So, book recommendation, The Harmony of the Divine Attributes in the Contrivance and Accomplishment of Man's Redemption by William Bates, 1625 to 1699. A lot of good, really, really good, rich stuff in here. Good devotional material on bringing the attributes together and particularly in redemption. So, with that, We'll get into our definition. Let's pray. Father in heaven, once again, we pray that you would attend to our time here as we consider you and your wisdom. And just guide and direct our thoughts and our words this short Sunday school hour. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, so we've got a couple definitions here. This is taken from Louis Berkoff's Systematic Theology. H.B. Smith defines the divine wisdom as that attribute of God whereby he produces the best possible results with the best possible means. We may be a little more specific and call it that perfection of God whereby he applies his knowledge to the attainment of his ends in a way which glorifies him most. So we see there his wisdom is really bringing together his knowledge and His power for the glory of Himself. We'll consider next week the holiness of God, which I think as we finish our material today, we're gonna sort of see that there's maybe one more element or one more aspect to consider that's lacking, and I hope you'll see that it is holiness. As He works all these things, they must be worked out according to His holy character. So God is wise of necessity. Man has wisdom. God is wisdom. He cannot be or act other than the all-wise God. The wisdom of God is original. He does not derive it from another like himself. He is wise of himself. And His wisdom is perfect. It does not lack. It does not wax and wane like in us. There's never a point in time where He might not choose the best and most fitting means for His own glory. There's no blunders. His wisdom extends to all of His creation. He is everywhere present in power, knowledge, and in His wisdom. and his wisdom is from eternity to eternity. Even to eternity, he will always know and perform the best way to glorify himself in us. Isn't that amazing to think that even for eternity, he's gonna know how to unfold more and more of who he is for eternity in the best means, the ways that will bless us the most and that will heighten our view and praise and adoration of him. And like himself, his wisdom cannot be comprehended. It is unsearchable, as we'll see more and more in next week, which I believe we'll do wisdom part two and consider God's wisdom and redemption. But we're going to see more of how unsearchable God's wisdom is there. Romans 11.33, this classical text on so many aspects of our God. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. And this really is displayed in how His unsearchable and incomprehensibility, it's displayed in how differently we would do things, isn't it? We do things so different. We would have done early church much different than God did, wouldn't we? You think about that. All of the apostles would have lived to 100 telling their grandkids and great grandkids about Jesus. Isn't that how we would have written it out, right? We would have skipped over the martyrdom phase. God's ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts. We need to embrace this. There are hard things in history that we won't really grasp until glory, and even in glory, only in a finite way. Many things that we can't give a full account for other than the fact that that is my all-wise God, and He is working all things for good to those who love Him, to the glory of His own self. And He is infallibly wise. He is infallibly wise. All the schemes of the kingdoms of this world and all the plots of the devils and powers of the air are nothing in His sights. They will fail and be turned on their own head. Psalm 2, the Lord sits in heaven and laughs because His wise counsel will thwart all their wicked schemes, their schemes against Him and against His anointed and against His church. We see this in history, even the martyr's blood does what for the church? Makes it grow. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Persecution often purges the church of nominal believers and strengthens God's true saints. God's wisdom is greater than all the plots of his and our enemies. And we do well to grab hold of this by faith. Do we believe this as we should? I don't think we do. I think we struggle here. What are some of the ways that we struggle with the wisdom of God? He's not fair. That's right at the outset, first and foremost, right? He's not fair. Grumbling in the wilderness. We'd have done it different. You don't know like we do, God. But this shouldn't be where we're at. He's gonna let us die he takes him to the edge of the sea what do they do they want to go back immediately, right? Yeah That's right you think of the upcoming election What if the presidential candidate is not the one that you would hope for? Right. I mean, that's a hard one, isn't it? What if that doesn't fall out how we want to, but in the end it's going to be for our benefit? The glory of God's mercy, grace, and wisdom will all be glorified in a way that they wouldn't have been if said candidate does. Are we resolved to take that wise providence as it is, to pray for that president, if it's not the one we want as we're commanded? Doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to find the best possible candidate by any means, but are we resolved to be content with God's wise providence in that? And we have an inclination as we've already suggested that we know better than God, right? Do you struggle here? Again, yes, we do. We're just like Israel. The hard thing for a lot of us to grasp is the fact that God never asked my permission to do this or that, isn't it? We just get in these points where we think he should have asked me, why didn't you seek my counsel about this point in history, God? Why did you leave all of those unreached people groups to perish in their sin without the gospel? Or why did you deal with Pharaoh the way you did? I mean, what man would have schemed that up? What does the Lord say? I just wanted to see if Pharaoh would make good use of his abilities. No, he says, for this purpose I raised you up, so that I might make my power known through you in all the earth. Which we learn later on is that so Rahab and many others might be saved. What is the one thing Rahab says when the spies come in? She says, we have heard of Yahweh. And we'll find out later on that Rahab was justified by faith. But we don't deal like that. We don't think like that, and we don't deal like that. We really believe we're wiser than God. Sometimes we'll be struck hours on end about some wise, difficult providence that's come our way, and we'll grumble and complain about it, and we'll do it in sophisticated ways. Don't we know how to do that in ways rather than outright whining and complaining like our children do? We'll find a way to express our discontentment in a way that sounds so much better than the way my child complains or the way the gas station clerk complains. And it's hard. It's hard to be content with God's wise providence in all things. It's impossible actually without the spirit in us. Impossible without being a new creature. You find contentment, you find contentment in God's wise providence by calling to mind what we deserve. Like every other fallen image bearer, we deserve hell. We deserve eternal punishment. And you call to mind what you are now. As we just said, Israel was just delivered. And what are they doing? You call to mind who you are. You're an adopted child now. That in the wisdom of God, you were born in such and such a place, to such and such parents, and that he brought you to repentance and faith at this time and through these means. all the while leaving others to perish along the way. But he's made you to be his own possession in Christ, and he's made himself to be possessed by you. God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, is now your God, and you're his adopted child. We need to embrace that by faith. And that needs to, as we come across these difficult providences, these difficult areas, that needs to be enough for us. When this providence and wisdom in certain matters elude our grasp and our speech. It's not to say we don't look and search with good and lawful means into why he's doing such and such. But if we don't have that, We attend to this subject with prudence, as our confession says, prudence, reverence, and adoration. When Paul comes to terms with the reality that God has set him apart, that Paul has been brought into God's kingdom and passed over so many of his kingdom, so many of his kinsmen, what does he say? Somebody know what chapter this is? Romans chapter nine. His heart is filled with great grief. He says, well, let's turn there. Romans 9, right in verse 1. And then we'll see how he concludes. Romans 9, 1. I am telling the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. He says that I might be cut off in place of them. And then how does he conclude? In the doxology in Romans 11, he says, oh, oh, the depth. I can't give full expression to God's wisdom in these matters. Words fail me. It eludes my mental grasp and my ability to speak it, but I will adore him nonetheless. I won't fall into a skeptic. Attitude I would encourage you to go to Job 38 this afternoon and see how God is essentially Sarcastically asking Job and working with them were we where were we he's saying He's bringing job alongside of him saying where were we when I created the world and all that's in it. Can you tell me? Job obviously in verse chapter 40 will close his mouth and without getting an answer, but give over to praise and adoration of God. And again, early on in Job, can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? And their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. And in all this, another thing that we tend to forget that was in our opening definition, is that what is God's first consideration in His all-wise ordering of all things? What is the first thing and most important thing for God when He decrees to create and redeem? His own glory. His own glory. That is first. We are secondary beneficiaries, for lack of a better term. We are blessed in Him. We receive good things from Him, but first it is for His glory. God is a God who is about fetching glory for Himself. We're not about that. We don't have any glory to be about other than the glory that is ours by participation in Christ. But God gets glory for Himself, and that's the whole reason that He created. It's all to the glory of God. Why did God create you in all things? Our children know that answer, for his own glory. And we'll move into where we see God's wisdom displayed. We'll get through wisdom, I mean, we'll get through creation and providence, and then we'll save redemption for next week. But we see his wisdom displayed in creation so abundantly, and I'll need your help here. But he's created all things, from angels to the smallest insects, from the billions of galaxies, stars, and planets, to the dust and dirt which all the beasts of the earth trample on, the sun and the moon, the sea, and all that it contains. Man made in his own image, all these he has created, and all with a purpose. all have their own peculiar mark of being God's creatures, each having its own intricacies. There is order and rank amongst them, of greater and lesser importance. Think of the way that we enjoy creation, sight, sound, and taste. You could go on for a whole Sunday school on just those things. These great and various aspects of creation that could have all been so bland. Again, I was enjoying a Culver's deluxe bacon cheeseburger. And it was just amazing. And I'm just like, why is this so good? I mean, and why? He's just given us this ability to taste and enjoy things and make distinctions in something. It was amazing. It could have been because I was super hungry, but I think it's really good. And then I just found out that Culver's is the healthiest fast food out there, too. They did a study. So just in case you're wondering. But anyways, it was delicious, and I was thankful that God gives us taste buds to enjoy His creation, and sights, the beauty of the scenery, all of these things. He's abundantly provided for us in that way, and again, culminating in man. Man is God's highest creature, standing in covenant relation to God. Unlike other creatures, God breathes the breath of life into man. signifying this great dignity that he's bestowed upon him as his image, standing above the rest of creation, ruling over it, everything in his wisdom created for man in providence, even more brilliant. Well, am I missing anything in creation? Anything that comes to mind when we talk about God's wisdom displayed in creation? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, so in providence, yeah, very good. So that's, yeah, that's where we're going here. Providence, even more brilliant, is the way God's wisdom is displayed in His providence, in the vastness of God's creation, in the several different realms in which His creatures exist. He is ordering and governing them all so that they will fall out exactly how He's decreed and intended. Just think of outer space. This is magnificent. What a magnificent display of God's wisdom. It stands in such great harmony. Everything sings together the glory of God's infinite wisdom and order and beauty. Why doesn't it just fall down or collide and all blow up? You think about that? It's amazing. It's this symphony going on in outer space. It really is. We should see it as such. It's singing. Singing and speaking, as Psalm 19 tells us. Why doesn't the sun destroy everything by its scorching heat? Because God has placed everything where he designed it and orders and directs it as such. Have you ever heard of... We've all heard a brilliant symphony piece of music. Everyone plays when and how they're supposed to and the result is beauty and glory. People are moved to tears at such performances. That is why... That is what we should see when we look to the heavens. Except in an infinitely more glorious and skillful way. There's a book called The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis that goes over how the medievals and everybody behind them viewed the heavens. And it's very foreign to the way that we do. I would encourage, if you're looking for some leisure reading, read The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis. It is an amazing book. And I was struck with our inability to appreciate the heavens in our... Well, I'll read on. They saw the earth. The ancients used to look at space as living and vast and mysterious. They spoke of it as a symphony as well. They saw the earth as this tiny little planet that it is and the vast expanse of the universe as the world, the greater world. That's how they saw it. They saw them as insignificant. The earth is insignificant and the world was out there. We need to recover this way of thinking. We tend to see space as purely a means of scientific observation now and nothing more, don't we? Let's study the solar system and learn all these facts about their size and proximity to the earth and sun and so on, but let's do that with an adoring, with adoration and worship of God as we do. We need to be drawn back more and more to that. I think good classical Christian education is more and more moving towards this, and that's what I'd love to see a lot of us get excited about. Let us magnify His wisdom and power and beauty as we do, not that we are going to worship the creation, but that we might learn more how amazing it is that God cares for us, His tiny, insignificant little humans on this tiny little earth. Psalm 8, what is man so frail and weak that you should remember him? It's the context of when I consider the heavens. What is man so frail and weak that you should remember him? Let's close in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for your wisdom in ordering all things for your own glory and for our good. We thank you that even today, before an eternity passed, you have decreed that we would come here and be gathered together to worship and sing your praises, to sit at your word, to sit at the feet of Christ this morning. We pray that he would speak to us, the one who has become wisdom for us, the wisdom of God, and we have become the very wisdom of God in Him. What a great and glorious thing. What a great and glorious thing to be led into your wisdom, which was hidden for ages past, but now has been made known in Christ to us. That is the redemption. of your people for the glory of your own name. And we pray that we would, again, think on these things, that we would attend to them with humility, with reverence, with delight, with adoration and joy. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.