The beginning of wisdom

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Intro:

What is your most embarrassing moment?

A moment where you really thought you knew better, but you didn’t exercise that knowledge and you felt foolish?

My most embarrassing moment or one of my most embarrassing moments was probably when I was 13

(Share a story about snowboarding and falling and breaking both arms)

And the moral of the story is, I had been in martial arts, and I have been told not to land on my wrists, not to try and catch myself, but to try and fall properly

And unfortunately, though I had the knowledge, I did not have the ability to exercise it as a wisdom

And very foolishly, I slipped I fell, and I tried to catch myself and broke both my arms

This summer, we’re gonna spend some time In the book of Proverbs And we will look at wisdom in chapter one tonight

so if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn there

But while you turn there, what is the book of proverbs?

What is it about? What type of book is it? What’s its purpose?

What are some of the main themes in proverbs?

Throughout proverbs, we see the book deal with the idea of this character, wisdom, and a character, Folly

Wisdom and Folly, both are loud and they cry out, seeking for people to follow their way

This book is written by mainly the King Solomon

Solomon also was a author of Ecclesiastes

He was the wisest richest and most powerful man in the world

And he wrote many proverbs in this book Of wisdom literature

How would you define wisdom?

“Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to make sound decisions and live well”

To have wisdom means to have discernment to be able to make right decisions when pressed against a wall

The ability to use life experience and knowledge in your everyday life

For some of us, we have knowledge that the stove is hot and we don’t touch the stove because With wisdom, we apply the knowledge

But for some of us, maybe we have experience, touching the stove and wisdom keeps us from touching it again

How would you define folly?

“Folly is a lack of good sense, understanding, or judgment—often shown in reckless, foolish, or morally irresponsible behavior”

To be foolish or to have folly can look like ignorance, but can also look like lack of ability to apply knowledge

You know that the stove is hot and yet you touch it again

You know that something is wrong or will cause consequences for your future yet you still choose to do it

Folly Affects us all

So within this understanding of Folly and wisdom, which one would you say is our default as humanity?

Do we by default start with wisdom or do we start with Folly?

And why did you answer the way you did?

I believe each, and every one of us starts as fools

I’ve never seen a child from birth, have wisdom

I’ve never seen a toddler or an elementary schooler have the wisdom of an adult

Wisdom must be sought after wisdom must be gained

Either through knowledge or experience

And it’s not just knowledge your experience it must be also applied to your life

And today we’re looking at the beginning of this wisdom to beginning of this journey towards a wise life

Let’s jump into our text

Proverbs 1:1–19 ESV

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. 8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, 9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. 10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. 11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; 12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”— 15 my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, 16 for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. 17 For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, 18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. 19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

Lets Pray:

Proverbs 1:1–19 (ESV) 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—

What does prudence mean?

What does it mean to be simple?

Prudence is wise, careful, and thoughtful decision-making—especially in avoiding unnecessary risks or harm.

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.

But the wise here and increase in learning why do you think Solomon specifically says that?

Shouldn’t the wise already know to hear an increase in learning

I believe Solomon is pushing for those of us who understand a lot, and are characterized by wisdom to never feel like we have arrived

The idea that we could always be wiser, we could always do better

Solomon wants us to stay away from pride whether we’ve been in the church for two days two years or our entire life

Whether we consider ourselves to be wise or simple

We must have our ears open, and mine is open to what God has to say

Is it easy to get tripped up on our own pride?

If so, what does that look like?

What does it look like to have pride getting in the way of learning wisdom

What’s a good way to avoid pride or pursue humility?

I believe Solomon gives us the answer in verse seven

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

Remember each, and every one of us start at this place called foolish or folly

And if we desire to move from being foolish to being wise, this begins with fear of the Lord

What does the fear of the Lord mean??

How would you define the fear of the Lord?

Doesn’t mean we coward we run from his presence and fear?

I think a necessary step and understanding the fear of the Lord is understanding the love of the Lord

God loves each and everyone of us deeply

So deeply that he sent his only son to die on a cross for our sins, paying the penalty and rising again to give us eternal life

We deserved justice, but God served Justice by penalizing his son for our sin willingly

So God loves us deeply

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

And once we understand, the love for the Lord, we can understand what the fear of the Lord is

This isn’t constant terror or fear of God, not loving us anymore

This isn’t fear of him, leaving us

If we have relationship with God, he will never leave us…

Hebrews 13:5 ESV

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

There is nothing that we can do to make God love us more or less

But that doesn’t mean we can’t disobey him

This doesn’t mean we can’t disappoint him or grieve him

In my life, my parents have never stopped, loving me

But they have been disappointed or sad by my decisions

This fear is a reverence

It means for us to have a deep respect, awe, Or honor towards something or someone

Years ago, I was in DC and I was at a memorial called

Tomb of the unknown soldier

And this place was completely silent. No one spoke a word. No one laughed. No one giggled. It was a place of reverence and respect.

The beginning of our wisdom is a reverence and respect for who God is

It’s an understanding that this Bible, the book that he has written for us means something profound

It is a reverence that the instructions found in Proverbs are meant to be followed

Because God does not love us, but because he does love us

And because he wants what is best for us

So what’s a practical way that we can understand and learn the fear of the Lord or the respect for God?

1 May be reading his word

2 Spending time learning about sin and righteousness

3 Spending time in worship and prayer and repentance (Which is to change our mind about sin)

As we continue through proverbs, let’s remember that all of this can only be understood and only be applied if we have a respect of love and an honor for God

If we don’t love God, if we don’t respect God, if we don’t wanna honor God, none of this will find its way in the application

Have you ever had somebody tell you to do something that you knew was right?

But you really didn’t like the person who told you to do it or you had no respect for the person telling you to do it

And then you found it difficult to do. It was Wright even though you knew it was right.

For me that’s happened… And that is an example of pride… Pride is what comes when we no longer have respect and fear for God and pride is one of the most dangerous things on earth

But let’s continue in verse eight Solomon writes…

8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, 9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

What do you think Solomon is saying?

He doesn’t want us to leave the teaching of our parents

Again, The idea of wisdom literature is the ideal

It is Solomon saying a good mother and father will present to you good wisdom

And this is something we shouldn’t run from

Even though our mother and our father are not perfect, they will still teach us. Things are good and right even if everything they say isn’t always good and right.

Wisdom requires humility, and it makes us strong and makes us look a lot less foolish

Solomon moves from instructing us about how to listen and obey our parents into what happens if someone tries to pressure us into sin

Or tries to pressure us into doing things that are not godly

Does someone wanna read verse 10 through 14?

10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. 11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; 12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”—

What is happening in versus 10 through 14?

What’s the picture that’s being painted

What are some ways that we can be drawn to doing things that are wrong?

What are some situations where people might ask us to join them in sin?

What are some maybe not obvious ways that we can get drawn into sin?

Gossip

Stealing

Bullying

Maybe trying inappropriate things

This could even be teasing

Making inappropriate jokes

The premise is when people say hey come on join in on this And you know that God wouldn’t approve you cannot go with them if you want to exercise wisdom

The reality is if we are walking the fear of the Lord, if we are walking and wisdom, we will not follow the course of this world

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

As followers of Christ, we aren’t supposed to follow what everyone else is doing

No matter how fun it looks or how much pressure there is we are meant to follow Christ and no one else

We’re not to conform, but to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, and that happens by choosing wisdom that happens by knowing our God, and because of that knowledge, we have fear and respect for him

And this isn’t something that we will do perfectly, but it is something that we are supposed to pursue daily

We are to pursue a renewal of our mind, which means we’re spending time in script

Spending time serving the Lord worshiping the Lord

And every moment is about Christ

Psalm 1:1 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

15 my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, 16 for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. 17 For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, 18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. 19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.