The Wisdom Of God Series

INTRO.- Wisdom speaks. But not all wisdom is good wisdom.

ILL.- Two men got out of their cars after they collided at an intersection. One took a flask from his pocket and said to the other, "Here, maybe you'd like a nip to calm your nerves." "Thanks," he said, and took a big gulp from the container. "Here, you have one, too," he added, handing back the whiskey. "Well, I'd rather not," said the first. "At least not until after the police have been here."

What that one driver did sounds like wisdom to most folks, but the truth is, it’s never wise to offer a drink to anyone under any circumstance. We never know where it will lead them.

ILL.- LOS ANGELES TIMES: People of northwestern Montana have been advised to be on the lookout for drunken bears. Black bears and grizzlies have been congregating along the tracks of the Burlington Northern railroad tracks, where a train carrying hundreds of tons of corn derailed some time ago. The corn has fermented, and the aroma is attracting the bears. "The bears are actually intoxicated up there," said wildlife biologist Loren Hicks. And a grizzly with a hangover can be cross as a bear. And people who drink too much can also be as cross as a drunk bear.

Frankly, I know of no good that has ever come from drinking any kind of alcohol but I know of an awful lot of bad stuff that has happened from drinking. Drinking can lead to drunkenness and drunkenness leads to all kinds of evil deeds and foolishness.

Proverbs 20:1 “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.”

KJV “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”

To me, any kind of alcoholic beverage is a strong drink and can lead to much trouble and evil if enough of it is consumed. Most people have heard stories or can tell some stories from drinking too much. There are a few rare souls who have never drank alcoholic beverages and blessed, they are.

There is a kind of wisdom that is worldly and it is not always truthful or wise. For example, the world says, “Eat, drink and be merry for you only go ‘round once in life.” In other words, live it up, do whatever you want because some day you’ll die and life will be over. What’s wrong with that kind of wisdom?

James 4:13-17 “Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.”

James is giving us the wisdom of our eternal God. He is saying, “Life is short. Include God in everything you do. Seek God’s will for your life.” God is our Creator. We begin life with Him and end life with Him and we need to sandwich Him into our lives every day. Rightfully, we should focus on Him continually, as in “pray without ceasing.”

The wisdom of this world says many things, which most people have bought into, but we need the wisdom of God to avoid evil in this world and not be led astray from our faith in Christ.

PROP.- The wisdom of God speaks to us from the Proverbs.

1- Wisdom says to fear the Lord

2- Wisdom says to avoid sinful men

3- Wisdom says to listen for wisdom everywhere

I. WISDOM SAYS TO FEAR THE LORD

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Fear is a problem with us. We all fear something. Fear often plagues us.

ILL.- It’s obvious that most Americans fear what is going to happen to America, the economy, and their health insurance. The Affordable Care Act is fast becoming not so affordable for most people no matter what their age. We hear horror stories every day about people losing their health insurance or else their premium doubling, tripling and even more.

I read that as many as 100 million Americans could lose their health insurance through their employers next fall because the plans do not meet the standards of Obamacare, a study released on Wednesday by the American Enterprise Institute estimated.

Affecting mostly employees of small businesses, these cancellations would be in addition to the nearly five million Americans who have already lost their coverage since Oct 1, 2013. That’s a real fear that people have! And it’s a very negative fear.