Gnosticism Warned Against in the Bible

Last week, we talked a little bit about Gnosticism, how it evolved from the sixth and seventh century before Christ, from a great pagan reformation that occurred to the pagan religion. There was a pagan religion, it's basically Babylonian, a mystery religion, and there was a reformation in that religion, which was triggered by scientific developments, you know, it was knowledge, and therefore the Greek philosophers got hold of that and used the concept of the earth being the center of everything, and the stars as being good and earth being bad, and then they identified seven layers of what they call planets in the middle, and from there they developed a whole range, or smogus board, of philosophies. Interesting enough, the word philosophy means love of knowledge. From philio, love of knowledge. So philosophy. Which then got merged in with Plato's ideas a few years later, years, I mean, centuries, like 200 years later or so, still well before Christ, ideas of immortality of the soul and things like that, and that spread out throughout Europe all the way to India during the Greek expansion, and that was so-called the Hellenistic culture. Now, obviously, it affected Palestine. That is the Middle East area of Jerusalem, that area where the priesthood was, and in fact, it affected the priesthood. There's some interesting books that show that as well. And from there it spawned heretical Hellenistic Jewish cults before Christ appeared. Now, then, when Christ appeared, some early Christians, such as the Kuleitons and others, then mingle this into the New Testament Christianity. So, in very simple forms, not Gnosticism, which is what we call that, those sets of philosophies and ideas that developed, which were mingled from paganism and Greek and Jewish Hellenistic ideas, that Gnosticism developed when Jewish Christians reworked and reinterpreted the teachings of those sets as a new religion and more advanced form of Christianity. Now, it is important to understand that Gnosticism, it's a word we give today to that, but in those days it was not called Gnosticism, it was just called Christianity. And secondly, it's also important to know that Gnosticism is not just one very specific form of religion, it's a series of philosophies, of ideas, of intellectual conclusions and reasonings and things like that. So, it's not just one thing. And so, there are a number of them, one of which, for instance, is a seticism, another one is Dozatism. They're all part of Gnosticism. So, they had different versions of ideas. For instance, Dozatism had different versions of it as well, of different degrees. But basically, it was a teaching that Jesus and Christ were not the same person. So, most that believed in that philosophy believed that Christ was the spirit being and then entered into the man Jesus, but withdrew from the man Jesus before the crucifixion. And therefore, they reached the conclusion that only Jesus suffered in the cross and therefore they denied the full meaning and value of the sacrifice of Christ. And therefore, the Bible talks about antichrists and things like that. So, today, I want to follow up on what I covered on the previous sermon. And I want to show you various scriptures in the Bible which warn us against Gnosticism and which was one of the major heresies that the early apostles in the New Testament Church had to fight against.

And if you keep that in mind with what I said in the previous sermon, that today we have the same sort of ideology. You can see that why today we're fighting the same sort of issues. And so, in the process of looking at the scriptures in the New Testament in the Bible against or warning us against Gnosticism, we are going to look at it from in a time sequence. Let's look at it that way. We're going to look at it in a time sequence, highlighting just a few points in those scriptures in time sequence. And therefore, showing how prolific that was. And that will allow you, therefore, to do further studies understanding some of the epistles of Paul and not just of Paul, of Peter and John and others, and Jude himself. So we're going to start about 20 years after Christ's death. Now, 20 years is not a long time. Really, 20 years? You can look back 20 years. It's like yesterday. I mean, for somebody like me, I can look 20 years. What? It's just not too far away. So, Christ died, AD 31, so 20 years later, is about AD 30, 51, 52, around that period. And that's when the book of Thessalonians, or the epistles to the Thessalonians were written.

That was the first epistle of Paul for him to write, was Thessalonians. And if we look at second epistle of Thessalonians in Chapter 2, so let's look at that. So that's where we're starting with this study of Scriptures giving warnings of Gnosticism or of these philosophies that people had. In second Thessalonians, Chapter 2, starting in verse 1, he says, Now, brethren, concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and now gathered together to him, we ask you, and he says, So they already had these ideas, intellectual thoughts and things like that. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first.

So Paul was warning them that it would be a first century falling away from the truth, as it did happen. And as it did happen in our time of the end, in the, let's say, in about, in the 90s, around about 95, it was a great falling away from the Church of God.

I'm not saying that is the only one that has happened or that will happen, but I'm just saying that falling away needs to come first and that has happened. And the Man of Sun is revealed, the son of perdition, and that, as we can see, really, that is still something future. Let's look a little bit further in verse 7, for the mystery of lawlessness. Now, Gnosticism and this intellectualism of Gnosticism was all about this mystery, the mystery and the things that you, oh, you need the knowledge to understand, otherwise it was a mystery, and you needed to have this intellectual knowledge to understand it. And he says it's a mystery of lawlessness.

He's already at work, because it was a teaching or a philosophy saying that the law was bad. You know, as I mentioned to you in the previous sermon, there were those seven layers and they equated to seven, and seven equated that to Jewish and the Sabbath and all those things, and therefore the law was bad. So you can see how that human reasoning went into that. So it was a philosophy around, based on mysteries, but it's saying that the law, God's law, is bad. He's already at work. Only you will now restrain, will do so until he's shaken out of the way. So Matthew is talking about something else, which I'll talk to you at another time. Continuing in verse 8 and 9, look at it. Then the Lord has won will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume at the breath of his mouth and destroy the brightness of his coming. So that final wicked one, the false prophet, will be right at the end when Christ comes. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with powers, signs and lying wonders. So then wicked one to come is to lie at lying wonders, but as he says, it's already here. So Satan is already working, stirring the pot and causing these deceptions. And look at verse 10. And with all unrighteous deception, it's deception which is unrighteousness, which is breaking God's law. Among those who perish, because, why? Because they did not believe or receive the love of the truth. They do not love the truth, and therefore they let it go. When you hang on to the truth, you don't let it go. Don't let it go. These people with their righteous or unrighteous deception, should I say, their unrighteous deception are trying to get people away from God's law, from the Sabbath, from these things, and they are creating delusion. It says unrighteous deception, delusion, to try and get people drawn. But if you love the truth, you realize, no, that is not correct.

And it says, therefore, verse 11, And for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie. So they will be deceived if you don't love God's word and the truth. So what was happening is this Babylonian mystery religion. Remember, it's mysteries. It's all these mysteries. You go to the Catholic Church. It's all mysteries. It's all mysteries. It's this Babylonian mystery religion that got mixed up or meshed up with Greek philosophy thinking, this, that, rational. Right? And that Greek philosophy merged with, in time, with Jewish thinking and Jewish intellectualism. You know, again, oh no, I mean, you've heard where there's two Jews, there's three ideas, you know? I'm not speaking bad of Jews, but I'm just saying there is always this thinking, reasoning, whatever. So that kind of merged. And therefore, that, when Christ came and Christianity came, all that hodgepodge of stuff got or infected Christianity. And therefore, it became this false, or let's call it corruption of the truth. And unless you love the truth, it will, you'll be deluded. You'll follow that delusion. And therefore, that false religious belief was created, which the whole world followed. That's what Revelation says, Satan deceived the whole world.

Now, when he says the whole world does not mean just 10%, the whole world means practically 100%, except those that God has called at this time. God, in His mercy, will call the others later and will show them in His mercy. So, that is one of the first mentions about 20 years after Christ, that this was infiltrating and coming in. Then about 2 or 3 years later, Paul wrote to the Galatians. And the Galatians, as God also references to this, turned with me to Galatians, which was written about 2 or 3 years later after the Thessalonians. So, it was written about 5253 AD. Galatians, and we want to look at Galatians chapter 4. Just one point. They are others, but just with one point. Look here in chapter 4 verse 3. Even so, when we were children, and He's talking to Gentiles, the ones in Galatia, when we were children, we were in bondage under the elements of the world. And I went and explained that last week, how the elements were those basic elements, the 4 basic elements that matter was created as the pagan religion identified, and those were controlled by demons. And so, people were under these elements of the world. The Greek word is stoiachain, or something like that. Sorry about my accent, it's not very good. But it was rudiments elsewhere. It's maybe translated as rudiments. Rudiments are the place talking about the elements of the world, not of God, of the world. So these were these Gnostic ideas, not God's law. You know, the concept that matter is evil, and a good God would never create evil matter. And therefore, there were these layers, or emanations, seven layers, down through these demon walls, till somewhere around the bottom, they create matter. And so, it's all this corruption of elements of the world, of pagan religions, which nowadays Christianity doesn't understand that, but if you do a little bit of studying and reading, those are the roots of some of those things, where they came from. Look at verse 8 and 9.

That you turn again. So you're going back. You turn again to the weak and beggarly elements. And the elements again is that Greek word stoiachay, which is those rudiments, those demon walls and pagan things. We can beggarly rudiments or elements to which you decide again to be in bondage. Why are you going back? So they were returning to that. So Paul de Angelatians again makes reference to that.

But I think one of the biggest references is actually in Corinthians, and there's also a big reference in others that we're going to see. But what I'm saying is it's getting more intense. It's getting bigger. It's mentioned with greater intensity. And that was another two or three years later, when Paul wrote to the Corinthians, round about 55 AD. So we're talking about 24-25 years after Christ had died and been resurrected. It's not a long time, a quarter of a century, 25 years, nothing.

The Corinthian Church attached great importance to special religious knowledge. Think about that. The Corinthians, those people in the Church in Corinthians, attached great importance to special religious knowledge. Knowledge. Greek word, gnosis, where you get Gnosticism. So they attached great importance to special religious knowledge, gnosis, and wisdom, which is based on knowledge. Now, the word gnosis, which means knowledge where the word gnosticism comes from, appears in the New Testament 29 times. Do you know that 15 times appears in the Epistles of Corinthians? So it's just a little bit more than half in the Epistles of Corinthians. So let's start with 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Let's start in verse 18. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, if you think you're clever, you've got all this knowledge of wisdom in the world, in the age, knowledge of the world.

Let him become a fool that he may become wise. See, the knowledge of the world is nothing towards God. But so we need to really, to be truly wise in God's way, we must not be really very super-duper knowing all these mysteries, whatever it is, in Shabbat. Verse 19, for the wisdom of this world, the wisdom of the world, not of God, the wisdom of the world is fully mountainous with God. For it is written, He catches the wise in their own craftiness. God is going to catch the wise in their own smartness. And again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile.

So we can see the wisdom of the world is something they valued highly in that society. They tended to equate spirituality with possession of more spectacular kinds of intellectual gifts, spiritual gifts, which involved knowledge and wisdom. Let's look at gifts in chapter 12. First Corinthians chapter 12. Now concerning spiritual, brethren. Now, if you have a Bible like I have, like the New King James Version, the word gift is in italics. And you may well know that italics means it's not in the original. It was added by the translators. So now concerning spiritual. So they are speaking themselves to be spiritual. Right? So concerning being spiritual. Right? Brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. And then we'll get a bit later in verse 4. They are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. So they are diversity of gifts from God. Gifts of God's only spirit that we receive. They are various gifts. So he's not touching gifts. And look a little bit later in verse 8. And sure, you can go through all these things in your own study. I'm just touching some highlights. Otherwise, I would be a lot longer than the time allotted. So I'm just touching some highlights. And it says look at some of the gifts that he's referring to. Verse 8. For one is even the word of wisdom through the spirit. You see? It's got to do with wisdom, with knowledge. So to them, these things related to knowledge and wisdom are very important. To another, the word of knowledge through the same spirit. So they were very focused in these things. Looking first at them. To another, the working of miracles. Oh, you know, there were spectacular things. They wanted these visible miracles. We're very spiritual because these things are happening around, you know? To another prophecy. To another discerning of spirits. To another different kinds of tongues. Oh, very capable, very knowledgeable. I can speak all these languages. Oh, I can speak different languages. Or I can translate all these languages. All the interpretation of language. You see? So they looked at things related to intellectual capability very highly.

Look at verse 24. At the end of verse 24. 1 Corinthians 12, at the end of verse 24. But God compels the body, which is the church, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, which is the church. But that the members should have the same care for one another.

Brethren, we get you to the nocks of the problem. Verse intellectualism, verse Gnosticism, verse saying, Wow, this means that, and this little word means that, and that means that, and therefore bang, bang, bang, and therefore I create the vision in the church. It says, God has given people different talents, yes, but the point is that if we're all members of the body, there should be no schism. There was no division in the body, in the church, but that members should have the same care for one another, that they should have the same love and outgoing concern for one another. It's not that you know this knowledge, you know that, and because you've studied this thing in the meaning of this word, bang, bang, bang, it means something completely different.

That's not the important issue. The important issue is to take care of one another.

And if one member suffers, they all suffer with it. Or if one member is honored, all members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually. In other words, you are part of the body of Christ of the church of God. And God is appointed in the church, leadership, ministers, such as apostles, prophets, teachers. Then after that miracles and gifts of healing and helps, administrations, different types of way of government and applications, varieties of languages. Yes, there are some ministers in the church that can do the job. God's work in the French language. Some can do it in the German language. Some can do it in the Portuguese language. But we all work together as members of one body.

And then continuing in verse 30. We all have the same gifts. We all apostles, all prophets, all teachers, all working emergency, we all have the same gift of healing. We all speak in different languages. We all translate languages. No! But earnestly desire the best gift. Or the best gift. And yet I'll show you an all-excellent way.

You see, Corinthians were being dragged by this cultural thing of knowledge and being arrogant mentally, intellectually, with knowledge. And he's saying, listen, guys, there's a better way. Because I may speak 10 different languages. Chapter 13, verse 1, or 11, or 12. I can't speak languages of man or of angels. I can do all that. But if I don't have love, I'm just a noisy poet. Catang! Catang! And verse 2, and though I have the gift of prophecy, that yes, I can say things and I can understand all prophecy, all mysteries, I understand everything.

I can tell you all the dates that this is going to happen on that date, and I can alert that date, and I get down and you all the details of dates and more dates and more dates, then I get confused. But you are so bright that you can understand all those things.

And even if you have all five. So that I could remove mountains, but I do not have love. I am Zilch. That's not English. But it's a German or Dutch word that means nothing! I'm nothing! So I spoke in tongues. I'm sorry, but I translated it, so for your edification. There was I'm nothing! Everything is nothing without love.

You see what really counts, it says in verse 4, it's to be patient, to suffer long, and being kind, and not being envious, and not being proud and parading yourself, being puffed up. No, don't do that. Be careful how you behave. Don't be rude. We all need to analyze ourselves and say, are we really up to the standard?

I am not. I don't think we all are. We all need to become better. Not sickly done. Not being easily provoked. Brethren, there's so many things happening in the world today that we can get easily provoked. As we are in the sermon, people are so busy, so busy, so busy.

And then people keep pushing you on something, pushing, and then you might just explode on the way back because you're just so stressed. You're like a string or an elastic switch to the limit. And then that little extra little lost straw on the camel's back just bang, causes a reaction.

We've got to be careful that we don't do that. We've got to put our priorities right, as we are in the sermonette. Think no evil. Oh, it's so easy. Oh, the reason he didn't greet me today is because... or whatever. And we immediately start thinking bad things. And maybe he or she didn't greet me today because you're thinking about something else and his mind was on whatever or her mind was on something else and bang!

He actually didn't even see you. He didn't even notice. He was just absorbed on something else. But, you know, we tend to think evil. It does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in what? In the truth. Bears all things. Wow! Bears all things. Believes all things. I'm not saying that he's somebody that just, ah, well, you know. No, but when something is logical and right, yes, all believes that. Hopes all things.

In joys all things. Love never fails. That's what really counts. That's what really counts. Yes, there's faith at the end of the chapter. There's hope and there's love. But the greatest is love, which is agape love, which is agape love and concern. And then he continues in Chapter 14, pursue love, desire, spiritual gifts. Yes, that's fun. But, especially that you may prophesy. In other words, that you may encourage and speak in a way to edify other people. For he who speaks in a tongue, if I am now starting to talk to you in Portuguese, you would not understand what I'm saying for one. And number two, if I would encourage you.

So he speaks in a tongue, does not speak to men, but to God, yeah, if I pray and if I happen to be praying in Portuguese, I sometimes pray in Portuguese. But often, most of the time, I actually pray in English. So, in English is my second language. So that's okay. God knows. If I'm in Angola or in Brazil, etc., I'm continuously talking in Portuguese, then my prayers come out in Portuguese. It's just kind of, my brain just works that way. But if I'm young, I'm always talking in English, my prayers come out in English.

The language is immaterial. God knows the heart, then we communicate. So, if I talk in a language, God understands. But if I'm talking to you in a language you don't understand, He says, for no one understands Him. Even if He's talking great mysteries, nobody will understand. Verse 3, for you. But He will prophesize. He will encourage us. He was talking to other people. If you are talking to other people, having fellowship, you are off the church, and you are talking about God's way and about God's things, and you are plucking and encouraging one another, if you are doing that, if you are professing, you are speaking about God's way and God's way of life, if you are professing that for your words and deeds, right?

You are edifying the church. You are exhausting and comforting man. So, that's what we need to do. We need to edify. So, it's not technical, no how, but it's edifying, building, helping one another. Look at verse 22 through 24 of the same chapter 14. It says, therefore tongues are for the sign, not for those who believe, but for unbelievers.

But prophesy is not for believers, but for those who believe, not for unbelievers, but those who believe. So, if we are encouraging, we are building the church. Therefore, if all the world comes to get in one place and all speak with different languages and they come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are of your mind? If one of you is talking German and whatever, and the others don't understand and I'm talking Portuguese and somebody had somebody in French, you're talking French just because you know French?

Oh, yeah, he knows the language, so he's talking... Somebody will come, a stranger come in for the first time and say, well, these people are out of their mind. But if we all are prophesying, in other words, if we all are professing by our deeds and by our actions and by our words, if we are professing, if we are speaking about things which are edifying to one another, but if we all prophesy, an unbeliever, uninformed person comes in, he is in the church, he is convinced by all, he is discerned by all, he is convicted by all, he is discerned.

He says, hey, this makes sense. These people are actually on the right wavelength. They actually care for one another, they are building one another up. It makes sense. You see, because of intellectual ideas in Corinth, because of these Gnostic thoughts, they were divisions in Corinth. Go back to chapter 3, where we started in Corinthians, chapter 3. Let's look at verse 1 through 3. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people. Yeah, they thought they were very spiritual, but I can't talk to you as spiritual people.

But as to carnal, as to bags in Christ. I feed you of milk and not of solid food, for until now, you're not able to receive it. Even now, you're still not able. Oh yeah, you're full of this knowledge. You're puffed up with all these things, as you read in other sections of Corinthians. It says, you are puffed up. You've got this knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, you know, right? So you're puffed up with this knowledge. But it says here, verse 3, for you still carnal. Why? For where there is envy, strife, and the visions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

You see, they were carnal. Are we behaving that way? Are we causing the visions? Look, nobody's immune. We've got to be careful. We've got to look at ourselves. They had different strange ideas about the resurrection. You read in 1 Corinthians 15, where they had ideas that trusted already come, and things like that. We need to make sure, brethren, that we do not have our own private interpretation of Scripture. You see, people take one word, and say, well, this word means this. Therefore, because of this, that comes out of a whole new doctrine.

And they co-serve itions. And yeah, maybe that word does mean that. And yes, it may mean that. But now you've got to take it in context. You've got to take it with other Scriptures that say something else, and you've got to put it all together, and say, no, Matthew, I thought you were incorrect. Yes, that Scripture does have that meaning, but in the context, ha ha, it means something else. You've got to put everything together. You do not have your own private interpretation of Scripture, but the Word, God's Word, altogether, proves itself. You've got to put it all together, a little bit, yeah, a little bit there.

So, brethren, we need to be very careful how we build, how we edify God's church, as His members and as His ministers.

Look a little bit lighter in verse 9 of the same chapter. Look, yeah, in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9, For we are God's fellow workers, and you are God's field. You are God's building. Brethren, you are, we are, we're all part of God's building, which is the Church of God, which is the body of Christ. According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I've laid a foundation and another bolt on it. So the real foundation is first Christ, but Paul added other elements of that foundation on top of what Christ built, and now we're all building on top of that, that building, that holy temple. And another bolt on it. But let each one, each one of us, brethren, you and me, we all have a part in building the temple. We all are little stones, or biggest stones, part of the temple, bolt and made separately, because you know the story of the temple, the stones were carved and shaped separately, and exactly the right shape and size, and then they were brought together, and they all fitted when the temple was put together. There was no hammering or whatever it is when the temple was built. It all had been done separately, individually, beforehand. And that's what's happening to us, spiritually speaking. You and I have been shaped and molded individually by God's Spirit in where we live, in different towns, in different countries, in different regions. Individually, we've been shaped, and then one day, at the Christ resurrection, we'll all be put together and wall-y! Fits perfectly!

It says, my father's house, there are many mansions, and I'm going to prepare one for you. Right! He's shaping us to fit, to be exactly for that mansion that he wants so that when we all get together, bang! It just is perfect. So it says, yeah, let each one take heed how he builds on it. We are doing a part. We're working with God. He is shaping us, and we need to respond in the right way, and we need to build God's church. By the way, we act. Verse 11, for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is lay, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation of Christ, you can build with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, for stroke. What are we building with? Are we building with gold, silver, and precious stones? Or are we building with wood, hay, and straw?

See, each one's work will become clear for the day of Christ's coming. We'll declare it because it will be revealed by fire. Ultimately, we'll all be revealed by fire, and the fire will touch each one's work of what soon it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, you'll receive a reward.

What is going to endure the fire?

Spirit beams, or beams that have become spirit, and then enjoy the fire.

So, if you and I are helping fellow Christians to become better Christians, to stay and love the truth, you are building a work which is of gold, silver, and precious stones, because when that fire comes, that person is now a spirit being and is forced to fire. But if you are building junk that is causing the vision, that is not going to stand the fire. If anyone's work, verse 14, which he has built on it endures, you'll receive a reward. You'll receive a reward besides eternal life, which is a gift. You'll receive a reward on top of that. Well done, good and faithful servant. Rule over five studies, or ten studies, or whatever. You'll receive a reward besides eternal life. But if anyone's work is burnt, he will suffer loss. So if the work you're doing is made of wood, hay, or straw, and you're causing the vision without church, you will suffer loss. You will not get the same reward, or you might not get a reward. But he himself will be saved. God is very merciful. Maybe you did it, and maybe you were mistaken, and you come to a point you repent, but all the work you've done, all these years, it's all hay and wood and straw. God is still merciful. Brethren, is our, is the fruits of our labor, or are the fruits of our labor, going to burn up or to get beyond into the new heavens and new earth? Because they spread beans. Because the fruits of our labor of love and care and concern for others, we help other people to repent and change.

You see, so Paul was, yeah, giving them a very important lesson. He says, listen, guys, all this idea of intellectualism and things that you have, mean nothing because what matters is love. And your work needs to be one that is going to stand up.

Then, about six or seven years later, Paul wrote what's called the prison episodes. That was run about 61 to 63 AD. Those prison episodes were Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philharmon. And that was after his third missionary trip. He went back to Jerusalem. Then he was sent to prison in Rome. So at that time, now things had really built up. And one of the major books that covers this is the Book of Colossians. Remember that we're only talking about 30 years, 30 years after the beginning of the New Testament Church. It's not a lot of time. And look at Colossians, starting Chapter 1. Some of the powerful statements against Gnosticism is here in Colossians. Look at Chapter 1, starting in verse 9. For this reason, we also sense the day we heard it. Do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will. Not the knowledge of this world, the knowledge of God's will. So he is using points that are, let's think about attractive points to Gnostic ideas, like knowledge, light, darkness and things like that. But he's taking them and says the knowledge is the knowledge of God, not of the will, of God's will. In all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Not in the knowledge of this world. So he's saying, listen guys, listen brethren, it's the knowledge of God that matters, not the Gnostic ideas.

Look at verse 12. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. So he's bringing again the seeing Gnosticism, light and darkness and good and evil. So he brings in the real light, true light, has delivered us from the power of darkness. So he sees using terms that are like hot buttons to them and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

Look at verse 15. When he's talking about Christ, look at how he talks about Christ. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. He was the firstborn from death, as you can see in verse 18, the firstborn from the dead. So he's the firstborn of all creation. Not that he was created, but he was the first one that was dead and became alive again. For by him all things were created.

By Christ all things were created. Brethren, don't believe me? It's in the Bible. There are in heaven and on earth. What things are in heaven? Well, the galaxies, the planets, all the stuff that we see at night in the firmament, just amazing. All that, but so that you don't think it's just the visible things, he says.

Visible and invisible. So, yeah, yes, there could be planets and things that you can't see, but what he's talking about is invisible, which is the angelic domain around what's created. He says all things were created by him. Visible and invisible.

Where the frowns or the melees or the principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him. In other words, God is the Father, is the authority, and under his authority, he was the agent of creation. He did all the creating as the responsible agent to do it, as the representative of God, as the messenger of God.

He was God, of course. Continuing verse 17, and he is above all things. And in him all things consist. That means, basically, they exist and they kept in tune, you know, concise. Like, for instance, if you have your car and if you don't keep it and maintain it and keep it running, it's going to degrade. So, in him all things he keeps them wealthy, doesn't. They do everything, you know, not necessarily. He delegates. You see? But he is dead. He is before all things and in him all things consist, he is the head of the body. Christ is the head of the church. The church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that all things, or that in all things, he may have preeminence.

And we know elsewhere, it says, you have everything brought under him and the last one is death. And then, after that, you will hand it all to the Father. Right? All under the Father, of course, is doing only the Father's will. That's where the sermon ends. That's where it is. So that in all things he will have preeminence. And continue verse 19, For it pleased the Father that in him, that's Christ, all the fullness should dwell.

What is all the fullness should dwell? Again, that's a play on something which is Gnostic. That is all the things that they believed they have, the swole of theirs. And he is now, yeah, combating Gnostic teaching because this Gnostic teaching reduced Christ, reduced Christ to something created or an angel or something like that. But what he's saying, yeah, is Christ as authority over all spiritual powers.

And Gnostic teachings make Christ of less importance. That's why elsewhere it's called the Antichrist. Look a bit further in verse 24. And now I rejoice in my sufferings for you and to fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. This is such a deep meaning that Paul said that I rejoice because I have to suffer to fill up in my physical body what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.

Wow! Think about it! And so we all, brethren, we all suffer because it was not just Paul, it's us. We always, Christians, suffer. For so we were called to suffer. And you read in Romans 8 as well. It says, if you suffer with him, we'll be glorified with him.

So we all suffer. Look at this. To fill up in our flesh what is lacking in the freakyions. For the sake of the church. For the sake of his body which is the church. Now that's such a powerful statement. But let's continue. Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God. So yes, God gave me that destruction.

I did not make myself a minister. Oh, yeah, I want to be a minister and therefore I now, you know, like I get people sometimes cards from people in Brazil or whatever it is. Oh, I'm a pastor. And who made you a pastor? I made myself. I decided I'm now a pastor and I'm starting my own church. Well, there's a novel. It says, I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which is given to me.

He didn't make himself an apostle. God made him. Through Christ, of course, to fulfill the word of God. The mystery. Oh, yeah, back to the word mystery. But it's not the mystery of the Babylonian Mystery religion, not the mystery of this Gnosticism. But the mystery of God, which is the mystery of God? It's that you and I are going to be sons and daughters of God.

That is a mystery they do not understand. It's the plan of God's salvation that you and I are going to be children of God. His own children, beloved children. The world doesn't get it. That's the mystery which has been hidden from the ages, from generations to generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them, God will make them what are the riches of the glory of this mystery amongst the Gentiles. Yes, because yes, even Gentiles can be children of God, which is Christ in you.

Yes, Christ is in us. He is living in us. We are living like Him. We are meditating Him. And therefore, we are becoming an image of Christ, copying Christ, which He in turn is the image of the Father. And so, we become sons of God, like He is the Son of God. That is a great mystery, which is our hope of glory, to be glorious in that glorious family, in that royal family. You see, He was talking about God's plan of salvation, and He was showing them, listen, this all Gnostic things of mystery, it's a lot of junk. This Babylonian mystery religion, which is being syncretized with Greek philosophy and with heretic Jewish intellectualism, is a lot of junk.

Look here in chapter 2. Now, verse, you probably never noticed, but I want you to think deeply what it says here. For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you. So, what is he writing to? Collosions, right? To the collosions. Do you know what area was very near Colossae?

Lauda Seum. So, he wrote this letter to both the collosions and the Lauda Seums. Wow. We lived in the Lauda Seum era. This is a letter to the Lauda Seum church, to the Lauda Seum era, to those people in Lauda Seum. Because he said, and I have for you and those in Lauda Seum, and for as many as have not seen my face in flesh. And you know, the problem with Lauda Seums? They think they're rich. They think they know it all.

But they're poor, isn't it? And he said that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love. What Lauda Seum need is love, not intellectualism. And attaining to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ.

Brethren, and it says, in whom are He done all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So the true knowledge, the true wisdom comes from God, from this mystery of God that we're going to be children of God. And we need to be knit together in love. How do we identify? Through love. And so what he's saying is, brethren, you do not need these Gnostic ideas and philosophies of progressive knowledge.

And you know what? What was the problem? What was the cause of the problem in Colossae and Lauda Seum? Look at first sight. Look at first sight. Beware. Beware. Lest anyone cheat you through what? Philosophy.

That is the Greek Hellenistic philosophy, an empty dispute. According to the tradition of God? No! The tradition of man.

These beliefs of man, of the pagan world, according to the basic principles, rudiments, stoachaios, stoachaios of the world, of the Gnostic world.

And not according to Christ.

For inim dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Christ dwells all the fullness of divinity. Christ is divine. All the divinity is in Christ.

And you are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power. Christ is the head.

And therefore, we don't need any extra knowledge for salvation of the world, of the Gnostic ideas.

He gives us all we need through God's Holy Spirit. And then he goes on. You know, in him you are also circumcised with circumcision without hands. So he's bringing up a whole area of understanding about circumcision. It shows how Christ is trying for over this angelic world in verse 15. And then he says, these people are criticizing you for you keeping the feast for feasting. It says in verse 16, let no man judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival. So they're judging you because you're keeping the feast. You're keeping the Holy Days.

Let no man judge you but the body of Christ, which is the church. As it says in verse 17, but let the body, substance actually, the Greek word they is soma, which means body, but the body of Christ. And the word is in italics because it's not in Greek. So, but the body of Christ. So let no man judge you but the church, the leadership in the church. They have given a responsibility to do that. And it says, but you guys are involved in these ideas of worshipping of angels, which is demons. Look at verse 18. Let no man cheat you of your reward, taking the light in false humility. These people act as if they're very humble, fake, and worship of angels, of demons, including those things which has not seen vainly packed up with knowledge. This knowledge puffs up by the East's fleshly mind, being very intellectual, being very broad, understanding all these things about different dates and whatever, whatever, whatever.

Look at verse 20. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why is there living in the world, you subject yourselves to dogmatizo, to regulations of the world, such as do not touch, do not taste, do not handle. Those were ascetic ideas, one of those philosophies of Gnosticism.

He says, yeah, verse 22, which all concerned things which parents should be using according to commandments and doctrines of men. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom, self-imposed religion, false humility, neglect of the body, asceticism, neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. You see, brethren, and then he goes on, two years later, into Timothy. And I just want to touch a few points briefly here, just one point here briefly in Timothy. In Timothy, chapter 4, two years later, about 65 AD, first Timothy, chapter 4, verse 1 through 3, says, Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, evidently unconscious, seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from certain foods, certain ascetic ideas.

So you can see that this ascetic thought was spreading. And then, later on, some 15 or 20 years later, we've got the Book of Jude. The Book of Jude. The Book of Jude, in a sense, is a parallel to 2 Peter, chapter 2.

And you take your time and do your own study compared 2 Peter, chapter 2, to Jude. Strong similarities. But Jude was written later, about 80 AD or beyond that. So, another 20 years later. So we're talking about 50 years after Christ's death. And the Book of Jude is basically the whole book is combatting Gnosticism. Think about it. The whole book is combatting Gnosticism. Look at verse 3. Beloved, while I was diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, or our common salvation, So, I wanted to, the SPS, the specific purpose statement of my epistleia, of my brief letter, was to write to you about our salvation.

But I found it necessary to change the topic. I found it necessary to change the theme. And to write to you, in sorting, you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Why? Because this Gnosticism was taking hold.

For certain man has crept unnoticed. You know, when I was in the army, before I came into the church, they called it leopard crawl. I don't know if you can call it leopard crawl as well. But you have to crawl on the floor like this. And the military, crawl, crawl, crawl, crawl. So you would not be noticed. And then when you get near it, you can stand up or whatever it is, but you did leopard crawl. So maybe it's just South African term, I'm not sure. But this is how Satan is. He creeps in unnoticed. You know, creeping unnoticed with these dark doctrines, filtering in. And then people talk, all underground, and spread. Then suddenly they all come up at the same time and bang! Where does it all come from? This is our second word. You see, creeps in unnoticed. Certain men have crept in unnoticed. Long ago, we were marked out for this commemoration. Ungodly men would turn the grace of our God into lewdness. It was an excuse not to obey the law. See, the law is bad. And deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

But I want you to remind you, though you knew this, that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed those who did not believe. Remember, there's going to be a judgment. There's no such thing. Oh, well, no, you know, then you go to heaven and earth, it'll be okay. Once you, you know, just believe and then therefore you don't have to obey. You don't have to obey. You just have to believe. And once you believe, you go to heaven and you'll find.

That is lawlessness. That's the mystery of iniquity, spreading and denying Christ. There's going to be a judgment. Even the angels are going to be judged. In verse 6.

Sodom and Gomorrah was judged. Likewise, all these dreamers, all these people now, they are there, they dreamers. They reject authority. They reject authority. They reject authority in the church. They reject, I can do whatever it is. They reject authority and speak evil of dignitories. But even Michael was careful not to do that.

Verse 10, then he goes on, he says, but these speak evil, whatever they do not know.

They like brute beasts. Wove to them. Verse 11, verse 12. These are spots in your life, beasts. These are spots in your holy days. When you keep the feast, these people are among you, and they are spots.

When you keep the feast, they're creating little things, little troubles.

While they feast with you without fear, they keep the feast with you without fear, serving only themselves, they are clouds without water.

Do you know what water is? It's the Holy Spirit, right? Living water. They are clouds without the Holy Spirit, carried about by the winds, laid autumn trees without fruit, twice dead. The first death and the second death. They're not yet second death yet, but they're going that way to the second death. They're not careful! Is this a strong warning against the Master System or not?

Raging waves of the sea, firming up to their own shame, wondering stars like these demons going around.

Brethren, this is very powerful. This is very powerful. And look in verse 15.

To execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them, for all their ungodly deeds, which they have committed in an ungodly way, and all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him, which is against Christ. All the harsh things they have spoken against Christ and against God. For instance, all the law in the Old Testament and God in the Old Testament was very hard, very hard. You've got to be careful. If you're speaking against God, you've got to be careful.

You see, you start to slam the God and saying, well, our God worked with Old Testament Israel was very harsh under that bad Old Testament law. Be careful.

And then there's 1st and 2nd and 3rd John, where he talks about antichrist and various thosetic teachings, which I'm not covered. Brethren, I just touched a few points that I hope that you can see the next time you read the New Testament. You're going to read it with a new depth of understanding and seeing, wow, what is Paul and the apostles? What are they talking about here? How people were being affected already in the early New Testament church. They are examples, yeah, in the New Testament church, of how Satan's technique of creeping in was so effective through Gnosticism, using the Babylonian Muslim religion mixed with intellectualism and philosophies, and this created a problem of morality and licentiousness. Look at verse 16. These are grumblings, complainers, walking according to their own lasts, and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people, for what reason? To gain advantage. It does not even mean that they're going to get more money, but just to gain advantage.

And look at verse 19. These are sensual persons who cause divisions, and of course, stalking in the body of Christ in the church of God. These are sensual persons who cause divisions, and brethren, this is what the Bible says, not me. Let's read it. It says, not having God's Holy Spirit.

Not having God's Holy Spirit. Brethren, Satan has received time and time and time again the world using this technique. It's effective. Why is he going to throw it away? He's going to use it again.

Brethren, he will use it again. So what is God's advice to you and I? Look at verse 20 and 21. But now, but you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ and to eternal life. The advice to us, brethren, is to build ourselves in the faith that was once delivered to us, as he mentioned at the beginning of the book, and keep ourselves in the love. Don't get hooked up with these super duper decos, technicians or technical people in words and things like that, that cause division. That's what he says. And then he concludes in verse 24 and 25 by signing. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to God our Savior, who alone is wise. Be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.