Scripture: Colossians
2
1 For I would that ye knew what great
conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not
seen my face in the flesh;
2 That their hearts might
be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full
assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and
of the Father, and of Christ;
3 In whom are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 And this I say, lest
any man should beguile you with enticing words.
5 For though I be
absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your
order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up
in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein
with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete
in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also ye are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in
baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation
of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead
in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them
in it.
16 Let no man therefore
judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new
moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of
things to come; but the body is of Christ.
18 Let no man beguile
you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding
into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 And not holding the
Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment
ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
20 Wherefore if ye be
dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the
world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 (Touch not; taste
not; handle not;
22 Which all are to
perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 Which things have
indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the
body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
There is within these
verses a wealth of power and knowledge of which we as Christians should be
aware, stand in confidence through, and wield as power and authority through
the work of the Holy Spirit against the enemies of justice, righteousness and
the mission of Jesus Christ on earth.
Toward that
end, I want to begin by concentrating on verses two and three. Paul's purpose, he writes, is "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love,
and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the
acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
There
is power in that wisdom and knowledge for those who belong to Jesus Christ, and
Paul is saying, "Use it!"
There are
times, in the face of evil's triumph, beset by frustration and disappointment,
when I must agree it looks like the world is slipping into bloody oblivion and
surely Jesus Christ is on His way to claim His kingdom, putting Satan and his
agenda in their place.
But I also
wonder if all the crime and confusion, the murderous circus engulfing us is not
of our own making, reaping that whirlwind we have created by ignoring the very
wisdom and knowledge God has put in place for us. For very often we have not met our
responsibilities as good citizens. We've
not paid attention to what makes a decent society of mixed people; too busy entertaining
ourselves and deigning to "let George do it"; shuffling what should
be our decisions off on those we elect to office as our political representatives.
Along the way
we have conveniently ignored the truth that those whom we have saddled with
this burden of decision-making are not only humanly tempted, but that they may
not at all share our sense of what is right and what is wrong; what is ethical,
moral and Godly. But they do have a nice
face, a good TV presence, a friendly and persuasive nature, and who knew when
we opened the door to the candy store that rather than manage the store for us
they were going to eat themselves silly and ignore us.
Legislative
advocacy groups have determined that during this fall recess, rather than seeking out public input members of
Congress are holding fewer public meetings than in previous years. This in the face of outrageous political
scandals and budgetary hardships.
Apparently, they already know the will of the people and I would say,
from their aberrant votes on The Hill that our wishes and our intentions don't
match theirs. That's especially true in
regard to immigration, spending, medical care, taxes, national security and a
host of others. They don't want to hear
from We the People.
It would appear they have come to the belief the candy store is theirs,
and only they know what is best for its management.
They are wrong.
But then, oligarchs are often wrong.
You might ask, what is any oligarch?
One who represents
an oligarchy: "A small group of people, the elite, having control of a
country, organization, or institution."
The President of the
United States, through actions such as Executive Orders that go around the
peoples' elected representatives in the Senate and House of Representatives, is
creating an oligarchy. His political
appointees and the additional government organizations he has created, such as
the Department of Homeland Security -- which competes for authority and scarce dollars
with the Department of Defense -- have become part of that oligarchy. Decisions are made daily about money spent
and programs enacted which not only do not represent the will of the people in
this nation, but represent programs and policies the people of this nation do
not want put into place.
The United States of
America, one nation under God, was never intended to be ruled by an oligarchy,
but of the people, by the people, for the people.
Enter little David, stage
right. It's a simple fact of nature,
I've observed, that wherever you find evil you will find good standing up to
it. It's just in our soul, in our genes as
God-created people. Wherever you find
darkness, you will find light overcoming it.
Where you find anger, stubbornness, hardness of heart, you will find
love still fights free.
As I said previously,
enter little David, stage right, just because the time is right.
If you remember your
Bible, you will remember how the giant-size Goliath stood before the Army of
the Lord and dared anyone to come against him.
He was backed by the dreaded Philistines, and Goliath was so huge, so
powerful, so bold and frightening that among King Saul's soldiers their spines
melted like on a hot day. These were
battle-hardened men who knew their swords and spears would not cut him down.
But David had no
sword, no spear, none of the battle weapons that wouldn't work. What he did have was a sling and a smooth
stone that he knew how to use and an experiential confidence that the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was with him.
Young David was not concerned that this might be the end of the world,
or even the end of his world. He stood
on the ground of faith that Almighty God would give him the victory, and that
is always a good place to be.
Let me suggest to you
that you believe whatever you wish about the nearness of "end times,"
for each person's last breath is always in their nostrils, and in that sense
our own "end times" is always near.
But also take stock
of David's knowledge that God is with you, that evil -- whether by ignorance,
by mistake, or by a malevolent nature -- is always to be overcome by the power
of Almighty God.
As a child of the
King, you have that power. What is that
verses two and three say? That in Christ
we have "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Is there evil and mischief
afoot? Are there families going without
homes, without food, without jobs to support them? Is government spending out of control? While those here at home live in cardboard
boxes and do without necessities, are millions and billions being given to the
very enemies of our national security abroad?
Are free elections being contaminated by fraud here at home? Do our own government officials lie to us and
spy on us? Is the U.S. Constitution
being ignored to deny Americans the free exercise of their religious
beliefs? Do our own judges take into
account foreign legal systems in order to mete out an altered justice outside
of our own legal system?
Yes. Yes to all of the above.
But has God said we
should fear all of this, or has He given us the spirit of power, of love, and a
sound mind? Second Timothy, chapter one,
verse seven said he has given us exactly that.
Matthew 28:18 tells
us that Jesus Christ has been given authority, authority over absolutely
everything!
Mark
9:17-29 shows us how faith allows us to access our authority; the authority of
Jesus Christ for spiritual power.
No matter how strong a Christian you are, if you chunk a rock at a hornet’s
nest, you’re in big trouble. And you can’t simply curse cancer and cause
it to disappear. Jesus said, "Peace, be still," and calmed a
storm, but you and I don't have that power yet.
Our full inheritance is waiting until Jesus comes again. When our
Lord says He gives you authority, He’s talking about spiritual authority, and
you have it. You have authority over
Satan's influence over you. But if
someone tries to convince you that you have "full" authority, try
ordering someone else's dog around.
Satan may try
to corrupt and pervert your spiritual authority and want you to believe you
have authority to make it rain, or that you can walk into a hospital room and
empty it. But no, you can’t.
Your power,
through the name of Christ, is in spiritual power, and that can save this
nation.
God has an
army of spiritual forces, an angelic host filled with power from on high. It was God's power that defeated Satan on the
Cross of Calvary, where we read in Colossians 2:15 and Hebrews 2 and John 12
how Jesus Christ bore our sins in a plan of redemption that set us free, free
for Him to give us spiritual authority.
The machinations of evil and the befouled programs that work against the
purposes of God are no match for our spiritual authority and the power of the
mighty hand of God.
Prayer, in the
spiritual authority of Christ, is the answer, and the boldness to speak against
evil in the name of Almighty God.
Wherever evil, immorality, unethical behavior -- sin -- shows itself,
speak out, speak up, in the name and authority of Jesus Christ. Stand firmly, as David did against a
"superior" enemy, in the confidant power of Almighty God.
Paul, writing
to Timothy in his second letter, sets forth in verses six through ten: "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after
the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him,
which is the head of all principality and power..."
To
repeat Paul, having received Christ, walk in Him, for in Jesus Christ is all
the fullness of the Godhead. In Jesus
Christ we find the answers to a deteriorating society, the answer to godless
forces that threaten the fabric of the
nation.
Stand
firmly in the spiritual authority you have from Jesus Christ, confidant in the
power of Almighty God, and speak
out, speak up, in the name and authority of Jesus Christ. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment