October 8, 2023 - The Wisdom of God
Notes
Transcript
In 2021 gift, novelty, and souvenir store sales in the United States amounted to around 19 billion U.S.
We’re getting to THAT TIME of year - AGAIN - when gift shopping becomes ever so popular...
ALTHOUGH - I think “THAT TIME OF YEAR” is always - WIDENING.
QUESTION:
In regards to the GIFTS we get our kids…what is one of the most frustrating aspects of Gift Giving?
For me - one of the frustrating things about getting gifts for our kids - is...
about 1-2 weeks after giving them the gift…I - - NEVER SEE it again!!
A LOT of those gifts - get RETIRED soon after they were GIFTED!!
Can you relate?
You know who ELSE can relate?
God
TODAY - we come to chapter 10 of 1 Kings.
A chapter that deals with the great WISDOM of Solomon.
If you remember - from a couple sermons ago - God had asked Solomon what He should GIVE to him...
That God could - in a sense - grant Solomon’s wish...
God had said this...
5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”
And Solomon here - of course - responded...
9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
Solomon asked for - Wisdom...
And he GOT it.
But that wasn’t ALL!
Do you remember what else he received from God?
12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.
13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
He received Great Wisdom - AND - Great riches and honor!
And so as I was looking at this chapter this week - I kept asking myself...
OK - God gives this man - Great Wisdom and Great Wealth...
WHAT is God trying to teach mankind about Himself?
In DOING this!?
So let’s go ahead and read through a good portion of the text...
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.
2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind.
3 And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.
4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
5 the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.
6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom,
7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.
8 Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!
9 Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.”
13 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.
So this Queen - the Queen of Sheba - had heard about Solomon’s wisdom - and she decides she’s gonna seek him out...
And the first thing I want us to take note of is this...
SLIDE: The Wisdom of God: Confronts the World
The Wisdom of God
The Wisdom of God
If we go back to v1...
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.
Now - we’re not given any detail as to what these questions pertained to...
But what we DO know is that at this particular time…in that culture..
Wisdom / Knowledge - was sought after.
And so if you think about it - God’s wisdom - would have caused INSTANT debates among the intellectual...
But we can relate to this - today - can’t we?
There are PLENTY of topics nowadays - and in recent history...
Where we’ve seen God’s Wisdom - CONFRONT… the wisdom of man....
Earthly wisdom - that collides with the wisdom of God.
Abortion
Origins
Science
Sexuality
And even in the religious arena - Authority
Here’s what we know -
Human wisdom has BILLIONS of preachers...
…in the pulpits of man.
Human wisdom has BILLIONS of disciples...
PROCLAIMING....
When it comes to abortion - a fetus is just a clump of cells.
That’s MAN’s wisdom talking
But then - the more we understood what was happening in the womb...
The more we REALIZED that the “Clump of Cells” argument was bogus...
NO ONE claims that argument anymore...
Because - we KNOW better now.
God’s WISDOM - Confronted Man’s Wisdom...
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
When it comes to Origins - ALL of this started - with a big bang
That’s man’s wisdom talking...
Well - I think a Christian would respond by saying...
You know - When God spoke ALL of this into existence...
YEAH - there may have been a big bang!
But it was GOD - creating!
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Do you see how the Bible spends NO TIME AT ALL trying to convince us that God exists!
“In the beginning…GOD”
God’s WISDOM - confronting the WORLD!
The world HE created!!
When it comes to SCIENCE… The WORLD puts SCIENCE into the RING with God...
IMPLYING that you HAVE TO CHOOSE...
Between Science - and God
Well - God’s WISDOM says -
WITHOUT GOD - you can’t DO SCIENCE!!
God’s WISDOM says - If you hold to an atheistic worldview - you have no JUSTIFICATION for trusting the science you conduct.
And Human Wisdom’s response is - (head scratchin)
God’s Wisdom - CONFRONTING - the world...
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
and HE (God) - upholds the universe by the word of His power...
We can TRUST - that the sun will RISE - tomorrow morning -
ONLY - because God upholds the universe
If an ATHEIST is consistent - they would HAVE TO SAY -
We can trust that the sun will rise - tomorrow morning -
BECAUSE of the RANDOM, UNGUIDED process that guides it.
Human Wisdom - at it’s finest.
When it comes to Sexuality - The world says - whatever makes you happy - is RIGHT!
God - being God - says -
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
God’s WISDOM - confronts the world!
When it comes to authority in the church - Human wisdom declares - What does it matter? What’s the difference who has authority?
But God’s wisdom says -
1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
So - an overseer is supposed to be - a man...
AND something else to consider in this is to understand the biblical connection between THE HOME - and THE CHURCH!
Listen to what Paul says...
5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
Here we see Paul making an explicit connection betwen the HOME - and the CHURCH...
NOW - What do we know about the HOME - the Husband / Wife relationship?
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Authority in the church - ULTIMATELY - belongs to Christ...
THEN - the man -
THEN - the women...
Human Wisdom wars against this...
THEREFORE - God’s Wisdom - CONFRONTS the world!
And we see this in our text today...
SOLOMON - had the wisdom of God...
And in USING this wisdom - the world was CONFRONTED!
The world was - INTRIGUED...
And if we jump to v24 - we see this!
24 And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.
NOW - we see here that the WORLD - heard this wisdom...
Heard of its
Profoundness
Depth
And wanted to investigate!
That doesn’t mean that the WORLD LOVED this wisdom...
We just know that the world was CONFRONTED BY IT!
NOW- we can pull something FROM this - BY Extension...
Question - where did this wisdom of Solomon come from?
It came from GOD...
Which means - it was a - - Gift!
And so BY EXTENSION....we need to know this!...
SLIDE:
The gifts of God are meant to confront the world
Which then leads right to an obvious couple of questions...
1. Do you know what YOUR gift is?
Now - understand what I didn’t say...
I didn’t ask if you know what your TALENT is.
I asked - Do you know what your gift is - from God?
NOW - another thing - Don’t answer that question by running to your TALENT.
Here’s what I hear all the time...
“Oh, that’s NOT my gift - that’s just NOT ME!”
To which I reply - Have you ever TRIED DOING that?
Typical answer - “no”
To which I reply - Then how do you know it’s NOT your GIFT?
It sounds like you’re LOOKING for your GIFTING - amongst your talents!
I would actually contend this...
SLIDE:
You won’t know what your gifting is until you try it.
How cool is this?
Scary? - Yes…but also - awesome!
Another way to say it...
SLIDE:
Most gifts are out on the waves
And HOW COOL IS THAT????
Listen - NO ONE has the gift of walking on water - correct?
RIGHT!
Which means - the only way to find your gift - is to - TRUST GOD in your pursuit of it.
it’s OUT ON THE WAVES!
Well - no one can use their TALENT of water walking to get it!
THAT WAY - you know this thing is actually a GIFT from God - and not merely a talent.
Now - how would I differentiate between a gift and a talent?
To start - I would say - even talents are - FROM GOD!
BUT - I would say that a talent is something we believe we’re good at - but that we’ve developed and used - NOT to the glory of God.
Things that we’re good at - things we don’t use for God’s glory...
SO - I play the guitar…I’m not great.
But if I didn’t play here…or if it was just something I did - to entertain people/myself - but NOT glorify God...
Then I would classify it as a talent.
But if I use this “talent” - for God’s glory…then I would say - It’s a gifting.
Semantics?
Maybe - but the point is...
We - MORE OFTEN than NOT - search for God’s Gifts amongst the things we’re already good at.
We RARELY - climb out of the boat and look for God’s Gifts out where we are inadequate....
Out where we are weak
Out where we DON’T HAVE CONFIDENCE!!!
SO - the question...
Do you know what your gift is?
IF you do…
SLIDE:
Are you using your gift to confront the world for Christ?
Solomon received God’s wisdom...
Does THAT MEAN that he was going to USE that gift?
NO - don’t WE bury our gifts?
Some of us have been given tremendous gifts…and YET...
We’ve buried them.
We haven’t INVESTED them - to God’s work
SO - if that’s the case - It’s never TOO late…that’s the cool thing with God.
it’s never too late.
Whatever the gift is… (wisdom, mercy, faith, teaching, preaching....whatever it is)
Get out on the wave…TRY THAT THING.... in God’s strength...
AND SEE if it’s a gift!
If so - use it…FOR HIS glory!
It’s never too late!
So - - from Solomon - we see that The Wisdom of God Confronts the World!
But that’s not all...
We also see...
SLIDE: The Wisdom of God: Stands Up to Worldly Criticism
The Wisdom of God
The Wisdom of God
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.
The Queen of Sheba comes to TEST Solomon - with...
Hard Questions (the text says)
The Bible is - without a doubt - THE MOST criticized - the MOST examined book in all of history...
YET - here we are.
it has been tested - in AT LEAST - 3 different - MAJOR ways.
I. THE BIBLE HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME. Since the Sacred Canon closed, how many and how vast are the changes which have gone on among men. Hardly one of the ancient powers is today extant. How great have been the strides of human progress! Yet the science of salvation, as taught in the Bible, has needed no remodeling. The race does not outgrow the religion of the Bible. Compare the case of the Bible with the poems of Homer. The two works are, in a certain sense, contemporaneous; critics have denied to the Bible any higher inspiration than that of human genius; and Greek poetry held among that ancient people very much the same place as did the sacred Scriptures among the Jews. Three thousand years ago the two works stood before the world on a comparative equality. How stands the case today? Homer is read as a model of epic verse and specimen of old Ionic Greek. The Bible is read everywhere as a transcript of the Eternal.
The Bible Has Also Stood...
II. THE TEST OF CRITICISM. Criticism, the most searching and severe to which any work has ever been subjected. A criticism often hostile. But the old Book has come out of it only purified.
The Bible Has Also Stood...
III. THE TEST OF PRACTICAL TRIAL. In the patent office are models of many beautiful machines that could not be worked. The Book will stand every practical test. It gives the solution of the great enigmas of the human soul, and provides the consolation for life's dark hours, those hours of disappointment, adversity, sorrow, and bereavement which come so surely to us all.
Tested…has been the Word of God
TRIED…has been the Word of God
YET - it passes ALL tests
And it was NO different for the Queen of Sheba...
3 And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.
4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
5 the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.
6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom,
7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.
The TEST - was passed.
NOT only that - but passed with flying colors.
But we shouldn’t be surprised - with THIS account, nor EVERY account SINCE...
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
This HERE = is the final score!
If I’ve ever gone to watch a TAPED sporting event -
And I already know the final score...
There have been times when I went to watch a RECORDED Browns game...
AND I KNEW that they had won...
Do you think I was NERVOUS when they were down by a touchdown in the 4th quarter?
NO - I KNEW THEY WON!
I already HAD the final score!
We HAVE the final score!
The Word of God will stand FOREVER!
That’s why - OVER the years - We’ve heard from the world - that SCIENCE has PROVEN the Bible wrong...
And then years later - we HEAR - Oh - wait - We had it wrong...
What we said WASN’T ACTUALLY true!
The Bible - CONTINUES to prove itself…thru the years...
The MORE we learn about our universe...
The MORE we see the accuracy of the Bible
The MORE we learn about the human body...
The MORE we see the accuracy of the Bible
And on - and on - and on
The Wisdom of God stands up to Worldly Criticism!
Solomon was tested!
And so was Jesus!
1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Shall we keep going?
We COULD!!
The world - will CONTINUE to TRY - to test the Wisdom of God!!
BUT AGAIN - we know the final score...
That’s praise worthy!
But that’s not all we see - in our text...
To close out…we also see this...
SLIDE: The Wisdom of God: Manifests Itself in the World
The Wisdom of God
The Wisdom of God
After the Queen experienced God’s Wisdom....THRU Solomon...
She came to this conclusion...
6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom,
7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.
8 Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!
She attributes this HAPPINESS that she SEES...
…to Solomon!
But we KNOW where this Wisdom came from.
From God - as a gift to Solomon...
Godly Wisdom...
On Display...
Manifesting itself - and RESULTING in - JOY
How does God’s Wisdom lead to Joy?
Listen to the connection here....
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
Do you see the connection between Godly Wisdom - and meek, good conduct?
That Good conduct would of course lead to - JOY...
But James keeps going...
17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
Think of these characteristics PLAYING themselves out - in your own life...
Who in here gets MAD when they experience - MERCY?
Mercy is UNDESERVED - favor
Remember - when is mercy appreciated?
When it’s NEEDED!
Even the world - loves - - Mercy.
Godly Wisdom leads to - JOY…
And the Queen of Sheba saw this first hand.
Her HARD Questions - turned to - Answered Questions...
And - Joy
SUMMARY
The Wisdom of God
Confronts the World
Stands Up to Worldly Criticism
Manifests Itself in the World
Confronts the World: And by extension - God’s GIFTS confront the world...
Question for us is -
Do we know what our gift is...
AND YOU KNOW WHAT - my gift today - might not be my gift tomorrow.
I might acquire a NEW GIFT…tomorrow.
Who knows… I need to seek it out...
TRY that gift…to see if it’s mine
And that’s the thing - The Wisdom of God will STAND UP to the world’s criticism!
The world has NO PLAY - against the Wisdom of God!
That should embolden us - as Followers of Christ…THE truth!
And what’s this lead to?
JOY
The Wisdom of God leads to JOY...
God’s Wisdom doesn’t ROB us of joy - it’s actually where the Fullness of Joy resides...
Let’s pray