[0:00] The following message is given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee.! For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.
[0:13] There's lots of how-to books out there. In a lot of ways, Proverbs is a how-to book for real life. So Proverbs 1. Proverbs 1.
[0:25] I'm going to begin reading in verse 20, and we're going to learn from God's Word this morning. So Proverbs 1, verse 20. If you have that, you can dive into God's Word there.
[0:39] This one, I'm very excited about it, and I hope you will too by the end. Proverbs 1, verse 20. It says, Wisdom cries aloud in the streets.
[0:50] In the market, she raises her voice. At the head of the noisy streets, she cries out. At the entrance of the city gates, she speaks. How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
[1:07] How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my Spirit on you.
[1:20] I will make my words known to you. Because I have called, and you refuse to listen, have stretched out my hand, and no one heeded.
[1:32] Because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity.
[1:44] I will mock when terror strikes you. When terror strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come upon you, then they will call upon me, but I will not answer.
[1:59] They will seek me diligently, but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.
[2:10] Would have none of my counsel and despise all my reproof. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
[2:24] For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them. Verse 33, but whoever listens to me will dwell secure, and will be at ease without dread of disaster.
[2:50] It's the Word of God, the authoritative Word of God. You know, one thing I don't worry about is waking up to a smoke-filled bedroom with little or no time to escape, writes one popular author.
[3:06] You know why? He writes, because I have four smoke alarms. That's right, four. I am so safe. You know what else?
[3:16] I have two fire extinguishers. One in the kitchen, and one in the master bedroom. Between our smoke alarms and our fire extinguishers, we have nothing to worry about when it comes to a fire. We are safe.
[3:29] He continues. Unless, of course, our builder forgot to put batteries in the smoke detector. If that's the case, we might as well have a couple frisbees attached to our ceiling. And by the way, when was the last time you tested your smoke detectors?
[3:44] I've never tested mine. I stare at them occasionally, but I don't know if they actually work.
[3:55] And about those fire extinguishers, for all I know, they could be filled with shaving cream. A friend told me that we should test our fire extinguishers. He's probably right, but I've never done it.
[4:06] It sounds a little messy. Yet, in spite of my lack of investigation, I go to bed every night under the assumption that my family and I are safe from fire.
[4:19] And most of the world goes to bed each night under the assumption they are safe for one reason or another. Maybe it is the fire alarm or the fire extinguishers or our alarm system. I remember we had our alarm systems wired into our new house.
[4:32] And one morning I was up early roasting some coffee beans, and I set off every fire alarm in the whole house. My kids thought the house was burning down, and so it did present some safety there.
[4:43] But maybe that's where we rest. Or maybe it's our arsenal or our full supply of patriot food that causes us to rest. Or maybe it's our rainy day fund or our emergency fund that helps us rest.
[4:56] Our Dave Ramsey-approved slush fund, so to speak, that helps us live life in this world. Or maybe it's just the layers of success that make us feel secure.
[5:08] Life's gone well for us. And we have the stuff to prove it. The family, the job, the house, the cars.
[5:20] Maybe it's the confidence we feel because we're pretty good folks and haven't embraced the crazy like those neighbors down the street. Nothing really bad could happen to us.
[5:32] But is it enough? Is what we're resting in enough? So many ways lead to loss.
[5:48] Some people lose everything by burning bridges and bad decisions. Others lose everything by leaning on the wrong thing. Where we're going today is so many ways lead to loss, but those who walk in the wisdom of God are secure.
[6:01] So many ways lead to loss, but those who walk in the wisdom of God are secure. And so we're going to study this passage, which is a little intense, as you notice as I read it, because Lady Wisdom gets right to our attention.
[6:13] We're going to break it out in three points. One is wisdom calls. Wisdom calls. Much of the first nine chapters, if you went back and read through it, of the book of Proverbs, is a father's appeal to his son.
[6:25] It repeats this, my son, my son, my son, ten speeches in these first nine verses. He's trying to give his son wisdom and understanding. In so many ways, Solomon's teaching us how to be fathers, how to prepare them for temptation, how to prepare them for finding wisdom, how to walk in a fallen world.
[6:45] But tucked into these nine chapters, wisdom herself raises her voice. It does it here. It does it in chapter 3 and 8 and in 9. Wisdom speaks as a woman.
[7:00] Now, I don't think we're supposed to take away something crazy there. I think the idea is wisdom, the word for wisdom in Hebrew is feminine. Now, in the English language, our nouns aren't masculine or feminine in the way they relate to verbs.
[7:15] But in Spanish and in many other languages, they are. And so Hebrew is feminine. And so wisdom here is personified as a woman. So Solomon's talking about wisdom.
[7:30] But in these verses, wisdom herself begins to speak. But what we see really quickly is that this is no ordinary woman. She preaches like a prophet.
[7:42] She passes on the wisdom of the wise. And what we see later on in chapter 8, which we don't have time to dive into, she wears a kingly crown. And so she enters the scene into the noise of everyday life.
[7:54] Look in verse 20. It says, wisdom cries aloud in the streets. She cries aloud in the markets. Wisdom doesn't wait for an audience. She takes off her crown and comes down.
[8:05] She doesn't focus on her home like the father in these verses. She takes to the streets. She goes to where the people are and calls them to listen. The idea is that the streets there are the pathways in between the homes and a village.
[8:22] They're where people would run into each other. They're where, you know, and sometimes in a small town like Athens, you do run into each other all over the place. And that's one of the beauties of living here. And that's also one of the reasons we shop early in the morning.
[8:34] So we don't run into people all day at Food City when we go. But the idea is the streets are where you encounter people. They're where men and women are stopped and they talk with one another. And then the city gates.
[8:44] You see that down there. At the head of the noisy street, she cries out. At the entrance to the city gates, she speaks. The idea, the city gates and Jewish tradition was a place where decisions were made.
[8:56] Maybe it's the county clerk's office. It's where government work took place. And that's where wisdom goes. Now, there's a wonderful implication here.
[9:09] Wisdom is not for those who have their lives figured out. Because that's not where lady wisdom goes. Those who spend their lives in church, though I'm thankful you're here.
[9:20] Wisdom is for those who are out of sorts. And are overwhelmed by the noise. And so while a woman didn't play a prominent role in public life, this lady stands to speak right there.
[9:33] And before we hear what she says, we hear about the way she says it. Look in verse 20 and 21. She cries aloud.
[9:45] She raises her voice. Now, everybody knows what it sounds like when mom raises her voice. Well, this woman raises her voice. At the head of every noisy street, she cries out.
[9:55] At the entrance to the city gates, she speaks. This is not a gentle and quiet woman. She's crying out and calling down thunder.
[10:07] I love the way one commentator says it. Lady wisdom, I think we have it for you, is no gentle persuader. She pleads, or she shouts, pleads, scolds, reasons, threatens, warns, and even laughs, pulpit bashing, and hellfire preaching, if there ever was.
[10:26] So she goes, and then she begins to speak in this world of noisy voices. Look in verse 22.
[10:37] It says, Now, we're going to study fools in two weeks, but you get a glimpse of these fools right here.
[11:03] She goes to the gullible. The simple are the gullible. They float through society because they're undercommitted. They keep their options open because commitment seems like a prison.
[11:17] But actually, they're sitting ducks. It's them that are the fools. They're sitting ducks for temptation. When the sinners come, let's entice him. The fools are self-confident.
[11:29] They like nothing more than their own opinion, their own voice, and their own thoughts. They cannot be helped, according to Proverbs. The scoffers are the mockers. They're kind of the end of this scale.
[11:40] They're do-nothings. They only stand for what they're against and mock those who follow wisdom. The idea right here in verse 22 is to capture this, the gradual and continual hardening of folly.
[11:54] It goes from scoffing to foolishness. It goes from simple to fool to scoffer.
[12:05] It gradually hardens. Folly begins in small little compromises, but it ends in a hard calloused heart. I don't know if you have calluses on your fingers.
[12:17] Sometimes if you don't have a callous, a little paper cut can bend you over. I mean, a little thing you're like, oh my goodness. But if you have a callous, you don't even blink.
[12:32] That's what happens with folly. It gets calloused. So wisdom says, how long?
[12:44] The idea is you've been going down this path for a long time. You've been straying for a long time. Wisdom says, how long will you do this? How long will you stay?
[12:56] You know, these verses alert us that the world is filled with noise and it's hard to hear wisdom. So this week I went to an ear doctor.
[13:10] A couple things going on. I was a sinus type doctor too. But one of the things they did, and one of the things I wanted to have done, is to get my hearing checked. Because I played a lot of music, went to a lot of concerts over the years.
[13:22] And so I wanted to hear what was going on. And so I went in this little room, and it's a completely soundproof room, probably the room that my wife would like me to have when I'm playing the guitar and things like that. But a completely soundproof room, and it began with these little beeps in your ear, and you kind of raise your hand when you heard the beep.
[13:37] And, you know, at first it was really easy, because it was just, babe, you know, and you heard it, and you just raise your hand, and you're like, I got it, and you make sure you mark that down, you know, or whatever. And it keeps going and keeps going, and then all these beeps, you know.
[13:49] It's totally boring, but I was doing my part and raising my hand until you couldn't hear it. And then they made it even more challenging. In one ear, they turned on this white noise, you know, in my left ear, and they began to play the same beeps again.
[14:04] And it was harder and harder to hear. In my left ear, trying to hear this beep. Was that a beep, or was that in my head? You know, I used to really start doing some psychoanalysis really quick.
[14:15] You're like, I think that was a beep. I'm just going to raise my hand. She's like, you are a lunatic. But, you know, you're sitting there trying to hear. Well, that's what it's like to be in this world. There's a white noise.
[14:31] Folly. Folly. You know, in so many ways. This world, you may not have a plan for your life, but this world has a plan for you. It'll tell you how you've got to look.
[14:44] Temptation to be preoccupied with the way you look has always been a temptation, but today the temptation is far more intense. In the old days, women in a little village, you just had to look better than all the other ten women in the village.
[15:00] Serious. And then maybe they'd rank off, you know, best-looking guy, you know, pair you up or something like that. It was a range back then, too. But I don't know. That's not a part of the sermon, so I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole anymore.
[15:13] Now women are pushed to compare themselves with everyone. Every magazine cover. Every Instagram post. And these images, they're not merely like something to look at.
[15:28] They introduce a value system that is anti-wisdom. They tell you that you must be without blemish, you know. You can't even have the Cindy Crawford mole. I mean, you have to be without blemish.
[15:41] And so that takes out a lot of women right at the start. Yet any disformity, you're gone. You have to be a certain shape or size.
[15:53] What if you're more like a pair than like a Barbie? Then you're out. That's what it says. Sadly, in this world's value system, when it comes to beauty, it also says you must be a certain race or a skin tone.
[16:06] Which is so wrong. In the end, women are left, following this world, you're left with an impossible ideal. Now certain ones may achieve it for a little while through obsessive dieting and through exercise.
[16:21] But in the end, it won't be enough. Your body's going one direction. I'm not going to fill in that blank. And so you're left with this low-grade fear of failure. That's just one little picture of the way the wisdom of the world is trying to make you into its image.
[16:39] Wisdom doesn't come into a nice little sanctuary where we're all ears. Wisdom comes in this world where it's so hard to hear.
[16:52] So many ways lead to loss, but those who walk in wisdom of God are secure. Wisdom invites. Point two, wisdom invites. Wisdom invites you to turn now.
[17:04] I just love this verse. I mean, this is an incredible verse. He said, if you'll just turn at my reproof. If you'll just turn. This word, turn, is the most important word for repentance in the whole Bible.
[17:20] That's not even me saying that. The commentators all said that. The idea is decisive and clear. It describes someone turning decisive or heading one way and decisively turning the other direction.
[17:36] That's what repentance is, and that's what's going on in this verse. They turn from one direction. They go in another direction. They turn away from the wisdom of this world, which is folly. And they turn toward the wisdom of God, which appears to be folly in the eyes of the world.
[17:51] And they're not merely turning their steps. This word tells us they're turning their hearts. It's a once for all turn. It's a turning away from evil to good, from folly to wisdom.
[18:03] And it begins with reproof. Correction. Now, there we see it again, which we saw last week.
[18:17] You're not born wise. Everybody's had a baby who can say amen. You don't get the wisdom on your own either. You get there through the correction of the Lord. Do you remember the story of David?
[18:28] I'm so grateful there's stories in our Bible. We were talking about it yesterday morning with a couple friends. And he didn't just wake up with Uriah's wife and say, hey, man, maybe I shouldn't have done that. Now, in case you didn't know, he stole somebody's wife and then killed the man.
[18:44] He didn't come to a realization. One day he was talking with his friend Nathan. And Nathan was telling David about a rich man who, telling him a story, a parable, just like Jesus did.
[18:56] He was telling him about a rich man who took advantage of a poor man and took all that he owns. And David became furious. Give me that man. And Nathan said, you are the man.
[19:09] You the man. Now, this stung. No doubt it stung. To David, no doubt it cut deep. But he turns.
[19:20] Do you remember that? The Bible gives us the rest of the picture in Psalm 51. He turned. Have mercy on me, O God. Against you. You only have I done evil in your sight. Restore to me the joy of my salvation.
[19:30] This wonderful, humiliating plea. Well, the idea, though, stands as reproof stings. The proverb is compared to a rod. The proverb is compared to a blow.
[19:43] A punch. It doesn't feel good to be busted. Now, I can speak from experience on that one. It doesn't feel good to be challenged for the way you spend money or spend your time. It doesn't feel good to be told that all your attempts at beauty are ultimately empty.
[19:56] But it may be the door to life. It may be the door to becoming friends with God. J.C. Rouse says it so well.
[20:07] He and sin must quarrel if he and God are to be friends. Reproof awakens you to the enemy within. But it also holds out an invitation to wisdom.
[20:21] And joy, wisdom invites us to God. Look in verse 23b. He says, if you'll turn to my reproof, behold. And that's just kind of a word saying, kind of underlining it, highlighting it. Hey, hey, look at this.
[20:31] If you turn, I will pour out my spirit to you. I will make my words known to you.
[20:43] Do you see that? You know, in so many ways, I think when we come to wisdom and the fear of God, we want it. There's something in us that wants it. Who doesn't want to be right with God? We feel like, man, we want it.
[20:55] We want a new start. We want to start over. We want another tribe. We want to change the way we walk and the way we live and the way we work. But we often think, I can't do it. I can't make it.
[21:06] I don't know how many times I've passed that thing before, that path, whatever, that conversation. I've blown it so many times. I mean, what is this going to be? Another plea and then another blow it?
[21:20] But wisdom says, if you turn, I'll pour out my spirit on you. This is incredible. I'll pour out my spirit. The picture is of an uncontrollable stream gushing out.
[21:30] The idea of a fire hazard with the cat being turned off and it's just spewing into the street. The idea is the Lord said, if you turn, I'll unstop my stream.
[21:41] I'll overwhelm you. The Lord is not parsing out a little bit of his spirit to you, a little bit of his power to you. If you'll turn, I'll overwhelm you. I'll soak you with everything you need.
[21:54] Wisdom is not about self-made men. And it remakes broken men. That's what's going on here. It's trying to capture this gullible. It's trying to capture this fool.
[22:04] It's trying to capture this scoffer. Say, if you just turn, I'm bringing everything. And then he says, I'll pour out my spirit on you. I'll make my words known to you.
[22:16] I'll push wisdom so deep it goes beyond the calluses. I'll write it on your heart.
[22:28] I'll give you wisdom for each step. I'll make you new. Now, if you're reading this promise, you should be thinking, what's going on? I mean, how can wisdom make a promise like this? I thought the Proverbs was about teaching us how to live wisely, about how to do the right things, how to avoid the wrong things, how to dot the I's and cross the T's and what step to take.
[22:46] But there's something more. That's what's going on in this verse. Wisdom is moving us beyond rules into relationship with God. In so many ways, Lady Wisdom is seeking to point our attention to another who has come, who is wise.
[23:00] And so we hear his voice, the one who left his throne and went into the highways and byways, the one who preached repentance, the one who called out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me. I'll make a spring in his heart.
[23:12] That's what Lady Wisdom is saying. That's what Jesus Christ said. That he hung on the foolish cross so that he might be the wisdom of God, our righteousness, sanctification and redemption.
[23:23] In Revelation 3, he says he stands at the door and knocks. He said, if you just open, I'll come into you. Lady Wisdom is introducing us to no one else but Jesus Christ.
[23:34] Wisdom is a person. It'll give you a person. It'll give you a new life, a new heart.
[23:47] Some months ago, at the beginning of this pandemic, I mean, I don't even know what month we're in. It feels like some days.
[23:58] I read the book, All the Light We Cannot See. No, it's a big one. It's a masterpiece. I don't use that word lightly.
[24:08] It's a deeply moving novel situated in World War II. The plot twists and turns and develops in so many wonderful ways.
[24:19] But most of it follows two characters. A blind girl from France named Maria and a German boy named Werner.
[24:30] It tells about Maria. Her father is a zookeeper. And it tells about Maria who flees with her father when the German troops invade Paris. And so she flees with them to live in the country.
[24:43] And there, her father actively resists the Nazis. There's a great resistance. I'm about to begin another book about the French resistance. And there's a great resistance that went on all throughout the world in the midst of World War II.
[24:56] And they were a part of it. They were part of a large scheme in town. And each night, their father, who was a radio guy, he would send out messages to warn of impending danger.
[25:09] He'd send out messages to his fellow Jews in the towns close by to warn them of what the Nazis were doing there and when they were coming there to their town. And he was wonderful because of that.
[25:23] Now, Werner had a very different life. Werner grew up in Germany. So there's Maria over there. And then there's Werner over there in Germany. And as a young boy, he saw the evil of Nazi Germany.
[25:35] And he wanted to resist it. But then he goes to boot camp and he joins in. He joins in the chants. And he adopts the beliefs. He becomes one of those who says, Heil Hitler.
[25:47] He becomes a Nazi. And he, too, is a boy of radios. He loved radios. And he elevated, because of his knowledge of radios, he helps the Nazis stop Jews from sending these radio messages.
[25:59] So you see how these worlds are beginning to come together. And so Maria's father is sending them out. And Werner is trying to track them down so that he can take these Jews out and send them on to the concentration camps.
[26:13] And one day, Werner hears Maria's father's signal. But the messages stop. Now, Maria's father, and this is going somewhere, I promise.
[26:26] Maria's father has gone away and leaves her alone at home in the dark. And within a few weeks, she, though, finds his radio and begins sending out her own messages. So he left her at home alone in this house.
[26:40] And she begins to read a book in Braille over the air each night. She knew it would risk her life. But she hopes someone will hear and comfort her. And Werner hears.
[26:56] And as he listens, something changes in him. He doesn't tell anybody. He doesn't turn her in. He just, he listens. And he seems to discern his need for help. And in this intense moment, and I am going to spoil the book for you.
[27:07] But in this intense moment, he goes to the house. And he goes into the house to find Maria because he's tracked her down. He goes in. There's another German soldier in the house trying to kill her.
[27:18] And he kills the German soldier. He turns from everything he knew, everything he believed. He confronted the soldier and killed him. And he, and outfitted in his Nazi arm and he covered, in his Nazi uniform, he covered Maria and brought her to life, so to speak.
[27:37] He protected her. And the closing scene, he's talking to Maria and realizing all the fears she's overcome when he realizes she was blind and she's lived on her own and fought for her food and opened cans without being able to see what she was working with.
[27:54] He said, you are so brave. And she said, Werner, when I lost my sight, people said I was brave. When my father left me, people said I was brave. But it's not bravery.
[28:05] I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same? And Werner responded, not in years.
[28:17] But today, maybe I did. Maybe I did. Suddenly, he began to truly live. The idea, I think, of the idea that even this passage is that Jesus Christ stands at the door, not with a list of dues, but with an opportunity for a new life.
[28:32] Jesus is saying, if you'll turn, I'll give you a new heart. I'll give you a new person. Christianity is not about a relationship to rules, but about relationship with a person.
[28:44] It's always been that way. It's always been that way throughout the whole Bible. It's always been the way God works with his people. He's trying to draw them into relationship with him. That's what John 15 says, that if you come to me, I'll go to you and I'll make a home with you.
[28:59] I mean, Jesus Christ is not after a few things for you to learn. He's after your whole life. He's after all of you. He wants all of you. He stands through wisdom in this verse, calling you to life and to him.
[29:11] He says, if anyone would come to me, I'll give them new life. Come to me. All you weary and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. It's the truth of the gospel.
[29:22] Jesus clears away everything that stands in our way, our callous heart, our defiled conscience, our sin and iniquity against God and the wrath that is deserved for that so that we might hear, finally hear, come to me.
[29:38] I'll give you new life. You know, there's so many burdens I have for us as a church.
[29:56] But one of them in the midst of this season is deepening our dependence, our prayerful dependence upon Jesus Christ. There's so many things we're told we must be as a church right now.
[30:13] Silence is violence. So you must speak up. You must vote. You must fight. You must do all these things. You must oppose whatever is going on.
[30:23] But the most important things I believe we can do as individuals and as a church is pray. To enter into and lean on this relationship with Jesus Christ.
[30:35] The next month, I want to call us to pray, actually. I want us to pray for everything going on. I want us to pray for this election. I want us to pray that we be the church that walks in unity and love and wisdom in the midst of this world.
[30:52] So each Wednesday, and all the details will be on the blog, we're going to call, what we're going to do is we're going to call it a prayer break. We're breaking the week. We're breaking the pattern of just going through the motions to pray and cry out to the Lord.
[31:06] And to make our contribution. And to devote our lunch hours for a few minutes to Jesus Christ. Wisdom is a person that invites us to walk wisely in this world.
[31:18] It doesn't sit on the right or the left. It walks securely with Jesus Christ.
[31:30] Point three, wisdom promises and warns. Wisdom promises and warns. Wisdom gets deathly serious. Now this is the bulk of the verses. And this, the idea is you can't stick your nose up at wisdom and expect life to go right along well.
[31:46] And so wisdom really warns those who turn, those who do not turn and listen to wisdom will lose it all. Look in verse 24. He says, Now these are intense verses.
[32:18] Wisdom is not laughing at their misery. Wisdom is laughing and rejoicing at the upside down world made right. Wisdom warns that terror will strike you.
[32:33] Look in verse 26. I'll laugh at your calamity. I'll mock you when terror strikes you. When terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity becomes like a whirlwind. You know, these words are vivid to us because we, after the storms ripped through Cleveland last March, these images are vivid.
[32:49] Wisdom says a great and devastating storm is coming. There's a storm on the horizon. That's what wisdom says. Bruce Walkie says it like this. The two parallels there. If you look there, the two parallels of a storm and a whirlwind there melded together, point to a storm packing the punch of a devastating whirlwind that turns upside down everything in its path.
[33:10] They depict the calamity as coming suddenly and as so catastrophic that no one survives. There's a storm coming that's going to upend everything in this world.
[33:25] There's a storm. There's a storm. Clouds are leaning in on this world. And wisdom wants us to hear what is happening. Look at verse 21 and 28. He says, Then they'll call out to me and I will not answer.
[33:38] They'll seek me diligently. But will not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. And we think, how could this be? Wisdom, you just begged us to come to you.
[33:49] You've been crying out in the streets for us to come to you. How could this be? How could you not listen? And he says, but it's because you chose, did not choose the fear of the Lord.
[34:00] This verse uncovers the root attitude behind those who oppose Jesus Christ. Their rejection of the Lord is not hypothetical. Their rejection of the Lord is not indifferent as if they're merely cool toward him or something like that.
[34:16] Their rejection is conscious and calculated. They turn the other way. They choose to live for something else. It's very calculated and decisive. So this is not merely a moment where the Lord chooses not to hear.
[34:29] This is a moment where the Lord gives them over to what they've chosen. Now we think, this is a hard verse. You think, how could that be? How could it be with the Lord? But the Lord is a person.
[34:40] Listen, now if you disrespect your wife, she's not going to respect you.
[34:56] If you're annoyed at your kids, they're not going to stay close to home when they graduate. You disregard friends and you run them out of your life.
[35:10] You're not going to have any. It's not the Lord being just stopping his ears or something like that. It's the Lord saying, you've refused me so many times. I must give you over to what you've chosen.
[35:27] It's the story, you know, the old preacher story that always tells, you know. It's the boy caught in the flood and when the waters come up to his knees, friends come by. Come on, hop in the canoe and we can take you out to life. And he says, now God's going to save me.
[35:38] And then the waters begin to climb. They kind of break in through the windows. And another friend graciously comes up with a motorboat and says, come on, hop in. We can wakeboard out of here and get this thing done.
[35:50] He says, no, God's going to save me. And then finally he's up on the roof and he's like overwhelmed. Waters have overwhelmed the house. The town is quiet. But a helicopter comes into sight and comes down, drops down a rope.
[36:01] It's okay, sir. Climb in and I will take you to safety. He says, no, the Lord will save me. And then the story ends tragically as every preacher uses it for his purposes.
[36:14] A man dies and he stands for the Lord. He says, I thought you were going to save me. I did. I came to you. What are you talking about?
[36:24] What are you talking about? I hunted you down your whole life. The scriptures say, the Lord said, all day long I've held out my hands to a guilty and rebellious people.
[36:38] That's the promise. That's what God's doing. Thankfully, he's delayed. He's delayed. Even this morning, he's delayed his return. He's patient. He is coming. He will set all things right.
[36:49] All those who refuse him will be given over to what they deserve and get their just wrath that they deserve. But he's delayed it. He's holding out his hands this morning. We have no worries about what his posture is towards you, whether you're in Christ this morning.
[37:05] If you're not in Christ, there's no question about his posture. His hands are open. He's begging you to come. But if you don't come, he's going to give you the fruit of your ways.
[37:15] Look down there in verse 31. He said, they'll eat the fruit of their way. They'll have their fill with their own devices. C.S. Lewis very soberly says there's two kinds of people in the end. Those who say to God, thy will be done.
[37:29] And those who say to God, thy will be done. You know what?
[37:41] I think that was a little bit wrong. It's supposed to be my will be done. Yeah. Those who say to God, I typed that one out, you know, from the book. But my will be done. Those who say to God, thy will be done.
[37:53] But it doesn't end there. Look in verse 33. She warns. She should get your attention. But she promises, those who turn will be secure forever.
[38:08] Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster. Verse 33 piles on phrases. Dwell secure.
[38:21] The idea is completely unconcerned about anything life could bring at you. At ease. The idea is this objective experience of security promotes in you a subjective peace.
[38:39] Of laying back, kicking your feet up, letting your hair down. The Lord will keep me without dread of disaster. Not only will they positively feel at ease, they will confidently have no fear.
[38:55] And Proverbs just keeps going. The security of wisdom keeps unfolding. Look in verse chapter 3. Maybe even one page or just look over. He kind of says, My son, don't forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments for length of days and years of life.
[39:09] And peace will be added to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you, bind them around your neck. So you'll find favor and good success in the sight of men. He says, Trust in the Lord. Why?
[39:20] Because He, verse 6, will make straight your path. Verse 8. It'll be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bone. Then your barns will be full of plenty.
[39:30] Verse 10. Look at 16. He says, Long life is in her hand. That's what she's offering out. Long life. Riches and honor. Verse 16. All her paths are peace. Verse 17. She is a tree of life.
[39:43] Verse 18. Verse 22. There'll be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you'll walk on your way securely and your feet will not stumble. You will not be afraid when you lie down.
[39:54] Your sleep will be sweet. Verse 26. For the Lord will be your confidence and keep your foot from being caught. Look in verse 8. Chapter 8. He says in verses 10 and 11.
[40:05] I mean, after summing up all that she said there in 10 and 11. He says, It says, Take my instruction instead of silver. Knowledge rather than choice. Gold. For wisdom is better than jewels.
[40:17] And all that you may desire cannot compare to her. Everything you need to be secure in this life and in the next is in her hands. What makes you secure?
[40:28] The Rolling Stones sang it famously. A storm is threatening. My very life today, if I don't get some shelter, I'm going to fade away.
[40:42] War children, they're just a shot away. I can hear Mick Jagger singing it. It's just a shot away. See, the fires are sweeping our very street today.
[40:55] Burns like a red coal carpet. Mad bull lost your way. I don't know what all those lines mean. But he says, War. Children, it's just a shot away. It's just a shot away.
[41:05] Give me shelter. This world is filled with shelters that will not last in the end.
[41:21] But wisdom takes us to Jesus Christ. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Who promised that he began this good work, he'll complete it.
[41:33] Promised that all you need for life and godliness, he'll supply to you. Promises that wherever you go, I'll be with you. He'll keep us secure.
[41:48] Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for these few minutes. Sit under your word and think on these things. We pray that you would help us and drive these truths into our heart. Lord, anybody that wants to hear, needs to hear the call of wisdom this morning, we pray that you would strangely draw them to Jesus Christ.
[42:19] We cast ourselves upon you, Lord. We want to live in fellowship with this person, with Jesus Christ. We want to know you more and love you more.
[42:29] We want to consider your ways. We want to set you always before us, knowing that that's the way we won't be shaken. We want to trust in you with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding.
[42:43] We want to walk in wisdom. Come with us, God. Keep us in the love of God, even as we hide ourselves in your steadfast love.
[42:56] We pray and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. You've been listening to a message given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee.
[43:08] For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at trinitygraceathens.com. Thank you, God, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information, absolutely, for more information,