Walk in Wisdom, Part Two

Sunday morning, September 29, 1996

Walk in Wisdom, Part Two

1 Corinthians 1:25-2:5

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 1996 by P. G. Mathew

We have many misconceptions of what wisdom is. God's wisdom is the wisdom that is from above, the wisdom that he displayed in his Son, Jesus Christ; wisdom he displayed on the cross where Christ died for us. In this study we will further examine what true biblical wisdom is, what the purpose of such wisdom is and how we might obtain it. My prayer is that as we learn this, we humble ourselves and receive wisdom from God that we may live lives that are pleasing in his sight this day and always.

Blind to God's Wisdom

Perhaps you have heard the story of William Pitt the Younger, who was a very brilliant statesman and twice prime minister of Great Britain in the late eighteenth century. He had a friend, William Wilberforce, who was a member of Parliament and a crusader against slavery. Now, Wilberforce was a Christian who delighted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he often invited his friend, Mr. Pitt, to come with him to hear gospel preaching. Mr. Pitt was a nominal Christian who did not think it necessary to go to church, but one day he finally agreed to go with Mr. Wilberforce to hear Richard Cecil, a godly minister of the gospel. So Pitt and Wilberforce attended a meeting together and both listened to the great gospel proclamation of Mr. Cecil. As Wilberforce listened, he was ravished in his soul and taken from the earth to the heavenlies. But although Pitt exercised great discipline to listen attentively to the sermon, he was completely uncomfortable throughout the service, and as they walked out afterwards, Mr. Pitt told his friend, "William, I don't have the slightest idea what that man was talking about."
This story was told by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and I have seen the same thing happen in this church. Professors and others from the university will come here, but most of them leave confused, having no idea of what we are talking about.
Why didn't Mr. Pitt understand a thing about this glorious gospel, this wisdom of God, that was declared? He was spiritually deaf and blind. A deaf person can listen to glorious music but he will not appreciate it because he is deaf. A blind person can look upon a beautiful sunset but he will not appreciate it because he cannot see it. And perhaps you are one of these brilliant people who are physically alive. You may have an SAT score of 1500, or 1600, but you may feel extremely uncomfortable when the gospel is preached. If this is so, then my counsel to you is first to acknowledge that you are dead, deaf, and blind spiritually. Then you must cry to out to God, "O God, have mercy upon me. Open my eyes and my ears that I may be ravished by the preaching of the gospel."

Worldly Wisdom = Foolishness

The truth is, all descendants of Adam are spiritually dead and utterly incapable of understanding the wisdom of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, particularly in the person of Jesus Christ and his work. Our text for today is from the first letter to the Corinthians, and the Corinthians were all taken up with human wisdom--the sophistries, the philosophies, the abilities of people to use words and persuade people--rather than with the wisdom of God. They were fascinated with the wisdom of words. And in 1 Corinthians 3:18-19 Paul writes, "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a 'fool' so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness'; and again, 'The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.'"
There were schools of philosophy in Corinth. People came using words with great eloquence, and the Corinthians began to be fascinated by it. So Paul is pointing out to to them that they were not appreciating the wisdom of God revealed in the Christian gospel that Paul preached to them.
Is not this our problem also? We sit at the feet of "learned" men and women to drink in the wisdom of the world. But these people mock Christianity. They mock the biblical doctrine of creation. They mock the God who is almighty, all-wise. They mock the God who is the Lord of the universe and the Lord of history. They teach atheism, the wisdom of this world, which is earthly, sensual, and demonic, as we read in the book of James. And by their teaching these people destroy all moral authority and, instead, provide a framework in which an individual can do his or her own thing with little or no restriction. When young people, eighteen years old or so, come to the university campuses and sit at the feet of these sophisticated people who destroy moral authority, they may become very excited. Why? They think they are now set free to do whatever they want to do.
What can happen to young people in this situation? After listening to the sophistries of such learned men and women, they begin to wonder about the Bible. They question whether God exists and whether there is a hell, a heaven, or a judgment. Like the Corinthians, they begin to desire to delve even more into the wisdom of this world. They begin to go to church infrequently, to pray infrequently, and to read the Scriptures infrequently, but they read voraciously the wisdom of the world. And at the end of four, five or sometimes even six years, they come out of the university as fools, having abandoned any idea of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul's Eyes Were Opened

The apostle Paul was in this situation. He was a very brilliant man who was steeped in the wisdom of the world. He used to mock at Christianity and the cross of Christ. As a Jew, also, he could not believe in a suffering Messiah; in fact, to him it was absolute sacrilege to believe in a Christ who died on the cross, because he thought the Messiah ought to be a strong, powerful conqueror. So Paul did whatever he could to destroy Christianity and those who had faith in Jesus Christ.
But God opened Paul's eyes, and he realized that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the Judge of all the earth, and wisdom incarnate. He began to realize that God's wisdom is manifested in Jesus Christ, especially in his death on the cross. He was able to recognize and embrace this wisdom that is diametrically opposed to the wisdom of the world.
Paul realized that the wisdom of this world in which he had been steeped is ultimately impotent. It boasts about everything but it cannot save a sinner from meaninglessness, sin, death, hell, and judgment. Wealth cannot save, science cannot save, psychology cannot save, philosophy cannot save, technology cannot save, the keeping of the law cannot save. The wisdom of the world cannot give meaning to man. If you distill all the wisdom of the world, you will discover it is absolute poison and impotent to save.
This is what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25. He knew the wisdom of the world was impotent and meaningless. We read about this also in the book of Ecclesiastes and notice the refrain, "Meaningless. . . meaningless. . . meaningless." All of life is meaningless unless we remember the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, because without God our lives are meaningless.

The True Wisdom of God

True wisdom is to be found in God and from God it comes down to those who fear him. J.I. Packer says, "Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal together with the surest means of achieving it." From the divine point of view, wisdom is seen in God's choosing the highest purpose and the best means to achieve that purpose. From man's point of view, wisdom is to choose the highest purpose for man and to choose the best means to achieve it.
Where do we see the wisdom of God? In creation? There is no doubt that creation is one of God's purposes and a vehicle to display his wisdom. If one looks at a flower, one sees the wisdom of God. Creation displays the meaning of the wisdom of God. And providence, God's continuing care of creation and the governing of creation, also displays his immense wisdom. But the highest purpose of God is demonstrated, not in creation or providence, but in redemption. All creation, all providence, and the entire history of the world, is for the singular, divine purpose of creating a people for God.
Therefore, one can look at all of history and see that everything that happens and exists is like a pod in which one finds a single pea. And what is that pea? The church of Jesus Christ. It is in the forming of the church of Jesus Christ that we find the maximum display of divine wisdom. And God's means of accomplishing his purpose are amazing to us. That is why, when we look at Jesus Christ dying on the cross, if our eyes are not opened, we would say it is absolute foolishness and there is no wisdom in it. Now, if we think that way, that should tell us that we are spiritually dead, blind, and deaf. But to those whom God has made alive, the cross is the maximum display of the wisdom of God, because only through the cross can the new creation of the church of Jesus Christ be brought about.

True Wisdom for Man

Now you must ask the question: What is the purpose of man? How must he live? In other words, what is wisdom for man? What is his purpose in living? Some people are interested in going to the university and studying. Why do they want to study so hard? They do so because they want to get a well-paying job, make a lot of money, get married, have children, travel around the world, buy some art objects, and, finally, get up each morning with a cup of coffee, look at their art objects, and feel great. That is their purpose. It is called the pursuit of happiness. If you ask people in this country what is their purpose in life, they might scratch their heads and say, "Well, I want to make money," or "I want to do well in my career." But, ultimately, everything boils down to the fact that we want to have a good time.
But what is true wisdom for you and for me? It means to have the highest purpose and the surest means of achieving it. What is the highest purpose we can aim at? To be connected with God, to have fellowship with him, to live with God. That is the highest purpose. And what is the means for achieving it? The cross of Jesus Christ. When our eyes and ears are opened, we discover that this cross of Jesus Christ is the means by which we can come and attain the highest purpose of our lives, which is to be with God.

The Display of God's Wisdom in Redemption

As I said, then, the wisdom of God is revealed in his creation, in his providence and, particularly, in his redemption. If you are theologians, you could say God's wisdom is revealed in the ordo salutis --God's plan of salvation. And this wisdom is a communicable attribute. Certain of God's attributes are not communicable, such as self-existence, self-sufficiency, eternity, and infinity. Those cannot be communicated to us; they belong to God alone. But the wisdom of God is a communicable attribute, and he communicates it to us in some measure so that we can choose the highest goal and the highest means to attain it.
What is this wisdom of God that is especially revealed in his salvation plan? In 1 Corinthians 2:7 we read, "No, we speak of God's secret wisdom. . . ." The first point is that wisdom is God's.
Second, this wisdom is secret and hidden. You see, God's plan of salvation--that God would save some sinful, rebellious people through the sacrificial death of his Son, Jesus Christ, who is called the Lamb that is slain from the foundation of the world--was in his mind from all eternity. However, it was not revealed clearly until Jesus Christ came in the fullness of time, born of a woman, born under the law.
Now, we must realize that Jesus Christ came after the flowering of Greek culture. All the philosophers--Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and others discussed and theorized what life was all about. They wanted to know ways and means of salvation, but they did not find it in their philosophies. God also allowed Judaism to fully express itself. Could one be saved by keeping the law? The truth is, no, one cannot. That idea also was proved to be foolishness.
So, in the fullness of time, when the fullest expressions of man's wisdom--the philosophies, the materialism--had proven to be utterly futile, what happened? Jesus Christ came. God had a plan in his mind from all eternity that a certain people would be saved through the death of Jesus Christ. So Paul wrote, "we speak of God's secret wisdom."
But that wisdom is no longer secret. It is revealed through the prophets, through the apostles and through anyone who preaches the gospel. And it is so simple. The gospel says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." So simple. What must I do to be saved? Read mountains of books? Memorize Aristotle? Study Socrates? Examine science? No. The simple answer is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved."
Thirdly, this wisdom of God, once secret but now revealed, is "a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." It is eternal. Before time began, this great plan of salvation, which is the wisdom of God, was in the mind of God.

Destined for Glory

What is the purpose of this wisdom? Remember, Paul said, "No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom God destined for our glory before time began" (1 Cor. 2:7). Think about that. After all the achieving, after all the eating and drinking and worshiping of art and music and traveling around the world, we are still dust. We are still nothing and steeped in misery. We will still die, and we still will be judged. But there is a plan. By the wisdom of God the dust, the dead, the miserable, the hopeless, the lost, the foolish, and the despised things of the world will be converted into glory.
There is no other way to arrive at glory. Try it. Some people are hoping in science and evolution. To them the next step is the super man, and as such, we are going to be glorious. No, no, no. There is a way to arrive at glory and that is through the wisdom displayed by God in the person and work of Jesus Christ--the wisdom that is of God, once secret, now revealed, eternal, and possessing a purpose and design. This wisdom of God lifts you up from the dunghill of nothingness, despair, misery, lostness, meaninglessness, death, hell, and slavery to sin, raises you up and brings you to have communion with God. That is how we arrive at glory.
Why do we need glory? God is glorious and so we have to be glorious to face him. But all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And now the work of Jesus Christ on the cross procures glory for us, as God planned.
We must realize that unbelievers are but dust. They are steeped in shame, foolishness, and misery. They pretend glory but there is none. Recently I read of a fundraiser attended by influential politicians and movie stars. I am sure that those who attended felt they were truly in the midst of glory. If you were invited, you also might be so fascinated and enamored with these glorious people that you would give $50,000 or $100,000 to sit in the same hall as them, hoping that some of their glory will come to you. But let me tell you, it is all steeped in shame. The most glorious people in the world are dust. They are nothing and less than nothing. God alone is glorious, and God alone is in the business of making people like us glorious. That is the wisdom of God.

How Does God Make Us Glorious?

In 1 Corinthians 1:24 we read, "But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." What does that mean, "to those whom God has called"? It means those who are called effectually through the preaching of the gospel. And what is the gospel? Christ Jesus died for our sins on the cross. What are we called out from? Sin, death, dust, hopelessness, and hell. John Allen of the Salvation Army said, "I deserved to be damned, I deserve to be in hell, but God interfered." That is the gospel! God interfered. God called. And when the preacher preached the gospel, the Spirit of God came, gave an internal call and regenerated us. Our eyes were opened, our ears were opened, and we were made spiritually sensitive. Before, we laughed and mocked at the gospel and called it foolishness, but now we say, "It is the wisdom of God. It is the only sure means for me to rise out of dust and death, misery and shame--my inglorious way of living--to glory."

Called to Holy Communion with Christ

What is the purpose of God's calling us? Look at 1 Corinthians 1:2: "To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy." If you are a Christian, if you understand anything about this wisdom, you must realize that you are called to be holy and to live a life separated from the world. Look at verse 9: ". . . God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." That is the purpose of calling--to call us out of dust, death, misery, shame, and guilt. We are called to be holy so that we can have fellowship with Jesus Christ.
A life of wisdom means communing with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." It is not getting up in the morning, going to work, coming home, eating and drinking, getting up in the morning, going to work, and so on, and all of a sudden noticing that wrinkles are developing, aches and pains, arthritis and every other kind of trouble is coming, and hopelessness is setting in when you realize all the monies in the world can do nothing. No, the wisdom of God means we are called by the gospel into fellowship with God's Son, Jesus Christ.

God Must Open Our Eyes

And when God calls us, God himself through the Holy Spirit must work in us to respond to that call, as we read in 1 Corinthians 2:10, "but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." William Pitt the Younger did not experience this spiritual work in his inner man. And many people who come to hear the gospel preaching really just want to be entertained. If they come to this church they are disappointed, because I do not entertain. I am a preacher of the gospel.
So God has revealed it, meaning his wisdom, to us by his Spirit. That is calling. And in verse 12 of chapter 2 we read, "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." That is the gospel. God gave us the Holy Spirit who opened our eyes and our ears, gave us life. As a result, we understand the wisdom of God and glory at the foot of the cross.
In 1 Corinthians 1:24 we read, "but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." If you are a student, I challenge you to ask your professors and other learned people, "What is wisdom?" In 1 Corinthians 1:30 we read, "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."
What, then, is wisdom? Righteousness, holiness or sanctification, and redemption. And who is this wisdom? Jesus Christ. This verse tells us that no person will receive wisdom of this kind unless that person is trusting in Jesus Christ alone as his or her Savior and Lord. Therefore, I must say that the vast majority of the universities in the world are teaching foolishness because they are not teaching this idea, that Christ Jesus is the wisdom from God. Oh, they may be talking about the universe, about chemistry, physics, and psychology, but they are all fools. This is the foolishness of the world. Wisdom is found only in Jesus Christ, and especially in his work which procured for us righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

The Wisdom of the Cross: Christ Died for Our Sins

The Corinthians were fascinated by sophistry and the use of words and language. But Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:17, "For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." Where is the wisdom of God is seen particularly and especially? In the cross of Christ. And look at verse 18: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. . . ." Let me tell you, these professors and scholars are perishing, along with you, if you do not believe in Christ. And we must note an interesting use of language here. Paul uses the present tense, meaning these people are continually perishing. As we are continually being saved, they are continually perishing.
Oh, look at the arrogance of these people who are perishing. They may write articles, monographs and books. You can go to universities and talk to them. If you do so, you may see their strong, powerful egos at work. In fact, there are often wars going on in academic departments to determine which of these brilliant people is the greatest. But the Bible calls such people fools.
So Paul writes, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." Do you see the difference between people? If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, you are dying daily--eternal death. We will all experience physical death, but you are also dying eternal death daily. Those who believe in the cross of Jesus Christ are being saved daily. And what does Paul mean by "the power of God"? Through the gospel preaching God's Holy Spirit raises a person up from the dead. Paul speaks of this also in Romans 1:16,"I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes."
What is the message of the cross Paul is speaking about? He put it very simply in 1 Corinthians 15:3: "Christ died for our sins." If you read Isaiah 53, you will notice that Christ died for our sins as our substitute. This is the message of the cross, and this message alone saves. Everyone is welcome to come to the foot of the cross in great humility, great repentance, and great sorrow for one's sins and trust in Jesus Christ. The gospel says, "Christ died for your sins." That is wisdom.

To Some It Is Foolishness

But notice, Paul said in verse 18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." It is foolishness! They are deaf and blind to its wisdom. Every brilliant person in the world who is not a believer will look at the message of the cross and say this: "Christianity is foolishness." And Paul illustrates this by instructing the Corinthians to look at their own church. It consisted of people who were despised, nobodies, nothings. That is still true. Rarely will you find a church with many people who are prominent, well-born, wealthy, and educated. Why? Such people generally do not like the gospel. Now, the Corinthian church had at least one influential person, Erastus, who was the city treasurer. But the gospel is rarely appreciated by the high and mighty. Rather, they despise it.
You see this again in 1 Corinthians 2:8. Paul says,"None of the rulers of this age understood it. . . ." Is Paul talking about the lower class people? No. "None of the rulers of this world," meaning the high and the mighty, the Caiaphases, the Felixes, the Festuses, the Agrippas, the Pilates, the philosophers, the wealthy, the most educated--none of these, not even one, realized that they were fools and the gospel was wisdom. No ruler understands.

The Wisdom from God

Where is this wisdom particularly displayed? First Corinthians 1:30 says, "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." And what is this wisdom. First, it is righteousness. In Romans 3:21 we read, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known. . ." Praise be to God--a righteousness from God! It is not our own righteousness, but righteousness from God that comes to us freely. And in Romans 3:25 we read, "God presented him [Jesus Christ] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had let the sins committed beforehand unpunished; he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."
If we read the Old Testament, we will find that Abraham sinned and David sinned. In fact, everybody else sinned, yet we are not told that they were punished for it. No, we understand that they were saved. So we must wonder how this can be, because if God is just, sin must be punished. For example, David committed such horrible sin. He prayed to God in repentance and his sins were forgiven, but he was not punished. This is the explanation: "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement," meaning that God punished his own Son for the sin of all the chosen people of God. That is the wisdom of God. That is the highest display of God's wisdom.
God is just. Justice and mercy kiss each other at the cross. "Christ died," Paul says, "for our sins." Do you understand that? All our sins are punished, and all the sins of God's people throughout the ages were punished in the person of Jesus Christ once and for all, so that God now can forgive our sins and give us righteousness. This is the wisdom of God. The greatest demonstration of wisdom is how God solved the greatest problem. What was the greatest problem? It was not the creation of the world. Oh, no. God created the world ex nihilo --out of nothing--by his creative word. Nor was providence the greatest problem. The greatest problem was, How can God justify a sinner? And it required the greatest demonstration of God's wisdom, which all boils down to the cross. The wisdom of God is demonstrated in the cross. Through the cross God gives his righteousness to us freely.
Not only that, God also works in us by his Holy Spirit to make us holy so that we can fellowship with God. And thirdly, he is going to redeem us, meaning the redemption of the body. As I said, this wisdom is for our glory. One day God will present to himself a church that is glorious, and that will be the greatest demonstration of God's wisdom. Think about that.

How to Have Wisdom

Become a Christian. If you understand that all of the wisdom of the world is foolishness, and that true wisdom is Jesus Christ, what is the first thing you must do? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. That is the first thing anyone must do. If you are not a Christian, I urge you to cry out to God: "O God, have mercy upon me! Open my eyes, open my ears, and give me a new disposition." And let me assure you, God will open your eyes and your ears. He will never abandon anyone who comes to him in faith. So that is the first thing you must do. If you want to gain wisdom, you must go to the source which is Jesus Christ, and have a vital connection with him.
Pray. In James 1:5 the question is raised,"If any of you lacks wisdom. . ." what should you do? Stand on your head? Go to the universities? I just told you that they do not teach wisdom. Now, the universities in this country were originally established to train preachers, but now most universities, both here and abroad, are anti-Christian, anti-God, and anti-Bible. That demonstrates the foolishness of the university system.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God." You should pray, in other words. Why do you need wisdom? You need wisdom to accomplish the highest purpose that you choose. And what is the highest purpose? To have fellowship with God. In his presence there is fullness of joy, and on his right hand pleasures forevermore. What do we know about pleasure, other than sex and alcohol and eating and drinking and driving a car? What do we know about pleasure? God has given us pleasure--fellowship with him. And to have fellowship with God, you have to have wisdom.
In Genesis 39:2 we read "the Lord was with Joseph." God was communing with Joseph, and Joseph was communing with the Lord. Then Satan spoke through the wife of Potiphar. She told Joseph to have illicit sex with her. But Joseph was wise. What did he tell her? "How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" He knew it would be foolishness. What was his highest purpose? To have fellowship with God. And if he slept with Potiphar's wife, he would be settling for gravel. And Joseph was not walking reluctantly away from this woman. No, he ran. He was accustomed to intimacy with his God who was with him, and if he gave in to this woman, he could not have that great communion with God. And he used wisdom to stand against this plan of Satan.
If you pray to the Lord, he will give you wisdom. Go to God and say, "God, I have all these problems inside of me. I need wisdom," and God will give you wisdom by his Holy Spirit.
Listen to God's word. Read Psalm 119:98. It says, "The commandments of the Lord made me wiser than my enemies." Or read Psalm 19, which tells you that the word of the Lord makes the simple wise. We need to have a serious, vital interest in the word of God, because the wisdom of God is particularly revealed in his written word.
Listen to godly parents. Why is this important? Parents are God's delegated authorities, instructed by God to rear their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They must faithfully impart God's wisdom to their children, and you see this especially in the first three chapters of Proverbs and in the book of Deuteronomy. To gain wisdom, children must listen to godly parents.
Listen to godly believers. In Colossians 3:16 we read, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom," and in Romans 15:14 we read, "I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another." As members of the church of Jesus Christ, each of us is entrusted with the task of making others wise. All Christians, not just ministers, must let God's word dwell in them richly so that they might teach each others in wisdom how to live lives that glorify God.
Listen to the ministers of the gospel. When you come into the church, listen and pay serious attention to what is spoken. What you hear preached and taught in the church is of greater significance than anything you hear anywhere else. It is more important than what you are taught at the university, unless you are a fool. Why? It alone is wisdom from God, and it is not taught anywhere else.
Practice wisdom in daily living. In James 3:13 we read, "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom," and in Colossians 1:9, 10 we read, "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. . ."
We must practice wisdom in daily life as Joseph did. In the context of his daily life he made the decision: "I cannot sleep with Potiphar's wife." We must practice wisdom in daily life as Jesus did. In the temptation he said, "I cannot do that." Wisdom must be practiced daily because in daily life there is temptation, either to please God or to do the will of Satan.
Be humble. Proverbs 11:2 says, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." Pride and wisdom do not go together, but humility and wisdom go hand in hand. We must always keep in our minds the idea that Jesus is Lord and I am just a servant, a sinner saved by grace. That is humility.
Practice peace in human relationships. James 3:17 tells us the wisdom from God is peaceable. If you cannot get along with other human beings, that indicates you have no wisdom. You need to go to the cross and stand there for awhile. Then you will shrink into nothing, and be able to go and say, "Let's get along."
Be aware of false wisdom. There is a wisdom from below that is operating in all the fools of the world. That wisdom hates Jesus Christ, hates the cross and hates heaven. It is earthly, sensual, and demonic, and we must avoid it.

Do You Want Wisdom?

In conclusion, we repeat that there is no true wisdom found in the university, in political life, or in the whole world. What the world calls wisdom is called foolishness by God, and he says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise." Wisdom from God is revealed in Jesus Christ particularly in the accomplishment of our redemption on the cross. Look at the cross and think seriously what happened. Justice and mercy met, love and righteousness kissed each other--for you! And that is wisdom. It is designed so that you can come into fellowship with God on a daily basis and have the joy of the Lord in your life. And the goal of this wisdom is to make you glorious, shining stars.
Would you like to receive this wisdom? You cannot get it by research. It comes only by the fear of the Lord. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." May God have mercy on us, that we may not be like the Corinthians who were fascinated by the sophistries and the philosophies that were about them. May we look into the Bible to see God's plan of salvation as revealed there, and may we read it, meditate upon it, and apply it in our lives, that we may have the true wisdom of God.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

"NIV" and "New International Version" are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark office by International Bible Society.

Return to Sermon Transcripts

Return to GVCC Homepage