Good morning. I invite you to take your Bibles and let's open up to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter eight. Many years ago, when I was in seminary I took a class on the book of Proverbs. The whole class was on the book of Proverbs, and I really loved that class, and I've really benefited from studying proverbs ever since then, and I'm really thankful to have the opportunity to be here this morning and to open up the book of Proverbs together with you. And just by way of getting us introduced into the chapter, let's stand, and I'm going to read the first five verses. Let's stand in honor of God's Word. And I'll read just the first five verses that get us going here in Proverbs chapter eight. Please follow along. Proverbs 8:1-5 says:
“Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: ‘To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.”
That's the word of God. You can be seated. And let me pray for us as we come into God's Word this morning.
Lord, we thank you for your wisdom that you have made available to us here; we hear wisdom even calling out to us crying out to us. When I pray, you'll give us ears to hear. We will put aside any and all distractions. We'd give you our undivided attention because you are worthy. And we want to learn from your Word. We want to hear what you have to say. So, we thank you for this time. And we pray that your name will be honored for we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Let me start by asking you a question. Where do you go for wisdom? Where do you go for wisdom? And I don't want just the right Sunday morning at church answer. I want the real Thursday afternoon when life is happening answer. Where do you go for wisdom? Where do you look for wisdom? Because how you answer that question might be a lot more important than you might think. Information is coming at us today at a rate unlike any other time. false teaching abounds. Maybe like no other time. We desperately need true biblical wisdom in the church. We, too easily on those Thursday afternoons, default to the world's way of wisdom. Now we've been reading through the book of Proverbs together as a church. And you know that a major theme of the book of Proverbs is wisdom. And proverbs uses what we call an antithetical approach to teaching, meaning it shows the contrast between God's ways and every other way. And, in fact, next week, as you heard, next week in the Bible class, we're going to be talking more about that at nine o'clock. So, I don't know how this works, you guys are going to have to change your lives, change your schedules and come over there. But anyways, you're invited to come. But here in chapter eight, wisdom speaks. And what we have here is a poetic personification of wisdom, speaking as a woman, and here's the contrast speaking as a woman in contrast to the immoral woman of chapter seven, and the woman named folly in chapter nine. So here wisdom is speaking and wisdom is making herself available. That's what we see in these first five verses. Wisdom is seen calling out, wisdom is raising her voice, and this is really a gracious offer that wisdom is making to all of us. She's making herself available everywhere. In verse two, it talks about “on the heights beside the way, at the crossroads, she takes her stand beside the gates in front of the town at the entrance of the portals she cries” out. She's calling out wherever people hang out, and she's making herself available to everybody everywhere. And it is to everyone. Verse four is a general call to all of man. But verse five specifically mentions the simple ones. A simple one would be someone who is kind of morally indecisive or morally gullible. And even the fool is the person who lacks sense, the person who lacks understanding, the person who rejects God's ways. Wisdom is making herself available everywhere to everybody. Wisdom could not be more available. God's wisdom is more available to you than a spouse could be, more available to you than a friend could be, more available to you than any pastor could be because wisdom comes from God, and it's found in his Word. You and I, we just need to get to know it and so this chapter as we look at it, it's going to provide for responses for us to wisdom’s cry that she is calling out to us. So, let me read verses six through nine, where we hear wisdom say:
“Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right, for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.”
So, you can put this down for the first response: Wisdom is calling out for you can trust wisdom’s words. Trust wisdom’s words. Here, wisdom describes what kind of words that she will speak. And you can see the list there. It starts off with noble; I will speak noble things. That's just another way of saying she's got important things to say, the kinds of things that kings and nobles would talk about. In fact, down in Proverbs 8:15-16, it says, “By me” wisdom says, “By me kings reign and rulers decree what is just by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.” The writer of Proverbs is King Solomon, and he's writing to his son who's going to be a king. And you need to listen to wisdom because wisdom is going to tell us the things that are important, the things that are noble. Verse six also says that from her “lips will come what is right.” In other words, her words are straight, her words are plain. Wisdom is going to tell us the straight about salvation and every other issue of life. It gives it to us straight and directly. Proverbs 8:7, says that “my mouth will utter truth.” Yeah, it's truth. It's absolute truth because it comes from God. And that's just another way of saying that the Bible is inspired by God, it comes from God. And so, it's all truth. And there's no error in it. So, it's what we call inerrant, it's inspired and inerrant. You want to get wisdom? This is where you want to go, the place where you're going to hear the truth. Proverbs 8:8 says, “All the words on my mouth are righteous.” And it says that there's no wickedness; “wickedness is an abomination,” and nothing is “twisted or crooked” in all of her words. In other words, it's never going to lead you astray. God's wisdom is never going to set you in the wrong direction. And the word we use for that is it's infallible, it's inspired, it's inerrant, it's infallible. Proverbs 8:9, it says they're all straight. All these words are straight, which means they're plain. God's word is not hard to understand. It's not hard to understand, it's just hard to swallow at times. Right? It's not that we can understand it. It might be that we don't like what it's saying about me. But it is talking plainly. Proverbs 8:9 also says it is “right to those who find knowledge,” and this word “right” means that it's correct. It's going to give you the correct information. In fact, the book of Proverbs makes incredible claims for itself.
Let's go back to Proverbs 1, and just look at what it says about why we have the book of Proverbs and what the Proverbs is promising to us. In Proverbs 1:2-6, we have the purpose for the book. And here you see it right from the beginning. It's to “know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction and wise dealing in righteousness, justice and equity; to give prudence to the simple knowledge and discretion to the youth. Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtained guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying the words of the wise and their riddles.” I mean, those are incredible claims coming from the book of Proverbs. And if you read through that list there and just think about what it's saying, It’s promising that if you listen to the wisdom of Proverbs, you're going to have deep insight into human affairs. You're going to be equipped to make the very best choices or be discerning. You're going to have a working knowledge of life's complexities. You're going to learn the correct side of every issue. These are incredible claims, and the bottom line is that wisdom’s words can be trusted. We don't need to add human wisdom to God's wisdom, which is a common problem in the church. God's word is sufficient.
Turn with me to some passages that might be familiar to you once in 2 Timothy 3. Let's all take a look at this; it might be a familiar passage to you. But I want you to think about it in this context of the words of wisdom that can be trusted because they are right and true and righteous. And they lead us in the right way. 2 Timothy 3:16, says, “All scripture is breathed out by God.” So, there it is, there's the statement of the inspiration of the Bible. It's truth because it comes from God, and it is profitable. Another word you could use there for profitable would be sufficient. It tells us the truth, and it tells us all the truth that we need to know because it's profitable for “teaching,” to show you the way of wisdom. It's profitable for “reproof,” to show you when you've gotten off of the way of wisdom. It's profitable for “correction” to help you get back on the way of wisdom, and it's profitable for “training in righteousness.” So, you'll stay on the way of wisdom. You don't need anything more than what you have in God's word. It is sufficient, you don't need to add anything into it.
Another statement like this is found over in 2 Peter, just a few books over 2 Peter chapter 1:3 says his divine power, God's “divine power has granted to us most of the things that pertain to life and godliness.” Is that what it says? What's the word, All? But see, on Thursday afternoon we act like most of it provides most of what we need. I need to find some more wisdom somewhere else. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” And how does that come to us? “Through the knowledge of him, who called us to his own glory and excellence.” It comes through his Word, comes through knowing him through his Word, and then we were equipped with all things that pertain to life and godliness, everything you could need to live a right life in this world, to live a holy life in an unholy world.
Psalm 19 would be another place to look at. That just tells us about the power and the sufficiency and the completeness of God's Word. Psalm 19:7. It's great to hear the sound of Bible pages turning. Bible apps need to have a feature where it sounds like pages are turning when you go to another reference. Anyway, it's Psalm 19:7-10 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true and righteous all together. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.” There's an incredible statement about the power, the completeness, the perfection of God's Word. You can trust God's Word, we just need to be convinced that God's Word tells us what we need to know about life.
You know, everybody has an ultimate source of authority. Everybody has an ultimate source. And so, the question is, where do you go for wisdom? There's a warning and important warning in Jeremiah 8:9. Let me just read this verse Jeremiah 8:9. It says, “The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken. The wisdom of the world, the wise people of the world, that's who that's referring to. And why is that? Because it says, “behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord. So, what wisdom is in them? Answer to that is, there's no wisdom in that if you reject the word of the Lord; you have no wisdom, zero wisdom. Wisdom is calling out. Wisdom is saying you can trust my words. Where do you go for wisdom?
Let's go back to Proverbs 8 and let's see a second response to wisdom’s call to us. Proverbs 8:10-21. Wisdom says, “Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. ‘I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength. By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
So, let's put this down for number two: We need to receive wisdom’s treasure. Receive wisdom’s treasure. These are great promises, again, being made, of what wisdom will give us. If you will trust wisdom, this is what wisdom will give you. It's making a strong case, calling you to listen and to trust. And these are amazing offers. I mean, what wisdom is saying there in those first two verses, Proverbs 8:10-11 is that what she has to give us is better than silver, better than gold, better than all you could desire, anything you could desire that you think would be beneficial, helpful, or have any pleasure. Wisdom is saying, what I have to give you is better than that. I have better than silver, better than gold. Now, we like silver and gold. We like what silver and gold can do for us. But wisdom is saying, I can give you something better than that, and that's because she's promising better gifts. And if you start in Proverbs 8:12, and just start reading through the list of things that wisdom has, for example, wisdom will provide you with “prudence and knowledge and discretion.” It'll provide for you in Proverbs 8:14, “counsel sound, wisdom, insight, and strength.” That's an important key right there. Not only does it show you the right way to go, but it gives you the power to go there. And Proverbs 8:20, it talks about “righteousness and justice” and Proverbs 8:21, “an inheritance that will fill your treasuries.” It's saying, I can give you better than silver and gold better than anything you can desire. And here are the better gifts that I give to you that you can't get anywhere else because I'll make you rich in ways that matter the most. Proverbs 8:18 says, “riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness; my fruit is better than gold, even fine gold and my yield than choice silver.”
So, it's not just talking about, it'll provide you with physical wealth, material wealth, it's going to provide you something that's better because it endures. Silver and Gold won't endure. They won't last forever. In fact, yesterday in our reading of the Scripture of the Day, we were reminded of how fleeting earthly wealth can be. Proverbs 23:4-5 said, “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” Doesn't sound enduring, does it? What wisdom is going to give us is better, her fruit is better than gold, even find gold because it's an enduring gift that you get from wisdom. So, wisdom is saying, hey, I've got all this to offer you. But here's the key. How are you going to receive those riches? This is where many fail. Many say I trust God's Word. Yeah, I believe in the treasures. But here's where they fail because they don't do what it calls us to do in order to receive these riches. Let's listen to what wisdom says, Proverbs 8:6 when she said, hear, or pay attention. Pay attention to wisdom, give wisdom, your full and undistracted attention. You want to receive all that I have to offer you? You need to hear what I have to say. And then Proverbs 8:10, says, “Take my instruction,” or receive my instruction, welcome it. Don't just hear what I'm saying. But actually welcome it as like this is wisdom. This is what I need to hear, and I'm taking it in. Now, it also talks about Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the Lord,” the fear of the Lord comes with a sense of awe and trembling, that God would speak to me, and that God would make these tremendous offers to me. And I'm in awe of that.
And in fact, in Isaiah 66:2-5, God says he pays attention to those who tremble at his word. Those who “tremble” at his word. And you know, included in the fear of the Lord is turning away from evil. I'm consciously turning away from evil; I'm turning away from evil influences, and I'm giving my attention to what God has to say. And what this is really calling for is that you need to be “humble” and teachable. In fact, you could say, teachability is another major theme of the book of Proverbs. How many times does it say here, listen, pay attention. You need to be teachable. That also says in Proverbs 8:17, “I love those who love me.” And again, in Proverbs 8:21, I granted “an inheritance to those who love me.” It talks about the desire that we need to have for wisdom, that we need to love and honor wisdom if we're going to receive the treasures that she promises. And then I think the bottom-line key is also found in Proverbs 8:17 when it says, “those who seek me diligently find me.” You want to receive these treasures? You’ve got to seek it diligently.
You know, in James 1:5, it says if any lacks wisdom, “let him ask of God,” and he'll give it to you. I think some people think that it's just going to magically float down upon them. No, he'll give it to you right here in his Word. You just have to go get it. You’ve got to determine to dig into God's Word like you have a gold mine in your backyard. You’ve got a gold mine in your backyard. You think you just be sitting around your house saying, yeah, you know, I got this gold mine out back; sooner or later, I'm going to get around to doing something with that. Is that how you would approach it? You'd be out there all the time, digging out that gold. And what you have in your Bible is more valuable than gold. And if you have that kind of desire for God's word, you'll learn how to get it out. But it's got to begin with that strong desire.
Look with me over a Job chapter 28. We're going to start reading job next month, and job 28 has an interesting statement here about going after wisdom and comparing it to digging for precious metals in the earth. Job 28:1-6. says ““Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine. Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore. Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness. He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives; they are forgotten by travelers; they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro. As for the earth, out of it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire. Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold.”
Let's talk about how people will go out, men will go out and they'll dig these great shafts, these great mines deep into the earth to get out that precious metal, they'll risk their lives going after these precious metals that are found inside the earth, and they do it far away from where anybody lives. They’ll go out in the middle of nowhere to search for this silver and gold. And you can get a little taste of that here if you want to make a trip to Tombstone, Arizona. Anybody ever heard of Tombstone, Arizona? Yeah, I took my family there once. And it's out in the middle of nowhere. You drive out there, it's off the beaten path, it is far away from where most people live. You go out to Tombstone, Arizona, because you've heard about this place and you go out there and you take a look around and you go, why on earth… what were you thinking? Why did you come? Why did you come here? Doc Holliday, what was the big deal with Tombstone, Arizona. But when you get out there, and then you hear the story, it's because there were silver mines. And that's why people live out in Tombstone, Arizona, to work those silver mines. They'll go out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the Arizona desert, and live out there because it's worth it to get that silver. And that's what it's saying here. This is what men will do to get silver and gold and precious metals out of the earth. It goes on to say in Job 28:7-11 “That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon's eye has not seen it. The proud beasts have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it. Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.” That's what man will do. If he thinks that there's precious metals in there, valuable metals, he'll do whatever it takes to go and get it. And then here's the comparison with wisdom. Job 28:12-28. “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure, when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out. And he said to man, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” Which by the way, that's the very description of Job at the beginning of the book. He's a man who feared the Lord and turned away from evil.
This is where you go to find wisdom. But you have to go at it here with the same effort that people go after precious metals. So, are you acquiring the tools that will help you dig into God's wisdom? Are you finding that place away from where everybody else is, where you can spend that time digging in putting in effort to dig out God's wisdom? I think a lot of people are just too shallow in their approach to the Bible. They're willing to settle for the fast food of the world, rather than the banquet that God's offering. You’ve got to go after it like you understand how valuable it really is. And to the dads here I would want to encourage you not only to do that for yourself, but to pass that on to your children.
Look with me back at Proverbs chapter 2 just to get a little flavor of how a dad should pass this kind of passion for what really matters onto his children, onto his family. Proverbs 2:1-6 says, “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” So many men with this kind of passion for the truth of God, for the wisdom that comes from God, can then pass that on to their children. Wisdom is offering treasures to us. But it's saying you have to go after it. You have to go after it. And with that wisdom will come everything else that you need. Similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, when he said, “Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, and then all this other stuff will be added to you.” But you’ve got to seek, and you’ve got to seek first, because you really understand and appreciate the value. It's amazing how often people in churches will turn to worldly wisdom, and it's empty promises, and try even to mix that in with God's wisdom. They'll settle for less. They'll settle for what they can just find on the surface, rather than digging in and getting the whole treasure. Where do you go for wisdom? Wisdom is saying hey, you can trust my words and wisdom, and I’ve got a treasure that you can receive. And then to strengthen her case, she says even more.
Go back to Proverbs 8. Let's pick it up at verse 22. And read down to verse 31. Here again, wisdom is speaking. Proverbs 8:22-31, and she says ““The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.”
Here's a third response. You need to observe wisdom’s work. Observe wisdom’s work. This section right here is really critical to you understanding what real wisdom is. This section here details God's creating work, making it clear that he created everything in his wisdom. And if you look at it carefully here, you kind of have a summary of creation all the way from the very beginning. You see the references to the beginning of verse 22 and verse 23 sounds a lot like Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning.” And then you could start walking through and seeing the different things that were created on the different days of that creation week, going all the way up to verse 31, where it references the children of man. And man was created on the sixth day; that was the climax of God's creation. And so, wisdom was there. God created everything in wisdom. And the point is that that's what we need to know that God created everything in his wisdom. And I think a lot of us could understand that and agree with that.
Proverbs 3:19 says, “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens.” So, we get it that God in his wisdom created everything. And so, here's the key for your understanding what real wisdom is. Living in wisdom is living life the way God designed it. God designed everything in his wisdom, you're walking in wisdom when you're walking according to his design. And you can think about his design. You can even think about the things that are covered in the book of Proverbs, things that says about marriage or parenting or relationships, work, money, most importantly, the worship of God. And to walk in wisdom is to walk according to God's design. That'd be the best way to understand it. Now two people come into the world naturally, living by God's design. No, far from it, they come wanting to establish their own design. They don't naturally walk by God's design because we're all born in sin. That's the effect of Adam's fall, we all inherited a sin nature. So, the Creator, in his wisdom provided the means of salvation. And all of this points us forward to Jesus Christ, who is both the creator and the Savior. Some people who come and knock on your door and want to tell you that they are witnesses of Jehovah, will tell you that the Proverbs chapter 8 is all about Jesus. And they'll want to look at verses 22 and 23 and tell you that Jesus was a created being and Proverbs chapter eight is talking about Jesus. Who's talking in Proverbs chapter eight? A woman named wisdom. It's not Jesus talking. It's not saying Jesus was created. But it does talk about creation. And Jesus is the Creator.
Let let's look at a couple of verses that'll remind us of that, beginning in John 1:1-4. Here it is, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. All things were made through him.” This is talking about Christ; all things were made through him. “and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life.” He has life in and of himself. He's not created. He's not given life. He has life in and of himself. John 1:4-5, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness is not overcome it.” So, there's a picture of Christ as the creator, the one who created all things, and he is the light that men need. He's the light of salvation.
Let's turn over to Colossians and see that even more developed for us. Colossians 1:15, speaking of Christ, it says “He is the image of the invisible God.” What a great statement of the deity of Christ. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Now, that's not saying Christ was created. It's saying he's in the position of the firstborn, which means he has the preeminent position. He has the preeminent position over all creation, because John 1:16-20, says, “by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body of the church. He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” So, here's Christ, the creator, the preeminent one, and he has a work of reconciliation.” And John 1:21-23 details how that worked out. It says, then “you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation, under heaven, and of which I Paul became a minister.”
So, there's the picture of Christ, the creator, creating. He created everything in wisdom, he's preeminent over all of his creation. And he humbled himself and came and died, shed his blood on the cross, so that those who are hostile and alienated and doing evil deeds can be reconciled to God. Those walking outside of God's design can be brought into living in God's design. That's what we call good news. That's good news for people who are alienated from God, that the Creator himself came in his wisdom made salvation available to us. And this message is of what cry has done so contrary to the world. Colossians 2:8 says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human traditions. Philosophy, the love of wisdom… world thinks it's got its own wisdom. And here the warning is to this church that you don't need to be adding in the world's wisdom to what Christ has done, the perfect and complete work of Christ. The call is to observe wisdom’s work. So, when you look at creation, you're amazed by the stars and the mountains and the oceans and the flowers and even the wonder of the human body. You should think of God's wisdom, God created all of that in his wisdom. And when you look at Jesus Christ, you need to think of God's wisdom. You need to observe wisdom’s work and follow God's wisdom, that God in his wisdom, sent his son to be our Savior.
And just to read you one other passage, it's in Ephesians 1:7-10, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known[c] to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” We have redemption through his blood, his blood shed in our place, we have the forgiveness of all of our sins forever. And that's according to the riches of his grace. How rich is that? And he did it in all wisdom and insight. Ultimately, walking in wisdom involves repenting of our sin, trusting Jesus Christ, following Jesus Christ, and obeying all that he taught. That's what it is to walk in wisdom.
So where do you go for wisdom? Where do you look for wisdom? Where are you finding wisdom? Well, let's go back to Proverbs 8. And to get one last response that wisdom is calling us to Proverbs chapter 8, starting in verse 32, the last section of this great chapter in this in this wonderful book of Proverbs. Proverbs 8:32-36, says, “And now, O sons…” After all that she has said about how you can trust my words, I’ve got a treasure for you. Look at everything I've done. “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”
Put this down for number four: You need to find wisdom’s life. Find wisdom’s life. What you see here is how you respond to wisdom is a matter of life and death. You can't be neutral. You can't be kind of halfhearted in your response to wisdom. This is a call… these words here are calls to commitment. Look at them. Proverbs 8:32, says, Listen to my words and keep my ways or observe my ways. And she's saying this is the way of blessing. And this is what the disciples of Jesus Christ do. Jesus said, in John 8:31-32, “If you abide in my word, you are my disciples, and you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Are you feeling free today? Jesus says he gives freedom.
Wisdom is saying, listen, and keep my ways you'll experience a blessing, a blessing you can't get anywhere else. A blessing you won't experience any other way. Listen, look at Proverbs 8:33. It says, “Hear instruction and be wise.” And that we have his instruction. Instruction is often translated with the word discipline or correction. And again, this highlights the fact that the Book of Proverbs is calling you to be teachable because you're going to receive some correction. God's wisdom is going to discipline you. God's word is going to show you where you're off the path. God's word is going to show you where you have sinned. God's word is going to call you out. You’ve got to be teachable. Or another way you could put it would be coachable. I mean, if you're an athlete and you want to get better, you want your coach to tell you what you're doing wrong so you can get better at it. Well, wisdom is saying, let me coach you up. You’ve got to respond to it. You know, I think a lot of people want salvation, they just don't want to change their life. They don't want to change according to God's word. Proverbs 8:34, again, it says, “Blessed is the one who listens to me.” And here it adds something to it, “watching daily at my gates waiting beside my doors.” This is someone who's putting out a diligent effort. They're like standing outside wisdom’s door in the morning, waiting for it to come out so we can start learning some more from it. It's talking about that kind of all-out effort. And it's talking about being diligent in doing it, because you need to, because everything in the world, everything in your flesh, and certainly the devil doesn't want you being diligent and listening to wisdom.
Wisdom is the way of real blessing, though. We don't want to fall short of that blessing that wisdom provides to us. And then Proverbs 8:35 says, “For whoever finds me finds life.” Whoever finds me, whoever secures this wisdom, whoever acquires this wisdom, and you might have to give up everything, in order to find this wisdom. This is like the story Jesus told about the man who found a treasure in a field, and he went and sold everything. He had to buy that field with the treasure in it, because of the exceeding value of what wisdom is offering you, to find that you might have to let go of everything else. But if you do you gain life and obtain favor from the Lord.
Go back to Proverbs 3. Starting in verse 13, you'll see wisdom presented here in a very similar way to what we've been seeing. Proverbs 3:13-18 says, “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom., and the one who gets understanding.” There is the finding and the getting “for the gain from her is better than the gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She's more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand and left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are the ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called Blessed.” So here again, you see more strong words being used in finding the wisdom; it's laying hold of it, it's holding fast to it. But her ways are the ways of pleasantness or peace, or you know in that pleasantness and peace here today. That's the promise of wisdom to those who find it. This is an incredibly gracious offer that's being presented to us. This incredibly gracious offer that wisdom is putting out there for us. But you need to understand that this gracious offer comes with a limited time.
Turn back to Chapter 1 of Proverbs. And here's the first cry of wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 1:20. And you're you might hear some things here that you would never think that this would be true of God but here it is. It says, “Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.” What a gracious offer. Proverbs 1:24-26, though says but “Because I have called in you refuse to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mark when terror strikes you.” Proverbs 1:27-28, “when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.” Why? Proverbs 1:29-33, “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away in the complacency of fools, destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” It's warning that if you don't listen when it's being made available to you, there could come a time when it's not available to you anymore. Because you ignored it, you turned from it, you wouldn't listen to it. And so, you could experience the fruits of your devices. Or you could listen to wisdom and be secure and at ease.
So, is that where your soul is at today? As he says that there at the end of Proverbs 8, failure to find this life that comes from wisdom leads to death, leads to experiencing the wrath of God. There are only two paths. And all of us we’re either on one path or the other. Those two paths are brought out in Proverbs 9. Look at the one path, starting in Proverbs 9:1-6. It says “Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town, ‘Whoever is simple let them turn in here !’ To him who lacks sense she says, ‘Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and live and walk in the way of insight.’”
So, there's the one way the one path, the path of wisdom. And you need to notice that not only is there a time limit on this offer that wisdom is making, but the window is getting smaller and smaller as time goes by. Proverbs 1:22. The offer was made to the simple the “scoffers” and the fools, scoffers being those who don't listen to correction, but they were being offered wisdom. By the time we got to Proverbs 8:5, now the offer is only going out to the simple, to the fools, the scoffers. They got dropped off the invitation list. And now when you get to Proverbs 9:6, the only people left on the list are the simple. Wisdom is saying, I'm making a great, unbelievable, gracious, amazing offer. But it's for a limited time, and the invitation list keeps getting smaller. You can be dropped off the list if you don't respond. There are only two paths. You're either on one or the other.
The other path is described in Proverbs 9:13, where it says “The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, ‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ And to him who lacks sense she says, ‘Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’ But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.” See, there is a path that leads to life, and there is a path that leads to death. Which path are you on? I hope that listening to the words of wisdom would change the way you look at wisdom, the way you think about wisdom. Wisdom isn't something to be neglected. It's not like extra credit for really serious Christians. You can't be superficial in your following after Christ, and you're following after wisdom. You’ve got to act like it really is a goldmine because the failure to do so is deadly. Wisdom is not saying here I am. Take it or leave it. I might be of some assistance to you. No, it’s not saying that at all. In fact, we've read today, and Proverbs 24:13-14 says, “My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.”
Wisdom is saying, come to me, get life. Do you have that life? Do you have a soul that's at rest? Do you have a real hope? It makes you think of all the things that Jesus said. He said, I am the Way the Truth and the Life. He said I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly. He said that he came to give eternal life. Have you found that life? You see, wisdom is more than just age and experience. That's how we think of wisdom. And yet wisdom provides what you need to live skillfully, according to God's design, and that's desperately needed. But wisdom begins by answering the call to find life, which ultimately means to be true follower of Jesus Christ. Maybe you're here right now. And you recognize I'm not a true follower of Jesus Christ. I'm not following after wisdom. In fact, I'm listening to the world's wisdom almost all the time, and doing what the world says, I'm following my own devices. Today would be the day that you could come into wisdom by coming into Jesus Christ. And we'd love to talk to you about that. If you have questions, I'd be happy to talk to you after the service. You could talk to somebody at the Compass Connect table out in the lobby. We're here to help you find peace for your soul. And you find it through the wisdom that's found in Jesus Christ. In him, you'll find life and favor and security and ease. So, the question is, where do you go for wisdom? We're here today to encourage you to go to Jesus Christ. We'd like nothing more than to see you come out of the ways of the fool and into the ways of the wise. Let me pray for us.
What an amazing chapter this is; what an amazing offer has been made by wisdom. And how gracious it is to be offered to all people. The simple, the scoffer, the fool, all of them can leave that and leave the end results of all of that, and come into wisdom and find life and peace and hope. What a great and gracious offer is being made. Lord, I pray that we might listen to what wisdom is saying, I pray that we would want to heed wisdom, I pray for those who are here who are Christians, who have maybe been growing a little cold in their time in your word, that they would recognize that what they have is more valuable than gold and silver. And that they would want to dig into it as deeply and as often as they possibly can, that they'd be willing to carve out time away from everybody else where they can just get alone with you and your word and learn from your wisdom by listening to what you have to say. Lord, what a great gift you have given to us. But great promises are made to us. I pray for all of us today that we would want those treasures that wisdom is offering to us. I pray particularly for any today, Lord, who recognize that and been listening to your wisdom, they've been listening to the world's wisdom, and that they would see today that there is the way of life that's found in Christ and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are found in him. And we're so thankful that you're a God who is building his church, a God who's saving people, a God who is giving people peace and joy and hope in a world that has that knows nothing of any of that. Lord, I pray that Jesus Christ would be exalted here today. For we pray this in his name. Amen.