Searching for Wisdom
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
<READ buried treasure story>
When we find something valuable, we enjoy that experience, and usually we try to find a way to repeat that experience by finding MORE.
And I think that’s what all or most of us are thinking - if we found a can of coins in the yard, we would do exactly what that couple did, and dig for more!
Could there be a buried treasure in YOUR backyard?
What if you were told there was…what would you do?…we would all be doing the same thing: Digging up that yard until we found it....and when you found one can…would you stop there?…or would you dig for more??
What if there has been a buried treasure right in front of us the whole time, but we didn’t realize it?
I’m not talking about 1800’s gold coins…I’m talking about the book many of you are holding in your hands or on your screens.
What if the REAL treasure of this world isn’t treasure at all, but WISDOM from God?
…and we’ve been underestimating its value?
Could we be underestimating the value of wisdom?...have you ever needed wisdom for a decision you needed to make?
“Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions.”
While there is some element of truth to this statement, does it have to be this way for EVERY decision?
What kind of process do you use to make your decisions?
How do you arrive at a wise choice?
This proverb (as well as the Proverbs in general) is designed to help us gain the wisdom that we need in our daily lives…to avoid making those bad decisions...which is the consequence, but there are several conditions that must be met.
Proverbs 2:1-6 provides us with SIX of these conditions and then gives us the life-changing consequence: Wisdom to make the right decision!
I. The Conditions
I. The Conditions
I. The Conditions
A1. Receive My Words (v.1a)
Proverbs 2:1 (NKJV)
1 My son, if you receive my words...
Receive: To take in the hand, to carry along, to take possession of, to take willingly…but for a PURPOSE! (ex.: God, Adam’s rib – Gen. 2:21 “took”;
Genesis 2:21 (NKJV)
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
Seems to indicate a purposeful action, not a random grabbing or a passive reception
In other words, to take God’s words and to put them to use.
Words: Utterance, statement, saying, promises (ex.: “God is love”)
There must be an ASSOCIATION between God’s words and our daily lives!
“Receive my words” - to grasp God’s word for a purpose
I. The Conditions
A1. Receive my words (v.1a)
A2. Treasure my commands (v.1b)
Proverbs 2:1 (NKJV)
1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,
Treasure: Store up, hide...memorize...internalize!
Also used for protective concealment (Moses – Ex. 2:2 “hid”)
Exodus 2:2 (NKJV)
2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.
spies – Josh. 2:4 “hidden”
Joshua 2:4 (NKJV)
4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
I. The Conditions
A1. Receive my words (v.1a)
A2. Treasure my commands (v.1b)
Commandments: authoritative direction, instruction to do something through speech or writing (ex.: “Love the Lord your God…love your neighbor as yourself.”; “Love your enemies”; “As I have loved you, love one another”)
Ephesians 6:14 (NKJV)
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Ex.: Breastplate of righteousness - Christ’s righteousness is ours POSITIONALLY, but this is a call to put something on that isn’t on us automatically when we get saved…it’s a call to the Christian soldier to live righteously - when we live in righteousness, it is like a bronze breastplate that can withstand the enemy’s attacks.
When I am obedient, I am not vulnerable to Satan’s attacks!
This doesn’t mean that the obedient life will be a problem-free life
Jesus was “obedient to death, even the death of a cross”
So obedience will probably cost me something, but I will be safe from the enemy’s attacks
Lastly, the “words” and “commands” are really the truths of Scripture that are most easily understood, most easily grasped.
We can receive and treasure the truth that we are all sinners and need a Savior.
We can receive and treasure the truth that God is the Creator of the universe.
We can receive and treasure the truth that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life…but should we stop there?
I. The Conditions
A1. Receive my words (v.1a)
A2. Treasure my commands (v.1b)
B1. Be attentive to wisdom (v.2a)
Proverbs 2:2 (NKJV)
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom...
Attentive: “incline” - be alert to, pay attention, listen up
We have already recieved and treasured the most basic, foundational truths of God’s word...
Now we know what to look for…we are beginning to learn what God’s word sounds like, what it tastes like, what it feels like..and we are beginning to see patterns of truth that make connections from one scripture to another.
So how do move to this new level in our quest for wisdom?...
Need to remove distractions
Make time…prioritize!
Focus on the Word
It always seems to come back to the Word, to Scripture.
When we are struggling to understand life, when we are hurting, when we are suffering, it is the Word that sustains us…it is the Word that gives us hope.
We might say that the Bible is part of the christian life…but really, the Bible IS the Christian life!
James 1:5 (NKJV)
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Must be free from pride
Teachable
Proverbs 12:15 (NKJV)
15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.
I. The Conditions
A1. Receive my words (v.1a)
A2. Treasure my commands (v.1b)
B1. Be attentive to wisdom (v.2a)
B2. Apply your heart (v.2b)
Proverbs 2:2 (NKJV)
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;
The word apply here means literally “to spread out, or stretch out”.
It is to reform one’s thoughts and heart to a new paradigm.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
This person realizes that they are lacking - that their current state needs to change, they know that change, while not easy, is necessary in order for them to grow and become wiser.
It is a condition of total dependency on God - free admission of one’s own ineptitude to be wise apart from God.
I. The Conditions
A1. Receive my words (v.1a)
A2. Treasure my commands (v.1b)
B1. Be attentive to wisdom (v.2a)
B2. Apply your heart (v.2b)
C. Cry out…Lift up your voice (v.3)
Proverbs 2:3 (NKJV)
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,
It is so common for us to keep our needs to ourselves…so much so that we do not even share them with God.
But here, the wise person is the one that VERBALIZES their needs…they cry OUT to God…lift UP their voice.
<READ Psalm 39:4-13>
Are we as quick to cry out to the Lord when we lack wisdom?
Or have we discarded the instructions and tried to build this life on our own?
In order to find wisdom from God, we must come to the place where we admit that we don’t have wisdom of our own…we must admit our need!
Romans 8:15 (NKJV)
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
I. The Conditions
A1. Receive my words (v.1a)
A2. Treasure my commands (v.1b)
B1. Be attentive to wisdom (v.2a)
B2. Apply your heart (v.2b)
C. Cry out…Lift up your voice (v.3)
D. Seek and Search (v.4)
Proverbs 2:4 (NKJV)
4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;
174 years ago, the nation and the world were swept with gold fever.
<READ gold rush article>
Many of those ‘49ers left everything behind - houses, businesses, families in order to seek and to search for hidden treasure.
Many of them died enroute and most never became rich.
There were great risks, but they were willing to take those risks because of the promise of hidden treasure.
We now come to the crescendo of this passage - we have been seeing the gradual increase in intensity from simply receiving to listening to applying to crying out for more and now the treasure hunt is on.
These verses seem to indicate that there are some truths, there is some wisdom that will take effort on our part to find.
There is some digging to do, and God is saying to us, “I’ve left a gold mine of truth…a buried treasure in my Word for you to find…are you willing to dig a little deeper?”
We have been talking about gold mining, but silver is another precious metal that is mined, and after silver is mined, it has to be melted down in a crucible to remove the impure dross.
But God’s word is already pure - it is 100% pure spiritual silver:
6 The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.
Wisdom doesn’t come automatically.
Getting wisdom is a process that takes time…there are no shortcuts to wisdom…it just doesn’t work that way.
In fact, “quick wisdom” was part of the lie of Satan in the Garden:
Genesis 3:6 (NKJV)
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Wisdom comes to those that want it, but it must come from God alone.
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
The actual wording here is in the present tense: “keep asking”, “keep seeking”, “keep knocking”…and you will have that thing for which you seek.
These are all the Conditions…and now, the Consequences!
II. The Consequences
II. The Consequences
5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
II. The Consequences
A. The Fear of the Lord
Notice that the very first thing we will find is “the fear of the LORD”.
10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
The fear of the Lord is the first step - it is crucial to finding the rest of the treasure!
Without a healthy, biblical fear of God, His wisdom becomes optional.
Many Christians today do not have a solid understanding of the fear of the Lord- we will sing about it and talk about it and we believe it on paper…but when it comes to our daily lives, the fear of God is often not a factor.
Do we truly REVERENCE God? May times, in an effort to avoid the ritualistic and liturgical aspects of mainstream religion, we end up missing this vital perspective of God’s awesome holiness as we make Him out to be a “best friend” instead of a Holy God.
But, now that wisdom has been listened to and applied into one’s heart, God’s holiness comes into clear focus!…and the proper fear along with it!
Light bulbs begin to turn on in our minds as we behold the awesome glory of God and we begin to see Him for who He truly is.
The light of God’s wisdom begins to flood our hearts and we see things that we have never seen before!
II. The Consequences
A. The Fear of the Lord
B. The Knowledge of God
5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
Notice that it is God who provides knowledge and “gives wisdom”. It is a reward to the seeker and the searcher.
Look again at verse six: “From His mouth...” -the Word of God is our source for knowledge and understanding!
We look around at this crazy world we live in, and nothing seems to make sense…but when we open our Bible and read about how this world is going to end, we begin to see things falling into place!
We begin to gain solid-ground wisdom for life’s decisions instead relying on the shifting sands of our culture.
CONCLUSION:
What if that couple had found those coins and just shrugged and said, “You know what, those coins have been in the ground so song, they might as well just stay there…they are really old and outdated…I mean, it’s a lot of work digging, and besides, we might not have time for our events and we might miss the game and there’s just so much to do…we are just too busy...we simply don’t have time to go through the process of digging these coins up…and isn’t that just something for the PROFESSIONALS??…and maybe when life slows down a bit, we will get around to digging them up.”
How do you view God’s wisdom?…has it become a bore…an inconvenience?…something that just sits at the outskirts of our minds?...
Or is it your TREASURE!…Something that you cannot wait to get your hands on each day?
Would you be willing to reconsider the wealth of treasure that you are holding in your hands?
Besides our life in Christ, the Bible is our greatest treasure…we must dig in if we are to gain the wisdom we need.
Lastly today, the greatest treasure in the Bible is the saving message that we call “the gospel” - the good news that even though we are sinners, and deserve eternal punishment in hell, Jesus came to earth and died on the cross, taking the penalty for our sin on Himself, so that He could offer His righteousness to us when we believe on Him by faith.
If You were to die today, where would you go? Where will you spend eternity? You can know TODAY!
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Will you believe in Jesus today?