Rev. David Holwick M Communion Sunday
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 7, 2006
Proverbs 4:1-7
WISE UP!
I. If you had one guaranteed wish...
A. Ads for mega-million jackpots.
1) Buy a mansion, a stadium, whatever you want.
a) Focus is always on material possessions.
2) The Bible's version in 1 Kings 3.
a) Solomon chooses wisdom.
1> So God gives him everything else, too!
b) Wisdom is better than money. Prov 3:13-18
B. What is wisdom?
1) It is the focus of the book of Proverbs.
2) I am making this book the focus of a new sermon series.
II. What wisdom is not.
A. Wisdom is not just having a high I.Q. or knowing a lot of facts.
1) Think how much time you spent in school.
a) I went to grade 19. (20, really - marriage slowed me)
1> Two-fifths of my life.
b) Am I wise?
2) Americans seek education, not necessarily wisdom.
a) Education leads to upward mobility - more bucks.
b) Jobs formerly requiring high school diploma, now
ask for college degree.
c) Job not more difficult, but degrees make you look
smarter.
d) But they do not make you wise.
Charles Kuralt once profiled a man named Eddie Lovett on
the "CBS Evening News."
Eddie sought books and wisdom.
He was the son of a sharecropper.
But he had a vast personal library and was well-respected
in his county.
Eddie named his son Sophocles, after a Greek philosopher.
But Sophocles was not a wise son.
He was arrested for writing bad checks.
Then he was arrested for an attempted rape.
And he was arrested and sentenced for more bad checks.
When he got out of prison, he abducted his girlfriend and
beat her up.
Eddie Lovett was ashamed of his son.
The Greek philosopher the boy was named after, wrote,
"There is no happiness where there is no wisdom."
Eddie says, "You don't get wisdom from books. No, no.
That comes from above. That comes from above."
#502
B. Wisdom is not moral guidance.
1) Moral guidance says: "God condemns adultery."
a) It involves knowing a list of commands.
2) Wisdom says: "Faithfulness builds a strong marriage."
a) Wisdom understands WHY God gave us these commands.
C. Wisdom is not a set of guaranteed promises.
1) Proverbs is about how life generally works, not how it
always works, or how it HAS to work for Christians.
2) Proverbs are proverbs, not promises.
a) Example of Proverbs 22:6.
III. What wisdom is.
A. Wisdom is insight into how life works.
1) Christian wisdom takes insights gleaned from the knowledge
of God's way and applies them to our daily life.
a) Wisdom observes life and makes connections.
b) It analyzes consequences.
One of my favorite verses in Proverbs:
22:3 "A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge,
but the simple keep going and suffer for it."
2) Wisdom discerns what leads to effectiveness, health and
success.
B. Wisdom doesn't mean you have figured everything out.
J.I. Packer and Bible wisdom:
Imagine that you are in a New York City subway station.
You will see trains come in and go out.
But you'll only get a general view of what's going on.
However, if you step inside the control room you'll see
a large display with tiny lights representing each train
in the entire system.
In a glance you will be able to survey the entire situation
through the eyes of those in control.
You will see why one engine is signaled to a stop, why
another has been diverted, and why another sits on a
sidetrack.
Packer comments:
The mistake that is commonly made is to suppose that this is
an illustration of what God does when He bestows wisdom.
God gives a person insight into the meaning and purpose of
events going on around us.
We then have the ability to see why God has done what He has
done in a particular case, and what He is going to do next.
People who think this is what wisdom is, imagine that if they
walk close enough to God, they will be in God's command
center and will understand everything that happens.
But God's wisdom doesn't work this way.
God's wisdom is more like learning to drive a car.
When you drive a car it is important to make the right
responses to the constantly changing scene.
You have to judge how fast to go, how much distance to keep
between you and the next car, when to put on the brakes.
Drivers simply try to see and do the right thing in the actual
situation that presents itself.
Having wisdom from God does not mean we understand everything
that is going on because of our superior knowledge...
It means we do the right thing as life comes along.
#2666
1) Bible wisdom is moral more than intellectual.
2) It consists more in obedience of your heart than the
understanding of your mind.
IV. Wisdom is spiritual.
A. It is not limited to the Bible.
1) Proverbs says wisdom calls out from the streets. 1:20-22
2) Any human can have wisdom.
a) It is because God has created us in his image.
B. To be truly wise, know God.
1) Wisdom comes from a relationship with God.
Prov 1:7 -
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."
Prov 9:10 -
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
2) Something must change within us.
a) A turning from having our own way.
Prov 14:12 -
"There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death."
b) A turning toward the light of God.
Prov 9:4-5 -
"Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to
those who lack judgment.
"Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed."
C. Summary: Wisdom is a relationship, offered by God and
requiring a commitment of our character.
V. In the end, wisdom belongs to God.
A. We should not become conceited.
1) What's left to learn? Lots. We've only begun.
B. Receive comfort from knowing God's wisdom is beyond ours.
1) When we cannot understand a tragedy, we can trust Him.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
This sermon borrows from the sermon "Wise Up!" by Rev. Mark Brouwer,
Bridgewood Church (Christian Reformed) of Savage, Minnesota;
http://www.bridgewood.org. Kerux sermon # 22275. This sermon also
incorporates portions of my October 30, 1988, sermon.
#502 "Eddie Lovett's Hardest Lesson," by Richard Meyer in the Los Angeles
Times, condensed in Reader's Digest, December 1988, page 125.
Sophocles still hasn't learned: see
http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/1997b/971002/cr97-436.wpd
#2666 "God's Wisdom Is Like Driving a Car," by R. Kent Hughes, JAMES:
FAITH THAT WORKS, Baker Book House, 1991, page 147.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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