WWUTT 1404 The Wise Man and the Scoffer (Proverbs 9:7-12)

Wisdom’s Invitation and the Feast of God’s Word

Wisdom has invited us to come and eat at her table, but the only ones who will be eating with wisdom are the ones who love to be rebuked, that they may grow in righteousness when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing, and if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of the book of Proverbs. And picking up today where we left off, well, I was gonna say last week, but it would have been two weeks ago now. So I'm gonna begin by reading the whole ninth chapter of Proverbs.

This is chapter nine, verses one through 18. Wisdom has built her house. She has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her beasts. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table. She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town.

Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. To him who lacks sense, she says, come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and live and walk in the way of insight. Whoever corrects a scoffer, gets himself abuse.

And he who reproves a wicked man, incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer or he will hate you. Reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me, your days will be multiplied and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself.

If you scoff, you alone will bear it. The woman folly is loud. She is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house. She takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way.

Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. And to him who lacks sense, she says, stolen water is sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

So a couple of weeks ago, we looked at one through six. That was as far as we got, but we have this beautiful picture of wisdom. Once again, we've been reading about wisdom since chapter eight. Of course, we've seen wisdom in the book of Proverbs thus far, but in chapters five, six, and seven, we're looking at the foolish woman, the adulteress, and wisdom is being contrasted with the adulteress.

The way of the adulteress is death. We have the woman folly that is painted in the same picture as the adulteress was. And just as the way of the adulteress was death, so the way of folly concludes the same way.

Verse 18, the dead are there in her residence. Her guests are in the depths of Sheol, but we are invited to the house of wisdom. Wisdom has built her house. She has hewn her seven pillars. That is a number of completeness in the Bible.

It is a complete house. It is perfect wisdom. When we sit and dine at the table of the wisdom of God, she has slaughtered her beasts. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table. So wisdom has prepared a feast.

And when we feast on the wisdom of God, that is not only the greatest of food that we could possibly put in our bellies, in the case of wisdom, put in our minds and in our hearts, but it is also wisdom.

It's a feast that we will never come to the end to. We will be feeding on that for the rest of our lives. And even then still beholding the wonders of the word of God forever in glory. You understand that Jesus said, heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away.

That's Mark 13 31. So it's not just a matter of the word of God existing only in the physical present in which we live, the world in which we inhabit at right now, but the word of God is gonna, it's going to continue forever.

We are praising God and hearing his word and beholding his wisdom in eternity. When we join him forever in glory, all those who are in Christ Jesus. For now we feast on the wisdom of God and it is good.

It is succulent. It is a feast that never ends. There are scholars who have dedicated their entire lives to studying the scriptures, knowing the ways of God according to his revealed word, Genesis to Revelation.

And at the end of their lives, these scholars who have dedicated their lives to studying this, they would say, there is still so much more to learn. And so we will behold the wisdom of God even forever.

Colossians two, beginning in verse two, the apostle Paul says that he prays for the Colossians that their hearts may be encouraged, knit together in love to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that we could ever wanna know.

They are found in Christ. They're hidden in Christ and revealed to us in Christ. And then Paul goes on, they're still in Colossians two. He says, I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

And he says to be filled with thanksgiving because in verse eight that you may see to it, no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ for in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

And you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. Everything we could ever hope to know about God, we know in Jesus Christ and he has given us his word through the prophets who give us the old Testament and the apostles who give us the new Testament.

And we will behold the majesty of the glory of God through this his revealed word until we die and go be with him in glory. And then as it says in first John three, two, we will see him as he is because we will be made to be like him.

So this is a succulent feast. We never come to the end of. Feasting on the wisdom and the knowledge of God. We go on in Proverbs nine, three, she sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town, whoever is simple, let him turn in here to him who lacks sense.

She says, come eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed, leave your simple ways and live and walk in the way of insight. Now that's important because some of those words you might recognize came up again, only it was a different voice saying them later on here in Proverbs chapter nine.

But we kind of have a bit of a break as some general wisdom is being given to us here. We have the way of wisdom described in verses one through six and then we have the way of folly coming up in 13 through 18, but we get some general wisdom in between seven through 12.

So it's kind of like here are some of the morsels you may enjoy when you feast at the Lord's table. So consider verse seven, whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.

Do not reprove a scoffer or he will hate you. Reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning.

Verses seven, eight and nine really go together. You can't mention the scoffer without mentioning the wise man. The scoffer, you try to correct a scoffer, here's what you get. But you correct a wise man and you get this.

And in summary, when a wise man is reproved and rebuked, he'll appreciate it. A fool won't. A fool will respond by mocking you, scoffing at you, which is why he's described as the scoffer. So if you're gonna correct a scoffer, he's just gonna scoff at you back.

Now, how do you know that a man is a scoffer? Well, because you've tried to correct him and he's not correctable. He just responds by scoffing at you. So where it says, whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse.

And then in verse eight, do not reprove a scoffer or he will hate you. His reputation has become that he's a scoffer. So it's not that there's certain people you should correct and certain people you should never correct.

He's already been corrected. Somebody has come to him and told him that what he is thinking or saying or doing, the way he is behaving is wrong. And he is not receptive to that correction. Instead, he is mocking or he retaliates instead of receiving the correction and appreciating it.

Now, one of the things this illustrates here, again, as you talk about this instruction being in between the way of wisdom and the way of folly is that a person who comes and eats at wisdom's table will listen to wisdom, will listen to wisdom's rebuke and will love it, will come there to that table to be rebuked by wisdom and will delight in it because they know that it's growth, it's good, it's training in righteousness, it's growing me in godliness.

Consider what Paul said about scripture to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 .16. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, that's positive, but look at the way that teaching is qualified, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.

Even training in righteousness requires rebuke, reproof, admonishment, correction. That's the way teaching is presented here. It's not just in a little kid's classroom where everything that the child does is just, oh, that was wonderful, Johnny, clap, clap, clap.

That's not the way the teaching of scripture is presented in 2 Timothy 3 .16 and 17. It's hard training, it's difficult stuff, it's having to be told, you're wrong here, you're a sinner here, repent, do it this way, go God's way, do it the way that God has said it is to be done, walk the path that he has laid out according to his word.

And it's going to be a difficult road, Jesus said that in Matthew chapter seven, he said that, he said to enter by the narrow gate, Matthew 7 .13, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few.

So the way of Christ is going to be difficult, sitting at wisdom's table and gleaning from the wisdom of God is not an easy thing, but you delight to do it because you know what is resulting from it is growing in godliness and Christ likeness.

I saw a tweet from somebody recently who said that their pastor was not going to be in church this coming Sunday and instead, who was going to be filling the pulpit was Paul Washer and the gif or the graphic that was used in response to that was a guy that was like smiling, he's like, yeah, I'm happy about this and then it was like sheer terror covered his face.

I'm going to get to hear from Paul Washer, but I know whatever it is he's going to preach is going to punch me in the face or hit me like a ton of bricks, that's what it's like listening to Paul Washer sermons.

A friend of mine, Rob Stiles down in Florida, he had posted a graphic one time of somebody who's listening to one Paul Washer sermon and then YouTube says that another Paul Washer sermon is about to start and the graphic was a kid going, no, no, no, wait, hang on, I got to catch my breath, I got to collect myself first.

So you know when you listen to a guy like Paul Washer, what you're going to get is hard hitting stuff, but you know it's good and you delight in it because it's going to convict you in those places you're going to be convicted, you're going to repent where you need to repent and you're going to grow in Christ likeness.

It's hard stuff, but you delight to do in it and that's the wise person. The only ones who are going to come and eat at wisdom's table are those who are humble, who realize they are fools in need of the wisdom of God because consider again what wisdom says in that invitation to bring people into her home.

Whoever is simple, let him turn in here to him who lacks sense, she says, come eat of my bread and drink of the wine that I have mixed. Whoever is simple, turn in here and what will you gain? Wisdom. You will gain the wisdom of God.

And so whoever comes to wisdom's table is already a wise man to seek after the wisdom of God and that wise man is going to love whatever it is that wisdom has to say. Reprove a wise man and he will love you.

Proverbs 9, 8, give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning. The righteous man increases in learning. That's one of the marks of righteousness in a person's life that God's righteousness is on their life, that they hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Remember that's the way Jesus put it in the Beatitudes, blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. And the person who desires righteousness is wise, the righteous man is taught and he increases in learning.

In Psalm 1 verse 5, it says, the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish.

So the righteous man increases in learning, he desires to know God. Consider what Peter says in 2 Peter 1 verse 5, for this very reason, talking to Christians who have been transformed in Christ, he says, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness and steadfastness with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So a person doesn't just merely go conversion and state some sort of statement of belief, but there is evidence in that person's life that they are growing in the things they have come into the knowledge of concerning Jesus Christ.

So we are to grow in knowledge. It is one of the evidences that Christ has changed us. And so growing in knowledge means receiving the wisdom of God, being convicted of our wrongdoing and desiring to go the righteous way.

Teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning. Verse 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We read that back at the start of Proverbs 1, verse 7. And the knowledge of the Holy One is insight, coming to an understanding of even God and his holiness.

That's insight. It's certainly insight we didn't have before we came to Christ, right? Verses 11 and 12, for by me, your days will be multiplied and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself.

If you scoff, you alone will bear it. Let's stop there on verse 11 for a moment. So we've read a statement similar to this previously in Proverbs and where I stated there, there's general wisdom that is being handed to us here in the sense that if you live wisely, you'll live longer.

If you live foolishly, you'll probably die younger, right? So there's general wisdom in that. But then we also have the spiritual understanding that the one who is after God, who loves the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, his days will be multiplied in the sense that we will live forever.

Years will be added to your life. We will be forever with God in glory. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. You don't gain wisdom for anybody else. You seek after the wisdom of God and by the blessing and grace of God, he will increase your knowledge according to your understanding of his word.

But if you scoff, if you are a scoffer, and a scoffer is somebody who mocks at the truth, that's the context of the scoffer in Proverbs 9. Peter talks about scoffers. So coming back to 2 Peter again, but this time in chapter three, he says, scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

And what do we read about those who pursue their own sinful desires? According to Romans 1, they suppress the truth with their unrighteousness. In 2 Thessalonians 3, God gives them, or this is chapter two rather, God gives them a strong delusion so that they may do what is false.

So this is the scoffer. He mocks at the truth that he may appeased in his sinful desires. And they will say, 2 Peter 3, 4, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.

For they deliberately overlook this fact, Peter says, they deliberately overlook the truth that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God.

And that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

That is the truth. Thus saith the Lord. That is from the word of God. And the scoffer mocks at that, that there will ever be such a judgment that a man in his sins will perish, but rather that, hey, things are just continuing as they are.

Yeah, there's a general wisdom that we can pursue and it just makes life a little bit better, but God loves everybody. And so love wins, right? You know, nobody's really gonna perish in judgment. Eventually love's gonna turn them around, whether it's in this life or the next.

That's what the scoffer will say. Will mock the idea that there are truly everlasting consequences for the wicked, perverse sins that we pursue now. So if you scoff, you alone will bear it. Your scoffing will come back upon you at the judgment of our Lord when he returns in glory.

So walk in wisdom. You are wise for yourself. You save yourself when you go after the wisdom of God, when you feast upon his word, when you are filled with Christ. Consider Jesus' words in John 6 .35.

Rebuke, Reproof, and the Wise Man’s Love of Correction

I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. So we feed upon the wisdom of God. We are filled and continuing to be filled. We never come to the end of this wonderful feast as long as we are here on this earth.

And even when we join God forever in glory, we will continue to behold the majesties of his wisdom. Amen? Let's finish there. We have one more section to finish up here in Proverbs 9, considering the way of folly, verses 13 through 18.

God willing, next week. Let's finish with prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for your good word. And I pray these things have convicted us today, that we not walk after our flesh, but we feed on the flesh of Christ, that his body is true bread.

His word is what fills us and that we may be filled with all the wisdom and knowledge of God that we can behold from your word. And that we may continue to feast on these things as long as we are here on this earth.

Convict us of our sins, convict us of being stupid, that we would no longer walk as fools, but we would desire the knowledge and the wisdom of God, walking in righteousness and in uprightness according to your ways, Christ Jesus.

It's in his precious name that we pray, amen.

This has been, When We Understand the Text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast, or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

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