Wisdom or Folly?

About this sermon

We’ve all made those dumb, “what was I thinking?” decisions in life and experienced the negative consequences on the other side. But we don’t have to keep making those same mistakes as we move forward. In fact, God has given us everything we need to make better decisions. In this message, Pastor Ed Young opens up a series of talks that will point us to the perfect place to look for, discover, and apply the kind of wisdom we all need so that next time, we can make the right decision! We’re the most educated culture in the history of the world, yet our culture is collapsing all around us. We’re drowning in data, yet wisdom is waning. We have more knowledge at our fingertips than ever before, yet we’re walking the path of foolishness. We can travel faster than we’ve ever traveled before but I would argue we’re traveling in the wrong direction. There’s a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is something you gain. Wisdom is something you receive. Knowledge teaches you, wisdom transforms you. Wisdom is from God. The Bible in Proverbs 1:7, says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction. A Fool Hates Wisdom I have a friend in the Bahamas. They have a great saying. When you do something ridiculous in the Bahamas they say, “You’re doin’ fool.” I like that. So we’re either doing fool or we’re doing faith. You can have a high IQ but a low GQ - a God Quotient. Because wisdom comes from God. A fool can be defined as someone who is open. If you look at the word fool in the original language, it means someone who is open. A fool is open to anything and everything and they don’t believe anything. That’s what it means to be a fool. There are a lot of educated fools. The Root of Foolishness This word fool is mentioned over 70 times in the book of Proverbs. It comes from the Hebrew root word Nabal. Nabal was a guy, in specifically 1 Samuel 25:25, who was a fool. Nabal, said, “There is no God. I’m going to do what I’m going to do.” That’s the root of foolishness. Don’t be a Nabal. You need to be someone who has received the gift of wisdom. I’m not saying you shouldn’t gain knowledge; I’m not anti-education. I’m talking about something much deeper, I’m talking about the application of knowledge, which is wisdom. When you make decisions away from God you’re going to take the path of foolishness and you’ll keep on making the same bad decisions over and over and over. We must start with God. Look again at Proverbgs 1:7. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” We start with God. God the Father gives us wisdom. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:30, “Christ Jesus, who became for us the wisdom of God.” Jesus is wisdom. The Holy Spirit of God pours wisdom out into your life and mine. The Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Proverbs 1:20-22 says, “Wisdom shouts in the street, she raises her voice in the public square; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the gates of the city she declares her sayings: ‘How long you naive ones, will you love simplistic thinking? And how long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge?’” Wisdom is talking to people who are fools. Again, not people who are stupid, but I’m talking about people who are just open. Remember, that’s what a fool is. Someone who is open to anything and everything and they believe nothing. It is vital for us to know what be believe, as a church corporately and individually. What We Believe: 1. The Bible is our authority 2. The priesthood of the believer 3. Baptism by immersion 4. Autonomy of the local church You may have great Biblical knowledge. You understand the aqueduct system during the time of Solomon. You’ve memorized the books of the Bible. You can quote numerous verses by heart. You’ve memorized the entire book of Proverbs. Now you need to put it into practice.fI you are on the self-improvement plan away from God, you’ll end up making the same foolish mistakes that have led to where you are today. Next Time | Fool | Pastor Ed Young #Wisdom #sermonseries ------ Pastor Ed Young is the senior pastor of Fellowship Church based in the DFW Metroplex, he is also an author, and conference speaker noted for his creative communication style. Make sure to subscribe to the channel for more inspirational content from Pastor Ed Young. Hit the Notification Bell so that you never miss Ed's most recent video. Follow #EdYoung​ on social Ed Young Facebook: http://bit.ly/EdYoungFB Ed Young Instagram: http://bit.ly/EdYoungIG Ed Young Twitter: http://bit.ly/EdYoungTW

Topics

• Wisdom