WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.960 So, wisdom, 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 8, the last section that we're looking at 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:13.839 which has been listed, the gifts of the Spirit. 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:18.480 It tells us that there are a variety of gifts with the same Spirit, we've seen that before, 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:24.920 and then it goes on to say, for to one is given the Spirit of utterance of wisdom, and to 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:30.080 another the utterance of knowledge according to that same Spirit. 00:00:30.080 --> 00:00:35.439 So we're going to look at kind of broadly for a little while wisdom, and then we're 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.439 going to celebrate the Lord's Supper together. 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:44.400 And okay, I'm going to be apologizing as well because the introduction is kind of similar 00:00:44.400 --> 00:00:52.160 to this morning, not deliberately, but it's just looking at where we are in the world in 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:59.799 which we're living in, where we see these shadows of truth, but they're torn from God 00:00:59.799 --> 00:01:04.439 who's the giver, an empty of balance and grace filled sense. 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:07.759 Because we've got these tension within the world in which we live, within the secular 00:01:07.759 --> 00:01:13.199 worldview, we were kind of looking a little bit at the meta-narrative this morning, where 00:01:13.199 --> 00:01:20.679 the worldview that we see around us is interesting because there's a relentless individuality 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:22.960 within that, a philosophy. 00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:24.880 Now come back, don't forget that word, philosophy. 00:01:24.880 --> 00:01:30.160 I'm going to come back to that word because it's linked to wisdom, okay? 00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:36.880 There's this great individualistic philosophy, if it's good for me, if it fits in with my 00:01:36.880 --> 00:01:43.440 thinking, if it suits my character, I've got to be true to myself if it feels right, then 00:01:43.440 --> 00:01:47.320 we speak about our rights and our identity and our understanding. 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:51.559 It's kind of like we live in a bespoke society. 00:01:51.559 --> 00:01:59.599 Everything is bespoke for us, for the individual, and that's a very powerful philosophical foundation 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:01.919 of the world in which we live. 00:02:01.919 --> 00:02:07.199 But interestingly, now, and this is the second word I want you to remember, is sophistication, 00:02:07.199 --> 00:02:08.759 because it's also linked to wisdom. 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:13.479 So there's philosophy, you might have got the link already, sophistication, okay? 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:20.199 The sophistication of group think, so the world in which we live is very individual, 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:25.560 but also there's a real group think within the world we live in, so that people are 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:31.519 discredited sometimes from having different views from the spirit, from the mood of the 00:02:31.519 --> 00:02:33.439 day and generation we live in. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:40.039 The current zeitgeist, as my friend David Robertson always likes to use that word. 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:44.599 In other words, what's culturally acceptable. 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:50.479 So there's an individuality, but there's also a real sense of commonality that's not that 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:52.759 individual at all. 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:59.639 We're being processed towards thinking and believing and acting in a certain way as a 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:07.239 group about sexuality, about identity, about morality, about the ethics of life, particularly 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:12.240 the ethics of life before birth and towards the end of life. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:18.960 So there's a powerful politic of identity which is contra-individual. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:23.480 It's very group think, and that's really paradoxical, isn't it? 00:03:23.480 --> 00:03:27.600 There's these two extremes in the society in which we live. 00:03:27.600 --> 00:03:33.840 For example, it does beg the question, if you've been listening to or watching the news 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:39.120 over this last couple of weeks, whose individuality is it? 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:40.439 Whose commonality is it? 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:41.560 Whose rights? 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:48.120 Who decides, for example, in the riots that we've been seeing in France and Paris over 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:50.759 these last few days? 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:53.000 Whose rights are to be defended? 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.439 Is it the French government? 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:57.840 Is it those in fuel poverty? 00:03:57.840 --> 00:03:59.000 Is it the anarchists? 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:00.159 Is it the police? 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:01.159 Is it the yellow vests? 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:07.840 Now what's really interesting about this is that the yellow vests, there's a commonality, 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:08.840 isn't it? 00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:15.240 They're all wearing the yellow vests, but nobody knows who they are. 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:20.680 There's a great individual, there's no spokesperson, there's no group that they stand for, so there's 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:29.639 a mixture of total individuality within this commonality, but it does, it is extreme and 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:33.319 it is leading to extreme ways of action and thinking. 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:36.759 Because what we find is that God's way, and this by way of introduction, God's way of 00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:38.519 wisdom is different. 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:44.159 There's the balance that God has in the wisdom that He reveals in His Word, which is that 00:04:44.159 --> 00:04:49.759 there is individuality, but as we've seen in all our studies for the gifts of the Spirit, 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:54.120 there is individuality but for the common good. 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:59.879 So there's a very strong sense of community and of the common good. 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:06.040 We are individually unique and special before God, and we've seen, and we saw this morning 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:11.639 by nature we're estranged, and yet grace is what brings us back. 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:17.840 And it is as we come to a personal faith in Him, an individual faith in Him that we are 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:20.079 redeemed and renewed. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:27.319 But we're never just saved as individuals, we're saved towards one another. 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:32.879 We're saved towards God and also towards one another, to live in gospel community, to live 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:36.919 in fellowship with Him, to live committed to one another. 00:05:36.919 --> 00:05:44.439 So there is individuality in God's wisdom and there is commonality, but it's tremendously 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:53.839 uniquely revealed by God, a grace-filled, counter-cultural society which balances both 00:05:53.839 --> 00:06:00.680 the individual and the group together, transformed by grace. 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:08.560 So we see that in God's wisdom, and we recognize that wisdom from God is something that God 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.000 partners with us towards. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:17.639 So God's wisdom is something that He gifts, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:23.160 When we become Christians, we're gifted different qualities, different individual qualities, 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:27.439 and one of them is wisdom as we've seen in all our different gifts of the Spirit. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:31.720 And God partners with us so that we are able to become... 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:36.800 It's really great, isn't it, to be able to do something with someone who's an expert. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:42.720 You know, you're hacking away at something on your own, maybe a DIY job I would be thinking 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:48.079 about, and then someone who's an expert comes along and makes it so easy, and you learn 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:49.360 so much from them. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:55.319 Well, it's a really poor example, but that is true with all the gifts, the fruit of the 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:59.319 Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit which He gives us for the common good. 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:08.199 He partners with us, He gifts us His own Holy Spirit to enable us to recognize wisdom, and 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:11.560 He partners with us in wisdom. 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:19.759 So the wisdom of God isn't primarily our self-motivated abilities or intellect or natural abilities, 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:26.199 but we gain His wisdom, independence on Him and in reliance on Him. 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:30.479 It's kind of like we run a three-legged race with God every day. 00:07:30.479 --> 00:07:37.719 We've got to run a race in coordination with Him, in step with Him, in step with the Spirit. 00:07:37.719 --> 00:07:42.360 He binds Himself to us, and we're able to walk in step with the Spirit. 00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:45.599 It's a kind of three-legged run with Him. 00:07:45.599 --> 00:07:53.919 So He partners with us, and He gifts us His wisdom, and it's a wisdom that He seeks for 00:07:53.919 --> 00:07:55.800 us to share with others. 00:07:55.800 --> 00:08:00.079 So that's really just a short time that I'm going to focus on that. 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:04.759 The wisdom that He speaks of here in chapter 12 is a wisdom that is a word of knowledge, 00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:09.520 a word of wisdom that is a word that's spoken, it's always shared, isn't it? 00:08:09.520 --> 00:08:10.520 We always share something. 00:08:10.520 --> 00:08:15.560 When we're sharing a word, we're sharing it with someone else, and it comes from a wise 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:16.560 life. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:20.000 So the word wisdom is Sophia, okay? 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:21.960 The word that is used here. 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:28.839 And that's where we get the words we looked at at the beginning, philosophy. 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:33.279 Philosophy is philo, the love of wisdom. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:36.039 So philosophy is the love of wisdom. 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:43.199 And then we looked at the word sophistication, Sophia again, which just simply means the 00:08:43.199 --> 00:08:44.840 art of using wisdom. 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:53.080 If someone's sophisticated, it's because they live out a life allegedly of wisdom. 00:08:53.080 --> 00:08:56.840 Sometimes it's used in the wrong way. 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:58.639 So what's God's Sophia? 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:04.720 What's God's wisdom that He speaks of here, or that's spoken of in the Bible? 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:12.560 Well, the first thing, ironically, is the cross. 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:15.239 The cross is the very heart of God's wisdom. 00:09:15.239 --> 00:09:20.839 And we don't have time to read 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, but if you do have time to go and 00:09:20.839 --> 00:09:27.559 read them, these two chapters explain very clearly that the cross of Jesus Christ is 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:30.119 the wisdom and the power of God. 00:09:30.119 --> 00:09:34.279 It is the focus of where His wisdom lies. 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:39.319 It's where theology and faith come together to reveal His wisdom. 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:51.520 And that's strange, that a crucified Savior is the very heart of understanding life, understanding 00:09:51.520 --> 00:09:55.200 who we are and what we should be and what we should do. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:10:01.760 The cross is because it's the basis of our understanding of our human condition and the 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:09.840 determination of God and the grace of God to reach out and redeem us and promise us radical 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:11.399 transformation. 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:17.720 So if you're looking for wisdom in life, that's where we begin. 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:19.679 It's very different from anything else. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:24.639 He says, God's foolish, he says, wiser than men's wisdom, but he says, I preach Christ 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:25.639 and Christ crucified. 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:28.360 It's the wisdom of God and the power of God. 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:35.039 Read these first two chapters of 1 Corinthians, and it's where it all begins for us. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:40.279 That's why this evening, the Lord suppers, it's a sacrament He's given us. 00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:45.399 He doesn't give us a sacrament primarily about His birth, however utterly important and significant 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:48.639 it is, nor His 33 years of life. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:53.200 He gives us a sacrament which remembers His death and what it speaks of, the resurrection 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:55.039 and all that goes with that. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:56.800 The cross is the center. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:00.959 So you want wisdom, you find it, you'll find it there. 00:11:00.959 --> 00:11:01.959 That's what it begins. 00:11:01.959 --> 00:11:07.759 It begins with us living our lives at the foot of the cross and understanding who we 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:13.639 are in the light of the cross and what the amazing commitment of Jesus to us because 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:15.599 of what He has done, dying in our place. 00:11:15.599 --> 00:11:16.759 Greater love is no man than this. 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:19.199 He laid down his life for his friends. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:26.960 Now, in saying that that is the core and heart of wisdom, it's not being anti-intellectual, 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:33.200 I know you all think I'm anti-intellectual, but I'm not. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:37.600 I don't like reading that much, but I'm not anti-intellectual. 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:43.240 But it's the submitting of our intellect, not the idolizing of our intellect. 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:49.720 1 Corinthians 2 verses 1 and 2 summarizes that, have we got that on the screen? 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:53.399 When I came to you, brothers, Paul says there, I didn't come proclaiming to the testimony 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:58.720 of God with lofty speech or wisdom as it were, intellect, but I declared to know nothing 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.720 among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:04.639 So it's pitting it against worldly wisdom. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:08.440 And then in Matthew 11, 25, Jesus says a rather remarkable thing. 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:12.720 He says, at that time Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth that 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:17.720 you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to children. 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:24.960 So it's not anti-intellectual, but it's recognizing the place of the intellect and recognizing 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:31.879 that learnedness comes from submitting our brains and our intellects and our knowledge 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:41.040 to Jesus Christ and to His Lordship over all that we are and our emptiness and our need 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:49.439 without them, that we can't find meaning and we can't find salvation and eternal life without 00:12:49.439 --> 00:12:53.240 Him. 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:57.879 God's wisdom does involve our brains and does involve us thinking, but it's much more 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:01.599 than the mere pursuit of knowledge. 00:13:01.599 --> 00:13:04.959 It's recognizing that the cross is the foundation and the central to that. 00:13:04.959 --> 00:13:09.719 So the cross is the first thing that is a revelation of God's wisdom. 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:16.800 The second thing is from Proverbs 9 verse 10, which many of you may know, the fear of 00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:17.800 the Lord. 00:13:17.800 --> 00:13:22.960 That's the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:28.440 So again, we're finding that God's wisdom, this gift that He gives us by the Holy Spirit, 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:33.320 is firstly that we ground our lives at the cross, but then that we understand that worship, 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:39.440 awe, reverence of God through faith in Jesus Christ is the key to wisdom. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:40.880 So faith and trust. 00:13:40.880 --> 00:13:43.280 Grace is testimony this morning. 00:13:43.280 --> 00:13:48.440 The fear of the Lord, the worship of the Lord, the trusting in the Lord, that's the beginning 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:53.400 of wisdom for us as we are reborn into worship and saving faith. 00:13:53.400 --> 00:13:56.600 Beginning to see things, therefore, from God's perspective. 00:13:56.600 --> 00:13:59.960 So you'll go from here today and you've got all kinds of difficulties and troubles and 00:13:59.960 --> 00:14:03.640 trials and problems in your lives, suffering. 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:09.559 And rather than seeing these things as evidence of God's dislike towards you or disinterest 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:13.120 in you, we see them by faith differently. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:15.279 We see God's love through them. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:18.000 We see the temporary nature of the suffering. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:21.139 We see the carrying of a cross in His name. 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:28.919 We see everything, suffering, society, pleasure, the church, family, relationships, money, everything 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:39.159 we see differently because Christ as Lord, Savior and Lord is at the very heart of who 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:41.000 we are. 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:45.199 So the feet of the cross and the feet of the Lord. 00:14:45.199 --> 00:14:50.199 And when these things are in place in our lives as we seek them to be, then we find 00:14:50.199 --> 00:14:56.000 that the gift of wisdom is something that we live and that we speak. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:02.000 So we live wisdom and we speak wisdom. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.480 The gift here particularly is spoken of as the utterance of wisdom. 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:08.679 I think that's very significant and important. 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:19.360 But Israel read from James chapter 3 and it's a great chapter and it speaks all about wisdom. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:26.440 So God's revelation, God's knowledge, God's word, God's character, God's cross, God's 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:36.120 fear, God's word gives us the principles and the foundation of wisdom. 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:43.360 And His word gives us the grounding to make decisions where there's nothing black and 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.279 white stated in the Bible. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:48.120 Lots of things are not black and white in the Bible. 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:52.279 The job that you're going to go for, the person that you're going to marry, the color 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:55.080 of the new car you're going to get, well, some of that doesn't matter. 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:57.560 But the Bible doesn't say things, lots of things. 00:15:57.560 --> 00:16:01.120 How we spend our money, well, let's say some things about that. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:07.639 But there's many things that are only principally given to us, not black and white. 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:09.799 He wants us to live by wisdom. 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:16.600 We did a series on Proverbs last year, didn't we, which gives us an indication of His way. 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:21.440 And as we soak that into our experience, then we begin to understand that many of the decisions 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:23.279 we make are decisions about wisdom. 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:24.680 They're not black and white. 00:16:24.680 --> 00:16:32.800 They're about knowing God and knowing God's mind and heart as a general direction of life. 00:16:32.800 --> 00:16:38.440 And as we do so, we're encouraged to speak that wisdom into the lives of others. 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:41.080 As we live it, we speak it. 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:47.840 Now, we're really bad at that, especially as Scots men and women. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:48.840 We like privacy. 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:51.320 We like to do things on our own. 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:53.240 We don't like to be challenged. 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:56.840 We don't like to be encouraged necessarily in spiritual matters. 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.080 It's all very private. 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:04.759 But true wisdom is the uttered and is a gift of God as we live out that life and share 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:05.759 it with others. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:07.480 It's still believed from the heart, okay? 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:15.519 Psalms 3, verses 14 to 18, it's not the wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:16.519 and spirit. 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:21.039 That is bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, boasting being false. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:24.360 Jealousy, selfish ambition. 00:17:24.360 --> 00:17:28.160 It's never merely philosophy or sophistication. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:30.720 So you can be a great philosopher. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:33.920 You can be very sophisticated. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:41.600 But there's this great need to root out envy and bitterness and pride and selfish ambition 00:17:41.600 --> 00:17:50.039 and we are to reveal from a transformed heart the wisdom that comes from above, which is 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:57.120 pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, good fruits, impartial and sincere. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:08.239 So we live that in our lives when we are close to Jesus Christ, grace and goodness. 00:18:08.239 --> 00:18:13.479 A peaceable way of living with others so that we are sharing truth and sharing wisdom but 00:18:13.479 --> 00:18:20.119 not in a divisive way, not in a separatist way, not in a judgmental way. 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:21.839 We're wise and that we're open to reason. 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:27.559 It's not a great description or characteristic of wisdom that we're open to reason. 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:28.559 That means that we listen. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:34.159 I said, great, the Christians are really bad at listening. 00:18:34.159 --> 00:18:35.559 Christians just want to preach. 00:18:35.559 --> 00:18:38.559 And ministers especially just want to preach. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:43.919 But it's very important that we listen, that we're open to reason, that we talk back and 00:18:43.919 --> 00:18:50.240 forth with people, that we recognize that there are others maybe right in different areas 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:54.799 and that even in the criticisms we receive there's usually an element of truth. 00:18:54.799 --> 00:19:01.279 We walk in the shoes of another person before we deign to give them our wisdom. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:02.599 That we're open to reason. 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:04.519 That we're full of mercy. 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:12.120 That is quick to forgive, quick to persevere, full of good fruits, impartial and sincere. 00:19:12.120 --> 00:19:14.319 So it's lived from the heart. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.359 The wisdom that's spoken of in James here, it's from our heart out, comes from our walk 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:24.079 with God, with Jesus Christ, understanding who He is, the cross and the fear of the 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:25.279 Lord. 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:30.919 But it is shared into the gospel, the Christian community. 00:19:30.919 --> 00:19:32.799 Uttered wisdom, wisdom spoken. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:34.719 It's not just this kind of... 00:19:34.719 --> 00:19:40.759 How would you describe it? 00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:48.799 It's not just this look, this kind of... 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:50.680 Yeah, just... 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:52.160 It's not a demeanor. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:59.279 It's not just that we come across as terribly wise in how we live, but it is something that 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:00.279 we share. 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:06.839 Now, I believe that preaching, and some argue that the context in 1 Corinthians with regard 00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:14.119 to these speaking gifts refers to preaching, that preaching should be wise, not only in 00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:18.159 interpreting the Scripture and teaching it, but also in applying it. 00:20:18.159 --> 00:20:23.559 There's an argument about that in some circles about preaching methods and models, whether 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:27.399 preaching should just teach what's in the Bible or should begin to apply it. 00:20:27.399 --> 00:20:32.199 Well, surely if we are sharing wisdom, wisdom is the sophistication, it's the knowledge 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:37.799 of the use of God's wisdom and the application of it, that's important in preaching for the 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:39.319 pastor teacher. 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:44.920 But as broader implications for all of us in our Christian lives, you encourage your 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:50.759 fellow Christian, encourage your husband and wife, encourage your friend in holiness, 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:56.120 share wisdom into their lives, not preaching at them, involving that listening and compassion 00:20:56.120 --> 00:21:02.160 and respect, but speaking wisdom, God's wisdom into their lives, pulling them back 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:07.080 from the edge of disaster, helping them, saying we'll pray for them. 00:21:07.080 --> 00:21:12.680 All of these things is the wisdom, the commitment of living out our Christian life, the fear 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:18.880 of the knowledge of God with one another, because it brings a harvest of righteousness. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:21.880 James says here, that's what we're to do. 00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:31.080 It's not simply being an isolate wisdom person, not simply soaking up knowledge for ourselves, 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:37.039 but it's having that way of living in order to share the wisdom with others. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:48.919 So in conclusion, in St. Columbus, we're looking for the preachers and the elders and the teachers 00:21:48.919 --> 00:21:56.240 to live wisdom, to be well founded, focused on the cross and the fear of the Lord and 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:04.039 the wisdom and knowledge of God's Word in their lives and as they lead the congregation. 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:09.079 We're looking for that in me and Thomas and the elders and the deacons, the women's pastoral 00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:16.000 team, everyone that is part of the church at that level, but also all of us hungry for 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:22.120 wisdom, God's wisdom, God's gift of wisdom and sharing that. 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:28.039 We want to be these people, as a people who are hungry for the righteousness and the wisdom 00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:32.559 associated and you know the great thing? 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:34.519 It doesn't matter about your IQ. 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:39.279 It doesn't matter if you've got a university degree or not. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:48.279 It simply is unrelated because God says if you don't have, because you don't ask. 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:50.519 It's a gift that we can ask for. 00:22:50.519 --> 00:22:53.279 It's God's gift. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:59.960 It does involve our brains, but it's much greater than that and it's a gift that He gives us. 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:07.720 And I want us here to be these people who pray for that gift, but also people who seek 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:13.160 out others who have a special gift of wisdom, because we've seen that in all the gifts of 00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:18.839 the Spirit, that not everyone has to the same degree and in the same measure these gifts. 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:22.159 Ask, pray for it, seek it out. 00:23:22.159 --> 00:23:28.519 You know, we're developing a whole structure of discipleship and that's really, it's just 00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:29.519 Sophia. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:32.359 It's just wisdom. 00:23:32.359 --> 00:23:37.679 It's seeking to live and help us to live in wisdom and be accountable to one another and 00:23:37.679 --> 00:23:39.039 share that wisdom. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:45.480 So I ask the older Christians here, particularly, share your wisdom. 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:50.319 Don't be shy and maybe share, maybe particularly older Christians, not necessarily in age, 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:53.720 but who've been Christians for a long time, share your wisdom. 00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:58.480 You have a responsibility to share it with younger Christians. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:23:59.480 Share your wisdom. 00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:01.039 Share the wisdom that God gives you. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:06.839 And you have a responsibility to live well and, dare I say, finish well. 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:12.920 I think sometimes as older Christians we can get in a rut and not really develop and not 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:18.480 really grow but we're just kind of moseying on till our dying day. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.400 And we've given up in a sense. 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:23.080 Can I ask you to finish well? 00:24:23.080 --> 00:24:28.360 Seeking more and more wisdom and sharing that wisdom with this great younger generation 00:24:28.360 --> 00:24:29.360 here. 00:24:29.360 --> 00:24:34.200 And the younger people here, can I say, seek out that wisdom. 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:37.840 Seek out your older brother and sister in Christ. 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:47.119 Learn, be accountable, take a little bit of discipline now and again when maybe our foolishness 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:54.639 and our failings are exposed and confess our sins to one another. 00:24:54.639 --> 00:25:01.359 And it comes in that context of community, relationship, respect, love and sacrificial 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:02.839 commitment to one another. 00:25:02.839 --> 00:25:09.799 Wisdom of God's balance of being individuals within His community. 00:25:09.799 --> 00:25:14.639 He places us in community because we need that. 00:25:14.639 --> 00:25:15.639 We need it. 00:25:15.639 --> 00:25:20.359 And that's why we celebrate the Lord's Supper together. 00:25:20.359 --> 00:25:26.480 We don't do it on our own because it matters that we're together. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:27.959 So we're going to do that. 00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:36.799 And please spend a few moments as we think about the Lord's work for us, that we consider 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:44.680 His wisdom and pray for His wisdom which He promises to us and seek to live it in community 00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:46.480 and in our own hearts. 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:47.480 Let's pray. 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:52.039 Father God, we ask and pray that You would bless us tonight. 00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:54.319 Bless us as we gather together. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:55.480 We thank You for worship. 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:56.960 We thank You for commonality. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:59.000 We thank You for individuality. 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:01.000 We thank You for Your wisdom. 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:08.000 Thank You that it is utterly counter-cultural in its root being the cross and the fear of 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:09.000 the Lord. 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:13.319 And we pray that we would find that great balance in our lives and that we would seek 00:26:13.319 --> 00:26:19.400 the tremendous character of Jesus and the wisdom of Jesus as we move forward. 00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:25.279 Help us to forgive many and be quick to forgive and slow to judge. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:29.480 And as we share and celebrate and are united together at the Lord's table, may it be that 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:38.079 we're not just united in word or outwardly but with a real sacrificial commitment to 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:43.119 Your body, the local church of which we belong. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:46.440 So bless us, we pray, and go before us in Jesus' name. 00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:56.960 Amen.