Words of the Wise

It struck me as profound the other Sunday morning when I heard Tony define wisdom as “the application of knowledge”. I’ve heard him and others say that before, but sometimes truth hits someone harder on one particular day instead of another. “The application of knowledge”.

Application is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “an act of putting to use, an ability to fix one’s attention to a task”. So wisdom would be the act of putting to use that which we know to be true and with steadfast resolve putting that knowledge into action.

We live in an era where the acquisition of knowledge is literally at our fingertips. Through the pressing of a few buttons on our phones, or tablets we can search for almost anything on any subject we want. In many ways we puff ourselves up with knowledge, and we kid ourselves that possessing knowledge somehow makes us wise.

Through Twitter I can find 140 character bits of knowledge from just about any source I want to ‘follow’. Through Facebook I can find out what’s going on in the lives of all of my Facebook Friends. Through the all-powerful Google search engine I can find anything or any topic I desire. There is more knowledge at my fingertips in this generation than ever before.

However, I can read all about brain surgery and understand in principle how brain surgery is done and why it’s done. But if I cannot apply that knowledge and use wisdom on the operating table then my patient will die. Wisdom in fact would have been to not operate at all.

Likewise, I can know that my friend’s status on Facebook is “Having a bad day (sad face)”, and I can post a reply that says “God is good, hang in there (smiley face)”. But if I don’t pick up the phone and speak with my friend directly and seek to understand his ‘status’ then I fail to be wise in understanding my friend’s ‘bad day’, and I may have in fact added to his ‘bad day’ through my lack of wisdom.

I can know and believe that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). I can know that in the presence of God is the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). I can know that I am to love my enemy (Matthew 5:44). I can know that I am to be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19). But unless I am determined and resolved, by God’s grace, to put those truths into action in my own life, then I pretend to be wise and I am really a fool.

Quite honestly there is no shortage of good biblical truth here at Grace. If you want knowledge about Truth, you’ve come to the right place. If you want to be equipped for the work of the ministry, you’ve come to the right place. However, wisdom, biblical wisdom, is not simply possessing biblical knowledge, wisdom is you and me rightly applying that biblical knowledge moment by moment and day by day.

As I personally reflect and meditate on Proverbs 22:17, I’d like to offer a few suggestions to help us apply what we know to be true. I’d like to suggest that this verse reminds us that our response to Truth is to include a posture of humility towards Truth, a pursuit of obedience to Truth, and an ongoing practice of applying Truth in every aspect of our lives.

The first suggestion would be for us to adopt a posture of humility - incline your ear. In humility, we must concede that biblical Truth is God’s Truth, and therefore what He has to say about anything must be heard. In a world that is filled with suffering, sorrow and sin, in humility, we must bend our ears to biblical truth and let that Truth inform our lives. It is so easy to say we know that God is a refuge and strength. It is a far different thing to humbly confess that to be true even though our experiences and feelings tell us differently. In humility we must bend our ears toward the Living Word and let every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God inform our experiences and feelings.

Let me ask you dear reader, do you take the time to bend your ear towards the Word of God and in humility listen to what He has to say? Let me press you a bit further. God has placed you in a community of believers. In humility, do you incline your ear to the biblical exhortation, correction, or encouragement you receive from those who love you? To grow in wisdom we must first adopt a posture of humility towards Truth.

As we bend our ear toward the Word of God we must do so in the pursuit of obedience - hear the word of the wise. It is one thing to hear the Word it is another thing in all humility to pursue obedience TO the Word. The Hebrew word ‘shama’ means to hear, to listen, to obey. How many of us know we are to love our enemy? To hate what God hates? To rejoice always? To be anxious for nothing? We are well taught and we know those words to be true words from the mouth of God to the mind of men to the pen on the paper (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21). Yet actively pursuing to obey those words is entirely another matter. In fact, our Lord, Jesus Christ, links our love FOR Him to our obedience TO Him. He says, “whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (John 14:21).

Let it be said, however, that in keeping the law the Christian does not earn favor with God. On the contrary, favor with God has been granted to the believer by the grace of God, and it is only by the grace of God that we can pursue obedience to God.

Let me ask you again, are there areas of your life that you simply need to submit to Truth and obey? Wife, are you unloving towards your husband? Love him because God in Christ first loved you and calls you to love without condition. Father, are you permissive and passive in your parenting because it takes too much time to help your child understand the root of his/her rebellion? Train them because they need your help to see their desperate need for the grace of God, and God calls you to train them. My unemployed brother, do you worry that you may never find work? Be active in your pursuit of employment and trust that your Father in heaven knows what you need and do not worry about tomorrow.

Obedience can be hard when we don’t feel like obeying. Nevertheless, in humility we are called to submit, obey and trust the in the Lord’s goodness and grace even when we don’t feel like it.

In humility of mind we pursue obedience through the ongoing practice of applying what we know to be true. It is attributed to John Bunyan the famous saying:
Run, John, run, the law commands
But gives us neither feet nor hands,
Far better news the gospel brings:
It bids us fly and gives us wings

The gospel truth is that we are people redeemed by the grace of God, indwelt by the Spirit of God, Who calls us to live holy lives in pursuit of obedience to God out of love for God Ephesians 2:8, Ephesians 1:13, 14, Matthew 5:48, 2Cor 5:14).

The good news of the gospel is that by God’s grace we have been redeemed from the penalty of sin and by God’s grace we have also be set free from the reign of sin so that we may live lives of holiness and righteousness.

Did you get that? The very same grace that saved us is the very same grace that trains us to live godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:11, 12). By the grace of God, the Spirit of God is alive in each of us transforming and conforming into the image of God’s Son (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29). By the grace of God, we persevere through the trials of life which produce godly character and godly hope. By the grace of God, we are able to moment by moment reject ungodliness and seek in those same moments to pursue true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).

In order to reject what is untrue and cling to what is true we must be saturated with Truth (Psalm 119:9-11). The wise man or woman is not only one who seeks knowledge for the sake of knowledge. The wise man or woman is one who walks humbly before the Lord submitting in obedience to the Lord’s Truth and actively seeks to have his or her life transformed by that Truth.

So how might we learn to apply what we know to be true?

Attend a community group.

It is through and in the community of believers that we grow together, having our iron sharpened against each other’s iron. It is in community that we bear burdens together and serve one another. It is in community that we observe one another and encourage one another and seek counsel and advice from one another. It is in community that we practice biblical love.

Attend an adult Sunday school class.

Each quarter we provide equipping and training in a variety of biblical categories like parenting, marriage, communication, biblical change, evangelism, and others. While many of us know what is true about parenting or communication, we need one another to help us apply what we know. It is through discipleship that we learn to practice and apply biblical truth.

Attend a prayer meeting or start your own.

Through prayer and praise we grow to learn, trust, depend upon, and worship God. By joining in prayer with others we also commit to love one another, serve one another and bear one another’s burdens.

Serve somewhere (anywhere) in the body of Christ.

Through serving one another, we learn to die to self and live for Christ. Beloved, let it never be said of us that we are a church filled with knowledgeable people. May the people of Grace always be known as ones who walk humbly before the God of all Truth, who walk in obedience to the Truth of God and who are always seeking to be conformed and transformed by the Grace of God as we live out our lives together as a testimony to the Glory of God.

Scott Denny is one of our Pastors here at Grace Bible Church