Wisdom Worth Noting

Jun 11
3 min read

In this offering, particular attention is being paid to the thinking and talk of the disciples of worldly wisdom. It is wisdom that is perfectly sensual, earthly, and packed with pure froth and lip service. It is wisdom that is dastardly unspiritual! It is the wisdom that is found in the disciples of the Pharisees. The describing word, dastardly, has been deliberately chosen, to help press home the utter cowardliness, underhandedness and darkness of wisdom that is not of the Holy Spirit. It is wisdom that is indeed all sensual.

Their Thinking - Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples and the Herodians. Matthew 22: 15 – 16a.

These disciples of the Pharisees, along with the Herodians, people who are like-minded, think that they can come to Jesus with ulterior motives and not be found out. They believe that they are so smart, so wise and so very clever, they think they can come to Jesus in the clever disguise of weightless, putrid talk, and not have their plot to entangle Him, seen through.

They are like little children who are enthusiastically, excitedly and energetically enjoying their game of, Hide and Seek. A very little child runs in a corner, covers his face with his little hands, and thinks that he is so hidden, no one will easily find him. These disciples are no different. They think that they are so wise that their wicked thoughts are hidden from Jesus. O how utterly foolish!

You and I know that the wisdom of Jesus, the wisdom from above, sees and knows the very thoughts of humans, good and bad, healthy and unhealthy, harmless and harmful. Paul, who sought only and always the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, his Lord and Master, earnestly pleads with the Church to avoid all worldly wisdom. For the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He catches the wise in their own craftiness; and again, the LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile. 1 Corinthians 3: 19 - 20

Avoid all sensual wisdom, for Jesus knows your thoughts.

Their Talk – Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Matthew 22: 16b.

It is imperative and astutely critical that we note and understand just how one’s thinking directly influences and informs one’s talk. I found this to be quite disturbing, in that it is so easy to have the words, know the words and speak the works, without the spirit. It is so natural and accepted in the world’s wisdom to have the talk, crave it even, and pay no attention to the walk.

Why do I say that this is disturbing? For one thing, it really has hit me that if I do not know the wisdom of God, I mean, genuinely possess it, bearing its fruit in me, I will most certainly be deceived by the world’s wisdom. You see, I will hear all the good, right, proper and admirable words of God coming from human lips and fall for them. Put it like this. You listen to religious leaders, for example and their students, men and women of God, as they lift Jesus up high and you accept every word, when the Spirit is totally absent from it all.

Examine the talk of these pharisaical servants, these obedient and flawlessly faithful disciples. Have they not come spouting the talk?

They address Jesus as Rabbi, or Teacher. They are in public, mind you, and must be super smart to keep their disguise before the people and Jesus. Don’t forget, their whole thinking is that they, through their highly sensual ways, will trap Jesus. They never address Him as false Teacher, fake Teacher, imposter Teacher, or any such give-away words. They give Him His due title. Listening to their address alone, one would think that these disciples were genuine and most of all, very respectful and honouring. Not only that, they carry on with even more highly impressive talk. We know! They are being personal here, this is no second-hand talk and knowledge. They tell Jesus that they know, for it is all personal to them.

My dear fellow believers, talk without the Spirit is all disingenuous, deceitful, dangerous and grossly misleading. Listen to the Spirit of God and heed!