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Proverbs 3:13-20 Proverbs Promise of Purpose 8.4.19 · HBCWestminster

• 0:01
  Well, allow me to read our text, chapter 3, verses 13 to 20, then we'll pray and begin. It says, 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. Nothing you desire can compare with her. 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.
• 0:33
  She is a tree of life to those who would lay hold of her. Those who hold her fast are called blessed. The Lord by wisdom founded the earth. By understanding, he established the heavens. By his knowledge, the deeps broke open and the clouds dropped down the dew. Let's pray. Father God, Lord of heaven and earth, we gather in your presence this morning with thanksgiving and praise for the way in which you have revealed yourself to us. We ask now that you continue to reveal yourself.
• 1:08
  as we look to your word and may your holy spirit open our minds and hearts to your presence here and to the word that you have for us this morning we long lord to meet you here to know you better it's in the name of jesus christ your son and our savior that we pray and amen amen well we have thus far looked at wisdom's plea in chapter one wisdom's protection in chapter two
• 1:38
  Turned our focus last week to wisdom's path in chapter 3, a study of the prosperity promised from wisdom, what I call the talking points of Christianity, love and faith, trust and obey, honor and receive. This week we look at wisdom's promise of purpose. Does anything in your life seem purposeless, completely pointless? I've had some pretty pointless jobs in my life.
• 2:10
  From the time that I was very young and pulling weeds for my neighbors, I always knew those weeds would grow back. When I was in college, I worked at a tire store, changing tires, and that always seemed pointless. See you in 3,000 miles, and I'll put the back ones on the front and the front ones on the back. Then I'll see you in another 30,000 miles, and we'll do this all over again. I was at one point the assistant manager at a store in the mall called PacSun.
• 2:42
  selling t-shirts to 13-year-old girls. Pointless. But perhaps the most pointless days of my employment came when I was a high school teacher. For four years, I taught high school. Being a high school teacher is not pointless, but there are pointless days. Molding young minds is fulfilling, but several times a year, they gave students the day off, but not the teachers. They call it teacher in service, and it is a nightmare.
• 3:15
  You sit in a classroom full of other teachers, most of whom enjoyed being students. I did not. Most of whom were at one point teachers' pets themselves. I was not. They discuss all of the things that a school has to do that have nothing to do with actually teaching students. Dress codes, hallway monitoring, trash can placement.
• 3:41
  Copy machine usage, classroom hours, office hours, lesson planning, parent conferences, parking lot management, drop-off and pick-up procedures. I mean, these were not what I went to school for. That's not why I'm here. Maybe the worst was called ESLRs, E-S-L-R, Expected Schoolwide Learning Results. During these in-service meetings, we were also required to complete 20 hours of what they called professional development.
• 4:11
  reading books, watching videos, attending conferences, all on the topic of becoming a more effective teacher. Now, I'm sure that I was there for a purpose, but to this day, I don't know what that purpose was. The only thing I remember of all of those hours, all accumulated, the books read and the videos watched, I can only remember one thing, watching a video by a professional educator named Harry Wong.
• 4:41
  He began his lecture with a joke. He is a Chinese American. He talked about his parents and how they met when they got married. And then he said, I am proof that two Wongs don't make a white. It's the only thing I remember. Does your life ever feel like a teacher in service meeting? Like what on earth am I doing here? Why do I have to be here? It seems like there's no purpose. It seems like there's no point to any of this.
• 5:23
  Are we on earth for any other reason than to cohabitate and reproduce and burn fossil fuels? I feel like we exist in a never-ending teaching meeting. The passage before us this morning is a reminder that God is our greatest good. He is our best pursuit because He is infinitely valuable and that we also have been instilled with intrinsic value because He made us on purpose.
• 5:54
  With gifting and with skill. And so we can trust His purpose for our lives. Now I've divided our passage into two parts. What are in actuality two hymns praising God for two truths regarding His actions and character. The first, verses 13 to 18, is a song about His worth. That He is our greatest treasure.
• 6:20
  And therefore must be our greatest pursuit. In fact, there's a song that we often sing in the church. Lord, you are more precious than silver. Lord, you are more costly than gold. Nothing I desire compares with you. That song, which is well sung and well known in the church, comes from this passage. It is almost a direct quote from verse 15 about his value and his worth. But the second hymn, verses 19 and 20, is a song about his wisdom in creation.
• 6:50
  And that because he designed us, we also have value. That we can trust him with our lives, that we can trust him to give us meaning. So let's look at those two hymns. The first hymn, verses 13 to 18, a hymn about God's worth. You'll notice it begins in verse 13 with a beatitude. Blessed is the one who finds wisdom. It's in the form of a love song.
• 7:22
  about the woman wisdom. She is personified again in this short text about how the happiness she offers is lasting and permanent and stable, can be counted on as a foundation and a foothold for our lives. But the happiness that is found from any other source is temporary. She says, listen, you can find happiness apart from me, but it won't last.
• 7:52
  If I were to ask you the question, what do you want from your life? What is your greatest desire? What is it that you want for your spouse's life? What is your goal for him or her? What do you want for the lives of your kids? Our answers to those questions will dictate how we spend our time and our money and our energy. We can always discern what we believe to be the most important thing in our lives by our pursuits.
• 8:21
  We can discern what we believe will make us happy based on the things that we chase after. That's money or possessions, clothing, cars, a house, a house in a certain neighborhood, maybe the pursuit of friendships or the pursuit of a spouse. For some people, even the pursuit of a different spouse, our pursuits reveal everything. Now, most of us would say, I think, that we need Jesus.
• 8:55
  But by our pursuits, I feel like oftentimes if I were honest, my honest statement would be, I need Jesus plus something else in order to be happy. Yes, I need Jesus. Then he is step one, but he's not it. When our boys were little, we had them make Christmas wish lists. One day in the month of December, we would take them to Toys R Us. We'd give them a little pad of paper. We'd tell them you can write down.
• 9:26
  Anything you want on the wish list, right? Doesn't mean you're getting it, but you can walk around. We're going to take a couple of hours. You can walk around and write down anything you want from the time that they were very small. We had them do this at the end of it. You know, they come out with their little, you know, kindergarten or second grade handwriting, you know, and we come out at the end of it and we say, okay, now you've got your two or three pages of things. Now I want you to write them in order of priority. Which one do you want the most?
• 9:54
  which one is second which one is third and on down the line which one is last because my boys knew we have a family tradition in our home that our boys only get three christmas presents from us and the reason is because that's how many christmas presents jesus got right that's what we do you got three presents you get three presents you know and so three presents and that we try to keep it under control that way and uh then you know
• 10:24
  And grandparents figured that out and just made up for the rest of it. I mean, that's honestly what happened. Don't tell our sons, but there have been times where they have gotten so many Christmas presents from grandparents that we started pulling their presents from under the tree from us. Like, well, that one's going to birthday. You know, like they don't need more. Holy cow. But they knew they were only going to get three from us. And so they had to decide which one they wanted above all else.
• 10:54
  If I were to ask you to make your list and write a number one, you have to decide a number one. Above all else, this is the one thing, Lord. This is what I want. Nothing else matters. What would it be? The Westminster Catechism asks a question. What is the chief end of man? In other words, why are you here? And the answer to that question is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
• 11:29
  Is enjoyment of God your chief end? Is that what would be number one on your list? Is it number one pursuit? Is it the number one thing that you are chasing after your above all else request? I want to know God and the power of his resurrection. Do you really believe? Do we really believe that statement that he makes that nothing else we desire compares with him? If you continue in the text, verse 13.
• 11:58
  The one who gets understanding is blessed. Verse 14, for the gain from wisdom is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. Here is the song that we sing. She is more precious than jewels. Nothing you desire can compare with her. And you say, well, that's the woman wisdom. But don't forget, when we were looking at chapter two of Proverbs, we said that wisdom was not an object. Wisdom was a person. Do you remember this? It is the person, Jesus Christ.
• 12:25
  Nothing we desire can compare with our knowledge of Jesus. Why? Because 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. Nothing you desire, nothing else you desire compares with God. When it comes down to it, do I believe that the Lord has the ability to make me happy? Is Jesus plus nothing else?
• 12:56
  Enough. And again, we can turn to King Solomon's autobiography to test the veracity of this claim. Is that really true? I mean, when it came to seeking happiness apart from the Lord, did Solomon know what he was talking about? According to the book of Ecclesiastes, ladies especially, according to the book of Ecclesiastes, did Solomon know what he was talking about? Yes. Our ladies have been going through this on summer, right? This summer on Wednesday nights, they come to the last one this coming Wednesday. Yes.
• 13:30
  When it comes to seeking happiness apart from the Lord, did Solomon have experience? Yes. Ecclesiastes 1.14. Solomon says this, I have seen everything that is done under the sun. There is nothing done under the sun that I have not seen. He had experienced everything. And he says, behold, all is vanity. All is striving after the wind. Like, well, what? What, Solomon, did you try to do? Chapter 2 sums it up pretty well in verse 3. I searched with my heart.
• 14:00
  How to cheer my body with wine. Maybe it's drinking. Maybe it's alcohol. The next verse. I made great works. I built houses. I planted vineyards for myself. Gardens and parks. All kinds of trees. Pools of flowing water. Maybe it's in creation. Right? I mean, if you lived here in Denver, it would be, I went to the mountains every Friday and Saturday. I did all the 14ers. I got all the bumper stickers. I've got them all. I tried that.
• 14:32
  Three verses later, I had great possessions of herds and flocks and more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and treasure. I surpassed all who were before me. He tried it in money. The next verse, I also had many women, the delight of the sons of man. So he even says in there, not just ugly ones, the delightful ones, the ones that all the guys wanted, they were all mine. Can you imagine this guy?
• 15:06
  Wine, work, wealth, women, all of it. And he says at the end of chapter 2, there is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also I saw is from the hand of God. For apart from him, who can eat or who can find enjoyment? He says at the end of it, there is no joy in any of it apart from knowing God.
• 15:33
  No, I don't want to steal any of Hallie's thunder. She's teaching this coming Wednesday. Just listen to Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 13. The end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God. Keep his commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. You want to know what one pursuit, what one thing we should chase after, what one thing satisfies, one thing fulfills, one thing offers happiness. According to Solomon, fearing God.
• 16:05
  keeping his commands. I think you can look for happiness somewhere else, but it's temporary at best. Take the advice of the man who walked to the end of every road and he looked over the edge. Nothing we desire can compare with God. You notice the hymn ends, and I haven't read it yet, but it's verse 18. She, wisdom, ultimately Jesus Christ, is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Those who hold her fast are called
• 16:41
  blessed verse 18 ends the hymn with the tree of life you know this tree is only ever mentioned three times in scripture three times once in genesis we all know about that one adam and eve right they were eating from the tree of life it sustained them it offered eternal life and they would have lived forever if god had continued to allow them access but do you remember what happened they sinned
• 17:09
  And God, and this is a weird thing, but listen, God in his grace shut off access to the tree of life and say, well, why would he do that? Why wouldn't he want us to live forever? And the answer is because we had wrecked ourselves. We now live in sin and temptation and ugliness and wickedness and rebellion. And God said, you know what? I don't want that for you forever.
• 17:39
  The best thing I can offer you is death. Die. I'll give you a new body. We'll start over. And so he says, you know what? No more. I'm not going to give you access to the tree of life anymore. Adam and Eve, you're out. That was Genesis. The tree of life is actually promised again at the end of the book of Revelation. There will be a day when we are granted access again to the tree of life. We will eat from it and live forever. One other time in scripture that the tree of life is mentioned and it's here.
• 18:11
  It's Proverbs chapter 3, and it's in the context of finding and pursuing the person of wisdom. Wisdom is that street preacher, Jesus Christ. And this says that mankind can have abundant life even before heaven. And what is being offered here in this first hymn is a spiritual return, not a physical return that will one day be granted to us in the book of Revelation, but a spiritual return to the Garden of Eden.
• 18:48
  Perfect communion with God again because of the blood of our Lord. In fact, the word for man in verse 13, what ESV translates one, blessed is the one. Other translations translate it man. Now I like the translation one because it is meant to be inclusive. But the word for one or man in many translations is the Hebrew word Adamah. It's the name Adam. Adam.
• 19:19
  He's making reference all the way back to the garden. Blessed is the Adam who finds wisdom. Blessed is the man or woman you get to taste from the garden of Eden through the person of Jesus Christ. And what could be better than that? Do you see why now he says nothing else we desire can compare with that? This offer of genuine life. That is the worth of our God. Now let's look at the second hymn.
• 19:47
  That was God's worth. Now here is, in verses 19 and 20, a hymn about your worth. Your worth. Look at verse 19. The Lord, by wisdom, founded the earth. By understanding, He established the heavens. And since the dawn of time, mankind has pondered two questions which are inseparably linked. Who am I? And why am I here?
• 20:17
  And countless theories have been put forward to attempt to answer these two questions. The naturalist, people who believe that only nature exists, there is nothing supernatural. The naturalist would posit that you are no one, that you exist for no purpose whatsoever. Your life is the result of an infinite number of random events that were governed by no one. You're an accident. There's no consequence to your life, and there is therefore no consequence to your death. You evolved.
• 20:52
  Or you devolved. We can't figure out which one yet. There's no purpose. There's no right and wrong. Live however you want. Die however you want. It doesn't matter. The whole universe is at the mercy of survival of the fittest. Isn't that what we've been taught? All of it. The strong survive and we become better and better and better with each generation that passes. But where did that desire to survive even come from? Nobody knows.
• 21:25
  If our lives are merely an effort to survive, then joy serves no purpose. Happiness and kindness and companionship, friendship, marriage, society, they're all pointless. My goal should be, tell me if I'm wrong, my goal should be to live as long as I can, even at the expense of others. Survival of the fittest. Why wouldn't I steal from other people? Why wouldn't I kill other people?
• 21:58
  Survival of the fittest. It only proves my supremacy. But man, something about that doesn't make sense. In fact, there is a lot about that philosophy that doesn't make sense. Like if we evolved simply to survive, then when did taste buds come along? You ever think about that? And if taste buds, if evolutionists would say, and they will say, well, they evolved. Okay.
• 22:31
  Then if taste buds evolved simply for my survival, then wouldn't the foods that helped me survive taste the best, right? Not that food that tastes the best. It's the food that kills you, which tastes the best. Do you know why? Because you were designed. You didn't evolve. God wants you to be happy. And so he actually made things that taste good. Then he gave you the taste buds.
• 23:05
  For joy. Why else would they be there? Doesn't make any sense. We should be eating Brussels sprout cake, broccoli flavored ice cream. That's what we should have for dessert. Something about it, you guys, just doesn't add up. A creation versus evolution debate has been raging for centuries. You all know that decades ago, creationists developed an argument where they sought to prove empirically that God made the universe.
• 23:36
  using evidence that they call intelligent design. We've all heard that phrase, intelligent design. Now their work has proved effective and we praise God for it. And this next point is not in any way an effort to pull down or criticize their argument. I believe in intelligent design. Absolutely, of course. But notice our text this morning does not say that God created the universe with intelligence. That's not what it says. Look at verse 19. The Lord.
• 24:08
  By wisdom founded the earth. By wisdom. What's the difference? Many have defined wisdom as intelligence applied. It's not just wisdom. It's wisdom that works. It's wisdom in action. It's wisdom with, right? It's intelligence with a purpose. What does that mean for creation? But that God designed the universe to perform a certain task and that that task is inherent
• 24:47
  In its design, the stars and sun and moon, the land and water, the plants and trees and fish and birds and animals were not only designed in a way that makes sense for their environment. That would be intelligent design, right? Well, I guess that makes sense. That's intelligence. But instead, with wisdom to accomplish a certain task. Notice verse 20. By his knowledge, the deeps broke open and the clouds drop down.
• 25:17
  The dew, even the very ground has a purpose. It's not just designed with intelligence. It's designed with wisdom. It has purpose. And even the ground fulfills the commands of God. The clouds produce rain every single time the Lord tells them to. We must not stop there. Men and women, you and I were also designed with wisdom, not just intelligence. You and I were designed.
• 25:49
  with intelligence applied, intelligence at work. You and I were made with a purpose. In Ephesians chapter 2, the video made reference to it. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10 gives us the reason for our existence. We've all memorized Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. By grace, you've been saved through faith. It's not of yourselves. It's the gift of God so that no one can boast, right? Well, listen to verse 10.
• 26:20
  For we are his workmanship, his workmanship. The Greek word there is poem, poem. So you don't think of we're his workmanship like he's working on a car, like God is the mechanic. And he just wants to make sure that everything works. Everything's function, nothing is form. That's workmanship. This is more like craftsmanship. And there's a difference, right? Craftsmanship is function plus form. It's not just going to work. It's going to work.
• 26:53
  Beautifully. That's who you are. You're God's craftsmanship, his poem, his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus for good works. It doesn't just say created in Christ Jesus, period. That's intelligent design. It's created with wisdom's design. Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
• 27:23
  If you ever feel like you are sitting in a never-ending teacher in service, then take heart. Like this life is pointless. It's meaningless. I don't know what I'm doing here. What am I supposed to be doing here? The good news is you do not live a purposeless existence. But you must pursue the person who will give your life meaning.
• 27:48
  Apart from the person of Jesus Christ, it's like Solomon. You can chase whatever you want to the end of whatever road and where it ends. It doesn't work. It's meaningless, a striving after the wind. Our happiness will never be found in the pursuit of worldly things. Money and possessions, even friendships and marriage, those are all good things. But apart from God, they're temporary at best. Nothing we desire can compare.
• 28:19
  with the surpassing value of knowing Christ. Don't listen to the theory which strips you of your worth. You were created by God. He knows you. He loves you. He made you for a purpose, for His purpose, which gives us life and value and meaning. Amen? God, I pray again a blessing over the preaching of Your Word. Lord, may we take it to heart. May we be changed by it.
• 28:52
  God, we want to know not just your word, but we want to know you through our study of it. And God, as we prepare our hearts now to take communion, God, be blessed in it. Pray that we would remember the great sacrifice that was made so that we could be saved. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.