Distilled Wisdom- Brendan Hurley - 26th April 2026

Well, let's pray, let's ask God for help as we

dig into his word now. Gracious Heavenly Father,

we ask that you would help us to be wise, to

grow in wisdom, to keep learning wisdom, and

help us to understand what wisdom is all about.

And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, one

of the best presents that I've ever got was a

trip to gin school. It's a place in Fremantle

in Perth and there at gin school we learnt all

about the science of distillation. You get to

make your own bottle of unique flavoured gin.

It was awesome. It was a great birthday present,

better than socks and undies. I called my bottle

of gin for Geneva. So, yeah. Anyway. But the

best part of it was learning about the distilling

process. Heating a fermented drink like white

wine is what we did. And then we'd separate the

different components and distill the alcohol

from the other ingredients. And you'd get to

the essence. You'd get to the real sort of more

pure alcohol. And then you'd remix it with flavours

to make gin. And actually, juniper berries is

a big one because you can't, it's not gin if

you don't have juniper berries. So there you

go if you want to win gin trivia. But the reason

I raise this is because distilling today is big

business. But not just with alcohol. I know there's

distill on the hill and narrow tracks, but not

just with alcohol. There's a whole industry of

distilling wisdom. People sharing the essence

of how the world works. You've seen it. Books,

podcasts, courses, reels, coaching. There's a

marketplace that now exists today of people spruiking

themselves and their particular ideology about

the world. And business is booming. With social

media and everything being online Anyone can

access anything from all over the world and people

love doing it because we want to be taught How

to live our lives better? How do I use money

better? How do I do? Relationships better. How

do I run a business better? What's good for my

health? You know people want to know all the

answers to all these questions Especially Because

life today is so complex. It's a skill to know

what to do in differing situations, isn't it?

Should I speak? Should I stay silent? Should

I invest my money there? Should I just hang onto

it and save it and put it in the bank? That's

just a few, but life is complicated like that,

isn't it? In one situation, that might be the

best thing, but in another situation, that might

be the best thing. It depends on the context,

because life is complicated. But it's also complex,

because there's so many competing, contradictory

gurus out there, isn't there? It's a headache

trying to navigate a world like ours. to work

out who to listen to. One person will say this,

one person will say that, they'll say something

completely different from each other, but will

be revered by many as, well, they're really wise.

How do you work out which person to listen to?

Which one should you follow on TikTok? Who do

you listen to? Wouldn't it be great if we could

just simplify wisdom? If we could just distill

wisdom down to its Essence. Boil it down and

just really understand how the world works. If

we could, what would that essence be? What would

be at the heart of wisdom? Well, it is possible

to find. Actually, that's what Proverbs 1, 1

-7 is seeking to teach us. See, Proverbs isn't

actually a whole book of just life hacks. You

know, oh yeah, here's what you do with your money,

here's what you do parenting, here's what you...

No. It's actually weaving a tapestry of wisdom

to help us see and understand the world. But

there's one thing, one essence, one thing that's

tying it all together. And that's Proverbs 1

.1 -7. And in light of the whole Bible's message,

because remember Proverbs comes in a context

of the whole Bible, here's what it's teaching

us. Jesus will judge the world so wisdom is surrendering

to him. That's what I hope you take away from

today. Jesus will judge the world so wisdom is

surrendering to him. And there's three things

we're going to see. in Proverbs and then see

how it relates to Jesus. So here's the first

one. Wisdom starts with fearing God. Secondly,

wisdom produces godly living. And thirdly, wisdom

must not be assumed. Wisdom starts with fearing

God, wisdom produces godly living, wisdom must

not be assumed. So let's have a look at the first

one. Wisdom starts with fearing God. And if you've

got a Bible there, please keep it open to Proverbs

1, 1 -7. So what is wisdom? Well, wisdom is understanding

how the world works. But most fundamental to

that is this is God's world, isn't it? If we're

going to understand how this world works, we

need to understand who God is. We've got to understand

what He's doing in the world. And that's why

we get verse seven. Have a look there. The fear

of the Lord, the fear of Yahweh is the beginning

of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The essence of wisdom, the essence of knowledge

is fearing Yahweh, fearing God. Now what's it

mean by fear here? Well, it's a faith that takes

God seriously. It's a faith that takes God seriously.

It's having a healthy fear of who God is. I remember

a little while ago going to the aquarium here

in Cairns and we've done it many times with our

kids in all sorts of places. I've noticed that

when you go to the aquarium in Cairns, have you

ever driven past it and on a rainy day there's

always like all the people are at the aquarium

in Cairns? Like it seems to be the big place

to go but when we went to the aquarium You go

around, you check out all the different fishies

and things like that and I always love coming

to the sharks, the big sharks. I think they've

got some great white sharks, don't they? Yeah,

that's my fave. You go see the great white sharks

and you look overhead and here's what I think.

I look at it and I go, I'm really glad I'm on

this side of the glass. Don't you think that?

I don't want to be in there in the tank with

them. That's a healthy fear, isn't it? That's

the sort of fear we should have toward God. I

don't want to be on the wrong side of God. He's

the God of the universe. He's holy. He's just.

He's powerful. He rules over everything. He has

every right to do whatever he wants with me.

He's God. To be on the wrong side of God, that

would be a dangerous thing. But because I'm in

Jesus, because I'm saved by Him and have experienced

and know His grace, I'm on the right side of

the tank, aren't I? I'm on the right side of

God, not because of my works, but because of

what Jesus has done for me. That's having a healthy

fear of God. I don't want to be somewhere else

on the wrong side of God. But then we've got

to ask the question, who is this God? You know,

fearing God, well, It doesn't say that, it says

fearing Yahweh. This is not some vague unmoved

mover. No, this is the God of the Bible. That's

who we fear. The one who revealed himself to

Old Testament Israel. The God who made promises.

The God who rescued his people from slavery.

The God who protected King David and Solomon.

I mean, we even get it there in verse 1. The

Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.

This is the God who's in the storyline of the

whole Bible. It's that God who we fear. And for

us, sitting this side of the cross, we know that

God even more clearly. We know that this God

is Trinity. We know that this God came in His

Son into our world that Jesus is Yahweh. He taught

things that were just out of this world, love

your enemies, things that are just mind -blowing.

He did the most amazing miracles, so much so

that people came from all over to follow and

worship Him. He died on the cross for our sins.

He rose again as Lord of all to prove that He

is Yahweh. Any wisdom that's disconnected from

him is actually folly. It's wisdom with no foundation.

Near where I grew up in Sydney is a suburb called

Colloroy. It's a beautiful beachside suburb,

luxury properties right there on the shoreline.

But they've had constant problems. because the

sand keeps eroding the foundation of the buildings.

They're too close to the beach. And I remember

one big storm and this pool, this particular

swimming pool there, got completely washed away

because it's just not stable. And so these buildings

all the time are dangerously shifting. It's a

real problem that they have to keep trying to

work out. Now here's the thing, no matter how

wonderful the building in Colloroy, you know,

you can have the most luxury luxury of apartments

with all the skill and wisdom to build it, it

doesn't stand without a good foundation, does

it? Now Jesus tells a parable that makes the

same point about life. Two builders build houses.

One builds their house on a rock, one builds

it on the sand. And there's a storm that comes,

the storm of God's judgment day. The one on the

house who built his house on the rock, he stands.

The one who built his house on the sand, it falls

and it's a great disaster. And Jesus says, here's

the point, if you follow my words, if you hear

my words and do them, you're like the wise builder

who built his house on the rock. You will stand

at God's judgment. But if you don't you could

have the most amazing house you could have built

your life on all sorts of things and had a great

life in many ways But it will fall ultimately

If you don't build it on Jesus Being ready for

when we die for when we meet our maker That's

the wisest thing you can do, isn't it? That's

the essence of wisdom. Are you, are your loved

ones, ready for that day? You know, if you want

it to be really wise, here's what you do. Firstly,

getting a to -do list. A to -do list is great

help. Get a to -do list, but here's what you

do. Right at the top, every time you have a to

-do list, Be ready for God's judgment. Write

that on the top of your to -do list, because

that's the thing you always need to be doing.

That's wisdom, isn't it? It's seeing that as

the priority of my life. So the essence of wisdom

is fearing God. But it's not a fear, it's not

a faith that doesn't... that's just... in your

head. It's a fear and a faith that produces a

new life. And that's the next thing we need to

see about wisdom. Wisdom starts with fearing

God, but wisdom produces godly living. Wisdom

produces godly living. We often think of wisdom

as very pragmatic. And in many ways it is. Yet,

Because Jesus is Lord of all and will judge the

universe, we need to surrender to him. That's

what wisdom's about. That's the most pragmatic

thing we can do. Look with me at verses two to

three. For gaining wisdom and instruction, for

understanding words of insight, for receiving

instruction in prudent behaviour, doing what

is right and just and fair. Now in the ESV in

verse 3 there, you don't get prudent behaviour,

you get wise dealing, which, you know, sounds

like wisdom's about getting the best deal, very

Donald Trump -like, isn't it? But the point here

is that it's about acting with integrity. That's

wisdom. It's not about getting ahead. Wisdom

is about acting with integrity, doing what is

right, doing what is good. Wisdom, if Jesus is

going to judge everything, is about being Christ

-like, from a place of faith. See, so much of

Proverbs is showing us that wisdom is about trusting

in God, having a real living trust in God that

turns away from evil. See, wise people are people

who trust God and live by principles. They go,

what is it that God wants me to do? That's what

I need to do. I trust him. I'll live his way.

Whereas foolish people are purely pragmatic.

They just do what works immediately, with no

thought about where it's ultimately going. Many

years ago I worked at Bendigo Bank in Sydney,

and when we did training at the bank, we were

told about a branch manager at one Bendigo who

stole two million dollars. She wrote fake loans,

She shifted term deposits around to hide them.

And then she lived the high life on the weekends.

She'd go and get limos and go to the casino and

just live the high life. And eventually she couldn't

sustain it. She got caught and did a huge amount

of prison time. But I want to ask the question,

what if she'd never gotten caught? You know,

if you live in a universe where there's no God,

no consequences, that would be a wise way to

live, wouldn't it? If there is no God and we

all just die and the person with the most toys

wins, then hey, you know, she's got it right.

Especially if she can get away with it. Or Vladimir

Putin's got it right, isn't it? If he can get

away with it, amass as much wealth as you can,

enjoy life. But what if there is a God? What

if there is a God who will judge everything?

I mean that's not the world we live in. There

is a God who judges. There is a God who will

bring everything to account. Jesus conquered

sin and death. He displayed his authority over

everything. He said there will be a day of judgment

and that the only escape is to trust in his death

on the cross. That his death is like a sin spudge

absorbing all our sins into himself. And that

the only way we escape is if we trust that cross

and if we surrender to Jesus. See, true pragmatism,

pragmatism is actually really wise, is seeing

ultimately that's where it's all going. That

Jesus wins and will judge everything. And Jesus

endorses this. In Luke 14, Jesus tells this parable

about a king who goes to war against another

king. And he's there and he looks at his army

and he goes, oh man, this other king's got double

the forces I've got. There's no way I'm gonna

beat him. I'm gonna surrender and make peace

with this king. And Jesus is saying, that's what

it's like with us. We are nothing. Actually,

it's not even double for us, is it? We are nothing

compared with God. He's got infinite power. Be

a fool's errand to take Him on, wouldn't it?

The wise choice is to surrender to Him. And it's

the same for us. You know, if you're a Christian,

I reckon here's one thing that's really, really

hard. We see other people around us living pragmatically.

They lie. They sleep around. They take whatever

they want. And it feels like you're being dumb.

It feels like, man, I want to live the high life

like them. You feel this pull. I want to copy

them. And when you feel that pull, what you've

got to do is step back and look at the bigger

picture. Tell yourself, I'm doing what really

works. Because I know where it's all going. And

then keep going. Reframe it in your mind. See

it differently by looking at that big picture.

See where it's all going. You're doing the most

pragmatic thing in the deepest possible way.

So the essence of wisdom, it's a healthy fear

of Jesus. It's a life that produces the fruit

of faith. But there's one more aspect to it.

Wisdom must not be assumed. Wisdom must not be

assumed. You know what stops people becoming

wise? They think they're wise enough already.

Actually, that's the big sin in the book of Proverbs.

The kind of worst thing you can do is to be wise

in your own eyes, as Proverbs says. The essence

of wisdom is to be humble and teachable. It's

to live life with L -plates on and to never take

them off. It's to have a hunger and a curiosity

for God's wisdom whatever age or stage of life

you might be in. Look with me at verses four

to six. The book of Proverbs is for giving prudence

to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion

to the young. Let the wise listen and add to

their learning and let the discerning get guidance

for understanding Proverbs and parables, the

sayings and riddles of the wise. Who's wisdom

for in Proverbs? Everyone. The simple, the young.

Because if you get your wisdom sorted when you're

young and simple, it'll prevent a lot of regret

later, won't it? And if you're wise and discerning,

you too need more. Because you know our world

is so complex. The more wisdom you have, the

more it will benefit you. Fools in verse 7 despise

wisdom. They think they know it all already.

They don't see that they always need more. We

did a bit of snorkeling while I was on holidays

the other day. We went to Green Island which

was pretty good. But I think back to when I went

snorkeling many years ago when I was a kid and

we went snorkeling on the outer reef. And I don't

know, am I right? Is that better? It seems better

to me. Anyway, I saw more people that day on

the outer reef in tight clinging spandex than

anyone ever should though. But some of us, when

we were snorkeling, we knew that you had to have

air, didn't you? That's the whole point of the

snorkel. Breathe in the air. Some were scuba

diving. What do they need to make sure they do?

That their air is working. No matter what you

were doing in the water, we all knew you needed

air. If you didn't have enough air, what do you

do? You go to the surface and get air. Young,

old, big lungs, small lungs, new to snorkeling,

a veteran of snorkeling, whatever it is, all

of us made sure we always had air and plenty

of it. We need to think of God's wisdom in the

same way. You can never have too much. You always

need more. This is the thing that sustains you

and keeps you going. God's wisdom is that important.

How's this play out in the real world? Well,

we've all got to look in our hearts and guard

against being wise in our own eyes. It's a big

danger for all of us. It's a danger for me. It's

easy as a pastor who's studied at Bible college

and preached sermons week after week after week

to just rest on my laurels. Think, yeah, yeah,

I know it all already. No, I need to keep digging.

I need to keep learning. I need to keep growing.

It's easy for someone who's been a Christian

for a while, who's heard a lot and read a lot

and taught a lot. It's easy on a Sunday to just

tune out, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, OK, what have

I got this week? And what's in the oven at the

moment? And you're thinking about 20 different

things. I know one guy who used to count bricks

in the church building. No, we need to be there,

tuned in, zoned in, giving God our attention,

because we need His wisdom. You could be a young

adult who thinks, Oh, I've got a sharper grasp

on things than these old timers. You know, I

don't really need to listen to them. No, those

are some folk who've lived life following Jesus

and have great wisdom to offer you. Listen to

the Bible. Listen to those who've walked with

Jesus longer than you as well. Or it's easy to

be the non -Christian who goes, I already know

what the Bible says. I've studied at uni and

thought about philosophy and some of these things

or read a fair bit. I don't need to hear about

this stuff or think about it anymore. I'm done

with that. That's not a good place to be. That's

being wise in your own eyes. Let me ask all of

us today. Are you wise in your own eyes? Be a

learner. Keep learning. Keep listening to God's

Word. There's great treasure here as we get to

know wisdom better. All right, let's recap. What's

the essence of wisdom? Well, we saw three things.

Wisdom starts with fearing God. It's taking the

Lord Jesus seriously and heeding his word. Wisdom

produces godly living. If we take Jesus seriously,

if we trust him, we won't just do what works,

but we'll do good works, won't we? Because actually,

ultimately, that is what works. And then wisdom

must not be assumed. You can't be wise when you're

proud. You can't be wise when you think you know

it all already. Wise people are humble learners.

who sit before Jesus and listen to him. The essence

of wisdom is faith, obedience and humility. Or

you could sum it up as this. Jesus will judge

the world so wisdom is surrendering to him. So

what's that mean for us? Well, for some of us

here, you might not be Christian. And I'm so

glad you're here if you're not. We're really

glad you've come to church today. But for you,

I want to point you to the parable that we read

earlier. Remember the one about a farmer who

built bigger barns? In the world's eyes, he was

very wise. He listened to all the podcasts. He

talked to all the business gurus. He worked a

lot out. He worked out how to get rich. He distilled

a lot of business and farming wisdom down to

its essence so that he could get ahead. He retired

early. I mean, isn't that the dream? And very

comfortably as well. Yet God called him a fool.

Because this man didn't thank God. He spent his

whole life ignoring God. He treated God as if

he wasn't there. And God says he lost his soul.

Knowing a lot, owning a lot, having the most

toys at the end when you die, it's worth nothing.

If you lose your soul for eternity, you've lost

everything. Make sure you're foolproof. You might

not agree with this Christianity stuff, but be

so certain. If Jesus is right, you want to be

sure that you've worked that out, don't you?

Read a gospel with a Christian. Come grab a coffee

with me. See who Jesus is. Work out if his claims

are real or not. This is so important. But if

you're a Christian, I want to speak to you. I

want to say keep making your life foolproof.

How? How do you make your life foolproof? Keep

seeking wisdom. Come to church. If you miss church,

listen to the sermon online. Join a growth group.

But also don't live in a monastery. Tucked away

from the world, engage with reality. Make sure

reading the Bible and hearing God's Word is your

priority, but yeah, listen to podcasts, read

books, watch reels. There's great things to learn

out there, as Augustine said, plunder the Egyptians.

Like, we want to learn from the things of this

world. But we always filter it through God's

wisdom. We test and we glean what's helpful.

And also we stand guard. Beware. There's lots

out there that's trying to convince you of godless

living. Keep coming to that bigger picture of

where everything is going and that you need to

be ready for when Jesus returns. But for the

Christian, I've got another challenge as well.

Get what you've learnt from your head to your

heart. That's also really important when it comes

to wisdom, isn't it? We act really foolish if

all the stuff we learn lives in our head. We

need information that leads to transformation.

And so what we've got to do is like with distilling

gin. We've got to take that essence and remix

it. With gin you take that alcohol and you remix

it with all these lovely herbs and other things

and florals and stuff. We want to take the essence

of wisdom and remix it back into our lives. Christians

don't just distill the wisdom of the Bible to

no Bible trivia. We mix it with our lives so

we live wisely. And when you do that, it changes

how you see the world. You start seeing what

you believe. That's actually when you... being

wise. Let me give you some examples and I'll

close by giving you some examples of what this

looks like. You get a new perspective on things.

So our big thing is Jesus will judge the world

so wisdom is surrendering to him. How's that

change how you see things? Well all of a sudden

your ambitions for your kids are different aren't

they? Oh I really want my kids to go to the best

school and go to uni and get the best job and

I want them to thrive and No, actually, I want

my kids to love and follow the Lord Jesus. That's

the ambition I have for them. At one level, yeah,

I want them to go well in their lives, but they

can do whatever. I want them to follow Jesus.

That's my ultimate ambition for them. Or it changes

how you see wealth. True riches. Oh, that's heavenly

riches, isn't it? It's being saved by Jesus and

living for eternity with him in paradise. That

changes how I see money. Do you know, all money

is just like monopoly money. Eventually, you

can't use it anymore, can you? You can't take

it with you. It's only good while you're in the

game. Well, that's the same with our money, isn't

it? Yes, enjoy it. Yes, use it to survive, but

see that it won't last. It can't give you the

security that you long for. Only Jesus can do

that. The real thing is to live for those true

riches and use the money you have to help you

and others get to that place. Or your worries.

It changes how you fear things when you see this,

the essence of wisdom. When you fear God, when

you fear Jesus more than anything else, you stop

being afraid of everything else, don't you? I've

got that sorted. I trust Jesus. I'm saved. You

know what? No matter what goes wrong in my life,

I'm going to be okay ultimately because ultimately

I'll be with Jesus forever. And actually I know

Jesus... is ruling everything, reigning over

everything, I can trust him as I live my life

to provide for me, to guide me, even when life

is going really hard. I don't need to be scared

anymore. Can you see how when you get that essence

of wisdom, it changes everything? Are you living

life? with that essence of wisdom clear in your

mind. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we want to

thank you so much for the Lord Jesus. Thank you

for the great hope we have in him. Thank you

that one day all who trust in him, all who surrender

to him, will be with him in eternity. Thank you

that he died for all our sins. Help us to keep

following Him, to keep trusting in Him, to keep

learning about Him. Help us to be wise. And we

ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.