Glorifying God Through Wisdom.

Introduction:

As we enter the summer season, we are going to stay with wisdom literature and spend our time gathering wisdom from the book of Proverbs. So my message this morning is introducing us to this book by focusing on what wisdom is and how it glorifies our Father in heaven.

Since the fall of man in the garden of Eden, there has been this battle of the mind between wisdom and foolishness. In regards to folly, Adam abandoned his duties in the garden by disobeying God’s one command leaving all humanity under the curse. Shimei, of the family of Saul threw stones and cursed David and his mighty men continually all day. Saying repeatedly “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man!” David spared his life that day, but the first duties he gave Solomon in taking over the throne was to exact justice on Shimei. Judas in being greedy for 30 pieces of silver betrayed the Son of God. His guilt after led him to hanging himself.

Examples of wisdom is Solomon humbly coming before God in calling out to God for help in governing his people rightly which God answered in making him the wisest man ever. Peter in denying Jesus 3 times to save his skin repented and built up his brothers and sisters in their faith. Saul persecuted the church and blasphemed the name of Jesus, but by the hand of God, he was converted unto Christ Jesus and immediately went out and proclaimed that Jesus was in fact the Son of God. Obviously the most significant wisdom is none other than Jesus whom Paul wrote in is our wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

Throughout history, wisdom is sought after like precious jewels. Whether from the greeks who always hungered for more or the gnostics in teaching that there is some secret knowledge for a few special people.

We throw “wisdom” around often. Such as “Be wise young man.” “Think wisely about your next step.” We hear in church about “wisdom literature”. What is wisdom? The only kind of wisdom that matters is God’s wisdom which is based upon truth. Let us dig into that.

So what is the wisdom of God? Let us dig into that.

Point #1 - What is wisdom?

In your mind, how would you define wisdom? Is wisdom the making of right decisions on the farm to pick the right time to seed and the right contract to sell? Is wisdom using past relationship failures to make better decisions in the future? Is it not wisdom in knowing that you shouldn’t slap a horse on the rear end when you are directly behind it? Or is wisdom knowing a bunch of facts about history or mathematics, or have understanding of the mind in psychology?

For example, many would think that to be wise is to be able to make the right decisions for the farm. Right seed chosen, right time to seed, right contract to sell, etc. Many would say that experience has helped us to become wise in making those kind of decisions for the farm. Maybe we would say that our parents have passed this wisdom down to us.

Is it wisdom not to slap a horse on the rear end when you are directly behind it? Or we may think that wisdom is knowing a bunch of facts about history or mathematics, or have understanding of the mind in psychology, chemistry or whatever.

While all of these things listed serve as elements of human wisdom, this is not the wisdom of God. So what may be helpful to understanding this is to first look at what the wisdom of God is not. It is not based upon how much Scripture is memorized. It is not inherited from our parents. Nor is it common sense, information, statistics or analytical ability. It is not based upon age, gender or family heritage.

So what is wisdom then? Scripture tells us that wisdom is a gift of God. If you read you find that in a dream, God says to Solomon "ask what I shall give you.” Solomon prays for wisdom in governing the people of God and discerning good from evil. Solomon did not ask for long life or riches or revenge on enemies. Therefore, the Lord gave him a wise and discerning mind like none other before or after. Plus he granted to him what he did not ask for such as riches and honour. As well as long life if he continued in being obedient to the Lord’s commandments like his father David.

In the NT, from the book of James which is also wisdom literature, he writes in (1:5)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

By God’s word, we can state that the wisdom of God comes as a gift to his people. This should give us a clue as to the function of wisdom as we will soon see.

Someone might think that is not fair, but let us dig a little deeper into the wisdom of God and see whether just anyone would want this wisdom.

Wisdom and knowledge are related but not synonymous in the bible. The definition of wisdom in the dictionary is “the ability to discern or judge what is right, true or lasting.” Think back to Solomon’s request.

The definition of knowledge in the dictionary is “information gained through experience, reasoning or education.”

Knowledge can exist without wisdom, but wisdom cannot exist without knowledge. So for example, knowledge is understanding that the light has turned red at the intersection, wisdom is applying the brake. Illustrate with chainsaw.

From a biblical perspective, knowledge is gathered through faithful years of studying the bible rightly, learning from teachers and preachers of the word and remembering past experiences or failures. Wisdom is the proper applying of that knowledge to live in a way that is pleasing to our Father in heaven.

In knowing that the wisdom of God is how to apply ourselves in living a holy life, would just anyone ask for this wisdom? Not at all. But the thought that should be running through our mind is that everyone should want to desire this. For who would want to live in the hands of an angry God? Not I, nor should anyone who has been saved by God through Jesus. This is why we proclaim the gospel of salvation through Jesus so that through repentance or renouncing of sinful behaviour and believing in Jesus alone we are forgiven of our sins. “In Christ...” as Paul writes in “…are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Only in Jesus, having now been reconciled to God, can we be wise.

So what is wisdom? It is the skill to choose the right course of action for the desired result. Or if you want to write this down we can say as one commentator states “Wisdom is the skill in the art of godly living.”

To be skilled takes time, proper teaching and learning from past mistakes. For example, to acquire the skill in hunting requires many hours of target practice. Calming your breathing, being steady and knowing where to hit the target. You ever hear the proverb “practice makes perfect?” well it is error filled. It is rather “perfect practice makes perfect.” Why? Because if you are taught wrong, bad practice no matter how long you try will still not lead to desired results. But good teaching in the skill of shooting along with practice will make you a better marksman.

Since wisdom is an acquired skill, it is to be pursued with fervency. It requires daily effort to study rightly, learning from others in the faith, accept correction with humility and sincere desire to know God and his will. But for what reason? Why should a Christian want to be wise? What is the purpose of being wise?

Point #2 - How does wisdom glorify our God?

When a sinner understands his/her dilemma that they rightly deserve eternal punishment in hell for rebellion to God’s holy law, he/she is under conviction of the Spirit to repent of their sins. Even though each one’s testimony is different, they are cut to the heart and cry out for mercy. Through the foolishness of the gospel according to man’s wisdom, the sinner hears the good news that Jesus has paid the debt we could not pay. This is sweet music to the ears of the one who is condemned. Accepting the gift of salvation through Jesus frees the sinner from his bondage to sin. He/she now has new life in Christ and now serves the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

To put it another way, we were all dead in the ocean of sinful desires of lust, greed, covetousness and hatred, Jesus jumped into the waters and sacrificed his life so that you could now live. What a Saviour! What kind of king have you ever heard leaving his throne to die in the place of a robber? Never! But the King of all kings left his throne in heaven to die for his enemies. They could not and would not serve this King on their own free will because they were dead in sinfulness.

But God (), being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

The life of the redeemed sinner is now living not for themselves but for the One who saved them. The reason a child of God wants to be wise is because they have been forgiven. The motivation for wisdom is because the Christian loves God and wants to live a life that is pleasing to the Father because of his love, mercy and kindness when all hope seemed to be lost.

While dead in the ocean of sinful desires of lust, greed, covetousness and hatred, Jesus jumped into the waters and sacrificed his life so that you could now live. What a Saviour! What kind of king have you ever heard leaving his throne to die in the place of a robber? Never! But the King of all kings left his throne in heaven to die for his enemies. They could not and would not serve this King on their own free will because they were dead in sinfulness.

But God (), being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

The freedom that we now have in Christ, both in this life and the one to come is the reason that we now have new affections. What we once loved in sin, we now hate. What we once hated in the things of God, we now love.

The life of the redeemed sinner is now living not for themselves but for the One who saved them. The reason a child of God wants to be wise is because they have been forgiven. The motivation for wisdom is because the Christian loves God and wants to live a life that is pleasing to the Father because of his love, mercy and kindness when all hope seemed to be lost.

To be wise is to become skillful in the art of godly living. Our motivation is for love of God because he first loved us. To be wise is to judge correctly between good and evil. To discern how to apply God’s word in living righteously to the glory of God.

So what are some examples of what godly wisdom looks like.

Knowledge of God’s will is to have pure eyes and not to lust. When temptation to watch something on the phone or computer that we should not arises, wisdom is being able to call out to God for help and turn the computer off and go for a walk. Wisdom is not lingering but rather acting in a way to glorify God.

Knowledge of God’s will is to forgive others as God has forgiven you. When a neighbour’s cows get in your field for the tenth time or when a brother or sister teases you and they ask you to forgive them, wisdom is remembering what Jesus did for you on the cross and therefore you forgive your neighbour or sibling.

Knowledge of God’s will is to love one another and not hate. Due to a environment that has despised natives for whatever reason there is the sin of racism, wisdom is to not let this attitude invade your heart remembering that all humans are created in the image of God.

Knowledge of God’s will is not to steal. Taking that chocolate bar that no one would notice is foolish. But wisdom is the repenting, humbling oneself and going to the store owner to apologize and make things right. We all fall short of God’s glory but praise be to our merciful and kind God that through these rebellious experiences, we learn to become wise and therefore glorify God our Father.

To summarize what we have covered thus far, wisdom is given to us as a gift of God so that we would live our lives as a living testimony of the goodness of God. We want to be wise because we love Jesus for what he did on the cross for us. Because of the good news that we have been blessed by, we want to be careful to live holy lives.

To summarize this point, wisdom is given to us as a gift of God so that we would live our lives as a living testimony of the goodness of God. We want to be wise because we love Jesus for what he did on the cross for us. Because of the good news that we have been blessed by, we want to be careful to live holy lives.

So with this understanding, how can the book of Proverbs help us?

Point #3 - Proverbs helps us to be wise.

As I had stated in the introduction, Solomon was the most wise man ever. His wisdom proverbs make up most of the book with a few other authors at the end. I think it wise to hear and heed what a wise person says. Therefore, in this book we can learn about how to be wise in dealing with diligence & laziness, friendships, speech, marriage, child rearing, family peace, work, getting along with others, good manners, eternity and much more.

The author has set up in the proverbs idealized portraits of the extreme. It is designed so that the reader can see the obvious good and bad fruit as consequences for good and bad choices. They are written in such a way so that they are easily identifiable.

There are three main characters that make up these traits.

There is the teaching for the wise. How to embrace the covenant life with God. Learning the skill of living out this covenant life with carefulness and judging rightly.

There is also the teaching about the fool. He despises the covenant life with God. He is often characterized as being lazy and wicked. Sadly, even God’s people can act like fools at times.

Then you have the simple minded. These are those who are indifferent to teaching, they are easily misled. They lack commitment and do not apply the discipline needed in order to grow and gain wisdom.

On occasion, you will also have the scoffer whom the author considers worse than a fool. These characters are wise in their own eyes.

What appears to be the cardinal sin (serious error in judgement) in Proverbs is “unteachability”. Refusing to heed instruction and correction, filled with pride to think that one knows the answers and can short cut the teaching to arrive another way. This is to be wise in our own eyes. May we be careful to not fall into this trap of scoffing at truth.

Sadly, within evangelical circles there is a spiritual starvation. Many Christians have so weaned themselves off of spiritual steak and potatoes in exchange for junk food like wieners and chips. What do I mean by that? The hunger for God’s word is replaced by a small devotion in the morning or not at all. When Sunday comes many want a short motivational speech about how good they are rather than seeing how great God is. This has led to biblical illiteracy that statistics reveal a desperate need of good solid wholesome spiritual food. For example, according to Ligonier Ministries bi-annual survey on theology within Christian circles:

52% believe we all sin a little but we are good by nature.

51% believe that God accepts the worship of all religions including Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Shockingly, 78% of professing Christians believe that Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.

Brothers and sisters, when the high view of Scripture is not held by churches or denominations, liberal thinking and false teachers run amok in tearing down truth for the sake of pleasing man.

Scripture is the foundational knowledge for godly living, and wisdom is the applying of that knowledge to daily life.

How can we be wise in parenting if we don’t raise our children in the ways of the Lord?

How can we be wise in our marriages if we do not understand the love of God in Christ Jesus to forgive, disciple and cherish one another as Christ loves the church?

How can we be wise in church leadership if we do not understand the qualities that the Lord has given in order to shepherd well?

In seeing just a few examples of the utter need for wisdom, where do we start? Well come back next week as we tackle and this will be the footing of wisdom.

What I love about you folks is your desire to be wise. I have learned so much from your wisdom in how to be a better brother, husband, pastor and friend. Let us spur one another on to become wiser each day in order to serve our King for his glory. Young people and children, by your faith in Jesus you now have God’s Spirit living in you to be wise. This isn’t just for the older folks. Learn from God and your parents and grow in wisdom for the glory of your Saviour.

Good wisdom is built on good knowledge. Therefore we as a body want to come together and learn more about our God which is knowledge. In the spirit of truth, humility and grace, let us press on to live godly lives in all circumstances for this pleases God. This is wisdom.

Conclusion:

Wisdom is defined as the skill in the art of godly living. It takes time and many mistakes get made along the journey. Let us be reminded of the motivation for being wise. It is for the glory of God, living out our lives as living sacrifices. Wisdom helps us to practically live a happy and useful life. It can only be given by God as his child and through wisdom it governs our lives in being able to discern what is good, right and healthy for believers. To be wise is joy filled living in Jesus who is our wisdom. I believe this to be true. Will you seek the Lord with me and pursue the life that God has called us to live? Amen.

Benediction:

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.