Our passage for this morning's sermon is taken from Proverbs chapter 1. Proverbs chapter 1 will be reading together verses 8 through the rest of the chapter through verse 33. As the first verses of Proverbs make clear, it is a book dedicated for the significant purpose of wisdom. It's dedicated to pass on wisdom to the people of God. And since it's not a term that we are always comfortable with using, I've suggested a definition for you on the bottom of your outline. Something that I would say most pastors and teachers see to be a nice, simple definition of what Proverbs is in most places, or sorry, of what wisdom is in most places in the book of Proverbs. Before we read together, let's ask God to bless His Word. Our Father, we thank You that You've brought to us the truths of Your Word to bring direction and light to our lives in this world. What would we do, dear Father, without Your revelation, without You sharing with us the good news of Jesus Christ and the direction we are to live as those who believe in Him. Dear Lord, since You've given it, help us to not merely read it or hear it, but to listen and understand. And for this, we ask the presence and power of Your Holy Spirit that the things of our own mind or of ourself or the things of this world would not confuse or corrupt which You would have us to understand today, but that they would be written upon our hearts and valuable for the lives You've called us to live. For Jesus' sake, amen. Proverbs chapter 1, beginning with verse 8. Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. There will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. If they say, come along with us, let us lie in wait for someone's blood. Let's waylay some harmless soul. Let's swallow them alive like the grave and whole like those who go down to the pit. We'll get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot with us and will share a common purse. My son, do not go along with them. Do not set foot on their paths for their feet rush into sin. They are swift to shed blood. How useless to spread a net in the view of all the birds. These men lie and wait for their own blood. They waylay only themselves. Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain. It takes away the lives of those who get it. Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She raises her voice in the public squares. At the head of the noisy street, she cries out. In the gateways of the city, she makes her speech. How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you, when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. Then they will call to Me, but I will not answer. They will look for Me, but will not find Me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, since they would not accept My advice and spurned My rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm. Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, when reading through the Bible, we find many words and ideas that describe believers in Jesus. You might be able to think of some of them. People of God, the church of Christ, the body of Christ. Well, here in Proverbs 1, verse 7, we are brought to covenant community with the words that present the idea, with the words fear of the Lord, that present the idea of covenant. An Old Testament reference to those who are in covenant with God. And so in light of verse 7, we might think that the fear of the Lord would lead us in verse 8 and following to the use of more covenantal language, the language of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. We might expect that we would find in Proverbs the statutes and commandments about civil structure and worship that are to guide and direct the people of God, those things we find in other books of the Bible, but we don't. With very few exceptions, Proverbs does not employ that kind of covenantal language. Instead, Proverbs works within that covenantal structure using everyday language and experiences of family life, But not just any family, right? A covenant family. Parents and children called by God, bearing the marks of His covenant, possessing His Word while called to live within a very dangerous and also delightful world. It reminds me of a book I recently read, a rather popular one called The Last Lecture. It's a true story of a dying father who shares his own wisdom for the future benefit of his young children. And it's a very inspiring little book. Yet as believers in Christ, we know that the book of Proverbs is more, don't we? It is not simply the teaching of some father. In fact, it goes beyond even the time of Solomon and his sons. As part of God's Word, it speaks today as the teaching of our Father in heaven. In this light, we see in Proverbs that intimate relationship between God and His people. A relationship that is more than king subject. A relationship that is more than law giver and law keeper. Through Proverbs, we hear the Almighty God the great King, Lord of Sinai, in the living room or at the dinner table on a walk at the beach, saying, My son, my child, consider My Word as it relates to your life. Well, notice then that God doesn't speak to us with the black and white commandments of His covenant, Though he could and does elsewhere, he doesn't hear. He doesn't speak with the black and white commandments of his covenant, but with its careful and often complicated application. In this way, our God and Father talks with us. He talks with us about the pressure, promise, and practice of those who are part of his family. In the process, He warns us. He reminds us of that promise. And He encourages us in the practice He calls us to live as His children. Notice that our passage in verse 8 begins with a family. With a covenant family. It says, Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. There will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. And this same phrase, this same idea of the family is returned to again in chapter 2, verse 1. My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and it continues in chapter 3 and chapter 4. The same idea of a father coming to communicate and talk with and explain the things of God's Word to his son is brought up in chapter 5. It begins chapter 6, 7, 8, and 9. This idea of a father and mother coming to teach their children about the Word of God. It might remind us of those familiar words in Deuteronomy chapter 6 where we are called as believers in Christ to teach the things of God's Word diligently to our children. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way. Reminds us of that familiar text. And yet, Proverbs doesn't merely restate those words. what it does is it shows us what that looks like. What does it look like for a believing father and mother to take the things of God's Word and bring them to their children? Well, it looks like Proverbs. More than reading the Bible, more than memorizing the Bible, or even simply quoting the Bible, Proverbs shows us the importance of understanding the Bible. of understanding how the Word of God is significant and valuable and useful in His world. And so Proverbs brings us into the family room where the father and mother teach their children how to use the Bible as they face the pressures of this life. And the first pressure The first pressure is introduced with the presence and the practice of sinners. Verse 10 comes and describes to us their sweet-sounding words that we might summarize as an enticement towards power and pleasure, saying, My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. If they say, Come along with us, let us lie in wait for someone's blood, Let's waylay some harmless soul. Let's swallow them alive like the grave and whole like those who go down to the pit. We'll get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot with us and we'll pursue a common purse. Verse 15 responds to this sweet-sounding enticement with a warning saying, Do not go along with them, my son. Do not set foot on their paths. It explains that those paths and those practices, though they may sound enticing and though they may look appealing, though they may promise power and pleasure, they are nothing more than a rush into sin, the text says, even murder. Their plans are ultimately useless, verse 17, And the result we find in verse 18 and 19 is not making more of life, but rather these kinds of people lie in wait for their own blood. In fact, they even take away their lives. Those who go after ill-deserved gain. You see, in the end, the father explains to his son and his daughter, this kind of pursuit of sin and the ways of the world around us will not enhance life, but will ultimately destroy family life. Now, we see this all around us, don't we? The media is filled with news of unjust war, murder, and violence, and greed. Yet of more immediate concern to the family of God, I think, are the more deceptive and enticing words of power and of pleasure. Very much like that forbidden apple in Genesis, the resisting of authority figure, the influence of those around us, and the satisfaction of getting just a little bit more. You see, we may not be tempted, generally speaking, as believers in Christ, we may not be tempted to pursue injustice, murder, or random violence. But you see, the more subtle message of Proverbs 1 is to beware of that evil root. A sinful heart that all of us have that longs for more power. greater prestige and pleasures currently beyond our reach. If I could just get a little bit more, then life would be better. Or maybe, if you're still in school, you can relate more immediately to that powerful longing for more friends. Popularity. The power of peer pressure. Those things are always around us, aren't they? They're always enticing us, tempting us to question just how good my family life is. Couldn't it be a little bit better if I pursue these things? And see, then Proverbs shows us that its message isn't for those other people out there or even some of those more blatantly weak in here, but it is for each and every one of us showing us that the sinful pressure we face as the children of God is not something simply out there, but it's in here. The reason sinners and their pressure is a problem is because we too have been poisoned by the apple. We too have rebellious hearts that can be atticed away from the ways of God. We too have hearts that are tempted to follow the practices of this world. Whether in blatant rebellion against the ways of God or in its more private, subtle expressions that no one will really ever know. Deuteronomy 6 is really concerned about the same problem. Listen to its message. Hear, O Israel. This is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God has commanded. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit by your house and when you walk by the way. Fear the Lord your God. Serve Him only. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you. For the Lord your God who is among you is a jealous God and His anger will burn against you and He will destroy you from the face of the land. Deuteronomy is concerned about the same basic problem as Proverbs 1. It's concerned about the same basic problem of Proverbs 1 and our own homes. Sinners and the inclinations of our heart. Yet it's so important for us when studying Proverbs to notice the difference. Did you hear the difference between the word that comes to us through Deuteronomy and that which comes to us through that family room context of Proverbs 1? There, God speaks through Moses as a king, the Lord of Sinai, with peace for the obedient, yet burning anger and destruction for the disobedient. But here, in Proverbs, God speaks through Solomon as a father. There is still warning, to be sure. There's still responsibility, but it comes from parent to child with that implied message that you're part of the family. And let us consider together as those who possess the things of God, how we will use the things of God to make the most of the life that He's given to us. Again, it reminds me of that book last lecture where the loving Father patiently and carefully offers wisdom to His children. Rather than a recipe of do's and don'ts, he takes the time to describe the various contours of life, warning them of problems while reminding them of solutions. Proverbs comes to us with a warning. It warns us of that pressure that we face. And alongside of the Father's warning, you notice there comes the words of wisdom with a warning of her own. Something a little more eerie. A little more fearful. When she says, How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? Verse 24, You rejected me when I called. And no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand. And since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I will in turn laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you. And there will come a time when you need me and you call to me, but I will not answer. You will look for me, but you will not find me. Alongside the voice of the Father comes the warning of Lady Wisdom. There is a seriousness to life. There is a need for wisdom and the time is today for us to pursue her, to embrace and possess her, lest we find ourselves in a situation where we need her but don't have her. As Proverbs comes to us with this warning, it also, you see, reminds us of the solution. After a careful description of the pressure we face, there is also brought to us a promise for family life. And it comes through wisdom. Wisdom stands in the streets and in the public squares. She calls aloud and raises her voice. And she says in verse 23, If you respond to my rebuke, the ESV is more helpful. The ASV, the King James Version here, translated, I would have poured out my spirit to you and made my thoughts known to you. It's interesting. In verse 20, the voice changes, doesn't it? It changes from the Father to wisdom. Very clear transition. Many say it's a transition from the voice of Almighty Father to wisdom incarnate eternal Son. And I must say it's a very attractive conclusion. Yet, out of respect for the integrity of God's Word, it's a conclusion we should make very carefully and appropriately and don't have the time this morning to develop that idea. Maybe some other date when we can bring in chapter 8 and chapter 9 as well. For now, it's sufficient for us to observe that there is a significant change of voice in verse 20 where wisdom takes on a personal, even divine quality. Especially as we consider with chapter 2, verse 6, that wisdom comes from the mouth of God. And making those observations, what we don't want to miss is the promise of covenantal union and security. As is common in the Old Testament, this promise comes to us veiled in shadows. It's not proclaimed as clearly as we find through the ministry of Jesus and the apostles, but it's there. In verse 23, if you turn at my reproof, I will pour out my Spirit to you a union between the one who is seeking wisdom and wisdom herself and understanding. I will make my words known to you. A covenantal union we might think of as a family along with the security that it brings. Verse 33, Whoever listens to Me will dwell secure. Verse 23 is a covenantal union. Proverbs presents it in terms of a family that brings with it an understanding of God. And then we find in verse 33 this promise of security. And it's all found in wisdom. You see, just as Proverbs carefully interacts with and applies the law of God in the same way it deals with His promises. As He called Adam and Eve, as He called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as He called Solomon, David, along with you and me, as He called us into the family, so Wisdom stands in the public square, stands calling in the street, raising her voice, Listen to me! And I will pour out my Spirit to you. I will join myself with you. I will enlighten your mind and I will bring to you security as you face this very troubled and uncertain life. The wisdom of God proclaims this promise of God saying, listen and join the family. At Escondido United Reformed Church, we know, don't we, that these promises can only be received through faith in Jesus. As you've heard before, 1 Corinthians says that Jesus is the wisdom of God born to save sinners from the corruption and the coercion of this world and our own hearts. In this sense, what Deuteronomy 6 commands and Proverbs explains, Jesus completes and empowers with His Holy Spirit. And along with these glorious truths, Proverbs has something a little more hands-on for us to consider. Having been warned about the pressure and reminded of the promise, we are encouraged in the practice of family life. A practice that follows faith and as our passage makes clear, seeks wisdom. An OPC pastor has recently written a rather provocative little article that says Christians are often afraid of wisdom. we're much more comfortable if we can be given a list of do's and don'ts because those are easier to understand and easier to apply to life. And it gives us the option where if the do's and don'ts don't immediately apply to a certain circumstance, then we don't have to really be concerned about what God would have us do. And so he says we're concerned about wisdom because it requires of us a little more work. It requires of us reflection and careful analysis of God's Word, discussion amongst one another so that we can figure out just how the light of God's Word would apply to this challenge we face in life. Though we may be afraid of wisdom, the same pastor suggests that it leaves us in a very troubled place if we avoid it. He says that the Scriptures themselves make very clear that the law of God alone is insufficient to guide us in life. It's insufficient to answer all the questions we have in life. It would be a better way to state it. Scripture says that to us when it goes beyond the Decalogue and gives to us Proverbs and gives to us Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and the wisdom literature to help us not only read, and quote the Bible but to stand back and reflect upon it to see how like Solomon when faced with this very difficult decision of one baby and two mothers the law doesn't give him direction there but he wrestles with the truths that God's revealed to him in order to make a wise decision. Another king might have just as righteously decided otherwise. Just as you wrestle over which school or college to go to, someone else in our congregation may decide otherwise. Just as you wrestle over which decision to make in business while one of your own family might have just as righteously decided otherwise, the need for wisdom is profound. If we're to live in all of life to the glory and honor of God. And that's what Proverbs brings to us. For Proverbs, the prime quality of God's people is the possession and practice of wisdom. And it's interesting to see how wisdom in our text begins with God. Verse 7. It begins with God and verse 7 is passed on through parents. Verse 9, so that it would be practiced by all of us in God's family. Verses 20 and following. As previously mentioned, Proverbs doesn't restate much of the teaching found in other books of the Bible. But that doesn't mean those things are absent from Proverbs. For if wisdom begins with God, then mustn't we then be careful to attend the means of grace? Isn't one of the chief practices of those who are in God's family the means of grace so that we can hear and listen and follow the Word of our God? Corporate worship, where God's Word is read, preached, prayed, and praised, and visibly presented to us in the sacraments. Here, we listen to the Word of God and the call of wisdom in our lives. A chief practice of those in the family of God is attending to the means of grace because wisdom begins with God. And parents, along with corporate worship and the means of grace, is the crucial role that you play in your home, around the dinner table, just as we see example for us in our text. In the family room, carefully showing your children how God's Word illuminates and so helpfully applies to God's world. It's rarely easy, is it? using the Word of God to deal with the complicated situations in life. Matthew, no doubt you have just confessed to us your faith in the Word of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. You know it's hard to live this life. All of us here have experienced just how hard it is to live out the Christian life in a way that is honoring to God. And so the means of grace and the role of parents within the home is so important for us as we wrestle with the various decisions we inevitably will need to make. And if we're not blessed with believing parents, or if we've grown beyond the family room into a dormitory or into a house of our own, there are still wise friends that we can gather around us. There are mentors that we can identify and listen to to help us understand how God would have us use His Word. There's the means of grace. There's the work of the family so that all of us can grow in the faith and practice of God's family. So friends, I would encourage you, each and every one of us, to spend some time in the family room of Proverbs 1. And as we do so, we should reflect upon its teaching, reflecting upon our own heart and the paths of our lives while listening to Christ and praying for stronger faith in the promises. You see, it's in this way. As we go forth from here into our homes and reflect together upon on what we've heard and what God's Word says while praying for His power and enlightenment that His Spirit will keep us secure and guide our paths. Amen. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for the light of Your Word and pray that You might guide us. Dear Father, if you don't come and lead us by the power of your Spirit, we will follow other leaders. Our hearts will be enticed by sinners. We will seek power and pleasure outside the things that you have approved and given. We'll look for friends and popularity. We'll yield to peer pressure and in the process, dear Lord, will grieve you, will hurt others, and will seek the glory of our name rather than the honor and promotion of your name. Help us, dear Lord, we pray. For Jesus' sake, amen.