Two Houses

Introduction

Imagine two neighboring houses. Pretty, tree-lined street. Similar architecture.

One, yard manicured, bright and vibrant colors on the siding, windows glowing with light.

The other has a yard overgrown, cracked brick and swaths of shingles missing, boards covering where windows once were.

And as you stand in the street in front of them, the question has to be asked, “How?”

How did one end up like this, and the very next house like this?

The owners of the homes had vastly different lifestyles and priorities.

The Lady Of Wisdom

9:1-6

Let’s call her Sophia (the Greek translation of this word).

She has built her “house.” Dwelling. A place of residence. Permanent.

She has hewn seven pillars - seven is completion, lacking nothing. Pillars provide stability to the structure.

The house of wisdom is secure.

Then we see that she has filled it with an incredible banquet.

Favorite foods for Thanksgiving? Four months away!

Multiple kinds of meats, mixed wine, sat at a large banquet table. Provision at its finest.

Favorite BBQ restaurants in KC. You can tell from the parking lot how good it is going to be.

This smell is wafting out into the neighborhood for all to experience.

Then, she offers this invitation to any who would come:

Proverbs 9:4 ESV

4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says,

It isn’t only for the wise or the accomplished, not for the powerful or wealthy.

You don’t have to meet a certain criteria prior to entering in and enjoying her hospitality.

“Eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed” (v. 5).

But, there is the expectation, if you are going to come in, expect to be changed.

“Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

Wisdom is transformational.

This is the essence of Wisdom:

Wisdom is applied understanding.

Knowledge. Understanding. Wisdom.

Knowing what something is. Knowing how something works. Knowing how and when to use something.

Basin wrench.

For the Hebrews, wisdom pertained to the overlap between the Law and Life.

How does scripture inform how we should live?

It is secure and it provides opportunity for transformation.

The Lady’s House

9:7-12

Entrance into the house of wisdom:

First, don’t argue with fools.

It’s like wrestling in the mud with a pig. You both get dirty but the pig enjoys it.

You cannot force someone into wisdom.

Proverbs 26:4 ESV

4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.

Proverbs 26:5 ESV

5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

This is the difference between a fool and a wise person - will they listen?

The fool rejects but the wise man considers (v. 9).

This is why v. 10 is the theme of Proverbs. It doesn’t start with the mind but the heart.

And we find the consequences of listening or rejecting in v. 12.

Wisdom will benefit you, scoffing (rejecting) wisdom will cause you to be alone.

I recently saw on social media a person who had rejected his family, his friends, his community. They were comparing when they had moved prior to rejecting everything as opposed to now, how before he had thirty people show up to help him move but then afterwards, after blasting all these people, no one showed up. And he were really confused by that.

“If you scoff, you alone will bear it” (v. 12b).

Wisdom leads to deeper community.

The Lady of Folly

9:13-18

The lady of folly, let’s call her Fran. APHRON, where we get the word frantic.

She is loud, seductive, and yet knows nothing. This external bravado, yet inside she is empty.

She also has a house and she sits outside it yelling at people as they pass by.

Notice what she says:

“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here” (v. 16). The same message as the woman of wisdom in v. 4.

Wisdom requires discernment.

“The ability to judge well.”

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

Charles Spurgeon

There are a lot of messages out there. Wisdom equips you to weigh the different perspectives and see what is most in line with Scripture.

And it is important that we strive to understand because of the consequences.

Remember the feast that Sophia offers? And what about Fran? Stolen water and secret bread. Even her water is stolen.

And who goes in to eat with the lady of folly?

Proverbs 9:18 ESV

18 But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Folly has grave consequences.

Conclusion

As we begin our study of the Sermon on the Mount tonight, we will be looking at how Jesus explains wisdom.

Matthew 5:1 ESV

1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

There were two groups there and throughout His message to them, He is going to remind them that there are two ways to live.

He will lay out the case to live in the house of Wisdom and not folly.

Walk in the fear of the LORD.

Reverence, respect, and repentance.