restrict it even further, and we'll match that up with the Jewish law.

They would have seasonal festivals that honored things like astrological powers, and they'd connect that up with the Jewish laws. It was part of the Colossian concoction. There was a Colossian coin that archaeologists have found that had pictures of Selene, the pagan moon goddess, so that would connect up with the new moons. And on the Sabbath day, they would connect up holy days, pagan holy days, some of those are even celebrated now. So you would have the Mosaic Law and these pagan practices blended in together. So when Paul is listing them, certainly it has a Jewish flavor, but it didn't stop there. There was plenty of pagan practice and activity to add to the list and make those law too. Now, a lot of this concoction can be somewhat equaled in what's happened in Americana, and that's sort of the medicine man mentality. Hey, we got this concoction for you, and we're not quite sure what's in it, but you're going to love it.

Okay? It'll cure everything. And that was the way the Colossian church was being sold. We've got this stuff for you, and we'll charge you an arm and a leg, and we'll be gone tomorrow morning. Okay? That was what was happening spiritually to the Colossians.

Then Paul begins to characterize these things. He said, no one is to act as your judge in regard to these legalistic practices that seem to have a Jewish root and get connected up with pagan practices. But let me tell you about these things. Here's the character of them that you need to know, because you also need to know what counts. This word shadow, skia. Think about it. Here's a shadow. It's a two-dimensional image. It's created by the absence of light. contrasting with the area of greater light around it. Isn't that what a shadow is?

But if you think of any shadow, it's going to cause us to ask, what thing of substance is creating the shadow? Now, there are times when shadows just make nice patterns, and it's a wonderful thing for photographers to capture something like this, where the shadows and the light make a really attractive interplay. But the truth is, shadows also tell us that there's something real that's creating the shadow, don't they? If you look at something like this, you look at this and you say, okay, I see what's creating the shadow.

Probably the guy in the middle's got the camera, and there's people on the other side. Now, you don't see any of that, do you? But you see the shadow, and the shadow leads you to say, I know why there's a shadow, but there's something more real than the shadow that's creating it. Isn't that true? The shadow points to a reality.

The shadow points to something of substance. The shadow causes us to think of and to look for what's real. Have you ever been walking along or maybe sitting in some place, a shadow comes into view? You immediately begin to ask in your mind, what's creating the shadow? Sometimes maybe real suspicious or concerned. But shadows do that. They cause us to say, what's causing the shadow? We look for a reality naturally when we see a shadow come into view.

In Hebrews 10.1, the principle that Paul is laying out in this Colossians passage comes out very well. It says this, For the law, since it is only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. That's the problem with the shadow.

It points to something, but it doesn't do anything. It doesn't accomplish anything. The shadow points to the reality. It does not, by itself, accomplish anything. The law could not, year by year, accomplish what it pointed to, which is the coming of Jesus Christ. It can't act to replace it. It can't substitute for it. It can't begin to act as its equivalent. Think of this, a shadow.

When you're hungry or thirsty, and we'll go downstairs before too long here, when you're hungry or thirsty, do you want a shadow of the food or drink? Is that sufficient? Will you be happy with that? It'd be a whole lot easier to feed us if that's all you want. No, you're probably not happy with that, are you? It's not going to do it.

Talking about old pictures here. 31 years ago this month, Nancy and I were married. Now, my grandpa did the wedding ceremony, he did a great job. And he's kind of a historic fellow, born 1890, and he performed the ceremony. He's not with us now, the Lord took him home and that's fine.

But my grandpa at the end of the ceremony did not say, Vern, you may now kiss your bride's shadow. Neither was I interested in that either. But the point is, shadows just are not a substitute for the real thing, are they? Now, the shadow in this case, a shadow of what is to come.

Now, it's real interesting, this what is to come is a phrase that keeps popping up in the New Testament. This phrase is pointing to the new creation. The new creation is something that we are a part of but it is something that is in the process of development. Christ is the front end. We are also, I'd say, following Christ near the front end of that new creation. That new creation will become more and more apparent as this old creation, it becomes more and more evident, isn't going to last. It's not going to make it. It's what's to come that the shadow is pointing to, the substance.

Hebrews 10.1 again, for the law, since it is only a shadow of the good things to come. Now this is interesting. Hebrews has this things to come three times here. Twice it qualifies it with good things to come, okay? Since you have this, these good things to come, why be all enamored with the shadow? I'm sure by now, after 31 years, Nancy would be disgusted if I were enamored with her shadow, okay?

The same thing, he's pointing, no, there's a reality that you need to look at here. Now, this phrase of the variation is used often throughout the Scripture, talking about God and His people, God taking action, God fulfilling promises, especially in Jesus Christ. Isn't that interesting? Paul's using that phrase here again, pointing to Jesus Christ. of the four points that comes across here, the substance belongs to Christ. This word substance translated body in the King James.

Think of it, shadows are made by contrasting light and darkness. The source of the shadow, of course, is what is real and substantial. That creates this lessening of light that we call the shadow. It's the source that's real and substantial. The law, since it is only a shadow that points, like shadows do, to a reality, the law is only a shadow. Why be preoccupied with a shadow, Paul's saying?

The reality is Christ. That's what it points to. That's of substance. That is what you ought to be looking at. Let me place that. Who? Who we ought to be preoccupied with? Who we ought to be looking at and saying, What does this law, this shadow, point to? Who does it point to? Just like we look at this picture and we say immediately, hey, there's some human beings here that are creating the shadow. The shadow points to the reality.

What would happen to the speakers during New Testament times? Authors would write about things and they would constantly make contrast between the reality and the shadow. And so that's one of the reasons why you see translations in modern times pointing to that. Even the New King James, I think it's in the pew pockets, translates it as substance.

They point towards what matters because ultimately the shadow doesn't. The shadow is not of substance. Paul is doing that very same thing here. He's saying we've got these laws and regulations, those are superficial. Those are not what matter. What matters is Christ. The substance, what's substantial, what's real, the reality belongs to Christ.

Think about it this way. Suppose I were to offer you a box of shadows. I'll offer them at half off. I'll have it delivered this afternoon if you like. Anybody care to buy? Half off, good price. Box of shadows. Nobody's taking? We'll increase the size. Extra large, biggie size. Extra large box of shadows, still at one half the price. Any takers? All right, all right. We'll put it in a really nice box, a box full of shadows, a nice box. We'll even slap a guarantee on it. It'll be twice as many shadows as you thought were in the box. Any takers?

No. Still not too terribly impressed, are you? The substance belongs to Christ. He's saying the law that they're trying to sell you is just a box of shadows, and it doesn't matter what price they charge you, it's too much. You've overpaid, folks, because you're going to pay. If you're a believer here, you're not going to lose your salvation. That's not a question. Your spiritual growth will be inhibited. Your spiritual growth will be stunted if you're sold the box of shadows, if you're sold the law as the replacement.

The point also is this. A shadow has no personality. Christ has personality. It's not a what, but a who. And it's like those shadows of people that we saw. The shadow is merely an absence of something. The who that is of substance, that is substantial, that's the reality, is Christ. Christ himself. That's the reality that Paul's pointing to here.

I'd like us to Let's stand and sing here. Why don't we go ahead and do that. This is a song that I think Randy introduced to us too and we've actually sung sometime before. So let's give it a try here. All I once held dear, built my life upon. All this world reveals and wars to hone. All I once thought gain I have counted loss, spent and worthless now compared to this.

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you, there is no greater thing. You're my all, you're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love You, Lord. Now my heart's desire is to know You more, to be found in You and known as Yours. to possess by faith what I could not earn, a surpassing gift of righteousness. Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You, there is no greater thing. You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love You, Lord. Oh, to know the power of Your risen life and to know You in your sufferings, to become like You in your death, my Lord, so with you to live and never die. Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you, there is no greater thing.

You're my whole, you're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love You, Lord. Love You, Lord. Let's pray. Lord, as we sing this song, ultimately, what is of substance, not just you as a value choice or a value judgment, not just as an academic priority, but knowing you. This is, Lord, the truth of eternity. We have eternal life, not waiting at some time in the future, but beginning now. Because of what you have done so marvelously, so overwhelmingly, so unfathomably in our lives. Thank you for this precious privilege of knowing you, not only now, but in the forever to come. Thank you in Jesus' name, Amen.