Proverbs 24:1-6

Let’s prayerfully build with wisdom so that our corporate strength is enhanced by unified guides enabling us to be more capable of victory.

Ol Della

To make a wise non impulsive decision a person must have a reliable source of information.

Be mindful of where your understanding of progress and success come from. 24:1-2

Psalm 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; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

We have a tendency as people to keep our heads on a swivel looking for trends, new ideas, enticing arguments. Progress in our day often leads to the fruit of regress. It seems to me that this precedence and desire has a foothold in our churches as well.

Evil men propagating lies, speaking half truths which are whole lies to garner a crowd and in many ways setting the expected precedence for the rest of us. I think if we are not careful their influence on us will cause us to change our views of success. We will soon be operating the western business of church instead of understanding with wisdom that Church is a body founded upon the truth, and in whom the Spirit of God dwells and active worship and obedience is present.

We must be mindful as we move forward as a people that our standard of progress remains Biblical, Christ centered, Gospel Oriented, and God Honoring. We must ensure that our worship, our ministries, our strategies are measured biblically long before numerically.

Now I don’t suppose or believe that I am the beacon of truth or have the best ideas. I don’t affirm to be the only one here or anywhere that is the standard of how church ought to be done. I am only here today to say we as a people and I as your pastor must be mindful of the influence of evil in our thinking, choosing, and believing as it pertains to where that influence is coming. Particularly in this season as it pertains to music and more broadly in how we view success in ministry. May we never envy what appears to be progress on the basis of nickels and noses.

Be discerning as to what essential traits are necessary to enhance and steward what God entrusts to us. 24:3-4

Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. They are the means of our conscious mind acquiring the truth, interpreting the truth, and applying the truth. Knowledge is the relaying of beneficial information.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

. You can have knowledge in the concept but if you cannot interpret the data then you’ll not have understanding. Likewise knowledge and understanding in and of themselves are helpful and useful, but not supreme in and of themselves. Wisdom must be added so as to know how to not only understand the truth or concept, but also how it is to be applied. These three put together upon the foundation of the Gospel will build a strong house.

A) The house of wisdom is built with the God given strength of those willing to be enhanced by the truth. 24:5

The milk-hands grip strength is strong by virtue of repetition.

It is of utmost importance as to where your primary source of knowledge rests.

Web MD, YouTube, and Tik Tok have made us knowledgeable morons in many ways. You can gather the data, but data gathered from unreliable sources with most likely lead to wrong unwise application.

The application of truth will determine whether a person is wise or not. (Matthew 7) Consider the difference between the wise and foolish man in the building of their houses. Both acquired material, but the material itself was not the problem, but rather the foundation. One built his house on the rock and the other the sand. They both had a house when it was said and done, but only had a house built wisely with consideration to the wind and rain. It was external factors which caused both interior and exterior destruction. So it is with our lives. We must build wisely, with expectation, and intentionality.

We must establish our walls with understanding so that we might fill our home with the precious and pleasant riches of grace.

2 Peter 1:3–11 ESV

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

It is often the case that wisdom shines brightest in the darkest of seasons. As we endeavor to move forward together in this season of transition may we declutter the rooms of our minds and fill them once again with truth.

Acquire biblical truth, acclimate yourself to its teaching by consistency and contemplation so as to understand what is being said, so that as the worldly wind and rain beat against your life you’ll know how to apply truth because of your foundation.

See Him in our text in verse five. The wise man full of strength.

B) The house of wisdom is built with the God given goal of waging war on the enemy under the counsel of many effective ideas with one unified spirit.

We must never forget who we are fighting against.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

James 1:5 “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

1.Don’t be afraid to make decisions slowly.

2.Allow the scripture itself to be your guide not just men who are guiding you in the scripture.

3.Listen more attentively when you are around people you perceive to be Biblically wise.

There were two warring tribes in the Andes, one that lived in the lowlands and the other high in the mountains. The mountain people invaded the lowlanders one day, and as part of their plundering of the people, they kidnapped a baby of one of the lowlander families and took the infant with them back up into the mountains. 

The lowlanders didn't know how to climb the mountain. They didn't know any of the trails that the mountain people used, and they didn't know where to find the mountain people or how to track them in the steep terrain. 

Even so, they sent out their best party of fighting men to climb the mountain and bring the baby home. 

The men tried first one method of climbing and then another. They tried one trail and then another. After several days of effort, however, they had climbed only several hundred feet. 

Feeling hopeless and helpless, the lowlander men decided that the cause was lost, and they prepared to return to their village below. 

As they were packing their gear for the descent, they saw the baby's mother walking toward them. They realized that she was coming down the mountain that they hadn't figured out how to climb. 

And then they saw that she had the baby strapped to her back. How could that be? 

One man greeted her and said, "We couldn't climb this mountain. How did you do this when we, the strongest and most able men in the village, couldn't do it?" 

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "It wasn't your baby."