The Vanity of Striving After Intellectual Wisdom
Sermon Title: The Vanity of Striving After Intellectual Wisdom
Sermon Purpose: To call the hearer to avoid the futility of being devoted to the human accomplishment of education apart from God.
Sermon Proposition: There are 3 concepts of the meaningless pursuit of intellectual wisdom apart from God.
Introduction: Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Jeremiah 7:8 " Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. 9 "Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, 10 "and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations'?
“Education, the great mumbo-jumbo and fraud of the ages, purports to equip us to live, and is prescribed as a universal remedy for everything from juvenile delinquency to premature senility. For the most part, it only serves to enlarge stupidity, inflate conceit, enhance credulity and put those subjected to it at the mercy of brainwashers with printing presses, radio and television at their disposal.” – Malcolm Muggeridge
I. The vanity of the heart set on seeking intellectual accomplishments. V.12-14
A. The person seeking intellectual accomplishments is devoted to worldly education. V.12-13a
2 Chronicles 1:12 "wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like."
Daniel 1:4 young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.
1. Intellectual accomplishment is devoted to study.
2. Intellectual accomplishment is devoted to research.
3. Intellectual accomplishment is devoted to exploration.
“Our educational establishments seek to instill a passion for intellectual curiosity and openness, but allows for the existence of no truth worth pursuing.” – Charles Colson
B. The person seeking intellectual accomplishment is destined for worldly frustration. V.13b-14
(Proverbs 7:1-4; Proverbs 3:7-8; Proverbs 16:3, 16)
“Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.” – C. S. Lewis
II. The vanity of the heart set on rejecting illuminations aspirations. V.16-17
A. The personal meaningless inventory of labor apart from God. V.16a
B. The meaninglessness of personal inventory of attaining education apart from God. V.16b
C. The meaninglessness of personal inventory of intellectual pursuits apart from God. V.17
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Exodus 31:3 "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
Exodus 35:35 "He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver -- those who do every work and those who design artistic works.
Isaiah 10:13 For he says: "By the strength of my hand I have done it, And by my wisdom, for I am prudent; Also I have removed the boundaries of the people, And have robbed their treasuries; So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man.
1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God -- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption –
“In our sad condition our only consolation is the expectancy of another life. Here below all is incomprehensible.” – Martin Luther
III. The vanity of the heart set on solving intuitive addictions. V.15, 18
A. In spite of man’s grandest efforts, some crooked matters in life will remain unstraightened. V.15a
B. It is frustrating to discover book learning doesn’t solve all the puzzles of life. V.15b
C. The expected outcome of wisdom is success, success in turn should bring happiness. But there are no guarantees. This then grieves the one who lives for accomplishments and answers under the sun. (Prov. 4:23-27; Prov. 4:1-9)
Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Teaching children to count is not as important as teaching them what counts.” – Author Unknown
“Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” – Will Durant
“A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.” – Mark Twain
“Expecting something for nothing is the most popular form of hope.” – Arnold Glasow
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” – Vaclav Havel