[0:00] That was beautiful. The cook trio tonight. That was so beautiful. Proverbs chapter number 13. If you'll turn there, I want to read several verses that have to do with the theme for the night, which is the proper response to instruction.
[0:14] That will be our theme for the night, Proverbs chapter number 13. But I would like to invite Luther, the boy, up here right now for no other reason than to make his dad very nervous. I'm just kidding. Luther, we're glad that you are back up here.
[0:25] Would you like to come up here and tell us if you enjoyed Peru? You don't have to. I thought you might like to. We're not doing that. Okay. How old is Luther? He's 10.
[0:37] All right. How many of you in here are 10 or younger? Would you stand up in here? Go ahead and stand up if you're 10 or younger. You're Luther's age. Some of you, you don't know. If you don't know, then you probably are under the age of 10.
[0:49] All right. Now, I want you to look around. We have quite a few. Oliver Brown, good to see you, buddy. Good to see you, sir. I know you would take the microphone, and that's why I won't give it to you. Okay. You never want a kid too excited.
[1:00] You can be seated about it down for a second or the rest of the night, actually. Okay. And it's unique for us on Sunday nights to have Sunday night service, but to have our kids here in the room.
[1:11] And I know as a parent, I want to just commend you to have your kids here in church. I want to be mindful of them as we're preaching through the Bible, not just in what is said, but also in a way they want them to help them pay attention.
[1:23] Because growing up in a church where there's so much Bible teaching is very wonderful, but it's also very dangerous. And I'll tell you where it's dangerous. It has to do with our topic here tonight.
[1:35] It has to do with how do we respond to the Word of God. Really glad that Brother Cloud, where the night preached from Ezra 710, not only to study the Word of God, but also what? Do the Word of God.
[1:46] And that's why on the back of our sign that we want to remind you that we are supposed to not only be hearers of the Word, but doers only. Very dangerous for us to be around the teaching of God's Word, but not put it into practice in our lives.
[1:58] And when we go through Proverbs, as I told you, knowing what's coming forward in Luke, evangelism, and fasting, the Beatitudes, and different themes. But in Proverbs we have so many different topics.
[2:09] But one of the topics that come up a whole lot is about how to hear instruction and how to respond to it. Like Psalm 119 tells us about how we ought to respond to the Word of God. It ought to be a part of your Bible reading.
[2:22] Because you don't want to just read it but not respect it and reverence it. We need Proverbs because it's not enough just to hear all the time or just to know Bible trivia. We've got to respond to the instruction that is given to us.
[2:34] And so kids, I want to help you tonight. I want to help you know that when you're learning lessons in Sunday school and in Awana and Children's Church, you need to ask God when you hear instruction, what do you want me to do based upon the teaching of God's Word?
[2:47] How do we get kids to do that? Is we model it for them. They see our lives being altered and corrected continually by the Word of God.
[2:58] My dad was like this, but then he encountered the Word of God. My family was like this, then they encountered the Word of God. They ought to see us constantly making course corrections by the Word of God. So as we come to my tradition, I'm going to read six or seven passages that will be in the sermon tonight about this topic before I'll pray, knowing that we can't just read all the way through the chapter and stay in the same theme.
[3:19] But this has to do with the proper response to the instruction of God's Word. Proverbs 13, 1. A wise son heareth his father's instruction, but a scorner heareth not rebuke.
[3:31] I'll read that again. That's our key passage for the night. Young people, listen. A wise son or a wise daughter heareth his father's instruction or his mother's instruction, but a scorner heareth not rebuke.
[3:46] 1 Corinthians 3, 18. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. 1 Corinthians 4, 10.
[3:57] We are fools for Christ's sake, but we are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honorable, but we are despised. Proverbs 8, 10, and 11. Receive my instruction and not silver and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
[4:16] James 1, 5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. Psalm 90, verse 12.
[4:28] So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Heavenly Father, ask the night that you would help us to number our days and have a seriousness about our life that would cause us to apply our hearts to wisdom.
[4:42] Lord, we lack wisdom, and so we ask of it from you. Lord, we treasure it above rubies or of gold. Lord, we know there's a wisdom of this world, Lord, that will leave us empty, but we seek out godly wisdom from you.
[4:54] Lord, when we are despised and considered fools for your sake, we rejoice in doing this. Father, we want to be the sons that hear Father's instruction and not scorners, Lord, that need rebuke.
[5:09] Lord, I ask that you would be with us tonight to take the lessons that we have learned throughout the day, throughout our lives, and to be doers of the word. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
[5:20] You've probably heard it said before that the greatest ability is teachability, right? Because no matter how able you are in something, you very quickly are going to be surpassed by somebody else in any sport or any occupation if you're not always learning and being teachable.
[5:35] The more that we show up, the more we're in church, that teachability can get hard for us because we feel like we've arrived. Maybe your life has become settled. You're living out of enough comfort in your life that you're not causing any trouble.
[5:47] You're not going to jail every other weekend now anymore, Brother Jeff. And so your life is kind of leveled out, and because of that, I got his in-laws are here. I should not be taking jokes like that. But we live with a level of comfort in our lives that says, you know, I might need to learn a thing or two here, but I'm really pretty much established in my life.
[6:06] And that becomes a great enemy to us that we want to be teachable people. And so I want to ask you in 1 Corinthians 3.18, So let's take a field trip over the 1 Corinthians here, and we're going to look at a couple passages that will have us have an understanding.
[6:32] The Bible talks about in the New Testament a wisdom that comes from the world, which is very available to us. It comes to us all the time. But then there's a wisdom that we can have from God, and we want to make sure that we're not wise in our own eyes, that we're not wise just in the things of this world, but we're wise according to what God offers here to us.
[6:52] We'll take a field trip over there. And so deception is very present in this world. Many profess to be wise, but they are fools. That's what Proverbs 1.22 would tell us.
[7:03] They profess to be wise, but they're not. And you know, and you see it everywhere you're at. Maybe you work with people like this. Maybe you know people like this, but they're very much unaware. They've accumulated knowledge about the things of this world and the things work, but the things of God they don't know anything about.
[7:18] They don't know anything about true wisdom. There's a parable in Matthew 21 that Jesus will give. It's the parable of two sons, and it goes like this. But what think ye a certain man had two sons, and he came to the first, and he said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.
[7:35] And he answered and said, I will not. But afterwards he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, Likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not.
[7:46] Whether them twain did the will of the Father, they say unto him, The first, Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
[7:56] So there's a contrast between the people that were the outcasts, the publicans and the harlots, and they were people that did not honor God with their mouth, but then they repented, and then they did right, compared to other people that would have been sitting in the doorway.
[8:10] And the story this morning, they look very religious, and they talk a good talk, but they weren't people that were really honoring God with their heart, which was showing in their actions. They were people that were being deceived into believing that they were wise when they were fools.
[8:25] And so we have examples of deception in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 1.17, There was a wisdom that in Corinth that said that the cross was of no effect. It says it like this, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ shall be made of none effect.
[8:44] And so there was a false gospel being promoted. There was a false wisdom. There was something that people were holding up, and they were saying, This is right. But it wasn't. And it was contrary to what the Bible says.
[8:56] It's always been true. But we always need to be taking what we have and holding it up to the light of the gospel. You ever go anywhere, and they take your $20 bill, and they hold it up in the light, and they want to see if it's real?
[9:06] And you always want to take the product you're buying and hold it up in the light and see if it's real. You know, the same. Like, Do you really think I have time to be making fake $20 bills here? Do you think I'm going to be at a convenience store buying a Coke?
[9:17] You know, if I didn't. And so people want to look at it, and they want to see if it's real. Everything that comes to you in life, if it doesn't come directly from the Word of God, needs to be held up in the light of God's Scripture and say, This may feel right, but is it right?
[9:29] There's a deception. It says that, It makes of none effect the wise in the world of Corinth saw the cross as foolishness. That's in 1 Corinthians 1.18.
[9:39] It says, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. It already shows that there's a thing, which is the gospel, that the one group of people is this foolishness.
[9:54] But those people that call out foolish, they're considered wise in this world. There's another group of us that call the cross the manifold wisdom of God. We call it the power of God. We say it's just incredible, and we are called the foolish people in this world.
[10:08] And so this world wisdom is called foolishness by God. 1 Corinthians 3.18, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
[10:19] The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God. God says, All this stuff that this world has to offer, you need to recognize it. You need to be discerning. The thoughts of the world, that the world calls wise, God calls empty.
[10:32] 1 Corinthians 3.20, And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Vain is to say it's empty. The wisdom of this world is absolutely empty of no use.
[10:46] And it's important that we recognize what wisdom that we are gaining and growing in. What type of wisdom that our kids are growing in. Little kids that are in this room, there's type of learning that you need to do that is good.
[11:00] There's math classes, and there's science classes, and these things are true. And they're true, and they can point you to knowing that there is a God of the universe. But there's also things that you can learn in this world, that everybody says that you need to know.
[11:12] But that's the foolishness of this world. It's empty. The Bible actually tells us to be simple concerning the things of this world. So kids in here, you're with a group of friends, and they're laughing about something, and you don't know what's going on.
[11:24] Let me tell you, that's wisdom. That's wonderful. You don't have to know every joke that's being told. You don't have to know every movie reference that's going on. You don't need all the wisdom of this world. You need to say there's something that's better than life itself, and that's knowing God, and cherishing Him, and love it, and study it.
[11:42] And when you're studying things, it ought to be turning and making you have conversations about how wonderful our God, He is. It says that one day, the world offers a wisdom, and it's contrary to the things of God.
[11:55] 1 Corinthians 1.21. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. This wisdom of God, the wisdom knew not God, but it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching.
[12:10] So there's a wisdom that God is not pleased with, but God is pleased with the foolishness, and that foolishness is what the world calls foolish. It says God is pleased when we live simple lives saying what He says is true, when we live simple lives talking about the gospel, and not these other things that are there.
[12:30] And one day it says that God is going to destroy the wisdom of this world. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and it will one day disappear, and it will not be here anymore.
[12:41] And so there's many people that profess to be wise, but they're foolish. And so we need to consider, are we the wise son that's receiving instruction from the Father, or are we being one that despise the teaching of God's Word, and we're gaining the wisdom of this world, and we're getting puffed up, and we feel like we know things, but we're not gathering the right type of wisdom that is there.
[13:02] God does not work according to the rules created and enforced by this world. 1 Corinthians 1.27, Going back to the kids here, but it's okay for you and adults to listen when I talk to the kids, right?
[13:23] Because if it's true for them, it's true for all of you. But we live a life that compared to the world seems foolish. It seems like we are wasting our lives, but they have no idea, because now that we've seen the wisdom of God and the cross of Jesus Christ, we just see everything differently.
[13:39] And when you're little or when you're big, there's a pressure constantly to live life according to the rules of this world. And in not doing it, you're considered a fool for the sake of Christ.
[13:50] And I want to tell you, that's a wonderful place to be, that we ought to be fools for Christ. We're people that have addicted ourselves to the ministry. We're people that give. We're people that want to see our kids grow up in church.
[14:00] We're people that love Jesus. Kids are people that pray before a meal when other people may not do that. But what the world calls foolish, God says is pleasing. And that's such a wonderful thing.
[14:11] So don't be deceived. Don't settle for a cheap imitation. Don't settle for just knowing a lot of things. But let's ask God for wisdom that is available for us. I need to lay some ground rules.
[14:22] I know here, pastor had a whole lot of stories and I have a few that you need to know. So my whole life before I became a missionary and moved to Alpharetta, right? And left my culture of West Kentucky and I came and put my shoes on and trying to learn to live among you people.
[14:35] I never miss Tater Day, all right? Tater Day is the longest running festival in America. And it started in my hometown of Kentucky, Tater Day.
[14:47] And they had to cancel it. And I love Tater Day, all right? You would get a funnel cake, you'd get a demolition derby, you'd get all the things that one would need for happiness, all right? And so I would go to Tater Day.
[14:58] But what they had at Tater Day is they had clothes that they sold out under these tents. And they had all kinds of nobical clothes and Tommy High Flyer clothes. And they had a polo with two L clothes.
[15:11] And they have a Fred Lauren. And they had all the nice stuff, all right? They had all the nice clothes there. And it looked kind of alike, but it was different. But we all knew that it was imitation.
[15:23] But we never mentioned it. We never talked about it. Because they bought fake clothes, and I bought fake clothes. So we just all believed the lie. And we would buy it at Tater Day.
[15:35] And we would show up at school the next week. Man, look at your shirt. Look at that Tommy Hill figure shirt. It looks nice, man. Where did you get that? Oh, I've had this a long time, you know? Or I picked this up at the mall.
[15:46] Or I got this out of town. Or whatever, you know? And we just all believed in the deception and the lie of a cheap imitation. But none of us wanted to say, there's something that's right, and there's something that's wrong, and this is an imitation.
[15:59] Young people, there's real wisdom from God in this world. And there's a false wisdom in the world. And we want to help you recognize what is true, and what looks like it's true. What is from God, and what is the wisdom of this world.
[16:12] We need to be careful and discerning here. If not, we will be taken like Tater Day rednecks, all right? With cheap imitations. Something that is not of this world is available to us.
[16:23] What is God's wisdom? Romans 11, 33. Oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out the depths of the riches of His wisdom and knowledge.
[16:41] You know, if there was a part of heaven, if I could take a little bit of the streets, right? I could pay all of your homes off, right? If I could have a little bit from heaven, I could do something. But wisdom comes from God. That I can have wisdom here on earth that comes from the God of heaven.
[16:55] That's an incredible thing. Though it's not of this world, it has tremendous value. Wisdom is a means to a goal. 1 Timothy 3, 15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
[17:13] Young people in here, if you learned, as Luther has, that he was a sinner, and that he needed Jesus, and that he could put his faith and trust in Jesus, that is wisdom.
[17:25] And that wisdom came from the Word of God. And nobody else is going to give that to you. You're not going to find that wisdom in any other place in the world, but that's wisdom. And that's the greatest of all wisdom that you're ever going to have.
[17:37] But the Bible doesn't stop there. Just like you had that, some of you kids who like to play games, you know like cheat codes. James, I know you wanted to make video games when you were younger. You wanted a cheat code in a game.
[17:48] Well, we have wisdom in our lives. We know how the game is supposed to be played. We know what life is supposed to look like because the Creator not only created us, but He gave us in His Word the wisdom of how to play the game out.
[18:02] And we find it only in God's Word. So there is a great reward in it. Who despises the Word shall be destroyed, but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded, Proverbs 13, 13.
[18:13] So safety lies in obedience to this instruction. And I ask you, do you despise the Word of God? When you think about the word despising, and maybe it's not one that we use very often, but there's a story about two brothers, Jacob and Esau, and it said that he had a birthright.
[18:29] He had a privilege of being a son, but then he got really hungry that day, right? And it said that he traded his birthright. And the Bible said that he despised his birthright, which means that he just counted it as if it wasn't very important, that it wasn't very significant to his life, that it didn't have a real relevance to his life.
[18:49] Have you done that with the book of instruction? Have you done that with the Word of God? When you go to Sunday school and somebody's teaching it, when you carry it, do you treat this in a way that's being despised as if it doesn't really matter?
[19:02] That you can pick up one book and you can read it, or you can pick up this book, but this is a book of God's wisdom. You're going to find stuff here that you're not going to find in any other place in the world.
[19:12] And there's a great reward for searching in the Scripture and knowing and listening to it and letting it decide your life, letting it dictate your life. It says that in Proverbs 16, 16, how much better is it to get wisdom than gold and to get understanding rather than be chosen than silver?
[19:31] Carson sent me a message earlier in the day and he says, if you'll give me $100, nobody will get hurt, okay? He tries to kidnap himself sometimes with my phone and send me a ransom message because he is saving up to buy a little motorcycle or something.
[19:45] I don't know. He's always planning something. But Carson, all right? Since I embarrassed David's son, I have to do my same to balance it out okay here. Carson here, stand up for a second. Gold you can buy motorcycles with, all right?
[19:57] I'm going to give you an option here, Carson. I can give you gold or I can teach you a Bible lesson to have wisdom. Which one of them would you rather have? In one hand, I have gold and the other one, I'm going to give you a Bible lesson for wisdom.
[20:12] Which one are you choosing? What is it? Tell the truth. Don't lie. Don't lie. Which one is it? Show me the money, right? He's going to take the gold. He is definitely going to take the gold.
[20:23] And you say, how can it be better? Come on, gold is gold. You can buy stuff. What is it saying? Money doesn't buy happiness, but money buys bacon, and bacon is happiness. And so we say those things.
[20:35] The Bible tells us that in Proverbs 15, 21, is that folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom, but a man of understanding walketh uprightly. There is a joy, there's a folly to a man that doesn't have wisdom.
[20:48] But we all know that there's certain principles that I could teach Carson from God's Word about how to honor authority. There's certain principles that at some point in his life, in a decision that he made, he would have said, oh, I wish I wouldn't have chose the gold and the motorcycle.
[21:05] I wish I would have listened to the lesson that was being taught in my Sunday school class about how to whatever. Because it's all about in the moment, right? Right now he needs a motorcycle.
[21:16] But all throughout his life, he's going to need the wisdom that comes from God's Word. And so we need to highly exalt it and value the Word of God and teach them to see. We ought to be truth seekers looking in God's Word for it.
[21:28] Nothing compares to having wisdom from God. Receive my instruction and not silver and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
[21:40] All the things, all the pocket rockets, all the bars of gold, all the retirement, all the things that you could have, none of it compares to the wisdom of God.
[21:51] And so we should be looking for it. And I want to tell you also, 1 Corinthians 4, 10, we are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honorable, but we are despised.
[22:03] Be not be ashamed of being a fool for Christ. Be not ashamed of somebody that just says, I'm going to obey God regardless of the consequences. I'm going to obey God no matter what it looks like.
[22:16] I can think of a time, and I don't think that my mom had to make this decision, but I remember being at an event with my family, and we're having a good time, and mom said, it's now time to go to church. We need to go.
[22:28] And I remember so many people thinking that my mom was foolish in making that decision. And I don't even know that it was necessary in that moment for them to make that decision. But you know what I learned as a little kid? That even having fun with my family was secondary to studying the Word of God.
[22:43] Every time there's a crossroads between having her kids in church or to do something else, the decision was already made for my mom. That was wisdom. That was wisdom from God. How do you raise kids as a single mom that grow up to love church and to love the Word is that you have a wisdom that says when there's a decision to be made, I will be in the house of God.
[23:02] We should desire wisdom by now. Hopefully you're looking for it, and the logical question is, how do I go about getting it? So instruction is available to us. So here's the simple way, kids. It's first place that you ought to be looking for it.
[23:13] A wise son hears the father's instruction. Yes, there's other places to find wisdom, but the primary way of communicating wisdom from one generation to the next generation is a father speaking to a son.
[23:25] That is God's means of communicating wisdom of God's Word. It is parents looking at their kids and teaching them God's Word. Awana and all the ministries of the church should be supporting the work that you're doing.
[23:37] So it leads me to two questions. Kids, when your dad's talking to you, are you listening? Dads, are you talking? Kids, are you listening when your dad's giving you instruction from God's Word?
[23:48] And second question, dads, are you giving them instruction? Another way is without the fear of God, you won't receive wisdom no matter who shares it to you. You know the fear of the Lord's the beginning of wisdom. It doesn't matter if you have the best dad in the world.
[24:01] It doesn't matter if you have the best teachers in the world. It doesn't matter how much wisdom's coming to you. If you haven't decided in your heart that I'm going to fear, honor, and respect God, then you're not going to receive instruction.
[24:12] It is a position of the heart that you prepare your heart and then you study God's Word and then you do it, right? It's a heart decision about receiving instruction. And that means we should exalt it in our lives, exalt wisdom, make much of it.
[24:25] Proverbs 4, 8, you shall promote thee, she shall bring thee the honor when thou dost embrace her. Wisdom we're talking about, exalt her, honor her, embrace her. Don't be passive for it. Search for it.
[24:35] Proverbs 2, 4, and 5. If thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures, then thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord and find knowledge of God. You receive it passively, but you should also be going out and looking for it.
[24:49] And those that look for it, they will find it. The scorter seeketh wisdom and findeth it not, but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth. There's a person that says, hey, I'm looking for it. I'm trying to find truth, but they never find the truth.
[25:01] They're arrogant, they're intellectual, but they lack the serious interest in the things of God because they're not really looking for it. If you go left out of the church here, you go up to the stop sign, you take a left, you go and take another, you go up to another stop sign, you take a right.
[25:16] Now you're headed towards Kroger. There's a row of trees back there that go to some medical offices. If you will pull off the road there and you will look up in a tree, there is a fake bird.
[25:27] And inside of this decoy, little bird decoy, there is a medicine bottle. And inside of the medicine bottle, I'm not crazy. I know you think I am, right? Inside of the medicine bottle, there is a message.
[25:38] And you can read that message. Who are the people that have read that message? It's people that have played, what is that called when you take your phone? What? Geocaching, right? Geocaching. I was really worried when that Pokemon Go was gone that it was going to get in the way of geocaching because Pokemon Go is so dumb, right?
[25:53] And so out there, geocaching. And so I found that message one day. And why did I find it? Because I went looking for it. Have you ever found that message? You didn't go looking for it, right? If you seek it, you're going to find it.
[26:06] Those who dig into God's Word with the heart, the fear of God, they're going to find incredible wisdom for life. And it's there. If you don't, and you won't. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about.
[26:16] And some of you think you've been sold a false bill of goods and said, this Bible's not near as good as you say it is because I need wisdom and I'm not finding it. And I promise you it is available to you if you would seek it with a heart that fears God and you look for it here.
[26:31] And there'll be some that will never find it, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth because it's a position of the heart. James tells us we get wisdom by asking for it. Now that we obtain it, we can get, where are some ways that we get it?
[26:45] Where do we get it? From the Word of the Lord. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, Psalm 19, 7. It can be seen in this world. We can look at an ant, we consider their ways, but only as it reflects the truth of God's Word.
[26:58] As we spend time in the Word, we will see the world differently. Proverbs 13, 20 tells us that we should walk with wise people and that wisdom will be found there. People who do not talk, a saying that I was told as a kid is that people who do not talk a lot aren't the only ones who don't say much.
[27:13] I'll say that again. People who don't talk a lot aren't the only ones who don't say much. The Bible says that if you walk with fools, then you're not going to gain any wisdom. There's people who talk all the time. They seem to know everything, but they have no wisdom from God.
[27:26] You want to walk with, associate yourself with people that fear God and have wisdom. And so you should examine the influence you have. Kids, as you go back to school, some of you will, and you make decisions going to fall, being homeschooled, and your schedule is going to be different.
[27:40] As you get older, you really need to associate with people that fear God and find wisdom. Because when you don't hang out with people that fear God and find wisdom, you're going to find yourself with people that are making decisions that aren't wise and that aren't pleasing unto God.
[27:55] And so when you're looking for friends, you ought to ask them, what do you think about the Bible? What do you think about God? How do you make the decisions in your life? And then it says that, teach us the number of our days that we may apply our hearts and the wisdom is to have a seriousness about our life and the way that we think if we want to find wisdom.
[28:14] Many times, we have shallow thoughts which lead to shallow actions which lead to shallow lives. But if we want to be wise people, we number our days. We say, God, every decision I make tomorrow matters, so I need wisdom from you.
[28:28] Ken Boah writes books on discipleship. I love this quote. He said, the most important thoughts of your day will be your first and your last. What you wake up with, you think about, and what you're thinking about before you go to bed.
[28:41] People that number their days, they're not careless in the thoughts that they have. They're not careless to what they put into their mind. And to their heart. But they're people that seek wisdom. They're sons that love instruction.
[28:53] They're not scorners that need rebuke. Know that wisdom causes us to consider everything in relation to Jesus Christ. For Him, we were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
[29:09] All things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things and by Him all things consist. Colossians 1, 16 and 17. And so until you've considered Him, you've not fully considered a matter.
[29:24] Wisdom says that all things were created for God and by Him, which means that in every matter of my life, I need to consider Him. That's what wisdom would cause them to do.
[29:34] There's nothing that's going on in your life that doesn't matter to Him. There's nothing going on in your life that you should not consider Him. Wisdom says that He is central to everything in my life, which means no decision I make is made without a consideration of what I should do to bring Him honor and glory and wisdom is found in making decisions like that.
[29:54] So those of us who are wise, I pray that we'll respond properly to discipline. When's the last time you received instruction? And if it's been a while, might I propose it's because you aren't looking for it. We receive instruction.
[30:06] Those looking for it, we find it all the time. We find it in conversations with friends. We find it through studying our Bible. We're constantly being engaged with the Bible and being told go this way instead of this way.
[30:18] When you did receive instruction last, how did you respond to it? Whether it came from reading God's Word or hearing it in a sermon, did you make an action plan to say I want to implement this into my life or did you say I'm just going to add that to the pile of other things that I know but I'm not going to do it?
[30:33] When somebody confronted you with truth, did you say thank you for loving me and confronting me with truth or did you despise it as a scorner? We ought to be people about love instruction as it comes to us in our lives.
[30:46] How do you listen to the Bible being taught? And I would encourage you to listen to every sermon and every time you read the Bible like your life depends on it. Why?
[30:57] Because it does. We're in a fight and the weapons that we have are weapons that are spiritual and we need wisdom. A wise son heareth his father's instruction but a scorner heareth not rebuke.
[31:10] I want to pray with you now and I want you to take the word of God and I want you to make a decision. I want you to make a decision that when instruction comes into your life you're going to embrace it you're going to buy the truth and you're going to sell it not.
[31:22] I want you to make a decision and say God I have been through too many services in my life I've sat down and read the Bible too many times and didn't put any of it in the practice of my life and I'm going to make a decision that when wisdom comes into my life I want to find a way to go about it to apply my heart and the wisdom and to do it.
[31:39] Because as I said earlier we raise a bunch of kids in here and they hear a lot of Bible but they never put it into practice that's a dangerous place to live and that's going to happen if we're a group of adults that do the same thing.
[31:51] So Greg will be up here in a second to make some announcements but before then we're just going to take a moment Charlotte if you wouldn't mind playing the piano I just want to give you a second to respond there in your seat.
[32:01] Just want to say it simply one more time how do you receive instruction in your life? When you receive instruction are you looking for ways to put it into practice? I want you to ask God right now what is it that he has spoken to you about today or previously that hasn't been?
[32:18] If you want to pray at the altar that's always open to you we always have time for that response here I want every one of you to make that decision. Heavenly Father I pray that you'll be with us be with decisions that are being made we want to be a son that receives instruction we want to be your children Lord as you speak to us from your word that we do not just collect Bible information but we are people that put it into practice into our lives believing that wisdom comes from you and from you alone.