FBC Morning Light (5/25/2024)

Good Saturday morning, people of faith. We are in Proverbs chapters 14 through 20 today and this weekend, and so what I did, there's so much stuff in chapters 14 through 20, so many really, really good things.

I tried to pick one thing from each chapter, so we're going to have to do this kind of quickly. So, starting in chapter 14, look at verse 6. It says, A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it, but knowledge is easy to him who understands.

Seeking after knowledge all by itself is a very difficult thing, but when you understand something, learning about it becomes actually much easier. And so, what is the key to understanding things in our world?

I would suggest to you it is this, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If you reject the Lord, it doesn't mean that you can't know things and that you can't understand things, but in the big picture understanding why this world is the way it is, that understanding comes at the beginning with the fear of the Lord.

The Fear of the Lord and the Beginning of Wisdom

Chapter 15, verses 16 and 17 says, Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted calf with hatred. Continuing this idea of the fear of the Lord, to have not a lot, but to have the fear of the Lord is much better than great things and much treasure with trouble.

Several different plays and movies in the 20th century were famous for this, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, or the Orson Welles movie whose name is leaving me all of a sudden, where he's all just trying to get his sled back at the end of the movie, and it just gets thrown into the fire.

He had riches and wealth, but had much trouble in his life. To summarize, let me ask this question. If you were to eat your favorite meal, but it had to be in a place where you were not welcomed by any other people and they were all angry with you, or you had to eat just something to get by, but you were in a place where everyone knew you and loved you, which would you rather do?

Which would you rather have? To me, the answer is very simple. I would much rather have a meager meal amongst friends. All right, chapter 16 and verse 18, and this I find to be one of the most often off-quoted.

I don't want to say misquoted, because I think it's quoted in a paraphrase oftentimes, but if I asked you the question, if I asked you to fill in the rest of this verse, I said, pride comes before, and almost universally, you can go any place and they're going to say pride comes before a fall.

Unfortunately, that's not exactly what the verse says. It says something in a parallel thought to that. Let me read it to you. This is verse 18 of chapter 16. It says, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

That certainly has the same parallel thought, but just point out to you that pride going before destruction, at least in my understanding of the language, destruction seems to have a much more significant impact than a fall.

If you have a fall, you think, well, we'll just get back up again, but if you're destroyed, what can you do? All right, so I think sometimes when we paraphrase it, we may be taking a little tiny edge off of the impact of that verse.

Pride, Destruction, and the Cost of a Haughty Spirit

Chapter 17 and verse 16 says, why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom since he has no heart for it? Well, there is, first of all, no amount of money that you can use to buy truth.

Truth is what it is. You can seek after it. You can find it with the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom. You can find an awful lot of it. But let me read, let me read or say this to you. This was an expression given to me.

It was in my Bible training at some point, and it says, the door to the truth is the will, not the intellect. Oftentimes we think it's the really smart people that have everything figured out. And you know what?

There's a lot of things that a lot of smart people have figured out, yet they remain in error because their will is opposed to truth in other matters. All right. When it comes to the door to truth in the spiritual realm about heaven and hell and eternal life, the door to that truth is the will.

And pray that our will is not damaged and in rebellion, but rather that our will has been made new in the new creation. Chapter 18 verses 10 and 11. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and are safe.

The rich man's wealth is his strong city and like a high wall in his own esteem. Basic question here. In what or whom do you trust? Do you trust in the Lord or do you trust in your riches? And the Jesus called riches the deceitfulness of wealth.

Right. We think that I've got it made because I have such and such in my bank account. Now I have enough to retire. I have enough to do this or that. Let your trust be in the name of the Lord. All right.

Trust in the Name of the Lord Rather Than Riches

Chapter 19 verse 23. Says the fear of the Lord leads to life and he who has it will abide in satisfaction. He will not be visited with evil. The fear of the Lord is a theme throughout these passages. And here the fear of the Lord leads to life.

And I want to contrast that with Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 36. Chapter 8 verse 36, the context here is talking about wisdom. It says, but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death.

Life and death are contrasted in these two passages. Those who hate wisdom will love death. And that's an important thing to remember. Especially as we contrast it with the fear of the Lord leads to life.

Finally, chapter 20 verses 6 and 9. Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man? And verse 9, who can say, I have made my heart clean. I am pure from sin. Isaiah 53, 6 says, all we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned each one to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. And chapter 3 of the book of Romans verses 10 through 18. It says, as it is written, there is none righteous.

No, not one. There is none who understands. There's none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have all together become unprofitable. There is none who does good. No, not one. Their throat is an open tomb.

With their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways.

And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. I would suggest to you that when we are asked the question, who can say, I have made my heart clean. I am pure from sin.

The answer is, no one can say, I have made my heart clean. Who can find a faithful man? There is one faithful man, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is upon him in which we must place our trust.

Human Sinfulness and the Faithful Man in Christ

Let's pray. Lord, thank you for the wisdom of your word, particularly as we find it today in the book of Proverbs. Help us to apply these truths to our lives and walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you've given us.

It's in your son's name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.