THE WISDOM FOUND IN THIS OLD BOOK
Ford paid the bill. Auto maker Henry Ford asked electrical genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory. One day the generators ground to a halt, and the repairmen couldn’t find the problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few hours and then threw the switch. The generators whirred to life-but Ford got a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather tightfisted car maker inquired why the bill was so big Steinmetz’s reply: For tinkering with the generators, $10. For knowing where to tinker, $9,990. Ford paid the bill.
* Wisdom. Steinmetz created that generator, so he possessed the greatest wisdom on how to fix it and run it. Don’t you reckon that God is the greatest source of wisdom since He created life and all things?
1. THE SOURCE OF WISDOM.
In my life, I’ve come to the place of not having a clue what my next step was quite often. Many years ago, I started putting this verse into practice in my life. I would like to say I’ve always done this, but that wouldn’t be true and the times I didn’t often caused me pain/grief... and some emergency room visits. This verse tells us the source!
Jam 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
We are finite creatures with a limited supply of personal knowledge and wisdom. God in infinite. He created all things and as Creator, He knows the perfect answer to any problem we might experience.
** Prayer made Abraham Lincoln the man he was. He said on more than one occasion, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of those about me seemed insufficient for the day.”
* Godly wisdom cannot be learned in a University. It can only come to a heart in right relationship with God, and seeking it.
Socrates- The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
Like Lincoln, we should pray for God’s wisdom because our own wisdom and that of those around us is sometimes insufficient. Our wisest moments are the times when we realize how little wisdom we have and we choose to seek the wisdom of the God of all Creation.
2. WHERE TO FIND WISDOM.
What is secret to living a successful life? By making Right decisions.
How do you make right decisions? By Experience.
How do you get experience? By making Wrong Decisions.
* A wise man learns from his bad mistakes. A wiser man learns from the mistakes of others. But, imo, the wisest of men learn from the wisdom found in THIS OLD BOOK.
King David had this to say about wisdom..
And he found wisdom in THIS OLD BOOK.
Ps 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The times that David was closest to God and studied and obeyed His Word, he was very successful and blessed. The times he disobeyed God and followed the lust of his heart, it cost him his health, it cost him his family, and cost him much grief and suffering because of his great sins concerning adultery with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah.
* His son, Solomon, learned from his father David’s life. And, he had this to say in the Book of Proverbs. He hoped to offer wisdom to all.
Prov 1:1-7 1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, 3 To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity; 4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion, 5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, 6 To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
* notice the goal of Book of Proverbs is to impart wisdom for living good life.
Chap 1- Warns us of the calamities of foolish decisions.
Chap 2- Reveals the security comes with wise decisions.
Chap 3- Tells of the rewards of wisdom.
Chap 5-7 - tells of the pitfalls of immorality.
Chap 10-18- reveals the differences between the wise and the wicked
* And throughout the book, are words of instruction and warning covering many aspects of life and behavior.
** Notice vs 7, that the worst foolish mistake is to reject God, to break His laws, and to ignore His wisdom.
3. APPLYING THE WISDOM OF THIS OLD BOOK.
One of the last letter’s that Paul wrote was to Timothy, a young man who was like a son to him.
A. Encouragement to apply God’s Wisdom found in God’s Word.
2 Tim 3:14 You {Timothy}, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
* Paul encouraged Timothy to continue learning and living in the knowledge of the precepts of God found in His Word. Timothy had studied them from childhood. Many is the person that learned God’s Word early in life but then strayed from it and suffered greatly as King David did 3000 years ago.
B. The Benefits of God’s Word.
2 Tim 3:15-17 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
(1) It leads us to salvation.
The Bible teaches us how to be saved.
It helps us to understand our sinfulness and our lostness.
It helps us to understand the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins.
It helps us to understand that we need to repent and trust Christ as Savior and Lord in order to be saved.
(2) It is Profitable.
It is not man’s thoughts or ideas. It is the Word of Almighty God, the source of all Truth.
It is profitable for teaching because the Word of God is true.
It is profitable for reproof as the Standard is the Bible, those that don’t line up with Scripture are rebuked by it.
It is profitable for correction. It is used to restore people who have fallen into sin.
It is profitable for training in righteousness as restored people are trained by the Word of God in how they ought to live.
(3) It is Transforming.
Believers are brought out of the darkness into the light of the love of Jesus Christ. Jesus redeems us, forgives us, and saves us for His purposes.
a. To live a holy life. “That we may be adequate.”... complete, whole, mature, perfect.
b. Equipped to serve. (For every good work)
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
We are saved to do good works and are gifted by the Holy Spirit for the work that Christ has called us.
The wisdom found in this Old Book can lead us to salvation.
It can teach us how to live a wise, moral, and successful life.
And, in following Christ, it can transform us into useful members of the Kingdom of God.
Let us join together in a strong commitment not to ignore the Word of God any longer.
Let us embrace and live in the wisdom that is found in
THIS OLD BOOK.
