SermonWisdom, God’s Gift
An all-creatures Bible Message

Wisdom, God’s Gift
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
22 May 2016
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Proverbs 8:22-36
Revelation 4:1-11

Wisdom, God’s gift, is one of the Lord’s creations; the Bible depicts wisdom in female terms, but also as a being, even a spiritual being as are God and His angels.
 
God did not create Wisdom for Himself; He created her to be shared with everyone else who is willing to receive her.
 
It is also Wisdom who tells us that it is ungodly to cause pain, suffering, or death, or to be a party to it either directly or indirectly, such as with our money.
 
Let us together learn some more about Wisdom.
 
As we look at Proverbs 8:22-36, we can hear Wisdom speaking of her own beginnings.

22. "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
 
23. "From everlasting I was established,
From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.

In other words, Wisdom was with God even before He created the heavens and the earth.

24. "When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no springs abounding with water.

Wisdom was an active part of the creation process; nothing came into being without her.

25. "Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills I was brought forth;
 
26. While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,
Nor the first dust of the world.
 
27. "When He established the heavens, I was there,
When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

28. When He made firm the skies above,
When the springs of the deep became fixed,
 
29. When He set for the sea its boundary,
So that the water should not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth;
 
30. Then I was beside Him, as a master workman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,

If Wisdom was rejoicing with delight at the sight of God’s creation, then all of us, who have wisdom, should also rejoice and take delight in every aspect of God’s creation, which includes all of us human beings, all the animals, and the environment in which we all live.

31. Rejoicing in the world, His earth,
And having my delight in the sons of men.

These are the peacemaking children of God who help free creation from its pain and suffering.

32. "Now therefore, O sons, listen to me,
For blessed are they who keep my ways.

If we have God’s wisdom, then we will also live in His heavenly will, and we’ll do everything we can to help free creation from its present corruption, and never knowingly do anything to further corrupt this earth, such as those people who raise and/or eat animals, or engage in any aspect of the warring madness that plagues this earth.
 
And Wisdom goes on and instructs us…

33. "Heed instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect it.
 
34. "Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.

If we don’t heed Wisdom who comes to us through the unction of the Holy Spirit, then we will lose this blessing, and could run the risk of missing out on heaven itself, as we are told next.

35. "For he who finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the LORD.
 
36. "But he who sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love death."
NASB

We are plainly being told that all who sin against Wisdom are really hurting themselves, for their actions say that they really love death more than life everlasting with the Lord.
 
With these things in mind, let’s take a look at Revelation 4:1-11…

1. After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things."

John is writing about his own experience, for he was filled with wisdom and the Lord wanted his apostle to deliver His message to the churches and the world, which his writings are surely doing.
 
Are we filled with Wisdom?
 
Are we willing to do the same thing that John was called upon to do?
 
If we are God’s children, the answers to both of these questions should be, “Yes!”

2. Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
 
3. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.
 
4. And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
 
5. And from the throne proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;

One of which is Wisdom.

6. and before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

Wisdom makes us aware that there are animals in heaven, even though the translators of the Bible have obscured the truth by referring to them as creatures, but the apostle John clearly saw animals in heaven, and we have noted where the Greek word for animal was used.

7. And the first creature [animal] was like a lion, and the second creature [animal] like a calf, and the third creature [animal] had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature [animal] was like a flying eagle.
 
8. And the four living creatures [animals], each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come."
 
9. And when the living creatures [animals] give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,

Furthermore, John plainly saw and heard the animals praising God along with the elders.

10. the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
 
11. "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created."
NASB

And because God also created us with the ability to love and obey Him, and to become His children who are filled with His Wisdom, we who are living in His heavenly will are also going to be with Him and all the animals in heaven.
 
We just need to be willing to receive Wisdom.
 
Amen.

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