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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Colossians, Chapter 2. Colossians 2, as we continue 
our exposition of Paul's letter to the Colossians, written during 
Paul's first Roman imprisonment, about the years A.D. 60 to 62, classified as one of 
the prison epistles, because he wrote it in prison, along 
with Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon, that collection 
of letters was written at about the same time in the same location. Colossians chapter 2, we'll just 
pick up reading in verse 1. For I want you to know what a 
great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for 
as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts 
may be encouraged being knit together in love, and attaining 
to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge 
of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in 
whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Now 
this I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the 
flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order 
and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you therefore 
have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted 
and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as you have been 
taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone 
cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to 
the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the 
world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness 
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the 
head of all principality and power. In him you were also circumcised, 
with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body 
of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried 
with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him 
through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the 
dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses 
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together 
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped 
out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was 
contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the 
way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities 
and powers. He made a public spectacle of 
them, triumphing over them in it. 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 substances 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. Chapter 1, verse 1, up to chapter 
2, verse 5, is introductory. Paul relates matters of prayer, 
Paul relates how Christ has reconciled them to himself, and then Paul 
engages in a description of his ministry on their behalf. Beginning 
in verse 24 of chapter 1, he says that his ministry was marked 
by suffering. on the part of God's people, 
or for God's people. It was a stewardship given to 
him. He describes his preaching, and 
then he tells them concerning the struggle that he had, his 
concern for them, and his desire that they walk in righteousness 
and in holiness and as i said that last time in verse six and 
seven this is the heart of the epistle this is the bottom line 
verse six as you therefore have received christ jesus the lord 
so walk in him That's the emphasis of this epistle. He's going to 
caution the people of God about some heresy or about some false 
teaching that is affecting them, but when he gets to chapter 3, 
he will unpack or unfold what it looks like to walk in Christ. And we can only walk in Christ 
if we have received Christ. We can only walk in Him if we, 
by God's grace, have believed the gospel and have savingly 
received Christ Jesus the Lord. We are to walk in Him in a specific 
manner, verse 7, rooted and built up in Him and established in 
the faith. as you have been taught, abounding 
in it with thanksgiving. We are to be those committed 
to sound doctrine. We are to be those who reminisce, 
who think often about gospel and about gospel principles. 
And we are to be those who are a thankful people, because thankfulness 
obviously highlights or recognizes the gracious character of God's 
saving dealings with us. Our expression of thanks to God 
tells God, or expresses to God, that we understand we are saved 
by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. And so we come now to verses 
8 to 10, where the apostle issues another caution. He calls them 
to beware. Remember back in verse 4, he 
says, Now this I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive 
words. The potential is there. You can 
be deceived. There are those out there, according 
to Galatians 1, who actually want to distort or pervert the 
gospel of saving grace. There are those, either for their 
own pride, or for their own money, or for their own weird, sick 
fascination with unhealthily affecting others, will try and 
deceive you. Paul recognizes that. That's 
one of the reasons why he took pen to paper in that prison cell, 
to write to the churches in the Lycus Valley, why he wrote to 
the church in Colossae. He wanted them to be on guard. And in verse 8 he says, Beware, 
lest anyone cheat you. That's the Apostle's concern. He repeats something similar 
in verse 16. Let no one judge you in food 
or in drink. He says in verse 18, Let no one 
cheat you of your reward. So, there are those who want 
to disturb, there are those who want to distort, there are those 
you must beware of, and you must hold fast to the truth of God's 
word, specifically the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul is concerned 
that the people of God are prepared and on guard, for there are those 
who want to deceive and cheat God's people." And notice the 
specific reference he says there. He says in verse 8, "...beware 
lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit." 
Anyone. It's made me think of Deuteronomy 
13. It's a prohibition against following idols. And God, through 
Moses, says, if anyone entices you, and then he describes anyone. He says, if the wife of your 
own buzzard entices you to follow idols, then you shall put them 
to death. I'm not advocating that we put 
people to death for enticing us to commit idolatry. Remember 
back in Deuteronomy 13, to engage in idolatry was an act of treason. In a theocracy, if you were to 
engage in veil worship, you would be advocating revolution. That's why it was a capital offense, 
or one of the reasons why it was a capital offense. But the 
interesting point is anyone, The false teachers and the heretics 
and the people who want to lead you astray are not going to march 
into the church with a sandwich board sign on that says, I'm 
a false teacher. Pay me because I'm going to teach 
you bad things. They're not going to look like 
Satan. They're not going to have a red 
cape. They're not going to have horns. 
They're not going to carry pitchforks. They're not going to look like 
vicious criminals and purveyors of heresy. We need to be watchful, 
not looking out for every heretic that may ever affect us. The 
idea is that we should so know the truth of God that we're able 
to spot the counterfeit. The best way that someone working 
in a financial institute can recognize bad money is because 
they're so familiar with the right money. They're so familiar 
with the real deal, so that when they look up at it, they can 
quickly determine whether it's the truth or not. The same idea 
is what is being communicated here. You are to know Christ 
in such a manner that when this godless philosophy comes, you 
can see it, identify it for what it is, and reject it out of hand. Don't have any dealings with 
this whatsoever. So it's not only heretics out 
there, but it includes any and all who would attempt to ruin 
a believer. We need to be very careful on 
the internet. Not just internet pornography 
that we have to guard against, it's internet heresy. Anybody 
can publish themselves. James Durham, a commentator from 
the 17th century on the book of Revelation, argues that a 
man who writes Christian books ought to be recognized and approved 
by the church. I think that makes a lot of sense. 
A man shouldn't be a self-appointed preacher. He shouldn't just assume 
everybody wants to hear him speak. Well, neither should a man be 
a self-appointed writer, just thinking everybody should listen 
to what he has to write. But we live in a day and age 
where just about everybody is a self-appointed writer. We need 
to be discerning. We need to be watchful. Not everything 
that claims to be a Bible study is a Bible study. It's not accurate. It may not be exegetically sound. 
It may not jive with the analogy of faith. We need to know the 
truth so that we can effectively beware, so that we can effectively 
be on guard. We need to assume the model of 
the Bereans. They were commended for being 
more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica. Why? Because 
they examined daily the scriptures to see if what Paul the Apostle 
had been speaking was true. Bring your Bible to church. Open 
the Bible. Watch and look and go through 
the text. Learn for yourself. You cannot 
just assume that everything you hear is going to be accurate. 
Sixteen ounces to the pound faithful exposition and application of 
scripture. You've got to use your head. 
You've got to use your mind. You've got to love the Lord your 
God with your mind. And one of the means by which 
you do that is by using it. And that's what Paul is saying 
here. Notice, he expresses his concern in verse 8, and then 
he highlights the specific danger, the specific danger to spiritual 
kidnapping. Notice in verse 8, beware lest 
anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit. The reference 
to cheat you here means to carry off as booty or to take captive. Remember, when the Israelites 
would go in and destroy a city, then they would take the good 
stuff and carry it off as booty. They would carry off the treasures. 
They would carry off the resources. They would carry off those things 
that were worth money. Paul says, there are those who 
are seeking to carry you off as booty. In fact, in Galatians, 
he speaks of the Judaizers as those wanting to post in your 
flesh, very specifically in the number of circumcisions that 
they themselves were responsible for. I mean, that's sick. What's 
your claim to fame? Well, I had 150 people circumcised. Well, that's just weird, man. 
Well, that's the idea here, it's being carried off as booty. It 
means to spiritually kidnap someone. John Calvin makes this comment. 
He makes use of a very appropriate term, for he alludes to plunderers, 
who, when they cannot carry off the flock by violence, drive 
away some of the cattle fraudulently. Don't miss this. For all that 
Calvin was in terms of theology, in terms of writing, in terms 
of exegesis, he was primarily a pastor. And it is in his commentaries 
that his pastor's heart comes out. He says there are some who, 
when they cannot carry off the flock by violence, they can't 
just run in and rip everything apart. He says they will drive 
away some of the cattle fraudulently. He will get in. He'll hold a 
Bible study, he'll invite you over, he'll teach you bad things, 
he'll point you to some internet sites, he'll give you some bad 
theology, he'll give you some books that are corrupt in their 
essence. He goes on to say, he intimates 
accordingly that we who are the sheep of Christ repose in safety 
when we hold the unity of the faith. while on the other hand 
he likens the false apostles to plunderers that carry us away 
from the folds. Would you then be reckoned as 
belonging to Christ's flock? Would you remain in his folds? 
Do not deviate a nail's breadth from purity of doctrine. For 
unquestionably Christ will act the part of the good shepherd 
by protecting us if we but hear his voice and reject those of 
strangers. In short, the tenth chapter of 
John is the exposition of the passage before us." I think that's 
extremely perceptive. "...if, or would you remain in 
his folds, do not deviate a nail's breadth from purity of doctrine." I know some of you little guys, 
some of you kids, are, oh, what is this doctrine? Why is it so 
important? Let's just love Jesus. You can't love Jesus without 
a good doctrine. You can't worship God without good doctrine. We 
already use our minds. We already use our soul, our 
body, our strength, our heart. Everything goes into the worship 
of God. Notice the specifics of the doctrine, 
or the heresy in view. Beware lest anyone cheat you 
through philosophy. and empty deceit, through philosophy 
and empty deceit. It's very important that we understand 
that Paul is not condemning philosophy. I know it sounds like he is, 
but he's not. He qualifies what he means by 
philosophy. It's very clear. He says, through 
philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of 
men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according 
to Christ. We'll look at that in just a moment, but suffice 
it to say, Paul does not condemn philosophy. Philosophy is a word 
that simply means the love of wisdom. Go back to chapter 2, 
verse 3. In Christ are hidden all the 
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Who should be philosophers? Christians. Because we love Christ, 
and it's in Christ that all wisdom is to be found. In fact, Christians 
alone can be philosophers, lovers of wisdom. You can't read the 
book of Proverbs and not appreciate philosophy. It is a promotion 
of wisdom. The contrast, of course, is on 
folly, or sin, or wickedness. Paul highlights what he means 
here. He says it is a philosophy and 
empty deceit according to the tradition of men. You see that? It's a philosophy rooted in humanism. It's a philosophy rooted in secularism. It's a philosophy that does not 
have, at its center point, Jesus Christ. It is the philosophy 
of man who have sought, by their wisdom, to attain God. 1 Corinthians 
1.21 says, For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom 
did not know God, the world in its so-called wisdom has attempted 
to reach God. But any attempt that is apart 
from Christ is empty deceit. Paul highlights this godless 
philosophy. It is humanistic, it is built 
on man-centered tradition, it is contrary to the reception 
of Christ by grace through faith. Jesus appeals to this, or Jesus 
highlights this in Mark 7. Why do you worship according 
to the traditions of man? You reject the commandment of 
God for the tradition of man. And then he goes on to say, according 
to the basic principles of the world. It's a bit of a difficult 
word to try and define. Commentators go, there's different 
thoughts on it. The idea is the ABCs, the elemental 
thing. And I believe the reference here, 
combined with the context, combined with what we find in verse 20, 
it probably relates to Jewish philosophy, or Jewish worship, 
or ceremonies. Those things connected with what 
Paul calls the circumcision. That's what I think was plaguing 
philosophy. unbelieving Jews with a mix of 
secular philosophy were peddling their wares to the Colossian 
church and enticing them to abandon the fullness and the safety of 
Christ for these new and different kinds of teachings. And then 
he goes on to make it very evident and very clear, not according 
to Christ. So it's not philosophy. Paul 
is not anti-love wisdom, not telling you don't love wisdom. 
In fact, he's telling you to love wisdom, that wisdom that 
is biblical, that wisdom that sees Jesus as the repository 
of all wisdom and knowledge. We are to avoid, however, that 
philosophy that is contrary to the Lord Jesus Christ. John Eady 
said, any new doctrine may be safely tested by the estimation 
in which it holds price, for all that is false and dangerous 
in speculation invariably strives to lower his rank and official 
dignity, and therefore is neither in source, spirit, substance, 
or tendency according to him. I love that. When anybody comes 
peddling a new doctrine, compare it to the gospel. Compare it 
to the truth. Compare it to the scriptures. That is your benchmark. That 
is your measuring standard. That is the guide by which you 
are to survey those claimants to philosophy. Do they jive? Do they roll with what's been 
written in the 66 books of the Bible? If so, praise God. If not, get out of here. We need 
to beware, we need to be on guard, we need to be mindful. Because, 
as Paul has very clearly said, what is in view here is damnation. This whole idea of being carried 
off as booty. If you're being carried off as 
booty, and you're not going to go to heaven, you're being carried 
off as booty to go to hell. The stakes are very high in you 
understanding your Bibles. The stakes are very high in understanding 
the religious threats that are out there. The dogmas and doctrines. And I'm not saying, just listen 
to me. No. Read the scriptures. Read good 
books. Read proven men of the faith. Read your confession of faith. 
Understand these things so that you're able to scrutinize any 
claimant to truth. And then notice, secondly, the 
apostles' remedy for the Colossians. Verses 9 and 10. Verses 9 and 
10. He says, for in him dwells all 
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him who 
is the head of all principality and power. John MacArthur says, 
Paul demonstrated that the best defense against false teaching 
is a thoroughly biblical Christology. Let me just read that again. Paul demonstrated that the best 
defense against false teaching is a thoroughly biblical Christology. Christology is simply the doctrine 
of Christ. The teaching concerning Jesus 
in his person, Jesus in his work. And that is what Paul highlights 
here. For in him dwells all the fullness 
of the Godhead bodily. Fullness comes up a lot in this 
letter to the Colossians. I suspect it's because the heretics 
were coming and peddling a fullness. They were coming and teaching 
a fullness. Yes, it's good that you have 
Christ, but if you do this, you'll get more. It's this whole Christ 
plus idea. We see that in the book of Galatians. 
It's good to believe the gospel, but you must also be circumcised. Beware of anybody who comes to 
you in the name of Jesus preaching Jesus plus. It's Jesus alone 
for safety. It's Jesus alone for righteousness. It's Jesus alone for salvation. So, Methinks that they came and 
said, come and you'll have fullness. Paul says all the fullness is 
found in Christ. You don't need to add to Him. 
You don't need to supplement. You don't need to complement. 
You don't need to engage in this, that, or the other. You just 
need to walk in Him. You need to be in Him. You need 
to be close to Him. You need to love Him and thrive 
on Him. All the fullness of the Godhead 
bodily dwells in Him. Again, Galvin says, he means 
simply that God is wholly found in him, so that he who is not 
contented with Christ alone desires something better and more excellent 
than God. Somebody says here, have Jesus 
plus, that's like saying there's something better, there's something 
more. No, you have everything in Christ. You have everything in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. The psalm is this, Calvin says, 
that God has manifested himself to us fully and perfectly in 
Christ. The deity and the supremacy of 
Jesus Christ is a primary means by which we can be on guard against 
heresy, against false teachers, against any suggestion that we 
need Jesus plus. We don't need Jesus plus. We 
need Jesus alone. And then notice, he defines for 
us in verse 10, and you are complete in him who is the head of all 
principality and power. Isn't that what Paul's doing? 
When they come to you peddling their words, you don't need it. 
When they come to you peddling circumcision or asceticism or 
legalism or mysticism, those are some of the isms that he's 
going to deal with in this chapter. When they come doing this, you 
don't need that. See, Christ, you have received 
Him, so walk in Him. That's the issue. You don't need 
a whole bunch more. You don't need a fullness. You 
have a fullness. You need to live in light of 
that fullness. That's the point. Verse 10, you 
are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and 
power. Christ possesses fullness, and 
in His redemptive work, He imparts that fullness to us. Paul is 
going to describe, or the means by which, We have participated 
in this in verses 11 and following. Through heart circumcision, through 
baptism, through resurrection, all those things are going to 
be highlighted there that just fills in what verse 10 is all 
about. You are complete in Him who is 
the head of all principality and power. As Paul does in chapter 
1, so he stresses Christ's supreme authority and rule over all things. Some speculate again that that 
the Colossian heresy involved appealing to intermediaries, 
appealing to principalities, appealing to powers. Sort of 
like today, there's this sort of an obsession, maybe not so 
much today, but several years ago, an obsession with angels. 
Everybody was into angels. You know, there's stickers of 
angels, there's pictures of angels, there's, you know, things that 
you hang in your car. Everybody was just whacked on 
angels. It could be the case that that 
was going on in Colossae, and so the emphasis of Christ being 
the head of all principality and power, the idea is, you don't 
need them, you have them. You don't need these intermediaries 
when you have the fullness in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the 
same lesson is good for us today. You don't need the Virgin Mary 
to intercede for you. You don't need the saints. You 
don't need any man or organization. Luther taught so beautifully, 
or expounded rather, the biblical doctrine of the priesthood of 
all believers. We have access to the throne 
of grace. We can come boldly to the throne 
of grace. Jesus, our forerunner, has entered 
in. He has paved the way. We don't need to stop at some 
intermediary when we can go right to the fount of all blessing 
and privilege, even the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, in conclusion, 
we learn three things and then we close. is the persistence 
of heretics. It would be nice if the heretics 
would have gone away when the first century ended, but it didn't 
happen. There are still heretics. As 
I said, they're very prolific. They like to write. They like 
to be read. They like to be heard. In fact, Paul, when he is cautioning 
the Ephesian elders on how they are to conduct themselves, he 
tells them that they were to take heed to all the flock among 
which the Holy Spirit had made them overseer. They were the 
shepherd, the church of God, which he had purchased with his 
own blood. And the answer is why. It says, four, savage wolves 
will come in among you, not sparing the flock. It's a graphic picture. Savage wolves will come in among 
you, not sparing the flock. That's what it's like. In fact, 
it's a whole lot worse. You ever seen wolves tear up 
a sheep? You probably go, wow, that's 
sick. That's tough to watch. It's tough to watch some poor 
Christian get torn up by some heretic. But Paul goes on to 
say to those Ephesian elders, and from your own ranks some 
will rise up. That's why Timothy was stationed 
in Ephesus, because he had to wage the good warfare. Because 
there were those who wanted to be teachers of the law, who were 
getting people and teaching them bad doctrine. So Paul says, no, 
Timothy, you've got to be there. You've got to face that. You've 
got to fight that. You've got to convince, rebuke, 
and exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. You've got to meet 
that opposition with the truth of Holy Scripture. That's what 
Paul did in his life and ministry. That's what he passed the baton 
on to Timothy. That's what he does with Titus in Crete. That 
is the apostolic model. So the persistence of heretics 
calls each and every one of us to beware, to be on guard, to 
understand the Scriptures, to understand the Bible. to read 
the Bible, to search, to know, to understand those truths which 
are most certainly or most surely believed among us. You can't 
navigate in this world if you are not rooted firmly in doctrine 
that is according to Christ. Secondly, the best defense against 
heresy is the supremacy of Jesus Christ. There are things that 
are sideline issues. We all have our hobby horses. 
We all like to read certain things, probably, that interest us. Some of us may like eschatology. 
Some of us might like biblical law. Some of us might like whatever 
the subject may be. We all have our interests. We 
all have our meanings. We all have our peculiarities. 
But on this one thing we cannot be peculiar about, who Jesus 
is and what he's done. And we are to make much of that 
first and foremost. The gospel must be full. Those 
other things, good, sidelined, when we have time. The primary 
issue is to study Him in who all the fullness of the Godhead 
dwells bodily. That One in whom we are complete. That One who is head of all principality 
and power. The best defense against heresy 
is the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Or in the language of John MacArthur, 
the best defense against false teaching is a thoroughly biblical 
Christology. And finally, we notice the blessing 
of being found in Him. Isn't it great to be complete 
in Him? There's a lot of things we're not complete in. There's 
a lot of things we're jacked up in. There's a lot of things 
that we don't have down, but in this one thing, we have stability. In this one area, we are good. Not good in terms of I'm good, 
but we're good in terms of positioning. Because sometimes our lives are 
like the end of a rope. They're all frayed. Isn't it? It's hard to live that 
way, especially when you're a person that doesn't like frayedness. Life is about a lot of loose 
ends, man. It can get confusing. And it can get difficult. Sometimes 
you need to come to Colossians 2.10 and just meditate on the 
reality that in Jesus, I'm complete. That's a good place to be. I 
don't need this, I don't need that, I don't have to grow in 
this, I don't have to do this, I don't have... No, I'm complete 
in Him. I'm going to go to heaven because 
of my Redeemer. In the language of Job, I know 
my Redeemer lives, and on that day, I will see Him. That's a 
blessing. Take that from this stuff. You're 
complete in Him. Paul describes it in Ephesians 
4, verse 1-3, he says, Blessed be the God and Father. who has 
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly praises 
in Christ. You need justification? He's 
giving it to you. You need sanctification? He's 
giving it to you. You need glorification? He's 
going to give it to you. You need patience? He'll give 
it to you. You need grace just for today? He will give it to you. You need perseverance? He will 
give it to you. You need long-suffering because 
you're surrounded with people that bug you? He will give it 
to you. You need kindness so that you're 
not one of the people bugging others that you surround? He'll 
give it to you. You need love and acceptance? 
Those are two biggies. We all want love and acceptance. 
According to Colossians 2.10, for those who are in Christ Jesus, 
we have love and acceptance with God most high. There's nothing 
better than that. I think we as Christians ought 
to meditate a lot on Colossians 2.10 and its implications for 
our lives. It's very easy to see where we 
fail. It's very easy to see where we fall short. It's very easy 
to compare ourselves. As a woman or a wife or a mother, 
we say, well, I'm not like, you know, sister whoever. Or as a 
man, we might say, well, I'm not like brother whoever. As 
a pastor, we might say, I'm not popular like John MacArthur. 
As a child, you might be, I'm not the brightest bulb like my 
brother or my sister. But you know this one thing? 
I'm complete in Jesus. That is good news. That is the 
best news. Because when all is said and 
done, there is really one person in the entirety of this cosmos 
that we need to be right with, and it's God. That's not advocating 
go out and be mean to everybody and have disharmony and all that 
sort of thing. But it is to say that in the grand scheme of things, 
if you are in Christ, you have everything. You are rich. You are rich beyond all measure. That is a take-home message. That is something we ought to 
meditate on frequently, that we are complete in Him, who is 
the head of all principality and power. Well, let us pray. 
Our God, we thank You for the Lord Jesus. We thank You that 
in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We thank 
You that in Christ, Lord, When we look to Him, we see you. We 
thank you that He is the mediator, that He is the one alone who 
can save us from our sins. And we thank you for all the 
spiritual blessings that we have received in Christ Jesus. And 
I pray that these things would encourage us, and I pray that 
we would be on our guard, that we would beware, that we would 
seek to be on our defense against those who would cheat us and 
those who would ponder us. We know there is a real devil 
out there roaming about, seeking whom he may devour, and we know 
that he uses heresy. We pray that you would just watch 
over us, and protect us, and keep us, Lord God. We ask through 
Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.