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[0:00] Well, God is here. And He is here to show us more of Himself in His own holy book, the Bible. And today we see Him as our all-wise God.

[0:15] ! God is perfect in wisdom. Perfect in wisdom. Job said it, To God belongs wisdom and power. Counsel and understanding are His.

[0:27] His wisdom is profound. Isaiah, the Lord Almighty is wonderful in counsel. Magnificent in wisdom.

[0:40] The Apostle Paul calls Him the only wise God. The only wise God. And Jeremiah says, Among all the wise men of the nations, in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.

[0:55] Just as Jesus said, there is no one good but God, so there is no one wise but God. All other wisdom is derivative from Him.

[1:07] He's the fountain. Any wisdom we might have comes from Him. But He alone is wise in His essence. This is who He is. It's what He is. It's His very nature.

[1:18] He is never anything other than perfect in wisdom. That means that whatever He does, He does wisely. He does all things well.

[1:30] Now perhaps you're saying to yourself as we're beginning, Well, I thought last week we studied God's omniscience. The fact that God knows everything about everything. Well, we did.

[1:41] But knowledge is not the same thing as wisdom. I suppose we all know people who are full of knowledge.

[1:52] Very intelligent, perhaps, but not very wise. You can have your head so full of the Bible that you can quote the whole Bible and yet not know how to put any one of those verses into practice in real life.

[2:08] You have knowledge, but you have no wisdom. Knowledge. Not the same as wisdom. Wisdom is more than knowledge then. Wisdom is knowledge put to good use.

[2:22] It's a very practical thing. It's knowing the very best thing to say in every situation. It's knowing the very best thing to do in every circumstance. It's the attribute by which God selects the very best possible goal as well as the very best possible means to get to that goal.

[2:45] Let me illustrate it with the building project going on. We needed more space. And so we sought out an architect, a man with wisdom in these things.

[2:57] And we spread before him our situation. We need a new sanctuary with so many seats. It needs to have adequate foyer area and restroom facilities and Sunday school rooms.

[3:11] And, oh yes, we only have so much money to spend on it. Well, he takes all that information then and he studied it. And he drew up a building and a plan, a floor plan.

[3:24] And he said, here it is. This is the end goal. This is the building that would meet your needs. But wisdom involves more than just identifying the best goal.

[3:37] It also involves selecting the best means to get to that goal. It's fine to have a goal, but if you don't know how to get there, it's of little value. Wisdom doesn't overlook the fine details of how to get to the end goal.

[3:54] And so a general contractor was hired to work along with the architect and to devise a detailed plan for the construction of this new building. And in that plan, it must take into account every detail in the building process to ensure that in the end, we have the building that we desired as our goal.

[4:16] Well, that's how wisdom is to work. Now, there have been some tweakings in the plan for our building along the way. There have been unforeseen circumstances that have come up, obstacles in the way that have meant changes have needed to be made, adjustments, things that we didn't know would happen or hadn't thought about yet.

[4:38] There have been times when we simply didn't know what to do. And in all of this, it only shows that human wisdom is limited. Human wisdom is flawed, is imperfect.

[4:53] But our first point this morning is that God's wisdom is perfect. God's wisdom is perfect. He's perfect in wisdom. That means He's never wrong.

[5:06] It means He always selects the very best ends and the way to get there. It means that He's supremely wise. There is never anything that is even remotely possible that's a better way of doing things than the one He chose.

[5:23] He's never confused about what decision to make, what to do. He never needs a backup plan, a plan B in case plan A fails. He never says oops.

[5:34] He never needs to adjust His plan. No snags that were unforeseen. Remember, He has perfect knowledge. He knows everything about everything, past, present, future.

[5:48] And it's with that omniscience that He formulates His plans in perfect wisdom. So that's what we're standing before this morning, an all-wise God.

[6:04] Secondly, God's wisdom is displayed in three different spheres, in creation, in providence, and in salvation. First of all, in creation, Jeremiah says, God founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out to heavens by His understanding.

[6:21] You don't have to look far to realize that this world was founded with wisdom, that there was an intricate mind behind the creating of this world.

[6:33] We're in mechanical shop class and the assignment is to build a pump like the human heart. And so you'll need a warranty for 75 years or for 2.5 billion cycles.

[6:49] The output of that little pump will vary from 0.02, two hundredths of a horsepower, with some short bursts of one horsepower.

[7:04] Must have the capacity to pump 2,000 gallons per day. The weight is to not exceed two-thirds of a pound. The valves opening and closing four to five thousand times per hour and all requiring no outside maintenance or lubrication.

[7:22] For extra credit, make one tiny human cell bustling with all kinds of activity the like compared to a large city.

[7:35] And then make 75 trillion more to make up one human body. And have them all working together in perfect harmony. And be sure to make each cell with the genetic information and ability to replicate itself in a matter of hours.

[7:52] We are fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who is magnificent in wisdom. His creation declares Him wise.

[8:05] And we live in a marvelously complex world with delicate balances and interplay of parts with such variety and beauty and usefulness and interconnectedness.

[8:18] 350,000 different species of beetles have been identified. And every year there's more and more leading, more and more being discovered.

[8:28] Leading people, scientists to estimate somewhere between three and five million different species of beetles. How many variations can you make on a beetle?

[8:41] God has made millions of variations on a beetle. Such is His mind. And that's a beetle. He makes all sorts of good food come out of the dirt.

[8:57] The same dirt. And some of the food coming out of the dirt is, ooh, it's an onion. It's garlic. Out of the same ground, He makes something as sweet as watermelon.

[9:09] Or a strawberry. Variety. Endless flavors. Usefulness. Not only tastes good, but sustains human life and health.

[9:21] And the interconnectedness of every part of creation. Isn't it interesting the way God's wisdom supplied that rare commodity of oxygen to this planet?

[9:31] So that every green living thing is producing oxygen for us. And we're producing carbon dioxide for it. And there's the cycle.

[9:43] And there's the food chain. And there's the water cycle. All these things working in perfect harmony. God, magnificent in wisdom.

[9:53] And so in Psalm 104 that was read for us, God takes us for a walk through His creation. And there we saw His heavens, the clouds, the wind, the lightning, the oceans, the springs, the rivers, the wild donkeys, the birds, the stork, the cattle, the fields and gardens, the trees, the wild goats, the rock badgers, the lions.

[10:19] And as He's walking through creation, He just bursts out. How many are Your works, O Lord? In wisdom You made them all. The earth is full of Your creatures.

[10:31] In wisdom You made them all. You see, David's teaching us how to look at nature. How to look at creation. We are to look at it as a display of God's wisdom.

[10:44] Yes, His power. We haven't come to that yet. Right now we're looking at wisdom. And there's plenty in His creation that displays His power. Just as an intricate invention is meant to cause us to wonder at the wisdom of the inventor, so all these intricate things that we find in creation are meant to cause us to wonder at our Creator.

[11:11] Everything created has a voice that says to us, the Creator is wise. Don't miss Him. So when you pick up that flower or bend over to see it, or look at the butterfly wing, or look into the eyes of your child, think about the wisdom of God that it took to make that.

[11:37] Nothing... we must not miss God and His wisdom in His creation. We must adore Him for what we see and praise Him for His skill.

[11:51] Don't enjoy the creature without enjoying the wisdom of its Creator. Make the connection. To look no further than that is to admire creation on the level of a brute beast.

[12:05] There's the food and they eat it without a thought of the wisdom of God the Maker. What dull students we are when everything around us is a teacher saying to us how infinitely wise God is.

[12:20] So says Stephen Sharnott. Dull students. And so we have students in med school. We have students in science classes. We have professors in med schools and professors in science classes giving their lives to try to understand just a little bit about these inventions that God has made in creation.

[12:43] And they miss Him. They don't see the God all-wise. And we can go for days bumping into things that God created. Oh, look at this. This was made out of a tree.

[12:54] Imagine that. It's somebody crafted and all, but God made the tree. And He made it grow out of a tiny seed stuck in the ground. God, in wisdom, you have made them all.

[13:07] And we adore Him. Don't miss God's wisdom in creation. But all the wisdom that is revealed in creation is just a small part of the wisdom that is in God.

[13:21] There's also His wisdom demonstrated in providence. In providence. His governing of all His creatures. Of all the acts of all His creatures.

[13:34] In every place at all times. Every drop of rain. Every bolt of lightning. Every blast of wind.

[13:47] Every animal in the sea. On the land. In the air. Every angel. Every demon. Every person.

[13:58] And He's governing them all. And He's seeing to it that every single one of them fulfills His counsel. His purpose.

[14:08] What He had in mind. What He thought of and planned before the creation of the world. And seeing to it that they all fulfill the end for which He made them.

[14:20] And He gets them to their appointed goal. goal. Bringing glory to Himself. Some of you fathers know how elusive and evasive and how difficult it is to have this wisdom even to govern your own family.

[14:42] Family of four, six, eight. Whatever you govern. But what is this wisdom that governs all things? What is the wisdom needed to make sure that everything fulfills His design?

[15:01] What if you just had the assignment to feed the six billion people on the planet every day? Take some skill. Some wisdom. How to grow that much food.

[15:12] How to deliver it. How to package it. How to see to it that your creatures are all served up with their needs. He makes grass grow for the cattle and plants for man to cultivate bringing forth food from the earth.

[15:28] There it is again. Food from the earth. Food from dirt. And He gives all men life and breath. Providing oxygen so that we can breathe and live.

[15:40] His wisdom is magnificent. It's a wise providence then that cares for and governs all that God has made.

[15:54] Have you thought about the wisdom needed to fulfill Romans 8.28? We thought of it in Sunday school that wonderful promise. But think for a moment the kind of wisdom that's needed to see to it that in all things God is working for the good of those who love Him and who are the called according to His pleasure.

[16:15] Think of the wisdom to make everything in the life of His people do them good. That means they're painful things.

[16:27] They're evil things. They're frustrating things. They're big things. They're little things. And in all these things God has such a wisdom and a knowledge and an ability to work things out to the goal of doing good to His people.

[16:51] Wow. That's like being given straw and being told to spin gold. He spins good out of the most unpromising situations. Things where we don't even have a clue where to begin to unravel our problems.

[17:05] He knows and He brings good to us out of those problematic scenes. He even knows how to bring good out of evil. How to bring good out of our temptations, out of our sicknesses, out of our fears.

[17:20] Yes, out of that problem that you're facing right now. You can't see how anything good could come out of that. It's no problem to Him.

[17:33] no problem to Him. He's just that wise. He's magnificent in wisdom. He even knows how to get glory to Himself from your sins.

[17:45] That's wise. That's wise. And so that leads us to our third arena in which God displays His wisdom. That's salvation. Oh, the wisdom that divides salvation's plan.

[17:57] Found out a way whereby God could remain absolutely just and holy and yet forgive hell-deserving sinners.

[18:09] A way to bring most glory to God and eternal good to man. A way to tear down the barrier between Jew and Gentile, Greeks.

[18:21] A way to show off the wonders of His grace against the backdrop of human sin. And He does it all through the bloody crucifixion and death of His own Son. We're so used to hearing that message it no longer shocks us, does it?

[18:38] But who in the name of wisdom would have ever dreamed up such a thing? God getting Himself killed and thereby bringing salvation to an innumerable number of sinners.

[18:55] No one would have thought that of. It's foolishness to man, isn't it? Isn't that what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1? It's sheer folly to human wisdom. That's not how we would do it.

[19:07] But He didn't consult us. And He knew the very best way to save a people for Himself and in the process to bring glory to His own name.

[19:18] Christ crucified. To the Jew, a stumbling block. To the Greek, foolishness. But to those who are being called, both Jews and Greeks. Christ, the very power of God, and Christ, the wisdom of God.

[19:35] Christ crucified is the wisdom of God. Oh, the wisdom in that plan of salvation through Christ being sacrificed in our place.

[19:47] We remember how it happened. We remember it was enemies who hated Jesus. We remember it was the devil who wanted to steal glory from God that were combined together in their wicked act.

[20:00] They murdered Him. And God in His perfect wisdom and plan had woven their murderous hatred into this whole process in which in the end God would work out His plan to save His people and bring glory to Himself in doing so.

[20:19] Magnificent wisdom. The wisdom of God in election. The wisdom of God in the incarnation. Oh, what a mystery here.

[20:30] Two natures. God and man, but not two creatures. It's one person. Jesus Christ, the God-man. Perfectly fitted to be the mediator then between God and man.

[20:45] The only mediator. The wisdom in the incarnation. The wisdom in the new birth. The wisdom in putting His Spirit within us. The wisdom in making salvation to be by faith, by no works of man.

[21:03] The wisdom of your own salvation. The way God worked in your life to bring you to Christ. Using this event. Using that person.

[21:15] All of it being brought together to save you. The wisdom of God displayed in salvation. The Apostle Paul, you know the book of Romans, is a masterpiece in laying out this whole saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

[21:32] And the Apostle comes to the end and he's just struck. He's struck with many things as you read through the book. But in the end he just looks back and he's struck with the wisdom.

[21:42] The wisdom of the God who ordained and ordered all this for our eternal salvation. He can do no better than end with a word of praise to the only wise God be glory forever and ever through Jesus Christ.

[22:00] Amen. The only wise God. Nobody but the only wise God could devise this scheme. Creation, providence, salvation, all join together to sound the praises of our God who is all wise.

[22:23] Now the third thing we need to see about God's wisdom is that it's beyond our comprehension. It's beyond our comprehension. That's the point that is made by everyone who writes about God's wisdom.

[22:35] There's Solomon. Kids, you know he was the wisest man on earth. That's more than being on the honor roll at my elementary school. If you see mom and dad wearing the bumper sticker, this guy is the wisest man on earth.

[22:52] Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 11.5, as you do not know the path of the wind or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things.

[23:06] You cannot understand the work of God. The psalmist says, how great are your works, O Lord, how profound your thoughts. Psalm 92.5, or your thoughts are very deep, the King James has it.

[23:21] Very deep. Remember last week, the Apostle Paul looking at God's thoughts said, oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments And his paths beyond finding out.

[23:37] You can look forever and you won't find the end of God's wisdom. You'll not be able to figure out his paths, his ways. They're unsearchable. Isaiah 40 and verse 28 says, his understanding no one can fathom.

[23:52] It's that deep. It's unsearchable. And so there you are in your little boat out on the ocean of God's wisdom.

[24:04] infinite wisdom. And you start to weigh anchor. You let out the rope. And the anchor is pulling down on the rope. And it never slackens.

[24:17] And you come to the end of the rope. And you still haven't hit bottom. And you can turn every tree into a rope. Tie it all together.

[24:28] Lower it down. Every blade of grass, more rope. And you can lower your little rope down into the ocean of infinite wisdom. You would never hit bottom. Infinite wisdom.

[24:40] Unfathomable. You cannot sound its depths. You cannot plumb the depths of God's wisdom. Do you know God has secrets?

[24:51] Deuteronomy 29, 29. The secret things belong to the Lord our God. And the things revealed belong to us and our children so that we might live according to his law.

[25:04] us. But not the secret things of God. There are secrets he hasn't told us about. Many have dashed their brains and their souls upon the rocks of God's secrets.

[25:21] Why is there evil in this world? Why did God allow sin into the universe? Why is there suffering? Why this? Why that?

[25:32] God allow this person to live and that person was taken in death? Why does God allow this girl to suffer and die with that terrible disease?

[25:47] prying into God's secrets? Demanding that they must understand everything about this God in order to believe in him.

[26:00] When Isaiah says, who has understood the mind of the Lord? Or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him? And who taught him the right way?

[26:11] Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding? Did he call you when he was creating the DNA molecule? Did he consult with you when he would make a son?

[26:26] Did you enlighten him on anything? No, no one has ever understood the mind of the Lord. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways.

[26:39] My ways declares the Lord as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Job, Job, you went a few rounds with God evaluating and questioning his wisdom.

[26:58] How did you fare? Oh, surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know, and he despised himself in dust and ashes and repented with his hand held over his mouth.

[27:16] There was no way that Job could know the reason for his sufferings, that in heaven there was this challenge being made between Satan and God. Men do not know what transpires in the heavens.

[27:31] There are secrets and we must not demand to know them. Well, this is all throughout our Bibles. It's as if God were putting us on notice.

[27:43] Expect surprises. Expect things to happen that don't make any sense to you. Expect to not be able to figure out what God is doing in your life.

[27:56] Expect to have some of your why questions left unanswered. Expect to find yourselves at times bewildered, confused, and perplexed with the way that you are being led by God.

[28:10] Absolutely not understanding what he's doing. After all, it's the infinite God we're dealing with.

[28:21] Infinite wisdom. Sharnock again says God would not be infinitely wise if the reason for all his acts were obvious to our shallow minds. And yet that seems to be our expectation, doesn't it?

[28:34] Many times that we should be able to understand all of God's ways. Everything that's happening to me. Everything happening in our world.

[28:50] What's happening when we expect to understand all that's happening? Well, either we brought God down to our level or we have elevated our mind up to his.

[29:04] Now, which is it? It's not a pleasant choice, either one, to think that we would lower God's mind down to not having thoughts that are any deeper than ours, any higher than ours.

[29:19] The other thought is not any better, that we would raise our own mind up and think that our mind is equal to God's mind, that we could understand his thoughts and acts.

[29:33] Would you expect your one-year-old daughter, we have some one-year-olds here, don't we, in the congregation, would you expect one of these one-year-old children to understand Einstein's theory of relativity?

[29:47] You say, of course not. Of course not. Then why would you expect to understand the ways of him whose wisdom is infinite. There's a greater distance between your mind and God's than there is between that one-year-old's and Einstein's.

[30:09] We ought to go into life just expecting to bump into things that we don't understand. That's the expectation. That's the word that comes to us over and over and over and over so that we're not surprised when we don't understand.

[30:24] We don't throw in the towel. Well, if I can't understand everything about God and about why did he choose to save some and not others, then I'm not going to believe it or I'm not going to trust in this God.

[30:36] Oh, how foolish. Remember who we're dealing with. Him who is unsearchable in his wisdom. There are few attributes that are more clearly revealed in scripture and in creation than the wisdom of God and yet I don't know of many attributes that are questioned more by men.

[30:58] Questioned more by men than his wisdom. Even godly Job questioned the wisdom of God. Most righteous man on the earth in his day.

[31:10] And he got into a situation where he started to question God's wisdom in dealing with him the way that he did and in not explaining to him what he was doing.

[31:28] But it's folly to match wits with God. The Lord answered Job out of the storm and said, who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?

[31:42] That's not a compliment. That's a rebuke. Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?

[31:52] Brace yourself like a man and I'll question you and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? And on he goes with his questions.

[32:03] Surely you know. Surely you know. You who are questioning me. The point seems to be that God is making with Job. If there are some things about the creation and providence, my ordering of creation that you don't understand, could it be that there are other things about my ways with you that are above your ability to understand?

[32:29] Rather than question my wisdom, you need to just lay your hand over your mouth and trust me. Trust me. I know what I'm doing. It is foolish to question what we cannot comprehend.

[32:43] So the first application is let us adore God. God's wisdom rather than to question it when we don't understand it. Let's worship him for having a wisdom that is bigger and beyond our pea brain.

[32:57] Let's turn it into a reason. God, I don't have a clue what's going on here, but it's a glorious thing to think about that your infinite mind has it all figured out.

[33:08] I worship you, the God who is magnificent in wisdom. wisdom is what he is. So we're seeking the application then.

[33:20] Do you really believe that God is infinitely wise, that he always knows what's best for you and knows how to get you there? If you do, this is what it will look like.

[33:35] Contentment rather than complaining. contentment rather than complaining. Been a lot of rain lately, hasn't there? A lot of heat and humidity. But none of you have been complaining, right?

[33:49] Nobody's had a complaint with the God who orders all these affairs in perfect wisdom, right? Or do we?

[34:02] We're to do everything without complaining. We memorized that, didn't we, kids? But you know why we need to do everything without complaining? Because when we complain about God's wisely chosen circumstance, it means that you're not convinced that he really knows what's best for you.

[34:21] It means that his wisdom really needs to be called into question, at least on this point. All your complaints say to God that you think he could take some counsel from you, that next time he should check with you first.

[34:36] This isn't the way that we would do it. I think I know better than you do. Now just to say those words immediately we recognize it as blasphemy.

[34:48] We wouldn't say that, but that is what our complaining is saying, isn't it? People don't complain about the very best things, do they? They complain about things that are less than best.

[35:03] God only deals out that which is best for us. then if I'm complaining about what he and his wisdom has designed as best for us, then I am saying, I think I know better than you what is best for me.

[35:16] What a proud thought. You see why we're to do everything without complaining. That is unthinkable arrogance to think that I have a mind better than God's.

[35:31] It's the same voice of our impatience as well. You ever get impatient? This trial's gone on long enough, God. It should end right now as if the one who chose the trial does not have enough wisdom to figure out when the trial should end to do me the most amount of good.

[35:51] Oh, well then, all my impatience is a calling into question of God's inscrutable wisdom. wisdom. We have much to confess in our defaming of the wisdom of God, dishonoring the name of the all-wise God.

[36:16] I don't know who said it, but I found it very helpful that if I had the power of God, I would change a lot of things. things. But if I had the wisdom of God, I would not change anything because I would realize that those circumstances in my life have been selected by infinite wisdom.

[36:40] So it may not feel good, it may not look good, I may not understand it, but I know infinite wisdom. They said, this is the best for you, John. then I would not change it.

[36:52] The wisdom of God, what a different perspective it puts on our problems, the circumstances that God has dealt us. They can't be improved upon.

[37:06] To know that before it ever gets to me, it has to pass the inspection of infinite wisdom. Yes, this will do him good. Go. And here it comes into my life.

[37:20] Perfect wisdom. He said, this is for my good. This is the very best thing for me. There is solid ground for contentment with God's choices.

[37:32] I dare not choose, Horatius Boner says, I dare not choose my lot. I would not if I might. Choose thou for me, my God, so shall I walk aright. Take thou my cup, and it with joy or sorrow fill, as best to thee may seem.

[37:46] Choose thou my good. God is all-wise. Not mine, not mine the choice, and things are great or small. Be thou my guide, my strength, my wisdom, and my all.

[38:00] Something you don't understand going on in your life? You choose for me, my wisdom. That's your God. If we really believe God is all-wise, we will thirdly, trust, I trust, I trust, I be.

[38:18] Is it not a great comfort to know that infinite wisdom directs all the affairs of my world, and my world being the whole universe I live in, and my little microcosm of my family, my house, my health, my finances, my job, my church, God, infinite wisdom directing the affairs.

[38:38] trust. But even when I'm confused, he's not. He knows exactly what he's up to, and whatever it is, I can know that he's always up to something good in my life, or it wouldn't be happening to me.

[38:51] There's ground for trust. Trust. So, whatever your trial, God has looked at it, and evaluated it, and said, that will do you good.

[39:06] And the timing of it, and the number of your trials, and the removal of them, it's all been figured out with perfect wisdom before it's sent.

[39:18] He's too wise to make a mistake. He has perfect wisdom in every temptation. He knows what I'm able to bear. He knows how to take the devil's temptations and to turn them into soul-strengthening faith-strengthening exercises.

[39:34] And the devil seeks to tear me down with his temptations. God is able to take that very temptation and build me up. Isn't that 2nd Corinthians 12? Isn't that what happened to Paul?

[39:45] A thorn in the flesh, a message, instrument from Satan, sent to buffet him. God says, oh yes, that will do him good. It will keep him humble because of all of his revelations that I've given him.

[39:57] It will cause him to seek me and my strength rather than leaning on his own strength. Have at him, devil. wisdom.

[40:08] He knows how. Wicked instruments are his chisel. He's making a masterpiece. So trust him.

[40:18] He knows how to use those instruments. Trust him with the tools. Don't worry. He knows what he's doing. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. 2nd Peter 2.9.

[40:29] He knows how. He has skill. He has wisdom. So when our prayers go unanswered or they're delayed, perfect wisdom in the timing of answering every prayer that you put up.

[40:45] And the answer you get in the timing you receive, perfect wisdom. When threatened from our enemies, the enemies of the church that seek their destruction, we have a god all wise who's able to catch the crafty, catch the wise in their own craftiness.

[41:02] So wise God can be trusted. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. There's enough in the wisdom of God to slay our worries then to give us faith.

[41:17] So King Jehoshaphat in 2nd Chronicles 20, the king of Judah, has got a trial. A whole horde of enemy.

[41:28] A vast army, a coalition of nations attacks. Jehoshaphat looks up and says, oh, our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.

[41:41] We do not know what to do. But our eyes are upon you. Now, how many times in the space of a year are you reduced to Jehoshaphat's level where you have to say, Lord, will you not act in this situation?

[41:57] Because I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go, what to say, what decision to make. I am in the dark on this one. I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you, my magnificent one in wisdom.

[42:14] That's faith instead of worry. Content to not understand everything enough to know that he knows what is best for me and is leading me by his hand.

[42:27] Do you need wisdom? What a privilege to have the wonderful counselor with infinite wisdom to go to. Proverbs 2.6, the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

[42:42] So the last principle of those who know that God is all wise is ask and seek rather than leaning on your own understanding.

[42:54] If the Lord gives wisdom, then surely we ought to be a people who are asking much for it. That surely follows. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God and you won't find it a fruitless exercise.

[43:09] You should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him. Solomon, what do you want? You can be king for a day.

[43:20] What do you want? Anything is yours. They ask for wisdom. Rather than riches and honor. Remember how pleased God was with his request?

[43:31] Oh, you want wisdom? You're bugging me about that. No, he was delighted that he would have asked for wisdom instead of riches and honor. So much so that he gave him wisdom, made him the wisest man on earth and he also made him the most honorable and the most wealthy man on earth.

[43:46] He gives generously. He shows us that. In Solomon's life. David, Psalm 119, 73.

[43:56] Your hands made me and formed me. Give me understanding to learn your commands. You see, he looks at creation and he sees the wisdom of God. Oh, give me understanding to learn your commands.

[44:11] You have wisdom. Oh, enlighten me. I'm sad that we don't make more of our wonderful counselor. I'm sad that he goes so often unsought when he has so much wisdom to impart.

[44:25] Let us be found asking often for the wisdom of God. Wisdom for today, Lord. Let it not be said of you, you have not because you ask not. No, we must ask for wisdom.

[44:39] But then we must seek it as well and seek it in the Holy Scriptures. Let none speak of wanting wisdom from God if they're not seeking it where it's to be found.

[44:55] We don't ask without seeking. That's to be insincere in your asking. It's to not really want wisdom. Are you willing to dig for it as for hidden treasure? Are you ready to search for it as for gold?

[45:07] Well, then maybe you're sincere about this request for wisdom. This is where he gives wisdom. Here it's to be found. Dig in. The Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise, so wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

[45:26] It's here that you learn the fear of the Lord that is the very beginning, the very first step of wisdom. It's here in this book that the simple are made wise.

[45:36] The inexperienced are made wise. The young people who don't have experience, they're made wise here. He gives wisdom. I gain understanding from your precepts, the psalmist says.

[45:52] Your commands make me wiser than my enemies. Yes. Ask for it and then seek it. Can you see the problem with disobeying any one of God's commands?

[46:10] We've talked about the different ways we slight the wisdom of God. When we complain, when we worry, when we're impatient. Well, when we disobey, we are slamming the wisdom of God.

[46:23] Did you know that there is not a command in the book, cover to cover, that has not been designed by infinite wisdom. This is the best way to live.

[46:34] Signed, the God who's magnificent in wisdom. He's got a stamp on it. There it is. This is wisdom. This is the best way to live. Every command comes to us in infinite wisdom.

[46:47] So when I disobey that command, I'm not only sinning against His authority and giving me the command, but I am sinning against the wisdom. I'm actually saying, I think in this case, I know better how to live and it's over here, not there.

[47:03] Oh, we need to look again at the wisdom of God in the scriptures. We don't have a better idea than God. It's impossible.

[47:14] What a blessing to submit ourselves to be ruled by infinite wisdom. Lost person, do you really think you know better than God? Don't make the fatal mistake of leaning on your own understanding because there's a way that seems right to the mind of man.

[47:35] To man's fallen, dark, and blinded understanding, there's a way that seems right to a man, but it ends in destruction. This book will make you wise unto salvation forever and ever.

[47:54] Do you know who the Queen of Sheba is? The Queen of Sheba? You'll see her one day. Every one of you will see her the day of judgment. She'll be there. She'll be a very busy woman. She'll be condemning people.

[48:06] That's what Jesus said. Matthew 12. The Queen of Sheba. The Queen of Sheba. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it.

[48:17] For she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom. And now one greater than Solomon is here. And they weren't listening to him. They were despising his word.

[48:31] They were going their own way and despising wisdom's way. Here's the Queen of Sheba. And she heard about the wisdom of Solomon. Though she lived far away she came.

[48:44] And she came a long way. And came with her caravan. It was a costly thing. Visit. And you know what she found? She was not disappointed. The half has not been told about your wisdom, Solomon.

[48:56] As he talked with her about everything from chimpanzees to the weather. wisdom that brought her all that way to hang on the words of Solomon.

[49:11] But now a greater than Solomon is here. In fact it's the one who gave Solomon such wisdom isn't it? It's he who is magnificent in wisdom.

[49:22] It's the Lord Jesus Christ the wonderful Counselor. The one on whom the Spirit of the Lord rests is a spirit of wisdom and of understanding of counsel and of power and of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

[49:34] It rests on him fully. He opens his mouth and they say where did he learn such wisdom? The one in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

[49:46] He's here. He's here. He's come. He's speaking through his own word. And some of you still are refusing thinking you've got more wisdom than he.

[50:02] The Queen of the South will rise in the judgment and condemn you. She came a long way to hear Solomon's wisdom. You have turned your back on the chief of all wisdom.

[50:15] The God of perfect wisdom. The Lord Jesus Christ. The way to rectify it is to own your folly. The folly of going your own way when wisdom has taken you that way.

[50:29] The folly of turning your back on him who is the treasure of all wisdom and knowledge. And coming to him asking him to forgive you and to make you truly wise.

[50:40] Let's pray. Our all-wise God that we know anything about you is because you've stooped so low to speak in our language.

[50:52] baby talk that we might know you for who you are. But what we know of you we realize is just the fringes of your way that we cannot comprehend you.

[51:07] We cannot say we have found out everything about God. Oh forgive us Lord for our impatience for our complaining for our worrying.

[51:20] Forgive us for our disobedience. the many different ways that we actually say by our lives that we think we found a better way than yours. We humble ourselves with Job with our hand upon our mouths and we say we've spoken of things that were far too great for us.

[51:39] Forgive us. Oh how we thank you for Christ the wisdom of God that wonderful Savior who takes away our sins makes us right for heaven.

[51:49] make him precious to each one here. May it not be said of us that we've heard the one who is greater than Solomon and we've walked away.

[52:02]  Oh stay by our side Lord Jesus guide us by your word stir up in our hearts cries for more light more heat more wisdom Lord and do it all for the great praise of your name the all wise God we pray in Christ's name Amen