The Treasure of Wisdom

Austin Keller

Fool's Gold • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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We have discussed how wisdom can be obtained by asking God. What an incredible truth it is to realize that Jesus Christ Himself is our treasure and the provider of our wisdom. This is our hope, and the person in whom we place our faith.

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Welcome church! We are back here for week three of our series, “Fool’s Gold.” I hope you are enjoying this series as much as I am. We’ve been talking about wisdom and how to find it. Last week, we discussed the fact that we must be willing to dig deeper to discover what true wisdom is. God is the one who holds the keys to wisdom, and all we have to do to get it is ask.

Today, we are talking about how to view our wisdom as the precious treasure it is. The Bible sheds light on where this mysterious treasure is hidden. Job made it clear that God holds our wisdom, but Paul tells us more specifically how to find wisdom in Jesus Christ.

Christ our savior, redeemer, and the treasure of our wisdom.

Main Teaching

If you’ve got a Bible with you, or a Bible app on your phone, please open them up and let me show you what I’m talking about in Colossians.

Read Colossians 2:2-7

Colossians 2:2–7 (ESV)

that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Within this passage, there seems to be three results when we come to find our treasure. And the first one is mentioned in verse 2, when Paul says his desire is to see people encouraged and knit together.

Be Encouraged and Knit Together

We can find encouragement, knowing Christ is where the treasure of wisdom can be found. The truth is, many things in our world offer us discouragement. It’s not too hard to find it on social media if you scroll for just a short time. Or maybe on the news when all you hear is bad news. The culture in which Paul was writing wasn’t so different. He was writing to a group of individuals just like us who lived in a broken world with broken people. Because of this, evil was everywhere. But thankfully Christ offers us encouragement.

But then Paul makes another statement related to Christ. He says he desires people to be encouraged and “knit together” by strong ties of love.

I believe Paul is trying to help us understand how our lives are meant to be intertwined. When it comes to finding wisdom in Jesus Christ, often God will include others in our story to share wisdom with us. This is meant to showcase the wonderful power involved in community.

Do you have a community of believers around you? Maybe this is a group of men or women you spend time with consistently and encourage and challenge you. The key to a strong knit community is love, as Paul points out here. Jesus Himself even talks about this concept in John 13:35.

Read John 13:35

John 13:35 ESV

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The world is searching for some of the same things we are. If we are seeking to love one another, that’s when Jesus Christ will be best put on display through our lives. People around us will take notice and want to play a part. And together, we as the Body of Christ, can grow in wisdom.

Have Complete Confidence

But after Paul talks about encouragement and being knit together in love, he mentions this idea of confidence. He says “I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ Himself.” It’s interesting that Paul says we should be confident in a mysterious plan. It’s easy to be confident in something clearly laid out for all to see. But it’s a different story when we seek to have confidence in something mysterious.

STORY: Takes me back to my childhood playing the mystery board game - clue. The object of the game is to determine who murdered the game's victim, where the crime took place, and which weapon was used. Each player assumes the role of one of the six suspects and attempts to deduce the correct answer by strategically moving around a game board representing the rooms of a mansion and collecting clues about the circumstances of the murder from the other players. The mystery is over once you discovered who, what, and where the crime took place. It’s a game that unfolds as you play.

The same goes for people in our world today are who are searching for wisdom as if they were in a mystery. They don’t know exactly where to turn, so they’re trying different avenues to try and find it. But here, Paul says we can have confidence because God’s mysterious plan, in some form or fashion, has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. When Jesus came to this earth, He showed us what our Heavenly Father was like. In fact, He even says this:

Read John 14:9

John 14:9 ESV

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

In the Old Testament, many were asking, “What is God’s plan?” But when Christ came onto the scene in the New Testament, many were able to recognize what was prophesied about long before. Even though we haven’t seen Jesus face to face while He was on this earth, we can have confidence knowing the word of God provides us with true, accurate accounts of His life and ministry. Since we can be encouraged, knit together in love, and confident in who Jesus Christ is and what He holds, what should our response be?

Follow after Him

At the end of our passage in Colossians, Paul says these words boldly: “Just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him.” Many of us in this room have accepted Jesus as our Lord, but are we actively following Him? We can find encouragement and be knit together as a community when we know Christ for who He is. We can be confident in who He is. And if we follow Him, we will be following the one who holds all wisdom and knowledge.

What is currently keeping you from following Him with everything you’ve got? Maybe it is a past sin that keeps reappearing in your life. You thought it was gone, but now it has your attention once again in a negative sense.

Or maybe for you, it’s a series of unhealthy friendships. These have rubbed off on you more than you intended them to, and now, you don’t know if you’ll ever get back to the closeness you once had with Christ.

Or maybe, you have never been close to Christ before. This is the first time you have heard about Him in a way that actually shows Him for who He is, and you want to know how you can know Him personally.

He’s worth whatever trade you need to make today.

Whatever sacrifice.

Whatever relationship.

Whatever it is.

Christ is worth trading it all for and the amazing part of it all is that in return you will find the riches of wisdom and knowledge, among other fantastic things.

Conclusion

In the gospels Jesus tells the parable of the hidden treasure which goes like this;

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” John 13:44

The point is, when the man found the treasure he was willing to sell everything in order to have the treasure in his possession, forever. It’s a powerful picture of the value of the kingdom and the willingness to trade everything in order to have it.

Going back to our passage in Colossians we remember God’s mysterious plan is actually Christ Jesus himself. In his 2nd letter to the Corinthians Paul says, “all the promises of God find their Yes in him (Christ). That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”

All the promises of God find their YES! In Christ.

All wisdom and knowledge find their home in Christ.

For all the earthly treasure you could amass during one lifetime it will never compare to the treasure you have in Christ.

And so this reality begs the question, “Do you have Him?”

Obviously that’s only a question that you can answer, or maybe you and God the Father can answer. But it’s an important question. It’s a question worth reflecting on as we pray together.

And before we pray, let me read aloud the words of Hebrews 4:16 which say, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”