A scorner is a person who holds someone or something in extreme contempt; one who despises. When a scorner seeks wisdom he “findeth it not.” He’s looking at it but he disdains what he sees so he doesn’t get it. Scorners can’t find:
The wisdom of creation – Prov 3:19-20. God made the earth by wisdom. When a scorner tries to find the origin of the universe and man, he will never find it because he rules out the wisdom of creation as a possible explanation. He despises God and the thought that God made all this. He looks right up at the heavens and he misses their story [Ps 19:1-5]. They testify of the unseen things of God [Rom 1:18-22]. He spends billions dollars to find the explanation.
The wisdom of incarnation – 1 Cor 1:20-21. God was manifest in the flesh through incarnation. 1 Tim 3:16. Matt 1:23 his name is Emmanuel, which means God with us, fulfilling Is 7:14. He is the prophesied seed of the woman in Gen 3:15. Jesus did miracles that only God could do. Yet when the Jews saw him, they scorned him and called him the devil. They were looking right at him and couldn’t find him. Jesus said to Philip, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” They’re still looking for him. He’s come and gone and he’s coming back.
The wisdom of salvation – 1 Cor 1:24-31. A perfectly righteous Savior died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day [1 Cor 15:3-4]. When Jesus told his disciples that he must die and rise again, they just wouldn’t accept that. They scorned his wisdom. He had to die and he had to rise again to beat death [Heb 2:11-15]. This is the only way Israel could rise in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, as in Ezek 37. Therefore, when he rose from the dead, he upbraided them for their unbelief.
The wisdom of preservation – Ps 12:6-7. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, [Matt 24:35]. For us to have God’s words today, he had to preserve them. They are the more sure word of prophecy in 2 Pet 1:19. Scorners will not accept that God has preserved his words for us. And so they spend a lifetime trying to figure out what he said, when the words are right there in front of them.
The wisdom of revelation – Lk 10:21. We learn what we learn through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who reveals God’s words to us [2 Tim 3:16-17]. Scorners don’t believe the God can reveal his truth to you without their scholarship. 1 Cor 2:10 says otherwise. As an old preacher friend of mine used to say, “There will be granny’s who read their Bibles sitting in rocking chairs teaching these scholars some things about the Bible in heaven.” God reveals his words to babes who believe what he said.
Conclusion: there are two things to remember from this message. If you are dealing with a scorner, he or she will never see the wisdom they are looking for until they humble themselves and believe what God said. You can show them but they will never find it. Secondly, thank God that we have found the wisdom of his creation, incarnation, salvation, preservation and revelation. Remember to never scorn God’s words, or you’ll not find the wisdom that you hope to find.