Introduction

Every Christian has been called and sent by Jesus to declare and display his gospel to the world. This means that every single Christian is a missionary…including you. One thing that will help you live as an effective missionary in our current cultural climate is a healthy understanding of the doctrine of Hell. This used to be a doctrine that I accepted, but didn’t much enjoy. Now, thanks to a growing grasp of the the Scriptures and helpful teaching from pastors like Tim Keller, it is a doctrine that I love. The article that follows us taken from a sermon I preached in 2008 from the book of Judges. It is my hope that after reading it you too will grow to love the doctrine of Hell and be moved to explain it to the people you love.

God’s Retribution on Abimelek and Shechem

Judges 8:32-9:3 set the stage for the drama that will follow. Gideon has just died and as soon as he died the Israelites started the cycle all over again. They returned to idolatry, prostituting themselves to false gods even after Yahweh had once again miraculously delivered them from yet another oppressor. Gideon had seventy sons, one of whom was named Abimelek. Abimelek was not like his other brothers. He was only half-Israelite. He was born to a Canaanite woman whom Gideon had taken as a wife despite the fact that Yahweh prohibited his people to marry those who worship false gods. As we’ll see as the story unfolds, Gideon’s rebellion against Yahweh would have severe consequences for his family and his people. And it all begins here with Abimelek going to his mother’s family in Shechem and asking them to make him king. Abimelek argues that it would be in Shechem’s best interest to make him king. After all, he says, it would be better to have one man rule over you than 70. I am the logical choice because “I am your flesh and blood.” The people of Shechem found his argument convincing. “He is related to us,” they said. So they decided to support his claim to the throne and make him their king. But first they would need to eliminate his 70 brothers from the picture. They gave Abimilek seventy shekels of silver from the treasury of Baal’s temple. Abimilek then used the money from their idol worship to hire what my translation calls, “reckless scoundrels.” They were mercenaries. They were murderers for hire. They were the Biblical version of Boba Fett. Abimilek took his new crew of Boba Fetts and went to Ophrah, Gideon’s hometown. Then, there, on one stone, he murdered his 70 brothers one after the other. Imagine the horror of this scene. One brother murdering every one of his other brothers one after another, after another, after another, after another in the same place, on the same stone. As horrific as it is it’s also a little ironic. Abimelek convinced the people of Shechem to make him their king because he was their own flesh and blood. And now we see how Abimelek treats his own flesh and blood. The people of Shechem didn’t seem to recognize the irony though. So when Abimelek returned home the people of Shechem gathered around him and crowned him as king.

What they didn’t know at this point was that one of Abimelek’s 70 brothers had escaped by hiding. His name was Jotham, the youngest of all of Gideon’s sons. When he heard that the people of Shechem had crowned his brother king he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and he shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.” Then he told them a fable about a group of trees who try to select a king. First they go to an olive tree and say, “be our king,” but the olive tree says “no.” So then they go to the fig tree and say, “be our king,” but the fig tray says “no.” Next they go to the vine and say, “Be our king,” but the vine also says “no.” Finally they go to a thorn bush and ask him to be their king. Look how the thorn bush responds in verse 15, “The thorn bush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thorn bush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’” Now this fable is a little weird for us but the point would have been obvious to them. They lived in an agrarian society. How could a group of trees take shade under a thorn bush? They couldn’t. And even if they tried to get close enough to do it what would happen? They would be priced by its thorns. The thorn bush here represents Abimelek and the trees represent the people of Shechem. They have chosen a king who cannot give them refuge, they have chosen a king who will only harm them, they have chosen a king that will consume them in his fire. In case there was any confusion about what this fable meant Jotham made the application quite clear in the form of a curse. Read verses 16-20. “Have you have acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub–Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub–Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!” Both Abimelek and the people of Shechem have done evil. They have murdered the innocent and they have done evil to Gideon, the man who God used to deliver them from their oppressors. Because of this, Jotham promises that Yahweh will bring justice to both Abimelek and Shechem. He will cause them to consume one another like fire. These are very strong words, and after saying them Jotham fled out of fear for his brother. And after what his brother did to the rest of his family I can’t blame him. That’s not a punk move. That’s wisdom.

Verse 22 tells us that Abimelek reigned over Israel for three years. This is the shortest term of oppression or judgeship in this entire book. Verses 23 and 24 explain why, “God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. God did this in order that the crime against Jerub–Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.” The rest of this chapter is going to be terribly violent. And according to these verses Yahweh is behind it all. Because Yahweh is a God of perfect righteousness and perfect justice it is his nature and his will to bring justice to injustice and make the wrong right. And that is precisely what he will do with Abimelek and the people of Shechem.

The story unfolds as a man named Gaal moves into Shechem. Gaal begins to draw followers after himself by making the same argument that Abimelek made. He claims to have closer genealogical ties to the people of Shechem than Abimelek does. For that reason he thinks he should be king in Abimelek’s place. Look at how he makes his case in verses 28 and 29, ““Who is Abimelek, and who is Shechem, that we should be subject to him? Isn’t he Jerub–Baal’s son, and isn’t Zebul his deputy? Serve the people of Hamor, Shechem’s father! Why should we serve Abimelek? If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek, ‘Call out your whole army!’” This cat talks a big game, doesn’t he? He almost sounds as arrogant as Kanye West, but not quite. Well, you know what happens when you talk that kind of trash, don’t you? People hear about it. And that’s what happened here. Abimilek’s right-hand man, Zebul, heard about it and secretly sent word to Abimilek. He told Abimilek to set up an ambush against Gaal and his supporters. Abimilek did. And the next morning many of Gaal’s followers were slain and Gaal himself was driven out of Shechem. You would think that would be the end of it, right? The threat was eliminated. But Abimilek was not done. Just like his father, Gideon, Abimilek wanted revenge. So the next day he waited for the people of Shechem to come out into the fields where he and his army waited to make another ambush. When the people came out Abimilek and his men attacked them and killed everyone they saw. Again, you would think that would be enough. But Abimilek was still thirsty for revenge. He heard that some of the citizens of the city had run to the temple of Baal for safety. So he gathered his army and had every one of them collect branches from the nearby trees. They laid these branches around the temple, lit them on fire, and burned the temple down with the people still inside. One thousand people were burned alive by the king who was supposed to rule them. Again, you would think that would be enough. But Abimilek still hungered for revenge. And Yahweh was still bringing justice. The only citizens that remained had fled to a strong tower in a nearby town. Abimilek chased them into the town, besieged the town, and captured it. Then he headed for the strong tower where the people had locked themselves inside and climbed to the top of the roof. Abimilek approached the tower preparing to burn it down just as he had burnt the temple down. But just as he was about to light the fire a woman dropped a millstone from the top of the roof. It landed directly on his head and crushed his skull. Yet even in death Abimilek was still concerned about his image. So he turned to his armor bearer and said, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can’t say, ‘A woman killed him.’” His servant ran through him and he died. Ironically, despite Abimilek’s best efforts the Bible mentions twice that he was in fact killed by a woman. Not only that, but he was killed by a single stone, just as he had killed his brothers on a single stone. But even more important than what happened is why it happened. Look at verses 56 and 57, “Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub–Baal came on them.” This series of violent events was orchestrated by God himself to punish Abimilek for his evil, to punish the people of Shechem for their wickedness, and to bring justice on behalf of the 70 innocent brothers who were murdered in cold blood. The story of Abimilek makes it very clear that God is a God of justice. He will not wink at evil, he will not overlook the guilty. He will bring justice and he will make the wrong things right.

God’s Retribution on You and Me

So what does all of this mean for you and me? First, it means that we should rejoice that the God of the universe is a righteous and just God. We should rejoice that he turns injustice into justice. We should rejoice that he takes what is wrong and makes it right. But it also means that we should be quite concerned. Shechem received their violent judgment because they made someone king who was not truly the king. We do the same thing. We live as though we are king of our lives instead of living with Jesus as the king of our lives. We serve our will and our desires instead of Jesus’ will. We trust in ourselves to rule our lives instead of trusting in Jesus to rule our lives. We have made our own kings. We have made ourselves kings. If the people of Shechem deserved God’s judgment for that don’t we deserve the same?

Second, Abimilek received his violent judgment because he murdered his brothers, 70 of them. Well, you and I are murderers, too. We have murdered our brothers and our sisters and we have murdered at least as many as Abimilek. These are not my words but the words of Jesus. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5:21 and 22, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Jesus equates anger with murder and says that they are both worthy of the same judgment, they are both worthy of the fires of Hell. Jesus calls you, and you, and you, and you, and me, a murderer. Now let me be clear that the emotion of anger itself is not evil. God himself is said to be angry over 500 times in the Scriptures. Anger is a God-given emotion that often arises in us spontaneously. It’s not the emotion of anger that makes you a murderer. It’s why you become angry and how you respond to that initial emotion. It’s good to be angered by injustices against the innocent. It’s good to be angered when the world is not as it ought to be. But these are not the things that we are most angered by. Our anger is not like Gods. Our anger is almost always rooted in selfishness or pride or jealousy or envy. I can’t believe he did this to me. I can’t believe she said that about me. I can’t believe that he prospers while I suffer. I can’t believe they didn’t give me what I want, what I need, what I deserve. Our anger is not like God’s. Our anger is almost always rooted in the flesh and not in the Spirit. Our anger is not like God’s. It is almost always used as a means to destroy relationships while God’s is used to restore them. Our anger is not like God’s. We do not express it properly. Sometimes we do not express it at all and other times we express it to the wrong person. We allow it to control us and guide us. And it is not justified. It is murder. And we are murderers. You are a murderer. I know that we don’t like to think of ourselves that way. I know that we resist that label. But when you think about it it’s not difficult to see how the two are equivalent. Murder is not just killing someone, murder is the premeditated, deliberate, and malicious taking of a human life. And God says that murder must be punished by death. And the reason God gives for this is that murder not only destroys the person but it destroys the image of God within that person. Anger is murder in principle because anger devalues people and it devalues the image of God expressed in them. When we are inappropriately angry with people we try to take their identity and their value as God’s image bearer away from them. We can do this silently, we can do this vocally, we can do this physically. The ultimate physical expression of anger is murder. But even if we never express this anger physically or vocally we have already devalued a human being and the image of God in them.  In principle, we have murdered them and we have earned judgment for our murder.

So not only have you rejected Jesus as king and made yourself king you have used your power as king to commit murder after murder after murder after murder. You saw what God did to Shechem and Abimilek to bring justice to them. What do you expect God will do with you? If God is a god of justice, if God is a god who makes the wrong things right, how will he bring justice to you? How will he make your wrong right? Obviously your retribution is not going to come through political means in the same way it came to Abimilek and Shechem. It’s going to come quite differently. Jesus says that those who make themselves kings and those who murder people with anger will find their justice in the fires of Hell. God is a God of justice and because God is a God of justice he cannot wink at your evil or my evil, he cannot overlook your guilt or my guilt. He must punish us. He must sentence us for our wickedness. And the place that God has chosen for that sentence to be served is a place called Hell.

And yet with everything I’ve said and every argument I’ve countered I have not made Hell any less hellish. I believe we have shown that Hell does not make God unloving, or unjust, or manipulative. But by no means have we minimized the horrors and the torment of Hell. It’s true that the fire and darkness described by Jesus are probably symbolic. But that does not mean that the reality of Hell is any less painful. To the contrary, in the Bible the reality is always greater than the symbol that points to the reality. The reality of Jesus is greater than the Judges we’ve been reading about that symbolize his work and point toward him. And the torment of Hell is greater than, worse than, the symbols of fire and darkness that Jesus uses to describe it. So if you think burning alive for eternity would be painful the true pain of Hell is actually worse. The darkness represents the pain of loss, the pain of being eternally shut out from the presence of God’s grace, and mercy, and compassion. The fire represents the pain of sense, the pain of eternally bearing the wrath of God. Jesus describes this in Matthew 25:41, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me (loss/separation), you who are cursed, into the eternal fire (sense/wrath) prepared for the devil and his angels.” Jesus’ Apostle, Paul, describes it again in 2Thessalonians 1:8-9, “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction (sense/wrath) and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (loss/separation).”

God’s Retribution on Jesus

There is no doubt that Hell is a hellish, horrible, terrible, frightening place where human beings experience the pain of loss and the pain of sense far beyond anything we can comprehend. There is no doubt that this is a difficult teaching to accept. But we must come to grips with it. Because it is only by understanding the horrors of Hell that we can truly understand the love of God. Because you see, God sent his Son, Jesus, and Jesus willingly went to Hell for us. Jesus went to Hell so that you wouldn’t have to. As Jesus went to the Cross to die in your place he also went to the Cross to go to Hell in your place. As he hung from those wooden beams he experienced the pain of sense in the worst possible way. His body was pulled in every direction, as he tried to pull himself up to resist the stretching the nails tore through his nerves sending excruciating pain through his body and into his brain, the fatigue and pain made him unable to push himself upward, his pectoral muscles became paralyzed, and he was unable to exhale, he continued to hang in pain and torment and agony until finally he suffocated to death.

Jesus experienced the physical pain of receiving God’s wrath for our sins. He went to Hell for us. But far more painful was the pain of loss and abandonment as he was separated from the presence of his eternal Father. He cried out from the Cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When he said those words Jesus was literally experiencing Hell. You know how much it hurts to be abandoned by someone. You know how much it hurts to be rejected by someone. When an acquaintance rejects you it hurts. When a friend rejects you hurt even worse. When your child rejects you the pain is incomparable. When a parent abandons you the pain never stops. When your husband, or your wife, leaves you and says “I don’t love you anymore” the pain is devastating. The longer a relationship is, the deeper a relationship is, the more intimate a relationship is the more traumatic and agonizing any separation becomes. And Jesus’ relationship with the Father was longer than any relationship you can imagine. They were united together for all eternity. Jesus’ relationship with the Father was deeper than we can ever comprehend. They are one in purpose and one in their very nature. Jesus’ relationship with the Father was more intimate than the most intimate human relationship. They share everything. And yet Jesus willingly allowed this relationship to be cut off. He willingly experienced the pain of separation from the perfect being, the greatest good, whom he had been united to eternally. Jesus, who was eternally united with God, willingly separated himself from God so that you, who would be eternally separated from God, could be united with him forever. In doing this Jesus went into the darkest, deepest, most despairing pit of Hell. Jesus went to Hell for us and he did it willingly so that we would not have to experience Hell ourselves.

This is love unparalleled. This is love unequaled. What are you going to do about it? I pray that you will respond to Jesus’ love by loving him, by worshiping him, and by obeying him. Not because doing this will somehow save you from Hell but because Jesus has already saved you from Hell and you cannot help but love him because he so loves you.

The Coming of the Spirit

Before Jesus ascended into heaven he gave his followers specific instructions to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit. As Acts 2 opens we find the 120 Christian believers doing just that – waiting together in one place. We know from chapter 1 that as they were waiting together they were enjoying community with one another, they were reflecting on the Holy Scriptures, they were talking about Jesus and all he had said and done, and they were praying together in unity. In verse 1 of chapter 2 we see that it is now the day of Pentecost, so it’s been about a week since Jesus gave them their instructions and left the earth. Pentecost was a huge Jewish festival. Jewish believers from all over the world came to Jerusalem, where the disciples were waiting and praying, to present their offerings before God. It was an important festival. And now that this festival has come and a week has passed I imagine the 120 Christian believers are wondering when Jesus is going to send the Holy Spirit he promised. I imagine they are wondering how much longer they’re going to have to wait. But I’m sure the last thing they were expecting is that it would happen NOW. And even less were they expecting that it would happen like THIS. But it did. Suddenly.

This is what Luke explains in verses 2-4, “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Remember that the believers knew they were waiting for the Holy Spirit but Jesus didn’t tell them how they would know when the Holy Spirit had come. But now there was no question. The Holy Spirit had come. And God made that extremely clear through visible signs of his presence. First, we are told, that a sound filled the entire house where they were sitting. This wasn’t one of those, “I think I heard something, did you hear that?” sounds. This sound was unmistakable. It was like the blowing of a violent wind from heaven. And that sound was accompanied by an equally distinct sight. They saw images of fire – what appeared to them to be tongues of fire – separate and then rest on each one of them. These signs of wind and fire were not arbitrary. To these 120 Jewish people it would have been very clear what was happening here. Because throughout the Old Testament both wind and fire are used to symbolize the presence of God and the activity of his Spirit. The believers would have remembered that the prophet Ezekiel once found himself standing in a valley of dry, dead bones. The Lord spoke to Ezekiel and commanded him to speak to the bones. As he did so the Lord sent wind to breathe into the bones and they came to life. God explained that the dry, dead bones represented Israel and the wind represented God’s Spirit which he promised to put in his people so that they would live, though they were now dead. The believers also would have remembered God’s presence symbolized through the fire of Moses’ burning bush and through the pillar of fire that protected the Israelites at night as they fled from the Egyptians. There would have been no question in the minds of these 120 believers that the eternal God himself was intimately present with them and the power of his mighty Spirit was at work amongst them. The Holy Spirit, which Jesus had promised them, had come.

And those weren’t the only signs they were given. There was a third. As they were filled with the Holy Spirit they began to speak in other tongues as the Holy Spirit enabled them. As these first believers spoke in tongues they were not making ecstatic utterances and they were not repeating syllables that did not make sense; they were speaking intelligible words in actual existing languages. They were speaking for the first time in languages that they did not know, had never studied, and had never learned. And their listeners understood them clearly. Remember that this was Pentecost. So Jews from every nation were gathering in Jerusalem. And each of them heard their own native language being spoken.

They were amazed by this as explained in verses 6-8, “When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?” The Jews, in general, looked down on people from Galilee as unintelligent, poorly educated, and not so well spoken. So they were shocked to hear these mere Galileans speaking a language they had never been taught — their language — so clearly and effectively. And this shock produced two responses. One group was intrigued. They wanted to know more. “What does this mean?” they asked in verse 12. Another group was more skeptical and made fun of them, “They’ve had too much wine,” they said.

The Interpretation of the Spirit’s Coming

Peter knew that people were perplexed about precisely what was going on, and he knew the importance of this event. He knew that what was happening in their midst was going to divide history. He knew that this event was proof that one era had passed away and that a new era was beginning. So, Peter, the same man who 50 days earlier was so frightened that he denied Jesus to a powerless woman, now, filled with the Holy Spirit, stands up to preach Jesus before an audience of thousands. The first thing he does is address their question. Are they drunk? No, he says. What you’re witnessing is not the result of alcohol. It’s only 9 in the morning! No, what you’re witnessing is something else. It’s not the result of alcohol. It’s the result of the Holy Spirit.

Peter reminds his Jewish audience of a prophecy spoken by their prophet Joel many years earlier. A prophecy every one of them would have known. In verses 17-21 we read, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” This is that, Peter says. What Joel talked about so many years ago – that’s what you see right now. Prophecy and promise are being fulfilled right before your eyes!

Peter announces that on this day – the day of Pentecost – everything has changed. He explains that with the coming of the Holy Spirit there has also come a new era. He calls this new time the last days. He doesn’t speak of the last days as being something far off but as something that has arrived with the coming of the Holy Spirit. In our day and time we always hear people talking about how “the last days have come” or the “last days are coming” or “we’re living in the last days” as if they are saying something profound and frightening. But this is not news. The last days have been here. The last days began 2,000 years ago with the coming of the Holy Spirit just as Peter says in Acts 2:16 and 17. Jesus has fulfilled the Law and the prophecies about his work. He became like us and came to us in order to save us. He lived the perfect life we could not live. He died the horrible death we deserve to die. He received the wrath of God that we should have received. He rose from the dead so that we could be free from death. He ascended into heaven to reign over the universe. And he sent his Holy Spirit to fill his Church, indwell his Church, and empower his Church to tell the whole world about who he is and what he has done. Through all of this Jesus has ushered in the last days. And we are now living in them. Though the time of final judgment and final salvation is still to come judgment and salvation are happening right now. And it is all based on how we respond to Jesus’ completed work. If we reject Jesus we are in the process of being judged and we will receive our final sentence when Jesus returns to the earth. If we accept and worship Jesus we are in the process of being saved and we will receive our final reward when Jesus returns to the earth. The last days have already begun. Judgment and salvation have already begun. And they will be consummated when Jesus Christ returns to earth to render his final judgments and the fullness of his rewards.

But, as Peter explains, not only has the process of judgment and salvation begun, but something else has also changed in these last days. In the previous era the Holy Spirit occasionally came to fill and empower certain members of the Jewish community (usually leaders) to accomplish certain tasks. But, now, the Holy Spirit will not be limited to just the Jewish people, or just a certain class of leaders. The Holy Spirit will fill, indwell, and empower all of God’s people. As Peter says in verses 17 and 18, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” God is not just pouring out his Spirit on a certain race of people, or a certain nation of people, or a certain gender, or a certain class. God is pouring out his Spirit on all of his people – regardless of race, class, gender, or ability! Peter explains to his audience that this glorious promise is no longer something to hope for in the future. It is now something to possess in the present. This is that, Peter says. What you’re seeing today is what Joel prophesied about. What you’re seeing today is the beginning of a new era – the last days have begun and God is now pouring out his Holy Spirit on all of his people.

The Presence of the Spirit in Us

You and I weren’t there to see this or hear this. We live in a different time. We live in a different culture. And while we’re so thankful that Luke gave us this detailed and well-researched historical record we can sometimes treat it like that’s all that it is. History. And, yes, it is history. But its relevance to us is not just historical. This event and Luke’s account of this event have present relevance to you and me as we sit at our computers 2,000 years and 7,000 miles removed from what we just read. Because what we just read tells us something astonishing. It tells us that God has sent his Holy Spirit and begun a new era. It tells us that in this new era God is pouring out his Holy Spirit on all of his people. Which means that you and I don’t have to look forward to the day when God will send his Spirit to fill us, indwell us, and empower us. If our faith is in Jesus Christ we look back to the day he sent his Holy Spirit to us to fill us, indwell us, and empower us.

And don’t you forget it.

There are some who will tell you that you have to do something to receive the Holy Spirit. They will tell you that you have to tarry for him – to beg for him, to ask for him, to labor for him. They will tell you that you have to be a certain type of person to receive him; that you have to do this or that; that you have to stop doing that or this; that you have to reach a certain level of maturity or a certain level of righteousness before God will fill you with his Holy Spirit. But when they say that they make God like us, and they make us like God! And God is not like us. And we are not like God. We are evil. We rebel against the True God. We give our trust, and love, and obedience to people and things other than Jesus. We look to people and things other than Jesus to bring us fulfillment, and value, and security, and meaning. We are idolaters who so often worship ourselves in place of Jesus. We do what we shouldn’t do. We don’t do what we should do. Our actions, our thoughts, our words are all imperfect. And yet we think that we can somehow earn the Holy Spirit? We think that we can somehow work hard enough or pray long enough that God would want to live in us? How arrogant and self-righteous and self-worshiping do we have to be to think that we can make ourselves worthy of being the dwelling place of God?! That’s what we’re saying if we say that we have to pray to get the Holy Spirit or that we have to work to get the Holy Spirit. We’re saying that we can make ourselves a worthy place for God to dwell. That is despicable. How you could know the filth that lives in your heart and your mind and think that somehow you can earn the presence of the eternal God living in you is detestable. You are not God. You are nothing like God. And you could never give him a good reason to fill you with his Holy Spirit. And when you say that you can you deny God his glory. You make him like us. And he is not like us. He is not someone who only gives to people who give to him, he is not someone who says, “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” No, he is a God of love, and mercy, and grace. Which means he gives to us the good that we do not deserve simply because he loves us. It means that he doesn’t give to us the bad that we do deserve simply because he loves us. Look back at Acts 1:4. Look at what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.” Focus on the words he uses to describe the coming of the Holy Spirit. “The gift my Father promised.” Gift. Promise. These are not things that can be earned by praying long enough or working hard enough. A gift is something that is given freely, that is undeserved, and unearned. Jesus says the Holy Spirit is a gift, meaning you don’t have to do anything to receive him. And the Holy Spirit is also a promise. Not an offer, not a possibility – a promise. God did not say, “If you do this then I’ll send the Holy Spirit.” He said, “I will send the Holy Spirit.” God did not say, “As long as you do A, B, and C I will send you the Holy Spirit.” He said, “I promise you the Holy Spirit.” Rejoice in that! If your faith is in Jesus he has already sent his Holy Spirit to fill, indwell, and empower you and he has done it according to his righteousness and not your own.

And don’t you forget it.

Yet there are still some who will tell you that you don’t have the Holy Spirit unless you speak in tongues. They read this passage in Acts 2 and they say that since the apostles spoke in tongues when they received the Holy Spirit then everyone will speak in tongues when they receive the Holy Spirit. The first problem with that is that the apostles spoke in actual existing languages that they were never trained to speak. If that’s the sign of the Holy Spirit then very, very few Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit. Because while lots of church people speak in tongues that are unintelligible I have yet to meet any that speak perfectly in an existing language. The second problem with that is that this is not at all what this passage is telling us. One of the easiest mistakes we can make when reading the Bible is to read a descriptive passage and treat it as a prescriptive passage (to read about something that did happen and assume that this is what should always happen). We have to be careful here. Because, remember, Luke is writing history. He is describing what happened at a certain time, in a certain place, with a certain group of people. He does not once imply that this is what will happen at all times, in all places, with all people. And no one really believes that anyway. It’s interesting that those who will tell you that you have to speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit don’t mention the other signs that were present in this passage. Remember, the apostles didn’t just speak in tongues. First, they heard the sound of a rushing and violent wind. Second, they saw tongues of fire resting on each one of them. If we say that what happened to the Apostles when they received the Holy Spirit is what is supposed to happen to everyone then we can’t just say you have to speak in tongues, we have to also say that you have to have fire resting above your head, and a violent wind rushing through the building you’re in. You see we can’t just take a descriptive text in the Bible and turn in into a prescriptive text that applies to everyone. Instead, what we have to do is interpret the descriptive text in light of all of the prescriptive texts we find in Scripture. In this case, we have to see what passages in the Bible directly teach about the Holy Spirit and then we can interpret this historical event in light of the Bible’s direct and explicit teaching. If we do that it won’t take long to see that while tongues may be a sign of the Holy Spirit they are not the evidence of the Holy Spirit. Let’s start in 1Corinthians 12:4-11. The Spirit distributes the gifts as he wills. And it is very clear in this passage that he chooses to give different gifts to different people. To one he gives the message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues. He gives different signs to different people. Let’s read down further in 1Corinthians 12:29-31. Paul is asking his audience a series of rhetorical questions. And the obvious answer to each of them is no. Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Do all work miracles? No. Do all have gifts of healing? No. Do all speak in tongues? No. Clearly, speaking in tongues can be a good thing. It can be something given to us by the Holy Spirit. But it is not proof that we have been given the Holy Spirit. So with tongues or without tongues if your faith is in Jesus Christ you can be certain that you are filled, and you are indwelled, and you are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And don’t you forget it.

This is wonderful news, isn’t it? You don’t have to do anything to receive the Holy Spirit and you don’t have to do anything to prove you have the Holy Spirit. All you have to do is believe. If you believe in Jesus Christ – if you trust in him, put your faith in him, and worship him – you are filled, indwelled, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14 explains, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” This passage clearly teaches that at the moment we truly believed the gospel we were filled with the promised Holy Spirit. But not only is the Holy Spirit the result of our belief. He is also the cause of our belief. 1Corinthians 12:3 says this, “Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” In other words, the only way that you can sincerely and truthfully worship Jesus is if the Holy Spirit is already alive and at work in you. So the question is not, do you speak in tongues? The question is not, do you feel the Holy Spirit? The question is not, what have you done to receive the Spirit? The question is this: do you sincerely and truly believe the gospel of Jesus Christ? If you do then you can know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are filled, and you are indwelled, and you are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And don’t you forget it.

I go to great lengths to make this clear because so many Christians have been told that they don’t have the Holy Spirit or that they don’t have the “fullness” of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps because you don’t speak in tongues people have told you that you’re missing something. And that grieves me so much. It grieves me because it may make you feel like you’re doing something wrong. That somehow you’ve failed to be good enough and, therefore, God has withheld his Holy Spirit from you. It grieves me because it may make you frustrated with God. You may wonder why it seems like God has given the Holy Spirit to this person and that person but he hasn’t given the Holy Spirit to you. You’re wondering why he keeps passing you over. You’re wondering what they have done that you haven’t done. It grieves me because it may make you feel like you’re not prepared to do certain things. Maybe you think you can’t be involved in this ministry because you “don’t have the Holy Spirit” yet. Or maybe you think you can’t defeat this particular sin because you “don’t have the Holy Spirit” yet. It grieves me so much to think that you have been made to feel that you are not filled with the Holy Spirit because you don’t speak in tongues. And so I want to say again what the Bible very clearly says – if you sincerely and truly believe the gospel of Jesus Christ then you are filled, and you are indwelled, and you are empowered by the Holy Spirit. If you weren’t aware of it before you are aware of it now.

And don’t you forget it.

Maybe that’s not you. Maybe you’ve never been made to feel that you are not filled with the Holy Spirit. Maybe you’ve been taught that, yes, you are filled with God’s Spirit. And if that’s true – praise be to God. But the truth is even you need to be reminded of this. Because though you may know it, you sometimes live like you have forgotten it. So let me use Acts chapter 2 to remind you that, if your faith is in Jesus Christ, you are filled, and you are indwelled, and you are empowered by the Holy Spirit of the living God.

And don’t you forget it!

And don’t you live like you have forgotten it!

Knowing that you’re filled with the Holy Spirit should move you to do what the Holy Spirit has empowered you to do! Since you know you are filled with the Holy Spirit you should be proclaiming the gospel, and proclaiming the gospel, and proclaiming the gospel in the power of the Spirit! Since you know you are filled with the Holy Spirit you should be boldly speaking to people about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done in the power of the Spirit! Since you know you are filled with the Holy Spirit you should be resisting sin in the power of the Spirit! Since you know you are filled with the Holy Spirit you should be living like Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit! Since you know you are filled with the Holy Spirit you should be praying frequently and fervently in the power of the Spirit! Your life should look like a life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit because if you love Jesus you are filled, you are indwelled, and you are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And don’t you forget it.

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Introduction

For the past two months we’ve been talking about wisdom as we’ve studied the book of Proverbs together. We’ve talked about what wisdom is (it’s the ability to live life skillfully), we’ve talked about where wisdom is found (it is found only in Jesus Christ who is the source of all wisdom), and we’ve talked about the many ways it shows itself in our practical, everyday lives (in our speech, in our love life, in our work, in our finances, in our attitude). Tonight we’re going to conclude our study on wisdom by asking one more question. Now that you’ve heard all of this information about wisdom what are you supposed to do with it? Now that you’ve gained all of this information on wisdom what are you supposed to do with it? The answer is: you are supposed to treasure it. We’ve seen that wisdom is more valuable than education, it’s more valuable than intelligence, it’s more valuable than great wealth, it’s’ more valuable than all of the possessions in the world. This wisdom, which we have been given through the Scriptures, is to be treasured.

This means, first, that we are to hold it tightly and never let it go. That’s what we do with the things we treasure. When my daughter gets a new toy she will hold it in her clutches day and night. She’ll sleep with it. If she gets up in the middle of the night she’ll take it into the other room with her. She’ll set it at the kitchen table while she eats dinner. She’ll do this because she treasures her new toy. How much more should we hold tightly to the wisdom that the God of the Universe has freely given to us through Jesus, wisdom that we could never acquire on our own?

The wisdom that has been given to us through faith in Jesus Christ is to be treasured and held tightly. It is also to be used and used a lot. When I was in high school my greatest treasure was my walkman. I wore that walkman everywhere. And I used it constantly. I don’t think anyone spoke a word to me throughout four whole years of high-school because they knew I couldn’t hear them anyway. I was too busy listening to Nas, Blackstreet, BBD, and Mobb Deep. I used that thing so much that I ran through batteries quicker than J. Lo ran through male celebrities. To this day I run into people that I haven’t seen since high-school and they remember me as the guy who always had the headphones on. They also remember me as the geeky kid who was too shy to talk to anyone, but that’s beside the point. The point is that I treasured my walkman and I put it to use constantly. We’re to do the same with the wisdom we’ve been given through Jesus Christ. When I say we need to hold tight to wisdom that doesn’t mean that we keep it in a package and just look at it like an old Star Wars figure. No, it means we hold it so closely that it is a part of everything we think, everything we say, and everything we do.

What are we supposed to do with the wisdom we’ve been given? We’re supposed to treasure it, which means we’re supposed to hold it closely and use it constantly. But that’s not all. When we treasure wisdom we will also want to show that wisdom to everyone else. That’s what we do with the things we treasure. We can’t wait to show our treasure to everyone else. When I was a kid I treasured my George Brett autographed baseball above all else and my mission was to show it off to everyone. Now that I’m an adult I treasure my wife and because I treasure her I get excited by every opportunity I have to talk about her and to introduce to new people. You know what I mean. When you eat at a really great restaurant you make it a point to tell everyone about it. When you see a movie that impacts you, or discover a piece of music that truly moves you, you go out of your way to expose your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers to the same thing.

When we treasure wisdom we will want to show it to everyone we know. And that’s not supposed to be a task any more than telling someone about your favorite TV show is a task. It’s supposed to be a joy. And it can be. When we treasure wisdom, when we hold it tightly, when we put it to use, we will find ourselves excited about sharing our treasure with others. After all, that’s how the book of Proverbs was written in the first place. The wise father wanted nothing more than to share wisdom with those close to him. Is that something you’re doing already? Is that something you’d like to do? If so, the book of Proverbs can help you by offering you direction and encouragement.

 

Wisdom Wants to Be Shared

First, Proverbs helps us by showing us that wisdom wants to be shared. It is in her very nature. Let’s look at Proverbs 8:1-11.

“Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud: “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all humankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning all of them are right; they are upright to those who have found knowledge. Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” – Prov 8:1-11

Wisdom wants to be shared. Wisdom calls out to the simple and the foolish, she invites them to herself, she calls them to pursue her and to listen to her. And she uses human messengers to do this. Wisdom wants to be shared and she uses human messengers to bring her to others just as she does in the book of Proverbs; she uses the human author of Proverbs to share wisdom with his sons and with us. Of course you and I know this from experience. The only reason any one of us knows about wisdom, the only reason any one of us has heard about the fear of the Lord, is because wisdom shared herself with us through a human messenger. And why did that human messenger choose to share this wisdom with us? Why did that human messenger choose to share Jesus, the source of all wisdom, with us? Is it because they were braver than we are? Is it because they know more than we know? Is it because they care less about people liking them other than we do? No. It’s none of the above. The reason that your human messenger was able to share wisdom with you is because they were moved to share wisdom with you.

Remember, wisdom wants to be shared. She wants to call out to the simple and the foolish. So if you possess wisdom you will also be possessed by wisdom and she will move you toward her goal — which is to call others to herself. I just spent some time in several airports this past week and while there is a lot of stuff about airports that I don’t like there is one part of airports that I love…the people-mover. I love the people-mover. I love that I can just stand still on a metal slab and without moving a muscle I can turn a 2 minute walk into a 20 second ride. Well, wisdom is like a people-mover. If you are on the path of wisdom she will move you toward her destination, which is to share wisdom with others.

See, if you are wise, if you fear the Lord, you don’t have to try to convince yourself that evangelism is a good idea. You don’t have to try to muster up the desire to tell people about Jesus. If you are wise, if you fear the Lord, you already have that desire. First, because you can’t help but want to tell people about the thing you treasure most. Second, because wisdom herself wants to be shared and she moves you accordingly. That doesn’t mean that you’ve perfected how to do it. But you want to do it. You want to share wisdom with others, you are being moved in the right direction. And we should start by thanking God for graciously giving us this desire, even if we haven’t yet put it into practice as often as we should. Thank God for giving us wisdom and for giving us the desire to share that wisdom with others.

 

The Wise Share Wisdom Graciously

And this leads us to a second point Proverbs makes about sharing wisdom. The wise share wisdom graciously.

“The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent, and their lips promote instruction.” – Prov 16:23

“The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction.” – Prov 16:21

Because we have been freely given wisdom through Jesus Christ, because wisdom herself gives us the desire to share wisdom, we are moved not only to share this wisdom but to share this wisdom graciously. The wise don’t share wisdom in arrogance. They don’t say, “Hey, look what I have. You should listen to me so that you can have what I have.” The wise don’t share wisdom in judgment. They don’t say, “Something must be wrong with you. Why can’t you be more like me and believe this or do that?” No, wise people share wisdom graciously. They recognize that they didn’t find this wisdom on their own. God freely gave it to them through Jesus Christ. So the wise don’t share wisdom like a motivational speaker, or a rock star, or a politician. The wise share their wisdom like a homeless beggar. If we are wise we will share the wisdom we have like one homeless beggar speaking to another homeless beggar. “Brother, I know a place where food is given freely to all who ask.” “Sister, come with me to the one who will satisfy all of your hunger in exchange for nothing. He fed me. He will feed you, too.”

Wisdom wants to be shared. Those who are wise share their wisdom and they share it graciously. This means that the wise share wisdom in two ways. They share it through declaration and they share it through demonstration. They declare their wisdom as they instruct others in its ways. This means they tell people where to find wisdom (in Jesus Christ alone) and how to receive that wisdom (through faith alone). Remember, wise people declare this message because wisdom herself moves them to and because they cannot help but want to share their greatest treasure with others. But wise people don’t just tell people about wisdom, they show people wisdom. They don’t just declare wisdom, they demonstrate wisdom. They do this by declaring wisdom in humility, in patience, in generosity, and in all of the characteristics that wisdom produces. This makes the listener more likely to take interest in the declared message of wisdom. It also provides them a desirable picture of its relevance and its reality. Wisdom that is declared and not demonstrated is not true wisdom. Wisdom that is demonstrated and not declared is not true wisdom. The two must go together because their source is Jesus Christ who is the embodiment of wisdom declared and wisdom demonstrated.

 

Wisdom Shared is Good for the Speaker and Hearer

If we are wise we are called to share our treasure. The wisdom in us moves us to do so by sharing wisdom graciously, by declaring and demonstrating its truth. You can call this evangelism if you want. You can call this preaching the gospel if you want. Whatever you call it it is wisdom. And wisdom is nothing to run from, she is nothing to be afraid of. And this brings us to Proverbs’ next point about sharing your treasure. Wisdom shared is good for both the speaker and the hearer.

“A person finds joy in giving an apt reply-and how good is a timely word!” – Prov 15:23

“The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.” – Prov 13:14

The first proverb tells us that there is joy in speaking the right word at the right time. There is joy for you as you share your treasure, your wisdom, with others. This joy is not contingent on how the other person responds. The joy comes from sharing the treasure regardless of how the other party responds. We feel some measure of joy when we talk about our treasured sports team or our treasured movie. We feel some measure of joy when we talk about our treasured music or our treasured home. We feel some measure of joy when we talk about our treasured children or our treasured significant other. In the same way you will find great joy in talking about wisdom, in talking about Jesus, no matter how people may respond. Your joy is not based on their response. Your joy is in the treasure itself and you can’t help but talk about it. And when you talk about it you can’t help but be overcome by great delight. If you don’t believe me I dare you to try it.

Wisdom shared is good for the speaker, it brings us joy. Wisdom is also good for the hearer. That’s what the second proverb makes clear. Shared wisdom is like a fountain of life that turns someone from the snares of death. Many of us know this first-hand because many of us have been rescued from the snares of death because someone else chose to share their wisdom with us. That’s certainly the case for me. I didn’t want to hear wisdom, I didn’t want to hear about Jesus, any more than your friends, your family, or your neighbors. But when a man shared his wisdom with me it was like a fountain of life that I could not help but drink from. It quenched a thirst I did not even know I had. It provided sustenance I did not even know I needed. And it freed me from the snares of death I did not even know I was trapped in. His shared wisdom was good for me in the truest sense of the word. Many of you have had this same experience. You have experienced the greatest good, good beyond your wildest imagination, as the result of someone else sharing wisdom with you. Having received this good how can we do anything other than share this with others? If we knew where to find unlimited treasure we wouldn’t hide that information from others. If we knew where to get free food we wouldn’t keep that to ourselves. If we know where to find the fountain of life we wouldn’t keep its location a secret.  Well, we do know where to find those things. And if we are wise we will be moved by wisdom to graciously tell others where these things are found…in Jesus.

 

Their Receptiveness is a Reflection of Their Wisdom, Not Yours

The wise share wisdom because wisdom moves them to. As they share that wisdom they share it graciously. And this is good both for them and for those who listen to them. Proverbs makes this clear. And our experience confirms it. But the truth of the matter is that some of us still fear it. We want to share wisdom, we know it’s good for us and for the people we speak to, but we are afraid. We are afraid that we’ll say something wrong. We’re afraid that we’ll offend the other person. We’re afraid the other person will think less of us. We’re afraid that things won’t go smoothly. What if they don’t want to hear the message? What if they reject it? What if in one way or another I fail? Questions like these often keep us from sharing wisdom as we should. But they shouldn’t. Because these questions are based on a false and inaccurate view of the world. They’re based on a false view of the world that judges our wisdom or our success by how people respond to us. But this is a backwards view of the world. Proverbs gives us the proper view of the world. Proverbs tells us that it is not our wisdom that determines their response. Rather, it is their wisdom that determines their response.

“Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.” – Prov 9:9

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” – Prov 1:7

As you share wisdom with someone their receptiveness is a reflection of their wisdom, not yours. If they listen to you and follow you to the path of wisdom they are wise. But if they reject you it is because they are foolish. They don’t reject you because there’s something wrong with you, they reject you because they reject wisdom and they reject wisdom because they reject the Lord. It’s not about you! It’s not about you at all! It’s about them and their hostility with God. You can be the wisest, most articulate, most passionate, most persuasive person in all the world. But if they love foolishness you will not persuade them. The fact that they reject you or your message says nothing about how well you have done at declaring and demonstrating wisdom and it says everything about the foolishness they treasure in their hearts. It’s not about you. It’s about them and their hostility with God. This is how things are. And this right and proper view of how things are is liberating. It frees us from our fears of rejection and our fears of failure. It frees us to share wisdom and to share wisdom graciously knowing that this person’s response says everything about them and nothing about us.

 

Only the Lord Can Grant Wisdom

All of this has been tremendously helpful for me as I have grown in sharing gospel wisdom with others. It’s been helpful for me to understand that wisdom wants to be shared. I want to share wisdom not because I have mustered up some passion for evangelism but because I am God’s child. And because I am God’s child he has given me his wisdom and it is his wisdom that pushes me toward evangelism just like the people mover at the airport pushes me toward where it pleases. It’s also been helpful for me to understand that wisdom shared graciously is good both for me and for the person I’m sharing it with. Sharing the wisdom of God is not a burdensome task to fear. It is a joy just as we take joy in sharing anything we treasure with someone else. It’s also been especially helpful to understand that when people reject this shared treasure they’re not rejecting me, they’re rejecting God; it’s not a reflection of my wisdom but of their foolishness. Having this Biblically shaped worldview of evangelism has made evangelism something I actually look forward to instead of something I dread. That’s not to say that I always feel comfortable doing it. I don’t. But it is to say that I always feel safe and secure doing it. And here’s why. In addition to all of the things we’ve mentioned so far Proverbs also assures us that only the Lord grants wisdom.

“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” – Prov 2:6

It is the Lord who gives wisdom. It is only the Lord who gives wisdom. As we share wisdom with people, as we evangelize, it is not our job to convince them, it is not our job to convert them. Even if we wanted to do those things we don’t have the ability to do those things. It is the Lord who gives wisdom. Think about the implications of that. If you believe that (and you should because the entire Bible confirms it) if you believe that it will completely transform your attitude toward evangelism. Completely. First, this means that the pressure is off of you. You are not responsible for converting your neighbor, or convincing your friend. Your only responsibility is to share and to share graciously. Second, this means that there is not a single person you encounter who is hopeless. If it is God who gives wisdom and God alone who gives wisdom then there is hope for everyone, no matter how far from wisdom they may seem. There is hope for the crackhead around the corner. There is hope for the atheist you work with. There is hope for the disinterested agnostic that you go to school with. There is hope for the rude and obnoxious neighbor next door. There is hope for the family member who makes fun of your beliefs. There is hope for the religious person who seems to be stuck in their tradition. There is hope for everyone you know. Which means you are free to go and share wisdom with everyone you know, without pressure, knowing that God can and will give wisdom to whomever he chooses and he has chosen to use you to do so.

This is what he did with you, isn’t it? You were just as far from God and his wisdom as your neighbor, and your friend, and your co-worker. You were just as far from God as every non-Christian you know. I hope you don’t think that because you grew up in the church, or because your parents are Christians, or because you are an American you somehow were more likely to choose wisdom than the next guy. Thousands, and thousands, and hundreds of thousands of people grow up in the same environment as you and reject God and his wisdom altogether. If you are here tonight as one who follows Jesus Christ there is only one explanation: God gave you wisdom. God gave you wisdom. Without any help from your environment God gave you wisdom. Without any help from you God gave you wisdom. If you are here tonight as a worshiper of Jesus Christ it is because God gave you wisdom.

God gave you wisdom. He had to. He had to because left to yourself you would never find it. No, actually, your predicament was far worse than that. Left to yourself you would never even look for it. No, wait, your predicament was even worse than that. Left to yourself you would run from it. And you did. You did run from wisdom. Because you loved foolishness. You loved foolishness. You loved sin. You loved doing what you want, how you want. You loved living for you. You loved doing bad things because of how it benefited you. You even loved doing good things because of how it benefited you. Everything you thought, everything you said, everything you did – from the worst thing to the best thing – everything flowed out of the self-serving motives of your own foolish heart. You couldn’t find wisdom. You wouldn’t even look for wisdom. You ran from wisdom and embraced foolishness as the love of your life. Brothers and sisters you would still be dead in your self-serving foolishness if it were not for God choosing to give wisdom to you.

And how did he do that? He gave wisdom to you by first giving wisdom for you. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, the source of all wisdom, into a world of foolishness. And when he came to this world of foolishness Jesus Christ lived the life of wisdom in your place. And because Jesus, being wisdom himself, came into a world of foolishness the world hated him. Foolish people rejected him, cursed him, beat him, and murdered him. And we were with those people. We were with them rejecting wisdom, cursing wisdom, beating wisdom, and murdering wisdom because we loved our foolishness. Because Jesus hated foolishness we hated him. But Jesus did not hate us. Jesus hated our foolishness but he did not hate the foolish. Instead, he died for the foolish so that we could become wise. As we drove the nails into his wrists he was willfully taking our foolishness upon himself. And then, as he hung naked from the cross, he not only took our foolishness, he took the punishment for our foolishness. He took the wrath of God that belonged on you and received its fullness upon himself. Three days later he rose from the dead so that foolishness could no longer hold power over God’s people. This is the only way that you could ever receive wisdom. Because God gave wisdom for you.

But it doesn’t stop there. God also gave wisdom to you. Even if you knew every detail of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection; even if you knew the content of the gospel message inside and out; you would still reject it, you would still run from this glorious wisdom, because of your deep love for foolishness. Your only hope to ever become wise was if God gave wisdom to you so that you could believe in the wisdom he gave for you. And if you are a worshiper of Jesus Christ that is exactly what has happened. You have become wise. Not because of any intelligence or effort of your own. But because God gave wisdom for you and then gave wisdom to you. This is why you treasure wisdom so. You treasure wisdom deeply and you treasure wisdom supremely because you see that it is a gift so rare and so difficult to obtain that God himself had to step into human flesh, live, die, rise again, and give you an entirely new heart and an entirely new nature in order for you to have it.

I want you to be silent just for a few moments to think about that. Think about how out of reach this wisdom was. Think about how much this wisdom cost. Think about how glorious this wisdom is. And then try to tell me that you don’t want to share this wisdom with other people. You can’t tell me that. At this moment as you meditate on your greatest treasure and how you have come to receive it you want nothing more than to share this wisdom with other people. Right now, as you think about who Jesus is and who you would be without Jesus, you want to share this wisdom with other people, don’t you? Don’t you? Do you know why? It’s not because I’m a good preacher. It’s not because I’ve stirred up your emotions. It’s not because of the church environment. It’s not because of any of those things. It’s because God’s wisdom lives within you and that wisdom is pushing you to let it out.

For that reason I’m going to ask you to do something right now. I’m going to ask you to do something right now before you can go home and allow yourself to suppress wisdom’s push in you. I want you to think about everything you have planned this week. And I want you to ask yourself, “Have I set aside any time to hang out with any non-Christians this week?” If the answer is no, I want you to schedule something this week. Maybe you need to schedule lunch with a co-worker, or coffee with a friend, or have a neighbor over for dinner. You’ll never be able to share wisdom if you’re not spending time with those who need wisdom. If you already have something scheduled with a non-Christian this week I want you to seek God in prayer right now. Ask him to give you the desire and the opportunity to share your wisdom. This isn’t something you have to force. It’s something that can happen naturally in the flow of conversation. Pray that God will help you to recognize that and that he will help you have intentional spiritual conversations with the non-Christians you’re in relationship with. This isn’t a task. It’s a joy. If you have wisdom you do want to share it with others. Maybe you don’t know exactly how to do it. But you want to do it. So start with the first step, which is spending time with non-Christians. And if you have questions about how to have intentional spiritual conversations with them we’ll be talking about those things together in the weeks to come.