WISDOM
[p. 248] WISDOM
There are brought under our attention in Christianity a variety of thoughts, or principles, very intimately connected, and yet each of which has its own peculiar force and significance. I may mention righteousness, peace, holiness, truth and light, and any intelligent Christian can at once see how intimately all these are bound together. They are all bound up with the revelation of God, and it is that which leads me to take them up. They are great moral principles, in which God has made Himself known, and they convince one of the truth of Christianity because of a power in them not to be found elsewhere.
It is only in Christianity that you get any adequate idea of righteousness, or of any other moral quality. You could not get the idea from the philosopher. In the present day men who reject Christianity assume to set up a kind of exalted moral standard, but where have they got their thoughts from? It is impossible for them to go back into the darkness into which Christianity came, and therefore any moral light they have is light which they have gained in Christianity. I see that to be the case, and therefore am not inclined to listen to them.
Now what is before me at this time is the subject of wisdom. Wisdom is an attribute of God, and outside of the revelation of God in Christianity I do not believe you can get any adequate idea of wisdom. The reason of this is simple, because if wisdom be an attribute of God, to get any adequate idea of it you must have the knowledge of God.
I could not recommend, to young believers especially, a better study than the first eight chapters of Proverbs. They give you an idea of wisdom, not of [p. 249] human wisdom, for there is no such thing really, but of divine wisdom, of that which is undoubtedly of God.
We find in 1 Corinthians wisdom personified. You may say it is personified in Proverbs 8, and I think it is. Here we find it distinctly personified: Christ is the wisdom and power of God. At the close of the chapter He is said to be made to us wisdom from God and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. The One who is the wisdom of God is become wisdom to us. I want to show the application of this: the indispensability of wisdom. It is indispensable to God if God were not to be baffled, and apart from wisdom, divine wisdom, it is entirely impossible for man to find a path down here. There are so many by-ways in the world all tending to allure the heart and mind of man, and to carry him in a wrong direction, that nothing but Christ — divine wisdom — could really lead man in the path of rectitude. In Proverbs 8 it is said of wisdom, “I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures”.
Now wisdom is necessarily inherent in God, but not so in man. It is objective as regards man. The man who trusts his own heart is a fool in regard to moral things and eternity. A man may trust himself in regard to the things of this life, although his wit does not always bring about the things he wants. He may trust himself in regard to his business and the like, but in regard to the interest of man’s soul, that is as to moral things and eternity, the man who trusts his own heart is a fool undoubtedly. He is going on in a path, but does not know what lies at the end of it. What I have seen in the wise men of the world is that they themselves are more or less under the power and influence of corrupt principles, they have nothing to carry them above the influences of earth. It has been said that a celebrated philosopher spoke of death as [p. 250] being a leap in the dark, and that is what it must be to man spite of all his ability and worldly wisdom. That man certainly had not found a way.
Wisdom and every other possible moral quality are inherent in God, and man only has what God has given to him, and cannot have more than God has given to him. God has now made known His nature, and that is love; there are many qualities which are inherent in God, which have their source in love. My reason for saying this is because love is the nature of God. It is the one thing which God is said to be absolutely.
There is this idea in wisdom, it is resource. You may use the word in a different sense, but what brings out wisdom — resource — is difficulties: that is the case in human things, and it is so in regard to God. Whatever moral difficulty may present itself, with God there is resource. It is absolutely impossible that God could be baffled by any difficulty, for with God there is inexhaustible resource.
As a foundation for what I am going to say, I may remark that it was ever God’s intention to reveal Himself: that was one great point in regard to man, and another was that God intended to bless man. Apart from that you will not enter into what I am about to bring before you. Now you find all through Scripture that as the purpose and mind of God came to light there were always difficulties to be encountered, and man was no help to God. There was no assistance to be found in him, and God had to act in every crisis entirely independent of him; and yet in spite of the contrariety of man, evident at every crisis, God carries out His purpose, reveals Himself to and blesses man. I have no doubt whatever that wisdom means the resource by which God could carry that out, and Christ is thus the wisdom of God.
In the fact of man’s fall there was a grave difficulty.
[p. 251] The man whom God had created turned away and hid himself from God. “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden”. There was a most grave difficulty, and yet it was God’s purpose to reveal Himself, and to bless man. Man and his wife hid themselves, and what was to be done? Well, God pronounces upon the serpent that the seed of the woman should bruise his head; but who could tell at that moment what that meant? The immediate seed of the woman was Cain and Abel. We know what Cain turned out to be, and Abel died, and what was to come out of the seed of the woman? The seed of the woman was not likely to be anything different from the woman: man was no help, and yet the seed of the woman was to bruise the head of the serpent. Thus we see the need of resource.
The same need of resource is seen in the case of Abram. What had come to pass in the world was confusion. The word “Babel” means confusion. Men’s tongues were confounded. Man was bent on his own glory, defiant of God, and God met this by bringing in confusion of language. But how does God really come in? He intended to bless, and He makes known the purpose of His mind to Abram, saying to him, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed”. But how was that to be carried out? Man did not help. Abram was a man in whom the fear God was, but the families of the earth did not want blessing. When men built the tower of Babel they did not want the light of God: they preferred a tower to reach to heaven, a city, and a name. But the blessing of God was to be in Abram’s seed, for Abram was himself a dying man. The purpose could not be carried out in Abram, nor in his seed according to flesh, and therefore it must be in the resource of God, which was in the seed of the woman.
[p. 252] The time afterwards came when God had brought the seed of Abraham, according to flesh, out of Egypt through redemption, and another thought came out in connection with this, namely, that God would dwell here, and He took from the children of Israel the materials to make a dwelling-place among them; but the children of Israel did not want God to dwell, they made a golden calf. They neither wanted the revelation of God nor the dwelling of God. The natural heart and perverseness of man came out in them; and yet God intended to dwell among them. He dwelt in a material tabernacle, but how long was that to last? It could not last for ever; the tabernacle must perish with material things, and no provision was made for the renewal of the tabernacle, nor was there for the temple. God’s purpose of dwelling could not be carried out according to His mind in that way, and this brings before us again that in God’s mind there was resource. The purpose was to be carried out in man, but the wisdom which was with God had not yet come to light.
To go on further, a promise was made to David that God would set his seed upon his throne for ever. The throne of David was to endure for ever; but do you think that the natural seed of David cared for an eternal throne? Solomon turned the throne to his own account, and for the sin of Solomon the kingdom was divided; but God had committed Himself to a promise that the throne of David was to endure for ever, and the seed of David was to sit upon it, and it is only too evident that the seed of David after the flesh was no help to God to carry out His purpose. The fact is, that God had His resource in Himself. There was wisdom with Him, in which He would be enabled to carry out His purpose.
I come now to the point that everything came to an issue in the presence of Christ here. There was never any expectation with God that the world would receive [p. 253] Christ. We have a common idea that Christ was presented to the responsibility of man, and I admit this; but there never was any expectation or thought that He would be accepted by the world. God had tested man all along, and the last and greatest test of all was the presence of Christ — I may say, the presence of God here in Christ. But, so far as God was concerned, it is clear that there was never any anticipation of Christ being accepted by man. You will remember what Simeon said in Luke 2: 34: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed”. Simeon had no anticipation of Christ being accepted by Israel. It was vain for God to look for assistance from Israel. All He could look for was the rejection of Christ and the fall of the people.
But now God was on the point of accomplishing His purpose, wisdom was here: Christ was here. There was One here in whom God was revealed on the one hand — and that was God’s purpose — and in whom every purpose of God could be accomplished on the other. There was a Man here who could accomplish redemption and reveal God in the accomplishment of it. In the accomplishment of redemption God was fully revealed, and in the righteous One every purpose of God could be accomplished. He was the seed of the woman, to bruise the head of the serpent; He was the seed of Abraham, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed; He was the true tabernacle in which God dwelt; He was the seed of David, in whom the throne of David could be established for ever. Now you have the wisdom of God revealed. All along the way down here, in things in which difficulties presented themselves, there was wisdom with God. There was a resource in His mind, and now it has come to light; every purpose [p. 254] of God is established in Christ, whether of blessing, ruling or dwelling.
We have no excuse now for unbelief, because we can see that in great and grave difficulties, and in view of the impossibility of God’s purpose ever being fulfilled in man, there was resource in God. “For whatever promises there are of God, in him [Christ] is the yea and in him the amen, for glory to God by us”. Christ is the wisdom and the power of God. There was a way with God, which man did not know, in every difficulty, and that way has come to light in Christ. He is revealed now as the wisdom of God. That is one side of the truth, and a very great side too; it is a great thing to get a true idea of wisdom, which lay in and was inherent in God, so that, whatever moral confusion might come in, God was above it and ever had His way before Him.
It was not that God was unaffected by what came in by man, God was distressed by it and repented that He had made man; but all the way of God was clear before Him, and that way has now come to light, and we see that wisdom is inherent in God, and it could not but be that He should have His way before Him whatever might come in. In the very nature of things there must be a way before Him, but man could not see that way, and now God had brought it to light. He had a Man in reserve, the Man of His right hand, who has accomplished redemption, revealed God in love, and in whom every promise and purpose of God is centred.
I add a few words as to the other side, as to Christ being wisdom to us. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption; that according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord”.
We have seen so far what Christ is as divine wisdom, now I want to show what He is for man by the appointment [p. 255] of God. Man wants a way, but has not wisdom inherently to find a way. The prodigal in Luke 15 found a way according to his lust, which led him from his father’s house into the far country where he began to be in want. It was a very bad way, and there are many such ways in the world and many find them; but it is not the way of life or righteousness, it is a way which ends in misery in this world, and ruin for eternity. That is man’s way, “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps”. Wisdom being an attribute of God, He had a way; but man has no way, and the point of grace has been to furnish man with a way. Christ is made wisdom to us so that we may have a way. It is extremely important to us that we should have a way.
What lies at the root of grace is this, that God has provided for man a Head. God has set Christ in relation to every man. He is Head of every man. The result of that is, that man finds a way; the one who does find a way is the one who has accepted the Head. The Head has come in, but if you have not accepted Him He is of no use to you. If you do accept Him then He becomes wisdom to you, and you find a way, and a way which leads to God, it ends with God. You will remember the words of the Lord Jesus, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me”. Christ is the way which leads morally to God. You approach God practically just in proportion as you are in accord with Christ. It is in that sense that He is the way. I admit the title of the Christian to approach God, but I am speaking of approaching Him practically, and that is as we are in accord with Christ. He is the Head, and being Head, He is wisdom to us so that we find a way.
The great point for man is attraction to Christ. You are not entitled to live to any one except Christ. “If one died for all, then were all dead; and he [p. 256] died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again”. Do you believe that Christ died for you: that He undertook the liability of death under which you were? If He died for you, you have no shadow of a title to live to yourself. You have to accept death and live to Him. Do you think Christ is content without having the supreme place in the affection of those for whom He died? He died to reveal God’s love in taking up the liabilities under which man was, and is it reasonable that He should be content without having a place in the hearts of His people? Do you allow the claim of Christ? If you allow His claim — and you cannot disallow His claim — the effect can only be that you live to the One who died for you and rose again. The first principle of finding Christ as the way is the admission of His claim. It may be that this is the point where Christians are defective, there is not the admission of His claim. He died for you in order that, if you live, you should live to Him and not to yourself.
If you are prepared for that, the power of the Spirit will be shown in that you are drawn closer and closer to Christ, and He will become indispensable to you, and you will find increasing delight in the thought that Christ satisfies every desire which is awakened in your hearts by the Spirit of Christ. The work of the Spirit in the saints is to awaken desires after Christ; but then He would not be content with that — it does not do to be content with desires only — He would give us to delight in the knowledge that Christ satisfies every desire. You find in the Song of Solomon desires awakened in saints by the Spirit of Christ, and Christ is the answer to them. We have in Him the perfect answer to every desire which the Spirit of God can awaken, and He works that there may be in us the appreciation of Christ, that we may allow His claim, the claim of love.
[p. 257] One delights to think of the moral excellence of Christ. There is everything in Him both in regard to God and man. Psalm 16 presents this, that there is in Him the moral perfection which must go to the right hand of God. It cannot remain upon earth. That is what Christ was on earth. He was the righteous One who maintained in integrity down here every divinely-appointed relationship for man, and He was the Holy One. There lay nothing between Him and the Father. He was here in the appreciation of the Father’s love. Having to come into contact with evil here, no one can tell what the repulsiveness of it was to Christ as the Holy One. He is the righteous One and the Holy One and eternal life; and He is the way to us; but the point is, how do we realise this? It is by the Spirit of God increasing in us the appreciation of Christ.
There is another thing to be said, and that is this, the world is passing away, and there is One who is going to fill all things. “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things”. Generation after generation passes away, and God will bring the condition of things here in the world — its fashion — to an end. Things will culminate, eventually, in open rebellion against God, and there will be nothing left for God but to interfere and crush the lawlessness which will then have reached its climax; and there is One who alone is to fill the universe, and that is Christ, and this not simply personally, but in His people. When God’s purpose is worked out there will be nothing left in us, morally, but what is of Christ. In the meantime, I have no doubt, the Spirit of God is working in the people of God, increasing in them appreciation of Christ.
You will remember the expression of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3: 7: “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless,
[p. 258] and I count all things loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”. That is what the Spirit of God would bring us to: the appreciation of Christ, and we have thus a way. The more you appreciate Christ, the more you are preserved from the danger of by-ways, from the temptations and allurements that beset Christians here in the world. “In vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird”. We are not always on the look-out, and there are many snares in the world, things which appear right in a way and are attractive to the active mind and to the senses, which not being distinctly evil in themselves are attractive to man; all these things are by-ways, and not the path in which wisdom would lead you.
Christ is made wisdom to us to conduct us in the way of righteousness and holiness: in what is morally excellent, not in what is attractive to the mind and senses. Christ is made the way to us because we have no way in ourselves, and the point is to get close to Christ. The Spirit of God gives you increasing appreciation of Christ, and as you appreciate Christ you keep close to Him.
It is a great thing to discover the moral beauty and perfectness of the One who claims the supreme place in the affections of His people. The Lord said, “Except a man forsake all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple”. Man has to account everything here as nothing in comparison with Christ.
May God be pleased to give to us to understand better what Christ is to us as wisdom.