Preached June 25,1989, evening service New Winchester Missionary Baptist Church Danville, Indiana
Dr. Arthur G. Ferry, Jr., Pastor
Ever since sin entered human history and cut man off
from the wisdom of God, he has found it difficult to
interpret the circumstances and conflicts of life.
He has had to acknowledge that unless there is that
within him which is above him, he will soon yield to
that which is about him. Among the Jews, wisdom was
recognized as an attribute of God, and then later was
identified with the Spirit of God. In the New
Testament, that same vision was embodied in the Son
of God and made available to the people of God. Life
is quite impossible without supernatural wisdom.
Therefore, we need the wisdom of God to interpret
life and death and eternity. To understand the law
of wisdom we must give consideration to:
I. THE GIFT OF DIVINE WISDOM
"for the Lord giveth wisdom...."(2:6). Worldly
wisdom is "earthly, sensual [and] devilish," whereas
heavenly wisdom "...is first pure, then peacable,
gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and
good fruits, without partiality, and without
hypocrisy" (James 3:15, 17). It is clear, then, that
divine wisdom is a gift from above. James tells us
that:
1.) God Gives Wisdom Spiritually--
"If any [man] lack wisdom..." (James 1:5). that word
"lack" means, "destitute". Heaven has decreed that
man by human wisdom cannot know God (I Cor. 1:21).
He may come to God like the Greeks, with their
philosophic arguments; or like the Jews, with their
scientific approach, but divine wisdom will not be
given him. Only when a man acknowledges his
spiritual destitution and his own inability to face
the conflicts of life will God give His gift of
wisdom.
In the book "A BLADE OF GRASS, the authors recall the
common lament of people who have not found the Source
of true wisdom: "If only I were someplace else, I
could do better, the ends of the earth, some distant
place, would bring out my hidden qualities." And
then comes their answer: "Foolish person! Wisdom, and
the God of Wisdom, are in your own house! Set your
face to know wisdom within the frame of your own
home, and it will follow you to the ends of the
earth".
Spriritual destitution becomes spiritual revelation
when the wisdom of God is imparted thru the new birth
and a subsequent growth.(John 3:3; John 1:12-13; I
Cor. 2:6). "...we speak wisdom among them that are
perfect, ..." says Paul, denoting the mature person,
in contrast to the babe. It describes a person who
has developed physically, mentally or spiritually.
Pythagoras divided his disciples into those who were
babes and those who were perfect. He distinguished
between those who had gotten beyond rudimentary
instruction and those who were still beginners. Paul
makes the same distinction between those who merely
have knowledge and those who have wisdom. Wisdom is
both a gift and a growth; God not only imparts
wisdom, but increases it.
2.) God Gives Wisdom Sufficiently--
"If any [man] lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and
it shall be given him" (James 1:5). Wisdom is the
gift which God lavishes upon men with liberality and
regularity. We never need fear how often we come to
God for a fresh supply. He is ready and eager to
give, and give, and give again. The point James
makes here is that God matches the wisdom to our lack
or need. What a comfort to know that there is no
situation in life for which He is not adequate. An
all-wise God foresees our lack of wisdom and stands
ready to lavish it upon us, if only we ask.
Following the Gift of Divine Wisdom we have next the;
II. THE GRASP OF DIVINE WISDOM
"My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my
commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine
ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to
understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge,
and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou
seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for
hid treasures" (2:1-4).
It is one thing to know about the gift of wisdom, but
quite another to have the grasp of wisdom whichi God
demands. There 4 couplets with their "action words"
show us what is meant by the grasp of wisdom:
1.) We Must Receive the Wisdom of God--
"...receive my words..." (2:1). Because God is who
He is, and because He is what He is, we are to
receive His wisdom, as revealed in His Word and His
Son, with a repentant mind and ready heart. Failure
to adopt this atitude of penitence and thankfulness
is to become a fool, for as we have seen already,
"...fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Prov.1:7).
Man, apart from God, is distitute of wisdom; he is a
fool.
Not only must we receive the wisdom of God;
2.) We Must Retain the Wisdom of God--
"...hide my commandments with thee"(2:1) So many of
us are like the forgetful hearer who looks into the
mirror of God's law and then forgets what manner of
man he is (James 1:22-25). If we do not retain the
truth it has no effect upon our lives. Oh, to be
like David who could pray, "Thy word have I hid in
mine heart, that I might not sin against thee"
(Ps.119:11). There is no better way to master the
Word of God than to memorize it. The wisest men and
women are those who have saturated their minds and
hearts with the wisdom of God, as revealed in Holy
Scripture.
"John Osberg, a combat chaplain in the Korean War,
was asked what the Bible meant to him there. He
responded, 'Let me begin with an admission. Many a
night, as I lay trying to sleep in a foxhole or ditch
with the enemy shells bursting all around me, I found
myself terrified with the awful fear that grips the
heart of nearly every soldier. Nights were often a
nightmare against such a background; I learned early
the literal power of the Word of God. I would take a
well-known passage of promise, like Romans 8:28, and
just repeat it to myself over and over again, letting
the deep message anoint my quaking spirit. It
worked, not once, but time and time again."
We must receive the wisdom of God, we must retain the
wisdom of God and then;
3.) We Must Respect the Wisdom of God--
"...incline thine ear unto wisdom..."(2:2). The root
idea in the original is "to shapen the ear" and so
"respect" or "regard" what God is saying. Our
problem in coming to grips with God is that we do not
take Him seriously. When we respect what a man says
we act upon it, and vice versa.
Samuel Chadwick testified: "I have guided my life by
the Bible for more than 60 years, and I tell you
there is no book like it. It is a miracle of
literature, a perennial spring of wisdom, a wonder of
surprises, a revelation of mystery, an infallible
guide of conduct, and an unspeakable source of
comfort. Pay no attention to people who discredit
it, for I tell you that they speak without knowledge.
It is the Word of God itself. Study it according to
its own direction. Live by its principles, believe
its message, and follow its precepts. No man is
uneducated who knows the Bible, and no one is wise
who is ignorant of its teachings!"
After we have recieved, retained and respected the
wisdom of God, then;
4.) We Must RELATE the Wisdom of God--
"...apply thine heart to understanding" (2:2). This
is the whole purpose of seeking divine wisdom. The
pressures and problems of life are too great for us,
and without heavenly wisdom we cannot cope. But as
we apply our hearts to the eternal principles of the
gospel we find that we can relate to the problems of
everyday life. "We are not to pray that all
afflictions be removed, for they may be necessary to
accomplish His good purpose for our lives. We need
wisdom to put our testings to the right use. We need
to know how to face unemployment, disappointment, or
bereavement. And God promises to supply such
wisdom." As quoted from Foundations of Faith.
We have recieved, retained, respected and related the
wisdom of God. Now;
5.) We must REQUEST the Wisdom of God--
"...[cry] after knowledge..." (2:3). Because the
demands of each hour present a new challenge, we must
request the wisdom of God. We must cry for it--we
must pray for it--we must believe for it. Wisdom
will not come automatically. God does not treat us
as robots; He deals with us as sons and daughters.
He waits to be asked, and when we exercise this faith
He gives wisdom liberally.
Next,
6.) We Must REQUIRE the Wisdom of God--
"...[lift] up thy voice for understanding" (2:3).
Solomon uses the verb "to call" for understanding
(see Proverbs 9:15). In another place he says,
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom:
and with all thy getting get understanding"
(Prov.4:7). Understanding is wisdom in full
strength. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul exhorts,
"...be not children in understanding: ...but in
understanding be men" (I Cor. 14:20). There is no
greater tragedy in the church than spiritual
retardation--Christians who never leave the baby
stage. There is abundant room for manly
understanding to show itself in the reasonings of a
theologian, the policies of a bishop, the appeals of
a preacher, and the councels of the pastor. And
there is a far wider scope for the exercise of
sanctified manliness and mature intelligence in the
varied departments of human, social, civil, and
ecclesiastical life. It is the glory of Christianity
that while it stoops to the child, it rises to the
amn and aids him to realize the intellectual and
spiritual prerogatives of manhood.
It is a sign of spiritual health to require wisdom.
If there is no hunger or thirst after God and His
purpose there is something radically wrong.
We next find;
7.) We Must Research the Wisdom of God--
"...[seek] her as silver..."(2:4). This is the
language of the prospector and researcher. The
wisdom of God is like hidden treasure; we have to
search for it. Herschel H. Hobbs says the word
"search" is a term found in ancient manuscripts for a
professional researcher's report and for the search
of custom officals" Just as an experienced customs
offical frings to light the hidden articles from a
traveler's suitcase, so the Holy Spirit, in a more
meaningful sense, explores the deep and hidden things
of God and makes them understandable and available to
the humblest Christian. To research the wisdom of
God is to "...grow in grace, and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."(2 Peter 3:18)
And finally as we struggle to get the Grasp of Divine
Wisdom, we not only must receive, retain, respect,
relate, request, require and research the Wisdom of
God, ....
8.) We Must Retrace the Wisdom of God--
"...[search] for her as for hid treasures" (2:4).
This is not a repeat of the previous figure of
speech. It takes us further and brings us to the
climax of grasping the wisdom of God. In olden time,
treasure was often buried in the ground for security
purposes; and sometimes when maps or signs were
mislaid the areas of hidden had to be retraced. This
called for diligence, patience and persistence. So
it is with us. Truths already revealed and known are
often buried in our notes or in our minds and need to
be retraced and brought to light by the power of the
Spirit. Only thus can we grasp the wisdom of God.
(see 2 Peter 1:13)
Now we move on to our final point, point 3;
III. THE GOAL OF DIVINE WISDOM
"Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and
find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth
wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and
understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the
righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk
uprightly" (2:5-7). It is possible to have knowledge
without wisdom, but it is impossible to have wisdom
without knowledge. The goal of divine wisdom is the
knowledge of God. In these verses we are told how
wisdom relates us to God in a threefold way:
1.) We Must Relate to God as our TEACHER--
"...the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh
knowledge and understanding" (2:6). he is the master
Teacher who, at a given point in time, assumed flesh
and walked among men and said, "I am the truth" (see
John 14:6). When people heard Him they were
"...astonished...for he taught them as one having
authority..."(Matt. 7:28-29). Hungry listeners
"...wondered at the gracious words which proceeded
out of his mouth..."(Luke 4:22) Today He says,
"Learn of me"(Matt.11:29), and as we learn of Him we
must remember that "In [Him] are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3)
"The president of a major insurance company in
America once stated in an address: 'There is 200
times as much to know today as in the year 1900, and
by the year 2000...there will be 1000 times as much
knowledge of all kinds. Every 10 years now is equal
to 100 years of knowledge in the past."
When all such knowledge is accumulated and analyzed,
it will be found that man is only thinking God's
thoughts after Him. In this sense there is nothing
new. We are only learning what God has already
stored up for us in Jesus Christ.
Afer we relate to God as Teacher;
2.) We Must Relate to God as our SAVIOR--
"He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous:..."
(2:7). There are varied opinions as to the meaning
of the word "sound". In the Hebrew, the primary idea
is that of "soundness" which leads to health and
salvation. Paul probably had this term in mind when
he wrote about "sound doctrine" (I Tim.1:10; 2
Tim.4:3). The context in which this phrase occurs
confronts us with the saving word of the gospel. It
is the Holy Scriptures that "...make [us] wise unto
salvation through faith....in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim.
3:15). And Paul reminds us that Christ crucified may
be to the Jews a stumblingblock, and to the Gentiles
foolishness, but to us who are called, Christ is both
the power and the wisdom of God (1 Cor.1:23-24). You
can examine all categories of philosophies but you
will fail to find what Solomon calls "...sound wisdom
for the righteous:..(2:7). Only in the word of the
gospel is revealed the saving grace of God (I
Cor.1:18).
After we relate to God as Teacher and Savior, we find
finally that;
3.) We Must Relate to God as our KEEPER--
"...he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly."
(2:7). This aspect of God's protecting power is
found in many parts of the Bible. As we walk in
obedience to revealed truth we can know daily
protection. Peter tells us we are "...kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time." (I Pet. 1:5). We live in
a perilous and polluted world, and but for this
keeping power of God we could never survive. With
all the advances of science and technology the forces
of destruction are at work. One day this entire
globe will have to be purified by fire before God can
establish His kingdom of righteousness and peace.
Meanwhile, we are shut up to the wisdom of God to
know and to maintain a life of purity and victory.
Through His great and precious promises we are made
"partakers of the divine nature," enabling us to
excape "the corruption that is in the world through
lust" (2 Peter 1:4).
CONCLUSION:
Well, we have traveled a great distance tonight. We
have talked about the Gift of Divine Wisdom, the
Grasp of Divine Wisdom and the Goal of Divine Wisdom.
The ultimate gaol of wisdom is to relate us to God as
Teacher, Savior, and Keeper. Let us then posses the
gift of wisdom and then pursue the grasp of wisdom
until we "find the knowledge of God" in all its
fullness.
