Knowledge and Wisdom
By Pastor Jim May
Daniel 12:4, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
Is there any question in your mind that we are living in the last days? Most Bible teachers and prophecy teachers agree that one of the signs of the times is the vast increase in knowledge.
Even before the days of the Internet, one “Think Take” put forth this statement concerning knowledge: Knowledge is exploding at such a rate--more than 2000 pages a minute--that even Einstein couldn’t keep up. In fact, if you read 24 hours a day, from age 21 to 70, and retained all you read, you would be one and a half million years behind when you finished.
Now, since the beginning of the Internet, I wouldn’t be surprised that the growth rate has grown by 1000%, with more knowledge being presented on any given subject, in a single day, than what could have been shared in a year not more than 50 years ago.
Of course, the increase of knowledge doesn’t affect everyone equally, and there are some that choose to remain blissfully ignorant.
For example:
A young boy once approached his father to ask, "Dad, why does the wind blow?", to which the father responded, "I don’t know, son." "Dad, where do the clouds come from?" "I’m not sure, son." "Dad, what makes a rainbow?" "No idea, son." "Dad, do you mind me asking you all these questions?" "Not at all, son. How else are you going to learn?"
An uneducated preacher introduced a special guest speaker at his church one Sunday with the following words: "The man we has speaking to us is a man who knows the unknowable, can solve the unsolvable and can screw the inscrutable."
I believe that both of these fellows could have used a little more knowledge.
Knowledge is not a bad thing to have most of the time. In fact, I am so very thankful for the knowledge that has come forward that makes life a little easier. I thank God for the knowledge that brought forth new methods and new instruments that enable us to preach the gospel more effectively and to reach more people than ever before.
But knowledge alone is not enough. For knowledge to be as good as it can be, we must be able to use that knowledge with wisdom.
It has been said that, “Knowledge comes from what we have studied. Wisdom comes from using what we know with the wrong results.”
For knowledge to be useful, wisdom must be applied. The problem is that most of the world uses its knowledge based upon the wisdom of the world without God. Man thinks that he is as good, or better than God, or doesn’t believe in a supreme God at all.
Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."
The Apostle Paul even warned Timothy that in the last days, knowledge would be ever increasing, but that man would never be able to find the truth because he refused to believe in the source of all Truth. Jesus said that He was the “Truth, the Life and the Way.” If mankind won’t accept that Jesus is Truth, and that God is the Creator, the source of all knowledge and wisdom, then how can mankind ever use what he learns wisely?
2 Timothy 3:1-5, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
2 Timothy 3:7, "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
Knowledge, without the fear of the Lord, and the wisdom to use the knowledge we learn, is a very dangerous thing. Let me tell you of a few things that knowledge, without God in the midst of it, can do for a man. It can become a hindrance instead of helping him.
Knowledge creates within the heart of man a desire for things that he does not understand or need. In other words, it becomes a source of temptation.
The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, are prime example of this. Satan’s temptation was too much for them because they desired to be like God, to know what God knew, even if it cost them everything.
Genesis 3:5-7, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."
Wouldn’t we all have been much better off if Adam and Eve would have been satisfied with the knowledge that they had already? God had given them a beautiful home, an eternal body and eternal life, and a personal relationship with Him. They had it all and threw it away for what: Just to know what God knew, and after they knew good from evil, they forever wished that they had never known what God knew again.
Every once in a while I hear some silly preacher, or unlearned layman in the church, say that they wish they knew what God knows. My friends I’m glad I’m not that knowledgeable. If God wanted me to know it, He will reveal it or teach it to me. I know that I have to study to be approved unto God, a workman that isn’t ashamed because of my ignorance of His word and His ways. But I don’t want to know everything for with knowledge comes tremendous responsibility to use that knowledge wisely. There are some other reasons that knowledge can be dangerous too.
I have discovered that the more we think we know, the more we presume to know more, or know better than God, concerning our own lives and the things we want to do.
God knew this would be a problem for mankind that was now caught in the grip of sin. He knew that, never again, would man be able to use the knowledge he learned within God’s righteous parameters. He knew that man would find a way to abuse the knowledge that he had attained.
Genesis 3:22, "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:"
Can you imagine the evil that mankind could attain unto if he were live eternally in his sinful condition? I shudder to think of what the world would be like if no one could ever die! At the same time, I rejoice to think of what Heaven will be like with no more death for those who are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb and have been given eternal life as God intends for it to be.
One thing that knowledge will do is that it will add greatly to the burdens of life that we must bear.
Ecclesiastes 1:18, "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."
Who can deny the fact that the more we know, the heavier our burdens will become? While I don’t think that we should remain ignorant, I am also keenly aware that the more we know, the more life will demand from us.
If you don’t know how to repair a car, no one will ask you, but if you let it be known that you can, then there will be no end of people seeking your help and advice. If you don’t know how to cook, no one will ask, but if you say that you are a good cook, believe me, everyone will want to taste your product. If you don’t know how to repair a TV set, no one will ask, but if you do, then people will beat a path to your door to get you to take care of theirs. The more you know, and the more you let your knowledge be known, the more you will be in demand. No one goes to a ditch-digger for medical help, but a doctor can dig a ditch if he has to, and then practice medicine too. No one will ask a butcher to repair a computer, but if that butcher tells people that he can repair them, then he will soon have two jobs to do. That’s how it works for all of us. I can vouch for that and so can most of you.
In addition, the more you know, the more there is to sadden and burden your heart. If you don’t know about a Tsunami that kills thousands of people, then it won’t bother you at all. But if you learn of it, then you can’t even drive down the beach without remembering and watching for a tsunami. If you don’t know that there is a West Nile Virus that is being spread through a mosquito bite, then you can enjoy your fishing, hunting or camping trip a little more. Once you find out about it, then you are much more aware of every little bite and every mosquito that buzzes your face, and you are bound by common sense to take precautions to stop the insects now.
If you don’t know of starving kids, child abuse, rape, murder, robberies and such, you won’t be so fearful to go out at night and you will be able to sleep a little sounder. But once you learn of them, your life is forever changed by that knowledge.
Knowledge also increases the risk of a prideful spirit entering into our hearts. How many times have I tried to witness to someone with a higher education and they spurned the gospel or laughed me to scorn? They become smug in their education, thinking that they have it all figured out, and that they can handle it all alone. It sometimes takes a very powerful act of God to get them to realize just how little they really know. The higher up the ladder of education people go, the harder it is to reach them with the gospel.
So knowledge is not always a good thing. Sometimes it can even be a dangerous thing. What is it that makes knowledge worth knowing? It’s knowing the source of knowledge in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we come to know the Lord, the knowledge that we attain suddenly has a deeper meaning than ever before. With knowledge, we gain the wisdom to use it through the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
But sometimes knowledge can be a wonderful thing. I want to know more about my Lord. I want to know more about His Word. I want to know more about His ways. But, I must first know Him, as my Lord and Savior, and then that knowledge will be a blessing and not a curse.
James 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
It is good to seek knowledge, but don’t forget to ask God for the wisdom to use the knowledge that you get.
