The Power of Words
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ME: Intro - Silent Treatment
ME: Intro - Silent Treatment
Has anyone ever received the silent treatment?
It is not a good feeling, is it?
Especially when it comes from someone important to us.
So, how hurtful is it to think that God would give someone the silent treatment?
God would never do that, would He?
My assumption is that most people would say of course not.
God listens to everyone!
Even people who do not believe in Jesus may pray for their family or their health.
And most people would say that God will answer your prayers.
What about you?
Would you say that God listens to everyone’s prayers?
Does God give anyone the silent treatment?
John 9:31 provides the answer:
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
So, yes, God does give the silent treatment to some.
This is a likely shocking reality for some to hear.
So, God only listens to those who worship Him and does His will?
Does that mean if I am outside His will, He will give me the silent treatment?
How can I be sure that I am always praying as a worshiper of His?
This morning, we are looking primarily at Prov. 15:29-33 to answer these questions,
And to teach us the Power of Words.
We will also bring in some other Proverbs that support these verses.
So, our outline begins with:
Righteous Prayers (Prov. 15:29; 28:13)
Unteachable Fools (Prov. 15:31-32)
Talkative Fools (Prov. 17:27-28)
Deceitful Counsel (Prov. 15:33; 12:5)
Through Jesus, God listens to you and you can listen to others.
These verses are an example of the succinct wisdom sayings that make up majority of Proverbs.
WE: Righteous Prayers (vs. 29; 28:13)
WE: Righteous Prayers (vs. 29; 28:13)
Prov. 15:29 and 28:13 teaches that God only listens to righteous prayers.
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
The Lord being far from the wicked is not talking about God’s physical presence being in some distant place.
It is using this language to communicate the relational distance that exists between God and the wicked.
The wicked lose out on communion with God,
Favor with God,
And help from God.
The OT talks about God moving away from His people,
But other times it is His people who choose to move away from God.
This is built upon God’s covenantal framework with His people.
Isaiah 1:13-15 elaborates:
Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
This is a huge deal because prayer is the way we communicate with God.
Since God is a Person,
Most simply, prayer is having a conversation with God.
It is how we have a relationship with Him.
When the Bible says God does not listen,
It is not as if God is incapable of hearing our words and thoughts.
He hears everything,
He knows everything,
And He is everywhere.
But when we are unrighteous,
The Bible is saying that although He can hear our prayers,
He does not listen or respond.
He will not do anything.
It is like when we hear someone speaking,
But we are not really listening.
Their words are more like white noise.
To put it simply,
God is not with the wicked.
Isaiah 59:2 says:
but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
The problem is, we generally assume that we are righteous.
We think that we are a good person.
So, we assume that God will hear our prayers.
But if we all assume we are the righteous,
Then who are the wicked?
Well, the Bible says that we are.
The wicked are those who reject God’s instruction,
Those who disobey His Word.
And Rom. 3:23 says we all have done this.
We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard.
That is why Prov. 28:9 teaches:
If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
If we do not listen to God’s Word,
Then God does not listen to our words.
God finds the prayers of sinners disgusting.
And we are all sinners.
This is why if we do not listen to God’s Word,
Then God does not listen to our words.
If you lie, take God’s name in vain, or refuse to be generous,
The Bible says that God does not listen to your prayers.
If you hold grudges, live selfishly, and refuse to serve others,
The Bible says that God does not listen to your prayers.
To some of you,
This may sound shocking.
To others, it makes sense.
God listens to good people,
But He does not listen to bad people.
However, some of you may not see yourself as the good person.
In fact, some of you may be thinking that God will never listen to you because of the sinful things you have done.
That He will only listen to all these other good people around you,
But not you.
So, in response, you may think,
“I better start to clean my act up,
I will start doing what God wants me to do,
Then He will listen to me!”
So, then does this mean that going to church, giving to the needy, and studying the Bible will make God listen to you?
No.
Prov. 15:8 teaches:
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
All these outward acts are simply wicked sacrifices.
The foolish way of thinking is to believe that our obedience to God’s law will benefit us.
The issue is not the sacrifice or the action itself.
The issue is our heart.
These outward acts do not change our heart.
This way of thinking says that if I am good,
If I do what God says,
Then God owes me blessings.
And at the end of the day,
This is an attempt to manipulate God.
This is called behavior modification,
And it is not the answer.
In fact, God despises it.
We see this time and time again with real people throughout the OT.
Just like us,
The people in the OT were sinners.
So, God setup a sacrificial system where sacrifices were made to atone for their sin and bring about forgiveness.
The problem is that the wicked do not depend on God.
They do the ritual to make God owe them for their performance.
What does this look like today now that we no longer have a sacrificial system?
We think that if we go to church, give to the needy, do our devotionals,
Then God has to answer our prayers!
But without dependence upon Jesus Christ in what we call faith,
All our acts and rituals are meaningless.
From the OT times up to the present,
And every generation in between,
People have done various rituals in an attempt to earn God’s favor.
To make God indebted to them.
The problem is that we will try to comfort ourselves,
And say, “Well, that’s not me.”
But we do the same kind of thing.
We act as if we can do certain things then God will respond to our prayers the way we want Him to.
It is those little moments of bargaining we do with God:
“God, if you help me out of this situation,
Then I promise I will do better at following you in this way.”
Or we think that if we stop snapping at people,
Stop looking at porn,
Stop swearing,
Stop gossiping,
Stop the little fibs,
Then God will hear our prayers.
If I just turn over a new spiritual leaf,
Then God will stop giving me the silent treatment.
If I remain humble before the big game,
Then God will give me the victory.
Or if I do everything my parents ask me,
Then God will let me pass all my classes.
Or if I work hard and do a good job,
Then God will give me a promotion.
How do we know whether or not we actually approach God this way?
The answer is made clear in our reluctance to pray when we feel like we’ve done wrong.
Have you ever gone through a period in your life where you felt like you could not pray to God,
You could not ask for His forgiveness because of how sinful you are?
So, you do not pray to God until you feel like you have cleaned your act up first.
Friends, that is not the Gospel.
And we all share this problem.
If you think God hears your prayers because you are good,
The Gospel shatters this fallacy because it says that you are a sinner.
If you understand that you are a sinner,
But think that God will hear your prayers once you clean up your act,
The Gospel shatters this fallacy because it says that you cannot make yourself righteous enough for God to listen to your prayers.
So, we all have a huge problem.
God only listens to the prayers of the righteous,
And we are unrighteous.
But we cannot make ourselves righteous,
So, can anything be done that will make God listen to our prayers?
Psalm 24:4 says only the one who has clean hands and a pure heart can approach God in prayer.
That is not any of us.
There is only One person in all of human history who fits this description.
And that is Jesus Christ.
Jesus lived a perfect life.
He is righteous in every way.
And on the cross,
He died in place of all the unrighteous.
Because He was the righteous One,
The Father accepted His sacrifice in our place.
He was cut off from the Father for us.
He cried out, “Why have You forsaken Me?”
Because of our sin.
He was the atonement that restored the relationship between God and us,
That our sin had broken.
His death brought God near to us,
Even though we are wicked.
The Father heard the cries of the righteous One,
And three days later,
He rose Him from the dead.
And Now Jesus sits in heaven at the right hand of the Father.
He is always making intercession for us.
Meaning, though we are wicked,
We do not shrink back from God in prayer.
We come boldly to His throne in the name of Jesus.
And because Jesus, the righteous One, is our mediator,
God listens to and responds to our prayers.
Friends, we are wicked.
We do not deserve to have God listen to our prayers.
Therefore, God only listens to us through Jesus.
So, the only manner in which we can come to God in prayer is humble dependence.
We acknowledge that we only have access through Jesus.
This is what it means to pray in Christ’s Name.
It is acknowledging that Jesus is the only One who grants us access to God in prayer.
So, because we are sinners,
The first step in our prayer life is to confess we are sinners.
Proverbs 28:13 teaches this:
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
The well-being of our lives is intensely and intimately linked to our personal relationship with God.
This makes unconfessed sin the greatest disorder in our lives.
When we try to bury our sin, we keep our sin.
Proverbs states clearly that we will not prosper by concealing our sins.
We cannot diminish or deny our sin,
We confess it and forsake it.
The first people who sinned,
Adam and Eve,
Attempted to hide their sin back in Gen. 3.
That is not how God tells us to deal with our sin.
Do not minimize it,
Do not pretend it is not there,
Do not try to cover it up.
It is not a good thing to conceal our sins.
Confessing and forsaking sins, as Proverbs says here, summarizes repentance.
The first part is confession.
Confession is not just feeling sorry,
It is not just acknowledging you have been caught,
It is not being fearful of the consequences.
Confession is admitting you have sin in your life,
It is agreeing that it deserves God’s judgment,
It is crying to God for mercy,
Then it is agreeing to abandon,
To forsake it, altogether.
This is important because we can confess sin but not forsake it.
We can feel bad about it,
But do nothing to kill the sin.
The Bible describes this as a battle!
If we do not kill our sin,
Our sin will kill us!
The Bible repeatedly makes clear that complete repentance restores our relationship with God,
Based upon His mercy.
And we who find His mercy prosper in an eternal sense.
Psalm 32:1-4 explains this:
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
Jesus’ close friend and follower, John, similarly writes in 1 John 1:6-9:
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
All our human relationships depend on our ability to walk in the light.
And we walk in the light by confessing our sins.
Dane Ortlund paints this verse as a beautiful picture for us:
“Before us lies a main hall, prepared for feasting. The tables are piled high with all the dishes we could imagine. The chandeliers are bright, the flowers beautifully arranged. The chairs are comfortable and close together. Seating is unlimited; anyone can jump in...
...But off the hall are ten thousand little dark rooms with space for only one person each, where we all tend to lurk, hiding with our shames and sins and failures, terrified lest anyone should see our blemishes out in the light.”
If you think you are good enough,
Hear me clearly,
You are wrong.
The only way God listens to your prayers is to admit He shouldn’t.
When we do this,
God says that He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins.
He cleanses us from all unrighteousness,
Which then, going back to what Proverbs teaches,
He hears our prayers.
A righteous prayer is sincere, spoken with reverence and fear,
It is given with a humble understanding of our own insignificance and unworthiness.
Righteousness is found in repentance.
Our outward acts do not make us righteous,
God hates that.
We cannot manipulate God with our works.
We humbly depend on His mercy through Christ.
The problem is that even we who are Christians can still act this way.
We begin living the lie that cleaning up our act will cause God to respond favorably to us.
Friends, that is not grace.
That is not the Gospel.
That is not God and His mercy.
We approach God with humility,
Confess that we are sinners,
Plead for God’s mercy,
On the basis of Christ’s righteousness.
Because in Christ,
God is always for us and never against us.
He listens to our prayers.
Prayer is something that must earnestly come from our soul.
It is a submissive response to God’s will.
So, prayer is offered in faith that God will both hear and listen based on the righteousness of Christ.
Jesus teaches in Matthew 6 that genuine prayer does not require any fancy babbling to garner God’s attention.
Rather, God is eager to hear the prayers of His people.
Jesus also tells a story of two men praying.
One was a religious Pharisee,
The other was a sinful tax collector.
Jesus says that God only listens to one of these men’s prayers.
But Jesus shocked all His listeners because the story did not go as was expected.
Everyone would think the seemingly righteous Pharisee would be heard,
While the wicked tax collector would be given the silent treatment.
But listen to the prayers of these men:
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
Jesus teaches that God listened to the tax collector,
And He made him righteous.
So, what is the lesson?
If you want God to listen to your prayers,
Approach Him humbly,
Confess that you are a sinner,
And plead for mercy on the basis of Christ’s righteousness.
GOD: Unteachable Fools (vs. 31-32)
GOD: Unteachable Fools (vs. 31-32)
First and foremost,
We must understand that God only listens to us through Jesus.
Then, we must understand that we will only be able to listen to others through Jesus.
Humans are so easily self-deceived.
If you watch American Idol or America’s Got Talent,
You have seen people appear on the show convinced that they are good singers or have a special talent.
But this problem also hits much closer to home.
We can convince ourselves that we are a good parent, a good spouse, a good employee, a good brother or sister, or a good student,
Yet we are failing in these certain areas.
And this is important because eventually self-deception will catch up with us.
And it is more consequential than being embarrassed.
It can include loss of job, loss of marriage, or loss of friends.
Proverbs speaks a lot about self-deception and how it can ruin us.
Remember, one of the earliest commands in Proverbs was to not lean on our own understanding.
Why?
Because left to ourselves we will not walk the path of wisdom.
We need wisdom from outside ourselves instead of following our hearts.
We need this otherwise we will destroy our relationships and stumble our way through life.
So, wisdom requires that we listen well to obtain guidance.
Proverbs says if we reject this,
Then we are fools.
Prov. 15:31-32 talks about Unteachable Fools.
The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
These verses give two proverbs on teachability.
Wisdom is not always flattering.
In fact, wisdom often corrects.
Because we are not naturally wise.
We may think we are,
But our natural disposition is toward death and destruction.
This makes our ability to listen a matter of life or death.
So, Proverbs says if you want to be a fool and wreck your life,
Then just don’t listen.
Vs. 31 indicates that correction is life-giving.
Thus the opposite is true.
Rejecting correction is life-taking.
You will not become wise without listening to wise counsel from others.
Tremper Longman simply states:
“Only the wise are willing to admit mistakes, change behavior and improve their lives.”
This wisdom requires listening to instruction.
Earlier, Prov. 15:22 says:
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.
Why do we need many advisers?
Because it keeps us from getting a single perspective.
We need this kind of counsel to make good decisions.
We need this kind of counsel because we deceive ourselves.
Similarly, Prov. 12:15 adds:
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
Remember, Proverbs teaches that the way that seems right leads to death.
But listening to outside counsel makes one wise.
We will not choose the wise path on our own.
Look at children for example,
They do not naturally share with others,
A child has to listen to the counsel from others to learn the wisdom of giving to others.
Children do not naturally clean their room,
They have to listen to the counsel from others to learn the wisdom of diligence.
Our problem is that most of us assume our assessment of a situation is correct.
Teens generally think they know better than their parents.
The first time a person begins dating,
They instantly think it is love,
Even if it is a bad relationship.
We become so entrenched in our assessments that even if everyone else has a different assessment,
We will assume that they are all wrong.
I remember hearing a line in Captain America: Civil War that exalts this foolish sense of self-righteousness:
“Compromise where you can. And where you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like tree, look them in the eye, and say: ‘No, you move’.”
We have this internal sense of always being right,
Regardless of everyone else around us saying we are wrong.
And it is because our hearts are broken by sin.
So, we are not naturally wise.
Therefore, we need outside counsel.
We need counsel from friends, parents, spiritual mentors,
And most of all, from God’s Word.
This is true in every area of our lives.
Proverbs repeatedly tells children to listen to their parents.
Hebrews 13:17 tells church members to obey their leaders,
Titus 2:4 tells younger people to listen to the counsel of those who are older.
Romans 13 tells us to be subject to our governing authorities.
And our passage this morning teaches that people who listen to correction and instruction are at home among the wise.
However, when a person ignores discipline,
Vs. 32 says,
He despises himself.
Why?
Because foolishness is self-destructive.
It is not just harmful,
It is fatal.
So, foolishly ignoring instruction will produce self-destruction.
Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that a fool despises himself.
YOU: Talkative Fools (17:27-28)
YOU: Talkative Fools (17:27-28)
Proverbs teaches about foolish ways to use our tongues.
The most common lesson is to not talk so much.
Some people really struggle with this.
Perhaps you can relate to this.
Are you the type of person who always has to give your opinion first?
Are you usually just waiting for your turn to talk when conversing with others?
Are you jumping in the middle of conversations when someone else is mid-sentence?
If so, Proverbs says that this is a sign of foolishness.
Proverbs 10:19 says:
When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
Proverbs 17:27-28 adds to this teaching regarding Talkative Fools:
Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
It is believed that these verses are what inspired Lincoln’s famous line:
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
Proverbs is clear that when you talk a lot it leads to sin,
But when you are able to restrain your speech,
You are wise.
You put wisdom in action when you control your tongue.
There are two reasons given for restraining your tongue.
First, it protects you from impulsive speech.
Rash words do much damage.
And once the words are out there,
You cannot simply undo the damage they cause.
I am sure many of us have learned this lesson the hard way.
Times where your words have damaged your marriage, your children, your parents, your friends, or your job.
Wisdom keeps a cool head.
It is the idea of thinking before you speak.
It implies that you are wise when you remain calm.
Because when you are calm, it allows time to listen to others,
Especially when multiple parties are speaking.
When you are calm, it allows tempers to cool,
Especially in heated situations.
And when you remain calm, it makes your words much more powerful.
Jesus was the ultimate example of this.
Mark 14:61 displays this when Jesus was being given a mock trial,
Mark 14:61 says:
But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
Proverbs 16:27-28 contrasts the foolishness of not controlling your tongue.
A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.
So, if you want to be a fool who ruins relationships,
Then talk too much.
The second reason given for restraining your tongue in ch. 17 is that it protects you from arrogant speech.
Arrogant speech is foolish speech.
Arrogant speech is when you love to hear yourself talk.
It is not being able to resist the temptation to always give your opinion.
Proverbs 18:2 adds to this:
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Once again, Tremper Longman gives a helpful explanation:
“The verse suggests that fools are again only interested in their own desires and ideas…[they do not] want to listen to people with competence. They only want to blurt out what is on their minds.”
But a fool who has enough awareness to keep silent shows the potential for wisdom.
Since words are powerful, only a few words are needed.
In one sense,
The less we say, the less ammunition there is to be used against us.
Proverbs goes so far to say that in some instances,
Restraining speech can save friendships.
Look at Prov. 11:12-13:
Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent. Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.
Proverbs teaches that many words lead to foolishness and pride.
Do you struggle to listen to people?
Do you always prioritize your evaluations in a given situation?
Do you believe that everyone else should listen to your opinions?
Do you find it hard to have conversations with people without talking as soon as there is an opening in the conversation?
If so, then you might be a fool.
And if you want to be a fool, then speak before you listen.
Speak more than you listen.
But if you want to be wise,
Be slow to speak and quick to listen.
WE: Deceitful Counsel (vs. 33; 12:5)
WE: Deceitful Counsel (vs. 33; 12:5)
It is foolish to only listen to ourselves,
But it is also foolish to listen to deceitful counsel.
This is the idea of “yes men”
Or echo chambers.
It is surrounding ourselves with people who only tell us what we want to hear.
Some important questions to ask include:
Do you surround yourself with people who tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear?
Do you have someone in your life who has the freedom to lovingly correct you or simply tell you no?
Proverbs 12:5 warns us about Deceitful Counsel,
It says:
The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
Unwise counsel is deceitful because it does not tell you the way things really are.
Most often, they will tell you the way you wish things were.
So, this deceitful counsel does not lead you on the right track,
In fact, it gets you off course.
The author of Proverbs, Solomon,
Told this to his son, Rehoboam.
Unfortunately, 1 Kings 12 tells the story of Rehoboam not following the advice of his father.
Instead of listening to wise counsel,
Rehoboam listened to his buddies,
And it was the downfall of his kingdom.
Today, let’s say for example,
We are having a hard time in our marriage,
And you bring it up with someone who just dumps on your spouse,
But makes you feel better about yourself,
Then ends by saying you would be better off without them.
That is deceitful counsel.
Prov 14:7 warns:
Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
God wants us to understand that wisdom begins with listening well,
But it does not end there.
Wisdom includes discerning what to accept and what to reject.
Is it consistent with God’s Word?
Then accept it, this is wise counsel.
But if not,
Then reject it, this is deceitful counsel.
It is more than just discerning that anyone who disagrees with us is unwise.
We often give ourselves our own deceitful counsel.
If we have someone who is willing to tell us what we need to hear,
Even if it is an uncomfortable truth,
And what they are saying is consistent with God’s Word,
Then we would be wise to accept their counsel!
A great way to approach receiving correction or instruction is to ask yourself if there is something you need to hear in what is being said.
We cannot assume that just because someone is a Christian that they will give wise counsel.
I have both given and recieved foolish counsel in my life.
We humans have a foolish tendency to convince ourselves that our specific situations are an exception to biblical counsel.
We will follow God’s Word,
As long as it suits us.
Then something comes up where we decide that this is an exception.
Let me just tell you, it’s not an exception.
And anyone who says otherwise is giving you deceitful counsel.
Proverbs repeatedly reinforces the reality that our choices determine our character,
And our character determines our actions.
Therefore, Proverbs warns us about the deception of the wicked.
Their guidance will deceive us.
So, we must be very careful where we get guidance from.
But when we give deceptive guidance,
We must understand that we are being wicked.
We cannot determine a person as wise or wicked based solely on their appearance.
We learn about a person’s character through their choices and actions.
We must look to leaders on the strength of their principles,
Not their promises.
Proverbs 15:33 reminds us where we are to look for wise counsel.
The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
When teaching something,
There is a curriculum that we are teaching.
For wisdom, that curriculum is the fear of the Lord.
Wisdom teaches us how to fear the Lord.
And fear of the Lord is a prerequisite for wisdom.
Fear of the Lord is both the gateway to wisdom and the path of wisdom.
It means that we are most wise when we are humble.
In other words, listening requires humility.
Instead of singing like Sinatra that we did it our way,
Listening requires us to recognize that we do not have everything figured out.
Our pride hinders us from naturally submitting to the advice of others,
Especially when it does not match up with what we think.
Sin creates this internal knee-jerk reaction to think,
“I know better than you!”
And there is an increasing trend in our culture to correct less and less.
So, when we are corrected in love,
Our first reaction is not one of gratitude,
But one of frustration.
And the temptation is to then begin thinking of all the reasons this person is not fit to give instruction in this situation.
But wisdom is having the humility to recognize our need for counsel.
And this is ultimately dependent on God.
If we do not fear the Lord, we will not listen to counsel.
Since God is the highest authority,
If we do not submit to Him,
Why would we think we would submit to another authority?
And the inverse becomes true.
If we do not submit to other authorities in our life,
What does this say about our relationship with the Lord?
Friends, this is hard for us.
We struggle to humble ourselves and submit to God’s authority.
Just like it is hard for us to submit to parents, pastors, and presidents.
We struggle because we think our way is right.
Wisdom is the ability to recognize our self-deception,
Recognize that we are not always right,
And submitting humbly to the instruction and authority of God and others.
So, let me ask, do you want to be a fool?
If so, it is simple, do not listen to anyone but yourself.
Only consider your ideas.
Stay convinced that you are the only one who is right and you are smarter than everyone else.
Remain certain that the instruction from others is not with your interest in mind.
Only you have your best interest in mind.
This way of thinking is guaranteed to make you a fool.
We need training and instruction in wisdom.
But this means the opposite is equally true.
We are foolish when we are proud.
Prov. 11:2 makes this clear:
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
Our ability to be humble increases our ability to maintain self-control.
This is important.
When we lack this,
The result is arrogance and pride.
And when we are proud,
Others notice and they do not respond positively.
But when we are humble,
We do not exalt ourselves over others,
Rather, we rightly see ourselves as foolish and needy sinners just like every other person.
So, there are really two things we need in order to be wise in this life.
First, we need Jesus,
So, that God will listen to us.
And we can listen to His Word.
Second, we need the church,
So, that through Jesus we will listen to brothers and sisters who tell us the truth in love.
Proverbs reveals that wisdom is extremely personal.
If we do not listen enough,
Or if we talk too much,
It reveals foolishness in our lives,
And it means we have a problem with Jesus.
Not listening and talking too much are spiritual issues.
It reveals that we do not understand how great of sinners we are.
We are not aware that we are victims to our own self-deception.
The reason is likely because we make ourselves god of our own lives.
But through Jesus, God will listen to our repentance,
And we will listen to His Word and His people,
And He can grow us in Christlikeness.
One of the ways you can observe this growth is by being able to receive a rebuke,
By accepting correction from another.
I mean, Jesus remained silent when He needed to.
Luke 2 says that Jesus grew in wisdom by listening to and obeying teachers and His parents.
If you are not remaining silent when needed,
And not listening to and obeying teachers and authorities,
Then there is something wrong in your relationship with Jesus.
Not growing in Christlikeness has hasty consequences.
It could ruin your reputation because you always make the same mistakes,
It could wreck your family because you always see them as wrong but never yourself,
It could get you fired from work because you do not accept correction from your supervisor.
Being a fool ruins your life.
If you only listen to yourself,
If you talk more than you listen,
If you surround yourself with people who only tell you what you want to hear,
Or if you have this attitude that this is just who you are,
Then you are a fool,
And your life is headed for death and destruction.
But God has given us the solution, Jesus Christ.
When we recognize our foolishness,
Confess it to God,
And ask Him for wisdom,
He will cleanse us of our unrighteousness and generously give us wisdom.
So, ask Jesus to empower you to listen.
He is Wisdom,
Ask Him to become wisdom for you to make you wise.
Have the humility to know you are not always right and submit to God’s Word.
Thank Him for the Church!
We need one another!
We live together and depend on one another.
Proverbs says fools surround themselves with fools but the wise are at home among the wise.
Therefore, we need to connect with one another in fellowship.
We need brothers and sisters to speak into our lives,
And we need to speak into the lives of our brothers and sisters.
When we face difficult decisions,
Do we seek counsel from those who tell us what we want to hear?
Or do we seek out the godliest and wisest people we know and ask for their thoughts?
That is what we need to do.
We cannot embrace a lone wolf Christian life approach.
That is foolish because we deceive ourselves far too easily.
We must recognize how easily we can deceive ourselves.
Then restrain our tongues,
And listen to wise counsel from outside ourselves.
You can do all these religious acts of prayer and Bible study, and serving on a board,
But if we cannot listen to the counsel of others,
Or if we cannot control our tongue,
Well, it says an awful lot about our relationship with Christ.