Becoming Wise

Let me ask you, are you a wise person?

Well, before you answer that, what does it mean to be wise?

You know, anybody can probably fix their own, coin their own definition and make them to be wise.

But let's look at it.

The word wise in the dictionary says this.

To be wise means having the power of discerning and judging correctly as to what is true or right.

Wisdom.

It's not about just being smart.

Just having a high IQ.

Even what you would call a secular dictionary definition says

that wisdom involves the power of discerning and judging correctly as to what is true or right.

Being wise is not the same as being intelligent or academically inclined.

You know people that are highly intelligent, but they aren't wise.

They don't demonstrate good judgment.

You might even say they don't have any common sense.

On the other hand, you know some people that you really respect because they are wise and give wise advice.

But they're not highly educated.

They're not intellectually gifted.

Look on the screen at an example of someone who was obviously not very smart,

but he sometimes demonstrated real wisdom.

Go see.

I ain't bees coming with the uniforms.

I promised I'd get her another sewing machine.

Take charge here.

Okay, Gummer.

You heard what Andy said.

I'm in charge.

Let's get cutting.

You crawl in under there and I'll go get the jack.

Right.

Okay.

Stamp under there.

Could be spiders.

Now what makes you think there's spiders under there?

Call a spider spider.

That's where I'd go.

Gummer, there's no spiders under there.

Now let's get moving.

I don't know.

Sure looks spidery to me.

There's no spiders under there.

Now we establish.

You would never list Gummer Pyle as one of the smartest or wisest people you know, would you?

But even Gummer Pyle knew that a dark and damp place like that was a good place for a spider.

And he was wise enough, he wasn't going to crawl up under there no matter what Barney told him.

Many people in this world possess that kind of wisdom.

It's not something just reserved for Christians.

It's really a part of us being created in the image of God.

I'm beginning a new series this morning called Becoming Wise.

We're going to begin in James chapter 3, verses 13 through 18,

James 3:13–18

and just really get started there today and come back and finish it next week.

And then we're going to move to the book of Proverbs,

the most well-known book of wisdom in the Bible.

As I go wherever I go,

talk to whoever,

I can't find anyone who is not discouraged

about the present condition of our country right now.

Especially the political chaos that we call a presidential election process.

I mean, people of whatever political persuasion,

people of all walks of life, it seems,

are discouraged,

are pessimistic

about what we see happening around about us,

not just in the political world,

but there too.

What I want us to understand is what we see happening

and not happening before us

is really just a symptom of the deeper moral

and spiritual crisis

that exists in our country.

We desperately need God's wisdom

in every possible way.

And I want us to start seeking it

by looking at God's Word

today in James chapter 3.

James 3 · chapter mention

Let's look at it.

James 3, 13.

Who is wise and understanding among you?

By his good conduct,

let him show his works

in the meekness of wisdom.

But if you have bitter jealousy

and selfish ambition in your hearts,

do not boast

and be false to the truth.

This is not the wisdom

that comes down from above,

but is earthly,

unspiritual,

demonic.

For where jealousy

and selfish ambition exist,

there will be disorder

and every vile practice.

But the wisdom from above

is first pure,

then peaceable,

gentle,

open to reason,

full of mercy

and good fruits,

impartial

and sincere.

And a harvest of righteousness

is sown in peace

by those who make peace.

I want us to look at verse 13 in particular

and the question

that James begins

by asking.

Who is wise and understanding among you?

And then you look at what's said next,

you know,

he's not looking for an answer in words.

He's looking for an answer

in people's works.

James is not saying,

define wisdom.

He's not telling us even to describe it.

He's telling us to show it

by the way that we live.

He then describes characteristics

of two different kinds of wisdom,

earthly wisdom

and heavenly wisdom.

Now,

you notice that everything James says

about earthly wisdom

or just human wisdom

is negative.

The reason he does that

in this context

is because he is comparing it

with the wisdom

that comes from God.

There is a

huge difference

between the wisdom

that God gives

to his people

and what we might call

the natural human wisdom

that anyone may possess.

But we also need to be clear

that neither James

nor any other Bible writers

deny the reality

of human wisdom.

You just stop

and think about it.

You can think of somebody

that you have really learned

some important things from,

lessons of life.

You consider them to be wise.

Maybe they were a relative,

a coach,

a teacher,

or a good friend.

But they were not Christians.

But as you think back

or just as you know them now,

you know that

there's some wisdom

coming from them.

You know,

throughout the history

of our country,

we as a nation

have been blessed

with wisdom

from leaders

who were not Christians.

in the founding

of our country,

we've read about

non-Christians,

deists,

and others who,

they were wise men

who helped this country

get started

and get started

in a good way.

We've had wise,

non-believing,

non-Christian leaders

in government,

in the military,

in educational institutions,

and in industry.

So we know

there's wisdom

out there

in people

who are not Christians.

There is such a thing

as human wisdom

that has positive benefits.

But James' focus

is on the superiority

of the wisdom

that God gives

to His people.

And the reason

His wisdom

is superior

is because

God's wisdom

is what enables us

to know Him

and know His will

and know how

He intends

for life

to be lived

in this world

in a way

that will please Him

and satisfy us.

That's why God's wisdom

is so important.

And that's going to be

the focus of our teaching

throughout this study.

But it's also important

that we understand

that basic human wisdom

is real

and it is a gift

of God

to all people.

So let's get started.

Number one,

human wisdom

is possible.

Human wisdom,

natural wisdom

we'll say,

is possible

for two reasons.

Number one,

we're created

in the image of God.

The Scripture says

in Genesis 1,

Then God said,

Let us make man

in our image

after our likeness.

So God created man

in His own image.

In the image of God,

He created him.

Male and female,

He created them.

The theologian

Wayne Grudem

points out

that the words

image and likeness

refer to something

that is similar

but not identical

to the thing

it represents.

You may have a child

who is like you

in many ways.

There's a resemblance.

There's things

that they do

that is a lot like you

but they're not

the same as you.

Well,

we're created

in the image of God

and that means

we are like Him

in many ways.

Not always,

obviously.

we're not God

but being created

in His image,

in His likeness

means that we are

like Him

in some ways.

Now,

in the context

of us talking

about wisdom,

one of the ways

that we're like God

is our ability

to think,

reason logically,

learn from experience

and then make

wise decisions.

I mean,

you think about it yourself

how you have been able

to think through

problems

things,

think through situations,

reason logically

about it,

maybe learn

from trial and error,

learn from somebody

else's experience

and then you were able

to make a wise decision.

It may have been about

building something.

It may have been about

figuring out something.

It may have been about

relating to people

but you know

what we're talking about here.

being able to have

such wisdom

is what's helped

human beings

move from,

say,

living in caves

thousands of years ago

to living in the kind

of homes we have today

where we're

cooled in the summer,

warm in the winter.

I mean,

we've come a long way

since early man.

We've come a long way

people my age

from when

I was young.

But no other creature

has done this.

Think about it.

Birds

are still building

nests

in trees

with little twigs

just like they've

always done it.

Unless

you

have built

a bird house

for a bird.

A bird would never

think about

building a bird house.

He couldn't

think about it.

He couldn't do it.

Because birds

are not created

in God's image.

We are.

That means

we are people

who are able

to be wise

in many ways.

Now,

after Adam and Eve

sinned,

everything in creation

was corrupted.

The ability

of human beings

to use their

God-like qualities

was greatly distorted

but it was not lost.

Since the fall,

since Genesis 3,

since everybody

after Adam and Eve

has been born

into this world,

everybody has still

been born

created in the image

and likeness

of God.

We still have

those God-like

qualities.

We are able to

understand morality,

to reason,

to use logic,

to create things,

to be wise.

James even points out

in chapter 3,

look up a few verses

back in verse 9,

refers to people

who are made

in the likeness of God.

This is how he uses it.

James is condemning people

who use their tongue

to curse people

who have been created

in the image of God.

Being created

in the image of God

makes you,

makes all people,

someone of worth,

of value,

of dignity.

That's really the basis

of self-esteem

and the only basis

that we're created

in the image of God,

the likeness of God.

That's one reason

why we can be wise.

A second reason

is because of God's

common grace.

You understand

God's saving grace.

You're familiar

with that passage

in Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

that says,

for by grace

are you saved

through faith.

We understand

God's saving grace.

He shows us

His undeserved favor

through faith in Jesus.

Well, God's common grace

is also His undeserved favor,

but it's shown

to all people

as He blesses them

with the talents,

abilities,

and resources

to do all the things

that it's possible

for us to do

in this world.

Jesus talked about this

in the Sermon on the Mount.

He gave this example

of God's common grace.

Look at it in Matthew 5.

Jesus said,

for He,

that is God,

makes His Son

rise on the evil

and on the good

and sends rain

on the just

and on the unjust.

I mean,

Jesus is just talking

about a simple,

the simple way

God just

blesses people.

You've got some

godly farmers

over here.

You've got some

ungodly farmers

over there.

Well, God sends rain

on both of them.

God gives favorable

weather conditions

to both.

Both can have

good crops.

Both can be blessed

in this kind of way.

The Apostle Paul

said something

very similar

in Acts 14.

He's writing to,

or he's talking

to pagans,

unbelievers,

and he's trying

to help them understand

how God's always

been involved

in your life.

God is real.

You just haven't

known Him.

But Paul was making

Him known.

Look at what he said.

Yet he,

that is God,

did not leave

himself without witness,

for he did good

by giving you

rains from heaven

and fruitful seasons,

satisfying your hearts

with food

and gladness.

See,

God's common grace

has always been

in this world.

He's always shown

His undeserved favor

to people in general

just by sending

good weather,

enabling us

to do the kind

of things

that we can do

and discover.

Tim Keller,

influential pastor

in New York City,

Redeemer of Presbyterian Church.

He does an excellent

job of explaining

how all people,

all of us,

are beneficiaries

of God's common grace.

Look at what he says.

God gives out

gifts of wisdom,

talent,

beauty,

and skill

according to His grace.

that is,

in a completely

unmerited way.

He casts them

across the human race

like seed

in order to enrich,

brighten,

and preserve the world.

By rights,

sin should be making

life on earth here

much more unbearable

than it is.

And in fact,

all of creation

and culture

should have fallen apart

by now.

The reason that it is

not worse

is because of the gift

of common grace.

Without an understanding

of common grace,

Christians will have

trouble understanding

why non-Christians

so often exceed

Christians morally

and in wisdom.

I've always heard

people talk about

and trying to argue

against

how we're all born

as sinners

and in need

of a Savior.

I've always heard

people say,

but I know

these people

who are not Christians

and they're more

morally upright

than most church members.

That's true.

But the truth is,

as Keller points out,

it's because of God's

common grace.

He's just used

some people

in some good

and helpful ways

because that's how

he accomplished

his purpose.

Such common grace wisdom

that we're talking

about here

is how all cultures

throughout history

have had wise men

and the Bible

talks about that.

The Bible refers

to wise men.

The wise men

of Israel's

pagan,

unbelieving neighbors.

The Bible refers

to them as having

a certain kind

of wisdom.

Look at it

from 1 Kings chapter 4.

1 Kings 4 · chapter mention

And God gave Solomon

wisdom and understanding

beyond measure

so that Solomon's wisdom

surpassed the wisdom

of all the people

of the east

and all of the wisdom

of Egypt.

Now,

this description

of Solomon's wisdom

exceeding the wisdom

of everyone else

meant that everyone else

did have wisdom.

You can't exceed

other people's wisdom

if they don't have any.

So the Bible's acknowledging

unbelieving people

can be wise.

Old Testament scholar

Derek Kidner

explains how this is taught

throughout the Old Testament.

He says,

The Old Testament

clearly implies

that a man can still

think validly

and talk wisely

within a limited field

without special revelation.

So what we're doing here,

we're beginning

a study of wisdom.

As we do this,

honesty requires

that we acknowledge

that God created

all human beings

with a capacity

for wisdom.

and God

has so worked

in some people

by His common grace

that we see it.

We see

wise people

benefit

from their wisdom,

but they're not Christians.

We've got to be

very careful now

about thinking

too highly

of our capacity

for wisdom.

Point number two,

human wisdom

is limited.

Only God's wisdom

is without limitation.

Even if sin

had not entered

the world,

human wisdom

would never be

equal with God's

because we're not God.

We're not all-knowing,

all-powerful,

everywhere present.

But since everything

has been corrupted

by sin,

we know for a fact

that our wisdom

is not only limited,

our wisdom

is flawed.

I want us to look

at two examples

of imperfect wisdom.

First,

we don't always

know the facts

in a given situation.

Lisa and I

a while back

were going to a place

in Anderson

on Highway 81.

Well,

I knew that we could

get there quicker

and avoid a lot

of traffic

at that time of day

by going through

easily and some

back roads

and weaving our way

to Highway 81.

I've done it before

and you could do it

and we took off.

But we got down

one of those

back roads

and all of a sudden

the road was blocked.

There was a sign,

Road Closed.

So we had to turn around.

We had to turn around

and find another way

and we wound up

taking more time

getting there

than I intended

for us to take.

It took a lot longer

going that way.

I made an unwise

decision to take

those back roads

but it was not

a foolish decision

because I didn't

know the road

was closed.

For us,

we don't always

act wisely

because we don't

know all the facts.

But God always

acts wisely

because He knows

all the facts.

Another reason

why we act

unwisely sometimes

is because we're

incapable

of understanding

all the facts.

Let's think,

if we went over

to the preschool area

right now,

and I walked up

to one of the

three-year-olds

and I said,

here is a dime,

here is a nickel.

You can have

whichever one you want

and I put them

in my hand

where they can see

the dime

and the nickel.

That three-year-old

most likely

will pick

the nickel

because it's bigger.

That does not

mean that three-year-old

is foolish.

It just means

that that three-year-old

hasn't learned

the value

of coins yet.

That three-year-old

is incapable

of understanding

the dime is worth

more than the nickel

because he thinks

bigger is better.

We don't always

act wisely

because sometimes

we're not capable

of understanding

all the facts

in a given situation.

But God always

acts wisely

because he not only

knows the facts,

he understands

and he also knows

how he is going

to work

to bring about

his purpose

in our lives

and in the situation.

Human wisdom

is always limited

because there's things

that we do not know

and we're not capable

of knowing.

that's why we

need

the special gift

of wisdom

that God gives

to his children.

But there's one more

aspect of human wisdom

that we must look at

because it is

the major emphasis

of the Bible's teaching

on wisdom.

Number three,

human wisdom

is defective.

Human wisdom

has been corrupted

by sin

as I pointed out

earlier.

when Adam and Eve

sinned in the

Garden of Eden,

it corrupted everything

that God had created

including human wisdom.

Now one of the most

devastating aspects

of human wisdom,

one of the things

that makes it

so defective

is that

it cannot enable us

to understand God

or understand

or understand

the things

of God.

Paul pointed out

the inferiority

of human wisdom

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

and chapter 2.

Paul goes

to great lengths

in those two chapters

to say

wise people

in this world

could never

figure out

that God's

way of salvation

was through

sending his son

to die

a criminal's death

on the cross

and that

we could be

forgiven

by trusting

in him.

Look at what

he says

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:20

chapter 1

verse 20

to start with.

Has not God

made foolish

the wisdom

of the world?

For since

in the wisdom

of God

the world

did not know

God

through wisdom.

It pleased God

through the folly

of what was preached

to save those

who believe.

nobody could ever

figure out God

God's ways.

God had to make

it known

and he made it

known in ways

that caused

wise people

to think

that's just crazy.

The Greeks

they thought

it was foolishness.

They laughed.

God's

it takes

God's

wisdom

God's

opening our minds

to be able

to believe

the gospel

to know

it's real

to trust

Jesus that way.

He also

goes on

in 1 Corinthians 2

the natural

person does not

accept the things

of the Spirit

of God

for they are

folly to him

and he is not

able to understand

them because

they are

spiritually

discerned.

What Paul

is saying here

is why

Solomon

was greater

Solomon's

wisdom

was greater

than all

the wisdom

of the pagan

wise men

in his day.

Solomon's

wisdom

was greater

because God

had given him

a special

gift.

God had

given him

his wisdom

wisdom from

above

wisdom

from heaven.

Now going

back to James

James tells us

that there are

two kinds

of wisdom

at work

in people's

lives.

Wisdom

of the world

or human

wisdom

that's in

verses 13

through 16

than the

wisdom

of God.

That's in

verses 13

and 17

and 18.

We're going

to look at

that in

detail next

week.

What I want

us to

understand on

this first

Sunday of

seeking to

find out

what it

means to be

wise,

I want us

to understand

human wisdom

is real

and it

does have

many positive

benefits.

That's

because we're

created in

the image

of God

and God

by his

common

grace

continues

to work

and bless

people's

lives.

The wisdom

of someone

not very

bright

like

Gomer

Powell

and

technological

geniuses

like Steve

Jobs

are good

examples

of this

human

earthly

kind of

wisdom.

But as

we're going

to see in

James

next week

and as

we've already

read this

morning

and we're

going to

see throughout

the book

of Proverbs

in the coming

weeks,

human wisdom

is inferior

to the wisdom

that God

gives to

his people.

The reason

that our

country's

in the

mess

that we're

in today

is because

most people

function with

only human

wisdom,

worldly

wisdom.

We know

that's true

by reading

what James

says about

it.

This is what

we see

every day

all around

us,

isn't it?

Look in

verse 16.

For where

jealousy

and selfish

ambition

exist,

there will

be

disorder

and every

vile or

evil

practice

all around

us today.

People

can't

appreciate

what other

people have

and do.

We're

jealous.

We're all

about

ourselves.

We're

selfish.

We have

selfish

ambition.

And so

the result

is just

about

everywhere

you

look,

there's

disorder

and every

vile

practice.

I have

no

political

motive

behind

this,

but I

think you

could

describe

the

democratic

situation,

Hillary Clinton's

campaign,

and the

Republican,

Donald Trump's

campaign,

both

campaigns of

disorder

and every

vile

practice.

Think about

what you

read,

what you

hear,

what you

see.

I want

to encourage

you to

make a

commitment

to be a

part of

these

studies

with a

prayer that

God will

help you

to truly

understand

His

wisdom,

why you

need it,

and how

you can

come to

possess it

and experience

it.

I want to

encourage you

to go ahead

and start

reading in

the book

of Proverbs.

We'll start

two weeks

from today,

Proverbs

1-1,

and we're

going to

move through

most of

that book.

But in

this crazy

and chaotic

world

that we're

in,

we know

we desperately

need what

we don't

have.

we desperately

need the

special wisdom

that God

gives to

His people.

But get

this now,

God's only

going to

give this

wisdom,

His wisdom,

to us,

His people,

if, number

one, we

value it,

we want it,

and if,

number two,

we put forth

the effort

to seek it

and acquire it.

Let's pray

together.

Father,

Father,

help us to

see that

while we

may display

some good

qualities of

human wisdom

as we see

in this world,

help us,

Father,

to see

that it

is

inadequate.

It will

not help

us to

truly know

You and

Your ways

and Your

will so

that we

can do

Your will

and please

You.

It won't

help us to

live life

in a way

that serves

Your purpose,

helps truly

other people,

and brings

joy to our

own lives.

Help us to

see, Father,

that it's

human wisdom

only.

It's got us

to where we

are today.

So help us,

dear God,

to desire

and to be

willing to

seek

wisdom

from You.

Wisdom

that brings

about

peace,

gentleness,

reasonableness,

mercy,

impartiality,

sincerity,

and all

kinds of

good fruits.

Show us,

Father,

how we should

respond to You

this morning,

the kind of

commitment we

should make.

Help us to do

that now.

In an attitude

of prayer,

listen to the

Lord,

do what He's

telling you to

do.

If I could pray

with you during

this time,

I'd be happy

to do that.

I'll be here

at the front.

I'll be here

at the front.

I'll be here

at the front.