If we Pursue Wisdom…

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Welcome everyone!

Members meeting right after service today

OPENING PRAYER

Sermon Introduction

I was at the fair last Sunday for faith & family night and a couple came up to me wanting to buy one of our bulletins. This opened up the door for me to have a spiritual conversation with them. Well, I explained to them about repentance as simple as I could and then I asked them what it means to repent, and the young man said, I have no idea after I just told him! So I explained it to him again and then asked him again and was able to tell me this time.

Its like that for us when we listen to sermons and even read Scripture. Often we need to hear things multiple times before we get it permanently in our hearts. So I want to give a brief overview again of this book because it is going to help us understand this message better

ch 1-9: are structured lessons from a father to his son.

ch 10-30 are the actual proverbs or wise sayings that we are to study and use and to make us wise.

These first 9 chapters prepare us for the rest of the book. This sermon series will end at chapter 9 because the intention is that we will take up a regular study of the rest of the book.

If we fail to do what the first 9 chapters teach us such as: fearing God, staying away from bad friendships and relationships, trusting God, keeping the commandments of God, etc. then we will not benefit from the rest of the book.

The message today is on pursuing wisdom and the benefits of that. Wisdom will not come unless we are actively pursuing it, working for it, allowing it to change the way we think and live. And this message (again) is to be applied directly to our lifelong study of chapters 10-30.

1) HOW DO WE PURSUE WISDOM?

a) we must have a willingness to learn

Proverbs 2:1–3 NASB95

My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding;

(v 1) “my son, if you will receive my words”

#1) Accept the teachings of this book

“To receive” does not just mean to simply agree with them

Receiving means: TO ADOPT THEM AS OUR PRINCIPLES TO LIVE BY

We must allow these Proverbs to change our way of thinking

This calls for a predetermined decision to obey them

The reason they can be accepted as whole is because they are inspired by God

Meaning the author behind this book is God

Solomon did not think these Proverbs up, but was simply God’s mouthpiece as God delivered them

God is wisdom personified that protects, saves, leads, delivers and gives us a good life

So to accept them is to accept what God is saying to us

(v 1) “and treasure my commandments within you”

#2) Treasure the Proverbs within us

What commandments is Solomon referring to?

He is talking about the instruction of this book

And by calling the Proverbs “commands” he is revealing their divine authority

“Treasure my commandments”

To treasure is to hide, to keep, or save them up because of their great value

How can we do this?

By Committing these Proverbs to memory

Begin to memorize the ones that we understand and pursue to know more and more

“A wise man will hear and increase in learning”

Bailey has started reading this book and she is writing down all the Proverbs that speak to her

And wringing is a way that helps us memorize

Also practice recalling them

Remember we are talking about chapters 10-30 not the speeches that we are studying

What is the benefit of memorizing them?

When we treasure these in our hearts, they will be available to us in every situation at every moment

A forgotten discipline among the people of God is the skill of memorization

The people of Israel didn’t have pens and pencils like we do

They didn’t have 10 copies of the Word of God at hand at all times

So what they did was memorize the teaching of God’s Word

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 NASB95

“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

Where did they store the Words of God? ON THEIR HEARTS!

IT WAS WITHIN THEM!

AND SO IT IS WITH THE WISE, THEY WILL COMMIT THE PROVERBS TO MEMORY

(v 2) “Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding

#3) Incline our heart (our attitude)

The heart does not refer just refer to our emotions in Scripture but represents the whole person

Our will

Our desires

Our dreams

our ambitions

our heart encompasses the whole person

And he says, “incline your heart” to be wise

we should develop attitudes that earnestly desire wisdom

And that is really what the thrust of this series is about! It is about opening our eyes and hearts to want to be wise and want to pursue wisdom.

It is my hope that you all will begin to study chapters 10-30 and live them out!

My hope is that you will take them seriously and reap the great rewards they have in store

And our attitudes have so much to do with it.

1) HOW DO WE PURSUE WISDOM?

a) we must have a willingness to learn

b) WILLINGNESS TO WORK

Proverbs 2:4–5 NASB95

If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord And discover the knowledge of God.

The call for us is to search for wisdom like a hidden treasure

“crying out for discernment”, “lifting up you voice”, “seek her as silver”, “search for her as hidden treasure”:

All these things refer to diligently pursuing wisdom with great effort!

It speaks of the work involved in this quest to become wise

Treasure Hunter named Tommy Thompson was a treasure hunter who had given the majority of his life seeking after a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. This treasure Tommy was after is believed to be the largest sunken treasure in the history of America. To help him in his search, he was able to securing millions of dollars from 161 investors for all of his equipment and crew who would comb the bottom of the sea to search for this sunken treasure. Tommy spent years studying and planning his multi-year expedition that eventually led him to discover the sunken ship known as the S.S. CENTRAL AMERICA, also known as the SHIP OF GOLD in 1988. This ship sunk off the coast of South Carolina in a hurricane in 1857 and is believed to have been carrying over 500 million dollars in gold coins.

He was able to the surface during his first expedition an estimated 52 million dollars in gold with plans to go and retrieve more, but his investors were waiting on shore with their hands out. Instead of sharing the gold, Tommy went on the run. He cashed in the gold and lived in a hotel for years with his girlfriend until authorities located him and placed him in federal prison For refusing to appear in court.

Do you know where Tommy is today? He is sitting behind bars because he refuses to tell the authorities where his treasure is. He claims he does not have anymore gold, but the authorities are not buying it. They believe he found far more gold than reported, and has it hidden with plans to give it to his children. So he is sitting in federal prison today incurring A $1,000 fine until he tells America where his treasure is.

That just is an example of a treasure hunter who hunted for the perishable, but you and I are searching for the imperishable

Something of much greater vale than gold or silver!

BUT WISDOM DOES NOT COME WITHOUT COST!

BUT IT IS ALWASY WORTH THE COST

Now we are given the results of the things above.

The flow of the chapter goes like this: “if you will learn, be willing to work, and diligently pursue wisdom these two things will be the results:

The first result of pursuing wisdom is finding God

Proverbs 2:5–6 NASB95

Then you will discern the fear of the Lord And discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

If we diligently seek wisdom, if we are willing to make sacrifices and put in the work to become wise, then what one will encounter is the GIVER OF WISDOM

This pursuit of wisdom leads us to the source of all wisdom: which is GOD

(v 6) “All wisdom comes from God”

There is the human effort that is required (v 1-4)

And here we see the divine side that is also required (v 6)

No one is ever be able to become wise apart from the grace of God. It simply is impossible. Wisdom is a divine gift that comes down from the Father into the lives of those who fear Him.

This seems to contrast what we learned in the first message.

Proverbs 1:7 NASB95

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

That verse is saying that we must first fear God to become wise ⇒ TRUE

But here we are to pursue wisdom to fear God ⇒ ALSO TRUE

POINT: Knowing God and being wise are inseparable. One cannot have one without the other.

POINT: That also means that a wise man will ALWAYS have a godly character. Any man that claims to be wise, yet lives sinfully is deceived. According to the book of Proverbs, the first step in wisdom is fearing God. and one who pursues wisdom ends up encountering God.

Is the effort above worth the results?

Can anything be better than encountering the living God?

Can anything be of more value than fearing and knowing God?

NEVER!

THE SUM OF ALL LIFE WILL COME DOWN TO WHETHER OR NOT ONE FEARS GOD!

Ecclesiastes 12:13 NASB95

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

And what happens when one understands the fear of God and encounters God?

Proverbs 2:7–8 NIV

He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

There is fruit of wisdom in one’s life! God is clearly at work in the wise man’s life!

He holds success in store for the upright

The upright are those who do what is right by God!

For those people, they will have good results in this life.

Psalm 84:11 NASB95

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

He is a shield to those who walk in integrity

integrity: To always do the right thing, especially when one is not looking

When we commit to always to do what is right, open ourselves up to all kinds of vulnerable areas, God promises His divine protection

He is like a broody hen guarding her eggs, no one will be able to get to them

He Guards the paths of the just

just: refers to those who practices fairness and treat people equally

The path metaphor refers to the walk of life.

Those that walk with God do not walk on the slippery slope that this world walks on, their path is guarded by the Almighty

He Preserves the way of the godly

The godly refers to those who are faithful

To preserve means that He keeps them. He does not allow them to drift out into the paths of foolish living. He directs their steps, so that they walk the path of the godly.

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS:

Pursuit of wisdom ⇒ The Source of Wisdom: God ⇒ A biblically successful life

There are two paths to becomes wise and they both involve finding God.

Any kind of life lived outside a relationship with God will ALWASY LEAD TO REGRET

The second result of pursuing wisdom is a healthy conscience

Proverbs 2:9–11 NASB95

Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you,

Wisdom brings awareness of righteousness, justice, and equity.

All of God’s wisdom has a moral foundation. Its not about getting ahead in life, or living some luxurious life, or being without any troubles.

Biblical wisdom is about living life the way God designed it, ands living life in a way that pleases Him, and living life in way that loves your neighbor as yourself.

But all of it has a moral foundation, and if you read chapter 10-31 carefully you will see righteousness in nearly every proverb.

“For wisdom will enter your heart, and be pleasant to your soul”

There is just something unexplainably healthy about living life the way God wants us to.

I cannot explain to you in words the first time the reality of walking with God came into my life.

This overwhelming peace that covered me, despite all the hardships I had going on, but I WAS RIGHT WITH GOD!

Not only is wisdom good for the soul, it keeps us from bad friendships that lead us astray

Proverbs 2:12–15 NASB95

To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil; Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways;

“to deliver you from the way of evil”

The way is referring to a lifestyle. The walk one is one. The path in life

And often this path is chosen at a young age. Before leaving the security of the home and parents, the young man or woman chooses what path they will walk down.

Most people are led down the crooked path because they follow others

You think about the first time you ever did something bad. You were most likely with others who were influencing you.

Especially if you grew up in a ChristIan home.

But when the pursuit of wisdom becomes our priority, that wisdom WILL DELIVER us from following others who walk down crooked paths.

How?

Moral sensitivity

A conscience that warns us of its danger

A fear of God that compels us to stay away

Wisdom will also protect us from seductive relationships

Proverbs 2:16–19 NASB95

To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters with her words; That leaves the companion of her youth And forgets the covenant of her God; For her house sinks down to death And her tracks lead to the dead; None who go to her return again, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

Two great temptations for this young man that will take him down the path of destruction: bad friendships and immoral relationships.

Now this is the strange woman. And if you are a single woman in here today, just substitute that with the strange man. The truth applies both ways.

Why the strange woman bad for this young man?

Because she is called an adulteress who leaves the companion of her youth

And she forgets the covenant of her God

Wisdom will deliver you from this deadly trap:

How?

Because you will understand righteousness, justice, equity, and every good course (every good way of life)

You will not be deceived by her words

You will not be fooled to believe that her spouse is the one to blame and she is a good person who was done wrong

You will be able to see through all the “smooth and flattering words” that she has and understand the true heart of the matter.

Conclusion:

Proverbs 2:20–22 NASB95

So you will walk in the way of good men And keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land And the blameless will remain in it; But the wicked will be cut off from the land And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.

Each of these sections end with its own conclusion of two choices: life and death

Those who pursue the wisdom will keep the paths of the righteous AND LIVE!

Those who neglect it, procrastinate, refuse to put in the effort, or even ignore it will experience death

The metaphors for being cut off from the land are spiritual consequences

They refer to our covenant with God

And that is our choice

~PRAYER~

Business Meeting

Opening Prayer

Reading of last months minutes

Any Questions?

Vote to approve last months minutes

Treasurers Report

Any Questions?

Vote to approve the treasurers report

Unfinished Business

New Business

Any other new business?

Meeting adjourned