A. Introduction V. 18 "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,"

1. Verse 19 is a continuation of verse 18, in fact verses 18 and 19 is the same sentence.

2. Paul said "Let no man beguile you of your reward" that is to cause us to loose our rewards stored up in heaven for us.

3. "vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind," Falsely building up a worship of something that is not truth.

4. Paul has plainly said Christ is our Saviour and salvation is only through Him and our connection to God the Father is through Him, there are no substitutes.

B. V. 19 "And not holding the Head," Paul revisits the Preeminence of Christ again.

1. Paul had just spoken about attempting to substitute Angels for Christ and that it can cause you to loose your rewards.

2. Beloved there is no other way to God outside of Christ and to attempt to find one is to fall away from truth and to belittle Christ. There are no substitutions in salvation, in prayer, in worship or etc.

3. Paul says here "And not holding the Head," Notice "Head" is capitalized meaning the word is speaking of Christ, the head of all things, the church, and yes even angels, He is preeminent in and to all and in all things.

3. I like what J. Vernon McGee said about this phrase, "And not holding the Head" means that such people have a loose relationship with Christ. In other words, their head is not screwed on as it should be, by the way."

4. This amounts to Christians refusing to hold to true doctrine, Ephesians 1:22 "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,"

C. Paul now explains what Head he is speaking of, V. 19b "from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God."

1. The body is the church which is Christ Head. The head supplies to the body "nourishment" all it needs and if the body seeks to gain nourishment from other sources it will not survive.

2. These Colossian believers were under nourished because of these false teachers just as many are today.

3. False teaching (that not coming from the head) will stunt the spiritual body’s growth.

4. The false teachers were anxious to win converts to their cause, however true growth comes by nourishment and not by addition.

5. As the human body is held together by joints and bands so is the spiritual body with joints and bands being joined in unity and knit together in love.

6. The joints and bands are what hold the body together and in alignment. Without it the body will be deformed.

7. The body knit together in love, sound doctrine, being nourished by the Head.

8. Ephesians 4:15-16 "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: (16.) From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."