Christ Is Enough | Pastor William McDowell

are you ready for the word i'm sure you are uh so you know what to do let's say let's go deeper let's go deeper let's go deeper as pastor caleb coined that uh originally with dya we've just kind of co-opted it for the whole church let's go deeper and uh god has something to say to us if you would stand as we read the word of the lord we do this to honor the reading of the word of the lord because we believe it is the word of the lord different from all other written literature in all of the world um and so we're gonna read in from colossians chapter two colossians chapter two is where we're gonna start we're gonna read the scripture and then we're gonna pray we're gonna spend quite a bit of time in colossians but uh we'll we'll begin with colossians chapter two in a new living translation it reads this way i want you to know how much i have agonized for you and for the church at laodicea and for many other believers who have never met me personally i want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love i want them to have complete confidence that they understand god's mysterious plan which is christ himself in him lie all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge i'm telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments for though i am far away from you my heart is with you and i rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in christ is strong and now just as you've accepted christ jesus as your lord you must continue to follow him let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him then your faith will go strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world rather than from christ for in christ lives all the fullness of god and human body so you are also complete through your union with christ who is the head over every ruler and authority let's pray father thank you for your word thank you for your love for us thank you for the truth thank you for leading us and guiding us and directing us thank you for speaking to us through your word thank you for allowing us to grow because of it but i pray that in the next few moments you would anoint me to speak your word which is already anointed i pray for the divine ability to communicate your heart lord i pray that by the power of your holy spirit you would translate the words that every believer needs to hear exactly the way that you need them to hear that causes them and us all to be challenged and transformed because of the proclamation and the declaration of your word but i recognize my need for you always as you know it is my desire to make you proud i pray that you go beyond my own ability and speak through me and i pray as always the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable and thy sight oh lord my strength and my redeemer and because you are so good so merciful so loving and so kind would you draw the heart of the ones who do not yet know you reveal jesus and save them today we pray in jesus name amen you can be seated you can be seated i have um i don't know if it's quite a bit we'll see in just a moment but what i don't have uh is a flashy intro we're really just going to kind of jump right into things um what i have today for us is not flashy but it's necessary it's not ear candy but it's necessary for us i believe that i can speak for the leaders when i say that i simultaneously feel both a burden and a joy when i consider you deeper in this season i have both a burden and a joy at the same time when considering the church joy when i consider how you kept the faith and walk through this season uh really um how you've held on to the word of the lord and this season how you've allowed it to transform even how you live in your decisions has been absolutely amazing to watch unfold as we see your life play out either as we talk as we are hearing about you hearing about your faith our interactions with you or even your social media posts whatever it may be um we we find great joy we're brimming with joy when we think about you deeper at the same time i also have a heavy burden in my spirit when i consider the landscape and the spiritual landscape that we are navigating both in the world and among fellow believers as a result of seeing these things it's also given us quite a burden i to be honest with you continue to be grieved by some of what is accepted as true biblical in the will of god i'm concerned uh about some of the voices that our fellow believers have embraced as authorities and matters of the spirit and particularly those who are untethered from the scriptures that that has been a concern and a grieving and a grievous thing and a burden and it's one of the things that that kind of uh informs the direction that the holy spirit has given us not only in preaching but specifically in the role of pastoring a fellowship of believers um the cyclical nature of world history and church history along with biblical history allow us to prophetically surmise that this is a season of opportunity however opportunity does not come with a guarantee this is one of the issues with with the the idea of inevitability or the the concept of inevitability uh when it comes to the believer because the concept of inevitability when it comes to the believer is that we don't have to be proactive or even active in our faith that things are just going to happen because god wills it to be so as if we have no participation in it and i want you to know that opportunity while it sits in front of us and we're able to see this through the cycles of time and the cycles of the earth is not a guarantee that we will participate in or seize the opportunity it was leonard ravenhill who is attributed to making the statement opportunities of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity opportunities of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity which is to say that there are corresponding actions to divine opportunities can i say it again there are corresponding actions to divine opportunities either my guys in here are really writing or they're just not going to say amen at all so i'm just going to call them out amen there are corresponding actions to divine opportunities and so what i'm feeling the trifold feeling that i have internally is for pastoral grounding biblical encouragement and preparation for the future all at the same time that's a trifold feeling that i'm carrying it is what i feel in my belly it's literally a visceral feeling and then i approach i can literally feel it as i prepare the word of the lord i can feel it as i stand to preach i'm all at the same time and as i think about you deeper there's kind of this trifold feeling that's happening on the inside it's something i can the way i best where i could describe it is when i'm preaching it's like i can almost feel it in my belly it's just one of those things where it's like okay how can we get all of these things at once this this pastoral grounding this biblical encouragement and preparation which has a prophetic nature to it for the future all of those things are happening at the same time we've been talking about maturity um we've been talking about this for the last number of weeks and we've been talking about it over the last number of weeks in the context of his application in the lives of individual believers that's how we've been talking about it so we began talking uh about kind of the marks of the signs of immaturity we just kind of began there because that's where as we begin in hebrews chapter five leading to hebrews chapter six where the writer of hebrews was kind of leading to i would like to talk to you about other things but i can't talk to you about these things because we're still having to go over these things and so because we began there we had to start there it wasn't that we were pointing a finger more than we were doing an introspection of where we were so it wasn't pointing a finger at the world more than it was saying hey even though we don't necessarily feel this way about you we also understand our surroundings and so therefore we want to make sure that we're not being pulled down a level but coming up a level and so we begin to deal with that and then we begin to talk about maturity and how we define maturity not as a destination to reach but rather a continuous progression to an ultimate fulfillment the perfection which is in christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the ultimate destination of being with him for an eternity together and so there is this progression that's supposed to be taking place in maturity it's not an arrival more than it is a progression and we kind of talked about how paul who could have who could have claimed maturity still said listen i'm not even saying that i've obtained this but what i'm continuing to do is press towards the mark i want to lay hold of this thing because i recognize that my perfection finds its fulfillment and glory but until then i laid down my titles i laid down my accomplishments i lay down everything not to say that i've arrived at a place but to also let you know that i myself am still in the progression in order to reach an ultimate destination so we begin to talk about maturity in that way so that we can understand that we can we can watch our progression and know that this is a part of maturity the mature are always advancing they're growing they are bearing fruit and so we also begin to talk about things like as pastor caleb was preaching that the mature endure and he layered that over and over and over to the point where something that is branded in us and that we recognize that that's not something we'll forget it's not a trite statement but a true statement the mature endured begin to lay on top of that foundation the idea that mature endure divine discipline out of hebrews chapter 12. uh starting with verse five we begin to to layer that idea and then uh later on in hebrews chapter 12 also later the idea that the mature heat warnings all of these are our individual applications as we were talking about the mature heating warnings we we led to a number of different things and we begin to lean in on this idea of of esau and what we call the esau syndrome and avoiding that which is caring little for spiritual things and valuing short-term appetites and desires over eternal spiritual blessings and to recognize that if we are going to mature we cannot be this way that we're going to have to long for spiritual things and allow the lord to continue to do a work in us all of these had to do with the individual application of maturity as individual believers are together in community there are also markers of a mature community or a mature church this is kind of where i want to spend my time just a little bit there are there are individual responsibilities and then there are signs of corporate maturity i believe that it's important for us to be able to recognize these things for a number of different reasons because a lot of times uh many of us even as we begin to appraise the communities that we are part of if we can't recognize these things we have to ask ourselves okay uh if if bad uh company corrupts good morals or good character then it's important then that we are also a part of a mature community and the reason why it's important that we're part of a mature community i don't want to get too far ahead of myself is because of the days that we're navigating if you are part of an immature community or a a community that is not growing and it's continuous progression to maturity you may fall susceptible to the things which are out there right now i don't want to get ahead of myself i want to deal with this uh in order here but it's important for us to recognize that you it's going to be difficult for you to continue to mature as an individual if you are not a part of a mature community one of the the great challenges that we have even uh in a scattered state is that a lot of people have begun to take the idea that they don't actually need to be in a community in order to grow that is a falsehood the enemy is trying to siphon so that he can kill you the devil the enemy of your soul is not interested in just wounding you he's interested in taking you out and he does so one of the ways that he does so is by getting you away from community so it's important that we be part of community there are signs of mature community and as we were reading colossians chapter 2 we'll spend uh quite a bit of our time here but as we're reading colossians chapter 2 we can find in colossians chapter 2 both in text but also contextually surrounding it some of the marks of a mature church but before we jump into colossians chapter 2 i wanted to to take a look back just for a moment to give us a little bit of context in colossians chapter one colossians chapter one starting with verse three through eight what we're going to see is paul's heart and some of his prayers for the people as he opens up his letter he says this he says we always pray for you and give thanks to the god the father of our lord to god excuse me not the god to god the father of our lord jesus christ for we have heard of your faith in christ jesus and your love for all of god's people which come from your confident hope of what god has reserved for you in heaven you have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the good news this same good news that came to you is going out all over the world it is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives just as it's changed your lives from the day you first heard it and understood the truth about god's wonderful grace you learn about the good news from epaphras our beloved co-worker he was the pastor by the way of the colossal church he is christ's faithful servant and he is helping us on your behalf and he has told us about the love for others that the holy spirit has given you that's his opening and then as he goes to verse 9 which will read 9-14 i'm reading this whole thing rather than trying to summarize it he begins to pray then for their spiritual growth hearing about their faith caused him or stirred him to want to pray for the spiritual growth starting with verse 9 it says this so we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you we asked god to give you complete knowledge of his will and give you spiritual wisdom and understanding then the way you live will always honor and please the lord and your life will produce every kind of good fruit all the while you will grow as you learn to know god better and better we also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so that you will have all the endurance and patience you need may you be filled with joy always thanking the father he has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people who live in the light for he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins oftentimes family we read on some of these things and we're like okay he's just praying for them let me get to the parts that i think might have benefit to me but i want you to understand that what we're seeing here is upon hearing about their faith he's now praying for their spiritual growth or praying for their maturity this is what is happening so as we see these things we begin to see the heart of paul played out here now i want us to jump down just a moment i know that colossians uh 115 uh begins a very beautiful pass of the scripture i'm going to come back to it i'm not just skipping it it's a very vital and important path to scripture just go with me for just a moment down to verse 25 down to verse 25 now he begins to describe his ministry specifically to them he says this god has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you this message was kept secret for centuries and generations past but now has been revealed to god's people for he wanted them to know that the riches and the glory of christ are for you gentiles too just parenthetically inserting here remember paul was called to be the apostle to the gentiles and this is the secret christ lives in you this gives you the assurance of sharing his glory this is this is what we know to be christ in you the hope of glory christ and you're the hope of glory we um let's go back for just one moment back to verse 27 so and this is the secret this is the secret that god had kept until uh he revealed it through paul to the gentiles as well that christ lives in you this gives you the assurance of sharing his glory somebody said he lives in me so we tell others about christ or what we also know him we preach we tell others about christ warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom god has given us we want to present them to god perfect or with that word perfect as we know and other translations say mature in their relationship to christ so his entire goal here is to present people as mature that was his entire goal the the aspect the thrust of his ministry was to reveal the mystery of god which was hidden from former generations until that time which of course now we know is also revealed to us so it wasn't just a mystery for them once the mystery was uncovered proclaimed preached and written it was no longer a mystery it was out in a plain and open which is that christ in us is the hope of glory that was a mystery that god had stewarded throughout generations is that not only would jesus christ come but he would also be in all of us a wonderful wonderful secret that god revealed and so now he's saying i i do all of this my ministry everything that i'm doing is now a result of this revealing this secret revealing this mystery and now my desire is to present everyone mature in christ that's why i work and struggle so hard depending on christ's mighty power that works through me the reason i do all of this is so that i can present to god you as mature the reason i struggle the reason i labor the reason i preach the reason i'm in prison the reason i'm beaten the reason i'm shipwrecked the reason why all of these things are happening to me is so that not only can i proclaim the mystery to the gentiles or to the whole world but also that i may present to god a people who are mature these passages reveal the activity but more importantly the heart of the apostle paul for the church the gravity of his assignment proclaiming the mystery of christ and his response to that assignment was prayer now i recognize that for for a lot of us we can talk about prayer we can write books on prayer shameless plug the only answer is prayer we can we can do things of that nature we can have 6 a.m prayer we can talk about the need to pray we can pray monday through friday at 7 00 a.m and 9 00 p.m on the phone and hundreds of us can gather together and still not understand the importance of it everything that he did in his ministry was supported by driven by undergirded by prayer and then activity and in fact for paul what the scripture causes us to recognize is that the activity of prayer for him was was not only crucial and vital to his ministry but the activity of prayer for him was what he called agonizing not from the standpoint of torturous or not wanting to do it but instead literally physical labor and praying over churches how intense was the prayer for paul the answer is found at the beginning of chapter 2 which also reveals some of the marks of a mature church he says and i want to read the first five verses here because we're going to refer back to them he says this he says i want you to know how much i have agonized for you and the church at laodicea and for many other believers who have never met me personally now let me just stop right here and then i'll go on to the next few verses here he is literally talking about prayer in this moment what he's actually talking about is this this physical um laboring in the place of prayer get this for believers that he had not met in person it's one thing to do it for people you know it's another thing to do it for people that you've never seen but yet here he is saying i have agonized for you really and that particular phrase there is talking about in the place of prayer and for the church at laodicea and for many other believers who have never met me personally i want them this is how he's praying i want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love i want them to have complete confidence that they understand god's mysterious plan which is christ himself and him all lie all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge i'm telling you this so that no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments for though i am far away from you my heart is with you and i rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in christ is strong now let's go back to verse one i want you to know how much i have agonized for you in the church at laodicea and for the many other believers who have never met me personally now i've been alluding to this for the last few moments here but literally it means struggle in the place of prayer meaning this is not passive prayer it's physically exerting oneself in the place of prayer um as we see uh in other passages of scripture like in philippians chapter three where he says i have not stopped crying for you or shedding tears for you it's literally tears and pleading or struggling in combat now this part really doesn't have to do with you directly but it is the first mark of a mature church the first mark of a mature church biblically or the first marks of a healthy immature church this is my number one here is having ministers who pray now i recognize that you're like doesn't everybody do it statistically no it's not actually the case one of the marks of a healthy or mature church is having ministers who pray and pray specifically for the church not passively but those who struggle in the place of prayer if you are going to be a part of a mature church that one of the first marks of a mature church is going to be having ministers or or pastors so to speak in our context who actually struggle in the place of prayer over you now this informs quite a bit i want you to understand that what it is is a manifestation of love and commitment to god and to those that they are trusted to serve because hebrews 13 says to us that those who watch over your souls will have to give an account so it's not just that that you know that this idea uh that that we have particularly uh in western context where we're able to build large ministries and crowds and gatherings but prayer is not present it's a scary idea because at the end of the day you're still going to have to give an account for the souls that god has trusted you to serve and so one of the marks of being a part of a mature community is having ministers who pray now the implication then is that you are also praying that's the simple implication that you are also praying so he is doing this paul is writing this letter but he's doing this for people who is yet to physically meet but i want you to understand why the prayer is happening the backdrop of this moment in colossians that he's writing is combating the spirit of error and destructive heresies that's the ultimate overall backdrop of this particular passage of scripture that the picture here is that in prayer paul is in combat because he is aware of their faith but also on the attack he's aware of the attack on their faith not just from the world in the form of persecution but from the enemy of their souls in the form of destructive teaching and from those who say they are believers and so the reason why he is praying so hard even though he is not there is because while he is encouraged by their faith he's also recognizing that they are being surrounded by destructive heresies the spirit of error and deception and false teaching and as a result it is causing him to labor or agonize in the place of prayer over a church that is mature so that they will not fall paul in this particular path of scripture i told you this is not flashy but it's necessary paul is expressing concern and yet encouragement at the same time concern over the attacks of heresy being thrown at them and encouragement over seeing them prevail i think the thing that that we need to understand is often times where the church begins to take their eye off the ball a little bit is that they look at every attack as being from the outside or being from the world but what we fail to see is that oftentimes when we're at the precipice of opportunity or at the door of seeing a breakthrough where the attack comes from perceived from within it is it is is an enemy it's the enemy of our soul who plants within generations destructive heresies to get them off course so they will not hit the design target that god has for that generation and so while many people in the church right now are talking about being safe in the world they have their door wide open for the destructive heresies that the enemy is sending in this moment and in this time in order to get the church off and so when paul begins to look at that he begins to say i am agonizing in prayer over you because you've been doing good because you've been doing well you are now being bombarded by false teaching the spirit of error and deception and i am agonizing over you while i'm encouraged that you're doing well i'm also agonizing in the place of prayer because i recognize what you're not only surrounded by it's not just the persecution from the unbeliever but it's actually how you've opened up the door or your heart to those who are sowing things into you that will lead you astray and i'm praying for you that you will not be led astray anyone who shares paul's exalted concept of christ being central first preeminent and supreme over all can never be indifferent to the spirit of error anyone who shares paul's exalted concept of christ being first preeminent central and supreme over all can never be indifferent to the spirit of error there is no such thing as pastoral passivity when it comes to error can i say it again there is no such thing as pastoral passivity when it comes to error the current error in this nation is that even though we have christ or a current error i won't say thee there are multiple but a current error in this nation is that even though we have christ as savior lord and king to some somehow that's not enough there must be the institution of rules within the system of the world in order for people to be righteous and conversely someone has to fill the role of savior in order to implement it and protect believers from opposing forces it's an idea that is directly opposed to the entrance of and into the kingdom of god the kingdom of god does not operate by imposition the kingdom of god operates by submission the kingdom of god does not operate by imposition the kingdom of god operates by willful submission and when we begin to want to put people in the role of savior we have submitted ourselves to a destructive heresy and the spirit of error we identify with paul's concern for the church particularly as it relates to error one of the reasons why we are dealing with the progression of maturity and the characteristics of the mature is because of what we are surrounded by how is it that large numbers of people who profess faith in christ seem to be swept away into ideologies that are antithetical to scripture we recognize as we're preaching i recognize it i know the other brothers who preach to you from this platform recognize it as well that many will be offended by the things we've been saying the things we are saying and will be saying with the help of the holy spirit but it has become painstakingly clear that many need to be shocked and offended out of their stupor i'm reminded of the passage in first corinthians 15 34 and esv it says wake up from your drunken stupor as is right and do not go on sinning for some have no knowledge of god i say this to your shame the nlt reads it this way think carefully about what is right and stop sinning for to your shame i say that some of you do not know god at all the casual christian if there is such a thing because it's an oxymoron the casual christian likely doesn't recognize the need to address these things because they really don't see that age-old philosophies are making their rounds again and because we are ignorant of church history we are ignorant of the battles of church fathers we are ignorant of what the councils were brought together to address we are ignorant of biblical history because we are ignorant of several of these things we don't recognize cycles last week i gave you this whole um concept of how time moves in linear fashion but also it's cyclical and so that the nature of linear and cyclical time allows us to prophetically determine where we are based on the scriptures also based on church history we are able to see cycles so if we are able to recognize prophetic patterns what i also want you to know is that error deception and heresy also moves in cycles are y'all with me ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 9 and 10 it says this history merely repeats itself all it has all been done before nothing under the sun is truly new sometimes people say here is something new but actually it is old nothing is ever truly new family hear me things come in waves and cycles both revelation which in actuality is the illumination of what is already true that that should freeze some people because you keep thinking that revelation is something that has never been revealed but what revelation actually is illumination of what's already true can i help you what revelation is is illumination of what's already true that's okay so that way you can stop listening to revelations apart from or not tethered the scripture all revelation is illumination of what's already true the other thing that comes in cycles is false doctrines revelation which is actually the illumination of what's already true comes in cycles generations come into the revelation of what's already true the truth of the word is illuminated and comes alive within a generation alive within a heart alive within the community and is lived out at the same time just like that comes in waves and cycles so does false doctrine false doctrine also comes in cycles here's what we need to know he's having a wonderful conversation with pastor matt and we were talking about these things and these things come up in conversation these things including false doctrines tend to precede revivals and awakenings it is the resistance of such things and actually become the catalyst for revivals and awakenings i know what what we would love to hear is that it's just our hunger it's just our desire it's not just our hunger and our desire that become the birth of revival there's a whole lot of people who are hungry for a move of god but not god there are a whole lot of people who are hungry for signs and wonders but not the giver they don't they're not hungry for what the signs point to they're hungry for the sign but ignore what the sign points to which is christ or god in his glory and so therefore we have a lot of movements that we call revival that are christless if the spirit of prophecy is a testimony of jesus how is it that we have so many prophets who never talk about jesus i know i'm getting in trouble already so therefore if if we see a biblical principle a biblical principle which is that repentance precedes revival and that we are turning away from idolatry one of the other things that is also happening that proceeds revival which is one of the reasons why we can now see through cyclical history that we're at a prophetic moment of opportunity is the rise of error the rise of error if we see it properly is actually giving us a predictive of the prophetic opportunity for revival oh y'all quiet this is this is important for us to recognize now here's the thing that's very very important for us to understand is that and i said this before just a moment ago i'm going to say it again it is the resistance of such things that become the catalyst for revivals and awakening it is a people it is his church it is a people his church the echo see who rise up in resistance to false doctrine and false teaching that actually becomes a catalytic moment that leads to revival however there is a caution in what i just said when the spirit of error and deception goes unopposed it can snuff out the embers of revival whenever there begins to be a raising a rumbling a movement right there on the surface of a revival movement when that revival movement then um does not oppose the destructive teachings that are coming to actually get you off course that thing becomes a blanket over the very embers that were burning and it snuffs out the fire it is can i just tell you one of the reasons why if you look across the landscape of our nation you don't hear anybody talking about revival like they were just two years ago everybody two years ago we're about to see revival we're going to see revival some people even around this said this is a revival or we are the revival and and don't you know i'm not talking about anybody specifically so don't don't don't do that to me oh some people even believed that the political season that we were in represented revival and at the end of the political season that we just came out of represents the death of revival family it is error it is error it is error and when error goes unopposed it snuffs out revival which is one of the reasons why nobody's talking about it so i want you to know we didn't just wake up one day as a group of elders get on an elder call and randomly decide to preach about the spirit of air as if it would make us sound deep or different we do this with much cost to ourselves literally operating counter culture from almost everything and everyone in the popular spaces so we didn't just say well you know what we're going to do we're going to preach about deception we're going to preach about error that's going to make us sound deep ah we are deeper anyway so we need to be talking about deeper things and that's going to make us sound real deep so what we're going to do is we're going to talk about the spirit of error and we're going to talk about the spirit of deception and we're going to expose heresies and that's what we're going to do and we're going to rail against it for a long long time because we're going to be a holy people there wasn't just some random decision um in fact we can certainly identify uh with the sentiment expressed in the book of jude when jude said dear friends i had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share but now i find that i must write about something else urging you to defend the faith that god has entrusted once and for all time to his holy people i say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches saying that god's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives the condemnation of such people was recorded long ago for they have denied our only master and lord jesus christ jude is literally saying i want to talk about some other stuff but i can't because some stuff has come into your churches that's leading you astray and i can identify with the sentiment because we didn't just say okay one day we just want to talk about this it was so much a more uh it was so much easier to talk about the different cries and talk about prayer and talk about hunger and talk about fire and talk about all these other revival type terms that would cause all the revivalists to come running and say what's happening at deeper but instead what is going on now is even though we want to talk about being hungry even though we want to talk about being thirsty on metaphors even though we want to talk about a prayer life even though we want to talk about pursuing god even though we want to talk about going after god even though we want to talk about the miraculous and the prophetic and all these other things there is a reality that has happened as we've seen over this last year the rise of idolatry the rise of the idea of theonomy the rise of a number of different things that are taking place and as the lord continues to speak to us he's saying there are some things that i need for you to say it wasn't a choice it's a mandate because if we're going to see revival it will not happen if false teaching and the spirit of error goes unopposed goes on to verse 17 dropping down in jude he says but you my dear friends must remember what the apostles of our lord jesus christ predicted they told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life was to satisfy their ungodly desires these people are the ones who are creating divisions among you they follow their natural instincts because they do not have god's spirit in them but you dear friends must build each other up in your most holy faith pray in the power of the holy spirit and await the mercy of our lord jesus christ who will bring you eternal life in this way you will keep yourself safe in god's love and you must show mercy all this is great to those whose faith is wavering rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment show mercy still to others but do so with caution hating the sin that contaminate their lives i said verse yeah but but all of this is going on and then he prays in verse 24. i love this a lot of us have heard this we're growing up in church we're here now unto him was able to keep us from falling but look at this now all glory to god who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without single fault all glory to him who is god our savior who to him who alone is god our savior through jesus christ our lord all glory majesty power and authority are his before all time and in the present and beyond all time amen he's able to keep you from falling away he keeps us he keeps us he keeps us through the power of his spirit and the proclamation of his word being worked in our lives he keeps us from falling away so in colossians where i'm back again paul moves from sharing how he has prayed for them to his desire for them which also reveals another characteristic of the mature church i'll move through these faster number one i told you that one of the characteristics of mature churches ministers who pray for that church or that community this is where we begin to see how this works out in our life number two a mature church is one that has believers who are encouraged knit together by strong ties of love and confident in christ a mature church is one that has believers who are encouraged knit together by strong ties of love and confidence in christ say it again colossians chapter two verse two i want them to be encouraged and together by strong ties of love i want them to have complete confidence that they understand god's mysterious plan which is christ himself one of the marks of the mature church which this was one is that it has believers who are encouraged knit together by strong ties of love and confident in christ verse 3 says this in him lie all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge colossians chapter 2 verse 3 says in him lie all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge or as dr tony evans so eloquently puts it knowledge is the comprehension of truth wisdom is the application of that truth knowledge is the comprehension of truth wisdom is the application of that truth to life we're walking in wisdom we are we are literally walking out the application of truth in our life knowledge is the comprehension of truth wisdom is the application of that truth to life they are both hidden in christ but not from us but for us they're not hidden from us but in christ for us all those who are trying to obtain knowledge and wisdom apart from christ cannot do it it's hidden in him but not from us it's hidden for us verse 4 and 5 move to the heart of why paul was agonizing in prayer and writing them because of his chief concern but also reveals the next two marks of a mature church i'm going to read this in the csb because it brings it out beautifully here he says i am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable for i may be absent in body but i am with you in spirit rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in christ now here's where we get to the heart of this number three a mature church is one that resists seductive teachings deception and the spirit of error a mature church is a church that resists seductive teachings deception and the spirit of error a mature community is a community a community of believers a church that resists seductive teachings deception and the spirit of error that is a mature church it is not passive one of the things i want to point out to you is that paul wrote this letter to the church not to epaphras meaning that what he was actually saying is it was a people that resisted and not just a person i recognize that i'm the one with the microphone right now but it's a people that resist not a pastor that resists which means that when it comes to you you also resist it a mature church not a mature pastor that the the implication of leadership as we find in timothy and entities the implication of leadership is that there should be upon those who are chosen to be leaders the ability to confront error that is one of the qualifications of leadership so that's already implied within leadership this is now talking about the church it's not just the leaders of the church it wasn't commending a pap first for doing so it was commending them for doing so and mature church number three is what i just said is one that resists seductive teachings deception and the spirit of error the subtlety of deception family begins with causing you to question truth that's the subtlety of deception it's not actually the full pulling away more than it is the scene that begins to cause you to question the truth which ultimately leads you away that is the subtlety of deception resistance to deception cannot be passive can i say it again resistance to deception cannot be passive you and i are exposed to quite a bit of deception from a number of different sources when it is against the ideology of the faith it cannot be passive for you i was taking a business course in college they wanted us to read a particular book which i'll leave nameless for this particular business course and i began to read the book when i recognized it was an assault on the paradoxes of the kingdom and when i began to see that it was in direct conflict to all that was kingdom because i understand kingdom i stopped reading the book now you say now you stop reading the book what happened we had to take a test on the book the book that i didn't read but recognized in the very beginning that it was assault on the paradoxical nature of the kingdom so because i understood that it was an assault on the paradoxical nature of the kingdom line by line what i actually did when it came time for the test was when asked a question about how we are to handle a particular thing based on the book i answered the exact opposite and in so doing i got a 100 on the test because i understood that everything about the book was the opposite of the kingdom i knew how to answer the book now some of you say i can i can't do that because i'd fail [Laughter] but the lack that for me i could not allow this thing to enter my spirit therefore my resistance to deception and error was not passive what am i saying to you because you think when i say you can't be passive to the spirit of error you think that means that you must get into a facebook argument or a instagram argument that's not what i'm saying what i'm actually saying is shut it down from your own life you cannot allow it to enter your spirit you cannot be passive when it comes to error get in this bible know what he is saying so that you can recognize immediately i this this is not from god let me keep going it was this that paul was commending them for in verse five because their stance also reveals another mark of a mature church number four a mature church has a strong faith in christ and maintains discipline and order against attacks on the faith a mature church has a strong faith in christ and maintains discipline and order against attacks on the faith one more time a mature church has a strong faith in christ and maintains discipline and order against attacks on the faith now the reason why i read to you the christian standard bible in this is because it brings it out this militaristic terminology here when he says um for i may be absent in body but i am with you in spirit rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in christ as you begin to read this and study this you'll begin to discover that the original language is actually militaristic terminology in this passage it is a picture of an army that holds a line and doesn't break rank or scattered during attack but stands strong so what he's saying is i'm commending you i'm rejoicing even though i'm aware that you're being attacked when i'm rejoicing and praying for you but i'm also rejoicing so when i have concern i'm also rejoicing because i'm seeing that when these attacks come you are well ordered you're disciplined you don't break rank you don't scatter when you're attacked what is the attack a lot of times we're thinking every time we talk about attack we're thinking about some some ethereal thing some nebulous thing that comes that people just start screaming and hollering know the attack that they were under was the fact that their faith was in christ but there were those who would worm their way into the community that were trying to lead them astray by deceptive ideology the spirit of error deception and heresy so he was saying when this comes to your community you're well ordered you're strong you you you don't break rank you you hold the line he's rejoicing to see how they handle it and that is how we know that they are mature people they are actively resisting even though the apostle over them that planted them is not even physically there they are actively resisting even though paul himself he said i may be absent in body but i'm with you in spirit i'm not physically there but i'm rejoicing to see that you're standing against this which leads us to where i'll spend the balance of my time number five the mature church is rooted and built up in christ the mature church is rooted and built up in christ which is to say that our nourishment and our foundation is christ these next verses are critical specifically as we talk about being mature both individually and collectively as a community of believers remember as paul is writing these verses he's doing so in the backdrop of contrasting christ to the colossian heresies that they're facing so he says in verse 6 and 7 of colossians chapter 2 verse 6 and 7 of colossians chapter 2 and now just as you have accepted christ jesus as your lord you must continue to follow him let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness let your roots grow down into him speaks of the idea of being permanently rooted obviously the picture is that of a tree which doesn't move and as a result can stand no matter what comes it is a picture and an image of being steadfast when your roots grow down into him you are not easily moved when your roots grow down into him nothing moves you therefore my beloved brothers be steadfast first corinthians 15 58 esv immovable always abounding in the work of the lord knowing that in the lord your labor is not in vain or a very popular passage of scripture that most of us may know psalm chapter 1 verse 1 oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or stand around with sinners or join in with mockers but they delight in the law of the lord meditating on it day and night they the godly are like trees planted along the riverbank bearing fruit each season their leaves never wither and they prosper in all they do but not the wicked they are like worthless chaff scattered by the wind the contrast family between the godly and the wicked couldn't be any more stark the godly are rooted and the rooted bear fruit in every season if you remember a few weeks back i made this statement the singular characteristic of the mature is fruit bearing the singular characteristic of the mature is fruit bearing the bearing of fruit has many manifestations but the singular characteristic of the mature is fruit bearing but there will be no fruit bearing from people who are not rooted the godly are rooted and the rooted bear fruit in every season leaves never wither meaning they are always alive and not fainting and they prosper and everything they do the wicked the bible says are blown by the wind they are like worthless shaft blown by the wind not being rooted hear me makes you susceptible to being blown by the wind wind not only represents the storms of life but specifically as we see in ephesians chapter 4 verse 14 doctrine or false doctrine so that those who are mature those who are no longer immature like children as ephesians 4 tells us will not be blown about by every wind of doctrine those who are not rooted are blown about by every wind of doctrine which is one of the reasons why we're having challenges that we are today so paul says let your roots grow down deep into christ and let your lives be built up in him built up in this particular passage is to represent a continual process your roots are growing down and your lives are being built up which is the continual process so two things are happening beneath the surface which is to represent internally my roots are growing deep into christ the outgrowth of my roots growing deep or the outgrowth of what is taking place is the constantly growing of being built up which can be seen externally when we are growing into christ the outgrowth is that others will be able to see that we're being built up or continuously progressing this is one of the reasons why we talk about the fact that there is no maintenance in the kingdom you are either growing or dying why because roots are growing and the result of the growth of the roots deep into christ are also meaning that there's a continual progression of outgrowth or outward growth or external growth that is seen from the outside the internal growth cannot be seen until your lives are being built up the deeper you are growing the more you are growing we know scriptures like matthew 7 so my nourishment is christ but the foundation of everything being built in my life is christ my nourishment is christ but he's also the foundation upon which everything is built we remember the words of jesus in matthew 7 verse 24 to 27 almost done anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise like a person who builds a house on a solid rock though the rain comes and the torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house it won't collapse because it is built on a bedrock but anyone who hears my teaching and does not obey it it is foolish like a person who builds a house on the sand when the rains and the floods come and the winds beat against that house it will collapse with the mighty crash why because he is the foundation by which everything is built or as first peter chapter 2 verse 4 tells us you are coming to christ who is a living cornerstone of god's temple he was rejected by people but he was chosen by god for great honor the cornerstone as we taught months back is the first stone set in the construction of masonry foundation all other stones will be set in reference to that stone thus determining the position of the entire structure the only way to build anything is to start with christ when you have already built a life or an ideology you can't make christ fit into it you can't make christ fit into what you've already built everything starts with christ so in these two verses paul is essentially saying to the colossians be permanently rooted in the continual process of growth and your reliance on christ will be strengthened when your reliance on christ is strengthened or your faith is strengthened how is your faith strengthened being permanently rooted and built up on the foundation which is christ how is your faith strengthened being permanently rooted and built up on the foundation which is christ when your faith is strengthened or your reliance on christ is strengthened this becomes the protection from false teaching when your roots are in christ and your life is built on the foundation which is christ it strengthens your faith and the strength of your faith becomes a protective layer against false teaching or the spirit of error or the spirit of deception how are you able to recognize it because this is not built on the foundation of christ there were a litany of false teachings coming at them in the colossus church chapter 2 begins to outline them verses 8 through 23 begin to list them and paul in his letter is refuting each of them but the summation of the heresies he was confronting in that day has significant relevance to us now it's not new it just has new terminology the heresy of that day why am i preaching colossians 2 to you right now the heresy of that day coming against the mature church that paul was refuting and agonizing in prayer over was a singular idea there were a list of heresies but they all fell under a singular idea one that we are dealing with right now and that is the idea that christ is not enough i know that that seems simple but i could run through all these ideas that paul was refuting in colossians chapter 2 but they come under a common denominator somehow or another we need to do something else have something else be something else listen to something else worship something else live some other way other than having full faith and confidence in christ alone the preeminent central supreme one somehow or another we need something else and he's commending this church for standing against us while also refuting and writing what they were dealing with they were dealing with a particular heresy that christ is not enough multiple subheadings one centralized thing and somehow or another you may think that this is not necessary but i want you to know that if we don't place our focus on a centrality in the supremacy of christ we also will be susceptible to being drawn away we are stewarding a revealed mystery which is that christ is in us and that may not be exciting to you it's exciting to me that we are stewarding this revealed mystery of christ in us which is also to say that i have or all that i need is in him all that i need is in christ all that i need is in christ i know that may seem simple you may say this seems so elementary perhaps it is but the reality is we are living among a generation who seems to think that they need christ and and this is leading us all sorts of places i have all i need in christ i have all i need in christ peace is in christ prosperity is in christ wisdom is in christ knowledge is in christ unity is in christ reconciliation with god and man is in christ power and authority is in christ healing is in christ mercy is in christ everything that we need because the fullness of god's nature dwells bodily in christ and you have been filled by him what was once a hidden mystery is now revealed christ in you christ lives in you the full assurance that we will share his glory that is the hope of glory so this was the reason and he's right to play because i'm finishing and then pastor matt's going to come but this is the reason that paul exalted the supremacy and the centrality of christ in the verses that i didn't read he did because he was saying if you have this view with me if you see him as i do if you see the authentic nature of him as i do if you see him as he is and for who he is there is no way you would ever think he's not enough there is no way you'd ever allow another fellow believer to intimate or to hint at the idea that he's not enough you would never be drawn away into political idolatry and believing that you need a system of the world to protect you if you really believed that he's enough you would never ignore the reality of the kingdom if you truly believed that he is enough christ according to colossians chapter 1 verse 15 the passage the beautiful passage that i didn't read at first i need to read now christ the visible image of the invisible god he existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation for through him god created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth he made the things we can see and the things we can't see such as thrones kingdoms rulers and authorities in the unseen world everything was created through him and for him he existed before anything else and he holds all creation together christ is also the head of the church which is his body he is the beginning supreme over all who rise from the dead so he is first in everything for god and all his fullness was pleased to live in christ and through him god reconciled everything to himself he made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of christ's blood on the cross this includes you who are once far from god you were his enemies separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions yet now he has reconciled you to himself to the death of christ in his physical body as a result he has brought you into his own presence and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without single fault but you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it my concerns let me talk to you about who jesus is let me refute heresy by talking about who jesus is he is enough first verse 8 says don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world rather than from christ for christ for in christ lives all the fullness of god in the human body so you are also complete through your union with christ who is the head over every ruler and authority hear me and i'm finishing [Music] paul who establishes who jesus is and let me make up a word the enoughness of christ establishes this talks to them about standing against these things because essentially what he's saying is let me establish this first because as you deal with all heresy all of it you will discover is less than the promise you've been given everything else is less than as colossians chapter 2 begins to go and talk about these different things he says no no all of it's less than christ human philosophy less than christ astrology less than christ religious ritual and legalism less than christ angel worship and spiritism and exalting visions all less than christ asotism which is power up higher self-denial and man-made rules as a means of gaining favor with god is all less than the supremacy and the centrality of christ because you don't have to do all these other things when you have faith in him he is enough he's enough he's enough all of these heresies that they were dealing with that was surrounding the colossian church [Music] was cast down by one central reality christ is enough [Music] and this christ who is enough lives in you so don't submit yourself to anything or anyone else who tries to tell you anything else i can't allow you to continue to walk out this journey surrounded by these destructive ideologies in the spirit of error which would lead you to believe that you need something other than christ no let me point you back to him let me point you back to the one who is first who is supreme who is central stay focused on him be rooted in him and let your lives be built upon him then your faith will be strong and this strong faith will protect you from error [Music] it's my final statement it's kind of interesting because pastor matt's coming now but a statement he made a few weeks back he said all error in the christian life is either an error in the truth of who god is or his intentions towards us when you know that he's enough you will never be drawn off into the heiress to cause you to believe that somehow or another you need something other than christ i don't know about you but i just feel like since we're not in the room just take an opportunity on the chat make your declaration just say christ is enough for me christ is enough for me pastor matt's going to come now christ is enough he's enough christ is enough amen christ is enough i don't think we need to we obviously the lord is doing business in hearts right now i don't think we need to rush past that this word was so strong so encouraging so rooting i think it's a fitting way to put it we don't need to rush past that christ is enough you might be sitting there thinking right now about your life about other things you faced maybe the scars on your very soul things that have scarred you maybe things you've done or things done to you you think about what was being said about marks of a mature church marks of mature believers and you're maybe a little discouraged even because you're like man i i'm so jacked up like the idea of being mature is like out there what's what's enough to get me to that place what's enough to wash me clean what's what's enough to bring me to a place where i can hold my head high in a place of godliness and spiritual maturity christ is enough [Music] what can wash you clean what can set you in a place of safety and acceptance and maturity where there is no more condemnation where christ christ is enough [Music] he is both as we just heard a minute ago our cornerstone and our builder he is the door and the path he is the nourishment and the root he is our vine and our vine dresser he is everything let's read it again colossians chapter 1 starting in verse 19 for in him all the fullness of god was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross and you who were once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless above reproach before him family you might be looking at this and you don't even know where to begin you you love this you could feel believe maybe you have a relationship with jesus but you can feel it tugging on your heart that there needs to be some maturing right as we've said earlier there's no maintaining you're either growing or dying and there's this recognition okay i need to i need to be active in this i need to be i need to be aware there's not a passivity any longer i need to step into this i need to pursue hear me family all of that is the work of jesus right now he has reconciled you to the father by his blood and he is working in you to present you wholly above reproach it is because he is working in us it's because he's enough that we can go boldly before the throne of grace and we can tell the lord lord i'm weak i can't mature on my own [Music] i love this idea you never will ever drive past an orange grove and roll your window down and hear the cries of the trees straining to bear fruit the trees don't strain to bear fruit [Music] they're simply rooted and by being rooted they bring forth fruit how do you mature you have that relationship how do you step into this how do you lean into this moment not just letting this this message this call this mandate pass you by but step into it how do you do it you stay rooted you lean into the fact you you you envelop yourself your heart your perspective your posture and the reality that christ is enough he is my root and he's my nourishment he is my door and he's my path he is my cornerstone and he's my builder if i submit actively remain rooted i lean in i can live in that place where i am being made holy blameless above reproach maturing in the faith walking boldly with my father recognizing that he's growing me but maybe you find yourself as we just read you don't have a relationship you know you're listening to this and you recognize i want this i want to know jesus but i don't have that relationship hear me family the greatest danger to those right now who feel that they're in need of making some kind of of of of statement there's some kind of movement that needs to happen you can feel there's something taking place is this inner voice this inner justification that is not from god that tells you hey it's okay you're a good person it's okay you're good it's all right god god loves you just as you are you don't need to make any commitment to jesus you don't need to have any relationship with jesus you don't need to submit your life to jesus no no we read right here in colossians 1. it's not that you were just a pretty good person and then you brought god into your life and now you can be you know a little bit better and move from good to godly it's not that it's moving from enemy to god slave to sin to son reconciled by jesus christ there's no there's no kind of in between right there's not okay i'm okay with god and then i'm gonna be really good with god when i kind of step into this submission to jesus no no hear me family it is one or the other there is no reconciliation to god without jesus that's the whole point of these heresies these spirits of deception that there's something else that could get me into a place where me and god are good no no no there is only jesus there's no other action there's no other religious kind of works or good works or moral posture or anything like that that's going to get you in the bible says those little side streets into what you consider godliness those are the ways of thieves and robbers children come through the gate the gate is jesus it's only one way christ is enough but christ is also the only he's not only enough he's the only so right now in this moment what you're being presented with is you're being presented with an open invitation to walk through the only door into eternal life the only door that reconciles you with the father the only door that brings you into a place of holiness and a place where you can live above reproach a place where you can be safe from heresies and winds of doctrine a place where you can grow in godliness a place where you can be in a community that is maturing it's all of those things but there is only one door there and that is jesus and and this is the beautiful thing of it he opens the door your good works are not the key his blood was the key his blood is the key that opens the door for you and opened the door for me that when he hung on the cross because he remembered you and his suffering now the door is open for you right now will you come through the door it doesn't matter what happened before the door it doesn't matter what took place on the path but by his goodness whatever path you've been on has led you to the door and it stands open for you right now [Music] all you have to do is walk through it and you are reconciled by the blood of the lamb brought into a place where the very king of kings is making you holy there's no other way all you have to do is walk through so how do we do that it's a movement of the spirit it's a movement of the heart to say yes to jesus it's a movement to receive the work that he is already doing to submit to the movement that is already taking place the new creation the action that is happening in you even as we speak it's just a simple giving in to the work submitting saying yes walking through what has been open so let's do that together count of three i just want you to say yes you say matt that seems so simple but it's not the word itself that matters it's the movement it's the step in your heart through the door that has been opened to you recognizing that the king of kings the reconciler has said i'm offering you this open opportunity [Music] let's say yes to this opportunity and let's do it together on the count of three just say yes don't say yes to me don't say yes to anybody around you see the door standing open see the one who paid the price with his blood to open it for you standing on the other side calling you to that place that the bible says that you have pre been predestined to that adoptionist sons that homecoming that this path whatever it may have looked like has led you to [Music] will you say yes let's do it together one two three yes yes family if you said yes you didn't just say a word you didn't just open your mouth in a moment of kind of religious hype no no you in your heart stepped through the door if you could feel that drawing and you know that this moment has changed something you have stepped through the door you've not only said yes to jesus but you said yes to everything that he is the peace that he is the joy that he is i feel like i need to say this to somebody he is releasing you right now from shame he is releasing you right now from guilt he is washing you wide as snow every stain from your previous life was gone when you walk through the door feel that feel the weight it's all left outside the door [Music] it's all left outside the door he's enough he's enough to take that stain away he's enough to heal that wound on your soul he's enough to remove that burden of past mistakes it doesn't matter what place of life you're in or where you've been before now he's removing that he's washing you he's reckle reconciling you by the price of his own blood he didn't just say yes to the kind of idea of faith you said yes to a person his name is jesus and he's taking away all of that burden right now family this is one of the most incredible moments it is the most important moment that you will ever have in your life is that moment when you walk through the door into eternal life let's pray together let's let's seal this moment with a prayer of surrender to jesus christ the door the key the path everything that we need our lord and savior let's say this together pray it with me say dear jesus i have said yes i have walked through the door i am receiving the free gift of salvation that has been offered to me at the price of your blood wash me clean forgive me of every sin and help me by your spirit to follow you for the rest of my life let me by your spirit grow up into who you are that i will look like you that i will walk like you that i will talk like you that the old will be gone and the new will have fully come i say yes to you jesus i surrender to you jesus be my lord be my savior forever in jesus name amen family welcome if you said that prayer if you said yes if the holy spirit if you've answered that call that movement of the holy spirit in your life you didn't just say yes to a moment of salvation and faith you said yes to a whole new family and we want to celebrate with you we ask when on whatever platform you're on right now give us that opportunity let us celebrate with you just get on whatever chat platform and type in our pound symbol i met jesus i met jesus we want to celebrate with you we want to we want to pray for you we want to just know what the lord is doing in your life this is so important and it means everything it means everything it matters you have come home welcome let's pray together family as we close this time together i want to remind you that uh wednesday morning at 6 a.m we'll be gathering for prayer and for those of you who have just come in to the family welcome now get up at 6 a.m on wednesday and pray it's part of your inheritance to pray and see things change because of it so let's pray together let's pray right now father god thank you for your presence jesus you are enough [Music] we could live our whole lives and never fully understand the weight of that statement [Music] all of our eternity is built on the foundation of that truth jesus is enough the new heavens and the new earth will rotate on that axis jesus is enough and we will walk in that confidence every day for the rest of our life seal it holy spirit on our hearts and take us forward in the truth let us be safe and it rooted in it in jesus name amen family i love you be blessed

Channel: Deeper Fellowship Church

Views: 10,073

Rating: 4.967742 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: Vqhg96tf02w

Length: 95min 8sec (5708 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 07 2021