Sermon - Things We Need... Wisdom! - Littleby Baptist Church - November 8, 2020

“When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.” – Proverbs 11:2

Our last Things We Need… was Humility which leads to the next Things We Need… Wisdom.

One might ask, how does Humility lead to Wisdom? As we allow ourselves to recognize who we are in this grand world we live in, we begin to accept our place in it. Knowing who we are and who we are not, is part of being Humble. Add to this an understanding of who God is, how we are lost without Him, how much we need Him, and learning to depend on Him, also increases our Humility. As we accept who God is and how we are truly lost without Him, our Things We Need… Humility grows. As we let the Holy Spirit take that Humility and work in us, the Things We Need… Wisdom begins to take shape.

Humility is the foundation of Wisdom. We cannot grow in the Things We Need… Wisdom, without understanding who we are in this world and how much we need and depend on our God. Which is why the Proverb states that ‘with humility comes wisdom.’

Jeremiah was a prophet in Judah during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah (Jeremiah 1:2-3). Josiah was a young boy when he took the throne and is the only king during Jeremiah’s ministry to follow God. Second Kings twenty-two tell us that Josiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord. You could say that Josiah was the only king during that time to have the Things We Need… Wisdom.

God, through Jeremiah, did not have kind words for those who turned their back on God.

“For my people are fools; they do not know me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing what is evil, but they do not know how to do what is good.” – Jeremiah 4:22

It is not 100% clear if these were the words of God or if it was Jeremiah expressing his own frustration, but the message is clear. Those that do not know God are fools. Today we may question that as we there are still people out there that have not heard about Jesus, but we need to remember that Jeremiah is a messenger to the nation of Judah. He is warning the ancestors of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These are the descendants of those who walked on dry land when God parted the Red Sea. Jeremiah’s audience had heard about God, they were familiar with their history, and they still acted like God was not real.

The people lived with no understanding of the ways of the Lord. If they were still doing the commanded sacrifices their heart was not in it. They were ignoring the other commands and worshipping fake gods from the other nations. They were doing the opposite of the Things We Need… Wisdom. The people of Judah were being foolish.

“²⁰ “Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying: ²¹ Hear this, you foolish and senseless people. They have eyes, but they don’t see. They have ears, but they don’t hear.” – Jeremiah 5:20-21

There is no doubt here that these are the words of God spoken through Jeremiah. The people were foolish, lacking in Wisdom, for not paying attention to all the knowledge they had at their fingertips. They were as blind and deaf as the manmade idols they worshipped or the Asherah poles that they used to justify their wicked behaviors.

The people of Judah were foolish as they turned their back on God. If we flip through the Bible, we find that there are times they embraced foolishness and there were times they lived the Things We Need… Wisdom. When pride took over it led them astray, but eventually they humbled themselves and turned back to God.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” – Proverbs 9:10

The word ‘fear’ here is not the ‘I am running for my life’ kind of fear. Fearing the wrath of God is not the beginning of wisdom. God does not expect us to follow Him out of fear of what He will do to us if we go another direction. Jesus came to set us free; He did not come to make sure we were running scared of what God would do to us if we strayed.

In this instance the word ‘fear’ could be replaced with ‘reverence’. Recognizing who God is and that we should be giving Him all of our admiration, honor, and respect… is the beginning of Wisdom. As we understand our place in Eternity in comparison to our God, we recognize that He deserves our worship, our praise, our adoration. Our God is worthy of everything we have.

As we grow in our knowledge of who God is, we grow in the Things We Need… Wisdom.   

Most of us did not have the slightest idea of who God really is when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If we chose to follow Jesus without the Things We Need… Wisdom, one might question if Wisdom is really that important? I would say Jesus answers that for us when was giving instructions to the Apostles.

“¹⁶ “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.” – Matthew 10:16

Jesus was telling the guys that things were going to be difficult. They were going to encounter ‘wolves’, meaning they were going to have to deal with people who were out to persecute them. The wolves were going to try to spread lies, twist the message, and flat out attack them. Jesus was warning them that it was not going to be easy. Which is why He told them to be shrewd and innocent. Shrewd being another word for Wisdom. Jesus was telling His disciples that they needed Wisdom to navigate the challenges they are going to face out in the world. The Creator of all, was telling His followers to use the Things We Need… Wisdom to avoid the danger that will come their way.

Today we need Wisdom to help us understand what is going on in this world and our place in it. Without it would we be no different than those that God was speaking to through Jeremiah. With the Things We Need… Wisdom we have a chance of navigating the mine fields that surround us. Being shrewd as a serpent will allow us to understand how to respond in the politically correct world, we live in. It will help us to avoid the traps of the devil and the sins we struggle with. Wisdom will help us to follow the Commands of our Lord.

The Things We Need… Wisdom is a vital tool for those of us who are following Jesus.

“The report of your obedience has reached everyone. Therefore I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise about what is good, and yet innocent about what is evil.” – Romans 16:19

Paul is giving the Roman believers a charge to be wise and innocent. This charge is similar to what Jesus was telling the Apostles, but it does follow some warnings.

“¹⁷ Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them, ¹⁸ because such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites. They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words.” – Romans 16:17-18

Paul was encouraging the Roman believers to use the Things We Need… Wisdom when dealing with people like this, and that encouragement is true for each of us. We need Wisdom to avoid those who are trying to cause rifts among people and believers. We need that Wisdom to watch out for those we are causing us to stumble and fall. Sadly, there are people who do these things both inside and outside the church and without Wisdom we would be blind to it and easily led astray. As followers of our Lord Jesus we need to grow in the Things We Need… Wisdom or we risk being steered away from the knowledge and understanding of our God and what He has in store for us.

In addition to Wisdom, both Jesus and Paul mentioned that we need to be innocent. We will get into the Things We Need… Innocence later in the series, but both of these warnings were advising us to stay true to our Lord and avoid the evil that will try to snare us.

The question we need to answer is, how do we grow in the Things We Need… Wisdom? 

“⁵ Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” – James 1:5

According to James the first place to look for Wisdom is to go directly to our God. Prayer is our conduit to God in which we can layout our concerns and ask for help. That is exactly what James is suggesting. When we are facing something and we are not sure what is the best path to follow, we need to bring it to our Lord in Prayer. We need to ask our God for the Things We Need… Wisdom to help us navigate the challenges we are facing.

If we are truly seeking God’s blessing in the form of Wisdom to help us work through what lies before us, God will help us. If we are asking in Faith, our Lord will guide us.

Prayer is the first lever to pull as we seek to grown in the Things We Need… Wisdom. The second would be to open our Bibles and read the Word of God. There is more truth found in Scripture than can be found anywhere else in the world. That truth will help us to grow in our knowledge and understanding of God, His message, and His ultimate plan for us. The more we learn and the more we see how to apply the Word of God to our lives, the Wiser we become.

Asking for God for to guide us and spending time in His Word are the keys to growing in the Things We Need… Wisdom.

“¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.” – James 3:17

The Wisdom we receive by seeking our God and studying His Word is nothing like the wisdom this world has to offer. Worldly wisdom is just as corrupt as the world we live in, but Godly Wisdom is first and foremost pure. It is the only Wisdom that will allow us to see through the darkness in this world. The purity of God’s Wisdom will change our hearts as we continue to follow Jesus and let the Holy Spirit work in us.

According to James some other characteristics of the Things We Need… Wisdom are:

Peace-loving – this would be to achieve peace on the foundation of the Word of God.

Gentle – being considerate, lenient, willing to work with others.

Compliant – someone who is willing to learn, to be corrected, and willing to submit to Godly leadership.

Full of mercy and good fruits – shows mercy to others and freely shares what God has blessed them with.

Unwavering – being without doubt, fully trusting that God is at work in them and trusting in His promises regardless of what life throws their way.

Without pretense – someone who is honest and sincere.

The Things We Need… Wisdom is sought by seeking our Lord, asking Him to help us, and by spending time in His Word. The more Godly Wisdom we receive the more these characteristics become part of who we are and how we live our lives. It will help us to live the life that God has called us to. It will help us to see through the darkness that surrounds us, and it will help us to navigate through the snares that the devil has laid to trap us.

The Things We Need… Wisdom is critical for us as we journey this earth and grow in our Faith. Seek it as you seek Jesus!

God Bless,

Robert