Wisdom Calls Us To Hear

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0:00Hallelujah and Amen. Good morning. Great morning, everyone. New Creation family, it is really great to be with you today. Still feel like I'm recovering from that two-week break, but I'm still feeling grateful. Of course, that was true even before the break. That was true even before the break, feeling grateful to be here, to be with you all, to be in the Lord's presence with you. We just started a new sermon series on Proverbs 1-9. It's called Wisdom Calls.

0:40This is only week two. If you weren't here last week, you didn't miss much. We're just getting started. Wisdom Calls. I think many of us are unfamiliar with the wisdom literature in the Bible. No need to raise your hand if that's true. Maybe it's not a part that you've read very much, or you didn't know what to do with. Maybe you didn't know what the purpose of it is. Here's an analogy that I think is helpful. Among all the different cookware options you have, there's an option called cast iron.

1:18Anybody here use a cast iron pan? Have one, use one? Okay, good. So they are uniquely useful among cookware. They hold heat well. They distribute heat really evenly. They produce really good food, really good results. But for them to work right, you have to do something really important to them. You have to season the pan. And you season the pan with oil. With other cookware, you wash it to get the oil off. But with cast iron, you want the oil on there.

1:54You've got to have it on there. Cast iron needs it. Because cast iron has all of these small gaps and imperfections on the surface. Some of them you can't even see. All of these little gaps and holes. When you put the oil on it and heat it up, the oil breaks down and fills in those microscopic gaps on the surface. And it creates a smooth coating, an even coating. It's naturally non-stick to some extent. And it resists rust and sticking. And the more you cook with the oil and the more you treat it right, the better the pan becomes.

2:31It's actually good for the pan. To have that oil filling in the gaps. It works better over time. Great cast iron pans can be passed down through generations. They can be heirlooms. If you season them well, your life is like that cast iron pan. It's full of imperfections and bumps and rough spots. Imperfections, gaps, crevices. And my friends, wisdom is the oil. That seasons the pan. It's godliness and integrity and insight for the gaps. The small places in your life where you need it.

3:12For the moments where you think, I hadn't really counted on this. I hadn't seen this coming. What do I do about this situation? The oil for your nuanced, complex, bumpy life is wisdom. That's the oil for your life. Wisdom. The skill of godly living. So let's go to Proverbs now for some of that oil. Apply it to our lives. Let's let the Lord speak to us, pour it on us, and hear what he has to say to us. This is the rest of Proverbs 1, starting in verse 8 and going to the end of the chapter.

3:52This is not only wise words to us, this is God's word to us. It's true and reliable. Let's build our lives on it. Let's meet him in it and through it. And come to him with reverence and awe through his word right now.

4:16Hear, my son, your father's instruction. And forsake not your mother's teaching. For they are graceful garlands for your head and pendants for your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, come with us, let us lie and wait for blood. Let us ambush the innocent without reason. Like Sheol, let us swallow them alive. And whole, like those who go down to the pit. We shall find all precious goods. We shall fill our houses with plunder.

4:51Throw in your lot among us. We will all have one purse. My son, do not walk in the way with them. Hold back your foot from their paths. For their feet run to evil. And they make haste to shed blood. For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird. But these men lie in wait for their own blood. They set an ambush for their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain. It takes away the life of its possessors.

5:26Wisdom cries aloud in the street. In the markets, she raises her voice. At the head of the noisy streets, she cries out. At the entrance of the city gates, she speaks. How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing? And fools hate knowledge. If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you. I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refuse to listen. Have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded.

6:05Because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof. I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you. When terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof.

6:40Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their way and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away. The complacency of fools destroys them. But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without dread of disaster.

7:05Pray with me. Lord God, we come before you in your word. Lord, we ask you for your spirit to be at work to open our ears and our minds, our hearts to receive these things, not just to know what they mean, but to see how they apply to our lives. We pray for inward change and outward change in us. Lord, because we need it. We know that you speak to us for our good. So help us to listen with that posture in mind. Help us to listen eagerly. Lord, I pray that you would change us.

7:48That you would make us more and more like your son. You would unite us in the spirit. In Jesus' name we pray. Wisdom calls us to hear. So today's passage, we have a lot of voices speaking. A lot of people trying to make their voice heard. You ever been in a restaurant or a coffee shop and you've been really distracted by the noise around you? You're like trying to have, you came there for a conversation and you just cannot do it because there's so much noise.

8:25I've chosen the wrong places sometimes to have an important conversation or I've arrived someplace with someone and wanted to have a moment with them and then it's just so noisy. You just can't even hear it. You can't think. You can't process. I'm told that the problem with most hearing aids is that they amplify everything. That's what nearly everyone I know who's worn one says that. I ask if it's helping and they say, well, it just amplifies everything.

8:54When I was a kid, I had a friend who had a parabolic microphone. This is a little, it's a little handheld microphone with a trigger on it and then there's a, there's a big dish on the end about this big and there's a little wire coming from it and you wear headphones and you can be in a football field and you can just point it at two people having a conversation and just pull the trigger and you can hear, you can, it's like, it's like spy equipment.

9:19You can hear exactly what they're saying from a long way away. I won't tell you what we got up to with that parabolic microphone. Well, the hearing aid might make things worse, might make the noise worse, but we're, we're being invited now to put on that parabolic microphone and to point it at wisdom and to drown out all the other noise and listen to what she has to say. Listen to what God has to say. Because there are two sections in this passage.

9:52I've, I've, I've put a space there in your bulletin. The two sections of this passage and in each section it's the voice of wisdom versus the voice of foolishness. Two different kinds of foolishness. But the same voice of wisdom trying to break through and get us to listen. It's time to focus on the voice of wisdom to tune in and hear. So here's the first one. There's two different things that are being warned against. First, we're called to hear the warning about corruption.

10:24One great thing about the book of Proverbs is how practical it is. It is ground level practical. We're only in chapter one and it's, it's already addressing something that we've all experienced. Both the second section and the first section are very ordinary problems in our life. This one is something we've all experienced. Peer pressure.

10:50The allure of peer pressure. Of course, it's the appeal of being included. When I was a kid, sometimes there was almost nothing I wouldn't do to be included. Because sometimes I was excluded. I was on the outside. There was a, there was a get together with kids that I thought were my friends and I would find out about it later. The desire to be in the group, the desire to be one of the guys was so strong.

11:24You probably know that feeling. You've had it maybe as a kid, maybe as an adult, maybe, maybe both. It's that desire that gets tugged on when we hear come with us. Oh, me? You want me to come with you? Oh, okay. Great. What are we doing? Throw in your lot among us. We shall all have one purse. The allure is so strong. It sounds like friendship. It sounds like camaraderie. It sounds like an adventure. Finally, I'm on, I'm not on the outside looking in on the group.

12:09I'm on the inside. I'm one of the gang. So guys, what's the plan? What are we up to? Let us lie and wait for blood. Let us ambush the innocent without reason. Wait, what? I thought we were going to like go to 7-Eleven or the mall.

12:30No, man, we're going to swallow them alive like seal. We shall find all precious goods. We shall fill our house with plunder. That escalated quickly. When I said I wanted to be one of the gang, I didn't want to be in a literal gang.

12:53So clearly, this is predatory behavior, right? You recognize it just like that. You might think that it would be an easy call to peace out if you heard this, right? But here's the thing, it's not always phrased like this. This is an exaggeration. This is the voice of the wise parents making it plain to the children. Because it doesn't always sound like this. Usually, it's the enticement that comes subtly, nuanced, excusable.

13:29You see, this isn't just a warning about joining a literal gang. It is that, but it's much broader than that. Look at verse 19. This is here. Here again, this is the inside of wisdom. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gang. This is a warning about putting others ahead of, putting others down to lift yourself up. This is about the desire to be accepted and how it pushes us into that kind of behavior. All of that kind of behavior.

14:06This is about, this is not just about gang violence, ambushing someone in a dark alley. This is about backstabbing, about frontstabbing. It's about slander. It's about gossip. It's about coalitions at work and cliques at school. This is about tribes and politics and factions and churches.

14:34This is about those kind of conversations you hear where you hear, oh, I can't think that anyone who would vote that way would be a Christian. I can't believe that anyone that would ever do this could possibly be saved. I can't believe you would associate with anyone who believed that. Don't you know what those people are like? those people. Come, let us lie and wait in blood to ambush them. Being greedy for unjust gain, it's not just about money.

15:11It's about gain of reputation, power, influence, status, anything we think we can get at somebody else's expense. If we take sides against them. It grieves me to think of the people that I've hurt with my words and actions because I thought that it would make other people think that I'm cool.

15:41Our desire to belong makes us vulnerable to going down a bad road. A road where you cut down others to lift yourself up. A road full of predators. Listen, you know what social media is like. You know how quickly it gets to this place. People banding together with their tribe, trashing the other side, making themselves feel great. It doesn't matter what the topic is, what the issue is. It's happened before social media and it's happening to an even greater extent now.

16:20Come join us. We'll have one purse. Aren't those other people awful? Let's tear them down and feel good about ourselves. But there's another voice speaking. Hear, my son, your father's instruction and forsake not your mother's teaching. This is the voice that needs to be amplified. This is the voice of true caring. Do not consent. This is the voice of wise parents who knows that they know that being one of the gang, the price of that is steep. I used to hate it when my mom didn't approve of one of my friends.

17:03Oh, it made me so mad when she said a word of disapproval about one of my friends. I would immediately stick up for them. It didn't matter who they were, what they had done. I would immediately come to their defense.

17:21In hindsight, now I look back and realize more often than not, she was right. She was right. Her disapproval was coming from a wise mother's heart that could see what was going on and see the influence it was having on me.

17:41Wisdom knows this is not the kind of community we need. A mentor and a friend of mine long ago called this false fellowship. And that's what this is. It's false fellowship. It seems like community. It looks like community. It might even feel like community. But in fact, it is dangerous and it is corrupting. And it could happen to us at any age. Again, this series on Proverbs is not just going to be one youth sermon after another. I am talking to you young people.

18:11But I am talking to people of all ages. You know the temptation. I want to belong. I want to be included. And it leads you down, sometimes down a path of excusing awful words and awful actions that dehumanize and tear down other people. Do not walk in the way with them. Hold back your foot from their paths. It's not a sin to hang out with people who are intent on sinning. It's not a sin. Okay? After all, Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, right?

18:47But Jesus knew of the temptation and he fought it. Do you know of the temptation and are you ready to fight it? And if not, are you ready to get out of there?

18:59Because you're not Jesus. You don't have the same strength, the same power, the same wisdom. You have to know your limits and know when I've got to get out of this social circle. this is not leading me in the right direction. It's not leading me towards love and godliness and righteousness.

19:24These guys are my pal. These girls are my friends. You've got to wise up and realize when it is having a negative influence on you. And one of those signs is when you start hearing tribal language that tear down other people. Tribal actions that seek to hurt other people.

19:45Wisdom recognizes that we each have our limits that we can withstand and how easily we're influenced. Proverbs 24 says this, Do not be envious of evil men nor desire to be with them for their heart devises violence and their lips talk of troublemaking. Some fellowship we're just better off without.

20:05Here's a second warning. Hear the warning about complacency. Again, a very ordinary concern. A new voice comes to the forefront here. It's a woman's voice. She is loud and boy, she is exasperated. She's had it up to here. She's lady wisdom. Wisdom personified and she has something to say. There is a danger besides falling in with the wrong crowd. How long, oh simple ones, will you love being simple? In Proverbs, the simple are the uncommitted. They're neither wise nor foolish and they're not in too big of a hurry to decide either way.

20:50They're fine with being simple. Ignorance is bliss, they think. Why bother with the bigger things in life? I've got other things to do, other things to enjoy. Why bother?

21:05Then there are those who hate knowledge. They're fools because they actively resist learning anything. They don't want to be exposed. And then there is another group. The scoffers. Oh, the scoffers. This was my tribe. This was my group. The people who mock the serious matters of life. They delight in their scoffing. They're too cool for school. The smart-aleck kids who make a joke at everything take nothing seriously, including those who want to learn.

21:43Scoffers think they're above it all. Wisdom calls to all of these foolish people, how long will you be like this? How long will you refuse to listen to me? But notice where she calls out, and this is important. She's there in the street, in the markets, at the head of the noisy streets, at the entrance of the city gates. This location, all these locations are important. It reminds us that wisdom is for real life. Wisdom is for your real life. Your ordinary life.

22:18These were places where business was done, where people shopped and talked, where they made deals and made friendships and made plans. Wisdom is not for PhDs or for philosophers or for talking heads on a screen. It's for businesses and communities. It's for football fields and the YMCA and your family. It's even for social media and for comment threads on Instagram posts. Wisdom is for those places too. But more importantly, Lady Wisdom has come to these places to speak because real life is where we get complacent.

23:04The busyness and ambitions and drama and routines of life, they encourage us to be simple and to love being simple. It happens before we even know it. Hey, I got big news, guys. Candles are buy one, get one free. down at Hobby Lobby. That's big news. Fellas, there's a new power tool that's just come out that's at Home Depot. A professional athlete just got traded, have you heard? Next year, he'll be making even more money wearing a different uniform.

23:44Isn't that wild? That's big news. As if the actual responsibilities of our life wasn't enough, we like to heap on layer layer upon layer of noise. Hundreds of threads about entertainment and sports and politics and shopping. It's a constant hum. It's like the evening in the summertime when you go outside and the cicadas are going. Right? And sometimes it's just so loud you can hardly even have a conversation. And just like that hum, the hum of the noise that we welcome into our lives can put us to sleep.

24:25The danger, as verse 32 points out, is complacency. It's the complacency of the foolish that ends up destroying them. Who has time to consider what would please God when Netflix has just added five new shows?

24:47Why bother trying to understand wisdom when there is some new political controversy that we can discuss and discuss and discuss ad nauseum? The market and the noisy streets and the city gates, they're mostly unavoidable. I'm not saying that we should just hide away in our homes. That's not practical. But we must have something to keep from being swept away in the current. We need wisdom. And the good news is that she is already shouting to be heard.

25:20She cries aloud. She raises her voice. Wisdom is not Waldo. She is not hard to find. She is not hiding. She is shouting. In the marketplace, in the streets.

25:38We just need to stop and listen. To pay attention. To put our eyes on her and tune in and hear what she has to say. And what she has to say is this. Turn to me. This is your life. There is no other life you're going to have. This is your life. It's time to choose me. Do it now. Do not wait. Many things that you obsess over have no significance to them at all. Turn and consider the weightier matters of life.

26:16But Lady Wisdom does not just have a plea to listen. She also comes with insight. And it's sprinkled throughout this passage. And here's the insight. Hear the invitation to life.

26:31This passage introduces a word that's really important in the wisdom literature. This word appears 30 times in Proverbs 1-9. That's about 5% of all the times that it appears in the Old Testament. And the word is translated as way in two verses in this passage. Verse 15 and 31. Way. The word ties together these two warnings about corruption and complacency with this insight. Choices have consequences. Whether the way is hurting others for gain or if the way is scoffing at wisdom Lady Wisdom says you reap what you sow.

27:13With every choice between wisdom and foolishness we are building the house that we will live in. You're building it now. Right now. That's why I picked what Jesus said about the parable of the two builders earlier in the service. You're building your house now with every choice you make. The foolish predators in verses 11-14 they only wind up hurting themselves. These men lie in wait for their own blood. They set an ambush for their own lives. They're like Wile E. Coyote.

27:52They set trap after trap after trap shipment after shipment from Acme Corporation giant slingshots but the one they hurt is them. And just like the coyote they are the laughing stock. When we watch I don't know maybe I used to watch it all the time. I would love it. You laugh at the coyote not with him. He is not laughing. You're laughing with him. I mean sorry at him. Meanwhile the foolish scoffers and the simpletons of verses 20-25 will eventually though they've tried to avoid it they'll eventually run against the rocks of calamity terror and distress and at that point it will be too late.

28:42They've spent their life rejecting the fear of the Lord. They did not choose the fear of the Lord and so they will eat the fruit of their way. Wisdom reveals that the end of both ways is death. And it's an ironic death at that. In going after earthly gain and worldly distractions the final result is the opposite of what they intended. You get the opposite of what you were going for. Loss and accountability is what comes. Loss instead of gain accountability instead of constant distraction and a life free of responsibility.

29:22And once judgment day comes it's too late to seek wisdom no matter how diligently we look. You can't wait until your car is crashing to check your brakes and put on your seatbelt and make your insurance payment.

29:39And yet there is one final insight that we're going to end on. It's the most important thing I want you to hang on to today. God's wisdom gives us a reward far beyond what the world offers. God's wisdom gives us a reward that is infinitely more than what the world offers you. The world holds up sparkly things but God delivers something better. Father's instruction mother's teaching they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

30:18Listen this is not just jewelry. Garland and pendants are symbols of honor and nobility and victory. They're like service awards on a serviceman's uniform. They're not there for jewelry. They show the valor bestowed upon that man or that woman. They're like a medal around an Olympic athlete showing the victory the conquest. This is way greater than the status and the privilege that the marketplace and social media promise. Wisdom itself is the reward and it's ours simply by turning to God in faith.

31:00By listening and responding to him. He puts that wisdom on us like a crown that we wear. And because we belong to him we will dwell secure. And be at ease without dread of disaster. The predators were offering some type of worldly security. Throw in your lot with us. We'll all love love to love to the one who is wise the one who has called me the one who has given me grace.

31:55Finally wisdom also offers us something else. She says I will pour out my spirit to you. We're promised not just a casual relationship with wisdom but a deep connection. This is like the difference between using a translator app on your phone versus knowing how to speak a language fluently.

32:18There's no comparison. When you can speak a language fluently you can get way farther. It's a deeper intimate connection with that language. The prophets Ezekiel and Joel repeat the promise I will pour out my spirit upon you. And then later the risen Jesus told the disciples it's about to happen. Stay in Jerusalem don't leave I am sending the promise of my father upon you. Wait for it it's going to happen. And then in Acts 2 at Pentecost it does the spirit is poured out upon God's people and they speak this pouring of the Holy Spirit is still happening among God's people.

33:01It's happened to you if you have repented and you put your faith in him. He has poured out his spirit upon you and it's through that spirit that we learn and we grow in wisdom.

33:14The last promise of Proverbs 1 is this I will make my words known to you. And the spirit is doing that in our hearts every day right now. Look at Romans 8. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. He's poured out his spirit upon you through Christ Jesus your savior. And that spirit makes his words known to you. Hear them. Hear those words.

33:58Tune into them. They speak a better word to you than the noise of the marketplace. Than the noise of social media. Than the influence of false fellowship from people who don't really want your good. They just want your partnership. God's word in you through the spirit speaks a better word than all of that noise. That's the voice to