Wisdom is personified in Proverbs 1 as a woman cried out in the open!
God intends for us to heed her call and learn from her truth.
Blessings
Rebirth Church Sermons
Proverbs Series_ Part 2: Wisdom's Call_ Clinton Montague
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day that you have made. We thank you that your mercies are new on this morning. We thank you Lord that we are reminded of your faithfulness. This we bring to mind Lord, and we have hope, not in ourselves. We have hope in you who is a God on the throne. We have hope in you who is faithful. We have hope in you who never changes. Father, this morning as we go into your word, I just pray, O Lord, that you would anoint my lips of clay, that you would take the wheel as Pastor Bev says, the Lord and all of you and none of me, Father, speak through me. I pray in the mighty name of Jesus and rebirth says, amen and amen and amen. So thank you very much. What do we call the team over there? We're trying to get slideshow. So this morning we still are in the book of Proverbs. Pastor Bevans started out for us last week, and we continue this week. My passage of focus will be verses 20 to 33, but I'm going to start with a little bit of the beginning from 1 to 7, a little bit of background there, and then we'll move on from there. Is that okay? Lord. And we thank you, Father, just take control with this slideshow, then it all works. Now we don't get stressed out by technology and what is and what must not be. We roll with it as it comes. Lord, you are in control. So let's read. If you have your Bibles turned to the book of Proverbs, we're going to be reading from verse 1. So that's Proverbs chapter 1, and we'll move on from there. Give me an amen when you are at Proverbs 1. Amen. So Proverbs reading from the ESV, the beginning of knowledge from verse 1, the Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel to know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice and equity, to give prudence to the simple knowledge and discretion to the youth, let the wise hear an increase in learning, and the one who understands, obtained guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise, of the wise and the aridels. Verse 7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools, despised, wisdom, and instruction." The Lord blessed us the reading of his word, and we'll get back, like I said, into the second part of our reading after some introduction. So Proverbs, the name of the actual book, thanks team. So the Hebrew title in the Hebrew title, actually the title is the first seven verses, would you believe, as we see there. So it's the book in the Old Testament with the longest title ever. In the Greek Septuagint, it's the first couple of words of the title, the name of the book. So in the Greek Septuagint, it's called, as we read there, the Proverbs of Solomon. So Proverbs, in Hebrew, the Hebrew term "masha" means "to be like." So it's a book of comparisons. There's two major overlapping themes that we find in the book of Proverbs, which is folly and wisdom. So Proverbs is highlighting the doctrine of two paths. On the Latin word "pro-verba," we get "pro" and "verba," "pro" meaning "for" or in support of and "verba" meaning words. So we have words in support of, okay, "pro-verba," words in support of very many different situations. So Proverbs are words that we have for everyday life, everyday situations, our family life, our relationships, our personal relationships, our husbands, our wives, our before-buried relationships, our businesses, everything is housed in the book of Proverbs. So am I moving? Okay. Let's not leave it. Let's be there. All right. So one, I'm going to discuss the authorship very quickly, but I'm going to discuss the authorship with a little bit of structure put into it at the same time. So when we look at the book of Proverbs, we have first and foremost, like we saw in 1 verses, chapter 1 verses 1, the title. And like I said in the Greek, the first couple of words, the Proverbs of Solomon is the title. Okay, Proverbs of Solomon, Saul of David, King of Israel. Now if we look at verses 2 to 6 that we've just read, here you find the purpose, what God is willing to accomplish or what God is going to accomplish in us through Proverbs. And verses 7, we've got the overarching theme, the statement of Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and fools despise wisdom and instruction. So you've got the theme. That's in verses 7. Now the introduction of Solomon, the introduction of Proverbs is the first nine chapters. Okay, the first nine chapters basically selling to us what Proverbs is all about, or installing in us a hunger for wisdom. So now if we look at the different authors that are referenced in the book of Proverbs, we have in the beginning there the Proverbs of Solomon verses chapter 10 verses 1 to 22 verses 16 details the Proverbs of Solomon. Then we have when we get to verses 25 they make reference to King Hezekiah. King Hezekiah's men have copied the sayings of Solomon and this has been included in the compilation as well. So King Solomon was the major author and collector of the Proverbs. So then we've got after Hezekiah's men, we've got something called the wise men or the sages, we've got two batches which are allocated to the wise men or the sages and then in verse 30 we've got the words of agar. Not much is known about agar, it's the only time he appears in the Bible and after that we've got King Lemuel who some say is Solomon. These words were taught to King Lemuel by his mother. So these are in essence the different parties who've had a play a role in the compilation of the book of Proverbs. The canon of Proverbs chapters 1 to 29 were compiled during the time of Hezekiah like we've said 710 to 687 BC, the last two chapters were then added a little later. The genre of Proverbs is wisdom literature. Okay we have also other books, wisdom literature, the book of Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and of course Proverbs. So wisdom literature is part of the Old Testament truth rather. We have priests who gave God's law and most of the time this was to the nations okay. Priest who gave God's law we have the prophets who gave God's word also to the nations and then we have got the sage, the wise man giving his wise counsel many a time to an individual as we see with Proverbs 1. The king giving his wisdom to his son, Jeremiah 18, 18 says, "The law shall not perish from the priest, no counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet." Now Phoe and Stuart have given us a little bit of a list here, they've given us a little bit of a caution, a guideline for us to read the book of Proverbs. So let's have a look at what Phoe and Stuart are saying. So they said Proverbs are often figurative. Now when you're reading the book of Proverbs we've got to keep this in mind okay. So that we, what we're reading we don't decide to make up our own minds about. So it's often figurative, has parable characteristics. So not always just what you are reading is what you are taking out and applying. So not always very literal, it's intensely practical, it focuses on what to do with the situations of life not so worried about the theological arguments of life. Which is not worrying for instance about the eschatological end, has it come or has it been? Is it to come or has it be? It doesn't worry about the Preterist view, it says here we're worrying about the practical everyday things of life. It's something that we can apply to our lives. And number 3, ha, here's where we go a little rob. It's not for selfish game, would you believe? So the Proverbs even though it's about living a wise life, it's not just about me. It's not just about you and I. Now there is something called personal development, anybody heard of personal development? And personal development is very good, it's very good. It's a healthy thing, it's a useful thing but it focuses on you, the individual. It's all about how to make myself better, how to make the best version of me, for me, how to make sure that I do all of these things for me. The Proverbs says, it's not all about you. They strongly reflect ancient culture, which means that what is written there could be reflecting the culture of the past, which means you've got to apply careful hermeneutics where this is concerned to just not apply to what is happening today. Amen. These are not guarantees from God, very, very, very important. The Proverbs are not guarantees from God. So what do I mean by that? If we look at, for instance, Proverbs 16, verses 3, commit to the Lord whatever it is that you do and your plans will succeed, sounds lovely, doesn't it? But now we face with a problem here that says the Proverbs are not guarantees from God. They are rather guidelines to godly behavior which could benefit us. So the Lord says, it could very well benefit you to commit all your ways so that your plans will succeed. Are all your plans made to succeed? Hey, COVID came and showed lots of people the flames where that is concerned. And we also take things a little bit extra where we twist the scriptures to suit what we wanted says, commit whatever you do to the Lord, you will make your plans succeed in another version. It says you will establish your plans in another version. It says your thoughts will be established. A lot of the time we take these verses, we twist it, we crunch it, we go out and we say Lord, stepping out in faith, I commit this to you, I'm doing it, I'm buying this, I'm buying that. I'm doing this. That hasn't worked, I'm glad you said. How is this possible? This is not what the word is saying. So genre is very important. What genre are we reading? How do we interpret what we are reading? Proverbs, here's another one, Proverbs 22 verses 6, we all know this, train up a child in the way that he should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it or he will not turn away from it. Hey, how many heartbroken parents are out there reading this and thinking? But Lord, didn't you say in your word, didn't you say in your word? This is a guideline, meaning, yes, train your child in the way of the Lord, instead of the word, the values will be installed. How many of us can agree that the child still has free choice? The child still has free choice. The Proverbs are often very dramatic, very poetic. So it's very dangerous to then go with the very literal interpretation. We see lots of use of hyperbole within the Proverbs, so take note of that. The Proverbs also give wise approach to different or various aspects of life. Now remember, the Proverbs will give you overarching principles, but not necessarily the methods. There's not one method for one principle. There could be a whole variety of methods that could be given to a particular principle. Now this is where it becomes very interesting because we can very easily apply our own earthly fleshly wisdom to our methods. But the Isaiah 11 verses 2 and 3 says, "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." Now these are handy tools to have in your toolbox to be able to come up with godly effective methods. Amen? Godly methods rely on the Holy Spirit as the catalyst. Somebody say amen to that. Think about it when you are running ahead in your method of flesh. So Proverbs can be wrongly used. And if they can be wrongly used, it means they can be rightly used. If you're using a proverb and it justifies a crass material outcome where it's just all about you, you, you, it doesn't matter anything about anybody else, we've got to then look at it again. A proverb if rightly used in a godly manner can give us excellent and practical advice for daily living. So I just want to look at this in terms of the value of Proverbs. So we spoke just now about self-help, right? We spoke about personal development. Now many of us here have very many personal development books on our shelves. Books like seven habits of highly effective people. Anybody have that? I think Aaron's ends in the garble, all these. Can grow rich, the 80/20 principle, achieve more, rich dad, poor dad, hands must be growing up all over the show. How successful people think. We got these books. Now we search after what is the practical right way, what is the best way to achieve all of these things in our lives. We search and we crave after this worldly wisdom, right? It was Perry who made this comparison and I absolutely loved it. He says that one of the most renowned and sought after personal development speakers today is Tom Robbins, anybody heard of Tom Robbins? Now Tom Robbins today is worth over in 2024, worth over 600 million US dollars. He charges this for an engagement. He charges between 300,000 US dollars to 1 million US dollars per engagement. Isn't that amazing? First Kings verses three names Solomon as the wisest man to have walked the earth except Jesus Christ of course. So now we have Solomon, King Solomon, the wisest man to ever have walked this earth. And all of this material, the wisest material has been put into the book of Proverbs. How many of our Bibles remain with those words of Proverbs? Clite, tightly clutching one another. How many of us here have actually read through the book of Proverbs, they study one Proverbs one for every day, very achievable. But how many of us have really taken this to heart that, Lord, I chase after all of these things and I urge you, go home today, go look at your bookshelf and go and see where and what your heart is investing in. Are we investing on the wisdom of God, or are we investing the wisdom of man? We have access to the most dynamic paradigm shifting material ever. And it sits on our shelves, gathering dust, wake up core, wake up core. So if we look and we've read through this part until verses seven, if we look at Proverbs one verses seven, we have an audience that this has written to. We have the simple who are those who are ignorant, who don't know who are naive. We have the youth who are young, who are immature, who haven't experienced much. And we have the wise who are perhaps, I don't want to use the word older, let's call them mature and perhaps have a little bit more wisdom. So we have the book of Proverbs being addressed here to an audience across the spectrum from young and immature all the way to the side of wise and mature. Isn't it funny that even when we consider ourselves wise and mature, this is still relevant? We never get to a place of, hey, I've arrived, I know it all now, I'm here. So Proverbs is telling us there is something here for each and every one of us. So the reason or the purpose, the reasons or the purpose for Proverbs is given in verses one to verses six and it's to attain wisdom in a nutshell. So there's a couple of verbs here that we can see that I've highlighted, that talks about the scaling of wisdom, I've highlighted and check these verbs out to know, to understand, to receive and to give. So the process or the wisdom process is knowledge, understanding and implementation or application. That's the process in a nutshell. Now knowledge appears 39 times in Proverbs, understanding appears 35 times, wisdom appears 51 times. Now Hamrick defined these three terms like this and I quite liked it, he says knowledge is the accumulation of information, knowledge is the accumulation of information, understanding is the interpretation of that information and wisdom is the application or the implementation of that information. Now in this day and age we don't lack for information, in fact we have an information overload. I want to put it to you this way, we don't even lack for interpretation today, these overload of it. Now Proverbs 4 verses 5 and 7 stresses get wisdom, get wisdom, Proverbs 23 verses 23 says get wisdom, instruction and understanding. In this day and age, like I said, there's an information overload. Our knowledge, our accumulation of knowledge is coming from social media. Our interpretation is coming from guess way, social media. How dangerous is when you start applying an incorrect interpretation? Isn't it a wonder that the world is talking about nuclear wars? Isn't it a wonder? I've got a repent for this because I'm in a stage where my screen time is more than my prayer time. My screen time is more than my word time. How many of us are finding ourselves in that position? When I was busy with preparing this word, that phone, even though it's on vibrate, does it cause a reaction here? So much distraction. We are geared to feed into these things, are we walking in wisdom? Proverbs 3 verses 19 says the Lord by wisdom founded the earth. By understanding he established the heavens and by his knowledge, the deeps broke open. So God has literally built the principle of wisdom into the structure of this world. Do you understand this that the functioning, the proper, godly functioning of this world is built on the principles of wisdom? When we start operating outside of wisdom, isn't it a wonder that things start breaking down? Have you ever thought you would see the days where we are getting to this, where people are questioning who they are, what they are. People are calling themselves cows, today I want to be a goat. Today, no, no, I know the Lord made me a man, but the information out there and my interpretation of the information says I don't have to call myself a man, I don't have to call myself a woman, I can call myself a table if I like. I saw a video where the guy got pulled over by the cop and the cop says I want you a license, I want this, I want that and his wife says to the cop, he doesn't identify as a man. He identified as some animal. So I don't think you asking for this license is valid and all of that stuff. And the quick thinking cop says, well, that animal is also not licensed to drive a car, so we have a serious problem here. We've gone into a state of foolishness people, foolishness, wisdom is the ordering principle by which everything functions and without it, these chaos, are we operating in wisdom according to how God has designed this world or are we short circuiting, are we short circuiting because the way we've been made to interact with this world that God has created is not aligned versus seven, which I've highlighted there as well, is the core maxim, it's the core statement of truth within the book of Proverbs, the theme of the book, fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. As we can see the Lord is highlighted as well in capital letters, truth is found in the covenant God of Israel. Now the second part of Proverbs before we get into our reading this morning is where you find a father talking to a son, a father talking to a son and these days the Proverbs was royalty, it was a king talking to his son in preparation for leadership. Now initially it was only for royalty but later on down the line we see that it's open to everybody and the father is literally talking to his son about the doctrine of two paths. He's basically stipulating that there is a wisdom from above and there is a wisdom from below. Don't go with these with the wisdom of below. Now James 3 verses 13 to 18 gives us a little bit of a description of that. In a nutshell worldly wisdom guides you towards what is profitable, remember like we say it's selfish, all about me. What is profitable for my pocket, worldly wisdom, all about me, don't worry about the consequences. If I have pound I'm good, it's selfish ambition versus biblical or heavenly wisdom what is profitable for this character that God has made? We are made in his image, what is profitable if we are operating outside of godly wisdom we are short circuiting. Now James 3 verses 13 to 18 do a check on this. This is what is said to be heavenly wisdom. Wisdom that is pure, that is peaceable, that is gentle, that is open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere, that is wisdom from above. Wisdom from below and it actually calls it like this, earthly unspiritual demonic wisdom is wisdom is the feelings of bitter, jealousy and selfish ambition. What space do we operate out of? Colossians 2 verses 3 says in Christ are hidden all treasures of wisdom and of knowledge. So Christ is the source of our wisdom, I know we get very tempted to function in our own head knowledge where it comes to wisdom. In Christ we have the treasures of all wisdom, the starting point is Christ. Let's get into our reading this morning. If you still have your Bibles open, let's turn to verses 20 to 33. So that is our reading this morning, the call of wisdom, give me an amen when you're there. Okay, the call of wisdom, wisdom cries out, 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, oh 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. Because I have called you and 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 will also laugh at your calamity. Hey, I will mock when terror strikes you. 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. 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 the away and have the fearful of their own devices, for the simple are killed by the turning away and the complacency of fools destroys them, but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without dread and or dread of disaster. The Lord blessed to us the reading of that word. So the call of wisdom and I am going to break this particular pericope into three different sections. The call of wisdom section one is the call of urgency from wisdom verses 20 to 22. The power of wisdom verses 23 to 31 and the safety of wisdom verses 32 to 33. So wisdom with her voice of urgency crying out loud in the street, in the market she raises the voice at the head of the noisy street she cries out. So there's a change now from verses 8 to 19 that we were reading with the king, the father is speaking to the son, now he points towards wisdom, the personified woman. He points to the personified wisdom as the speaker. Now he has a bit of an unusual occurrence, in a culture where women are not given the same platform as men. We see this woman bold and unapologetic amidst the busiest of places where men normally would be raising her voice, bringing a point across. When I looked at that especially where she went in terms of the city gates, it reminded me of the book of Ruth. And at one point in time the book of Ruth speaks about where Boas went to the city gates to meet the elders to redeem Ruth, we remember that story. Now in the book of Ruth just taking a quick offer. We exposed to different displays of wisdom-principled God-fearing lives. What do I mean by that? We see Naomi, a God-fearing woman who is leading by example so much so that her daughter-in-law is looking to and being ministered by her life, by her example. And she follows Naomi's people and she follows Naomi's God. She's converted because of the example of Naomi. We see Naomi, I mean Ruth herself, who is submitting in faith to Naomi. And then we see Boas, Boas who responds in wisdom and not in the flesh to a strange woman that he doesn't know and he responds in love and in respect. And in the midst of these people who are walking in wisdom, we see the sovereignty of God. We see that through obedience in wisdom we see how God has moved things around for them to play such an important role in all our lives today. We see King David coming out of that lineage. We see the seed of David, Christ our Savior coming out of this walk of obedience, this walk of wisdom, an amazing, an amazing feat. Let's get back to wisdom and how she's been presenting herself here. So wisdom comes and breaks all boundaries with this message exactly like Jesus Christ did, coming not to the secluded places and hiding this light. Wisdom comes to the busiest of places, to the noisy streets, to the entrance of the city gates. She comes with this message unashamed of the gospel. She comes and her voice is heard above all the noise. Her voice is heard above all of the distraction. God is present and calling. There's lots of noise in our lives, there's lots of distraction in our lives. But one thing we cannot deny is we recognize that knocking on our hearts. We hear that call. Time is not a hard thing to find, she's calling to whoever will respond. James 1 verses 5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given unto him." God is always trying to speak into our lives. He's always trying to direct us to a path of life. One belief replies with not now, not convenient, maybe tomorrow, not keep knocking, not right now. I love that song from old, I love it when I was slowly in use. What is it tomorrow? Yes, that one. That song, when I heard it for the first time, when I was in youth, I could not sleep that night because what if tomorrow never came? What if tomorrow is not promised? But we live our lives like we are in control of tomorrow. Wisdom is applying the godly rules that will ensure that all will be well in the end. Now, when I looked at this, it reminded me of what's happening right now, who has those smart meters at home for electricity? So, you know there's been lots of messages going out, renew your meter, you must update your meter, all of those things. So what they're saying is, the current meter that you have right now, at a date now in the future, that current meter is going to be useless, there will be coming a time where it is bomb cut off, and if you have not received the upgrade, everything that that meter holds together, that connects together, comes to a standstill, is dead and is in darkness, boom, that's it, done for. Now we know the date for when the meter needs to be upgraded, but do you know the date when your meter no longer is going to be working? Do you know the date where the god says, you know what, the time for the upgrade is now? I'm giving you the warning, I'm giving you the knocking, make sure that you upgrade, because the version that you have now will not take you to the next life. How many of us are walking in that obedience of, I know, I know they've said I need an upgrade, but I think I've still got some time. Yes, I've got lights for today, I worry about the darkness when it comes. There is a way to operate in wisdom from above, it's through Jesus Christ. The words that are highlighted on screen, how long, Grenville spoke about how long the other day in his message, and this is a different kind of how long. Grenville's how long spoke about, you know, we transgress against God, we weaken medicine, and we go through a time of Lord, I'm sorry, Lord, I've done this, I've sinned against you, and then we're like, I've prayed this, I've gone through this. Lord, are you hearing me? I think we have gotten to right now, shouldn't this be enough? Lord, how much longer must I endure? Do we have a right to ask God this question? We are floating rags before him, we are always in need of a Savior, we are always in need of a pruning, not how long, but Lord, show me more, show me how. This how long, however, is coming from the Father, talking to us, coming from wisdom, talking to us, how long, and this is rhetorical, this is how long doesn't imply that you can answer and say, okay, you know what, let me negotiate and I think maybe I need about five years more, no. This how long is, how long will you continue being foolish? How long will you continue being foolish because tomorrow is not promised? No man knows the hour, yet we say maybe tomorrow. That says, how long will you continue in this foolishness? There's a couple of people that this how long is addressed to. We see the simple, we see the scoffers, and we see the fools. Now the simple, as we remember from verse 4, were the naive, the inexperienced, the immature, but there's an addition to these now because you see, oh, simple ones, will you love being simple? So these simple ones actually are enjoying being in the state that they're in. They enjoying not knowing, don't tell me, I don't actually want to know. They are blissfully ignorant. Then we have the scoffers who delight in the scoffing, scoffers are those who are confident, those who are successful, those who have made it, those who have made it, who say, you know what, I know my truth, I know my truth. They ridicule God, they ridicule what God stands for. I've made it on my own. What are you talking about to God to me? Fools are those who seemingly know God's truth yet rejected. Who know God's truth but rejected. Like I said before, notice how fine they all are with where they are. These are people that are happy. These are people that are going through life. I don't have a cane while I enjoy my son. I enjoy living the way that I'm living. Leave me alone. It's all good. How long? How long? It's funny how hate is contrasted with love in verses 22. We love and delight in the sin. We hate the things of God. Isn't it amazing how sometimes our actions betray us? And what do I mean by that? You know, I was talking now about fools who know the truth but still rejected as a viable lifestyle. Who know the truth, who sets under sermons week in and week out, who have been exposed to the truth yet nothing changes. No decision comes. A fool knows the truth but will not worship God. How often do we stand here coming to a place of worshipping God but we stand as sticks of cement, we stand here, we refuse to open our mouths to worship the King of Kings. We are stuffed our eyes are eyes wide shut. We have our mouths clowed in defiance of the presence of the Lord but isn't amazing. Take that same person. Yes, I am a Christian. I just don't worship in church. I am a Christian. No, I just don't sing. Take the same person to a secular environment. I didn't know you could go that low. I didn't know you could sing that loud. Your body can do what? Our hearts betray who we are. We can say one thing but what does the abundance of our hearts say? Proverbs 16 verses 25 says there is a way which seems right to man but the end is the way of death. How long, family, how long? Wisdom has power. Moving on from verses 23 and we'll go on to verses 32, wisdom has power and we see here wisdom that starts to evoke the words of the Lord. I will pour out my spirit and make my words known to you as you will see in Joel 2. Wisdom uses what we call a sandwich approach here. The good, the bad, the good. The benefits, the consequences, the benefits. And God says here for repentance the reward is God's spirit on the inside of you and revelation in your life so that you can walk in wisdom. But for disobedience there is a price to pay. Family for disobedience there is a price to pay. Wisdom called extended and invitation. No one heeded. So I'm going to go through some of the consequences here of disobedience and I've got them highlighted some of them and we can see here wisdom saying, I'm calling out to you. No one is heeded. You've ignored my counsel. You would have none of my reproof. What are the consequences of that? And we've got a bit of a chiasm happening here where you've got calamity, terror and then terror calamity further expressing the point, I will laugh at your calamity. So calamity will come, terror will come and this here extending on the point, talking about it will come like a storm, it will come like a whirlwind. It will come unexpectedly when you are still going about enjoying what it is that you're enjoying. No man knows the hour. It will come at time when you are still enjoying what you're enjoying and terror will come upon you. There is terror, distress, anguish that will come upon you. May we never get to a place where the Lord becomes silent with us. May we never get to a place where the knocking stops, where we decide now we want to search for God and there's no longer a God to be found, where the decision is no longer ours. Auckland says that God will not laugh at the pain of fools, but he does rejoice at the defeat of evil. God laughs in amazement at the foolishness that we sometimes portray. Can you imagine? Can you think right now with me what God has put on the line for you and I? And yet we walk in disobedience, he's given his best, he comes knocking and pleading and yet we walk in that foolishness. This is what God loves at. This is what God loves at. In verses 32, or before we get to verses 32, verses 31, it says, "Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way." Now this is talking about seed sown is what you're going to reap. Seed sown is what you, isn't it amazing that sometimes we invest so much of our lives in something and boom, it's gone. And we wonder what was it all for. I must tell you a funny story. We had the youth over last week or week before and they were building puzzles and very interesting as to how everybody approached the, some invested energy, some were just like, "Oh no." After that, my wife, Bernice, the Saturday and the Sunday was very invested in this puzzle. And I was like, "Love, what are you doing?" So quiet in us, nothing. What are you doing? Where is he? Where is he? Where is he? Where is this puzzle? Can you come to bed? Where is he with the puzzle? She had gotten that puzzle completed, it's a 750 piece puzzle completed to about 80%. We went to work the Monday. We came home from work, ha, our helper had been to visit. So what our helper saw as a mess, what Bernice had invested in, her time, her everything, her value, time away from her husband, not eating her husband's call. Our maid came and said, "What, Ms. is going on here?" And just packed everything away. How much time do we invest in our own things? How much time do we invest in our own things? Have we inquired from the Lord Lord, is this wisdom? Or have I done it my way? Have I done it my way? We will eat the fruits of what we've sown. You know, sometimes it gets taken away, but equally said, sometimes it gets given to you. The seed of what you've sown gets given into your bosom, and you have to carry the consequences of that seed sown. Then we have to ask ourselves, was the cost worth it? Was the cost worth it? Family we need to operate in wisdom. Wisdom is our safety. We see here that the final two verses of Proverbs 1 again illustrate the doctrine of two paths. The doctrine of two paths, complacency here is just as bad as making a bad decision. Making no decision, taking no stand for Christ is just as bad as denying Him. Being naive and ignorant and saying, "Shh, I don't want to know." Being lukewarm and indifferent is making a decision. Psalm 90 verses 12 says, "Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Now this particular verse is very close to my heart. I'll never forget this, because I attended my friend's funeral. And this is what was preached. So teach us to number our days. Value the days that we've been given as a gift back to God, honoring God without days. The friend whose funeral I attended was a larger-than-life character, lived his life by his own rules, had no handbrake. It was all about him, what was a wonderful, lovely person, but it was all about him. He passed away at the age of 42, leaving behind a beautiful, beautiful family. There are consequences for the decisions. There are consequences for not heeding the core of our Savior. Deliciousness is walking through life thinking, "I've got tomorrow." Verse 33 says, "Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without dread of disaster." Does it mean that you're not going to end your hard times? Does it mean that things won't go wrong in our lives when we serve Christ? Actually, it might be the other way around, just in case you're thinking it's all rose petals and all of those things. When you come to Christ, you will be tested. Why? Because our trust is in him and not in us. We get tested for that, but we have the word of God, Philippians 4 verses 6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in all things, through pre-ence application, what thanksgiving make you request known to God and the peace of God that supposes all understanding. Will God your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus?" We have those promises. We are not promised that things won't go wrong. We are not promised that that turmoil will not come, but we have a promise in him who is on the throne. Philipp Philippians 1-21, Paul said, "To love is Christ and to die is gain. Do we love our lives like Lord, lead the way? As long as I'm in you, I'm safe. As long as I'm in you, I'm in peace." C.S. Lewis says this, "There are only two kinds of people in the end. Those who say to God, 'Thy will be done, and those who God says to, 'Thy will be done.'" It's fine. You wanted your way, I'll give you your way. You wanted your way, I will answer you no more. You wanted your way, I will knock no more. Romans 1 verses 18-24, I'm going to read this very quickly, "God's wrath on unrighteousness. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God, or give thanks to him. But they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened, claiming to be wise they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Jesus is the source of wisdom. There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is death. Revelation 3 verses 20 and in closing, God says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." "Don't be fooled and be foolish. There is a time when the knocking stops, the voice is silent, and it is too late." It was pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, he died for our sins, and rose on the third day, and he has given us this key to life family. The wisdom, the personification of wisdom, Jesus Christ, is constantly knocking at your heart, is constantly knocking at your heart. Tomorrow, hear me, tomorrow, is not promised to anyone of us. Wisdom comes knocking, but for a season, but for a time. We are made for a purpose, we are made as vessels of God for his purpose. Are we living lives according to ourselves, according to our own agenda, according to our own puzzle that can be packed away tomorrow, meaningless? What are we investing our time in? Have we got a wisdom from above or are we investing in a wisdom from below? This is another one of those times where you know, where you feel that knocking. So might never come. You cannot stand before the Father and say, "Lord, I did not hear the message of you calling for my heart." You did not, you cannot stand before the Father and say, "Father, but I didn't have the chance to." There's a time where God laughs and it's a laughing at foolishness, he's given it all to us, you have a decision to make. Operate in wisdom, wisdom, the mysteries of wisdom are found in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. Amen. Father, we thank you for your word this morning, we just pray over the seed that has been sown, Lord, we pray for fertile ground this morning, and Father, we pray that you just bring to completion the work that you've started in all of us. Lord, use us for your purpose in this kingdom. Lord, may we operate in wisdom, wisdom through your Son Jesus Christ, the source of all wisdom. And still in us a new heart we pray this morning so that we may live life according to your purpose and your world. This we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. If there's anybody who would like to have prayer after service, you welcome, we'll stick around for a bit just to pray with you. If there's anybody who would like that, please, you can come to us after the service and we'll do that. We do have refreshments as well for those who are going to hang around and have a little bit of that as well. It's supposed to be. We can close. Father, we thank you for this time that we have, and once again we just pray that you would bless us, that you would keep us, that you would cause your face to shine upon us. Lord, that you would be gracious to us. Turn your face towards us and give us peace. We pray in the mighty name of Jesus and the rebirth says, "Amen and amen and amen." Family have it blessed week.