FEAR OF THE LORD: THE STARTING PLACE OF WISDOM
PROVERBS: WISDOM THAT WORKS • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 36 viewsWISDOM IS FOUND IN KNOWING CHRIST AND FOLLOWING HIM.
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The Book of Proverbs is 915 verses for hundreds of situations.
It instructs us in how to forsake the fool within.
Proverbs are divine guidelines and principles not promises.
These expressions of general truth generally do have “exceptions,” due to the uncertainty of life and unpredictable behavior of fallen men.
Proverbs are divine guidelines and principles not promises.
God does not guarantee uniform outcome or application for each proverb, but in studying them and applying them, one comes to contemplate the mind of God, His character, His attributes, His works, and His blessings.
Proverbs are divine guidelines and principles not promises.
All of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge expressed in Proverbs are hidden in Christ
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Proverbs are divine guidelines and principles not promises.
As humans, we often face complicated situations that can't be solved by following a set of rules. This is where wisdom plays a crucial role, and the book of Proverbs offers valuable insights.
Proverbs are divine guidelines and principles not promises.
When we seek God's wisdom, we can effectively navigate through life's challenges and can make wise decisions.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
Wise Christians and churches are radiant and attractive, and the Bible tells us to "walk in wisdom toward outsiders".
More people are won for Christ by beauty than by rules.
Our exploration of God's wisdom begins in Proverbs 1:1-7. According to this passage, the key to gaining knowledge is reverence for the Lord.
If you open up to God’s wisdom He will open His wisdom to you.
If you seek to grow in wisdom, you can start by asking God to show you the way forward. Simply say,
Lord, I want to walk with you on the path of wisdom.
If you open up to God’s wisdom He will open His wisdom to you.
THE MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
THE MEANS OF ITS COMMUNICATION
The title tells us its means of communication.
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
The means of communication for this book is a literary approach called proverbs. Generally, proverbs are brief statements that offer practical truths that are easy to remember like; “Look before you leap”. However, Biblical proverbs offer much more than just common sense.
Each proverb is like a miniature representation of reality, a verbal depiction of some aspect of our everyday lives.
By exploring these proverbs from every angle, we can gain valuable insights that enable us to make better decisions before we step out into the real world.
LEARN AND LIVE
While the world may say "Live and learn," God is encouraging us to "Learn and live." Think of a proverb this way.
WRIGHT BROTHERS GRAPHIC
When the Wright brothers flew their airplane for the first time in 1903, they knew it would take off. How did they know? They had built a wind tunnel where they tested different wing designs before they risked their necks in actual flight.
WRIGHT BROTHERS GRAPHIC
We can explore a real-life situation within the virtual reality of a proverb. We can know in advance what is going to fly and what is going to crash. Biblical wisdom tells us what life is really like.
THE ORIGIN OF ITS CONTENT
What's particularly fascinating is that the book doesn't often connect with the history of God's people, unlike other parts of the Bible. However, it's important to note that the wisdom in Proverbs connects all of life to God.
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore,
so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.
For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.
He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.
And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
THE ORIGIN OF ITS CONTENT
What made Solomon unique was that he didn't separate God from any aspect of his life. He understood that everything was interconnected with our Creator, and that made everything interesting to him.
His perspective on life was similar to Jonathan Edwards, who saw divine glory in everything around him.
God had created lower things to be signs that pointed to higher spiritual realities. The universe, then, was a complex language of God. Nothing in it was accidental. Everything pointed to a higher meaning. Scripture … was the key to reading the true meaning of everything else.
As we embrace the Biblical worldview, we gain a deeper understanding of the true significance of money, sex, power, and everything else that encompasses our existence.
It's not about outsmarting others, but instead about revering the Lord. Solomon had this perspective, seeing the interconnectedness of all things with our Creator. Let us also allow God to guide us and reveal His truth to us, through His grace.
THE OBJECTIVE OF PROVERBS
DEEP CHARACTER - STRAIGHT THINKING
God has two goals for us as stated in the book of Proverbs. These goals are deep character and straight thinking, as mentioned in verse 2.
DEEP CHARACTER - STRAIGHT THINKING
Deep character is all about knowing wisdom and instruction, while straight thinking is about understanding words of insight. Verses 3 and 4 provide further insights into deep character, and verse 6 talks about straight thinking.
DEEP CHARACTER - STRAIGHT THINKING
Even wise individuals are encouraged to keep growing, as mentioned in verse 5. It's essential to note that everyone, regardless of age or wisdom, can take a step forward with the Lord and continue to grow together. We can form a community of individuals who are continuously growing.
DEEP CHARACTER
To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,
What does Solomon mean by “wisdom”?
Wisdom is more than brains. It is more than morals. We could memorize the whole Bible, and mean it from the heart, without wisdom.
Wisdom is skill, expertise, and competence that understands how life really works.
Wisdom understands how real life can work well. Wisdom knows better than to walk onto the football field without a game plan. It takes into account not only the rules of the game but also psychology, timing and everything it takes to win. That is wisdom.
To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,
Now if wisdom is so desirable, and it is, then why isn’t everyone running toward wisdom? Why is it rare? Because of the next word in verse 2: “instruction.” It is also translated “discipline” (NLT).
We are not born wise.
We are not born wise. Foolishness is natural. Wisdom is acquired. We get into wisdom the hard way, through the Lord’s instruction and discipline, through being chastened and corrected.
DISCIPLINE HELPS US TO FORSAKE THE FOOL WITHIN SO WE CAN DEVELOP DEEP CHARACTER.
to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—
The simple, the young, gain three benefits from wisdom, according to verse 4.
SHREWDNESS
Shrewdness is a good kind of cunning. It means to know how to actually get things done, how to make a goal into reality, not just to talk about it but to actually bring it into reality.
SHREWDNESS
Another way to say it is wise people are not just characterized by insight but also by foresight. They don’t just diagnose the problem; they also know how to solve it
KNOWLEDGE
What does everyone need to know? The very thing our popular theories deny, namely, that there is an inescapable link between deed and consequence.
KNOWLEDGE
We think we can create our own designer lives, even new selves, by force of raw choice. But the truth is, reality is not made-to-order.
KNOWLEDGE
We cannot make it up as we go. We were born into a preexisting order that God created long ago.
KNOWLEDGE
We need to know what that order is and how it works in relationships, in finances, in sex, in every area of life, so that we can stop shooting ourselves in the foot. If we know, we can adjust, and we can thrive.
DISCRETION
Discretion is caginess that sees through the temptations coming at us every day, especially in advertising. God wants to give us deep character so that can’t be fooled anymore. He can help us outfox our temptations.
DISCRETION
Nothing is more powerful to overcome temptation than the fear of God.
Fear of the Lord is the key to faithfulness in any situation.
Verses 3, 4 are how we start out, as beginners. Verse 5 tells us that even seasoned veterans can keep on learning:
Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,
DON’T DIE BEFORE YOU DIE!
As we age, it can be challenging to maintain a fresh and expectant mindset while keeping ourselves moving forward on an upward trajectory of growth.
DON’T DIE BEFORE YOU DIE!
We must be realistic about ourselves and acknowledge that it's easy to stall and coast, and we can get lazy. However, we cannot give up before our time. Don’t die before you die!
DON’T DIE BEFORE YOU DIE!
Let's fight against complacency and continue to learn like the Apostle Paul.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.
The first purpose of Proverbs is deep character and his second purpose is . . .
STRAIGHT THINKING
Look back to the second line of verse 2:
To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,
STRAIGHT THINKING
“to understand words of insight.” Think of the difference between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
STRAIGHT THINKING
When a potential client walked into 221B Baker Street Holmes could retrieve nineteen points of information within a few minutes of observation.
STRAIGHT THINKING
Dr. Watson saw the same person, but not with the same insight. This word “insight” means that the non-obvious can become obvious to you.
STRAIGHT THINKING
The immature might not see what you see. They might even misunderstand you. This happens often between parents and children.
STRAIGHT THINKING
Parents be the Sherlock Holmes of your family. Don’t surrender that to your kids. They don’t have enough insight yet. They need yours.
to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.
STRAIGHT THINKING
The book of Proverbs offers a community of wisdom, a group of Yoda-smart people standing around talking together.
STRAIGHT THINKING
As beginners, we can sidle up to this circle of amazing people and listen to the conversation. We may overhear words and concepts we don't understand at first,
STRAIGHT THINKING
but as we stick with it, we can leave behind our shallow entertainment mindset and grow into profound individuals. As we listen to the wise, we grow.
THE FOUNDATION OF WISDOM
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
FEAR OF THE LORD
What then is the fear of the Lord? It is not a cringing dread before the Lord. It is not a guilty “Oh no, here comes God. I’m in for it now.”
The fear of the Lord is openness to him, eagerness for him to become more precious to us, and humility to be instructed by him.
The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
The fear of the Lord is a willingness to turn from evil and change.
And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’ ”
The fear of the Lord is surrender to his will.
He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
The fear of the Lord is one way we love him.
that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
The fear of Christ is meekly fitting in with one another
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
The fear of the Lord is when we realize, “I am not the measure of all things. I am being measured.”
Reverence toward God builds our confidence and flows out as a “fountain of life” into everyone and everything we care about.
In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
It takes us to that place of maturity where no one has to follow us around with a tedious list of do’s and don’t’s, constantly telling us what to do.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
We are motivated from deep within. We know what is right, and it is what we love, because it is of God.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
This fear of the Lord is where we begin our journey into wisdom. It is how we keep making progress all the way. It opens our eyes, and it keeps them open. C. S. Lewis wrote:
In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that—and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison—you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge means that knowledge starts with God and then is given to us. We must receive it with humility and God must reveal it to us by grace.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
The fear of the Lord is the foundation on which we build our search for reality. Leaving God out and making ourselves the judge of everything is a grand blunder that will lead us astray.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
This journey is a painful process as it requires us to let go of our narcissistic egos and self-assured opinions. However, looking inward is not the solution.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
We must turn our attention outward and upward to the Lord, recognizing His sheer reality, moral beauty, and eternal grandeur. Only then can we truly learn and grow.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
Our true crisis is not informational, but relational. We must pay close attention to the risen and living Lord Jesus Christ if we hope to gain any knowledge.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
This requires us to forsake our inner fool, named Self, decisively and endlessly. As author Thomas Merton said,
Change of being is not brought about by straining and ‘will-power’ but by a long deep process of unselfing.
Wise people humbly revere God and strive to please Him with their actions.
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA GRAPHIC
Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA GRAPHIC
Do you revere God that way? Have you experienced how freeing it is to humble yourself before your superior, Jesus Christ? Getting down low before him—that is where we all belong. It is not degrading. It is profound.
THE WIND AND WILLOWS GRAPHIC
Remember The Wind in the Willows, when Rat and Mole go looking for the baby otter and stumble into the presence of God:
Suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground. It was no panic terror—indeed, he felt wonderfully at peace and happy.…
“Rat!” he found breath to whisper, shaking. “Are you afraid?”
“Afraid?” murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love. “Afraid! Of Him? O, never, never! And yet—and yet—O, Mole, I am afraid!”
Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.
The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
THE WISDOM OF GOD
No human would have crafted the message of salvation as found in Scripture. When Jesus spoke of redemption through death on a cross everyone cried foolishness. They could not see the wisdom of God. They could not see that only by going to the cross could God end evil without ending us.
THE WISDOM OF GOD
Paul says the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men. The weakness of God is stronger than the strength of men. He says if you want to become a Christian you have to become a fool for Christ.
THE WISDOM OF GOD
To become a Christian you must admit you have been a fool and you’ve been wise in your own eyes. Then you must embrace the foolishness of the cross and look like a fool to the world.
But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.
THE WISDOM OF GOD
Do you see what it’s saying? “When I see how gracious and good you are. When I see what you did to save me it makes me tremble. Not because I dread your punishment but I desire your pleasure.
THE WISDOM OF GOD
When you have that joyful fear, it’s the beginning of wisdom. Go get it. Let us pray.