How To Become Wise

| How To Become Wise |

How To Become Filled With Wisdom

Everyone possesses some degree of knowledge, but now we will explore wisdom.
Indeed, as the Good Book states in 1 Corinthians 8:1, “knowledge puffs up,” but few are those who are actually wise.
Many are puffed up with knowledge about wisdom without having any wisdom in their knowledge concerning the topic of wisdom.

In short, many are downright stupid in their knowledge of wisdom.
Fact is, the more knowledge mankind gains, the greater the stupidity there is in the land.
Anyone can obtain knowledge by going to school or travelling around the world.

We live in a time when the ability to obtain vast amounts of knowledge is as easy as typing in a search word on a computer and hitting the enter key.
In the book of Daniel, this time was foretold.

Many will go here and there to increase knowledge. (Daniel 12:4)

Think of knowledge as a library in your mind and wisdom is a heart that knows how to apply that knowledge.
Knowledge does not guarantee one is a smart individual but, with true wisdom, there is eternal life.
Think of all the brilliant scientists around the globe who are full of knowledge about the universe, but so very stupid that they conclude there is no God.

Many a knowledgeable scientist is a mere fool enslaved by their doubts.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalm 53:1)

Consider that whenever mankind gains knowledge good is not the result.
Mankind gains knowledge of the atom and we build bombs that could destroy every human on the planet.
Mankind has increased legal knowledge, laws and regulations with the predicted outcome being governmental oppression on a world-wide scale.

Mankind gains medical knowledge but the unborn are more endangered than ever before.
Mankind is filled with psychological knowledge on human behavior but depression, isolation, and in-house fighting have all increased.
Mankind has more Bible knowledge than ever before and all that can be shown for it is dry tradition with the love of most growing cold.

Well, enough on the point about knowledge as I have over-stated the obvious.
However, our focus now is not the corruption that knowledge may bring but how to become wise.
There is only one way to become a wise person.

Becoming wise depends on how you answer the following question.
Answer one question correctly, and you will have the key that opens the door to wisdom.
Yes. it is only one question that needs to be answered.

It is a simple question and only requires a hardy “yes.”
Here is the question:
How many rebukes can you take?

The question is the answer to the question of wisdom.
The only way to become wise is to enter the school of rebukes.
If you turn your face to seek the Living God and ask Him to make you wise, hold onto your holy hat because it is going to get dicey.

As we look at the book of Proverbs, take note that to the degree a person responds to wisdom’s rebukes, the more wisdom will be given.
Responding righteously to correction will allow God to reveal His heart and mind to you.
Here is the promise of if you want to claim it:

If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. (Proverbs 1:23)

If you are willing to endure, day in and day out, from the outside to the inside of your heart and mind the rebukes and corrections of His wisdom, then God will pour Himself out to you.
Be warned though there is no other way to become truly wise.

The reason there are so many, far too many, Bible study groups, Bible colleges and commentary books is that everyone is attempting to avoid the sufferings of the cross that would make them wise.

It is far easier to study the Bible than to endure and rejoice in the sufferings of Jesus.

The Christian Church is bumping against itself as the constant debates, discussions and blog posts waste crucial time discussing the Bible rather than allowing God to rebuke them.

Let us read more from Proverbs, and this time take note that if you pray for wisdom, God will arrive at your doorstep to rebuke you.

Listen to wisdom calling rebukes.

Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
“How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I, in turn, will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you-when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. “Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me.

Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” (Proverbs 1:20-33)
Let us read on realizing when we ask God to make us wise, we are asking for much sorrow.

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow (Ecclesiastes 1:18)

Be prepared to be sorrowful, if you desire wisdom.

You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! (Proverbs 5:12)

The reason so much preaching is worthless is because the preacher has not entered the school of hard knocks, the school of rebukes, corrections and advice.

Indeed, everyone only schools themselves on what they already agree upon with themselves. Such are fools teaching fools.

He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. (Proverbs 10:17)

How many downright stupid people there are in the church and in the world.

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. (Proverbs 12:1)

Unless you can talk for hours about how God has shown you just how stupid you are, there is a very real chance the end of your Christian faith will be one of poverty and shame.
Following Jesus is to accept many a correction.

He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored. (Proverbs 13:18)

Perhaps by now the listener is realizing that small is the congregation that will tolerate being made wise by the Living God.
For, again, to be made wise is to enter the school of self-discipline, correction, rebuke, admonishment, frustrations, brokenness, humility, uncovering sin, welcoming the revelation of stupidity and foolishness just to name a few aspects of becoming wise.

This is why those who like to mock back Bible knowledge will not hang-around, tolerate or join a church that is being made wise.
Preachers of true wisdom are not given awards and do not draw large crowds because the large crowd of mockers will not tolerate it.

A mocker resents correction; he will not consult the wise. (Proverbs 15:12)

The mocker “resents correction” and nine out of ten times goes out of their way to slander, belittle, and even persecute those who God is making wise.
While the mocker may resent the wise, the truth is they only despise themselves.

He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. (Proverbs 15:32)

Those few who honestly choose to follow Jesus had best prepare themselves to be rebuked soundly by Him.
For, as Jesus demands a life of faith, you are going to fail.

As Jesus demands you perform good deeds and though you try your best, you are going to fail – miserably fail.

As Jesus demands you keep up with Him and you are running so hard that you are out of breath, this is what Jesus will say to you: “…I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” “O, unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” (Matthew 17:16-17)

Jesus just called His best disciples, and I quote: “unbelieving and perverse”

Jesus became so frustrated because they had such terrible faith, he cried out in public about them: “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you”

Really, you want to be made wise?

You want to hear God call you “unbelieving” and “perverse”?
You want to get your morning Coffee Cup Bible Study and hear Jesus say to you “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you”?
Please do not lie to me-you would probably think such words come from the enemy.

You know your church would not tolerate such a preacher preaching full of the Holy Spirit from your pulpit. Let alone would you desire to fellowship with such a pastor.
To the few who will honestly follow not only will Jesus look you square in the eyes and say to you, about you and in front of others, “How long do I have to put up with you” but He will be specific as to what the sin is.
You can be sure as you talk with Jesus you are so backward spiritually that you will say something so stupid at least once that Jesus will equate you with the Devil.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mark 8:33)
You want to be made wise?

You want to be publicly rebuked with Jesus calling you “Satan” in front of everyone?
Really, you are willing to be called “Satan”?

You really want to worship a God that might send a demon to torment you just to keep you from pride?
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

You will understand if I am a wee-bit skeptical concerning your said willingness to be made wise.

You really are willing to rejoice like Paul and glorify that God is making you weak by a demonic visitation if that is required?
Most I know grumble and complain when church work becomes too demanding, let alone when God comes to crucify them to themselves, let alone to talk about possible pride and a demon.
Most cannot take my simple, shallow rebukes motivated and worked by the Holy Spirit let alone allow God to rebuke them day and night for years as He did the disciples of the New Testament.

As a side note. If you cannot tolerate a rebuking sermon how in the world are you going to tolerate the Holy Spirit making the Word of God alive and active in your Bible study?
How many talk of God’s love?
How many more preach of God’s love?

How many speak of seeking after God’s heart and thanking Him for His love-yet recoil at the slightest hint of a rebuke!
Answer: far too many.
Know this is the way of God’s love, the way of wisdom, the way of holiness, the way of true knowledge is to respond to God’s rebukes.

The more earnest you are to repent at each overwhelming rebuke the more God will be able to pour true Wisdom into your heart, mind and soul.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. (Revelation 3:19)

As we conclude, consider the book of Job.

Take a moment and go sit alone.
Open to the book of Job, chapter 40 and begin to read.
Place yourself in Job’s situation as towards the end of your trials God comes to you.

After years of suffering physical and spiritual pain, God begins by blessing Job with rebuking questions.
After long, hard years of debating the Bible with Job’s friends, God comes to straighten everything out.
But as God straightens things out, He does so by pouring upon Job rebuke after rebuke, humbling question after humbling question.

Job, just before he is to be blessed and made right with God, enters into the darkest hour of his sufferings in God.
To Job everything is going from bad to worse.
To start with, it was just his destructions, just his wife, just his friends, just his illnesses and just the Devil – now it is God opposing him.

As Job is being humbled by God, he is convinced by God that he knows nothing, understands nothing and certainly is not wise on any level.
God is going to strike hard, very hard.
God’s final blow strikes directly at Job’s dignity, his manhood:

The Lord said to Job: “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”
Then Job answered the Lord: “I am unworthy-how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer-twice, but I will say no more.” (Job 40:4-5)

Let me interject here that once Job declares he will answer no more, God demands he answer!

It is no minor thing to be made wise by the Living God.
God will come to you in the storms in your life and hits you hard when you are down.
Just when you think things cannot get worse, behold God comes to you with a storm and demands answers!

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm: “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. (Job 40:6-7)

Remember Satan tormented Job, taking away all that he loved and physically inducing pain and suffering for years.
So terrible was Job’s sufferings that his wife in her misguided pity said he should curse God and die.

How sad that many become bitter towards God when all He is attempting to work is His wisdom.
Their pride stops God, and they turn away in bitterness from the one who could save them from their sins.
After all as Proverbs attempts to instruct us only the person who actually “listens” to a rebuke becomes wise.

He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. (Proverbs 15:31)

At the end all the horrific discipline Job endured; after all the mistakes and misconceptions he asserted were true; after all the attempts to prove himself correct in front of his friends; God does not come with some placating, full of sympathy words.

No, God goes for the goal-the death of Job’s pride and self-centeredness.
These are the words of one finally made wise by the hand of the Living God.
Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.

You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6)

Again, I ask: Just how wise do you want to be?

If you desire wisdom, dust and ashes will become your closest friends.
You will not just repent in a comfortable church fashion, but you shall repent in dust and ashes.
Pride shall become dust.

Your life shall become ashes, and you will have experienced:
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25)
Whether you desire just a little wisdom or much wisdom you had best consider Job before praying such a prayer.

To be blessed by God is to consider Job first.
As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. (James 5:11)

This short message is from www.luke1425.org because Jesus commanded all to sit down and count the cost before asking God to make them wise.

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