Colossians 2:8-15

The New Testament in the book of Colossians.! Chapter 2. Brother Paul writing this letter to the church at Colossae.

Of Christ. But it's very commendating how he begins this letter. Encouraging them to walk worthy of the Lord.

And he continues on in chapter 1 about the preeminence of Christ. Which is paramount to any Christian. Is the preeminence of Christ.

And then he begins chapter 2. Giving some warning. And I'll tell you what went on. Just before we get into the actual text in chapter 2.

There were some people that were creeping into the church at Colossae. That Paul had warned about. He had warned not only the church at Colossae.

He warned about every church that he wrote to. About false teachers. About people coming in. And teaching them wrongly. Teaching them something apart from the gospel.

That they had believed. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Which according to Romans chapter 1. Is the power of God unto salvation. These people were coming in. And they weren't trying to teach the Colossians to be atheists.

Or teach them that there was no God. They were just teaching them that they needed something else. Besides Jesus Christ. And that is something that happens even now.

There's people that will come into the churches. People that will stand on street corners. People that will be on TV and YouTube. And any other media outlet that you can think of.

And try to tell you that Christ is fine. But you also need something else. You read the book of Hebrews sometimes. Read the 13 chapters of Hebrews.

And that's many of the warnings that are going to the Hebrews. That the writer to the Hebrews was writing about. Because those Hebrew Christians that he was writing to. Were in danger of sliding back in to the law that Christ had freed them from.

And these people that were coming into the church at Colossae. And other churches. Were saying Christ is great. Christ is good. Christ is fine. And Christ is well. However.

You need other revelation. However. You need other philosophy. However. You need other tradition. You need this. And you need that. No folks.

No. Christ is sufficient. Period. And that's what Paul is getting at. In the text that we're going to be reading this evening. So. All that being said.

In Colossians chapter 2. Beginning at verse number 8. Paul says. Beware. 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. 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. 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. And you being dead in your sins. And the uncircumcision of your flesh.

He hath he quickened together with him. Having forgiven you all trespasses. 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. And having full principalities and powers. He made a shoe of them openly.

Triumphing over them in it. Back to verse number 8. Paul again writes. 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. And again. I'll remind you of what we just covered. In the little introduction. If you would like to call it that.

To this time here in God's Word. Paul is giving warning here. Because people have been coming in. And trying to fool the church at Colossae.

Trying to fool the congregation thereof. Trying to fool professing believers of Jesus Christ. With these very things. He says. Beware. He's saying. Take heed.

You listen to me. Be cautious. Be cautious of these people who are coming in. And again folks. The church at Colossae. Is no different than you and I.

If you are sitting here. Under the sound of my voice this evening. Within these four walls. And you are a born again child of God. You have been washed in the blood. Of Jesus Christ.

You have been redeemed. You have been reconciled back to the Father. You have been brought back into the family. Of Almighty God. After being under the curse of God. Down in the world.

God has pulled you out from underneath. That curse. He has lifted you up. Set your feet upon a solid rock. And established your going. If you are in that kind of shape.

Tonight. It is because of one reason. And one alone. It is because Almighty God. One day. By the Spirit of Almighty God. Showed you what you are.

Showed you who you are. Showed you your filth. Showed you your wretchedness. Showed you your depravity. Showed you your sin. But He also showed you who He is.

And you believed. And you didn't believe. The tradition of men. You did not believe. The philosophy of man. You did not believe. Vain deceits.

What did you believe? You believed. The gospel. Of Jesus Christ. You believed. In the death. The burial. And the resurrection. Of the only begotten Son.

Of the Father. That's why you say you are saved and not. And no other reason. And Paul is giving them warning here. Beware. Beware.

Be cautious. Because there are people coming in here. Saying you have Christ. That's great. But you also need this. Or you need that. No. That is an emphatic.

No. I will give to that. It is Christ. And Christ alone. Who is sufficient. No preacher. Was able to save me. No choir. Was able to save me.

No Sunday school teacher. Was able to save me. Not mama. Not daddy. Not mamaw. Not pepaw. No aunt. No uncle. There was only one. With the power.

And the ability. To save me. And that is. Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Beware church. Beware. Lest. You find yourself.

Under some of this teaching. That we are talking about tonight. Because there are people. Even this day and age now. It may be more rampant now. Than it was in Paul's day. But there are people now.

Who will say. You need Christ. But you also need something else. No. No. There is people out there right now. That will say. You need the Holy Bible.

Yes. But there is other books. That you need as well. No. You have. In your hands. A closed. Canon. Of scripture. God has revealed himself.

Through this word. Just like he revealed himself. In Jesus Christ. Had he wanted us to know anything else. About himself. He would have put it. Within the pages. Of this sacred book.

That you hold in your hands. God has revealed himself. All that he is going to. To humanity. Now. One of these days. Praise God. Just like Paul wrote.

Paul said. We see through a glass now. Dimly. We see through it dimly. We don't really catch everything. It's dark. But one of these days. Praise God. We are going to see it. In the full clearness.

When we are up yonder. In heaven above. When we are in the promised land. When we are up there. With almighty God. In his presence. In that city. Where there is no need of the sun.

Or the moon. For the lamb of God. And God the father. Are the light. Thereof. Hey. We will see him. In the fullness. Of his glory. In the fullness. Of his righteousness.

And we will see him. Like that. Forever. Hallelujah. Beware church though. Beware. Because there are people. Out there. And folks. It's subtle. It's subtle.

How they do it. They're crafty. They're cautious. You know why? Because they're just like their father the devil. This is the exact same thing.

That happened in the garden. That happened in the garden of Eden. When Eve looked at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And she saw it. And she desired it.

And she thought that the fruit of it was pretty. And she desired to eat of it. What did the serpent say? Hath God said? Hath God said?

He was challenging God. But even more so than challenging the Word of God. He was instilling in Eve. Human reason.

Hath God really said? That you shouldn't do this. And then He puts some other things in her head. Put some other things in her head. Folks. It all boils down to philosophy.

To vain deceit. To human reasoning. To all these things that we're reading about here. In verse number 8. Philosophy. Vain deceit. The traditions of men. The rudiments of the world.

What is that? That's just the principles that the world goes by. Hey. God called us to come out from the world. Did He not say come ye out from the world? And be ye separate. We are to be a separated people.

I've preached it here before. I've said it here before. And I will say it again. We are a peculiar people in the eyes of the world. But it is Almighty God that makes us peculiar.

We don't make ourselves peculiar. We don't make a spectacle of ourselves. We don't make a show of ourselves. Or a scene of ourselves. If we live by this book. If we live holy and righteous and upright.

In the eyes of Almighty God. That is peculiar to the world. Who hates God. Who despises God. Who despises His Word. There is peculiarity.

Be cautious church. Be cautious. I can't stress that enough. But. The very last line. I promise we are going to move past verse 8 here in a minute. But the very last line of verse 8.

And not after Christ. That is the test. That is the test. That everything else. Is graded by. That is the test. If anyone comes to you.

And offers you any kind of knowledge. Any kind of wisdom. Any kind of revelation. And it diminishes. The sufficiency.

Of Jesus Christ. Run from that doctrine. Run from that doctrine. Mark that person. And you stay away from them. But you run from that.

If it diminishes. The sufficiency of Christ. If it belittles Christ in the least. If it discounts. The death. The burial. And the resurrection. Of Jesus Christ. You don't listen.

To those words. Because Christ is all sufficient. He is all sufficient. What did Paul write in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. When he said that he had besought the Lord 3 times.

That he would remove the thorn from his flesh. And the Bible says that God denied him that. What did God say? My grace is sufficient. Do you know why his grace is sufficient?

Because his grace is directly from he who is sufficient. His grace is sufficient. Yours and mine will never be sufficient. As compared to Jesus Christ.

Now we are to show the world grace. Yes. We are to show the world grace. Because God as undeserving. And as filthy. And as rotten. As we were. God showed us grace.

And we are to show that grace to the world. But. Not so much. That we compromise the gospel. Of Jesus Christ. Test it.

By whether it exalts Jesus Christ. And lifts the name of Jesus Christ. You test any teaching. Any preaching. Any doctrine. By Jesus Christ.

And if it does not. Uplift the name. Of Jesus Christ. You run from that doctrine. You run from it. Okay. On to verse 9 now. For in him.

Dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. Bodily. Paul just spent an entire verse. Verse number 8. Talking about. Beware. Because there are people coming in the church.

That are teaching you things. That are not after Christ. Christ. And he is. He is. He is driving it home. For these people. And he is. Putting it into their heads.

And hoping that it seeps down in. To their hearts. The sufficiency. Of. Jesus Christ. He says. Don't you listen to these things. These things that they are teaching. Unless they are of Christ.

Unless they exalt the name of Christ. Then he says. For. Substitute that word for. With the word because. Because. Because it links to verse number 8. I am not telling you to add to your Bible.

I am just telling you an easier way to understand what Paul is writing here. For. In him. Or because. In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Why? Why would we seek sufficiency? Why would we seek grace? Why would we seek healing? Why would we seek joy? Why would we seek forgiveness?

Why would we seek anything. And anything else. Or anyone else. When Christ is all sufficient. When the one who came. And suffered. And bled.

And died for me. Have the entirety. And the fullness. Of the Godhead. Dwelling in him. Bodily. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He had the fullness.

Of the Godhead. It says. For in him dwelleth. Folks. That word dwelleth. Notice. That is present tense. Christ had done been crucified. He had done been buried.

He had done been resurrected. He had already ascended back to heaven. At this point. For in him dwelleth. Present tense. In other words. It didn't stop when he got back to heaven.

But even better than that. And even. Even just as importantly. As that. Folks. While he was here. As Christ walked through Galilee.

He had the fullness of God. On the inside of him. He was the fullness of God. It dwelled in him then. While he was touching the blind. And opening their eyes.

He had the fullness of God. Within him. When he was hanging. Upon the cross. He was God incarnate. And when he was lifted back to the heavens. When he ascended back to the heavens.

Folks. He had the fullness of God then. And Paul here is saying. In present tense. For in him dwelleth. Even right now. This was 2,000 years ago.

And I am happy to tell you now. That 2,000 years. After this letter was written. The fullness of the Godhead. Still dwelleth in Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Why would you seek. Sufficiency. In another. Father. When in Christ. Dwells the fullness. Of the Godhead bodily. Verse number 10.

And ye are complete in him. Which is the head of all principality. And power. Ye are complete in him. This is another present tense. I want to bring to your attention.

Ye are. Folks. We don't have to wait. God saved me. God redeemed my soul. And from that point forward. I am complete.

In Jesus Christ. This does not mean. That I know it all. This does not mean. That I will never be sick. This does not mean. That I will. That I will never have hardship. Or problems.

But it means. That I. Am complete. In Christ. Just. As in verse 9. In Jesus. In him. Dwelleth. The fullness of the Godhead bodily.

His completeness. Blows. In me. Presently. Hallelujah. Get that in your head. Church. It is now. That you are complete in Christ.

If you have been born again. It is now. That you are complete in Christ. Don't let anyone. Such as in verse 8. That we were talking about earlier. Don't let anyone. Convince you.

That it is Jesus Christ. Plus. Anything. You are complete in Christ. And he. Alone. Hallelujah. I'm thankful. For this scripture.

This is encouraging scripture. To the church. You are complete in him. Which is the head of all principality. And power. You know what that means?

The one. Who in him. Dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And the one. In whom I. Am complete. He is head. Over. Everything.

He is head. Over every nation. He is head. Over every leader. Of every nation. He is head. Over. The household. He is head.

Over individuals. He is the sovereign. Creator. God. Of this universe. And I. Am complete. In him. Can you think of anything.

Or anyone. Better to be complete in. No. Absolutely not. He is head. Of all principality. And power.

So whenever you see the news. And you read about the wars. And you hear. About the killings. And you say. Really? Is God over all that? Folks.

God. Is over it all. He is over it all. We see natural disasters. Take place. We see. Horrific things. Take place.

In our lives. But none of it. Takes God. By surprise. He is head. Over it all. And the best part. About him. Being head over it all. Is I.

Am in him. And I. Am complete. In him. Folks. It won't always. Be this way. There's not always. Going to be sickness. There's not always. Going to be death.

There's not always. Going to be blindness. There's not always. Going to be deaf people. There's not always. Going to be the lame. There's not always. Going to be the cripple. There's not always. Going to be. All these elements. That we see.

Day. After day. After day. And that we suffer. Day. After day. After day. We are promised a land. One day. After a while. Where we will go. There will be. No more sickness.

There will be. No more tears. There will be. No more heartache. Hallelujah. And why is that? Because there's no sin. In that city. None of those things.

Plague. Planet earth. Or mankind. Which only consisted of a man. A woman at that time. Until sin entered into the picture. But because there is no sin there.

There will be none of those things there. And there will be no sin there. Because sin won't be able to enter there. We will no longer be tempted. We will no longer have this sinful flesh.

That we wear. We will no longer be tempted by devils. By ourselves. By the devil. By nothing. Because temptation and sin will not be in that city.

Again. Year complete in Him which is head of all principality and power. Verse number 11. In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands.

And putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. In whom also ye are. Another present tense.

In whom. In whom? In Christ. It is in Christ that we receive a spiritual circumcision. It is in Christ. As the scripture here says.

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. Folks. It was impossible. In other words. It was impossible for you to save yourself.

It was impossible for you to have any kind of sign from God. That you were saved. Without God acting on your behalf. Man has nothing to do with his own salvation.

It is an act. And it is something that is initiated by God. It is carried through by God. And it is carried on by God. God does all of the saving.

God has it all down when it comes to the salvation of your soul and of mine. It is all of him and nothing of us.

The Bible teaches that salvation is of the Lord. And that the Lord is salvation. We cannot and do not save ourselves again. He says in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands.

Only one could do that. And that is God. This is just like in the Old Testament. When it brings up the circumcision of the heart. Hey, we can't do it ourselves.

It would take God to do it. It's just like Jesus tells Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that you must be born again. We cannot do that. It is an impossibility.

That's a birth that is made without hands. It's a birth which comes from above. It's a spiritual rebirth. That is when we are born into the family of God.

Don't let anyone come to you. Back to verse 8 again. Don't let anyone come to you with these philosophies. And these vain deceits. And these things that are not Christ.

And that are not of His Word. People will add all kinds of things to salvation. Run from that. Run from that. Verse 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.

So we've gone from one supernatural act that Almighty God performs in the new birth. In the regeneration of your soul. In the regeneration of you in general when we are born again.

In the renewing of our minds. We've gone from that in verse 11 to buried with Him in baptism. Just as circumcision was a sign of the covenant in the Old Testament.

Baptism is nothing more than a sign. It is a profession to the world. That we profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

That we profess Him as King and Lord of our lives. That we have been redeemed. That we have been saved. It is a sign just as much as circumcision in the Old Testament was a sign.

Folks in the Bible. Back in the Old Testament. We'll just stay there for just a moment. The Bible says Abraham believed God. And it was counted to him for righteousness.

Abraham believed God. What did he believe about God? He believed what God had told him. In other words, he believed the Word of God. That's Genesis chapter 15.

It's a few chapters later. When you see Abraham offering Isaac up. It's Genesis 22. That was a work that demonstrated the faith.

The belief that he had in Genesis 15. But there's seven chapters there. There's seven chapters between those two. It is your belief in the Son of God.

It is your belief in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is your belief in His power to save. It is your belief that He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

And that you are that lost individual. God has a hard time saving those who are full of pride. God has a hard time saving those who say, I don't know, I've never really done anything to offend God.

I've never really sinned that bad. I'm not as bad as the adulterer. I'm not as bad as the murderer. Let me remind you that James says that if any man keeps the whole law, yet offendeth in one point, he is guilty of all.

All has sinned and come short of the glory of God. But, back to the Old Testament. Back to Abraham. The covenant that God made with Abraham had nothing to do with the circumcision.

The covenant was made by God toward Abraham. And God is the one that sealed the covenant. Abraham was asleep when it was sealed. He had nothing to do with it.

Folks, when we are baptized, and I encourage everyone to get baptized, I encourage every believer, let me rephrase that, I encourage every believer to be baptized.

But that is not part of your salvation. It is not part of your salvation. Do not let any man water down, literally, the blood of Jesus Christ being all sufficient to wash away your sins.

I understand. I understand the Scriptures. I understand where some people get that from. But folks, it is contrary to the rest of the Bible to say you must have Christ and you must be dunked in a tub of water or in a lake or in a creek or in a river or whatever the case is.

No. No. You must believe on Jesus Christ. When the jailer asked the apostles, he said, Sir, what must I do to be saved?

To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. And it was after that they were baptized. Folks, you must believe.

Otherwise, baptism don't do you any good. Baptism is a sign. Just as the circumcision in verse number 11 here was a sign. Verse number 12 in the baptism is a sign.

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. It is a sign and nothing more than a sign.

It is a sign when we go underneath the water when we are baptized. It is a sign that we have died with Christ and we have been buried with Christ. And when we are raised up out of the waters of baptism, it is a sign to the world of our profession that we believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that I have been raised to new life with Him.

Hallelujah! And that's all it is. It is a sign to the world. It has nothing to do with regeneration. Nothing to do with regeneration.

It is a sign. Verse 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.

Praise God! Praise God! And you being dead in your sins. Folks, He doesn't say that you were weak in your sins. He doesn't say that you were sick in your sins or that you were debilitated in your sins.

This is no different than what Paul routes to the Ephesians in Ephesians 2. Paul here says you being dead in your sins.

A dead man is no more able to revive himself than a lost person is able to save themselves. It takes an act of God.

And that is what Paul is getting ahead. You being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh. We were far off, folks. We were far off from God under the curse that God had laid on all of humanity over in Genesis 3.

Every one of us were under that curse. Every one of us were this sinful flesh. Every one of us have sinned in thought. Every one of us have sinned in deed.

We have sinned in action. We have sinned by the sin of commission and the sin of omission. We have sin written all over us.

But praise God for the ending of this verse. You being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath He quickened together. He has made us alive.

That's what it means when it says He hath quickened together with Him. Hey, folks, when He came up out of the tomb, He didn't hang out for a few years and die again. He rose to everlasting life.

He ever sits at the right hand of majesty making intercession for all who have repented and believed on Him. Forever He does this.

Having quickened together with Him, with Christ. God hath quickened us together with Christ. Having forgiven all trespasses.

and in this context, folks, all means all. It's not just talking about the sins from when you were two to five years old or the sins from when you were a teenager or the sins that you committed yesterday or the sins that you committed last year.

All means all. Again, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.

Chew on that for a moment, church. Chew on that for a moment. Having forgiven you all trespasses. He's forgiven it all. And there are people out here back to verse number eight that will try to convince you God will forgive you of this but not of that.

No! That is not what the Scripture teaches. That it diminishes Jesus Christ and it discounts the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

Don't you let anybody or anything convince you that Christ is not sufficient. if He was sufficient to save you from your sins, He is sufficient to forgive you of all of your sins.

I see people walking on eggshells all the time and I talk to people walking on eggshells all the time thinking, my goodness, what if I do this and what if I do that and I don't have an opportunity to repent?

What if some small sin creeps in? And I don't get to scream out at that just a second later, God, forgive me! I'm going to split hell wide open. No!

That is not what this Scripture here teaches. Nor is it what many other Scriptures in the Old Testament and New Testament teach. Do you understand Psalm 103?

So far as the East is from the West, or as far as the East is from the West so far hath He cast our sins from us, hath He cast our transgressions from us? Do you understand that?

Or is it just a psalm that you sing? The psalmist knew something when he was writing that. He understood the forgiveness of God. And he understood that those sins will be cast so far from the sight of Almighty God, it would be impossible to be remembered.

Hey church, don't beat yourself up for sin that God forgave you of 30 or 40 or 50 years ago. Move forward in the victory that you have in Jesus Christ.

Move forward in that victory. Heaven forgiven you all trespasses, 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.

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances, which was against us folks, this doesn't mean that Christ erased the law. Again, back to verse 8, there are people that will try to convince you of that.

Christ did not erase the law. In fact, He said, I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Christ did not blot out the law. What Paul is painting here is a picture.

of, yes, the law, but how the law witnesses against us. The ordinances here, this is like in these times, debts were recorded on paper.

Just like they once were here, now it's all online it seems. Or on computers now, or whatever the case is. They're saying Christ blotted out the debt that we owed.

You and I have offended the first holy creator God of this universe. Whether you believe that or not, you have.

For the scripture says, Paul writes in Romans in chapter 3, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Paul writes again in Galatians chapter 3, that the scripture has concluded all under sin.

All is all. We have all sinned against God. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. That was against us.

Past tense. Blotting out. Present tense. The handwriting of ordinances that was against us. That's past tense. Meaning, hey, it's been blotted out.

It's been erased. It was against us. Which was contrary to us. What does that mean? Folks, God is infinitely holier than you or I either one.

And that's something that I think a lot of preachers need to get a hold of. God is infinitely holier than anyone here on this planet at this time.

God's law and God's ways. God's righteousness. Everything about God. All these wonderful attributes of God are contrary to us in the flesh.

They're contrary to our flesh. They're contrary to the old man. They're contrary to all of these which was contrary to us. And took it out of the way.

Christ took these things out of the way. And what did He do to them? The last line of that verse? Nailing it to His cross. Not only did we die with Christ, and not only were we buried with Christ, and not only were we raised again with Christ, but folks, Christ took our sin upon Himself.

The Bible says in Romans 5, that God commendeth His love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Christ died for the ungodly.

He died for the whoremonger. He died for the liar. He died for the adulterer. He died for the murderer. He died for the pill head. He died for the prostitute. He died for the alcoholic.

He died for the rapist. He died for them all. That was all contrary to us. His righteousness and His laws contrary to all those things.

But here it says, He nailed it to His cross. Folks, when Christ was placed upon the cross, God punished Christ for your sin and for my sin.

It was a substitutionary atonement. In other words, it should have been you and I on that cross. It should have been us that took the flogging beforehand, that took the mockery beforehand, that took the shame, and it should have been us that was hung there on that cross.

God is holy, and God is righteous, and a holy and a righteous God cannot and will not allow sin to go unpunished.

The Bible says, He that knew no sin became sin for us. Speaking of Christ, God punished Christ, and Christ took our sin and nailed it to the cross.

Sin was punished that day on Calvary on behalf of everyone who would repent of their ways, repent of their sin, repent of their unbelief, and believe on He who hung upon the cross.

He who died there, and He who was buried, and He who resurrected. Christ nailed our sin to the cross.

and having spooled principalities, verse 15, and having spooled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

I know I brought up two or three times tonight how God is the sovereign God over the entire universe. He is the maker and master of it all.

And here, speaking of Christ, and having spooled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly. What is the picture? Paul is trying to show the church of Colossae here and show us 2,000 years later that Christ is victorious.

That's the picture that we have here. It says, and having spooled principalities. Hey, move back up to verse 8 one more time. Beware lest any man spooled you through philosophy.

It's talking about being carried away like plunder. And here in verse 15, we have, and having spooled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly.

And He was and is all sufficient to do so. He spooled them. How so? Folks, when Christ died, the debt for sin was paid.

Yes. Praise God and hallelujah for that. But had Christ stayed in the tomb, His death would have meant nothing to us. It would have meant nothing.

How was Christ victorious? He was victorious in His resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the declaration from heaven that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Get that in your head. The resurrection proclaimed that. That He was and is Lord. And having spooled principalities and powers.

It says, He made a show of them openly. When Christ died and was buried and was resurrected. Folks, the enemies were all knocked out of the game at that point.

He defeated death. He defeated hell. He defeated sin. He defeated the devil himself. Christ defeated it all.

So again, back to verse 8, don't you let any man, woman, boy, or girl, or doctrine of any kind convince you that yes, you had the victory in Christ, but you can have more victory if you just do this or you just believe that.

No! Christ is sufficient for it all. There is no higher victory than the victory that we have in Christ. That was a very fitting song that Brother Orville got up here and sung earlier this evening.

He made a shoe of them openly. Folks, He defeated every enemy. Every enemy that you and I have ever had. Every true enemy. Folks, what is the strongest accusation?

What is the strongest accusation that the devil has against us? It is our sin before God.

Christ defeated that sin. Christ defeated that sin. and He defeated the accuser of the brethren.

He defeated the devil himself. He has defeated every principality. He has defeated every power. And not only that, but if you back up just a couple of verses, we read where He was head of all those things to begin with.

Now we read that He has defeated them. Christ is our victor. Think of it like this. We're all familiar with the story of David and Goliath.

We hear about that all the time in church. We heard about it maybe in Sunday school or Bible school or whatever the case is. When David hurled that stone at that giant and it nailed him in the head and he fell dead and David ran and he beheaded that giant, whose victory was it?

It was the Lord's victory, yes. But David's the one that done the work, is he not? But who did the victory go to? It went to all of Israel. That entire army was out there against Israel, against God's people.

And one man, one man slew the giant. And the victory was not only his, but the Philistines, they went on their merry ways.

They got out of town at that point. The victory went to all of Israel. Folks, the reason that you and I are victorious is because Christ is victorious.

The reason that we can have hope in the resurrection one day after a while is because Jesus Christ was the first fruit of the resurrection.

He is the first fruit. What was the first fruit? That was the guarantee of the harvest that was to come. Jesus Christ is the first fruit of the resurrection.

There is going to be a massive resurrection one of these days. Triumphing over them in it. Christ triumphs over them after He has publicly made a show of them out of all the enemies, out over every principality and power.

Christ triumphs over them all. Why would we ever think that we need something else? Why would we ever think that Christ is not everything that we would need?

Why would we ever think that Christ is not sufficient? If He's sufficient to save, He's sufficient to keep. And if He's sufficient to keep, He's sufficient to keep from now on through eternity.

That's this evening's message. God bless you all. I appreciate your attention.