THE
BEGINNING OF WISDOM
Have you ever heard anyone speak
about “conventional wisdom?”
Usually they refer to what the majority normally considers to be the wise
thing to do.
If you are a baseball fan, it is
conventional wisdom to replace a pitcher when he has exhausted his ability to
get batters out, especially in the later innings of a game. Although no one will ever know that
“what if” answer, according to conventional wisdom, the Red Sox may have made it
to the World Series if their manager had replaced their starting pitcher in the
8th inning before he gave up the tying runs.
Of if you are an
investor, it is conventional wisdom in investments not to act hastily in buying
and selling your stocks when there is a downturn in the market. Better to hold what you have and ride
out the storm—at least according to conventional wisdom!
But what happens when
conventional wisdom is wrong, or is based upon faulty reasoning or unsound
presuppositions?
If the world rejects
God for all practical purposes, then its standard of measurement for what is
wise depends upon its own perspective by which it compares what is wise to what
is foolish.
If you take God out of
the deliberations, then there appears to be some relative wisdom to the foolish
conclusions of those who have claimed center stage in a fallen world. Those to whom our world goes for counsel
have nothing more to offer than their own confused ideas based on faulty
foundations and presuppositions.
The deliberations in
the news this week about the controversy between the Episcopal church in the USA
with the Anglican communion worldwide demonstrates the kind of muddled thinking
that often passes for wisdom.
Consider…the authority of Scripture comes under attack for nearly a
century…cultural relevance and public opinion become the new foundations for
faith and practice…tolerance is elevated to a supreme virtue where anything
goes…sin disappears from civil conversation as an archaic concept of
judgmentalistic thinking…biblical prohibitions fall prey to either “alternative
interpretations” or “absolute dismissal.”
So what has
happened? 1. Salvation by grace through faith becomes
one among many options available for those who want to be religious…(that
appears to be a wise decision since claiming Christ is the only way is narrow, a
very unwise thing to do!); 2.
Ignoring the biblical teaching limiting the office of pastor to men (that
appears to be wise in order not to offend women, but discounts all that the
Bible teaches on the subject as the unwise biases of Paul and others, interpreted unwisely by modern day
chauvinists); 3. Rejecting the biblical teaching and
prohibitions about homosexuality as unwise left-overs from our unenlightened and
embarrassing past (making it not only unwise, but actually a “hateful” act to
denounce what God so clearly denounces as sin in His
Word).
The wisdom of the
world! Utter foolishness to
God! It appears wise only to those
who “are perishing” in unbelief and who “suppress the truth in
unrighteousness.” You can trace the
same degeneration to most of the controversial issues of our day—abortion rights
for choice, pornographic rights against censorship, sexual freedom rights
against abstinence, a dictator’s rights to exterminate his people against those
who will fight for their freedom…and on the list could go!
Who is wise among
us? God answers that question
firmly and clearly—and He minces no words in distinguishing between worldly
wisdom and godly wisdom.
THESIS:
One pretends to have no fear of God and the other cannot exist until it begins
with the fear of God.
Worldly wisdom only
appears to be wise because those who see it that way have a problem—their vision
has been impaired by the same sin that has impacted their ideas about
wisdom!
I. THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD DEPENDS ON THE
FOOLISHNESS OF OUR FALLENNESS
--What
the world thinks is wise depends upon its own impaired understanding, and
therefore its own standards of measurement.
A. FOOLS REFUSE TO FEAR THE
LORD
Prov.
1:28-29 “Then they will call on me, but I will
not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me, 29Because they hated
knowledge, And did not choose the fear of the LORD.
--People
have a choice to fear the Lord or not, to choose to live wisely according to the
purposes for which they were created or to live foolishly for things that do not
matter and can give no satisfaction.
1. God Has No Place in Their
Lives
--All
around us are those who not only refuse to fear the Lord, but they refuse to
acknowledge that He exists and has the right to rule over all that He
created.
Psa.
14:1-3 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt,
they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. 2The LORD has looked down
from heaven upon the sons of men, To see if there are any who understand, Who
seek after God. 3They
have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who
does good, not even one.
2. Fear Has No Bearing on Their
Choices
--Living
as if there were no consequences and making decisions without concern for the
results, people choose to ignore and even suppress the truth of God without any
fear of the Lord.
Rom.
1:18, 22, 25 For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the
truth in unrighteousness, …22Professing to be wise, they became
fools, …25For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever. Amen…
Rom
3:18 “There
is no fear of God before their eyes.”
--In
other words, those who refuse to fear the Lord set themselves up for untold
calamity in their lives and invite the wrath of God against them—and they could
care less because they have no fear of God in their
hearts!
B. FOOLS CONFUSE CLEVERNESS WITH
WISDOM
--There
is a major difference between a person who is clever and one who is
wise.
· One
who is clever
may simply have learned how to beat the system, manipulate to achieve a desired
result, act in a crafty or sly or guileful manner to get what he
wants.
· One
who is wise
makes no claim to his own knowledge, reasoning powers, or abilities to
understand as the source of his wisdom but attributes true wisdom as a gift from
God, coming from above.
--As
distinguished in the Scriptures, the motivation and results of the two could not
be more incompatible.
1. Cleverness and the Wisdom of the
World
1
Cor. 1:19-21 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” 20Where is the wise man?
Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish
the wisdom of the world?
21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom
did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the
message preached to save those who believe.
--When
people think they are wise and they have no fear of God in their hearts, then
they are the ones to whom Paul refers in Romans 1:31 …without understanding, untrustworthy,
unloving, unmerciful…
--They
profess to be wise, all the while…
· ignoring
experience (eg. ‘Man is essentially good’)
· refusing
to learn no matter who is teaching (pride of personal
discovery)
· rejects
the possibility of truth beyond themselves
· rebels
against living by what is true
· close
their ears to conscience
James
3:13-16 Who among you is wise and understanding?
Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter
jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie
against the truth.
15This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is
earthly, natural, demonic.
16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is
disorder and every evil thing.
2. Godly Fear and the Wisdom from
Above
--God
contrasts His wisdom with worldly wisdom in the next verse when James describes
it:
James
3:17 But the
wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of
mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without
hypocrisy.
--In
brief, the wisdom that is from above is completely consistent with the One who
gives such wisdom.
--That
kind of wisdom originates from and imitates the “Only wise
God.”
A. W. Tozer –Wisdom, among other things,
is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most
perfect means. It sees the end from
the beginning, so there can be no need to guess or conjecture. Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in
proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with
flawless precision.
All God’s acts are done in perfect wisdom, first for His own glory, and
then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time. And all His acts are as pure as they are
wise, and as good as they are wise and pure. Not only could His acts not be better
done: a better way to do them could
not be imagined. An infinitely wise
God must work in a manner not to be improved upon by finite creatures. (KOTH,
pp. 66-67)
C. FOOLS EXCUSE IGNORANCE AND DESPISE
INSTRUCTION
--By
choosing ignorance instead of instruction, many try to excuse their ungodly
living as the ‘best they can do’ and expect God to be satisfied with their
rationalization of their wasted, sinful lives.
Prov.
1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and
instruction.
--There
is no excuse for those who reject the right of God to rule over His creation and
then appeal to Him for understanding when they rob Him of His glory and reject Him in His
sovereignty.
--As
their lives disintegrate because they rebel against God’s plans and purposes,
they blame God for not caring and for not bailing them out when in fact it was
by choosing ‘worldly wisdom’ instead of ‘godly wisdom’ that got them in the mess
they are in!
--Hear
the difference in what the Lord says about those who choose to walk in the fear
of the Lord and those who despise wisdom and instruction from God (preferring
their own instead!).
Proverbs
1:22, 24-25 How long, O naive ones, will you love
simplicity? And scoffers delight
themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge?…Because I called, and you
refused; I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; and you neglected my
counsel, and did not want my reproof; I will even laugh at your calamity; I will
mock when your dread comes,
--But
to those who fear the Lord and seek wisdom…
Proverbs
2:5, 10 Then
you will discern the fear of the Lord, and discover the knowledge of
God…10For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be
pleasant to your soul.
The world is full of those who
pretend to be wise. But before you
start listening to and depending on their counsel, you better check first to see
if their wisdom begins and remains anchored in the fear of the
Lord!
Worldly wisdom often
finds quite an audience because it endorses and encourages a perspective on life
that appeals to the desire of the human heart to declare its independence from
the God who created us. Worldly
wisdom pushes aside the eternal wisdom of the God who cannot be
marginalized! That is very popular
with those who admit no other master than themselves.
But for those who are
interested, those who are willing to go after it full bore, God has promised
that He will give them true wisdom—if they fear the Lord and seek wisdom from
above!
Prov.
8:12, 17 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I
find knowledge and discretion… 17“I love those who love me; And those
who diligently seek me will find me.
It
is yours for the asking, and belongs to all who fear the
Lord.
James
1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him
ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be
given to him.
Our
prayer today is that we will not settle for anything less than lives of godly
wisdom lived in the holy and reverent fear of the Lord as we exalt the One who
is high and lifted up, the King Eternal and full of glory—our Lord Jesus Christ!
October
19, 2003
©David
Horner 2003
Sermon
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