You know, one of the most important qualities that we need to develop, to put into practice
if we're going to live the best life possible, is wisdom.
And I want you to think with me about it.
Some people would think that the most important quality is love, and I certainly wouldn't
disagree when you start talking about putting love at the top of the list.
But doesn't love need to be expressed wisely?
Wise parents know that sometimes you need to express what would be considered tough love.
And when you express that tough love to your child, your child considers it anything but loving.
Modern technology is great.
It has given us the ability to instantly communicate with people about anything that crosses our minds.
But if we don't use it wisely, we may use the best communication tools ever invented to spread stupidity.
Or to stir up unnecessary controversy.
Or just waste time.
Just about everything that we do in life requires that we act wisely in order to achieve the desired results.
Now, we're turning back to Proverbs this morning.
Going back to the subject of wisdom.
Seeking to grow in wisdom.
Seeking to become wise.
And when you hear that word wisdom, when we talk about being wise, let me just remind you.
We're talking about more than just having understanding.
Just having knowledge of something.
We're talking about more than someone just being smart when we talk about a person being wise.
The wisdom that we need most, all of us, is God-given wisdom.
The kind of wisdom we see described in Proverbs.
The goal of the writers of Proverbs is to help us as God's people to live wisely.
And we can summarize what that means like this.
A wise person has correct knowledge.
That's intellectual wisdom.
Understands how to apply that knowledge to life.
Practical wisdom.
And then demonstrates godly character in all things.
That's moral wisdom.
Probably the most well-known part of Proverbs to most of us is in chapter 3, verses 5 and 6.
Maybe verses 5 through 8.
I want you to turn there if you would.
This short section of Proverbs 3 shows us the key to developing the kind of wisdom that we're talking about.
These verses emphasize that wisdom is developed in the context of a relationship with God in which we trust Him wholeheartedly.
Wisdom is not something that you just achieve through an academic exercise.
There's really no formula that you can follow to acquire God-given or biblical wisdom.
There's a lot of things we can read, we can study, we can observe that'll help.
But the kind of wisdom we're talking about, it happens, it develops, it matures in the context of a right and close relationship with God.
And that's what Proverbs 3, verses 5 through 8 is talking about.
Let's read it.
What does it mean to trust God?
I'm going to guess that a lot of people in this room, you memorize trusting the Lord with all your heart and lean not into your own understanding.
Well, what does it mean?
Well, to trust the Lord means simply to depend on Him, to rely on Him, to lean on Him, to put your confidence in Him.
The idea of doing this with all your heart means that we trust God totally.
The word heart refers to more than just our emotions.
Some people think, you know, if you do something with all your heart, it's just all your emotions.
No.
In fact, I listened to the sermon that Mike preached a few weeks ago when I was gone, just a few days ago, actually.
He did a great job.
And he explained that the idea of loving with your heart is more than just a feeling.
We're talking about loving God with all that's within us.
We're talking about trusting God with every fiber of our being.
And, you know, we can only trust God like that if we have a relationship with Him.
Do you trust people you don't know?
Do you trust people that you are just casually acquainted with?
Hopefully you don't.
And just as a word for some people who may need to be encouraged or reminded,
people who call you or people who send you emails and ask you personal questions
and they want personal information, don't trust them.
They're out to con you, to scam you.
Just use good old common sense.
Don't trust yourself, anything about yourself, to people you don't know,
that you don't have a relationship with,
that you cannot be sure that you can confide in.
That's what we do.
And so in order to really trust God with all of our heart,
we've got to have a relationship with Him.
And the kind of relationship that we need to be thinking about
is a relationship that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus made it real clear in John 14, verse 6, the end of that,
that no one comes to the Father and talking about
no one can have a relationship with the Father except through me.
So the first step, really, and we've talked about this in days gone by,
in this series, the first step to being truly wise
is to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
The first step to becoming a wise person
and having the kind of relationship where you can trust God with all your heart
means you've got to have a relationship with Jesus.
Look at the next idea.
In all your ways acknowledge Him.
Verse 6.
To acknowledge God means more than just be aware of Him.
Even the devil is aware of Him.
It means to truly know Him.
To know Him in a personal way.
To have fellowship with Him.
This is really just another way of saying
trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Solomon is telling us that trusting God
requires that we be totally committed to Him.
Look at the verse.
With all your heart and in all your ways.
I want you to look at one more phrase
that describes what it means to trust God.
And we're looking at positive ways we do this.
In verse 7.
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
The importance of fearing God
is repeatedly stressed in Proverbs.
It begins in chapter 1.
You'll find it throughout the book.
It's even in chapter 31, the last.
From beginning to end and in between.
At least 10 times
the writers of Proverbs
tell us that the key to being wise,
the key to having the right kind of knowledge
is to fear God.
And as we've already seen in previous studies,
that means we need to treat God with reverence,
with respect.
And in the context here,
fear the Lord and turn away from evil,
it means that we will seek to obey Him.
We'll fear Him.
We'll honor Him.
We'll respect for Him.
We'll have respect for Him by...
When we learn His Word,
when we learn what He says in His Word,
we'll want to obey it.
We'll want to do what He says
and turn away from every form of evil.
That'll be the normal part of our lives
if we truly are fearing God
and trusting Him with all of our heart.
Now, the idea of trusting God
as we're thinking about this morning
is not just expressed in positive terms
in these verses.
Let's look at what you might say negatively,
what we must not do
if we're going to trust God.
Again, in verse 5,
do not lean on your own understanding.
Now, this does not mean
that you don't use your brain.
It doesn't mean that you don't learn
from your experiences in life.
You know, there are some Christians
who have this idea,
because I've heard it come out of their mouth before,
that we really don't need to
try to think deeply
about God and the things of God,
especially some of the mysteries of the Bible.
Some people think in terms
we just need to focus on our feelings
and our love
and our emotional relationship with God,
so to speak.
Well, that's not true.
We need to love God with our minds,
with our hearts,
with our will,
with everything that is within us.
When He says here,
do not lean on your own understanding,
He's not saying,
don't use your brain.
He's not saying,
don't think.
Don't learn from experience.
No.
That would not only be unwise,
it would be foolish.
To not lean on your own understanding
means,
don't look at yourself.
Don't look at the world
or to the world
for you're a real source of wisdom.
In other words,
don't reject the truth of God's Word
and replace it with your own best thinking.
You know,
when we face situations in life,
we've got to form opinions,
we've got to make decisions.
We don't need to just scratch our head
and think,
well,
what's the best that I can figure out here?
What's other people saying?
We need to be always,
as Christians,
trying to look at life
through the lens of Scripture.
Trying to understand,
what would God have us to think?
What would God have us to believe?
What would God have us to do
in this situation?
If we truly trust God,
we're going to look to Him
as He's revealed Himself
and His will
in His Word.
And we're going to make that
our source of wisdom,
our first priority source of wisdom.
The other negative warning
reinforces this.
He says,
Be not wise in your own eyes.
The person who is wise in his own eyes
has an inflated
and incorrect understanding
of himself.
And you know,
we can,
we can all do that,
can't we?
We think too highly of ourselves.
We think too highly of our opinions.
We think too highly of our understanding
or wisdom.
We need to be,
we need to be very careful here.
There's another place in Proverbs
in chapter 26
where we're told
that the person who thinks like this
too highly of himself
is worse than a fool.
Look at it on the screen.
Do you see a man who is wise
in his own eyes?
There's more hope for a fool
than for him.
Paul says something similar.
He doesn't talk about being a fool,
but he says in Romans chapter 12
in verse 16,
Never be wise
in your own sight.
This is repeated
in scripture like this
because we just naturally think
we're smarter than we are.
We,
that we know more
than we really do.
It's just natural
for us to lean
on our own understanding.
It is great
if there are people
in your life
who have told you
or they show it
by the way they act.
It's great
if there are people
in your life
who think you're wise.
They're just impressed
with your knowledge,
with your intelligence,
and they like to
ask you for advice.
They want to know
your opinion.
You should be flattered.
That's great
if people think that.
But you cannot
think it of yourself
because if you do,
there's more hope
for a fool
than for you.
The scripture says.
We're setting ourself up
for disaster
if we,
if you,
if I,
think of myself
as really
a great source
of wisdom.
Now,
let's think about
how well
we are putting
this teaching
about trusting God
into practice.
And I want us
to do that
by answering
another question.
Number two,
how can I tell
if I am trusting God?
How can I tell
if I'm trusting God
like this passage says?
Well,
what is the source
of what you believe
and how you live?
Where can you trace
your basic beliefs,
your worldview,
the way you just
live life
and treat people
and do the things
you do?
Is your source
the Word of God?
Or is it just
your own best thinking?
Or is it just
what everybody else
is thinking?
what's popular
right now?
I want us to look
at one of the most
controversial issues
of today
to help us
really answer that.
The issue I'm talking
about is marriage.
How would you
define marriage
this morning?
Would you define it
the way God does
in His Word
in Genesis chapter 2
verse 24?
Here's what
Scripture says.
Therefore,
a man shall leave
his father and mother
and hold fast
to his wife.
King James
uses that old word
cleave to his wife.
It's using a word
here that describes
the strongest
possible union
like being glued
together
or even welded
together.
Therefore,
a man shall leave
his father and mother
and hold fast
to his wife
and they shall
become one flesh.
Here's the first question.
Do you have the conviction
that marriage
should be a lifetime
commitment
or
it's a temporary
arrangement?
It's a temporary
arrangement that exists
until problems happen,
until we get tired
of one another
or find someone better.
The world thinks
that latter way.
The world says
that divorce
is really,
excuse me,
okay,
it's not ideal,
it is painful,
but it's just not
that really,
it's just not really
that big a deal.
The world says
divorce happens.
It happens
for all kinds
of reasons
and we should just
accept it
as inevitable
in about half
the marriages
that happen
in this country.
that's what
the world thinks.
But
God's word
says that marriage
is designed
to be a permanent
one flesh
relationship.
Therefore,
married couples
should be encouraged
to work
through problems,
to grow
and develop
their relationship,
to work
and pray
and seek help
if necessary
to make
their marriages
not just work
but mature,
flourish.
You know,
God intends
for divorce
to be a rare
occurrence
and only when
there are biblical
grounds such as
sexual immorality
or desertion.
I want to make
clear here
divorce
happens
because of sin.
God's will,
God's design
for marriage
has been broken.
One man,
one woman,
one flesh
relationship
for life.
That's God's plan.
That's God's will.
And when that
doesn't happen,
His will
has been violated.
Now,
everyone involved
in a divorce
may not be guilty
of sin.
Sometimes,
one spouse
commits adultery,
deserts their spouse,
will not reconcile.
Things like that
take place sometimes.
And the victim
in those situations
would not be guilty
of divorce.
I also want to point out
that like all sin,
divorce can be forgiven.
God is a God
of grace
and mercy.
And with any sin
that we truly confess
and repent of,
He forgives.
He can give us
a fresh start.
But what I want us
to see
and think about
right here,
God really wants
us as His people
to understand
divorce is not
His will.
It's not His plan.
And it shouldn't be
something that
we just think of
as,
well,
it's okay
if it doesn't work
like I thought
it would work.
We need to learn
to trust God
with all our heart
in our marriage.
we need to work
to please God
and have the kind
of relationship
with our spouse
that He intends
and that we will enjoy
if we'll seek God's way,
if we'll not be selfish
and self-centered,
if we'll put our spouse
first.
Along the same line,
how do you encourage
other people
who talk to you?
I know sometimes
friends will talk,
co-workers will talk,
even family members
will talk,
ask your advice.
Are you quick
to encourage somebody
that will just
be done with them?
Or,
do you encourage
just the opposite?
To work on it,
seek help,
pray,
save your marriage
because this is God's ideal.
Second question,
though,
about marriage.
Do you have the conviction
that marriage
should be between
one man
and one woman
only?
Or do you think
it's okay
for two men
or two women
to be married?
Controversial thought
idea today.
The world says
that same-sex marriage
is not only permissible,
but it is actually
the law of the land
in this country.
The Supreme Court
has ruled
it is law
in this country.
But God's Word
says that marriage
is designed
to be experienced
only
by one man
and one woman.
Scripture also teaches
that homosexual behavior
is sinful behavior.
That means
that same-sex marriage
is sinful.
And I want you
to understand
that is
the only
teaching
of Scripture
concerning marriage.
There is another,
there is not another option.
If you choose
to reject that,
you have that privilege.
But I want you
to understand
you are rejecting
the Word of God.
You're rejecting
the only thing
that Scripture teaches
about marriage
if you reject
one man,
one woman,
one flesh relationship
for life.
Now,
the world
has taken
their view
one step further
than making it legal.
The world now says,
our culture now says,
you can't believe
what the Bible teaches
and be a respected
or acceptable
member of society.
The world now tells us
you can't call
same-sex marriage
sinful
without you being condemned.
And where it can happen,
you be punished.
I'll give you
one of the latest examples.
Chip and Joanna Gaines
are a married couple
who hosts
the popular
HGTV show
called Fixer Upper.
I know a lot of you
watch that.
Chip and Joanna
are also committed Christians
and they attend
a large evangelical church
in Waco, Texas.
A popular news website
called BuzzFeed
has come out
with an article
condemning them
for being a member
of this church
where the pastor
teaches that
same-sex marriage
is sinful.
This news website,
BuzzFeed,
implies in their article
that because Chip
and Joanna
are members
of that church,
they must be against
same-sex marriage
and that should
disqualify them
from having a show
on HGTV.
Now,
from what I've read,
that church
that they're a member of
and that pastor,
they're very much like
our church
and most
Southern Baptist
Convention churches.
They teach
simply the truth
of Scripture
about marriage.
They speak
the truth in love
and they welcome
everyone
into their church
including gay people.
they've made
that kind of statement
and their idea is
they want everyone
to feel welcome
in their church.
They want their doors
to be opened.
They want everybody
to come
and they want everyone
to hear
the good news
about Jesus.
Salvation is by the grace
of God
through faith in Jesus.
They want everyone
to hear the full truth
of God
about everything.
and their prayer is
as people hear
God's Word,
as they hear
this good news
about Jesus,
they'll trust Jesus.
They'll surrender
their lives to Him
as their Savior
and Lord
and they'll want
to live their life
according to the truth
of God's Word
and turn from all sin
including the sin
of homosexuality.
That is the desire
of our church.
I hope
that you know
I've said it
on various occasions
and various ways.
The doors of our church
are open to anyone
and everyone.
We're not going to
bash anyone
because of who they are,
what they are,
what their sinful
condition is
because we're all
sinful people.
We're all
sinners in need
of a Savior.
And if we're Christians
it's not because
we figured anything out.
If we're Christians
it's because God
favored us,
demonstrated His grace
to us
by calling us
in the midst
of our sin
to see the truth
and turn from our sin
and trust Jesus.
Salvation by the grace
of God
through faith in Jesus
plus nothing else.
And we want everybody
to come
and hear this message.
We want to love
everybody who comes
as we try to
communicate this message
in the most positive
and gracious way
that we can.
Here's what I want
to ask you now.
Do you trust
God enough
to stand on
the truth
of His Word
even about marriage
no matter what
the world might say
or do to you
if you do?
Or
could you ever
envision yourself
leaving this church
because I preach
what I've just said
about marriage?
Or because our church
and our denominational
statement of faith
defines marriage
exclusively as
the uniting of
one man
and one woman
in covenant
commitment
for a lifetime.
the day has come
the day is here
when some Christians
in this country
are being persecuted
for simply saying
they believe
this truth.
The day has come
when some people
are being
Christians
are being persecuted
because they are
members of a church
that believes this
or a denomination
that believes this.
You know right now
it's easy for us
to say that we
trust God
with all our heart
we lean not
on our own
understanding
when it doesn't
cost us anything.
But the real test
will come
when we
have to risk
losing friends
or jobs
or earthly security
in order to
publicly stand
and say that
we trust God
and we're going
to remain
faithful to him
and the truth
of his word.
That leads us
to the final question.
Why should I
trust God?
Well first
in verse 6
the latter part
he will make
straight your paths.
The word straight
here is used
to describe
travel made safe
by clearing
and leveling
a road.
The idea
is that
if we will
live our lives
according to the
teaching of God's word
if we'll live
our lives
according to
God's wisdom
God will make
our path
in life
smoother
and straighter
but that doesn't
mean it will be
easy.
That doesn't
mean that
doing life
God's way
living life
God's way
is going to be
the easiest way.
A lot of times
it will be hard
but God's way
is always the best
way for his
people.
That's because
God created us
God's gifted us
God has a plan
for our life
and the path
if we follow him
we'll follow the
path in life
that God designed
for us
that will most
glorify him
and enable us
to make the best
difference in this
world.
Another reason
why we should
trust God
is because
what it says
in verse 8
it will be
healing to your
flesh
and refreshment
to your bones.
As we've said
throughout our
study of Proverbs
Proverbs are not
promises.
They're a
description of how
life
descriptions of
how life
usually works.
This verse is
not promising
that if we
trust God
we'll always
be healthy
but it does
mean that
living life
God's way
will help us
to avoid
bringing unnecessary
problems upon
ourselves.
A lot of people
who suffer in
this world
have brought
a lot of it
on themselves.
Not everyone.
Some of the
most godly
people you'll
never know
struggle
with health
problems
with financial
problems
with family
problems
but as a
general rule
living life
God's way
results in the
best life
we could
experience
compared to
people who
don't live life
God's way.
God's way
this passage is
encouraging us to
trust God in all
things and
warning us don't
trust yourself.
Don't trust in just
what the world is
doing.
Or we could think
about it like this.
This passage is
telling us not to
live our lives
according to that
old song
My Way.
That song was
originally made
popular by Frank
Sinatra and
later by Elvis
Presley.
Now I would
give my Elvis
impression and
sing it for you
but you may not
get the point
if I do.
So look at the
first and last
stanzas of this
song My Way and
think about what
it's saying.
And now the end
is near and so I
face the final
curtain.
My friend I'll
say it clear.
I'll state my
case of which I'm
certain.
I've lived a life
that's full.
I traveled each
and every highway
and more much
more than this I
did it my way.
For what is a
man what has he
got if not
himself that he
has not to say
the things he
truly feels and
not the words of
one who kneels.
The record shows
I took the blows
and did it my
way.
Now the writer
of Proverbs
would say that
is an absolutely
foolish song
that only a
fool would
sing.
And if there
was some way
to know
we can be
confident that
Frank Sinatra
and Elvis
Presley
would agree
I was a
fool for
singing and
living life
my way.
When you think
about it
my way
is the name
of the road
that leads to
a whole lot
of heartache
in this life
and to hell
for all
eternity.
The opposite
of living life
my way
or as
Proverbs says
being wise
in your own
eyes
the opposite
is to fear
the Lord
kneel before
him
and trust
in the Lord
with all
your heart.
That's
the key
to becoming
wise.
So now
you get
to decide
are you
going to
live life
my way
or are you
going to live
life
God's way?
That's a choice
we make
every day
and it's a
choice
that we will
live with
for all
eternity
my way
or God's
way.
Would you
pray with me?
Father
help us to
see what is
the pattern
of our lives.
Can we
get up this
morning and
sing
I did it
or I'm
doing it
my way
or are we
doing it
your way
or at least
seeking to
do that
and confessing
and repenting
of it
when we
don't.
Dear God
show us
the key
to wisdom
is trusting
you,
loving you,
obeying you
and living
life your
way.
Show us
that the
beginning
of wisdom
and a real
relationship
with you
is through
faith in
Jesus Christ.
Surrender to
him as
Lord and
Savior of
our lives.
Show us
how we
should respond
now and
then in
attitude of
prayer let's
just listen
to the
Lord.
Respond to
him as
he speaks
and I'll be
happy to pray
with you
during this
time I'll be
here at the
front.
If you want
to share
something with
me you
come as
God leads.