Fools Gold – week 3

Joke:  A pastor is walking down the street one day when he notices a small boy trying to use the doorbell at a house across the street.   However, the boy is too short and the doorbell was just out of his reach.   After watching him jump up and down a few times trying to reach it the pastor decides to go and help the lad out.

The pastor reaches over and rings the doorbell

Kneeling down next to the boy, the pastor looks over and smiles and asks, “And now what little man?”  To which the boy replies, “Run.”

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Fool’s Gold – Week 3: The Treasure of Wisdom

Take a moment and think about what treasure is to you.  Maybe for you it would look like winning the lotto, having family memories, or finding that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Now how great or precious those things may be their not the treasure we have been talking about.

But, how do you view treasure in your life?

Whatever you just thought about you need to remember that Jesus Christ is meant to take priority in our lives.  He is the treasure you should be looking for.

Think about that, what does it mean for Jesus to be our treasure.

How should we live in light of that?

Here’s something to think about when you find that treasure, make sure you don’t keep it all for yourself.   Jesus is meant to be shared.

Welcome church!   We are in week three of our series, “Fool’s Gold.”

We’ve been talking about wisdom and how to find it.  I mentioned that God is the one who holds the keys to wisdom, and all we have to do to get it is ask.

And last week, we discussed the fact that we must be willing to dig deeper in order to discover it and learn what true wisdom is.

Today, we are talking about how to view wisdom as the precious treasure that 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 is our savior, redeemer, and the treasure of our wisdom.

Let’s get started today looking in the book of Colossians chapter 2. . .

Colossians 2:2–7 (NIV): My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:2–7 (TPT): 2 I am contending for you that your hearts will be wrapped in the comfort of heaven and woven together into love’s fabric. This will give you access to all the riches of God as you experience the revelation of God’s great mystery—Christ. 3 For our spiritual wealth is in him, like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered—heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge. 4 I want you to know this so that no one will come and lead you into error through their persuasive arguments and clever words. 5 Even though I’m separated from you geographically, my spirit is present there with you. And I’m overjoyed to see how disciplined and deeply committed you are because you have such a solid faith in Christ, the Anointed One. 6 In the same way you received Jesus our Lord and Messiah by faith, continue your journey of faith, progressing further into your union with him! 7 Your spiritual roots go deeply into his life as you are continually infused with strength, encouraged in every way. For you are established in the faith you have absorbed and enriched by your devotion to him!

Within this passage, there seems to be three results when we come to find our treasure.  The first one is mentioned in verse 2, when Paul says his desire is to see people wrapped in the comfort of heaven and woven together into love’s fabric.

We can find comfort and encouragement, knowing Christ is where the treasure of wisdom can be found.

The truth is, many things in our world instead of offering encouragement offer us discouragement. It’s not too hard to find it.  Just scroll through your social media account for like a minute. Watch the news for a few minutes and it seems 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.  Evil was present. But thankfully in the midst of all the chaos Christ offered and still 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, God will sometimes include others to share wisdom with us.   I mentioned last week I have people I go to sometimes and sometimes they come to me for Godly advice.

After all Scripture tells us in the counsel of multitudes there is wisdom.   But ultimately God is the giver of wisdom.

So we may go to a pastor, teacher, friend, get a prophetic word, another gift of the Spirit that someone offers up, so many others and I believe that is meant to showcase the power of being  involved in community.

God made us for community.   No man is an island we need each other.

And I might add the key to a strong knit together community is love, that’s what Paul points out.   Even Jesus Himself talks about this idea in John 13:35.

John 13:35 (TPT): For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you’re my true followers.”

The world is searching for some of the same things we are.  Just sometimes in the wrong places, from the wrong people, and in the wrong ways.

But, If we are seeking to love one another, which we should be, that’s when Jesus will be best put on display through our lives.

People around us will take notice and want to be a part. And together, we as the Body of Christ, can grow in wisdom.

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 whole different story when we seek to have confidence in something that is mysterious or unknown.

STORY: I personally would love to take one of those murder mystery tours.   You know where someone is killed (not really it’s a just a game) and you need to find out who did it.   Like a live clue game.  Detective Poirot.  Murder she wrote, diagnosis murder.  Remember those?

Many people in our world today 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 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.  Jesus told us:

John 14:9 (TPT): Jesus replied, “Philip, I’ve been with you all this time and you still don’t know who I am? How could you ask me to show you the Father, for anyone who has looked at me has seen the Father.

And the writer of Hebrews tells us. . .

Hebrews 1:3 (TPT): The Son is the dazzling radiance of God’s splendor, the exact expression of God’s true nature—his mirror image! He holds the universe together and expands it by the mighty power of his spoken word. He accomplished for us the complete cleansing of sins, and then took his seat on the highest throne at the right hand of the majestic One.

In the Old Testament, many were asking, “What is God’s plan?”

Jeremiah seemed to know when he prophesied:

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV): For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And then the prophet Micah adds,

Micah 6:8 (NIV): He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly  with your God

But when Christ came onto the scene in the New Testament, many began to recognize him as the one that 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, his ministry, and who He is.  The Rock of my salvation, the sacrificial lamb, the Lion of Judah, the Savior of the world.  My all in all.

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?

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.”

For those of you in this room that have accepted Jesus as our Lord,  are we actively following Him?

We can find encouragement and be knit together as a community when we know Christ for who He is.   And 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.

Don’t allow the enemy to bog you down with shame and regret.

Romans 8:1 (TPT): So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One.

We sang that song that said, “fear can go to hell, shame can go there too.   I know whose I am, God I belong to you.”

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, as well as all the other good things He has planned out for you.

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

Matthew 13:44–46 (NIV): 44 “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.  45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

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  can answer together. But it’s an important question. It’s a question worth reflecting on as we close today.

And before we pray, let me read aloud the words of Hebrews 4:16 which say,

Hebrews 4:16 – “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.”

Approach the throne with confidence, let’s pray.