Gifts of the Spirit Wisdom

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 1 Corinthians 14:12, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Peter 4:10, James 1:5-6, 1 Corinthians 3:18-20, Romans 11:33-35, James 3:13-18, Romans 3:10-12, Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:16, James 2:12-13

Good morning. Last week we were taking a broader overview of Gifts of the Holy Spirit. (SLIDE - Chart) We read in part from Isaiah 11, 1st Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 from which we pulled together this partial list of gifts that God gives us to use in the building up of His Kingdom. As we discussed last week, there are gifts of God, gifts of the spirit throughout the bible, there is no one scripture that lists everything. In part of course because each of us, in our service to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will find different opportunities to share the gospel. While the church is one body, there are many members, each with different functions according to God’s grace and God’s plan.

Gifts we’re to use as part of what’s referred to as The Great Commission which is testified to in Matthew 28, Mark 16, John 20, and Acts 1. Matthew 28:16-20 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

In wrapping up last week we looked at four very specific scriptures as broad strokes on the canvas of our lives no matter what our age is. Two from Paul, and one each from Peter and James. (SLIDE) 1 Corinthians 12:7 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 1 Corinthians 14:12 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. 1 Peter 4:10 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

First from these three, we know that regardless of what natural talents God gave you when you were created in your mother’s womb because He’s known you since you were created, and He had a plan for you from the beginning. Now, whether we up to this day, in our lives, have fulfilled what God created us for isn’t fully certain yet is it. I say that because in my heart and mind, if I had accomplished everything the Lord our God intended for me to do in service to Him here in this life, there wouldn’t be any reason for me to be here anymore. Right? I can home to the mansion Christ has prepared for me. With a healthier and stronger more perfect body than the one my soul inhabits currently.

What we can say, is that from 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, that the Holy Spirit moves through us, using the gifts God provides us for the common good. For the serving of each other, and the serving of those who have not yet come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it. Amen? By the way, in having conversations after church, which is very important to the building up of the body of Christ and each other, I was told last week that the reason I don’t hear as many “amens” during the sermon, is because some of us are hanging onto every Word of God that we hear, and we don’t want to miss it.

In the bible “Amen” is derived from the Hebrew word āmēn, spelled the same, which means “certainty,” “truth,” “so be it” and “verily”. It is found in the Hebrew Bible, and in both the Old and New Testament. So, for some of us, it is just not part of our nature to be vocal during a sermon or speech because we were raised not to interrupt and that feels like an interruption. Some of us are holding back when the Holy Spirit wants to prompt you to vocally agree with the Word of God for any of a number of reasons that are personal to you. What I want is for you to be comfortable with how the Holy Spirit is moving within the room, within this congregation and within each of us as individuals. Okay?

Right now, I’d prefer that no one break out speaking in tongues without someone else in the room to interpret it, and the certainty that it wouldn’t cause another to stumble because that wouldn’t be appropriate. But if the Holy Spirit prompts you to praise God, because you’re not praising me, you’re praising the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Amen?

Refreshing again from last week, Paul encourages to seek the Gifts of the Spirit. Not in ways that are beneficial to selfish interests, but in ways that build up the church. The one church of believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In your daily activities, the Holy Spirit prompts you in such a way that you’re suddenly thinking, we should be doing something, whatever that activity or service to the community may be, that’s not just your brain working. Right? That’s the Holy Spirit prompting you so that you can in turn, ask the Lord for whatever gifts of the Spirit it would take to accomplish that task or goal or vision. That may be the Holy Spirit prompting you to pray that the Lord will send those gifts to someone who is already here with us in the congregation. Or bring us someone knew into the congregation that He has already given those gifts that they will build up Burlington Church of God in this region.

As Peter tells us 1 Peter 4:10 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. Now if you weren’t here for a previous discussion. The Greek word here for stewards is oikonomos (oy-kon-om'-os) and the definition is that of a manager of the household, a guardian, a slave who has been released from forced legal service, and now manages but is not the owner of the property or the household. We read a few weeks ago in Genesis how the God made us, Adam and Eve at creation, but made humanity stewards over all of the earth and all that is within it.

Just as we, as children of God, don’t own even our own bodies but are stewards of them. (SLIDE) 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Now specifically Paul is talking about staying away from sexual sins in Chapter 6, but it’s not out of context to say that our bodies, our minds, our spirit from the time we confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead, belong to Him. Right, we’re no longer slaves to sin, but instead, slaves to righteousness that comes from our Heavenly Father through grace.

(SLIDE) 1 Peter 4:10 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. Last week we discussed the Greek the word translated as grace here is the feminine noun charis (khar'-ece)meaning a gift or blessing, kindness, thankfulness. Some might use the words unmitigated favor because there isn’t anything we can do on our own to earn God’s grace. It’s not getting an A instead of a B in school or a promotion and raise at work. It is directly related to the Hebrew word chen (khane)which is a masculine noun. Understanding that we, male and female are both created in the image of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Their grace, or the level grace that is given to us is not determined based on what sex we are. We are all equal in the eyes of the Lord in that we’ve all fallen short. Male, Female, Black, Red, Yellow, Green, White, Maize or Blue. All of humanity is created in the image of the Lord.

Interestingly note as we read the scripture again 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. So, God extends gifts and grace to us through the power of the Holy Spirit in more than one way. We already shared that there’s many gifts of the Holy Spirit which He gives in His time according to His plan to build the church, to build the kingdom, to witness the love of Christ to others. To serve, as Jesus didn’t come be served, but to serve and set an example for us in how we should be living and treating each other.

The answer is yes, there are many forms of Grace. As few as four depending on what theologian you’re reading and as many as, well in studies, I found authors discussing more than 20 different types of God’s Grace we could label if we needed to. Just going back to our foundations in the Wesleyan Holiness Movement as the Church of God. John Wesley taught that God’s grace is first unearned but that we are not to be sitting around waiting to experience God’s grace, but we are engaged with the Lord and Holy Spirit so that God’s grace may work invisibly in all of us that we might grow in the knowledge and faith of Jesus Christ that is visible externally to others in how we speak, how we treat people, and how we serve.

(SLIDE) Grace is not something you receive once and are done with. It is, as is the Holy Spirit, a dynamic transformational force continually working in, and through and changing us into the likeness of Jesus that we can share His love, His Grace and His Mercy with those around us. Whether we know them or not. As a full theological discussion on Grace, we’ll do that another day. We’re talking more specifically about gifts of the Holy Spirit.

(SLIDE) Looking back at our partial list from last week, we saw wisdom right at the top from both Isaiah’s prophecy and Paul’s teaching. For which I also pulled teaching from James the brother of Jesus. Sometimes referred to as James the Just, who was the first leader of the Jerusalem Church. Not Simon Peter, later given the name Peter, or Cephas which is Aramaic for Rock, by Jesus. Peter was the first Bishop or Pope of Rome who founded the church in Antioch and the Church in Rome. Paul of course is also involved in the growth of the church in Rome. Kodak and Polaroid weren’t invented for, well another 1800 hundred years but that’s an orthodox painting of James, and Rembrandt’s painting of his vision of Peter.

So, regarding wisdom, which every one of us needs more of, we read last week from James. (SLIDE) James 1:5-6 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. The first thing I’d like to share is that wisdom, and intelligence, or how smart someone is, is not the same thing. (SLIDE) I was looking for some graphic to show the difference between being smart and wisdom, and really liked this one. My brain seeing this as (SLIDE) “Things that matter to God”.

Two of my sons, my youngest from my first marriage and the youngest from my second marriage could basically skip all the homework and score 100% on the tests most of the time. My first semester in college decades ago I took statistics. Went on the first day of class, then went back to take the midterm and the final exam. The rest of the time I just read the textbook on my phone. Had the highest scores on the midterm and the final exam in the class. And you could say, wow, you’re really smart. No, I was really dumb. Because if I had read the syllabus, the details of the class, missing more than three classes was an automatic F. So, I failed the class and had to take it again. That’s not a wise use of time, intellect, or resources. Also, not the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life by any means.

(SLIDE) Wisdom. If any of us lacks, we should ask the Lord who gives generously without favor. In the Greek the word James is using here is Sophia and technically it does mean insight, divine skill and intelligence. You could say supreme intelligence since we’re asking God to share from His unlimited wisdom, with us. It is the root word of our English words sophistication and philosophy. Wisdom using that Greek word Sophia appears 51 times in the New Testament. With apologies men, as you might guess, given most of us think of Sophia as Sophia Loren, but it’s a feminine noun. (SLIDE) If we go back to Isaiah 11 and the Hebrew the word is Chokmah (khok-maw')which appears in the Hebrew Bible 149 times and is also feminine.

Maybe there’s some truth to that old cliché that God gave men the brawn and women the brains. Except I know women, and so do you probably who are stronger than we are, or I am. I don’t speak for everyone. And there are some things that I know about or have skills in, and there are absolutely other areas of life, people, about learning and teaching, about creativity, that my wife is far smarter than I am. The boys like my cooking better though. Sorry love.

Yet the wisdom of the Lord, flowing through the Holy Spirit, is foolishness to the world. The NIV translation of (SLIDE) 1 Corinthians 3:18-20 18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” (Job 5); 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” (Psalm 94)

Remember that Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees, a teacher of teachers of the law in the Hebrew Bible. He touches on this same idea in what’s labeled a doxology in most translations Romans 11:33-35 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” (Isaiah 40) 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” (Job 41) 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

(SLIDE) Wisdom, as a gift that comes from the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit is, as I said with any of the gifts of the Spirit last week, not for personal gain. Right. Wisdom is to be used to apply to the needs of the church, of the body of believers in Jesus Christ, and in reaching those who are lost, and don’t know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior yet. We all can grow in wisdom, but that requires something of us doesn’t it. And yes, there is a time, and place and need for learning according to the skills and passions that the Lord has given us which allow us to make a living. Right? But there is a dramatic difference between the temporary wisdom, if you will, that allows us to live while on this earth, and the wisdom that leads to salvation and an eternity with our Lord and Savior. Amen? Wisdom that comes from the Lord is found in spending time in the Word of God, and in spending time alone with Him or with others together in prayer.

Let’s go back to James the Just. James the brother of Jesus. Your bible most likely has a heading called Wisdom from Above (SLIDE) James 3:13-18 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Some of that is a little harsh isn’t it. Envy and selfish ambition are earthly, unspiritual and demonic, leading to disorder and evil. In my many years in leadership positions, as many of you in years of working and volunteering in organizations can testify you have seen that to be the truth. Have you not? And I will confess that there have been times in my life where I was operating not in the power of the Holy Spirit, but out of envy and selfish ambition which always led to something self-destructive and damaging to others. Father forgive us when we’ve wandered away from Your plans seeking after our own desires and ambitions. Help us to find the path You desire us to be on.

(SLIDE) The very beginning of this passage from James. James 3:13 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. There’s something really interesting in this verse. As we already talked about wisdom, and the word wise, are from that Greek word Sophia. But let’s look at the word understanding in this passage. It comes from the Greek word epistémón (ep-ee-stay'-mone)and it means knowing, skilled, experience and understanding. Even more importantly, it specifically means thoroughly knowledgeable, from gaining understanding over long-term, personal acquaintance.

(SLIDE) Wisdom and understanding only truly come from having a long-term personal relationship with the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ. Ep-ee-stay'-moneemphasizes understanding that comes from building on previous knowledge, that then helps us to reach a new even stronger level of understanding. A very, very, specific definition. What fascinates me about this verse in particular, is that it is the only place in the New Testament that the word is used. This is it. I understand sometimes we would see words like sacrifice, love, Holy, the Lord, God, hundreds of times when we’re studying the bible. But once. The level of importance in this passage just went up exponentially.

Now skipping the negative aspects that one way or another we’ve all experienced. Let’s look at the characteristics, the traits of Wisdom that come from the Father that we find in(SLIDE) James 3:17-18 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

In my head there I’m hearing the harvest is plentiful, ripe for the picking, but the workers are few, from Matthew Chapter 9 and the words of Jesus. And of course, when it comes to righteousness, Paul in Romans 3:10-12, quoting King David from Psalm 14:1-3, and Psalm 53:1-3. 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Yet of course all scripture is 2 Timothy 3:16 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the person of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. What would it look like for Burlington, if we, in our knowledge of the Word of God, became peacemakers who could reap a harvest of righteousness in this church, in our families, in our communities? Should I repeat that? (SLIDE) What would it look like for Burlington, if we, in our knowledge of the Word of God, became peacemakers. Peacemakers who could reap a harvest of righteousness in this church, in our families, in our communities. (SLIDE) James 3:17-18 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. We’ve talked about this Greek word translated as “pure” here before because it’s hagnos, which can also be translated as holy, sacred, as ceremonially clean and prepared for worship. Wisdom that the Father gives us through the Holy Spirit is of course Holy, as He is Holy and we are called to be Holy, as servants of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

But when we’re walking in the wisdom given from God, what happens to us? How often, honestly, but not out loud, how often are each of us peacemakers in our daily interactions with others. If we are seeking the gift of wisdom from God, then the fruit of the Spirit, the proof that you are walking in that gift will be evident to those you speak to, send emails to, the posts you make on social media if you do that, in these ways.

(SLIDE) Peace-loving. You’re not creating dissention, causing division among others, because you are not aggressive in the normal course of your behavior and activities. Considerate. You pay attention to what others need, even can sense at times what they need, and are careful not to hurt or even a smaller scale, inconvenience others. You are kind and thoughtful. Here’s a hard one. Submissive. The NIV translates the Greek word eupeithes (yoo-pi-thace') as submissive here, but in the original Greek while it does mean compliant, ready to obey, the better definition is constantly attendant, to the needs of others.

Full of Mercy. Ready to forgive others, as He forgave us which James directly ties to good fruits. Good fruit in this sense has two meanings The first is spiritual maturity and the second is what happens when others see your good works and praise your Heavenly Father. Being Impartial and sincere go together as well. If we go back to James Chapter 2, he talks about the sin of partiality, where we as human beings, show favor to the rich and ignore or even discriminate against the poor. A sin that many, particularly in this country live by as their daily practices worshiping false idols. When James lists both impartiality and sincerity they directly relate to mercy as he writes in (SLIDE) James 2:12-13 2 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.