Two Ladies, One Child

Hey, if you got your Bible, 1 Kings chapter 3. 1 Kings chapter 3 as we have the opportunity once again to look at the life of Solomon The man who had great success, and yet there were major setbacks and sin in his life that led to extreme sadness But at the pinnacle of his ministry, there was tremendous success And so we come to a story that is probably familiar to everybody in the room You probably grew up in Sunday school hearing the story about the wisdom of Solomon and coming to the right conclusion with two women and their child

And so we recognize that Solomon has already asked for wisdom He did it earlier in the chapter 3 We know that David had already told him and conveyed to him that he was a man of wisdom Right? And yet, when the Lord asked him or commanded him, ask of me what you want, and I will give it to you, he asked for wisdom And the Bible tells us that God was pleased when He did so And the question comes: why was God so pleased when He asked for wisdom? What is it about that that brought pleasure to the heart and mind of God? Well, the simple answer is the fact that God is a God Wisdom

Job says in the twelfth chapter, the thirteenth verse: With God is wisdom And Daniel says that wisdom and power bel only to God So when Solomon asked God for wisdom, he was asking to be God-like Think about that He wanted to be like God He wanted to rule righteously He's a type of Christ, right, in the Old Testament And so he wants to represent God And so, when asking for wisdom, he's asking to be like God as he governs the people of God He's already said This is your people They are a great people. I am like a little child. I don't necessarily know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing

My father was the greatest king in the history of Israel. I'm following him And so, Lord, I just need wisdom to govern Your people And the Bible says that God was pleased So pleased that God gave him riches and honor He asked to be God and God blessed him with riches and honor We'll see in weeks to come the glorious riches that he received, but tonight we'll see the honor he begins to receive as he makes wise sh Choices as the king of Israel

Little did he know that when he asked for wisdom, the very first Dilemma that would come his way would be from two prostitutes, two harlots who had a child, and an argument over whose child it was. I'm sure he thought that asking God for wisdom would give him clarity of thought when it came to ruling the nation But it goes to show you that when you ask God for something, God grants the opportunity right away and God is going to show you how it is what you've asked for is going to play itself out

It might not always be like the way you designed it to be or you thought it was going to be, but God has a great plan And it's this event This one event that gave Solomon his greatest honor in the kingdom Didn't know it at the time, but it did So I'm going do things a little bit differently tonight. I'm going to read to you the narrative, talk to you about it as I go through the narrative It's simply a situation And from the situation, there was a switching of the children, and then there was a solution given to us by Solomon

And so we're briefly going to cover that, and then I'm going talk to you about how we Have the same kind of wisdom that Solomon has And ask the question: do we demonstrate that wisdom? That's where we're going to go tonight Okay? Let's look at the story together Verse 16: Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him Isn't that great? Two prostitutes, two harlots, they come and stand before the king They have access to the king. I mean, these aren't prominent people in the kingdom, popular people in the kingdom, powerful people in the kingdom

These aren't prophets in the kingdom Thes Neither to prostitutes And they have access to the king Solomon was a lot like David He gave the common people access Into his presence And when you think about that, you think about the Lord God of Israel and Solomon and David both being types of Christ as kings That they are welcoming the common person That should do your heart and my heart good because we're common people And have access to the king

And we know that through our study of Hebrews on Sunday morning, we have that complete and total access to the throne of grace because of our great high priest who sacrificed for us But these two prostitutes come and present their case before the king And you know the story The one woman said, Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house And I gave birth to a child while she was in the house It happened on the third day after I gave birth In other words, the births were three days apart That this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together

There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house Very important Why? Because there are no witnesses There are no witnesses to the event that's about to take place. A child's going to die The one woman's going to switch her baby with the other woman's baby But there are no witnesses because there's only these two women in the house And Jewish law demanded that there be two witnesses to confirm every story, but there would be no one to confirm the story

And the interesting thing about this is that when the dile is presented to Solomon, it's not like he can say, okay, I want you to go down to the hospital here in Jerusalem, and we're going to give you a DNA test To determine whose baby is whose Can't do that Can't do that He's going to have to make a choice How does he know which woman is telling the truth? How does he know which woman Had the baby who died, and which woman had the baby who lived? Which woman's lying to him? How does he know that? How will he know that? Well, let's read on

This woman's son died in the night because she lay on it In other words, she was sleeping with her child, rolled over and smothered the baby, and it died Okay? Now, we know how that happens That can very easily happen to anybody, but that's exactly what took place here So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept and laid him in her bosom and laid her dead son In my bosom So we have two babies, both boys, all right, both just recently Born, and so you can't tell them apart

And really, unless you're a mother, you really don't know which child is yours, right? If you a mother, you know, okay And so, because there are no witnesses, she takes the child that died and lays it on the other woman's bosom and takes her living child into her arms When I arose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead But when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son whom I had borne Then the other woman said, No, for the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son

But the first woman said, No, for the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son Thus they spoke before the king Can you imagine the dilemma Stalin faced? How does he know who tells the truth? Both women claim that the living son is their son That the dead son is the other woman's son How do you know? How do you figure this one out? So Solomon is going to repeat the scenario to make sure he's got it right So he says: The king said, The one says, This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one And the other says, No, for your son is the dead one, and my son is The living one

So he wants to make sure he's got it right So you're telling me that this is not your son, or this is your son? Yes But you're telling me that, no, this is your son Yes Okay So, you're telling me that your son, your son's alive, and your son's dead But you're telling me that your son's alive and your son's dead Yes So, what's right? How do you know? Solomon, asking God for wisdom, does something that probably none of us would ever do He says, Give me a sword So he brought a sword before the king The king said, Divide the living child in two and give half to the one and half to the other

There you go Just divide it up, cut them in half Cut him right down the middle So each has a head, okay? Each has an arm, each has a leg, right? Right down the middle Sounds a little gruesome, doesn't it? Remember, Sol is a man of supreme wisdom He's asked God for wisdom And so he 's going to present a dilemma to them They have come and presented a dilemma to him He's going to present it back to them Say, I have a solution What we're going to do: we're going take this living child because the dead ones go We're going to cut him right down the middle Each of you gets a half

Two halves make a whole So each of you gets a half Everybody's happ So the text says, Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, Oh my Lord, give her the living child and by no means kill him No, don't kill him Let her have the living child because it's her son See? And she doesn't want her son to die But the other said, He shall be neither mine nor yours, divide him

How cruel is that? Right? I mean, not only were they both prostitutes, but one was a prostitute with a kind heart, and the other was a prostitute with a cruel heart, right? One was really evil She said, hey, you know what? Cut them up Right then, Solomon knew that's not a heart of a mother who has a son that she loves and adores And so It says, Then the king said, Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him She is his mother She's his mother Very simple, simple solution To a very difficult dilemma Without any tests, any witnesses to decipher which mother was the true mother

Solomon made a choice based on the wisdom of God Listen to what it says: When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, They feared the k, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice It was this dilemma brought to him by two prostitutes, people that were not The most powerful or popular in the kingdom But it was this situation once word got out and it spread Because there were people in the palace who witnessed the story They went out and they began to speak about Solomon's wisdom And great fear came upon the people

Listen, if he can pass judgment with clarity on two prostitutes in this dilemma, That he's able to act justly in all the situations pertaining to the kingdom God's wisdom is on this man We see the wisdom of God That's the story Not much comment to say about it That's it So, here's what I want to do: I want to ask you this question Do you possess that kind of wisdom? Do you possess any wisdom? The Bible says in the book of Ephesians, the fifth chapter, see then that you walk not as fools. but as wise men wise men We are to walk wisely Walk in wisdom

The King James says, See then that you walk circumspectly Now, think about this with me for a second How many decisions have you made this past week, even this very day, that required you to have wisdom? Think about it All of us are making or in the process of making decisions, right? We're going to make decisions about where our children go to school We need wisdom We're going to make decisions about who we date, who we marry Once you make that decision, you got to make a decision about having kids and how many kids

And do I really need the wisdom of God in deciphering how many kids do I have? I need to make decisions about my finances How I spend my money, where I spend my money, when I spend my money, how much do I spend, how much do I hold back How do I plan for retirement? All those decisions require wisdom Even the simplest thing about, you know, do I need wisdom to make a decision about what I'm going to wear? Right? Some of you made a wise choice this evening, others of you not so much But we make decisions, and sometimes we just make them

And then there are our grander decisions that we must make that are more pivotal to us, that we have to decide how to make that decision And I need the wisdom of God to make the right choice The question comes: Do I have that wisdom? And how do I know I'm making wise choices? How do I know that God's wisdom permeates my being? So that when I'm asked a question, I can respond properly When I'm faced with a dilemma, I can respond in a way that honors the Lord Notice that Solomon never went to prayer Didn't say, you know what, let me go seek the Lord's will on this

Never did that, did he? There's no mention of any prayer in the text So it wasn't that he went off behind some curtain someplace or went to his chamber and went to pray and Lord, oh God, give me wisdom He's already asked God for wisdom, right? God says, you got wisdom His father before that had already affirmed that he was a wise person and now the the opportunity comes for him to make a choice based on the wisdom of God and now he's not even going to pray to God about the choice he's going to make He just makes a choice based on the wisdom that God's already given him Think about that

So, how does that work with us? Am I making wise choices? I'd venture to say that if we were to pick a poll this evening and ask you, okay, over the last six months, were the choices you made For you, your family, wise choices or unwise choices? Probably 90% of us would say, well, yeah, they're pretty wise choices. I think I've exemplified wisdom in my decision-making process And I don't know, maybe you have, maybe you haven't But I do know that the Bible does say this It says, do not be wise in your own eyes That's Proverbs chapter 3, verse number 7 Solomon, by the way, would write that

Do not be wise in your own eyes Ever notice that sometimes we think ourselves more Wiser than we really are because we see things from our own pers In fact, it says in Proverbs 12, verse number 15: the way of the fool is right in his own eyes The way of the fool is right in his own eyes So the foolish person is the one who claims that he has made the wise choice and that it's right in his own eyes Own eyes Now, there are a lot of us who fall in that category That's why Solomon will also say, you know, trust in the Lord with all your heart Lean not on your own understanding

All your ways acknowledge Him, He'll direct your paths Because he knows that we tend to think ourselves to be wise in our own eyes, that we're going to make the right decision anyway without ever consulting the Lord So, in the book of Proverbs, and we don't have time to do it all this evening, but there is this great contrast between the way of the fool and the way of the wise Okay, we told a couple of weeks ago we contrasted the way of the righteous and the way of the unrighteous, right? There's the way of the Lord and there's the way of the world

And the thing about Proverbs is that there's no gray area in Proverbs Read the book of Proverbs Everything is black or white, right or wrong, truth or error, righteous or unrighteous, foolish or wise And so there are no gray areas in the book of Proverbs So Solomon, when he writes the Proverbs, He is writing them from a perspective that he him is making decisions, wise choices, and contrasting them with foolish choices Now, later on, he is going to be right in his own eyes Because he's going to marry foreign women, right? He thinks that's wise in his own eyes, but it's not the wisdom of God

And that's where his setbacks begin to really take note and escalate for him The Bible also says this in the book of Proverbs Proverbs chapter 14, verse number 9 Fools mock sin Fools mock sin How do they mock sin? Well, number one, they deny the existence of sin, or they deny the consequences of sin, but fools mock at sin Also says in Proverbs 15, verse number 2: The mouth of the fools spout folly The mouth of a fool spouts folly The mouth of a fool just loves to talk You ever been around somebody who just loves to talk all the time? That all do is talk, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot

You can't shut them up The mouth of the fool spouts folly He's always got something to say about whatever it is you're talking about, as if they know something about everything And then it says over in Proverbs chapter 18, verse number 2, fo, fool does not delight In understand, but only in revealing his own heart The fo does not delight in understanding The fool doesn't want to know the truth The fool doesn't want to know the facts The fool doesn't really want an understand He just delights in revealing his own heart You need to know how I feel

You need to know how this affects me. I want you to know how it affects me But that's not what happened That's irrelevant. I want you to know how it affects me That's the fo The fool says, I want you to know my heart Why? heart's deceitful and desperately wicked Why do I want to know your heart? But that's the foolish person He doesn't delight in understanding He doesn't want to know the truth He doesn't want to know the facts He doesn't want to know the reality of what's happening He This wants to reveal us Heart

And then it says over in Proverbs 14, verse number 1: The foolish woman tears down her house But a wise woman builds it up How many women do you know that are tearing down their homes? Because of the foolish decisions that they make, that they think they're right in their own eyes But the wise woman, she builds the house She builds into the life of her children She builds into the life of her husband Looks for ways to love her husband, to nurture her husband, to nurture her children, to care for her children She wants to build up the house The foolish woman is going to tear down the house

The wise woman builds it up Proverbs 10, verse number 1, a foolish son is a grief to his mother. A foolish son Brings great grief to his mother That's why Proverbs 22:15 says that foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction will drive it far from him You know, our children are born with foolish hearts And so, therefore, they're going to act foolishly They're going to make foolish choices, foolish decisions, say foolish things So the rod of correction is designed to drive that foolishness far from them So, Solomon, and we're just scratching the surface here

Solomon has a lot to say about the fool So, the question comes for you and me: how do we fit into the wisdom of Solomon? How do we know how to make wise choices? When someone comes to us and presents a situation, a dilemma to us, How do we make a choice? How do we know the choice is a wise choice, not a foolish choice, and it's best for all involved and really truly honors the Lord? How do we know that? How do we know that we're walking not as fools, but as wise men, walking circumspectly? As the Apostle Paul says in the book of Ephesians, 5th chapter 15th, verse Let's look at it this way

Where or what is wisdom? Okay? What is wisdom? Let me say it to you today Wisdom primarily is an attribute of God We would all agree with that, right? Wisdom is an attribute of God We read to you earlier Job We read to you Daniel chapter 2, verse number 20 But the Bible also says this in Jude 25: that Christ is the only wise God Romans 16:2 says that Christ is the only wise God So it repeats it Over in the book of Ephesians, the third chapter, that it's Christ who possesses the manifold wisdom of God So, wisdom is that attribute of God

That's why the Lord was so pleased that Solomon wanted to be wise, because that means he somehow wants to be like God God makes wise choices, he doesn't make unwise choices So, if wisdom is an attribute of God, listen carefully, and it is, then wisdom Is the action of God in creation and controlling all things If wisdom is an attribute of God, then wisdom is the act by which God creates and controls everything God doesn't create foolishly He creates wisely God doesn't control the universe in a foolish way An unwise way He controls it in a very wise way

So, Proverbs chapter 3: Solomon would say this: He would say, The Lord by wisdom founded the earth By understanding, he established the heavens, and by his knowledge the deeps were broken up, and the skies dripped with dew In other words, God, who is the God of wisdom, Because that's who he is, that's his character, that's his nature, that's an attribute of God If it's an attribute of God, then it's an act of God by which he creates everything Because by wisdom the universe was created And if he created it and he runs it, he controls it with that same wisdom Now, think about that for a second

That means that when you experience trials and hardship, because the Bible says in Isaiah:, that God is the author of calamity, right? That in the wisdom of God, and God knows best, He knows He's wiser than us, He has infinite wisdom, He has manifold wisdom In the wisdom of God, He allowed the trial to come your way at this time, specifically for you in your situation That's the wisdom of God We think, why now, Lord? You've got to be kidding me Oh, this is pine enough, and now you're going to blow this my way too? Come on, Lord

Don't you think I've had enough? Well, in the wisdom of God, because He's the God of wisdom, right? That's his attribute That attribute causes his actions to create and to control all that happens in the universe That would include everything that comes your way in my way That's how we know that no one dies on accident There are no accidents in God's economy, they're just accidents in our economy, on our human economy There was an accident today in the freeway My kid had an accident in the kitchen No, there are no accidents

They're all divine appointments, right? Because God, in His infinite wisdom, because He is a God of wisdom, Acts in a way that is congr with that wisdom when it comes to creating everything and controlling everything Liv me so far? It's important to know that And wisdom is the one asset Okay, it's the attribute of God, it's the actions of God that are demonstrated in creation and controlling of all things, and it is the asset Which is more valuable than any other pursuit in life Listen to what it says Book of Proverbs, four chapter, verse 13 Proverbs 3, verse number 13

How blessed is a man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding, for her profit is better than the profit of silver, and her gain better than fine go She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire compares with her Long life is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honor, her ways are pleasant, and all her paths are peace Wisdom is that one asset that supersedes all other assets That we pursue in this life Look at this Proverbs chapter four Proverbs chapter four

Oh sorry, Proverbs chapter 8 verses 10 and 11 says this, take my instruction and not silver. know rather than choicest gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all desir things cannot comp with her Wisdom is an attribute of the living God because it's an attribute Then it's the action of that living God that's demonstrated in creation and the controlling of all things that pertain to your life and mind Wisdom is that one asset that supersedes all other assets that we pursue in this life And wisdom is the application Of God's truth to everyday living That's what wisdom does

Wisdom applies that truth to every Living Proverbs chapter 3, verse number 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes Fear the Lord Turn away from evil When I apply the truth to my life, I turn from evil because I'm turning toward the things of God See? And you go on and read Proverbs 4, 11 and 19, Proverbs 6, 23 and 24, Proverbs 7, 1 to 5, Proverbs 8, 1 Fourteen, sixteen It is the application of truth to life That I'm taking God and His Word, and I'm taking it and li it out every day in a pursuit of holiness towards God because God is a holy God That's what wisdom is

But how is wisdom found? It's not only in God's Word No other place Because the Bible says these words, Proverbs chapter 2, verse number 6: For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth comes knowledge and understand From his mouth comes knowledge in this day The Lord gives wisdom How does he give wisdom? The scriptures are that which are that make you wise unto salvation, right? Paul told Timothy that, 2 Timothy 3, verse number 15 We know that God's word is His breath, the breath of God, and so from His mouth comes wisdom Therefore, What do we know that comes from his mouth? The word of God

So, wisdom is found in the word of God To be a wise person, you must master the word of God The more word you know, the wiser you will be So the question comes for me: if wisdom is all about God, His attributes, His actions, and the application of who He is to life based on Wisdom being the number one asset that I pursue in life, and wisdom only comes from God's Word How do I know, how do I know that I am making wise decisions every day? Because for the most part, we'll sit back and say, yeah, that was the wise choice Yeah, I can make wise choices So let's scrutinize our lives

Under the power of God's Holy Word, and see how we are doing it, making decisions Are we wise people? Are you wise? Well, let me show you whether or not you can tell whether or not you're wise or not Okay? We know that we are wise when we, number one, comprehend the fear of God When you comprehend the fear of God Remember, the unbeliever has no fear of God before their eyes, right? They don't fear God Romans chapter 3 tells us that they have no fear of God So If I'm a believer, I'm going to comprehend to some degree the fear of God Proverbs chapter 1, verse number 7 states it this way

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge Fools despise wisdom and instruction Proverbs 9, verse number 10 Proverbs 9, verse number 10, says this: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom So, wherever wisdom begins, it begins with the fear of the Lord So, somehow I must comprehend the fear of the Lord And the fear of the Lord in the book of Proverbs is equivalent with the salvation of God and the life of man Isaiah chapter 8 tells us this about the fear of the Lord

Verse number 13: It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy, he shall be your fear, he shall be your dread Then it says, He shall become your sanctuary Sanctuary If you fear God and He is your dread, He becomes your place of refuge If you don't fear God, He's not So, what is the fear of God? It truly is the holy terror of God in your life You believe fear of God It's exactly what it means: you fear the true and living God And those who are wise comprehend the fear of the Lord We have a booklet out called The Fear of God

What does it mean to fear the Lord? Have you got that book? You ever read it? It's a book that's not very long If you don't get it, go to the media center They can get one for you All right? It's all about how do you know you fear the Lord? What does it mean to fear the Lord? It's all throughout the book of Proverbs, all throughout the Psalms Because those who are wise comprehend the fear of the Lord Number two, those who are wise concede to the correction of others They concede, they admit, they acknowledge the correction of others Proverbs 9, verse number 8 says these words

Do not reprove a scoffer, he will hate you Reprove a wise man, he will love you Think about that Reprove a scoffer, he will hate you If you're a foolish person, you know you're foolish that when someone rebukes you, you scoff at them But but if you are rebuked and you accept it wisely And you understand the person who does this, and you receive it, they'll love you That's the wise person Proverbs 15, verse number 33 says this The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom Before honor comes humility But the fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom

Verse 31: He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof Will dwell among the wise He whose ear listens to life-giving reproof, that is, the reproof that comes through the Word of God, which is life That person will dwell among the wise Now ask yourself: are you a wise person? Do you concede? To the correction of others? Or do you scoff at it? Do you comprehend the fear of the Lord? Number three, how do we know we are wise people? We consider the counsel of others Proverbs 9, verse number 9 says, Give instruction to a wise man, he will be wiser

Give instruction, give counsel to a wise man, he becomes wiser So, a wise person is one who considers the counsel of others Over in chapter 19, verse number 20, it says Listen to counsel, accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days Wow Listen to counsel, accept discipline, so that the rest of your days you'll live in wisdom How do I know I'm a person of wisdom? I truly cons the counsel of others Sometimes we think that we're smarter than everybody else Sometimes we think we don't need to be told what to do Sometimes we think we don't need any wisdom from anybody else

But the wise person is a learner They want to grow We'll talk about that here in a second But not only do they comprehend the fear of the Lord, not only do they concede to the correction of others, but they consider the counsel of others, as well as cont The future and make plans That's number four They contemplate the future and they make plans Proverbs chapter 10, verse number f Reads as follows: He who gathers in the summer is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully

The wise son makes a plan, knows the calendar, knows when to plant the crops, knows what's going to happen Makes plans that way Now we know that the steps of the Lord are ordered by the Lord We know that a man's ways Please the Lord when He is honoring to God, but we know that man is going to make plans, but God ultimately has the ultimate say, but it doesn't mean you don't plan No, you truly contemplate the future and you make plans That's why it says in Ecclesiastes verse number four that the wise The wise mind is in the house of the morning

Why? Why is the wise mind in the house of mourning? Because he contemplates the future And makes plans to face the future That's the wise person The foolish person doesn't care about the harvest, it's just a sluggard It's lazy But the wise person, he really think about what's going to happen tomorrow and plans accordingly Because he wants to provide for his family He wants to provide for a rainy day He's just not taking each day as it comes No, he contemplates the future He understand what's going to happen down the road

And although all that can change because of God's sovereignty, he knows that He's not oblivious to that He's not trusting that He is trusting that But he knows that he has to be responsible because he's accountable for his time, right? Ephesians 5, verse number 15 says, Redeem, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, right? Redeeming the time Right? Buying back every moment for the sake of eternity The wise person is known by the fact that they redeem each and every moment

They don't just live in the moment, but they buy back every moment for the sake of eternity because they know there's a great value in that moment They contemplate the future And they plan accord That's how you know you're wise You're wise when you cons to God's commands Proverbs chapter 10, verse number 8 says Proverbs 10, verse number 8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you Reprove a wise man, he will love you Give instruction to wise men, he will be wiser still Teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning

In other words, it requires submission to God. I'm sorry, that was Proverbs 9 Proverbs 10, verse number 8 says, The wise of heart will receive commands. but a babbling fool will be ruined The wise of heart receives commands They consent To the commands of God They capitulate to the commands of God They submit to the commands of God They want to receive them They want to hear them They want to know them That's the wise person The unwise, a foolish person, despises the word of the Lord That's why it says over in Matthew chapter 7

That when the Lord says these words, everyone who hears the words of mine and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who builds his house on the rock He hears the word He acts upon it He's the wise man If you hear the word of God, don't act upon it You're the foolish man You see, so the wise person is the one who consents, who capitulates to the words, to the instruction, to the commands of God He knows that God is speaking, he knows his authority

And the wise person says, I want to follow that. I'm wise when I comprehend the fear of the Lord, concede to the correction of others. cons the counsel of others, cont the future and plan accordingly, cons to God's commands, when I continue to learn and grow You're wise Proverbs 10, verse number 14 say these words Proverbs 10, verse number 14: Wise men increase in knowledge Increase the knowledge They want to continue to grow The wise man never says, That's it, I got enough wisdom. I don't need it anymore. I'm done

No, now you want to continue to grow in knowledge, in understand, in the ways of God, because He's an infinite God who has infinite ways, and you just want to keep on growing That 's how you know you're a wise person You continue to learn, you continue to grow How about this? You know you're wise when you control the way you respond and speak to others That's how you know you're wise Proverbs 10, verse number 19, says this: When there are many words, Transgression is unav, but he who strains his lips is wise Is wise

Proverbs 11, verse number 12, says this He who despises his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding keeps silent Do you know that you demonstrate wisdom more so by what you don't say than by what you do say? Did you know that? Sometimes wisdom, the better part of wisdom, is not to say anything, just to keep silent We love to talk Remember we had earlier, the fool loves to spout off folly Loves a spout off But the wise man restrains his lips The wise man listens Doesn have to talk because he doesn't have to prove he's right

See? Don't we like to prove that we're right? They prove that you're wrong, right? I want to prove I'm right, so I have to talk To prove that I'm right, I got to talk But in the silence, it speaks volumes How do I know I'm wise? Simply because I comprehend the fear of the Lord. I can see to the correction of others, consider the counsel of others, contemplate the future and plan accordingly, cons to God's commands Continue to learn and grow Control the way I speak to others And how do I know I'm wise? Because I care about the souls of others

The Bible says in Proverbs 11:3, he who wins souls is w Now, the word for win is the word that means to seize in Hebrew Okay? So, wow, telling people about Christ and winning people to Christ truly is wisdom. I'm not sure that's what Proverbs 11:3 says It talks about the care of someone's inner being, the soul of a person, the heart of a person You care more about the inside than you do the outside

And so, therefore, the wise person sees beyond the veneer that's on the outside, looking to the inside of the heart of a person, caring enough for it to seize it, grab hold of it, and lead it in the right direction That's the wise person They care about the souls of others Number nine, the wise person How do you know you're wise? When you are called wise and prudent by others Solomon was, right? He was called wise And we will see where the Queen of Sheba comes to him because she's heard about his wealth of knowledge and great wisdom But Proverbs 16, verse number 21, says this

Proverbs 16, verse number 21, the wise in heart will be called understand And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness Those who are wise, they're called wise by others They see their wisdom They see the dis They can see it If you say, Yeah, you know, I think I'm pretty wise, but no one else sees that, you're probably not Right? We're wise in our own eyes, but not wise in the eyes of anybody else See? So Proverbs 16:2 says, The wise at heart will be called understand

Solomon was recognized as a wise person by the whole kingdom based on the fact that he made a decision between two prostitutes and a baby What looks small in the whole realm of the kingdom was the biggest decision he ever made up to that point And lastly, how do I know that I'm wise? Simply, because I come and I ask for wisdom If any man lacks wisdom, James 1, let him ask Let him ask Because God gives wisdom generous That is, he didn't hold it back He gives wisdom liber If any man asks wisdom, let him ask of God, who give to all men liber

Do you know that God is just dying to give you wisdom? And James 1:5 is in the context of trials, okay? It's not just about decision-making Throughout every part of the day, it specifically deals with trials and what is God doing in my trial So, if God, who is a God of wisdom, Because that's who he is, who acts according to that through the creation and controlling of all things That means he creates calamity, he brings it into my life, controlling every aspect of it He's an all-wise God He is now saying, I want you to come to me and ask

Ask me for wisdom because I'm going to give it to you. I'm going give it to you generously Come and ask The wise person comes and asks for wisdom because he wants to know What God is doing He wants to respond to how God is operating in his life He wants to grow and increase in learning every single day He wants to comprehend the fear of the Lord in his life He wants to be able to keep silent when it's time to keep silent Speak when it's time to speak He wants to listen to the correction of others He wants to know, so he comes and he asks

How about you? Are you wise? Solomon was a man of supreme wisdom We have Christ in us, right? We have the Spirit in us Isaiah 11:2 is called the Spirit of Wisdom Christ is to us the wisdom of God, right? So we have Christ in us, we have the Spirit of God in us, we have the God who is all wisdom in us Of all people who have ever existed, we should be the wisest of the wise Let's pray Father, we thank you for tonight, the opportunity we have to spend time in your word We pray that you'd help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord Help us to make wise choices

Help us to know the God of wisdom Who give wisdom to all men liberally? May we come and ask and seek you We love you and are grateful for this time In Jesus' name, amen.