1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,403 Hey everybody, good morning and welcome to Christ Community Chapel. 2 00:00:03,403 --> 00:00:04,120 My name is Joe, 3 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,874 I'm one of the pastors here, and I'm really glad that you've come. 4 00:00:08,441 --> 00:00:08,842 Alright, 5 00:00:08,842 --> 00:00:11,911 this is the second week of our ten week series. 6 00:00:11,911 --> 00:00:15,482 We're calling More Wisdom, More Life. 7 00:00:16,082 --> 00:00:21,154 We're spending ten weeks looking in the book of Proverbs for wisdom. 8 00:00:21,237 --> 00:00:24,557 So let me give you the proverb we're going to look at this morning. 9 00:00:24,791 --> 00:00:27,794 This is Proverbs chapter 13, verse 20. 10 00:00:28,278 --> 00:00:31,631 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, 11 00:00:31,881 --> 00:00:36,069 but the companion of fools will suffer harm. 12 00:00:36,269 --> 00:00:37,520 That's it. 13 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,507 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, 14 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,878 but the companion of fools will suffer harm. 15 00:00:45,562 --> 00:00:47,680 Alright, let me start with a demonstration 16 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:52,068 of sorts, a prop, and then I will give you my three points. 17 00:00:52,068 --> 00:00:54,154 So come on in. 18 00:01:00,627 --> 00:01:01,394 All right. 19 00:01:01,394 --> 00:01:03,296 Good job, John, thanks. 20 00:01:03,296 --> 00:01:06,299 Okay, this is John Merkle. 21 00:01:08,001 --> 00:01:11,271 John is on our production team and I have watched for a couple of years. 22 00:01:11,271 --> 00:01:12,989 I have watched production 23 00:01:12,989 --> 00:01:17,594 team members tooling around the church hallways on this thing. 24 00:01:17,594 --> 00:01:19,796 It's called a one wheel. 25 00:01:19,796 --> 00:01:21,114 I think it looks cool. 26 00:01:21,114 --> 00:01:23,116 I think it looks pretty easy. 27 00:01:23,116 --> 00:01:26,920 And I've never tried it before, but I was thinking about trying 28 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,923 it right here, right now, for the first time. 29 00:01:30,673 --> 00:01:31,040 All right. 30 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:35,195 Now, if I ask my wife her opinion and she loves me 31 00:01:35,228 --> 00:01:38,631 more than anybody, she'd be like, oh, I don't think so. 32 00:01:38,681 --> 00:01:39,115 Right? 33 00:01:39,115 --> 00:01:41,634 If I ask a kid down to the skate park, he'd be going 34 00:01:41,634 --> 00:01:44,237 absolutely, I'll be there. Right? 35 00:01:44,237 --> 00:01:45,388 Some of you, 36 00:01:45,388 --> 00:01:49,042 some of you are waiting to take out your phones to see if I'm going to try it. 37 00:01:49,676 --> 00:01:51,478 How do I decide? 38 00:01:51,478 --> 00:01:53,480 Well, the answer is wisdom. 39 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,949 Wisdom. All right. Here are my three points. 40 00:01:55,949 --> 00:01:57,400 What is wisdom? 41 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,319 Why you need wisdom. 42 00:01:59,319 --> 00:02:01,671 How you get wisdom. 43 00:02:01,671 --> 00:02:03,389 What is wisdom? 44 00:02:03,389 --> 00:02:06,392 Why you need wisdom. 45 00:02:06,559 --> 00:02:08,912 How you get wisdom first. 46 00:02:08,912 --> 00:02:10,480 What is wisdom? 47 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,950 Wisdom is not the same thing as morality. 48 00:02:14,350 --> 00:02:17,837 It's related, but it's not the same thing. 49 00:02:18,755 --> 00:02:23,877 Wisdom is what you need for the 80% of day to day decisions 50 00:02:23,993 --> 00:02:27,397 that don't have to do with right and wrong. 51 00:02:27,797 --> 00:02:30,466 Morality is what God has given us 52 00:02:30,466 --> 00:02:34,721 in the Bible that he is said, this is the best thing. 53 00:02:34,721 --> 00:02:35,638 This is right. 54 00:02:35,638 --> 00:02:36,322 This is wrong. 55 00:02:36,322 --> 00:02:40,710 He gives us very detailed instructions about how to handle our sexuality, 56 00:02:40,877 --> 00:02:44,914 about how to handle money, about how to handle our relationships with each other. 57 00:02:44,914 --> 00:02:49,869 And in some ways, those instructions are the easy ones, 58 00:02:49,869 --> 00:02:52,956 because at least we know at least, you know, 59 00:02:53,673 --> 00:02:56,042 like if you decide to exaggerate 60 00:02:56,042 --> 00:03:00,797 or gossip or look at porn or whatever you are saying, 61 00:03:00,797 --> 00:03:04,751 I know the God of the universe who created all things 62 00:03:04,801 --> 00:03:07,921 says I should do this or I shouldn't do this, 63 00:03:07,921 --> 00:03:11,074 and I'm going to overrule him and do what I want to do, right? 64 00:03:11,074 --> 00:03:16,196 It seems crazy that we do it, but those are the easy decisions 65 00:03:16,196 --> 00:03:19,315 because at least we know what God wants. 66 00:03:20,283 --> 00:03:22,035 The harder decisions 67 00:03:22,035 --> 00:03:27,040 are the 80% of decisions you make every day that have nothing 68 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,793 to do with right and wrong, where the Bible doesn't tell us. 69 00:03:31,628 --> 00:03:34,030 Should you give a smartphone to your child? 70 00:03:34,030 --> 00:03:37,033 At what age should they get a smartphone? 71 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:38,952 What school should you go to? 72 00:03:38,952 --> 00:03:40,036 What should you major? 73 00:03:40,036 --> 00:03:41,671 And should you stay in the job that you're 74 00:03:41,671 --> 00:03:45,742 in right now, or the relationship that you're in right now? 75 00:03:45,758 --> 00:03:48,761 How do you handle your teenage daughter? 76 00:03:49,195 --> 00:03:51,147 Should you take early retirement? 77 00:03:51,147 --> 00:03:52,548 All those questions. 78 00:03:52,548 --> 00:03:56,953 You will not find the answers in the Bible for those you need. 79 00:03:56,953 --> 00:03:57,787 Wisdom. 80 00:03:57,787 --> 00:04:03,509 In the ancient world, wisdom was defined as being able 81 00:04:03,509 --> 00:04:09,082 to navigate the obstacles of life in the best possible way. 82 00:04:09,599 --> 00:04:14,387 It was considered competence in how you deal 83 00:04:14,470 --> 00:04:17,473 and navigate with reality 84 00:04:17,774 --> 00:04:21,678 and what is true nowadays. 85 00:04:21,711 --> 00:04:25,081 People tend to think that we can control reality. 86 00:04:25,081 --> 00:04:29,402 That I have my truth and my truth then becomes what is real. 87 00:04:29,402 --> 00:04:32,388 But that's not the way the ancient world saw it. 88 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:34,507 It's not really the way things work. 89 00:04:34,507 --> 00:04:36,509 Let me let me give you this analogy. 90 00:04:36,509 --> 00:04:43,199 I have seven grandkids that range in age from 17 years old to six months old, 91 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:46,402 and they all live around here in town, which is great. 92 00:04:46,402 --> 00:04:48,438 And sometimes they all come over to my house, 93 00:04:48,438 --> 00:04:51,474 and when they do, there's just, you know, chaos for a while. 94 00:04:51,474 --> 00:04:54,510 And the the littles who I'll define as the two year 95 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,547 old, the four year old, the nine year old, the ten year old. 96 00:04:57,797 --> 00:04:58,431 Sometimes they 97 00:04:58,431 --> 00:05:00,800 they will run all around the go down in my basement 98 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,869 and play in my basement for a couple of hours. 99 00:05:02,869 --> 00:05:07,674 And not surprisingly, they don't put everything back where it started. 100 00:05:07,874 --> 00:05:10,476 So after they leave, if I'm going to go down in the basement, 101 00:05:10,476 --> 00:05:13,946 it doesn't matter where I think things are 102 00:05:14,597 --> 00:05:17,400 or where I hope things are. 103 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,987 If I don't want to hit my shin against something 104 00:05:20,987 --> 00:05:25,558 or step on something, I need to turn on a light. 105 00:05:25,591 --> 00:05:30,747 Light is like wisdom, however dim, that shows the obstacles 106 00:05:30,747 --> 00:05:35,068 that you need to navigate in order to get where you want to go. 107 00:05:35,635 --> 00:05:36,869 Right? 108 00:05:36,869 --> 00:05:40,356 So I go home from work and I tell my wife, 109 00:05:40,390 --> 00:05:44,961 hey Karen, I got, I got a great idea for like a sermon illustration. 110 00:05:44,961 --> 00:05:46,479 It will make the sermon really memorable. 111 00:05:46,479 --> 00:05:49,749 I'm going to ride a one wheel and she says, what's a one wheel? 112 00:05:49,749 --> 00:05:52,318 And I say, it's like a motorized skateboard. 113 00:05:52,318 --> 00:05:54,787 And she says, well, have you ever done it? 114 00:05:54,787 --> 00:05:57,390 And I said, no, I'm going to do it for the first time in front of everybody. 115 00:05:57,390 --> 00:05:59,959 She goes on the stage I see on the stage, she said, now, 116 00:05:59,959 --> 00:06:01,794 if it's motorized, could it shoot off the stage? 117 00:06:01,794 --> 00:06:04,347 I said, yep, it can shoot off the stage. 118 00:06:04,347 --> 00:06:09,752 She says, well, Joe, you have ever really ridden a non-motorized skateboard? 119 00:06:10,319 --> 00:06:11,354 What's she doing? 120 00:06:11,354 --> 00:06:13,523 She's not raining on my parade. 121 00:06:13,523 --> 00:06:19,162 She's trying to shed a little light in the dark basement of a man who's forgotten. 122 00:06:19,162 --> 00:06:21,748 He's 67 years old, right? 123 00:06:21,748 --> 00:06:26,369 Wisdom is something all of us need, right? 124 00:06:26,436 --> 00:06:33,042 To navigate what life is like in the best possible way. 125 00:06:33,309 --> 00:06:33,643 Right? 126 00:06:33,643 --> 00:06:35,962 That's what wisdom is. 127 00:06:35,962 --> 00:06:39,082 Now, the second point is why we need wisdom. 128 00:06:39,082 --> 00:06:40,666 This proverb is interesting. 129 00:06:41,918 --> 00:06:44,670 It says this whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, 130 00:06:44,670 --> 00:06:48,241 but the companion of fools will suffer harm. 131 00:06:48,908 --> 00:06:51,878 It doesn't say whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, 132 00:06:51,878 --> 00:06:54,881 and the companion of fools becomes a fool. 133 00:06:55,031 --> 00:06:58,034 It says they will suffer harm. 134 00:06:58,201 --> 00:07:00,520 That's why I like the illustration of a one wheel. 135 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:06,509 Because if I tried to ride that one wheel right now and I'm not going to. 136 00:07:06,559 --> 00:07:11,547 But if I did, it wouldn't make me a fool in all the other areas of my life. 137 00:07:11,747 --> 00:07:16,152 But I could and probably would suffer harm. 138 00:07:17,386 --> 00:07:21,858 There's a story in the Old Testament of a man named Ray Boehm. 139 00:07:21,958 --> 00:07:23,509 He became king of Israel. 140 00:07:23,509 --> 00:07:24,994 His father was Solomon. 141 00:07:24,994 --> 00:07:28,714 Solomon ruled in the golden era of Israel. 142 00:07:29,115 --> 00:07:30,316 He was super wealthy. 143 00:07:30,316 --> 00:07:35,705 He built tons of cities and magnificent buildings and all that. 144 00:07:35,721 --> 00:07:40,276 And when he died, he gave his kingdom to his son Rabban. 145 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:46,516 Now at that time there were 12 tribes in Israel, and they were like states, 146 00:07:46,516 --> 00:07:49,669 and there were the northern states and the northern states. 147 00:07:49,719 --> 00:07:52,722 They bore the brunt of the building. 148 00:07:52,722 --> 00:07:56,275 And so they sent a delegation down to meet with Ray bone. 149 00:07:56,275 --> 00:08:00,630 And they said to Ray Boehm, listen, you're your dad worked us really hard, 150 00:08:00,630 --> 00:08:04,233 and we built most of this stuff, and we're tired. 151 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,954 And now we're just going to see how you're going to handle things, 152 00:08:07,954 --> 00:08:11,357 because if you will let up some, we're good. 153 00:08:11,591 --> 00:08:13,643 We'll serve you. 154 00:08:13,643 --> 00:08:18,431 But if you're going to be like your dad, then we're going to have some problems. 155 00:08:18,514 --> 00:08:20,633 And so Ray Boehm said, give me a couple of days. 156 00:08:20,633 --> 00:08:24,720 And what he was saying was, I want time to seek wisdom. 157 00:08:25,471 --> 00:08:30,760 I want to know how to navigate this particular part of life. 158 00:08:30,793 --> 00:08:31,427 Right. 159 00:08:31,427 --> 00:08:35,548 So he goes to his father's advisors first, 160 00:08:35,548 --> 00:08:39,552 and his father's advisors say, yeah, they're right there. 161 00:08:39,552 --> 00:08:40,520 Right? 162 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,390 Your dad worked them really hard and you should let up. 163 00:08:44,390 --> 00:08:48,160 And if you will be their servant leader, they will serve you forever. 164 00:08:48,594 --> 00:08:50,079 And he went, okay, okay. 165 00:08:50,079 --> 00:08:53,115 And then he went to friends his own age. 166 00:08:53,232 --> 00:08:54,433 And he said, what do you think? 167 00:08:54,433 --> 00:08:56,202 And they said, no, absolutely not. 168 00:08:56,202 --> 00:09:00,640 You tell those people that that your dad was nothing compared to you. 169 00:09:00,673 --> 00:09:03,960 They're going to feel like they were on vacation compared to how hard 170 00:09:03,993 --> 00:09:05,228 you're going to work them. 171 00:09:05,228 --> 00:09:08,231 You go after them, tell them who's boss, right. 172 00:09:08,231 --> 00:09:11,200 And if you're reading that for the first time, if you've never read 173 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,588 that story when you're reading it, you're going, oh, that is not good advice. 174 00:09:15,671 --> 00:09:18,441 And sure enough, he takes their advice. 175 00:09:18,441 --> 00:09:20,993 He goes to the to the delegation. 176 00:09:20,993 --> 00:09:23,679 He tells them that they rebel. 177 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:28,434 There's a civil war the country is split into and never is the same again. 178 00:09:29,669 --> 00:09:30,436 The companion 179 00:09:30,436 --> 00:09:34,507 of fools suffer harm, right? 180 00:09:35,074 --> 00:09:38,311 When I was 25 years old, I was going to buy. 181 00:09:38,311 --> 00:09:40,279 I was getting ready to buy a house. 182 00:09:40,279 --> 00:09:44,667 I was so excited because I was adulting and I was going to be the man. 183 00:09:44,667 --> 00:09:48,721 And so I looked at this house, liked it, was going to buy it. 184 00:09:48,754 --> 00:09:52,475 Then Karen, my wife's parents came into town and she invited them 185 00:09:52,475 --> 00:09:55,561 to take a look at the house before we made an offer. 186 00:09:55,878 --> 00:10:00,516 And so my father in law was walking through the house and he started to notice 187 00:10:00,516 --> 00:10:05,187 some things that I had not noticed, like some of the doors 188 00:10:05,671 --> 00:10:10,476 wouldn't quite shut, which I was evidently going to have an open door policy. 189 00:10:10,476 --> 00:10:12,428 So that was fine. 190 00:10:12,428 --> 00:10:16,232 He he went into one room and he pulled up the carpeting in the corner, 191 00:10:16,349 --> 00:10:20,269 and the walls didn't touch the floor. 192 00:10:20,670 --> 00:10:22,154 And so I went to my wife 193 00:10:22,154 --> 00:10:24,240 and he said, honey, I don't think you should buy that house, 194 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:26,158 because I think the foundation has shifted. 195 00:10:26,158 --> 00:10:27,610 It's it's a problem. 196 00:10:27,610 --> 00:10:31,314 And so then Karen came to me and she said, my dad says we shouldn't buy the house. 197 00:10:31,314 --> 00:10:33,115 That was so mad. 198 00:10:33,115 --> 00:10:34,634 And I was like, how dare he? 199 00:10:34,634 --> 00:10:36,352 You know, I'm a man. 200 00:10:37,353 --> 00:10:38,437 If I had had a couple 201 00:10:38,437 --> 00:10:39,071 of friends 202 00:10:39,071 --> 00:10:41,957 that were my age and I went to them and I said, my father in law came, 203 00:10:41,957 --> 00:10:43,759 he doesn't like the house I'm going to buy. And they were. 204 00:10:43,759 --> 00:10:45,761 They'd said, hey, you should buy that house. 205 00:10:45,761 --> 00:10:48,397 I'd be paying off that house today, right? 206 00:10:48,397 --> 00:10:50,232 Still, 207 00:10:50,232 --> 00:10:54,270 listen, what the Bible says is you are influenced. 208 00:10:55,037 --> 00:10:58,040 Wisdom is contagious. 209 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,194 You're influenced either toward or away from wisdom. 210 00:11:02,194 --> 00:11:04,163 There were two things I needed to come to grips with 211 00:11:04,163 --> 00:11:05,514 if I was going to grow in wisdom. 212 00:11:05,514 --> 00:11:08,517 These same two things you have to come to grips with, right? 213 00:11:08,517 --> 00:11:11,237 First thing was this 214 00:11:11,237 --> 00:11:14,240 my lack of knowledge about 215 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,877 certain subjects is staggering. 216 00:11:18,394 --> 00:11:22,114 All right, let me like my lack of knowledge about 217 00:11:22,114 --> 00:11:26,152 construction is staggering, right? 218 00:11:26,235 --> 00:11:27,269 The same thing is true of you. 219 00:11:27,269 --> 00:11:30,439 Your lack of knowledge in certain areas is staggering. 220 00:11:30,439 --> 00:11:31,640 There are people sitting around you 221 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,194 that know more about certain things than you will ever know. 222 00:11:35,561 --> 00:11:39,715 And if you think that you don't need anybody to tell you anything, 223 00:11:39,715 --> 00:11:43,652 that you know all you have, all the wisdom that you need to have right now 224 00:11:43,652 --> 00:11:49,191 and there's nothing someone can help you with, then you will never grow in wisdom. 225 00:11:49,275 --> 00:11:49,558 All right. 226 00:11:49,558 --> 00:11:50,559 That's the first thing. 227 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:55,715 The second thing I had to come to grips with was this I am as wise right now 228 00:11:55,798 --> 00:12:00,069 as I have ever been, and as dumb as I ever will be. 229 00:12:00,636 --> 00:12:02,071 Right you are to. 230 00:12:02,071 --> 00:12:04,673 You are as wise right now 231 00:12:04,673 --> 00:12:09,195 as you have ever been, and you are as dumb as you ever will be. 232 00:12:09,195 --> 00:12:12,281 And I say that because life is a path. 233 00:12:12,832 --> 00:12:15,718 That's what the writer of Proverbs says. 234 00:12:15,718 --> 00:12:18,070 He walks with the wise. 235 00:12:18,070 --> 00:12:20,473 Life is moving. It's like a river. 236 00:12:20,473 --> 00:12:23,509 So that means the questions are changing all the time. 237 00:12:23,509 --> 00:12:27,029 I used to think that someday I would get to the place where I'd be like. 238 00:12:27,713 --> 00:12:28,948 Like a like a guru. 239 00:12:28,948 --> 00:12:31,717 Like I would have all wisdom and I would know how. 240 00:12:31,717 --> 00:12:35,671 But the problem is, the questions change that I need wisdom. 241 00:12:35,788 --> 00:12:39,708 Like when I was in high school, the questions I needed wisdom with with 242 00:12:39,759 --> 00:12:44,430 who are my friends going to be, whether I should, how much should I put? 243 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:46,515 How much effort should I put into grades? 244 00:12:46,515 --> 00:12:47,950 How important are those? 245 00:12:47,950 --> 00:12:50,035 Should I go out for an athletic team? 246 00:12:50,035 --> 00:12:52,321 Should I go to homecoming those? 247 00:12:52,321 --> 00:12:55,591 And then when I get to college, the questions change again. 248 00:12:55,791 --> 00:12:57,042 What should be my major? 249 00:12:57,042 --> 00:12:59,595 Should I join a fraternity or a sorority or, 250 00:12:59,595 --> 00:13:04,150 well, not me, a sorority, but you should. 251 00:13:04,316 --> 00:13:09,638 What should I do as I as I date and get serious when you get married? 252 00:13:09,638 --> 00:13:11,791 And then how many children are you going to have? 253 00:13:11,791 --> 00:13:13,192 When should you have children? 254 00:13:13,192 --> 00:13:15,227 How do you discipline the children? 255 00:13:15,227 --> 00:13:17,163 What schools do the children go to? 256 00:13:17,163 --> 00:13:17,746 Then they become 257 00:13:17,746 --> 00:13:21,750 teenagers and all those questions change and then they become adults. 258 00:13:21,750 --> 00:13:26,639 And you have to learn how to be a parent of adult children, and then how to care 259 00:13:26,639 --> 00:13:30,509 and honor aging parents and how to deal with your own aging. 260 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:31,627 This is the thing. 261 00:13:32,711 --> 00:13:36,031 The reason that you need wisdom is that 262 00:13:36,081 --> 00:13:41,470 it's like someone is changing the stuff in the dark basement all the time. 263 00:13:41,637 --> 00:13:44,507 And if you're going to navigate the questions 264 00:13:44,507 --> 00:13:48,394 that are in your life right now, you will need certain people to help you. 265 00:13:48,394 --> 00:13:49,962 But ten years from now, 266 00:13:49,962 --> 00:13:53,833 those questions are going to be different and you'll need somebody else. 267 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,119 And more wisdom, right? 268 00:13:57,119 --> 00:13:58,671 So that's what wisdom is. 269 00:13:58,671 --> 00:14:01,440 That's why you need wisdom. 270 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:05,027 Now the final question is how do you get wisdom? 271 00:14:05,077 --> 00:14:07,279 How do you get wisdom? 272 00:14:07,279 --> 00:14:10,799 Pastor Zach kicked us off kicked off the series last week 273 00:14:11,267 --> 00:14:15,437 by looking at Proverbs chapter three, verses five and six where it says, 274 00:14:15,437 --> 00:14:19,875 trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. 275 00:14:19,875 --> 00:14:24,547 In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. 276 00:14:25,631 --> 00:14:27,750 It's great beginning. 277 00:14:27,750 --> 00:14:30,753 It shows that all of us need wisdom, and the 278 00:14:30,836 --> 00:14:34,323 the source of all wisdom is God. 279 00:14:35,074 --> 00:14:39,028 And if that was the only verse we had about wisdom, 280 00:14:39,712 --> 00:14:42,031 you'd be tempted to 281 00:14:42,031 --> 00:14:45,467 to look to God for every decision, 282 00:14:46,035 --> 00:14:48,921 like not just the ones that are clear in the Bible that. 283 00:14:48,921 --> 00:14:54,159 But you would say, okay, should I give my my child a smartphone? 284 00:14:54,193 --> 00:14:58,547 The way I have to decide that is, I need to pray and lean 285 00:14:58,547 --> 00:15:03,469 not on my own understanding, acknowledge God, and then just try to feel 286 00:15:03,469 --> 00:15:06,839 what God wants me to do and then assume that may 287 00:15:06,872 --> 00:15:10,309 that must be the wisdom that God has provided. 288 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,363 But that's not what the Bible says here. 289 00:15:14,713 --> 00:15:18,550 The Bible says that sometimes God provides wisdom in His Word. 290 00:15:18,550 --> 00:15:19,635 But there's other times 291 00:15:19,635 --> 00:15:23,238 where wisdom comes from other people, and that's super important. 292 00:15:23,238 --> 00:15:24,156 This is what I want you to get, 293 00:15:24,156 --> 00:15:28,711 because there are a lot of really well-meaning, sincere Christians 294 00:15:28,761 --> 00:15:32,281 who either try to get all the wisdom they're going to get from prayer, 295 00:15:32,281 --> 00:15:35,551 or they use the Bible like a magic eight ball. 296 00:15:35,551 --> 00:15:36,869 And I don't want you to do that. 297 00:15:36,869 --> 00:15:38,437 They say, should I take this job? 298 00:15:38,437 --> 00:15:42,508 And they open it up and point the finger and go, you most assuredly so. 299 00:15:42,558 --> 00:15:45,678 You know, that's not the way the Bible is intended to work. 300 00:15:46,996 --> 00:15:49,114 So what do you do? 301 00:15:49,114 --> 00:15:49,999 Right? 302 00:15:49,999 --> 00:15:53,919 It's what the Bible says you're in danger of. 303 00:15:53,953 --> 00:15:58,190 There's a story about an old man who was living out 304 00:15:58,190 --> 00:16:01,393 in the country by himself, and there was a flood that was coming. 305 00:16:01,393 --> 00:16:04,396 It was raining, it was flooding, and a four wheel Jeep drive 306 00:16:04,563 --> 00:16:07,633 pulls up and says, hey, oh, man, jump in, we'll save you. 307 00:16:07,633 --> 00:16:08,834 And he says, no, that's okay. 308 00:16:08,834 --> 00:16:10,753 My God will take care of me. 309 00:16:10,753 --> 00:16:13,672 And then later on the the waters keep rising 310 00:16:13,672 --> 00:16:17,076 and a boat comes by and says, oh man, the floods coming. 311 00:16:17,109 --> 00:16:18,110 Why don't you jump in? 312 00:16:18,110 --> 00:16:19,395 We can save you. 313 00:16:19,395 --> 00:16:21,597 And he says, no, my God will take care of me. 314 00:16:21,597 --> 00:16:25,718 And finally he's up on the roof and the waters are coming by 315 00:16:25,718 --> 00:16:27,152 and the helicopter comes by, drops 316 00:16:27,152 --> 00:16:31,156 a rope ladder and says, oh, man, climb the rope ladder will save you. 317 00:16:31,156 --> 00:16:32,157 And he says, no, it's okay. 318 00:16:32,157 --> 00:16:34,193 My God will take care of me. 319 00:16:34,193 --> 00:16:38,947 And then he dies and he goes to heaven and he says, God, I understand. 320 00:16:38,947 --> 00:16:40,632 I was counting on you to save me. 321 00:16:40,632 --> 00:16:45,037 And God said, I sent a jeep, a boat and a helicopter. 322 00:16:45,070 --> 00:16:47,790 I don't know what the problem was, right? 323 00:16:47,790 --> 00:16:52,711 Listen, you may be looking for wisdom in a particular area of your life. 324 00:16:52,711 --> 00:16:56,348 And you're saying, God, I need you to show me wisdom. 325 00:16:56,348 --> 00:17:03,188 And the way he wants to give you wisdom is through a person, not through a feeling. 326 00:17:03,922 --> 00:17:04,640 Right? 327 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:10,079 Because what the proverb writer says is that wisdom is contagious. 328 00:17:10,362 --> 00:17:15,117 You catch it, you understand it by the people that you walk through 329 00:17:15,117 --> 00:17:16,952 life with. 330 00:17:16,952 --> 00:17:20,439 All right, so this is the thing. 331 00:17:21,757 --> 00:17:24,760 How do you recognize somebody who's wise? 332 00:17:25,027 --> 00:17:27,763 Let me give you three things to look for. 333 00:17:27,763 --> 00:17:30,399 If you're looking for somebody who's wise, look for who they love. 334 00:17:30,399 --> 00:17:33,402 That's the first thing you look for, who they love. 335 00:17:33,719 --> 00:17:37,322 What I mean by that is you need to find somebody that the 336 00:17:37,523 --> 00:17:42,161 the Bible says that the definition of being a fool is somebody who rejects God. 337 00:17:42,194 --> 00:17:43,078 Proverbs chapter 338 00:17:43,078 --> 00:17:47,232 nine, verse ten says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 339 00:17:47,282 --> 00:17:49,318 So you want to find somebody who is wise. 340 00:17:49,318 --> 00:17:52,871 You've got to find somebody who knows and loves Jesus. 341 00:17:53,122 --> 00:17:58,994 You can't count on wisdom to be the the person who is a an influencer 342 00:17:58,994 --> 00:18:02,548 on social media, or who's a talking head in your favorite news show. 343 00:18:02,881 --> 00:18:08,387 Look for somebody to help you who at least knows and loves Jesus. 344 00:18:08,387 --> 00:18:09,388 That's the first thing. 345 00:18:09,388 --> 00:18:13,392 The second thing is not only look for who they love, look for how they live. 346 00:18:13,592 --> 00:18:16,628 When I say that, I don't mean how they behave, 347 00:18:16,678 --> 00:18:19,148 I mean how they approach life. 348 00:18:19,148 --> 00:18:23,118 The people I've known in my life who are wise have a 349 00:18:23,318 --> 00:18:27,556 a serenity like a solid ness about them. 350 00:18:28,273 --> 00:18:31,593 There are two things that make me dumb. 351 00:18:31,593 --> 00:18:34,596 I think one is pride in the other's fear. 352 00:18:34,746 --> 00:18:37,316 Like when I almost bought the house when I was 353 00:18:37,316 --> 00:18:40,402 25, I almost bought the house because of pride. 354 00:18:40,402 --> 00:18:44,039 If I had this much more pride, I would have bought that house. 355 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,876 People who are wise 356 00:18:47,876 --> 00:18:51,029 aren't driven by pride or fear, 357 00:18:51,163 --> 00:18:55,400 and the things that the thing that deals with pride and fear is the love of Jesus. 358 00:18:55,551 --> 00:19:01,240 So people who are wise, the love of Jesus has gone deep down inside of when. 359 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:06,428 When I'm feeling the love of Jesus, strong in inside of me 360 00:19:06,478 --> 00:19:09,748 that I'm not, I don't have the need to inflate myself. 361 00:19:09,748 --> 00:19:12,267 I don't have the need for pride. 362 00:19:12,267 --> 00:19:15,437 And I'm also not nearly as afraid. 363 00:19:15,554 --> 00:19:17,356 So the first thing you look for, 364 00:19:17,356 --> 00:19:19,358 if you're looking for somebody who's wise, is look for who 365 00:19:19,358 --> 00:19:20,876 they love, that they love Jesus. 366 00:19:20,876 --> 00:19:24,563 But the second thing is, look that they are that they understand 367 00:19:24,563 --> 00:19:27,716 the love of Jesus so deep that it gives them 368 00:19:27,799 --> 00:19:31,436 an ability, a peace and a serenity that you're looking for. 369 00:19:31,470 --> 00:19:34,523 And the third thing is look for what they know. 370 00:19:34,873 --> 00:19:36,241 Look for what they know. 371 00:19:36,241 --> 00:19:38,427 Do they know the best practices of God? 372 00:19:38,427 --> 00:19:43,549 Are they living generous, sacrificial, faithful lives? 373 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:45,551 Do they 374 00:19:45,551 --> 00:19:49,755 know about the area that you need wisdom in? 375 00:19:49,788 --> 00:19:53,592 If I if I'm looking for wisdom on how to deal with the teenage daughter, 376 00:19:53,592 --> 00:19:57,512 I don't want to talk to somebody who doesn't know anything about teenage girls. 377 00:19:57,796 --> 00:20:01,433 I want to find somebody who knows something about them. 378 00:20:01,466 --> 00:20:04,553 Listen, this is the truth. 379 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:06,788 You're going to need wisdom. 380 00:20:06,788 --> 00:20:11,043 If not right now, then the questions that are coming 381 00:20:11,476 --> 00:20:14,313 you will not know the answer to. 382 00:20:14,313 --> 00:20:17,883 And you're not going to find them all in the Bible. 383 00:20:17,916 --> 00:20:20,752 There are times when God gives you wisdom. 384 00:20:20,752 --> 00:20:22,237 That's true. 385 00:20:22,237 --> 00:20:25,240 But the other times he gives you people. 386 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,193 He gives you people because wisdom is contagious. 387 00:20:28,193 --> 00:20:32,431 And one of the great advantages of being a part of a big church 388 00:20:32,481 --> 00:20:34,433 is there are lots of people. 389 00:20:34,433 --> 00:20:38,520 There are people sitting around you right now who might have the wisdom 390 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,873 that you need, and you don't know it because you're not connected. 391 00:20:42,190 --> 00:20:47,396 One of the disadvantages of being a large church is that you can slip in and out 392 00:20:47,396 --> 00:20:51,950 and take advantage of certain things, but never really get connected. 393 00:20:51,950 --> 00:20:56,755 And I'm telling you, if you do that, you're going to lose out on wisdom 394 00:20:56,922 --> 00:21:00,676 according to this proverb, because that's why we have 395 00:21:00,709 --> 00:21:04,630 we are always pushing you to get connected, to go through reimagine, 396 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,833 to join a circle, get a part, become a part of a 397 00:21:07,883 --> 00:21:10,152 of a Bible study of men, study a women's study. 398 00:21:10,152 --> 00:21:14,122 If you're a grandparent, come to the grandparent huddle because you never know 399 00:21:14,756 --> 00:21:18,560 when God will have the person sitting right beside you 400 00:21:19,027 --> 00:21:21,546 who has the wisdom that he wants you to have 401 00:21:21,546 --> 00:21:25,400 to navigate the world that you are in right now, 402 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,471 and have the answers to the questions you are asking right now. 403 00:21:30,522 --> 00:21:33,508 Every single one of us 404 00:21:33,642 --> 00:21:36,828 needs wisdom, and God has provided it 405 00:21:36,828 --> 00:21:39,831 right here, right now. 406 00:21:40,799 --> 00:21:42,267 Don't miss it. 407 00:21:42,267 --> 00:21:45,671 What you need for wisdom is a wise, 408 00:21:45,871 --> 00:21:50,075 some wise friends to walk with you through life, 409 00:21:50,642 --> 00:21:54,596 because with more wisdom comes more life. 410 00:21:55,230 --> 00:21:57,549 Would you pray with me? 411 00:21:57,549 --> 00:21:58,317 Father in heaven. 412 00:21:58,317 --> 00:22:01,586 Thank you for the way that you have made everything. 413 00:22:02,037 --> 00:22:06,358 I know sometimes there are times when I wish you would answer every question. 414 00:22:06,842 --> 00:22:10,028 Those questions that you have answered about morality. 415 00:22:10,028 --> 00:22:13,999 I pray for every person here, that we would not be so foolish 416 00:22:13,999 --> 00:22:15,600 that we would turn our backs on 417 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,838 what is clear, what you tell us clearly to do or not to do, 418 00:22:20,439 --> 00:22:24,843 but also pray that you would help us to to find the wisdom from each other 419 00:22:24,843 --> 00:22:29,548 that you want us to have to connect with each other in such a way 420 00:22:29,598 --> 00:22:32,868 that we will be able to to walk with each other 421 00:22:33,402 --> 00:22:36,588 and navigate life in the best possible way, 422 00:22:36,671 --> 00:22:39,674 and to find the life that you really want for us. 423 00:22:39,991 --> 00:22:42,761 Thanks for loving us. 424 00:22:42,761 --> 00:22:45,797 Thanks for giving us Jesus and we pray this in his name. 425 00:22:46,031 --> 00:22:46,798 Amen.