Word of Salvation – Vol. 33 No. 40 – October 1988

 

Wisdom: Its Value And Limitations

 

Sermon: by Rev. J. Haverland on Eccl. 7:11-8:1, 16-17

Reading: 1Cor. 1:18-31, Eccl. 7:11-8:1, 16-17

 

Congregation, beloved in Christ,

Some years ago Alvin Toffler wrote a book called Future Shock.  In that book he documented the rapid changes that were taking place in society.  He pointed out that we live in a technological world that is changing very fast.  New scientific and electronic discoveries are made every day.

In a world like this the emphasis is on movement and speed, action and growth.  You see that illustrated in the world of computers where information must be stored and retrieved at speed; even a few seconds is too slow.  You see that in the world of TV where the images keep changing to keep us interested and entertained.  Nothing can take too long or require too much thought because the world is moving on!

All of this is not conducive to wisdom.  Because wisdom takes time and thought.  It takes reflection and meditation and experience.  It has become more and more difficult to find really wise people in our modern world.  This is due to a number of factors.  One of these factors is the disruption of the home which is really one of the most important schools of wisdom.

Another is that we are living in a pluralistic society where there are many different viewpoints floating around.  And behind this lies the most important reason for loss of wisdom.  And that is that our society in New Zealand/Australia has increasingly disregarded the Word of God.  People are really not interested in what God has to say to our world.  So wisdom today is in short supply.

Yet in this rapidly changing world of ours one of our most important needs is wisdom!  Everyone needs to know how to live in the world.  This is what wisdom deals with: How we should live in the world.  In these chapters (7 & 8) of Ecclesiastes the Preacher is giving us some practical advice for living in the world.  Before we get into what the Preacher has to say about wisdom we should first of all define what wisdom is.

1.  DEFINITION

There are two parts to the definition.

a.  Wisdom is a knowledge of God in the heart, and

b.  A knowledge of God in our lives.

Notice that this is all about God.  God is the beginning and end of wisdom.  The Bible locates wisdom with God.  "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."  Biblical wisdom is to know God in our heart.  But it isn't just a knowledge in our heart, it also has to be lived out.  Biblical wisdom is very practical.  It touches how we live.  That is why most of Ecclesiastes is practical.  The Preacher is concerned to show how God's truth works out in our lives.  What does it mean in the detail of living?  The Proverbs of the Bible are the same.  They are the application of God's truth to everyday situations.  The N.T. does the same thing.  James is the N.T. book on wisdom.  And James too emphasises the practical aspect of wisdom.  Biblical wisdom is a matter of our hearts and our lives.

Now we are in a position to look at what the Preacher says about wisdom in these verses.  The preacher begins by telling us three things about THE VALUE OF WISDOM.

All three begin with 'S': Security; Strength; Sunshine.

a.  Wisdom Gives Security: (7:11-12)

In vs.11-12 wisdom is compared with money.  Both are said to give us protection.  This of course is an image drawn from the Middle East where you needed protection from the hot eastern sun.

It is easy to see that money gives you security.  If you have a freehold house and some money in the bank then you don't have to worry about the bank taking your house off you, or the furniture store coming to repossess your lounge suit.  It all belongs to you and there is a secure feeling in knowing that.

Wisdom also gives a person security.  A wise person has things basically figured out in life and that gives security.  There is nothing worse for a thinking person than constantly having to reassess their whole way of looking at things; constantly having to wonder if they are actually standing on the truth.  But the wise person who is building on the truth of the Scriptures has a security.  If you know the truth of the Bible you are building on the truth of Christ.  You have a basis from which you can evaluate all that goes on around you.  You know where you stand.

And there is security in this: In knowing the truth.  But there is also security in living the truth.  When you know what is right you can do what is right.  Contrast this for a moment with those who have no criteria for distinguishing between right and wrong.  They have no moral base.  So they are confused, drifting, aimless and blind in the world.  They are uncertain about where to go or what to do.  The Christian however is secure.  We do have clear guidance on ethical matters.  We can have firm opinions about right and wrong.  There is clarity in the Scriptures on how we should live.  God's Word is a lamp to our feet and a light upon our path.  So Biblical wisdom gives the security of knowing what to believe and what to do.

But the Preacher takes this security a step further.

He says: "Wisdom preserves the life of its possessors." (vs.12)  In other words it doesn't just help you now it helps you eternally.  There are eternal benefits to be gained in wisdom.  Some of you here today may still be searching for this security.  This is where you will find it.  In God and His wisdom.  Here is a wisdom from God that helps you now and also in the eternal future.  But wisdom has even more value than this.

a.  It gives security... but

b.  It also gives strength (Vs.19).

Again we get a comparison.  Vs.19... (read it)

Ten rulers in a city make up a very powerful group of people.  It is the strength of collective force and might.  It is the sort of strength that comes from outside.  It is imposed.  It comes from the top.  It is usually enforced by the police and the army.  But there is something stronger than this.  It is the strength of a wise man.  This is a strength that comes from within.  It is a strength that enables you to face all opposition with strength.  You see this in Stephen in the book of Acts.

It is said of the Jews that they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the spirit with which Stephen was speaking.  You see this strength in the lives of many Christians who are called to go through long illness and sickness, or who have to face some difficult trial.  God provides them with an inner strength that is based on "the fear of the Lord".  This strength and wisdom is available to us today in all the varied circumstances of our lives.  "If any of you lacks wisdom", says James, "Let him ask of God... and it will be given to Him" (James 1:5).  God promises us the strength that comes through wisdom.  It is there for the asking.  So there is security and strength in wisdom.

c.  Wisdom gives sunshine.

This might seem an odd way of putting it but ch.8:1 tells us that "wisdom illumines a man's face".  (NIV "brightens a man's face").  It was said of Stephen again that as people looked at him they saw his face as the face of an angel (Acts 6:15).  This is where wisdom is more than Knowledge.  You can have great knowledge but be cold and hard and bitter.  That is not wisdom.  No, wisdom makes your face shine!  The wisdom that comes from God said James, is pure, peaceable, gentle.

You can see a truly wise man or woman because it shows in their face and their demeanour and in the way they approach other people.  There is a gentleness there, a graciousness, an openness, a deep-seated joy that is evident in older Christians.  A graciousness.  A maturity.  A brightness!

For it takes time to develop this wisdom.  Wisdom like this is the product of spiritual maturity.  But this is something which should be more and more evident in all of us as we go on in the Christian life.  We should all pray for the wisdom that gives security, strength and sunshine!

But WISDOM HAS ITS LIMITATIONS.

To be wise does not mean that we know all there is to know about everything.  Not at all.  Look at 7:23... (read it).

The Preacher recognises the same thing at the end of Ch.8:17: "I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun".  Our wisdom is limited.  You see, when we look into the work of God in this world we come face to face with two facts:

a.  We have to face the greatness of God, and

b.  We have to face our own human limitations.

a.  God is God, which means that He is utterly beyond us.  We cannot grasp Him totally.  We will never comprehend Him.  The Bible puts it in those well-known words: Is.55:8-9... (read it).  We will never grasp all there is to know about God.  If we could, then He would cease to be God.

b.  Our wisdom is also limited because we are human.  "What is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you visit him", says the Psalmist.  We are human, finite, sinful.  Our minds are clouded.  We see through a glass darkly.  So although wisdom is a tremendous value we cannot and will not know everything.  We need to remember this.  We should not imagine that we have all the answers to all the questions there are in a sinful world.  Our understanding is limited.  For we can know God.  We can know His truth.  We can know how we should be living.  This is especially so for us living today.  Because Jesus has come as the wisdom of God!  Biblical wisdom is not just some abstract truth.  Wisdom is a person!

The Christian life is not about having a head full of knowledge and doctrine!  It is about knowing a Saviour and a Lord.  Because Jesus came as the One who embodied in His person the wisdom of God.  In his home town people marvelled and wondered where this man received such wisdom (Matt.13:54).  Jesus described himself as one greater in wisdom than Solomon (Lk.11:31).  And Paul says that Jesus came to us as Wisdom from God (1Cor.1:30).

So to know Jesus is to know him as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1Cor.1:30).  We live in a high-tech world.  Things are constantly changing.  Our lives are always busy.  But in all this pace and change we need to take time to know Jesus.  To know and love Him with all of our heart and soul and strength and mind.  As we come to know him as the wisdom of God we will experience His security, His strength and His sunshine.  That is true wisdom.  To see our Lord Jesus Christ.  To know Him as Wisdom from God.

Amen