Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Ecclesiastes chapter 10 and
our text verse 10. If the iron be blunt and he do
not wet the edge, then must he put to more strength but wisdom
is profitable to direct. Ecclesiastes 10 and verse 10,
it is specifically the last clause, but wisdom is profitable to direct,
that is upon my spirit. What is wisdom? The definition
of wisdom is the ability to know what is true or right. It is having knowledge and good
judgment and experience. In Proverbs, wisdom is personified,
it is set forth as the Lord Jesus Christ. And we certainly are
given in the portion that we read in Proverbs 3. As we concluded
that portion in verse 19, the Lord by wisdom hath founded the
earth, by understanding hath he established the heavens, by
his knowledge the depths are broken up and the clouds drop
down the dew. And we have there the illustration
of the effect of wisdom, the Lord's wisdom, the Lord using
his wisdom and bringing in those words understanding and knowledge
that is inseparable from that definition of wisdom. We think of the wisdom that God
was pleased to give to King Solomon. These portions are his writings
under the inspiration of the Spirit. And we might marvel,
and I have heard those that have marveled at the wisdom in Solomon's writings. And yet they
have forgotten, and we've had to point them to it, where that
wisdom actually came from. Where is the source of it? We read in the second book of
Chronicles, in the first chapter, how that God appeared to Solomon
in a dream by night. In verse 7 in that chapter, God
said to Solomon, ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon, he asked
for wisdom. The portion reads, And Solomon
said unto God, Thou hast showed great mercy unto David my father,
and hast made me to reign in his stead. Now, O Lord, let thy
promise unto David my father be established, for thou hast
made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge. that I may go out and come in
before this people, for who can judge this thy people that is
so great? And God said to Solomon, Because
this was in thine heart, thou hast not asked riches, wealth,
or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast thou
asked long life, but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself,
that Thou mayest judge my people over whom I have made Thee King,
wisdom and knowledge is granted unto Thee. And the Lord then
said that he would give riches and wealth and honour such as
none of the kings have that have been before thee. And he granted
that in addition what he had not asked. But we have the wisdom
of Solomon that even the Queen of Sheba came from the utmost
part of the earth to hear of his wisdom. And our Lord said,
behold, the greater than Solomon is here, the Lord Jesus Christ,
greater than Solomon. He was the one that gave Solomon
that wisdom. Eyes, of course, also to us in
the epistle of James. We have this word that is to
us in the first chapter in verse five, if any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and appraideth
not and it shall be given him. And so we have this applied to
us as well. We had in our reading there the
description of the foolish and how their wisdom just followed
them as they went by the way. They did not have that wisdom
to regulate their lives and it was evident to all those that
saw them. Well, I want, with the Lord's
help this morning, to look firstly at the context, at the verse
of our text, and the simple illustration of the use of wisdom. And then secondly, wisdom to
direct in doctrine, I want to look at some of those scriptures
where this is set before us, and then thirdly, wisdom to direct
in practice. But firstly, we have a simple
illustration in our text. If the iron be blunt and he do
not wet the edge, then must he put to more strength. When I was a boy over in Australia,
I must have been quite young, it was the first two years that
we were over there, so I was probably about six, although
we may have visited, it was a show, an agricultural show, and very
often they had woodcutting. They had the axmen there competing
as to who could be quickest to cut through a piece of timber.
And so whenever I read this portion, I think of them. I can see them
swinging those axes. I can also see them sharpening
the axes as well. That's what's meant here by wetting
the edge. It is sharpening the axe. And so we have a picture of a
man that doesn't sharpen his axe. And he must work harder. He labours hard, but he is not
getting on nowhere near as well as the man that takes the time
to stop, to sharpen his axe, and then he gets on so much quicker,
so much better. And really it's a simple illustration,
but it is an illustration that really can apply to so many parts
of our lives. may be in the path of prayer. We may have a day that is before
us, a very busy day, much to do, we've got no time for prayer,
we've just got to get on and do it, there's so much to do.
But one that knows the worth and value of prayer and the aid
and help of God will know that the time that is taken to stop
and to pray and to ask the Lord's blessing and help, that that
is worth so much more than all of his labours. Those things
the Lord is able to make work for good, and sometimes we have
in our lives those things like the chariots of Pharaoh's army
when they're in the sea, the Lord took off their chariot wheels,
and the Lord is able to do that. How many times have we done something
and then suddenly realised we've made it wrong or actually been
working maybe on the computer on a wrong spreadsheet and we've
spent all of this time and realised actually we should have been
working on another one or other ways where we have spent our
strength for naught. And here is this picture then,
a simple illustration that a little bit of wisdom, a little bit of
time spent would make so much difference in the labours and
maybe in our lives as well. Whatever we're doing, whether
our earthly employment, whether it is we are learning studying,
whether we are working with others, whether we are working in the
Lord's work, whether we are preachers or whether we are coming to the
Lord's house to hear. And we think, well, the time
to pray for a blessing and pray for the Lord's help, it doesn't
really need that. We'll just come to the house
of God. All these ways that It follows
this example here, which we can so easily see, we can understand
this, a blunt axe, how difficult it will be to work with, how
unprofitable, how it won't work. Dear friends, may we think of
our lives. How many times are we working
with a blunt axe? How many times are we laboring
and laboring and we think, I have toiled so much. I haven't had
enough time. I haven't been able to get done
what I wanted to get done. Here's the secret of it in the
words of our text. The lack of wisdom. The need
of wisdom that is profitable to direct. Now here we have a
simple illustration. Sometimes these illustrations
though, they can be so powerful, such a light upon the truth that
is here and may the word itself speak this morning, speak to
my heart and yours and to our lives and especially where we
feel that we're like one that has been using a blunt axe. How can it be sharpened? How can wisdom Wisdom make this
different. If the iron be blunt, and he
do not wet the edge, then must he put to more strength. But wisdom is profitable to direct. I want to look then, secondly,
at the wisdom to direct in doctrine. The Apostle Paul, when he came
to the Mars Hill in Acts 17, we read of a people there that
were a religious people, and they were worshipping all the
idols and all the gods that they knew of. But Paul came and he came with
the true wisdom of God. He came with the knowledge of
a God that they did not know. And he sees there amongst all
their altars, he tells them, he says, I beheld your devotions. I found an altar with this inscription
to the unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly
worship Him declare I unto you. How many in the world today are
worshipping an unknown God? They are walking according to
the wisdom that they have and The Lord says that in the wisdom
of God, it pleased God that the world through wisdom should not
find out God. God reveals himself and reveals
himself to a people that he will save. The world is in darkness. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
Him. It is vital that we are given
that wisdom to know the true and living God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, to know Him who is the true God and in the portion
that we read there in Proverbs, especially the definition of
wisdom as describing the true and living
God's actions and work, the Lord, by wisdom, hath founded the earth. And we have in Proverbs, in Jeremiah,
that the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, they
shall perish from under the heavens and the earth. And so it is in
doctrine, Wisdom that is profitable to direct is to direct to the
only true and living God. And Paul did this to those at
Mars Hill in all the many gods that they were worshipping and
going after. How we need this in our day,
how we need to be Persuaded of this, that there is one God,
and our Lord in the law of God, he says, thou shalt have no other
gods beside me. The wisdom of the word of God,
especially in directing in doctrine, it must direct that we worship
the one true and living God. of the Bible, the God who created
the heavens and the earth. Bless God if the Lord has given
us that wisdom to know Him and at the exclusion of all other. In a way, it is a real test because
there's many today, well, so you can believe in your God You
can believe in Jesus but we will believe in our God and all doctrines
as well will lead to heaven but they will not. The exclusivity
of the doctrine of Christ and the salvation by Christ alone
is offensive to man and yet it is the true wisdom which is from
above. Secondly then, Wisdom that is
profitable to direct, not only to the true and living God, but
also to the righteousness that saves. Man's righteousnesses
are as filthy rags, and yet we are like the Jews that Paul wrote
to in Romans 10, and he said that of his people, They had
a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. In other words,
not according to wisdom. A zeal. They were religious people, very
zealous people. They were like he was. His description
of zeal was to hail men and women to prison. He hated the Lord
Jesus Christ. But when that wisdom of God came
to him, He counted his own righteousnesses as nothing but dung and dross,
that he might win Christ. He says of them in Romans 10
verse 3, for they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and going
about to establish their own, have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of Christ. The wisdom to direct in doctrine
is to direct away from seeking to bring our own good works,
our ways, our righteousness before God, to forsake that and to look
solely to what Christ has done. His goodness, His perfect life,
His obedience, The hymn writer says, in Christ's obedience,
clothe and wash me in his blood. So shall I lift my head with
joy among the sons of God. However diligent we might be,
like the hacksmith, working and working to try and make ourselves
holy, godly, upright, good men and women, and acceptable to
God, we will fail. all our best works are died with
sin. It is to look away from that.
The wisdom, the wetting the edge in that way is to forsake our
own righteousness and to embrace that which is in Christ. For Christ is the end of the
lawful righteousness to everyone that believeth. The righteousness
of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart, who shall
ascend unto heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above. It's not heights of experience,
visions, or who shall descend into the deep. It's not depths
of experience. This is the wisdom of God. Word of God, where we are to
look for saving grace, for righteousness that fits for heaven. But thirdly, the wisdom of God
to direct in doctrine is that which our Lord brought before
the two as they walked to Emmaus. A right interpretation of the
events that happened at Calvary. How vital that that is. You know, I've heard some say
that, well, I don't know what the problem is today. Christ
has put away sin at Calvary, so we don't need to go to churches,
and we don't need to believe, and we can all go to heaven because
Christ has put away sin. As if it's just all put away,
there's no need of a personal faith and there's no knowledge
of sin personally to need repentance and remission of sins either. And some will say, well, Christ
died then for everybody, even for Saul and even for Judas. But just because they didn't
exercise their own faith, they weren't saved. But the Word of
God teaches us that it is a particular redemption and Christ laid down
his life for his sheep and it is effectual. He will save everyone
for whom he died. A just weight and a just balance
is of the Lord. He doesn't pay for what he doesn't
get. and the two on the way to Emmaus,
they had seen all that had happened at Calvary. They'd seen our Lord
crucified. We read of them in Luke 24 and
verse 21, and they tell of what their chief priests
had done and rulers had done. And then they say, but we trusted
that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside
all this, today is the third day since these things were done. And then they tell of the women
that had brought the reports of the empty tomb and that they
had not found his body. And our Lord then says to them
in verse 25, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that
the prophets have spoken. A fool is the opposite of one
that has wisdom. He calls them fools because they
have viewed these things at Calvary and they have not seen what truly
has been accomplished and done at Calvary. He says, ought not
Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his
glory. And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself. And so he expounded unto them
a suffering saviour. He interprets this what he had
said unto them. ought not Christ to have suffered
these things. He is the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world. He is the substitutionary offering. He is the one that bore the wrath
of God in the place of His people. He is the seed of the woman that
should bruise the serpent's head. Really these two points is, one
concerning the righteousness of Christ and what was done at
Calvary are so vital that we know that it is the blood of
Jesus Christ that cleanseth from all sin. It is through the blood
of Christ the church is redeemed, is cleansed. It is through the
righteousness of God, the righteousness of Christ, that the Church of
God stands faultless before God's throne, not in their works that
they've done in this life, but what Christ has done. And so
that wisdom, wisdom to direct in providence, is not looking
for something in us, but is looking for the full payment made at
Calvary, is looking for a righteousness that is a perfect covering in
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the wisdom which is from
above. This is the wisdom that is profitable
to direct a poor sinner who feels himself a sinner under condemnation,
guilty, hell-deserving sinner, and appoint him where life is
to be found. Calvary in the Lord Jesus Christ,
in his blood, in his righteousness. The fourth thing, wisdom to direct
in providence. The Lord has said that his people
shall be a chastened people. And in fact, the passages that
we have read here in Proverbs chapter 3. We read in verse 11,
My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary
of his correction. It implies here this correction
is ongoing. It goes on and on. You can get
weary of it. For whom the Lord loveth, he
correcteth, even as a father, the son in whom he delighteth. What if we had a son and he kept
on doing wrong? You had to keep correcting him,
keep chastising him. Would you as a father get weary
of it and say, I've had enough, I can't do any more with him?
Or as a father, would you keep correcting? Or would the son
say, I'm just weary of this. My father is always having a
go at me, always correcting me. I've had enough of him, I'm going
to leave him. and they go away. Well, we're
exhorted in this, that we're not to be weary of God's correction. We are sinners, we constantly
sin. We have a God that doesn't give
up on us and constantly corrects and chastens. But it is to discern
it in a right way. We have the example of the children
of Israel as they came back from captivity and they walked in
the ways of discouragement at first because God didn't appear
for them and help them in the temple, in the building of the
temple. There were many discouragements
in it. So they spent their time and
they spent their money in their efforts of their own houses working
after their own things. And so what God did, he sent
them to have all of their crops touched, their goods touched,
their ways touched, so it did not profit them at all. And it
was in that way that God taught them, that they didn't recognize,
they didn't realize what it was that God was doing. So he sent
his prophets, he sent Haggai, he sent Zechariah, he sent them
to highlight what was happening, how much they were labouring
and toiling and working with their hands, and yet they expected
to bring in much and they brought in little. And the prophets,
they highlighted this, they pointed it all out, and they said the
reason why, why God was doing this, was because the house of
God lay bare. They left that alone. They were
dealing just with their own houses. And sometimes the chastening
of the Lord is to be understood. Hear ye the rod and who hath
appointed it. Sometimes it's easy when that
chastening comes from man, Solomon himself. He went after a strange
woman, he made idols for his wives, many wives. And the Lord chastened him, chastened
him through men, adversaries that were raised up. Naturally
speaking, you would never bring a link between that adversary
and Solomon's sins. But the Word of God brings the
link. And so with our lives, you might
see things that happen in the path that we're walking and bear
no link. between that and our sin. But
when the Lord makes us to know our sin and to have the wisdom
to realise the Lord chastens in many different ways and to
hear that role, conscience will speak. It's a blessed thing to
have a tender conscience and to have that wisdom then to understand
the chastening hand of God. In Hebrews 12 we read that the
Lord chastens every son whom he receiveth. We are to value
that chastening and to bless the Lord for him. And the promise
is to those that are exercised thereby. It is not pleasant in
the time, it is bitter, but afterwards it shall yield the peaceable
fruit of righteousness. Then we have the path of prayer. We already referred to James
in the direction to pray for wisdom. If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and abrideth
not, and it shall be given him. But how do we pray? And how are we to use wisdom
in our prayers? Later on in that epistle we have
in chapter four, he asked a mess, he asked and received not because
he asked a mess, that he may consume it upon your lusts. And we have a picture then of
people going back to an illustration with the axe, of people who may
be praying and praying, And they think, well, we're not getting
answers, we're not getting help. Why is it so? You ask amiss. Why are you asking amiss? You
may consume it upon your lust. People that are just wanting
things for themselves. They're just wanting the loaves
and the fishes, as it were. They're wanting the Lord to be
their servant. to be the one that gives them
this and that and all of these things. They're not interested
in the Lord. They're not interested in the
giver. They just want what he has to
give. That's all. Just to consume it upon our own
lust, or in the margin it says, or pleasure. That's all. Is there a religion like that?
The Lord is just our servant and prayer is just appointed
so that he just gives us what we want. We have in the fifth
chapter of James, confess, well, if we read from verse 15, concerning
those that are sick, Let him call for the elders of the church,
let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord. The prayer of faith shall save
the sick, and the Lord shall rise him up. And if he have committed
sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one
to another, pray one for another, that he may be healed. Then we have this, the effectual.
Fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The beautiful picture really
of the Lord and his intercession, the one truly righteous man.
We have an illustration of Elias, Elijah, was a man subject to
like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might
not rain, it rained not on the earth, by the space of three
years and six months. He prayed again, and heaven gave
rain, and the earth brought forth fruit. How earnest are our prayers. The hymn writer says, wrestling
prayer can wonders do, bring relief in deep distress, or deep
restraints. And often our prayers, they are
so Feeble, inconsistent, though not fervent. I can, says the hymn writer,
no denial take when I plead for Jesus' sake. And so we have our
text illustrated in that, in the way of doctrine, a factual
prayer. Prayer. Praying for those right
things with the right motive. Praying through our Lord Jesus
Christ. I want to look then lastly at
wisdom to direct in practice. When Joseph had made known the
dream that Pharaoh had. Joseph, he gave to Pharaoh that
advice that he should look at a man. that was able to govern
the country at that time. In Genesis 41 and in the 30th verse or roundabout
there, we have Joseph saying in verse 33
now therefore that Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise and
set him over the land of Egypt and he gave to Pharaoh advice
but Pharaoh he says to his servants can we find such a one as this
is a man in whom And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
verse 39 in chapter 41, for as much as God hath showed thee
all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. And he appointed Joseph over
the house. Wisdom to direct in practice,
Pharaoh could see that man that had it, and he
put that man over the affairs of the land and of his house.
May we also, if we have those the Lord has given us in our
families, in our churches, and we recognize that wisdom that
is of God, and that is the wisdom that is to direct all of our
affairs. We have then in Acts chapter
15, the Church of God was troubled at that time by those that said
that except the Gentiles were circumcised as the Jews were,
they should not be saved. And so the early church, they
gathered the church together, they rehearsed all these things,
they discussed them, They heard especially what Peter had to
say, how he went into Cornelius' house, and how the Holy Spirit
blessed those Gentiles while they were uncircumcised. He blessed
them. And Peter said, the Holy Spirit
made no difference between us, the Jews, and them. And so they
gave advice. what they should do for that
church, the early church at that time, and what a wisdom it was
that they should gather together and decide what to do. We're
a good thing if we as churches gathered more like this, when
there was things that troubled us, when we know what to do and
how to act, to gather and seek the wisdom of God and what is
above. And so the direction that was
given there was, wherefore, my sentence is, that we trouble
not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God, that
we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols
and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood."
And they directed this. And what a relief it was to the
Gentiles. They were not required to walk
in that way that even had it been a burden to the Jews themselves. Then there is a direction given. by God through Paul to the Ephesians
as to how to walk in evil days. In Ephesians chapter 5 and from
verse 15, see then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools,
but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. And then he says this, wherefore
be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. What a blessing, as we are in
evil days, in the days in which we live, that we are to be wise,
understanding what the will of the Lord is. And it is in the
words of Holy Scripture that we are to understand what the
will of the Lord is. Wisdom, wisdom that is profitable
to direct. And then lastly in Peter's epistle,
his first epistle, he gives that wisdom and direction when we
suffer for righteousness sake. In 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 14, And if ye suffer for righteousness'
sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither
be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in
your heart, or set him apart in a special place. Be ready
always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason
of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. these directions that are wisdom,
it is the wisdom of God profitable to direct in those things that
are applicable to a Christian and to one that would fear God
and walk in His ways. May we really think of those
things we do and say in the situations that we are in and ask ourselves
this, are we as it were, acting with a blunt axe, an iron that
is blunt. And do we not rather need that
wisdom that is profitable to direct? Well, may we ask the
Lord for that wisdom and for that help in our lives, in doctrine
and in practice. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.