True Wisdom Series

INTRO.- ILL.- ATLANTA – December 2013 - It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Ira Curry. The Stone Mountain woman purchased one of two winning jackpot tickets in December 17th’s $648 million Mega Millions drawing. She claimed her prize Wednesday morning at Georgia Lottery headquarters. “It’s unreal,” said Curry, 56. “It’s like I’m still dreaming.”

Curry purchased her lucky ticket at Gateway Newstand, 3500 Lenox Road, Atlanta. Curry selected the cash option, which amounts to $173,819,742.50 before taxes for each jackpot winner.

The odds of winning that jackpot was 1 in 259 million. You have more than 1,000 times better chance of an asteroid or comet killing you. And yet people will still take that chance because it’s all about money! Money reigns in the hearts of most people!

ILL.- An angel appears at a meeting of religious leaders and tells their leader that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, God will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom, or beauty. Without hesitating, the leader 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 leader, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. One of the others whispers, 'Say something.' The leader sighs and says, 'I should have taken the money.”

Which would you choose: wisdom or money? Most people would choose money over wisdom any day. But here is the wisdom of God speaking.

I Timothy 6:9-10 “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 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.”

Money can’t buy everything. Money can’t buy eternal salvation. Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” All the money in the world isn’t enough to get a person into heaven. And if Bill Gates and Warren Buffet thinks it will, they are wrong! Of course, honestly, I’m not sure either believe in life after death.

Money can buy a person a lot of trouble. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation. Money seekers often find something they don’t want. BIG TROUBLE!

ILL.- Jack Whittaker won a record $314.9m Powerball jackpot in 2002. But life since then has been a long list of arrests, lawsuits, broken relationships and even death. In 2007, his then wife, Jewell admitted she wished she had ‘torn up the ticket’.

- 42-year-old Abraham Shakespeare who won $30 million in the Florida lottery four years ago. By all accounts, Abraham was a generous guy helping family and friends with his money. One year ago a woman named Doris Moore was convicted of murdering Mr. Shakespeare, part of a scheme to get his money.

- Missouri child services worker Sandra Hayes split a $224 million Powerball jackpot in 2006 with a dozen co-workers. She kept her job with the state for a month after taking a $6 million lump sum, she told The Associated Press. “I had to adapt to this new life,” Hayes said. “I had to endure the greed and the need that people have, trying to get you to release your money to them. That caused a lot of emotional pain. These are people who you’ve loved deep down, and they’re turning into vampires trying to suck the life out of me.”

I recently saw a video posted by Bill O’Reilly who said, “Do you want to be rich? Well here's what happens when a person is wealthy. First, he or she becomes a target. Some folks want a piece of their money and will lie and cheat and steal to get it.”

Yes, you are a target for everybody who wants what you have and you are also a target for the devil!

Do you still want money more than wisdom?

PROP.- Aspects of true wisdom; where it comes from and what it does.

1- True wisdom comes from God

2- True wisdom gives discernment

3- True wisdom saves from wickedness

I. TRUE WISDOM COMES FROM GOD

6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. The Lord gives wisdom and is the author of wisdom. He is God.

Romans 1:18-20 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”