Proverbs 1:20-33: Wisdom Calls, Wisdom Warns

Okay, back into Proverbs and just a couple of things to keep in mind that we've covered in the past. You want to remember that Proverbs is wisdom literature, which means that it is to be interpreted as such, and we've gone over some of those interpretive principles in the past.

The purpose of the book of Proverbs is to make one wise. It's most directly stated that right in the the beginning verses of the book. We also saw that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Any attempt to become wise apart from the fear of God is an effort in futility, and Proverbs uses many different types of literary devices, and that's something we need to be aware of. We've went through the Hebrew poetry, the parallelisms, using metaphors, etc., and so that brings us to our text for this morning, and this is kind of unusual in Proverbs to take this many verses, but it's one complete thought.

As we progress through Proverbs, you're going to find out that sometimes we'll just start with one verse because it's a complete thought, but in this case, we're still somewhat in the beginning of the book and somewhat of an introduction, and so we're going to just go through these here.

Wisdom Calls in the Streets of the City

So let's look at Proverbs 1 verses 20 to 23. Wisdom shouts in the street. She lifts her voice in the square. At the head of the noisy street, she cries out. At the entrance of the gates in the city, she utters her sayings.

How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge. Turn to my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you.

Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention. And you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof. I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your dread comes.

When your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would not accept my counsel. They spurned all my reproof, so they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be sealed with their own devices.

For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil.". Okay, let's introduce this topic here.

Let me ask you a question. Why are there warning horns on heavy equipment? You ever go down to a construction site and watch heavy equipment working? Most of you know I had a construction company for a short time between my police career and coming into ministry, and every time we had the bulldozers working on a piece of property, I would plan my day that I'd go down, and I'd have a little folding chair, and I'd sit outside, and I'd just sit there for hours watching the heavy equipment.

You know, just watching them move the dirt and the bulldozers just take a whole oak tree down, it just fascinated me. But why are there warnings? Why did they put the warning signals, you know, on the horn beeps when they back up?

Why did they do that? Yeah, well, but I mean, the bulldozer is big. I mean, you can't see it. Yeah, yeah, and so another question, why are there warning labels on certain products? That's one of the reasons, but why is there liability?

This is true, but there's some sort of a danger built into the product. There's some sort of a danger. That's why there are warning labels. All right, and that's the answer, because the answer to both questions is there is at least a perceived danger that people need to be warned about, all right, because some people don't perceive the danger when it's there.

A lot of you know that, you know, I'm doing some forklift training classes with John Noto, and we have videos showing people backing up with backhoes, not looking where they're going, and running over people.

I mean, it happens all the time, and that's why there are warning labels and whatnot. So, you would never see a warning like this, would you? This pillow is soft and possesses, warning, this pillow is soft and possesses no danger to the user.

That would be ludicrous. Why would you put a warning label like that? There's no danger. So, warning signals and labels are to warn you of danger. That's the whole purpose for them, and Proverbs does that throughout the entire book.

You will find as we go through the book of Proverbs that there are a series, a number of warnings that Proverbs gives, all right. So, remember, Proverbs is a book of antithesis. So, whenever there's a warning, there's usually some sort of an admonition or an encouragement that goes along with it, and that's what you're going to see consistently throughout the book of Proverbs, all right, and that's what we see in our text for this morning.

Wisdom's Call Is Universal and a Rebuke to the Foolish

Okay, first thing what we see is wisdom calls. Look at verse 20. Wisdom shouts in the street. She lifts her voice in the square. Wisdom, obviously, is the wisdom of the word of God, yet in Proverbs, wisdom is usually personified.

Notice even in this wisdom shouts in the street. She lifts her voice in the square, all right, and usually, it's using the feminine pronouns, all right, which a lot of people find interesting because we also find wisdom incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ.

A lot of people get thrown by that, and they say, you know, how come in Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a she, and yet we know from 1 Corinthians 1 .30, but by his doing, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God.

There we see it very clearly, and also in Colossians 2. In Colossians 2, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

So we see Christ is wisdom incarnate. He's the wisdom of God incarnate, but then in Proverbs, we see wisdom personified as a female. Now, don't let those feminine pronouns throw you, all right? We'll address this more fully in chapter eight, why Proverbs uses a feminine pronoun, all right?

But I'll just give you a briefly, it has to do with the role of Christ as savior and the role of a woman being created as a man's counselor, and when a woman upholds her position, she is also called wisdom, all right?

So there's a relationship there, but that's all I want to say about it, because that could take us far afield from what I want to cover this morning. You'll just have to wait till we get to chapter eight, and then we can discuss it more fully, right?

So the call of wisdom then is the call of Jesus Christ. And what we see is the call of wisdom is universal, okay? Wisdom shouts in the street, she lifts her voice in the square, and look at what it says, at the head of the noisy streets, she cries out, at the entrance of the gates in the city, she utters her sayings, okay?

In other words, the call of wisdom is not secretive. God has revealed himself to mankind in several ways, one through nature, of course, but more specifically for our purposes in the revelation of the scriptures.

And the call goes to everyone, it's not a secretive call. The call of Christ is to make disciples of all the nations. You know, applying this to the new covenant, we can certainly see, even in the old testament, the call was, Israel was to be the light of the world, but in the new testament in particular, we see that the wisdom of Christ is to go to all the nations, all right?

Christ told his disciples to shout from the housetops, the things they heard in secret, to shout it from the housetops, all right? The church, how does Christ describe the church? The city set on a hill, can't be hidden, okay?

It's the salt of the earth, the light of the world. These are all descriptions of the church, which has the treasures of wisdom and knowledge from Christ to the church to spread to the whole world. So the gospel is to be proclaimed everywhere.

That's the call of wisdom, all right? So what is proclaimed by wisdom? What is wisdom shouting in the analogy, all right? Look at what it says. How long, O naive ones, will you love simplicity, and scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools knowledge, all right?

Turn to my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit on you, I will make my words known to you, okay? These are words of reproof or rebuke. Notice what it's saying. It's how long, O naive ones, look at the wording of wisdom.

How is it addressing the people that she is crying to? Naive ones, they love simplicity, scoffers, all right? And then very specifically, turn to my reproof. In other words, these are words that are coming, a word of rebuke, a word of reproof.

Proverbs has many different styles of teaching throughout the book that you'll see. But in particular, all right, this one is specifically words of rebuke. That's not a popular concept in the church today, is it?

If you tell somebody, well, you know, that person needs a rebuke. No, no, no, no, no, just love them, you know? But here we have very specifically wisdom coming, turn to my reproof, all right? I will pour my spirit on you, I will make my words known to you, all right?

How long will you ignore the warnings of scripture? It's all right to say somebody, how long, you know, how long are you going to remain stiff-necked? How long are you going to ignore what the scripture teaches?

That's a part, you know. Remember, there's, even in a stern rebuke, you can be loving. I'm not talking about being arrogant or cruel, but sometimes the best thing that you can say is you can't do that, or you mustn't do that, or if you do that, you're going to suffer consequences.

And that's exactly what Proverbs is doing here, all right? Now, the first application of this is obviously the gospel message, because the epitome of the fool is the one who rejects God. So, the first application, what is wisdom doing?

Wisdom is screaming from the streets the message of Jesus Christ, okay? How long will you remain in your foolish ways? How long are you going to reject the gospel? How long are you going to think that you're in control of your life?

How long can you think you can continue to live in sin and do sinful behavior and not suffer consequences? Because isn't it amazing how many people, we've seen it when we watched the Ray Comfort and the Kirk Cameron videos, you know, people think, oh no, no, I'm not even thinking of eternity, I'm just, I want to enjoy myself now, okay?

How long will you remain in your simple ways, all right? How long will you despise the knowledge of scripture? Now, again, notice this is hyperbolic, metaphoric language, because most people won't say, oh, I despise the scripture.

Fine, some, but that's exactly what they do when they fail to heed it. You despise it, you hate that book. You ever, in fact, use that as a, as an approach sometimes, see the response that you get when somebody says, well, I don't think, I said, oh, you hate that book.

Oh, I don't hate the book. Oh, yes, you do. If you don't pay attention to it, you hate it, you know? See, might be a nice little way to start an evangelistic conversation. How long will you scoff at the message of Jesus Christ, all right?

Now, again, there's only a few people who will outwardly scoff at Christ, you know, people like Christopher Hitchens, you know, the anti-theists, all right? Because even most atheists, you know, they say, well, yeah, I don't care about God, you can, you can do what you want, you know, I just don't pay attention to it.

But in essence, they're scoffing at the message of Jesus Christ, all right? The knowledge of God is displayed for all to see. And again, Paul makes that point in Romans chapter one. Certainly, it's not enough to bring them to salvation, but they are left without excuse, they must be seeking God.

And so the question for the sinner is how long will you remain in your ignorant ways? How long are you content to remain ignorant of the message of Jesus Christ, all right? But there's a secondary application.

I think the primary application of these words are the call to salvation, but there's a secondary application, and that's for the Christian, okay? Because there is still foolishness in the heart of every believer.

Even when we're saved, we know we have to, the ongoing process of sanctification in our lives, and that is the struggle for each of us. So there's still foolishness in the heart of the believer, all right?

Christians can and do ignore the warnings of scripture. And we're warned of that numerous times, not only just in Proverbs, but even in the New Testament, of what are the consequences. What are the consequences when we ignore, you know, the warnings of scripture?

Just think, the Apostle Paul starts off, do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. And how many times do Christians say, oh no, I can have, that's my good friend. I don't have to, you know, I can hang out with him.

I can do everything that I want with him. He's not going to affect me. I'm going to affect him. Have to be careful. It's tough. So the next topic is the refusal, because wisdom is often spurned even by the Christian.

Refusing Wisdom and the Foolish Ways of the Believer

Okay, because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention. And you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof. Now again, the primary application of this text is for the non-believer who refuses to heed the scripture and come to Christ, all right.

But there's also, there's always a secondary application for the Christian. Now note, first, the second thing I want you to notice is the active role of wisdom. Notice, because I called, you refused, I stretched out my hand.

In other words, wisdom seeks. What does Jesus tell the woman by the, well, you know, God actually seeks those to be his worshipers, all right. Kind of fits in with our Calvinism, doesn't it? All right.

So notice the active role of wisdom. Wisdom is not passive. Wisdom actually goes out and seeks. That's why our evangelism is active. It's not passive, you know. People, I've heard many Christians say, oh, I can't speak to anybody about my faith, but I just live it in front of them.

In other words, I can live it passively. Well, yeah, that's the first step. You have to be living it. But wisdom is not passive, it's active. It is our job to go out and knock down the very gates of hell.

People think that, well, as long as hell isn't advancing on me, I'm doing my job. No, we are called to knock down the gates of hell and to advance the kingdom of God to all the nations, and yet help is refused.

I mean, that's one of the frustrating parts of evangelism, isn't it? When you're preaching the gospel and the person listens to you and then refuses it. I can remember vividly this one guy who's a good friend of mine who's having marital problems, and he came to me for counseling.

He knew that I did marriage counseling and wasn't a believer, so the very first thing I did was give him the gospel, all right? And I went through the whole gospel message, and he looked at me, and this is an intelligent man too, college grad, master's degree, you know, school teacher, and he looked at me and he said, I know you're probably right, but that's not for me.

I mean, it's just stunning. Wisdom, I called, you refused. I stretched out my hand, no one paid attention, neglected my counsel, right? Counsel is offered, it's rejected, so what is the gospel offer best described in Isaiah 55?

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come buy and eat, come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me, listen that you may live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you according to the most faithful mercies shown to David.

And of course that whole chapter is the gospel, and I just didn't want to take the time to read the whole thing this morning because I'm sure you all know it. So the gospel message goes forth with crystal clarity.

There's no ambiguity in the gospel message. I mean, the gospel message comes, it's just very crystal clear, all right, and most often rejected. If you are going to be an evangelist, and we are all called to be an evangelist of sorts, if you are doing a vision, you have to develop thick skin because more often than not it's going to be rejected, and the gospel witness in this country is prolific.

It's not that in our case, it's not that people haven't heard the gospel, all right, and especially during this time of the year. I mean, people, you walk down the mall, and what do you hear? Joy to the world, you know, the Lord has come, all right, but it goes in one ear and out the other, all right, still rejected, all right.

Now, what are the reasons? In this text, Proverbs gives us the reasons why it's rejected, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof.

Remember, this is wisdom talking, all right. Why do they reject the gospel? It is a conscious decision. That flies in the face of what a lot of Christian pastors would teach. It is a conscious decision.

The ignorance is not one of not knowing or not hearing, all right. They choose not to fear God. It is a choice that they make. Why? They hate His knowledge. They do not like the knowledge of God. Why do they hate the knowledge of God?

Because it interferes with what they want to do. So, these are conscious decisions, and let nobody tell you difference. A lot of people say, well, I just didn't know. Well, yeah, you did, you know. Everybody has the law written in their heart.

We innately know, you know. Granted, their conscience can be seared, but for most people, they know what's right, they know what's wrong, and most people, especially in this country, have heard the gospel at some point in their life.

It's almost impossible to think that, I mean, I've had people tell me, I never heard that before. I take that with a grain of salt, because it's almost impossible. I mean, even in the Roman Catholic Church, you're going to hear the essence of the gospel.

Maybe there's distortions to it and whatnot, but they've heard. I know of people who have been saved sitting in a Roman Catholic Church. If the scripture is being read, God can take it and use it, all right?

So, the specific people who are spoken of here have heard the truth and choose their own way. Remember, this is a message of rebuke. This is not this particular portion of scripture. It's not worldwide.

There are still people who maybe have not heard the gospel. This word of rebuke is not for them. There's other portions of scripture that deal with them, but this is specifically of those who have heard the truth and then choose their own way.

Think of how many people grow up in churches where at least the nominal message of the gospel is being taught, and they just choose, no, I don't want that. I want to do what I want to do. That's who this portion of Proverbs is for, all right?

They are called fools. Remember, in Proverbs, foolishness is a moral description, not an intellectual one. The fool in Proverbs is not somebody who is uneducated. He may be, but you have some very well-educated fools, all right?

They refuse to listen to the rebuke of scripture. So, now let's go to the secondary application. Remember, the primary application of this is for people who reject the message of the gospel, but there's also a secondary application to Christians for believers.

Christians can refuse to respond to the rebuke from scripture as well. I mean, we know that if you've been involved in a church for any length of time, you know that there are people who walk away, they'll be rebuked by a brother or two or three, and still refuse to respond.

So, how you respond to the rebuke of scripture says a lot about you, all right? Christians can still exhibit the characteristics of the fool. They can't be completely and utterly a fool and still be a Christian, but a Christian can still display some of the characteristics, and that's part of our sanctification process is trying to put to death the deeds of the flesh.

So, here's some foolish responses to a biblical rebuke or correction. This is specifically for the Christian now, all right? I mean, it would apply to people who reject the gospel, but I'm assuming that everybody in this room today is a Christian, and so these are specifically for us to examine ourselves, okay?

First, when somebody rebukes you or the elders rebuke you or whatever, the first response is the silent treatment, okay? Ignore it as though it was never said. Hey, you know you shouldn't do that, you know, okay, and just turn around, walk away, or put on a sad face, walk around like a penitent monk, you know, and still ignore the counsel.

Second is avoidance. You know that somebody's going to rebuke you, so what do you do? You just avoid. Proverbs 15 12, a scoffer does not love one who reproves him. He will not go to the wise, so he just avoids it, all right?

This is somebody who refuses to submit to authority. There are people who will do anything they can to avoid being in a circumstance where they have to submit to authority, okay? And this is a very popular one in the church today.

If what's happening and I'm not happy with what's going on in my church, I couldn't go someplace else because there's always another church down the corner that will accept me just as I am without one plea, or they just stay away, don't even go to church.

These people just hate to be told what to do. Third response is repudiation. No, I didn't do that. Doesn't matter if the evidence is against them, even if it's overwhelming, they still deny it. Nope, not me.

I am not a crook. They have the ability to interpret the evidence in their favor, even when it is clearly stacked against them. It all depends on what the definition of is is, all right? And that usually leads to the next response, which is fourth, rationalization.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel, okay? The foolish person can explain away why he did wrong in many creative ways, all right? Holding to a double standard.

That's okay for you, but I don't see it the same way as you do. You can believe that if you want. Often they look at someone else with condemnation and then do the same thing themselves because they're holding to two standards and they don't even see it.

Arbitrary exceptions. I know the Bible says thus and so, but this is different. I know I shouldn't lie to my parents, but they just don't understand me. I know I shouldn't be doing this, but God knows my heart.

That's a big one. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that in the counseling room. I know this is what the Bible says, but God knows my heart. They don't realize they've just condemned themselves by saying that God knows their heart.

Flimsy excuses. I went to that party knowing it was ungodly so I could witness to my friends. Sure you did. I watch movies and TV that I know I shouldn't so I can explain to my friends what is wrong with them.

These are real excuses, by the way. A definition of an excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. Fifth is anger. It may be outright anger that's expressed. You can see the red face and the words spewing out of their mouth, but often anger can be kept silent and internal.

Anger often leads to other responses. For example, our next category, recrimination or retaliation. Proverbs 13 10. Through presumption comes nothing but strife, but with those who receive counsel is wisdom.

All right, so recrimination or retaliation, attack the motive of the person that's confronting them. You're only saying this because you don't like me. If Johnny Jones had done this, then you wouldn't treat him this way.

Notice they're taking the focus off themselves, diverting it back to you. You're the one who is wrong. All right, or attack the integrity of the person confronting. Who are you to tell me not to steal?

Yesterday you said darn it. All right, who are you to tell me not to get drunk? You speed. Holding a grudge or taking up an offense. I'll accept this discipline, but you just wait until I say you do one little thing wrong.

I'll come down on you with both feet. Seventh is incorrigibility. Proverbs 17 10. A rebuke goes deeper into the one who has understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. Incorrigibility is the refusal to admit error or wrongdoing.

No, you're wrong. I did not do that. I've never done that. Yes, I did that, but there's nothing wrong with that. And or hypocritically admitting error or wrongdoing. They say they're sorry, but only because they got caught.

This is typical of people that we arrest, you know. Oh, I'm so sorry for what I've done. No, you're not. You're sorry because you got caught. All right, they're not sorry for what they have done. The hypocrite may even accept the correction because it makes him look good in the eyes of everyone.

You follow what I mean with that? In other words, oh yes, I'll accept my discipline. And they accept it and maybe even public discipline because now they look, oh look how penitent he is. But the key here is that there's no real repentance.

They might admit wrongdoing but ignore the correction and in effect no real change in their life. Yes, you're right, I stole the money, but I'm not giving it back. In fact, if given the opportunity, they would steal again.

Then Proverbs goes after this, it goes to the consequences. And here's the consequences of refusal. When your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, then distress and anguish come upon you.

Look at these words. Look at the words that are used that describe the one who fails to heal rebuke. Dread and calamity, distress and anguish. Webster's defines dread as a great fear of impending evil.

These are the words that the holy scripture uses to describe the person who the consequences of refusal to heed the call from wisdom. But look how dread comes, it's not just a dread that comes, it comes like a storm.

In other words, it just comes, there's no stopping it, it just comes in. All right, calamity like a tornado. All right, just let, remember Proverbs uses these word pictures for reasons. So if you're one who is refusing to listen to scripture, these are the consequences that come.

The fool who refused to listen to the warnings of scripture will come to a terrible end. And it often comes when you least expect it, just when things seem to be going so well. And then look at the further description in verse 31.

So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. It's the principle of sowing and reaping. Whatever you sow, that's what you're gonna reap. If you think you can sow the wind and not reap the whirlwind, you're sadly mistaken.

Then it gives the final end of the fool. But the waywardness of the naive shall kill them, and the complacency of the fools shall destroy them. They will come to destruction. Notice it's not just waywardness, remember this is synonymous parallelism here.

It's not just waywardness, but it's compared to complacency. It's complacency. In other words, you don't even have to be pursuing ungodliness, just the fact that you're not pursuing godliness is enough.

If you hear the gospel and do nothing, your end is the same as the rebellious. So the final end of the fool, I will even laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your dread comes. Remember this is wisdom speaking, and this is not laughing in a joking way.

It's what's called the laugh of derision. In the figure of speech, God always has the last laugh. And then there does come a point of no return. Look at what this ties in with what you guys were talking about earlier.

Then they shall call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me. There comes a time in the life of a fool when it's too late. And it's not necessarily that they are beyond God's grace, but they have removed themselves from even the possibility of turning.

So there is that the answer to that question. There does come a time when a person may have gone down the road, and it does become too late. Whether this occurs at judgment day or at some time prior, that's the debatable issue.

And we're not going to debate that this morning. Proverbs 29, a man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. But then Proverbs always leaves us with the other side of the coin, the rewards of heeding wisdom.

The Reward of Heeding Wisdom

But he who listens to me shall live securely and shall be at ease from the dread of evil. They shall live securely, and they shall be free from the dread of evil. And that begins even now on earth, but is complete in heaven.

Now remember, I just want to close with one point, and that is that while the primary application of this is for the person who rejects the gospel message, okay, there's always an aspect, there are consequences for the Christian who follows the same path, who fails to heed the call of scripture.

And while they may not be eternal consequences, there are certainly consequences here on earth for a Christian who lives in an ungodly way. Final thoughts, questions on this whole portion. This is a tremendous portion of scripture, and this is really still setting up the whole rest of the book of Proverbs.

Final thoughts? No? Okay, let me just...