The Duty and Delight of Wisdom

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“…wisdom is the spring of joy, for the joy breaks out whenever and wherever the Creator’s wisdom is exercised.”

~Derek Kidner (1913-2008), British Old Testament scholar

“You are happy when God blesses you, but not as happy as God is.”

~C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), famed London preacher

“People don’t get depressed when they face threats collectively; they get depressed when they feel isolated, lonely, or useless.”

~Jonathan Haidt in The Anxious Generation

“To me there is in happiness an element of self-forgetfulness. You lose yourself in something outside yourself when you are happy; just as when you are desperately miserable you are intensely conscious of yourself, are a solid little lump of ego weighing a ton.”

~Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), English chemist, philosopher, and educator

“There cannot be done so great an injury and displeasure to almighty God our Father, as to tread underfoot Christ, His only-begotten and well-beloved Son. All other sins in the world, gathered together in one, be not so heinous and detestable in the sight of God. And no wonder, for in Christ crucified, God doth show Himself most noble and glorious, even an almighty God, and most loving Father, in His only dear and chosen blessed Son. And therefore I count myself one of the most wicked and miserable sinners, because I have been so much contrary to Christ my Savior….

“But, now, what maketh me so bold and hardy, to presume to come to the Lord with such audacity and boldness, being so great a sinner? Truly, nothing but His own Word: for He saith, ‘Come to me all ye that labor, and are burdened, and I shall refresh you.’ What gentle, merciful, and comfortable words are these, to all sinners! What a most gracious, comfortable, and gentle saying was this, with such pleasant and sweet words to allure His enemies to come unto Him! Is there any worldly prince or magistrate that would show such clemency and mercy to their disobedient and rebellious subjects…? I suppose they would not with such words allure them…. But even as Christ is Prince of Princes and Lord of Lords, so His charity and mercy surmounteth all others.”

~Katharine Parr, the final wife of Henry VIII, in “Lamentations of a Sinner”

“Only the unconditional love of God for sinners will inspire sinners to love God more than their sin.”

~Dr. John Ashley Null, English Reformation scholar

SERMON PASSAGE

Proverbs 8 (ESV)

1 Does not wisdom call?

  Does not understanding raise her voice?

2 On the heights beside the way,

  at the crossroads she takes her stand;

3 beside the gates in front of the town,

  at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:

4  “To you, O men, I call,

  and my cry is to the children of man….

22 “The Lord possessed me

  at the beginning of his work,

  the first of his acts of old.

23 Ages ago I was set up,

  at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,

  when there were no springs abounding with water.

25 Before the mountains had been shaped,

  before the hills, I was brought forth,

26 before he had made the earth with its fields,

  or the first of the dust of the world.

27 When he established the heavens, I was there;

  when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

28 when he made firm the skies above,

  when he established the fountains of the deep,

29 when he assigned to the sea its limit,

  so that the waters might not transgress his command,

  when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

30 then I was beside him, like a master workman,

and I was daily his delight,

  rejoicing before him always,

31 rejoicing in his inhabited world

  and delighting in the children of man.

32  “And now, O sons, listen to me:

   blessed are those who keep my ways.

33 Hear instruction and be wise,

   and do not neglect it.

34 Blessed is the one who listens to me,

   watching daily at my gates,

   waiting beside my doors.

35 For whoever finds me finds life

   and obtains favor from the Lord,

36 but he who fails to find me injures himself;

   all who hate me love death.”

John 1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.