Don’t Miss God’s Best

Would you take God’s Word and find Colossians, the second chapter? And, I want

to talk to you tonight about God’s best—God’s best. You know, the devil would try to keep you from getting saved. And, if he can’t keep you from being saved—and, by the way, he can’t, if you want to be saved—but, if he can’t keep you from being saved, he will try to keep you from discovering God’s best.

Now, Paul did not want Christians to miss God’s best. Colossians chapter 2, and let’s begin in the first three verses—Paul says, “For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you,”—now, what he means by that is, “I am really concerned about you who live in Colossae and for them at Laodicea.” Paul just had a burden; he calls it a conflict—“…for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;”—he said, “I wish I could sit down face-to-face with you and tell you why I am so concerned.” Now, what was his desire?—“that their hearts”—the hearts of those in Colossae and Laodicea—“might be comforted, being knit together in love,”—now, here is the phrase; look at it—“…unto all riches”—just underscore that, if you don’t mind underscoring something in your Bible— “of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;”—now, here is the key; look in verse 3—“in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:1–3).

Folks, don’t let that go past you. When Paul says, “Look, I am so concerned. I wish I could sit down face-to-face and heart-to-heart with you. I don’t want you to miss it. I want you to know all—not some, but all—the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are in Christ.” What a tragedy if you miss it! God has treasures, and all of the treasures are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Christ is in you, if you are saved. But, wouldn’t it be a tragedy, if you knew Christ, and did not know what you have?

The South African diamond mines—you know, most of the diamonds come from South Africa, I am told; the richest diamond mines are there—do you know how they were discovered? They saw little boys playing marbles with shiny rocks, and these little boys were playing with diamonds—incredible wealth—but to them, just pretty rocks. I wonder if there are some of us like that who are playing marbles with diamonds. We don’t understand what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, every, every passage of Scripture has a key that unlocks it. And, the key that unlocks this passage of Scripture is verse 6—look at it: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Colossians 2:6). Now, the way to know these treasures of wisdom and knowledge is to walk in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you expect Paul to say something very complicated, but the Bible says, “[God] preserveth the simple” (Psalm 116:6). And, you know, it doesn’t have to be complicated to be deep. Every now and then, we hear a preacher preach, and somebody will say, “Well, you know, he really must be intelligent—I didn’t understand him.” Just because a river is muddy, it doesn’t mean it is deep. And, Paul is talking here in very simple terms. He is talking about something that we all can understand. You see, the faith, really, is not so high that you get up to it. As a matter of fact, sometimes it is so simple that some of us never get down to it.

“As you have received the Lord Jesus, so walk ye in Him” (Colossians 2:6). A wise person said that the Scriptures are shallow enough that a little child can come and get a drink without fear of drowning, and yet deep enough that the scholars can swim it and never touch bottom. I love that. That is true about this passage of Scripture. “As you received the Lord Jesus, so walk ye in Him” (Colossians 2:6).

Now, who doesn’t want you to learn this? Well, the devil doesn’t want you to learn it. Go back up to chapter 2 and verse 4—Paul says, “And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words” (Colossians 2:4). Then, look in chapter 2, verse 8— again, he says, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). Satan is a smooth talker. Satan does not want you to understand what I am going to try to teach you tonight. As a matter of fact, if you are not careful tonight, the devil will draw away your mind, entice you, and keep you from concentrating and listening. If you are a teen, you might be passing notes, talking about where you are going after the service, or anything to keep your mind from the truth of God’s Word. Now, Satan is a smooth talker. He does not want you to discover your treasure.