Did you know it's possible to be highly educated and yet still be a fool by God's standards? Today on Truth for Life, we'll learn why biblical wisdom has nothing to do with the number of degrees you've earned. Alastair Begg is teaching the story of Joseph found in Genesis 41. We're focusing on verses 41 through 57. It is one thing.
for Joseph to be able to handle the pit. But is he going to be able to handle the pinnacle? We know that he can live in subservience and in the menial responsibilities that have been his. But can he live in this position of great authority? Can you?
Many a man or a girl who has done well In the medial. has floundered. in the realm of success. Fourth observation is this. It is one thing.
to be able to enter in To Joseph's disasters and his discouragements. It's quite another thing for us to be able to share his joy and his prosperity. In fact, the principle is generally true. Most, if not all, of us. have some spirit of empathy in us for those who are going through difficult days.
Should we not write a card? Should we not send a flower? Make a call. Ring on the phone. After all, our dear friends are in the dungeon, our dear friends are in difficulty, our dear friends are here.
And that is right, for the Bible says we should weep with those who weep. But it also says we're supposed to rejoice with those who rejoice. Do you find it as easy? To send the cards of encouragement? When a friend or a neighbor, a brother or a sister, a colleague who has been living at this level is overnight at this level?
In material terms? Who, as a result of God's providence in relationship to their business dealings or their family inheritance, or whatever it might be, their status is obviously altered and dramatically so and never to be the same again. Can we rejoice in that with a heart of untainted jealousy? Do the notes and the calls and the cards come as quickly for that? I suggest to you.
That many of us who can write the notes to the dungeon dweller find it far harder to write the notes to those who are on the pinnacle. Says Chuck Swindahl of this, even when we've no reason to doubt the source of someone's wealth, we often gravitate towards being critical. rather than supportive. Oh, there must mean something funny there, you know.
Well With Joseph in the dungeon. And now with Joseph, on the heights. Having noted then some of the perks of his being In charge, we need to ask the question: what it was that made Joseph the obvious choice for this position? And I'd like to answer that with another two-word phrase, which essentially provides for me the two building blocks of part one of this message today. And the second phrase is in touch.
in touch. Joseph was put in charge because Joseph was in touch.
Now the in touch was not in touch in terms of um His ability to move and shake and manipulate. There is little evidence of that in Joseph's life. The closest he comes to it is when in a previous time he asks the cupbearer to see what he can do about getting him out of the jail. That, I think, is more simply the taking of initiative than it is any desire to manipulate the circumstances. No, the significance in Joseph's life is not that he's in touch with the people who can make a difference, but that he is in touch with God.
He is living in touch with God. He has a God-centered life, a God-centered focus, and God is working in him and through him. And Pharaoh himself picks this up. The degree to which he is able to grasp what he is even saying is unclear. But in verse 38, he says to his officials, Can we find anyone like this man?
One in whom is the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of the Gods. In other words, what he's saying is there is a dimension to Joseph. which may only be explained in terms which are other Then human. Pharaoh looks at this young man. Looks at the events that have brought him to this day, listens to his word of interpretation, marvels at the wisdom of the plan that he suggests.
and says to himself, Surely The Spirit of God is in this guy. Whoever or whatever he conceived God to be.
Now loved ones, this is how it must always be and indeed has always been when God has chosen to pick up an individual and use them in a unique way. That's why it records in the Acts of the Apostles that when the people on the days following Pentecost saw the boldness of Peter and John. They took knowledge of them. Because it says they were unlearned and ignorant men, And they took knowledge of them because they had been with Jesus. Not because they were in charge of a religious establishment.
Not because they were like the Pharisees full of rules and regulations. Not because they were simply enthusiastic about a cause. But because they had clearly been in the presence of this Jesus of Nazareth. And that is how it is supposed to be. That is what we're supposed to be known for.
That is what people should be saying about us when they whisper at the water machine in our office. You know, there is something about that. They're all And it is clearly not simply that she goes to church. It is clearly not that she's just a religious girl. There's something about her.
And in the service of the church, it must be the same way. Those who serve in the church are to be those who have been fitted for the task by the Spirit of God. And indeed, when an individual is given by God's Spirit the gifts that are necessary for the fulfilling of such tasks. It should be no surprise to us that that individual becomes increasingly useful. Why is it then that this person would have the opportunity of this and this and this and this?
Well, unless it is as a result of human manipulation. Please God, it is that the Spirit of God rests in them. And for that, they are worthy of honor and respect. You see, that is why Hebrews 13 says what it says about leaders in the church: that we are to obey them so that their work will be a joy and not a burden, because that will be of no help to the congregation. It is not that somehow or another there is some spirit of subservience which pervades the church, but it is the recognition on the part of the people of God that those who have been placed in a position of responsibility are those who are in touch with God, and therefore it is out of that in-touchness that they have the opportunity to be useful.
And therefore, they are worthy of a degree of respect that is proportionate. With the gifts that God has given them. And that is why, for example, it was surely right that Dr. Billy Graham and his wife should receive the Congressional Medal. For whatever we may say surrounding all of that, we may say this with clarity.
Here is an individual. Upon whose life has rested the Spirit of God for his unique purposes in the realm of evangelism. Here is an individual who has remained true to the gospel, true to his wife, true to his calling. And the whole of America recognizes it. They can't explain it.
But they recognize it. And the answer is, surely in this man rests the Spirit of God. And so it was with Joseph. He stands out. And he stands out clearly.
And this element of his being in touch is revealed in his discernment and in his wisdom. Isn't that what he says to him? There is nobody who has greater discernment and wisdom than yourself. No one like you, Joseph.
Now I'd like to spend the remaining moments that I have, and they are just moments, thinking with you about the nature of wisdom. And I will come to the second part of this message if God spares me this evening. And the whole issue of how come he married Potipharah, the priest's daughter. All that exciting stuff. In his generation, wisdom was at a premium.
So much so that anyone who was clearly endowed with this faculty. would be put in a position of usefulness. And the same thing remains today. One of the most striking characteristics of our culture, and we've mentioned this before, is a lack of true wisdom. At a point in history where we have more opportunities for education.
more people that take undergraduate degrees with success, more people who have postgraduate qualifications are continuing to expand their level of knowledge, we still live in a realm of educated foolishness. We are creating a generation of intellectual. Fools. Because the psalmist says in 14:1, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God.
So that no matter how much I have by way of gray matter, No matter how well I am able to understand, retrieve, and regurgitate information, no matter how many advances I may make in the realm of my own particular discipline, without the dimension of biblical wisdom, I live in the realm of foolishness. For when the Bible thinks of wisdom in these terms, it is speaking of that enduement of heart and mind which is necessary for right living.
So that it is in our living that we declare. Our wisdom. Job in chapter 28 and verse 12 asks the question, where shall wisdom be found? He says, man does not know the way to it. And isn't that the truth?
You know, if our universities were full of wise people, People would be taking their vacations there. They would be going up there, you know, taking trailers and simply having picnics in the ground. Let's go up and hang around with wise people. Let's go up and see how the wise people live. Maybe we will become wise like them too.
But of course that doesn't happen. Because the youngster, no matter how well they graduate into what environment, matriculate into whatever school, they're not there five minutes till they realize I am surrounded by intellectual idiots. And unless I have an answer that is deep in the soul of my being. all of my gains here. will be held in check by this great lack.
So Job asks, where is this wisdom? He replies later in the way that the psalmist does in Psalm 111 and verse 10. He says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Until a man or a woman comes to fear God, to recognize that our times are in His hand, that we were created purposefully by Him, that we are ruined by sin. That we are glorious in our originality, in terms of being made in the image of God, and yet marred by this sin.
That God's desire is to recreate in us the image of His Son and to set us to rights. Until a man is brought to fear God in that way, then no matter how great His advance, He will always be less. than that which God might make him.
Solomon understood this perfectly. He says that wisdom is supreme when he writes to his sons in the book of Proverbs. He encourages them, listen, make sure that you get wisdom. Even if it costs you all you have, get understanding. Wisdom is supreme, get wisdom.
I find myself greatly challenged by this. Are we laboring that our children would become wise, or are we laboring that our children would become intelligent? As we think in terms of their progress through their school days and on to their development in college and beyond, what is it that really drives us? The concern to be well thought of by the people around us. To show that we can manage it, that we can handle it, that we can afford it, that we can send them there, that we're as good as the rest, and we will make every effort to ensure that they have all the benefits of intellect.
That is fine, and that is right. But absent the discovery of wisdom in their young lives, we send them down a dead-end street. And the great necessity that exists within my home. It's not simply that my children would come home with these things to stick on the back of their mother's van, which they do, which we put on the fridge, because I don't like stuff on the back of my cars. That is not the issue.
The issue is that they would come to wisdom. That they would fear the Lord. I'd rather they pump gas. and sold bananas from the side of the street. and knew the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, than that they were to excel and live in isolation from the truth of God's word.
Do you realize how many of us are caught up in this great intellectual snobbery? in this great educational vortex. in this idea that somehow or another we are what we have in relationship to these things. We are producing, I say to you again, a generation of total cluelessness. And as Christians, Don't misunderstand me here.
Our great need is for sanctified scholarship.
Okay? The best of our minds given to the best of our studies, with the best of our effort. But from the foundation of biblical wisdom. And you see, this is what it says: A wise son brings joy to his dad, but a foolish son grief. to his mother.
And I have letters all the time from people who tell me, My son, indeed I had one this week. My son is a prominent physician in the United Kingdom. My other son is a major in the Royal Air Force and flies planes at breakneck speeds. Writes my friend. But neither of them Walk.
with God. Do you think that he would trade That uniform. And that stethoscope. For being able to get down on his knees with his boys and reach into the heart of God, I tell you that in a minute he would. But again, don't misunderstand me.
It's not a choice between being a pilot and being a devoted Christian, between being a doctor and being in touch with God. It is let's get in touch with God and then let's go for the gold. But don't let's go for the gold and neglect getting in touch with God. See, that's why we know Joseph. Joseph had a great mind, there is no question.
Joseph would have exceeded himself in any Fortune 500 company in America on the strength of what we've seen so far. Joseph would have been at the apex of the business world in our day. But that wasn't what made Joseph Joseph. He was in touch. And it was revealed.
In wisdom. There is a wisdom which is earthly and unspiritual, says James in James 3. You may like to turn to it just in conclusion. the wisdom that is earthly. Has its accompaniments of envy and selfish ambition and boasting.
And it denies the truth. James 3:15, he says, Such wisdom doesn't come down from heaven, it's earthly, it's unspiritual, it's of the devil. When people are operating on the basis of that kind of non-wisdom, he says in verse 16, you'll have envy and selfish ambition, you'll have disorder, you'll have every evil practice going. But he says the wisdom that comes from heaven. which is the wisdom of Joseph.
the wisdom that comes from heaven. Look at it. It's pure. It shrinks from contamination. It's peace-loving.
It holds a line but does so graciously. It's considerate. It thinks of others. It's submissive. In other words, it is open to reason.
It's full of mercy. It's not like the Pharisees in a spirit of condemnation. It's full of good fruit, it's impartial, it's sincere. And it's revealed in life. It's not revealed in talk.
That's what he's saying in verse 13. If you're wise in your understanding, show it. Don't tell it. Excuse me, I am wise and understanding. The answer to that is Talk to the hand.
I don't want to hear from you. Who is wise in understanding, let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom. In other words, the wise fellow, the wise girl, is known not by their talk, but by their walk. And such wisdom. Brings a lovely harvest in verse 18.
Peacemakers who sow in peace. Raise our harvest. of righteousness. Let us beware, we said last time. Of choosing people on the strength of personality rather than character.
Let us beware, we say this morning, lest we are tempted to settle for knowledge as a substitute for wisdom. It is because wisdom is the issue that the rocket scientists may be deaf. And the little lady Who's never seen the inside of an educational establishment much beyond the age of 14, who is working away in the outer Hebrides of Scotland, fashioning Harris tweed so that you can wear that jacket that you have had so long and like so much. That's why she may be so full of wisdom. And the rocket scientist So silly.
Because it is ultimately found in the Lord Jesus. You can read it in Colossians 2. In Him says, Paul is found all of our wisdom, and our righteousness, and our holiness. And so, when Pharaoh looked around for someone to put in charge, He found a man who was in touch. Let us then look.
For leadership. On the same basis Let us look for those. who are in touch.
So that on the strength of their wisdom, They may be put. in charge. Mm. Oh. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg.
Alistair returns in just a moment to close today's program. You know, we often receive letters from listeners who have benefited from Alistair's teaching. We recently heard from Nick, who is a chaplain who serves inmates and officers at a county jail in Utah. And he wrote and said, I want to thank you for the many resources you offer that bring gospel clarity. The materials from Truth for Life are read widely.
They're discussed and utilized to start great biblical conversations here in our jail. Thank you for providing these books, messages, and biblical resources. God is glorifying himself through them, and men and women are coming to faith in Christ as they encounter Jesus in the Word. We praise God when we get feedback like this. In fact, last year Truth for Life joined Idovo, a platform that provides Alistair's sermons to thousands of incarcerated men and women around the country so they can listen to solid biblical teaching, and we're thrilled to hear that it's making such a difference for so many inmates.
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Now here is Alastair. O God our Father, we pray. that your word may dwell in us richly. That in the hours of this day and in the days of the week, some of the food that we have taken for our nourishment now we may be able to bring back. to our recollection and feed on it.
May it be a stimulus to our own study. our own personal devotions. our own desire to live. in an alien world with the clarity and conviction of Joseph. And now, unto him who is able to keep you from falling.
and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power.
Now and forevermore. Amen. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow we will learn why there's no ideal place to serve God except right where He has placed you. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life.
Where the learning is for a living.
