The Secret to Truly Being Alive

INTRODUCTION

SHOW MISTLETOE CACTUS PICTURE HERE

If you go down to Central America and drive through the mountains of El Salvador, you will pretty much see nothing but green.

The valleys between the mountains are filled with rich, green forests.

It isn’t like the forests of Virginia, which has lots of brown mixed in with the green.

It is more just a bunch of really rich shades of green.

One of the green plants that you will find down there is the “Mistletoe Cactus.”

When it really gets growing, it looks like a green version of “Cousin It” from The Addams Family hanging down from a tree.

But here is the interesting thing about the Mistletoe Cactus.

Like other plants, once it loses all its moisture, it will die.

Unlike other plants, it won’t necessarily lose its color.

Even though there is no water, the Mistletoe Cactus appears to be healthy.

And this can carry on unto death.

Long after the plant has died, it can appear to be alive.

This is a picture of the spiritual state of so many people today.

They appear to be alive.

They are walking around.

They are breathing air.

They are going to jobs and participating in communities.

And yet, they are dead.

They do not have the spiritual Living Water that they need and they are in danger of spiritual death carrying on for eternity.

They are in desperate need of Christ, who is the Wisdom of God.

He is the only One who can give them life.

John 6:40 ESV

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

They do not know Christ, who is the Wisdom of God, therefore, they dwell in spiritual foolishness.

They both willfully rebellious and ignorantly negligent of God’s laws and

They are rejecting the wisdom of God outright on one hand

But on the other hand, they have no idea as to the level of spiritual treason they commit everyday by ignoring God and His commands

If you are here tonight and you are hearing this and you are not a Christian, please understand that I am describing your life.

And if you hear this and you know you are in desperate needs of the eternal life that only God can give, then heed the words of Proverbs 4 that I will read and expound upon in just a moment.

But if you are hearing this and you are a Christian--then understand that you are not like the world.

You should not be living your life in willful rebellion or ignorant negligence when it comes to God’s laws.

Instead, it should be your aim to know God and demonstrate your love for Him by obeying Him.

And that is what we are talking about tonight.

We are talking about The Secret to Being Truly Alive.

But for believers in Christ--it isn’t much of a secret.

What we hear tonight will be less of a revolution and more of a review.

But it is a review we need.

For we can be very forgetful about where life is really found and how we get it.

We don’t want to be like a Mistletoe Cactus that appears to be alive, but is actually dead because there is no life in the stems and leaves.

We know how to get life and we must be eager keep drinking from that well.

CONTEXT AND TEXT

A reminder of where we are in Proverbs.

We are in Collection 1, which spans the first nine chapters of Proverbs.

There are seven collections in the 31 chapters of the book.

In Collection 1, there are Ten Fatherly Talks from Solomon to his son.

We have studied five of them so far.

We will study the 6th in two parts.

Part 1 is tonight and we will be in Proverbs 4:1-19

Proverbs 4:1–19 ESV

Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.” Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

I have three teaching points for us tonight. Three “secrets” to truly being alive.

Secret #1: Recognize wisdom for what it is.

Secret #2: Pursue wisdom for what it gives.

Secret #3: Cherish wisdom for what it produces.

RECOGNIZE WISDOM FOR WHAT IT IS

THE INTRO TO THE ADDRESS (v. 1-3)

Now before we get to the first point, let’s see who is doing the speaking in this passage.

As we look at v. 1, we can see that Solomon is still doing the talking.

He has been the father who is addressing his son throughout Proverbs so far and nothing is different in chapter 4.

But who he is addressing has changed. It is not just one son. He says, “Sons” in v. 1.

This could be because Solomon now means to address all of his sons, but it is likely wider than that.

I think Gary Brady is correct when he says that by using the plural, Solomon is actually opening his address up to all of the young men in Israel.

He means to speak to the next generation of Jewish worshippers.

His aim is very similar to what his aim has been throughout the first collection of Proverbs:

He wants his instruction listened to for the sake of insight being gained.

He wants the good sound learning that he is distributing to be received and held onto.

It should not be forsaken.

However, the content of this fatherly talk is different from the others due to what he says in v. 3.

This talk is biographical and the King is sharing his own father’s advice with his boy.

David had instilled wisdom in Solomon as his son and now Solomon is giving David’s wisdom to his own child.

It is being passed down through the generations.

And this Proverbs gives us a view of what David taught Solomon regarding true life in v. 4-9.

And then he adds more of his own commentary and wisdom in v. 10-19.

We start working through his words with our first point:

Secret #1: Recognize wisdom for what it is.

THE MANY NAMES OF WISDOM

Wisdom goes by a lot of different names in this passage.

Wisdom is mentioned outright in v. 5 and v. 7.

God has made the world in wisdom and with wisdom and by wisdom.

And the wise recognize this and seek to align their whole being and all of their actions with Him.

This begins with fearing and revering Him for who He is.

The Way of Wisdom is mentioned in v. 11, showing that wisdom is practical.

It is a path you walk on, not just something you talk about.

Insight is another word used in v. 1, as well as v. 5 and v. 7.

This is understanding and the ability to make sense of life.

Instruction is in v. 1 and in v. 13.

This is the discipline or training that produces wisdom.

Precepts and Teaching are synonyms for wisdom that are used in v. 2.

The Words of the father’s father and then the father are also synonyms for wisdom in v. 4, as well as in v. 5 and 10.

And then finally, as commandments in v. 4.

These are all different ways of describing wisdom or some aspect of wisdom.

And that means that there can be no doubt when it comes what Solomon sees as most important for the sons of his own household and all of the sons of Israel.

Nearly every sentence that comes from his mouth in this passage has some mention of the wisdom of God because it is his heart’s desire for the wisdom of God to be on the tongue of every Israelite.

He loads his words with references because he wants the next generation to be loaded with God’s wisdom.

REPETITION COMMUNICATES IMPORTANCE

Solomon does this because he knows what every good teacher knows--repetition communicates importance.

When I first started learning percussion, they showed me what a paradiddle was and was a flam was on my first day.

My instructor--Mark--said, “These are rudiments and we will do them over and over because they are the foundation for everything in percussion.”

And then, Mark made me play rudiments over and over.

I thought drum lessons would be him teaching me how to play a drum set with one arm like the guy from Def Leppard.

But it turned out that it was more like playing the same notes with the same hand patterns for hours on end.

And yet--all that repetition let me know from the very start--rudiments are vital for drumming.

This idea was particularly important in Hebrew culture.

God is called holy, holy, holy--repeated three times, in order to communicate significance and weightiness.

The prophets would speak about the same thing in multiple ways in order to communicate the same truth effectively by using multiple angles and approaches.

Apocalyptic literature, like Revelation, might show you the same thing 7 different ways to make sure you understand.

Well, in this passage, Solomon is making use of repetition for the same purpose of saying, “HEY! THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!”

Wisdom is vital for a life that brings honor to God and is satisfied, therefore, Solomon is emphasizing it through repetition.

He is talking about wisdom with all these different words and in all these different ways in order to highlight how crucial it is to spiritual living.

IS IT IMPORTANT TO US?

The question is--how important is it to us?

We know it is important to the Holy Spirit because He inspired Solomon to speak of wisdom again and again in just a few verses, but how important is God’s wisdom to our own hearts?

The truth is that repetition doesn’t just demonstrate importance in Hebrew literature.

Repetition demonstrates importance in our lives.

Why do I eat three times a day...or more? Because I think it is important.

Why do I repeat a To-Do List to myself as I walk out the door? Because I think it is important not to forget anything.

Why do I teach the same lessons over and over to my kids about reverence and kindness and humility and patience? Because they are important virtues for them to learn.

So we have to examine what is on repeat in our lives.

There are functional repeats--like going to the bathroom.

There are obligated repeats--like going to work.

But what about the repetition you volunteer for?

Social media apps we return to again and again--maybe even in the same hour

Shows we have seen so many times but we keep binge-ing

Exercises we perform in order to maintain our health

But do you repeatedly come back to God’s Word each day because you know that His wisdom is found there and it is important?

Do you repeatedly come to Him in prayer and ask for wisdom because you know it is important?

Do you repeatedly repent of your sins and ask for His forgiveness because you know how vital it is to put sin to death and live on God’s grace?

What we do again and again will say something of what we find to be most significant.

It might even say something about where we think life is found.

We must see how much Solomon speaks of wisdom in this passage and give it the attention it begs for.

And we must repeatedly engage in the activities that will yield the wisdom of God to us.

We must pursue it.

And that leads to our second point.

PURSUE WISDOM FOR WHAT IT GIVES

Secret #2: Pursue wisdom for what it gives.

We are to be active in pursuing wisdom and there are a host of words in this text that makes that clear to us.

WORDS FOR PURSUING WISDOM

In the same way that there are lots of different words and terms for wisdom in this passage, there are also lots of words and terms for what our relationship with wisdom should be.

We are told how to pursue it and what we should do with it once we have it.

Let’s walk through the verses and just point the words out. You don’t get far without having to stop.

The very first word is one of these terms that tell us about how we should be pursuing wisdom.

We should HEAR God’s wisdom--in this case through Solomon’s instruction (v. 1).

We should BE ATTENTIVE to God’s wisdom (v. 2)

We should GET wisdom (v. 5)

And then again in v. 7 where Solomon says:

Proverbs 4:7 ESV

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

Derek Kidner says that verse 7 is Solomon declaring that the acquisition of wisdom does not take brains or talent--just the drive to go and get it.

If you want wisdom, you simply must decide to pursue it.

And then again in v. 10 you see that wisdom is something we should HEAR and ACCEPT.

So HEAR, BE ATTENTIVE, GET AND ACCEPT.

These are all words that tell us that we should be on a hunt for wisdom.

WORDS FOR KEEPING WISDOM

And then we find out what we should do with it once we get our hands on it.

Solomon says:

DO NOT FORSAKE wise teaching (v. 2)

HOLD FAST to wise words (v. 4)

KEEP COMMANDMENTS (v. 4)

DO NOT FORGET wise words (v. 5)

DO NOT TURN AWAY from wise words (v. 5)

DO NOT FORSAKE wisdom (v. 6)

KEEP HOLD of wisdom (v. 13)

DO NOT LET GO of wisdom (v. 13)

GUARD wisdom (v. 13)

Clearly, once we get our hands on wisdom, we should not let go of it.

We should cling to it the way that a man dying of thirst would cling to a bottle of Aquafina on a hot day.

He would view that water as life and this is how we should view wisdom.

The wisdom of God is spiritual life to us.

Christ is the Wisdom of God and He is quite literally our life.

Without His life, death, resurrection and ascension, we would be dead in our sins and we would have no hope of reconciliation with God.

We would have been cut off from Him forever, which is spiritual death.

So in the Person of Christ and in the work of Christ, we find life.

But beyond that sort of “meta statement,” we can also say that God’s wisdom is life to us day in and day out as His people.

The wisdom of His Word is life to us

The wisdom He pours out in response to prayer is life to us

The wisdom of His Spirit as He convicts us and calls us to higher levels of holiness and obedience is life to us

The wisdom of His people who encourage us and confront us is life to us

Wherever we are spiritually flourishing, we can draw a straight line to the wisdom of God.

And there are blessings that we receive as a result of His wisdom being at work in our lives.

BLESSINGS FROM KEEPING WISDOM

First of all, we see the blessing of PROTECTION (v. 6).

Wisdom keeps and guards those who do not forsake her and love her.

This is one of those truths that is coming to Solomon’s hearers from King David.

David taught Solomon that if you keep hold of wisdom, wisdom will keep hold of you.

If you guard wisdom in your heart, wisdom will guard your life.

Once you get in a relationship with wisdom, stay in that relationship because wisdom will become a shield and shelter for your life.

Wisdom protects us from engaging in sin and experiencing all of its detrimental effects

Wisdom protects us from believing wrong things about God and the world

The wisdom of God’s true Word helps us as our Sword in Spiritual Warfare

As long as we are submissive to God’s Wisdom, it will bring these sorts of blessings to us in our daily walk

Secondly, we see the blessing of EXALTATION (v. 8-9).

If you prize wisdom, wisdom will exalt you (v. 8)

If you embrace wisdom, wisdom will honor you (v. 8)

And that honor will look like this:

A graceful garland on your head

A beautiful crown

James 4:10 says:

James 4:10 ESV

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

There is a connection between the blessing of exaltation in v. 8-9 and James 4:10.

And the connection is this--James is saying that if you bring yourself low before the majesty of God, He will raise you up.

And we know that this is indeed the promise of the Gospel.

If you would mourn your sin, God will comfort you.

If you would repent of your sin and confess it to God, God will forgive you.

Now this would be enough exaltation, right? To be forgiven and no longer be God’s enemy!

And yet, the scandalous grace of the Gospel is not done.

If you would repent and confess and receive Christ, the promise is not just that you will be made right with God through Christ, but that you will bring glory to God by reigning with Christ forever.

Romans 8:17 ESV

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

When you prize Christ, who is the wisdom of God, this is the end result.

Co-heirs with the Son, as He rules the nations with a rod of iron.

In fact, I think this is what Solomon is referring to when he speaks of the graceful garland and the beautiful crown.

In a general sense, these would refer to a wreath for the head that beautifies or serves as a symbol of victory.

But understanding the reward that is stored up for those in Christ, we can see that this is the crown of the co-heirs.

The Triple Diadem of New Testament Glory that is promised for the saints.

The crown of victory that is known by three different names:

The Crown of Righteousness

2 Timothy 4:8 ESV

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

The Crown of Life

James 1:12 ESV

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

The Crown of Glory

1 Peter 5:4 ESV

And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Ultimately, the wisdom of God will see to it that we have the greatest of garlands on our head--the triple Diadem won for us by the Triune God.

And then thirdly, we see the blessing of GUIDANCE (v. 11-12).

The promise of v. 11-12 are two-fold.

First of all, there is the promise of direction (v. 11)

Solomon has taught his son wisdom and wisdom is a way. It is a path to be walked.

He has shown him how to live.

Secondly, there is the promise of stabilization (v. 12)

Solomon’s teaching will bear fruit in his sons’ lives, which includes steps that are not hampered and a running with no stumbling.

Notice how the action intensifies in v. 12

It goes from walking to running.

That tells us that no matter the pace or the intensity of life’s circumstances, the Lord is sustaining His children.

When you take direction and stability and put them together, what you get is GUIDANCE.

A good guide wants his flock to get to the right place and to arrive safely.

This is what the Wisdom of God desires for us.

THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

So we are to pursue wisdom without relent.

We are to cling to it once we get it and never let go.

And the promise from God is that if we do, we will find that we are exalted in the end and protected and directed along the way.

To know God and to be promised His prize and His hand of safety as we wait on that prize, is a great privilege.

It is one that is so great, we should give up everything for it.

We should pursue wisdom for what it gives.

And as we do, we remember one of Jesus’ parables:

Matthew 13:45–46 ESV

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The man is searching for the greatest pearl.

He finds one that has great value.

He sells everything he has so that he can get it.

This is a picture of how we should relate to Christ and His Kingdom.

It is a picture of how we relate to the Wisdom of God.

Once we realize the value of God’s wisdom, we should give up everything to get it.

We should pursue it above all other pursuits.

We should desire it over all other desires.

We should be dominated by it. Obsessed with it.

And then, once we have it, we should be eager to keep it by submitting to it again and again.

When my son Everett turned 10, he wanted a Playstation 5. He saved up money to pay for half of it, in hopes that his parents and grandparents would cover the other half as a birthday present.

At the end of April 2024, he got his treasure.

But what did he do with it after that?

Well he kept it.

He has cared for it better than his other possessions.

He has played with it.

He has updated it to make sure it works correctly.

Once he got the thing he was pursuing, his pursuit wasn’t over.

Now he was on a pursuit to keep it and maximize its enjoyment in his life.

This is how we should be with the wisdom of God.

As those who have received it, we should be eager to keep it and we should be eager to use it in order to maximize joy in our spiritual lives.

God desires for us to be joyful.

Psalm 16:11 ESV

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

But you can see that He wants that joy to be found in Him.

He wants us to find our pleasure at His right hand.

And that is exactly where the wisdom of God will find out if you will pursue it and keep it.

It will find you joyful in the presence of God, experience spiritual pleasure at His right hand, where Christ the Wisdom of God is seated

We keep the wisdom of God and we avoid forsaking it, by taking God’s Word and hiding it in our hearts.

We keep it by asking for more of it in prayer.

We keep it by sitting under sound teaching and being sensitive to the convictions and promptings of the Spirit within us.

Are you keeping it?

Do you find yourself joyless?

Flapping in the wind?

Lost as to what to do?

Bereft of spiritual pleasure?

Stop and examine yourself.

Somewhere along the way, you have forgotten wisdom.

You have forsaken that pearl.

You are missing what only God’s wisdom can give.

CHERISH WISDOM FOR WHAT IT PRODUCES

And knowing that should only leave us ready to do what our third point calls for:

Secret #3: Cherish wisdom for what it produces.

PERSONAL AND INTIMATE

In verse 6, we see the call to LOVE wisdom.

In verse 8, that word is intensified and Solomon uses the phrase PRIZE her highly.

The Hebrew word that translates to PRIZE is the one that Jews would have used to describe something being collected or piled up.

We should pile up the wisdom of God.

We love it so much that we collect it.

And collection indicates a higher level of love.

You might love comic books, but do you collect comic books?

You might love comic books, but do you collect them and dress up and go to conventions with a bunch of other people who collect them?

Even in our culture, collection equals fanaticism.

We should be fanatics about the wisdom of God to the point that we are seeking to collect it.

In verse 8, we are also called to EMBRACE wisdom.

This is the word used for a Romantic embrace in Hebrew.

It is a call for intimacy.

Clearly, from these words--LOVE, PRIZE, EMBRACE--we can see that we are to cherish God’s wisdom.

It should be personal.

It should be emotional.

It should be from the heart.

And if we have this sort of relationship with God’s wisdom, it will produce a certain sort of life.

Not a wicked life, but a holy life.

We see both in this passage.

THE LIFE CHERISHING WISDOM PRODUCES

The final six verses of the passage show us these two paths that are available to us in life.

On one hand, there is the path of the wicked and the way of evil (v. 14).

Solomon says that we should not go on that path and that way in v. 15.

Proverbs 4:15 ESV

Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.

This is like when you as a parent look at your kid and you say, “Don’t even think about it.”

Before his sons can even look that way, he says, “Don’t you even consider going near that path.”

The path of the wicked is filled with people who are haunted by and hooked on wickedness.

They cannot even go to bed unless they have done something wrong (v. 16)

They can’t get a good night of shut-eye unless they know they messed someone’s life up (v. 16)

The business of wickedness is their meat and drink. It is as much a part of their everyday life as eating and imbibing.

They eat wickedness like bread and drink up violence like wine. They indulge in them. (v. 17)

Their way is like deep darkness.

They are so low in the catacombs of moral ineptitude, that they can’t even see what they are tripping over (v. 19).

But a life of cherishing God’s wisdom will produce just the opposite.

Instead of stumbling around in multiplied darkness, those who cherish God’s wisdom walk the path of the righteous in the light of the morning (v. 18).

Solomon says that this morning light on the path of righteousness gets brighter and brighter until the full day.

I think this is speaking to the glory of sanctification.

I believe this is speaking to the way the truth of God changes a man or woman from the inside out.

As Wisdom of God transforms our lives, we grow from one degree of holiness to another.

There is a moral and ethical brightness that shines more and more as we reflect the glory of our Father in heaven, becoming more like His Son.

And then one day, sanctification will be over.

Our holiness will reach the brightness of the full day.

See--because we have the wisdom of God in our lives, we are more like the morning than the afternoon.

The afternoon loses light and it gets darker and darker until the fullness of night comes in the darkest point of the evening.

But the morning gets brighter and brighter until it hits that point of sheer brilliance that is brighter than any other point in the day.

This is what our spiritual lives are like.

God’s wisdom is making us look more like Jesus and we are growing brighter and brighter until the day of glorification, when our holiness reaches full day in the eternity of the New Earth.

So as we embrace wisdom, wisdom produces holy living in us.

And this will just keep happening more and more, until we become like Him in glory.

This picture of the world of love to come should compel us to cherish wisdom, wanting to see our lives shine brighter and brighter.

We love and prize and embrace wisdom, knowing it produces holy living.

CONCLUSION

Keep my commandments and LIVE

That the years of your LIFE may be many...

She is your LIFE..

Life is the promise made by God’s wisdom tonight.

Recognize her for how important she is...

Pursue her for what she can give...

Cherish her for the life she produces...

The end of the matter is that she will produce long years of spiritual living for you--if not on this earth, than certainly the next.

But for many--it has been both.

The end of the matter is that she will give you what the world cannot---life with God and in God.

A place on the bright, path of the righteous.

We look forward to the day when the wisdom of God will lead us to the city of the New Jerusalem and our eternal home.

However, be encouraged that even now, you are tasting that place that is to come.

Those that are acquainted with God and Christ are already in the suburbs of life eternal.

Matthew Henry (Nonconformist Biblical Exegete)

The day of the sun’s full brightness will come...

But even now--as we sit down to read the wisdom of the Word...

As we ask for wisdom by faith in prayer...

As we recognize and pursue and cherish the wisdom of God...

We are already in the suburbs.

We are already experiencing the warm sun of the morning.

We are already tasting true, abundant, eternal life.