WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.439 So much it's so interesting to be outside. 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:08.800 Uh it's with all these parts here, it's look like amphitheater. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:17.120 So I'm not Paul in the but um I'm um I'm so honored to be here, so thank you. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:22.320 Um we both together with my wife, we come from Albania, which is between Greece and Italy. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:25.920 And I'll tell you a way so that you'll never forget where Albania is. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:27.359 Italy is like a boot. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:30.640 If the boot will kick backwards, kicks Albania. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:32.479 So that's where it is. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:34.560 Um I come from a Muslim background. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:39.200 I used to practice Islam uh until God opened my eyes in 993. 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:47.119 And since 2001, together with my wife, we have been full-time in ministry, especially toward the Muslim countries. 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:59.200 Our desire is to make Christ known in those areas where Islam has been for centuries, and um uh we can't wait to see more and more churches being planted in that part of the world. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:05.760 And um we got some materials over there in the end about our ministry over there with the lyrical movement. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:12.560 And uh, if you would like to pray for us and also uh keep in touch with us, we've got a little gift with you. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:17.200 It's a magnet, it's not real gold or copper, but it is heavy. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:22.480 We brought it from Albania and it's a little gift for you to remind us and pray for us. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:41.200 Um, it's an honor for me to be able to share with you today from God's word, and uh, I would like for us to go to uh Proverbs chapter two, and uh, I know the wind sometimes may help us refresh, um, but it's good to focus on on the scripture. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:02:01.439 Um since when I came to know the Lord, the Bible has been such a blessing, it's it is so precious, it's God's word, and it's unique from the moment actually we began to read it, uh, make us aware that we are standing on a sacred ground. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:15.680 The Bible doesn't merely instruct the mind, it summons the whole person, it exposes our hearts, is challenging our assumptions and press upon our eternal realities. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:20.560 And especially Proverbs 2 is one of those passages, actually. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:32.800 It calls us to embrace an entirely different way of living, a life ordered by the wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of this fallen world. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:39.280 We live in an age that prizes information yet lacks real wisdom. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:47.360 Never has mankind possessed so much knowledge while displaying so little understanding. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:03:01.680 We can communicate across oceans in an instant, unlock vast library in the screen of the phone, and harness technology that previous generation could scarcely imagine. 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:09.439 Yet our world remains marred by confusion, brokenness, violence, moral chaos. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:15.039 Knowledge has increased, but real wisdom has not kept the pace. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.080 And scripture explains why, actually. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:25.599 The fundamental problem of humanity has never been an intellectual problem, it is a spiritual rebellion. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:34.400 The deepest crisis facing mankind is not that we know too little, but we refuse to know God. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:57.280 The prophet Jeremiah chapter 9, verse 23 and 24 says, Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast of his might, let no rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boast boast of this that he understands and knows me. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:02.000 This is the kind of wisdom proverbs seek to cultivate. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:11.520 Not worldly cleverness, not philosophical sophistication, not practical success, but the knowledge of God. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:19.040 That is why Proverbs begin where every true theology must begin, with the fear of God. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:27.199 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge, it says in Proverbs 1, not the end, the beginning. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:31.600 Every genuine pursuit of the wisdom starts there. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:35.360 Everything else rests upon that foundation. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:42.800 Without the fear of the lower education may produce brilliant minds, but never truly converted hearts. 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:51.439 Civilization may advance technologically while collapsing morally, and we are seeing that day by day in our lives. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:56.560 Civilization is going forward but still collapses. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:02.560 Individuals may become highly accomplished while remaining strangers to God. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:10.319 Many approach actually the book of Proverbs as though it were merely a collection of detached moral sayings. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:19.600 They read one proverb in the morning, another in the evening, appreciating each of an uh of its part but as an isolated. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:28.639 Certainly, each proverb contains wisdom in itself, but proverbs is much more than a book of moral observation. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:36.800 It belongs within God's covenant revelation, it forms parts of his unfolding plan of redemption. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:43.519 If we isolate Proverbs from the rest of the scripture, we will misunderstand it. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:46.000 The Bible is one story. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:06:03.519 It begins in the garden, it ends in the garden city, it begins with a fellowship with God and men, it ends with restored fellowship, it begins with a tree of life, it ends with a tree of life bearing fruit every month for the healing of the nations. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:10.879 Everything in between tells the story of God's redeeming grace, and Proverbs stands within that story. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:18.000 Its wisdom cannot be separated from creation, from the covenant, from the redemption or from Christ. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:22.560 Indeed, Proverbs quietly prepare us for Christ. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:28.480 The New Testament does not merely quote Proverbs, it reveals its fulfillment. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:36.959 Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 24, that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:40.639 And look at the verse 30 if you are able to look at the Bible. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:51.680 But by his doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:55.920 Notice carefully what Paul says in this passage. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:11.360 He embodies everything Proverbs describes, every virtue commanded in this book reaches its perfection in Him and Him alone. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:15.519 Every command finds its fullness expression in His obedience. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:20.000 Every promise ultimately points to Him. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:25.680 Therefore, we cannot faithfully preach Proverbs apart from Christ. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:29.759 To do so would reduce the book to moralism. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:34.959 It would become little more than advice for self-improvement. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:40.560 But Proverbs is not primarily about making bad people better. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:50.079 It's about God's gracious work of restoring fallen sinners through the one who perfectly fulfilled all the wisdom. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:08:06.639 When we come to the Proverbs chapter 2, therefore, we are not merely reading Solomon's instructions to his son, we are hearing the voice of our Heavenly Father, calling his children into communion with himself through his perfect son. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:12.079 That covenant relationship is essential for understanding that chapter. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:16.480 Notice how it begins, My Son. 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:21.279 And these words occur repeatedly through the book of Proverbs. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:30.319 They echo Deuteronomy chapter 6, where the fathers were commanded to teach God's law diligently to their children. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:34.559 Wisdom has never intended to remain in one generation. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:44.000 It was to be passed from father to son, from mother to daughter, from one covenant generation to the other one. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:57.840 Yet even as Solomon speaks to his earthly son, another son stands quietly in the background, the true son, the faithful son, the obedient son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:02.799 For every son of Adam has failed to walk perfectly in the wisdom. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:14.399 Adam failed, Cain failed, Noah's sons failed, Abraham stumbled, Isaac stumbled, Jacob stumbled, Moses sinned, David fell. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:24.799 Solomon himself, despite receiving extraordinary wisdom from God, tragically wandered into idolatry in his later life. 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:29.279 The history of redemption repeatedly teaches the same lesson. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:34.159 Even the wisest sinners still need a savior. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.759 Even the greatest king still longed for the greater king. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:46.159 The wisest earthly son points behind himself to the only son who never departed from his father's will. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:50.960 Christ alone perfectly feared Yahweh. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.799 Christ alone treasured every word of his father. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:58.879 Christ alone resisted every temptation. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:03.279 Christ alone delighted in God's law. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:08.960 Christ alone walked every step of the path of righteousness without deviation. 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:14.320 He is the wise son that Proverbs ultimately anticipates. 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:32.480 And because believers are united to him by faith, his wisdom becomes theirs, not merely imputed as righteousness, but progressively formed with them by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit through the application of his holy word. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:50.320 This is why Proverbs is ultimately a good news book, not because it minimizes obedience, far from it, rather because it shows that the true obedience flows only from the hearts transformed by grace. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:56.320 The commands of Proverbs are not ladder by which sinners climb to heaven. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:02.240 They are the pathway upon which redeemed people learn to walk with their God. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:06.000 That distinction changes everything. 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:12.000 If we misunderstand it, we will either fall into legalism or despair. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.919 And the gospel says, God has accepted you in Christ. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.639 Therefore, He is making you wise. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:29.440 Legalism says holiness, holiness earns God's favor. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:36.480 The Gospel says holiness is the fruit of God's favor. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:39.360 Legalism labors to obtain life. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:43.360 Grace labors because life has already been given. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:47.279 This is precisely how the entire Bible unfolds. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:52.559 Israel was redeemed from Egypt before receiving the law of Sinai. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:55.440 Obedience follows redemption. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.399 It never produces redemption. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:06.240 Likewise, believers obey because they have been united to Christ, nor in order to become united to Him. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:14.799 As Jesus Himself declared in John chapter 15, abide in me, he says, and I in you. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:20.320 As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:26.480 So neither can you unless you abide in me, says our precious Lord. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:34.559 Branches do not struggle to manufacture life, they simply remain united to the vine. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:39.440 Life flows from that union and is a very unique union. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:43.039 Fruit follows naturally, so it is with the wisdom. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:46.480 True wisdom is the fruit of the abiding in Christ. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.879 It cannot exist apart from Him. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:13:01.039 For this reason, Proverbs 2 is not simply asking us whether we desire wisdom, it is asking whether we are abiding in the one who is the wisdom himself. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:08.240 From that foundation, Solomon began with the first great movement of the chapter, the pursuit of wisdom. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:22.639 It is a pursuit that reveals the posture of a renewed heart and prepares us to see every genuine longing for wisdom is itself the gracious work of God within his people. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:27.200 Now let's see chapter 2, verses 1 to 5 together. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:35.600 At first glance, the opening verse of Proverbs 2, it appears to be a series of um conditions. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:44.000 My son, if you, if you, actually, if you see all these five verses, the word if is very much repeated. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:47.440 The repeated if can make us uneasy. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:56.240 We may wonder whether Solomon is teaching that wisdom and ultimately acceptance with God is earned through human effort. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:02.240 But the word contradicts, but that way contradicts the whole testimony of scripture. 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:09.039 The Bible consistently teaches that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:23.200 Therefore, these verses are not describing the way sinners merit God's favor, they are describing the posture of a heart that has already begun to be transformed by God's grace. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:25.919 A heart that receives. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:30.240 This first verb, receive, is very significant. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:38.960 If you will receive my words, the pursuit of wisdom begins not with speaking, but with receiving. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:43.360 Throughout Scripture, receiving God's word is the mark of faith. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:49.840 Israel heard God's voice at Mountain Sinai, yet many hardened their hearts. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:55.759 The crowds heard Jesus gladly for a time, yet many later turned away. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:01.919 The difference was not merely in what they have heard, but in what they have responded. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:14.960 And in the book of James, at chapter 1, verse 21, we read, In gentleness receive the implanted word which is able to save your soul. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:18.000 Receiving implies humility. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:20.799 It is the opposite of self-sufficiency. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:26.320 Fallen humanity naturally assumes it already possess wisdom. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:45.120 Ever since the Garden of Eden, mankind has preferred to define independently of God, the serpent temptation was not merely to eat forbidden fruit, but become like God, determining good and evil for oneself. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:50.240 That same impulse still resides in every fallen heart. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:53.039 Regeneration changes this. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:57.679 When the Holy Spirit gives new life, the sinner begins to acknowledge his need. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:02.879 The proud heart becomes teachable, and the rebellious ear becomes attentive. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:08.799 The soul that once resisted God's word now welcomes it as life. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:14.000 Solomon continues, and treasure my commandments within you. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:18.000 Receiving is followed by treasuring. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:22.559 One may hear scripture without valuing it. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:33.600 One may even memorize it without delighting in it, but the renewed heart begins to regard God's word as its greatest possession. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:38.480 Psalm 119, verse 11, expresses the same truth. 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:48.240 Notice where the treasure is kept. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:56.240 Within wisdom is not merely stored on bookshelves or in not books, but hidden in the heart. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:10.079 The covenant promises, the new covenant is precisely this that God will write his law upon the heart of his people, as it says in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 33. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:17.839 What the law could command externally, the Spirit now produces internally. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:21.920 This does not diminish the importance of diligent study. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.000 On the contrary, it gives study its proper purpose. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:30.079 We do not read scripture merely to accumulate information. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:38.960 We read so that God's truth may shape our affections, direct our desires, and transform our lives. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:47.920 And the next commandment is equally striking: to make your ear pay attention to wisdom. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:51.599 Wisdom requires disciplined listening. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:56.559 The believer lives in a world filled with compelling voices. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:59.839 Every culture seeks to catechize its people. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:10.240 Truth, media, education, everything, entertainment, public opinion, world continue to teach us its own vision of reality. 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.720 The question is never whether we are being shaped. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:18.640 The question is by whom we are being shaped. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:30.799 From the moment we open our eyes in the morning until we lay down to sleep, we are comforted every moment constantly being shaped by all this information. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:37.839 The Christian must intentionally incline his ear toward God's voice, and that's a discipline. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:51.119 This happens supremely through the ordinary means of grace, the public reading of scripture, faithful expository preaching, prayer, then the sacraments, and the fellowship together of the saints. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:19:00.240 These are not optional additional to the Christian life, but God's appointed instruments for conforming his people to Christ. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:06.000 Solomon then says, Incline your heart to understand. 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:13.839 The heart in scripture represents the center of the whole person, the mind, will, and affection. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:21.440 Wisdom is therefore more than intellectual information, it is the whole-hearted devotion. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:26.559 Here we see why regeneration is indispensable. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:30.400 By nature, the human heart does not incline toward God. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:39.680 Paul writes that the mind set on flesh does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:47.839 In Romans 8:7, it says that left to ourselves, we would never seek true wisdom. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:53.920 But in the new birth, God gives a new heart, just like it says in the book of Ezekiel. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:59.200 The spirit redirects the deepest inclinations of the soul. 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:06.319 The believer still struggles against remaining seen, yet the fundamental direction of life has changed. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:13.119 The heart that once loved darkness now begins to love the light. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:15.359 The pursuit intensify. 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:21.359 If you call out for discernment, lift your voice for understanding. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:25.519 It says, Wisdom is not only studied, it is prayed for. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:49.839 Treasure is sought with diligence, perseverance, and sacrifice. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.759 This pursuit exposes the true priorities of the heart. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.960 We devote ourselves to what we value most. 00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:59.680 If worldly success occupies our highest. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:03.440 Affection, our lives will resolve around it. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:13.839 And if Christ is our supreme treasure, we will gladly order every aspect of light around knowing Him more fully. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:20.400 Brothers and sisters, the New Testament reveals that Christ Himself is the fulfillment of this pursuit. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:26.319 Paul declares that in Christ are hidden all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:29.200 Colossians chapter 2, verse 3. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:34.000 The believer therefore seeks wisdom ultimately by seeking Christ. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:45.519 To know him is to grow in wisdom, to abide in him, as Jesus teaches in John chapter 15, is to bear the fruit of a transformed life. 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:47.440 And there is the promise there. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:51.119 The section concludes with a glorious promise. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:57.680 Then you will understand the fear of Yahweh and find the knowledge of God. 00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:07.200 The goal of wisdom is not to merely better decision making, but deeper, deeper communion with the Holy God. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:14.559 The fear of the Lord is reverent love, joyful submission, and humble worship before Him. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:23.200 It is not servile terror, but the awe of those who have come to know the majesty and the mercy of God. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:27.279 This fear grows as we behold Christ. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:35.359 In him we see both the holiness and the condemned sin and the grace that redeems sinners. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:40.799 The cross reveals that God is perfectly just and infinitely merciful. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:44.400 Their wisdom and redemption meet. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:49.039 How then should a believer respond to this passage? 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:52.240 First, cultivate a hunger for God's word. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:24:00.160 Read it not merely to complete a plan, tick, I did it, but to hear your father's voice. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:02.079 Read it in the morning. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:03.759 Listen in your car. 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:08.079 Read it when you are back from work, even though you are tired. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:10.240 Spend time with it. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:18.880 Second, I would say make faithful participation in the ordinary means of grace, the rhythm of your life. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:27.680 Growth in wisdom is or is is slow, but it's certainly because uh because God Himself has appointed this means. 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:31.680 And third, I would say pray continually for wisdom. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:41.839 Every decision, every trial, every temptation should drive us to seek the Lord rather than trusting our own understanding. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:49.440 And finally, remember that the pursuit of wisdom is ultimately the pursuit of Christ. 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:53.039 It's not merely our example, he is our life. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:25:09.519 Through union with him, the Spirit progressively conforms us to his image until the day when John writes, we know that when he appears, we will be like him, because we'll see him just as he is. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:19.119 The pursuit that begins with receiving God's word will end in seeing the incarnate word face to face. 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:26.400 That is the hope that sustains every believer as we walk in the path of wisdom. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:35.680 If we see the second part from verses to 15, there is a gift of a guard of wisdom. 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:45.200 Having described the pursuit of wisdom, Solomon now leads us to the truth that protects us from every form of spiritual pride. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:56.640 If the first movement emphasizes our diligent pursuit, the second reminds us that all genuine wisdom is ultimately a gift of sovereign grace. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:58.799 The order is significant. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:02.160 We seek God because God gives. 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:12.960 We ask because he delights to answer, we pursue because he first has awakened holy desires within us. 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:23.039 Every movement of the believer toward God is itself evidence that God has already begun his gracious work in the heart. 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:28.079 This is one of the beautiful tensions that runs throughout the scripture. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:38.079 The Bible never apologized for calling God's people to diligence, nor does it ever attribute the ultimate cause of their obedience to themselves. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:47.279 Divine sovereignty and human responsibility are not enemies, they are harmonious truth. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:51.839 God works in his people, and therefore his people work. 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:56.960 Just like Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 to 13. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:09.279 So then, my beloved, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:12.000 That same pattern appeared here. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:17.599 Wisdom comes before, and wisdom comes from the mouth of God. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:24.400 Verse 6 for Yahweh gives wisdom from his mouth come knowledge and discernment. 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:27.519 The word for is crucial. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:30.319 Why should we seek wisdom? 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:35.839 Because Yahweh gives wisdom, because God Himself gives wisdom. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:39.200 Our pursuit rests upon his generosity. 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:44.799 Every true insight into spiritual reality originates with God Himself. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:54.160 Wisdom is not discovered independently of Him, nor it is product of the human mentality. 00:27:54.400 --> 00:28:01.359 Fallen humanity may accomplish astonishing things in science, engineering, medicine, etc. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:09.519 Yet apart from the grace of God, it remains spiritually blind and blind to death. 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:12.799 This is precisely what Paul teaches in Romans 1. 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:22.640 Humanity possesses remarkable intellectual ability while simultaneously suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:26.880 Brilliant minds may deny the God who made them. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:32.559 Extraordinary learning cannot cure the spiritual death. 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:34.319 Only God can. 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:40.000 Therefore, Solomon directs our eyes away from ourselves, but toward the giver. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:42.880 And notice the source that it says there. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:44.960 From his mouth. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:49.920 This expression reminds us immediately of creation itself. 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:59.680 In the Genesis chapter 1, God speaks, life exists, the heaven appears, the earth is formed, life flourishes. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:04.000 Everything comes into existence from his powerful word. 00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:11.039 The same divine speech that created the universe now creates wisdom within his people. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:13.519 There is a profound connection here. 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:20.400 Just as the physical creation came through God's word, spiritual recreation comes through God's word. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:30.160 And James declares at chapter 1, verse 18 in the exercise of his will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:38.160 Peter likewise writes that believers have been born again through the living and enduring word of God. 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:42.000 Regeneration is a creative act. 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:53.759 The God who once said, Let there be light, now shines into the darkness hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:59.839 Every conversion is, in one sense, another genesis. 00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:05.920 Darkness gives way to life, death gives away to life, chaos gives way to new creation. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:10.319 Therefore, wisdom always begins with God's initiative. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:13.200 Solomon continues at verse 7. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:17.039 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:20.319 He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. 00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:27.599 At first, reading this verse raises an important question: Who are the upright? 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:34.480 Surely scripture does not teach that naturally righteous people receive wisdom because they deserve it. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:48.160 Paul has already saddled that question in Romans 3, chapter 3, verse 10, says, There is no one righteous, not even one, and the upright therefore are not those who have established their own righteousness before God. 00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:55.599 Rather, they are those whom God has graciously brought into covenant in fellowship with his Son. 00:30:55.839 --> 00:31:05.039 From the perspective of the New Testament, we recognize that this righteousness is ours only through the union of Christ. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:07.680 Christ alone is the perfectly upright. 00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:11.759 Christ alone faithful fulfilled the law without blemish. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:15.279 Christ alone always walked in integrity. 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:19.599 By faith, his righteousness is counted as ours. 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:28.319 And because we have been justified, the spirit now progressively produces practical righteousness within us. 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:32.880 And the reformers carefully distinguish these realities. 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:37.200 Justification is God's once for all declaration. 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:43.599 Sanctification is God's lifelong work, and the two must never be confused. 00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:46.880 Neither may they ever be separated. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:52.720 Those whom God declares declares righteous, he also begins to make righteous. 00:31:52.880 --> 00:32:02.559 Therefore, Solomon descriptions of the upright point, not to sinless perfection, but to covenant faithfulness produced by grace. 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:05.359 God is our shield. 00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:09.920 Notice the next description uh description. 00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:13.119 He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:15.200 What a comforting image. 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:20.960 The believer is not merely instructed, he is protected. 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:25.599 Wisdom is defensive as well as instructive. 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:31.200 Throughout scripture, God repeatedly reveals himself as the shield of his people. 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:36.960 To Abraham, he declared, Do not fear, I am a shield to you. 00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:43.279 David repeatedly saying, Yahweh is my rock and my fortress, my shield. 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:48.880 The shield reminds us that Christian life is not lived in a neutral ground. 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:52.400 The path of wisdom is a battlefield. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:33:01.599 Every day believers face temptation, false teaching, discouragement, pride, fear, worldliness. 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:10.000 The devil, it says in 1 Peter 5.8, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:17.200 Yet Solomon does not tell believers to trust ultimately in their own vigilance. 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:19.920 He tells them to trust in God. 00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:23.519 This does not eliminate human responsibility. 00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:26.079 We are called to resist temptation. 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:30.079 We are commanded to put on the whole armor of God. 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:33.440 We are escorted to watch and pray. 00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:38.960 Yet beneath all those commandments lies an infinitely greater comfort. 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:42.960 Our preservation depends finally upon God. 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:46.960 This truth runs throughout the entire scripture. 00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:59.759 And Jesus says in John chapter 10, verses 27 and 28, that my sheep hear my voice, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:03.920 No one will snatch them out of my hand. 00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:16.559 Romans 8 39, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God, not from our love to God, but from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:24.159 Peter at the 1 Peter 1:5, protected by the power of God through faith, it says. 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:35.760 Verse 8, guarding the path of justice and keeps the way of his holy ones. 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:39.679 The Christians often speak about keeping God's commandments. 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:42.800 Here we discover an even greater reality. 00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:44.960 God keeps his people. 00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:48.960 This theme stretches from Genesis to Revelation. 00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:53.599 After Adam fell, God himself clothed him. 00:34:54.079 --> 00:34:59.599 After Israel repeatedly rebelled, God preserved the remnant. 00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:04.320 David fell grievously, yet God restored him. 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:09.280 Peter denied Christ, yet Christ prayed that his faith would not fail. 00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:26.639 Jude concludes in his letter with these glorious words, at uh where it says, Now to him who is able to keep us from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy. 00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:38.079 Notice that not merely forgive you and me, but keep us, not merely begin our salvation, but complete it. 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:44.159 Our perseverance rests ultimately upon God's persevering grace. 00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:52.480 Far from encouraging spiritual laziness, this truth produces profound assurance and humble dependence. 00:35:52.719 --> 00:36:00.559 Because our Father keeps us, we are free to pursue holiness with a confidence rather than fear. 00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:03.599 Look at the verses 9 to 11. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:09.360 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity. 00:36:09.519 --> 00:36:16.159 Every good track, for wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 00:36:16.400 --> 00:36:20.159 Discretion will guard you, understanding will keep you. 00:36:20.559 --> 00:36:24.800 Look how wisdom now moves from the mind into the heart. 00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:33.840 Biblical wisdom is never merely for theory, it becomes part of our character, it reshapes our instincts. 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:42.079 Over time, the mature believer begins to love what God loves and hate what God hates. 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:47.280 This is one of those often overlooked blessings of sanctification. 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:51.840 When we first come to Christ, many decisions seem difficult. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:54.400 We wrestle with competing desires. 00:36:54.639 --> 00:36:58.880 Remaining seen exerts tremendous influence on us. 00:36:59.039 --> 00:37:05.519 But as the Spirit renews our mind through the word, our affections are gradually transformed. 00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:08.400 We begin to recognize error more quickly. 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:11.360 Holiness becomes more beautiful. 00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:14.480 Sin becomes increasingly bitter. 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:17.199 This does not mean temptation disappears. 00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:18.400 That's not true. 00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:21.679 Yet our deepest desire begins to change. 00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:26.159 Paul describes this beautifully in Colossians chapter 3. 00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:34.960 Because believers have been raised with Christ, they are not to set your mind on the things, they are to set your mind on the things above. 00:37:35.119 --> 00:37:46.559 Then he immediately calls them to put to death earthly sins and put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, passion, forgiveness, and above all, love. 00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:49.280 See the pattern. 00:37:49.519 --> 00:37:51.599 Identify, precede, product. 00:37:51.840 --> 00:37:54.480 Union with Christ produces transformation. 00:37:54.639 --> 00:37:59.760 Wisdom enters the heart, then life begins to reflect the character of God in us. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.239 Look at the verses 12 to 15. 00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:10.000 Describe one wisdom's greater, which is the greatest ministry, to deliver you from the way of evil. 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:18.639 It's very interesting that Solomon does not promise the absence of evil, he promises deliverance from its path. 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:29.039 The Christian still lives in a fallen world, he encountered wickedness, he suffered injustice, he experienced temptation every day. 00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:37.360 Yet wisdom teaches us to recognize the subtle progression of sin before it matures into destruction. 00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:45.599 The men described in these verses are frightening precisely because they have inverted God's moral order. 00:38:45.840 --> 00:38:49.920 They have abandoned uprighteousness. 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:51.920 They delight in evil. 00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:54.400 Darkness has become their home. 00:38:54.639 --> 00:39:00.800 What once would have grieved their conscience now becomes their entertainment. 00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:05.199 This is one of the sin's most terrifying effects. 00:39:05.360 --> 00:39:09.840 It is not only corrupts behavior, it corrupts affections. 00:39:10.079 --> 00:39:14.320 It teaches people to rejoice in what God condemns. 00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:19.360 How relevant these verses are in every generation. 00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:27.920 Our culture increasingly celebrates what scriptures calls evil and ridicules what scriptures calls good. 00:39:28.079 --> 00:39:32.960 Yet the believer is not to respond with self-righteousness superiority. 00:39:33.280 --> 00:39:41.119 He remembers that apart from grace, he too would have walked the same path as the world is. 00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:44.239 This produces both courage and compassion. 00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:51.039 Courage to refuse this world, compassion for those still enslaved to darkness. 00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:57.599 For once every Christian also walked that broad road, only the grace of God rescued us. 00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:02.159 Therefore we speak the truth boldly, but always with tears. 00:40:02.719 --> 00:40:05.679 For wisdom never produces arrogance. 00:40:05.920 --> 00:40:15.679 True wisdom always produces humility, because it remembers the pit from which God has graciously delivered me and you. 00:40:16.159 --> 00:40:19.199 Let's see at the verses 16 to 22nd. 00:40:19.679 --> 00:40:24.800 The wisdom that gives that God gives is never an end in itself. 00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:30.400 It is not bestowed merely to enlarge the mind, but to transform the life. 00:40:30.559 --> 00:40:35.360 Throughout the proverbs, wisdom is intensively practical. 00:40:35.519 --> 00:40:40.159 It teaches us not only what to believe, but how to walk. 00:40:40.400 --> 00:40:47.519 Indeed, one of Solomon's favorite images is of the path, the image of the path. 00:40:47.760 --> 00:40:52.079 Again and again he speaks ways, road, tracks, footsteps. 00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:53.599 This is not an accident. 00:40:53.760 --> 00:40:57.840 Scripture constantly portrays life as a journey. 00:40:58.079 --> 00:41:00.960 Every person is walking somewhere. 00:41:01.360 --> 00:41:03.679 Every heart is following a path. 00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:08.960 The only question is whether that path leads to life or destruction. 00:41:09.440 --> 00:41:16.559 This image reaches back to Psalm 1, where the blessed man delights in the law of Yahweh. 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:23.760 There, as He as here only, two ways are presented. 00:41:23.920 --> 00:41:27.039 There is no third road, there is no neutral ground. 00:41:27.199 --> 00:41:34.000 One path ends in flourishing under God's blessing, the other ends in eternal judgment. 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:37.519 Our modern world resists such categories. 00:41:37.679 --> 00:41:40.400 We prefer endless shades of gray. 00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:45.440 We resume in the world every road eventually reaches the same destination. 00:41:45.679 --> 00:41:49.039 Scripture leaves no room for such optimism. 00:41:49.440 --> 00:41:58.000 The Lord Himself declares that there is a narrow way leading to life and a broad way leading to destruction. 00:41:58.159 --> 00:42:02.320 Proverbs 2 prepares us for that very teaching. 00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:05.119 At the verse 16, it's very interesting. 00:42:05.280 --> 00:42:13.599 Solomon says, to deliver you from the strange woman, from the foreign woman who flatters with her words. 00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:18.320 These verses certainly warrant again sexual immorality. 00:42:18.559 --> 00:42:25.920 They should never be interpreted as though the danger belong only to men and only to one particular sin. 00:42:26.159 --> 00:42:28.239 The principle is broader than that. 00:42:28.480 --> 00:42:37.360 The strange woman represents every temptation that seeks to lure the covenant believer away from the faithful communion with God. 00:42:37.599 --> 00:42:47.199 And look how Solomon describes her, who leaves the close companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. 00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:50.239 The final phrase is crucial. 00:42:50.480 --> 00:42:52.400 She has forgotten what? 00:42:53.039 --> 00:42:54.079 The covenant. 00:42:54.320 --> 00:43:01.679 This is not merely the story of a broken marriage vows, it is the story of a broken covenant fellowship with God Himself. 00:43:01.920 --> 00:43:07.519 Throughout the Old Testament, idolatry is repeatedly portrayed as a spiritual idolatry. 00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:14.639 Israel's worship of false God is described as unfaithfulness to her divine husband. 00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:18.079 The warning, therefore, reaches every believer. 00:43:18.320 --> 00:43:25.760