WEBVTT 00:00:03.233 --> 00:00:06.799 Well, thank you, Worship Team, for leading us this morning. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:15.900 We're going to continue in our study of the Book of Proverbs this morning and Proverbs chapter nine we'll be looking at and you should have gotten a handout when you came in. 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:18.300 That's going to be important today. 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:22.300 If you didn't get one, raise your hand and we'll have someone come around and give you one. 00:00:22.300 --> 00:00:24.800 We got a lot of people who snuck in the side door. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:26.300 You got to come in the main doors. 00:00:26.300 --> 00:00:28.432 I see you trying to sneak in. 00:00:28.432 --> 00:00:31.432 Now, can we get someone? 00:00:32.066 --> 00:00:37.133 There's someone up here with a few, maybe a couple guys slip out. 00:00:37.133 --> 00:00:39.765 Just keep your hands up. 00:00:39.765 --> 00:00:44.133 We're going to see who can hold their hand up the longest while we get these in. 00:00:44.133 --> 00:00:45.466 These will start being passed around. 00:00:46.566 --> 00:00:51.332 Okay, let me set this up, though, by telling you a little bit about chapter nine and why I'm doing this. 00:00:51.332 --> 00:00:53.000 I don't normally we don't normally have a handout. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:54.232 We don't normally approach it this way. 00:00:54.232 --> 00:00:56.033 This is a little different this Sunday. 00:00:56.033 --> 00:01:04.865 Part of the reason why is chapter nine has a very interesting structure that sets up this idea of comparison, contrast. 00:01:05.533 --> 00:01:11.332 Oftentimes in life, you don't really understand something until you have something to compare it to. 00:01:11.332 --> 00:01:25.299 I've talked before about how I'm not very athletic, but I did love playing pickup basketball with a group of guys when I lived in little Rock and served in ministry there, and we had a great time, a great group of guys, and I did pretty well with them. 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:39.266 I felt like I could handle my own with that group of guys, until the day that this one guy showed up and he was a Division one football player, played defensive line at University of Arkansas SEC school. 00:01:39.266 --> 00:01:41.766 Not even a basketball player. 00:01:41.766 --> 00:01:42.766 He’s a football player. 00:01:42.766 --> 00:01:44.900 And we could do absolutely nothing to stop him. 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:47.733 None of us could do anything to stop him. 00:01:47.733 --> 00:01:54.933 I remember one time he was coming down the lane and I thought, I'm at least going to foul him as hard as I can to try to stop him. 00:01:55.165 --> 00:02:00.465 And when my hand hit his hand because I didn't make it to the ball, it was like hitting a solid block of concrete. 00:02:00.465 --> 00:02:01.865 It didn't even matter. 00:02:01.865 --> 00:02:05.632 It was like your five year old trying to stop you from scoring, playing basketball. 00:02:05.632 --> 00:02:10.265 He just kept on going and I thought my first thought was, I hope this guy never comes back. 00:02:11.432 --> 00:02:16.633 He's ruining all the fun for me to continue to live in the delusion that I'm a decent basketball player. 00:02:16.633 --> 00:02:18.366 He didn't even play college basketball. 00:02:18.366 --> 00:02:24.532 This isn't even the bottom level of college basketball, and he was way above all of us. 00:02:24.532 --> 00:02:31.066 Sometimes we need that point of comparison, that point of contrast, to help you gauge reality, to help you see reality. 00:02:31.066 --> 00:02:36.800 Otherwise, it's too easy to kind of get lulled into thinking that something is different than it really is. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:43.665 This is what chapter nine is going to highlight for us today, and it does it in a pretty unique way. 00:02:43.832 --> 00:02:58.866 So I've not drawn out a lot of the structure of the first nine chapters in Proverbs, but there is a lot of structure in each of those, which surprised me because coming into Proverbs, I've always seen the Book of Proverbs as just a collection of random sayings, no real clear structure, a lot of really helpful wisdom. 00:02:58.866 --> 00:03:02.900 If you've read Proverbs over the course of your life, you've gained a lot of wisdom from Proverbs. 00:03:02.900 --> 00:03:11.566 But it's not necessarily been orderly, like one of the letters of Paul, where a letter and epistle has a clear structure to it, it builds to an argument. 00:03:11.566 --> 00:03:16.265 I've always seen Proverbs is just kind of this random collection of things, but the first nine chapters have a lot of structure. 00:03:16.265 --> 00:03:19.566 That's why we've gone through them one at a time. 00:03:19.566 --> 00:03:22.432 And chapter nine is really going to end that. 00:03:22.432 --> 00:03:24.866 So we've gone through chapters one, two, three. 00:03:24.866 --> 00:03:34.432 We've worked through a chapter at a time, but moving forward for the next ten weeks, we're just going to look at ten topics across the next 20 chapters of Proverbs. 00:03:34.432 --> 00:03:38.099 Chapter ten through 30 are really more of that random collection of Proverbs. 00:03:38.099 --> 00:03:40.000 So Colby and I sat down together. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:41.133 Colby is our student pastor. 00:03:41.133 --> 00:03:42.400 He helps do some of the preaching. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.733 We sit down together and said, what are ten topics we see here that stand out more than the others? 00:03:46.733 --> 00:03:57.199 Let's just pick across all the different chapters of Proverbs, and we're going to address things like money, like character, like the heart, words, parenting, marriage, work. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:02.332 You see all these different topics show up over and over and over again, peppered throughout. 00:04:02.332 --> 00:04:03.699 So we'll go through them topically. 00:04:03.699 --> 00:04:15.966 But chapter nine helps us bridge to that approach, because chapter nine shows the central contrast of chapter nine, but also the entire book of Proverbs. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:17.665 And it does it in a really interesting way. 00:04:17.665 --> 00:04:25.699 This is why I gave you a handout, because it doesn't it's not going to show up in your Bible in the same way, because here's how chapter nine is structured. 00:04:25.699 --> 00:04:42.665 There are 18 verses in chapter nine, and there are three sets of six verses first six, second six, last six, and the first six, and the last six are mirror images of one another, a direct contrast and comparison. 00:04:42.766 --> 00:04:46.000 Thus the idea today of contrast and comparison. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:52.632 And the author does this for a really important reason to help us see what is the core issue at play in chapter nine. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:55.065 And so you have that handout. 00:04:55.065 --> 00:04:57.565 I've put it in front of you and you can turn in your own Bibles. 00:04:57.565 --> 00:05:00.300 If you'd rather also look at the two. 00:05:00.300 --> 00:05:04.699 If you have a church Bible, the page number should be on the screen in Proverbs chapter nine. 00:05:04.699 --> 00:05:07.466 You can turn there or you can just work from the handout. 00:05:07.466 --> 00:05:13.899 But the way we're going to do this is we're going to compare and contrast the first six verses with the last six verses. 00:05:13.899 --> 00:05:16.899 And in that we'll see a central idea. 00:05:16.932 --> 00:05:18.833 Here's the other interesting thing about the structure. 00:05:18.833 --> 00:05:23.132 Each of those six verse groups are structured within themselves the same way. 00:05:23.132 --> 00:05:25.432 Three verses, one verse, two verse. 00:05:25.432 --> 00:05:27.865 I've tried to highlight that here in the handout as well. 00:05:27.865 --> 00:05:31.266 That is meant to highlight the main point of each section. 00:05:31.266 --> 00:05:36.699 Oftentimes in Hebrew poetry, the thing that is emphasized is what's in the middle, not at the beginning. 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:44.365 Usually when we emphasize stuff, we either do it at the beginning or we build to it, do it at the end, oftentimes in Hebrew poetry, it was in the center. 00:05:44.365 --> 00:05:46.865 And the structure even hints to that. 00:05:46.865 --> 00:05:49.600 So we're going to see in the comparison what is being compared. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:51.600 What is it the center of what's being compared. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:53.365 But then in the central portion we'll see. 00:05:53.365 --> 00:05:57.632 What is the central idea of chapter nine and all of Proverbs. 00:05:57.632 --> 00:05:57.899 All right. 00:05:57.899 --> 00:05:59.033 That's a lot to dump on you. 00:05:59.033 --> 00:06:00.233 So let's dive in. 00:06:00.233 --> 00:06:01.365 Let's look at chapter nine. 00:06:01.365 --> 00:06:06.699 And we're just going to read the first four verses and the next to last four verses. 00:06:06.699 --> 00:06:07.800 You have that on your handout. 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:12.733 We're just going to read those and compare those and talk about what is going on, what is the central comparison. 00:06:14.266 --> 00:06:16.833 So look at Proverbs nine verse one. 00:06:16.833 --> 00:06:19.399 Wisdom has built her house. 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:21.466 She has honed her seven pillars. 00:06:21.466 --> 00:06:23.432 She has slaughtered her beasts. 00:06:23.432 --> 00:06:25.365 She has mixed her wine. 00:06:25.365 --> 00:06:27.365 She's also set her table. 00:06:27.365 --> 00:06:33.533 She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in town. 00:06:33.533 --> 00:06:36.533 Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. 00:06:36.766 --> 00:06:38.766 So that's the way of wisdom. 00:06:38.766 --> 00:06:39.932 The woman of wisdom. 00:06:39.932 --> 00:06:45.432 Now let's look at the way of folly, verses 13 through 16, in comparison. 00:06:45.432 --> 00:06:48.565 The woman folly in comparison is loud. 00:06:48.833 --> 00:06:51.833 She is seductive and knows nothing. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.065 She sits at the door of her house. 00:06:54.065 --> 00:07:02.865 She takes a seat on the high places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way. 00:07:02.865 --> 00:07:06.000 She also cries, whoever is simple, let him turn in here. 00:07:07.733 --> 00:07:11.932 So you can see how these are mirror images of the same issue. 00:07:11.932 --> 00:07:19.500 Both Lady Wisdom and the Woman of Folly are calling out to the simple, come in here. 00:07:19.500 --> 00:07:21.399 This is where you need to be. 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:26.065 Both are, if you notice, in the green, in the high places of the town, both are in the same place. 00:07:26.065 --> 00:07:30.365 They're competing for the attention of the same lives. 00:07:30.365 --> 00:07:33.699 But notice the difference in who they are. 00:07:33.699 --> 00:07:37.500 It's very critical to see the difference in who each of them are. 00:07:37.500 --> 00:07:38.466 Look at Lady Wisdom. 00:07:38.466 --> 00:07:43.432 She builds her house, she has created it. 00:07:43.432 --> 00:07:49.365 And the imagery here, large pillars, shows this is a nice house. 00:07:49.365 --> 00:07:51.300 This is a place you want to be. 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:53.233 It's a place of wealth. 00:07:53.233 --> 00:07:56.233 She, it mentions, has seven pillars. 00:07:56.899 --> 00:08:07.132 That number seven often is representative in Scripture, not always, but often of this idea of completion of perfection, of creation. 00:08:07.132 --> 00:08:12.865 If you think back to the seven days of creation, even the idea of rest- he created, then he rested. 00:08:13.833 --> 00:08:18.833 The implication here is her house is a place where you can find rest. 00:08:18.833 --> 00:08:22.833 Her house is a place where things are created and made and given. 00:08:22.833 --> 00:08:28.432 Her house is a place where there is a hint of towards the perfect, the complete. 00:08:28.432 --> 00:08:32.399 This is the kind of house she builds and she built it. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:39.832 But also it speaks to this incredible meal she lays out for the simple, for the naive. Come and partake. 00:08:39.832 --> 00:08:43.732 She slaughtered her beasts, meaning there's meat at this meal. 00:08:43.732 --> 00:08:49.799 And at that time, meat would not have been at every meal like we tend to have it. 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:51.832 It's everywhere you want. 00:08:51.832 --> 00:08:54.566 But at that time you had to pick and choose. 00:08:54.566 --> 00:09:01.432 When we visited Rwanda, when we were there, I learned many people there often have meat a couple of times a year. 00:09:02.466 --> 00:09:06.732 Most people didn't often eat meat with their meals. 00:09:06.732 --> 00:09:08.332 It was a privilege. It was a luxury. 00:09:08.332 --> 00:09:11.066 It's a sign that this is a special event. 00:09:11.066 --> 00:09:12.299 This is a banquet. 00:09:12.299 --> 00:09:16.765 She has mixed her wine it says. 00:09:16.765 --> 00:09:17.365 And wine. 00:09:17.365 --> 00:09:18.265 Here's the interesting part of this. 00:09:18.265 --> 00:09:21.365 Wine is often a picture of God's blessing. 00:09:21.365 --> 00:09:24.566 Not not always in Scripture, but it's often seen. 00:09:24.566 --> 00:09:31.200 And part of the reason why is you can't have wine and really agriculture in that regard. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:38.732 If you're constantly at war per se, if your land is constantly being attacked, you can't cultivate, you can't develop, you can't set things aside. 00:09:38.732 --> 00:09:40.533 Give them the time to ferment. 00:09:40.533 --> 00:09:47.600 In the case of wine, it's a sign that the land is at rest, that God's hand is upon protecting, caring for. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:49.133 And it says that she mixed it. 00:09:50.533 --> 00:09:52.332 She made it herself. 00:09:52.332 --> 00:09:54.765 She made it for this moment. 00:09:54.765 --> 00:09:57.966 Also, lastly, she set her table. 00:09:57.966 --> 00:10:03.799 She's laying a banquet like Queen Esther and calling out her maidens to say, go find people to come. 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:05.633 Go out, bring them here. 00:10:05.633 --> 00:10:07.265 We need to go get the simple. 00:10:07.265 --> 00:10:09.033 They need to be here. 00:10:09.033 --> 00:10:10.399 This is who she is. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:11.500 This is what she's doing. 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:13.932 She's creating, she's building, she's inviting. 00:10:13.932 --> 00:10:17.966 She's going after the simple for their good. 00:10:17.966 --> 00:10:20.000 She has something good to offer. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:23.000 She cares deeply about them. 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:24.500 Now look at the comparison. 00:10:24.500 --> 00:10:25.732 Because the contrast. 00:10:25.732 --> 00:10:31.666 When we put these two side by side, you see the difference between her and the woman of folly. 00:10:31.666 --> 00:10:34.600 What does she have to offer? 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:39.166 She is loud, seductive, and knows nothing. 00:10:39.166 --> 00:10:41.265 She sits at the door of her house. 00:10:41.265 --> 00:10:48.533 She didn't build the house, and she sits there passively waiting for the naive who comes by calling out to them. 00:10:48.966 --> 00:10:51.133 And look at verse 15 in particular. 00:10:51.133 --> 00:10:54.232 Who is she calling out to those who are going straight on their way? 00:10:56.033 --> 00:10:57.832 You see this idea all the time in Proverbs. 00:10:57.832 --> 00:11:00.832 The difference between going on the straight path and the crooked path. 00:11:00.832 --> 00:11:06.299 The simple are trying to go about life the right way, and she's trying to call them off of that. 00:11:06.299 --> 00:11:23.666 They're still simple and naive and easily led away, but they're at least on the straight path, and her desire is to pull them off that not so that she can give them this wonderful meal and a house full of creation, rest, investment, care, giving. 00:11:25.299 --> 00:11:28.166 Here's all she has to offer. 00:11:28.166 --> 00:11:33.932 The subtext here is all she has to offer is just a cheap, quick thrill. 00:11:34.133 --> 00:11:37.133 All she has to offer is herself. 00:11:37.166 --> 00:11:43.299 And it's an empty, short lived, temporary thrill from someone who has nothing to give. 00:11:43.299 --> 00:11:44.633 She's just there to take. 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:48.899 This is important to highlight. 00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:51.432 This is the reason I put these passages side by side. 00:11:51.432 --> 00:11:56.133 Because, as I said, if you are living in isolation, it's easy to feel like you're doing pretty good. 00:11:56.133 --> 00:12:02.966 But when you compare it to reality, you see, you see the contrast, it stands out. 00:12:02.966 --> 00:12:07.466 And the father has been warning the son all throughout the first nine chapters. 00:12:07.466 --> 00:12:09.865 My son, my son, my son. 00:12:09.865 --> 00:12:13.765 We saw it over and over again 15 plus times. My son, my son. 00:12:13.765 --> 00:12:18.365 Many of those were watch out for the seductive woman. 00:12:18.365 --> 00:12:21.365 Watch out for the adulterous. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:32.500 But if you're the simple one walking down the street and she's calling out to you and you don't have a point of comparison, and then you're in the midst of the temptation, it's easy to lose perspective. 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:35.600 It's easy to think, this isn't that big a deal. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:40.932 I don't there's not really that much at stake what's what's really going on here. 00:12:40.932 --> 00:12:47.100 But when you set these passages side by side and you see the mirror image and the contrast, it stands out. 00:12:47.100 --> 00:12:50.100 The vast difference between the two. 00:12:51.166 --> 00:12:53.633 So we see the difference in their character, in who they are. 00:12:53.633 --> 00:12:56.232 One's a giver, one's a taker. 00:12:56.232 --> 00:12:59.200 Notice what they offer here. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:01.332 So verse four, verse 16 are the same. 00:13:01.332 --> 00:13:06.332 Whoever is simple, let him turn in here to him who lacks sense. Here's what she says. 00:13:06.332 --> 00:13:12.066 Lady wisdom says, come eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. 00:13:12.066 --> 00:13:19.265 Come and eat of the things that I have created, made for you, invested in taking time to build and care for, for your good at no cost. Come. 00:13:21.365 --> 00:13:24.365 But contrast that with Lady Folly. 00:13:24.566 --> 00:13:25.666 Here's what she offers. 00:13:25.666 --> 00:13:31.466 Stolen water is sweet bread eaten in secret is pleasant. 00:13:33.100 --> 00:13:37.399 She offers not even things that she took the time to make and create. 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:42.633 I've stolen it from someone else, by the way, who steals water? 00:13:42.865 --> 00:13:43.232 What? 00:13:43.232 --> 00:13:48.832 What is the it that shows you how easily enticed the simple are? 00:13:48.832 --> 00:13:51.832 Hey, come get some stolen water. 00:13:51.899 --> 00:13:54.666 That's what drew you in? 00:13:54.666 --> 00:13:57.200 Well, part of the imagery here is also the reality. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:01.732 This image we've seen in Proverbs chapter five, what did the father say to the son? 00:14:01.732 --> 00:14:07.732 He said, drink from your own cistern, drink from your own well. 00:14:07.732 --> 00:14:11.100 Don't go after the forbidden springs, the stolen water. 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:12.566 It's an imagery of adultery. 00:14:12.566 --> 00:14:16.633 She is not yours, but she's offering herself. 00:14:16.633 --> 00:14:18.500 She's someone else's. 00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:19.899 But I'm offering myself to you. 00:14:19.899 --> 00:14:20.966 She's stolen water. 00:14:22.633 --> 00:14:25.633 What she offers is. 00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:28.399 And here's the thing that works. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.732 To get the simple, the naive. 00:14:30.732 --> 00:14:33.232 Here's what she offers. 00:14:33.232 --> 00:14:36.232 She offers the thrill of the forbidden. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.700 I've shared this story multiple times. 00:14:39.700 --> 00:14:43.700 It'll come up over and over again because it's. 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:46.232 Significant in the history of the church. 00:14:46.232 --> 00:14:47.232 Augustine. 00:14:47.232 --> 00:14:53.000 He wrote tons of books 300 400 A.D., one of the most influential fathers of the early church. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:55.432 In particular, he wrote a book called confessions. 00:14:55.432 --> 00:14:59.600 It's really considered one of the first early Christian biographies. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:05.432 And he talked about in there about how he loved this one moment in particular, when he was completely apart from Christ. 00:15:05.432 --> 00:15:10.799 He remembers when he and some of his friends went stole pears from the trees of a neighbor. 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:17.566 And it you know, it sounds so simple and so silly to even for him to still be regretting that, he said. 00:15:17.566 --> 00:15:19.865 But here's what most troubled me when I look back at that. 00:15:21.166 --> 00:15:22.365 I wasn't hungry. 00:15:22.365 --> 00:15:23.700 I didn't want the pears. 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:25.633 The pears weren't even ripe. 00:15:25.633 --> 00:15:37.232 What I loved and what my friends loved, what we long for was the forbidden, the thrill of doing the thing I shouldn't do, the thrill of doing the thing that was wrong and loving it. 00:15:37.232 --> 00:15:39.232 He said I loved that taste in my mouth. 00:15:39.232 --> 00:15:42.865 I delighted in the joy of doing the thing that was forbidden. 00:15:42.865 --> 00:15:47.500 And by the way, there is a great thrill in doing the forbidden thing. 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:49.932 Many of us know that. 00:15:49.932 --> 00:15:50.932 No, you told me. 00:15:50.932 --> 00:15:52.200 I can't do that. I'm going to do it. 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:57.466 I'm going to take great delight in denying you or getting something through trickery. 00:15:57.466 --> 00:15:58.500 There is thrill in that. 00:15:58.500 --> 00:16:04.066 No doubt she does offer something that people do want, but it's temporary. 00:16:04.066 --> 00:16:05.365 It's short lived. 00:16:05.365 --> 00:16:06.399 It doesn't last. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:08.200 And at the end of the day, here's where it leads. 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:09.765 Here's where it heads. 00:16:09.765 --> 00:16:12.533 He shows it right here in direct contrast. 00:16:12.533 --> 00:16:16.133 Look at verse six with the lady of wisdom. 00:16:16.133 --> 00:16:17.566 Here's what she says. 00:16:17.566 --> 00:16:19.133 I've offered you bread and wine. 00:16:19.133 --> 00:16:26.033 Leave your simple ways and live and walk in the way of insight. 00:16:26.033 --> 00:16:30.000 Contrast that with what Woman Folly offers. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:38.133 He does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. 00:16:38.133 --> 00:16:40.365 Here's where both of these paths lead. 00:16:40.365 --> 00:16:41.765 They're in direct contrast. 00:16:41.765 --> 00:16:44.966 Lady wisdom leads to insight and life. 00:16:46.265 --> 00:16:51.533 You follow her, you get life and insight. 00:16:51.533 --> 00:16:53.899 More wisdom. 00:16:53.899 --> 00:16:57.332 Follow Lady Folly and you end up just like her. 00:16:57.332 --> 00:16:58.265 She doesn't even know. 00:16:58.265 --> 00:16:59.666 She thinks she's seductive. 00:16:59.666 --> 00:17:01.265 She thinks she's offering something. 00:17:01.265 --> 00:17:03.332 And it said in verse 13, she knows nothing. 00:17:03.332 --> 00:17:06.066 She don't even realize that what she offers is empty. 00:17:06.066 --> 00:17:07.432 And that's where you'll end up. 00:17:07.432 --> 00:17:13.200 If you continue down that path, you'll end up not even knowing that you're heading toward death. 00:17:15.932 --> 00:17:21.633 The point of this, and the point of putting these side by side, is to see the contrast. 00:17:21.633 --> 00:17:24.432 It stands out really strong. 00:17:24.432 --> 00:17:26.799 There are two paths to follow. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.799 Which way are you going to choose? 00:17:30.299 --> 00:17:39.200 Part of the reason why I put this in this format for you is for these middle verses to really stand out, and you can see verse four and verse 16 there in purple. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:44.133 They're almost exactly the same and they're both at the center. 00:17:44.133 --> 00:17:50.900 Both are showing you this is the emphasis of the opening six verses and the closing six verses. 00:17:50.900 --> 00:17:54.865 Both of them are saying, you've got a choice. 00:17:54.865 --> 00:17:57.865 Which way are you going to follow? 00:17:57.932 --> 00:18:00.700 Are you going to follow the way of wisdom? 00:18:00.700 --> 00:18:01.232 Turn in. 00:18:01.232 --> 00:18:04.099 Are you going to turn in like the simple to the way of wisdom? 00:18:04.099 --> 00:18:06.165 Are you going to follow the way of folly? 00:18:06.165 --> 00:18:07.165 There's two paths. 00:18:07.165 --> 00:18:09.365 We see this all through the book of Proverbs. 00:18:09.365 --> 00:18:11.965 This is the central tension of the Book of Proverbs. 00:18:15.633 --> 00:18:18.799 And it's really important to wrestle with that. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.766 There's not a middle way presented. 00:18:21.766 --> 00:18:26.066 You can't walk on the fence between the two. 00:18:26.066 --> 00:18:28.432 Are you going to go towards wisdom? 00:18:28.432 --> 00:18:29.599 Are you going to go towards folly? 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:30.865 Which is it going to be? 00:18:30.865 --> 00:18:32.232 There's no middle way. 00:18:32.232 --> 00:18:34.066 Jesus says this in revelation. 00:18:34.066 --> 00:18:36.133 It's hot or cold, mid lukewarm. 00:18:36.133 --> 00:18:37.200 I'll spit you out of my mouth. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:39.465 Which way are you going? 00:18:39.465 --> 00:18:41.133 One friend of mine used to say it this way. He said. 00:18:41.133 --> 00:18:46.066 The middle of the road is a great place to get run over. 00:18:48.532 --> 00:18:50.500 Which way are you going to go? 00:18:50.500 --> 00:18:52.066 Are you going to choose wisdom? 00:18:52.066 --> 00:18:53.266 Are you going to choose folly? 00:18:53.266 --> 00:18:57.700 The two paths are set in contrast to say, you've got to choose. 00:18:58.665 --> 00:19:01.766 And if you're not choosing wisdom, you are choosing folly. 00:19:01.766 --> 00:19:05.932 If you're not moving towards wisdom, you're moving towards folly. 00:19:05.932 --> 00:19:07.432 You're not just staying the same. 00:19:07.432 --> 00:19:08.465 You're always changing. 00:19:08.465 --> 00:19:10.599 If you're not growing, you're regressing. 00:19:12.465 --> 00:19:14.633 Don't be naive to that reality. 00:19:14.633 --> 00:19:17.633 Don't live as the simple. 00:19:17.932 --> 00:19:21.500 The reality is we all have to grow up whether we want to or not. 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:22.700 So the choice is there. 00:19:22.700 --> 00:19:29.099 Which way will you grow up as the person who is wise, or as the person who chooses foolishness? 00:19:30.066 --> 00:19:32.766 Now that's the central contrast to the Book of Proverbs. 00:19:32.766 --> 00:19:35.900 And as we go through these ten topics, you'll see it over and over again. 00:19:35.900 --> 00:19:36.900 Are you going to choose wisdom? 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:38.232 Are you going to choose folly? 00:19:38.232 --> 00:19:41.333 There's a central solution, though those are on the outside. 00:19:41.333 --> 00:19:48.299 The point is, towards the middle of chapter nine, there's a reason why those six verses are in the center to give us the central solution. 00:19:48.299 --> 00:19:50.400 The central contrast is the two paths. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:52.665 What's at the core of the solution to that? 00:19:52.665 --> 00:19:56.232 Where should we end up to find true wisdom? 00:19:56.232 --> 00:19:58.232 To move towards true wisdom? 00:19:58.232 --> 00:20:01.165 Flip the page over and you'll see the next six verses. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:03.099 Help us see. 00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:05.965 And they're structured the same way. 3,1,2. 00:20:05.965 --> 00:20:10.665 Exact same structure for the six verses in between the other six at the center. 00:20:10.665 --> 00:20:17.066 Keep in mind Hebrew poetry often points to what's in the middle is the main emphasis. 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:19.232 Look at verse seven through 12. 00:20:19.232 --> 00:20:21.232 We'll just read seven through eight. 00:20:21.232 --> 00:20:24.165 In fact, I'm going to start by verse seven, eight and nine. 00:20:24.165 --> 00:20:28.900 Start with its own contrast between the scoffer and the wise. 00:20:29.266 --> 00:20:30.200 Look at verse seven and eight. 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:31.700 First, we'll just talk about the scoffer. 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:42.432 Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:48.000 Do not reprove a scoffer or he will hate you. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:21:02.066 Now I've put in blue here the word scoffer and then in purple are some shade of blue, the word wise, and you can see the scoffer is equated with the wicked, and the wise is equated with the righteous. Three times scoffer, three times wise. 00:21:05.232 --> 00:21:11.500 Let's just talk about the scoffer here, and he uses the word scoffer because here's what's happened. 00:21:11.500 --> 00:21:18.200 If you continue down the path of folly where you end up, you don't stay simple. 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:37.500 The simple man who pursues foolishness, you don't stay naive, you end up the scoffer and the scoffer is the person, the mocker, the scoffer is the person who cannot receive instruction, who cannot receive a rebuke, who cannot be corrected. 00:21:38.066 --> 00:21:43.865 This is the person that if you attempt to give them any correction, they don't just write you off. 00:21:43.865 --> 00:21:45.599 Hey, whatever. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:46.900 No no no no. Here's what they do. 00:21:46.900 --> 00:21:49.500 Look at the words here at the end of each verse. 00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:51.299 You will get abuse. 00:21:51.299 --> 00:21:54.299 You will get injury, you will get hate. 00:21:55.165 --> 00:21:58.633 The scoffer, in order to survive, has to hate you. 00:21:58.633 --> 00:22:02.599 They have to make you the enemy if you attempt to correct them. 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:04.266 And I love the wording here. 00:22:04.266 --> 00:22:05.833 When you correct a scoffer. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:15.732 You get abuse and all they can see after that, if you try to correct the scoffer, all they see is reproof. 00:22:15.732 --> 00:22:19.266 He who reproves a wicked man, do not reprove a scoffer. 00:22:19.266 --> 00:22:27.833 If you attempt to correct the person who is unteachable, who can't imagine that they could ever be wrong, all they hear is you hate me. 00:22:29.266 --> 00:22:32.165 It's really quiet in here right now. 00:22:32.165 --> 00:22:33.633 This isn't fun to talk about. 00:22:33.633 --> 00:22:36.266 I think we all have been like, oh, that's. 00:22:36.266 --> 00:22:40.432 Yeah, I haven't been very approachable at times in life. 00:22:40.432 --> 00:22:43.032 Or maybe you're thinking of someone in particular. 00:22:43.032 --> 00:22:46.032 No elbows. Okay. 00:22:46.066 --> 00:22:47.932 No pointing out to others. 00:22:47.932 --> 00:22:49.833 I think he's talking about you right now. 00:22:49.833 --> 00:22:50.432 I'm not sure. 00:22:50.432 --> 00:22:50.965 Hundred percent. 00:22:50.965 --> 00:22:56.365 But you should listen to this. No, the Scoffer says I will not be corrected. 00:22:56.365 --> 00:22:58.965 I will not change. I will not grow. 00:23:01.665 --> 00:23:17.532 I've known a person like this, and at first I really assumed this person was evil and really just wanted to make life difficult for everyone around them. 00:23:17.532 --> 00:23:29.333 But you know, I learned about their childhood and the reality is, this person learned a pattern of survival from an early age to try to just make it through life. 00:23:29.333 --> 00:23:33.532 And I'm not, you know, I'm not saying that's okay. 00:23:33.532 --> 00:23:36.633 But, John, what would what would you have done? 00:23:36.633 --> 00:23:38.932 Put yourself in that childhood, grow up that way. 00:23:38.932 --> 00:23:39.766 How would you be? 00:23:39.766 --> 00:23:42.532 Would you be any better? 00:23:42.532 --> 00:23:44.333 Definitely not. 00:23:44.333 --> 00:23:44.732 Okay. 00:23:44.732 --> 00:23:47.566 That led to some compassion for this person. 00:23:47.566 --> 00:23:50.365 Yet I still need to put distance between myself and this person. 00:23:50.365 --> 00:23:52.532 I couldn't let them continue to abuse. 00:23:52.532 --> 00:23:54.333 That's not good for them or for me. 00:23:56.965 --> 00:23:59.633 And pray and care. 00:23:59.633 --> 00:24:02.633 But the reality is they're not listening. 00:24:04.865 --> 00:24:05.965 Contrast that. 00:24:05.965 --> 00:24:07.465 That's the road you're headed down. 00:24:07.465 --> 00:24:15.066 If you continue down the road of folly, if you continue down the road of just choosing the cheap, quick thrill, the easy path. 00:24:15.066 --> 00:24:18.766 Contrast that with the wise right in direct contrast here. 00:24:18.766 --> 00:24:20.032 That's what chapter nine is all about. 00:24:20.032 --> 00:24:21.732 Look at how it describes the rise. 00:24:21.732 --> 00:24:25.200 Reprove a wise man and he will love you. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:32.665 Give instruction to a wise man or woman, by the way, both a person. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.599 He will be still wiser. 00:24:37.766 --> 00:24:42.099 Teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning. 00:24:43.232 --> 00:24:55.633 So the naive who turns off the road to the wise woman not only gets wisdom, but gets teach ability, gets the ability to grow, gets the ability to continue to receive correction and be open to it. 00:24:58.432 --> 00:25:08.633 When Isaac and I first began talking about him becoming the worship pastor, I said, Isaac, I'm excited about this possibility. 00:25:08.633 --> 00:25:11.932 But I got to bring up a few things that I need to see you work on. 00:25:11.932 --> 00:25:19.932 I just haven't seen these, or I've seen maybe that I want them to be stronger, and I was hesitant to bring that up. 00:25:19.932 --> 00:25:24.365 Who wants to point out things to someone that you feel like need to be better? 00:25:24.365 --> 00:25:27.299 You know what Isaac said to me? 00:25:27.299 --> 00:25:30.299 He said, thank you. 00:25:30.465 --> 00:25:31.865 Thank you. 00:25:31.865 --> 00:25:36.133 Thank you for caring enough to bring this up to invest in me. 00:25:36.700 --> 00:25:40.165 I think what he said, he didn't say I love him. 00:25:40.165 --> 00:25:41.665 He didn't say I love you. 00:25:41.665 --> 00:25:43.665 We didn't get all bro love in the moment. 00:25:43.665 --> 00:25:45.066 But I heard from him. 00:25:45.066 --> 00:25:46.165 Thank you. 00:25:46.165 --> 00:25:46.799 Gratitude. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:49.099 I heard this same idea. 00:25:49.099 --> 00:25:54.099 I'm grateful that you would do this. 00:25:54.099 --> 00:25:56.032 Thank you for investing in me. 00:25:56.032 --> 00:25:57.932 And you know where this leads. 00:25:57.932 --> 00:26:00.932 He will be wiser still. 00:26:01.066 --> 00:26:03.732 If you're teachable, you'll continue to grow. 00:26:03.732 --> 00:26:05.400 And I love the change in the verbs here. 00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:13.833 If you reprove or it's on the lines of rebuke, you reprove the wise man, you come to him in a situation, I think you're wrong and you need correction. 00:26:13.833 --> 00:26:16.099 He doesn't go deeper into the reprove. 00:26:16.099 --> 00:26:17.566 That's all I see is you hate me. 00:26:17.566 --> 00:26:20.032 Instead, he gets instruction, which we like. 00:26:20.032 --> 00:26:21.665 We want that he gets teaching. 00:26:21.665 --> 00:26:23.000 The verbs change. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:24.000 It's not just correct. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:26.165 Reprove, reprove. It's reprove. 00:26:26.165 --> 00:26:27.633 It's instruction. 00:26:27.633 --> 00:26:31.900 It's teaching the wise person once more. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:36.000 The wise person wants to continue to grow. 00:26:37.133 --> 00:26:38.432 And that's a great place to be. 00:26:40.432 --> 00:26:43.066 I think that's where we all want to be. 00:26:43.066 --> 00:26:49.500 We don't always get there, but it's the contrast that's set up here, and it is the path you head down. 00:26:49.500 --> 00:26:55.333 If you follow the path of wisdom, you're headed towards becoming more teachable, more approachable, more correctable. 00:26:55.333 --> 00:27:03.165 And if you head down the path of folly, you're headed down the path of becoming hardened to truth, closed off to change, set in your ways. 00:27:04.633 --> 00:27:05.665 That's the direction. 00:27:05.665 --> 00:27:07.032 And it's not either. 00:27:07.032 --> 00:27:08.333 It's not. There's no middle path. 00:27:08.333 --> 00:27:11.333 It's you're heading one way or the other. 00:27:12.232 --> 00:27:17.599 Now look at what he says here at the end, verse 11 and 12. 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:19.732 Here's where that path heads up for by me. 00:27:19.732 --> 00:27:21.432 Or here's where that path is headed. 00:27:21.432 --> 00:27:23.700 For by me your days will be multiplied. 00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:25.500 Years will be added to your life. 00:27:26.665 --> 00:27:29.900 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. 00:27:29.900 --> 00:27:32.932 If you scoff you alone will bear it. 00:27:33.633 --> 00:27:36.766 Where this ends up is two places. 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:41.865 If you are headed down the path of wisdom, this speaks to character. 00:27:42.365 --> 00:27:47.599 As you grow in wisdom, you grow in character, and character is at the very core of who you are. 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:48.799 It is yourself. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:28:01.799 In fact, one commentator said it this way Derek Kidner, he said, your character is the one thing you cannot borrow, lend or escape from, for it is you. 00:28:01.799 --> 00:28:06.500 I can't come up and ask to borrow a little bit of your character. 00:28:07.133 --> 00:28:09.099 No, that's who you are. 00:28:09.099 --> 00:28:15.932 And for me to grow in character, it's going to take time, effort, hard work over the years to change character. 00:28:15.932 --> 00:28:20.032 Colby and I were talking about this as we were wrestling with this idea and how to communicate it. 00:28:20.032 --> 00:28:24.700 In some ways it is like athletics, you know, the athlete. 00:28:24.700 --> 00:28:25.965 Colby played college baseball. 00:28:25.965 --> 00:28:27.365 He played at Asbury. 00:28:27.365 --> 00:28:35.165 And when you get up to the plate to swing at the ball, you need to rely on instinct at that moment. 00:28:35.165 --> 00:28:41.566 You have hit a ball thousands and thousands of times leading up to that moment, so that when you're at the plate, you don't you don't have to think about it. 00:28:41.566 --> 00:28:44.932 If you're thinking in that moment, you're in trouble. 00:28:44.932 --> 00:28:47.133 It becomes instinct. 00:28:47.133 --> 00:28:49.432 And character is like that. 00:28:49.432 --> 00:28:54.900 Character is training that leads to truth that becomes instinct. 00:28:54.900 --> 00:29:05.833 You are training truth into instinct in your life with character over and over again, to where your immediate reaction is the reaction of wisdom. 00:29:05.833 --> 00:29:09.266 And that takes time and you can't borrow it from someone else. 00:29:09.266 --> 00:29:16.000 I could borrow your glove, I could borrow your bat, and the results would not be good because I have not trained for that. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.000 I have no instinct in baseball at all. 00:29:19.099 --> 00:29:20.700 It would be awful. 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:23.633 Build up character over time. 00:29:23.633 --> 00:29:25.633 This is the end result. Character. 00:29:25.633 --> 00:29:28.032 Now the other path. The path of the fool. 00:29:28.032 --> 00:29:29.032 The path of the scholar. 00:29:29.032 --> 00:29:30.200 No scoffer. No. 00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:32.865 Note where it landed up ended up. 00:29:32.865 --> 00:29:35.865 If you scoff, you alone will bear it. 00:29:37.665 --> 00:29:46.665 Here is where the scoffer ends up- alone, in isolation, having driven everyone away. 00:29:46.833 --> 00:29:49.833 I remember a guy. 00:29:50.133 --> 00:29:53.766 This was a guy I served in ministry with. 00:29:54.165 --> 00:30:02.465 And anytime or a few times I tried to just mention a few things that he was off on and it was scoffing. 00:30:02.665 --> 00:30:07.000 No John, you see this wrong, riding away, spinning in a different direction. 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:10.865 And where it ended up was I never came to him again. 00:30:10.865 --> 00:30:12.365 If he ain't listening, he ain't listening. 00:30:12.365 --> 00:30:13.165 He doesn't want to hear it. 00:30:13.165 --> 00:30:14.232 He doesn't want any part of it. 00:30:14.232 --> 00:30:15.232 Why even try? 00:30:15.232 --> 00:30:15.932 Why bother? 00:30:15.932 --> 00:30:19.432 You end up as a scoffer in isolation and alone. 00:30:20.900 --> 00:30:21.500 And maybe. 00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:31.766 Look, there's plenty of people who are the scoffer who are quite public, who are quite famous, let me tell you, they are going to end up alone when all the fame and money runs out. 00:30:31.766 --> 00:30:34.766 No one wants to be around him. 00:30:34.766 --> 00:30:37.766 This is the path of the scoffer. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:41.833 Now here's what we want to point out about this group of verses. 00:30:41.833 --> 00:30:46.465 In this contrast between scoff and wisdom, here's the central point of Proverbs. 00:30:46.465 --> 00:30:51.532 Chapter nine means at the center of the center where you go to find wisdom. 00:30:51.833 --> 00:30:53.932 Look at verse ten. 00:30:53.932 --> 00:31:00.932 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 00:31:00.932 --> 00:31:04.400 If you want to grow in wisdom, move towards the fear of the Lord. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:07.432 This is the central verse of chapter nine. 00:31:07.432 --> 00:31:10.465 It is the central solution of chapter chapter nine. 00:31:10.465 --> 00:31:14.566 It was the first verse in chapter seven or seventh verse, chapter one, verse seven. 00:31:14.566 --> 00:31:16.532 It was almost the same verse. 00:31:16.532 --> 00:31:18.266 Fear the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. 00:31:18.266 --> 00:31:19.865 Fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:31:19.865 --> 00:31:20.833 They act like bookends. 00:31:20.833 --> 00:31:24.232 On chapter one through nine, showing that this whole thing. 00:31:24.232 --> 00:31:29.333 If you want to know how to follow the path of wisdom, you've got to fear the Lord. 00:31:29.333 --> 00:31:33.932 It's got to start with the fear of the Lord. 00:31:33.932 --> 00:31:44.299 So I wanted to highlight all that structure that was going on here for you to see what's happening in the book and in this chapter, all of this leads I've got four points of application. 00:31:44.299 --> 00:31:45.865 How do we apply all this to our lives? 00:31:45.865 --> 00:31:46.566 Because that was a lot. 00:31:46.566 --> 00:31:54.299 I know, getting deep in the structure, helping highlight it, but it was important, I think, for this chapter in particular for points of application. 00:31:54.299 --> 00:32:01.766 First ask yourself how do I respond to correction? 00:32:03.665 --> 00:32:06.865 How do I respond to correction to rebuke? 00:32:07.165 --> 00:32:11.633 If someone approaches me, what do I do? 00:32:11.633 --> 00:32:15.165 Do I want to hear it or not? 00:32:15.165 --> 00:32:18.665 And by the way, if you're not sure how you respond. 00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:22.900 Ask someone close to you. 00:32:23.299 --> 00:32:24.932 Ask your spouse if you're married. 00:32:27.665 --> 00:32:29.133 Ask if you have children. 00:32:29.133 --> 00:32:32.133 Ask your child. 00:32:32.432 --> 00:32:35.432 If you are a child, ask your parent. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:39.000 How did I respond to correction? 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:41.532 That is a hard thing to do. 00:32:41.532 --> 00:32:43.532 Most of us don't really want to know. 00:32:45.665 --> 00:32:48.333 Oh, and by the way, parent child, spouse. 00:32:48.333 --> 00:32:50.700 You play a role in this too. 00:32:50.700 --> 00:32:55.400 Because if you're sitting there thinking, well, doesn’t matter, they never listen. 00:32:55.400 --> 00:33:00.532 Well, maybe your approach could be a little better. 00:33:00.532 --> 00:33:06.532 Maybe there are some skills we need to develop on timing, on tact, on wording, on kindness. 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:09.200 You know, we spent a lot of time on that in First Peter. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:11.900 Even little things like don't use the words always and never. 00:33:11.900 --> 00:33:18.165 Because if you say that I think of the one time it was true, instead of really listening to what you're saying. 00:33:18.165 --> 00:33:30.766 There's all kinds of ways that we can grow in our communication so that we come in love to build one another up, not not tear down, not just to win the argument. 00:33:31.965 --> 00:33:35.032 But the first question is, I can't control what other people say to me. 00:33:35.032 --> 00:33:38.032 What I can grow in is, am I approachable? 00:33:38.566 --> 00:33:44.799 Number two, how do I or number two has my heart become hard to truth? 00:33:46.932 --> 00:33:49.900 Have I gone down the path of scoffing? 00:33:49.900 --> 00:33:57.266 And like the Pharisees who couldn't even see that Jesus was the way, the heart was hard to truth. 00:33:57.865 --> 00:33:59.633 Just ask and pray. 00:33:59.633 --> 00:34:00.665 God, am I soft? 00:34:00.665 --> 00:34:01.865 Am I open the truth? 00:34:01.865 --> 00:34:04.732 Am I moldable? 00:34:04.732 --> 00:34:11.032 Number three ask yourself, do I fear the Lord? 00:34:11.032 --> 00:34:13.432 This is the central issue of the chapter. 00:34:13.432 --> 00:34:16.432 Do I fear the Lord? 00:34:16.865 --> 00:34:19.865 And here's an easy way to ask that. 00:34:20.099 --> 00:34:28.699 Can I say in all honesty, by the way, even if it's hard to say, can I say in all honesty, God, I want your way above my own. 00:34:30.065 --> 00:34:34.666 I want to do what you want me to do more than what I want to do. 00:34:35.500 --> 00:34:43.599 And even I might even say that, though, as I'm saying it with a little bit of trepidation and fear and trembling, knowing that I don't know if I'm all in the way I'd like to be. 00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:44.932 But I want to say that in faith. 00:34:44.932 --> 00:34:58.532 If I can say that, that shows that I want to submit to who he is, follow him, order my life under him, have him as the ultimate authority in my life. 00:34:59.266 --> 00:35:05.400 I think our temptation is instead to try to often make God in our own image. 00:35:05.400 --> 00:35:06.532 This is the God I want. 00:35:06.532 --> 00:35:10.699 This is how I think God should be, because that's what my God would do. 00:35:10.699 --> 00:35:15.833 Meaning that's what I would do, which is making yourself God and trying to make God in the image of yourself. 00:35:15.833 --> 00:35:22.599 But the question here is, Will I order myself under the one who made me and made the universe and is in control and in charge of all things? 00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:26.000 Should he know infinitely more about what should be done than I do? 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:27.233 That's the fear of the Lord. 00:35:28.532 --> 00:35:31.532 Do I fear the Lord? 00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:36.065 And then lastly, here's application point number four. 00:35:37.333 --> 00:35:40.333 Am I growing? 00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:43.932 And here's what I want to ask you to do this week. 00:35:44.065 --> 00:35:49.000 I want you to pray over that every day this week, every day this week. 00:35:49.300 --> 00:35:53.365 Just start your morning quiet time and ask God, am I growing? 00:35:53.565 --> 00:35:56.565 Or have I become stagnant? 00:35:56.632 --> 00:35:59.632 Have I become unopen to growth? 00:36:00.965 --> 00:36:03.333 This is so important to our church. 00:36:03.333 --> 00:36:05.599 I can't stress enough how important this is. 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:12.532 This is this church is only going to grow as much as each of us grow. 00:36:13.099 --> 00:36:17.132 I can't do anything to make anyone here grow. 00:36:17.132 --> 00:36:23.032 I can't control my spouse or my children or my parents. 00:36:23.032 --> 00:36:24.500 Those are the closest people to me. 00:36:24.500 --> 00:36:27.465 I can't even control them, nor should I try to. By the way. 00:36:29.333 --> 00:36:33.766 And I can, by the way, the one person I have a chance of influencing maybe is myself. 00:36:33.766 --> 00:36:41.032 I can't even control me sometimes, but that's the person that I hope I can encourage to grow. 00:36:41.032 --> 00:36:48.865 And if I'm growing and if you're growing up, just try to picture a church where everyone here is as growing. 00:36:48.865 --> 00:36:53.032 And I'm not saying you're not growing, by the way, I'm not sitting up here thinking, all y'all need to grow. 00:36:53.032 --> 00:36:54.699 None of you are growing. No, look. 00:36:54.699 --> 00:36:58.199 But imagine that you're I think we all would say there's room for growth in each of our lives. 00:36:58.199 --> 00:36:59.032 I would say that. 00:36:59.032 --> 00:37:04.199 And if all of us were growing at our maximum potential and ability, imagine what would happen. 00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:06.766 Imagine what God would do if every one of us were doing that. 00:37:10.900 --> 00:37:12.733 Am I growing? 00:37:12.733 --> 00:37:15.733 Just simply pray that God help me to grow. 00:37:15.733 --> 00:37:18.733 Help me to hunger for growth. 00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:22.132 This morning I'm going to give you a chance to pray over that. 00:37:22.132 --> 00:37:23.532 We're going to take communion together. 00:37:23.532 --> 00:37:28.400 And if you're one of those who are helping to distribute communion, go ahead and slip out now and get those ready.