Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:19] Amen. So Proverbs chapter one, like Josh said, is where we're going to be. Just if you haven't turned there yet, as you turn there, a few of the guys in the church and I every year try to make our way to Orlando in the month of April to attend a conference called Ligonier. It's a ministry that was started by RC Sproul a while ago and it's a great conference. And the reason I like the conference in particular personally is because it's at a totally different pace than any other conference that I typically participate in throughout the year. So we're a part of Acts 29 church planning network. Love Acts 29. Love the work that God's doing through Acts 29.
[00:01:01] Acts 29 conference is amazing and it's high energy and it's, it's gospel centered and it's let's go live on mission by the holy, by the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God. It's, it feels sometimes like a pep rally. And that's a good thing. Like I need that. It's like an energy drink, right? You take a, you know, a shot of a five hour energy and you're like on, you're like ready to go. Okay. Ligonier is a totally different pace than that. Ligonier is more like a slow drip.
[00:01:23] Okay. So they even tell you at the beginning of the conference like, hey, lower your excitement expectations because over the next several days we're going to go at a really slow pace.
[00:01:32] We're going to preach and we're going to sing, but we're not going to have a band. We're just going to, it's just a guy who's going to lead us in hymns. Like, it's a totally different pace. But here's the reason. In addition to the slow pace, you get to hear from guys in their 70s and 80s who have walked with Jesus for 40, 50, some 60 years, impart things like what I'm about to share with you. So there was a panel two years ago where they talked about suffering and they talked about how to endure by the grace of God in the midst of life's darkest moments. And one of the men who's one of my favorite pastors, his name is Sinclair Ferguson, I think he's 79 years old, Scottish man.
[00:02:08] And somebody had asked a question that was something along the lines of how do you convince or how do you share with a family member who doesn't have a relationship with Jesus? How do you share the gospel with them.
[00:02:20] And so, you know, the guys on the panel begin to give answers, all good answers. And in my mind, I'm thinking, my mind immediately goes to the portion of my brain responsible for knowledge. And I'm like, well, this is what you should say. This is what you should say. This is what you should say. And Ferguson's response to that question was something like this.
[00:02:42] He kind of paused, slowed down, took a deep breath, and he said, let them see.
[00:02:51] Let them see the product of grace and what grace can do through the transformed life.
[00:02:57] So in other words, think less about what you're to say and think more about what if your family members, friends, see evidence of what you believe through the way that you live your life.
[00:03:11] Evidence of grace through a transformed life.
[00:03:16] And this is really what the wisdom literature in the Bible, and particularly the book of Proverbs is meant to do.
[00:03:23] Here's the reality, and I'm going to make a confession. And I think the confession is true for you too, if you'll admit it. Okay? As I've been studying this week and thinking about my life and thinking about, especially early on in my Christian life, but even today, in many ways, I have come to this hard realization.
[00:03:39] I am a fool in many ways.
[00:03:44] And I think you are too.
[00:03:47] Okay, so not in every way.
[00:03:50] Some are more wise than others in the room, okay? But in many ways, you and I live with this wisdom deficit.
[00:04:01] And now we know there's a wisdom deficit in the culture, right? Because as we'll see in Proverbs 1 that testifies in Psalm 14, when David says, the fool says in his heart there is no God.
[00:04:17] So at the root of all foolishness is this deeply embedded belief that you and I are autonomous, that we're totally on our own, that we're the boss, and that we get to make the ultimate determination of what's best in our life. We get to decide who we want to be. We get to decide what gender we want to be. We get to this, like all these things are ultimately up to us.
[00:04:39] That's the root of what the Bible calls foolishness.
[00:04:44] Now, that's easy. That's low hanging fruit. To look out at the culture and be like, oh, fools.
[00:04:50] Okay? But my challenge to you, as is the case with me this week, that I think the Spirit's been working in me, is to not necessarily go into this summer and go into the Book of Proverbs like you're looking through a set of binoculars at how foolish everybody else is, but to allow the Book of Proverbs by the Holy Spirit to be like a mirror for you, that as you see the wisdom of God laid out in this precious book, you would see a wisdom deficit in your own life.
[00:05:23] Because it's only when you and I feel that there is a wisdom deficit, even for those of us who are Christians, by the way, that there is a wisdom deficit, will we be brought to a place of desperation to pray this prayer.
[00:05:37] Lord, teach me wisdom.
[00:05:41] It's not enough for me to just know things about you.
[00:05:44] I need wisdom.
[00:05:47] So we live in a wisdom deficit, and there is a wisdom deficit in our own lives. And so I want you to consider, as I, as I get into the text, what is your wisdom story like? What's your personal wisdom story? And here's what that question means. What is your lifetime experience with this thing called wisdom?
[00:06:08] Do you ever think about it?
[00:06:10] Do you ever read about it?
[00:06:14] You listen to podcasts that talk about wisdom?
[00:06:17] Do you even know what wisdom is?
[00:06:20] If somebody were to ask, or. Or have we. And again, none of this is to shame you, okay? We're all. We all need Jesus here. It's a safe place.
[00:06:31] Or have we bought into the lie that knowledge equals wisdom and that the more you know, the wiser you are or the more mature you are?
[00:06:45] It's simply not true, friends.
[00:06:50] Knowledge.
[00:06:51] Knowledge does not equal wisdom. So let's get in to talk about what wisdom is and what it's not. So here, here's kind of the outline for, for the day today. We're going to talk about what wisdom is.
[00:07:05] We're going to talk about the various players mentioned by Solomon in the book of Proverbs, namely the wise, the simple, the fool, and the scoffer, and what those different titles mean.
[00:07:19] And then we're going to talk about answering the question of what is the hope for fools and scoffers and simpletons? What's the hope? Because in some way or another, there are areas of our heart that fall into some of those categories.
[00:07:35] Full wisdom, scoffers. So what's the hope for fools and wisdoms, fools and scoffers and simpletons. All right, so first let's talk about what wisdom is. Let's look at the proverb, verses 1 through 6 says. This says the proverbs of Solomon, son of David, King of Israel, to know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice and equity, to give prudence to the simple knowledge and discretion to the youth.
[00:08:16] Let the wise hear an increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.
[00:08:32] So when we understand that we have a wisdom deficit, that we all need to grow in wisdom, then we can follow up that by looking. What, what does the Bible say about wisdom? Well, it talks about wisdom like it's a treasure.
[00:08:44] So if you think about the things in your life today that you crave, and we all crave things, we're created by God to crave, okay, but for those cravings to be found in him, so we all crave things, we all desire things. What are those things? Well, the word of God wants to redirect our cravings, to say, what if that craving went from whatever this thing is to wisdom to craving wisdom? Then we'd be brought to the question of, okay, well, what is it?
[00:09:17] What is wisdom?
[00:09:20] So the word proverb. Let's start with proverb before we get into defining wisdom. Okay, the word proverb is. It just means this. It means wise saying, or some would translate it as to being dark saying. So that doesn't mean evil saying, but it, it has this connotation of this, of a deep saying. Okay, so in other words, we can't read the proverbs like they're prom promises.
[00:09:42] Doesn't mean that there aren't promises contained in the proverbs. But when you read a proverb that says something like, train up a child in the way that they should go and they will not depart from it, that does not promise you that if you train up a child in the way that they should go, they will never leave the faith.
[00:09:57] That's not what that verse is saying. This is a wise saying, meaning and saying that that generally speaking, this is the way life works best according to God's design.
[00:10:09] Christian parents, train up your child in the way that they should go, Point them to Jesus, pray for them, teach them the word of God, teach them right and wrong, discipline them in love, do all of these kinds of things, and generally speaking, by the grace of God, that will result in them not departing from it. Does this make sense? So the proverbs are wise sayings. And in verse one it says that these are written inspired by the Holy Spirit, but written by King Solomon. Okay, so King Solomon was King David's son born out of wedlock to through Bathsheba. Okay, we know King Solomon according to 1st Kings 3, was given the gift of wisdom by God. And I'm going to read that passage to you.
[00:10:51] And as a result of that, was considered to be the wisest king to ever Rule Israel. Okay. And what's. There's a lot of irony in that. King Solomon made a lot of really foolish choices throughout the course of his life, which we're not going to go into necessarily today. But nonetheless, God had imparted King Solomon with a otherworldly wisdom from God in order for him to govern the people of Israel. So, First Kings, chapter three, verses one through 15. This is just additional context for Solomon says this. It says, Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and married his daughter. He brought her to the city of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.
[00:11:34] The people, however, were still sacrificing at high places because a temple had not yet been built for the name of the Lord.
[00:11:41] Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place. And Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon. The Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream. And God said, ask for whatever you want me to give you.
[00:12:05] Solomon answered, you have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. So that's the heart posture that we're going for this summer. Lord, I am only a little child. I do not know how to carry out my duties. Okay, so this is his disposition. Before the Lord, he says, you, servant is here among the people. You have chosen a great people too. Number two, numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours.
[00:12:51] The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, since you have asked for this, and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies, but for discernment and administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so there will never be anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
[00:13:12] Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for, both wealth and honor, so that in Your lifetime, you will have no equal among kings. And. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands, as David, your father did, I will give you a long life. Then Solomon awoke and he realized it had been a dream. So this is obviously ultimately applicable to Solomon. This does not mean that if you ask for wisdom, God's going to give you wisdom plus a long life. Okay, we can't read it like that. But the principle behind this is the heart posture of Solomon going before God and saying, God, Lord, teach me wisdom.
[00:13:44] And the Lord being pleased with that request.
[00:13:50] So God answers Solomon, he says he's pleased and then he imparts wisdom to Solomon. So what is this thing called wisdom? So this is the first question and this is a running definition of wisdom.
[00:14:07] Wisdom is the spirit empowered skill to live a true good and beautiful life.
[00:14:16] Wisdom is the spirit empowered skill to live a true good and beautiful life. It's spirit empowered in this and that. For anyone to attain wisdom. And I'll talk about this a little bit more at the end.
[00:14:33] For anyone to obtain wisdom, you, you and I cannot do it on our own. We have to come to wisdom personified, which is the person of Jesus. Be born again, receive the Holy Spirit. So we can't do wisdom apart from the Holy Spirit. And it's the Holy Spirit who takes knowledge that you and I know through the word of God, applies it to our hearts and teaches us to live according to it.
[00:14:57] So it's not just what we know, it's the skill by the spirit's power to live out what we know. Does this make sense so far?
[00:15:06] So it's the skill to live a true good and beautiful life. More specifically, while having its ultimate aim in the glory of God, wisdom has much to do with how you and I relate to creation.
[00:15:17] Okay, so it certainly pertains to what we know about God and how we live in relation to God. But wisdom, the wisdom books of the Bible, particularly the Proverbs, really teach us, are intended to teach us how you and I are relate to, are to relate to creation.
[00:15:34] Okay, so First Kings 4, 29 and 30.
[00:15:37] Just a chapter later in First Kings says God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the east and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. And listen to this. He spoke 3,000 proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.
[00:15:57] He spoke about plant life from the Cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the walls. He spoke about animals and birds and reptiles and fish from all nations. People came to listen to Solomon's wisdom sent by all the kings of the world who had heard of his wisdom. So wisdom is not mere knowledge of God in the world, but the skill to relate to God and his creation rightly. I love that it says that Solomon wrote over a thousand songs that he. He wrote proverbs about lizards. I don't even know what that means.
[00:16:31] Or like the hyssop growing out of the walls or the trees, it was almost like Solomon was a contemplative in some ways.
[00:16:42] Like to communicate this, that wisdom runs at a different pace than oftentimes we want to run.
[00:16:55] Especially as it pertains to how you and I relate to one another.
[00:17:02] You and I have a wisdom deficit. And we need to pray this prayer. Okay? I want you to consider how you respond to somebody in your life when they're in pain.
[00:17:13] How do you respond to them? What do you say?
[00:17:16] And not just what do you say? How quickly do you say it?
[00:17:22] Because wisdom runs at a slower pace.
[00:17:26] Wisdom weeps with those who weep.
[00:17:31] You know what foolishness does?
[00:17:34] Rejoice with those who weep.
[00:17:39] Somebody comes to us weeping, burdened. Maybe they're not weeping.
[00:17:45] Maybe they articulate a certain pain point in their life or a sin struggle that they have.
[00:17:51] And rather than entering in and walking in their shoes for just a moment, we tell them what they ought to feel, we tell them what they ought to believe.
[00:18:03] And maybe, probably the things that we're saying are true things.
[00:18:09] But what the wisdom literature teaches us is in that moment, we're not actually being wise, we're being foolish.
[00:18:19] Wisdom runs at a slower pace. It must have taken time for Solomon to observe the lizards in order for him to write a proverb about it.
[00:18:30] Or to look at the ant.
[00:18:32] You guys know that proverb, look at the ant, you sluggard. Is what Solomon says to observe the hard work of the anti and to write a proverb about it for us to learn something about work and what hard work looks like and why we and all those kinds of things.
[00:18:50] Wisdom requires a slower pace than oftentimes we are.
[00:18:57] We are comfortable running. So this is wisdom.
[00:19:01] Wisdom is the spirit empowered skill to live a true, good and beautiful life. And wisdom runs at a slower pace.
[00:19:12] So when we get to verse 8 through 19, what we really get now that we've kind of identified wisdom here. Okay, when we get to verses 8 through 19, we get the anatomy of the fool.
[00:19:25] So what? What does foolishness look like?
[00:19:28] If wisdom is the skill to live a true, good and beautiful life in Christ by the power of the Spirit, then what does.
[00:19:35] What does a fool look like? Well, let's read the verses together.
[00:19:40] Starting in verse eight. Solomon says, hear, my son, your father's instruction and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
[00:19:51] My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent if they say, come with us, Let us lie and wait for blood. Let us ambush the innocent without reason, like Sheol. Let us swallow them alive and whole. Like those who go down to the pit. We shall find all precious goods. We shall fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot among us. We will all have one purse.
[00:20:14] My son, do not walk in the way with them.
[00:20:17] Hold back your foot from their paths. For their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood.
[00:20:24] For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird. But these men lie in wait for their own blood. They set an ambush for their own lives.
[00:20:33] Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain. It takes away the life of its possessors.
[00:20:40] So there are a couple of key words in verses 8 through 19 that really illustrate for us what foolishness, what scoffing and what simplicity looks like.
[00:20:53] For their feet run to evil, they make haste to evil, to shed blood.
[00:21:00] They lie in wait for their own blood, they set an ambush for their own lives. In other words, the fool and the scoffer set traps for other people that they themselves end up falling into.
[00:21:15] Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain. It takes away the life of its possessors.
[00:21:25] So, so who are. Who are these people?
[00:21:28] Okay, number one, let's define what Solomon means when he talks about the simple. He says that he writes this book in order to give wise to the simple or to the simpleton. The simple can be defined simply like this. It's those who live on the fence of life.
[00:21:44] Okay, so the book of James, written in the New Testament is also a wisdom book.
[00:21:50] And James warns against this idea of. Of being the kind of person, man or woman, who's double minded in all their ways.
[00:21:59] They don't really make up their mind on anything of significance and value.
[00:22:03] They just kind of sit on the fence of everything. They're kind of convictionless.
[00:22:08] Nothing really makes them angry, which there's a good anger, by the way, like there's a good expression. God gets angry over Evil, wicked things.
[00:22:18] Hey, anger is not who he is. Love is who he is. But he's provoked to anger through evil and love.
[00:22:27] And so the. The person who is simple doesn't really take a side, doesn't really take a stance. He's like a wave of the sea that's drifted to and fro by the winds and the waves. And so Solomon's writing to this simpleton, not to rebuke them for their simplicity, but to call them into wisdom.
[00:22:49] So that's the simple, the fool and the scoffer. He's a little bit harder on the fool. Like I mentioned a few minutes ago, the fool are those who rejoice while others weep.
[00:23:05] Those who weep while others rejoice.
[00:23:08] So in other words, and that's not all the fool is relegated to. The fool says in his heart there is no God. That's the ultimate definition of a fool, according to Psalm chapter 14.
[00:23:18] But experientially, one of the ways that we can identify foolishness is in the way that we relate to one another.
[00:23:26] That rather than being someone who weeps with those who weeps, who sits in the suffering of another, not feeling the compulsion to have to say something or fix it or any of those things, simply loves that person.
[00:23:40] The fool often will try to get the person who's weeping to rejoice. They'll tell them true things. They'll remind them of what's good, that the problem really isn't that bad, that there are lots of people out there who have it a lot worse than they do. They'll try to identify the problem before they really know what the problem is. This. These are some of the indicators of a fool.
[00:24:01] And then the scoffer, which this is really what verses 8 through 19 address here. The scoffer are those who intentionally cause destruction.
[00:24:12] Their feet make haste to do evil. They set traps for people in order to cause destruction to those people.
[00:24:23] I've shared this with some of you who've been around for a while, but when I was a kid, I went for, for several years, experienced tremendous physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a family member. I mean, for, for so went on for two years.
[00:24:38] And I never really knew how to make sense of that, how to think about that. When I became a Christian, I didn't really know what to do with all of that. So I just chose kind of not to revisit it. Just kind of move on with my life, not recognizing how much those kinds of things had affected me.
[00:24:53] And then, you know, you meet Jesus.
[00:25:00] Jesus saves you and you know that your call as a Christian is to forgive those who do you harm. And so I did that by the grace of God, but then didn't really know what to do with it after that. And the reason I'm sharing all this with you is to say that as I've walked with Jesus longer, the more comfortable I feel being really angry about those things that happened.
[00:25:20] Not angry in a, in a way that leads me to want to be vindictive or seek revenge or any of those kinds of things, but to, to have the awareness to look at that situation and say, that man that did that was a scoffer.
[00:25:33] When the Bible talks about the scoffer, that's the kind of thing we're talking about here, doesn't have to be expressed in that specific of a way, but that is a way that we can identify and look and say that that's a scoffer. Somebody who plans and seeks out the cause of destruction to, to another person.
[00:25:54] So we have the simple, those who love on the fence. We have the fool, those who rejoice while others weep, who seek to give overly reduction answers to life's difficult problems rather than sitting with people in the midst of their pain or rejoicing with them when they rejoice. And then we have the scoffer, those who intentionally cause destruction.
[00:26:18] So what hope do the simple the fools and the scoffers have?
[00:26:26] Because here, here's the beauty of Christianity. And I just was able to have a membership interview this morning and, and I love those because in membership interviews one of the things that we always ask is for the person being interviewed to articulate the Gospel to articulate the good news.
[00:26:41] And this is what I love about the reality that you and I get to gather together is in truth, friends, we gather together in many ways as, as simpletons and fools and scoffers who have a little bit of wisdom here and a little bit of wisdom there by the grace of God.
[00:26:56] Praise God for those areas of wisdom that are in our heart because those have been given to us by God apart from the grace of God. We're all fools.
[00:27:05] We're all simpletons, we're all scoffers.
[00:27:08] And so the reason that you and I mourning is because in light of that reality, Christ came into the world to save fools and scoffers and simpletons.
[00:27:21] That's the good news.
[00:27:22] Not that you and I are wise people becoming wiser, but because we are fools, simpletons and scoffers. And that's exactly who the Son of God came to save.
[00:27:33] So at the end of the book, I'm sorry, at the end of the chapter, Proverbs, chapter 1, verses 20 through 33, this is what we're told by Solomon. And this just kind of drives home the hope that you and I have.
[00:27:48] As those who need wisdom.
[00:27:50] He says wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets. She raises her voice at the head of the noisy streets. She cries out at the entrance of the city gates she speaks.
[00:28:01] How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
[00:28:04] How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing? And fools hate knowledge.
[00:28:08] If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you.
[00:28:14] I will make my words known to you.
[00:28:17] Because I have called and you refuse to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded. Because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof. I will. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity, calamity comes like a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come upon you, then they will call upon me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
[00:28:46] Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away and the complacency of fools destroys them. And here's what we're really going to focus in on for the remainder of our time.
[00:29:07] But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without dread of disaster. That is a promise.
[00:29:20] Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without dread of disaster. I don't think I have to go around the room, friends, and ask each of you if you desire that reality in your life to dwell at ease and to not be in dread of disaster. Think about all of the potential disasters you and I dread on a day by day basis.
[00:29:48] Lord, if I got cancer, that would be a disaster.
[00:29:52] Lord, if my child walked away from the faith, that would be a disaster. Lord, if I never have kids, that would be a disaster.
[00:29:58] Lord, if my spouse abandoned me, that would be a disaster.
[00:30:04] Lord, what's going to happen in the Middle East?
[00:30:08] What new outbreak of virus is going on around the world that we're going to have to fear so many things, so many Things that you and I have to fear.
[00:30:24] Options of fear. What if there was a way that it really is true that God could put you at ease and do something in your heart and in your soul and in your mind that was so supernatural and real?
[00:30:40] Like, as real as you see the sun outside, so real that you would not live in dread of disaster.
[00:30:49] That's the promise of wisdom.
[00:30:54] And here's the good news for simpletons and fools and scoffers, wisdom has invited you to the table.
[00:31:07] What Solomon does in verses 20 through 33 is he says, hey, simpletons, fools, scoffers, wherever you are, whoever you are, you're invited to the table.
[00:31:20] And something more profound that he does is he personifies wisdom. You notice that Lady Wisdom is what the Proverbs say.
[00:31:31] She.
[00:31:32] She invites you to come. She's calling out in the street, saying, leave your simple ways behind, leave your foolishness behind, leave your scoffing behind and come in.
[00:31:43] And as with any book of the Bible, we have to take it in its totality with the entire Bible.
[00:31:49] So what does the whole Bible, particularly the New Testament, have to say about this thing called wisdom?
[00:31:57] Well, it's not just a skill for right living, though it is that. But ultimately, wisdom is a person.
[00:32:07] First Corinthians 1, 28:30 says this. God shows what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing, things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, God, you are in Christ Jesus. And this is who Jesus is.
[00:32:27] Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. What is wisdom? Ultimately, it's a person.
[00:32:41] Wisdom is Jesus Christ.
[00:32:46] Jesus is the personification of wisdom.
[00:32:50] The Gospels would say that when Jesus comes on the scene, someone greater than Solomon is here.
[00:32:57] So Solomon is the wisest man to ever live. Human Jesus. Fully human as well. Also fully God.
[00:33:04] Nobody was greater than Solomon in wisdom, but one man, the very wisdom of God himself, come from heaven to earth, the Son of God takes on human flesh. And when we say he lived a perfect life, we need not overlook that as if it's just another thing to say.
[00:33:24] Everything Jesus did was wise.
[00:33:26] Everything.
[00:33:30] The way that he interacted with fools, the way that he interacted with scoffers, the patience that he had with people, the way that he interacted with sinners who were at the end of their rope, the way that he interacted with the Pharisees who baited him again and again and again, continuing to be patient continuing to hold his hand of grace until finally he says, you brood of vipers.
[00:33:53] Right? So at some point, wisdom does confront. We often just flip the order of things.
[00:34:00] Jesus is the wisdom of God. Colossians 2, 3 says, in whom that being Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And so when we say that, the good news for fools and scoffers and simpletons is that you and I, friends, have an invitation to wisdom's table to gain and grow in wisdom, to be skilled in. In living true, good and beautiful lives to the glory of God. What we're ultimately saying is that you're invited to the table with Jesus, and it's heeding the invitation to come to the table with Jesus that you and I learn wisdom.
[00:34:39] We learn. We learn wisdom in and from him. He says in Matthew 11:28, 30, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
[00:34:53] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
[00:35:04] Solomon says in verse seven, and this is gonna be the final note here, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
[00:35:12] We've had good conversations around the fear of the Lord even over the last week and talking about it. The difference between fear of the Lord for a non Christian, fear of the Lord for the Christian.
[00:35:21] If you get below the. Here's the primary difference between the fear of the Lord for a non Christian and the fear of the Lord for the Christian. The Christian must view the fear of the Lord redemptively.
[00:35:33] You and I, through faith in Jesus Christ, have been redeemed.
[00:35:39] So then the way that you see God, the way you think about God, the way you live with this God consciousness that I think Solomon is talking about in Proverbs 1, 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You and I grow in wisdom. When we live with a God consciousness, we're just aware of his existence and who he is and how he's revealed himself. For those who are in Christ, the way that we view God is not merely as judge of our sins, but as Father who's taken our sins and put them behind his back through the death of His Son.
[00:36:13] And so we can come before his throne, Glorious, holy, majestic throne.
[00:36:20] I want you just as. As we close. Let me. Let me invite you to do this. If you would close your eyes with me.
[00:36:28] And I just want you to picture what, what the scene of the throne room of God might look like.
[00:36:41] And we have. We have a little bit of a picture of what this looks like through various texts. But Isaiah 6 is the one that I. I just want to use and focus on.
[00:36:51] There is a throne high and lifted up, and one seated on the throne, the Son of God, Jesus.
[00:37:05] And surrounding the throne are angelic beings with six wings, two covering their eyes, because the majestic holiness and righteousness of God is too good to bear.
[00:37:25] And we see the King seated on the throne.
[00:37:30] And in viewing the king seated on the throne, we're made aware of the reality of all of our mess that has disqualified us from being in his presence.
[00:37:44] And we're made aware, maybe for the first time, that there is absolutely nothing we can do to make it right.
[00:37:52] Not a single thing.
[00:37:54] We can't speak.
[00:37:56] We can't look upon Him. There's nothing we can do to make it right.
[00:38:04] And in a moment of grace, he sends one of his angels over to you with a hot coal.
[00:38:13] And with that hot coal, he touches your lips.
[00:38:19] And as he touches your lips, he proclaims these words.
[00:38:23] Your sins are forgiven.
[00:38:28] All of your wrongdoing is atoned for.
[00:38:34] You're now blameless, righteous, holy, accepted, loved.
[00:38:47] As we hear the words of assurance washed over us, then we look upon that king not merely as our judge, but as our Father.
[00:39:03] This is what the cross of Jesus has done for you and done for me.
[00:39:11] It's because of the cross of Jesus Christ that we can know God the Creator, as and our Father. So the fear of the Lord is not a fear of punishment, it's delight.
[00:39:27] It's such strong and serious delight that we begin to desire to live in a way that's true and good and beautiful, to the glory of who he is, to hate sin and love righteousness.
[00:39:50] So how do we grow in wisdom? We grow in wisdom through Christ.
[00:39:54] We come and feast at his table. We rest in Him. We learn from Him.
[00:40:00] If any of you lacks wisdom, James says, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. And so we go to him now and we ask.
[00:40:14] Sam.
[00:40:39] Sa.
