THE WISDOM OF GOD
[p. 244] THE WISDOM OF GOD
Proverbs 2: 10 - 17; Proverbs 8: 1 - 36
It is evident from these scriptures that it is a great day “when wisdom entereth into thy heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul”. Wisdom is the great preservative from the evil that is in the world in its two great forms — the violent man and the strange woman. The young are especially exposed to the influence of evil, and things are presented under subtle and deceptive forms, and so become attractive to them, unless wisdom has entered into their heart and knowledge has become pleasant to their taste. That is the great end to be desired, and which I should like to see brought about in those dearest to me. There is often a disposition on the part of the young to consent to the truth, but without desiring it so as to be governed by it. If we know wisdom at all, we appreciate very highly its great value to us in this world of evil. God makes us know divine wisdom; what could be a greater favour? Many things appear fair to the young which are really in the way to destruction. God, in His wisdom, allows evil to dominate in the world, but it will not always be so; He will put it down, but until that day the world is a scene of temptation and danger, and very specially so to the young.
I desire to give an idea of wisdom, while feeling my own inability for it. I suppose all will allow that wisdom is Christ. He is the expression of it. Christ is spoken of in Scripture as the power of God and the wisdom of God; He is the power of God as being the witness and sign of divine intervention; He is also the wisdom of God; and not only so, but He is made of God wisdom to us.
[p. 245] What I understand by wisdom is the resource of God’s love, so that the purposes of His goodness might not be frustrated, but that they might be brought into effect. Christ was with God and was God. Wisdom says, “Then I was by him his nursling, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him”, but at the same time “rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the Sons of men”. This brings before us an immense range of thought, and bridges the distance between God and man.
I desire to bring before you certain things which in God’s ways have been connected with man down here, but in which, man having failed, the wisdom or resource of God is brought to light.
To go back to the beginning. Headship was set up in Adam: he was constituted head, but he soon failed and forfeited this place. Nevertheless God’s purpose as to headship — the purpose of His goodness — was not to be frustrated. Wisdom was by Him, as one brought up with Him. Christ was there, and in due time He comes out as Head over all things. Headship is taken up in the Son of man, so that it cannot fail.
Unity was seen in Adam and Eve. Eve was brought to Adam as the expression of divine goodness, that she might be a helpmeet for him, and there was also unity. They twain were one flesh. The woman took an independent course, and unity, morally, was gone; the relationship remained, but what gave point and character to the relationship was gone. But then Christ was by Him; the church is united to Christ, and thus unity can be maintained in saints in such a way that it never can be broken.
In Abel we get righteousness, a man accepted of God who bore witness to his gifts that he was righteous; but Abel died by the violence of his brother — he did not remain. But God had Christ [p. 246] by Him, the righteous Man who has accomplished righteousness, and the blood of Jesus speaketh better things than that of Abel.
We see government established in Noah, but the one to whom God entrusted government became drunk; he debased himself in the eyes of his children. But wisdom was with God. In the book of Revelation we see the throne, and the Lamb in the midst of it, and before it the seven spirits of God. “I was by Him”, and so government is secured.
Promises were made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They saw them afar off, and by faith embraced them. But what became of those to whom the promises were made? They passed away by death. The promises remained, the men died; they were not relieved of the common penalty of death. But all the promises have their yea and amen in Christ Jesus. All is taken up in the true seed of Abraham, that is Christ.
Sonship was seen in Israel. Israel had this special and peculiar place; he was Jehovah’s son, His first-born, and Jehovah said to Pharoah, “Let my son go, that he may serve me”, Exodus 4: 23. God would be served in liberty by His son. But Israel fell into idolatry, and were carried away beyond Babylon. What became of the calling? It is taken up in Christ. “Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matthew 2: 15), and liberty to serve God is secured in Christ.
Then in Moses we have the prophet, in Aaron the priest, and in David the king. Moses failed, and could not enter the land; Aaron had a hand in making the golden calf, and died in the wilderness; and David sinned and fell under the penalty of death. Well, Christ is Prophet, Priest, and King. “I was by him”, and everything is secured.
In Nebuchadnezzar we get power given of God to the head of the gentiles, but Nebuchadnezzar sets [p. 247] up a golden image and uses the power given him to further idolatry, and his kingdom comes to an end — it is given into other hands. Christ is made the Head of the nations, in Him power according to God’s glory is secured.
There was from the outset wisdom with God, so that whatever failure might come in on man’s part, all comes out in due time for God’s glory, and is seen to be secured in the One who is Wisdom. It is of great moment to apprehend that all things are gathered up in Christ. Scripture is of profound interest looked at in that way. You need to read all Scripture in the light of Christ. “The Lord is that Spirit” means that He is the Spirit of Scripture. I see three things in Scripture: the Father’s counsel, Christ the great Object of all, and the immediate agency of the Spirit; and from beginning to end I expect to find Christ in it, for Christ is the resource of divine love.
We may pass on now to Luke 7: 36 - 50. Wisdom is incarnate here in “the Word”, and wisdom is justified of all her children. God is bringing to light the children of wisdom, and it is by appreciation of Christ that they are brought to light. The world was tested and exposed, while the children of wisdom were brought to light. Simon and the woman were alike outwardly near to Christ; they both had the same opportunity, but one was a child of wisdom and the other was not. The one distrusted Christ, while the other appreciated Him. There was no sense of need in Simon’s soul; there was that sense in the woman. The presence of Wisdom here on earth became a most searching test to man, and so it is today; there are those who have the sense of need, and Christ always meets that. Every child of wisdom is of this stamp and type; as such we appreciate Christ. He is wisdom to us, so that no purpose of divine goodness might fail. Forgiveness [p. 248] was part of that goodness. The woman appreciated divine goodness in Christ. She felt instinctively that God was there, and she proved herself a child of wisdom. Simon no doubt thought himself a very wise man, wiser than the Lord, for he said, “This person if he were a prophet would have known who and what the woman is who touches him, for she is a sinner”.
But to go a point further (1 Corinthians 1: 30, 31), what has come to pass is that Christ is made of God wisdom to us. He is a source or stock, so to speak. The man not according to God, the man after the flesh, who was under the judgment of death; that man has been removed in judgment in the death of Christ, that Christ might be the source of a company. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus”. Of God in Him. Christ is the source of life; we have received living water from Him. Every christian derives his moral being directly from God in Christ Jesus.
It is a great thing when wisdom possesses a man’s heart; it is thus we find ourselves in the midst of the paths of judgment, and our treasuries are filled by wisdom. The point to be desired in the experience of christians is that Christ should be in their hearts as wisdom: and He is made wisdom to us that we may not miss our way; it is a great thing to be kept of God. When the woman of the city went forth from the presence of Christ she found a new path for her feet, she did not revert to her previous course. Wisdom undertakes to find a path for us and to lead us in it; the man who is subject to Christ will find that path and be maintained in it by his soul’s appreciation of Christ. I have thought much lately that christians often do not go the right way to secure their own happiness. If they appreciated Christ and were content to be guided by the appreciation of Christ, they would be happier in this world.
[p. 249] If wisdom has entered into the heart and knowledge has become pleasant to the taste, God gives a very special favour, as we see in Ephesians 1:8; Ephesians 1:16-20: “The spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him”. The practical result of this is, you begin to be conscious of the hope of His calling and of the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, which is in the heading up of everything in Christ. But it is His inheritance in the saints; if all things are gathered up in Christ, the church gets her part in the “all things”. I could not exclude my wife from anything I possess on earth, any more than from my confidence. And do you think the church is going to come short of that?
Another point is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead (verse 20).
I ask any here, Do you believe in the reality of the mighty power that is towards you? — that that mighty power which wrought in Christ is really towards you and me to put us into possession of the inheritance? I have often thought that it was impossible but that Christ should be raised, but then the exceeding greatness of God’s power which raised Him is to us-ward who believe.
I cannot understand why christians cannot find enough, and more than enough, to take up their attention in what God has presented to us in Christ. What can be more profound than the good pleasure of His will, that every purpose of His goodness should be established in Christ? He is the Man of God’s pleasure, the Son of man that He has made strong for Himself, the Yea and Amen of His purpose.
I wonder if we accept all this as reality. It is that, whether we accept it or not. You may depend [p. 250] upon it that the woman in Luke 7 found Christ a very great reality to her; she very much cherished the Lord’s word in her heart. He was wisdom to her.
It is a wonderful thing to find in this world, where all is so intricate, a path which is agreeable to God, through Christ being made wisdom to us.