True Wisdom

• Praise

• Prayer

• Pastor Dan

A. text:

Prov. 4:7

The beginning of Wisdom is: get Wisdom (skillful and godly Wisdom)! [For skillful and godly Wisdom is the principal thing.] And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and

interpretation). – Amplified Bible

Wisdom = applied knowledge , shrewdness, skill (in war), ethical and spiritual prudence

Greek word khokma (kokma)

1. In the text, what kind of knowledge, or what is referred to as wisdom?

Story of Matthew and Kenyan boy

(Matthew part of mission team. 2 weeks Nairobi, Kenya)

1) Boy lived in slum his whole life

• Boy lived in slum in city
• Slum population about 725,000
• Area about 1 ½ x 3 mi. (by contrast, Greater DM about 300,000)
• Boy 17 yrs old
1. Matthew asked him if he could have one thing in life – what would it be?
   • Did not ask for car, money etc.
   • Boy Wanted wisdom
   • God honored boys prayer – it lined up with His will

3. Matthew – a man of God and one who anyone would say is a man of true wisdom – an assistant pastor in our church and Pastor Dan’s # 1 advisor (besides his wife)
   • Brought him from Perry, Ia. to D.M. to Chicago to London and then to Kenya to stand before that young man and speak wisdom into his life.
   • Think of what The God Of The Universe is able to do!

4. God’s primary way of blessing ANYONE is with wisdom!

• If you apply the knowledge you have, seek more knowledge (which is wise), are shrewd and prudent, then you can figure out how to make more money or figure out how to do the things you need to accomplish to be obedient (to God, that’s what He requires in the first place).
• If obedience is what God requires, He will equip you for it – where God guides, He provides.
• This is how a Loving Father blesses His Children’s obedience. (do you bless your kid’s disobedience?)
  1. I don’t always – I tend to take it for granted

• King David impressed on Solomon at an early age to have a relationship with God, to honor Him and to be obedient. David (a man after God’s own heart) also let Solomon know that God blesses most of the time by speaking WISDOM to us. That’s why Solomon Prayed and asked God for WISDOM.

1 Kings 3

7 "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."

Prov. 4:7 Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
       Though it cost all you have, get understanding. - NIV

4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding – KJV

• Proverbs 4:3-9 Message Bible (synonyms – discuss/study)

3-9 When I was a boy at my father's knee,
    the pride and joy of my mother,
He would sit me down and drill me:
   "Take this to heart. Do what I tell you—live!
Sell everything and buy Wisdom! Forage for Understanding!
   Don't forget one word! Don't deviate an inch!
Never walk away from Wisdom—she guards your life;
   love her—she keeps her eye on you.
Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom!
   Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding!
Throw your arms around her—believe me, you won't regret it;
   never let her go—she'll make your life glorious.
She'll garland your life with grace,
   she'll festoon your days with beauty."

1 Corinthians 3:18-20

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; 20 and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

Amplified version -

18 Let no person deceive himself. If anyone among you supposes that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [let him discard his worldly discernment and recognize himself as dull, stupid, and foolish, without true learning and scholarship], that he may become [really] wise. 19For this world's wisdom is foolishness (absurdity and stupidity) with God, for it is written, He lays hold of the wise in their [own] craftiness;

    20And again, The Lord knows the thoughts and reasonings of the [humanly] wise and recognizes how futile they are.

• Brother-in-law one of smartest people I know
• Great guy
• Knows many obscure facts
• Does not know God
• God says his knowledge is useless!
•  Does not have TRUE WISDOM

1. How do I get true wisdom?

1. MUST be born again – (Rom. 10:9)

2. Acknowledge God in all your ways - (Prov. 3:6)

3. Worship in truth – (John 4:23)

4. Fear of Lord – (Prov. 1:7)

5. Pray and ask for it – be obedient make sure Jesus is Lord over every phase of your life. THAT IS TRUE WISDOM – (John 1:9)