Latest / HBCWestminster / 11.1.23 Proverbs 1:1-7 Pastor Danny Gardner

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11.1.23 Proverbs 1:1-7 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

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  open your bibles if you would to proverbs chapter one proverbs chapter one and as you're turning
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  there i'm actually going to read a different section of scripture just to start us off but
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  hebrews chapter 12 says this since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses and
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  the context is at the end of hebrews 11 which is that hall of faith right all of these men and
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  women that live by faith they've all gone before us they've all walked the road before us and they
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  have at this point all gone to be with jesus at this point and he says there's this great cloud
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  of witnesses that is like cheering us on okay he says let us also lay aside every weight and sin
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  which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
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  looking to jesus like he is the finish line right looking to jesus the founder and perfecter of our
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  faith for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the
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  right hand of the throne of god hebrews chapter 12 says that life life is a race
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  that all of us are running and what's kind of cool about this race is that it doesn't matter who
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  wins it's not about coming in first place in fact if you read the rest of it what it's really saying
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  is that everybody who finishes strong wins everybody who finishes strong wins and i was
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  confronted again this week with the fact that not everyone is winning their race not everybody is
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  living in a time of plenty and abundance not everybody is living in a time of abundance and
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  in a time of joy not everybody is thriving spiritually not every home has peace some are
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  suffering and some are in despair and some are hurting and some are in deep sorrow in fact not
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  every marriage is thriving some are struggling struggling and daily it is a struggle to just
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  win the race just trying to finish the race i don't know if you've ever looked at someone's
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  life and said wow that is a struggle to just finish the race and i don't know if you've ever
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  looked at someone's life and said wow that is a struggle to just finish the race and i don't know if you've ever
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  lived has that ever happened where you've looked at somebody maybe they're a generation older than
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  you and you've just thought you know what if i'm if i'm like that by the time i'm that age i will
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  consider myself a success that's how i want to be when i grow up i used to think that about 30 year
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  olds and then eventually i thought about 40 year olds and now i'm staring 50 in the eyes and so i
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  begin thinking about 60 70 80 year olds you know if i can be like that that's how i want to be
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  when i grow up a life well lived
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  and what we have in proverbs is the description of a well-lived life wise living and with your
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  bibles open if you would stand in honor of god's word as i read proverbs one one to seven what
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  will be our text this evening we'll go through this just like we do a word at a time and just
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  make sure that we extract every single truth we possibly can in the time that we have the word
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  of god says the proverbs of solomon son of david king of israel to know wisdom and instruction
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  to know wisdom and instruction to know wisdom and instruction to know wisdom and instruction
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  understand words of insight to receive instruction and wise dealing in righteousness justice and
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  equity to give prudence to the simple knowledge and discretion to the youth let the wise hear
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  and increase in learning and the one who understands obtain guidance to understand a
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  proverb and a saying the words of the wise and their riddles the fear of the lord is the beginning
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  of knowledge fools despise wisdom and instruction lord would you bless the reading and preaching of
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  your word this evening in jesus name amen
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  amen amen thank you church you can be seated well i was inspired
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  many years ago about five years ago or so to teach the book of proverbs by a good friend of mine
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  his name is chuck chuck was a man who lived his life well he encouraged me five years ago to
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  preach through proverbs and if you guys were attending the church at the time i did that
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  very thing five years ago i pushed pause i took about six months and i just began to preach through
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  a whole bunch of different proverbs from the book of proverbs and i'm going to read a little bit of
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  proverbs and we're going to do something similar today but chuck was one of my closest and longest
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  standing friends which means i've been friends with him longer than i've been friends with just
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  about anybody else on earth which interesting is he's now in his late 80s we're separated by about
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  40 years i met him when i was seven i'm 47 now i met him when i was seven years old i was in the
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  second grade i went on my very first missions trip ever with my dad to mexico it was only about a
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  three hours drive from where we lived chuck
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  who was the leader of that trip was my age now when we met he's one of the wisest men i've ever
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  known he sees things that others don't see he contemplates things that others never have he
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  is extremely intelligent he is a brilliant writer he is one of the few people i've ever known who
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  may have actually had an original thought he might have thought of something that nobody else ever
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  has we used to go to breakfast frequently he still lives in southern california we would
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  discuss ideas we've had or books that we've read there's never judgment when we speak there's only
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  ever encouragement and respect today our conversations are relegated to email which we
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  have infrequently which i often recite to hallie and i'll say you know hallie you got to listen to
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  this listen to what chuck wrote i admire the man when the lord eventually calls him home the world
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  be lesser for it in my opinion but chuck often speaks proverbially he speaks in proverbs
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  the proverbs are just statements of wisdom pithy sayings we might see we might say wisdom that is
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  boiled down to its very essence they are wisdom statements with no wasted words and he would say
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  things like this and this is these are some of chuck's actual proverbs okay he would email me
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  often and sometimes the emails would only state one statement he'd hit send one of the times it
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  said love your sons dear danny love your sons hug your wife and love your children and love your
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  wife and tell your friends that you can't live without them chuck here's another one he says
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  i've determined that there are some things i will not know before i die and i've decided that that's
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  okay i believe that i struggle enough already seeking to live out what i do know man that's
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  good here's another one he said i would suggest that not everyone is correct in everything
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  okay that's a really nice way that's like kind of the backhanded way of saying some people are wrong
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  i would suggest not everyone is correct in everything listen to this one here was a little
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  more direct danny you may discover that some people don't know things that's all he said
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  and i love that he said don't know some things some people don't know some things he just said
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  some people don't know anything some people don't have any idea here's one he said finishing well
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  is not as easy as it may appear another one be wise and tender never flaunt the name of a person
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  to demonstrate how well educated you are or to show that you agree with a popular person but
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  seek out the scriptures to reinforce what you're teaching
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  he said to me one day danny you have three strong boys teach them to use their hands their bodies
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  their minds and their souls teach them that their heavenly father's smiles and approval are priceless
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  one time he told me the word pastor is just another way to say i'm looking for someone to
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  blame and you look convenient and then the inspiration for our series this evening he
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  said one time in my teen years and into my 20s
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  i mastered the art of sarcasm you guys he was he is very smart very funny um and very very
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  sarcastic he said this he said it took me a number of years to understand that it served the purpose
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  of putting a barrier between me and my friends which i ultimately lost due to its continual use
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  the book of proverbs he says is full of irony but i believe it avoids sarcasm
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  we used to believe that most
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  people had common sense but no longer he said i encourage you to take your church through a series
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  from the book of proverbs prizes for the children youth and adults who memorize its verses
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  eternal rewards for those who actually live them out now the sad reality is
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  friends that not all people who live are good at living not all people who live are winning their
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  race not all people are going to finish well not all those who endure earth's journey are going to
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  come out ahead and i don't know if you've ever looked at somebody and said wow that is that is
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  the way to live have you also on the flip side ever looked at somebody and said that's not how
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  i want to live has that ever happened you know when you have your first born child and many of
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  you all have brand new babies you have no idea how reliant upon you children actually are you don't
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  know and i was kind of confronted with this the very first time when they handed me the book of
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  me pearson i'm here 48 hours old stuck him in that chair we wheeled him out of the hospital and then
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  they just kind of said good luck you know like i hope it works out you know like you guys don't
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  understand i have no idea what i'm doing do you guys remember that day like what you should not
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  entrust me with the life of this child i have no clue you don't realize in the moment how gentle
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  you have to be you don't realize all that they are going to figure out from you that you have
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  significantly you don't realize too that you have significantly more energy with the first one
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  than you'll have with all of the others and as the years progress because it feels like there's just
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  this dwindling energy into your late 20s and into your 30s as the years progress and you are blessed
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  with additional children you may find that you are willing to do things with your third child
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  that you were unwilling to do with your first risks that you were willing to take
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  with pearson our oldest we were always willing to wait for the elevator but by the time chase came
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  along about a decade later i thought i'm not waiting for that dumb elevator i know the sign
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  on the mall escalator says no strollers i know but you guys you just prop that thing back right
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  you just lean them back he thinks it's great he has no idea and as long as you keep that thing
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  level i know the stairs will disappear from the front from the front wheels but the back
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  wheels are fine i got it i took chase one time down an escalator we had one of those graco strollers
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  from target you know chase is in this thing and i've done this so many times at this point we're
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  pros you know i got zach on my shoulders i'm holding pearson's hand with the other hand i've
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  got the stroller handle right and it was one of those that could like adjust depending on your
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  height you know so i'm holding this thing i lean them back just like i've done a hundred times i'm
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  holding zach's hand pearson on my shoulders and we start
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  going down the escalator and just as those stairs left the front wheels the stroller handle snapped
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  off and you guys i mean it was like instantaneous snap i threw that thing and grabbed and chase goes
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  rocking forward like this and he's just doing you know and we're all frozen nobody move you know
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  and we're going down this thing and i i don't know if you get a picture in your head of what
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  that must have looked like that day and it seems as though
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  there are some maybe even many who go through their entire lives just barely hanging on
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  everything they love in the world hanging in the balance
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  and the handle to their lives just snapped off they don't know where to turn for help
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  and some people's lives i think are not lived well it's like hosea's description of ephraim
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  one of the 12 tribes of israel in hosea chapter 7 and verse 8 he says ephraim mixes himself with
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  the peoples ephraim mixes himself with the peoples ephraim mixes himself with the peoples ephraim mixes
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  is a cake not turned like like a pancake that never got flipped right it's just baked cooked
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  scalded it says strangers devour his strength he knows it not gray hairs are sprinkled upon him
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  he knows it not he doesn't even realize this is happening to him the pride of israel testifies to
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  his face yet they do not return to the lord their god nor seek him for all of this people are begging
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  him to live differently and he's just not going to do it he's just not going to do it he's just not
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  going to do it he's just not going to do it he's just not going to do it he's just not going to do it
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  says no i'm stuck i'm living the way that i want to live jesus himself said that he came to give life
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  to give it abundantly john 10 10 now paul described the human race in ephesians 2 as the living dead
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  those who are alive but are still dead in their sin the bible defines the life well lived as the
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  life of wisdom and we often equate wisdom with intelligence but wisdom in hebrew chokmah the
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  word chokmah is literally to have technical skills
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  or aptitude it's it's not just being smart that's part of probably being wise because you can't be a
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  fool and also be wise you've got to have some intelligence and know-how but really more than
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  just uh intelligence it really describes aptitude ability ability to do something well now look at
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  first kings chapter 7 and verse 13 this is from the niv it says king solomon set the tire and
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  brought haram who was highly skilled and experienced in all kinds of bronze work
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  and that is that word chokmah okay in the the hebrew now the esv translates it differently and
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  notice the esv it's better king solomon sent and brought hyrum from tire a worker in bronze
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  and what does it say he was full of what wisdom understanding and skill for making any work in
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  bronze he knew what he was doing that's what solomon says bring me that guy why it's not
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  because he was smart right
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  right
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  it goes like that
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  beyond intelligence. This guy is good at his job. And in the old Testament, wisdom is the opposite
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  of being all thumbs. Wisdom is the opposite of having two left feet. It's the opposite of
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  standing on the escalator, barely hanging on. It's the opposite of exchanging abundant life
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  for a life of dissipation. And scripture commands us to get it. It tells us we have to get wisdom.
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  The Proverbs 4.5, get wisdom, get insight. I love that. There it is. Get it. Proverbs 4.7,
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  get wisdom. Whatever you get, get insight. Now scripture commands us to live a life of wisdom.
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  Ephesians 5.15, be very careful then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise. Ephesians says, live
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  good. Be good at living. St. Augustine said, when scripture speaks, God speaks. We believe that. Now
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  I've noticed in my own life, I've noticed in my own life, I've noticed in my own life, I've noticed
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  in my own life and in the lives of many more that when I need genuine life advice, I tend to look for
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  the wisdom of man rather than to the wisdom of God. When I need help with parenting. Is it
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  interesting? We typically go to the wisdom of man rather than the wisdom of God. What does God's
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  word say? And when we need help with our marriages, we tend to go to the marriage books rather than
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  to the book. When we don't know how to worship, we buy books on worship rather than going to the
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  book on worship. Even Bible interpretation. How do I go to the book on worship? How do I go to the
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  book on worship? How do I interpret the Bible? We tend to look to the wisdom of man. I tend to ask
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  for man's help rather than going directly to the source. When I am in a particularly difficult or
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  stressful situation, I tend to rely on my own strength rather than the Lord's. And I don't
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  know about you, but I don't want to just survive. I want to live. I want to be good at it, right? We
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  all got to live. We might as well be good at living. I want to live with skill like Haram did
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  when he was the bronze worker. I want to be good at it. I want to be good at living. I want to be
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  good at my job. I want to get wisdom at all costs. And the beginning of wisdom can be found in the
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  book of Proverbs. Notice verse one, the book's author, the book's author. This says the Proverbs
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  of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. Did you know there's actual disagreement about who wrote
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  the book of Proverbs? There are some people who cannot agree about who wrote it. Should there be
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  any question at all? I understand that there are
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  different proverbial sayings throughout the book of Proverbs that are written by different people
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  other than Solomon. No doubt Hezekiah's men had some role in compiling them and other things. And
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  some of them are just, it just plain says, these ones weren't written by Solomon. These ones were
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  written by somebody else. But can there be any disagreement about at all about verse one?
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  Everybody knows who this is, right? The wisest man who ever lived, the majority of the book,
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  in fact, was written by Solomon. Who would say?
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  Was king of Israel and son of the greatest king Israel ever had. Okay. Now you can even make an
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  argument here that Solomon was the greatest king that Israel ever had because in Solomon's time,
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  the borders were expanded larger than in any other king's time in terms of the wealth,
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  the prosperity, the economic success. All of those things were all at their zenith under Solomon's
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  reign. But we would say his dad is bigger. Why? Because of what?
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  David was a man after God's own heart. Not perfect, but a man after God's own heart. Absolutely.
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  Never says that about Solomon. What else? What's significant about David?
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  Okay. Yes. David would one day have a very famous son, right? Even more famous than his son Solomon
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  would come Jesus himself, who was called the son of David. Jesus actually sits not on Solomon's
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  throne, but on David's throne. It is David's kingdom, which will last for a thousand
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  generations.
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  Okay. Through Jesus Christ. And so we would say that he's probably the second greatest
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  king that Israel ever had. If you don't count Jesus himself, Solomon, when he lived, you can
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  go through and read the book of Ecclesiastes. The men up at men's retreat, man camp up there a
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  couple of months ago, studied the book of Ecclesiastes. We talked about Solomon, right?
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  He was the wealthiest man in the world. So you're talking about the money of Elon Musk before
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  Twitter. Okay. He was the wealthiest man in the world. So you're talking about the money of Elon
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  Musk before Twitter. Okay. He was the wealthiest man in the world. So you're talking about the money of Elon
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  Musk before Twitter. Okay. He was the wealthiest man in the world. So you're talking about the money of
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  most powerful man in the world. Solomon more than any other man who has ever lived. And I even think
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  not just before him, but I think after him, I think he experienced more of what the world has to offer
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  than anybody else who has ever lived. He had experienced life. In fact, Ecclesiastes chapter
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  two in verse 10, the portions of which are his own autobiography. Ecclesiastes two in verse 10
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  says that he was so wealthy.
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  He said that nothing my eyes desired. Did I withhold from them?
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  We will say, we'll use the phrase that I'm just window shopping,
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  right? Window shopping, which means we're just walking through the mall and we're just looking
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  through the windows at all of the stuff that we can't afford window shopping, not actually
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  purchasing anything. We're just walking around looking at stuff. Solomon didn't window shop.
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  He just gathered everything in whatever. Can you imagine?
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  And you guys, this would not be good for us. Can you imagine if you could literally buy anything
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  you wanted anything at any time, you can see how that would start to rot your soul, which is exactly
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  what happened to him, right? He just became the most indulgent man that ever lived. He ran down
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  to the end of life's paths. And if you read the book of Ecclesiastes, it says all of the paths
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  that he tried. He said, you know, I I've, I've seen drunk people laughing a lot.
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  So,
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  I tried it. He says, the end is dissipation. Meaningless. I thought maybe wealth. I've seen
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  it. Everybody says wealthy people are, should be the happiest. I tried it. He said, dissipation
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  doesn't make any sense. I tried power. I tried fame. I tried military strength. I tried sex.
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  I tried everything, everything. I ran down to the end of every single road. And in the end,
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  nothing satisfies. And do you guys remember, and you guys who are at man camp will remember him
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  saying this Shea Thomason, right? Talk to us.
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  At the very end of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon is wrapping a bow on the end of this thing.
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  He ties it off in Ecclesiastes 12 by saying what do you guys remember
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  the end? He said, the conclusion of the matter is this all has been heard.
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  The conclusion of the matter is this. What does he say? Fear God, keep his commandments
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  for this is the whole duty of man. This is that you want to know. I trust you. I trust you. I trust
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  everything. And man, if you guys, if you guys are kind to, you're like, Oh, you know, I got to try
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  it for myself before I, I don't just take other people's words for it. Okay. Solomon says, okay,
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  you won't try it. Like I tried it. I went all the way. And in the end, you want to know what life
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  is about? Fear God, keep his commandments. This is the whole duty of man. He could speak with
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  authority because what he learned came not from God, but from God. And he said, I trust you. I trust
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  you. And he said, I trust you. I trust you. And he said, I trust you. And he said, I trust you.
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  But from experience, he tried it all. That's the book's author. And notice the book's breakdown
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  Proverbs is written in 31 chapters. We know that right. All because we are married to Proverbs 31
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  wives, 31 chapters broken into eight major sections. And there are little headers and
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  things probably in your Bibles that describe these different sections. Proverbs chapters
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  one to nine are the introduction to the book. Like most pastors sermons,
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  including the introduction to the book, the introduction to the book, the introduction to
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  the book, including my own. The introductions are often lengthy. Nine chapters are the introduction
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  versus one to seven serve as the book's preamble. All right. This is the, we, the people of Proverbs,
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  the introduction to the introduction and the book's topics include things like wisdom,
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  righteousness, life, knowledge, work, success, self-control, friendship, honor, purity,
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  humility, generosity, hope, wealth, pleasure, husbands and wives, neighbors, and many, many
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  more. Notice third, the book's tenfold purpose. Now, if you attend here, you know that I enjoy
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  fly fishing. I really do enjoy it. It's a hobby of mine. I've recently started teaching our almost
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  daughter-in-law, Grace, almost gardener to fish. She's been asking me and to take her fly fishing
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  and it worked out for us to go a week or two ago. Stuck her in Zach's waders and boots and the whole
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  thing. She was using all of Zach's stuff because he couldn't come. He was down at school.
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  And when people think of fly fishing, they typically think of a person standing knee deep
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  in water, just flinging line back and forth, back and forth, right? You get this picture,
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  river runs through it and Brad Pitt and whatever, right? And that's exactly how I look when I do it,
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  just so you guys know. But Hallie doesn't necessarily think so, but man, she wouldn't
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  have dated me anyway. So, you know, you just think of this guy like slinging line back and
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  forth and back and forth and back and forth. And they assume that is fly fishing, but it's not.
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  That action that that guy's doing, right? The field,
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  when he's got 80 feet of line up in the air and whatever, that's just called, it's called false
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  casting. And when you're doing that, you're not actually fishing. There's nothing in the water.
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  Nothing is happening. You ain't going to catch, you can do that all day. You ain't going to catch
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  any fish, right? What he's doing, he's doing that for a couple of reasons. One, he could be just
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  drying his stuff off. Okay. It's been in the water. Now he's trying to dry it off. He could
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  be calibrating, getting his length, right? Getting his distance, right? Getting his direction, right?
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  Whatever he's, he's kind of testing. Here's exactly where I want it to land or whatever.
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  So we could be calibrating, but whatever he's doing,
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  is called false casting. False casting before they actually cast. Now in verses two to four,
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  there are 10 Hebrew words, and they might appear at first glance in the English as synonyms. You
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  know, things like wisdom, instruction, understanding, insight. We would use those
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  things interchangeably, but they're not the same word. They have very distinct meanings in the
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  original language. And remember beloved family, that every word chosen by God is chosen with
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  purpose.
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  We believe in the inspiration of the scripture. So every single word that he uses,
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  he uses intentionally, right? Which means in the word of God, there is no false casting.
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  He's never in the river, just slinging words out there, right? It's never doing that. He's never
• 24:53
  drying off his line. He's never calibrating. Every single word is an intentional cast.
• 25:00
  And notice the first one to know,
• 25:03
  wisdom. Wisdom could also be defined as skillfulness, right? We've talked about
• 25:09
  wisdom already. It's the ability to use knowledge rightly, to put it into action, to take what you
• 25:16
  know and apply it rightly. This one word, wisdom, is used 37 times in the book, right? 37 times in
• 25:27
  31 chapters. That means it is a repeated theme. He uses that word a lot. The wise man or woman
• 25:33
  not only knows what to do, but actually does it. That is the wise person. Notice the second one,
• 25:39
  instruction. Instruction. Instruction is actually the same Hebrew word for chasten or discipline.
• 25:47
  It's getting corrected. It's getting spanked. Okay. That's chastening. Scripture says that
• 25:54
  the Lord disciplines those whom he loves because he wants what is best for his kids.
• 26:01
  Now I've heard,
• 26:03
  parents say that they refuse to discipline their kids because they don't believe in the way that
• 26:09
  they'll word it. They don't believe in tough love. But you know, honestly, the honest truth is
• 26:13
  sometimes love is tough, right? Sometimes love is tough. Sometimes it takes a little bit of
• 26:21
  tough love to remind your kids that disobedience hurts, that rebelliousness is not going to work
• 26:27
  out. And in those types of situations, we discipline our kids. We chasten them.
• 26:33
  We may even have to spank them to remind them of what is true. And the Lord says, you know what?
• 26:39
  Sometimes I'm going to have to do that with you as well. Chastening. And notice third, he says to
• 26:45
  know wisdom and instruction. And third, to understand. To understand. Understand means
• 26:51
  to have discernment. You can tell right from wrong, even in seemingly gray or foggy situations.
• 26:59
  Now, have you ever run into somebody who just seemed always knew what?
• 27:03
  To do? Right? Have you ever been in a situation where you thought, I don't know what I'm supposed
• 27:07
  to do, but I know who I'm supposed to call. Has that ever happened? I can remember not long after
• 27:13
  my dad passed away. He passed away young. He was 57. I was 31, I think, when he passed away.
• 27:20
  Prostate cancer. I remember getting up on my roof. I was repairing my evaporative cooler. We had a
• 27:27
  swamp cooler up on the roof. And it had only been a week or two since he had passed away.
• 27:32
  We had just...
• 27:33
  Chris had his funeral. I was up on the roof. And reality of that hadn't necessarily even set in.
• 27:38
  You know, there were moments when I had forgotten that my dad was gone. And I was up on the roof
• 27:43
  fixing our swamp cooler. And I didn't know what to do. And it was just second nature. I grabbed my
• 27:47
  phone. I called my dad. Because I didn't... There was some pump problem. The pump wasn't working or
• 27:51
  whatever. Do I have to replace it? Can I fix it? Call my dad. I'm like, I wonder where he's not
• 27:54
  picking up. Oh, yeah. I remember now why he's not picking up. There are some people I had to get
• 28:01
  used to, right?
• 28:03
  There are some people that you're just like, that guy don't know what to do. That guy always knows
• 28:06
  what to do. Here's the guy that I call. And it says, if you begin to read and then more than
• 28:11
  read, you actually begin to apply the Proverbs, you will become the person who always knows what
• 28:17
  to do. You'll be that person understanding, even in gray or foggy situations. Notice it continues
• 28:23
  to understand words of insight. Verse three says, to receive instruction, here's number four, in
• 28:28
  wise dealing.
• 28:32
  Wise dealing.
• 28:33
  Dealing. It's very seldom used in the Old Testament, but it carries the idea of learning
• 28:39
  from somebody else's loss. It actually, the literal translation could actually be to bereave
• 28:47
  or to miscarry. It's an interesting word because he says, you will be able to learn
• 28:54
  to deal wisely or shrewdly. You'll be able to watch somebody else's failure and gain from that.
• 29:02
  The man or woman who deals wisely can see the misgivings and failures of another,
• 29:06
  make changes to his or her own life based on the another person's failures.
• 29:11
  In my opinion, this is one of life's greatest skills. If it can be acquired.
• 29:17
  A centuries ago, a man named Edmund Burke said, those who don't know history are doomed to what?
• 29:24
  Repeat it. Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. And what an advantage for the godly man.
• 29:32
  or a woman who is willing to learn from others' mistakes.
• 29:38
  If you're honestly, if you're being tempted by alcohol,
• 29:42
  I could bring people up and have them share testimonies
• 29:45
  about the loss, the devastation of alcoholism.
• 29:48
  If you're being tempted to cheat on your spouse,
• 29:52
  I could bring people up.
• 29:54
  I've counseled them.
• 29:55
  I know who they are.
• 29:56
  I could bring people up and ask them,
• 29:58
  would you share testimony
• 29:59
  about the devastation that adultery causes?
• 30:02
  Would you be willing to share with those
• 30:04
  who are on the front end of it?
• 30:05
  And if you are one of those people on the front end,
• 30:07
  then can I implore you to listen
• 30:10
  to the advice of the Proverbs?
• 30:13
  That would say, don't go down that road.
• 30:16
  Can you flirt with temptation?
• 30:18
  Can you flirt with fire?
• 30:20
  Do you remember this?
• 30:20
  And not get burned.
• 30:22
  Can you bring hot coals into your lap and not get burned?
• 30:26
  Solomon would say, no, you're gonna get fried.
• 30:30
  So listen to the people.
• 30:32
  People who have done it before you
• 30:33
  and learned from them wise dealing.
• 30:36
  This is why testimonies, I think,
• 30:37
  are so important in the church.
• 30:40
  Verse three continues.
• 30:41
  To receive instruction in wise dealings.
• 30:43
  Here's number five, in righteousness.
• 30:45
  Now, righteousness is easy.
• 30:46
  That just means to behave rightly, okay?
• 30:49
  Easy, righteousness, and justice.
• 30:51
  Justice is the ability to make good decisions.
• 30:55
  Can also mean that that man or woman
• 30:56
  has the ability to make any decisions at all.
• 31:00
  The person who cannot make decisions
• 31:01
  is like the man or woman who cannot make decisions.
• 31:02
  It's like the one tossed to and fro.
• 31:04
  The double-minded, unstable,
• 31:06
  changing their minds constantly.
• 31:08
  And just like it's true
• 31:10
  that you can only steer a moving ship,
• 31:11
  so also the man or woman who cannot make decisions
• 31:14
  is dead in the water.
• 31:16
  Wise dealings, righteousness, justice.
• 31:19
  Finally, verse three, in equity.
• 31:21
  Equity refers to moral integrity.
• 31:24
  Moral integrity.
• 31:25
  This is a man or woman of principle.
• 31:28
  A man or woman who does the right thing
• 31:29
  because it's the right thing.
• 31:33
  No apology.
• 31:35
  If you guys were here for the marriage conference,
• 31:38
  if you came to Hallie and my breakout session, right?
• 31:41
  We took the parenting through the ages.
• 31:43
  Parents of the marriage conference into another room,
• 31:45
  did a little breakout session.
• 31:46
  And I don't pretend like you guys remember what I say
• 31:49
  because I'm of the opinion that nobody remembers anything.
• 31:52
  I say, I don't remember some of the stuff I say,
• 31:53
  but I brought everybody in there into the West Hall
• 31:56
  and I began this way.
• 31:57
  I said, if you're parenting kids,
• 31:59
  we are not here to judge you.
• 32:02
  everybody's doing whatever they can do they're doing their best and then i said this
• 32:08
  parent your kids because they're your kids without apology you don't need to compare yourself to your
• 32:16
  neighbors it does not matter what your neighbors are doing if you feel like it's right for your
• 32:21
  kids then do it right if some of you guys were in there you'll remember me saying that do it
• 32:26
  do what is right do what the lord has convicted you to do be a man or woman of principle that's
• 32:33
  what this word means equity be a man or woman of principle who does the right thing because it's
• 32:39
  the right thing now notice number eight prudence verse four to give prudence to the simple now this
• 32:45
  is the ability to detect the negative schemes of others you're not an easy mark is what he's saying
• 32:53
  you don't fall into traps and sometimes it's translated
• 32:56
  craftiness its new testament equivalent is when jesus sent out uh his disciples in pairs and he
• 33:05
  commands them to be innocent as doves you guys remember this innocent as doves and then he said
• 33:10
  what wise as serpents shrewd right you're not easily duped it continues number nine knowledge
• 33:21
  verse four says prudence of the simple knowledge and then discretion nine and
• 33:26
  knowledge means possessing information leading to sound character the knowledgeable man or woman
• 33:32
  has nothing to hide you stand before a crowd and just say look i i've got nothing to hide
• 33:38
  i'm an open book you can ask me any question that's the knowledgeable person number 10
• 33:43
  discretion also translates thoughtfulness it's a characteristic which i think many of us probably
• 33:49
  are lacking i know that i am my wife is by far the more thoughtful of us
• 33:55
  you
• 33:56
  the one who often, often texts me and says, Hey, send a happy birthday text to this person,
• 34:02
  right? Because she's thinking about him and she's praying for him. And she reminds me it's
• 34:05
  this person's birthday. Don't forget it's thoughtfulness. The wiser one becomes the less
• 34:10
  self-centered is what that means. The more mature they become, the wiser person becomes less
• 34:17
  self-centered over time to sum it up. And I think this is in your notes. The man or woman of wisdom
• 34:22
  lives with skill. They are disciplined by the Lord. They learn from the mistakes of others.
• 34:26
  They make good moral decisions. They do the right thing. They rarely fall into traps. They have
• 34:31
  nothing to hide. And they think of others before they think of themselves. Isn't that the kind of
• 34:35
  Christian you want to be? That's it. That's all from those few verses right there. But notice
• 34:41
  finally the book's theme. And this really is one verse, I think verse seven, the theme for the
• 34:46
  remainder of the Proverbs dealing with the fear of the Lord. And notice in verse seven, it just
• 34:52
  simply states that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom
• 34:57
  and discipline. It says it the similar way a few chapters later in chapter nine in verse 10, the
• 35:02
  fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Chapter 15,
• 35:07
  verse 33, the fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom. And the fear of the Lord leads to two
• 35:13
  things. First, it leads to right thinking. Look back at verse seven. The fear of the Lord is the
• 35:18
  beginning of knowledge. That word for the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And the fear of the
• 35:22
  knowledge is to have an intimate knowledge of God. It's not just knowledge of how the world
• 35:27
  works, although it also does that. It's not just knowledge of creation. It's knowledge of the
• 35:32
  creator himself. I understand creation because I understand the creator. So the fear of the Lord
• 35:40
  leads to right thinking regarding the creator of our souls. But notice also the fear of the Lord
• 35:44
  leads to right action. This says fools despise wisdom and instruction, right? Those were the
• 35:51
  applied, right? Those were the applied, right? Those were the applied, right? Those were the
• 35:52
  applied words. So it doesn't just make you smarter. It makes you better at life. And perhaps my
• 35:58
  favorite thing about Proverbs is that it breaks down that divide between the sacred and the
• 36:06
  secular. Here's what I mean by those two words, the sacred and the secular. The sacred would be
• 36:13
  what? Godly things, spiritual things, religious things. Those are sacred.
• 36:24
  The secular is what? It's everything else, right? And we oftentimes put an artificial divide
• 36:33
  between the two. So we think of spiritual lives as those few moments every week when we read our
• 36:41
  Bibles or pray for dinner or take our families to church. That is sacred. The remainder of our
• 36:46
  lives and what for most of us constitutes the majority of our lives. Because if that's all
• 36:51
  that counts as sacred are the few moments we pray before dinner,
• 36:55
  we read our Bibles and we go to church. Then the other 165 hours per week is secular. It's
• 37:04
  everything else. It's taking our kids to school. That's non-religious. Buying groceries. That's
• 37:12
  non-spiritual. Excuse me, running into Costco, going to work, paying our bills, taking the car
• 37:19
  to the mechanic. Well, that's not a sacred exercise. These are considered, I think, at best
• 37:25
  neutral, but the book of Proverbs does not allow for that. This says everything we do
• 37:34
  is sacred. Everything in our lives, from singing praises at church to changing diapers
• 37:43
  in the middle of the night by ourselves when nobody else but that stanky kid is around.
• 37:52
  Even that action,
• 37:55
  is sacred. It's holy for the Lord and can be done in a wise and skillful way or in a foolish way.
• 38:06
  Isn't that crazy? Every single moment of our lives belongs to the Lord. Daniel Aiken has
• 38:14
  worded it this way. The everyday decisions we make are to be done in the fear of the Lord.
• 38:20
  The everyday decisions we make reveal whether or not we actually do.
• 38:25
  Every nook and cranny is to be governed by God. Every nook and cranny. And so you may ask,
• 38:33
  well, what is the fear of the Lord? I've asked this question quite a few times over my Christian
• 38:38
  life. I've received, as I've asked that question, a variety of different answers. Some, unable,
• 38:44
  I think, to marry this fear with the thought that God is both compassionate and caring,
• 38:49
  have described it or defined it as a healthy respect. You guys ever heard that before?
• 38:53
  The fear of the Lord is a healthy respect. But if the author had intended this definition,
• 38:59
  he would have used the words healthy respect, right? He had those words at his disposal,
• 39:08
  but those aren't the words that he used. He used the word fear. Everyone gets out of the way when
• 39:16
  they see a highway patrolman on the freeway. That is healthy respect. But is that what we mean when
• 39:22
  we're talking about fear? We're talking about the fear of the Lord. We're talking about the fear of
• 39:23
  the Lord that we just get out of his way. Do you see why this leads to kind of a misinterpretation,
• 39:29
  misdefinition? Others, I think, have defined the fear of the Lord as sheer terror, a frightening
• 39:34
  heavenly figure of terrible power, lacking compassion. These will often use fear, I think,
• 39:41
  as an excuse to browbeat and to pound their agenda. At times it's the gospel, but at times
• 39:46
  an agenda far less noble. Well, if those definitions miss the mark, then what does it mean
• 39:52
  to have a true fear of the Lord? The word fear in Hebrew, yira, means, and it's a bunch of different
• 40:00
  ways that it's used. Can we translate it dread? Deuteronomy 129, I said to you, do not be in
• 40:06
  dread. It's that same word, fear or afraid of them. It can mean being terrified. In Jonah chapter
• 40:14
  one in verse 10, this terrified the sailors, right? So they had found out from Jonah that he was
• 40:21
  running away from his people. He was running away from his people. He was running away from his
• 40:22
  God. This massive storm kicks up. They ask him, what have you done? Because they knew he was
• 40:27
  running away from the Lord. He'd already told them that. So it can mean terror. It can mean
• 40:32
  standing in awe of. First Kings chapter three in verse 28, when all Israel heard the verdict the
• 40:39
  king had given, they held the king in awe. That's the same word. They saw that he had wisdom from
• 40:44
  God to administer justice. It can mean having a moral reverence. Leviticus 19 verse three,
• 40:52
  each of you must respect, that's that word, respect his mother and father. You must observe
• 40:57
  my Sabbaths. I am the Lord, your God. Dread, terror, awe, reverence can mean obedience.
• 41:07
  And Isaiah chapter six, right? Isaiah saw the Lord high and exalted, the train of his robe
• 41:13
  filling the temple, the heaven's throne room filled with lightning and peals of thunder. Do
• 41:18
  you guys remember that? Isaiah saw the Lord that day and he fell on his face. He fell on his face.
• 41:22
  He fell on his knees and he said, woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips, come from a people of
• 41:28
  unclean lips. And my eyes have seen the king. Do you remember that? I am surely undone.
• 41:37
  But do you remember how that ends? The angel comes down, takes the coal, sears the sin off
• 41:46
  of his lips. Then the Lord asks, we need somebody to go for us. Who shall we send, right? Who
• 41:53
  Whom shall we send?
• 41:54
  Whom shall go for us?
• 41:56
  Isaiah's looking around.
• 41:58
  He's like, I'm the only one here.
• 42:01
  I'll go.
• 42:02
  Here am I, Lord.
• 42:04
  Send me.
• 42:05
  The same word is used in that text of Isaiah being commissioned.
• 42:10
  I'm a man of unclean lips, but here am I, Lord.
• 42:14
  Send me.
• 42:15
  It can actually lead to obedience.
• 42:18
  That word for fear.
• 42:21
  One man has said it this way.
• 42:22
  With the Lord as its object, that word fear captures both aspects of shrinking back in fear and of drawing close in awe.
• 42:30
  It's not a trembling dread that paralyzes action.
• 42:34
  It's instead a motivating sense of awe that compels obedience.
• 42:38
  Just like in Isaiah's life.
• 42:40
  The Lord is a consuming fire, which both fascinates those who gaze upon him and consumes those who have the audacity to stand against him.
• 42:51
  Simply put.
• 42:52
  The fear of the Lord is the negative motivation behind skillful living.
• 42:58
  Why am I obedient to the Lord?
• 43:00
  Because I fear him and those who are disobedient will be disciplined by him.
• 43:05
  Chastened.
• 43:06
  And I don't want to be disciplined by him.
• 43:08
  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
• 43:11
  But here's what's interesting.
• 43:12
  In the book of Deuteronomy, that command to fear the Lord is used almost interchangeably.
• 43:19
  Make sure if you guys zoned out for a minute, because I know it's a Wednesday night and it's getting dark.
• 43:22
  Everybody's like, all right, wrap it up.
• 43:24
  But listen, the book of Deuteronomy uses that phrase, fear of the Lord, almost interchangeably with another phrase.
• 43:31
  You guys know what it is?
• 43:33
  Love the Lord.
• 43:36
  Fear the Lord and love the Lord are used almost interchangeably, almost as they mean the same thing in the book of Deuteronomy.
• 43:45
  Deuteronomy chapter six says it this way.
• 43:47
  Love the Lord your God.
• 43:49
  You guys all know this one, right?
• 43:50
  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul.
• 43:52
  With all your strength.
• 43:53
  These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts.
• 43:57
  Impress them upon your children.
• 43:59
  Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, when you get up.
• 44:03
  Tie them as symbols on your hands.
• 44:05
  Bind them on your foreheads.
• 44:07
  Write them on the door frames of your homes and on your gates.
• 44:11
  Look at verse 13.
• 44:13
  That was verse nine.
• 44:14
  Verse 13.
• 44:16
  Fear the Lord your God.
• 44:18
  Serve him only.
• 44:19
  Take your oaths in his name.
• 44:21
  Do not follow other gods.
• 44:22
  The gods of the peoples around you.
• 44:24
  For the Lord your God who is among you is a jealous God.
• 44:27
  His anger will burn against you.
• 44:29
  He will destroy you from the face of the land.
• 44:31
  Where fear of the Lord is the negative motivation for obedience, love of the Lord is the positive.
• 44:39
  Well, how does that work?
• 44:40
  We've all seen this play out.
• 44:43
  When you disobeyed your parents when you were a kid.
• 44:46
  You got a whack.
• 44:48
  But when you obeyed your parents and they came home and you did a good job.
• 44:52
  You got a reward, right?
• 44:56
  There was a negative and there was a positive, both compelling the same exact action.
• 45:03
  Obedience, obedience, fear, love.
• 45:06
  They didn't do those things to make you terrified of them.
• 45:09
  They wanted you to love them.
• 45:11
  And it is the same for the Lord as well.
• 45:13
  God has built in consequences for sin that should spur us onto obedience.
• 45:17
  But he's also built into us a love for him that gives us a childlike desire.
• 45:22
  To please him.
• 45:23
  The fear of the Lord in both the negative and positive aspects is the beginning of wisdom.
• 45:28
  Proverbs chapter 1 and verse 7 says.
• 45:31
  Skillful, godly, abundant living.
• 45:33
  And I feel sometimes that many of us are just standing there waiting for that stroller handle to break.
• 45:41
  Everything we love and care for will be hanging in the balance.
• 45:44
  No idea what to do next.
• 45:46
  No idea who to turn to for help.
• 45:48
  Enter the book of Proverbs.
• 45:51
  I'm excited to study this with you.
• 45:53
  I'm actually going.
• 45:54
  To be combining many of the Proverbs with many of the Psalms as well.
• 45:58
  Psalm 1 is an unbelievable book for skillful living.
• 46:02
  Right?
• 46:02
  What it means to be fruitful compared to desolate.
• 46:05
  So we're going to be looking at Psalm 1 as well.
• 46:07
  I'm excited for the next five weeks as we study wise living.
• 46:10
  And Lord, as we launch into this new study.
• 46:13
  Make our way eventually even into a new year.
• 46:17
  Lord Jesus, we want to be a people that live with skill.
• 46:20
  We want to be good at it.
• 46:21
  And so I pray that our lives will be marked by wise living.
• 46:25
  Obedient because we both fear and love you.
• 46:27
  And it's in Jesus name we pray.
• 46:29
  Amen.