I. The Setting At Colossae

A. False Teaching

1. V. 4 – spiritual deception. What you believe determines how you will live.

2. V. 8 – being cheated. To lead away from truth.

3. Vs.-16, 21 – being wrongly judged. Legalism regarding food & special holy days.

4. V. 18 – Cheated from spiritual reward from God. False humility, angel worship.

B. Paul’s Correctional Instruction

1. Paul corrects v. 4 with vs. 6, 7

2. Paul corrects v. 8 with vs. 9 & 10

3. Paul corrects vs. 16 & 21 with vs. 17 & 23.

4. Paul corrects v. 18 with v. 23

II. The Principalities & Powers  V. 15

A. Principalities & Powers (In This Passage: Satan & His Demons)

1. Bible doesn’t argue for the existence of Satan, it simply presents him as real.

2. Principalities & Powers– describes the different levels of spiritual hosts, i.e., military rankings. Can described angels or demons. Context determines.

3. What do read of principalities & powers in Colossians?

a. Col. 1:16 Wherever they exist, visible or not, he created them for Himself

b. Col. 2:15 Some of them were disarmed, displayed, and conquered.

4. Other New Testament passages re. principalities & powers

a. Romans 8:38, 39 They can’t separate the Christian from the love of God

b. Ephesians 3:10 The Church makes God’s wisdom known to them

c. Ephesians 6:12 We wrestle against wicked principalities & powers

B. Satan’s Names (Describes His Tactics)

1. Lucifer – son of the morning. Describes his condition before he rebelled. Is. 14:12

2. Satan – adversary. 56 x’s in Bible. 1 Peter 5:8; referenced in 1 Thessalonians 2:18

3. Devil – slanderer, accuser. Slandered God to man. Genesis 3:4, 5; Rev. 12:9; 20:3

4. Serpent – deceitfulness, trickery, beguiling. Genesis 3:1-15; 2 Corinthians 11:3

5. Dragon – speaks of his great power. Revelation 13:2; 20:2

6. Beelzebub – prince of the demons, acc. to Jewish thought. Matthew 10:24

7. Belial – good for nothing. Deuteronomy 13:13; Judges 20:13; 1 Samuel 10:27

8. Tempter – temps men to sin, to fail. Matthew 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5

9. Wicked, Evil, Lawless One – 1 John 5:19; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Matthew 13:19

10. Prince of this world – Satan’s present rule/influence over world governments, modern thinking, philosophy, culture, etc. John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11

11. Prince of the power of the air – ruler of the demonic world. Ephesians 2:2, 6:12

12. God of this world/age – leader of his false religion. 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Tim. 4:1

13. Deceiver – Revelation 12:9, 20:2, 3, 10

14. Accuser – Revelation 12:10

15. Angel of Light – poses as a spiritual leader, poses as God. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

16. Murderer – Whether actual murder, or inciting men to sin unto death. John 8:44

17. Father of Lies – John 8:44, ref. Matthew 4:6 against Jesus. Twists scripture.

18. Roaring Lion – fierceness and strength, as of a hungry lion hunting. 1 Peter 5:8

19. Destroyer – Revelation 9:11

C. Satan’s Particular Tactics At Colossae

1. Adversary – he was against them

2. Accuser – perhaps suggesting that they were failures as Christians, and needed to “do more” and “needed more” to have a right life with Jesus.

a. Angel worship

b. Self imposed dietary restrictions, special holy days, needing “worldly” wisdom because Jesus wasn’t enough, they needed more to be complete.

3. Serpent – Satan sought to deceive them. Not a frontal attack, but a religious one.

4. Tempter – trying to make them diminish Jesus, exalt their own efforts.

5. God of this world – promoted his own brand of religion. Jesus was “insufficient”.

6. Deceiver, Angel of Light – This was a spiritual attack of deception/logic

7. Father of Lies – What was suggested the “the basic principles of this world”.

D. How Was Satan Able To Get “Spiritual Traction” And Influence Them?

1. Were they perfect re. 3:5-9a; 12-25; 4:1-6? No. Guilt, conviction, desire to improve.

2. We are tempted to look for “more than Jesus” when we desire spiritual change.

3. Satan tempted them, accused them when they failed, offered sinful alternatives.

4. Undoubtedly, they failed, and wanted to add philosophy or legalism to improve.

III. What Jesus Accomplished V. 15

A. Jesus Disarmed The Principalities & Powers

1. The lies of Satan boil down to one thing: Jesus isn’t enough.

2. When Christ died on the cross, Satan & his followers probably thought they won.

a. See Genesis 3:15; 1 Corinthians 2:6-8

3. Disarmed – to strip off from one’s self, as clothes or armor; despoil, disarm.

4. What did Jesus disarm Satan of?

a. Unstoppable power to deceive us. (Eph 2:2) We have Holy Spirit of truth.

b. The power to rightly cause a fear death & judgment. (Hebrews 2:14, 15)

c. The Christian is no longer under the dominion of sin, or the dominance of Satan. He has been set free from the dominance of the God of this world. Though the Christian is tempted, and can be deceived, Jesus delivered us from the dominance of the wicked one by defeating the universal

d. The greatest attack that Satan has is to temp someone to sin, which brings eternal judgment. Jesus died for our sins, and alone can deliver us from God’s righteous judgment. No legit blame against us, we are justified.

e. Jesus has forever reversed what Satan first did in the Garden of Eden.

B. Public Spectacle/Triumph (I.e., Victorious Roman General, 2 Cor. 2:14-16)

C. What Does That Mean To Us?

1. We are not to be intimidated by the accusations of Satan re. our failures

a. We remember we are saved by the sacrifice of Christ and kept by His grace.

b. We are motivated by H.S. to walk in holiness and stay faithful to the end.

2. We are to resist the temptation of Satan’s false religion, which leads us to think that Jesus isn’t enough for our souls and spiritual lives.

3. V. 16 – We are not to let people judge us re. legalism: dietary laws, special days

4. V. 18– We are not be spiritually cheated from false humility (asceticism) or angel worship, (or the saints).

5. V. 23 – We are not to be deceived to think these ungodly practices will better us.