100:00:01,000 –> 00:00:03,000Some have got to figure it out.200:00:03,000 –> 00:00:08,120Someone raised on the white floor gospel comes to church and then gets involved300:00:08,120 –> 00:00:12,820in a Bible study and then says, hey I believe that Jesus died and rose.400:00:12,820 –> 00:00:16,100They say a prayer and then they’re told hey, this is great!500:00:16,100 –> 00:00:19,799You are now forgiven and you have everlasting life. So this person says600:00:19,799 –> 00:00:24,480marvellous, I’m forgiven, I have everlasting life. I believe the gospel.700:00:24,480 –> 00:00:26,760All I’ve got to do now is figure out how to live the rest of my life.800:00:27,459 –> 00:00:32,560Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick and I’m glad you could be with us900:00:32,560 –> 00:00:37,419today. Colin this is something that will help many Christians who aren’t growing1000:00:37,419 –> 00:00:42,279and maybe maturing in their faith. It may help them to understand why because the1100:00:42,279 –> 00:00:46,660gospel is not simply a one time experience, it has to transform our life1200:00:46,660 –> 00:00:49,959every day. Yeah, I think that the gospel’s been1300:00:49,959 –> 00:00:53,639thought of by many people for a long time as being like the door that gets1400:00:54,040 –> 00:00:57,459into the house, it is actually the whole house. Tim Keller has this great phrase1500:00:57,459 –> 00:01:02,560the gospel’s not the ABC, it is the A to Z of the Christian life. That’s why in1600:01:02,560 –> 00:01:07,680the New Testament, we keep reading about being in Christ and everything that is1700:01:07,680 –> 00:01:10,900ours in Christ. Christ is our wisdom. You have Christ in1800:01:10,900 –> 00:01:15,500you that’s the fountain from which wisdom is going to come and so the whole1900:01:15,500 –> 00:01:19,379of the Christian life is lived out of this knowledge of Jesus Christ not just2000:01:19,379 –> 00:01:23,040the beginning of it. So we’re going to find that in 1 Corinthians in chapter2100:01:23,040 –> 00:01:26,739two. As we begin the message you are wise.2200:01:26,739 –> 00:01:32,940Here’s Colin. Now knowing who you are is really of critical importance in living2300:01:32,940 –> 00:01:37,279the Christian life. And that’s what we’ve been exploring over these last weeks2400:01:37,279 –> 00:01:43,080together. Now we’ve experienced a significant2500:01:43,080 –> 00:01:49,400change in our family over the last few weeks that I’d like to tell you about. My2600:01:49,480 –> 00:01:57,019wife has started making her own bread. Now I have to tell you that for over 402700:01:57,019 –> 00:02:02,000years I’ve been very very contented with white bread. I like my toast. I like my2800:02:02,000 –> 00:02:08,199marmalade. I’ve eaten it that way for years. So when I was told that what I’ve2900:02:08,199 –> 00:02:16,020been eating for over 40 years is made with white flour. And that most of the3000:02:16,380 –> 00:02:22,539goodness that God intended me to enjoy has been taken out of this, I wasn’t3100:02:22,539 –> 00:02:29,059really quite too sure how to take it. Well now we have buckets of grain, and a3200:02:29,059 –> 00:02:37,080flour mill, and I have to tell you that this new bread is fantastic. One slice of3300:02:37,080 –> 00:02:44,300this has more goodness in it, than five slices of the other. I can tell the3400:02:44,300 –> 00:02:53,300difference. Now I want to suggest to you that some of us have got used to what3500:02:53,300 –> 00:03:02,259I’m going to call the white flour gospel. A gospel that has much of the goodness3600:03:02,259 –> 00:03:11,419taken out of it. It’s been so refined that it’s lost its substance. And3700:03:11,880 –> 00:03:19,600although we can live on it, it lacks what God originally gave us and intended us3800:03:19,600 –> 00:03:27,419to build ourselves up on. The white flower gospel goes something like this3900:03:27,419 –> 00:03:32,059Jesus came into the world He died on the cross for our sins and on the third day4000:03:32,059 –> 00:03:36,080He rose again. If you believe these things you will be forgiven and you will4100:03:36,080 –> 00:03:42,460have everlasting life, that is true but it is a long way from being the whole4200:03:42,460 –> 00:03:48,479truth. So someone raised on the white flour gospel comes to church and then4300:03:48,479 –> 00:03:53,600gets involved in a Bible study and then says hey I believe that Jesus died and4400:03:53,600 –> 00:03:57,779rose. They say a prayer and then they’re told well this is great you are now4500:03:57,779 –> 00:04:02,139forgiven and you have everlasting life, so this person says marvelous I’m4600:04:02,139 –> 00:04:06,759forgiven, I have everlasting life, I believe the gospel all I’ve got to do4700:04:06,759 –> 00:04:10,520now is figure out how to live the rest of my life.4800:04:10,520 –> 00:04:15,399The result is that many Christians live with a deep sense that the gospel is4900:04:15,399 –> 00:04:20,160addressed to the past, it’s about our forgiveness and it’s addressed to the5000:04:20,160 –> 00:04:25,320future. It’s about our everlasting destiny but it is somehow disconnected5100:04:25,320 –> 00:04:31,899from the real issues with which all of us struggle in our lives today. After all5200:04:31,980 –> 00:04:39,720all of us have deep wounds in our lives. Where do you go for that? All of us have5300:04:39,720 –> 00:04:46,160ongoing struggles in our lives, where do you go for that? All of us, or many of us5400:04:46,160 –> 00:04:50,779have feelings of insignificance in our lives, does my life really count for5500:04:50,779 –> 00:04:56,380anything in the vastness of this world? Where do I go to work out that? Now many5600:04:56,380 –> 00:04:59,140Christians have come to the conclusion because they’ve been raised on the5700:04:59,140 –> 00:05:04,459White Flower Gospel, that the gospel simply does not really address the5800:05:04,459 –> 00:05:09,899issues with which I live today and so the gospel becomes relegated to being a5900:05:09,899 –> 00:05:14,200kind of spiritual insurance policy. Something you’re glad you have, you6000:05:14,200 –> 00:05:17,459wouldn’t want to be without it but not really a lot of use or interest in the6100:05:17,459 –> 00:05:24,500practicalities of your everyday life. That’s the White Flower Gospel.6200:05:24,500 –> 00:05:28,660Immediately you’re gonna say well now, what’s missing? What’s been taken out6300:05:28,660 –> 00:05:36,079of the White Flower Gospel that God originally put in? What is the6400:05:36,079 –> 00:05:41,000nourishment that God intended us to enjoy in our day-to-day lives that has6500:05:41,000 –> 00:05:47,540so often been removed from the way in which we understand the gospel today?6600:05:47,540 –> 00:05:51,100And the answer is simply this. It has been the focus of our whole series that to be a6700:05:51,100 –> 00:06:01,459Christian is to be in Jesus Christ. If anyone is in Christ he or she is a new6800:06:01,459 –> 00:06:10,260creation. The old has gone and the new has come. Many have never really6900:06:10,260 –> 00:06:18,619understood what it is to be a new person now in Jesus Christ. The gospel puts this7000:06:18,660 –> 00:06:27,339many different ways. You must be born again John chapter 3 verse 7. Christ7100:06:27,339 –> 00:06:32,859saved us by the washing of rebirth. The word is used in the New American7200:06:32,859 –> 00:06:38,119Standard Version and many other versions by regeneration and renewal by the Holy7300:06:38,119 –> 00:06:43,959Spirit. An important Bible word God made us alive in Jesus Christ. When you come7400:06:43,959 –> 00:06:50,480to Christ there’s a new life. There’s a new power. There’s a new identity. You7500:06:50,480 –> 00:06:59,959become a new person. That’s the whole grain of the gospel. Now the purpose of7600:06:59,959 –> 00:07:05,600our short series has been to identify and to recover that whole grain of the7700:07:05,600 –> 00:07:11,480gospel. To discover your new identity in Jesus Christ. To put back into our7800:07:11,559 –> 00:07:16,920understanding of the gospel what has too often been taken out and therefore lost.7900:07:16,920 –> 00:07:22,339Now our focus verse is 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30. Where we8000:07:22,339 –> 00:07:29,140discover that Jesus Christ is , has become for us wisdom from God. That is, He is8100:07:29,140 –> 00:07:36,399our righteousness, our holiness, and our redemption. And so let’s take a moment8200:07:36,399 –> 00:07:41,399just to review what we’ve learned about this very substance of what it is to be8300:07:41,420 –> 00:07:51,359in Christ. In Christ, number one, you are clean, even though you still sin. How is8400:07:51,359 –> 00:07:57,380that possible? Because Christ is your righteousness and your purity lies in8500:07:57,380 –> 00:08:00,079Him. That’s why nothing that happens to you8600:08:00,079 –> 00:08:03,779in this world can ever touch it. That speaks to some of the deepest struggles8700:08:03,779 –> 00:08:12,040of abuse in this world. you are free. Secondly, though you still struggle, say8800:08:12,040 –> 00:08:15,739how is that possible if I struggle. How can I be free? I know I struggle, so I8900:08:15,739 –> 00:08:21,579assume that I’m not free. Note you are free because Christ is your redemption.9000:08:21,579 –> 00:08:26,660You used to be a slave to sin but Christ has brought you out of that position9100:08:26,660 –> 00:08:30,779you’re not in the cage you’re in the field. You’re not a hostage. You are9200:08:30,779 –> 00:08:35,520equipped to fight and because you’re involved in a battle, you may fail. You9300:08:35,520 –> 00:08:39,919may be set back many times, but ultimately you will triumph. You are, sin9400:08:39,919 –> 00:08:47,820will no longer be your master. You are holy. You’re holy even though you still9500:08:47,820 –> 00:08:52,559live in the world. You say how is that possible? Because Christ is your holiness.9600:08:52,559 –> 00:08:57,859What Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 1 30. You don’t belong to this world, you’ve9700:08:57,880 –> 00:09:04,539been called from this world, but you’ve also been sent into this world. Christ is9800:09:04,539 –> 00:09:11,320your righteousness, your holiness and your redemption. Of course, these things9900:09:11,320 –> 00:09:16,700that are true of me as a person in Jesus Christ, true of you in Jesus Christ, they10000:09:16,700 –> 00:09:23,900are things that are known by faith and when we talk as Christians, as we talk so10100:09:24,140 –> 00:09:30,059loosely about faith, this is a large part of what we’re talking about. We walk by10200:09:30,059 –> 00:09:37,479faith and not by sight. It’s very easy for me to see my sins, for me to see my10300:09:37,479 –> 00:09:44,659struggles, but it is by faith that I believe that in Jesus Christ I am10400:09:44,659 –> 00:09:50,780righteous because he is my righteousness, that in Jesus Christ I’m free because he10500:09:50,780 –> 00:09:55,940is my redemption, that in Jesus Christ I’m holy because he has called me out of10600:09:55,940 –> 00:10:03,080the world and is my holiness. You know we talk a lot about faith and yet some of10700:10:03,080 –> 00:10:09,479us don’t believe the very things that we say are the substance of our faith. We10800:10:09,479 –> 00:10:17,479walk by faith and not by sight, so what I’m wanting to say as a pastor in this10900:10:17,479 –> 00:10:25,700series is look, feed yourself on the whole grain of the gospel. Feed this11000:10:25,700 –> 00:10:32,539truth to yourself. Don’t go around feeding yourself the devil’s lies that you’re11100:10:32,539 –> 00:10:37,400still the same old person you used to be feed yourself the truth of who you are11200:10:37,400 –> 00:10:43,599in Jesus Christ and as you feed yourself that truth be who you are,11300:10:43,599 –> 00:10:50,280be who you are. What a great challenge to make sure that we are feeding the truth11400:10:50,280 –> 00:10:55,479of the power of the gospel to ourselves every day. You’re listening to Open the11500:10:55,479 –> 00:11:00,400Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called, You Are Wise, part of our11600:11:00,400 –> 00:11:05,359series Be Yourself. If you ever miss one of Pastor Colin’s messages you11700:11:05,359 –> 00:11:09,960always catch up or go back and listen again online at our website11800:11:10,520 –> 00:11:15,840Or you can find Pastor Colin’s messages as a podcast if that’s an11900:11:15,840 –> 00:11:19,900easier way for you to stay in touch with his teaching. Those are on all the Maiden12000:11:19,900 –> 00:11:24,719Podcast sites and you can find them by searching for Open the Bible UK or by12100:11:24,719 –> 00:11:29,880following the link from our website. Open the Bible is supported by our listeners12200:11:29,880 –> 00:11:34,559financially. We do depend on people like you to keep Pastor Colin Smith’s12300:11:34,559 –> 00:11:39,919messages on the radio and online. So if you already support us in that way thank12400:11:39,919 –> 00:11:44,719you very much. If that’s something you’re considering starting to do this month, if12500:11:44,719 –> 00:11:49,599you able to set up a new direct debit of £5 per month or more or a12600:11:49,599 –> 00:11:54,320one-off gift of £50 or more, we’d love to say thank you by sending you12700:11:54,320 –> 00:12:00,119Pilgrims’ Progress, John Bunyan’s classic allegory about the Christian life, which12800:12:00,119 –> 00:12:05,400so many have enjoyed and benefited greatly from reading. Along with the book12900:12:05,500 –> 00:12:10,460we’ll send you a specially printed, open the Bible bookmark and an open the Bible13000:12:10,460 –> 00:12:15,859pen. Colin I’ve heard that this is one of your favourite books. It absolutely is, in13100:12:15,859 –> 00:12:20,760fact if I was stranded on a desert island and I was only allowed to take13200:12:20,760 –> 00:12:27,900one book apart from the Bible of course, then my choice would definitely be John13300:12:27,900 –> 00:12:33,020Bunyan’s Pilgrims’ Progress. Here’s why, if you’ve got one book besides the Bible13400:12:33,039 –> 00:12:35,619you would want to have something that was enjoyable13500:12:35,619 –> 00:12:39,400compelling you’d want to have something that you would keep coming back to and13600:12:39,400 –> 00:12:44,679you’d want to have something that did you lasting good and John Bunyan’s13700:12:44,679 –> 00:12:50,640Pilgrims’ Progress has fulfilled all of these things in my life it really is a13800:12:50,640 –> 00:12:56,179treasured book and I’m absolutely delighted that we are able to offer this13900:12:56,179 –> 00:13:01,960month John Bunyan’s Pilgrims’ Progress. It is a book that you will treasure and14000:13:01,960 –> 00:13:07,039every Christian home aught to have a copy.’ So we’d love to send you a copy of14100:13:07,039 –> 00:13:11,539Pilgrims’ Progress as well as a specially printed bookmark and an14200:13:11,539 –> 00:13:16,340Open the Bible pen to say thank you for setting up a new direct debit of £514300:13:16,340 –> 00:13:21,479per month or more to the work of Open the Bible or a one-off gift of £5014400:13:21,479 –> 00:13:25,719or more. Full details, terms and conditions are on our website and14500:13:26,239 –> 00:13:32,280openthebible.org.uk Back to The Message now. We’re in 1 Corinthians14600:13:32,280 –> 00:13:34,640and Chapter 2. Here’s Colin.14700:13:34,640 –> 00:13:37,760Now today we come to the fourth dimension of our new14800:13:37,760 –> 00:13:42,840identity in Jesus Christ and in some ways, as the most important of all.14900:13:42,840 –> 00:13:51,159You are wise, though you still make mistakes. Christ is our wisdom.15000:13:51,159 –> 00:13:56,6401 Corinthians, Chapter 1 and verse 30. Christ is our wisdom.15100:13:56,640 –> 00:14:06,039So in Christ, you’re wise, even though you still make mistakes.15200:14:06,039 –> 00:14:09,479I want to give a very simple definition of wisdom.15300:14:09,479 –> 00:14:16,159Wisdom is very simply the ability to put things together.15400:14:16,299 –> 00:14:21,840Now, in the Old Testament there was a man by the name of Bezalel, and Bezalel was15500:14:21,840 –> 00:14:27,359a very skilled master craftsman. He made the furniture for the tabernacle, at15600:14:27,359 –> 00:14:32,659least he was in charge of that project. He had the ability to put things15700:14:32,659 –> 00:14:41,340together in gold, in silver and in wood. And the word that is used to describe15800:14:41,359 –> 00:14:49,239Bezalel’s skill in the Old Testament is this word, wisdom. You see, these two15900:14:49,239 –> 00:14:54,719things are speaking to the same reality. The man who has the ability to put16000:14:54,719 –> 00:15:01,159things together is the man who has wisdom. Now, it takes great skill for16100:15:01,159 –> 00:15:05,260Bezalel to put the furniture for the tabernacle together, it takes even16200:15:05,260 –> 00:15:11,320greater skill for you or for me to put our life together. But that is what16300:15:11,320 –> 00:15:17,960wisdom is all about, it is the ability to put things together. Now, it’s16400:15:17,960 –> 00:15:21,979important to notice at this point the difference between wisdom and knowledge,16500:15:21,979 –> 00:15:30,440this is very significant. Knowledge is about gathering information, wisdom is16600:15:30,440 –> 00:15:37,419about putting it together. So for many years, my father was a16700:15:37,419 –> 00:15:43,299policeman, he worked in the CID, the Criminal Investigation Department in16800:15:43,299 –> 00:15:49,179Edinburgh, Scotland. He was a detective. Now the first thing that a detective16900:15:49,179 –> 00:15:54,940does is that he gathers evidence, takes fingerprints, takes photographs, takes17000:15:54,940 –> 00:16:03,099statements. He gathers the evidence and he builds a base of knowledge. But the17100:16:03,099 –> 00:16:09,219real skill of the detective, of course, is to put the evidence together in a way17200:16:09,219 –> 00:16:14,580that solves the case. Watch any detective series on television, you’ll find this17300:16:14,580 –> 00:16:18,659is what it’s about, the formula is always the same. There are various pieces of17400:16:18,659 –> 00:16:22,780disconnected information that just don’t fit together. But the knowledge is17500:16:22,780 –> 00:16:27,020assembled and then the genius of the detective is that at some point, the17600:16:27,020 –> 00:16:32,820light goes on and he or she says ah and puts the pieces of evidence together and17700:16:32,979 –> 00:16:37,979suddenly solves the case and you suddenly know whodunit as it were.17800:16:39,380 –> 00:16:45,739Now remember then that wisdom is always based on knowledge. If you don’t have the17900:16:45,739 –> 00:16:50,580evidence you can’t solve the case. You can’t form a conclusion without the18000:16:50,580 –> 00:16:54,200evidence. You can’t put the pieces together if you don’t have the pieces in18100:16:54,200 –> 00:17:01,619the first place. But at the same time, knowledge does not always lead to18200:17:01,799 –> 00:17:07,800wisdom and that’s equally important to remember. That’s what wisdom is all about18300:17:07,800 –> 00:17:10,520That’s why, by the way, you can be in church for a very long time and learn18400:17:10,520 –> 00:17:16,660many things about the Bible and never come to the wisdom of God.18500:17:16,660 –> 00:17:20,579Now how you’re going to put your life together? That’s really the issue that’s18600:17:20,579 –> 00:17:25,380at stake today. I want us to see from the passage of Scripture in 1 Corinthians18700:17:25,380 –> 00:17:30,000in chapter 2 that there are very clearly two different ways of doing this. First18800:17:30,339 –> 00:17:34,660you can put your life together through the wisdom of this age, which is in verse18900:17:34,660 –> 00:17:39,819six, or second through God’s secret wisdom, which Paul describes in verse19000:17:39,819 –> 00:17:46,060seven. Two ways of putting your life together, two kinds of wisdom. It’s what19100:17:46,060 –> 00:17:55,219wisdom is. Now notice first then in verse six the wisdom of this age.19200:17:55,219 –> 00:17:59,359The wisdom of this age is simply a way of putting your life19300:17:59,400 –> 00:18:07,719together with yourself at the center. That’s how this world thinks. The wisdom19400:18:07,719 –> 00:18:11,619of this age is the way of putting life together that begins with the question19500:18:11,619 –> 00:18:18,400what do I want to get out of life? What will it take to get it? And how do I act19600:18:18,400 –> 00:18:25,880and behave and position myself in such a way to get what I want? Now notice that19700:18:26,000 –> 00:18:32,479Paul tells us three things about that way of putting life together. Number one,19800:18:32,479 –> 00:18:40,199that kind of wisdom will not bring you to God. I’m looking at chapter one in19900:18:40,199 –> 00:18:49,459verse 21 now. Notice the world through its wisdom did not know him, chapter 120000:18:49,479 –> 00:18:58,680verse 21. The world through its wisdom did not know him. In other words, if20100:18:58,680 –> 00:19:02,819you’re putting your life together simply on the basis of how can I get20200:19:02,819 –> 00:19:08,599everything that I want, you cannot come to know God that way.20300:19:08,599 –> 00:19:15,180If you come into a church environment because you want to add God to the20400:19:15,359 –> 00:19:20,859agenda of your life which is essentially self-serving, you just cannot come to20500:19:20,859 –> 00:19:25,660know God that way. You simply will not get there. You can be religious, you can20600:19:25,660 –> 00:19:32,579say prayers, but you will not know God so long as the central agenda of your life20700:19:32,579 –> 00:19:40,579is to get out of life what you want. God cannot be found on the Path of the20800:19:40,739 –> 00:19:45,699world’s wisdom, and if that is where you are walking, because he’s not there, you20900:19:45,699 –> 00:19:53,619will not find him. Believe in Him and pray to Him, but never know him. Second,21000:19:53,619 –> 00:19:58,699this way of putting life together, the way of saying, you know, how do I get21100:19:58,699 –> 00:20:05,699what I want, this way of putting life together has no room for Jesus Christ.21200:20:05,699 –> 00:20:12,459Chapter 2 and verse 8, the Apostle Paul refers here to those who crucified the21300:20:12,459 –> 00:20:19,280Lord of Glory. Chapter 2 and verse 8. They crucified the Lord of glory, those who21400:20:19,280 –> 00:20:26,000followed the wisdom of this age, because of course if you’re putting your life21500:20:26,000 –> 00:20:30,760together on the basis of trying to get what you want,21600:20:31,479 –> 00:20:35,599you will have no room for a Jesus who says, deny yourself and take up your21700:20:35,599 –> 00:20:41,199cross and follow me. The wisdom of this world and the way of Jesus are like oil21800:20:41,199 –> 00:20:48,560and water. That’s why you can’t add Jesus to a self-centered view of life.21900:20:48,560 –> 00:20:54,739And a person who tries to do that will ultimately end up like Judas, the man22000:20:54,939 –> 00:21:01,060among the twelve who wanted Jesus to fulfill his agenda and when he found22100:21:01,060 –> 00:21:05,300that ultimately that could not work, he traded Jesus in to get what he thought22200:21:05,300 –> 00:21:11,000was good, 30 pieces of silver. The wisdom of this age, the putting of life22300:21:11,000 –> 00:21:17,000together in a way that says how do I get what I want has no room for Jesus.22400:21:17,079 –> 00:21:23,760If you follow the wisdom of this world, you have to crucify Christ.22500:21:25,800 –> 00:21:28,959And then thirdly, this way of putting life together ultimately comes to22600:21:28,959 –> 00:21:33,680nothing. Notice verse 6, Paul speaks of the wisdom of this age, the rulers of22700:21:33,680 –> 00:21:41,040this age who are coming to nothing. The wisdom of this world promises you22800:21:41,040 –> 00:21:46,560everything, everything you can be, but it comes to nothing.22900:21:47,219 –> 00:21:55,420And if you put your life together on the basis of everything I want, what will23000:21:55,420 –> 00:22:02,400that be in the end? So there’s one way of putting life together. It is so common23100:22:02,400 –> 00:22:08,319throughout this world, how do I get what I want? It’s the way of wisdom of this23200:22:08,319 –> 00:22:11,819world. You can’t come to know God that way. You just can’t add God into that.23300:22:11,819 –> 00:22:16,699It just doesn’t mix. There’s no room for Jesus there. You have to crucify Christ23400:22:16,760 –> 00:22:19,520if you’re going that way, and it will come to23500:22:21,839 –> 00:22:25,800nothing. You’ve been listening to Pastor Colin Smith on Open the Bible23600:22:25,819 –> 00:22:32,140and a message called, You Are Wise. Part of our series, Be Yourself, and don’t23700:22:32,140 –> 00:22:35,459forget if you ever miss one of the messages, you can always catch up or go23800:22:35,459 –> 00:22:42,260back and listen again online at our website openthebible.org.uk. Also on23900:22:42,260 –> 00:22:46,500our website don’t forget you to check out Open the Bible Daily and that’s a24000:22:46,500 –> 00:22:51,219series of short 2 to 3 minute daily reflections based on Pastor Colin’s24100:22:51,219 –> 00:22:56,660teaching and read in the UK by Sue McLeish. And as we finish today’s message24200:22:56,660 –> 00:23:00,780Colin, we’ve been hearing about the difference between wisdom and knowledge.24300:23:00,780 –> 00:23:06,780In this age of information overload, what impact does that have on wisdom?24400:23:06,780 –> 00:23:10,079Yeah you know I think that’s one of the biggest challenges about being a24500:23:10,079 –> 00:23:14,219Christian. You know there were two great novelists who wrote about what the24600:23:14,839 –> 00:23:20,140like some years ago. One was George Orwell. The other Aldous Huxley. They had24700:23:20,140 –> 00:23:23,800very different visions of the future. George Orwell thought that the future24800:23:23,800 –> 00:23:27,819would be a world in which people couldn’t find the truth.24900:23:27,819 –> 00:23:31,619Huxley thought the opposite. He thought that it would be a world in which people25000:23:31,619 –> 00:23:35,619would be hearing so many voices that they wouldn’t care about the truth.25100:23:35,619 –> 00:23:41,260And guess what? Huxley was right. And increasingly the repressive communism25200:23:41,780 –> 00:23:47,239and regimes that have suppressed the truth have receded. There has been an25300:23:47,239 –> 00:23:51,800advance of freedom, the information technology—wonderful, wonderful gift.25400:23:51,800 –> 00:23:55,420But we have to deal with the pressures of living a Christian life now.25500:23:55,420 –> 00:23:59,479And we’re living in Huxley’s world in which the great danger is we are25600:23:59,479 –> 00:24:04,359surrounded by information. And it’s so easy to drift through life without25700:24:04,359 –> 00:24:07,579ever really having a desire for the truth at all.25800:24:07,680 –> 00:24:12,260And therefore the importance of having access to the Word of God, and giving the25900:24:12,260 –> 00:24:16,339Word of God access into my life—and I don’t want to even be on information26000:24:16,339 –> 00:24:20,380overload there. You know, I’ve read 25 chapters of the Bible—that’s not the26100:24:20,380 –> 00:24:26,439point! Has the Word of God found a lodging place in my life today?26200:24:26,439 –> 00:24:30,939Is there a truth that I’ve laid hold of and really come to believe?26300:24:30,939 –> 00:24:32,959Is there a sin I’ve identified that I’m repenting of?26400:24:32,959 –> 00:24:37,540Is there a work of the Spirit through the light of truth that’s causing me to26500:24:37,660 –> 00:24:43,000be alive as a Christian in a world being bombarded by information?26600:24:43,000 –> 00:24:47,540That’s one of the critical challenges I think of living the Christian life.26700:24:47,540 –> 00:24:53,719It certainly is, which is why it’s so important to be clear about these fundamental truths.26800:24:53,719 –> 00:24:57,520Maybe you’ve missed some of the broadcasts in our series Be Yourself.26900:24:57,520 –> 00:25:00,319Or maybe you’d like to go back and listen again. And don’t forget you can27000:25:00,319 –> 00:25:04,280always do that by coming online to our website openthebible.org.uk27100:25:04,880 –> 00:25:09,319For Open the Bible, and for Pastor Colin Smith,27200:25:09,319 –> 00:25:12,479I’m David Pick, and I hope you’ll be able to join us again next time.27300:25:17,459 –> 00:25:22,560You want to apply more wisdom to your life. How do you do that?27400:25:22,560 –> 00:25:27,819Discover Jesus’ Starting Point, next time on Open the Bible.