To God Alone Be the Glory
Six times Solomon mentions wisdom.
You don’t have to become a professional
philosopher (“a lover of wisdom”) to love
wisdom. In fact, you probably seek after
wisdom without realizing it, all you
amateur philosophers (you who “love
wisdom for the love of it”). Notice the
unquenchable thirst for knowledge and
wisdom. People everywhere want to
know how to do all sorts of things well.
Lots of times it’s just for entertainment:
they want to know how to set up the
perfect fantasy football team, or how to
get the most out of their smart phone, how
to break into the next level of a video
game, or how to play golf. Sometimes it’s
practical like, “How do I get through
school safely? How do I get a good job?
How do I advance in my career? How do
I invest for the future?” But when people
sense their limitations—“My health is
going to last only so long. My life is
going to last only so long”—then the
search for wisdom turns spiritual. “How
can I have a happy afterlife? What can I
do now to improve my chances then?”
We’ve been running wisdom and
knowledge together. Do you know the
difference between wisdom and
knowledge? Knowledge is the acquisition
of facts and figures. Wisdom is the ability
to use knowledge to benefit yourself or
others. Everyone knows, for instance, that
the sun rises in the east. But it’s wisdom
that leads us to set up the chairs under this
tent so the sun comes up to our side. This
way neither the congregation nor the
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pastor has to stare into the bright sun
during our outdoor service. People have
godly knowledge when they can tell you
what the Bible says. People have godly
wisdom when they believe and do what
the Bible says and share it with others.
But some people prefer worldly wisdom
over God’s kind of wisdom. This quickly
becomes obvious when you share what
you believe about God from the Bible.
People today might preach tolerance and
acceptance of everyone, but that thinking
flies away mighty quick when we point
out sin and point to Jesus’ blood as God’s
solution for all sin. Many think we’re
foolish for believing Jesus saves. But, of
course, we knew this would happen
sometimes. The Bible got us ready by
teaching us that man’s wisdom is
“foolishness” to God and God’s wisdom is
“foolishness” to mankind (1 Corinthians
1:18-31). These two kinds of wisdom are
diametrically opposed. They refuse to be
friends.
But only godly wisdom saves eternally.
That’s why God urges us throughout the
book of Proverbs to get godly wisdom, to
treasure it, cherish it, teach it to others,
and follow it. Today we hear the GOD of
wisdom CALL US TO BE HIS WISE
DISCIPLES.
So how does a person go about getting
God’s wisdom? Our text reminds us that
God’s wisdom begins when we listen to
those who rebuke us for our sins. Now
who enjoys a good rebuke? The sinful
flesh hates to be rebuked. When people
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are controlled by their flesh, they won’t
listen to such rebukes. Let’s thank God
that we disciples of Jesus love godly
wisdom. We actually listen to a good
rebuke, even if it takes a while for us to
come around. King Solomon refers to all
this in Proverbs 9: 8Do not rebuke a
mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a
wise man and he will love you. Of
course, God would much rather that we
be sinless all the time and not need any
rebuke. But we inherited the sinful flesh
from our parents at conception (Psalm
51:5). By the time we were born, the
sinful flesh was in complete control. An
infant doesn’t have to be very old before
you can see signs of the sinful flesh—the
cry that is angry, temperamentalness.
Even after we are baptized, we let the
sinful flesh gain control our lives,
sometimes for only a few minutes here
and there. But at other times it’s been
hours, days, months, or even years in
between the times when our new self and
the Holy Spirit were in control. *Let’s
bring ourselves up to date. How many
times have you sinned since you woke up
this morning? Were you anxious about
something and then kept it to yourself
rather than casting all your cares on the
Lord (1 Peter 5:7)? Were you hateful
toward any drivers on the way here? Did
you speed to church? Now that’s some
irony. “Break the law, but get me to the
church on time”—or not on time if I
deem something else to be more
important than God’s Word when it’s
actually less important. Are those with
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whom you live still confident of your
love for them after this morning’s
conversations?
Are you convinced yet? We are sinners
(Romans 3:23). God hates sin (Psalm
5:5, Deut 25:16). God punishes those
who are not sorry (Romans 1:18,
Matthew 25:46).
If you had to write down how you were
feeling right now, what would you write?
Does all this talking about your sin make
you wish I would please change the
subject? Could it be that your sinful
flesh is a mocker and doesn’t care to be
exposed as such? Rebuke it. Show it
where it’s wrong, and it will hate you.
But thank God you are more than just
sinful flesh. You are also a new creation
(2 Corinthians 5:17). You have been
brought to faith in Jesus, either through
baptism or through hearing God’s Word.
You know what Jesus did for you to take
care of this nagging sin-problem. He
resisted every temptation that we face in
our daily lives (Hebrews 4:15) so he
could give us credit for his good life. He
allowed all our sins to be placed onto his
account, and then he let God the Father
punish him instead of us (Galatians 3:13,
2 Corinthians 5:21). He came alive a
few days later to show us that the Father
had accepted his death as full payment of
the penalty for our sins (see Romans
4:25). Then he sent the Holy Spirit to
the apostles who caused them to write an
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accurate record of what Jesus did for us.
He has made sure that we still have his
Word today, even though many have
tried to destroy all the copies or change
what the words mean or insist that God’s
Words are no longer relevant. And
because of this Word, you and I have
been given the knowledge we need in
order to escape eternal punishment.
Now, if you rebuke someone whose
spiritual nature, i.e. new self, is in
control, s/he will love you for it, because
believers know how true it is that we are
sinful. And more importantly we know
that Jesus saved us from all sins. So
we’re okay talking about sin and how to
fight it.
GOD CALLS US TO BE HIS WISE
DISCIPLES. He does this by inviting us
to trust in Jesus always. When, by God’s
grace, we trust Jesus, we are also given
the proper attitude about God: we fear
him. No, we aren’t terrified of him. In
the Bible ‘fear’ usually means ‘awesome
respect for God.’ And why shouldn’t we
fear God? Why shouldn’t we respect
him highly? He is the holy One who
loved us so much that he has taken away
our sins through Jesus. We respect God.
We fear him. 10The fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge
of the Holy One is understanding.
Amazing! When you first learn about
the Lord and believe the basics of sin and
grace, in Christ you have everything you
need for eternal life. You are wise for
salvation (2 Tim 3:15). Yet you’ve only
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scratched the surface of what there is to
learn about God. Could that be one of
the reasons St Matthew’s offers spiritual
growth through Bible study for children
and adults? so that God-fearing
Christians can grow in this wisdom?
Whenever you have faithfully given your
time to the Lord day after day, and week
after week, haven’t you grown in your
understanding about God and his Word?
This is what Solomon is talking about
when he writes: 9Instruct a wise man and
he will be wiser still; teach a righteous
man and he will add to his learning.
Truly the rich get richer. The more you
know the Bible, the more you will trust
God’s promises. You will also follow
God’s ways more fully, accept the
crosses God sends more cheerfully, and
be more prepared to enter the other half,
the longer half, of eternal life more
eagerly.
As we disciples seek God’s wisdom in
his Word, we can expect God to bless us.
11
For through [wisdom] your days will
be many, and years will be added to your
life. “Will we really live longer through
wisdom? How can this be true when so
many Christians die young and so many
unbelievers live to a ripe old age?” Well,
let’s not torture the verse until it says
something God didn’t mean. Our lives
as wise Christians will be longer than
they would have been if we had not
possessed godly wisdom. We can’t
always measure this from our earthly
vantage point. But God says it’s true.
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And in fact there is some evidence to back
this up. Here’s one: the husband and wife
who live in the roles assigned in the Bible
are putting God’s wisdom into practice.
Many of them can say, “God has blessed
us with a great marriage.” And what do
the experts tell us? Happily married
people tend to live longer than the
unhappily married. To be honest, that’s
the only instance I know of where the
truth of this passage has been borne out
scientifically. But it also makes sense that
children who obey their parents with a
happy heart are the ones who tend to have
less troubles as they grow up because they
know right from wrong and have practiced
it. They stay out of trouble and thus fail to
erase any days and months from their lives
by engaging in risky behavior. The
Christians who continue to study the
Bible, whether by themselves, with their
families, or in organized Bible studies, are
the ones who tend to have their lives
together and are there to help others who
are in trouble. As the saying goes, “The
Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs
to someone who isn’t.”
But there’s another way to understand this
verse: 11Through [wisdom] your days will
be many, and years will be added to your
life. How about an infinite number of
days and years? The Bible says faith in
Jesus is wisdom (2 Timothy 3:15), and
everyone who believes in Jesus will have
eternal life (John 3:16). Through God’s
wisdom, our days will indeed be
lengthened—all the way into eternity.
our daily lives. He knows that our new
selves must struggle to stay in control
and keep the sinful flesh down. That’s
why Solomon warns us to avoid evil and
encourages us to do right. 12If you are
wise, your wisdom will reward you; if
you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.
The “you”s in this verse are singular.
God is talking to us, not as a group, but
as individuals. That’s how I know he
wants each of you to grow in His
wisdom. If you are wise, your wisdom
will reward you. You will find the
answers for that difficulty you are facing,
or you will have the patience to endure it
until the Lord solves the problem. You
will have the courage to do what is right,
even though doing it right often takes
longer than a sinful shortcut. You will
also recognize many things in your life,
like your vision or your job or your loved
ones, for the blessings that they are. And
you will praise God, not only while you
have those blessings, but even when he
decides to take any of them away.
*Mockers, on the other hand, those who
poke fun at whatever God calls good,
they will suffer by losing the one thing
that can help them through life and into
life eternal: God’s wisdom.
Believing in Jesus as our Savior is wise.
Putting his will into practice is wise.
GOD CALLS US TO BE HIS WISE
DISCIPLES. Let’s heed God’s call by
making whatever changes in our life that
need to be made.
God wants us to practice his wisdom in
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