When knowledge and wisdom dance together the angels sing.

Steve Brown:
When knowledge and wisdom dance together the angels sing. I’ll explain on this edition of Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Key Life is all about God’s radical grace. Grace that has dirt under its fingernails and laugh lines on its face. If you want the Bible to be a book of rules, you may want to stop listening now. But if you’re hungry for the truth that’ll make you free, welcome to Key Life.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. Hope you guys had a great week-end and I hope your pastor’s sermon was as good as my pastor’s sermon. If you’re just joining us, we’re pretty much at the beginning of a study of the Book of Proverbs and we’re going to be spending some time there for the next, I don’t know how many weeks, because it is a great book of wisdom, and we’re going to spend some time this morning talking about the difference between knowledge and wisdom. But before we do that, let’s pray and then we’ll get down. Father, as we come into your presence, we are thankful for the knowledge that you have revealed to us. Revealed propositional truth, and we would have gotten it wrong if you had not told us. But Father, apply with the knowledge the wisdom of application. Make us street-smart Christians, give us to witness in the world what it means to follow you with wisdom and balance and normalcy. Father, you know the people who are listening to this broadcast, some are doing really well and some not so much. Sometimes there’s joy and sometimes there’s tears, remind us that you’re a sovereign God and you’re a good God, and you’re both of those things all the time. Remind us that you’re sufficient for every need, and fun for every party. And then Father, as always, we pray for the one who teaches, that you would forgive him his sins, because they are many, we would see Jesus and him only. And we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. Alright, we’re going to study Proverbs, but, and I kind of ended last week by looking at this passage, but not teaching it. So, let me lift up I Corinthians 2:14 through 16. It’s a key text for our study in the Book of Proverbs. And this is what Paul says, listen up.

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that He may instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ.

Now, as we begin to look at the Book of Proverbs, let me show you the difference between proposition and prudence, and knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge constitutes the facts and is a part of wisdom, but knowledge plus understanding and application equals wisdom. Do you know the old story about the plumber who came to repair a broken water heater? It took him about five minutes, and all he did was tap on the water heater. He charged his client over a hundred dollars, and the owner went ballistic. Five minutes? A tap? Are you crazy? A hundred bucks? So, the plumber wrote down on the receipt, tapping one dollar, knowing where to tap $90. Now, I want you to notice two important truths. Knowledge, which is a part of wisdom, is supernatural and it comes from God. When you hold your Bible in your hand, you’re holding something more than just a book of people who surmise about truth and some helpful things about living. When you hold Scripture in your hands, you’re holding there what came from God. Now, it is not separate from the personalities of those who wrote it. It is not separate from their cultural understandings. It’s not separate from human communication, but at the very heart of Scripture is knowledge, knowledge from God, who wants us to know that. I believe, just in case you wondered, in verbal plenary inspiration. You say, what in the world is that? Well, verbal means words, plenary means all, inspiration applies to both. In other words, I believe that the entire Bible is inerrant, authoritative, and should be used by God’s people to give them knowledge that they could not get anywhere else. Knowledge is supernatural and it comes from God. Wisdom, which includes the knowledge that I just talked about, propositional truth, sometimes story truth, sometimes poetic truth. Wisdom, which includes knowledge and application is supernatural, and that comes from God too. So, let’s talk a little bit about those two truths. I know, I know, you’re saying, Brown, are you ever going to get into Proverbs? Well, I will one of these days. But all of this stuff is kind of necessary as you read the Book of Proverbs, good stuff that will help you understand. And the day will come when you’ll call me and say, I really didn’t see it at the time, but thank you for what you taught me about Proverbs before you entered the actual Book of Proverbs. I used to teach students politics in the church. When I was a seminary professor, I still do that on occasion, but I did a series on politics in the church, and the students absolutely hated it. They said, this is manipulative, this is not something a man of God ought to be doing. It’s just, and I would say, listen to me, you’re going to be tested on this material, so pay attention. And the day will come when you will call me and say, Steve, you remember what I said about that section on politics? I repent. You saved my posterior in the church. Well, it’s similar with Proverbs, there’s some things you need to know before you get into it. And it’ll be helpful when you do get into it. So, let’s look at those two truths. Knowledge, a part of wisdom, is supernatural and it comes from God. When the Psalmist in 14:1 says.

That the fool has said in his heart there is no God.

The Psalmist is referring to what we’ve just seen. Let me give you two things that have happened, and I could pick from a thousand. You know, hardly a day comes, when I don’t go to one of the news websites, or watch a television news program, or pick up a newspaper, or talk to people who are in touch with what’s going on, hardly a day goes by that I am not absolutely blown away with the weirdness of that. One story reported by Associated Press was about a third grader who drew a picture of a soldier holding a canteen and a knife. The little boy drew a fork and they kicked him out of school. They said, you can’t tolerate anything that has to do with guns or knives. And you’re not going to believe this, they told the boy, even though he said it was a picture of his uncle who had joined the army, that they would not tolerate it, zero tolerance, and they kicked him out. Talk about a lack of wisdom. And then there was another child in an elementary school, who was suspended 10 days from his school for drugs. No, no, it wasn’t drugs. He had a gun. No, he didn’t have a gun. Misbehavior, no, he was a good kid. As I understand it, the teacher found that he had a list of people that frustrated him, and figuring that was a hit list, they took it to the principal and they kicked him out. You know, if they, they would kick me out of the universe if I gave them a list of people who frustrate me. That’s what you mean by lack of wisdom. Those are prime examples of a culture that has lost its roots in God. Let me give you some important areas, those areas, and I’m not going to spend a lot of time on them, and I’m not going to get political in these areas, but abortion is maybe the most Important social issue of our times. I mean, it goes to the very core of our self definition. The setting aside of values, the making fun of religious people. And I could go on and on, shows a culture that lacks wisdom. Where do you get wisdom? You get it from God. And it’s supernatural. Hey, you think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve. That was Steve Brown continuing to guide us on this unique tour through Proverbs. I don’t know about you, but I need more wisdom in my life. So, I am enjoying this tremendously, so much more to discover tomorrow, hope you will join us then. Well, I think the easiest time to give thanks is when things are going well and why not, right, your wedding high fives all around, but it’s a different story when things are going bad. When life just sucker punches you. Well, Steve addressed that very real challenge in a classic message based on Ephesians 5 called The Principle of Praise. And we would love to put that sermon CD into your hands for free. Just call us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that CD. To mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the U.S. and Canada. Again, just ask for your free copy of the CD called The Principle of Praise. And finally, if you value the work of Key Life, would you support that work through your giving? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word, two words. It doesn’t matter just text that to 28950. And listen, if you can’t give, we get it, really. But if you think about it, pray for us, okay? Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.