Sophia Part 2
Who is the wisest person that you know?
Would someone like to
tell me about that person?
What do you think made her/him wise?
Do you know anyone whose wisdom is foolishness?
Let me share with you what is not wisdom.
A news report told of
a burglar charged with raiding vending
machines who paid his bail
with $300 in coins. That's not right
bright.
As we begin there are two things I want
to point out from our
text last week.
First, the wisdom that is considered wise
by most people is
foolishness. What those same people
consider to be foolishness
is wisdom.
Secondly, the wisdom from God is given
to us by the Holy Spirit,
who brings true wisdom by dwelling within
us. Unfortunately,
Paul does not spell out what this wisdom
brings to us. But
other places in the Bible give us some
clues.
I find it very interesting that Spirit
and wisdom are connected
in the Bible first in Exo 28:3 ""So
you shall speak to all who
are gifted artisans, whom I have filled
with the spirit of
wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments,
to consecrate him,
that he may minister to Me as priest."
In fact the first 7 references to wisdom
have to do with the
making of the tabernacle. Men were
given wisdom to create the
furniture, the wood that was overlaid
with gold and the vessels
that were used in the services..
Women were given wisdom to
weave the curtains. Wisdom was given
to carve jewels, spin
yarn, make the priestly robes, build the
tabernacle, and on and
on.
That was the wisdom that was necessary
for the creation of the
sanctuary.
There was more wisdom available for the
Israelites than that.
In Moses' final sermon to the Children
of Israel, he said in
Deut 4:4 "But you who held fast
to the LORD your God are alive
today, every one of you.
5 "Surely I have taught you statutes
and judgments, just as the
LORD my God commanded me, that you should
act according to them
in the land which you go to possess.
6 "Therefore be careful to observe
them; for this is your
wisdom and your understanding in the sight
of the peoples who
will hear all these statutes, and say,
'Surely this great nation
is a wise and understanding people.'
7 "For what great nation is there
that has God so near to it,
as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever
reason we may call
upon Him?
In this passage, wisdom is referred to
in two areas. First,
having and observing the laws that God
had given the Israelites
through the wilderness journey.
Secondly wisdom was (and I
believe still is) having God near to you.
And as you look at some of the laws that
were given, you will
find wisdom that science has demonstrated
to us today.
For instance, the laws on leprosy.
This is the first recorded
instance of people with communicable diseases
being quarantined
for the health of the rest of the community.
Other laws such as
being to go outside of the camp to relieve
themselves then bury
their waste, a person touching someone
dead having to go through
cleansings, the laws of leprosy for buildings
and things, and so
forth, were all laws designed to keep
God's people healthy.
By the way, you may ask why I include the
laws of leprosy on
buildings, etc. It has become well
known in our day that
mildews and molds can cause allergic reactions
and sickness.
God knew that, but He communicated it
to the people in a way
that they could understand.
There were individuals in the OT that were
stated to have
special wisdom. This was usually connected
with the spirit of God
Deu 34:9 "Now Joshua the son of Nun
was full of the spirit of
wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on
him; so the children of
Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD
had commanded Moses."
I Kings 4:29 And God gave Solomon
wisdom and exceedingly great
understanding, and largeness of heart
like the sand on the
seashore.
30 Thus Solomon's wisdom excelled
the wisdom of all the men of
the East and all the wisdom of Egypt.
There are a large number of wisdom texts
which refer to Solomon.
But we find one problem here.
Was the wisdom that Solomon had
always wisdom of God or was it sometimes
foolishness?
He answers that question. But let's
follow the progression that
we find in his writings.
Prov 1:Prov 1:1 The proverbs of Solomon
the son of David, king
of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of
understanding,
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and
equity;
4 To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge
and discretion;
5 A wise man will hear and increase
learning, And a man of
understanding will attain wise counsel,
6 To understand a proverb and an
enigma, The words of the wise
and their riddles.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning
of knowledge, But fools
despise wisdom and instruction.
Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come
knowledge and understanding;
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the
upright; He is a shield to
those who walk uprightly;
This is the beginning. What was the end?
Ecc. 1:12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I set my heart to seek and
search out by wisdom
concerning all that is done under heaven;
this burdensome task
God has given to the sons of man, by which
they may be exercised.
14 I have seen all the works that
are done under the sun; and
indeed, all is vanity and grasping for
the wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be made
straight, And what is lacking
cannot be numbered.
16 I communed with my heart, saying,
"Look, I have attained
greatness, and have gained more wisdom
than all who were before
me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood
great wisdom and
knowledge."
17 And I set my heart to know wisdom
and to know madness and
folly. I perceived that this also is grasping
for the wind.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases
knowledge increases sorrow.
Yet Solomon seems to come full circle.
Ecc 12:8 "Vanity of vanities," says
the Preacher, "All is
vanity."
9 And moreover, because the Preacher
was wise, he still taught
the people knowledge; yes, he pondered
and sought out and set in
order many proverbs.
10 The Preacher sought to find acceptable
words; and what was
written was upright; words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are like
goads, and the words of
scholars are like well-driven nails, given
by one Shepherd.
12 And further, my son, be admonished
by these. Of making many
books there is no end, and much study
is wearisome to the flesh.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter: Fear God and
keep His commandments, For this is man's
all.
14 For God will bring every work
into judgment, Including every
secret thing, Whether good or evil.
When Solomon was getting his wisdom from
God, it was
beneficial. When he began to get
his wisdom from other sources,
he lost the connection that gave
him real wisdom.
What the Wise Man was trying to tell
us is that real wisdom is
the fear of God. As we look at wisdom,
we find that there are
three generally accepted definitions.
The first two have to do
with worldly things, and the third with
things of the Spirit.
First, wisdom is considered by many to
be simply the art of
learning how to succeed in life. Apparently,
ancient persons
learned very early that there was an orderliness
to the world in
which they lived. They also learned that
success and happiness
came from living in accordance with that
orderliness (Prov.
22:17-24:22).
Second, wisdom is considered by some to
be a philosophical study
of the essence of life. Certainly, much
of the Books of Job and
Ecclesiastes seem to deal with just such
existential issues of
life (see particularly Job 30:29-31
by the way, the book of Job
is a major source of wisdom texts in the
OT.).
Third, I believe that the real essence
of wisdom is spiritual,
for life is more than just living by a
set of rules and being
rewarded in some physical manner. Undoubtedly,
in this sense
wisdom comes from God (Prov. 2:6).
While it involves
observation and instruction, it really
begins with God and one's
faith in Him as Lord and Savior (Prov.
1:7; Job 28:28).
The Psalmist reflects this in Ps 111:10
The fear of the LORD is
the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding
have all those who
do His commandments. His praise endures
forever.
His son reflects the same thought.Prov
9:10 "The fear of the
LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the
knowledge of the Holy
One is understanding.
Job 38:36 Who has put wisdom in the
mind? Or who has given
understanding to the heart?
Against all of this historical background
which Paul was very
aware of he makes that profound statement,
"I have determined to
know nothing among you except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified."
All of the collective wisdom of the rabbis
and Pharasees and
Sadducees went down the tubes with this
statement.
You will recall how last week we looked
at the
wisdom/foolishness/offence statement that
Paul made. In essence
what he was saying is that any thing that
we can learn on our
own, any thing that we consider to be
powerful and meaningful in
the realm of human understanding, without
the true knowledge of
salvation through Jesus Christ our savior,
who lived poorly and
died shamefully, is foolishness in the
eternal scheme of things.
Paul did not know anything that was more
wise and powerful in
the eternal sense than the mystery of
salvation. The
unfathomable riches of glory. The
indescribable riches of
salvation. The knowledge of Christ
as our crucified sin
bearing,
Paul makes it clear that he knew no wisdom
greater or deeper
than Christ crucified, Christ resurrected,
Christ ascended, and
Christ coming again. But the cross
always came first. 1 Cor
1:17 "For Christ did not send me
to baptize, but to preach the
gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ
should be made of no effect."
And in Rom 11:33 he sings a praise song.
"Oh, the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God! How unsearchable
are His judgments and His ways past finding
out!"
But the spiritual wisdom that Paul over
and over speaks of is
not just a knowledge of the intellect.
It is an immersion of
the thoughts processes by a baptism of
the Holy Spirit that
brings not just knowledge, but spirituality.
A change of life.
A change of goals. Different motives.
New thoughts. A new
home, and a new citizenship.
That is the wisdom that the Spirit would
have us begin to know.
The incredible mystery of Godliness that
we will never
comprehend, but study through the ages.
The practical wisdom of
how to live healthier lives. The
emotional wisdom to have faith
that God is with you, even when you cannot
see Him. The wisdom
that is brought by the agent of Christ
within you. "Christ in
you, the hope of glory."
Do you have that hope today in your life?
Have you begun to
expereince wisdom from on high?
I pray that you have. Sophia can
be found. She ( as wisdom is
a often referred to in the Bible) is a
gift of the Holy Spirit.
A gift that Jesus is eager to give, just
for the asking. A gift
that He promised when He left this world
for heaven. A gift
that found partial fulfillment on the
day of Pentecost. A gift
that He pleads with you to ask for.
Because this one gift
brings all other gifts that we need.
Benediction
Ephesians1:17 (May) the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, .... give to you the
spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that you
may know what is the hope of His calling,
Amen