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Today's readings from Proverbs, 
chapter 2 to 3, verse 12. 

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It's in the Church Bible, page 
636. 

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My son, if you accept my words 
and store up my commands within 

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you, turning your ear to wisdom 
and applying your heart to 

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understanding. 
Indeed, if you call out for 

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insight and cry aloud for 
understanding. 

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And if you look for it As for 
silver, and search for it As for

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hidden treasure, then you will 
understand the fear of the Lord 

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and find the knowledge of God. 
For the Lord gives wisdom from 

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his mouth. 
Come knowledge and 

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understanding. 
He holds success in store for 

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the upright. 
He is a shield to those whose 

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way of the of life is blameless.
For he guards the course of the 

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just and protects the way of his
faithful ones. 

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Then you will understand what is
right and just and fair every 

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good path. 
For wisdom will enter your heart

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and and knowledge will be 
pleasant to your soul. 

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Discretion will protect you and 
understanding will guard you. 

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Wisdom will save you from the 
ways of wicked men, from men 

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whose words are perverse, who 
have left the straight paths and

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walk in dark ways, who delight 
in doing wrong and rejoice in 

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the perversion perverseness of 
evil, whose paths are crooked 

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and who are devious in their 
ways. 

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Wisdom will save you also from 
the adulterous woman, from the 

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wayward woman with her seductive
words, who has left the partner 

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of her youth and ignored the 
covenant she made before God. 

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Surely her house leads down to 
death and her paths to the 

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spirits of the dead. 
None who go to her return and 

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attain the paths of life. 
Thus you will walk in the ways 

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of the good and keep to the 
paths of the righteous. 

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For the upright will live in the
land, and the blameless will 

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remain in it. 
But the wicked will be cut off 

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from the land, and the 
unfaithful will be torn from it.

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My son, do not forget my 
teaching, but keep my commands 

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in your heart, for they will 
prolong your life many years and

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bring you peace and prosperity. 
Let love and faithfulness never 

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leave you. 
Find them round your neck, write

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them on the tablet of your 
heart. 

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Then you will win favour and a 
good name in the sight of God 

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and man. 
Trust in the Lord with all your 

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heart and lean not on your own 
understanding in all your ways. 

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Submit to Him and He will make 
your paths straight. 

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Do not be wise in your own eyes.
Fear the Lord and shun the evil.

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This will bring health to your 
body and nourishment to your 

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bones. 
Honour the Lord with your 

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wealth, with the first fruits of
all your crops. 

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Then your barns will be filled 
to overflowing, and your vats 

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will brim over with new wine. 
My son, do not despise the 

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Lord's discipline and do not 
resent his rebuke, because the 

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Lord disciplines those He loves 
as a father, the Son he delights

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in. 
If you were here 2 weeks ago you

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might remember this is one of 
the three so-called wisdom books

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in the Old Testament alongside 
the Book of Job and the Book of 

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Ecclesiastes. 
We preach through Job and 

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Ecclesiastes over the last few 
years. 

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You can read, look at those and 
the archive on the church 

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websites. 
And I guess when you think about

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wisdom, and this is a wisdom 
book teaching us wisdom, we need

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to think, what does the Bible 
mean when it talks about wisdom?

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Well, we came up with a few 
definitions last time just on 

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the screen there. 
So wisdom in the Bible is living

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well in God's world. 
Wisdom is the ability to make 

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good choices in life. 
Another way of putting it. 

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Wisdom is really how to be truly
human in God's world. 

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I think all those definitions 
help us see that wisdom in the 

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Bible is not about lots of 
information, not about lots of 

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facts, not about your 
intelligence or your IQ levels. 

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Wisdom is deeply practical. 
It's how to live well in God's 

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world and right relationship 
with God and in right 

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relationship with the people God
has placed around us. 

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And alongside those definitions 
is what we want to keep 

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returning to in this book, which
is this, that wisdom 

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fundamentally is growing more 
like Jesus as we live in God's 

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world and as we listen to God's 
Word. 

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We've sung the song a minute 
ago, I want to be like Jesus. 

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That's actually a prayer that we
want to be wise. 

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We want to be people who are 
more like Jesus as we follow 

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Him, as we listen to him, and as
we put his words into practice 

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in our lives. 
So this week we are in chapters 

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2 and 3 of Proverbs, and some 
commentators call these chapters

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like the theological heart of 
the book of Proverbs. 

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Why? 
Because these chapters make it 

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clear to us. 
True and lasting wisdom can only

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be found through trusting in the
Lords we said last time. 

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Actually, we can learn lots 
about wisdom from the world 

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around us. 
What the what some theologians 

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called common grace that we're 
all made in the image of God, 

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whether we are Christians or 
not. 

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We can learn from lots of 
people, but Proverbs 2 and three

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make it really clear. 
True and lasting wisdom can only

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be found through trusting in the
Lord, the God who created us, 

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the God who has rescued us, the 
God of loving relationship. 

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And so we need to live and right
relationship with the Lord so 

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that we can live and right 
relationship with the people 

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around us and in the world that 
God has put us in. 

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And these chapters in Proverbs 
includes our verse for the term 

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Proverbs 3 verse 5. 
And I've been loving spending 

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time with this verse this week. 
It's on my phone and reminding 

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me actually, it hits me how 
often I'm looking at my phone 

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all day. 
But but Lord did a great design 

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and this just really captures 
something of the theological 

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heart of Proverbs. 
What is true wisdom? 

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True wisdom, according to 
Proverbs, is to trust in the 

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Lord with all our heart and to 
humble ourselves before Him. 

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That is the heart of wisdom. 
We need to trust in God and to 

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humble ourselves. 
So we're going to look at that 

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key verse in a moment, but we're
going to look at Proverbs 

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chapter 2 briefly. 
And what do we learn about 

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wisdom from Proverbs chapter 2? 
The chapter begins with a 

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reminder, as nearly all the 
chapters of chapters 1:00 to 

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9:00 begin with this reminder 
that these are the words of a 

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father speaking to the son he 
loves. 

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See how both chapters 2 and 
three begin with the words My 

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son, my son in the Bible. 
Wisdom isn't learned from a 

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distance. 
It's not like a correspondence 

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course or or someone shouting 
information at us from a long 

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way away. 
No wisdom is learned in loving 

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relationship with God as our 
Father. 

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The command to to grow in wisdom
isn't so that we'll become wise 

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and then we'll somehow earn 
God's love. 

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No, wisdom flows out of the fact
that we are already loved by the

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Father, and He wants to show us 
how to live for Him in that 

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loving relationship He has won 
for us through his Son Jesus. 

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So we're going to learn a few 
things about biblical wisdom 

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from Proverbs 2 here. 
First thing he wants to see is 

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this, that according to Proverbs
2, learning wisdom is both a 

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gift from God and a task God 
gives us. 

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So in the book of Proverbs and 
across God's word as a whole, 

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wisdom is both a gift and a 
task. 

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Listening again to verses 1 to 5
of Proverbs chapter 2. 

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Let me read that for us, My son,
if you accept my words and store

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up my commands within you, 
turning your ear to wisdom and 

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applying your heart to 
understanding. 

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Indeed, if you call out for 
insight and cry aloud for 

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understanding, and if you look 
for it As for silver and search 

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for it As for a hidden treasure,
then you will understand the 

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fear of the Lord and find the 
knowledge of God. 

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See, according to the loving 
Father here, learning wisdom 

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isn't passive or just something 
automatic that just happens. 

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Look at the effort involved in 
pursuing wisdom here. 

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Look at the words. 
If you accept my words, store 

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them up. 
Turn your ear, apply your heart,

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call out for insight, cry aloud 
for understanding. 

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Look for it. 
Search for it. 

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It's the language of desire. 
It's the language of hunger. 

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It's the language of of digging 
for treasure. 

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The assumption here is that 
wisdom isn't just going to fall 

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into our laps. 
It's not something we just drift

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into. 
Wisdom is a lifelong pursuit for

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all of us. 
Wisdom is something we need to 

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strive after, says the Father 
here, but also need to recognize

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something in Proverbs 2. 
Ultimately, wisdom is a gift 

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from God. 
We will not find it on our own, 

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no matter how hard we may try. 
Look again at verse 6. 

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For the Lord gives wisdom from 
his mouth come knowledge and 

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understanding. 
So it's kind of both things. 

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It's a gift and a task. 
Even if we strive after wisdom, 

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ultimately wisdom is a gift from
the Lord. 

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We won't learn true, lasting 
wisdom apart from humbling 

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ourselves before God and asking 
Him for it. 

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So it's two things, a gift and a
task. 

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And that might sound kind of 
baffling at first, really. 

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Well, either it's a gift or a 
task. 

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How can it be both? 
But actually, I think it 

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actually makes a lot of sense 
when you think about other areas

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of our lives. 
Anything of value is not quickly

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learned. 
Any skill worth having takes 

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time and effort to learn it. 
Let me illustrate this for us. 

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So going to ask for audience 
participation here. 

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And so can anyone here bear hand
out? 

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If you can play a musical 
instrument, hands up. 

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Lovely. 
OK, I'm going to go. 

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OK, Cayman, what instrument can 
you play guitar. 

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How did you learn the guitar? 
Through my mother. 

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Through your mother and lessons 
and practice and and practice. 

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And how do you get better at the
guitar? 

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Practice. 
Thank you, Kim. 

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Can anyone else? 
Other instruments? 

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Other instruments? 
Can we just have A and not a 

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guitar? 
We had to guitar. 

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OK. 
Yes, Tim. 

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Drums. 
Drums. 

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How did you learn the drums? 
Lots of practice. 

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Lots of practice. 
Yeah. 

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Over the years we've got lots of
practice. 

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Any other instruments? 
Got drums, Got guitar. 

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Trombone. 
Trombone a very good instrument.

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How did you learn the trombone? 
Practice. 

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Yes. 
OK, I think we're getting the 

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two rift here. 
It takes practice to learn an 

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instrument, a skill like that. 
I do not play an instrument. 

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My family remind me of this 
because I have not taken the 

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time to practice. 
It is a skill that takes time. 

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Anyone here recently and learnt 
how to drive? 

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Put your hands up. 
Yes, yes. 

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OK, we'll go down here. 
So Noah, how did you learn to 

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drive? 
Driving lessons. 

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And what do the driving lessons 
help you with? 

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Something to try. 
And how many lessons did you 

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need? 
A lot, yes. 

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How do you get better at driving
practice? 

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Yes, thank you. 
I think we're getting the drift 

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here. 
Practice is it? 

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Anyone here speak a second 
language? 

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I was quite intrigued with this.
Anyone here speak a second 

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language? 
Here we go. 

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What language do you speak? 
Italian, lots of practice. 

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Lots of practice in Italian. 
Are you pretty fluent? 

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OK, but lots of practice. 
OK, So yeah, again, wisdom, it's

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a gift and it's a task. 
Now it takes practice to learn 

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those valuable things, but also 
the way God has made us often 

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gives us the desire to learn 
those things. 

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It's part of a gift that he's 
given us. 

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So actually there's the 
principle. 

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Anything of value will take time
and effort to learn, but God is 

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the one who stands behind that 
time and effort. 

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And it's the same principle with
learning wisdom from the living 

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Gods. 
Again, just think of some of the

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the most important relationships
in your life. 

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The relationships with your 
parents or with your children. 

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The relationships with brothers 
and sisters. 

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If you're married, the 
relationship with your husband 

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or wife. 
Your relationship with your 

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friends. 
These relationships are really 

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precious, but none of them are 
straightforward. 

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To learn how to love another 
person well and wisely takes 

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time and effort. 
We need to humble ourselves 

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before God and learn wisdom. 
That is what the writer of 

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Proverbs is telling us here. 
Here's how the American pastor 

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Ray Orland puts it. 
He says wisdom is not automatic 

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for us. 
Wisdom is not our default 

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setting. 
We will never get there. 

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By drifting. 
You kind of become a significant

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person by being neutral and cute
and safely unchanged. 

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That is complacency. 
God is offering you a treasure 

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infinitely worth seeking more of
himself, entering into you, 

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renewing you, safeguarding you. 
Will you give? 

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Give yourself completely to God 
today. 

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It's a really helpful way of 
thinking about wisdom. 

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Wisdom is something worth 
pursuing. 

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It is a gift given to us by a 
loving God as we humble 

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ourselves before him. 
But the writer of Proverbs tells

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us we need to ask for it. 
We need to strive for it. 

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It's both a gift from God and a 
task God gives to us. 

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So wisdom is really significant 
and something we should long 

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for. 
In addition to that, in Proverbs

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2, we learned that the wisdom, 
learning wisdom protects us. 

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In this fallen word, there's 
error free. 

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In verses 12 and 16, wisdom will
save you. 

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The writer says the Father is 
speaking to his son just as his 

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son is sort of leaving home and 
making his way into the world. 

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And the Father reminds him, we 
are all naturally foolish people

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in a world that is not naturally
wise. 

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The world we live in demands 
that we listen to it rather than

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to God. 
Therefore, we need the wisdom 

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that only God can give to us. 
And what are the particular 

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threats the Father mentions to 
his Son, verses 12 to 15? 

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He mentions the ways of wicked 
man. 

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00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,480
And the threat here, if you can 
sort of summarize it as the 

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threat of bad company, of being 
influenced by the people around 

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US. 
Verse 12 here men whose words 

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are perverse, who have left the 
straight paths to walk in dark 

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ways, who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness 

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of evil, whose paths are 
crooked, and who are devious in 

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their ways. 
The Father's telling the Son 

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00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:47,040
here, there are so many voices 
around us, and they will tell 

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you various things. 
They will promise you things. 

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They say if you want to be 
happy, then follow us. 

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Don't worry about all that God 
stuff. 

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Just do whatever you want to do.
There is no God or if there is, 

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he's just fine with us, whatever
we do. 

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00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,920
And the emphasis here on the 
wicked men is on their words, 

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verse 12. 
Their words are perverse. 

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They twist the meaning of true 
words. 

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People in our in our world, our 
culture will use amazing words 

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like love, justice, peace, 
belonging, community, 

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fulfilment, but they've twisted 
the meaning of those words so 

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00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:25,400
they lead us away from the 
living God rather than towards 

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00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,120
the living God as they're 
designed to do. 

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00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:33,640
And how does wisdom protect us 
from wicked men and their words?

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00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,120
Well, it's as we spend time 
listening to God's Word, 

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00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,920
spending time with him, spending
time with God's people, asking 

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00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,120
God to show us more of himself, 
that would begin to develop a 

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00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:49,360
better sense of what sounds like
Jesus and what doesn't sound 

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00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,280
like Jesus, that we will hear 
promises made to us. 

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00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,080
We'll begin to think that just 
doesn't sit right with me, that 

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00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:00,320
doesn't sound like Jesus. 
We begin to see through the 

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00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,560
lives of this world. 
We can't always explain it, but 

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00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,760
something doesn't sit right as 
we're spending time with God, in

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00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:10,800
his Word, with his people, and 
then we hear the promises of our

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00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,680
world. 
The Father urges his Son, Wisdom

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00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,920
will save you from the ways of 
wicked man. 

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00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,280
And the other big threat mention
is wisdom will save you from the

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adulterous woman. 
That's verses 16 to 19. 

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Wisdom will protect us from the 
lie the world tells us that 

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00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:32,720
sexual fulfilment is what life 
in this world is all about. 

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00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,160
Verse 16, Wisdom will save you 
also from the adulterous woman, 

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00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,280
from the wayward woman with her 
seductive words, who has left 

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00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,120
the partner of her youth and 
ignored the covenant she made 

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00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,960
before God. 
Surely her house leads down to 

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00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,920
death and her path to the 
spirits of the dead. 

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00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:52,200
None who go to her return or 
attain the paths of life. 

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00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:54,960
The Father wants his son to 
know. 

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00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,000
Here in the world we live in, 
the fall of where we live in, 

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00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:02,040
sex sells and sex offers us the 
world. 

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00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,920
Sex and sexual fulfillment are 
presented to us as the key to 

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00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:11,040
true happiness. 
It's all about youth and beauty 

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00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,920
and contentment and fulfillment 
and completion. 

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00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,560
But the book of Proverbs has a 
very different take on sexual 

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00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,319
activity outside the confines of
marriage. 

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00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:24,560
The gift, the marriage is from 
God to his people. 

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00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:29,880
Sex outside of that place leads 
ultimately to death, says 

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00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,400
Proverbs. 
Therefore, when we hear the 

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00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,520
words of the adulterous woman, 
Proverb urges us, run. 

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00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,720
If you're single, go home and 
remember the passionate life 

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00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,160
giving love the Lord Jesus had 
demonstrated and ask Him to stay

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00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,920
close to you. 
If you're married, go home and 

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00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,400
rejoice in the husband or wife 
that God has given you, 

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00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:51,640
remembering the passionate life,
giving love Jesus has for you 

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00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,120
and asking Him to keep you close
to Him. 

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00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:58,600
See, throughout the book of 
Proverbs, this figure of the 

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00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,360
adulterous woman recurs 
regularly. 

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00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:06,080
There are two contrasting women 
throughout this book, Wisdom 

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00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,840
presented as a godly woman or 
wife, and Folly presented as an 

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00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:14,680
adulterous woman or prostitute. 
And the adulterous woman is a 

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00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,440
warning against all unwise 
ungodly sexual relationships, 

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00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:23,040
but also she stands as a warning
to all of God's people against 

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00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:27,000
spiritual unfaithfulness. 
Again, across the Old and New 

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00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:31,760
Testament, marriage is a picture
of God's love for his people, 

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00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:36,240
and therefore sexual adultery is
a picture of spiritual adultery.

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00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,320
Look at Old Testament prophets 
like Hosea, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Old

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00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,000
Testament books like Song of 
Songs, New Testament writers 

333
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,880
like Paul and James. 
Our recurring warning in the 

334
00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,560
book of Proverbs is don't marry 
folly. 

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00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,240
Don't get into bed with folly. 
Instead, marry wisdom. 

336
00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,040
Stay close to wisdom because 
wisdom alone will lead you to 

337
00:18:56,120 --> 00:19:00,600
Jesus and the life that he alone
can give to us. 

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00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:04,720
Wisdom will save you from the 
adulterous woman, says Proverbs.

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00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:09,000
And then verses 20 to 22. 
It shows wisdom not just about 

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00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:14,280
avoiding sin or foolishness. 
Wisdom leads us into life in all

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00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:15,560
its fullness. 
Verse 20. 

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00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,720
Thus you will walk in the ways 
of the good and keep to the past

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00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:21,680
of the righteous. 
For the upright will live in the

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00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:23,760
land, and the blameless will 
remain in it. 

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00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,240
In that picture of the land, 
it's the place of God's blessing

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00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,680
to his people. 
In the Old Testament, the land 

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00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,520
was ancient Israel that the 
promised land God had given 

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00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:35,480
them. 
In the New Testament, the land 

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00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:38,760
is a picture of what it means to
have right relationship with 

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00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:43,880
Jesus, to be in Christ, to be 
remaining in Him, loved by him, 

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00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,800
secure in him. 
You see learning wisdom. 

352
00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:52,840
It's a gift and it's a task, and
it protects us in this fallen 

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00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,080
world. 
But by the end of Proverbs 2, 

354
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,600
we're maybe asking the question,
but yeah, that's great what 

355
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,280
wisdom does, but how do we 
actually become wise? 

356
00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,160
How do we get started on the 
road to wisdom? 

357
00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,640
And that is where Proverbs 
chapter 3 comes in. 

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00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:11,520
There's where we learn the heart
of wisdom, which is to trust in 

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00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:16,640
the Lord with all your heart and
to humble yourself before him. 

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00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,080
This is our verse of the term. 
And we just want to, for our 

361
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,640
last bit, just to unpack that a 
bit of what that means for the 

362
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,040
beginnings of wisdom and the 
heart. 

363
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,280
Of wisdom. 
First of all, this verse tells 

364
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,160
us to trust, to trust in the 
Lord's. 

365
00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,280
What does it mean to trust 
someone or something? 

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00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,040
Well, why? 
I don't speak Hebrew, but 

367
00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:40,440
apparently the Hebrew word for 
trust is, is anything but a 

368
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,320
passive word. 
So it has that meaning with it. 

369
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:47,840
To throw yourself down on your 
face before someone, to lie down

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00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,880
in complete reliance. 
It's a picture of complete 

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00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:56,360
dependence collapsing onto the 
Lord, admitting how much we need

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00:20:56,360 --> 00:20:59,520
him, asking Him for His help and
presence with us. 

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00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:01,240
So how do we learn wisdom in 
this world? 

374
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:05,160
Through drawing near to God in 
repentance and faith. 

375
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:09,280
We threw all our weight on to 
the God of the gospel. 

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00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:14,440
We cast our anxieties onto Him, 
we take Him at His word, and we 

377
00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:20,280
build our lives upon Him. 
That is what trust means, and 

378
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,720
it's trust in the Lord. 
It's not an impersonal trust, 

379
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,920
it's a personal trust. 
That word Lord, It's capital 

380
00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,040
letters in the Hebrew. 
It's Yahweh that is the personal

381
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:34,000
name for God. 
That's the God who created us, 

382
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:36,720
the God who made us in his 
image, the God who knit us 

383
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,480
together in our mother's wombs, 
the God who has rescued us. 

384
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:43,960
Again, Yahweh was the God of the
Exodus who saves his people from

385
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,320
slavery in Egypt in the New 
Testament, who saves his people 

386
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,520
from slavery to sin and death 
through Jesus. 

387
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,320
That is the Lord, the God who 
rescues us and the God of loving

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00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:58,000
relationship, the God who adopts
us into his family, the God who 

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00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:02,320
invites us to call him Father, 
the God who speaks to us, who 

390
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:07,200
hears us, who helps us. 
The heart of wisdom isn't 

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00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,000
ultimately learning a set of 
skills or following a set of 

392
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,280
moral principles or making our 
own way in the world. 

393
00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:18,320
The heart of wisdom is trusting 
in the personal God of the 

394
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,320
Bible, the God who made us, the 
God who saves us, the God who 

395
00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,360
loves us. 
And again, to add to that 

396
00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:28,920
picture, we've got this picture 
of loving and trusting and sorry

397
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,960
with all our hearts. 
Again, contrary to the amazing 

398
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,280
design we have here, the heart 
isn't simply the muscle that 

399
00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,320
pumps the blood around it. 
It's quite a vivid picture on 

400
00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,480
the design. 
And nor is your heart just a 

401
00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:43,960
reference to your feelings. 
Again, we say, well, well, well,

402
00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:46,120
my heart says this, but my head 
says this. 

403
00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:48,760
No, that's not a Hebrew 
understanding of the heart. 

404
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,720
The heart is the centre of who 
you really are. 

405
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:54,240
It's, it's, it's everything that
matters about you. 

406
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,320
It's the way you think, the way 
you feel, the way you make 

407
00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,240
decisions. 
It's the heart. 

408
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,320
Your heart is the way you think.
What do I believe to be true 

409
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,440
right now? 
How am I looking at the world 

410
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:06,640
around me? 
It's the way you feel. 

411
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,480
What do I desire right now? 
What do I believe will make me 

412
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,640
happy right now? 
Your heart is the way you make 

413
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,160
decisions. 
What decisions do I have to make

414
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,760
in my life today? 
What course of action will I 

415
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:20,440
take? 
And the writer of Proverbs says 

416
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,600
you need to trust in the Lord 
with all your heart, with what 

417
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,400
you think, with how you feel, 
with what you choose. 

418
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,560
And to do that, we need new 
hearts that only God can give to

419
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:34,560
us. 
We need to place our whole lives

420
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,960
into the hands of the God who 
loves us. 

421
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:43,240
And to do that, we need to not 
lean on our own understanding. 

422
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,600
We need to admit that our own 
understanding will often be 

423
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,680
faulty. 
We don't see the full picture. 

424
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,680
And if there's a conflict 
between what God's Word says and

425
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,400
what our hearts want, we 
actually need to learn to listen

426
00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:02,320
to God's Word above our hearts. 
And I see that need for humility

427
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:05,280
before God. 
Just glance ahead to verse 34 of

428
00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,040
Proverbs 3. 
Just down to verse 34. 

429
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,640
There it, it reads like this. 
He mocks pride, mockers, but 

430
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,560
shows favour to the humble and 
oppressed. 

431
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,240
Now that's a translation of the 
of the Hebrew there. 

432
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,640
But the New Testament quotes 
this verse twice using the 

433
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,960
wording from the Greek version 
of the Old Testament, the 

434
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,200
Septuagint. 
So in both James four and one 

435
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:31,640
Peter 5, we will read this. 
God opposes the pride but gives 

436
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:36,080
grace to the humble. 
That's quoting Proverbs 334. 

437
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,720
That's the heart of wisdom to 
humble ourselves before God, 

438
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,360
knowing that He will give us 
grace as we do that. 

439
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,440
See, the heart of sin is I know 
what's best. 

440
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,920
I don't need God. 
I know what I need to do. 

441
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:56,240
But the heart of humility is God
is God and I am not. 

442
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,320
I need to listen to him. 
I can't presume I know what's 

443
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:02,200
best. 
I need to humble myself before 

444
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,280
him. 
So the question is better 

445
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,720
Proverbs asks is so are you 
teachable? 

446
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,120
When's the last time that you 
came across something in God's 

447
00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:12,800
word you didn't like and you 
didn't try and explain it away 

448
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:14,360
or dodge it. 
You said, well, this is God's 

449
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:17,360
word, I need to listen to it. 
Are you teachable? 

450
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,840
When's the last time you 
admitted to someone you got it 

451
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:25,080
wrong and you say sorry to them 
when you say sorry to God when 

452
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,000
you get it wrong, don't lean on 
your own understanding. 

453
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:35,360
Come to God and ask him to show 
you wisdom and the last bit of 

454
00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:38,040
the the verse, it's amazing 
statement. 

455
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,200
And he will make your paths 
straight. 

456
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,280
All the translations, he will 
direct your paths. 

457
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,800
But there is that idea of a 
straight path here. 

458
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,160
And it's important to be clear 
that isn't a promise that if we 

459
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,400
trust in the Lord, our lives 
will be nice and ordered and 

460
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,640
neat. 
Our paths will not always look 

461
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,040
very straight. 
The path the Lord leads us down 

462
00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,440
in this life often looks 
anything but straight. 

463
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,760
It is, to quote the word The 
Beatles, a long and winding 

464
00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:05,800
road. 
And we don't always know quite 

465
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,960
what's going to happen next. 
But there is a promise here that

466
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,000
if we come to the Lord and 
humble ourselves before Him, we 

467
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,680
can trust His will for our 
lives. 

468
00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:18,760
We don't yet have that aerial 
view that shows whether our 

469
00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:22,840
paths are straight or not, but 
we can trust in the Lord, lean 

470
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:26,200
not on our own understanding, 
and know that His will for our 

471
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:31,400
lives is perfect and good. 
And Proverbs three serve unpacks

472
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,800
that. 
What it looks like says we can 

473
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,240
trust the Lord in good times. 
Verses 9 to 10 honour the Lord 

474
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,040
with your wealth, with the first
fruits of all your crops. 

475
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:44,360
Then your barns will be filled 
overflowing, and your vats will 

476
00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:47,400
brim over with new wine. 
Here the writer of Proverbs 

477
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:49,800
says, when life is good, trust 
in the Lord. 

478
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,640
Recognize everything you have as
a gift from God, Thank him for 

479
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:55,360
it. 
Be generous with it. 

480
00:26:55,360 --> 00:27:01,080
In good times, trust in the 
Lord, and then in hard times. 

481
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:05,320
Verse 11 My son, do not despise 
the Lord's discipline and do not

482
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:08,640
resent his rebuke, because the 
Lord disciplines those He loves 

483
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,160
as a father, the Son, He 
delights him. 

484
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:17,000
Like verse 34, Proverbs 3. 
These verses are also quoted in 

485
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:21,120
the New Testament in Hebrews 12,
and they remind us of an amazing

486
00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:24,240
truth. 
Hard times are not a sign that 

487
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,920
God does not love you. 
They're not a sign that God has 

488
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,800
abandoned you. 
Actually, it can be quite the 

489
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:32,760
opposite. 
Hard times can be a sign that 

490
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:37,520
God is with you and He wants to 
show you more of Himself as 

491
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,720
you're forced to lean on Him as 
a father disciplines the Son he 

492
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:45,240
loves, so God does a lie 
difficult times to come into the

493
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,400
lives of His people so that we 
learn we need Him. 

494
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:50,160
So that we learn that He is 
good. 

495
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,120
So that we learn that He is 
faithful in ways that we could 

496
00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:55,440
not learn when our barns were 
overflowing. 

497
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,720
Command here is to trust in the 
Lord with all our heart, in good

498
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:05,720
times and in hard times, and we 
will discover that He is the one

499
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:11,760
who will keep us and lead us. 
This is the heart of wisdom. 

500
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:16,120
Trust in the Lord with all your 
heart, humble yourselves before 

501
00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:20,360
Him, and He will lead you in the
way He wants you to go. 

502
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,640
That is wisdom, says Proverbs. 
And again we said this 

503
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,240
overarching the wisdom in the 
Bible helps us grow more like 

504
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:34,760
Jesus as we live in God's world.
And how does Jesus embody 

505
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:39,120
Proverbs 35 to 6:00? 
We look at how Jesus lived in 

506
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:41,920
relationship to his Father in 
this world. 

507
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,560
Jesus trusted his Father 
completely in good times and in 

508
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,360
hard times, when he was hugely 
successful and when he was on 

509
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,560
his way to the cross. 
He walked through this world in 

510
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,680
dependence on his Father. 
He loved his Father with his 

511
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,680
whole heart. 
He submitted to his Father in 

512
00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:02,040
order to save us. 
Words on the screen from one 

513
00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:05,120
Peter 2. 
Christ suffered for you, leaving

514
00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:06,640
you an example that you should 
follow. 

515
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:09,800
In His steps. 
He committed no sin and no 

516
00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,920
deceit was found in His mouth. 
When they hurled their insults 

517
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,360
at Him, He did not retaliate. 
When He suffered, He made no 

518
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:18,800
threats. 
Instead, He entrusted himself to

519
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:22,840
Him who judges justly. 
He Himself bore our sins and His

520
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,560
body on the cross, who we might 
die to sins and live for 

521
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,520
righteousness. 
By His wounds you have been 

522
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:34,640
healed. 
When God's Word calls us to 

523
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:39,040
wisdom, calls us to follow in 
the footsteps of Jesus. 

524
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,440
Because Jesus knows what it's 
like to trust in God through 

525
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,280
good times and hard times, He is
able to help those of us to 

526
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:50,680
trust in the Father through good
times and hard times. 

527
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:55,360
The heart of wisdom is growing 
more like Jesus as we live in 

528
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:59,000
God's world, as we listen to 
God's Word. 

529
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,400
So as we finish this morning, I 
just want to leave us with a 

530
00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,000
couple of questions to think 
about in the quiet, and then 

531
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:09,320
I'll hand back to Joel. 
How can you tell if your trust 

532
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:13,760
in the Lord is wholehearted? 
Some questions that I found 

533
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,080
helpful this week. 
First one there, are you 

534
00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,760
teachable? 
Do you let God's Word overrule 

535
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,520
your thinking? 
It's a big challenge. 

536
00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,760
We often come to God's Word. 
I want this to confirm what I 

537
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,760
want to do Anyway. 
Are we teachable? 

538
00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:33,280
Secondly, have you collapsed on 
Jesus as your only Lord and 

539
00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,400
Savior? 
That picture of trust just lying

540
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,760
face down, just going. 
I cannot do this alone, Lord. 

541
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,880
Casting our anxieties on him. 
That is trusting in the Lord 

542
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:47,040
with all our hearts. 
When was the last time you took 

543
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:52,240
a risk to obey Jesus? 
Perhaps you, you think, well, 

544
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,200
I'll obey Jesus as long as it's 
safe, as long as it doesn't feel

545
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,080
too scary. 
This, this proverb says the 

546
00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:00,560
heart of wisdom is to trust in 
him with our whole heart. 

547
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,800
Lean not on our own 
understanding something that 

548
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:08,800
will involve risk, but we can 
trust in God and in his good 

549
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,760
purposes. 
Let's just take a few minutes to

550
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,400
think about those questions, 
reflect on them in the quiet, 

551
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:16,720
and then Joel will lead us.