Walking in the Light and the Wisdom of God

Every true believer is the light of the world and he needs the wisdom of God to walk in the light of the world.

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12, NKJV, emphasis added).

Every true believer is a follower of Jesus and because of this fact every true believer has the light of life. We actually have the light (spiritual light) in us. What a difference that makes! If we have the light in us, then we will not depend upon light from an outside source. We can go any where, in any kind of darkness, and have light within us.

Jesus also said, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matt. 5:14, NKJV, emphasis added).

In John 8 Jesus said He was the light of the world, but in Matthew 5, He said you are the light of the world. How can you be the light of the world and He be the light of the world? The answer is that you and He are one. As He was, you now are in this world (1 John 4:17).

Relation between light and good works

In Matthew 5 Jesus said further: "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp-stand, and it give light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:15, 16).

In other words, God did not send you into the earth as light of the world, and then hide you or cover you up. You are not supposed to hide your light. you are supposed to take your light out into the world. It should not just stay in the Church building. We should go out and let our light shine before men so that they might see our good works. As we testify to the good works of God in our lives, God is glorified.

Believers can be alive and dead at the same time

Paul said, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: 'Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead and Christ will give you light.'" (Eph. 5:8 - 14, NKJV, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. The Church (a congregation of believers) is the light. Outside (unbelievers) is darkness. One of the functions of the Church is to expose the unfruitful works of darkness.

2. The Church, as well as individual believers, are persecuted because unbelievers love darkness and they do not want their deeds exposed or manifested. It makes them uncomfortable.

3. All believers can be alive and dead at the same time. All of us were dead when we were still living. We were dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). We were walking around breathing, talking, joking, and having a great time, but spiritually we were dead. Then we were awakened by the light of the "gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:4) - Satan had blinded our eyes, but the light of Christ's Gospel woke us up.


Believers are called to walk in Wisdom


Paul said, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Eph. 5:15 - 17, emphasis added).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. The word "circumspectly" comes from the Greek word "akribos" which means - carefully, accurately, diligently and perfectly.


2. God wants us to be careful and accurate so that we will not "miss the mark" - which is sin. If we walk accurately we will not walk in sin. We will walk in the light instead of in darkness. A careful walk depends upon wisdom, which can come only from knowing God's will.


3. "Redeeming the time" means, "making the best of the time". We need to make the best use of time because we are living in the evil days (age) - full of temptations and allurements.


Christ is our Wisdom from God


Paul said, "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God - and righteouness and sactification and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30, emphasis added).


Many believers, without ever reading this verse, would not think of Christ as our wisdom from God. They would say Christ is our redemption and righteousness. Others would say our sanctification. But very few would say wisdom.


Wisdom of God and the Wisdom of the world


Paul continued to say: "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 2:6 - 8, KJV, emphasis added).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. Paul was drawing a distinction between two wisdoms. He was talking about the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God. There are only two kinds of wisdom - the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world. There is no middle ground. There are no other sources of information besides God and the world.


2. The wisdom of God had was hidden before the foundation of the world to bring us glory.


3. You and I can know the things the devil does not know. God has hidden it. That is why not everyone can read the Bible and understand it - it is written in mystery. You need the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you.


Practical application of God's Wisdom


Solomon said, "Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her" (Prov. 4:5 - 8, NKJV, emphasis added).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. You get wisdom from the Word of God. You are not going to get wisdom anywhere else. God's wisdom comes from God's Word because His Word is His Wisdom.


2. When you begin to walk in wisdom, instead of walking in foolishness, you will be preserved by the wisdom of God. The word "preserve" literally defined means, "to keep alive or in existence, to make lasting, to keep safe from harm or injury". The reason being, you are walking in the light as you are walking in wisdom. When you are walking in the light, you can see what the Devil is trying to do to you, and you can walk around it, over it, or knock it out of the way. The only time you get hurt is when you are walking in darkness. You can't see what is in front of you so you stumble. That is the reason why Satan will try to get you into darkness (sin) to trap you.


3. The word "principal" means, "first or hightest as in rank, importance or value". God tells you to make wisdom the first thing in your life - the highest and most importnat thing in your life.


4. The word "exalt" means, "elevate in rank, honor, power, character and quality". If God's wisdom is not first in your life, then elevate it. If you do that, His wisdom will promote you. The word "promote" means, "to advance in rank".


5. The word "embrace" means, "to take or clasp in the arms, to press to the bosom, to take or receive gladly or eagerly".


We have seen, from the above, through the wisdom of God, your life will be elevated (lifted up), made better, increased and lifted up in dignity. This is the reason why wisdom is the principal thing - the thing that ranks first in your life.


God's Word and God's Wisdom


God's Word is God's wisdom. You cannot have God's wisdom apart from His Word. You must therefore give full attention to His Word in order for you to have the wisdom of God.


Jesus revealed this principle to Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38 - 42). When Jesus came to their house, Mary chose to sit at His feet and hear His Word, while Martha went into the kitchen to fix Him something to eat. Jesus was in the room teaching, speaking the words of life. While He was teaching, Martha was in the kitchen trying to cook. In fact she wanted Mary to help her. Obviously the first place in Martha's life was food, whereas the first in Mary's life was the Word - spiritual food.


Jesus said to Martha: "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42, NKJV, emphasis added).


The "good part" Mary had chosen was the Word of God and the wisdom of God - which will be hers eternally.


That tells us something about God's Word. When the Word comes into your heart, it lodges in your spirit. It takes root in you. If you believe it and hold onto it, the Devil cannot take it away from you. It will be yours forever.


The ways of foolishness


Oftentimes we can gain knowledge about a subject by studying its opposite. Therefore if we want to know more about wisdom we need to study foolishness - the opposite of wisdom. The Bible says a lot about foolishness, particularly in the Book of Proverbs.


Jesus said that a wise man is a man who hears His Words and does them. He said a foolish man hears the Word and does not act upon it (Matt. 7:24 - 26).


Acting foolishly or being a fool is not something to be taken lightly because Jesus said nothing good about a fool. He said that a man who calls his brother a fool is in danger of "hell fire" (Matt. 5:22). God does not take these things lightly, and neither should we. We must make every effort to remove all traces of foolishness from our lives. In Scripture, a "fool" means a "simpleton" or "the simple one".


The psalmist said, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good" (Ps. 14:1 or Ps 53:1).


A fool does four unacceptable things - he says there is no God; he is corrupt, he does abominable works and he does not do anything good.


Here are some of the ways and characteristics of a fool:


1. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Prov. 1:7, NKJV, emphasis added).


Note that the word "fear" means "reverence fear". The word "knowledge" is the principal part of "wisdom". Fools despise wisdom and knowledge - they make light of it. They make light of opportunities to be instructed. They do not see the importance of it. They despise the opportunity to obtain wisdom and instruction.


2. "How long, you simple one (simpleton), will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge" (Prov. 1:22).


A fool is a fool because he hates knowledge. If you hate knowledge, you will be a fool.

3. "For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them" (Prov. 1:32).


The fools will be destroyed by their backsliding and complacency.


4. "The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools (Prov. 3:35, KJV)


Proverbs 4 says that if you will exalt wisdom, wisdom will promote you. Here we are told that fools will be promoted by shame. Shame is a very poor promoter. If the things which make a person well known in his community are shame, then it is nothing to become excited about!


5. "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise. A fool's wrath is known at once, but a prudent man cover shame" (Prov. 12:15, 16, NKJV, emphasis added).


The word "prudent" means "discretion". Wisdom and prudence dwell together. The wise man covers shame, which is the exact opposite of what a fool does. A fool finds fault, get angry about it, and lets everybody know. A wise man covers it.