1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,880 Welcome to the River City Church podcast and a message by our 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,960 lead pastor Jason Powers. Our prayer is that this message 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,240 would inspire and encourage you, build your faith and point you 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:14,720 to the life changing love of Jesus. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,560 May you enjoy the goodness of. God as you follow him today 6 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:20,960 series. Today and that series is on the 7 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:25,880 book of Proverbs and Man. Is this a time for us to talk 8 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:27,720 about proverbs right in the world? 9 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,120 It's hard. The world is kind of feels a 10 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:36,000 little bit crazy and, and you know, we're trying, we're doing 11 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,840 our best, we're doing what we can, but it can be difficult 12 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,160 sometime. I wanted to teach the proverbs 13 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,160 for a long time, but I haven't really kind of known how to go 14 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:45,760 about it right? Like, do you go each chapter? 15 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:47,280 Do you go like like 1 by 1? How do? 16 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:48,480 You do it. And So what we're going to do 17 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:51,880 over the next several weeks is kind of just deal with some of 18 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:54,600 the topics, some of the recurring themes that could run 19 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,600 throughout the proverbs that will kind of impact and and 20 00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:59,480 affect our life. But that's the important thing 21 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,040 for us to remember as we jump into the proverbs. 22 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,840 One danger in talking about the proverbs is that we can deal 23 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,960 with them as kind of neat little intellectual exercises, right? 24 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:10,040 Like we can come to them and just. 25 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:12,560 Oh, I'd like to think about that and talk about that over dinner 26 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:14,880 with my friends and see what that is about. 27 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,200 And the proverbs as, as we read and as we're going to see, 28 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:24,000 they're fundamentally not that. They're fundamentally not just 29 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,720 about information, not just about getting smarter. 30 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,480 The purpose of the proverbs is formation. 31 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,520 What the Proverbs do when they get in and have their work, when 32 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,800 they work as expected, is they change us, they transform us, 33 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,840 they shape us and not just us. What happens then as I become 34 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:44,440 shaped by the wisdom and the Proverbs? 35 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,200 My friend Jacob is shaped by the. 36 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:47,680 Wisdom and is in in the Proverbs. 37 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,160 And my friend Tony is shaped by the wisdom and the Proverbs. 38 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:55,320 What happens is we become a people, a culture, a church 39 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,280 shaped and walking in wisdom. And that's important. 40 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:02,680 That's God's design and His. Desire for us, that's why. 41 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,040 It's in there. So before we kind of jump in and 42 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,440 start handling it, let's talk a little bit at at kind of 50,000 43 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,560 feet, right? The book of Proverbs belongs to 44 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:13,240 a genre. To understand the Scripture, 45 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,080 it's important to understand the genre, right? 46 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,320 Like is this a prophecy that tell us what's God's doing in 47 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,960 our world right now? Is this an epistle? 48 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,160 Is this a letter of encouragement or correction? 49 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,360 Is this a history book? Well, the book of Proverbs falls 50 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,120 under a genre called wisdom literature. 51 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,640 And the wisdom literature can include the books, the Psalms, 52 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,360 the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. 53 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,080 These aren't law books. What the Proverbs is not, and 54 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,160 this is important, like if we don't get this, the book of 55 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:44,800 Proverbs is going to miss us, right? 56 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,440 It is not a list of rules. It is not a thing that says if 57 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,000 you go do this every single time, this is going to work out 58 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,840 this way. The book of Proverbs is not a 59 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:00,160 list of unconditional promises. The book of Proverbs is not a 60 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:04,200 contract between God and us that you say that you can go back to 61 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:06,840 God and kind of hold him accountable and say God, I did 62 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:11,160 what you said in you. Let me down if we want. 63 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,720 To think about how to approach and enter into the proverbs. 64 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,880 Think about it like the .5 setting on your camera, right? 65 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,560 My teenage daughters tell me about all of this, right? 66 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:24,400 And apparently .5 is out. I can take a picture of my 67 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,280 friend Mike right there and it's granular. 68 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,080 I can see, you know, his Gray hair and his, you know, big 69 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,520 white smile. He loves that see like big white 70 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:33,160 smile and all those things I can see. 71 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,320 But when I switch to .5 mode I can see all. 72 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,040 Of you, the whole. Thing comes into picture. 73 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,240 That's how we come to the proverbs. 74 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,360 That's what the proverbs point. That's it is a wide angle lens 75 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,840 of reality, not focused on the granular details of this moment 76 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,920 and this moment and this moment. When I say it's not a promise, 77 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,600 think of it like a please don't leave the trail like we just got 78 00:03:57,600 --> 00:03:59,200 back. From the Great Smoky Mountains, 79 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,440 which I, I, that's where heaven is I, I just, I feel like it. 80 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,680 And so we're excited and. The thing is, there are bears in 81 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:06,760 the. Great Smoky Mountain, we didn't 82 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:08,120 see any. I was looking for them but they 83 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,840 didn't see them right. But we would go hiking and we 84 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,320 would walk on these trails. And because it's this pristine 85 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,120 wilderness, there are these signs that say please stay on 86 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,560 the trail. Now that's good advice, right? 87 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:19,720 Because you can get off the trail and. 88 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:20,519 You can get. Lost. 89 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,800 But what that doesn't mean is that if a bear is chasing you, 90 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,240 you don't run for your life in any direction that you can to 91 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:31,360 get away from it, right? Stay on the trail means in most 92 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,480 cases, in most circumstances, and in most situations, the 93 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,920 thing that you're looking for is found on the trail. 94 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:41,840 What are you looking? For I'm looking for vistas, I'm 95 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,840 looking for sites, I'm looking for all these things in the 96 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:46,560 woods. Your best way to experience 97 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,800 those is to stay on the trail. And occasionally, sometimes you 98 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:54,040 have to get off the trail. That's how we come to Proverbs. 99 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,360 Proverbs are wisdom for your life that the vast majority of 100 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,120 time in your experience are going to lead you where you want 101 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:04,560 to be, are going to lead you to the place where you want to, 102 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,000 where you want to get. That's how we come. 103 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,040 We want to look at them in terms of our life. 104 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:12,280 Now I want to talk about something that's a little more 105 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:14,840 nuts and bolts about the Bible that I'm going to be teaching 106 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:18,240 out of. Typically I have I my baseline 107 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,720 kind of preaching Bible is the Christian standard Bible, the 108 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,120 CSB. When Johnny and I taught 109 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,720 Ephesians last year, we taught out of the new American 110 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,280 standard, and we did that for a very specific reason. 111 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:32,960 It's kind of clunky. Johnny even said this, the 112 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:34,200 language is kind of clunky. It's a. 113 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,120 Word for word translation. And the reason we did that in 114 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,920 that context is because there we were dealing with words like 115 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:47,560 election, right, salvation. Those are super important word 116 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,200 detail words. We've already said the Proverbs 117 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,760 is a different kind of story. So I'm going to teach this 118 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,080 series out of the New Living Translation. 119 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,440 Some of you are like, whoo, finally we got Jesus 120 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,000 translation, right? Yep, that's good, right? 121 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,360 Here's why I chose the New Living Translation for this 122 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:05,280 series. Again, it's like the .5. 123 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,680 What the New Living Translation does is it takes the original 124 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,240 context, the Greek and the Hebrew text, and it translates 125 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,880 them thought for thought rather than word for word. 126 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,640 So it allows the text to be more readable. 127 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,240 It allows it to be more conversational. 128 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,200 I don't have to get a translation from the new 129 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,560 American Standard Bible into common English. 130 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,080 I can come to the New Living Translation. 131 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,680 And that's so important because what we're looking for in this 132 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,000 is an orientation, right? Like we're looking for a 133 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:38,800 direction. It's something like, which way 134 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:40,440 do I go? And what the new living in 135 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,440 broad, broad terms, thought by thought, it says the way of 136 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,520 wisdom and following the Lord is this way. 137 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,280 It's just more readable. So here's what I'm saying. 138 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:52,200 If you have the Christian standard Bible, if you went out 139 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,080 and bought it, I'm not abandoning you, brother. 140 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:54,760 It's fine. We can. 141 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:56,720 Do this right. If you've always had the new 142 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:58,120 Living translation, that's great. 143 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,400 You can keep using it if you have another translation, the 144 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,440 NRSV or the NIB or the NA or like like. 145 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:10,800 Great God spoke through the mouth of a donkey in the Old 146 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,360 Testament. He will meet your earnest desire 147 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,560 to find him in the translation. So if you have a new Living 148 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:19,240 Translation at home and you want to bring it. 149 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,080 To church with. Us with you each. 150 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:22,400 Week. That's great you'll be able to 151 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,280 read. That, but I want to get back 152 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,360 kind of this idea, this topic about about the. 153 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,080 Wisdom in the sun of the .5 and all that. 154 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,720 And about this idea that the purpose of the the point of this 155 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:34,560 proverbs is is to Orient us right? 156 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,840 Is to give us a direction. It's to form us. 157 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,200 It's to shape us into a certain kind of people. 158 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:43,960 That's good news because one of the things that we talked about 159 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,600 a lot here is nobody arrives in this room unformed. 160 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:52,120 You have been formed by your life, and some of your formation 161 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,800 taught you that the way to go about life is just to follow the 162 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:57,720 rules. If you'll follow the rules, then 163 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,920 everything will be fine for you. Some of you were taught that if 164 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,520 you'll just work hard, then everything will be OK. 165 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,200 You just work hard and you put an honest day's work and you 166 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,640 sweat and you grind it out and everything will be fun. 167 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,680 Some of you were told that if you'll just have basically 168 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,920 generally good intentions, if you'll just really want to be a 169 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,200 good and nice and kind and deep and decent person. 170 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,320 And so you've lived your life up to this point chasing that 171 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,400 script, trying to live out those those things. 172 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:27,600 That's what it means to be formed. 173 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:32,039 You have a response to life in this world that comes from where 174 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:34,640 you are, comes from where you've been. 175 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,840 Rules are fine. Let me be real clear, right? 176 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:40,880 There's some people in here that are just like, if he like, 177 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:45,280 listen, rules are good, Rules are necessary. 178 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,720 It is important to know that some things are good and some 179 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,200 things are not good. The point, the problem with 180 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:57,800 rules is they're not ultimate. They don't form us perfectly on 181 00:08:57,800 --> 00:08:59,240 our own. And here's how I know. 182 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,640 Because my wife, my loving, beautiful wife right over here, 183 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,320 she was formed to be a rule follower. 184 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:11,240 I was formed not to be a rule follower. 185 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,480 I would. I think rules are great 186 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,480 stretching exercises, right? Let's figure out kind of how far 187 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,000 they go. Here's the thing. 188 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:21,840 Both the rule follower and the rule stretcher. 189 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:26,800 Have not been exempted from anxiety, from fear, from 190 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:32,240 loneliness, from anger, from hostility, from sin. 191 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,640 I'm telling you, my wife loves rules. 192 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:41,400 Rules are good. They're important. 193 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:46,200 But they don't complete us. They don't fill in the holes, we 194 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,080 don't fill in the gaps. And I know that. 195 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:50,880 And that's So what that indicates to me is that as good 196 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,000 and necessary and important as rules are, if those become the 197 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,400 center, if those become the main thing and in fact the only 198 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,840 thing, what that's going to lead us to is malformation. 199 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,560 And what I would say is we can be malformed by being obsessive 200 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:05,960 rules follower. We can be malformed by being 201 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,440 obsessive rule ignorers. We can be malformed by being 202 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,080 people who follow our intentions, who people who 203 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,120 follow the acquisition of knowledge, people who just say, 204 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:17,720 if I could just learn a little bit more, if I could just know a 205 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:19,360 little bit more than I would be OK. 206 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,160 And what I want to say is wherever we are in that journey, 207 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,760 none of those things is sufficient in and of themselves 208 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,200 to create the kind of life then in our heart we know we were 209 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,800 created for. We can have good intentions and 210 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:34,440 hard work. Have you ever had that? 211 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,160 Have you ever wondered like man, I'm working hard, I'm doing the 212 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:40,880 good work. But if that's not enough, we can 213 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,000 have good intentions and sign on to a get rich quick screen 214 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,800 scheme. And our best intention, we want 215 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,280 to provide for our families. We want to give everything that 216 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:52,400 we can. And so I'll just invest a little 217 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:54,600 bit here and it'll be great. And I know the odds are. 218 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,720 Against it and our family ends up hungry. 219 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:02,120 You ever missed the boat? Your intentions are great, but 220 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:04,480 the way it worked out in your life wasn't great. 221 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,640 And again, this is so important. There's no shame here, but I. 222 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,280 Do want to do is hold up a mirror and say like, like we've 223 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,520 got to look at ourselves and see how's it working? 224 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:15,480 How's what we're doing, doing right? 225 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:17,360 One of the big problems is values, right? 226 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,080 Like look at this, I come in here and I get the language of 227 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,200 Christian value. I come in here my doctrine of 228 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,680 divine love. Is pristine. 229 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,840 The problem is I walk out of here and I go to HEB and you see 230 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,200 me furrowed. Right. 231 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:33,400 You see me on the. Road. 232 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:35,120 I'm pounding the steering wheel right. 233 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:39,040 My values are great, but the expression of my values through 234 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:40,640 my life. Not so much. 235 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,280 I get angry, I get scared. I have a short fuse. 236 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:47,920 The problem isn't that I'm not well-intentioned. 237 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,240 The problem isn't that I don't know what I'm supposed to do. 238 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,240 The problem is that it hasn't formed me. 239 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:56,560 We can be well meaning in our intention. 240 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:59,120 We find somebody who's broken hearted, whose heart has been 241 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:03,080 crushed by a relationship, and we draw up and in our best 242 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,000 intentions, our most well meaning moment, we begin to talk 243 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,560 about how man, that other person wasn't good for you and they 244 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:10,440 listen. It's their problem and not your 245 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:12,960 problem and and I'm. Sure, you're fine and listening 246 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,160 and I heard about them and slowly, well meaning and 247 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,480 well-intentioned we slide into gossip. 248 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:20,920 We begin and our desire to protect someone. 249 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,600 We begin to destroy and demean someone else, only to find a 250 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,160 weak. Week later, that word got out 251 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,120 and now we've hurt someone else. The problem wasn't that our 252 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:31,680 intent wasn't good. The problem wasn't that we 253 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:35,840 didn't mean well. The problem was we can't help 254 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,800 ourselves. We want to do right, and I want 255 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:42,560 you to hear me say it. Listen, if, if, if we don't 256 00:12:42,560 --> 00:12:44,400 begin on that. If if if you don't. 257 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:45,920 Trust. Me in this we're going to have a 258 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,440 hard time throughout this years I want you to know I. 259 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,520 Believe that your intention is fully right and good. 260 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:56,240 I believe that you want and desire the goodness that God has 261 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:57,200 for you. But if we. 262 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,320 Step around and look not just at the world out there, but at the 263 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,960 life that I'm living in here. I can see it's having marginal 264 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:08,720 effect at best. I want to do right, but I lack 265 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,760 the ability to do it. And a lot of times, what's 266 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:13,520 difficult, what makes it even more difficult? 267 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:17,920 As we live now in this kind of morally ambiguous reality, don't 268 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,440 we? We've got people on every side, 269 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,360 from every camp in every direction, telling us not just 270 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:29,720 what we should do, but with the force of moral certainty. 271 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:31,320 You. Must. 272 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:33,280 Believe. Think. 273 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:39,800 Do this or you must believe, think or do the exact. 274 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:45,680 Opposite often within this room, our intentions are good, but I 275 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:48,600 know for myself, I'm not getting better fast enough, better 276 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:50,200 little bit right degree by degree. 277 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,520 I'm not there's no criticism, there's no, no anger here, 278 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,360 right? But that's what our that's what 279 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:58,960 our confession is. We say this every week. 280 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,920 We cannot pull back from it. What is our confession? 281 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,480 Our confession is we are badly broken. 282 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:07,800 Brokenness is part and parcel of that. 283 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:09,560 We have to. Acknowledge that the brokenness 284 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:12,320 is the part of us that just says man, I want to love people well, 285 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,680 but as often as not, I end up alienating them or hurting them 286 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:19,520 or fearing them or running for them or or demonizing them in 287 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,240 order to make myself feel more secure. 288 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,920 The problem isn't that we don't have an good intention. 289 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,240 Here's why I say that. Here's the purpose that our 290 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,320 confession is meant to serve in our in our gatherings, in our 291 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,600 meetings. When something that we read and 292 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,400 hear or something from the scripture shines a light on 293 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,960 something that has in us that's broken, we don't have to run 294 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,400 from that. We don't have to hide in shame 295 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,520 from that. I want you to know this room is 296 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:47,400 a safe place to come broken, but it's not a place to stay broken 297 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:48,800 because we believe that God wants to. 298 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,120 Heal us and put us back together. 299 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,640 And one of the the most fundamental ways that he does 300 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:58,400 that is by inviting us to walk in wisdom, which the Proverbs 301 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,560 unpacked for us. A problem isn't that we don't 302 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:03,920 know enough rules. A problem isn't that we don't 303 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:06,600 have enough intellect. The problem isn't that we don't 304 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:08,160 that we're not trying hard enough. 305 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:12,640 All those things are important. They're just not enough. 306 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,800 I want you to be smarter. I want you to memorize this 307 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:20,120 sucker. I want the people in this room 308 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:26,440 to be the most efficient, effective handlers of God's Word 309 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:28,720 and the world. But you've probably known 310 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,080 somebody who knew a lot of Scripture that you could hardly 311 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,920 stand to be around. That's unfortunate, and that's 312 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,120 not wisdom. And what I want to say about 313 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,520 that is that's not God's desire for your life. 314 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,200 That's not. And the reason I know is because 315 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:49,880 He has put right in the very middle of his word, of his, of 316 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,000 his, the story of his dealing with mankind. 317 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,000 Right there in the very middle of it, He's put a book about 318 00:15:55,320 --> 00:16:00,280 wisdom, about how to live. So we're going to start today 319 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,000 just looking at that. How does wisdom form us? 320 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,720 How does it affect us? How does it get into us? 321 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:10,760 What is our response to it? What do we do with this wisdom? 322 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,440 Right. And So what I want to do, again, 323 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,880 just like what Kerry did, is I just want to read it. 324 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,240 So if you have it. On your phone if you have it, on 325 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,440 an iPad if you have it. And listen, I'm a big fan of 326 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,280 this, right? Just because I can see where it 327 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,520 fits in the hole. If you've got a paper Bible, I'd 328 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:27,280 encourage you to Brant, But if you don't, that's fine. 329 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,640 Listen, I don't care. Use a scroll, smoke signals, I 330 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:32,360 don't care. Just get it right. 331 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,080 Like get the word. So I'm going to read Proverbs 332 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:39,480 chapter 1 verses one through 7. These are the. 333 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:43,760 Proverbs of Solomon, David's son, the king of Israel. 334 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,880 Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline. 335 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,520 To help them understand the insights of the wise. 336 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,960 Their purpose is to teach. People to live disciplined and 337 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,240 successful lives to help them do. 338 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:03,840 That's a formation word. What is right and just and fair? 339 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:08,599 These proverbs will give insight to the simple knowledge and. 340 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:11,400 Discernment to the young. Let the wise. 341 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,680 Listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. 342 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,280 Let those with understanding receive guidance by exploring 343 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,440 the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the 344 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:22,480 wise and their and their riddles. 345 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:27,280 The fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, 346 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,680 but fools despise wisdom and discipline. 347 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:39,160 This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God, by the way, 348 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:41,160 that's the response to that. I didn't know that, right, 349 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:42,840 because I didn't come up like in a liturgical thing. 350 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:44,520 But that's the deal. When we come up and read every 351 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,400 time, and there's at the end, this is the word of the Lord, 352 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,200 our response is thanks be to God. 353 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:50,840 And you know why we give thanks to God? 354 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,120 Because His Word transforms us and forms us into what he's 355 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:57,240 doing in our lives. We thank Him for his word, which 356 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,640 is ultimately Jesus. But we'll get back to that in a 357 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,400 minute, right? So these verses at the very 358 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,920 beginning, they are an Establishment Clause, if you 359 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:07,280 will. They establish a lot of things 360 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,960 that are going to help guide us and lead us through the book of 361 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:11,800 Proverbs. So it's important that we 362 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:13,600 understand these. We're going to keep needing to 363 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,800 come back to these because listen, you're going to read 364 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:17,840 things in there and you're not going to know what to do with 365 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:19,160 them, right? And they're going to kind of be 366 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:21,600 offensive to you and they're going to hurt your feelings and 367 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:22,640 they're going to confront you, right? 368 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,040 And we're going to want to have a response in a certain way, 369 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:26,760 right? So what we do is we come back to 370 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,800 this and we go, what's what's going on? 371 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:31,200 What does this tell us? The first thing that this that 372 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:36,400 this introduction tells us it. Man, I should slow down the 1st. 373 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,040 Thing that we. Find in this introduction is 374 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,480 that the purpose and the purpose of the Proverbs is 375 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:43,280 transformation. Listen to what it says. 376 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:45,520 I'm going to read it again. I'm going to read a lot, right, 377 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,560 just because I want to hear it. Listen to what it says starting 378 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,080 in verse 2. Their purpose is to teach people 379 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:56,520 wisdom and discipline. Their purpose is to help them 380 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:00,040 understand the insights of the wise, right? 381 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:02,320 So that's all sounds like knowledge, right? 382 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,200 To understand, to see, right? But here's where it goes. 383 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,320 The purpose is to teach people to. 384 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:14,280 Live to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives 385 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:19,800 and to help them do what is right and just and fair. 386 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,320 So the purpose of? The wisdom and the proverbs, the 387 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,800 thing that they do, the reason that they're in here is to train 388 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:28,440 us. And what it says about the way 389 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:31,480 that it trains is discipline. Aren't you glad you came on 390 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:36,400 Discipline Sunday? We misunderstand discipline, and 391 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,960 I think the reason we misunderstand discipline, the 392 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,840 reason often I misunderstand discipline is because I think of 393 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,160 it often in terms of my parenting relationship with my 394 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,880 kids and the OR the way that I was parented by my parents. 395 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:51,680 And the problem is, the way that I discipline my kids is often 396 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,960 rooted in my sinfulness. In my brokenness. 397 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:59,120 So what I want to do is OfferUp a definition of discipline that 398 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:01,560 I think is going to rescue us from all of that, right? 399 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:06,840 Discipline is very simply training that leads us to a 400 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,760 Jesus shaped life. So here's a picture of what 401 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,080 discipline might look like as a parent in my kids, right? 402 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:18,200 My I set a rule for my kids don't play in the street. 403 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,920 The reason I don't want my kids to play in the street is because 404 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,840 the semi doesn't care. The Kent semi isn't looking for 405 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:26,720 them. So what happens then is when my 406 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,600 kids run out into the street, the first thing that happens is 407 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,360 my heart pops out of my chest. My brain goes to the worst 408 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:35,000 possible thing that happens. And So what does that look like 409 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,280 in practice? I snatch them up. 410 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:43,760 I throw them on the right. What they receive is, man, Dad's 411 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,120 ticked. What's real is. 412 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:54,960 Dad loves me too much to let me even consider being in a place 413 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,000 where my life could be in jeopardy. 414 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,960 Now, if I were less reactionary and sinful, right? 415 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:05,000 What I would do is hurry to grab my children and keep them safe. 416 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,200 And then I would in a level, in a way that they could respond 417 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:13,960 and understand, teach them why we stay out of the street, why 418 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:16,800 we well, unfortunately, too many times I don't do that. 419 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:18,600 I just say do what? I say. 420 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,320 And we wrap that in the term discipline. 421 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:25,360 And so we come to distrust discipline. 422 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:30,120 And I want you to hear that word discipline, for you may be 423 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:33,480 attached to all kinds of ugliness, even abuse. 424 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:37,280 And we want to hear is God's desire for your life is to set 425 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:38,520 you free. We're going to see all of this, 426 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:42,680 all right, not to crush you, not to destroy you. 427 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:46,760 And so we have to use words to describe the things and the ways 428 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,880 and the places that we are, but we can acknowledge the baggage 429 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,280 that comes with them and we can do the best of our ability, move 430 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,640 past them, right? And so when we say discipline, 431 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,000 right, like we're discipline, it's, it's leading to a Jesus 432 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:04,240 shaped life. Unfortunately for me and for us, 433 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,600 it defines what a Jesus shaped life looks like. 434 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:09,240 I wish it didn't because then I could just go. 435 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,600 Well, that Jesus shaped life, right? 436 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:15,160 Like Jesus, like Jesus, he turned over the table. 437 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:17,600 So now I can just baptize my anger. 438 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,240 Right, it doesn't say that what it says the. 439 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:27,360 Life that it wants. To lead us is right and just and 440 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:31,160 fair. That is where the proverbs lead 441 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,320 us. The proverbs lead us to 442 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:40,040 righteousness, the proverbs lead us to justice, and the proverbs 443 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:45,760 lead us to fairness. Sounds good now, but when those 444 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,000 words shape out a way that I don't like, I want to dismiss 445 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:50,640 them and I'm going to want to dismiss them. 446 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,640 But this is the goal of life that is right and just and fair 447 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:56,640 wisdom. This book of Proverbs, as we 448 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,040 jump into it and listen, when you read it each week, it's not 449 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,120 a narrative. It's it's disjointed as heck, 450 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:03,720 man. So many times it's like this and 451 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,880 it's talking about, you know, a gold ring and a pig snout and 452 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,640 hiding in the. Corner of the roof I got weird. 453 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,480 Stuff in there, right? All of this, all of this right 454 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,800 now as we ingest the whole lot of it, what it's going to do, 455 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:17,280 it's going to train us. To. 456 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:22,280 Recognize and to Orient ourselves towards God and others 457 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,600 in real time. That's what righteousness. 458 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,240 That's what right and just and fair is. 459 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,440 It's an orientation towards God and other people, right? 460 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,960 My righteousness is a relational orientation towards God. 461 00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:38,960 My justice is a relational orientation towards others. 462 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,200 Fairness is a relation to read this and hear this right, we 463 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:44,080 read it in verse. We see in verse 4. 464 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,160 These proverbs will give insight to the simple stop. 465 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,200 How do you feel about that word? Simple. 466 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,240 They'll give insight to the simple knowledge and. 467 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,800 Discernment to the young. Let the wise listen to these. 468 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,120 Proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding 469 00:24:06,120 --> 00:24:09,480 receive guidance by. Exploring the meaning in these. 470 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:14,640 Proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles. 471 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:18,200 So the audience is actually two. There are two different kind of 472 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:23,280 audiences. 1 is the simple. Now, when you hear the word 473 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,560 simple, when I first hear the word simple, the first thing 474 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,240 that kind of comes to my mind is The Big Brother and The Grapes 475 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:30,960 of Wrath, right? Right. 476 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,880 A kind of a little bit slow, probably unintelligent, maybe a 477 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:39,360 little bit dumb. The biblical idea of simplicity 478 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:43,520 of a simple person is not dumb. It is not ignorant. 479 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:47,360 It is not a person who is lazy. It is not a person who is 480 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,000 immoral. The idea behind being simple, 481 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,360 when it says it gives wisdom, it gives life to the simple. 482 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:54,720 What he's talking about is simplicity of simple people that 483 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,720 are unformed, people that haven't been shaped. 484 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:03,200 By the way of Jesus. It's people that are easily 485 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,800 influenced. It's people that are not yet 486 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,200 discerning. And again, we hear all that and 487 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:11,080 we just go, yeah, well, I don't want to be all those things. 488 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,600 But listen, maybe you've been following Jesus for like 14 489 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,160 minutes. Maybe a month ago you said I 490 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,560 want to follow Jesus, but you don't know what that means yet. 491 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,360 Well, I say lovingly and kindly to you redemptively is that's 492 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:26,320 what it is to be simple. That's why it's so overwhelming, 493 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:27,720 man. We come in here we go, yeah, I 494 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,120 want to follow Jesus. And then you go out there and 495 00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:32,840 you watch the news and you see people who are like, you got to 496 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,240 think this and you're like, what the heck is going on, man? 497 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,320 And we wrap it in all and all of this stuff, right? 498 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,800 So the question of simplicity is like, I want to follow Jesus to 499 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:44,600 the best of my ability. I'm ready to give everything 500 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,000 that I can do that. But what about my politics? 501 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:51,880 What about my friends? What about my like, do I have to 502 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,120 like? What if I don't believe that 503 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:56,560 it's six literal days? Can I follow Jesus? 504 00:25:57,840 --> 00:25:58,880 We're unformed. We don't. 505 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,400 We don't know. Yet listen, if you're a new 506 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,120 follower of Jesus and you're like, I don't know what to do 507 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:07,000 with this book. I don't know how to get in it. 508 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:08,680 I don't know how to read it. I don't know anything. 509 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,160 But I I just know God wants me. God loves me and he wants me to 510 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,280 follow him and I want to follow. I want you to know that's 511 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:16,800 enough. He meets you right where you 512 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,360 are. You're welcome here. 513 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,000 You're this is a place for badly broken people. 514 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,360 And I just want to say like it. He's calling you. 515 00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:28,400 You're not here on accident if you're here because somebody 516 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,040 invited you. You're here because Somebody 517 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,840 Loves You very much and they're giving you the best of what they 518 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:34,960 have. I just want you to know, I want 519 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,520 you to hear this from my mouth. God's not mad at you. 520 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,080 You don't have to shine up or clean up or get up. 521 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:43,880 He meets you right where you are. 522 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,080 But listen, he doesn't leave you where you are. 523 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,560 You've been following him for a long time and nothing's changed 524 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,600 in your outlook or your view or your perspective or the way that 525 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,400 you. Treat people or groups of 526 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,200 people. Then you may believe in him, 527 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:00,600 but. Are you? 528 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:07,920 Following him, being transformed by him, I want you to hear me 529 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:12,080 say there is no shame in not knowing. 530 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,760 You do not need to be embarrassed by what you don't 531 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:18,880 know about the scripture. You just need to go get it. 532 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,160 That's what this is about. That's what small groups are 533 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:23,840 about. That's what our classes are 534 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:26,200 about. That's what we do is about that. 535 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:28,600 So go get it. But it's not just to the simple. 536 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:32,520 It's also to those who are, let's say, more seasoned. 537 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,240 I don't want to say mature, right? 538 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,200 Because we can be around this for a long time and know a lot 539 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,520 of things and not have it get into us and not have us. 540 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:41,000 Be. Formed right? 541 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,360 Because the idea is there is no arrival at wisdom. 542 00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:47,920 You're not a lot come to a day. Someday we go, fuck, I got my 543 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,640 wisdom certificate in the mail. Now I'm wise. 544 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,920 Because wisdom is rooted in the character of God, right? 545 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,720 And our God is infinite. He is infinite in his goodness. 546 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,800 He is infinite in his intellect. He is infinite in His Holiness. 547 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:01,360 He is infinite in his righteousness. 548 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:04,520 Which means it never, ever, ever, ever runs out. 549 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,160 Which means we never get to stop getting wise. 550 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:12,600 We never get to stop learning and being shaped and transformed 551 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:16,360 and formed by the wisdom of God. Now we can opt out of the 552 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:18,600 process. We can stop, but you can. 553 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,400 Settle for just knowing things. You can settle for being the 554 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,520 smartest person in the room. But when everybody looks at your 555 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,360 life and they see a lack of wisdom, knowledge without 556 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:33,000 wisdom, that's ugly. No condemnation, no criticism, 557 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:35,280 but reality. Me too. 558 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,440 I've been doing this for 20 some years now. 559 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,440 My kids see the ugliness, right? I'm growing. 560 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:46,280 We never run out of wisdom. But here's what that means. 561 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,120 It's I love that there are both, that that he dresses both in the 562 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,760 same thing. If you're here and you're new, 563 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:56,000 if you are a new believer, a new follower of Jesus and you just 564 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,360 don't know what I want you to know that this is important. 565 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:02,320 God has provided this for you. But the other thing that he has 566 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,520 provided for you is wise people. You should seek them out and 567 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,800 learn from them and ask them. I tell people when I counsel 568 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,400 them in marriage, I say you should find people whose 569 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:15,800 marriage looks like you want your life to look and ask them 570 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:20,000 1000 questions now for us mature ones, do you know why young 571 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:23,120 people don't often come and ask us questions because we're not 572 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:24,920 really that approachable on. That. 573 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,120 And what I'm going to say from the outset is whatever it may 574 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:32,680 be. It's not maturity. 575 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,360 I'm not that impressed by what you know. 576 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,960 What I want to see is how does what we know grow into who we 577 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,000 are? So if you are young and simple 578 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,000 in this room, seek out the wisdom of people who have gone 579 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,520 before you. But if you're in here and you're 580 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,560 mature and you've been following Jesus for a while, maybe you 581 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,560 read a proverb a day, every day for the for as long as you can 582 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,040 remember. If the wisdom of the Proverbs 583 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:00,880 and the wisdom that you encounter isolates you. 584 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,920 From simple people. It's not wisdom, it's probably 585 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,360 more like pride, possibly self righteousness. 586 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:09,880 I don't know because I don't know your story. 587 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,680 I don't know where you are. I'm not accusing anyone, but but 588 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,720 that's what it is. I know in my life, if there's 589 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,280 somebody that and I and I draw back from them because of 590 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:20,000 something there, it's probably not their problem. 591 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:24,040 It's my problem. But the question for all of us 592 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:29,280 is, is the wisdom of God? Is his life and his teaching his 593 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,480 principles? Is his wisdom shaping our 594 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,840 marriages or are you doing that on your own? 595 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,840 Is his wisdom shaping our singleness? 596 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:46,480 You know, the Bible doesn't hold up marriage as the ultimate goal 597 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,600 for every person. There are some who are called 598 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:53,760 and created to be single and that is a beautiful gift and 599 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,360 there's wisdom for that. And we need it. 600 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:03,000 Does the wisdom of God shape and form your money the way you 601 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:07,600 respond to anxiety and fear and crisis? 602 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:15,040 Does wisdom shape the way that you approach entertainment? 603 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,160 Does wisdom talk about the movies that you see, the TV 604 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:22,680 shows that you watch, the music that you listen to? 605 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,080 No condemnation, but if not, why not? 606 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,800 Why do we believe that there may be an area of our life that God 607 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,160 is just not interested in or effective in? 608 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,240 I mean, God, I know that you're able to be the ultimate creator 609 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:37,760 of all things. I know that with a word from 610 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:39,480 your mouth, all things came into being. 611 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:42,480 But I'm not really sure you're ready to balance my budget or 612 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:45,000 get me ready for retirement. I better handle that myself, 613 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,000 right? I do have a degree in English so 614 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:56,920 I'm ready to go. Knowing who and what wisdom is 615 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,320 for it leads us to the doorstep. It's for all of us. 616 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:03,160 It's God's training. It's his way of teaching us how 617 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:05,760 to have a life that blesses Him, that honors him, that is. 618 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,440 Fruitful. It's not just about us also. 619 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,160 That's a big thing. This story's not about us. 620 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:15,160 This story's about Him, right? But what brings Him honor and 621 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:19,480 glory as a people who put His way into practice and walk that 622 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,440 out and begin to look different? So we know who it is and what it 623 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:24,360 is that leads us to the doorstep of wisdom. 624 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,040 But we don't need to be at the doorstep of wisdom, do we? 625 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:31,720 We need to go through it. So how do we walk through that 626 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:36,160 door? Verse 7 says fear of the Lord is 627 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:38,440 the foundation of true knowledge. 628 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:43,280 But fools despise wisdom and discipline. 629 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:50,960 So I wish that Solomon had said fear of the Lord is the 630 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:53,640 foundation of wisdom, because that would make a nice, neat, 631 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,080 tidy little thing. But we're good here, right? 632 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:57,160 Like the language doesn't bother. 633 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,560 True knowledge and wisdom go together. 634 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,880 Knowledge says the sun is going to come up tomorrow. 635 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:08,800 I like, I know what I believe. Like, I mean, it could not, but 636 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:10,480 that would be the end of the world and it wouldn't matter at 637 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,800 that point. But knowledge says the sun is 638 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:17,240 going to come up tomorrow. True knowledge says I better set 639 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,240 my alarm clock or I'm going to miss work, right? 640 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,240 True knowledge is wisdom. True knowledge is the 641 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:25,760 understanding. It is the idea. 642 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:30,000 It is the intellectual capacity that then shapes and forms our 643 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,520 actions, our responses, our truth. 644 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:37,400 And what Proverbs 1? Seven tells us is that biblical 645 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:41,160 wisdom is built on the foundation of learning to 646 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:48,680 respond to God as He truly is. This is hard because we've been 647 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,640 formed in our understanding of who God is and what God is. 648 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:56,440 Some of you come here with deep and heinous church hurt and some 649 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,160 of you have been told, Well, you haven't been told, but you've 650 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:04,480 experienced this sense that God is angry and ready to crush you 651 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,400 and destroy you. And if He is anything, he is a 652 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:10,480 little bit cranky and upset at who you are and what you are and 653 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:12,920 what you've been to do. And so then we read about the 654 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,159 fear of the. Lord, and you're like I knew it. 655 00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:19,360 He just wants to hurt me, right? Because who are we afraid of? 656 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,639 We're afraid of our enemies, we're afraid of power that we 657 00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:25,080 can't control. We're afraid of power that's 658 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,080 different from us. We're afraid of lack. 659 00:34:28,159 --> 00:34:30,960 We're afraid of scarcity. We're afraid of all kinds of 660 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:32,880 things. And so when we read about the 661 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:36,600 fear of the Lord, then we kind of lump all that in together. 662 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:38,679 And what I'm going to say is that's not the biblical. 663 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:42,639 Picture of the fear of the Lord. Fear in this sense doesn't mean 664 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:46,320 hiding in expectation of retribution. 665 00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:50,239 I think a better and listen. So anytime I talk about, anytime 666 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,960 somebody uses a. The metaphor for God, it is 667 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:56,560 incomplete, does not perfectly reflect their holes in their 668 00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:58,280 ways, right? But to talk about the fear of 669 00:34:58,280 --> 00:34:59,840 the Lord, I think about electricity. 670 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:06,040 I'm not afraid that like I'm not up here worried about whether 671 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:10,280 that socket over there is going to jump out and ZAP me, right? 672 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:13,160 It's contained. It's like I know how it works. 673 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,200 Not only do I know how it works, I can use it. 674 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:18,440 I can leverage it. I can take that power, that 675 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,560 energy, and I can charge my phone. 676 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,040 I can light my iPad, I can light my house. 677 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:27,480 I can do all kinds of crazy things, but I don't get to come 678 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:32,360 to electricity on my terms. To come to electricity on my 679 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:34,880 terms will have a shocking consequence. 680 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:43,920 You like what I did? Our God is not. 681 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:50,080 Are you listening? Our God is not angry, but he is 682 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:57,920 powerful and he is deadly serious about the consequence of 683 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:03,920 rejecting his life. And in fact, he attaches a word 684 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,760 to it. It's the word foolish. 685 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,200 The biblical definition of a fool is not someone who doesn't 686 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,280 have enough understanding. It is a person who understands 687 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:20,520 just enough to say no, just enough to reject it. 688 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:25,720 That's the counterpoint. All throughout the the Proverbs, 689 00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:29,520 we have wisdom and foolishness. The wise person, the fool. 690 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,880 Fools are the ones who stick keys and light sockets. 691 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:40,080 Fools are the ones who stare into the wisdom of God and say, 692 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:45,360 I think I'll do my own thing. I think I'll approach power and 693 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:49,600 marriage and wisdom and finances and righteousness my own way. 694 00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:54,680 The wise people want a Jesus shaped life and so they walk 695 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,400 through the door into things that they don't know fully or 696 00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,400 understand. Because we're ready and willing 697 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,080 to be formed. And what it talks about is a 698 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:03,600 fool. What a fool does is what does it 699 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,360 say? They despise wisdom and they 700 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:09,120 despise discipline. That word despise doesn't have 701 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,240 to have emotional heat. You don't have to look at this 702 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:13,640 and just go, I hate it. You just have to. 703 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:15,760 Look at it and just go, I don't, I'm not going to do it. 704 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,000 That's to despise the wisdom of the Lord. 705 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,400 So foolishness then is any. Are you listening? 706 00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:30,080 Foolishness is any. Posture in our life other than 707 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:38,480 grateful, humble, imperfect, always failing, and incomplete 708 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:43,080 submission to. The God who loves you and calls 709 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:44,720 you into his life and into his world. 710 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,560 Foolishness is saying no to the God who wants to give you 711 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:56,320 stability and eternity and life and love and purpose. 712 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:03,280 And this is a startling claim. Wisdom begins in the fear of the 713 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:06,920 Lord. Wisdom begins with this kind of 714 00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:11,360 awestruck reality that we're standing before the great power 715 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:14,160 and all of the universe, in fact, the power that created all 716 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,800 things. And it's Starling precisely 717 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,480 because it leads us to wonder what that fear sounds like. 718 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:24,600 And I know my nice neat little metaphor about light sockets. 719 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,000 I know that perfectly. And once and for all banished 720 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,160 all wrong thoughts about the fear of your Lord out of your 721 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:35,920 mind, right? We want to know the problem is, 722 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:39,520 and this is a problem. We hear something like that, and 723 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,160 then we begin to guess about what it means. 724 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,080 And then we walk out of the room with our guesses and we kind of 725 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:47,280 baptize them, right? And we kind of make them 726 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,640 ultimate and we make it final. And what I'm going to say is 727 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:54,200 that's a bad idea. We should never do that, right? 728 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:56,200 So there's a phrase that we say all the time. 729 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,320 We say it love to say it around Easter time, right? 730 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:01,240 Like where we watch Jesus getting nailed to a cross, 731 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:03,120 right? We watch Jesus say, forgive 732 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:05,000 them, father, for they don't know what they're doing. 733 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,880 And the phrase that we always say is Jesus is what God has 734 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,960 been saying the whole time, right? 735 00:39:12,240 --> 00:39:15,440 But that means it's like we don't get to nullify Jesus by 736 00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:18,960 reading Moses. Paul doesn't trump Jesus. 737 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:21,760 The proverbs don't trump Jesus, right? 738 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:27,680 So with that idea if. Fear if the fear of the Lord. 739 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:32,200 Meant some kind of threat. Or terror, then I would expect 740 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:35,800 to hear that on Jesus's lips. I would expect to see that on 741 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:40,480 his, on his in his behavior. But instead of fear and. 742 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,320 Threat and. Terror, What I hear from Jesus 743 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:47,280 is seriousness and weight without coercion. 744 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,120 You know what that is? That's invitation. 745 00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:52,680 It's not a threat, it's an invitation. 746 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:55,600 And here's what it sounds like. Matthew Chapter 7, starting in 747 00:39:55,600 --> 00:39:58,000 verse 20, 24. Anyone who listens to my 748 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:02,480 teaching and follows it is wise. Now we know we're talking about 749 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:04,520 the Proverbs. Whoever listens to my teaching 750 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:06,480 is wise. He's like a person who builds a 751 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,480 house on a solid rock. Though the rain comes in 752 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:13,000 torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against 753 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,440 the house, it won't collapse because it's built on bedrock. 754 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:18,880 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't? 755 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,760 Obey. It is foolish, like a person who 756 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:25,200 builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come 757 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:28,840 and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a 758 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:31,360 mighty trap. With a mighty crash at the end 759 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:34,200 of Matthew Chapter 7 is the end of Jesus sermon on his mount 760 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:38,600 where he defines what righteousness and justice and 761 00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:41,320 and intimacy looks like in the Kingdom. 762 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,440 What Jesus says is the way that we endure this life. 763 00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:48,040 He doesn't ever say that there will not be storms. 764 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:49,960 He says you can count on the storms. 765 00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:52,720 What he says is the way that we understand the way that we 766 00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:57,040 endure these storms isn't to understand his his teachings. 767 00:40:57,160 --> 00:40:59,600 It's not to have the right systematic theology. 768 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:04,440 The way that we endure the storms is to build our house on 769 00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:07,480 a different thing in a different place. 770 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:10,080 Remember in communion what did Jesus say? 771 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:12,640 Remember Me? That's what he's. 772 00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:15,840 Talking about that's what remembrance is change your 773 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,640 building site you don't need new permits they're transferable you 774 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:23,800 can do all of that but notice the formation language in Jesus 775 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,600 he talks about building he talks about storms he talks about 776 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,040 waiting that's. Formation language. 777 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:33,280 He doesn't say try harder. He doesn't say get your act. 778 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:37,280 Together, he says, check where you're building. 779 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:43,680 Are you building your life on on some kind of political hope it's 780 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:46,480 going to crash? Are you building your life on 781 00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:48,960 some kind of economic hope? It's going to crash. 782 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:51,840 Are you building your life on the hope that your kids are 783 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:53,840 always going to love you and give you meaning and purpose to 784 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:56,360 your life? Your life is going to crash. 785 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:59,520 Is your life built on your relationship with your spouse 786 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:01,640 that brings you so much comfort and joy? 787 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:05,160 The mortality rate for the human race continues to hover around 788 00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:08,200 100%. Somebody's going to leave first 789 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:10,000 if that's your. Foundation. 790 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:14,800 It's sand and it's failing and it's fading, and Jesus invites 791 00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:16,400 you into something different. Wisdom. 792 00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:21,080 Wisdom is the way that God saves human lives from collapse. 793 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:26,800 And the promise is if you choose wisdom, then you will weather 794 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:32,120 the inevitable, not escape it, not bypass it, overcome it, 795 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:34,920 endure it. So the question for you today, 796 00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:36,680 are you listening? The question for you isn't do 797 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:38,760 you believe? I don't. 798 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,160 I'm not going to ask you what you believe because I can see it 799 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:44,400 in your life. The fruit of your belief is your 800 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:47,320 response. If I believe the sun is coming 801 00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:51,080 up tomorrow, I will set my alarm no matter what I say to the 802 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:54,040 contrary. But maybe you're in here today 803 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,480 and you know that you've been building your life on sand. 804 00:42:56,480 --> 00:42:59,360 You know that despite your best intentions, your life has 805 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:03,120 continued to produce fruit that is discouraging at best, 806 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:06,560 destructive at worst. You know you're not evil. 807 00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:10,880 You just want the life that you want without having to 808 00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:14,760 surrender. There is no category for that. 809 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:19,920 There is no way around that. But that recognition that your 810 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:22,880 life isn't producing the kind of fruit that you want, The word we 811 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:26,040 call that confession, the acknowledgement of what is real 812 00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:29,920 and untrue, The next step in that it's not shame. 813 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:32,800 The next step to confessing that your life hasn't produced 814 00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:33,760 wisdom. It's not. 815 00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:37,200 To to kind of like try to prove yourself that you're serious. 816 00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:41,040 Just start building differently. Just start doing different 817 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:43,080 things. Just start having a different 818 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:46,840 response and relationship to power and to provision and to 819 00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:49,920 money and to friends and and all of those things. 820 00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:51,680 Just start doing it. Differently. 821 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:54,680 You're not earning it. You're following. 822 00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:57,040 You're being LED. You're being guided. 823 00:43:57,040 --> 00:44:01,480 You're walking in wisdom. That is called repentance. 824 00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:05,880 Turning away from what is unstable to what is here to 825 00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:09,240 stay. Repentance isn't isn't God 826 00:44:09,240 --> 00:44:12,640 yelling at you. Repentance is building your life 827 00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:15,200 differently. That's the invitation, 828 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:19,400 invitation of Jesus into a durable life. 829 00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:23,160 Durable salvation doesn't begin when you die. 830 00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:27,280 Salvation begins today. I think the idea that's going to 831 00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:30,440 shock us when we enter into eternity is how much continuity 832 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:32,840 there is between this life and the next one. 833 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:38,480 And I would hate to come to find out that all of my intentional 834 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:42,400 rejections of Jesus for pleasure in life and feeling good in this 835 00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:46,440 world, it will hinder me in some way from a full experience 836 00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:47,440 there. And this isn't a threat. 837 00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:52,320 This is a a mirror. God's desires to give you every 838 00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:55,120 good thing that we can't even fathom and understand. 839 00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:58,320 And wisdom is his path. Wisdom begins when we 840 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:02,640 acknowledge God is the rightful King of creation and our lives 841 00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:06,800 by submitting to his rule. It's not an easy decision. 842 00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:11,040 It's not a decision to be made lightly because it carries great 843 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:14,800 and eternal consequence. You can't follow Jesus and stay 844 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:18,400 the way that you are. You become like Jesus, become 845 00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:20,920 like him. But it's a decision that when 846 00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:24,520 made, leads to a goodness, the goodness that we've been 847 00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:29,680 seeking, the hope that we've been seeking for, but it will 848 00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:33,640 forever and always fall apart without him. 849 00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:37,760 So the invitation to Jesus today is walk through the door. 850 00:45:38,520 --> 00:45:41,440 Say yes, you can begin building your life on wisdom. 851 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:44,360 Jesus, You are the wisdom of God made manifest. 852 00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:47,960 Everything that we're going to read about in this Old Testament 853 00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:51,520 book is fulfilled by you. So Jesus, we want to put our 854 00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:54,200 trust in you today. And I pray for everybody in this 855 00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:58,520 room who maybe they haven't done that before, but they're here 856 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:00,840 today and they know that. And they know I've been walking 857 00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:02,400 my own way. I've been living by my own 858 00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:05,480 wisdom. Jesus, I pray that you would 859 00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:07,320 bring comfort to them. I pray that they would know that 860 00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:11,640 you're not angry at them, but that you are actually righteous 861 00:46:11,640 --> 00:46:15,040 and you are actually holy and you are actually powerful and 862 00:46:15,040 --> 00:46:19,240 you are actually king. And to reject your authority is 863 00:46:19,240 --> 00:46:22,640 not a small thing. It is the equivalent of key in a 864 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:29,960 light socket. I pray if that's you and here 865 00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:35,080 today and your heart is seeking Jesus, that you would just say, 866 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:41,040 I confess that I've been building on sand and I want to 867 00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:44,000 build on the rock. Jesus, show me how. 868 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:49,720 And Jesus, we know that you are always faithful to your word. 869 00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:53,520 So we trust you and we walk together towards you. 870 00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:57,080 Give us the grace in this series not to moralize. 871 00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:02,240 Give us the grace in this series not to preach some legalism that 872 00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:05,320 says if we do everything right, then you're obligated to us. 873 00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:11,400 Lord, help us just chase you, and may the fruit born in our 874 00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:14,720 presence be sweet smelling and beautiful. 875 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:18,080 We ask these things. Jesus, in your name and for your 876 00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:19,360 glory. Amen. 877 00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:23,400 River City Church is all about experiencing and expressing 878 00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:26,080 God's love in our lives and community, and we hope that 879 00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:28,120 you've been able to experience that today. 880 00:47:28,680 --> 00:47:31,280 As grateful as I am that you've spent this time listening in 881 00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:34,360 this morning, this podcast is no substitute for full 882 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:38,240 participation in a local church. I love it when River City people 883 00:47:38,240 --> 00:47:41,600 listen to other pastors, but it is those who show up week after 884 00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:44,520 week faithfully giving their support and time and resources 885 00:47:44,520 --> 00:47:47,880 that make all of this possible. If we can help you get connected 886 00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:51,880 to a local church, pray for you, or support you in any way, click 887 00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:53,520 the link in the description and let us know. 888 00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:56,200 If you'd like to financially support the ministry of River 889 00:47:56,200 --> 00:47:59,080 City, click the give link on our website in the description. 890 00:47:59,760 --> 00:48:02,280 Don't forget to subscribe and don't forget to share this with 891 00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:04,240 your friends. Thanks so much for listening. 892 00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:07,480 May the Lord bless and keep you in all grace and peace.