Latest / Mount Eaton Church / Proverbs 1:1-7 - Wisdom - Brian Seay (Disciple Makers) - 8.16.2026
Transcript
- 0:10Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. So good. You
- 0:13can all turn in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter
- 0:15one. We're heading that direction to talk about
- 0:18wisdom. Thank you, Pastor Joe, for the introduction.
- 0:21I got to say, it's a pleasure being with you
- 0:23guys here. One thing, even just in the short
- 0:25time being with you guys, that's something that's
- 0:26very obvious about this church is you guys are
- 0:28a joyful bunch. I think the joy of the Lord is
- 0:30very obviously here and marks you all. So I praise
- 0:35the Lord for that. It's clear you guys know how
- 0:37to have a good time and enjoy Jesus thoroughly.
- 0:40So thank you for letting us be a part of this.
- 0:42I'm not sure if this is on, but... You know,
- 0:46we're going to look at Proverbs chapter one here.
- 0:48This is a teaching that I did with our students
- 0:50back at our end of the year conference. We actually
- 0:52had three days to walk them through the book
- 0:55of Proverbs and some teachings from that. So
- 0:58I want to start us off here just looking at Proverbs
- 1:01chapter one. Yeah, I think that's still picking
- 1:02me up here. To introduce this, I want to tell
- 1:06you a story from my childhood. So we'll go in
- 1:08a little time travel device and go back. There
- 1:09was a time when my mother, I very vividly remember
- 1:12telling me, don't put soap in your eyes. Well,
- 1:16that's some wisdom, right? And I remember asking
- 1:20my mom, why? Why shouldn't I do that? And I think
- 1:22maybe this was one of those moments where mom
- 1:24just sort of throws out the, well, because I
- 1:26told you so. Sort of quick, trying to move through.
- 1:29Learned to bathe myself, whatever. So I get in
- 1:31the bathtub, and very quickly, curiosity overrides
- 1:37wisdom. Sort of scrubbing and doing a little
- 1:40scrubbing, and it wasn't. You know where this
- 1:42is going. It wasn't too long before, boop, that
- 1:44soap bar goes in my eyeball, and I start screeching
- 1:46at the top of my lungs. Mom, mom, mom! You know,
- 1:48what happened, what happened, what happened?
- 1:49I got soap in my eyes! And then the next, you
- 1:52know what the words were after that? I told you
- 1:55so, right? Mom warned about getting soap in the
- 1:58eye, and I intentionally did it anyway. Listen,
- 2:02we all have this impulse in us to disregard advice
- 2:06and rather to do things our own way. Now that
- 2:10impulse to disregard advice written large over
- 2:14the course of a lifetime is actually crushing
- 2:16and destructive. Have you ever met somebody who
- 2:21clearly shipwrecked their life? Maybe personally
- 2:25you know someone like that. Listen, there is
- 2:28objectively a way to do life well and a way to
- 2:33do life poorly. And we all stand at the fork
- 2:36in the road of those two results, and the split
- 2:40in the road runs down this verse. It's Proverbs
- 2:423, 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and
- 2:46lean not on your own understanding. Wisdom has
- 2:50been defined. This is a little different than
- 2:52the definition that Pastor Joe just gave, but
- 2:54it's a complementary definition. The word in
- 2:57the scriptures that is translated wisdom has
- 2:59been defined as the art or skill of living the
- 3:03good life. The art or skill of living the good
- 3:06life. And I'll tell you more about that in a
- 3:07minute. Listen, living the good life does not
- 3:09come intuitively to us. Rather, it requires us
- 3:13to be taught and develop it like any other skill.
- 3:17So welcome to the book of Proverbs. The book
- 3:20of Proverbs is your introduction to the art and
- 3:24skill of living the good life. Do you want to
- 3:28know how to not shipwreck your life? how to thrive
- 3:31and flourish, how to manage your finances, use
- 3:34your words, steward your relationships, avoid
- 3:36devastating sin, and even leave an impact on
- 3:38the spheres of influence that God has given you.
- 3:40Do you want to learn how to learn? Well, welcome
- 3:45to the book of Proverbs. It is your introduction
- 3:48to wisdom. If you're unfamiliar with the book
- 3:51of Proverbs, chapters 1 to 9, it's a 31 -chapter
- 3:54book. Chapters 1 to 9 is all just introduction
- 3:57to the topic of wisdom. Solomon explaining what
- 3:59it is and how do you get it and all of that before
- 4:01ever really dishing out what we typically think
- 4:04of as those little nuggets, those two -line nuggets
- 4:06of wisdom that make up the rest of the book,
- 4:0910 to 31. What I want to do is just in our time
- 4:12here together, briefly look at Solomon's introduction
- 4:14to the topic of wisdom. to his book of wisdom
- 4:17in Proverbs 1 to 7, most of our time spent on
- 4:21verse 7 and that filter through which he looks
- 4:24at wisdom. So let me pray for us and we'll get
- 4:26into it here. God, thank you for the morning.
- 4:28Thank you that we could be together and to look
- 4:31at your word. And thank you that, Lord, there's
- 4:33no distant clockmaker going on here. It's not
- 4:36that you set the world in motion and stepped
- 4:37away, but actually you are intimately involved
- 4:39in helping your creatures, namely us, know how
- 4:43life is best lived. Ultimately, Lord, we understand
- 4:47that that's by coming to you in repentance and
- 4:49in faith to know you through the blood of Jesus
- 4:54Christ and his resurrection. But even as we consider
- 4:57the practicals of our lives that you haven't
- 4:59left us, that you actually care about the nitty
- 5:00-gritty details of our lives, and you've actually
- 5:02instructed us in those things. So help us to
- 5:05understand even the foundation of that as we
- 5:08explore your text here this morning. We ask this
- 5:10in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm going to read to you
- 5:14Proverbs 1, verses 1 to 7. It says this, the
- 5:18Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.
- 5:22Listen, this is a purpose statement. If you notice
- 5:25the word to there, he's about to tell us why
- 5:27he is writing the book. To know wisdom and instruction,
- 5:32to understand words of insight. to receive instruction
- 5:36in wise dealing in righteousness, justice, and
- 5:39equity, to give prudence to the simple, knowledge
- 5:41and discretion to the youth. Let the wise hear
- 5:44and increase in learning, and the one who understands
- 5:46obtain guidance to understand a proverb and a
- 5:50saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.
- 5:53The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
- 5:56Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Let me
- 6:00show you a little bit about what's going on in
- 6:01this purpose statement before we get to that
- 6:03foundation in verse 7. What is the purpose of
- 6:05the Proverbs? He says three things. The Proverbs
- 6:07are for the sake of wisdom. The word translated
- 6:11wisdom there in verse 2 is the Hebrew word chokmah,
- 6:15which is spelled H -O -F -L -E -M. E -M -A. Chokmah.
- 6:20Okay, just got to get it in there. You're welcome
- 6:22to try that on if you want. You want to do it
- 6:24with me? One, two, three. Chokmah. There you
- 6:26go. This word is a little tricky to nail down
- 6:29in its definition. Bruce Waltke in his commentary
- 6:32on the Proverbs says, in Proverbs, wisdom mainly
- 6:36denotes the skill to navigate through the maze
- 6:39of life so that one conducts one's life to the
- 6:41greatest benefit of oneself and the community.
- 6:44It is the way of eternal life. Through wisdom,
- 6:47one is able to read circumstances, interpret
- 6:50situations so as to act correctly, speak properly,
- 6:54and respond appropriately to each situation so
- 6:57that beneficial consequences ensue to self and
- 6:59community. Thanks, Bruce. That was a little bit
- 7:01of a mouthful. What he's saying is wisdom is
- 7:03knowing what to do in any given situation to
- 7:07the best good of yourself and to those around
- 7:10you. Or maybe a shorter way of saying that, it
- 7:13is the art or skill of living the best life.
- 7:16Now, an art or a skill, and the word chokmah
- 7:19in the Hebrew, they understood it as an art or
- 7:21a skill. Think about any other art or skill that
- 7:25you might be familiar with, whether it's playing
- 7:27a musical instrument or building them, or a sport
- 7:31or some kind of woodworking craft or whatever.
- 7:34Any kind of art or skill, there's two things
- 7:37that go into that. One is there is a basis of
- 7:39knowledge. There are things you need to know
- 7:43in order to do that thing. You can't play a guitar
- 7:47without understanding chord structure, and you'll
- 7:49play even better if you understand music theory.
- 7:52But like any skill, you can't just read a book
- 7:54and suddenly be awesome at that thing. I wish
- 7:56that's how it worked. But it doesn't work that
- 7:58way. You actually have to put that skill into
- 8:01practice. You could read a book on playing guitar,
- 8:05but you don't know how to play the guitar until
- 8:07you pick it up and start strumming. Wisdom...
- 8:12is a skill that needs to be practiced over time.
- 8:16You need to know which way to go, but you also
- 8:19need repetition in order to excel at it. In other
- 8:24words, wisdom is not wisdom until it is morally
- 8:29applied. Solomon is the example of this. He was
- 8:33the wisest man in the world until he failed to
- 8:36continue applying it. If you know the story of
- 8:39Solomon, he nearly shipwrecked his faith as he
- 8:41began to give in to the lust of the flesh and
- 8:43his love of women, and marriage after marriage
- 8:46after marriage after marriage, that nearly destroyed
- 8:48him, but he repented in the end. See, he failed
- 8:52to continue in the moral application of the knowledge
- 8:55and the wisdom that he had, and he felt the weight
- 8:57of that. Now, here's a distinction I want to
- 9:00make for you here this morning. As a Christian,
- 9:02you can be negligent with wisdom and still be
- 9:05saved. You can be negligent with wisdom and still
- 9:08be saved, but you'll have a terrible life for
- 9:11it. And that's what Solomon warns us of in the
- 9:13book of Proverbs. He tells us the Proverbs are
- 9:18for gaining this wisdom. You see that in verse
- 9:21two, to know wisdom and instruction, to understand
- 9:24words of insight. He also tells us in verse four,
- 9:29secondly, that it's to give prudence to the simple.
- 9:32It's actually to help simpletons to grow. That's
- 9:36not a word we use a whole lot anymore, simpletons.
- 9:38But here's the way this word is meant. There
- 9:40are three main characters in the book of Proverbs.
- 9:44There's the wise man, the one who has embraced
- 9:46the Lord's guide to the art or skill of living
- 9:48the best life. There's the fool who has rejected
- 9:50that. And there's this man, the simpleton. The
- 9:54simpleton is a man who is a fool by default simply
- 9:57because he is young. When I tell my child don't
- 10:00stand on the edge of the trampoline outside the
- 10:03netting and they don't listen to me, they are
- 10:06being a fool. It's because they don't quite understand
- 10:08how gravity works and that you shouldn't stand
- 10:10on the edge. And so when they fall off, hey,
- 10:12listen, you just got some experience. The simpleton
- 10:16is an amateur fool. Now, if he does not change
- 10:20and he does not grow, he will go pro. And that's
- 10:23what the Proverbs refer to as a fool. It's the
- 10:27one who has rejected God's wisdom. But what Solomon
- 10:30tells us in his introduction is his goal is actually
- 10:32to take the inexperienced youth who doesn't understand
- 10:36how the world works yet, and he is applying God's
- 10:40wisdom, God's instruction to that person so they
- 10:43don't shipwreck their lives, so they don't become
- 10:45the fool. Now, I understand, I love teaching
- 10:49Proverbs to college students because it's the
- 10:52right time of life to get it to them. Making
- 10:54decisions, setting patterns, all that sorts of
- 10:56things. I love giving Proverbs to students. And
- 10:59I understand some of you are not in my typical
- 11:01preaching range, the 18 to 22 year old. The reality
- 11:05is you may look at your life and go, there actually
- 11:08are some patterns. There actually are some patterns
- 11:11of foolishness that I embraced in the course
- 11:12of my life and I see the effects of those things.
- 11:14It's not too late. The book of Proverbs applies
- 11:17as much to you if you are in your 70s or 80s
- 11:20as it does to a 20 year old. You may not have
- 11:24the time in this life to experience all the blessings
- 11:27that are designed to be given through that wisdom,
- 11:30but it's not too late to apply God's wisdom to
- 11:33your life, even in particular areas. Proverbs
- 11:36is designed to make the simple wise. Thirdly
- 11:40is this, the Proverbs are for the teachable.
- 11:42You see this in verses five and six. He says,
- 11:45let the wise hear an increase in learning. And
- 11:48let the one who understands obtain guidance to
- 11:50understand a proverb and a saying, the words
- 11:52of the wise and their riddles. See, in verse
- 11:555, he says, let the wise hear and increase in
- 12:00learning. Wisdom is first and foremost marked
- 12:03by being teachable. It's marked by being teachable
- 12:09and being a learner. The one who has nothing
- 12:13to learn will learn. Nothing. The one who has
- 12:19nothing to learn will learn nothing. Additionally,
- 12:21the person who cannot be corrected, the person
- 12:25who cannot be wrong will learn nothing. If you
- 12:31do not have a teachable, humble disposition,
- 12:35you will not grow. You will not grow. So, how
- 12:42do you develop a teachable disposition? How do
- 12:46you develop that humility to learn and to grow
- 12:49and to be taught this art or skill of living
- 12:52the good life? Solomon tells us in verse 7, the
- 12:55fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom or
- 12:59the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise
- 13:02wisdom and instruction. Solomon unveils for us
- 13:06his thesis statement in verse 7, or perhaps another
- 13:09way of looking at it is it's the interpretive
- 13:11lens through which he understands the art or
- 13:14skill of living the good life. There's no way
- 13:17to separate how to do life well from fearing
- 13:21God. And so he says, it is the beginning of knowledge.
- 13:25In chapter 9, the other end of his introduction,
- 13:28verse 10, he repeats this phrase, the fear of
- 13:30the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He bookends
- 13:33his introduction by this reminder, this is where
- 13:37it begins. So it would probably help us to define
- 13:39our terms, wouldn't it? Because you notice, what
- 13:42Solomon does not do in introducing this, he does
- 13:45not say that the love of the Lord is the beginning
- 13:49of wisdom. Interesting. He does not say faith
- 13:54in the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He does
- 13:57not say the grace of the Lord or the mercy of
- 13:59the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He says
- 14:01the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
- 14:04Why? Now, I don't know about you, but just about
- 14:09every time I ever heard somebody explain the
- 14:12fear of the Lord, they used the word reverence.
- 14:16Fear of the Lord is this most holy reverence.
- 14:20But here's what I want to pose for you this morning.
- 14:23Every other time we use the word fear, we do
- 14:26not mean reverence. We mean something that is
- 14:28scary. We typically mean being scared about something.
- 14:32Now, I understand all of us, if you're a Christian,
- 14:34been a Christian for a while, there's an intuitive
- 14:35tug that does not feel comfortable with that
- 14:38reality. You go, well, wait a minute. God loves
- 14:41us. God's merciful. What about the gospel? Yes
- 14:43and amen. But let's not shy away from the word
- 14:46that God uses here. The fear of the Lord is the
- 14:49beginning of knowledge. I might want to say,
- 14:50what about God's love, God's mercy, all this?
- 14:54But then you run into passages like Matthew 17,
- 14:56verses 5 and 6, when the disciples are on the
- 14:59Mount of Transfiguration. Listen to what it says.
- 15:01In verse 5, Jesus was still speaking when behold,
- 15:04a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice
- 15:07from the cloud said, this is my beloved son with
- 15:09whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. The audible
- 15:13voice of God. What did the disciples do? Verse
- 15:15six, when the disciples heard this, they fell
- 15:18on their faces and were filled with reverence.
- 15:20No, they fell on their faces and they were terrified.
- 15:27Or what about Revelation chapter 1, when John,
- 15:30the apostle John, meets the risen Lord Jesus?
- 15:33In verse 12 and 13, it says this, then I turned
- 15:35to see the voice that was speaking to me, and
- 15:38on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands. And
- 15:40in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son
- 15:43of man, clothed with a long robe, with a golden
- 15:46sash around his chest. And if you know that passage,
- 15:48he goes into describing the risen Lord Jesus
- 15:50in all this detail. In verse 17, he says, when
- 15:54I saw him, I fell at his feet as though I was
- 15:59dead. That's not reverence. That's not just reverence.
- 16:05But he laid his right hand on me and said, fear
- 16:07not. I am the first and the last. And he goes
- 16:10into his teaching to John. Those guys definitely
- 16:14seem scared. They trembled. They hid. They crumpled
- 16:19to the ground. That's not just reverence. That's
- 16:22perhaps something far bigger than reverence.
- 16:24That is. Fear. Fearing the Lord, at least in
- 16:28part, has to do with this understanding that
- 16:32we should drop dead in the presence of God Almighty.
- 16:36Listen to what God says to Moses in Exodus 33,
- 16:39verse 19 to 23. It says, when God, when Moses
- 16:44asks him to see his glory, God says this, and
- 16:48he said, I will make all my goodness pass before
- 16:50you and proclaim before you my name, Yahweh,
- 16:53the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will
- 16:56be gracious and show mercy on whom I will show
- 16:58mercy. But, he said, you cannot see my face.
- 17:04For man shall not see me and live. And the Lord
- 17:08said, behold, there's a place by me where you
- 17:10shall stand on the rock. And when my glory passes
- 17:13by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock.
- 17:15And I will cover you with my hand until I have
- 17:17passed by. Then I will take away my hand and
- 17:20you shall see my back. Listen to this. but my
- 17:23face shall not be seen. Jesus says, man shall
- 17:29not see me and live. Jacob experienced something
- 17:35very similar in Genesis 32, 30. If you know the
- 17:37story, that's when God leaps out of the woods,
- 17:39throws Jacob in a headlock, and they have this
- 17:41all -night wrestling match. At the end of it,
- 17:43after God puts Jacob's hip out of socket and
- 17:45blesses him, changing his name to Israel, Jacob
- 17:48says this. Verse 30, he says, so Jacob called
- 17:52the place, Peniel saying, I have seen God face
- 17:55to face, and get this, and yet my life has been
- 17:59delivered. He understood, I saw God's face, I
- 18:03should be dead right now. And yet I am not. And
- 18:08it's all of grace. It's all of grace that I'm
- 18:10not. See, brothers and sisters, the fear of the
- 18:14Lord is understanding that God is transcendent.
- 18:17That he is beyond us in every way. That God is
- 18:21holy and morally perfect and without the stain
- 18:23of sin. And when all these people throughout
- 18:25history interacted with God, they crumpled before
- 18:28him because they understood their sinfulness
- 18:30and their insufficiency. They understood that
- 18:34being a sinful person in the presence of a holy,
- 18:37perfect God meant that they were actually in
- 18:39danger in that moment. And yet, God was gracious.
- 18:45Do you know what the most repeated command in
- 18:47the scripture is? It's fear not. The irony here
- 18:53is that God both comes in all his fear -inducing
- 18:57glory and yet in his grace comforts with the
- 19:00words fear not and he draws them out. Fearing
- 19:04God includes knowing that you and I should die,
- 19:08that our sins deserve his full and unbridled
- 19:12wrath, and it is only grace that restrains that.
- 19:18See, brothers and sisters, the fear of the Lord
- 19:20is trembling before him. It's understanding additionally
- 19:25that we are not like him. That certainly we're
- 19:28not holy, but think about the other attributes
- 19:30of God. That there's this infinite contrast between
- 19:33us and God. That he is creator and we are creature.
- 19:36That he is Lord and we are servant. He is infinite.
- 19:39We are finite. He is everywhere. We are confined.
- 19:42He is all -knowing. We know actually not all
- 19:45that much. That God can do all his holy will
- 19:49pleases him to do. If you think you can pull
- 19:52that off, try explaining that to a police officer.
- 19:55You and I are limited, weak, bound by outside
- 19:58constraints. The fear of the Lord is what you
- 20:03and I would experience if God himself spoke to
- 20:07us the way he spoke to Job. In Job 38, verses
- 20:111 to 4. Maybe you're familiar with this. After
- 20:14Job's complaint is lodged, God responds to him
- 20:16and he says, the Lord answered Job out of the
- 20:18whirlwind and said, who is this? Who is this
- 20:22who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
- 20:26Dress for action like a man. I will question
- 20:29you and you make it known to me. Where were you
- 20:32when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell
- 20:35me if you have understanding. Brothers and sisters,
- 20:40What if you and I actually attempted to argue
- 20:44with God? Who would win? Who would win? That's
- 20:50the fear of the Lord. That's the fear of the
- 20:53Lord that he's talking about. Well, why? Why
- 20:58is that? Why is that experience of trembling
- 21:01before God? Why is that the beginning of the
- 21:07art or skill of living the good life? Bruce Waltke,
- 21:12again, he says what the alphabet is to reading,
- 21:14what notes are to music, what numerals are to
- 21:16mathematics, the fear of Yahweh is to gaining
- 21:19the book's wisdom and instruction. It's our foundation.
- 21:24If wisdom is the art or skill of living the best
- 21:26life, then who actually knows how life is best
- 21:29lived? Is it you? Is it me? Give me a break.
- 21:34You, in your meager, however many number of years,
- 21:39You might not be a 20 -year -old anymore, but
- 21:42look, in light of immortal, eternal God, you're
- 21:46a spring chicken. Who has more experience, you
- 21:50or the one who exists outside of time? Friends,
- 21:53God is right in any argument. Which of us has
- 21:56a better handle on how life is best lived? Additionally,
- 22:00if you layer on top of this that you and I deserve
- 22:02to die for our sins, and God in his grace has
- 22:04not. done that, but rather died for us, where
- 22:07does that leave us? Where does that leave us?
- 22:13Brothers and sisters, the fear of the Lord leaves
- 22:14us listening. It leaves us listening. It should,
- 22:21if there's even a teeny tiny bit of sanity in
- 22:26us and the work of the Spirit, it should leave
- 22:29us listening. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
- 22:32of wisdom because it puts you in the student's
- 22:34chair and correctly identifies the right instructor.
- 22:38If you want to live the best life, then why not
- 22:40learn from the author of life? Why would you
- 22:42dare argue with him as if though you or I knew
- 22:45better? Why would you disregard his counsel?
- 22:48As James says in his book, he says, be slow to
- 22:52speak, quick to listen, or quick to listen, slow
- 22:55to speak, and slow to anger. I think he's actually
- 22:58talking about listening to God's word. Slow yourself
- 23:02down. Be quick to listen to God and stop talking
- 23:06over him. And certainly do not get angry with
- 23:09him. Well, let's be honest. That's a work of
- 23:13the Spirit. That's not something that you and
- 23:15I can manufacture in and of ourselves. Prior
- 23:17to Christ's work in us, we default to resisting
- 23:19the fear of the Lord. Now, that doesn't mean
- 23:22that a non -Christian can't stumble upon these
- 23:24principles of how God has made the world to work
- 23:27best, but they'll always be missing the foundation.
- 23:31They'll always be missing the interpretive lens.
- 23:33It may be a part of the truth, but it won't be
- 23:36wisdom in its entirety. If you're in Christ,
- 23:40you have the Holy Spirit, and so he is already
- 23:43predisposing you through conviction and remembering
- 23:46his word toward wisdom. But like our growth in
- 23:50Christ, there's a work of the Spirit, or the
- 23:52work that the Spirit is doing in us, in spite
- 23:56of us, but we are also called to work out our
- 23:59salvation with fear and trembling. You have a
- 24:01part to play in embracing the fear of the Lord.
- 24:05So let me pose the question to you. Do you fear
- 24:10God? Is your life marked by a fear of the Lord?
- 24:18Because that predisposes you. That is the foundation,
- 24:21the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, knowing
- 24:23how life is best lived. Brothers and sisters,
- 24:26the evidence of fear of God in your life is listening
- 24:29to God over listening to yourself. The evidence
- 24:35of fear of God in your life is listening to God
- 24:38over listening to yourself. As I mentioned in
- 24:43the beginning, Proverbs 3, 5 is maybe the most
- 24:45famous expression of this dichotomy. It says
- 24:49this in verses 5 to 8, trust in the Lord with
- 24:52all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
- 24:56In all your ways acknowledge him and he will
- 24:58make straight your paths. Be not wise in your
- 25:01own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
- 25:05It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment
- 25:07to your bones. Look, there are only two options.
- 25:11Either you will trust the Lord with all your
- 25:13heart, or you will lean on your own understanding.
- 25:16You can choose either one. You're free to do
- 25:19that. One puts you in the driver's seat, and
- 25:21I think we tend to like that until we realize
- 25:24the consequences of it. One puts you in the driver's
- 25:27seat, and that feels empowering. But remember,
- 25:28you do things like consistently stay up too late
- 25:30to watch stupid YouTube videos. You worry about
- 25:32your future when you can't actually do anything
- 25:34about it. You get irritated when other people
- 25:37do the same things you do. Look, you're just
- 25:40a very silly person and me too. You're welcome
- 25:43to ignore wisdom. And as I said, look, as a Christian,
- 25:46you will still be saved. It is Christ's work,
- 25:50not your adherence to wisdom that saves you.
- 25:53You're free to ignore wisdom, but listen, you'll
- 25:55have a terrible life and you will die in shame.
- 25:59See, trust in the Lord puts the Lord in control,
- 26:01puts him in the driver's seat. And perhaps that's
- 26:03the part we resist the most. are you marked by
- 26:09being teachable? That's another way of saying,
- 26:12are you marked by listening? Have you acknowledged
- 26:15that God actually knows how life works better
- 26:18than you do? Now, you may have done that in some
- 26:22areas of your life, but are there areas where
- 26:23you're saying, no, God, I'm not going to let
- 26:25you into that one. I have to hold on to this
- 26:28one because it's too scary to trust you. Does
- 26:34your life reflect this? Do you see evidences
- 26:37of where God has taught you and you trusted him
- 26:39more than yourself? Have you seen evidence of
- 26:43repentance in your life because God corrected
- 26:46you through his word? This is the fear of the
- 26:51Lord. Now, wait a minute. What about the love
- 26:54of the Lord? What about his grace? What about
- 26:56his mercy? What about all of those things that
- 26:58we actually can approach the Lord? come boldly
- 27:03before the throne of grace to find help and mercy
- 27:04in times of need. Yes, all those things are true.
- 27:07You know, for most of us, that's what brought
- 27:09us to Christ was the promise of forgiveness,
- 27:11the welcome of his adoption, all of those sorts
- 27:13of things. So how do we think about this fear
- 27:15of the Lord when the Bible also tells us that
- 27:18God loves us and invites us in? What I want to
- 27:23submit to you is that fear of the Lord and faith
- 27:26in Christ are actually two sides of the same
- 27:28coin. It's two sides of the same coin. Right
- 27:32before that passage in Proverbs 3, 5, trust in
- 27:34the Lord with all your heart and lean not on
- 27:35your own understanding. In Proverbs 3, 3, he
- 27:39says, let not steadfast love and faithfulness
- 27:42forsake you. Write them on the tablet of your
- 27:44heart. He's talking about God's steadfast love
- 27:47and faithfulness. Why should you trust in the
- 27:50Lord with all your heart? Because his love for
- 27:52you is covenantal and it is un... That's why
- 27:56you should abandon leaning on your own understanding
- 27:57because he is absolutely and imminently trustworthy.
- 28:01He makes and keeps his promises and his love
- 28:05is covenantal. If someone with all that power
- 28:07and authority and knowledge, my goodness, he
- 28:10commits to you when he knows what you and I are
- 28:12like. If someone like that sets his affection
- 28:16on you and does so chiefly by dying for you,
- 28:19then perhaps he's worth trusting. Perhaps he's
- 28:24worth trusting more than myself, and perhaps
- 28:25he's worth trusting even with the fine china
- 28:27of my life. Listen, fear of the Lord means you
- 28:31tremble before his power and his holiness, and
- 28:34so you listen. You take him at his word. He knows
- 28:36better than I do. But isn't that what faith is?
- 28:40Isn't that exactly what faith is, is taking God
- 28:42at his word, that when he says something, it's
- 28:45as good as done? Trusting the Lord with all your
- 28:48heart combines this incredible understanding
- 28:49that God is God and I am not. And that God in
- 28:53all his godness has set his affection on you
- 28:56and on me. So it's only saying to tremble before
- 29:01the Lord and therefore to listen to him. What
- 29:05is the most important thing that we could possibly
- 29:07listen to God about? Perhaps it's something like
- 29:10this. But God demonstrates his own love for us
- 29:13in this. That while we were still sinners, Christ
- 29:16died for us. Are you going to argue with him
- 29:18about that? Are you going to lean on your own
- 29:21understanding about something like the gospel?
- 29:23Are you going to trust him with that? Trust in
- 29:25the Lord with all your heart and lean not on
- 29:28your own understanding. When he tells you he
- 29:32has died for you, he has forgiven you, he has
- 29:35welcomed you. See, brothers and sisters, fear
- 29:39of the Lord includes both trembling and trusting.
- 29:43If God knows better than I do, then I need to
- 29:46listen to him, even as he reveals his love and
- 29:48grace to me. Fear of the Lord and faith in Christ
- 29:51are two sides of the same coin. Let me loop back
- 29:55to the beginning. If we understand all this,
- 29:57then we understand that wisdom is not merely
- 29:59life advice. It's not just about managing your
- 30:03finances or knowing how to use your words, though
- 30:05it is that. A fuller definition of wisdom is
- 30:09not just the art or skill of living the good
- 30:11life for the best life, but perhaps it's something
- 30:13like this. It's learning how to live from the
- 30:17author of life who could have rightly destroyed
- 30:20you, but he loves you instead. That's what true
- 30:23wisdom is. Now you're off to a good start by
- 30:27being here and you're sitting yourself under
- 30:29the ministry of God's word. That is a good place
- 30:32to start. But will you take a full advantage
- 30:34of what you have in this church? You do that
- 30:37by being teachable, by coming and preparing to
- 30:39hear God's word. Whether that's by ensuring that
- 30:42you get a proper night's sleep on a Saturday
- 30:44night so you're ready to hear God's word or by
- 30:46positioning your heart in prayer and saying,
- 30:48God, convict me of what I need to be convicted
- 30:50and encourage me of what I need to be encouraged
- 30:52in. Perhaps it looks like as you are listening
- 30:56to the sermons or Bible studies or whatever ministry
- 30:59of the word you sit under here at the church
- 31:00that you ask yourself, God, what needs to change
- 31:02in me? What do I need to hear? Perhaps it means
- 31:07going up to a fellow church member and saying,
- 31:09do you see any area of my life where I am not
- 31:13being faithful to the Lord? Would you speak into
- 31:16it? Ooh, boy. Friends, here's my challenge to
- 31:22you. Resolve in your heart that God knows more
- 31:24than you. Resolve in your heart. Therefore, even
- 31:29this week, as you go out from here, ask him to
- 31:31convict you where you need to be convicted, that
- 31:34you would trust him more than yourself. and ask
- 31:37him to encourage you where you need to be encouraged,
- 31:40that you would trust him even with those things
- 31:42more than yourself, even this week. Let me pray
- 31:46for you to that end. Go to him. Lord God, thank
- 31:50you that you speak into the nitty -gritty of
- 31:53life, that you really do care about the details,
- 31:56and we thank you, Father, that you... have loved
- 31:59us enough to instruct us on these things. We
- 32:01pray, Father, that you would help us to have
- 32:03that teachable disposition, that we understand
- 32:05as we tremble before you that you know better
- 32:08than we do. Lord, would you forgive us for our
- 32:10arrogance? Would you forgive us for our arrogance
- 32:13wherever, Lord, we have acted as if though we
- 32:17know better than you? Lord, we admit to you that
- 32:20we are foolish people in that regard, and we
- 32:23plead with you that you would humble us and help
- 32:26us to learn. God, convict us of the Spirit so
- 32:29that we might repent and turn. Teach us what
- 32:31we don't know yet or have forgotten. Remind us
- 32:34of those truths all so that we would follow you
- 32:37and that we'd receive the blessings for living
- 32:39the wise life. We ask this all for your glory,
- 32:42Lord, that even in our lives that that wisdom
- 32:44would radiate your goodness and your glory. We
- 32:47ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.