Excelling in All Things V

Excellence in Understanding

 

I.                  HERE’S WHAT WISDOM CAN DO FOR YOU

 

1.     Ability To Be 10 Times Better

 

Dan. 1:3-4

³ And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; ⁴ Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and ⁱskilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding ^kscience, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach ^mthe learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans

 

Dan. 1:17-21

As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸ Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. ²⁰ And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^othe magicians and ^pastrologers that were in all his realm. ²¹ And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.

 

2.      Deeper Insight Into Reality

 

1 Kings 3:4-12

⁴ Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” ⁶ And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷ Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. ⁸ And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. ⁹ Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” ¹⁰ The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹ Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, ¹² behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.

 

1 Kings 4:29-34

²⁹ And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. ³⁰ Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ³² He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. ³³ Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. ³⁴ And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

 

a.       Wisdom Reveals Principles That Make Truth Easy To Understand And Memorable (Proverbs)

 

b.      Ability To Identify And Capture Moments And Freeze Them In Words And Music

 

c.       Unlocking Deeper Mysteries Of Things That Already Exist

 

3.      The Ability To Know What To Do

 

Gen. 41:25-36

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷ And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. ²⁸ This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. ³¹ So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. ³² And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. ³³ “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. ³⁵ And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. ³⁶ Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.”

 

4.      Ability To Quickly Read A Situation

 

Matthew 22:15-22

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. ¹⁶ And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “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. ¹⁷ Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. ²⁰ And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

 

Luke 11:14-17

¹⁴ And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” ¹⁶ Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷ But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.

 

II.               GOD WANTS TO GIVE US WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING

 

1.      We Must Go After It

 

Psalm 25:2

² It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

 

2.      We Must Search  It Out

 

Proverbs 2:1-8

My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, ² So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; ³ Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, ⁴ If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; ⁵       Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. ⁶            For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; ⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; ⁸ He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.

 

3.      We Must Ask For It

 

James 1:2-8

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways

 

 

4.      We Must Expect  It

 

Isaiah 30:21

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

 

Psalm 32:8-9

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye.

⁹     Do not be like the horse or like the mule,

Which have no understanding,

Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,

Else they will not come near you.

 

 

PRAYERS

 

1.      God Will Give The Spirit Of Wisdom And Revelation

2.      Our Eyes And Ears Will Be Anointed To Hear

3.      Enough Revelation And Understanding To Be 10 Times Better

4.      God Will Remove Dullness Of Hearing