The Beginning of Wisdom
Sermon Notes
Intro
Today we’re starting a new teaching series on a book of the bible called Proverbs, and it’s about gaining practical wisdom for everyday life. The truth is we’re faced with choices every day, and some of those choices are small such as what should I wear or what should I eat?...But some of those choices are big, such as where should I go to college or what career should I choose?...Should I quit my job, or keep my job?...Should I date this person, break up with this person, marry this person?...Everyday we’re faced with choices.
Now it’s important to make wise choices because foolish choices can be destructive for your life. Every choice is like a fork in the road, it leads down a path that’ll end with either good or bad consequences. If you’re a believer in Christ you know things will eventually turn out for your good in the next life, but you can still make foolish choices that don’t bring glory to Christ and leads to bad consequences in this life. If you’re a skeptic of Christianity you know you need to make wise choices too, and if you stick around long enough you’ll find wisdom in this series that’ll be applicable for your life too. Let that wisdom point you to trust in the very God that wisdom is coming from. Proverbs is a book that can give us practical wisdom for everyday life, so let’s turn to Proverbs ch 1 and get into it. If you open your bible to the middle, keep turning left you’ll find Proverbs. We’ll be in Proverbs 1:1-7. Title of today’s message is The Beginning of Wisdom, and here’s the big idea. Wisdom begins with knowing the God of infinite wisdom. Wisdom begins with knowing the God of infinite wisdom. I’ll give you context as we go.
The Word:
Proverbs 1:1-7 states, “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel.” Okay so there’s our context. These proverbs come from King Solomon who’s considered one of the most famous, wealthiest, wisest kings in history. In 1 Kings Ch. 3 he asks God for wisdom, God gives him that wisdom, and historically we know people traveled from all over the world to gain from his wisdom. Solomon’s passing some of that wisdom onto us right here in the book of Proverbs. But what exactly is a proverb? A proverb is a short thought provoking saying that when it’s unpacked, conveys a world of truth. They aren’t necessarily meant to be read as promises or moral imperatives, instead they’re meant to be read as wise practical wisdom for everyday life.
Now these proverbs aren’t like fortune cookie sayings that aren’t always true, because these proverbs are always true! They also aren’t like pop-psychology sayings telling you to just follow your heart, because our hearts can sometimes deceive us and lead us in a wrong direction. These proverbs are so much greater than that because they contain deep spiritual truths that’ll never deceive us or lead us in the wrong direction. As we read them and find ourselves agreeing with Solomon’s wisdom, we’ll also find ourselves deficient in living that wisdom out. It’s one thing to know the wise thing, but it’s another to actually live it out. Our deficiencies in living this wisdom out should point us to our need for Christ’s help. So, as you find yourself agreeing with these proverbs, as you find yourself wanting to apply their wisdom to your own life, ask for Christ’s help. Read these proverbs and ask for Christ’s help in living them out.
Again vs. 1 states, “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel. 2 For learning wisdom and discipline...” There’s the purpose, the thesis statement for why Solomon’s writing these proverbs, it’s for us to learn wisdom and discipline. He wants to pass his wisdom onto us, and in Proverbs wisdom is closely tied with the word knowledge. The difference is knowledge focuses on having a correct understanding of the world, while wisdom focuses on applying that knowledge correctly as you live in the world. This means wisdom isn’t about having a high IQ or high intelligence, because you can be highly intelligent but still make unwise decisions. Instead, wisdom is about knowing what to do with the knowledge you have. Simply put, wisdom is knowledge applied correctly. Wisdom is such a rich concept in the book of Proverbs, it has multiple aspects to it like the multiple colors of a rainbow. Solomon spends vs. 2-6 teaching us a few of those multiple aspects of wisdom. He teaches us 5 things that wisdom entails.
Here in vs 2 he says the 1st thing wisdom entails is discipline. The Hebrew word used in the text is musar, and it means to receive discipline or corrective instruction like in a parent child relationship or a discipleship relationship. Just like a child needs discipline and correction even though they don’t want it, we need discipline and correction even though we don’t always want it. We want wisdom but hate correction. Yet you can’t have wisdom without correction, because you’ll just keep making the same mistakes. You need somebody in your life who’s wiser to correct you and show you the right way to live. Do you have that in your life? Do you have somebody in your life who can give you wise corrective instruction? Do you seek counsel from the world’s wisdom, or from others who know bible’s wisdom? One of the great things about being involved in a church community, is you get to draw from the wisdom of others in the room. You’re missing out on so much growth in wisdom if you’re not involved, not getting to know others, not a part of a small group, instead you’re just slipping in and out every week. You’ll gain some wisdom individually, but you’ll gain greater wisdom in community. Part of growing in wisdom entails admitting you don’t have all the wisdom. You need the wise counsel of others.
Again vs. 2 states, “For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings...” There’s the 2nd thing wisdom entails, it entails insight. Insight helps you to make calculated decisions, instead of impulsive decisions. So many of us get into trouble because we act too much on impulse. We misread a text message and send a nasty reply in response. We see something we like on Amazon or in a store and swipe ourselves into debt. Acting too much on impulse can cause you to fall out of line. But insight can cause you to read between the lines, so you can make wise decisions to walk a straight line. Insight is what helps you size up a situation, read people well, even read behind the words people are saying so you can give wise responses. My wife has taught me a lot about insight over the years. She’s taught me ladies have a lot more meaning behind their words then men. Several years ago when my wife was pregnant she said “Hey I’m going to the store, you want to come?” Because I lacked insightful wisdom back then I said no. To which she replied “Fine! Fine then! You just stay here and do your own thing.” I was so confused! So, I said, “Andrea, I don’t get it. You asked me a question and that question had options. If you want me to go just say you want me to go, and I’ll go.” To which she replied, “It’s not about that.” So, what’s it about? “I want you to want to go.” Oh come on!...Insight...I lacked the insight back then to realize what she really wanted, was to just spend time with me...How’s your insight?...How’s your insight?...Are you more impulsive or insightful?...Do you just listen to what your spouse, your kids, your friends, and others are saying, or do you try to understand the heart behind what they’re saying?...Insight helps us get to the heart behind people’s words.
Vs. 3, “For receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity...” The 3rd thing wisdom entails is instruction, specifically instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity. Simply put, wisdom has an ethical component. We’ll make decisions that are righteous, just, full of integrity. This includes decisions you’ll make at work or in school, never sacrificing integrity for selfish gain or to fit in with the masses. In this sense Proverbs entails more than just gaining practical wisdom for everyday life. It also entails using that wisdom with ethical integrity in Christ-like ways, that benefits others and honors Christ. So, how’s your ethical integrity? Are you living with ethical integrity in ways that honors Christ and benefits others?
Vs. 4, “For teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man.” The 4th thing wisdom entails is shrewdness and discretion. The Hebrew word for shrewdness can also be translated as prudence, and it’s about living strategically. The words prudence and discretion are about knowing what you need to do, but also knowing the best time to do it. For example, you can sometimes say and do the right things, but in the wrong timing. I mean do you really need to answer that hater trolling you on Facebook when you have more important things to do? Do you really need to talk with your spouse about how frustrated you are right when they walk in the door from a rough day? Using wise, prudent, discretion will help you in discerning when to speak up, and when to remain silent. So, how’s your strategic wisdom in accomplishing things? How’s your discretionary wisdom and timing?
Vs. 5, “Let a wise person listen and increase learning, and let a discerning person obtain guidance. 6 for understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles.” The 5th thing wisdom entails is increased learning, because you can’t have wisdom without knowledge. You can have knowledge without wisdom, but you can’t have wisdom without knowledge. Being uninformed leads to unwise decisions. This is really about teachability. It’s about being willing to keep learning and growing no matter how old or wise you are. Are you teachable? Are you willing to learn and grow from others, or are you a know it all? You’ll grow in wisdom if you’re teachable...Now like I said before we’ll be deficient in living these aspects of wisdom out, which is why we need God’s help...and this is exactly what Solomon says next.
Vs. 7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge...” Solomon’s saying if you want to grow in these aspects of wisdom, it starts with fearing the Lord. He says fearing the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, it’s the beginning of wisdom, and the kind of fear he’s talking about is a fearful awe of the Lord. It’s the kind of fear you have standing on top of a mountain. You’re in awe over the mountain’s beauty, while at the same time fearing its magnitude that’ll crush you if you slip. The good news of the gospel is Jesus died for our sins, so we don’t have to fear the magnitude of God crushing us if we slip in sin. If you don’t believe in the gospel, if you don’t have faith in Jesus you have to fear God crushing you, because eventually God has to put an end to the sinfulness of the world. He can’t let the sinfulness of the world go on forever or else heaven won’t be heaven it’ll be hell. So, either we pay for our sins in hell or Jesus pays for our sins on the cross, but either way sin has to be dealt with for heaven to exist, and because of God’s holiness. But the fearful awe vs 7 is talking about is the kind of fear believers should have. It isn’t a fear of God crushing or condemning us, it’s a fear of grieving God’s heart. It’s like putting a Ming dynasty vase in your hands that’s thousands of years old and worth millions. You wouldn’t be afraid of the vase hurting you, you’d be afraid of dropping and hurting the vase. In a similar way vs 7 is talking about having such a fearful awe over God, that you don’t want to hurt or grieve God’s heart. This means every job you take, every place you live, every relationship you engage in, everything you do should be done with the mindset of wanting to please God. It’s asking yourself, “How will this decision I’m making grieve or please God?” His love for us displayed on the cross, should motivate us to want to display our love for Him with our lives.
Look, in our casual culture, including our casual Christian culture, it’s easy to forget about having a fearful awe of the Lord. But Jesus welcomes us as friends, and we shouldn’t casually neglect that friendship. Instead, we should want to serve him out of sheer joy, love, appreciation, and awe over who he is and what he’s done for us on the cross. Solomon’s saying only then, will you have the beginning of wisdom. It’s only when you have a relationship with God, that you’ll be able to experience the beginning of wisdom. It’s because your relationship with God and what you believe about God affects your view of reality and how you live your life. You’ll be out of touch with reality if you don’t have a relationship with the very God who created reality. Instead, you’ll have a distorted view of reality that’ll lead to a distorted life. You’ll have an uninformed view of reality that’ll lead to unwise decisions that are destructive to your life. Nobody knows reality better than God. So wisdom starts by having a fearful awe inspiring relationship, with the God who created reality. Solomon’s saying your relationship with God is primary when it comes to understanding reality, and it’s foolish to think we can live otherwise, which he states next.
Again vs. 7 states, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Solomon’s saying there’s only two ways to walk through the realities of life. You can either walk with God or walk without God. He says it’s foolish to think you can face the realities of everyday life without God. If you believe there’s a God who created the universe and you reject Him or treat Him casually, it isn’t just sinful it’s foolish. It’s foolish because without God you’ll have a distorted view of reality, and you can’t make wise decisions with a distorted view of reality. It isn’t going to work out well for you. If God isn’t the one you are in awe of, if God isn’t the one you trust most in life, then you’ll define and view your reality based on something else and it’ll crush you. So many of us are being crushed by the weight and pressures of living for things like money, our careers, our reputations, our popularity, our people pleasing, and it’s crushing us. It’s because we’re living a distorted view of reality that says if you have these things, it’ll bring you more joy than God. If you have the money, have the successful career, have the popularity, you’ll finally have joy. Our culture’s distorted wisdom says if you want to be happy in life, start with following your heart. But what you’ve been experiencing isn’t happiness, it’s the crushing weight of that distorted reality. We’re crushing ourselves by seeking wisdom and joy in other things rather than God. Proverbs 14:27 says, “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death.” The beginning of wisdom and joy doesn’t flow from trusting our culture’s distorted view of reality to follow our hearts. It flows from trusting God’s wisdom for reality and aligning our hearts with His heart. It flows from trusting Jesus as the fountain of our wisdom and joy, for everyday life.
The Big Idea:
The big idea is that wisdom begins with knowing the God of infinite wisdom. Wisdom begins with knowing the God of infinite wisdom. So, what’s it going to be for your life? Will you find greater wisdom and joy in following your heart and facing the realities of everyday life on your own, or by following Jesus and facing those realities with Jesus? Will you walk without Jesus in foolishness and death or walk with Jesus in wisdom and joy? Which will you choose for your everyday life?