Christ: No Wisdom Higher. Scripture: Colossians 2:1-10 Sunday, February 16, 2014.

- The mind is an amazing thing. With our minds, God has given us the abilities to think, react, reason, consider, meditate, learn, imagine, understand, philosophize, know, perceive, evaluate, theorize, reflect, predict, and communicate, etc.

- However, when we are smitten head over heels with the power of our minds we develop pride.

- It feels good to feel smart, but it feels even better to have special knowledge.

- We like to feel like experts or be sought out because of our knowledge.

- In our passage for today, Paul warned the Colossian Christians not to be deceived by well-crafted arguments and he encouraged them to stick with Christ growing in thankfulness and in the knowledge of Christ.

- Paul warned them because they could be taken captive by empty philosophies, high sounding nonsense, and worldly, human traditions instead of Christ.

- I want to encourage you this morning to persevere in cultivating and retaining a biblical Christian worldview.

- Cling to Christ and you won't be captivated by counterfeits.

- Paul told his readers that he agonized in prayer over those he had never personally met.

- He struggled because he knew that false teaching threatened to keep believers from growing in their faith.

- The spread of false ideas is always a threat to the maturity of both the church and individual Christians.

- Paul knew the only ways to combat false teaching were in the arenas of prayer and correct teaching.

- Paul counted on believers standing together to encourage one another in love to resist false teaching and remain true to our Lord Jesus Christ.

- As he wrote, "I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is, Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (2:2-3)

- Paul's desire was that believers whom he had never personally met would know that he cared about their growth and maturity and prayed for them diligently.

- The inner strength provided by encouragement and the outer strength provided by unity greatly help the church in resisting false teaching.

- The Lord Jesus himself is the mystery of the ages.

- No greater treasure of wisdom and knowledge exists outside of Jesus Christ.

- This treasure is accessible to everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and believe in their heart that God has raised him from the dead.

- The Lord Jesus alone is the only treasure. He is the secret message of the ages, which God has revealed in these final days.

- All that have faith in Jesus Christ have the assurance of sharing in his glory.

- This is the treasure which is stored up and hidden away for all who believe. We will share Christ's glory.

- Everything anyone wants to know about God and his purposes in the world find their answer in the Lord Jesus Christ because in him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

- How many treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ? All! All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ.

- We don't need to go looking anywhere else.

- We only need to look to Christ.

- Cling to Christ and you won't be captivated by counterfeits.

- The risen Christ is everything our minds need to be satisfied.

- But we are often subject to pride and at times easily deceived.

- As Paul wrote to the Christians of Colossae, "I'm telling you this so that no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments." (2:4)

- The only way to not be led astray by false reasoning, fast talk, or a smooth line is for the mind of the Christian to remain focused on Christ.

- False teachers are good at persuasion and making their teachings sound believable.

- But Christians who are maturing in their faith, however, will not be conned by those who offer wisdom and knowledge not found in Jesus Christ.

- We need to guard our way from becoming either too narrow or too broad.

- When our way is too narrow we become thick-headed and unteachable, isolated and unloving.

- When our way is too broad we receive every idea as new and exciting, spending tremendous energy and taking risky roundabout routes.

- We guard our way by focusing on Christ and on his word, daily.

- Cling to Christ and you won't be captivated by counterfeits.

- The passage continues: "For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you, and I rejoice that you are living as you should, and that your faith in Christ is strong." (2:5)

- Paul's love and unity with the churches of Colossae and Laodicea was so strong that he felt spiritually present with them because of their unity in the Holy Spirit.

- Not only that, but he felt like he could see their disciplined, right living and the strength of their faith, so, Paul rejoiced.

- Right living and strong faith become a united front against false teaching in the church, making God's people unshakable while facing the attacks of the enemy.

- "And now," Paul continues, "just as you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots go down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." (2:6, 7).

- The Christian folks at Colossae received the Lord Jesus as the anointed one of God, the Messiah; as the historic Savior, Jesus; and as sovereign, the Lord.

- Paul encouraged them to live in the same way that they had received our Lord Jesus Christ.

- They had not merely received teaching about Christ, but had received Christ himself.

- According to Paul, the job of every Christian is to safeguard the teaching of Christ and their relationship with him.

- In verse seven Paul described three ways his readers needed to continue to mature, and which are also true for us today.

- First, the Colossians needed to continue being rooted in Christ.

- Just like plants draw nourishment from the soil, so to believers need to draw life-giving nourishment from Christ.

- The more the Christian draws nourishment from Christ, the stronger he or she will be and the less likely to be fooled by high sounding, well-crafted arguments.

- Second, the Colossians needed to continue to be built up.

- Like a building that is built on a solid foundation, good builders use solid materials to continue building.

- The Christian must grow continuously adding materials that are appropriate to the foundation, which is Jesus Christ.

- Third, the Colossians needed to continue being strengthened in the faith.

- This can also be translated established in the faith.

- Establish is a legal term frequently used in a binding contract, indicating that Paul wanted the Colossian Christians to continue to take a firm stand against any form of false teaching.

- Having been routed, being built up and established in the truth of the good news of Jesus, we can allow our lives to overflow with thanksgiving to God, which also ought to describe our daily lives.

- Let's continue in our passage. "Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world rather than from Christ." (2:8)

- The effect of heresy (i.e., false teaching) on those who believe-it is that they are kidnapped, taken captive, captured and taken away in their minds.

- When Christians let their guard down, they allow themselves to be captured by false teaching.

- In other words, we choose to allow ourselves to be kidnapped by false teaching by not remaining on guard against heresy by not focusing on Christ.

- Paul dismissed all false teaching as empty philosophy or high sounding nonsense which comes from human thinking or traditions and the spiritual powers of this world rather than from Christ.

- Worldly human traditions and man-made religion cannot lead to the truth.

- Paul condemned false philosophy and high sounding nonsense because it leads people away from Christ.

- Today, false philosophies and appealing nonsense is available everywhere.

- Many people continue to exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1: 25).

- Evolutionary philosophy with its billions of years is one such empty philosophy that is filled with high sounding nonsense designed to appeal to the vainglory, the excessive pride, of human intellectual achievement.

- Evolution rejects the word of God and exchanges the truth of God for a lie, dependent on human thinking and the spiritual powers of this world rather than upon Christ.

- Evolution comes from purely human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world in order to lead people away from Christ.

- Such high sounding nonsense is created by the spirit of antichrist in the world.

- It is senseless to reject Christ when all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in him.

- Cling to Christ and you won't be captivated by counterfeits.

- Jesus said, "I am the way, even the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

- True philosophy will focus on Jesus Christ, elevating him above all things. And true science will bring glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

- As Paul wrote, "For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in human body." (2:9).

- Christ is the center of God's saving activity in the world.

- In him lives all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

- The character, nature and person of God continue to dwell permanently in a human body in Christ Jesus.

- When we have Christ, we have everything we need to be saved and to live right.

- Nothing can take the place of Jesus Christ in your life, absolutely nothing.

- "So," wrote Paul, "you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority." (2:10)

- Like the Colossians, we lack nothing outside of Christ.

- The Lord Jesus is our all in all; we have no need to seek God in any other philosophy.

- Christ is our everything!

- To be complete in Christ means that we lack nothing.

- God's love and power have been poured into our life and we are ready for anything and have no need to look anywhere else.

- Jesus Christ is the unique source of knowledge and power for Christian living.

- Life's purpose and meaning are found in Christ alone.

- People all around us have lives devoid of meaning bereft of life.

- Jesus Christ is fully God and fully alive.

- He alone can fill the vacuum and bring new life.

- Cling to Christ and you won't be captivated by counterfeits.