Beyond Knowledge,

Into Wisdom

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Carl H. Stevens Jr. is pastor of Greater GraceChurch located in Baltimore, Maryland. PastorStevens is also chancellor of Maryland BibleCollege & Seminary and host of the internationalChristian radio program “The Grace Hour.” Thisbooklet was created from a message preached byPastor Stevens.

Pastor Stevens can be seen weekly on cabletelevision stations throughout the United States.Call us for information regarding programming inyour area.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the King James Version. Italics for emphasis are ours.

GRACE PUBLICATIONSP.O. BOX 18715

BALTIMORE, MD 21206

Printed in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Copyright © 2000

Grace Publications is a ministry of

Greater Grace World Outreach, Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMANDMENTS

Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

LOVE IS THE ISSUE

Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

THE SUPERIORITY OF WISDOM

Chapter 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

WISDOM IN APPLICATION

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

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INTRODUCTION

Have you ever read the Bible or listened to amessage from the pulpit and noticed that it didnot seem to touch you? Maybe you were sincereand you liked it, but it did not seem personal.Whenever your response to God’s Word becomesdull, you can stir up your heart by applying theWord to your personal situations and to prob-lems that cannot be solved by human effort.Meditate on how God’s Word can meet the needsof family and friends. It will solve any problemin the world when applied in wisdom.

With all of the knowledge available to peo-ple, wisdom is lacking. Too often, knowledge isused to manipulate and control people and situ-ations, but this is not what God intended. Inheaven’s economy, knowledge must submit towisdom and is expressed in divine love.

This booklet will show that wisdom is theWord of God expressed through the heart ofGod. By wisdom, we can walk circumspectly in

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the love of God, manifesting his grace andmercy in every situation.

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Chapter One

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMANDMENTS

“And hereby do we know him, if we keephis commandments” (1 John 2:3).

Commandments, mandates, laws, and rulesare very important.

The Word of God says that we know that weknow Him, and go right on knowing Him, if wekeep His commandments. “Do we know him” isa tendential present indicating action that iscommencing but not completed. When com-mandments are mentioned, many people thinkof legalism and the letter of the law—everythingnegative. But Jesus said, “A new commandmentI give you, that you love one another as I haveloved you.” Then He said that all the law issummed in one word—“love” (Galatians 5:13,14), and He explained by saying, “Love yourneighbor as you love yourself.”

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The Law Is Fulfilled

When you think of commandments think ofthis: Jesus fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:17). Hewas the end of the law of righteousness (Ro-mans 10:4). What do these things mean? Theymean that the law of the spirit of life has over-come the law of sin and death. It is not just alaw. The principle is the spirit of life. The HolySpirit sheds love abroad in our hearts (Romans5:5), and we walk in love as His dear children(Ephesians 5:2).

The commandment Jesus is talking about isa Finished Work commandment. He is saying tous, “I finished making a way for you; I am avail-able to you. I am faithful to call you, and I willdo what you desire according to my word asyou execute your faculties to make choices to be-lieve and obey the truth in your own soul(1 Thessalonians 5:24).”

He is saying, “If you will let Me, I will per-form what I asked you to do” (Job 23:14).

His commandment is that we would walk indivine love, and that commandment is notgrievous (1 John 5:3). That means it does notcause sorrow. It is not difficult because God doesit.

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Now imagine if we didn’t have any rules, orlaws, or so-called commandments in our cities,in our schools. What if we didn’t have any rulesabout school starting at a certain time? Perhapswe don’t call them commandments, but that iswhat they are.

Thank God that even the Ten Command-ments are a document of protection. The Com-mandments are the basis for the divineestablishment and protection of personal free-dom, marriage, family, the Church, and nationalentity. Thank God that the Bible says, “Do notbear false witness; do not steal; do not commitadultery” and so on. The Commandments ofGod protect our person, our property, and ourrights. The Commandments do not save us, butthey are beautiful in the plan of God.

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Chapter Two

LOVE IS THE ISSUE

In this beautiful principle of command-ments, Jesus is telling us, “If you really, truly,objectively love Me, not only will you have sub-jective love toward everyone, but you will haveobjective love. Because My character is revealedthrough you, I can exchange My love with youand through you.’’ Objective love means thatwhen two or more people are filled with theHoly Spirit, they have fellowship with eachother in the light (1 John 1:7).

God has both objective love and subjectivelove for believers. However, only God can havesubjective love for the unsaved people of theworld. Based upon Himself as the subject, Hislove goes toward people who are not saved, butHe cannot have fellowship with them, eventhough He died for their sins.

“Owe no man any thing, but to love one an-other” (Romans 13:8a). That is a commandment.

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Be kind, tenderhearted, and forgive one an-other as God has forgiven you, supernaturallythrough the Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:32). Thatis a commandment.

“Go ye into all the world, and preach thegospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). That is acommandment—the Great Commission.

Draw near with a true heart in full assuranceof faith, having your conscience delivered fromevil, and your bodies washed with pure water,holding fast to your profession of faith. Do notforsake the assembling of yourselves together asis the manner of some (Hebrews 10:22, 23, 25).Be a good steward of the manifold grace of God(1 Peter 4:10). Be a faithful steward (1 Corinthi-ans 4:2). All these are commandments, but theyare not difficult.

“Keep thyself pure” (1 Timothy 5:23). That isa mandate. And all mandates are given underthe New Covenant in the New Testament Age,where we have the privilege of being part of theroyal family of God. All these commandmentsare given to bless us, to protect us, to provide forus, and to reveal God through us.

Now, because of this, we can begin to under-stand that God’s commandments, which are notgrievous, are all based upon the motivation of

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God’s love. And, when our motive is divinelove, we are filled with the Holy Spirit of the liv-ing God.

The Importance of Repentance

“[God] commandeth all men everywhere torepent: Because he hath appointed a day, in thewhich he will judge the world in righteousnessby [Jesus Christ]” (Acts 17:30b-31a).

Repentance is a commandment, yet fewChristians understand what it is. As a result, fewever truly repent. Many believers know theyneed to change their ways, and they vow to doit, but their mind and their will are neverchanged.

Repentance is a gift from God for the be-liever. David said, “Turn me, O God” (Psalm85:4). Jeremiah said, “Turn me, and I will beturned…and then I will be instructed.…Surelyafter that I was turned, I repented” (see Jeremiah31:18-19). They realized that it is not by the willof man nor the will of the flesh, but repentance isof God. Those who are lost must first believeand receive Christ as their Savior so they can beborn again. Once a person is saved, he can re-pent and let God change his mind about whathe is doing (Acts 2:38).

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Repentance is a very precious thing. Whenthings are not right in our lives, one of the great-est privileges in the world is to hear the Word,agree with God quickly, and repent.

Judas never repented. He said he was sorrythat he made bad decisions, but he didn’t trulyrepent for betraying Jesus Christ. In the end, hekilled himself, and he went “to his own place,”apart from God (see Acts 1:25).

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Chapter Three

THE SUPERIORITY OF WISDOM

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth nothis commandments, is a liar, and the truth is notin him.

“But whoso keepeth his word, in him verilyis the love of God perfected: hereby know wethat we are in him” (1 John 2:4-5).

What does it really mean to know God andto keep His commandments through His loveand through the New Covenant? The motive,the source, the origin of keeping His Word is thelove of God perfected in us. We know we are inHim because we have the fruit of keeping Hiscommandments.

There is one thing that I am seeking at myage, and that is wisdom. All of us need it. Theone thing that is so crucial in knowing God iswisdom.

I can’t begin to tell you about how manymen I have met who are very gifted. They are

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very bright, and very smart—people love tohear them talk, love their sharpness, but theirwisdom is lagging way behind their gift. Theyare applauded because of their gift, but they lacksensitivity to the Holy Spirit. This lack of wis-dom can cause much heartache.

In brokenness, earnestness, and with ferventconviction, after nearly fifty years of preaching,the thing that I see lacking more than anythingelse is wisdom.

What Leaders Really Need

When I pray for a Bible college student, ayoung pastor, or anyone showing leadershipqualities, I pray for God to lead them to wisdom.More than testing potential pastors on theology,doctrine, hermeneutics, or apologetics—thingsthat are certainly very important—what weneed to do before ordaining anyone is to studytheir lives to see if they are ready to pastor withwisdom.

As a young pastor, I learned the value ofprayer and asking for wisdom. I would go toGod and pray every day. I said, “Whatever Yougive me, I will preach. I study hard; I am obedi-ent to your mandates; but I don’t have wisdom.Please give me wisdom.”

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True Stability

“And wisdom and knowledge shall bethe stability of thy times, and strength of salva-tion: the fear of the LORD is his treasure” (Isaiah33:6).

In an exegesis of the Hebrew text of thisverse, we find the word chokmah for “wisdom,”then a conjunctive particle followed by a femi-nine noun. “Knowledge” is daath and comesafter the conjunction, making knowledge subor-dinate to wisdom. When the conjunction at-taches a fresh subject to an already completeclause, the idea thus attached is subordinate tothe principle subject. Knowledge must be subor-dinate to wisdom. Otherwise, “knowledgepuffeth up” (1 Corinthians 8:1) and “the letterkilleth” (2 Corinthians 3:6).

I have seen young men who would goaround quoting Scripture, yet, they did notdemonstrate wisdom. They had knowledge, butno wisdom. Sadly, they are no longer followingGod.

Please remember this: Knowledge is subor-dinate to wisdom because wisdom is the livingWord, Jesus Christ who is manifested by thewritten Word of God with the Holy Spirit ap-

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plying the knowledge of the letter. Knowledgemust submit to wisdom. When this is under-stood, then wisdom shall be the stability of ourtimes, bringing a godly fear or reverence for theLord.

Knowledge submits to wisdom when itcomes to studying and rightly dividing theWord of God. Wisdom is loving your congrega-tion, investing in people. It is praying behind thescenes for those who are going through very dif-ficult times. This is wisdom because it is apply-ing the truth of what you know from God’sWord and doing it by the power of the HolySpirit.

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Chapter Four

WISDOM IN APPLICATION

“That no flesh should glory in his presence.“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of

God is made unto us wisdom, and righteous-ness, and sanctification, and redemption,

“That, according as it is written, He that glo-rieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians1:29-31).

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore getwisdom: and will all thy getting get under-standing” (Proverbs 4:7).

A family came to my office about a disagree-ment with a teacher. Their conversation becameheated, and I thought, “What would wisdomdo?” Wisdom would be very gentle, very kind,and listen. Especially, knowing that not one ofthem had a capacity for truth because each onewanted me to take their side, I said, “Can we geton our knees and pray? I will get back with youin a few days, and I will do whatever I can do.”

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We got on our knees. I made them feel veryloved.

Another time, a man came into my officeand I let him attack me for fifty-eight minutes. Inever opened my mouth during those fifty-eightminutes. When he was through, I said, quietly,“Sir, I have to be honest with you. If you wereright, I would weep and ask for forgiveness. Butcan I be honest? I have listened to you—Ihaven’t interrupted you one time in one hour.What you are saying is not true.”

I embraced him, and he put his head on myshoulder. I told him, “I will consider everythingyou have said, and I love you deeply.”

That man had quit the church, but he wasback the next Wednesday night. I knew that thisman had gone out on his wife. I knew manythings about him, but during our meeting I didnot bring up any of them because he was soangry.

Two years later, I heard this man say some-thing beautiful about that session. “I have got tosay this: Pastor surprised me, he was so kind,”he said. By using wisdom, God was able to turnaway the man’s wrath.

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Minister from the Heart

“The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue ofthe learned, that I should know how to speak aword in season to him that is weary: he wak-eneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mineear to hear as the learned” (Isaiah 50:4).

Jesus Christ did not speak out of season tothe weary. If there is one thing we need, it iswisdom so that we do not try to control people.If you are a leader and someone comes to youwho is wrong, don’t react. Remember, a soft an-swer turns away wrath.

Within three days, I called that family whohad the problem with the teacher. After investi-gating the matter, I told them, “I have to standwith our teacher. I can’t agree with you. I hopeyou will understand.”

They did understand, and everything is finebetween us.

If a pastor tries to control his congregation,he will be doing damage control all the time. Al-ways remember that people stand or fall beforeGod alone. We cannot dictate to them. We mustnot run them down. You can preach what youwill from the pulpit in love, but you cannot andyou must not try to control people. Control is

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nothing more than manipulation. We must notuse the precious Word of God to manipulateothers.

Get Past Manipulation

When I first started out as a Christian, I wasmanipulated. A pastor preached for forty min-utes that we weren’t supposed to have televi-sion, and everyone knew that I was the only onethere who had one. After a forty-minute mes-sage against TV, how do you think I felt? At thetime, I was a new believer. I had only beensaved for three months.

As I was going out the door of the church,the pastor said to me, “You know, you can stillrepent.” Now I felt even worse! What he didn’tknow was that a man I worked for went bank-rupt and owed me money. He felt bad about it,so he gave me his Spartan console-TV, radio,and phonograph, all in one. I came home onenight and he had installed it and put up an an-tenna.

That preacher didn’t use wisdom. He didn’tknow that I never bought that TV. He shouldhave come to me alone and asked me about it.

We must understand that wisdom is morethan using knowledge. Wisdom is being filled

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with love; it is walking in love but not compro-mising the truth about love. Wisdom is applyingknowledge. This beautiful principal means ex-actly this: To know God is to be filled with wis-dom.

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CONCLUSION

Jeremiah 4:21 says that many die withoutwisdom. Psalm 90:12 encourages us to apply ourhearts unto wisdom. Another good one is Isaiah47:10, “Wisdom plus knowledge is perverted.”This verse refers to those who have gifts, realgifts from God. They are sharp, tremendous inthe use of their gifts, and available to use them,but their wisdom is way behind their gifts. Theirgifts may cause people to be drawn to their nat-ural abilities instead of benefiting others in theKingdom. Sooner or later, their knowledge be-comes perverted because the Holy Spirit is notoperating in it.

Ecclesiastes 7:12 tells us that wisdom is a de-fense. Proverbs 8:33 tells us that wisdom calls usto hear instruction. It says, “Don’t refuse theseinstructions.” A man speaks out of his mouthwisdom (Psalm 37:30). If a person is to be wise,Proverbs 19:20 says he must receive counselfrom the Word of God. That is very important.

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The Bible says that God established theworld by wisdom (Jeremiah 10:12). Only Godgives wisdom (1 Chronicles 22:12), and the com-mandment of God makes us wise (Psalm119:98).

Father, thank You for giving us your wisdom tooperate in. Keep us tenderhearted and kind, notpuffed up with knowledge but growing every day tobe more like You. We love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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