 Okay, here we are, Proverbs chapter eight. We'll begin reading at verse one. I'll read to verse four, and we'll get into our study. This is a chapter in the book of Proverbs that I chose to simply entitle in praise of wisdom. And you'll see why in just a moment, beginning at verse one, reading to verse four. Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice? She takes her stand on the top of the high hill beside the way where the paths meet. She cries out by the gates at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors. To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. And so Solomon has been encouraging his son and students to pursue wisdom. And we've seen this from the beginning of the book of Proverbs. Now, as I was considering this in beginning to develop an introduction, I began to consider how scripture makes it clear that there are various things that we pursue. There are various things that we can follow after. And when you read your Bible, there are commands for us to pursue or to follow certain things. For example, Psalm 34 verse 14 exhorts us to seek peace and to pursue it. In 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse one, that portion instructs us to pursue love and to desire spiritual gifts. 1 Thessalonians 5 15 commands us to pursue what is good, both for ourselves as well as for others. 1 Timothy chapter six verse 11, as well as 2 Timothy chapter two verse 22 commands us to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Hebrews 12 verse 14 exhorts us to pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord. So you see in scripture, there are commands for us to follow after or to pursue certain things, peace, love, spiritual gifts, what is good, et cetera. So there are many things that we are commanded to pursue, to follow after, to discipline ourselves too. But there are other things we can choose to pursue that are not virtuous at all. In Psalm 119 verse 150, it makes it clear that we can follow after or pursue wickedness. Ezekiel 33 verse 31 tells us we can pursue our own gain. There are things that we can pursue that have no virtue, wickedness, our own gain. Interestingly enough, when we were in chapter seven recently, chapter seven spoke of a young foolish man who was in pursuit. And as we saw chapter seven, we saw that he was pursuing sexual sin. So Solomon is using this to illustrate the fact that we can choose what we pursue. We can choose to pursue after certain things. Chapter seven again, again gave us a picture of the adulterous woman. This was an adulterous woman who was inviting a young man to engage in sin. She was a woman who was guaranteeing him a night of sexual pleasure that would last, but only for one night. And so Solomon is using that to contrast. The pursuit of something that is temporary versus the pursuit of something that lasts forever. And so in contrast, he says the woman is a seductress. She's alluring. She has something that something within you desires. That's the root by the way of seduction, isn't it? That nobody can seduce somebody if they don't offer them something they want. You're not gonna be seduced by something you don't want. I'm not gonna walk by a store and the guy out there is offering me to drink some vinegar. I'm not gonna pursue that because I don't wanna drink vinegar, but it may be that that person can offer me something that I desire. So seduction is always gonna be built on somebody offering you something that inside you really want. We saw with this young man that he was with a group of young guys and he made his way towards the woman and she was awaiting him, but offering him something he desired. And that's why he entered in like an ox goes to the slaughter, like a fool goes to the stocks because there was something inside him that responded to what was being offered. So in contrast to having something offered that may last in pleasure one night because sin is pleasurable, the scripture says for a season. If it weren't pleasurable, we wouldn't do it. Sin is pleasurable for a season. Well, she's offering something that will, she says will last for a night. Solomon says, no, when you make a choice for something, choose that which will last forever. And if you wanna pursue something that lasts, pursue wisdom. That's the point he's making as we go into this particular portion of scripture. He says there's something greater than temporary pleasure. And so he illustrates the invitation given by wisdom because the invitation given by wisdom has fruit that lasts for a lifetime. Now Solomon has developed a series of contrasts. He's been pitting the lure of sin against the call to wisdom. You see that in the chapters we've already studied. Chapter one contrasted the lure of violent gangs with the protection afforded by wisdom. Chapter two contrasted the lure of the perverse man or immoral woman with a righteousness of wisdom. Chapter three contrasted the arrogance of the oppressor with the humility that comes with wisdom. Chapter four contrasts the dark path of the wicked with the path that is lighted by wisdom. Chapter five contrasts the smooth lies of an adulteress with the blessings of marital love. Chapter six contrasts the lazy man with the diligence of the wise as well as contrasting the divisive one with the one walking in the light. And he concluded once again by contrasting faithful love to the love of an adulteress. And when we got into chapter seven, chapter seven returned to the theme of the lies of sexual temptation and the wisdom of purity. Here in chapter eight, Solomon contrasts wisdom's cry with a cry of a seductress. And here wisdom is presented as giving an invitation one of lasting value. So he says in verse one does not wisdom cry out and understanding lift up her voice. So wisdom also cries out. She cries out not lurking in a dark area or on some corner. Notice how he presents this. She cries out and does so openly. Does not wisdom cry out and understanding lift up her voice. She takes a stand on the top of the high hill beside the way where the paths meet. She cries out by the gates at the entry of the city at the entrance of the doors. To you, oh man, I call my voice is to the sons of men. And so this is a contrast where the seductress is in the dark, luring somebody into the darkness where this one is in the open. Wisdom cries out in the open and is calling people. She's there in the open. People are passing by, they're entering into the city. And as they're entering into the city, she's given an invitation. Notice that she desires all to come to her. Verse four, to you, man, I call my voice is to the sons of men. She's calling to everybody to come. What's interesting when it says, oh man, to you, oh man, I call my voice is to the sons of men. This isn't something that I would have seen just by reading it. It looks like it's simply saying, this is a general kind of call. But when you start studying the passage, which I see the value of this in fresh ways all the time, when you begin to see what's being said, there's a contrast here that is not seen at first unless it's notified, unless it's pointed out. Oh man, sons of men, those are actually two classifications of man, of men. Oh man speaks of men of high esteem or nobility. That's a phrase that in the original language is actually speaking to those who are well respected. So oh man speaks of those in the highest level of the society. Sons of men is a phrase that is used to speak in general. So what you're looking at is nobility and the common man. And the invitation is going to all. Not only those who are educated and noble according to the standards of the world and wealthy and intellectual nobility like all of us, but I'll let you think of that for a minute. And then what it's talking about is the common man too. So God's call is to all, to those who are of the higher echelons in society and that strata has developed in and the common man. And there's nothing wrong by the way with bead what the scriptures refers to as the common man because referring to Jesus Christ is said and the common people hurt him gladly. And taking into consideration how Paul makes it clear that there aren't many high, mighty, noble who are called because they have a tendency of trusting in their riches and the other advantages they've had. Whereas people from just ordinary and average backgrounds in scripture, you see this quite often, have an advantage in that they're very open to the call of the Lord because they see that his call really is a benefit to them and can be a great blessing. And they come to faith in Christ a lot quicker very often than others. But notice the invitation is intended to be received by men of every rank in society. From the greater to the lesser, wisdom has been made available from the high to the low. From the Pharisee to the common person, wisdom is available. And so in verse five, oh you simple ones understand prudence, you fools, be of an understanding heart. Isn't that a kind way to put it? Simple ones speak of the naive and he's simply saying here, those of you who are naive innocently and even those who, and this is a word, this is a literal translation by the way of bull, stupid. You naive and stupid people is really literally what is being said. He's saying to everybody, you need to receive my word. Why? That you might understand. He's saying you are easily deceived, you lack knowledge and you lack experience in life and you lack experience in spiritual matters and the only way to have that kind of understanding is to come to the Lord and receive his wisdom. So it's an invitation to us all. Listen, verse six, for I will speak of excellent things and from the opening of my lips will come right things. And so I have noble princely things to say and my words are upright and my words are dependable. Verse seven, for my mouth will speak truth. Wickedness is an abomination to my lips. My mouth will speak truth. I don't speak hastily, I speak excellent things. And the reason I don't speak hastily and the reason I speak excellently is because I hate wickedness. And because I hate wickedness, my counsel is worthy of listening to. And when you draw to my counsel wisdom says, I will not deceive you. Verse eight says all the words of my mouth are with righteousness. Nothing crooked or perverse is in them. I have no hidden agenda. I'm not attempting to manipulate you. I am not using twisted words. I'm simply giving you truth. Again, the common people heard Jesus gladly. When Jesus speaks, it's recorded how people say no man ever spoke like this man. Jesus spoke truth clearly. He presented it without any perversity, without any crookedness, with no manipulation. He simply gave us the truth. And so wisdom speaks in that way. And in verse nine, they are all plain to him who understands and write to those who find knowledge. My words have spiritual roots and the spiritual person will understand them. Wisdom's words are received by those who apply themselves to know. And those who seek her will find her, but the seeker requires to value her. The natural man, according to 1 Corinthians 2.14, doesn't receive things of the Spirit of God. And the reason is, is for they are foolishness to him. Neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. The natural man, when you look at it and start taking the words apart to see what is being referred to, the word natural speaks of the unspiritual or the unregenerate man. The unregenerate man, the man who hasn't been born again, the man who is devoid of the Spirit of God, the natural man receives not, the word receive means to welcome. So the unspiritual man does not welcome the things of the Spirit of God, does not welcome in the way that you may be resting in your home and there's a knock on the door and you look through the peephole and there's somebody standing there, perhaps they're just canvassing the area, maybe they're selling candy or something, you just don't, you don't want to open the door, you don't welcome them in. You stand there and you look through the peephole and then you see their big eye looking back at you, it's really a trip. But you're not opening the door, you're not welcoming them in. And that's the picture. The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is portrayed as asking for an entrance into the life of an individual, but the natural man will not welcome him in. And yet, at the same time, the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, why, because they're foolishness to him. They don't make sense. The things of the Spirit do not make sense to those who are devoid of the power of the Spirit. You've seen that. You're in a restaurant. You're with a friend who doesn't know the Lord. You see somebody in the restaurant that is a friend of yours, you go to church with, you fellowship with, you pray with, you begin to have a conversation, you begin to speak Christianese. How are you doing? Oh, praise the Lord, I'm doing great. God has moved it all wonderful. And the person's looking at you as you're speaking this foreign language and they scratch their head because they don't have a clue what you're talking about. You know, I've been praying about the Lord has answered prayers and that's our language. We speak that amongst ourselves. We really do, you know that. We speak that amongst ourselves. That's a language called the language of heaven. We talk about the Lord moving. We talk about what God has done. We talk about how God has answered prayer. We talk about how we're waiting on God, how he's been such a blessing and we're not just using the word. We know it, we've experienced it, we understand it. But the natural man is looking at you like you're kind of crazy. Like what are you talking about? Because they don't receive, they don't welcome in, why? These things are spiritually discerned. They'll read a Bible verse and it makes no sense to them. They need someone to explain it. It's like when the Ethiopian unit is speaking Philip and as he sees what's taking place, he's reading out of Isaiah and Philip attaches himself to the chariot. Do you understand what you're reading? How can I, unless a man instructs me through spot? How can I know these things? I don't understand these things. Well, the Holy Spirit is our instructor and that's why when you're reading your Bible and you're having your devotions and as you're going through the scriptures, something stands out. And I do this, I'm sure you do too. There are times when I'm reading the Bible, if I'm holding it, I'll close it for a moment and I'll go, that's heavy. Well, that is so heavy. It is spoke to your heart in a deep way. That's the Holy Spirit. But on the other hand, when you don't know the Lord and somebody says, we'll read the Bible. Well, very often they'll read it and this makes no sense. What are you talking about? It makes no sense. Well, that's cause you're reading somebody else's letter. You're reading somebody else's mail because the letter was written to believers. It's a love letter from home to us. And so as we read it, it makes sense. That doesn't mean that God can't use that because there have been a lot of people who don't know the Lord, who just decided to read the Bible and God spoke to them through it and said, you need to get right with me. And they've gotten saved. But normally what happens is they don't understand how could they unless someone explains it. And that's where preachers, that's where teachers come in in the body of Christ to be able to explain under the unction or power the Holy Spirit, anointing of the Spirit. And God uses those things to speak to the heart of a person and draws them to salvation. And so wisdom is calling out, but not all people accept that invitation. It's an invitation that is for all, but not all people will pursue it. They are plain verse nine to him who understands and a right to those who find knowledge. God's word speaks to us in that way. He says in verse 10, receive my instruction and not silver and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies. I always feel sorry for Ruby because she's put down. No, for wisdom is better than rubies. And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her, really. So if I could ask for anything and God would give it to me, are you saying what I should be asking for is wisdom and not money? You know, God's saying here, my words are available to anyone who simply seeks them and recognizes their value. Wisdom is to be seen for its value and is to be sought above material possessions. Psalm 119 verse 72 says the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver. Psalm 119, 127, therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold. Psalm 119, 162, I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure. To have wisdom, let's talk about that for just a moment, shall we? Okay, let's do that, okay. Here you go, we'll try and bring this into a practical portion of our study. To have wisdom requires us to understand its value. But not only to understand the value of wisdom, to have wisdom also requires us to pursue it. There's a wonderful story found in the gospel of John in chapter six. The Lord Jesus Christ has done some fantastic works in chapter six there in John's gospel. And as he is left from one place to go to another, he continues his teaching and people have followed him, he had recently fed them and he tells them paraphrase, he says, you're following me because I fed you. You need to seek that which lasts because what you're seeking doesn't. You ate, you were filled to the brim, you were glutted is what the Greek word actually says when Jesus fed them, you were filled to overflowing. And what you really want is somebody who will meet your material needs. But in fact, you need to understand who I am and then Jesus said, listen, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. Now this is a difficult saying, who can understand it is the response. And from that moment on many began to fade away. And Jesus is watching as these who had come to him are now turning and forsaking him. And as they do, he looks at his disciples and he asks them a question. He says, will you also go away? Because there they go, these fair weather disciples, people who had been fed but have no hunger for him. So he turns to his disciples, will you also go away? Now, in the original language, the question, will you also go away? Do you want to go away? Is one of those questions that actually is begging the answer, it's a rhetorical question with the anticipation of the answer being, of course not, but the question is still posed and I've shared this before, I'll say it briefly right now, it's true. In every believer's life more than once, but at least one time, you will hear the Holy Spirit ask you that question in one form or another, one hurt, one disappointment, one rejection, one failure, you will hear the Spirit in one form or another ask you that question, do you want to go away? Are you tired of following me? Did I turn out to be different than you thought I was? Have I disappointed you? Are my demands too great for you? Did you expect me to insulate you from disappointment? Did you honestly think that when you got saved, everything from the moment you got saved till the rest of your life would simply be a bed of roses that you'd always be running in slow motion in the sunlight with no problems at all? Do you really believe that? Has anybody here ever thought that I did when I got saved? I thought, now I'm saved, all hits all behind me, I got nothing but a smooth road in front of me, I'm gonna be happy, ha ha ha, every day, it didn't happen that way with me. And I have had, as you, many moments when the Holy Spirit has asked me that question, do you also want to go away? Do you? Are you disappointed with me? Like when Jesus is approached by two of the disciples of John the Baptist, as John is there in prison and he's about to lose his head, and he sends his disciples and they come to Christ and John had given them something to say and they approach him, are you the coming one or should we look for another? You know that passage in Matthew's Gospel? And then Jesus speaks and says, well, you go back and you tell John and he gives to him scripture and he tells him through scripture the things that he's accomplishing, blind are seen, the lame are walking, lepers are being cleansed. And then he goes on and says, what's it is he who is not offended because of me? Blessed is the one who hasn't put me in a certain theological box, expecting me to always perform in such a way like some trained circus animal to give them pleasure. Blessed is the one who doesn't think that they have the control of the universe and thus all God has to do is ask him how to do something and it'll be done right. I'm telling you, we can do that. We can be disappointed with God because God didn't do what we thought he should have done. He didn't call us up and ask us for advice. He just did what he chose to do and sometimes we're disappointed in that and we wonder why did he do that? In the case of the men, Jesus says, do you also wanna go away? As these others are fading away, do you also wanna go away? And I love the response that he got because as he asked that question, Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. I'm not going anywhere. I may not understand everything and I don't but I know that you do and I'll trust you. There's this sense that we need to know that what God has to offer us is really beyond anything else that we have. Wisdom is more valuable in the end than even material wealth. Why is that? Well, because wealth does not make a person worthy of seeking advice on life just because somebody is rich does not mean that that person is also wise. There are, the scripture refers to one in this way, there are rich young fools. There are people who may have wealth and position and honor and respect that they don't have wisdom. There are some and it's been said like this, maybe it sounds cruel to repeat it but that are educated beyond their intelligence who have more knowledge than they have wisdom who have more money than they have wisdom. Why would I go to somebody for advice who doesn't have wisdom? And yet today that's exactly what happens. Wisdom is more valuable than material wealth because wealth doesn't make a person worthy of seeking advice from. Proverbs 10 verse two says treasures of wickedness profit nothing but righteousness delivers from death. Now I'm gonna say something that perhaps sounds cruel. I've thought a lot about it and I don't know how much I'm going to say because I'm not quite sure how much I'm supposed to say. It's just an observation. There are many today who look at celebrities as if they have intellectual depth. It's almost humorous to listen to these celebrities speak on things they have no knowledge of. I thought of today as I was preparing the study I thought of something recorded in the book of Job chapter 12 verse two. It's something that Job said to his horrible counselors. He said no doubt you are the people and wisdom will die with you. Well that's a very sarcastic thing to say. Wisdom will die with you. You're the top. You really know what you're talking about. Well, there are a lot of people like that. Okay, here we go. Ready to be offended? Okay. Actually I don't think you will be. I think that you'll understand the spirit I'm saying this in I just wanna make sure that those who are offended understand me completely. So you know why you're offended. But the recent Grammys, I didn't watch the Grammys. If I wanna see Grammys I look at my wife. You know, I don't watch the Grammys. But I did see some of the news clips on it. I don't know if any of you watched it or not. I haven't watched the Grammys. I don't even remember. It's been so many years. I don't really care about the music. It's not edifying in many ways. I don't watch it. But I did see some news clips and the Grammys, the awards were filled with musicians who needed to pontificate, who needed to give us their incredible wisdom. And as you may know by seeing or you saw in the news too many of them were mocking the president. It looked at, the Grammys are looked at as a highlight but in reality it's a low night. And there were low ratings for sure. I don't know if you know that the Grammys are simply the self congratulatory night that is put on by the music industry. It's a group of people who gather together to say we're wonderful and you're more wonderful than I am today. But next year give me a Grammy. So it's pretty much the self congratulatory night put on by the music industry. But as I was watching some of the news clips of it, part of the program included a segment with Hillary Clinton who can't go away. She can't. She can't be a Grammy. She can't go away. And then you have that intellectual Snoop Dogg. And so they apparently felt that the music awards program was the right place for them to blobeate. Now these are rich celebrities and therefore they must be qualified to have intellectual license to influence the world because they sing or because they run for president and keep losing. And I was about to say I trip out so I won't. But I'm one of these people who get curious and I wonder some things and so as I'm watching them I'm thinking why do you feel it necessary to do this because for the eight years of the prior president you never saw anything like that and why do you feel it's okay to do that now? Why, it's no secret, I don't come up and I don't preach politics, I don't. But it's no secret, anybody who knows me and I'm sure in the presidency of Obama I had, anybody who knew me knew I wasn't a support of that. Presidency at all, but he's a president and thus we pray for him. He's in power authority, I pray for him. Did I vote for him? No, of course not. Did I think his policies were great? Absolutely not. But do you pray for him? Yes we do, why? He's a president. And do I make negative comments? No, I don't. Could I have every Sunday? But I didn't, why? Because this isn't, I don't want to do that and so I'm old enough to have seen a lot of presidents now and I was thinking about that and I see that you have Hillary and you have Snoop Dogg and others who are making comments and I think here's something you might find interesting. Okay, riches, does that qualify you to speak? Before Bill Clinton became president, back in 91, Hillary Clinton made $170,000 that year, 1991. And Clinton, prior to becoming the president, as governor made $35,000 for a grand total of $205,000. Today, her estimated family net worth, according to Fortune magazine, her net worth is $110 million. How'd that happen? Being a public servant, feeding at the public trough. How'd that happen? $110 million, that's a lot of money. And she claims to be a champion of women's rights and the common person, but I'm old enough to remember what she did to those who were speaking out against what her husband did to them and how she treated them and said, take $100 bill, somebody said take $100 bill and drag it through a trailer park and see what you'll come up with in reference to Paula Jones. I remember these things. I remember the outrage I felt at the way things were done. See, because, and again, this is not an attempt to make a judgment on each and God's judge, but this is an observation. You know, to say that you are in favor of women's rights and you champion them and yet to be married to a man who used women, how do you do that? And what I don't understand is how Americans keep voting for that. I don't understand that. Now, Snoop, when he's not loaded, Snoop possesses an estimated $143 million. But does that make any difference to the $143 million? But does that make him wise? Would you approach him for advice? Would you go to Hillary and say, can you help me with my marriage? Okay, now that sounds mean to some. I know it does. Wait until this goes over the air. But that's the point. Just because somebody has money does not make them wise. It doesn't. It just means they have money. That's what it means. So money in and of itself does not equate with a good philosophy on life. So Solomon would be saying, ultimately gold, silver, and precious stones do not guarantee you wisdom to live by. Job 3419 says, God is not partial to princes, nor does he regard the rich more than the poor. For they are all the work of his hands. Proverbs 22 verse 2, the rich and the poor have this in common. The Lord is the maker of them all. Ecclesiastes 512, the sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. There's truth to that. And so he's saying, value the right thing. That's why in verse 11 he said, wisdom is better than rubies. And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her. See, when you're having difficulties, money does not give you the answer to your questions. When your children are not doing well, when your marriage is on the rocks, when you're concerned about whatever it may be, the money in and of itself isn't going to guarantee peace. It's not, and again, this is not a diatribe against wealth. Of course it's not, but when you're seeking something, seek that which lasts, is what Solomon is saying. Seek that which lasts because you could have money and not be able to sleep at night because you're worried about losing it and you're worried about who's going to get it and you're worried about what you're going to do with it. But the sleep of a laboring man is peaceful, why? Because he doesn't have anything to worry about. He just gets up to go to work the next day. And thanks God for his health. And so, what are you going to select? Select wisdom. In verse 12, I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. Counsel this mind and sound wisdom. I am understanding, I have strength. By me, kings reign, rulers decree justice. By me, princes rule and nobles all the judges of the earth. And so, when he says in verse 12, I wisdom dwell with prudence. The phrase dwell with prudence literally means to inhabit it. It speaks of settling down. I have settled down and taken up my abode with it. I am at home there. In other words, wisdom works together with prudence or with discretion. I mentioned this a moment ago. Some people have a lot of knowledge but no common sense. But wisdom works together with good judgment and that guides decisions as well as choices in life. When he says in verse 13, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil and pride and arrogance and the evil way. There never can be a truce between that which is light and that which is dark. You will serve one or you'll serve the other but you cannot serve them both. It's like Matthew 6.24, no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. So wisdom's value is found in its practical use. And he says wisdom is built on the fear of the Lord. Wisdom is built on a recognition of eternity and of final judgment. In Psalm 76 verse 7, you yourself are to be feared and who may stand in your presence when once you are angry. Hebrews 10.31 says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We have made God in our lifetime, our generation. We've made him kind of like a pal, a buddy, somebody you hang around with tell jokes to, double date with. We've made it so casual that the fear of God is a foreign idea to quite a number of people. And by the way, if somebody should have the nerve to say that it's still something you find in scripture, they immediately would tell you we're in the New Testament now but the bottom line is, of course there's grace, but Hebrews 10.31 is in the New Testament. And Hebrews 10.31 says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And so, the fear of the Lord is the origin of hatred for various things. The fear of the Lord is the origin of hatred of evil. It is the hatred of pride and arrogance. The origin of hatred of the evil way. The evil way, by the way, speaks of an evil way of living. It is a hatred of the perverse mouth. And the reason that the fear of the Lord is against the perverse mouth is because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. And when you have a relationship with the Lord you learn to guard your tongue and you learn to die to yourself and you learn to yield the inclinations of your natural life up to the Lord so that the process of what is called sanctification takes place and God begins to clean your life up through your choices to pursue that which pleases him. And that's all originating in your relationship with a holy God that is so holy that when Moses was receiving the law all that activity was taking place on the mountain with the lightning and thunder and all of the noise and smoke that the people seeing what was taking place when Moses came down said to him you go and talk to God we don't want to because there was such a holy fear that had fallen on the camp because our God is an awesome God and that has been lost on quite a number of people and we have casually defined God to the point where we have made him less than awesome and he's almost just a casual friend that we hang around with it doesn't work that way my father my father and I had a great relationship as a little boy I had a son's fear of a father not that he was going to take me and bury me somewhere and leave me there but because I was taught to reverence and respect him and it wasn't because he was evil my mom would simply say it's because he's your father and I learned to respect him I wasn't always good at it but I grew to become pretty good at it as it grew up and started valuing him and started seeing him and recognizing him for who he was and that's why now if I if I was taught not to disrespect my father because he's my father why is it so easy to disrespect my God and so the fear of the Lord is to depart from evil it is a hatred for it and he's pointing out that this is what happens when you have a real fear of the Lord in verse 14 council is mine sound wisdom by me kings reign rule is decree justice by me princes rule and nobles all the judges of the earth so council and sound judgment knowledge it all adds up to strength the wisdom to rule requires us to go to the one from whom wisdom originates is the point that's being made and then in verse 17 I love those who love me and those who seek me diligently will find me riches and honor are with me enduring riches and righteousness my fruit is better than gold just then find gold my revenue then choice silver I traverse the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth that I may fill their treasuries wisdom rewards those who love it is accessible only to those who seek it James 1 5 if any of you lacks wisdom let them ask of God gives to all liberally and without reproach it will be given to him so you you seek it you pursue wisdom rewards those who love and seek wisdom he says in verse 20 I traverse the way of righteousness the word traverse I walk in the way of righteousness and of justice so that's the matter of life that God desires us to live to live in the way of righteousness and justice verse 21 that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth I desire to give them true and lasting joy and satisfaction I desire to give them blessings blessings that overflow in their life you see when you seek first the kingdom and his wisdom God blesses and this is lasting riches this is lasting lasting righteousness and lasting justice in Revelation 21 verse 7 he who overcomes shall inherit all things I will be his God he shall be my son and then he moves on verse 22 now this is interesting and let's look at this as we're about to close in the next two hours the Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way before his works of old I have been established from everlasting from the beginning before there was ever an earth when there were no depths I was brought forth when there were no fountains abounding with water before the mountains were settled before the hills I was brought forth well as yet he had not made the earth the primal dust of the world when he prepared the heavens I was there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep when he established the clouds above when he strengthened the fountains of the deep when he assigned to the sea its limit so that the waters would not transgress his command when he marked out the foundation of the earth then I was beside him as a master craftsman and I was daily his delight rejoicing always before him rejoicing in his inhabited world and my delight was with the sons of men now briefly this portion is reminiscent of what is recorded in the book of Job especially in chapter 38 Solomon is writing that God possessed wisdom before the creation of the world one we know that the scripture teaches very clearly God is the creator of all things in the last book of the New Testament Revelation chapter 4 verse 11 you are worthy old lord to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they exist and were created you created all things and by your will they exist and were created God is the creator of all things now the early church recognized that this passage referred to Christ to Jesus his speaking of wisdom being brought forth carries the idea of wisdom being used or applied all things in other words were created by God and he did so he created all things with wisdom when it says possessed the word possessed is used in various ways but it can be speaking of that which is owned so God is eternal and wisdom is also eternal in that and this is an important thought when has God ever been without wisdom God has always had wisdom and Jesus is wisdom how do we know that first Corinthians 124 Jesus is the power of God and the wisdom of God in Colossians chapter 2 verse 3 in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge so the New Testament reveals that Jesus is the one who created all things we just heard out a revelation for thou art worthy to receive glory honor and power for thou has created created thou has created all things and so God is the creator of all things every house is built by some man the writer of Hebrews says and he who built all things is God you don't drive by a housing track and think well yesterday there was dirt there and today there are all these houses you know, I know and a house is built by some man and that's common sense and so the writer is simply reminding us listen the universe didn't explode into its existence in all the intricacies that we see it was planned and created by God and he did that by wisdom and Jesus is the one who created all things John chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 in the beginning was the word the word was with God he was in the beginning with God all things were made through him without him nothing was made that was made Colossians 1.16 for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created for him and for him so Jesus Christ is the one who created all things and that is a picture here of Jesus when it says again in verse 22 the Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way before his works of old I have been established from everlasting from the beginning before there was ever an earth when there were no depths I was brought forth when there were no fountains abounding with water before the mountains were settled before the hills I was brought forth well as yet he had he had not made the earth or the fields or the primal dust of the earth of the world when he prepared the heavens I was there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep when he established the clouds above when he strengthened the fountains of the deep when he assigned to the sea its limit so that the waters would not transgress his command when he marked out the foundations of the earth then I was beside him as a master craftsman I was daily his delight rejoicing always before him rejoicing in his inhabited world and my delight was with the sons of men and so Jesus is the master craftsman in whom his father delighted somebody said God took pleasure in the wisdom that displayed his workmanship saw that it was very good and looked with delight on the beloved son in whom he was well pleased and notice in verse 31 now it says my delight was with the sons of men at creation his last and most noble work was the creation of men his delight settled on man and it is where his greatest attention and love is revealed and how was his love and attention revealed in his love for us in the giving of his son in the giving of his son now it says in verse 32 therefore listen to me my children for blessed are those who keep my ways, hear instruction be wise do not disdain it blessed is the man who listens to me watching daily at my gates waiting at the posts of my doors for whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul all those who hate me love death that's powerful what a cheery thought to close with but it is a sobering awakening listen he's saying listen because blessings are in store for all who live by my teachings now when he speaks of this listen to the words that speak about acquiring wisdom he uses the word throughout this chapter listen he says find receive hear watch wait these are all words that encourage a disciplined pursuit of wisdom you're not going to wake up tomorrow morning you will wake up wiser because you were in the word and God spoke to you but it isn't something that occurs just because you slept and woke up and boy am I wise today I've said this before on a few occasions I haven't said it for a long time I'll say it now my son David was in high school and he approaches me and says to me dad would you pray for me and I said of course son what do you want me to pray for dad pray that God will give me the gift of tongues and I'm looking at this boy and I'm thinking you've never shown that kind of interest in spiritual gifts why are you doing that now I'm drop why why do you want to speak with tongues he says I'm more specific than just tongues dad and I said ok he says I want to speak Spanish and I said oh really why here's why because he was taking Spanish and he wasn't doing well and so I said are you asking me to pray so that God will gift you with Spanish do you want to speak Spanish son he goes I do dad I said I can guarantee you God will answer that yes he got excited he did really I said yeah this is how you do it I'll pray that you will diligently study and in about four years you can order at a Mexican restaurant he thought that if we just prayed he'd automatically instantly have well wisdom's the same way wisdom comes through seeking listening it comes from disciplining it it comes through putting into practice the things that God says but I guarantee you even as solemn as he says if you pursue you will receive if you seek him and make it your chief aim if you desire it more than you desire silver gold and precious stones if you you want wisdom and you pursue wisdom God will give you wisdom that's a guarantee so pursue those things but there are those who do not desire it and what do they get instead he said they they get judgment those who reject me those reject my counsel those who continue living in sin in reality he's saying love death the consequences of rejecting me are eternal they bring certain destruction upon themselves you see in first John 512 it says he who has the son has life he who does not have the son of God does not have life in John 3 36 he who believes in the son has everlasting life he who does not believe the son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him and so he's saying in verse 36 he who sins against me wrongs his own soul and all those who hate me love death well here's the thing do I love life or love death if I want life I pursue wisdom and as I pursue wisdom he grants it to me and that's the greatest thing because when I've been through my times of pain and there are more in the future I realize having a dollar in my pocket didn't make that pain go away but in having wisdom with the Lord knowing he's in control brought me comfort gave me the ability to not only deal with the pain but to triumph over it and that comes through God's wisdom