Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

• John 14:25-27

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

• 1 Corinthians 13:9-12

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

• James 1:5

“Second, Spurgeon maintained that the Holy Spirit must give him godly wisdom to make a balanced presentation of the gospel. Only by the Spirit’s aid, Spurgeon affirmed, could he communicate the gospel with a proper balance and appropriate emphasis.
“Noting the shallow teaching of his day, Spurgeon said, ‘Some who have evidently understood a part of the gospel have given undue prominence to that one portion of it, and have therefore exhibited a distorted Christianity.’ Moreover, he declared, ‘Certain important doctrines of the gospel can be so proclaimed in excess as to throw the rest of truth into the shade.’ ln other words, Spurgeon believed some were failing to set forth the whole truth, even deemphasizing certain doctrines because of apparent contradictions.”

• Steven J. Lawson, The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon

The story of my wife loving Spurgeon and having this tiny book in her bookcase was in yesterday’s first installment.

Might I note that the quote ends with “apparent contradictions” but there are no contradictions in the Bible.  We may differ in our interpretation, but as we look at what seems an apparent contradiction, we realize that one or the other bit of scripture was being taken out of context or misinterpreted in some way, at least most of the time.  There is an explanation in any case.  One of those explaining people was Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon,

I was told while in high school that I had the highest IQ that the school had seen, maybe since recording the Intelligence Quotient, but I have made so many bone-headed mistakes in my life, you would think I was stupid.

Just as there is a marked difference between the words ignorant (a lack of knowledge in one area of study or another) and stupid (inability to learn or slowness in learning), there is even a larger difference in wisdom and intelligence.

You can give me a concept to apply to something and I can master it in little time at all and use that concept in complex situations.  But that does not make me wise in the decision of when to use that concept and who might be affected or what harm may result when I use that concept.

Why is the story of Solomon telling them to cut the living child in half show his wisdom?  It might seem cruel, but Solomon knew human nature.  He knew that a living child, even in the hands of another mother was more important to the real mother of the child and of little importance to the other mother.

Part of wisdom is the application of knowledge from one field and applying it in other cases, sprinkled with the broader knowledge of how a decision affects others.

The Scripture from James above is true.  We cannot obtain true wisdom by simply reading a lot of books on wisdom.  The biblical definition of a fool is someone who does not believe in God.  And I think the biblical definition of wisdom is relying upon God, especially the Holy Spirit to help us make life decisions, important ones and the mundane.

For all of my life since I was twelve, I have been a member of one Presbyterian church or another, four different denominations if you want to get technical.  Presbyter is a leader within the church, and the word comes from the word for old gray hairs.  In other words, the learned, Godly men of the church were to be the leaders.  These days, women are allowed to be leaders, in three of those four denominations of Presbyterians.  Often the leaders are not gray-haired.  In many cases, the gray-haired folks are “retired” although God never made provision for retirement for doing His good work in this world.  The only time “retire” appears in the NIV is Numbers 8:25 when fifty-year-old tent erectors can retire from erecting the tents, but they are to supervise and give advice.  Sitting on one’s hands and being served was never part of the biblical plan.

Now, having a desire to not put up with the nonsense is wise.  There is far too much nonsense in those church leadership meetings.  Delegation to the workers of the church is more practical to maintain the church building and grounds, organize Sunday school materials, and lead evangelism outreach, without the presiding board spending a 5-6 hour long meeting spinning wheels and then suggesting that a committee study the issues further.  Get the picture?!  Wasting 5-6 hours and nothing gets resolved – nonsense!

But asking God for the wisdom, as James promises will be delivered in faith, is the prudent plan.  Mention that at the presiding board meeting and you might get, as I was told more than once, “Shut UP!  This is a business meeting.”

But Rev. Spurgeon knew that without the wisdom that God can provide, all the knowledge that he received from the Holy Spirit would not find the hearts of the people in the church.

Without the Holy Spirit providing wisdom at that church presiding board meeting, no good decision can be made.

Without the Holy Spirit providing us wisdom, we might impart knowledge in Sunday school, but are we giving the people who attend the building blocks to help them grow as Christians?

For Spurgeon, it was all about God, nothing that he contributed, that gave him success.  It was the knowledge and understanding that the Holy Spirit provided, even in the burning desire to learn more and to keep going when it was hard in doing so.  But then it was the Holy Spirit who gave Spurgeon the wisdom to organize the material in such a way that facilitated greater acceptance by those listening and more movement in the listener’s heart to yearn to know more about God and obey God’s commands and doing God’s Will in their daily lives.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.