20 Proverbs 1-5 - Pastor Chuck Smith - C2000 Series

shall we turn in our Bibles tonight to proverbs chapter one the first six verses are sort of a preface to the book as authors many times write a preface to their work the Proverbs of Solomon the son of David the king of Israel when Solomon first came into the throne of his father David the Kingdom of Israel had come ready to the zenith of its glory of power there was at that point one of the strongest kingdoms in the world blessed of God mightily and when Solomon became King God said unto Solomon ask of me what you will and Solomon prayed unto the Lord and said Lord I ask you that you would give me wisdom in governing over these your people and so the Lord said unto Solomon in as much as you did not ask for Fame or riches or honour but you asked for wisdom I will Grennan to you that which you have asked but I will also give to you that which you did not ask I will give to you wealth and honor and glory and so the scripture said that God gave wisdom unto Solomon unfortunately in Solomon's later years he did not really follow his own counsels and advice that he had given here to his son in the first eight chapters it sort of ascribed or defined to my son and he did not even follow his own advice he did not follow after wisdom and we see the tragic results of it as is reflected in his writing of the book of Ecclesiastes a man who had everything and yet had nothing a man who had everything in life that anybody could possibly wish for and yet cried out against the emptiness and frustration of life because he did not continue in wisdom we'll get to that a little bit more as we get down to verse seven but Solomon was a very prolific writer he wrote several songs he wrote 3,000 proverbs he wrote books on biology zoology and many different fields people came from all over the world to sit and to hear his wisdom as he would expound on plants and animals and things of this nature and so these Proverbs of Solomon son of David the king of Israel now the purpose of a proverb is to know wisdom and instruction to perceive the words of understanding for the most part they are they are put in such a way as they can fasten their there's them theirselves upon your memory in little words of contrast or in such a way picturesque or compared to so that they really fix themselves in your mind and the purpose of the proverb is to know wisdom to receive instruction to receive the instruction of wisdom justice judgment and equity to give subtlety to the simple to the young man knowledge and discretion now a wise man will hear and will increase is learning a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels to understand a proverb in the interpretation the words of the wise and their dark sayings so now he begins with a proverb with this first and foremost the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge in contrast but fools despise wisdom and instruction the fear of the Lord is the beginning now the word beginning here in Greek or Hebrew rather the Hebrew here means sort of the the head or the sum total in other words the fear of the Lord this is knowledge all wrapped up it's the summation of knowledge the fear of the Lord we come to chapter 9 and he says again there the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge or the beginning of wisdom it sounds like he's saying the same thing but he's not in Chapter 9 verse 10 the word beginning there is a different Hebrew word which does mean more what our word beginning means is the first steps of wisdom so the fear of the Lord is the first step but it is also the total now what is meant by the fear of the Lord as you get into chapter 8 verse 13 the fear of the Lord is to hate evil that's what the fear Lord is all about to hate evil so this is really the beginning the sum of real knowledge is that of hating evil it's the first steps towards wisdom the hating of evil we live in a very tolerant age and unfortunately our tolerance level has become very high we've become very tolerant of evil what we are really lacking today is a real hatred of evil we've been taught you know we're not to hate anything and so hate has been put as one of those intolerant words and and and people who have hatred you know are put in a category so we want to accept everybody live and live you know and and to develop a tolerance towards evil things evil is always seeking to be tolerated it always is looking for you to compromise and to accept it but the real beginning in the sum of knowledge is really a hatred of evil because God hates evil and if I am to fellowship with God I must also hate evil I cannot tolerate evil in my life if I'm to have true fellowship with God so the fear of the Lord is the summation of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction my son and he addresses this whole first part to my son here the instruction of thy father forsake not the law of thy mother for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck my son if sinners entice thee consent thou not all of the invitations of evil that we are presented with week by week but don't consent if sinners entice ly consent not if they say come with us and of course these guys are ready real robbers and all let us lay wait for blood let us lurk privately and for the innocent without cause let us swallow them up alive as the grave and whole as those that go down to the pit we shall find all precious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil caster a lot among us let's all have one purse my son walked not thou in the way of them refrain thy foot from their path for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood now we have an interesting little proverb in it it I don't know just why it's put right in this particular place but he said surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird now if you're going to try and catch Birds if you set the net right out while they're watching you it's in vain they won't come into it but then he goes right back to the wicked they lay wait for their own blood they lurk privately for their own lives so are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain which takes away the life of the owners there of wisdom Christ without she utters her voice in the street she cries in the chief place of the concourse in the openings of the gates in the city she utters her words saying now wisdom at this point he from verse 20 he gets into a discourse on wisdom and he personifies wisdom makes that a he actually personifies and some seeing the personification either God or Jesus Christ but there are certain dangers in this likening it to God or Jesus Christ as you'll discover as we get further into the personification of wisdom but here again the personification of wisdom he cries in the streets she says how long these simple ones will you love your simplicity and thus corners delight in scorning and how long will the fools eight knowledge turn at my reproof behold I will pour out my spirit unto you I will make known my words unto you because I have called and you have refused I stretched out my hand and no man regarded but you have said it not all of my counsel and you not heed my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh when your fear comes as desolation and your destruction comes as a whirlwind when distress and anguish come upon you then shall they call unto me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me for they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord so the scripture speaks of the calamity that will ultimately call to those who reject wisdom which is to hate evil ultimately calamity will come gods and the declares that when the calamity comes then there will be no one to help you they would none of my counsel they despised all my reproof therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices for the turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of the fools shall destroy them but whoso Harkness under me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from the fear of evil continuing to address to his son my son if thou wilt receive my words and hide my Commandments with you so that you incline your ear unto wisdom and apply your heart to understanding yes if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding if you seek after her as silver and you search for as for a hidden treasure then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God for the Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding he lays up some wisdom for the righteous he is a buckler to him that walks uprightly he keeps the paths of judgment and preserves the way of his Saints then shall you understand righteousness and judgment and equity yes every good path when wisdom entered is into your heart and knowledge is pleasant unto your soul discretion will preserve you understanding will keep you and they will deliver you from the way of the evil man from the man that speaks forward things the word for word is a word that means perverse the Hebrew word is perverse things who leaves the paths of the uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness who rejoices to do evil and delights in the perverseness of the wicked whose ways are crooked and they pervert their own paths to deliver you from the strange woman even from the stranger which flatters with her words who has forsaken the husband of her youth and has forgotten the Covenant that she made before God for her house inclines unto death her pass unto the dead none that go unto her return again neither take they hold of the paths of life that thou mayest walk in the ways of good men keep the paths of righteous of the righteous for the upright shall dwell in the land and the perfect shall remain in it but the wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressors shall be routed out of it so the instructions of a father to a son I think that so many times as fathers we probably don't take enough time to just really sit down with Suns and talked to them about life and the issues of life the importance of seeking after the knowledge of God and the wisdom of God seeking it diligently just like you would seek for prosperity from silver anything else hidden treasures for the treasures of the wisdom and the knowledge the treasures that they bring to a man who possesses them and then the warning against the adulterous woman how that wisdom will lead you from her deliver you from her who flatters with her words as most women know men are real suckers for flattery oh you're so strong can you open this jar for me you know oh you're strong you know it and then are just they eat it up no unfortunately our wives are many times more honest with us and they so many times are just blunt sometimes I think you're so dumb how can you do such stupid things and here the stranger comes along and with her flat ERISA's oh you're so smart my where did you learn all of that I've never met a man as clever as you the flattery how many men have been trapped by that and so the warning is against the adulterous woman who flatters with her lips be careful of that the Bible says that she has forsaken the Covenant that she made before God the marriage vows the husband of her youth she has left him and now she is looking for a prey she's looking for security and she comes along with her flattering words and like poor Samson through her flattering lips the strongest man can be brought down to a crust of bread and so here is just a father warning his son be careful for these gals son come along with their flatteries and all who can turn and twist your judgment because their path is the path of death you go into their houses you don't come out again there's destruction in their ways and so the Dada warning his son and and we need to be warned of the folly of forsaking the covenants that we have made in our own marriage vows in order to listen to the words of a flutter nun that go in unto her return again neither do they take hold of the path of life chapter three continues - my son forget not my law but let your heart keep my Commandments for length of days long line peace shall they add to thee now these are the three and and we get now into some couplets here he he gives sort of a a word and then he tells you what the result of it will be and to keep the commandment in your heart it'll grant to you the length of days long life piece will they add to thee now the next little statement let not mercy and truth forsake thee find them about your neck write them on the table of your heart what mercy and truth soul will you find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man so you see the results of writing the laws of mercy and truth upon your heart trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not to your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and the result will be he will direct your path how can I know the will of God the question so often asked three steps trust in the Lord with all your heart to lean not to your own understanding 3 in all your ways acknowledge him the result he shall direct your path now the next word of exhortation be not wise in your own eyes fear the Lord depart from evil and the result it will be help to thy body and morrow to thy bones you'll be healthy fear the Lord apart from evil the next exhortation honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all of your increase the result so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses that would be the wine presses shall burst out with new wine now there is a basic law and I'm not talking about the ten commandments of the law given by Moses just a basic law of God as we speak of laws we speak of laws of nature there is the law of magnetism the law of gravity the law of electricity the various laws of nature they are just there we have study studied them we've been able to formulize them and and understand them that they work we don't always know why they work but we know they work we know that they are just basic laws of nature that they work there's a cause and effect now in the same token there are basic spiritual laws that God is established that have a cause and effect kind of a thing just like any other law that is operating in our natural world around us and there is a law of God concerning giving and though we cannot understand exactly how it works yet it does work now I don't have to understand how electricity works to benefit from electricity even so I don't have to understand how the laws of God work as far as giving to benefit from them now here the law of God is stated honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of your increase I believe that the first fruits belong to God the first thing that comes out of my salary or my wages where it ever is earmarked for the Lord if I have sold a piece of property the increase the first fruits of it I give to God of the increase honoring God with your substance now this law is stated throughout the Bible many places and is illustrated in many places in Malachi we read will a man Rob God you say well we're in it we Rob God and God said in your ties and in your offerings now prove me and see if I will not pour out unto you a blessing which you cannot contain God challenges you to test this law jesus said give and it shall be given unto you measure it out press down running over shall men give into your bosom Paul the Apostle said that if we sow sparingly we will reap sparingly but if we sow bountifully we're going to reap bountifully in whatever measure you meet it's going to be measured to you again the law of God I cannot tell you how it works all I can do is affirm for you that it does work God honors that law of giving and so here is Solomon exhorting his son honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruit of all of your increase what will the result be your barns will be filled with plenty your presses shall burst out with new wine the next exhortation is my son despise not the chastening of the Lord neither be weary of his correction whom the Lord loveth he corrected even as the father the son in whom he delights in Hebrews this passage of this proverb is quoted my son despise not the chastening of the Lord now in Hebrews he adds for he chastens every son that he receives and of a person isn't chastened of the Lord if you can get by with evil then you better be very concerned because if you're a child of God he's not going to let you get by with evil now a lot of times that if we venture into something that we know is wrong and we get caught then we get real upset with God how come they can do it and they can get by with it I do it and I get caught you know not fair if you can do it and get by with it then you're in a dangerous place that's an indication you're not a true son of God God only Chasen's his sons so the chastening process of God in my life is always a very comforting process because at least it proves that I'm his son he's not going to let me get by with it thank you Father and so don't despise the chastening of the Lord don't be weary with his correction for whom the Lord loveth he corrects happy is the man that finds wisdom and the man that gets understanding for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver the gain is better than gold she's more precious than rubies and all of the things that you can desire are not to be compared unto wisdom and understanding o that we would really gain wisdom and understanding of God of God's will of life length of days is in her right hand in her left hand our riches in honor her ways are the ways of pleasantness all of her paths are peace o the benefit of rich and the riches that come from wisdom and understanding she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her and happy is everyone that retains her so all of these things that we count as as important pleasantness peace life happiness these things all come to the person who has gained wisdom and understanding now as he extolled wisdom and tells of its effects and results the Lord by wisdom have founded the earth by understanding he established the heavens by his knowledge the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew my son let not them depart from your eyes keep sound wisdom and discretion so shall they be life unto thy soul and grace unto thy neck then shall you walk in the way safely and your foot shall not stumble when you lie down you will not be afraid yeh you will lie down and your sleep shall be sweet be not afraid or you of sudden fear or sudden terror that comes upon the wicked when the day of judgment and terror comes you don't need to be afraid you can have that confidence I'm a child of God for the Lord so be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken when the day of calamity comes upon the wicked we do not need to fear withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of your hand to do it this is stated by the New Testament also to him that North to do good and doeth it not it is evil if you have the capacity to do good and you fail to do it that's just as much a sin as as some overt act of sin there are sins of failing to do the right thing just as there are sins of doing the wrong thing there are sins of omission omitting to do that which is right or good say not to your neighbor go and come again tomorrow and I'll give it to you when it's by your side then there is don't forestall or put him off divides not evil against your neighbor seeing that he's dwelling securely by you strive not with a man without cause if he hasn't done you any harm don't go looking for a fight and just getting into trouble envy not the oppressor and choose none of his ways for the perverse is an abomination to the Lord but God's secret is with the righteous the curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked but he blesses the dwelling place of the just surely he scorns the scorners but he gives grace unto the lowly humble thyself in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift the up he that exalteth himself shall be abased he that humbleth himself shall be exalted all of these ridi come there the expression of the same truth surely he scorned a--the the scorners but he gives grace to the lowly the wise shall inherit glory but shame shall be the promotion of fools continuing to his sons hear ye children the instruction of a father and attend that you might no understanding for I give you good doctrine don't forsake my law for I was my father's son tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother so Solomon now speaking of his father David and of his mother Bathsheba tender and beloved in the sight of his mother now he taught me now this would be David his father he taught me also and said unto me let your heart retain my words keep my Commandments and live now get wisdom get understanding forget it not neither decline from the words of my mouth forsake her not and she shall preserve thee love her and she will keep you wisdom is the principal thing therefore get wisdom and with all of thy getting get understanding now you know there are certain people who have a lot of knowledge but they're fools they don't know how to use their knowledge they don't have wisdom if there is to be a choice made between wisdom and knowledge it's better to choose wisdom it's like the mother who told her child honey when you don't got an education you got to use your brains and wisdom is really preferable to knowledge for unless you have wisdom knowledge can be dangerous knowledge can destroy wisdom is the principal thing which is actually the correct application of knowledge is knowing what to do with what you know understanding so here is David talking to Solomon now look son wisdom is the principal thing so get wisdom and with all of your getting get understanding Oh to have an understanding heart and oh to have a heart that is filled with wisdom fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom that's where it starts concerning wisdom exalt her and she will promote you she shall bring you to honor when you do it when you embrace her she shall give to your head an ornament of grace a crown of glory what she delivered to you here oh my son and it seems like Solomon picks it up here again receive my sayings and the years of your life will be many for I have taught you in the way of wisdom I have led you in the right path when you go your steps roll shall not be straighten and when you run you will not stumble take hold of instruction gripper don't let her go keep her for she is your life and are not into the path of the wicked do not go in the way of evil men avoid it pass not buy it turn from it run from it for they sleep not unless they have done some mischief and their sleep is taken away unless they've caused someone to fall for they eat the bread of wickedness and they drink the wine of violence but the path of the just is as the shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day so here is the contrast the wicked who go in darkness and who cannot sleep until they've done their mischief and so forth in contrast to the path of the just which is as a shining light that's China for and more unto the perfect day beautiful the way of the wicked is as darkness they know not at what they stumble my son attend to my words incline your ear to my sayings do not let them depart from your eyes keep them in the midst of your heart for they are life to those that find them and help to all their flesh keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life here I think is is perhaps the key keeping our hearts with all diligence now the Bible speaks of the soul the emotions of man conscious level but it speaks also of the heart of man which is always considered one level deeper how did the abundance of the heart the scripture said the mouth speaks it is not which goes into a man's mouth that defiles a man but that which comes out out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and out of the heart there issue you know all of these things so the heart is considered as sort of the center of the volitional part of man the will of man there's a difference made in the scripture with the believing in your mind and the believing in your heart that it also confess with thy mouth of Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in your heart what you believe in your heart affects the way you live what you believe in your mind can pass by and have no effect upon the way you live but when it's down deep within your heart then then there is the effect upon your life we must keep our hearts with all diligence because it is out of the heart that the issues of life spring forth put away from you a forward mouth a perverse mouth perverse lips put far from thee let your eyes look straight ahead ponder the path of your feet let all your ways be established don't turn to the right or to the left but remove your foot from evil now my son attend unto my wisdom bow your ear to my understanding that you may regard discretion and that your lips may keep knowledge and now he's going to warn his son again about the strange woman for the lips of a strange woman dropped as a honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil but her end his bitter is wormwood now though her lips dropped like a honeycomb all the sweetness and and sugar in and all yet the end is bitter bitter as wormwood door mouth is smoother than oil in the end it's like a two-edged sword of cut you to pieces her feet go down to death her steps take hold on hell actually he's talking here of course a prostitute an adulteress one strange woman lest you should ponder the path of life her ways are movable that you cannot know them hear me now therefore o ye children do not depart from the words of my mouth remove your way far from her do not come near the door of her house lest you give your honour to others and your years under the cruel less strangers be filled with your wealth and your Labor's be in the house of a stranger and you mourn in the end when your flesh and body are consumed when you've contracted some venereal disease and you say how have I hated instruction and my heart despise reproof how could I do such a stupid thing why did I do that jinan and to save yourself all the remorse of your own folly and you have not obeyed the voice of your teachers and are incline your ear to those that instructed you cry out why didn't I obey the voice of my teachers why didn't I listen to those that were instructing I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation assembly now drink waters out of your own cistern and running waters out of your own well in other words enjoy the marital relationship with your own wife drink the waters of your own cistern of your own well don't go looking for strange water let the foul let thy fountains lest I fountains actually be dispersed abroad and the rivers of water in the streets lest you just chase after anything that go down the street keep yourself actually pure and with your own wife and not with a stranger let your fountain of life be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your you let her be as a loving hind as a pleasant row let her breasts satisfy thee at all times and be thou ravished always with her love the Bible speaks so much of the beauty of the love and the love relationship within marriage God has ordained marriage in the beginning when God made them male and female he said for this cause shall a man leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife and they two shall become one flesh therefore that which God has joined together let no man put asunder now when God created us and he created our bodies in a true understanding of the scriptural teaching the real you is not your body the real you is spirit that dwells in your body but as my spirit is dwelling in my body my body does have certain appetites certain drive certain needs there are certain hormones and chemicals and all that work in my body and these working through the glands sends signals to my brain and they keep my body and balance if I run around the church I am burning up a lot of oxygen and as the oxygen burns up as the oxygen is being carried by the blood to the various cells of my body that they might burn the muscles and so forth that they might burn this oxygen the byproduct of the burnt oxygen is carbon dioxide and as this carbon dioxide begins to fill up in my bloodstream as it gets to a certain level it sends a message to my brain and it says there's too much carbon dioxide in the blood you need to get rid of it and the cells are needing some fresh oxygen supply and my brain responds to these chemical messages that are coming to it as the body is monitoring its own chemical structures and so the brain sends the message to the lungs to start pumping it sends a message to the heart get to working start reading pumping it through and to the lungs get to ridi pumping also and so I start to pant and my heartbeat increases and thus I am exhaling the carbon dioxide the waste materials and I'm inhaling the fresh oxygen to give fresh shots through my whole system and this is known as the hemostasis it keeps my body in balance now if the moisture level gets low in my body again the message is sent to my brain you're needing more moisture and it sends a message to my throat it gets dry hey man I got to have a drink of water you know I've been out perspiring and my moisture level gets down to a dangerous level and so the chemicals they respond and I get thirsty now God has built in these systems and they're marvelous if he didn't build in these little systems when you ran around in all you just fall over and you could actually die with all of that extra carbon dioxide in your blood and and without the oxygen you need you pass out soon you wouldn't be able to run very far you'd run so far and then you just pass out but God has put these balances and these drives there the air drive and the thirst drive and then of course your cells need other types of energy supplies and so you get hungry now this is somewhere where the system's gone haywire I'm sure but I ensure that I don't need to eat as much as I do but yet I have to eat that's all a part of it the whole system to keep it going now God wanted the earth to be populated by man and so God created the reproduction organs in the body and God created strong sexual drives strong sexual urges and he made the experience very exciting very pleasurable in order that children might be born otherwise the human species probably would have disappeared from the world years ago as men would have found it more pleasurable to go fishing so it is a God created drive the purpose is primarily the populating of the earth and God has ordained that these drives be satisfied and be fulfilled within the bonds of a marriage covenant where two persons of opposite sex make a covenant before God that they will love honor cherish one another until death separates them because God also knows that the children that are born of this relationship need to have the security this is the stability of a strong happy loving home lest society disintegrate so the whole thing has been planned of God is a part of God's process in its place it is not evil it's absolutely beautiful and desirable God has created it in order that it might become a deepest expression of the oneness that does exist between a husband and wife where the two become one flesh join together one flesh and even God has taken this beautiful experience it and spiritual eyes dit in likening it unto that relation that exists in the deepest love and the oneness between Christ and His Church now move it out of the environment in which and for which God has created it and it that which was created to be beautiful and meaningful and glorious become sinful missing the mark twisting the youth and it becomes wrong and it now is laden with feelings of guilt it's it's it has all of its counter issues that come forth from it becomes counterproductive so God speaks and here of course Solomon speaks to his son and he is exhorting him about this beautiful gift that he has from God fountains of life don't go spilling them on the street with just anybody but enjoy the wife of your youth be ravished always with her love for why will you my son be ravished with a strange woman and embrace the bosom of a stranger and now the clincher comes for the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he ponders all of his goings God is watching you you don't do it in secret it isn't something that is done in under a cover of darkness gods the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and God Ponder's all of his goings now why is he going there his own iniquities will take the wicked himself and he will be held with the cords of his own sins he will die without instruction and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray just good plain advice given by the father to his son it's just good plain advice for all of us shall we pray father we pray that we might learn to prize wisdom may we seek it as a treasure may we Oh God hate evil may we not tolerate or give a place for it in our lives but may we flee in order that we might walk Lord in your way the way of truth of righteousness and so help us Lord to give heed to the instructions to your laws to your commandments in Jesus name Amen

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Id: a0B89aBu5IE

Length: 61min 55sec (3715 seconds)

Published: Thu May 02 2013