We ended the last year and began this new year
with some meditations from the
book of Proverbs. At this time of our
church life our focus
is on the need for biblical
wisdom. I have previously reminded you
that wisdom is not necessarily
obtained by reading wise books. They are
important, but the reading of many books does not necessarily make a wise man. “There are”, as one black American preacher once said, “many
educated fools”. Spurgeon reminds us in this regard that, “Solomon
made a book of Proverbs, but a Book of
Proverbs won’t make a Solomon.” [1] Reading the Proverbs itself will not make you wise. It is God who made Solomon wise, and He alone can make you wise. Solomon received His unique wisdom from God Himself
(see 1 Kings 3:10-14) and THUS he was able to write it down for our
benefit. Pray
that in these sacred pages we may not only read of some amazing wisdom, but that we may be possessed by such wisdom, which is the gift of God
to us ! As we face the year of
our Lord 2015 I would like to remind you that reading your Bible and coming to
church on a Sunday to hear God’s
Word explained, will not necessarily
make you wise. The Word of God must be combined with humble prayer, as
we saw in Prov. 2:2-5, “…
making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding…
calling out for insight… seeking it like silver… searching for it as for hidden
treasures… then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. ”
Proverbs 3:11-20
We saw last week that Proverbs
3 began with 5 exhortations [2] to which great
promises for believers were attached. We also saw that these blessings ( length of days, favour and good success in the sight of God and man, etc.)
are conditionally given
to the believer. Believer’s must learn to obey in
order to obtain God’s blessings. We are not here referring to the unconditional
gift of eternal life which God gives
to us
unsought, unearned and undeserved in Jesus Christ His Son. The Bible here
refers to what must happen once we
have been converted. Having been enabled to believe we must obey
God! When the Lord Jesus
had chosen His disciples, the next thing He did was to tell them, “Follow
me!” [3]. My prayer is
that you and I may hear the
voice of the Good Shepherd clearly in 2015 and that we may
not only hear, but that we may obey Him
as we follow Him in the company and the
fellowship of believers joined
together at Eastside Baptist
Church.
From the Scriptures we
observe time and again that a
united church gathered under the doctrine of the apostles, gathered in prayer and in fellowship, regularly
observing the ordinances is a strong and a wise church. [4]
As Solomon now continues
to counsel his son in Prov. 3:11-20
we continue to build on these foundations as we observe three further God
–given wisdoms that we ought to
prayerfully receive and build into
our lives:
1.
A Reminder: God disciplines those whom He loves : [11] My
son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his
reproof,[12] for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son
in whom he delights.
This text needs to be
read in conjunction with Hebrews 12:5 . As you consider 2015, let this word of wisdom find a place in your heart . Many modern
Christians cannot stand the
thought of it , as they are trapped in the false , unbiblical wisdom of many popular teachers who prophecy
nothing but health, wealth and prosperity,
and thus bring about a false sense of
peace and security and dependence
upon idols and not the LORD . Becoming a child of God means to come into a new household in which we learn under the discipline of our loving heavenly
Father . In the light of this fact we
are reminded not to despise the Lord’s discipline nor to be
weary of his reproof . To despise
God means to resent God’s
dealings with us , or even failing to see that it is His
hand at work in our life. May the Lord
Himself teach you the value of appreciating
His loving discipline and learn
to make a distinction between chastisement and punishment
as Spurgeon does so helpfully in these following words[5] :
“God’s people can never by any possibility
be punished for their sins. God has punished them already in the person of
Christ; Christ their substitute has endured the full penalty for all their
guilt, and neither the justice nor the love of God can ever exact again that
which Christ has paid… but yet while the sin cannot be punished, while the
Christian cannot be condemned, he can be chastised; … as a son he may be
chastised on account of sin. Folly is bound up in the heart of all God’s
children, and the rod of the Father must bring that folly out of them. It is essential to observe the distinction
between punishment and chastisement. Punishment and chastisement may agree
as to the nature of the suffering: the one suffering may be as great as the
other; the sinner who while here is punished for his guilt may suffer no more
in this life than the Christian who is only chastised by his parent. They do
not differ as to the nature of the punishment, but they differ in the mind
of the punisher and in the relationship of the person who is punished. God
punishes the sinner on his own account because he is angry with the sinner and
his justice must be avenged, his law must be honored, and his commands must
have their dignity maintained. But he does not punish the believer on his own
account: on the Christian's account it is to do him good. He afflicts him for
his profit, he lays on the rod for his child's advantage; he has a good design
towards the person who receives the chastisement. … The rod has been baptized
in deep affection before it is laid on the believer's back. God does not afflict willingly, … there cannot be
anything punitive in it; you must never say — “Now God is punishing me for my
sin.” … He is chastising you , not punishing you ; …There is no hot displeasure
in his heart. …. It is simply because he loves you, because you are sons, that he therefore chastises you.
When
we as earthly fathers discipline our
children, they may not like it at the time. But Hebrews 12:11 helpfully reminds us, “For the moment all discipline
seems painful rather than pleasant, BUT LATER it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those that have been trained by it.”
2.
An
Encouragement: In pursuing wisdom you will get more than the world can offer! [13] Blessed is
the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,
[14] for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit
better than gold. [15] She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you
desire can compare with her. [16] Long life is in her right hand; in her
left hand are riches and honor. [17] Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace. [18] She is a tree of life to those who lay
hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.
Having heard
this reminder of God’s fatherly chastising of us we may thank God (perhaps only later) that through this means
we have been privileged to
find wisdom. Many testify to having
learned much in the University of hard knocks!
Understand this. We are not born
with wisdom! We need to find it, and when we have found it is a
source of blessing…. Blessed is
the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding! Solomon
says that those who find this wisdom
are blessed (see Psalm 1) . This wisdom is so much better
than possessing silver[6],
gold, jewels. We are so much
richer for knowing God’s truth
than the richest man in the world is in
having his material wealth. Consider the benefits of wisdom, beginning with v. 18 : She
is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast
are called blessed. The imagery of
the tree of life is used three more
times in Proverbs (1:30;13:12;15:4) and it is
obviously a reference to the tree
of life in Genesis and in Revelation .
So long life in v.16 is really ‘ looooong life’ not
necessarily in terms of this life
(some believers do die young) , but certainly
in terms of eternal life.
The point is that by pursuing the way of wisdom, a
person can obtain the best things God has to offer. What good is an expensive
house if there's no happy home within it? Happiness, pleasantness, and peace
aren't the guaranteed by-products of financial success, but they are guaranteed
to the person who lives by God's wisdom. Wisdom becomes a 'tree of life' to the
believer who takes hold of her, and this is indeed a foretaste of heaven.
And again note
the promises associated with wisdom… “long life… riches and honour …
pleasantness, peace …”. Alexander Mc
Laren reminds us this this regard, “No doubt such promises are to be taken with limitations; but there need
be no doubt that, on the whole, loyal devotion to and real possession of
heavenly Wisdom do tend in the direction of lengthening lives, which are by it
delivered from vices and anxieties which cut many a career short, and of
gathering round silver hairs reverence and troops of friends.”
Now here follows a necessary
warning. If you seek wisdom in order to get these blessings, you will not find her, for the love of wisdom is linked to
a person revealed by God to us in the flesh. So once again we must be reminded that
the only complete peace, and
sense of well- being comes from obeying Wisdom, or what is the same thing, from
following Christ. Peace with ourselves, the world, and God, is always the
consequence of listening to Wisdom – to our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus has become
the incarnate Wisdom of God. He is Himself ‘the Tree of Life in the midst of the paradise of God.’ Take hold of Him by faith, and keeping holding on stubbornly
to Him through all your temptations that may come to you this year! .
3.
A Vital
Theological Principle: Remember
the God has made the Heavens and the Earth! [19] The LORD by wisdom founded the
earth; by understanding he established the heavens; [20] by his knowledge
the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.
What an important
truth to live by as we make it our aim
to live wisely in 2015. Solomon here
affirms in agreement with Genesis
1:1ff and John 1:1-3,14 and Job 38-41 that God
is the Source and Creator. It is particularly John’s gospel that directs us to the fact
that Christ is the wisdom of God
as we are here reminded that He has created the earth (see Prov. 8: 22-31).
All this
has profound implications upon our
thinking. What you see around you , did not come from nothing . It did
not happen by random evolution.
The Bible always speaks about intelligent design. You see there has
been a great battle going on for more than 100 years now , contesting the fact that there is a personal Creator –God, who has
made the heavens and the earth.
Since Charles Darwin (1809-1882) there has been a sustained attack on the
biblical account of creation through
substituting this with the atheistic doctrine of impersonal, evolution by chance. Proverbs would call this foolish,
and so must we. It is important to affirm in our own day
what the Bible teaches about the creation of the heavens and the earth .
This is the wisdom of God and to
move away from this is foolish. No
wonder that following this, Solomon says to his son, “My son, do not lose sight of these- keep sound wisdom and
discretion, and they will be life for
your soul… then you will walk on your
way securely …” (vv. 21-23)
SUMMARY: Three principles for wise living along the way into 2015
(i) Remember
that God loves you and treats you as His child. This includes the fact that He will chastise you.
(ii) Pursue biblical
wisdom and you will get more than
the world can offer you.
(iii) Remember that
God is the Source of all that is made.
[1] Quoted by Gary Brady, “ Heavenly Wisdom “ , Welwyn
Commentaries , p.13
[2] See last week’s sermon
[3] E.g.
Matt 4:18,19 ( Andrew and Simon Peter) ; Matt. 4:21,22 ( James and John) ;
Matt. 9:9 ( Matthew) ;
John 1:43 ( Philip)
[4]
Acts 2:42; 4:23-31;
[5] A sermon (No.
667) delivered on Sabbath morning, October 28, 1855 by C.H. Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel,
Southwark.
[6] See Prov 2:4
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