Our Heavenly Father, as we gather together this
evening, in the name of our Lord Jesus,
we do want to offer to Thee our
praise, our adoration, and our worship.
O Father, how we praise and thank Thee
for giving Thy Son, our Lord Jesus, to
us, and in Him, all things.
We do praise and thank Thee because in
Him there is life, and the life is
the light of man.
We do praise and thank Thee because we
do not need to walk in darkness.
We can walk in the light, as Thou
art in the light.
And we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our
Lord Jesus, cleanses us from all our sins.
At this moment, Lord, we ask Thee to
cleanse us.
We ask Thee that Thy Spirit will energize
our inward man, that our whole being may
be open to Thyself.
And Thou art able to speak to us.
Thou art able to transform us.
Thou art able to do Thy work among
us.
O Lord, Thou does know that without Thee
we can do nothing.
And we do desire to hear Thy voice.
We do desire to see Thee, and to
be touched by Thee.
In the name of our Lord Jesus.
Amen.
We have been fellowshipping together at this time
on the vessels of recovery.
In the persons of Samuel, David, and Solomon.
We mentioned how the promise of God to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to the children of
Israel had not been fulfilled even after they
had entered into Canaan.
Instead, we find the condition of the children
of Israel in the land of Canaan was
going downward during the time of the judges.
Even though God sent judges to them to
deliver them from the oppression of their enemies
from time to time.
And yet, they were not able to possess
their full possession.
And they were going downward farther and farther
away from the realization of God's promise.
And because of that, we find at the
end of the judges, God began to react
against that situation.
And in reacting, God raised up certain vessels.
These were vessels for recovery.
Not only to restore what had been lost,
but to recover too the original promise of
God.
And these vessels were in the persons of
Samuel, of David, and of Solomon.
Now, we have mentioned in the past Samuel.
Samuel is representative of the principle of divine
revelation.
Whenever God begins, begins to react and to
recover, it begins with revelation.
It pleases God to reveal His Son in
us.
God of our Lord Jesus Christ gives the
spirit of wisdom and revelation to the full
knowledge of Him.
So we find that in the process of
recovery, divine revelation is the first basic principle.
We must see.
Unless we see, God is not able to
do any work of recovery.
And then we find in the person of
David, he is symbolic of divine authority to
recover to God's full thought.
First, revelation.
Second, authority.
Unless authority is re-established among God's people,
God's full purpose will not be able to
be realized.
So David is the embodiment of the principle
of divine authority.
Now this evening we will fellowship on the
third person.
And it is Solomon.
Now as soon as we mention Solomon, I
think it is very clear what he represents.
He represents divine wisdom.
So you find that in God's work of
recovery, it is a recovery through these three
principles.
Revelation, authority, and wisdom.
Now let's read a few passages first.
2 Samuel.
2 Samuel chapter 12.
We will read verses 24 and 25.
And David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and went
into her and lay with her.
And she bore a son, and he called
his name Solomon.
And Jehovah loved him, and he sent by
the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he
called his name Jebediah for Jehovah's sake.
Now Solomon means peaceful.
And Jebediah means beloved of Jehovah, beloved of
the Lord.
The next place is found in 1 Kings.
1 Kings chapter 3.
We will read from verse 4.
1 Kings chapter 3 verse 4 to verse
15.
And the king went to Gibeon, that is
Solomon, went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for
that was the great high place.
A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer up
upon that altar.
In Gibeon, Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a
dream by night.
And God said, Ask what I shall give
thee.
And Solomon said, Thou hast shown unto thy
servant David, my father, great lovingkindness, according as
he walked before thee in truth and in
righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee.
And thou hast kept for him his great
lovingkindness, that thou hast given him a son
who sits upon his throne, as it is
this day.
And now, Jehovah my God, thou hast made
thy servant king instead of David my father.
And I am but a little child.
I know not to go out and to
come in.
And thy servant is in the midst of
thy people, which thou hast chosen a great
people that cannot be numbered nor counted for
multitude.
Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart
to judge thy people, to discern between good
and bad, for who is able to judge
this by numerous people?
And it will please the Lord that Solomon
had asked this thing.
And God said to him, Because thou hast
asked this thing and hast not asked for
thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for
thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine
enemies, but hast asked for thyself discernment to
understand judgment, behold, I have done according to
thy word.
Behold, I have given thee a wise and
an understanding heart so that there has been
none like unto thee before thee, neither after
thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And I have also given thee that which
thou hast not asked, both riches and glory,
so that there shall not be any among
the kings like unto thee all thy days.
And if thou wilt work in my ways
to keep my statutes and my commandments, as
thy father David did work, then I will
prolong thy days.
And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a
dream.
And he came to Jerusalem and stood before
the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah, and
offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings,
and made a feast to all his servants.
Chapter 4, Verse 29-34 And God
gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding and
largeness of heart, even as the sand that
is on the seashore.
And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all
the sons of the east, and all the
wisdom of Egypt, for he was wiser than
all men, than Ethan the Ezraite, and Haman
and Kelchor, and Dagadar, the sons of Mehol.
And his fame was in all the nations
round about.
And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his
songs were a thousand and five.
And he spoke of the trees from the
cedar tree that is on Lebanon, even to
the hyssop that springs out of the wall.
He spoke also of cattle and of fowls
and of creeping things and of fishes.
And there came of all peoples to hear
the wisdom of Solomon from all the kings
of the earth who had heard of his
wisdom.
And the last place we'll read is in
1 Kings 6, Verse 14 And Solomon built
the house and finished it.
That's all we'll read for this evening.
In the recovery work of God Wisdom is
as essential as revelation and authority.
You remember in the prayer of Paul for
the efficient believers, he prayed that the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ will give them
the spirit of wisdom and revelation to the
full knowledge of God.
What is wisdom?
Wisdom, on the one hand, is the substance
of revelation.
Revelation is wisdom revealed.
But wisdom is the substance of revelation.
When God reveals something there is a substance
in it.
And that substance is wisdom.
On the other hand, wisdom is the ability
to apply knowledge.
So you'll find, according to the word of
God, wisdom can be seen in these two
aspects.
On the one hand, it is the substance,
the wisdom of God.
That is, what is in God.
What has God in mind?
What is God's thought?
What is God's concept?
What is God's will?
What is His counsel?
That's wisdom.
Nobody knows of this until it is revealed.
And what is revealed is nothing but what
is wisdom.
That is what is in God.
There is a definite substance there.
And then you'll find wisdom on the other
hand, is the ability to apply the knowledge
that God has given to you.
That's wisdom.
We can use two passages in the Scripture
to illustrate these two aspects.
In 1 Corinthians 2, you'll find here Paul
speaks of the wisdom of God.
And of course, in contrast with the wisdom
of God, he first mentions the wisdom of
this world.
God will destroy the wisdom of the wise.
God will confound the wisdom of this world.
Because He used the foolishness of the cross
to confound the wisdom of the worldly wise.
And this is God's wisdom.
When Paul preached the gospel to the saints,
to the people at Corinth.
Now Corinth was a center of civilization and
culture at that time.
The people at Corinth were proud of their
knowledge and their wisdom.
So when Paul was sent by God to
the city of Corinth, he was determined that
he would know nothing among them but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified.
In other words, Paul was not to match
with the Corinthians' worldly wisdom with worldly wisdom.
Paul had enough wisdom of the world.
Because he was brought up in the city
of Tarsus, a center of Greek culture.
He was educated in Jerusalem, the center of
Hebrew culture.
So you find Paul was a highly educated
person.
He could very well match the Corinthians' wisdom
of the world that he had.
Even to conquer them.
But he knew how futile it would be.
What the Corinthians needed was not worldly wisdom.
On the contrary, the wisdom of the wise
must be destroyed.
How?
By the preaching of the cross of our
Lord Jesus.
You know, it was not too easy for
Paul to do that.
But Paul was one who knew the cross.
So he was able to be determined when
he entered into their midst to be considered
as a fool, as foolish, by preaching the
cross of our Lord Jesus.
He said, I will know nothing among you
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The foolishness of God is wiser than the
wisdom of this world.
But, Paul said, among the perfect, we speak
wisdom.
Now do not think that there is no
wisdom, no divine wisdom.
There is wisdom.
But for the Corinthians, before they knew the
Lord, what they needed was not worldly wisdom.
They had some of it.
What they needed was the cross.
That was the basis of their salvation.
But after they had accepted the cross of
the Lord Jesus, after they were brought into
the family of God, then among the perfect,
now you know the word perfect in the
scripture does not mean perfection as we know
today.
It means the mature, the grown up.
Among the grown up of the Christians, Paul
said, we speak wisdom.
But it is not the wisdom of this
world, nor of the rulers of this world.
We speak God's wisdom in a mystery.
He gave us several descriptions of that wisdom
in a mystery.
But he never pointed out to the Corinthians
what that was.
If you want to know that, you have
to go to the letter to the Ephesians.
Because there he revealed what the wisdom of
God in a mystery really is.
But anyway you find here, there is the
wisdom of God.
The wisdom of God is the depth of
God.
The wisdom of God is something that people
have not seen, have not heard, have not
even thought of.
The wisdom of God is something that has
to be revealed to us by the Spirit
of God.
So you find here is another kind of
wisdom.
It is not the wisdom of the world.
It is divine wisdom.
And in the divine wisdom you find there
is a substance there.
There is the depth of God there.
There is the plan of God there.
There is the glory of God there.
And it can only be known through revelation
of the Holy Spirit.
That's the substance.
How much do we know?
How much do we have of God's wisdom?
We may be worldly wise, but are we
spiritually wise?
How much do we see the substance that
is in God?
That which is in God's focus.
That which God plans to do.
Even before the foundation of the world.
As we find in the letter to the
Ephesians.
Now that's God's wisdom.
And in the recovery work of God you
will see how necessary it is to have
that wisdom.
Because otherwise we will be groping in the
dark.
We may think we are wise, but we
are foolish.
That's the substance.
Then if you turn to the epistle of
James, chapter 3, you find he also tries
to tell us what wisdom is.
Verse 13.
Chapter 3, verse 13.
Who is wise and understanding among you?
Let him show out of a good conversation
his work in meekness of wisdom.
But if ye have bitter emulation and strife
in your hearts, do not boast and lie
against the truth.
This is not a wisdom which comes from
above, but earthly, natural, devilish.
For where emulation and strife are, there is
disorder and every evil thing.
But the wisdom from above first is pure,
then peaceful, gentle, yielding, full of mercy and
good fruit, unquestioning, unfamed.
But the fruit of righteousness in peace is
sown for them that make peace.
Here you'll find the apostle James also tells
us of two kinds of wisdom.
One is the wisdom from below.
It is earthly.
It is natural.
It is devilish.
And the other is the wisdom from above,
which is pure, peaceful, gentle, yielding, full of
compassion, good fruit, unquestioning, unfamed.
Here the apostle James is not referring to
the substance of wisdom.
He is referring to applied wisdom.
Applied wisdom.
Therefore he said, sow your wisdom in your
work, in meekness of wisdom.
The wisdom from below is earthly.
It is natural.
It is devilish.
People who profess to have that kind of
wisdom become very clever, very crafty, know
how to take advantage of people, of occasion.
It is self-exalting.
It is self-seeking.
And the result is strife and emulation and
jealousy.
That is earthly wisdom.
But the wisdom that comes from above is
first pure.
In other words, we are purified from mixed
motives.
God is the God of purity.
We are being purified.
And it is very peaceful, gentle, easily persuaded.
It is not hard and stubborn.
Full of compassion with good fruit and so
on and so forth.
So you find here there are two areas,
two different kinds of wisdom.
And what we need to have is the
wisdom from above.
That's what we need to have.
And having this heavenly wisdom or divine wisdom,
then we will be able to be used
of God in his recovery.
Now we will illustrate that in the life
of Solomon.
So let's go to the life of Solomon.
First, the birth of Solomon.
Solomon was born after his father David was
disciplined by the Lord.
David sinned against God.
He took Bathsheba.
He killed Bathsheba's husband.
She murdered.
And because of his sin, God's hand was
upon him.
Yes, he repented.
And God sent Nathan to tell him that
his sin was forgiven.
And yet God's hand of discipline was upon
him.
So the first child that was born through
this unholy union was smitten with sickness.
And because of this you'll find David.
He lay on the ground fasting, praying, hoping
that God will have mercy upon him.
He knew God had forgiven his sin.
But he hoped that God's hand of discipline
would be lifted by humbling himself before God.
But God did not hear him.
And you remember when David saw that the
child died, people did not dare to tell
him because his courier said when the child
was still alive he was like this, lying
on the floor, fasting, would not eat anything.
Now if he knew the child was dead,
what would happen to David?
So nobody was...
had the courage to tell him.
But David noticed something happened.
So he asked, was the child dead?
Yes.
And he acted quite strangely to those who
do not know God.
He got up.
He changed.
He ate.
He went to the temple, to the house
of God, worshiped God, and he came back.
Why?
He said, well, God had revealed his will
already.
The child cannot come back to me, but
I'll go to him.
In other words, he accepted God's discipline, inhumanity.
And out of that experience God gave him
Solomon.
So Solomon was born after David repented, confessed,
humbled, accepted God's discipline.
And out of that experience God gave him
a son whose name was Solomon.
So is it not true?
The wisdom that is from above is first
pure, then peaceful.
Here you'll find a person had to be
purified under the chastening hand of God the
Father.
And out of that was born the son
of peace, wisdom.
Brothers and sisters, divine wisdom was not natural
to us.
Divine wisdom often comes to us through discipline.
It is true.
Sometimes God can give us the spirit of
wisdom for the asking.
But at other times you'll find we possess
divine wisdom through chastisement, through discipline.
The Holy Spirit is the spirit of wisdom.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit will reveal wisdom to
us that we may know God in a
real way.
But at other times he has to use
what we call the discipline of the Holy
Spirit.
He has to raise up environment.
We have to go through something before we
learn wisdom.
You know that is the difference between knowledge
and wisdom.
You may acquire knowledge without going through something.
But if you want to acquire wisdom you
may have to go through something.
There is a difference there.
And because of that you'll find Solomon can
say the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom.
Where does wisdom come from?
It comes from God.
But how does it come?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning.
He learns wisdom.
Our wisdom is born through the discipline of
the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters today we may accumulate some
knowledge but how much wisdom do we have?
If we want to have wisdom we have
to be willing to be disciplined by the
Holy Spirit.
You know there is much foolishness in us.
And that is the reason why a rod
sometimes is necessary.
You know like Paul says the rod will
drive away the foolishness in us.
And I think that is spiritually very true.
Very true.
There is much foolishness in us.
We think we are wise but actually we
are foolish.
And sometimes it takes the rod to drive
away that foolishness.
That's the way we learn wisdom.
After Solomon was born the second thing you
find in him was the prayer of Solomon
for wisdom.
Now that's the asking.
When he ascended to the throne the Bible
said he loved God.
And because he loved God he went to
Gibeon to sacrifice to God because the great
altar was there.
You know that David brought the ark to
the city of David that is to Jerusalem.
But the great altar the brazen altar was
still in Gibeon.
So Solomon he went to Gibeon to offer
sacrifice.
And after he offered sacrifice in the night
God came to him in a dream.
And God said what you ask what you
want.
And Solomon said you have put me on
the throne instead of my father.
This is thy people.
Thy people is a great people.
And I am but a child.
I do not know how to go in
and go out among them.
Therefore I ask for an understanding heart that
I may be able to discern and to
judge thy people.
And when Solomon asked God for wisdom God
was very pleased with that.
Because God said you do not ask for
yourself long life.
You do not ask for yourself richest wealth.
You do not ask for yourself the life
of your enemy.
But you ask wisdom understanding discernment.
God said I will give it to you.
Not only I will give you wisdom, understanding
heart, but I will give you all these
things wealth and long life will be added
to you.
And there shall be no one before you
or even after you who will be as
wise as you are.
Here you find Solomon asked for wisdom.
Now what is wisdom?
Wisdom is an understanding heart.
In other words being literally it means a
heart that hears.
You know?
An understanding heart.
In Hebrew if you translate it literally it
means a heart that hears.
Now that's wisdom.
We often think of wisdom as in the
mind.
But the Bible says that wisdom is in
the heart.
You know in the garden of Eden, Adam
and Eve they sought for knowledge, for wisdom.
They thought that by eating the fruit of
the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil they will be able to know good
and evil.
They will have knowledge they will have wisdom,
they will be wise.
They will be as wise as God.
But you know the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil will only give them
knowledge wisdom or discernment in their mind.
And the result of that was death.
If you are wise in your mind it
will not make you better people.
It make you a prouder people.
Not better but prouder.
But here you find divine wisdom is in
the heart.
It is a heart that hears.
It is a heart that is able to
hear God.
That is able to hear the voice of
God.
And of course this is but another way,
we can say another way, it is a
heart that can see God.
It's the same thing.
That's wisdom.
Wisdom is not something in the mind.
You know, some people may be very wise
in their mind but very foolish in their
heart.
Very dull in their heart.
Other people may not have much in their
mind but they are very wise in their
heart.
And that's true wisdom.
That's true wisdom.
It is a heart that hears God.
Brothers and sisters do we have a heart
that hears?
Solomon is so wise.
His wisdom is above all the people of
the East.
You know, the people of the East at
that time were considered as very wise.
Very wise.
Very philosophical.
But Solomon's wisdom exceeded the wisdom of the
man of the East.
He spoke thousands of proverbs.
He composed a thousand and five songs.
He spoke from the Lebanon, from the cedar
trees on Lebanon to the hyssop that climbed
upon the wall.
He spoke of the fowls of the air,
the fish of the sea and the animals
on the land.
In other words, he knew everything.
But brothers and sisters you know there is
a difference here.
When Solomon wrote about the cedar of Lebanon
and the hyssop on the wall.
Cedar of Lebanon is the biggest tree.
It represents the biggest of the plant world.
And the hyssop on the wall represents the
tiniest, the smallest in the plant world.
And here you'll find Solomon he could touch
upon cedar of Lebanon as well as the
hyssop on the wall.
But you remember, he did not write these
things as a botanist.
You know a botanist has the knowledge of
trees and plants.
And they can write books on botany.
They will tell us all about these trees,
all about these plants and their knowledge is
very amazing.
But when Solomon wrote about these things he
did not know about these things as a
botanist.
Now some people can write about these trees
and birds and things like that as a
philosopher.
As a poet.
As an artist.
Very beautiful.
Now in a sense they seem to exceed
the knowledge of a botanist.
Or a zoologist.
Because they seem to be able to feel
something.
Not just to describe the physical condition but
even to feel something in it.
And they can write about the beauty of
life.
Very poetical.
Very philosophical.
Very artistic.
But the wisdom of Solomon is not just
poetical, artistic and philosophical.
The wisdom of Solomon is spiritual.
When he touched upon the trees, he touched
upon the birds and the fishes, he could
see God's purpose in these things.
He could see God!
What God is doing in these things.
And all these things will reflect the glory
of God.
And he could see divine principles in all
these different things.
In other words, he had a spiritual insight
into God's creation.
He was able to lead people to God.
A botanist is able to educate us on
what the creation is.
A poet, a philosopher can help us to
feel the creation.
But it takes the wisdom of Solomon to
bring us to God through the created beings.
That's wisdom.
Therefore you'll find in the Song of Songs,
when Solomon writes about the union between a
man and a woman, he is revealing to
us that union between God and Christ.
You know?
That's wisdom.
That's real wisdom.
He enters into these things and sees as
God sees.
As God creates.
That's wisdom.
And he asks for that wisdom.
And God gave it to him.
God gave it to him.
It is said in the Epistle of James,
if any one of you lack wisdom, ask
and doubt not.
Ask the God who gives everything freely to
us.
And doubt not.
And I think we should take that word
literally.
You know?
Sometimes we think we are not lacking in
wisdom.
And because of that we act foolishly.
We know that as Solomon we are but
a child.
We do not know how to go in
and out among God's people.
We do not know how to help God's
people.
It takes wisdom.
We should ask God.
And if we ask by faith and doubt
not, he will give it to us.
Just like Solomon.
He does not, he did not ask for
anything else.
He just asked for wisdom.
A heart and enlarged heart.
So may the Lord give us this wisdom.
And you will find later on how necessary,
how needed is this wisdom.
Then thirdly, wisdom is not just expressed in
talking.
Wisdom is to be manifested in work.
In works.
People who talk too much probably do not
have much.
In China we often say, the reason why
a drum, when you beat it, is so
loud because it is empty.
If something is solid when you beat it,
it does not give you much noise.
You know?
Much sound.
So too much talking probably shows there is
not much wisdom there.
Anyway.
Wisdom is not just in talking.
Yes, Solomon talked about all these things.
But more.
You find that the wisdom of Solomon is
demonstrated in the building of...
It does not take wisdom to destroy things.
On the contrary, foolishness destroys.
It takes foolishness to destroy.
If you are not foolish enough, you cannot
destroy.
Folly destroys.
But wisdom builds.
Therefore you find in Proverbs it is said,
wisdom builds her house.
And she sets up seven pillars.
It takes wisdom to build.
To build.
God used Solomon to build a house.
And for that reason you find God gave
him wisdom.
Wisdom is practically used in the building of
the house.
In what we say.
God gave the pattern of the temple to
David.
In 1 Chronicles chapter 28 you find David
show to Solomon the pattern of the whole
house.
He said God shows him by his finger
in writing.
So David got the pattern from God.
And he gave the blueprint to Solomon.
And Solomon built the house.
I came from a family of builders.
My grandfather, my uncles, and my eldest brothers,
they were all builders.
But I had no knowledge of building.
I remember when I was in school.
Sometimes I went to visit my elder brother
who was building.
And he built big buildings in Shanghai.
And I can remember very well when I
went to visit him at his office.
I went into his office where he was
building and I saw on the table lots
of blueprints.
Oh, you'll find sheets and sheets of blueprints.
And when I looked at them you know,
I could only see all these lines and
curves and all these things but I didn't
understand what they represented.
It was just like pictures to me.
It had no meaning to me whatsoever.
Why?
Because I do not have the wisdom to
read the blueprints.
But to my brother when he looked over
these sheets he could see the building.
He knew exactly how that building must be
built.
But to me it was vague, unreal, nothing.
Brothers and sisters, do you know God is
building his house today?
The Lord said, I will build my church.
God is the master builder.
He is building a magnificent building which is
called the church.
The pattern of that building has already been
revealed.
The blueprint is in the Bible.
But it takes wisdom to read the blueprint.
We are all reading the Bible.
We know all the letters.
But can you interpret the blueprint?
Do you, can you read the blueprint?
Do you see in the Bible God's pattern?
What God is after.
How he is building it.
With what materials.
In what way.
How it will be formed.
Can we see that?
We may all be reading the Bible, but
it takes divine wisdom to see the pattern.
To read it and to interpret it.
Otherwise, when you read the Bible, all you
see are letters.
For me to try to interpret all these
lines and curves on these blueprints without knowledge
and wisdom, I do not know what it
will come out.
It may come out not a building, but
something different.
I don't know.
And you know, that is the way people
are reading the Bible.
We are all reading the Bible.
We all try to interpret with our natural
mind.
With the knowledge in our mind, not the
wisdom in our heart.
And the result is everybody has his or
her own Bible.
We have the same Bible and yet it
is all different.
You interpret in this way and I interpret
in that way and it's all according to
our imagination.
And especially in the book of Revelation.
Brothers and sisters, why?
Why?
Because we have something in our mind, but
we lack something in our heart.
Do we have a heart that hears?
If we have a heart that hears, then
you'll find the Bible becomes you'll hear God's
voice.
You will begin to see what is in
the heart of God.
What is he doing today?
And he will show you how the house,
it takes wisdom.
That is the reason why you'll find in
God's recovery work, wisdom is so important.
Divine wisdom is so necessary.
We need to hear and to see God's
plan.
That's wisdom.
Now how much of God's wisdom in a
mystery do we have?
Paul said, by what I write you can
see that I have God's wisdom.
But how much do we have?
Secondly, Solomon's wisdom was expressed in following faithfully
the pattern that was given to him.
If he should become clever in himself, you
know, he may very well start out to
make some alterations.
He might think that he was improving on
God's pattern.
But you know, if anybody would dare to
do that, he is foolish.
He is foolish.
He is destroying God's work.
And brothers and sisters, you'll find today in
Christianity so many people who consider themselves as
wise and they start out to change God's
plan.
They say they are improving it.
Lots of worldly knowledge but very little divine
wisdom.
Solomon was so wise that he followed faithfully
all the patterns, specifications that David gave without
adding anything, not taking away anything.
That's wisdom.
Certainly.
The wisdom of Solomon was demonstrated in his
ability to make use of all the materials
that had been collected.
David prepared lots of materials out of his
soil of war.
David set apart gold, silver, stone, timber, iron,
all these materials.
David, out of his soil of war, he
set apart these things for the building of
the house.
And David said, out of my affection for
God, out of my love for God, I
set apart gold, silver, refined gold and other
things for the building of the house.
In other words, love prepares the materials.
But wisdom put these materials together.
We may have lots of love, but if
we do not have wisdom, all these materials
are gathered or prepared, but we do not
know how to build them.
How to put them together.
How to make use of them.
You know?
That takes wisdom.
Oh, how we need love.
That we may prepare materials for the building
of God's house.
How we need God's love.
That we may go out and win souls
for Christ.
Oh, we must gather lots of materials, gold
and silver, timber and all these stones.
We need to gather these materials out of
love.
Through conflicts, we must gather these things.
But brothers and sisters, love must be added
by wisdom.
Love alone will not know how to use
these materials.
Lots of people are saved, are gathered, but
how are you going to build them together
to be the house of God?
Where are you going to put them?
How are you going to fit them together?
That each may find its place in God's
house.
That is wisdom.
Divine wisdom.
And that's the reason why John Paul is
a master builder.
He has divine wisdom.
He knows how to use these materials.
How to bring God's people to help them
to be built up together in love.
And lastly, Solomon's wisdom was demonstrated.
In his ability to mobilize and to coordinate
tens of thousands of people in the building
of the temple.
You see, in 1 Kings, it is said,
in 1 Kings chapter 5, verse 13, and
King Solomon raised a levee out of all
Israel, and the levee was 30,000 men.
30,000 men!
And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000
a month, by courses, a month they were
in Lebanon, two months at home, and Adonai
was over the levee, and Solomon had 70
,000 that bore burdens, and 80,000 stonemasons
in the mountains, besides the overseers whom Solomon
had sent over the work, 3,300, who
ruled over the people that wrought in the
work, and the king commanded, and they brought
gravestones, corkless stones, hewstones, to lay the foundation
of the house, and Solomon's builder, and Haran's
builder, and the gibbelites hewed them, and prepared
timber and stones to build the house.
That's wisdom.
He was not able to use the materials,
he was able to coordinate all these laborers.
Brothers and sisters, are we able to coordinate?
Are we able to join many as co
-laborers in the great work of the building
of God's house?
That takes wisdom.
To do the work by yourself is one
thing.
To be able to coordinate, to bring everybody
in, and work coordinately, for the work, is
another thing.
You know, sometimes you think, well, if a
thing is to be done, it is much
easier if you just go ahead and do
it.
You know?
It seems to be harder if you try
to draw some other people in, you have
to explain to them, you have to help
them to see, and then we'll work together,
and when it comes out, probably it's not
as good, as efficient, as you will do
it by yourself.
And because of that, you'll find we will
just go ahead and do it.
And the result is, there is no fellowship,
there is no coordination, and lots of brothers
and sisters will just be waited upon.
We will never ask them to participate because
when they participate, well, they...
it's more a hindrance than a help.
So get out of the way, let me
finish it.
But brothers and sisters, this is not wisdom.
This is not wisdom.
Because if you are doing it, you will
never be able to build our house.
It is not only that you will do
it, but you will teach people, help people,
draw people in, and do it together.
And that is fellowship.
That is body ministry.
That each part will perform its work.
Then the whole body will be built up.
So brothers and sisters, you'll find this wisdom
is very practical.
It is applied wisdom.
And it really takes wisdom to do that.
So all in all, you'll find this.
When God is doing his work of recovery,
he has to have these three things.
Revelation, authority, and wisdom.
Divine revelation, divine authority, and divine wisdom.
And these are not theories.
These have to be embodied in us.
We have to be vessels of revelation, of
authority, and of wisdom.
When God is able to obtain these, then
you'll find what God has promised to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, was fully realized
at the end.
If you read your Bible, you'll find how
true that is.
Everything that God has promised to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and everything that God intended to
get in his people, add to Samuel, David,
and Solomon.
God got them all.
And this is what God is doing today.
So may the Lord be gracious and merciful
to us, that we may be vessels like
Samuel, David, and Solomon of divine revelation, of
divine authority, and of wisdom.
Our Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank
Thee, because Thou dost desire to have us
as Thy vessels for recovery.
We confess that in ourselves there is darkness,
there is no light.
In ourselves there is rebellion, there is no
authority.
In ourselves there is no wisdom, but foolishness.
But we praise and we thank Thee, because
Thou art the God who gives wisdom, authority,
revelation.
So we do come to Thee together tonight,
humble ourselves before Thee, and ask Thee to,
by Thy Holy Spirit, to deal with us,
to take away our darkness, our rebellion, and
our foolishness, and to replace these with Thy
revelation, Thy authority, and Thy wisdom.
Now we ask these, not for our own
sake, but we ask these for the sake
of the realization of Thy eternal purpose.
Grant our humble prayer, for we ask in
the name of our Lord Jesus.
Amen.