1. A wise choice:
An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.
"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, "Say something."
The dean looks at them and says, "I should have taken the money."
That’s what most would have chosen in the first place. Many people think that money is the answer to all their problems. If this is true then why do the rich and famous have so many problems? Why do they often divorce? Why do they use and abuse drugs?
2. A warning: I Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
3. Wisdom comes from God – Job 12:12-13 “Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.”
a. Normally, we think of wisdom as coming from the aged because they lived longer and experienced more. But not all senior citizens are wise. But to God belongs true wisdom and great power.
b. Oral Law – 50 to give counsel; 60 to be an elder
4. James 3.13-18
5. Worldly Wisdom or Godly Wisdom – Our Choice
I. The Godly Wise Are Stimulated to Righteousness (Acts of Good) – 3.13
A. We Are to be “Good Samaritans”
Tom Cruise played good Samaritan several times in 1996. After witnessing a hit-and-run accident in L.A., he called 911 and stayed with the victim until help arrived. When he found out she had no health insurance, Cruise picked up the $7000 medical bill.
Later that year, Cruise and then-wife Nicole Kidman were on their yacht near Capri when they spotted a boat nearby catch fire and sink. The couple was able to rescue all 5 people on the doomed ship.
Hollywood celebrities aren’t the only people who can do good, however. WE CAN TOO! We may not be able to pay someone’s $7000 medical bill but we can do good to others. We just have to keep our eyes and ears open to those in need.
1. Luke 10.25-37
2. Points:
a. Torah-scholar wanted to justify HIMSELF
b. Mistreatment by fellow Jews
c. Good actions by the hated Samaritan (who hated Jews?) – loving neighbor is not necessarily LIKING him
d. BE a neighbor
e. NOT JUST KNOWING -- ACTING
B. We are to Act in Humility
1. Humility Towards God
In 1863 President Lincoln designated April 30th as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. Let me read a portion of his proclamation on that occasion:
"It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, who owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by a history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. The awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has grown, but we have forgotten God."
2. Humility Towards others – Matthew 25.31-40
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
3. If we only act for the reward we will lose it
4. Humility includes a selfless, other-centered element
5. True humility is not that you think less of yourself but rather that you think of yourself less.
II. The Ungodly Wise are Stained by Sin (3.14-16)
A. Self-Centered Focus
1. Selfish Ambition
I heard about a guy recently ranting and raving on a YouTube clip about the politicians who are asking for cuts here and cuts there in order to improve the American economy, but he said something to the effect that those same politicians are not taking any pay cuts or less of this and less of that. They want the best of everything and they still take their free plane jaunts and luxury vacations, good retirement packages, good health insurance.
a. Deceiving/Cheating Others (Jacob, the “Cheetah”)
b. Manipulation – Manasseh – 2 Chronicles 33.9
Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray [RSV – Seduced], to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.
2. Bitterness
E. Stanley Jones says bitterness is similar to a rattlesnake. "If cornered, sometimes it will become so angry it will bite itself. That is exactly what the harboring of hate and resentment against others is — a biting of oneself. We think we’re harming others in holding these spites (sic) and hates, but the deeper harm is to ourselves." (Reader’s Digest, December 1981)
B. Self-Destructive Finality
1. Devilish – Satan-like – consumed with self and the overthrow of God
2. Disorder – opposite of Shalom; chaos (Genesis 1)
III. The Godly Wise Are Stirred by God/Heaven (3.17-18)
A. Kingdom of Heaven/God = His Rule in our lives/code name for His Movement
1. Source of Wisdom and Goodness – James 1.17
2. Wisdom Described – Proverbs 8.22-36
22 “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 before he had made the earth with its fields,
or the first of the dust of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the children of man.
32 “And now, O sons, listen to me:
blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
34 Blessed is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.
35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,
36 but he who fails to find me injures himself;
all who hate me love death.”
B. Kingdom of Heaven Display Fruit of HS (as Galatians 5)
1. Purity – comes from above – Colossians 3.1-4; Psalm 51.10
Create in me a clean [PURE] heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
2. Peaceable – Romans 12.18
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
3. Gentle/Considerate – Philippians 2.4
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
4. Reasonable – Romans 12.1
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship [reasonable service].
5. Mercy-Full (Blessed are the merciful)
An interesting incident happened during the victorious march of Alexander the Great to conquer the known world for the Grecian empire. A young soldier became greatly frightened in the heat of battle, dropped his sword and shield and fled. An officer dispatched several soldiers to apprehend the fleeing soldier and bring him back to face execution. The soldier was caught and sent to Alexander for trial. Alexander the Great looked at the frightened young man and said: “What is your name soldier?” He replied, “Alexander, sir.” Alexander the Great replied, “Young man, change your ways or change you name.” In an act of mercy seldom shown, the monarch said, “Soldier, return to your unit and show the courage that your name implies.”
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Luke 6.45-47
6. Fruit-Full – HS (Galatians 5)
7. Certain – Assurance (Biblical Hope)
8. Sincere – Old Joke: The only thing that counts in life is sincerity; once you can fake that, you’ve got it made. “Without Wax”
9. Resulting in Peace – Isaiah 32.17
And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.
Warren Buffett is one of the greatest investors in our day. He is also the second richest man in the world, with an estimated worth of $44 billion. Buffett is so famous that a special edition of the Monopoly board game features him and his companies. A couple of months ago, in June 2005, Buffett decided to help raise money for his charitable foundation by offering an online auction on eBay for someone to have lunch with him. The winning bid was $351,100—the price of access to the world’s second richest man.
What is the cost to come before God? NOTHING!
What is the wisest thing we can do? Walk with God!
