You can listen to this teaching presented at SHINE BRIGHT Church here!
WISDOM: The DOMAIN, or the KINGDOM, or the NATION of the WISE.
And any nation or kingdom (the king’s domain) has a culture to it – but what exactly is a culture? And I’m not talking yogurt here!
“Culture is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities and habits of the individuals that live in these domains.”
Our (social) behavior is to conform to the truth of Scripture; our institutions – such as marriage, family, church are all to follow the instruction we find in the holy revelation of GOD’s Word. The norm for the Christian’s culture is holiness and truth, grace and peace. Our beliefs, our knowledge, our laws are founded on the bedrock of the Bible. Our customs are inspired by the very heart of GOD as our own souls are conformed to His will and represent the artwork of GOD’s redemptive creativity.
Our habits and capabilities are empowered by the very Spirit of GOD.
So, in fact, this DOMAIN that we live in is a culture of WISDOM, and if we are indeed wise, we will conform to this CULTURE of JESUS and His Kingdom!
So let us turn in the holy revelation of GOD to:
PROVERBS 24:5-6
5 A wise man is strong, Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength; 6 For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.
JEREMIAH 32:19In other words, GOD in His bold, majestic, glorious counsels, plans, advisements and judgments is well able to bring these counsels to pass and none can interfere or obstruct them because GOD is Almighty:
'You [GOD] are great in counsel and mighty in work, for your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.
ISAIAH 43:12-13True wisdom says the elder James, the half-brother of Jesus of Nazareth comes from above, that is, from GOD (JAMES 3:17). And all who receive such counsels of wisdom have a strength unequaled by any resource found in this fallen world.
12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; therefore, you are My witnesses," says the LORD, "that I am God. 13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?"
We see a marvelous example of following GOD’s wisdom instead of conventional battle tactics with JOSHUA, General of the armies of Israel, who committed himself and his household to serving the living GOD (JOSH 24:15)
Joshua gave himself to the counsels of GOD in a Divine battle plan against the enormous, impregnable city of Jericho!
Joshua experienced a Christophany – an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ, Who appeared to him with a drawn sword. Joshua asked this powerful looking man, “Are you for us, or for our enemies?”
And the LORD’s answer was: “No.” It wasn’t a matter of whose side the LORD was on, but rather who is on the LORD’s side? Who will submit to, follow after, concede to GOD’s ways and His plans?
JOSHUA 5:14-15
…as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?" 15 Then the Commander of the LORD'S army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.
The wisdom of GOD is foolishness with man (1 COR 1:25); even more so, the Cross of Christ (1 COR 1:23). The LORD delights in tearing down the utter foolishness that man esteems as wisdom. We saw this at Jericho:
GOD’s battle plan given to General Joshua of the armies of Israel was to circle that gigantic city, once a day in total silence. They were to do this for six days. But on the seventh, they circled the city seven times – all the while remaining silent until they completed the seventh lap: then they were to shout and sound their rams’ horns. Then what? GOD said that those walls of Jericho (which were anywhere from fifty to seventy-five feet high and so broad that you could race three chariots abreast along the top) those walls will come crumbling down!
Can you imagine what the generals and captains of Israel’s armies must have thought when Joshua explained GOD’s plan of action to them?? “You want us to what??”
This wise man, with the LORD’s leading brought down the stronghold of Jericho that the Canaanites trusted in to protect themselves. Because Joshua obeyed GOD, their mission was a success – Jericho was defeated!
PROVERBS 21:22We also are considered wise when we obey GOD; our lives will be so strong, so resilient, outlasting every trial, every testing, every storm that life – or our enemy – can throw at us! We won’t escape these things, but will weather them and come out all the stronger.
A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the trusted stronghold.
MATTHEW 7:24-25“A wise man is strong…”
24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
To be wise in this respect is to be intelligent, skillful, cunning and of course, wise!
It’s one thing to have knowledge – that’s being knowledgeable; it’s quite another thing to apply knowledge – that’s being wise.
If we allow the LORD to lead us in His way, submitting to an all-knowing, all-wise, all-loving, all-powerful Creator, this is the most intelligent thing a person can do.
Such a person is “strong”, that is, a person that enjoys security, who has confidence, who possesses power – not of his own, but that which belongs to GOD Himself. In fact, this is a strength that is GOD Himself!
ISAIAH 40:28-31The idea of “renew[ing]” here is to change by renewal or “to exchange” – in this case, it’s a trade-up: our frail and fallible human strength that even in our youth will eventually fail us for the eternal, perpetual, everlasting, always dependable strength we have in Christ!
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Raptors, and eagles in particular have a sense that other creatures don’t have; they can detect thermal currents in the air, sensing when a gust of wind is coming. And like a surfer waiting for his wave, the eagle will stand on his eyrie and wait for the wind, and when it arrives, they launch out with spread wings and ride on the wind, not expending their own strength, but simply using the power of the wind.
So are the saints who wait on the LORD, and when the Spirit of the LORD moves, so do they, but not until then. They then proceed in the power of the LORD. If we give up in the midst of trials and troubles, this indicates that we aren’t relying on GOD to be our strength (see vs.10).
“Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength…”
PROVERBS 2:6-8The LORD and His Word are the source of our wisdom – we don’t have any of our own, so He is gracious to let us borrow His, and even more gracious in that He never asks for it back! With that wisdom, knowledge and understanding are also provided (PROV 4:7). He provides safety for the righteous with His shield and safe passage along life’s road.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; 8 He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of His saints.
If we as a nation obeyed had GOD and worshiped Him rather than grow in our rebellion, such wisdom would have sheltered us on 9-11 twenty-three years ago, and I believe we could have been spared that horrific event.
Speaking of strength… In all my years at the gym, I’ve done some dumb things, because I didn’t know any better. There is a science called biomechanics, and any who study this, gain scientific knowledge into the human body, how it works and what one must do to enhance it. As I gained wisdom, the effect was gaining strength, stamina, endurance and better health.
With wisdom and knowledge in our lives, we gain spiritual strength, fortitude, endurance, a greater depth of morality, integrity and a genuine, godly reputation [refer to Sunday’s teaching: “Why Is My Reputation Important?”]. Spiritually speaking resisting sin and the ways of this world, empowered by GOD’s Spirit and His Word – this is the Christian’s version of “resistance training”!
As we endure trials and temptations, we are refined and purified by the Spirit of GOD and thus are made stronger and made able to endure even heavier trials, more severe temptations (rack up more plates!)!
Wisdom is simply thinking like and behaving like our LORD JESUS CHRIST by the power of the Spirit! That’s where the strength of the saint is!
Vs. 6 “For by wise counsel you will wage your own war…”
Chinese General and Philosopher Sun Tzu wrote the book The Art of War (512 BC) and it contains some practical wisdom in warfare, and its tenets are widely regarded even by modern military today.
Yet such is earthly wisdom, and we saints “don’t war according to the flesh”, meaning that we employ GOD’s methods and strategies, not that of human genius. In fact, the very One who grants us use of the Sword of the Spirit is the same One Who instructs us in its use, in every aspect of our spiritual warfare!
PSALM 144:1-2aNot only do we “walk by faith and not by sight” but we also war by faith, and not by sight! There are battles that we fight collectively as the body of Christ, but then there are those that we fight without other saints involved – “…we wage our own war…” but with the indomitable allies of the Father, the Son and the Spirit – together with the Holy Scriptures and prayer, using all of the armor of GOD that He furnishes us with (EPH 6:10-18).
1 Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle- 2 my lovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the One in whom I take refuge…
2 CORINTHIANS 10:3-5These arguments can arise from “the children of disobedience” (EPH 2:2), these who are “children of the devil” (1 JN 3:10). They can also arise from the devil himself and his principalities and powers, demonic spirits, from any sector of the kingdom of darkness. But these arguments and “…every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of GOD” can also arise from our own sinful nature.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
No matter what the source, we are to take every thought captive – “cuff ‘em!” in Christ’s Holy Name! This takes discipline, this takes practice, this takes patience, but this sort of consistent (not perfect necessarily) victory is ours for the taking!
Every war that was ever fought is a contention between at least two forces, but in the case of spiritual warfare, there are two, and only two: the Kingdom of GOD and the kingdom of darkness.
This contention has been going on ever since Lucifer, while in heaven, said in his heart “…'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” (ISA 14:13-14). This war will come to its ultimate end once Satan and all his followers – human and angelic – are consigned in the lake of fire.
Now you might not like the idea of going to war with Satan – or your own sin nature, but since you were born again, since you became a child of GOD and a citizen of His Kingdom… guess what??
“You’re in the army now, in the army now!
Night is falling, and you can’t see,
Is this illusion or reality?
In the army now,
Is this illusion or reality,
You’re in the army now!”
And this is no illusion! This is reality in the spiritual realm that effects our everyday lives!
And since you are automatically enlisted in the LORD’s Army, there are two options:
A) You either learn how to fight, or
B) You get taken captive as a POW. (How many want option B?)
No third options are available – there will be no conscientious objectors, no white flag of truce, no treaties or compromises. This is war, and saint of GOD: You ARE on the winning side, because we are not fighting FOR victory, but FROM victory stemming from a lone Cross on Calvary’s Hill where Christ the Captain of the LORD’s Hosts won the war!
Well since Christ won the war, there’s no need for fighting, right? Wrong!
If there was no need to fight, then GOD would not have provided us the Armor of GOD, nor would He have provided us instructions in the Word on warfare tactics. While the war in the main is won, there are still many individual battles to be fought and won!
And just because Satan is a defeated foe, that doesn’t mean he is no longer dangerous! He wants to destroy by devouring us.
And really today, Satan doesn’t even have to destroy the church – all he has to do is distract the church.
Distract us with busy, busy lives away from our holy mission to rescue Satan’s POWs; these lost souls who don’t know Christ. Distract us from time in the Word, and in prayer! Distract us from growing in our discipleship!
Let us not be distracted, but as disciples of Christ, let us be determined by holy duty to defy the devil and declare war on sin, growing in our devotion to JESUS!
Check Out TTUF's series on spiritual warfare
“…in a multitude of counselors there is safety.”
Inasmuch as we are all individuals with our own mental powers and methods, when the Spirit of GOD flows through godly counselors, He’s very much like the sunrays that shine through stain glass windows. It’s the same light, but it shines in the various colors of each individual pane.
And what one counselor might not expound on with sagely, spiritual advice, another might bring up. Or what one shares, another might elaborate on, bringing in an added insight.
With many counselors, all guided by The Wonderful Counselor (ISA 9:6) there is safety – or as it puts it in the Hebrew: teshuah – “personal, national, and, or spiritual deliverance, help, victory, salvation, rescue.”
We have sixty-six such counselors – all the books of the Holy Revelation of GOD to offer us the best counsel money can’t buy – it’s way too precious to put a price tag on! And we don’t even have to make an appointment; these counselors are available 24/7, 365 days a year!
This Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (PSALM 119:105); it’s the spiritual compass that will faithfully guide us through the darkest night, through the most tempestuous storm, through the dangerous labyrinths of the devil, through the minefields of immorality – and bring us into a peaceful harbor, a sanctum of spiritual safety.
How many Christians are there that need counsel, but never get any? Their lives show that they are in desperate need of godly counsel, but unless they appropriate such counsel, their lives will tailspin out of control, getting messier and messier.
Before we resort to the counsels of godly men, let’s first seek counsel directly from GOD and the Scriptures, seeking His will in prayer. If after some days, you’re still uncertain and feel you need help, by all means, call on the pastor and have a sit down with him and find the counsel you need!
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