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[0:00] We are in Proverbs. Anybody excited to read more of Proverbs? Proverbs is the book of wisdom. And like I said, we are not going to go through every single verse in Proverbs, but I would like to spend a month or so in the book of Proverbs, just kind of hitting a lot of the, just a few things to try to help us with how to read the book of Proverbs. Today, we're going to look specifically at Proverbs chapter 4, but we're not going to just look at that.

[0:32] We're going to look at some other things. And so open up your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 4. One of the most important things as we read the Bibles is understanding the context.

[0:45] Who is this written to? If you don't understand the context, you might get confused. If you open up any kind of novel and you just start right smack dab in the middle, and you start reading about Joe and Mary and this person and that person and they're doing this and that, it can be confusing because you don't know what happened before or what happened after or who these people are, where they came from and what their history is.

[1:11] The Bible is the same way. There is a context. Sometimes the context, you find context in the chapter. Sometimes you have to know the context of the whole book. And sometimes you really, actually many times, you need to know the context of the entire Bible.

[1:28] And so I think Proverbs is one of those books. It's a book of wisdom, but I think we have an opportunity. We are Grace Bible Church. We're a grace church.

[1:40] And we try to look at everything from a grace perspective. We live in an age the Bible calls the age of grace. And it's different from other times in the past.

[1:52] And so I want us to look, as we read through the book of Proverbs, from a grace perspective. Just to give you a little, if you want to go ahead and kind of put markers in your Bible, we're going to look at mainly three different sections here.

[2:07] We're going to look at Proverbs chapter 4. We're going to look at 1 Kings 10. So if you want to put a finger or a bookmark there. And then we're also going to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

[2:17] Those are the main passages that I'll have you turn to today. But let's start with Proverbs chapter 4. And as we read through, I'm just going to read through the whole thing.

[2:35] Just going to read through the whole thing. And as I read, I want you to pay attention to the blessings that Solomon, these are Proverbs, Proverbs are mostly from King Solomon.

[2:48] The blessings that he says comes with wisdom. So here we go. Proverbs chapter 4. Hear, my children, the instruction of a father.

[2:59] And give attention to knowing or to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine. Do not forsake my law. When I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, he also taught me and said to me, let your heart retain my words.

[3:18] Keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom. Get understanding. Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her and she will preserve you.

[3:31] Love her and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom and all you're getting, get understanding. Exalt her and she will promote you.

[3:44] She will bring you honor when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory. She will deliver to you.

[3:54] Hear, my son, and receive my sayings. And the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the ways of wisdom. I have led you in the right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered.

[4:08] And when you run, you will not stumble. Take firm hold of instruction and do not let go. Keep her for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil.

[4:22] Avoid it. Do not travel on it. Turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil. And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall.

[4:35] For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

[4:47] The way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know what makes them stumble. My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings.

[4:59] Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them. And health to all their flesh.

[5:11] Keep your heart with all diligence. For out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth. And put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead.

[5:23] And your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet. And let all of your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left.

[5:33] Remove your foot from evil. Here Solomon is giving a general overview to his son. Now obviously this is wisdom for any of us.

[5:46] But it's in the context of a father giving instruction to his son. But he is basically saying, hey, here are the benefits, the blessings of wisdom.

[5:57] If you follow wisdom. If you heed her. And then there are a few things on the opposite side. Things if you don't heed wisdom.

[6:08] And those who do not follow wisdom. Those who follow a different path. What were some of the blessings that we read about? As we read through her.

[6:19] What are some of the specific things? Well one is that you will be preserved. You will be kept safe. Another is promotion. Wisdom will promote you.

[6:30] You will find honor. The word glory is used. Also health. And long life. The words in verse 22 it says.

[6:44] For they are life. These words of wisdom. They are life to those who find them. And health to all their flesh. And we actually find this to be true.

[6:55] In the life of the one. Who spoke these words. The life of Solomon. Let's go ahead and turn back. We are going to look at Solomon. We looked at this last week.

[7:07] A bit about Solomon. And how he got his wisdom. But go ahead and turn to 1 Kings chapter 10. Solomon if you remember. Was given wisdom by God.

[7:18] Because he asked for it. He asked in a spirit of humility. God asked him. What can I give to you? Whatever you ask. I am just going to give it to you. Just because I am generous. And Solomon asked for wisdom.

[7:31] Because he saw in front of him. As a young man. This life in front of him. Where he needed to rule a people. And he wanted wisdom. So that he could rule well. And so he asked that from God.

[7:42] And God was very pleased with his request. And because of that. Gave him many other things beside. But if we look at Solomon's life. We see examples of the blessings.

[7:52] That attend to or come with wisdom. Wisdom led to peace and prosperity. In Solomon's kingdom.

[8:05] In fact the Bible says. That his kingdom was the most. Was the richest kingdom. In all the world at the time. If you read through.

[8:16] Several of these chapters here. First Kings. I think it's 8, 9, 10. You read about many of the things. There's lots of mentions of gold. By the way. But I want to focus.

[8:26] Let's just read this section. Where somebody who's heard. There's this queen. The queen of Sheba. She's heard of Solomon. And his wisdom. And his wealth. And his prosperity. And she wants to see with her own eyes.

[8:38] And this is a description of that visit. First Kings chapter 10 verse 1. Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon. Concerning the name of the Lord. She came to test him with hard questions.

[8:50] She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue. With camels that bore spices. Very much gold. And precious stones. And when she came to Solomon. She spoke with him. About all that was in her heart.

[9:02] So Solomon answered all of her questions. And there was nothing so difficult for the king. That he could not explain it to her. He was very impressive. And when the queen of Sheba.

[9:13] Had seen all the wisdom of Solomon. The house that he built. The food on his table. The seating of his servants. And the service of his waiters and their apparel. His cup bearers and his entryway.

[9:25] By which he went up to the house of the Lord. There was no more spirit in her. Today we would say. Her breath was taken away. Then she said to the king.

[9:36] It was a true report. Which I heard in my own land. About your words and your wisdom. However I did not believe the words. Until I came. And saw with my own eyes.

[9:47] And indeed the half. Was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity. Exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men. And happy are these your servants.

[9:58] Who stand continually before you. And hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God. Who delighted in you. Setting you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord has loved Israel forever.

[10:09] Therefore he made you king. To do justice and righteousness. The queen came because she heard. And really found it unbelievable. And she came and she was blown away.

[10:22] The grandeur. The wisdom. The glory of the kingdom of Solomon. Was beyond what she even thought or heard. In this section we read about the glorious temple that Solomon built.

[10:34] He built this glorious temple full of ornate things. Furniture. Gold everywhere. Statues. Clothing. Art. In fact it says even in this. In talking about the kingdom of Solomon.

[10:46] That silver. Was treated as if it was common stone. Because of all of the gold. That was everywhere. There was exotic spices.

[10:57] And chariots. And horses. Armies. And like I said. It says. That the kingdom of Solomon. Surpassed all the kings of the earth.

[11:08] In riches. And in wisdom. But I have a question. Is that the end. Of Solomon's story. No.

[11:18] In fact. We just go down. One more chapter. If you go down. With chat. To chapter. Eleven. With me. Let's read. But.

[11:30] And that word. Whenever you read the word. But. It's usually not good news. Right. We've just been spending. Three chapters. Talking about the glory. Of Solomon's kingdom.

[11:41] And then in verse 11. It starts with. But. But. But King Solomon. Loved many foreign women. As well as the daughter. Of Pharaoh. Women of the Moabites.

[11:52] Ammonites. Edomites. Sidonians. And Hittites. From the nations of whom. The Lord had said. To the children of Israel. You shall not intermarry with them. Nor they with you.

[12:03] Surely they will turn away your hearts. After their gods. Solomon clung. To these in love. And he had. Seven hundred. Wives.

[12:14] Can you imagine? Princesses. And three hundred concubines. That's a thousand in total. And his wives. Turned away. His heart. For it was so.

[12:25] When Solomon was old. That his wives. Turned his heart. After other gods. By the way. Young people. Does it matter who you marry? It matters. A lot.

[12:35] Doesn't it? And his heart was not loyal. To the Lord his God. As was the heart. Of his father. David. For Solomon. Went after. After Ashtoreth. The goddess. Of the Sidonians.

[12:46] And after Milcom. The abomination. Of the Ammonites. Solomon. Did evil. In the sight of the Lord. He did not fully follow the Lord. And as did his father.

[12:57] David. Then Solomon. Built. A high place. For Chamash. The abomination. Of Moab. On the hill. This. East. Of Jerusalem.

[13:08] And also. For Molech. The abomination. Of the people. Of Ammon. And he did likewise. For all of his foreign wives. Who burned incense. And sacrificed. To their God.

[13:20] What we read. About here. Is a failure. So epic. That it. Led not only. To the downfall.

[13:31] Of Solomon's life. Though it was at the end. Of his life. But also. This. Downfall. Solomon's sin. Was the beginning. Of the downfall. Of the entire.

[13:42] Nation. Of Israel. It was Solomon. Himself. Who wrote. In this book. Of Proverbs. That he authored. For the most part. Who said.

[13:58] To look. To your own wife. To the wife. Of your youth. For satisfaction. Be satisfied. With the wife. Of your youth. It says. He says that.

[14:08] In Proverbs. Chapter 5. Yet he fails. To heed. The only. The proverb. That he wrote down. And spoke. To his son. And these beautiful women.

[14:22] That he. He married. Pagan women. Who God had. Commanded. That he. That no one. In Israel. Should marry. Let him down. To a path.

[14:33] Of destruction. And I can just. Imagine. Right. Solomon baby. Build me. One of those altars. Like we have. Back home. And as the saying.

[14:46] Goes. Right. Happy wife. Happy life. Right. We need to keep. Our wife happy. So he went down.

[14:59] That path. Of destruction. Destruction. Continuing on. It says. Here at 1 Kings 11. Starting in verse 9. Or picking up in verse 9.

[15:10] So the Lord became angry. With Solomon. Because his heart. Had turned. From the Lord God. Of Israel. Who had appeared. To him twice. And had commanded him. Concerning the things.

[15:20] That he should not go. After other gods. But he did not keep. What the Lord had commanded. Therefore the Lord said. To Solomon. Because you have done this. And have not kept. My covenant. And my statutes. Which I have commanded you.

[15:32] I will surely tear. The kingdom away from you. And give it to your servant. Nevertheless. I will not do it. In your days. For the sake of your father. David. I will tear it out of the land. The hand of your son.

[15:43] However. I will not tear away. The whole kingdom. I will give one tribe. To your son. For the sake of my servant. David. And for the sake of Jerusalem. Which I have chosen. And as many of you know. The kingdom was divided.

[15:56] After this. Into two kingdoms. The north. And the south. And things. There was pockets. Of. Of.

[16:07] Positivity. Among those years. But most. Of that time. After this time. Until Israel was carried away. Both the northern. And the southern kingdom. Until they were carried away. Was a lot of sin.

[16:18] And rebellion. Against the Lord. Now when we read. Proverbs chapter 4. There was a lot. Of very. Comforting. Promises in there.

[16:28] Right. Blessings. That will come. To anyone. Who heeds. But we'll call. Lady wisdom. Because wisdom. Is many. Times. Portrayed by Solomon.

[16:39] And others too. As. As a lady. There are promises. Of blessing. That will attend. To those. Who heed her. But there are also.

[16:51] Other promises. That come along. In the Proverbs. Right. For every. Promise. Of blessing. There's also. A promise. For those. Who refuse.

[17:02] To heed. Wisdom. We read about this. Last week. In the first chapter. Of Proverbs. And I'll just read. This section. Because you disdain.

[17:14] My count. All my counsel. This is. Wisdom itself. Speaking. Or wisdom. Herself. I could say. Speaking. Because you disdained. All my counsel. And would have. None of my rebuke.

[17:26] I also will laugh. At your calamity. I will mock. When your terror comes. When your terror comes. Like a storm. And your destruction. Comes like a whirlwind. When distress.

[17:37] Distress. And anguish. Come. Upon you. You see. Proverbs. And wisdom. Itself. Is a double-edged sword. If we attend.

[17:49] If we attend. To wisdom. If we. Listen to wisdom. If we follow. Her instruction. We will. Find. Blessing. We will find. Life. But if we fail.

[18:02] To do so. The other side of that sword. Is cursing. And destruction. And death. Does that sound familiar? Does that sound like. Something else.

[18:12] That we find. In the Old Testament. You see. Proverbs. Is just. A part of the law. Isn't it? Do this. And you will be blessed.

[18:23] Don't do this. And you. Will be cursed. First. And I think this. And this is. The big thing. The big idea. I want you to take away today. That Proverbs.

[18:34] Is part. Of the law. It's not in the law of Moses. Per se. But it is the same. Type of thing. And what is the promise.

[18:45] Of the law. Well. Leviticus 18. Verse 4. Says this. And this is repeated. Many times. Throughout the Old Testament. And actually. Also mentioned. Many times. In the New Testament.

[18:55] But here is that key verse. Leviticus 18. Verse 4. You shall observe. My judgments. This is God speaking. And keep. My ordinances. To walk in them.

[19:07] I am the Lord. Your God. You shall therefore. Keep my statutes. And my judgments. Which if a man does. He shall live by them.

[19:18] I am the Lord. And so there is a promise here. A wonderful promise. That for all of those. Who will keep. The commandments. Of the Lord.

[19:29] You can have. Life. And isn't that a wonderful promise. That the law. Will give to us.

[19:41] Life. But there is a condition. If. You obey. The commandment. If you keep it. If you do.

[19:53] The commandments. Paul points to. His discovery. Of the. Two-edged sword. Of the law. When he says this.

[20:04] This is in Romans 7. He's talking about. His own problem. That he had. He's had. In his life. With. With sinfulness. And he says this. And the commandment.

[20:16] Which was. To give life. And he's talking here. About Leviticus. The commandment. That promised. To give life. I found. To bring death. And that's what he found.

[20:27] With the law. And he explains why. If we go back. To Romans chapter 2. He's talking about. The law. That was given.

[20:38] To Israel. And the mistake. That the. That Israel made. When it came. To the law. He says this. In Romans 2. 13. For it is not. The hearers. Of the law.

[20:48] That are. Justified. In the sight of God. That are made righteous. But it's the doers. Of the law. Isn't that what the law. Teaches. Does the law teach. If you just listen. You will be righteous.

[20:59] That's not what the law. Teaches. There in Leviticus. The man who does. These things. Shall have life. In them. But maybe.

[21:10] If you become a teacher. Of the law. If you become a teacher. Of the law. Will that give you life? Well. Through our study.

[21:21] Of the book of Mark. There were many teachers. Of the law. In Israel. Right? Called them Pharisees. Sadducees. Did they have life? How did that work out.

[21:31] For them. They were teachers. Of the law. In Romans chapter 10. Verse 4. It says this. About Jesus.

[21:42] And what he accomplished. For us. For Christ. Is the end of the law. For righteousness. To everyone who believes. For Moses writes. About the righteousness.

[21:54] Which is of the law. The man who does these things. Shall live. By them. Again. Pointing back to that. Passage.

[22:05] In Leviticus. Paul also says. In Galatians chapter 3. Verse 10. For as many. As are of the works. Of the law. And we could also.

[22:16] Fill in there. For as many. As are of the works. Of wisdom. Right? Are under. The curse. For it is written.

[22:27] Cursed is everyone. Who does not continue. And all the things. Which are written. In the book. Of the law. Or. The book of Proverbs. Right? To do.

[22:38] Them. This book. Promises. So many. Wonderful things. If we will do them. If we will keep. Her instruction. But here's the problem.

[22:50] What if we don't? What if we fail? There's lots of curses. That will come. Instead. And so here's the promise.

[23:00] Of lady wisdom. You can have prosperity. If you follow her precepts. You can have safety. If you follow her ways. You can have health.

[23:11] If you follow. Her instruction. You can have. Length of days. If you follow. Her commands. Keep.

[23:21] The commandment. And live. Life. Yet we look. Back. At what we read. About the life of Solomon.

[23:33] Who ultimately. Had. A season of success. Didn't he? But it says. At the end of the life. At the end of his life. He ultimately. Went down.

[23:44] To the paths. Of destruction. That he wrote about. That he warned about. In his own book. In his own proverbs. Solomon wasn't just some schmuck.

[23:58] Like you and me. Trying to figure out life. This was the wisest. Man. To ever live. The author.

[24:12] Of the proverbs. That were read. By the people of Israel. And that we read. Even today. So the big question is. If Solomon. Is going to fail. The wisest man.

[24:23] Who ever lived. How can simpletons. Like us. Ever expect. To live. Successfully. In this world. To receive the blessings.

[24:35] That are described here. In proverbs. And this is. The inadequacy. Of the law. That we find about.

[24:46] And that. Paul. Writes about. In many of his letters. You see. The law. Cannot make. A man. Righteous. All it can do.

[24:58] Is tell him. That he's not. And in the same way. The proverbs. Can't. Make you wise. All they can do. Is tell you.

[25:09] That you're a fool. Romans 3. Verse 19. Paul. Describes this. Dilemma.

[25:19] This problem. Now we know. That whatever the law says. We can. We can again. Fill in proverbs. Whatever the proverb says. It says to those. Who are under the law. That every mouth. May be stopped.

[25:29] And all the world. May become guilty. Or foolish. Before God. Therefore. By the deeds of the law. No flesh. Will be justified. In his sight.

[25:40] For by the law. Is the knowledge. Of sin. The law. Does not empower us. To. Do its commands. It just reminds us.

[25:51] That we have failed. To. And it's the same way. With proverbs. Through the book of proverbs. We can understand. What foolishness is. And we can understand.

[26:02] What wisdom is. But the proverbs. Themself. Cannot empower us. To be wise. We need more. Than just proverbs. Of wisdom.

[26:13] To become wise. We need more. Than even to. Just love. Wisdom. Itself. So what is it. That we need? Ultimately.

[26:26] What we need. Is the very. Source. Of wisdom. Itself. And what is that? Or. Should I say. Who is that?

[26:37] It's God himself. We. Need. Him. And isn't it convenient. For us. That God was willing.

[26:48] To offer himself. To. Every single one of us. There was only. One thing really. That was in the way. Of us coming to him. And what was that?

[26:59] Our own sin. Our own foolishness. Christ. And that was taken care of. Right? Taken care of. At the cross. Jesus died. For the sins of the world. All who put their faith in him.

[27:12] Their sins are washed away. And there's no more any. No. No more any barrier. Between us. And God. And so it says this. Paul says this in Galatians chapter 3 verse 13.

[27:25] Christ has redeemed us. From what? From the curse. Of the law. From the curse of the Proverbs. Having become a curse for us.

[27:36] For it is written. Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham. Might come upon the Gentiles. In Christ Jesus. That we might receive.

[27:47] The promise. Now this is. This is a different promise. From the promise of the Proverbs. What does it say? That we might receive. The promise of the Spirit. Through.

[27:58] Is it works? No. Through faith. There is this. Other promise. Given. That was only made available. After the cross. That we could receive the Spirit.

[28:09] What is the Spirit anyway? Is it like Casper the ghost. Out there? The Spirit. Is just a description. Of. God. That we might receive.

[28:22] Him. But it's not God. Way up there. Where does the Holy Spirit. Live today? God the Spirit. He lives. In his people.

[28:33] You and I. Those who have put our trust. And faith. In him. The gift that God gave us. Was the gift. Of himself. God. Go ahead and turn your Bibles.

[28:46] We're going to. Look at. First Corinthians. Chapter one. To wrap this up. And. Look more at what. Christ did for us.

[28:58] First Corinthians. Chapter one. Paul is talking to the Corinthians. About. What. Christ did for them. We'll start in verse 18.

[29:11] This is interesting. Because he's talking about foolishness and wisdom. But it's in a really different way. From what we read about in the Proverbs. For the message of the cross.

[29:23] Is foolishness. To those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved. It is the power of God. For it is written.

[29:33] I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. And bring to nothing. The understanding. Of the prudent. All the wisdom that men. Think.

[29:43] They have. Right. There's a lot of. Wise men. In our day. And. In the past. Where is the scribe. Or where is the wise. Where is the scribe. Where is the disputer of this age.

[29:55] Has not God made foolish. The wisdom of this world. For since in the wisdom of God. The world through wisdom. Did not know God. Did wisdom.

[30:10] And he's talking about real wisdom. Not fake wisdom. Real wisdom. Did people know God through wisdom. Maybe they knew about God. But they did not know God through wisdom.

[30:22] It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached. To save those. Who believe. For those who would dare to put their trust. In Christ. For Jews request a sign.

[30:34] And Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews a stumbling block. And to the Greeks foolishness. But to those who are called.

[30:45] Both Jews and Greeks. Christ the power of God. And the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God. Is wiser than men. And the weakness of God. Is stronger.

[30:56] Wiser than men. We tend to think a lot of ourselves. Right? That we are wise. That we are sages. Put a lot of.

[31:09] Merit. A lot of. glory. And the things that we know. And things that we have accomplished. The things that we do. But really. You know.

[31:19] God kind of puts us to shame. His goodness. His wisdom. Makes ours. Look. Paltry. In fact. Makes it look. Foolish. Continuing on here.

[31:31] In verse 26. For you see. Your calling. Brethren. There's a calling. God is calling out. To different people.

[31:42] That not many wise. According to the flesh. Not many mighty. Not many noble. Are called. But God has chosen. The foolish things. Of the world.

[31:53] To put to shame. The wise. And God has chosen. The weak things. Of the world. To put to shame. The things. Which are mighty. And the base things. Of the world.

[32:04] And the things. Which are despised. God has chosen. And the things. Which are not. To bring to nothing. The things that are. That no flesh. Should glory. In his presence. But of him.

[32:16] You are in Christ Jesus. Who became for us. Wisdom from God. And righteousness. And sanctification. And redemption. That as it is written. He who glories. Let him glory. In the Lord.

[32:28] And so God is calling. Not those. Those who are proud. Of their own wisdom. But those who are humble. Those who understand. Their real. Situation. We are not wise.

[32:41] We are not righteous. We are not good. Not nearly. As much as we ought to be. Right. All of us have. Hopefully a little bit of wisdom. A little bit of righteousness.

[32:55] But not nearly. What we ought. God. And so here it says. That God is calling. He is calling all the knuckleheads. In the world.

[33:07] The knuckleheads. Like you. And the knuckleheads. Like me. He is calling the knuckleheads. Like Plato. And Aristotle. And Socrates. As Vizzini would say. Morons. The knuckleheads.

[33:18] The knuckleheads. The knuckleheads. Like. The Jordan Petersons. And the Elon Musks. The people that we think of as wise in business.

[33:29] Or philosophy. Or psychology. Or whatever it might be. He is calling. All of us. To put all of our.

[33:41] Our whole life. All of our hope. And all of our faith. Not in ourselves. Not in our wisdom. But in him. And in the work that he accomplished.

[33:53] On our behalf. And when we do that. It says here. Let me go back. Verse 30. 1 Corinthians. Chapter 1. Verse 30.

[34:04] But of him. You are in Christ Jesus. We become partakers of Christ. And it says here. Who became for us. Wisdom. From God. Christ.

[34:17] Becomes. Our wisdom. And what does that mean? Does it mean. That Jesus is an example of wisdom for us. Well is it true that Jesus is an example of wisdom? That is very true.

[34:28] Right? But that is not what is. Being communicated. Here. This is saying that Jesus fulfilled. That obligation.

[34:40] He fulfills. Wisdom's. Requirement. And not just the requirement of wisdom. But also the requirement of the law. He became unto us also righteousness.

[34:52] And sanctification. And redemption. He is our righteousness. He is our sanctification. He is our redemption.

[35:02] And he is our wisdom. He did all of it. So that we would not have to. He has become to us.

[35:15] Everything that we need. He made us. He made us. As it says in Colossians. Complete. In him. And so.

[35:29] Because of that. We receive. The benefits. Of righteousness. The benefits. Of wisdom. And we have. Life. What Jesus called.

[35:42] And what Paul calls. Eternal life. In him. We have peace with God. We have union. With. Our creator. The one who created.

[35:54] The heavens and the earth. And so. Our glory. Our trust. Our faith. The honor. That we give. We don't give to ourselves.

[36:05] The glory. That we have to give. We don't give to ourselves. We give it. To him. Because it's not our wisdom. That earned any of those things.

[36:15] It's not our. Efforts. That earned any of those things. There's nothing left. Really for us. To boast. About. And there's also. Nothing left. For us. To despair.

[36:25] About. When we fail. And so. As we. Go through. This book of Proverbs. And reading about wisdom. And the things.

[36:36] That she calls us to. I want us to avoid. A temptation. And that temptation. Is. A striving. Seeking.

[36:47] After wisdom. As a way. To bolster. Our standing. With God. Striving. To impress. God. With our wisdom. And our goodness.

[36:59] You know what? He's not impressed. Striving. Sometimes. To impress others. With. How. Wise. We are.

[37:09] With our insight. And our understanding. And the things of the world. That would be. Boasting. Striving. To earn. The promised. Blessing.

[37:20] Of wisdom. There is no striving. To earn. That blessing. It's already been earned. For us. Or. Striving. Striving. To avoid. The curse.

[37:30] That comes. With not. Heeding. Wisdom. That's not. Necessary. You know what? Because Jesus. Became a curse. For. Us. And so.

[37:41] What's left? Just a glory. In him. That's all. That there is. Left to do. And so. Our motivation. When it comes. To reading. The book of Proverbs.

[37:52] And growing. In wisdom. There's only one thing. Left. And that. Is what the Bible. Calls. Love. Love. Love for God. Love for our neighbor.

[38:04] It's our motivation. For doing what is right. Keeping the law. We do what is right. We do what is just. We do what is moral. Not because. We are going to earn anything.

[38:15] Because there's nothing left to earn. But simply because. It's the right thing to do. And it's what God did. For us. He loved us so.

[38:25] And it's the same with wisdom. We love because he first loved us. We grow in wisdom. As a way. For us to love God back.

[38:37] For his great love. That he showed to us. And we grow in wisdom. As a way. To love others. Like he. Loves.

[38:48] Them. And like he. Loved. Us. And then additionally. As we read through Proverbs. They are words on a page.

[38:59] They are spoken out. Sometimes by our parents. Sometimes by a preacher. Whatever it might be. But we have something more.

[39:10] Than just words on a page. To listen to. To read. We have something more. Than just knowledge. We have what the Bible calls.

[39:20] An ever present help. In time of need. And what is that help? It's God. And so.

[39:30] At any time. Because that sin barrier. Has been removed. For all of us. Who trust. In Jesus. We can come to him. At any time. Every time we have a need.

[39:42] And how often is that? Maybe once a year. Once a month maybe. Or is it every hour. Of every day. Come to him and say.

[39:52] Father. I need you. And I need your help. Because I'm a kind of a knucklehead. And I need to grow in wisdom.

[40:03] In my relationships. In my finances. In my health. In my diligence in life. I need to grow in those things. Father.

[40:14] Would you help me? I'm going to read. The instructions from your word. But I also need you. To help me. Every single hour. Of every day.

[40:26] And that is our need. And God has promised. To meet that need. When we ask. Isn't that amazing? It's amazing. God. Working in us.

[40:37] Because he lives. In us. Let's. Let's wrap up there. And ask him to do that right now. Father. There is. So much wisdom.

[40:48] For us to know. You are the God of wisdom. You gave us many instructions. Through the words of Solomon. For us to grow in wisdom. But Father.

[40:59] More than just words on a page. We need you. And we ask you. To be continually at work. That we might. Show the same love. That you showed to us. In your great wisdom.

[41:10] Wisdom that is beyond. Even our comprehension. That you might work in us. Each and every day. To love others. And to love you. Through that wisdom.

[41:21] That we can grow in. As we look to you. And look to your word. Each and every day. Do this today. And tomorrow. And the next day. In our lives. And we ask this.

[41:32] In Jesus name. Amen. And we ask this.

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