Wisdom Leads Us To Salvation
Proverbs 1; 2
What is a proverb?
According to the Webster dictionary a proverb is a short sentence expressing a well known truth that has been gained by experience or by observation!
The Book of Proverbs is a collection of established truths on a wide range of subjects and should be used to aid us in practical living.
The Book of Proverbs lets us know that God expects us to use common sense and practical measures in our decisions.
When "truth" is used in our decision making then we will most often choose the right path!
The Book of Proverbs was written or at least gathered by Solomon, the son of King David and it is said that Solomon wrote some 3000 proverbs and those that are contained in this book may be a selection of those he wrote.
These proverbs can be used to apply the truth of God to our daily walk with the Lord!
In fact the Book of Proverbs is a book that needs to be taught to the younger generation as soon as they can understand the need for wisdom!
What is wisdom?
Wisdom is the right use of knowledge!
Some wisdom is gained by experience which sometimes may be harsh but wisdom that is gained by instruction can save us from a lot of those harsh moments in our life!
The greatest wisdom we can have is the knowledge of the truth of God!
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Knowledge is a clear and certain perception of the truth!
We can have no knowledge of things that do not exist!
We can have knowledge in the things of God because God has a perfect knowledge of all His works.
Ignorance is the curse of God!
1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
*****Pro 1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
Pro 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
Pro 1:3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
Pro 1:4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
Pro 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
Pro 1:6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The object of the Book of Proverbs is "to know"!
"To know" is to have a clear understanding of the truth!
The fear of the Lord is the foundation, without which all other knowledge is vain!
Those that reject the Word of God are so far from attaining true wisdom that they despise it and all the means of getting it!
The fear that is spoken of here is not the fear of punishment or of hell that every non-believer must realize but in this verse the fear of the Lord is that fear of a son or a daughter in relation to their parents!
This fear is the duty of a child toward his parents!
We are to understand the knowledge of God as a Father to His children!
We are to be confident in the truths of God, and the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ, with a humble, reverential affection for Him!
Without this we can never worship Him as we should!
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
*****Pro 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Pro 1:9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
When we have parents that are following the Word of God then that child should at least hear the instructions from that parent!
Notice the phrase "my son".
This phrase emphasizes the importance of heeding to the Word of God!
The Word of God should be our teacher all the days of our lives.
This one phrase points us to the fact that we are to be "Born Again" into "newness of life" and become a child of God and listen to His instructions!
What is the truth of the Scriptures?
Wise children will handle constructive criticism in the right way!
Pro 15:5 A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.
To "hear" means to pay attention to what is said.
Moral qualities are the true adornments of a human being!
When that child loves, obeys, and respects godly parents it will show in the way they live their own lives!
Godliness is profitable unto all things!
*****Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Pro 1:11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
Pro 1:12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
Pro 1:13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
Pro 1:14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
Peer pressure is the downfall of many of our youth in our own generation!
In this verse, sinners are all those that do not obey the Word of God and do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.
The truth is when we begin a sinful life it is hard to stop!
When we begin a sinful life we will find that it can be dangerous not only to ourselves but also to those we are close to.
When we begin a sinful life we will find it to be disgraceful to our parents and to our family!
The two places we fail the most to do are these:
1) We need to get rid of the sins we have committed.
2) We need to try to keep from sinning any more!
This world will entice us to do otherwise.
What is the greatest danger of Satan?
He does not threaten or argue, he simply entices with flattery, tells you how wonderful things could be if you just forsake the Word of God!
Dan 11:21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
Satan's tactics have never changed because they have continued to work for 6000 years!
Satan's servants will lie in ambush waiting until you are vulnerable to Satan's traps.
Satan has been hidden behind the scenes not yet willing to present himself because he knows that he would be rejected until God allows him his time.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isa 14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
Isa 14:17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Satan does not release those he has imprisoned easily!
It is Satan's goal to cause the death of every human being before they have the chance to repent and be reconciled to God!
He wants to swallow them up while they are alive!
He wants to take all he can directly into the burning fires of hell as quickly as he can!
Num 16:32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
Num 16:33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Satan entices with short cuts to wealth!
There have been very few that actually profit from crime.
There is nothing on this earth that can compare to the things of Heaven!
Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
What do we actually find to be the truth of our world?
1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
It's not the money or riches themselves that are so wrong, it is all the evils that are done to possess earth's riches which in the end are meaningless!
Notice this thing that is first required.
The lies of communism and also socialism is that for equal hazards there will be equal hopes big lies to mankind!
Gain and pleasure are two of the great charms that have seduced all mankind and make all those that succumb, captives taken at the will of Satan!
2Ti 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
If we avoid all these things while we are young, we will not have to suffer so much when we are old!
*****Pro 1:15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
Pro 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
We must not walk in the ways of the world!
Whenever sin takes hold of any person it will soon become the master of that person!
Sin cannot exist without seeking to dominate and there is never one who is lost who will not try to make another like himself!
Satan is devious and he will not tempt you with the truth and the results of sin, but he will set before you some real or some imaginary pleasure which you can only obtain by a commission of that sin!
There is always a cost for going against the Word of God!
There is always a cost to assert your liberty to do as you please!
We must force ourselves to make the right decisions!
Those that reject the Word of God have an eagerness to commit crime against God and they most always will attack the innocent who have no means to protect themselves.
We would have to be blind to not see this truth in our world today!
*****Pro 1:17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
Pro 1:18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
Pro 1:19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
Surely a bird with such keen eyes to see with can see the net spread for their capture, yet they still fly into that net and are trapped!
It is the same with sin!
God has clearly said that the "wages of sin are death".
So it is for that bird!
Pro 7:23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
So it is for the sinner.
As they lay in wait for the innocent it is their own lives they are loosing!
As they lurk in private for the innocent it is their own lives that they have placed in jeopardy!
A sinner cannot see the traps they laid for themselves so we need to avoid associating with them!
*****Pro 1:20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Pro 1:21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
Pro 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
If we can see wisdom as a person then that person would be Christ Jesus!
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
If that person be Jesus Christ then it is now the Church that should be crying out with the Word of God!
We should witness in the streets.
We should witness in places where people gather.
We should witness at the entrances and the passage ways.
We should witness in the cities.
And what should be our message?
How long will you people be so easily seduced by workers of Satan?
How long will you that mock the Word of God be fooled by the lies of Satan?
How long will you all be so foolish to ignore and to reject the truth of the Scriptures?
To turn is to repent!
To repent is not only to feel sorrow and regret but more important, to turn away from sin and turn toward God with a complete change of mind!
It is God Himself who will pour out His Spirit unto all those that repent!
So "WISDOM" then is God Himself who will make known His Words unto us all!
Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Joe 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
Those days are the "Church Age" in which now we live until the return of Jesus Christ!
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
What is the truth of most of this world?
God has called and most have refused!
God has warned of the coming judgment, but most just reject the Word of God!
*****Pro 1:24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
Pro 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
Pro 1:27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Pro 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
Pro 1:29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
Pro 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Pro 1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Those that reject the truth of God will bring upon themselves the wrath of God!
Rom 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
God says "as you mocked and laughed at the Word of God then on Judgment Day, I will mock and laugh at your eternal situation you have placed yourself in"!
Be not a fool all your life because it is a fact every knee will bow to the Lord Jesus one day!
Psa 37:12 The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
Psa 37:13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
What is the truth of Divine Judgment?
Calamity, terror, destruction, distress, and anguish!
What is derision?
The act of laughing in contempt!
Desolation is a place of waste, ravage, ruin, gloominess, sadness, and destitution!
These things of desolation will come as a violent wind moving in a circle.
The vicious cycle of eternal life of the burning lake of fire, will be a thing of misery and doom!
Why would anyone seek to go there?
Those that hate the knowledge of God and did not choose to fear the Lord, which by the way is the beginning of becoming wise, will certainly find themselves in a Devil's Hell!
God's rejection of sinners is carefully detailed in these verses.
Wisdom will one day turn a deaf ear to those who wait to late to call on the Lord!
What is the truth of God?
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh:
To follow the Lord is to come when He calls!
God gives us a choice!
Choice means we have the option of choosing the way of God or the ways of this world we cannot choose both!
There are only two type of people in this world!
Those that love the Lord and those that do not!
Those that hate the knowledge of the Lord Jesus have not chosen the wisdom of the fear of the Lord!
God's method of punishment is to let us punish ourselves!
When we will not accept the guidance of the Holy Spirit then God will grant our wishes and desires to show how foolish and miserable they are!
It is a fact that we are our own worst enemy!
The promises of God are conditional!
God has given every human being the dignity of freedom which involves the possibility that we may be disobedient to God's Word.
Most everyone that looks back on their lives can trace most of their errors to making bad choices!
This should tell us all that we have a great need of a Savior and that Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ!
*****Pro 1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
Pro 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
The salvation of Christ Jesus is a simple thing.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
It is the turning away of such a simple salvation that will slay all those that reject Him!
There is only one way to get to Heaven!
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
In other words not my own but the Bible says, all wicked and vicious persons are fools.
When God gives us what we all desire, eternal life with Him, they perish even when it is so close to them.
Jesus Christ paid the sin debt of every human being but this must be accepted or He died in vain for your own sins!
There is no wealth of this world that is worth eternal damnation!
The secrets of life has been the quest of mankind throughout history, yet God has written down and given it to us in the perfect love letter from above and it is still rejected by most of this world!
The fear of evil used to be a constant in the life of men but it is now just accepted!
Now the world is beginning to see the fear of terror and we are told we must just accept that also!
It is terror that grows out of the acceptance of sin!
What does God teach the Christian?
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Those that hearken to the Word of God can still dwell in safety anywhere in this world!
Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
So therefore, those that understand the fear of the Lord can truly find knowledge!
*****Pro 2:5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
Pro 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
Pro 2:7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly
The phrase "the fear of the Lord" occurs 14 times in the Book of Proverbs.
This fear implies reverence, such as a good son would feel for his godly father.
A reverent fear of God is truly the first step to true wisdom!
Here wisdom is described as a virtuous woman.
The truth is that a God-fearing man is a wise man but without a reverent fear of God it is impossible that to call any man wise no matter their intelligence level!
Wisdom is something that we must work for in this world but God freely gives the wisdom we need if we ask Him with a pure heart!
Heavenly wisdom is a great prize!
Heavenly wisdom goes far beyond our own thoughts!
Heavenly wisdom is far different from what the world calls wisdom!
Worldly wisdom may direct us in some things in this life but Heavenly wisdom direct us toward things which concern things of the life that is to come of those who have that "fear of the Lord"!
God and God alone is the author of true wisdom!
Those that are righteous are those that "walk upright".
Goodness in all moral humans, is a walk that progresses as we grow in the knowledge and understanding of the Lord!
Those that are reconciled to God are His saints and set apart for His use!
As those that belong to the Lord are to be bright and shining lights in this world, the Lord is then the "Father of Lights".
The wisdom of God will light up our pathway in this world!
*****Pro 2:8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
Pro 2:9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
God is the protector of His saints!
It is God who keeps the path of all those He has justified!
It is God who preserves the way of His saints!
Psa 66:9 Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.
When we understand that once we are reconciled to God, we are under His divine protection, "THEN" we can understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity, and every good path!
And wisdom will enter into our soul!
*****Pro 2:10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
Pro 2:12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Once we are wise enough to know we have a new owner then that wisdom will not only come into our soul but it will rest there forever!
Discretion means we will able to judge things correctly and properly with the right amount of caution.
We will know how to conduct ourselves in this world!
Understanding then is the faculty of the human mind that separates truth from fiction!
Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
What is the truth of evil men?
Their character.
Their speech is corrupt!
Their habit is corrupt!
Their heart is corrupt!
Their influence is corrupt!
The truth is everything dies under the influence of wickedness!
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
They refuse to walk the path of righteousness!
*****Pro 2:13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
Pro 2:14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
Pro 2:15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
The way of evil is following in the ways of Satan!
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
The path of darkness is the path of ignorance and error and the roadway to evil deeds!
To walk in the ways of darkness is to insist on a course of wilful ignorance and deliberately reject the light of true knowledge!
Those who are wicked not only rejoice to do evil themselves but they rejoice when they hear of evil done by others.
This is the world we live in today!
This is the arm of terrorism today!
They are just as crooked as their ways!
They are just as perverse in their thoughts!
They will always turn toward evil whether to the left or to the right!
Then there is the temptation that is most used against the righteous, the alluring female.
*****Pro 2:16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
Pro 2:17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
Pro 2:18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
Pro 2:19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
The true wisdom of God will deliver His saints even from the strange woman!
The strange woman is the harlot and adulteress.
If we remember Balaam, God would not allow him to curse Israel but Balaam did offer King Balac a suggestion on how to cause Israel to sin.
It was women.
If we remember Job who was righteous in the eyes of God, even Job knew about strange women and had his own remedy!
Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
Job said to himself that he simply would not look upon a woman to lust after her.
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
A wise man once wrote "Gaze not on beauty too much lest it blast thee; nor to long, lest it blind thee; nor too near lest it burn thee. If thou like it, it deceives thee; if thou love it, it disturbs thee; if thou hunt it, it destroys thee. It is a wise mans bonfire, and a fools furnace".
That "stranger" would be foreign women with other gods and other moral standards than those who were just the "strange woman".
This also represents spiritual adultery, with God's people not only consorting with strange women but also worshipping strange gods.
All those that forget the covenant that was made with the Lord when they prayed the sinners prayer!
We must be more like Job and less like the world.
The greatest danger of each and every human, is not the evils of this world and it certainly is not climate change, it is forsaking and forgetting God!
To the Christian ignoring and forsaking the "wisdom" of God is our greatest danger!
Today in the church, we loose our youth to the world at that age when the world entices them to forget the covenant they made with God!
All those that make their home with the wisdom of this world and reject the wisdom of God, incline to death rather than life.
Pro 7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
All those that follow the path of the wisdom of this world and reject the wisdom of God, walk on the pathway of the dead!
Pro 21:16 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
The truth is, only God can resurrect the dead!
Those that choose the path of death, the wisdom of the strange woman or the stranger, almost never recover form their fall.
The sin of spiritual adultery is extremely hard to overcome!
Eph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
What is the path of life?
*****Pro 2:20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
Pro 2:21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
Pro 2:22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
The truth is that mankind cannot walk in good ways unless they leave the bad ones.
Good and evil are contrary to one another, one will keep out the other!
It is not enough to just avoid evil, we must also do good!
To Israel the promise to dwell in the promised land was their reward for obedience.
To the Church the promise to dwell in Heaven is the reward for obedience!
To remain means to eternally dwell in peace and harmony with the Lord!
Contrary to the teaching of liberal theology, the wicked shall be cut off!
The farmer knows that if he just cuts down a tree it will send forth new sprouts so to eliminate that problem that tree must be rooted out!
So does God deal with wicked men!
Wicked men are restless in evil because they remain in that body of sin.
This world provides an abundance of opportunities because it is led by Satan.
God will leave them on their own to run to death because He gives us all a choice.
Wicked men are never weary of their sin because they have rejected the wisdom of God!
To be wise in the ways of this world is to be a fool!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
Proverbs 1; 2
What is a proverb?
According to the Webster dictionary a proverb is a short sentence expressing a well known truth that has been gained by experience or by observation!
The Book of Proverbs is a collection of established truths on a wide range of subjects and should be used to aid us in practical living.
The Book of Proverbs lets us know that God expects us to use common sense and practical measures in our decisions.
When "truth" is used in our decision making then we will most often choose the right path!
The Book of Proverbs was written or at least gathered by Solomon, the son of King David and it is said that Solomon wrote some 3000 proverbs and those that are contained in this book may be a selection of those he wrote.
These proverbs can be used to apply the truth of God to our daily walk with the Lord!
In fact the Book of Proverbs is a book that needs to be taught to the younger generation as soon as they can understand the need for wisdom!
What is wisdom?
Wisdom is the right use of knowledge!
Some wisdom is gained by experience which sometimes may be harsh but wisdom that is gained by instruction can save us from a lot of those harsh moments in our life!
The greatest wisdom we can have is the knowledge of the truth of God!
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Knowledge is a clear and certain perception of the truth!
We can have no knowledge of things that do not exist!
We can have knowledge in the things of God because God has a perfect knowledge of all His works.
Ignorance is the curse of God!
1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
*****Pro 1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
Pro 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
Pro 1:3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
Pro 1:4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
Pro 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
Pro 1:6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The object of the Book of Proverbs is "to know"!
"To know" is to have a clear understanding of the truth!
The fear of the Lord is the foundation, without which all other knowledge is vain!
Those that reject the Word of God are so far from attaining true wisdom that they despise it and all the means of getting it!
The fear that is spoken of here is not the fear of punishment or of hell that every non-believer must realize but in this verse the fear of the Lord is that fear of a son or a daughter in relation to their parents!
This fear is the duty of a child toward his parents!
We are to understand the knowledge of God as a Father to His children!
We are to be confident in the truths of God, and the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ, with a humble, reverential affection for Him!
Without this we can never worship Him as we should!
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
*****Pro 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Pro 1:9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
When we have parents that are following the Word of God then that child should at least hear the instructions from that parent!
Notice the phrase "my son".
This phrase emphasizes the importance of heeding to the Word of God!
The Word of God should be our teacher all the days of our lives.
This one phrase points us to the fact that we are to be "Born Again" into "newness of life" and become a child of God and listen to His instructions!
What is the truth of the Scriptures?
Wise children will handle constructive criticism in the right way!
Pro 15:5 A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.
To "hear" means to pay attention to what is said.
Moral qualities are the true adornments of a human being!
When that child loves, obeys, and respects godly parents it will show in the way they live their own lives!
Godliness is profitable unto all things!
*****Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Pro 1:11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
Pro 1:12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
Pro 1:13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
Pro 1:14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
Peer pressure is the downfall of many of our youth in our own generation!
In this verse, sinners are all those that do not obey the Word of God and do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.
The truth is when we begin a sinful life it is hard to stop!
When we begin a sinful life we will find that it can be dangerous not only to ourselves but also to those we are close to.
When we begin a sinful life we will find it to be disgraceful to our parents and to our family!
The two places we fail the most to do are these:
1) We need to get rid of the sins we have committed.
2) We need to try to keep from sinning any more!
This world will entice us to do otherwise.
What is the greatest danger of Satan?
He does not threaten or argue, he simply entices with flattery, tells you how wonderful things could be if you just forsake the Word of God!
Dan 11:21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
Satan's tactics have never changed because they have continued to work for 6000 years!
Satan's servants will lie in ambush waiting until you are vulnerable to Satan's traps.
Satan has been hidden behind the scenes not yet willing to present himself because he knows that he would be rejected until God allows him his time.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isa 14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
Isa 14:17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Satan does not release those he has imprisoned easily!
It is Satan's goal to cause the death of every human being before they have the chance to repent and be reconciled to God!
He wants to swallow them up while they are alive!
He wants to take all he can directly into the burning fires of hell as quickly as he can!
Num 16:32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
Num 16:33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Satan entices with short cuts to wealth!
There have been very few that actually profit from crime.
There is nothing on this earth that can compare to the things of Heaven!
Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
What do we actually find to be the truth of our world?
1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
It's not the money or riches themselves that are so wrong, it is all the evils that are done to possess earth's riches which in the end are meaningless!
Notice this thing that is first required.
The lies of communism and also socialism is that for equal hazards there will be equal hopes big lies to mankind!
Gain and pleasure are two of the great charms that have seduced all mankind and make all those that succumb, captives taken at the will of Satan!
2Ti 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
If we avoid all these things while we are young, we will not have to suffer so much when we are old!
*****Pro 1:15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
Pro 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
We must not walk in the ways of the world!
Whenever sin takes hold of any person it will soon become the master of that person!
Sin cannot exist without seeking to dominate and there is never one who is lost who will not try to make another like himself!
Satan is devious and he will not tempt you with the truth and the results of sin, but he will set before you some real or some imaginary pleasure which you can only obtain by a commission of that sin!
There is always a cost for going against the Word of God!
There is always a cost to assert your liberty to do as you please!
We must force ourselves to make the right decisions!
Those that reject the Word of God have an eagerness to commit crime against God and they most always will attack the innocent who have no means to protect themselves.
We would have to be blind to not see this truth in our world today!
*****Pro 1:17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
Pro 1:18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
Pro 1:19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
Surely a bird with such keen eyes to see with can see the net spread for their capture, yet they still fly into that net and are trapped!
It is the same with sin!
God has clearly said that the "wages of sin are death".
So it is for that bird!
Pro 7:23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
So it is for the sinner.
As they lay in wait for the innocent it is their own lives they are loosing!
As they lurk in private for the innocent it is their own lives that they have placed in jeopardy!
A sinner cannot see the traps they laid for themselves so we need to avoid associating with them!
*****Pro 1:20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Pro 1:21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
Pro 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
If we can see wisdom as a person then that person would be Christ Jesus!
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
If that person be Jesus Christ then it is now the Church that should be crying out with the Word of God!
We should witness in the streets.
We should witness in places where people gather.
We should witness at the entrances and the passage ways.
We should witness in the cities.
And what should be our message?
How long will you people be so easily seduced by workers of Satan?
How long will you that mock the Word of God be fooled by the lies of Satan?
How long will you all be so foolish to ignore and to reject the truth of the Scriptures?
To turn is to repent!
To repent is not only to feel sorrow and regret but more important, to turn away from sin and turn toward God with a complete change of mind!
It is God Himself who will pour out His Spirit unto all those that repent!
So "WISDOM" then is God Himself who will make known His Words unto us all!
Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Joe 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
Those days are the "Church Age" in which now we live until the return of Jesus Christ!
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
What is the truth of most of this world?
God has called and most have refused!
God has warned of the coming judgment, but most just reject the Word of God!
*****Pro 1:24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
Pro 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
Pro 1:27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Pro 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
Pro 1:29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
Pro 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Pro 1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Those that reject the truth of God will bring upon themselves the wrath of God!
Rom 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
God says "as you mocked and laughed at the Word of God then on Judgment Day, I will mock and laugh at your eternal situation you have placed yourself in"!
Be not a fool all your life because it is a fact every knee will bow to the Lord Jesus one day!
Psa 37:12 The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
Psa 37:13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
What is the truth of Divine Judgment?
Calamity, terror, destruction, distress, and anguish!
What is derision?
The act of laughing in contempt!
Desolation is a place of waste, ravage, ruin, gloominess, sadness, and destitution!
These things of desolation will come as a violent wind moving in a circle.
The vicious cycle of eternal life of the burning lake of fire, will be a thing of misery and doom!
Why would anyone seek to go there?
Those that hate the knowledge of God and did not choose to fear the Lord, which by the way is the beginning of becoming wise, will certainly find themselves in a Devil's Hell!
God's rejection of sinners is carefully detailed in these verses.
Wisdom will one day turn a deaf ear to those who wait to late to call on the Lord!
What is the truth of God?
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh:
To follow the Lord is to come when He calls!
God gives us a choice!
Choice means we have the option of choosing the way of God or the ways of this world we cannot choose both!
There are only two type of people in this world!
Those that love the Lord and those that do not!
Those that hate the knowledge of the Lord Jesus have not chosen the wisdom of the fear of the Lord!
God's method of punishment is to let us punish ourselves!
When we will not accept the guidance of the Holy Spirit then God will grant our wishes and desires to show how foolish and miserable they are!
It is a fact that we are our own worst enemy!
The promises of God are conditional!
God has given every human being the dignity of freedom which involves the possibility that we may be disobedient to God's Word.
Most everyone that looks back on their lives can trace most of their errors to making bad choices!
This should tell us all that we have a great need of a Savior and that Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ!
*****Pro 1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
Pro 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
The salvation of Christ Jesus is a simple thing.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
It is the turning away of such a simple salvation that will slay all those that reject Him!
There is only one way to get to Heaven!
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
In other words not my own but the Bible says, all wicked and vicious persons are fools.
When God gives us what we all desire, eternal life with Him, they perish even when it is so close to them.
Jesus Christ paid the sin debt of every human being but this must be accepted or He died in vain for your own sins!
There is no wealth of this world that is worth eternal damnation!
The secrets of life has been the quest of mankind throughout history, yet God has written down and given it to us in the perfect love letter from above and it is still rejected by most of this world!
The fear of evil used to be a constant in the life of men but it is now just accepted!
Now the world is beginning to see the fear of terror and we are told we must just accept that also!
It is terror that grows out of the acceptance of sin!
What does God teach the Christian?
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Those that hearken to the Word of God can still dwell in safety anywhere in this world!
Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
So therefore, those that understand the fear of the Lord can truly find knowledge!
*****Pro 2:5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
Pro 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
Pro 2:7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly
The phrase "the fear of the Lord" occurs 14 times in the Book of Proverbs.
This fear implies reverence, such as a good son would feel for his godly father.
A reverent fear of God is truly the first step to true wisdom!
Here wisdom is described as a virtuous woman.
The truth is that a God-fearing man is a wise man but without a reverent fear of God it is impossible that to call any man wise no matter their intelligence level!
Wisdom is something that we must work for in this world but God freely gives the wisdom we need if we ask Him with a pure heart!
Heavenly wisdom is a great prize!
Heavenly wisdom goes far beyond our own thoughts!
Heavenly wisdom is far different from what the world calls wisdom!
Worldly wisdom may direct us in some things in this life but Heavenly wisdom direct us toward things which concern things of the life that is to come of those who have that "fear of the Lord"!
God and God alone is the author of true wisdom!
Those that are righteous are those that "walk upright".
Goodness in all moral humans, is a walk that progresses as we grow in the knowledge and understanding of the Lord!
Those that are reconciled to God are His saints and set apart for His use!
As those that belong to the Lord are to be bright and shining lights in this world, the Lord is then the "Father of Lights".
The wisdom of God will light up our pathway in this world!
*****Pro 2:8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
Pro 2:9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
God is the protector of His saints!
It is God who keeps the path of all those He has justified!
It is God who preserves the way of His saints!
Psa 66:9 Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.
When we understand that once we are reconciled to God, we are under His divine protection, "THEN" we can understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity, and every good path!
And wisdom will enter into our soul!
*****Pro 2:10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
Pro 2:12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Once we are wise enough to know we have a new owner then that wisdom will not only come into our soul but it will rest there forever!
Discretion means we will able to judge things correctly and properly with the right amount of caution.
We will know how to conduct ourselves in this world!
Understanding then is the faculty of the human mind that separates truth from fiction!
Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
What is the truth of evil men?
Their character.
Their speech is corrupt!
Their habit is corrupt!
Their heart is corrupt!
Their influence is corrupt!
The truth is everything dies under the influence of wickedness!
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
They refuse to walk the path of righteousness!
*****Pro 2:13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
Pro 2:14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
Pro 2:15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
The way of evil is following in the ways of Satan!
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
The path of darkness is the path of ignorance and error and the roadway to evil deeds!
To walk in the ways of darkness is to insist on a course of wilful ignorance and deliberately reject the light of true knowledge!
Those who are wicked not only rejoice to do evil themselves but they rejoice when they hear of evil done by others.
This is the world we live in today!
This is the arm of terrorism today!
They are just as crooked as their ways!
They are just as perverse in their thoughts!
They will always turn toward evil whether to the left or to the right!
Then there is the temptation that is most used against the righteous, the alluring female.
*****Pro 2:16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
Pro 2:17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
Pro 2:18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
Pro 2:19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
The true wisdom of God will deliver His saints even from the strange woman!
The strange woman is the harlot and adulteress.
If we remember Balaam, God would not allow him to curse Israel but Balaam did offer King Balac a suggestion on how to cause Israel to sin.
It was women.
If we remember Job who was righteous in the eyes of God, even Job knew about strange women and had his own remedy!
Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
Job said to himself that he simply would not look upon a woman to lust after her.
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
A wise man once wrote "Gaze not on beauty too much lest it blast thee; nor to long, lest it blind thee; nor too near lest it burn thee. If thou like it, it deceives thee; if thou love it, it disturbs thee; if thou hunt it, it destroys thee. It is a wise mans bonfire, and a fools furnace".
That "stranger" would be foreign women with other gods and other moral standards than those who were just the "strange woman".
This also represents spiritual adultery, with God's people not only consorting with strange women but also worshipping strange gods.
All those that forget the covenant that was made with the Lord when they prayed the sinners prayer!
We must be more like Job and less like the world.
The greatest danger of each and every human, is not the evils of this world and it certainly is not climate change, it is forsaking and forgetting God!
To the Christian ignoring and forsaking the "wisdom" of God is our greatest danger!
Today in the church, we loose our youth to the world at that age when the world entices them to forget the covenant they made with God!
All those that make their home with the wisdom of this world and reject the wisdom of God, incline to death rather than life.
Pro 7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
All those that follow the path of the wisdom of this world and reject the wisdom of God, walk on the pathway of the dead!
Pro 21:16 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
The truth is, only God can resurrect the dead!
Those that choose the path of death, the wisdom of the strange woman or the stranger, almost never recover form their fall.
The sin of spiritual adultery is extremely hard to overcome!
Eph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
What is the path of life?
*****Pro 2:20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
Pro 2:21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
Pro 2:22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
The truth is that mankind cannot walk in good ways unless they leave the bad ones.
Good and evil are contrary to one another, one will keep out the other!
It is not enough to just avoid evil, we must also do good!
To Israel the promise to dwell in the promised land was their reward for obedience.
To the Church the promise to dwell in Heaven is the reward for obedience!
To remain means to eternally dwell in peace and harmony with the Lord!
Contrary to the teaching of liberal theology, the wicked shall be cut off!
The farmer knows that if he just cuts down a tree it will send forth new sprouts so to eliminate that problem that tree must be rooted out!
So does God deal with wicked men!
Wicked men are restless in evil because they remain in that body of sin.
This world provides an abundance of opportunities because it is led by Satan.
God will leave them on their own to run to death because He gives us all a choice.
Wicked men are never weary of their sin because they have rejected the wisdom of God!
To be wise in the ways of this world is to be a fool!
Questions?
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