“How to Live Wise in a Foolish World”
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:27:34
0 ratings
· 26 viewsFiles
Notes
Transcript
There is a lot of foolish decisions and behavior happening in our world today. Take a look around. What is happening in our country and even in our world is just foolishness. Starting with our children who are being told as early as 5 years old that they may not be a girl when God created them as a girl, or they may not be a boy when God created them as a boy. They are being told that they need to have some kind of transgender treatment. Then we add to that the foolish laws put into place the murder of babies or to marry same sex couples. Ironically this month is pride month which is a celebration for the LGBTQ community. Proverbs chapter 16 says this about pride and celebrating sin.
18 Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
As a country we have made laws in order to justify sinful behavior. We are living in foolish times church. Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 2 verse 15 that we are living in a wicked and perverse generation. This is the world that we live in. So, how can we live wise in a foolish world? Turn with me to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 1.
The word Proverb is a Hebrew word (mashal) which is a pithy saying. It has the root meaning to represent or to be like. It can also be translated to rule or have dominion. Proverbs can be like a riddle, a hard saying, or even like a parable.
Proverbs show us guidelines for the way we should live. As we look at the different Proverbs they should not be read as promises to us, but rather as guidance as we journey through this life. So, the Proverbs were written for our learning. It is as if Solomon the author is speaking to his children.
Matthew Henry comments about this book when he says, “Proverbs is like a little compass. It is a divine and complete body of ethics, politics, economics, exposing every form of evil, recommending every virtue and suggesting rules for the government of ourselves in every relation.”
The book of Proverbs is known as wisdom literature of ancient Israel and there are a total of 31 chapters most of which Solomon wrote. Proverbs 1 verses 1 through 7 are the preamble to the book and verses 8 through chapter 9 verse 18 are the prologue which consist of 10 different lessons from a father to the son. Chapter 10 through chapter 31 then give us a collection of wise sayings that deal with many topics. As we look at these different topics in the weeks to come, we will come to see how they teach us how to live wisely and righteously in this foolish world.
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
1. Who is the author of these wise sayings?
1. Who is the author of these wise sayings?
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
These are the Proverbs of Solomon who was inspired through the Holy Spirit. Solomon’s name carries the meaning of peace, and it was because of this that God allowed Solomon to build His temple. David desired to build the temple, however David’s life was full of trouble and bloodshed. We also know that Solomon was the Son of King David. We know that David taught Solomon many things and helped prepare him as Solomon would serve as king.
Verse 1 also tells us that Solomon was King of Israel. Solomon would instruct and guide God’s people. In 1 Kings chapter 3 Solomon prays for wisdom and we know that God hears his prayer and grants him with an extraordinary measure of wisdom. Solomon did not ask for wealth or power, and yet God granted him these things as well. Solomon made good use of his wisdom to help lead his people and rule his kingdom. Solomon’s name was so great that there were many people who came to seek his wisdom and learn from him. In 1 Kings chapter 10 the queen of Sheba came to see and learn from Solomon. Solomon is credited for writing over 3,000 proverbs and was one of the wisest people to ever walk the face of the earth. However, we know that even in all of his wisdom, Solomon still had his faults. Solomon took his eyes and focus off the Lord. Later on in his life he turned aside from the good ways of God, which in this book he had shown others to follow. Solomon eventually turned to his many wives, and followed after their gods. The point here church is that we learn to follow after God and His wise instructions for our lives and not after men who forget to live up to God’s righteous rules.
2. What was the purpose for these wise sayings?
2. What was the purpose for these wise sayings?
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
There are several reasons that stand out to us here on why the wise sayings of Proverbs have been given. The first reason is that we may know wisdom and instruction. The wisdom that we come to posses is recieved through instruction. Instruction comes to us through the divine revelation of God’s Word. The preaching and teaching of the Bible. This can be delivered to us through Elders, Pastors, Godly men and women who teach within the church. We also see this happen through godly fathers and mothers who have a desire to teach their children God’s Word.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
The wisdom that we receive from godly instruction should help us so that we may know how to speak and act as we live out our lives and even given instruction to those around us. The opposite of this is worldly foolish instruction. The world will tell you live how you want, truth is whatever you want it to be and so many people are more angry, confused, fearful and anxious than ever before. This is what happens when people follow the foolish lies of the world and Satan.
The next purpose for these wise sayings is to be able to tell the difference between what is true and what is false. To be able to distinguish between good and evil, to understand words of insight. We are living in a post truth generation. Our schools and our culture are basically denying that we can know truth, and that everyone defines truth however they want, so much so that we can’t even define what a woman is anymore. It’s not that hard people. Here is what Proverbs tells us.
15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.
That advice is God’s word. Genesis tells us that he God has created male and female and there are no other sexes. A woman is a wonderful and beautiful creation from God. And women are clearly created differently from men and yet both of them are equal in the fact that they are made in the image of God.
The second half of verse 3 also tells us that with instruction our lives will be characterized by several important traits. When we pay attention to wisdom and instruction our lives should be marked as righteous, just, and with equity. This means just or fair. We see that these traits are used often in the Psalms to show us attributes that God desires for us as His children.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
So, we clearly see here the purpose for these wise sayings.
3. Who were these wise sayings written too?
3. Who were these wise sayings written too?
4 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
We now see that Proverbs have been given or written with a specific people in mind. The author here tells us that Proverbs is designed first of all for the simple.
-The Simple. The instructions here that are given are plain and easy in order for those who are unlearned or perhaps don’t have as much knowledge as others can still learn. Here is what King David had to say about this in Psalm 19.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
It is often easy for the simple to be led astray, so here in Psalm 19 we see the importance of learning what is right, and perfect and sure opposed to what is false and sinful. As those people who are simple minded come to learn the wise sayings that we see in God’s Word it can helps us to avoid sinful things that we see that we should run from, and also pay attention to the godly instructions that we should learn and then do. Are you spending time in the perfect law of God’s Word? If not it will be hard for you to know how to walk in a wise manner.
-Another specific group is The Youth. People who are young need knowledge and discretion. When I was young and in my teenage years I thought I knew everything as many teenagers do. Those who are young are able to learn and hear instruction and retain what is being taught. They are at a very vulnerable and impressionable age. If those who are young will listen and learn they will soon grow in knowledge and discretion, which is so important for our future generations. Young people my prayer for you is that you would have a love for God and a deep love for His Word so that you can be a bright light for your generation and the generations to come. The only way for this to happen is to know the truth of God’s Word and not to be deceived by the lies of Satan and the foolishness of this world. Watch out, be on guard and stand up for your faith.
4. How are we to use these wise sayings?
4. How are we to use these wise sayings?
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The author here had addressed the simple minded and those who are young to pay attention to these wise sayings, however this does not exclude the rest of us. Proverbs is not only milk for the young Christians, it is also the strong and juicy meat for the strong and the wise. No matter how long you have been a Christian and no matter how much you know, we can always be growing from the godly instructions that we see in God’s Word. As long as we live, we should have a desire to increase in our learning. As believers we should have a love to study God’s Word. You should be doing this on your own through a personal quiet time as well through the teaching of God’s Word here at Church. These are ways that men and women increase in learning so that we can go out and live as Christians. There are several ways that we can put our learning into practice.
-By giving godly biblical counsel. (Guidance) A man or woman of understanding here grows in learning so that they can be a guidance to others. Those who God has blessed with wisdom must at some point begin to speak truth into others lives. You might begin with those in your own family as they come to you with questions. It may be friends or people you work with. There will also come times where people in our church have questions and so we need to be able to give wise counsel to help them in their faith.
-To interpret. (To understand) To be able to understand a proverb and a saying we have to be able to rightly understand it. Solomon himself was very wise in explaining riddles and hard questions. There can be many times as believers that we will come upon difficult parts of God’s word and so we need to be able to rightly interpret Scripture by comparing it with other scripture. Those of us who are elders and overseers should have a firm grasp on God’s word. Several of our men here have gone through a study on the different theologies found in God’s Word and this is so helpful and we preach and teach God’s Word. Without that we can lead people astray. So our desire here at Antioch is preach God’s Word one verse at a time in order that our people may have a proper understanding of the full counsel of God’s Word.
5. Where is wisdom found?
5. Where is wisdom found?
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
I think that it is so important for us to pay attention to the beginning and ending of any book that we see in Scripture. In this case the beginning of Proverbs tells us where wisdom is found. It is found by fearing God. We also see this same theme mentioned all throughout the book of Proverbs.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
And finally we see this theme mentioned in chapter 31, at the very end.
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
King Solomon, having seen the importance of teaching others and leading his people the nation of Israel, gives us two important rules to put into practice as we consider where is wisdom found???
-So, first of all we see that wisdom is found in Fearing God. The head of knowledge is that God be feared. The fear of the Lord is one of the most important sayings that we see throughout this book. There are many times that we see the fear of God paired with a specific phrase.
-Fear of the Lord leads to knowledge of God.
-Fear of the Lord leads to hatred of evil.
-Fear of the Lord leads to long life.
-Fear of the Lord leads to wisdom, humility, and honor.
Do you have a fear of God? Do you have a reverence for God? God alone should be served and worshiped and this can only happen when we love God and fear him. The beginning or start to knowledge is to fear God. The opposite side of this is that people have no fear of God and they live however they desire seeing nothing wrong with sin or sinful choices that they make. When we fear God we will have a desire not to do anything that displeases our Lord. This does not mean that we live perfect lives, however sin will become less frequent in our lives because there is a healthy fear of God.
-Second of all, wisdom is found by not despising wisdom and instruction. The other part of this coin is that fools or atheists despise wisdom and instruction.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.
Foolish people have no worries or fears about God’s wrath. They live for themselves in the here and the now, and have no desire to please the Lord. There is no thought or thankfulness for what God has done. Every man does what is right in his own eyes. Those who are foolish people and do not fear God, have no value for Scripture which contains wisdom and instruction. Foolish people look at God’s Word and make fun of it because they see it as outdated, untrue and insufficient for their lives. Though there are many wise people alive today and who desire to be wise, they are foolish because they have no fear of God and despise the wisdom of His Word.
My prayer for you today is do not be foolish. Don’t think like the world. God’s Word tells us that you cannot follow Jesus and live in your former manner of life. To be a disciple of Jesus means that you have to make a complete turnaround. You must carry your cross and come after Jesus. Today I plead with you if you are here and don’t know Christ respond to this invitation now. The time is now.
2 For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
This is a serious matter, for none of us in this room are assured of tomorrow. Turn your back on the foolish things of this world. Turn your back on sin and run to Jesus. You cannot be half in and half out with Christ. The most important decision, the wisest decision you can make requires that you repent of your sins and turn away from pursuing a selfish life and turn to Christ. Are you ready to make this kind of commitment to Jesus Christ?
(Pray)
(Lead into Communion)