WISDOM FROM ABOVE

Proverbs 3:13-24 (KJV)

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

Proverbs 4:7 (KJV) says,

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

We toss around the word wisdom and wise fairly casually

·   A leader is wise because we approve of a direction he takes his constituents

·   A parent is wise because his children are not angry with him

·   A teacher is wise because he has degrees behind his name.

I think we label a person as wise when:

·   They are well educated

·They are good at expressing themselves or

· They are good at rallying people around them

The truth is, we aren’t very good

at defining the word wisdom, let alone identifying the person who is truly wise.

Webster’s 1828 dictionary define it as

“The right use or exercise of knowledge.”

I am going to define wisdom as I did Wednesday night, the ability to apply knowledge.

It’s one thing to know the different parts of a horse’s anatomy.

It is wisdom that can take that knowledge and handle horses.

It is one thing to know algebra.

It is wisdom to use algebra to solve real problems.

There is an algebraic equation called the Pythagorian Theorem.

A²+B²=C^2,

“The square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.”

I remember learning it in high school.

At the time it meant nothing to me. I had to memorize it to pass a test.

I passed the class and graduated from High Scholl and I thought that was the end of that.

Then I became an apprentice ironworker.

One day, working on a piece of iron 5 inches wide 40 feet up in the air, my partner and I needed to “square up” a corner of the building so that the corner was perfectly 90 degrees.

My journeyman partner pulled out his tape measure and had me mark out 9 feet on one of the beams and mark out 16 feet on the other.

Then he took the tape and measured between the two marks.

We began to adjust the corner of the building until the tape read 25 feet.

9 feet plus 16 feet equals 25 feet.

When we had the 25 feet we had a perfectly square corner.

I can still remember it popping into my head, “That’s the Pythagorean Theorem!”

·   I knew an equation

·   My partner knew 9+19-25

·   Pythagoras was a smart guy but he wasn’t the wise guy.

The really wise man was the one who figured out that you could use the Pythagorean Theorem to square a corner on a giant building!

Take a look at Proverbs chapter 3 with me and notice first of all, some

I. FEATURES OF WISDOM

Proverbs 3:14-17 (KJV)

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

There are at least six features that are highlighted in these 4 verses:

·   Better than silver and gold

·   More precious than rubies

·   Length of days is hers to give

·   Riches and honor come through her

·   She is the way to pleasantness and

·   Her paths are peace

Many students of the Bible have pointed out that these features could just as easily be said of Jesus Christ.

And in that light I want to remind you that there is more than one source of wisdom.

James 3:13-17 (KJV)

Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

·   There is a wisdom that is from above and

·   There is a wisdom that is devilish

1 Corinthians 1:19-27 (KJV)

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

The wisdom that is not from above sees the things of God as foolishness.

Wisdom is the principle thing and we ought to seek wisdom for all we are worth,

·   It is spiritually wise to seek the wisdom of God

·   It is spiritually foolish to seek wisdom that is worldly

Notice secondly the

II. FRUIT OF WISDOM

Proverbs 3:13 (KJV)

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

Proverbs 3:18 (KJV)

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

The Bible says here that happiness will be the result of

A. Finding wisdom

B. Laying hold of wisdom

C. Retaining wisdom

The passage makes reference to gold, silver and rubies so I thought I would use that as an illustration of the progression between the three.

Imagine you are a prospector – you are looking for precious metals and gems.

It isn’t an easy chore:

·   You have go up into the mountains – it’s lonely

·   You map out likely areas for these precious substances

·   You over turn rocks and pan through some streams

·   You take samples and have them assayed

One day, after maybe years of searching, you find a nugget of gold!

Can you imagine that you would be happy?

Sure!

It’s what you have dreamed about and worked for.

Imagine then that you pick up that nugget, place it in your pouch and get it to town to sell.

Once the money is in you hand, wouldn’t that be even better than seeing the nugget out there in the stream?

Now imagine further that, based on that nugget, you stake a claim and start digging out many more nuggets from that same spot.

That’s the progression of:

·   Findeth

·   Lay hold upon and

·   Retaineth

·   Its not enough to know that it is wise to be a Christian; you need to get saved

·   It’s a wonderful thing to be saved, but Christians need to be growing in grace and the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and

·   The happiest of all Christians will be those who begin to serve the Lord in some ministry of their church

Notice finally with me the,

III. FALLOUT OF WISDOM

Proverbs 3:19-24 (KJV)

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

I find four incredibly happy products of possessing wisdom

A. Gospel Salvation

Vs 22

So shall they be life unto thy soul…

B. Progressive Sanctification

Vs 22

…and grace to thy neck.

C. Eternal Security

Vs 23

Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

D. Daily Satisfaction

Vs 24

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

There is nothing better than

·   Lying down at night,

·   Knowing that all is well between yourself and the Saviour and

·   Being sure He is watching over all things

Conclusion

There are a lot of things people can chase in this life.

Nothing will make you happier than

·   finding,

·   holding and

·   keeping

that wisdom that comes from being saved and growing in your relationship with Christ.