If & Then

Proverbs 2 and the Theme of “If and Then”

Okay, if you have your Bibles this evening, if you would, open it up to the second chapter of the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs chapter 2, I would like to read the first nine verses, whether we get through all nine verses remains to be seen, but that's my intent.

So let us read the Word of God together. Proverbs chapter 2. My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your heart to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding, yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as the hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of his saints.

And then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity, and every good path. Let us just again ask God's blessing. Father, in Jesus name, we come now to you when we ask you to do what only you could do.

The Sovereignty of God and the Responsibility of Man

And that is to take your word, the living word, and make it real to our hearts. And even as the psalmist said, Lord, it's time for you to act. Without you, we can do nothing. So be with us tonight. May our thoughts, our words, and our lives demonstrate that we are under your word and directed by your word in Christ's name, amen.

As I said, I would like to look at the first nine verses, and I suppose, and I'm not big on titling messages, except in my own mind. But if I had a title tonight's thoughts, I suppose I would title it something like, If and Then.

If and Then. Because as we go through this, what I want to show or attempt to show is that in these verses, there is a reality of that very truth. In other words, if something is done, then something else will be done.

And the reality is, if we do something, then God will do something. And that might seem a little bit strange to us in that kind of a way that if we do something, God will do something. But the reality is, and I hope to show you that, in fact, that at times is the case.

You know, we believe in salvation is of the Lord. We believe that God has said, without me, you can do nothing. And without him, we are absolutely helpless and hopeless. And we stand firm on that truth, right?

We believe that salvation is of the Lord, even as Jonah cried out. We also stand firm on the truth that sanctification is by the Spirit of God, that you and I are possessed by the Spirit of God and that he's the teacher, that he is the guide into all truth, that it's all of him and only of him.

And we stand firm on that and praise God for that, that he has revealed that to us. But at the very same time, friends, we also believe, I hope we believe, and I hope we will continue to teach that just as important as it is to present that great truth of the sovereignty of God, that we also will present the truth of the responsibility of man.

And that you and I would stand firm on that, because that is certainly a truth that is embedded and interwoven in the Word of God. And it's just as important for us to understand the responsibility of man as it is to understand the sovereignty of God.

And I think often, I think more often than people would even admit, that we have a tendency to err way to one side or way to the other side. In other words, there are many who would present the doctrine of the sovereignty of God to the exclusion, if you will, of human resources, and perhaps that is more than just half, but a majority, especially in our country and in our day in which we live in, where people will present the responsibility of man almost to the exclusion of the sovereignty of God, almost to the point where God is handcuffed to the decision of men.

But my friends, the reality is, and as I hope for us to see tonight, the reality is that the ditches that we fall in are deep on both sides. The narrow path has deep ditches and we could fall into either one.

And perhaps at times we go from one ditch to another ditch, where we talk about God's sovereignty to the exclusion of responsibility, or we talk about human responsibility to the exclusion of the reality of God's sovereignty.

But here's the reality in these verses I believe that Solomon is conveying to us. And remember, Solomon is conveying the words, but it's God's word, right? God's speaking through his writer. And here's the reality.

We are to seek. We are to ask. We are to knock. We are responsible to press on in this most holy faith. We teach whatever man sows, he reaps. And that is something that presents to us that reality that there is that which we do or do not do that affects what we reap.

Whatever man sows, that he also reaps. And so again, as I said to you, if I had to title it, I would title it If and Then. And as we go through these verses, I hope to show you that in the opening verses, we see the if, and then in the remaining verses, we see the then.

And I'll say it again later, but I wanted to say it now. And I hope you will agree with me that God's saving grace is unconditional. Amen? Okay. God's saving grace is unconditional, but I will set this forth to you and hope to show it to you that his experimental knowledge has conditions attached to it.

His experimental knowledge has conditions attached to it, and that is where our human responsibility enters into it. God's grace is unconditional. At the same time, the enjoyment of God to a certain extent is our own responsibility.

And as you look at what Solomon lays out in these verses, I believe you will see it highlighted. So let's just walk through the verses briefly and look at verse one. My son, and here it is, if you receive my words, if you receive my words, you will see that word if a number of times in these opening verses, again in verse three, if you cry out for discernment, look at verse four, if you seek her as silver.

So again, who is to do that? Who is Solomon addressing? He's addressing all that will listen to him. He's addressing those that he hopes would be wise. Remember the theme that I've tried to present in the beginning, and I'm more and more convicted that this is perhaps the most prominent theme in the book of Proverbs.

There's only two kinds of people. There is the wise who is diligent, who seeks after God, and he receives the blessings of God, and he is set forth in the book of Proverbs in contrast to the fool. And the fool is the one who is so lazy and so unwilling to seek after God, and he comes under the judgment of God.

So again, as he addresses, when he says, if you will receive my words, I believe he's talking to all that will listen to him. And then it will come down to that point where the wise, and I'm not going to address how they become wise, because again, it goes back in many ways to the sovereignty of God.

But he addresses all with a desire that all would hear. So he says, if you will receive my words. I'm going to ask you a question. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions tonight, and I don't expect a public answer, but I'm not asking you only.

I'm asking myself also, and I've been thinking about this. And so as Solomon says this, if you receive my words, how often are we alone with the word of God? Just think about it. How often are you alone to receive God's word?

How much time do we expose ourselves to his word? Do we decide the boundaries of that? In other words, do we say, well, yep, I've committed to reading my Bible 30 minutes a day, and no matter what, I'm going to read it for 30 minutes a day, or perhaps I'm going to read it in the morning.

I'm going to read it in the afternoon. I'm going to read it in the evening. And I'm not opposed to that, but that's not what I'm asking. What I'm asking is how much time do we really have in which we expose ourselves to his word?

Or I'll put it to you this way, because he says, if you receive my words, are we really those that study to show ourselves approved? Again, I'm not just asking you, I'm asking all of us. Are we those who study to show ourselves approved to God?

Perhaps I had to ask it to you this way. If you had to, and again, in your own mind and in your own heart and in your own life, if you had to consider the amount of free time that you have to do whatever you desire to do, how much of that free time is given over with desire to receive God's word?

And I know, I realize, you know, if you're young kids, sickness, work, trials, tribulations, bad tires on your car. I mean, I understand there's all the things of life that enter it. But what I'm asking is, as Solomon says, if you receive my words, now I want to ask how much of our free time given to us do we then take and desire to come to God's word?

And I also want to add this into your thinking. I'm asking you to think about it in the sense of how much time you come with desire rather than compulsion. Desire rather than compulsion. Because to me, there's a world of difference between the two.

There's a world of difference between having a desire to do something and a compulsion to do something. There were many days when I was working. I had no desire to get up at two o 'clock in the morning.

And yet, I did it. That's compulsion. But when I get up at two o 'clock in the morning to go fishing, that's desire. So see, there's a big difference between the two. So what I'm asking is, Solomon says, if you will receive my words, and then he adds, and treasure my commands within you.

We'll get to that in a second. But I want you to gauge yourself in the next couple of days, next week, of how much time that you have that you could do whatever you want, what percentage of that time would you come to receive God's word?

Because to me, as he says it, if you will receive my words, that there's my responsibility. Not your responsibility, it's my responsibility. I'm responsible for myself. He says, if you receive my words, and then he adds, as I said, and treasure my commands within you.

And I began to think about this whole idea of treasuring something, or even the idea of treasure itself. And I began to consider that, and I thought to myself, could you imagine someone who decides that he's going to go treasure hunting?

I don't care what it's for, but we'll use gold. And so he desires to find treasure, and he goes out, and he buys all the tools and things needed to pan for gold. And he gets everything ready, lays out his map, lays out where he's going to go, how he's going to get there.

He's got everything ready, he gets out to his point where he said he was going to dig for this treasure, and he takes his pan, and he sticks it in the water, and pulls up the soil, and he shakes it a couple times, and nothing there.

He says, forget about this, and he goes home. What would you think of him? You're a fool. You're a fool, because treasure cannot be found in such, if it's truly treasure, it's usually hard to find. Wouldn't you agree?

If it wasn't that way, then we'd all be rich. And so when Solomon says, if you will receive my words and treasure my commands within you, if you and I truly treasure God's word, we will do more than just take a shot at it and walk away from it.

We will set our minds to pan for it every single opportunity, wouldn't you? If you were out there, and you were in a place where treasure could be found, would you just put it in a pan once and go sleep in a tent for the rest of the day?

No, I'm here to find treasure. I guess there's probably another question that could be asked is, do we really treasure God's word? But that goes back to the first question about how much time do we really spend in God's word?

And I'm not trying to force us to go home and stay up all night and read the Bible. Although I'm not opposed to going home all night and reading the Bible. You see, friends, this reality of our own responsibility, as I said, God's salvation is unconditional, but to grow in grace and grow in the knowledge of God, to find him who in reality is beyond finding, it's going to take effort.

It takes more effort than, again, those who feel that they set the boundaries. I read my Bible on Sunday, and you know what? I even read it a little bit on Sunday night. Or I put my 15 minutes a day, I do my devotions, and I'm good to go.

Listen, the knowledge of God is the greatest treasure that could ever be had. The problem with us is we don't believe it, and because we don't believe it, we don't search after it. Jesus said this, he said, The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid, and for the joy over it he goes and he sells all that he has to buy that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found one pearl a great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Do we not believe what God says? Do we not believe that God grants treasure to those who will receive his word and treasure my commands within you?

You know, one of the things about the word of God that is both so encouraging and, again, in another sense so frightening, is that if we really come to God's word, God's word begins to dissect us, right?

God's word begins to take us apart. At least I find that in my own life. I find myself with thoughts in my own mind, and then God's word begins to dissect my thoughts, and then I want to almost close down shop, if you understand what I'm saying.

But God's word is living, and it's powerful, and it's sharpened in a two-edged sword, and it pierces our hearts, and it begins to dissect us, and there are many times we would have to say, if we were honest, Lord, I really don't treasure you as much as you treasure me.

Crying Out for Discernment and Seeking Wisdom

Look at verse two. My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you, again, so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding. Who is to do it? Is the preacher to do it?

Absolutely. Is the hearer to do it? Absolutely. Are we all to do it? Absolutely. Are we all to do it all the time? Absolutely. How do we do it when no one sees us? Absolutely. To incline our ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding.

If you think about it, that's the way, you know, we live in such a world of specialties and specialists, right? There's the heart specialist, there's the foot specialist, there's the eyeball specialist, there's all kinds of specialists.

Could you imagine if you were to go to a specialist for a specific procedure that really was life-saving and life-changing, and you walk into the office, and you're sitting in a waiting room, and you finally get brought into the exam room, and he or she comes in, the doctor, and they begin to talk to you, and you begin to, and they say, do you have any questions for me before we go into this procedure?

And you say, yeah, I mean, how long have you been doing this, doc? I mean, do you really know what you're doing? And just like the commercial on TV, and he says, you know what, I did it once, but I want you to know I really love to golf.

That's one of my great treasures in life is to play golf, or I like to go fishing. I like to go offshore and get lost for a day. So I think I got this, but I got to tell you, honestly, it's not really my treasure.

Are you ready to be put under? How much do we really incline our ear to wisdom and apply our hearts to understanding? Again, friends, I can't answer that for you. I can't even answer it for myself, sometimes, in truth.

But Solomon says, if you receive my words, and you treasure my commands, and you incline your heart, you incline your ear to wisdom, and you apply your heart to understanding, and then he goes again, and he says it in verse three, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding.

There's the if again. We haven't even gotten to the then. We're still on the ifs. If you cry out. I want to say something, and perhaps you do it. Perhaps you don't do it. Perhaps you don't think it's needed.

Many different thoughts might come out of it, but I want to suggest something to all of us, and I think it's practical. I want to suggest that when we study God's Word, that we come to it with a couple of thoughts.

First thought is this. When we come to open our Bibles, that we come as if we don't understand a single thing, because one of the worst things that we could do when we study is to think, Lord, I'm just refreshing myself here, and I've got this down already.

I'm just trying to tweak it a little bit. That you and I should come to our Bibles, and we should come as if we don't know a single thing, because that's the position of humility. And then I want to also suggest to us this.

In this thought of crying out, that we should not only pray before we read. I don't know how anybody can open their Bible and not pray before they read, by the way. But I want to suggest to us, in light of what Solomon says here, that not only do we pray and ask for God's understanding before we read, that we actually stop while we're reading and pray for discernment.

And then when we're done, pray some more. I can't answer that for you. I can answer it for myself. But I want to ask you to think about that. How often do we pray while we're actually reading God's Word?

Listen, if God's Word is a divine revelation, amen? Okay. Are we divine? No. So do we not need divine revelation and divine grace and divine power and divine wisdom to understand the divine revelation?

So why would we not cry out for God to understand which in and of ourselves we cannot understand? Unless again, as I said, we come to it as if we already understand it. I think that's one of the quickest ways to close down what God would have for us when we read.

If we cry out, if we are those who cry out for discernment, I will say this to you. If you will do that, I am going to go out on a limb based on what I believe the Scripture teaches. You will be amazed.

You will be amazed at what God will give you. I was reading again yesterday morning. I was reading in Matthew 13. I've been reading through Matthew in part of my own study. I was in Matthew 13 and I started reading the parables.

And you know, I've got my Bible. I've had this Bible 30 years. It's scotch taped and glued together for now. But you know, all you do, all of us have, well, most of us have studied Bibles and we write our little notes in there, right?

We have, and I began to look at Matthew 13 and I was thinking about this and I was trying to be very conscious of it. And I said, Lord, I want to open this up and I want to read it as if I don't understand a single thing.

And as I started to read the parables, I started to pray. I said, Lord, I think I understand it, but do I really understand? Anyway, I have messed up my Bible because I wrote notes over notes over notes.

And I got arrows going this way and arrows going that way. And then I looked at some of the notes that I had wrote and I said, man, yeah, I think I had it that thought last time. Or I was on another planet when I read it last time.

I guess what I'm trying to get us to think about is in this idea of human responsibility, in this idea of what Solomon is laying out, that we are the ones who are to cry out for understanding and discernment to lift up our voice for understanding and that it will change our results.

Seeking the Knowledge of God as Hidden Treasure

It goes on again in verse four. If you seek her as silver, if you seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasure, if you seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasure. You see, friends, we are the ones that are to seek.

We are the ones that are to search. And I've said this many times to many people. If you and I think we could sit under a tree and by osmosis that we'll be sanctified, you will sit under a tree for an awful long time.

We got to put our hands to the plow. It says, even Jeremiah said, it says, plow up your own heart, plow up the fallow ground. Do we seek? Do we search? Remember what God says? God says those that seek him will what?

Find him. Maybe one of the reasons why we don't feel close to God is because God's not close to us in an experimental way. He certainly is close to us in the way of salvation, right? It is finished. Never lose sight of that.

It is finished, right? If God before us, who could be against us? But that doesn't neglect our own responsibility to cry out, to seek, to search, to, again, as I said, to plow up our own hearts. See, again, that's one of the thoughts in the book of Proverbs.

The lazy man is so lazy that he does nothing, right? There's one of the Proverbs in, I can't remember the exact wording, but it basically says he's so lazy that he's hungry. And yet he's so lazy he won't raise his hand to his own mouth to feed himself.

Now whose fault is that? It's his fault. Friends, do we really seek God's truth as silver and search for her as hidden treasure? I would guarantee you if people really thought that there was a little leprechaun with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, that people would be looking for that rainbow off the heart.

If you receive my words, if you cry out for discernment, if you seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasures, then look at verse five, then you will understand the fear of the Lord. When?

After you and I do what we have been granted to do, and that's to know him. If and then, then, and I will say only then. That doesn't mean God won't sanctify us. Doesn't mean God won't work with us. Doesn't mean God doesn't love us.

Doesn't mean God won't display himself to us in various ways. But if we really want to know God, see, I really believe that's the issue with us. We only want to know so much. We don't really want to know him because if we really know him, we're going to have to really know ourselves.

And to really know ourselves is painful, at least in my own soul. So rather than really see myself for who I am, I just don't look that hard to find out who God is. But if we will do that, God says, then we will find.

Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and the find the knowledge of God. And here's the great promise to it, right? If, and then, it's not, I might show you myself. I might give you understanding.

It's not that at all. I will. He will. Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. There's a verse in 1 Samuel. I'll just tell you where it is. It's 1 Samuel 2 .30. It's been in my mind for 40 years when I first read it.

1 Samuel 2 .30 says, far be it from me, says the Lord, but those that honor me, I will honor. And those that despise me will be lightly esteemed. Those that honor me, I will honor. One of the ways that we can honor God is to seek after him.

Because he's worthy of it. And God says, those that honor me, I will honor. Then we will find. The fear of the Lord is his treasure. There are so many fools in this world seeking for treasure that is not really correct treasure.

And if they find treasure, either the moth comes or the thief comes or the rust comes and it's gone. Over time, little by little, here and there, it's gone. But I will tell you this, the treasure of the Lord is eternal.

Because the treasure is to know God. God doesn't rust. There's no one that can steal from God. And so these verses to me, my friends, they speak of action on our part. If you will do this, then you will receive that.

That's why I say the experimental enjoyment and understanding of God is conditional. And I will also stand firm that it is absolutely by sovereign decree. Just as the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man, I've heard it explained.

And probably one of the better ways of explaining, it's like railroad tracks that run parallel to each other and they're joined, but they never meet. But you wouldn't want to have either one side or the other taken away because they run together and they make it work.

And so you and I have to think about that. I hope you see that with me. I hope you see it in part that Solomon is crying out and he's trying to convey, remember I told you in the first eight chapters of the book of Proverbs, before he ever gets into the definitive Proverbs of this and that and the other things, and all those wives saying the first eight chapters, actually to the first nine and a half chapters, all he's doing is pouring out his heart saying, please, please listen to me because really he's the voice of God.

And the fool will listen. And I mean, the wise man will listen and the fool will despise. Both will go to the grave. One will be in Abraham's bosom and the other will be in the torments of hell. Pretty big issue, don't you think?

The Lord Gives Wisdom and Preserves the Way of His Saints

Let me take just a few minutes before we close to look at verses six through nine. There's the if and the then. Then you will find and understand the knowledge of the Lord, the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Look, verse six, for the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Well, that's one of the nicest, most comforting verses in the Bible. God gives wisdom. You know, the brothers who study and formulate terms, and what are the terms that is used for the attributes of God?

There's two kinds of attributes of God. One is his incommunicable attributes and the other one is his communicable attributes, which simply in a sense means that some of the attributes of God are communicated to us and we can partake of them to a certain extent.

But they're incommunicable in the fact that God, whatever it is, God has it in an infinite way. But isn't it great that we can read in God's Word that God promises that God will give us wisdom. And from his mouth comes knowledge.

You know, friends, our God is a generous God, isn't he? He is so generous to us. He is so generous to us in that he gives of himself to us. He that spared not his own son, how shall he not with his own son freely give us all things.

For the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. It proceeds from him simply because he's the fount of all wisdom. I want to read, just to just listen to what some of the Word says as far as God being the foundation of all wisdom and the one who gives that wisdom out freely and fully to those.

Again, I'm going to go back to my opening thought, to those that will seek him. In James it says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

How many of us really cry out for God to give us wisdom? I think many times we cry out for God to save us. How many of us cry out for Lord to give me wisdom? Again, in James it says, do not deceive my beloved brethren.

Do not be deceived my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. And you know, when you think about this, listen, God is not under obligation to do that.

We have so many wrong thoughts and so many people have so many wrong, that God, they almost make God obligated to the whims and the desires and the benefit and the happiness of men. And it's not true.

God is not obligated other than what he obligates himself to do. Listen to this from Job. I quote sometimes the same scriptures because the wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are her wings and pinions like the kindly stalk?

For she leaves her eggs on the ground and warms them in the dust. And she forgets that a foot may crush them or that a wild beast may break them. She treats her young harshly as though they were not hers.

Her labor is in vain without concern because God deprived her of wisdom and did not endow her with understanding. Why does the ostrich crush its own young? Because God deprived her of understanding. God said to Moses, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uriah, the son of Herb, the tribe of Judah.

And I filled him with the spirit of God and wisdom and understanding and knowledge and all manner of workmanship to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver, in bronze and cutting jewels for setting and carving wood, and to work all manner of workmanship.

God gave wisdom because God is the giver of wisdom. And God, out of his generosity and out of his sovereign purpose, does it as he pleases. But as I read in Proverbs chapter two, if we cry out, he will give it to us for the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth comes knowledge.

You see, friends, God's wisdom is solid, isn't it? God's wisdom is sure. Matter of fact, if you look at it in verse seven, it says, he stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk rightly.

Look at verse eight. He guards the path to justice, and he preserves the way of his saints. And then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity in every good path. It's amazing to me, especially in our day, there are so many people in this world that want us to listen to their wisdom.

As if they are the shield and they are the preserver, and if we would only follow them, we would have wisdom and we would have nothing but goodness and happiness forever and ever. And all they ever do is like the blind leading the blind into a ditch.

But God gives wisdom and his wisdom stores up for us. And he is a shield. He is a God. He preserves his way. I don't know about you, but as David so often said, unless the Lord had been on my side, I would have perished.

I don't know about you, but if I got to go to a fight, I want the biggest and baddest with me. I'm sorry, I'm taking brother Dale and brother Paul. They're big men. If I can't do anything else, I'll hide behind them.

I want the biggest and the best when I'm up against it, don't you? And it's God who is the biggest. And then I'll say it. And I hope it's heard in the reverent. God is the baddest. My friends, it's so important for us.

Job said this. He said, but where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? Man knows not the price. Neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth says it's not in me. The sea says it's not in me.

It cannot be gotten for gold. Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophrah, with the precious onyx or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it.

The exchange of it cannot be found for jewels or fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or pearl, for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it. Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.