How to Get Wisdom: Become a Fool – John Piper

because you are stronger now would you come and make us wise that we might live lives that make clear to the world that you are superior in every way that is worthy don't leave us now help us continue to worship over your word I pray and Lord grant that you would speak in such a way that those who are here pondering whether they should seek wisdom in this school would hear from you I ask this in Jesus name my assigned topic is get wisdom so I'm gonna take the first half of the message and talk about what it is that you should get and the second half and talk about how to get it what is it as a rule if someone asks you to find it to define a word you should respond by saying according to whom in what setting in what book in what chapter in what verse because definitions vary according to speakers according to context according to time and even within the Bible so in general be wary of doing what I'm about to do I'm going to venture a definition of wisdom that in general I think covers almost all the uses in the Bible risky and I do this because we have to talk to each other and you cannot carry on a conversation with anyone and pause and define every work you can do it conversations and communication will come to a screeching halt if you say well they told us that's time College in seminary that we have define our words and so word definition word definition word it's over right we're not going to communicate so we have massive assumptions every time we're talking to each other that in general we know what we're talking about so I'm gonna venture a definition that in general if you talk to me this is what I would mean about wisdom so first a general definition then we'll get more specific generally the greatest human wisdom and I say it that way because then you can you can deduce from the definition gradations of less great from this the greatest human wisdom is the factual knowledge and the situational insight and the necessary resolve that together has the greatest likelihood of achieving the intended righteous goal so for example a military battle justice on your side the intended righteous goal is victory a wise general will have the factual knowledge he needs the terrain the weather the strength of the opposing army where they're located how they fight how skilled are his own troops how weary are they from the day before and lots of other factual knowledge without which he will act the fool and he has to have the situational discernment and insight so that as the critical moment the way the enemy is slowing on the right flank signals to him one thrust from my elite troops at that point will cause the entire day to be mine and then he must have the resolve to do it knowing everything hangs on this decision in a sinful and dangerous world almost all acts of wisdom requires some measure of courage so wisdom combines knowledge of the facts of reality specific immediate discernment insight intuition this is what separates the good counselor from the paid counselors not good and he's got lots of factual stuff in his head she doesn't get you just doesn't get you in this situation at all he's just not discerning and necessary resolve you won't act as wisely as you could if you're ignorant of relevant reality if you're undiscerning of the immediate dynamics of the situation and if you don't have the resolve to act because you're lazy or fearful now the reason I said having these things gives you the greatest likelihood of success in achieving your intended righteous goal is because only God never fails to achieve his intended righteous goals the wisdom of God his general knowledge of reality his situational discernment his necessary resolve always succeeds no exceptions he attains his ends that's not true of finite human beings believing or unbelieving the greatest human wisdom with all its factual knowledge all of his situational inside all of its necessary resolve will sometimes be thwarted in achieving its intended righteous goals because only God has the power to guarantee his whist so let's define God's wisdom then without qualification divine wisdom is the perfect factual knowledge of reality and the perfect situational insight and the omnipotent resolve that together will succeed in achieving his intended righteous goals oh the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments how inscrutable his ways they cannot be fathom by humans they kind of be thwarted by humans for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory amen I love the wisdom of God I love the God who has perfect wisdom now I said that I would get more specific that's the general definition of wisdom best among men and in God here's my more specific definition the greatest human wisdom is the factual knowledge of reality and a situational insight and the necessary solve that will succeed in attaining full and lasting happiness so I'm not qualifying it like has the best chance of attaining and now that's gone because God has ordained that no power in the universe can keep his redeemed people acting in his spirit given wisdom from attaining full and lasting happiness in his presence forever nothing can hinder it finally 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 7 we impart the Apostles to believers we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God which God decreed before the ages for our glory that divine wisdom planned planned for his people before creation cannot fail he's not crossing his fingers when that wisdom is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit in the new birth and we walk according to that wisdom in faith we cannot fail to be happy forever you cannot it was decreed for your glory which won't bore you so my more specific definition of the best human wisdom the kind that we want and we can have blood bought by Jesus given by the Spirit through faith that wisdom is the factual knowledge situational insight necessary resolve that together succeed entertaining full and everlasting happiness now before we turn to how do you get that let me give you a Bible he's like you didn't quote Bible yet except kind of sideways okay here's the foundation where I'm building second timothy 3:15 the sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through jesus christ now notice how wisdom works it is a means to a goal wisdom is always a good means to a good goal the scriptures it says make you wise unto wise unto wise unto you get this wise unto salvation going somewhere wisdom is how you get there two means to an end so I'm inferring from this text that Paul means the Scriptures impart to you the necessary knowledge of reality the necessary discernment of situations and the necessary result unto salvation they impart to you what you will need to walk on the narrow road of faith and obedience that results in final salvation for than everlasting happiness or proverbs 3:13 happy is the man who finds wisdom biblical wisdom is not a dead-end street in the cul-de-sac of misery it's a path it's a road to lasting happiness or proverbs 24 thirteen my son eat honey for it is good and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste know that wisdom is such to your soul wisdoms like that to your soul if you find it there will be a future a honey sweet future and your hope will not be cut off honey sweet forever if you find wisdom or proverbs nineteen eight he who gets wisdom loves himself not meaning finds himself lovely no that's not what it means it means embraces for himself a glorious future he who finds wisdom embraces for himself a glorious future okay here's the beautiful summary from Proverbs 8 32 to 36 wisdom is talking I love the way she talks and now Oh sons listen to me wisdom listen to me blessed are those who keep my ways walk wisely blessed are those who keep my ways blessed is the one who listens to me watching daily at my gates waiting beside my doors for whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord but he who fails to find me injures himself and those who hate me love death could it be clearer that wisdom is the knowledge the insight the resolve that successfully leads to full and everlasting joy or proverbs 16 16 to get wisdom is better than gold why gold can buy almost anything almost anything it can't buy life can't buy joy forever it can buy lots of earthly things can turn men into idiots folly is a joy to him who has no sense but it cannot buy what we want what we need most full and and everlasting happiness only wisdom true wisdom can do that those who find wisdom find life and all who hate her love death don't you put my picture up outside my study at home hanging on the wall is this and I passed it every day I have for 17 years it's a calligraphy from Timothy Botts and France sent to me that's a that's a pure silver piece at the top and a pure gold piece underneath I have no idea what they're worth they're not coming out of that frame unless somebody breaks into my house and it says choose my instruction instead of silver knowledge rather than choice gold for wisdom is more precious than rubies nothing so you're heading to work you're heading to speak your head and who knows where you're heading today nothing your desire can compare with her why because she leads to the fulfillment of all your desires end of definition get wisdom how when I was in the 11th grade I wish I remembered her name she was quite the teacher it was a trigonometry class least half of those trigonometry and I forget with the other ones I never made calculus but trigonometry was my last end of mathematics yes never again will I take any math course I love scientists I love them on her wall was proverbs four seven the beginning of wisdom is this yet wisdom and in all your getting get insight but that's a strange first in a trigonometry class but it made the point don't be neutral right don't be neutral okay so here's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna give you I think I forget how many but paths to wisdom that I'm not gonna focus on but I feel like the one I want to focus on would be so lopsided if I didn't mention these that it would be strange so here's the ones I'm not focusing on and I love them hope you'll love them too some of them might be appointed for you number one get wisdom by prising her proverbs 4:8 prize her highly and she will exalt you she will honor you if you embrace her so don't be neutral prize her esteem her desire her cherish her she will honor you with her presence if you prize her if you're neutral she will walk away she's not dumb neutrality is not attractive to God or wisdom or any human being for that matter don't be neutral number 2 pray for it to come for God to give it James 1:5 if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given number 3 get wisdom by pursuing her prising praying pursuing if you make your ear attentive to wisdom if you seek her like silver if you search for her as for hidden treasure you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God so don't be passive don't be neutral don't be passive listen seek pursue she will be found by those who prize her pray for her and pursue her and you should ask pursue her where and my answer might be Bethlehem College and Seminary and what why would I even think of that accept the fact that this is Preview Day the reason I would think of it is because we intentionally work hard here to help you on the path of wisdom to pursue it and there are 5 biblical ways to pursue wisdom that we self-consciously try to help you with number 1 we are committed to helping you pursue wisdom in the word psalm 19:7 the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple you will not be a wise person apart from the testimony of the Lord therefore the burden lies heavy on us can we help them walk in the testimony number two we are committed to helping you pursue wisdom not only in the Word of God but in the world of God proverbs 6:6 go to the ant is a serious go to the ant Oh slow gird consider her wha ways and be wise huh one of the main reasons that we believe in a liberal arts education where you read lots and lots of stuff outside the Bible is because the Bible tells us - the Bible tells us there are dimensions of wisdom to be found in the assiduous penetrating critical biblical observation of the world not only in the Bible so somebody says well you're you're drifting away from the Bible by reading books outside the Bible our answer is we're obeying the Bible to look at ants you can look at ants in the ground you can look at ants in a biology book lots of ways to look at ants or a thousand other things that God Almighty and His infinite wisdom has put in this world not to be ignored so the great books that show these great things oh my what you can learn from the world it's folly its rudeness its calamities its wonders it would be dishonorable dead and get wise number three we are committed to helping you pursue wisdom by helping you walk with wise teachers proverbs 13:20 whoever walks with the wise becomes wise God never intended you to walk through the word or walk through the world alone ever he never intended you to do that walking with the wise as you ransack the word and walking with the wise as you ransack the world makes you wiser than if you ransacked the word and the world alone number four we are committed to helping you pursue wisdom in the light of eternity Psalm 90 verse 12 teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom so I'm walking to church half an hour ago about that 45 minutes and sirens coming from both ends from HCMC got an ambulance from the fire station over on Franklin you got a fire truck and they stopped at the corner of 12th and 11th and they go into the brown building on the corner can't see any problem number your days old man 72 year old John Piper who's walked this path twelve thousand times number your days they're gonna ring for you that helped me preach that made me wiser about this moment that put a weight on me an hour ago that's why they were there among other reasons don't miss it teach us to number our days that we may get wisdom you you come to Bethlehem you will smell eternity the sweet breezes of heaven and the smoke of hell blow through these halls regularly because walking near eternity makes you wiser in the world the preacher said please est seven it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting for this is the end of all mankind and the living will lay it to heart and become wise number five we are committed to helping you pursue wisdom by bringing all things into relation to Jesus Christ the second I'm gonna leave this for Jason but I'll just quote Colossians all things were created through him and for him in him all things hold together and in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom you miss him you miss everything maybe smart you won't be wise so those are my vital paths that I'm not focusing on alright now we close with what I intended to focus on from the beginning so prized her pray for her pursue her in the word in the world in the company of lost teachers in the light of eternity in relation to Jesus that's my non focus here's my focus 1st corinthians 3:18 let no one deceive himself if anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age let him become a fool that he may become wise gorgeous purpose clause here is an and indispensable path to wisdom become a fool that you who may become wise he's not merely saying if you seek to be wise in the eyes of God the world will regard you as a fool he is saying we must happily embrace the role of fool in the world happily embrace the role of fool in the world quote in order that you may become wise Hinna gimmick I suppose we must not be ashamed of being a fool for Christ you give it all up if you're embarrassed by Christ and His Word now here's the context in first corinthians that makes sense out of that statement paul says that at corinth there are wise people who are emptying the cross of its power now substituting their eloquence for the cross and it's offense with the wise men of corinth are to them cross his foolishness 1:18 the world did not know God through wisdom 1:21 rather the thoughts of the wise are futile 3:20 the wisdom of this world is folly with God 3:19 God will destroy the wisdom of the wise 1:19 God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise 1:27 therefore become a fool that you may become wise this is an embrace it's not a mere result why do I focus on this I focus on this because Bethlehem College and Seminary is an academic institution academic institutions like once glorious ghost towns breed fear of being called a fool like slums breed rats academic institutions or academia breed cowardly conformists posing as cutting-edge progressives students and teachers in academic institutions have the strongest aversion to being seen as fools in the eyes of other academics that's why to be a faithful Christian obedient to the Word of God truly wise in Corinth or the Areopagus of Athens where Paul was called a babbler when the smartest men in the first century to be a Christian to be obedient to God's words we truly wise in cars in Athens and in the halls of an academic institution you must become fool thoughtful fools to be sure hope Phil fools to be sure happy fools with lots of serious joy to be sure but fools nevertheless unashamed happy fools not self pitying not dour not defensive not forlorn not miserable not oh poor me fools but on ashamed happy hope Phil's fools for Christ so here's the crucial question for your future and our school will we be ashamed of believing what the Bible teaches when the world calls us fools or or will we out rejoice the world not only in spite of the insults but because of them will we be like Paul who said second Corinthians 12th for the sake of Christ I am thinking he breath content with insults really will we respond like the Apostles when they were ashamed when they were shamed as fools in acts 541 they left the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be shamed for the name that's a miracle we breed miracles like that here cor we fail I think or it's up to 16 beaten with rods strip thrown in jail midnight they're singing Paul and Silas are seeing it must have galled them those Rascals who thought we got rid of them and then there's an earthquake will we obey Peter's letter when he says chapter 4 first Peter rejoice if you are insulted for the name of Christ the spirit of glory and of God rests on you will we turn from the pitiful rewards of boasting in men and remember all things are yours I'll say it again all things are yours whether a palace or Paul or Cephas or the world or things present or things to come or death or life all things are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's why would you boast in man or give one slip of their shaming words unless you don't believe it so I exhort you get wisdom become a fool that you may become wise a thoughtful hopeful happy fool for Christ don't you stand it I'll pray for you as you go Lord these are all miracles we're talking about here ordinary human beings the natural man does not have the emotional wherewithal to rejoice at being shamed something happened something miraculous happened Oh God caused it to happen to these friends and through this school I pray in Jesus name

Channel: Desiring God

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Keywords: Desiring God, John Piper, God, Jesus Christ, Christianity, Christian Hedonism, Sermons by John Piper, Wisdom, Wisdom of God, Fool for Christ, Foolishness, What is wisdom?, How do I become wise?, Wise men say, Eternal life, Happiness, Joy, Bible, Scriptures, What does the Bible say about wisdom?, Better than fine gold, Rejoice, What makes someone wise?

Id: xRU_IhLTQNw

Length: 37min 2sec (2222 seconds)

Published: Fri May 04 2018