Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] I have at the house a lot of hats.
[00:00:05] I'm kind of a collector of hats. I like them.
[00:00:11] I see some people in hats today. I don't know that. I definitely don't wear them as faithfully as Josh White, but I wear them often. They're good accessory.
[00:00:22] They're more than that. They're pretty useful in my view.
[00:00:26] They're not only something I can wear, but they are a decoration. I have some hung up in my office.
[00:00:34] They also serve to cover up messy hair.
[00:00:39] They also serve to shield me from the sun. You may not know this about me. I can get sunburns pretty easily, and they help guard my face and my neck.
[00:00:49] And sometimes they're even sentimental. I get hats just so I can remember something. Or I have a couple hats from my father and my grandfather to remember them and to think of them.
[00:01:02] Now, these hats are useful or not so useful to the rest of my family in different ways. To Katie, they're sometimes fine. I think she's okay with them generally. Sometimes they're a nuisance, though I leave them laying around. They may be a decoration to me. They're not a decoration to her, apparently.
[00:01:21] To my daughter, my hats are a really fun toy, something fun to chew on and to stare at. She loves my hats.
[00:01:30] So they're useful in so many ways. And now this is a silly and a corny example of this, but it's something we can look at, that we use. And I'm sure you can think of things in your life that is useful in many ways. Tonight we are talking about something far more useful than any of that stuff, a lot more useful than hats.
[00:01:50] We're talking about the wisdom of God and its many uses for different people and beings.
[00:01:57] So we are in proverbs three again this week. So if you haven't flipped there proverbs three, we're going to be finishing the chapter starting in verse 13. And here in verse 13 begins the fourth lecture. So if you've been keeping up week by week, we've been hearing a, a few different types of writing and proverbs, and a lot of it has been lectures from the father of the story to his son. This is our fourth lecture, this section. Now, if you notice, it's a little different. It doesn't begin with the classic my son or hear my son or hear o son, but the my son comes in the middle. And due to the structuring and the topic, it's really kind of like a preamble. Then the lecture starts and he says, in light of that here's the lecture. So it all works together as one unit.
[00:02:54] The main idea of proverbs, which I have written on the board in full, or the main idea of proverbs 313 through 35, wisdom blesses mankind, created the world, instructs the Son and charges us. And when I say charge, I'm talking exhort or command.
[00:03:18] So that is the main idea of proverbs three. Wisdom blesses mankind, it created the world, it instructs the Son, and it charges us. And remember, this main idea fits well with our theme of proverbs.
[00:03:32] Can anyone tell us what's in these blanks? Choose the what path of wisdom, which is the path of Christ? Correct. Choose the path of wisdom, which is the path of Christ. Let's begin by reading verses 13 through 18.
[00:03:53] Blessed is the one who finds wisdom and the one who gets understanding. For the gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
[00:04:11] Long life is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
[00:04:22] She is like or she is a tree of life. To those who lay hold of her, those who hold her fast are called blessed.
[00:04:31] Now, there are four points to the sermon Tonight. Each one is a Being or a group to whom wisdom is useful. And the first one, as you can see, is wisdom to mankind. That's what we're dealing with in this first section. How is wisdom of value, of use to mankind, humanity?
[00:04:52] What we're seeing here is that wisdom is a blessing to mankind. And look at the text how mankind is blessed by this. We read that neither silver nor gold can compare to what it offers, not even jewels.
[00:05:08] Wisdom holds long life and health in one hand and wealth in the other hand. So by finding wisdom, you set yourself up about as good as possible to live a truly happy and blessed life. And you certainly set up yourself to live a truly happy and blessed eternal life. If you find wisdom, the paths and ways of wisdom are said in verse 17, to be pleasant and peaceful.
[00:05:43] Pleasant and peaceful. I want us to kind of zoom in on that real quick.
[00:05:48] Think about this to yourself. Do you want peace?
[00:05:55] Do you want peace?
[00:05:58] Has peace been something you've desired and felt like you can't have? Or maybe just in a season, you feel like it eludes you somehow?
[00:06:06] Do you want peace?
[00:06:08] You might have a chaotic and stressful life for so many reasons, or maybe not so much. But the fact of the matter is that many teens, y'all, your demographic, claim to struggle with anxiety.
[00:06:25] This is absence of peace and pleasantness. This is the opposite of that. And yet is so prevalent a discussion, an issue for many your age. Probably some of you in the room, if not most of you. You're not alone in this.
[00:06:43] And you no longer, according to this text, need to worry incessantly about tomorrow or eternity, because finding wisdom provides all of your eternal needs.
[00:06:55] It provides pleasantness and peace.
[00:06:59] And that's because to find wisdom means that you have first found Christ.
[00:07:09] You have found Jesus Christ.
[00:07:12] This is your entrance into this pleasantness and this peacefulness when you know first the savior of souls, the man who called the prince of peace, the almighty God, dwelling in the flesh, he can meet you in all of your needs. Because he entered flesh, he wore it. He emptied himself to become the form of a servant, being born like us, and he can fill our needs because of that.
[00:07:43] And the scripture says that all who call upon his name will be saved. They will know wisdom.
[00:07:50] Do you trust, do you trust the savior to bring peace to you?
[00:07:58] You might identify as a christian struggle with peace, but do you believe the scriptures are telling us that the prince of peace, if he dwells in you, he will grant it to you. Do you believe that you need this primarily in your relationship with God?
[00:08:16] As it is, we are all at war with God.
[00:08:21] We are his enemies. But in Christ, the wisdom of God is pleased to make peace with you and to make peace in you. He is pleased to call you a friend, to call you brother, even a fellow child of God the father.
[00:08:39] He is pleased to do that. If you would only have faith, it is free.
[00:08:44] And that's where we must start. If we want to do anything with wisdom, we must start there.
[00:08:51] You can't have peace until your relationship with God has peace.
[00:08:57] Wisdom also will be to you. According to this text, like a tree. It's in verse 18, a tree of life. To be more specific, this image of the tree in some other language in this passage might remind some of you guys of another passage that you may have read before.
[00:09:14] It is psalm one, so you don't have to flip there. But I want you to think about psalm one as I read it.
[00:09:25] So if you need to even close your eyes, think about this and how this relates in parallels to what we just read in proverbs three. Psalm one, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law he meditates day and night.
[00:09:50] He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
[00:10:01] The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. I so we see some parallels here. I'll help us look at them. The blessed man we'll call the one who is blessed. The subject of the lecture in psalm one. In proverbs three, this blessed man is blessed because he finds wisdom.
[00:10:33] In psalm one, the blessed man is blessed because he delights in the law of the Lord.
[00:10:41] This is no coincidence. These are similar. To find wisdom and to delight in the law of the Lord are paralleled in the scripture for a reason.
[00:10:51] The blessed man in proverbs three is like a tree that gives life, and in psalm one, he is like a fruitful tree.
[00:10:59] This blessed man, in proverbs three, he walks in ways that are marked by the peace of God. And in psalm one, he walks in ways that are known by God. Again, these are closely connected. To be known by God is to walk in his peace.
[00:11:17] And so the blessedness that comes from finding wisdom is connected to the blessedness of knowing and loving the law of the Lord.
[00:11:29] You must trust in the Lord because to love, to be able to meditate on the law of the Lord, you must first trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the manifestation of wisdom. We must trust in him that he would, as we've said the last couple of weeks, write his word on our heart. He would write the law of God on our heart that we can truly then meditate and know God and know his word.
[00:12:01] How else can we know and love the law of God? By just reading it over and over and telling ourselves that we love it and that we're gonna memorize it and we're gonna do what's right no matter what, and we're just gonna white knuckle it until we do it.
[00:12:17] You guys know that doesn't work.
[00:12:20] I'm sure a lot of you guys know from experience that doesn't work. You can't will yourself to perfect obedience and loving the law of God. You need to know and love Christ, who has loved you first in order to do so.
[00:12:36] And then. And then we can meditate on his life, we can meditate on his word because he gives us peace to do so.
[00:12:46] And those in Christ then, when we trust him, should hold fast to his law, should hold fast to his word.
[00:12:54] To be blessed, you must know the ultimate blessed Mandev, Jesus Christ.
[00:13:02] Do you know him?
[00:13:04] Do you know him?
[00:13:08] If you say you know him, does your life reflect the fact that you know him?
[00:13:15] If you don't know him or you're not sure, how can you know him? Look back at proverbs three.
[00:13:22] We're going to read verses 19 and 20. The Lord by wisdom, founded the earth.
[00:13:29] By understanding, he established the heavens.
[00:13:33] By his knowledge, the deeps broke open and the clouds dropped down the dew.
[00:13:40] So this is our second point. Wisdom to the Lord. How is wisdom of value and useful to the Lord? So to mankind? To summarize, wisdom blesses us supremely. And to the Lord, wisdom is the means through which all things were created.
[00:13:57] So I want us to notice when we read that, we see the words wisdom and understanding and knowledge all in these two verses. I'll repeat this again. These words, when they're so close together, they're paralleling the same idea.
[00:14:12] By wisdom, God does two actions in these verses. Two.
[00:14:17] First, by wisdom, God created. God created. Thus, wisdom is not merely useful to us, but wisdom is useful to the creator.
[00:14:29] Colossians 116 says, for by Christ all things were created. Again, we can't escape this connection of wisdom and Christ. Christ is seen in the magnificent created universe because all things were created through him and for him.
[00:14:49] And the wisdom of God then is seen through all the world, through all of life. The effects of wisdom on creation bleed out into the world like tie dye does on a white t shirt. It just bleeds and spreads.
[00:15:06] The created world because of this makes sense, you know, our world makes sense. If our world didn't make sense, you couldn't have a physics class.
[00:15:16] You wouldn't be able to have that. Science wouldn't exist. It all works together, from the food chain to the seasons, to the way the earth goes around the sun and the moon around the earth. And there are tides and the oxygen in our atmosphere, all the way down to how our eyes work and our immune systems. Everything works together. And it makes sense. The earth just works.
[00:15:40] It just does.
[00:15:43] Because of this, there is such a thing as reason and logic. You wouldn't have those. If God did not create the world by wisdom.
[00:15:52] That's a result of his work. That's also why we can read proverbs and they make sense to us.
[00:16:00] Because the world makes sense.
[00:16:03] So when you solve a math problem, when you make an argument, when you catch something that is tossed to you, when you look at a clock and read the time, you are operating within a world created by the wisdom of God. And so let all of these seemingly ordinary things point us to Christ.
[00:16:30] We see it through creation. And especially if you are in Christ, you can see it all the more clearly when you look at the world.
[00:16:41] So he created by wisdom. And second, he provides by wisdom.
[00:16:47] So, by wisdom, by Christ. In other words, God holds all things together.
[00:16:54] He holds all things together.
[00:16:56] He placed the oceans and the seas and created the water cycle. We see that in the text, created the water that the earth would receive dew and rain for nourishment. There's just one small way that God provides for the earth.
[00:17:13] Each day you wake up, he has provided for you. He has given you another day.
[00:17:21] It's not an idea we like to entertain. And it's honestly difficult to entertain as a young person the idea that tomorrow's not guaranteed.
[00:17:32] It's not. Moses tells us in psalm 92, number our days or teach. He says, lord, teach us to number our days.
[00:17:41] But we simply must recognize that each day we wake up is a day given to us by the Lord. Psalm 100. 1824. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. So if you're alive today, which all of you are, meet Jesus today.
[00:18:03] Meet him today. Don't wait until tomorrow. Definitely don't wait until you're much older.
[00:18:09] You are not guaranteed. But you have the opportunity today, even now, to meet Christ, the wisdom of goddess. Why wait?
[00:18:22] Consider what a gift each and every day is. And consider all the ways which the Lord has provided for you when you are in need.
[00:18:33] Consider today.
[00:18:36] Now look back at the text, verse 21. We'll keep reading, my son. Do not lose sight of these. So everything we just read, do not lose sight of these.
[00:18:47] Keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.
[00:18:56] Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
[00:19:09] Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes. For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.
[00:19:21] This brings us to our third point. Wisdom to the Son.
[00:19:26] The Son being spoken to in the lecture, not God the Son. That's why I have it lowercase there. Wisdom to the Son.
[00:19:35] So summarizing again, to mankind, wisdom blesses us supremely. To the Lord, wisdom is the means by which God created all things. And to the Son, wisdom is instruction in the practicalities of life.
[00:19:51] First, crucially, we see in this passage, this part of it. Wisdom is life to the soul. It is life to the soul. To repeat myself, to know wisdom means first to know the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:20:08] Have you gotten it yet?
[00:20:10] Paul says in the new testament that Christ is the wisdom of God. Lest you think I'm making this up, he is the wisdom of God.
[00:20:19] You must know him and have a relationship with him. Faith in Christ is all it takes to respond to the free call of the gospel.
[00:20:30] Because, again, we don't deserve the life given to our soul by wisdom. We don't. We deserve death. But the wisdom of God will usher life into your soul. He will inject it with life oftentimes.
[00:20:48] Or let me say this verse, when this happens, only then will this next part apply to you. When he says, then you will walk on your way securely. Verse 23.
[00:21:03] Often churches and especially some youth camps want to offer that promise of security too quickly, to our own detriment.
[00:21:18] You respond to an altar call, you walk down an aisle, you fill out a card, and the person there rushes to tell you something, that you are good, you're out of hell, you're in heaven. You are for sure good. That is the number one message. Now, I do believe when Christ truly saves a person, he or she will never be lost from God's family. He doesn't lose his sheep. The good shepherd doesn't lose his sheep. Of course not.
[00:21:46] But if there is little to no fruit of a christian life, in your experience, then you have no reason to believe that you are saved.
[00:21:57] Look at your life. Is there any witness to Christ in your life?
[00:22:04] We should not fool ourselves or fool other people or give false hope.
[00:22:11] We know if we truly trust, he won't lose us.
[00:22:16] But if there's no fruit, your steps might not be secure.
[00:22:21] But even this, in this you are not doomed.
[00:22:28] If you turn in faith to Christ, even today, if you earnestly seek him, you will be saved. And that promise of the good shepherd, not losing his sheep, will apply to you.
[00:22:44] Christ is evident in creation, in the ordering of the universe. He is a blessing to mankind, and he would be a blessing to you.
[00:22:53] If you are following the Lord and producing fruit, then you should feel assurance. But even here, I want to offer a caution.
[00:23:03] Feeling assurance of salvation is not promised.
[00:23:08] You should not idolize that.
[00:23:12] And I think we do. And I think that's the heart behind people that rush to give assurance they have good intentions. I'm not disparaging people that have done this, but I think we have over thought this, because you may not feel it ever, or you might feel it one day and not the next.
[00:23:35] But if you are in Christ and you thus know the wisdom of God, then you will walk securely.
[00:23:43] Even if it doesn't feel secure, you are safe in the arms of your savior.
[00:23:50] He will not let you go.
[00:23:52] So trust in God. Not a feeling.
[00:23:57] The Son is told that he will sleep peacefully. He won't need to be afraid of terror or attacks. When he knows wisdom, then he does not need to be wise in his own sight. He does not need to worry about his own protection. Because to know the Lord is to belong to God in Christ. And when you belong to God in Christ, the Lord becomes your, as he says, your confidence. He is your confidence.
[00:24:22] And when he is your confidence, we can say with the apostle Paul, to live as Christ, to die as gain.
[00:24:30] We know that each of our steps will be established. We know that God is in control of it all, just as he provides for the earth in every minute detail, we can trust God as our confidence.
[00:24:45] Now let's read the rest of the passage. Verse 27 do not withhold good from those to whom it is due. When it is in your power to do it, do not say to your neighbor, go and come again tomorrow. I will give it when you have it with you. Do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly beside you.
[00:25:04] Do not contend with a man for no reason when he has done you no harm.
[00:25:09] Do not envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways.
[00:25:14] For the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence.
[00:25:20] The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
[00:25:28] Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.
[00:25:34] The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace. So finally .4 wisdom to us.
[00:25:42] To mankind, wisdom blesses supremely. To the Lord, wisdom is the means by which all things were created. To the Son, wisdom is instruction in the practicalities to life and to us, wisdom is a charge for us to live lives like Christ.
[00:25:59] Christians should act for the benefit of society. There's a lot of neighbor talk in this passage. How do we do this for quick things? First, you will provide for your neighbor when you can. You provide for your neighbor when you can. To withhold a need or something good from someone is antisocial. Now, antisocial means harming society. It is not good for society.
[00:26:25] Second, you will not plan to harm your neighbors, so this is more intense. Instead of just withholding good, you are not planning to do evil. This would be worse. Third, we see in this text you don't make accusations for no reason.
[00:26:40] Again, this is harmful to society with pointless controversy. And then fourth, and finally, do not envy a man of violence. We read that term. We should think of someone who lovelessly infringes on the rights of others.
[00:26:57] Don't be like such a neighbor. Don't be a bad neighbor. And then starting in verse 32, we start to see these kind of he's going back and forth between good and bad and comparing them, contrasting them. Look at that real quick. So in verse 32, the bad neighborhood he is a devious person and an abomination to the Lord. But the good neighbor is called upright. He is in God's confidence, even as God is his confidence.
[00:27:30] And then verse 33 for the bad neighbor he is cursed by God, and he lives in the house of the wicked. But the good neighbor, he is blessed by God, he dwells with the righteous.
[00:27:44] Verse 34 the bad neighbor is he scorns others, and he is then scorned in return. But the good neighbor is humble, and to him God gives favor.
[00:27:57] The next verse the bad neighbor is a fool who gets disgraced. But the good neighbor is wise, he knows wisdom, he knows Christ, and he inherits honor.
[00:28:09] So just a couple of notes here.
[00:28:12] Remember psalm one, do not walk in the way of sinners and scoffers and scorners and bad neighbors. Rather follow Christ by trusting in him and delighting in his word.
[00:28:26] Dwell in the house of the righteous.
[00:28:30] How can we dwell in the house of the righteous? We must be righteous. How can we be righteous? Habakkuk two four and Romans 117 both say, the righteous shall live by faith. It is by faith. It all comes to that.
[00:28:47] And then also notice that humility leads to honor in the kingdom of heaven. The first shall be last. The last shall be first in the church. In Philippians two, we are commanded to consider the desires and needs of others as more important than our own. And Paul backs that up with an illustration, the illustration that the son of God took the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men.
[00:29:13] He humbled himself in such a way. How can we who follow him not also humble ourselves for the sake of others?
[00:29:23] If you humble yourself before God through faith and before others, the Lord will grant you saving grace and you will be blessed.
[00:29:32] But this last bit right here, talking about considering others over ourselves, is so countercultural.
[00:29:41] It is not like the people around us. You are and will be told to think of yourself, to keep tabs on your mental health, to treat yourself, to find your true self, to follow your heart.
[00:29:57] But all of this is completely contradicted by the fact that the humble are honored. Not that those are most self aware are honored, but those who are humble and consider others first.
[00:30:11] And so turn to Christ.
[00:30:13] Ask for forgiveness of your sins. Put your faith in him and his salvific work on the cross and follow him. Pursue wisdom and as you do, you will be pursuing Christ. Pursue Christ and he will grant you wisdom. Let's pray.
[00:30:30] Father God, we praise you for your word. We lift our souls to you tonight.
[00:30:35] Lord, we pray and ask that you would convict us of sin and you would call those of us in the room that do not know you to yourself. Lord, grant faith to your people in here that need faith. Lord, we pray and ask that as we break up, you would be in our groups. You would help us. As we digest the text, you would reveal how the good news of the gospel is right here in proverbs three, and how that pierces our hearts and propels us to live lives that honor you because you have loved us. First, we pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.
