This is Wisdom’s final call! Seek wisdom, avoid injury, and obtain life and favour from the Lord.

Our passages today: 1 Cor 2:6-16 & Proverbs 8. Mark Harrison, Sunday 20th August.

Sermon outline

Introduction

So what does it mean to be wise? Wisdom is a concept that’s often overlooked in Christianity, as well as in the world in general. Our passage makes a great deal of wisdom. What were your thoughts as we read through it? Wisdom “crying out” to us. “Better than jewels and all that you may desire”, and then it goes on to say “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work” – invoking imagery of creation and seems to be suggesting wisdom is a person as old as the earth? What’s it all about?

So a really easy passage for a first sermon today, right? 

But there is reason for speaking on this passage: it’s a passage that has stood out to me over the last few years since hearing a series preached on Proverbs, and it’s something we don’t hear about very often which is a real practical aid for all of us in our daily lives. 

I was keen to explore more about what wisdom the Bible has to offer and share some of this with you today.

Biblical context

It can be helpful to note before we start a little bit about the context of the Bible and where wisdom fits:

• Because the Bible primarily guides us in why we should love God (and the wonderful verse John 3:16 is a great summary: “For God so loved the world he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”). We can never love God as we should; without this sacrifice, we would face separation from Him. How can we fail to respond to such sacrifice and love? This is the question the Bible poses.
• The Bible shows us how we should respond and love God: with “faith, hope and love” (1 Cor 13:13) and displaying the fruits of the spirit. 
• Yet, the bible can appear limited from a human perspective on exactly what we do for day-to-day decision-making, and when we should make it: resolving a dispute with a neighbour, or what job we should take. It’s not really what the Bible is for. 

Biblical decision making

Of course, big decisions still require answers. Some Christians choose to fill the gap with what they say is being “led by the Holy Spirit” (and while occasionally true, it often means being led by emotion or the first prominent thought (this is like being “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” Eph 4:14). It’s very much a human spirituality response.

But what is the Bible’s actual prompt to look to in these situations? What are these folks missing? We’ve just read two passages on it: Wisdom! Wisdom can help us understand scripture, deepen our relationship with God, and be successful in our Christian lives. It gives us guidance with ‘what’ to do day by day: it’s really practical, and really helpful for daily life.

So today we’ll look at what, or who, is wisdom, why we need her, and how to find her. 

What is wisdom

Before we start we need a definition: what is wisdom?

Going to the dictionary, wisdom is “knowledge in context” – knowing when to apply the knowledge you have. As the great illustrator Jez Tuya once quoted: “Knowledge is that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad”

And Proverbs has a lot to say about wisdom! It’s a book of the Old Testament, written by Solomon, a King of Israel around 900 years before Jesus, who was reportedly the wisest man on earth. So he’d know a thing or two about wisdom.

Our passage explored

Let’s turn now to our passage, Proverbs 8, which outlines Wisdom’s final call and is helpfully broken into four sections for us in our Bibles:

1. Wisdom’s call (v1-11)
2. Wisdom’s offer (v12-21)
3. Wisdom’s origin (v22-31)
4. Wisdom’s challenge (v32-36)

We’ll explore these in turn to unpack the call that Wisdom is making.

1. Wisdom calls (Prv 8:1-11)

Wisdom is calling (v1). It’s Wisdom’s final call! Why is she calling? Why does she need to call? There must be people that need to respond. There must be people that don’t know her.

Wisdom is pictured as a person standing by a crossroads (v2) where people are choosing where to go, she’s at the city gates – which was a social hub in biblical times, she’s at the portals (v3), or some translations have main entrance. You have to be blind not to notice her – Wisdom has positioned herself as obviously as she can and she’s making noise!

She is crying out to everyone. She’s not in a synagogue, or an elite forum, she’s out there in public plain to see. There is no elitism here: wisdom is for everyone in this room and watching online.

Her call is a call to the simple and the foolish if they will listen (v4-5):

“To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. [5] O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.

Proverbs 8:4-5 ESV

We learn from the first chapters of Proverbs that the simple are lacking in wisdom and are easily led astray, but the fools are in deliberate opposition to wisdom, and we’ll see later that opposition to wisdom is opposition to God.

A question for you: How does wisdom’s call make you feel? Hazard a guess that it’s probably similar to your reaction to the call of Jesus. If you want to honour Jesus this should make sense. If you’re indifferent, then this could seem “meh”, and if you’re not a fan of Christianity then it can seem inexplicably repulsive – you can’t quite explain why you don’t like it. Hopefully we’ll touch on some reasons for this.

From v6 Wisdom claims to be truthful, righteous and will make intuitive sense to those who are wise (v9): she claims to be better than jewels and all you may desire (v11).

These are bold claims.

2. Wisdom’s offer

In the next two sections we see more about the nature of wisdom, see if her claims stack up and if her offer is a good one.

Verse 12 and 13 tell us a lot about what wisdom is and isn’t:

In v12 Wisdom goes hand in hand with prudence (which is care and thought for the future) – you may hear our politicians talk about “prudent economic policy”, and it’s definitely wise to think about the long term consequences of our actions.

And Wisdom helps us find knowledge and discretion (which is taking care when to act). This aligns with our definition: wisdom is very much about knowing when to apply what we know.

But when we’re seeking wisdom we need to be careful to get the right sort, and use it in the right way, v13 cautions us:

[13] The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 8:13 ESV

This is really important and when seeking wisdom we need to be mindful that:

• Wisdom is from God
• Wisdom is for God

a) Wisdom is from God

Our NT passage helps us understand two types of wisdom. Paul writes in 1 Cor 2:6-8:

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. [7] But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. [8] None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

1 Corinthians 2:6-8 ESV

He’s saying there’s two types of wisdom: a worldly “wisdom of this age”, and the wisdom of God. 

I. Worldly wisdom will fall away

As an example of this: 

We’ve been watching “Alone” lately, a TV show where participants get dropped in the wilderness to survive on their own. They create their shelter, find food: there is wisdom on what they are doing: making clay for a fireplace to get better efficiency, using rocks to store heat, building a pier to fish in deeper water. 

But the conclusion I’ve come to watching it is that none of the contestants (save perhaps one) really had any chance of surviving the winter. If there wasn’t an extraction team a button press away: eventually they’re going to die. This could be starvation, sickness, loneliness, self-evaluation, injury, and eventually everyone is going to die.

Worldly wisdom can’t ultimately help us. As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:14 worldly wisdom is like “chasing after the wind”. All is “vanity” and will eventually pass away.

II. Godly wisdom will sustain

In contrast Godly wisdom will endure – Jesus says those who follow him will have eternal life (John 3:16).

As you’d expect: Godly Wisdom and God are intrinsically linked. Proverbs 9:10 says:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of [Godly] wisdom.

Proverbs 9:10a ESV

And Paul refers to Jesus being the “foundation” of Godly wisdom in 1 Cor 3:10-11. 

So good news: if Jesus is the “foundation” of wisdom, then every Christian here has some wisdom!

And this is why you’ll notice both here and in our NT passage: wisdom’s call goes unheeded – the world doesn’t respond. 

Proud people don’t want wisdom, arrogant people don’t feel they need it, and evil people are opposed to wisdom. A wise person knows to listen and be corrected. So when wisdom calls, when Jesus calls, people have a choice, we have a choice: to be humble and heed it, accepting that we need Him to save us, or be too proud or arrogant to think we don’t need to. It takes a humility to heed the call, and to follow God’s will. 

If you do heed the call the remainder of the second section gives encouragement that you’ve made the right choice:

You’re in fine company: kings, princes, nobles rule justly through wisdom (v15-16). There are significant blessings to be gained, as we read in Proverbs 8:18:

Riches and honour are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.

Proverbs 8:18 ESV

Now you may be thinking: “that’s good, I’ve heeded the call, prayed the prayer and have a bible verse on my bedroom door. Now v18 says I get riches – let’s have a new car!”

Well that’s our second point:

b) Wisdom is for God

Let’s look back at v13: Wisdom warns us that trying to use wisdom to sin, or subvert God’s will isn’t right. Wisdom is from God. You can’t beat the maker at his own game!

A few years back I was unfortunate enough to listen to a sermon preached by another less reputable church in Wellington where the preacher was using bible verses out of context to say “if you want a car, you need more faith; if you want a house you need more faith”. 

This ‘prosperity gospel’ is not what Wisdom is about – mindless so-called “faith” leading to untold wealth. But wealth does tend to follow wisdom. Making wise decisions about where we invest our time, resources, and love for the Lord will generally result in his blessing.

So if you really want a new car – seek wisdom. Maybe wisdom will reveal the car isn’t what you really need! Or maybe wisdom will provide a path for you to obtain that car, by the grace of God, through humble obedience and service to the Lord. Or maybe the riches you really need right now are the eternal ones!

From these examples and others, we can see that Wisdom’s call will be heeded by Christians, but not fully by everyone as the final section warns.

3. Wisdom’s origins

Before this, we’ve now arrived at the difficult part of our passage: wisdom’s origin. How we read what or who Lady Wisdom is, will help us (a) trust her, (b) understand what she is saying.

To help us with this I’ll read three well-known passages – can you name the book and chapter?

“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. [23] Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. [24] When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. [27] When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, [I was there]

Passage 1 – answer below

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [2] The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. [3] And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Passage 2 – answer below

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Passage 3 – answer below

The passages above are:

• Passage 1: Proverbs 8:22-24,27 ESV – Evocative language… which may remind us of creation.
• Passage 2: Genesis 1:1-3 ESV – Creation
• Passage 3: John 1:1-3 ESV – beginning of John’s gospel talking about Jesus

Notice the parallels here – the creation language. There’s something special about wisdom that we cannot ignore – she’s claiming to be God! Some commentaries resolve this by equate Lady Wisdom with Christ – is she Jesus? Others say being “possessed” by God is being part of the character of God.  What are we to make of this?

Beside him, like a master workman

We know from our passage that she is with God “besides him, like a master workman”, “set-up” as a foundation of creation, and “rejoicing” in creation and humanity indicating an ongoing relationship with it. 

So what is Wisdom’s role in creation? Again we know from the Bible that the persons of God work together during creation with specific roles:

• God the Father initiates the creation and provides the Word (Gen 1:1)
• The Word of God (Jesus) is spoken throughout creation: he created all things and holds all things together (1 Col 1:16-17)
• the Spirit of God is hovering ready to provide life and complete the creation. 

Wisdom carries the plan and order. She is logic and rationality that is part of God’s nature, also manifested in the created order. Everything around us has been perfectly created to sustain life – that is the physicality of wisdom. 

Jesus is Wisdom personified

So, given the language used and that Wisdom is present and active through Creation, there is a real question over whether Wisdom Personified here is referring to Jesus. People make arguments both ways, but subtly if we flip the question and ask instead: Is Jesus Wisdom Personified? The answer is yes, He certainly is! 

Jesus perfectly displays wisdom throughout his life and ministry and is directly referred to as “wisdom from God” in 1 Cor 1:30.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

1 Corinthians 1:30

Yet you don’t need to have an abundance of wisdom to trust in Christ: little children can know him (e.g. Luke 10:21). You see it’s a start: knowing God is the beginning of wisdom, a “foundation” (1 Cor 3:10) and we’re told to seek more and build on this.

Attribute of God, or personified in Jesus?

So: on the one hand you have Jesus who is wisdom personified and the beginning of all wisdom, and on the other you have wisdom as the plan and logic of God; that the Father, Son, and the Holy Sprit “possess”, and are working alongside. And both are true statements according to scripture. So there doesn’t need to be a debate, we just need to understand this.

Both statement say: Wisdom is from God: we can trust her and we need to heed her call and challenge.

4. Wisdom’s challenge

Wisdom concludes by saying:

“And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways… [35] For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, [36] but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Proverbs 8:32,35-36 ESV

Listen to Wisdom, keep her ways. Seek her and find life and favour.

This is a challenge to Christians who risk injury by failing to find her, and non-believers who risk the eternal death that comes from hating God.

And this is why I think it’s unhelpful to take a view that this passage is exclusively referring to Jesus. It certainly can be read that way, and as we’ve seen, it’s true that Jesus personifies Wisdom, but it doesn’t seem correct to say Lady Wisdom personifies Jesus: we miss some key consequences if we just go: “yup passage refers to Jesus”, tick box and move on.

Spiritual injury

Let’s take a look at v35 – spiritual injury. Clearly if you “fail to find” Christ and accept his grace and merciful offer of salvation, there’s only one outcome: that’s God’s judgement.

So v35 seems to be referring to a middle ground: it’s believing, so not being a “fool” opposed to God, but it’s being “simple”: not being filled with Godly wisdom. The author is addressing Christians who are lacking in wisdom; this is something we’re all at risk of.

So this is a message for all Christians: seek wisdom to guide your walk with Christ! If you don’t you risk injury!

The natural question is then: what’s injury? It’s described through the rest of Proverbs as the consequences of being simple and foolish; being led astray to sin and facing the consequences, as Pastor Ian has preached on many times. Missing opportunities that a wise person would take. And the Apostle Peter reminds us:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

The Christian life is not easy, and being injured when the lion is prowling and smells blood is not a good image. For instance, Cain was devoured when he gave in and killed his brother (Gen 4:7). We are told to take up the shield of faith to protect ourselves from the “flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph 6:16). The challenge to us today is to be wise and let wisdom guide us in our walk with Christ.

Application

There’s quite a bit to consider, how should we apply:

Non-Christians

If you’re a non-Christian this whole session will seem foolish to you and you’re probably glad it’s nearly over, and well done for surviving so far:

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV explains:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

God chooses who will follow him and who will respond. But that’s kind of irrelevant for us on a human level – there’s a choice to make: God so loved the world he gave his only son for you so that whatever you’ve done in life, however much you’ve ignored him or failed to give him the honour he deserves you can have a relationship with Him. That’s the good news of the gospel. There’s only one thing that matters and it’s that Jesus is here to welcome you with open arms if you accept his sacrifice and follow Him. 

The logic, wisdom and truth of this are all around us.

So there is another path for you as there was for Cain, if you want to choose it: “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prv 9:10). Wisdom is calling, Christ is calling, all of creation is calling (Ps 19:1, Rom 1:20) to you to turn, acknowledge, and follow Him. You don’t need to be wise to follow Christ, we’re a church of simple sinners! Following Him is the only hope we have: it’s the beginning of wisdom and the eternal joy of a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is our prayer for you today.

Christians

For Christians the message is similar: 

1. Seek God’s wisdom and ask
2. Seek God’s wisdom and read
3. Seek God’s wisdom and trust
4. Seek God’s wisdom and follow

But you get the main application, right?

1. Ask (pray)

We need to ask! There is a promise given by wisdom in v17

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Proverbs 8:17 ESV

So Pray! Seek wisdom. Read her call in Proverbs and the other wisdom literature. Pray for her guidance every day. Love her as you love God. She will love you and keep you close to Him. 

Pro 4:7 says you just need to ask:

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honour you if you embrace her.

Proverbs 4:7 ESV

2. Read

And we need to read. The Holy Spirit will provide insight to scripture (1 Cor 2:12). Remember: knowledge, prudence and discretion go hand in hand with wisdom, and scripture helps us with this (v12). Wisdom can help us uncover false teachings and understand more about what it means to live in a way that’s pleasing to God. Ultimately our goal is to be a good disciple to our Lord Jesus in honour of His sacrifice. We need to let ourselves hear his word to do this.

3. Trust

Now if you feel you’re not getting what you need – ask again and trust! Do not doubt the Lord will provide as James remarks:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. [6] But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

James 1:5-6 ESV

Because God wants what’s good for us (Luk 11:11-13 – good passage to refer to), and as long as we’re wanting wisdom for the right reasons generally he will not withhold it. Yet, asking in order to boast, for arrogance, pride or trying to subvert God and go your own way is worldly wisdom – chasing the wind: it’s ultimately futile. You can’t beat the maker at his own game!

Because finally we need to:

4. Follow

This is making decisions prayerfully with understanding of scripture, and letting wisdom guide your application. 

Now we’re short of time, so let’s look at one example I’ve practically used in deciding whether to challenge people who are making questionable decisions. Proverbs 9 says don’t reason with people who aren’t open to listening: 

[7] Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. [8] Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

Proverbs 9:7-8

We need to be careful with our wisdom, the world doesn’t want to hear it, but nothing stops us relying on it; indeed, our faith may depend on it.

Listen to God’s Wisdom, keep her ways, and whether you’re a Christian today or not: her call is the same: seek her, and find life and favour, with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (Prv 9:10).

A lot to consider: the sermon outline handout is at the top of this post with the passages referenced. Thank you for listening (or reading online) today.