Knowing God - Chapter Ten (10) - God's Wisdom and Ours

Reading - Knowing God - Chapter Ten (10) - God's Wisdom and Ours

God has incommunicable qualities - characteristic of God alone; man does not share any of them.

• independence - self-existent and self-sufficient
• immutability - entire freedom from change, leading to entire consistency in action
• infinity - freedom from all limits of time and space
• simplicity - there are in him no elements that can conflict, so he cannot have divergent thoughts and desires

When God made man, though, he communicated to him certain qualities such as goodness, truth, holiness, righteousness, etc. 

• Genesis 1:26-27 - Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;...God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

At the Fall, man lapsed into ungodliness. Yet, God is at work in Christian believers to repair this ruined image. 

• By being renewed in the image of Christ - 2 Corinthians 3:18 - But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
• By being renewed in the image of God - Colossians 3:10 - and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. 

One of the qualities of God - all-wise - he wants to impart wisdom on his creatures.  

• Seek wisdom - Proverbs 4:7 - The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; 4:13 - Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.
• Wisdom is personified - Proverbs 8:34-36 - “Blessed is the man who listens to me (wisdom),
  watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death.”
• God is ready to provide wisdom - Proverbs 9:4-5 - “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!”
  To him who lacks understanding she (wisdom) says, “Come, eat of my food."
• Ask God for wisdom - James 1:5 - "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Two prerequisites: 

1. We must learn to reverence God -  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. - Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, 1:7, 15:33, Job 28:28. We must be humble, teachable, stand in awe of God's holiness, sovereignty, see our own littleness, distrust our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down.  
2. We must learn to receive God's word - Colossians 3:16 - "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you." Psalm 119:98-99 - "Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation."  I am to soak myself in the Scriptures. When Paul gave those words he was simply speaking of the Old Testament. It is through scripture that we are "equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17)." Read the Book!

What does it mean for God to give us wisdom?

It is Not

Packer gives an illustration - standing on a train platform and seeing the train movements - provides you a very rough idea of the workings on a train. But if you were taken back to the control room and there saw signal-box and diagrams of how everything works individually and yet together - you will better understand the reason each train operates individually the way it does. 

     People make the mistake that this is what it means when we acquire the wisdom of God - in turn giving us the reason why all things work together for good. This is futile inquiry. It is true God will teach us principles through His providence but this is different from trying to render God's purpose about every detail of our lives. 

It is

Packer gives an illustration - driving a car and learning how to navigate the car through the many different situations that are present -- a parked car on the side of the road, the turning roads, stoplights, other cars - thus wisdom is being clear-sighted and realistic in looking at life as it is. It is learning to navigate myself through life as life changes, curves, as events suddenly present themselves, as things break.

Ecclesiastes Teaches us a mystery
Packer turns to Ecclesiastes to see what it teaches us on wisdom. Solomon's conclusion is wisdom is a frank acknowledgement that this world's course is enigmatic (mysterious), that much of what happens is unable to be explained to us and that most occurrences under the sun bear no outward sign of a rational, moral God ordering them at all. The writer (preacher) is stating that we must be careful to not equate book knowledge with gaining wisdom (Eccl 12:12).

Look at life:

• Aimlessly recurring cycles in nature (1:4-7)
• Life is fixed by times and circumstances over which we have no control (3:1-8, 9:11-12)
• Death comes, haphazardly, bears no relation to whether it is deserved (7:15, 8:8)
• Humans die like beasts (3:19-20), good ones die like bad ones, wise ones die like fools (3:16, 4:1, 5:8, 8:11, 9:3)
• Wicked prosper, good don't (8:14)

Thus, then there is a temptation to conclude that life really is as pointless as it looks. Thus, we then think that wisdom is figuring out what makes God tick and why he does what he does; Christians can at times think they have the inside scoop on this. (Note: It is hard answering questions from skeptics with "I don't know" because we don't like the way this possibly makes us look as faith followers.) God wants us to walk by faith (yet growing up we did not like hearing from our father - "because I said so" and we don't like hearing that from our Father today). There seems to be a certain danger in feeling like the Christian must be able to answer any question that is asked. [Today the response among Christians is simply to retort, "God is sovereign" which really is another way of saying, "God works things out the way he wants and I realize it doesn't make sense, but that is okay because I am fine with God being in control."] The moment the Christian thinks he knows all the answers the Christian will be confronted with an experience in life that he didn't.

"God in his wisdom, to make and keep us humble and to teach us to walk by faith, has hidden from us almost everything that we should like to know about the providential purposes which he is working out in the churches and in our lives." As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.. - Ecclesiastes 11:5

Ecclesiastes Teaches Wisdom

• Fear God and keep His commandments (12:13)
• Trust and obey him, reverence him, worship him, be humble before him, and never say more than you mean and will stand to when you pray to him (5:1-7)
• Do good (3:12)
• Remember that God will some day take account of you (11:9, 12:14)
• So eschew, even in secret, things of which you will be ashamed when they come to light at God's assizes (12:14)
• Live in the present and enjoy it thoroughly (7:14, 9:7-10, 11:9-10)
• Seek grace to work hard at whatever life calls you to do (9:10)
• Enjoy your work as you do it  (2:24; 3:12-13; 5:18-20; 8:15)
• Leave to God its issues; let him measure its ultimate worth; your part is to use all the good sense and enterprise at your command in exploiting the opportunities that lie before you (11:1-6)

My Mom is Home Free

My mom -

Rebecca “Becky” Wiley Payton, age 75, was welcomed by her loving Savior into her new home prepared for her on Sunday, October 6, 2019. She was a caring wife to Dr. Tyler Payton; a loving sister to Randy Byers; a wonderful mom to her sons Chris and Timothy (“T.”); a delightful Grammy to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and a good friend to so many. Services will be held Thursday, October 10, 2019, 11:00 a.m. at Del Norte Baptist Church, 5800 Montgomery Blvd NE. In lieu of flowers please send donations to CareNet Pregnancy Centers of Albuquerque - http://www.carenetabq.org/.


The following is the eulogy my brother and I wrote, which I read at the funeral.

Rebecca ("Becky") Wiley Payton was born on February 1, 1944 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was predeceased by her father and mother, James Robert in 1982 and Ruth Benge in 2009. Becky grew up in New Orleans and was an excellent student and graduated from East Jefferson High School in 1961 and began attending Louisiana State University in New Orleans pursuing a degree in Nursing (started out premed). She met her husband, Tyler Payton, in 1963 while she was speaking at the Baptist Student Union as he was also in New Orleans attending Tulane Medical School. They dated for 18 months and they were married May 1965; they then spent the summer in Denver with my dad working and my mom learning to cook (my dad mentions she would make huge meals). A year later she graduated from LSU and they moved to Denver (my dad working as an intern at a hospital and my mom working as a nurse in a different hospital). They moved to Gallup, New Mexico where she had two children. The family moved to Albuquerque in 1969.

In Albuquerque, the family attended Heights Baptist Church, Hoffmantown Baptist Church, and then she later attended here at Del Norte Baptist Church. Becky never simply attended church, but served in the churches where she was a member. She was active in the choir in all churches she attended singing beautifully - using the God given talents she had. She played the piano and sang solos in college. She even sang a solo in the morning of her wedding - getting married later that afternoon on that Sunday. At Heights, she played the piano and later the organ when they had a need (I remember that transition and my mom really struggled getting the organ down but she was determined and played it beautifully). Growing up in church she was involved in WMU (Women's Missionary Union). At Hoffmantown, she was involved with the international ministry. I think my mom simply loved learning about other places God’s love was at work and the Holy Spirit was working in people’s lives. Most recently she taught Sunday School at Del Norte. She carefully prepared her lessons, adding visual aids. It never mattered the size of the group she was speaking to; it was never about that, it was simply an opportunity to present God’s truth to you and be with you. She always made you feel important and valued and appreciated.

Becky loved to read, study and savor God’s Word. She had such a special relationship with God. There are no clean sections in my mom’s Bible. Every page has underlines and notes to the side. My mom and God were united. She delighted in His wonderful promises and marveled at the grace that was granted to her through Jesus. We all love the time we have to spend with her, but it all pales in comparison to the time that she spent with God. In all of life's circumstances, she kept the Word of God close to her. She would constantly write God’s word on notecards. We’ve had several times in the hospital the last 11 years and every time I would be with her she would be reading through 3x5 cards she had written verses or reading Psalms to encourage her.

Becky was a talented artist and enjoyed painting and drawing, and shared that love with her sons. She loved to sew, making everything from draperies, bathhouse, cushions, to one of a kind halloween costumes. She even made her own wedding and “going away” outfit. She loved to take her handwriting and create artwork that accentuated the promises of God in, scripture, many of which adorned not only her home but her son’s homes as well.

She delighted in animals and loved to collect animal photography. Adorable photos of seals, prairie dogs, otters and birds surrounded her home. Her beloved dogs over the years — Girl, Moose, Squigg, Bear and Tess — were pampered and treated just like the humans in the family. In all of these animals she is enjoying God’s creation more. She enjoyed celebrating God’s creativity in the wild birds to whom she enjoyed feeding and even affectionally looked forward to seeing a wild mouse scurry outside her kitchen window.

She loved her family. She lovingly prepared southern food that not only tasted good but was visually pleasing -- fitting of her artistic talent. She modeled a God dependent life by arising early every morning and bowing before her Creator to adore Him and lift up her families needs in prayer. She shared her love of music with her family — giving them a love of hymns which she played and sang at her piano. She loved to sing. I can’t remember ever standing with my mom in church and singing a hymn and her having to look at the hymnal or words on the screen. She knew every song by heart. Again, these weren’t just songs, they were words sung to God the Savior. She loved to lift up her voice to him. I admit that I was sometimes startled by my mom’s voice but it was beautiful and clear. She took voice lessons in Albuquerque and even sang in a trio during the 70s. At Heights Baptist she sang in the choir, including having the lead in musical productions. When she was playing the organ, she would spend hours practicing an offertory song that would last 3 minutes to our ears.

She loved being with other ladies in fellowship and study. She had the same two close friends from junior high to today and spoke of them - simply enjoying life with them at every turn. She also often mentioned here Sisters in Scriptures. She was constantly asking me what she can pray about in my life and her and her friends would be praying for all of us in her family. I want you to know that many of you have reached out to send her a card or word; to my mom those are not simply cards, but trophies to her and she proudly displayed them all around her and the house.

Look - It’s so hard to not just be up here forever talking about her and all the wonderful things she did for me. She was so beautiful inside and out. I guess you don’t think of your mom as a beauty as she is just mom to you. My roommates in college told me that my mom was really pretty. Just 3 or 4 years ago I introduced her to one of my coworkers at work and he said - your mom is a very pretty lady. I’m convinced. Her joy was captivating.

My mom loved music and I loved listening to Music. Two times there were artists that were playing at a dance club and bar in town called Graham Central Station when I was in high school. I wanted to see these artists. One was Kerry Livgren who had just left the group Kansas to form a Christian rock band after he turned his life over to Christ and then a band called Stryper which was more like a metal rock band. I could only go to these concerts if someone over 21 took me. Once my mom found this out she said she would take me. Each time leaving the concert my mom would say - I enjoyed that. I’m glad I got to go with you.

In college I was dating a girl my freshman and sophomore years and I guess we were getting serious. My mom sent me a book called Love for a Lifetime and said this would be good for the two of you to go through. So we sat down and started reading it together. There was a question really quick into the book that said - how often will you visit your respective parents after you are married - this girl I was dating said - well we could visit your folks maybe once a year - she said the state you live in is all brown and I’m not sure about your parents. I thought - not be with my parents - my mom - and I immediately broke up with her - and 2 years later God provided me my Mom - in the person of Pamela - beautiful and so wonderful to talk to and be with. Thank you Mom.

She leaves behind her husband, Tyler West Payton, and her two sons, Chris Payton (wife Pamela) of Albuquerque and T Payton (wife Brooke) of Albuquerque, and her sister, Randy Byers of Owasso, Oklahoma. She also leaves behind six grandchildren: Tyson Payton, Jordy Payton (wife Allison), Megan Sykes (husband Brandon), Noah Payton (wife Ella), Derek Payton, and Andrew Payton; and 2 great grand-children, Charlie Ann Payton and Calihan Payton.

As you can tell my mom loved God and loved life and loved people. In lieu of flowers my brothers wife Brooke made this most fitting recommendation so please make a donation in her honor to Care Net Pregnancy Center of Albuquerque - http://www.carenetabq.org/