Walking In Wisdom
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.
Redeeming the Time
Understanding the will of the Lord
Filled with the Spirit
Expressing the spirit of Joy
Submitting one to another
Wisdom. What is wisdom? As I was studying for this subject I came across a definition of wisdom by the great preachers of the church, Charles Spurgeon. He says," Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. to know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom." So wisdom is not the knowledge that we have, nor the schooling that we have learned or even the experiences that we can remember but it is the use of the knowledge, teachings, and experiences.
I read a story on the use of wisdom. It goes like this,
(Illustration) Dave and Wisdom
You see Dave had wisdom. He not only knew how to avoid the mountain lion but he also applied the knowledge.
I believe that it is imperative for us as Christians to have wisdom in our lives. There are situations in our lives that we will need wisdom to go through the day. So we must have wisdom in our lives.
Paul stresses this in Ephesians chapter 5. In the book of Ephesians we see many references to the walk of the Christian. This thought is continued in chapter 5 and verse 15. He tells us, "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,” We are required as Christians to walk as wise Christians full of wisdom and not as fools. We are to make sure that we are as wise men and women in the walk of Christianity. Circumspectly means "cautiously". We are to walk with caution. The Paul in the next couple of verses tells us how we are to walk in wisdom. Let us look at these.
I. Redeeming the Time
He first tells us we can walk with wisdom by redeeming the time. This also means to "make the most of every opportunity". We have but a short time to live here on earth. Even if it is but 70 or 80 yrs it is short compared to eternity with Christ. So considering this we must take advantage of all the opportunities that we have. When we have an opportunity to witness for Christ then we must witness. Not later but now there must be an urgency for the Gospel of Christ. Why? Because the days are evil. It is full of evil and deceit. We must take advantage of the situations that we are in.
Romans 13:11- And that, knowing the time, that now [it is] high time to awake out of sleep: for now [is] our salvation nearer than when we believed.
So it is time for us to wake up and realize that our salvation is near and be willing to tell others.
II. Understanding what the will of God is.
But he also gives us another reason that we can walk in wisdom. We must understand what the will of God is for our lives. How much time do we waste by not doing the will of God. If we believe in the times are short and Christ could come back any moment then how much time do we waste by not finding the will of God for our lives.
To walk in wisdom is to walk in God's wisdom. God's wisdom says do my will. In the walk of Christianity God has two wills for our lives. A general will and a specific will.
The general will applies to all. All in this world is under God's general will. This will is that all can be saved. No matter all. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." Whosoever means that any and every one can have everlasting life. It is Gods will that all should be saved.
Filled with the Spirit
How many of you know what anniversary is coming up in April 1996. Someone tell me. It is the 100th anniversary of the Church of God. 100 yrs since the establishment of the Church of God. And the two main doctrine that separated us and made the early followers such as Spurling to step out among the ranks of Baptist and Methodist is holiness and Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
So if there is one thing that I should not have to talk about today then that is this, “being filled with the spirit. We should know this as having wisdom we must be filled. But do we. We are not seeing this in our churches today. We believe it but do we practice it. Do we desire for our children to be filled with the spirit? Do you desire for our husband and wives to be filled with the spirit? It seems sometimes that salvation is the ending road. But to have wisdom we must be filled with the Spirit. This means always.
I know some Christians that used to be filled with the spirit. This is not what Paul is saying be filled with the spirit an act that is now. Today and every day. How do we know because with this there are signs and wonders that follow? With this there is power that is given to the individual to witness. With this we will see fruit in the lives of people. Gal 5:22,23. We will see healings and prophecy. We will see the works of the spirit.
Expressing the spirit of Joy
Walking in wisdom is to love one another. Love gets so much farther with people than hate. Kindness gets so much farther than hatefulness. How easier can we reach people with kindness and love? We need to show this to this world. We are living in a society who has seen all the politics that they can take. Who has seen all the lies and deceit that they can take. Who has seen all they failures that they can take. They want something real. Now. That is the Lord Jesus Christ shown through the lives that we live.
Submitting one to another
To walk in wisdom we must submit ourselves one to another. Working together. Realizing that in the kingdom of God there is no little i's and little u's. We are in it together.
Are you full of the wisdom of God? Have you come to a point in life where the wisdom of God needs to be a part? Are you filled with his spirit? Are you redeeming the time?
