This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:00] It was a a couple of months ago that Pastor Bobby got a phone call from a longtime family friend of the Blakey family, another pastor who pastors a church up in the Bay Area. Actually, a pastor that worked at my dad's church when I was in high school, pastor that hired Bobby in the first row that Bobby had as a pastor right out of college who called Pastor Bobby up and was informing them that this weekend they were celebrating 10 years of the church that he is a pastor of up in the Bay Area. And I just got me thinking about what's it gonna be like to celebrate 10 years of what God's doing at CompassHB? HB one day is not going to be a day of great rejoicing. Lord willing, if he doesn't come back before then, we're hoping actually for that. That would be better than 10 years of inviting Pastor Bobby to come and speak. And he was telling Pastor Bobby that they had actually extended the invitation to a pastor of a very large church, probably eight or nine thousand people, very well known, written numerous books, very faithful to God's word, great pastor who wasn't able to do it because of scheduling reasons. And he said to Bobby, You are my second choice. Right. We've got very faithful megachurch pastor right here, Bobby Blakey Ribot right below that. So it is a joy to to celebrate the gifts that God has given Bobby and just how he's used him for his glory. And it's a joy that we even get to share with other churches periodically. So be praying for Pastor Bobby. He's preaching as we speak up north in the Bay Area. So we're trusting that that will be a great time for for that church was we get into God's word this morning. I'm excited to study it. But let me ask you a question just as we begin. If I were to go to you and ask you, hey, I'm ready to give you whatever you want at this moment, I'm feeling generous. And you'd have to presume and, you know, imagine that I actually had the ability to do that. But if I were to come up to you without a lot of warning, I'm just like, hey, what would you answer right in the moment? Hey, give me this. This is what I want more than anything else. And I don't know what many different people would would give in response to that question. And maybe some people were would answer, hey, I'd like a little bit more money in my bank account. I would like some of those dollar dollar bills. Maybe that's what I would like or that promotion at my job. I'm in search and after that for a while and maybe then pastor for it a few times. Hey, I'd like to get that. Or a hey, there's this part of the world that I haven't yet gotten to explore. My wanderlust is a is point me in that direction. So I'd love to love to go there.

[00:02:42] Maybe some would say I just want to find that special someone that I can settle down for the rest of my life with and we can live happily ever after. What would you say in answer to that question? Well, actually, that's not a not so hypothetical scenario, that one time God himself went to Solomon and asked him that very question in the Bible says that Solomon's response, please the Lord, because Solomon, more than anything else, desired wisdom.

[00:03:13] So open up your Bible to the Book of Proverbs, Chapter three, The Book of Proverbs, Chapter three, page 528. If you've got one of our Bibles, we'll be reading from verse 13, diverse 18 this morning. And we are going to look at our need for wisdom.

[00:03:35] Verse 13 of Proverbs, chapter three says, Blessed or happy is the one who finds wisdom. And the one who gets understanding for the gain from her is better than the gain from Silver and her prophet. Better than gold. She is more precious than jewels. And nothing you desire can compare with her long life is in her right hand and in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is the tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Those who hold her fast are called blessed. You know, good wisdom is how it's described in these passages. Better than riches, better than silver, better than gold, better than the best stock portfolio. You could have the highest yielding annuity. Better than money. Money. Money is wisdom, right? Wisdom can offer you things that money can't buy. Long life, honor, pleasantness, peace, the value of wisdom. Can we say. Can we agree that wisdom is good here? This morning, God's word lays out for us the value of wisdom. Now we talk about wisdom. Many people don't know the way that the Bible describes it. A lot of people think that wisdom is having a lot of knowledge. I've got a lot of academic facts in my brain that I can somehow recall, or some people might say, well, wisdom is kind of a skill. But the Bible really would describe wisdom as the ability to live life skillfully in the way that God has designed it. That's what wisdom really is. It's not just knowledge. It's not just facts. It's the ability for me to live my life in the way it was designed to be lived by my creator and look at the blessings that come when that is the case. I mean, as we read this morning, my question for you is, do you want this? Are you one of those people that's out there and reading this Santa? That sounds pretty good.

[00:05:43] I hope that that's you and that's my heart for you this morning in our heart, for everyone who comes to our church, that you would really know wisdom and that you would really know how to walk in the way of wisdom so that the blessings that are described here are actually being experienced in your life.

[00:06:01] And this says in verse 13, it says, Blessed are happy is the one who finds wisdom that if that's going to be the case, if you're going to have wisdom and walk in wisdom and get the blessings from wisdom, you're going to have to find it. And the word that it uses here for find is not a casual finding. It is a a intense finding. It is, man. I am going on a hunt for something. I am searching for something. Think about the way that you might try to find your keys if you had misplaced them and you were late for work in the morning.

[00:06:34] That's the kind of finding we're talking about. Or if you go to Disneyland and you park in the big parking structure and totally forget where you parked and you were trying to find your car, right. Your kids are crying. They've had a long day at Disneyland. The happiness is over. The magic is is far gone. And we need to get home.

[00:06:50] Right. That's the kind of finding that we're talking about when we talk about finding wisdom and we want to search for it. We want to find it together here this morning. And the first key for you in your life.

[00:07:01] If you're going to experience wisdom, let's get this down for point number one on your notes is that you need to own up to your need for wisdom. You need to own up to your need for wisdom if it's something that we've got to find. We've got to be willing to admit that we don't already have it, that we need more of it than we have right now.

[00:07:23] That wisdom might even be calling out in the street places and in the marketplaces, asking people to take heed to her.

[00:07:30] But we're not going to find it if we're not looking for it. If we're not searching for it. I played basketball in high school, which is not actually very impressive because I went to a very small high school, like 30 boys in the whole high school, kind of small.

[00:07:46] Basically, the way the basketball team worked is that if you wanted to be on the basketball team, you were on the basketball team. Tryouts were more kind of like the first practice of the year. Not a whole lot of people being cut. And I remember one teammate that I had, this teammate. I don't know that the term athlete could be used to describe this teammate of mine if he had gone to a larger high school. I think his athletic options probably would have been limited to like the chess team or something like like that. But this person was really confident. This person always thought that he was right, that he really knew what he was doing. He would tell other players what to do. He would actually even try to coach in place of the coach that when the coach has to ask in the practice, who's the coach? It's like, oh, that's a that's a tense moment. And they in the. Mall school basketball practice. And I remember just thinking about this teammate of mine and actually a friend of mine and just thinking, man, if this person would actually come to the realization that I don't know what I'm doing and I need to learn it, he probably actually would have learned and grown in his skill in the game of basketball. But he was already the spot where he's like, I got this. I know how it's going. And because of that, he never really progressed. And I think that's the same thing that can happen for so many of us in our life, is that we're not progressing in any sort of wisdom because we think we're already good where we're at. You know, I've lived on this world for a number of years and I feel like I've got some wisdom. I'm good. I don't need to seek it out. I don't need to try to find it. I don't need to go after it. Let's go over just to to the next chapter, Proverbs Chapter four and look at verse seven. Proverbs, Chapter four, just turn one one chapter to the right and look at verse seven, it says, The beginning of wisdom is this. Get wisdom and whatever you get. Get insight. That means that if we're gonna get it, it means that we don't already have enough of it. Right now, that's the first thing that each and every one of us have got to acknowledge about ourselves is that I need more wisdom. Then I have right now, I need to learn things. I need to grow in my understanding. I probably even need to make changes in my life. Here's a hint here. Here's the thing that I think each and every one of us might need to like a thought that we need to embrace collectively together this morning is that I am wrong.

[00:10:11] You ever thought that about yourself? Right. Been willing to acknowledge like I'm wrong.

[00:10:16] That I actually didn't make the right choice there. I actually don't have enough information here. Let's go even a step further. Have you actually ever been willing for someone else to say that you're wrong, for someone else to to correct you, to. If that been something you've willing to embrace and and think about for yourself? I mean, when was the last time you were willing to be correct? Maybe sometimes someone might tell you that you're wrong and it's like friendship off.

[00:10:42] We're not we're not friends anymore. You corrected me. That's the end of it. Is that something you've ever welcomed and valued than another person would love you enough to tell you that you're wrong to correct. You go over all the way to Proverbs. Chapter 12, verse one. The Proverbs Chapter twelve. Verse one, just a few chapters to the right.

[00:11:03] It says in verse one, Whoever loves discipline and by discipline, we should probably be thinking of instruction, someone else giving me correction or instruction, someone else helping me to understand what I need to do, how I need to change. Whoever loves discipline, loves knowledge. But he who hates reproof and the word that use their reproof is kind of like correction. Someone else coming alongside me and telling me that I'm wrong. Asking me to change. But whoever hates reproof is stupid.

[00:11:36] Barbara's just kind of lays it out there. Right. If you're a person that thinks, hey, I've really got all the wisdom that I need, no one else knows as much as I do so that they could actually tell me that I'm wrong. The Bible says that you are stupid.

[00:11:51] Perhaps the biggest barrier to each and every one of us experiencing the blessings of wisdom that we've looked at so far is us thinking we already have enough of it. US thinking that no one else could help us to gain more wisdom than we have right now. If you hate to be corrected, redirected or even despised, the suggestion by someone else that you were in the wrong or did something wrong or or aren't doing something in the best way. The Bible says that you're stupid. A wise person is really a lifelong learner. That that really us embracing wisdom says for the rest of my life, I am always going to be refining what I think and how I think and the choices that I make and the attitudes that I have. It doesn't mean that I say, hey, there's there's nothing that I think about. That's correct. But I'm always having that that thought that I need more I need more of it than I have right now. I need to learn things. I need to learn things from God's word, from other people. That's something that all of us have to own up to. We've got to embrace that. We've got it. We've got to give that thought a big hug this morning and say, our Amina, I'm going to walk forward with that thought that I need more wisdom than I have right now. But before we move on from this first point, I think that some of us probably even need to take that a step further. More than just admitting that I need to grow in wisdom, that I need more wisdom than I have. Some of us need to admit this morning that you are actually incapable of wisdom. What the Bible calls wisdom. Good of Proverbs. Chapter nine, verse 10.

[00:13:26] We saw in probably chapter four, verse seven that the beginning of wisdom is this thought that I need to get wisdom, I need to obtain it. I don't have it. I need it. I need to go get it. Proverbs Chapter nine, Verse 10 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy one. The knowledge of God is inside that they're really real. Wisdom comes from a relationship with the God of the universe, with the wise one themself, that that the Bible would look at many people and say that they are not wise people because they do not fear the Lord. There's a lot of people that know about God. They know that the Bible proclaims there to be a God, even people to go who go to church. But there's never been a point at which they have actually become afraid of God.

[00:14:16] That I became afraid of God when I really start to understand the truth about myself. By that, I understand that God created the world and he created people to be obedient to him and to really love him more than they love anything else. And you and I and in every single person that we walk around every day, each and every one of us has turned. Aside from that, we have not obey the law. We have disobeyed his commandments. We've really loved ourselves. We really, really loved other things way more than we love God. And the Bible calls that sin. And that sin really separates me from the presence of God that I can't be in a right relationship with him when I have rebelled against him. And even worse thought than that is the fact that God is storing up punishment for my rebellion, for my sin, that each and every time I reject God's word and I choose to go my own way each and every time that I love something else more than God, it's like I am accumulating a weight of punishment that God one day is going to pour out on me.

[00:15:21] God's been gracious. He hasn't judged me yet. But at the moment that I die or the moment that God comes back, I am going to be judged. There is going to be a reckoning at the end of my life.

[00:15:34] And when you think about God and you think about what the Bible says about that punishment, that that is no small thing, that that is actually the most terrifying thing that you could ever think about in your life the full way.

[00:15:46] The Bible calls it wrath, that God is going to pour out his fury. And it is never, ever going to end. That's the most terrifying thought in the entire world. And a lot of people have never known what the Bible calls wisdom because they've never come to the point where they've acknowledged that I am a sinner, that God is going to judge.

[00:16:07] And that has caused them to be afraid. That is cause them to be terrified.

[00:16:14] And really, the fear of the Lord is not meant to make a shrink back from the Lord. It's actually meant to draw us to the Lord because the Bible proclaims that God has sent us salvation. Right. That the the judgment that we deserved to be poured out on us, that God was willing to send his son, Jesus Christ, to take that punishment in our place, that he he lived as a human and lived a perfect life. And he died on the cross and on the cross. God actually poured out the full weight of his wrath in place of sinners like you and me so that we could be saved.

[00:16:48] Right. That's the beginning.

[00:16:50] That's when I really start one. Like how to live life for the first time ever in my life. That's at the point where God actually makes me into a new person. It's like he turns my life right side up for the first time ever.

[00:17:05] The fear of the Lord is the beginning when I come to the Lord and I turn away from my sin and I seek salvation from him. That's when I can actually start having wisdom.

[00:17:15] I knew a business man when I was working at a at a job years ago. And and I got to know this business man. And he was very, very successful, very, very good at his job as I got to know this guy. I realize this guy knows more about this job than I could probably learn in multiple lifetimes. I just so professional, so sharp, so skilled, so respected at what he did. And I had the opportunity to work with him for a while. And as I got to know this person, I really realized that this person was miserable, that he had obtained riches, he'd obtained houses, lands, but he had not obtained what was better than riches, what was better than gold.

[00:17:54] He had not obtained wisdom because there never become the point in his life where he was actually afraid of his creator because of his sense that he would be regarded as a person.

[00:18:04] That is very wise in terms of our culture here in America. But yet God is not looking at him as wise. I mean, I even think about groups in our in our world today that would, you know, lord themselves as well as I think about like the scientific community. Right. There's people that have got degrees and they've got academic knowledge. And it's almost like their degrees have degrees, like they've just got so many things after their name.

[00:18:28] It just makes you feel very stupid as you even just read their title. And if you've ever experienced that, these people like, they've got a whole lot of knowledge, a lot of observation, many studies that they've been a part of. But the official kind of position of science in our world today is that there is no God, that God does not exist in Psalm 41. The Bible says, the fool says in his heart. There is no God that looking at the creation of this world and looking at everything that we observe in the human body and coming to the conclusion that there is no God is not wisdom. The Bible says it's foolishness.

[00:19:06] Bobby reference to Luke Twelve last week in the parable that Jesus tells about the rich fool, the person that's so successful in his business endeavors that he's looking at his barns is storehouses. And he says, well, I'm actually going to tear those down and build bigger barns and I'm really going to get to the spot where I've got everything that I need stored up for as long as I need it. And I can just kind of take my Lesia and do whatever I want in my life. I've been so successful now I can just eat, drink and be merry.

[00:19:33] And God says to that person, you fool. Tonight, your soul is required of you. You're going to die tonight. And now who's going to get all this stuff that you've accumulated throughout your life. Is very night. Your soul is required of you. And Jesus says that's what the person is like who is not rich towards God. That person might be looked at as very successful, very wise in this age, but yet in the eyes of God, he's a fool.

[00:19:59] Has it got to feel no one is going to look at someone and during the judgment of God for their sins, when they had the chance to be saved from it and to avoid it and call that person wise?

[00:20:14] Life without God in his proper place is utter foolishness.

[00:20:20] Degrees are not a barometer for wisdom, life experience is not a barometer for wisdom, skill and business talent. Those aren't barometers.

[00:20:27] The best barometer for wisdom is the fear of the Lord being present in a person's life.

[00:20:33] Which brings us to our second point on your notes this morning. Let's get this down that you and I. Because there's a lot out there that proclaims itself to be wisdom. You and I need to reject unreliable sources of wisdom that there's stuff out there that says, hey, this is wisdom. This is really what's going on. Point number two, reject unreliable sources of wisdom. Years ago, there was a new app that came out for the iPhone, and it was an app made by Apple itself called Apple Maps. I don't know if anybody's familiar with this. It's Apple's own version of kind of a direction navigation. You know, you punch in the address where you want to go and it's going to get you there. And years ago when this app came out, I was photographing weddings occasionally and I had these two friends that were both photographers, and they invited me to photograph a wedding with them. And it was going to be this really, you know, elegant wedding at this really swanky hotel in downtown Los Angeles. And so they said, come on and photograph it with us. And we were all excited and they were driving and they got out the new Apple Maps app to show us how to get to this hotel in Los Angeles. And I had never been to this hotel, but pretty soon after we were trying to go there, I began to get a little bit concerned because it didn't look like we were going to the Qwiki part of town that much. And as we arrive at what Apple Maps says is our destination on the map, we are quite literally in the projects on a street where there are literally hundreds of people lining the road that look like they want to hurt us, that look like they would like to rob us of our earthly possessions, kill us and leave us for dead right there in the street in the middle of the afternoon. And I'm thinking this is the end of my life. I'm going to be up in heaven. And people are gonna ask me, how did you Diamond say Apple Maps? Come on. I mean, I'm sure the math, the app has gotten better since then, but from that day forward, I have rejected Apple Maps as an unreliable guide for my direction. Google Maps for me. That's what I said. I. Since then, it's probably gotten better, but have not used the app since then. Yeah. They said, hey, this is unreliable. It's it's saying, hey, I'm going to take you here. And I'm. And it's actually leading me somewhere else instead. And there's a whole lot out there like that in our society today that says, hey, this is really wisdom doesn't actually lead you to it. Let's get down a few dashes under point number two on our notes. Let's identify some of these unreliable sources of wisdom in our lives. Put down the first one. My own thoughts.

[00:23:04] Go to Proverbs Chapter 28 to the end of the Book of Proverbs and look at verse 26, Proverbs 28. Twenty six.

[00:23:20] Proverbs, 28, 26, says whoever trusts in his own mind is a.

[00:23:28] Fool, you trust in your own mind, you are a fool.

[00:23:32] But he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. You see how your own mind and wisdom are contrasted in this verse, like they are set as like two separate things that are not the same thing. Like your mind and wisdom are like opposites. Here is like, here's your mind. Here's wisdom. Not not the same thing if you're trusting in your own thoughts. You are a fool if you think that, hey, I can really figure it all out. I can really make sense of it all. I can find my own way. I can blaze my own trail. The Bible calls you a fool that I need to have the thought that actually some of my thoughts can't be trusted.

[00:24:08] That I need something that's more reliable than my own thoughts. Just because I think something doesn't necessarily mean that it is true or wise or right or best. My own thoughts are not a reliable guy. Let's write down another one. Let's write down my heart and feelings, my heart and feelings.

[00:24:29] Can I read for you? Gonna put it up on the on the screen. Jeremiah, 79, which says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? That if you've grown up watching Disney movies and you have allowed them to guide you to wisdom through following your own heart, that is the thought that you need to turn away from for the rest of your life. Here this morning that your feelings are an unreliable guide to wisdom. There are going to be times where you like. I just felt like that was the wrong the right thing to do and it's actually gonna be the wrong thing to do. Or maybe you've heard someone talk about it like this while I just really had a piece about it. I knew I was thinking about what I should do. And I really I really have a piece about it now, as if like having a piece about it is the incontrovertible thing that like make sure that, like, it's beyond discussion that this was the right choice. If you ever heard about this guy named Jonah in the Bible.

[00:25:20] This Ghanim, Jonah. You know what, if God called Jonah to do. Anybody go preach to none of this. This city, what it Jonah decided to do.

[00:25:29] I'm going to get on a ship. Go in the other direction to Tarshish. And, you know, the storm is starting to rage as the ship is going on. And the sailors who they themselves are freaked out have to go find Jonah.

[00:25:40] Where is he? Asleep in the boat. Right. Jonah had made the entirely wrong decision and had total peace about it. Right. Our feelings, what we feel does not mean that that is true. Our feelings are an unreliable guide to wisdom. Let's also put up another dash. The collective wisdom of our culture. Let me read for you actually, first Corinthians, chapter three versus 18 and 19, which says, let no one deceive himself.

[00:26:11] If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool.

[00:26:18] That he may become wise for the wisdom of this world is folly with God. That that the wisdom that this world, even as we think about the country that we live in America. There are often times that American wisdom and God's wisdom are going to blatantly contradict one another. Now, there are times where they're going to go together at times where they might actually be in the same direction, like I think about in America today.

[00:26:43] I think overall there's kind of the predominant thought that working hard is a good thing in America today. And I think that that agrees with what the Bible says. I'm excited for some of us to read Proverbs six pretty soon, which says Go to the A.O. Sluggard and observe how hard working and self industrious the ant is.

[00:27:03] I think that's that's something where there are times where even the wisdom of this world is going to intersect, that there's going to be a lot of times where it is different. Let's just think about a few of these times, maybe for a second here this morning, American wisdom would say make your life about your financial future. Really like you got to have all your financial ducks in a row, save up for your kid's college education, have enough save for retirement and try to get to that spot where you can just live your life and do what you want to do as quickly as you can set up some kind of passive income stream so you can just do what you want all the time. That's the goal. That's what we're working for, retirement here in America.

[00:27:40] And I think the wisdom from God, even in the parable that we've already talked about, the Jesus says in Luke Twelve, the wisdom from God would say, be rich towards God, right. Our finances and the life that we're building for ourselves materialistically here in this life is not our main goal. Now, it doesn't mean that we don't save for the future. Doesn't mean we we don't work hard.

[00:28:00] But that's not what our life is really all about. That's not the goal of our life. As a Christian, our goal is that we want to know the Lord. We want to grow in our love for him. We want to serve him. And ultimately, we're looking forward to the next life, the new heavens and the new earth when we're with him forever.

[00:28:17] Maybe this is something that you've heard people say it's kind of a common thought today. Is that really you need to get the negativity out of your life, those toxic people. You just need to remove them from your life. You just need to kind of distance yourself from those people, those people that are criticizing you, those people that are telling you that you're wrong. You just need to get away from those people. Go to. If you're in Proverbs, still go to chapter 27, verse six, Proverbs 27, verse six. If you're in probably 20 pages, turn one page to the left. If you're thinking about the kind of friend that you want to have in your life, look at what God's word says is faithful. Are the wounds of a friend profuse are the kisses of an enemy? No, that's not a romantic kiss. Like we would maybe think about it when we hear the word kiss today.

[00:29:06] But it's almost as if you've got like a king in his throne room and someone's coming to visit the king.

[00:29:11] And the king is there in his, like, kingly attire. And he's got his, like, signet ring on his hand. And the visitor is coming and they are kissing the hand of the king. And they're almost saying, oh, king, you're so great. Live forever. You're awesome. But really, maybe they're even an enemy to that king. But yet they're giving him kisses, as if to say, I'm loyal to you. I'm allegiant to you that you want the kind of friend who is going to love you enough to wound you.

[00:29:39] Right. A friend that you have that would never tell you anything that's wrong about yourself. Like you read food on your face and you walk into the bathroom and see the mirror and you see it's there. And you remember all those people that you were just talking to and you think none of them are my real friends.

[00:29:54] None of them loved me enough to tell me about the food on my face. Oh, my goodness. Right. That's the way it is. If you've got friends that will only say positive, complimentary things of you that are never going to tell you that you're wrong if you don't have friends that are actually going to help you to understand about your real state before the Lord is separated from him in your sin and help, you know, the gospel of Jesus Christ, if they're they're never gonna bring that up because it's kind of uncomfortable and they just want to say, hey, you're great, there's no problem with you, you're awesome. You can do it. You're the best. Right? Those aren't your friends.

[00:30:25] Those are your enemies.

[00:30:26] Anybody that would leave your soul apart from the presence of the Lord and during punishment for your sin forever is not a friend to you.

[00:30:35] They're your enemy, but a person who loves you enough to wound you. That's the kind of faithful friend that you want to have.

[00:30:43] That's where the world's wisdom and God's wisdom, they don't they don't mesh. They're contradictory to one another. And we have to make a choice. What am I going to choose to believe as wisdom? Maybe here's another one real quick. Protect me to. That's what a lot of people think about today. I've got to protect me time. I got a lot going on in my life. My job is busy. I've got a family, I've got kids. You need a girls night. You need a guys night. You need some me time. At the end of the day, you need to make sure you protect that time for you to do what enjoys you and makes you feel whole and fulfilled. That's what you need. You need to protect that in your in your life versus what the Bible would say. It would say do nothing from selfishness. Let me read Philippians two, three to four says do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Right world to saying Protect me time. God gotta saying others. Time is more important. You've had a long day at work. You come home and you've got a wife and kids. Guess what's more important, your wife and kids than your own time. That's where those two wisdom's they don't they don't intersect. Maybe one last one is that the world would say if you're trying to live your life, all right, you're trying to do some good things, you are a good person. It's what the world would say today versus God's word that says no one is good.

[00:32:04] Romans three, 10 to 11 says none is righteous. God is not looking at anybody in this world. It's just trying to live a good life, trying to be nice to other people and calling them good. Calling them righteous. None is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for for God.

[00:32:20] None of us are good on our own.

[00:32:24] Go back to Proverbs three for a moment, we've got to reject these unreliable guides, that means that we're gonna we're gonna have to have a filter. And I really think is we let's just remind ourselves of what we looked at earlier. Right. That the that wisdom, the gain from her is better than the gain from silver. The profit from her better than gold, more precious than jewels. Nothing you desire can compare with her. Something that valuable. I don't want to settle for a counterfeit of if you've got a ladies if you've got a guy that's about to ask you to marry him and all he's got is one of those like ring pops.

[00:32:55] You're gonna be a little bit disappointed. You might not be satisfied with that. Right. When I go to pay my rent, I'm not satisfied with grabbing some of the Bible books that we give the kids and giving them to my landlord. Right.

[00:33:06] I'm going to settle for the real thing and the real thing only. That means that we are going to have to filter the wisdom of this world, the wisdom of this age with something that is reliable, with something that we can go to time and time again and know for sure.

[00:33:21] I am always going to get wisdom for this. And let me just ask the parents in the room to think about something for a moment as well, that we need to help our kids with this. There are kids are not born innately with wisdom.

[00:33:36] Have you met your kids?

[00:33:38] Right, and they're not going to find it on their own or they're not going to find it from the other kids in their class. Have you met the other kids in their class? They're not going to find wisdom on their own. We don't want to leave them to kind of figure it out by themselves. Guest.

[00:33:51] God who God is put in their lives to help them really know how to live the best way that they possibly can.

[00:33:58] He's put their parents there. He's put you there.

[00:34:01] So, parents, we've got to get in the game with our kids. We've got to help them filter out the wisdom of this world based on something that is reliable.

[00:34:09] And that leads us to our third point. Write this down is that we need to seek wisdom. We need to seek the real thing in a place where it can really be found. And go back to Proverbs, Chapter two, just one chapter to the left, Proverbs chapter two, verse six says, For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth, come knowledge and understand you want a reliable guide to wisdom. You need to go to God. And it's actually going to be you looking at what God has said. That's where you're gonna find wisdom. Wisdom is going to come from the wise one himself, which is God.

[00:34:44] He is the one who gives wisdom to people. Read with me on the screen. Second, Timothy, 316, says all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training and righteousness. That if we want wisdom, guess where we're gonna find it. We're gonna find it right here in the scriptures, right here in the Bible. This is the reliable guide. Time and again, one hundred percent all the time to a life of wisdom. It's right here in the Bible, not just because we have it here. We're also commanded to ask God for it. Turn with me to the book of James. Chapter one, John Page, 1011. If you've got one of our Bibles in the Old Testament, Proverbs is known as the Book of Wisdom. But a book that talks an awful lot about wisdom in the New Testament is The Book of James is the Book of James to turn with me to James. Chapter one and verse five, James. Chapter one.

[00:35:45] Verse five, which says, If any of you lacks wisdom, which I hope that up to this point in this in the service, all of us are saying that's me. Right. I like wisdom. I don't have enough of it. I need more of it. I want to find it. I want to get it. I don't have all of it that I need. I want some more. That's me.

[00:36:02] If any of you lacks wisdom, all of us says let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach.

[00:36:11] And it will be given him if we ask God for wisdom. He is going to give it to us. Look at what it says. He gives generously. God is not stingy on the wisdom. He wants us to walk in wisdom. He wants to give it to us. And it says that he gives it without reproach. Maybe you're even here this morning and you realize I haven't been walking in wisdom. I haven't been living my life aligning my thoughts with God's word. I haven't been making my choices based on what God wants me to do. And I want to turn away from that. I want to I want to actually seek wisdom for the Lord. I want to ask him for wisdom. I realized that I lack in it and I need it. That's going to give it to you. He's not going to say, well, sorry, you lost your chance. He gives it without reproach. He wants to give it to you if you are willing to ask him for it. But it says here in verse six, if you look at the next verse says, but let him ask in faith with no doubting for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double minded man, unstable in all of his ways. Now that we're down there, it's it's really it could be translated, wavering as if, like, I've got two different options and I'm kind of going back and forth. I don't. It's almost like I'm I'm like on the sea, like rocking back and forth. Is it this or is it this? That when we go to the Lord and we're asking him for wisdom, we can't be like, well, is he going to give it or is he not going to give it? We've got to go with the trust that God is going to do what he has said he will do if I'm asking for wisdom and seeking it in his word. He's going to provide it. He's going to give me understanding of the Bible like I need. He's not stingy with that. We've got to be convinced of that. We can't go saying, well, I'm going to ask out. But it's just kind of the motions that I'm going through. And I'm saying I'm not really sure that he can do it there. And then also, too, I think we need to to not be wavering on when that wisdom actually shows up. What am I going to do with it? I can't tell you how many times I've seen people that they're like seeking wisdom, they're asking for wisdom, and then they actually read the exact thing that they need to be thinking about from God's word. And then it's like they've got this. This process of light. Well, I read it and God's word. But let me evaluate it. Was that really going to work? Is that really pragmatic? Is it practical? I'm not so sure that's what a lot of people do or even.

[00:38:37] God sends another person from our church into your life to help you actually see the wisdom from God as as taught in the Bible about an area of your life. And it's almost like, am I going to just try to filter that? Like when the wisdom of God shows up. I can't I can't be filtering it through my own thoughts. I can't really try to pick and choose. Well, I'll take this is wisdom from God. But this other stuff that he says, not so sure about that.

[00:39:03] Right. We shouldn't if that's the way we're going to approach the Lord in his wisdom. Let's not expect that he's actually going to give it to us the way that we're seeking. We've got to be all in. We've got to be asking in faith with no wavering, with no doubting. And we've got to be willing to submit to to what God is going to when God tells us something is where that's got to settle the matter in our minds. That's got to be the end of this story, the end of the discussion. It's here. It's all we need. And because of that, we know that God is willing to give it to us. It's right here in God's word. So we seek it and we need to seek it together as if we're seeking something precious. Like if you're at like a church barbecue and something that maybe we know is precious is like a wedding ring. I like the symbol of our union that when we got married, we're putting a precious metal on our finger as like, man, I'm yours for the rest of my days and you're at a church barbecue.

[00:39:54] And maybe you lose that wedding ring, like in the grass, like you're not just kind of like kind of find it, you know, sooner or later. No, it's like you are searching for it and you are like asking other people to search for it with you. Like we are like, you know, mapping out search grids and we are getting search parties together, like YouTube. You search in this quadrant and you guys are over here in this quadrant and we are going to search for it until we find it because it is precious to us.

[00:40:19] That's the way that we want to think about seeking wisdom here at our churches, that we want to seek it and we want to seek it together, that our church, it's so valuable that that's how much we're trying to lay hold of it to try to cling to it, that that we need to be getting into the Bible. If you're going to be seeking wisdom, you can't say that you're really seeking wisdom when your relationship with the Bible is very casual, is very nonchalant. That is not seeking wisdom. That is just kind of being okay with your own thoughts, with your current level of wisdom. We want to be like this is the most epic search that we've ever been on and we're doing it together in the Book of Proverbs. You know, God's word is the source of wisdom, but also the value of wise counsel is laid out in the Book of Proverbs. Read with me on the screen. Proverbs 11 14 says, where there is no guidance of people falls, but in an abundance of counselors, there is safety. Also with me, Proverbs 27 nine. It says, Oil and perfume make the heart glad. And the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel that if you're going to really seek wisdom, you're going to need counselors in your life. You're going to need other people to help you. You're going to read the Bible sometimes. You're going to open it up and there's going to be things that maybe you don't understand that aren't clear to you. And guess what? God is provided to help you with that.

[00:41:44] Other people here at our church, other people that have studied the Bible more than you have, they've walked with the Lord in wisdom longer than you have in your life. We're gonna need people that we're going on this search together with.

[00:41:57] And I'm looking to God's word and I want to find someone who knows God's word better than I do. And not only do they, like, know what the Bible says, I actually see them living that out in their life. I don't just see them like having knowledge.

[00:42:11] I see them actually applying that knowledge in wisdom in the way that they live their life. You have someone like that at our church. One of the reasons we we do fellowship groups is we want to put people together. We want to put people together with other people that can help them, other people that can help them know how to live a wise life in a way that's pleasing to the Lord. If you found someone like that now, I just wanna encourage some of us that maybe we've come to the Lord a little bit later on in our life and we need to be willing to think that we could actually learn something from someone who's younger than us.

[00:42:47] The world would say, hey, those those young whippersnappers, they've got nothing to teach you. Right? They're just a bunch of punks. But by godly wisdom would say, hey, if there's someone that may be physically older than me, but they've been walking with the Lord longer than I have. They're spiritually older than me. Right. They know the Bible better than I do. And so I'm not going to have that private says, well, I'm not even going to ask a younger person, I'm going to because I want this wisdom, because it's so precious to me. I want to find anyone that knows the Bible better than I do. And I want to learn from. I even want to give them the ability to get to know me a little bit in my life, to see my life and to see. Is there any area where I'm not walking in wisdom the way that God would want me to? I actually want to give someone else, like, free rein to correct me to reprove me. I want to love instruction instruction. I don't want to be a fool that hates reproof. I would actually give someone that role in my life willingly. Like, is that how much you want wisdom and the blessings that come as a result of it? Is that how eager you are willing to search for it? And we got to be willing to accept that counsel if someone's actually telling us what God's word has to say. We got to accept that. If you go to a fellowship group this week, you'll read the story of Redbone in First Kings, Chapter twelve and Rabon, who received good counseling from counsel from wise people and rejected it. And it was like one of the biggest mistakes of all time. Severed the nation of Israel into two separate nations in a way that was was an epic failure. So we want to seek after wisdom. And Gatti's is going to use counselors that know the source of wisdom even better than we do to help us. I'm really excited to see how this is going to take place in the life of our church this month. And it just so happens that there are 31 days in in the month of October. And there also is a book of the Bible and the Old Testament that has 31 chapters. It's the Book of Proverbs. We are in scripture the day as a church. We are going to endeavor to read through the book of Proverbs one chapter a day for the whole month of October, which means today is. October 2nd, which means we're on Proverbs Chapter two. We kicked it off last night with private chapter one, you could probably catch all the way up today and we're going to read whatever day it is. That is the proverb that we're gonna be reading and seeking wisdom in and even wanted to talk about together. I'd encourage you if you've never gone to our church Web site, go to compas h.b, dot com slash read. And every day there'll be the passage of scripture that we're reading posted there and you'll see a number of people even below that commenting. And they're sharing things that God has been teaching them. And reading through those comments is very encouraging. It's even it's even helpful for me and continuing to refine my thoughts about the scripture. And if even you read something in the proverbs and you're thinking, I don't really know what that means. You could even ask a question on there and someone would love you enough to say, hey, let's talk about that. Here's here's here's an answer. Here's a thought here. We would love for you to be talking about that with people in your fellowship group texting other people that you're that you're friends with here at our church and really engaging on this search for wisdom in the Book of Proverbs together. I really hope that this is the best month of getting into the Bible that we've ever had here at our church. We're going to we're going to do this. And we want to do this as individuals and as adults. But we also want to do it as families together. There is such a big need for the parents here in the room to be imparting wisdom from the Bible. The best way for it to help your kids really seize counterfeit sources of wisdom is to show them the real thing in God's word. And I know that many of us, we didn't grow up in a home where your parents were opening up the Bible and reading it with you as a child and talking about it with you. And some of us have gotten saved later on. And and maybe we we didn't have the desire to do that. And we think, well, I don't know where I would start. I don't know how I would even go about doing that with my with my kids. We want to help you with that. And so we have actually put together a proverb of the day family discussion guide for families to take. If you pick up your kids from kids Amen during the service, you will get one of these sent home with you. And it's just a way to help you. Well, every day we've we've got really what we want in kids Amen is we want the teaching that we're doing on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. And kids meant to be the second best Bible intake that your kids have. We really want the best Bible and take that your kids have to be from you as you are opening up the Bible with your kids on a regular basis in your house. So we've got kind of the proverbs broken down into some themes of themes that kind of go throughout the whole book of proverbs that we'll be talking about with the kids on a Sunday morning. And then we've got written down here five discussions that you can have with your kids throughout the week where you just open up the Bible and you read a proverb and you kind of talk about it a little bit. It doesn't have to be rocket science. It doesn't have to be some super well work is traded kind of thing. It all has to be is let's open up the Bible and let's talk about it a little bit. We've even written down a few questions that you might find helpful to kind of stir that discussion up with your own kids. And then let's pray at the end. I really think that if you were to choose to do that this month with your family, it would revolutionize your family. You would see your kids even starting to understand the difference between worldly wisdom and godly wisdom in your family. That next Sunday, even for for all of us during the 9:00 a.m. service, we're gonna have a Sunday school series for the next five weeks on the wisdom of Proverbs. We're gonna be looking at themes from Proverbs ourselves and talking about them in Sunday school, in room one or two, right down the hall here. Invite anybody to come next Sunday as we start that series together.

[00:48:41] We want to get into this and get into it in a big way because the blessings from wisdom are that great point number for our last point is that we need to enjoy the blessings of wisdom. Turned back to Proverbs Chapter three for our conclusion this morning that we need to enjoy the blessings of wisdom in verse 18 of Proverbs three. At the end of this passage that we've been looking at, it says Wisdom who's personified here is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.

[00:49:13] Those who hold her fast are called blessed. When I think of the tree of Life, I think of the tree of life. There was in the Garden of Eden that was there when Adam and Eve were there in a right relationship with God and after Adam and Eve sinned, that basically they were they were cast out of the Garden of Eden so that they wouldn't eat from the tree of life and have eternal life, that death was even a consequence of sin right there at the beginning. It says that wisdom is going to be a tree of life to those who they hold differ.

[00:49:46] And if we really understand wisdom, if we really understand the Bible, and that causes us to fear about our state before the Lord and we run to God for salvation and Jesus Christ, that actually initiates us into. Relationship with the wise one by which we get life. Let me read for you on the screen, John, 73. I'm so excited when we finally get there in our study of the Gospel of John, it says, and this is eternal life, that they may know you. The only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. His wisdom really is a person. It is God himself, and we can no God. We can know God through Jesus Christ that he has sent. That we can actually have a relationship with the source of wisdom itself. It says of Christ in Colossians two, three. It says, in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

[00:50:44] When you know Jesus Christ, that's when you can start to have real wisdom in your life. That's when you're gonna start to experience all these great blessings. And that's just gonna be exciting to you to walk in the way of wisdom. I think even if you if you know the Lord through Jesus Christ, if you've repented of your sins and place your trust in him and he has made you new and you're saying, hey, I want this, I want more of this in my life.

[00:51:07] You're saying I'm gonna jump into the Book of Proverbs this month. You're going to learn about integrity.

[00:51:13] You're gonna be learning about being the same person. All the points of your life, not being a different person in different facets of your life, but being the same, you'll have to worry or the fear you're going to learn about trusting the Lord.

[00:51:24] You will have less temptations to be anxious as a result of getting in God's word. Anybody want that in their life? Like less times, right? I'm feeling like I need to be anxious or to worry or to fear. You want that. Anybody want, like, better relationships in their family? You want the book of problems is going to help you to understand that you want to do better at your job. Reading the Book of Proverbs will be there. You want to use your speech more carefully to where you don't say things that are hurtful, that that that stir up conflict in your family.

[00:51:54] You actually want to learn how to use your speech in a way that diffuses conflict in your family. Like a soft answer turns away wrath. We're gonna learn that together. You're going to learn to to put less weight in what other people think of you and more weight into what God thinks of you. That sound good to anybody? It sounds like worth pursuing.

[00:52:14] Worth diving in together on the most epic search for wisdom that you've ever been on in your entire life. Let's pray for God to do that together.

[00:52:22] God, we thank you, Lord, that you are wisdom and we can know wisdom through knowing you. My God, we've got to confess, Lord. We've got to be honest that we need more wisdom than we have right now, Lord. And I pray that there will be some in this room right now that are taking the first step towards real wisdom by acknowledging that they are separated from you because of their sin. That that they're no longer going to be thinking that they're a good person, that they're okay with you on their own. They would start to think that they need salvation or that you've provided in your son, Jesus Christ. And they would find that even today, Lord, that they would run to you and be saved. Even here in the building before they leave this morning. And God for all of us, that that Lord, you've you've brought us to yourself. God, we have become afraid of you. But, Lord, you've taken the fear of your judgment away because you've saved us by Jesus Christ. God, we want to seek after wisdom. We we see how good your word is and and how good the blessings are that you give that you are a good God who delights to bless your people. And so God, we want that. And so we pray that we would attack your word, Lord, that we would seek after wisdom. And yet we know that you will provide a God. So we ask you for that now. God, we don't want to doubt your wisdom. We don't want to evaluate your wisdom by the wisdom of this world, because we want to seek after wisdom and want to seek after you. So we pray that you would change us or we pray that you'd even change our thoughts this morning so that we would walk in the way of wisdom because we want to please you. We want to bring your name Great Glory. And it's in that and that desire that we ask a man.