- What is awesome about the Book of Proverbs is that the wisdom that is found in this book is really a life lived for Jesus Christ. In the new Testament, the book of Colossians 2:3, it actually says this. It says in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, wisdom and knowledge of God is found in the person of Jesus Christ. It was Jesus Christ who inspired the word of God. It was Jesus Christ who really gave us this Book of Proverbs, but also the entire Bible, but it was also Jesus Christ as we learned in John chapter one who wrapped himself in flesh, and he lived this new life before us. And it is this Book of Proverbs that helps us understand this new life that Jesus already lived for us. It's a book of wisdom, which means skillful, godly living. And the book teaches us how to live this life by the power of Jesus Christ with skillful godly living with what we call redemptive value in every single area of our life, and it's so practical. It talks about topics of parenting and finance and money and relationship. And so whether you're sitting at the dinner table or having a conversation with someone, you can live out this new life in Jesus Christ, this redemptive value that he gives to us, because he's our king and he's our savior. And he's our Lord. Well today in the passage we're going to look at that we've already begun to about, he's calling us down this path of growth. And so today, as we look at Proverbs chapter two, he's going to walk us down this wonderful path of growth. And so I'm going to ask that you turn to a couple of passages this morning, I want you to take your Bibles out. I want you to go to Proverbs chapter two and locate verse one. That's the first passage. So take your Bibles out, pull up your electronic version, go to Proverbs chapter 2:1. You're definitely going to go there. The second passage I want you to go to is found in Proverbs and it is 24:30, and that's where we're going to start. So Proverbs chapter two, and then keep your finger there and then go to Proverbs chapter 24. As we walk our way through these passages today. The passage today in chapter two is really quite remarkable. We are going to begin to see how wisdom enables us to grow. And it really talks about those next steps as we journey through life, pursuing the Lord Jesus Christ, and he invites us into that relationship. However, as I've said before, there are two paths in the Book of Proverbs. You can take all 31 chapters and summarize it down to two paths in life. There is the path of destruction and evil and complacency and passivity, and that path leads to destruction. And there are several verses, several passages that talk about that. There's also the path of growth and transformation, and we're going to see that today as we walk our way through first in Proverbs 24, that's we're going to start, and then how that's contrasted in Proverbs chapter two. So if you'll look down at verse 30 of Proverbs 24, we're going to begin to look at the pitfalls of this path of complacency. That's not the path by the way we want to go down. And in verse 30, he says, I passed by the field of a sluggard. It's a prominent word that's found throughout the Book of Proverbs. It says I pass by the field of a sluggard by the vineyard of a man lacking sense. And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns. The ground was covered with nettles and it's stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it. I looked and received instruction, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man. This passage has several different applications. The word for sluggard shows up several times in Proverbs. It means someone who is lazy, a life of complacency that has decided to go down the wrong path. It's not the path of wisdom and it is a path that leads to destruction. And why is that the case? Even though there's enormous applications for relationships and marriage and work in a variety of different settings. What I want to really unearth for us are the pitfalls of this complacency, because this kind of person, they first, they fail to see how high the stakes are in life. You know, there's really two issues you have to think about again, if you summarize everything about life, I like to summarize it down to some bite-sized pieces. And if you summarize life down, there's really two issues you've got to settle. You've got to concentrate and focus on settling your life in eternity, because that's where you begin. Where are you going after this life? The second issue, major issue you have to talk about is how you're going to live in light of eternity. Those two issues have to be settled in this life, where you're going and eternity, and how you live your life in light of that. Now, if you fail to determine for sure where you're going in eternity, then you will mess up your life here on planet Earth. They both go together. And this individual has decided to go down the path where they don't understand how high, how significant the stakes are in life. And they also fail to see the forces that stand against them. You'll notice here that there are weeds and thorns and nettles that show up and just time and nature has broken down the wall. Now that's true in almost every area of life. And all you have to do in life to fail is do what? Nothing. You just do nothing. And you'll get there every time. And the metaphor is so clear for us today that it is sin that becomes the rocks and the thorns and the weeds in our life. And as you go through life, you're going to have forces that stand against you, 'cause the stakes are high and it will begin to rip apart your life if you're not careful and the sin and the stuff of life, the flesh that shows up so often in our world, the temptations are there and they have to be pulled out. They have to be weeded out, but that takes effort. And the reason is because it requires work and the path to complacency actually goes here, because the person embraces passivity because it's so easy. It's just so easy. If you'll look down, notice in verse 33, because all you have to do is do nothing. And in verse 33, he actually says a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. And then what happens? It's ruined it's one simple small step at a time. Daily work is required to grow spiritually. Daily work is required to grow your marriage. Daily work is required to grow your family. It happens in every single area of life. And it's those little steps along the way that you begin to walk down the wrong path. But this path leading to complacency also it shows up because individuals are blinded from seeing the reward by their own feelings, which we'll come to in just a minute. They're blinded by their own feelings, they're not focusing on the truth. You see, there's a reward that is found here. And this individual that's described in verse 32 looks and observes, and they see where this is going. And they say, wait a minute. I'm buying into eternity and how to live in light of that. And therefore there's a reward for this kind of disciplined life in all areas. The person of wisdom sees it. They learn, and they decide not to walk down this path of complacency, but instead to walk down the path of transformation. And so if you'll go now to Proverbs chapter two and look at verse one. He says there, "My son, if you receive my words and treasure of my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding, yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it, as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, inequity. Every good path for wisdom will come into your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will guard you." Verse one starts with "My son." And the reason why that is so significant is because this path of transformation is open to all of us. It's open to every single one of us who are willing to do exactly what Jesus Christ requires for us to enter into a relationship with him. He's already done all the work, he invites you. He says, "Are you willing to repent and turn to me as savior and Lord?" And when that happens, you become a child of the king, a son or a daughter. And then this wonderful life that we are now being invited into, this transformation is for every son and every daughter. And he says, "This is it. This is the life I'm now inviting you into. It's a promise that's open to all of us, no matter who you are, no matter what your past is, no matter what your life was or is now, you can choose to follow this path if you're willing to walk down this road." And I want to show you two key words that are found, that really structure everything we're talking about here. Look at verse one, the word if comes up, just two letters, if. If you, and then he gives you a condition, then go to verse three. And he says, yes, if you call, he says it again. And then a third time, it comes up in verse four. If you do these things, that's the first key word that guides our understanding of what he's inviting us into. The second key word is the word then. It shows up in verse five, and it shows up again in verse nine. So if you do these things, then here is what is going to take place. If you follow his wise advice then something wonderful will happen. And it begins with the fact that you will be renewed, you'll be changed and transformed. This is open to every child follower of Jesus Christ. He doesn't force it on you. And it's amazing because it's all by his grace. He saved you and called you into that relationship. You repent, you receive him as savior and Lord it's by his grace, that he actually changes the very motives and motivations of your heart. So that now you begin to want to walk this new path. And the amazing thing about it is as you step into this new life that was made possible by the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, because it's not just about life for eternity, it's new living hope for today. As you walk down this road, it is also by his grace that he actually gives you the ability to walk the road. So it's all by his grace that he does it. And something amazing is going to happen. Now, let me illustrate it this way. Let's say that we're out in Utah. We were there a couple of years ago and we decided to hike Zion National Park. And so one of the hikes that we definitely wanted on our journey was down at the end of the valley. And in order to do this hike, it's called Angels in the Clouds, I think is the name of it. And it's way up there, but in order to do it and really see it the way you need to see it is you got to get up early in the morning before sunrise. And so we did, we got on the first bus that took us down there. And then we started our journey in the dark. We got up to the top and it is absolutely magnificent. Now let's just say that you were with us and you know, the alarm went off and you said, "I don't want to get up." So you hit the sleep button, it's too early. And the sun hasn't come up yet, leave me alone. I want something to eat, eggs, bacon, whatever it is. I just want to sleep a little bit more. And you stayed in bed. You didn't get with us. You didn't join the hike. This is what you would have missed. Now, the picture on your left is going up to the top. That plateau is called the Angel in the Cloud. So you got to hike to get up there. And once you're there, this is the picture that my son took before, or as sunrise was beginning to happen. It's absolutely gorgeous. And let me go back, sorry about that. This is that picture where you begin to see the valley down at the other end is where we stayed. And it's absolutely magnificent. Now let's just say that I didn't wanna do this. I didn't want to go there. You would have missed out on it. See, it's a great metaphor. I realized that many of you don't like hiking, or you don't want to get up before sunrise to do these kinds of crazy things, but I'll tell you what. It's a great picture for life, because anything worthwhile takes effort. It takes discipline. And that's why this path of renewal that begins this transformation is a path that God invites us into. And there's so much to come. Look at verse one again, and notice what he says. "If you receive my words and treasure of the commands, making your ear attentive to wisdom." And then verse three, "Yes, if you call out for insight." And notice this, notice the verbs, "Raise your voice for understanding. If you seek it like silver and search for it, like a hidden treasure." You see what's happening is he's building up intensity with every verb he layers on this. Would you come into this life? I'm inviting you into a life. You'll never get apart from surrendering to Jesus Christ. That's the idea here, but you have to make the choice because wisdom is not automatic. As I said, if you want to go down the path of complacency, you just don't have to do much of anything. I mean, if you just eat and you don't exercise and you sit on the couch, I will guarantee you, you will become a significantly unhealthy couch potato. It'll just happen. But if you want to grow physically, if you want to be a better professional, whatever your field is, if you want to be better at your marriage or parenting or relationships, it takes effort. It doesn't happen by accident. And these verbs make it clear that God is inviting you and offering you a treasure that is infinitely worth seeking. I'm not sure where you are today. I'm not sure what you brought into this room. I'm not sure where your marriage is, your family, whatever that might be. But what I do know is this, that regardless of your needs, your hurts, the ups and downs of life. God is offering you himself. That's what this is about. And the question that you have to grapple with today is how much do you want God? How much do you want him? You want this? Because that's the path he's inviting you into. Or are you still focused on yourself? You're status quo, your ego, your reputation. Your money, or things that you keep grasping in this life. You know, it's amazing to me, what happens when you grasp things, you're just holding your fist like this, but if you're holding your fist like this, God can't put anything in there. Why? Because you're doing this. But the way you let go, what happens to your hand? It opens up? And he begins to pour things in your life that you couldn't possibly dream, because he ultimately knows what is best for you. And then if you look at verse five, notice what he says, because we'll come to that first. Then he says, you'll understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Notice that as you pursue him, you learn about him and you learn all that he has done for you so that you actually have this sense of fear or awe and reverence for who he is. And because he's giving you enormous doses of total transformational grace, and you're learning more about him. You're understanding his wisdom, which is actually a pursuit of God's character and his heart that is revealed in his book. And the more you drink of that, living water, he changes you. He transforms you. And then all of a sudden, there's this desire to fear him even more and walk the path of pleasing him as he changes you. But that must be your choice. And then in verse six, he tells you how, 'cause he says, "For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth, come knowledge and understanding." What are the words that he's spoken to us today? Well, they're recorded in this book. They're recorded in the Bible, they're recorded in Proverbs. If you want to know God's will get to know this book. And as you do, he will change you, verse seven says, he stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He's waiting to give you this kind of life. If you're willing to dive into these words of wisdom and pursue the Lord, Jesus Christ with every part of your being. He knows what's best for you. And he knows how you should live his life. Bearing his image on this planet, renewed and transformed because of what Jesus Christ has done for you. Now notice verse nine and 10, then that's that second word. You'll understand righteousness and justice and equity. Every good path. Notice this, for wisdom will come into your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. As you begin to pursue him first as Lord and savior, and then you continue to drink from that living water notice he gives you new desires inside of your life. Now, I want to give you a principle that is baseline for any follower or disciple of Jesus Christ. It's really discipleship, 101 and here it is, feelings always follow facts. And that's exactly what he's saying here. If you'll notice in verse 10, he starts with this wisdom comes into your and knowledge that is truth. Truth starts right here. And then notice the desires follow the truth. We get it backwards so often in our lives. And he says, no, you need to follow the truth first. And then your feelings, and then your emotions begin to follow. Now, why is that the case? Because you're not always going to desire to forgive someone that has performed an act of injustice towards you. Guaranteed it'll happen in life. You're not always going to want to be patient as a parent in your house. I mean, there's times, come on, admit it, parents. You just want to ground your kid for a year, right? Put them in a closet. Let them out in a year, put food under the door or something. I don't know. There's that sense inside of you, right? Where the flesh grips you. Todd was saying, we need one another in this new walk together in community. There are times that happened. That's why he says you can't go the emotional route. You can't follow the feelings. You go with the truth first. And then the emotions follow. Then the feelings follow and what begins to happen as you seek the Lord, he changes you. He changes your heart from within. And then the amazing thing that takes place is your head or knowledge of the truth is combined with the change of motive and motivations and desires of your heart. So that the truth moves from your head to your heart, to your hands. That's what he's saying here. And if you want to be a better husband, if you want to be a better wife, if you want to be a better parent, if you want to be a better son or a better daughter, if you want to be a better professional, if you want to be a better friend, whatever that might be, the point here is pursue Jesus, go to him, watch what he does. You'll be transformed. You'll be renewed. And people that walk down this road, they don't say to you, and they don't say to me, well, I have to walk down this route. I got to go down this road. No, they say I get to, why do they say I get to, because they've stepped in to this world of pursuing Jesus and watching him transform them from the inside out. They love God and they know his truth. And it is satisfying the very appetites of their soul. And they're renewed. Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, he said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." And then he gives the blessing, "For they will be satisfied." So how much do you want God? How much do you really want him to be a part of your life that transforms you. The Lord is saying in Proverbs two, that if you seek this new life in Jesus Christ, it's really one through four and then five, six, seven, and eight invite you into this deep relationship with him. He's saying, come, go deep with me, 'cause I'll walk down this road with you. And then he says, "I will change you from your head to your heart, to your hands." And it's by his grace that he makes it all possible and you'll be renewed. And then in verse 12, he says, "You'll also be protected. He focuses on two general categories here. If you look at verse 12, he says delivering you from the way of evil from men of perverted speech who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, to rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil men, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways." So you will be, and he uses the same word again. He says, "So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman from the adulterous, with her smooth words, who forsake the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God for her house sinks down to death and her paths to the departed. None who go to her, come back nor do they regain the paths of life." He's talking about two areas that lead us down the wrong path here. This word perverted speech means more than cursing or saying bad words. The force of the Hebrew word actually means to turn things upside down. It means upheaval. And the idea here is that you'll begin with this path of wisdom of knowing the truth, letting it sink into your head and into your heart. You're you're given the ability to observe people who are perverting speech in the ideas. They're actually taking good words and they're twisting them towards an evil end. And that takes wisdom to spot. The point is, as you live this life of wisdom with God's truth as your grid, it is the Holy Spirit that gives you that sense inside of you that says, wait a minute, that's not right. There is definitely something wrong with that. Why? Because you started with the truth. You're not listening to the emotions. You're walking down this road. That's the idea here. Now, there are numerous examples of this in our culture today. And I not here to bash our culture and everything that's going around. So all you have to do, and I know you're with me on this, right? Just watch the news for three seconds. Spend some time going to a movie or watching a television show, observe what people are talking about at work. And all of a sudden, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, don't you have that sense inside of you that says, wait a minute, that doesn't sound right. There's just something wrong there. Well, what is happening inside of you? You're you're walking down this path. You've tasted enough of Jesus. You've tasted enough of his truth so that when that comes up, you're able to spot the counterfeit immediately. And you begin to say, wait a minute. That's not true. That's not right. That's a path that's going to lead in the wrong direction because people are now taking things that sounds so good on the outside and they're twisting them towards evil ends. And you need the ability to filter all of life through the rid of God's word. I was told years ago I don't know if it was, I think it was the secret service, not the FBI. But that doesn't quite matter, the point is they would train individuals to spot counterfeit, like $100 bills. You know how they did that? Today they don't do this probably, because everything is so digitized. But what they would do is because there are just endless ways you can produce a counterfeit hundred dollar bill. They would actually sit these individuals down and they would have them observe the real hundred dollar bill. Know all the nooks and crannies and intricacies of that a hundred dollar bill, so that when the counterfeit came up, they could spot it immediately. Something's wrong here, because they had memorized what the real deal looks like. And that's this idea of wisdom. It is so transformed you and your thinking, as you've molded over in your mind, the truth is guiding you so that when the counterfeit appears immediately you're able to say, wait a minute, that's not correct. Now the second temptation is based on what he says in verse 16, you'll be delivered from the forbidden woman. Yes, it's referring to sexual sin, but it's also much bigger than that. It is the temptations of life. It's the luring that happens. He used that as a metaphor as well, to pull things in. And the idea here is that if you're not careful, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands you compromise here and here and before you know it, you're not going from here to here. You're going from here to here, and you've made some terrible mistakes. It's just the little decisions and be careful. And it is the truth of God that channels your emotions and the temptations in the right direction. Because you filtered them through what God says. This is where yes, you go back to the truth and you allow yourself to focus on it. It's when you go back and you say to the wife that you are married to, I love you. And here's the reasons why. To your kids. Here's the reasons why, and you review that on a regular basis. This is why I'm committed to this relationship. If you are a single adult, it's when you go back and you get on your knees before God and say you are the king of my life. And I, once again, submit myself to you and the call that you have placed on me, and please, I want you, and I want you to line up my life with your truth. And then he says, "You will walk the path of blessing." I love this part of it because he says, "So you will walk in the way of the good." Don't you love that phrase? He's walking the of the good. It's so simple. And keep to the paths of the righteous for the upright will inhabit the land. And those with integrity will remain in it. But the wicked will be cut off from the land. And the treacherous will be rooted out of it. This idea of the upright inhabiting the land for the nation of Israel, this was agricultural prosperity and they wouldn't be taken into captivity. For those of us that are found in Jesus Christ, we will walk the abundant path of blessing and joy and fulfillment and satisfaction that is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether it is through pain or suffering in this life, which you will experience, he will sustain you according to his plan and to his will. He will guide you. He will direct you. He will move in you. There is a passage that I want to invite you to go to now, if you can, it is found in the New Testament, and I'm not going to read the whole passage. I'm going to invite you to spend some time this week in it. But I want to wrap this idea up once again, going to the person of Christ, because he inspired the Book of Proverbs, but he lived it out. So go to John chapter 15, and I'm going to point out just a few key concepts here, which really allow us to see how the Lord Jesus Christ lived this life. And now he's inviting us into it. Jesus is inviting us to abide with him. And he says in verse four, "Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself. Unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you, unless you abide in me." And then he says, "I am the vine. You are the branches, whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do absolutely nothing." He's inviting you into this rich, beautiful path of transformation by abiding in him that Proverbs two is talking about. And then notice what he says in verse seven. "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, as you walk down this path of wisdom, pursuing me, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you." What is it that he's asking you to ask him? Not for material things, but for spiritual things, asking you for wisdom, Lord, I need it, Lord, I want to ask you to give me the power to live out this new kind of life. I want more of your grace. I want more of you. And he gives it to you so that he sustains you. And you begin to know him through the path of even suffering and pain in life. That's what he's saying. And then notice what he says here. This path of joy in verse 10, how do we abide? He says, "If you keep my commandments, you'll abide in my love just as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love." Remember, Jesus lived the life already for us. Jesus went to the cross. He saved us. Jesus will live his life through you, if you submit to this path. And as you do walking in obedience and applying this to your life, he changes you. He transforms you. And it is those commandments that we're going to come back to next week as we unpack Proverbs chapter three, together. Now this entire passage is meant to guide us towards this path of redemptive value, to living with Jesus as king, to experience the joy of what he provides for us. And he tells us to walk in this relationship of joy, a deeper call with him. The question is this, and there's two issues here I want you to grapple with, the first is this. Do you know him as savior and Lord? As we've said, it happens when you repent of your sin and you turn to Christ as savior and Lord, you're trusting in him alone as the one who paid the price for your sin and can take you to heaven. That's where this relationship begins. And then he invites you to walk into a deeper relationship. And that first step of obedience is baptism. That's where this life begins. The reason it's so important is because we need one another. And the reason it is so important is because it is through the act of baptism. That is Todd pointed out in the video, you are declaring, you are declaring publicly the change that has happened on the inside out. And I want to be clear, baptism doesn't save you. It's faith in Jesus Christ. It's trust in him as savior and Lord, but it is Jesus that commanded us to walk down this road. And he did so because he's encouraging us to take that next step of obedience. And that's why we call it believers baptism, and it best pictures what's happened. You go down below the water and you're telling everybody, I gave my life to Christ and I am dying to self, I'm trusting in him. And it is Jesus Christ that buries me with him. So that sin's power has been removed from my life. And now, as I'm raised to new life, my sins are washed away. It's a great picture so that I now live out this new resurrected life in community with one another. So do you know him as savior and Lord, and have you gone through the waters of believers baptism? What I'm going to do here now is I'm going to pause and I'm going to pray. Our worship team is going to start coming out and they are going to play a song. And it is during that song that we're going to ask for those of you, that there was something about the video. That was something about what was said. You've never gone through believers baptism, and now you understand why, and there's something inside of you, which I believe is the work of the holy spirit that is drawing you. Don't deny that. During the song, here's what we're going to ask. We're going to ask that you get up from where you are simply go to the back into the gathering or Pastor Kevin is going to be out there with some balloons and he wants to talk to you about baptism. And if you would like to be baptized here in just a few weeks outside. So during the song, if you want to get baptized, get up and move out into the gathering area. But I want to pray for us now and commit our lives to Christ. Lord, we thank you for the power of your word, what it does inside of us, the fruit that it bears, and Father, the joy of walking when we abide in the Lord, Jesus Christ. And so now in the next few moments, Lord, if there is someone who's never committed their life to Christ, I pray that you would continue to draw them, that they would repent of their sin and turn to Jesus trusting in him as the one who paid the price for their sin and rose from the grave. And we'll take them to heaven. And Lord, for those that are here that maybe have never been baptized, Lord move in our hearts may they have the courage to step out with the rest of us so that we can celebrate with them as they walk this new path of transformation. And it is all done by your grace Lord Jesus. Amen.