Don't Reject Wisdom

October 21, 2018 Preacher: Luis A. Cardenas Series: Proverbs

Topic: English Passage: Proverbs 8:1-21

We’re close to finishing our study of the first half of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs has been divided into 31 chapters, and chapters 1-9 are the first section. Those are longer collections of messages, and they basically lay the foundation for the second part of the book, which is chapters 10-31.

Once we get to chapter 10, at least for most of it, it doesn’t go very long on one subject—usually only 1 or 2 verses. And so what we’ll do once we get there is stop going through the book in order, but start going through it topic by topic. And I don’t really know how long that will take. It all depends on how many topics we end up covering.

But for now, here in chapter 8, we’re finishing the foundation of the book. And this is a lesson that we’ve heard before, but God knows we all need it. That’s why it gets repeated. It’s not a direct lesson about morality or theology. It’s a lesson about our approach to life—our direction in life.

If you’re a Christian, then that means you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. You’ve bowed before Him in worship, recognizing your sinfulness before a Holy God and Judge. And you recognize that nothing you could ever do or accomplish could ever make you worthy of His majesty or His kingdom. You know you deserve judgment.

But you also know what grace is, right? Jesus Christ came from heaven to earth. He was born, like any other man, and yet He lived a perfect life. And though that perfection deserved worship, He was put to death. And this was all part of God’s plan. Jesus was the sacrificial spotless Lamb of God who died to bear God’s wrath and judgment for sinners.

He traded places with us. He took our sin upon Himself, and He credited to us His righteousness. And now, on the basis of what He did, which He authenticated by rising from the dead, now, by grace through faith, we are reconciled to the Father. He receives us, no longer as children of wrath, but as His adopted children. And there awaits us an eternal inheritance.

So there was a salvation that took place at the moment we repented and trusted in Christ and received Him. That’s called justification. And there is a future salvation waiting for us as well, when all Christ’s promises are fulfilled. That’s called glorification. And in between justification and glorification, we have this life.

And it’s a life that lives out our heavenly citizenship with Jesus as the King. He gave His life for us, and so we give our lives to Him. Romans 12 says we’re supposed to be a living sacrifice. This is a life in which we are being changed in our spirits, so that we are more like Jesus. That’s called sanctification. That’s spiritual growth.

And it happens by God’s grace, but it can’t be separated from our own effort or labor. We are called to be intentional about living for Jesus. How do we do that? How do we know what Jesus wants us to do?

Well, in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul says that nobody really knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person. And so, no one understands the thoughts of God, except for God’s Spirit. And that Spirit is what God has placed within us as His children.

Now the Spirit doesn’t guide us mystically. It’s not as if we have some kind of internal divining rod that tells us which way we’re supposed to go. That’s not how it works. Paul continues. And he says that the Spirit was given to us so that we might understand what God has freely given us. What is that? What is the “thing” God has given us, and which His spirit helps us understand? What is that?

It’s God’s word. It’s the Bible. It is, as Paul puts it, the mind of Christ. This is where we go. This is how Jesus leads us. His Spirit moved in men to write it so that every word is from God. And His Spirit is the One who teaches us and brings it to our mind so that we can walk in it.

This is supposed to be basic Christianity. We are people of the book. And yet, we have to admit, it’s so easy for self-confidence to come to the front, and we stop intentionally seeking and applying God’s word. We stop depending on it for a time.

In the book of Proverbs, seeking to understand and live by the word of Him who redeemed us, that’s called “fearing God.” That’s what it means to fear God. You live, ultimately, in response to Him and to what He’s told you.

Last week, as we talked about the seduction of the adulterous woman, we noticed how verses 1-4 were aimed at producing a heart inclined to instruction. That is a heart depending on God’s truth. And chapters 8 and 9 are like an expansion of that idea. It’s not a new message.

This is not some great theological mystery explained. But it is intensely practical for your life. And for my life. This is supposed to affect every decision you make.

If you obey God’s word, Proverbs calls that wisdom. That’s living life the right way. And the book is filled with synonyms for it. Just in the verses we read it also calls it understanding, prudence, sense, instruction, and knowledge. It’s an informational (or mental) thing to know what is the best. But true, biblical wisdom is when the knowledge gets past your mind and into your everyday life.

And to emphasize the idea of walking with wisdom, we get introduced to someone that over the years has been called Lady Wisdom. Wisdom is being personified as a women. We see a personification like that happen in the culture when people talk about Lady Luck. And it’s usually in some advertisement for a casino.

Well, as a Christian, you don’t need Lady Luck by your side. You need Lady Wisdom. She’s the one you want hanging around you so you can learn from her and walk in the fear of Christ.

The personification of wisdom goes all the way back to chapter 1, but the last time we ran into it was back in Proverbs 7:4, when the father urges his son to say to wisdom “You are my sister. You’re my intimate friend.” Don’t follow Lady Lust. Don’t go after her. Instead go after Lady Wisdom.

And in order to be encouraged in the pursuit of her, we’re going to look at chapter 8, verses 1-21 through the grid of three messages. Three messages from the Proverbs father to the son, and three messages from our Heavenly father to us.

The first message is this: Don’t resist wisdom’s request. Don’t resist wisdom’s request.

Verse 1 of chapter 8 has a couple questions that are basically saying the same thing. They are rhetorical questions. The answer is clear from the context but the intent of the question is to cause us meditate on the truth it’s pointing to. Prov 8:1.

Yes. It does. Wisdom calls. Understanding raises her voice. Verses 2 and 3 expand on that a little. Prov 8:2-3.

What is all that saying? It’s saying that wisdom is available. Wisdom is available. That might not sound like a big deal, but it is. Because it means that no one can give the excuse that they never heard about it. No one can claim ignorance.

I think most of us have had times in our life when we felt like we were out of the loop on something. It could be the due date on a homework assignment. It could be the fact that it was going to rain. Or that Daylight Saving Time was ending or starting, or whatever else. Nobody likes feeling like they were left out of some important information, or some insider information.

But with the wisdom of God, that’s never the case. Wisdom calls out. Wisdom finds the busiest places in the city and she calls out to everyone. It’s like a massive billboard on your way to school. Or a massive pop-up ad on your phone. That’s the wisdom of God. Everyone can see it.

Now, how is that possible? How can God’s wisdom be so evident to everyone? Well, that’s because the wisdom of God is built into creation itself.

Go with me for a moment to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, verse 18. Here, the Apostle Paul is dealing with the guilt of the world, even those who have never heard about Jesus Christ. Romans 1:18.

When someone chooses sin, or chooses foolishness, it’s not that they didn’t know the truth or that it wasn’t available to them. It’s that they are suppressing it. Romans 1:19-20.

So, how is the world introduced to the wisdom of God? Through creation itself.

This world has an order to it. There’s a structure. From the vast arrangement of the universe and our solar system and our planet, to the microscopic cells in our body. There is a design. DNA, for example is coded information. How did it get there?

Or our universe, how did it get here? It doesn’t make any sense to say it has existed forever because we all now that it will end. That’s a law of science. And since our universe will end one day (something almost all serious scientists recognize), and if it’s been around for all eternity, then it would have ended already.

You can’t make something eternal if you believe it’s finite. That doesn’t make any sense. You don’t find a rotten apple of the floor and say, well even though this apple is decaying and will dissolve one day, it’s actually been laying here for all eternity. That’s not possible. Because then it wouldn’t be there in the first place. Do you understand that?

Creation itself points us to a beginning. And the fact that there’s a beginning begs the question: “Who began it? Where did all this ordered information come from?” Answer: from a Creator!

His power, as Paul said, can be clearly perceived in the things that have been made. Creation testifies to a Creator. It’s a witness to the existence and the power of God. So there’s no excuse.

There’s a second witness also. Skip over to Romans chapter 2, verse 14. Paul moves from the material to the immaterial. And he’s addressing those people who, unlike the Jews, didn’t receive God’s law. Romans 2:14-15.

What is that saying? It’s saying, at a minimum, that even if someone doesn’t have God’s written revelation, they understand the concept of right and wrong. The law is written on their hearts. They have a conscience. It might not be properly aligned, or they might not listen to it. But they have one. And that testifies to some standard of right and wrong.

So you put creation and conscience together and you have the reality that there is a God and a Judge. There is an all-powerful Creator who takes an interest in how we live our lives. Every rational person has enough evidence to make that conclusion. The question, then, is whether we will accept that truth or suppress it.

How many of you are aware that there’s some kind of election coming up soon? You don’t have to know what it’s for or who’s running. But, how many of you either know there’s an election, or have some kind of feeling that one is coming?

Why? What would give you that impression? Probably the hundreds and hundreds of campaign signs all over the city. That’s a dead giveaway.

Well, God says, wisdom is like that. There are signs everywhere. And if anyone tries to claim absolute ignorance, we’ll know that real explanation is that they chose to ignore the signs. They chose to suppress the truth. They chose to resist wisdom’s request. Because wisdom is available to everyone.

Now, this doesn’t just apply to non-believers. It applies to us who are in the church too. When you think about your Christian growth, do you ever imagine that there’s some kind of secret knowledge to walking with God? Or to having a blessed marriage or family? Do the mature people in the church just know something you don’t?

The Apostle Paul had to deal with that idea in a lot of the churches. The Colossians are one example. People came in talking about special diets and worshipping angels and observing certain days on the calendar. And his message to them was: “That’s nonsense. There’s no secret knowledge. It’s all about Jesus Christ. There’s nothing hidden from you.”

Do you remember the seductress back in chapter 7? She was in the dark. She was whispering. She was targeting a man who was alone. But the wisdom of God doesn’t work that way. It’s open and available to everyone.

This is the takeaway from the opening words of Proverbs chapter 8. (You can go ahead and turn back there.) Wisdom calls out everywhere. It’s a universal request. It’s a call. It’s an invitation.

But what exactly is the message? We’re going to take a couple weeks to go through this, but the rest of chapter 8 is the message. This is the message from Lady Wisdom. And like many messages written today, it starts by saying who it’s addressed to. Let’s look at Proverbs 8:4-5.

The first 3 verses of the chapter told us that wisdom calls out in every place. These verses here, now, tell us that wisdom call out to every person. Again, this is a universal request. A universal call.

We might all see the same billboard about a beautiful resort in Hawaii, but that doesn’t mean we all have the same time and money accessible to us in order to go on that trip, right? We all see the advertisement, but we can’t all take advantage of it. Wisdom, however, isn’t like that. It’s accessible to everyone.

A cry to the “children of man” (verse 4) means it’s a cry to humanity. It’s not for angels. It’s not for demons. And it’s not to the animals. It is to you and me. And specifically, the focus in verse 5 is on the simple and the fools. Those are the people who don’t know any better. Those are the people who have the most to gain. And those are the people who might make the excuse that they can’t take advantage of the offer.

But wisdom confronts that idea by saying that this is an invitation that anyone can take advantage of.

If you think about the people who are more advanced than you in their walk with Christ, even if you recognize that there’s no secret knowledge, sometimes you might think: “Well, I’m just not as smart as those people. I don’t have the capacity for that. I can’t learn all that.”

Well, if you put a time restriction on it, you might be right. You can’t learn everything that person knows by next week. You can’t fast-track all the aspects of sanctification. But guess what? They didn’t learn it in a week either. Wisdom and maturity is a process. Verse 5 says it’s something we need to learn. It’s an understanding that’s gained.

And while people might gain it at different rates, and a lot of factors might be involved, any person can gain. Any person can benefit from it.

You’re never too old or too simple or too foolish to respond to wisdom’s call. It’s never too late to begin walking in the ways of God. You just need to, as verse 6 will say, hear. Listen. Verse 10 says “Take the instruction. Accept it. Choose it. Receive it.

Don’t resist wisdom’s request. That’s the first message for today.

The second message for today is this: Don’t reject wisdom’s righteousness. Don’t reject wisdom’s righteousness.

This is basically getting to the heart of biblical wisdom. Some people respond to biblical truth simply because they think it’ll make their life better. They might like the idea of morals or integrity. Or they might like the idea of some kind of material blessing. But they haven’t really understood what wisdom is all about.

Biblical wisdom is not simply about a better life or a better emotional state. It’s about honoring God. It’s about walking in His ways. If you love Jesus, you will love righteousness. You will pursue it.

And if you shun righteousness, if you reject it, then you are rejecting true wisdom. You’re rejecting Jesus Christ.

If you simply want your life to get better, but you’re not committed to righteousness, then the wisdom of God will do nothing for you.

We enjoy life and we enjoy God when we pursue His character and His heart. And if we’re unwilling to pursue that, no matter the cost, then the wisdom of God won’t come. Let me read verses 6-9, and as I do that, pay attention to the language of righteousness. Again, this is Lady Wisdom speaking. Proverbs 8:6-9.

To pursue God’s wisdom mean you will love righteousness and hate wickedness. It doesn’t just mean you generically hate sin in the world. It means you detest the sin within. You see your own lack of love for God and your own lack of love for others, and it grieves you.

If you think being a Christian just means being polite and paying your taxes and not using swear words, you don’t get it. This is a pursuit of righteousness. It’s a pursuit of truth. Not just truth in the intellectual sense, but in the heart sense.

First Corinthians 13 says that love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. That’s the idea here in Proverbs. It’s the application of truth in your life.

You might be a straight A student, or a savvy businessman, but if you don’t pursue love and righteousness, you’re not pursuing the wisdom of God. You might be very good at getting people to do what you want, but if you aren’t growing in how to serve them, that’s not biblical wisdom. Don’t divorce wisdom from righteousness. Don’t reject wisdom’s righteousness. You don’t get to pick and choose which principles of God you get to follow.

Lady wisdom here is saying, “Everything I tell you is righteousness.” Psalm 12 repeats that idea like this: The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

The assumption is verses 6-9 is that this young man wants to pursue righteousness. Ultimately, he’s not looking to be finance-savvy or business-savvy. He’s looking to walk with God.

If that’s your commitment, then the Proverbs won’t be a moral to-do list. It’ll be a wonderful guide for your life. It’ll click for you. Like verse 9 says: “If you understand that, they will be straight to you.”

There’s one final lesson for today. First, was: Don’t resist wisdom’s request. Number 2 was: Don’t reject wisdom’s righteousness. And number 3 is: Don’t refuse wisdom’s reward. Don’t refuse wisdom’s reward.

Only the fool ignores wisdom. Only the fool separates wisdom from righteousness and holiness. And only the fool passes up the blessings and rewards of wisdom. Look at verses 10 and 11. Proverbs 8:10-11.

Silver, gold, jewels. That’s what people were after. That’s money. It’s still what people want, right? Or at least the things that money will buy you. A fancy car, or a fancy phone. Or a nice internet connection to get whatever you want in good speed.

But more than pursuing that, Lady Wisdom says, “Pursue Me! Nothing can compare to what I will give you!” Look at verse 12. Proverbs 8:12.

In other words, if you pursue wisdom, you’ll get more wisdom. You’ll get more understanding. You’ll be more aware of how the world really runs.

And before continuing on the blessings on wisdom, we get a one verse reminder of lesson number 2: Wisdom is connected to righteousness. That’s verse 13. Proverbs 8:13.

It’s almost like a reminder that before you jump into the blessings, don’t forget that this is ultimately about righteousness, which God will bless. It’s not just about moving up in life. Don’t pursue the blessings more than you pursue righteousness. You must detest whatever opposes itself to the principles of God.

Now, with that quick reminder, we come back to the blessings, or the rewards, of wisdom. Look at verses 14-17. Proverbs 14:14-17.

Biblical wisdom gets things done. Wisdom allows a person to lead well. Wisdom brings a measure of success in your life.

Proverbs 11:30 connects wisdom with winning souls, or capturing souls. I take that to mean that wisdom allows a person to gain friends, to win people over to your side.

Proverbs 4:4 said that if you pursue wisdom. you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

If you don’t, generally, get along with people, you don’t have biblical wisdom, no matter how smart you are.

In the book of James, chapter 3, you can read about the distinction between earthly wisdom and the wisdom from above. And here’s what it says (vv. 13-18): If there’s bitterness or jealousy or selfishness in your hearts, that’s a false life. That’s demonic wisdom. But the wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruit. It leads to peace.

And again, this doesn’t mean that if you’re wise, you’ll never have enemies. But it does mean that if you’re wise, people will recognize that. It will be evident.

And once we get to the various topics in the second half of Proverbs we’ll talk more about how wisdom is shown in the way we live and the way we talk.

For now, let’s just close with the final verses of our section for today. Verses 18-21. This is just a continuation of the blessings of wisdom. If you forfeit wisdom, you forfeit these things. Proverbs 8:18-21.

Proverbs are general principles for life. This is not some ironclad guarantee that wisdom will make you rich. But the language tells us that fearing God brings blessing. It brings God’s favor. And, generally speaking, it will improve your life.

There are financial benefits, social benefits, and spiritual benefits. On the spiritual side, you can sleep with a clean conscience. You know you have pleased Christ. You’re spared the severe consequences of foolishness. And there are blessings that will extend to your family and your children.

Before we end our time for today, I want to prod you to take an inventory of your life. What are you after? What are you pursuing? What are you investing in? Is it the wisdom of God in His word?

James 1 says if you lack wisdom, just ask God, and He’ll give it to you, generously. But you need to ask with a pure heart. What do you pray about? What do you want God to do?

Are you like the young King Solomon, pleading with God for more wisdom? Or are you like the Solomon who ruined his kingdom, spending your efforts on other things?

Where does your free-time go? Don’t say you don’t have free time. We all have free time. We just choose to use it differently.

You can pursue fun, or food, or entertainment, or sleep. Thousands of things. But what is your life really going after? Where is your time being invested? What are you spending your money on? What are you with all that time on your phone? What are you talking about with others?

Lady Wisdom said (verse 17): I love those who love me. And those who seek me diligently will find me. They will find success and blessing.

Don’t be foolish. Don’t turn that down. Don’t refuse wisdom’s reward. Learn, more and more, how to walk with Jesus Christ.

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