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[0:00] We welcome you to the media ministry of Bethel Community Church, knowing Jesus, making Jesus known. Alright, good morning. Am I live? Am I on? I think I'm on. Okay. Thanks for that, guys.

[0:18] It's always nice to follow us on. If you're sitting here this morning, you are already a recipient of God's mercy, if you didn't know that. I was planning on taking a full hour, and God held the musicians back just to give me a head start.

[0:31] So you are welcome on behalf of God's prophetic knowledge. Not a full hour, but I was worried it was going to go a little bit long. So this is a good start already. Welcome to the final week on the study of Proverbs.

[0:47] Just making sure my thing is good to go here. And while they cue that up, rather than a joke or a pun, I thought it might be a little more fitting to get the gears turning.

[1:00] Look at a couple of riddles. You know, we're kind of in that type of study. So in case you're still waking up this morning, this will help you shake that and get engaged.

[1:11] So here we go. If you know the answer, feel free to shout it out. I don't know how this is going to go. What do you bury when it's alive and unbury when it's dead? Nobody.

[1:24] Yeah, a plant. There we go. All right, that was a good one. That was supposed to be an easy one, by the way. So here we go. Number two. What has one head, four legs, and one foot?

[1:39] It's a bed. And you got it. Okay. I'll skip that. I think I'm going to skip a lot of the ones that I had. Try this one.

[1:50] I'll read it slowly. Alive as you, but without breath. As cold in my life as in my death. Never a thirst, though always I drink.

[2:01] Dressed in mail, but never I clink. What am I? That's harder to hear, I know. All the anglers in this group, I thought maybe someone would guess a fish, but that's okay.

[2:14] So I'll send these out, because I like that one a lot. All right, all right. Well, last one, just for the Lord of the Rings fans in the rooms. Voiceless it cries, wingless it flutters. Toothless it bites, mouthless it mutters.

[2:29] The wind. Yeah. All right. You guys, you should follow up with Andrew after this. He's hiding something. So I'll just say I've really enjoyed this study on Proverbs.

[2:45] I did miss a couple weeks early on, but I have, I just, I find it so valuable and insightful to go through a book that speaks truth across all of life's themes and challenges.

[2:56] I've just, I've really appreciated that. But words full of wisdom and understanding, practical insights on how to live, how to think, how to behave. Not that it's easy to do necessarily, but just some really good stuff.

[3:09] Written through the wisest man who ever lived. You know, it's worth stopping to think about that, and we'll dig into that a little bit later. Trained by kings and prophets, given divine wisdom, and, you know, directly from God.

[3:22] And so just to start us off, I wanted to share this verse. It might be a little small. I apologize, but I'll read it. It's Proverbs 4, 3 to 9. This is Solomon speaking kind of in reference to himself.

[3:35] He says, When I was a son to my father, yet not strong, and only a son to my mother, he told and taught me, let your heart fully embrace what I have to say. Keep my commandments and live.

[3:48] Get wisdom. Get understanding. Do not forget or turn aside from the words of my mouth. Do not abandon her, and she will protect you. Love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is of utmost importance.

[4:00] Therefore, get wisdom. And with all your effort, work to acquire understanding. Prize her, and she will exalt you. Indeed, if you embrace her, she will honor you. She will place on your head a graceful garland.

[4:13] She will present to you a crown of beauty. To me, that verse, those series of verses, is just a really helpful summary of some of the things we've already covered and kind of sets the tone for this morning's message.

[4:25] And so it's in that spirit of pursuing knowledge, pursuing wisdom and understanding, that this week we close the study with the topic of life and death. So that's what we're going to unpack.

[4:38] And I, admittedly, I struggled in preparation for this. I just found it really challenging. Men and scholars and women throughout history have spent their whole lives tackling the meaning of just one or the other.

[4:54] And here we have 35 minutes to knock out both. And so I just, you know, I was wrestling with so many different directions to take this, and yet I felt very limited in my perspective, you know, as a 32-year-old guy on this side of eternity, just thinking about, what do you add to the words of Solomon on life and death?

[5:13] So with all that admission up front, I don't know if you can read that either, but this was the objective that I felt God leading to today.

[5:26] To highlight, categorize, and absorb key verses on life and death. So we're going to do some reading. We're going to do some looking at the truth as it is presented in the Bible, in the Proverbs.

[5:37] And then, after we've kind of gone through that, I want to close with a broad action, just a broad commentary on wisdom and understanding as it kind of takes us to that next step.

[5:50] What do we do with it? So that's the hope. I hope we get there. I hope it comes together well. Let's pray and we'll dive in. God, thank you for this morning. Thank you for this group of believers.

[6:02] Thank you for the fact that you've saved us, those who believe, those who have accepted Christ's death as our sacrifice for sin. I just, I thank you what that grants us, or thank you for what that grants us.

[6:15] I thank you for the institution of this weekly meeting that you've established for our benefit and for your glory. I just thank you for the opportunity. I thank you for the opportunity to speak.

[6:26] And I pray that you would deliver wisdom, deliver insight, and deliver truth to us this morning through your text. Amen. All right. So here we go.

[6:37] If you were to scan and pull out every word in the Proverbs that has a reference to or speaks of life and death, and its derivative, right, so live, die, living, way of death, all of it, you'll find that for the most part, there may be one or two exceptions, but for the most part they fall into three categories.

[6:55] So I thought it would be helpful right off the bat to see them up front. Again, hopefully you can see that, but this gives an idea of how it breaks down.

[7:06] And so I call them categories, but really think of it as use cases. How is life and death used in the context of these chapters and of these words in the Proverbs? So if you can't see it, I'll read it real quick.

[7:18] The first category that we're going to dive into is the quantitative. So what do I mean by that? What I mean is when you see life or you see a reference to a derivative of life, you're going to see it indicating longevity, more time, more days.

[7:34] And conversely, right, death is going to be represented by shortness, brevity of days. Pretty straightforward. The second category you'll see is the qualitative. So it's talking about not duration, right, but how are those days composed?

[7:49] What is the experience in them? So life is often represented through satisfaction or contentment. Versus death is going to be, you'll see some color around those words for loss, waste, vanity, pain, right?

[8:03] And so the third category we're going to unpack is the, and this one may surprise some of you because you think of Proverbs as a practical book for the here and now, but there is a reference, there is a theme that comes through for the spiritual and the eternal.

[8:18] So we'll see some phrases, we'll see some verses that point us towards not necessarily a physical life or death, but an implication beyond the grave. Make sense? Okay.

[8:29] I wanted to flash that up in case somehow we got off track. I feel like that's where I wanted to stay, and you guys know me. I tend to be pretty structured, so couldn't go on without that. So there they are, right?

[8:43] The plan is, I just thought there was value in looking at the verses themselves, so we're going to scan examples of each, and I'll have them up here on the screen. But ultimately, I think at the end of this, we should come together in a conclusion on what it points to in light of all three categories.

[8:58] So kind of hold your breath for that at the end, and I think we'll get there. Now, as we read these, as we go through each one, here's my suggestion, just because, again, I wrestle with this.

[9:10] What I think will be effective is consider each individual verse, the clause or the admonition that's stated, as if it's the only verse we're studying in that moment, right?

[9:21] Take it for face value, because I think there's something from each individual thought that comes through. And then after that, the second approach, if you will, is just think of it in light of the broader category.

[9:35] How does that add color to what we're talking about? So there it is. First category, the quantitative. Longevity versus brevity of days.

[9:48] So I've got four verses for us here to page through. Proverbs 4, verses 10 says, Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of thy life shall be many.

[10:00] That's pretty straightforward. You know, more years in reference to life as the result of hearing teaching. Proverbs 3, verses 1 and 2, My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments.

[10:15] For length of days, and long life, and peace shall be added to thee. This is a similar example as before, right? Life equals many days to live, the result of sound conduct and obedience.

[10:28] But we get a little more color in this one, which is why I included it. There's actually a quantitative and a qualitative in the same verse. But we see life is further equipped with having peace.

[10:41] Proverbs 13, 14, The law of the wise is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. There's a lot of colorful words in Proverbs.

[10:51] I really enjoyed that reading through this. So life is painted as a fountain, right? Springing from and maintaining law and wise living. Where death is actually displayed as a risk, a snare, a trap.

[11:04] A caution towards the alternative. The last one here, Proverbs 7, 27. Speaking of the adulterous in the context. It says, If you go to her house, you are on the way of the world of the dead.

[11:18] It's a shortcut to death, as it says. By comparison, right? The poorer choices, the lack of discipline, leads to a shortened life.

[11:28] So there are a lot of examples. I just, I wanted to highlight a few that really speak to, you know, when we look at life and death in terms of what does the Proverbs say about it, there's definitely that quantitative measure that comes out really strong in a lot of verses.

[11:42] And this is just one way showing that measure. Honestly, this is probably the most practical, right? It's the most logically understood and observed in our world. It's like, I put it in, it's like T-ball for Solomon.

[11:54] You know, cause and effect. You know, it's why we teach our kids not to run out in the parking lot, right? We talked about family and instruction last week with Tom's message. My dad used to use the phrase grease spot, you know?

[12:07] You don't want to become a grease spot. I'd always, I think I appreciate that now. Looking back, I think of, I think of Genesis, you think of ash and dust, right? And you will return, but somewhere in the vineyard chemistry, there's a little bit of grease.

[12:21] That's all right. In a similar way, Solomon is teaching on the value of instruction, the benefit of obedience. And oftentimes, it's actually a hearing spirit leading to life.

[12:33] It's just an interesting concept. As guiding principles, these truths benefit our decisions. They benefit our living and our conduct.

[12:44] And it doesn't, it's not something I prepared here to highlight, but if you're familiar with scripture, you think about the Old Testament. There are plenty of examples where reckless and lawless behavior led to being cut short.

[12:57] In contrast with that, another character from the Old Testament, Genesis 25, it talks about Abraham. In verse 8, it says, Then Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age, an old man, full of years, and was gathered to his people.

[13:11] Now, we wouldn't say that Abraham was perfect, right? I don't think that's the indication here at all. But, he believed God's truth. He feared the Lord, which we'll come back to in a minute.

[13:23] And he followed his words and commands. And what does it say? You know, talking of life, full of years. It's just an example. Here's one more for the first category. Proverbs 14, 27.

[13:35] It says, The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. There's that picture again. To depart from the snares of death. That's very similar to one of the ones we read, but it wraps up the first category well.

[13:47] So, let's move on to number two. We had the quantitative. How many? How much life? Now, let's look at the second category.

[13:59] So, this we're going to see. This we're going to see the quality or lack thereof in life. Life is going to be represented by betterment, by enjoyment, by enjoyment, by meaning, reward, contentment.

[14:11] The Proverbs speak a lot about those things, and it shows up in the same context where life and death are represented. Death, on the other hand, is going to be represented by vanity, frustration, emptiness, pain and suffering.

[14:25] You know what I like about the Proverbs, honestly, is that these things are translatable. Every human being on the planet, I was just kind of, I like to think about what unites us, right?

[14:40] And this qualitative factor of life and death, it doesn't matter where you're born, what time zone you were in, what gender or birth order, you know, these things are something we can all relate to.

[14:51] These categories of quality of life are things that the good we all appreciate, and the bad we all have no interest in. And so that's, I like that in these next couple verses.

[15:02] Watch this. A couple examples. Proverbs 16, 22, understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that has it, but the instruction of fools is folly.

[15:13] So life, again, is characterized by a wellspring of life. That phrase is, I think it's pronounced kai, C-H-A-Y is what I found, but it indicates a picture of flowing, alive, reviving, that sort of life.

[15:30] In other words, in gaining understanding, we get, we experience invigorating life, and not foolishness, as the verse indicates. Proverbs 4, 23, says, keep thy, I like this verse a lot, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.

[15:47] What a great verse. It's probably a whole message just on that verse, honestly, to be had. But here, life is again used in the quality sense, in reference to how one's days might go, the issues of life, the concerns of life, as we're told, are tied to diligently keeping one's heart.

[16:07] And that phrase is actually, I was looking up meaning and pictures on some of these words, words, and that phrase, keeping one's heart, is in reference to the same sort of structure as a guard post, or an observatory.

[16:20] And you just think, you know, for those of us who have been saved for a while, you think about that verse, you know, how are your days, and I can relate to this quite a bit, how are your days when I'm not thinking about where my heart's at?

[16:31] It tends to be reactionary, tends to be frustrated, categorized by quick to anger, all the things my wife's nodding her head about, things that I don't want to be true of myself, right?

[16:45] So, I just really like that verse there, Proverbs 4. Proverbs 8, 35, For he that findeth me, speaking of wisdom, finds life, and shall obtain favor from the Lord.

[16:57] So now, finding wisdom equals finding life, but also leads to finding favor of the Lord. How's that for a measure of quality? I love how systematic some of these verses are too. Proverbs 19, 23 says, The fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that has it shall abide satisfied.

[17:17] He shall not be visited with evil. This is another example where the phrase or the term life is used in tandem with fear of the Lord, which we're going to touch on at the end.

[17:28] But life is described as being satisfied, a qualitative measure, at peace in one's days. Now, notice the opposite too, is not physical death necessarily, but what does it say?

[17:39] Being visited with evil. Anybody want to be visited by evil this evening? Open for plans? Want evil to stop by? No, right?

[17:50] This is something we don't want to do. Honestly, it sounds like a way to describe food poisoning or something. Some bad taco meat last night and got visited by evil at 2 a.m.

[18:03] Not me, just a hypothetical. Proverbs 10, 11, The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

[18:14] So life, again, in reference to a well, a spring, springing forth from a righteous man. We had a whole session on the tongue and words, so not to dive into that here in this verse, but just notice the opposite reference here to life is not dying, but it's violence, pain, suffering, and loss.

[18:34] This last one, Proverbs 21, 21, says, whoever, apologies, whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor.

[18:52] Now, that almost sounds like a fortune cookie, but it's better than that because it's true. Tom shared last week on the family, and I put this in here because I thought it, you know, paraphrasing one of his statements, he said, I think speaking of your younger days with Nicky, we really didn't know how to do this thing or what we were doing, but we were committed, and he pointed to his Bible, he said we were committed to the word, and I think the point of that was we didn't have all the answers, but we knew the one thing that we couldn't do without.

[19:22] And I think Solomon here in this example is actually saying something very similar. He's saying in pursuing righteousness and love, we'll find life, notably quality of life, in the form of prosperity and honor.

[19:36] So hopefully it's starting to come together, right? I mean, that's a lot of verses to blitz through in about 10 or 15 minutes, but life is not only to be measured in number of days is one of the points I want to make, but it's actually quality of those days as well.

[19:51] And I think it's a mistake for us in any of our scenarios to single out one form or representation of the definition and isolate it as it relates to ourselves. And honestly, on the second category, before we move on to the third, if anybody knew about quality of days, you've got to think it would be Solomon, right?

[20:13] I did a quick history check on Solomon as I was studying and as we were going through this text. You know, if you look at 1 Kings 3 and 5, he had made treaties and packs and commercial agreements and diplomacy with everyone around him, all the kingdoms, all his enemies, the Egyptians, the lords of Tyre, Arabia.

[20:32] So there's that element of just peace and structure in the kingdom in itself. He had divine wisdom imparted to him for problem solving, regulations, process, community.

[20:43] Think about if we had, and this isn't a political jab at all, think about if we had a president or a leader that was imbued with divine wisdom and just what that would do for society and policy and everything.

[20:56] The times in which this, in which he was governing and, you know, his own personal time even, it was spent leading and inspiring others, collecting wealth, days full of esteem and power and influence and pleasure and accomplishment, right?

[21:11] I'm not saying he didn't have his own problems or challenges, but he certainly hailed from a position of authority on quality of life. And it's from this position, I mentioned this earlier on, that God declares through his word these truths about life and death.

[21:28] So finally, I know that was a quick aside, this last category is final life or final death.

[21:40] This life and death is referenced and used towards the eternal and the spiritual impact. Proverbs 15, 24. The way of life winds upward for the wise that he may turn away from hell below.

[21:54] So life is described as the way of winding up whereas death is comparatively referenced as hell. Proverbs 12, 28.

[22:05] In the way of righteousness is life and in its pathway there is no death. So we know that all men die physically. this verse though has implications beyond in that the key is that the righteous would live forever.

[22:22] Proverbs 14, 32. The wicked is banished in his wickedness but the righteous has a refuge in death. I think it's pretty timely with just the comment on Jack Frost.

[22:35] death appears as banishment but look at this the righteous have a refuge a place of safety and peace even in dying offered through the righteousness of Christ.

[22:47] This kind of has a similar tone as well. Proverbs 11, 7 says when a wicked man dies his expectation will perish and the hope of the unjust perishes.

[22:57] So yes technically death here is talking about a physical death but the implications beyond are for the unbelieving. What a verse to show a non-believer. All your hopes the plans the things that you're thinking about and expecting when you die if you're dead in your sin it perishes.

[23:17] And conversely you know it's worth mentioning this too because we're here to remember Christ. Those found with the righteousness of Christ have hope. We have life. You know think about this last category it goes from the very systematic the very practical cause and effect to the not theoretical necessarily but just you know broader perspective and I think maybe even towards the end of Solomon's life I think wrestling with his mistakes and regrets and just things that he would he might want to take back.

[23:53] You know I think this I think these truths I think these thoughts probably gave him the most comfort and it's that way for us too you know there is a victory to be had for those who believe and it's good to remember that.

[24:07] so that's it about 10 minutes left on pace to go long no we're okay and I just thought it'd be helpful right to go through what do the Proverbs say about life and death where are these phrases used where are the words represented and how does it break down so the quantitative the qualitative the eternal and the examples of each I just I hope that was helpful as you contemplate the truth and consider what we read and because this is our last week on the study of Proverbs I want to use our final minutes just to share a point and a challenge that kind of encouraged me as we were studying the book as a whole now we started with riddles and since Andrew came to play today we will I've got another visual up on the board it's not a riddle but more of a quiz so does anybody recognize these faces it's alright if you don't anybody know one okay you might be thinking where is he going for this he said final point we're getting there

[25:15] I promise hang on so Jordan Belfort Dale Carnegie and Ray Dalio one's a business leader and a sales champion one's a leadership and a management author one is a hedge fund billionaire and an economic leader so what do they have in common other than obviously all being very wealthy and famous not in this room but otherwise famous they each gave themselves entirely to an understanding to pursuing wisdom and I we'll get there I'm kind of rounding about here this thought this challenge that hit me from the Proverbs so one gave themselves to markets and price actions and correlations one gave themselves to leadership and management one gave themselves to selling and prospecting but and I picked these three faces just because I had a chance to read their book not because they're the only guys that have done this but it made me think you know why did I spend my time and my money to read the thoughts of these men what is it right well I desired their perspective

[26:21] I'm redeeming the time that they invested to learn something I wanted to know their thoughts and develop and modify myself in certain ways accordingly so here's what I'm getting at what we're doing in studying the Proverbs isn't necessarily unique to believers just think about that for a second the world around us is doing the same thing in a certain capacity looking for answers learning growing they're pursuing knowledge and improvement and better tact it's you've heard this a lot probably the world is producing more data than it ever has in the last four or five years it's produced more material data than in all of history before that it's a crazy time to be alive information is readily available it permeates every industry every company every area of our lives I almost go so far to say is that data and information is one of the key religions of our time it's the thesis if you think about it behind Google

[27:23] Netflix Apple Facebook Amazon it is where we're at now think back on Genesis if you think about the beginning mankind wanted to be like God how?

[27:35] in knowing we're wired with that quest to know so here right I'm bringing it to it it just it stood out to me as we were studying the Proverbs we're not special because of the effort but we do have something unique and this is what I was encouraged with there's a root difference between we in this room as believers and the world outside and it shows up again in Proverbs 9-10 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom it's something that provisions us for a divine portion of knowledge and insight beyond what the natural man can obtain the fear of the Lord Solomon uses that phrase over and over again I know my topic was life and death it showed up a few times here but I just I couldn't get past this it's for a key reason that it's in there so often and it's not necessarily that simple you might be thinking well how can that be what does that mean how does fear equal wisdom how could that be a differentiating factor for guys that went to Harvard and studied and been all over the planet right what does it actually look like compared to all the information all the data the world has what's missing though is that crucial element that Solomon calls the fear of the Lord and so here's what I want to conclude with and encourage you by there are two notable concepts or sorry components to this topic as drawn from Solomon's own story

[29:04] I talked about reading those guys books you know if you're a reader Kevin mentioned being a reader you know you go to the about the author section in some of those books and there's some new facts often times in there that are not represented in the book and that's kind of where I felt with studying Solomon's life on this so consider Solomon educated in the king's house and I put the references up there if you want to take a look taught by Nathan the prophet he was the prized son of his father raised with wisdom and constant investment you know why couldn't David build the temple right there was too much blood on his hands Solomon didn't go to war with David where was he at you look at it he's there during these world meetings during these sessions he had exposure that nobody else had I don't know why I put this up there I just can't hurt you know his father was handsome his mother was beautiful you know I'll take that I mean my parents are pretty good looking but I you know he lived a life full of extraordinary experience and perspective I mean he grew up in the king's court and in 1st Kings 2.12 it said Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father and his kingdom was greatly established honestly he was the most eligible the most qualified guy in town for this job now back to the point remember the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom consider what he actually says of himself that's a lot smaller than I wanted it to be

[30:23] I'm sorry 1st Kings 3.6-9 and Solomon said you have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father because he walked before you in faithfulness righteousness and an uprightness of heart and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne and now oh Lord my God you have made your servant king in place of David my father although I am but a little child I do not know how to go out or come in and your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen a great people too many to be counted therefore give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people that I may discern between good and evil for who is able to govern this your great people and it pleased the Lord that Solomon asked this now you know what happens right after this right 1st Kings 4 29-30 and God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much largeness of heart even as the sand that is on the seashore and Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of the children of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt here's the point when Solomon said the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom he lived it he experienced it it defined his kingdom he didn't say my education he didn't say my opportunity he didn't say where I you know all the time with prophet Nathan and there's those two crucial elements that I mentioned earlier

[31:51] I don't know if you caught it when we were going through his prayer his admission but the first one is this his humility if you notice he says I am but a child I do not know and it's not that Solomon didn't know he just didn't know anything comparatively right compared to God and the second one was if you saw it this one's a little trickier but his respect for God's purpose that selfless mindset he says you made me king over your great people it wasn't about him so that I just I came to this a couple weeks ago and I thought I got I have to share that because to me that was Solomon's greatest example before God of the fear of the Lord true reverence for his position his capacity not compared to other men not seeking himself but compared to God and I think there's something for that something in that for us you know if we want God to impart wisdom to our lives if we're studying the Proverbs if we're taking the truths that speak to all these topics it starts right there embracing that perspective in humility crying out to God recognizing our gaps and deficiencies pleading with God to enlighten us and give us wisdom for his name's sake here's another verse

[33:16] I think this was shared in a couple prior messages but it says Proverbs 2.6 for the Lord gives wisdom out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding remember our study on life and death from about two hours ago you know after buying the book after studying the thoughts of the author right here's the conclusion we ought to see life and death in the similar way as Solomon described it through the Proverbs in full measure in view of all three right discerning when one is more appropriate than the other think of it what value is a long life if it's miserable or if it's wasted or lost and yet you know you see these headlines all the time how sad when someone with so much potential or so many gifts or so much you know forward progress is cut short because of a foolish decision you know something that shortened their life and ultimately you know can't don't want to miss the final category as well

[34:16] Mark 8 36 reminds us that what does it profit a man if you gain the whole world and lose your soul so take it from the wisest man that ever lived the whole of the study not just this week I mean this was kind of a concluding thought to the study on the Proverbs but it's not merely here for our convenience you see commands throughout there to pursue to obtain to desire wisdom to mimic that humility and fear of the Lord and seeking understanding to cry out for it right we see verses that are out there to chase it like a treasure God gave Solomon that extreme portion to equip and to define and to deliver it to we his people through the text so as believers I just want to encourage you we ought to be defined by his great wisdom not necessarily because of our scenario but because of the source not simply knowing information I've got a lot of friends that know a lot of information we do pretty well at trivia nights but we should reek of true insight and here's why while the world trips and falls over itself pointing fingers crying out getting angry about these same topics the same list that we covered we should be a beacon of understanding because we ask God and pursue that wisdom through the truth of his word so hopefully that makes sense hopefully there's an encouragement and a challenge in there for you as it was with Solomon right starting with humility and the recognition of God first acknowledging that source and applying it to these most difficult areas of our life life and death suffering work

[35:58] God friends and family children sin right this is the point where I would invite the musicians up but we don't have them so we're good to go yeah two verses to end with right James 1 5 if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him on the topic of life and death 2 Timothy 1 10 made manifest sorry made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel so I would just challenge you as I challenge myself in this don't miss the occasion don't miss the opportunity to build from this study because it was good there were some great things shared seek wisdom right fear the Lord may we not miss that opportunity or let that gift that we have as believers be unused or set aside there's power in that and as receivers of that life and immortality as it says in 2 Timothy let's heed the teaching and grab it so

[37:02] I'll close this in prayer and then I think we'll adjourn God thank you again for this morning thank you for the opportunity to be connected to the true source of wisdom and understanding thank you for the opportunity to find refuge in death thank you for the chance to know and see beyond just our physical humanity thank you for the answers that we have here thank you for just all the ways you challenge us to get better and the source of purpose and meaning that comes with a continual learning mindset here I just thank you for that God I thank you for what that does for our lives day and day and I pray that you would help us to grab these thoughts from the Proverbs help us to seek you and seek wisdom help us to share it with those around us who may be struggling in a certain area and just God I pray that you would as you did with Solomon just deliver to us who would ask an extreme portion of understanding and wisdom

[38:09]  God we pray for that we ask for your guidance we ask for your direction we just pray that we would have boldness as we take that to a world that's still scraping after it in your sense amen you you you you you you you you