Knowledge, Understanding and Wisdom: Why You Need All Three

Well, good afternoon, brethren. Always good to see all of you once again.

If you could only have one of these, which would you choose? Knowledge, understanding, or wisdom? You can only pick one. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that all three are important, but if you could only pick one of those, which would you rather have? Now if I went around the room, some of you, many of you would probably say knowledge.

Without knowing things, it’s pretty much the other two are moot. They don’t really make much sense. You have to have knowledge. Others of you might choose understanding because you recognize that is deeper, deeper than just having knowledge and knowing things. Some may choose understanding. But the majority of you all, knowing my audience, the majority of you would probably pick wisdom because you know, you understand that wisdom is the ultimate goal. Who certainly doesn’t want to be wise? And of course, the scriptures talk a lot about wisdom.

So some might choose knowledge, some might choose understanding, and many would probably choose wisdom. But brethren, that is not a biblical question. That question is not biblical to choose knowledge, wisdom, or understanding. It’s actually not the right question. God never anywhere in scripture tells us to pick just one. He never says, “Choose one of these and don’t worry about the others.” God never says that in His word. He actually presents them, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, God presents them as something that we must have all together. We must have all three.

Now this idea of having knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, having all three is always an important subject, but it’s really important right now. We just came through the Days of Unleavened Bread and it was a course of time of self-examination. We examined ourselves, we put in the work, we removed sin from our lives, physical leaven, which represents sin, and we went through the checklist and we worked on ourselves, of course, removing sin from our lives. We do that all year round, but we really focused on it this time of year.

And God, as a result of that, including the Passover and all that it entails, God has given us a clean slate. We’ve sort of stripped things down to the foundation. Everything is clean. God has given us a clean slate to begin. It’s a launching pad where now we can move forward and it is a new beginning. So God has set things up. He’s done His part. He’s worked with us and through us to do our part.

And brethren, now is the time to build. Now is the time to take what God has done, what we’ve done. We have a clean slate and it’s time to move forward and it’s time to build. It’s time to focus on this foundation, this clear, clean foundation that God has laid. And we want to put something together. We want to construct or build something, brethren, that’s going to last. Something that’ll last all year to get us through all the things that we’ll be facing in the coming months, coming days, weeks, and months, all year, and given time and timing to the next Passover.

The Bible shows us that we are meant to build knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. And today we’re going to look at the fact that a Christian needs all three. As I’ve been explaining, a Christian needs all three of these and God expects us to go and get them. That term, “get,” will be more important later. Now, as I mentioned, God gives knowledge, He gives understanding, and He gives wisdom. God gives those, but brethren, our job is to build them.

Turn to Proverbs Chapter two. Proverbs Chapter two. We’re going to spend a lot of time in Proverbs, particularly Proverbs two. Some very important chapters in the book of Proverbs. Fascinating book. It’s a book of Proverbs and talks so much like a father speaking to his sons. I’ve talked to my sons about Proverbs. Many parents have probably done that with their sons or daughters and probably use the book for themselves. We’re going to spend a lot of time in Proverbs. In fact, you may want to put a bookmarker in Proverbs two.

But this chapter, Proverbs Chapter two, is really the foundation of what we’re going to cover. Proverbs Chapter two, you’ll see the first two words there. It says, “My son.” So we see that the audience is a son. It’s a person who’s young and “my son” is clearly coming from a parent. In this case, a father, a mother. But it starts with my son. Now imagine this message being to a new Christian, someone who’s young, coming into the faith. But I would also say, brethren, a new Christian coming off of Passover. Again, we have this clean slate that we’re working with. It’s a new beginning, it’s the springtime. We think about all that entails.

So we have this new Christian. It’s whether you’re new in the faith or just been in God’s way for fifty plus years or a long time. It’s still a new Christian coming off of Passover. We can all certainly learn things. So “my son” is the way that it begins. Reading in verse one, “My son, if you will receive my words and hide my commands with you,” We’ll read for a little bit here, “So that you incline your ear into wisdom and apply your heart to understanding; And if you cry after knowledge.” So already we see inclining your ear into wisdom, applying your heart to understanding, and crying after knowledge.

Continue, “And if you lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as hid treasures, then you shall understand the fear of the Lord and find the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” So we see very much, very multiple action words there. And it leads to what verse five says, “Then shall you understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

Brethren, there are very few guarantees in life, but that is a guarantee. It says that if you do the things that began the chapter, you will understand the fear of the Lord. How important is the fear of the Lord? Very important. And you will find the knowledge of God. You are guaranteed success. Few things in life have guarantees, but we just read a guarantee.

But notice the action in those verses. It says, “To receive my words, hide my commandments, incline your ear, apply your heart, cry out, lift up your voice, seek as seeking silver.” That is not a passive situation, brethren. It’s very much action language. It’s not something that just happens automatically, obtaining knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. It’s not something that we passively sit back, we sit in God’s church, we come Sabbath after Sabbath, we hear sermon after sermon, we go through, we read articles, we go through the proverbial motions. Brethren, instead, what I’m talking about requires intentional effort.

There are some, I dare say over the decades, may be in God’s way for many, many years and do not do what I just read. They don’t incline their ear into wisdom or apply their heart to understanding or cry after knowledge or lift up their voice for understanding, seeking her as silver and searching for her as hid treasures. It’s possible to sit in God’s church in the many seats around the world. Many have proven this over the decades. It’s possible to sit and do none of those and regrettably not understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Turn to Matthew thirteen. Matthew thirteen. The Bible does an outstanding job of painting a picture, giving us a clear picture of the urgency that we must have. Please keep your bookmark in Proverbs two, as I mentioned, but Matthew thirteen, we’ll read verse forty-four, Matthew thirteen, forty-four. It says, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure.” Now we all know what a treasure is. You think of gold, coins, or silver or some sort of valuable metal, but something very valuable, but it’s like unto the kingdom of God, “…like unto treasure hid in a field; the which, when a man has found that treasure, he hides it and for joy, thereof, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

God, in this case, talking about the kingdom, is showing us that it must be actively pursued. It must be pursued like something valuable. You hear the kingdom of God. Oh, that’s valuable. Well, okay. We understand that the kingdom of God is valuable, but the kingdom of heaven, in this case, as it’s explained, but brethren, do we behave that way? Do our actions show that value?

I picked that verse because it’s a great comparison. We have a person here who has identified that treasure in a field and he sells all that he has in order to be able to obtain it. It’s very, very important to him. It’s a great comparison because it shows that, in this case, the kingdom of heaven, but back to knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, they must be actively pursued like there’s something valuable.

When we understand that it’s tied to the fear of God and ultimate success, brethren, it’s easy to do. Sometimes, you read things in the scriptures and it kind of feels distant, but let’s pull it into our day. What if I told you that there’s three million dollars waiting for you? It’s in Los Angeles, California. Depending on where you are in the world, that may be very far away or really, really, really far away, but it’s in Los Angeles. It’s at a bank and there’s a check in your name for three million dollars. Now, all you have to do to get that money is you have to get to L.A. What would you do?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’d move heaven and earth to go and pick up that check. It’s my money. It’s mine. It’s been told. It’s been promised to me, but I just have to go and get it. I’d move heaven and earth and do what I needed to do to get there. I wouldn’t just sit on the information. “Oh, that’s nice. That check is there. Yeah, I’ll get it when I get around to it.” Maybe some of you are much more disciplined than me and you can just sit on that information and do nothing.

Well, brethren, I’m not at that level of spirituality yet. I need the money. I’d do what I needed to do to go pick up that check because it’s mine, because I value it. I’d do whatever I needed to do to get it. I would even spend money, a flight, an Uber to get to the bank, a hotel if I needed to stay overnight. I’d do whatever I needed to do to pick up that check. You understand the point.

Let’s go back to Proverbs, but this time go to Proverbs four. Proverbs Chapter four. Brethren, how much do we value knowledge, wisdom, and understanding? Proverbs Chapter four. Pick it up in Verse five. Proverbs Chapter four Verse five. “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.” So it says there to get wisdom, get understanding, and knowledge is implied, but it tells us to get both of those. Now that word get, that’s a very, very important word, especially for this message. Get there means to erect or create. To erect or create.

You notice I’ve been saying build. I started talking about building when I began the message. We are to create or erect, or, a word that we are all familiar with, build knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. How much more, brethren, is this important coming out of the spring Holy Days? We have this clean slate. We have this foundation that’s been swept clean, ready to move forward into the year. It’s time to build.

Now is not the time to coast spiritually. “Ah, my sins have been forgiven. We just went through the exercise. We took the symbols. Now it’s time to relax. Everything is back to normal.” Brethren, it’s the opposite. Now is the time to build. Now is the time to move forward. It is not the time to coast spiritually.

Matthew seven. Matthew chapter seven. Familiar illustration here. Matthew seven. Pick it up in verse twenty-four. Matthew seven twenty-four. “Therefore, whosever hears these sayings of mine, and does them,” so hearing and doing, “I liken him to a wise man.” This is interesting. A wise man who did what? “Built His house upon a rock.” What is the rock? Who is the rock? Jesus Christ, His words.

“So this wise man built His house upon a rock, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house. And it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.” The foundation, brethren, is Christ and the apostles, the prophets. The foundation is set. Christ and His words are the rock. God expects us to build on those. In this case, we are to build knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

Brethren, we must go get them. We must go get wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. We have to get after it. You’ve all heard the term, “get after it.” Now is the time to get after it. Now is not the time to rest on our laurels. Now is not the time to take it easy and kick our feet up and fold our hands, clasp our hands behind our head and lay back. Now is the time to get after it.

Ephesians five. Ephesians five. If this sounds like a motivational message, brethren, it is. It is a motivational message. My job, my goal is to motivate you. Ephesians five Verse sixteen. “Redeeming the time…” why? “…because the days are evil.” Brethren, the days are evil. There’s darkness all around us. Are “good things” happening? Sure.

You can look around and some cases it may appear normal, but if you have eyes to see and ears to hear and a discerning outlook, you can see, brethren, that the days are evil. There is urgency. Now is the time to redeem. We have to redeem this time. To rescue, that term redeem is to buy back or rescue, we have to rescue or make up for lost time. The clock is ticking. We don’t have much time. Now is the time to do what? Get after it.

Build knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Now we hear about knowledge and understanding and wisdom all the time. They’re actually kind of simple terms. We know what they are, but let’s refresh ourselves back to Proverbs two. Proverbs two. Proverbs two, verse six, near the end, it says, out of His mouth, talking about the Lord, comes knowledge. So knowledge comes from God’s mouth. Knowledge is what you know. Knowledge is the facts. It’s the information. Just the facts, ma’am. You’ve all heard that. Just the facts, ma’am.

What’s the knowledge? It’s the data. It’s the facts. It’s the information. In many ways, knowledge is neutral. It doesn’t go either way. It’s just the facts. It’s just what they are. A physical example would be driving. Most of us can drive or certainly been in a car before. We know what driving is. Knowledge is knowing the rules of the road, what a stop sign is, what a speed limit sign is, signs that point to the right-of-way.

Brethren, if we don’t have the knowledge of what a stop sign is or a stoplight or a yield sign in the right-of-way, if we don’t know what those things are, if we don’t have the knowledge of what they are, we’re in trouble. Brethren, knowing what a stop sign is isn’t actually driving. Knowing that a green light means to go and a red light means to stop, that’s not actually driving. That’s just knowledge. It’s very important, but it’s just information.

You can actually know the rules of the road. You can know all those rules that I mentioned and all the rules that come in a… if you’ve ever taken a driving test, you have to prepare. There’s a big, thick book. Anymore, there’s a computer program that you go through. You can have all of that knowledge and never drive a day in your life, but that’s not to diminish it. That knowledge is very, very important. That’s a physical example. But brethren, spiritually speaking, knowledge is facts or information that come from God. It’s what God says, what God says. The verse says that knowledge comes out of God’s mouth. It is the information or the facts that God has given us.

John seventeen. John seventeen, seventeen. This is Christ speaking. “Sanctify them through your truth. Your word is truth.” Knowledge, brethren, spiritual knowledge is the truth or the truths of God. It is what God says. Remember, knowledge comes out of His mouth. It is the spiritual facts, the spiritual principles, the spiritual instructions that come from God’s word. It is crucial. It is crucial for us to have the knowledge of God, the facts, the information, the principles that come from God. Otherwise, we’re in trouble.

Hosea Chapter four. Hosea Chapter four. If we don’t have the knowledge of God, we’re in trouble. Hosea Chapter four, Verse six. Hosea Chapter four, Verse six. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” I’ll repeat that. “My people, my people.” This is God speaking about His people. That’s a smaller audience. We are God’s people. Make it personal, brethren. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge.” It’s not that the knowledge wasn’t available. It was rejected.

The knowledge was there for the people to have. They rejected it. Brethren, the knowledge is there for us to have. Do we reject it? The lack of knowledge, brethren, can destroy us. If we don’t have spiritual knowledge, brethren, it can destroy us. But guess what? If we don’t have physical knowledge, it could destroy us. Let’s go back to driving. You’re operating a two-ton vehicle, you’re speeding down the highway. And if you have no clue about the rules of driving, it’s just a matter of time before you kill yourself or hurt someone else or hurt your self or hurt others. Brethren, the lack of knowledge can destroy us.

The lack of physical knowledge can destroy us, but ultimately, the lack of spiritual knowledge can destroy us eternally. Knowledge is essential. If we don’t know what God expects, if we don’t have the information, how can we obey it? If we don’t know that God tells us to keep the Sabbath, how can we keep it? We don’t even know anything about it. If we don’t know that God says you shouldn’t eat pork, how can we obey it? We have to have the knowledge. We have to have the information.

Ignoring the truths or knowledge of God, brethren, makes us spiritually ignorant. You hear that word, “ignorant,” it’s a jarring word, but ignorant just simply means without knowledge. If we do not have or do not know the things of God, the knowledge of God, it makes us spiritually ignorant. Therefore, we are not in a position to succeed. God wants us to know or have knowledge of Him and what He says. Once we know what God says, it’s up to us to obey it or not, but it starts with knowledge. Brethren, just because you know something doesn’t mean you understand it. You could have a bunch of knowledge, but if you don’t understand that knowledge, it’s not the same. It’s not effective.

Back to Proverbs two. Back to Proverbs Chapter two. Pick it up here, Proverbs two. Notice it says in Proverbs two, it says, “To apply your heart to understanding.” Verse three, “Lift up your voice for understanding.” Verse five, “Then shall you understand the fear of the Lord.” Understanding, brethren, is vital. Yes, knowledge is important, I just explained it, but understanding is vital. Without understanding, knowledge, in many ways, is pointless.

Understanding means intelligence. We’ve heard that term intelligent. “Oh, He’s intelligent. He’s smart. He gets it. He’s a genius in some cases.” Understanding means intelligence. Some people have a lot of facts in their head, but they lack intelligence. They lack understanding. Understanding is knowing why the knowledge matters, how the facts all connect. It gives meaning to the information. It’s not just a bunch of facts. Okay. I know to stop at a stop sign. That’s a fact, but do you understand why?

Understanding gives the connection with knowledge, how it all works together. I mentioned knowing what a stop sign is. Well, that’s knowledge, but understanding is another level. It’s a deeper level. Well, the reason that I stop at a stop sign, at an intersection, is for the flow of traffic, so people can safely enter and exit an intersection. I’m using a very simple analogy here, brethren, a very simple illustration, but it’s because I want us to understand the essence of knowledge and understanding.

But understanding is having the intelligence to putting two and two together. Oh, I must stop at this intersection fully because the next person has to be able to go. I have to be able to count on the fact that if I stop, the next person knows to stop, and then that way I can get to and from my destination safely. I can have knowledge.

Okay, I know I’m supposed to stop at an intersection, but just because I have the knowledge and I don’t understand why, yeah, I know I was supposed to stop, but I just drive through anyway. I could just go right into traffic. Yeah, I knew to stop. I don’t really understand why. And I fly into traffic and I hurt myself or hurt someone else. Understanding is knowing why the rules exist. It takes us beyond simply interpreting and understanding, in the case of my example, what traffic signs mean. But more importantly, spiritual understanding does the same thing. It addresses why God tells us to do and not do certain things.

Proverbs two here, let’s go to verse nine. It says, “Then shall you understand righteousness, and,” I’ll add, “understand judgment, understand equity, yes, every good path.” Brethren, God wants us to understand righteousness, to understand why He says to do the things that He says to do. They’re not just a set of rules. The point is to understand why, to make the connections, to have intelligence when it comes to the facts of God. Righteousness is made up of facts. Do this, don’t do that. But understanding is putting them together, understanding righteousness.

Judgment, equity, that’s based on information, but judgment requires understanding. To be able to be equitable or to equate things requires understanding, the connections, the why behind the facts. Understanding helps us put two and two together. Ah, that’s why God says to do that. Back to the Sabbath. Ah, that’s why God says to rest on the Sabbath, so our bodies can recover, so we can be mentally prepared for the other six days, and we can put our full effort into those other six days. Why? Because we rested on the Sabbath.

And oh, we keep the Sabbath, that’s the day that we go and we assemble and we hear the word of God because we are rested and refreshed. It’s not just the facts of keeping the Sabbath, the facts of going to services, it’s understanding why God wants us to do that. We don’t want to just know what God says, we want to know why He says it. And that’s where intelligence comes in. But brethren, it’s not human intelligence. Human intelligence is fine, but we’re not talking human intelligence, we’re talking God’s intelligence.

Staying here in Proverbs two, let’s read Verse six. “For the Lord gives wisdom, out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.” Notice that it also says that understanding comes from God’s mouth, not just knowledge. Understanding the intelligence, the connections also comes from God’s mouth. And it makes sense. Why? Because it’s His intelligence. God is an intelligent being. When He speaks, when things come out of His mouth, they are intelligent. They have understanding built into them. God’s intelligence is obviously tied to His Word.

Psalm one hundred and nineteen. Psalm one hundred and nineteen. I believe it’s the longest Psalm. Psalm one hundred and nineteen, very rich. Psalm one hundred and nineteen, one hundred and four. Psalm one hundred and nineteen, one hundred and four, “Through your precepts, I get understanding. Through your precepts,” it says, “I get understanding.” A precept is a mandate or a command. So it’s through God’s commands that we get understanding or that we get intelligence. God goes beyond just simply giving us the facts. He also explains to us in His word how to put those facts together.

And as we keep God’s commands, our understanding increases. It says, “Through your precepts, I get understanding.” So by keeping God’s commands, we gain understanding. But brethren, guess what? It works the other way also. Staying here in Psalm one hundred and nineteen, let’s go to thirty-four. Psalm one hundred and nineteen, thirty-four. “Give me understanding,” it says, “and I will keep your law.” So it works the other way also. As understanding grows, it helps us to keep God’s law more fully. So when we keep God’s law, we grow in understanding. And as our understanding increases, we better keep God’s law.

It almost sounds circular, brethren, but it’s really how the Spirit of God works. It almost sounds circular, brethren, but it’s really how the spiritual understanding process grows. That’s how we grow in understanding. When we keep God’s law, we gain intelligence, and the more intelligent we become, the better we’re able to keep God’s law. This is a very important thing, brethren. It’s a very important thing.

You don’t have to understand everything, brethren, to start obeying God. You don’t have to fully understand it. But if you know that God says it, then you obey. Why? Because the more you obey God, it brings understanding. And as your understanding increases, then it becomes easier to obey God because you understand why, you see the benefit of it.

I remember coming into the church, I didn’t fully understand why we shouldn’t eat pork. I’ve been eating it all my life. I’ve been fine. Or the problems I was having, it wasn’t because of that. But guess what? I didn’t understand it, but I did it. And then as I started to do it, what happened? I started to increase in understanding. Ah, a pig is a scavenger. It’ll eat anything that you put in front of it. And now that I think about it, that’s not the cleanest, most pleasant looking animal. Now I see why God says we shouldn’t eat that.

Now I understand why God says we shouldn’t eat lobster and crab and shrimp, even though that’s the most expensive thing on the menu at the fancy restaurant. Those are all animals that God did not intend for us to eat. But that understanding, brethren, came afterward, after keeping God’s law. And the more I understand it, it’s a whole lot easier to turn down that BLT.

But brethren, even understanding on top of knowledge is not enough. Even that is not enough. Ultimately, we need wisdom. Back to Proverbs two. Proverbs two. I mentioned clean and unclean meats. I’m sure there’s some things in your life, in your Christian walk, that you didn’t fully understand, and you just did it anyway. You did it anyway, and then your understanding increased.

But back to Proverbs two, we ultimately need wisdom, as I mentioned. Proverbs two, two, it says to do what? “Incline your ear unto wisdom.” You notice it’s in verse two. That’s the first thing it says. To do what? “Incline your ear unto wisdom.” That’s how this father was talking to his son. It says, “Incline your ear to wisdom.” It was listed first. Brethren, that’s not a coincidence.

Proverbs four. Proverbs four Verse seven, what does it say? “Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore, get wisdom.” “Wisdom,” it says, “is the principle thing.” Principle there means first. First in order. Or not necessarily in order, excuse me, but first in rank. So it says it’s listed first. It’s listed first, but it’s first in rank. It’s the principle thing. Why? Why? Why is wisdom the principle thing? Well, God’s point is that it’s the most important. It’s principle.

Now, it’s not exclusive. As we’re going to see, it’s not exclusive. And you know it’s not exclusive because of everything I’ve told you so far with knowledge and understanding. It’s not exclusive, but it is most important. Why? Because you can have all the knowledge, all the facts, all the information that there is to have. You can even have the intelligence. You know how to put it all together. You know how it fits. You know how it connects, how it works together, but brethren, if I do not have wisdom, then we fall short. If we don’t have wisdom, brethren, it falls short.

What is wisdom? What is wisdom? James Chapter one. James Chapter one. What is wisdom? James Chapter one, verse twenty-two. James one, twenty-two, “But be you doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. He beholds himself, goes his way, and straightway forgets the manner of man that he was.” So it says here that we must be a doer.

What is wisdom? Brethren, wisdom is doing it. Doing it, applying the knowledge, applying the wisdom. We can be Bible scholars filled with information. We can even know why God says what He says, but brethren, if we don’t do it, if we don’t apply it, then what was the point? What was the point? Wisdom is the application of knowledge and understanding. The ability to make proper judgments and right decisions based on knowledge and understanding. Doing it, applying it in the proper way, that is wisdom.

Back to driving. The best drivers go beyond just having the knowledge. They go beyond just having the understanding. They actually apply it. We can know in our heart of hearts that we’re supposed to understand that a stop sign means to stop. And we understand why, because that’s how people get through intersections safely. But when we actually pull to the stop sign, do we stop or do we do the rolling stop? Maybe I’m just the only one guilty of that. Ah, no one is coming. No one can see me. It doesn’t matter.

Do we properly apply the knowledge and the understanding? If we don’t, sure, just keeping it so simple with this traffic example, we can do it a hundred times. Ninety-nine of those times, we’re fine. But that one time, brethren, that one time when we don’t apply knowledge and understanding in the proper way, we’re going to get burned. We’re going to get burned. That officer, “I just didn’t see him,” but guess what? He saw you. Or just force of habit. You’re distracted. You do the rolling stop. “I just didn’t see the other car. I didn’t see it.” You caused an accident.

Brethren, wisdom is applying the knowledge and the understanding that we have. Knowledge and understanding kick in, and you follow the rules. You do that physical example, but taking it spiritually. You do what God expects, what God has told you to do, and you understand why, and you do it. Wisdom handles the situation without violating the principle. There’s certain judgments and things that we have to make. There’s certain things that we have to do. Everything is not black and white. But wisdom, in some ways, is the hardest to implement. It’s the hardest, especially spiritually. That’s why we need God’s help.

God sees things that we don’t see. Staying here in James, James Chapter one, Verse five, “If any of you lack wisdom,” lack the ability to take the knowledge and understanding that God has, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally and upbraids not; And it shall be given him.” I could know all day long that I’m not supposed to eat pork, and I can even understand why: It’s an unclean animal, it’s not good, it’s unhealthy,” but how do I handle that family situation when I’m presented with a plate full of unclean food? What do I do? How do I handle it?

How do I handle it at the restaurant when the waitstaff comes and everything on the special has something that’s unclean? How do I handle that? How do I apply the knowledge and the understanding? Brethren, that’s where wisdom comes in. Do I handle it in a way that’s not offensive? I don’t eat pork. Neither should you. That’s not going to go over very well. Or do I cave and just eat it anyway because I don’t want to offend anyone? Well, that’s not going to go well either. Wisdom is applying the rule without breaking the principle. Wisdom is putting it all together.

Let’s continue to read. Here’s what happens if you don’t. “But let Him ask in faith,” speaking of wisdom, asking God for wisdom with faith, “nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Brethren, if we don’t have wisdom, we are unstable in all our ways. It may manifest itself differently depending on the significance of the issue, but if we don’t have wisdom, we are unstable, God says, in all our ways.

A double-minded person doesn’t know what to do, but brethren, that’s okay when it comes to God. What? That’s okay? It’s okay if we don’t know what to do when it comes to God. Guess why? Because all we have to do is ask Him. Father, give me wisdom. Ask it in faith. Why? Because He’ll give it. How do I apply this knowledge? How do I apply this understanding? God will give it to you, but you can’t ask wavering. You have to ask in full faith. God will tell you exactly what to do. You can know. You can understand. But if you fail to act, brethren, if I fail to act, that is unwise. That is unwise.

Now, this sets up the most important point I want to make in this message, at least one of them. This next part sets up here really the most important point I want to make in this message. And I started it out, I started out making it, but I’m going to say it again. Brethren, we need all three. We need all three. Turn to Colossians Chapter one. Colossians Chapter one. We need all three. Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

Colossians Chapter one. Even now, brethren, we need all three. Colossians Chapter one, Verse nine. Colossians Chapter one, Verse nine. “For this cause,” also, breaking into the thought here, to the Colossian church, the church of Colossus, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with knowledge of His will, and all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

Brethren, we need all three: Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. In fact, we have to be filled with knowledge, and have all wisdom, and spiritual understanding when it comes to God’s will. Paul recognized that the brethren needed all three. It’s a packaged deal. It’s a packaged deal. If we don’t have one of them, we’re lacking. It’s like a triangle. All three work together. A triangle without one side is not a triangle. Triangle has three sides. If it has two, it’s not a triangle. If it has one, it’s certainly not a triangle. It needs all three.

Back to Proverbs two. Proverbs Chapter two. Simply proves and reiterates what I just read in Colossians what we’ve been saying. Proverbs two six, “The Lord gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.” All three, which we need, all three come from God. They’re not optional. I don’t read any options there. They’re all designed, brethren, to work together. Knowledge tells us what is true. Understanding tells us why it matters. Wisdom tells us how to put it together, how to apply it. Even God uses all three.

Proverbs three. Staying here in Proverbs. Verse nineteen. “The Lord, by wisdom, has founded the earth.” So established or founded the earth. Why? Through wisdom. God applied something. What did He apply? “By understanding has He established the heavens. By His knowledge, the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew.” What better endorsement of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom than God using all three to establish this planet that we’re walking on, that’s been here for millennia? God established all of it using wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. What better endorsement, brethren, of all three than that? We need all three.

We’ve been talking about driving as an example. Let me throw out another example. What about money or finances? How we handle our finances, brethren, actually is a good example because it has both physical and spiritual implications. But how do knowledge, wisdom, and understanding apply to money? Well, knowing that everything belongs to God, for instance, is knowledge. We know that. Scripture says that all things belong to God. Cattle upon a thousand hills. Everything on this planet, this earth, belongs to God. He simply gives us a portion of it. That is knowledge. We have to know that.

We also have to know that God expects us to tithe. We give ten percent of our income, our gross income, as a first tithe. We save another ten percent to go to the Feast. And during a third tithe year, we give another ten percent to help the poor and the widows. That’s all knowledge, important knowledge. What about understanding?

Understanding is connecting the fact that because everything belongs to God, we shouldn’t be selfish when it comes to our money. It doesn’t belong to us anyway. God is allowing us to control it. He’s allowing us to control what belongs to Him. That’s taking knowledge, the knowledge that everything belongs to God, making the connection of why it matters, and now saying, “I’m not going to be a selfish person because God gave it to me in the first place.”

Understanding is knowing, you know what? First tithe is how we fund the Work. So yes, tithing is the knowledge, but making the connection, oh, that ten percent goes to funding the Work, the other ten percent is how I get to the Feast to obey God, and the occasional third tithe is how we take care of the poor. Otherwise, what would they do? That’s understanding. That’s the application of knowledge, excuse me, the connection and knowing why we do it.

But ultimately, brethren, it’s wisdom. I can know all day long that I’m supposed to tithe, and I can even know why, oh, it funds the work, but if I don’t do it, if I steal from God, well, I knew what it meant, and I even knew why God said to do it. But if I steal from God, then that was not wise. I didn’t apply what God wanted me to do. But when we’re wise with our money, brethren, we’re generous. We don’t give grudgingly. We don’t cut corners. We don’t rob from God and say, “Okay, I’ll pay Him back later.” We don’t do that because we understand and recognize the wisdom of applying the knowledge and the understanding.

Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom help us deal with our money properly. We deal with our finances properly. And oh, by the way, when we do that on the physical level, brethren, it has very, very, very much spiritual implications. When we lack knowledge, we have no idea what God wants us to do, and we can’t apply or understand what we don’t know.

And when we lack understanding, we don’t know why He wants us to do it. In effect, the knowledge is useless. It doesn’t work. But when we lack wisdom, at the end of the day, brethren, we’re just disobedient. Yeah, we know what God wants us to do and even why He wants us to do it. You know what? But I’m not doing it. That’s not wise. That’s disobedient. Not having knowledge, understanding, or wisdom, not having those is like a machine that is broken, a machine that needs all three. But if that machine doesn’t have one of those three, it doesn’t work.

A car, it needs a transmission and an engine. I’ll just name three things: a transmission, an engine, and a set of tires. If it doesn’t have all three, you’re not going anywhere. You need all three. You need the engine. You need the transmission. You need the tires and the wheels. If you don’t have that, you’re not going anywhere. All three are important.

This is, brethren, this is what that father, that “my son,” that’s what he wanted. He says “my son” here in Proverbs two. This is what He wanted His son to understand. The audience here is a future king. This is Solomon. He was a future king. Brethren, we’re future kings. We’re going to rule. To do so effectively, to rule even in our own lives, this is before the kingdom, we must have knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. We need all three.

Let’s read some more verses here. Staying here in Proverbs two, verse six. Now that we established that we need all three, let’s read more with that in mind. Verse six, “For the Lord gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous.” Those words should pop now.

“He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous. He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keeps the paths of judgment and preserves the way of His saints. Then shall you understand righteousness and judgment and equity. Yes, every good path. When wisdom enters into your heart and knowledge is pleasant into your soul; discretion shall preserve you, understanding shall keep you.”

Brethren, those things working together, they preserve, guide us, and protect us. Ultimately, they keep us. That triangle of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, they keep us. Keep us from what? Keep us from what? Well, the first thing it keeps us from is sin. What have we been focused on this spring holy days and this renewal? What have we been focused on? We’ve been focused on getting sin out of our lives. Well, brethren, the goal is to keep the sin out. We got rid of it. The goal is to keep it out, not invite it back in. So, knowledge and wisdom and understanding work together to keep us from sin.

Let’s keep reading. Verse twelve, “To deliver us from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaks forward things; Who leave the path of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil and delight in the forwardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked and they forward to their paths.” So, the goal, a goal of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, having all three, is to keep us from sin.

As it’s described here, the way of the evil man. What is the way of the evil man? Sin. He’s sinning. That’s why he’s the evil man. All those things that he’s doing: He speaks forward things, he leaves the path of uprightness, he walks in the ways of darkness, he rejoices to do evil, and delights in the forwardness of the wicked. His ways, his actions are crooked and forward in their paths.

Brethren, ways or habits. They’re built over time. They’re built over time. That’s why they’re habits. His habits are bad. It’s not just one decision. Brethren, it’s not just one decision that gets us in trouble. It’s when we continue to make bad decisions. When we continue to sin, despite knowing better, we continue to sin. It’s repeated decisions over and over and over and over, and it’s a pattern. It becomes a habit. It eventually becomes a way of life. A way of life. Sin is a way of life. We must avoid that at all costs.

How? By applying knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. That’s why it’s here in the chapter. That’s the context. It keeps us from the ways of the evil man or the way of the evil man. It’s a collection of habits repeated over time that way. That evil man didn’t become evil overnight. It was built habit by habit. No one wakes up one day, I’m going to be the evil man. If so, they’re probably not reading Proverbs. It happens little by little and over time.

How do knowledge and understanding and wisdom help us to avoid this? How does it help keep us from this? Well, knowledge shows us what is right and wrong. This is a very simple concept, brethren. Very simple. How do we avoid sin? How do we avoid the way of the evil man? Well, knowledge tells us what’s right and wrong. We know what evil is. It’s defined. It defines the path. It identifies the danger. Oh, that’s evil. That’s not what God says that we should do, or God explicitly says not to do that. That’s the knowledge.

Without knowledge, we don’t even know right from wrong. We don’t even know that it’s evil because we don’t know. Well, knowledge helps us to know. Understanding shows us why it’s wrong. Why God says not to do that. Understanding helps us see the consequences of doing wrong. If I run through that stop sign, I’m going to hurt myself. I’m going to hurt someone else. Understanding helps us connect those actions to outcomes. It’s not just abstract. It’s just knowledge.

But ultimately, wisdom is taking that knowledge and understanding and making the right choice, doing the right thing in real situations, not in a laboratory, real situations. When we’re out in life and we’re out and about and doing what we do or in the heat of the moment, under pressure, what do we do? Wisdom is applying that knowledge, applying that understanding. Without wisdom, it’s pointless. You drift into wrong patterns, despite knowing right from wrong, despite knowing even why.

Brethren, we’ve all been there. We’ve all fallen short. We’ve all sinned, and we know why. We know, oh, I shouldn’t be doing that. I even know why I shouldn’t be doing that. But in the heat of the moment, we don’t apply wisdom. Knowledge shows the wrong pattern, understanding explains the wrong pattern, but wisdom helps you avoid the wrong pattern.

Take having a bad attitude. Who’s ever had a bad attitude? I’ve certainly had a bad attitude. Knowledge says that joy is a fruit of the spirit. Joy is the opposite of a bad attitude. Knowledge says that joy is a fruit of the spirit. Understanding tells us that that joy, because it’s a fruit of the spirit, it’s something God has. So God wants us to have joy because He has it. That’s understanding the importance of joy. So joy is what it is. It’s not having a bad attitude.

Understanding is, well, we don’t want to have a bad attitude because God doesn’t have a bad attitude, and He wants us to be like Him. But wisdom is not having a bad attitude even when we want to have one, even when it’s hard. Wisdom is applying it. When people offend us, we still show joy. When we’re having a bad day, we keep it to a minimum. Our bad attitude, we suppress it. Oh, keep it down, keep it down, because we understand that joy is the opposite of a bad attitude, and God wants us to have joy because He has joy. But wisdom is putting it all together and doing it.

God is explaining this in Proverbs. He wants us to do these things as a way of life, not just one decision. Yes, a way of life is one decision at a time, but God wants us to make the right decision all the time. Will we get it right every time? No, but God wants us to. God wants us to get the decision right every time. Will we get it right every time I repeat? No, but God wants us to. He wants us to.

So knowledge, understanding, and wisdom keep us from sin. I mentioned a bad attitude, but brethren, we all know our weaknesses. We all know the things that trigger us. God wants us to know what those things are, know why He doesn’t want us to do them, and not to do them at the end of the day. Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom will help us do that.

Well, what else do knowledge, understanding, and wisdom do? Back to Proverbs two verse sixteen. We heard about the evil man. What else does it do? “To deliver you from the strange woman...” So we got the man, the evil man. Now, we got the strange woman. “...even from the stranger which flatters with her words, which forsakes the guide of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.” So we are to stay away from the way of the evil man as well as from the strange woman.

What’s the difference? What’s the difference between the evil man and the strange woman? Well, the evil man represents sin. The strange woman represents wrong influences, bad influences. Notice it says here: she flatters with her words, has an emotional element, a persuasion element, an attraction element. It pulls you. Think about pulling, being pulled, that strange woman. Verse eighteen. “For her house inclines into death and her paths go unto the dead.” Okay, who would do that? Who would walk into death? Well, someone who got enticed, someone who got pulled into it.

The evil man represents sin. The strange woman represents temptation. There’s a difference between temptation and sin. They’re not the same. Christ never sinned, but He was tempted. He was tempted in all things. All the temptations that human beings face, Christ faced them, but He didn’t sin. Here’s a difference. They’re not the same. Temptation makes sin look appealing. If we all saw the end result of sin, we wouldn’t do it, but it’s the temptation that makes it look appealing. That strange woman makes it look appealing. Temptation is how it begins, how it starts, then it eventually leads to sin. James talks about that. Christ was tempted, but He didn’t sin.

I’m going to say something that could sound strange when I first say it, but hear me out. Hear me out. Temptation, brethren, can be a blessing. What? Temptation can be a blessing. Why do I say that? It could be that warning sign that, you know what, I got to take action. I got to stop this before it becomes sin. Temptation can get our attention and now it kicks in. Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding can kick in because now what? We’re being tempted.

I’m sure Jesus Christ had a process or a way to avoid temptation becoming sin. I dare say it in part was dealing with knowledge, understanding, and wisdom and applying them. Knowledge is understanding when it comes to temptation. Knowledge is understanding what is wrong, recognizing sin for what it is. That’s sin. That’s a temptation. I’m being tempted by Satan or my flesh to do that. I shouldn’t do that. That’s knowledge, knowledge of what God says.

Without knowledge, brethren, we don’t recognize it as temptation. We don’t see it. It just looks appealing. It feels harmless. God says not to lust after a woman and ties it to adultery. That’s knowledge. If we don’t know that, we can look at women and lusting after them and that’s fine. Well, no, if you have the knowledge, God says don’t do that.

Understanding is seeing through the temptation and seeing where it leads. The reason God doesn’t want us to do that. It understands the consequences. It sees past the moment. Understanding helps us to not underestimate the temptation. Oh, it’s not that bad. It won’t affect me. Well, when we have understanding, spiritual understanding, we know, no, it will affect you if you’re not careful. It will hurt you. It will harm you.

Without understanding, for instance, we can forget why it’s a bad idea to gossip against our fellow brethren if we don’t have the understanding. We know that we shouldn’t. But if we don’t understand why, we can forget that if that other person, if it got back to them that we were gossiping about them, how would they feel? How would that affect or impact the relationship?

Well, when you understand that and you’re tempted to say that little bit of snippet of information about the person, that juicy bit of tidbit, when you understand the impact of it, you see past the moment and say, you know what? I’m not going to do that because I understand why, despite the temptation to do it. It’s on the tip of my tongue. I just want to say it. It’s so juicy. Oh man, did you hear it? Did you hear it?

But finally, brethren, with temptation, there’s wisdom. We can have all that knowledge. Yeah, we don’t lust after women, and we don’t gossip. I understand why. But if we don’t apply it, what was the point? Wisdom is making the right decision in the moment when the pressure is real, when there’s emotion involved, when we’re being pulled in. Think about that strange woman. She’s just so enticing. Oh, I just want a little. Oh, it’s just so enticing. It pulls you in. The temptation is so strong.

And brethren, if we don’t use wisdom, we give in and we fall short and we get sucked in. It’s like getting sucked into an airplane engine. It’s terrible. It doesn’t end well. Brethren, wisdom helps you turn off the computer when you’re tempted to lust. It helps you keep your mouth closed when you’re tempted to gossip. I’m just picking two things. We all have our weaknesses. Brethren, we need all three: knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. They work together. They are a well-oiled machine that works together.

Knowledge reveals the temptation, understanding exposes the temptation, and wisdom helps us to overcome it and avoid it in the first place, the sin. We’re going to be tempted, but we don’t have to sin. Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom helps us do that. Brethren, we must build all three. We must build them. We must get them. God, through His word and through His Spirit, I liken it to Him giving us the building materials. God gives us the wisdom, Proverbs told us. He gives us the understanding. He gives us the wisdom, the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. God gives us all of the component parts. We have to put them together. We must get them. We must build them.

Recall Proverbs two says to seek and to cry and to search. I’ll add claw after it. Get after it. Get after knowledge. Get after understanding. Get after wisdom. Make it important. No, it’s not a three million dollar check, but brethren, it’s a treasure. The kingdom of God is a treasure. The kingdom of... Let me ask you this. Would you rather have the kingdom of God or three million dollars? The answer is easy. Brethren, we have to get after it. We have to get after it.

Study. Study regularly. That builds knowledge. Listen to sermons. Take notes. Look up the words. That builds knowledge. We know what God expects, what God wants us to do and not do. Reflect deeply and counsel with the ministry. Counsel with experienced brethren. Talk through that knowledge. Help and learn why it’s important and how it applies. That helps build understanding. That helps you make the connections.

When you fall short, when you make a mistake, think back. Where did I go wrong? Where did I drop the ball? That builds understanding. That makes connections. You understand consequences. Now, the next time you face it, you’ll be less likely to do it because you understand why things went wrong. But brethren, at the end of the day, we can have all that knowledge and all that understanding. We have to apply it. We have to do it.

Every day in your life, in my life, there’s an opportunity to show wisdom, every day, every day. I’m going to crack open my Bible and I’m going to read a verse. I’m going to study. That’s wisdom, because I know that God says to do it and I understand why, but I actually do it. I’m going to pray today. That’s wisdom. I’m not going to argue with brethren. That’s wisdom. I’m going to show restraint. I’m going to tithe. I’m going to do my job. I’m going to be respectful. I’m going to keep the Sabbath properly. That’s all wisdom, brethren. That’s all applying what we know and what we understand despite the difficulty.

Knowledge, brethren, as we start to conclude, knowledge is the facts. It’s the what. What God expects of us. Understanding is why it matters. Why God wants us to know these things. Why they’re important. And wisdom is doing it. It’s applying it. Taking what God expects and doing it. At the beginning of the message, I asked, which would you choose? Knowledge, understanding, or wisdom? Perhaps after hearing more about each of them, you may say, oh, I like one over the other.

Well, brethren, God doesn’t want us to choose one of them. God wants us to choose all three of them. That’s the best option. Choose all of them. All of them are important. Knowledge is important. Understanding is important. Wisdom is important. God not only wants us to know what they are, but He wants us to build them, to build knowledge, build understanding, build wisdom.

Brethren, the Days of Unleavened Bread are behind us. How much time do we have left in the age? Not long, not much, but the time we do have, brethren, we have to redeem it. We have to rescue it from loss. The clock is ticking. Time, brethren, is running short. We’re closer to the kingdom now than we’ll ever be with each passing moment. Our slate is clean, brethren. Now is the time. Get after what God is offering because a Christian life is not found, brethren, it’s built.