Avenue Vineyard August 13, 2017 The Wisdom of Wisdom Avenue Vineyard August 13, 2017

Richard Foster “Holiness means the ability to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. It means being ‘response-able’, able to respond appropriately to the demands of life. The word ‘virtue’ comes into our New Testament from a long history in Greek philosophical tradition, and it means simply to function well. Virtue is good habits we can rely upon to make our life work. Conversely, vice is bad habits we can rely upon to make our life not work, to make it dysfunctional, as we say. So a holy life simply is a life that works.”

7Wisdom is Supreme; therefore get wisdom. Proverbs 4:7

Psalm 119:97-104 “97 Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. 98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide…101 I have refused to walk on any evil path, so that I may remain obedient to your word. 102 I haven’t turned away from your regulations, for you have taught me well. 103 How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey. 104 Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life.”

“For whoever does not see the beauty of holiness cannot appreciate the graces of God’s Spirit. Without this there is ignorance of the whole spiritual world.” Jonathan Edwards

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” C.S. Lewis

“22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body “22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! Matthew 6:22-23

C.S. Lewis “When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. In so far as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”

Dwarves in The Last Battle “I don’t think we want any more kings - if you are Tirian, which you don’t look like him - no more than we want any Aslans. We’re going to look after ourselves from now on and touch our caps to nobody…We’re on our own now. No more Aslan, no more kings, no more silly stories about other worlds. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”

Aslan in The Last Battle “They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they can not be taken out.”

Romans 1:20-23 “20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Romans 1:20-23 cont’d 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human beings and birds and animals and reptiles.

“If an unworthy or unholy action is suggested to the spiritually discerning, a sanctified eye sees no beauty in it nor is pleased with it. Sanctified taste will only be nauseated by it. In this way a holy person is led by the Spirit by having a holy taste and disposition of heart.” Jonathan Edwards

“The…martyr’s of Jesus Christ [were] not merely those who strongly believed the gospel of Christ is true. They [saw] the truth for themselves.” Jonathan Edwards

Colossians 3:1-4 “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.”

7Wisdom is Supreme; therefore get wisdom. Proverbs 4:7