The Wise Woman — Alan Martin

The Wise Woman in Proverbs 31

Let's start again with Proverbs 31, 26 -30. Just that passage. Proverbs 31, 26 -30. She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Now notice, why does it say, a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised? It also talks about the woman speaking with wisdom. How does wisdom and the fear of the Lord relate together? Think with me. How does the wisdom and the fear of the Lord relate together?

Well, wisdom talks about the good and bad and the wisdom of God, praise God, doing good. We'll talk about it a little more.

I think I heard someone quote the Scripture. Did I? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Instead of the beginning, it could actually mean it is the fear of the Lord that generates wisdom. That's what generates wisdom.

So that's why a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. She is wise because she fears the Lord. Now, what is this fear of the Lord? Okay, Hector kind of spoke towards it. Let me put it this way. It is proper recognition of God's power, wisdom, and authority.

God as Creator and the Foundation of Holiness

It starts with He created all things. You know they say that to Him in heaven? In the Revelation, the being sitting around the throne say this to God, for thou hast created all things. And they say it again.

Thou hast created all things. And then it says it again. And for your pleasure they are created. Now what is it, why is it so foundational that God created all things? It means He owns it. He is the landlord.

We are breathing His air. We are enjoying His laws. Life is possible because He sustains it the way it is. And it is extremely prudent and wise to live your life in the awareness that God has created this earth and given us life as we see it and know it today.

And this fear, this proper recognition of the Lord is the key to living a holy life. Someone read for me. Anybody here? 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1. You can even read it right off the... if they have it over here.

2 Corinthians 7, verse 1.

Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the feet of God. Well, it's interesting that Paul.

Is encouraging the Christians to cleanse themselves from everything that might contaminate your flesh or your spirit. And then he uses the phrase, perfecting holiness by the fear of the Lord. So how does the fear of the Lord cause us to experience a completion, a fullness of living a holy life?

How does that work together? Let's consider these verses. Proverbs 8, verse 13. Someone read for me. Proverbs 8, verse 13. Okay, how does this help towards the perfecting of holiness? The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

By the way, when you hear the word evil in the original language, here's the idea of the word, harmful. The fear of the Lord is to hate what is harmful. You see the wisdom of that? If it's bad for you, God considers it evil.

That's wise. That's what a loving God would do. Anything that's actually harmful, He would call evil. And the fear of the Lord is why? It's to hate. And it mentions three things. The fear of the Lord is to detest pride, arrogance, evil behavior, it mentions four things here, and perverseness of speech.

Now, in the Septuagint, it says the fear of the Lord hates unrighteousness, insolence, and pride. Not too many people know this, but in the Old Testament, there are two types of sins. You can read about this in Numbers 16.

There is the sins committed in ignorance. They weren't intentional. They happened. They were forgivable. But there's another type of sin in the Old Testament. It's called willful sin. And some of the older versions call it presumptuous sin.

You know how the Septuagint translates it? The sin of pride. That makes sense. There's two places in the New Testament, and almost all of us can quote this, God opposes the proud. The fear of the Lord is to hate the things that God opposes.

So if you're wise, and you actually hate the pride, arrogance, insolence, that kind of attitude, I don't care, then you avoid the things that bring the displeasure and the wrath of God on people. That's how the fear of the Lord helps us live a holy life.

We humble ourselves. We live by His Word. We're not proud and arrogant and abusive and stubborn to just do our own thing disregarding what God's Word clearly reveals. Someone read for me 2 Timothy 2 .19.

2 Timothy 2 .19. Ben, you're back there. Ben Serta. So you guys have your Bibles ready. You have your Bibles open. Don't get too dependent on it. Go ahead, Larry. Ben, hold on. I'll get you another. Larry got it.

Departing from Unrighteousness

Okay. Remember, the fear of the Lord is to hate the three things in the Septuagint. It says unrighteousness is the first one. The fear of the Lord is to hate unrighteousness. Here in the New Testament, Paul says the solid foundation of the Lord stands firm.

You know, that's a quotation from the Old Testament. You know what's in the quotation from? That's what Moses said to Korah, Nathan, and Abiram right before the earth opened up and swallowed them. And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 followers of Korah who were standing before the presence of the Lord holding censers because they had opposed Moses' position with God.

And Moses told them, look, the Lord knows who are His. And the other thing that goes with that is let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness. It's one thing to not claim to be a follower of Christ and to live the way you want to live.

But if you claim to be a follower of Christ, you better depart from unrighteousness. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness because every follower of the Lord should turn away from unrighteousness.

2 Thessalonians 2. I'm going to read this for you. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 9 through 12. Unrighteousness is a characteristic of the type of deception that is deceiving people in the last days. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 9 through 12.

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the working of Satan in every false power, sign, and wonder and in every form of the deception of unrighteousness. It's interesting that deception is qualified as the deception of unrighteousness.

Among those who are being destroyed. Notice who's being destroyed. The ones that are deceived are being destroyed and they're being deceived by the deception of unrighteousness. And because of this, what does God do?

God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie in order that everyone will be judged for this. Here's the judgment. Listen very carefully. They will be judged because they did not receive the love of the truth.

But they actually took pleasure in unrighteousness. The fear of the Lord is to hate unrighteousness. But these people actually took pleasure in it. And for that reason, God just sent them confidence, a false confidence that they were okay.

He basically gave them over to the way they wanted to think and just let them go, kind of like the Burger King commercial. Have it your way. You just have it your way. Do it your way. That's fine. You don't want to...

God is not going to force you and sit on you and put a collar on you and put you in a headlock and say, you better listen to me. You want to ignore Him? He'll let you. You want to do what you think is right?

You don't want His correction? Okay. But there is a cost for that. God actually sends a strong delusion and that actually seals a person in that fate. Because whom the Lord loves, He disciplines. And He corrects everyone He considers His own child.

You know, if you want God's protection, then do what He gives you to do. Then He takes charge. God is not responsible for covering us when we do our own thing. You want to do your own thing? You're on your own.

Do it. Go ahead. It may turn out good. It may turn out bad for you. But God is not responsible to make sure nothing goes wrong if you are doing your own thing. But when you're doing His will, He's responsible.

He's in charge. There, He protects His own way. And He protects His own servants. He's in charge of that. So, this is how a wise woman builds her house. And that's one of the verses I want to go to. Proverbs 14, verse 1.

The Wise Woman Builds a Lasting Legacy

Can you pull that? I don't know if I gave that for you. Can you? Here it is. Every wise woman builds her house. Now what does he mean by that? You're not talking about being the carpenter. You're not talking about being the job foreman or the superintendent.

We're talking about building a legacy. Building a family dynasty. Now a wise woman, why is she wise? What generates wisdom? The fear of the Lord. So a woman who fears the Lord actually builds a lasting dynasty in her family.

Because she teaches her family to hate arrogance and pride and insolence and evil behavior. She teaches her children to hate what's harmful and to love righteousness and to seek righteousness. And because that's what she teaches her children, they learn to hate what is harmful.

Don't be uncomfortable with the word hate. You know why we hate things? If you see something is about to harm your child, watch the emotion that swells up in you. Watch it. You see a poisonous snake coiled and about ready to strike your child.

And see if you'll just say, be careful, honey. Or see if you'll grab something in the most violent and direct way possible and the risk and the threat. That's why even in prison, child molesters have the hardest time in prison.

Because we hate things that harm innocence. And that's wisdom. And a wise woman leaves a legacy to her family to hate the things that are harmful and to love the things that are helpful. That's why she builds her house and the Lord watches over it because that's one of the things the scripture says that the Lord watches over the way of the righteous.

Love, Righteousness, and God's Protection

Let's first look at Romans chapter 12, verse nine. Someone read that for me. Romans 12, nine, and this is what love is. Love also hates. Do you know that? Do you know that? A mother who loves her child hates something that's about to abuse that child and will spring into action driven by love to attack the thing that's about to harm her child.

Someone read that, Romans 12, nine. Yeah. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil. Hate what is harmful. Remember, when you hear evil, hear harmful. Hate what is harmful. Clean, fast, and that which is good because that's how a woman does it.

So a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother who instills in her family the fear of the Lord has shown them a way of life that God will watch over. God watches over the way of the righteous. That's what it says in Proverbs 1, six.

The fear of the Lord watches for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. Actually, that's Psalms. That's Psalms 1, six. It's not Proverbs. Proverbs is wrong.

That's Psalms chapter one. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water which brings forth its fruit in season and his leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. But the way of the wicked is not so. The wicked are like the chaff that the wind drives away.

But the Lord watches over the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked shall perish. Now, that's why we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. So if we're seeking His righteousness, you know what we have?

God is watching over us. God has our back. God is making sure things will go well for us. We're seeking His kingdom. We're seeking His righteousness. And Jesus said this. I'm gonna read for you. We're gonna pull up Luke chapter 17 verse 26 and 33.

Remember Lot's Wife

We're nearly done because we're gonna celebrate the Lord's Supper this morning. But this is a really great passage and it brings into an example for us of what not to do. A person, actually a woman, who not to emulate.

Luke chapter 17, 26 to 33. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also it will be in the days of the Son of Man. How was it in the days of Noah? Well, here's what he says. People were eating, drinking, marrying, being given in marriage.

Up to the day Noah entered the ark. In other words, in the days of Noah, life was just going on as we knew it. And no one had a clue what was about to happen. And that's how it's gonna be when Jesus comes again.

Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. What were people doing in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah? They were eating and drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.

But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. And it will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, no one who is on the housetop with possessions inside should even go down to get them.

Likewise, no one who's in the field don't go back into the city for anything. And then he says, remember someone. Who? Remember Lot's wife. You remember what the two servants of the Lord that had come into Lot's house.

By the way, the ones that the men of the city were trying to break the door of the house down so that they could have sport with them and abuse them. Those men told Lot and his family, those he was gathered together, his wife and his daughter, they couldn't get his sons-in-laws to listen, but they said, flee to the mountains.

They told him because the city cannot be judged if you're in the vicinity. Well, they didn't want to go to the mountains, you remember? They thought it's too much for us. Can we go to this little city?

So they asked, was it Zohar, was that it? They asked to go to this little city. And they said, go, flee. But just don't look back, go. And Lot and his daughters and his wife fled the city of Sodom and Gomorrah only because the two men actually grabbed them by the hand and drugged them out of the city and said, run for your lives.

But you know, there's no place like home, is there? And home is where the heart is. So Lot, the Bible says in the book of Peter, we find that Lot was a righteous man and that he was tormented in his righteous soul.

Day by day, by the lawless deeds he saw in the city he was dwelling in. But it sounded like Lot's wife's home was Sodom. That's where her heart was. And so they're fleeing the city. And why do you think she's lagging back, lagging behind and looking back?

Because that's where her heart was and what happened to her. The fire and sulfur and brimstone fell and she was in the vicinity and she became what the scripture calls a pillar of salt. And Jesus uses that as an example.

Remember Lot's wife, whoever tries to keep their life will lose it. Whoever loses their life will preserve it. Now, in contrast to this, to Lot's wife, who hears that a city is about to be destroyed, flee for your life, she still has a hard time pulling herself away from it.

Ruth's Loyal Faith and a Godly Family Legacy

What about Ruth? You remember Ruth, the Moabite? Her mother-in-law, which is Naomi, was telling her, look, go back home. Go back to your people. I don't have anything for you. I'm too old. You can't wait for me to have another son.

Look, they'll understand. Go back to your family. And what did she say? No, no. God be it far from me. If I allow anything to separate me from you, your people are going to be my people. Where you go, I go.

Your people are going to be my people and your God is going to be my God. Oh, oh, that there would be more Naomi's in our land. That families will say, I want to live like you, grandma. I'm going to live like you, mom.

I'm going to live like you, great grandma. I'm not going to live like those other people. Your people are going to be my people. Your God is going to be my God. And this became the grandmother, the great grandmother of King David of Israel.

So she had the opportunity to go back and instead sought the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And Lot's wife had the opportunity to save herself and lost her life, longing to save it still. Don't, that's why, take the example, okay?

A mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother who imparts this awareness to her family, it's like you've left them a roadmap. You want God to watch over your life? You want God to bless your life? You want to avoid the difficulty that's coming into the world?

Fear the Lord. Seek His kingdom. Seek His righteousness. That will leave a legacy that God Himself will help preserve. And it's the fear of the Lord that makes such a woman wise. And it's that same fear that teaches her to hate the things that are harmful.

And this is what she imparts to her family. And that's what it means when it says that the wise woman, she builds her house. The foolish one, without the fear of the Lord, hey, they're good people. They are good ladies.

They love their children too. They love their grandchildren too. They pamper, that is the best. But they will encourage their children and grandchildren into things that they know or are unaware is actually harmful.

Live with your boyfriend. Do this. Just do this. And this is why it says, the one without the fear of the Lord, she tears down her house with her own hands. It's her own doing. I encourage you ladies, fear the Lord.

A woman who fears the Lord, she's to be praised. Because she's the one who built her house. She leaves them an everlasting legacy. All right, we're going to observe the Lord's Supper now.