Living Wisely Or Foolishly

Dr. Stanley explains the difference between godly and human wisdom. Godly wisdom is the capacity to see things from God’s viewpoint and respond according to the principles of Scripture. Human wisdom is earthly, natural, and demonic. When it comes to making wise choices and experiencing God’s best, obeying Him is always the best way to go.

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Next on in touch, living wisely or foolishly.
Why would a city known for its red economy over all these years go bankrupt?
Why would they go bankrupt?
Unwise decisions that probably started years before?
Why would a family choose to buy a home house that they know that they cannot afford?
But they’re gonna buy it anyway. Unwise decision.
Why would a person marry just for sexual fulfillment? Not thinking about other things.
Unwise decision. Why would a person drink alcoholic beverage in front of their Children early in life?
Leaving them an image of their dad sometimes being drunk, thinking nothing of the consequence.
Very unwise decision. When you think about the kind of your life that you’re living, would you say that the decisions that you’re making are wise or unwise?
I think about people who never consider the will of God for their life.
They make decisions based on what they want, how they feel, what makes them feel good or what other people think and never asking what’s the will of the father unwise, unwise decision.
And we could go through life thinking about all the decisions that people make.
For example, they stack up credit on their credit cards to the point that they know they can’t make the payments.
Why do they do that unwise decisions?
People make unwise decisions because they leave out the most important thing in their life.
And that is the wisdom of Almighty God. What place does God have in your decision making process?
Are you gonna live it on your own?
Or you gonna be wise enough to seek the wisdom of God before you make any decision?
So let me put it this way right up front before you make a decision.
You should always ask this question is this, is this the wisest thing to do?
There’s always an answer.
Is this the wisest thing to do, whether it’s marriage or whether it’s something financial or health or whatever it might be?
Is this the wisest thing to do? That’s always the right question, whether it’s major or minor.
Is this the wisest thing to do? Somebody says, well, I don’t know what wisdom is. We’ll come into that.
But living wisely is the best life. Wisdom is a gift from God.
Living unwisely is a very expensive lifestyle to every aspect of our life.
So when we turn to this passage of scripture in a few moments, what we really see Paul doing is speaking to the people of his day.
And those Corinthians Greeks, they thought they were the smartest folks in the world and probably were in many ways, there was humanly speaking, but there’s a difference between human wisdom and Godly wisdom.
So I want you to turn if you will the first Corinthians chapter three, and I want us to look at the 19th verse uh beginning with that.
And there are a number of verses I want us to consider here, but I want you to keep asking in your thinking decisions that are before you today that when you get home today or maybe tomorrow, this week or the coming weeks, decisions you have to make uh uh are they gonna be wise decisions or unwise?
So listen to what he says in this third chapter beginning in verse 19 and notice what he says for the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.
Look at that the wisdom of the world is foolishness before God. The way the world thinks.
Well, apart from God, for it is written, He is the one who catches the whys and their craft in this.
You don’t get away with it. There are, there are consequences.
And again, the Lord knows the reasoning of the wise that they’re useless.
He says it’s empty, they make unwise decisions.
So then let no one boast in men for all things belong to you.
And so he’s comparing Paul and Apollo and So he says, uh whether Paul or, or, or the world or life or death or things present things to come, all things belong to you.
They, they were trying to compare the preachers and so forth.
Then he says, and look at this next verse and do you belong to Christ?
And Christ belongs to God?
When I think about single verses and description how powerful they are and how full of meaning they are.
This rises to the top, listen to this and you belong the Christ and Christ belongs to God.
Therefore, if we belong to Christ, we belong to God.
And I would ask you, who do you belong to?
You either belong to God through Christ or you belong to the devil.
One of the two, some people say, well, I don’t believe in the devil. Unwise, believe.
So with that in mind, I want us to look at uh this whole issue of wise and unwise lifestyle and how people are living it and the scripture distinguishes it between here.
So let’s look at wise living for a moment.
And the first thing we wanna do is define what do we mean by true, genuine wisdom, Godly wisdom.
That’s real wisdom. Godly wisdom is doing things from God’s viewpoint.
How does he see them and then responding to those things on the basis of what the word of God teaches.
So if I look at things from God’s viewpoint, where am I gonna find that I’m gonna find it in the word of God.
And so a person who says, I don’t have time for that Bible stuff.
What you’re saying is I choose to live a very foolish life. I will make foolish decisions in life.
I will suffer consequences. I would never have dreamed of if you’re so smart that you think you can live your life and live it happily or peacefully or successfully or any other way, apart from the teachings of the word of God, you are playing the fool.
It is foolish. You cannot.
And the Bible teaches it all the way through the scripture by illustration where we can never forget it.
So think about that, it’s the capacity to do things from God’s view point and then on the basis of that respond to them accordingly.
So you’re facing a decision. What’s the question?
The question is this, what is the wise thing to do if I’m gonna find that out?
I need to turn to the source of all wisdom.
That’s almighty God to leave God out of your life is foolish, devastating and only a fool who hears the word of God turns away, shuts their mind out says I don’t want any of that because you’re not thinking wisely, you’re thinking foolishly.
So when we look at this passage of scripture and uh with that in mind, think about this God is omniscient.
He knows everything he knows about yesterday. He knows about the day he knows about tomorrow.
He knows what happened yesterday perfectly. You and I don’t, we only know what humans can know.
God has absolute total, complete infinite knowledge about every single thing he’s never behind because he knows the past present future.
Nothing ever startles him or surprises him. He knows perfectly before during and afterwards.
So it is only wise to consult one who knows everything and who has never said? Oh, I forgot.
Oh, I never thought about that. He said, well, what about so?
And so they went through this problem, this heartache, this burden, this tragedy, not without God knowing it, not without God’s plan.
And what he allows oftentimes is beyond my comprehension, but that’s knowledge.
It’s not beyond the wisdom and the knowledge and the awesome plan of God.
It’s the, the world’s foolishness is just that it’s foolish. They think they know when only God knows.
That’s why believers are set apart. We are a part of the body of Christ.
We are set apart by God through his son Jesus Christ to do what to allow Him to live his life in and through us.
We are listen, we are the walking Children of the living God whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life who are eternally secure in him and who have him as our guide.
For every single day. We can come to him and ask him about any decision that needs to be made.
And He is willing to give us direction.
But if you don’t know Him, if you think you see watch this and I say this not to be smart alec.
How about it? Not to be critical, but to tell the truth.
That’s the only thing I’m up here for, to tell the truth that if you live in disobedience to God, what you’re saying is I don’t need omniscience.
I don’t need omnipotence. I don’t, I don’t need omnipresence.
I can handle it in this mixed up, crazy, sinful, wicked, vile world.
That is a foolish conclusion, a foolish conclusion. We all need almighty God.
All of us need Him every day.
And so when I look at these passages and see what uh Paul said in this particular passage, he says the wisdom of the world’s foolishness now is of God because you see if you took a grain of sand and put it over here and all the beaches of the world, that little grain of sand in all the beaches of the world may be equal to our knowledge and understanding and wisdom.
Apart from God. We don’t have it, we don’t have it.
If you don’t believe, look at the society in which we live.
Well, look at what’s happening to us every single day.
You wake up one morning and you hear this, wake up the next morning, you hear that.
Uh let me ask you something.
When’s the last time you looked at the television or read the newspaper or heard anything about what’s going on.
You just said finally a great day has arrived. No, it’s not true.
So, what are Christians here?
Are we supposed to be worried and frustrated and anxious and fearful and going to bed and wonder what’s gonna happen?
No, we know what’s gonna happen.
Listen, we’re sleeping in the presence of Almighty God who never sleeps who has all power, all knowledge of every single thing.
Listen, we are his Children. How foolish to live apart from a holy God who has made it possible to have everything we need in Christ Jesus, that’s wise for us to have.
So human reason is deficient.
It takes Godly wisdom to live the kind of life that I know every single person really wants deep down inside.
And when we’re living wisely, we’re gonna seek his guidance about all these things.
And if you think about this, a person who is spiritually wise, that is a person who is spiritually wise, they’re gonna be able to see things with their eyes.
Others do not see they gonna be able to hear things with their ears.
Others don’t hear this is why somebody can say something to you very persuasively or very arrogantly and you’re a child of God walking in his spirit and you know what they say, they sent two messages.
Here’s what you heard him say, here’s what they said.
And there’s a lot of difference, Children of God who are walking wisely are listen, we have the wisdom of God because that’s his desire and will for our lives.
And the problem is if we ignore that and then we get in trouble, we think, oh God, where were you?
And God is saying I’ve been here all along. You weren’t listening, you listen to other people.
You decided what you want, not what I wanted because I know what’s best for you.
So when we’re living wisely, we will live a certain way.
And what is it in essence to make it simple?
When we’re living wisely, we’re gonna be able to walk through the deepest darkest valleys of life.
We’re gonna walk through paths that we think there’ll be no way to walk.
We’re gonna be able to walk through situations and circumstances and heartaches that we would never think we could ever endure.
But when you walk in wisely, here’s what happens.
God says this is the next step and this is the next step and this is the next step and this is the next step.
You know why? He doesn’t tell us the whole story. He does. We can’t, you can’t even fathom it.
Sometimes you couldn’t stand to know where God may lead you. So what does He do step by step?
And so we ask him for Lord, what should I do in this decision?
This is the step, what should I do in this?
And you see if we just decided we’re gonna do it ourselves.
We just go plowing through the difficult and the hardship and the pain, we find ourselves making mistakes. God.
Remember, he loves us enough to keep us on the path.
He loves us enough to keep our eyes on things that are real and true and genuine.
But then there’s the other life that, that there’s the people who live foolishly.
So I want you to turn, if you will to uh let’s turn to James over to James.
And um I want you to look at this passage in um in this third chapter and verse 13, he asked this question and similar to what Paul asked who among you is wise and understanding, let him show by his good behavior, his deeds and the gentleness of wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
This wisdom is not that which comes down from above but is earthly natural and demonic.
Now, I want you to think about this for a moment. There are two different kinds of wisdom.
There’s the wisdom of God and there’s the wisdom that comes to man’s thinking.
And I want you to notice how he describes this. He says this wisdom is described in the following fashion.
It is earthy, natural and demonic. Now, what does he mean by that?
He means by earthy that it’s limited to what man can do.
It’s limited to man’s reasoning and his thinking and his attempts and his, his accomplishments in life.
That, that, that’s, that’s how limited that is.
Well, how, listen, how smart is man today, we might be able to invent things and go to the moon and this, that and other, but we can’t get along with each other.
And so we can think about all the things that man’s wisdom and his knowledge and understanding without God can create, can’t do anything without God.
It’s earthy. So that’s one part of the of wisdom.
And then secondly, he says, it is uh natural. That is, we all have a naturalness in this.
And that is that part of us, that, that part of us that does not want to obey God, that part of us, that is subject to temptation, that part of us that desires our will and our way.
You may not yield to it. But all of us have that naturalness in us.
Some people call it a, you call it what you want to, but all of us have it.
And so he says, those who are walking unwisely, that wisdom is earthy, then get anywhere.
And secondly, it’s natural, it’s sensual, it relates to uh the fallen nature.
And um if, if you recall in Frustra in chapter two verse 14, he says, but a natural man doesn’t accept the things of the spirit of God, that foolishness to him.
And he cannot understand them because they’re spiritually praised.
So you get in a discussion with somebody who doesn’t believe what you believe about the Lord Jesus Christ, that God are holy things and you know what we say, well, why can’t you believe that?
And that, you know why they can’t?
Because God said they couldn’t, apart from the spirit of God, they will not be able to understand the things of God.
Man’s knowledge. It’s earthy, it’s very limited. Secondly, it’s natural and that is, it’s corrupt.
But then he says, for example, listen, it’s demonic.
Its root is found in Satan himself. So go back to Genesis chapter three.
Everything was absolutely perfect.
And Satan convinced Eve she believed a lie and look at the consequences.
The many people today, you may be one of them.
You’ve listened to the devil’s lie, you’ve listened to him say to you, you don’t need God.
Those church people are weak, you can handle it.
Uh You, you’re smart enough to handle you got position, you got money, you got intellect, you got talent.
You don’t, you don’t need that religious stuff at all. Mark it down. That is the voice of the devil.
The word of God says it is demonic.
It deals with your naturalness and that earth is a part of you.
And if you listen to Satan’s lies, he’s always gonna tell you. Well, this is the easy way.
The issue is this, what is the wisest thing to do when you, your Children come to you and they ask you, what should I do about this?
That and the other, what do you say to them? Well, let me think about it.
Or do you say to them? Uh, no, or why not?
Because I said so why don’t you say to them?
I’ve been thinking about that and my conclusion is it’s not the wisest thing to do.
One thing we need to instruct our Children is to ask that question.
What is the wise thing to do? Not? What is everybody else doing? What’s the wisest thing to do?
In other words, what does God see on the basis of his omniscience of knowing everything, omnipotence, having all power, omni presence being in He, he’s in the middle of everything you’re dealing with.
The question is what is the wisest thing to do? What is the wisest thing to do?
Listen sometimes the wisest thing for you to do. Nobody will agree with it. But you know what?
Remember all their knowledge together can’t equal the wisdom of God.
You listen, you can’t ever go wrong, you cannot ever go wrong. Obeying God never, never.
So just because you don’t understand, it doesn’t mean that it’s not right.
The wisdom of God who has all wisdom knows all things about all people.
And I could just spend the rest of the afternoon telling you giving you examples that flipped to my mind about times that I’ve obeyed God times I haven’t.
And it’s all, it all goes back to what is the wisest thing to do?
And can you tell me a better question than that? Not really?
Because there in is Almighty God.
And so what he does, he shows us here in this passage of scripture in uh James, here’s the difference.
Look at this, in this third chapter, he says, verse 13, who among you is wise and understanding, let him show by his good behaviors, deeds and his gal and wisdom.
But if you have bit of jealousy, selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and lie against the truth.
Look at this, the, this, this is a group of people who think they’re wise.
This wisdom is not that which comes down from above but is earthly natural demonic.
And you and I live around people and work around them. That’s true of them.
They think they have the right answer.
They leave God out of it and in their arrogance, they try to prove to you why they’re right now.
They may have position and talent and skill intellect and find it.
They may have all that does that make them wiser than you?
No, they may be smart in many areas.
But when you leave God out of your life, you’re not smart at all. That’s just demonic.
And that falls in the category of living your life earthy, natural and demonic. Look at that jealousy self. Ambition.
And if you’ll notice uh here on them a little bit further, he says, but the wisdom that’s from above is for us, listen to this pure.
Look at that God’s wisdom is pure. That means it is absolutely perfect. Do you get that?
It is absolutely perfect wisdom. It’s pure and peaceable. His wisdom will bring you peace. Gentle.
There’s nothing harsh about it. Reasonable. Reasonable. Listen from God’s viewpoint, full of mercy and good fruits unwavering without hypocrisy.
That’s the wisdom of God. Listen, would you not agree that it’s foolish to choose something else?
Look at that passage, the wisdom from above, that’s God’s wisdom, pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, good fruits unwavering without a parkers.
That’s the kind of life I wanna live. Amen. Now, what did he say up here?
Jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder and every evil thing. Only two choices in life.
You can choose to live wisely or you can choose to live unwisely. And may I say this?
You’ve already made that choice wherever you are, you’re walking in the pathway of the wise or you’re walking in the pathway of the unwise, change paths.
If you’re walking unwisely, listen, you’re not smart enough.
You may think you are, but you’re not apart from Almighty God through the saving person of Jesus Christ who forgives us of our sin, cleanses of our sin.
Writes that name in the lamb’s book of Life has a Will for us and lives presently within us, through his holy spirit, he will give us wisdom in every single decision we make in life.
There is no other way to live. You can trust him. He’s not gonna change on you about anything.
You have two choices, live out your life wisely, living obediently before him, living in wisdom or you can live foolishly convince a lot of people do.
A lot of things go. A lot of places have a lot of stuff, then you’re gonna die.
And my friend, when the last seconds of your life come, I have a strong feeling.
You’re gonna wish you had listened.
The most tragic thing you can do is die without Christ. You know why?
Because the consequences are eternal may not live the best life in the world.
As a Christian may not have a lot of stuff, may not have any degrees behind your name, not have any notoriety.
Most people never know your name is not in the newspaper TV, and all that stuff.
But, but you live for God, you’ve walked obediently before him.
You see God’s values not the same as man’s. What he thinks is absolutely awesome.
It’s not what the world thinks. So make mind. You gonna live wisely.
Are you gonna live foolishly?
You’ll be wise if you choose Christ in his way of life. And that’s my prayer for you.
Father, how grateful we are that you’ve made it simple and knowing that you loved us.
Enough to send Jesus to die for us and pray us, send that in full.
You must have an awesome love for us.
And so we want to be obedient to you because we’re the ones who end up profiting from that in so many ways.
And I pray that every person who listens to this message will think, think honestly and realize that they’ve only heard the truth, it is appointed and the man wants to die.
And after this, the judgment, but all sin can be forgiven by asking and believing and trusting.
We love you dear father. We thank you for the awesome gift of your grace to all of us.
In Jesus name. Amen.