Salty Wisdom
Ecclesiastes 7:4-12 and 29 - New International Version (NIV)
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5 It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5 It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
7 Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
and patience is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.
12 Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
and benefits those who see the sun.
12 Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
29 This only have I found:
God created mankind upright,
but they have gone in search of many schemes.
God created mankind upright,
but they have gone in search of many schemes.
Where
does the Teacher say the “heart of the
wise” is (verse 4)?
In your opinion, why is it better to heed the
rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the the song of fools (verse 5)?
What is the laughter of fools like (verse 6)?
What turns the wise person into a fool (verse 7)?
What is better than pride (verse 8)?
Where does anger reside (verse 9)?
In your opinion, why is it not wise to ask “why were the old days better than these” (verse
10)?
Who benefits from wisdom (verse 11)?
What are both wisdom and money (verse 12)?
How did God create mankind (verse 29)?
Where has mankind gone (verse 29)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
Matthew
5:13-16 - New International
Version (NIV)
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its
saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything,
except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be
hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it
under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone
in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine
before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in
heaven.
What
does Jesus call his disciples (verse 13)?
In your opinion, how can salt be made salty
again (verse 13)?
What are Jesus’s disciples (verse 14)?
In your opinion, why can’t a town built on a
hill be hidden (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what would happen if a
lighted lamp was placed under a bowl (verse 15)?
Where is the lighted lamp put (verse 15)?
Where is the light of Jesus’s disciples to
shine (verse 16)?
Whyy should the light of Jesus’s disciples shine
(verse 16)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, what happens when you combine
the Teacher’s statement that “God created
mankind upright” only to have them go “in
search of many schemes” from Ecclesiastes 7:29 with Jesus saying in Matthew
5:13-16 that salt that loses it’s saltiness is “no longer good for anything”?
1
Corinthians 1:18-31 – New
International Version (NIV)
18 For the message of the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person?
Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not
God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since
in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was
pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but
we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For
the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is
stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters,
think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human
standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose
the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are
not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one
may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you
are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our
righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as
it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
What
is the message of the cross to “us who
are being saved” (verse 18)?
Whose wisdom will be destroyed (verse 19)?
In your opinion, has God made foolish
the wisdom of the world (verse 20)?
How is God pleased to “save those who believe” (verse 21)?
What do Greeks look for (verse 22)?
What does Paul preach (verse 23)?
In your opinion, how is Christ “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (verse
24)?
What is “wiser than human wisdom” (verse 25)?
Why did God “choose the foolish things of the world” (verse 27)?
For what did God choose the lowly
things, the despised things, and the things that are not (verse 28)?
Who has become “wisdom from God” for us (verse 30)?
How should we boast (verse 31)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does the wisdom of God
that is revealed in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 do to the wisdom of the Teacher as
revealed in Ecclesiastes 7:1-12 and 29?
In your opinion, how can the “message of the cross” that Paul proclaims
in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 make salty again those who may have lost their
saltiness so that they become the ones that Jesus commands in Matthew 5:13-16
to “let your light shine before others”?
James
3:13-18 – New
International Version (NIV)
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their
good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But
if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast
about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not
come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For
where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every
evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then
peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial
and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a
harvest of righteousness.
How does James instruct the “wise and understanding” to show it (verse
13)?
What are we not to deny (verse 14)?
What is the wisdom that harbors “bitter envy and selfish ambition in your
hearts” (verses 14 and 15)?
Where will you find “disorder and every evil practice” (verse 16)?
What is “pure;
then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit,
impartial and sincere” (verse 17)?
What will “peacemakers
who sow in peace” reap (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, based on what James says about
wisdom in James 3:13-18 how would you define the wisdom of the Teacher from
Ecclesiastes 7:1-12 and 29?
In your opinion, how is the light that Jesus
commands us to “shine before others” in
Matthew 5:13-16 defined by the “wisdom
that comes from heaven” that James discusses in James 3:13-18?
In your opinion, what do Paul in 1 Corinthians
1:18-31 and James in James 3:13-18 help us understand about worldly wisdom?
In your opinion, what do Paul in 1 Corinthians
1:18-31 and James in James 3:13-18 help us understand about heavenly wisdom?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Ecclesiastes,
Matthew, 1 Corinthians and James help us understand about the conflict between
worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom?
In your opinion, how does knowing that we are
to “boast in the Lord” help us
understand how to be the “salt of the
earth” and the “light of the world”?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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