Wisdom

Well, as I alluded to in the announcements, my topic for today is wisdom. I guess I chose that topic because I've never felt like I've had a lot of it growing up. And only in recent years did I realize, I guess I'm not a kid anymore. Maybe I haven't learned a thing or two, that there's something I can share. But mostly what I've learned is, anything I need to share about wisdom, I'm going to stick to the Bible. I'm going to stick to the book. My wisdom is always the best. Sometimes it works out okay. But the topic is wisdom. And I like to ask questions. You may know that by now. And so, I want to ask you, do you consider yourself to be wise? That may be a different question for you. Do you consider yourself to be wise? I mean truly wise. How do you know? How do you know if you're truly wise? Now, I'm not talking about being old or young. Being older does not always mean wiser. Though we might wish it did. And I'm also not talking about making straight A's in all your classes or having a high IQ or high SAT scores. And sometimes we refer to wisdom when we say that certain people have or more often don't have common sense or horse sense. Or if you come from the city where you don't see horses, you might talk about having street smarts. That's another type of wisdom. And I assume all of us know a little bit about the wisdom gained through that school called the School of Hard Knocks. The School of Hard Knocks, where harsh experience teaches us to make better decisions, better choices. Now, all of these are kinds of wisdom and ways to be wise. But again, my question is, how do we know when we're truly wise? How wise are you in the wisdom of God? How wise am I in the wisdom of God? The purpose of my message today is to motivate each one of us to ask ourselves that very important question and ponder on it. How wise am I? Ask ourselves that. How wise am I?

And addressing that question, we'll examine the Bible to discover how God defines wisdom and what we should do about it. And among the things we'll discover is that wisdom ultimately leads to eternal life. I don't know if you've thought of that, but ultimately, true wisdom leads us to eternal life. But for each of us to address the question, how wise am I, I thought it best that we first understand what wisdom is. Get back to the basics. What does that really mean? It's not always a good place, I've been told through the years, to start with the dictionary meaning, and I usually don't do that, but it seemed to be a better place to start this time around. So the Merriam-Whipster dictionary defines wisdom as the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. You don't have to write that down, you can Google it yourself someday or pull out your old hardcover dictionary. So what that tells us is that wisdom is about making sensible choices or taking right actions. Wisdom is about making sensible choices or taking right actions. And to make those sound decisions and actions, we need those three things. We need experience. We have to have some experience. Sometimes we accuse young people of not being very wise. Well, of course they're not wise. They haven't been around very long. As we get white hair, typically we've had more life experiences. We've had more opportunities to learn. Experience simply is a process of doing and seeing things and of having things happen to you. It's both what we see and do and what happens to us. It's a pretty basic description of experience. And the more experiences we have and the greater their variety, well, the more knowledge we gain. And knowledge, the second component of wisdom, is information, understanding, or even a skill. A skill that you get sometimes from a formal education or, again, from experience. That's where knowledge comes from, formally or informally. So everything we do or learn, whether it's at school, sitting in the classroom, or out on the farm, like some of us grew up, or through that school of hard knocks, whether formally or informally, those create knowledge. We add to our store of knowledge through the years. Good judgment, then, is the third component of wisdom. That's a little harder to define, I've found, even in trying to see what other people, other writers had to say about that. It's kind of hard to nail down. But good judgment, I think, we could say is essentially the ability to use experience and knowledge together to make good decisions. Taking experience and knowledge to make good decisions. Not bad decisions, but good decisions.

Wisdom is achieved, then, when a person puts all three components together, makes a decision, or takes an action that is reasonable, practical, and realistic for the situation they face.

So, again, that dictionary definition, wisdom is the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. But as I considered that definition, it does sound pretty good as far as it goes. But it struck me that that dictionary definition leaves open the possibility of wisdom being a matter for one's own culture, for one's own society, or where you come from, even your own family to decide, even you as an individual to decide what is wise. For example, in some nations, and even in this country, the combination of human experience, knowledge, and good judgment, humanly speaking, has led to this wisdom that euthanasia is a reasonable, practical, and realistic decision and action that should be taken. That's called wisdom in some places. Many nations also fiercely defend the wisdom of allowing women the right to an abortion as often as they choose and for any reason.

And wisdom, based on experience, knowledge, and good judgment, they claim, also dictates that marriage need not be limited to members of the opposite gender. There's other things wisdom is trying to teach us in recent months and even days. Well, obviously what some call wisdom is not wisdom. That is not true wisdom. Most people do not know that there exists a wisdom that is counterfeit. And I don't know if we often think of it that way, but not all wisdom is wisdom. And some things we call wisdom might actually be counterfeit, might actually be false wisdom. So to be wise, we really need to understand what true wisdom is. There is a difference.

So a question for you. Do you know what true wisdom is? Do you know what wisdom truly is? Now, if you turn with me to James 3, if we turn back to James 3, we will find a biblical definition of wisdom. So throughout the New Testament, the Greek word for wisdom is sophia.

And sophia is applied to the Greek word is applied to wisdom either of a higher or lower type of wisdom or wisdom that is worldly or spiritual. And here in James 3, 13 through 18, we find contrasted true wisdom with this counterfeit wisdom I was mentioning. So how do we know we are truly wise? Let's read here, starting in James 3, 13. We get an idea. James 3, 13. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. I'm going to stop there because verse 13 is important already with regards to wisdom. We are wise not for what we are. We are not wise for what we know. We are wise for what we do. I don't know if you ever thought of wisdom that way. Somehow I thought of wisdom as belonging to people that sent out a mountaintop or out in the desert and everyone goes to them to be told what is wisdom. That's not what we find here in James 3, 13.

We are wise for what we do. And what will the wise be doing? Let's read in verse 14, continuing. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom, this wisdom, that is a counterfeit wisdom, does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, sensual meaning of the senses, physical and fleshly. And it's demonic.

For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure. The Greek word there is hagnos, H-A-G-N-O-S. It has the same root as hagios, H-A-G-I-O-S. Hagios, you may remember, is a Greek word for holy.

So this wisdom from above is pure. It's connected to being holy. Pure with no dark, nothing but purity. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle. Gentle means even-handed. It treats the same everyone, the same source of wisdom. It's willing to yield. It's full of mercy and good fruits, those fruits of righteousness. It's without partiality.

And it's without hypocrisy. That means godly wisdom is sincere and genuine. There's no fakeness about it. And so James defines here two wisdoms that do exist at the same time.

One is false or counterfeit, and one true. All wisdom, what we might call true spiritual wisdom, descends from above. It comes from God. And anything else that we or others may call wisdom is worldly, and it's based upon the knowledge and experience of earthbound, self-seeking human beings under the influence of Satan. Living according to worldly wisdom will only lead to pride, disorder, and evil.

James also makes clear what the wise will be doing. That's good for us to know. In order to practice wisdom that is pure and peaceable, gentle, yielding, merciful, righteous, impartial, and without hypocrisy, the wise essentially, well, what should we be doing?

We need to be keeping God's Ten Commandments. Keeping God's law, loving God, loving neighbor, according to His law. That is the foundation of this wisdom from above. It's one and the same. So we will love God and neighbor. We will be practicing repentance and sin. That's part of wisdom. We will be seeking forgiveness and yielding to God's Holy Spirit.

Those who are truly wise will be walking in faith with God. This should be encouraging to us because what we discover is that we do have a means of measuring and assessing, of evaluating, just how wise we are. We don't always want to admit, yeah, I'm wise. And I guess it kind of goes against godly wisdom. It sounds like we're bragging about ourselves if we say that. But maybe privately to ourselves we could begin to see that I do try to obey God, and I do try very hard to repent sincerely. When I cause trouble for people, I really try hard to make it right. Well, that's part of being wise. That's part of being wise, and that's a good thing.

Privately in meditation and prayer to God, we should study the Bible and regularly examine ourselves, not just before Passover, but regularly examine ourselves to see how well we are walking in the wisdom that is from above. And since we still are quite human, our self-examination will reveal often enough just where we are lacking in true godly wisdom. Well, if we're lacking in wisdom somewhere in our lives, what then? What do we do if we find a place where we're a little bit ignorant, or maybe wise in the ways of the world? What should we be doing to become truly wiser, to shore up our true wisdom in certain places? We need to consider in that case what is the first principle of true wisdom? Let me stress that differently. What is the first principle of true wisdom? What is the first principle of true wisdom? When it comes to having more wisdom, we need to begin with first things first. What's the first thing in order to have true wisdom? Well, to be wiser, we must never forget, and we must always practice this first principle of true wisdom. True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. The phrase fear of the Lord, or fear of Yehova, fear of Yahweh, the Eternal, in your King James Bible, that's capitalized L-O-R-D, referring to Yahweh. The fear of the Eternal appears throughout the Old Testament.

Let's read a few examples to see how its use is related to the wisdom of God. Let's turn back to Proverbs 1, 2 through 7. Very familiar scriptures, but very important scriptures. They contain life and death. We want to be sure to be on the side of life.

And if our young people are a little fuzzy, in their minds and hearts, as to what it means to be wise, how do you get wiser? I really hope you're all taking notes and paying attention. There's no time too soon to begin learning about wisdom. So let's look at Proverbs 1, 2 through 7.

The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, this is attributed to Solomon, verse 2, to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, the purpose of what he's writing, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity. Put a throw in mercy there. To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel. To understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. That's our scripture for today on our announcement bulletin.

Let's also turn to...you can probably hold your finger there in Proverbs. Let's turn to Psalm 111 as well. Let's turn to Psalm 111 and see another very memorable scripture.

Psalm 111—I don't want to confuse anybody—and we'll be looking at verse 10. Psalm 111 verse 10. The fear of the Lord, or the Eternal, is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding of all those who do His commandments, His praise endures forever. We should praise Him forever because of His commandments, because we do them, we keep them. In both scriptures, we find the direct connection between wisdom and the fear of the Lord.

Now, here in the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for wisdom is hokma, which means wisdom or to be wise. By implication, that means to be wise in the way of righteousness, in the way of God's law. The word can also apply to one's skill. You may remember, if you go back and read the descriptions about them building the tabernacle in the wilderness, how God gave wisdom to certain craftsmen and artisans in the weaving of the tapestries and the making of the instruments of service in the tabernacle. Wisdom was applied there. Wisdom can also apply to a particular skill.

So, to have the wisdom of God, whether it's the Hebrew hokma or the Greek sophia, we must have a right attitude towards God. That right attitude is the fear of the eternal, the fear of the Lord. Let's dig a little deeper. I like asking questions. What does the fear of the eternal mean? What does that really mean? The Hebrew word for fear is yirah. Y-I-R-A-H.

Yirah can mean, it can mean, very much what the English word fear would mean, terror, and also something awesome or some terrifying thing. This word can mean that. But when used in the phrase in conjunction with the fear of the eternal, it always means respect or reverence or piety. Fear of the eternal means respect, reverence, piety. We don't always know what that means in English much anymore, it seems. We don't know what that means in our culture. Among English-speaking peoples, fear is not immediately equated with being reverent or respectful to anybody, let alone to God. But we need to understand that the fear of the eternal is meant that way, or reverence, kind of a worshipful attitude towards God.

Let me see if I can make this a little clearer. If you've ever been called before the principal of your school, not that you're going in there to have a chat, but you've been called in.

Or grown-ups, if you've ever appeared before a judge in a court proceeding, or something very terrifying for most adults, being called in front of the IRS agent. That is absolutely terrifying. If we've ever been in these situations, whether young or old, I am quite sure that we will feel some degree of fear in the sense of distress, or dread, or maybe even terror, because of the power those authorities hold over us. That is an uncomfortable fear, very bad fear. But there should also exist, or exist even more so within us, that attitude we have for these people of authority over us, humanly speaking. We need that attitude of fearful respect and humility when it comes to the authority of God over us. Imagine ourselves being called before God. That would be terrifying, probably, to think about, but terrifying is probably the wrong word, or should be the wrong word, because if we're trying to grow in God's wisdom and we are making progress, we should not be terrified by that. We should respect God and be reverent. Dread and distress may be things we feel, emotions we feel at times when we think about going before God in prayer, and especially when we know we've sinned against Him. We did the same dumb thing, or we really did a new bad dumb thing, and we're fearful in the sense of going before God. But to learn God's ways to ask for His wisdom, we must always bear the attitude of profound reverence and profound respect towards Him, and that also should be applied towards His Word. This is God's Word. Not to revere and idolize the book, the pages of the book, but to respect the words as coming from God, the meaning they carry. We don't worship the books, the physical book. So we should maintain an attitude of awe and admiration towards God, not terror. We should be most humble and willing to be taught by Him and from His Word.

Let's read a few more scriptures here in Proverbs to try to clarify a little bit of this humble, reverent, and teachable attitude we should have. Let's go back to Proverbs, and this time Proverbs 8.13. We're going to see the fear of the Lord phrase again, but a little bit of more magnification, a little more parallel structure to show us what that means. Proverbs 8.13, The fear of the eternal is to hate evil, pride and arrogance, and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. Notice pride and arrogance and evil? That was part of the worldly wisdom James mentions. We're to hate that. And here we find a right attitude or reverence towards God is to hate evil. When we hate evil, we're in a sense, revering God. To hate evil, I think you'd agree with me, is not a terrifying thing to do. That's something we like to do. We like to hate evil. This is God hates evil. It's the right and obedient thing to do. The New Living Translation for Proverbs 8.13 reads this way, all who fear the eternal will hate evil. Therefore, the writer says, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption, and perverse speech. So sometimes the New Living Translation can help us understand these more enigmatic proverbs that we might read in the New King James or King James. Let's also look at the next chapter of Proverbs 9.10.

Proverbs 9.10, the fear of the eternal, the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Or we could say, is good judgment. We want to have good judgment, have more knowledge about God. It seems to be the emphasis. The humble attitude of reverence for God is where wisdom, true wisdom, begins. And so we must approach God in his Bible with that sort of attitude, deep, thoughtful respect, and also with the willingness to do as God directs us.

If we don't take God's word seriously, or take God seriously, if we have a rather careless, casual, late-back Friday approach to God in his Bible, then we're really not reverent, are we? We're really not ready or willing to be taught God's wisdom. In some ways, we need to approach God's Bible, and we read it and study it, and we need to be sitting up straight, like you would in a classroom.

Some of you teachers out there know what I'm talking about. We should go there ready and willing to listen, getting our hearts right, and we can do that in prayer, maybe, before we start reading. So we must be teachable to learn the wisdom from above. Now let me ask another question.

I hope you don't get tired of all these questions. I find it can help us when we take notes to have a guiding question and then fill in under it. So here's another question. You may think you know the answer, but I want to develop it a little bit more. Why should we revere and respect God?

We're told to. It's wisdom. Somehow it's good for us. Anything we do that's right with God is good for us. But why? Why should we reveal, revere, and respect God? Well, there's some very profound and good reasons. Let's review a few reasons why we, and not just we whom God has called in this age, but why really every human being should have more reverence for God. You can hold your place again here in Proverbs, and we're just going to turn quickly to John 1.

I just want to read John 1, verse 1 through 3. If you have those three scriptures memorized, I can understand if you don't want to turn there. John 1, verse 1 through 3. God is the creator of all things, right? That's what the scripture tells us. God is the creator of all things. All things means the entire universe. And I've lost track how many billions and billions of galaxies they say now exist.

Some of you really are into that, and you love that. There's been no end yet. The more they look, the deeper they cast that telescope. There's another galaxy, or billions of galaxies. Perhaps you read years ago, they actually zeroed in the Hubble telescope to one of those blank places in the sky.

Guess what they found? It wasn't blank. Billions and billions of more galaxies. And each galaxy has billions of stars. I can't grasp that. And so it's sufficient enough for me, I guess, to try to understand that God created all things. That's what it says. John 1, 1 through 3. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Of course, speaking of Jesus Christ. Verse 3, all things, the word used for all things is universe in our day and age. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made.

Isn't that amazing? Everything. Every speck of dust, every principle, gravity, your favorite pet, and us too. God created everything. Back to Proverbs 8, 22. I hope you kept your place like I encouraged you to. Proverbs 8, 22 through 31. We don't normally read this, if I can remember, but I wanted to read this. Proverbs 8, 22. Well, I mean we read it. I don't often hear it in a message in a sermon. I know we read it.

In Proverbs 8, 22, 31, we find reference to how God made use of his own wisdom in this creation he did in creating all things. In Proverbs 8, the writer, under the inspiration of God, uses a literary device. It can be a little confusing, perhaps, if you misunderstand.

This is not biography. This is not first person. I mean a real person speaking here. It's a literary device. In Proverbs 8, the writer uses personification. He uses personification to transform the way of wisdom into the voice of a woman. Wisdom calls out in the streets. The way of wisdom here in Proverbs 8 contrasts with the voice of the adulteress in Proverbs 7. The voice of the adulteress in Proverbs 7 is the way of folly and wickedness. Sounds familiar with what James 3 is talking about, worldly wisdom. Even in Proverbs 7 and 8, worldly wisdom, chapter 8, godly wisdom being contrasted again.

We might consider these two women, then again, as I said, personifications of worldly wisdom and true wisdom. In any case, the speaker in chapter 8 is a literary device. So I want to make sure we don't somehow confuse this personified female voice of wisdom with the word Jesus Christ mentioned in John 1. They're not one and the same. There's no equation here.

But let's read Proverbs 8, 22-31. I think you'll get where I'm coming from as we read this. Proverbs 8, 22. This is an illustration in elaboration, we might say, in a poetic way, in a figurative language way, of God's awesome creative power. It's very interesting. Proverbs 8, 22. Wisdom is speaking here. The Lord, the Eternal possessed me wisdom at the beginning of his way before his works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning before there was ever an earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth, wisdom says, when there were no foundations abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled before the hills, I was brought forth. Again, all these references of the creative power what God had to do to create just this one planet. Verse 25. Before the mountains were settled for the hills, I was brought forth. While as yet he had not made the earth or the fields, or the primal dust of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I wisdom was there. When he drew a circle in the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limits so that the waters would not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him as a master craftsman. And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in his inhabited world. It makes me wonder if they knew there are other worlds that were uninhabited.

Rejoicing in his inhabited world, in my delight, was with the sons of men.

I always wondered, reading this, we were taught in school that what Christopher Columbus proved, that the earth was round, wasn't flat, but already people don't read the Bibles. You know, it's already termed here a circle. They knew it was round.

People close to God know a lot more than people not close to God know.

So anyway, through this awesome wisdom, this is a literary picture of what God did, through this awesome wisdom, God created this beautiful planet, as well as all the universe. Let's see. Let's go ahead and turn to Job. Let's please turn to Job. Job 38.

And we'll begin in verse 4. If you haven't read Job for a while, it can be kind of heavy-going, but not really. It just takes time. The more you read it, the more you'll find yourself enjoying what's in Job. Job 38, verse 4 through 11. I'd like for us to read this, too. Here we read God's response to Job when Job had begun to forget himself, meaning his relationship to God. Job had forgotten, beginning to forget to respect and revere God, is what we see. He neglected, Job did, his need to be humble before God. So let's read Job 38, verse 4. And this is pretty tough language from God. Again, God could just have zotted him to dust, but he didn't. God is very merciful. So we read this conversation between God and Job, verse 4. Where were you, God says, Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth, Job? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know. Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone? Come on, Job, tell me. When the morning stars sang together the angels and all the sons of God shouted for joy. Or who shut the sea with doors when it burst forth and issued from the womb? When I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band. When I fixed my limit for it and set bars and doors. When I said, verse 11, This far you may come, but no farther. And here your proud waves must stop. I wouldn't have wanted Ben Job's shoes. And I feel kind of shaky just reading it myself, thinking about it. Yeah. Wouldn't you love to have some of the, maybe one of your school teachers, science teacher that doesn't believe in God, really try to answer these questions? Oh, they'll come close, but they can't. They have theories that they really can't prove.

Well, pretty awesome comment from God to Job. Do you remember Job's humble response to God? Look at Job 42, verse 5. Just a few pages forward. Job 42, verse 5. God lovingly put Job back in his place. He helped Job get his focus, though it should be. Get in the right position. I guess he's telling Job, look, you're not my superior, Job, but you are not even my equal. You're down here at my feet. Job 42, verse 5. Job is a little bit wiser now.

And Job said, I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear.

But now my eyes seize you, excuse me, but now my eye sees you. He gets it. Therefore, I abhor myself, and I repent and dust and ashes.

That's the attitude of reverence and humility before God. Job was struck by this awe and humbled himself before God.

All people, not just us. Every human being can learn from his example.

In fact, every human being will learn this lesson in time. In fact, if you think about it, every human being has to learn this lesson.

God created Adam from the clay of the earth.

As our Creator, and sometimes people who believe in God or claim they believe in God, they know God is Creator, but they don't always think about what that should mean. And I just want to make sure we don't slip on that either. Forget that.

As our Creator, then, every human being owes God reverence and submission.

Let's look at Isaiah 29, if you could be turning there.

God is our Creator. And I know it seems most of humanity is turning ever more quickly against that idea, thinking this is just superstition and in a type of Hebrew mythology and Christian mythology, they are wrong. And God will mercifully explain that and show them that in time.

But the words of Isaiah are very powerful words, but I think they can also have a larger meaning, not just for us within God is called within the Church, but also for all people in time. Let's read what Isaiah was inspired to write. Isaiah 29.13.

The Lord said, "'Inasmuch as these people draw near me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the commandment of men.'" And I'm going to stop there. I know it's breaking mid-sentence. It's kind of awkward. But if you think about what we sometimes might call churchianity, everybody believes in God, they talk about God, they praise God, and that's all good and well.

But their hearts maybe aren't where they need to be, right?

Their fear towards God is taught by the commandment of men. They create their own holy days, for example. They create their own ways of worshiping God. They decide for God what is okay or not okay. They've decided for God, well, we are going to worship you on Sunday or any other day.

That's not reverence for God. Verse 14, "'Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work, and a wonderful work of worshiping God, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish.' Thinking about the wisdom of this world, the wisdom of their litres shall perish. And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden, wisdom not of God. "'Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the eternal, and their words are in the dark.' They say," speaking of people falling worldly wisdom, "'they say, Who sees us and who knows us?' Such as saying, There's no God, and even if God exists, He doesn't care. He wound the clock and left it sitting on the shelf. And we're on our own now, they claim some. They say, Who sees us, who knows us?

And Isaiah was inspired to say, On behalf of God, surely you have things turned around." You've got it all backwards. Humanity. "'Shall the potter, shall the potter be esteemed as the clay?

For shall the thing made say of him who made it?' He did not make me." God did not make me, but that's exactly what our schools are teaching young people. "'Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it?' He has no understanding." Yeah, God doesn't know what He's talking about, these rules. We're going to make our own. Can you imagine a pot ever telling its potter what to do? Just imagine your little flower pot telling you what to do. It's crazy. And that's what this image is setting up. It's absolutely crazy for the creature, the creation, to be telling the creator what to do. Yet that is what humanity has done and continues to do in rejecting to acknowledge and revere God. In another way, humanity needs to turn around, and we need to make sure we don't forget this as well, as we try to become more wise in the ways of God and be better at it. Humanity also neglects that God is our sustainer. He just didn't create us. He keeps us breathing. He keeps us ticking. And humanity tends to forget that. We don't want to forget that. In fact, if you could be turning with me—well, I should have warned you. We're going to go back to Job 34. We're going to go back to Job 34. And part of this leading up to God, talking to Job, we had Elihu, the youngster of those old friends of Job.

In Job 34, verses 10-16, these wise and sobering words of Elihu to Job remind us of our human fragility. Job 34.10, Therefore listen to me, listen to me, you men of understanding, you who think you're so wise, far be it from God to do wickedness, and far from the Almighty to commit iniquity or sin. For he repays man according to his work, and makes man to find a reward according to his way. Surely God will never do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice. Who gave him charge over the earth, or who appointed him over the whole world? Nobody. God's in charge. If he should set his heart on it, if he should gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together. And man would return to dust. If you have understanding, if you have wisdom, hear this. Listen to the sounds of my words, he tells Job. But we hear it too. God can immediately take back the breath of life if he wanted to. And it's God's grace and mercy to all humanity that he has not and does not plan on doing that. He's going to give everybody a chance first to know him. Do we have understanding? Do we listen and hear the wisdom of God? Let's be trained at Acts 10. Acts 10.34.

This just is not Old Testament stuff.

God's word is consistent, of course. Let's be trained at Acts 10.34.35. Do we listen? Do we hear the wisdom of God?

If we have ears to hear, then we understand that we need to revere God, at the very least, because he is our Creator and our life sustainer.

We would not exist if it were not for God's love, for God's mercy and wisdom, and all of which he desires and has shared with us willingly. He shares it willingly with anyone who will accept his calling and do as he commands.

If anyone would be accepted by God, then that person needs to revere and obey God. Acts 10.34. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. God wants to save every human being. He wants every human being to know the blessing and to experience the awesome wonder and wisdom that God has to share with us.

We who are called of God, we within whom God's Holy Spirit dwells, and that Spirit is the guarantee from God to us that he will give us eternal life, we with God's Spirit, we have even more reason, don't we, to revere and love God and to practice his wisdom.

Only God offers mortal, clay-like human beings the hope of eternal life.

So we especially must revere and respect God. We have all that we know and God has revealed us. We really have no excuse for not approaching God with reverence and respect. I'm looking now at please with me in 2 Corinthians 5.

We are moving closer to the Holy Days, and it's always a great time to get our minds back into God's plan of salvation, that the Holy Days reveal.

I find that I do better if I'm a little more humble. It makes it easier for me to be taught. This is part of God's wisdom, that humility. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 1 through 5, Paul reminds us and also inspires us of God's promise. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 1 through 2. In this promise, this promise should continually drive us to our knees, I believe, in the most sincere and humble worship before our God. Paul writes 2 Corinthians 5.1, For we know that if our earthly 336 house, this tent, this physical body is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. God's bringing that home to us. The sun returns, the kingdom of God.

Verse 3, If indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent, this physical body groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, not because we just want to die, but because we want to be further clothed. We want to be clothed with that immortality, is what he suggested. We want to be further clothed that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

Verse 5, Now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. Notice God has prepared us for this very thing. He's working with us. He's working with us. He wants us to have this so badly. He's doing all he can. Also, let's look down to 2 Corinthians, verse 17.

Therefore, Paul says, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. We have that Holy Spirit, that guarantee, that down payment. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Let's also turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1.

1 Peter 1, 3 through 5. If God's Holy Spirit dwells in us, we do have the promise of eternal life.

The divine essence of God begets within us that hope of eternal life. It's a promise in time. We will be born as the spiritual children of God.

The Father places his Spirit in us upon laying on of the hands after we are baptized. If we nurture his Spirit after we receive it and allow it to thrive and grow, never quit nurturing it and staying close to God, then we know that upon Christ's return, we will indeed receive eternal life through the first resurrection upon Christ's return. But here in 1 Peter 1, 3 through 5, let's read that.

Peter writes, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, you who are kept by the power of God through faith, for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

God is preparing us, and he's doing what he can and wills to keep us safe and growing in his way.

So again, we of all people, we whom the Father is called to share in his glory, to be like him in his eternal kingdom, we of all people should understand our compelling need to fear God. My question was, why do we need to fear and revere God?

These are the answers. We need to revere him, worship him, we need to live according to the wisdom of his word. But do we? But do we?

Again, how wise are we?

Now, we could choose to ignore God, couldn't we? We could, if we want to be like many. What happens when and if we would ignore God? Well, then we would be fools.

Scripture. We would be fools. That's what a fool is according to God's word.

In Hebrew, we'd be called a a-na-ball. Sometimes I've heard Texans pronounce it nay-ball, but Hebrew says nah-ball. In the Greek, we would be morals.

I'm not sure I didn't look it up, but it sounds like a moron. Okay. Both words carry the very same meaning, though. It means being godless, impious, and wicked. We're wicked if we turn our backs on God.

Matthew 7, 22, 26, for example, we can look at that. It's a little parable that our children should be familiar with, and it's such a good image of what we should be doing with the wisdom of God. Matthew 7, 22.

Matthew 7, 22, 26. This is a parable about the man who built his house on sand instead of rock, and he was called foolish. Matthew 7, 22, we read, breaking into the discussion here.

Jesus says, Many will say to me in that day, the day of the Lord, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? All these good things. And then Jesus says, I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you who practiced lawlessness. What type of wisdom were they practicing?

They were doing lawlessness, and practicing worldly wisdom, not God's wisdom. Verse 24, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it did not fall. For it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man, a morose, who built his house on the sand. The foolish man was godless, impious, and wicked. That's what foolish means.

The fool is not necessarily stupid. The fool is not necessarily of limited intelligence.

The fool could be old or wealthy, young or poor. The fool could be just like any one of us, except for one thing. The fool is willful, knowingly disobedient, and chooses to ignore or to disobey god. You know, the wisest person in the world, according to the world's standard of wisdom, becomes the most foolish person according to god's wisdom. We have to keep the right perspective. And ultimately, the way of the fool leads to death, because the fool rejects the way of god. That's the only way, only means we have, of receiving eternal life, is through Christ, through obedience and submission to God. That means when we see people in the world living well, nice cars, nice house, seemingly getting away with evil, they get away with it. I don't. What's up? God cares about us well enough. He doesn't let us get away with bad stuff, because he wants us in his kingdom. He's getting us to change and live by his wisdom. So we should not be envious or jealous of the kids at school who maybe have better clothes, or whom seem to be prettier or better at sports. We shouldn't be jealous of people who have nicer cars, who make the big jobs because they work all day Sunday and keep Christmas and all this stuff. They have the right connections. Don't be envious of them. God's mind can be fools, wicked, and they're on the wrong path. On the other hand, I would say we shouldn't look down our noses at others just because they don't know God's wisdom yet. That's a very dangerous position for us to take. We're not there in judgment of other people. Let's remind ourselves something. Titus 3, verses 3-7. Remember, part of wisdom is need for humility.

We should have a humble attitude, even in understanding that God is going to do things his way and his time, even with other people. We need to respect that. It's also part of a reverence for God. For some reason, we don't necessarily know why God has called us. I don't know why God called me, except that what I read in Scripture, he loves us. He calls some now in this age. He'll call others later. I have to remember, and we have to remember, that we had nothing to do with God calling us. It's the Father that begins that process of conversion, not us. That's why you need to remember, if God had not called you and me, we'd be carrying on like most people are doing today, living life our own carnal way, doing what we want to do.

So we ought to be humble and grateful before God. Now, again, let's look at Titus 3, verses 3-7. For we ourselves were also once foolish, wicked. We were foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God, our Savior, toward man, appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified or made right by His grace, sacrifice of Christ, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

So we could choose not to fear God. Instead, we have chosen to believe God and to obey God. We're placing our faith in God, and that's not easy to do. We are physical, but we're placing our trust in God.

It's the only sound choice we have to make, isn't it? What other choice would we make, knowing what we know about God's plan of salvation, about how we've been called out of millions and billions of people, it seems. And in His time, as God's word reveals, everyone else will also have a chance, but we must have a right attitude towards other people.

So, how wise are we? How do we know if we are wise enough in the wisdom of God? How do we know if we are wise enough in the wisdom of God? Only God knows that answer. God's our judge.

But the answer will be based on whether we are committed and whether we remain committed being first fruits in the kingdom of God. Remember, that is why God called us. That is why we sought baptism after we learned about God.

And that's why we committed ourselves and accepted, willingly accepted God's Holy Spirit with a lane on our hands. And that's why we must persist in believing and obeying God.

And so, we must keep doing as the Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 1.10. I'll read that for you. You can jot it down in 2 Peter 1.10. We must be more diligent to make our call and election sure.

For if we do these things, we shall never stumble. We do what things? Remain true to the wisdom of God. Remain true to the commitment we've made.

And so, we each must resist that false wisdom by practicing the wisdom of God. In one last place, I want to turn to the Scriptures. Romans 8, verse 16-23.

Please be turning there. Romans 8, 16-23.

You know, it's not easy to live according to the wisdom from above. We live in the midst of a world where that counterfeit and earthly wisdom we've been talking about keeps making more rules and swaying more people against people like us whom God is called and is working with.

And it's hard, but we must, with the help of God, continually disown and reject that kind of wisdom, which is about pride and selfishness and hate. We must keep fighting the worldly influences, our own sinful nature as well. And we can throw into that mix having to cope with and struggle with our own frail physical bodies. It gets weariesome. When we get older, it seems like it happens more often. But we also have the help of God's word to guide us and the help of God's Spirit in us to help us on the way. Those are very powerful and mighty things to lean on. We've had our trials, and we've probably been learning that, and we keep learning that. In Paul's words to the Romans here in Romans 8-16, it's encouraging to know that what we're going through is somewhat normal in following the wisdom of God. It's encouraging to know that Paul had to write to the Romans to encourage them because they also were laboring their way to the kingdom. Romans 8-16, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. We have that Spirit to begettle in us. And if children and heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Speaking of the resurrection. For I consider, Paul writes, that the suffering of this present age are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For creation was not subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors of birth banks together until now. And not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, or rather, sonship, the redemption of our body. We must never forget these encouraging words. We feel the same way at times. And creation groans with us, waiting for that time of Christ's return.

The title of my sermon, in this case you were wondering, is, How Wise Are You? How wise are you? And what we've learned today is that we all do have wisdom. If you ever said you're not wise, that's not true. The question you need to ask yourself, though, is, How are you wise?

And I'm confident you do have great wisdom in God, and we want to keep growing in that wisdom. But every human being we've learned in due time will need to decide whether he will commit to living by the counterfeit wisdom of the world or by the true wisdom that is from God above.

You know, that's really an ancient choice. This is the most ancient of choices that God sets before us. It's the choice Adam and Eve had. He either chose the tree of the knowledge of good or evil, or the tree of life. They chose to reject God's wisdom. And except for the relative few out of the billions who have ever lived through time, most of humanity continues in that disobedience towards God. And if you think about it in Scripture, over and over again we find different references, different metaphors to place that same choice against different people God has been working with through time. Do you choose life or death, blessing or curses, Egypt or the promised land? Are you going to choose the bitter waters or the living streams, the true light or darkness, the broad way or the narrow way? Ultimately, we all be faced with the choice. Are you going to choose eternal life or eternal death?

In this age prior to Christ's return, God has blessed us with that choice. How wise are you? How wise am I? Are we wise enough?

We can get wiser. And so I encourage all of us to continue in that path of God's wisdom, and let us all make sure we are called in election.