Sermon Tone Analysis

Neal, a kind and loveable character about town, was considered by many to be quite simple minded.

Time after time people in our small village would come up to him and offer him his choice of a dime or a nickel.

Always, he would take the larger coin.

Finally, a bystander could bear this mockery no longer.

He went up to Neal and said, "Don't let these people fool you any longer.

The nickel may be larger, but the dime is worth twice as much money."

"I know that," Neal whispered to him, "but if I start taking the dimes, they'll stop offering me money!"

Knowledge is a treasure today as much as it was a treasure back in the apostle Paul’s day.

But as with many things of overall value, it is not necessarily sought out today.

Many will see the value of knowledge and wisdom, but will not do what it takes to get it.

In many ways, we struggle with this because what knowledge and wisdom does communicate, is really the opposite of what it is that many of us will desire today.

Yet we all can’t help but see the ultimate value of what knowledge and wisdom gives.

Maybe when I am older and all my youthful lusts are gone then maybe I will start digging for the treasure.

But is it really just our youthful lusts that keep knowledge and wisdom at bay while it calls out to us?

There is one thing clear that we have seen in political philosophy throughout all history.

One very common and constant thing when it comes to power and control.

The dumber the people are the easier it is to control them.

This is the kinda stuff thats gonna get your Pastor shot.

The less we know the more gullible we are.

So we fall for anything.

The less wisdom we have in our hands the more we can be lead to destruction.

One of the best ways for us to have population control and for the weaker of the human race to be deposed of so we can more to the next step of human evolution.

Ignorance and foolishness.

They will destroy themselves.

We in the church tend to believe that it is the devil and his demons who are tempting us to destruction.

But if we open our eyes, we will see that it is the evil in this world by those who seek to gain and control who are leading many to utter ruin.

The world desires to take from us, the world desires to get us out of the way, too many consumers, too many breathing the fresh air, too many making things difficult for me.

This is even happening in the church.

Many urge people and even lead people to have disdain for doctrine, to have dread for real study of theology, to really understand what is in the scriptures… why??

Because the more ignorant we are the easier it is to convince us of anything.

Comon Shane for real?

Yeah there is a popular Bible College in California that offers degrees in raising the dead.

Go to college and learn how to raise people from the dead… from professors who never raised anyone from the dead.

And people are paying good money for all this.

It does not take a lot of wisdom or knowledge as to why this is just crazy.

But we just don’t know better?

Maybe don’t want to know better… But the scriptures desire for us to know better.

Even gives us the tools to know better and the wisdom to walk though life better.

As Christians we are supposed to know better.

We are commanded to know better.

We gotta know better.

Let’s take a look at it today.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.

Wisdom and Knowledge

Do Not Be Deceived

The first thing we will look at is the clear truth that all the wisdom and knowledge that we need for life and godliness is found in Christ and Christ alone.

The second thing is that there are many in this world who want to deceive us and it is the knowledge and wisdom found in Christ that will keep us.

Thesis: Though sin, the pattern of this world, and the false teachers cause us to lose sight of the complete sufficiency of Christ, it is the truth of scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit that will cause us to grow in the knowledge and wisdom, needed for life and godliness, found in Christ and Christ alone.

I. Wisdom and Knowledge

- All that we need is found in Christ.

A. And so we see Paul and Timothy helping us to see more and more in this letter the grand sufficiency of Christ and Christ alone.

Remember again that the false teachers in Colossae were undermining the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ and Christ alone.

Simply teaching that Christ is important be he is not the most important and not all you need.

B. Now especially in that time in that area there were influences from a wide array of gnostic teachers who assert the primacy and fullness of what knowledge and wisdom can bring.

And it was not just found in Christ.

They knew the way to gain it all… they had their hands on the secret knowledge of the universe from the Abyss.

We know how to find wisdom and knowledge.

C.

But Paul and Timothy stops it all right here.

And what we have got to got to got to get and hear today.

Let’s hear from Dr. Doug Moo...

“Christ is the one in whom is to be found all that one needs in order to understand spiritual reality and to lead a life pleasing to God.”

D. There is no other treasury of knowledge and no other treasury of wisdom.

The Colossians need not, must not, cannot, look for any source of happiness or of holiness outside of Christ.

This is not possible.

An to make it even more, do we not see that neither man nor angel nor any other creature in this world and universe has anything at all to to give or offer us … and quoting Dr. Hendrickson, “which abosolutely cannot be found in incomparably superior essence and an infinite degree in Christ.”

E. The couplet is comprehensive and complete.

We understand knowledge as being simply, information and or data.

And wisdom, the ability to rightly apply that information in life.

A way to use the most effective means from the knowledge we have to achieve the highest goal.

And if that is the case then it is really simple right?

When it come to purpose in life and the only things that matter it is pretty clear what this is right?

F. Well if you are a Christian then it should be clear.

Our purpose in life is to glorify God and enjoy him.

And the only thing that matters in life is to fear God and keep His commandments.

And if that is the point and it is the reason then who would be able to tell us what that is?

Only one person can tell us what it is that will bring Him glory.

Only one person can tell us what His commandments are.

It’s God.

And if we really believe that glorifying God is our only purpose in life here on earth, then would we not agree that the scriptures give us more than enough, overflowingly enough, for life and godliness.

G.

But the problem is… we don’t really think that is our purpose and so we look for answers and directions from other places.

The Bible does not give us answers for sin and sinfulness, for self-sufficiency, for centeredness, for all the lusts of the flesh and worldly pleasures that fulfill self rather than glorify the Lord.

This is why our tendency is to look for knowledge and wisdom apart from the scriptures.

Because in the end we do not want wisdom we want rubies.

H.

And we have got to remain committed to acquiring knowledge and wisdom from Christ and from Christ alone.

He is where wisdom is hidden.

Apokryphows … wisdom is hidden.

Not to remain so, but to be uncovered.

Wisdom is something we search for.

We seek after.

We make an effort to dig up.

We gotta work for it.

I. We just started the memorizing game at dinner time.

So we always read the proverbs and after the reading we have to go around the table and have to say one that we remember and it cant be the same one as someone else.

I came up with the dumbest rule… the youngest goes first and the oldest goes last.

Man it is hard when you go last cause you can’t just memorize one… cause someone might say one that you memorized.

We gotta work for wisdom.

We gotta find wisdom.