Complete in Christ: Stand Firm Against Deception

Friends, all that this is saying is that we are perfected by Christ's own righteousness, and so our greatest needs have already been met for all of life and godliness in Jesus. Searching for meaning and purpose and value and direction apart from Christ is foolishness. You're like the man who had an inheritance of wealth and lived his life searching for lost treasure paycheck to paycheck. is ludicrous. Some of y'all, when I told that story at the beginning of the message, you looked at me like, what kind of stupid story is that? How ridiculous? And yet, again, it is a a supreme illustration of the way that many of us live our lives. Friends, there is a truth that you and I need to hear and to hold on to. Our real treasure is Christ alone. It's Christ alone. [01:24:10] (66 seconds)  #ChristAlone

But remember, friends, believable distortions of truth, which is what we might call truth mixed with error, is the devil's bread and butter. That is how he is able to deceive. And so we've got to know what the truth really is so that we can identify the lie. It's the same way that that that that anti counterfeiting agents today study the real bills. They study money so that they can easily tell a forgery when they see it. We too have to do the same thing. We have to know the truth so that when the counterfeits come along that our truth mixed with error, we can tell. [00:58:28] (46 seconds)  #TruthVsCounterfeit

I'm gonna I'm gonna stop right there for just a second because I think this is an important point that we get real caught up in this sometime. I want you to turn to your neighbor and say, people are not our problem. That that guy that cut you off on 95? That that coworker that's talking bad about you, that boss that you just cannot stand? That person that you go to school with, that family member that has done nothing but speak ill of you, that that person that hurt you, I want you to remember what Paul says here. Our battle is not against flesh and blood. People are not your problem. There is a much bigger war going on around us than just what we can see. [01:01:07] (51 seconds)  #BattleNotPeople

Again, he says in verse number eight, beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of man, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. Beware lest anyone cheat you. Maybe your translation says something a little bit different. Some some translation says that take captive or rob you. Stealing away your security and your truth and your assurance and your blessing and your usefulness. As a believer. Those are the things that they can try to steal away from you. But it's better translated spoil. As in, to kidnap you by force, making you into the spoils of war. [01:12:54] (48 seconds)  #GuardAgainstPhilosophy

And, of course, we would be if we're deeply rooted in biblical truth, and if we're continually growing, and if we're established in our faith, then we're gonna be grateful because we know all that Christ has done for us as we are built up in Christ. Thanksgiving is a sign of maturity. Complaining is not. I'm a let that one float there for just a minute. Because more often than not, if we're honest, we to the side of complaining and criticism as opposed to gratitude. Am I right? We gotta be careful because gratitude is this sign of maturity. I wanna be a thankful person. [01:11:25] (45 seconds)  #GratitudeOverComplaints

And so it weighed heavily on Paul to encourage those churches of the Lycus River Valley, the home to the Colossians and the Laodiceans, whom whom many of whom he'd never even met before, as well as he wanted to encourage other believers who were in danger of being deceived. By the way, believers just like us who can be in danger of being deceived today if we aren't careful, if we aren't wary. [00:49:10] (28 seconds)  #StayWaryBelievers

The enemy will whisper into your ears, but I saw what you were looking at. I heard the way you spoke to that person. You you may even have people in your own life who are saying negative things about you and to you, tearing you down at every turn. And can I tell you? Those are like false teachers who are attacking your identity in Jesus Christ. Whenever I meet a believer who is dealing with self esteem issues or having a really hard time just knowing what it is that God says about them, I encourage them to just read the book of Ephesians, specifically Ephesians one and two. And I want them to underline all of the ways that Paul, the writer of Ephesians, [01:22:01] (51 seconds)  #IdentityInEphesians

Yet, Paul is also wary of wolves who had come in the midst of these believers intending to deceive them away from the truth of the real gospel. And how is it that they might do that? Well, verse four actually tells us the answer to that. He he says, listen, I I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. The the thing about persuasion is that when somebody has persuasive words, what we're saying is what they're what they are teaching seems plausible. It seems like it could be true. So these were persuasive, charismatic, anti Christian teachers whose arguments seemed plausible. [00:57:37] (50 seconds)  #ElementarySpirits