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Colossians chapter two in your Bibles, if you have your Bibles. Now to Colossians 2. I'm going to read verses 16 to 23. We'll close out chapter two here in Colossians, starting at verse 16, Paul writes, so let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival, or a new moon, or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward. Taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase, that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations? Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self imposed religion, false humility and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. A few quick reminders before we pray here about the church in Colossae to which Paul is writing. This is called Colossians because he's writing to the people of the Church of Colossae Number one. The church there in Colossae was primarily comprised of Gentile believers. That was the majority of those who made up the Church of Colossae. They were Gentile believers. So you have to remember that these Gentiles came out of a very pagan polytheistic world, first century Roman Empire. They were exposed to all kinds of idol worship and multiple gods that the Romans worshiped. And so they are very unfamiliar with Jewish laws, Jewish customs, Jewish feasts and festivals and foods and all of that. We'll talk about this a little bit, but that plays into what Paul is writing here in chapter two. So that's the first thing. This church was comprised mainly of Gentile believers, some Jewish believers, but mostly Gentile believers. The other thing to remember is that Paul had never visited this church. This is not one of the many churches he planted in Asia Minor. He gets a visit from the pastor of this church at Colossae. His name is Epaphras. He is mentioned twice in this letter. And Epaphras comes to Paul, who was in prison in Rome. And Epaphras is sharing some of the things that are plaguing the church of Colossae. And he wants Paul's advice. And so Paul is going to write, by inspiration of the Spirit, his advice to the church. And that's what we have here is Colossians. So the closing part here of chapter two that we just read deals with three particular issues that Epaphras brought to Paul's knowledge that were plaguing this church. These were problems in his church. So Epaphras is like, Paul, tell me what to do here. And so Paul writes here in these closing verses of chapter two, his advice, his spiritual counsel about how to deal with these three particular issues. We'll talk about them, but let's first have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for this time in your house today. And thank you for all those who are here and those who are watching online as we just gather in your name, Jesus, to lift you up, to exalt you in this place. Let no one be exalted except you, Lord. And we just honor your and praise you together today as we open up your word, as we celebrate you and are thankful for the revelation of your Holy Spirit through the pages of the Bible. And so speak to our hearts today. Lord, you know what each of us needs. You know what we brought in here today. And we also know, Lord, that you will meet all our needs according to your glorious riches in Christ Jesus. So do your good work now in our hearts we pray as we study your word together in Jesus name. And everyone said, amen. Well, we're going to look at these three particular issues that plagued the church at Colossae. And we don't want to just read about it. We want to learn from them so that these are not indicative of our lives or our church. Here are the three issues that they were dealing with. These were the spiritual pitfalls. Number one was judgmentalism. Number two was hyper spiritualism. And number three was legalism. Let's start with the first one first, judgmentalism. This is between verses 16 and 17. I'll read again real quickly. Paul writes, so let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. So he talks here about being judgmental. He's like, let no one judge you. And he means this in a judgmental way. Because this church, as I mentioned earlier, was comprised mostly of Gentiles who became believers in Jesus and left this pagan polytheistic world mindset. They didn't know what to do with all the Jewish Customs and feasts and festivals. And they were unfamiliar with Jewish scripture, so they had a lot of questions. They saw the influence of Judaism and they wondered things like, you know, what. What feasts should we practice and what festivals should we observe and what foods should we eat or not eat? And other important questions like how do you spin the dreidel? And should I wear a yarmulke on Hanukkah? You know, and all these kind of things. They had no idea because they had no reference point. These were Gentiles who got saved and put their faith in Jesus. And so Paul comes along here in these verses, and he basically says to them, look, just relax. Relax, everybody. He says, all the feasts and the festivals were pointing to Christ and have been fulfilled in Christ. So if you want to practice those things as a way of remembering Jesus, okay. But they are no longer a requirement of the law. Now, in order to understand the complexity of all this, let me just back up and explain the Old Testament Jewish scriptures. The Old Testament Jewish scriptures are really categorized into three categories. Number one is dietary, and number two are ceremonial. And number three are moral. So all the laws of the Old Testament fall under one of those three categories. They're either dietary laws, ceremonial laws, or moral laws. Now, what Paul is reminding us here is the reason why you don't want anybody to judge you by what you eat or drink is because Jesus has fulfilled the dietary aspects of the law. Now, the dietary aspects of the law, understand this. Why did God implement in the Old Testament certain laws and regulations about foods that they could eat and foods that they could not eat? Now, some will say, and I think there's some truth to this, that in general, God was promoting things that would have made the Jewish people the healthiest. There are some foods that we should probably avoid that might not be as beneficial for us as other foods. And so that's part of it. But here's the real reason why God implemented dietary standards. It was a way to communicate and to test the obedience of the people, but to mainly communicate that they were a distinct and separate people who belonged to God, and thus they should not live like the rest of the world lives, and they shouldn't even eat like the rest of the world eats. It is a way of showing that they were a distinct and separate group belonging to God. And that's the reason why, for the most part, that kosher dietary laws were put in place in the scriptures. Now, Jesus comes along and he basically says this. He goes the real way. Now, now that I'm Here. Okay, Jesus paraphrasing. The real reason you're gonna show that you are a distinct and separate people belonging to God is not what you put in your mouth, but it is what's in your heart. In a relationship with me, Jesus becomes the fulfillment of the dietary law, because that's the way we show we are distinct and separate unto God, is through relationship with Jesus. In fact, Jesus even addresses the dietary things in Matthew, chapter seven. Listen to what he says in sorry, mark, mark, chapter seven. Listen to verse 18 and 19. Jesus says, nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him unclean, for it doesn't go into his heart, but into his stomach and then out of his body. And the rest of Mark 7:19 says, by this, Jesus declared all foods clean. Can I hear an amen in the house? Amen. All right. Which means go ahead and wrap that shrimp with bacon. Praise God. Wash it down with a little pulled pork barbecue. It's all good now. You know what's really interesting is that Muslims are still living by that same kind of a legalistic code because they don't have a relationship with Jesus. And that's why Muslims consider some food haram, which is off limits, and some foods halal, which you are permitted to eat. So this kind of strict dietary code was put in place originally in the Old Testament to show you were distinct and separate unto the Lord. But Jesus comes along, he goes, your relationship with me is now what shows that you are distinct and separate unto the Lord. It's not what goes into your mouth. What goes into your mouth goes through your body and out. It's what is the matter of the heart. And the matter of the heart is the heart of the matter. And that has to do with their relationship with Jesus. So Jesus declared all foods clean. He fulfilled the dietary aspects of the law. He also fulfills the ceremonial aspects of the law, because that's what Paul is writing about here also in chapter two, verses 16 and 17. So let no one judge you by food or in drink. That's a dietary. Or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths. That's all the ceremonial stuff. And why? Because the next verse, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Niv says the reality, however, is found in Christ. He says all the feasts and the festivals were a shadow of things. What does he mean? He's like, those things were pointing towards something, but they weren't the real substance, the real essence is in Jesus. And in fact, the Jewish feasts and festivals Were all put in place to point to messiah, to point to Jesus so that people would see the correlation between what do these feasts and festivals mean? Oh, it all has to do with painting a bigger picture about the substance of Christ. And that's the reason why everybody. Jesus fulfills all the different feasts. Now, I'll give you just a quick sampling. This is not all the Jewish feasts. But remember, what was the feast when Jesus died? It was the feast of passover. His death on the cross coincided with the lambs being sacrificed on the temple mount. The lambs were being sacrificed as part of the feast of passover. It was to commemorate how God passed over them when they were slaves in Egypt because their doors were marked with the blood of the lamb. Jesus dies on passover because he is the lamb that takes away the sins of the world and his blood covers over our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. He dies specifically on that day. That wasn't just coincidence, everybody. He dies on Passover because he's fulfilling the passover in its ultimate sense. And then he is buried. When Jesus is put in the tomb, it is the beginning of the feast of unleavened breads. Passover and unleavened bread ran together for a total of eight days. But unleavened bread was a feast to rid your home of all leaven or yeast, to remember the holiness of God. Now, in old testament times, again, leaven or yeast was a picture of sin. So strict Jews, man, they had to rid their entire house of any kind of yeast, any kind of leaven. I have a Jewish friend who grew up very orthodox. And he said, you know what? My. He's a believer now. He says, in Jesus, he said, you know what my responsibility was as a kid? He said, I was given a feather, and at passover, I had to take every book off the shelf in our house, and. And I had to take the feather down every single page of every single book. I said, why in the world? Because they had to rid their house of leaven of yeast. And I said, what does that have to do with anything? He says, cause, you know, sometimes you'd be reading a book and maybe you're eating a cracker or you got a piece of toast and crumbs fall in the pages of the book. He goes, we had to rid our house of any and all leaven. So he said, my duty wants to take a feather down every. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine that? Jesus is buried as unleavened bread begins Because Jesus is the ultimate picture of the One who cleanses us from all sins. And then he rises from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits. Feast of First Fruits. You would present the first of your harvest to the Lord. And it was in honor of the Lord's provision because it symbolized that there was more harvest to come. But you're giving the first to the Lord. Jesus rose from the dead because he was the first in a glorified body to rise from the dead. And because of his glorified body and his resurrection from the dead, we are promised a glorified body in the resurrection from the dead. And we are the rest of the harvest that is to come. Jesus presents himself as the first fruits. Are you following me? This all is a fulfillment of all the Jewish feasts. Then when does Jesus send the Holy Spirit? The next feast on the Jewish calendar is the Feast of Pentecost, Shabuat. The Feast of Pentecost was originally designed to commemorate the giving of the law when God gave the ten Commandments to Moses. But what happened on the day that God gave the Commandments to Moses? The people at the base of Mount Sinai were indulging in revelry and all kinds of immorality. And when Moses brings the Commandments down off the mountain, he sees the people in such sin and debauchery, and God convicts them because of the violation of the law. And on that day, do you remember, 3,000 die. Fast forward to the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, when the Holy Spirit came on the day of PENTECOST In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit falls. Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to the church. Peter gets up, preaches the gospel, and about 3,000 people get saved. Do you see the contrast? Exodus? 3,000 people die because the law kills. Acts chapter 2. 3,000 people get saved because the Spirit gives life. Jesus fulfills all this. He fulfills all this. Now, some of you know this, right? What's the next feast on the Jewish calendar? The Feast of Trumpets. What is the next thing to happen on the timeline of the church? There will be a trumpet call of God and the voice of the archangel and the dead in Christ will rise first. And then we who are alive and remain will be gathered up together to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall be with the Lord forever. I'm waiting for the trumpet sound, everybody. Waiting for the trumpet sound. So here's my point. When the Gentile believers, and most of us are Gentile believers, they didn't have the background of the feasts and the festivals and the Jewish scriptures. And so they have all these questions. And that's why Paul comes along and he says, here, look. The dietary and ceremonial aspects of the law have been all fulfilled in Christ. You are no longer bound by what you eat or new moon celebrations or the Sabbath. Enjoy the Sabbath, but don't feel it as a rule and a regulation. None of these things should be a requirement. We can celebrate and remember Jesus through these various ways, but these are not requirements of the law. The only aspect that is still intact is the third part of the Jewish scriptures, which is the moral code. And the reason it's still intact is because Jesus is the moral code. You see, he is the one who is righteous and pure and true and just in all his ways. He was tempted in every way as we are, yet was without sin. He is the moral standard. So he hasn't replace those things. He maintains the moral aspect because his very nature is holy and righteous and true. And so Paul is saying, but as it relates to the dietary and the ceremonial stuff, he's like, just relax, everybody, chill out. Because Jesus has fulfilled all that which is liberating to the Gentile believers because they have no tie or connection to Jewish feasts or festivals anyway. So, like, great, okay, so it's all about Jesus. We got it, Paul. The people who had it more difficult were the Jewish believers in Jesus because they were so stuck in tradition that it was hard for them to understand. You mean I don't have to worry about kosher anymore? You don't? I mean, I don't have to worry about all these feasts and festivals because it's all been fulfilled in Jesus. And this was difficult for them, which is a little insight as to who were the ones who were being judgmental to whom. The Jewish believers were by and large being judgmental to the Gentile believers because they couldn't understand how you can be a part of what we believe, and yet you don't have to practice all these Jewish feasts and festivals. And so Paul says here, don't let anybody judge you. He says, don't let anybody judge you. They're just being judgmental. They're just being judgmental. Now, at this point, I think it's important for me to point out a distinction between making judgments and being judgmental. Okay, this is important. Please, please hear. All of us need to make judgments. That's a part of everyday discerning truth and things that are clear. But none of us should be judgmental. There's a big difference. Okay, let me simplify it. Like, making judgments is like going to Chick Fil A, okay? You make a judgment, it's a good day, all right? Judgmentalism is like going to Taco Bell, all right? Just. It's bad and it leaves an explosive mess, everybody. That's just a welcome back, Pastor Gary. Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. But look, there's a big difference. Now listen to what Jesus said. Because sometimes I hear people who don't even go to church, but they like to quote this verse from the Bible. They're like, doesn't the Bible say, like, don't judge me? Like, don't judge. Don't judge me. You're judging me. Okay, okay. Let me tell you something, actually. Jesus says in John 7. 24 that we should judge. Listen to this. This is John 7, verse 24, Jesus speaking. Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. Do not judge according to appearance, but judge. This is his exhortation to us. But judge with righteous judgment. So clearly, Jesus was saying we need to exercise judgment about matters. We have to evaluate facts. We have to discern truth. We have to make intelligent decisions based on what is clear and factual. But Jesus's caution was that when we judge by the way things appear without having all the facts or a full understanding about things, we can form an opinion about someone or something that is completely inaccurate, incomplete, or untrue. And that's judgmentalism. Let me. Let me illustrate it this way. I'll clean up the Taco Bell illustration. Let me illustrate it this way. By the way, when we were away during that whole parasite stuff, and I guess it's still circulating, but I turned to Terry and I predicted. I said, they're gonna trace it to Taco Bell. I was right. Anyway, I knew it. Did we need to know. We just knew. We instinctively knew. Okay, let's say some guy wants to date your daughter and you've never met the guy. Some guy wants to date your daughter. Now question. Do you need to judge him? You better believe it. Yeah, there's a mom who understands right there. Amen, sister. You better be judging him like Judge Judah. You better be all over his business. Because you better discern out of what is clear, you know, about this guy and factual to make sure this is going to be a good guy for your daughter, okay? So you need to make and use judgment, okay? But let's say the guy pulls up to your house and he's driving a Prius, okay? You're like, I don't. I don't know about this. I don't know if I want. I don't know if I want this guy dating my daughter. He pulled up in a Prius. Come on. Okay, but what you don't know. What you don't know is that the guy sold his Ford F150 Raptor because he needed cash because he's putting himself through college and he's working two extra jobs. Okay? There's somebody with a Prius, he's like, thank you for cleaning that up. Yeah. So don't judge a guy by the Prius because he's actually conscientious, resourceful. He's doing all he can to put himself through college. But it's easy for us to look at something, make it. Make a judgment based on appearance. That's judgmentalism. And on a more serious note, everybody, people have been done a great deal of damage by other people with a judgmental spirit. If you don't know all the facts, keep your opinion to yourself and your mouth shut. I'm just giving it to you straight. There are too many people who have done damage to other people because they've made certain assumptions or they've gathered enough information just by appearance only. They don't know the facts. They don't know clearly what's going on here. Jumping to conclusion, listening to hearsay, having things that are. That are not only unfair but are downright wrong in their hearts towards someone. They're being judgmental. It's done a great deal of damage to people. Please do not be that person. And if someone has hurt you with their judgmentalism, here's what Paul is saying. This part I like here in verse 16. Because he says, Do. Not looking at it. Verse 16. So let no one judge you. Now that's interesting, because how can you control whether somebody is judgmental towards you? What he means here is, don't let someone else define you by their assumptions or standards. You live to please the Lord. And don't you worry about what other people think. Other people. There's going to be judgmental people in the world. I pray it isn't you or me, but there will be other judgmental people in this world. Don't let them define you. God defines you and you live to please the Lord. You let what other people think or say roll off you as best as you can. Just make sure you're pleasing the Lord in all you do. And don't be judgmental yourself. I'm running out of time, but here's number two. Hyper spiritualism. We gotta talk about this one. Hyper spiritualism in verse 18 and 19. Look again. Paul says, cause I'm gonna ask you to underline some things here. So look at your Bibles, verse 18, let no one cheat you of your reward. Taking delight in false humility, underline. And worship of angels, underline. Intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up, underline. By his fleshly mind, underline. And not holding fast to the head, underline. From whom all the body nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Now I ask you to underline those things because Paul is characterizing these hyper spiritual people with these phrases. And I want to start with the last one first, where he says, not holding fast to the head. These hyper spiritual people are not holding fast, not holding on to the head. Who is the head? Jesus is the head. He's saying they're not even holding on to Jesus. What are they holding onto then? They're holding onto anything and everything that makes them look spiritual. They're not holding onto Jesus though. You know, Jesus said in John 15, I think it's verse 26, he said, the Holy Spirit will testify of me. Okay? The emphasis should not be on the Spirit. The very reason the Spirit was given is to put an emphasis on Jesus. So everything about the spirit and spiritual things, spiritual matter, spiritual gifts, fruit of the Spirit, all, all of it should be directing our attention and our praise and our affection to Jesus. And sometimes people take their eyes off Jesus. That's what Paul is saying here. They're not connected to the head and they're all about the Spirit, they're all about spiritual things and they develop this arrogance. He talks here about their vainness and their false humility. He says they just have this smugness about them spiritually. Like they have all this inside revelation and they have superior knowledge and all this stuff. And he's rebuking this kind of thing that has crept into the church. These hyper spiritual people go into great detail about visions and angels and mystical things. And it even led to such a fascination about angels that they started elevating angels above Jesus. It led to angel worship in this church. These people talk all kinds of spiritual talk. They really sound enlightened. They'll try to impress you with their secret knowledge and superior revelations. And here's what happens. You'll start to wonder, well, why don't I have that kind of a walk with the Lord? Why don't I have those kind of visions? I've never had tea with an Angel. These guys are always talking about how they have tea with angels. Like, I don't have that. I don't have these kind of these particular gifts that they have. And so what happens is you can begin to wonder, am I even saved? Cause that's why Paul says here, don't let them cheat you out of your reward. Don't you deny Jesus just because they have lost touch with Jesus. Don't let them cheat you of your reward. These hyper spiritual people. Paul says here, these guys are just blowing smoke. They're vain, they're arrogant, they're hyper spiritual. And then they brush it off with this false humility. Like, oh, I had a visit from the Lord today. Jesus showed up in my bedroom. And we had a wonderful conversation. Really? Yes. But don't. You know, happens all the time. Don't think anything about it. And you're like, doesn't happen to me. Jesus hadn't appeared in my bedroom. Like, how are you? And so Paul comes along here and he goes, look, these people are just vain. They're arrogant. They're drawing attention to themselves. They're taking it off of Jesus. They've lost connection with the head. Don't let them cheat you of your reward. And the truth is, everybody, look. Our desire to see God move in a supernatural way can sometimes lead to an unhealthy preoccupation with the supernatural. Because you're like, okay, what's the next wow factor? I want a wow factor from God. And if God doesn't, you know, do this wow factor for me, then, you know, I don't know that I'm even close to him and I don't even feel his presence. And we reduce a relationship with Jesus to signs and wonders and feelings. Look, let me be clear about all this. We should believe in the supernatural and in the gifts of the spirit and in the miraculous. It's all in the Bible. God's supernatural ways and the gifts of the spirit and the miraculous. I believe that scripture teaches and I teach this way here at Cornerstone. I believe the gifts of the spirit are still available today. I believe that God still performs signs and wonders. By his visible hand, we call that miracles, and by his invisible hand, we call that providence. But there is a difference. So I want everybody to hear that first part. Right? Okay. There's a difference, however, between charismata, which is the Greek word that means spiritual gifts, and charismaniacs, which is an English word for Christian weirdos. There just are. They're just some Christian weirdos out there. I gotta be honest. With you. Now, look, I was born in the 1900s. I've been around for a while and I have seen some mighty moves of God that can only be attributed to the almighty, miraculous or providential work of God. But I've also been around long enough to see enough clowns in the Christian circus, and those things are only attributed to either flesh or demonic principalities. I've been around long enough to see laughing in the Spirit, barking in the Spirit, gold dust, gold fillings, angel feathers. I'm not making this stuff up. These kind of quote phenomena have been around for a long time, for decades. There's always some new thing breezing into town. Let me tell you, if it's new, it isn't true, and if it's true, it isn't new. And I'm going to tell you the easiest way to discern a spiritual manifestation, whether it's of the Lord or whether it's not. There are three quick tests. Write it down if you want to. Number one, did Jesus teach it? Number two, did the early church practice it? Number three, did the epistles support it? That's a test. Did Jesus teach it? Did the early church practice it, and did the epistles support it? If you cannot answer yes to all three of those things, I don't care what kind of experience somebody has had, I reject it on the basis of it cannot be validated by the Word of God. When people say, but I've had these certain experiences, okay, but my question becomes of what is that spirit? Because every work of God must be tested by the Word of God. Did you hear me? Every work of God must be tested by the Word of God. If Jesus taught it, the early church practiced it, the Epistle supported, I'm all for it. But if it doesn't pass that test, then it's not something we should embrace. Because in fact, the Bible tells us in 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God. Because many false prophets have gone out into the world. So the question is, how can you test if something is of the Spirit without the validation of the Word of God? If it is just a matter of a personal experience, then you are your own validation. And that is not a helpful or healthy thing for all of us. Just say, well, it's valid because I experienced this. We better understand the difference between the supernatural work of God, the supernatural work of the enemy and our flesh. We better understand the difference between all of those things. And we better long for and want what God has for us. And what he clearly represents in scripture so that we can test those spiritual manifestations by the word of God. But we should reject other things that don't line up with God's word. I got to breeze through this last one. Legalism. Legalism. This is verses 20 to 23. I'll only read verse 21, where Paul talks about how, you know, you're imposing these strict standards on yourself. Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle. Legalism in the Bible was basically man's attempt to find favor with God through performance. There are still people who engage in legalism today because you think that you can kind of get God's favor by what you do to impress him. God's not impressed. God's not impressed by anything about us, okay? And so you don't need to impose a stricter standard on yourself than what God does. That's legalism. The Pharisees in the New Testament are perfect examples of those who were legalistic. Now, Pharisees were a sect of Judaism, and they were known to be strict adherence to the letter of the law. And in fact, they would do even more than that. They would add regulations upon God's law because it made them feel more spiritual. And now they're burdened by a heavy load of rules and regulations instead of a relationship with Jesus. And so Jesus would call out the Pharisees, often you guys heap heavy loads on men's shoulders, and you don't do anything to lift a finger because you're all about rules and regulations and duties and commandments. You don't understand the greater measure of the law, like mercy, justice, and faithfulness. So he would often challenge them and rebuke them, because legalism is all about being right instead of doing what is right. And so there's no grace with legalism. So, you know, simple example. Let's say you're. You're driving a car and somebody in your car is having chest pains. They're having, like, a heart attack, okay? Now the law says, you got it. You're in town, you got to drive 25 miles an hour. But you're like, okay, but this person could be dying. I'm going to go a little faster than 25 miles an hour. I got to get into the hospital. So technically, you're breaking the law, but you're doing the right thing, okay? Pharisees would never break the law, like, because that is. That is the standard. We can never break the law. You better hope if you're ever having a heart attack, you're not in a Car driven by a Pharisee. Because they're going to be going 25 miles an hour and no more. And if you were to die on the way to the hospital, the Pharisee would be like, oh, I'm really sad, but at least I was driving the speed limit, you know, That's a Pharisee, okay? And Pharisaical attitudes are so detrimental to our lives because a, we add an extra standard of that God never intended and we burden ourselves. You know, the first example of it, it's in Genesis. Remember in the garden, God had told Adam and Eve actually gave the direction to Adam. He had to pass it on to Eve. You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden, except for one in the middle, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. Satan comes slithering along and he, then he finds Eve and he says, hey, Eve, did God really say that's like a. That's a serpent. Okay, got that. Did God really say you can't eat from this, from any of the trees here? And. And Eve says, oh, oh, we're free to eat from any of the trees except the one. God told us we couldn't eat from it and we couldn't even touch it. Lest in the day we do, we die. God never said you couldn't touch it. What are you doing, Eve? She's adding, she's adding to the commandments of God. That's legalism. That's legalism. And what a heavy burden that is to live under. And what a heavy thing that is to put other people under that. So example, if you say to yourself, you know what? I think I need to get up at 5am every morning and pray good. If that's a real desire, do that. And while you're at it, you can pray for me, I'll still be in bed. Okay, but here's legalism. Legalism is everybody else ought to pray at 5am cause you oughta be doing the same thing I'm doing. And like you make yourself the standard instead of God. And here's also what legalism does, and it's crushing. If you think, okay, I'm supposed to get up at 5am every morning and pray, fine, then do it. But if you miss a day or two and you're like all down on yourself and you think, well, now God's displeased with me and I'm surprised he even still loves me, that's legalism. Like, have grace for yourself because that's how our Father in heaven treats us. And if you expect other people to pray at 5am like you're praying, don't get down on them. Like, legalism is a terrible burden that people put themselves under and they put other people under. Because you're trying to live in a way that God has not commanded or expected, but you act as if he has. So be free to live for the Lord and glorify him. Don't do anything less than what God says. Don't do anything more than what God says. Because any of that could be liberalism or legalism. Find the sweet spot. And then everybody, if you fail at times, you have a gracious Father in heaven who is loving and merciful and compassionate and forgiving, and he gives us grace. So give yourself that grace and give others that grace so you don't fall into the trap of legalism, judgmentalism, hyper spiritualism, legalism. May God rid it of our hearts if it's there, and may it not be here in this church. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word today. Thank you for the exhortation that Paul gives to the church at Colossae that we receive for ourselves. We pray God you would grow us in these areas so that if there's any judgmentalism, hyper spiritualism, any legalism, you would pry those things free from us. You would prune our lives in a way that makes us more fruitful for you. And we give you all the praise and glory in Jesus name. And everyone said amen. Amen. God bless you, everybody.