The Fruit of Fearful Faith: Wisdom

11 The Fruit of Fearful Faith: Wisdom

Wisdom is the second key component for learning to faith down our fears. As one of the dominant themes of the Bible, the word wisdom is found over 300 times in the Old Testament alone. For it to be mentioned that many times points out the obvious fact that the Lord knew that we were in desperate need of His wisdom as human beings. There is certainly a great lack of authentic wisdom in our world today. While knowledge abounds and increases in every area, wisdom is a rare commodity. It is a divine virtue that is sadly lacking in almost every area of life, especially education, economics, and politics.

The Bible is a revelation of the wisdom of God. One of the primary reasons God gave us His Word was so that we might perceive and understand His mind, which alone is the source of perfect wisdom. In other words, wisdom reveals the will of God for living. His wisdom is to inform, reform, and transform our behavior so that we will act like He would act in all our circumstances. If we want to know how God would act in any and every circumstance, all we have to do is look at the life of Jesus. He was the incarnation of God’s wisdom. Therefore, His life should dictate our behavior. As Peter said, Jesus has left us “an example, that you should fol-

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low in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

In the Bible, God’s wisdom is often presented in contrast to its opposite, man’s foolishness. That’s why the book of Proverbs exhorts parents to teach their children God’s wisdom. Our children are either characterized by ignorant foolishness or willful foolishness. The former needs instruction while the latter requires discipline. Not to give both at the appropriate time and measure is to raise a foolish son or daughter, which is a shame and pain to their parents (Proverbs 1–5).

It does not take a discerning person to look around our world and see that the greatest missing virtue is wisdom. In every discipline, we have knowledge that is growing daily, even hourly. But we lack the wisdom to be able to use our growing knowledge in a positive way. As a result, man’s knowledge tends to be more of a curse than a blessing. That’s why most countries spend more money on their war machines than on social transformation.

But where do we find the practical wisdom we need in order to use our knowledge in a way that is beneficial rather than detrimental? The great contention of Scripture is that there is only one source of wisdom—and that is the fear of the Lord. Consider just a few representative verses:

• “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding” (Psalm 111:10). • “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). • “He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich

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store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure” (Isaiah 33:6).

When you look around our world today, you are forced to see the lack of true wisdom and to echo Paul’s words when he asked, “Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? . . . For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:20, 25). In these verses we see an incredible paradox: human wisdom is foolishness to God, while God’s wisdom is foolishness to mankind.

As we noted above, our problem today is not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of wisdom. The prophet Daniel said that one of the signs of the End of the Age would be people going “here and there to increase knowledge” (Daniel 12:4). But while we see knowledge increasing exponentially, we also see foolishness increasing even more. Technology is the god of our age. It teaches us that knowledge equals power. But sadly, in our technological world where we have expelled God from every corridor of society, wisdom is on the decrease as knowledge is on the increase. We have forgotten, or rejected, this basic biblical principle:

Remember: Man can have knowledge without the fear of God, but man can only have wisdom through the fear of God.

As the Bible predicted, we are “always learning but never

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able to come to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). Without wisdom, the blessings and benefits of knowledge always elude us. Both history and contemporary experience clearly show that knowledge in the hands of sinful and evil people becomes increasingly malevolent rather than benevolent. That simply means that our knowledge tends to be used more for evil than for good.

C.S. Lewis said that if you educate a thief, you only increase his capacity to steal. Likewise, if you educate a tyrant, you only increase his capacity for corruption, exploitation, and genocide. That’s why the history of mankind is dripping with blood. Our world is killing and dying for a lack of wisdom, not a lack of knowledge.

But a timely question is this: What is wisdom? If it is not knowledge, what is it? Once again, we must turn to the Bible for the answer, since it claims to be the source of wisdom. While there is other so-called wisdom literature in the annals of history, the Bible has no rival as the primary source of wisdom. It is the essence, the quintessence of wisdom. So it must be our primary source—not our secondary source—of authentic wisdom.

In the book of Proverbs we find God’s wisdom for living successfully in every possible situation we will ever face in life. In chapter 8, we are told about the origin of wisdom: “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be” (verses 22–23). Then Proverbs describes some of the works of God’s creation, with wisdom being “constantly at his side . . . rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind” (verses 30–31).

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This wonderfully wise chapter begins with personified wisdom saying, “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind” (8:4). It is a timely and profound chapter to study because wisdom makes some incredible promises to anyone and everyone who would heed her call:

With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity . . . Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord (8:18, 34–35).

Conversely, wisdom warns, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil . . . But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:13, 36).

Who in their right mind would not want to enjoy the fruit of wisdom promised here?! Are not these the very things that most people long for and live for? Riches, honor, wealth, prosperity, blessing, life, and favor are descriptions of the American Dream. And yet the majority of people in the West miss them because they seek them apart from God’s wisdom. They opt for the foolishness of the world instead.

How incredibly foolish it is to try and live life without God’s wisdom. And yet, millions try to do so on a daily basis, but not very successfully! As Paul rightly observed: “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22)— all because they rejected the wisdom of God.

The primary New Testament word for wisdom is sophia. It is a very rich word, meaning “insight into the true nature of things,” and gives us great insight into the nature of wisdom. Sophia is seeing, understanding, and submitting to God; liv-

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ing life from God’s perspective and through His principles and priorities.

But, first and foremost, wisdom is not some kind of abstract knowledge or philosophical body of information. The Bible clearly teaches that wisdom is in reality the mind of God, which was incarnated in Christ. As John wrote, “The Word [logos, or mind of God] became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

This “Word”—Jesus Christ—was the personal embodiment of all of the principles and precepts of God that had been revealed in the Old Testament. He alone was and is wisdom incarnate. When Jesus went back to His hometown of Nazareth, the people were “amazed” and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom?” (Matthew 13:54). Even His enemies acknowledged that “no one ever spoke the way this man does” (John 7:46).

Jesus’ life and teaching are totally unique in the annals of human history. That’s because Jesus was the very personification of wisdom walking around in human flesh. So, first and foremost, wisdom is a Person—Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul wrote that it is because of God that “Christ Jesus . . . has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Therefore, wisdom is not just abstract principles, but a historic Person. As a result, it is through the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ that the wisdom of God is seen and heard through His preaching, parables, principles, and precepts. So if we want to see and hear wisdom incarnate, we must look at the life of Christ, who supremely demonstrated God’s wisdom, resulting in our “righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

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To quote Paul again, Jesus Christ is “God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began” (1 Corinthians 2:7). So, God’s wisdom is revealed in Jesus Christ. Once He came into the world, God’s wisdom was no longer hidden. It was no longer a mystery. God’s full and final wisdom has been fully revealed in and through the Lord Jesus. As a result, we can only bring glory to God by living according to His wisdom. All else is a sham or a cheap imitation.

How can we receive this spiritual wisdom that is the key for successful living? It only comes through a reverential fear of God. That’s why James, the brother of Jesus, exhorts us:

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do (James 1:5–8).

If that is how we receive God’s wisdom, how can we recognize it? Again, James gives us the signs:

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3:17).

I think any sane person can look at our world today—increasing in knowledge but decreasing in wisdom—and agree that we could use a benevolent invasion of God’s wisdom.

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But that wisdom can only be received by faith. Indeed, it is one of the much-needed fruit of fearful faith!

And again, the Good News is that God’s wisdom is not just for the intelligent, educated, or enlightened. In fact, they are often the very ones who never receive it or find it! Jesus acknowledged this in one of His prayers to His heavenly Father: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Luke 10:21).

We can only receive God’s wisdom when we humble ourselves and become like little children (Matthew 18:3), which is often very hard for the intellectuals and the educated. Wisdom warns in Proverbs 8:13: “I hate pride and arrogance.” It is only the humble, teachable, submissive, and obedient who receive God’s wisdom. That’s why all of the colleges, universities, and graduate schools in the world cannot grant degrees in wisdom. That only comes from God’s mind to our mind through the Holy Spirit teaching us through the Holy Word. And that is something that the most lowly, uneducated person can receive—even the illiterate, as I have so often seen in Third World countries where I travel and minister. All it takes to receive wisdom is a true reverential fear of God!

There is a third fruit of faithful fear on this cluster that will help us faith down our fears. Let’s now focus on this wonderful fruit.

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